As the propagation of non-Islamic faiths is forbidden under Islamic law, missionary work is banned. But that won't stop the mullahs from being paranoid about it, and taking the opportunity to remind the unbelievers of their place in the Islamic Republic of Iran. "Iran Seizes 6,500 Bibles to Stop 'Deceiving' Christian Missionaries," by Fionna Agomuoh for the Christian Post, August 17:
Iran has seized 6,500 copies of the Bible in northwest Iran in what appears to be the latest crackdown by Iranian authorities against Christianity in the country.
Few details are known about the seizure, however, Christian news agency, Mohabat News, reports that Dr. Majid Abhari, adviser to the social issues committee of the parliament in Iran stated, "These missionaries with reliance on huge money and propaganda are trying to deviate our youth."
In a government interview with Mehr news agency, Abhari explained that the Bibles were taken because of governmental concerns that Christian missionaries mean to "deceive" young Iranians with "false propaganda."
"The important point in this issue that should be considered by intelligence, judicial and religious agencies is that all religions are strengthening their power to confront Islam, otherwise what does this huge number of Bibles mean?" he told Mehr.
According to persecution advocacy group, Voice of the Martyrs, missionary work is banned in Iran, though Christian conversion has been growing in the majority Islamic country in recent years.
Conversion from Islam to another religion, known as apostasy, is also a crime in Iran, and offenders are often arrested and tried in court. Recent legislation is aiming to have the crime of apostasy punishable by death.
The death penalty for apostasy comes from Muhammad's own orders, and has clearly survived in Shi'ite as well as Sunni traditions.
Mohabat News noted that in another Bible seizing in November 2010, a bus was inspected in the village of Darishk and 300 Bibles were taken and burned.
Several Christian churches in Iran have also been closed in order to discourage conversion. One such church is the Assyrian Pentecostal Church in Tehran that closed in March 2009 after threats from the government.
The Christian Post reported in February 2010 that Evangelical Pastor, Rev. Wilson Issavi was arrested and his church, the Assyrian Evangelical Church in Kermanshah, closed.
Mohabat News commentates that Islamic republic officials have been concerned about Christian conversions despite their own Islamic propaganda against Christianity in recent decades. The fact that conversions continue in the wake of arrest and persecution is also noted.
"Islamic republic considers itself the responsible guide for people's thoughts. So what is their fear of the importation and distribution of non-Islamic religious books?" Mohabat News has reported.
That is exactly their fear. Losing their monopoly on "people's thoughts."
Read: A WORLD WITHOUT ISLAM...
Imagine, if you will, a world without Islam -- admittedly an almost inconceivable state of affairs given its charged centrality in our daily news headlines. Islam seems to lie behind a broad range of international disorders: suicide attacks, car bombings, military occupations, resistance struggles, riots, fatwas, jihads, guerrilla warfare, threatening videos, and 9/11 itself. Why are these things taking place?...
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2007/12/13/a_world_without_islam
A world withouit Islam would certainly mean a massively improved picture at a domestic and global level. Whilst there would be no guarantee of peace (there were wars before Islam), the likelihood of war would be far less, with less chance of another 9/11 or a nuclear Holocaust. Our troops wouldn't be in Iraq or Afghanistan. There wouldn't be the callings of clerics, mullahs, imams ansd ayatollahs calling for holy war against the infidel, people, especially women, would enjoy greater freedoms, there would be less tyranny around. And the absence of Islam would be a solution to the Middle East problem and that of global terrorism, and what terrorism that was around would be domestic. All in all, without Islam, the world would be a far more pleasant place.
How did 6,500 Bibles get into Iran?
6,500 Bibles were burned????
One pastor threatens to burn one Q'uran and riots ensue throughout the Muslim world, murder is threatened, and leaders throughout both Muslim and Western world (including our own Pres. O'Lame-o) issue condemnations.
But 6,500 Bibles are burned and not one word from ANYONE!!! The same Muslim leaders who try to pass laws "respecting religion" (however, only Islam is specified) say not a word.
That is expected. But neither will we hear one word about this from any Western leader, including President O'Lame-O. (who despite pretenses, is not even remotely any kind of Christian)
And we are not likely to hear anything in protest from any Church leaders either. Where are all those boot-licking dhimmi pastors who signed that declaration apologizing for the Crusades that occurred centuries ago in defense of Muslim invasion? They are concerned about events that happened in Medieval history, but have no concern whatsoever with what is happening this very day to Christians in the Muslim world!
And from the mainstream media? .... [insert crickets chirping here]
Am I the only person who's ever heard of Faith Comes by Hearing?
http://www.faithcomesbyhearing.com/
Here's a good thing: You can import Bibles into many restricted countries by using their Bible Downloader. People from all over the Muslim world are doing this through proxy servers. Physical Bibles? These are audio Bibles. You can put a Bible on a flash drive. Technology, a wonderful thing, yes?
Islamic tolerance Alert!
"One pastor threatens to burn one Q'uran and riots ensue throughout the Muslim world, murder is threatened, "
Good point, Stephen.
