Indian Christians are celebrating the result of recent elections in Karnataka, a southwestern state known for having the highest rates of violence against Christians. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a Hindu nationalist party which supports extremist groups, has finally lost power "after nine years of unchallenged rule."

Proposed legislation designed to prevent the spread of cults in Sri Lanka could impact the ministries of evangelical churches in the island nation.

Update (May 9): Christians took a "bold political stand" in the run-up to Malaysia's significant elections last weekend, notes World Watch Monitor in a thorough report.

Churches were particularly incensed by the latest slur on their faith. Pro-Government election billboards plastered prominent pictures of churches with a message in the Malay language declaring: “Do you want to see your grandchildren praying in Allah’s house? … [Not] if we allow Allah to be used by churches.”

The blatant attempt to pit Muslims against Christians and resurrect Umno’s ban on churches using the word ‘Allah’ to denote their God has outraged the Christian Federation of Malaysia. In an outspoken statement on Tuesday, its chairman, Rev Eu Hong Seng, demanded that the authorities “act swiftly to douse the sparks of such religious fear-mongering from catching fire once more”.

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Update (May 3): With election day set for this Sunday, May 5, churches in Malaysia are starting to campaign for worshipers to vote, Malaysia Insider reports. Churches previously had complained that election officials set election day on a Sunday in order to discourage Christians from voting.

Meanwhile, the Pew Research Center reports that "82 percent of Malaysians said they were satisfied with the way things were going in the country, up from 76 percent in 2007."
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In predominantly Muslim Malaysia, where only 10 percent of residents are Christian, believers are taking a new approach when it comes to politics: They're running on the Islamic party's ticket.

Update (May 10): Asia News reports that the United Jihad Council (UJC), a militant Islamist group, is warning Christian missionaries to leave Kashmir, the only Indian state with a Muslim majoirty. Sadagat Hussain Syed, a UJC spokesman, accuses Christians of offering economic help to poverty-stricken Indians if they convert and says missionaries "will suffer the consequences" if they do not leave.
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Now is not the time to visit Kashmir if you're a Christian tourist. AsiaNews reports that local Christians—but especially foreigners—in the picturesque but contested Indian state are increasingly in danger of anti-conversion violence.

Update (May 6): Forum 18 reports that Kazakhstan's proposed State Programme to Counter Religious Extremism and Terrorism will severely restrict religious freedom in the country. The 21-page document contains 74 recommended measures to tighten government involvement in religion, including state oversight of "publication and distribution of all religious works, sharing faith, foreign religious study and places of worship."

Forum 18 also reported in late April that the Agency for Religious Affairs has instructed members of faith communities in Kazakhstan not to talk about their faith or be reported to the police.
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Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Russia have more in common than just shared borders in Central Asia: All three are states where recently "courts have ordered religious literature to be destroyed," Forum 18 reports.

As India draws fresh international attention over the recent gang rape of a Swiss tourist, International Justice Mission (IJM) is proclaiming a "landmark" legal victory against sex trafficking in Kolkata.

The founding pastor of the world's largest Pentecostal congregation could be indicted on charges of breach of trust for costing the church more than $9 million in a stock scheme gone awry.

A short-term missions trip with Vision Beyond Borders (VBB) isn't your average STM. Volunteers aren't working in orphanages or building houses; they're smuggling Bibles.

Two local governors are asking the Japanese central government to submit a list of Christian locations to UNESCO for World Heritage status—the first time Japan will honor Nagasaki's Christian past in this way.

Update (Jan. 24): World Watch Monitors offers an in-depth report here. Meanwhile the Vatican is opening the equivalent of an embassy in Malaysia.

Update (Jan. 23): Reuters reports that an independent member of Malaysia's parliament has issued a call to "seize and burn copies of Bibles which use the word 'Allah' to refer to God."

But Ibrahim Ali, whose political group supports the rights of the ethnic Malay Muslim majority could face charges under various laws, Malaysia's Bar Council said. Whether or not Ali is prosecuted, though, his call to burn Bibles foreshadows "an intense election struggle as the country prepares for an election which must be called by April."
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Jesus is getting the Bollywood treatment in a new Indian TV series.

Update (Feb. 7): Morning Star News reports that Vietnam's new religion law, which requires a 23-year minimum for new churches to receive legal recognition, could end its house church movement. An attempt by the nation's oldest evangelical denominations to reunite this year after being split by its 1950s civil war has also been blocked.

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Vietnam has long been known as one of the U.S. State Department's "countries of particular concern" for its repression of religious freedom. And beginning January 1, a new decree could strengthen its notoriety.

(Update: The outgoing South Korean government has granted permission for the Christmas lights to be displayed for the first time in nine years.)

The Military Evangelical Association of Korea has agreed to suspend its annual display of Christmas lights amid fears that it might provoke a decidedly Scrooge-like military response from North Korea.

An Indian court has convicted 12 people for "arson, rioting and the torching of houses" in Orissa in 2008. The attack, which killed 90 people and displaced over 50,000 others, was "India's deadliest anti-Christian violence in decades" and ranked No. 3 on CT's Top 10 Religion News Stories of 2008.

Christians now comprise 1.4 percent of Nepal's population of 26 million, according to the Himalayan nation's first-ever census.

Editor's note: This article has been corrected to reflect that shari'ah law will not apply to Christians living in Bangsamoro.)

A major turning point in tense Muslim-Christian relations in the southern Philippines may be at hand following a recent announcement from President Benigno S. Aquino III.

When you live on an island, there's only so much available space to bury bodies. And as cemeteries start to fill up in the Philippines, many Filipinos are turning to cremation as a "convenient" and "viable alternative," according to Lingayen-Dagupan archbishop emeritus Oscar Cruz.

Update (Feb. 19): AsiaNews notes that a second Muslim-Christian ticket is poised to win another important political post in Indonesia. According to the article, "Voters appear drawn to tickets that include moderate Muslim and Christian candidates, hoping that they might bring good government in places where officials have tended to pursue their own personal or business interests."

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Yesterday Jakarta, capital of the world's most-populous Muslim country, officially installed its new leadership—including deputy governor Basuki Tjahaja, a Christian with Chinese origins.

But the inauguration, originally scheduled for Oct. 7, has not taken place without opposition. Government sources cited an administrative delay last week when they rescheduled the event, but Asia News reports that the delay was "due to protests by extremists who want non-Muslims banned from all key positions of responsibility."

Adding credence to this theory: the discovery yesterday of two policemen murdered as they investigated the bombing of a Christian politician's home.

Update (February 5): According to Bhutan's Gross National Happiness (GNH) index, approximately two-thirds of the country's 742,000-person population is "sufficiently happy." Yet, Sajan George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), is speaking out against the GNH, arguing that the country should turn its attention to the religious freedom violations occurring against Christians.

GNH is based on four "pillars": sustainable development, cultural values, natural environment and good governance. Formally, Bhutan guarantees religious freedom to its citizens, but anti-conversion laws and policies banning religions other than Buddhism have been on the rise since 2010, making it increasingly hard to be a Christian in Bhutan.

