Terrorists Target Christians at Kenyan College; 70 Feared Dead
Al-Shabaab takes hostages, wounds 65 more in latest attack.
Christians were the primary targets of a terrorist attack on a Kenyan university that has left as many as 70 people dead.
A spokesperson for Al-Shabaab confirmed that the Somali militants had deliberately gone after Christians.
“There are many dead bodies of Christians inside the building. We are also holding many Christians alive,” Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, told Reuters.
Another Al-Shabaab spokesperson told the AFP that militants had “released the Muslims” but that they were holding others hostage.
“Our people are still there, they are fighting, and their mission is to kill those who are against the Shabaab,” said Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage said.
Eyewitnesses told CNN that gunmen arrived at Garissa University College early Thursday morning and took hostages from a morning prayer service.
Taking hostages is a new strategy for Al-Shabaab, reported The Economist, noting that previous attacks by the group (including the 2013 Westgate mall massacre) have “focused solely on the business of killing” and that the group’s “new tactic has raised fears as to what the gunmen’s intent may be.”
Last year, one regional expert suggested that the terrorist group was attempting to start a religious war in Kenya
“From a propaganda standpoint, I suspect that Shabaab is trying to play the role of a Robin Hood, swooping in at random to avenge the wrongs done to the Muslim communities,” Bronwyn Bruton, deputy director of the Africa Center of the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C., told The New York Times.
Elsewhere in Kenya, Al-Shabaab violence has caused trade unions to urge civil servants in northern Kenya, many of whom are Christians from the west who …
‘A.D.’ Isn’t Your Sunday School’s Book of Acts, Say Producers
“You’ve got to remember that [the first Christians] didn’t know they were characters in the Bible.”
This Easter debuts the follow-up to Mark Burnett and Roma Downey’s record-breaking History Channel series The Bible. Chronicling Jesus’ resurrection and the early church in Acts, A.D. The Bible Continues offers powerful lessons for today’s church, the Christian husband-wife producing team told CT in an interview.
More than 13 million viewers watched The Bible in 2013, and the movie adaptation of the series, called Son of God, grossed nearly $60 million, corresponding with a wave of Bible epics at the box office.
Why did you feel like now was the right time to adapt this story?
Downey: What we hope to do with A.D. The Bible Continues is to take a deeper dive into the book of Acts so we can really explore the stories and really dig deeper into the characters. You’ve got to remember they didn’t know they were characters in the Bible, but rather were people like you and me struggling with the things that we struggle with.
…We cast an amazing international group of actors who bring racial diversity and emotional intensity so that we can present this story in a gritty and realistic way that feels authentic. We in no way wanted this to feel corny, or that you were seeing something from Sunday school, but rather that you were tuning into the emotional and exciting hour of drama. We worked with scholars and theologians to make sure that when we get Scripture into this that we do so accurately.
This first season of A.D. will take us through chapters of 1 through 10 from the book of Acts but we also draw from history and the writings of Josephus at the time, because it’s important to set a political context for the story so the audience can understand what was going on in Judea at that …
The Christian Case for Nigeria’s New Muslim President
Christians were concerned about corruption, Boko Haram, and the last election’s retaliatory violence.
Nigeria’s newest president is Muhammadu Buhari, a Muslim endorsed by Christian leaders who hope he can combat corruption and sectarian terrori…
Supreme Court Lets Ban on Churches in NYC Schools Stand
Bronx Household of Faith gets bad news before Easter Sunday.
New York City’s ban on religious groups renting public schools for worship will remain in place, after the US Supreme Court declined this morning to hear a church’s appeal of a lower court’s decision.
Today’s move marks the second time in the past four years that the nation’s highest court has declined to intervene in the dispute between NYC churches and schools.
For more than two decades, the Bronx Household of Faith has challenged an NYC policy that bans worship services in public school buildings.
Last April, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the ban was constitutional.
About 80 churches were renting space in schools in recent years, according to The New York Times (NYT), thanks to several previous injunctions.
The Bronx Household of Faith has met in its own building since 2014, but had planned to rent space for Easter services. City officials say they have no immediate plans to end church rentals already in place.
Attorneys for Bronx Household insist that the ban on rentals for worship is unfair to churches.
“Any community group can meet in New York City’s school buildings during non-school hours for any purpose—except for religious groups meeting to worship God. This policy is clearly nothing more than religious segregation—the kind of segregation the mayor has said he opposes,” said Jordan Lorence, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, which has represented Bronx Household for 20 years in its legal battle against the city’s policy.
“If the city chooses to use this occasion to evict the churches, it will be shooting itself in the foot.”
Opponents of the ban say they will now turn their efforts to asking …
Supreme Court Lets Ban on Churches in NYC Schools Stand
Bronx Household of Faith gets bad news before Easter Sunday.
New York City’s ban on religious groups renting public schools for worship will remain in place, after the US Supreme Court declined this morning to hear a church’s appeal of a lower court’s decision.
Today’s move marks the second time in the past four years that the nation’s highest court has declined to intervene in the dispute between NYC churches and schools.
For more than two decades, the Bronx Household of Faith has challenged an NYC policy that bans worship services in public school buildings.
Last April, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the ban was constitutional.
About 80 churches were renting space in schools in recent years, according to The New York Times (NYT), thanks to several previous injunctions.
The Bronx Household of Faith has met in its own building since 2014, but had planned to rent space for Easter services. City officials say they have no immediate plans to end church rentals already in place.
Attorneys for Bronx Household insist that the ban on rentals for worship is unfair to churches.
“Any community group can meet in New York City’s school buildings during non-school hours for any purpose—except for religious groups meeting to worship God. This policy is clearly nothing more than religious segregation—the kind of segregation the mayor has said he opposes,” said Jordan Lorence, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, which has represented Bronx Household for 20 years in its legal battle against the city’s policy.
“If the city chooses to use this occasion to evict the churches, it will be shooting itself in the foot.”
Opponents of the ban say they will now turn their efforts to asking …
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