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Major
concern remains over religious hatred Bill
London, February 10th, 2005 (ACPress.net).
The UK Evangelical Alliance
remains alarmed that hastily amended Government legislation
to prevent incitement to religious hatred is still likely to
result in curtailed free speech and damage to community relations.
As part of the 'Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill' aimed
at outlawing religious hatred, the Government made last-minute
adjustments that seek to ensure that for an offence to be committed
it has to be against people rather than actual beliefs. The
Evangelical Alliance's Head of Public Affairs, Don Horrocks,
remains sceptical. "In our view the changes will make little
difference to the Bill because followers of a religion are often
inextricably identified with the beliefs themselves. Although
the proposals appear superficially reasonable, in practice,
the Government is asking people to trust the Attorney General
to decide whether to prosecute cases of possible incitement
to hatred. This affords no reassurance whatsoever. We envisage
that if these clauses in the Bill go through there could be
countless complaints to the police that will have to be investigated,
potentially turning many law-abiding people into criminals and
causing confusion, suspicion, mistrust and even backlash where
previously mini al problems existed. This Bill could prove to
be the thin end of a wedge employed by those intent on preventing
others speaking or writing freely, including the free proclamation
of the gospel."
The Evangelical Alliance has been engaged for many months in
trying to persuade the Government that its well-intentioned
proposals are dangerous in their current form and will have
an adverse effect on freedom of speech. Horrocks said, "Almost
everyone agrees that racial hatred against people should be
outlawed, including when it takes the form of religious hatred,
which is what this legislation seeks to achieve but the Government
has rejected all constructive suggestions aimed at linking religious
hatred to the race hate laws."
The Alliance further criticised the Government's failure to
allow full debate in the Commons on such an important matter
and using its majority to force the proposals through despite
extensive misgivings from all parts of the House. "It was
evident, even from the minimal debate that took place, that
there are hugely differing expectations about what this Bill
will do. However, nearly all accept that free speech will be
repressed. Many observers remain convinced that the only reason
why the Government is rushing this through is to satisfy commitments
to a particular section of the electorate prior to the General
Election. We now call on the House of Lords to take on the mantle
of proper scrutiny of this Bill and its implications, so manifestly
lacking in the Commons."
Source: EA. Editing: ACPress.net
Liverpool orphanage where
John Lennon used to play announces closure
Liverpool, February 10th, 2005 (ACPress.net).
The Salvation Army orphanage
which John Lennon used to sneak into as a boy and inspired his
song 'Strawberry Fields Forever', has just announced its closure.
Lennon even included the orphanage in his will.
The orphanage, called 'Strawberry Field', was immortalised in
the Beatles' song, released together with another hit, 'Penny
Lane', in 1967. Lennon used to play in the gardens of the orphanage
as a boy, getting to know some of the children cared for there.
After his assassination by a deranged 'fan' in 1980, he left
the institution 75,000 euros in his will. It is said that Lennon
identified with the children at the orphanage because his own
parents had abandoned him and he had to go and live with his
Aunt Mimi.
A Salvation Army spokesman, Marion Drew, said the closure of
the orphanage - located in Woolton, Liverpool - was due to the
fact that it was better for children to live with foster families
than in institutions of that kind. "All over the world, the
Salvation Army is trying to end its system of orphanages and
replace them with homes for adoption, as it is better for children."
Drew added that all the children would be found homes before
the centre finally closed. It is not yet known what will happen
to the building and its famous gates which have become yet another
point of pilgrimage for Beatles devotees.
Source: Agencias Internacionales. Editing: ACPress.netShrouded
in mystery once again
Turin, February 10th, 2005 (ACPress.net).
There's no keeping the
Turin Shroud down. Analysis of the piece of cloth in the 1980s
using the notorious Carbon 14 dating system has now been cast
into doubt following the latest survey carried out in the USA.
The previous analysis had dated the shroud to between 1260 and
1390 which, when it comes to it, is not actually that precise
for an object supposedly only six or seven hundred years old.
So scientists concluded that the thing was undoubtedly a medieval
fraud. However, new research conducted by a chemist, Raymond
Rogers, in Los Alamos, USA, claims the shroud is between 1,300
and 3,000 years old (which, when it comes to it, is not actually
that precise either).
