RELIGION TODAY

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Religion Today Summaries - Sept. 30, 2008
Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk Editorial Staff

Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.
 
In today's edition:

    * 'Fireproof' Opens Fourth at Box Office
    * Land Joins Protest of Ahmadinejad Dinner
    * Flooding Hits Orissa; National Gov't May Take Control
    * Kenya: Islamists Attack Church in Northern Town

 


'Fireproof' Opens Fourth at Box Office

The latest edition from Sherwood Baptist Church's media arm, "Fireproof," took the no. 4 spot at the box office this weekend, despite opening in just 800 theaters nationwide. The Christian Post reports that the latest film from the makers of "Facing the Giants" had the second highest grossing opening weekend for a film released in under 1,000 theaters this year, garnering $6.5 million. Those figures belie the mere $500,000 budget that produced the film, which stars "Growing Pains" star Kirk Cameron. "Faith-based audiences have much clout at the Box Office," explained Media By Numbers. The film had been screened to Christian pastors and leaders throughout the summer, hoping to build support for the all-important opening weekend. The pro-marriage film tells the story of firefighter Caleb Holt, a firefighter who decides to give his failing marriage one more chance.

Land Joins Protest of Ahmadinejad Dinner

Southern Baptist ethicist Richard Land was among those who rallied to protest Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's dinner meeting with members of the World Council of Churches, the Baptist Press reports. Land and others said it amounted to legitimizing a dictator who supports terrorism and denies the Holocaust. "You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig. And you can call a murderous dictator 'His Excellency,' but he is still a murderous dictator," Land, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said at the rally. According to Religion News Service, Ahmadinejad dined with 300 religious and political leaders Thursday night (Sept. 26), but the event that drew condemnation and protest offered far less dialogue than advertised. Ahmadinejad was allowed to speak for 45-minutes, and allowed little room for conversation.

Flooding Hits Orissa; National Gov't May Take Control

ASSIST News Service reports that India's federal government has threatened to act on constitutional provisions to take over local government in Orissa and Karnataka in order to protect freedom of religion. The warning sets up a potential showdown between the federal and state governments over control of the two states, which are both led by Hindu nationalist parties. Radical Hindu leaders have made veiled threats against the central government should it make such a move. The move by India's federal government came last week just as another disaster began unfolding in the state. Monsoon rains triggered flooding, which killed at least 17 people and affected more than 2.4 million others. The floods, the worst in the state in more than 50 years, swept across roads and made travel between the state capital of Bhubaneswar and surrounding districts impossible.

Kenya: Islamists Attack Church in Northern Town

Compass Direct News reports that a longstanding effort to replace a church with a mosque in Kenya's northern town of Garissa culminated in an attack by 50 Muslim youths this month that left the worship building in ruins. The gang stormed the building of Redeemed Gospel Church on Sept. 14 and pelted the congregation with stones, sending many Christians fleeing while others became embroiled in fistfights. Church leaders said the Muslim mob also destroyed pews, damaged the church building's walls of corrugated iron, smashed the glass-mounted pulpit and burned the church banner with its stand. Government security intelligence had reported that Muslims planned to destroy the church if it continued to operate within the residential area. A missionary said that Muslims have distributed leaflets threatening to destroy all churches in Garissa. "It is quite unfair that the Redeemed Gospel Church has been displaced and is now praying under a tree in an open space with no amenities," he said.

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Christian Couple Killed, Houses Torched in Orissa
Vishal Arora


October 2, 2008

NEW DELHI (Compass Direct News) -- A Christian couple was found murdered, a woman killed, numerous houses and churches burned and low-intensity bombs exploded at relief camps in the past week in Orissa state's Kandhamal district, where Hindu extremist violence began more than a month ago.

On Sunday (Sept. 28 ), police found the body of Priyatamma Digal, an auxiliary nurse and midwife, in a river. On Monday, the body of her husband, Meghanath, was recovered. According to The Times of India newspaper, the Christian couple was killed last Thursday (Sept. 25).

On Sept. 30, morning attacks by unidentified armed groups in the villages of Rudangia, Telingia and Gadaguda in Kandhamal resulted in more than 100 houses burned and the death of Ramani Nayak of Rudangia village, reported The Hindu. Her religious affiliation was not known at press time.

Eight people were seriously injured in the attacks, according to reports, and about 20 people received minor injuries.

Bomb blasts Sept. 29 rocked three Kandhamal relief camps in the Nuagaon area, Mahasinghi village and Baliguda town, reported the Press Trust of India (PTI).

No casualties were reported, but the explosions left residents of the relief camps fearing for their lives.

"Since they have been successful in exploding bombs near the heavily guarded relief camp, there is no guarantee that the explosions will not take place in other camps," one refugee told PTI.

Axe Attack

The Times of India also reported that five houses were torched in Phirigia block in Kandhamal (Gochhapada police jurisdiction) on Sunday night. 

Last Thursday (Sept. 25), some 700 people armed with axes, swords, and iron bars attacked a Missionaries of Charity house in Sukananda village in Kandhamal, reported Asia News agency.

"There was no one at home, because when the violence erupted against the Christians, we took our few belongings and moved to our house in Bhubaneswar," Sister M. Suma told the agency. "We brought with us the tabernacle, the altar, and especially the Dalit and tribal girls whom we were sheltering."

Late on Wednesday (Sept. 24), mobs burned about 30 houses and two prayer houses in Simanjodi village and 50 houses in Batingia village, reported The Indian Express newspaper.

In Rakingia village, an Orissa Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) team that had gone to clear roadblocks was attacked, forcing the accompanying police to open fire, added the newspaper.

"Two tribal people have reportedly been killed," the daily reported. "Sources said tribals with bows and arrows launched an attack on the ODRAF."

According to the All India Christian Council (AICC), at least 57 people have been killed, more than 18,000 injured and over 4,300 houses, 150 churches and 13 educational institutions destroyed since the Aug. 24 outbreak of violence in Orissa. Two Christian women were also gang-raped.

The violence, which later spread to at least 14 districts of Orissa, has left more than 50,000 people homeless.

The attacks began following the killing of a leader of the Hindu extremist Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council or VHP), Laxmanananda Saraswati, and four of his disciples on Aug. 23 in Kandhamal district. Maoists have claimed responsibility for the assassination, but the VHP has persisted in blaming local Christians.

According to media reports, Christians in Orissa retaliated in at least one incident. A man was killed in Raikia Block after "Dalit Christians of Gundhari village hurled bombs at the tribal-dominated village of Sirsapanga in the afternoon [of Sept. 24)," The Indian Express reported. "Sources said the deceased, Raghav Digal, a Dalit Hindu, was a government employee."

'Withdraw Federal Forces'

The leader of an influential tribal group believed to be instigating violence in Kandhamal demanded withdrawal of federal security personnel from the district as a "precondition" to stopping the attacks.

On Sept. 29, Lambodar Kanhar, secretary of the Kandhamal Zilla Kui Samaj (Kui people group) Coordination Committee, was quoted by The Indian Express as saying that he was ready to give assurance that tribal people would not resort to violence if the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were taken out of the rural pockets of the district.

Kanhar accused the CRPF of having let loose "a reign of terror" on "innocent" tribal villagers.

