Go to: News articles before Dec. 1, 1999
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Two Separate Shootings in Colorado Springs Christian Buildings
Dec. 10, 2007 - A young man killed two unsuspecting people at a Youth With A Mission training center in Arvada, Colorado, then drove to Colorado Springs where he killed two more in the parking lot of the New Life Church. There were some 7000 people in the church, but his killing spree was ended when he was shot and killed by an armed security guard.
- Source: Fox
- Colorado Church Gunman Had Grudge Against Christian Group, Cops Say - Fox
- Colorado Church Gunman Sought Revenge After He Was Kicked Out of Missionary Training - Fox
- Hero guard: 'It was me, the gunman, and God' - WorldNetDaily
Nov. 12 - International Day of Prayer For the Persecuted Church
Nov. 12, 2006 - Links to many organizations that are serving the more than 200 million persecuted Christians in the world!
- Also see: Pray for the Persecuted Church on November 12 - Crosswalk
Teen's testimony of faith unstopped by death
Missionary into Kim Jong-Il's kingdom of religious oppression martyred
Oct. 26, 2006 - Read this inspiring story of a brave Chinese young man who was a bold witness for Christ in North Korea. He was eventually caught, tortured and killed for his faith. Many people turned to Christ because of him, and after his death the work he started in a prison camp continued.
- Source:WorldNetDaily
Persecution is Coming to the West
Oct. 23, 2006 - A declaration from the Ecumenical Confessional Convention in Blankenburg, East Germany, says that an increase of persecution is coming to Western culture. It warns that the trend is a dangerous anti-Christian influence on legislation, academic life and school education. Home-schoolers in Germany are subject to fines and imprisonment. The 20th century was the bloodiest in church history, and the future looks grim.
- According to estimates by human rights organizations, 200 million Christians suffer discrimination for their faith. Every year 170,000 Christians die a martyr’s death.
- Source: Crosswalk
Two Eritrean Christians Tortured to death
Oct. 20, 2006 - Intense persecution of Christians continues in Eritrea. Just after detaining a U.S. citizen and re-imprisoning a Christian singer, thirteen people were arrested for participating in a religious service in a private home. Two of them, Immanuel Andegergesh, 23, and Kibrom Firemichel, 30, were tortured to death in a military camp outside the town of Adi-Quala. The fate of the other 10 is not yet known. For three years in a row Eritrea has been named by the U.S. State Department a “Country of Particular Concern” It is considered one of the worst violators of religious freedom in the world.
- Recently confirmed statistics indicate that at least 1,918 Eritrean citizens are jailed solely for their religious beliefs, without any access to judicial process.
- Source: Crosswalk
Terror suspect contributed to school 'religion guidelines'
Oct. 19, 2006 - "Religious Expression in Public Schools" guidelines issued by President Clinton, lets students pray to Allah, but banishes Christmas.
- Abdurahman Alamoudi, who was president of the American Muslim Council and a supporter of Hamas and Hezbollah, worked with President Clinton and the American Civil Liberties Union when the guidelines, launched by Clinton in 1995.
Since then Alamoudi was arrested for allegedly trying to transport $340,000 to terrorist causes.
- Source: WorldNetDaily
- Student Says Mention of 'Prayer' Enrages Professor - Crosswalk
Christians 'too evangelical' for Christian school
Oct. 13, 2006 - Georgetown University, a Catholic school in Washington D.C., has "disinvited" some evangelical groups like InterVarsity Christian Fellowship from any association with the school because of the evangelical practice of sharing Christ with students. The Alliance Defense Fund has written a letter to the university requesting that they rectify the problem.
- Source: WorldNetDaily
Rosie's View: 'Radical Christians' Same as 9/11 Terrorists
Sept. 14, 2006 - During her new show, "The View," Rosie O'Donnell said, "Radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country like America ..." Randy Sharp, director of special projects for the American Family Association said we should not be surprised by her opinions.
- "It's been a matter of public record for quite some time now," Sharp explained. "Rosie has a well-documented hatred for the war on terrorism, a hatred for our president, and a hatred for the principles of Christianity."
- Source: Crosswalk
Eritrea's Religious Prisoner Count Tops 1,900
Sept. 14, 2006 - In Eritrea there are at least 1,918 Eritrean citizens in prison. They are subject to torture and forced labor because of their religious beliefs. Ninty-five percent of them are Christians. The information comes from Compass International.
- Source: Crosswalk
Afghan Court Dismisses Case vs. Alleged Christian Convert
Mar. 27, 2006 - An Afghanistan court dismissed the apostasy case against Abdul Rahman, who became a Christian in the 1990s. The decision eased tensions with the U.S., but is considered an insult to radical Muslims who want strict Sharia law upheld. Rahman is in danger of being killed by his countrymen, but his faith is strong.
- "If I must die, I will die," Rahman told the Rome daily La Repubblica, which did not interview him directly but channeled questions through a human rights worker who visited him in prison... "Somebody, a long time ago, did it for all of us," in a clear reference to Jesus Christ.
- Source:Fox
- Afghans protest against convert- BBC
- Rahman One of Thousands Awaiting Death Sentence - Crosswalk
- Italy Formally Grants Asylum to Convert - Fox
- German Protestant Leader: Sharia Violates Human Rights - Crosswalk
U.S. Backs Afghan Man Who Converted to Christianity
Mar. 22, 2006 - Responding to hundreds of contacts from concerned Americans, Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns and department spokesman Sean McCormack asked Afghanistan to conduct a trial for a man accused of apostasy from Islam because he became a Christian there. The U.S. asked Afghanistan to conduct the trial"in a transparent way." Burns said he told Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, with whom he held talks at the department, that "we would follow the case closely."
- Source:Fox
- Top Muslim clerics: Convert must die - In Our Islam Section
- Congressman to Afghanistan:
'We will not put up with this' - Lantos says possibility of death for Christians 'absolutely unacceptable' for country we freed - WorldNetDaily
Hindu Extremists Attack Church in India
Nov. 15, 2005 - After beating 62-year-old Pastor Feroz Masih in the north Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, Hindu extremists forced him to sign a document promising that all 60 members of his church will re-convert to Hinduism or be burned to death. The date for the ceremony of re-conversion was set for next Sunday, November 20th.
