But hey, there's a good reason. From Reuters ....Algeria Shuts Down 26 Protestant Churches
Authorities in the overwhelmingly Muslim nation of Algeria have closed half of the Protestant churches in the country over the last six months, alerted persecution watchdog groups this week.
Fri, May. 30, 2008 Posted: 11:59:29 AM EST
Authorities in the overwhelmingly Muslim nation of Algeria have closed half of the Protestant churches in the country over the last six months, alerted persecution watchdog groups this week.
Twenty-six Algerian churches were shut down either by official written order or verbal warning since November 2007, according to Open Doors USA. The churches, ranging in size from several dozens to more than 1,000 members, are victims of a recent aggressive campaign against Christians.
It is feared that if persecution continues all the churches will be closed by the end of the year.
Abu Amrane Chikh, head of the government-appointed Higher Islamic Council, said uproar in the West over a recent prosecution of an Algerian woman on a charge of practising Christianity was being fomented for the benefit of foreigners.
"There are some church evangelists and reformist journalists who want to sow discord among brothers, and their long-term political goal is to create a Christian minority coupled with some foreign institutions," he said in an interview with the website of the El Khabar daily newspaper.
"This is a new form of colonization that is hidden behind freedom of worship," said Chikh, whose body regulates religious practice in the former French colony.
"The evangelist movement is characterized by a secret activity that violates the Koran and the Sunna in one way or another," he said, referring to Islam's holy book and Islamic practice based on words and deeds of the Prophet.
Coupled with the story from Birmingham, one can only wonder where Islam's Dorian Gray portrait resides.
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