Rival Nepal Communist Party faction hit street of Kathmandu in show of power,
In the past 30 years since 1990, no single Prime Minister of Nepal has served a full five-year term.
The country has seen the governance change hands over 25 times as none of the 14 prime ministers stayed on for the entire term.
Protestors led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal of Nepal Communist Party’s rival faction marched through the streets of the capital Kathmandu on Tuesday against the dissolution of Parliament.
The march took place even as a delegation from China is in Nepal on a four-day visit to “assess the ground situation.”
Participating in the protest march were three former Prime Ministers – Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Madhav Kumar Nepal and Jhala Nath Khanal. Slogans were chanted against the latest “unconstitutional” move of dissolving parliament by now the now caretaker Government of Prime Minster KP Oli.
Cadres chanted slogans against Oli and President Bidhya Devi Bhandari and also against foreign intervention demanding them to stay away from the country’s internal political matters.
Earlier this week a four-member delegation led by Guo Yezhou, a vice minister in the International Department of Communist Party of China arrived in Nepal and met major political leaders of the Himalayan Nation.
“Presence of people on the streets of Kathmandu and protests all around the nation has truly proved that other political parties, civil societies, former Chief Justice, senior advocates along with other groups associated with the public have collectively denounced this step and called the step as autocratic, unconstitutional, against democracy and its norms,” Pushpa Kamal Dahal or Prachanda, the Chairman of rival Nepal Communist Party faction said while addressing the mass meeting held after the show of power on Tuesday.
Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari had dissolved the Lower House on Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli’s recommendation on December 20. The move has invited 12 petitions in the country’s apex court, claiming it to be “unconstitutional”, including one by Prachanda.
“If there is any kind of uneasy conditions, I want to appeal the court to understand protest and mass meeting which has commenced all around the nation. This is a symbiosis from people’s part not only our political party, but I also request them to understand it in that way,” the former Prime Minister appealed.
After dissolving the Parliament, Oli also proposed elections on April 30 and May 10, 2021, nearly two years ahead of the schedule. Seven cabinet ministers had submitted their resignations after the Parliament dissolution was ratified by the President.
Nepal’s Supreme Court on Friday issued a show-cause notice to the Oli-led government, asking it to submit a written clarification over its decision to abruptly dissolve Parliament.
Meanwhile, the other former Prime Minister and co-chair of Nepal Communist Party Madhav Kumar Nepal said that the latest move of Oli has prompted people to come onto the street fearing the rise of undemocratic forces in the nation.
“He (Oli) has taken the steps against federalism, constitution, democracy, democratic values and norms, people’s right and choice; this is why people now have hit the road,” Nepal said addressing the mass meeting.
Oli claimed of lack of support from party insiders and moves to oust him from post through impeachment as the reasons to dissolve the parliament which he exercised going beyond the constitutional rights.
Protests had since then erupted in the Himalayan Nation which in year 2017 voted for communist alliance hoping for stability as it always was marred with political changes and raging conflict.
The then Communist alliance- Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist and Communist Party of Nepal- Maoist Center had scored nearly two-third majority and formed a single government after swooping the election.
Formally cutting off relations with Oli and taking actions against him for making the latest unilateral move, the rival faction within the ruling party on December 24 decided to take to the streets. Leaders of the rival faction have claimed it to be the first phase of protest and have vowed to make it stricter and stronger as it advances.
“From today, the fire of struggle has been ignited. The sky of Kathmandu Valley is echoing with deafening slogans the voice against regression has already set off,” Jhala Nath Khanal, a former Prime Minister and Senior Leader of ruling Nepal Communist Party, Dahal-Nepal faction said addressing the mass meeting.
The leaders on Tuesday’s protest vowed to fight to reinstate the parliament and correct the unconstitutional move of Oli. Rival faction leaders said they have formed an agitation mobilization committee to launch protests in various parts of the country.
The Lower House of Nepal’s Parliament, called the ‘Pratinidhi Sabha’, has a term of five years unless dissolved earlier. There is no provision in the Constitution that allows the Prime Minister to dissolve the Parliament unilaterally.
Oli’s opponents have now turned to the Supreme Court to challenge his dissolution of Parliament denouncing it as a “constitutional coup”, Reuters reported.
Supreme Court Spokesman Bhadrakali Pokharel told Reuters that three petitions against the dissolution were “in the process of being registered”.
Dinesh Tripathi, who is one of the petitioners, said that according to the Constitution, the prime minister should allow the formation of an alternate government to ensure stability.
If the court registers the petitions it could take about two weeks for a decision, Reuters quoted legal experts as saying.
According to The Print, if the court rules Oli’s decision to be unconstitutional, he will have to resign as prime minister. If not, the interim government will continue till the next elections scheduled on 30 April and 10 May.
… the issue of freedom of religion. Our Zimbabwe delegation was two … . Even today conflicts based on religion affect vast areas of the … was not so much on religion but on tribe and race …
Our beliefs are what our actions are based upon. Our actions have real consequences.
If our actions are the product of reason-based beliefs, our actions will be reasonable and productive. If our actions are the product of unreasonable beliefs, our actions will be irrational and harmful.
Unreasonable beliefs, in this case, belief in Christianity, caused irrational actions which brutally took the life of a helpless four-year-old girl.
Church going Christians Mary and James Mast (pictured above) of Lincoln, Missouri, and their neighbors and fellow Christians, Ethan Mast (no relation to Mary or James) and Kourtney Aumen believed that Mary and James’ four-year-old daughter was possessed by a demon. To exorcise the demon, Ethan and Courtney beat the little girl with a belt and then dunked her in cold water in a pond behind their house. This was done on December 19, 2020. On December 20th the Benton County Sheriffs Department found the four-year-old little girl’s dead body.
How could this, and similar cases, happen? This innocent and helpless little girl, and other children like her, suffer and die because literally billions of people in the 21st century still believe in the ancient and fear-based myths and superstitions of the “revealed” religions. On occasion I will hear from Christians who tell me I am wrong to say that Satan, devils and demons do not exist. They claim to know they exist because the Bible says that Jesus confronted them and exorcised them. Why do they still believe this dangerous and foolish nonsense from the Bible? Because Christianity, the Bible and all of the other “revealed” religions and their “holy” scriptures receive undeserved respect from too many people. In The Age of Reason, The Complete Edition, the American Founder and Deist Thomas Paine showed us the way we need to deal with the ungodly Bible and Christianity and the other “revealed” religions when he wrote:
“Nonsense ought to be treated as nonsense, wherever it be found; and had this been done in the rational manner it ought to be done, instead of intimating and mincing the matter, as has been too much the case, the nonsense and false doctrine of the Bible, with all the aid that priestcraft can give, could never have stood their ground against the divine reason that God has given to man.”
Deism’s important quality of addressing superstitions and deadly myths promoted by the “revealed” religions such as belief in fear-based, clergy-created creatures like Satan and demons, as well as deadly superstitions like faith healing, which also takes the lives of innocent children, makes Deism an indispensable worldview with practical benefits to children and to all of society and the world. The more we do to get the word out about Deism, the more we help and protect the children of the world.
BAHÁ’Í WORLD CENTRE — As a most challenging year comes to a close, the Bahá’í World News Service provides a collection of photographs from stories over the past 12 months on developments in the global Bahá’í community.
