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| Supporters of Colorado baker Jack Phillips hold signs in front of the US Supreme Court as arguments in Masterpiece Cakeshop v.Colorado Civil Rights Commission on December 5, 2017. | (Photo: The Christian Post)
What is the status of religious liberty in America? What are the biggest threats to the freedom of religion? How should Christians, especially those who hold conservative theological views, approach the debate?
Luke Goodrich, an attorney with the religious liberty law firm Becket, attempts to answer these and other questions in his new book, Free to Believe: The Battle over Religious Liberty in America.
The Christian Post interviewed Goodrich about his book on religious liberty and related topics, including how Americans might misunderstand freedom of religion and how he believes the U.S. Supreme Court is handling the matter.
Pilgrims, Martyrs, and Beginners
Goodrich wrote about three categories he believes many American Christians fit into regarding how they approach religious liberty.
The first group, which he labels “Pilgrims,” see Christianity as having an essential place in society and often favor the state promoting religion.
The second, labeled “Martyrs,” believe Christians should not expect a special place in society and feel that churches should be counter-cultural and expect persecution.
The third, labeled “Beginners,” are individuals who support religious freedom, but do not feel it is an important debate and likely know little about the topic.
Goodrich explained to CP that these categories each have their own pluses and minuses when assessing the nature of religious liberty and how it should be handled.
"And as far as who is the most and least correct, I think they all have some truth in them but they are all mistaken in different ways.” Persecution Unveiled has been called to prick the consciences of our nation and all free people to pray for, speak up and act on behalf of those who are persecuted for their faith. Follow us on Pinterest. |
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Wednesday, October 23, 2019
What are the Biggest Threats to Religious Liberty in the US?
Video Emerges of Chinese Officials Bulldozing Another 3,000 Member Megachurch as Congregation Worshipped
"The total disregard of religious freedom's protection as enshrined in the Communist Party's own Constitution tells the whole world President Xi is determined to continue his war against the peaceful Christian faithful..." ChinaAid President, Bob Fu
By Yukie Nishizawa Pool/Getty
Faithwire
Fearing that their leaders and congregations are undermining President Xi Jinping’s communist regime, Chinese authorities continue to bulldoze the sites of megachurches.
The latest building to get leveled by the ruthless state forces was Fuyang Christian Church, a massive structure located in Fenan, Anhui province. According to persecution watchdog, ChinaAid, the church could seat some 3,000 people and was part of the country’s official church network.
The organization also noted that the demolition was undertaken as congregants worshipped, and that the action was carried out with no supporting legal documentation.
It is still unclear why the church was flattened, though the pastors, Geng Yimin and Sun Yongyao, were subsequently arrested on suspicion of “gathering a crowd to disturb social order.”
Sunday, October 20, 2019
China Bans African Students from Worshiping in Churches to Prevent 'Foreign Infiltration'
In recent years, the Communist Party government has banned online sales of Bibles, leveled churches, and arrested hundreds of Christians for "inciting subversion of state power."
Worshipers pray during a mass at the Liuhe Catholic Church in Liuhe
village on the outskirts of Qingxu county, northern China in this
undated photo. | REUTERS
By Leah MarieAnn Klett
Christian Post Reporter
Christian Post Reporter
The Chinese government has banned African international students from worshiping in Christian churches under the pretext of “preventing foreign infiltration through religion,” a persecution watchdog group has revealed.
A group of over 80 African students who are residing in a city in the northeastern province of Liaoning told Chinese persecution watchdog Bitter Winter that in September, the person in charge of the Three-Self church that they attended received a government order prohibiting foreigners from participating in gatherings at the church.
“We just want to have a place to congregate,” one student told the outlet.
A Chinese believer at the church said that at an “anti-religious infiltration” symposium held by the local government in August, the officials questioned the person in charge of the church about foreign-related activities.
Shortly after the symposium, the international students were driven out of the church.
“In our hearts, we were unwilling to see them leave,” the Chinese believer said.
