Britain Uses Violent Bible Verses to Deny Iranian Convert Asylum

[Jude]

Britain Uses Violent Bible Verses to Deny Iranian Convert Asylum..

The British government has been using the Bible against Christians seeking asylum after converting from Islam—most recently, citing verses from Leviticus, Exodus, and Revelation as evidence that the faith was not more peaceful, as one Iranian convert claimed in his application.

Anglican leaders and other advocates for refugees condemned the immigration department’s decision to deny the Iranian’s 2016 petition for asylum this week.

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ne...-peaceful.html

[keck553]

Re: Britain Uses Violent Bible Verses to Deny Iranian Convert Asylum

If anyone is interested, here is the real story:

UK to reconsider asylum application of Iranian Christian

London, England, Mar 25, 2019 / 01:33 pm (CNA).- The British Home Office has agreed to reconsider the asylum claim of an Iranian Christian, after it was shown on Twitter that the department had denied the application on the grounds that Christianity is not a peaceful religion.
“The Home Office have agreed to withdraw their refusal and to reconsider our client’s asylum application, offering us a chance to submit further representations. A good start, but more change is needed”, the Iranian’s caseworker, Nathan Stevens, tweeted March 22.
Stevens added that he hopes “there will be real change though as it isn’t all about this one case; there’s a much wider problem to be addressed here.”
The immigration caseworker had tweeted photos March 19 of the Home Office’s letter explaining its reason for refusing the convert’s asylum claim, commenting: “I’ve seen a lot over the years, but even I was genuinely shocked to read this unbelievably offensive diatribe being used to justify a refusal of asylum.”

Excerpt from a home office reasons for refusal letter for a convert to Christianity. I’ve seen a lot over the years, but even I was genuinely shocked to read this unbelievably offensive diatribe being used to justify a refusal of asylum. pic.twitter.com/R1wA1HMNwH
— Nathan Stevens (@nathestevens) March 19, 2019

The asylum seeker had noted in his 2016 application that among his reasons for converting was that Christianity talks of “peace, forgiveness and kindness” while “in Islam there is violence rage and revenge.”
The refusal letter cited biblical passages, from Leviticus, Matthew, Exodus, and Revelation, which it said contradicted the asylum seeker’s claims: “These examples are inconsistent with your claim that you converted to Christianity after discovering it is a ‘peaceful’ religion,” the denial letter stated.
Stevens said: “Whatever your views on faith, how can a government official arbitrarily pick bits out of a holy book and then use them to trash someone’s heartfelt reason for coming to a personal decision to follow another faith?”

The Home Office, the British government department responsible for immigration, drugs policy, crime, fire, counter-terrorism, and policing, has said that the refusal letter is “not in accordance with our policy approach to claims based on religious persecution,” the Catholic Herald reported. It added that “we continue to work closely with key partners … to improve our policy guidance and training provided to asylum decision-makers.”
Sarah Teather, director of Jesuit Refugee Service UK, said March 21 that the refusal letter “is a particularly outrageous example of the reckless and facetious approach of the Home Office to determining life and death asylum cases – they appear willing to distort any aspect of reality in order to turn down a claim.”
“This case demonstrates the shocking illiteracy of Christianity within the Home Office … Here at JRS, we routinely encounter cases where asylum has been refused on spurious grounds.”
She added that “as this instance gains public attention, we need to remember it reflects a systematic problem and a deeper mindset of disbelief within the Home Office, and is not just an anomaly that can be explained away.”
Stephen Evans, CEO of the National Secular Society, commented on Twitter that it was “totally inappropriate” for the Home Office “to play theologian.” He added that “Decisions on the merits of an asylum appeal should be based on an assessment of the facts at hand – and not on the state’s interpretation of any given religion.”
Paul Butler, the Anglican Bishop of Durham, expressed “extreme concern” that the Home Office “could determine the future of another human being based on such a profound misunderstanding of the texts and practices of faith communities … that these comments were made at all suggests that the problem goes deeper than a lack of religious literacy among individual civil servants and indicates that the management structures and ethos of the Home Office, when dealing with cases with a religious dimension, need serious overhaul.”
Stevens has also noted that the refusal letter was part of a larger problem. He quoted in a March 20 tweet from another refusal that stated: “You affirmed in your AIR that Jesus is your saviour, but then claimed that He would not be able to save you from the Iranian regime. It is therefore considered that you have no conviction in your faith and your belief in Jesus is half-hearted.”

Shia Islam is the state religion of Iran, though several religious minorities are recognized and granted freedom of worship. However, conversion from Islam is strictly prohibited.
Open Doors UK said that 114 Christians were arrested in Iran in December 2018. Many of them were reportedly converts from Islam.

[keck553]

Re: Britain Uses Violent Bible Verses to Deny Iranian Convert Asylum

** I meant to say “unedited”

Link:
https://www.catholicworldreport.com/...ian-christian/

[Jude]

Re: Britain Uses Violent Bible Verses to Deny Iranian Convert Asylum

** I meant to say “unedited”

Link:
https://www.catholicworldreport.com/...ian-christian/

That's like getting your news from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith..

[keck553]

Re: Britain Uses Violent Bible Verses to Deny Iranian Convert Asylum

That's like getting your news from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith..

What is in error in the story Jude? Please provide specific corrections to the report.

If you can not outline a factual rebuttal of any element in the report, your comment has zero value.

[Brother Mark]

Re: Britain Uses Violent Bible Verses to Deny Iranian Convert Asylum

If anyone is interested, here is the real story:

Brother Keck,

Christianity Today is an organization with some integrity. Their article is about 4 days before your article. That's enough time for changes to have occurred due to publicity. I didn't see anything in the article that Jude posted that was not "real". Your article gives the "rest of the story" as it unfolded. But Jude's article seem right too.

Clearly the UK immigration office has a difficult job to do... they are trying to determine if someone is really a believer or if they are using Christianity as an excuse to immigrate. But they also seem to not understand Christianity at all making it all the harder for them to rule rightly. Something clearly needs to be done. And the pushback apparently has worked and is getting them to reconsider what they wrongly did to begin with.

[Brother Mark]

Re: Britain Uses Violent Bible Verses to Deny Iranian Convert Asylum

** I meant to say “unedited”

The date of this tweet mentioned in your article:

“The Home Office have agreed to withdraw their refusal and to reconsider our client’s asylum application, offering us a chance to submit further representations. A good start, but more change is needed”, the Iranian’s caseworker, Nathan Stevens, tweeted March 22.

Is one day after the Christianity Today article had already been out.

[keck553]

Re: Britain Uses Violent Bible Verses to Deny Iranian Convert Asylum

The date of this tweet mentioned in your article:



Is one day after the Christianity Today article had already been out.

I’m not insinuating Christianity Today edited and biased the article.

I’m saying by the time it was posted here, there was much more to the story that unfolded in the meantime.

By the time the OP posted the original story, the rest of the story was already out there. My post is only ONE HOUR after his post. Meaning BOTH versions were already on line at the time of his post.

Usually when I read a story that has some tooth growth, I check other sources for updates, or - usually - the original source has an update

[keck553]

Re: Britain Uses Violent Bible Verses to Deny Iranian Convert Asylum

Brother Keck,

But they also seem to not understand Christianity at all making it all the harder for them to rule rightly. Something clearly needs to be done. And the pushback apparently has worked and is getting them to reconsider what they wrongly did to begin with.

No kidding. Listening to recent democrat candidates’ rhetoric has proved to me they don’t have a clue about Scriptual context.