Religious News from Around the Web, Jan 27th 2020

Indian Women Unite vs CAA, Falun Gong, Holocaust Property, Rohingya Ruling, Lutherans Pack 10 Million Meals, Religious School Funding

India’s CAA Unites Religions
Women block road to protest CAA Photo by By DTM - CCIndia’s Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) allows refugees in India to apply for citizenship, but excludes Muslims. The CAA has caused many protests, but recently, women of Hindu, Christian, Sikh and other religious minorities have joined Muslim women in opposition to the act, and tens of thousands recently blocked roads and held multi-faith religious services in support of religious liberty.

Falun Gong Lose Case Against Chinese Official
A 15-year legal case filed by Falun Gong advocates against Zhao Zhizhen, a former Chinese broadcast official, is over. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Jan. 21 that the plaintiffs failed to directly connect Zhao to torture inflicted on Falun Gong members by China, which has outlawed the group. The case was filed under laws that allow foreigners to file human rights cases in the United States.

SCOTUS Hears Arguments Related to Public Funding of Religious Schools
Richard D. Komer“This case asks whether the Federal Constitution allows the wholesale exclusion of religious schools from scholarship programs. It does not.” Thus began Richard D. Komer arguing in front of the U. S. Supreme Court on behalf of petitioners in Espinoza versus the Montana Department of Revenue, a case which has the potential to invalidate state laws that prohibit public funding of religious schools.


Polish Holocaust Survivors Try to Recover Lost Property
After the fall of communism, Poland appeared to be receptive to returning Jewish property seized by the Nazis during WWII. But times have changed and restitution or reimbursement is now resisted by the government. An estimated 3 million Polish Jews died in the Holocaust.

Court Rules in Rohingya Genocide Case
A displaced Rohingya family Photo By Saahmadbul CCIn 2017, some 700,000 Muslim Rohingya fled Myanmar in 2017 during gang rapes and mass killings carried out with what the UN terms “genocidal intent.” Hundreds of villages were burned to the ground. Myanmar denies the charges of genocide but the International Court of Justice ruled on Jan 23, that Myanmar must prevent further genocide and preserve evidence.

Latter-day Saints and NAACP Closer Allies
Latter-day Saints President Russell M. Nelson, addressing the NAACP convention last summer in Detroit, said “We truly believe that we are brothers and sisters – all part of the same divine family. We strive to build bridges of cooperation rather than walls of segregation.” Latter-day Saints officials also publicly disavowed a racially charged statement in the church’s “Come, Follow Me” manual, saying that the church “condemn[s] all racism past and present in any form, and we disavow any theory that advances that black skin or dark skin is the sign of a curse.”

Lutheran Church Packs 10 Million Meals for Hungry
Calvary Lutheran Church of Golden Valley, Minn. has packed some 10 million meals over the past 12 years to feed the hungry. Church members and community volunteers participate in the annual event to benefit the nonprofit Feed My Starving Children.

Interfaith Alliance Meets in Australia
HWPL (Heavenly Culture, World Peace & Restoration of Light) Sydney hosted the 54th World Alliance of Religions’ Peace Office meeting in Sydney, Australia, on the 18th of January. Religious leaders from Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and Jainism joined youth and community members to discuss “Life and Death” as embodied in each faith. Man Hee Lee is Chairman of HWPL, and founder of Shincheonji, Church of Jesus, the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony.