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Tuesday, April 3, 2012
New Faces at U.S. Int’l Religious Freedom Watchdog Include ‘Anti-Islamist’ Muslim, Leading Catholic Conservative
An independent statutory body advising the U.S. government on international religious freedom issues is undergoing a process of change across the board, with the bulk of its commissioners – including some who have served for a decade – being replaced.
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Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Tibet Self-Immolation Wave Among History's Biggest
Dozens of Tibetans have set themselves on fire over the past year to protest Chinese rule, sometimes drinking kerosene to make the flames explode from within, in one of the biggest waves of political self-immolations in recent history.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
The Tragedy of Religious Freedom in Syria
There is fear in some quarters that should the Assad regime fall, non-Muslim (and possibly non-Sunni Muslim) Syrians will suffer from a lack of religious freedom.
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Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Pope Urges More Religious Freedom in Cuba
Pope Benedict XVI demanded more freedom for the Catholic Church in communist-run Cuba on Wednesday and preached against "fanaticism" in an unusually political sermon before hundreds of thousands at Revolution Plaza, with President Raul Castro in the front row.
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Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Arizona Immigration Law Threatens Religious Liberty, USCCB Argues in Court Brief
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has filed an amicus curiae brief in support of the federal government in its dispute with Arizona over the state’s 2010 immigration legislation.
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Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Syria's Christians Fear Persecution, Being Forced Out If Assad Is Removed
A senior Syrian bishop who spoke with a Christian advocacy group, Aide to the Church in Need (ACN), recently said that as a Christian leader, he fears the danger of a mass exodus of the faithful, similar to the one that happened in Iraq after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and the fall of Hussein.
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Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Menorah House Refused Sabbath Accommodations For Seventh-Day Adventist Workers and Fired Them
A Boca Raton nursing and rehabilitation facility will pay $125,000 to settle two religious discrimination lawsuits brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced Monday.
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Wednesday, March 21, 2012
US Report Criticizes Turkey for Serious Limitations on Religious Freedom
An annual government report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has added U.S. ally Turkey as well as Tajikistan to its list of the worst violators of religious rights.
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Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Supreme Court Declines Religious Liberty Case
The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday it will not hear a campus religious liberty case experts had hoped would give Christian groups more freedom to operate at secular schools.
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Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Congressional Scorecard to Hold U.S. Legislators Accountable for Religious Freedom Decisions
The Open Doors USA Congressional Scorecard for International Religious Freedom of the 112th session of Congress was just released, ranking U.S. Congressmen and Senators on their promotion of religious freedom. Why assign a point value to a legislator's record on issues regarding international religious freedom? "Nearly everyone says that they care about religious freedom. But when it comes to actually taking action to help people who are being persecuted for their faith, we find that a lot of legislators weren't willing to take action." says Open Doors' Lindsay Vessey.