Meanwhile, Asia News also reports that Bible sales among non-Christians in neighboring Nepal have doubled.
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The state government of Karnataka, near Banaglore, India, will not allow a Catholic organization to remain on 45 acres of land where it has worked for 30 years.

The Sumanahalli Society will be left with only five acres for its ministry, which currently utilizes 50 buildings and works with 400 people who are otherwise outcasts from Indian society: lepers, HIV patients, disabled, orphans and street kids, and juvenile delinquents.

A state high court recently ruled in favor of greater religious freedom in India's most Hindu state, striking down certain restrictions outlined in Himachal Pradesh's Freedom of Religion Act 2006 as unconstitutional.

The act previously required that individuals in the northern Indian state, which borders Kashmir, wishing to convert to a different religion give 30 days notice to the district magistrate. However, in response to a legal challenge by the Evangelical Fellowship of India, a two-judge panel ruled that every Indian citizen "has a right not only to follow his own beliefs but also has a right to change his beliefs."

(Editor's note: Morningstar News offers an updated report on the church's situation.)

A West Java church which has become emblematic of record-breaking religious intolerance in Indonesia will now be relocated by the Indonesian government.

Taman Yasmin Indonesian Christian Church (GKI Yasmin) legally acquired permission to build a church in Bogor in 2006 but has been shuttered for years due to opposition from neighboring Muslim extremists. The Constitutional Court, the archipelago's equivalent of the U.S. Supreme Court, ruled in 2011 that the church be allowed to occupy its building. The mayor of Bogor refused to comply.

Controversy surrounding the arrest of a young Christian girl with Down Syndrome on blasphemy charges may be the start of the end of Pakistan's notorious blasphemy law — at least, such are the hopes of religious freedom groups worldwide.

Today a judge delayed bail for Rimsha Masih, arrested earlier this month on blasphemy charges, questioning the validity of a medical report confirming the girl's age and mental condition. Masih's lawyer is confident she will be released on bail later this week. However, he expects the case will take years to resolve.

After 14 years of debate, the Philippines' congress voted this week to move forward on a controversial health bill that would mandate sex education in schools and use government funds to subsidize the cost of contraceptives.

The Reproductive Health Bill calls for the Philippines' Department of Health to provide “medically safe, legal, accessible, affordable and effective reproductive health care services nationwide,” as well as require “age-appropriate reproductive health and sexuality education” from the fifth grade through high school.

Update (May 14): City Harvest Church has announced that two suspension orders against Ho Yeow Sun, wife of pastor Kong Hee, have been lifted. According to a statement from the church, "Sun is once again able to exercise her executive powers for City Harvest Church. She is once again an Executive member of the church she co-founded."

The Singapore Commissioner of Charities (COC) also has given the church two extra months to submit representation for eight other City Harvest executive leaders in COC's proposal to remove them from their church roles.

Meanwhile, the corruption trial over whether church leaders inappropriately used building funds to support Ho Yeow Sun's pop music career has begun.

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Update (May 13, 2013): Wednesday will mark the beginning of the trial against six leaders of City Harvest Church, all of whom are accused of embezzling church funds.

According to a statement from the church, at least five church leaders have consented to step down from their leadership roles while the trial takes place. The statement says that Singapore's Commissioner of Charities will permanently remove a total of eight suspended leaders if they do not step down themselves.
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In response to recent allegations, City Harvest Executive Pastor Aries Zulkarnain said in a statement Thursday that the church stands with its accused leaders.

“The people currently in the news are our pastors and trusted staff and leaders who have always put God and CHC first,” Zulkarnain stated. “As a church we stand with them, and I believe fully in their integrity. Pastor Kong is still our Senior Pastor."

Zulkarnain also responded to the charges directly, denying any foul play with funds.

"It has been suggested that the church has been cheated of $50 million. This is not accurate,” Zulkarnain said. “The $24 million, which went to investment bonds, was returned to the church in full, with interest. The church did not lose any funds in the relevant transactions, and no personal profit was gained by the individuals concerned.”

..........

Singapore's charities commissioner has charged the founder of a 30,000-member megachurch with diverting US$18 million in church funds in order to support the ministry-related singing career of his wife.

City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee, along with four other church leaders, was arrested and charged this week with "conspiracy to commit criminal breach of trust." This is the biggest case involving misconduct at a registered charity in Singapore, according to Singapore Press Holdings' AsiaOne website.

Kong and his wife, Ho Yeow Sun (popularly known as Sun Ho), launched the "Crossover Project" in 2002 to use her secular music as outreach to non-Christians. Allegations that the church was funding her music career first surfaced in 2003, but the church denied it.

The Commissioner of Charities accuses Kong of siphoning off funds to the Crossover Project under the guise of contributions to a sister church in Kuala Lumpur, among other methods.

“These funds were used with the purported intention to finance Ho Yeow Sun’s secular music career to connect with people,” stated the Commissioner of Charities, according to the Wall Street Journal. “There was a concerted effort to conceal this movement of funds from its stakeholders.”

City Harvest posted a statement saying that no charges exist against the church itself and that regular worship activities will take place.

CT has interviewed Singapore theologians on how Asia's religious pluralism can help American Christians respond to relativism, how "missional theology" has not gone far enough, and how to stop cultural drift within the evangelical movement.

Chinese religious groups that want to perform charity work must now do so without the help of foreign donations.

The State Administration for Religious Affairs recently endorsed new regulations restricting charitable religious groups not associated with the government. The regulations state that “charitable operations under religious bodies should stick to the principle of self-reliance, and be free from the influence of external forces.”

Sources involved in charitable work in China told Asia News that the regulations are largely aimed at Tibetan and Islamic groups, which have political aspects that make the government wary, particularly after the Arab Spring revolutions.

The border between North and South Korea has a new source of light this holiday season: three Christmas trees. The steel trees -- adorned with lights and topped with crosses -- stand on South Korea’s Aegibong Peak, less than two miles from North Korea, as well as two other border observatories.

A long-standing project by local Christians since 1954, the Aegibong Christmas tree had not been lit since 2004 when both countries agreed to end propaganda activities near the border. The tree was considered a type of propaganda.

However, after an exchange of artillery fire at South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island that killed two soldiers in 2010, the South Korean government allowed the tree to be reinstated, despite heated protests from North Korea.

The group Christian Relief, Assistance, Support and Hope (CRASH) is setting up a forward base in Sendai, Japan to coordinate efforts to relieve the damage and hardship that Friday's 8.9/9.0-magnitude earthquake left behind in a large swath of the island nation.

"We just confirmed that we have a location and trucks of goods will start moving there today," CRASH spokesman Paul Nethercott told CT a few hours ago. "We will set up five more bases as soon as possible. We are doing this so we can send thousands of volunteers out where they are needed most."

Nethercott said CRASH, who calls their relief initiative "Love on Japan," sees it as a chance to "fill gaps" that the Japanese government cannot address and to "share the love of God with the people in Japan."

Japan's church is very much a minority. Less than 0.2% of the population identifies as Christian, and while some Christian cultural artifacts like Christmas and Valentine's Day have made it into the larger population, much of Japan practices a mix of Buddhism and traditional Shinto beliefs and a large number profess no religion at all.

