Showing posts with label NEWS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NEWS. Show all posts

Thursday 26 November 2020

Should Diaspora Jews Have a Say in Israel’s Internal Affairs?

The divide between Jews in Israel and abroad has widened. A new Knesset bill could bridge the gap

This is going to be a two-part series, the second installment of which will ask the question “Should Christians Have a Say in Israel’s Internal Affairs?” But it is instructive for our readers to first understand some of the sensitive issues in the relationship between Israel and Jews living in the Diaspora.

Although this is not a new question concerning Israel-Diaspora relations, it has become once again relevant due to a new bill to be proposed in the Knesset. The legislation is being endorsed by Minister of Diaspora Affairs Omer Yankelevitch and sponsored by MK Tehila Friedman, both members of the “Blue and White” party.

The proposed law offers to establish a mechanism making it mandatory for Israeli lawmakers to consult Jewish leaders around the world when making decisions on issues that could affect Diaspora Jewry. While the bill lacks any specifics as to what would constitute the kind of issue that would require consulting world Jewry, its proposal is a significant step toward bridging an ever-widening gap between Israeli Jews and Jews living outside the Jewish State.

Prior to Israel’s independence in 1948, the Zionist movement had always catered and reached out to Jewish communities around the world for support. Diaspora support came in many forms, including financial donations and political lobbying in their local governments. Diaspora Jewish support for the establishment of Israel was so significant during the War of Independence that Golda Meir said herself that Diaspora funding was crucial for the newborn country’s success.

Interestingly, Israel’s Diaspora engagement policies have become a model for other countries around the world interested in courting their own diaspora communities abroad. For example, when Croatia was striving for international recognition in the early 1990s, it established a diaspora lobbying model based on Jewish pro-Israel organizations in the United States. Since gaining statehood, Croatia has also allowed for non-citizen Croats abroad to vote as well as hold seats in its national parliament. Israel is not alone in dealing with the question of diaspora influence in internal affairs.


How much influence should diaspora Jews be given in Israel’s internal affairs?

First, obvious limitations should be noted. It seems absurd that non-citizens, even if they are Jewish, should have any kind of decision-making authority on matters of security, the economy, and any local issue that does not concern the diaspora community. Only Israeli citizens should have the right to determine processes that affect their daily lives and well-being.

In addition, there is a potential domestic threat in allowing for Jews abroad to influence internal affairs. Since Israel’s inception, ethnic tension has prevailed between Jewish and Arab groups in the country. For many Israeli Arab communities living as a minority population in a self-identified Jewish state, citizenship and civil rights are sensitive issues. National belonging is not a given.

Although rare today, Arab citizens of Israel have participated in some of the country’s most deadly terror attacks. Non-citizen Jews having too much say in Israel’s internal affairs is likely to arouse those tensions which have been quite dormant in recent years, due to understandings that an ethnic group abroad is being favored over actual tax-paying citizens of the country.

At the same time, Israel’s entire existence is predicated on its role as the official nation-state of the Jewish people. Thus, if Israel is to remain a country that claims to represent and serve world Jewry, then its leaders must at the very least allow them to voice their concerns and opinions in an official way.

Israel does make decisions on Jewish issues that potentially affect diaspora communities abroad, such as conversion, definitions of who is a Jew, the Kotel (Western Wall), and Aliyah (Jewish immigration to Israel). For instance, any changes to the Law of Return, which gives the right of Jews around the world to live in Israel, certainly should be made only after consulting Jewish leaders. Although Israel should always retain the exclusive right to decide who is able to cross its borders, Aliyah is based on the right of any Jew to automatically become a citizen of his or her homeland, Israel. Therefore, changing this status in any way has a significant effect on Jews living abroad.

Opening up an official channel for direct discourse and consultation between Israeli and Diaspora Jewish leaders is also beneficial for building understanding and respect in a highly damaged relationship. In recent years, the divide between Jews in Israel and abroad has widened. Young people are on average far less engaged than their parents and grandparents in supporting Israel and an influx of anti-Zionist Jewish organizations such as ‘If Not Now” and “Jewish Voice for Peace” are appearing.

While there are several causes to the increasing divide, a central one is due to prevalent Diaspora perceptions that Israel is only interested in hearing what they have to say when their checkbook is open. The proposed bill has the potential to bridge this gap and restore a strong Jewish attachment to Israel.

