Christians in the Muslim world

Viva Latma ( Thank you Will )

Christians senselessly tormented by extremists in Muslim world

By Akbar Ahmed and John Bryson Chane, Special to CNN

December 22, 2010

(CNN) -- The Christmas season encourages us to think of Jesus, so highly revered and loved by both Christians and Muslims. So it is even more tragic to contemplate relations between the two religions today -- and particularly the plight of Christians in the Muslim world.

In Iraq, savage killings of Christians have led thousands to flee the country. In Egypt, Christians are under severe pressure and siege. In Pakistan, there are too many cases like that of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who is facing a death sentence under Pakistan's blasphemy laws for allegedly slandering the Prophet of Islam.

For both of us, a Muslim and a Christian, this violence is a matter of utmost gravity.

One of us, Akbar Ahmed, was educated by Roman Catholic priests at Burn Hall, in North Pakistan, and then Presbyterian teachers at Forman Christian College in Lahore, and gratefully acknowledges the immeasurable debt he owes them, which he attempts to repay in promoting Christian-Muslim dialogue.

The other, John Chane, is concerned as a bishop but also as someone also passionately devoted to promoting good relations between Christians and Muslims.

We find that the situation has reached a breaking point because of the crisis in the Muslim world.

Extremist Muslims feel that Islam is under siege by the West and seek to lash out at Christians, seeing an attack on Christians in their countries effectively as an attack on Israelis, U.S. troops in Iraq or the intelligence agencies behind U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan.

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