"The church is small here but it is full of courageous and committed people who are brave enough to take a stand for Christ in spite of pressure from family and friends not to," Nethercott told CT. "We are closely connected with a very large network of Christians in Japan."

CRASH has been part of Japan's Christian community for a while, having built strong relationships with the Japan Evangelical Missionary Association and the Japan Evangelical Association.

"Many of the people I am working with I have known for over ten years," Nethercott said. "Some a lot longer. We care about each other and we care about Japan."

One of CRASH's greatest needs, Nethercott said, is funding to "deliver water and other essentials ASAP." Many older people in the earthquake-damaged area will not be able to clean up their own homes, he said.

CRASH is accepting donations through crashjapan.com. Many other Christian groups are working to flood Japan with assistance and providing opportunities to help—among them Samaritan's Purse, World Vision, World Relief, Saddleback Peace Relief, Asian Access, and Redeemer City to City.

"Pray that God will bless the nation of Japan greatly as this great nation deals with a major crises," asked Nethercott.

With huge and ongoing public protests against repressive governments spreading worldwide, it is no surprise that China's leaders are taking an extremely strong and reactive stance against any internet-facilitated public gatherings or protests.

The 'Jasmine Revolution' will not be televised -- in China at least.

Yesterday (Feb. 28), China Aid said a well-known Christian human rights attorney, Jiang Tianyong, had disappeared on Feb. 19. The CA report put the blame on the police.

The report notes the disappearance of three lawyers, in total:

Since the prominent human rights lawyer Tang Jitian was arrested on February 16 by Beijing police, 11 days have passed and his whereabouts are still unknown. Since the prominent Christian human rights lawyer Jiang Tianyong was kidnapped by the police at 4 p.m. on February 19, downstairs from his brother’s apartment, eight days has passed and his whereabouts are still unknown. Mrs. Jin Bianling, wife of Jiang Tianyong, has gone to the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau for inquiries, but to no avail. Once, she was told that over 60,000 people are being detained by the Municipal Public Security Bureau and there is no way they could confirm if Lawyer Jiang Tianyong was among them.

On the afternoon of the same day, the prominent human rights lawyer Dr. Teng Biao was also taken away by the Beijing police and his house was searched. So far, his whereabouts are also unknown. China Aid Association has been watching these incidents closely and strongly denounces the actions of the Beijing authorities in the forced disappearance of these three human rights lawyers and of human rights activists in other regions of China. Such conduct seriously tramples on the legitimate rights of the Chinese citizens and is also a violation of the UN’s “International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.” Such a gangsterization of the public power and such flagrant violation of the legal system and of civil rights can only aggravate the unrest in the Chinese society, and it will certainly motivate more people into joining the Jasmine Revolution of peaceful civil disobedience.

Meanwhile, All Girls Allowed, the organization that Chai Ling founded to resist China's one child policy, called out China's leadership for its suppression of human rights efforts. In a press statement, All Girls Allowed said:

Volunteers involved in anti-trafficking and anti-gendercide work with the humanitarian organization All Girls Allowed have been targeted by the Chinese government in a recent crackdown likely sparked by various Middle East protests and the peaceable Chinese “Jasmine Revolution.”

The high point of the first full day of the Cape Town 2010 Congress turned out to be a testimony from an 18 year old girl, Sung Kyung Ju. She told how she and her family fled from North Korea when she was six years old. In China, relatives led them to a church where they were exposed to Christianity. But her father, who she said was a ranking North Korean official, was forcibly sent back to North Korea in 2001.

After spending three years in prison, he was allowed to return to his family in China. This time, though, he went back to North Korea voluntarily--in order to witness to the gospel. In 2006 he was caught and imprisoned, and his family has not heard from him since. His daughter said they imagine that he has been executed.

Sung Kyung Ju herself became a Christian when she saw Jesus in a dream. She now hopes to study diplomacy so that ultimately she can play a part in reconciling the country she loves to Christ. "I want to bring the love of God to North Korea," she said, her voice faltering.

Her tearful testimony obviously moved the assembly. She was given a standing ovation that lasted so long she was called back to the platform to acknowledge the response.

Some have raised questions about whether Cape Town 2010 will lose the Lausanne movement's focus on evangelism in favor of social justice concerns. Apparently not, if the audience's response to this North Korean witness was any clue.

Photo taken by James Krabill, courtesy of the Lausanne Movement Flickr stream.

Updated: Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Bob Fu, head of China Aid, an agency that advocates for religious freedom and human rights inside China, has confirmed that he believes that Gao Zhisheng is alive and not in prison.

From the China Aid website:

ChinaAid President Bob Fu confirmed the reports. "After examining Gao's voice in the interview, I too am convinced that it is Gao." ChinaAid has waged an international campaign to Free Gao for more than a year, circulating petitions and calling on the international community to raise awareness for Gao's cause. Last week, prominent human rights attorney Dr. Li Baiguang joined President Fu in meeting with high-ranking members of the British and European Parliaments in London and Brussels, calling awareness to Gao's cause.

Gao's wife Geng He and two children were overwhelmed with emotion and relief as they spoke with him on Sunday morning. Tthe children could not stop crying. Earlier today, Geng He released a statement, appealing to the Chinese Government to allow Gao Zhisheng to reunite with his family in the United States. According to reliable sources, the pressure on Geng He and the family has increased during Gao's absence. Reports indicate Geng He's parents have been severely harassed in recent months, due to their relationship to son-in-law Gao Zhisheng.

* * *
Today [March 29, 2010], CT readers will be surprised to discover reliable reports that dissident Christian lawyer Gao Zhisheng is alive and apparently residing in northern China at the moment. But exactly how free he is remains an open question.

The Associated Press late Sunday night reports:

BEIJING — The wife of a dissident Chinese lawyer missing for more than a year confirmed Monday that he is alive and appealed to the government to allow him to go to the United States.
Gao Zhisheng resurfaced suddenly Sunday, saying he is now living in northern China, but it was not clear under what conditions. Since he went missing on Feb. 4, 2009, from his hometown in central China, the government has given vague explanations about Gao's whereabouts, heightening worries he had been jailed or tortured as he was previously. "I am tremendously relieved that my husband is alive," Gao's wife Geng He said in a statement issued by Freedom Now, a non-governmental organization that represents prisoners of conscience. "I am so happy that my children were able to speak to him. My children and I have not seen their father since January 2009. We urge the Chinese government to allow Zhisheng to leave the country and be reunited with us in the United States." Geng and her two children fled China a month before Gao was detained and now [live] in the United States.

Gao has been the focal point of an intense campaign for his release. Gao's wife and two children were granted asylum in the United States. In the New York Times article for Monday's edition, Gao in a short cell phone interview made these remarks about his family:

Reached on his cellphone, Mr. Gao sounded upbeat but guarded, suggesting that he had been instructed not to speak to the news media. He said that he was going to spend time with his extended family in Shanxi Province and that he had no plans to return to his work as a rights defender. “Right now I just need to calm down and lead a quiet life,” he said.

Then he turned melancholy and made an allusion to his wife and children in the United States. “They are like kites that have had their strings cut, and now they are floating far off into the sky,” he said before hanging up.