What can be seen through these and countless other efforts in societies around the globe is the expression of an essential truth: that the human family is one.
Volunteers from the village of Namawanga, Kenya, and the surrounding area joined together to undertake the construction of an 800-square-meter educational facility for their village.
At a “cultural café” in Sousse, Tunisia, organized by the country’s Bahá’í community, religious and civil society leaders were brought together to exchange ideas and explore insights about the advancement of women in the country.
A seminar series in Canada examined the important role of religion in the process of immigration to and settlement in the country.
A gathering held by the Bahá’í community of Australia brought together journalists and other social actors to explore how the media can play a constructive role in society.
Thirty village chiefs, or pradhans, gathered at a conference organized by the Bahá’í community of India in the village of Gapchariyapur, Uttar Pradesh, for a constructive discussion on their shared responsibility for the prosperity and the spiritual well-being of their people. The 30 pradhans represent some 380 villages in the region, comprising a total of 950 villages and around 1 million people.
At a conference in Kakenge, Central Kasai, the Bahá’ís of the Democratic Republic of the Congo brought together some 60 village and tribal chiefs—many of whom were on opposing sides of armed conflict only a year ago—to explore paths towards a society characterized by principles such as harmony, justice, and prosperity.
Chief Nkayi Matala of the Lushiku village (right) and Chief Mbindi Godée of the Ndenga Mongo village at a conference in Kakenge, Central Kasai, held by the Bahá’ís of the DRC. They described the gathering as “a remarkable step forward that opens up many new possibilities for realizing the unity of peoples and the prosperity of our communities.”
The Brussels office of the Bahá’í International Community (BIC) at a European Parliament panel discussion in January. The Brussels office lead a discussion on how institutions and civil society actors can develop language that at once respects diversity and fosters shared identity.
As outbreaks of COVID-19 began to disrupt life in country after country, Bahá’í communities found creative means to continue to serve their societies while maintaining safe measures put in place by their governments. Seen here are families in Italy praying and creating messages of hope for their fellow citizens.
The Bahá’ís of Nepal had taken early action in March to update their fellow citizens on preventive health measures while taking care to keep a safe distance and use protective gear as needed.
As the health crisis continued, Bahá’í communities and institutions began coordinating an organized response. In India, Bahá’í Local Spiritual Assemblies in various parts of the country have been distributing food and other necessities to citizens whose economic situation has become precarious.
In one village in India, a construction company owned by local Baha’is used its trucks and other resources to bring food to 2,500 distressed households across 50 remote villages during the health crisis.
Children participating in moral education classes offered by the Bahá’ís of Luxembourg made cards and drawings to bring joy to health workers and others carrying out essential services during the health crisis.
Young people across the United States who have been engaged in Bahá’í community-building efforts swiftly responded to a host of needs arising in their communities. Seen here, a family in Rockwall, Texas, prepared masks for their neighbors.
Friendships built through the English Corner program in Vancouver, Canada—a Bahá’í-inspired initiative for English learners—became a source of support in difficult times.
People of all ages, especially youth, have found ways to uplift the spirits of their fellow citizens through music, podcasts, paintings and drawings, theatre, puppet shows, poetry, and digital designs. Such works have focused on revealing the beauty that exists in the world and conveying new perspectives on current circumstances.
Acts of devotion and generosity have come into greater focus in humanity’s collective life this year. In places where Bahá’í Houses of Worship stand, live broadcasts of devotional programs and online gatherings for collective prayer—such as the one pictured here from the House of Worship in Australia—have brought many people together, allaying anxieties and inspiring hope.
The House of Worship in Santiago, Chile, has continued to serve as a source of hope, offering online devotional programs. Seen here are volunteers who have been tending to the Temple site since its doors closed to public visitors according to public safety measures put in place by the government.
A group of youth in Soweto, South Africa, who have been participating in Bahá’í community-building endeavors seen here praying together.
In April amid the pandemic, when Cyclone Harold struck the northern islands of Vanuatu the degree of unity and collective action fostered through the educational activities of the Bahá’í community enabled many people to respond swiftly and to begin rebuilding and replanting.
FUNDAEC, a Bahá’í-inspired organization in Colombia, recognizing that the pandemic would have long-term ramifications, looked at how it could be of practical service to society at a time of dire need. Since March, it has assisted over 2,000 people across the country to become engaged in over 1,000 agricultural initiatives.
Pictured here is the construction of a “food tower” at the training center of the Kimanya-Ngeyo Foundation for Science and Education, a Bahá’í-inspired organization in Uganda whose programs have continued to raise capacity in specific areas of community development during the pandemic.
Teachers at a Bahá’í-inspired community school in Langathel, Manipur, India, distribute schoolwork to parents to carry out with their children at home as a precautionary measure during the health crisis. Bahá’í-inspired community schools in places with limited web accessibility have found creative ways of adapting to present circumstances and serving their students’ educational needs.
Despite the challenges facing all educational institutions, Nur University in Bolivia adapted quickly, ensuring that all of its students were closely engaged and not left to themselves. A unique feature of the university’s approach is that it promotes service to society as a critical element in one’s life. Pictured here is a student preparing an educational video on health and safety for distribution among students and the local community.
To assist university students in navigating questions about the direction in which the world is headed and their place in it, the Institute for Studies in Global Prosperity (ISGP) has been creating spaces, largely online, for young people to come together in focused discussions.
In the days after an explosion that rocked Beirut in August, a group of youth engaged in Bahá’í community-building efforts quickly met to make plans for assisting with relief and recovery. They created a volunteer network called the “Helping Hub” to coordinate the actions of people around them.
Radio stations operated by Bahá’í communities in several countries, including Radyo Bahá’í in the Philippines, have found a renewed purpose during the pandemic, acting as a source of critical information and an anchor of community life when other forms of interaction have been limited.
Chile Bahá’í Radio based in Labranza, Chile, has been in close dialogue, especially during the pandemic, with surrounding indigenous communities to ensure that programs speak to their needs and aspirations. Prayers in the indigenous Mapuche language are a part of regular broadcasts of Chile Bahá’í Radio.
A public statement released in June by the Bahá’í National Spiritual Assembly of the United States on racial prejudice and spiritual principles essential for progress toward peace has stimulated critical reflection across the country.
Parent University, a Bahá’í-inspired organization with decades-long experience of promoting racial equality in Savannah, Georgia, worked this year to build bridges between community members and representatives of local government, including by hosting constructive online discussion spaces to explore issues of equality and justice.
A reception held at Parliament House in Canberra in November marked the anniversary of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh and centenary of the Bahá’í community in Australia. In a message for the reception, Prime Minister Scott Morrison stated: “People of the Bahá’í Faith contribute to our social good through the values of equality, truth and respect. These values mirror our national commitment to a rich and diverse multicultural, multi-faith society.”
The BIC launched a statement entitled “A Governance Befitting: Humanity and the Path Toward a Just Global Order” on the eve of the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, inviting UN officials, ambassadors of member states, non-governmental organizations, and other social actors to explore themes concerning humanity’s movement toward universal peace.
The beginning of this year saw the first steps being taken to prepare the site and lay the groundwork for the Shrine of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Coinciding with the start of construction, the mayor of ‘Akká and representatives of the city’s religious communities gathered to honor ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at a special ceremony.
