Libya (MNN) — With Libya united to topple Muammar Gaddafi,
the question upon his death is: Whose revolution was it?
There were multiple heavily-armed militias fighting together
to remove the regime, and now that the smoke is clearing, they've laid claim on
a territory and cause.
Carl Moeller with Open Doors says there is reason to be
concerned. "There are indications that many of the elements of the
revolution to overthrow him were funded, fueled, and inspired by extremists. The
question is: 'Is the new transition that we receive going to do any better for
religious liberty, Christians, and basic democracy than what we had before?'"
It sounds like a very similar situation to what happened in
Egypt upon the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. The power vacuum left behind is being filled
by the most organized group: the Muslim Brotherhood. For Libya, "I think there's also a lot
of concern for those of us who look at some of the composition of the
revolution and don't see any recognizable democracy forces in there, that this
could be a more difficult situation for
human rights."
Will the removal of a despot mean opportunity for religious
freedom? Not necessarily. Moeller says among the victorious rebel
groups are those who had the support of Al Qaeda. There is a transitional government in place;
however, "what remains to be seen
is how this will impact Christians and other religious minorities in Libya in
the months to come," explains Moeller.
Even though a transitional government is in place, and there
will be a new elections in eight months, "The only viable organized group
in Libya that presents itself [consists of] the mullahs and those that are leading the Islamic religious there."
There are many problems facing the new administration. Among
them are security and rule of law. Even
now, the militias are fighting over their territories–street fights mostly,
but over time, those could erupt into full-scale battles.
The insecurity of the future has many Libyans asking deeper
questions and looking for hope. As a
result, says Moeller, "The number of our Bible deliveries and Scripture
deliveries has been greater than in the previous whole nine years of work in that
area. So we see a tremendous upswing in the desire for people to have a copy
of God's Word and maybe hear the Good News message of Christ."
Libya ranks 25th on the Open Doors World Watch List–a
compilation of 50 countries where persecution of Christians is the worst. There is hope for change, reality for
growth. Whatever shape it takes,
Moeller says it's time to pray. "It's
something to say, 'Okay, Lord, we don't know what's going on here, but You do. We
earnestly desire Your will to be done in this situation.'"
