Categories: christianity
Date: 16 March 2009 11:34:06
Kazakhstan
Languages: Kazakh, Russian, German, Ukrainian, Uzbek, Tatar
An amended religion law that has been making its way through the Kazakh legislative process during 2008 is proposing a ban on unregistered Christian activity, a ban on sharing your faith with others if you are listed among the members of a registered church, a ban on children attending worship services without the permission of their parents, amongst other things.
It seems that Kazakhstan, one of the most ethnically diverse Central Asian countries, is following the trend set by its neighbour Uzbekistan in cracking down on the Christian community.
The country has a large Russian Orthodox community but sadly there are apparently voices within the church advocating the tightening of controls over "non-traditional" (generally protestant) groups.
Numbers of ethnic Kazakhs, who traditionally follow Islam, becoming Christians have grown from O in 1990 to over 6000 in the year 2000. They are under pressure to give up their new-found faith and are considered by some to have betrayed their original "faith and motherland" by adhering to Christianity.