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Why Bhutan's Royalists Fear Christianity
Social, political factors behind country's reluctance to allow Christianity to grow
THIMPHU, Bhutan, February 1 (CDN) — Bars, pubs and discos have become legal in Bhutan – a cause of concern for the older generation – but construction of worship buildings other than Buddhist or Hindu temples is still prohibited.
The prohibition remains in force even though Christians abide by Bhutan's codes of conduct, speaking the Dzongkha language as well as the Nepali language at church gatherings, and wearing the national dress.
The National Assembly of Bhutan banned the practice of non-Buddhist and non-Hindu religions through edicts in 1969 and in 1979. But Christians do meet for Sunday worship, with attendance of more than 100 Christians in an underground church not unusual.
Why are Christians seen as a greater threat to the culture of the nation than the "democracy disco culture," as one government official described the emerging subculture among the Bhutanese youth? It is believed that Christianity will create religious tensions in the country.
"There are reasons why Christianity is not being tolerated in the country," said a former high government official who requested anonymity. "Look at the communal tensions in India and Nepal. Christianity can divide the Bhutanese society as well."
He mentioned two incidents that appeared in the Bhutanese press last year, one in which 13 Christians allegedly hanged a woman they had accused of being a witch, and a suicide by a Hindu man who reportedly left a note saying his Christian wife and children were pressuring him to convert.
Christians here said these were isolated incidents that they strongly condemned.
"A majority of believers in Bhutan are not educated and are from lower economic backgrounds," said the pastor of an underground church. "When open preaching is not allowed, this is what happens."
Sound Christian teaching remains lacking, he said. There is a tremendous need for good Christian teaching and general education among the Christians in Bhutan, said the pastor.
"But little can be done given the restrictions we face here."
Christians are only allowed to pray if someone is sick among their acquaintances, he added.
The government also fears that Christianity could cause societal tensions because of the general misconception that Christians lure others to the faith with money; converts are viewed with suspicion, said a government official on condition of anonymity.
"There should be one religion in one nation," said the official, adding that religious freedom should be allowed only after educating people.
Threat from Within
Bhutanese officials are no strangers to religious conflict.
"You must also understand that the kind of Buddhism practiced in Bhutan is a minority sect within the two Buddhist divisions," said the former government official.
A majority of Buddhists in Bhutan practice Vajrayāna Buddhism, also known as Tantric Buddhism, and belong to the larger Mahayana sect, one of the two major divisions of the religion along with the Theravada sect.
Theravada Buddhism has a widespread following in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asian countries, including Burma, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. Mahayana is practiced in a few East Asian countries, including Japan.
Unlike Theravada, which is more individualistic in its motivation, Mahayana Buddhism involves an aspiration to achieve enlightenment not only for one's own sake, but for the sake of all "sentient" beings.
"There is a perceived threat to the Buddhist sect in Bhutan from the more powerful Theravada division," said the source, without divulging more about the clash within Buddhism. "In such a scenario, how can you expect the government to willingly open doors to Christianity, which too is a threat?"
Of Bhutan's more than 670,000 people, Christians are estimated to range in number between 3,000 and 6,000. Around 75 percent of the people practice Buddhism, and roughly 22 percent are Hindus, mostly of Nepali origin.
Monarchy and Buddhism
Religion is so closely linked to the monarchy in Bhutan that one cannot exist without the other.
The national flag of Bhutan, which consists of a white dragon over a yellow and orange background, also has religion in it. While the yellow half represents civil and political powers of the King, the orange signifies monastic traditions of Buddha's teachings.
The religious link is protected in the new constitution, which was adopted in March 2008. Article 2 notes that the dual powers of religion and politics shall be unified in the person of the king, "who, as a Buddhist, shall be the upholder of the Chhoe-sid," the traditional dual system of governance characterized by the sharing of power between the religious and political heads of the country.
Given that the king embodies religious and political authority, the common people worship him.
