Christian Persecution Around the World

[Soldier4Christ]

Moeller anticipates increased Christian persecution in '08

Carl Moeller, the president of Open Doors USA, says 2008 could see an increase in persecution against Christians worldwide.

While persecution against Christians increased dramatically last year in countries such as India, Pakistan, and Indonesia, Dr. Moeller expects the new year to see more instances of Christian persecution. The Open Doors leader says recent events show that hostility against Christians is on the rise worldwide.

"[The year] 2007 was probably the worst year on record for the growth of persecution worldwide," he shares. "But now as 2008 has started, it's very evident that as bad as 2007 was, 2008 is proving to be even more unstable in many, many parts of the world." He cites the current situation in Kenya, as well as the recent assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister of Pakistan -- which Moeller says has resulted not only in political instability there, but also the possibility of even greater persecution of the Christian community in Pakistan.

For now, Moeller says North Korea is the worst country when it comes to persecution against Christians. However, he says persecution has increased dramatically against believers in India and Indonesia. It is time, he says, for Christians in free nations to take action.

"We need to pray that 2008 will be a year that Christians around the world wake up and take action on behalf of those Christians in those places where this violence is taking place -- to stand with them and to help alleviate their suffering and [to] encourage them," the ministry leader urges.

Moeller says Christians in free nations can write embassies and government officials of countries where persecution is commonplace.

[Shammu]

Worst Christian Persecution Expected in Saudi Arabia, N. Korea
By
Ethan Cole
Christian Post Reporter
Tue, Jan. 08 2008 08:23 AM ET

Islamic Saudi Arabia and communist North Korea are expected to be the world’s worst persecutors of Christians in 2008, a church persecution advocacy group predicted.

In both countries, Christianity is illegal and practice of the religion is strictly forbidden and results in severe punishments.

“In 2008 millions of Christians will face persecution,” said Andy Dipper, CEO of U.K.-based Release International, which released the survey of Christian persecution in the new year.

“They’re our family. If it was your husband, wife, daughter or son behind bars you’d move heaven and earth to help them,” he said. “So what better new year’s resolution than to take your stand with your brothers and sisters imprisoned for their faith?”

According to Release, most of the persecution of Christians in 2008 will take place in four “zones” – Islam, Communism, Hinduism and Buddhism. Harassment can originate from the government or its agents – such as the secret police, military, and judiciary – or from non-governmental movements, such as militant Islamic groups.

In the Islam zone, Saudi Arabia stands out not only for its extremely harsh laws against all religion other than the Wahhabi branch of Islam, but also because it spends millions each year disseminating Islamic teachings around the world.

These religious literatures have been accused by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) of spreading intolerance among young Muslims by teaching them to hate “infidels,” or non-believers.

Besides Saudi Arabia, moderate Muslim countries are also guilty of not providing enough protection for their Christian minorities.

In moderate countries such as Egypt and Turkey, Christians still suffer from kidnapping, forced conversion to Islam, imprisonment, destruction of churches, execution, rape of Christian girls, torture, and discrimination in education, employment, housing and legal system.

“Islamist militants often view Christians and non-Muslims as infidels, who must be converted, by force if necessary, or be killed or driven out of Islamic lands,” according to Release. “They believe it is their religious duty to impose Islamic Sharia law throughout their nation.”

Meanwhile, in communist regimes such as China, Cuba, and North Korea, believers face a more systemic form of persecution that involves house arrest, interrogation, fines, and imprisonment.

But in North Korea, which remains arguably the world’s worst persecutor of Christians, believers are imprisoned in special labor camps, brutally tortured and even publicly executed.

“Pressures include an absolute ban on owning a Bible, assembling to pray or to read the Scriptures, and evangelism – even of one’s own children,” said Tim Peters of Helping Hands Korea. Helping Hands, a partner of Release International, helps refugees escape North Korea.

Peters added, “Being discovered as a member of the underground church inside North Korea can result in one’s entire family being sent to a prison camp, and even torture and summary execution in extreme cases.”

In the Hindu zone, Christians face extremists who have lately increased attacks against not only believers in Jesus but also Muslims. This Hindu nationalism is linked to one of the country’s largest political parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is associated with a number of militant Hindu groups.

Believers are also persecuted in Buddhist Burma and Sri Lanka where religious militants regard Christianity as a threat to national identity and unity.

“Persecution is part of the normal Christian life – just as Jesus warned. But Jesus also told us to love one another, sacrificially,” said Release International’s Dipper. “And the Bible encourages us to bear one another’s burdens.

“At Release we’ve found it an immense privilege to stand with these faithful, overcoming Christians in prayer and in providing practical support,” he said, “And we have so much to learn from them.”

Release International works to support persecuted Christians in some 30 countries through its global network. The organization supports Christians imprisoned for their faith and the family they left behind. It also helps church workers, pastors and evangelists by providing training, Bibles, Christian literature and broadcasts.

