Home
/
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
/
Turkey imprisons American pastor for ‘terrorism’
Turkey imprisons American pastor for ‘terrorism’
Jul 12, 2025 5:13 AM

A pastor and North Carolina native is being held in Turkey on unsubstantiated charges of terrorism related activity.

After more than 20 years of serving as an evangelical missionary in Turkey, Andrew Brunson, 48, thought he was being summoned to receive a long-awaited permanent residence card. Instead, Brunson was notified that he was being deported based on being a “threat to national security.” He was held for 63 days while being denied access to an attorney—and even denied access to a Bible.

Brunson was then taken to a counter-terrorism center in Izmir and then taken to court, where he was accused of having ties to an American-based cleric, Fetullah Gulen, who is being blamed for a July coup attempt.

According to the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), an organization that is representing Brunson’s family, the Turkish court had the option to deport Pastor Brunson, release him with the condition that he sign-in with local authorities weekly, or imprison him. The judge decided to keep him in prison.

“The government of Turkey—led by an Islamic party—has begun increased crackdowns on Christians,” said Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the ACLJ, “and Pastor Andrew, if convicted, may face years in prison based on extremely serious—and false—charges. We are launching a global campaign to call attention to his plight demanding that Turkey— a NATO member—release Pastor Andrew without delay.”

There is a petition that you can sign, and menting on this situation on social media you can include the hashtags #freeAndrewBrunson and #SaveBrunson.

Comments
Welcome to mreligion comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
Servility, Vanity, and Lack of Conviction: Welcome to College
In 1967, the University of Chicago released the Kalven Report, which in tumultuous times sought to articulate the core mission of the university: to generate and disseminate knowledge. The Report needs to be revisited. Read More… Why the gnashing of teeth over the recent Supreme Court decision on affirmative action? Why have some schools responded by eliminating legacy admissions? What does the controversy tell us about how we understand the university itself? Others have observed that affirmative action debates almost...
The Gen Z Marriage Paradox
Those in Gen Z appear to have grasped that the collapse of marriage and raising children in single-parent households have had terrible social and personal consequences. So why aren’t they acting like it? Read More… Marriage—an institution as old as time—is increasingly under threat. The marriage rate has fallen 60% since 1970, and the number of children living in working-class, married-parent families fell from 85% to 55% in the same time frame. Two-thirds of Americans believe that two unmarried, cohabitating...
Gen Z at Work: Its Superpower Isn’t What You Think
Spoiler alert: It’s not TikTok. Read More… My professional career was born into a world of remote work. In the summer of 2021, I kicked off my first “real” internship at a pany in Washington D.C.—and never once stepped foot in the office. There was no water cooler, office banter, or real “face time” with coworkers. In fact, my first corporate interactions, for better or worse, were all through the unforgiving, unfulfilling medium of Zoom. I’ve been blessed with perhaps...
The Firemen’s Ball: When Comedy Made Ideology Cringe
es a time when speaking sensibly about politics es impossible. Enter the clowns. Read More… Miloš Forman was an incredibly famous director in the 1980s, when his Amadeus (1984) won eight Oscars out of 11 nominations, and Ragtime (1981) also received eight nominations, period pieces about music’s potential for social transformation, ing prejudices or conventions, and making a new world. Similarly, in the 1970s he made very well-regarded pro-counterculture and antiwar movies like Taking Off (1971) and the musical Hair...
David Brooks Is onto Something. Christians Take Note.
A recent New York Times op-ed took to task the “elites” who thumb their noses at Trump supporters. Maybe if the smart set listened more and harangued less they’d better understand why so many of their fellow citizens vote the way they do. Read More… It has taken some time but there are signs that the cultural elites, members of what has been called America’s “ruling class,” have started to engage in some long overdue self-examination as it relates to...
The Habsburg Way and Ours
A new book by the archduke of Austria offers insights into what contributed to his illustrious ancestors’ success in ruling a multiethnic empire. But could any of it be relevant to 21st-century America? Read More… Lord Acton believed that “the only real political noblesse on the Continent is the Austrian.” In The Habsburg Way, Eduard Habsburg, archduke of Austria and Hungarian ambassador to the Holy See and the Sovereign Order of Malta, has written a charming and insightful book. Despite...
When a Judge Is Forced Off the Bench
Attempts to remove Judge Pauline Newman, a brilliant jurist but a thorn in the sides of her colleagues, are both unconstitutional and deeply unfair. The consequences if successful will prove devastating not only to her legacy but also to due process itself. Read More… “Bury the lead!” is certainly unusual editorial advice but possibly the only good strategy for an essay on the vagaries of the federal court system. You never want your readers to know that they might find...
Threats to Religious Freedom in Australia
Recent legislation and several troubling incidents have challenged freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and even property rights in Australia. Many traditional Christians are extremely concerned about their status within an otherwise tolerant nation. What’s next? Read More… Australia is a liberal democracy monly celebrated as a model of multiculturalism. Its legal framework could be described as a Westminster appropriation of American republicanism. Section 116 of the Australian constitution states: “The Commonwealth [federal government] shall not make any law for...
Tyranny, Inc. and the Future of American Labor
Do American workers find high-tech working conditions increasingly oppressive and intrusive? Are they finding it more difficult even to earn a living wage than workers did, say, 70 years ago? Compact editor Sohrab Ahmari’s new book examines what’s ailing American labor. But is the solution worse than the problem? Read More… Tyranny, Inc. is the best book yet published by a writer associated with the “postliberal” movement. Ahmari’s argument is focused and topical, he offers spirited critiques without ranting, and...
The Rise, Fall, and Rise of Faith-Based Poverty Work
As this eight-part series on the passionate conservative” es to a close, there is hope, despite the failures of centralized programs of the past. In cities and towns across America, people of faith, privately and quietly, are still making a difference in individual lives. Read More… Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) summarized what happened to George W. Bush’s 2001 anti-poverty “faith-based” initiative this way: It started out “with a certain merit, and you hope to God, literally, that you’re doing the...
Related Classification
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.mreligion.com All Rights Reserved