Latest news from ChristianAggression.org http://www.christianaggression.org 2008-06-15T16:49:37+01:00 text/html http://www.christianaggression.org/item_display.php?type=NEWS&id=1213562977 (CrusadeWatch note: It is unfortunate that in a state where people cannot even afford square meals a day, the Government headed by a Christian fundamentalist chief minister is misusing people's money to pay each Christian pilgrim to visit Jerusalem. The amount paid to each Christian visitor is enough to feed a poor child for 2 years) source: Deccan Chronicle, June 15, 2008 Hyderabad, June 14: State government is finalising the guidelines to Holy Land Yatra to Israel for Christians on the lines of Haj Pilgrimage. Only white card holders are to be made eligible under the scheme for which government earlier gave the nod for financial. The Minorities Welfare Department will be soon coming out with the guidelines after consultation with AP Federation of Churches sources said. Christians holding white cards will be given preference on first cum first serve basis and those who are above 50 years will be given financial assistance. Church authorities and lay groups asked the government to sanction Rs 20,000 to each pilgrim on par with Haj Pilgrims. As per the schedule the pilgrimage covers Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Nazareth, Jordan River, places around dead sea and Sea of Galilee and several other places connected to Christian faith. A group of 50 to 100 pilgrims will be visiting the Holy Land. "Mainly the tour is for a week and charges would be around Rs 55,000 to Rs 65,000 depending on accommodation and facilities provided by travel agent. It is proposed to limit the period to five days in Israel excluding the travel to reduce the cost to Rs 45,000 in which government will bear Rs 20,000 and the rest will be borne by the pilgrims," Fr T Anthony Raj, Executive Secretary of AP Federation of Churches, said. The state government already sanctioned Rs 2 crore and at least 1000 pilgrims will be benefited. Advisor to the Government and former South Central Railway, GM Mr T. Stanley Babu, is also part of the team finalising the guidelines. An official of Minorities Welfare Department said "The pilgrim shall produced SSC certificate which shows that he is a Christian. Even the MRO certificate stating that the person is a bonafide Christian will also be valid. The applicants should possess a valid passport with a minimum validity period of two years at the time of applying." A screening committee with five members including officials from Minority Welfare Department, AP State Minorities Commission, AP Minorities Finance Corporation and representative from the church bodies. text/html http://www.christianaggression.org/item_display.php?type=NEWS&id=1213237981 Thiruvananthapuram, June 9: A high-profile evangelist is under pressure to explain an “unaccounted” amount of Rs 900 crore his trust received from the US as Kerala’s crackdown on “commercial spiritualism” gathers pace. Bishop K.P. Yohannan has been under the watch of regulators and police since the hunt for “fake godmen” began in the first week of May for having received the funds from the Texas-based Gospel for Asia in the past 12 years. Failure to explain could make him the subject of a probe. The police claim that a trust closely held by Yohannan and his relatives had received Rs 1,044 crore for charity and church activities from Texas body since 1995 but spent only Rs 144 crore on such purposes. Director-general of police (intelligence) Jacob Punnose has told home minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan about the “unaccounted cash” and recommended an inquiry to verify how the trust had used the Rs 900 crore. Chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan is aware of the matter. The assets of Believers’ Church, Yohannan’s trust, were estimated at Rs 572 crore and Gospel for Asia’s at Rs 472 crore. The nature of the probe is yet to be decided since there are several departments and agencies concerned with the activities of Believers’ Church and Gospel for Asia. Since the amount flowed in from a single source, the Gospel for Asia, the Reserve Bank will have to probe if any part of it had been spent on activities outside the country and whether it was done with permission. Another matter to be examined is how Yohannan’s trust has retained 2,500 acres when the law allows only 2,000 acres and whether it had secured special permission. The bishop was not available for comment. Yohannan is not the only one facing the heat in the drive “commercial spiritualism”. Other Christian prayer-healing organisations like Swargeeya Virunnu (Heavenly Feast), run by Brother Thanku (Sam Kuruvila) and Brother Thomas Kutty are also under the scanner. text/html http://www.christianaggression.org/item_display.php?type=NEWS&id=1213237874 Buxar: Residents of Parmanpur village in Bihar’s Buxar district have alleged that Christian missionaries lure them to convert and threaten them with violence if they don’t obey. Anjoriya Devi’s husband died death eight years ago and she alleges he was beaten to death by goons hired by missionaries. "They beat up my husband when he refused