Thus, a delicate balance must be preserved between containing local ethnic tensions and bridging the divide between Israeli and Diaspora Jews in order to increase Jewish engagement of Israel. Granting diaspora communities authority in determining substantive local issues such as security and the economy can tilt that balance in a dangerous direction in which a minority already struggling with belonging to the country (Israeli Arabs) may perceive that a non-citizen ethnic group abroad is being prioritized over them. However, Israel can consult Jewish leaders abroad on Jewish-related issues that may directly impact their communities. This both preserves the peace at home and is likely to encourage reconciliation between an increasingly divided Jewish people.

Saturday 31 October 2020

‘All Souls to the Polls’ engages churches to make voting fun and accessible

All Souls to the Polls


Contentious, high-stakes elections are nothing new to Darryl Warren Aaron or his members at Providence Baptist Church in Greensboro, N.C.

But there is a different feel surrounding the 2020 general election, said the pastor of the city’s oldest Black congregation. “It takes me back to when (President Barack) Obama ran the first time. There’s an energy. There’s a drive. It feels existential, as if people are recognizing that there’s power in the vote.”

In an effort to share that passion, Providence Baptist and other congregations in North Carolina and additional battleground states have partnered with civic and social justice groups to drive transportation-challenged voters to the polls during early voting periods and on Election Day.

And with guidance and funding from the New Moral Majority, food trucks are being parked at or near some voting sites to feed and encourage voters waiting in long lines, said Ryan Eller, co-founder and executive director of the progressive faith-based political action committee.

Darryl Warren Aaron


Ministers are being encouraged to serve as chaplains to encourage voters waiting in long lines, he said. “Hundreds of clergy are participating in that.”

 The overarching goal of the New Moral Majority’s “All Souls to the Polls” initiative is to help Americans connect the dots of faith and voter participation, Eller explained. “A food truck feeding people for free and giving out drinks and water to people standing in line communicates that people of faith can participate in democracy as a spiritual act.”



While long lines at polling sites are inspiring to see, they can cause some voters to abandon the process. Voter suppression efforts also keep some from voting. So it’s vital to make the experience as enjoyable as possible, he said.

“We want to create an uplifting atmosphere in which folks in long lines see groups of people having fun and good food and water … and listening to music. We are convinced that will help some folks to consider voting.”

The New Moral Majority is working with Baptist and other churches mainly in North Carolina because it is considered a key battleground state. But similar events also are being planned in Georgia and Pennsylvania, Eller said.

The effort stems from the organization’s wider mission to recapture the Christian faith coopted by conservative political and religious movements, he said. The network was founded in the spring, its publicity says, “to utilize this moment to change the moral narrative and try to reclaim Christian identity from the former Moral Majority, which was never moral and never a majority.”

“All Souls to the Polls,” Eller added, is designed to provide people of faith an opportunity to impact that discussion and “to be a public and moral witness in the world.”

Faith is the central motivation for Providence Baptist Church members who already have driven hundreds of people to voting stations and will continue doing so until polls close the night of Nov. 3, Aaron said. “Our faith teaches us that the church can never be closed off in the building.”

On Oct. 31, the last day of early voting in North Carolina, Providence will have a food truck stationed at a housing development from which its volunteers will transport voters to and from the polls.


Ryan M. Eller

“People of faith can participate in democracy as a spiritual act.”

Many of these residents have no other way to get there, he explained. “Some could take the bus but standing in line for three hours then catching a bus for three hours can become a deterrent.”

These and many others live in what Aaron called “opportunity deserts where there is not enough food, not enough transportation and not enough education.”

Taking these citizens to vote, therefore, is a way of living out the gospel, he believes. “We are forced to go out and assist those who are left behind. In this case, picking them up and taking them to the polls is acknowledging their condition.”

The process has been a success so far because many who would not have voted have — and will — cast ballots to create the improvements needed in their lives and communities.

“You can hear Dr. King in that wonderful speech in which he said give us the ballot and we’ll put people in leadership that have, as he said, ‘felt not only the tang of the human, but the glow of the divine.’”

Friday 30 October 2020

Moody Bible Institute promises investigation of abuse complaints


Students outside Moody Bible Institute


The review follows a student petition that claimed the Chicago school mishandled reports of sexual misconduct, abuse, and stalking

Moody Bible Institute in Chicago has promised a third-party investigation and other steps in response to a petition claiming the school mishandled complaints of sexual assault, harassment, and abuse for decades.

