India — On March 6, nearly 200,000 Christians in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh in India peacefully protested a proposal to implement an anti-conversion law that had remained dormant for 45 years.

The Arunachal Christian Forum (ACF), the state’s largest Christian organization, led the protest.

The Arunachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act (APFRA) was enacted in October 1978 to safeguard the traditional religious practices of indigenous communities from external influence or coercion. But it was never implemented.

In September 2024, however, the Gauhati High Court gave the government of Arunachal Pradesh an ultimatum to draft the rules by this March to implement the act after a public interest litigation was filed by people tied to an indigenous faith organization.

ACF President Tarh Miri told the media that the APFRA violates the freedom of accepting another faith and religious belief.
More than 30% of Arunachal’s population is Christian and Hindus follow closely at 29%, according to the 2011 Census of India. The Donyi-Polo, indigenous animist faith followers, and Buddhists, respectively, form the other dominant religious groups.

Arunachal Pradesh is currently being ruled by the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is also heading the federal government of India.

The BJP is the political arm of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the parent organization of the Sangh Parivar, a collection of Hindu nationalist organizations, including religious, student, political, and paramilitary organizations, with similar ideological goals and often overlapping membership.

While the Christians reject APFRA, the followers of indigenous faiths under the banner of the Indigenous Faiths and Cultural Society of Arunachal Pradesh (IFCSAP) have extended their support to the implementation of the anti-conversion law.

And they in turn also launched a counter-rally and demanded its early adoption. They also organized a “Sadbhavna Pad Yatra” (a foot march) to show support for the state government’s decision to enact the act.

It may be noted that the members of the IFCSAP held a meeting with RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat a few days before launching their counter-rally in favor of the anti-conversion law. This indicates that the RSS is concerned about the increase of the Christian population in the state.

Meanwhile, the ACF warned that the enforcement of APFRA would create hatred among people of different faiths. The ACF also stated that it will escalate its protests and conduct a “referendum rally” if the APFRA is not repealed within this month.

The APFRA forbids religious conversion “by use of force or inducement or by fraudulent means” and punishes “converting or attempting to convert forcefully from one religious faith to another” with a maximum fine of 10,000 Indian rupees or two years in prison. It also requires that every conversion activity be reported to the district’s deputy commissioner and the individual involved in the conversion will be penalized if they don’t adhere to the rule.
Sources:persecution

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Oregon – Tucked away in a quiet Portland neighborhood is an animation studio that is opening the Bible to millions in a new and fresh way.

An idea of some college buddies has become one of the most successful ways for people to understand the Bible.

During their college days, long-time friends Tim Mackie and Jon Collins would kick around ideas on how to get more people to read the Bible and understand it better.

The result was a Bible animation experiment called BibleProject, and it was only two videos, posted online in 2014 for their friends.

Less than ten years later, BibleProject has created over 180 videos and 350 podcast episodes over the internet, with over 620 million views in over 200 countries, and over five million subscribers worldwide, even offering seminary-level classes.

Michael McDonald, Chief Global Focus and Strategic Relationships Officer at BibleProject told us, “None of us were smart enough to think we would create this big nonprofit out of this. This really was a passion project of two friends who thought, ‘I think this would be helpful to not only just us, but some of our friends.’ And the crowd just caught up so fast in not only watching the videos but wanting more of them. And they started helping fund them just with, you know, five bucks here, ten bucks there. And then we had enough funds to make another video and away we went.”

After attending Bible college together, Jon served as a pastor before beginning a career making explainer videos for large companies. Tim got his PhD in Hebrew Bible and Jewish studies, becoming a pastor and seminary professor. Then they decided to combine Tim’s Bible knowledge and Jon’s creative abilities, and BibleProject was born.

Drawing on a giant whiteboard, Jon Collins said, “This is just basically our workflow for one of our fully animated videos. So, some products are in illustration, some are an animation, some are writing, some are storyboarding.”

Tim Mackie said, “Then I meet with the artist and we go through all this in detail. And then the artist goes and draws a beautiful version. So, by the time I sit down to record, I’ve got this in my head and every line and all the wording is connected.”

BibleProject seeks to help those who only see the Bible as a collection of inspirational quotes. It takes on those difficult passages in the Bible that many Christians tend to avoid because they seem to be confusing or disturbing.

McDonald told us, “It’s pretty neat to see kids from like the age of ten who are even writing in saying just how engaged they are in the Scriptures. And then we’ve got like 85-year-old folks that are writing and saying, ‘I thought this one was for my grandkids. At 85, I never thought I would go back and read the Bible with new eyes.'”

