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INTERNATIONAL NEWS 26th July 2010
Sent: Monday 26/Jul/2010 Topic: International
- DHIMMITUDE OR DEATH IN WEST JAVA
- IRANIANS STILL FACE DEATH BY STONING DESPITE REPRIEVE
- THREE QUARTERS OF U.S. MOSQUES PREACH ANTI-WESTERN EXTREMISM
- AUSTRALIA PROVIDES $50 MILLION TO PNG CHURCHES
- CORRECTION
- MORE MOROCCAN CHRISTIANS EXPELLED
- CHURCH ATTENDANCE UP IN AMERICA
DHIMMITUDE OR DEATH IN WEST JAVA
Source: Religious Liberty Monitoring
Analysts are warning that the situation in Bekasi, West Java, threatens to deteriorate into religious war similar to that which engulfed Central Sulawesi and Maluku between 1999 and 2002. Tensions are rising, preparations are in motion and all it awaits is a trigger. Islamic fundamentalists at the Bekasi Islamic Congress have demanded introduction of Sharia laws to 'limit' apostasy. They propose that every mosque in Bekasi establish its own paramilitary unit to be mobilised against Christians if "Christianisation" is not halted in line with their demands.
Indonesian legislators have called for the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) to be banned. However, others claim that if this is done other groups will just emerge in its place. Legislators demand that police must act decisively to apprehend all lawbreakers and that full and open investigations must be conducted in the event of any militia-related attacks. They also want those found orchestrating these attacks to face punishment. Whether or not the government is prepared to enforce the law in the face of Islamic fundamentalism, is the watershed issue on which the future of Indonesia balances.
Some 100 jihadist recruits recently turned out for an inaugural military training exercise in Bekasi. "We are seeking to strike fear in the hearts of Christians," said Murhali Barda, who heads the local chapter of the FPI. "If they refuse to stop what they're doing, we're ready to fight." The government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is reluctant to act against the fundamentalists because it is dependent upon the support of Islamic parties in the parliament. With the Islamic parties holding the balance of power, nobody, especially the ruling party, can afford to be deemed "un-Islamic".
Arbi Sanit, a political analyst at the University of Indonesia said. "Being popular is more important to the politicians than punishing those who are clearly breaking the law." Catholic news agency Fides agrees: "Radicals are exploiting a central government that is dependent upon Muslim support and fearful of Islamic belligerence." Jesuit Fr. Ignazio Ismartono, director of the Indonesian Bishops' Crisis Service told Fides: The root cause of the problem is "the breakdown in relationship between Islamic and Christian groups. At the basis of it is the question of respect for others.
Every religious community should not propagate their faith so fanatically. This approach only leads to a reaction of fanaticism in other communities. It's a vicious circle that we must emerge from. But what is he saying exactly? This seductive, fine-sounding statement deserves closer scrutiny. Firstly he is saying that we must accept that religions have established "spheres of action and influence". According to Islam, Christians have no right to witness to Muslims who have no automatic right to hear any other claim to truth or choose their own religion.
The implication that Christian should have respect for "others", we can only assume that he is asking the Protestants to respect the demands of the apostaphobic dictators of Islam. Fr Ismartono implies that the Muslim fanaticism that is threatening to shed Christian blood in Bekasi is only a reaction to Protestant fanaticism with the gospel. The reality however, is that the Islamic fanaticism surfacing in Bekasi is merely part of the global revival of intolerant, jihadist and revolutionary, fundamentalist Islam. Fr Ismartono needs to explain how then should Christians live? What should Christians do so as to enable "peaceful coexistence"?
What should Christians do so as to avoid invoking Islamic fanaticism against the hurch? Mind you, the answers might read like a Middle Ages handbook for dhimmitude. And this is the problem with so much Muslim-Christian Dialogue -- it tends to revolve around Christians, responding to unspoken threats of terror, making concessions towards dhimmitude in the hope that the Muslims won't kill them. But dhimmitude is not the solution.
IRANIANS STILL FACE DEATH BY STONING DESPITE REPRIEVE
Source: Intercessors Network
Twelve Iranian women and three men are on death row awaiting execution by stoning despite a last-minute reprieve for a mother of two who had been facing the sentence after being convicted of adultery. Human rights groups and activists welcomed a wave of international publicity and protests over the case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, 43, who was awaiting execution after what her lawyer called an unjust trial and a sham conviction. The Iranian embassy in London said in a statement that "according to information from the relevant judicial authorities" the stoning would not go ahead.
If confirmed it would be a victory for a brief but intense campaign. However, there are still concerns over her plight. In a previous case a prisoner who was to be stoned was instead executed by hanging. Mohammadi Ashtiani's son Sajad, said his mother believed the pressure on her behalf might succeed, although he had not heard of any reprieve. "The campaign for her release is going well," he said. "They gave me permission to talk to her and she was very thankful to the people of the world for supporting her. It was the first time in years I heard any hope in my mother's voice."
Without a reprieve, Mohammadi Ashtiani would have been buried up to her neck before being pelted with stones large enough to cause pain but not so large as to kill her immediately. Iran routinely censors information about executions, but all the 12 other women on death row have been convicted on adultery charges, as has one of the three men. Iranian activists say the tragedy is that the families of those sentenced to death often ignore them. "It doesn't matter to them whether the charge of adultery is true or not because the honour of the family is tainted," said Soheila Vahdati.
"It's not possible to talk about these prisoners in public because their families don't want their names mentioned or their pictures published. Their families don't want to defend them neither. Mohammadi Ashtiani's case is amazing because her children are campaigning for her courageously and said that their mother is innocent." "The only reason the Iranian government has not carried out stoning sentences on all these people is that it is afraid of Iranian public reaction and international attention", said Soheila.
THREE QUARTERS OF U.S. MOSQUES PREACH ANTI-WESTERN EXTREMISM
Source: Intercessors for America
An undercover survey of more than 100 mosques and Islamic schools in America has exposed widespread radicalism, including the finding that 3 in 4 Islamic centres are hotbeds of anti-Western extremism. The Mapping Sharia in America Project, sponsored by the Washington-based Centre for Security Policy, has trained former counter intelligence and counter terrorism agents from the FBI, CIA and U.S. military, who are skilled in Arabic and Urdu, to conduct undercover reconnaissance at some 2,300 mosques and Islamic centres and schools across the country."
So far of 100 mapped, 75 should be on a watchlist," an official familiar with the project said. Many of the Islamic centres are operating under the auspices of the Saudi Arabian government and U.S. front groups for the radical Muslim Brotherhood based in Egypt. Frank Gaffney, a former Pentagon official who runs the Centre for Security Policy, confirmed that "the vast majority" are inciting insurrection and jihad through sermons by Saudi-trained imams and anti-Western literature, videos and textbooks.
The project, headed by David Yerushalmi, a lawyer and expert on sharia law, has collected data from the 102 mosques and schools. Preliminary findings indicate that almost 80 percent of the group exhibit a high level of sharia-compliance and jihadi threat, including: Ultra-orthodox worship in which women are separated from men in the prayer hall and must enter the mosque from a separate, usually back, entrance; and are required to wear hijabs. Though not all mosques in America are radicalized, many have tended to serve as safe havens and meeting points for Islamic terrorist groups.
Even with such radical mosques operating in its backyard, the U.S.government has not undertaken its own systematic investigation of U.S.mosques. In contrast, European Union security officials are analysing member-state mosques, examining the training and funding sources of imams, in a large-scale project. Some U.S. lawmakers want the U.S. to conduct its own investigation."We have too many mosques in this country," said Representative Pete King. "There are too many people who are sympathetic to radical Islam. We should be looking at them more carefully.