Work on the construction of the Shrine has progressed this year with the approval of local authorities at each stage. By April work on the foundations was giving shape to an imprint of the design’s elegant geometry (top left). The foundations have now been completed, allowing the first vertical elements of the edifice to rise.
The design for the local Bahá’í House of Worship to be built in Bihar Sharif was unveiled in April. Drawing on patterns found in the Madhubani folk art of Bihar and the region’s long architectural heritage, the temple’s design features a repeating pattern of arches.
The design for the national Bahá’í House of Worship to be built in the DRC was also unveiled this year. The design is inspired by traditional artworks and structures as well as natural features of the country. The House of Worship will embody the vibrant devotional spirit that has been fostered over the decades by the country’s Bahá’ís.
Construction of the national Bahá’í House of Worship in the DRC was inaugurated in October with a groundbreaking ceremony on the site of the future temple in the presence of officials, religious leaders, and traditional chiefs.
Within two months of the groundbreaking for the national Bahá’í House of Worship in the DRC, excavation was completed for the main ring of the edifice’s foundations.
Prior to the pandemic, people of all ages were regularly gathering on the grounds of the local Bahá’í House of Worship in Matunda Soy, Kenya, to pray together and offer assistance with various aspects of the site’s upkeep.
Construction of the local House of Worship in Matunda Soy, Kenya, is now at an advanced stage of completion. Work on the roof and decoration of doorways and external walls is underway. A reception center and other ancillary buildings on the site are also nearing completion.
A virtual rendering of the design for the national Bahá’í House of Worship of Papua New Guinea (left) compared with recent progress on the structure (right).
Since the foundations of the House of Worship in Papua New Guinea were completed last December, work has progressed on an intricate steel structure for the central edifice that traces the unique weaving pattern of the exterior.
A companion article to this photo essay, to be published tomorrow, will provide an overview of stories on developments in the global Bahá’í community this year.
(Photo: Billy Graham Evangelistic Association)More than 2,200 Liberty University students and staff attended Prayer March 2020, a seven-stop route that covered the United States in prayer.
The president and vice president of Liberty University’s student body are speaking out about a center created by former University president Jerry Falwell, Jr. and an ardent Donald Trump supporter, Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and talk-show host.
They say that the school’s Falkirk Center think tank has allowed politics to supersede the Gospel message and that it negatively impacts the university’s reputation, Christian Headlines reported Dec. 28.
The fight has brought the Gospel, Trumpist populism, and Christian belief into collision at the private evangelical Liberty University as student leaders have spoken up and said the Gospel comes first and not “conservatism” which Donald Trump espouses.
THE FALKIRK CENTER
Falwell’s think tank calls itself “The Falkirk Center for Faith and Liberty.” Its website says it “exists to uphold the Christian faith and defend America’s Constitution. We honor human dignity, individual liberty, limited government, and free markets.”
Falwell resigned as president and chancellor of Liberty in August when allegations of an extra marital affair surfaced and he is said to have used the university’s funds to set up the campus ‘think tank’ in 2019, Politico reported.
The university student body president Constance Schneider and student body vice president Joel Thomas commented on social media posts.
According to the school’s website, the two represent students in interactions with the university’s administration as leaders in the Student Government Association.
“Our job is to represent the students of our school. When an organization like @falkirk_center is attached to liberty, it impacts the reputation of not just our school, but our students as well,” Schneider wrote in a tweet.
“We have had dozens of conversations with students who are embarrassed to claim the name of our school due to the rhetoric that comes from this center.”
Schneider said, “I am concerned with the rhetoric, tone, content, and association the Falkirk Center has with Liberty University, specifically when it comes to our greater, crucial mission to further the kingdom of God,” Thomas tweeted.
“Freedom of speech and sharing of ideas are extremely important, yes … yet our priority must remain fixed on what truly matters: exalting the cross of Christ through the witness we bear.
CONSERVATIVE SUPERSEDING CHRISTIAN
“Conservative must never supersede Christian. If allowed to supersede, this can erode and shift our very identity and dilute and distract from the message of the Gospel we claim to champion. All other ground is sinking sand.”
Schneider @constansceider tweeted, “We have had dozens of conversations with students who are embarrassed to claim the name of our school due to the rhetoric that comes from this center.”
The matter has received national media attention.
Falkirk’s fellows include Charlie Kirk, the founder and president of Turning Point USA; Eric Metaxas, a Christian radio host; and Jenna Ellis, an attorney who has represented the Trump campaign in post-election lawsuits.
Politico had reported on Dec. 14, “After shocking many in the evangelical movement by endorsing Donald Trump over other Republicans for the 2016 presidential nomination, Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. pumped millions of the nonprofit religious institution’s funds into Republican causes and efforts to promote the Trump administration, blurring the lines between education and politics.”.
“The culmination of his efforts was the creation of a university-funded campus “think tank” — which has produced no peer-reviewed academic work and bears little relation to study centers at other universities,” wrote Politico’s Maggie Severns.
“It ran pro-Trump ads, hired Trump allies including former adviser Sebastian Gorka and current Trump attorney Jenna Ellis to serve as fellows and, in recent weeks, has aggressively promoted Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud.
“Liberty’s actions, detailed for the first time by POLITICO, suggest the university is pushing the boundaries of its status as a nonprofit organization under Section 501c (3) of the U.S. federal tax code.”
The code forbids spending money on political campaigns. Liberty’s actions also go well beyond the traditional role of a university as a politically neutral institution of higher learning.
“The apparatus of the university has turned more and more towards political ends and concerns,” said Marybeth Baggett, a Liberty graduate who taught at the school from 2003 until the early party of this year.
“Obviously, the school is conservative, yes. But I don’t feel like it was ever so agenda-driven as it was in the last four of five years,” she said, according to Politico.
Student leader Thomas tweeted, “I am concerned with the rhetoric, tone, content, and association the Falkirk Center has with Liberty University, specifically when it comes to our greater, crucial mission to further the kingdom of God.”
His tweet said, “Freedom of speech and sharing of ideas are extremely important, yes … yet our priority must remain fixed on what truly matters: exalting the cross of Christ through the witness we bear. Conservative must never supersede Christian.”
Liberty University, also known as LU, is a private evangelical Christian university in Lynchburg, Virginia. It was founded by Jerry Falwell and Elmer L. Towns in 1971.
(RNS) — 2020 has been a year of mourning of seemingly biblical proportions, including a mounting global death toll from the coronavirus pandemic, nearing 2 million as the year closes out.
Losses in the religion world included people known for their contributions to preaching, civil rights or music.
The retired prelate was the first woman to be ordained and consecrated as a bishop in the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Newly consecrated as the first woman bishop in the history of the Episcopal Church, the Rev. Barbara Harris gives the benediction at the conclusion of a service in Boston on Feb. 11, 1989. Religion News Service file photo
Known for quoting the words “Hallelujah anyhow” from a gospel song, Harris served as the suffragan, or assisting, bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts from 1989 until her retirement in 2002. She later was an assisting bishop in the Diocese of Washington.
The great-granddaughter of a woman born into slavery, Harris broke numerous stereotypes: Not only was she the first woman Anglican bishop, she was African American, divorced, and had not graduated from seminary.
“The temptation we have,” she said in her first sermon as bishop, “is to play it safe, don’t make waves.
