http://cnsnews.com/news/article/michael-w-chapman/afghanistan-newspaper-warns-missionaries-are-promoting-christianity

 

Afghanistan Newspaper Warns: Missionaries Are Promoting Christianity in Afghanistan

February 20, 2014 - 5:28 PM

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By Michael W. Chapman

Afghan women cover themselves as required by Islamic law. (AP Photo)

(CNSNews.com) – Although U.S. troops have been in Afghanistan for 13-plus years fighting terrorists and aiding the government to a more stable rule, the Afghanistan newspaper Cheragh complained in a recent editorial that “Western democracy” has produced “negative effects” there and specifically cited missionaries who “fearlessly promote Christianity.”

As BBC Worldwide Monitoring reported, the independent newspaper Cheragh published an editorial on Jan. 27 entitled, “Promoting Islamophobia in the Islamic state of Afghanistan.”

“Western democracy, given to us as a gift by foreigners in our country, has had negative effects on our country, 99 per cent of whose population are Muslim,” reads the editorial.  “One of the effects of this type of democracy is the presence and activities of Christian missionaries who have entered Afghanistan under the banner of humanitarian aid and social work.”

“Supported by foreign forces, these missionaries fearlessly promote Christianity,” says Cheragh. “They are particularly active in Kabul, Bamian, Paktia, Nurestan, Konduz, Ghazni, Badakhshan and Mazar-e Sharif. No churches have publicly been built in these provinces yet but they perform their religious rites inside rented houses which are protected by the Afghan police.”

Holy Bible and cross. (AP)

Cheragh continued, “Missionaries use these rented houses to distribute Pashto and Dari copies of the Bible among the public free of cost. They are trying to spread this distorted and annulled religion inside Afghanistan just like they have done in a number of other Islamic countries.”

The editorial went on to claim that Christain missionaries were exploiting young Muslims by promising them asylum in the West, if they convert.

“Christian missionaries are trying to exploit the helplessness of some people, especially the youth and are encouraging them to convert to Christianity,” reads the editorial.  “They use different tactics to convert our countrymen. The ability to seek asylum [in a Western country] is the most effective tactic they use to encourage the youth to convert from Islam to Christianity. They promise the youth that they can easily apply for asylum in a Western country after converting. As a result, a number of ignorant people sell their religion out, put their lives at risk and set on a journey to the West.”

U.S. Troops in Afghanistan (AP File Photo)

All of this has been planned by the United States, says Cheragh, because the West fears Islam, especially after seeing how resolute Muslims defeated the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

“The West has been defeated in the hands of Islam many times and it knows that if the people of Afghanistan regain their Islamic spirit, Western interests would be put at risk,” says the editorial.  “The West is, therefore, more afraid of Islam than it is afraid of a nuclear bomb. It is doing all it can to promote Christianity and immorality. It has launched a cultural offensive and is presenting Western examples to the public especially youth to keep them away from Islam.”