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Christian Theology Students Forced off Campus by Mob of Islamic Hard-liners

Friday, August 22, 2008

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Hundreds of Christian theology students have been living in tents since a mob of angry Muslim neighbors stormed their campus last month wielding bamboo spears and hurling Molotov cocktails.

The incident comes amid growing concern that Indonesia's tradition of religious tolerance is under threat from Islamic hard-liners.

In talks since the attack, the Arastamar Evangelical School of Theology has reluctantly agreed to shut its 20-year-old campus in east Jakarta, accepting an offer this week to move to a small office building on the other side of the Indonesian capital.

"Why should we be forced from our house while our attackers can walk freely?" asked the Rev. Matheus Mangentang, chairman of the 1,400-student school.

The government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, which relies on the support of Islamic parties in Parliament, is struggling to balance deep Islamic traditions and a secular constitution. With elections coming next April, the government seems unwilling to defend religious minorities, lest it be portrayed as anti-Islamic in what is the world's most populous Muslim-majority country.

The July 25 attack, which injured 18 students, was the culmination of years of simmering tensions between the school and residents of the Kampung Pulo neighborhood.

Senny Manave, a spokesman for the Christian school, said complaints were received from neighbors about prayers and the singing of hymns, which they considered disturbing evangelical activity.

Several neighbors refused to comment, saying they feared that could further strain relations. A prominent banner, signed by scores of people, has been hung over an entrance to the neighborhood.

"We the community of Kampung Pulo demand the campus be closed and dissolved," it says.

The assault began around midnight, when students woke to the crash of stones falling on their dormitory roof as a voice over a loudspeaker at a nearby mosque cried "Allah Akbar," or "God is great" in Arabic.

The unidentified speaker urged residents to rise up against their "unwanted neighbors," said Sairin, the head of campus security, who goes by a single name.

The attack followed a claim that a student had broken into a resident's house, but police dismissed the charge.

Uneasy relations date to 2003, when neighbors began to protest the school's presence. Last year, residents set fire to shelters for construction workers to try to stop the campus from expanding deeper into the neighborhood. Some also questioned the legality of the school's permit.

Christian lawmaker Karol Daniel Kadang accused property speculators of provoking last month's incident to clear the land for more profitable use, after the school refused to sell out.

He also blamed the government for failing to build interfaith relations, which he and others believe are beginning to fray.

"People are still tolerant, but there is a growing suspicion among Muslims of others," said Prof. Franz Magnis-Suseno, a Jesuit priest who has lived in Indonesia for half a century.

He added that the police have failed to prevent both attacks on minorities and the forced closure of Christian churches and nontraditional mosques by mobs incited by radical Muslims.

"The state has some responsibility for this growing intolerance, namely by not upholding the law," he said.

A mob stormed a church service last Sunday in another east Jakarta neighborhood, forcing dozens of Christian worshippers to flee, said Jakarta Police Chief Col. Carlo Tewu. No arrests have been made.

Since being driven from campus, nearly 600 female students have been sleeping under suspended tarps at a nearby scout camp, where they had to dig trenches to keep water out during downpours. Classes are held with megaphones in the sweltering summer heat, under trees or the tarps. A similar number of male students live in a guesthouse. The remainder have returned to their families.

Food, water and school supplies are donated by church groups and community charities.

"We feel like refugees in our own country," said Dessy Nope, 19, a second-year student majoring in education. "How can you study here? I only followed 20 percent of my last lesson. It's difficult to concentrate."

Christians have not been the only targets for Muslim hard-liners, who this year set fire to mosques of a Muslim sect, Ahmadiyah, that they consider heretical.

In June, the government ordered members of the sect to return to mainstream Islam, sparking concern among activists who fear the state is interfering in matters of faith and caving in to the demands of radicals.

"We're living in a country where there are many religions, but the government cannot prevent the actions of fundamentalist groups," said Manave, the school spokesman. "The government cannot protect minorities."

NOT BRIGHT IDEA

ANOTHER BRIGHT IDEA
1 broken bulb pushes contamination to 300 times EPA limits
Poisonous vapor so bad, researchers recommend families no longer use CFLs

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Posted: August 11, 2008
9:55 pm Eastern

© 2008 WorldNetDaily

Compact fluorescent light bulbs have long been known to contain poisonous liquid mercury, but a study released earlier this year shows the level of mercury vapor released from broken bulbs skyrockets past accepted safety levels.

Following a story reported by WND last year about a Maine woman quoted $2,000 for cleaning up a broken fluorescent bulb, or CFL, in her home, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection studied the dangers of broken CFLs and the adequacy of recommended cleanup procedures.

