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 Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani shown in an Iranian prison.
September 29th, 2011
06:58 AM ET
U.S. condemns Iranian pastor's convictionBy Dan Merica, CNN Washington (CNN) - The White House Thursday condemned the conviction of an Iranian pastor, who may be executed in Tehran for refusing to recant his religious beliefs and convert from Christianity to Islam. Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani "has done nothing more than maintain his devout faith, which is a universal right for people," a White House spokesman said in a statement. "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." The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, an independent advisory group appointed by the president and Congress to monitor religious freedom around the world, Wednesday expressed "deep concern" for Nadarkhani, the head of a network of Christian house churches in Iran. After four days of an appeals trial for apostasy, Nadarkhani refused to recant his beliefs, the commission said. Chairman Leonard Leo said the pastor "is being asked to recant a faith he has always had. Once again, the Iranian regime has demonstrated that it practices hypocritical barbarian practices." While the trial is closed to the press, Leo said the commission collects information from sources in Iran and around the world. The commission's statement also called the trial a sham and said Iran is violating the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which it is a party. "A decision to impose the death penalty would further demonstrate the Iranian authorities' utter disregard for religious freedom, and highlight Iran's continuing violation of the universal rights of its citizens," the White House statement said. "We call upon the Iranian authorities to release Pastor Nadarkhani and demonstrate a commitment to basic, universal human rights, including freedom of religion." Nadarkhani was first sentenced to death in November 2010, the commission said, and in order to avoid the death penalty, he is being asked to recant his beliefs and convert to Islam. Leo said an apostasy trial is rare in Iran; the last occurred in 1990. Iran's claim stems from the pastor's Muslim parents. According to Leo, the court needed to verify if Nadarkhani had ever been a Muslim. In order to be given what Iran claims is the opportunity to recant his beliefs, Nadarkhani must have never been a Muslim before the age of 15, Leo said. Because he was given the opportunity during the four-day trial, it is apparent that the Iranian court found he was never a Muslim and therefore Nadarkhani could have converted. According to a source close to the situation within the Commission on International Religious Freedom, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, would have to sign off on the execution. Speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the subject's sensitivity, the source said such cases in Iran are difficult because of the lack of transparency in leaders' decision-making. The source also said that in the past, political prisoners have had their prison time and punishment reduced by the Iranian government. Though they did not say that was guaranteed in this situation, the source indicated it was a possibility. The American Center for Law and Justice, a right-leaning organization founded by television evangelist Pat Robertson, reported Wednesday night that Nadarkhani's death sentence had been overturned, meaning that the pastor would be receiving a lesser punishment. They sourced the claim to someone in Iran. Those reports could not be independently verified by CNN. The Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the United Nations failed to comment on the ruling. Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the ACLJ, said the outcry from Christians in America has been loud and sustained. "American Christians, like never before, are engaged in this," Sekulow said. "This is evidence that Christians in America over the past decade have done a better job engaging in the persecution issue." soundoff (2,425 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 Next »
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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 Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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I am absolutely shocked that CNN has covered this story. This is the first story about Christians that is not anti-Christian on the beliefblog in at least a year (seriously, go check yourself).
Shocked! Shocked, I tell you!
(....Which part of myself am I supposed to check?)
This is a very noble and courageos thing he is doing for the good Lord.
Funny how people are so quick to put Christians and Militant (notice the designation) Muslims in the same category. One side says "love they neighbor." The other side says "love Allah or die."
sorry but the Bible says to kill your neighbor .. so, make sure to understand this. All major religions (Jew, Christians, Muslims) are the same thing with a different name: nothing is true all a lie ... you are no different, in the USA people are sentenced to death under God .. so what's the difference ? .. just a matter of opinion. I don't hear anyone in the US complaining when Iran sentence to death a Muslim .. I am sure they did that already plenty of times
??Paul?? Are you speaking as Saul? If so, you should go back to having visions. Oh, wait, you're in one....
You overlooked, "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
"For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
"And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.
"He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me."
~ Matthew 10:34-37
Isolate: And YOU overlooked everything else Christ had to say about who is one's neighbor, and brother, etc etc. It's easy to quote out of context to support extremism, dude. Apostle Paul warned us about you.
Just ban all these "Invisible Being" cults that are used to control people.
.
So you want to ban religion, huh? Then you are just as bad as those who force a particular religion, and outlaw all others. Weather you force one religion, or ban all of them...it's still wrong.
hey GOP – ready for your next war? Sure your chomping at the bit for this one...
How is this the republicans fault?
Dems have us in 3 wars, they are the warmongers
Geez, Daniel, don't be so defensive. No one said it was their fault. Come back to earth. It's ok. We still love you.
Geez gayRepub, you're going delirious. Get a grip. Who invaded Iraq, Afghanistan, and before that Kuwait, and before that...what's that island again that was Ronnie;s littlle war?