The Global Council of Indian Christians' Dr. Sajan K. George said Kanhar's demand was an attempt to "complete 'ethnic-cleansing' of Christians." A representative of the Christian Legal Association said Hindu extremist assailants were upset that federal forces were trying to prevent them from attacking Christians and their property.

At the same time, European Union (EU) representatives yesterday spoke to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the India-EU summit in France about the government's failure to prevent a "massacre" of Christians in Orissa and Karnataka states.

According to the AICC, in the southern state of Karnataka at least 19 churches and 20 Christians have been attacked. At least four churches and four Christian schools had been vandalized in the north-central state of Madhya Pradesh, and four churches attacked in the southern state of Kerala. Two churches had also been damaged in the national capital, Delhi.

Singh yesterday made assurances that attacks on Christians would be stopped.

Christians from various denominations, along with people from other faiths, are holding a weeklong sit-in day and night at Jantar Mantar observatory in New Delhi that began on Friday (Sept. 26) to protest the lack of security. The demonstration demanding protection for minority targets in Orissa and other states will conclude with a motorbike rally today.

Christian leaders such as Dr. John Dayal, the Rev. Dr. Richard Howell, A.C. Michael and Jenis Francis are participating in the protest.
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CURE Celebrates 10th Anniversary with 10th Hospital
Ginny McCabe

October 3, 2008

In September, CURE International celebrated the 10th anniversary of its first hospital in Kenya. What better way to celebrate than by opening its 10th hospital, this one in Ethiopia?

Orthopedist and entrepreneur Dr. Scott Harrison, president and CEO of CURE International, founded CURE with his wife, Sally, in 1996 after several volunteer medical trips, during which he operated on children in developing African nations.

CURE International announced the 10-year anniversary of the AIC-CURE International Children's Hospital in Kijabe, Kenya on September 4, marking a decade of healing for the disabled children of Kenya. This first hospital that CURE opened was established in 1998 as Africa's first orthopedic/pediatric teaching hospital for physically disabled children.

"We are very excited and pleased to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of AIC-CURE," said Dale Brantner, CURE's senior vice president of spiritual ministries. "This hospital has grown to become one of the country's great medical and spiritual resources, attracting patients from all over Kenya and beyond."

In honor of its 10th anniversary, the hospital held a celebration event on September 5. Special guests in attendance included CURE co-founders, Dr. Scott and Sally Harrison; Kenya's Assistant Minister for Medical Services, Hon. Danson Mungatana; CURE donors and former patients of the hospital, among others.

Today, the hospital provides state-of-the-art care for children suffering from clubfoot, cleft lip and cleft palate, curvature of the spine and disabilities stemming from polio, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy and other congenital abnormalities. It also hosts Kenya's only certified orthopedic residency program for African doctors.

Since its opening, the hospital has performed more than 20,000 surgeries and treated more than 66,000 patients.

Brantner said that the hospital's spiritual impact on Kenya has been as important as the medical aspect. Along with medical care, patients and their families are also counseled spiritually by highly trained counselors.

Over the past 10 years, AIC-CURE's spiritual contributions to the country have been significant. Since 1998, the hospital's staff has presented the Gospel to more than 370,300 Kenyans. Almost 45,000 have made an expression of faith.

From its first hospital in Kijabe, CURE International has founded nine more hospitals in just 10 years, making CURE International the currently largest provider of specialty surgical care in the developing world.

To date, all of CURE's hospitals combined have seen 700,000 patients; performed 48,000 life-changing surgeries; given 1,100 children new smiles; healed 2,000 children of clubfoot; and provided 2,500 Afghan mothers with quality obstetrics/gynecology care

Harrison said he founded CURE because he wanted to change the lives of hurting children in developing countries. In doing so, he discovered that a cure not only changed their lives, but raised the overall healthcare standards in these countries. By building teaching hospitals in developing countries, the children can be treated for a fraction of the cost of transporting them back to the United States for the same treatment.

"We realized that in the developing world -- although it's difficult to find accurate statistics -- about 40 percent of the children have disabilities that are curable. In the United States, that number would be much smaller, because so many of our disabilities are associated with cerebral palsy, and we don't have treatment for that," Harrison said.

"In the third world, there are nutritional causes, infectious causes, and a whole series of things, which with modern, surgical techniques, we can make the children normal or nearly normal."

By opening hospitals in developing world countries, Harrison found that not only can more children be cured, but also local doctors and nurses can be trained in first-world technology and provide continuing, sustainable care for generations to come. Hence, teaching others remains a focus for each CURE hospital.

"We started with the idea that we would go to places where there would be a large number [of those children], and what we found was there are about 150 countries that would be true in. So, we started to look at other areas that were important, including our ability to be a Christian witness in those countries. That is an important part of what we've felt all along that we wanted to do," said Harrison.

In the midst of this 10th anniversary celebration for the Kijabe hospital, CURE opened its 10th teaching hospital, CURE Ethiopia Children's Hospital, in Addis Ababa on September 9. The opening of the new hospital coincided with the start of Ethiopia's New Year on September 11.This hospital is the country's only pediatric specialty surgical hospital delivering care to the country's disabled children.

"We are extremely pleased to add Ethiopia to the growing list of nations that have joined us in our mission to heal the 100 million disabled children in the developing world," said Harrison. "Our new hospital gives children and their families access to world-class specialty care regardless of their ability to pay, and offers them the hope that they will cured -- and cured completely -- of their physical disability."

Ethiopian President Girma Wolde-Giorgis expressed his appreciation for CURE's new hospital and said, "I am very grateful to CURE for this amazing facility and for all of the good it will do for the children of Ethiopia. It is a wonderful way for us to start the New Year with the opening of a new hospital that will bring hope to so many of our children and their families."

CURE Ethiopia has a dual focus on pediatric plastic reconstruction and pediatric orthopedics. It treats disabilities such as cleft lip and palate, clubfoot, burn contractures and other physical disabilities.

During the hospital's first year of operation, the CURE Ethiopia medical staff is expected to perform 1,000 surgeries and treat 7,000 outpatients. The facility features modern, up-to-date standards and equipment such as ECG machines, pulse oximetry, anesthetic gas monitoring and C-arm mobile X-ray units.

Additionally, Ethiopians are being trained in how to use and maintain the equipment. CURE Ethiopia will introduce advanced American diagnostic techniques utilizing ultrasound, enhanced X-ray and laboratory services that have been previously unavailable in Ethiopia.

CURE Ethiopia's medical director, Dr. Paul Lim, is one of the few United States-trained, board-certified plastic surgeons in the country. Another key staff member, executive director Adey Abate, has returned to Ethiopia to serve at the new hospital after many years abroad. She was born in Ethiopia, but immigrated to the United States, where she attended college and worked for many years.

According to Harrison, CURE International is much more than a medical/humanitarian charity. CURE is a ministry that meets the medical needs of children, offering hope and physical healing, while showing godly love. CURE has seen almost as many faith conversions as medical operations, which now number more than 48,000.

CURE has opened teaching hospitals or provided outreach treatment in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Honduras, Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Zambia and most recently in Ethiopia. The ministry plans to open three more hospitals in the next two years in Egypt, Niger and Palestine.
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Religion Today Summaries - Oct. 2, 2008

Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.
 
