India: Christians Attacked by Hindus

 

UK: The liberal metropolitan elite despise Christianity because it poses a challenge to their moral authority

   

It's ironic that a group of well-known writers, scientists and comedians should express their unhappiness with the Prime Minister's characterisation of Britain as a "Christian country" in the form of a jointly written letter to a newspaper.

Christians form human shield around church in 'China's Jerusalem' after demolition threat

Christians have flocked to defend a church in eastern China after Communist Party officials claimed it was an "illegal construction" and announced plans to demolish it 

   

Thousands of Chinese Christians have mounted an extraordinary, round-the-clock defence of a church in a city known as the 'Jerusalem of the East' after Communist Party officials threatened to bulldoze their place of worship.

THIRD BEHEADING BY MUSLIMS IN UK

PLEASE 'LIKE' and 'SHARE AND BREAK THE MEDIA BLACK-OUT!

 

HELP US BREAK THE SILENCE!!

   
NEAR TOTAL MEDIA BLACKOUT on throat-slashing murder of British disabled man in a wheelchair by another Muslim savage!!

The 12 world pictures you missed this Christmas

From Father Christmas in Madagascar to lighting candles in India, OCC247 looks at how Christmas is being marked around the world. 

A Madagascar Father Christmas walks in the dusty street of Ambohibary, 150km from Antananarivo, greeting children days after Madagsacar went to the polls to vote in a presidential election.

Can EU Christianity Be Saved? 10 of 13 Newest EU States Reject 'Gay Marriage'

 

Since 2004, 13 nations have joined the European Union and 10 of them either prohibit or do not recognize homosexual marriage, while the remaining three allow some legal "partnership" recognitions but not on the same level as heterosexual marriage.

Paul Walker's secret act of generosity - buying a $9,000 engagement ring for an war veteran and his new wife

• The actor was in a Santa Barbara jewellery store in 2004 when he carried out the random act of generosity
• A store employee revealed the story after Walker's tragic death in a fiery car crash on Saturday at the age of 40

   

 

 A military couple whose engagement ring was secretly bought by actor Paul Walker came forward today after finally having their suspicions confirmed that the star was behind the act of amazing generosity. 

Over 1000 Children Bring Joy Back to Bethlehem with their Christmas March for Peace

Over 1000 children from all over Palestine poured into the city, promoting peace and solidarity as they marched along the traditional Pilgrimage Route--the path followed by Joseph and Mary on their journey, and today followed ceremoniously each year by Christian Patriarchs at Christmas-- to the Church of Nativity, which was recognized in 2012 as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. 

Christianity Fast Facts

Here's a look at what you need to know about Christianity, the most practiced religion in the world.

 

Beliefs/Practices:
Followers of the Christian religion base their beliefs on the life, teachings, and death of Jesus Christ.

Watch how the major religions have conquered the entire world over 5,000 years - in 90 seconds

 

 Map of religion: The last shot of the map shows the geography of religion today

By modern times, the map is filled with vast swathes of blue, or Christian lands and almost equally large green, or Islamic ones. Buddhism retains its hold in China while Hinduism holds fast in India.

Anti-Christian revolution sweeps through Europe - Russian MP

Moscow, - State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Alexei Pushkov has said he is seriously troubled by the way Christianity is treated in Europe today.

This Is Islam In 30 Seconds…VIDEO

 

So the Muslim world erupts when anyone even draws a cartoon of Mohamed or just burns his book.   But of course it’s OK for the Muslims to burn churches and kill preachers and worshipers; as long as it’s in the name of Allah! 

About 50,000 Syrian Christians to apply for Russian citizenship – Foreign Ministry

 

Some 50,000 Syrian Christians fearing that the West-backed terrorists seek to eliminate the centuries-old Christian presence in Syria are planning to apply for Russian citizenship, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on its website on Wednesday.