With videos now in 56 languages, BibleProject is also reaching the Muslim world.

McDonald said, “And so you find people in Tunisia watching the Arabic videos and sending in comments of, ‘I’m Muslim who has been interested in the Bible and I didn’t know how to, you know, engage it or read it. And I found your videos on YouTube because they’re free and now they’re opening up the scriptures in a unique way and understanding what it’s saying about Jesus.'”

So, an experiment once meant to only help a few friends is today helping millions around the world to know and understand the Bible better.

Jon Collins said, “One thing we think God is doing is that He’s helping people see the Bible as a really important part of their life. And what we think our contribution to that is, is helping people see the Bible through this paradigm of Biblical theology, where you appreciate the Bible and its literary design and you understand the Bible as a story and you see how the story leads to Jesus.”
Sources:CBN News

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In February, the Columbia Bible College (CBC) women’s basketball team in Canada decided to risk political backlash by refusing to play against teams with trans-identifying players—a stance that sparked significant controversy. But, despite the criticism they faced for living out their religious convictions, CBC persevered, ultimately winning the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) championship.

The saga began in late October when CBC forfeited matches against a team with a trans-identifying player named Harriette Mackenzie. This decision quickly triggered an investigation and sanctions from the athletic conference, PACWEST, over alleged abuse toward a transgender opponent earlier in the season, according to Fox News. CBC lost the privilege of hosting the national championship, and head coach Taylor Claggett was suspended.

In response, CBC issued this statement: “PACWEST has publicly stated that it has concluded its investigation. CBC is deeply disappointed with PACWEST’s decision. We do not believe that a proper process was followed or that the results were fair. As a result, we are taking steps to have PACWEST’s decision reviewed. We will not be commenting further at this time.”

The conflict with Mackenzie, who played for Vancouver Island University (VIU), led to accusations that Claggett had cornered VIU staff over her concerns about a biological male competing on their team. Claggett responded to the controversy that her objection “has nothing to do with a specific athlete, but instead, the safety of female athletes in their sport.” As this case continued, CBC players wrote a letter supporting Claggett and calling out the “personal attacks,” “defamatory comments,” as well as “comments that incite violence” against their coach. They also noted that the situation between the two schools should have been “communicated to PACWEST officials alone,” not “uploaded publicly to social media” as they were.

As Breitbart highlighted, CBC “has faced stiff criticism and harsh punishments for refusing to play and forfeiting games.” The CCAA tried to strip them of their ability to host tournaments and accused them of violating civil rights. And yet, it appears this controversy did not stop CBC from accomplishinganhistoric Saturday victory, in which the team secured their first national title at the CCAA women’s basketball championship.

Family Research Council’s Mary Szoch, a former Division I athlete, emphasized that “women’s sports should be for women only. Standing for this does not make women’s sports unsafe,” she told The Washington Stand, “but allowing men to play does.” She continued, “Columbia Bible College should be commended for standing for what is true, even if it cost them games. In sports, men have a distinct physical advantage over women. Not every man is better than every woman, but at comparable levels (i.e. Division I vs. Division I) men are better.”

“Every time a man is allowed to play,” Szoch pointed out, “he takes a woman’s spot and puts other women’s lives in danger. No team should stand for this. Congrats to CBC on their championship victory, their courage, and their common sense.”

FRC’s Director of the Center for Biblical Worldview David Closson explained to TWS that Christians can learn a lot about standing firm from this team’s example. “Romans 12:15 tells Christians to rejoice with those who rejoice, and I think it is appropriate for Christians in the United States to be excited for Columbia Bible College for going all the way this year and winning the CCAA women’s basketball national championship.”

“CBC,” he added, “won the championship despite a season of being in the news for reasons off the court. In fact, they had to overcome forfeits and even the suspension of their head coach after an athlete who identifies as transgender accused the school of abuse.” Ultimately, he continued, “it’s just encouraging to see a group of athletes who had the courage of their convictions” to stand against what they knew wasn’t right.

As a result, Closson concluded, they “achieved the ultimate victory on the court” while also being a good example for Christians and anyone who wants to protect women and girls from the transgender controversy of the day. “These young women who won” serve as inspiration to “many Canadians and Americans to continue standing for the integrity of women’s sports.”
Sources:BREAKING CHRISTIAN NEWS

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