What Good is the " War on Terror", if those who are fighting terror, are themselves creating it ???

IRAQ's Growing Government-Hostility to Christianity

IRAQ: CHURCHES TARGETED AS TENSIONS RISE
- pray for the Christians of Iraq

By Elizabeth Kendal
World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission (WEA RLC)
Special to ASSIST News Service

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA (ANS) -Feb 1/06 - On Sunday 29 January, five car bombs exploded in Kirkuk and Baghdad between 4:10pm and 4:30pm. Three people were killed by the Kirkuk bombs which went off outside the Church of the Virgin and an Orthodox church. In Baghdad, car bombs exploded outside the Vatican embassy, The Disciples of St Peter and Paul Orthodox church and an Anglican church. At least 14 people altogether were injured. An Assyrian Christian source reported that Assyrian Christian university students in Mosul were beaten by mobs of Muslim students angry about the cartoons of Mohammed published in Denmark last September. It appears the church bombings were also linked to local anger over the Danish cartoons. 

(BACKGROUND. As the Copenhagen Post explains: last year, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten challenged Danish illustrators to submit cartoons of Mohammad after reports that artists were refusing to illustrate works about Islam for fear of Islamic fundamentalist retribution. Twelve of the cartoons were published to test whether Muslim fundamentalists had begun affecting the freedom of expression in Denmark. Muslims were incensed. The cartoons reappeared in a Norwegian magazine on 10 January, causing tensions to soar to new heights. Clerics and international Islamic bodies are provoking widespread Islamic agitation. Jordan's parliament has called for the Danish artists to be punished. Libya has closed its embassy. Muslims are being encouraged to boycott Danish goods. The artists and newspaper editor have received death threats. On 28 January the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) released a statement decrying the 'obnoxious and distasteful act whose gravity is of un-proportional magnitude'.) 

On Friday 27 January, Muslims in Baghdad listened to fiery sermons denouncing the Danish and Norwegian publications. Sheikh Hazem al-Aaraji, preaching in his mosque in the Shi'ite Kadhimiya neighborhood of Baghdad, described the cartoons as an attack on Islam. In a subsequent demonstration in Kadhimiya, Muslims marched and shouted slogans including, 'Jews, the army of Mohammad and Ali will return.'  (This is a 'war cry' threat of religious cleansing popularised by Hamas. It refers to the Jews of Khaybar who were conquered and subjugated by Mohammad in 628 and then expelled, along with the Christians of Najran, from the Arabian Peninsula by Umar in 640 when he 'cleansed' it according to Mohammad's wish that no religion other than Islam should exist there.)  Zaman.com (Turkey) reported that some 10,000 angry Muslims, mainly supporters of Iraqi Shiite Leader Muqtada Al-Sadr, protested in Baghdad against the newspaper and the Danish government. Al-Sadr's deputy, Salah Al Ubaydi, addressed the crowd. After Sunday's bombings, Iraq's Muslim Ulema Council released a statement condemning the attacks, declaring, 'This is not the way to deal with the newspaper that has offended the prophet Mohammad.' 

Iraqi Christians are extremely vulnerable. Sunnis and Shi'ites are reported to be polarising along sectarian lines with social groups and even whole suburbs becoming less mixed and identifying more by religious affiliation. It is also reportedly the same with student groups in universities. As people, groups and whole communities start to identify by religious affiliation rather than their common Iraqi nationality, the Christian minority find themselves increasingly despised, marginalised and exposed. They are endangered, without equality before the (Islamic) law, having no clan networks and retaliation ideology, and lacking security in a lawless Islamic society. Muslim threats to treat the Christians as the Jews of Khaybar should not be taken lightly. Two-thirds of the Assyrian Christian population died in the Assyrian genocide of 1915. The Jews were massacred and forced out of Iraq in early June 1941 and 1947-51, ending a 2600-year history of Jews in Mesopotamia/Iraq. While over 100,000 Jews were rescued by Israel, the Christians were shamefully abandoned by the West. Anyone who thinks such atrocities could not occur in this enlightened, UN-supervised age of human rights should just remember Rwanda 1994, and pray for the Christians of Iraq. 

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY FOR:

	God to mercifully protect, preserve and strengthen his children,his witnesses, in Iraq.
	the Christians of Iraq to grow in brotherly love, solidarity and spiritual unity, across denominational and racial lines (spiritual victory!).
	their growth also in wisdom, faith and prayer with a real sense of urgency for the Holy Spirit to descend upon their nation – may God answer their prayers and reveal his glory.

