pat and agnostic a link for you

Submitted by susan (Italy), Dec 15, 2006 at 12:12

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061213/lf_afp/moroccoreligion_061213150215

read how the religion of peace is treating 1000 christians in morocco, a country that prides itself for being moderate.

some quotes "As we are tolerated, but not recognized (by the state) we must, for security reasons, conduct ourselves as a clandestine organisation,"

"As soon as a church has 20 worshippers it splits in two," said Abdelhalim, a doctor who converted to Christianity 16 years ago when he was living abroad.

And while official Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant churches are recognized by Morocco, they are only for foreigners living in the country. Moroccan Christians have no right to pray in these churches.

"For many of us, Islam is perceived as a social straitjacket and not as a real faith, and Christianity as a religion of tolerance and love," said the businessman, who converted at the age of 19 and was later followed by his family.

Discretion is the order of the day for Morocco's Christians, with the faithful holding services in their homes, against a background of suspicion from the Islamic world.

"We have to be careful because ordinary people cannot understand that we can be Arabs without being Muslim. For us the biggest danger is ignorance," Abdelhalim said.

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Is this the great religion that we all should look forward to?

The religion that forbids practically any other?

Is this the "great civilization of islam"?

is this the countries we should imitate for tolerance?

Is this the moderate and semi-secular islamic countries?

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