http://www.religionnewsblog.com Religion news about religious cults, sects, world religions, and related issues Sun, 12 Feb 2012 13:59:48 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26421/anti-christian-incidents-nearly-doubled-in-indonesia-in-2011 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26421/anti-christian-incidents-nearly-doubled-in-indonesia-in-2011#comments Thu, 05 Jan 2012 17:51:02 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=26421 Acts of violence and intolerance against Christians in Indonesia almost doubled in 2011, with an Islamist campaign to close down churches symbolizing the plight of the religious minority.

The worst is perhaps yet to come if authorities continue to overlook the threat of extremism, said a representative from the Jakarta-based Wahid Institute, a Muslim organization that promotes tolerance.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26421/anti-christian-incidents-nearly-doubled-in-indonesia-in-2011/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26145/in-indonesia-church-runs-afoul-of-islamic-street-name http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26145/in-indonesia-church-runs-afoul-of-islamic-street-name#comments Wed, 07 Sep 2011 10:55:32 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=26145 In a test case of religious intolerance in the world's largest Muslim-majority country, an Indonesian mayor is defying court rulings by pushing for a decree to block Christians from opening churches on streets with Islamic names.

Members of the Taman Yasmin Indonesian Christian Church in the West Java town of Bogor are, after three years, still forced to worship on the sidewalk outside their building, protected by police. ]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26145/in-indonesia-church-runs-afoul-of-islamic-street-name/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26118/indonesia-jails-victim-of-attack-on-ahmadi-sect http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26118/indonesia-jails-victim-of-attack-on-ahmadi-sect#comments Mon, 15 Aug 2011 07:34:05 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=26118 An Indonesian man wounded when Muslim hate criminals attacked members of his minority Islamic sect was sentenced Monday to six months in jail, more than some of the actual attackers who were caught on video.

It is part of a pattern of abuse against followers of the Ahmadiyya sect.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26118/indonesia-jails-victim-of-attack-on-ahmadi-sect/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/24964/muslim-thugs-attack-indonesian-christians http://www.religionnewsblog.com/24964/muslim-thugs-attack-indonesian-christians#comments Mon, 09 Aug 2010 04:25:40 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=24964 Another mob attack on Christian worshipers in Bekasi on Sunday has led to renewed calls for police and national leaders to crack down on the apparently swelling tide of religious violence.

About 20 members of the Batak Christian Protestant Church in Pondok Timur Indah were chased and beaten with sticks by a mob believed linked to the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) after they tried to conduct Sunday services at a field in Ciketing, Bekasi.

Muslims nationwide have condemned the hard-line Islamic organization for an attack on a church group on Sunday, saying the incident had tarnished the image of Islam.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/24964/muslim-thugs-attack-indonesian-christians/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/24963/muslim-protestors-surround-worshipers-in-bekasi-indonesia http://www.religionnewsblog.com/24963/muslim-protestors-surround-worshipers-in-bekasi-indonesia#comments Wed, 04 Aug 2010 04:02:03 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=24963 Around 300 Muslim protestors and 300 police officers surrounded members of the Batak Christian Protestant Church (Huria Kristen Batak Protestan or HKBP) on Sunday (Aug. 1) as they worshiped in an open field in Ciketing, Bekasi, local sources said.

“There were many police on guard, but the attackers were able to get very close to the congregation,” Theophilus Bela, president of the Jakarta Christian Communication Forum, said in a statement to international government and advocacy groups. “We are afraid that they will attack the church again next Sunday.”]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/24963/muslim-protestors-surround-worshipers-in-bekasi-indonesia/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/24122/indonesia-muslim-groups-demand-closure-of-large-legal-church http://www.religionnewsblog.com/24122/indonesia-muslim-groups-demand-closure-of-large-legal-church#comments Thu, 25 Feb 2010 23:29:49 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=24122 Hundreds of Muslims from outside the area where a 600-member church meets in West Java staged a protest there to call for its closure this month in an attempt to portray local opposition.

Demonstrators from 16 Islamic organizations, including the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), gathered on Feb. 15 to demand a stop to all activities by the Galilea Protestant Church (GPIB) in the Galaxy area of Bekasi City. ]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/24122/indonesia-muslim-groups-demand-closure-of-large-legal-church/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23944/indonesian-theology-students-withstand-threats-illness http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23944/indonesian-theology-students-withstand-threats-illness#comments Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:36:26 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23944 Some 1,000 seminary students are resisting efforts to evict them from the former municipal building of West Jakarta, Indonesia where they have taken refuge after Muslim protestors drove them from their campus last year.

In July 2008 hundreds of protestors shouting “Allahu-Akbar [“God is greater]” and brandishing machetes forced the evacuation of staff and students from the SETIA campus in Kampung Pulo village.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23944/indonesian-theology-students-withstand-threats-illness/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23782/ahmadiyah-attacked-by-muslims http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23782/ahmadiyah-attacked-by-muslims#comments Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:37:59 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23782 In Indonesia, a series of attacks on followers of the Ahmadiyah sect by fanatical Muslims -- who consider the movement to be a cult of Islam -- continues to draw criticism.

Alfred C. Stepan, director of the Center for the Study of Democracy, Toleration and Religion at Columbia University in New York, an expert in religion and democracy urging the government to exercise its authority when there are violations of human rights.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23782/ahmadiyah-attacked-by-muslims/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23564/indonesia-christians-reject-sharia http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23564/indonesia-christians-reject-sharia#comments Thu, 20 Aug 2009 10:36:46 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23564 The Indonesian Council of Churches (PGI) has called for the rejection of two bills inspired by sharia (Islamic law).

The Halal Product Guarantee Bill and the Zakat Obligatory Alms Management Bill, both under consideration in the Indonesian parliament, cater to the needs of one religious group at the expense of others, violating Indonesia’s policy of pancasila or religious tolerance, said the Rev. Dr. A.A. Yewangoe, director of the PGI.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23564/indonesia-christians-reject-sharia/feed 0 http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23199/indonesia-islamic-body-to-mull-ban-on-smoking-and-yoga http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23199/indonesia-islamic-body-to-mull-ban-on-smoking-and-yoga#comments Fri, 23 Jan 2009 14:47:33 +0000 Religion News Blog http://www.religionnewsblog.com/?p=23199 Officially secular, Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population, accounting for roughly 85 percent of the country's 226 million people. Most follow a moderate form of Islam, although there is vocal radical fringe.

About 700 people, including Muslim clerics and theological experts, are due in West Sumatra for the National Edict Commission meeting, which has the power to issue fatwas.]]> http://www.religionnewsblog.com/23199/indonesia-islamic-body-to-mull-ban-on-smoking-and-yoga/feed 0