The petition, launched Oct. 16 on Change.org, has more than 3,100 signatures and several comments from MBI students and alumni. They claim that after they reported abuse or harassment, school leaders did not inform them of their rights, discouraged them from filing Title IX claims, or disciplined them. Title IX, a civil rights law, requires schools to investigate and respond to sexual misconduct.

Most of the petition complaints concern Timothy Arens, dean of students and Title IX decision-maker, and Rachel Puente, assistant dean of student life and part-time Title IX coordinator. School administrators said in a press release they have removed both employees from their disciplinary and Title IX roles. However, they continue to work at MBI. A school representative declined to discuss the student petition or comment further.

Arens has worked at MBI since 1984 and plans to retire next year. School President Mark Jobe and Provost Dwight Perry stressed during a chapel service on Oct. 20 that the school has not determined whether Arens or Puente did anything wrong.

“I would encourage you to abstain from judgment or conclusions,” Jobe said. “I’ve always known [Arens] to be a man of character.”

Anna Heyward, 2017 MBI alumna, wrote in an account accompanying the petition that in 2016 her then-boyfriend, an MBI graduate student and employee, coerced her into getting drunk and forced her to perform oral sex. He later raped her and hit her in the face, she said.

Heyward said that when she told Arens, he asked her what she had done to deserve being hit and told her if she repeated her story publicly she might not be allowed to graduate. She said Arens placed her on academic probation for violating student conduct rules against drinking and sex.

MBI’s Title IX policy says the school will not discipline students for conduct violations if they are not egregious and are disclosed as part of a good-faith report of sex-based misconduct.

Heyward said she lost a scholarship because of the academic probation. She claimed Arens forbade her from dating until she graduated and required her to email him regular updates about her behavior. Heyward said she also told Puente about being hit, and that Puente expressed sympathy but did not inform her of her rights to a Title IX investigation and university protection.

“To this day I don’t even know how a Title IX case is filed because I was never told the process,” Heyward told me.

Heyward began organizing the petition this summer after she mentioned her experience in a social media post and received comments and messages from students and alumni with similar stories. The petition includes 11 accounts in an accompanying online document. The dates of the incidents described in the accounts range from 1995 to 2019.


“I don’t think that Rachel Puente or Dean Arens are evil people,” Heyward said. “I think Dean Arens probably has done a lot of good things. Has he done good things in this part of his employment? I don’t think so.”


According to former students, Arens in yearly speeches invited female MBI students to view him as a father figure at school. Bethany Timm, an MBI student from 2014 to 2016, wrote that after a male student began stalking her on campus, she reported the matter to Arens. She said he did not inform her of her right to file a Title IX report and dismissed her safety concerns. Megan Wohlers, a 2019 graduate, wrote that Arens and the Title IX office directed her to sign a nondisclosure agreement and drop charges of sexual assault, stalking, and sexual harassment in exchange for the accused student agreeing to leave campus.

Attorney Adele Kimmel, director of Public Justice’s Students’ Civil Rights Project, said that if the stories are accurate, the school is “doing everything wrong.”

“If those things are true, then Dean Arens has no business handling student complaints,” Kimmel said. “It’s clear that if these allegations are true, that he approaches these in a biased way, based on sex stereotypes, and it’s hard to imagine any training that would rehabilitate him sufficiently to handle this.”

Kimmel said Title IX process violations like the ones reported in the petition are more common at small schools with insufficient Title IX training and only part-time coordinators. MBI’s policy requires Title IX personnel to receive 8-10 hours of training each year in addition to the trauma-informed response training the school provides yearly to all employees.

The petition asks MBI to include student and alumni voices in replacing Arens, to replace Puente and let students and alumni help choose a successor, to remove Title IX decision-makers with disciplinary powers, and to publish annually the number of Title IX complaints made and MBI’s response to them.

Heyward said she and eight others met on Oct. 22 with MBI leaders, including Jobe and Perry, who told them the petition demands were realistic. The school had previously announced it would allow students to give input in replacing Arens after his retirement, and Heyward said the leaders agreed during their meeting to include alumni as well.

The school said in a press release it was searching for an appropriate third-party firm to investigate the complaints in the petition, evaluate the school’s handling of the complaints, and review its Title IX practices. It also promised to integrate counseling into its Title IX processes and provide regular updates. Heyward said MBI has taken helpful first steps.

“My goal isn’t to burn [MBI] down,” Heyward said. “My goal is to make it a safer environment for future students.”

