Christian Today report–  An episcopalian minister, his wife and their five-year-old son have been found apparently beaten to death in their apartment in Houston, police say.

The bodies of Israel Ahimbisibwe, vicar of Redeemer Episcopal Church in Houston, his wife, Dorcus and their son Israel Ahimbisibwe Jr were found by firefighters on Monday after concerned parishioners raised the alarm when they did not attend church on Sunday.

Police say that there was no sign of a forced entry.

The couple had two older children, one of them a 19-year-old who had just enlisted in the US Marines.

They came to the US from Uganda, where Ahimbisibwe was ordained in the Church of Uganda and held master’s degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary and Harvard Divinity School, specialising in Old Testament study. He earned another master’s and doctorate from Rice University after completing graduate research at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Church member Keever Wallace said: “This is just a shock. I don’t know how to make any sense of this at all.”

“This is a horrific and awful tragedy,” said the Bishop of Texas, Rt Rev Andrew Doyle, in a statement. “We are in touch with the police and Israel’s family here in Houston. Please keep the Ahimbisibwe and Redeemer families in your prayers.”

Source:  Christian Today

Christian Today report– Officials in China’s Zhejiang province have reaffirmed that members of the Communist party (CPC) must categorically reject all religion.

Only applicants who renounce religion will be accepted, a party authority said on Friday. Those wishing to join the CPC, which currently has at least 80 million members, will be required to undertake a course on Marxism, and anyone found to have participated in religion in the past will have to “rectify” their beliefs.

As the CPC is officially atheist, members have never been able to publically hold religious beliefs. Friday’s announcement, printed in the state-run Global Times newspaper, however, suggests that the pre-examination system for recruiting party members has not always been upheld forcefully. It should be “improved and implemented,” authorities said.

The comments are thought to be part of a wider crackdown on Christianity in Zhejiang, and particularly the city of Wenzhou – also known as the ‘Jerusalem of the East’ due to its thriving Christian population.

Christians in the region believe that the Government is specifically targeting them as part of its bid to retain complete control. Estimates vary, but over 300 churches are thought to have been demolished in recent months, while others have had crosses removed.

Li Yunlong, a professor at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, told the Global Times that “Party members are banned from joining religions. Believing in communism and atheism is a basic requirement to become a party member.”

“This could be a part of efforts against the penetration of western hostile forces,” he warned.

The CPC is the largest political party in the world, and membership is considered to be a good networking opportunity. Many ordinary civilians, particularly young people, therefore join in the hopes of furthering their career. However, for those with a faith, it’s not an easy decision.

“Churches in Beijing and Shanghai in particular are mostly drawn from the middle classes; white collar workers and well-educated young people from relatively comfortable families, and so for them, applying for party membership would be a part of meeting their career goals,” a country expert told Christian Today in November.

“But it presents a problem for them; should they officially renounce their religion but practise it discreetly, or leave the Church completely, or not apply to join the party at all?”

Speaking anonymously, the spokesperson from Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) added that there has been a “knock on effect” for Christians following the introduction of a hard-line approach to various parts of civil society by President Xi Jinping.

“There’s been talk about having to making sure that churches in China follow a Chinese Christian theology, and at the same time Xi Jinping has talked more than pervious leaders about returning to traditional beliefs,” she said.

“All of this has left some Christians to fear a change in the political climate for churches in China.”

Although the right to freedom of religious belief is guaranteed under Article 36 of the Chinese Constitution, that protection is limited to those who worship within state-sanctioned religious bodies. Those who choose to practise their faith outside of these, or whose beliefs are not officially recognised by the government, are at risk of being accused of participating in illegal activities, which carries heavy punishment.

Last year, a senior a senior official within the CCP, Zhu Weiqun, was forced to dismiss allegations that widespread corruption in the party is due to a lack of religious belief.

In a piece for the Global Times, he said that a ban on religion is “the important ideological and organisational principle which has been upheld since the founding of the party. There is no doubt about it.”

Source: Christian Today

Christian Today report– In an ashram near the Ganges river in the Himalayan foothills, Indian priest-turned-politician Sakshi Maharaj mimes rowing a boat to illustrate what will happen if Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government ignores Hindu nationalist demands.

