South African Christian News: Telling the God Stories of Africa
The CRL Rights Commission should remember that its mandate is to protect the freedom of religious communities in South Africa and not to regulate them, says the Nelson Mandela Bay Church Leaders Network. The church leaders say, in an open letter, that they are deeply concerned about “what appears to […]
October 27 marks International Religious Freedom Day, which is designed to highlight Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). This fundamental human right was confirmed by the UN Human Rights Committee in its General Comment No 22, as follows: “The right to freedom of thought, […]
With fresh calls for the regulation of churches, inspired by the harrowing rape trial in Port Elizabeth involving Nigerian pastor Timothy Omotoso, we publish an article by Pastor Ray McCauley who says he is heading up a process aimed at achieving regulation of religion by church and religious leaders. The […]
By Freedom of Religion SA Media statements by the chairperson of the CRL Rights Commission, Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva, claiming that parliament should answer for the Ngcobo shootings and that lives could have been saved if parliament had acted sooner, were challenged today by the COGTA Parliamentary Portfolio Committee. At a briefing meeting […]
The recent cult killings in Ngcobo could potentially have been averted, had the CRL Rights Commission reported their concerns to the law enforcement agencies in 2016, says Freedom of Religion South Africa (FOR SA) in a media release today. Responding to reports that the CRL says the tragedy could have been […]
Originally published in Charisma News A Chinese court in the southwestern province of Yunnan sent six Protestant Christians to prison last week for their membership of an “evil cult.” The verdict comes as part of a provincial crackdown on cults, as the ruling Communist Party continues its national campaign to […]
The COGTA Parliamentary Portfolio Committee recently held meetings to allow for input by the religious community into the CRL’s Report on the “Commercialisation” of Religion and Abuse of People’s Belief Systems. These meetings were attended by a significant number of denominations, churches and major organisations from the Christian community. Many […]
Recent claims made to parliament by the CRL Rights Commission that it has wide support in the faith community for its proposals for the compulsory licensing of religious practitioners and organisations were contradicted by major church groups who participated in public hearings in parliament this week. While a handful of […]
Freedom of Religion SA has issued an urgent call to church groups to challenge “completely untrue and grossly misleading” claims by the CRL Rights Commission that over 45 million Christians support its recommendations for the compulsory licensing of religion. In its official annual report which it presented to parliament last […]
Parliamentary portfolio committees this week heard the conflicting views of the CRL Rights Commission and the religious sector — represented by Freedom of Religion SA (FOR SA) — on how to deal with commercialisation of religion and other abuses in the religious arena. At a workshop at parliament on Tuesday […]