Wednesday 7 October 2020

Increase security funding for religious institutions. Jewish groups call on Congress

An interfaith coalition calls for quadrupling the annual allocation for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to $360 million for 2021.

The U.S. Capitol building. Credit: Martin Falbisoner via Wikimedia Commons.

Three Jewish organizations joined almost a dozen faith groups calling on Congress to increase security funding for religious institutions.

The Orthodox Union, the Jewish Federations of North America, and Agudath Israel of America joined eight other faith organizations to call on Congress to dramatically increase funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) so that synagogues, churches, mosques, and other houses of worship, as well as religious schools and other at-risk nonprofit entities, can bolster building security against the threat of attacks. 

In its letter to congressional leaders, the interfaith coalition called for quadrupling the annual allocation for the NSGP to $360 million for the fiscal year 2021 so that more institutions can be covered under the program.

The groups claimed that the program’s $90 million allocations for the past year left the majority of applicants empty-handed.

The NSGP provides grants of up to $100,000 each to nonprofits at risk of terrorist attacks so they may improve building security by acquiring and installing items ranging from fences, lighting, and video surveillance to metal detectors and blast-resistant doors, locks, and windows. Funding may also be used to train staff and pay for contracted security personnel.

Such monies have become critical for the Jewish community in the aftermath of the October 2018 mass shooting at the Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha Synagogue in Pittsburgh, where 11 Jewish worshippers were killed; six months later, the April 27, 2019 shooting at Chabad of Poway in Southern California, where one woman was killed and three others injured; in addition to a string of anti-Semitic attacks last year in New York and New Jersey.

Tuesday 6 October 2020

Christian Leaders respond to President Trump’s contracting COVID-19

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump


WASHINGTON
– Christians around the country and the world have called for prayer in light of the news that President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have tested positive for COVID-19.

We've received comments from a number of prominent Christian leaders regarding the development. Those comments are below:

“Jeana and I are highly concerned and deeply prayerful for President Trump and the First Lady. This is a very serious time for our nation and this news should serve as a wake-up call for all Americans to come together and pray for them. He is the President of the United States. I want to ask all of our churches and all of the churches across our nation to pray now, and on this coming Sunday together for President Trump, the First Lady, and all of their family to be healed from this virus and protected in every way.” – Ronnie Floyd, president, and CEO of the SBC Executive Committee

“I am saddened and concerned to hear that President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have contracted the COVID-19 virus. Clearly, this is a time for all Americans to pray for the health and recovery of our President and his wife and to pray for all Americans and others around the world who are threatened by this virus. If COVID-19 can get into the White House, it can get into any house. This is sobering news. I will be praying for the health and strength of our President and his family.” – R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

“This is a time for healing. For our nation and our nation’s leader President Trump and our First Lady Melania. I know the president is always very grateful for the prayers of God’s people and especially now in view of this illness. I am confident he will recover quickly and continue to lead our nation well. May God bless our country and heal our land.” – Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas

“Let’s all take a moment to pray for the President and First Lady this morning – for protection and a speedy recovery. This is a frightening time for our country, for the First Family, and many others grappling with this virus across the country. As Christians, moments like this should prompt us to pray for God’s intervention in this time of the global pandemic.” – Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission

“My prayers are with the President and First Lady this morning. As Christians, we always pray for those in authority, but here, we can pray with specificity that God would heal from this frightening virus and protect those around them from it as well. I’m praying also for the doctors treating the First Family and the medical professionals battling this virus around the world – both those treating it and those trying to bring it to a swift end. May God give us mercy in this perilous time,” – Daniel Patterson, executive vice president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission


Social media reactions

Many leaders expressed their thoughts for the President and first lady via Twitter. Some of those remarks are below:

“Please join me in praying for the speedy and full recovery of our President and First Lady.”J.D. Greear, Southern Baptist Convention president and pastor of The Summit Church

“Praying for our president and his wife for their health and healing during this time.”Daniel Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

“Dear God, please touch @POTUS & @FLOTUS with your healing grace, guiding the hands of all of the medical professionals treating them. Give them a speedy recovery. I thank You that You made them so strong. God, do the same for every person in the world facing the same. Amen.” – Prayer by Rev. Johnnie Moore, retweeted by GuideStone Financial Resources President O.S. Hawkins

“Let’s commit to pray for a speedy recovery for our president and first lady, and for protection for those serving them.”Jason Allen, president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

“Early this morning, President @realDonaldTrump and First Lady @MelaniaTrump announced that, like many other Americans, they have tested positive for the coronavirus. Please join me in praying especially for them, that they would have a quick recovery.”Franklin Graham, evangelist, and president of Samaritan’s Purse

Monday 5 October 2020

American Family Association Prays for President and First Lady as They Battle COVID-19

US President, Donald J. Trump and first lady Melania Trump


As our nation continues to absorb the shock waves that President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump both have tested positive for the coronavirus, the American Family Association (AFA, afa.net) shares its deepest prayers and very best wishes for the first couple’s quick recovery.