Additionally, Buddhism is woven into the national fabric. Bhutan is the only country in the world that employs a "Gross National Happiness" (GNH) equation to measure its people's level of happiness, and the GNH assumes that all citizens are Buddhist. Respondents to the GNH survey are asked questions concerning "spiritual activities like meditation and prayers, and consideration of karmic effects in daily life."
The introduction of democracy in Bhutan did not involve disturbing the religious and cultural status quo. While former King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who served from 1972 to 2006, brought democracy to Bhutan without any demand for it, people believe his intentions were far from transforming the country into a full democracy.
It is believed that the political turmoil in neighboring Nepal partly influenced King Singye Wangchuck's decision to make the country, at least on paper, a constitutional monarchy after over 100 years of absolute monarchy. A decade-long civil war led by the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist – which took more than 12,000 lives – is believed to be behind the abolition of the royal parliamentary system and the adoption of a socialist republic in Nepal. In 2006 the then-king of Nepal, Gyanendra, agreed to relinquish sovereign power to the people.
All sources in Bhutan confirmed that the present king, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck (selected in 2006 but not crowned until 2008), was still the supreme ruler. Perhaps this is why both the ruling Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (Bhutan Peace and Prosperity) Party and the opposition People's Democratic Party are royalists.
Pictures of kings of Bhutan are found everywhere in the country – in homes, shops, hotels, underground churches and on street walls. Many large posters with the kings' pictures carrying the inscription "Kings of our Hearts" can be seen along the streets. Even public buses have "Our Kings Forever" painted on them.
"But you cannot expect things to change overnight," said the former government official. "It's not wise to allow development without any bridle. Things are improving slowly.
Added an optimistic source, "Freedom in the real sense of the word and in all spheres is bound to come to Bhutan. It's just a matter of time."
Posted in Asia, Bhutan, Buddhism, Cambodia, Christianity, Hinduism, India, Japan, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand	| Tagged 1969, 1972, 1979, 2006, 2008, abide, abolition, absolute, accused, achieve, acquaintances, activities, adopted, adoption, agreed, allegedly, allow, allowed, anonymity, appeared, article 2, Asian, asked, aspiration, assumes, attendance, authority, background, backgrounds, banned, bars, behind, beings, believe, believed, believers, between, Bhutan, Bhutan Peace and Prosperity Party, Bhutanese, bound, bridle, brought, Buddha, Buddhism, Buddhist, Buddhists, buildings, Burma, buses, Cambodia, cannot, carrying, cause, change, characterized, Chhoe-sid, children, Christian, Christianity, Christians, church, churches, citizens, civil, Civil War, clash, closely, codes, common, communal, Communism, communist, Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist, communists, concern, concerning, condemned, condition, conduct, confirmed, conflict, consideration, consists, constitution, constitutional, construction, convert, converts, countries, country, create, crowned, cultural, culture, daily, decision, demand, democracy, described, development, discos, disturbing, divide, divisions, divulging, doors, dragon, dress, Druk Phuensum Tshogpa, dual, Dzongkha, east, economic, edicts, educated, educating, education, effects, embodies, emerging, employs, enlightenment, equation, estimated, everywhere, exist, expect, fabric, factors, faith, fear, flag, following, force, former, found, freedom, full, gatherings, general, generation, GNH, good, governance, government, greater, Gross National Happiness, grow, Gyanendra, half, hanged, happens, happiness, heads, high, Hindu, Hinduism, Hindus, homes, hotels, improving, incidents, including, India, individualistic, influenced, inscription, intentions, introduction, involve, involves, isolated, Japan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, karmic, king, King of our Hearts, kings, lacking, language, Laos, large, larger, led, left, legal, level, life, link, linked, lives, lower, lure, Mahayana, major, majority, man, matter, measure, meditation, meet, mentioned, minority, misconception, monarchy, monastic, money, motivation, nation, national, National Assembly of