Wednesday, July 06, 2005

You can be Eritrean, just not Evangelical

The government of Eritrea has taken the bold step in recent years of deciding doctrinal issues for Christians. How thoughtful.

In a law passed in 2002, the Eritrean government closed down all Christian churches which aren't Catholic, Evangelical Lutheran or Orthodox. Islam is also still permitted -- although that may show nothing more than an exquisitely developed sense of preservation on the government's part.

Following the passage of this law, the arrests began. It is estimated that approximately 500 Evangelical Christians are presently detained in police stations, underground cells and packing containers. [It is worth noting that here in the U.S. a year or so ago, anger and outrage were aroused when 15 people trying to sneak into the country from Mexico were held in a packing container and died. That is indeed terrible. However, there are more than 10 times that many being detained in Eritrea. Where is the outrage over that? Want to discuss this, Bono?]

You can read more about this on the website of Release Eritrea!. They get down to cases, so if you feel inclined to write letters to the Eritrean leadership, you have names to give them.

Agape,

Janet

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