On Saturday, February 16th, four people were arrested in Benghazi, Libya on charges related to spreading Christianity. There is currently an investigation under way, and there was 45,000 books (Christianity related) found in their possession, in addition to another 25,000 that have already been distributed. It is not being released where these missionaries are being held.
The missionaries are from South Korea, South Africa, Eqypt, and the other is a Swedish American. The Swedish Foreign Ministry has confirmed the arrest of someone with Swedish citizenship on an American passport. The US embassy in Libya has declined to comment.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/02/16/libya-christian-missionaries/1925003/
Spreading Christianity is considered a crime in Libya, where the population is predominately Muslim.
I like to think I understand why a country would have a law such as this, but in an age where we have
increased globalization, this sort of thing is inevitable. If people are open to Christian ideology, then
they are never going to be completely Muslim. Though e government tries, I don't believe this is
something they are going to be ale to stop if their people truly want it. But like I said, I like to think
I understand this law from the stance that they are trying to protect something that they view as a
defining factor of their lives and heritage.
Update (2-18-13):
The charges of being a missionary and distributing Christian literature potentially carry death
sentences. A security official told Reuters that in a "100% Muslim country" like Libya, trying to
spread Christianity has an affect on national security.
An important quote from a lawyer/human rights activist:
"It is disrespectful. If we had Christianity we could have dialogue, but you can't just spread Christianity, the maximum penalty is the death penalty. It's a dangerous thing to do."
Today (Sunday), the de facto head of state in Libya pledged that shari'a law would be incorporated into the future Libyan constitution.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/17/libya-arrests-suspected-foreign-missionaries
While we can say that we have to understand this, the act of trying to spread a religion ending in death is still atrocious. We are accustomed to having a freedom of speech and civil rights in the US, so hearing about something like this... especially when one of the citizens at risk in this case is indeed a US citizen. The truth of the matter is that no matter what nationality, human life is at risk for doing something incredibly dangerous in a country so dependent on a different religion. Scary.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is hard to understand this being from America where there is open religious freedom. The government in Libya is obviously pushing very hard to keep its population a solely Muslim one. I find it hard to believe, however, that Libya is truly a "100% Muslim country" like the security official said. It may be that no one announces that they have a different faith because, why would they want to if they know it will end in death? Revd Vasihar said he had yet to meet a Libyan Christian but there could very well be many in hiding. It is oppressive of their government to force a religion on its people and say that if they do not conform that the penalty is death. However, like the article said, Libya is home to groups of Islamist extremists blamed by some for the attack in September on the US consulate in Benghazi, and is therefore very deep in its Islamic roots. It is just sad that people have to die for expressing their religious views.
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