A Freedom Worth Celebrating

A Freedom Worth Celebrating

In Azerbaijan, the nation’s constitution declares citizens of all faiths may choose and practice their religion without restrictions. Reality is far different, however. Quasi-government harassment of Christian activities continues to occur.

Traditionally, Azerbaijan’s population is Muslim although it has strong Armenian Christian communities. More recently, evangelistic efforts have resulted in new churches, some Baptist. Now the government is striking back. On May 2, the daily newspaper Zerkalo carried a front-page story calling distribution of Christian literature subversive. Tofiq Babeyev, deputy minister of national security called distribution of religious literature “illegal propaganda” and said it constituted a threat to the nation.

Nearby Turkmenistan, another former Soviet Republic, is trying to convince Baptist pastor Shageldy Atakov to leave the country. Atakov has 18 months to go on his prison sentence. His crime? Leading a Baptist church. For this he has been beaten and tortured in the cruelest ways. He endured the bottom of his feet being beaten with a stick, then being forced to walk after his feet were broken. He had electric prongs attached to both ears and current passed through his body.

Yet, when the Turkmenistan police offered Atakov opportunity to leave the country, he declined. If he left, the Christian faith would lose a strong advocate in the country and the tiny Chris-
tian community would be minus one of its strongest leaders.

In China, the plight of house churches continues. China permits official Christian churches to operate. House churches are unregistered and, thus, illegal. However, it appears the majority of Christians in China participate in house churches.

On May 26 in the central China province of Hubie, several dozen house church leaders were arrested while attending a training session on evangelism.  In Inner Mongolia, 35 believers were arrested and 15 sent to labor camps after police raided a worship service.

Christian leaders in France are expressing concern about a new anti-cult law. The French National Assembly adopted the controversial legislation May 30. It is supposed to help control what is termed “dangerous religious sects.” Many Christian leaders, including Baptists, say the law will restrict religious freedom and serve as a negative model for other countries to follow.

Prominent Protestant and Catholic leaders say the new law represses minority religious groups and is a blow to religious freedom.

In India, the pro-Hindu coalition government has struck an economic blow at Christians in the state of Goa.

In May, the government announced that Christian Gaudas and Kunbis would no longer be eligible for benefits leading to higher education. Gaudas and Kunbis from these underprivileged groups remain eligible for government assistance if they are not Christians.

Goa has long been home for a strong Christian community. About 35 percent of the state’s 1.5 million population is Christian. Some observers believe the pro-Hindu government is trying to check the growth of Christianity through this move.

Yad Patrus is an Iraqi Christian now living in Jordan where he seeks religious asylum with the United Nations (U.N.) High Commissioner for Refugees. Patrus fled to Jordan after being convicted by the Nineveh Criminal Court in Mosul, Iraq, and sentenced to two years in prison. His crime was writing and distributing leaflets containing Bible verses and the Apostles’ Creed to his Muslim friends and acquaintances on the University of Mosul campus.

Observers are not encouraged that Patrus will get asylum. Only a handful of Iraqi Christian families have won official U.N. refugee status to be resettled abroad since the Gulf War.

The stories of Christian persecution abound worldwide. Jihad, or Muslim holy war, continues against Christians in Indonesia. In Nigeria, Saudi Arabia continues to fund efforts to “Islamize” the country. On May 19 a representative of the Saudi Arabian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs commended the Nigerian state of Kwara for establishing “sharia,” the Islamic legal system, for the state.

In each case religion and government have been equated. Government attempts to protect or advance a particular religion. Not so in the United States. Here the Constitution of the United States outlines a different path. The First Amendment declares, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. …”

Yes, tension exists in balancing the no establishment clause of the amendment with the free exercise clause but these tensions do not result in physical torture, abuse, death, destruction of property, removal of citizenship rights or any of the other problems encountered by Christians in many parts of the world. In the United States religions stand or fall on their own. They are not artificially supported by government.

Baptists would have it no other way. Baptists know that only the Lord Jesus Christ stands between the Creator God and a human being.  Government has no right to invade that holy space attempting to make one engage in religious practice or to prevent one from engaging in religious practice. Freedom of religion is a God-given freedom.

As you celebrate this Fourth of July, remember to give thanks for freedom of religion. It is a precious gift not enjoyed by most of the world.