Other efforts include reconstructing Christian homes destroyed in riots and providing legal aid, shelter, medicine and welfare.

Release International is a member of UK organizations Global Connections, the Evangelical Alliance and the Micah Network.

Worst Christian Persecution Expected in Saudi Arabia, N. Korea

[Shammu]

Orissa Christians Told to 'Convert or Die'
By
Peter B. Beita
Christian Post Correspondent
Wed, Jan. 23 2008 09:24 AM ET

Christians in India’s Orissa state who were victims of the recent wave of communal violence are now being told to “covert or die” by Hindu fanatics.

The ultimatum issued by the Hindu extremists has forced some Christians to abandon their religion altogether, reported the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), a Bangalore-based Christian advocacy group.

"I am forced to convert to Hinduism whether I like or dislike; I cannot say further and my life is in danger," Promond Digal, 32, from the violence-hit Kandhamal district, told GCIC.

A clash over a decorative arch for the Christmas celebrations on Dec. 24 led to large-scale communal violence and attacks against churches throughout the district. Four people were confirmed death while 95 Churches and 730 houses were burnt down or destroyed after several days of violence, according to the All India Christian Council (AICC).

Earlier this month, a fact-finding team from the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) of India accused Hindu fundamentalists of perpetrating “organized and pre-planned attacks” against the Christian community. The commission pointed to possible involvement of organizations including Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Coucil), Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (National Volunteers’ Organization) and their affiliates.

AICC and GCIC, on the other hand, have openly accused the Hindu organizations of being responsible for the attacks on Christians.

Furthermore, although the anti-Christian violence has apparently subsided, ”fundamentalists are going to individual families with guns and threatening them to become Hindus," according to GCIC.

Christians who have converted to Hinduism expressed their helplessness about changing their religion.

"Fundamentalists came and threatened me and my family and said if you do not change your religion prepare to leave the village or die, there was no other way than to accept Hinduism," said B. Digal, 60, from Gochhapada village.

Catholic Christian Samonary Digal in the Kandhamal district similarly reported how the members of the RSS “warned me to prepare to die or to leave the place if you do not become Hindu.”

“Finally I had to accept what they say," he admitted

According to social worker R. Nayak, "25 Dalit families of Mahasingh village under K. Nuagam Block have been converted to Hinduism on Dec. 25.”

“They were forced to drink mixed water of cow dung, ghee and perform the Hindu ritual," he reported

"They live under threat and convert then. They live under danger and panic."

Another forced convert, who did not want to disclose his name, said he was told, "If you cannot be a Hindu, we will finish you off and set fire your entire house.”

However, he added, “I and my family have left the faith but God will remain with us."

Relief organizations, including Christian NGOs, are not yet allowed to go into the violence-struck districts. Food distribution from the state government, meanwhile, seems to be improving, GCIC reported.

Orissa state is often noted as the site of the 1999 slaying of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his sons – Philip, 10, and Timothy, 8 – who were burned to death as they slept inside their vehicle after a Bible study class. It is the only Indian state that has a law requiring people to obtain police permission before they change their religion – a move designed to counter missionary work.

Orissa Christians Told to 'Convert or Die'

[nChrist]

Brothers and Sisters,

I would hope that every Christian reads the article above, prays for Christians in other parts of the world, and gives thanks for the FREEDOMS we still have in this part of the world. Generations have defended and preserved these FREEDOMS, and I have no intention of giving them up. I will continue to defend and preserve these FREEDOMS until the day I die, and I will NOT reject CHRIST. I will NOT worship a false god (little "g"). LORD WILLING, I will never have any shame to Boldly proclaim the Gospel of the Grace of GOD. May GOD give us all the strength, courage, and guidance to do HIS Will to our last breath on this earth. If death is the price for doing this, I pray that GOD will give me the courage to die in HIS NAME!

Love In Christ,
Tom

 

[Soldier4Christ]

Woman freed from sentence for being 'Christian'
Government argued her father adopted Islam, making her Muslim

An Egyptian woman sentenced to three years in prison for putting her religion as "Christian" on her marriage certificate more than two decades ago has been released, according to her lawyer.

The release of Shadia Nagui Ibrahim, 47, came only a few weeks after WND reported on plans for a rally in Egypt on behalf of the woman who was unaware that when she was two years old, her father briefly left Christianity to pursue Islam, before returning to Christianity.

Under Egyptian law, that made her a Muslim for life, so she was charged with, and convicted of, fraud for putting "Christian" as her religion on her marriage certificate in 1982.

However, according to published reports in Egypt, the nation's attorney general ordered her released, citing a "mix-up" over her religion designation.

The case stems from the woman's marriage as a Christian, a restricted practice in Egypt. There Christians are not allowed to marry Muslims, only other Christians.

According to reports from the South African Press Association, the situation developed because of her father's actions when she was a toddler, and the fact that 20 years later, she didn't know about what had happened.

Sam Grace, of Coptic News told WND that the Christian community on Egypt was saying, "Enough is enough."

