{"id":40542,"date":"2022-01-25T11:45:12","date_gmt":"2022-01-25T02:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/?p=40542"},"modified":"2022-01-25T15:35:57","modified_gmt":"2022-01-25T06:35:57","slug":"vomk-report-188","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/2022\/01\/25\/vomk-report-188\/","title":{"rendered":"MALDIVES: CHARGES FILED AGAINST COLLEGE FOR PLAYING A CHRISTIAN SONG"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”40537″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”A college in the Maldives which claims it played a Christian song by accident during a children\u2019s sports festival is now facing a police investigation.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:1.2em|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” el_class=”headline”][vc_column_text]According to the Times of Addu,\u00a0<\/span>the<\/span>\u00a0Maldives media source\u00a0<\/span>which first reported the incident<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>Clique College<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>says it ha<\/span>d<\/span>\u00a0no\u00a0<\/span>desire to promote\u00a0<\/span>Christian<\/span>ity<\/span>\u00a0and<\/span>\u00a0no intention to play the Christian song, which they say\u00a0<\/span>auto-played from a playlist during a\u00a0<\/span>Taekwondo\u00a0<\/span>exhibition.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>The song\u2019s lyrics reportedly included the\u00a0<\/span>words<\/span>, \u201cWe believe in Jesus. We believe in Holy Spirit.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>College officials say th<\/span>e song was changed\u00a0<\/span>as soon as the mistake was detected<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>The Taekwondo academy responsible for the exhibition similarly disclaimed responsibility<\/span>\u00a0on a Facebook post, saying th<\/span>at the music that was\u00a0<\/span>played was \u201cout of their hands\u201d<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_single_image image=”40532″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]T<\/span>he Times of Addu<\/span>\u00a0quotes an unnamed representative from the\u00a0<\/span>Maldives\u00a0<\/span>Islamic Ministry of Culture as saying, \u201c<\/span>[The Islamic Ministry has] filed the case of a Christian religious song played at an event held at the\u00a0<\/span>Hulhumal\u00e9<\/span>\u00a0Central Park at the police as a very serious matter. [We will] take legal action against organizers for such activities.<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]The Times report added, \u201c<\/span>The Religious Unity Act (Act No. 6\/94) prohibits the practice by citizens of any religion other than Islam.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]The U.S. State Department has previously raised concerns about restrictions on religious freedom in the Maldives, noting\u00a0<\/span>in its\u00a0<\/span>2020\u00a0<\/span>religious freedom\u00a0<\/span>report\u00a0<\/span>on the country\u00a0<\/span>that \u201c<\/span>Propagation of any religion other than Islam is a criminal offense, punishable by two to five years in prison or house arrest<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0and that\u00a0<\/span>the\u00a0<\/span>Maldives<\/span>\u00a0constitution\u00a0<\/span>\u201c<\/span>designates Islam as the state religion, which it defines in terms of Sunni teachings. It states citizens have a\u00a0<\/span>\u2018<\/span>duty<\/span>\u2019<\/span>\u00a0to preserve and protect Islam.<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>The\u00a0<\/span>State Department\u00a0<\/span>report also notes that the\u00a0<\/span>legal code of the\u00a0<\/span>Maldives \u201c<\/span>prohibits the establishment of places of worship for non-Islamic religious groups<\/span>.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Voice of the Martyrs Korea Representative Dr<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0Hyun Sook Foley says\u00a0<\/span>her organization<\/span>\u00a0is\u00a0<\/span>currently\u00a0<\/span>monitoring the\u00a0<\/span>case against Clique College, as well as\u00a0<\/span>reports of an increased crackdown\u00a0<\/span>by Maldives authorities\u00a0<\/span>on Christian\u00a0<\/span>Internet and social media content in December 2021.<\/span>\u00a0\u201c<\/span>There have always been restrictions on Christian\u00a0<\/span>activity in the Maldives<\/span>, but\u00a0<\/span>local media\u00a0<\/span>s<\/span>ources\u00a0<\/span>in the Maldives are reporting\u00a0<\/span>on\u00a0<\/span>a\u00a0<\/span>new\u00a0<\/span>criminal court order\u00a0<\/span>that was\u00a0<\/span>requested by police\u00a0<\/span>to\u00a0<\/span>ban\u00a0<\/span>online non-Muslim religious content, including\u00a0<\/span>Christian content<\/span>, that is\u00a0<\/span>in the\u00a0<\/span>Dhivehi<\/span>\u00a0language<\/span>\u00a0of the Maldives<\/span>,\u201d says Representative Foley.\u00a0<\/span>She says the government\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>action\u00a0<\/span>against Clique College\u00a0<\/span>does not surprise her.\u00a0<\/span>\u201c<\/span>We first learned about Clique College\u00a0<\/span>and the investigation\u00a0<\/span>into the Christian song\u00a0<\/span>simply from our\u00a0<\/span>organization\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>regular\u00a0<\/span>daily\u00a0<\/span>global\u00a0<\/span>monitoring of news reports about\u00a0<\/span>Christian persecution. But as we have monitored the Maldives for years, we have seen time and time again how officials\u00a0<\/span>there\u00a0<\/span>have\u00a0<\/span>resisted and reacted against\u00a0<\/span>even the smallest signs of\u00a0<\/span>possible Christian activity.