Religious Minorities In Islamic Pakistan Struggle But Survive Amid Increasing Persecution

[cbayer]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/10/religious-minorities-pakistan_n_4734016.html?utm_hp_ref=religion

Jaweed Kaleem Become a fan

Posted: 02/10/2014 8:20 am EST Updated: 02/10/2014 8:59 am EST


Members of St. Peter's Catholic Church in Karachi attend a Christmas service shortly after the nation's largest church opened in 2011. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

KARACHI, Pakistan -- Every Sunday, thousands celebrate Mass at St. Peter's, a three-floor, 21,000-square-foot Catholic church that's the biggest in Pakistan. Dressed in their best tunics and loose cotton pants, worshippers sit barefoot in the pew-less building -- a style adapted from nearby mosques -- as they sing hymns to the sounds of drums and a piano. As the sun sets, a light shines in a 24-hour prayer room, something common in Western nations but a rarity here.

The success of St. Peter's, which cost $3.8 million to build -- making it the most expensive in the nation when it opened two years ago -- has been hailed as a sign of progress for Christians and religious minorities. Yet beyond its bold size and growing attendance, the difficulties parishioners face stand out here as much as at any other non-Muslim house of worship in this overwhelmingly Islamic country. Guards are outside to protect worshippers from would-be suicide bombers and attackers. Prayers for recent Christian martyrs are said regularly during services. Priests use nonalcoholic wine or grape juice during Holy Communion, partly because it's cheaper, but also to avoid inflaming Muslims who believe drinking is sinful.

While global leaders have focused efforts in this part of the world on fighting the increasing sway of extremists, activists and human rights observers have noticed a different problem spreading inside Pakistan: the targeting of religious minorities. This month, a Pew Research Center report named Pakistan, which is 96 percent Muslim, one of the most hostile nations for religious minorities. Pew placed the country among the top five overall for restrictions on religion, singling out its anti-blasphemy statutes. Courts frequently use such laws to give death or lifetime-jail sentences to minorities accused of insulting Islam. Often, their crime is as simple as openly professing their own faiths. A study on Pakistan from the United States Commission for International Religious Freedom counted more than 200 attacks among religious groups and 1,800 casualties resulting from religion-related violence between 2012 and mid-2013, one of the highest rates in the world.

The problem isn't limited to Christians. All religious minorities in Pakistan face daily reminders of their plight, including discriminatory laws, forced conversions, and bombs and shootings aimed at minority-sect Muslims, such as Shiites and Ahmadis. According to human rights groups, public school textbooks regularly demonize minorities and emphasize the nation's Islamic roots over contributions from people of other faiths. Labor studies have shown minorities stuck on the lower rung of the economy, often working as servants, sweepers and day laborers. Newspapers occasionally report on businesses that deny non-Muslim customers.

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[CJCRANE]

1. Fundies don't know anything about religion...see "The Constitution of Medina"...

"The Constitution of Medina ... also known as the Charter of Medina, was drafted by the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It constituted a formal agreement between Muhammad and all of the significant tribes and families of Yathrib (later known as Medina), including Muslims, Jews, Christians and pagans. This constitution formed the basis of the first Islamic state. To this effect it instituted a number of rights and responsibilities for the Muslim, Jewish, Christian and pagan communities of Medina bringing them within the fold of one community—the Ummah."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_medina

If this is something I can find out - someone with no formal schooling in religion - why can't the people who actually practice their religion devoutly find this information?

What's missing with fundamentalists (of all stripes) that they don't feel the curiosity to learn more about their religion?

[cbayer]

2. The problem with fundamentalists of all types is that they really want to be told what to think.

So they join groups that provide that and discourage them from asking questions.

It's not that they can't find it, it's that they don't want to, imo.

[CJCRANE]

3. I think you're right. As a result, they go against the main tenets of their religion

(in the case of the Abrahamic and other religions) which warn against lack of mercy, judging others, hypocrisy, arrogance etc.

[cbayer]

4. Agree. It also warns of false prophets, for which religion is fertile soil.

I grew up in a tradition where questioning was encouraged, but that is certainly not the case for many.

[Leontius]

6. I think you are completely wrong in this .

They ask questions and find the answers its just the wrong answer.

[cbayer]

8. I don't see a lot of questioning among fundamentalists.

Literalism, as sticky as it is, is the rule. Everything is presented as the final word.

There is not area for questions.

[Leontius]

9. Literalism is their answer.

Question: how do I know abortion is wrong? Answer: God knew you in the womb. (psalms I think). Its that easy for them. Questions yes, thought not so much. It is written no need to seek any further.

[cbayer]

10. I think we are saying the same thing, just in a different way.

When I refer to questioning, I am talking about questions that really challenge what they or their leader think.

Not questions to which they already know the answer.

[rafeh1]

5. Pak regime

Pak regime uses religion to control and imprint people. mixing religion state and regime all in one mish mash

[cbayer]

7. Welcome to the religion group rafeh1

From what I read, Pakistan is one of the worst countries for this mish mash.