News Update—4/12/10

Riaz Anjum Masih, Chairman of the Pakistan Christian Movement (PCM), has urged Pakistani Christians to launch a united effort for scrapping of all discriminatory laws against minorities. He also called for repeal of those sections of the constitution which allegedly discriminate against religious minorities.

“Although the constitution of Pakistan is unanimously agreed-upon, the Christians and other religious minorities have some reservations about it,” said Masih. Masih alleged that only Muslims can attain high posts in government currently, while Christians are underrepresented in the national assembly.

Religion Today Summaries

U.S. Fertility Rate Drops below Replacement Level 
U.S. births dropped 2% in 2008, bringing the country’s fertility rate below replacement level, new government statistics released Tuesday reveal.

The U.S. National Vital Statistics Report showed that the U.S. birth rate dropped in 2008 to 2.08 births per woman, below the 2.1 level needed to replace the population. The report indicates that the birth rate had surpassed replacement level for 2006 and 2007, after having been below replacement since 1972.

The drop in 2008 follows a period of growth, with fertility in 2007 reaching its highest point in two decades.  The country saw 4.2 million births, down from 4.3 million the year before.

The decline included a 2% drop in births among teenage girls, which had been on the rise the two previous years, with 41.5 births per 1,000 teens aged 15 to 19. The birth rate for women in their twenties, the main childbearing years, fell 2 to 3 percent, but the rate for women aged 40-44 increased 4% to 9.9 births per 1,000 women, the highest since 1967.

While the reasons for the decline are unclear, the Washington Post suggests that the drop is linked to the economic recession. They cite a study from the Pew Research Center indicating that the birthrate fell more in states that were more heavily affected by the recession, and vice versa. They also pointed out an October Pew survey that found 14% of Americans aged 18 to 34 and 8% aged 35 to 44 had chosen to postpone birth due to the recession.

LifeSiteNews

Radical Iran Growing More Christian
Mission News Network reports that Christianity is growing in Iran, even as the government's agenda grows more radical.

“There has been a continual movement not to back down and to continue moving forward with their Islamic agenda,” evangelist Sammy Tippit said of the government. “The church has continued to grow, although it has become much more difficult for the church. We continue this year to receive reports of people who are being arrested.”

 Some Christians have been released, but that does not point to increased freedom, he said. “It seems to me that everything is moving toward some kind of boiling point.” Even with this kind of persecution, however, Tippit believes “there’s no place in all of the Middle East that is as receptive to the Gospel as Iran.”

Religion Today Summaries

Ex-Muslim Teen Seeks U.S. Refuge to Avoid Deportation
The Washington Times reports that Rifqa Bary, who fled her Muslim parents’ home in Ohio last year after her conversion to Christianity, remains in fear of deportation.

Her attorney told a judge Monday that the 17-year-old is being blocked by her Muslim parents from fighting the possibility of deportation. Rifqa has been in foster care for months, but is an illegal immigrant, along with her family, from Sri Lanka. She maintains her fear of harm if she is forced to return to the Muslim state.

Her attorney has asked for a special order that would allow Rifqa to apply for special immigration status without her parents’ consent. Franklin County Juvenile Court Judge Elizabeth Gill will hold a hearing on the matter next month. Rifqa and her parents are undergoing individual counseling with the goal of reconciliation, but they will not meet in person for some time.

Religion Today Summaries

Personhood Amendment Qualified for Miss. Ballot 
Personhood Mississippi has enough certified voter signatures to ensure a spot on the November 2011 ballot, according to Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann.

Personhood Mississippi, a client of Liberty Counsel, worked to gather 130,000 signatures for the 89,285 needed to place the amendment on the ballot.

The amendment reads, “The term ‘person’ or ‘persons’ shall include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning or the functional equivalent thereof.”

“Medical science unequivocally establishes the personhood of the child from conception. From the moment of fertilization, the unborn child is genetically unique,” stated Liberty Council in a press release announcing the ballot authorization. “But under Roe v. Wade, they still do not have the right to life, even up to the moment of birth.”

In order to point out the similarities between prenatal and postnatal children, Personhood Mississippi is now focusing their grassroots efforts on educating the public to the realities of fetal development and abortion.

“The legal hurdles erected by the legislature and the Attorney General have been enormous, yet the people of the great state of Mississippi have overcome them all and given voice to the voiceless,” said Steve Crampton, Vice President of Legal Affairs and General Counsel of Liberty Counsel. “We look forward to a historic victory for the unborn and stand ready to defend this amendment against all those who would seek to undermine the fundamental right to life for the most innocent among us.”

LifeSiteNews

Scotland: Street Preacher Fined for Calling Homosexuality a Sin
Christian Today reports that an American street preacher faces a £1,000 fine for allegedly stating that homosexuals “deserve the wrath of God.”

Shawn Holes, 47, was preaching in Glasgow city centre on March 18 when a gay couple asked him a question about homosexuality. He was later charged with disturbing the peace and slapped with the fine. Holes plead guilty to the charge because he wanted to get back to the U.S., where his father is in hospice.

According to Christian Today, the case has disturbed even gay rights advocates like Peter Tatchell, who called the fine “disproportionate”. Holes’ lawyer, Tony Kelly of the Christian Institute, had advised Holes to challenge the charge. “This case raises important issues about the interface between the criminal law in Scotland, freedom of speech and religious freedom,” Kelly said.

Religion Today Summaries