The results were stunning: Breaking a single compact fluorescent bulb on the floor can spike mercury vapor levels in a room – particularly at a child's height – to over 300 times the EPA's standard accepted safety level.

Furthermore, for days after a CFL has been broken, vacuuming or simply crawling across a carpeted floor where the bulb was broken can cause mercury vapor levels to shoot back upwards of 100 times the accepted level of safety.

Following the study, the Maine DEP made eight new recommendations for usage and cleanup of CFLs, including the recommendation to not even use the bulbs in carpeted rooms where children, infants or pregnant women live. The likelihood of breakage, near impossibility of cleanup and risk of prolonged exposure, the study concluded, are just too great.

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences website acknowledges that Brown University published a similar study last month confirming the Maine results: Breaking a fluorescent bulb sends mercury vapor levels to unsafe levels for the elderly, pregnant and young – and those levels remain elevated for days.

The NIEHS website states, "Today’s CFLs underscore mercury's volatile vapor form, which is still a significant health concern – ventilation reduces but does not eliminate this toxicant. Mercury vapor inhalation can cause significant neural damage in developing fetuses and children."

According to a Mercury Policy Project overview paper, unpolluted air contains one to two nanograms, or billionths of a gram, of mercury vapor per cubic meter. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has established a level of 300 ng/m3 as the safety threshold for prolonged exposure to the poisonous gas.

Some states, though not the federal government, have also established a safety threshold for a one-time, acute exposure to mercury vapor. California, for example, has established that any level of exposure over 1,800 ng/m3 has potentially harmful health effects.

The Maine study, however, discovered that upon breakage of a CFL, mercury vapors can rise "with short excursions over 25,000 ng/m3, sometimes over 50,000 ng/m3, and possibly over 100,000 ng/m3 from the breakage of a single compact fluorescent lamp."

In other words, the study found breaking a single bulb can send mercury vapor levels in a room to over 50 times the level that California considers dangerous and to over 300 times what the EPA has established as a safe level for prolonged exposure.

Researchers in the study broke 45 bulbs in a variety of flooring surfaces and then studied lingering gas levels after a variety of cleanup techniques. The results contradicted a number of commonly held thoughts on CFLs, for example:

• Though proponents of CFLs often argue a single bulb only contains 5 mg of mercury, the study found it was an average. The bulbs actually range from 0.9 to 18 mg of mercury.

• Though the EPA's Energy Star program recommends placing a broken bulb "in a glass jar with a metal lid or in a sealed plastic bag," the study discovered mercury vapor leaches right through plastic bags. "Of the 12 different types of containers tested during the 23 different tests, the plastic bag was found to be the worst choice for containing mercury emissions," researchers stated. "Based upon this study, the DEP now suggests that a glass container with metal screw lid with a gum seal be used to contain debris."

• Though the Energy Star guidelines suggest ventilating a room for 15 minutes before attempting cleanup, the study found that in every case – even in well-ventilated rooms – it took over an hour to drop mercury vapor levels below the EPA safety standard.

• And for cleanup on carpets, the Energy Star guidelines suggest vacuuming and disposing of the dust bag. The Maine study, however, discovered that vacuuming served to simply stir the vapor into the air and "irreversibly contaminate the vacuum". The researchers, acknowledging it was inconvenient, recommended only one course of action for broken bulbs on carpet: remove the carpet.

The Maine study also discovered, however, that carpets aren't the only problem with broken bulbs.

"All three flooring surfaces in this study (pre-finished hardwood, short nap carpet, and shag carpet) were able to be cleaned up with pre-study cleanup guidance so that they looked clean. However, mercury vapors emanating from all three surface types were detected, especially when agitated, for weeks after the cleanup of a break. … Flooring surfaces, once visibly clean, can emit mercury immediately at the source that can be greater than 50,000 ng/m3."

"Flooring surfaces that still contain mercury sources emit more mercury when agitated than when not agitated. This mercury source in the carpeting has particular significance for children rolling around on a floor, babies crawling, or non mobile infants placed on the floor."

As WND has reported, several countries, including the U.S., have signed laws that will eventually phase out typical incandescent light bulbs and dictate their replacement with CFLs.

Even the U.S. EPA, however, has recognized that recent studies show CFLs aren't safe for all circumstances.

The Maine study may prove the most condemning of the use of fluorescent bulbs yet.

