Why not more Christian missionaries?

Submitted by FutureTense (United States), Feb 28, 2005 at 21:23

To Hajira:

There is a very simple reason why there aren't more Christian missionaries attempting to proselytize among the Muslim nations: In most of these countries, it is against the law for a Christian to spread the Gospel. In some of these countries, e.g., Saudi Arabia, any Christian who tries to convert a Muslim will be imprisoned and even tortured. It's remarkable that there are any Christian missionaries attempting to operate in these countries at all, a testament to their faith.

I find it ironic that Muslims complain bitterly of every little bias, perceived or imagined, they face in America and most other Western nations. And yet they are free to build mosques here and preach openly on any street corner to their hearts' contentment. But if a Christian dares so much as to hand the New Testament to anybody in Arabia or many other Muslim countries, they will be thrown in jail or, at the very least, beaten and deported.

Muslims agitate for greater religious freedom in countries where they do not represent the majority (yet). But when they are in the majority, they wish to squelch religious liberty for all but fellow Muslims. Indeed, in Arabia, not only are you denied the right to preach Christianity, you cannot preach any other form of Islam other than the Wahabbist version. It would be like a Christian nation forbidding anybody but Lutherans from proselytizing. Of course, there are no Christian nations remaining, with the possible exception of the U.S. -- but the left is doing everything in its power to end that.

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".