to convert to Christianity. They have threatened me too," alleges Anjoriya. MISSION SCARE: Anjoriya Devi alleges missionaries are harassing her. Mithilesh Kumar, another resident of the village, alleges the missionaries tried to lure him by offering him a job. “They said if I remain a Hindu, I will remain unemployed and poor. They said I would have money and a job if I converted to Christianity,” he alleges. Police in the village say they have arrested two persons after investigating complaints. “Investigations confirm there have been instances of conversion by intimidation. We have arrested two persons,” said Koran Sahay, officer in charge of the local Kuran Sarai police station. Missionaries in the village reject the allegations and claim they are being framed. “We have done no such thing. We are victims of a conspiracy,” said Shyamshun Dayal Ishai, a missionary accused of intimidation. The villagers allegation could snowball into major controversy, as it will give excuse Hindu outfits to renew their demand for an anti-conversion Bill. text/html http://www.christianaggression.org/item_display.php?type=NEWS&id=1212453900 The Church of England was accused by one of its most senior bishops yesterday of failing in its duty to convert British Muslims to Christianity. The Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, said Church leaders had rightly shown sensitivity towards Muslims as part of efforts to welcome minority faiths. But he said: ‘I think it may have gone too far and what we need now is to recover our nerve.’ Dr Nazir-Ali, who faced death threats earlier this year after saying that some parts of the country had become ‘no-go areas’ for non-Muslims, said that it was important for faiths to talk to one another without diluting their core beliefs. ‘Our nation is rooted in the Christian faith, and that is the basis for welcoming people of other faiths,’ he said. ‘You cannot have an honest conversation on the basis of fudge.’ The Pakistani-born bishop, who in 2002 was tipped to become Archbishop of Canterbury before Dr Rowan Williams took over from Dr George Carey, was echoing concerns that many Church leaders are abandoning attempts to spread Christianity among Muslims out of fear of a backlash. Members of the Church’s ‘parliament’ have now forced the highly sensitive issue on to the agenda of this summer’s General Synod – despite the efforts of liberal bishops to warn them off. A private members’ motion calling on the bishops to clarify their strategy has gathered so many signatures of support from Synod members that it has leapt over others in the queue for the July meeting in York. Synod member Paul Eddy, who tabled the motion, said that the active recruitment of non-believers and adherents of other faiths had always been a Biblical injunction on Christians, commanded by Christ himself. But he claimed that many bishops were downplaying the missionary role of the Church and official documents often glossed over the requirement to convert Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs or followers of other religions. He warned that the central role of Christianity in Britain was being eroded, and by ‘allowing the rise of another religion in our country, all that Britain stands for is up for grabs’. The row follows new projections from the independent Christian Research organisation that suggest numbers attending mosque on Fridays will overtake those going to church on Sundays by 2050. And Dr Peter Brierley, a former Government statistician and expert on Church figures, has estimated that at least 50,000 Britons had converted from Christianity to Islam over the past decade, while the number of Muslims becoming Christians was negligible. Senior Churchmen are jittery about discussing the issue publicly, especially so soon after Dr Williams provoked outrage by supporting the introduction of elements of Sharia into British law. Mr Eddy said that he had received angry emails and telephone calls from opponents, including four bishops, leaning on him to drop his campaign. text/html http://www.christianaggression.org/item_display.php?type=NEWS&id=1212453817 ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algeria hit back on Saturday at foreign accusations minority Christians are harassed, saying Protestant evangelicals were secretly trying to divide Algerians to colonise the mainly Muslim north African country. Abu Amrane Chikh, head of the government-appointed Higher Islamic Council, said uproar in the West over a recent prosecution of an Algerian woman on a charge of practising Christianity was being fomented for the benefit of foreigners. "There are some church evangelists and reformist journalists who want to sow discord among brothers, and their long-term political goal is to create a Christian minority coupled with some foreign institutions," he said in an interview with the website of the El Khabar daily newspaper. "This is a new form of colonization that is hidden behind freedom of worship," said Chikh, whose body regulates religious practice in the former French colony. "The evangelist movement is characterized by a secret activity that violates the Koran and the Sunna in one way or another," he