“But if Jesus had played it safe, we would not be saved,” she continued, as noted in 1989 coverage in the Los Angeles Times. “If the Diocese of Massachusetts had played it safe, I would not be standing here clothed in rochet and chimere and wearing a pectoral cross.”
The preacher and close colleague of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was known for his efforts to desegregate buses, protest apartheid and draw attention to the AIDS crisis in the U.S. and Africa.
In this Aug. 12, 2009, file photo, President Barack Obama presents a 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom to the Rev. Joseph E. Lowery in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
The United Methodist minister served as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference for 20 years after co-founding it with King.
Lowery, who was dubbed the “dean of the civil rights movement” by the NAACP, gave the benediction at President Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration, recalling the country’s racial challenges as the nation gained its first Black president. Several years later, Lowery criticized President George W. Bush for “weapons of misdirection” as they both were on the dais for Coretta Scott King’s funeral.
Obama presented Lowery with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in August 2009. Asked if his work was mostly completed after his inaugural prayer and receipt of the medal, Lowery said no.
“Our work is never done,” he told Religion News Service in 2011. “A Christian’s work is never done. The spiritual says we’ve always got ‘one more river to cross.’”
The Christian evangelist and author of more than 20 books rose to prominence after Billy Graham invited him to appear at a 1983 international evangelism conference.
Ravi Zacharias speaks to students at the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics, in Oxford, England, in July 2018. Photo by Hazel Thompson/True Image Media
He founded a Georgia-based apologetics ministry in which he and, eventually, almost 100 other Christian evangelists spoke and trained others in how to answer questions about Christianity and the existence of God.
Shortly before Zacharias’ death, prominent evangelicals spoke of how he was one of their “heroes” and how their shelves included his books.
But in recent months an investigation by a law firm hired by his ministry has found what the firm called “significant, credible evidence that Mr. Zacharias engaged in sexual misconduct over the course of many years.”
In a Dec. 23 announcement about the interim investigation update, the board of directors of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries said “we share your compassion for any victims of this conduct, and we appreciate your prayers for them and also for Ravi’s family who have been devastated by this information.”
The longtime civil rights activist and ordained Baptist minister was known for preaching about getting in “good trouble.” He was often remembered for being beaten by police on the Edmund Pettus Bridge as he worked for voting rights in Selma, Alabama, in 1965.
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama join hands with Rep. John Lewis, center, as they lead the walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday and the Selma to Montgomery civil rights marches, in Selma, Alabama, on March 7, 2015. Photo courtesy of The White House/Lawrence Jackson
He was also the youngest speaker at the March on Washington in 1963, speaking shortly before the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. Lewis later became a longtime U.S. congressman representing the state of Georgia.
As he coped with a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, Lewis urged attendees at the National Prayer Breakfast in February to “be a blessing to our fellow human beings.”
Lewis wrote in “March,” an award-winning graphic novel series, of how he preached to his chickens as a child on his family farm and later gave his first public sermon at age 15. He told RNS in 2016 he didn’t regret moving away from traditional ministry.
“I preach every day,” he said. “Every day, I’m preaching a sermon, telling people to get off their butts and do something.”
The social justice work of Cordy Tindell “C.T.” Vivian began in 1947, when he nonviolently and successfully protested segregated lunch counters in Peoria, Illinois.
Two decades later, he stood almost nose to nose with Sheriff Jim Clark on the steps of a Selma courthouse.
“You can turn your back on me but you cannot turn your back upon the idea of justice,” Vivian told Clark minutes before the sheriff punched the minister in the face. “You can turn your back now and you can keep the club in your hand but you cannot beat down justice.”
Vivian served on the executive staff of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Atlanta and was the editor for a Baptist Sunday school publisher. In 2013, he was honored by Obama with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The nun in the Dominican order was a proponent of nuclear disarmament who later was the inspiration for a character in the “Orange Is the New Black” series on Netflix.
Sister Ardeth Platte is shown outside of the Danbury Federal Correctional Institute in Danbury, Connecticut, after being released from the prison on Dec. 22, 2005. (AP Photo/Douglas Healey)
She worked with Sister Carol Gilbert, her frequent collaborator and best friend, and served time in prison for her nonviolent civil disobedience as she opposed war and nuclear weapons. They recently had been working to gain support for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
In Michigan, Platte worked as a teacher and coordinator of Saginaw’s Home for Peace and Justice. Her story became the subject of a documentary about her and other nuns and the catalyst for the “Orange Is the New Black” character. She had practiced yoga with fellow prisoner Piper Kerman, author of the book on which the series was based, when they both served in a Connecticut prison.
In 2017, Platte described herself to The Denver Post as someone dedicated to peace.
“I refuse to have an enemy,” she said. “I simply won’t.”
James Randi
The onetime magician and author was known for his investigation and disproving of faith healers.
James Randi in 2014. Photo courtesy of Creative Commons
Randi died at the age of 92 on Oct. 20.
The New York Times reported that the skeptic, known as the “Amazing Randi,” moved from seeking to break the records of illusionist Houdini to exposing falsehoods. It noted he was inquisitive from an early age as a boy attending Sunday school.
“They started to read to me from the Bible,” the newspaper said he recalled in 2016. “And I interrupted and said: ‘Excuse me, how do you know that’s true? It sounds strange.’”
In 1976, along with scientists such as Carl Sagan and Isaac Asimov, Randi founded the Committee for Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, now known as the Center for Inquiry. The white-bearded and bespectacled man appeared on TV shows and spoke at atheist gatherings, including the 2016 Reason Rally in Washington, D.C. The MacArthur Grant winner was honored by numerous scientific, atheist and magician organizations.
“To the skeptical movement, he was a hero,” said Center for Inquiry President Robyn Blumner at the time of Randi’s death. “To us, he was family.”
He was the lead vocalist for the group known for incorporating R&B, soul and rock with traditional Black gospel music. The five-time Grammy nominee joined his group in a 2015 performance for Obama at an event celebrating gospel music history.
An Ohio pastor who became a bishop of the Church of God in Christ in 2011, Allen performed “Blessing Me Again” with rapper Snoop Dogg at the 2018 Super Bowl Gospel Celebration.
Early in 2020, a Toledo radio station honored Allen during Black History Month.
“I’ve been singing over 60 years and it’s all been as far as I was concerned a ministry,” he told the station.
His efforts toward educating different faiths about each other was not without controversy.
“No one creed has a monopoly on spiritual truth,” he wrote in his 2002 book, “The Dignity of Difference.” After complaints from some Orthodox groups, he used toned-down language in subsequent editions.
The onetime leader of the well-known Western Marble Arch Synagogue in Central London, Sacks went on to hold the role of chief rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth from 1991 to 2013.
Prince Charles was among the international leaders who reacted to Sacks’ death: “With his passing, the Jewish community, our nation, and the entire world have lost a leader whose wisdom, scholarship and humanity were without equal.”
The conservative pastor and evangelical adviser to President Donald Trump was known for his efforts to foster racial reconciliation.
Bishop Harry Jackson of Maryland speaks at the unveiling of the “Justice Declaration,” a statement by Christian leaders on criminal justice, in Washington, D.C., on June 20, 2017. RNS photo by Adelle M. Banks
Ten years after a 2005 diagnosis of esophageal cancer, he told “The 700 Club” that at one point he was “24 hours away from dying” but he believed God still had work for him to do.