Egypt has in recent years moved its federal government closer and closer to Islamic sharia law, including an amendment to the constitution that Islamic law now is considered the source of jurisprudence in Egypt.

Such actions have dealt harshly with Christians, who with the rally "have decided to be more active in taking a stand," Grace told WND. "It seems they've kind of reached a point where they can't take it any more."

The woman's father eventually had someone forge personal identity documents that said he was a Christian. Reports say the forger was detained in 1996 and confessed to changing the documentation.

But when Shadia Ibrahim was married in 1982, she believed she was a Christian, and said so on her marriage documentation. Authorities later prosecuted her for "providing false information on official documents."

Her lawyer, Ramses El Naggar, told Egyptian reporters the attorney general felt the judgment in her case was made on the basis of erroneous information.

Egyptian authorities have not shown themselves tolerant of Christianity.

"In September, an Egyptian court extended the jail term of two Christian human rights activists, Adel Fawzy Faltas and Peter Ezzat, who were arrested in August. The men, members of the Middle East Christian Association, were arrested a day after they took part in documenting the alleged murder of a Copt by two members of the police force. They later were released.

Authorities also have threatened two young boys who were ordered to take training to be Muslims, but refused, stating they are Christian.

And there have been several attempts to deport from America Egyptian Christians who would be subject to penalties if returned because of their choices to live as Christians.

The Middle East Review of International Affairs said the rise of Islam in Egypt arrived with Anwar Sadat's tenure.

"He then initiated what one could, in hindsight, term 'the Great Islamic Transformation' of Egypt. The first step was to stipulate in the Second Article of his new Constitution, promulgated in 1971 (long before Khomeini embarked on his Islamic revolutionary campaign), that the Principles of Islamic Shari'a were 'a main source' of legislation. In May 1981, the 'a' was replaced with 'the,' making Shari'a the term of reference for the entire constitution, meaning all other articles were to be interpreted in that light," the organization said.

"The curricula of public schools, established by the Ministry of Education, ignore the Coptic era in Egypt's history. Courses glorifying Islam (the 'Only True Religion') and its history, while vilifying the crusaders (i.e. Christians) and the Jews, are imposed on all students," the group said.

"In the case of a father of a Christian family converting to Islam, his minor children are forced to follow suit: The mother's custody rights – a well established legal principle – are ignored in this case, as children, according to typical court rulings, are supposed to follow the 'better (or 'more noble') of the two religions,'" the group said.

An Egyptian Christian who had fled his home nation, "most assuredly has a right not to be tortured," a federal court ruled in allowing him to remain in the United States.

The court pointedly concluded that "diplomatic assurances" of his religious rights "by a country known to have engaged in torture" weren't reassuring.

A report from the Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights concluded Coptic Christians in Egypt have been harassed, tortured and killed by Muslims for 1,400 years.

"They have been subjected to all kinds of hate crimes including, the abduction of young Coptic girls, the killing of Coptic women and children and the destruction of their places of worship," the report concluded.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, an agency created by Congress, lists Egypt on its watch list of countries, noting it had "a poor overall human rights record."

[nChrist]

Laos Arrests 58 Christians, Sentences Church Leaders
Jeff M. Sellers

March 13, 2008

Prison terms given for doing ministry; Hmong families could be sent back to Vietnam.

LOS ANGELES -- Laotian officials arrested 15 Hmong Christian families in Bokeo district on February 22, a day before a court sentenced nine area Hmong church leaders to 15 years in prison for conducting Christian ministry and meetings that had grown beyond acceptable levels for communist officials.

Sources said that the day before the sentencing, Laotian authorities arrived in Ban Sai Jarern village in Bokeo (also called Bo Kew) district with six trucks, in which they hauled away eight Christian families. Authorities also arrested at least seven Christian families from Fai village three miles away, they said.

"It seems they are rounding up all Hmong Christians from Vietnam to send them back to Vietnam," said one Christian source who requested anonymity for security reasons. "What will happen to them is greatly feared and unknown."

The arrested families make up a total of 58 Hmong Christians.

In addition, officials have told the Hmong Christians that they will be returning to round up those who have moved there from other districts in Laos.

"They have been told that the officials will be sending them back to their home districts," the Christian source said. "Many Hmong in Bokeo district have married Hmong from other districts, so this will create tremendous hardship for many families."

The nine church leaders sentenced for conducting Christian ministry and meetings that had grown too large were rounded up during a police and military sweep of suspected rebels last July that left at least 13 innocent Christians dead. Although the Ban Sai Jarern Church is part of the government-registered and recognized Lao Evangelical Church, its meetings and ministries had become too prominent for the communist officials, sources said.

"There has always been a restriction in Laos for church growth, and for any people's movement for that matter, but it is not written in their laws -- they are supposed to have freedom of religion," the Christian source said. "The problem was that the church grew in number far beyond their imagination -- a growth that the church could not stop."

