Folly

Jewish-Muslim-Christian temple heralds Pope Francis' 'Abrahamic House'. Source: Church Militant

 

My in-tray receives  regular reports of Christians around the world being oppressed for their faith. Links in the right hand column to International Christian Concern and to the Barnabas Fund regularly highlight the dangers faced including kidnapping, rape and murder in countries such as Nigeria. 

Leaving aside state persecution such as that suffered by the Uighurs in China, I do not receive similar reports about oppressed Muslims. That is because they are regularly carrying out the persecution if not identified as such.

In an article Nigerian kidnappings reach crisis point there is no mention of Islam or Muslims, just a reference to Boko Harem, an Islamist group among the worst of oppressors.

Similarly in Great Britain grooming gangs who regarded young British white girls as "easy meat" were often referred to as of Asian Origin.

Islamist brutality is constantly swept under the carpet while any perceived criticism is branded as Islamophobia, defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as "Intense dislike or fear of Islam, esp. as a political force; hostility or prejudice towards Muslims".

As kind as many individual Muslims may be, plenty of people, particularly such as those Christians in Nigeria have good reason to fear Islam's political ideology.

It came as no surprise that Professor Swaran Singh's report on alleged anti-Muslim sentiment found that 

"Anti-Muslim sentiment 'remains a problem' within Conservative Party". 

Professor Singh "analysed 1,418 complaints relating to 727 separate incidents as recorded in the Tories' complaints database between 2015 and 2020" but complaining is encouraged among Muslims while Christians in this country are prevented from speaking.

The inquests into the Fishmongers' Hall terrorism attack clearly illustrate that there is much to fear from Islamic fundamentalists yet apologists constantly ignore the reality, promoting Islam on a par with Judaism and Christianity despite all the evidence that it is utter folly.  

A slave for her faith

 

Farah Shaheen (©Aid to the Church in Need).

I have regularly looked at the photo of this poor girl gazing through the camera because, stunned into inaction, the email from Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has remained in my in-tray. 

What are her thoughts? What if she were my daughter, or yours?

Farah's story is appalling, best explained by this extract from the ACN email:

"The father of a 12-year-old Christian girl – kidnapped, raped, shackled hand and foot, and forced to work from dusk till dawn – has at last spoken out about her ordeal.

"When police rescued Farah Shaheen from the Faisalabad house of 45-year-old Khizar Ahmed Ali (Hayat) in December 2020, she was too traumatised to speak but, bit by bit, has revealed her harrowing five-month ordeal to her father, Asif Masih.

"In a statement to Aid to the Church in Need, Mr Masih said his daughter was attached to a chain and forced to work all day “as a slave” damaging her shackled hands and feet in the process.

"Mr Masih said: 'Farah has told me she was treated like a slave. She was forced to work all day, cleaning filth in a cattle yard. 24-7 she was attached to a chain.'

"Condemning Mr Ahmed for forcing Farah to marry him and convert to Islam, he said: “She was sexually assaulted by her abductor and raped multiple times by [his] landlords”."

Sadly this is not an isolated case. The email continues:

"Describing the mistreatment of girls from minority faith backgrounds as 'a cancer in our society', he said: “I beg you to demand that the Government stops this evil in its tracks and brings the culprits to justice.”

"Pakistan’s Movement for Solidarity and Peace estimates that up to 1,000 young Christian and Hindu females between 12 and 25 are abducted each year."

Another tragic report describes how 14-year-old Maira Shahbaz was bundled into a car at gunpoint by three men on 28th April 2020, in Medina Town, Pakistan.  She was filmed and photographed being raped, and was then forced to convert to Islam and marry one of her abductors, Mohamad Nakash Tariq, 30 years her senior.

A petition has been presented to Fiona Bruce, MP, the Prime Minister's Special Envoy for Religious Freedom or Belief asking Prime Minister Boris Johnson to grant asylum for Maira Shahbaz and her family. In that regard Maira is luckier than most.

In 2019 the BBC reported Christian persecution 'at near genocide levels'. In 2021 little has changed.