The year of 2020 has already been one of enormous challenge for our country, yet the organization—which advocates from a biblical worldview for the constitutional rights of parents and children—knows that God will see the nation through its many trials.

Says AFA Vice President Ed Vitagliano, “Our prayers are with the president and first lady. We are asking God to protect them from the more serious symptoms of COVID-19 and for healing.”

Vitagliano adds, “AFA would like to remind Christians that we are commanded by Scripture to pray for all of our political leaders (1 Timothy 2:1-4)—and not just the ones we agree with. The church is especially told to pray for the salvation of those who do not believe in the Lord Jesus. We need to take this responsibility seriously.”

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said today that the president was showing mild symptoms of the virus. The first lady also said on Twitter that she was experiencing mild symptoms but is “overall feeling good.” Both are in quarantine. President Trump is planning to continue handling his duties as commander-in-chief and will do so at home—at the White House—for two weeks as doctors watch over him.

The news first broke after midnight this past Thursday night, when the president shared in a tweet,

“Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!”

Leaders from around the world, as well as Americans of all walks of life, have been sharing on social media their sincere wishes for the first couple’s good health and speedy recovery. President Trump, 74, becomes the most prominent of global leaders to have contracted the virus. But as the president himself has told the American people for months, the vast majority of those who contract COVID-19 recover completely.

For more than 40 years, AFA has operated within the mission to inform, equip, and activate individuals to strengthen the moral foundations of American culture and give aid to the church here and abroad in its task of fulfilling the Great Commission. Visit AFA Action Alerts

Trump's COVID-19 was made up to gain sympathy, avoid next Biden debate says Palestinian Authority


Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas 

"I’m certain that if [Joe] Biden or any other president rises ‎‎[to power], the first thing that person will do is to declare that the [Trump’s] ‎deal of the century is off the table."

In the official daily newspaper of the Palestinian Authority, Al-Hayat al-Jadida, Mahmoud Abbas ran on Sunday a front-page editorial with the headline “Trump's ‎corona - false claims and expectations,” claiming that the US President Donald Trump may have "fabricated" his coronavirus infection "to win sympathy, and to avoid ‎future debates with his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden."

The fact that Trump’s infection was announced shortly after his debate with ‎Biden “which Trump turned into the worst debate in history” makes it logical that Trump ‎wants to avoid future debates by feigning illness, said the PA newspaper.‎

Palestinian Media Watch published the translation of the piece and shared it with the Israeli press. 

The editorial added that if Trump happens to actually be sick, his illness "will cause ‎[him] to re-examine the erroneous and aggressive policies towards humanity... while he fuels racist extremist ideas, and sides with ‎falsehood against the truth, and with occupation against liberation and freedom."

The irony, PMW points out in its release, is that the PA daily also published on the same page a note coming from Saeb Erekat, the ‎Secretary of the PLO Executive Committee, who told CNN that "President ‎Mahmoud Abbas wishes US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania a speedy ‎and full recovery‏.‏‎”‎

While this editorial was more than insulting and outrageous towards the US President, PMW states, it ended in a more appealing way, saying that "whether or not the US president has caught coronavirus, [the PA] will not ‎analyze this news based on wishful thinking," where the quote “wishful thinking” might be a possible reference to the open hopes of the PA for a Biden election victory that will ‎completely change US policy and end the US peace proposal. 

This was position has been expressed earlier by Erekat 

A position that was made very clear earlier by Erekat, when he said: "I’m certain that if [Joe] Biden or any other president rises ‎‎[to power], the first thing that person will do is to declare that the [Trump’s] ‎deal of the century is off the table because they have issued statements."

Thursday 24 September 2020

China Censors Teachers from Mentioning God

Christian Persecution

A new report from the Center for Studies on New Religion's publication Bitter Winter reveals China is spying on and censoring any religious teacher to make sure they don't mention God.