Keep in mind you don't have to be Christian to be aghast at the persecution of Christians.
> Physical Bibles? These are audio Bibles. You can put a Bible on a flash drive. Technology, a wonderful thing, yes?
This is an incredibly ignorant statement. Here's a clue: much of the Muslim world censors their internet access. That includes throwing Christian bloggers in jail with threats to execute. Don't fool yourself into thinking that people throughout the Muslim world can easily access or download Bibles without fear of recrimination.
And, perhaps more importantly is that it ignores the fact that many people living in third world Muslim countries have no access to computers or the internet.
Amazingly naive for someone so arrogant and presumptuous about technology.
Hi,
The biggest enemy of Islam as far as young Iranians is the mad mullahs themselves, who lose no opportunity to persecute pleasure and call out the police to break up squirt gun fights.
In the movie "Ghandi", Ghandi made a statement that through non-violent protests against the British, eventually independence will fall like a ripe fruit.
If the US and European countries can manage to avoid playing power-broker in Iran and leave it alone, unless it threatens other countries, the fanatic Islamist government will likely just wither away on its own. Most likely what will happen is that younger mullahs will come to power who can't stand traditional Islam, but who have kept their mouths shut. That's what happened in Spain, when Franco finally died. He passed the government to the royal heir, who was liberal, but kept a relatively low profile while Franco was alive.
The only way Islam can keep the loyalty of people is to keep them ignorant, and kill (literally) any questioning.
"This is an incredibly ignorant statement. "
I think you're being a bit harsh, Stephen.
The Iranians are a sophisticated people. Before Islam, their culture was one of the most advanced in the world, rivaling classical Greece. Not even Islam is able to dim the spark of pride and independence in Iranians. Many young Iranians, particularly in the cities, have access to technology.
Of course the Islamist government is going to attempt to suppress and persecute any rival religions, particularly Christianity. If the young people can risk openly demonstating against the oppressive regime, they will certainly risk transferring forbidden literature from flash drive to flash drive. The Russian dissidents did the same thing with the Samizdat, which had to be copied one at a time by typewriter, but which played their part in overthrowing the Communist government.
> the fanatic Islamist government will likely just wither away on its own.
How's that working out for you ? The Islamist government in Iran has been in place for over 30 years. Only in recent years has any opposition taken to the streets, and it was quickly and brutally shutdown, by that same government that you claim is "withering away on its own".
And, to our shame, our current President had virtually no significant response to this brutality.
P.S. the situation in Spain when Franco died isn't even remotely relevant to the situation in Iran under the total societal and religious control of the Mullahs. The "younger Mullahs" (as you mention) are still Mullahs, meaning they are religious leaders of a totalitarian death cult. The pretense that these same religious leaders will abandon their theocratic government -- thus giving up their own political power -- in favor of democracy and a secular government, is next to nil.
> Many young Iranians, particularly in the cities, have access to technology.
The original post I was responding to was including Muslims outside of Iran:
"People from all over the Muslim world..."
So, yes, I am aware that Muslims in Iran and other countries (esp oil-producers) have access to technology, and I mentioned that in my response.
I was addressing the statement that was made. And as you admit, even in countries that have computer/internet access it is highly restricted and censored.
The point was that this posting was rather cavalier and condescending to the struggles that Christians and other minority religious groups suffer throughout the Muslim world.
"How's that working out for you ? The Islamist government in Iran has been in place for over 30 years. Only in recent years has any opposition taken to the streets, and it was quickly and brutally shutdown, by that same government that you claim is "withering away on its own"."
The brutality of the response is a measure of the degree of the threat.
The government of Iran isn't going to fall in the next year, and nothing is assured. But, do you think the Islamic government of Iran would crack down on any dissent so harshly if they agreed with you that they were in no danger from internal change?
I don't have any doubt that the government of Iran has numbered days. Given the unrest in the Middle East, I can't imagine an outcome where Iran stays the same. But, I can't predict the timeline.
So, what's your take on the prospects of change?
Ahh Islam, the religion of peace, the fastest growing religion in the world they say. Come & join us, but no alcohol, no music, no fun basically. We'll live our lives as did a crazy man called Muhammad, but one other thing, you can't leave if you don't like us after trying us, we may kill you for that.
Something to read & ponder upon:
http://barnabasfund.org/AU/News/News-analysis/OIC-states-call-for-religious-tolerance-in-Europe-yet-persecute-Christian
Any condemnation on the burning of these Bibles from anyone in the Obama administration? How about the main stream media any story about this act of bigotry from the N.Y. Times or the Washington Post?
May these 6,500 Bibles prove to be only the tip of an iceberg.
And so much for Mr. Madmonkey Ahmadinejad's protestations before the UN that Iran recognized and respected both the Bible and Qur'an!
Well, I continue to pray for Iran. There's apparently some Los vom Islam going on there, and may it continue. May the church in Iran quickly have to "enlarge the place of its tent" (Isaiah 54:2).
