How Easy is it to Build a Christian Church in Muslim Countries?

Mosque Dust-Up, Christian Dust

While scanning the news, DBKP came across this July 7th Fox News story:

"Lawsuit Claims Anti-Muslim Bias in Maryland Town Amid Mosque Dust-Up"

Officials of a rural Maryland town illegally discriminated against a Muslim group by barring them from building a mosque and holding annual conventions on land zoned for farming, the property's owner claimed in a federal lawsuit filed Monday.

Basically, the zoning officials did not want a Mosque in open, productive farm land, and no doubt weren't thrilled with the daily amplified caterwauling from the same, 5 times a day. Much less the prospect of the community becoming a host to misogyny, weapons storage, illegal immigration, terrorist literature distribution, and all the other features of Mosque life that make this religion so unique.

But, authorities conceded that if the Mosque wanted to purchase a properly-zoned parcel, nothing would prevent it from being constructed. Of course, this was not good enough.

So in an effort to be fair, DBKP did a survey of how easy it was for Christian churches can be built Islamic countries . A sampling:

EGYPT

Egypt has between 7 and 10 million Christians. It is impossible to get the exact number because it is against the law to compile statistics on Christians. Most Christians are Coptics, the descendants of ancient Egyptians, as opposed to the Arabic majority which were invaders.

State control of church property is governed by the outdated Ottoman Hamayouni Decree of 1856,
amplified by the Interior Ministry in 1934 as the Alazabi Decree. This decree sets out certain restrictive
conditions which must be met before a church can be built. It additionally requires the signature of the
President before construction can commence. No such signature is required in order to build a
mosque.

So in order to buid a Christian church, the President of the country must sign a resolution to that effect.

Needless to say, none are built.

Coptic Church

SAUDI ARABIA

America's special 'friend'.

The Kingdom has established more than 1,359 mosques abroad at a cost of SR 820 million. King Fahd also established a number of scholarships and academic chairs in foreign prominent universities and colleges.
...
Outside the Arab Islamic world there is a number of Islamic research institutes supported by the Kingdom; amongst these are the American University of Colorado, the American University in Washington, the Arab World Institute, Paris, France which receives considerable Saudi contribution to its annual budget, the Duke University, North Carolina, the Howard University, Washington, the Institute of the History of Arab and Islamic Science, Frankfurt, Germany, the John Hopkins University, Maryland, the Middle East Institute, in Washington, the Shaw University, in North Carolina, and the Syracuse University, in New York.

No Christian churches are allowed. The open practice of Christianity is punishable by death.

TURKEY

Prior to 1920, Turkey had well over 2 million Christians. In fact, entire regions--particularly along the Mediterranean coast--were predominantly Christian, as was the northeastern region of Armenia. The Armenians were slaughtered and starved to death.

The Christians in Iona and the Mediterranean regions suffered a slightly different fate. In a replay of the conquest of Constantinople, over three days Ataturk's army and Muslims gang-raped, tortured, and slaughtered hundred of thousands of Christians. They then looted and set fire to Christian communities.

This little-known episode has been covered up by the Western powers for years, because they stood by and refused to rescue a single Christian--although there were battle ships nearby--so close, they could hear the screams of the women.

So, what is the current policy of the EU poster child, vis a vis Christian churches?

Apart from lacking legal recognition, in fact, these minorities are prevented from constructing, and even from restoring, their places of worship, from possessing buildings and land, and from opening schools. Christians are forbidden from taking up some offices and professions, particularly in the military.

AlGERIA

Algeria had up to one million Christians before its independence from France in 1962, but today counts just 11,000, according to the ministry for religious affairs. Most of these are Catholic, although the Protestant Church claims around 50,000 adherents.

Since 2006, Algeria requires every existing church to apply for a permit. So far, 25 churches have been denied the permit and ordered to shut down. No new churches have been permitted.

INDONESIA

The 'moderate' and most populous Muslim country is not getting any more moderate.

On June 14 the Indonesian government disregarded a formal agreement with Protestant leaders by demolishing three churches. The agreement called for the churches to suspend their Sunday religious functions in exchange for not being torn down.

Minority religious communities are finding it more and more difficult to exercise their rights. On something as simple as church construction and repair, changes in 2006 to a ministerial decree of 1969 regulating the building of places of worship has not improved conditions: it is still very difficult to get a permit to build churches, so much so that many religious groups have had to practice their faith illegally.

This in turn has provided Islamic extremists with excuses to carry out violent attacks against home churches.

PAKISTAN

Pakistan is home to some 4.8 million declared Christians and a large number of crypto-Christians, apostates who will be put to death if discovered. Sharia law was established for the entire country in 1998.

Christian are under constant pressure to convert to Islam or die. Gang-rapes of Christian girls are common as is the arrest of all Christians for blasphemy. Young Christian women are sometimes kidnapped and forcibly converted to Islam, married, and then raped in an attempt to stamp out Christianity by Islamic extremist (a practice in Egypt, also).

All Christian services require a permit. Most 'churches' are in fact homes. There is little or no construction of new churches.

IRAN

Iran is considered by many to have the most promise for the spread of Christianity in the Islamic world. The citizenry is disgusted by the rule of The Mad Mullahs.
Iran likely has among the highest drug abuse in the world. The social pathologies of the Mullahs is more than evident to the discouraged citizenry who are among the most educated in the Muslim world--a cultural heritage from it's Persian roots.

Led by ignorant, fanatical, religious bumpkins, many have left Islam and have become secular and crypto-Christian, the latter punishable by death.

The fear of Christianity by the Mullahs is so deep that Iran is now considering establishing the death penalty for apostates throughout the entire world. Needless to say Christian Church construction is not a priority.

Churches and Christian training centers are routinely monitored and there has been widespread closure
of these institutions by the Ministry of Islamic Guidance (MIG), forcing many churches to go underground.
The Armenian and Assyrian churches have been allowed to stay open because their services are
conducted in the Armenian/Assyrian languages and because they have agreed to the government’s
demands forbidding Muslims and Muslim converts from attending the church services and refraining
from evangelism.

Circulation of Christian literature, including scripture in the Persian language, is banned. The office of the
Bible Society together with all Christian bookshops were closed in 1990. Several Christian leaders,
mostly converts from Islamic backgrounds, have been executed or assassinated. The deaths which
occurred in 1994 are particularly renowned and include Rev. Hussein Soodman, Mehdi Dibaj and
Bishop Haik.

No new churches have been constructed in years, although a few which were confiscated by the Government have been repaired for tourists.

There you have it. These countries are the largest in the Muslim world. The remarkable tolerance of Muslims is only matched by their hypocrisy. If any evidence is needed about the cult status of Islam, one need only review the fear Islam has of confronting Christianity.