Not a Single Christian Church Left in Afghanistan, Says State Department
("CNSNews.com," October 11, 2011)
Kabul, Afghanistan - There is not a single, public Christian church left in
Afghanistan, according to the U.S. State Department.
This reflects the state of religious freedom in that country ten years
after the United States first invaded it and overthrew its Islamist Taliban
regime.
In the intervening decade, U.S. taxpayers have spent $440 billion to
support Afghanistan's new government and more than 1,700 U.S. military
personnel
have died serving in that country.
The last public Christian church in Afghanistan was razed in March 2010,
according to the State Department's latest International Religious Freedom
Report. The report, which was released last month and covers the period of
July 1, 2010 through December 31, 2010, also states that “there were no
Christian schools in the country.”
“There is no longer a public Christian church; the courts have not upheld
the church's claim to its 99-year lease, and the landowner destroyed the
building in March [2010],” reads the State Department report on religious
freedom. “[Private] chapels and churches for the international community of
various faiths are located on several military bases, PRTs [Provincial
Reconstruction Teams], and at the Italian embassy. Some citizens who converted
to
Christianity as refugees have returned.”
In recent times, freedom of religion has declined in Afghanistan, according
to the State Department.
“The government’s level of respect for religious freedom in law and in
practice declined during the reporting period, particularly for Christian
groups and individuals,” reads the State Department report.
“Negative societal opinions and suspicion of Christian activities led to
targeting of Christian groups and individuals, including Muslim converts to
Christianity," said the report. "The lack of government responsiveness and
protection for these groups and individuals contributed to the deterioration
of religious freedom.”
Most Christians in the country refuse to “state their beliefs or gather
openly to worship,” said the State Department.
More than 1,700 U.S. military personnel have died serving in the decade-old
Afghanistan war, according to CNSNews.com’s database of all U.S.
casualties in Afghanistan. A September audit released jointly by the Special
Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction and the State Department’s
Office
of Inspector General, found that the U.S. government will spend at least
$1.7 billion to support the civilian effort from 2009-2011.
According to that report, the $1.7 billion excludes additional security
costs, which the report says the State Department priced at about $491
million.
A March 2011 report by the Congressional Research Service showed that
overall the United States has spent more than $440 billion in the Afghanistan
war. Christian aid from the international community has also gone to aid the
Afghan government.
Nevertheless, according to the State Department, the lack of non-Muslim
religious centers in Afghanistan can be blamed in part on a “strapped
government budget,” which is primarily fueled by the U.S. aid.
“There were no explicit restrictions for religious minority groups to
establish places of worship and training of clergy to serve their communities,”
says the report, “however, very few public places of worship exist for
minorities due to a strapped government budget.”
The report acknowledged that Afghanistan’s post-Taliban constitution, which
was ratified with the help of U.S. mediation in 2004, can be contradictory
when it comes to the free exercise of religion.
While the new constitution states that Islam is the “religion of the state”
and that “no law can be contrary to the beliefs and provisions of the
sacred religion of Islam,” it also proclaims that “followers of other
religions are free to exercise their faith and perform their religious rites
within the limits of the provisions of the law.”
However, “the right to change one’s religion was not respected either in
law or in practice,” according to the State Department.
“Muslims who converted away from Islam risked losing their marriages,
rejection from their families and villages, and loss of jobs,” according to the
report. “Legal aid for imprisoned converts away from Islam remains
difficult due to the personal objection of Afghan lawyers to defend
apostates.”
The report does note that “in recent years neither the national nor local
authorities have imposed criminal penalties on coverts from Islam.” The
report says that “conversion from Islam is considered apostasy and is
punishable by death under some interpretations of Islamic rule in the
country.”
Also, in recent years, the death punishment for blasphemy “has not been
carried out,” according to the State Department.
According to the State Department report, the United States continues to
promote religious freedom in Afghanistan--even though the country no longer
has even one Christian church.
“The U.S. government regularly discusses religious freedom with government
officials as part of its overall policy to promote human rights,” according
to the report.
According to the State Department report, more than 99 percent of the
population, estimated between 24 and 33 million people, is either Sunni (80
percent) or Shia (19 percent) Muslim. Non-Muslim religious groups, including
the estimated 500 to 8,000 strong Christian community in the country, make up
less than 1 percent of the population. Other non-Muslim groups in the
country are Sikhs, Bahais, and Hindus.
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