| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| Iraqi Moslems Debate With Iraqi Christians About Religion |
| 2007-05-03 |
| From Compass Direct Iraqi Christians fled their homes over the weekend [April 14-15] after armed Sunni extremists threatened to kill them if they did not convert to Islam within 24 hours .... Six Christian families from the Mualimien neighborhood of Baghdad’s Dora district have relocated to a church elsewhere in the city .... Armed Sunnis told the families on Saturday (April 14) that an amir (independent Muslim prince or ruler) had issued a fatwa or judgment based on Islamic law against Dora’s Christians, the source said. “They called the Christians infidels and told them, ‘If you don’t convert to Islam or leave your homes in 24 hours, we will kill you,’” the source told Compass after speaking with a member of the church helping the displaced Christians. The source was unable to confirm an April 15 report from the news website Iraq Slogger that militants had printed the fatwa on fliers distributed throughout the neighborhood. According to Ainkawa.com, an Arabic-language Christian website that first reported the news on Saturday evening (April 14), the extremists prevented fleeing Christian families from taking any personal belongings with them. .... “Most of the Christian people have now left Mualimien,” said a pastor, who himself recently moved away from Dora to escape the daily violence. “No one was injured, they just all got out.” .... Located in southern Baghdad, Dora was at one time home to a large Christian community. Church bombings in August, October and November 2004, followed by increasing violence between extremist Muslim groups and Iraqi and U.S. forces, prompted the beginning of a Christian exodus from the neighborhood. Last fall Iraq’s only Chaldean seminary and college, located in Dora, postponed classes until December after several priests on staff were kidnapped. The institutions eventually relocated to Ainkawa, a Christian village outside of Erbil in Iraq’s Kurdish region. .... “Speak with the churches around the world and remind the brothers to pray for our churches in Baghdad,” [a] pastor told Compass. “Pray that the Lord would give us peace and good days to see what God’s will is in this violence.” |
| Posted by:Angaise Elmong1922 |
| #4 I predict a post from J-Unspun soon. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2007-05-03 12:06 |
| #3 Perhaps Madame Speaker of the House Pelosi can work this into her diplomatic schedule? Nevermind; the press'd never cover it. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2007-05-03 05:53 |
| #2 Oh the religon of tolerance-NOT!!!!! |
| Posted by: Paul 2007-05-03 05:12 |
| #1 I don't know about God's will, but Allah's will is that you submit or die. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2007-05-03 01:47 |