AUSTRALIA PROVIDES $50 MILLION TO PNG CHURCHES
Source: Compiled by APN from media reports
Australia will provide $50 million to churches in Papua New Guinea over six years to deliver critical health and education services to the poorest, most disadvantaged and remote people of PNG. These services include building medical centres for people with HIV and AIDS, operating health clinics and schools in remote areas, training medical workers and school teachers and running primary schools. PNG churches help to resolve community conflicts, respond to disasters and improve the income of PNG's poorest people through growing and marketing cash crops.
Australia's support for these efforts recognises the vital role churches play in delivering approximately half the country's health and education programs. Australian Non Government Organisations will work with PNG churches, who deliver aid directly to the people of PNG. This is a very effective way to ensure that capacity is being built and services reach the people most in need. This new phase of the Australian Government funded Church Partnership Program builds on the success of the churches' efforts to date.
In the past Australia has provided $35 million to support PNG churches to raise HIV awareness, address discrimination, improve health facilities, train school teachers and respond to emergencies such as the cholera outbreak in 2009 and the Oro floods in 2007. The new phase will continue this good work. It will help PNG churches workmore closely with PNG Government service delivery agencies. The program will also support PNG churches to join forces to deliver health and education activities. This will maximise the reach and effectiveness of Australia's support.
CORRECTION
Source: Australian Prayer Network
Last week we published a story in good faith received from a respected International Christian News Service headed "450 grooms wed girls under 10 in Gaza". Following a number of queries from suspicious members, we went back to the originating source who confirmed that a rogue email from 12 months ago had found its way into their editorial system without detection for which they asked us to apologise to our readers. Their enquiries reveal that the event actually did take place and all aspects of the story have been confirmed as accurate except for the most important one.
The girls referred to in the story were not the brides but their attendants. Photographs seen by the News Service show the grooms walking hand in hand with the young girls and a wrong assumption was made by the reporter. Various statistics quoted in the report are however correct, taken as they were from official sources. We have also discussed this article with Muslim converts known to us who confirm that child marriage is not uncommon in Islamic countries and that statistics quoted are in line with their own personal experience and knowledge from living in those countries.
The Australian Prayer Network does all in our power to ensure the material we reproduce is accurate and reliable by only using articles sent to us from respected and reputable international media, or Christian News Service sources to which we subscribe. We never use stories from emails that are circulated on the internet nor do we take articles from websites. Unfortunately we have no way of independently checking articles prior to publication and have to rely solely on the integrity of the news sources we use. We apologise to our readers and thank you for your understanding.
MORE MOROCCAN CHRISTIANS EXPELLED
Source: Compass Direct News
Moroccan authorities have expelled eight more foreign Christians from the country, bringing the total deported since March to 128. Two foreign women married to Moroccan Christians were included in this third wave of deportations. One of the women, a Lebanese national married to a Moroccan, was diagnosed with cancer last month and is the mother of a 6-year old girl whom she was forced to leave behind.
Authorities called the foreigners to police stations across Morocco and told them they had 48 hours to leave the country for "threatening public order." Other nationals who were forced to leave came from France, Egypt, Lebanon, Switzerland, Nigeria and Spain. Moroccan authorities are essentially deporting Christians for "proselytism," - widely perceived as bribing people to change their faith, which is illegal in Morocco. The deportations come amid a nationwide mudslinging campaign geared to vilify Christians in Morocco.
CHURCH ATTENDANCE UP IN AMERICA
Source: The Christian Post
A new Gallup poll shows church attendance in the U.S. has increased in 2010 with 43.1% of Americans reporting weekly or almost weekly church attendance, up from 42.1% in 2008. Though it appears to be a small increase, Gallup
noted that it is statistically significant, considering the data is based on more than 800,000 interviews between February 2008 and May 2010. The increase comes as Americans' economic confidence has risen, suggesting that, instead of church attendance rising in bad economic times as some theorize, the opposite pattern may be occurring.