"By speaking out against the anti-blasphemy law, the WCC is making a rare break from its usual condemnations of America and Israel to admirably defend persecuted Pakistani Christians." -- Mark Tooley, IRD President
Contact: Jeff Walton, Institute on Religion and Democracy, 202-682-4131, 202-413-5639 cell, jwalton@TheIRD.org
WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 /Christian Newswire/ -- On July 19 Islamist vigilantes in Faisalabad, Pakistan, shot and killed two Pakistani Christians, Pastor Rashid Emmanuel and his brother Sajid Emmanuel, who were under arrest for allegedly blaspheming Islam's prophet Muhammad. The Geneva-based World Council of Churches (WCC), in a July 23 letter to Pakistan's president and prime minister, denounced both the murder and the anti-blasphemy law.
The ecumenical council's new Norwegian General Secretary, Olav Fykse Tveit, told Pakistani officials that their anti-blasphemy law is "fraught with danger that can be abused by extremist groups when dealing with religious minorities." Tveit noted that blasphemy charges are "arbitrarily applied and at times founded on malicious accusations against individuals and groups." The law is "inimical to and destructive of the harmony and well-being of people who live together in a religiously plural society," he said. It has fueled "physical violence, damage, destruction of properties and loss of life within the innocent Christian minority over the years." Tveit urged Pakistan to bring to justice the killers of the Emmanuel brothers and to repeal the blasphemy law that facilitated their murder.
IRD President Mark Tooley commented:
"The WCC's recent statement urging full repeal of the anti-blasphemy law, on behalf of the 'rights and dignity' of all Pakistanis, hopefully indicates a more robust witness for religious liberty by the council.
"By speaking out against the anti-blasphemy law, the WCC is making a rare break from its usual condemnations of America and Israel to admirably defend persecuted Pakistani Christians.
"The global church has to confront the Islamist drive to impose and enforce shari'a, to the detriment of Christians and other minorities in Muslim nations. While the WCC's intercession for persecuted Pakistani Christians may complicate its relations with some Islamic groups, it is the right thing to do."
The Institute on Religion and Democracy, founded in 1981, is an ecumenical alliance of U.S. Christians working to reform their churches' social witness, in accord with biblical and historic Christian teachings, thereby contributing to the renewal of democratic society at home and abroad.www.TheIRD.org
