source: http://www.christianpost.com/pages/print.htm?aid=3D32593
Authorities in the overwhelmingly Muslim nation of Algeria have closed
half of the Protestant churches in the country over the last six
months, alerted persecution watchdog groups this week.
Twenty-six Algerian churches were shut down either by official written
order or verbal warning since November 2007, according to Open Doors
USA. The churches, ranging in size from several dozens to more than
1,000 members, are victims of a recent aggressive campaign against
Christians.
It is feared that if persecution continues all the churches will be
closed by the end of the year.
=93This was actually caused by an ordinance that was passed in 2006,=94
said Open Doors=92 Advocacy Coordinator Lindsay Vessey to Mission
Network News. =93This ordinance, basically, was making it more difficult
for churches to wor****p. It restricts where they can wor****p and also
tries to prevent Christians from proselytizing or evangelizing."
In March 2006, Algeria passed a law that required non-Muslim places of
wor****p to have a government-issued certificate proving that they
adhere to state wor****p guidelines. But Christian groups have accused
the government of using various means to block their registration
process, and complained that the regulations are unclear.
According to Compass Direct, the law restricting non-Muslim wor****p
did not take effect until this year.
In addition to church closures, the crackdown on Christians also
includes the arrest of Protestants as they travel between cities or
exit religious meetings, and blocking Catholics from participating in
regular ministry activities taking place outside of their church
buildings.
Last month, an Algerian Christian was detained five days, fined $460,
and given a one-year suspended prison sentence for carrying a Bible
and personal Bible study books, according to Compass. The Christian
young man was a convert from Islam and had re****tedly told fellow
believers that police pressured him to return to Islam while he was in
custody.
Several other re****ts in May revealed that Christian converts were
being pressured to return to Islam, and harassed for practicing their
new faith without license.
Experts and Algerian Christians have offered several reasons for the
recent crackdown, including: increased anti-Christian propaganda in
Arab media; a ploy to distract Algerians from pressing domestic
concerns such as national housing shortage and inflation of staple
goods prices; and a growing number of Christian converts from Islam,
according to Compass.
Algeria has 32 congregations that belong to the Protestant Church of
Algeria, and another 20 small fellow****ps that exist independently.
There are at least 10,000 Protestants in Algeria.
Islam is the official state religion of Algeria, where 99 percent of
its 33 million population is Muslim.
Open Doors has launched a worldwide advocacy campaign calling on
concerned citizens to contact their local Algerian Embassy to ask that
the Algerian government stop church closures and reopen those that
have already been closed.
=93Please e-mail Ambassador Kherbi (Algerian Ambassador to the United
States) today, asking him to stop the closure of churches and to
reopen those that have already been closed. We need to tell the
Algerian government that these church closures must stop, and that
freedom for all religions must be respected,=94 says Open Doors USA
Advocacy Program Manager Lindsay Vessey. =93Also, keep Algerian
believers in your prayers.=94
To send a message, go to http://members.opendoorsusa.org/algeria2008
|
