 |
|
|
|
 Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani preaches in a file photo. Report: Iranian pastor to be put to death for rape, not apostasyBy Dan Merica, CNN Washington (CNN)– Christian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani will be put to death for several charges of rape and extortion, charges that differ greatly from his original sentence of apostasy, the semi official Fars News agency reported Friday. In a translated Iranian Supreme Court brief from 2010 the charge of apostasy, however, is the only charge leveled against Nadarkhani. "Mr. Youcef Nadarkhani, son of Byrom, 32 years old, married, born in Rasht in the state of Gilan is convicted of turning his back on Islam, the greatest religion the prophesy of Mohammad at the age of 19," reads the brief. The brief was obtained by CNN from the American Center for Law and Justice and was translated from its original Farsi by the Confederation of Iranian Students in Washington. It goes on to say that during the court proceeding, Nadarkhani denied the prophecy of Mohammad and the authority of Islam.  A copy of the legal brief in Nadarkhani "He (Nadarkhani) has stated that he is a Christian and no longer Muslim," states the brief. "During many sessions in court with the presence of his attorney and a judge, he has been sentenced to execution by hanging according to article 8 of Tahrir - olvasileh." Mohammadali Dadkhah, the pastor's lawyer, said though a translator that even in light of the Fars News report, he does not believe Nadarkhani will be put to death. "The case is still in progress," Dadkhah said. "There's a 95% that he won't get the death penalty. Yes I still believe that." Dadkhah spoke briefly of the trial proceedings, stating that he presented documents to the court that should be convincing, including documents from Shi'ite leaders that state the crime does not warrant the possible punishment. "This is a legal process that should take its course, and it should stand, on its own merits. It should succeed," said Dadkhah. Nadarkhani, the leader of a network of house churches in Iran, was first convicted of apostasy in November 2010, a charge he subsequently appealed all the way to the Iranian Supreme Court. After four days of an appeals trial that started Sunday at a lower court in Gilan Province, Nadarkhani refused to recant his beliefs. Fars News is reporting, however, "this issue has nothing to do with his abandoning his religion." The Fars News report did not elaborate on the charges of rape and extortion. The possible execution of Nadarkhani has elicited responses from the highest levels of the United States government, too. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton released a statement Friday that said the United States stands with "all Iranians against the Iranian government's hypocritical statements and actions." The White House released a statement on Thursday, stating Nadarkhani "has done nothing more than maintain his devout faith, which is a universal right for people." "That the Iranian authorities would try to force him to renounce that faith violates the religious values they claim to defend, crosses all bounds of decency and breaches Iran's own international obligations," read the statement. Leonard Leo, chairman of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, says a trial for apostasy in Iran is rare. According to him, this is the first apostasy trial since 1990. Nadarkhani's trial and his possible execution have engaged American Christians, as well. Todd Nettleton, spokesman for Voice of the Martyrs, a Christian organization that attempts to assist with persecuted and minority churches around the world, called the news of the new charges proof that international attention on the issue is working. "They are feeling the attention, they are feeling the weight of the eyes of the world watching how they are treating this man," Nettleton said. "I am dumbfounded, though that at this stage in the game, this is what they would trot out." Voice of the Martyrs manages a Facebook page that has brought a lot of attention to Nadarkhani's trial. With comments updated by the minute, thousand of people have taken to Facebook to spread the word about the pastor. In light of this news, Nettleton said the Facebook page would continue to be active. "I think our first response will be prayer for pastor Youcef," Nettleton said. "Prayer that justice will be done and that he will remain faithful no matter that the days ahead may bring for him." |
  About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Dan Gilgoff and Eric Marrapodi, with daily contributions from CNN's worldwide newsgathering team and frequent posts from religion scholar and author Stephen Prothero.  |
|
|
|
© 2010 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertise with us | About us | Contact us | Help | Advertising Practices
Huge slave trader, Mohammad, the founder of Islam, murdered/beheaded several hundred Jewish men because of the Jews love for, and allegiance to the One Magnificent, Glorious, Awesome God of the Universe. The loyal Jewish heroes refused to follow another god and the new religion of Mohammad. The Jews' wives and children were seized for slaves to lives of living hell. We will not forget their suffering and all of the suffering of non-Muslim innocents that has followed.