The government also pressured or threatened other Christian meeting venues. When the African students asked to be allowed to attend gatherings at another Three-Self church, they were turned down.
A similar incident occurred at a university in the central province of Hubei, where a church attended by over 40 African students received repeated threats from government officials who demanded the church’s director drive out the international students.
The students now are forced to worship in secret, disguising their gatherings like birthday parties, according to Bitter Winter.
One of the students said that he doesn’t understand how the government can claim that there is “freedom of belief” in China. “I don’t understand why China’s rulers won’t allow foreigners to hold religious gatherings,” the student said. “This has forced us to practice our faith in hiding.”
Bitter Winter also revealed that universities in the provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, Henan, and elsewhere are required to investigate the religious status of international students and teachers.
An administrator at a university in Jiujiang, a prefecture-level city in the southeastern province of Jiangxi, said that the government secretly monitors African students.
“If any people are discovered to be too close to them, both parties will be watched and investigated. But most African students are completely unaware that they’re being monitored,” the administrator explained.
“As soon as African students are discovered attending gatherings at house churches or spreading the Gospel to other students, they will be expelled from the school immediately,” the administrator said.
According to the administrator, the school has already expelled one African student for preaching the Gospel to Chinese classmates. The student was later deported to his home country.
Persecution Unveiled has been called to prick the consciences of our nation and all free people to pray for, speak up and act on behalf of those who are persecuted for their faith. Follow us on Pinterest.
Christians Risk Arrest if They Display Bible in Saudi Arabia, Persecution Watchdog Group Warns
Muslims gather around the Kaaba inside the Grand Mosque during the
holy fasting month of Ramadan in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, June 6,2016.
Reuters/Faisal Al Nasser
By Michael Gryboski
Christian Post Reporter
Christians traveling to Saudi Arabia are being warned not to publicly display their Bible while in the country or travel with more than one copy of the text, despite the kingdom's recent openness to tourism.
The Christian persecution watchdog group Barnabus Fund released a statement Monday warning individuals that having a Bible can still put them at risk of arrest.
“Christian visitors should be aware that displaying a Bible in public, or taking more than one Bible into the country, could place them at risk of arrest,” the group cautioned.
“The new regulations for tourists state that a Bible may be brought into the country provided it is for personal use only. Bibles must not be displayed in public and anyone found bringing a large number of Bibles will face ‘severe penalties.’”
Barnabus went on to explain that the Saudi Arabian government follows a strict interpretation of Islam and that openly practicing Christianity in the kingdom is forbidden.
“There are hundreds of thousands of Christians from other nations, such as the Philippines, other parts of Asia, or African countries, who are living and working in Saudi Arabia,” the group added.
“But they must meet in private homes to worship, and risk harassment, arrest and deportation if they are caught doing so. Saudi citizens who convert to Christianity face risk of execution by the state for apostasy if their conversion becomes known.”
Last month, Saudi Arabia announced it was launching a new visa program meant to encourage tourism, in part to move the kingdom away from its dependence on the oil industry.
Previously, the Islamic country’s visa program was restricted to those coming for business or religious pilgrimage, according to the BBC.
Foreign women taking advantage of the visa program will not be required to adhere to the nation’s strict dress code or be accompanied in public. However, they will still be expected to dress modestly.
Saudi Tourism Minister Ahmad al-Khateeb said last month that the new visa was a “historic moment” for the nation, adding that the kingdom boasts “five UNESCO World Heritage Sites, a vibrant local culture and breathtaking natural beauty.”
Persecution Unveiled has been called to prick the consciences of our nation and all free people to pray for, speak up and act on behalf of those who are persecuted for their faith. Follow us on Pinterest.
Thursday, October 17, 2019
12-Year-Old Jewish Boy Forced to Kneel Down and Kiss Feet of Muslim Classmate
The Age, Australia
A 12-year-old Jewish student was forced to kneel down and kiss the shoes of a Muslim classmate, while a five-year-old boy was allegedly called a "Jewish cockroach" and repeatedly hounded in the school toilets by his young classmates.
