Today’s Headlines:

MUSLIM MOB FORCES CHURCH TO CLOSE IN WEST JAVA, INDONESIA

HINDU EXTREMISTS ATTACK CHRISTIAN WORKERS IN 2 STATES OF INDIA

AFGHAN CHRISTIAN CONVERT GOES INTO HIDING AFTER HIS RELEASE

U.S. YOUTH REJECT AMERICAN POP CULTURE IN ‘REVERSE REBELLION’

Today’s Top Stories:

MUSLIM MOB FORCES CHURCH TO CLOSE IN WEST JAVA, INDONESIA

Violence against religious freedom continued Sunday, March 26, in West Java, Indonesia, when a group of some 200 self-styled religious vigilantes forced Christians to close their church in Bogor. Police were at the scene during the incident, but did not stop the angry mob, which purportedly consisted of residents from the Griya Bukit Jaya housing complex and other nearby residents. Besieging the Pentecostal church within the complex, the Muslim mob forced about 190 Christians who were inside the church to cancel their regular Sunday service and close the building. The mob claimed that the church violated a 1999 decree by the West Java governor that requires the approval of local people to build houses of worship. Last Wednesday church leaders, Muslim leaders and administration authorities met to discuss the issue of church closures. However, the church ministers rejected the demands to close churches and went ahead with their Sunday services. “They (the local authorities) should have found a better solution that wouldn’t have led to this intimidation and threats of violence,” said Pastor Fekky Daniel Yengki Tatulus to The Jakarta Post. (WorldWide Religious News/Jakarta Post)

HINDU EXTREMISTS ATTACK CHRISTIAN WORKERS IN 2 STATES OF INDIA

Hindu extremists broke into a Youth with a Mission (YWAM) training center on Friday, March 17, in central India’s Madhya Pradesh state, beating students and significantly damaging furniture and equipment. YWAM Director Mukesh Jacob and his wife have since been charged with illegal conversion under the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act. Hindu extremists also attacked three pastors during a street outreach in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh on Sunday, March 19. All three required hospital treatment. Local Christians say the attack was sparked by the presence of a Christian convert who was formerly a member of the Hindu extremist group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). (Compass)

AFGHAN CHRISTIAN CONVERT GOES INTO HIDING AFTER HIS RELEASE

An Afghan man who had faced the death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity quickly vanished after being released from prison late Monday, March 27, apparently out of fear for his life with Muslim clerics still demanding his death.

Rahman, 41, was released from the high-security Policharki prison on the outskirts of Kabul Monday evening, Afghan Justice Minister Mohammed Sarwar Danish told the Associated Press. “We released him last night because the prosecutors told us to,” he said. “His family was there when he was freed, but I don’t know where he was taken.”

Italy’s Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini said he would ask his government to grant Abdul Rahman asylum. Fini was among the first to speak out on the man’s behalf.

Todd Nettleton of Voice of the Martyrs says the court dismissed the case because of lack of evidence and claimed he’s mentally unfit. He says that pacifies both sides temporarily, but doesn’t answer the larger question. “How is Afghanistan going to treat Christians? Are they going to recognize the possibility that an Afghan can be a follower of Jesus Christ, or aren’t they? That’s the question that hasn’t been answered.”

The case has sparked Western criticism, with the U.S., Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy and Sweden among those demanding Afghanistan respect international laws on freedom of religion and human rights. Many Afghans are unhappy with the decision to dismiss the case. Several hundred people protested on Monday against the case’s dismissal. (Associated Press/Mission Network News/Assist News Service)

U.S. YOUTH REJECT AMERICAN POP CULTURE IN ‘REVERSE REBELLION’

Some 40 years after rebellious youth started a cultural revolution rejecting rules and boundaries, American teens are once again challenging societal norms. Only this time, the young rebels are in “reverse rebellion.” “We’re sick and tired of pop culture telling us it’s cool to sleep around, dress like tramps, get high on drugs and alcohol and behave badly,” said 18-year-old Amanda Hughey of Orange County, Calif., who, along with tens of thousands of other teens, will take part this spring in the “BattleCry” movement. The movement, involving hundreds of thousands of teenagers nationwide, integrates high-energy stadium events, Internet technology and a coalition of youth and adults to help young people live godly lives. (Evangelical News)