Good thing the West’s intelligence agencies are mobilizing against the threat of “right-wing extremism.” I mean, it isn’t as if there were any other kind of terrorism, right?
“Another Church Building Set Ablaze in Sudan,” Morning Star News, February 17, 2021:
JUBA, South Sudan (Morning Star News) – The ninth church building in two years to be set ablaze in Sudan was torched last month, sources said.
Suspected Muslim extremists set fire to the Sudanese Church of Christ (SCOC) building in the rural Tambul area of Al Jazirah, Al Jazirah state southeast of Khartoum, on Jan. 3, said the Rev. Kuwa Shamal, head of mission for the SCOC.
Hate messages against Christians circulated on social media in the area in the weeks leading up to the arson, according to local church leaders.
Jubrial Tutu, pastor of the SCOC church in Tambul, described the arson as direct persecution of Christians.
Pastor Shamal said Sunday worshipers at the SCOC church had left the building a few minutes before the arson attack. Serving congregations of various denominations, the building was the only worship hall in the Tambul area, he said.
“They targeted the church because they do not want to see any sign of the cross in the area,” Pastor Shamal told Morning Star News.
Several social media posts have urged Muslims in Sudan to resist any church officials’ attempts to obtain approval for land for church buildings.
“In every city or village where Muslims live, they should not allow anything that belongs to infidels such as church buildings to be there,” one commentator posted in January.
Another urged Muslims in Tambul to prohibit the existence of another church building. “When you build a church in Tambul…do you want the area to be a disgraced place?” he wrote.
The burning of the church in Tambul marks the ninth time a Christian worship hall has been set ablaze since 2019, according to Demas Mragan, a Christian rights and aid advocate in Khartoum.
Muslim extremists who burned down a church’s worship places in Omdurman five times since January 2019 threatened to kill congregation members if they put up another temporary structure to continue worshipping, sources said.
In December police arrested nine of the 14 radical Muslims who burned down the temporary worship structures SCOC in the Dar El-Salam area of Omdurman, across the Nile River from Khartoum, said the attorney representing the Christians.
Saying they didn’t want a Christian presence in the area, the extremists had burned down the structures on Jan. 19, 2019, and in 2020 on Jan. 4, Jan. 19, Jan. 28, and Aug. 7, sources said.
The church decided to report the attacks to police after the Aug. 7 arson in spite of the threats….
Sudan ranked 13th on Christian support organization Open Doors’ 2021 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.
Photo By NSAG (Nederlands studenten Afrika Gezelschap), CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=95369393
Michael Copeland says
“My religion doesn’t tolerate other religion. It does not tolerate.”
Abu Bakr,
imam in Australia
“If anyone desire a religion other than Islam never will it be accepted of him.”
Kora 3:85
Infidel says
I noticed that Sudan has received better scores from the State Department in terms of religious freedom. How exactly does that work: is the Sudan government gonna take action against the arsonists?
Honestly, while Khartoum may have a better government today, Sudan is about as safe a country for non-muslims as Somalia or Pakistan are
gravenimage says
Sudan: Muslims set fire to another church building, the ninth in two years
………….
This is appalling but should not surprise. So much for the claim in some circles that Sudan is now “moderate”.
Infidel says
When the State Department or anyone makes any claims about religious persecution, they should have 2 metrics to determine that:
1. Whether the government of the country in question persecutes particular religions
2. Whether the people of that country do the same
Only if a country is free from both should it be certified as being tolerant
Andrew Blackadder says
Juba, is at the most Southern part of Sudan, close to Uganda and Kenya, and has been a Christian area for longer than I can remember, but a long time, the people there did not harm whatsoever to any other tribe or religion,and muslims came down, from the North to create problems because they are followers of a Fascist Religious Cult that are so shallow in their own faith that they can never tolerate anybody disagreeing with them or their religion.
I was there in 1975,aged 25-26. no problems then.
islam creates problems where previously none existed.
gregbeetham says
Yes of course Islam creates problem where none existed before, it’s the duty of every Muslim to promote Islam above all by whatever method that they think is appropriate in the circumstances, which means trouble for everyone in their way.
But they think they will be assured of a place near their demonic god in the afterlife if they never waver in the cause. (luckily these days quite a few are wavering, a lot)
Most in the West have no idea of course so the majority projects their/our values onto Muslims and Islam, which is fine by them.
Infidel says
This story was datelined from Juba, but that’s a part of South Sudan, which is a separate country. However, the church that was burned in this story was near Khartoum, the Sudanese capital. Incidentally, I wonder – once Khartoum agreed to the secession of South Sudan from the country, shouldn’t they have renamed the rest of the country North Sudan?