said, referring to Islam's holy book and Islamic practice based on words and deeds of the Prophet. CHURCH CLOSURES Christian groups overseas accused the overwhelmingly Muslim Mediterranean country of religious repression after a Muslim woman in her mid-30s appeared in court this month accused of "practising a non-Muslim religion without authorisation". Critics, including some of Algeria's liberal French-language dailies, said the woman, Habiba Kouider, was breaking no law simply by practising her religion and added that the constitution guaranteed individual religious freedom. The state prosecutor demanded she be jailed for three years. The case, which continues, follows state-ordered closures of several churches under a law passed in 2006 that limits non-Muslim worship to specific buildings approved by the state. Algeria is almost totally Muslim. According to officials, less than 10,000 Christians, including expatriates, live in the country of 33 million. Most of its Christian colonial settler population fled shortly after independence from France in 1962. Secular liberals suspect tightening curbs on Christian activity is a headline-grabbing tactic to pander to Islamists and divert attention from a worsening economic situation. But Chikh said in the case of Kouider Algeria was concerned to ensure respect for a provision in the 2006 law that forbids non-Muslims from seeking to convert Muslims. "This law requires that Christians and Muslims are to exercise their religious rites in full transparency in a place reserved for that purpose and belonging to an accredited religious institution," Chikh added. "There is no movement opposed to Christians as alleged by some tendentious minds. It is only about respecting Islam in a Muslim country, just as one must respect the Christian religion in a Christian State." text/html http://www.christianaggression.org/item_display.php?type=NEWS&id=1212453751 Online Journal Contributing Writer Jun 2, 2008, 00:17 Some U.S. military personnel appears to have launched an initiative to covert thousands of Iraqi citizens to Christianity by distributing Bibles and other fundamentalist Christian literature translated into Arabic to Muslims. A recent article published on the website of Mission Network News reported that Bible Pathway Ministries, a fundamentalist Christian organization, has provided thousands of a special military edition of its Daily Devotional Bible study book to members of the 101st Airborne Division of Fort Campbell, Kentucky, currently stationed in Iraq, the project "came into being when a chaplain in Iraq (who has since finished his tour) requested some books from Bible Pathway Ministries (BPM).” “The resulting product is a 6"x9" 496-page illustrated book with embossed cover containing 366 daily devotional commentaries, maps, charts, and additional helpful information," the Mission Network News report says. Chief Warrant Officer Rene Llanos of the 101st Airborne told Mission Network News, “the soldiers who are patrolling and walking the streets are taking along this copy, and they're using it to minister to the local residents.” "Our division is also getting ready to head toward Afghanistan, so there will be copies heading out with the soldiers," Llanos said. “We need to pray for protection for our soldiers as they patrol and pray that God would continue to open doors. The soldiers are being placed in strategic places with a purpose. They're continuing to spread the Word.” Karen Hawkins, a BPM official, said military chaplains "were trying to encourage [soldiers] to be in the Word everyday because they're in a very dangerous situation, and they need that protection." That would appear to violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment prohibiting government officials, including military personnel, from using the machinery of the state to promote any form of religion. The book’s cover includes the logos of the five branches of the armed forces giving the impression that it’s a publication sanctioned by the Pentagon. The distribution of the Bibles and Christian literature comes on the heels of a report published Wednesday by McClatchy Newspapers stating that U.S. Marines guarding the entrance to the city of Fallujah have been handing out “witnessing coins” to Sunni Muslims entering the city that read in Arabic on one side: "Where will you spend eternity?” and on the other side: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16." A Pentagon spokesman said he was unaware of the issue involving the distribution of coins and Bibles and declined to comment. The issue comes at a particularly sensitive time for Sunnis who recently clashed with U.S. military in an area west of Baghdad a week after an American soldier was found to have used a Koran, the Islamic holy book, for target practice. Following a daylong protest by Iraqis that threatened to turn violent, Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond issued a public apology to Sunnis in the area. "I come before you here seeking your forgiveness," Hammond said. "In the most humble manner I look in your eyes today and I say please forgive me and my soldiers." The soldier who shot up the Koran was disciplined and