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NewsWatch informs you
about current events so that
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headlines of tomorrow.
Less than a third of Britons
believe religion is important,
says poll
New research has found
fewer than one in three Britons
believe faith matters. Ipsos
Mori found 30% of people said
religion is important to them, a
figure significantly lower than
the global average of 53%.
The statistics place
Britain among the least religious
countries in the world, with only
Sweden, Belgium and Japan
ranked lower.
Source: premier.org.uk
Violent attacks on
Christians in India increasing
at alarming rate
Violent attacks against
Christians in India have
increased at an alarming rate in
2016, with one attack occurring
every 40 hours, according
to a new report. The report,
published by All India Christian
Council (AICC), indicated that
the attacks against Christians
were up by 20% in 2016. It also
noted that physical violence
against believers rose by 40%
and murders have doubled.
“The attacks have become
severe and more frequent.
Incidents used to be confined
to a few states. Now the
violence has spread to 23
states,” it stated, noting that the
sharpest rise was in the northern
Uttar Pradesh state and the
southern state of Telangana.
The report titled “Atrocities
on Christians in India” highlights
incidents of church workers
being threatened, beaten and
killed, as well as churches
and Christian schools being
vandalized, torched, bombed,
and demolished. Other attacks
include forced conversions of
Christians to Hinduism and the
disruption of church services
and prayer meetings.
Source: christiantimes.com
MPs report calls for
urgent reform in dealing
with human trafficking
In a recently published report,
MPs on the Work and Pensions
Committee have described
28 Revival Times June 2017
“inexcusable” failures in the
system, which leaves many
victims destitute and see their
traffickers go unpunished.
The inquiry focused on what
support is available to victims
after the initial 45 day ‘reflection
and recovery’ period that a victim
of human trafficking spends in
a safe house whilst their case
is being considered. Once this
period is elapsed the victim must
move out of the safe house and
are not guaranteed any further
help or assistance.
CARE’s Senior Policy Officer
for Human Trafficking, Louise
Gleich who gave evidence to
the Department of Work and
Pension’s Committee, said, “The
Committee’s recommendation
of 12 months of support for
victims of human trafficking
will allow victims time to
recover and heal in a safe
environment and give them
the strength to help out with
any criminal investigations
into their perpetrators.”
Source: care.org.uk
Donald Trump to relax
rules for US churches
Churches in the US will
have greater freedom to voice
political views, under a new
executive order to be issued
by President Donald Trump.
The order will protect religious
group against the Johnson
amendment, legislation which
bans non-profit organisations
from openly supporting or
opposing political candidates.
Pastors who speak from
the pulpit about politics have
previously risked losing their
tax-exempt status. The new
order will instruct tax officials to
“exercise maximum enforcement
discretion to alleviate the burden
of the Johnson amendment”.
Source: premier.org.uk
Morocco abolishes
death penalty for apostasy
from Islam
Morocco’s High Religious
Committee has decreed that
individuals who leave Islam
should not face the death
penalty for apostasy. This
newswatch
Christian news in brief
astounding ruling from a body
charged with issuing fatwas (an
authoritative religious or juridical
ruling), reverses the classical
sharia legislation that has stood
since medieval times. It is all the
more significant given that the
same High Religious Committee
had issued a book just five
years ago, containing fatwas
which affirmed the classical
sharia position that a Muslim
who changes his or her religion
should be punished by death.
In their 2017 document,
entitled The Way of the
Scholars, the High Religious
Council argued that Muhammad
and his early followers killed
apostates only for political
reasons (because they were
traitors to the nascent Islamic
community) not for religious
reasons: “The most accurate
understanding, and the most
consistent with the Islamic
legislation and the practical way
of the Prophet, peace be upon
him, is that the killing of the
apostate is meant for the traitor
of the group, the one disclosing
secrets... the equivalent of
treason in international law.”
Source: barnabasfund.org
Russia bans Jehovah’s
Witnesses after the Supreme
Court rules them ‘extremists’
Russia has banned Jehovah’s
Witnesses after the Supreme
Court ruled them to be an
“extremist” group. “The
Supreme Court has ruled to
sustain the claim of Russia’s
ministry of justice and deem
the ‘Administrative Centre
of Jehovah’s Witnesses
in Russia’ organisation
extremist, eliminate it and ban
its activity in Russia,” said
Judge Yuri Ivanenko. “The
property of the Jehovah’s
Witnesses organisation is to
be confiscated to the state
revenue.” Critics of the legal
decision believe that other
religious groups could also
be persecuted.
Source: globalchristiannews.org