Watchman Newsletter

Arab Spring begins weeding out Christians

WorldNet Daily (Link) (December 10, 2011)

Islamic factions jockeying for position from out of the ashes of the Arab Spring are posing an increased threat to Middle East Christians, an international human rights group contends.

The British group Barnabas Aid says that Christians in Iran and Azerbaijan are coming under increased pressure from their governments.

Barnabas Aid wrote in its December prayer alert that there is cause for concern for Iran’s persecuted believers, because Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei recently urged more than 2.5 million Muslims on a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia to form “an international Islamic power bloc.”

The Ayatollah Khamenei told the listeners the Arab Spring was guided by Islam and said Muslims worldwide should rally to the Islamic cause.

The prayer alert also said the Iranian leader called on Muslims “to make the most of the opportunity” created by the Arab Spring, as well as the anti-capitalist “Occupy” movement across the world.

Egypt’s Christians Have Strong Showing at Elections, But Fear Islamic Win

The Christian Post (Link) - Katherine Weber (November 30, 2011)

Although Egypt’s parliamentary elections were expected to be Muslim-dominated, Christians turned out in large numbers Monday and Tuesday to balance the vote in their favor. Although the results of the post-revolution elections will not be known for weeks, many are concerned the Muslim Brotherhood could end up dominating the government.

According to The Associated Press, many Christians voted for the Egyptian Bloc, represented on the voting ballot by the image of an eye.

The Egyptian Bloc was “discreetly” promoted by Egypt’s Coptic Church among followers, encouraging them to vote for this “alliance of leftist and liberal parties sponsored by a Christian tycoon,” according to AP.

As of Wednesday morning, the Muslim Brotherhood party claimed its lead in the elections. Others, including the smaller Justice Party, disputed these claims. The true results will only be final after the six-week voting process is complete.

The Associated Press contends that the Coptic Church quietly supports the liberal Egyptian Bloc, but Coptic Christian Bishop Moussa issued a statement Tuesday saying that the church is uninvolved with the country’s politics.

Nigeria’s Christian Persecution

FrontPage Magazine (Link) - Frank Crimi (November 14, 2011)

Boko Haram’s recent attack on the Nigerian city of Damaturu was but the latest and most deadly incident in the ongoing genocidal assault against Nigerian Christians.

In its efforts to impose Sharia law throughout Nigeria, the Islamist terror group Boko Haram has systematically targeted Nigerian government officials, Christians and those Muslims who dare to publicly denigrate the terrorist organization.

To that end, over 200 Boko Haram insurgents recently descended on the northeastern Nigerian city of Damaturu and engaged in a raging four hour gun and bombing attack with Nigerian police, a battle that resulted in nearly 150 deaths and the destruction of churches, mosques and police stations.

However, reports from Damaturu, capital of the Nigerian state of Yobe, indicate that the intent of the attack was specifically designed to target and kill Christian residents of the city. Of the nearly 150 people killed, at least 130 of were reported to be Christian.

Steel On Steel Persecution Update

Steel on Steel - Donald McElvaney (October 23, 2011)

1. Hard-line Muslims in Egypt Attack Coptic Church, Homes

2. Why Is Islamic Extremism Growing in Indonesia?

3. Progress in Pakistani Rape Case, but Alleged Victim’s Father Dies

4. Pakistani Muslims Fire on Christians in Land-Grab, Killing One

5. Maldives Arrests, Deports Indian Teacher for Owning Bible

6. Pakistani Mother Condemned for ‘Blasphemy’ Allegedly Beaten

7. Islamic Extremists in Somalia Behead 17-year-old Christian

Steel On Steel Persecution Update

Steel on Steel - Donald McElvaney (September 27, 2011)

1. Iranian Authorities Free Christian after Year in Prison

2. Christians Live in Cloud of Fear in Zanzibar, Tanzania

3. Iranian Christian Pays for Faith with 105 Days in Evin Prison

4. Christian Nurse in Pakistan Boldly Opts to Report Videotaped Rape

5. Christians in Bhutan Seek to Dispel Regime’s Mistrust

6. Somali Convert to Christianity Kidnapped, Beheaded

7. Muslim Extremists in Sudan Threaten to Target Christians

8. Messianic Jews Singled Out in Israeli Town

Steel On Steel Persecution Update

Steel on Steel - Donald McElvaney (September 16, 2011)

