Tributes to Saudi King awaken criticism over human rights record

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Tributes to Saudi King awaken criticism over human rights record

As world leaders flew to Saudi Arabia to mark the death of King Abdullah, several prominent British politicians criticised the deference shown to the leader of a country accused of having a poor human rights record.

Human rights campaigners and politicians from different parties questioned why the Union flag had been flown at half mast on public buildings including Westminster Abbey, for the leader of a country which still has the death penalty.

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, who died early on Friday after a short illness, had pursued a modernising legacy of cautious social and economic reform.

But against a background of regional turmoil, the authorities had in the last year issued tougher penalties against all forms of dissent, which included the increased use of the death penalty via public beheadings.

A sentence of a thousand lashes on a blogger accused off offenses including insulting Islam, cyber crime and disobeying his father has also caused international outrage.

“Flying flags at half mast on gov(ernment) buildings for the death of Saudi King is a steaming pile of nonsense,” said Ruth Davidson, the Scottish leader of David Cameron’s Conservative Party.

The British government ordered the Union flag to be flown at half mast above public buildings for 12 hours on Friday in response to the death of a foreign monarch, sparking intense criticism on social media.

“I think many people will wonder why, if the government feels the UK’s relationship with Saudi Arabia is so close … those ties are not being used much more effectively to secure the basic rights and freedoms of the citizens of that country,” Green Party lawmaker Caroline Lucas was reported as saying.

Westminster Abbey said in response to the criticism that any decision to not fly the flag at half mast would have been a “noticeably aggressive comment on the death of the king”.

“Nor would it have done anything to support the desperately oppressed Christian communities of the Middle East for whom we pray constantly and publicly,” it said. ”

Britain’s Cameron and Prince Charles travelled to Saudi Arabia to offer condolences on Saturday.

Source: Christian Today

India: Hindu annouces conversion of 27 Christians to Hinduism

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India: Hindu annouces conversion of 27 Christians to Hinduism

Amid the growing issue on religious conversion in India, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad announced that 27 Christians have re-converted to Hinduism.

The Hindu nationalist group said that the 27 individuals came from five families and apparently returned to Hinduism through the “Ghar wapsi” ceremony which seeks to bring back those who have been previously converted to Christianity and Islam.

In a report from ndtv.com, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) district President Advocate Prathap G Padickal said that the ceremony was requested by the people themselves who “were not happy with their earlier situations since they were not receiving any benefits.”

This, he said, came on the heels of 50 individuals voluntarily returning to the Hindu faith last month.

Religious conversion remains a sensitive issue in India given its progressive 1950 constitution that upholds the freedom of conscience and the right to free profession, practice and propagation of religion.

The pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party, to which Prime Minister Narendra Modi belongs, has suggested that the rising number of conversions from Hindu to other religions will erode India’s demographic balance and eventually, the country’s Hindu majority.

Aside from actively campaigning against proselytisers to prevent them from converting those who have already embraced Hinduism, there is strong pressure on the Prime Minister to make a public stand on the issue of effecting a national anti-conversion law on the basis of state anti-conversion laws being upheld by the Supreme Court in India in 1977.

According to the New York Times, Hindu nationalists have accused Muslims and Christians of luring Indians into their religion but according to the religious minorities, the Hindu nationalists are the ones trying to win back the faithful with promises of letting them choose their own castes.

Eighty per cent of India’s population are practising Hindus. Muslims account for 15 per cent while other religions like Christians, Buddhists, Adivasi (indigenous tribes) or Zoroastrians make up the rest.

In an article published by FT.com, members of the religious minorities have decried religious discrimination and believe that they are being considered “lesser Indians” because they are not Hindu.

Source: Christian Today

Rt Rev Libby Lane to become Church of England first female bishop today

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Rt Rev Libby Lane to become Church of England first female bishop today

Rev Libby Lane is to be consecrated as the Church of England’s first woman bishop today.

Other Anglican Churches have had women as bishops for many years, but the journey to this moment for the C of E has been particularly long and painful. Lane’s consecration marks the end of a tortuous process of theological and procedural negotiation which has left divisions which are arguably still unresolved.

Disputes since the General Synod agreed in 2005 that “the process for removing the legal obstacles to the ordination of women to the episcopate should now be set in train” have focused on accommodating the beliefs of members of the Church of England would not accept the episcopal ministry of women. There was widespread anger when a 2012 attempt to pass the legislation at the Synod narrowly failed.

Speaking when the announcement of her appointment was made, she said: “I am grateful for, though somewhat daunted by, the confidence placed in me by the Diocese of Chester. This is unexpected and very exciting.”

Lane will be consecrated at York Minster as the suffragan Bishop of Stockport under the Bishop of Chester.