Persecution of Christians Exacerbated by a Year of Covid-19 According to World Watch List 2021:

• Christians in numerous African and Asian nations have been refused coronavirus aid
  
  
• Islamic militants have exploited Covid-19 restrictions, increasing violence against Christians in sub-Saharan Africa by 30 per cent.
  
  
• Covid-19 has legitimised repression through increased surveillance by authoritarian governments such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
  
  
• Women have been especially vulnerable in Covid-imposed lockdowns, with psychological violence as well as kidnapping and forced conversions.

In another email ACN gives details of slaughter in Africa. Another highlights  Religious bias faced by Christians in Pakistan. In Myanmar displaced Christians have formed a village called 'Bethel' outside Yangon.

There are regular reports of attacks on Christians but not on action to curb them. 

In my entry The naivety of Christian leaders I wrote: Christian leaders would do well to heed the warning of bishop Michael Nazir-Ali who explained back in 2011 how Christianity has become almost extinct in the Middle East, the cradle of Christianity, and Islam, the 'religion of peace', has became dominant in the Arab world.

Christianity is on the decline while Muslims are the world’s fastest-growing religious group.

It doesn't take much imagination to realise the fate of Christians when looking at counties in which they are already a minority. 

Fulani Militants Destroy Church, Kidnap Seven from Southern Kaduna

In Three Years Fulani Militias Killed 2,539 People in 654 Attacks in Nigeria. Source: News Express

From International Christian Concern

"08/31/2020 Nigeria  – On August 24, Fulani militants conducted another attack on a Christian village in Southern Kaduna State, Nigeria. According to a report by Morningstar News, more than 20 herdsmen rode motorcycles into Damba Kasaya village, Kaduna state at about 8 a.m. that morning. During the attack, they killed a 35-year-old man named Benjamin Auta. They also kidnapped four students and one teacher from the Prince Academy, a small school. The final two were local farmers who have been missing since the attack. The four students who were taken, were all under the age of 18 and three of them were girls.

"Southern Kaduna has seen a lot of increased violence this year. According to the Southern Kaduna People’s Union, more than 50,000 Christians have been displaced from over 100 Christian villages in Southern Kaduna. These villages are mainly located in the counties of Kachia, Kajuru, Kaura and Chikun. The ongoing attacks have greatly affected the population of Southern Kaduna, which is where the vast majority of Christians live in this Sharia state. This is also the only area of that state that is so greatly affected by Fulani militant attacks. Please continue praying for the safety and security of our brothers and sisters in Kaduna State, Nigeria. They are often attacked, and their state federal government have greatly failed to protect them."

Earlier in August Nigeria's News Express reported that within three years more than 2,539 people had been killed, 393 wounded, 253 kidnapped, 16 raped, more than 7, 582 houses burnt and 24 churches destroyed in 654 attacks carried out by Fulani Militias, Nigeria’s most lethal group.

Villagers stand at a mass grave in Dogon Na Hauwa, Nigeria, in 2010.        Source: Christian Today

In response to a report co-authored by The International Organisation for Peace Building and Social Justice (PSJ UK), the International Committee on Nigeria (ICON) and the International Freedom of Religion or Belief All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), UK's Express described the situation as ‘Intolerable’ after it was claimed that 100,000 Christians had been murdered for their faith in Nigeria in the first two decades of this century.

"According to the report  43,242 of the Christian deaths as a result of the terrorism inflicted by Boko Haram, Islamic State, ISWAP and Al-Queda; 18,834 as a result of the terrorism inflicted by Fulani Militant Extremists; and 34,233 as a result of the terrorism inflicted by all other actors."

Lord Alton of Liverpool a vice chair of the APPG said: “Some local observers have gone so far as to describe the rising attacks as a campaign of ethno-religious cleansing.

Compared with the outpouring of grief over the 51 lives lost in the Christchurch mosque shootings the media's response has been extremely muted.  

African lives matter too.

Lamb to the slaughter

Halal lamb curry - BBC Countryfile style                                                                                                                                                        Source: BBC

I was not alone in being shocked at the BBC's Countryfile coverage of the plight of sheep farmers last Sunday.

