Persecution of Christians in Afghanistan

A Report by the Rev'd Canon Julian M. Dobbs
06-22-10

On June 9, a group of Afghan Christians issued a statement to the global Christian community, pleading for prayer and support on behalf of the Christians in Afghanistan who are being arrested and executed in raids officially sanctioned by the government.

The increased hostility towards Afghan Christians appears to be the result of years old television footage which shows Muslim converts to Christianity being baptized. The media has called for Afghans to find more converts and report them to local authorities. On May 31, the Deputy Secretary of the Afghan Lower House of Parliament, Abdul Sattar Khawasi, called for the public execution of the Afghan Christians shown in the Television program.

This latest hostility towards the Christian community in Afghanistan is all in accordance with Shari’a law which is the foundation of the Afghan constitution. Article 3 of the Afghan constitution states, “In Afghanistan, no law can be contrary to the beliefs and provisions of the sacred religion of Islam.” Under Islamic Shari’a law, women are oppressed, sometimes beaten and abused. Converts to Christianity and other faiths are severely persecuted. While many Christians in the West take for granted the right to religious freedom, in Islam all schools of Islamic law agree that adult male apostates should suffer the death penalty. the rest