A mob in Pakistan burned a church and Christian homes after blasphemy accusations

[Coventina]

MULTAN, Pakistan — Angry Muslims went on a rampage Wednesday, attacking a Christian area in eastern Pakistan, burning a church and damaging at least four others, police and local Christians said. The mob also demolished a man's house after accusing him of desecrating Islam's holy book and attacked several other Christian homes.

The attacks in Jaranwala, in the district of Faisalabad in Punjab province, erupted after some Muslims living in the area claimed that a local Christian, Raja Amir, and his friend had torn out pages from a Quran, thrown them on the ground and written insulting remarks on others.

Police chief Rizwan Khan said this angered the local Muslims. A mob gathered and began attacking multiple churches and several Christian homes, burning furniture and other household items. Some members of the Christian community fled their homes to escape the mob.

Police eventually intervened, firing into the air and wielding batons before dispersing the attackers with the help of Muslim clerics and elders. Authorities also said they have started launching raids in an effort to find all the perpetrators.

https://www.npr.org/2023/08/16/1194162768/pakistan-christians-churches-attacked-mob-blasphemy

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*sigh*

[msongs]

1. don't they have anything better to do like help humanity or something? nt

[Igel]

9. I really don't much care about the details of this.

But when I followed such news, very often if you read into it you'd find reporting that was, um, revelatory.

The primary accuser's son wanted to marry a Xian's daughter.

The Xian's property was adjacent and desirable and the Xian was uninterested in selling.

The Xian's property was adjacent and desirable and for sale and the Xian rejected a low offer for the property.

The Xian said or did something that the Muslim accuser found objectionable.

One or more of the Xian's family did something that was objectionable to one or more of the Muslims, in a way that was noticed. Maybe had people in for services, drinking ethanol, whatever. When the objection for the real problem was ignored, something was claimed that held the Xian accountable for the infraction.

On occasion the accusation was true; more often that not, for years over the course of nearly a decade, the incidents that came to my attention in the Pakistani press were, pure and simple, based on greed or displaced from the real "objectionable act".

Most of the rare exceptions to that were reversed. A daughter or son was raped, family member killed--some egregious wrong was done by my personal standards--a so and the father did the offense what was claimed or something similar to the "delicate sensitivities" surrounding him and the family paid dearly for that obviously unprovoked offense to the community.

Now, these events, the predominant ones or the rare ones, were fairly uncommon--but not all made the US or European press.

Still, in that milieu, you'd have to be barking or an absolute zealot to do what's claimed.

[Hortensis]

2. Terrible. Massive persecution of ME Christians in nations there has

also been ongoing, for years but accelerated in this era. They're close to extinction in some areas, which is the intention.

[Sky Jewels]

3. Religion sucks in almost all its forms.

"Our stupid patriarchal fairy tales about nonexistent invisible magical beings are better than your stupid patriarchal fairy tales about nonexistent invisible magical beings!"

That being said, All Hail Ceiling Cat.

[Liberal In Texas]

4. More people have died in the name of religion

than any other cause.

[DickKessler]

5. This paragraph particularly infuriates me.

In the videos, several policemen are seen watching the situation without intervening to stop the vandalism.

Fucking spectator cops. Many cases of this around the world—including in the US.

Disgusting.

[sakabatou]

6. If I were the king of the world, I would outlaw any blasphemy laws.

[Sky Jewels]

8. I would outlaw religion.

Okay, not really, but our planet would be A LOT better off without all this supernatural nonsense.

[Ex Lurker]

7. Before anybody labels Chistianity in Pakistan as a legacy of British Colonialism

there were Christians on the Indian subcontinent before there were Christians in Britain. They trace their founding to the Apostle Thomas who traveled there in the very earliest days of Christianity.

[Takket]

10. That seems like a perfectly lucid and reasonable reaction

[KentuckyWoman]

11. Stuff like this is another reason why I'm so pissed off at the GOP.

The GOP has completely thrown away any pretense of tolerance. They can hardly tolerate each other. It is mighty hard to convince people around the world to tolerate "the others" when half of America isn't interested either.