"Roast lamb is getting rarer" it was claimed, not because of a shortage but "because there is no money in it when no-one buys it." Exports had doubled over the last 30 years. The legs go to the supermarkets but the rest goes abroad, it was stated.

Perhaps Wales Online had the answer when they reported:  "There are millions of sheep in Wales... so why is Welsh Lamb such a luxury ?" Grassland consultant Gareth Davies called for an investigation into the pricing process as the meat had come to be regarded as “a luxury” by consumers. He tweeted "In Tesco today and I didn't see any British lamb below £10 per kg. I sold lambs at £1.60. Would like to see breakdown of the other £8.40."

Rick Pendrous, editor at Food Manufacture magazine, said: “Welsh Lamb products are at a much higher premium than New Zealand lamb. From The Telegraph: "It has emerged a majority of New Zealand lamb sold in UK supermarkets comes from halal abattoirs in order to ensure it can be sold to both Muslim and non-Muslim nations. Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Waitrose and Marks & Spencer have all confirmed selling the imported meat."

This had led to growing pressure on supermarkets and restaurants to inform consumers how animals in their meat products are killed after it emerged some were selling halal meat without clear labelling.

Reacting to Countryfile 'promoting halal slaughter' the Express reported anger over the BBC's coverage: "The BBC has come under fire for broadcasting a segment on Halal meat on Sunday night’s Countryfile with viewers accusing the Corporation of hitting a “new low” and “justifying vile Halal slaughter practices on our soil”. This is a video clip from the programme

Discussing the practice the Imam featured in the video said: “There are certain practices where you want to fulfil a commandment of God and you’re basically invoking God’s name upon that. You are making the sacrifice in the name of God and now it’s made Halal. Halal means permissible and it’s been made permissible by God for you.”

He is not the loving God recognised by Christians. When the Apostle Peter said “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean, "The voice spoke to him a second time: 'Do not call anything impure' that God has made clean".

But the promotion of Islam goes beyond ritual slaughter of lamb. There have been many reports of our inability to confront the most dangerous aspects of Islam. ‘Rebel Priest’, Rev Jules Gomes graphically illustrated the problem when he wrote "Our most vulnerable girls pay sorely for our surrender to the Islamists".

The criminals, he says are often referenced as “Asians” rather than as “Muslims”. Although the predators hail from many ethnicities, many happen to be Pakistani.

"Rape in Pakistan is ‘often institutionalised and has the tacit and at times the explicit approval of the state.’ A Human Rights Watch study reports a rape every two hours and a gang rape every eight hours. What is particularly significant is the high percentage of Christian, Hindu, Sikh and other women from minorities raped by Muslim men in Pakistan. The British incidents reflect a perilous import from Pakistan."

God's name is invoked by Muslims in their cry Allahu Akbar (God is greater) when they slaughter the lamb and innocent victims of their intolerant ideology. Writing under the headline Danger, discrimination and dhimmitude the Barnabas Fund recently reported:

"Pakistan’s Christians are a suffering, vulnerable minority. They face violence at the hands of Islamist terrorists, discrimination in work and at school, and live with the ever-present threat of “blasphemy” allegations, which have led to Christian communities being ransacked by Muslim mobs. Authorities often turn a blind eye and are sometimes even complicit in crimes against Christians, including the abduction and forced marriage of women and girls.

There are too many 'blind eyes' turned in Great Britain but that the BBC should use licence payers' money to promote such an ideology is truly outrageous.

Apologists' myopia

So far there is no evidence that Fr. Tom Uzhunnalil was crucified by ISIS on Good Friday as threatened. His fate is uncertain. But he is one of many. Others have been crucified. Muslim children are not exempt, 'crucified for not fasting during Ramadan'.

Women are routinely raped and sold into slavery yet people in authority continually make excuses.

Instead of relying on evidence fed to them of how wonderful this alien ideology is, apologists for 'the religion of peace' should open their eyes to the horrors that are being perpetrated around them.

Peaceful onlookers and those who look away after turning the other cheek are of no comfort to the persecuted.

