Wife of the President, Aisha Buhari, donates some bags of rice and cartons of liquid milk to the Christian community in Abuja for Christmas.
In her address on the occasion, she said that the donation was to support the Christian families of the First Baptist Church in FCT, Abuja.
Aisha Buhari, who was represented by Mrs Dolapo Osinbajo, the wife of the Vice-President, said the kind gesture was done out of passion and love.
The Christian governor of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, went on trial on Tuesday to face charges of blasphemy over remarks perceived as insulting to Muslims.
The trial of the governor, Basuki Purnama, followed a wave of protests by conservative Muslims demanding his prosecution.
According to the indictment read out by prosecutors, Mr. Purnama is accused of “publicly expressing hostility to, abusing and disparaging’’ a religion, a crime punishable by up to five years in prison.
Security was tight for the trial at the North Jakarta district court and hundreds of conservative Muslims dressed in white gathered outside to demand Mr. Purnama be jailed.
Mr. Purnama said “I understand the charges but I don’t understand why I’m being accused of blasphemy,’’ after prosecutors read out the indictment.
Mr. Purnama said as a Christian politician running for office in a Muslim-majority country, he had been unfairly attacked by political opponents because of his faith.
Mr. Purnama said in tears “They abuse holy verses to achieve their political goals, because they can’t compete in terms of programmes and personal integrity’’.
Under Indonesian law, a defendant does not have to enter a plea at the start of a trial.
The blasphemy allegations stem from remarks made by Mr. Purnama in September, when he said his opponents had used a verse from the Koran to deceive voters.
At a gathering with residents, he said they did not have to vote for him in the upcoming February 15 gubernatorial election if they were afraid of going to hell because they “have been lied to using Surah Al-Maidah verse 51’’.
Some Muslims interpret the Koranic text in question as prohibiting them from electing non-Muslims as their leaders, although other Muslims disagree that Purnama’s remarks were blasphemous.
Mr. Purnama has repeatedly apologised, saying his comments meant that politicians misinterpreted the Koranic verse.
Tensions have risen in Jakarta after more than 100,000 Muslims rallied on November 4 demanding the prosecution of Mr. Purnama, who is a member of the ethnic Chinese minority.
A second anti-Purnama rally on December 2 was attended by more than 200,000.
Mr. Purnama became Jakarta’s first Christian governor in 50 years when he took over from Joko Widodo, now Indonesia’s president, in 2014.
Mr. Widodo, an ally of Mr. Purnama, has accused “political actors’’ of exploiting anger over Mr. Purnama’s remarks to undermine his government.
Mr. Purnama’s ascension to the top job in the city teeming with 10 million people had been hailed as an example of Indonesia’s embrace of democracy and diversity.
Hard line groups such as the Islamic Defenders’ Front have always been critical of Mr. Purnama, but their past protests against the governor failed to gain strong support, until his remarks on the Koran hit a nerve with many Muslims.
Mr. Purnama is known for his strong stance against corruption and being an effective administrator in a bureaucracy that has long been plagued by corruption and incompetence.
Before the blasphemy case, polls consistently showed him leading in the race for the governorship.
However, more recent polls showed his numbers had dropped significantly, putting him second in a three-way race.
Mr. Purnama has also made enemies along the way, including officials and members of the city council who he criticised publicly, suggesting that they are incompetent and corrupt.
As part of his urban renewal programmes, he forcefully evicted squatters and slum dwellers, and relocated them to apartments where they have to pay rent and are far from their livelihoods.
The general overseer of the Omega Fire Ministries International, Apostle Johnson Suleman, has condemned the popular money doubling scheme called MMM.
Asking his members not to partake in the scheme which has spread like wildfire in Nigeria, Apostle Suleman The General Overseer of Omega Fire Ministries International (OFM), Apostle Johnson Suleman said MMM and other get-rich-quick schemes are satanic ventures aimed at further impoverishing the poor and stealing from the rich to enrich some other people.
Any Christian who plays MMM or Lotto needs deliverance – Suleman
Suleman, giving a sermon at the maiden edition of his ministry’s International Amazing Grace 2016 programme, said “MMM is Satanic and those involved in it are demonic.”
“MMM is an agenda set to bring limitations and restrictions into your life, it is meant to make poorer the poor and take away from the rich,” said the clergyman, adding that if you want to know more about MMM, “go and check the founder. He was a fraudster in America, who defrauded a lot of people. And that’s what you are involving yourself in and you are a Christian, looking for easy way out.”
Many Christians have gotten involved, he said, “but if you are already involved in MMM, you need prayer. I have to pray for you today. MMM and its likes are not of God. Any quick fix way for money is not of God because some people are being defrauded to enrich some other people.”
Warning further, the clergyman said that “even kings can be stranded. Anyone can be. You may be stranded but you can’t be strangled.”
“In life, everything you get, if it’s not favour from a particular individual. If it’s quick favour through a process, you will pay for it later. If it’s a person you know that walked up to you and blesses you, take it.
That’s favour. But a quick business transaction that can bring a return of over 200 persons, is not of God.
That is why we take it upon ourselves to do charity works, help the needy and feed them with the Word. When you give, your greatness is not in your properties but in how many lives you have sustained,” he pointed out.
Tens of thousands of hardline Muslim protesters in Indonesia rallied outside the presidential palace on Friday to demand the resignation of the governor of the capital, Jakarta, who they said had insulted the Koran.
Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim country, where many people follow a moderate form of Islam. While hardliners have launched occasional agitation in the past, protests on such a large scale have been rare.
The atmosphere in Jakarta was tense and some companies asked employees to work from home, access to business districts was restricted and embassies urged caution.
Truck loads of soldiers and police, some equipped with rifles, were on patrol and others secured shopping malls. A total of about 18,000 security personnel are expected to be deployed in the sprawling city of 10 million, police said.
The protesters, led by a group called the Islamic Defenders Front, are calling for Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahja Purnama, a Christian and the first ethnic Chinese in the job, to be jailed for blasphemy.
They say he insulted the Koran by dismissing a political attack by his opponents who urged Muslims not to vote for Purnama, who is popularly known as Ahok, by citing a verse from the Koran.
“He is not Muslim but he humiliated the Koran,” protester Muhammad Said told Reuters.
“Don’t refer to anything in the Koran, especially interpreting it incorrectly … I call on God to jail him.”
Protesters chanted “Hang Ahok!” and “God is greatest”, waved placards and sang the national anthem.
Some threw water bottles at police guarding the palace but apart from that there was no violence.
Purnama was not available for comment. His spokeswoman said he went to check construction of a sidewalk in north Jakarta.
Purnama served as deputy to President Joko Widodo when Widodo was city governor from 2012 to 2014, and has long been seen as an ally of the president.
On Friday, Widodo visited a rail construction project at the capital’s airport, the presidential palace said in a statement.
Read More: reuters
I want to start by saying that I am a Christian. I always have been and always will be… and I’m also a gay woman who is happily married to a beautiful British Woman named Megan. Since the recent Supreme Court ruling of legalizing same-sex marriages in the United States, I have seen the ugly and the uglier come out in people I never expected. Having moved to live with my wife in the UK, I find myself in awe at the complete and utter ignorance that has been clogging up my news feed and other social medial outlets in the past few days from my so-called American friends back in the South. It’s important to state that I’m not generalizing all, as I’ve also seen a positive response from those Christian in the South; even including support from an amazing pastor. However, it saddens me that amongst the many rainbow-colored pictures on my feed, there is also a great deal of hatred.
What I don’t understand is quite simply, this: why does gay marriage bother people so much? If you are making an unnecessary palava because you’re offended by gay marriage then you seriously need to look at your own life and educate yourselves a bit. If the sole reason you feel that gay marriage is wrong because it’s a sin, and the Bible tells you this is wrong, then I sure as hell hope you don’t have bacon with your eggs or indulge in shrimp. Oh, or better yet, do you have any tattoos? Ever been drunk, told a white lie or been divorced? Yep, whoops. Those are all sins, too. And all sins are equal, right? I don’t see anyone going off the handle because of any of these ‘sins’ and I most certainly don’t see protests or hurtful propaganda against those. Just because you disagree with something — and we all have the right to do so — it is an absolute disgrace to treat the LGBT community the way you do. What if we treated all sins in this way? Bacon eaters would be doomed.
Therefore, if gay marriage or ‘homosexuality’ doesn’t affect you personally in the way you live your life in any way, why do you feel the need to even get involved? Why worry about something that is, frankly, none of your business? For instance, I’m not divorced, but many people I know are, and I’m not going to judge them. We shouldn’t judge anyone for the way they live their life. If you don’t agree with gay marriage, then don’t have a gay wedding. Simple.
I know what you must be thinking. If the LGBT community can protest and stand up for their rights, then why can’t Christians? They have every right to stand up for what they believe in also… To a degree, yes. Christianity and gay rights will always butt-heads. Luckily, we have the Equality Act 2010 in the UK, where we’ve seen it in the favor of gay rights; e.g. where a gay couple were wrongly turned away from a B&B due to the owners Christian views, to in favor of Christianity; e.g. the nurse who was wrongly fired for telling her lesbian colleague she’s committing a sin. I don’t expect the battles to ever fully cease, but choose your battles wisely. Is this really worth your time? Could your time not be better spent with showing kindness and acceptance — isn’t that what being a Christian is truly about, rather than showing hatred? It is not your duty to judge and tell others how to live theirs to ensure your angelic conscious is clear. However, it does change the lives of the LGBT community and gives us freedom and the same rights as anyone else. This means that now my wife and I, if we ever decide to move back to the U.S., can do this freely and can move to any state. Your hatred towards this is unjust and unfair and don’t even try to the quote the Bible at me; you may want to actually read it first.
To all of the haters, how would you feel if your rights were completely stripped from you because you had a divorce or because you had a baby out of wedlock, for instance? How would you like someone judging and telling you that you’re going to hell because of this?
As a Christian, I wholeheartedly believe that God does not make mistakes and he would not have accidentally made millions of people (and animals) gay by chance. We are all who we are for a reason and no one should ever make you feel bad for that. If anything, my relationship with God is better than ever, and I know that I am definitely not going to hell or that my lifestyle is wrong. It’s important for people to know that you can be a Christian and gay. You do not have to choose one or the other. We need more people like Christian singer Vicky Beeching, who came out as a lesbian last year, to look up to as role models.
So, my dear fellow Christians, from one Christian to another, please mind your own business and PLEASE make sure that your hands are clean before you point your finger at me and my community. Amen.
Credit: huffingtonpost