removed from duty in Iraq. Mikey Weinstein, founder and president of the watchdog agency, The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), said the religious intolerance among U.S. military personnel calls for a federal investigation. "The shocking actions revealed just last week of American soldiers in the combat zones of Iraq and Afghanistan callously using the Koran for automatic weapons 'target practice' is absolutely connected to the same issues of national security breach wrought by our United States armed forces proselytizing the local populations via the distribution to them of fundamentalist Christian coins, bibles, tracts, comics and related religious materials written in Arabic," Weistein said. "The Military Religious Freedom Foundation has been acutely aware of such astonishing unconstitutional and illicit proselytizing in Iraq and Afghanistan for over three years now and knows how massively pervasive it really is. These proselytizing transgressions are all blatant violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and MRFF is now demanding that any and all responsible military personnel be immediately prosecuted under Failure to Obey an Order or Regulation," Weinstein added. Members of the U.S. military first started actively proselytizing Iraqi Muslims soon after the U.S. invaded Iraq in March 2003. In a newsletter published in 2004 by the fundamentalist group International Ministerial Fellowship (IMF), Capt. Steve Mickel, an Army chaplain, claimed that Iraqis were eager to be converted to Christianity and that he personally tried to convert dozens of Iraqis, which is also an apparent constitutional violation. "I am able to give them tracts on how to be saved, printed in Arabic," Mickel said, according to a copy of the IMF newsletter. "I wish I had enough Arabic Bibles to give them as well. The issue of mailing Arabic Bibles into Iraq from the U.S. is difficult (given the current postal regulations prohibiting all religious materials contrary to Islam except for personal use of the soldiers). But the hunger for the Word of God in Iraq is very great, as I have witnessed firsthand." Mickel evangelized Iraqis while delivering leftover food to local residents from his unit's mess hall. He handed out Bibles translated into Arabic in the village of Ad Dawr, a predominantly Sunni territory where Saddam Hussein was captured. "Such fundamentalist Christian proselytizing DIRECTLY violates General Order 1A, Part 2, Section J issued by General Tommy Franks on behalf of the United States Central Command (USCENTCOM) back in December of 2000, which strictly prohibits 'proselytizing of any religion, faith or practice,'" said Weinstein, a former Reagan administration White House counsel and former Air Force Judge Advocate General (JAG). In addition to coins and Bibles, there have been reports of the distribution to Iraqi children of Christian comic books published by companies such as Chick Publications. These inflammatory comic books, published in English and Arabic, not only depict Mohammed, but show both Mohammed and Muslims burning in hell because they did not accept Jesus as their savior before they died Chick Publications states on its website that its literature "is desperately needed by Muslims, but getting it to them without endangering our soldiers or enflaming the Muslim leadership will not be easy." Postal regulations prohibit sending bulk religious materials contrary to Islam into Iraq, but allow religious materials to be sent to an individual soldier for their personal use. Sending more of these materials than would be necessary for an individual's personal use, but not a large enough quantity to risk being flagged by the postal service, is one way that these materials are making their way into Iraq. Chick Publications advises those wanting to send their literature to military personnel to first find out "just what tracts would be most useful and how many they can effectively use," and "to find out whether the tracts can be drop shipped from Chick Publications or if they should be sent as personal mail from the soldiers' families." A spokesman for Chick refused to comment for this story about the comics handed out to Iraqis. Meanwhile, members of the 101st Airborne stationed in Iraq will continue their work evangelizing Iraqis unless it is told otherwise. Llanos, the division's chief warrant officer, said about 2,000 copies of the military edition of the Bible provided to the 101st Airborne will soon be distributed to Iraqis. However, according to reports on the Bible Pathway Ministries website, up to 30,000 of the Christian books have been distributed to military personnel, some of which will presumably end up in the hands of Iraqis. Jason Leopold is the author of "News Junkie," a memoir. Visit www.newsjunkiebook.com for a preview. His new website is The Public Record. text/html http://www.christianaggression.org/item_display.php?type=NEWS&id=1212453678 A bill in the parliament of the Penza region in Russia envisions increasing government control over proselytizing in the region. According to a May 20, 2008 report by the Interfax news agency, missionaries would need documents declaring their missionary