INDIAN CHRISTIANS CALL FOR JUSTICE AHEAD THE UPCOMING ELECTION

Christian leaders in India have called on all political parties to bring justice for the Indian Christian community ahead of a new general election in the country.

N. Gopalaswami, the Chief Election Commissioner of India, announced this week that a five-phase parliamentary election would take place from April 16, with polls ending on May 13.
Just before the announcement both Catholic and Protestant leaders released a memorandum, which they plan to give to the leaders of political parties, stating, "All political parties must put the security of all religious minorities, and especially of the Christian community at the top of their electoral agenda," according to UCANews.com
It also called upon political parties to bring to justice the “culprits of crimes” committed against Christians, notably in Orissa, where over 60 Christians were killed and 50,000 displaced by anti-Christian violence last year.
During a press conference to announce the memorandum, some of the Christian leaders spoke of how the perpetrators of anti-Christian crimes in Orissa were still free because they have political support.
Archbishop Vincent Concessao of Delhi said that “hate campaigns” against Christians and Muslims were continuing in parts of India in order to gain votes for Hindu political parties.
He added that he wanted political parties and their supporters to denounce violence and promote justice and human rights, especially for Muslims and Christians.
The memorandum also requested that political parties make plans to promote the economic progress of Christians, who are often among the poorest in India, and to set up a judicial commission to assess the loss of rights that they had suffered. It also said that the rights of Christians from lower castes should also be restored.
Christians from lower castes often lose out from quotas meant to help the socio-economic development of lower caste people, as Christians themselves do not accept the Hindu caste system.
Auxiliary Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Delhi said the memorandum would make "the electorate more alert and will be heard by all."
He urged people to vote in the upcoming elections and said that the church believed in democracy and the secular principles of India.
The leaders also said that they would form an ecumenical delegation and meet the leaders of all political parties ahead of the election and present them with the memorandum

INDONESIA HOLDS YOGA FESTIVAL INSPITE OF MUSLIM FATWA; RISKS REALLY MATTERS WHEN IT COMES TO OPPOSITION

An eight-day international yoga festival opened Tuesday on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali despite a fatwa against the exercise from the country's top Muslim body.
Organisers said seminars and workshops would help introduce yoga to a wider audience and rejected the clerics' concerns that some forms of the popular exercise were a threat to Islam.
"The festival has a universal value. It doesn't belong to any religious teachings," International Bali-India Yoga Festival spokeswoman Susi Andrini told AFP.
Yoga, an ancient Indian aid to meditation dating back thousands of years, is a popular form of physical exercise and stress relief in Indonesia.
But the Indonesian Council of Ulemas, the top religious body in the mainly Muslim country, issued a fatwa in January banning Indonesian Muslims from all forms of yoga that involve Hindu religious rituals such as chanting mantras.
It said performing yoga purely for the physical benefits was however acceptable.
The move raised the hackles of religious moderates and civil libertarian groups who accused the council of meddling in affairs over which it had no authority.
Religious edicts issued by the ulemas are not legally binding on Muslims but it is considered sinful to ignore them.
Andrini said organisers were not afraid to hold the festival at the Bajrasandi Bali Monument in Denpasar -- the capital of the Hindu-majority island of Bali -- despite the fatwa.
"I'm a Muslim myself. Our kind of yoga, which is called Patanjali, involves movement and breathing. People may recite their own mantra or prayer according to their faith," she said.
"We want to make Bali a place for spiritual tourism. Visitors will seek the spiritual aspect first rather than leisure."
Andrini expected about 500 people from around the world, including the United States, Germany, Sweden, Japan and China, would participate in the festival.

STUDENT MADE POSTERS CENSORED FOR USING ' FAITH WORDS ' IN TENNESSEE

An elementary school in Tennessee, after successfully rebuffing an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit over religious expression on campus, has nonetheless ordered the words "God Bless the USA" and "In God We Trust" covered up on student-made posters in the hallway.