CT online will update this story later on Monday with comments from Christian groups that have been advocating for Gao's release.

Nearly one year ago in China, security officials took Gao Zhisheng, one of the nation's most prominent human rights lawyers and an active church leader, into custody. For months, his family and supporters have been demanding that government officials disclose his whereabouts.

But now, there are credible reports that Gao is "missing" and the government pleads ignorance about where he might be. As Christians, of course, prayer is always a good idea. But consider signing an online petition as 124,313 others have done: Click here for the petition details. The petition demands that the government of China account for Gao's treatment and release him immediately.

(Photo: Gao shows injuries from a police beating in 2006.)

China Aid has posted this update:

Since mid-December, 2009, ominous rumors have circulated about Gao Zhisheng, hinting that he has died after brutal torture in prison. However, no reports have been confirmed, and the Chinese government continues to refuse comment on his condition and whereabouts. A friend of ChinaAid in New York recently notified us about a serious development with Gao's daughter, Gege. Gege had been reportedly “pale and tired-looking” for months, fearing her father would be killed in prison. After hearing a rumor of Gao’s death just before Christmas, Gege became so emotionally distraught, she was forced to be hospitalized. She remains fragile and under medical care in a New York hospital. On Thursday, January 14th, Gao's brother Zhiyi said he had gone to Beijing searching out the policeman who originally detained Gao Zhisheng back in February, 2009.

President Obama's recent trip to China provided quite a few photo ops. But unlike his presidential predecessors who added worship service attendance at a registered church on their official itineraries, the president chose to steer a pretty wide berth around the burgeoning Christian population inside China.

Leslie Hook of the Wall Street Journal Asia (registration required) observed:

In the northeast part of this city, not far from the old Friendship Hotel, stands a boxy little cinema specializing in anime. A nondescript building on a nondescript thoroughfare, it's hardly a place a tourist would notice, much less a visiting president. Yet had Barack Obama wanted to understand something of the real China, his time would have been better spent here than at the various state dinners, Forbidden City photo-ops, and carefully managed town-hall events that consumed the balance of his trip this week.

The past 12 months have been very difficult inside China for Christians who wish to worship freely and openly, and hazardous to the human rights lawyers to defend them. Recently, China Aid chronicled new government efforts to use civil law to harass and discriminate against Christian worship:

Since the secret directive to dismantle Beijing house churches was issued in August, 2009, Beijing security officials have maintained their relentless campaign against house churches. On Sunday, November 8, Shouwang church members were forced for a second week to meet outside the frozen East Gate of Haidian Park.

It doesn't stop there.

According to China Aid, yesterday, Nov. 19, Public Security officers took a human rights attorney into custody shortly after this lawyer (also a Christian) returned from a visit to the United States. They beat his wife in front of their 7 year old daughter.

While in the US, attorney Jiang Tianyong testified before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission about the rule of law in China. To come to the US and testify in this way is an act of great moral courage. Jiang testified about one harrowing Sunday at his church:

Last Tuesday, the Sinhalese government of Sri Lanka announced the end of a 26-year struggle with the rebel group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The Tamil Tiger leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, two of his key associates had been killed, and the formal conflict was now over.

Every war, however, has an aftermath. And in the case of Sri Lanka, that will involve the resettlement of some 280,000 refugees. According to a report in today’s New York Times, aid groups are encountering government resistance as they attempt to bring relief to the refugee camps.

What will be the challenge for Sri Lankan Christians? What special role can they play? At about 7 percent of the Sri Lankan population, Christians are a small minority compared to the majority Sinhalese Buddhists (about 70 percent of the population) and the high-profile Tamil Hindu minority (about 15 percent). The Protestant evangelical component is quite small, but dedicated to service.

We’ve received some initial comments through friends at John Stott Ministries, which sponsors graduate educations for promising majority world scholars. One of their alums, who wishes not to be identified for security reasons, writes that there are

many years of work … to be done to reconstruct and rehabilitate people involved in the conflict. Thousands of Tamil people have to be resettled in their homes who got caught in the conflict. Most of these … are peasant people. I am told many areas of the North have been landmined and all that … has to be cleared before civilians can move back in to their homes and farms.

The government’s big task now is to create harmony and unity between the Sinhala and Tamil people. The war first started because the Tamil people felt discriminated against by successive Sinhala governments. This problem has gone on for the past 50 years. The Tamil, people especially in the north and east, must feel they are part of the nation. There are many thousands of Tamil-speaking people living among Sinhala people in the south. Many fled south due to the war. Thousands have also left the country.

The Christian church was the only place where Sinhala and Tamil people and in fact all ethnic groups, could safely gather each week. It was a place of unity, love, and understanding. The church could engage in rehab work in the post war period. I believe Hospital Christian Fellowship is already up in the North assessing how they could help.

How can we pray for Sri Lanka? Our John Stott Ministries correspondent suggests that we pray

1. for the ongoing rehab. efforts


2. for open doors to go and meet the civilian refugee population and counsel and care for them. They are presently housed in tents. Many families have lost their loved ones, parents are missing children and can’t find them among the many thousands of displaced people. Some 30 elderly people have died due to starvation it was reported.


3. for the many Christians among the civilian refugee population. Worship and prayer services could be held for them to comfort and encourage them in their predicament.

Manoj Pradhan, in jail for leading riots against Christians last year in Orissa, seems to have won a seat in the state assembly in India's general elections.

But overall, India's Christians have reason to be happy with the election. Dara Singh, who was convicted of leading Graham Staines' murder, was not permitted to run.

More importantly, most of the election results showed a distaste for right-wing Hinduism and support of the non-religious Congress Party. The BJP, a Hindu nationalist party, was defeated quite solidly. The Washington Post reports that they are re-evaluating their support of candidates who support anti-Christian and anti-Muslim violence.

Manmohan Singh, the incumbent, is set for a second term as prime minister. The New York Times reports that India's stock market surged after the announcement the Congress party won 205 of 543 seats in Parliament. A near-majority means the party no longer has to "rely on India's Communist parties to stay in power." Those Communist parties won about 80 seats, and the BJP, 159.

In four years, Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge killed 1.7 million of their fellow Cambodians. In the first trial that addresses the horrors of the regime, the man known as Comrade Duch has asked forgiveness for crimes against humanity, war crimes, homicide, and torture.

Duch is the nom de guerre of Kaing Guek Eav. He ran Security Center 21, a prison where 17,000 people, including children were "smashed." As The Financial Times reports, that's "the Khmer Rouge's chilling euphemism for torturing and murdering victims as part of the regime's attempt to create a perfect agrarian society."

Duch is making the news for taking responsibility and apologizing - something none of the other accused have come close to. "At the beginning I only prayed to ask for forgiveness from my parents, but later I prayed to ask forgiveness from the whole nation."

Prayed? It's not a mistranslation. Duch was baptized under the pseudonym Hang Pin after his wife was murdered in 1996. Purpose Driven Connection published a story about his conversion and discovery by British journalist Nic Dunlop (Dunlop discovered Duch's identity; Mary Murphy wrote the Purpose Driven Connection article). Their reporter, Mary Murphy, spoke to his pastor the only one who has been let in to see him. He says Duch has been reading the Bible to prisoners and guards during his imprisonment.