In today's edition:

    * U.K. Court Recognizes Threat to Christian Converts
    * China: House Church Raided, Hymnals and Cross Confiscated
    * Somali House Church Attacked for the Second Time
    * Bangladesh: Suspects Charged in Rape of Pastor's Daughter

 

U.K. Court Recognizes Threat to Christian Converts

According to the Christian Post, a U.K. immigration court of appeals delivered a "groundbreaking decision" that provides asylum for a young Christian couple who fled Syria after converting from Islam, recognizing the threat to Christians' lives for the first time. "This is a significant and groundbreaking decision that clearly puts the focus on the fact that many converts to Christianity from Islam face real danger including the ultimate penalty of death," said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of both the European Center for Law and Justice, which aided the couple, and its U.S.-based affiliate the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), in a statement. He added, "This important decision will not go unnoticed in the international arena and we're delighted that it provides protection for Christian converts who are at great risk because of their faith and their desire to share it." The couple's families and others have threatened to punish the couple's apostasy and "wash their shame" with death.

China: House Church Raided, Hymnals and Cross Confiscated

The Christian News Wire reports that about 20 Chinese plainclothes officials raided a house church in Shandong province Sept. 20, interrogating visiting Taiwan Pastor Liu, his wife, and another church member for more than two hours. Police ordered the church to disband after registering attendees' names, and released the three after questioning. The officials also confiscated property belonging to church members, including a collection box, large cross, 15 Bibles and 42 hymnals. Another church member had his hard drive taken and all of its contents copied by police. A week later, the church received "Notice of Hearing on Administrative Penalty" and "Notice of Administrative Penalty" from the District Bureau of Religion. The Christians were told that the official charge is "setting up a gathering site without approval."

Somali House Church Attacked for the Second Time

ASSIST News Service reports that a Muslim mob has once again attacked a house church in Tayeglow, a town 198 miles from Mogadishu, Somalia's capital. According to a human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC), dozens of Muslims, including children and women, demolished the church and attacked the Christians worshipping at the church with spears, machetes, sticks and stones. Two elders of the church suffered serious injuries as a result of the attack. ICC says the attack was probably in response to the conversion of the only son of a prominent Muslim religious leader in the district. This is the second time that Muslim extremists targeted the church for attack. In the first attack, which took place in 2007, a Muslim gunman opened fire on the Christians at the church and seriously wounded the pastor. That pastor has yet to fully recover.

Bangladesh: Suspects Charged in Rape of Pastor's Daughter

Compass Direct News reports that police have submitted a charge sheet to a district court accusing two persons of raping a pastor's daughter in the village of Laksmipur, said a state prosecutor. Sayed Tariqul Islam told Compass that police submitted the charge sheet on Sept. 7 based on an extensive investigation following a DNA test that turned out positive. Pastor Motilal Das, who has long received threats from villagers upset with his success as an evangelist, said that local residents gang-raped his 13-year-old daughter in an attempt to drive him from the area. State prosecutor Islam said Shakil Ahmed Shebul and Dulal Miah are charged with raping Elina Das at 3 a.m. on May 2. If convicted, they will receive life terms in prison, he said. Previously a medical college had submitted a false forensic test report indicating no evidence of sexual assault. It is believed relatives of the accused men paid off the Mymensingh Medical College Hospital Forensic Department to fabricate the false test results.

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Religion Today Summaries - Oct. 3, 2008
Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk Editorial Staff

Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.
 
In today's edition:

    * Two Christians Released in Iran
    * Pittsburgh Episcopalians Weigh Division
    * India Violence Spreads Despite Christian Protests
    * Analysis: America's 12 Religious Voting Blocs

 

Two Christians Released in Iran

Mission News Network reports that two Christian converts from Islam were released even as the draft apostasy bill remains in the parliament. "Both Mahmood Matin-Azad and Arash Basirat have been released from an Iranian prison, after they had met with a tribunal who had ruled that the charges against them were invalid," said Glenn Penner with Voice of the Martyrs Canada (VOMC). The two men were charged with "offense" to Islam and spreading lies - essentially, speaking against Islam. The release of the two men comes after international pressure from the EU to drop the apostasy bill. Penner says this is a time of spiritual openness in Iran. "The young people, in particular, are open to hearing the Gospel, and there is a real deep disillusionment with Islam at this point."

Pittsburgh Episcopalians Weigh Division

The New York Times reports that the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsbrugh is expected to vote Saturday in favor of leaving the national church, thereby becoming the second diocese in the United States to leave the American branch of the Anglican Communion. The diocese is expected to join the more conservative Anglican Province of the Southern Cone in South America. "No one goes to church to fight," said the Rev. Peter Frank, a spokesman for the diocese, whose conservative leader, Bishop Robert W. Duncan, was removed by the national church on Sept. 18 for pushing for secession. "It's going to be difficult. And, at the same time, there's hope in this. It's time to move on." Preliminary voting last year showed that as many as two-third of the diocese's parishes will vote to leave, but many groups are still intent on remaining with the national church. Disagreements on biblical authority and exclusivity surfaced years ago, but climaxed when the national church ordained an openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson, in 2003.

India Violence Spreads Despite Christian Protests

The Christian Post reports that in spite of multiple rallies and peace demonstrations, Christians in India remain at risk as violence continues to spread throughout Orissa and several other states. This week, a major "dharna" - an Indian method of seeking justice at the door of the debtor while fasting - has gathered participants from church leaders, ministries and Christian institutions. "I believe the Lord is going to use this event," said Gospel for Asia president Dr. K.P. Yohannan, "and I have instructed our leaders all over India to seek out other Christian leaders and meet with them and stand with them in this time of persecution." He added, "But sadly... even as the dharna is going on, the situation in Orissa continues to get worse. But little is being reported to the outside world now because the media is being kept out, even as entire villages are being destroyed."

Analysis: America's 12 Religious Voting Blocs

A new suvey shows that voters across the spectrum are far less concerned about moral issues than in years past, the Christian Post reports. Now, economy reigns as the top issue, according to the 2008 edition of the Twelve Tribes of American Politics by John Green of the Bliss Institute at University of Akron and Beliefnet.com. The survey found that the economy nearly doubled in importance since 2004, jumping from 32 percent to 61 percent, while only 13 percent of voters listed social issues as the most important voting issue this election, compared to 26 percent in 2004. According to the Christian Post, "the survey seeks to be more specific than normal political polls that mostly only divide voters into two groups -- the Religious Right and Everyone Else," thus dividing people into twelve religious categories. The "Religious Right" still tops the groups for concern about social issues, but even 42 percent of these voters rank economy as top priority, compared to just 13 percent in 2004.

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Kyrgyzstan to Review Restrictive New Religion Law - Part 1 of 2
Jeremy Reynalds

October 6, 2008

KYRGYZSTAN (ANS) -- Concerns are reviving among many of Kyrgyzstan's religious communities as a proposed revised Religion Law is set to reach the full Zhogorku Kenesh, the country's single-chamber Parliament, this month.

Kyrgyzstan is in central Asia, bounded north by Kazakhstan, east by China, west by Uzbekistan, and south by Tajikistan.

"The draft is due to be considered sometime in October, probably in the second half of the month," Kanybek Osmanaliev, the Chair of the State Agency for Religious Affairs, told Felix Corley of Forum 18 News Service.

He rejected claims that the new law is designed to make it more difficult for religious communities to gain legal status and for people to share their religious belief with others. However, leading parliamentary deputies have insisted that this is the intention of the new Law.

