Time: Sun Jul 13 06:45:24 1997 by primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id GAA23151; Sun, 13 Jul 1997 06:05:48 -0700 (MST) by usr03.primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id GAA12578; Sun, 13 Jul 1997 06:05:38 -0700 (MST) Date: Sun, 13 Jul 1997 06:05:22 -0700 To: (Recipient list suppressed) From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar] Subject: SLS: Letters of the Republic (fwd) <snip> > > LETTERS OF THE REPUBLIC > > The Price of Faith > >In the Lion's Den, by Nina Shea, Nashville: Broadman & Holman >Publishers, 1997, 126 pages, paperback, $9.99. Order from American >Opinion Book Services, P.O. Box 8040, Appleton, WI 54913. Add $2.00 >for shipping and handling. > >While staying at a hotel in Cairo, Egypt in September 1994, I saw >a telling glimpse of the realities of modern anti-Christian >persecution during a conversation with the couple in charge of >housecleaning. As I let them into my room, the couple noticed the >black book I was holding. When the husband shyly asked what it was, >I told him that it was the Bible. > >The couple's eyes widened in wonderment, and the wife quietly asked >if she could hold the Holy Book. When I handed it to her, she >pressed it gently to her forehead and then to her heart, her eyes >moistening with reverent gratitude. Her husband explained to me >that as Christians in Egypt, they had never actually held a Bible, >and that the government increasingly allowed Muslim extremists to >persecute Christians as infidels and apostates from the Islamic >faith. Although the English text of my Bible was unintelligible to >them, they were both gratified to be holding God's Word in tangible >form. The hushed tones in which they talked to each other of the >privilege were as much a product of persecution as of reverence. > >Suffering for Their Lord > >Nina Shea, director of the Puebla Project at Freedom House, soberly >informs us that the travails of Egypt's Christians typify the >reality in much of the contemporary world. "Millions of American >Christians pray in their churches each week, oblivious to the fact >that Christians in many parts of the world suffer brutal torture, >arrest, imprisonment, and even death - their homes and communities >laid waste - for no other reason than that they are Christians," >Shea writes in the introduction of In the Lion's Den. "The >shocking, untold story of our time is that more Christians have >died in this century simply for being Christians than in the first >nineteen centuries after the birth of Christ." > >Shea's study examines the persecution of the Church in 11 countries >- China, Sudan, Pakistan, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, >Egypt, Nigeria, Cuba, Laos, and Uzbekistan. All of these regimes >"evidence a worldwide trend of anti-Christian persecution based on >two political ideologies - communism and militant Islam." The sad >truth is that the governments of the secular West are often >complicit in that persecution, either through acquiescence or >through active support for anti-Christian regimes. > >"In the fundamental matter of religious freedom, the United States >is forfeiting its leadership," Shea declares. This is particularly >true in the case of Christians suffering under communist regimes, >particularly that of Red China. "Freedom House has a list of names >of about two hundred Christian clergy and church leaders who were >imprisoned or under some form of detention or restriction in >mid-1996 because of religious activities," Shea reports. "There are >thought to be thousands of Christians now imprisoned for their >faith in China's religious gulag.... Some are serving sentences of >up to a dozen years or more on 'counterrevolutionary' charges, but >the fact is they were incarcerated for practicing their faith." > >Shea points out that in China today, "there are more Christians in >prison because of religious activities than in any other nation in >the world. Protestants are arrested and tortured for holding prayer >meetings, preaching, and distributing Bibles without state >approval. Roman Catholic priests and bishops are imprisoned for >celebrating Mass and administering the sacraments without official >authorization." > >The case of 31-year-old Huang Fangxin typifies the regime's >treatment of "unauthorized" religious worship and instruction. >Huang had resigned from the government-sanctioned Jinling Union >Theological Seminary to devote more time to evangelism. He >recruited ten other young preachers as a "gospel team" to preach >the Word of God to China's youth. For doing so, he was arrested in >early 1994 and accused of being the "ringleader of an illegal >religious organization" that was "disturbing the social order and >normal religious life," "influencing the stability and unity of >village life," and collaborating with "hostile forces from abroad." >Huang was sentenced to three years of "reform through labor" in the >regime's laogai