- Source: Crosswalk
Persecuted Christians Need Your Prayers
Nov. 11, 2005 - Janet Chismar, Crosswalk's Senior Editor for Faith, gives guidance about how to pray for the persecuted church this Sunday. Churches will join in the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church
- Source: Crosswalk
US Names Religious Freedom Violators
Nov. 9, 2005 - The U.S. State Department has identified eight "countries of particular concern" (CPCs) because of their lack of religious freedom. Three of them are Islamic nations, three are communist, a military regime, and a one-party state in Africa.
- "These are countries where governments have engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom over the past year," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in Washington Tuesday.
The countries named as are Burma, China, North Korea, Eritrea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Vietnam. They were cited by the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). The commission also warned that three other Muslim states -- Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are high on the scale of religious intolerance. Countries cited for less serious violations were: Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Brunei, Cuba, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, Pakistan, Russia, Sri Lanka and Turkey.
- Source:Crosswalk
Beheading of Christian Schoolgirls Sparks Concerns About Religious Strife
Nov. 2, 2005 - During the final days of Ramadan, three Christian schoolgirls were beheaded in Indonesia's Central Sulawesi province.
- In Sulawesi and another province, Maluku, thousands of people died in clashes between Muslims and Christians between 1999 and 2002. (A minor dispute in Maluku at the end of Ramadan triggered the violence in 1999.)
Sulawesi and Maluku have sizeable Christian populations though the rest of the nation is predominantly Muslim.
- Source: Crosswalk
Venezuela to Expel New Tribes Mission
Oct. 15, 2005 - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said that Venezuela will expel New Tribes Mission, a church-planting and Bible-translating mission agency. Chavez is still reacting to Pat Robertson's call for his assasination last August.
- Describing New Tribes Mission (NTM) as a "true imperialist infiltration that makes me ashamed," Chavez declared he was fed up with "colonialism" and accused the mission group of links to the CIA, spying on Venezuela, and exploiting indigenous people.
- Source: Christianity Today
Christian Arrested Under Anti-Conversion Law in India
Oct. 11, 2005 - Police in Indore, India for violating the state anti-conversion law, after members of the Dharma Raksha Samiti (DRS or Religious Protection Committee), a Hindu extremist group lodged complaints against him.
- John, an independent worker, runs three schools for children. He was accused of converting 11 children between the ages of 5 and 10 who were residing in his school-cum-children’s home at Sunder Nagar Extension in Indore.
- Source: Open Doors
Iranian Pastor Called Before Islamic Court
Apr. 12, 2005 - Hamid Pourmand, an Assmeblies of God lay pastor in Iran, who is a convert from Islam, will face charges in the Islamic (sharia) court between April 11 and 14. He is accused of apostasy from Islam and proselytizing Muslims to the Christian belief. Both "crimes" are punishable by death.
- One of Iran's leading Protestant pastors was executed in December 1990 after a sharia court condemned him. Hussein Soodman, also an Assemblies of God pastor and a Muslim convert to Christianity, had been involved in Christian ministry for 24 years.
- Source:Crosswalk
Asia dominates US blacklist of top religious freedom violators
September 16, 2004 - The State Department's annual report on international religious freedom lists China, North Korea, Myanmar and Vietnam,Saudi Arabia, Eritrea, Sudan and Iran as "countries of particular concern." This designation applies to governments "engaged in systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedoms."
- Source:Yahoo
- U.S. Rebukes Saudis Over Religious Rights - My Way
Holy War? Absolutely!
Aug. 2, 2004 - Hal Lindsey says that we should not be surprised by the attack against Christian churches in Iraq. He says all Muslims are obligated to wage “holy war” against unbelievers
- They are exhorted to give the unbelievers a chance to repent and embrace Islam. If they do not, then they can be killed or subjected to a subservient status and charged heavy taxes.
Koran 9.5-6, “So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. (9.6) “And if one of the idolaters seek protection from you, grant him protection till he hears the word of Allah, then make him attain his place of safety; this is because they are a people who do not know.”
- Source:Hal Lindsey Oracle
Coordinated Blasts Hit Iraqi Churches
Aug. 1, 2004 - Several Iraqi Christian churches were bombed while people were inside.
- Interior Ministry spokesman Sabah Kadhim said a total of four churches were hit in Baghdad, two in Karada, one in the Dora neighborhood and one in New Baghdad.
Most Christians in Iraq are Chaldean Roman Catholic. Other denominations include Syrian Catholic, Syrian Orthodox and Assyrian.
- Source:Yahoo
- Iraq's Beleaguered Christians More Fearful Than Ever - Crosswalk
- Leading Muslim Clerics in Iraq Condemn Bombing of Churches - NY Times
- Iraq Blames Zarqawi for Christian Church Bombings - My Way
Pastor gets prison for sermon
July 8, 2004 - Ake Green, a Pentecostal pastor has been sentenced by a Swedish court to one month in prison. He was found guilty of incitement because of a sermon that offended homosexuals.
- Green had described homosexuality as "abnormal, a horrible cancerous tumor in the body of society" in a 2003 sermon.
- Source:WorldNetDaily
- Britain may punish religious hate crimes - UPS
U.S. Senators at Center of Vietnamese Human Rights Debate
May 20, 2004 - According to International Christian Concern President Jeff King, the Vietnamese communist government has murdered hundreds of tribal Christians, and this requires a response by the U.S. government. However, efforts to sanction Vietnam have been blocked by Senators John Kerry and John McCain.
- International Christian Concern (ICC) alleges that an Easter crackdown by the Vietnamese government against Montagnard Christians in Vietnam's Central Highlands resulted in the deaths of at least 280 people.
- Source:Crosswalk
Believers tortured to abandon Christianity
Mar. 16, 2004 - Christian people of the Hmong group in Lai Chau province in Vietnam are being tortured by painful drug injections. Vietnamese military personnel administer the drugs to force the people "to not believe in Jesus." One Christian wrote:
- "We all got sick and it was different from any kind of sickness we had ever had before... Everyone who got sick had chest pains and pain in their forehead. Our legs and arms were cold and numb."
- Source:WorldNetDaily
Commission Cites 11 Countries as Religious Liberty Violators
Feb. 19, 2004 - The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has asked the Department of State to designate 11 countries as severe violators of religious liberty. They are:Burma, China, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Eritrea, India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan and Vietnam. These are called "countries of particular concern" for "systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom."