The text of the draft Law to be presented to Parliament has still not been completed. Forum 18 was unable to speak on two separate occasions to Rashid Tagaev, a parliamentary deputy of the ruling Ak Jol (Bright Path) party.

According to Forum 18, Tagaev has been among several Ak Jol deputies pushing for the adoption of a restrictive new Law. Almaz Mamashov, an aide to Tagaev, told Forum 18 that he was busy with the holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

However, Mamashov reported that deputies from Ak Jol still have to discuss the text. "Deputies haven't seen it yet," he told Forum 18 from Bishkek. He declined to explain what is likely to be in the draft when complete.

Osmanaliev told Forum 18 a new Law is urgently needed, claiming that deputies and society are in favor of tighter controls on religious activity. However, he stressed that the draft Law due for consideration in Parliament is an initiative of deputies, not the State Agency. Asked if his
office backs the draft, Forum 18 said he responded, "We have our own position, but I won't tell you what it is."

Religious communities in Kyrgyzstan told Forum 18 in September that the parliamentary committee had asked the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to provide an expert review of the draft to assess whether it is in line with Kyrgyzstan's OSCE commitments.

Osmanaliev told Forum 18 that he was not aware that the OSCE review of the draft had arrived. He said he was familiar with the OSCE / Venice Commission Guidelines for Review of Legislation Pertaining to Religion or Belief. He declined to say what the government would do with the OSCE review of the draft Law.

An official of the parliamentary press office told Forum 18 that the agenda for October is due to be drawn up by deputies at an upcoming session.

"There are many inadequacies in the current law," the official - who would not give his name - told Forum 18. "Religious organizations function freely without any control. This law will bring control."

Forum 18 said the draft Law - prepared by three deputies, Zainidin Kurmanov, Turdukan Jurmabekova and Ibrahim Junusov - was presented to Parliament's Committee on Constitutional Law, State Structure, Legality and Human Rights earlier this year. The Committee approved the draft on June 10.

Forum 18 said Kurmanov was quoted in the local media at the time as saying tighter control over registration of religious communities, foreign missionaries and religious education had to be introduced.

The draft also banned the import or distribution of religious literature, audio and video materials which had not been censored.

Forum 18 said that in late September, a closed meeting of the Ak Jol party discussed the draft Law ahead of its presentation to Parliament. Kurmanov was again quoted in the local media as declaring that registration requirements had to be tightened.

According to Forum 18, moves have long been underway to pass a more restrictive Religion Law. The Presidential Administration rejected a repressive Decree in February that would have restricted freedom of thought, conscience and belief. However, this did little to reduce concern among many of Kyrgyzstan's religious communities over plans for legal changes to restrict religious activity

In his written explanation of the "need" for a new Law - placed on the parliamentary website kenesh.kg before the draft went to the parliamentary committee in June - Forum 18 said Osmanaliev of the State Agency expressed concern about what he described as the "abnormality" of a rising number of people changing faith, especially young ethnic Kyrgyz joining Christian churches.

Forum 18 said he complained of "illegal" activity by "various destructive, totalitarian groups and reactionary sects,"among whom he included the Hare Krishna and Mormon communities. He also complained of "uncontrolled" building and opening of mosques, churches and other places of worship.

The text of the draft Law as presented to the parliamentary committee in June - the most recent text Forum 18 has seen - banned all unregistered religious activity.

It specified that leaders of unregistered religious activity should be punished, required 200 adult citizens to register a religious organization, banned religious communities from seeking converts, designated religious communities subject to a foreign leadership (like the Russian Orthodox and Catholic Churches) as foreign missions which require registration but have no legal status, and limited the places where religious literature could be distributed.

Broadly supporting plans to tighten the Law is Father Igor Dronov of the Russian Orthodox Church, who said he had seen the draft text several months ago.
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Kyrgyzstan to Review Restrictive New Religion Law - Part 2 of 2
Jeremy Reynalds

"The main thrust of the Law is positive," he told Forum 18. "The earlier Law was too liberal and led to the spiritual destruction of the country. Thank God the state is starting to act." He said his Church had presented its recommendations on the draft Law to the State Agency several months ago.

Asked how he believed the current Law is inadequate, Forum 18 said Dronov responded, "Destructive sects showing destructive tendencies are at work in Kyrgyzstan and the new Law will help to limit their activity."

Asked which "destructive sects" he had in mind, Forum 18 said he named the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Protestant Church of Jesus Christ.

A senior member of the Muslim Board, who asked not to be named, told Forum 18 that he had read earlier drafts of the Law.

"There must be a new Law," Forum 18 said he stated. "We are living now in a civilized state. Conditions were not stable when the Law was originally drawn up in 1991." Forum 18 said he declined to comment on reports that registration will be made more difficult and that controls on religious education and sharing one's faith will be tightened.

More concerned are members of other religious communities.

"The new Law is aimed at pressuring Protestant churches," one Bishkek-based Protestant told Forum 18. However, no members of other religious communities were prepared to voice their criticisms of the planned new Law on the record.

"Please don't quote any local believers - just quote what officials are saying," a member of a religious minority told Forum 18. "The situation is very delicate, and we don't want to make things worse."

Concerns among religious communities have been heightened by a parliamentary commission to investigate religious communities, set up in May under the chairmanship of Tagaev of the Ak Jol party. The 15-member commission - which included parliamentary deputies, representatives of
ministries and Osmanaliev of the State Agency - began its visits to individual communities in early autumn, Tagaev's aide Mamashov told Forum 18.

Osmanaliev told Forum 18 that smaller groups from the commission visited about 80 percent of the country's religious communities. He said the aim was merely to gain a full picture of the religious situation.

"Visits typically lasted about 15 minutes, though sometimes longer," one Protestant, who preferred not to be identified, told Forum 18. "They had two main questions: how many ethnic Kyrgyz we have and what activities do we have with children. These are the things that most
bothered them."

Other communities echoed these experiences, though one said the commission had telephoned to arrange a visit but had failed to arrive.

Tagaev's aide Mamashov denied that there was anything sinister about the visits. Asked about the questions on ethnicity and religious education, he told Forum 18, "Commission members are empowered to ask any questions they like. People also have the right not to answer them."

Fprum 18 said Osmanaliev denied that any questions were put about the ethnic affiliation of members of religious communities.

"This is false - we would not do this," he claimed. "We don't pay attention to this." He confirmed that questions about educational work were asked but insisted the questions were directed at checking that such institutions abide by the law, such as over fire regulations.

Osmanaliev said the main question was about whether a community was legally registered, insisting that under current law religious communities must register before they can function. "We found some that were unregistered, so we asked them to register," he told Forum 18, but refused to identify which faith they were from.

Asked about the Council of Churches Baptists, who refuse on principle to register any of their several dozen congregations in Kyrgyzstan, he claimed that such groups could be persuaded to register. Told that they point to international human rights obligations that guarantee their right to
worship freely without registration, Forum 18 said Osmanaliev insisted that registration has to remain mandatory.

"We have read the OSCE provisions and we will abide by them, but this is our national law."

Forum 18 said Osmanaliev defended the rights of parliamentary deputies to visit and question religious communities. "This is their prerogative."

