Why the Morocco Declaration on Christianity is not as good as it sounds

The folks at Christianity Today are falling all over themselves explaining how great the recent Morocco Declaration on Christian rights is. This should give you an idea:

In particular, the declaration references the charter’s “principles of constitutional contractual citizenship” and “freedom of movement, property ownership, mutual solidarity and defense, as well as principles of justice and equality before the law,” in regards to Muslims and non-Muslims.

I'm just not convinced. The declaration needs to explicitly claim that Christians who at one time in the past were Muslims are also included and should be afforded the same legal rights as folks born in Christian families.

And plus, Morocco doesn't even have an indigenous Christian population, aside from a couple hundred converts from Islam, and those have mostly been hounded and persecuted until they left the country.

I hope I'm worn to be so cynical about this, but we saw this back in the time of the Ottoman Empire with the hat-i humayun. At that time (1850's) Protestant missionaries were overjoyed because they thought these lofty statements about rights meant that Muslims could legally convert to Christianity. But nope. 

So...very nice words. But in the end, dust in the wind. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Again, I hope I'm wrong, but I don't see that this is much more than a pretty piece of PR fluff which will enable the sheeple of Europe and North America to keep repeating to themselves 'religion of peace, religion of peace...' while their neighbors continue to be killed and their daughters raped.

What countries have the smallest Christian population by %?

The folks at Pew Research have provided us with another great chart that provides information on religious composition by country, and it can be viewed by percentage, or by number. A bit of clicking got me the countries of the world with the lowest percentage of Christian populations. And guess what? Not until you get to place 13 do you find a country that is not Islamic. Here are the top 13 places:

1. Morocco
2. Somalia
3. Afghanistan
4. Iran
5. Tunisia
6. Western Sahara
7. Yemen
8. Algeria
9. Bangladesh
10. Mauritania
11. Maldives
12. Turkey
13. Cambodia (Buddhist majority)

What does this mean? I don't want to jump to any conclusions, but one possible factor (of many, I would think) is that Muslim countries do a good job keeping the Gospel out, or making sure that converts leave (or die).

Please pray for those top 13 countries, and do visit the Pew site, HERE.

Islam: A mono-lingual religious empire

At the police registries where Moroccans go to officially designate their childrens' names, non-Arab names like Jurgurtha and Messina -- the names of ancient Berber kings -- are blacklisted. Only Arabic names like Hassan and Ahmed are allowed.

"To Berber militants, this is a case of trying to completely eradicate any Berber heritage," Jalali Saib, a leading activist who teaches at Rabat University, told the BBC earlier this year.

The first language of most Moroccans is some form of Berber, generally called Tamazight, though there are a number of variants. But the constitution recognizes only Arabic as the official language.

Check it all out here.

Freedom of Religion in Morocco?

Great post from HERE. Here is one part:

The Christian population is increasing in this North African country and the government is starting to feel the heat.

Humorously enough, it still seems to be an enigma to them that Moroccan Muslims would embrace Christianity without being bribed or forced into it. The only explanation that is ever given to why a Muslim would actually become a follower of Jesus Christ is that they are vulnerable, unstable, desperate, greedy, or not in their right mind. But maybe, just maybe, Christianity is making a greater and more genuine impact in the lives of these people than the Muslim world would like to acknowledge.

Below is an article taken from MoroccoBoard News Service, about another home invasion that took place this past week in Morocco. What they conveniently leave out is that the American was not the only one arrested, but the 14 Moroccans (including children as young as 6 months old) were also thrown into jail and interrogated.

So much for religious freedom…

Catholic Archbishop Refuses to Baptize Muslim Converts

Morocco's government says it practices religious tolerance but the Christian presence is low-key. St. Peter's Cathedral in Rabat does not ring its bells and churchgoers are all foreign.

Moroccan Christians worshipping there would risk arrest and Archbishop Vincent Landel told Reuters he would not baptize a Moroccan convert as it is against the law.

From HERE.

Pray for Morocco

Pray for Morocco is a great resource. Please visit it often. Here is the list of prayer items but there are more at the website above, please lift them up to God's throne of grace:

PRAY for the Work of the Gospel in Morocco:

For more workers, foreign and Moroccan, to be raised up to reach Arabs and Berbers.

For divine appointments, the bringing together of believers and seekers of truth.

For production and distribution of Christian materials in all the languages of Morocco.

For follow-up of inquirers, solid conversions, and effective discipling of new believers.

For the multiplication of believers and fellowships throughout the peoples of Morocco.

For the Lord's empowering for ministry and provision for every need.

For protection against discouragement and grace to persevere in the face of obstacles.

For unity, partnership, mutual burden bearing, encouragement and much fruit.

Mission to Morocco

Are you called to be a missionary to Morocco? Is your church as a community called to support the country and the missionaries there? It is one of the least-reached nations in the world. It once had a vibrant Christian population but that was extinguished long ago. Now there are signs of life though.

Please read this website carefully and consider how the Lord would have you support the church's mission to Morocco:

Arise Shine Morocco

The Most Curious Country...

Western Sahara anyone? Western Sahara? Yep, it's country, there on the W coast of Africa, just south of Morocco. It is one of the least-reached countries in the world. I think that, foreigners aside, it is about 100% Muslim. Also, the population is pretty small.

Good article on this rare and unique country which has been under the control of Morocco for quite a long time now:

Western_Sahara