Religion Today Summaries - March 14, 2007

Lesbian Activist Set Free in Christ

A prominent homosexual activist has become a Christian, Baptist Press reports. Charlene E. Cothran has also become an evangelist pointing homosexuals to a way out of their aberrant lifestyles. Thus far, mainstream media has ignored the story, which is notable considering the firestorm that would likely result if a prominent evangelical personality abandoned Christianity for a homosexual lifestyle. Cothran has been a prominent homosexual activist and publisher and editor-in-chief of the black homosexual-oriented publication “Venus Magazine.” Her recent announcement came in the form of a cover article in the February issue of “Venus” titled “Redeemed! 10 Ways to Get Out of the Gay Life, If You Want Out.” Cothran indicated that her new message is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and her “new mission is to encourage, educate and assist those in the life [homosexuality] who want change but can’t find a way out.”

Prayer Movement Spreads from Korea to New Zealand

The Holy City Movement, which started in Korea in 1972, is operating in New Zealand, ASSIST News Service reports. It was introduced in Auckland at a meeting at the Harbourside Church in Takapuna to explain the theme and goals of the movement – praying for the countries, for righteousness in the society and people with good morals and values in leadership positions in the country. “The main aim of the association is to bring positive changes to the city,” said Daniel Lee, secretary of the Holy City Movement. “We want to evangelise, purify and promote the general welfare of the city. The primary target cities are problem cities with high population.”

NY Times Highlights Jamestown 'Celebration' Problem; Vision Forum Responds with Christian Celebration

As America turns 400 this year with the founding of Jamestown in 1607, officials leading America's 400th birthday commemoration have banned the term "celebration" in conjunction with their efforts and sought to discredit the Christian influence of the Jamestown Colony, a Vision Forum release says. Mary Wade of the Virginia Council of Indians said in a Voice of America interview, "You can't celebrate an invasion." In a March 2 article in the New York Times entitled,"Captain Smith, 'The Tides Are Shifting on the James,'" Edward Rothstein wrote the following of PC shift Wade's statement represents: "The [National Park Service] has just added a modest historical exhibition in its visitors' center [at Historic Jamestowne]... [with a] panel [which] emphasizes the point: 'Past Jamestown anniversaries were referred to as 'celebrations.' Because many facets of Jamestown's history are not cause for celebration, like human bondage and the displacement of Virginia Indians, the Jamestown 400th Anniversary is referred to as the Jamestown 2007 Commemoration." As an alternative, Vision Forum Ministries is hosting an alternative event on June 11-16 in Virginia's historic triangle that will celebrate God's providential hand in the founding of America four centuries ago. To learn more, visit: www.jamestown400th.org.

Vietnam Arrests Human Rights Attorneys, Dissident Priest

The arrest in Hanoi on Tuesday (March 6) of human rights defender Nguyen Van Dai, an elder in his Christian & Missionary Alliance Church, along with the arrest last month of former prisoner of conscience Father Nguyen Van Ly, has cast into question Vietnam’s claims of progress in religious freedom, Compass Direct News reports. Dai, fellow human rights attorney Le Thi Cong Nhan (also arrested on Tuesday), and Fr. Ly are charged with “propagating against” and “defaming” the government, according to Christian legal organization Advocates International (AI). According to AI’s Asia group, state-run Vietnam TV said that police searched the homes of Dai and Nhan and the two were arrested, with police confiscating “many documents with the content of propaganda against the state of Vietnam, and many religious documents that were about to be provided to foreign sources.”