BBC: How Christianity Spread Throughout The Roman Empire (Europe) - VIDEO

This Video is Property of National Geographic
Documentary is owned by National Geographic

SEPTEMBER ELEVEN 1683 (2012) - Watch FREE FULL Movie (great movie - conflicts between European Christianity and Turkish Islam)

Genres : Adventure, Drama, History

Director : Renzo Martinelli

Cast : F. Murray Abraham, Enrico Lo Verso, Alicja Bachleda, Jerzy Skolimowski, Piotr Adamczyk,
                                                                                             
FULL MOVIE 

LINKS (English):
SEPTEMBER ELEVEN 1683 (2012) - Watch Online - 1 YouTube Link

SEPTEMBER ELEVEN 1683 (2012) - Watch Online - 2 YouTube Link

SEPTEMBER ELEVEN 1683 (2012) - Watch Online - 3 YouTube Link

SEPTEMBER ELEVEN 1683 (2012) - Watch Online - 4 YouTube Link

SEPTEMBER ELEVEN 1683 (2012) - Watch Online - 5 YouTube Link

TURKEY: Parliament considering bid to turn Hagia Sophia into mosque

A parliamentary commission is considering an application by citizens to turn the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul into a mosque.

Three citizens living in the northwestern province of Kocaeli appealed to the commission with a request to change the status of Hagia Sophia. A survey conducted with 401 people was attached to the application, in which more than 97 percent of interviewees requested the transformation of the ancient building into a mosque and afterwards for it to be reopened for Muslim worship. 

The application has been taken under consideration by the Parliament’s Petition Commission, Anatolia news agency reported on Sunday, adding that the commission would be asking for the opinions of the related institutions on the issue. 

As well as the application received from the Kocaeli citizens, the commission received 15 separate petitions within five days in the form of electronic mails, all asking for “opening of the Hagia Sophia to worship.”

The Hagia Sophia Museum was first dedicated as an Orthodox patriarchal basilica in 360. Until the year of 1453 it served as the Greek Patriarchal cathedral of Constantinople. Following the city’s conquest by the Ottoman Empire, the building turned into a mosque in 1453 and remained so until 1931, when it was closed to the public for four years. It was reopened by the republican authorities in 1935 as a museum.

GERMANY: Islam takes another step to German recognition

 

Bremen is the third German state to recognize Islamic organizations as official religious bodies. Holidays, funerals and pastoral care will be regulated by state contracts. Other states will likely follow suit.

For Erol Pürlü, spokesman for the German Muslim coordination council, the signing of the contract with the city-state of Bremen marked a "day of joy". Three Muslim associations were officially recognized as religious bodies. "That sends a clear signal that Islam belongs to Germany," said Pürlü.

Bremen is the third German state to confer this status on Islamic organizations. Hamburg made a similar agreement last November, while Hesse officially recognized two Islamic organizations and allowed them to offer their own religious classes in schools in December.

The relationship between German states and Muslim associations had been stalled for decades until the breakthrough came in 2010. Large organizations like the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DITIB) and the Association of Islamic Cultural Centers (VIKZ) had been campaigning to be recognized as religious bodies for a long time.

Erol Pürlü said the contract with Bremen 

marked a 'day of joy'

Among other privileges, the status gave communities the right to offer their own religion classes in schools. But for a long time the state governments resisted all applications, on the grounds that the associations did not fulfill all the legal and structural preconditions. In order to still offer Islamic lessons and create Islamic theological professorships at universities, "advisory councils" were created, on which sit representatives of the state governments. These committees take the place of a recognized religious organization and approve teaching appointments.

Islamic holidays recognized

Now Hamburg, Bremen and Hesse have all gone one step further, though in different ways. In the two city-states, three different Islamic celebrations are now recognized religious holidays. That means school children and employees can take the day off if they want. Officially recognized religious bodies also have the right to minister to Muslims in prisons, hospitals and other public institutions. Also, Muslims are allowed - within certain legal constraints - to build Mosques and bury their dead by their own religious rites - in other words, without a coffin.