An author and co-author of several books, the Black pastor in the charismatic tradition was outspoken in his opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion. But Jackson advocated prison reform and economic development in his 2005 “Black Contract With America.”
He was among the dozens of evangelical leaders who urged the Trump administration to address criminal justice reform as an alternative to “tough on crime” language. At an April 10 Oval Office gathering on Good Friday, Trump called on Jackson to declare a blessing as clergy joined in an event two days before Easter.
“What I believe is that the whole left and right paradigm that politics has chosen to create for itself is fundamentally incorrect because the Bible has both what we call left and right issues,” Jackson told RNS in 2005.
The Madhya Pradesh government Tuesday approved the Freedom to Religion Bill 2020 as an ordinance in a special cabinet session, after which it was sent to the Governor for her nod.
The state government has taken the ordinance route much like the Uttar Pradesh government to clear its stringent law prohibiting forced religious conversion under its Freedom to Religion Bill 2020. This comes after the three-day session of the assembly was cancelled owing to high cases of COVID-19 being reported.
The three-day assembly session was cancelled by a joint committee of all leaders on Sunday night after about 60 people including officials, employees and five MLAs had tested positive for COVID-19.
Claiming to curb religious conversions using misrepresentation, allurement, force, threat, undue influence, coercion, marriage or any other “fraudulent means”, the MP Bill stipulates jail terms of one to five years, with a fine of Rs 25,000, in such cases. The penalty in case of a person using “misrepresentation” or “impersonation” for religious conversion will be higher, including a jail term of 3-10 years and a fine of Rs 50,000.
In contrast, the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020, passed last month, says religious conversion using any of the above means, including misrepresentation and impersonation, would entail a jail term of one to five years and a fine of Rs 15,000.
In a significant departure from the UP ordinance though on registration of FIRs in such cases, the MP Bill says these can be dealt with only by police personnel not less than the rank of a sub-inspector, and that solely parents and siblings of the affected individual can file a complaint directly. In case a guardian or a custodian wants to register an offence, they must approach a Sessions Court authorised to deal in these matters and get a court order.
The other big departure between the MP Bill and UP law is the provision for maintenance to women and rights to the property to children in the marriage under question in the legislation planned by the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government. The matter of maintenance will be dealt with as per Section 125 of the CrPC.
In both states, marriages proved to have been undertaken for the sole purpose of a religious conversion or conducted without appropriate notice to the district administration can be declared null and void by family courts.
Return to one’s original religion — as in the religion one is born into or that practiced by one’s father — will not be counted as a conversion.
While both UP law and MP Bill envisage a jail term of two to ten years in case a person being converted is a minor, or belongs to the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, the MP legislation talks of a penalty of Rs 50,000 against Rs 25,000 in UP.
Both the legislations talk of three to five years of prison terms for religious organisations or individuals seen as carrying out mass conversions, but again the penalty in MP is higher (Rs 1 lakh) than UP (Rs 50,000).
In both states, organisations or priests carrying out conversions have to inform the district administration about 60 days before the date of conversion, failing which the organisation can have its registration cancelled and the priest or facilitator face a jail term. But the MP Bill stipulates a higher penalty again (of Rs 50,000, and 3-5 years’ jail term) in such cases, compared to one year extended up to five years and Rs 25,000 in UP.
Several thousand people rallied Monday in Montenegro, accusing the young country’s new government of being pro-Serb because of its plans to amend a religious property law that is strongly opposed by the Serbian Orthodox Church.
Carrying Montenegrin flags and chanting “Treason,” protesters gathered outside the parliament building in Podgorica, the capital, where lawmakers plan to discuss the proposed changes.
The demonstration was the first major protest in the small Balkan country against the coalition government that came to power after the opposition won a slim majority over a long-ruling pro-Western party during an August parliamentary election.
The religious property law was an issue in the election. The Serbian Orthodox Church alleged the law was designed to strip the church of its property, which the previous government denied. The church led months of protests that helped strengthen the opposition ahead of the election.
Montenegro declared independence from a union with Serbia following a 2006 referendum. The country’s residents remain divided over relations with Belgrade. Some 30 per cent of Montenegrins identify themselves as Serbs, and the Serbian Orthodox Church enjoys the biggest following of any organised religion.
The previous government, led by the Democratic Party of Socialists, steered Montenegro away from the influence of Serbia and Russia. The Adriatic nation joined NATO in 2017 and is seeking European Union membership.
Participants at Monday’s demonstration blasted the new government’s plan to revoke parts of the religious law dealing with property. They accused the government of setting the stage for the “occupation” of Montenegro.
It was not immediately clear when the parliamentary vote on amending the law will take place.
Despite calls to adhere to measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the protesters crowded together, many without masks. Montenegro has reported 666 virus deaths in a nation of 620,000 people.
Montenegro’s parliament has approved changes to the law on religious rights and property, responding to demands from months of protests organised by the Serbian Orthodox Church — but sparking demonstrations from citizens opposing amendments in the process.
The country’s new, pro-Serb politicians approved the amendments with 41 votes in the 81-member assembly on Tuesday.
Pro-Western politicians, meanwhile, boycotted the session.
These changes relate to a bill strongly opposed by the Serbian church, which argued the law was designed to strip it of its property in Montenegro.
This claim was repeatedly denied by the previous government led by the long-ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS).
In August, a parliamentary vote saw the ousting of the DPS after months of church-led protests in favour of pro-Serb support, highlighting the ongoing contentious issue of national identity.
It can be compared to the thousands of people who rallied on Monday while chanting “Treason!” and “This is not Serbia!” against the proposed changes to the law.
Montenegro declared independence from Serbia after a referendum in 2006; however, personal ties paint a more complex picture.
Nearly a third of Montenegrins identify as Serbs, while the Serbian Orthodox Church is the country’s dominant organised religion.
Under the DPS, the country moved toward a increasingly pro-Western position by joining NATO in 2017 and making inquiries about joining the EU. This, therefore, moved Montenegro further away from influences of the likes of Serbia and Russia.
Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapic, who came into power at the beginning of the month, said the amendments would “set right the injustice” toward the Serbian church.
He wrote on Twitter: “This is a victory for the rule of law, but also for the people who defended that state on the street for a full 12 months.
“Tonight, the state was defended by the hands of that people in the Assembly.”
A protester carries a U.S. flag upside down, a sign of distress, next to a burning building Thursday, May 28, 2020, in Minneapolis. Protests over the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in police custody Monday, broke out in Minneapolis for a third straight night. (AP/Julio Cortez)
It’s no news that 2020 will go down as one of the worst years in recent memory. But the triple-whammy of pandemic, economic crisis and demonstrations for racial justice that left many Americans beleaguered and angry also yielded some inspiring and profound stories of faith and spiritual connection. Here are 11 stories by our staff and frequent contributors that captured moments of resilience and perseverance, and even a few moments of celebration.
Multiracial churches growing, but challenging for clergy of color By Adelle Banks
In 1998, 6% of congregations of all faiths in the U.S. could be described as multiracial; in 2019, according to preliminary findings, 16% met that definition. As multiracial and multiethnic congregations continue to sprout up at an impressive rate, the rapid growth can sometimes obscure the fact that life in a multiracial church isn’t always easy.
Conceived months before race became one of the biggest issues of the year, Adelle M. Banks’ January story was one of a five-part series, “Beyond the Most Segregated Hour,” assessing how attitudes about integrating American Christianity have progressed since Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 comment, “It is appalling that the most segregated hour of Christian America is 11 o’clock on Sunday.”
