Home Secretary orders ‘urgent investigation’ into asylum seeker rejection letter that claimed Christianity wasn’t a peaceful religion
from Christian Today:
The Home Secretary Sajid Javid has ordered an “urgent investigation” into a letter sent to an Iranian Christian asylum seeker explaining that his application had been turned down because Christianity was not the peaceful religion he claimed it to be.
The Home Office letter was met with widespread disbelief and consternation after excerpts were published to Twitter by the asylum seeker’s caseworker, Nathan Stevens.
The claimant said in his application that he had found “peace, forgiveness and kindness” in Christianity in contrast to the “violence and revenge” of his former Muslim faith.
An official in the Home Office challenged his interpretation, though, and quoted several passages from the Bible to refute his claim, including Matthew 10:34 where Jesus says, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth; I came not to send peace, but a sword.”
The official then cited Revelation 2:22-23 and chapter 9:3-6, stating, “Similarly, the book of Revelation is filled with imagery of revenge, destruction, death and violence.”
The official added: “These examples are inconsistent with your claim that you converted to Christianity after discovering it is a ‘peaceful’ religion, as opposed to Islam which contains violence rage and revenge.”
The Home Office responded at the time by saying that the letter was inconsistent with its policies and that it was working with faith communities to improve its guidance and training.
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