\u00a0<\/span>A group that\u00a0<\/span>recently\u00a0<\/span>wanted to do\u00a0<\/span>Christian\u00a0<\/span>radio broadcasting into the Maldives\u00a0<\/span>to<\/span>ld<\/span>\u00a0us that they were\u00a0<\/span>dissuaded\u00a0<\/span>from their plans\u00a0<\/span>by\u00a0<\/span>the possibility of\u00a0<\/span>the Maldives taking\u00a0<\/span>diplomatic action against the country where the group was planning to originate the broadcast.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”40535″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”A Facebook post from a Taekwondo academy in the Maldives disclaimed responsibility for a Christian song being played at a children\u2019s sports exhibit in the officially Muslim country.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0a0a|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]But Representative Foley says that such crackdowns\u00a0<\/span>against Christianity often spread Christianity rather than\u00a0<\/span>eliminating it. \u201c<\/span>God never leaves himself without a witness,\u201d says Representative Foley. \u201c<\/span>It doesn\u2019t even have to be a person.\u00a0<\/span>When there are no people to make a faithful witness,\u00a0<\/span>God can\u00a0<\/span>raise up rocks to cry out, as Jesus says in Luke 19:40.\u00a0<\/span>He can\u00a0<\/span>use\u00a0<\/span>a song<\/span>\u00a0that somehow plays by accident<\/span>, like in th<\/span>is incident in th<\/span>e Maldives<\/span>. Then\u00a0<\/span>a<\/span>\u00a0government\u00a0<\/span>files a complaint,\u00a0<\/span>a newspaper reports about it, and then\u00a0<\/span>God\u00a0<\/span>give<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0the readers of the newspaper report a curiosity in their heart<\/span>\u00a0to learn more<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0They ask, \u2018Why is our government banning this? Why is it so dangerous?\u2019 It\u2019s human nature to seek out what is banned.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Representative Foley says that her organization has seen a similar phenomenon at work in North Korea<\/span>. She pointed\u00a0<\/span>to the example of<\/span>\u00a0workers sent abroad by the North Korean government. \u201c<\/span>North Korean\u00a0<\/span>w<\/span>orkers have told us that they receive<\/span>d<\/span>\u00a0a briefing from the government before they<\/span>\u00a0were<\/span>\u00a0sent abroad in which they\u00a0<\/span>were<\/span>\u00a0shown a Bible and told, \u2018This is a Bible. Do not read this book.\u2019 And then they\u00a0<\/span>were<\/span>\u00a0showing a picture of a church building and told, \u2018This is a church building. Do not go here.\u2019\u00a0<\/span>T<\/span>he workers tell us that the first thing they want to do when they arrive in the<\/span>\u00a0new country is to find a Bible and a church building.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”40540″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”A photo from the Clique College website. The College said it had no desire to promote Christianity and no intention to play Christian music at its event.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:13px|text_align:center|color:%230a0a0a|line_height:1.45em” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Representative Foleys says she expects a similar outcome in the Maldives. \u201cOur experience at Voice of the Martyrs Korea is that when we see a government institute\u00a0<\/span>a\u00a0<\/span>new\u00a0<\/span>wave of\u00a0<\/span>crackdowns on Christianity, it\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>frequently\u00a0<\/span>because\u00a0<\/span>they are\u00a0<\/span>responding to a new wave of Christian growth, and they\u00a0<\/span>panic and are<\/span>\u00a0afraid.\u00a0<\/span>Christians should rejoice when we hear about these crackdowns, because\u00a0<\/span>w<\/span>hen\u00a0<\/span>God opens\u00a0<\/span>the hearts of\u00a0<\/span>people<\/span>\u00a0in a particular country\u00a0<\/span>to the gospel, no government can shut<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>them<\/span>.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Representative Foley says that m<\/span>ore information on Christian persecution in the Maldives<\/span>\u00a0is available from Voice of the Martyrs Korea at\u00a0<\/span><\/span>www.vomkorea.com\/en\/country-profile\/maldives<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[vc_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”40537″ img_size=”full”][vc_custom_heading text=”A college in the Maldives which claims it played a Christian song by accident during a children\u2019s sports festival is now facing a police investigation.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:1.2em|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Noto%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal” …","protected":false},"author":659,"featured_media":40538,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[857,235,869,140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-russian-special","category-special-column","category-china-special","category-vomk-report"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"en","enabled_languages":["ko","en","zh","ru"],"languages":{"ko":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"zh":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"ru":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/659"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40542\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vomkorea.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}