Freedom, Islamic style

I think it’s important at times to be reminded of all the liberties we have in this great country. We hear so many negative things about the U.S., drummed into our heads by the media, politicians, textbooks, intellectual elites, etc. One thing I love is our religious freedom. Compare that to this story out of Egypt as reported by Voice of the Martyrs, an organization set up to let the world know of the plight of persecuted Christians around the world.

In Egypt there is a truck driver who is a Christian. He drives into the wilderness at night to feed 42 Christian converts who sleep on cardboard mats in a small house. Many of these people are former Muslims who were part of a radical Islamic organization called the Muslim Brotherhood. They are now hunted by the police for converting to Christianity. I find that ironic--the police also search for Brotherhood members because these are deemed dangerous to the state since they advocate Islamo-fascism. But now they're hunted because the police see the converts as a new danger to the state; they owe allegiance first to God, not Egypt.

The truck driver tells how impressed he is with these outcasts. They can’t find jobs, but they are not sorry for their conversions. They devour the Bible, they ask many questions about what they read, they sing songs to Jesus.

This truck driver (no name to protect him), was caught by the police, who have a special division that focuses on Christians who talk to others about their faith. He was stripped, hung upside down, and beaten. But he says he carries his cross for Jesus with pleasure. He mentions verses that sustain him through these difficult times—Hebrews 13:13 and Revelation 12:11 in particular.

I compare that to the robust freedoms we have here. Oh sure, we get some flack from non-believers, but put that into a global perspective. People are killed around the world for their religious convictions. Moslem countries are notorious for their persecution of those differing from Islam. So much for political correctness that praises all cultures. I’ll take our freedoms over their closed-mindedness any day.