State cannot include ‘God’ in motto, U.S. court rules
CINCINNATI (BP)–The Sixth U.S. Court of Appeals ruled April 25 that Ohio’s state motto, “With God, all things are possible,” violates the U.S. Constitution and must be thrown out.
religious freedom
Faith-Based Compromise?
“A politics of community can be strengthened when we are not afraid to make the connections between spirituality and politics.”[2] Al Gore who also touted faith-based partnerships. Senator again urges expanded role for religion in social service programs
“Bush and his aides moved to downplay the religious component, emphasizing the proposal’s overall purpose: boosting communities and civil society.”[3] Bush Unveils ‘Faith-Based’ Initiative
Report on global religious liberty is challenge to U.S., Abrams says
WASHINGTON (BP)–The State Department’s second report on global religious liberty presents a challenge for the U.S. government to act against persecution, the chairman of a federal commission said.
Proposed legislation raises new concern for religious freedom in Kazakhstan
New legislation awaiting agreement by the Kazakhstan authorities looks set to undermine religious freedom.
The Keston Institute reports that if adopted, the law will require all missionaries to be registered and allow unregistered religious groups to be banned.
Georgia: “No Action” In Wake Of Attack on Pentecostals
Members of the Word of Life Pentecostal Church, human rights activists and some politicians have complained about the failure of the police or prosecutor’s office to take any action so far in the wake of last month’s attack on a Word of Life service in a cinema in the centre of the Georgian capital Tbilisi. The mob raid – the latest in a long series of attacks on minority religious communities dating back to 1999 – was led by Basil Mkalavishvili, a defrocked priest of the Orthodox Church who enjoys de facto immunity from prosecution for his violent raids. (see KNS 26 September 2001) “We have not arrested Mkalavishvili,” the duty police officer at the Mtatsminda-Krtsanisi district police told Keston News Service on 11 January. “Why should we?” His boss, district police chief Togo Gogua, confirmed later in the day that his officers had not arrested anyone in the wake of the latest attack. “I’m not the procurator and I’m not the judge. An investigation is underway,” Gogua declared. “They must be arrested,” the church’s pastor insisted to Keston. “It’s not a question of religious freedom but of hooliganism. Such hooligan gangs should not be allowed to exist.”
Indiana Civil Liberties Union Retreats in its Attack on Ten Commandments Monument
(Ann Arbor, Michigan) – A lawsuit brought by the Indiana Civil Liberties Union (ICLU), on behalf of two plaintiffs, to take down a Ten Commandments monument that has stood in front of the Knox County Courthouse since 1958 was recently dismissed by a federal judge.
2 Christians killed, others tortured in Chinese Government crackdown
WASHINGTON (BP)–Two Christians have been killed in the Chinese government’s crackdown on pastor Gong Shengliang and his South China Church in central Hubei Province, according to a letter from members of the underground church revealing graphic details and new information about the persecution.
Saudi Arabia Is Again The World’s Worst Persecutor of Christians
Turkmenistan has moved to fifth place on the Open Doors World Watch List of worst persecutors of Christians, behind Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Laos and China, causing “great concern” to persecution watchers around the world.
Land of the Pyramids Hinders Christian Outreach
Inescapably intertwined with Bible history, Egypt and much of her history has had great impact over the years on Judaism, then Christianity. From Joseph being appointed as second-in-command to Pharaoh, to Moses leading the Jews through the wilderness of the Sinai Peninsula, to the infant Jesus and His family seeking refuge, the stories are familiar to us. Egypt’s recorded history dates back to 3200 BC. This land that straddles parts of two continents–Africa and Asia–rose to world wide prominence as a series of Pharaohs who ruled the Land of the Nile oversaw incredible feats of engineering that resulted in the … Read more
Vietnamese Pastor’s Letter A Plea For Help
The letter below — the cry of a frustrated and persecuted Vietnamese Mennonite pastor named Nguyen Hong Quang — is an appeal for religious freedom in Vietnam and for support from the international Christian community.
ACLJ Applauds Supreme Court Decision Protecting Religious Organizations
(Washington, DC) – The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm, said today a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court overturning a federal appeals court that prevented a New York Christian youth group from using a public school after-hours is “an important victory for the First Amendment and sends a powerful message that religious organizations must receive equal treatment.â€
Religious Liberty Deteriorates During Wahid’s Impeachment Crisis
LONDON (Compass) — Mobs attacked five East Java churches, and six Ambon Christians were hacked to death in May in a sudden escalation of religious violence being played out in Indonesia against a backdrop of increasing political instability.
ACLJ Secures Federal Appeals Victory in NY Religious Discrimination Case
(Hauppague, New York) — The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm, announced today that a federal appeals court has overturned a lower court ruling clearing the way for a Long Island, New York church and its pastor to lawfully use facilities owned and operated by the Town of Babylon.
ACLJ Secures First Amendment Victory as Mass. City Replaces Brick Pavers With Religious Messages
(Boston, MA) – The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm, announced today that the City of Newburyport, Massachusetts has replaced two commemorative brick pavers that were removed by the city from a city park because they contained religious messages.
Public School Bible Club Triumphs Against School Officials Stealing Their Rights To Meet And Adverti
LAKE STEVENS, Wash. – Rutherford Institute affiliate attorneys have successfully intervened on behalf of students at Lake Stevens High School who were denied their rights to establish an officially recognized extracurricular Bible club.
Tulsa County School Authorities Agree to Uphold Student/Teacher Religious Expression
TULSA, Okla. – Rutherford Institute affiliate attorneys have settled a lawsuit brought on behalf of two students and one teacher who were denied their constitutional rights to form an extracurricular Bible club at McLain High School Career Academy. The lawsuit charges that McLain school officials violated the students’ and teacher’s First Amendment rights of free speech, freedom of association, and freedom from discrimination on the basis of religion as well as their Fourteenth Amendment right of equal protection, and the Federal Equal Access Act.
Police Arrest Two Christians in Azerbaijan
Two Christians were sent to jail yesterday for seven days on charges of “disobeying the police” in the town of Ismailly, 120 miles west of the Azerbaijani capital of Baku.
U.S. religious freedom commission urges stronger action in Sudan
WASHINGTON (ABP) — Amid reports of worsening religious-freedom abuses in the Sudan, a United States commission is urging the Bush administration to mount a comprehensive and sustained campaign to pressure the Muslim-dominated government to improve its record on human rights.
Panel examining Indonesian persecution hears Christian prof, Muslim leader
Sharply different perspectives on religious persecution in Indonesia have been laid before the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.
Jailed Pakistani Christian Evangelists Freed on Bail
After eight days in jail, two Pakistani evangelists arrested in Jacobabad for distributing Christian literature and tapes of the documentary “Jesus” film were released on bail January 19.