Author Topic: 200 Christian Homes Burned in Pakistan  (Read 2632 times)

Offline Seagoon

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200 Christian Homes Burned in Pakistan
« on: July 02, 2005, 06:07:05 PM »
Hi All,

Every Sunday we include a section in our worship folder entitled "Praying for the Persecuted Church" where we have details about Christians throughout the world who are suffering because of their faith and are in need of prayer. Pakistan, the Sudan, and Indonesia are the "big three" that seem to come up again and again. Here is the one for this Sunday, I wish I could say that this kind of thing was uncommon, but unbelievable nuttiness like this seems to be becoming all too common in the nations of the 10/40 window.
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Christian Areas Attacked in Pakistan
June 30, 2005
   

Sources have told The Voice of the Martyrs that at 10 p.m. on Tuesday, June 28, Christian homes in three areas near Peshawar, Pakistan were attacked by a radical Muslim mob. VOM contacts are currently investigating, and more details of the story should be available soon.

The attacks came after a Christian man was accused earlier that day of burning pages with Koranic verses written on them.

VOM sources say that the man, Yousaf Masih, is more than 60 years old and has worked for almost two decades as a sweeper for the Pakistani military. His most recent assignment was cleaning in the home of a military officer, a major. Yesterday the major asked him to clean the office at the major’s home. During the cleaning, he came across a bag of “rough papers,” and the major told Yousaf to take the papers outside and burn them.

Yousaf is illiterate, and would have no way of knowing what was written on the papers he had been told to burn. Other workers saw the papers and said that Yousaf was burning pages from the Koran.

After hearing their accusations, Yousaf ran away and went to his home, in the Lama Veera area of Nowshera, east of Peshawar, in Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier. At 3 p.m. yesterday, police came to the home and arrested Yousaf. Insulting Islam, the Prophet Mohammed or the Koran can be punishable with death under Pakistan’s harsh anti-blasphemy laws. Following the arrest, a group of angry Muslims came to the home and began to beat Yousaf’s three sons.

Radical Muslims returned to the area at about 10 p.m. last night, and burnt an estimated total of 200 houses in Lama Veera, CMH and Saran. Many houses were looted by members of the mob, who stole TVs, refrigerators and other items. The mob beat Yousaf’s three sons, and his brother, Yaqoob. Police have reportedly arrested 16 people involved in the attacks. A Hindu temple was also attacked, as apparently the mob at first believed Yousaf was a Hindu.

Large police forces have surrounded all three areas in an effort to restore order. The Voice of the Martyrs workers are en route to the area, and will evaluate the immediate needs of the Christians there who have lost their homes. Reportedly Christians are currently in fear of further attacks.
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Source: VOM

Independent confirmation of the story in Pakistani Press: here

- SEAGOON
SEAGOON aka Pastor Andy Webb
"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion... Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." - John Adams

Offline Vulcan

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Re: 200 Christian Homes Burned in Pakistan
« Reply #1 on: July 02, 2005, 06:18:44 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by Seagoon
Every Sunday we include a section in our worship folder entitled "Praying for the Persecuted Church" where we have details about Christians throughout the world who are suffering because of their faith and are in need of prayer.


Seagoon, you do realize that the "Persecuted Church" is usually the one commiting the most persecution? Do they ever talk about that? About the atrocities commited all the way back from the Crusades through to the mass murder of muslims in Bosnia and Serbia? All commited in the name of Christianity?

If you read through a little history you'll soon realize that Christianity "started it" - with their attacks on a quite moderate muslim civilisation that didn't deserve it. And then theres the whole Jewish thing...

What amazes me about the whole thing is that Christianity, Islam, and Judism all believe in the same god.

Offline Delirium

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Re: Re: 200 Christian Homes Burned in Pakistan
« Reply #2 on: July 02, 2005, 06:21:26 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by Vulcan
What amazes me about the whole thing is that Christianity, Islam, and Judism all believe in the same god.


And they all believe the 'other guy' is going to hell and rush to send him to it by any available means.

Some of the best and worst incidents since recorded times have happened because of religion.

Some things never change...
Delirium
80th "Headhunters"
Retired AH Trainer (but still teach the P38 selectively)

I found an air leak in my inflatable sheep and plugged the hole! Honest!

Offline ASTAC

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200 Christian Homes Burned in Pakistan
« Reply #3 on: July 02, 2005, 06:49:12 PM »
Deleted.

