RELIGION HEADLINES SUN 8-17-25

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(SRN NEWS)  Another country will unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state.  Australia will join France, the United Kingdom and Canada in granting the Palestinians’ aspirations at the United Nations General Assembly next month.  Israel opposes the move, arguing that any such state must be the result of negotiation between itself and the Palestinians and cannot be unilaterally imposed by outsiders.  Other critics point out that recognizing statehood for the Palestinians in the midst of a war with Israel is unwise.  That conflict began in October of 2023 when Hamas terrorists came out of Gaza and attacked Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and taking hundreds of hostages. 

(  )  Religious freedom advocates warn that Muslim terrorists may soon be running a de facto country of their own in northern Nigeria.  Deadly attacks on Christians have been taking place in the region for decades but fighters from outside the country are moving in now and the tempo of the attacks has increased.  A report from International Christian Concern warns that local residents say “the strategy appears aimed at exhausting the remaining population through relentless raids until survivors either flee or are killed, clearing the way for armed groups to occupy the land.”  The Nigerian government appears to be all but ignoring the crisis. 

(  )  A Muslim man is going to jail for 10 years after he fired a gun outside a New York synagogue.  Mufid Alkader (al-KAY-der) was convicted of firing a shotgun in front of Temple Israel in Albany earlier this year and trying to tear down an Israeli flag while shouting “free Palestine”.  No one was injured in the incident.  John Sarcone (sar-CONE-ee), U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York, says the shooting was “emblematic of the anti-Semitic violence, rhetoric and practices that have swept this country over the last few years.”  In fact, anti-Semitism has been surging all around the globe and the United States has not been spared. 

(  )  International Christian Concern is ramping up its efforts to get Bibles into the hands of Christians who live in countries where persecution is the worst.  ICC says “We are working with our in-country staff, partner organizations, and local churches to distribute audio Bibles, digital Bibles on USB drives and MP3 devices, and, of course, physical Bibles in the desired languages.”  In many nations copies of the scriptures are not for sale anywhere and in other places just possessing one can be a death sentence.  Fortunately, digital technology is providing ways for embattled believers to get a hold of a Bible without anybody else knowing.