According to Dr. Rogers, the analysis carried out in 1988 was
faulty because it was done on a piece of fabric cut from a patch
which was sewn onto the garment after a fire nearly destroyed
it in 1532. "This fragment has chemical properties which are
totally different from those observed in the central part of
the shroud." Rogers has compared this fragment with others from
the garment and concludes that it is much older than was previously
thought. He found vanillin on the fragment studied in 1988 which
was a patch sewn on by the monks who restored the shroud after
the fire in 1532, but not on the rest of the shroud. "The fact
that vanillin has not been found on the central part of the
shroud, just as it is not found on other ancient pieces of material,
indicates that the earlier dating must be wrong."
Rogers' new findings are sure to re-open the debate about the
Turin shroud, despite the fact that after the 1988 analysis,
even the Catholic Cardinal of Turin, Anastasio Alberto Ballestero,
admitted the shroud must be a fraud. However, Rogers' study,
as well as research by Italian scientists published last year,
keeps alive the hopes of those who want to believe the shroud
really was worn by Christ at His resurrection.
Source: EL MUNDO. Editing: ACPress.net
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Worst
floods for 100 years in Guyana affect 40% of population
Guyana, February 10th, 2005 (ACPress.net).
The most severe flood
for over a century has affected nearly 40% of the population
of the South American country of Guyana. More than three weeks
after the floods began, water still lies waist-deep or higher
in some areas. People are looking to the churches for help.
While the world's eyes have focused on the appalling devastation
caused by the tidal wave in the Indian Ocean, abnormally heavy
rainfall in Guyana has caused a prolonged flood in its heavily
populated, low-lying, coastal areas. According to the latest
figures 293,988 people have been affected, which amounts to
39% of the country's total population. Water over a metre deep
is still lying along many parts of the east coast in Demarara
County. Parts of the capital Georgetown, on the west bank of
the Demarara river, were also affected as well as areas of the
Demarara river's east bank. Crops (sugar cane and rice) have
been destroyed.
With flood waters full of rubbish, sewage and dead animals,
there is the fear of a serious outbreak of disease. An estimated
twelve people have already died of leptospirosis. Alligators
and anaconda snakes pose further hazards in some areas. The
government has organised a programme of distribution of food
rations. With medical teams and mass distribution of antibiotics,
they are seeking to prevent epidemics, but doctors are urging
a mass evacuation of the east coast. More pumps are being imported
to tackle the remaining water.
Churches in and near the affected areas have been providing
help from the beginning of the disaster, mainly in the form
of food. Using supplies from the government aid programme and
donations from church members, they have set up kitchens to
provide hot food for those who cannot cook in their own homes.
They have also distributed dry rations to those able to cook.
"People are coming to the church from six o'clock in the morning
until midnight, asking for food. The Christians have given from
their own pockets to help them," said a pastor in Bachelor's
Adventure on the east coast. Other Christians across Guyana
are also sending help through the churches in the stricken areas.
A pastor spoke of the wonderful encouragement it was to receive
help from Christians he had never met or even heard of before.
The orderly and equitable way in which churches have organised
their aid distribution has been commended by government officials
as well as by local communities. Christians have made sure to
help not only fello -believers but also those of all faiths
and races.
But some of the churches are now having to close down their
feeding programmes, as they have no more food to cook. "Today
my church is serving food for the last time," lamented a pastor
from the Grove area on the east bank last Friday, "After that
we have nothing more to give." Another pastor, from Little Diamond
on the east bank, explained why his church has already had to
stop the feeding programme they had set up for 50 families who
were sheltering in a school. Without any outside help his church
members had covered all the costs, until they could give no
more. Now the church itself was in debt and the programme had
been halted.
"I was deeply moved by the perseverance and determination of
these pastors and their congregations," comments Dr Patrick
Sookhdeo, international director of Barnabas Fund, who was in
Guyana last week. "The Church in Guyana is poor in financial
terms, but they have given sacrificially and risked so much
to help the flood victims."
Barnabas Fund has sent £60,000 to its partners in Guyana to
be used by the Guyanese churches to provide the most urgent
needs of food (rice, flour, beans, peas, plantains, cassava,
eddoes, etc.) and bottled water, as well as disinfectant and
small kerosene stoves. Long-term assistance may be needed for
some months after the floods have gone for those who have lost
their crops and farm animals. Pastor Paul Mursalin says, "Barnabas
Fund has undertaken a very powerful role in this entire venture.
In actual terms what it has done is to empower and strengthen
the local churches to take care of its needs and serve the communities."
For the Christian community, it will also be necessary to repair
the many church buildings which have been damaged by the water,
and to help support pastors. Where churches are flooded, no
services can be held, so no offerings are taken up, and the
pastor has no income. These pastors are staying faithfully with
their people, risking danger and disease, in order to bring
practical help and spiritual encouragement. Guyanese Christians
thank God that so few people have actually died in the floods,
despite the huge numbers affected.
