Malaysian Christians Face Threats, Worries <br />By George Thomas <br />CBN News Senior Reporter <br />March 25, 2008 <br /><br />CBNNews.com - KUALA LUMPUR- Malaysia bills itself as a moderate Islamic country, but today powerful forces are trying to turn it into a fundamentalist Islamic state. <br /><br />This has Malaysian Christians worried about the future of religious freedom. <br /><br />"They forced me to renounce Christ but I said no way!" said Daniel, a Christian convert. <br /><br />Daniel is a young Malaysian who has lived a secret and sometimes dangerous life. <br /><br />"I've been threatened with death so many times by radical Muslims, but by the grace of God I'm still alive," he explained. <br /><br />Daniel converted from Islam to Christianity in 1998. <br /><br />"Under the Islamic laws of my country, the authorities can arrest me for my conversion," he said. <br /><br />Malaysians attempting to leave Islam has become one of the most controversial issues in this country. <br /><br />The debate erupted last year when Malaysia's highest court rejected a Muslim convert's battle to be legally recognized as a Christian. <br /><br />Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, a well-known human rights lawyer and a Muslim, presented a brief in support of Ms Lina Joy's conversion case. <br /><br />"It crystallized a legal basis to implement the kind of measures that we say are undermining the entire societal framework of this country," he said. "Lina Joy was a bad decision, a very, very bad decision." <br /><br />A decision that forced Lina Joy to flee the country. Meanwhile, Sarwar's support for Joy made him a wanted man. Posters carrying his picture circulated calling for his death. He's been branded an Islamic traitor because he believes that Malaysians should be free to choose their religion... <br /><br />http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/344277.aspx
