SRK | Major crackdown on places of worship

[Lushansk]

Lushanskian Troops arrive from Fonda Stadt to defend Kergstan from the Australaisan led Coalition

[Allanea]

(Image)
Department of State Security
Socialist Republic of Kergstan

Noting the article of the constitution regarding the role of religion in the country

''The Socialist republic shall be based on the principle of secularism and promote atheism within the boundaries of personal freedom.''

Acknowledging the provisions of the Penal Code and Central Commitee Directives related to the constitutional premise.

Proselytizing outside of the designated places of worship is punishable with up to 2 months in jail and up to 6 months in jail if the offense is repeated and a fine of 100 to 250 % of the personal monthly income.

The request to build a place of worship must be presented to the relevant state-sanctioned religious organization which shall evaluate if the existing buildings aren't enough to host the practicing population within an area.

The content of a speech the clergy desires to hold shall be presented beforehand, at least one day before, at a Civilian State Security barrack or at the relevant state-sanctioned religious organization

[...]Church bells, the call of muezzin, minarets taller than 20 metres are illegal for the exception of culturally or artistically relevant[...]

All of these laws or directives have been broken by at least more than one of the places of worship who have been the target of a PLAK-PMF led mission to close down these illegal places of worship and arrest their organizers.

The mission took place from october 15th to october 18th and resulted in the closure of 42 places of worship nationwide and the arrest of 104 organizers.

(Image)

On the Leninist and His Lies
Oren Ilyinsky, for Liberty Times

We are informed now that the Kergstani Communists, in their continuous drive to stamp out religion, have now used a range of pseudo-legal tactics to crush people who worship other Gods then Marx, or who decided to worship other deities alongside Karl Marx. In this context, they've invoked excuses in the old vein of 'religion is legal, but proselytism is not', 'religion is legal, but church bells cannot be rung', 'religion isn't illegal, but you must clear all your sermons with the police'. Or in other words – technically, you can have a religious faith, but we will pester and bother and threaten you over any kind of statements or actions that are inherent to your faith.

Those who perform these actions – actions which, in a past age, would have caused Christians, Muslims, or Jews, to rise up in a storm of violence – tell us that the worldview of members of the Marxist-Leninist cult is 'rational', while that of members of other faiths is ostensibly not. This is because Christians believe that Christ was born, died, and gave his life for humanity, while Marxists do not believe in miracles, and merely believe in class warfare and the withering away of the state. (Kergstani Marxist-Leninists are also nationalists, which means they also believe in the Kergstani nation).

Ignoring even the usual criticisms of Marxism, the issue of course is that they equate irrational with false. The truth is that any worldview has elements within it that are irrational. The existence of a 'nation' or a 'class', or the suggestion that one owes them loyalty, is an item that can neither be proven nor disproven in a rational manner. There is a whole realm of ethical views that can be neither measured, weighed, nor ever counted.

Yet the Kergstani Marxist-Leninist introduces to these matters the presumption that his cult is the best cult, his faith is not faith but scientific knowledge – and from this, invokes the power to replace persuasion and argument with the police baton, the prison bars, and the handcuffs.

"You are allowed to keep your religion," – he says, even when reaching for his baton to crack your elbow if you raise a voice to praise your God.

"You are free," – he adds, even as the pumps prepare to fill your church with tear gas.

"All mankind are brothers", - he smiles, as men in jackboots drag away your children and elderly parents.

Should we be surprised? Have we not seen this same iniquity, this same cynical betrayal, elsewhere, where freedom and equality are promised, and then laughingly taken away on the slightest infractions?

This paper is informed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working to create a program that would allow refugees from Kergstan to enter our country. This humble poet would like to inquire with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – why did not this program already exist? Did you not know that this is the exact thing that we could have expected to happen, in a country professing to these ideals? Did you not know that 'secularism' means a plan to strangle the churches and beat up the worshippers? Has any Marxist-Leninist ever meant anything else by those words? It is exactly this sort of petty perfidy that had started the Edolian Wars. And now we are shaming our illustrious ancestors, by dragging our feet even at accepting the refugees to our bosom?

Once again, I call upon the Ministry, I call upon all men of good will everywhere – if we cannot unite against the Marxist-Leninists, let us at least unite on behalf of their victims. Let us open the doors of our nations to these men and women who have done no wrong but keep true to their religious faith. Let those whom the evildoers have tried to make into prisoners or paupers on trumped-up nonsense pretext, become instead our brothers and sisters.

It's what our ancestors would have wanted.

It's what they fought the Edolians for.

It's the right thing to do.

[Hristoros Islands]

The President's Office

"It's pretty serious. But I dont see much we can do about this" The President said.
"Officially, you are right, we can't do anything except issue an official condemnation."
"Regime change is out of the question. Our military and economic power just doesn't match up enough. Even if it did, we don't know what could fill the void. The intelligence brief suggests that while peaceful people of faith are oppressed, the government of Kergstan is also suppressing several Islamic terrorist groups. How much do we know about them?"
"Not much. The intelligence office is working on an analysis of the different groups in Kergstan, but we have almost no assets in that country. It's not considered a security priority for the islands."
"What threat do these groups pose?"
"Mr President, that is something we are still ascertaining. However as far as we can tell with the current intelligence, the terrorist groups in Kergstan operate only domestically. I have no reason to believe at this moment that Kergstani groups would engage in transnational terrorism that would affect us or our allies."
"Even with the terrorism angle, this is still outrageous what is happening in Kergstan. I've never been strongly faithful myself, but that's a right people should have. It's in the foundation of a nation's identity."
"It is a severe crackdown."
"I'm redirecting some off the record funds to the IO to start developing assets in Kergstan. The budget is going to be capped at around 2 million USD right now. This is not a priority issue, but I still want a monthly report on what is going on Kergstan. If there are terrorist groups that could evolve into transnational groups, we need to know about it. And even if there isn't, it's just not right what these socialists are doing. There is also a good chance here to show our commitment to religious freedom ahead of the next election. In the meantime, I'll have the Department of Foreign Affairs draft an official protest note. Now is that all?"
"Yes sir, for today."
"Dismissed."

Press Release From the Hristoros Islands Department of Foreign Affairs

The DFA and Presidential administration of the Islands are shocked and severely disappointed by the radical anti religious stance of the Socialist Republic of Kergstan. It is the belief of this administration that religious freedom is not just a fundamental human right, but at the very essence of what it means to be human itself. We ask that the Socialist Republic of Kergstan reconsider it's stance on religious freedom. In the meantime, the DFA will continue to work with foreign partners in advancing the cause of people of faith across the planet.

[United Australasian Commonwealth]

Western Kergstan is annexed to the UAC