Tag: Christianity

Australian Christians In Shock: Ten Year Jail Sentence For Preaching Repentance

Evangelical Focus – February 08, 2021

The parliament of Victoria (Australia) is about to conclude the process of the Change or Suppression (Conversion) Practices Prohibition Bill.

The law has been approved by both the Lower House and the Legislative Council of the Victorian parliament and could be soon ready to be implemented.

Any practice that aims to “change or suppress a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity” will now be illegal.

According to Australian evangelical magazine Eternity News, this ban includes “prayer conversations suggesting change, and counselling when targeted at an individual”.

Melbourne, the State’s capital, is known for being Australia’s region with a strongest support for LGBT movements – as seen in the Pride Marches and other demonstrations in the last years.

The law becomes a real challenge to churches that hold to a traditional and biblical view of sexuality. Jail sentences up to ten years and large fines can be imposed by courts if there is a perception that a ‘conversion’ practice has caused injuries to a LGBT person.

According to the analysis of Eternity News, the law distinguishes between general teaching and personal counselling. “Sermons and general discussion of same-sex and gender issues which might take a conservative line” would not be prosecuted but “activities which are directed at an individual, on the basis of a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, and have the aim to change or suppress that person’s identity” would.

The law will not come into effect right away, but there will be one-year period in which the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission will lead consultations to clarify the details of how the law would be applied in different scenarios.

Several church denominations in Victoria have expressed their concern about the law.

https://www.prophecynewswatch.com

‘Taught to Hate God’: China’s Communist Party Indoctrinating Children by Telling Them Christianity Is an ‘Evil Cult’

Andrea Morris – February 9, 2021

China’s communist regime is reportedly taking more steps to indoctrinate young children to ensure they worship the country’s communist ruler Xi Jinping instead of God.

As CBN’s Faithwire has reported, under the regime’s Regulations on Religious Affairs, schoolchildren have been trained for years to report any family members who espouse Christian views.

Now the Epoch Times reports that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is escalating its efforts to “groom” young people in China to have the “right ideas and thoughts” that are anchored in atheism.

One Christian mother said her child appeared to be acting differently after attending school.

“Before starting school, I told my child about God’s creation, and he believed it. But after being taught at school, my child is like a different person. In atheistic China, these pure and innocent children have been taught to hate God.”

In one case, a child found a Christian booklet in his home and became anxious because his teacher warned that, “Christianity is a Xie jiao” or “evil cult.”

The children are given a textbook called “Morality and Society” which talks more about Xie jiao.

CBN News previously reported that the CCP strives to eliminate the faith community because it’s perceived as a threat to Xi’s regime. There are more Christians in China than Communist Party members, and this reality doesn’t sit well with the party. So religious materials have been classified as contraband.

Xi has ordered that all religions must “Sinicize” to see that they are loyal to the officially atheistic party.

https://www1.cbn.com

Global Persecution: The Number Of Christians Killed For Their Faith Increased By 60 Percent In Just One Year

– January 17, 2021

For years I have been warning that Christian persecution was rising all over the globe, but we have never seen anything like the past year.  Christians are being slaughtered all across Africa, they are being taken to concentration camps in North Korea, thousands of churches have been brutally shut down under a new wave of persecution in China, and millions of believers throughout the Middle East must live knowing that each new day may be their last.  Of course most Americans have never heard about any of this because the mainstream media won’t cover it.

Thankfully, there are organizations that do keep track of what is happening to Christians around the globe, and one of them is Open Doors USA.  According to the group, the number of Christians that were killed for their faith was 60 percent higher in 2020 than it was in 2019…

The watchdog organization Open Doors USA says levels of Christian persecution are at a record high around the world. Open Doors reports that levels of Christian persecution are at a record high, revealing that the number of Christians murdered for their faith rose 60 percent in 2020.

A 6 percent rise in a single year would be bad.

A 60 percent increase is a nightmare.

Open Doors USA also just released the 2021 World Watch List in which they named the top 50 nations that are persecuting Christians the most.

http://endoftheamericandream.com

Secularists Urge Biden to Unravel Trump’s Religious Freedom Protections

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Many Americans celebrate President Trump as the most significant champion for religious freedom in a lifetime. His actions gave Christians a sense of security, but now secularists, humanists, and others feel empowered to begin unraveling Trump-era protections.

“It all goes back to the May 2017 executive order by President Trump,” Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, tells CBN News.

That day in the Rose Garden, the president used his executive pen to ensure Christians and other people of faith don’t have to check their beliefs when entering the halls of government and prevented the federal government from going after pastors who speak about political issues from a moral perspective.

“We will not allow people of faith to be targeted, bullied, or silenced anymore,” the President said that day.

Now that order tops a long list of Trump administration actions that Secular Democrats of America want President-elect Joe Biden to erase.

