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KANNUR, India (UCAN) — A woman who converted from Hinduism to Catholicism 10 years ago evangelizes by selling lottery tickets.
Devi Kokkatta, 62, speaks about Jesus to people she meets while selling the tickets. Her “mission station” is the Kannur bus station and nearby areas, says Sister Merlin Mary, who has closely observed Kokkatta’s “evangelization.”
Kannur is [...]
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Vern Barnet ("McClatchy Newspapers," January 15, 2010)
Kansas City, USA – The science fiction movie "Avatar" borrows themes from many religions.
More importantly, it poses a great question of faith.
Of the many borrowed themes, here are two.
The word "avatar" comes from Hinduism and literally means "a descent." An avatar is a god descending into a human form as a partial manifestation of the divine.
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Hundreds of tribal Christians and adherents of aboriginal religion from villages in Maharashtra state were reportedly “reconverted” to Hinduism Monday in the Mumbai suburb of Thane at a ceremony led by a Hindu nationalist cleric.
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Since his conversion from Hinduism six years ago, Indian pastor Vanamali Parishudham has suffered opposition for his faith in Christ from other Hindus and even his parents. Most recently, Pastor Parishudham was physically attacked on his way to his home in Narketpalli, Andhra Pradesh, reports MNN.
On his five-kilometer walk home from a Sunday service, three Hindu extremists came up behind Parishudham and struck him hard on the head with what are being called sharp-edged metal rods. According… >>
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India (MNN) — An Indian pastor in Andhra Pradesh has suffered greatly for his faith since his conversion from Hinduism six years ago. On a recent trip home from a Sunday service, he was attacked from behind by Hindu extremists with sharp metal rods. International Christian Concern says the pastor has suffered blood loss but is recovering with six stitches in his head. Pray that the pastor would press on despite the attack. Pray also for the hearts of his attackers to soften and turn to Christ.
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Often in India fighting erupts between Hindus and Muslims. In Mumbai, celebrations are in full swing for Islam’s Ramadan and Hinduism’s Ganesh Chaturthi. This year both holidays started on August 23, prompting this joint celebration. During the festival Muslims sang hymns and offered prayers to the Hindu elephant-headed god Lord Ganesha, while Hindus feasted at [...]
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It was very interesting to hear that most of the people I talked to had strong negative feelings to-wards Christians sharing their faith. The negativity was only directed to-wards Christians, Mormons, and Jehovah’s Witnesses. People were surprisingly open to hearing about the belief and faiths of Islam, BaHa’i, Scientology, Hinduism, and Paganism.
What was more interesting to me, however, was the fact and 35 of the 40 people thought that the idea of atheist evangelism was a very interesting thought and would be open to letting one of these people sit down with them in a public place and share their beliefs. In fact, although most people said that Christians make them angry when they ‘preach’ and try to make converts in public, yet the same people said that the very same actions, coming from atheists would be ‘interesting’ and ‘welcomed’.
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They are now being targeted by militant Hindu organizations that blame the church for the abolition of Hinduism as the state religion and the end of monarchy.
A little-known, shadowy organization that claimed to be building an army of suicide bombers has achieved notoriety with two brutal attacks on Catholics in two years.
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They are now being targeted by militant Hindu organizations that blame the church for the abolition of Hinduism as the state religion and the end of monarchy.
A little-known, shadowy organization that claimed to be building an army of suicide bombers has achieved notoriety with two brutal attacks on Catholics in two years.
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Religion scholar stresses events over emotions
Boston Globe Throughout his life, Smith remained a Christian, although he eventually embraced and serially practiced Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam, each for a decade … |
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Nepal (MNN) — In Nepal, many are celebrating the first Republic Day since the monarchy was abolished last year. However, religious freedom in the new democracy is far off for the 400 Christians who suffered a bomb explosion in their church last week. According to Voice of the
Martyrs Canada, two were killed. Later, a pamphlet was found in the church from the National Defense Army–a terrorist group who wants Hinduism restored as the state religion. Pray that the new leaders will protect Christians.
Read the Full Article at News2
Hindu extremists may have burned a 10-year-old Christian girl’s face, inflicted shrapnel wounds on 40 percent of her body and forced her family to hide in a forest and flee to a refugee camp in Orissa, India, but her plight hasn’t shaken her faith and thankfulness to God this season. –
WND reports “Christmas is a time to thank the baby Jesus who saved me from the
fire and saved my face which was disfigured and wounded,” Namrata Nayak
told Asia News.
