250 million Christians to be persecuted in 2007PDFPrintE-mail
World
Written by Chris Perver  
Tuesday, 02 January 2007 17:00
A report by persecution watchdog Release International has revealed that over 250 million Christians will face persecution during 2007. Release International has discovered that Christian persecution comes mostly from four sources, Communism (China, Vietnam, etc), Hinduism (India) and Buddhism (South East Asia) and Islam - with persecution against Christians growing fastest in Muslim countries.

Quote: ""There's a conspiracy of silence around Saudi," says Release International's CEO Andy Dipper, "probably because the West wants their oil and their money. But this is a government that hands out the death sentence for its own citizens who want nothing more than the freedom to choose their own faith. And while Saudi bans all Christian literature, it spends billions of dollars each year propagating Islam around the world."

Persecution is also increasing in the West, with the government attempting to pass laws such as the Incitement to Religious Hatred bill and the Sexual Orientation Discrimination laws. Possession of a Bible in Saudi Arabia is against the law, and offenders can face flogging and even jail for repeated offences. It seems rather than pressing Saudi Arabia on its poor human rights record, the British government is prepared to turn a blind eye, as long as the oil keeps flowing. British Airways recently banned an air-stewardess from carrying her personal Bible on flights to Saudi Arabia. The British government has upheld the ruling, effectively imposing the Saudi law on British citizens.

Quote: "Saudi's regime is notorious for bragging about having "an open mind" and saying it "accepts Christianity and Judaism." In fact, not a single church exists in the desert country; foreign diplomats may not even hold Bible studies in their homes and Bibles discovered on tourists have been confiscated, with some allegedly even shredded. Instead of taking the opportunity to expose the Saudi's hypocrisy, the Foreign Office concurred. "The importation [to Saudi Arabia] and use of narcotics, alcohol, pork products and religious books, apart from the Koran, and artefacts are forbidden," it declared.

2nd Timothy 3:12-13
Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

Source Christian Today, Jerusalem Newswire

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