Displaying items by tag: religious freedom

Churches must be officially registered with the authorities. A recently passed new law  guaranteed religious freedom, but vague legislation banning religious activity that could ‘harm social order and/or national unity’ appears to give authorities freedom to crack down on religious freedom where it is deemed to be against the interests of the state. Vietnam’s communist government considers Christianity an opponent to the one-party state. Christians are facing harassment and violence. Gangs of nationalist youths have terrorised a Christian community in Song Ngoc, attacking a church and homes and targeting Christian business owners. Weeks of intimidation and low-level violence carried out in an orchestrated manner is being ignored by police. Church leaders helping impoverished local fishermen in a legal case following a marine pollution disaster have appealed to the authorities. Pray for church leaders to have strength as they stand against the government for the rights of poor fishermen.

The State Department recently released its International Religious Freedom Report for 2017. A wide range of U.S. government agencies and offices use the reports for such efforts as shaping policy and conducting diplomacy. The Secretary of State also uses the reports to help determine which countries have engaged in or tolerated “particularly severe violations” of religious freedom in order to designate “countries of particular concern.”

A major concern addressed in this year’s report is that “international religious freedom is worsening in both the depth and breadth of violations.” Here are five facts from the report about the persecution of Christians:

1. North Korea, where religious freedom is nonexistent, continues to rank as the one of the world’s most repressive regimes. The United Nations estimates that less than two percent of North Koreans are Christian, or somewhere between 200,000 and 400,000 people. As the report notes, the North Korean government relentlessly persecutes and punishes religious believers through arrest, torture, imprisonment, and sometimes execution. Once Christians are imprisoned, they are typically sent to political prison camps where they are “treated with extraordinary cruelty.”
2. The government of China, a country that has about 70 million Christians, has circulated revised regulations governing religion, including new penalties for “illegal” religious activities and an increase on the crackdown on Christian house churches. The report also notes that the Chinese government is continuing its campaign, launched in 2014, to remove crosses and demolish churches. Over the past three years Chinese authorities have removed crosses or demolished churches at more than 1,500 locations in Zhejiang Province alone.
3. In Eritrea, Pentecostals and Evangelicals comprise the majority of religious prisoners. Persons detained for religious activities, in both short-term and long-term detentions, are not formally charged, permitted access to legal counsel, accorded due process, or allowed family visits. Prisoners are not permitted to pray aloud, sing, or preach, and religious books are banned. Evangelicals and Pentecostals released from prison report being pressured to recant their faith, forced to sign statements that they would no longer gather to worship, and warned not to reengage in religious activities.
4. Iran continues to arbitrarily arrest and detain Christians. Since 2010, more than 600 Christians throughout the country have been held as religious prisoners. In 2016 there were numerous incidents of Iranian authorities raiding church services, threatening church members, and arresting and imprisoning worshipers and church leaders, particularly Evangelicals. As of December 2016, approximately 90 Christians were in prison, detained, or awaiting trial because of their religious beliefs and activities.

5. As the report notes, the Russian government views independent religious activity as a major threat to social and political stability, an approach inherited from the Soviet period. It maintains and frequently updates laws that restrict religious freedom, including a 1997 religion law and a much-amended 2002 law on combating extremism. The Russian religion law sets strict registration requirements on religious groups and empowers state officials to impede their activity. It also effects religious liberty in parts of the Ukraine controlled by Russian-occupied separatist para-states. In December 2016, Ministry of State Security of one such groups denounced the Baptist community as a “non-traditional religious organization” engaged in “destructive activity.”

From: The Weekly <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Fri, May 12, 2017

Pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ in these five countries which are among the worst abusers of Christians. Pray they will be strong and faithful to the Lord who called them and that these regimes will change their attitudes and pass laws protecting religious believers that live under their rule

The owner of a Christian T-shirt designer and printer business recently won an appeal case after he objected to printing a pro-LGBT message on an order of T-shirts. Blaine Adamson, managing owner of Hands On Originals, said he and his staff never refuse to do business with someone based on their personal beliefs, but he felt compelled in 2012 to decline to print a message for a gay pride event because it went against his convictions. The Gay and Lesbian Services Organisation promoting the event then filed a discrimination lawsuit against Adamson and his company. The legal action that followed went on for five years. During that time Adamson and his staff remained committed to trusting that God would honour their decision to stand by their convictions. Adamson’s lawyer said after the victorious court case that the law can't force people to express a message in conflict with their deepest convictions.

Ashers Baking Company, a Christian bakery in Belfast which was sued by the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland and found guilty of discrimination by refusing to bake a cake supporting same-sex marriage, has reported record profits. These topped £1.5 million last year, an annual increase of more than £170,000. In 2014, the McArthur family who own and run Ashers turned down the cake order because they said the slogan on the cake conflicted with their Christian belief that marriage is between a man and a woman. The Equality Commission sued them, and the bakery lost the legal fight a year later. According to the Christian Institute, which is backing the company, the McArthur family is in the process of appealing to the UK Supreme Court.

An executive order by President Trump last week fell short of what many had hoped for and drew widespread criticism. ‘The executive order on the whole looks to accomplish very little of substance, against the backdrop of a lot of show,’ said a professor of law and religion. Trump supporters argued that it was a first step in a multistep process that will lead to accomplishing all religious freedom objectives. Trump did nothing to address conflicts between gay rights advocates and Christian bakers or photographers who do not want to provide services for same-sex weddings.

The persecution of Christians is real, global, and brutal; it occurs every day, and is worsening. Pray for more people to learn about their plight, and raise their voices for those who are suffering. Pray for God to give successful strategies to those actively working towards advancing the cause of religious freedom throughout the world. Pray for the persecuted people who have had to leave their communities. Ask God to give them peace and rest and be with them in circumstances for which life had not prepared them. Some people have had to reach some level of compromise and accommodation with their oppressor to survive. Pray for governments to remove oppressive regimes peacefully in countries where communities are under siege and for God to surround displaced people with comfort. Pray for those risking martyrdom to be wise in all their actions, and for God to be with the families of martyrs. For an informative resume of a symposium on persecution in Paris this week, click the ‘More’ button.

During Theresa May’s Easter message, she talked about religious freedom and said people should be able to talk freely about their faith, including their faith in Jesus Christ. She urged everyone to uphold the country's ‘strong tradition’ of religious tolerance and freedom of speech. ‘We must continue to ensure that people feel able to speak about their faith, and that absolutely includes their faith in Christ. We must be mindful of Christians and religious minorities around the world who do not enjoy these same freedoms, but who practise their religion in secret and often in fear.’ She added, ‘People should be confident about Christianity's role in the country.’ Alastair Campbell, editor-at-large of the New European, said the prime minister should be careful about merging her faith with her politics.