Orissa Christians in refugee camps told a visiting Living Letters team from World Council of Churches (WCC) that they had begun to rebuild their homes and lives, but added they were afraid to return to their villages permanently in case of further attacks.
The Living Letters team travelled recently to Kandhamal district in the eastern Indian state of Orissa to show solidarity with the victims of the violence that broke out following the murder of a hard-line Hindu leader in August last year. Hindus blamed Christians for the killing even though Maoist rebels publicly claimed responsibility for the murder.
A new report finds that American adults who claim no religious affiliation increased from 14 million in 1990 to 34 million in 2008.
According to the Associated Press, the data was collected during an American Religious Identification Survey last year.
The report revealed that those who don’t claim any religious affiliation are more likely to be young males, living in the western United States and tend to be politically independent.
According to the survey, the religiously unaffiliated in the U.S. are not atheists, but “embrace philosophical and theological beliefs that reflect skepticism rather than overt antagonism toward religion.”
5 Arrested in Shooting of Bishop at SoCal Church Authorities say the shooting was part of a 10-hour crime spree.
Five men were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of shooting a bishop outside his Riverside County church during an apparent robbery attempt.
Suspects Named
Wills Bagley, 38, of Perris; Jaccob Buschow, 19, of Pomona; Anthony Coleman, 21, of Chino; Timothy Jacqueman, 18, of Pomona; and Andrew Swindle, 23, of Pomona, are accused of shooting Bishop Antonio Garduno, 51, outside Our Lady of Tepeyac Catholic Church at 13462 Magnolia Avenue in unincorporated Home Gardens around 10 p.m. Tuesday.
Garduno was working in his office when he heard some noise, went outside to investigate, and was confronted by the suspects, sheriff’s Sgt. Dennis Gutierrez said.
The clergyman was shot during the confrontation and rushed back inside to call police.
Garduno underwent surgery at Riverside County Regional Medical Center in Moreno Valley. He is in stable condition and is expected to survive, according to Gutierrez.
According to Gutierrez, the suspects went on a 10-hour crime spree Tuesday, starting by robbing an IHOP restaurant in the 180000 block of Gale Avenue in Industry around 2:30 p.m.
Suspects then held up several Denny’s
The suspects then held up a Denny’s at 1425 Nogales St. in nearby Rowland Heights.
Around 3:15 p.m., they robbed a Denny’s at 3012 Temple Ave. in Pomona.
6 hour gap
Investigators have not been able to account for the men’s whereabouts during the roughly six and a half hours between the last known robbery and the shooting outside the church in Home Gardens.
After the shooting, the men went to a Denny’s restaurant in the 1300 block of Hamner Avenue in Norco, where Bagley allegedly walked inside with a handgun in his waistband and demanded money.
The suspects then allegedly robbed yet another Denny’s, located at 2379 Compton Ave. in Corona.
American Gospel artist Kirk Franklin tweeted as he was caught up in riots in Kampala, Uganda! Fri, Sep 10, 2009
Tweet
KIRK FRANKLIN, an American gospel singer and author, was yesterday caught up in the Kampala city riot on his way from the Vice-President, Gilbert Bukenya’s home in Kakiri, Wakiso district.
The riot, which started at around mid-day with civilians battling security operatives, arose from rumours that Buganda Kingdom premier Eng. John Baptist Walusimbi had been arrested on his way to Kayunga.
Franklin had just paid Bukenya a courtesy call, ahead of his show at Nakivubo Stadium today. His team from the US has about 100 people.
Witnesses said by the time Franklin got to Nansana, a city suburb, the road to Kampala had been cut off with logs and the rioters were pelting motorists with stones.
With him were an American pastor, John Petton, and several other Ugandan pastors.
The fleet was forced to seek refuge at Nansana Police Station. By press time, the group was still at the station under tight security.
the entertainer, has some religious leaders up in arms over her scheduled performances in their countries.
Poland…
According to OK Magazine, many of the music icon’s performances, like the recent one in Poland, took place on a Roman Catholic holy day.
Bulgaria…
And now Orthodox church officials in Bulgaria are none too happy she’s scheduled a concert in the capital of Sofia on one of their important religious days. The show is scheduled for Saturday, which coincides with an Orthodox Christian holy day, where the beheading of St. John the Baptist is marked with a day of fasting.
To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and to draw attention to violations of human rights around the world, Link TV partnered with a number of musicians, cameramen, and producers to create the song and music video. The net revenue made from sales of the song are designated to go to fund Amnesty International. The music of “The Price of Silence” is based on Aterciopelados’ song “Cancion Protesta” from their album Oye.
We came arcross this letter to Miley Cyrus onchristianpost.com. Seems like people are really upset by her TEEN CHOICE AWARD performance. Wow!YOUR THOUGHTS?
I hope this letter finds you well. Although I don’t know you personally I do feel that I do know you from a distance, or at least your alter ego, Hannah Montana. Over the years I’ve watched you grow up to become the beautiful young lady that you are. God has indeed blessed you with a wonderful talent for acting and music. Your personality is vibrant and contagious. Some things just can’t be faked.
And, to be honest, I felt a certain pride when I heard that you unashamedly claimed to be a Christian. I can’t help but think of the time that you and Jiroux, one of your back up dancers, were asked by a fan if you were Christians.Without hesitating you responded,“Yes! We love Jesus!” You went on to add, “He died for our sins. That’s how awesome he is.”Later on you said,“I sing, dance and act for Jesus! … Now that I think about it, I do everything for Jesus….We’re all about it.”
Two Hindu fundamentalist groups attacked Tuesday night the attendees of Christian Teachers’ Training Program in South Indian State of Karnataka, seriously injuring four pastors; when complained, police instead arrested eight pastors.
74 people gathered for Teacher Training
According to GCICI, about 74 people had gathered together for a Teacher’s Training Program that was organized by the Seva Bharath Mission India in Patil Sabha Bhavan (House) in Annigere, Nalagund Taluk in Dharwad District in northern Karnataka between 11 and 14 August. The group consisted of 50 male pastors and 24 young women from various districts of Northern Karnataka.
Activists broke into the building
“On Tuesday night, while the group was asleep after attending a day-long training program; the Hindutva activists broke into the building premises and started beating up the male pastors at 11:30 p.m.,” stated GCIC. “Pastors Madan Kumar, Francis, Jayraj and Prakash were seriously injured while other pastors incurred minor injuries.”
Women were not even spared
The report said, “Even the young women were not spared. Most of the women are aged between 17-23 years. They were humiliated with verbal abuses and man-handled by the attackers.” All their Bibles and mobile phones were confiscated. The attack lasted about one and a half hours.
Group-Bajrang-Dal
The attackers named
GCIC said that they have confirmed the attackers as Sri Ram Sena and Bajrang Dal leaders: Alikere, Palyad Kallur, Mahesh Palyad, Gangadhar Alikere, and Shivkumar Kallur. They were joined by around 30 others, it said.
Police threaten the Christian Leaders
The report said Pastor R Joseph Christopher and other pastors managed to escape from the building and rushed to the Annigere police station where they related the incidents that were taking place to the police. Immediately, policemen went to Patil Sabha Bhavan to intervene in the situation. However on their arrival, they started siding with the miscreants and threatened the Christians gathered there.
