Interfaith

From the World Evangelical Alliance Liberty Prayer News: ‘Compass Direct News Service reports that since 11th April, 2010, The Gereja Kristen Indonesia (GKI) Taman Yasmin Church in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia, has held services on the roadside in front of the sealed church in stifling heat, after the mayor of Bogor had sealed the church building. ‘The church had received an official building permit from the Bogor City government, but because a Muslim group that objected to the presence of a church, its construction was stopped and later sealed. The church brought a lawsuit against the sealing of the church premises and in spite that it won the court case, permission has not been granted to use the building for worship. ‘The church has filed a religious discrimination appeal with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief.' www.worldevangelicals.org/news/article.htm?id=3011&cat=main

NZ Christian Network's Glyn Carpenter has been involved as a member of the reference group commenting on the Human Rights Commission's draft document, and has already attended the first meetings. NZ Christian Network is hoping that many people will make their own comments.
The draft Religious Diversity in the Workplace document can be found on the Human Rights Commission's Religious Diversity Network. Comments and feedback on this draft are invited from individuals and organisations and can be made directly to the New Zealand Diversity Action Programme, until Friday 11 September, by emailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or posting to:
Attn: Rohan Jaduram
Human Rights Commission
Level 10, Tower Centre
45 Queen Street
PO Box 6751
Wellesley Street, Auckland 1141 Please circulate this to your networks.

The focus at the Annual Religious Diversity Forum - to be held in Christchurch on 23 August as part of the New Zealand Diversity Forum - will be religion and the media.

The Human Rights Commission says:
The reporting of religion by the media continues to be a topic that occupies the minds of both religious communities and journalists, internationally and in New Zealand.
New Zealand's Statement on Religious Diversity, endeavours to affirm both freedom of the media and the importance of exercising it responsibly, although drafting the Statement has not been without controversy.
At the 2009 Asia-Pacific Interfaith Dialogue in Perth, sponsored by the Australian, Indonesian, New Zealand and Philippine governments, delegates from 15 countries agreed on the following statement:
‘We acknowledge the value of the freedom of the media in the promotion of communal and regional harmony, and we call on religious leaders and national and international media to recognise that this right entails the responsibility for accurate and balanced reporting.
‘We call on faith communities to seek media training and for media outlets to train reporters in religious issues.
‘We call on media and religious leaders to take responsibility for the resolution of disputes over misrepresentations and other conflicts.'
A number of New Zealand delegates to the Perth Dialogue will be present at the Christchurch forum.
Professor Paul Morris, of...

NZ Christian Network National Director Glyn Carpenter thinks some Christians need to be much more careful about how they handle the truth.
"Huge numbers of emails are spread throughout the Internet which contain half-truths, unchecked facts, and negative statements about other people," he says. "Usually I ignore them and pray that others do the same."
"But occasionally I'll engage someone over it. When you ask direct questions such as ‘have you ever read a single complete book by the person you are maligning', or ‘have you ever approached the person directly with your questions or concerns', that is usually the end of the conversation. "But there's a more fundamental issue here. "The 9th commandment says ‘you shall not give false testimony against your neighbour'. The context is different but the warning is the same." Glyn Carpenter says the following article by Jeff Fountain gives a topical illustration of this problem. "If we want to lead people to the One who says He is the Truth, let's show people we are serious about it ourselves." Sowing half-truths and fear
Jeff Fountain Barely a week goes by these days without someone somewhere in the world sending me an email about Geert Wilders, the controversial Dutch politician with the blonded hair. Often the subject line says something like: ‘This will give you the cold chills!!' ‘This speech clearly shows our situation in the world... well worth reading!' ‘Read this and weep!!' Actually I...

Code of Conduct for the evangelization of those of other faiths For the past three years the World Evangelical Alliance has been working with the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches on a draft Code of Conduct to be followed by Christians working amongst Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and those of other faiths. The catalyst for this was allegations by Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists that Christians were seeking to evangelise by deceitful methods, such as inducement and bribery in the form of medical and educational work, social work, helping the poor, promises of jobs, etc. All three bodies, that is the RCC/WCC/WEA, are united that the work of conversion is that of the Holy Spirit, but that we as Christians are commanded by Jesus Christ to spread the good news of the Gospel to all people all over the world and we are also commanded by the Lord to go about doing good, as His disciples. Two draft documents have been produced. 1. http://www.worldevangelicals.org/WCC_WEA_Vat_Code_Draft.pdf The first is the result of two conferences held between the RCC/WCC/WEA. This document has been submitted to the constituencies of all three bodies for their comment in time for a further conference to be held some time this year. What all three bodies want is a code containing principles to which at least a majority of their constituents will adhere, a code which can demonstrate that Christians...

