Police raid homes, seize literature, arrest Christian converts and deport missionaries
Pastor Dale Morgan
*
Police raid homes, seize literature, arrest Christian converts and
deport missionaries*
Posted: May 27, 2008
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Christian missionaries are "as dangerous as terrorist activities or the
illegal drug trade," Islamic theologians in Uzbekistan declared.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports a new documentary called "In the
Clutches of Ignorance," featuring Uzbek experts, state officials and
representatives of Orthodox and Catholic churches in Uzbekistan, claims
missionaries pose a serious threat to the Islamic republic.
The Uzbek state film criticized Jehovah's Witnesses, the Christian
Gospel Church and Blagodat (evangelical charity), saying they cause a
"global problem, along with religious dogmatism, fundamentalism,
terrorism, and drug addiction."
Jasur Najmiddinov, one of many religious experts interviewed, accused
Protestants of being a "political tool" and a "part of geopolitical
games," RFE/RL reported.
"Their center or place of origin traces back to the United States,"
Najmiddinov said. "They have even gone so far as meddling in politics.
We all know representatives of the Protestant movement played a
significant role in the Orange Revolution in Ukraine."
The Uzbek theologian said missionary activities disrupt society because
Uzbek families do not tolerate relatives who convert from Islam.
The May 16 documentary featured clips of people praying and claimed
Uzbek Christians, who have turned their backs on Islam, could
effortlessly betray their country.
Uzbekistan bans missionary activity, religions that are not registered
with the government and printing of faith-based literature without state
consent.
Norway's Forum 18, an organization defending religious freedom, reports
intolerance of religion is steadily growing in Uzbekistan as police
invade private homes, seize Christian literature, arrest converts and
deport missionaries.
The new state documentary warns, Christian missionaries seek out "those
with low political awareness and weak-willed young people, as well as
minors," and it said they "get funds abroad" to destabilize Islam.
Although the government says its official stance of "religious
toleration" is part of its policy, persecution of a wide variety of
religious groups is common in Uzbekistan. Human rights organizations say
the government incarcerates Muslims for worshipping outside state
institutions and calls them extremists determined to bring down the
government.
Uzbek imam Obidkhon Qori Nazarov blames the strict government for
putting so much pressure on Muslims that it often separates them from
Islam, RFE/RL's Uzbek Service reported.
"People are being fired from their jobs or expelled from universities
for merely growing a beard or wearing head scarves," he said. "Some
people are even sent to prison. People are afraid of following the most
basic Islamic requirements."
Nazarov claims terrified parents refuse to let their children pray or go
to mosques because they fear the government, as it controls all
religious activities and even appoints imams.
"It's like Soviet times," Nazarov said. "In the Soviet days, we also had
mosques and churches everywhere. But in reality, they all operated under
the tightest government control."