We Persevere Round-Up 18
75% of world’s population now lives without religious freedom,
& the numbers continue to rise.
WE PERSEVERE
WEEK OF NOVEMBER 4, 2016
MIDDLE EAST: If you don’t want your concept of church planting challenged, or have your tidy sociological categories called into question, don’t watch this movie.
INDONESIA: Tens of thousands of Indonesians marched in Jakarta on Friday, demanding that the city’s first Christian governor in decades be jailed for blasphemy. The rally was a show of strength by conservative Islamic groups, who were offended by his earlier remarks about the Quran and want to weaken him as he runs for re-election.
The governor is an ethnic Chinese Indonesian and the first Christian in nearly 50 years to govern Jakarta, capital of the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation. Many see this resurgence of conservative Islam as a great threat to religious freedom. Read more…
NORTH KOREA: According to Canadian diplomats, Hyeon Soo Lim, pastor at Light Presbyterian Church in Toronto, has been hospitalized because of poor health. The Presbyterian pastor and Canadian citizen was arrested in North Korea last year for allegedly plotting to overthrow the state.
NIGERIA: 74-year-old Bridget Agbahime, wife of the pastor of Deeper Life Bible Church in Kano, was lynched by an angry mob for allegedly ‘blaspheming’ against Mohammad, the founder of Islam. Numerous witnesses contest the allegations and claim her innocence. The five suspects in her killing have been set free, and her killing has provoked widespread outrage on social media.
US: Where does the public stand on Religious Liberty vs. Nondiscrimination? Two-thirds say employers should provide birth control in insurance plans, but public is split over same-sex wedding services and use of public bathrooms by transgender people. These are among the main findings of a new Pew Research Center survey of 4,538 adults conducted between Aug. 16 and Sept. 12, 2016.
We Persevere is a roundup of news concerning religious freedom at home and abroad. It is curated for RAANetwork by K.A. Ellis, in partnership with International Christian Response.