prison system, and his colleagues and church remain >under surveillance from the Beijing regime's Public Security Bureau >(PSB). > >Another Christian leader currently languishing in the laogai is >Charles Guo Bo Le, a Catholic priest who has spent a total of 30 >years - more than half of his life - in prison. Shea reproduces the >January 4, 1996 "Decision Letter" (obtained and translated by the >Connecticut-based Cardinal Kung Foundation) of the Jiangsu Province >"Reform Through Labor Management Committee" sentencing the priest >to "two years of reform through labor" for such "crimes" as >offering Mass, administering the sacrament of the sick, providing >Bible and Catechism instruction for youth, and otherwise "seriously >disturbing the normal religious and social order." > >Accelerated Crackdown > >According to American Christians who have been in contact with >China's underground Christian church, 1996 was "the most repressive >period" for both Protestants and Catholics since the late 1970s. >The Chinese government controls "official" Christian communities >through the Religious Affairs Bureau, which oversees the Catholic >Patriotic Association (CPA) and the Three-Self Patriotic Movement >for Protestants. "Those with ultimate power for controlling >religion in China are atheists - they are required to be so by >Communist Party regulations," observes Shea. "State religious >policy, as explained by Chinese President Ziang Zemin in the March >14, 1996 edition of the People's Daily, is to 'actively guide >religion so that it can be adapted to socialist society.'" > >Those Christians who eschew the Party-controlled ersatz religious >bodies compose China's "House Church" movement, which may include >up to 100 million people out of a population of 1.2 billion. Since >1994, the Red Chinese oligarchy has embarked on a campaign to renew >"socialist spiritual civilization," and that campaign includes a >coordinated effort to register underground Christian congregations, >identify and punish pastors, priests, and missionaries, destroy >unauthorized religious buildings and shrines, and indoctrinate the >young in the tenets of atheist materialism. > >To carry out the new campaign, the communist elite appointed >Leninist hard-liner Ye Xiaowen as head of the Religious Affairs >Burean in July 1995. Ye described his approach to religious affairs >in the March 1996 issue of the Chinese publication Renmin Ribao: > >We must adopt an "especially discreet," "very rigorous" and >"circumspect" attitude toward these issues, as suggested by >Lenin.... If, with a lapse of attention, they are not handled >properly, it may undermine social stability, reform and opening up, >and the overall interests of economic construction. > >In the Shanghai Province, the Party's "especially discreet" >approach resulted in raids on hundreds of unregistered churches and >the arrest and punishment of dozens of Christian leaders in the >Spring of 1996. In Zhejiang Province between February and June >1996, police destroyed at least 15,000 unregistered churches, >temples, and other religious sites. In Hebei Province, several >Catholic priests, including two bishops, were arrested, their >congregations were forced to register with the CPA, and at least >4,000 Catholics were pressured to make public recantations of their >faith. > >One of the Catholic leaders arrested during the spring 1996 >crackdown in Hebei Province was Bishop Su Chimin, the 64-year-old >auxiliary bishop of Baoding. Bishop Su had already spent a total of >15 years in prison for his religious activities. "Once he was >beaten by security police until the board they were using was >reduced to splinters," Shea recalls. "Not satisfied, the police >then dismantled a wooden door frame in order to continue the >beating, which soon splintered as well. On another occasion, the >bishop was bound by the wrists and suspended from the ceiling while >beaten. His head received numerous blows, causing permanent hearing >loss." In another episode, Bishop Su was "placed in a closet-sized >room filled with water at varying levels, from ankle-deep to hip- >deep. He was left there for several days, unable to sit or sleep." > >Elsewhere, the PSB killed, beat, and tortured Protestant leaders >during the nationwide crackdown. In Henan Province, a 36-year-old >woman named Zhang Xiuju was dragged out of her home and beaten to >death by police on the night of May 26, 1996. During a March raid >on a house church in Xinjiang Province, 17 Christians were >arrested. "Police severely beat several of the Christians, knocking >out one woman's front teeth, and poured scalding water on those who >resisted orders," Shea recounts. The five women who took >responsibility for the congregation were imprisoned. > >Dogmatic Indifference > >The U.S. government and corporate elite have remained dogmatically >indifferent to the suffering of China's Christians. Shea points out >that when Bill Clinton met