Bhutan, need, neighboring, Nepal, Nepali, new, non-Buddhist, non-Hindu, note, notes, number, official, older, open, opposition, optimistic, orange, origin, Our kings Forever, overnight, own, painted, paper, parliamentary, partly, party, Pastor, people, People's Democratic Party, perceived, Persecution, person, pictures, political, posters, powerful, powers, practice, practiced, pray, prayers, preaching, present, press, pressuring, prohibited, prohibition, protected, public, pubs, questions, range, real, reasons, religion, religions, religious, religious freedom, relinquish, reluctance, remains, represents, Republic, requested, respondents, restrictions, royal, royalists, ruler, ruling, sake, saying, scenario, sect, selected, sense, sentient, served, sharing, shops, sick, signifies, slowly, social, socialist, societal, Society, sound, source, southeast, sovereign, speaking, spheres, spiritual, Sri Lanka, status quo, strangers, street, streets, strongly, subculture, suicide, Sunday, supreme, survey, suspicion, system, Tantric, teaching, teachings, temples, tensions, Thailand, Theravada, Thimphu, threat, time, tolerated, traditional, traditions, transforming, tremendous, turmoil, underground, unified, unusual, upholder, Vajrayyana, viewed, walls, wearing, white, widespread, wife, willingly, wise, witch, within, woman, Word, world, worship, woven, yellow, youth | Leave a comment
Converts from Islam Jailed, Pursued in Somalia's Breakaway Region
Christian natives of Somaliland face opposition from authorities, relatives for sharing faith.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, September 16 (CDN) — A convert from Islam in Somalia's self-declared state of Somaliland has been jailed for distributing Christian materials, and another is on the run from both family members and police upset over his new faith.
Christian sources said Somaliland native Osman Nour Hassan was arrested on Aug. 3 for providing Christian literature in Pepsi village, on the outskirts of the breakaway region's capital city, Hargeisa.
Promotion of any religion other than Islam in Somaliland is prohibited, contrary to international standards for religious freedom such as Article 18 of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 5(1-2) of the Somaliland constitution states that Islam is the state religion and prohibits the promotion of any other faith, according to the U.S. Department of State's 2008 International Religious Freedom Report, and Article 313 outlines penalties for Muslims who change their religion.
Hassan was accused of providing Christian literature to a village Muslim boy, who later showed it to his family and friends. The boy's Muslim family reported the incident to the police, the sources said, leading to the arrest of the 29-year-old Hassan. He was taken to Hargeisa central police station.
The arrest has upset underground Christians who see it as a muzzle on religious expression. They said other Muslim villagers had received Christian materials from Hassan and took no offense, and that Christian Ethiopian refugees in the area have distributed the same literature without problem.
On Aug. 6, the Muslim family who accused Hassan met with his family and agreed that Islamic teachers, or sheikhs, should go to see him in jail to advise him on Islamic doctrine. Two sheikhs met him in the police station cell and implored him to stop spreading Christianity.
"You are from an Islamic family, and therefore you should not disgrace or paint a bad image of the family," argued one of the sheikhs, according to a source who spoke with Hassan. In response, according to the source, Hassan told them that he had received the Christian materials as educational material for himself and for others who cared to read them, and that Jesus was his Savior.
Convinced that Hassan had truly left Islam, and angered by his defiance, the sheikhs urged authorities to take him to the harsher conditions of a jail in Mandera, 60 kilometers (37 miles) away, but at press time Hassan was still incarcerated in Hargeisa.
"His stand is that he is waiting for the coming of Issa [Jesus], just as the whole world is also waiting," said one neighbor.
Somaliland, which is vying for international recognition as a nation, is bordered by the Gulf of Aden to the north, by Ethiopia to the southwest and by Djibouti to the northwest.
Fleeing Somaliland
Another Somaliland convert to Christianity, Mohamed G. Ali, is on the run from both authorities and family members. Ali has fled to neighboring Ethiopia, but the 27-year-old father of three said this will not be enough to deter relatives who seek to punish him for leaving Islam.
