August 26, 2002
Baptists forced to remove 30-foot cross in Myanmar
___WASHINGTON, D.C.--The cross, the most recognized symbol of the Christian faith, has become the heart of a dispute between the government of Myanmar and Baptists in the Chin state.
___Leaders in Matupi Baptist Association report that after a visit to the town by Major-General Ye Myint, chief of the country's Bureau of Special Operations and one of the highest-ranking members of Burma's ruling State Peace and Development Council, Chin Christians were pressured to destroy a symbolic 30-foot-tall cross that has been standing near the town since 1984 and was renovated in 2001.
___Residents of Matupi town had spent about $40,000 to construct the cross.
___Their work in relief and development also has been threatened unless the association dismantles the cross. Authorities have told them they will not authorize further operation of their humanitarian projects that include a water supply system.
___In a related incident, the local authority in Matupi has turned down the application made by 200 households to connect telephone lines to their homes. The authorities said permission would be granted only on the condition that the cross is dismantled. Each household has paid more than $120 in telephone fees.
___In a letter to the minister for foreign affairs, the general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance appealed for a reprieve. "This incident is of particular concern to Baptists around the world that the people in Chin state have been denied religious freedom," wrote Denton Lotz.
___"Recent events and the attempts to destroy this cross and to deny the church the ability to improve the town's water supply and the subsequent refusal to lay water pipes if the cross is not taken down is indeed a betrayal of the human rights of the people of the Chin state and the people of Myanmar," he protested.
___Lotz appealed to the government on behalf of Baptists around the world to "refrain from denying human rights and religious freedom to our Baptist brothers and sisters."
___The majority religion in Burma is Buddhist. Baptists, however, form the strongest Christian movement in the country, with more than 1 million Baptists in Myanmar.
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