Shams Tahir Khokhar and his brother Moon are on the run seeking refuge in Taranaki from anti-Christian sentiment in their homeland – Pakistan. The move comes following a series of life-threatening incidents. Shams, a former youth worker dedicated to promoting interfaith harmony, and his brother became the targets of a violent attack earlier this year. Read more
The Secular Education Network has launched a Teach, Not Preach petition appealing for Section 54 of the Education and Training Bill to be removed. They say the Education and Workforce Committee’s report to the House of Parliament last week on the Education and Training Bill: “sanctions bible classes for primary school children in state primary Read more
“Always have your answer ready for people who ask you the reason for the hope you all have. “Give it with courtesy and respect and with a clear conscience, so that those who slander you when you are living a good life in Christ may be proved wrong in the accusations that they bring. “Moreover, Read more
Australia’s Catholic bishops have welcomed changes to a proposed religious discrimination bill to protect religious believers and institutions from discrimination and needless legal action, but they said more work is necessary for an Australia-wide law. “The draft laws are an important way to help people of faith and the organizations they establish as communities of Read more
The position of Australian churches, faith-based schools and charities to select staff based on their beliefs has been strengthened by a raft of changes to Prime Minister, Scott Morrison’s religious freedom bill. The changes came after faith-based organisations, business leaders and LGBTTIQ+ groups were highly critical of the initial draft. A second draft, Morrison is Read more
Australia’s religious discrimination bill took a temporary step backwards late last week as religious leaders threatened to withdraw their support for the proposed bill. Attorney General, Christian Porter intended to introduce the bill to the Federal Parliament before Christmas. But the powerful religious groups say the bill, in its current form, will actually diminish the Read more
A forestry worker in Whangārei is offended his application to rent a cottage was refused because he’s a member of the Destiny Church. Read more
Australian Christians are not suffering from religious persecution says Baptist minister, leading Australian religious figure and social justice advocate Tim Costello. He is asking fellow Christians to “calm down” about their alleged persecution. His comments come amid a brewing political storm over how the government should act to protect against religious discrimination. Costello, a senior Read more
Every morning, each member of the Samona family stops to pray in front of a small statue of the Virgin Mary that adorns the flower bed in the yard of their Novi, Detroit home. They pause again in front of the tiny statue when they return home at day’s end. It’s been part of the Read more
Discriminatory ads will soon be a thing of the past with Facebook. Facebook said it has removed more than 5,000 ad-targeting categories to limit the ability of advertisers to exclude users based on ethnicity or religion. Until now, when an advertiser created an ad for Facebook, a tab “to exclude persons who correspond more or Read more