He said relatives previously abducted his wife, who is expected to give birth to their fourth child within the next two weeks, and that they are again looking for ways to kidnap her as well as the children.
The native of Hargeisa said he has already survived several attempts on his life by Muslim fanatics since becoming a Christian in 1998. Family members, close relatives within his tribe, the larger community and local officials have all done him harm, he said.
He first came to Ethiopia in April 2002, subsequently marrying Fatumo Mohamed at the Church of the Nazarene. News of his Christian marriage circulated, preceding him upon his return to Hargeisa; soon after his arrival, he said, Muslim fanatics kidnapped his wife and demolished his house.
Fatumo Mohamed remained captive for several months, later managing to escape and rejoin her husband. For more than three years, as they were displaced from the community and went into hiding, he faced open and official threats. When life became unbearably dangerous, they decided to flee to Ethiopia in August 2005.
Speaking only in general terms to protect loved ones he left behind, Ali said Somaliland authorities were seeking him for reasons related to his Christian faith; other sources confirmed this.
Even after he arrived in Ethiopia, Ali was sought by the Somaliland government, which published a notice on April 11, 2007 displaying his photo in two local Somaliland newspapers, Jamhuuriya and Maandeeq. The notice ordered him to appear before a district court within 30 days, saying failure to do so would result in stiff action being taken against him.
That was just one more episode in a journey of faith that began when he broke his leg in 1996. Receiving treatment in Djibouti, he stayed with a close relative who told Ali the New Testament account of Jesus forgiving an adulterous woman brought for judgment. Amazed at Jesus forgiving the woman, Ali began researching Christianity; three years earlier, he had witnessed the stoning of five young women accused of committing adultery in Hargeisa.
"At that point I failed to see the meaning of compassion in Islam," he said. "Many questions started coming to my mind – that not even a single person in the midst tried to call for compassion for the young ladies. I felt that it could have been even better to kill them with a gun than subjecting them to such inhumane killing."
Ali, who is seeking asylum and has conveyed his security concerns to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, is struggling to meet the basic needs of the family – food, shelter, education and clothing – and he is facing an urgent health concern. For three years he has been living with a bone infection, he said, and the danger of paralysis is rising. Looking worried and frightened, and that without asylum he could lose his family as well as his life.
"I will continue trusting in God's protection, for blessed are those who are persecuted for His sake," he said.
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EGYPT: ISLAMIC LAWYERS URGE DEATH SENTENCE FOR CONVERT
In case on whether he can legally change religion, Christian is accused of 'apostasy.'
ISTANBUL, February 26 (Compass Direct News) – In the latest hearing of a Muslim-born Egyptian's effort to officially convert to Christianity, opposing lawyers advocated he be convicted of "apostasy," or leaving Islam, and sentenced to death.
More than 20 Islamic lawyers attended the hearing on Sunday (Feb. 22) in Maher Ahmad El-Mo'otahssem Bellah El-Gohary's case to obtain identification papers with Christianity designated as his religious affiliation. Two lawyers led the charge, Ahmed Dia El-Din and Abdel Al-Migid El-Anani.
"[El-Din] started to talk about the Quran being in a higher position than the Bible," one of El-Gohary's lawyers, Said Fayez, told Compass. "[El-Din said] people can move to a higher religion but not down, so people cannot move away from Islam because it is highest in rank."
Memos submitted by opposing lawyers asserted that cases such as El-Gohary's form part of a U.S. Zionist attack on Islam in Egypt, that Christianity is an inferior religion to Islam and that Copts protect and defend converts from Islam at their own peril.
"We received 150 pages from them that talked about religion," said Fayez. "We are not in a position to talk about religion, we are only talking about the law."
El-Gohary Beaten
El-Gohary was not present at the hearing, as attendance would put him at extreme personal risk. He had planned to obtain papers authorizing attorney Nabil Ghobreyal to act as his proxy representation in court, but staff members at the registry office swore at and beat him, lawyers said.
