The Great Truth Robbery
Truth has become public enemy number one around the globe. Barnabas Fund reports…
UK: seven dying freedoms 1 “The Church has a duty to protect the free practice of all faiths in this country.” Her Majesty The Queen, Lambeth Palace, February 2012
Barnabas Fund is seeking a new Act of Parliament in the UK to guarantee seven fundamental aspects of freedom of religion. These seven freedoms have developed in the UK by various mechanisms over the last five centuries but are now under threat. A law to protect and guarantee them is urgently needed.
Tracing the heritage of religious liberty takes us back more than 800 years to Magna Cartain 1215. At that time, England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland were separate nations; it was long before Great Britain was created, let alone the United Kingdom. So Magna Carta’s ringing call that “the English Church” must be free should not be seen as limited to England. We must see it as an affirmation to be embraced by the whole of the UK, and far beyond, but expressed in the language of its time and context. Indeed, in later centuries, Magna Carta became a rallying cry for the freedoms of all the English-speaking peoples. For example, those who signed the American Declaration of Independencedescribed themselves as “patriots” claiming their ancient rights as Englishmen which had been set out in Magna Carta and subsequent laws.
As we will explain in a new booklet which Barnabas Fund will shortly be launching, Magna Carta’s affirmation that “the English Church shall be free” was gradually worked out over the centuries into seven specific aspects of freedom of religion:
1. Freedom to read the Bible in public (achieved 1537)
2. Freedom to interpret the Bible without government interference (achieved 1559)
3. Freedom of worship (achieved 1689)
4. Freedom to choose, or change your faith or belief (achieved 1689)
5. Freedom to preach and try to convince others of the truth of your beliefs (achieved 1812)
6. Freedom to build churches and other places of worship (achieved 1812)
7. Freedom from being required to affirm a particular worldview or set of beliefs in order to hold a public-sector job or stand for election, work in professions such as teaching and law, or study at university (achieved by the repeal of various Test Acts between 1719 and 1888)
Most of these were achieved by the repeal of various restrictions on freedom of religion, rather than a positive law affirming freedom of religion. They are therefore vulnerable to being eroded by those who are either intent on imposing a particular ideological agenda, or by politicians who are simply ignorant of the enormous importance that previous generations played in developing freedom of religion and spreading it to other parts of the world.
The campaign will include a petition calling for a new law specifically guaranteeing all seven aspects of freedom of religion which over the centuries have emerged in the UK. We will also be organising similar petitions in Australia and New Zealand. But this campaign will be more than just petitions. We shall be calling on Christians to engage in numerous ways to reclaim the freedoms which our forefathers endured hardship, persecution and even death to achieve.
We are thankful to God for His guidance, blessing, provision and protection of the UK over centuries. In times of great sin and impending judgement, through the prayers of His people and the work of His saints like Wesley, Whitefield and others, judgement was averted. God in His mercy intervened.
We believe that, as a nation, the UK has again left the pathways of God. We have forsaken His laws, and we are faced with the possibility of the lampstand being removed from our country (Revelation 2:5). With this will probably come the loss of our fundamental religious freedoms. Yet, we believe it is not too late. We believe that we are still, as a nation, in the hands of our sovereign Lord, that it is He who will determine our destiny. Meanwhile we, as His people, must, like Nehemiah of old, pray, build and be equipped and ready to respond to every kind of attack (Nehemiah 4). Finally, we must heed the words of 2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
Iraq’s Christians “close to extinction” 2
“I’m not really sure about my future here in Iraq”, says ten-year-old Heldawho, with her family has just returned to their home town of Qaraqoshin northern Iraq.
“I would want to go abroad with my family if we have to continue suffering war and persecution; how long it will take for us to finally be safe and secure? My message to the West is to do as much as possible to support Christians in Iraq because they are close to extinction. Help us.”