However, Murphy reports,

Truth be told, it is hard to find many in Cambodia who believe in Duch's sincerity. [Chief investigator] Youk skirts around the spiritual implications of the question. He pauses for a while to collect his thoughts. "I think Duch was living with guilt and perhaps looking for something to reconcile with, within himself," he says. "Duch is looking for an exit strategy, an internal reconciliation with himself. But he dare not go to anybody here, because they are all his enemies. The only ones he can go to are Christians."

Buddhist monks I interview later at their temple are even more dismissive. "Duch has become a Christian to earn points," one monk scoffs. "In our belief, you take your sins with you to the next life. Duch will surely come back in a form befitting his crime."

What sort of form of life? The monk doesn't hesitate. "A bug."

Duch's defense is arguing that he shouldn't face the life sentence because he was following orders, trying to save his and his family's lives. He says he is a scapegoat for those who were higher up in the regime. The trial is expected to last a few months.

President Bush's focus on denying nuclear weapons to the megalomaniacal regime in Pyongyang needs to be broadened, according to Jay Lefkowitz, the outgoing administration's special envoy for human rights in North Korea. There is good precedent, according to Lefkowitz:

Beginning in the mid-1970s, the West and the Eastern Bloc began a long dialogue on security, economic and human-rights issues. The key to the negotiations that ensued -- known as the Helsinki Process -- was explicit linkage between these three "baskets," with the West insisting on verifiable progress in each area as a condition of financial aid or international recognition.

...

Today, a Helsinki-style model should be replicated with North Korea, and the U.S. should promote linkage among security, economic and human-rights issues. Significant economic assistance to North Korea should be offered, including development assistance, World Bank loans, trade access and food aid, but it must be given only in return for tangible, verifiable progress on all issues on the agenda. And human-rights progress should not be measured by bureaucrats meeting and reading prepared statements, but by tangible steps that move North Korea closer to the norms of the international community.

Lefkowitz says such a shift presents an opportunity for the Obama administration:

To be sure, the policy I am proposing is diplomacy with our adversaries. But President-elect Obama has made that one of his goals. And if we pursue a comprehensive approach to North Korea, we may find that we'll not only advance our security objectives, but also help some of the world's most abused people.

And the human rights needs are great. According to the Voice of America:

Religious and human rights groups estimate that 150,000 to 200,000 people are believed to be held in political prison camps in remote areas of North Korea, some for religious reasons. Prison conditions are harsh, and refugees and defectors who have been in prison said that prisoners held on the basis of their religious beliefs generally are treated worse than other inmates.

For recent Christianity Today coverage of North Korea, click here.

We are ten days away from Christmas Day 2008 and India's Christians confess to being more than a little worried over the outbreak of new violence.

The Christmas season 2007 was the occasion for widespread attacks on Christians inside India. Last week, church leaders met with India's minister of Home Affairs:

Fr Joseph Babu, spokesman for the Bishops' Conference of India, expressed "great apprehension" in a meeting Wednesday between a Catholic Church delegation and Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram over a possible repeat this year of last year's anti-Christian violence during Christmas celebrations. In response Union Home Affairs minister reassured the delegation that the state would ensure protection for Christians and their property in Orissa.
Attacks against churches and the murder of Christians is not a problem limited to Orissa. Case in point: on Tuesday the All Indian Christian Council (AICC) released a report on anti-Christian violence in the state of Karnataka.

In light of the terrorism in Mumbai and the extensive attacks in Orissa, Christians cannot presume that a) the government can protect lives; or, b) there is no group currently planning a fresh attack on churches or Christian villlages.

This afternoon, I received an email from a Christian leader (living elsewhere in Asia) who expects to be visiting family inside India during the next three weeks or so.

I asked him about church leaders and their preparation; and he replied:

"They are taking precautions, but the poor and innocent always suffer. Church leaders can't do much against organized mobs that are supported tacitly by the government and police."

This kind of comment is not idle speculation. There is clear indication that in some areas the police in India look the other way when mobs target Christians, their homes, or churches.

Praying for peace on earth and good will toward men is no idle petition to all-mighty God.

Hu Jia, who was among those named in our map of pre-Olympic arrests in China, was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

The European Parliament gives out the prestigious annual award. Their press release says:

Hu Jia is a prominent human rights activist and dissident in the People's Republic of China. He has embraced a wide range of causes, including environmental issues, HIV/AIDS advocacy and a call for an official enquiry into the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. He has also acted as a coordinator of the 'barefoot lawyers movement'.

Having already been arrested several times, he spoke to MEPs in November 2007 from house arrest via conference call during a public meeting of the EP Human Rights Subcommittee on human rights in China in the run-up to the Olympic Games. As a result he was charged by the authorities with "inciting subversion of state power" and sentenced on 3 April 2008 to three-and-a-half years in jail.

The prize puts China - which is reportedly pretty steamed - in the awkward position of having an internationally recognized lawyer in prison.

The U.S. State Department and other organizations are demanding Hu's release: "We are deeply concerned about the imprisonment of human rights activist Hu Jia and have pressed the Chinese authorities for his immediate release on many occasions and at the highest level," State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid told The Age.

Although the European Parliament statement, the Wikipedia page, and reports by The New York Times, BBC, and others don't mention it, Hu is a Christian and one of many Christian human rights activists fighting for human rights in China.

* * *

While one source listed Hu Jia as a Christian, he is a Buddhist, according to China Aid and others. My apologies.

Taliban soldiers killed a Christian aid worker from South Africa in a drive-by motorcycle shooting. Gayle Williams, 34, had been working for the UK ministry SERVE Afghanistan for two years and had recently moved to Kabul for safety. One of her colleagues found her on the pavement at 8 this morning.

Zabiullah Mujahed, a Taliban spokesman, told The Times "The reason that we killed her was because she was spreading Christianity." The Taliban took credit publicly, "saying on its Web site that it killed the ?foreign woman' for preaching Christianity in the country and adding that it had been following the woman for some time," CNN reported.

SERVE Afghanistan's chairman of the board, Mike Lyth, emphasized to The Times that the organization is not involved in evangelism. "We have a policy of not (preaching Christianity), so she certainly wasn't involved in that. She was only doing missionary work, if that means living a Christian life and helping disabled people. She spoke only a little Pashtun and Farsi."

The Times reports 28 killings of aid workers, 72 kidnappings, and 146 security incidents involving NGOs this year (the 2007 count was 135 for the whole of last year, according to the Afghanistan NGO Safety Office).

The Guardian also spoke to Lyth about the future of SERVE Afghanistan:

Lyth said the charity would now have to take a "long, hard look" at its operations.

"I personally have been very concerned about security for a long time, but we have tried to take all possible measures to reduce the threat."

"We train our people really carefully. We are in daily touch with the security authorities to find out which roads we shouldn't be on, which parts of the country we shouldn't go to."

"Each time something like this happens, you wonder: do you go on exposing people to unnecessary risk? Yet at the same time, you have got the cry of many, many of the Afghans saying, 'Please help us'. You're caught between a rock and a hard place."

