Religion Today Summaries – July 5, 2005
Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world. In today's edition:
Britains' Second Largest City Hosts World Conference Of Baptist Women
Muslims Want to Replace Bible With Koran in NC Courtrooms
Turkish Court to Assess Injured Christian's Recovery
Nigeria
Britains' Second Largest City Hosts World Conference Of Baptist Women
Michael Ireland, Assist News Service
Almost one-third of the registrations for the Baptist World Alliance Women's Leadership Conference to be held on 23-26 July 2005 in Birmingham, England, Britain's second largest city, have come from Africa. About 800 women from 63 countries will gather at Aston University in Birmingham for the conference. Through speakers, Bible study, focus groups, and cultural celebrations they will be challenged to see themselves, the world, and their place in it with new eyes. The Women's Department of the Baptist World Alliance sponsors these conferences every five years in conjunction with the Baptist World Congress. The 2005 congress will be held in Birmingham 27-31 July 2005. The conference presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for British Baptist women, who are welcome to attend the Sunday and Monday sessions as day visitors. The programs begin at 8:30 a.m. in The Great Hall. Speakers from around the globe will bring a variety of perspectives to the leadership conference theme, "Seeing with new eyes."
Muslims Wanting to Replace Bible With Koran in NC Courtrooms
Agape Press
North Carolina judges are refusing a request by several Muslim organizations that want changes in the courtroom process. The Muslims want to replace the Bible with the Koran when a member of the Islamic faith is sworn in to give testimony. Judges in the Tar Heel state have refused -- and North Carolina Republican Representative Walter Jones likes that response. "I think this [request] is absolutely unacceptable," Jones says, "and I will encourage my friends who are judges in North Carolina -- and I'm sure they'll do this without my encouragement -- to resist any effort to allow the Koran to replace the Bible. It is absolutely unacceptable." The Muslim groups are expected to persist in their effort to replace the Bible.
Turkish Court to Assess Injured Christian's Recovery
Barbara G. Baker, Compass Direct
The Orhangazi Criminal Court in northwestern Turkey has set July 8 as the date to assess new medical reports on the condition of Turkish Christian Yakup Cindilli, still recovering from severe injuries inflicted in October 2003 by ultra-nationalists accusing him of "missionary propaganda." Trial against his attackers was postponed for 15 months so the court could determine the extent of Cindilli's injuries. "After more than 40 days in a coma," the pastor of the Bursa Protestant Church commented, "it's a miracle that Yakup is alive today." Cindilli's family reportedly wants his court case to conclude at the July 8 hearing, without trying to obtain compensation from his attackers for his long-term disabilities. But that decision now remains with Cindilli, who has recovered sufficiently to speak for himself. Despite pressures from his religiously conservative Muslim family to renounce his faith, "Yakup is very committed to stay faithful to Jesus, in spite of what happened," a member of the Bursa church noted.
Nigeria
Charisma News Service
A Christian lecturer from the country's northern region has disappeared after receiving a death sentence from a militant Muslim group. Andrew Akume is the dean of the faculty of law at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) in Zaria city, located in Kaduna State, Nigeria. The Islamist group at ABU passed the sentence on him in May and again last month, claiming he blasphemed Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, Compass Direct reported. Shortly before his disappearance, Akume submitted a petition to ABU authorities denying the accusations made against him by the militant Muslim group. Elsewhere, three students, who were expelled for sharing the gospel in November at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University in Bauchi, say their rights as Christians were violated by the school's authorities, Compass reported. According to the student's lawyer, Emmanuel Danboyi, the university's disciplinary committee, which investigated the case, was biased because it had 10 Muslims and only one Christian. Meanwhile, leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria submitted a memorandum to the nation's National Political Reform Conference on June 9, cataloging cases of persecution and discrimination against Christians. The leaders claim that while the Nigerian constitution professes a secular status for the nation, state governments in northern Nigeria are Islamic institutions that promote and propagate Islam using public funds. Twelve northern states have implemented Islamic law, Compass reported. (www.charismanews.com)
Originally published July 05, 2005.
