Friday, May 4, 2018

Churches In Saudi Arabia? And Other Stories

Considering that Saudi Arabia has prohibited non-Islamic worship service, this story seems hard to believe, which is why I've included a question mark in this post's title.  But if this development is indeed to be believed, it is would also be welcome.  I found this first at Assyrian International News Agency, who cite Western Journalism, who refer to the Egypt Independent, who say:
In wake of wide Saudi Arabian cultural and social global openness, for the first time in the country's history it has signed a cooperative agreement with the Vatican to build churches for Christian citizens to advocate the important role of religions and cultures in renouncing violence, extremism, terrorism and achieving security and stability in the world.
I don't know which "citizens" are being referred to here.  According to Wiki, "virtually all Saudi citizens are Muslim", which would mean that Saudi Christian citizens would be very few in number, and:
According to estimates there are about 1,500,000 Christians in Saudi Arabia, almost all foreign workers.[336] Saudi Arabia allows Christians to enter the country as foreign workers for temporary work, but does not allow them to practice their faith openly. The percentage of Saudi Arabian citizens who are Christians is officially zero,[337] as Saudi Arabia forbids religious conversion from Islam (apostasy) and punishes it by death.
(The numerals 336 and 337 refer to footnotes in the Wiki article.)  Another obvious question would be why would an agreement with the Vatican be necessary for Saudi Arabia to build churches, or to even permit Christians to do so?  What does the Vatican expect to receive in exchange for this?  Read the story at the above links, and also at the Daily Mail.

UPDATE:  The link from the Egypt Independent is no longer working.  Is this story fake news?
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In other stories:

From FrontpageMag, a Texas teenager who converted to Islam did not think that his new religion was peaceful and tolerant.

From National Review, how illegal immigration is unfair to real immigrants.

From LifeNews, "What do Steve Jobs, Tim Tebow, Celine Dion, and Pope John Paul II have in common?"

From TechRadar, the FBI explains how drones are used in crime.

From the New York Post, the Connecticut Supreme Court vacates the murder conviction of Michael Skakel (a nephew of Ethel Kennedy) and orders a new trial.

From Philly(dot)com, a joke reveals what to expect from Russian President Putin's fourth term.

From USA Today, President Trump and Vice President Pence speak at the NRA's annual convention.

From Voice Of Europe, migrants have turned a park in Athens, Greece into so much of a hellhole that police are needed to clean it up.  (If you read Greek, read the story at Skai News.)

From the Daily Mail, Muslims are outraged at a French manifesto calling for verses to be deleted from the Koran.  (I've run across another story related to this one, and again I must say that calling for any religion to rewrite its scriptures is not realistic.  If someone told me that some biblical verses should be deleted, I would explain that we mere humans can't tell God what not to say.)

From Middle East Monitor, over 10,000 migrants have returned home from Greece.

From the Express, the city center of Salisbury, England has been evacuated due to a "suspicious package".

From B92, after receiving a protest from Serbia, the E.U. has removed symbols of Kosovo from a festival in Brussels.

From the NL Times, the Netherlands observes Remembrance Day.

From Townhall, journalist Laura Ingraham asks the Mexican ambassador why his country didn't stop the "caravan".

From the Toronto Sun, "controversial" Islamic groups will receive summer jobs grants.

From The Sun, a terrorist recruiter's wife tells a U.K. judge that she "only stands for Allah".

From The Irish Times, rules of the workplace can be strict and even weird.

And from The Local FR, ten old videos from Paris.

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