Evangelicals in the U.K. have rebuked comments made by the Chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission in Britain for accusing evangelical Christians of wanting to “have a fight,” and that they “choose sexual orientation as the ground to fight” out of political motivation.

In an interview published Sunday, Trevor Phillips angered Christians by saying many groups that argue against homosexuality were only doing so to gain political advantage. According to the Sunday Telegraph Phillips said, “There are some Christian organisations who basically want to have a fight and therefore they're constantly defining the ground in such a way that anyone who doesn't agree wholly agree with them about everything is essentially a messenger from Satan.”

He continued: “I think for a lot of Christian activists, they want to have a fight and they choose sexual orientation as the ground to fight it on. I think that whole argument isn't about the rights of Christians. It's about politics. It's about a group of people who really want to have weight and influence and they've chosen that particular ground. more >>

The Australian ambassador to Indonesia has said that Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in his country, and that the faith contributes significantly to Australia’s success and contemporary culture.

Greg Moriaty, the Australian ambassador made the comments in a statement released to mark the arrival of three Muslim leaders from Indonesia to Australia earlier this week.

The visit by the Muslim delegation is part of an exchange program between the two countries aiming to build relations between the two countries. more >>

The new U.S. envoy for international religious freedom has highlighted the incident of controversial Florida pastor Terry Jones, who proposed a “Burn a Quran Day,” to call on government, political, religious and business leaders to stand united in their condemnation of hateful ideologies.

Suzan Johnson Cook was speaking during a three-day visit this week to Geneva, Switzerland, to meet the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Cook, a New York pastor, recently fought an intense nomination battle for her new position, where critics questioned her credentials for the post. However, she has looked to make an immediate impact and has made a vocal start to her tenure. more >>

As Egypt attempts to lay the foundations for its new long-term government, a recent poll suggests that most Egyptians only want an advisory role for religious leaders.

A Gallup survey released earlier this week indicated that Egyptians, although on the whole were positive about their futures, and their country’s economic prospects, they were cautious about religious leaders taking any mainstream roles within the new government setup.

It was found that 92% of Egyptians thought it vital to include freedom of speech in drafting a new constitution for the country. In addition, 67% said they would also draft a provision for freedom of religion. more >>

An international interfaith conference has revealed that 105,000 Christians are being killed every year simply because of their faith.

The shocking figures revealed at the “International Conference on Inter-religious dialogue between Christians, Jews and Muslims,” held in Hungary, show that a Christian is killed every five minutes somewhere in the world because of their faith.

Massimo Introvigne, representative of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) on Combating Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians, added that these figures did not include the victims of civil wars, or wars between nations, but only the people put to death because they are Christians. more >>

An Anglican chaplain at a British university has rebutted claims that universities throughout the U.K. are a breeding ground for extremist recruitment, and that universities are not doing enough to tackle the problem.

Jeremy Clines who is the Anglican chaplain at the University of Sheffield has said that Islamic extremists were not the problem for universities, but rather government spending cuts were of greater concern.

Clines said, “People will explore radical views whether they are at university or not. more >>