Victims

Source: BBC/Welsh News Service

Readers who are a little longer in the tooth may recall holidays abroad when a tag was used to obtain services thus removing the need to carry cash. Indeed, in their student days they may even have experienced landlords economising on paint by using a uniform colour, green in the case of Jesus College, Cambridge.

Red has become the symbol of oppression for asylum seekers, something picked up by David Davies MP. No matter that many people in this country would be glad to have a roof over their head and be assured of meals without having to rely on food banks, as increasing numbers of people do in Great Britain today, wristbands it seems have become a sign of oppression despite being fashionable in some quarters and generally obscured from view unless revealed as in the illustration above. 

Baroness Cox knows only too well how difficult it has become to retain a sense of proportion regarding British values without someone complaining that they are being victimised as a consequence. The Baroness's Bill which seeks to protect women and challenge the application of sharia law in the UK has been approved by the House of Lords but it needs an MP to sponsor it and steer it through the House of Commons. Baroness Cox has already been accused of being Islamophbic so with parties fighting for votes from minorities the chances of success are not looking good.

So the strategy continues:

• Exploit the “victim” status;
• Use the sympathetic media;
• Confuse and neutralize the churches;
• Slander and stereotype [traditionalist] Christians;
• Bait and switch (hide their true nature); and
• Intimidation.

People are falling over themselves to say what they perceive to be the 'right' thing regardless of the circumstances, seemingly oblivious to what else is going on in the world so here is victim, reminiscent of Rochdale, Cologne, Denmark, etc, reported by the British Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA).

This poor 17-year-old Christian girl in Pakistan was killed by a group of Muslim men because she spurned their sexual advances after they shouted "How dare you run away from us! Christian girls are only meant for one thing – the pleasure of Muslim men."

Wilson Chowdhry, Chairman of the BPCA said the world is ignoring the treatment of Christian women in Pakistan, where an average of two women a day disappear and are raped, sold into sexual slavery, or forced to marry Muslim men.

Not only in Pakistan. Christian Refugees Live in Fear. 

It should be clear who the real victims are. What is being done about them?

Raped!

Two stories caught my eye in this morning's newspaper. First the disgrace of foreign nurses being registered to work in the UK despite not having seen a patient for twenty years while British nurses without up-to-date training have had to leave the profession. Hopefully, as the scandal has emerged in evidence to a House of Lords inquiry, someone somewhere will get a grip on this farce and do something about it, simply by ignoring the plainly stupid EU rules if necessary.

Far more disturbing and with little or no hope for the victims is the ongoing disgrace of rape and slavery in the (so called) Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Guardian video here is harrowing enough but look a little deeper on the Internet and the story is even more harrowing where in addition to rape being used as a weapon, children as young as five are raped through ignorance and superstition. Men are not immune either.

Poor people in many countries suffer in misery to provide the life styles to which we in the West have become accustomed and the best of intentions in dealing with human rights abuses can go awry. Meanwhile the misery of men and particularly of women and children continues. The United Nations organisation say they are addressing the challenges but compare the glitzy image in this video with that revealed in the Guardian video above.  

Using any computer or using any mobile phone to text a friend has been made possible by the blood, sweat and tears of raped women and children who mine the necessary minerals. It doesn't bear thinking about and, tragically, for the most part we don't but as the Libyan conflict subsides, is it too much to hope that world leaders will turn their attention to these suffering women and children or will they wait for the next shoot-out to wade-in in the hope of claiming another victory?

Women’s Day of Prayer

Today marks the worldwide Women’s Day of Prayer.

Four days ago on 1^st March the people of Wales celebrated St David’s day. Today, 5^th March it is the turn of David’s mother, St. Non. A nun of noble birth she was raped by the young son of the King of Ceredigion.

It still goes on today and in the most appalling circumstances. Yesterday a Guardian Blog entry appeared opposite. If you missed the harrowing story you can read it here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/sarah-boseley-global-health/2010/mar/04/abortion-kenya Tab down to the first comment and click on the link to go to the Vimeo film clip.

On this Women’s Day of Prayer spare a thought for these poor girls in Kenya and for all other victims of rape and violence throughout the world.