Christmas Opposition

Source: VOMC

December 25th is a national holiday for all citizens in Pakistan – not as a Christmas celebration, but rather as a means of honouring the birthday of the nation's founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah. And although Christian workers are entitled to an optional day off on the 26th, they must declare their desire to take it – a request their employers will often refuse to grant.

Even so, some Christians in Pakistan have incorporated the season's festive traditions, such as decorating trees with festive lights, as part of their Christmas celebrations. However, these believers may experience increased hostility if their disapproving neighbours object to the use of such 'symbols of Christianity.' As a result, the decorations may be forcibly removed by community members who do not welcome them.

Unfortunately, not all opposition is expressed in minor malicious acts of disapproval or simply the denial to take time off work. In 2017, a Sunday school Christmas program in the Baluchistan province of Pakistan was fatally attacked. Even though security guards thankfully prevented the suicide bombers from entering the building, and thus causing many more casualties, at least nine Christians were killed in the ensuing blast (see this report).

Just recently, on December 3rd of this year, four people were tragically killed while attending an advent service at a university in Marawi, Philippines. Many others sustained injuries as a result of the bombing attack, most of them students at the university. ISIS terrorists have since claimed responsibility for "detonating an explosive device on a large gathering of Christian 'disbelievers.'"

The attack brought reminders of a previous bombing incident that took place in the Philippines on Christmas Day during the year of 2010; an attack that wounded 11 people. While the population of the Philippines is predominantly Christian, the citizens residing in the province of Lanao del Sur (where the most recent attack occurred) are primarily Muslim. Rebels fighting for the establishment of an Islamic state are typically the perpetrators of persecution against professing followers of Jesus.