1. Nepal’s Churches Live under Threat, Discrimination

2. Church Building in North Sudan in Ruins as Hostilities Grow

3. Nigerian Army Said to Help in Slaughter of Christians

4. Church Leaders in Bangladesh Beaten at Police Station

5. Turkey Overturns Historic Religious Property Seizures

6. Two Pakistani Christians Seriously Injured for Refusing Islam

7. Muslim Extremists from Niger Help Kill Christians in Nigeria

8. Christians in China Suffer for Supporting Shouwang Church

Steel On Steel Persecution Update: India Briefs

Steel on Steel - Mahruaii Sailo (August 29, 2011)

Chhattisgarh, India, August 17 (Compass Direct News) – After receiving a letter from Hindu extremists demanding the closure of Grace Church in Dhamtari, district government officials on Aug. 6 stopped the church’s worship service, warning those present that they could be attacked if they continued to hold services in the area. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that the officials warned that if there is anymore Christian worship at Grace Church, the Christians would be responsible for any subsequent rioting. The church, led by Pastor Rohit Sahu, discontinued meeting, but area Christian leaders are taking steps to solve the matter.

Steel On Steel Persecution Update

Steel on Steel - Donald McElvaney (August 24, 2011)

1. Christian Accused of ‘Blasphemy’ in Pakistan Granted Rare Bail

2. Many of Pakistan’s Christian Flood Victims Still Homeless

3. Motives for Church Burnings in Indonesia Questioned

4. Insurgent Blast Ravages Church Building in Iraq

5. Christians in Bangladesh Cleared of Charge of Offending Muslims

6. Mayor in Indonesia Again Balks at Granting Church Permit

7. Girl in Uganda Loses Use of Legs after Leaving Islam for Christ

8. Coptic Christian Killed in Attack on Village in Upper Egypt

Iran seizes 6500 Bibles, citing rich missionary conspiracy

Jihad Watch (Link) - Marisol (August 19, 2011)

As the propagation of non-Islamic faiths is forbidden under Islamic law, missionary work is banned. But that won’t stop the mullahs from being paranoid about it, and taking the opportunity to remind the unbelievers of their place in the Islamic Republic of Iran. “Iran Seizes 6,500 Bibles to Stop ‘Deceiving’ Christian Missionaries,” by Fionna Agomuoh for the Christian Post, August 17:

Iran has seized 6,500 copies of the Bible in northwest Iran in what appears to be the latest crackdown by Iranian authorities against Christianity in the country.

Few details are known about the seizure, however, Christian news agency, Mohabat News, reports that Dr. Majid Abhari, adviser to the social issues committee of the parliament in Iran stated, “These missionaries with reliance on huge money and propaganda are trying to deviate our youth.”

Christian Genocide in Somalia

FrontPage Magazine (Link) - Frank Crimi (August 19, 2011)

The Islamist terrorist group al Shabab is intentionally starving Somali Christians in territory it controls. It’s just the latest incident in the terror group’s systematic efforts to eradicate all of Somalia’s Christians.

According to the International Christian Concern (ICC), al Shabab’s intentional denial of humanitarian aid has resulted in the deliberate starvation of 18 Christians in the Somali cities of Afgoye, Baidawa, and Kismayo. As ICC spokesman Jonathan Racho said, “Any Somali that is suspected of being a Christian, or a friend of a Christian, does not receive any food aid.”

Unfortunately, the ongoing and purposeful elimination of the small Somali Christian community at the hands of al Shabab has gone largely unrecognized and unreported, eclipsed by the other horrors of rape, torture and murder perpetrated upon most of Somalia’s Muslim population by the Islamist terrorist group.

It goes without saying that al Shabab’s brutality has been well documented, most recently in a report issued by Human Rights Watch, which found the terror group continuing to carry out public beheadings and floggings; forced recruitment of children into its forces; and the denial of humanitarian assistance to the 2.2 million starving Somalis in al Shabab-controlled territory.

Top Story: Iran’s Christian Shutdown

Steel On Steel (Email) - Frank Crimi (August 19, 2011)

Iran’s Supreme Court has upheld a lower court ruling that Yosef Nadarkhani, a 32 year-old Iranian evangelical pastor, must reject his Christian faith or be put to death. It’s the latest incident in the Islamist Republic’s continuous and increased assault on its small Christian population.

Nadarkhani was first arrested on the charge of apostasy (leaving Islam for another faith) in October 2009 and sentenced to death by hanging for his refusal to teach Islam to Christian children. While Nadarkhani hadn’t practiced any faith before he became a Christian at age19, he was born to Muslim parents and thus considered to be a Muslim under Islamic law.