A mural honoring George Floyd and other Black victims in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Munshots/Unsplash/Creative Commons)
In Minneapolis, faith groups rush to aid demonstrators as they decry racism By Jack Jenkins
The protests started in earnest in Minneapolis following the death of George Floyd in May. His final moments were recorded in a widely shared video: Floyd, a Black man, is seen writhing under the knee of Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, begging the official to let him go while gasping, “I can’t breathe.”
When Christians won’t acknowledge racism, protest becomes church By Andre Henry
A dance circle blocking an intersection in Pasadena, California, during this summer’s George Floyd-inspired demonstrations becomes a model for ending racial violence: a place where non-Black people stand around the perimeter of the dancing crowd, disrupting the flow of traffic and acting as a barrier to police violence so the Black people in the center can experience, even briefly, joy.
This story, written by RNS columnist Andre Henry in June, captured young activist Christians’ sense that the evangelical church had failed to answer the moment when much of the country erupted in protest over racial injustice.
Henry’s story was just one of the surprising, inspiring ways people of faith responded to 2020’s reckoning with race, from Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Wiccans joining hands in Oregon to support protesters, to one North Carolina pastor’s determination to march against racialized policing. Read all our coverage here.
In emerging role, chaplains are providing spiritual care for activists in movements across the nation By Alejandra Molina
“Where do I find hope?” or “Why isn’t God doing something here?”
The moral certainty of many activists sometimes belies their despair when a man is executed despite their efforts or when police, instead of listening, defend against their pleas to spare Black lives. Movement chaplains provide spiritual and emotional care before, during and after a protest or demonstration, using sacred texts and physical consolation to create healing in tough and often disappointing fights.
This July story was one of several we ran tracking the particular strains that 2020’s crises put on chaplains, from the Buddhist hospital chaplains who found themselves suddenly in greater demand, to those chaplains of every faith who counseled COVID-19 patients through existential crises as much as spiritual or medical ones, and most recently to those who were ambivalent about being among the first to receive a vaccine.
In this June 27, 2019, file photo, then-Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., listens to questions after the Democratic primary debate hosted by NBC News at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Art in Miami. (AP File/Brynn Anderson)
How Kamala Harris delivers on 150 years of Black women’s political history By Cheryl Townsend Gilkes
Few, if any, vice presidents have had as much exposure to the world’s religions as Kamala Harris, the 55-year-old senator from California who became the first vice-presidential nominee of a major party in August. Townsend Gilkes, a professor at Colby College, wrote then that Harris’ ethnic, racial and cultural biography represents a slice of the U.S. population that is becoming ascendant but has never been represented in the nation’s second-highest office.
Frequent RNS contributor, Cheryl Townsend Gilkes, argues that, like the biblical Queen Esther, Harris seems to be specially shaped for “such a time as this”: during a reanimation of the Black Lives Matter movement and just as the deaths of two civil rights icons, Congressman John Lewis and the Rev. C.T. Vivian, reminded us voting rights are still a crucial issue.
Harris belongs to a long lineage of Black women who have been loyal to the politics of liberation, participation, emancipation and uplift, knowing that raising themselves up would benefit entire communities and the country as a whole.
QAnon: The alternative religion that’s coming to your church By Katelyn Beaty
In the fraught political atmosphere of 2020, Katelyn Beaty wrote in August, evangelical Christian pastors are worried their congregations are falling prey to QAnon, an internet phenomenon that promotes a tangle of conspiracy theories. With its dehumanizing language that equates certain people with evil, QAnon is exhibiting a power to divide people and spread hate. It’s also hurting Christian witness by challenging confidence in our institutions and even in the authority of the Bible.
Beaty’s essay was one of several warnings about QAnon that appeared in our opinion pages this year. “Religion Remixed” columnist Tara Isabella Burton’s inquiry into why QAnon has taken hold in our secularizing age concluded that often white supremacist followers “yearn for a world in which everything makes sense and where they at last have a role to play.”
‘Kayak Church’ gathers Pennsylvania church in person — and on the water — amid pandemic By Emily McFarlan Miller
Necessity, they say, is the mother of invention, and the pandemic necessitated a lot of innovation in houses of worship this year. From Zoom Christmas pageants and Eid Bazaars, to shofar pop-ups, to a Muslim virtual “matchmaking” project, religious groups and leaders scrambled to adapt for coronavirus restrictions. There were bloopers, of course (who can forget the priest with the googly eyes), and church software companies had to field an “unending stream” of questions from tech-challenged clergy.
But, as the pandemic wore on and the weather warmed up, some religious groups pivoted from technology and headed outside to worship, like Faith United Church of Christ in Pennsylvania, where more than two dozen people joined a brightly colored flotilla of kayaks one Sunday in August.
Annette Hestres holds her hands up in prayer during the kayak church service at Bald Eagle State Park, Pa., on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2020. State College Faith United Church of Christ hosted the floating service which allowed for the members to socially distance. (RNS/Abby Drey)
Pope Francis’ new encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, enshrines familiar criticisms of racism and borders By Claire Giangravé
In a year of global pandemic, social unrest and widespread armed conflict, Pope Francis released his third encyclical in October, mapping out the moral guidelines for “an open world” that places human dignity at the forefront, ahead of national borders, private property and racism.
The encyclical, titled Fratelli Tutti, tackles the challenges faced by today’s globalized society, from racism to immigration to inter-religious dialogue.
‘Reluctant cultist’ survives an end times cult turned pet rescue group to find his own faith By Bob Smietana
Even in a year dubbed by many as “unprecedented,” there were some religion stories that stood out — like that of Jared Garrett, a father of seven and volunteer pastor, or bishop, of a local congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
But Garrett didn’t grow up in the LDS church. He was raised in a small nomadic apocalyptic sect founded by ex-Scientologists turned Satanists turned animal rescuers. Garrett recounts his childhood inside the cult, where kids were separated from their parents and the nuclear family was deemed obsolete, and his journey to a very different kind of faith.
Across America, Muslims are becoming a fixture on the disaster relief landscape
This November story caught up with Muslim volunteers helping to clean up and restore communities recovering from natural disasters. Over the past 15 years, as white Christian aid groups have seen a decline in participation and donations, Muslim philanthropies have provided needed cash and muscle to fill the gap. Muslim aid workers’ relative youth — and their faith’s mandate to help — has made them a growing force in disaster and emergency relief projects in the U.S., from hurricane cleanup to helping out after the West Coast wildfires.
Khan’s story was part of a series on the changing field of faith-based aid and development organizations, produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center. Other stories in the series covered the aging but faithful workers of the Southern Baptist Convention’s national relief network; a mobile clinic in East Tennessee run by Catholic nuns; and one international aid NGO’s efforts to rally Millennials to support its future.
Black pastor leads his white North Carolina church toward a fuller reckoning on race By Yonat Shimron
In a quietly absorbing story, RNS veteran reporter Shimron took a look at how race and faith operate apart from the upheaval of demonstrations and mutual recrimination. For years, even as racial justice and reparations for slavery have occupied U.S. Christian denominations, a Black United Methodist pastor in one of the most conservative cities in North Carolina has gingerly approached racial issues without alienating his flock.