The Center for Studies on New Religion, a human rights organization focusing on abuses by the Chinese Communist Party's regime, published the report in an effort to help end the crackdown.

According to the report, Chinese authorities will monitor teachers and make sure they refrain from mentioning anything about democracy, freedom, religion,
or God.

The report also says that religious teachers are already considered a threat to the Chinese Communist Party simply because they are religious, regardless of what they have taught. The report cites complaints from multiple teachers in both colleges and elementary schools. The teachers were kept anonymous so the Chinese Communist Party cannot find and persecute them for speaking out about the regime's treatment of its own citizens.

One teacher noted that they “were observed during every class." Bitter Winter goes on to summarize the rest of what she stated, writing, "She added that the Chinese Ministry of Education adopted Opinions on Building and Improving a Long-term Effective Mechanism for College Teachers’ Ethics Construction in 2016, demanding teachers 'not say or do anything against the Party line in their educational or teaching activities.' Student informants planted in classes by authorities help ensure that teachers implement this order."

Already, "numerous" educators have been punished for not emphatically teaching the Chinese Communist Party's propaganda, with no indications the persecution of free-thinking teachers will end.

This isn't the first time China has censored or attacked Christians. Christian Headlines recently reported that the Chinese Communist Party had shut down a 1500-member church after they refused to install surveillance cameras in their church. The authorities also confiscated what they called "illegal promotional material" which likely included mostly Bibles and church literature.

Thursday 17 September 2020

Churches Report Giving Boost Months after Pandemic Started

State of the Plate research

(Religion News Service) — Giving to congregations has shifted upward after churches closed their buildings earlier this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, a survey shows. The new State of the Plate research finds that close to two-thirds (64%) of churches across the country reported in August that giving is either up (22%) or steady (42%). By contrast, in April, a similar share of churches (65%) said they had seen a drop in giving.

“This is encouraging news for churches across America,” said Brian Kluth, a former pastor who is now a national spokesperson for the National Association of Evangelicals’ Financial Health initiative. “These new findings show that most churches and their families are figuring out ways to survive and even thrive in the midst of all the challenges that the pandemic has thrown their way.”

The findings are based on responses from 1,076 mainline, evangelical, and independent Protestant churches. Seven in 10 of them had less than 200 attenders before the pandemic. A third of the responding churches were in cities or suburbs, almost another third were from towns, about a quarter was from rural areas or small towns, and 9% were from large cities.

The vast majority of respondents — 87% — said their congregations are currently meeting for in-person worship services. But more than half (58%) said the attendance in person is half or less compared with pre-pandemic times. Six percent said they had seen an increase in attendance.

A survey released in July by LifeWay Research found that 71% of Protestant churches met for in-person services in mid-July, with almost all taking some precautions to try to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Barna Group, in a similar survey at that time, found 49% of church leaders said they were meeting inside their buildings.

Despite the upturn in giving, Kluth said pastors continue to face financial pressures from disruptions related to the pandemic.

“Even as finances stabilize for many churches, our research prior to the pandemic showed that 90 percent of pastors feel some level of financial stress in their family and church work,” Kluth, who also is the national spokesman for the NAE’s Bless Your Pastor movement, said in a statement. “This has been an especially stressful year for pastors and church staff.”

The research, conducted Aug. 7-30 in partnership with Christianity Today’s Church Law & Tax, had a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

Wednesday 9 September 2020

Pakistani Christian sentenced to death for 'blasphemous texts'

In July, a man accused of blasphemy was shot dead in a courtroom in the northwestern city of Peshawar
In July, a man accused of blasphemy was shot dead in a courtroom
in the northwestern city of Peshawar

Asif Pervaiz, 37, who has been in custody since 2013, given the death penalty for sending 'blasphemous' text messages.

Islamabad, Pakistan - A court within the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore has sentenced a Christian man to death for having committed "blasphemy", his lawyer says, in the latest case of Pakistan's strict religious laws being applied against minorities.

Asif Pervaiz, 37, has been in custody since 2013 when he was accused of sending "blasphemous" text messages to a former supervisor at work, lawyer Saif-ul-Malook told Al Jazeera.

The court rejected his testimony wherein he denied the charges and sentenced him to death on Tuesday.

"The complainant was a supervisor during a hosiery factory where Asif was working under him," said Malook.

