Should We Pity the Persecuted Church?

Please Pray for Said Musa

I lifted all the following from Justin Taylor’s blog and I pass it along to you:

The Daily Mall and others are reporting on Said (or Sayed) Musa. Earlier I had posted a link to his letter from prison describing sexual and physical abuse. Here’s the new report:

An Afghan physiotherapist will be executed within three days for converting to Christianity.

Said Musa, 45, has been held for eight months in a Kabul prison were he claims he has been tortured and sexually abused by inmates and guards.

Mr Musa, who lost his left leg in a landmine explosion in the 1990s, has worked for the Red Cross for 15 years and helps to treat fellow amputees.

He was arrested in May last year as he attempted to seek asylum at the German embassy following a crackdown on Christians within Afghanistan.

He claims he was visited by a judge who told him he would be hanged within days unless he converted back to Islam.

But he remains defiant and said he would be willing to die for his faith.

He told the Sunday Times: ‘My body is theirs to do what they want with.’

You can also read the Compass Direct News report, which begins:

An Afghani amputee in prison for his Christian faith since May will face a judge this Sunday (Nov. 21) without legal representation or knowledge of the charges against him, according to local sources.

Denny Burk suggests that if you have Twitter, you post one of the following:

Mr. President, speak wisely and boldly, in private if necessary, for Said Musa, imprisoned in Kabul. http://dsr.gd/ezR3jW @BarackObama

Mr. President, please persuade the Afghan govt. not to execute our brother Said Musa. http://bit.ly/bQ5RLQ @BarackObama Prov. 24:10-12

Update: A valid point by Paul Marshall:

If the actions of a Florida pastor who threatened to destroy a book holy to Muslims deserved public and presidential attention, then the actions of the Afghan government, ostensibly a ‘democratic’ ally, to destroy something holy to Christians, a human being made in the image of God, also deserve public and presidential attention.

Iraq Free? Not for the Christians

I try to avoid politics as much as possible on this blog, but I cannot help but comment on the persecution of Christians in Iraq in recent years. Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator and there is no doubt the world is a better place without him. But while the world may be a better place without him, Iraq is not a safer place for Christians. As David George of Knight Ridder points out, Christians were actually more free under Hussein than the current situation:

Christian Pastor in U.K. Arrested for Saying Homosexuality is a Sin

Here is what happens when political correctness overtakes free speech in a democratic country.

A Lot At Stake for British Christians in the Upcoming Elections

For those of us concerned about our shrinking liberties in these United States, our brethren across the Pond are already further down the slippery slope. Prominent Christian blogger Adrian Warnock, in a couple of posts about what is at stake in the upcoming election, articulates why he will vote conservative. In his second post on the subject, he lists ways in which the Labour party is undermining the moral foundation on their nation. He points out that Christians face a daunting future if the current political trajectory is not altered. Churches being forced to hire staff who do not believe their doctrines and pastors being imprisoned for publicly teaching that the Bible teaches that homosexuality is wrong are not far from becoming reality. He warns: “This pledge could mark the end of centuries of Christian liberty in Britain if Brown was to return to power. So quite simply a vote for Brown is a vote for persecution of Christians.”

Freedom of Speech Eroding in England (Christian Persecution)

A couple in Liverpool, England was arrested for speaking about their Christian beliefs, because they offended someone.