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- Appeals Court drops suit challenging National Day of Prayer
- Social networks help retired Christians pray for missions
- Unique book on global Christianity from ancient beginnings to current times
- Christian leaders slam burning of Quran
| Appeals Court drops suit challenging National Day of Prayer Posted: 15 Apr 2011 10:23 PM PDT
A federal appeals court ruled recently 3-0 to throw out a lower court decision that stated that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional. The three-judge panel decided on Thursday that the U.S. president has the right to proclaim the National Day of Prayer, and as a result overturned last year’s ruling by U.S. district judge Barbara Crabb, which deemed the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional, the AP said. The unanimous decision by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stated that private citizens, including the Freedom From Religious Foundation, do not have legal standing to challenge the National Day of Prayer, which is simply one of the duties of the U.S. president rather than a demand. The panel noted the oftentimes the president urges citizens to do things they would otherwise perhaps not do, especially concerning political issues. The Republican Party however has no personality to sue the president if he talks to supporters or tries to persuade the undecided, the AP said. The three-judge panel noted that while some may not agree with the president’s proclaiming a National Day of Prayer, neither are they harmed by it, adding, “a feeling of alienation cannot suffice as injury,” Christianity Today reported. As an example the ruling, penned by Chief Judge Frank Easterbrook noted that God is mentioned seven times and prayer, three times in the second inaugural address of President Abraham Lincoln, the AP said. Easterbrook wrote, “The address is chiseled in stone at the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall. An argument that the prominence of these words injures every citizen, and that the Judicial Branch could order them to be blotted out, would be dismissed as preposterous,” the AP reported. In April 2010 Crabb ruled that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional and calls for religious action. Crabb said the government cannot enact a law that supports a day of prayer, neither can it require citizens to fast for Ramadan or go to a synagogue, the AP said. The Appeals court said a lawful presidential proclamation is a request, not a command of the public. The three-judge panel wrote, “If anyone suffers injury…that person is the president, who is not complaining,” USA Today reported. The court ruling, penned by Chief Judge Frank Easterbrook stated, “Those who do not agree with a president’s statement may speak in opposition to it; they are not entitled to silence the speech of which they disapprove,” according to USA Today. The ruling also said that a National Day of Prayer does not obligate people to pray, “any more than a person would be obliged to hand over his money if the President asked all citizens to support the Red Cross or other charities,” the AP reported. Rehearing sought The Freedom from Religion Foundation told USA Today that the ruling is in violation of the Constitutional prohibition of the establishment of religion by government. They told USA Today that they will seek a rehearing by a full panel of judges in the circuit court. Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the FFRF said, “ the decision is part of an ominous trend in the federal courts to deny Americans the right to challenge church-state violations,” the AP reported. Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council lauded the ruling saying, “The court is to be commended for rejecting even the idea of a federal lawsuit that demands this kind of religious expression be scrubbed from the public square,” USA Today reported. The National Day of Prayer was established in 1952 by Congress, and signed by President Truman. In 1988 it was determined that every first Thursday of May the president may issue a proclamation asking the people to pray, the AP said. This year many Christians are marking May 5 with plans to hold celebrations for the National Day of Prayer nationwide, according to USA Today. |
| Social networks help retired Christians pray for missions Posted: 15 Apr 2011 09:59 PM PDT