Masturbation causes blindness and the expulsion from God's kingdom. For a Muslim that would correspond to not getting the virgins in heaven ,. I guess
I wonder, couldn't they sentence him to masturbation ... ?
In Revelations, one interpretation in one of the chapters is that to be martyred for Christ is to go directly to heaven. In some ways, there is no higher honor, and certainly, no higher level of conviction. As a brother in Christ, this man has held to his beliefs and I admire, respect, and (most importantly) love him for that. What a wonderful example of the cost sometimes paid for Christ. You are in my prayers, Brother, and may God's will be done in this, as in all matters.
You've lost your mind!
Amen
did you admire blacks for their civil right movement? Do you know that the same religion you so much believe sanctioned slavery in the name of GOD? I admire his courage to prove that you do not kiss the a$$ of any power ... not for its beliefs ... but for the fact that he is willing to put his life at risk for his freedom, in this case the freedom to believe in something completely screwed like religion. Again, he would be dying for the right to be who you want to be, not for the grace of GOD .. GOD not only wouldn't care less for him he doesn't care for him ... otherwise God would have already helped him out a long time ago. If anything, this proves once and for all, GOD exists only in our minds
Andrew this is so true. This man is refusing to give up his faith in Jesus Christ, and God will reward him one day in heaven however it turns out.
It's great how two different people can acquire completely different sentiments from the exact same article. I came away having an even further disgust for the actions religion inspires in people. You came away having a deep admiration for one of the individuals and an almost reaffirmation of your faith. How interesting. It is my hope that one day you will abandon the antiquated crutch and see through this infectious dogma which continues to cripple the progress of morality in this world. Best of luck to you my brother in humanity!
I agree, he's sticking to his beliefs and not faltering. I respect anyone who believes in something and stands by their beliefs, regardless of what it is. Very brave
Yeah, but Muslims have the same arrangement, plus they throw in 72 doe-eyed houris, maidens whose virginity is restored every night so they can be deflowered again the next day. It's a guy paradise, with running rivers of wine and, according to the Hadith, (Bukhari 2:28), women comprise the majority of Hell's occupants for being a temptation to men while they lived.
All you get in Christianity are robes and harps. Not a word about beer and pizza.
Gotta love that "my god is better than your god and I will kill you because of it" religious mentality.
Maybe in a thousand generations humanity will have finally realized that religion is 10000000 times more destructive to the world than everything else man has done. Maybe by then we won't need fairy tales to rule our lives, and give us a reason to hate each other.
GOD IS REAL, ALLAH IS SATAN, THAT IS A FACT
What about Stalin's progroms reputed to have killed over 20 million people? What about Mao Zedong's cleansings reputed to have killed over 50 million people? More people have been killed in the name of atheism than any religion ever did. And will you define faith by the misguided authority who do not represent the masses? Remember, we all have faith in something. Theory is call Theory, because it is not proven. Sounds like faith to me.
Hey, gayRepub–they're the same. Go back to the origins of Judaism (which leads to your and my Christianity) and Islam.
Chill, dude.
no one should be executed or imprisoned because of their religious beliefs. there are some who will be martyred for their belief in the LORD JESUS CHRIST ... they are blessed. may this brother be blessed and strengthened by the HOLY SPIRIT. DO not fear them who after killing the body can do nothing else but fear HIM "GOD ONLY' who has power both to kill and throw in hell. pray for this brother to stand strong in the faith .. let it be so amen.
I think this pastor is crazy, although I do feel sorry for his situation. Death is the worst thing that can happen to a human being and if he were smart, he would realize dying for one's beliefs, whether religious, political, or for country, is crazy. I am grateful for those in the military who die for their country, as I don't have to be drafted, but this is nuts. If I were him, I would recant my religion just to save my you know what.
Wow a hero you would make. Extending your life by a few more years but dying a coward with no beliefs. If the founders of America followed your advice, the USA would still be under British rule, the civil war would not have happened, slavery would still be in place and Europe and Asia would be under Nazi and Fascist control. But you go on living the life man.
There are worse things then dying. Just ask a suicide.
I agree that I would have recanted too, But I am not sure I would do that because I am smart or I am too much of a coward, may be both. But, in that case, should some one else really pass a judgement on me by my reaction or the situation that forced this reaction.
You just contradicted yourself, Kevin, on dying for political beliefs is crasziness, and then being grateful for the military. Go back to logic class.
BTW, I agree with the commentor about suicides.
You are free to do what you want.
Die if you believe in something you never saw and never will see or convert if you want to live... either ways human make gods not gods make humans.
Obviously he's not free to do what he wants. Obvkoiously. Get a grip.
Huh?
