Latest news from ChristianAggression.org http://www.christianaggression.org 2010-03-06T23:13:31+01:00 text/html http://www.christianaggression.org/item_display.php?type=NEWS&id=1267935210 SINGAPORE (Reuters Life!) - Singapore has warned a Christian pastor that his online videos are offensive to Buddhists and Taoists, underlining the city-state's concerns that religion is a potential faultline for its multicultural society. Pastor Rony Tan, of Lighthouse Evangelism, apologized and pulled the video clips off the internet after being visited by the government's Internal Security Department on Monday, the pastor and the government said on their websites. The Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement on Tuesday Tan's comments were "highly inappropriate and unacceptable," and could "give rise to tension and conflict between the Buddhist/Taoist and Christian communities." The clips are no longer available online, but the Straits Times said they involved ridiculing beliefs, including Buddhist concepts of rebirth, karma and nirvana, drawing laughter from Tan's audience. Singpore's move comes after rising religious tensions in neighboring Malaysia, where churches and mosques have been hit by arson and vandalism in recent weeks amid a row over the use of the word "Allah" by Christians. Singapore last week arrested three youths aged between 17 and 18 for posting remarks on Facebook that have been deemed to be racist, local media reported. They are likely to be charged under the Sedition Act, under which anyone found guilty of promoting feelings of ill will or hostility against other races or religions faces fines of up to S$5,000 ($3,520) as well as the possibility of being jailed for up to three years. Singapore, which saw deadly racial riots in the 1950s and 1960s, is a base for many multinational companies which value its stability, infrastructure and proximity to fast-growing Asian markets. Buddhists and Taoists account for half of Singapore's nearly 5 million population. Muslims and Christians account for 15 percent each. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a speech last August that religious and racial tensions were the country's biggest potential social faultlines. (Reporting by Nopporn Wong-Anan; Editing by Neil Chatterjee) text/html http://www.christianaggression.org/item_display.php?type=NEWS&id=1263492633 A law proposing execution for homosexuals exposes a murderous fantasy. A recent proposal in Uganda to legislate the execution of homosexuals has sparked international outrage. Although the Government has since revised its prescribed sentence from death to life imprisonment, the bill remains striking for its overt hostility towards gays. The move is more than just a Ugandan oddity - it is the embodiment of a murderous fantasy, cherished by fanatics in the West, to extinguish homosexual life altogether. It is easy for the West to dismiss the bill as a local phenomenon, emblematic of African opposition to ''civilised progress''. Deeply religious and protective of traditional family structures, Uganda has long been hostile to homosexuality. But a disturbing link has been revealed between Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill and US evangelism. According to The New York Times, three US evangelists travelled to Uganda last March and spoke at a conference that conference organiser Stephen Langa said was about ''the gay agenda - that whole hidden and dark agenda''. The Americans were invited to speak about ways of ''curing'' gay people. It appears that their denunciations of homosexuality as a threat to family values added fuel to the fire. They were heard by thousands, including the future architects of the kill-the-gays bill. The Americans have since sought to distance themselves from the bill. They insist their message is one of love, not murder. But the desire to eradicate homosexuality from human existence lies at the heart of the anti-gay movement, whether it is practised in Uganda or the West. Central to the modern anti-gay movement is the proliferation of so-called ''ex-gay therapies''. These encourage individuals to ''convert'' from their homosexual behaviour, implying that being and acting gay somehow involves a choice. It all sounds harmless enough. Ex-gay therapies have sprung up around the world, including in Australia, and are often connected to religious institutions. The American Psychological Association recently granted that some individuals, torn between their faith and their sexuality, might ultimately choose their faith and so find appropriate support in ex-gay therapy. The prevailing view among ex-gay therapists is that theirs is a modern technology that offers unhappy homosexuals a happy alternative to their life of misery. The assumption is that homosexuality makes you miserable. Yet surely it is not being homosexual but the prevailing atmosphere of homophobia that makes some people miserable. Abundant proof exists that, in the 21st century, openly gay people can live full and happy lives. The ''choice'' advocated by ex-gay therapists is ultimately a restatement of traditional anti-gay prejudice. Evangelicals and ex-gay therapists may use the language of pluralism, of ''choice'', to advance their arguments, but they do so only to oppose pluralism in practice. ''Curing'' gay people and incarcerating or executing them both treat