Peter 2:18 Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.
Leviticus 25:44-45
Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property.
Seems your god is a slave trader as well.
A few months ago some obscure pastor threatened to burn a Qur'an. In no time, world leaders everywhere found their voice. President Obama issued an unteleprompted condemnation! While media pundits hysterically frothed at the mouth, religious clergy (including Archbishops, denominational heads, and the National Association of Evangelicals) bent over backwards to demonstrate righteous indignation at this action. The Pope spoke out! Even the normally bland Prime Minister of Canada called to express his horror that someone would actually burn a copy of the Qur'an.
But where are these world leaders now? They are quick to condemn when it is paper and ink being destroyed, but when an innocent man of God is being put to death, they can't seem to find their voices. It begs the question: "what do these leaders really regard as "sacred"?
Mirrored in Bay Minette Alabama- first time offender jailed for not attending church. It may not be the threat of the death penalty but it is a threat to conform to a religious bent to avoid punishment. Case of the pot calling the kettle black. This Iranian Christian has been given a choice to conform to a populist religious belief system in his culture or be punished, yet when Bay Minette Alabama offers the same system of justice it is OK??????
And the U.S government supports those people, I believe this man has done nothing wrong and we need to share the Gosple of peace with them and show them God's love. We must love them but not accept and agree with thier religion or actions against the one true God.
you are what is wrong with the world today.
This reminds me of the days of Rome when Christians were persecuted and sent to the lions.
Absent from the body, present with the Lord. Either way, this brave man of God wins.
You want to see Spine and courage,,,Watch this woman and tell me she is not one HeII of a Patriot.
We need women like this in Washington DC.
The religion of peace at work in Iran. Soon sharia law could be in the US too.
Youcef- you have bigger balls than most
Come one come all, see the fantasticly real god! feel its touch, warmth, the burn, feel the god that you have been without for so very long! come with me and you will see a true sight to behold more then anyother and the best part is, no special offerings are needed, no place of whorship, just an open hand of life and death. This is the one true god as we know any form of gods on earth. This is the one and only creation that can bring life and death by simple existence. It knows more about the history of our planet then our planet itself. It is what scorned the jews in the dessert not an invisible creation of man! This is what people see when they claim to have seen the light! Only two special days a year, and we get a bonus show of dissappearance and reappearance every so often. My God has shown me the path that lay before me, and said not to me to follow one or the other but instead left it upon me to make my own choice of which way to go. The most important thing about my God is that is has children, but they are not to be whorshipped as they are rivals in the cosmos for the love of my God. The closer you are to my God is not always the safest however, as is being the furthest away. Both have a negitive affect. My God knows math, and science, most importantly knows balance, and teaches without teaching. But my God does scorn the ignorant! Come and whorship with me that which has been whorshipped by the greatest people ever known, whorshipped the longest by the most people in history. Come feel the warmth of my God, and know what it is to live with God always there to shining a light on you. I call my God the SUN. Others have called it Aton the sun disk, but that was 3000 years ago in Egypt, even then the whorship of the SUN was an ancient one long forgotten by the Eyptians at that time. E ven if you wish not to follow belief is not needed as proof of my God is there, all around you, in every thing you touch shows its power.Oh and my God doesn't do to anyone differently then anyother, all shall recieve equal treatment. Go and be in the light
i stand by my SUN. I know that there are a great deal more stars in the universe then the number you can state, but mine is the one that gives me, us, warmth, air, food, drink, basically – life- and so as i stated its MY GOD – THE SUN... i stated that there may be lesser gods on an earthly realm, but mine created the earth, and keeps it living. I preach its energy, and by transferrence becomes us and all living things on this planet. When it dies is when the memory of it begins if we as a species still exist, but long before its implosion it will engulf the earth during an expansion of the star, called a red gaint, just before going super nova, then finally poof- black hole lives for a split second, then again poof! I have an ok/whatever understanding of stars. The logic of whorshipping our SUN is beyond arguement, calling it a GOD is illogical but nessesary to gain a following as to move the civilization past the moronic idea of god as its currently understood.