Further complicating problems for the Ban Sai Jarern congregation was the presence of the Vietnamese Hmong who had taken refuge in Bokeo district. As former church leaders in Vietnam, they are sought by Vietnamese authorities as well as Lao officials who mistakenly associate them with a rebel separatist movement.

"The Vietnamese Hmong Christians who took refuge in Bokeo district are being dragged into the issue of the separatist movement, an involvement that they have consistently denied," the source said.

Last July's government crackdown was unprecedented in the area, which had been free of both separatist activity and government interference in churches. But in 2006, sources said, authorities pursued Hmong who had fled religious or political persecution in Vietnam and had taken refuge in Ban Sai Jarern (or Ban Sai Jaroen).

The village Christians were largely Hmong, including about 20 refugee families from Vietnam, sources said. Vietnamese and Lao communist authorities have long been hostile to the Hmong for having fought alongside U.S. soldiers in the Vietnam War, often viewing them as supporters of separatist leader Gen. Vang Pao.

This hostility is doubled for Christian Hmong, area sources said, as the government considers Protestant Christianity an imperialist foreign religion backed by political interests in the West, particularly the United States. As a result, government forces have indiscriminately detained or killed Hmong Christians whom they mistakenly associated with separatists since previous generations aided U.S. forces in the Vietnam War.

Ban Sai Jarern church members have reported that no one from their congregation has had any contact or communication whatsoever with separatist rebels.

One of the Ban Sai Jarern church leaders rounded up last July, Dzong Tho Siong, was sent back to Vietnam in September. Siong had fled to Laos to avoid Vietnamese persecution in 2002. When his relatives went to visit him in jail in November 2007, sources said, guards told them he was no longer there and that they did not know where he had been taken.

"No one has heard of him again, and it is assumed that he has passed on," a Christian source said. "The relatives keep going back with food for him, but the jail officials all keep saying he is gone and they do not know where."

Most of the adults arrested on February 22 had been church leaders in villages in Vietnam who fled rather than face imprisonment, the source said, adding that many of them likewise will face a fate similar to Siong's without advocacy and intervention.

"Those who have been arrested and are in prison are feeling like no one is interested in their problem," the Christian source said. "They still do not know where they are being taken to. There are 58 innocent people involved here including women and children, and it is of grave concern what will happen to them."

It is feared that Laotian officials will require the Vietnamese parents of those arrested to come for their sons and daughters, the source said, and that Vietnamese authorities in turn will arrest the parents for failing to adequately care of them -- as supposedly evidenced by their children running away to Laos.

"The parents will endure great hardship as well," the source said.

Copyright 2008 Compass Direct News

[Shammu]

Jihad in an English churchyard

15th March 2008

Blink and you could have missed it. Today's Daily Telegraph carried this tiny item (so insignificant is it considered to be that it doesn't even seem to be on the Telegraph's website):

A vicar was left seriously injured after he was attacked in his own churchyard by three Asian youths who taunted him about his Christianity. Canon Michael Ainsworth, 57, needed hospital treatment after he was repeatedly hit in the face and body by the gang at St George-in-the-East church in Whitechapel, east London, on March 5. Police are treating the incident as a 'faith-hate' crime.

We know the faith that was the target of the hate. But which was the faith whose adherents were doing the hating? We all know, even though no-one is saying. Just as under Stalinism, we are now taking it for granted that we must read between the lines.

Doubtless this is yet further proof that the 'no-go areas' about which the Bishop of Rochester recently warned, but which everyone else from Westminster to Lambeth Palace assured us were a figment of the Bishop's imagination, don't exist.

It so happens that Canon Ainsworth has in the past spoken up in public in defence of maintaining the integrity of Christian churches as places unique to Christian worship. In March 2006, giving evidence to the Commons Select Committee on Media, Culture and Sport, he replied to the suggestion that other religions might use churches as places for their own religious worship:

There are some issues about using Christian churches of all denominations for worship by other faiths but there is very extensive community use by other faith groups in many areas. That is something to be encouraged. If there is very clear evidence that other faith groups are actively looking to use church buildings for worship, and on the whole my experience is that they would prefer to have their own buildings, then that is something that will always be carefully and sympathetically considered but at the end of the day there must be an issue about other faith worship in a Christian church.

Jihad in an English churchyard

[Shammu]

Rector beaten up 'over his faith'
By Jonathan Wynne-Jones and Bnn Leach

3/16/2008

A clergyman is in hospital after he was beaten up in his churchyard by three Asian youths, in an incident which police are treating as a "faith-hate" attack.

Canon Michael Ainsworth, 57, asked the gang to keep their noise down but they turned on him, taunting him about his faith and hitting him in the face and body.

He was found slumped in the churchyard of St George-in-the-East in Stepney, east London. Police said the gang made "remarks insulting his occupation" before fleeing. advertisement

A parishioner said: "There was blood everywhere. All the church members are in shock. Our canon is such a nice man who has done so much for the parish."

