Brunei’s draconian new laws don’t just affect gay people, Christians are at risk too by Staff writer for Christian Today
GNN Note – Sharia law is incompatible with normal laws. Sharia law is incompatible with normal, nonmuslim people. Sharia law is incompatible, and most certainly a threat, to Christians and women.
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As the backlash grows over Brunei’s new gay stoning laws, some Christians are wondering why there isn’t more outcry about the threat of death to the country’s Christian community.
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The full extent of Sharia law came into effect in the majority-Muslim country on April 3, threatening anyone who engages in gay sex with punishment by stoning or whipping.
The news has angered celebrities like George Clooney and Ellen DeGeneres who have called on people to boycott hotels owned by the Sultan of Brunei, who has pushed the implentation of the new laws since 2014.
Protests have been held outside the Dorchester in London, which has shut down its social media pages over the backlash. The Universities of Oxford and Aberdeen are both considering revoking honorary degrees awarded to the Sultan.
Despite the focus of media attention on the threat to LGBT people, the laws also affect the Christian community, with conversion from Islam and insulting the Prophet Muhammad both carrying the death penalty.
“The newest and third phase of the law is difficult news for Christian converts who are expected to have to go into deeper hiding,” said Open Doors USA.
The first phase, which rolled out five years ago, already curtailed the freedoms of Christians and other faiths by making it a crime to “persuade, tell or encourage” Muslim children under the age of 18 “to accept the teachings of religions other than Islam”. Anyone who does so risks being fined or imprisoned.
Brunei ranks 36th on the Open Doors World Watch List of the 50 worst countries for persecution against Christians.
