RELIGION HEADLINES FRI 2-27

(SRN NEWS)-

(  )  The government in Algeria is ramping up persecution of Christians.  Peter Augustin, a religious freedom advocate who focuses on Algeria, tells International Christian Concern that government officials have “tightened restrictions on non-Muslim religious groups, making it more difficult for Christians to practice their faith, organize events, or even gather.”  Scores of churches have been closed in the last 10 years in Algeria where the population is 98 percent Muslim.  The authorities are also cracking down on Christian social media organizations.  In 2024 they shut down a group that had about 50,000 Christian followers.

(  )  It’s been nearly four years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe versus Wade and polls indicate that public opinion has remained relatively stable on abortion.  Sixty-three percent of Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, compared with 36 percent who say it should be illegal in all or most cases.  In 34 states and the District of Columbia, more people say abortion should be legal than say it should be illegal.  Support for abortion varies by religion, age, political views and gender.  Eighty-six percent of religiously unaffiliated Americans are pro-choice compared to just 25 percent of Evangelical Protestants.

(  )  Israel’s parliament has given preliminary approval to a bill that would put the country’s Orthodox chief rabbinate in charge of the entire Western Wall in Jerusalem.  This is raising fears among liberal Jews that mixed-gender prayer at the site will soon be outlawed.  The Western Wall is the holiest site in the world where Jews can pray.  Its main plaza is for men only but the site also has a section, far off to the side, where men and women can pray together.  Under the bill, any prayer at the wall that runs contrary to the chief rabbinate’s specifications would be deemed desecration, punishable by up to seven years in prison.

(  )  The states are deciding what their abortion policies will be in the wake of the 2022 Dobbs decision and a number of them are putting the question directly to the voters.  In 2024, voters in seven states passed measures to protect abortion while similar amendments failed in three states.  As many as four more states, including Virginia and Nevada, may put abortion questions on the fall ballot.  These kinds of initiatives are one of the few ways Americans can directly shape policy, though the rules for their passage vary from place to place.  Citizen-generated initiatives are only available in about half of the states.