with his Red Chinese counterpart during >the UN's October 1995 50th anniversary celebration in New York, "he >proclaimed that the greatest threat China now poses to the world is >pollution. U.S. officials also vigorously spoke out against Chinese >piracy of American computer software and compact discs. Yet no >official statements were made expressing concern that Chinese >authorities are now waging the greatest crackdown against >Protestant house-church members and Roman Catholics since the late >1970s." > >Shea attributes this lack of concern to "a shocking ignorance about >the plight of persecuted Christians" among the "architects of >American foreign policy." She cites the example of U.S. Ambassador >to China James Sasser, who "spent nine months being briefed by the >State Department for his new post. Yet during a January 1996 >meeting with religious liberty advocates on the eve of his >departure for Beijing, Sasser displayed a breathtaking gap in his >education. When the religious liberty activists expressed their >concern about growing repression against the tens of millions of >Chinese Christians who attend underground house churches, Sasser >asked: 'What's a house church?'" > >However, Shea is being generous in attributing the problem to >"ignorance." Sasser, a former senator from Tennessee and a member >of the Council on Foreign Relations, is intelligent and well- >traveled, and the investigative resources available to him through >the CIA and the State Department are at least as reliable as those >available to private groups such as Freedom House. He was >"ignorant" because he chose to be, and because the priorities of >the American Establishment he serves are identical with those of >the Red Chinese regime: Renewal of most favored nation (MFN) status >for China, increased trade between China and the U.S., and joint >U.S.-Chinese diplomatic and military ventures. > >Persecution in Vietnam > >Christians are being aggressively martyred elsewhere in the >communist and "former" communist world. Shea writes that in the >former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan, President Islam Karimov, an >"ex"-communist and nominal Muslim, "has adopted several policies to >restrict religion - especially Christianity." In spite of a >provision in the Uzbek constitution supposedly protecting freedom >of religion, the government promulgated a law in 1991 forbidding >unspecified "missionary activities." > >"Karimov has used nominal Islam to shore up his government's >legitimacy, although he has at the same time clamped down against >Muslim extremists hoping to establish a militant Islamic state," >observes Shea. In 1995, Karimov's government enacted a Soviet-style >"secret law" specifically aimed at Christianity, the text of which >is shown only to Christian leaders arrested for violating it. > >Communist Vietnam, with which the Clinton Administration normalized >relations in July 1995, has also embarked on a new campaign of >persecution. In April 1995, while U.S. and Vietnamese officials >were conferring over renewal of diplomatic relations, Christian >evangelist To Dinh Trung, a Vietnamese house-church pastor, was >arrested after teaching Bible lessons. When Trung was arraigned >before a communist judge in October 1995, he protested that the >torture he had received in jail was illegal. This infuriated the >judge, who summarily pronounced a three-year prison sentence. > >Among the Christians imprisoned in Vietnam is Man Thi Jones, a 54- >year-old American citizen who was arrested during a visit to her >native village of Phan Rag on October 6, 1996 for the "crime" of >distributing audio tapes of Bible messages and pens decorated with >crosses. Since that time, she has been subjected to daily police >interrogations and pressure to sign a confession of criminal >activity and pay a fine. > >Other Americans have been arrested in Vietnam for religious >"offenses." In February 1996, three Americans visiting Vietnam with >the evangelical group Youth with a Mission were detained for >several days for singing hymns in a private home in Ho Chi Minh >City. In September 1995, Vietnamese-American pastor An Doan Sauveur >was arrested during an open-air service for 70 local Christians on >a hillside near Haiphong. All of these Americans were expelled from >the country following their detention. > >Nor have the Clinton Administration's diplomatic and economic >overtures toward Vietnam moderated the communist elite's policies. >At the Eighth Party Congress in June 1996, the regime announced an >even harder line against Christianity. > >The Marxist regime in Laos also conducted a recent campaign against >Christianity. During the February 1996 meeting of the Lao Front for >National Construction, communist leaders stated that Christianity >had replaced the United States as the "number one enemy of the >people." Beginning in late 1994, teams of government workers were >sent into rural villages to