- Source:Baptist Press/ Crosswalk
China Arrests Dozens of Prominent Christians
Feb. 19, 2004 - The unregistered church in China is experiencing explosive growth. After the release of a new video and book about this growth, China's Public Security Bureau launched a new crackdown on unregistered church leaders, arresting 50 or more of them. The video is "The Cross: Jesus in China," from China Soul for Christ Foundation of Petaluma, California, and the book is Jesus in Beijing by journalist David Aikman, formerly a Time magazine correspondent in Beijing.
- Source:Christianity Today
When Arafat met Jesus
Dec. 19, 2003 - The true story of Arafat's control of Bethlehem and the drop of the Christian population there.
- The area of Bethlehem, Beit Jala and Beit Sahur – predominantly Christian for centuries – has undergone a sinister transformation, as 60 percent of its Christian families have fled and Muslims, now 75 percent of the local population, have taken over.
- Source:Mike Evans/ WorldNetDaily
China sends Bible owners to labor camp
Nov. 26, 2003 - In the middle of the night, as many as 40 policemen invaded the homes of Christians in villages southern China's Guangxi province, cracking down on "illegal religious organizations" (all Protestant churches outside the official government-controlled Three-Self Patriotic Movement).
- Three Bible owners were taken away April 27, but their families did not know they had been sentenced and taken to a labor camp until Sept. 26. Finally, on Oct. 21, the relatives were allowed to visit.
- Source:WorldNetDaily
Pray for the Persecuted Church Nov. 9 through 16
Oct. 6, 2003 - The largest prayer event of its kind will be supported by approximately 7000 churches. It is a week of prayer for persecuted Christians around the world.
- From Nepal to North Korea, from Sudan to China, countless followers of Christ daily face beatings, discrimination, jail and death. Because persecution is a global problem.
- Source:Crosswalk
- International Day of Prayer For The Persecuted Church 2003
- Other Persecution Links
Persecution of Christians in America
Oct. 2003 - Read these summaries of David Limbaugh's book, Persecution – How Liberals Are Waging War Against Christianity
- Limbaugh Shows How Intolerant 'Liberals' Wage War on Christianity
- Limbaugh: Leftists Treat Christianity as 'Cancer'
- The Media and Hollywood War Against Christianity
- Source:News Max
- America's 'war on Christians' - WorldNetDaily
Election of Homosexual Bishop 'Could Fuel Anti-Christian Persecution
July 7, 2003 - The appointment of a homosexual bishop in the Episcopal church could have grave repercussions for Christians who live among Muslims.
-
The Anglican bishop of Owerri in Nigeria, Cyril Okoracha, said African Christians will face "severe persecution [from] our Muslim neighbors because they keep accusing us of maintaining relationships with those who deny the Scripture."
- Source:CSN News
- See: Homosexuality
Weblog: Muslim Proudly Admits Killing Baptist Missionaries
April 24, 2003 -
Trial for Jibla Baptist Hospital murders opens with confession
In court Sunday, Yemeni Muslim Abed Abdulrazzak Kamel not only admitted killing three American missionaries December 30. He bragged about it. "I acted out of a religious duty . . . and in revenge from those who converted Muslims from their religion and made them unbelievers," he said. "I am comfortable [with what I did]."
- Source:Christianity Today
Time magazine targets Christian missionaries
April 23, 2003 - Time Magazine is producing a story about evangelical missionary work in Muslim countries. Their report may cause exposure of people who do secular or humanitarian work in these areas, but preach the Gospel when they can. This may lead to imprisonment, torture, or death!
- Source:WorldNetDaily
Situations, Trends May Impact International Church in 2003
- Jan. 3, 2003 -
With its roots going back to 1846, World Evangelical Alliance is an international body that networks and facilitates the discipling of nations through national and regional evangelical alliances in 123 countries. In a year-end report released December 30, the WEA highlights trends in major trouble spots around the world.
Situations, Trends May Impact International Church in 2003
Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
EDMONDS, WASHINGTON (ANS) -- With its roots going back to 1846, World Evangelical Alliance is an international body that networks and facilitates the discipling of nations through national and regional evangelical alliances in 123 countries. In a year-end report released December 30, the WEA highlights trends in major trouble spots around the world.
"As 2002 draws to a close, it is important for Christians to prayerfully commit to freedom for people of all faiths as part of our Christian faith. Some say it is impossible for people of various religions to live together. It may be possible to find ways to co-exist, but to develop a stable civil society, religious freedom and security must be integrated. A level playing field gives everyone freedom to worship" said Kathi Graham, North American Representative for the Religious Liberty Commission of World Evangelical Alliance.
"The Religious Liberty Commission of World Evangelical Alliance identifies global trends to alert people to the ongoing struggles faced daily by believers worldwide," states Rev. Johan Candelin, Executive Director of the commission. "Christmas is a time to meditate on the mystery of God and His gift of life through Jesus Christ and the impact of that gift as people live out their daily lives."
WEA Religious Liberty Commission Researcher Elizabeth Kendal presents significant trends of 2002 that will impact the church in 2003. Portions of her article follow. The full textof her report is available at http://www.evangelicalalliance.org.au/rlc/postings.
- Source:Crosswalk
Christians around the world set aside Sunday to pray for persecuted
- Nov. 8, 2002 - Organizers of the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church say that millions of people attending 300,000 churches in 130 countries will take time this Sunday to pray for Christians who are persecuted in many places around the world. There are an estimated 200 million Christians who suffer for their faith and another 400 million who live in countries where their religious practice is restricted.
- Source:WorldNetDaily
Pray for the Persecuted Church on Nov. 10
- Nov. 8, 2002 - Here are two web sites that contain helpful information about persecuted Christians:
International Day of Prayer For The Persecuted Church
International Day of Prayer For The Persecuted Church 2002
- Source:Crosswalk
Massacre, Persecution, and the War for India’s Soul
- Oct. 21, 2002 - Radical Hinduism in India
- Source:CBN
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Congress Passes
Sudan Peace Act
- Oct. 11, 2002 - Both houses of Congress have passed a bill that will affect U.S. relations with the militant Islamic government of Sudan, requiring them to allow humanitarian aid for the oppressed, mostly Christians, of Southern Sudan. If they fail to improve conditions, economic and diplomatic sanctions will be enacted. The religious civil war has lasted nearly two decades, leaving more than 2 million dead. Government-supported persecution has included:
- ... slave raids and the bombardment of hospitals, churches, schools and relief stations. It also has consisted of the rape of women and children, as well as the forcible conversion to Islam of children and starvation for Sudanese who refuse to convert.