She was ordained as a deacon in 1993 and as a priest the following year, and has ministered in parishes and in chaplaincy roles in the dioceses of Blackburn, York and Chester. For the past eight years she has served as Vicar of St Peter’s Hale and St Elizabeth’s Ashley.

Lane has served as the Dean of Women in Ministry in the Chester diocese since 2010.

Source: Christian Today

Bishop Efraim Tendero of the Philippines elected as new head of World Evangelical Alliance

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Bishop Efraim Tendero of the Philippines elected as new head of World Evangelical Alliance

A bishop from the Philippines has been chosen to head the World Evangelical Alliance as its Secretary General.

Bishop Efraim Tendero, who currently heads the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches, is due to begin serving his term on March 1, 2015. He will hold the position for a period of five years.

Bishop Tendero’s appointment was decided by the WEA’s International Council.

“We acknowledged from the onset and throughout the search process that we needed God’s wisdom and the Spirit’s guidance in making this significant and strategic appointment.  We are not only pleased, but confident that Efraim is the right person to take WEA into the future which promises to be great,” said Rev Ndaba Mazabane, Chairman of the IC and Acting Secretary-General/CEO of the WEA.

“His understanding of our global vision and his experience as a national Alliance leader will certainly help him connect with our constituency for greater global impact.”

Rev Mazabane also called on the members of the Alliance to give their support to the new Secretary General.

“I urge you all to uphold him and his family in your prayers and support him in every possible way as he makes this leadership transition and prepares for the task ahead,” he urged.

Of his appointment, Bishop Tendero said: “I am humbled by the trust that is given to me to be the leader of Evangelicals around the world. This is an enormous task and I put my whole trust and confidence in the Almighty God who called me into this ministry, believing that He will provide the wisdom, favor, and grace needed in carrying out this solemn responsibility.”

In addition to serving as the WEA Secretary General, Tendero also serves as a board member of Back to the Bible Broadcast, Evangelism Explosion (EE) 3 Philippines, Global Filipino Movement, and the Philippine Missions Association. He is also part of the long-running Philippine Christian Magazine Evangelicals Today as executive editor.

He also was the National Director of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC) for more than 20 years.

Source: Christian Today

Bishops call for prayer for people of Holy land

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Bishops call for prayer for people of Holy land

Two Irish bishops are calling on the faithful to pray for Christian families in the Holy Land affected not only by war but the most violent winter experienced by the region in decades.

Archbishop Kieran O’Reilly and Bishop Ray Browne, who went to the Holy Land last week as part of a delegation promoting peace and respect for human dignity, said they were deeply affected by the living conditions of people in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.

“We have all seen the images on the television news and read the column inches in newspapers and magazines but when you are there in person – meeting families whose lives have been devastated, who don’t have a roof to put over their heads, basic food to put on the table, and are witnessing children dying of exposure – you very quickly come to realise just how deeply distressing the situation is for the people of Gaza,” they said in a statement released by the Irish Bishops’ Conference.

The prelates further said that the faithful should open their hearts to the cries of the people in Gaza and other areas, who are suffering amid the devastation surrounding them.

“We encourage Irish faithful to continue to pray for the suffering people of Gaza, specifically the diminishing Christian community which is caught in the crossfire of conflict. We take this opportunity to thank everyone for their on-going and generous support for Trócaire’s work in the Holy Land and, while acutely conscious of the challenges facing the budget of many Irish families, we humbly ask that this support would continue,” they added.

Violent storms, heavy snow, high winds and freezing temperatures are now affecting refugees in Iraq, Syria and Gaza, who were earlier displaced by conflict from their homes. Charity organisations and relief groups are now pitching in to provide the families with their basic needs.

In a report by the Independent Catholic News, relief groups have indicated that homes now suffer from lack of electricity, no fuel and gas amid -8 freezing conditions.

Caritas workers in Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and Iraq have pooled their resources to provide fuel, blankets and heaters to help the victims ward off the cold while Christian Aid has released emergency funds to purchase blankets, sheeting, stoves and fuel for the thousands who are living in temporary shelters in Gaza and Lebanon.

At least three people have died from the storm in Syria alone while 11 children so far have been taken to the hospital for hypothermia. The Gaza Health Ministry has confirmed the deaths of four children due to hypothermia.

Source: Christian Today

Catholic priest banned for participating in anti-Islam protest

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Catholic priest banned for participating in anti-Islam protest

German Catholic priest Father Paul Spaetling has been forbidden from preaching or speak on behalf of the Church after participating in a rally organised by a group associated with the Patriotic Europeans against the Islamisation of the West (PEGIDA).

According to the Associated Press, Spaetling spoke at the anti-Islam protest that took place in the western city of Duisburg on Monday and was banned a few days later by the diocese of Muenster, which said in a statement that it rejected the priest’s views on Islam.

PEGIDA, the organiser of the rally, is an anti-immigrant organisation that sees “a dangerous rise in the influence of Islam” in Western countries, according to the BBC.