"Secularism cannot be the default position for arbitrating between other comprehensive views such as Christianity or Buddhism." This was one of the major points made during the forum Religion in the Workplace, run jointly in Auckland on 10 April by New Zealand Christian Network, visionnetwork, and Martien Kelderman, National Director of the Fountain Institute. Click on the link below to read a brief summary from the forum.

The interfaith movement is based on a flawed foundation which will ultimately limit the good it might do, says New Zealand Christian Network, visionnetwork, National Director Glyn Carpenter.

Mr Carpenter was one of approximately 60 participants who attended the National Interfaith Forum held in Christchurch on February 27. Special women's, youth, and other interfaith meetings were held on the Friday and Sunday. Mr Carpenter, who has been trying to present an orthodox biblical position at interfaith forums since 2003, said as long as people at the forums continue to talk about all faiths worshipping the same god, they are not being inclusive of the standard Christian position. They like to think they are inclusive of everyone because of that statement. "I very much doubt the majority of Muslims or Hindus believe we all worship the same god, either," said Mr Carpenter. "I don't want to cause anyone offence, but this statement is flawed. We are very blessed in New Zealand that members of different religious groups do come together for dialogue. There is much we can agree on and much we can do together. "But if this is to be achieved, then it must be on a basis of truth, and not keep trying to gloss over the fact that different religions believe in different gods."

The Human Rights Commission has started another discussion on religion - this one about religion in the workplace. The discussion was launched at the recent Religious Diversity Forum in Wellington on 24 August, the same day that the final version of the Religion in Schools and the revised Statement on Religious Diversity documents were released. Discussions about how to accommodate other religious beliefs in New Zealand can be uncomfortable for some people, but are necessary and Christians should be leading the way. The Bible shows that we have a duty to welcome the stranger. Also, we advocate for justice in countries where Christians are marginalised, so we need to be careful that we are not guilty of the same conduct in our own country. The process for the religion in the workplace discussion was not explained at the forum, but visionnetwork is encouraging Christians to be proactive in their own churches and workplaces in talking about the sort of issues that could arise. Read more... Martien Kelderman, CEO of the Fountain Institute and leader of visionnetwork task force on faith in the workplace, has begun inviting Christian business leaders to consider what sort of issues may be involved. These could include such things as whether people from other religions should be able to take off different holy days rather than Easter and Christmas; whether special breaks should be permitted in the workday for prayers; whether employers ought to reserve special areas for prayer rooms...

The Human Rights Commission, which has almost completed the Guidelines for Religion in Schools, is moving on to religious diversity in the workplace. The University of Victoria Religious Studies Programme is hosting the annual Religious Diversity Forum on Monday 24 August. The forum continues the focus on different aspects of the Statement on Religious Diversity, and the topic for this year is religious diversity in the workplace. Professor Paul Morris of the University of Victoria Religious Studies Programmewill provide an overview of the issues, including reasonable accommodation of religious practices, such as clothing, prayer times and spaces, recognition of sacred days, and issues of health and safety, inclusion, and tolerance. He will also discuss complaints and enquiries made to the Human Rights Commission on the topic in recent years. Representatives of employers, unions and faith communities will provide further perspectives. Confirmed panellists are Paul Mackay, Business New Zealand; Andrew Little, Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union; Ann Pala, Islamic Women's Council and Waitakere Ethnic Board; and Associate Professor Edwina Pio, AUT Business School. The forum will also feature the launch of the Guidelines on Religion in Schools, produced by the Human Rights Commission (to be launched by Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres and the Human Rights Commission Executive Director Joanna Collinge), and the revised Statement on Religious Diversity (to be...

Christians in Southeast Asia are debating their right to refer to God as Allah, writes Christianity Today.
To Malaysian and Indonesian Christians, Allah is simply the word for God. However, state laws frequently ban Christians and other non-Muslims from using the term, on the grounds that it will cause confusion among Muslim believers and threaten the security of the nation.
So in Malaysia, teen singer Agnes Monica has had her song Allah Peduli ("God Cares") banned, and Malaysia's Ministry of Home Affairs has sent letters to the editor of the national Catholic newspaper, The Herald, asking him to cease using Allah in the paper's Malay edition or face the threat of banning.
Perhaps in anticipation of another unfavorable ruling, the Indonesian organization Yayasan Lentera Bangsa has published a new translation of the Bible in Indonesian. Allah does not appear in the Kitab Suci Indonesian Literal Translation (KS-ILT). Instead, the publishers transliterated Hebrew terms (such as Elohim) and substituted some less-common Indonesian names for God.
Mainstream churches, however, have been hostile to the KS-ILT. Neither the Bible Society of Indonesia nor that of Malaysia has approved the translation. The National Evangelical Christian Fellowship (NECF) of Malaysia issued a statement "strongly opposing" the translation. "We continue to maintain the right to use Allah as it has been so used for over 300 years in Malaysia," the group said.
Evangelical observers...