BTW, Xavier823, from what I've heard from enthusiastic Obama supporters, I suspect they'd love to burn Bibles (and those who read them) themselves.
My assumption is that (as with other prohibited items) wherever there is a demand there will be smugglers willing to supply the demand.
It is my hope that mankind evolves towards much more clarity about Islam and Democracy. According to the CIA factbook there are now 89 democratic countries in the world, while there are 56 Islamic countries (nr 57 is Palestine). Some of the overlap, which is confusing.
Ihsanoglu of the OIC clearly advocates that Muslims should be primarily loyal to the Islamic Ummah, something the prophet of Islam Muhammed already ordered. And that is something I can understand and respect. But Muslims are so unclear and indignant when counter-jihadists point to the logical consequences.
There is absolutely no reciprocity from a global view between Democratic countries and Islamic countries. When the 2 sorts of countries are juxtaposed we see that Muslim minorities in Democratic Nations have all equal rights, but that "divers-religion-humans" in Islamic countries are oppressed, persecuted, much limited in their freedom of speech, while there is huge one-sided propaganda for Islam.
But how can counter-jihadists work that out in future in politics? I see 2 groups to address: Muslims in Democratic Nations (MUDENA's) and mainstream party politicians and their voters, the Citizens of Democratic Nations (CIDENA's). To convince the politicians we need the support of a majority of voters.
Counter-Jihadists (CJ's) want the choosing sides and support of MUDENA's for CIDENA's against all foreign anti-Democratic oppressing violent Muslims. If the MUDENA's wont apostasize en masse, which would make remaining Muslims eventually negligible.
CJ's want CIDENA's AND MUDENA's alike to demand reciprocity in human rights worldwide. CJ's want MUDENA's to openly declare their loyalty, NOT primarily to the "infested" Ummah. BUT to the group of 89 Democratic Nations and their laws and values. Including America (Islams biggest enemy according to so many Muslims worldwide).
And such loyalty is no longer to be taken for granted, and CIDENA's are no longer to be demanded to trust on it. Not with all the mountains of and mounting evidence & clues that so much of Islam and so many Muslims are so supremacist and anti-democratic.
CJ's could also evolve to demand from MUDENA's to secede from "default-Islam" + "default-Muslims", because of the death-penalty for apostasy in Islamic texts, which is supported by so many Islamic leaders AND followers.
Because this penalty really means that membership of Islam has no democratic conditions, breaking of which results in expulsion. And that means Muslims can be faulted belonging to an organisation in which there are also so many anti-democrats, oppressors, violence-users (and lunatics).
So in the future there should be some kind of Democratic Muslim Organisation in Democratic Nations, with clear negotiable conditions upon membership and clear negotiable democracy-compatible doctrine.
But the ones primarily to convince of that are not the MUDENA's (who until now are given the impression there are few conditions for being CIDENA's) but the majority of the CIDENA's who then forcefully can put demands to MUDENA's of choosing sides, giving clarity about doctrine, loyalty and membership of MUDENA-organisations.
To be truthful, I found your message garbled, and I'm not willing to read your message several times to try to decipher it. I suggest you leave off the acronyms on a posting as long as this.
Jean Chardin (November 16, 1643 – January 5, 1713), born Jean-Baptiste Chardin, and also known as Sir John Chardin, was a French jeweller and traveller whose ten-volume book The Travels of Sir John Chardin is regarded as one of the finest works of early Western scholarship on Persia and the Near East. In his “Journey to Persia” he wrote of the mullahs in particular the following:
‘They say their prayers dutifully and so become Mollahs. Afterwards, according to their abilities and their activity they advance themselves further. For the rest, although the clergy in Persia have little power they are not without ambitions to exercise their authority by the same methods which churchmen practice elsewhere and especially by hypocrisy, which they make apparent, among other things, by praying regularly and punctually where they can best be seen and with the most fervent display of devotion. Moreover, they are false, envious, avaricious and untrustworthy, as the Persian proverb goes “Be careful of the front of a woman, the rear of a mule and all sides of a mollah.” ‘
I have a copy of this book which I started reading about a week ago. This particular quote seems quite suggestive of the fact that Persians in general are traditionally not all that keen on religious fanaticism in general. Moreover, Jean Chardin also seems to suggest that the scheming nature of the Shi’ite clergy was a constant throughout the history of Iran, ever since Shi’ism became state religion, enforced by Shah Ismail I. I have read many books on Safavid Iran and I know that this is corroborated by many authoritative historians with expertise on this subject. If anything, the uneasy balance between the Persian state authority, embodied by the Shah, and the unruly Shi’ite clergy vying for control, became part and parcel in Safavid Iran, the subsequent Qajar period, and culminated in the Islamic revolution of 1979. History repeats itself !
see also:
http://tundratabloids.com/2011/08/iranian-regime-removing-satellite-dishes-from-homes.html
Ok, understood, thanks.
It was all about supreme loyalty of Western + Indian Muslims to democratic principles over and above Islamic ones. And the desire that a majority of Western + Indian Citizens is in the future going to demand a clear choice from Western + Indian Muslims on this.