Religion Today Summaries - Nov. 8, 2006

Scotland's Muslims Rally to Cause of Christians

A report from the web site ScotlandOnSunday.com says that a conservative Christian party campaigning against new rights for homosexuals has won significant support from Scotland's Muslim community. The Christian Peoples' Alliance Scotland has gathered 1,000 signatures from Muslims in a petition opposing new laws that will allow gay couples to adopt. A member of Glasgow's Central Mosque, Abdul Dean, who is standing for the party, claims it best represents his view on morality. "A lot of Muslims have asked me why I am standing. My answer is simple: the CPA is the only political party that is based on values, rather than ideology." He said he had been promised support from many of the estimated 30,000 Muslims in Glasgow. The party is also campaigning against any plans to allow homosexual sex to be taught in primary schools.

More Villagers in India Forced to Bow to Hindu Deities

Compass Direct News reports that Hindu extremists yesterday forced Christians in the remote village of Bevainahalli, in the southern state of Karnataka, to bow down before Hindu deities and applied the vermilion mark to their foreheads. Two Hindu priests accompanied by a group of 20 to 25 Hindu extremists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and its youth wing, the Bajrang Dal, entered Chitradurga district’s Bevainahalli village and knocked on the door of every home. The extremists marched the Christians off to the village temple, forcing them to bow down before the Hindu gods and goddesses. Police Inspector K.L. Krishna only watched as the Hindu extremists violated the Christians’ constitutional right to freedom of religion with this “initiation rite.”

Court in India Hears Plea on Police Torture of Christians

The high court of the western state of Gujarat today heard a counter complaint from eight Christians accused of forced conversion and attempted murder. The counter complaint charges that Hindu extremists attacked them and police tortured them. The eight Christians, all workers of the Indian Missionary Society, had filed a petition on September 28 against nine Hindu extremists for attacking them in Vankadi village in Dahod district’s Limkheda Taluka on September 20. “The honorable court accepted the Christians’ petition seeking inclusion of more sections of the Indian Penal Code in their counter complaint, and filing of a fresh complaint against a policeman for subjecting them to mental and physical torture,” Samson Christian, joint secretary of the All India Christian Council, told Compass Direct News.

Iraqi Christian Centers Strengthen Skills, Faith

The Christian Post reports that Christian cultural centers in Iraq are helping to support the country’s minority Christian population financially and spiritually through skill-building classes and faith-based discussions. Two centers located in the Christian community in Iraq are offering skill-building courses in the areas of computers, music, and English to help Iraqi Christians find better jobs in a country where the Muslim population dominates about 97 percent of the population. “The center falls into the category of what we would call Christian Community Development in Iraq,” explained Carl Moeller, president and CEO of Open Doors USA, on Monday to The Christian Post. “Open Doors is committed to building the economic infrastructure for Christians in society – especially in Muslim society where Christians are discriminated against.”