The newly organized U.S.-Pakistani-American Christian Association is protesting a blasphemy law under which Christians can be put to death.
Edgar Dass, president of the Milford, Pennsylvania, group, criticizes Pakistan’s 1991 Shari’a Act that deems use of “derogatory” remarks about the Islamic prophet Muhammad or “any imputation or insinuation directly or indirectly” deserving of death.
On February 2, Faisalabad police arrested Anwar Masih for “loudly uttering blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad in public.” If convicted, Masih faces the death penalty. Another Christian, Gul Masil, was sentenced to hang last November under the blasphemy law and is appealing his case.
“What constitutes a derogatory remark is never defined,” says Dass, who grew up in Pakistan, which is 97 percent Muslim.
In another case, Naimat Ahmar, who was exonerated of a blasphemy charge, was stabbed to death on a street in January 1992 by a Muslim who danced over the corpse and bragged that he had killed an infidel. Even the policeman arresting the accused murderer (charges later were dropped) kissed him, according to Dass.
EVANGELISM
Jamaica Welcomes Palau
Luis Palau’s recent two-week “Say Yes to Jesus” crusade in Jamaica received support from 130 pastors and laity from 13 United States churches. Palau spoke to 245,000 people in stadiums, churches, schools, hospitals, prisons, and on streets. More than 100,000 schoolchildren heard the gospel preached at assemblies; an estimated 17,500 people made Christian commitments.
Palau, the 58-year-old evangelist based in Portland, Oregon, was received warmly by Jamaica’s political leaders, who have been groping for solutions to the nation’s social and moral problems. He addressed most ...
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