The two incidents this year – the first involving a year 7 boy at Cheltenham Secondary College and the second a prep student at Hawthorn West Primary School – have prompted the Anti-Defamation Commission to sound an alarm about what it says is a "rapidly spreading" crisis involving anti-Semitic bullying in Victorian state schools.
DISGUSTING ANTISEMITISM IN AUSTRALIA!
A 12-year-old Jewish student was forced to kneel down and kiss the shoes of a Muslim classmate, while a five-year-old boy was allegedly called a "Jewish cockroach" and repeatedly hounded in the school toilets. theage.com.au/national/victo…
Both boys, whose parents have asked to remain anonymous, have since left the schools where the incidents occurred, with the five-year-old boy currently being home schooled.
The older boy’s act of kissing another student’s shoes, under threat of being swarmed by several other boys, was filmed, photographed and shared on social media.
No disciplinary action has been taken against the group of boys involved in the incident, which took place in a public park.
The mother said she was bitterly disappointed by the response of Cheltenham Secondary College and the Education Department.
The school and the department have denied having responsibility for the incident, because it did not take place on school grounds, the mother said.
"I took such offence with the Education Department, because there was nothing they did to protect my son at all, at any point in time – that’s what’s cut me up," she said.
The mother sought out the parents of the Muslim boy, who were horrified by their son’s actions.
"We sat down, his parents, the two boys and myself, around the table and explained the velocity of [the bullying] and what it meant to us as parents as far as building bridges between Jews and Muslims in society and not creating division like that photo does," she said.
One of the boys who watched on was later suspended for five days for assaulting the Jewish student in the school locker room.
The Jewish boy was punched in the face and left with a bruised back and had skin gouged out of his shoulder, his mother said.
The mother of the five-year-old boy at Hawthorn West Primary said her son was repeatedly taunted and laughed at over his circumcised penis, to the point where he began to wet himself in class rather than go to the toilet.
The taunts – which the education department said could not be corroborated because they were not overheard by teachers – led the school to temporarily provide a separate toilet for the boy as a "safety plan", although this plan failed on its second day.
The mother said one of the most disturbing aspects of the other children’s insults was the way they mirrored the anti-Semitic language of the Holocaust.
"The words ‘you dirty Jew’ and ‘Jewish cockroach’, they are such cliches," she said.
"I grew up with Holocaust survivors, I used to go to synagogue with my uncle who was a Holocaust survivor and those were the words, literally, he was taunted with when he was five."
The department conceded last month in an apology letter to the parents that the boy had been laughed at in the toilets by other students on this day and said this was unacceptable.
"While school staff were not able to substantiate that any negative interactions were anti-Semitic in nature, on the basis of those investigations, school staff identified an incident that involved children laughing at [the boy]," department director Barbara Crowe said.
"This was not acceptable and would have been an unpleasant experience for [the boy]. I am sorry that this occurred."
But the mother said the school had made an error of judgment by treating the incident as general bullying, not anti-Semitism.
"Why not just say, this is anti-Semitism and talk about it? These are things that happen to different people and different religions," she said.
The parents have lost confidence in Hawthorn West Primary School’s ability to care for their son, and are home schooling him while looking for a new school.
Dvir Abramovich, chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission, said this was part of a disturbing trend of Jewish parents pulling their children out of government schools in Melbourne.
"There is mounting evidence that families are forced to take their children out of public schools and to enroll them in Jewish-day schools due to a growing sense of insecurity and fear that their kids will be harmed simply because of who they are," Dr Abramovich said.
Mr Abramovich has been helping the mother of the 12-year-old boy to find another school for her daughter, because she does not want to send her to Cheltenham Secondary College.
The Education Department has been contacted for comment.
Persecution Unveiled has been called to prick the consciences of our nation and all free people to pray for, speak up and act on behalf of those who are persecuted for their faith. Follow us on Pinterest
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