Essentially, the state contracts merely bring together and summarize a number of regulations that have been in practise for many years. Little will change in the everyday lives of the approximately 130,000 Muslims in Hamburg and the 40,000 in Bremen. And yet for Pürlü, the contracts are more than just a symbol. The new holidays regulation, for instance, has given the Muslims a whole new freedom, he explains. "It is no longer decided at the discretion of the authorities or the schools or the employers," he said. "Muslims now have a legal right to a holiday."

The religion classes are particularly important for the Muslim associations, but the contracts made out in Hamburg and Bremen do not bring many particular advantages in this regard. In Bremen, religion is not an obligatory class in schools, while in Hamburg religion classes are general and address different faiths. For that reason, Muslims are putting their hopes in developments in Hesse, where more than 10 percent of Germany's Muslims live. In that state, the regional DITIB and one other organization are now authorized to introduce one religious class orientated to their faith.

According to Pürlü, Muslims are hoping that the Hesse contract will offer a springboard to North Rhine-Westphalia, where some 1.3 million Muslims live. There is already an Islam-oriented religious class there, which began in 2012, but it is still under the remit of an advisory committee. But DITIB and VIKZ and other Islamic organizations see this as just a temporary solution, says Pürlü. They want the NRW state government to recognize them as official religious bodies and then introduce religious classes without state intervention.

"If Bremen and Hamburg say the DITIB is a religious body, then it will certainly be more difficult for the NRW government to say it isn't one," said legal expert Heinrich de Wall.

The new regulations in the three states do not give the Muslim organizations the same  status as the Christian churches. Muslim bodies remain excluded from privileges like church taxes or civil service duties. Nevertheless, DITIB spokesman Bekir Alboga is hoping the new contracts will give the Muslim associations access to more public money to support their work, which is mainly done on a voluntary basis. Certain integration and further education services, as well as the training of inter-religious dialogue commissioners are already supported with public money.

"We really do good work," said Alboga. "But it has to be guaranteed and supported, not just through membership fees, which aren't enough to expand this work and make it more multi-faceted."

On the other hand, Muslim organizations cannot profit from state subsidies for kindergartens and social services, because they don't work in those areas. "Of course, equal treatment for the Islamic bodies would only come into question if the Muslims began operating more charitable and deaconal organizations, like the church-affiliated bodies Diakonie and Caritas," said de Wall.

More German states are expected to follow the example of Bremen, Hamburg, and Hesse and recognize individual religious organizations. Alboga believes that similar contracts are likely in Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Baden-Württemberg, and Lower Saxony. Pürlü said that some negotiations are already under way, though he declined to say in which states.

Turkey agreed to return forest land to the Greek Orthodox Halki Seminary in İstanbul

 

Turkey’s Council of Foundations – part of Turkey’s Directorate General for Foundations (VGM) agreed on Jan. 11 to return 190 hectares, some 470 acres, of forest land to the Greek Orthodox Halki (Heybeliada) Seminary in İstanbul.

According to the decision, the land will be given to the seminary’s owner, the Aya Triada Monastery Foundation. This is the biggest property return to a minority group in the history of Turkey, according to Today’s Zaman.

Established in 1844 on the island of Heybeliada, Halki Seminary was closed in 1971 under a law that placed religious and military training under state control. It was the only school where Turkey’s Greek minority educated its clergy. The theological school once trained generations of Greek Orthodox leaders, including the current Patriarch Bartholomew, who is one of its 900 graduates.

This will be the largest return of property in terms of size to a non-Muslim community since the Turkish government adopted a decree in August 2011 to return all confiscated immovable property belonging to minority foundations in Turkey.

According to the decree, minority foundations are able to reclaim real property they had declared back in 1936. All real property, cemeteries and fountains will be returned to their rightful owners. Immovable property currently belonging to third parties will also be paid for.