Oh my God can power a car so you have no need for earth based fuel. My God gives its power freely and to all creatures, we are stupid to not use it!
using the law of conservation of matter and energy, the energy given off by the sun simply transferrs to us thru food and warmth, but the whorshipping goes beyond that. if the planet were even just a few hundred feet closer to mars we would be very cold all the time, if closer to the sun by equal distance, very very hot. so everything points to the sun as the true life giving object to whorship if you were to whorship anything- logically speaking!
fear not my friends for all answers can be answered.
Dude, you put a lot of energy into that.
Ya, put alot of effort into saying nothing. If you don't believe in anything ...that is allright. There is nothing that says you must. But some believe ...so don't say that what they believe is nothing....There are things out there that we cannot explain.....and I say that through personal expericence...to which you can say what you will, but for me .....what I have experienced cannot be undone. ...cannot be cast away as ...as has not really happened.....I understand that such an experience has not happened to you ....and you still are looking for answers.... I cannot give you answers.....not my job...I hope that you can one day expericence ...in a good way...what I have experienced...after that you will have only "one" answer answered. That there is much more to life than ..."life" and that our presumed "death" is much different than we think.........take it from someone who has been there and back...... God Bless
take a good look at your god and tell if you still like it when your eyes are burned out.
The wrath of the true God, will fall upon not only on those who prosecute Christians and Jews, but also the people who support the tyrants who run the country through fear and intimidation. If Nadarkhani is put to death, the wrath of God will rain down on Iran and it's leaders. Death shall fill the skies with an invisible death, much like the Egyptians suffered when they refused to let the Jews leave Egypt. Beware, Nadarkhani will become the martyr of all Christians and Jews who believe in one true God, not Alla, who was just a prophet and speaks not for the one true God! It will be the beginning of the end for it's tyrant dictator and it's evil clergy who rule with an iron fist through fear, intimidation, violence and hate! We are pray for Youcef Nadarkhani and if killed, will become the lightening rod for the true God, that enough is enough, and punishment from above will rain down upon Iran, it's evil goverment and it's supporters!
@lawrence
" The wrath of the true God, will fall upon not only on those who prosecute Christians and Jews, but also the people who support the tyrants who run the country through fear and intimidation. If Nadarkhani is put to death, the (wrath of God) will rain down on Iran and it's leaders. (Death shall fill the skies with an invisible death)...etc..."
I'll just side-step the "true God" comment.
So... if this particular Pastor gets 'put to death,' God is going to 'open fire' on Iran...?
Why would it do that...? Does God do that to 'all' Christian Pastors/Ministers/Priests that this happens to ...?
And... why wait...? Why doesn't the big Guy, just stop the whole thing in the first place, instead of coming along..."afterward" and wiping everyone out...?
Doesn't make sense to me...?
Regards,
Peace...
, much like the Egyptians suffered when they refused to let the Jews leave Egypt. Beware, Nadarkhani will become the martyr of all Christians and Jews who believe in one true God, not Alla, who was just a prophet and speaks not for the one true God! It will be the beginning of the end for it's tyrant dictator and it's evil clergy who rule with an iron fist through fear, intimidation, violence and hate! We are pray for Youcef Nadarkhani and if killed, will become the lightening rod for the true God, that enough is enough, and punishment from above will rain down upon Iran, it's evil goverment and it's supporters!
@lawrence
**apologies** forgot to erase the cut/paste part of your posting that got left in the bottom of my posting.
Peace...