Al Jazeera America reports the group is also worried that “Germany’s doors are too open” to refugees, many of which in recent years have come from Syria and Iraq, both besieged by the Islamic extremist group ISIS.

“Germany’s becoming the world’s welfare office,” said Detlev, a German living in Switzerland who travelled to Dresden to join a PEGIDA demonstration and declined to give his last name. “That has to change.”

Another demonstrator, who refused to give his name, told Al Jazeera, “No one’s controlling where these people are coming from. I’m just here to show we’re not OK with what’s going on.”

Earlier in January, PEGIDA drew a record number of 25,000 demonstators after the Paris terror attacks that left 17 people dead.

Reuters reports that while maintaining they are not racist and are “careful to distinguish between Islamists and most of Germany’s 4 million Muslims,” PEGIDA protesters have been seen bearing banners that say “No Sharia” and “In 2035 Germans will be a minority!”

PEGIDA co-founder Kathrin Oertel also told Reuters, “Every religion is welcome in Germany, but you can’t try to influence German culture and life.”

More recently, the group’s leader Lutz Bachmann made news after reportedly calling refugees “animals” and “scumbags” on Facebook and posing as Hitler in a picture. Though the group is trying to play down the Hitler photo as a “joke,” Bachmann has decided to step down from his position.

Source: Christian Today

China loses it oldest priest at 105

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China loses it oldest priest at 105

Not all people get the chance to see a whole century in their lifetimes. One of the few who did was a dedicated man of God in China.

Father Ye Yaomin of Guangzhou, China’s oldest priest, was 105 when he passed away in the early morning of Tuesday.

According to UCA News, Father Ye died after parishioners took him home. And for the priest, home was the Immaculate Conception Church in Foshan, Guangdong province.

“He told us that the Church is his home and he has to die in his home,” said Sister Chen Jianyin, who had looked after Father Ye for over two decades.

According to Sister Chen, the centenarian priest enjoyed good health until his final weeks. Sensing that his time was near, Father Ye refused to stay in the hospital and instead asked to be taken to the church in his hometown.

Born during the first decade of the 20th century, the elderly priest witnessed the ups and downs of his country, from the end of dynasties, to the outbreak of civil wars, to the rise of a Communist Party suspicious of the Christian faith.

1937 marked the beginning of his religious career, after he travelled to Hong Kong and entered the Southern China Major Seminary, where he stayed for seven years.

He was ordained a priest in 1948, when China was in a period of turmoil.

That year, communist troops took hold of Manchuria, and the next year, Peking, Nanking, and Shanghai fell into their control as well. About a million people were killed until in October 1949, Mao Tse-tung declared the People’s Republic of China, which is currently the 29th worst country for Christians according to the World Watch List.

The communist government banished Father Ye to Qinghai province and ordered him to years of feeding pigs after he was reported and found to have news clippings sent to him by his former classmates in British-ruled Hong Kong.

Although persecuted, Father Ye held no anger for the people who took him from the church and sent him to tend to pigs, UCANews reports.

“He was once asked by some people if he hated the Communist Party for his suffering. He said ‘No, hatred is itself a sin’,” said Sister Chen.

His years in exile did little to dampen his faith. In 1980, Father Ye was finally able to step foot in his hometown again, by now an old man, and soon began to preach in Foshan’s Jiangmen Diocese.

He was repeatedly urged by his relatives to emigrate abroad, but to their pleas, he replied, “China needs priests.”

Instead of running away, Father Ye stayed put and busied himself with helping rebuild churches torn down after the Communists came to power.

Father Ye is scheduled to be interred on Saturday at Foshan’s Immaculate Conception Church.

Source: Christian Today

One of two lawsuits regarding Martin Luther King’s children dropped

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One of two lawsuits regarding Martin Luther King’s children dropped

One of two lawsuits involving the children of the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. has been dropped, possibly signaling a thaw in their tense relations as they continue to fight over the sale of his Bible and Nobel Peace Prize.

Bernice King said in a statement late Thursday that her father’s estate had voluntarily dropped its August 2013 lawsuit against the non-profit Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta, which she heads.

King’s sons, Dexter King and Martin Luther King III, acting as majority board members of their father’s estate, had sought to revoke the center’s right to use King’s name and image unless Bernice King was removed as CEO.

According to the suit, the center had failed to protect documents and other artifacts from fire, water, mildew and theft.

Bernice King said the estate’s decision to drop the suit vindicated the King Center’s position on its licensing rights and offered a promising sign that the feud pitting the children against one another was on the road toward reconciliation.

“The dismissal is an important first step in rebuilding a long-lasting relationship between the two corporations,” she said, referring to the estate and the King Center.

