Seven female Christian students missing in eastern India violence - official
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/seven.female.christian.students.missing.in.eastern.india.violence.official/16002.htm
BHUBANESWAR, INDIA - At least seven teenage girls were missing in eastern India where Christian-Hindu violence left over 9 dead and more than 60 churches damaged, a state government official said Sunday.
Enlarge this picture7 female Christian students missing in violence-hit Orissa, says official...A boarding school informed police about the missing ninth grade students on Saturday, said Satyenbrata Sahu, a divisional commissioner.
"We suspect they have run away out of fear," he told The Associated Press, adding police were searching for the girls.
On Sunday, more than 1000 Christians held protest in the capital urging the government to punish the attackers and protect the Christian community in the state.
Over 700 Christians fearing attacks, have taken shelter in government run relief camps.
"Many priests, nuns and ordinary Christians are hiding in the forest to escape the wrath of Hindu activists," said Dominic Emmanuel, a spokesman for the New Delhi Catholic Archdiocese.
Dr Sajan George, President of Global Council of Indian Christians, an advocacy group based in Bangalore said, "The Christians who are already attacked and those who are in great fear of being attacked feel with sufficient reason that they are left to the mercy of the fundamentalists."
"In conclusion, it is clear that the administration miserably failed to take necessary and effective steps to prevent such unprecedented outbreak of violence and the destruction of establishments of Christian community in Kandhamal District," he added.
Muslim clerics warn Afghanistan president against missionaries
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/muslim.clerics.warn.afghanistan.president.against.missionaries/16004.htm
The President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai has been told by the country’s Islamic council to stop foreign aid groups from converting locals to Christianity.
The influential council of Islamic clergy and ulema (scholars) made the warning in a statement during a meeting with Karzai on Friday in which it also called for the reintroduction of public executions, which have not taken place since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
"The council is concerned about the activities of some ... missionary and atheistic organs and considers such acts against Islamic sharia (law), the constitution, and political stability," the council said in its statement.
"If not prevented, God forbid, catastrophe will emerge, which will not only destablise the country, but the region and the world."
Ahmad Ali Jebrayeli, a member of the council and also a member of parliament, said that reliable sources had told him of Christian missionaries using offices in Kabul and in the provinces as bases from which to convert the local population.
He also alleged that the missionaries are being supported by NGOs.
"Some NGOs are encouraging them (to convert), give them books (Bibles) and promise to send them abroad," he told Reuters news agency on Saturday.
Missionary work in Afghanistan came under fire in 2007 when a group of 23 South Korean missionaries were kidnapped and held hostage by the Taliban, who accused them of converting Muslim Afghans to Christianity. They were later released, but not before two of the group were murdered.
Some Muslims who hold onto a strict interpretation of the Koran believe that conversion to another faith from Islam is apostasy and therefore punishable by death.
In 2006, Pope Benedict appealed for clemency and a number of Western leaders protested over the case made by an Afghan court against Abdul Rahman over his conversion to Christianity. The case was later dropped amid international clamour and widespread protests after the court ruled that Rahman was mentally ill.
A number of foreign aid groups and charities operating in Afghanistan are supported by or partnered with Christian organisations. They make clear, however, that their remit is restricted to providing aid and practical support, and not to proselytise.
US presidential hopeful Huckabee rates highest for family values - report
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/us.presidential.hopeful.huckabee.rates.highest.for.family.values.report/15978.htm
Top Republican contenders in the US presidential race were rated on their family values claim by a leading West Coast pro-family organisation in a report card released Wednesday.
California-based Campaign for Children and Families (CCF) compiled the Report Card on the Natural Family which graded six GOP candidates on their protection of the basic family unit.
The organisation reviewed the candidates’ positions in published votes, policies, public statements and documents to see how they defended the natural family – a father, a mother, and their children. The greatest weight was given to actual votes, actions and policies rather than recent statements that differ from past policies, statements or actions, CCF explained.
Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and Texas Congressman Ron Paul received the highest rating with seven out of a possible eight points. Senator John McCain of Arizona received four points, followed by former Senator Fred Thompson of Tennessee with three points. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was given the next to lowest rating, one point, by the pro-family organisation.
Surprisingly, self-proclaimed family values champion, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, received the lowest score of zero points by the pro-family group.
“While all of the leading Republican candidates claim to embrace family values, let the record show that they’re marching to different drummers on marriage rights, adoption, schoolchildren, and the destructive ‘LGBT’ agenda,” said CCF president Randy Thomasson.
The candidates were scored in the categories of protection of civil marriage rights for one man and one woman; protection of the natural family, the boy scouts, and school children; and support for adoption by both a father and mother.
Topics such as adoption by homosexual couples, hate crime laws, and homosexual education in public schools were specific subcategories used to grade the candidates.
The pro-family group said that the leading Democratic candidates, meanwhile, “support nearly all” of the homosexual, bisexual, and transsexual agenda.
“As always, what a candidate does means much more than what they say. Facts are stubborn things,” Thomasson noted. The CCF president said he is a registered independent and will compare candidates from both major parties later this year.
The Campaign for Children and Families is a pro-family organisation that seeks to mobilise US citizens to support family values in the culture, media and government.
Academia: Teach Evolution, Not Creation
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/297869.aspx
The debate over evolution and creationism is common in classrooms across the country.
Now, the government's most influential scientific advisers are weighing it.
They say intelligent design should not be taught in public schools.
The new book Science, Evolution and Creationism has been released by the National Academy of Sciences.
Researchers claim the evidence supporting evolution continues to grow, and that non-scientific approaches do not belong in science classes.
President Bush supports teaching both evolution and creationism so that students can understand the debate.
Recent polls show 61 percent of Americans believe the biblical story of creation.
"Why are the evolutionists so defensive?" posed The Creation Museum's Daid Menton. "If their ideas are so compelling, I would think they would welcome a challenge."
"Unintended ignorance is excusable. Unwillingness to learn is not," expressed Director of the Center for Scientific Creation, Dr. Walt Brown. "Preventing students from learning is reprehensible."
Scientists who wrote the new book say that the evidence for evolution can be "fully compatible" with religion.
However, the Bible says that sin preceded death, whereas evolution implies that death preceded sin. The troubled theory claims that "prehistoric life" existed hundreds of millions of years ago - well before Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden some 6,000 to 7,000 years ago.
More Churches Burning, Uniting in Kenya
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/297876.aspx
Two more churches have been burned down in Kenya.
This week, mobs have been leading political riots throughout the country.
Kenya is predominantly Christian, but churches have become targets in a violent ethnic rivalry.
In the midst of the mayhem, church leaders are coming together to restore peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment