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By Lela Gilbert, Friday,
29 Sep 2017
Nearly
every day, international news headlines continue to focus on the Islamic
Republic of Iran.
For
one thing, the highly
controversial JCPOA — the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action regarding
Iran’s nuclear ambitions — is being weighed in the world’s balances and found
wanting — by more than a few.
In
mid-October, President Donald Trump is required to re-certify that America
believes Iran is compliant with the JCPOA. Will he continue to sign off on
their certification?
At
the same time, Iran’s military and Iran-sponsored militias are clearing the way
for Shiite domination across a broad sweep of Middle East territory, defying
numerous Sunni nations. Will America and her allies block the emerging
“land-bridge” Tehran is attempting to complete?
Perhaps
even more alarming is evidence
of strategic cooperation between Iran and North Korea on nuclear weapons
development. When and how will that danse macabre end?
Meanwhile,
Christian believers inside Iran — and especially converts from Islam — face
their own troublesome news reports.
Accounts
of human rights abuses under Iran’s radical mullahs persist. Since 1999, Iran
has been declared a “Country of Particular Concern” by the United States State
Department.
"During
the past year [2016], the government of Iran engaged in systematic,
ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, including prolonged
detention, torture, and executions based primarily or entirely upon the
religion of the accused….”
Jeff
Cimmino writes in National
Review: “As of December 2016, approximately 90 Christians were in prison,
detained, or awaiting trial because of their religious beliefs and activities.”
Churches
and homes are raided, Bibles
and other religious materials confiscated, and faith leaders bullied,
arrested, and imprisoned. Anti-Christian reports are published regularly by
Shiite religious leaders, warning Muslims against Christian missionaries who
seek to convert them.
Those
ex-Muslims who have converted to Christianity face particular pressure. They
are closely monitored, interrogated, spied upon and sometimes imprisoned on
false charges.
Cimmino
writes, “Estimates of the total number of Christians in Iran vary. The USCIRF
and State Department suggest there around 300,000, of which most are of
Armenian origin…”
Fox
News went much further in a 2016 report, “The number of Muslim converts who
are risking prison or death by secretly worshipping as Christians in Iran’s
house church movement has grown to as many as 1 million people, according to
watchdog groups.”
In
fact, the Iranian government has recently cracked down very emphatically
against Christians, particularly ex-Muslims, indicating rising alarm among the
country’s leadership over exponential Christian growth.
Last
month Mohabat Christian News Service
wrote, “One of the visible effects of the Iranian government’s crackdown on
Christians has been the closure of numerous churches, including the Central
Assemblies of God (AOG) church and Janat Abad church in Tehran and the AOG church
in Ahwaz.
“Additionally,
Christian converts were banned from entering official churches and Farsi
services were forced to cancel permanently across the country in all churches.
Publication of anything related to Christianity or any material referring to
Christianity was also restricted and books about Christianity already in the
market were confiscated.”
Not
surprisingly, growing numbers of new converts to Christianity are leaving Iran.
Some are fleeing into Turkey; many are young and disillusioned with the Islamic
path they’ve been expected to follow.
A
reporter from Kurdistan’s
Rudaw news site interviewed several young Iranians in Van, Turkey. One said
that hundreds of Kurdish youth in Iran have abandoned Islam and embraced
Christianity. “I changed my religion because I did not see anything in Islam.
Whatever I saw was wrong.”
Another
explained that he did not think he could be the person he wanted to be if he
remained Muslim. He did not want to give his name or appear on camera, but said
that he is now feeling “comfortable as a Christian.”
In a
separate conversation, one convert described Shi’a Islam as “depressing,” while
Christianity offered him joy, hope and love.
Some
say that fleeing to Turkey to avoid Christian persecution embodies the familiar
frying pan/fire adage. Turkey’s Christians are experiencing their own
difficulties under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s increasingly Islamist
regime.
But
the ongoing Christian flights from Iran underscore the believers’ desperation,
and the perilous despotism they are leaving behind.
Nina
Shea, Director of Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom, sums up the
situation. “Iran is one of the world's most repressive states concerning
religious freedom. The government restricts and regulates a wide range of
religious activity from the language of worship, the use of communion wine, to
Christian education and media. Those who evangelize or convert to Christianity
are subject to arrest and harsh punishment, including the death penalty.”
Newsmax
Religion and Freedom Editor Lela Gilbert is an internationally recognized
expert on religious persecution, an award-winning writer, and an adjunct fellow
at the Hudson Institute who lived in Jerusalem for over a decade. Her book
"Saturday People, Sunday People: Israel through the Eyes of a Christian
Sojourner" received wide critical acclaim. She is also the co-author of
"Persecuted: The Global Assault on Christians" and "Blind Spot:
When Journalists Don’t Get Religion." Follow her on Twitter @LelaGilbert.
To read more of her reports — Click
Here Now.
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