In light of the commission visits, Tagaev told the local press in September that the religious situation in the country is "dangerous."

Forum 18 said he warned that far from becoming weaker, "various religious tendencies" (which he did not name) are getting stronger.

Cautiously hopeful is Natalya Ablova of the Bishkek-based Bureau on Human Rights and Rule of Law.

"Conditions for religious communities here in Kyrgyzstan are comparatively good - at least compared with other Central Asian states," she told Forum 18. "It is not Turkmenistan or Uzbekistan."

Forum 18 reported that Ablova said that threats of a restrictive new Religion Law have repeatedly emerged in recent years. "Deputies have again and again prepared draft Laws seriously narrowing the field of religious activity. But there have always been groups in society able to stop the worst thing happening."

According to Forum 18, this year has seen growing problems over burial of deceased non-Muslims in Kyrgyzstan, especially in rural areas. After the death of a 14-year-old boy in Naryn Region in May, the head of the local administration, the police and a village mob prevented his burial in the village cemetery.

Forum 18 said that in June the rector of Bishkek's Protestant United Theological Seminary, a New Zealander, was expelled from Kyrgyzstan for refusing to bow to demands from the National Security Service (NSS) secret police to show them confidential files on individual students. The NSS also complained that use of the buildings by two local Protestant congregations was "illegal."
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Religion Today Summaries - Oct. 6, 2008
Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk Editorial Staff

Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.
 
In today's edition:

    * Egypt: Court Gives Christian Boys to Muslim Father
    * Only Half of Europeans Trust Clergy
    * Galveston Residents Return to Ike's Mess
    * Thousands of Cali. Youth Encouraged to Defend Marriage

 

Egypt: Court Gives Christian Boys to Muslim Father

Following the Appeal Court of Alexandria on Sept. 24 granting custody of 13-year-old Christian twins to their Muslim father, their mother now lives with the fear that police will take away her children at any moment, Compass Direct News reports. Kamilia Gaballah has fought with her ex-husband Medhat Ramses Labib over alimony support and custody of sons Andrew and Mario in 40 different cases since he left her and converted to Islam so that he could remarry in 1999. The court ruled in favor of Labib in spite of Egyptian law's Article 20, which grants custody of children to their mothers until the age of 15, and a fatwa (religious ruling) from Egypt's most respected Islamic scholar, Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, giving her custody. "This decision was dangerous because it was not taken in accordance with Egyptian law but according to sharia [Islamic] law," said Naguib Gobraiel, Gaballah's lawyer and president of the Egyptian Union of Human Rights Organizations. "They want to stay with their mother," said Gobraiel. "They don't know anything about Islam and sharia. They are Christians and go to church on Sundays."

Only Half of Europeans Trust Clergy

ASSIST News Service reports that only slightly more than one in two Europeans (53 percent) trust members of the clergy highly. They range in tenth place on a list of 20 professions according to the survey "Reader's Digest European Trusted Brands 2008". A total of 25,000 persons in 15 countries were interviewed, as the magazine reported in Stuttgart, September 22. Firefighters are the most trustworthy profession in Europe (95 percent) followed by pilots (92) and pharmacists (89). Industrial union leaders (23), car salespersons (17) and politicians (7) range at the bottom of the scale. The survey, which shows similar results as in 2007, was conducted in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Finland, France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Rumania, Russia, Spain, Switzerland and the UK.

Galveston Residents Return to Ike's Mess

Baptist Press reports that residents of Galveston Island are finally able to return home almost three weeks after Hurricane Ike devastated the area, but cleanup is just beginning. Throughout the town, most residents have moved their water-soaked belongings out to the curb waiting for dump trucks to carry everything away, trying to salvage what they can. Members of First Baptist Church in Galveston already have ripped out the burgundy carpet in their 51-year-old sanctuary. They've stripped out the drywall in the fellowship hall where they teach classes for English as a second language. The church has begun to have services again. This Sunday they hope to start meeting in the chapel that was built in memory of 44 church members who lost their lives in the storm of 1900. "We've got a lot to do to get it back," said Ray Meador, the church's pastor of three years.

Thousands of Cali. Youth Encouraged to Defend Marriage

The Christian Post reports that the church-based movement against same-sex marriage in California continued Wednesday night with an event broadcast live to more than 160 churches in California, watched by still more over the Web. "The Fine Line" rally, hosted by the Rock Church in San Diego, focused on equipping youth and their parents on the issue as they mobilize for Proposition 8, providing a panel of experts to answer questions. Proposition 8 would amend the California constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman, effectively reversing the court's decision to allow homosexuals in the state to marry. The Post reports that Wednesday's event was the second of three planned simulcast events in support of Proposition 8. The last will air Sunday, Oct. 19.

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International Day of Prayer Remembers the Persecuted
Michael Ireland


October 7, 2008

(ANS) -- With the theme "Refined by Fire," Christians around the world are being asked to remember their brothers and sisters in Christ who are persecuted for their faith on the thirteenth annual International Day of Prayer to be held Nov.9.

According According to the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), more Christians were martyred in the twentieth century than all previous centuries combined, and this onslaught has continued unabated into the new century, according to some, with over 200 million Christians in 80 countries worldwide being persecuted because of their faith.

This November, large numbers of churches and individuals around the world will pray for persecuted believers on the thirteenth annual International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP), an initiative of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) Religious Liberty Commission supported by ministries such as Voice of Martyrs, Open Doors, and Gospel for Asia.

Set for November 9th, this might be the "biggest prayer group in the world," according to the Rev. Johan Candelin, the global IDOP coordinator from Finland. "More than 200 million Christians do not have full religious freedom today. The least we can do is the most we can d PRAY!"

"When the Lord's children go into the refining fire of persecution, they come out purer with deeper faith and greater strength, more Christ-focused and more unified," said the Rev. Candelin, who is also the Executive Director of the WEA's Religious Liberty Commission.

"Those who are being persecuted can therefore be encouraged to look with hope at how they are being sanctified. And those who pray for them can be reminded to place sanctification on a higher pedestal than prosperity."

Specific prayer requests concerning 36 nations and 46 national leaders plus other resources for targeted praying, are available from the global IDOP website (http://www.idop.org/). Those using mobile devices can access the materials at http://www.idop.mobi/. 

"IDOP is an important opportunity for the church around the world to stand in solidarity with brothers and sisters from across the globe, who are suffering as they seek to follow Christ," said Dr. Geoff Tunnicliffe, the International Director of WEA. "I urge all churches to participate in IDOP. It will be life-changing."

World Evangelical Alliance is made up of 128 national evangelical alliances located in 7 regions and 104 associate member organizations. The vision of WEA is to extend the Kingdom of God by making disciples of all nations and by Christ-centered transformation within society. WEA exists to foster Christian unity, to provide an identity, voice and platform for the 420 million evangelical Christians worldwide.
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Religion Today Summaries - Oct. 7, 2008
Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk Editorial Staff

Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.
 
