Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani is released from jail Sept. 8, 2012.
The Iranian pastor was acquitted of apostasy. Courtesy of ACLJ
The first amendment to our Constitution guarantees "freedom of religion". However, Persecution Unveiled has published many reports of Christians being sued, discriminated against, in schools, businesses and churches. Our founders never envisioned an America where freedom of religion would be under attack by godless people in positions of authority. What is happening in Iran is a preview of what is to come in America. If Christians do not rise up and speak truth to power, we can expect no less than the persecution that our brothers and sisters in Iran are facing. Terry Noble, Persecution Unveiled
By Samuel SmithChristian Post
Imprisoned Iranian pastor Yousef Nadarkhani has gone on a hunger strike to protest the regime's attempt to bar his children from completing their education because they refuse to study Islam and read the Quran.
According to Article 18, an organization that promotes religious freedom and tolerance for Christians in Iran, Nardarkhani’s teenage children went back to school last week but were told they hadn't completed the previous grades.
While two of his youngest children have been told they can’t come back to school because they have not received credit for completing the previous grades, 17-year-old Daniel has been accepted back as a “guest” in the 12th grade but still has not received a certificate telling him that he completed the previous grades.
Nadarkhani, a Muslim convert who pastored a house church in the Gilan Province, is serving a 10-year prison sentence in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison in Tehran on charges of “acting against national security.”
He was arrested in May 2016 and charged with promoting “Zionist Christianity,” and violating the national alcohol prohibition through communion and acting against national security.
Nadarkhani was first arrested in 2009 for protesting the same education policy that is penalizing his children today. The policy requires all students to take a course on the Quran.
With Nadarkhani and his wife being Muslim converts to Christianity, they protested against their children being taught Islam in school. For that reason, the pastor was charged with apostasy and sentenced to death. However, he was acquitted in 2012.
Article 18 reports that Nardarkhani tried to ensure his children were recognized as Christians before he was sent back to prison in 2018 so they wouldn't have to take Islamic studies. However, the matter has yet to be resolved with local authorities despite a court ruling in the family’s favor.
Because of this, the Nardarkhani children were not given certificates to show that they are Christians and have completed their studies.
Although Youeil, 15, and Hannah, 16, were set to start the 10th grade this fall, they have not received certificates to show that they completed the previous grades.
The certificate denials come as the three children were accepted to school as fully paying students but labeled as “guests” until the family’s legal case is resolved.
According to Article 18, religious minorities are typically exempt from Islamic studies classes. However, Iran provides less freedom for Muslim converts, such as the Nardarkhanis, whom the state still considers to be Muslim.
The U.S. State Department lists Iran as a “country of particular concern” for egregious violations of religious freedom. Iran is ranked as the ninth-worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USA’s 2019 World Watch List.
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