Source: Barnabas Fund. Editing: ACPress.net
Christian band misses fire
in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, February 10th, 2005 (ACPress.net).
It was a great success
when the Christian pop gruop 'Rescate' (Rescue) presented its
new record 'A race against the wind' in the 'Cromagnon Republic'
disco in the Argentinian capital. Nobody imagined that fewer
than three weeks later, in exactly the same place, the worst
tragedy Argentina has known for many years occurred, when almost
200 people died there in a fire, with many more injured.
The Christian concert filled pages of the national press as
people spoke of a new rock phenomenon in Argentina. The discotheque
was full to bursting with 5,000 people and others who couldn't
get in. It had never been so full for a band. 'Rescate' T-shirts
and flags made for a festive atmosphere as the band went through
their repertoire. One of the group said: "Let noone come between
Jesus and you. Christ came to save that which was lost. He came
for everyone. Don't let the eclipse of religion make you lose
the welcome of Christ."
How poignant become those words when, a mere 20 days later at
another concert in the same venue (although with fewer people
attending), almost 200 died in a fire. Many in Argentina are
thanking God that 'Rescate' and their fans were indeed rescued
from such a tragedy. The group is due to play at the Luis Palau
Mission in Madrid in June.
Source: La Corriente. Editing: Jorge Fernández/ACPress
Evangelical leaders try
to heal rift over sex education in Argentina
Buenos Aires, February 10th, 2005 (ACPress.net).
Evangelical leaders have
been trying to clarify matters following the controversial plans,
later dropped, by the government in Argentina to introduce full-frontal
sex education in state schools in the capital.
The Christian Alliance of Evangelical Churches in Argentina
(ACIERA) opposed the plans, but the Federation of Evangelical
Churches in Argentina (FAIE) supported them. One of the more
polemical concepts in the plans seems to have been that homosexuality
would have been presented as one more 'valid option'. A letter
from ACIERA to FAIE seeks to restore peaceful relations in the
aftermath of the controversy. Both groups belong to the umbrella
Evangelical National Council (CNCE).
The letter points out that ACIERA does not agree with those
evangelical churches which supported, not only the sex education
plans, but also the legalisation of homosexual marriage, though
it respects the right of other Christians to do so. ACIERA added
that it did not want to abuse its position - it represents the
vast majority of evangelicals in Argentina - but neither can
it hide what this majority believes. It says it has the right
to denounce abortion and homosexuality as going against the
eternal precepts of God as expressed in His Word, even though
some churches accept both. Finally, it gave its view that the
CNCE was the best place to have dialogue and to work together
for the evangelisation of Argentina.
Source: ALC. Editing: ACPress.net
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Muslim
chops Christian shopkeeper's arm off in Pakistan
Faisalabad, February 10th,
2005 (ACPress.net).
A young Christian shopkeeper
in Pakistan's Punjab province had his arm chopped off by a Muslim
customer who became enraged during a disagreement over a TV
rental.
Shahbaz Masih, 22, was approached last November by a customer
wanting to rent a television set from his video shop in Talwandi,
Faisalabad district. When Masih declined the request, his customer,
a 26-year-old butcher named Ahmed Ali, became furious, declaring
the Christian had insulted him. He returned shortly afterwards,
armed with a butcher's axe. Forcing his way into Masih's house,
Ali attacked him and chopped off his left arm near the elbow.
As he left, he threatened the victim and his widowed mother
with even more "dire consequences" for the alleged
insult he had endured. Following his discharge from the hospital
four days later, Masih was forced to close his shop and leave
the village with his mother and go into hiding. Ali was arrested
after church officials pressed the case and he faces criminal
charges. However, local sources say police are under heavy pressure
to establish his innocence.
Source: Compass Direct. Editing:
ACPress.net
Checking
up if children go to church in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, February 10th,
2005 (ACPress.net).
On January 18th, schoolchildren
in the town of Temirtau in central Kazakhstan were forced to
fill in a questionnaire asking about their religious beliefs
and whether they attend a place of worship.
"Teachers don't have the right to force schoolchildren
to write about their religious convictions," Almaty-based
lawyer Roman Podoprigora told 'Forum 18', a local news agency.
