The furor over the months-old satirical cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, pictured here, that appeared in a Danish newspaper, continues to spread. The epicenter of the anti-Danish sentiment seems to be Saudi Arabia. Last week, the Kingdom recalled its ambassador to Denmark.
Friday services at Saudi mosques were dominated by denunciations of Denmark, as well as a call for a boycott of Danish products.
The Saudi government, on the other hand, is silent on the issue of Bible shredding. Wahhabi Islam is the state religion of Saudi Arabia. And the Saudis don't allow the Holy Book of Christianity into their nation.
What happens if someone is caught with a Bible by a Saudi customs agent? Often, the Bible is shredded.
From CNS News:
Bibles found in the possession of visitors to Saudi Arabia are routinely confiscated by customs officials, and in some cases copies allegedly have been put through a paper shredder, according to religious rights campaigners.
Reports from the Islamic world of the abuse of Bibles and other items important to Christians emerge from time to time, but generally have little impact - in contrast to the wave of Muslim anger sparked by a Newsweek report, since retracted, of Koran desecration by the U.S. military.
More...
Claims of Bible desecration in Saudi Arabia have been made by others.
"One Christian recently reported that his personal Bible was put into a shredder once he entered customs," the late Nagi Kheir, spokesman for the American Coptic Association and a veteran campaigner for religious freedom in the Middle East, wrote in an article several years ago.
"Some Christians have reported that upon entering Saudi Arabia they have had their personal Bibles taken from them and placed into a paper shredder," the U.S.-based organization International Christian Concern said in a 2001 report.
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