Rule #7.
« Last Edit: July 02, 2005, 08:15:08 PM by MP2 »
That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety

Offline Vulcan

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200 Christian Homes Burned in Pakistan
« Reply #4 on: July 02, 2005, 08:04:36 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by ASTAC
Deleted.

Rule #7.


No, the Christians leave the villages standing and take the inhabitants out to a quiet field dig their own mass grave.

Much as I despise some parts of Islam, I have to admire parts of it as well. For instance, the koran is the original source work of their prophet, untranslated, unchanged, straight from prophet to paper. Their "prophet" never claimed any supernatural powers, and was fairly well educated and rounded for the time. They were also extremely tolerant up until the crusades unsettled things, they also had some of the most amazing advances in architecture and technology, as well as awesome libraries (once again the crusades took us back 500 years to take care of those).

One I look at my fundamental criticisms of christianity those same issues just aren't as prolific with islam.
« Last Edit: July 02, 2005, 09:19:53 PM by MP8 »

Offline Seagoon

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Re: Re: 200 Christian Homes Burned in Pakistan
« Reply #5 on: July 02, 2005, 08:34:25 PM »
Hi Vulcan,

Quote
Originally posted by Vulcan
Seagoon, you do realize that the "Persecuted Church" is usually the one commiting the most persecution? Do they ever talk about that? About the atrocities commited all the way back from the Crusades through to the mass murder of muslims in Bosnia and Serbia? All commited in the name of Christianity?

If you read through a little history you'll soon realize that Christianity "started it" - with their attacks on a quite moderate muslim civilisation that didn't deserve it. And then theres the whole Jewish thing...

What amazes me about the whole thing is that Christianity, Islam, and Judism all believe in the same god.


A few points.

1) I'm curious, did you read the post? Was this a justified reaction? Does this sound like an understandable mistake?

If bible-believing Christians are about this kind of activity all the time, could you cite some examples where 200 Muslim homes were recently burned because an illiterate Muslim disposed of a few pages with bible quotes when commanded to do so by his Christian boss? How about something fairly close? Can you name a majority Christian nation where blasphemy against Christ is a death penalty offense or even brings a prison sentence? How about a Protestant nation where destroying a bible is even a crime?

2) Serbs, Bosnians, and Croats have been killing each other for centuries, the last time before the Balkan wars of the 90s was when the Nazis paid the Croats to slaughter Serbs.

The religious tensions of the area were largely  the result of the Turkish invasions of the Balkans and the forced conversions of large areas (particularly in Bosnia) to Islam.  

3) Christian Attacks on "moderate Muslim civilzations?" The fact that Islam extends throughout the middle east and North Africa was the result of the spread of that religion via Jihad, these Jihads began under the direct supervision of the Prophet. The Muslims invaded and conquered Christian North Africa and large areas of Europe including Spain hundreds of years before the crusades. They would have conquered France as well, had not Charles Martel vanquished the invading Muslim armies at Tours in 732, 3 centuries before the first crusade.

The Crusades themselves started after the pope wrongly called first for the Spanish nobility to unite to take back the Iberian peninsula from the Moors and then a few years later the call went out for princes of "Christendom" to band together in order to REconquer recently taken Christian kingdoms in the Holy Land and to prevent the Seljuk Turks from conquering the Byzantine empire. While there was no love lost between the Western and Eastern churches the pope realized that should Byzantium fall, the eastern gateway to Europe would be wide open to the Turks. That in fact proved to be the case after the Turks finally took Constantinople in the 15th century and continued their advance to the gates of the Vienna.

As far as Allah being the same God as that of the Christians, neither consistent Christians nor Muslims would agree with you there. To begin with the Christian God is Triune, and Muslims insist that this is a terrible blasphemy. There is not even a real historical relation between Allah and Yahweh. Prior to Muhammad, Allah was one of at least 360 different gods of the Arabs which all had different shrines at their holy site in Mecca, the Kaaba. Muhammad reduced this number to one god, Allah and insisted that Allah was also the God of Abraham spoken of in the Torah. So it was the a co-opting of some of the elements of the Torah (with major adjustments) that led to the perceived relation between the two terrible different gods.

I'd love to discuss the subject with you further if you'd like. I first developed an interest in Arabic/Muslim history at the University of St. Andrews several years before I became a Christian. In fact I enjoyed it so much, I ended up making the Ottoman empire my primary emphasis in my Modern History MA.