It´s so funny that Muslims always blame America and the West for hypocricy, when there is in fact no place with more hypocricy (and more ignorance) than the Islamic world,
greetings from Austria
austroamericanfriendship.wordpress.com
Come one come all, see the fantasticly real god! feel its touch, warmth, the burn, feel the god that you have been without for so very long! come with me and you will see a true sight to behold more then anyother and the best part is, no special offerings are needed, no place of whorship, just an open hand of life and death. This is the one true god as we know any form of gods on earth. This is the one and only creation that can bring life and death by simple existence. It knows more about the history of our planet then our planet itself. It is what scorned the jews in the dessert not an invisible creation of man! This is what people see when they claim to have seen the light! Only two special days a year, and we get a bonus show of dissappearance and reappearance every so often. My God has shown me the path that lay before me, and said not to me to follow one or the other but instead left it upon me to make my own choice of which way to go. The most important thing about my God is that is has children, but they are not to be whorshipped as they are rivals in the cosmos for the love of my God. The closer you are to my God is not always the safest however, as is being the furthest away. Both have a negitive affect. My God knows math, and science, most importantly knows balance, and teaches without teaching. But my God does scorn the ignorant! Come and whorship with me that which has been whorshipped by the greatest people ever known, whorshipped the longest by the most people in history. Come feel the warmth of my God, and know what it is to live with God always there to shining a light on you. I call my God the SUN. Others have called it Aton the sun disk, but that was 3000 years ago in Egypt, even then the whorship of the SUN was an ancient one long forgotten by the Eyptians at that time. E ven if you wish not to follow belief is not needed as proof of my God is there, all around you, in every thing you touch shows its power.Oh and my God doesn't do to anyone differently then anyother, all shall recieve equal treatment. Go and be in the light
Thank You CNN for taking notice of Youcefs' situation and taking notice of Voice of the Martyrs. We here in the United States do not realize how blessed we are with out religious freedoms, which we take for granted. I pray for Youcefs release and that the United States would offer him and his family asylum here. It is wrong for any country or leadership to tell a person who and and what to believe in. Those choice are between that person and their god. I pray for all that are persecuted that they may be free to worship as they choose. Than you again CNN for your focus.
And the idiocy of it all is that Islam is based on the "angelic revelations" of the mythical Gabriel to one of the great con men of history, Mohammed. Such ignorance can be easily classifed as "vomit inducing".
plz multiple postings of same phrase hit report abuse
I so admire this man's strong faith in the face of real oppression. If we here in America had even a fraction of his devotion this country wouldn't be headed so fast into the toilet bowl. Alas, the book of Revelation confirms that God will judge the world, create a new one, and repopulate it with people who love his Son.
@ hesalive et al,,, "Alas, the book of Revelation confirms that God will judge the world, create a new one, and repopulate it with people who love his Son."
Revelation states that no one truly knows when Christ returns 'cept' the Fathering GOD and HE is no respecter of people and could care less about us fleas who dig here and post hole there upon the firmaments of Gaia our earthen Mother and Goddess of all earthened things alive and generationally living. She has born our infirmaties throughout the ages and still yet gives us the heavens' firmaments within which to live out a joyous eternal lifespan upon.
Can you Christians pray harder to hurry the rapture. I'm tired of seeing crazy men yelling ay strangers that Jesus is coming. Also no more ignoring someone knocking at my door to spread the good news, I have heard a billion times.
@ charles in charge And without religion you'd have very little to complain about. So be glad it's here in it's many crazy forms so that you can post your rantings for all to read.
Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani you are being prayed for and upheld in our thoughts in a very special way by millions of believers.
As God protected Daniel he will protect you.
Satan hates Jesus Christ and his people, not to mention Jews. We should not be surprised by this outrage. Islam is a tool of Satan.
Let's not forget, too, that Hades hates Zeus and his people. Just to be on the safe side, maybe we should sacrifice some virgins so that Zeus will look favorably upon us.
Or we could realize that prayer has no effect and only actions will save this man.
Sounds like the same course followed by Roman and Jewish authorities against the early church. Wouldn't the Iranians love to find out that they are acting like Jews?
It also sounds like the same course the early christian church, as the state religionn of the roman empire, took with pagans and those they considered heretics.
It is more like acting like Romans when Christianity was outlawed and it's believers put to death. The irony is that the same is happening in Iran and we all know who ended up converting the Romans! The Iranian people are not true Arabs, that is why they and Arab Iraqi's have been at each others throats for thousands of years. The death of Nadarkhani will be the beginning of the end of the present totalitarian goverment there run by a tyrant dictator and it's more evil tyrant clergymen!
The great persian empire.
Prayer = mastrbation
God = Playboy
To the corrupt all things are corrupt.
@hesalive
Do not expect a response from newyorker as he is probably sleeping late after a long night of spray painting vandalism over his city.His entire posts are no more than graffitti rants transferred to a blog.Too lazy to go out in the daylight or ply his graffiti trade when he might get caught.God bless
@herbert juarez
I think you're my new hero.