- Source:Maranatha Christian Journal
India State Enacts Anti-Conversion Law
- ct. 10, 2002 - A new law passed by the Tamil Nadu state government bans religious conversions "by force, allurement or fraudulent means." The terms are not defined, causing Christians to wonder whether their normal ministries, such as chapel services in Christian schools, hospitals and children's homes, will be interpreted as illegal.
Violators are subject to three years' imprisonment, except in cases where the converts are minors, women, or members of scheduled castes or tribes. In those cases the imprisonment could extend to four years with an additional fine of 100,000 rupees ($2000).
- Source:Crosswalk
Chinese Christian leader jailed
- Oct. 10, 2002 - Gong Shengliang, the leader of an underground Chinese Christian group was sentenced to life in prison. This was a reduced sentence. Originally he had been sentenced to death, but the decision was overturned due to a lack of evidence.
- Source:BBC
Jordanian Christian Mother Must Release Custody
- Oct. 10, 2002 - A Jordanian court has ruled that a Christian mother must release her children, aged 12 and 14, to the custody of their Muslim uncle. The father of the children died three years ago, and after his death a document was filed by two witnesses that he had converted to Islam two years earlier.
- On the basis of this document, local courts informed Qandah that the children were automatically Muslims because of their father’s conversion.
- Source:Maranatha Christian Journal
US lays blame for religious repression
- Oct. 7, 2002 - A new State Department reports the six worst countries for repression of religious freedom are China, Cuba, Laos, Burma, North Korea and Vietnam.
- A second group, including Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, were criticised for being hostile to minority religions.
Some countries have improved religious tolarance. These include Afthanistan, Egypt and Laos.
- Source:BBC
Christians 'executed' by Pakistan gunmen
- Sept. 25, 2002 - Seven people were killed by unidentified gunmen at a The Institute of Peace and Justice, a Christian charity in Karachi.
- Attacks in the past year on Christians elsewhere in Pakistan have left at least 30 people dead.
- Source:BBC
North Korea Bumps Saudi Arabia from #1 Spot on Persecution List
- Sept 21, 2002 - Open Doors' "World Watch List" not shows that Korea now fosters the worst persecution against Christians of any country in the world.
- ... the communist dictatorship of Kim Jong II is intent on eradicating all belief systems other than the worship of Kim himself and his now-dead father.
- Source:Agape Press
- See also A Vigil for the Suffering in Sudan - CBN
Brother Andrew: The Call of the Suffering Church
- Sept. 19, 2002 - A new book by Brother Andrew chronicles persecution in the world against Christians. He also shows that we must reach Muslims now with the Gospel.
- Source:Crosswalk
Upsurge in Christian Persecution
- The following articles from the past few days illustrate the fact that persecution of Christians is a growing problem in our unsettled world. Even the hopeful news from the Sudan may just be a temporary break. We need to make every day a day of prayer for our persecuted brothers and sisters!
Aug. 9, 2002 - Nurses die in Pakistan attack - Unidentified attackers have hurled grenades at a chapel in a missionary hospital near Islamabad, killing three nurses.
- Source:BBC
Aug.9, 2002 - The End of Sudan’s Campaign of Terror? - Peace talks have begun between the Muslim north and the Christian south. There is hope that this could end the 20 years of bloody civil war, but experts warn that they may not be able to trust the promises of a leader who just last year urged his supporters to wage a "holy war" against the Christians in the south.
- Source:CBN
Aug. 9, 2002 - Saudis lash US 'Christian extremists' - The Saudi press is portraying Christian fundamentalism as just as dangerous as Islamic extremists.
- Source:BBC
Aug. 8, 2002 -Islamic warriors near Christian town - Islamic Jihad forces are preparing to strike an Indonesian town where more than 65,000 Christians reside, according to a group that monitors persecution of Christians.
- Source:WorldNetDaily
Aug. 5, 2002 - Gunmen attack Pakistan school - Four gunmen fought their way into the Murree Christian School complex in the hills near the capital, Islamabad, killing at least six people. Muree is a missionary school for foreign students in Pakistan. None of the students were killed.
- Source:BBC
Pakistan Sentences Another Christian to Death
- July 5, 2002 - Two Pakistani Christians are on death row, and five others are appealing a life sentence for blasphemy against Mohammed.
- Source:Worthy News
Christians Fear Imposition of Islamic Law In Malaysia
- July 1, 2002 - Malaysa's opposition party PAS wants to impose full Islamic Shari'ah law in Malaysia's Terengganu State. If they are successful, moderate Muslims, women's groups, Christians and other non-Muslim minorities fear that they will be persecuted as in other countries where Shari'ah is practiced.
- Source:Worthy News
Bush Officials Pay Respect to Martin Burnham at Funeral
- June 17, 2002 - Dignitaries from many Christian organizations and the government attended the funeral service for Martin Burnham, the New Tribes Missionary who was killed in the Philippines on June 7th. The service was held at Central Christian Church of Wichita, Kansas.
- Martin's 43-year old wife Gracia, who survived but is still in a wheelchair because of a bullet wound, and their three children Jeff (15), Mindy (12) and Zach (11) were among the thousands of people that attended the emotionally charged service.
- Source:Religion News Today - Crosswalk
Rescued Missionary Widow Heads Home
- June 10, 2002 - Missionary Gracia Burnham was injured in the military operation against Abu Sayyaf terrorists in the Philippines a few days ago. Her husband, Martin was killed. (See previous article.) Gracia was flown out of the Philippines Monday. Local commentators have leveled strong complaints against those who staged the rescue attempt but Gracia did not criticize the efforts of the troops.
- On the contrary, she thanked those "who risked and even gave their lives in order to rescue us."
- Source:Religion News
Hostages die in Philippine rescue bid
- June 7, 2002 - A missionary in the Philippines and a nurse were killed in an attempt by the military to release hostages kidnapped by Muslim separatist guerrillas.
- American Martin Burnham and Filipina nurse Ediborah Yap died in the operation, while Burnham's wife, Gracia was wounded and is now in hospital, General Roy Cimatu said.