F'ing towelheads
Wow, it seems like nothing has changed in that area for over 2000 years. In the 1st to third centuries BC, Christians in the former Roman Empire were burned alive, hung upside down on crosses and thrown to the lions for not recanting their beliefs. Now Islam has replaced the Romans and the end result is the same in countries like Iran, Pakistan and many others. May the Holy Spirit fill you Pastor Youcef on the day of your martyrdom. I look forward to meeting you one day in the next life free of the vile that surrounds you today.
Yawn...nothing to see here...move along.
Curiously enough, some of us may be just like "them" by spewing venom against all Muslims... 😉
Let it be known that, while many Europeans were still throwing stones at ea other, the Middle East was going to am intense cultural and scientific revolution, since the "original Islam" (if I may say that), was not opposed to science, as Christianity was. Note that our own western enlightenment just started ca. 300 years ago and, if the Christian right has their way, we'd go right back to before then...
Amen.
"In the 1st to third centuries BC, Christians in the former Roman Empire were burned alive..."
Not to put too fin a point on it, but not a single Christian was killed in those centuries for the simple reason that there were no Christians until about the middle of the 1st Century AD (CE).
Obama should convert to Christianity and pray for the pastor's release.
Amen to that
The Prez is not responsible to you to justify his Christian belief.
My understanding is our President is a Christian.
very sad story.....IRAN just seems to spin more & more backwards.....
If you told someone that you believed that aliens came here thousands of years ago and cloned a man and a woman in their own image and then returned periodically to check on things and help out and then one of them came to earth to help the people and was killed and then came back alive and returned to space, they would tell you that you were crazy.
So what? We don't kill them for it. That IS what this is about.
If you told someone all the matter in the universe was in one place and exploded and it had no beginning (it just always was), some might call you crazy..
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out -
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out -
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out -
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak for me.
You forgot the attribution. It was pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) commenting about how failure of Liberals and intellectuals to organize against the Nazi threat was to blame for the Nazi's rise to power. In 1937 Niemöller was arrested and sent first to the Sachsenhausen, then to the Dachau concentration camps. His crime was "not being enthusiastic enough about the Nazi movement." After the war he was a leading voice in getting Germans to admit their guilt.
Source! Source please! (So much crap gets loaded on here that's inaccurate.) It was the German pastor Martin Niemoller, and he recalled speaking the first line as "First they came for the communists." I sincerely hope that does not change your opinion of the rightness of his not being "a respecter of persons" as a Christian.
Except for the fact that the Nazi's called themselves the National Socialist Party; so you changed something someone said. The original word used was Communists. But I still agree with your point.
@Indigo
It amazes me to see people repeating the same old canard, that the fascist Nazi party was actually Communist or Socialist. If you'd bothered to check with any number of authoritative sources, even Wikipedia, you'd know that, "The party was founded out of the current of the far-right and racist German völkisch nationalist movement and the violent anti-communist Freikorps paramilitary culture that fought against the uprisings of communist revolutionaries in post-World War I Germany.The party was created by Anton Drexler as a means to draw workers away from communism and into völkisch nationalism." (Wiki)
Adding "Socialist" and "Workers" to the party's full name was supposed to win votes away from members of those eponymous German political parties. It's like the GOP pretending to be worried about our national debt, knowing full well they were responsible for the record deficits under Reagan and Bush II, and gleefully raised the debt ceiling 13 times under the Former and 7 times under the latter. They just want the votes of those gullible enough to believe them.
The present German government is a coalition of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), neither of which have anything to do with Socialism or Christianity. As a matter of fact, the CDU is much like the Tea Party here in the states, packed with social conservatives.
Germans apparently like to cling to old party names, even though the world has changed mightily since they were founded.
You don't have to be a Christian (I am not) to know this is wrong.
You don't have to be a christian to know that the United States monitoring religious freedom around the world is wrong.
J3sus sandals.... I have no clue to why you have no compassion for anyone else and tell us we should not "monitor" other countries. I think what you mean is we should not be concerned for someone else? I am concerned as much for him as for you. When we all do not care for one another and what happens... there is no hope for us being better as humanity.,. Get a heart and understand murdering a person for ANY belief is wrong. Do you not want people to care and help you in YOUR time of need? I can't believe you have never shared any issues or concerns with other people and wanted some understanding and compassion. Allow the same here for this person!!!!
Christian martyrs in the 21st C... who would have thought. Well.. Iran is off my list of places to visit or maybe I should leave my cross at home. Got to love that theocracy in Iran and their religion of peace.
vote for Michelle Bachmann next year and you can enjoy that same caring theocracy in America, too!
Try carrying a Bible into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and watch what happens. This is the reason why Saudi Arabia is one of our allies, since they share America's values. Oh, and there's the oil, but that really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, does it? No, sireee....