RELIGION HEADLINES

(SRN NEWS) – Violence against Christians in India is on the rise.  The United Christian Forum is urging the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to launch a formal investigation of a problem that has spanned decades.  According to UCF data, attacks on Christians numbered about 130 in 2014.  This year there were almost 750 and the agency says many more probably went unreported.  Radical Hindus, emboldened by government inattention, are trying to rid India of all minority religious groups, starting with Christians.

The Islamic rebels who deposed Syrian strongman Bashar Assad say they have no ill will toward the country’s Christian minority, but others apparently don’t feel that way.  A group of attackers trashed a Greek Orthodox church in Hama this month, shooting up the inside of the building.  No arrests have been made.  Despite the promises of tolerance by Syria’s new leaders, there are many other radical Muslim factions in the country that have been targeting Christians for decades and show no signs of letting up now that Assad is gone.

The first of the new year brings hundreds of new laws across the nation.  California will start enforcing a measure prohibiting school districts from adopting policies that require staff to notify parents if their children change their gender identification.  The legislation was a priority for Democratic lawmakers who wanted to halt such policies passed by several districts.  In Delaware a new statute will require the state employee health plan and Medicaid plans for lower-income residents to cover abortions with no deductible, copayments or other cost-sharing requirements.

A growing number of major corporations have opted to abandon the LGBT agenda lately and experts say many more will likely do so now that President Trump is returning to office.  Mr. Trump has vowed to take direct aim at so-called Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs through executive orders and other policies that affect private companies, especially federal contractors.  But angry complaints from customers got the ball rolling over the past year, with companies such as Lowe’s, Harley-Davidson and Ford all quitting DEI before the election.