The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is Sun Kim Hun, Cambodia's Deputy Minister of Cult and Religion. He gets the award for the following.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - Cambodia's government issued a directive preventing Christians from promoting their religion in public places, or using money or other means to persuade people to convert, officials said Tuesday.

"They can do any activity inside their institutions, but are not allowed to go door-to-door," said Sun Kim Hun, deputy minister of cult and religion.

He said the directive, dated June 26 but distributed Tuesday, follows similar proclamations in 1999 and 2003 and is a reminder to Christian groups not to break the law. The directive did not mention other religions.

There were fewer than 70,000 Christians and about 170 churches in Cambodia in 2006, according to government figures. Cambodia's nearly 14 million people are more than 90 percent Buddhist.

Cambodian Buddhists generally tolerate other religions, but last year about 300 Buddhist villagers razed a partially built Christian church near Phnom Penh.

Also last year, a group of Christian worshippers was caught distributing sweets to young people in the countryside while trying to convert them, Sun Kim Hun said. Such activities are illegal.

For a country not far removed from the Killing Fields, there is a surprising amount of intolerance in Cambodia. Click here to see another Knucklehead winner.

Christians have rights in Cambodia just like anyone else. For not respecting and protecting the rights of his fellow countrymen, Sun Kim Hun is today's Knucklehead of the Day.

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