http://persecutedchurch.info The Secular Forum Mon, 20 May 2013 17:52:29 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Washington D.C., May 17, 2013: Morocco’s highest religious authority has issued a fatwa calling for the execution of Muslims who leave Islam, raising questions about its possible outcomes and leaving Christian converts fearing for their lives. On Apr. 16, the governmental High Council of Ulemas, the highest religious authority in Morocco, issued a fatwa that [...]]]> http://persecutedchurch.info/2013/05/20/fatwa-of-death-penalty-for-converts-worries-morocco-christians/ Burma, May 13, 2013: Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) today released a new report on human rights in Burma following a four-week fact-finding visit to the country. The report welcomes signs of political change in the country, including “significantly increased freedom” for media, civil society and political actors, and improvements in freedom of expression in some [...]]]> http://persecutedchurch.info/2013/05/20/burma-csw-report-details-severe-human-rights-abuse/ Madhya Pradesh, May 20, 2013: Bilauha, a Bajrang Dal activist, and the two accomplices were transporting over 150 cows and calves for slaughter from Badagaon to Ganiyari when they were stopped about 35 km from Katni. In an embarrassment for the ruling BJP, one of its leaders who was till recently an active member of [...]]]> http://persecutedchurch.info/2013/05/20/mp-bjp-member-held-under-anti-cow-slaughter-law/ Savio Dominic Fernandes to serve, by the grace of God Mumbai, May 16, 2013: “I feel God’s love poured onto me and my response to it will be service with love in response to God’s love,” Mgr Savio Dominic Fernandes said. “Christ called me to serve as a priest, and with His Grace, I shall [...]]]> http://persecutedchurch.info/2013/05/20/more-on-bombay-new-auxiliary-bishops/ New Delhi, May 19, 2013: In a joint statement signed by several eminent personalities and civil rights activists, including Teesta Setalavad (activist, Mumbai); Shabnam Hashmi (ANHAD), Kavita Srivastava (PUCL); Ahmed Sohaib (JTSA); Mansi Sharma (activist, Delhi); Mahtab Alam (activist, Delhi); Manisha Sethi (JTSA), Mukul Kesavan (Historian), and Swami Agnivesh among others have condemned the ‘custodial [...]]]> http://persecutedchurch.info/2013/05/20/khalid-mujahid-death-civil-society-demands-time-bound-cbi-enquiry-arrest-of-guilty-cops/ USA, May 09, 2013: In early April, Army Reserve soldiers in Pennsylvania were told in a redeployment briefing that evangelical Christians and Roman Catholics were “extremists,” the same category as al Qaeda. Later that month, the Southern Baptist Convention’s website was blocked on Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps bases due to what the [...]]]> http://persecutedchurch.info/2013/05/20/the-pentagons-problem-with-proselytizing/ Happier times: Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert hold hands by a pond in 1975. Photo: Getty Images NEW YORK: They were the golden couple of tennis, champions on the court and youthful sweethearts off it. But shortly before Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert were scheduled to marry in the mid-1970s, the wedding was called off. [...]]]> http://persecutedchurch.info/2013/05/20/abortion-why-connors-split-with-evert/ New Delhi, May 17, 2013: In what could give rise to a fresh controversy, the government Thursday pushed the candidature of former Supreme Court judge Cyriac Joseph for the post of Member, National Human Rights Commission, ignoring the BJP’s concerns over his “integrity and competence”. The post is reserved for a former SC judge and [...]]]> http://persecutedchurch.info/2013/05/20/bjp-protests-ex-sc-judge-joseph-for-national-human-rights-comm/ Odisha, May 17, 2013: Nearly 14 years after Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons were burnt to death by a mob in Odisha, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday arrested two absconding accused in the case.A CBI team arrested Ghanashyam Mohant, 35, and Ranjan Mohant, 38, from their villages Gayalmunda and [...]]]> http://persecutedchurch.info/2013/05/18/two-arrested-in-14-year-old-missionary-graham-staines-and-his-children-in-orissa/ New Delhi, May 17, 2013: In what could give rise to a fresh controversy, the government Thursday pushed the candidature of former Supreme Court judge Cyriac Joseph for the post of Member, National Human Rights Commission, ignoring the BJP’s concerns over his “integrity and competence”. The post is reserved for a former SC judge and [...]]]> http://persecutedchurch.info/2013/05/18/bjps-protest-ex-sc-judge-joseph-for-national-human-rights-commissionnhrc/