"He denied the allegations and said that this man was trying to induce him to convert to Islam."

Speaking in his own defense in court earlier in the trial, Pervaiz claimed the supervisor confronted him after he quit work on the factory, and when he refused to convert he was accused of having sent blasphemous text messages to the person.


Blasphemy laws

Muhammad Saeed Khokher, the complainant within the case, denies wanting to convert Parvaiz, according to his lawyer, Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry.

"He has taken this defense after the actual fact because he had no other clear defense," Chaudhry told Al Jazeera. "That's why he accused him of trying to convert him."

Chaudhry said there are other Christian employees at the factory, but none have accused Khokher of proselytizing.

Pakistan's strict blasphemy laws prescribe a compulsory execution for the crime of insulting Islam's Prophet Muhammad, and strict penalties for other infractions like insulting Islam, the holy Quran, or certain holy people.

There is currently a minimum of 80 people in prison in Pakistan for the crime of "blasphemy", with a minimum of half them facing life sentences or the execution, in line with the United State's Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

Those accused under the laws are mainly Muslim, during a rustic where 98 percent of the population follows Islam, but the laws disproportionately target members of minorities like Christians and Hindus.


Aasia Bibi case

In one of the foremost high-profile blasphemy cases within the country's history, the Supreme Court ruled in October 2018 that a Christian woman, Aasia Bibi, had been framed in her case during which the laws had inadequate oversight for false accusations.

Those accusations can have deadly consequences. Since 1990, a minimum of 77 people is killed in relation to blasphemy allegations, according to an Al Jazeera tally.

Those killed have included people accused of blasphemy, their members of the family, lawyers, and judges who have acquitted those accused of the crime. Bibi fled Pakistan in 2019 as a result of threats against her life.

The latest such murder occurred in July when a man accused of blasphemy was shot six times in a courtroom during a hearing in his case.

His murderer was apprehended and was garlanded with roses by far-right supporters during subsequent court appearances.

This month has seen a sharp spike in blasphemy cases being registered in Pakistan, particularly in the most populous province of Punjab. Many of these cases have targeted the country's sizeable Shi'ite minority, which forms roughly 15 percent of the population.

Since a series of large-scale sit-in protests on the matter of blasphemy in 2017, political parties have increasingly been including messaging on blasphemy in their platforms.

The Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party, formed by firebrand scholar Khadim Hussain Rizvi before the 2018 polls, campaigned on a platform supported the defense of the blasphemy laws.

While it won few seats, it garnered the fourth-highest share of the countrywide popular vote by one party.

Wednesday 2 September 2020

Israelis Excited to Visit United Arab Emirates

Israel Tourism Minister Assaf Zamir
Israel Tourism Minister Assaf Zamir


One of the “fruits” from the Israel-UAE peace deal should be bilateral tourism.

“We are looking forward to the arrival of UAE citizens in Israel and the day we can fly to visit Dubai and Abu Dhabi. We will not limit the number of tourists from the UAE. The peace agreement creates enormous potential for the Israeli economy and tourism, and we will do everything we can to promote cooperation between the two countries.”

This is what Israel Tourism Minister Assaf Zamir (pictured) said in an interview with UAE journalist Fahd al-Amiri.

Zamir added: “The two countries are geographically close to each other. It’s only a 3-hour flight between Israel and the Emirates. Israelis also like to travel to new destinations… and the amazing achievements we hear about the UAE make [many Israelis] excited to go there.”

The Minister mentioned in the interview that the main Arab countries Israeli citizens can visit are Egypt and Jordan. And there, too, Israelis go only in small numbers of about 200,000 tourists a year. Many more Israelis visit Asian countries, such as India and Thailand.

Segments from the interview:

Can tourists from the UAE visit Jerusalem?

“We want all tourist sites to be open without restrictions to tourists coming from the Emirates, both religiously oriented sites and non-religious. In general, I think all Israel will be open to the Emirate tourists.”

How will direct flights of airlines between the two countries attract more tourists?

“… mainly because … that makes it easier for the tourist to fly and travel between the countries.”

How does Israel see the tourism industry of the Emirates?

“I think Israeli tourists are excited to visit your country because we know that your country is a hospitable country and welcomes tourists from all over the world. In addition to the great beaches and restaurants you have, the unique culture attracts crowds to your country from everywhere.”

What tourism products will the State of Israel offer to tourists from the United Arab Emirates?