“Modi will have to be a boatman: one oar must focus on the economy and the other must concentrate on the Hindu agenda,” says Maharaj, clad in saffron robes and sitting cross-legged on a bed.

He twirls his bejeweled fingers in the air, explaining that otherwise the boat will spin in circles.

The Hindu priest, who has been charged with rioting and inciting communal violence, is the embodiment of hard-line religious elements in Modi’s party whose strident behavior is dragging on the government’s economic reform agenda.

In recent months, Maharaj has created uproar by describing Mahatma Gandhi’s Hindu nationalist assassin as a patriot, saying Hindu women should give birth to four children to ensure the religion survives and by calling for Hindus who convert to Islam and Christianity to be given the death penalty.

For the first time since the election last year, some lawmakers in Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are rebelling against his focus on mending the economy and governance at the expense of promoting Hinduism.

This is testing the authority of a leader who captured power to a degree not seen since Indira Gandhi ruled India more than three decades ago. Hard-line Hindu politicians impatient with Modi’s refusal to champion their cause are beginning to advance their own agendas.

Maharaj, for example, wants to make it illegal for Hindus to change religions and seeks the death penalty for slaughtering cows, an animal revered by Hindus.

Protests erupted at the most recent parliamentary session over a campaign by hardliners to convert Muslims and Christians to Hinduism, torpedoing key foreign investment legislation that the opposition had earlier agreed to pass.

Modi had to use executive orders to drive policy, but they are seen as a stopgap measure that cannot replace reforms needed to address India’s slowing economic growth.

“Modi has a major problem with these extremist elements,” said S. Chandrasekharan, director of the South Asia Analysis Group in New Delhi. “If he can’t bring them under control they are going to … sap the energy needed to carry out reforms.”

In a sign the world is watching, US President Barack Obama warned on a recent visit that India’s success depended on it not splintering along religious lines.

“I AM A POWERFUL MAN”

At the spiritual retreat, or ashram, elderly disciples with long gray beards bend to kiss the feet of Maharaj, who wears light brown socks with sandals, an orange turban, gold-framed Dolce and Gabbana glasses and a chunky gold-colored watch.

With a self-proclaimed following of 10 million people, Maharaj, a four-time member of parliament, draws support through a network of dozens of ashrams and colleges.

“I am aware that I am a powerful man,” Maharaj says. “I can make or break the government.”

Maharaj is charged by police with rioting and inciting a mob after helping tear down a 16th-century mosque in Ayodhya in 1992, an event sparking riots in which around 2,000 people died.

He admits being present at the demolition but says he could not stop the crowds. In India, trials can take decades because of a shortage of judges.

Modi will have a clearer idea of whether radicals elements are alienating voters when the BJP fights elections in New Delhi. Also this month, the government must present the budget and try to enact three emergency decrees in parliament.

In December, Modi told lawmakers their behaviour was hurting the party and warned them not to cross the Lakshman Rekha, a forbidden line in Hindu mythology, according to party officials briefed on the meeting.

“The message is loud and clear: there is no room for any diversion from the economy,” said G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, a spokesman for the BJP.

“GAME OF CHESS”

The battle for the government’s direction is particularly acute for Modi, because he and his party are ideologically rooted in Hindutva, or Hinduness, a concept sometimes defined in strident opposition to Muslims and Christians.

Modi himself has consistently denied accusations that, as chief minister of Gujarat, he did not do enough to prevent riots in which more than 1,000 people died, most of them Muslims. A Supreme Court inquiry found no evidence to prosecute him.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the powerful ideological wing of the BJP, supports lawmakers like Maharaj who are working to make India a Hindu nation, said a senior RSS official who asked not to be named.

“We will support them because it is all for a Hindu cause,” he said. There was no evidence to suggest that the RSS was actively involved in pushing the hardliners’ agenda, however.

Modi’s ties with radical Hindus “can be best described as a game of chess,” said Ramchandra Guha, one of India’s leading historians. “Both sides are on board when it comes to establishing the Hindu supremacist agenda, but they want to follow a different strategy to achieve it.”

Maharaj says most Indians, including Modi, privately share his views, and he will continue promoting Hindu supremacy.

“The only difference is he is refined and maybe we are crass,” Maharaj says of Modi. “We may have to fine-tune the message but the message will remain the same.”

Source: Christian Today