Yesterday, top leaders from India's vibrant Christian community in greater Chicago held a press conference to announce that this Sunday they will hold a peace rally in support of the persecuted Christians from India's violence-stricken state of Orissa.

In the November 2008 edition of Christianity Today, we will have both a news report and editorial commentary on the situation for Christians in India.

Here's one graph from the CT editorial:

"The real embarrassment to the world's largest democracy is not this incident. No, it is the fact that this flashpoint is not all that unusual for India. Orissa witnessed similar attacks against Christians just last Christmas. According to the All India Christian Council, which defends the human rights of the nation's long-oppressed Dalits, somewhere in India an attack against Christians occurs on average every three days. Readers of this periodical will likely recall the grisly murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons in Orissa nearly a decade ago (CT, March 1, 1999)."

This rare peace rally will occur on Sunday, Sept. 28. Here are details:

St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Chicago's Bishop Rt. Rev. Dr. Mar Jacob Angadiath sent a following appeal to all peace lovers in Chicagoland to join him for a Peace Rally on September 28, 2008 at 1:30 p.m. at St. Thomas Syro Malabar Cathedral Grounds:

"As you are well aware the persecution of our Christian brethren and the destruction of our churches, convents, orphanages and other Christian institutions are continuing unabated in Orissa, Karnataka and in some parts of Kerala. We cannot remain silent spectators of such gruesome cruelties inflicted on innocent people. We have to make our people and local congregations aware of the indescribable cruelty of this hatred and violence against Christians. It was the desire of many people who have contacted me to act together to bring to the attention of the Christian faithful here the atrocities of this cruel rampage.

Hence may I request to join me along with all the peace loving congregations to show our solidarity and support to our brothers and sisters in India. I am calling for a 'Peace Rally' and a 'Prayer Vigil' on Sunday, September 28, 2008 at 1:30 P.M. at the Syro-Malabar Cathedral Grounds, 5000 St. Charles Road, Bellwood, Illinois.

In Friday's Chicago Tribune, the newspaper noted:

30 Minutes, a news feature program produced by IBN Live/India, has posted its digital video reports on the situation in Orissa. Amazingly, they have actual footage of the burning of Christian villages. The losses are sickening.

Click here.

Local Hindu fundamentalists are using extreme rhetoric about Dalit Christians, who are at the bottom of India's social hierarchy. On segment 2 of the broadcast, one of them says, "Now we have rise and we will destroy them all." The 'them' is us Christians.

How will the global church respond?

So far, both the pope, the archbishop of Canterbury, and a few others have issued statements condemning the violence. Surely, statements alone are an insufficient response.

Here's the list of 47 incidents of violence against Christians in Orissa as well as a listing of top leaders in India, where Christians can directly lodge protests:

Courtesy of Barb Gauthier, I learned this morning that the India Missions Association has set aside today, Sept. 7, 2008, as a day of prayer and fasting. The religious tensions inside India are extremely high. Fundamentalist Hindus are singling out Christians for extreme harassment. Note the treatment of nuns in a report also included below.

Dear All, The India Missions Association and a number of Protestant and Catholic churches have asked that this Sunday be set aside to pray for the Christians in northern India, who are being persecuted by Hindu extremists. Churches, homes and schools have been torched. Several Christians and one Hindu have been killed and many are now living in the jungle or make-shift refugee camps. Pray for God's protection and for the faithful witness of all those who "have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 15:26). and are in this moment "suffering disgrace for the Name" (Acts 5:41). May they, like Paul and John, rejoice "because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name" (Acts 5:41). Barbara

India Missions Association Announces

NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER & FASTING

On Sunday, the 7th September 2008 for ?The Suffering Christians in Orissa'

PRAYER REQUESTS

+ Pray for the rebuilding of houses, churches and mission centers burnt in the violence
+ Pray for the bereaved families who have lost their near & dear ones
+ Pray for the thousands of Christians who live either in the jungle or relief camps
+ Pray that God would minister, console and encourage all and remove their fears
+ Pray for a movement of God in withdrawing the ?Hate Campaigns' against Christians
+ Pray for the peace to be restored immediately in all places and levels
+ Pray for the 51 different IMA member missions that are working in Orissa. Some of the most affected missions are HVM, IEA, IEHC, IGOSA, ICCC, AGSM, RHS, OFU, C&SM, AJI, FMPB, NMS, IMS, IEM, NPMI, NLFI, NF and many oth?ers. The churches of all denominations and levels have been affected greatly by this violence.

Hindus accuse nuns of 'forced conversions':

Yesterday, September 5 - the anniversary of the death of Mother Teresa of Calcutta - four sisters of Mother Teresa were attacked by about 20 Bajrang Dal activists at the Durgh train station in Chhattisgarh, a state in central India. The Hindu radicals forced them off the train, and then handed them over to police officers while chanting anti-Christian slogans.

The Hindu fundamentalists accused the sisters - Sr Mamta, the mother superior, Sr Ignacio, Sr Josephina, and Sr Laborius - of the "kidnapping and forced conversion" of four children between one and two years old, whom the religious were taking from their home in Raipur to the Shishu Bhava charity center in Bhopal. The activists followed the women to the police station, "insulting them and chanting slogans against the Christians".

The sisters presented all of the identification documents for the children and their travel permit, in addition to other documentation brought later by the religious from the house in Bilaspur. In spite of this documentation, the children were taken to be housed temporarily at the government hospital in Durg, while the documents and identity papers presented by the sisters are verified by the judicial authorities.

"The mob threatened to beat us up, but I was not afraid", Sr Mamta tells AsiaNews. Her only concern is for the children, who require care and assistance, "but most of all our love. We love these darlings like our own, that is our pain".... She emphasizes that this new episode of "persecution" is an integral part of the missionary task of "witnessing to Christ" entrusted to them by the founder of the order.

The Indian Catholic Church has taken a tough stance, through the head of the bishops' conference, who denounces the climate of hostility and terror toward Christians. "I am absolutely shocked", says Cardinal Osvaldo Gracias, "at the baseless and fabricated allegations of conversion levied against the Missionary of Charity". The prelate stresses that he knew "Mother Teresa personally, and I was also involved with her mission, and I can vouch for the fact that never has any baby or anyone been converted by the Missionaries of Charity, either in the remotest rural area or in any part of the world".

In condemning this new attack against the Christians, Cardinal Gracias accuses those who "are instrumental in poisoning minds" and foster interconfessional confrontation: "This is a climate of intolerance [against Christians] that is growing in the country, and it will have serious drastic long-term effects on Indian society".

This new episode of violence against the sisters confirms the growing climate of hostility toward Christians, in the crosshairs of the Hindu fundamentalists who are seeking by every means to eliminate their mission and their charitable works in the country. The tribals, the Dalits - untouchables - and the many orphaned children find in Christianity and in the activity of the religious a way to improve their condition and bring dignity to their lives. By attacking the Christians, the Hindu fundamentalists are above all harming India and its people, anchoring it in a feudal and backward past, based on the hierarchy determined by caste and by slavery.

