Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Iran Preparing to Execute Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani for Apostasy

I really don't get it. I say, "Sharia is bad. We need to guard against it." And people respond, "What? How dare you condemn Sharia? You racist, Islamophobic bigot!"

Then Iran sentences a man to death for leaving Islam, and people condemn the court's decision. But to condemn the killing of apostates is to condemn Sharia, so now I'm just confused. Is it okay to condemn Sharia or not?


FOXNEWS--An Iranian pastor who has refused to recant his Christian faith faces execution as early as Wednesday after his sentence was upheld by an Iranian court.

Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who maintains he has never been a Muslim as an adult, has Islamic ancestry and therefore must recant his faith in Jesus Christ, the 11th branch of Iran's Gilan Provincial Court ruled. Iran's Supreme Court had ordered the trial court to determine whether Nadarkhani had been a Muslim prior to converting to Christianity.

The judges, according to the American Center for Law & Justice, demanded that Nadarkhani, 34, recant his Christian faith before submission of evidence. Though the judgment runs against current Iranian and international laws and is not codified in Iranian penal code, the judge stated that the court must uphold the decision of the 27th Branch of the Supreme Court in Qom.

When asked to repent, Nadarkhani stated: "Repent means to return. What should I return to? To the blasphemy that I had before my faith in Christ?"

"To the religion of your ancestors, Islam," the judge replied, according to the American Center for Law & Justice.

"I cannot," Nadarkhani said.

Nadarkhani is the latest Christian cleric to be imprisoned in Iran for his religious beliefs. According to Elam Ministries, a United Kingdom-based organization that serves Christian churches in Iran, there was a significant increase in the number of Christians arrested solely for practicing their faith between June 2010 and January. A total of 202 arrests occurred during that six-month period, including 33 people who remained in prison as of January, Elam reported.

An Assyrian evangelical pastor, Rev. Wilson Issavi, was imprisoned for 54 days for allegedly converting Muslims prior to his release in March 2010, Elam officials told FoxNews.com.
Nadarkhani, a pastor in the 400-member Church of Iran, has been held in that country's Gilan Province since October 2009, after he protested to local education authorities that his child was forced to read from the Koran at school. His wife, Fatemeh Pasandideh, was also arrested in June 2010 in an apparent attempt to pressure him to renounce his faith. She was released in October 2010, according to Amnesty International. (Read more.)

And for those who still don't believe that Islam calls for the killing of apostates, here's a blast from the past:

17 comments:

curly said...

SAD !! He will go to the heaven for eternal life after he executed in Iran today or tomorrow. He is hero to me.

jkoss said...

May God receive his soul if he dies, if so, what a privilege is to be killed defending the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ!

Sophie said...

Email the Iranian Embassy in the UK here:

http://e-activist.com/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=88&ea.campaign.id=12209

Phone and email your country's Iranian Embassy too.

minoria said...

I have signed two petitions in favor of his life and even if he recants,something I would understand,I will always have great respect for him.What heartens me,and Youcef Nadarkhani also,is that the great majority of Iranians are not at all fanatics,and it seems the majority have already left Islam.

I mean they do not believe in it like they do not believe in Hinduism or the Greek and Roman gods.70% of all Iranians,more than 50 million people,are under 30.

All indicates they are sick and sick of Islam as Islam,not just the excesses of the Shia mullahs.As for those 30-40 I suppose many agree.

Anonymous said...

Iran is ripe for revival, I have read articles about how the Iranian youth hate Islam and are curious about Christianity, what ever happens to this dear brother Christ will use it to his Glory, the latest news is they are not going to execute him.

Matthew 28:16-20

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Great Commission
16Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

My Two Sense said...

CL Edwards - "I have read articles about how the Iranian youth hate Islam and are curious about Christianity,"

I would be interested to read these articles. Are they on the web or some other source?

Cristo Te Ama said...

I pray for this man, but even if the "worst" comes to happen he will be honored there in heaven, if you must die, what could be better than dying for the testimony of YHWH the almighty, i really hope he will be indulted but i have so much respect for his action that even if the worst happens i know he will be well received, as the bible says "COME BE BLESS"

Iconodule said...

May God grant him strength that if he is to die, that he die in martyrdom for Christ, like Saint stephan and Saint Ignatius.

Anonymous said...

Iran's Youth Push Islamic Limits
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/01/25/eveningnews/main669223.shtml

http://www.revivaliniran.org/

Baron Eddie said...

Rejoice ...

There is no death to whom sleep in Christ ...

goethechosemercy said...

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
Lord, now you have sent your servant to go in peace as you have promised; for these eyes of mine have seen the Savior, which you have prepared for all the world to see; a light to enlighten the nations, and the glory of your people Israel.

DigitalDisciple said...

Now, the latest headlines have Iran changing the charges to rape and extortion. Anyone have any better info?

Nazam said...

Iran denies death penalty for convert‏

http://presstv.com/detail/202870.html

search 4 truth said...

call YOUR LOCAL CHAPTER OF cair. Ask them why there is no public condemnation of this atrocity!

CAIR's Headquarters:

453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, DC 20003
Tel: 202.488.8787
Fax: 202.488.0833
info@cair.com
www.cair.com

search 4 truth said...

CAIR-Michigan
21700 Northwestern Hwy, Suite 815
Southfield, MI 48075
T: 248.559.2247
F: 248.559.2250
info@cairmichigan.org
www.cairmichigan.org


I talked to the boss or whatever and told him That I would be staying on top of this and other atrocities to hear their response and condemnation. he said a Mosque had been set on fire in Israel! LOL! Its the same thing every time. deflection and blame!

search 4 truth said...

@ nazam

not yet!

October 5, 2011 4:24 PM EDT
It appears that Christian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani will avoid the hangman in Iran for the time being.

Nadarkhani, once the leader of a 400-person congregation in Rasht, was previously convicted of apostasy -- the crime of abandoning Islam and converting to Christianity -- but Iran now claims that the death penalty reports that circulated around the world last week were unsubstantiated.


Enlarge
(Photo: Buzzbox.com)
Youcef Nadarkhani
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“Youssef Nadar-Khani [sic] has been charged with a crime and is in a prison based on an arrest warrant issued against him,” Gilan Province Judiciary Chief Mohammad-Javad Heshmati said on Wednesday, according to Iran state news agency Press TV.

“There has been no execution order. No conviction at all has been issued yet and it is up to the court to finally decide the verdict after studying his case,” he added.

Since news of Nadarkhani's looming execution spread, Iran has been loudly decrying the pastor as "a convicted rapist and extortionist," and the Fars News Agency said over the weekend that Nadarkhani was to be executed for Zionism and threats to national security.

He;s been imprisoned! For what?

Yusuf Mahat from Nepal said...

Nepali christians are praying for Iranian Pastor Yusuf Nadir Khani and he will be released soon, Our Heavenly Lord hears the prayers from all over the world, Amen.