Korean Christian Peace Festival in Afghanistan Blocked

Korean news site Chosun reports on a plan by Korean Christians to descend on Afghanistan:
A so-called Peace Festival scheduled in Afghanistan in August, which 2,000 Korean Christians are expected to attend, has pitted the government against Evangelical groups after the administration warned the event is a potential target for terror attacks. The Institute of Asian [...]

Sada Highlights Growth of Evangelicals in Iraqi Kurdistan

Claim: “No Christians in the Kurdish territory are persecuted”
Retired Iraqi General Georges Sada is back in the news. The Washington Times reports:
Retired Iraqi Gen. Georges Sada, a former fighter pilot-turned-Christian evangelist, says Kurds are converting to Christianity “by the hundreds” in northern Iraq.
…The “good news” from Iraq’s turbulent religious scene, consisting mainly of Sunni and [...]

China-Sponsored Bible Exhibition in USA

Backed by Jimmy Carter, Billy Graham, Rick Warren
Denounced as “PR Campaign” by Chinese Dissident
China Economic Net reports on a Bible exhibition in Atlanta (link added):
…The exhibition in Atlanta, the second stop of a three-leg tour in the United States, provides an opportunity for the American public to get understanding of the development of Christianity in [...]

Uzbekistan Accuses Development Orgs of Being Missionary Fronts

Agape Press provides a brief news report from Uzbekistan:
…The government of Uzbekistan has closed down two Protestant churches in Samarkand, the latest in a series of moves to expel foreign-funded institutions from the authoritarian, ex-Soviet state. Uzbek officials say a Seventh-Day Adventist church and a Protestant church run by a Korean pastor have been closed [...]

Iran’s Latest Move against Academia

The latest casualty in Iran’s war against academic independence: Dr Ramin Jahanbegloo, a distinguished political scientist and philosopher (see his website here), was arrested at the end of April. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports (link added):
At a Tehran airport on April 27, Iranian police arrested Ramin Jahanbegloo, a French-educated scholar who directs the department [...]

Evangelicals Target Rwanda

Crosswalk reports on Hope Rwanda, the massive campaign of western evangelisation currently underway in Rwanda (and which was discussed by me here). The missionaries are offering substantial medical and development assistance to the country, but spreading the word is also a central priority:
The President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, officially launched Hope Rwanda: 100 Days of [...]

Shariah to be Enforced on all non-Muslims in Aceh

Tucked away in the AP’s “Religion News in Brief”:
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A bill proposed by lawmakers on the tsunami-ravaged Indonesian province of Aceh would impose Shariah, or Islamic law, on all non-Muslims, the military and police, a local law enforcement official said.
…”Based on the equality in law, Acehnese people have formally proposed…to apply the [...]

Contra Fulvus Update

A new angle on the The Da Vinci Code, via the Boston Herald:
“It’s another kind of evil or outcast depiction of a person with albinism,” said Dennis Hurley, 28, who was angered over the homicidal red-eyed character Silas depicted in the “The Da Vinci Code” best-selling novel. “There are regular people like me who happen [...]

New Church Constructed in Tel Aviv

ASSIST Ministries reports on an interesting religious development in Tel Aviv:
For what is believed to be the first time, a Christian congregation in Israel is building its own church – in a Jewish area near Tel Aviv.
Although the building plan was hotly contested by Orthodox Jews and the church had to go all the way [...]

New US Religious Freedom Report Out

Afghanistan democracy “in peril”
Iraq law against Baha’is still on books
Commission says Department of State “has not yet acted on or responded” to recommendations on refugees
Li v. Gonzales slammed
It’s time for the new Annual Report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. Here’s the state of play this year:
It recommended that eight countries remain [...]