Police are appealing for witnesses to the attack on March 5. No arrests have been made. Mr Ainsworth was initially treated in hospital and given the all-clear, but has since returned for further treatment after feeling unwell.

The canon, a former member of the Church of England's General Synod, moved to the area from Manchester last year. Colleagues said that his appointment was designed to improve the parish, which has a large Bangladeshi Muslim population and high levels of unemployment.

The Rt Rev Stephen Lowe, Bishop of Hulme, who used to work with Mr Ainsworth, said: "I would want to see a condemnation of this cowardly behaviour by senior Muslims in the community and really hope there isn't an over-reaction from the white community."

A survey of London clergy by National Churchwatch, which provides personal safety advice, found that nearly half said they had been attacked in the previous 12 months. The organisation suggested that vicars should consider taking off their dog collars when they are on their own.

Rector beaten up 'over his faith'

[Shammu]

We all need to wake up and smell the coffee or read the writing on the wall... It is the intention of some of these non-Christian denominations to either incorporate us or eliminate us.

England has fallen into the trap whereby the muslims are moving into an area and take it over by violence.

This will not stop, the muslims do what it takes to accomplish their agenda. To the Church of England and other Churches, Stand up and defend your Christian Faith!! Don't leave it to the clergy, Preist, Pastor to do it for you!! Pitch in and FIGHT, because if you don't, muslims will see you as weak-kneed cowards, and attacks such as these will increase!!

[Shammu]

Algeria Closes 2 Churches for 'Missionizing'
Written by Yaniv Berman
Published Monday, March 17, 2008
   
The Algerian authorities have ordered the closure of two Protestant churches in the northern district of Tizi Wazou, in order to investigate alleged "illegal activities," the Algerian daily Akhbar Al-Yawm reports.
 
"They are trying to establish a minority, which might give foreign powers a pretext to intervene with Algeria's domestic affairs," Minister of Religious Affairs Bu 'Abdallah Ghoulamullah told reporters.
 
The authorities in Tizi Wazou have also summoned Protestant clergymen for investigation. The decision was taken in full cooperation with the security authorities, in order to find out if these churches have broken the law, Ghoulamullah said.
 
Recently, the Algerian media began investigating the alleged growth of Christianity in the country. A recent report by the local daily Al-Khabar indicated that Christians in Algeria were engaged in missionizing Muslims. According to its report, more than 3,000 Algerians from Tizi Wazou have recently been converted.
 
Ghoulamullah also stated that Evangelists were offering €5,000 (about $7,700) to any Muslim who converted, according to Mission Network News.
 
An anti-conversion law was passed in 2006. Violators face a five-year jail sentence and a one million-dinar fine (about $15,000) for anyone who tries to convert Muslims to other religions.
 
The International Religious Freedom Report 2007 issued by the United States State Department indicates that there are 3,000 members of Evangelical churches and 300 Catholics living in Algeria, mostly in the northern districts.
 
In addition, the report states that a significant proportion of the country's Christian foreign residents are students and illegal immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa seeking to reach Europe. Their numbers are difficult to estimate, the report says.
 
The recent campaign against Christian churches in the country has also led to an Algerian court order against U.S.-born Reverend Hugh Johnson, president of the Protestant Church in Algeria. The court ordered Johnson to leave the country by March 11.
 
According to Ghoulamullah, the order had nothing to do with Johnson's involvement in missionizing activities.
 
"His visa expired," Ghoulamullah explained.
 
Johnson has lived in Algeria for 45 years and has headed the Protestant Church there since 2006.

Algeria Closes 2 Churches for 'Missionizing'

[Soldier4Christ]

Canada orders ministry
by Christians shut down
'Nothing we could do
would please them'

The Canadian government has ordered a Christian ministry that teaches doctrine and the differences between Christians and cults shut down because its reference materials were "critical" of the beliefs of those who are not Christian, WND has learned.

So what used to be called MacGregor Ministries with offerings in how to recognize and eliminate "faulty fads" in Christian churches has been re-created in the United States, and now operates under the name MM Outreach Media Ministries.

Lorri MacGregor, who has dedicated her life to explaining the straight and narrow of Christian beliefs since she found her way out of the Jehovah's Witness system years ago, told WND Canada's version of a "hate crimes" law prevented their work from continuing as it had for nearly 30 years.

"Canada is no longer a Christian nation," she said. "And watch out America!"

The issue of the ministry's charities license in Canada, allowing it to operate as a ministry, came up during a routine audit of the ministry's finances, which was uneventful.

"The auditor that originally looked at our books told us her supervisor had said she wanted us shut down," Mrs. MacGregor told WND. "Canada has very strong hate laws."

She said the ministry points out the differences between Christianity and various cult beliefs, but also with respect, and never as a proponent. She said the work always is in response to a question or issue.

"When a group such as Jehovah's Witnesses said of our doctrine we're worshipping a freakish three-headed God (the Trinity), we should be able to respond," she said. "We say, 'Here's the doctrine of the Trinity and here is where it is in the Scripture.'"