Saturday, July 23, 2005 

PETITION DRIVE LAUNCHED FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN IRAQ
World Compassion Works to Influence Iraqi Leaders; Shape New Constitution

By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service 

TULSA, OKLAHOMA (ANS) -- As the country of Iraq considers how to structure its new government, an international petition drive is urging Iraqi leaders to include a guarantee of religious freedom.

According to a media release obtained by ASSIST News Service (ANS), World Compassion, a faith-based organization that works in dangerous areas of the world, launched the petition drive to urge that guarantees of religious freedom be included in the new Iraqi constitution.

"The goal is to collect one million signatures, not only from American-Iraqi citizens, but also from concerned people around the world," said ministry founder and president, Dr. Terry Law, who will present a sampling of the petitions to Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari in early August.

"Do you think the recent war in Iraq was worth it?" Law asks. 

"Everyone is asking themselves this question. It is my opinion that this war isn't over until there is a guarantee of religious freedom and basic human rights in the new constitution being created at this very moment. We must let the framers of this new document know the world is watching."

Dr. Law met last year with Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi to discuss religious freedoms in the country, and highlighted the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights that states, "everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion"

"We’re not asking that a specific religion be practiced in Iraq," said Law. "We just want Iraqis to have the freedom to choose for themselves."

According to its ministry website, World Compassion is a non-denominational, faith-based international organization. It was founded by Dr. Terry Law in 1969 to assist churches in meeting the physical and spiritual needs of people in their communities. Dr. Law feels strongly that the calling of the organization is to areas of the earth where most men fear going due to political, religious and/or economic instability. 

The site says that for the past 30 years World Compassion has worked specifically in nations that are difficult to access with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Positive results have been achieved through the distribution of Christian literature, food, clothing, medical supplies, and school supplies and through psycho-social counseling among vulnerable populations devastated by years of war and/or oppressive regimes. 

It states: "World Compassion sends teams of workers into areas in desperate need of assistance and a witness of the Gospel. Once there, we attempt to build relationships with churches, community leaders and government officials. If a church exists, we work alongside believers to identify specific needs in the communities and how to most effectively aid in the resolution of these needs. We provide training and encouragement for individuals and families to cooperate for the betterment of their communities." 

Those interested in signing the petition can log-on to: www.worldcompassion.tv . 

Although a sampling will be shown to the Iraqi Prime Minister, no names or addresses will be given to the Iraqi government to protect those who wish to remain anonymous. In addition to the prime minister, Dr. Law will meet with those working on the new constitution, which has an August 15 deadline for completion. 

IRAQI CHURCH LEADERS FEAR IMPOSITION OF ISLAMIC LAW

By Jeremy Reynalds
Special Correspondent for ASSIST News Service 

IRAQ (ANS) - July 22, 2005 - A letter signed by the leaders of nine Christian denominations in Iraq pleads that the new constitution should ensure the equality of all faiths in Iraq.

The leaders’ concerns arise from reports that the Shi’a majority is pushing for Islamic law (shari’a) to be enshrined in the constitution.

According to an e-mail from the Barnabas Fund, the letter reads in part, “If there is a move towards the confirmation of the role of the Islamic religion in Iraqi society, then it is only natural to confirm the role of other religions that have been historically established in Iraq. We are only asking for … equality, freedom and equal opportunities and the prevention of racial, religious and denominational discrimination.”

A draft constitution is currently being prepared by a sub-committee of the Iraqi Assembly, which must be completed by Aug. 15. Following that, the draft will be evaluated and possibly revised by the Assembly. 

Church leaders are fearful, the Barnabas Fund reported, that if shari’a is given a place in the constitution, Christians and other non-Muslims will face the same kind of discrimination and second-class status which they experience in other countries where shari’a law is in effect (www.bible.ca/islam/islam-kills-islamic-law-shariah.htm). Iraq would become an Islamic state. 

According to the Barnabas Fund, Bishop Andreas Abouna, who presented the letter, said a pro-shari’a constitution would result in such a massive exodus of Christians from Iraq that the Christian presence could practically disappear. There have been Christians in Iraq since the first century AD.

More information is available on this issue at www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39754&SelectRegion=Iraq_Crisis&SelectCountry=IRAQ%20 . 

Iraq: Christians Face Threats From All Sides
By Kathleen Ridolfo

Christians in a Baghdad church 

July 3/05 - (RFE) - As Iraqis work to draft a permanent constitution that may deem Islam a source of legislation for the country, the Christian community faces the prospect of a life where they may worship freely, but will have little representation or benefits from government.