As such, Nadarkhani’s conviction was upheld in September 2010 by a lower Iranian court when it found that he had proven his apostasy by “organizing evangelistic meetings, sharing his faith, inviting others to convert, and running a house church.” At that point, Nadarkhani appealed to Iran’s Supreme Court to have his death sentence reversed but that appeal has now been rejected.

To Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, Nadarkhani’s attorney, the Iranian court decision came as a surprise as only one month ago he had been under the impression that his client’s appeal had been granted. Instead, Nadarkhani now stands to be the first Iranian Christian executed for apostasy since 1990.

Top Story: Iran’s Christian Shutdown

Steel On Steel (Email) - Frank Crimi (August 19, 2011)

Iran’s Supreme Court has upheld a lower court ruling that Yosef Nadarkhani, a 32 year-old Iranian evangelical pastor, must reject his Christian faith or be put to death. It’s the latest incident in the Islamist Republic’s continuous and increased assault on its small Christian population.

Nadarkhani was first arrested on the charge of apostasy (leaving Islam for another faith) in October 2009 and sentenced to death by hanging for his refusal to teach Islam to Christian children. While Nadarkhani hadn’t practiced any faith before he became a Christian at age19, he was born to Muslim parents and thus considered to be a Muslim under Islamic law.

As such, Nadarkhani’s conviction was upheld in September 2010 by a lower Iranian court when it found that he had proven his apostasy by “organizing evangelistic meetings, sharing his faith, inviting others to convert, and running a house church.” At that point, Nadarkhani appealed to Iran’s Supreme Court to have his death sentence reversed but that appeal has now been rejected.

To Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, Nadarkhani’s attorney, the Iranian court decision came as a surprise as only one month ago he had been under the impression that his client’s appeal had been granted. Instead, Nadarkhani now stands to be the first Iranian Christian executed for apostasy since 1990.

Steel On Steel Persecution Update

Steel on Steel - Donald McElvaney (August 6, 2011)

1. Pastor in Iran Awaits Decision on Execution

2. Muslims Seize Christian Burial Sites in Tanzania’s Archipelago

3. House Church Alliance Leader in China Sentenced to Labor Camp

4. Muslim Extremists Torch Churches in Zanzibar, Tanzania

5. Two Bombs Explode Near Churches in Jos, Nigeria

6. Kidnapped Christian Girl in Sudan Escapes, Traumatized

7. Blast Near Church in Kirkuk, Iraq Injures 13

8. Muslim Extremists in India Attack, Threaten Christian Women

Steel On Steel Persecution Update

Steel on Steel - Donald McElvaney (July 30, 2011)

1. Imprisoned Lao Pastor ‘Extremely Weak,’ Family Says

2. Churches in Nigeria Shuttered, Reduced with Uptick in Terrorism

3. Pakistani Muslims Convicted for Beating Christian to Death

4. Funeral Held for Christians Killed in Suleja, Nigeria Bombing

5. India Briefs

3 Reasons the Media Quickly Embraced the Label ‘Fundamentalist Christian’ for Norway’s Terrorist

The Christian Post (Link) - Ed Stetzer (July 29, 2011)

By now, it appears, the media has decided that Norway’s shooter was not a “Christian fundamentalist.” GetReligion’s Terry Mattingly, explained:

At this point, I think most journalists have reached the point that they know that Anders Behring Breivik (a) has self-identified as a ‘Christian,’ (b) yet he also made it clear that he is not a Christian believer, in terms of beliefs and practice and (c) that it is bizarre to call him a “fundamentalist,” in any historic sense of the word.

This is a far cry from initial reports. CNN is my preferred news station and could not count how many times I heard the word, “Christian fundamentalist.” We are told we should renounce the “Christian terrorist,” and lest anyone be unclear, I (and all Christians) do. That label “Christian fundamentalist” traveled around the world before anyone asked if it was correct. Now, calmer voices have emerged. CNN’s Belief Blog brings the clarity:

Steel On Steel Persecution Update: India Briefs

Steel on Steel - Mahruaii Sailo (July 22, 2011)

Andhra Pradesh, India, July 8 (Compass Direct News) – Pastor Johnny Lazarus, 50, was beaten by Hindu extremists on June 28 at Bollepally village in Bhongir Mandal. The All India Christian Council (AICC) reported that one extremist, Malla Reddy, accused Pastor Lazarus of performing witchcraft on him. Reddy and his family members verbally abused the pastor and his faith, saying, “You brought a low-caste god among us,” slapped him and threatened to harm him further if he did not leave the area immediately. The pastor reported the attack to police and to the AICC. Police officers summoned both parties on July 1, and the attackers apologized to the pastor, putting into writing that they would not disturb him again. The pastor forgave his assailants.