Online social networks are useful for retired Christians as a means to pray for missionaries, seek prayer in return, and stay and Ed Cox, director of International Mission Board’s Office of Global Prayer Strategy told the Baptist Press that online networks is a key form of influence building, and it should be used to do God’s work. Cox told Baptist Press that he hopes that Christians will tap social networks to build the much-needed prayer power that is necessary to back up missionary work noting, “[Social networking] is a major communication force within society.” Cox told Baptist Press, “I really became convinced that if we were going to communicate with Southern Baptists we need to be where they are … and they are on Facebook. They are on Twitter.” The Baptist Press noted that among the fastest growing age groups on Facebook is women aged 55 or older, recent studies show. To date, Facebook has over 500 million users. One of them, June Livingstone, 79, became hooked on Facebook because of CompassionNet, which has a page on the social network where requests of missionaries and updates on their activities are posted, Baptist Press said. Livingstone, who used to be an active missionary, visits the page daily and comments regularly. She told Baptist Press, “I can’t travel very much anymore, but I like to pray. I think it does me more good than it does [the missionaries].” CompassionNet has a prayer app which lets people access it from iPhones, iPads and Android phones as well. The APP includes videos, MP3 prayer guides and missionary blog excerpts, Baptist Press said. The prayer site is one of the endeavors of IMB’s Office of Global Prayer Strategy. Livingstone told Baptist Press that although she uses Facebook to catch up with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, most of her time is spent at CompassionNet, Baptist Press said. A review of Compassion Net’s website shows that they have a strong focus on prayer, including prayer threads, prayer requests, prayer line, KOMpray for children, prayer products, and others. The website’s home page is filled with regular updates on the situation in Japan, but there are also sections for people around the world, healthcare connections, stories, videos and photos, among others. Of interest is its resources section which shows, among others, a Kingdom Women Kit to show how God uses women to make himself known to unbelievers, The Camel Workshop which shows how to minister to Muslims and how to ride a camel, and the book, Unveiled at Last: Discover God’s Hidden Message from Genesis to Revelation, the website said. But social networking, Cox said, has a special role because it serves as a way to encourage missionaries on the field. “I think the powerful thing behind Facebook, as opposed to our e-newsletters and our website, is the fact that people have the opportunity to interact,” Cox told Baptist Press. To date, CompassionNet on Facebook has 3,100 friends, but Cox told Baptist Press that considering there are 16 million Southern Baptists, the potential is rich and largely untapped. |
| Unique book on global Christianity from ancient beginnings to current times Posted: 13 Apr 2011 10:16 PM PDT
A new book is on the market that tracks the history of Christianity from a global perspective—a diversion from the normal coverage of the faith as primarily a Western phenomenon. The book, Christianity: The Illustrated Guide to 2,000 Years of the Christian Faith, goes further back in time covering the little-known Nestorian Christians up to current Christian phenomena including the Evangelical movement, the First Vatican Council and televangelism, among others, according to its website. Christianity: The Illustrated Guide is published by Millennium House and authored by various religious experts. Its chief consultant is Prof. Ann Marie Bahr, Department of Philosophy and Religion, South Dakota State University, Newswise said. The book is an illustrated guide to 2,000 years of history in Christianity, featuring miracles, martyrs, major figures, ideas, faith, events, literature, music, feasts, festivals and mysteries, according to the website. The book also has superb illustrations including art, architecture, and detailed maps. There are also special features on prayer, church music, Christian tradition, Christian experience and the bible, the website said. Bahr, who was with the Religion in the Schools Task Force of the American Academy of Religion until 2008, told Newswise the reference book is the first of its kind with its comprehensive coverage. “Millennium House came to me with the idea of doing a high-quality illustrated reference work for libraries on Christianity,” she said. However, she felt the original book outline focused too much on Christianity from the western historical viewpoint, and suggested that it instead provides a global history of faith, “something that would show how Christianity came to different parts of the world, and when, and how it developed there, and what the status is of Christianity in all parts of the world now,” Bahr told Newswise. Noting that academics today are more interested in a global picture of Christian history, Bahr told Newswise, “[A]s far as I know, this is the first reference book to use this approach anywhere in the world to telling the history of Christianity.” Because of this, readers see beyond the misconception that the Christian faith is only a phenomenon of the West. Bahr told Newswise, “It was definitely an attempt to break down this monolithic sense of what the history of Christianity has been and to incorporate the different perspectives of Christians around the world. The story of Christianity cannot be told from a single geographic