status issued by officially registered religious organizations. Missionary activity can take place only in religious buildings owned by the missionary's confession, inside residential buildings only with the consent of other residents, or at outdoor events that have been approved by local government agencies. Only people who have voluntarily agreed to be present at missionary events can be proselytized, and children need to have written permission from their parents in order to attend. Missionaries from outside the region have to present to the local authorities documents proving their membership in a registered religious organization, passport information, information about the purpose of the visit and the amount of time the missionary will be present in the region, a copy of an invitation issued by a locally registered religious organization (if such an invitation has been issued), and a schedule of planned activities while in the region. Foreign citizens who arrive in the region with tourist or other kinds of visas other than a missionary visa are not allowed to proselytize. Violations of these regulations could lead to a fine. text/html http://www.christianaggression.org/item_display.php?type=NEWS&id=1207278565 Guwahati, April 1 : Assam Satra Mahasabha, the apex body of Vaishnavite Satras (monasteries) in the state, has accused Christian missionaries of launching a massive conversion campaign in the river island of Majuli. It has drawn up a programme to thwart such attempts. Stating this, Assam Satra Mahasabha president Bhadrakrishna Goswami said Majuli, which is on the verge of extinction due to massive erosion caused by the Brahmaputra, is facing a “dangerous threat” of large-scale conversion of Hindus by Christian missionaries. “Majuli is the epicentre of Vaishnavite culture and tradition. The Christian missionaries have recently converted a number of Mishing tribals by luring them with money in gross violation of established norms,” alleged Goswami, who is also a member of the Kendriya Marg Darshan of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. He said a delegation of the Mahasabha would soon visit Majuli and make an assessment of the situation arising as a result of conversions. Satradhikars of several ancient Vaishnavite Satras have expressed concern over the recent spate of conversions. “Majuli is the heart of Vaishnavite religion. Hurting Majuli is like hurting the very heart of Assamese culture,” said Pitambar Deva Goswami, Satradhikar of Auniati Satra and a leading Vaishnavite scholar. The Uttar Kamalabari Satra has launched a series of public meetings in the areas where the Christian missionaries have allegedly carried out conversions in the recent months . The Catholic Church, on the other hand, has denied that it has been carrying out conversions in Majuli or elsewhere in Assam. “We have established a school and healthcare services in Majuli. But there is no intention on our part to convert anyone under any circumstances,” an official of the church said. text/html http://www.christianaggression.org/item_display.php?type=NEWS&id=1207278517 Alleging discrimination in churches, about 185 Dalit Christian families in Tirunelveli district have decided to reconvert to Hinduism on the occasion of mahasivarathiri, on March 6 at Sri Nellaiappar Temple. Organised by the Hindu Makkal Katchi (HMK), the reconversion ceremony will be held in the presence of about 25 pontiffs from both saivite and vaishnavite mutts. Says HMK state president Arjun Sampath, “This is the first time such a reconversion ceremony is taking place on a mass scale in Tamil Nadu. We want to make it clear to the converted Dalits that it is possible to reconvert to Hinduism. This ceremony will serve as a springboard for many discriminated dalits of other faiths, whose forefathers were Hindus, to embrace their original faith again.” According to Naresh Ambedkar, a Dalit Christian and a member of the reconversion ceremony committee, though 185 Dalit Christian families have openly expressed their willingness to reconvert, another 100 or more families, had also volunteered, but did not want their names to be disclosed. All of them were from Palayamkottai, Radhapuram, Sankarankoil and Thaalaiyoothu in Tirunelveli district and Sathankulam in Thoothukudi district. .Ambedkar says, “Of the 300 families, 250 are Roman Catholics coming under the Catholic Diocese of Palayamkottai and the rest belong to CSI and Pentecostal churches.” These Dalit Christians claim that several forms of discrimination in their dioceses had forced them to opt for Hinduism. Ambedkar alleges, “Although the missionaries obtain huge funds from abroad saying they would help our community, the funds really do not help in improving our status.” He wants the diocese to come out with a white paper on the utilisation of funds. Alden, another Dalit Christian of Thaalaiyoothu, said, “Two generations ago, our ancestors converted from Hinduism to Christianity to get rid of the crude practice of untouchability. But the very purpose has been defeated. We are still discriminated against on the basis of our caste. The practice of burying the dead in separate cemeteries is a classic example of