Part of the study detailed the potential hazards posed by mercury vapor:

"There are a number of studies documenting neurotoxicity as a consequence of inhalation of elemental mercury in adults. … Studies documented changes in EEG, deficits in peripheral nerve function, autonomic effects, psychological and sleep changes, and deficits in fine motor performance, visuomotor coordination, visual reaction time, visual scanning, memory, concentration, and executive function."

In children, and especially unborn children, the results can be far worse:

"It is well established that the developing organism may be much more sensitive than the adult to neurotoxic agents. For example, methylmercury exposure can produce devastating effects in the fetus, including cerebral palsy, blindness, deafness, and even death, while producing no or minimal effects in the mother."

Children are also more susceptible to mercury vapor exposure from broken CFLs:

"Infants and toddlers also have a much higher rate of respiration than adults. Therefore they have a higher exposure to similar concentrations. They also are lower to the floor and therefore closer to the source of the exposure and presumably more apt to obtain a concentrated dose of mercury."

The study, however, didn't leave out the elderly:

"Elderly and unhealthy individuals may already be at comprised health and be more susceptible to mercury effects than a healthy individual. For example, mercury does kidney damage which could exacerbate an already existing kidney disease."

Unlike many poisons that can be flushed out of the body, mercury bioaccumulates, which means the various tissues store the toxin in increasing amounts, a particular concern as the use of CFLs increases.

The Mercury Policy Project summary paper quotes an estimate that the U.S. currently releases two tons of mercury vapor into the environment each year from broken fluorescent bulbs alone. Two tons contrasts startlingly with the level the EPA has established as dangerous to human health: a mere 300 billionths of a gram.

Daughter murdered for converting to Christianity

Saudi man kills daughter for converting to Christianity

By Mariam Al Hakeem, Correspondent Published: August 12, 2008, 18:34

Riyadh: A Saudi man working with the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice recently killed his daughter for converting to Christianity. According to sources close to the victim, the religious police member had cut the tongue of the girl and burned her to death following a heated debate on religion. The death of the girl sent shockwaves and websites where the victim used to write with various nick names have allocated special space to mourn her, while some others closed temporarily in protest. According to the Saudi Al Ukhdoud news website, the victim wrote an article on the blog of which she was a member under the nickname “Rania” a few days before her murder. She wrote that her life became an ordeal after her family members grew suspicious about her after a religious discussion with them. She said that her brother found some Christian articles written by her as well as a cross sign on her computer screen. Since then he started to insult her and blamed the internet for pushing her to change her religion. The “Free Copts” website published a message which it received from a friend of the victim, revealing that the killer is in police custody and that he is being investigated for an honour related crime. Saudi religious scholars have frequently warned against the dangers of Christian internet websites and satellite TV channels which attract Muslim youngsters to change their religion. They decreed that watching these channels or browsing these websites which call for conversion to Christianity by various means is against the teachings of Islam. Looks like extremist religious nations have no religious freedom at all. What have the West and especially the US to say about all this.

Genetically modified crops - detrimental

Prince: Genetically modified crops not the answer

Aug 12, 8:51 PM (ET)

By DAVID STRINGER

LONDON (AP) - Britain's Prince Charles, owner of an organic farm, says that increased use of genetically modified crops to help solve world food shortages could lead to environmental disaster.

The heir to the British throne was quoted as saying in an interview published Wednesday that he believes new experiments with modified crops could worsen problems with food supplies.

Prince Charles, whose farm has supplied products to stores since 1992, is a longtime critic of genetic modification of food.

His stance puts him at odds with Britain's government, which has said that genetically modified crops could help lower food prices and urged those opposed to the technology to reconsider their position.

"What we should be talking about is food security not food production - that is what matters and that is what people will not understand," Prince Charles in The Daily Telegraph interview.

He said he believed that genetically modified crops could lead to unsustainable demand on irrigation systems, have detrimental effects on farmland and lead to small farmers being driven out by agricultural conglomerates.

"It places impossible burdens on nature and leads to accumulating problems which become more difficult to sort out," he was quoted as saying.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said genetically modified crops have a key role in boosting agricultural production and lowering the spiraling prices of food staples.

"We must take the initiative to further develop higher-yielding and climate resilient varieties of crop," he wrote in a letter to G-8 leaders in April.

Britain has authorized about 50 separate trials of genetically modified crops and is considering requests from some biotechnology firms to keep the test locations secret amid vandalism fears.

FAITH UNDER FIRE
Saudis to Christians: Get out!
Those accused of worshipping in homes ordered deported

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Posted: August 04, 2008
10:13 pm Eastern

© 2008 WorldNetDaily

King Abdullah

More than a dozen Christians in Saudi Arabia who were accused by government officials of worshipping in their homes have been ordered deported.