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… to a controversial law on religion that had been sharply criticized … the Law on Freedom of Religion in a vote early on … them.
Under Montenegro’s religion law adopted a year ago …
Speaker Pema Jungney on behalf of Tibetans in and outside Tibet and the 16th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, expressed his deepest gratitude to US President Donald J.Trump for signing the “Tibet Policy and Support Act 2020” (TPSA2020).
Expressing his gratitude to the US President, the Speaker wrote, “This ACT officially endorses that recognition of the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama is the sole authority of the great XIV Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Buddhist leaders and the Tibetan people with no interference from the Chinese Government (People’s Republic of China). This ACT also recognizes the importance of the Tibetan Plateau and the threat that climate change poses on Tibet, the US will address and closely monitor Tibet’s environment including water security and climate change. The ACT also commends His Holiness the great XIVth Dalai Lama for his great vision as a leader and for implementing a Democratic system of governance and for Tibetan people adopting it.”
“Furthermore, the ACT also forbids China from opening a new consulate in the USA until China allows a US Consulate in Lhasa, the Capital of Tibet. According to the Act, the US business companies and individuals must ensure their business activities in Tibet follow the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. We are also thankful to Your Excellency for the inclusion of formalizing the funding for Tibetans inside and outside Tibet and also for the appropriations.”
“The People’s Republic of China – the government has fooled the world by different means. Most recently it has fooled the world about the deadly Coronavirus Covid – 19 which originated from the city of Wuhan in China. Due to their hiding the truth, the deadly virus spread across the world and killed millions of people and caused immeasurable damage for which China should be held accountable and punished accordingly. Your Excellency, we commend your courage in encountering China for their ruthless suffering caused to the people of the world and holding them accountable.”
“This is a historic moment for Tibetans, particularly our brothers and sisters inside Tibet and all the oppressed people in the world to rejoice and celebrate as it clearly shows that the US stands with the voiceless and oppressed people. Signing this bill into a Law (ACT) brought great hope and joy for the Tibetans particularly our brothers and sisters who are still suffering under the brutal oppressive policies of China and it not only sends out a clear message to China that the US prioritizes principle human values above everything but it also pressurizes China from refraining their false propaganda tactics relating to Tibet’s issues to the world. This bill has acknowledged that China which has been tagged as the world’s most blatant human rights violator – has taken every measure to oust Tibet from the rest of the world by restricting foreigners, particularly the journalists from reporting on its inhuman acts, illegal killings, brutal repression, persecution and arbitrary arrest to the world is a country to be sidelined for its cruel strategies towards Tibet.”
“The United States of America has been among the pioneer countries in helping Tibetans to protect its unique culture and identity by welcoming HH the Dalai Lama since 1979 followed by the adoption of the US Tibetan Resettlement Project in the 1990s, the Tibet Policy Act of 2002, the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act and the most recent TPSA2020.”
President Trump is not expected to take a Bush-like view on the TSPA, which introduces stronger provisions on Tibet, plus teeth in the form of a threat of sanctions, including travel bans on Chinese officials. How the Biden Administration, expected to frame its own China policy, views TPSA remains to be seen.
Still, most US administrations, the Trump Administration included, have broadly maintained a diplomatic balance between relations with China, and support for Tibet and the Dalai Lama. The State Department has a separate section on Tibet in its annual reports on human rights and religious freedom. But there has been no real push for talks with the Dalai Lama or on the release of political prisoners.
“Over the years, the Presidents of the United States of America have consistently supported the Tibet cause and we are immensely grateful for your indefatigable support in taking strong measures against China, a government that is economically the most powerful yet having the record of worst human rights violations.”
“We the people of Tibet are very thankful to your Excellency and urge your Excellency to continue your support till Tibet regains its freedom.”
The TPSA has introduced provisions aimed at protecting the environment of the Tibetan plateau, calling for greater international cooperation and greater involvement by Tibetans. Alleging that China is diverting water resources from Tibet, the TPSA also calls for “a regional framework on water security, or use existing frameworks… to facilitate cooperative agreements among all riparian nations that would promote… arrangements on impounding and diversion of waters that originate on the Tibetan Plateau”. While the 2002 Act said the US should establish a “branch office” in Lhasa, the TSPA ups the ante by changing that to a “consulate”. It recognises the Central Tibetan Administration, whose President Lobsang Sangay takes credit for ensuring that the Senate took up the legislation for vote.
The Madhya Pradesh government Tuesday approved the Freedom to Religion Bill 2020 as an ordinance in a special cabinet session, after which it was sent to the Governor for her nod.
The state government has taken the ordinance route much like the Uttar Pradesh government to clear its stringent law prohibiting forced religious conversion under its Freedom to Religion Bill 2020. This comes after the three-day session of the assembly was cancelled owing to high cases of COVID-19 being reported.
The three-day assembly session was cancelled by a joint committee of all leaders on Sunday night after about 60 people including officials, employees and five MLAs had tested positive for COVID-19.
Claiming to curb religious conversions using misrepresentation, allurement, force, threat, undue influence, coercion, marriage or any other “fraudulent means”, the MP Bill stipulates jail terms of one to five years, with a fine of Rs 25,000, in such cases. The penalty in case of a person using “misrepresentation” or “impersonation” for religious conversion will be higher, including a jail term of 3-10 years and a fine of Rs 50,000.
In contrast, the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020, passed last month, says religious conversion using any of the above means, including misrepresentation and impersonation, would entail a jail term of one to five years and a fine of Rs 15,000.
In a significant departure from the UP ordinance though on registration of FIRs in such cases, the MP Bill says these can be dealt with only by police personnel not less than the rank of a sub-inspector, and that solely parents and siblings of the affected individual can file a complaint directly. In case a guardian or a custodian wants to register an offence, they must approach a Sessions Court authorised to deal in these matters and get a court order.
The other big departure between the MP Bill and UP law is the provision for maintenance to women and rights to the property to children in the marriage under question in the legislation planned by the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government. The matter of maintenance will be dealt with as per Section 125 of the CrPC.
In both states, marriages proved to have been undertaken for the sole purpose of a religious conversion or conducted without appropriate notice to the district administration can be declared null and void by family courts.
Return to one’s original religion — as in the religion one is born into or that practiced by one’s father — will not be counted as a conversion.
While both UP law and MP Bill envisage a jail term of two to ten years in case a person being converted is a minor, or belongs to the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, the MP legislation talks of a penalty of Rs 50,000 against Rs 25,000 in UP.
Both the legislations talk of three to five years of prison terms for religious organisations or individuals seen as carrying out mass conversions, but again the penalty in MP is higher (Rs 1 lakh) than UP (Rs 50,000).
In both states, organisations or priests carrying out conversions have to inform the district administration about 60 days before the date of conversion, failing which the organisation can have its registration cancelled and the priest or facilitator face a jail term. But the MP Bill stipulates a higher penalty again (of Rs 50,000, and 3-5 years’ jail term) in such cases, compared to one year extended up to five years and Rs 25,000 in UP.
… amend a controversial law on religion.
Protesters chanted “Treason” and “This … .
Under Montenegro’s new religion law, adopted in January, religious …
Ten Adivasi organisations met here on Monday and submitted a memorandum to the state government demanding that it ask the Centre to recognise “Sarna” as an Adivasi religion and include a separate religious code for it in the 2021 census. The demand was unanimously backed by the Santhal, Munda, Oraon, Ho, Bhumu, Bedia, Savar, Kharia, and Mahali communities.
