Christian Freedom International (CFI), a Michigan-based group assisting reportedly persecuted Christians around the world, said coach Jerry Marszalek was released from his job at Fordson High School in the city of Dearborn, amid complaints that his former assistant, Trey Hancock, misused his position on the wrestling team to convert Muslims.
Hancock, who is also an evangelical pastor, has denied the charges saying he never preached the Gospel while coaching. He admitted to have baptized a Muslim student from Dearborn in 2005, but said that this activity was not performed during school hours, CFI stressed in remarks seen by BosNewsLife Thursday, June 5.
After the 2005 baptism, wrestling coach Marszalek was pressured by the school’s Muslim principal, identified as Imad Fadlallah, to keep his controversial former assistant away from all wrestling practices and events, CFI said. That was apparently difficult to realize as Hancock’s son Paul was a member of the team.
MANY MUSLIMS
The Fordson High School, where over 80 percent of students are apparently Muslims of Arab descent, made the decision "to release him from his job," CFI said. "The announcement was praised by hundreds of Muslim parents, students and religious leaders, who attended a school board meeting in unanimous support of the decision." School officials had no immediate reaction.
CFI said the "disturbing incident of persecution in its own backyard" reflects "a growing hostility towards Christianity throughout the country, and not just among members of the growing Muslim population." The group said that in recent years, "Christian persecution has taken on a variety of forms in the United States-from a rising intolerance for proselytizing to the eradication of nearly all historical Christian references in public school textbooks."
Yet, CFI admitted that "the magnitude of persecution in the US is hardly comparable with that typically experienced in countries such as China, Burma, and Sudan-where persecution is so severe that thousands of believers are often martyred for their faith." However it said that the “anti-Christian perception in American schools, media, and mainstream society is proving to be a cause for concern for Christians in the United States."
It cited a report by the American Psychiatric Association as saying that Michigan is now home to the second largest Muslim community outside of the Middle East. Islam is also the fastest-growing religion in the US. In 2005, the Islamic Center of America constructed a $14 million, gold-domed mosque in Dearborn, making the 70,000 square-foot facility the spiritual home for thousands of Detroit’s Muslim residents and the largest mosque in the United States, CFI said.