Nayak’s face was severely mutilated after Hindu extremists
bombed the home where she was staying on Aug. 26. They broke into the
house and burned it while Nayak and her siblings hid in a small
bathroom. Before exiting the home, they left a bomb in a dresser,
according to the report.
While the little girl surveyed the destruction, the bomb detonated and burned her face.
The explosion also lodged shrapnel into her face, hands and back.
Nayak’s mother, Sudhamani, came running out of the forest where she was hiding.
Read the Full Article at News2
It may have become traditional for angels, three wise men and the baby Jesus to play a starring role in the festive season. But now Hindu snowmen, a Chinese dragon and a Jewish temple are also to be included in an attempt to make the celebrations more inclusive of Britain’s diverse communities. –
The Telegraph reports “Christmas is an opportunity for everyone to stop and think
and is a great opportunity for the different faiths to talk to one
another.
“Wherever you’re coming from there should be something to celebrate at Christmas.”
She
pointed out that for Muslims they can appreciate the story of Christ’s
birth because it is included in the Koran, adding that the Hindu
snowmen were not an attempt to dumb down.
“Strictly speaking, the
message of Christmas is about the birth of Christ, but it has a much
broader message of peace and goodwill.”
Read the Full Article at News2
Victims of anti-Christian violence in Orissa’s Kandhamal district are being forced to return to their villages by the state administration, a local Christian body claimed. –
Christian Today reports Kandhamal Christian Jankalyan Samaj (KCJS) alleged at a media
conference that the administration has been forcing people to leave the
relief camps even when little has been done to assist the
reconstruction or repairing of their homes.
They lamented that people still feel “insecure” in their villages, even three months after violence erupted on August 23.
Moreover, continual threats from Hindu fundamentalists demanding
“re-conversions to Hinduism” have frightened Christians, who are
unwilling to return, they say.
Read the Full Article at News2
Church people have condemned the “heinous” terrorist attacks in Mumbai that have killed at least 100 people and wounded about 500 others, according to reports on Nov. 27 afternoon. –
UCAN reports Teams of terrorists armed with assault rifles and grenades attacked 11
locations in the city, India’s commercial capital, 1,410 kilometers
southwest of New Delhi. Most of the sites targeted were in the main
tourist and business district, including the city’s main commuter train
station, a hospital and two luxury hotels, where gunmen held dozens of
hostages. The attacks began around 9:30 p.m. local time on Nov. 26.
Several Indian news agencies have reported receiving e-mails claiming
responsibility for the Mumbai attacks from a group calling itself
Deccan Mujahideen.
news.com.au reports MORE than 100 Christians have been killed in
weeks of violence in eastern India and 10,000 remain in government
camps a month after the unrest ended, a Christian advocacy group says.
The coastal state of Orissa was
hit by attacks against Christians between late August and October in a
backlash to the murder of a revered Hindu holy man.
“Names, locations, and more details are available for 91 (of the
dead). The remaining 27 are confirmed by reliable sources but bodies
haven’t been identified,” the All India Christian Council said in a statement on Tuesday.
Christian Newswire reports A Gospel for Asia native missionary serving as a pastor in the Indian
state of Madhya Pradesh has escaped after being beaten and abducted on
Monday. GFA leaders in the state report that Pastor N. Chauhan
was questioned in a marketplace by anti-Christian extremists who then
dragged him to a secluded house. The mob beat him severely, saying they
were waiting for their leader to arrive the next day and “decide what
to do with him.”
Read the Full Article at News2
Hindu extremist groups are offering money, food and alcohol to anyone who murders Christians and destroys their homes. –
WND reports Rahman, a head of several orphanages in Orissa State, said he’s helped 25 pastors to leave refugee camps, but 250 Christian leaders are still in shelters.
“All of the pastors are high value targets,” Rahman told the
UK-based Release International. “We’ve got to get them out of the
refugee camps.”
An All-India Christian Council spokesman said, “People are being
offered rewards to kill, and to destroy churches and Christian
properties. They are being offered foreign liquor, chicken, mutton and
weapons. They are given petrol and kerosene.”
The London Times reports Orissa has suffered a series of murders and arson attacks in recent months,
with at least 67 Christians killed, according to the Roman Catholic Church.
Several thousand homes have been razed and hundreds of places of worship
destroyed, and crops are now wasting in the fields.