Steel On Steel Persecution Update

Steel on Steel - Donald McElvaney (July 11, 2011)

1. Muslim Mobs in Egypt Attack Christian Homes, Threaten Priest

2. Chinese Authorities Expel Shouwang Church Member from Beijing

3. Beleaguered Chinese Church to Provide Legal Aid to Members

4. Messianic Christian Couple in Israel Accused of Converting Minor

5. Pastor’s Father Beaten Unconscious in Attack in Rajasthan, India

6. Pakistan’s Christian Sanitation Workers Swept into Societal Gutter

7. Cuban Pastor, Family Arrive in U.S. after Suffering under Regime

8. Imprisoned Lao Pastor ‘Extremely Weak,’ Family Says

Steel On Steel Persecution Update

Steel on Steel - Donald McElvaney (July 1, 2011)

• China

• Egypt

• Iran

• Nepal

• Nigeria

• Pakistan

• Sudan

• India

Iran Arrests Christians as More Muslims Convert

CBN News (Link) - Gary Lane (July 1, 2011)

Hundreds of Christians in Iran have been arrested and imprisoned since the beginning of this year.

The crackdown has led to 285 believers in 35 cities being arrested in Iran in the past six months, according to Elam Ministries, an organization that serves Christians in that country.

Many of those Christians have spent weeks and even months in prison, often serving long stretches in solitary confinement. They also have endured interrogations and psychological abuse.

Iranian Pastor Hormoz Shariat is with International Antioch Ministries. He hosts a satellite television show that is broadcast into Iran.

“Most often the Revolutionary Guards arrest and don’t even tell their family. They can’t have a lawyer, not even a formal charge. Sometimes they get killed without even a formal charge,” he explained.

Steel On Steel Persecution Update

Steel on Steel - Donald McElvaney (June 27, 2011)

1. Pastor, Church Official Shot Dead in Nigeria

2. Police in Pakistan Torture Sister of Christian Who Eloped

3. Christian Communities near Town in Nigeria Disappearing

4. Pakistani Families Flee after Another Bogus ‘Blasphemy’ Charge

5. China’s Official Church Members ‘Admonish’ Shouwang Group

6. Sudanese Military, Militias Kill Christians in South Kordofan

7. Christian, Visiting Lepers Beaten, Jailed in India

8. Hostile Rhetoric Turns Up Heat on Iranian Christians

Steel On Steel Persecution Update

Steel on Steel - Donald McElvaney (June 14, 2011)

1. PROVINCIAL OFFICIAL ORDERS CHURCHES TO CLOSE

2. CHRISTIAN SENTENCED BEYOND PROSECUTOR’S REQUEST

3. VILLAGERS BEAT CHRISTIAN FOR DEFENDING GIRLS

4. SOME WARY OF BLACK-LISTING COUNTRY FOR RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

5. ISLAMIC EXTREMISTS ATTACK CHURCHES IN CAIRO

6. ‘BLASPHEMY’ LAWS IN EGYPT, SUDAN THREATEN CONVERTS

7. AUTHORITIES, ISLAMISTS STOP CHURCH FROM RE-OPENING

8. ‘BLASPHEMY’ LAW A WEAPON FOR RADICAL ISLAM

9. KIDNAPPERS ALLEGEDLY CALLED MURDERED CHRISTIAN’S EMPLOYER

10. CHURCH LEADERS CALL FOR PROBE INTO ELECTION VIOLENCE

11. PASTOR’S WIFE, CHILDREN AMONG CHRISTIANS KILLED IN ATTACK

12. MUSLIM EXTREMISTS BURN CHURCH BUILDING, HOMES

13. RIOTING MUSLIMS DAMAGE CHURCH, PROPERTIES

14. MENTALLY ILL CHRISTIAN CHARGED WITH ‘BLASPHEMY’

15. ‘BLASPHEMY’ LAWS POSE GROWING THREAT

16. MUSLIMS KIDNAP CHRISTIAN GIRL OVER BROTHER’S ‘AFFAIR’

17. CHRISTIAN WOMAN IN DARFUR ARRESTED FOR EVANGELIZING

18. AUTHORITIES TRY TO PORTRAY CULT GATHERING AS CHRISTIAN

Steel On Steel Persecution Update

Steel on Steel - Donald McElvaney (June 6, 2011)