Helda fled Qaraqosh in northern Iraq in 2014 as Islamic Stateinvaded. She recalls: “We had to escape the living hell of violence and terrorism. I went along, crying, with no hope of ever returning to my town, my school; with no hope of ever seeing my friends again. We had no idea how long we would be displaced.”
However, her family, along with many other Christians in the region, now face new threats to their security and an uncertain future.
“I do not know where to start because things are still so unsettled,” she says. “What will be next for us? It’s so hard to tell right now.”
China – Protestants are “evil cult”3
Authorities near Lincang city in the south-western Yunnan province jailed six Protestant Christians on 18th January for up to 13 years, accusing them of “using an evil cult to organize to undermine law enforcement.”
The Yun County People’s Court handed out a 13-year jail sentence to Ju Dian hong;twelve years to Liang Qin; and four years to Yang Shunxiang. Shorter sentences were given to Zhang Hongyan, Zi Huimei and Zhang Shaoca.
They were accused of being part of a controversial group called the Three Grades of Servants, which the government has been cracking down on. The accused have denied being members, and have said they will appeal the sentences. Almost 200 Christians in the province have been detained and falsely accused of being members of the group.
During her trial, Ju told the court: “I am a Protestant Christian believer, and I believe in Jesus. None of my evangelism has contravened any of the principles in the Bible, and my beliefs do not constitute an evil cult.”
Authorities are now turning their attentions to the detainees’ defence lawyers. Their licences to practise law will be subject to review on suspicion of “illegally” defending their clients.
Austria asylum: ‘Absurd’ screening of Christians 4
Christian convert refugees seeking asylum in Austria are being asked “absurdly difficult” questions on theology and Church doctrine by authorities in order to “prove” their conversion, say Austrian church leaders.
Converts have been asked complex questions about the Trinity, been asked to name the date on which the first woman was ordained in Austria and how many sacraments Austrian Free Churches observe; the five different Free Church branches in Austria all have different interpretations. Converts who failed to answer the questions often face their claims for asylum being turned down.
Karl Schiefermaier, a member of the Protestant High Consistory, stated, “This has now reached a stage which is most worrying. The Church and not the State must decide whether or not a baptism is legitimate. Every pastor has the pastoral responsibility to examine and confirm the genuineness of an adult’s wish to be baptised.”
A total of 859 asylum seekers converted to Christianity in Austria in 2017. Church leaders claim they are among a move of God which is reinvigorating church congregations across Europe.
Bolivia: criminal ‘witnessing’5
Christians in Bolivia are warning they could be about to see the end of religious freedom in their country under a new law which brackets criminal groups with religious organisations.
The law bans people trying to ‘recruit’ others to take part in ‘armed conflicts or religious or worship organisations’. This could mean that street preaching is banned, even inviting someone to a Christian event could count as an offence. Evangelical representatives are warning it could mean the end of religious freedom in the country.
“Will they denounce us if we bring a group of people to a Christian camp? Will I no longer be able to preach the Gospel on the streets?” asked pastor Miguel Machaca Monroy, President of the coalition of evangelical churches in the capital city.
The National Association of Evangelicals in Bolivia also criticised the new Penal Codeand a statement said: “It is deplorable that Bolivia becomes the first Latin American country to persecute the rights of freedom of conscience and of religion, which are protected by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the declaration of San José de Costa Rica, and our Constitution.”
“Christian evangelical churches in our country are institutions aiming to rehabilitate the human being, improve the moral, spiritual, ethical and social conditions of our citizens.”
It added: “Now, we have been put in a situation in which practising the Gospel has been criminalised.”
The new law, found in Article 88.11of the Penal Code, reads:
“Whoever recruits, transports, deprives of freedom or hosts people with the aim of recruiting them to take part in armed conflicts or religious or worship organizations will be penalised five to 12 years of imprisonment.”
1 https://tinyurl.com/y9tq3l4r
2 https://tinyurl.com/ycy5afby
3 https://tinyurl.com/y8adkvmf