Villagers at a cemetery in Dordogne Department in southwest France were horrified that vandals this week painted Islamist slogans in French and Arabic on 58 graves, a church door, a World War I memorial and tomb art depicting the Crucifixion.
India’s famed Emperor Ashoka was an ancient convert from Hinduism to Buddhism. He demonstrated that a person is NOT forced by others to convert from one religion to another. Today, “religious conversions are forced,” is the flawed premise of all anti-conversion laws of India. Who could have forced mighty Emperor Ashoka to change his religion? The Emperor’s famous religious conversion was his choice.
The situation for Iranian people is more dangerous now than before the recent war with Israel and the United States of America. Even more so for Christians who represent a growing minority religion in the staunchly Shia theocracy. Under threat, the ruling regime has increased its morality terror with brutal force.
In a perfect world, where legal systems hold political power to account and protect minorities against human rights abuses we might expect an end to persecution. But we do not live in a perfect world. People with power continue to act with impunity against those who think and live differently to them. Christians have a way to cope with this reality and a real and living hope for a future free of persecution.
New political winds are blowing with increasing force as the push-back against globalization grows with increasing nationalisms. The demand to pledge allegiance to something other than God in Christ will put renewed pressure on the Church and we need to be prepared to hold true to our faith. Here is a stern warning that Christians must take to heart.
Muslim terrorists killed two Christians and kidnapped dozens of others in an attack on the outskirts of the city of Kaduna in northern Nigeria, sources said.
With a soaring number of blasphemy allegations in Pakistan in 2023, rights activists are reiterating demands for legislation against blatant abuse of the country’s notorious blasphemy laws
A Christian owner of a café in Pakistan has garnered praise for protecting a Muslim woman from an angry mob that accused her of blasphemy for wearing a dress that they mistakenly believed bore verses of the Quran.
The U.S. Senate has taken a significant step forward in the global fight for religious freedom with the introduction of a resolution calling for the U.S. government to use all diplomatic and sanctions tools at its disposal to address and penalize violators of religious freedom internationally.
The Lahore High Court’s recent directive to strictly enforce anti-child marriage laws has raised hope among Pakistan’s Christians of some protection against their underage girls being forced to convert to Islam and wed their kidnappers, sources said.
A Muslim cleric has come under heavy criticism after he called for the killing of Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Nigeria’s First Lady. A video emerged of the cleric describing Senator Oluremi as an “infidel” who should be killed for being a pastor.
The rise of Artificial General Intelligence is now unstoppable. It is not an overstatement to say that it is transforming life on earth as humans know it. No sphere of human interaction is immune, least of all the religious sector. Now, more than ever, we need to be spiritually discerning about AI/AGI use in our faith walk. Let us take care not put our trust in something that has neither heart nor soul.