Judge Hamdy Yasin was forced to adjourn the case until March 28 because El-Gohary did not obtain the necessary proxy representation documents.
"I am now in a position where I can't do anything else," El-Gohary, who has been in hiding, told Compass. "I have to go [to court] despite the danger. I believe God will protect me. It's a very hard decision, but I have to go."
Copts and Christian converts have to face such systemic prejudice daily in the battle for their rights, he said.
"Our rights in Egypt, as Christians or converts, are less than the rights of animals," El-Gohary said. "We are deprived of social and civil rights, deprived of our inheritance and left to the fundamentalists to be killed. Nobody bothers to investigate or care about us."
El-Gohary, 56, has been attacked in the street, spat at and knocked down in his effort to win the right to officially convert. He said he and his 14-year-old daughter continue to receive death threats by text message and phone call.
But he also has received text messages, he said, of encouragement from other Muslim-born converts too fearful to take a similar stand.
"Everyday I get calls from people who have converted but are secret," said El-Gohary. "They ask me every day about what is happening, because it affects their future."
The danger to himself and his daughter has led El-Gohary to suggest that he will most likely leave Egypt, but not until the case is over.
"He wouldn't go without doing this trial, he doesn't want to leave before it is finished," said attorney Ghobreyal. "Because it [conversion] is his right, then he will do whatever he likes."
El-Gohary said he feels a responsibility to witness about God and Jesus. "I have to do what I am doing for the sake of God and the sake of the converts, to the glory of God," he said.
He decided to legally change his religious affiliation out of concern over the effects that his "unofficial Christianity" has on his family, saying he was particularly concerned about his daughter, Dina Maher Ahmad Mo'otahssem. Though raised as a Christian, when she reaches age 16 she will be issued an identification card stating her religion as Muslim unless her father's appeal is successful.
At school, she has been refused the right to attend Christian religious classes offered to Egypt's Christian minorities and has been forced to attend Muslim classes. Religion is a mandatory part of the Egyptian curriculum.
Encouraging Horizon
Despite setbacks, delays and the vitriol on display in the courtroom, El-Gohary and his lawyers reserve optimism not only about the future of the case but the future of the country as well.
"There is evidence and signs on the horizon that are very encouraging, that there will be a time in the future that equal rights will be achieved," said Fayez. "People have started to ask for their rights and demand to have the freedom of religion. This is a good sign."
Mohammed Hegazy, the first Muslim-born Christian convert to attempt to have his new religion officially registered, is also in hiding after receiving death threats.
Despite a constitution that grants religious freedom, legal conversion from Islam to another faith remains unprecedented. Hegazy, who filed his case on Aug. 2, 2007, was denied the right to officially convert in a Jan. 29, 2008 court ruling that declared it was against Islamic law for a Muslim to leave Islam.
The judge based his decision on Article II of the Egyptian constitution, which enshrines Islamic law, or sharia, as the source of Egyptian law. The judge said that, according to sharia, Islam is the final and most complete religion and therefore Muslims already practice full freedom of religion and cannot return to an older belief (Christianity or Judaism).
