(SRN NEWS ) China is tightening its grip on Christians. The Communist government is restricting what believers can do in worship services, requiring them to use hymnals that are full of songs glorifying the regime and spreading propaganda. Pastors’ sermons are also being scrutinized, and government churches are being ordered to remove images of Christ […]
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(SRN NEWS ) China is tightening its grip on Christians. The Communist government is restricting what believers can do in worship services, requiring them to use hymnals that are full of songs glorifying the regime and spreading propaganda. Pastors’ sermons are also being scrutinized, and government churches are being ordered to remove images of Christ and replace them with pictures of President Xi Jinping. All worship outside of state churches is forbidden and China has intensified its crackdown on house churches all across the nation, arresting clergymen and parishioners and seizing Bibles and other Christian literature.
( ) In an unexpected step, a Pakistani court has ordered an investigation into the abuse of the country’s draconian blasphemy laws. The Islamabad High Court has told the government to form a special commission to probe allegations that the laws are often used to settle petty scores and specifically to persecute Christians. Additionally, police say there are groups that manufacture blasphemy charges against individuals, then try to extort money from them in return for getting the charges dismissed. Human rights groups and religious freedom advocates have decried Pakistan’s blasphemy laws for decades.
( ) Religious Freedom advocates say the government of India is allowing an organized effort to steal the land of minority Christians in the country. Radical Hindus regularly destroy the homes and churches of believers and then local authorities refuse to allow the structures to be rebuilt. It is an effective way of running Christians out of the communities where they live and many believe it is an organized effort to rid India of all Christians. Violence against believers has been on the rise since 2014 when a Hindu nationalist party came to power. Critics say the government turns a blind eye to the persecution and possibly encourages it.
( ) Vandals have defaced the offices of New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The New York Post reports that the Boogie Down Liberation Front — an anti-Israel group — has claimed responsibility for the vandalism. The Front is angry with the congresswoman for voting against legislation that would have cut funding to Israel. Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat, is a frequent critic of Israel but she says she voted against the bill because it would have restricted defensive missile systems that help protect the Jewish state. The legislation was part of a larger U.S. Defense Department appropriation.