MidnightWatcher's Blogspot

By Michael Carl – “Reports coming out of Iran say persecution of Christians is only growing more bold and brazen, as Iranian authorities once again raided a house church – this time in Shiraz – and arrested between 6 to 10 members of the congregation.

The detainees are being held in an undisclosed location.

Jihad Watch publisher Robert Spencer says that the Iranians don’t know that they’re doing the very thing that will produce more Christians.

‘They don’t know that Christianity grows amid persecution,’ Spencer said. ‘Islam has expanded through violence and intimidation, so it isn’t at all surprising that they’d resort to it again.’

Clare Lopez, a senior fellow with the Center for Security Policy agrees, speculating that if the Iranian mullahs know persecution grows the Christian church, they don’t care. They’re following their sworn duty as Muslims.

‘The issue has little to do with perceptions of how Christianity might respond,’ Lopez said, ‘but rather with the obligation under Islamic doctrine to put and keep dhimmis in their ‘place’ within Muslim society.

‘The forces of Shariah Islam are in the ascendant all over the Middle East these days,’ Lopez continued, ‘and with the new-found sense of empowerment combined with what is perceived as Western complicity and weakness in the face of that situation, it is to be expected that all religious minorities, but especially Christians and Jews, increasingly will feel the brutality of Islamic supremecism.'” Read more.

Flashback: Officials in Iran Frantically Refute Claims That Christianity is Spreading Through ‘Exclusively Islamic’ Cities – “The Iranian media is desperate to refute claims that Christianity is spreading among Iranian youth and through cities considered to be almost exclusively Islamic… but there are definite contradictions in fact to this statement. On October 2, the government-supported news website, Javan-Online, acknowledged that the acceptance of Christianity was becoming a trend and reported 200 house churches were discovered in just a few months in the traditionally Islamic city of Mashhad. Many high ranking government officials and Islamic religious leaders have also made statements expressing concern over the spread of Christianity.” Read more.