Fear of Molestation

When I was growing up, I remember one of the prayer phrases often used in church prayers was “We thank Thee that we can assemble for worship without fear of molestation.” As I got older, the term “molestation” came to have a more technical meaning (as in "good touch, bad touch"), and that prayer seemed a little strange. But it also seemed strange because the persecution of the church was something from the distant past, taken away by Constantine at the twilight of the Roman empire. Of course, even as we prayed that prayer, Christians were being arrested, tortured and killed in the U.S.S.R and Red China. It is often pointed out that more Christians died for their faith in the 20^th century than in the first three centuries combined. Stalin and Mao could teach Decius and Diocletian a thing or two about persecution.

Today faith flourishes in China and many of the former Soviet republics. It is now radical Islam that poses the greatest threat to believers in the world. That was emphasized again today by an article Brian Brown sent me from the Fox News website. Pakistani Christians in Charsadda, a town bordering Afghanistan, have received letters from the Taliban demanding that they close their churches and convert to Islam or they will be targeted for bombings. Many Christians have fled town and others live in fear. All believe that the authorities are failing to take this threat seriously.

Christians (along with Hindus and minorities) make up only about 3% of Pakistan's 160 million residents. Until very recently, most Christians have been able to live peacefully with the Muslim majority. But attacks and threats against Christians have increased greatly after the September 11 attacks and Pakistan’s cooperation with the United States in the war against the Taliban. Like their brothers and sisters in the Roman Empire of the first three centuries, Christians in Pakistan are powerless and easy targets for the growing “Talibanization” of Pakistan. Keep our brothers and sisters in these dangerous areas of the world your prayers.