- Source:BBC
Indonesian police hunt for bomber
- June 6, 2002 - A bus bombing in Central Sulewesi, Indonesia, has claimed the lives of 17 people, including a pastor and his 17 year old daughter.
- Source:MSNBC
From the Ashes of Jihad, a Harvest of Souls
- June 5, 2002 - 10,000 Christians have been killed in Indonesia by Muslim extremists since 1999, and some 600,000 are homeless.
- But persecution has not extinguished the Christian church in the Maluku Islands. Instead, [missionary groups] report a time of harvest. During the last 15 months, they have seen 8,000 Indonesians give their lives to Jesus Christ.
- Source:CBN
Confusion Plagues U.S. Policy on Religious Freedom
- May 17, 2002 - Two federal organizations compete with each other, or even cause confusion about the state of religious persecution. They are the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (CIRF), and the State Department Office of International Religious Freedom (OIRF).
- The CIRF listed 22 Countries of Primary Concern:
- Afghanistan, Belgium, Burma, China, Egypt, France, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Laos, Nigeria, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam made the list.
- Source:Religion Today - Crosswalk
DeLay: Christianity Bashing in Vogue
- Apr. 20, 2002 - House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, R-Texas says Christians can not express their Christian worldview outside of church without being criticized. He has experienced this first-hand. The Washington Post has ciriticized him for expressing his own beliefs in Congress. He had said:
- Only Christianity offers a comprehensive worldview that covers all areas of life and thought...
The Post quoted the executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church & State who claimed that DeLay "lacks appreciation for the religious pluralism" of the United States.
- Source:NewsMax
200 Million Christians Suffer Persecution
- April 9, 2002 - According to The World Evangelical Alliance, 200 million Christians around the world suffer persecution and the deprivation of fundamental human rights. This makes them "the largest single group in the world which is being denied human rights on the basis of their faith." Their report was given before the United Nations' Human Rights Commission in Geneva.
- Source:Worthy News
Islamic militants kill five in church
- Mar. 18, 2002 - Radical Islamics, fleeing from Afghanistan, threw a grenade into a protestant church service in Islamabad, Pakistan, this week-end. The blast killed five and injured about 45. Two of the dead were U.S. citizens.
- Source:The Times - U.K.
11 Christians arrested in Zimbabwe
- Feb. 19, 2001 - On Feb. 16, at a prayer for peace rally in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, police arrested 11 Christians, including four pastors. The police were controlled by dictator President Robert Mugabe. The prayer rally was conducted on the second anniversary of the date that the Zimbabwe government began confiscating the farms of foreigners, throwing the country into economic chaos. Father Noel Scott of the local Anglican church led the prayer meeting and procession. Those arrested face a maximum penalty of five years in jail.
- Source:WorldNetDaily
Beijing's war on Christ
- Feb. 14, 2002 - In preparation for President Bush's visit, China has released the Hong Kong Businessman who was accused of smuggling Bibles, but a number of policy papers from Chinese officials make it clear that China is determined to crack down on any religious group that is not under their control.
- Source: WorldNetDaily - Joel Miller
- Also: Secret docs detail China church crackdown
- Art Moore, WorldNetDaily
- China Deepens Assault on Faith - Philip P. Pan - Washington Post
- Center For Religious Freedom
Bush Warns China On Bible-Smuggling Case
- Jan. 14, 2002 - Li Guangqiang, a Christian businessman, was arrested months ago by the Chinese government for supplying Bibles to Chinese people.
- Li, 38, is accused of smuggling more than 16,000 Chinese-language Bibles from Hong Kong into southeast China, and could face the death penalty if convicted of practicing unauthorized religious activity.
President Bush and several congressmen have expressed their concern about this case to Chinese officials.
- Source:Maranatha Journal Online
Christians compared to the Taliban
- Jan 4, 2002 - David Limbaugh's article, Democratic hate speech, exposes a strategy to persecute Christians during the next round of political campaigns. Newsweek's Howard Fineman, reports that the Democrats are planning to compare the "Christian right" to the Taliban as intolerant religious extremists.
- Fundamentalists of any religion (read: Christians) are dangerous. And who are the Christian fundamentalists? Essentially, those who believe the Bible is the Word of God.
- Source:WorldNetDaily
- UPDATE Jan. 14, 2002 - Dems unlikely to employ 'Taliban strategy'
- World Net Daily - People interveiwed by Human Events say that this approach could backfire in the "swing states," which could go either way in an election.
Aid Workers Airlifted Out of Afghanistan Detail Their Experience
- Nov. 16, 2001 - The two American women who were freed yesterday, along with six other prisoners, told stories of hearing the bombing in Kabul, being whisked away in a steel container to another jail, and being released and treated as heroes in the town of Ghazni before being airlifted to Pakistan by US helicopters. They credit prayer - their own, and those of people at home -- for their survival and rescue.
- Source:Fox
Aid workers taste freedom
- Nov. 15, 2001 - The eight humanitarian workers who have been held for months on charges of preaching Christianity, are free today. When the Taliban fled from Kabul, they took the prisoners with them. They were locked up in a steel container at first, then transfered to a jail. On Wednesday, an anti-Taliban uprising succeded in releasing them. They were then evacuated by US special forces to Pakistan.
- Source:BBC
Slain Christians mourned in Pakistan
- Oct. 29, 2001 - Sixteen worshippers were killed during the Sunday worship service in Bahawalpur, Pakistan, when gunmen burst into the church and opened fire. The dead included women and children. Today thousands mourners attended a funeral service for the slain Christians. It is believed that the perpetrators were Taliban sympathizers.
- Survivors said the gunmen locked the doors and sprayed fire at the Protestant congregation who were using the Roman Catholic church of Saint Dominic's at the time.
- Source:BBC
Taliban offers
to release aid workers if U.S. backs down
- Oct. 6, 2001 - Afghanistan's Foreign Minister has offered to release the eight Western aid workers who are being held on charges of proselytizing. Two of them are American women. The U.S. would have to halt it's war preparations for this to occur. There has been no response yet from American officials.
- Source:MSNBC
More Afghans Arrested
In Missionary Probe
- Sept. 12, 2001 - Another thirty-five Afghan aid workers were arrested by Taliban authorities over the weekend, bringing the total to more than 50 Afghans jailed since early August on suspicion of aiding covert Christian missionary work. They were employed by the recently banned International Assistance Mission (IAM), and were arrested when they came to get their salary payment.