1. Muslim Extremists Burn Church Building, Homes in Nigeria

2. Kidnappers Allegedly Called Murdered Iraqi Christian’s Employer

3. Pakistani Muslims Kidnap Christian Girl over Brother’s ‘Affair’

4. Authorities, Islamists in Egypt Stop Church from Re-Opening

5. Christian Woman in Darfur, Sudan Arrested for Evangelizing

6. Provincial Official in Algeria Orders Churches to Close

7. Algerian Christian Sentenced Beyond Prosecutor’s Request

8. Police Reluctant to Prosecute Attack on Pakistan Church

9. Nepal Plans New Criminal Code Forbidding Evangelism

Public Enemy: Iran’s Persecution Backfires

Christianity Today (Link) - Trevor Persaud (June 1, 2011)

A major spike in the harassment and arrest of Iranian Christians in recent months is revealing just how nervous the Islamic republic is about the prodigious success of house churches, say Iranian Christian leaders.

At least 202 Christians in 24 cities faced “arbitrary” arrest between June 2010 and January 2011, according to Elam Ministries. Elam, run by Iranian expatriates, counted 80 arrests over 2008 and 2009 combined.

“[Iran] has been substantially more public in its oppression of Christianity,” said Todd Nettleton, a spokesman for Voice of the Martyrs. “Announcing it on the news, having the mullahs talk about it in their Friday sermons—it’s just become a lot more out in the open.”

“Persecution has escalated to an unprecedented level,” said Abe Ghaffari, executive director of Iranian Christians International. While Iran’s historic Armenian and Assyrian congregations usually enjoy freedom of worship, Farsi-speaking house churches hosting converts from Islam work under significant threat.

Steel On Steel Persecution Update

Steel on Steel - Donald McElvaney (May 27, 2011)

1. Nigerian Church Leaders Call for Probe into Election Violence

2. Some Wary of Black-Listing Egypt for Rights Violations

3. Mentally Ill Christian Charged with ‘Blasphemy’ in Pakistan

4. Vietnam Tries to Portray Cult Gathering as Christian

5. Islamic Extremists Attack Churches in Cairo, Egypt

6. Nigerian Pastor’s Wife, Children among Christians Killed in Attack

7. Indonesian ‘Blasphemy’ Law a Weapon for Radical Islam

8. Villagers in Bangladesh Beat Christian for Defending Girls

9. Pakistan’s ‘Blasphemy’ Laws Pose Growing Threat

Among Israeli Jews, 20,000 embrace Christ

Baptist Press (Link) - Ava Thomas (May 26, 2011)

White and blue flags rustled in the breeze, and kebabs sizzled on the grill. Ben Martin* gathered the group around and offered a prayer of thanks for the food.

“Thank You for this food. Thank You for this nation. And thank You that after 2,000 years, You haven’t forsaken Israel.”

He hasn’t forsaken it -- in fact, Jesus Christ is at work among the Jews more than ever, Martin said.

The crowd at this Israeli Independence Day party was more diverse than one might expect for a get-together celebrating the founding of the Jewish homeland in 1948.

There were Iranian Jews. Iraqi Jews. Russian Jews. American Jews.

“The face of the Jews here isn’t what you’d expect,” said Martin, a Christian worker among the Jews. “Because of ‘the return,’ it’s a very diverse group.”

Steel On Steel Persecution Update

Steel on Steel - Donald McElvaney (May 17, 2011)

Top Stories:

1. Suspected Islamists Burn Down Two Homes in Ethiopia

2. Egyptian Convert Flees Potential Dangers in Syria

3. Hindu Extremists in India Beat Pastor Unconscious

4. Charges Fabricated against Six Christians in Bangladesh

5. Church Building in Egypt Reconstructed in Time for Easter

6. Survey of Christians in India Sets Off Alarm Bells

7. Rioting Muslims Damage Church, Properties in Pakistan

Following Jesus While Rejecting the Bible? Yet Another Tragedy in Mainline Protestantism

AlbertMohler.com (Link) - Albert Mohler (May 11, 2011)

Yet another denomination has voted to ordain openly homosexual candidates to its ministry. Yesterday, the Presbyterian Church (USA) presbytery of the Twin Cities in Minnesota voted to approve a change to the church’s constitution that will allow the denomination’s 173 presbyteries to ordain persons without regard to sexual orientation.