A brief history and background of the religious violence in northern India:

Most of the more than 1 billion residents of India are Hindu, with Christians accounting for only 2.3% of the population. But since the early 1980s there's been a rise of Hindu fundamentalists - many of whom are members of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the political party that rules Orissa - and violence has broken out, the priests said. "They work in the name of Hindutwa, which is an ideology that means there should be one culture and one ideology in India, and that should be the BJP," said Tigga.

Hard-line Hindus accuse Christian missionaries of using education, health care and other services to convert low-caste Hindus. "It's not an issue of becoming Christians, it's an issue of insecurity by the BJP because as missionaries we work with the poor to give them dignity and human rights," said Ezhakunnel. "They become closer to us and may eventually accept religion, but that takes time. It's not the first step. They get education and health care and social and political development and start demanding their rights, and that makes them a threat," said Tigga.

While all Hindus are not alike, so too, some Christian groups may try more aggressive conversion tactics, and that makes the issue more complex, said Santos. The latest violence erupted in late August after a Hindu leader was murdered in a tribal area where he was leading a local campaign to reconvert Hindus from Christianity, according to news reports the priests received. The killing sparked more violent clashes, and about 26 people have died in the unrest that followed, said Tigga, quoting from information he's received from the archbishop of Bhubaneswar.

Tigga said 50 places of worship have been destroyed, 15 churches and convents destroyed and more than 4,000 homes of Christians in the villages in the Kandhamal district burned.... "It's getting worse," said Tigga, who had brushes with violence while he was working near Orissa. "It's dangerous to work there," he said.

This situation in Orissa state seems to get worse by the hour.

Finally, major American media is waking up to this sickening story. Here's the latest from the New York Times and their in-country correspondent:

NEW DELHI - At least 3,000 people, most of them Christians, are living in government-run relief camps after days of Christian-versus-Hindu violence in eastern India, government officials said.

The government said that many people were also living in the jungle without any shelter and security because of the tensions, which erupted in violence after a Hindu leader was killed Saturday. At least 10 people, most of them Christians, have been killed since.

Christian community leaders say that at least 1,000 Christian homes have been set on fire since Monday, rendering more than 5,000 people homeless.

Many of those living in the jungle were without food or water, said the Rev. Dibakar Parichha, a priest at the Roman Catholic church in Phulbani, a town in Orissa State. Father Parichha said that about 90 places of worship, including small churches and prayer halls, had been burned down. Local officials said the figure was about 20.

The violence has occurred in Kandhamal, a district in Orissa State that has a history of communal and ethnic clashes. The latest conflict started Saturday night, when unidentified armed men stormed a Hindu school in Kandhamal and killed the Hindu leader Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his followers.

The police suspected that Maoist rebels were responsible. But Hindus blamed Christians. In the retaliatory violence, 500 houses were burned. All nine towns in the district are under a curfew, and the police have license to shoot. At least two people have been killed in violent reprisals in other districts of Orissa, including a woman who died when an orphanage was burned down.

What would drive Hindus to blame Christians? Orissa is one of the hot spots where allegations about coerced conversion to Christianity seem always to lie just under the surface.

The news media inside India are a lot less shy about stating the extremist allegations of Hindu fundamentalists:

The People's Liberation Revolutionary Group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Azad, claiming to represent the group, called up newspaper offices to say, "We killed the Swami as he was mixing religion with politics..."

Swami Laxamanananda was spearheading the re-conversion movement in the district to bring back converted Christians to the Hindu fold.

VHP leaders disagree with the police theory blaming Maoists and believe that they are "hoodwinking people by shifting the blame". State VHP secretary Gouri Prasad Rath told HT: "This attack is the handiwork of the Christians. There were four home guards at the ashram. Had the attackers been Maoists, they would have first attacked these cops. Swamiji was fighting the missionaries for four decades. We see a clear Christian conspiracy behind this attack."

Click here for the full article from the Hindustan Times.

This episode is a huge set back for the national government in India.

What are they talking about? It has to do with the question of Hindu-on-Christian or Hindu-Christian attacks. Look at this report on the Voice of America:

Authorities issued shoot-at-sight orders and police staged marches Wednesday in Orissa's Kandhamal District, the region worst-hit by violence between Hindus and Christians.

Or, the BBC:

Four people have been killed in armed clashes that broke out between Hindus and Christians in the Indian state of Orissa at the weekend.

Inside India, Christians strongly disagree, saying innocent Christians are being targeted and singled out for attacks. In a statement released yesterday, All India Christian Council said:

"Some people have called the violence ?Hindu-Christian clashes'. But this is not accurate. Innocent Christians ? mostly of Dalit origin ? continue to be attacked by communal organizations which are mocking the rule of law. Governance in Orissa state appears to have disintegrated," said Dr. Joseph D'souza, President of the All India Christian Council (aicc).

Christians are calling on Christian schools nationwide to close tomorrow, Friday, Aug. 29, to protest the riots and the lack of police protection. Keep reading for the full press release:

Tonight at 9pm Eastern, PBS's Frontline/World will air a documentary (a joint project with the Tribune) on Christianity in China.

The Chicago Tribune today published its second cover story in a row on "Jesus in China." Their articles this week hit on many of the recent issues in Chinese Christianity, including the rapid rise in attendance, the compromises of membership in the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (the state church), and the fact that this wave of Christianity is not led by foreign missionaries.

Evan Osnos, the Tribune's Beijing bureau chief, draws a lot of material from Zion church in the first installation, "Jesus in China: Christianity's rapid rise":

Rev. Jin Mingri peered out from the pulpit and delivered an unusual appeal: "Please leave," the 39-year-old pastor commanded his followers, who were packed, standing-room-only on a Sunday afternoon, into a converted office space in China's capital. "We don't have enough seats for the others who want to come, so, please, only stay for one service a day."

A choir in hot-pink robes stood to his left, beside a guitarist and a drum set bristling with cymbals. Children in a playroom beside the sanctuary punctuated the service with squeals and tantrums. It was a busy day at a church that, on paper, does not exist.

The piece also gets into some of the Chinese church's cultural aspirations, such as encouraging basically ethical behavior.

"Jesus in China: Life on the edge" began by showing Christians taking the offensive in claiming religious rights in China. "Christians form a diverse lobby that is rare in a nation split by class, opportunity and geography" and are often inspired by the American Civil Rights movement, Osnos reports. (CT covered this movement - and its admiration for Martin Luther King Jr. - in 2006) One non-Christian rights advocate even called Christianity "China's largest non-governmental organization."

The Tribune also posted videos on church life and China's "Bible Empire."

Our recent coverage of China includes a May cover story on urban Christianity.

You've heard about international adoption, no doubt. But what about international surrogacy? Here's the news from The New York Times:

An enterprise known as reproductive outsourcing is a new but rapidly expanding business in India. Clinics that provide surrogate mothers for foreigners say they have recently been inundated with requests from the United States and Europe, as word spreads of India’s mix of skilled medical professionals, relatively liberal laws and low prices.

Commercial surrogacy, which is banned in some states and some European countries, was legalized in India in 2002. The cost comes to about $25,000, roughly a third of the typical price in the United States. That includes the medical procedures; payment to the surrogate mother, which is often, but not always, done through the clinic; plus air tickets and hotels for two trips to India (one for the fertilization and a second to collect the baby).

