An Ol’ Broad’s Ramblings
Just a Few Examples
So, ya think there’s not a war of religions? Muslims are peaceful and tolerant? There’s no war on Christianity?
TURKEY: ALLEGED INSTIGATORS NAMED IN MALATYA MURDERS
On April 18 at the Zirve Publishing office in Malatya in southeastern Turkey, two Turkish converts to Christianity and a German Christian were bound hand and foot, tortured with multiple stab wounds and had their throats cut. The victims were pastor Necati Aydin, 36; Ugur Yuksel, 32; and Tilmann Geske, 46.
The ritual slayings appeared to be a deliberate observance of the Quranic instruction to “strike terror into the hearts of unbelievers†by smiting them above the neck and striking every finger (Surah 8:12). The victims’ fingertips were sliced repeatedly and their windpipes and esophagi severed.
PAKISTAN: TALIBAN MILITANTS FORCE BURQA ON CHRISTIAN WOMEN’S SCHOOL
A Pakistani official in a northern district warned female teachers and students to don Islamic garb this week, citing threats from Taliban extremists active in the area.
The Pakistani Executive District Officer (EDO) issued a notice requiring female students in Swat district to wear burqas, an outer garment cloaking nearly the entire body, according to an article on Tuesday (September 25) in regional newspaper Daily Mashriq.
Christians in the Afghan-border region 120 miles north of Peshawar say that extremists from the Taliban movement, which ruled most of Afghanistan from 1995 to 2001, have targeted them in recent months.
Extremists in Swat have conducted a campaign of Islamization in the district against all things deemed un-Islamic since early July, when a government crackdown on militants at the Lal Masjid mosque in Islamabad triggered violent reactions nationwide.
NIGERIA: THREATS FORCE NORTHERN CHURCH UNDERGROUND
Death threats and other dangers here drove most of the members of a church of converts from Islam to other parts of northern Nigeria – yet a fellowship remains.
Of the 25 converts who formed a church in this city in the northeastern state of Borno two years ago, only three remain. Still, while worshipping separately in the towns where they now reside, once a month the converts brave the threats of Islamic extremists and family members to return to Maiduguri to secretly pray and praise together.
Rizwan was ready to convert to Hinduism
Rizwanur Rehman had agreed to convert to Hinduism, according to the wishes of his father-in-law Ashok Todi, to have a peaceful married life with Priyanka. In a letter written to an NGO two days before his mysterious death, the victim not only talked about his “harassment at the hands of top Kolkata Police personnel†but also involvement of politicians.
The letter, a copy of which is with The Indian Express, names local Trinamool MLA Javed Khan who acted as a mediator and asked Rizwan to “go and meet his father-in-lawâ€. Rizwan’s family members on Sunday demanded a CBI probe into the matter. Rukbanur Rehman, the victim’s elder brother, said: “My brother died after harassment by police. We will also write to the Chief Minister demanding justice.â€
Religious Crisis Averted in Kano
There was panic in Tudun Wada Local Government area of Kano State yesterday as youths unleashed terror on Christians living in the area. The action was as a result of speculations that a Christian teacher in the area drew a cartoon of Prophet Muhammad and displayed it in his sleeping room in the area.
The protesting youths caused serious pandemonium. Ten shops belonging to Igbo traders in the area were set on fire.
The cartoonist was said to have relocated to the house of the district head for safety, before the intervention of the police. The police are now on red alert in the town to prevent escalation of the crisis.
Ex-radical Muslim to warn Christians
Like many in the world, Daniel Shayesteh closely watched this week’s U.S. visit of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
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“He is just a liar. Unfortunately, lying in Islam is accepted for the sake of (advancing the) religion,†Shayesteh says.“He is a dictator and has the mind of a suicide bomber, really. He is the servant of the Supreme Leader in Iran (Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) and does what he says.â€
(…)
He calls Islam “a very hierarchical system of belief†that has no room for personal freedom or democratic values. These views, he says, have earned him death threats from the religion’s radical elements.Freedom, especially religious freedom, “is the target of Islam,†he says.
“When you read the Quran, it says that you must destroy other religions, Jews and Christians. … You cannot expect them to value your values.â€
Now, tell me again this isn’t a religious war?
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