Administrators at Lakeview Elementary School in Mt. Juliet, Tenn., told parents that the posters, promoting the See You at the Pole student prayer event, mentioned "God" and are therefore precluded by school board policy and prohibited in the hallways as inappropriate.
Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund, a legal alliance defending religious liberty, filed a lawsuit today on behalf of 10 parents and their children, seeking an injunction against banning private religious expression on student-made posters.
"Christian students shouldn't be censored for expressing their beliefs," said ADF Senior Counsel Nate Kellum in a statement. "It's ridiculous as well as unconstitutional to cover up these references to God and prayer – one of which is the national motto itself – on posters announcing a student-led activity."
Further, Kellum surmised, "School officials appear to be having an allergic reaction to the ACLU's long-term record of fear, intimidation, and disinformation, despite a previous court ruling at this very school that said students can observe these types of events on school property."

In 2006, lawyers from the ACLU sued the school to stop it from recognizing religious events, including See You at the Pole and the National Day of Prayer.
In May 2008, a U.S. District Court judge refused to grant the ACLU's request.
This year, each poster, made on personal time without the use of any school funds or supplies, included the disclaimer: "See You at the Pole is a student-initiated and student-led event and is not endorsed by Lakeview Elementary or Wilson County schools."
Nevertheless, the lawsuit states, the school's assistant principal told parents – upon advisement from the principal and director of schools for the county – that Scripture verses and phrases mentioning "God" would not be permitted on the posters. Even "come pray" was deemed in violation of school policy for using the word "pray."
With the date of the "See You at the Pole" event only a few days away, rather than asking the students to make new posters, the school provided green slips of paper to obscure the offending words.
WND contacted Lakeview Elementary's vice principal, but she declined to comment until she could familiarize herself with the details of the lawsuit.
Attorneys from ADF contend the disclaimer statement on the posters was more than enough to release the school from any perceived endorsement of the "God" messages, and that burying the words behind green paper constitutes a clear violation of First Amendment rights.
"The Constitution prohibits government officials from singling out religious speech for censorship," Kellum said, "but this is exactly what Lakeview school officials did when they ordered these words to be covered."

LEBANON DROPS SUPPORT FOR THE BIBLE PARK; COUNCIL CITES LACK OF FINANCIAL DETAILS; PRAY AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE....

LEBANON — The Lebanon city council voted Tuesday night to take back its support for a Bible-themed amusement park proposed to be built just outside the Wilson County seat.

The council voted in November to accept Bible Park USA's proposed economic impact plan and back an inter-local agreement that would support the county commission should it vote to create a tourism development zone for the park property.
Councilman Alex Buhler asked the council to suspend the rules of order for Tuesday's meeting to discuss an ordinance he had crafted regarding the Bible Park. Buhler's ordinance was not on the agenda.
The vote to suspend the rules and the subsequent vote to rescind all previous Bible Park ordinances passed unanimously.
"I don't see where they're investing anything," Buhler said about Bible Park developers.
Park developer Rob Wyatt, president of California-based Entertainment Development Group, said in a statement that he was surprised by the council's decision.
"It is puzzling that the Lebanon City Council, during a national economic crisis in which layoffs are a daily announcement and tax revenues are hard to find, would fail to support an international tourism development that will attract tourists who will spend their money in Wilson County restaurants, hotels and businesses, leaving behind millions in tax revenues annually, before they go back home," Wyatt said.
"We have operated in good faith with the Lebanon City Council, and we have not been contacted by anyone on the Council with a request for additional information at any time in the last weeks or months," the developer said.
Buhler said he asked the council to take back support for the park because he and other council members got no response after asking repeatedly to see financial statements from park developers.
"The public has a right to know who is behind this," Buhler said.
Wyatt said in his statement, issued after the council meeting, that the developers would provide complete financial details after getting approval from the county Industrial Development Board to develop a plan for the park.
S.C. park didn't last
Councilman William Farmer said he was troubled that the same group that brought the Hard Rock Park to South Carolina is backing the Bible Park.
Farmer referred to SafeHarbor Holding, an equity investor in the proposed Bible Park, which also developed the Hard Rock Park.
The $400 million Hard Rock Park opened in Myrtle Beach, S.C., last summer and sold recently at a bankruptcy auction for $25 million.
The ordinance to end support will require a second vote on March 17.
The Wilson County Commission is scheduled to vote March 13 on a proposed tax incentive package. The future of that package isn't certain because of the Lebanon council's vote.
State law requires the city and the county sign off on a tourism development zone, which allows use of taxes generated by the development to pay off bonds issued to finance it.