That, however, violates Canada's hate crimes laws, and the ministry was ordered to either make wholesale changes in its presentations, or shut down.

"There was nothing we could do that would please them," she said. "They wanted us every time we criticized something to say, 'So Christianity is equal to Buddhism, Islam, Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses… Just decide for yourself.'"

"We cannot do that," she said of the work she and her husband, Keith, have spent their lives assembling.

"She gave us an ultimatum that we needed to say that all religions are equal, Lorri MacGregor was to stop writing our magazine on the cults, we were to remove our websites and stop selling any products to help [teach about] the cults, and any future DVDs that we do on the Bible must not be persuasive," the couple alerted friends in an e-mail. "We could not live under those restrictions."

"We chose to shut down the ministry and we are in Washington to sign papers to start up a U.S. corporation and also start the long process of applyign for 501(c)3 status in the U.S. We have been told that within five to 10 years, the U.S. government will be in the same position as the Canadian government and t hey will also go after Christian apologetics groups," the alert continued.

"It was a no-win situation. We didn't want to see our charity money eaten up by lawyers," Mrs. MacGregor told WND. "It was heart-wrenching."

"We wrote on Feb. 7 and voluntarily revoked our [license] ourselves," she said. "We said this auditor requires us to compromise our Christian faith, which we cannot do."

The ministry entered into the expense of relocating its corporate structure into the United States, and is in the process of applying for that nation's tax-exempt status offered mission organizations.

"You're not allowed in Canada to speak in a persuasive way about your own faith," she said.

The effort cost considerable funds, although Mrs. MacGregor didn't want to provide dollar figures on their loss through the changeover. "We had been saving up to build a studio, because we don't believe in debt," she said. "At the moment we are ready to start construction, the government moved in to shut us down."

"They said if we were just preaching our own Gospel, and weren't criticizing anybody else, we could continue," she said. "If you're going to defend the Gospel, you've got to criticize sometimes."

For example, the ministry addresses the issue of "fads," including a "creeping Eastern mysticism" appearing in some churches, "turning meaningful prayer meetings into mind-emptying rituals called contemplative prayer promising experiences of a spiritual nature."

"Feelings have often replaced the solid word of God," the website warns.

"Numerous churches have become 'seeker' churches, disposing of the parts of the Gospel message that might offend anyone's lifestyle. Crowds come to hear contemporary music, followed by a feel-good message, and perhaps even a 'conversion' experience, to an all-accepting Jesus. No change required! They now consider themselves Christians, but are they?"

Regarding Mormons, they have a list of cautions:

    * "Mormons won't tell you that all their so-called scriptures such as the Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price, Doctrine and Covenants, and even their official 'Mormon Doctrine' statements contradict each other…"

    * "Mormons won't tell you that the reason the Book of Mormon has no maps is because there is not one scrap of archaeological evidence to support it!"

    * "Mormons won't tell you that their prophet Joseph Smith was heavily involved in the occult when he founded Mormonism."

    * "Mormons won't tell you that that they encourage visitations from dead relatives from the 'spirit world,' a practice forbidden in the Bible. (Deuteronomy 18:10- 12.)"

They also note the misguided teachings of others.

"Neale Donald Walsch who wrote the bestseller Conversations with God says, 'Hitler went to heaven' (Neale Donald Walsch, Conversations with God: An Uncommon Dialogue, Book 2, Hampton Roads Publishing Company, Inc., 1997; p. 35) And the reason according to Walsh 'There is no hell, so there is no place else for him to go.'"

"The Bible states that the ONLY WAY to heaven is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Universalism teaches that there is not just one way of salvation but many different ways. The Christian inclusivists state salvation is by grace through faith in Christ alone, but they change the meaning to be that His grace extends out to those who do not believe (not needing faith) because he died for them too," the website teaches.

WND previously has reported how proposals are being made in Canada to raise taxes and fees on churches dramatically, as well as ban them from meeting in some locations.

WND also has reported on how many Biblical standards of behavior are under attack by the "bastardized courts" of Canada, where activists who claim they have "hurt feelings" are demanding – and getting – penalties imposed against those who oppose the homosexual lifestyle.

It also has reported on the times that "hate crimes" legislation for the United States has been considered in Congress.

[nChrist]

Intolerant Hindus Attack Easter Services in India
Vishal Arora

March 26, 2008

Assaults on two churches mar celebrations in Karnataka state.

NEW DELHI -- Hindutva (Hindu nationalist) extremists stormed two Easter Sunday services and beat at least 16 Christians, including two pastors, in the Karnataka state capital of Bangalore and in Shimoga district.

A mob of more than 150 intolerant Hindus on Sunday (March 23) launched an attack on a Pentecostal church in Karnataka's Shimoga district at 9 a.m., and a group of more than a dozen assailants struck Christians of an independent church in Byapanahalli on the suburbs of Bangalore at 11:45 a.m., reported the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC).