caste bias. So our family of seven, including four women, has decided to return to our parent religion.” Aware of similar caste discrimination in Hinduism, he says, “There is not going to be much of a difference. Still, we prefer to reconvert as we see Hinduism as a way of life. At least, we will be able to enjoy the benefits of reservation if we reconvert to Hinduism.” There are four priests among those who are getting reconverted, claims Mr.Sampath. Meanwhile, the HMK has made preparations for the reconversion ceremony, which it prefers to call “Return-to-parent- religion festival.” Sampath says, “Pontiffs will perform rituals for those returning to their original faith at the Nellaiappar temple. They will sprinkle the holy water from the river Ganges on them to endorse their entry into the Hindu fold.” However, the organisers are now awaiting permission from the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment to conduct the ceremony at the temple. “If the government does not allow us to perform the ritual, we will accomplish it on Dr.Ambedkar’s birth anniversary on April 14 at a mandapam,” they said. text/html http://www.christianaggression.org/item_display.php?type=NEWS&id=1207278454 The Catholic Church in India is facing an increasing shortage of aspirants to convent life, with girls preferring more worldly professions, church authorities feel. "Consumer culture seems to have overtaken the young girls who are no longer challenged by the call of ascetic life," says Father Paul Thelekat, Church spokesperson. Women congregations in the country are no more getting enough vocations from the urbanised areas of Kerala [Images]. But there are enough vocations to priesthood, Father Thelekat told PTI. In European countries, the nuns are becoming extinct as a social species and the same situation may be seen in India soon, he feels. "Fifty years ago, young girls may have found the life and work being done by a sister or a nun challenging. But that is not the case today," Father Thelekat said. This could lead to a situation when existing congregations of women would be forced to abandon many of the institutional work they are doing in educational and medical care sectors, he said in a series of articles published in SatyaDeepam a church periodical. Increasingly, nuns are also feeling disillusioned as there seems to be a discrimination in the churches, the articles said. According to Sister Inigo, SSA from New Delhi, women do not enjoy equality of status in the church. "Equality for women is a non-negotiable element as far as she is concerned," sister Inigo said. "You cannot be quietly pious or quietly holy without critically considering this inequality," she said in one of the articles. Sister Alice Lukose, director, WIN Society, says unless the church is able to offer the women a 'new vision' and a 'new way' of committed life, the religious congregations for women would be facing a crisis of existence. "Today, in every field, women are equal; in every field women have come up, except in the church. The moment the church acknowledges and allows women to be different, the church would be different," she said. According to Sister Ingia, young girls are not willing to join religious life as they have number of fields open today. Earlier, it was not like that. Women are not being offered the opportunities their male counterparts are getting in the church, she said. "How many theologians have come up from among the religious women?" she asked, adding, "Not many, as they are not being allowed by men into what they consider their privileged area". With fewer women joining the convents, the church would find it difficult to run the educational institutions under them. "Church was still entrenched in the patriarchal system of domination of women by men. The net result is that women in religion feel a lot of insecurity within the church," the articles said. Sister Dr Elizabeth, MMS, Kerala, said the church has always promoted clericalism - centralisation of the Church and its functioning around ordained ministers who have an upper hand on matters related to women. In general, women are given 'second class' citizen status and are considered emotional, who lack objectivity and reasoning, she said. "In our religious structure, we do not allow our people to excel. Unless independence is given to each individual to blossom and excel, there will not be much of a future for the religious life," she said. "Today, religious life is not a creative one. We are in a rut. We are in a traditional mould and are even going backward. In the name of obedience, we are too rigid and the individual does not have space to blossom," she says. She felt the church was still 'patriarchal' and women in religion were getting a 'raw deal' from the church. There is need for 'fresh air' to come in for things to change, she said. Father Thelekat said there was need to 'reinvent' vocation and 'rewrite' their path by honestly re-interpreting the evangelical counsels to suit the demands of the modern world. "Our nuns must learn to step out the closets traditionally created for them and make their feminine voice heard in the Church and the society," Father Thelekat said.