8 Feb 2011, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States Bettina Krause/IRLA/ANN Seventh-day Adventists in Azerbaijan hope a recent meeting between church leaders and state officials will ease tensions and help the church gain official recognition for its congregations under Azerbaijani law. The January 31 meeting with representatives of the Azerbaijan State Committee on Religious Associations came…
Category: International
Human Rights Watch to Pakistan: Drop Blasphemy Charges Against Teenager (HWR)
EXCERPT: The Pakistani government should immediately drop blasphemy charges against a 17-year-old student and ensure his safe release from detention, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities arrested Muhammad Samiullah on January 28, 2011, and charged him under Pakistan’s “blasphemy law,” article 295-C of the criminal code, for allegedly including derogatory remarks about the Prophet…
Pope 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…
Citing 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…
Article18: 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….
Egypt’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…
Say No to the Defamation of Religions Resolutions, Yes to the Right to Believe (Open Doors)
This year the Defamation of Religions Resolution will once again be voted on in the UN General Assembly. Its supporters claim that it protects religious freedom… but in fact it does the exact opposite. It allows governments the power to determine which religious views can and can’t be expressed in their country, and it gives…
Respecting the Religion of Your Brother
By Rajmund (Ray) Dabrowski – Authentic religion calls for a respect, sensitivity and acceptance of another’s beliefs and practices. Do unto others ? the saying goes. It really did not matter which one of the muezzins woke me up. The melodic reciting of a call to prayer from one of the minarets at 4:45 in…
In Peru, ‘historic’ religious liberty legislation passes (ANN)
Law recognizes religious pluralism; all faiths to enjoy same ‘rights, obligations and benefits’ 7 Dec 2010, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States Adventist News Network Staff Members of Peru’s congress voted last week to approve legislation guaranteeing the religious liberty of all citizens, a freedom already recognized by the South American country’s constitution. The act comes…
Residents, Church Vie For History-Rich Russian Isles (NPR)
Russia’s Solovetsky Islands, less than 100 miles from the Arctic Circle, have become a popular tourist destination. Originally an outpost of the Orthodox Church, they later became home to a brutal prison. Now, islanders and church officials are battling for control.