MALAYSIA APPEALS ‘ALLAH’ FOR CHRISTIANS RULING
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Malaysia's government filed an appeal Monday to fight a court ruling that allowed non-Muslims to use the word "Allah" to refer to God, a decision that triggered protests in the Muslim-majority country.
The government says Allah is an Islamic word and its use by others would mislead Muslims, implying it could be used to convert them to other religions. Allah, an Arabic word, predates Islam and is used by Arabic-speaking Christians in places such as Egypt and Syria.
Protests by Muslim groups, although peaceful, have raised fears of friction between the Malay Muslim majority and the large ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities, who mainly practice Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism.
Religious minorities and some moderate Muslims have welcomed the High Court decision as a victory against what they say is institutionalized religious discrimination here.
From The Associated Press Monday, January 4, 2010)
IS BLASPHEMY A CRIME?
Atheists and others are protesting a new law in Ireland, under which a person can be found guilty of blasphemy if "he or she publishes or utters matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion." The penalty is a fine of up to about $35,000. Should Ireland or any nation have a law against blasphemy?
(From WashingtonPost.com/On Faith – see the website for the full article.
INTERNET REVOLUTIONISING EVANGELISM ACCORDING TO EXPERT
Walt Wilson, a former Apple Computer executive says the World Wide Web is revolutionising evangelism. “We have the technology to reach every man, woman and child on Earth. We’re the first generation in all history to have this capacity.” Wilson, founder of Global Media Outreach (GMO), partnered with Campus Crusade for Christ in 2004 to create one-page websites that present the Gospel using the ‘Four Spiritual Laws’ evangelistic resource. GMO has more than 100 websites and receive at least seven million visitors monthly from every nation on the globe.
Through partnerships with various churches, GMO has mobilised 3 600 ‘online missionaries’ to respond to questions and comments posted at the sites. The missionaries share personal stories, Scriptures and prayers. “We believe God is doing something very dramatic in these late days, and we believe everybody’s going to have an opportunity to know Jesus,” Wilson said. “Nobody will be able to say I didn’t know...We can reach the world.”
(For more see www.globalmediaoutreach.com)