International
* MALAYSIA REVERSES ALLAH PAPER BAN - The
Malaysian government has reversed a decision to ban a Christian newspaper using the word
Allah to refer to God.
The government had threatened to refuse to give the Weekly Herald
a publishing permit if it continued to use the word.
The paper's editor said the word had long been used by Christians
to refer to God in the Malay language.
The ruling was immediately condemned by civil rights and Christian
groups in Malaysia, who said it infringed their right to practice their religion.
But Malaysia's internal security department demanded the word be
removed, saying only Muslims could use it.
Now the government has back-tracked.
In a fax to the Herald's editor, the government says it will get
its 2008 permit, with no conditions attached.
Father Andrew Lawrence told the BBC he was delighted, saying
prayers had been answered.
He blamed politics and a general election expected here in 2008
year for what he said were the actions of a few over-zealous ministers in the
Muslim-dominated Malay government.
Religious issues are highly sensitive in Malaysia, which has a 60%
Muslim population.
Religious freedom is guaranteed in the law but minority groups
have accused the Muslim Malay majority of trying to increase the role of Islam in the
country.
(BBC News, 30 Dec 2007) (to index)
* 'IN GOD WE TRUST' TO RETURN TO FACE OF $1 COIN
- The national motto “In God We Trust,” which is currently inscribed on the edge
of the presidential one dollar coins, will soon return to its original prominent position
on the front or the back of the coin.
Legislation sponsored by Sen. Sam Brownback to move “In God
We Trust” back to a prominent place on the coin was signed by President Bush on
Wednesday as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008.
The move of the inscription from the edges to the front or back of
the coin "shall be put into effect by the Secretary of the Treasury as soon as is
practicable,” according to the provision.
The Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005 introduced the $1 coins as a
way to honor the nation's presidents. The bill called for the size, weight and metal
composition of the presidential coins to be identical to that of the Sacagawea Golden
Dollar but relegated the "In God We Trust" motto to the edges to "allow
larger and more dramatic artwork" of the presidents' faces on the front and the
Statue of Liberty on the back.
Four coins featuring Presidents Washington, Adams, Jefferson and
Madison were issued this year.
But some coins made it through production without being stamped
with the motto and some experts say the edge-incused inscriptions could rub off over time.
Conservatives expressed concern that moving the motto from the face of the coin was the
first step to removing it altogether from the currency.
Those concerns coupled with public outcry led Brownback to
introduce legislation to reinstate the motto back to a more visible location on the coin.
"Since the colonial beginnings of the United States, citizens
of this nation have officially acknowledged their dependence on God," said Brownback
earlier this month. "It is important that our national motto, 'In God We Trust,' is
prominently displayed on all of our currency. We should not relegate our heritage to the
side."
The four-word motto was commissioned back in the Civil War era by
Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase upon the urging of the American public,
including a church minister, to recognize the Deity on United States coins, according to
the U.S. Treasury Department's website.
In a letter, Chase instructed the Director of the Mint at
Philadelphia to prepare a motto, stating, "No nation can be strong except in the
strength of God, or safe except in His defense. The trust of our people in God should be
declared on our national coins."
“In God We Trust” began appearing on coins in 1864.
Congress passed a law in 1955 requiring all U.S. currency to carry "In God We
Trust" and approved the phrase as the national motto in 1956.
Earlier this month, an appeals court heard arguments challenging
the motto's inclusion on U.S. currency. The lawsuit, which was filed by self-proclaimed
atheist Michael Newdow in 2005, has not been decided yet.
The recently approved bill also creates six new quarters honoring
six districts or territories in the United States and will be released in 2009 in the
following order: the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American
Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands.
(The Christian Post, 30 Dec 2007) (to index)
* CHRISTIANITY'S EDGE OVER ISLAM IN HOLY BOOK WAR
- Believers of Christianity and Islam are competing to spread their respective holy book
around the world, but distributors of the Bible have some advantages over the Koran.
The Bible is translated into 2,426 languages (complete or in part)
and counting, including 900 English versions ranging from street slang to comic book-like
translations, according to The Economist. On the other hand, the Koran is disadvantaged by
the belief by some that the word of God must not be changed, even translation-wise.
Although most Muslims now accept translation of the Koran, it is
still widely held that reading and memorizing the Koran in Arabic is superior. There are
only 20 English versions of the Koran compared to the nearly 1,000 versions of the Bible
in the same language.
Another advantage of the Bible is the sheer larger quantity of
Bibles distributed compared to the Koran. Over 100 million copies of the Bibles are sold
or given away each year.
In comparison, oil-rich Saudi Arabia, the main player in the
printing and distribution of the Koran and Islamic teaching materials, gives away some 30
million Korans a year around the world through the Muslim World League or wealthy
individuals.
Bible distribution is helped by Christian missionaries who work to
spread the Gospel to every tribe and tongue. Through the missionaries, the Word of God has
reached even the most remote jungles in the world.
While evangelism in Islam exists, it is largely confined to
regions where the religion is already strong and less active in regions where people have
never heard of Islam before. In other words, Islam’s growth is more dependent on
internal population growth than conversion.
(The Christian Post, 31 Dec 2007) (to index)
* BIBLE CONTROVERSY REFLECTS GRIM REALITY OF
CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION IN CHINA - As China prepares to host the 2008 Olympic Games, a
recent debate of whether athletes will have personal access to Bibles during their stay in
Beijing sparked international controversy.
An announcement stated that the country intended to ban Bibles for
security reasons, as well as all religious symbols in the Olympic Village -- a report that
came on the heels of China's official pledge to encourage religion during the 2008 Games.
The news outraged human rights groups as well as U.S. politicians,
including Senator Lindsey Graham, who contacted the Chinese ambassador for an explanation
of the Bible ban, and House Representative Thaddeus McCotter, who introduced a resolution
condemning the attack on Christianity.
But representatives from China have dismissed the report as an
unfounded rumor, claiming that the government has not imposed any such rule and will
guarantee religious freedom during the Olympic Games.
While the U.S. Olympic Committee has received confirmation that
visiting athletes, journalists and tourists will in fact be allowed to bring Bibles into
Beijing for personal use, the mere possibility of the ban's existence has been seen as yet
another attempt by the Chinese government to suppress religious freedom within its
borders, despite its repeated claims to the contrary.
Although the "underground" church in China has grown by
the millions in recent years, the printing and distribution of Bibles in the communist
nation remains severely restricted. Reports also indicate that more than 100 foreign
Christians have recently been expelled from the country in a 90-day period -- one of the
government's largest assaults on Christianity since 1954.
Christian Freedom International (CFI), a Michigan-based nonprofit
organization dedicated to assisting persecuted Christians, is encouraging all believers to
pray for the persecuted church in China.
As the international community keeps a watchful eye on a country
still defending itself against a long history of religious and human rights abuses, even
as it prepares to welcome the world to the 2008 Olympic Games, CFI is challenging
Christians everywhere to remember those in China who routinely suffer harassment, torture
and even martyrdom for their faith.
Under the direction of CFI president Jim Jacobson, a former White
House policy analyst, CFI has "smuggled" thousands of Bibles into China since
1996. But with less than half of all Chinese Christians currently owning a copy of the
Bible, and as the country's "underground" church continues to grow in record
numbers, the demand for Bibles remains overwhelming.
To learn more about CFI's Bible deliveries in China, or to learn
more about Christian persecution worldwide, visit www.christianfreedom.com.
(ChristianNewsWire, 27 Dec 2007) (to index)
