Tag Archives: Christian Persecution

Jerusalem Christian Seminary Attacked In Hate Crime

A Greek Orthodox seminary in Jerusalem was burned Thursday and anti-Christian graffiti was sprayed on a nearby wall.

Police in the area say it’s clearly a hate crime.

The bathroom and corridor of Dormition Abbey was set on fire around 3 a.m. by unknown assailants.  As firefighters extinguished the flames, they saw the crudely written graffiti mocking Jesus Christ.

A court has issued a gag-order for most of the details of the crime but a witness shared what they saw about the attack.

“Two people who were hiding their faces came from the east side of the structure near the cemetery and the Catholic church,” he said. “From there they threw flammable liquid at the seminary’s bathroom.”

Israeli President Reuvin Rivlin was outraged by the attack.

“It is inconceivable that an act like this could happen in a house of prayer,” Rivlin said in a statement.

“This is a heinous crime, there must be an investigation and those responsible must be brought to justice. Such criminals not only threaten to set fire to places of worship holy to all of us, but ignite the regional powder keg upon which we all sit.”

ISIS Abducts 90 Syrian Christians

ISIS has abducted at least 90 people from Assyrian Christian villages in the northeastern part of Syria.

The British-based Observatory for Human Rights say the terrorists conducted dawn raids on villages west of Hasaka, a town controlled by the Kurds.  The Kurds had launched two major offensives against the terrorists on Sunday helped by U.S. airstrikes.

Kurdish leaders said that 14 terrorists were killed in their offensive.

ISIS refuses to admit they conducted the kidnappings although they posted pictures on social media showing the assault.

Assyrian Christians made up the majority of citizens of the region before the terrorists began their campaign.   Those remaining in the village after the raid are packing and fleeing to Hasaka seeing safety.

Sudanese Church Appeals Order To Close

The lawyers representing Khartoum Bahri Evangelical Church in Sudan is appealing a court decision to close the church and seize their property.

On February 18th, police arrived at the church with an order from a local court demanding the church be locked and seized.  The church’s lawyers say the order not specifically state what land or property was subject to seizure.

“In November 2014, congregants held a protest vigil in order to prevent NISS agents from gaining access to the land and illegally destroying and confiscating the property. In December 2014 the church was partially destroyed and 37 congregants arrested.”

The court is claiming the land was sold to a Muslim businessman by a church committee.  It was later discovered that the government formed a committee they said was a committee of the church and sold the land.   A lower court ruled in favor of the church that the committee was not associated with the church but a higher Muslim court said the Christians had to leave.

“The court order will effectively facilitate the illegal closure of yet another church at a time when the government has stated that the construction of new churches will no longer be permitted. We call upon the international community, and in particular the African Union, to hold Sudan to its obligations to protect the right to freedom of religion or belief and to guarantee the profession and free practice of religion as outlined in international statutes to which the nation is party,” Christian Solidary Worldwide said in a statement.

Memorial To Teacher Threatened By Anti-Christianists

The anti-Christian Freedom From Religion Foundation wants to destroy a monument to a beloved teacher because they cannot stand her Christian faith being referenced in the memorial.

Ravenswood Middle School in West Virginia has a monument to Joann Christy, a 26-year educators who died in a car accident.  The memorial had bench, two stone planters and several crosses to represent her deep Christian beliefs.

“There’s so many kids that came through this school that were affected by her death, that were affected by her teachings, and now we’re just trying to keep her memory alive here,” Tracy Sadecky, a family friend, told a local TV station.

The family of the late teacher agreed to have the crosses removed in an attempt to appease the hate group, but left angels saying that Christy had a collection of angels and the angels represented her.

Administration Criticized For Refusing To Acknowledge Christian Martyrs

The Obama administration is coming under fire from Christian leaders after President Obama refused to acknowledge that ISIS killed 21 Coptic Christians because of their faith in Christ.

President Obama called the men “Egyptian citizens.”

“ISIS made very clear in this video that this was an execution of ‘people of the cross.’ ISIS apparently has no difficulty saying ‘Christian,’ while the White House has a very difficult time,” Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council said.

“Why not say to these Christians who are being killed for their faith that they’re welcome to come here and have refugee status here in the United States or safe haven here in the United States?” he asked.

Retired General Jack Keane agreed with Perkins and said that Americans and the world need to realize the truth of the video.

“Clearly, this is a global jihad right before our eyes,” Gen. Keane said.

The White House is hosting a summit on how to “counter violent extremism.”

Egypt Bombs ISIS In Libya

Egyptian planed bombed ISIS targets in Libya Monday in a direct response to the terrorist’s killing of 21 Coptic Christians shown in a video this weekend.

The planes struck militant camps, training sites and at least one weapons storage area.

The terrorists have taken advantage of the unstable government in Libya since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.  The strikes by the Egyptian military are the first direct actions in Libya’s territory by the new Egyptian government.

The military issued a call to terrorists to say that Libya is not a safe haven for anyone who would issue a terrorist attack.

“And let those near and far know that the Egyptians have a shield that protects and preserves the security of the country, and a sword that eradicates terrorism,” the Egyptian military said in a statement.

The current Libyan government also participated in the attacks on ISIS.

Pope Francis issued a condemnation of the killings, saying that the 21 were killed only because they were Christians.

Middle East observers say the action by Egypt are part of a campaign of leaders in the region to tell ISIS they will not be moved.

