Latest Updates: christians RSS
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thabet
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thabet
‘500′ are reported to have been killed dead in the latest violence in Jos, Nigeria:
A resident in Plateau State, where the tragedy happened, said he had seen armored vehicles and military trucks arrive in the village along with patrolling troops.
The latest military move came after a Nigerian government official confirmed on Monday that at least 500 had been killed in a communal clash in Jos, which followed the crisis on Jan. 17 in the same region when some youths attacked worshippers at St. Michael’s Anglican Church in Nasawara Gwom.
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arif
The news is not that he spied, but he became Christian and claims that Palestinians have no hope if they keep holding on to their God. That is pretty incredible.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/news/2010/03/100303_mosab_hassan_yousef.shtml
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johnpi
On Dec. 31, Malaysian courts ruled that Christians in that country could use the word ‘Allah’ to refer to God. The government opposed the ruling.
A top Malysian government official spent part of this morning meeting with foreign diplomats trying to explain why the word was off-limits to Christians in Malaysia when it is widely used by Christians in Indonesia and the Middle East.
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johnpi
Thousands of Malaysian Christians came out for weekly services Sunday despite three new attacks in a campaign of fire-bombings that has sent tensions soaring in the Muslim-majority nation.
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johnpi
In Malaysia, three churches have now been firebombed in the row over using the word ‘Allah’ to refer to God.
At Friday prayers at two main mosques in downtown Kuala Lumpur, young worshippers carried banners and gave fiery speeches, vowing to defend Islam.
“We will not allow the word Allah to be inscribed in your churches,” one speaker shouted into a loudspeaker at the Kampung Bahru mosque. About 50 other people carried posters reading “Heresy arises from words wrongly used” and “Allah is only for us.”
“Islam is above all. Every citizen must respect that,” said Ahmad Johari, who attended prayers at the National Mosque. “I hope the court will understand the feeling of the majority Muslims of Malaysia. We can fight to the death over this issue.”
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johnpi
Malaysian Muslim groups plan nationwide protest over ‘Allah’ ruling.
Muslim youth movement Abim and the National Association of Muslim Students (PKPIM) are planning to hold a nationwide protest this Friday against the High Court decision to allow Catholic weekly Herald to use “Allah” in its Bahasa Malaysia edition.
….“After performing Friday prayers, we will perform solat hajat (prayers of need) before we proceed for the peaceful assembly,” said Raimi, who expected a turnout of at least 3,000 people.
“We only want to express how Muslims feel about the court judgment and how it has touched on the sensitivity of Muslims,” he added.
Raimi said that Abim is also mobilising members across the country to hold similar protests at all state mosques.
He described the planned protests as “purely Muslim NGO’s initiatives” and did not involve political parties.
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johnpi
Malaysian Muslim activists oppose ‘Allah’ ruling.
Muslim groups in Malaysia have voiced opposition to a court ruling allowing a Catholic paper the right to use the word “Allah”, and said Saturday they plan to demonstrate.
….Federation of Malay Students’ Association advisor Reezal Merican said although the court decision had to be respected, the government needed to appeal it.
“We want to live in peace with all religions here but the word Allah has traditionally in Malaysia been used to represent the Muslim God, which is different from Christianity, and this must be addressed,” he told AFP.
Northern Perak state mufti Harussani Zakaria was also critical of the verdict, calling it “an insult to Muslims in this country,” according to the influential Malay-language Utusan Malaysia newspaper.
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johnpi
This year, 4-year-old Karla Montiel asked Santa Claus for a baby doll.
Her parents knew filling that request would be tough. Her father works in the recession-crushed construction industry, and jobs have been scarce. So in October, Karla’s mother, Nancy Lara, filled out an application to participate in the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program, which matches gifts to needy children.
A week later, Karla’s mother told her she wouldn’t be getting the doll. While Karla has a Social Security card, her mother does not. Only U.S. citizens and legal immigrants with permission to work get those, and Angel Tree requires them from applicants.
“It saddens me because I was hopeful for my little girl,” Lara said. “Initially, I was told because she was born here that she qualified. Then they called me telling me she won’t get the toy.”
Here’s a great opportunity for Abu Noor’s Muslim peace corps program. Since Christian groups like the Salvation Army are addled right now by right-wing xenophobia and malice, American Muslim groups could step forward and work to fill the needs of these communities that Christians are turning away at the church door.
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fathima
Religious group sued for allegedly inciting harm through prayers:
A former military lawyer who served in the Reagan White House is suing a Dallas-based religious group for allegedly inciting harm upon him through prayers, The Dallas Morning News reports. [...]
The suit also asks the court to stop the defendants – Klingenschmitt and Jim Ammerman, the founders of the Chaplaincy of Full Gospel Churches – from “encouraging, soliciting, directing, abetting or attempting to induce others to engage in similar conduct.”
Weinstein, who is Jewish, said his family has received death threats, had a swastika daubed on their home, and feces thrown at the house. He said the harassment started several years ago when he began protesting Christian proselytizing at his alma mater, the Air Force Academy.
Weinstein’s attorney, Randal Mathis, said their biggest concern is that Klingenschmitt’s audience includes a “certain number of unstable people” who might act in the name of God.
johnpi’s already linked up an earlier incident in the string events that led to this suit being filed.
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johnpi
The liberal blogosphere is abloom with trenchant insight (and jokes) about the conservative Bible. I post this here for the mortification of the ever-vigilant Christianist stalkers who troll the Islamic blogs, awaiting an opportunity to wallow in their keenly felt sense of victimization.