In today's edition:

    * PC(USA) Minister Cleared in Gay Wedding Case
    * Three More Christians Murdered in Orissa
    * After Theological Split, a Clash Over Church Assets
    * Billy Graham Turns 90, Public Invited to Send Stories

 

 

PC(USA) Minister Cleared in Gay Wedding Case

Religion News Service reports that a Presbyterian Church (USA) court in Pittsburgh ruled Thursday (Oct. 2) that a minister did not violate Scripture or church law by wedding two lesbians because the ceremony was not a marriage under church or state law. The PC(USA) permits ministers to preside over same-sex unions as long as they are not purported to be marriages. The Rev. Janet Edwards of Pittsburgh did not perform a marriage when she wed a lesbian couple in 2005 because Pennsylvania and the PCUSA define marriage as heterosexual unions, ruled the Permanent Judicial Commission of the Pittsburgh Presbytery. "Whatever ceremony the accused presided over," the nine-member commission said in an unanimous ruling, "it was not, and could not have been, a marriage ceremony." The court also said that there is "no evidence" that Edwards presented herself as a Presbyterian minister when she performed the wedding.

Three More Christians Murdered in Orissa

Compass Direct News reports that at least two more Christians were killed Saturday in Orissa state's Kandhamal district after Hindu extremists this week set fire to nearly 400 homes there and in Boudh district. A third man succumbed to axe injuries on Wednesday (Oct. 1). Weeks after Hindu extremist violence erupted against Christians, this morning tribal peoples in Sindhipankha village killed Dushashan Majhi, a local influential Christian, first shooting him and them cutting him to pieces. The mob then turned on Sanyasi Majhi, also said to be Christian, who was with Dushashan Majhi. There were unconfirmed reports that a third victim was killed along with the other two. A local Christian who wished to remain unnamed told Compass that after killing the two men, the assailants massacred cattle belonging to village Christians and burned Christian-owned houses. At least one man died and 14 others were wounded in an attack on Hrudangia village Tuesday, and many remain hospitalized with axe wounds.

After Theological Split, a Clash Over Church Assets

The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh voted Saturday to leave the national church over issues of biblical authority and homosexuality, becoming the second U.S. diocese to leave. But some issues of separation of only beginning, the New York Times reported. Property in the diocese amounts to the millions of dollars, but each side has an opinion about who owns what. Joan Gunderson, who helped create the group Across the Aisle to fight secession, put it: "Their position is that the diocese left when they did. Our position is that the diocese didn't leave, individuals did." A clear majority voted out of the church Saturday, with 119 of 191 lay members voted in favor of leaving the national church, as did 121 of 160 clergy members. The issues leading to secession hovered just under the surface for the past 30 years, erupting when openly gay bishop Gene Robinson was ordained in 2003.

Billy Graham Turns 90, Public Invited to Send Stories

According to BGEA, Billy Graham has preached the Gospel inperson to nearly 215 million people at hundreds of events and countless millions more via television and radio. Now, all of the individuals, churches and ministries he has impacted have a unique opportunity to say something in return as the evangelist turns 90. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) announced it is collecting stories and birthday wishes for the evangelist, who turns 90 on November 7, 2008. All who have been personally touched by an aspect of Billy Graham's ministry are welcome and encouraged to visit www.billygraham90.com to share a greeting or a personal story about his ministry they feel would encourage Mr. Graham at this milestone. Submissions will be accepted until November 1.
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India: Democracy No Deterrent to Violence
All India Christian Council


October 8, 2008

NEW DELHI, INDIA (ANS) -- Despite the deployment of thousands of central and state law enforcement troops, the violence in Orissa continues to inflict daily casualties and massive damage to Christian properties.

The Rev. Madhu Chandra, All India Christian Council (aicc) Regional Secretary, said, "The death tolls are climbing, but less than a hundred are confirmed. Perhaps this is why the Orissa attacks haven't gained international attention the worst violation of the freedom of religion in any democracy in recent history. What most people don't realize is the goal of the attackers is to inspire fear.

"The attackers believe India is only for Hindus and their stated purpose is to convert people to Hinduism or force them to leave. To accomplish this, they only need to kill one or two people in each village or church. This is clearly terrorism and ethnic cleansing, but few Indian leaders are admitting it."

Most of the victims are Dalits, formerly known as untouchables, from a tribe called Pano.

Dr. Joseph D'souza, aicc president, said, "The events of the last month, not only the attacks but the negligence of government, would be sad if it happened in a dictatorship or a totalitarian regime. The fact that it is happening in the world's largest democracy makes it infinitely sadder."

Some police, mostly in rural areas, are neglecting their duties. For example, a Roman Catholic nun was raped amidst mob violence on Aug. 25, 2008, in Kanjemandi village between Raikia and Balliguda, Kandhamal District, Orissa. A medical examination of the nun conducted that night at the Balliguda Hospital confirmed rape. Both the victim and a priest, who tried to defend her and was severely beaten, tried to file cases in the Nuagaon police station.

Their "First Information Reports" (FIR) were rejected. Eventually, the same FIR was accepted at the Balliguda police station. But, in spite of numerous eye witnesses, police didn't investigate until 38 days after the attack and made four arrests yesterday.

India's Supreme Court said on Aug. 8, 2008 that any police officer who turns away a person without registering his or her complaint could face contempt of court charges and imprisonment (see "Cops understand only crack of whip, says Supreme Court" by Dhananjay Mahapatra, Times of India, Aug. 9, 2008 ). Justice B.N. Agrawal and Justice G.S. Singhvi instructed victims to appeal to their local chief judicial magistrate or the chief metropolitan magistrate. Ironically, the decision was scheduled for review on Aug. 25th, the same day as the attack on the nun.

"We demand that the officials in Orissa follow the law. We know multiple cases where Christians have tried to file cases with police after being attacked and the police turned them away. Police say they are overwhelmed and don't have time to file cases or investigate since they must focus on maintaining order. But surely they realize that, unless crimes are promptly punished, the perpetrators are indirectly encouraged to continue their crimes. Justice is being denied to hundreds of victims," said Chandra.

There has been no news about a second rape case. A young nun of the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar Roman Catholic diocese working at Jan Vikas Kendra, a social service centre near Nuagaon, was reportedly gang raped by mobs on Aug. 24, 2008.

Similar violence lasted about a week over Christmas 2007. Some are calling it "Christian-Hindu clashes" but media reports and aicc Orissa state leaders confirm that Christians are the overwhelming victims and are not instigating attacks. There are scattered reports of Christians firing guns in self-defense. The current violence is entering its seventh week since it began on Aug. 23, 2008 after the killing of a controversial swami by unknown assailants. Extremist groups blamed Christians for the murder.

The violence spread to at least ten other states and has affected hundreds of churches and thousands of Indian Christians. Wi thin Orissa, the violence spread to almost half of the districts, and then was contained to Kandhamal District. But now attacks are spreading again with incidents reported in Gajapati and Boudh districts in the last few days.

Other examples of recent violence include:

Sept. 26th - G. Udayagiri, Kandhamal District: A young Christian man named Rajesh Digal was on his way home from Chennai. While walking with his Hindu friend, they were attacked. The Hindu man was stabbed in the left side but escaped. Rajesh was buried alive.

Sept. 30th - Rudangia, Kandhamal District: About 60 houses of Christians were burned in the morning, and one Christian lady was shot and killed while seven others were injured.< /div>

Oct. 2nd - Sindhipakali, Kandhamal District: At 8 p.m., mobs attacked the village and set Christian houses on fire. They stabbed and killed a father and his teenage son in 9th standard (grade). Both were Dalit Christians.