The Times-Picayune had a lengthy profile last week of Louisiana's new Gov. Bobby Jindal that focused on the India native's conversion to Catholicism and the role that has played in his political ascent.

When Gov.-elect Bobby Jindal converted to Catholicism during high school and college, he took a momentous step away from his inherited faith of Hinduism, the prevalent religion of his parents' generation and Indian homeland.

But among Jindal's relatives and among Hindus in India generally, his decision to adopt the Christian way is strongly supported.

Jindal's personal path to Christianity, which had politically significant ramifications for Louisiana, was aided by an open-minded attitude among his relatives about theology. Also, he visited India infrequently as a child, giving him little chance to acquire the deeply ingrained appreciation for Hindu culture that comes from exposure to daily life in that country.

His relatives' perspective reflects a tolerant side of a religion that for thousands of years has survived philosophical transformations, rebellious counter-religions and numerous sects, only to claim them all in time as part of the infinitely flexible cosmos of Hindu faith.

"If you find and see that you get more peace of mind, more solace, in that religion, then why not change religion?" said Jindal's uncle Subhash Gupta, a practicing Hindu. "In India, many people change to the Christian religion. And I can understand that some people maybe find Christian religion more satisfying to their needs."

(skip)

Although the relatives' opinions might seem magnanimous, their views are typically Hindu. India's large-circulation national newspapers viewed Jindal's election as front-page news, and for the most part his conversion to Catholicism was not commented upon negatively. Indian criticism of Jindal instead has centered on his infrequent visits and seeming lack of interest in his parents' home country.

The Indian national figure Mahatma Gandhi, a Hindu so famous his image appears on most Indian currency, espoused religious tolerance because he believed there were many paths to God, so long as an individual was sincere in the pursuit of the divine way.

When asked about Jindal, Pandit Deoki Nandan Shastri, a Hindu holy man in Varanasi, made a similar point.

"Hindu is not a religion," he said. "Hinduism is a way of life."

"You pray to Christ, I pray to Rama, he prays to Mohammad," he said. "We are going the same way. God is one. His name is called a thousand names."

Hindu nationalists began burning churches and Christian houses in the east Indian state of Orissa on Christmas Eve. The violence continues, although today it seems to have abated somewhat.

Dozens are injured, many buildings have been destroyed, and the death toll is at 4 (three Hindus killed by police as they burned down the police station, and one Christian killed in the riots).

Compass Direct is reporting higher numbers than those confirmed by the police:

Jacob Pradhan, a Christian leader in Kandhamal district, told Compass that at least four Christians have been killed and more than 50 churches and 200 houses razed or damaged.

Telephone outages and VHP roadblocks made confirming reports "extremely difficult."

The Associated Press reported that,

On Thursday a mob of Hindus defied a curfew and burned down the house of Radhakant Nayak, a member of India's upper house of parliament and a Christian leader in the area, Nayak told the CNN-IBN news channel.

Also, 11 churches were ransacked and burned in Kandhamal district of Orissa state, the Press Trust of India quoted unnamed police officials as saying.

Meanwhile, in the village of Brahmangaon, a group of Christians burned down several Hindu homes in an apparent retaliation for the attack on churches. Angry Hindus then burned down the village police station, complaining of a lack of protection, a local police official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

At least 25 people - both Christian and Hindu - have been arrested so far, and the federal government has announced that it will send in paramilitary troops.

The perpetrators claim that they were defending a Hindu leader who heads an anti-conversion campaign; Christians in Orissa say the attacks were to prevent a Christmas Eve performance that could have led to conversions; AP says it boils down to controversy over thousands of conversions to Christianity in the past few years, "Hindu groups have long charged Christian missionaries with trying to lure the poor and those who occupy the lowest rungs of Hinduism's complex caste-system away with promises of money and jobs."

The Orissa government has ordered a judicial probe into the attacks, in response to claims that the violence was not spontaneous but sponsored by saffron activists.

Time warns against chalking it all up to religion:

As with most communal violence in India, this latest explosion of hatred is the result not only of religious differences but of a tangled intersection of political power, communal prejudice and the injustices of Hinduism's archaic caste system.

However, in a place where religion permeates everything, it's not helpful to try to separate religion from political power, prejudice, or the caste system - especially as the hard-line Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is gaining power. Orissa is currently governed by a BJP ally.

Last week I got back from two weeks in China. CT will be running a cover story on the church in China as we get closer to the Olympics. But first I’d like to tell you about Bing Chiu. Bing is the owner of two restaurants, one in Beijing’s Central Business District and another near a university outside Beijing. These restaurants are occupying a new public "space" available for Christians to live, work, and minister.

Bing, like many younger Chinese, became a Christian when he was studying overseas. In fact, it was in Halifax Nova Scotia, while he was an undergrad that Bing became a Christian. Since then, he has lived all over China and worked mostly in advertising.

But Bing wanted to do something different. He wanted to create a restaurant that combined both Eastern and Western food and featured his favorite desserts from Hong Kong. And let me say, he’s done a fantastic job. The meals at his Upper Room restaurant are fabulous. If you’re in Beijing for the Olympics next summer, definitely visit the Upper Room.

The restaurant is just one of many ways that Christians are making their voices heard in China. Bing uses his restaurants as friendly ways to introduce people to Christianity. Mostly, Bing serves meals. But he also sends out weekly inspirational e-mails inviting people to a music party held at the Upper Room where people sing and listen to music, some of it Christian. Bing’s letters go to more than 3,000 people, many of them non-Christians. For Bing, his letters and the weekly music party are opportunities to introduce people to Christians, Christianity, and Christian music in an inviting atmosphere. These aren't gospel preaching events.

But they are effective. He says university students, especially, are interested in hearing about Christianity and Jesus. Several students a week become Christians, he says, through the outreach at one of his restaurants.

While the Upper Room isn’t located on a major road, in fact it could be difficult to find, it is just one public place for Christians to be open and free about their faith. It’s not a church, but Bing says, it’s a place that can facilitate discussions about God and Jesus.

Christians throughout China are more freely operating in public. While there are still restrictions, I saw and talked to Christians running teen centers, doing marriage retreats and community development, operating orphanages, or even renting worship space for their unregistered churches. There’s no guarantee that this freedom will continue, so the church in China needs prayer. But as I heard over and over again, so far there’s no problem.

One of the most startling images from the Viet Nam war was the self-immolation of Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc. On June 11, 1963, the monk burned himself to death at a busy Saigon intersection. (You can see Malcolm Brown's famous news photo here and read part of David Halberstam's eyewitness report for the New York Times halfway through this Wikipedia article.)

Thich Quang Duc was protesting the anti-Buddhist discrimination of Ngo Dinh Diem's regime. But the disturbing image of his sacrifice seared itself into the brains of people around the globe. At the time, I didn't understand the logic of self-immolation, but I was deeply moved.

Today Buddhist monks are once again taking to the streets of a South Asian nation, risking their bodies in nonviolent protest against an oppressive regime. This time the country is Myanmar (or Burma, as most Americans still refer to it).