Represented by the Congressional Freethought Caucus, the group paints Christians as extremists and urges the incoming administration to marginalize people of faith – relegating them to the back pew of the public square.

Part of their to-do list?

  • Ensure Humanist and Nontheist chaplains serve in each branch of the military.
  • Refrain from using the national motto “In God We Trust.”
  • And reframe patriotism by avoiding phrases like “God and country.”

These attempts to marginalize believers come as the media and even elected officials increasingly push the narrative that people of faith are unfit.

“Unfortunately we see that senators are increasingly treating religious beliefs with great suspicion and even hostility,” Kao said.

https://www.faithwire.com

Christians Were Persecuted in a Record 145 Countries in 2018, New Pew Report Says

Michael Foust – November 12, 2020

Christians are persecuted in more countries than any other religious group in the world, followed closely by Muslims, according to a new Pew Research Center study that also found government restrictions of religions are at an all-time high.

The lengthy Pew report was released this week and found that in 2018 – the most recent year studied by Pew – government limits on religion continued to climb, contributing to a “substantial rise in government restrictions on religion” compared to 2007, the first year Pew conducted the study. Pew defines restrictions as “laws, policies and actions by officials that impinge on religious beliefs and practices.”

The worldwide Government Restrictions Index score in 2018 was 2.9, compared to 1.8 in 2007 (The score involves a 10-point scale based on 20 indicators).

China is the world’s most restrictive country toward religion with the highest score (9.3) of all 198 countries and territories studied. Iran (8.5) is second, followed by Malaysia and the Maldives (8.2 each) and Tajikistan and Turkmenistan (7.9 each).

Most of the world’s religious persecution takes place in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as in the Middle East and North Africa, Pew said.

Christians and Muslims in 2018 received the highest level of persecution, which Pew calls “harassment.” Harassment, Pew said, “can include a wide range of actions – from verbal abuse to physical violence and killings – motivated at least in part by the target’s religious identity.”

Christians were persecuted in 145 countries in 2018 – a record – while Muslims were persecuted in 139 countries. Jews experienced persecution in a total of 88 countries.

“As in previous years, Christians and Muslims experienced harassment in more countries than any other religious groups in 2018. This pattern has remained consistent since the study began in 2007,” Pew said in its analysis.

https://www.christianheadlines.com

‘Sinister’ plan circulating in left-wing circles: Strip accreditation from religious schools that don’t comply with progressive policies

Phil Shiver – December 23, 2020

On Tuesday, in an op-ed published by the Daily Signal, Texas Republican Rep. Brian Babin raised awareness about a dangerous plan being hatched by progressives to shape future generations of Americans.

The plan — outlined in a recent Human Rights Campaign manifesto titled, “Blueprint for Positive Change” — urges the incoming Biden administration to mandate compliance with their political agenda by stripping accreditation from religious colleges and universities that don’t meet “nondiscrimination policies and science-based curricula standards” regarding sexual orientation and gender identity.

The objective, which is one of 85 policy recommendations submitted by the LGBTQ advocacy group, demands that the Department of Education amend language found in the Higher Education Opportunity Act that presently requires accrediting agencies to respect a school’s “stated mission.”

The department, HRC argues, “should issue a regulation clarifying that this provision … does not require the accreditation of religious institutions that do not meet neutral accreditation standards including nondiscrimination policies and scientific curriculum requirements.”

Should the plan be carried out, it would effectively dissolve religious higher education institutions in America as many employers do not hire applicants without a degree from an accredited school.

Babin responded to the plan, saying, “Here, couched in language designed to suggest moral superiority and scientific legitimacy, is a blatant, full-frontal assault on our religious liberties.

https://www.theblaze.com

Goverment Restrictions on Religion Hit Highest Level Since 2007

Milton Quintanilla – December 16, 2020

Faith leaders are addressing the recent Pew Research study that shows record-high levels of restrictions on religious freedom.

According to CBN News, Religious Freedom Ambassador Sam Brownback says that in order for other human rights to flourish, the right of religious freedom must also be protected.

“We look at this religious freedom foundational right that if you can get it right as a nation other human rights will flourish. If you get it wrong other human rights will diminish,” Brownback asserted.

Last month, Pew Research revealed that in 2018, government restrictions on religion hit an all-time high since 2007. The study also showed that high or very high government restrictions peaked in 56 countries, with the highest restrictions being in Africa and the Middle East.

We’ve never been more institutionalized, but we’ve never seen more persecution. The new Pew reports are out and there has never been more persecution, so we are getting our act together on how this gets institutionalized but obviously, we have to go to another level here as a civil society, as a government,” Chris Seiple of Templeton Religion Trust said.

In 2018, the White House intervened to free pastor Andrew Brunson, a missionary who was arrested in Turkey after he was falsely arrested for partaking in an alleged coup with Kurdish terrorists against Turkish president Erdogan.

