Remember -- religious tolerance only runs one way when it comes to Islam.

Muslims converting to Christianity is a thorny issue almost anywhere in the world, but recently U.K. media attention has focused in on the persecution of former Muslims not in foreign land but in its own backyard.

Former Muslims who convert to Christianity are threatened with disownment and violence at the hands of their own family members – much like in parts of the Middle East. But the difference is these families don’t reside in a theocratic society, but in a western country that upholds religious freedom – including the right to convert to another faith.

BBC, U.K.Â’s leading news network, featured several stories and programs in recent months devoted to the issue of persecution of Christian converts from Islam. In its latest feature on Monday, it highlighted real cases of England-based Muslims who convert to Christianity and the consequences that follow.

Sophia (not her real name) is from a Pakistani background but lives in east London. Her family has put extreme pressure on her to return to Islam since she converted to Christianity.

“They kept saying, ‘The punishment is death, do you know the punishment is death?” she recalled to BBC.

She ended up running away from home, but her mother found her and showed up at her baptism.

“I got up to get baptized, that’s when my mother got up, ran to the front and tried to pull me out of the water,” Sophia said.

“My brother was really angry. He reacted and phoned me on my mobile and just said, ‘I’m coming down to burn that church,’” she remembered.

Physical assault -- threats of arson and murder. Not in one of the third world backwaters that constitutes the bulk of the Islamic world, but in a civilized country like Great Britain.

I'd love to know -- were Sophia's family members charged or convicted over any of these offenses? After all, terroristic threats and the assault during her baptism are crimes. Or do Muslims get a pass when these are directed against someone who leaves the falsehood of Islam for the truth of Christianity?

But in the end, the answer to that question is not nearly so relevant as the truth revealed by Sophia's story. Religious persecution of Christians continues today -- outside the Christian world and within it -- and it is incumbent upon us to pray for those who take fearlessly take that step into the light of Christ.

Posted by: Greg at 10:33 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 427 words, total size 3 kb.