"About 150 Hindutva radicals armed with sticks stormed the Indian Pentecostal Church in Gundlikoppa village, around 20 kilometers from Shimoga district headquarters, while the believers were attending the Easter service," Dr. Sajan K. George, GCIC's national president, told Compass.

Accusing the church of "forced" conversions without any evidence for the charge, the attackers beat 35-year-old pastor Mandya Nagraj and five others, besides vandalizing church property, George added. The assailants damaged the roof and musical instruments.

Pastor Nagraj had received a threat a week earlier, added George.

Police arrested six of the attackers and provided protection to the pastor after GCIC's intervention. The Pentecostal church, attended by around 60 Christians, has been functioning for six years with no evidence of attempting to convert people by force or fraud.

Girl Beaten

In the second attack, George said at least 12 extremists led by the Hindu priest of a local temple and his associate, identified only as Puttappa, attacked the Grace Almighty Full Gospel Church in Byapanahalli in Bangalore.

The assailants beat 30-year-old pastor P. Isaac and nine believers, including a 17-year-old girl identified only as Jency. The girl was rushed to a hospital for first-aid.

Following the attack, the assailants went to the homes of a few believers and warned them against attending the church. They also took Pastor Isaac to the police station and sought to register a complaint against him for "forced" conversions. Police interrogated the pastor and subsequently released him.

But police brokered a "compromise" between the attackers and the pastor requiring him to leave the area.

The independent church was established around seven years ago, and has more than 60 members.

Karnataka came under the President's rule on November 20 last year, when the ruling coalition comprising the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) party and the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) broke up. Legislative elections are expected to be announced soon.

Christian persecution rose to new heights in the state after the BJP and JD-S came to power in February 2006.

There are a little more than 1 million Christians in Karnataka, which is home to over 52.8 million people.

Holiday Attacks

Attacks on Christian holidays are becoming increasingly common in India.

Hindutva extremists beat two pastors of Believers' Church on Easter last year (April in Salwa village in Madhya Pradesh state's Mandla district. They arrived at the house of the pastors, Dinesh Toppo and Chandan Chhinchani, to launch the assault.

Similarly, on Christmas Eve of 2007, Hindutva extremists led a series of violent attacks on Christians and their property in Orissa state's Kandhamal district.

The attacks, lasting more than a week, killed six Christians and razed at least 730 houses and 95 churches, according to a fact-finding team of the All India Christian Council's Orissa chapter. Hundreds of displaced Christians remained in relief camps set up by the Orissa government at press time. (See Compass Direct News, "Two More Victims of Violence Succumb to Injuries in Orissa," February 20.)

[Shammu]

Algeria Shuts Down 13 Protestant Churches
By
Ethan Cole
Tue, Mar. 25 2008 02:47 PM ET

Algeria, a close to fully Sunni Muslim country in northern Africa, has ordered 13 Protestant churches to shut down since November, the head of Algeria’s Protestant church group said Monday.

Churches were told to close their doors until they are issued a permit that allows non-Muslim groups to hold organized worship.

Algeria passed a law in February 2006 that required non-Muslim congregations to obtain a permit from their regional prefecture to hold worship gatherings. It also banned the production of media intended to “shake the faith of a Muslim,” according to Compass Direct News.

After the law’s passage, however, there had not been any enforcement and no Christian churches have been closed until recently.

"Thirteen chapels, including 11 in Tizi Ouzou, one in Bejaia and one in Bouira have been closed on the orders of local officials," said Pastor Mustapha Krim, who is president of the Protestant Church of Algeria (EPA), according to South Africa’s News24.

No official reason has been given for the government order, but the decision might be linked to recent tension over allegations that Christians were trying to convert Muslims.

“It would be better that authorities give us the possibility to be in conformity with the law and not order us to close the churches,” Krim wrote in a March 9 appeal, according to Compass.

Krim said he has made a formal request to the Algerian state’s representative in the Tizi Ouzou region for explanation on the decision.

Tension recently flared when Muslim leaders accused Protestant evangelists of trying to convert Muslims to Christianity.

Earlier this month, the former chairman of the Protestant group, American pastor Hugh Johnson, was expelled from the country over links to evangelization campaigns, according to some religious freedom groups.

Johnson is said to have imported and distributed religious books without the Algerian government’s permission. Sources also say Johnson is active in non-accredited local Protestant associations in the country, according to Kenya Today.

The Algerian government, however, has denied that reason for his expulsion was religious. They claim it was simply due to administrative reasons – his resident visa had expired – according to Kenya Today.

In addition to Johnson’s expulsion, three Algerian Christians were convicted of “insulting Islam” on Feb. 5 and unofficially told they would be sentenced to three years in prison and fined.

Among the churches ordered to close is the 1,200-member Full Gospel Church, according to Compass.

Algeria’s Protestant Church claims to have 50,000 followers, with 10,000 of them active churchgoers, according to News24. But the ministry of religious affairs, says there are only 11,000 Christians in Algeria, most of them Catholic, compared to the Muslim population of 33 million.

