RELIGION HEADLINES THR 12-18

(SRN NEWS)-

(  )  A leading Muslim civil rights group is suing Florida Governor Ron Desantis over his order designating it a foreign terrorist organization.  The Council on American-Islamic Relations has more than 20 chapters across the United States and its work involves legal actions and advocacy.  However, the agency has been accused of having ties to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood — charges its leadership denies.  The lawsuit by CAIR asks a federal judge in Tallahassee to declare DeSantis’ order unlawful and unconstitutional and prevent it from being enforced.  Several Republican governors are targeting Muslim terror groups in their states.

(  )  Australia is mourning the deaths of 15 Jews murdered this past weekend at a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach.  A giant menorah is being projected onto the walls of Sydney’s iconic opera house at night and 1,000 people attended a vigil for the victims.  Hundreds of bouquets of flowers have been placed at a makeshift memorial on Bondi Beach and hundreds of people gathered for an interfaith service in Sydney’s Hyde Park.  Meanwhile, lawmen are probing a possible connection between the alleged father-and-son shooters and ISIS.  The son, who remains in the hospital, has been charged with 15 counts of murder.

(  )  Police in California are investigating an attack on Hanukkah decorations outside a home in Redlands.  Security camera footage shows someone in a car drive up to the house, shoot at the decorations with what appears to be a pellet gun, and shout “Free Palestine” along with some anti-Semitic slurs.  The Anti-Defamation League of California has released a statement calling the vandalism “another dangerous and despicable act of violence impacting the Jewish community in Southern California.  The sense of security in our community has again been shattered by this act of hate and cowardice.”

(  )  The European Parliament has held a session during which it discussed growing anti-Christian violence and bigotry in South Asia — especially in India.  Temina Arora of Alliance Defending Freedom International testified at the meeting, saying “Christians in India are punished not for wrongdoing but for simply gathering, praying, or helping their neighbors.  Even the Supreme Court of India recently noted how anti-conversion laws are misused to wrongly prosecute Christians.”  Religious freedom advocates are urging European nations to take action, using economic sanctions, if need be, to improve the lot of Christians in South Asia.