Campaign for a real Christmas: Religious leaders unite against political correctness

Well Done. This make sense any attempts to suppress Christmas bring a backlash and Muslims get the blame. Like we heard earlier that some local authority attempts to stamp out Christmas include Birmingham’s decision to name its seasonal celebrations ‘Winterval’ and Luton’s attempt to change Christmas into a Harry Potter festival by renaming its festive lights ‘Luminos’ just appease particular community. Any more attempts similar to these will have bigger backlash. Christmas causes no offence to minority faiths, banning it offends almost everybody. Merry Christmas to all in advance.

A campaign to save the traditions of Christmas from the interference of politically correct town halls was launched by an influential coalition of Christian and Muslim leaders yesterday.

Leaders of the two faiths warned that attempts to suppress Christmas bring a backlash and Muslims get the blame.

technorati tags: Christmas, Christian, Church, Religion, Festival, UK, United Kingdom, Islam, Jesus

Qaeda says Pope wants to pull Turkey from Islam-Web

I still don’t understand why can’t these people use some brains and appreciate some one else work too.

DUBAI, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Iraq’s al Qaeda wing on Wednesday condemned Pope Benedict’s visit to Turkey as part of a crusade against Islam aimed at pulling Turkey away from the Muslim world.

“The visit of the Pope in reality is meant to add momentum to the crusader campaign on the land of Islam after the failures of crusader leaders,” the al Qaeda-led “Islamic State in Iraq” said in a statement posted on the Internet. It said his visit to the predominantly Muslim country was “an attempt to extinguish the flame of Islam among our Muslim brothers in Turkey and to wipe out their Islamic heritage… and to guarantee that they stay in the quagmire of secularism established by … (Kemal) Ataturk”.

technorati tags: Al Qaeda, Terrorist, Terrorism, Islam, Religion, Islamic, Turkey, Pope,

India’s Christians dig deep for graveyard plot

Cemeteries in India are either full or nearing capacity and Christian’s citizens make up less than 2 percent of India’s 1.1 billion people are already casting about for places to bury their dead, Reuters reported. The shortage of burial space is tied to the many factors, government denial to offer more land saying other religious groups would make similar demands, second growth of Christianity in some states of India due to the conversion to some low caste Hindus and third restriction on building a new cemetery due to environmental restrictions. Many people are forced to pay fortune to book a plot for the family members and for themselves too. Like in Bihar one of the most poorer state of India asking people to donate up to 60,000 rupees to reserve plots. So for now, that’s the sorry state of affairs in India.

KOLKATA, India (Reuters) - India’s Christians are running out of space to bury their dead, leading some to pay small fortunes to book their final resting place in a relative’s grave.

Churches are asking people to empty remains from graves of family members who died more than 25 years ago and store them in specially created vaults, a senior official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India told Reuters.

“We foresee a major crisis across India and are asking people to empty graves and shift the remains,” said Donald H.R. De Souza, a former deputy secretary general of the conference.

 

 

technorati tags: Religion, Dead, Christ, Christian, Christianity, India, News, Current Affairs, India Happenings

Christian Population Falls in Holy Land

The number of Christians who live in the area where their religion began is in decline. Growing numbers of Christians are leaving the lands where their religion began. Their reasons are different; varying sometimes by sect, sometimes by nationality–but the change is unmistakable. A hundred years ago, Christians made up 25 percent of the population in the Middle East. Today, estimates put that number at about six percent and falling. Call it part of a modern mass departure, the steady flight of the tiny Palestinian Christian minority that could lead, some predict, to the faith being virtually extinct in its birthplace within several generations. The protection of Christians in Islamic-majority countries is one of the most delicate problems facing the Church. So question is Vatican’s top foreign policy official are listening about this “particularly unhappy” situation of the decline of Christians in the Middle East?

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — The death threat came on simple white fliers blowing down the streets at dawn. A group calling itself “Friends of Muhammad” accused a local Palestinian Christian of selling mobile phones carrying offensive sketches of the Muslim prophet.

The message went on to curse all Arab Christians and Pope Benedict XVI, still struggling to calm Muslim outrage from his remarks on Islam.

While neighbors defended the merchant - saying the charges in the flier were bogus - the frightened phone dealer went into hiding, feeling less than satisfied with authorities’ conclusion that the Oct. 19 note was probably a harmless rant.

technorati tags: Christian, Religion, Jesus, Church, Vatican, Christianity, Faith, Bible, Middle East, Islam, Islamic, Islamism

Head of US evangelicals quits over gay sex claims

The Rev Ted Haggard one of biggest supporter of George Bush and very strong opponent of same sex marriage has resigned after he was accused of paying for sex with a man. He said he is resigning voluntarily so that investigations against him about accusations of paying for sex with man can go smoothly and with integrity. Good Decision. Let see what will be the outcomes. But one thing is for sure if this proves right  than its a matter of great concern for US and for society as whole.

The leader of America’s powerful National Association of Evangelicals, a vocal supporter of George Bush and opponent of same-sex marriage, has resigned after being accused of paying for sex with a man.

