They hate you because of me - Last month on the 16th of June I posted, Christian Hung Upside Down, Kicked, Beaten, Electrocuted. It was a report about Brian Savio O'Connor who had been arrested in Saudi Arabia because he was a Christian.
I wrote:
Brian is a Catholic who is from India working in Saudi Arabia as a cargo agent for the Saudi Airlines. He was stopped near his home in Riyadh by a religious police officer and asked why he didn't attend the evening prayers. In Saudi Arabia the official religion is Wahhabi-ism, a strict interpretation of Islam.
When Brian showed the officer his papers that said he was a Christian three more men attempted to grab him. Brian escaped into a nearby shop but the men followed him in and beat him then carried Brian off to a religious police office where the torture and threats of death came with the demand to convert to Islam.
AsiaNews.it reported on the July 28, 2004, that Freedom House's Center for Religious Freedom has asked US Secretary of State Collin Powell to discuss Mr. O'Connor's detention with the Saudi Arabian government in his visit this week.
AsiaNews.it reports:
“In seeking Middle East allies in the war on terror, the Secretary of State must not neglect to mention the terror regional governments inflict on their own citizens, especially in the realm of religious freedom,” said Center director Nina Shea, who in a press release urged Colin Powell “to raise the case of O’Connor.” Ms Shea went on to say: “Restrictive blasphemy laws affect both Muslims and non-Muslims, and governments routinely foment division and sectarian hatred, in addition to routinely violating universal rights of free speech, worship, and association.”
Under the accusation of preaching about Jesus Christ, using drugs and selling liquor Brian O’Connor was taken into custody, tortured many times, and put under strong pressure to abjure his Christian faith. Some Christian internet sites, including AsiaNews, have launched a campaign in favour of his liberation.
As far as I can tell, Powell has already met with the Saudi Arabian officials. It would really be nice if Mr. Powell did intervene and push for reform in Saudi Arabia and the release of O'Connor. We'll have to keep it in prayer.
The Great Separation continues.