Suggested conservative revisions from Salon:
Matthew 5:3-5: Blessed are the GOP, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn the death of Christmas, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the children of the rich, for — once Congress finally eliminates the Death Tax — they will inherit the earth.
Matthew 5:17: Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come to force trial lawyers to stop filing trivial lawsuits every time someone gets hurt and won’t take responsibility for themselves.
Matthew 5:21-22: You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, “You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.” But I tell you that a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do, so git ‘er done.
What a wonderful way to throw light on the hypocrisy and religious distortions that have resulted from mixing right-wing politics with religion in America.
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buzz
Some red meat for Shams: In the news cycle today is word of a bible project to eliminate ‘liberal bias.’ The Conservative Bible Project sets forth the following guidelines:
1.Framework against Liberal Bias: providing a strong framework that enables a thought-for-thought translation without corruption by liberal bias
2.Not Emasculated: avoiding unisex, “gender inclusive” language, and other modern emasculation of Christianity
3.Not Dumbed Down: not dumbing down the reading level, or diluting the intellectual force and logic of Christianity; the NIV is written at only the 7th grade level[3]
4.Utilize Powerful Conservative Terms: using powerful new conservative terms as they develop;[4] defective translations use the word “comrade” three times as often as “volunteer”; similarly, updating words which have a change in meaning, such as “word”, “peace”, and “miracle”.
5.Combat Harmful Addiction: combating addiction by using modern terms for it, such as “gamble” rather than “cast lots”;[5] using modern political terms, such as “register” rather than “enroll” for the census
6.Accept the Logic of Hell: applying logic with its full force and effect, as in not denying or downplaying the very real existence of Hell or the Devil.
7.Express Free Market Parables; explaining the numerous economic parables with their full free-market meaning
8.Exclude Later-Inserted Liberal Passages: excluding the later-inserted liberal passages that are not authentic, such as the adulteress story
9.Credit Open-Mindedness of Disciples: crediting open-mindedness, often found in youngsters like the eyewitnesses Mark and John, the authors of two of the Gospels
10.Prefer Conciseness over Liberal Wordiness: preferring conciseness to the liberal style of high word-to-substance ratio; avoid compound negatives and unnecessary ambiguities; prefer concise, consistent use of the word “Lord” rather than “Jehovah” or “Yahweh” or “Lord God.”[Insert pithy quip here]
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thabet
Breakaway conservative Anglicans start new project to ‘educate’ people about Islam:
Called the Church and Islam Project, the new initiative includes educational seminars, reading materials, and information made available at a new Web site, http://www.ChurchandIslam.com.
“As Christians, we are called to reach out to the world around us to spread the love of Christ and that includes learning how to respond to other religions,” said the Rev. Canon Julian Dobbs, Canon Missioner of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA).
He said the group will provide its members with “honest” and “respectful” information, while “exposing the truth about so-called moderate Islam and encouraging evangelism to Muslims.”
Oh, good. Just what was needed; another website “exposing the truth about so-called moderate Islam”.
Julian Dobbs was part of the Barnabas Fund, headed by Patrick Sookhdeo.
Sookhdeo gets a free pass in the media for his stupid claims because he is a brown ‘expert on Islam’.
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johnpi
Republicans practicing taqiyya in the US healthcare debate.
One vocal attendee was a woman named Heather Blish, who identified herself as “just a mom from a few blocks away” and “not affiliated with any political party.” When interviewed by the local NBC affiliate, Blish insisted she was not a member of the Republican Party. “I left the party,” she said. Blish’s statements, however, are distortions. From NBC’s report:
Her LinkedIn page shows something different. She was the vice chair of the Republican Party of Kewaunee County until last year. She worked on the John Gard campaign, who ran unsuccessfully against Kagen last year. And it says she’s a part of the Republican Party for Kagen’s district, as well as the Republican Party of Wisconsin, and the Republican National Committee.
Her LinkedIn page shows she’s a graduate of Faith Academy (there are several in Wisconsin, but they all aim to provide a “quality Christian education.”) Count taquiyya among the good Christian values…
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thabet
200 people are questioned by the police following the murder of Pakistani Christians by a rioting mob.
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thabet
Negligence (ans perhaps connivance?) by authorities and banned terrorist groups are blamed for the murder of Pakistani Christians in a town in central Punjab over the weekend.
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thabet
Six (the BBC says eight) Christians have been burnt alive in a town in Pakistan:
Clashes erupted early on Saturday, with an exchange of fire from the members of the two communities.
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thabet
Our newest frontpager, Richard Bartholomew, has a post on Christian rumblings against Aaqil Ahmed, the BBC’s new head of religious programming.
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thabet
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plimfix
During my teacher training, the local community of the 98% Muslim school where I was first placed was still buzzing with the story of a tomato that contained a message from Allah, discovered in nearby Bradford. The pious hospitality offered by the family who discovered this tomato message to the thousands of visitors who came to their home contrasts with the response of Paul Grayhek of Idaho, who on discovering the basalt wall in his backyard resembled God’s hand, decided to flog it on eBay for $16,866+. I wonder if there were any Wahhabis among the bidders…
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thabet
A Christian advert, stating ‘there definitely is a God’, received more than 1,000 complaints — a record.
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thabet
Four people are killed in Nigeria after a row between Muslims and Christians.
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thabet
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thabet
When Muslims and Christians unite (to deny other people basic rights they themselves demand in strongest terms from others): Islamic governments may join up with the Vatican to oppose a UN motion that calls for the decriminalisation of homosexuality worldwide.
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thabet
FaithWorld has some detailed posts on the Common World conference held at Yale earlier this summer.