Buhler said he asked the council to take back support for the park because he and other council members got no response after asking repeatedly to see financial statements from park developers.
"The public has a right to know who is behind this," Buhler said.
Wyatt said in his statement, issued after the council meeting, that the developers would provide complete financial details after getting approval from the county Industrial Development Board to develop a plan for the park.
S.C. park didn't last
Councilman William Farmer said he was troubled that the same group that brought the Hard Rock Park to South Carolina is backing the Bible Park.
Farmer referred to SafeHarbor Holding, an equity investor in the proposed Bible Park, which also developed the Hard Rock Park.
The $400 million Hard Rock Park opened in Myrtle Beach, S.C., last summer and sold recently at a bankruptcy auction for $25 million.
The ordinance to end support will require a second vote on March 17.
The Wilson County Commission is scheduled to vote March 13 on a proposed tax incentive package. The future of that package isn't certain because of the Lebanon council's vote.
State law requires the city and the county sign off on a tourism development zone, which allows use of taxes generated by the development to pay off bonds issued to finance it.

ANTI-CONVERSION BILL IN SRI-LANKA FACES OPPOSITION; PRAYERS MAKING DIFFERENCES.....

Sri Lanka ― U.S. Congressmen are pressing Sri Lanka to drop its controversial anti-conversion bill.
The proposed bill, called the "Prohibition of Forcible Conversions," imposes fines of up to 500,000 Sri Lankan rupees ($4,425 USD) and up to seven years in prison for trying to convert a Sri Lankan citizen from one religion to another by using "force, fraud or allurement."
The harshest punishments are aimed at those convicted of converting women or children. The Jathika Hela Urumaya political party, whose leadership is comprised of Buddhist monks, drafted the bill.
According to Gospel For Asia, a leader of that party went on record saying that US-funded Christian missionaries are one of the greatest threats facing Sri Lanka.
Ironically, Sri Lanka's constitution guarantees freedom of thought, conscience and religion. That's what has made the anti-conversion bill divisive. Debate has been deferred amid opposition from Christians.
Craig Detweiler with Asian Access says many are already working toward reconciliation, regardless of the politics or jockeying for power that has gripped the small island nation.
"One of our vice presidents serves as a pastor in Colombo, Kithu Sevana Church. They're doing remarkable things to bring Sinhalese and Tamils together in the name of Christ, and yet there are proposed laws that could make that a crime."
The pastor networks Asian Access supports have been watching the anti-conversion saga. "We have pastors in Mongolia, Japan and Thailand who are very concerned about what is happening in Sri Lanka. If certain laws are passed, maybe by a Buddhist majority there, it could be exported to other countries."
Keep praying for wisdom for their team of church leaders. "We're hopeful that the Christian community, which is a small minority, will be able to broker a fragile peace between the Buddhist majority Sinhalese and the Hindu minority Tamil community, and that there may be healing to a country that desperately needs it."
Sri Lanka is a colorful and highly-complex country whose people have paid a heavy price in a decades-long civil war. According to the Associated Press, the death toll is estimated at roughly 40 civilians every day, with more than 100 wounded, as artillery shells and gun battles between the two sides devastate the Sri Lankan northeast.