- SEAGOON
SEAGOON aka Pastor Andy Webb
"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion... Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." - John Adams

Offline Vulcan

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200 Christian Homes Burned in Pakistan
« Reply #6 on: July 03, 2005, 01:26:48 AM »
Comon seagoon you know as well as I do there are christians out there giving as good as they get.

Thanks for the "same god" info, having a browse now. I didn't realize that. Although it appears that the whole islams god is not christianity comes down to a modern definition and based on symantic intrepretation, for example the disbelief in mary and jesus, which although islam might not believe does not rule out the relgions coming from the same roots. In fact from the brief look I had at the "differences" theres almost equal differences between some of the christian sects.

The real answer would be what did mohammed believe - wouldn't you agree?

Offline Raider179

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200 Christian Homes Burned in Pakistan
« Reply #7 on: July 03, 2005, 04:18:04 AM »
Whats funny is asking for prayers for these "christians". Here is a little background on them. Lets take one of the Big three, Nigeria for example,

Reports estimate that between 67 and 300 are dead after Christian ethnic Taroks attacked Muslim cattle-herders in the town of Yelwa in central Nigeria's Plateau State. The Tarok ethnic group used machine guns mounted on jeeps, along with rifles and machetes, to attack the Muslim community. Possibly three mosques were damaged and at least 67 people have been buried, while hundreds more have fled or disappeared. Just last week, the Christian Tarok were attacked by the Muslim Hausa in the region.

In the most recent attack, the Associated Press reports that more that 100 were killed and 1,000 homes destroyed. "It will take time to account for the exact number of dead and missing. It's mass murder, because machine guns were used, not machetes," Justice Abdulkadir Orire, secretary general of the Jama'atu Nasril Islam, told Agence France-Presse.

Two sides to every story...

I gotta say if you are christian and you live in a predominantly(sp?) muslim country, then I just don't think you are that bright.

Offline Joc

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200 Christian Homes Burned in Pakistan
« Reply #8 on: July 03, 2005, 04:34:19 AM »
Best thing mankind can do is abandon religion full stop,hell,Im all for the old Roman gods,god of wine, god of luvvin,could even create a god of sheep......hang on....sounds like meeeeeeeeeee lol



yes Im drunk.....;)  still, religion is something mankind is better off with...
Joc

Offline Nilsen

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200 Christian Homes Burned in Pakistan
« Reply #9 on: July 03, 2005, 04:50:18 AM »
I dont mind religion as long as people keep it to themselves, and dont let others "suffer" for their belives.

My grandparents on my mothers side were _very_ religious, but they never preached to me or my cousins. Infact, they didnt mention it all unless we asked. They wanted us to find out if it was for us by ourselfes. They actually supported my parents when they said they were not going to baptise us as babies. We did go to sundayschool with them when we wanted to and i have fond memories of that.

That attitude by them has prolly brought me closer to religion than i ever would have if they shoved it down my throat.

Lovely people and i miss them and their warmth alot. Kids tended to flock around them, and most of them didnt even know they were religious at all.

Offline AWMac

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200 Christian Homes Burned in Pakistan
« Reply #10 on: July 03, 2005, 05:16:23 AM »
Deleted

4- Members should post in a way that is respectful of other users and HTC. Flaming or abusing users is not tolerated.
« Last Edit: July 03, 2005, 08:37:30 AM by MP8 »

Offline AWMac

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200 Christian Homes Burned in Pakistan
« Reply #11 on: July 03, 2005, 05:17:31 AM »
Is it just me or don't you all just wanna hug Nilsen?

mac

Offline Nilsen

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200 Christian Homes Burned in Pakistan
« Reply #12 on: July 03, 2005, 05:22:52 AM »
Had a few hugs this morning mac.

If you are offering, then i must say that your avatar is not that inviting. ;)


I know from another thread that you could use one tho.... nobody deserves going through that.

Offline AWMac

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200 Christian Homes Burned in Pakistan
« Reply #13 on: July 03, 2005, 05:33:46 AM »
Thanks Nilsen...means alot Bro.

älskar dig med!

mac

Offline Nilsen

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200 Christian Homes Burned in Pakistan
« Reply #14 on: July 03, 2005, 05:35:59 AM »
Quote
Originally posted by AWMac
Thanks Nilsen...means alot Bro.

älskar dig med!

mac


http://www.freetranslations.com? ;)

have a nice day.. as nice as it can be anyway :)