Posted in Christianity, Egypt, Islam, Judaism, Orthodox	| Tagged Abdel Al-Migid El-Anani, accused, achieved, act, adjourn, advocated, affects, affiliation, Ahmed Dia el-Din, animals, anything, apostasy, appeal, asserted, attack, attacked, attempt, attend, attendance, attended, attorney, authorizing, based, battle, beat, beaten, belief, believe, Bible, bothers, call, calls, care, case, cases, change, charge, Christian, Christianity, Christians, civil, classes, complete, concern, constitution, continue, conversion, convert, converted, converts, convicted, Copts, country, court, courtroom, curriculum, daily, danger, daughter, death, death sentence, death threats, decided, decision, declared, defend, delays, denied, deprived, designated, despite, Dina Maher Ahmad Mo'otahssem, display, documents, down, effects, effort, Egypt, Egyptian, encouragement, encouraging, enshrines, equal, evidence, extreme, face, faith, family, fearful, feels, Final, finished, first, forced, form part, freedom of religion, fundamentalists, future, glory, God, grants, Hamdy Yasin, happening, hard, hearing, hiding, higher, horizon, identification papers, inferior, inheritance, investigate, Islam, Islamic, issued, Jesus, Judaism, judge, killed, knocked, latest, law, lawyers, leave, leaving, legal, legally, Maher Ahmad El-Mo'otahssem Bellah El-Gohary, mandatory, members, memos, message, minorities, Mohammed Hegacy, Muslim, Muslim-born, muslims, Nabil Ghobreyal, necessary, obtain, offered, office, officially, older, opposing, optimism, pages, part, particularly, people, pepers, peril, Persecution, personal, phone, planned, position, practice, prejudice, present, protect, proxy, Quran, raised, rank, receive, received, refused, registered, registry, religion, religious, religious freedom, remains, representation, reserve, responsibility, rights, risk, ruling, Said Fayez, sake, school, secret, sentenced, setbacks, Sharia, signs, similar, social, source, spat, staff, stand, started, stating, street, submitted, successful, suggest, swore, systematic, talk, text, text messages, trial, unofficial, unprecedented, urge, USA, vitriol, win, witness, Zionist | 1 Comment
KENYA: ISLAMISTS ATTACK CHURCH IN NORTHERN TOWN
Effort to replace building with mosque injures 10 Christians, ruins structure.
GARISSA, Kenya, September 29 (Compass Direct News) – A longstanding effort to replace a church with a mosque in Kenya's northern town of Garissa culminated in an attack by 50 Muslim youths this month that left the worship building in ruins.
The gang stormed the building of Redeemed Gospel Church on Sept. 14 and pelted the congregation with stones, sending many Christians fleeing while others became embroiled in fistfights. Ten Christians received hospital treatment for minor injuries and were released.
Church leaders said the Muslim mob also destroyed pews, damaged the church building's walls of corrugated iron, smashed the glass-mounted pulpit and burned the church banner with its stand.
"We had just started the Sunday service when, without warning, a rowdy group of about 50 Muslim youths invaded the church, pelting stones at us and destroying our structures," said the church youth chairman, identified only as Suma.
Local media reported that the 10 church members were hospitalized, but a district nurse at the hospital told Compass that no one was admitted due to the violence. A church elder at East Africa Pentecostal Church in Garissa, about 400 kilometers (249 miles) from Nairobi, confirmed that the church members were treated at the hospital and allowed to go home.
Tensions between Christians and the Muslim-majority population in the semi-desert town of 20,000 people began simmering after Muslims built a mosque next to the church plot at No. 21 Windsor in June 2007. Purchasing its land on Nov. 1, 1999, the church had begun worshipping there by early 2001, eventually growing to 400 members.
Church leaders complained to the district commissioner in June 2007 that the new mosque was built too close to the church – only three meters separate the two structures – and that it was blocking the church entryway.
"Prior to that, the owner of that land had promised to use half of it and sell the other half to the church," the church leaders reported to the district commissioner in June 2007. "But in 2007, she changed her mind and gave it to the sheikhs to build the mosque. We reported the matter to the DC's office that it would not go well with the church."
Officials had ruled that no further permanent structures were to be set up on the land by either party until a later date to be determined by the district commissioner.
"The church faithfully obeyed, but the Muslims defied the orders and began immediately to put up a permanent structure," according to the letter church leaders wrote to the district commissioner. The building of the mosque was allegedly sponsored by M.K. Roble, a wealthy Muslim in Garissa, according to the letter.
"The problems between the church and the Muslims began and have escalated since then," it states.