The Rev Ted Haggard, a married father of five who is seen as one of the most influential conservative Christians in the nation, vigorously denied the allegations but said he could not “continue to minister under the cloud created by the accusations.”

He also temporarily stepped aside from his position as head of the New Life Church in Colarado Springs – which has 14,000 members - while a church panel investigates the claims.

“I am voluntarily stepping aside from leadership so that the overseer process can be allowed to proceed with integrity. I hope to be able to discuss this matter in more detail at a later date”, he said in a written statement.

Mr Haggard, who was appointed president of the 30 million-member association in March 2003, insisted the claims were untrue, saying: “I have never had a gay relationship with anybody, and I’m steady with my wife, I’m faithful to my wife.”

technorati tags: evangelicals, Catholicism, Christianity, spirituality, christian, christianity, Religion

Priest burns himself to death over Islam

After the cancellation of a Mozart opera in Berlin amid fears that it could provoke Muslim violence, and a speech by the Pope in September in which he quoted from a medieval text linking the spread of the Islamic faith to violence the relations between two communities become a intense matter of debate. This sort of things is a matter of great concern as it might bring more difference and hatred between communities.

A retired priest committed suicide by setting himself on fire in a German monastery in protest at the spread of Islam and the Protestant Church’s inability to contain it.

Roland Weisselberg, 73, poured a can of petrol over his head and set light to himself in the grounds of the Augustine monastery in the eastern city of Erfurt, where Martin Luther spent six years as a monk at the beginning of the 16th century.

Witnesses said that Weisselberg climbed into a building site next to the monastery church, where a Reformation Day service was being held. He shouted “Jesus and Oskar” before the flames engulfed him. The latter name was an apparent reference to Oskar Brüsewitz, a priest who burnt himself in 1976 in protest against the Communist regime in East Germany. Monastery staff tried to put out the flames and Weisselberg was still conscious as a nun prayed with him before he was taken to hospital. He died a day later, on Wednesday.

technorati tags: Religion, Islam, Christianity, Church, Europe, Germany, Islamism,

Pope confirms Turkey trip

When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going!

You have often heard this inspiring saying. But what truly helps us get through the tough part is our determination.

The Vatican has confirmed that Pope Benedict XVI will visit Turkey next month, allaying fears the trip may have been cancelled after his recent remarks about Islam provoked protests around the world.

The Vatican press office said on Sunday that the visit, the pope’s first to a Muslim country since taking office in April last year, would take place from November 28 to December 1.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state, said in a religious television programme that “the desire of the pope, the holy see and the Catholic church is to continue dialogue”, the Ansa news agency reported.

Catholics and Muslims can and should share values “which are essential for the fate and future of humanity”, he said, adding that this was what should be read into the pope’s address last month.

technorati tags: Pope, Church, Christianity, Islam, Religion, Turkey,

British Government Accused of Favoring Muslims

Right or Wrong? Only Time will say !!

CBN News — The Church of England is accusing the British government of favoring Muslims, while side-lining Christians.

In a scathing letter, the church says the government is showing preferential treatment to Muslims.

The church said in some cases taxpayer money is used to promote Islam.

The British government is pushing to integrate minority faiths into society.

Author and journalist, David Virtue, has tackled Anglican issues for years.

He says the government’s multi-faith efforts are a big mistake since 72 percent of Britons call themselves Christians.

technorati tags: Christinaity, Church, Islam, Muslims, UK, Politics, News

Iraq priest ‘killed over pope speech’

The relatives of a Christian priest who was kidnapped and beheaded in Iraq have said that his Muslim captors had demanded his church condemn the pope’s recent comments about Islam and pay a US$350,000 ransom.

They were speaking as more than 500 people attended a memorial service on Thursday for father Amer Iskender after his decapitated body was found in an industrial area of the northern city of Mosul on Wednesday.

Iskender was a priest at the St. Ephrem Orthodox church in Mosul.

“He was a good man and we all shed tears for him … He was a man of peace,” said Eman Saaur, a 45-year-old schoolteacher who said she attended Iskender’s church regularly.

Pope apology demanded

Iskender’s relatives, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, said the unidentified group that seized Iskender on Sunday had demanded a ransom and that his church condemn a statement made by Pope Benedict XVI last month.

technorati tags: Islam, Islamic, Radicals, Pope, Church, Iraq

The Church says ‘privileged attention’ has been given to the Islamic faith

Is our government listening? Is the government “Faith” policy is only to please particular faith and Religion? Why we are too scared to talk about it?

In a wide-ranging condemnation of policy, it says that the attempt to make minority “faith” communities more integrated has backfired, leaving society “more separated than ever before”. The criticisms are made in a confidential Church document, leaked to The Sunday Telegraph, that challenges the “widespread description” of Britain as a multi-faith society and even calls for the term “multi-faith” to be reconsidered.

It claims that divisions between communities have been deepened by the Government’s “schizophrenic” approach to tackling multiculturalism. While trying to encourage interfaith relations, it has actually given “privileged attention” to the Islamic faith and Muslim communities.

technorati tags: UK, Islam, Muslims, Church, England, Religion, Christianity