My latest in PJ Media:
Everyone is worried about “Islamophobia”: New Jersey’s unlikeliest new state senator-elect just apologized for criticizing Islam; Muslim leaders in Canada want the Ontario government to be more proactive against “Islamophobia”; and a mosque leader in London recently charged that Muslim women in Britain live in fear of “racism.” Meanwhile, in Pakistan several days ago, Muslims fired upon Christians in an attempt to seize their lands; in Nigeria, Muslims kidnapped over one hundred Christians; and in Egypt, two Muslim brothers murdered a Christian shopkeeper because of his faith. The Muslim persecution of Christians has rarely been as virulent or widespread as it is today, yet it gets little attention. That’s why a new book by Casey Chalk, The Persecuted: True Stories of Courageous Christians Living Their Faith in Muslim Lands (Sophia Institute Press), is a breath of fresh air and a welcome dose of realism in an international public discourse increasingly dominated by sloganeering and propaganda.
Chalk explained to me that this much-needed book had its genesis in encounters he had with Pakistani Christian asylum seekers in Bangkok, Thailand, where he and his wife moved in 2014. “The very first Sunday that we attended Mass,” he told me, “I immediately noticed a substantial number of South Asians. We soon befriended several Pakistani families at our parish, and became intimately familiar with their stories of persecution, suffering, and loss. While in Thailand, and since returning to the United States in 2017, I’ve written articles about their plight for many Christian and conservative publications. Sophia Institute Press graciously agreed to help turn their stories — and my reflections on the broader global problem they represent — into The Persecuted.”
It’s more than just gracious. It’s urgent, as most Americans are completely unfamiliar with the plight of these Christians, which has been criminally underreported. Yet “the Pakistani Christians I now count as friends,” Chalk recounts, “have endured terrible trauma. Some have been shot at, others set on fire by angry militant mobs, and others beaten within an inch of their lives. Many have female family members or friends who have been abducted by extremists and forcibly married to Muslim men, something local authorities rarely do anything about.”
Local authorities rarely act because more often than not, they sympathize more with the attackers than with their victims. But in the establishment media narrative, Christians are always white oppressors and Muslims are always and in every case victims, and stories that don’t fit that paradigm get quickly consigned to the memory hole. One story that did get international attention was that of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who spent years on death row in Pakistan on false accusations of blasphemy before finally having her conviction overturned and being able to leave the country. According to Chalk, she was just one of many. “What is particularly alarming,” he says, “is how similar these stories are to that of Asia Bibi. That similarity, I would argue, demonstrates that their experience is not an anomaly. Christians, not only in Pakistan, but across the Muslim world, from North Africa to Indonesia, are experiencing the same kinds of mistreatment. With a few exceptions like China and North Korea, almost all of the worst places to be a Christian in the world are in Muslim majority countries.”
There is more. Read the rest here.
janwoG says
I am living in Thailand and can confirm the author. I am still supporting a family that has found a Church sponsorship once they are in Canada. They are waiting for localization for 7 years. The local authorities do not want to take responsibility since the West made them Christians. There are still 2-3 million Christians who want to leave Pakistan. But nobody wants them.
Kepha says
I served as a consular officer in Thailand back in the 1990’s One of the issues was that the Royal Thai Government, in charge of a sore thumb of semi-prosperity jutting into a very poor and troubled neighborhood, didn’t want to send the message that Thailand will shelter anybody
raja says
I guess India is still officially welcoming non-Muslims from the neighborhood.
gravenimage says
While World Focuses on ‘Islamophobia,’ Christians Live Precarious Existence in Muslim Lands
………….
We keep seeing this insanity.
mortimer says
The ‘Islamophobia’ calumny is used to silence any complaints about the horrible Islam-inspired abuse of minorities in Muslim-majority countries or exposure of Islam’s canonical jihadic obligations incumbent upon all Muslims..
The Leftards and Muslims both love to use calumny as way to silence their opponents before valid criticisms can be uttered.
raja says
Mortimer,
Agree 100% . To make things worse, modern day Leftists have replaced the word oppressed with the word minorities (found in Judeo-Christian scriptures/doctrines). Evil and heartless humans, only dreaming about “big” things-power.
gravenimage says
+1
mortimer says
The ‘Islamophobia’ calumny is a Trojan horse for Sharia Supremacism.
Valhella says
+1000
somehistory says
Mr. Raymond Ibrahim regularly writes about the persecution of Christians throughout the world…the numbers are staggering and the stories horrific.
At least, a few from pakistan have escaped to tell what has happened to them and their families.
Jesus said, “The world hates you on account of my name.” satan the devil and his demon angels are behind this persecution and slaughter and they find willing hands in the crowd of mozlums and those who turn a deaf ear, “hate” Jesus and His followers.
PRCS says
“satan the devil and his demon angels are behind this persecution and slaughter”
Human beings do that, in the name of religion.
Dhimmi says
And our politicians invite these muslim animals in Europe to live on social handouts and make terror
Valhella says
Saudi backhanders methinks – seems 99.9% of politicians are corruptible.
Beneath the Veil of Consciousness says
Muslim women in the U.K. live in fear? Tell that to the Afghanistan women. How Orwellian. Sewing the seeds of confusion, false narratives, and distractions from the truth is what these serpents do best.
Valhella says
True!
gravenimage says
While World Focuses on ‘Islamophobia,’ Christians Live Precarious Existence in Muslim Lands
………..
Yes–just a grotesque inversion of the truth.