Last month, the Jharkhand government convened a special Assembly session and passed a resolution to send the Centre a letter recommending it to recognise the Sarna religion and include a separate code for it in the next census.
International Santhal council president Naresh Kumar Murmu said, “We met minister Purnendu Basu and submitted a memorandum to him and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. We want the government of West Bengal to take a similar step like the one taken by the Jharkhand government.”
Murmu said a “Sarna Dharma Mahasammelan” would be held at the Netaji Indoor Stadium here on January 3 on the birth anniversary of Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda, an Adivasi leader who was a member of the Constituent Assembly.
Murmu added, “The population of the followers of Sarna is more than the Jain religion and ‘Hital’ is our religious text, which was written by our spiritual guru and inventor of Ol Chiki script Guru Gomke Pandit Raghunath Murmu. Adivasis have no caste system, do not believe in idol worship. Adivasis believe in nature worship.”
Government accused of being pro-Serb over its plans to amend religious property law opposed by Serbian Orthodox Church.
Thousands have protested in Montenegro’s capital Podgorica against the new government’s efforts to change a controversial religion law that has stoked tensions over the country’s complex relationship with Serbia.
Chanting “This is not Serbia” and “Treason”, the crowd on Monday defied pandemic-related bans on gatherings to rally outside Parliament after the government proposed edits to the legislation that has divided the public for the past year.
The demonstration is the first major protest in the small Balkan country against the new government that came to power after winning a slim majority over a long-ruling pro-Western party at a parliamentary election in August.
Passed in late 2019, the law laid out a process that could see hundreds of monasteries run by the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) turned into Montenegrin state property.
But the new government, which is pro-Serb and closely aligned with the Church, is now proposing rewrites to ensure the properties stay in the hands of the SPC, based in Belgrade.
The protesters accused the government, which took power earlier this month, of trying to “erase the Montenegrin state and national identity”.
It was not immediately clear when the parliamentary vote on the religious law changes will take place.
While Montenegro declared independence from Serbia 14 years ago, their histories and cultures are deeply intertwined.
Around a third of the population of 620,000 identify as Serb while the SPC is still the main religious institution in the country.
Montenegro’s President Milo Djukanovic, whose party passed the original law, has been eager to curb the SPC’s clout in Montenegro and build up an independent Orthodox church.
But in August elections, his Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) lost – for the first time in three decades – to an opposition bloc led by SPC allies.
The DPS steered Montenegro away from Serbia’s and Russia’s influence. The Adriatic nation joined NATO in 2017 and is seeking the European Union’s membership.
AMRITSAR: Sikhs of Austria will now be able to use Singh and Kaur after their forename, mention Sikhism as their religion, and register themselves as Sikhs after the Sikh religion was officially registered by the Austrian government. While talking to TOI over the phone from Vienna on Monday, Jatinder Singh Bajwa, secretary Gurdwara Guru Nanak Dev Ji Parkash, 22nd District, Vienna, said now the Sikhs and their children would be able to use Singh and Kaur after their forenames which they earlier used to write in the ‘extra name’ column. About the process of registration of Sikhism in Austria, he informed that there were seven gurdwara’s in Austria out of which three were in Vienna with one gurdwara each in Klagenfurt, Linz, Graz and Salzburg. The gurdwara management committees of Austria then constituted a nine-member-committee of Sikh youth on November 1, 2019 who was entrusted with the task of pursing the registration process of the Sikh religion with the Austrian government. Jatinder, the only professional Sikh chef in Vienna, informed that the committee prepared a ‘constitution’ on Sikh religion and their practices incorporating the values of Sikhism, Sikh guru’s, Akal Takht’s rehat maryada (religious code of Sikh living), significance of Sikh religious symbols, the value of 5 K’s in the life of a Sikh, their distinct identity, Sikh’s turban, etc. which was submitted with the Austrian government. “On December 17 we received a letter informing about the registration of Sikhism in Austria and on December 23rd we held a thanksgiving prayer in the gurdwara” he said. Reacting to the development, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee president Bibi Jagir Kaur said that “this is an important achievement attained with the efforts of sangat in Austria.” “Now that Sikhism is registered in Austria, it will help in dispelling the myths of Sikh identity abroad,” said Kaur
(Photo: The Press Service of the President of the Republic of Belarus)Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and Metropolitan of Minsk and Mogilev, Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz visit the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 1 April 2013 in times of better relations. When they met Lukashenko said the Roman Catholic Church is very important in Belarus and its influence in the society is large.
Belarusian authorities allowed the Catholic archbishop of Minsk to return home for Christmas after lifting a four-month ban on him entering the country during the ongoing protesting against government actions.
Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz of Minsk-Mohilev was denied entry to Belarus on Aug. 31 while returning from a trip to neighboring Poland.
He shed tears on his return, calling for unity, reconciliation, and forgiveness during his country’s continuing political upheaval, Cruxnow reported.
“The Apostolic Nunciature express its gratitude to the State Authorities of Belarus for responding positively to Pope Francis’ request to return Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz to celebrate the Nativity of the Lord with the faithful of which he is pastor,” the Vatican’s diplomatic representative in Belarus said Dec. 22.
The Belarus authorities had invalided the 74-year-old Kondrusiewicz’s passport, and border guards had blocked him from returning to Belarus from Poland.
DEFENDED PROTESTS
The archbishop had spoken in defense of protests following a disputed presidential election, and protestors have called for new elections.
Since then, the country’s opposition leaders have been forced into exile. Thousands have taken to the streets in persistent demonstrations in which protestors, including Catholic clergy and laypeople, have been beaten and jailed.
At one point, police barricaded the doors of the church of Saints Simon and Helena in Minsk and, hours later, arrested demonstrators who took refuge inside as they left the structure, Crux reported.
Widespread protests have beset Belarus following the disputed Aug. 9 presidential poll in which the incumbent Alexander Lukashenko was declared to have won with 80% of the vote.
Electoral officials said that the opposition candidate, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, earned 10% of the vote. The opposition claims that she gained at least 60% of votes, Catholic News Agency reported.
Lukashenko has been president of Belarus since the position was created in 1994.
He has suggested Archbishop Kondrusiewicz, who also is also believed to have Polish ancestry, might be a citizen of more than one country.
An envoy from the Vatican had met Lukashenka earlier in December in the capital Minsk before the entry ban was lifted.
Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, the apostolic nuncio to the United Kingdom, acted as a special envoy of Pope Francis to Lukashenko, delivering a letter on Dec. 17.
It had a request regarding Archbishop Kondrusiewicz.
Archbishop Gugerotti was an apostolic nuncio to Belarus from 2011 to 2015
Kondrusiewicz noted that while he has spent the bulk of his time as an archbishop abroad, he always held Belarus close to heart, “because this is my Motherland,” Crux reported..
“When I crossed the border, I knelt down and prayed, I kissed this land,” Kondrusiewicz said Dec, 24, noting that “the motherland cannot be thrown out of the heart,” said Radio Free Europe.
“This is my land. I grew up here; I want to be here. I want to serve here. And I have never opposed Belarus, I have always defended the interests of Belarus, and I will continue to do so,” the Catholic leader said.
Catholicism is the second-largest religious tradition in Belarus, after Eastern Orthodoxy.
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