According to a report from International Christian Concern, the Christians will be expelled tomorrow for their part in a home worship service in Taif in April.

The deportation conflicts with the message stated just weeks earlier by Saudi King Abdullah, who called for interfaith dialogue and held a summit in Spain with a representatives from several major religions.

"Deporting Christians for worshipping in their private homes shows that King Abdullah's speech is mere rhetoric and his country is deceiving the international community about their desire for change and reconciliation," said Jeff King, the president of ICC.

The report from the Washington-based human rights group said 15 Christians will be deported. Sixteen had been arrested April 25 when a dozen Saudi Arabian police officers raided a home during a prayer meeting.

"The first officer to enter the house after breaking down the main gate pointed a pistol at the Christians and ordered them to hand over their resident permits and mobile phones," the report said. "The other 11 police followed quickly and started searching the entire house. The confiscated an electronic drum set, an offering box with 500 Saudi Riyal in it ($130), 20 Bibles, and a few Christian books."

The worshippers initially faced accusations of preaching and singing. "They later changed the charge to holding a 'dance party' and collecting money to support terrorism," the ICC said.

"During the raid, the police mocked, questioned and harassed the Christians for four hours," ICC said.. "Then they took them to a police station where the head of the station interrogated them. The head of the police then wrote down their 'statements' in Arabic and forced the Christians, who are immigrants and not able to read or write Arabic, to sign the statements."

They were released three days later, and one Christian immediately left the country. The others returned to their work but soon got letters ordered their departures tomorrow, ICC said.

"Three weeks ago, Saudi Arabia hosted an interfaith conference in Madrid, Spain. During the conference that took place from July 16-19, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia called for reconciliation among various religions," ICC said.

According to an International Herald Tribune report, King Abdullah's meeting drew about 200 representatives of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Taoism and other religions.

The reporter noted that the meetings had to be held outside of Saudi Arabia, because "the mere fact that rabbis would be openly invited to the kingdom, a country where in principle Jews are not permitted to visit, would have constituted a turning point."

Knights Templar vs Vatican

Knights Templar to Vatican: Give us back our assets

Threaten to subject Pope to an inquisition

By Joe Fay → More by this author

Published Monday 4th August 2008 13:21 GMT

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Nail down your security priorities. Ask the experts and your peers at The Register Security Debate, September 24 2008.

The Knights Templar are demanding that the Vatican give them back their good name and, possibly, billions in assets into the bargain, 700 years after the order was brutally suppressed by a joint venture between the Pope and the King of France.

If the Holy See doesn’t comply, the warrior knights, renowned for liberating the Holy Land, will deploy that most fearsome of weapons: a laborious court case through the creaking Spanish legal system.

The Daily Telegraph reports that The Association of the Sovereign Order of the Temple of Christ has launched a court case in Spain, demanding Pope Benedict “recognise” the seizure of assets worth €100bn. The Spanish-based group of Templars apparently says in a statement: "We are not trying to cause the economic collapse of the Roman Catholic Church, but to illustrate to the court the magnitude of the plot against our Order." This might come as a surprise to those who believe that the order of warrior monks – also credited with possessing the Holy Grail and laying the foundation of the European banking system - was smashed in 1307 by Pope Clement V and Philip IV of France.

At the time, the order was accused of a multitude of crimes, including two medieval biggies - sodomy and heresy.

However, recently discovered Vatican papers showed that the order had never been declared heretics, burnings at the stake for the leadership not withstanding.

Rather, it appeared that the order’s suppression was more a piece of realpolitik on the pope’s part to pacify Philip, who was somewhat irked by the prospect of the powerful order increasing its continental activities after Jerusalem fell to the Turks.

Despite the order’s brutal apparent suppression, its legacy has been claimed by numerous successor organisations, and besmirched by popular authors ad nauseum.

One of the successors, Ordo Supremus Militaris Templi Hierosolymitani, is apparently recognised by Unesco.

We contacted the UK branch, otherwise known as the The Grand Priory of Knights Templar in England and Wales, to see if they could throw any light on the matter but they have yet to get back to us.

The Grand Priory’s website says the modern organisation is about humanitarian and charity work. There is no mention of the Holy Grail, though it does support the maintenance of the Holy Places.

And if you’re looking for esoteric rites or secret higher knowledge, you’re likely to be disappointed. The website says: “Please don’t expect to be enlightened with some supposed ‘secret’ knowledge, because nothing exists.”

Of course, any conspiracy theorist will tell you that’s exactly what you’d expect them to say. ®