PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS AND JEWS: SPOTLIGHT ON TURKMENISTAN!

Each day, some 200 million Christians worldwide face violence and death for their faith, while a total of 350 million Christians are officially discriminated against by governments denying them access to employment, education, housing and medical care. Even in Europe, which is becoming more and more secular and irreligious, practicing Christians are openly ridiculed and maltreated for their faith. And, with the influx of Muslim immigrants, Jews in Europe encounter more antisemitism and violence.

Having spent six years in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, I did not experience physical violence, but I did learn what it is like to have one's religion officially prohibited and to worship secretly with other Christians.  Sadly, most Americans take for granted their freedoms and have no notion at all what others throughout the world must go through.  

Some may assume that the United Nations and its Commission on Human Rights are actively engaged in combating religious persecution; however, several of the countries serving on the commission are nothing but totalitarian dictatorships which seem to spend most of their time either protecting each other from criticism or voting for resolutions aimed at Israel.  Seemingly, little notice is given to the fact that Christian persecution occurs in those countries where Islam is predominant.  And, as for Jews, their lot receives even less notice.

Voicing support for human rights and officially condemning religious persecution, the government of the United States and especially its president, Barack Hussein Obama, has cravenly turned its back on Christians and Jews undergoing persecution.  The present course of our government must be reversed and the United States must realize that it has a duty to speak up for those persecuted for their religion.  A good starting point would be for the present administration to use the reports of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom to put some teeth in demands for change from countries like Egypt, which draw considerable American foreign aid.

Turkmenistan is one of the "stans" that were part of the former Soviet Union, and achieved its independence in 1991 with the Soviet Union's demise.  With a population exceeding 5 million, it shares borders with Iran, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, and has a shoreline of more than 1,000 miles on the Caspian Sea.  The country has extensive reserves of oil and gas, and the revenues from those resources have spawned significant corruption.

IN TURMENISTAN ISLAM IS OFFICIAL DOGMA

Unfortunately Turkmenistan, moving from the domination of the Soviet Union, transitioned into even more totalitarianism, and the government has had a doleful history of human rights violations, which has bonded seamlessly with persecution against Christians and Jews.

At least 93% of the population of Turkmenistan is Muslim, and government fiat has dictated that Islamic principles be taught in public schools.  In addition, interests from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Turkey have promoted the building of new mosques and Islamic schools.  Such an environment has proved fertile for religious persecution.

In Turkmenistan, Protestant Christians appear to draw the most ire. In the last year alone, Protestants have faced expulsions from their homes and villages, and their children fear for expulsion from their schools.  Elderly Christian leaders have been beaten and denied permission to return to their residences.  Home Bible studies in Turkmenistan are officially referred to as participating in an "unregistered religious community," and Christians engaging in such activity are told that they may lose their jobs and be sentenced to prison.

IN TURKMENISTANTHE CULT OF DICTATORIAL PERSONALITY IS SUPREME

Last October, 11 Baptists were tried and fined 2 months wages for holding a worship service.  Christian teachers are regularly taken out of classrooms, threatened and told that they must turn over the names of other Christians to the government.  In the meantime, Christian churches undergo arson and government authorities are "mystified" about the perpetrators.

Government censorship is official policy, and all religious literature must bear the governmental stamp of approval.  Anyone caught reading any non-approved religious material is subject to government action.

For the 1,200 Jews in Turkmenistan, the story is even sadder.  With the last synagogue torn  down at the time of the fall of the Soviet Union, the remaining Jews manage to carry on, operating with no rabbis or houses of worship.  Like most ethnic minorities, Jews are without employment.  In many cases, those Jews wishing to undertake higher education must bribe the proper authorities to gain admission.  Almost totally, the Jewish community is dependent on outside funds, most coming from Israel.  Immigration to Israel would appear to be their only hope.

Yes, dear readers, wherever you turn in the world those lands where Islam prevails are not noted as being bastions of liberty or regions of brotherhood and good will.  In this respect, Turkmenistan appears representative of the "stans," where Soviet withdrawal did not herald the dawning of a new age of enlightenment.  Let us be wary, then, of Muslims entering the U.S. wishing to bring with them the "wonders" of the Koran and Sharia law.