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Said Musa in Afghanistan has been released from death row - 8 years ago he became a Christian and was an aid worker for the Red Cross.  Now government minister Bhatti has been shot.  I am grateful that ISNA (Islamic Association of North America) has taken a strong stand against what happened and condemned it.  I am grateful for my Muslim cousins that have spoken out against it.  Christians are becoming targets in this war on terror in Iraq, Egypt - and all over the world by Muslim Extremist.  Do not confuse all Muslims with this - many of them are speaking out against what is happening.  Groups like Al Qaeda are doing all they can to put a wedge between us. 

Until there is freedom of religion - there are no human rights.  Human rights are based up justice and truth.  Each man has to own his own mind and build his life upon the authority that he believes is true.  If a man or woman cannot do that - they are the worst slave of all - they don’t even have possession of their own mind. 

Any religion that has to force, murder, vilify another religion to stay in control is no religion at all.  You can read Chapter 9 Making Space for Everyone in my book “Realtime Connections,” it goes into detail on what I believe about the crucial nature of religious freedom - what I like to call freedom of thought or freedom of life authority. 

I know this - as a Christian - I cannot stop extremist Muslims from attacking other Christians.  I ask my Muslim friends to do all you can to help us globally - we need you.  You are our only hope to stemming this.  Use your voice, your relationships, your influence to stop it.  I’ve met Imams the past few years and Islamic scholars that believe in freedom of religion - to the point of the freedom to change religions.  May your voices be heard loudly.  I will and have fought for your religious rights where you are the minority - please fight for mine - where I am the minority. 

Article and INFO from BBC
Pakistan Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti shot dead

Watch: Shahbaz Bhatti predicted his death as he defended his faith four months ago
Continue reading the main story
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Pakistani Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti has been shot dead by gunmen who ambushed his car in broad daylight in the capital, Islamabad.

He was travelling to work through a residential district when his vehicle was sprayed with bullets, police said.

Mr Bhatti, the cabinet’s only Christian minister, had received death threats for urging reform to blasphemy laws.

In January, Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, who had also opposed the law, was shot dead by one of his bodyguards.

The blasphemy law carries a death sentence for anyone who insults Islam. Critics say it has been used to persecute minority faiths.

No security escort
Mr Bhatti, 42, a leader of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), had just left his mother’s home in a suburb of the capital when several gunmen surrounded his vehicle and riddled it with bullets, say witnesses.

Continue reading the main story
At the scene

Orla Guerin
BBC News, Islamabad
In the streets where Shahbaz Bhatti was shot dead, the gunmen left their mark. We found bullet holes gouged into the walls. The gunmen had been lying in wait close to the home of Mr Bhatti’s mother.

The minister made an easy target, according to a neighbour at the scene, who didn’t want to be named. He told us Mr Bhatti was alone, away from his driver, when the gunmen struck.

“The minister had only one car. There was no security, no police at that time. After the incident happened, the police came,” he said.

Senior police officials said Mr Bhatti had been assigned police and paramilitary troops, but had asked them not to travel with him at the time.

In recent weeks Mr Bhatti had been concerned about security. One of his friends said the minister had asked repeatedly for a bullet-proof car. In late January, Mr Bhatti said to me: “I am telling you I have no extra security. It is the same security I was given when I became a minister.”

The minister’s driver was spared.

Mr Bhatti was taken to the nearby Shifa hospital, but was dead on arrival.

The gunmen, who were wearing shawls, escaped in a white Suzuki car, according to witnesses.

The minister had not been accompanied by his guards or the security escort vehicle that is standard for all Pakistani ministers, and it is not clear why.

Pamphlets by al-Qaeda and Tehrik-i-Taliban Punjab, a branch of the Taliban in Pakistan’s most populous province, were found at the scene.

Tehrik-i-Taliban told BBC Urdu they carried out the attack.

“This man was a known blasphemer of the Prophet [Muhammad],” said the group’s deputy spokesman, Ahsanullah Ahsan.

“We will continue to target all those who speak against the law which punishes those who insult the prophet. Their fate will be the same.”

Vendettas
Security has been stepped up on all main roads in Islamabad.

In January, Mr Bhatti told the BBC he would defy death threats he had received from Islamist militants for his efforts to reform the blasphemy law.

Watch: Pakistan High Commissioner to UK: “The people of Pakistan will not surrender”
A government spokesman condemned the assassination.

“This is a concerted campaign to slaughter every liberal, progressive and humanist voice in Pakistan,” Farahnaz Ispahani, an aide to President Asif Ali Zardari, told AP news agency.

The Vatican condemned the murder of the Catholic politician as “unspeakable”.

Governor Taseer was shot dead on 4 January, also in Islamabad, by one of his own police bodyguards. The killer has been feted by many in the country as a hero.

The governor had backed a private member’s bill in parliament by Sherry Rehman, a female MP, to amend the blasphemy law in an attempt to make miscarriages of justice less likely and remove its death penalty.

But in the face of strident popular opposition, the federal government said it would not support the proposed reforms.

Ms Rehman said last month she was receiving death threats every half hour by e-mail and telephone.

Christians, who make up an estimated 1.5% of Pakistan’s 185 million population, were left reeling by Mr Bhatti’s death.

“We have been orphaned today!” Rehman Masih, a Christian resident of Islamabad, told AP news agency. “Now who will fight for our rights?”

Pakistan’s blasphemy law has been in the spotlight since a Christian, Asia Bibi, was sentenced to hang in Punjab last November.

She denies claims she insulted the Prophet Muhammad during a row with Muslim women villagers about sharing water.

Although no-one convicted under the law has been executed, more than 30 accused have been killed by lynch mobs.

Critics say that convictions under the law hinge on witness testimony, which is often linked to grudges.