conduct anti-Christian seminars. Shea >writes, "Many Christians attending the seminars were forced to sign >an affidavit entitled 'Regarding Ceasing the Activity of the >Christian Religion.'" Each Christian forced to sign that affidavit >"confessed" that "I recognize that my beliefs are incorrect and not >in keeping with the Party and government line. I verify I will not >have any interaction with the national Christian Committee in >Vientiane [the national leadership of the Lao Evangelical Church]." > >Fidel Castro's Stalinist regime in Cuba has - for purely tactical >purposes - allowed limited religious activity in what was once an >overwhelmingly Catholic country. However, as Baptist pastor Eliezer >Veguilla can testify, there are abrupt and unyielding limits to the >"freedom" permitted by Castro's government. In February 1994, >Veguilla was arrested by Cuban security forces and ordered to >"confess" to crimes against the state or "sleep with a bear" that >evening. When the Pastor refused, he was thrown into a dark dungeon >with a live bear. > >Rather than pleading for mercy from his captors, the pastor knelt >in prayer in anticipation of joining the Lord. The bear, it turned >out, was chained to a wall; Veguilla's tormentors were seeking to >break his resistance and make him recant his faith. The pastor is >a leader of Cuba's house church movement, and he could have been a >valuable asset to the regime if he could have been "turned." > >Across the Islamic World > >In many Islamic nations, it is a capital offense for a Muslim to >convert to Christianity. In Pakistan, for instance, the death >penalty is prescribed for anyone who "by words, either spoken or >written ... or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, >directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet >[Mohammed]." This provision was used to convict 15-year-old Salamat >Masih, an illiterate Christian convert who was accused of writing >derogatory slogans against Mohammed on the wall of a mosque in >1993. > >The case against the youngster was weak: He cannot write, and the >Muslim cleric who accused him claimed to have washed the graffiti >off the mosque wall immediately and refused to repeat the insult in >court. Yet Masih and two others were convicted and sentenced to >death in 1995. An extraordinary international appeal resulted in an >overturned conviction, but Masih and another defendant were forced >to flee to Germany. In Pakistan, incidentally, many Christians have >adopted the surname Masih, which means "Messiah"; they are >literally suffering persecution in Christ's name. > >In the "moderate" Arab kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Shea reports, "All >public and private Christian worship is completely banned, and all >churches, Christian artifacts, and non-Muslim literature - >including the Bible - are forbidden." A special police force called >the muttawa is authorized to intrude into private homes to enforce >the laws against non-Muslim worship. The laws apply to foreigners >residing in Saudi Arabia, including U.S. diplomatic and military >personnel: Shea reminds us that the U.S. Armed Forces required >American servicemen stationed in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War >to divest themselves of Christian and Jewish religious literature >and symbols. She also points out that persecution of Saudi >Christians has escalated dramatically since the end of the Gulf >War. > >The Emirate of Kuwait, which was rescued from Saddam Hussein's >occupation during the Gulf War, declared Christian convert Robert >Hussein an "apostate" in May 1996 and ordered his wife to divorce >him, seized his property, and sentenced him to death. The Kuwaiti >Islamic Court decree cited the declaration of Amar Al-Sabig that >"Any Muslim who converts from Islam and attacks Mohammed's prophecy >and accuses him of being a liar, his blood should be shed." The >court allowed that the Kuwaiti constitution supposedly ensures >religious freedom but specified, "These constitutional freedoms >stem from Mohammed's teaching. The constitution respects freedom of >religion without fear of being closely monitored, but it does not >mean that a Muslim should be allowed to convert from his religion >to another." > >Wrong Solutions > >In the Lion's Den is a valuable testament to the faith and courage >of the humble followers of Jesus Christ who are willing to >consecrate their lives and souls to their Lord. It is also a useful >reminder of the complicity of Western political and diplomatic >elites in the crimes committed against Christianity throughout the >world. But this useful volume has some very important shortcomings, >all of which are rooted in the mission of Freedom House. > >Created in 1941 by Eleanor Roosevelt and Wendell Willkie "to rally >Americans against isolationism," Freedom House does commendable >work in documenting offenses against the rights of individuals; to >that end, the