homosexuality as a crime requiring surveillance. Each regards homosexuality as a moral problem in need of a medical or social cure. Yet the anti-gay advocates are the ones who appear to be in torment - they suffer from denial. Take the example of Richard Cohen, a US ex-gay therapist who, now married with children, claims to have converted from homosexuality. The author of several books, including Coming Out Straight: Understanding and Healing Homosexuality, Cohen spoke at an anti-gay conference in Uganda last April. Cohen claims his attitude towards gays is loving. On US television last month, he sought to disavow any relationship between his appearance in Uganda and the tabling of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill one month later. ''Since the 1950s, the Ugandan government has punished people for engaging in homosexual behaviour, so this is not new,'' Cohen declared. What Cohen, who was struck off the American Counselling Register in 2003 for ethical reasons, did not explain was why he attended an anti-gay conference in a country that punishes gay people. As he is fond of saying, everybody has a choice. It used to be easy to identify homophobia. But now even homophobes fail to recognise their prejudice. Bigotry is reassuringly cosseted by an evangelising rhetoric of love, and reinforced by a medicalising language that veils the savagery of its aims. Ugandans rightly recognise Western homophobes as allies. Events in Uganda expose the fraud of ex-gay therapy. Anti-gay advocates may not all espouse murder, but the ramifications of their words are lethal. Our outrage at Uganda should extend to the entire anti-gay movement. Adrian Phoon is a Sydney writer. text/html http://www.christianaggression.org/item_display.php?type=NEWS&id=1254938984 Rourkela (Orissa) : Orissa police have arrested two person for allegedly throwing beef at an idol of Goddess Laxmi on Sunday. The arrested persons are Fransis Ekka and Ajit Munda. However the brother of Fransis Ekka claimed to be the main culprit. The police have also seized about two kgs of beef from near the idol. A large number of people gathered in front of Goddess Laxmi puja pandal at Bolonda village and blocked the road for four hours, demanding arrest of the culprits those have thrown beef to an idol of Goddess Laxmi . A team of police force led by superintendent of police, Diptesh Patnaik immediately rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control. The three had allegedly slaughtered a cow at a nearby field Sunday morning before indulging in the incident. Police force had been deployed in the village to maintain law and order and efforts to nab the main culprit. text/html http://www.christianaggression.org/item_display.php?type=NEWS&id=1254767525 Assam, 5 October (AKI/Asian Age) - Seaparatist rebels in northeastern India shot and killed at least 11 villagers, police said on Monday. Separatist and tribal rebels are often blamed for attacks in India's northeastern Assam state, a remote region hit by insurgencies in recent years. After lying low for a month, predominantly Christian rebels from the National Democratic Front of Bodoland rebels on Sunday gunned down 11 people and wounded nine others at Dhimajuli village in central Assam’s Sonitpur district. Sonitpur's police superintendent Surendra Kumar said people were forced out of their houses and shot randomly. text/html http://www.christianaggression.org/item_display.php?type=NEWS&id=1252433151 In his annual National Day Rally Speech it is customary for Singapore’ Prime Minister to praise the achievements of his government in the past 12 months and raise peoples’ hopes for the coming 12 months. But, this year, to the surprise of many, he touched a subject that has been taboo for public discussion in this multi-religious nation of 4 million people for the past four decades – Religion. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, the son of the nation’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew spent more than half of his hour-long speech in English - delivered on August 16th - talking about the dangers to the harmony of the nation from aggressive preaching or proselytising. Though he did not name any religion, it was clear to most people listening to the speech and familiar with modern day Singapore society, that he was referring mainly to Christian evangelical groups, who have increased their numbers alarmingly, in the past decade. “There is nothing wrong with people becoming more religious because religion is a positive force in human societies” noted Mr Lee. “But, at the same time, stronger religious fervour can have side-effects, which have to be managed carefully, especially in a multiracial and multi-religious society”. In a brilliant speech designed not to directly point fingers at any particularly religion, he gave examples from around the world where religious fault-lines have created conflicts and riots. Singapore itself has learned its lessons in 1950 when religious riots took place here over a conversion issue, and this has influenced the country’s internal policies ever since. Mr Lee admitted that this topic was a serious subject for a National Day Speech, which usually talks about babies and bonuses. But, due to some recent developments the Cabinet has advised him that he should take up this subject this year, which the premier described as a “bonus lecture on a serious subject”. He warned that aggressive preaching or proselytising causes a nuisance and offence to others. He pointed out two recent events where this happened. One when a Christian couple that distributed leaflets offensive to other faiths, was charged under the Sedition Act and jailed. And the other the takeover bid by a Christian group of one of Singapore’s oldest civil society organizations. There are over 50 new Christian churches that have sprung up in this small island nation in the past decade or more, which could be described as born again or evangelical churches. They are believed to have a combined war chest of over $ 100 million annually. Many of them aggressively proselyte among the country’s Buddhist, Taoist, Hindu and Catholic population that has created much resentments among these communities. Because of the taboos on public discussion on religion, particularly in the media, expression of this resentment has largely been restricted to internet forums and private discourses. In March this year, such taboos were broken for the first time, when Singapore’s media, gave wide coverage to an event where a Christian evangelical group aggressively moved and successfully took over the country’s peak women rights lobby group because they did not agree with the non-government organisations’ s stance on homosexuality, Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE), a fiercely secular organization formed in 1984 is Singapore’s leading advocacy group dedicated to promoting gender equality. It has been instrumental in successfully advocating for change in such areas as law reforms to tackle sexual harassment in the workplace, rights of women to sponsor foreign husbands for citizenship and equal rights for women in the workplace. At their annual general meeting (AGM) in March, the old guard, which has spearheaded these advocacy activities was voted out of office by a new group of women who have joined the association in the previous 3 months. Some 80 of the 120 members who attended the AGM were also new members. Six of the 11 positions in the management committee of AWARE fell to these new members, who are Chinese Singaporean women with good academic and professional backgrounds, but, all belong to The Church of Our Saviour, which is well-known here as an evangelical church with a strong anti-gay and “pro-family” stance. Suspicions of an evangelical takeover of AWARE was further enhanced when the newly elected executive committee immediately made public statements accusing the old guard of promoting homosexuality and declaring themselves as “pro-family” a familiar word used by evangelical Christians worldwide. There was an overwhelming response to this takeover of AWARE with over 2000 new members joining the organization within 2 weeks of the event and calling for an extraordinary general meeting (EGM). At this EGM the Christian group was soundly beaten in a no-confidence motion, and a new executive was elected which is now representative of all religious communities living in Singapore. Though only a quarter of Singapore’s population are Christians, the number of evangelical Christians among them have been growing, and they belong mainly to the English-speaking elite well represented in politics, medical, legal, financial and academic professions. Buddhists and Taoists make up over a half of Singapore’s population, while Hindus and Muslims account for the rest. Some 70 percent of Singapore’s ethnic Chinese population are known to be Buddhists. The Prime Minister spelt out 3 basic problems that could lead to disharmony in the society, giving examples to illustrate his points. The first was aggressive preaching or proselytising. He said that from time to time the government gets complaints “of groups trying to convert very ill patients in our hospitals who do not want to be converted and who do not want to have the private difficult moments in their lives intruded upon”. The second Mr Lee pointed out is intolerance - not respecting the beliefs of others or not accommodating others who belong to different religions. “Sometimes, we have parents who have traditional religions (meaning Taoism or Buddhism), and children have converted away. Then when the parents die, and they have asked to be buried according to traditional rites, the children stay away from the funeral or the wake. It is very sad”: reflected the premier. The third problem he said was exclusiveness – segregating into separate exclusive circles, not integrating with other faiths. “It means you mix with your own people. You do not mix with others. You end up as separate communities” he noted, giving the examples of people not wanting to do yoga or taichi because they believe it has religious meanings, when such communal activities could bring people together. Mr Lee believes that these are secular activities suited to all religious groups as communal activities. Mr Lee appealed to Singaporeans to keep religion out of politics, to exercise restraint and to up hold sound moral values. He pointed out that all major religions represented in Singapore are free to propagate their teachings on social and moral issues, but within limits of tolerance and respect for each other. The PM hinted during his speech that the government may invoke the 20 year-old Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act, which