Germany: Chancellor faces Muslim wrath
Chancellor Angela Merkel praised what she described as 'the bravery' of a Danish cartoonist who caricatured the prophet Mohammed at an award ceremony honouring his achievements for freedom of speech. Praising illustrator Kurt Westergaard, she said '(he) has had to fear for his life since the publication of the cartoons in 2005.' Merkel emphasized that media freedom is an important element of rights in Europe. 'It does not matter if we think his cartoons are tasteful or not, if we think they are necessary and helping or not'. The question, she said, was, 'Is he allowed to do this? Yes, he is.' There have been at least three attempted attacks on the 75-year-old Westergaard or his Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, since he and 11 other artists angered Muslims around the world by creating the cartoons four years ago. Muslim protesters have burned Danish and other Western embassies. Pray: that Muslim sensitivities in non-Muslim countries be more attuned and less radical to local customs and conventions. (Ps.35:4-6)
USA: Pastor 'suspends' Qur’an burning
A Christian pastor in the US state of Florida has called off and then threatened to reconsider plans to burn copies of the Muslim holy book in a bonfire on Saturday to mark the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington, DC. The event had been roundly criticised and stoked fears of violence around the globe. (e.g. see below) Rev Terry Jones said on Thursday that he made the decision to cancel the event because the leader of a planned Islamic centre near the so-called Ground Zero site in New York had agreed to move its location. However, the developers behind the planned Islamic centre said they had not agreed to any such deal. During a televised news conference on Thursday, Jones called on others not to burn copies of the Qur’an. He said instead, he would fly to New York to speak with Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the head of the planned New York Islamic centre. Pray: that this proposed disrespectful action will not go ahead and that God would over-rule here and in other similar situations. (1Pe.2:17) More: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/09/20109921337885578.html
India: Church threatened over Qur'an burning
Christians have sought protection for a church in Madhya Pradesh state after an anonymous letter threatened to blast it if the Dove World Outreach Centre in Florida went ahead with its plan to burn Qur'ans on Sept. 11 to mark the ninth anniversary of terror attacks in the United States. The letter posted on Aug. 31 threatened to blast the Church of North India’s Bethlehem Church situated in Bhopal, the state capital. The church’s pastor Rev Sanjay Solomon told ucanews.com that the letter would hold the church ‘responsible’ if a Qur'an was burned. The church authorities ‘immediately approached’ the police for protection. Archbishop Leo Cornelio of Bhopal said he had already met Muslim leaders in the city soon after media first reported about the Qur’an burning plan early last month. The Archbishop said Christian groups condemn the plan because burning a Holy Book ‘is a serious crime that cannot be pardoned.’ Pray: against such actions that are done in the name of Christ the Prince of Peace. (Lk.10:19) More: http://www.cathnewsindia.com/2010/09/08/church-threatened-over-qur%E2%80%99an-burning/
India: Christians detained on 'false hope' accusation
A pastor and two other Christians who were attacked by extremists have been charged with 'outraging the religious feelings' of others. Pastor Dilip Chakravarty, Ganga Ram and Shankar Lal of the Church of God in Chhattisgarh have been held at Dhamtari district jail since police arrested them on Aug. 29. Police officers were acting on a complaint made by Hindu extremists who accused the Christians of 'forcible conversion' by offering 'money and false hope'. The extremists had already taken the law into their own hands by launching several attacks on the Christians, which had reportedly left Ganga and Shankar with fractures to their hands and legs. The extremists had also tried to force the pair to return to Hinduism. The three Christians have now been charged with 'deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion'. Local Christian leaders strongly deny the church was involved in 'forcible conversion'. Pray: that Christians would be led by the Holy Spirit and protected from these accusations. (Nu.14:9)