“It’s swift and decisive, it’s not about strategy, it’s about containing anger within Egypt,” said Hassan Hassan, co-author of a book on Islamic State.

“Just like in Jordan, it’s more about saving face, saying: ‘You can’t mess with us’. …. It’s likely to evolve into a sustained strategy of helping in the fight against ISIS (Islamic State) in neighboring countries.”

Congressmen Defense Army Chaplain Punished For Offering Guidance

An Army chaplain who was disciplined for offering spiritual guidance now has the support of 24 representatives and senators.

“We are concerned that this disciplinary action violated First Amendment free speech protection that are undergirded by state reflected in the FY2013 and FY2014 NDAAs, along with the accompanying DoD regulations,” states the letter from the senators, sent to Army Secretary John McHugh.

“In fulfilling his duties as chaplain, Captain Lawhorn shared both his personal struggle with depression as well as biblical references and materials in accordance with the views of his endorsing agency and complementary to personal convictions.”

Army Chaplain Capt. Joseph Lawhorn was given a “letter of concern” from a superior at Fort Benning when he mentioned his Christian faith during a suicide prevention class.

The letter from Col. David Fivecoat said a handout he offered required people to see Christian information.

“You provided a two-sided handout that listed Army resources on one side and a biblical approach to handling depression on the other side,” the letter read.  “This made it impossible for those in attendance to receive the resource information without also receiving the biblical information.”

“Regrettably, military chaplains have been increasingly under fire simply for fulfilling their important and time-honored role in supporting our service members. This is just one more incident that sets a bad precedent, effectively gagging chaplains and keeping service members from getting the support they need,” Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty executive director Ron Crews said.

New Study Shows Christianophobia On The Rise Among Powerful Elite

A new study by two sociologists shows that anti-Christian hostility is on the rise in the United States and that a group of “elites” in areas such as higher education shows the greatest hate toward Christians.

George Yancey, professor of sociology at the University of North Texas told the Christian Post that Christians are fortunate those with anti-Christian hate are small in number but a concern because they can influence important areas of society.

Yancey said that one of the biggest problems with these anti-Christianists is that they are unable to see their bigotry and hatred toward Christians.

“I consistently saw evidence of Christianophobia in other areas of my life and in our society, unlike other types of intolerances, those who exhibited Christianophobia do not tend to think that they are intolerant,” Yancey said.  “Usually those who do not like blacks or Muslims admit that they are intolerant but simply try to justify their intolerance. Those with Christianophobia tend to deny that they are intolerant but rather that they are fairly interpreting social reality. Envisioning themselves as fair and free of intolerance allows them to blame those they detest rather than recognize how their emotions have distorted their intellectual judgments.”

He said the majority of those who exhibit the greatest levels of Christianophobia are those who self-describe as “liberal” or “progressive” and look down on those who profess faith.

“In the minds of many of the respondents Christians are ignorant, intolerant and stupid individuals who are unable to think for themselves. The general image they have of Christians is that they are a backward, non-critical thinking, child-like people who do not like science and want to interfere with the lives of everyone else,” Yancey stated.

Muslim Man Beats, Starves Girls Who Accepted Jesus

Two Kenyan teenage girls are in hiding after being beaten and starved by their uncle for accepting Christ.

Namwase Aisha, 16 and her sister Nabagabana Fatuma, 14, are being given trauma counseling and medical care after being rescued from their Muslim uncle.  The uncle had taken custody of the girls five years ago after the death of their father and tried to force them to become Muslims.

“My uncle became so furious because we had embraced Jesus,” Aisha told a Morning Star News source. “He locked us inside the house and began beating us with a wooden stick, and then we were left for three days without food. At the third day, we felt as if we were going to die, and we began crying for help.”

The girls say that while being taught about Islamic jinn, or evil supernatural creatures, they were troubled and could not sleep.  They said they were being harassed by these evil spirits and sought out the Christians because they wanted to be set free.

“Before leaving he church, we told the pastor of our problems, who first prayed for us to be followers of Jesus and later prayed that the evil spirits will not torment us again,” Aisha said. “After the prayers, we felt as if a big burden had been rolled away.”

The girls, fearful they will be killed for their profession of Christ, will be kept in hiding until they can flee to a western nation.

Boko Haram Proclaims 20,000 Square Mile Caliphate

The extremist group Boko Haram has announced they are mimicking ISIS in declaring their own Islamic caliphate.  The group aims to claim parts of Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

Dr. David Curry of Open Doors USA said during an event sponsored by the Family Research Council that people are underestimating the brutality of the terror group.

Curry said that in Nigeria alone, over 2,200 Christians were killed by the group in 2014 just for their faith in Christ.  He also said the estimate is low because there are many other deaths at the hands of Boko Haram they have not been able to verify as being motivated by the Christian faith of the victim.

He said that Boko Haram already controls a part of Nigeria the size of Belgium.

“Nigeria has been experiencing attacks much like the Iraqis were facing just a few years ago,” Curry explained. “You have Boko Haram, which has a very similar Al-Qaeda, Islamic State ideology, they have been making attacks, bombings, like you have seen on churches. Now all of a sudden they are beginning to take territory.

“There is a common-path pattern here,” Curry added. “First, individual attacks, then bombings, then the conquering of territory and attacking of civilian sites like army bases and these sorts of things.”

The governments of Chad and Cameroon said Wednesday they have been actively using their military powers against Boko Haram and have killed 250 terrorists this week.