All real property, cemeteries and fountains are to be returned to their rightful holders as per the decree. Immoveable property currently belonging to third persons will be paid for. The process has been ongoing for some time, as foundations were given 12 months to apply to authorities.

Laki Vingas, the first non-Muslim citizen of Turkey to be elected as a representative of non-Muslim foundations in the Council of the General Assembly of the VGM, said he was satisfied with the decision. “This is the restoration of a right,” he told Today’s Zaman. Vingas noted that there have been many other property returns that were higher in value but the return of the forestland has symbolic importance because the Halki seminary is involved.

Turkey’s population of nearly 75 million, mostly Muslim, includes about 65,000 Armenian Orthodox Christians, 20,000 Jews, 15,000 Arameans (Syriacs) and about 3,500 Greek Orthodox Christians. While Armenian groups have 52 and Jewish groups have 17 foundations, Greeks have 75. Some of the properties seized from those foundations include hospitals, schools and cemeteries.

EGYPT: Muslim preacher says Christian women should wear veils unless "they want to get raped on the streets"

Hesham el-Ashry

Many Egyptian viewers were horrified when preacher Hesham el-Ashry recently popped up on primetime television to say women must cover up for their own protection and advocated the introduction of religious police.

That an obscure preacher could get publicity for such views was seen as another example of the confused political scene in Egypt since the revolt that toppled Hosni Mubarak gave birth to a cacophony of feuding voices.

"I was once asked: If I came to power, would I let Christian women remain unveiled? And I said: If they want to get raped on the streets, then they can," Ashry told Nahar TV last week.

Introducing a Saudi-style anti-vice police force to enforce Islamic law was "not a bad thing", he said, and added: "In order for Egypt to become fully Islamic, alcohol must be banned and all women must be covered."

Few take Ashry, who admits he flew to the United States dreaming of a Western lifestyle and romance but instead found truth in preaching, seriously. But his views have stirred emotions.

With the economic downturn and rising food prices putting pressure on the government, moderate Muslims, Christians and others worry their new-found political freedom is at risk of being exploited by hardline Islamists bent on imposing their values on a society that has been traditionally moderate.

Norway against private Islamic schools

OSLO – A rightist Norwegian party is spearheading new campaigns against private Islamic schools, claiming that they endanger the country’s integration.

“In Oslo, where applications (for Muslim schools) have come in, there are challenges with integration already,” Tord Lien, spokesman of Progress Party (FrP)n on education issues, told newspaper Aftenposten, News in English website reported on Friday, January 4.

“If you’re going to integrate into Norwegian society, it’s an advantage to go to school with Norwegian children.”

Current law in Norway allows for establishment of private schools based on religious belief.

The establishment of new Muslim schools, he claimed, could “further weaken integration” of Muslims into Norwegian society.

Yet, FrP spokesman confirmed that they oppose the establishment of Muslim elementary schools in Norway, same as the case in neighboring Sweden.

“It must be allowed to consider the need for integration when screening applications,” Lien said.

Despite his opposition to Muslim religious schools, Lien welcomed the establishment of Christian schools which has existed in Norway for 100 years.

Asked to explain why Christians and Muslims should be treated differently he said, “it’s difficult to see how they can hinder integration.”

Norway has traditionally been open to immigration, which has been criticized by the Progress Party, of which Oslo killer Anders Behring Breivik was a member for a short time.

Depending on an anti-immigration tone to draw supporters, the party rhetoric was damaged by Oslo attacks, seeing its support fall to 11.4% in local elections last September from 17.5% in 2007.

When Norway opened its doors to immigrants some four decades ago, Oslo began to change dramatically.

Today, 30% of the city's population is made up of first- or second-generation immigrants.

The number of immigrants, who make up nearly 11 percent of Norway’s 4.9 million population, nearly tripled between 1995 and 2010.

The Muslim community in Norway is estimated at 150,000. The majority of Muslims are of Pakistan, Somali, Iraqi and Moroccan backgrounds.