Via Jerusalem Post (h/t Anne in Petah Tikva):
Unlike other countries in the Middle East, where Christian communities are shrinking and many of them are in danger, in Israel there is a strong and growing Christian community that participates fully in the life of the country, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said in a taped Christmas greeting on Monday.
“Israel is proud of its record of religious tolerance and pluralism, and Israel will continue to protect freedom of religion for all,” Netanyahu said. “And we will continue to safeguard places of Christian worship throughout our country.”
Bet you didn’t realize this nice statement reflected the “rightist-evangelical anti-Muslim wing of the Republican Party.”
In related news, via The Telegraph, Christianity ‘close to extinction’ in Middle East:
Christianity faces being wiped out of the “biblical heartlands” in the Middle East because of mounting persecution of worshippers, according to a new report.
The study warns that Christians suffer greater hostility across the world than any other religious group.
And it claims politicians have been “blind” to the extent of violence faced by Christians in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
The most common threat to Christians abroad is militant Islam, it says, claiming that oppression in Muslim countries is often ignored because of a fear that criticism will be seen as “racism”.
It warns that converts from Islam face being killed in Saudi Arabia, Mauritania and Iran and risk severe legal penalties in other countries across the Middle East.
The report, by the think tank Civitas, says: “It is generally accepted that many faith-based groups face discrimination or persecution to some degree.
“A far less widely grasped fact is that Christians are targeted more than any other body of believers.” …
The report, entitled Christianophobia, highlights a fear among oppressive regimes that Christianity is a “Western creed” which can be used to undermine them.
State hostility towards Christianity is particularly rife in China, where more Christians are imprisoned than in any other country in the world, according to the report.
Sounds like this would be the perfect time for another press release from the Presbyterian Church condeming Israel. Oh, wait.
Or perhaps a rehash of the tainted CBS 60 Minutes story about Christians in Israel and the West Bank. Oh, wait.
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“A far less widely grasped fact is that Christians are targeted more than any other body of believers.”
Unfortunately, this doesn’t come as much of a surprise to those of us who have kept our eyes open. Thus far such anti-Christian bigotry and persecution has been largely confined to foreign shores, but it’s beginning to rear its ugly head here as well: marginalization, ridicule, open hostility, and so on – cheered on by the Left, of course.
If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.
There is a lot of anti-Christian bigotry in America. I’ve even experienced a small piece of it here on LI but it is truly everywhere. I lost a job once for carrying the Holy Bible to work (and, no, I didn’t force my ideas on anyone).
I wish America had a leader like Netanyahu. He’s a great man.
God Bless Netanyahu, and God Bless Israel.
In the Spirit of Christmas and Peace on Earth and all that jazz, let me just say,
Barak Ravid, you’re going to parse a Christmas greeting?? A little advice: Get a life! Especially when you’re determined to take issue with the truth.
Presbyterian Church and 60 Minutes … shame on you!
LukeHandCool (who is taking a break from a long, fiercely competitive fashion show of new clothes between his two daughters … while his son tries out the new lock picking set his mother got him on the front door … that’s great, honey, encourage him to be a criminal with two backstabbing supermodel sisters)
Meanwhile…
Christmas In Nigeria – Muslims attack and kill 11 Christians and burn churches in two separate attacks.
Christmas in Indonesia – Muslims pelt Christians with rotten eggs, urine and dung.
[…] via Legal Insurrection […]
What a wonderful man Benjamin Netanyahu is, and how puny do most of the rest of the world’s “leaders” look beside him!!
God bless you, sir.
I would guess that the mainstream media comes in as a close second, (as compared to Islam), when it comes to suppression of Christianity.
The news as spoon fed to the mooing masses…