Afghanistan ranks second in persecution of Christians

In 2021  the top 10 worst christian persecutors are relatively unchanged. After North Korea is Afghanistan, followed by Somalia, Libya, Pakistan, Eritrea, Yemen, Iran, Nigeria, and India. Worldwide registered martyrdoms rose to 4,761 in the 2021 report, up 60 percent from the 2,983 tallied the year before and surpassing the 4,305 deaths.

Afghanistan is the world’s No. 2 worst persecutor and an officially Muslim nation, the main motivation of persecution there—according to Open Doors research—is not Islamic extremism but ethnic antagonism, or what the report calls “clan oppression.”

The Afghanistan constitution states that Islam “is the religion of the state” and that “no law can be contrary to the beliefs and provisions of the sacred religion of Islam.

Public opinion, too, remains hostile to Christian converts and proselytizing. Generally, then, Christians in Afghanistan are few in number and avoid public exercise or display of their faith because of the severe legal and societal violence against non-Muslims.

After US withdrawal in 2021 the situation of Christians and new believers turned to a dangerous situation. The Taliban's domination of Afghanistan and their extremist policies have sparked a new wave of violence against christians. Thus, they are constantly searching for christians and killing and imprisoning them in house-to-house searches.

David Paiman is an Afghan pastor and evangelist in an interview with  Christian Today  says: " christian lives are in danger, especially for people who are registered as christians in Afghanistan. They were not required to register, but they registered for the next generation. They don't want their children to be called Muslims, they want their identity to be Christian."

"It's painful that many Afghanistans leave it behind and now we see that Afghanistan is bleeding and people are crying out for help, but it's because they don't take care of their own country." He added.

They are killed just for having a Bible on their phone and pastors being sent messages, warnings from the Taliban to cease operations from their home churches. Christians who are already under threat in the country are now facing an increase of violence and will continue to face this increase of violence in the country.

There are no public churches in Afghanistan, so denominational diversity is difficult to ascertain, but reports suggest that the majority of Afghan Christians worship alone or in house churches that are not recognized by the government.

These are people that are being persecuted simply for peacefully practicing their faith and they're dying for it. what is happening in Afghanistan is unfolding right before our very eyes in real time.

Worried about being tracked, Christians are turning off their phones and moving in case the Taliban has the technical capabilities to monitor them.

The lack of official registration of Afghan Christians has left no exact statistics. For many years, they worshiped individually and in groups in house churches. At present, under the control of the Taliban extremist government, it is not possible to give an accurate report on their situation.

What is needed is an international effort by christian organizations in cooperation with human rights organizations to monitor the situation and protect the lives of Afghan Christians.

 

_{Source and Credit: Opendoor, christian today}