Government security intelligence had reported that Muslims planned to destroy the church if it continued to operate within the residential area, District Commissioner (DC) Alois Okango told Compass. The administration had proposed a new site for the church to worship, Jamhuri Club, but two days before the attack church leaders wrote two letters to Okango saying they would remain worshipping in their building.
"We would like to notify you that our church members have decided to have our Sunday service at our usual place on September 14 and not at the new site of Jamhuri Club," they wrote in one of the letters, "because we have come to realize that the new site is only temporary, and we will only move out of our premise if we are guaranteed a permanent place of worship."
Okango told Compass that to avert a crisis, the administration has decided that the church should relocate temporarily to a site near an agricultural showground. The government also advised the church to sell its property near the mosque and buy another piece of land, preferably outside Garissa town center.
This suggestion, Okango told Compass, did not augur well with church members, who felt they had already established the church at the site and that it was the mosque that should be moving.
"The Christians threatened to go and worship in the ruined premises if no action was taken," Okango said. "They said they were ready to die for the sake of their faith."
The government is striving to avert further incidents by preventing the Christians from returning to the ruined structure, according to a Provincial Police official identified only as Chelimo. With tensions expected to rise during the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, he said police were taking precautionary measures to ensure that the congregation never returned to their property.
"To allow this would be suicidal," Chelimo told Compass. "We have deployed five security guards every day to make sure that the members of the church will not enter its structure."
Elusive Justice
Wondering why those who attacked the church had not been arrested and charged in court, Redeemed Gospel Church pastor David Matolo said the government should punish the assailants.
"The church has the right to be protected by the government – allowing the minority Christians to suffer is quite wrong," Pastor Matolo told Compass. "Why should the Muslims interfere with the church's worship? I as their pastor cannot shy away when my members are ill-treated. We are ready to pay the price, but we want justice to be done."
He said church leaders had agreed on an alternative site only to have the district commissioner suddenly revoke it.
"The DC had promised to locate us to the provincial residential area, and we had cleared the said site, only to be stopped without prior notice," Pastor Matolo said. "Now we have no place to worship."
A missionary from Tanzania who works in the area informed Compass that Muslims have distributed leaflets threatening to destroy all churches in Garissa. They have also threatened to burn Garissa's open-air market operated by Christians from "down Kenya," that is, non-Muslims, he said.
The missionary said the safety of the more than 2,000 Christians in Garissa is in jeopardy, and he appealed to the government to protect the right of worship of all people.
"It is quite unfair that the Redeemed Gospel Church has been displaced and is now praying under a tree in an open space with no amenities," he said.
District Commissioner Okango said that the administration must protect Muslims from the noise of worship emanating from church at night that has disturbed residents, as well as prevent clashes. In both the mosque and church, loud speakers had been set up facing each other with confrontational messages blaring from each.
"The government is sensitive to the feelings of the people," Okango said. "We cannot allow disorder to reign in North Eastern Province in the name of religious patriotism."
Land issues alone have not been responsible for tensions in the area. The Rev. Ibrahim Kamwaro, chairman of the Pastors' Fellowship in Garissa, said Pastor Matolo had offended Muslims when he preached to a lame Muslim man.
Muslims were said to be upset that the pastor persuaded the disabled man to stop going to the mosque and instead join his church. Pastor Matolo's alleged promise to the disabled man of a better life offended area Muslims, Rev. Kamwaro said.
Muslims restrict churches in Garissa in various ways: Christians are not allowed conduct prayers, sing or use musical instruments in rented homes owned by Muslims. No teaching of Christian Religious Education in schools is allowed; only Islamic Religious Knowledge is taught.
Garissa has more than 15 Christian denominations, the main ones being the East Africa Pentecostal Church, the Redeemed Gospel Church, the Anglican Church, Deliverance Church, the Full Gospel Churches of Kenya, the Africa Inland Church and African Christian Churches and schools.