- Source: Maranatha Christian Journal
Taleban shut down two more agencies
- Sept. 1, 2001- Following the arrest of 24 Shelter Now International workers in Afghanistan, the ruling Taliban has now shut down two more Christian agencies. One of them is International Assistance Mission (IAM), which runs two eye hospitals and several clinics, and has helped with treatment of AIDS victims. It has been active in Afghanistan for more than 35 years. The other agency is Serve.
- Serve, also a Christian organisation, is a smaller operation that provides solar panels as well as other shelter-related projects.
- Source:BBC
Taleban to allow access to detainees
- Aug. 23, 2001 - Two Americans and six other foreigners have been detained for over three weeks in Afghanistan without the privilege of communicating with outside sources. The Taliban Militia now says they will allow representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit the detainees.
- The Taleban have said the detainees, who were working for a German-based relief agency called Shelter Now International, are in good health and are being well cared for.
- Source: BBC
Christians' Arrests in Saudi Arabia Raise Concerns
- Aug. 6, 2001 - In Saudi Arabia, where it is illegal to practice any religion except Islam, it has been normal to deport those who disobeyed this law. Recently they have started arresting people instead, and their fate is not known. The United States has done very little to confront Saudia Arabia about this.
- Source: Religion Today
Saudi Arabia Is Again The World's Worst Persecutor of Christians
- July 19, 2001 -
According to Open Doors' List of the Top Ten "Hall of Shame," Saudi Arabia Is Again The World's Worst Persecutor of Christians, But Turkmenistan Is Causing "Great Concern" With Its Anti-Christian Activities.
- Terry Madison, US President and CEO of Open Doors with Brother Andrew
said "The situation for Christians has deteriorated sharply in Turkmenistan. The
country has developed into a state where its president, Sapurmurat Niyazov, is
venerated like a god. And because Christians do not look at the president this
way (like a god), they are under close surveillance, facing arrest, imprisonment
and deportation.
- Source:Worthy News
Sudan's Holy War: A Call to Action
- June 8, 2001 - H.R. 931, known as The Sudan Peace Act, cleared the House of Representatives International Relations Committee on June 6th, and will soon be considered by the full House.
- The Islamic government of Sudan has waged a brutal battle against the Christians of southern Sudan for over 10 years, resulting in what many people consider the greatest humanitarian and human rights catastrophe in the world, claiming the lives of nearly 2 million people and displacing an additional 4 million.
- Royce says the Sudan Peace Act does
several things. First, it requires companies wishing to raise capital in
the United States for operations in Sudan to disclose the nature of
those operations and their relationship to violations of religious
freedom and other human rights in Sudan.
- The bill also urges the Bush Administration to make available $10
million that can be used to help rebuild areas that have been
devastated in southern Sudan. And it requires the Administration to
develop a contingency plan to operate outside of Operation Lifeline
Sudan, "the humanitarian relief effort that has been outrageously
manipulated by the Government of Sudan."
- Source: Crosswalk
- Also see the first two articles in this series:
- Sudan Gaining Attention; Ministry Helps Boy Soldiers
- In Sudan, To Live for Christ is to Die ...
- Also: Sudan links
Sudan: Blood spills as oil flows
- June 5, 2001 - Western corporations knowlingly strengthen Muslim forces in Sudan's ongoing civil war in order to increase their own oil interests. By doing so, they contribute to the killing of black Christians in that country.
- Source: WorldNetDaily
French Christians Fear Ramifications Of Anti-Sect Law
- June 1, 2001 - A law passed last Wednesday by the French Parliament is aimed at controlling the activities of dangerous religious sects, but critics of the law say it is also likely to affect ordinary churches. Negative and sensationalist media reports have caused suspicion that any non-mainstream church is a cult. Evangelical churches are especially affected by this unfair perception.
- Some churches were already considering
removing the word "evangelical" from their
names, the president of the French
Protestant Federation (FPF), the Rev.
Jean-Arnold de Clermont, said from Paris
Thursday.
- Source: Religion Today
Russia: Belgorod Applies Anti-Missionary Law
- June 1, 2001 - The Belgorod region, approximately 450 miles south of Moscow, has a new law that sharply restricts missionary activity. It has already affected some protestant churches in the area.
- The regional duma (parliament) of Belgorod
region, approximately 450 miles south of
Moscow, has passed a local law sharply
restricting missionary activity. The new law
is supported by the local Orthodox bishop
and the governor, but opposed by
Belgorod's Protestants, some of whom
have already had it applied against them.
According to Keston News Service, a
Pentecostal church was denied permission
for public events in the city center in April
as an official claimed the possible
presence
of children without written permission of
their parents meant the events would
violate the law, although the Orthodox had
no problems holding public Easter
celebrations with children present.
- Source: Religion News Today - from Keston
Kazakhstan: Prosecutor Issues Illegal Ban on Baptist Church
- May 16, 2001 -
Kurmangazy Abdumuratov and Askhat Alimkhanov, two young men who lead a
small Baptist church in the town of Kulsary, near the Caspian Sea, have been told to stop holding services since they have not yet been registered by the state. Officials could not site a law requiring registration.
- Between five and 13 people attended the church's three meetings each week, but
they only had six adults with all the documents needed to register. Abdumuratov
and Alimkhanov explained that even with up to 30 members it is difficult to obtain
the required 10 to sign the church statute because part of the registration process
requires all who sign the application to be investigated by the country's political
police, the KNB, in which their employer is notified. They claim many people fear
signing the statute will cost them their job.
- Source: Worthy News - From Keston News Service
U.S. says downing of plane is Peru's fault
- Apr. 23, 2001 - A Peruvian fighter plane shot down a missionary plane, killing a woman and baby and injuring the pilot last Friday. They claimed the right to do so because, supposedly, the missionary pilot had not filed a flight plan, and they thought the plane was involved in drug traffic.
- Further evidence is coming to light that the pilot had indeed filed a flight plan, there was no reason to suspect them of carrying drugs, and, the CIA, who monitored the entire operation from their surveillance plane, had tried to stop the fighter pilot from firing on the plane!
- As questions mounted at the emerging U.S. role in
the incident, officials in Washington and Peru
investigating the CIA's involvement said the
responsibility lies with Peru's air force. They said
three Americans aboard the CIA surveillance plane
voiced repeated concerns that the Peruvians were
moving through their checklist of procedures too
quickly as they targeted and shot at the plane.