The protest by Christians from a number of Iraqi towns and villages in northern Iraq who were not afforded the vote in January's elections has been well documented. Ballot boxes never arrived at polling stations in several towns, and an investigation carried out by the Independent Election Commission deemed that it would not allow the vote to take place at a later date. The National Assembly election resulted in six Christians gaining seats in the parliament; Christians argued they were entitled to twice as many seats. 

Many of Iraq's Christians see their plight in ever-disheartening terms, and view their fate as part of a history in which their community has suffered at the hands of more dominant groups in Iraq. 

Since the fall of the Hussein regime, Christians have been targeted in bombings against churches, shrines, hair salons, and liquor stores. Christian women and children were routinely kidnapped and held for exorbitant ransoms. Muslim zealots have forced women to veil in markets, universities, and schools, some Christians claim. 

A 26 June report in the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) daily "Kurdsitani Nuwe" contends that many families have sought shelter from the attacks in the PUK-controlled areas of eastern Kurdistan. Other families -- as many as 40,000 people according to some reports -- have migrated to foreign countries, most notably Syria. 

Those families who relocated to PUK areas are considered internally displaced people, and PUK head and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has ordered the Kurdistan local government to provide these families with plots of land, homes, and employment, according to the report. 

Assyrians living in the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP)-controlled area of western Kurdistan also experience good relations with their Kurdish neighbors. However, some Assyrians claim there is tension between them and the KDP. The tension appears directly related to aspirations by some Assyrians for an autonomous self-administered area comprising their towns and villages in northern Iraq. Residents of these villages and towns have claimed that the KDP has not allowed for the implementation of Article 53 of the Transitional Administrative Law issued by the Coalition Provisional Authority last year that states: "This law shall guarantee the administrative, cultural, and political rights of the Turkomans, Chaldo-Assyrians, and all other citizens." 

The villages in question further claim that the KDP government has not distributed revenues to their towns, and they want their fair share. U.S.-based Freedom House's Nina Shea has supported the claim, saying Kurdish administrators have withheld U.S. reconstruction funds from Chaldo-Assyrian areas and confiscated Christian farms and villages, iht.com reported on 14 March. 

Christians south of the Kurdistan region face greater difficulties. More than 20 churches have been bombed since the fall of the Hussein regime. Purported Islamist militants have kidnapped, killed, and in some cases beheaded Christians. 

Insurgent propaganda in Iraq has always portrayed U.S.-led multinational forces in Iraq as "Christian Crusaders" who have made Iraq the first stop in their quest to conquer the Arab world and destroy Islam. The comparison has left Christians in Iraq more vulnerable to insurgent attacks. However, it appears until now to have had little impact on Iraqis' views of indigenous Christians. 

There is a growing fear among Christians in Iraq, however, that proselytizing evangelical Christians who entered the country after the war may inflict the most harm on the Christian communities. Christian leaders are worried about their congregations dwindling after the mass exodus of Christians before and after the war. Moreover, proselytizing has never been accepted among Muslims in Iraq and religious communities have long practiced a policy of not trying to convert other religions to their fold. Indigenous leaders fear the practice may strain Muslim-Christian relations. 

"The way the preachers arrived here...with soldiers...was not a good thing," the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Baghdad, Jean Sleiman told washingtonpost.com on 23 June. "I think they had the intention that they could convert Muslims, though Christians didn't do it here for 2,000 years," he continued, adding: "In the end, they are seducing Christians from other churches." Sleiman posited that new churches were creating a "new division" among Iraq's Christians because they impacted the cultural tradition of Christians there. 

The Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) addressed the issue of Kurdish Muslims who have converted to Christianity in recent months through the efforts of evangelicals in a 29 June report (http://www.iwpr.net). Converts told IWPR that the Muslim community tends to ostracize converts. "I consider that those who turn to Christianity pose a threat to society," said Muhammad Ahmad Gaznayi, Kurdish religious affairs minister. The Kurdistan Islamic League has called the practice an "unhealthy phenomenon" and a "strange and terrible act," IWPR reported.

THERE IS NOT ONE CHRISTIAN NATION ON EARTH WHERE MUSLIMS ARE PERSECUTED.

Yet in most nations where the majority of the population are Muslims, there is systematic government persecution of Christians.

"Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance."

--Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights--

Christian Conversions - According to the Bible - Can NEVER be forced.

Any Conversion to Christianity which would be "Forced" would NOT be recognized by God. It is in His True and KIND nature, that those who come to Him and choose to believe in Him, must come to Him OF THEIR OWN FREE WILL.



Don't Let anyone tell you that Christians support Forced Conversions.

That is False. True Christianity is NEVER forced.

Core Universal Rights

The right to believe, to worship and witness
The right to change one's belief or religion
The right to join together and express one's belief