RELIGION HEADLINES MON 8-18-25

(SRN NEWS)-

(  )  Muslim terrorists are using sexual violence against Christians and other religious minorities in Africa.  The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic has documented cases of sexual assault, sexual slavery and forced marriage affecting hundreds of women and girls.  In mineral-rich eastern Congo, the U.N. reports nearly 800 cases last year “often accompanied by extreme physical violence.  In an increasing number of places armed groups are using sexual violence as a tactic to gain and consolidate control over territory.  Muslim terrorism has exploded in Sub-Saharan Africa over the past 20 years.

(  )  A Tennessee mega-church is opening a school.  NorthField Church of Gallatin is partnering with the Learning Care Group to operate the first Pathways Learning Academy in the state.  Church officials say the new 12,000 square foot facility will offer working families reliable, early education though S.T.E.A.M-based programs combined with faith-based education.  As more Christian parents seek to quit the public schools, churches are stepping up.  A growing number of congregations are beginning to offer various kinds of educational opportunities including childcare, pre-school and pre-kindergarten.

(  )  Anti-Semitism is on the rise in Romania where the Jewish population was devastated by the Holocaust and decades of Communist rule.  Alexander Florian of the Elie Wiesel National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania says “Anti-Semitism is exploding on social media, Facebook, TikTok and Telegram, though less visible in traditional mass media. The COVID pandemic amplified conspiracy theories dating back to the 19th century.”  Last fall there was a public ceremony to commemorate a Romanian fascist leader.  Before World War Two there were 800,000 Jews living in Romania — today there are just 2,500.

(  )  It is very difficult to build a church in mostly-Muslim Indonesia.  A congregation in East Java had a construction project underway but has now been shut down by the government, despite having previously obtained all necessary permission.  This has been a long fight for the GKJW Church, which first obtained the land for the building in 1995 through a land grant.  The congregation has been fighting ever since to get a building put up.  Indonesia boasts the largest Muslim population on earth and while violence against Christians is not common, there is very little religious freedom.  Muslims make up 87 percent of the population.