“The religious sites all over the country and chiefly the city of Jerusalem… not only the religious sites but also the cultural sites and other historical sites in Israel. In addition, we offer tourists diverse culinary experiences; the city of Tel Aviv and its wonderful restaurants and beaches; Eilat and desert attractions; the Negev, also the Upper Galilee and beautiful Mount Hermon covered in snow.”

Abdullah al-Mohiri, owner of the Golden Eagle Travel and Tourism Agency in Ras al-Khaimah, UAE said that peace and prosperity are two sides of the same coin, and one cannot be achieved without the other. Abdullah expects that the peace agreement will contribute to cooperation with the Israeli side and to the prosperity of all economic spheres, especially tourism, by virtue of being linked to stability in the region.”

On our side, tourism agents in Israel are eagerly awaiting the moment the peace agreement will enter into force. On the one hand, the agents think that many Emirate tourists will want to come to the holy sites in Israel and especially to Jerusalem. On the other hand, they think that the demand of Israelis to fly to Dubai and Abu Dhabi will outweigh the demand to fly to Turkey or Greece.

Tuesday 1 September 2020

Battle With Depression Due to Wife’s Affair; Jerry Falwell Jr. Reveals

Jerry Falwell Jr. family
Jerry Falwell Jr with wife Becki.


Liberty University president Jerry Falwell Jr., who was recently suspended after posting an inappropriate vacation photo on Instagram, released a statement revealing that he has suffered from depression for years because a former family friend has been threatening to expose an affair he had with Falwell’s wife, Becki.


“I’m just tired of it…it’s just got to end,” Falwell told the Washington Examiner’s “Secrets” division.


Falwell revealed that Becki’s affair happened with a young man whom they befriended while they were on a vacation eight years ago in Miami, Florida. The young man, identified as Giancarlo Granda, was working at the hotel they were staying, and the couple was “impressed by his initiative in suggesting a local real estate opportunity.” The Falwells bought a youth hostel in Miami and put Granda. The affair took place shortly after the death of Jerry’s father (Jerry Falwell Sr. 1933-2007) while Falwell was working long hours to grow Liberty University, and Becki was traveling to Miami to finish the hostel deal.


Falwell said that after learning about the inappropriate relationship, he lost 80 pounds and “people who saw me regularly thought that I was physically unwell, when in reality I was just balancing how to be most supportive of Becki, who I love, while also reflecting and praying about whether there were ways I could have been more supportive of her and given her proper attention.” He said, “Becki and I forgave each other, because while her indiscretion may have been more obvious and apparent, I realized that there were important smaller things I needed to do better too,” citing both Matthew 5:27-28 and Ephesians 4.32 in his statement.


Liberty University President Claims He Wanted to Protect the School


After Becki’s confession, the couple “extended the spirit of forgiveness to this man with respect and kindness, both for spiritual and religious reasons, and in the hope that we could help him find his way and allow us to put this behind us, without any harm or embarrassment to our family or to the LU community to which we have dedicated our lives.” According to the Falwells, what followed were years of angry and aggressive threats and demands for money. Falwell said, “We were doing our best to respectfully unravel this ‘fatal attraction’ type situation to protect our family and the University.”


However, an article published in Reuters tells a different side to the story—Granda’s side. In it, Granda claims Falwell was also involved in the affair and feels he was preyed upon. “Whether it was immaturity, naïveté, instability, or a combination thereof, it was this ‘mindset’ that the Falwells likely detected in deciding that I was the ideal target for their sexual escapades,” Granda said. Granda also provided screenshots of text messages and audio recordings of phone conversations he exchanged with the couple.


Falwell Advocates for Mental Health Counseling


The suspended Liberty University president said that he is taking the time to seek help for the “emotional toll” the whole situation has taken:


I am now dealing with things in a way that I should have done before—including seeking to address the emotional toll this has taken. I shouldn’t have been afraid to admit my vulnerabilities and to reach out for assistance from the mental health professionals who could have alleviated this pain and stress. I am committed to speaking out and sharing with others at Liberty the importance of seeking counseling instead of thinking you need to be tough and try to bear these burdens on your own. I am in the early stages of addressing these issues.”


Falwell cited Proverbs 3:5-6 and explained, “The trauma of this experience has brought us to a very challenging point in our lives, but we are strong, our faith in Christ is greater than ever, and with His help and with those in the community who we love and who appreciate the impact of forgiveness, we will get through this. We ask for your prayers and support.”


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