The All India Christian Council (www.aiccindia.org), birthed in 1998, exists to protect and serve the Christian community, minorities, and the oppressed castes. The aicc is a coalition of thousands of Indian denominations, organizations, and lay leaders.
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Religion Today Summaries - Oct. 8, 2008
Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk Editorial Staff

Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.
 
In today's edition:

    * Vietnam: Christian Pastor Killed by Security Police
    * Philippines: Failed Peace Pact May Lead to More Violence
    * Iraqis Unite to Restore Minority Representation Law
    * Pittsburgh Bishop Ousted for Abuse Cover-Up

 

 

Vietnam: Christian Pastor Killed by Security Police

ASSIST News Service reports that a Christian minister called Mup, 47, was found beaten to death 100 meters from the entrance to his village. Mup was a preacher in his village of Ploi Rong Khong, in the Gia Lai province of Vietnam. According to an advocacy group for the Degar people of Vietnam, to which Mup belonged, Mup had been ordered by the Vietnamese security police three times to come to their headquarters in order to interrogate him about his religious activities. However, the release stated, because Mup had heard numerous reports of brutality by the Vietnamese officials against Degar Christians, he was afraid and didn't respond to the summons. The Montagnard Foundation notes that Mup was last seen on his way back to the village in the evening, when he was approached by Vietnamese officials. The news release added that the Vietnamese authorities also hate Degars because of their Christian faith, which officials continue to believe aligns the Degars to the U.S. and against their own government.

Philippines: Failed Peace Pact May Lead to More Violence

Compass Direct News reports that militant Islamists in the Philippine island of Mindanao have stepped up their attacks on majority-Christian villages following the failure of a peace agreement that would have enlarged an existing Muslim autonomous region there. With Muslim commanders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the southern Philippines yesterday saying ongoing support from the international community was necessary to prevent full-scale war breaking out in Mindanao, both Muslim and Christian residents in the disputed territories were fearful of what the future might hold. "The problem is that many people living in these areas don't want to be part of a Muslim autonomous region," a source in Mindanao who preferred to remain anonymous told Compass. "The closer you get to these zones, the more nervous people are."

Iraqis Unite to Restore Minority Representation Law

The New York Times reports that many Iraqi Christians are calling a recent change in election laws "the most significant political development for Christians since American troops overthrew Saddam Hussein in 2003." The Iraqi Parliament dropped a previous provision that reserved minority seats on councils, leading Christians and other minorities to feel they are being pushed from their own government. "We have a question mark at this point about why our government is rejecting us," said Thair al-Sheekh, a priest at Sacred Heart Church in Baghdad, who attended the late afternoon gathering. "I think it is the first time our government said that they don't want the Christians to stay here... This is what we understand from this decision." About 75 Christians and their supporters demonstrated Monday for the provision's reinstatement. Many blamed the low turnout on the fear of bombings or other violence.

Pittsburgh Bishop Ousted for Abuse Cover-Up

Religion News Service reports that the Episcopal Church has defrocked a Pennsylvania bishop for failing to disclose his brother's sexual abuse of a minor in the early 1970s. A nine-member panel of bishops, priests and laypeople has ruled that Charles E. Bennison, the bishop of Philadelphia since 1998, should no longer serve as a church clergyman. "Even today (Bennison) has not shown that he comprehends the nature, significance, and effect of his conduct and has not accepted responsibility and repented for his conduct," the panel said in documents released Friday describing the ruling they reached Tuesday. Bennison was found guilty last June of "conduct unbecoming a member of the clergy" for not reporting that his brother, John Bennison, sexually abused a teenage girl in his California parish for three years in the 1970s.

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India: Christians Consider Self-Defense Against Violence
Wolfgang Polzer


October 9, 2008

WETZLAR (ANS) -- Faced with continuing violence by Hindu extremists Christians in India are considering appropriate ways of self-defense.

Retaliation is, however, out of the question, as Rev. Pran R. Parichha, President of the Orissa Chapter of the All India Christian Council (AICC), explained to the German evangelical news agency "idea."

In the federal state of Orissa, where anti-Christian attacks continue, police and paramilitary security forces are not providing sufficient protection for the Christian minority, said Parichha during a visit to idea's main office in Wetzlar, October 6. Christians were living in constant fear.

In defiance of curfews militant Hindus are carrying out further attacks, according to Parichha. He recalls one incident in a village, where Christians had defended themselves and one person was killed. Any form of self-defense had to be considered very carefully, emphasized Parichha.

On the other hand, Christians were wondering how long they could run away from the Hindu attacks and give up their homes and their belongings.

According to the AICC 59 Christians in Orissa and two in Uttarakhand have been killed in attacks by Hindu extremists. Among the casualties are at least seven members of the clergy. In Orissa alone, 300 churches and 6,000 houses of Christians in 300 villages were attacked and destroyed, according to Parichha.

Approximately 50,000 Christians have been displaced; 24,000 are living in emergency camps. But even there they are not safe. Three bomb attacks have been carried out against camps, said Parichha.

Hindu extremists are trying to convert Christians to Hinduism by force. This is against Orissa's anti-conversion laws, said Parichha. Nonetheless, the state government had ordered police to "go slow" against Hindu violence.

Confronted with the apparent inability of the government to safeguard the lives of Christian citizens, the AICC is calling for an emergency measure. Under the so-called President's Rule Orissa would be governed directly by the India's President.

Orissa has 37 million citizens; three percent are Christians. India as a whole has 1.1 billion inhabitants. Of these, 82 percent are Hindus, 12 percent Muslims and three percent Christians.

The recent unrest started in Orissa after the assassination of the Hindu nationalist leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, August 23. Although an extremist Maoist group has taken responsibility for the murder, Hindu militants are still blaming Christians. Saraswati, local leader of the radical Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), masterminded anti-Christian attacks for the last 40 years, said Parichha.

The violence against Christian minorities has spread from Orissa to other Indian states such as Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh. Parichha called on Christians around the globe to pray for God's intervention. They should also ask their respective governments to urge the Indian government to safeguard human rights and religious freedom.

Christian in India were seeking dialog with the government, political parties, civil and human rights groups as well as tribal Hindu leaders. The displaced Christians needed more than material help like clothes, food and medicine; they also needed spiritual counseling.

Their future is completely uncertain, according to Parichha. After a bout of Hindu violence last Christmas, they had just rebuilt their houses, when the new attacks began. They were asking themselves, how long they could run away without defending themselves.

Parichha is also the founder and director of the India Evangelistic Association and a partner of the Swiss-German ministry Inter-Mission.
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USCIRF Hearing: What Next for Sudan?
Elizabeth Wood


October 10, 2008

WASHINGTON (BP) -- What Richard Williamson saw on the streets of a Sudanese village made even the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and Kosovo of the early 1990s seem tame. He saw churches burned to the ground, marketplaces in ruins and clothes scattered in every direction.

"I even saw, symbolically and tragically, a child's bicycle that had been contorted nearly out of recognition ...," Williamson said in testimony prepared for a Capitol Hill hearing titled "Sudan's Unraveling Peace and the Challenge to U.S. Policy."

Williamson, U.S. special envoy to Sudan, was part of a panel that included Earl Gast, deputy assistant administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development, and John Prendergast, co-chair of the ENOUGH Project, an arm of the Center for American Progress focusing on strife in Sudan and other African nations.