organization publishes very useful and scholarly >annual reports on the state of freedom worldwide. However, the >organization's mission statement explains that Freedom House >"continues to promote an engaged U.S. foreign policy" - meaning, >among other things, the entanglement of the United States in the >United Nations, whose founding instruments and history demonstrate >active hostility toward individual rights, particularly religious >freedom. > >Shea asserts, "The rights of Christians and other groups to >practice their religion freely - irrespective of the culture and >customs of an area, or a Christian community's minority status - is >universally recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights >and numerous other international treaties and instruments." Such >"recognition" is a slender reed upon which to repose the hopes of >Christians who suffer in such nations as Egypt, whose government >has ratified the relevant UN "human rights" agreements. This is >because the so-called "United Nations" is actually the United >Governments; its constituent members are the very governments >carrying out the abuses described by Shea. Furthermore, the UN's >"human rights" documents all contain self-nullifying provisions >which permit governments to withhold the rights supposedly granted >by them. Thus the "Call to Action" contained in the final chapter >of Shea's book is undermined by the recommendation that Christians >should work through multilateral agencies - "especially the UN" -in >order to alleviate the suffering of their brethren. > >Shea's book does mention numerous private Christian organizations - >such as Voice of the Martyrs, Compass Direct, and the Cardinal Kung >Foundation - groups which keep in contact with, and sometimes >provide relief to, besieged Christians in communist and Islamic >nations. The author also suggests that the worst offender, >Communist China, is vulnerable to economic pressure; concerned >Christians should agitate tirelessly to reverse America's drift >into economic, political, and military "interdependence" with >China, as well as with Vietnam. > >But the most important tasks for Christians are prayer and >remembrance. Shea reminds us that when Peter and Paul were >imprisoned by the Roman government, the entire Christian Church >prayed on their behalf. We must remember the suffering of the >redeemed in our prayers, and we must remember as well that our own >government, which is complicit in much of that suffering, can come >to resemble the anti-Christian regimes whose offenses are so >capably cataloged in Shea's book. > >- William Norman Grigg > >The New American * May 26, 1997 >------------------------------------------------------------------- >THE NEW AMERICAN - Copyright 1997 >American Opinion Publishing, Incorporated >P.O. Box 8040, Appleton, WI 54913 - Homepage: >http://www.jbs.org/tna.htm Subscriptions: $39.00/year (26 issues) >1-800-727-TRUE > >WRITTEN PERMISSION FOR REPOSTING REQUIRED: Released for >informational purposes to allow individual file transfer, Usenet, >and non-commercial mail-list posting only. All other copyright >privileges reserved. Address reposting requests to tna@jbs.org or >the above address. >------------------------------------------------------------------- > > >******************************************************************** >* Liberty is NEVER an option ... only a condition to be lost! * >* http://www.jbs.org * >******************************************************************** >* Roger Cravens, SYSOP * >* South East Signals Intelligence Group BBS: (770-) 942-1089 * >* Atlanta, GA * >******************************************************************** >* Signals Intelligence: "... and the truth will set you free"! * >******************************************************************** > > >_______________________________________ >Charles L Hamilton (chasm@insync.net) Houston, TX > >-> Send "subscribe snetnews " to majordomo@world.std.com >-> Posted by: chasm@insync.net (Schuetzen) > > > ======================================================================== Paul Andrew Mitchell : Counselor at Law, federal witness B.A., Political Science, UCLA; M.S., Public Administration, U.C. Irvine tel: (520) 320-1514: machine; fax: (520) 320-1256: 24-hour/day-night email: [address in tool bar] : using Eudora Pro 3.0.3 on 586 CPU website: http://www.supremelaw.com : visit the Supreme Law Library now ship to: c/o 2509 N. Campbell, #1776 : this is free speech, at its best Tucson, Arizona state : state zone, not the federal zone Postal Zone 85719/tdc : USPS delays first class w/o this As agents of the Most High, we came here to establish justice. We shall not leave, until our mission is accomplished and justice reigns eternal. ======================================================================== [This text formatted on-screen in Courier 11, non-proportional spacing.]
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