The Twin Cities presbytery cast the deciding vote in what is now a 33-year effort to remove all restrictions on homosexuals serving in the church’s ordained ministry. It became the 87th presbytery to affirm the action of the church’s 219th assembly last summer authorizing the constitutional change. The action not only concludes over three decades of controversy over the ordination standards; it also reverses actions taken in 1997, 2001, and 2008, when similar efforts failed.

In 1996, the denomination restated its ordination requirements to include “fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness.” That policy had also required that candidates “refusing to repent of any self-acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained and/or installed as deacons, elders or ministers of the Word and Sacrament.”

Steel On Steel Persecution Update: India Briefs

Steel on Steel - Mahruaii Sailo and Binaifer Wadia (May 4, 2011)

Maharashtra, India, April 29 (Compass Direct News) – A group of Hindu extremists on April 24 disrupted the Easter celebrations of Christians at Dasturipada in Palgha, attacking them with clubs. One unidentified tribal Christian sustained a fractured bone in his hand, reported the Global Council of Indian Christians. The attack came three days after a mob disrupted a Maundy Thursday prayer service on April 21 at Devkuppada in Palghar. No arrests have been made in either incident. Following the April 21 attack, police were deployed in large numbers at Devkuppada, near Dasturipada. “Ever since a newspaper carried a report on mass conversions, tribals are being assaulted,” Abraham Mathai, vice-chairman of the Maharashtra state minorities commission, reportedly said. The All India Catholic Union reported one of the tribal Christians as saying, “I have not stepped out of my house since the attack on Maundy Thursday. We are living in fear.” – MS

Karnataka, India, April 25 (Compass Direct News) – Police forced a pastor to stop leading worship services after Hindu extremists on April 22 disrupted his Good Friday service in Nandi Tavere village, Davengere district, and falsely accused him of forcible conversion. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that Pastor Umesh Nayak of Calvary Bethel Church was leading worship at about 11 a.m. when nearly 15 extremists stormed the church, snatched Bibles from the congregation and tore them up. A GCIC coordinator told Compass that the Hindu extremists chased away most of the congregation except for the pastor and six other church members, who remained locked inside the building. When informed of the attack, GCIC officials intervened at the Malai Bennur police station, which sent officers and released the Christians and then took them into custody for questioning. Police released Pastor Nayak at about 4:30 p.m. after he signed a statement to refrain from leading worship services in the village. – BW

Christians flee from coming Islamic law

WorldNet Daily (Link) (April 25, 2011)

As Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood declares its intent to institute Islamic law, intelligence sources report al-Qaida is staging attacks in the Middle East nation, prompting concern that Coptic Christians soon will be driven from their homeland.

International Christian Concern’s Aidan Clay says the Copts’ attitude has gone from uncertainty to fear, which is driving many Coptic Christians to try to leave Egypt.

“A report from a very prominent Copt says he’s getting hundreds of calls a week from Coptic Christians who are trying to get out of the country,” Clay told WND in an interview. “That’s an extremely sad thing considering we’re seeing that throughout the Middle East. We’re seeing the quick removal of ancient Christian communities. Egypt has the highest Christian population of any country and a very old Christian church there.”

Clay blames the increasing pressure on the growing political influence of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamic groups.

“So really, there is a fear that the Muslim Brotherhood could take power,” he said. “It’s the same with the Salafis. They’re now saying they’re willing to run for Parliament.”

Steel On Steel Persecution Update: India Briefs

Steel on Steel - Mahruaii Sailo and Binaifer Wadia (April 17, 2011)

Karnataka – Police on April 10 arrested a pastor and other Christians of the New India Church in Mysore after some 25 Hindu extremists from the Sreeram Sena attacked their Sunday service, accusing them of forcible conversions, reported the Mathrubhumi daily. Pastor Vinod Chacko was leading the service when the Hindu nationalists barged into the church, stopped the prayer service and complained to police of alleged forcible conversions. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that the extremists along with police detained the worshippers inside the church building, including 20 women and 10 children, taking down personal details about them and asking them whether they were paid money or otherwise lured to attend. Police also seized vehicles belonging to the church and those attending the service. Police charged Pastor Chacko, his wife Asha and others identified only as Sabu, Simon and Sayazu under section 295A of the Indian Penal Code with “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings.” – BW