You remember when the Soviet Union collapsed & everyone breathed a sigh of relief, safe in the knowledge that the peoples previously under the jackboot of communist repression could live free? Weeelllll, it didn't turn out quite like that in Uzbekistan, where there are laws against Christians having prayer meetings & owning Bibles. Who would have thought? Anyone who's seen Uzbekistan's flag, I suppose, the crescent gives us a broad clue.This report came from AsiaNews yesterday (hat-tip to The Religion of Peace):
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Uzbek Christian convicted of possessing Bibles and religious material The Uzbek authorities have sentenced a Protestant Christian in Urgench, in the northwest of the country to 18 months of "corrective labor", charged with "illegal production, storage, importation or distribution of religious materials." The judge Makhmud Makhmudov ruled that the woman should carry out menial jobs at the complete service of the state, while a good part of her salary be handed over as payment of a fine. In addition, for the next few months she can only travel within the state. In a second incident of violation of religious freedom, a group of people in the capital were sentenced to heavy fines for "gathering" to pray and read Christian material (a Bible) in a private home. Local sources said that the secret police artfully assembled fake evidence to nail Sharofat Allamova, who was then convicted in a sham trial. The possession of religious materials is strictly controlled by the State, with a heavy censorship of the Committee for Religious Affairs, which often targets the Christian minority. The double raid on the private home took place in January and the court only ruled on the case recently, in accordance with Article 244-3 of the Criminal Code. Already in May 2012 she had suffered similar punishment, again for possession of religious materials. In addition to the confiscation of the Bible and other texts, the biggest fear is that the woman can be shipped to the cotton fields for the autumn harvest. As repeatedly denounced by organizations and activists, the state uses the work of minors and convicts for the grueling [sic] task. 88% of the Uzbek population is of the Sunni Muslim faith while Christians make up 8%. In the country, confessional freedom is subject limited by the government. The annual report of the U.S. Commission on Religious Freedom, published on April 30, under the heading "Countries subject of particular attention" included a list of 15 governments including that of Tashkent. |
Funny how this so often happens in Muslim countries, is it not? Do any of our politicians wonder why it is that Christians (& for that matter, Hindus, Sikhs & Baha'i) have difficulties in Muslim majority countries while they whine about 'cohesion' in this one? I rather think not. Maybe they haven't read the Koran:
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And kill them wherever you find & catch them. Drive them out from where they have turned you out; for Fitna is worse than slaughter. 2:191 O you who believe! Do not take the Jews & the Christians for friends; they are friends of each other; & whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people. 5:51 Allah wished to confirm the truth by His words: 'Wipe the infidels out to the last.' 8:7 Your Lord inspired the angels with the message: 'I am with you. Give firmness to the Believers. I will terrorise the unbelievers. Therefore smite them on their necks & every joint & incapacitate them. Strike off their heads & cut off each of their fingers & toes.' 8:12 So fight them until there is no more Fitna & all submit to the religion of Allah alone. 8:39 Fight & kill the disbelievers wherever you find them, take them captive, harass them, lie in wait & ambush them using every stratagem of war. 9:5 The Messenger & those who believe with him, strive hard & fight with their wealth & lives in Allah's Cause. 9:88 Allah has purchased the believers, their lives & their goods. For them (in return) is the Garden. They fight in Allah's Cause, & they slay & are slain; they kill & are killed. 9:111 Truly, if the Hypocrites stir up sedition, if the agitators in the City do not desist, We shall urge you to go against them & set you over them. Then they will not be able to stay as your neighbours for any length of time. They shall have a curse on them. Whenever they are found, they shall be seized & slain without mercy – a fierce slaughter – murdered, a horrible murdering. 33:60 So, when you clash with the unbelieving Infidels in battle, smite their necks until you overpower them, killing & wounding many of them. At length, when you have thoroughly subdued them, bind them firmly, making captives. Thereafter, either generosity or ransom until the war lays down its burdens. Thus are you commanded by Allah to continue carrying out Jihad against the unbelieving infidels until they submit to Islam. 47:4 |
What will it take for our betters to get the message?
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