National News
Volume 1, April 15, 2000
Thought for the Day --
Iqbal's life has inspired children around the world.
April 18, 2000 Washington Times--Reported that a Virginia couple, Gerald and Angela Balderson of Warsaw, Virginia, had been arrested pursuant to the state's compulsory school attendance law. They are home schooling their son, who is 8 years old, and filed the required notification letter with the Richmond County school superintendent's office on February 25th. On March 17th they were arrested for truancy. Criminal charges have since been dropped. The article did not say how long the couple had been incarcerated. The lawsuit was filed on April 6th. Another couple from Lansing, Michigan was incarcerated for 12 hours in January for the same offense. Criminal charges in that case have been dropped.
Philadelphia has elected a mayor who has pledged to run the city in a Christian way. Mayor John Street is a practicing Seventh-day Adventist, and has pledged to run the city in an honest manner, maintaining high standards of morality. He has appointed Mrs. Gwendolyn Foster, also a practicing Seventh-day Adventist, and a graduate of Loma Linda University, to manage a major health initiative to improve the health of the entire community.
Colorado State University students who passed by the Clark Building during the last week in March heard preacher Daniel Lee preaching to almost 100 students gathered outside the building. Campus police said his speaking impeded the flow of pedestrian traffic. He claims he is exercising his constitutional rights. Some students in the building claimed he spoke so loudly that he disrupted the learning process inside the classrooms. CSU Police Captain Bob Chaffee said that free speech does have certain limitations as to time and place. A free speech zone has been identified by the university as the Lory Student Center Plaza for Colorado State University.
Mr. Moore, a United Parcel Service employee, refused to be a member of a union or pay union dues. He did agree to pay an amount equal to the dues to a charitable organization, but that wasn't good enough for the union. Teamster Union bosses wanted the company to fire him. After Mr. Moore testified before the National Labor Relations Board, the Teamsters quit insisting that he pay dues. Mr. Moore later commented that we need to be vigilant to make sure our rights are not stripped away.
Other events on the national level will be reported shortly.
International News
On March 23, 2000 Secretary of State Madelyn Albright urged the United Nations to confront China on its continued denials of reports of human rights violations. Church properties have been confiscated and believers have been imprisoned for their faith when unable to pay large fines levied because of their faith.
Afghanistan--Only Muslims are allowed to have public worship and to practice their faith. Churh properties have been confiscated and believers have been imprisoned when unable to pay large fines for their faith.
Bhutan--Christians are not allowed to witness. If caught witnessing for the Lord, they may be imprisoned and tortured. One pastor has died from this treatment.
Indonesia--Hundreds of Christian churches have been destroyed and many leaders killed.
Maldives Islands--Every known Christian has been imprisoned for their belief in Christ at some point in their life. All foreign Christians have been expelled.
Mexico--In the village of Plan de Ayala more than 20 Seventh-day Adventist families were forced out of their community. Many homes have been burned in acts of religious persecution.
Nigeria--More than 300 people were killed recently in clashes between Muslims and Christians. Many homes and churches have been destroyed as well.
North Korea--There are only 3 church buildings in the entire country, and these are for tourists.
Saudi Arabia--Christians cannot be citizens of that country. Saudi citizens can lose their lives by becoming Christians.
Sierra Leone--Two staff members of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), a disaster and famine relief organization, were recently held hostage overnight and left on the side of the road with bullet wounds and other injuries.
Sri Lanka--A minister has been in jail for two years.
Turkmenistan--The only Seventh-day Adventist church in the country was demolished by the government after worshippers refused to stop worshipping there.
NOTE: This is the first installment of the religious liberty page. Every effort will be made to make information current. International events and some national news stories were obtained from the Spring, 2000 edition of the Religious Liberty Report, a publication of the Religious Liberty Department, North American Division, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.
