Christian Pastor Faces Execution in Iran for Apostasy 4:49 PM, Sep 29, 2011 • By JOHN MCCORMACK
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The International Business Times reports that a Christian pastor in Iran may be executed as early as Friday for the "crime" of being a Christian convert:
Iranian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who is facing the death penalty, again refused to convert to Islam to save his life.
Nadarkhani was arrested in 2009 for the crime of apostasy because he allegedly abandoned Islam for Christianity. As a pastor, Iranian clerics believe that Nadarkhani was preaching in order to convert Muslims.
Florida senator Marco Rubio writes:
Our own State Department should call for his immediate release. These are the moments when the government of this great nation must not be silent, and must be a voice for freedom for those who are defenseless. In free and civilized societies, the freedom to practice one’s religion is a fundamental right. Once again, Iran’s government is proving to the world, and to the Iranian people, that it will spare no means to suppress their God-given right to freely express their ideas and worship.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney issued a statement this afternoon condemning Iran's conviction of Youcef Nadarkhani:
Sometimes when one moves to a foreign land and defies the customs of that land -- there can be consequences and I am not at all surprised there are -- in this case, sadly..........
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