Article18: Wales – Special Interview with the President of the Seventh-day Adventist Mission in Wales
By Martin Surridge – In the cold, northern reaches of Western Europe there is a small country that doesn’t often make international headlines, but might actually be a useful barometer for understanding the continent’s spiritual diversity and religious future. No, not France, Germany, or even England, but rather the western edge of Celtic Britain, Wales. […]
Read MoreJudge upholds ban on guns in places of worship (Atlanta-Journal Constitution)
EXCERPT: A federal judge has upheld the Georgia law banning weapons in churches, mosques and synagogues, saying gun rights advocates had not shown that carrying a firearm is necessary to practicing any religion. U.S. District Judge Ashley Royal late Monday dismissed a lawsuit filed by the gun rights organization GeorgiaCarry.org and the minister at the […]
Read MoreArticle18: Pakistan — Fallout from Governor’s Assassination Disrupts Efforts to Eliminate Discriminatory Blasphemy Laws
By Martin Surridge – Usually it would be rare for massive crowds to gather and protest against a possible increase in religious liberty. But in Pakistan? Perhaps not that surprising. Welcome back to Article18-RLTV’s first weekly blog specifically dedicated to religious liberty issues in other countries around the world. Each week, we will be focusing […]
Read MorePope says European sex education an ‘attack’ on religious freedom (AFP)
EXCERPT: Sex and civic education in schools in Europe is an “attack” on religious freedom, Pope Benedict XVI said on Monday, following a Vatican row with Spain over a new course promoting liberal values. “I cannot remain silent about another attack on the religious freedom of families in certain European countries which mandate obligatory participation […]
Read MoreCiting persecutions abroad, Obama declares ‘Religious Freedom Day’ (Examiner)
EXCERPT: President Obama yesterday carried out what has become an annual tradition of declaring January 16 “Religious Freedom Day.” Citing Virginia’s 1786 “Statute for Religious Freedom,” in which Tomas Jefferson wrote that “all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion,” the president said that although the […]
Read MoreArticle18: Sudan — Referendum Could Split Nation in Two; Potentially Good News for Millions of Sudanese Christians and Muslims
By Martin Surridge – Quietly making news this week, nestled between the East Coast snow storms and the Arizona shooting, is an event which, if all unfolds as expected, will make history in a corner of the world that has so often been tragically forgotten. Welcome back to Article18–RLTV’s first weekly blog specifically dedicated to […]
Read MoreArticle18: A New Weekly International Blog by RLTV Associate Editor Martin Surridge
Read the Latest Article18 Blog Posts Here. This is the first entry for Article18 –RLTV’s first weekly blog specifically dedicated to religious liberty issues in other countries around the world. Each week, we will be focusing on a different nation, and the struggles facing its different religious communities, be they Muslim, Christian, Hindu, or Jewish. […]
Read MoreEgypt’s Coptic Christians Call for More Religious Freedom (AJE)
EXCERPT: Angry protests by Egypt’s Christian Copts have become a familiar scene. Hundreds clashed with police last November over plans for a new church building in Giza, leaving two protesters dead. And in January of that year, Copts protested in the southern town of Nag Hamadi after six members were killed in an attack on […]
Read MoreA Tennessee mosque, a good American story (First Amendment Center)
EXCERPT: By Charles C. Haynes, Director of the Religious Freedom Education Project December 31, 2010 — The No. 1 religion story of 2010 was the emotional, often ugly debate over plans for an Islamic center two blocks from ground zero in Manhattan, according to Religion Newswriters Association members – and just about everyone else making […]
Read More