- Source: Chicago Tribune
Atrocities Against Christians In Indonesia
- Christian Aid Responds to Horror in the Moluccas
- Mar. 1, 2001 - Graphic examples of the torture of Christians in Moluccas "holy war" against Christians.
- Source: ReligionToday
- BBC: Indonesia's Flashpoints - Background of the unrest in Indonesia and the persecution in Moluccas
- Horrifying reports filed by team assessing persecution in Indonesia - Worthy News
Tough Amendments To Kazakhstan Religion Law Proposed
- Feb. 20, 2001 - A draft ammendment to Kazakhstan's 1992 law on religion would, if approved, make the country one of the harshest in regard to religious freedom. This is partly due to the threat of radical Islamic influences in the country.
- Source: Maranatha Journal
OBITUARY: Richard Wurmbrand
- Feb. 19, 2001 - Pastor Richard Wurmbrand, founder of The Voice of the Martyrs, went home to the Lord Saturday,
February 17, 2001, in Glendale, California, following a long illness.
Anti-Christian bigotry moves front and center
- Jan. 19, 2001 - The attack against John Ashcroft because of his statement (in the words of our Christian founders), "We have no king but Jesus," is nothing less than bare-faced anti-Christian bigotry.
Joseph Farah, editor and CEO of WorldNetDaily believes that the treatment of Ashcroft is actually a test case by which radical secularists seek to marginalize all orthodox Christians and rid them from positions of responsibility.
- I believe they are hunting bigger game than
Ashcroft. I think People for the American Way,
the pro-abortion extremists and the other
assorted professional activists united against
Ashcroft are setting the stage for a campaign of
intolerance and bigotry against other Christians
who might dare to speak out as candidly and
forthrightly as the attorney general nominee has
over the years. They want to raise the stakes.
They want to condition the public to fear and
hate such men and women. They want to give
Bush and future presidents something to think
about before naming outspoken Christians to
other posts.
- Source:WorldNetDaily - Joseph Farah
- See also:
Who's Afraid of Christians? The Media It Seems - Fox News - Eric Burns (Might be posted here in the future)
China blows up hundreds of illegal 'churches'
- Dec. 13, 2000 - In an apparent crack-down for the Christmas season, some 200 churches in city of Wenzhou, China, have been destroyed and another 239 shut down. Most of China's millions of Christians belong to "underground" illegal churches.
- Source: Electronic Telegraph
Church Descrated by Hindu Extremists in Gujarat, India
- Dec. 12, 2000 - Militant Hindus attacked and desecrated an Evangelical Church of India in Gujarat state on November 26. They destroyed crosses inside and outside the church, and placed Hindu idols in the sanctuary.
- Source: Prophezine
Report: 165,000 Christians Will Be Martyred This Year
- Nov. 22, 2000 - In his new book "Today's Martyrs," religious statistician David B. Barrett says that 165,000 Christians will be killed for their faith in Jesus this year, and more than 43 million Christians have died for their faith in Christ since the beginning of the Christian movement.
- German missiologist Prof. Thomas Schirrmacher
writes that no other religious community has been persecuted as hard as Christians.
Persecution is on the rise due to the expansion of Islamic and Hindu extremism as
well as the appearance of new dictatorships in Africa.
- Source: Maranatha Christian Journal
Doing Something To Stop Persecution
- Oct. 28, 2000 - Sunday, Nov. 12th will be the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.
- About 200 million people live in countries where they are persecuted for their beliefs. They may be imprisoned, beat, or even put to death. More than 150,000 Christians die each year because of their faith, according to news reports. Persecution is the most severe in the Middle East, communist nations, and countries where Christians are a minority.
- What can we do? The main thing is to pray for the persecuted, and to press for religious freedoms laws. Christians in more than 300,000 churches in 130 nations will participate in the fifth annual Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.
- Source: Religion News Today
Catholic Priest Killed In India
- July 17, 2000 - Remis Karketta, a Catholic priest, and principal of St. Xavier School in Bundu, southern Bihar, was shot while riding his motorbike. His body was left to be run over so that the murder would appear to be an accident.
- Source: Maranatha Christian Journal
Man convicted of being a Christian
- July 14, 2000 - Somalian refugee faces death penalty for conversion
- Mohammed Omer Haji, a Somalian refugee living in Yemen, converted to Christianity two years ago. He has been convicted for the "crime" but sentencing has been delayed. In Yemen it is a capital offense to convert to Christianity.
- Source: WorldNetDaily
Indian Christians in protests
- July 14, 2000 - Trying to get the attention of India's government, tens of thousands of protesters across the country complained that India's 17 million Christians, about 2.5 per cent of the country's predominantly Hindu population, were under "siege".
- These include the murder of a Christian missionary in a town north of New
Delhi in June; the death of his helper in police custody, and the killing of a
preacher in northern Punjab state. Serial bombings of churches followed in the
adjoining states of Andhra Pradesh, Goa and Karnataka. Christian leaders
hold Hindu fundamentalists responsible for the attacks and blame the federal
government for failing to protect them.
- Source: Electronic Telegraph
Christians attacked by a mob near Bombay
- May 10, 2000 - About 60 missionaries were attacked by Hindu extremists at a two day conference at a hostel run by The Evangelical Alliance Mission about 100 miles from Bombay. They were beat and stoned, but none were hospitalized.
- Source: Christian News
Pope pays tribute to modern martyrs
- May 8, 2000 - Pope John Paul II led an ecumenical service in honor of the martyrs of the 20th Century, attended by thousands of pilgrims. A list of 12,000 new Christian martyrs was not released, but may be made available later.
- Source: BBC
China, Sudan, and Russia abuse freedom
- May 2, 2000 - According to a report from The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which was just released, abuses in the three nations deserve immediate attention.
- Sudan and China are practicing flagrant and widespread religious-liberty abuses.
- Russia enacted a religion law in 1997 requiring minority religious groups to undergo an "onerous and intrusive registration process." The deadline for registering is December 2000, and a presidential decree states that groups not registered by then will be liquidated.
- Source: Religion News
Six More Chinese House Church Leaders Arrested and Sentenced
- Apr. 15, 2000 - The Chinese government is cracking down on religious movements not under their control. Since their conflict with the Falun Gong cult, they have been more oppresive against Christian house churches also. Hundreds of house church leaders are in prison, many serving two year sentences having to do hard labor.