Last week, Christian Headlines reported that Brunson predicted increasing persecution against U.S Christians in the future.

Brunson, who shared his remarks at the “Global Prayer for US Election Integrity” event on Facebook earlier this month, explained how Christians across the nation are unprepared for the forthcoming hostility that will be made against them.

https://www.christianheadlines.com

US Supreme Court sides with California church that challenged ‘draconian and unconscionable’ Covid lockdown

RT – December 3, 2020

The US Supreme Court has sided with a California church which argued that coronavirus restrictions infringe religious liberty. The ruling is the second such order to favor religious groups over Democratic governors.

With church services forbidden by California Governor Gavin Newsom under his Covid restrictions, the Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena claimed before the Supreme Court that the “draconian and unconscionable prohibitions” on worship were unfair.

“Indoor worship services are completely prohibited for 99.1 percent of Californians,” the group argued, while “food packing and processing, laundromats, and warehouses have no capacity limits, liquor and grocery stores have a 50 percent capacity, and big box centers, shopping malls, laundromats, and destination centers have a 25-percent capacity.”

Furthermore, the church accused Newsom himself of violating California’s lockdown rules “at his own whim,” after photos were published of the governor dining at a restaurant with a group of lobbyists and health officials.

The Supreme Court sided with the church on Thursday, sending the case back down to the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals, and asking that court’s judges to reconsider the case in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling last week which blocked New York’s restrictions on religious gatherings.

In that ruling, the highest US court ruled that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s lockdown measures – which limited church and synagogue congregations to 10 people in certain “red zones” – “strike at the very heart of the First Amendment’s guarantee of religious liberty.” 

“Even in a pandemic, the Constitution cannot be put away and forgotten,” the ruling added.

https://www.rt.com

US Supreme Court Rules NY Gov. Cuomo’s ‘Severe Restrictions’ on Church Attendance Unconstitutional

– November 27, 2020

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that New York’s “very severe” limitations on church attendance in the state’s COVID red and orange zones violate the First Amendment right to the freedom of religion and is not the least restrictive means of preventing infections.

“Not only is there no evidence that the applicants have contributed to the spread of COVID–19, but there are many other less restrictive rules that could be adopted to minimize the risk to those attending religious services,” the court stated in a 5-4 opinion Wednesday evening, with new justice Amy Coney Barrett being among the majority.

Chief Justice John Roberts sided with his liberal colleagues.

In October, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed Executive Order 202.68, which presented updated regulations for various public facilities, including fitness centers, hair salons, restaurants, taverns and houses of worship.

Churches in orange zones were required to be “subject to a maximum capacity limit of the lesser of 33% of maximum occupancy or 25 people, whichever is fewer.” Those in red zones were “subject to a capacity limit of 25% of maximum occupancy or 10 people, whichever is fewer.”

View the executive order here.

As a result, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and the Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization Agudath Israel of America filed suit to challenge the restrictions, arguing that they treat religious facilities more harshly than secular venues.

They contended that they have followed all health guidelines and have operated at reduced capacity without any outbreaks, and therefore, it cannot be proven that churches need more stringent regulation.

On Wednesday, following unsuccessful bids in the lower courts, the Supreme Court ruled that Cuomo’s restrictions “cannot be viewed as neutral because they single out houses of worship for especially harsh treatment” since businesses deemed “essential” could literally accommodate hundreds of occupants without penalty.

https://christiannews.net

‘The Next Jihad’: Evangelical leader, rabbi warn about ‘Christian genocide’ in Africa

Samuel Smith – November – 17, 2020

The rise of violent extremist groups throughout Africa, as well as the constant attacks against Christian communities in the continent’s most populated country, has religious leaders fearful that “the next jihad” is underway as world leaders seem to be rushing to address the problem.

“I know one thing has never really changed: No one gives a damn about Africa except for their natural resources or if there is going to be a big party because there is a peace treaty being signed,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, director of the global social action agenda of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a leading Jewish human rights organization with over 400,000 family members.

“That’s just the truth and it’s a terrible truth. It might be one of the vestiges, frankly, of colonialism.”

Cooper teamed up with Rev. Johnnie Moore, a commissioner on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and president of the Congress of Christian Leaders, to author the new book The Next Jihad: Stop the Christian Genocide in Africa.

The book was written after the unlikely duo traveled together to Nigeria earlier this year to meet with dozens of Christian victims of terrorism from five different regions.

In recent years, Nigeria, the continent’s richest country, has dealt with the rise of Islamic terrorist groups in the northeast (Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province) and an increase of deadly attacks on farming communities carried out by militarized radicals from the Fulani herding community.

In the past few years, it’s been estimated that thousands of Christians have been killed while millions of Nigerians have been displaced from their communities. Some human rights groups have warned that attacks against Christian communities in Nigeria have reached the standard for genocide

https://www.christianpost.com