Posted in Christianity, Islam, Kenya, Pentecostalism	| Tagged 10, action, administration, admitted, Africa, African, agricultural, alleged, allegedly, allowed, Alois Okango, alternative, ammenities, Anglican, appealed, area, arrested, assailants, attack church, attacked, augur, avert, banner, better, blaring, blocking, building, built, burned, buy, center, chairman, changed, charged, Chelimo, Christian, Christianity, Christians, churches, cleared, close, Club, commissioner, complained, conduct, confirmed, confrontational, congregation, corrugated, court, crisis, culminated, David Matolo, decided, defied, Deliverance, denominations, deployed, destroy, destroyed, determined, die, disabled, disorder, displaced, distributed, district, disturbed, early, East Africa Pentecostal Church, education, effort, elder, elusive, emanating, embroiled, enter, entryway, established, eventually, faith, faithfully, feelings, fellowship, fistfights, fleeing, full, further, gang, Garissa, glass, gospel, government, group, growing, guaranteed, guards, Holy, home, homes, hospital, hospitalized, Ibrahim Kamwaro, identified, immediately, incidents, informed, injures, injuries, inland, instead, instruments, Intelligence, interfere, invaded, iron, Islam, Islamists, issues, Jamhuri, jeopardy, join, justice, Kenya, knowledge, lame, land, leaders, leaflets, letter, letters, life, local, locate, longstanding, M. K. Roble, main, majority, market, measures, media, members, messages, mind, minor, minority, missionary, mob, month, mosque, mounted, musical, Muslim, muslims, Nairobi, noise, North Eastern Province, northern, notice, notify, nurse, obeyed, offended, office, official, officials, open, open-air, operated, orders, owned, owner, Pastor, pastors, patriotism, pelted, people, permanent, Persecution, persuaded, pews, place, planned, plot, police, population, prayers, praying, preached, precautionary, premise, premises, preventing, price, prior, problems, promise, promised, property, proposed, protected, provincial, pulpit, punish, purchasing, Ramadan, realize, received, Redeemed Gospel Church, reign, released, religious, relocate, remain, rented, replace, reported, residential, residents, responsible, restrict, revoke, right, rise, rowdy, ruined, ruins, ruled, safety, sake, schools, security, sell, semi-desert, sending, sensitive, separate, service, sheikhs, showground, simmering, sing, site, smashed, Space, stand, started, stones, stop, stopped, stormed, striving, structure, structures, suggestion, suicidal, Suma, suufer, Tanzania, taught, teaching, temporary, tensions, threatened, town, treated, treatment, tree, unfair, upset, usual, various, violence, walls, warning, wealthy, well, wondering, works, worship, worshipping, wrong, wrote, youth, youths | 1 Comment
NEW SOUTH WALES IMPROVING: Is It Possible?
Apart from the usual infighting in the New South Wales (NSW) Labor Government, could it be possible that NSW is improving? Morris Iemma (former premier) has gone, along with some of the old wood – though there is still plenty about to remind voters of who is still in government.
Nathan Rees is now the premier of NSW and already there have been attempts to sully his name seemingly just for the sake of doing so and for ensuring there is still turmoil in NSW politics.
However, the newest policy reform in NSW relating to the 10 day approval of school gyms and halls by local government (if it happens) is a mighty step forward. If only the approval process could be sped up for all other development applications across the state. This policy is brilliant in my opinion and long overdue.
Is NSW improving? Is it possible? It is possible, but one good policy is a long way from where this government needs to be heading.
Posted in Australia, Morris Iemma, Nathan Rees, New South Wales, Politics	| Tagged 10, applications, approval, attempts, brilliant, Day, development, doing, ensuring, former, forward, good, government, gyms, halls, happens, heading, improving, infighting, Labor, local, long, Morris Iemma, name, Nathan Rees, needs, New South Wales, newest, NSW, old wood, opinion, overdue, plenty, policy, Politics, possible, premier, process, reform, relating, remind, sake, school, seemingly, sped, state, step, sully, turmoil, ususal, voters, way | Leave a comment