At 4:44 a.m., the calls to prayer begin. They come from everywhere, it seems, reminding me that I’m in the country with the largest Muslim population in the world. There’s at least one mosque in every direction from the home of Daniel Setiabudu, the Christian minister who’s graciously taken me in for a couple of nights.
Read MoreAfter spending almost nine months in a Nicaraguan prison, 13 pastors and attorneys associated with the Texas-based Mountain Gateway ministry were released on Thursday. They were part of 135 unjustly detained political prisoners released on humanitarian grounds, according to a White House statement.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, women and girls have been banned from playing sports or participating in any form of physical activity. However, Afghan women have been defying the Taliban and competed at the 2024 Olympics and 2024 Paralympic, while flying the flag of the Refugee Olympic and Paralympic teams.
Read MoreThe Seremban Church of Christ meets in a predominantly Muslim nation with strict anti-conversion laws. But it doesn’t meet in secret. Far from it. In bold letters, a sign in front of the church’s building reads “GEREJA” (“CHURCH” in Malay) and lists the times for the congregation’s three Sunday services — in Mandarin, Tamil and English.
Read MoreThe Department of Justice has expressed an interest in an Arizona case involving a church that has been dealing with alleged zoning code violations for a benevolence food pantry it has operated for nearly 25 years.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In May 2024, United Nations member states voted to declare July 11 as the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica, an annual day of remembrance for victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.
Read MoreCastle Rock, Colorado, has closed the on-site temporary shelter hosted by The Rock, according to a complaint filed on behalf of the church by First Liberty, a legal defense fund that defends religious freedom.
Read More(ANALYSIS) For decades, the Turkish government has sent imams to work in mosques across Germany. But the German Ministry of the Interior recently announced that it had reached an agreement with the Turkish government to put an end to the practice.
Read MoreLast week, much of the U.S. experienced dangerously cold temperatures. In these conditions, what happens to the unhoused? Many churches were stepping up to provide overnight warming shelters for those experiencing homelessness in their cities.
Read More(ANALYSIS) With all-important developments in the Middle East and Ukraine, it seems off-kilter to state that another major international story is being severely neglected and has long been so. But such is The Guy’s opinion about mainstream media neglect of the waves of evidence for ongoing global persecution of Christians, on which we now have a Nov. 1 news peg.
Read More(ANALYSIS) When Louisiana passed a law in August 2023 requiring public schools to post “In God We Trust” in every classroom — from elementary school to college — the author of the bill claimed to be following a long-held tradition of displaying the national motto, most notably on U.S. currency.
Read More(OPINION) The Supreme Court soon takes up Loper Bright v. Raimondo, which has interested the Little Sisters of the Poor and the Christian Employers Alliance. Meanwhile, the court could decide this term to take up four disputes that are pending in the pipeline with religion implications.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The upshot, according to Pew demographer Conrad Hackett, is that by available measures, China is — on the surface — “the least religious country in the world.” That’s not surprising when media and public meetings are restricted and the government forbids religious education while subjecting children to intensive atheistic propaganda at school.
Read More(ANALYSIS) On July 11, the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise — the human rights watchdog reviewing complaints about possible human rights abuses by Canadian companies working outside Canada in the garment, mining, and oil and gas sectors — announced the launch of two separate investigations into allegations of Uyghur forced labor in the supply chains and operations of two Canadian companies.
Read More(OPINION) There’s no evidence that hanging the Ten Commandments on school walls curbs rowdy youthful hormones. As a tool for improving schoolkids’ behavior, that’s a zero. If you absolutely felt compelled to post something Christian, why wouldn’t you post something straight from the lips of Jesus himself?
Read MorePolice raided the Baptist Church in Karshi during worship on Easter Sunday. They “damaged the door of the prayer house, behaved crudely, and arrested three church members,” Baptists said. Police refused to explain why they raided the church and tortured church members. Meanwhile, Prison No. 49 in Olmalyk banned prisoners from fasting during Ramadan, threatening those that do.
Read More(OPINION) The world’s largest organization of Muslims is campaigning for thorough worldwide reform of how to understand the faith’s religious law, Shariah, and applied jurisprudence, Fiqh. Such an ambitious goal may seem unlikely, and to date, Western media have given the effort minimal coverage. It’s time for that trend to change.
Read More(OPINION) Father Sean Gough was praying silently when he was arrested near an abortion facility in a Public Spaces Protection Order protected zone while holding a “Praying for free speech” sign. His car was parked nearby, with a small “Unborn lives matter” bumper sticker.
Read More(OPINION) The 2022 report from the Open Doors organization says “persecution of Christians has reached the highest levels” since it began accumulating data for its annual “World Watch List” three decades ago. Hostile incidents have increased by 20% since just 2014, and some 360 million Christians, or 14% of the worldwide total, are said to have faced persecution, harassment or discrimination.
Read MoreIn 1999, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled its Town Tuition program could not fund tuition to religious schools because “it forced taxpayer support of religious worship.” But in the wake of Carson v. Makin, the state will now apply its tuition benefit program to families who choose to send their children to religious schools.
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