Islamic insurgents expel Christian aid groups from southern Somalia
August 18, 2010
Al-Shabaab, an Islamic insurgent group that controls most of southern and central Somalia, has expelled three Christian aid groups from the southern part of the nation. “Acting as missionaries under the guise of humanitarian work, the organizations have been spreading their corrupted ideologies in order to taint the pure creed of the Muslims in Somalia,” Al-Shabaab said in a statement.
Criticizing Al-Shabaab’s “intolerant approach,” Bishop Giorgio Bertin of Djibouti, who also serves as apostolic administrator of Mogadishu, said, “Of course [the agencies] were inspired by their faith,” adding, “since they were giving a good service according to international humanitarian criteria, they are not to be impeded in their charitable work.”
The Sunni Muslim nation of 8.1 million has only one parish with 100 Catholics, according to Vatican statistics.
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Posted by: samuel.doucette1787 -
Aug. 19, 2010 8:23 AM ET USA
@morrison, I agree that fundamentalist Hindus also have been persecuting Christians. But, my point was "consistently" -- The Muslims since their founding have consistently persecuted other who don't believe the way they do. And, it's not an extremist vs moderate thing. The only difference between extremists and moderates in Islam is how willing they are to put into action what their Koran and hadith guidance tells them about jihad, forced conversion, lying to non-Muslims, etc.
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Posted by: morrison5626439 -
Aug. 18, 2010 1:31 PM ET USA
@s.doucette: In India, some fundamentalist Hindu groups have been burning Christian facilities and murdering Christians. Intolerance of other religions does not seem to be limited to Muslims. TeaPot562
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Posted by: samuel.doucette1787 -
Aug. 18, 2010 8:42 AM ET USA
Gee, what a surprise. There is only one religion in the world that consistently does not work and play well with others: Islam. As far as ecumenical dialogue goes, I have nothing to say to them except that I offer daily rosaries for their conversion to the One True Faith. That's the only way to true peace.