has never been used. Some internet forums and even a few letters published in the Straits Times have called for a prohibition of proselytising in public spaces. “While evangelists may think they are ‘ helping’ others, what would they think, if others told them they were praying to the wrong god, living life the wrong way and would never find redemption?” asked Harvey Neo in a letter published in the Straits Times. “It is imperative that proselytising in public spaces, particularly in schools, hospitals, libraries and workplaces, be prohibited, or at least strongly and explicitly discouraged”. (END) * Dr Kalinga Seneviratne is the Head of Research at the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre in Singapore. The ideas reflected in the article are his own and not necessarily that of his employer. text/html http://www.christianaggression.org/item_display.php?type=NEWS&id=1237431524 Ludhiana Tension gripped the Economic Weaker Section (EWS) colony in Jamalpur on the Chandigarh Road following allegations and counter allegations of forced conversion to Christianity and subsequent destroying of Bible scriptures. According to sources, on late Sunday evening some persons allegedly stormed into a small church in the EWS colony and damaged holy scriptures. "The assailants also manhandled the members of our community and did not spare even women," said Albert Dua of the Christian United Federation. But some persons from the rival group said that some members of the church were forcibly converting a man and the mother of the man had threatened self immolation if he was converted. But Albert Dua denied all the allegations . After receiving the information, the officers from the district and police administration reached the spot and tried to pacify both factions. SP (Headquarters) Harish Kumar, SP City II Harjinder Singh, DSP Harmohan Singh and the area sub divisional magistrate (SDM) were among those who went to the area to take a stock of the situation and to broker peace. SSP Dr Sukhchain Singh Gill said, "The situation is fully under control and thankfully it did not take an ugly turn. Both groups have almost reached to an understanding and the matter is likely to be resolved soon." text/html http://www.christianaggression.org/item_display.php?type=NEWS&id=1237431462 Kochi, Mar 17 : Canonical papal control over Church properties in Kerala will be a new imperialism repugnant to the secular character and sovereign authority of ' We the People of India', opined Justice (Rtd.) V R Krishna Iyer here today. Apparently with the approval of the 'Christian High Command' a pastoral letter is in circulation in chapels and other biblical institutions criticizing a few Bills of the Law Reforms Commission, Kerala which advocate hundred percent secular reforms in the Christian, Islamic and Hindu theological rituals, said the noted jurist, who is the Chairman of the Commission, in a statement. Urging the Bishops to withdraw the pastoral letter, Justice Iyer said the vast properties of the Church in the State were the product of parishioner’s contributions and naturally the management of the estate must have democratic dimensions giving a voice to the Christian parishioners. This was the basis of one Bill objected to by the Bishops who now enjoy the power over the properties and ultimately it is claimed that the Pope controls the Bishops on the basis of Canonical Law. In India, law making is not left to Vatican but to the constitutional agencies under the authority of our sovereign suprema lex. '' Further, it was also relevant to note that the Christian Trust dimension recommended by the Commission was at the instance of many representations made by sincere Christians. That is why leading thinkers like Justice K.T. Thomas, former judge of the Supreme Court, and Dr M V Pylee, former Vice Chancellor of Cochin University, great Christians and believers, have fully supported the Commission’s recommendations,'' Justice Iyer noted. The second objection raised was to a bill recommending state grants for any Indian family below the poverty line and conforms to the family norm of not having more than two children. No limitation whatever is put on the number of children nor is there any restraint on the rights of every child whatever be the number, which belongs to every Indian child Christian or non Christian. The disqualification prescribed for violation of the family norm of not having more than two children prescribed by the Bill, was only for claiming grants and benefits allowed specially by the Bill for families conforming to the mentioned family norm, he pointed out. The third Bill recommended is wholly out of humanitarian and compassionate considerations rooted on the basis of the humanist compassionate provisions of the Constitution (Article 51 A) that Euthanasia be given support by the State and not confined to any particular religion or community. '' You may agree or disagree but Euthanasia has nothing to do with Christian number of children is beyond the Commission’s comprehension. Family planning and Euthanasia are matters of national concern, not chapel or Church indoctrination. The Commission has taken a benignant view and it is improper and unfair to accuse it as propaganda of the Marxist Government interfering with Christian religion,'' Justice Iyer pionted out. text/html http://www.christianaggression.org/item_display.php?type=NEWS&id=1237431336 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Early last year, a study by the Catholic church found that 25% of the nuns in Kerala were unhappy with life inside the four walls of a convent. More recently, a former nun dropped a bombshell revealing in a book about sexual abuse and mental harassment she suffered in the order. Now,there's further confirmation of their misery and it comes from the leader of India's archbishops. Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil, who is president of Catholic Bishops Council of India, says the nuns are humiliated by priests and they live in fear. The cardinal's views have appeared in his biography, much like the nun's own. If Sister Jesmi's book was called `Amen! Autobiography of a nun', Vithayathil's book is titled `Straight from the heart'. The cardinal tells his biographer Paul Thelakat, the spokesperson of Syro-Malabar Church, that the time has come to free the nuns from the "pitiable situation'' they are in. "I would say to a great extent our nuns are not emancipated women. They are often kept under submission by the fear of revenge by priests. That's how the priests get away with whatever humiliation they heap upon them. It is a pitiable situation from which somebody has to liberate them,'' says the 82-year-old cardinal. "A big complaint of our nuns is that the diocesan priests are treating them like servants, making them wash their clothes, prepare their food, wash the churches, etc and that too without getting paid. These are all unjust ways of treating the women religious.'' About the criticism against the clergy in the controversial Sister Abhaya murder, the senior priest says he believed that the Church had not tried to hide anything in the case. "The Church does not want to protect anyone.'' Vithayathil admits that there has been erosion in values in religious life. "I think asceticism has gone out of religious life.'' He also points to the growing gap between the clergy and laity. Also, in what would be music to the ears of the Sangh Parivar, the cardinal lends legitimacy to arguments against religious conversion. "I must add that there is some truth in their contention that certain Christian groups are going about making mass conversions without any real conversion of heart.'' He says the Church believes in admitting to its fold "people who have belief in the Church'' and not in mass conversion of people "who have no faith and become Christians only nominally''. He, however, slams anti-conversion laws, which he says, have banned even legitimate conversion. text/html http://www.christianaggression.org/item_display.php?type=NEWS&id=1237086642 BANGALORE: In a revelation that could have widespread ramifications, Father Joseph Menengis, priest of St James Church in Mariyannapalya, Bangalore, confessed before the Justice B K Somashekara Commission of Inquiry on Wednesday that idol worship was being performed in churches to attract Hindus and convert them to Christianity. The Commission is inquiring into the recent attacks on churches in Karnataka. “Hindus believe in idol worship . So to attract them to Christianity, idol worship is performed in churches,” Menengis said. During cross-examination, the priest said that “despite idol worship being prohibited in Bible, we have idol worship in churches.” “The duty of every Christian is to convert non-Christians to Christianity by any means,” the priest told the commission. St James Church was attacked by miscreants on September 21, 2008. The church is running co-education institutions, with classes from first to eight standard. During cross-examination the priest confessed that “no girl students are permitted to use kumkum, bangles and wear flowers. In our institution, we have moral science textbook. But it does not contain texts regarding Holy Bible and Jesus,” the priest added. The commission has requested the priest to submit the textbook to it. text/html http://www.christianaggression.org/item_display.php?type=NEWS&id=1236909727 [HPI note: These Vatican statistics are relevant to Hinduism because they show the Catholic Church’s need for conversion and aggressive proselytism in India.] VATICAN CITY, March 2, 2009: The number of Catholic priests rose slightly in 2007, but only because of dramatic growth rates in Africa and Asia, according to new statistics released by the Vatican. “The number of priests maintains the trend of moderate growth inaugurated in 2000, after more than 20 years of rather disappointing performance,” according to the newly released 2009 edition of the Pontifical Yearbook, the church’s annually published organizational directory. With 408,024 priests at the end of 2007, their ranks had grown by 0.19 percent in one year, and 0.7 percent since 2000. Growth was concentrated in Africa and Asia, where ordinations in 2007 rose by 27.6 percent and 21.2 percent respectively. Enrollment at seminaries in those continents also rose. By contrast, the number of priests in Europe and Oceania fell by 6.8 percent and 5.5 percent respectively. European seminaries shrank by 2.1 percent in the same period. In the Americas, the number of priests remained “practically stationary,” but seminary enrollments fell by 1 percent. The number of baptized Catholics as a share of world population remained unchanged at 17.3 percent, the Vatican said.