Tag: Religious Intolerance

Indonesia: Muslim Groups Demand Closure of Large, Legal Church

Religious intolerance by Muslims in Indonesia 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.

Vietnam Authorities Halt Construction Work On Church Land

Catholic Church Amid protests against reported church destructions, the city of Hanoi has ordered one of its districts to stop construction work on land claimed by the Catholic church.

The move was seen as a surprise turnaround by Communist authorities who since March demolished at least one historic church building in the Central Highlands, Christians said.

Government work crews reportedly destroyed a Protestant church building of Evangelical Church of Vietnam (South), or ECVN(S), in the area of Banmethuot om March 11.

India Anti-Christian Group Sets Church On Fire

India church set on fire Evangelical Christians in India’s eastern state of Andhra Pradesh faced the difficult task Sunday, May 10, of rebuilding their church after suspected anti-Christian militants torched the building, the latest in a series of attacks against churches in the area, investigators said.

The latest incident has underscored an anti-Christian climate in several parts of India.

Saudi Arabia authorities release Christian blogger

Hamoud Bin Saleh In a surprise move, a Saudi Christian arrested in January for describing his conversion from Islam and criticizing the kingdom’s judiciary on his blog site was released on March 28 with the stipulation that he not travel outside of Saudi Arabia or appear on media.

The country’s penalty for “apostasy,” or leaving Islam, is death, although in recent years there have been no known cases of kingdom citizens formally convicted and sentenced with capital punishment for the offense.

Sikh family accuses deputies of abuse, taunts

Sikhs Instead of investigating a reported burglary, a posse of cops reportedly committed a variety of hate crimes against members of a Sikh family.

One deputy reportedly asked them if they’d “heard about the bombings in Bombay.” Another allegedly said he had been to Kuwait and “knew about Muslims.”

Since 9/11, misperceptions about Sikhs’ religiously mandated turbans and beards have led to an increase in discrimination against Sikhs, according to the New York-based Sikh Coalition.

Professor sues Texas A&M, claiming religious persecution

Mundhir Ridha A world-renowned Muslim scientist has sued Texas A&M after co-workers allegedly taunted his wife about her prayers, and desecrated his prayer mat with mouse droppings.

The university’s internal investigation found that lab personnel had created “a hostile work environment” and ordered the staff to undergo diversity awareness and sensitivity training.

Holy war strikes in India: 35 Christians killed and 50,000 forced from their homes

Grief Mrs Panda and thousands of others like her are victims of the worst communal violence between Hindus and Christians that India has seen for decades.

For a country that boasts of its mutual religious tolerance, the long-simmering tension that has erupted in the Kandhamal district of the state of Orissa — a nun being raped, churches being burned, at least 35 people killed and thousands forced from their villages — is both a belated wake-up call and a mounting embarrassment.

You can’t preach the Bible here, this is a Muslim area

England: Two Christian preachers were stopped from handing out Bible extracts by police because they were in a Muslim area, it was claimed yesterday.

They say they were told by a Muslim police community support officer that they could not preach there and that attempting to convert Muslims to Christianity was a hate crime.

The community officer is also said to have told the two men: ‘You have been warned. If you come back here and get beat up, well, you have been warned.’