In the wake of a Christian couple being burned inside a brick kiln due to false accusations of blasphemy, three more cases of Christians being accused of blasphemy has emerged from Pakistan.
A Muslim north of Lahore claims he found burned pages of the Quran along with a page that listed a bunch of Christians. He claimed that the Christians on the list must have burned the Quran or else they would have not been on the attached list.
“I don’t know who has done this heinous act, but I am sure that the perpetrator is very much against the Christian community,” Pastor Arif Masih, who is on the list, told World Watch Monitor.
In another incident, a 70-year-old Christian man was hired to whitewash a mosque including a signboard that contained writing from the Quran. The Christian man was beaten by a mob of Muslims as he performed his work.
The Christian man, Bashir Masih, was accused of blasphemy by the Muslim mob that attacked him.
Local officials say that while the charges have been filed, they have confirmed he was hired to do the work and that the issue is really between two separate Muslim groups.
The Minority Rights Group International report says these incidents are becoming common.
“Since 2001, violence and discrimination against Christians has increased. Seen as connected to the ‘West’ due to their faith, Christians have at times been scapegoated for the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, as well as the immense human suffering seen as a consequence of interventions in other countries with large Muslim populations”.
The parent company of Fox News Channel and Fox Entertainment Group is coming under fire for airing a program on Fox Television Sunday night that blasphemed Christ.
The show “Family Guy” created an episode called “The 2,000 Year Old Virgin” in what the show was considering their “Christmas episode.”
The cartoon has Peter Griffin, the father of the show’s central family, finding out that Jesus is a virgin and then in a parody of the movie “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” seeks out to arrange for Jesus to lose his virginity.
“After running into Jesus at the Quahog Mall, Peter is stunned to discover that the Son of God is still a virgin,” a description of the episode outlines. “So, he enlists Quagmire and Cleveland to help him throw Jesus the best birthday ever by finding a way to help him become a man.”
The show then has the Jesus character admit he lies to men about being a virgin so he can sleep with their wives. At the end of the show when Peter and Lois thank Jesus for teaching them a lesson about resisting temptation, Jesus says he’s fake.
“Who cares? I’m not even real. Merry Christmas,” he says.
The show’s creator, Seth McFarlane, has spoken before of his bigotry toward Christians.
“I consider myself a critical thinker, and it fascinates me that in the 21st century most people still believe in, as George Carlin puts it, ‘the invisible man living in the sky,” he said.
A 40-year-old Christian man is jailed in Pakistan charged with “insulting the Prophet Mohammed”, the same charge used to sentence Christian mother Asia Bibi to death.
Qaiser Ayub has been a fugitive for almost three years after the computer science professor was accused of posting statements on his blog that some Muslims considered blasphemous.
The law used by the government to arrest Ayub has been roundly criticized as a tool used by Muslims within the country to target religious minorities for persecution.
The American Center for Law and Justice sees this as another example to support their demand that the USA stop all foreign aid to Pakistan.
“We must stop sending billions of our taxpayer dollars to nations that persecute Christians. It’s that simple. Not one more dime for persecution. Cut off American foreign aid to any country that persecutes Christians,” the ACLJ states in a petition to the White House.
“As a wave of persecution sweeps across the Middle East — and Christians flee for their lives — it’s time for the money to stop. Already there is growing support for basic human rights and basic common sense on Capitol Hill.”
The Pakistani government is receiving condemnation and pressure from around the world over a death sentence given to a Christian woman falsely accused of blasphemy.
Asia Bibi has been jailed for four years after a Muslim woman who was angry she drew water from the same bowl as her made false accusations that Bibi, a Christian, blasphemed the prophet Mohammed.
One Christian group said they are working to increase the international pressure on Pakistan for giving a death penalty to a woman simply because she is a Christian.
“We continue to hope because, as Christians, our faith nourishes hope. We continue to pray for Asia Bibi and for her release, so that the Lord protects and comforts her. But there are many elements that are not conducive to optimism,” Haroon Barkat, director of the Masihi Foundation, told Fides News Agency.
The Christian leaders in the nation who have been fighting for Bibi are taking the case to the nation’s Supreme Court.
A Pakistani court has upheld a death sentence for a Christian woman who was accused of blaspheming the prophet Mohammed during an argument with a Muslim woman.
The Lahore High Court rejected the appeal of Asia Bibi on her sentence that was passed down by a lower court. Bibi’s lawyers say they will appeal the decision to the country’s Supreme Court.
Bibi was sentenced to death in 2010 for the accusation.
“The case against Asia Bibi is a great example of how Christians and other religious minorities are abused in Pakistan by fundamentalists wielding the controversial blasphemy laws. The blasphemy laws were originally written to protect against religious intolerance in Pakistan, but the law has warped into a tool used by extremists and others to settle personal scores and persecute Pakistan’s vulnerable religious minorities,” International Christian Concern’s Regional Manager for South Asia, William Stark told the Christian Post.
Stark said that many times accusations of blasphemy are used against Christians as weapons.
“Sadly, the vast majority of blasphemy accusations brought against Christians and others are false. Unfortunately, pressure from Islamic radical groups and general discrimination against Christians in Pakistan has transformed trial courts and now appeals courts into little more than rubber stamps for blasphemy accusations brought against Christians, regardless of the evidence brought to bear in the case.”
A Christian man has been sentenced to death after a Muslim man claimed he insulted the Prophet Mohammed.
Islamic officials seized the man last year after a Muslim mob burned down the homes and fields of Christians because of the alleged slight. Over 3,000 men went through the streets of the area called Joseph Colony attacking Christians.
The Christians in the region say that the man never actually insulted anyone but rather the Muslim man in question had been trying to take over the Christian’s land and when he wouldn’t sell made the accusation of blasphemy.
“In Pakistan even being accused of blasphemy is equivalent to being sentenced,” Xavier William, president of the Christian group Life for All Pakistan said. “The blasphemy laws in Pakistan are used to settle personal vendettas.”
Amnesty International and other international aid groups are calling for the Christian man to be freed and for the Muslims who beat Christians and burned their homes to be tried for their crimes.
“DJesus Uncrossed” may have crossed the line, with some calling it the single most offensive skit in “Saturday Night Live” history.
The skit spoofs Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained” with a mock trailer for the ultimate historical revenge fantasy starring “Jesus H. Christ” himself. If that’s not enough, the skit arrives during Lent, one of the most solemn periods in the Christian calendar. Continue reading →
Police in Pakistan have told CNN that Rimsha Masih, the 14-year-old girl accused of blasphemy for allegedly burning a Koran, is innocent and was framed by a local imam.
“There was no legal evidence against Rimsha,” officer Munir Jafri said. Her case was moved from adult to juvenile court according to her lawyer.
The Pakistani director of Human Rights Watch hailed the news. Continue reading →