Yantsen is concerned that this questionnaire in the Karaganda
region and an instruction from the department of education of
neighbouring Akmola region to all school Head teachers late
last year instructing them to conduct compulsory "educational
work" with children who attend places of worship are "links
in the same chain". Officials have tried to downplay these
instructions to Forum 18, insisting they are mere "recommendations",
though they follow earlier instructions to school directors
not to allow school children to attend places of worship. Education
Ministry spokesman Zhanara Usibekova categorically denied to
Forum 18 that her ministry had issued any new instruction about
children's religious education. "The last such instruction
was issued on 7th April 2003," she told Forum 18 from the
capital Astana in January. She also denied any knowledge of
any questionnaire being handed out to school children in the
Karaganda region.
Source: Assist. Editing: ACPress.net
Creation Museum being built in USA
Kentucky, February 10th, 2005
(ACPress.net).
Work continues on an
exciting new educational facility designed to teach how science
supports the biblical view of creation.
The 100,000-square-foot building that will house the Creation
Museum is complete, but numerous displays for the project remain
under construction. The 20 million-euro facility, which is located
next to a major motorway exit near the Kentucky-Ohio border,
is set to open to the public in the spring of 2007. Ken Ham
is president of 'Answers in Genesis' (AIG), the organisation
spearheading the museum project. "It's going to be a walk
through biblical history with animatronics and computer technology,
telling people the true history of the world, about creation,
the fall of man, the flood of Noah, the origin of races, marriage
... and so on," he says. AIG's mission involves equipping
Christians to defend creationism and other scientific ideas,
based on Scripture. The ministry is in the process of raising
money for the completion of the multi-million Creation Museum,
which Ham says will be a centre for both education and evangelism.
The AIG spokesman says the museum will present information to
help believers learn about the science and Scriptures behind
many scientific controversies.
Source: Agape. Editing: ACPress.net
Old Testament Bush keeping
USA and Europe apart on foreign policy
Washington DC, February 10th,
2005 (ACPress.net).
According to foreign
policy analyst Andrés Ortega, religion, the use of force and
international law are some of the key reasons behind President
Bush's re-election, and behind the differences between Europe
and America.
"Whether or not NATO sorts itself out, anti-terrorist cooperation
moves forward or Washington speaks more to the European Union
as such, the transatlantic gap is going to be harder to bridge
after Bush's re-election." Ortega bases his comments on these
three issues: religion, the use of force, and international
law. He says that secularised Europe and religious America are
far apart, a factor which makes international policy difficult.
"Today, the United States is the most religious nation in the
West and religion forms part of daily life, both individually
and collectively, even in politics, much more than in Europe."
Ortega argues that the role of faith has increased under George
Bush because, unlike his father who was merely a traditional
Protestant, he is a born-again Christian and much of his support
comes from evangelical Christians. Bush reads the Bible every
day and begins some of his meetings with prayer or Bible readings.
According to Kevin Phillips, ex-advisor in the White House,
Bush "has managed to unite in the same person the figure of
leader of the religious Right and that of President of the United
States." Curiously, as Bush himself is a member of the Methodist
Church, this is part of a process in recent years which has
seen great evangelical growth, and at the same time a decline
in mainstream Protestant denominations, such as the Anglican
and Methodist Churches.
Ortega argues that the Bush Presidency is a step back into the
Old Testament, with such concepts as 'eye for an eye', the death
penalty, and 'preventative war' as in Esther chapter 8. He often
refers to the Old Testament, and especially after the 2001 terrorist
attacks in the USA, he confided to friends that he felt 'chosen
by God to lead the nation in its response to the attack.' The
religious dimension to American foreign policy also distances
it from Europe over Israel. While both believe Israel has the
right to well-defined borders, the USA sees itself as having
a special relationship with Israel. Ortega says this is why,
in his first term, Bush gave Sharon much greater freedom of
action, something the analyst believes has lost Bush credibility
regarding his being an honest broker in the region.
Source: R. CAMBIO. Editing:
ACPress.net
A.C.Press:
The News Agency of the AEE (Spanish Evangelical Alliance)
Digital magazine at the website: www.ACPress.net
Telephone: 91 747 14
89; Fax: 91 747 59 24; E-mail: noticias@ACPress.net. Postal
address: Apartado 59198, 28080 Madrid, Spain. Co-ordinator
of A.C.Press News: Jonathan Dawson, E-mail: jdawson@protestantedigital.com
A.C.Press is part of the Spanish Evangelical
Alliance, whose E-mail is: oficina@AEEsp.net (www.AEEsp.net)
The Alliance is a forum for fellowship, reflection and the development of Christian
thought, produces various publications, and is involved in
the struggle for religious liberty. It is also part of the
European and World Evangelical Alliances.
A.C.Press news items may be reproduced as long
as their source is mentioned (ACPress News) |
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