- Source: Worthy News
SBC Accused of Promoting Hate Crimes
- Mar. 29, 2000 - The launch of a nation-wide evangelistic program this summer by the Southern Baptists is motivated by love, but is being increasingly being described as the promotion of hate.
- Source: CBN
McCain vs. Robertson
- Feb. 29, 2000 - John McCain is successfully putting a negative spin on George W. Bush's conservative Christian supporters, His aide, the aide, Mike Murphy, compared such Christians to the Mafia. McCain himself has blasted Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell.
- Source: CBN
- See also: Religious rhetoric used as a wedge- Religion News Today
Police fire on Nigeria rioters
- Feb. 22, 2000 - Christians in Nigeria are protesting the proposed introduction of Islamic law in their country. Rioting by gangs of Christians and Muslims resulted in police killing at least 25 people.
- Source: BBC
Ore. Church in Zoning Battle
- Feb. 19, 2000 - Another Oregon town has imposed unusual limitations on a church. The city of Jacksonville will allow Presbyterians to build a new church, but say they can't use it for weddings or funerals.
- CBS Market Watch
Portland church at center of gathering storm
- Feb. 12, 2000 - A Portland judge has limited attendance at a Methodist church to 70 even though its sanctuary holds more than 400 over a dispute with the neighborhood about feeding the poor.
- Source: The Oregonian
- Update Mar. 2, 2000 - City council lifts attendance, activity restrictions at Portland church
Filipinos freed after being jailed for Christian worship
- Jan 27, 2000 - In Saudi Arabia, where no religion is allowed except Islam, 16 Filipinos, including 5 children, were arrested for attending a Bible study. Four are still being held, but the others have been released after at least 12 days in jail.
- Source: ABC News
The lions are back
- Jan. 20, 2000 - Article by Greg Nyquist about the torture and murder of Christians worldwide.
- Western Civilization suffered a great setback in the 20th Century because of the advances of Communism and Islam.
- One of the least appreciated consequences of this transformation is the resumption of a type of persecution that would have been unthinkable a hundred years ago: namely, the persecutions of Christians.
Egypt, Sudan, China, and even modern Russia engage in wholesale persecution of Christians.
- Source: World Net Daily
1999: Year of Persecution
- Jan 8, 1999 - by Jerry Falwell - Numerous examples of American Christians who suffered opposition because of their faith during the year.
- Source: WorldNetDaily
- Modern Day McCarthyism?
Rule limits preaching on Christian TV
- Jan. 7, 1999 - A Dec. 29 ruling by the FCC requires the majority of programming of an educational TV station not to be "primarily devoted to religious exhortation, proselytizing, or statements of personally-held religious views and beliefs."
- ...Preaching does not serve the general public, the FCC said.
Noncommercial educational television stations should serve the needs "of
the entire community to which they are assigned" and should be responsive
to a wide audience "as opposed to the sway of particular political,
economic, social or religious interests."
Brandt Gustavson, president of the National Religious Broadcasters said that this decision is dangerous and interferes with religious expression. He said that it implies that the government can restrict certain kinds of religious speech, "disfavoring more passionate and emotional expressions of faith while not constraining others that are more 'intellectual' and drained of human emotion."
- Source: Religion Today
- See Under Fire, FCC Reverses Religious Broadcasting Ruling - Jan. 29, 2000
Freedom purchased for slaves in Sudan
- Controversial 'redemption' project frees 5,514 in secret mission
- Dec. 23, 1999 - Julie Foster
- Christian Solidarity International, announced that it purchased the freedom of 5,514 slaves in Sudan last week, raising the total number of slaves freed through their organization to 20,961. The price per slave is approximately $50. Most of them are Christians or animist women and children from the Dinka tribe.
- While applauding their humanitarian motives, critics claim that buying slaves just encourages the illicit trade and drives up the price.
- Source: WorldNetDaily
Dozen arrested in alleged terrorist plot against Christian targets
- Dec. 13,1999 - Approximately a dozen suspects were arrested in an undisclosed Middle East country for plotting to attack Christian targets in Jerusalem and possibly in Rome during the Christmas and New Year's holidays. Those arrested are said to have ties to Osama Bin Laden's terrorist organization.
- Source: CNN
Megiddo warns of millennial violence
- Dec. 10, 1999 - Critics fear government may cause, not prevent, mayhem - By David M. Bresnahan
- In an October report sent to police chiefs across the nation, warnings have been issued that militia organizations, fundamentalist Christians and racial separatist groups may cause violence at the beginning of the new millennium.
- The danger here is that future problems may be blamed on these groups whether or not they are responsible.
- "Religious motivation and the NWO (New World
Order) conspiracy theory are the two driving
forces behind the potential for millennial
violence," the report says. "As the end of the
millennium draws near, biblical prophecy and
political philosophy may merge into acts of
violence by the more extreme members of
domestic terrorist groups that are motivated, in
part, by religion."
Source:WorldNetDaily
The Christian haters
- Dec. 3, 1999 - by David Kupelian
- The executive editor of WorldNetDaily explains that the idea of "hate crimes" legislation is based "in the long-term plans of activist homosexual organizations to coerce the rest of the world into accepting and embracing the homosexual lifestyle."
- He identifies the real target of this movement as the "crime" of making people feel bad by expressing one's own view of the truth. From this point of view, even preaching inside the church that homosexuality is contrary to God's Word can be considered a hate crime.
- If Christians can be forced to be silent about sin and salvation they will no longer be true to their beliefs.
- Kupelian says:
- But the core message, and this is the part those
who want to silence Christians really hate -- and I
do mean hate -- is not their imperfections. It's the
truth of the message that they're at war with.
Is Christianity A Hate Crime?
- Nov. 3, 1999 - by Frank York
- When the Southern Baptists announced plans to send 100,000 Christians to Chicago next summer to do good deeds and evangelize the city, Chicago's liberal Council of Religious Leaders asked them to reconsider, suggesting that "the outreach might spark violence and hate crimes against minority religious groups in the city."
- The council's response " is sounding alarm bells among
Christians who fear that merely speaking openly
about their core religious beliefs will soon be
considered a crime. "
- Source: WorldNetDaily
Go to: News articles before Dec. 1, 1999
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