Forgiveness, Freedom of Christians, Brutal Torture and Murder by Muslims in Turkey

Forgive. Not easy but it is the most import truth that you need to get hold of for your life. You need to be forgiven for your faults and sins by others, by God. And you must forgive those who have done you wrong.

Why? Sin brings destruction and death. In our own lives, un-forgiven sin separates us from those around us, from God and His love. The good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ, is that you can be forgiven through the blood of Christ shed for us on the Cross when you repent and ask God for this.

And because of this forgiveness from God, Christians can also completely forgive others. They may not be able to forget what happened to them when they were wronged, and the wrong actions are not justified, but Christians know they can leave the consequences of each person’s sins to God. He is the final judge of both the living and the dead. He can have mercy, if those people repent, and he can condemn, but that is up to God. We are not small gods in this world, and we must not try to be.

That is why the nation of Turkey was stunned, in March 2008, when three women published an article saying they forgave their three husband’s killers. The women were Christian. Their husbands had been cruelly tortured and murdered by Muslim men in the name of Islam, simply because they were Christians.

I found some details about these killings in Christianity Today:

“On the day of the killing, the young Muslim men had arranged to meet the Christians at 10 am to learn more about the Bible.

“They had gathered guns, breadknives, ropes and towels – they knew there would be a lot of blood – ready for their act,” the Washington-DC based human rights group International Christian Concern said.

ICC described the horrific ordeal in excruciating detail, which will only moderately be described in this report.

“They arrived, and reportedly, after Necati read a chapter from the Bible the assault began. The young men tied Ugur, Necati, and Tilman’s hands and feet to chairs as they videoed their work on their cellphones. What followed in the next three hours is beyond belief,” an ICC release has said.

ICC then continued to describe the nature of the torture, which included disembowelment, emasculation, and the slicing open of various orifices.

“Tilman was stabbed 156 times, Necati 99 times and Ugur’s stabs were too numerous to count. Finally, their throats were sliced from ear to ear, heads practically decapitated,” ICC reports.

Here is a youtube report on the case from CBN.

So, could you have done what these women did? The world is not getting any more peaceful, so the challenge may be coming to your life, whether you hide as a Christian, or not as a Christian, or are a bold Christian that speaks up for the truth. You might think you are safe in the West, in America, but Islam is growing everywhere, and oppressive evil with it.

Islam’s father is the Devil, the father of lies who comes to steal and kill and destroy (John 10:10).  If we do not speak out against Islam, stand up for the laws of our land, the freedoms we now have in America, we may soon look like the nation of Turkey.

The following are the words of Father Jonathan Morris in a Fox News report. He traveled to Turkey soon after the murders of the three men to speak with a local Pastor.

“Looking for a Christian church in Turkey is like finding an apartment in Manhattan — not because there are so many of them, but because they literally look like ordinary apartments. Here, there are no high spires, beautiful facades, or church bells to draw you into Christendom. The churches just blend into their surroundings, so you have to have the exact address to find one.

We almost missed it. The entrance to the church looked more like that of a prison — a closed iron gate, behind which stood a stern guard with a clipboard to welcome you … and to take your name.

Pastor Behnan met us on the street. There were no formalities, and barely an introduction. “This can’t be the man I’ve been talking to on the phone over the last few days” I thought to myself. “He would have greeted me in a different way.” But it was. He was just nervous. “Come with me,” he said.

The church was in an upper room. Once inside, it could have been a Methodist, Lutheran, or Baptist church in a small town in Middle America: white walls, a simple cross, big lectern, and dark wooden pews.

“Where do you buy church pews in Turkey?” I wondered to myself.

The crew set up the portable lights and camera as the two of us chit-chatted. “When everyone comes, we are about 150 people,” says Pastor Behnan, who is now much more at ease.

When I got the word that things were ready, I asked the pastor if we could start filming. He put on a tie. “No problem.”

“Okay, so how is your congregation doing in light of the recent killings? Are you afraid?”

He didn’t hesitate even a second. “Not at all! Jesus is our strength. I’ve been jailed many times, and beaten.”

“Beaten?” I replied, with emphasis of surprise. “But I thought it was legal to be Christian in Turkey?”

“It is,” he said, “but the police don’t know that, or don’t want to know it. They take us in, question us, sometimes rough us up, and then after a week or two, they let us go.”

“And why do they let you go?”

“Because they know if the case goes to court, there will be no law to incriminate us.”

Pastor Behnan repeated several times that he has nothing against the government. He is a loyal Turk, pays his taxes, and is grateful for the freedom of worship Turkish law permits. “Turkish law is good,” he said. “We can worship, and we can even translate and offer Bibles for sale. We never push them on anyone; but they can buy them if they want.”

But in practice, things aren’t so good. On account of widespread rumors, large percentages of the Turkish population are convinced Christians are a threat to national unity. Conspiracy theories abound that promote an environment of mistrust and fear of all non-Muslims. One rumor I heard from several Muslim Turks, for example, was that the CIA has trained and sent 40,000 Christian missionaries into the country to prepare an overthrow of the government.

I asked Pastor Behnan if the killing of the three Christians (whom he knew personally) was a random terrorist attack that could have happened in any country, or if, on the other hand, it was representative of a national problem. His explanation was clear, but not simple.

According to him, while physical acts against Christians have been rare, it would be inaccurate to say this was a random and isolated case. Ten young men worked together for many weeks to plan and carry out the torture and murder. They even pretended to be interested in Christianity to gain the trust of the men they would later kill. Pastor Behnan says this premeditated barbarism is fruit of the misinformation being spread to the masses by some Muslim religious leaders and even some high-level government officials. He says these men are purposefully creating an environment that promotes hatred of Christians, and as long as this sentiment spreads, people on the fringe will continue to carry out acts of violence in the name of religion and national unity.”

Ask yourselves why these men were murdered in this way?

as Robert Spencer commented on Jihadwatch,

“the perpetrators committed no crimes under Islamic law. They were merely emulating al-insan al-kamil (the perfect man) and the uswa hasana (model of conduct), the ‘prophet’ Muhammad.”

And another point, in Germany there was very little comment on this crime from the media there, or from the German government. Why? Even though a German citizen was so horribly murdered, the Germans did not want to offend their Muslim population, so the news was kept quiet.

We have a sign in front of our church that speaks the truth: Islam is of the Devil. And another one, this week: Mohammad is a false prophet.

Stand up, join us, support us.

Written by Fran Ingram, a proud member of Dove World Outreach Center.