The panel examined U.S. options in encouraging the implementation of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between northern and southern Sudan. The hearing, at the Rayburn House Office Building, was sponsored by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

Sudan is one of eight "countries of particular concern" named by the U.S. State Department for violations of religious freedom. The conflict between northern and southern Sudan mainly has stemmed from religious differences. Forces backed by Sudan's Khartoum government killed many Christians, animists and moderate Muslims in the central and southern parts of the country. The current conflict in Darfur, which is in western Sudan, is based primarily on ethnic differences between the Arab Muslims and African Muslims, with an estimated 400,000 people having been killed died.

USCIRF chair Felice Gaer said in materials prepared for the Sept. 24 hearing that Sudan has been monitored by the commission for 10 years, and members of the commission are worried the 2005 CPA is in jeopardy due "mostly to the intransigence and duplicity of [Sudanese] President Omar al Bashir," Gaer said.

"American diplomacy played a crucial role in bringing about the CPA, which ended the last longstanding civil war," Gaer said. "During the conflict, religion was used as a means of inflaming and mobilizing Sudanese against their fellow citizens, and the Commission called Sudan the world's most-violent abuser of religious freedom."

Among the CPA's purposes, Gaer said, are to regulate the Khartoum government by providing government elections, sharing oil wealth and respecting human rights, such as freedom of religion.

"The CPA is the key to Sudan's viability as a country," Gaer said. "If the CPA fails, then Sudan will fail."

Williamson said a combination of religious, racial and ethnic issues divides northern and southern Sudan and Darfur.

"But I would argue ... that most mass killing and genocide of the last 100 years have not been driven by ethnic groups' hatreds, but by powerful men and women in power willing to do desperate things to stay in power, to feed those divisions that exist, to inflame hatred and to manipulate in a way that causes mass misery and murder," Williamson said.

Williamson said a Sudanese election is scheduled to take place in 2009, along with a referendum on unification between north and south Sudan in 2011. But first the government must conduct a census.

The census has been delayed because two important questions about ethnicity and religion were omitted from the questionnaire.

"The election is endangered because the census is not done," Williamson said. "It's endangered because the necessary elements for a free and fair election do not exist, whether it's media intimidation, religious intimidation, intimidation for the right of assembly, not to mention the great challenge of Darfur ...," Williamson added.

Ultimately, Williamson said, his concern is the danger of not having the election in 2009, thus threatening the referendum, which is the "final and most important plank of the CPA," Williamson said.

The Sudanese government election is not USCIRF's only concern. The commission also is questioning oil control in Sudan and its effect on countries throughout the world. China, one of Sudan's largest oil trading partners, has not put forth much of an effort to help end the crisis in Sudan.

Rep. James McGovern, D.-Mass., said in written testimony prepared for the hearing there is a need to place extra pressure on China to work with the United States in a more constructive way.

"It's frustrating," McGovern said, "that we talk about genocide and we talk about the need for ending the violence in Sudan and here we are and the genocide continues."

Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and a member of USCIRF, was unavailable for the hearing. He agrees that China can help create peace in Sudan. If China would agree to place economic and financial pressures on Sudan, this would help change the way the Sudanese government treats its people, Land said.

"I think the U.S. government should place economic pressure on the Chinese government," Land told Baptist Press. "The Chinese want Sudanese oil, and since they provide [Sudanese] economic lifeline to the Sudanese government, this in turn helps to facilitate Sudan's genocidal activity."

In 2006, the Southern Baptist Convention approved a resolution concerning the conflict in Darfur, commending President Bush and the U.S. government for pursuing an end to the "humanitarian crisis" in the region. The resolution also urged the government of Sudan to disband the government-related militias in Darfur.

In 2000 and 2001, the SBC approved resolutions concerning religious persecution and genocide in Sudan. Both resolutions called for the Bush administration and Congress to urge the Sudanese government to stop the "atrocities" and "violations" of religious freedom.

At the conclusion of the hearing, Prendergast addressed the importance of working closely with the next administration on implementing the CPA and negotiating a peace deal in Darfur.

"I think many of us that have testified today really look forward to the opportunity, depending on whose candidate wins, to get that chance to do this, because this is a solvable crisis," Prendergast said. "There is a global constituency for a solution in Sudan."
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Religion Today Summaries - Oct. 9, 2008
Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk Editorial Staff

Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.
 
In today's edition:

    * Three Iraqi Christians Killed in 24 Hours
    * Church Leaders Pave Way for World's Largest Reformed Body
    * Atheists File Suit over National Day of Prayer
    * Harvest Event Draws 45,000 in Philadelphia

 


Three Iraqi Christians Killed in 24 Hours

Three Christians in the northern city of Mosul, Iraq were killed within 24 hours of each other on Tuesday, the Christian Post reported. Gunmen killed a father and adult son at their workplace in one district while attackers killed a Christian pharmacy assistant in another, according to Aswat al-Iraq news agency. None of the gunmen have been apprehended. The murders are the lastest violence Iraqi Christians have suffered in the increasing violence since 2003, contributing to the drastic drop in Iraq's Christians presence from 1.4 million before the war to less than half a million today. According to the Christian Post, the indigenous Assyrian Christians of Mosul are often "denied their most basic human rights and are the target of incessant attacks."

Church Leaders Pave Way for World's Largest Reformed Body

The Christian Post reports that the world's two largest Reformed church bodies began meetings this week to finalize a draft constitution that will merge the two entities. The merger of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) and the Reformed Ecumenical Council (REC) into a single World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) will represent 80 million Reformed Christians worldwide. "When the two organizations dare to journey together in God's mission, our member churches will be served better and, in fact, our witness as Reformed churches will be stronger," stated Nyomi when the REC initiated the invitation to merge in July 2005 after 7 years of bilateral talks. The groups hope the merger will open the door to joint projects and joint staffing, cutting costs while fostering unity.

Atheists File Suit over National Day of Prayer

A Wisconsin-based group of atheists and agnostics has filed suit against President Bush over the federal law designating a National Day of Prayer, Religion News Service reports. The Freedom From Religion Foundation, which urges a strict separation of church and state, also names White House Press Secretary Dana Perino, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, and National Day of Prayer Task Force Chairwoman Shirley Dobson in the lawsuit filed Friday (Oct. 3). "The point is to stop the National Day of Prayer," said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the foundation, in an interview Monday. The law, created in 1952 by Congress and signed by President Harry Truman, establishes an annual prayer day. In 1988, President Reagan amended the law, permanently setting the day as the first Thursday of May. "We hope to buttress the wall of separation of church and state," Gaylor said.

Harvest Event Draws 45,000 in Philadelphia

ASSIST News Service reports that Harvest with Southern California Pastor and Evangelist Greg Laurie in Philadelphia last weekend drew 45,000 people. According to a news release, more than 3,300 people made a profession of faith in Christ during the event. The news release stated that more than a year in the making, the Greater Philadelphia Harvest was hosted by 390 local churches from a variety of denominations extending from Pennsylvania to New Jersey to Delaware. About 4,000 volunteers from the hosting churches served as ushers and follow-up workers throughout the weekend. Each night of the Greater Philadelphia Harvest featured a message from Laurie, and music from top name Christian artists including MercyMe, TobyMac, Leeland, Kutless, the Katinas, and Jeremy Camp.
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