vantage point.” Nestorian Christians Bahr told Newswise that Christianity reached China earlier than what is commonly known through the efforts of the Nestorian Christians, among the earliest and lesser-known missionaries who no longer are in existence today. Bahr said to Newswise, “Christianity went east before it went west, to a great extent. It’s very relevant to us today because it was along that route that they first met, for example, with Buddhists.” Noting that religions play a major role in shaping society, Bahr said understanding faith is a major task for 21st century globalism. She told Newswise, “[W]hat we will be in the future really depends upon whether these traditions can talk to each other, both internally — their differences within each tradition — and externally — the differences between them.” According to the website, the reference book includes writings on the more recent developments of Christianity including the Evangelicals, radical Christianity, the First Vatican Council, the Roman Catholic doctrine of papal infallibility, the spread of the others. |
| Christian leaders slam burning of Quran Posted: 13 Apr 2011 10:02 PM PDT
Two Christian leaders said recently that the act of burning the Quran by Terry Jones, a Christian pastor has produced more harm than good, and doing so is the wrong way to express disagreement with the Islamic faith. Nasir Saeed, UK Coordinator of the Center for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement, wrote in Christian Today that Pakistani Christians have long lived in fear of losing their lives and wellbeing, but now they must also deal with “retaliation for [Terry] Jones’ actions.” Saeed, who through CLAAS provides free legal services to Christians in Pakistan, said that Jones’ imprudence must not become justification for hindering Christian-Muslim relations in the Muslim-majority nation, he wrote in Christian Today. Golden Rule Dr. Jerry Newcombe, author of some 21 books and senior producer of the TV program The Coral Ridge Hour, noted in his Crosswalk article that the act has led to riots in Afghanistan and beheadings of some Westerners, among others. Newcombe wrote in Crosswalk, “[T]he pastor is ill-advised to burn [the Quran]. Since Jesus is the one who originated the Golden Rule, and since the pastor would not want a Muslim to burn the Bible, then I don’t think he should burn anyone’s holy book, either.” Despite condemnation of the act by President Barack Obama as well as the United Nations, Muslim anger continues to run high, especially in Pakistan, Saeed wrote in Christian Today, saying Christians in Pakistan have “been attacked and lives have been needlessly lost.” Extreme response as religious duty Such extreme reaction continues to surprise the West, even after the response “of Pakistani Muslims towards the Danish cartoons, fitna and now Terry Jones,” Saeed wrote in Christian Today, adding that this shows “how easily agitated they can become if they feel their religion has not been given proper respect.” Saeed wrote in Christian Today that such violent response is not deemed criminal in Pakistan but is seen more as religious duty, citing the example of Malik Qadri (personal bodyguard of Punjab Gov. Salman Taseer), who was hailed for killing his boss because Taseer wanted to amend Pakistan’s blasphemy law. Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti was also assassinated for supporting a bill to amend the blasphemy law. Sherry Rehman, who authored the bill has now withdrawn it, Saeed wrote in Christian Today. Different laws Saeed wrote in Christian Today that in the US it is not a crime to burn any holy book. However in Pakistan doing so carries a life imprisonment term, as stated in Section 295 B in Pakistan’s Penal Code. Akhtar Hussein was charged for burning a bible, violating Section 295A, which is “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs,” Saeed wrote in Christian Today. Still, Saeed wrote in Christian Today, “The charge carries up to 10 years in prison and a fine, but seeing as almost every policeman in Pakistan is a Muslim and they have a tendency to protect their own, it is unlikely he will be handed such a punishment.” Saeed said nonetheless that by Jones’ burning the Quran, “the result is not to make hard-line Muslims reconsider their unreasonable attitudes towards Christians, but rather to radicalize them even further.” Saeed suggested in Crosswalk that a collaborative response by the international community could help to show that “needlessly insulting the religious sentiments of any faith community in the name of freedom of expression and free speech is … unacceptable.” Saeed also said Muslim leaders should teach followers to respect other religions, and work to calm emotions and condemn the killing of Christians and demolishing of Christian homes and schools. Newcombe wrote in Crosswalk that burning the Quran is wrong because, “All that does is close the door further to Muslims potentially interested in the message of Jesus. |
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