About 99 percent of the country ascribe to Sunni Islam – the official state religion. Christians and Jews make up only one percent of the country, according to the CIA World Factbook.

[Shammu]

Churches were told to close their doors until they are issued a permit that allows non-Muslim groups to hold organized worship.

Algeria passed a law in February 2006 that required non-Muslim congregations to obtain a permit from their regional prefecture to hold worship gatherings. It also banned the production of media intended to “shake the faith of a Muslim,” according to Compass Direct News.

Once you need a permit you are not really free to worship the Lord as you see fit.

Once again we see that islam cannot survive the challenge of Christianity. The insecure and intolerant faith of islam can only maintain its evil and dark hold over a population by trying to shut out the Gospel because muslims know they cannot compete on an even playing field, and they know that the only way they can keep people in islam is through domination and intimidation with threats of violence!!

Any faith this insecure and fearful of competition cannot have any truth in it, and I'm convinced that every muslim knows this deep in their hearts.

The Word will triumph over the koran. The Cross will triumph over the crescent. Good will triumph over evil. The light will shine in the darkness and the darkness will not overcome it.

[Shammu]

Police Call Church Music 'Disorderly'
By Fred Lucas
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
March 26, 2008

(CNSNews.com) - A Michigan church filed a federal lawsuit after police officers, led by a local prosecutor, entered the sanctuary at least twice without a warrant, alleging the church's music was too loud. In one instance, they threatened to arrest church musicians for disorderly conduct.

Faith Baptist Church, with a congregation of about 10,000 members, is suing local officials in the Township of Waterford, Mich., in a First Amendment case a church attorney said could have national ramifications in establishing what local governments can do in regulating churches.

The suit -- alleging the township violated the church's freedom of religious expression, freedom of speech and freedom of association -- was filed earlier this month in U.S. District Court in Detroit after the church had been subject to what it describes as raids by the Waterford Police Department, led by township prosecutor Walter Bedell.

At least one of those raids occurred during a Sunday service, according to the suit.

The church played contemporary Christian music that included guitars, drums, and other instruments. Township officials contend they were simply trying to enforce local noise laws and that the church is being a bad neighbor.

But "praise and worship" music is a form of religious expression, said Richard Thompson, president of the Thomas More Law Center, a public interest Christian law firm representing the church.

"This is subterfuge to try to interfere with religious exercise that Faith Baptist Church has," Thompson told Cybercast News Service. "The prosecutor and uniformed police officers violated their Fourth Amendment rights. They were not invited. They burst into the church. Unless they had an arrest warrant or a search warrant, they had no right to go there except for worship."

Bedell said the matter has nothing to do with religious expression. He said he has received more than 10 written complaints about the noise from the church.

"The whole issue is not with the type of music - it's the music and the volume, and people who are in their own homes trying to sleep, eat, and spend time with their children," Bedell told Cybercast News Service.

"I have no problem with music. I play the guitar myself. This is about the volume of music and people who were not able to live normal lives in their own home," he added.

The matter with police began during a Wednesday night youth service in October 2007 when uniformed police officers led by Bedell entered the church's sanctuary where the church's band was practicing, according to the lawsuit.

Bedell then ordered police to take down the names and addresses of all the people on the stage so they could be charged with disorderly conduct.

The following Sunday, Waterford Township Police returned, during an evening church service, the Thomas More Law Center said.

Officers were about to forcibly remove band members and order them to surrender their driver's licenses and personal information before an assistant pastor at the church volunteered to bring the musical band members to the police station to avoid an uproar in the congregation.

Faith Senior Pastor Jim Combs told the attorneys he was approached by other uniformed police officers who apologized but also said they had to follow orders from the local officials. Combs is deferring comment on the case to the law center, a church receptionist said Tuesday.

Attorneys for the township of Waterford are still working on a response to the lawsuit. But certain facts will likely be in dispute.

According to the plaintiff, Bedell told Combs on tape that the church was playing rock music and Bedell didn't consider that appropriate church music.

Bedell denies saying that.

Further, Township Supervisor Carl Solden said that police never entered the church during a service, only when the band was having a practice session.

"A neighbor complained, and the police department responded, as they do in all cases - it's a service organization," Solden told Cybercast News Service. "I can't imagine a church that didn't want to get along with its neighbors. I would think 'love thy neighbor' would enter into this somewhere."

Solden said the township only wanted the church to tone down their music. While he admitted there was consideration about charging church members with disorderly conduct, he stressed that action was never taken and that no church member was arrested or detained.

"It's uncanny that it would go this far," Solden said. "It's unfortunate because it could have been resolved."

"For them to say this was surprising is disingenuous," said Thompson. He further noted that the township's noise ordinance of no more than 70 decibels is rarely enforced and, if it were, would essentially outlaw lawnmowers and snow blowers.

Police Call Church Music 'Disorderly'