Textbooks in Pakistan Teach That Christians are ���Violent and Tyrannical By Nature���

An article over at Christian Today by Florence Taylor sheds light on a study sponsored by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a study that reveals public school textbooks in Pakistan assume a decidedly adversarial posture toward Christians.

The study, Teaching Intolerance in Pakistan: Religious Bias in Public School Textbooks, examined the school books and other elements of the curriculum, and found that Pakistani Christians are portrayed as ���colonial oppressors,��� among many other unfortunate characterizations.

According to the study, the textbooks teach that "Christians learned tolerance and kind-heartedness from Muslims,��� while Hindus, another minority religion in the country, are forced to learn about "Hindus' conspiracies towards Muslims.��� Pakistani Christians are seen as ���colonial oppressors��� by the textbooks, and are characterized as ���nefarious, violent, and tyrannical by nature."

In discussing the study, Robert George, chairman of the Commission, said, in part, that, ���Pakistan's public school textbooks contain deeply troubling content that portrays non-Muslim citizens as outsiders, unpatriotic, and inferior; are filled with errors; and present widely-disputed historical 'facts' as settled history."

The Christian Today article reports that the Commission has asked the U.S. State Department to designate Pakistan as a "country of particular concern" under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.

 By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large