Persecution Watchdog: China Waging “All-Out War” Against Christianity

Gordan Runyan 18 hours ago




The Christian Post reports that Zhang Shaojie, a prominent Christian pastor in central China, has been arrested, convicted, and sentenced to 12 years in prison; but, the circumstances point to a government conspiracy to squash the rapid growth of Christianity. One religious rights lawyer who has worked with the pastor in the past, Liu Weiguo, calls the action “a total set-up by the local government.”

The pastor was convicted on charges of gathering crowds to disturb the public order. As in, the crowds of people showing up for church on Sunday?
This smacks of the ever-growing phenomenon we are witnessing in America, where the police find ways to arrest anyone they want on charges of “obstructing police,” and then, once you voice some outrage at being so arrested, the next charge is “resisting arrest.” (Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying all our police do this. But it is a shame that 85% of them give the rest a bad name.)
Zhang Shaojie’s 12 year sentence also begs to be called into question. The charges, even if he was absolutely guilty of them, should not normally carry such a hefty price. It is not surprising then that watchdog organizations are concerned that this is a bald-faced violation of religious liberty.
There are suspicions as well, that the local Communist government is hoping to take control of the land currently in use by the pastor’s (officially sanctioned) church group. Local government there has stepped up a systematic campaign against Christianity (presumably because they see it as an ideological threat…which it is.)
"Today we received clear evidence that local and provincial authorities in Zhejiang Province continue to wage an all-out war against Christians and Christian places of worship. More than 100 churches have been demolished or targeted in the past two months," ICC Regional Manager for Southeast Asia Sooyoung Kim said at the time. "We call on President Xi Jinping directly to step in and put an immediate end to what is a clear violation of China's constitutional commitment to religious freedom."
Hmm, calling on a Communist President to abide by their constitution. Let us know how that works out. We’ve had no luck here.
Please pray for the pastor, his congregation, and Christians throughout China, that God would grant them backbones like granite pillars in the face of persecution.
Don't forget to Like Freedom Outpost on Facebook, Google Plus, Tea Party Community & Twitter.


Read more at http://freedomoutpost.com/2014/07/pe...GjOhio2ddlC.99