Dexter King said in a statement that pulling the lawsuit was a show of good faith as the siblings were set to enter talks aimed at resolving their differences outside a courtroom.

“None of us want to see the legacy of my parents, or our dysfunction, out on public display,” he said.

Still pending is the suit between the estate and Bernice King over possession of the Bible that their father carried during the civil rights movement and his 1964 Nobel Prize.

In a 2-1 vote of the estate’s board last year, King’s sons voted to sell the items, while Bernice King opposed the sale, calling the items “sacred.”

The estate sued her, seeking return of the items, which are now being held by a court until the suit is resolved.

An Atlanta judge earlier this month heard arguments from each side in the case, which is scheduled to go to trial next month unless it is settled or dismissed.

Martin Luther King Jr. had no will when he was assassinated in 1968. According to court documents, his estate was inherited by his widow, Coretta Scott King, who died in 2006, and his four children, one of whom also has since died.

Source: Reuters

Kurdish forces fire rockets into Islamic State gathering in Mosul

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Kurdish forces fire rockets into Islamic State gathering in Mosul

Kurdish forces have fired rockets into Mosul for the first time since Islamic State militants overran the northern Iraqicity last summer, Kurdish military sources said on Saturday.

A Kurdish officer said 20 Grad missiles had been launched into Mosul on Friday after receiving information that Islamic State militants were gathering to meet near the city’s Zuhour neighbourhood.

“We hit their positions,” said Captain Shivan Ahmed, who belongs to the unit that fired the rockets from around 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of Mosul.

Kurdish officials said the strikes had hit their intended target, but two residents ofMosul contacted by Reuters said three civilians were killed in the attack.

It was not possible to independently verify the accounts.

Following the attack, Islamic State militants published images of a girl lying in a hospital bed, whom they said had been wounded by fire from the Kurdish peshmerga fighters.

U.S.-led airstrikes regularly target areas outside of Mosul, but rarely strike inside the city due to concerns about civilian casualties.

A statement attributed to an unnamed senior Kurdish military source and posted on the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party’s official website said the shelling had “struck great fear into the hearts of the terrorists”.

Peshmerga forces this week launched a ground offensive northwest of Mosul backed by coalition airstrikes, reclaiming nearly 500 square kilometers of territory and cutting the extremist group’s main supply line from the city to the west.

Twenty-one senior Islamic State militants were killed during the operation, the Kurdistan Region’s Security Council said in a statement on Friday.

It said the slain Islamic State leaders included the head of Nineveh province’s administrative institutions and a close commander of its special forces, the statement said.

There was no way to independently verify the claims.

Source: Christian Today

Hawk Nelson to drop 7th studio album titled ‘Diamonds’ on Marc 17

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Hawk Nelson to drop 7th studio album titled ‘Diamonds’ on Marc 17

Christian rock band Hawk Nelson will be releasing their seventh studio album titled Diamonds on March 17 with Fair Trade Services, which will be the band’s second album released with the label and with frontman Jon Steingard.

The band announced the album release on their Facebook page and introduced other new members of the band including guitarist Micah Kuiper and drummer David Niacaris together with founding member and bassist Daniel Biro.

Their debut single “Drops In The Ocean” from the Diamonds album has already generated success in the radio charts, even hitting the Billboard Christian National Christian Audience (NCA) chart at No. 21 and the Hot Adult Contemporary/Contemporary Hits Radio (AC/CHR) at No. 10 just a few weeks into its release.

The song has also been added by more than 50 radio stations and national networks including KLOVE, Air1, SiriusXM, WAY FM and KSBJ (Houston).

The song is available now for download in iTunes and Amazon. Another song from the same album, “Just Getting Started, ” also gained recognition after it was used in promotion for American Idol during the 2014 World Series.

“The past few years have been a crazy ride for us Hawk boys,” said frontman Jon Steingard. “Lots of change, lots of amazing blessings, and also quite a few challenges. This album was forged in the fire of some of those trials. It’s those times of pressure that God uses to shape us into something more beautiful. Diamonds sums up this truth we have found, that God is for us, He is not against us, and that we have the freedom to joyfully walk in the love, grace, and mercy He has freely given us!”

“It’s hard to imagine that just a few short years ago, we in Hawk Nelson were questioning if it was time to throw in the towel or to advance in a whole new direction,” added bassist and original founding member Daniel Biro.

“We were looking for hope. Encouraged by fellow artists in the industry, Made was a big first step. And after ‘Words’ helped to crack the door open again, it’s Diamonds that really delivers in a big, new way. I’m just so proud of Jon and the guys. It’s a great sounding record full of huge, catchy and singable songs. And remember, we’re just getting started.”

Hawk Nelson has released six studio projects since it came out in 2004, including Letters to the President, Smile It’s the End of the World, Hawk Nelson is My Friend, Live Life Loud, Crazy Love, and Made.

Source: Christian Today

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