In recent weeks the violence has subsided but at least 11,000 Christian
refugees remain in camps in Kandhamal, the district worst affected. “They
are too scared to go home. They know that if they return to their villages
they will be forced to convert to Hinduism,” Father Manoj, who is based at
the Archbishop’s office in Bhubaneshwar, the state capital, said.
MNN reports Rahman agrees with the AICC's report. According to his information, the
going price to kill a pastor is U.S.
$2,500, and the price to kill a resistant Christian lay leader is U.S.
$1000. The refugees have also been told not to come back unless they
become
Hindus.
The new reports are alarming. Dave
Stravers is with Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Mission India. While he couldn't
directly confirm the bounty, he says, "It is entirely in keeping with our
observations on the ground. Every town,
village and city has posters that immortalize the swami who was killed, who had
urged the extinction of Christians. On every poster it says, 'Stop
conversions.'"
Read the Full Article at News2
The air is still thick with tragedy in Orissa state. Someone just told me the story of a Christian widow he chanced upon in the state capital, Bhubaneswar, who chokingly related the story of her husband’s death. –
David Griffiths at the Guardian comments She said that he fled from an angry mob that came to his house in the night of August 28, but he was caught and told that he and his brothers and all their families must convert to Hinduism or he would be killed. He resisted the pressure, so they tied him to a tree, took kerosene from his brother’s house, poured it over him and set him on fire. He escaped when the plastic ropes holding him melted, but had suffered serious burns. He died the next day. Traumatised, his widow left the body in the house, which began decomposing and attracted dogs. After three days, he was buried, although the body was exhumed by investigating police the next day. Their house was destroyed by one of the mobs systematically attacking Christian targets, and its contents looted. The widow and her four children now live in a relief camp, wondering what their future could possibly hold.
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About 60 people are feared dead and over 100 injured in at least 11 serial bomb blasts that rocked Guwahati, the capital, and other districts of the northeastern state of Assam at around 11.30 am local time.
–
Religious Intelligence [UK] reports According to media reports, the blasts could possible be linked to growing communal tensions in Assam in the recent past. Given that the state shares a porous border with neighbouring country Bangladesh, many people from that country, mostly Muslims, are believed to have infiltrated into Assam leading to hatred among the people of the state, mainly Hindus, due to the demographic changes in the region. Political parties, including the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, have allegedly misused the hatred for dividing voters along religious lines. And the blasts could be an attempt by some Islamist groups to retaliate atrocities mete out to Muslim migrants.
AP reports According to Assam Police intelligence chief Khagen Sharma: “Prima facie, it appears to be a combined attack carried out at the behest of some jihadi forces with the help of local outfits.”
Some officials of the Assam government, which imposed curfew in Guwahati, also pointed the needle of suspicion towards the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), Assam’s deadly rebel group and the usual suspects in such violence.
But the outlawed group denied the charge. “We are in no way involved in the blasts,” an ULFA statement said.
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Hindu extremists beat Fr. Bernard Digal unconscious, leaving him bleeding in forest.
–
Compass Direct News reports More than 3,000 people today attended the funeral in Bhubaneswar, Orissa of a Catholic priest who died on Tuesday (Oct. 28) from injuries sustained in anti-Christian violence that began in August.
Father Bernard Digal died in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, after an operation to remove a blood clot that developed in his brain due to a head injury from Hindu extremists attacking him on Aug. 25-26 in Kandhamal district, Orissa state. He was 46.
UCAN reports Father Manoj Nayak described Father Digal, who was attacked on Aug. 26, as “one of the pillars” of the Church in Orissa. He and other priests in the archdiocese find it hard to believe that Father Digal, a good friend and loving brother to all, is dead, Father Nayak said.
Moreover, he called Father Digal a martyr for his faith. “I am sure his blood will help the Orissa Church to overcome the current trials.”
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Indonesia’s Parliament passed a controversial anti-pornography bill Thursday that some Islamic political parties said was needed to reverse signs of social decay in the world’s most populous Muslim nation. –
GMANews.tv reports More than 100 lawmakers stormed out ahead of the vote saying the bill —
which in the final version removed contentious clauses regulating
dress, artistic expression and behavior — went against the country’s
tradition of diversity.
They said it could be misused against minority Christian and Hindu
communities, with Muslim hard-liners, for instance, using it to justify
attacks on women wearing “inappropriate” clothing or TV stations
running “racy” ads.