No Christian Churches left in Afghanistan
Posted by Todd Rhoades in Current Events on Oct 31st, 2011 | 7 commentsAccording to a report from the U. S. State department, there are virtually no churches left in Afghanistan. War, Taliban influence and a lack of government protection have eliminated just about all non-Muslim religious communities. In fact, the State Department’s report says that the last Christian church left in the country was destroyed in March of 2010. It is estimated that 99% of Afghanis are Muslim.
7 Responses to “ “No Christian Churches left in Afghanistan”
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I would just like to point out the difference between church and Church because in this case it matters.
church is a building, an organized group with rules and laws, it’s a structure an institution.
Church is the body of Christ.
I know people working throughout the middle east and gladly I can tell you that while the church may be disappearing, the Church is growing. It’s not easy, and there are no staggering numbers, but there are groups of believers meeting in houses, in parks, in secret. The Church IS growing.
Pray for these workers and these believers.
Yes… I should clarify. This was from a news story. I believe it’s talking about church BUILDINGS. There are, no doubt, Christians in Afghanistan… and my guess is that there are some pretty close-knit ‘churches’ as well. Just no church buildings.
Hmmmm… what would happen to the American church if we had no buildings?
Todd
Todd, I believe one day we will find out.
Hey Todd. It was interesting that I read your post this evening. I just talked with two people in the know about Afghanistan last night and today. One was a part of a baptism of two believers this past year as well as being a part of a believers’ meeting and the other is a part of the underground church there. Oh yes, there is a church there. It may look more like what church was originally intended to be.
I think the afghans learned from the Baptists and Evangelicals how to work for the destruction of a church they don’t like. Just look at how much effort the baptists are putting in to telling the world that Mormons are a cult. Its a bit ironic when the shoe is on the other foot. I for one have learned that christians are mostly nasty bigoted ignorant people. They deserve what they are getting around the world.
I wonder how many Mormon churches are in Afgan?
Afghanistan has not had a significant indigenous Christian community in centuries, and unlike other parts of the Middle East and South Asia, Christianity was never that significant a religion in Afghanistan. All, or very nearly all Afghans are Muslim, although there is a fair amount of diversity, between Sunni and Shia branches of Islam, and between Sufi movements (more emphasis on mysticism), and more fundamentalist movements like the Taliban, which have a very literalist, albeit skewed, interpretation of Islam, and more secular minded people. There was a small Jewish community, which was ethnically Russian, and they left Afghanistan fairly recently. There was a small ethnic Armenian community (who would also be Christian), but they have left as well, sometime towards the end of the 19th century.
There was a large Buddhist presence in Afghanistan (remember the statues of Buddha in the Bamiyan region which were destroyed), and although Buddhism as a religion has long since died out, it probably has left some influences on the culture, and on the way Afghans approach Islam
Afghanistan is an ethnically diverse society, with multiple languages (Pashto, Dari, Uzbek, etc…). Even more important, the country is divided by tribal and clan affiliations, even within single ethnic groups. The rugged terrain of Afghanistan, and the lack of adequate transportation infrastructure (or any other infrastructure), mean that the country is quite divided physically, as well as politically. Islam, as a shared religion, provides something of a shared bond between different groups in Afghanistan, and a society that has endured: 1.) invasion/occupation by the Soviet Union, 2.) close to a decade of savage civil war after the departure of the Soviet Union, 3.) rule by the Taliban (which brought peace, or rather desolation, at an incredibly high cost to basic liberty), 4.) the fall of the Taliban regime, followed by a divided, ineffective Afghan government, a U.S. military presence that is increasingly not welcomed, and a Taliban insurgency. Many Afghans have sought refuge in their religious beliefs, to help endure some unimaginable suffering.
Afghanistan is unique among Asian countries in never having been colonized. The British never penetrated from the south (India) and the Russians never penetrated from the north. This is not a country that suffers outside domination.
The idea that we, as Americans who are temporarily occupying Afghanistan, would proselytize Christianity is almost certainly an anathema to the people of Afghanistan, and many other Muslim societies. It would seen and felt in political terms as a neo-colonial imposing of religion at the barrel of a gun, and any converts would be viewed with deep suspicion by their families and probably be at risk for their lives, for having committed what would be seen culturally as a form of treason.
We can remind the Afghan government of their UN obligations to respect freedom of religion and freedom of conscience. We can also, regardless of our religious beliefs, work to support aid and reconstruction assistance to Afghanistan. Over time, this will do much more to promote religious tolerance and diversity than proselytizing.