How does a modern filmmaker with qualms about religion make a movie about the power of an ancient Christian pilgrimage?

That’s the dilemma that actor/director Emilio Estevez faced when making “The Way,” a new film that opened Oct. 7 starring his own father, actor Martin Sheen.

Estevez opted to focus on the personal dimension of spirituality, avoiding questions of doctrine and dogma that are harder to answer ― and run the risk of turning off audiences.

“The Way” takes place on the Camino de Santiago, a thousand-year-old pilgrimage route across France and Spain. Sheen’s character, Tom, is a doctor living a comfortable life in California who decides to make the trek after his son is killed in a freak storm while on the pilgrimage.

“I think that the film is a reflection of where I’m at on my spiritual path,” said Estevez, who wrote, directed, and co-produced the film, and makes a few cameos as Tom’s unlucky son, Daniel.

Sheen described himself as a “declared Catholic,” but he and his wife did not raise their children Catholic, and have let Estevez take “his own personal quest.”

Estevez said he grew up hearing arguments about religion, but never about spirituality. “It’s religion that divides us,” he said in an interview with his father, “and spirituality ultimately brings us closer together.”

In the film, Tom starts out as a lapsed Catholic. Along the pilgrimage, he meets others who slowly draw him out of his tight-lipped despair and help renew his sense of spirituality. None of these main characters is overtly religious and all have their own issues with God, but by the end each seems to have made some kind of pilgrim’s progress.

Estevez said he intentionally avoided “bludgeoning the audience over the head” with a religious message, although the film is filled with shots of churches and crucifixes.

“You couldn’t point a camera anywhere without seeing religious iconography, Catholic iconography,” Estevez said. “We highlighted it when we needed to.”

Co-producer David Alexanian said the film “echoes what the Camino represents, which is, ‘We’ll take all comers. We’re not gonna tell you how to do it, and we’re not gonna tell you what you’re looking for, but you might find it.”’

The Camino de Santiago, also known as the Way of St. James, has no official route, but rather denotes any pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, said to be the final resting place of St. James the Apostle.

The path featured in the film is the most popular route, the Camino Frances, which starts in southwestern France and travels across northern Spain to Galicia, which Sheen’s father (Francisco Estevez) left for America.

Some pilgrims on the Camino decide to continue beyond Santiago de Compostela to Cape Finisterre, which was once thought to be the end of the world.

At one point in the movie, a Gypsy man tells Tom that he must scatter his son’s ashes in the ocean at Finisterre. “I’m not a very religious man,” Tom says, and the Gypsy replies, “Religion has nothing to do with it.”

“We have found that, if at any point the audience was feeling the movie was overly Catholic or overly Christian, that line helped them to get ‘underneath’ the movie and experience it in a much freer way,” Estevez said.

“The idea behind that line was that this is something you can’t categorize.” Or, as Sheen put it, “It’s the great mystery.”

Although Sheen and Estevez have not walked the full pilgrimage themselves, making the movie became a pilgrimage of sorts. After driving part of the Camino on a trip with his grandson (Estevez’s son, Taylor), Sheen suggested to Estevez that they make a movie about the pilgrimage.

The film was shot entirely on location with a small, “minimally invasive” crew so as not to disturb the pilgrims.

“Martin dressed like a pilgrim and walked the walk,” Alexanian said. He estimates that the crew covered about half of the nearly 500-mile route.

Sheen, Estevez, and Alexanian are currently on tour promoting the film, which is being heavily marketed to religious audiences. They’re also making a documentary out of the tour.

“This is a road trip about a road movie,” quipped Estevez.

Sheen added, “We’re still on pilgrimage.”

Watch the trailer here: http://filmtimes.net/the-way/

There’s a proverb that says if you love something, let it go. If it returns, it’s yours. If not, well, it never belonged to you in the first place.

But had my son Braden written that proverb it would go more like this: “If you love something and it won’t cooperate, stomp the guts out of it.”

A few years ago he and I rescued a frog in our garage. I gently placed the little guy in Braden’s hands. We talked about the frog’s warts, his strong legs, and bulging eyes.

After the brief science lesson, we set him free. Braden followed his new friend around the yard for a half hour. He tried to catch it, pet it, and steer it. He wanted it back in the garage to do with it as he pleased. But the frog wouldn’t oblige.

In frustration Braden lurched forward and crushed the little fellow beneath his foot. I was horrified! I momentarily concluded that my wife and I were raising a sociopath. When I could finally reel in my slack jaw I asked him, “Why did you do that?” His answer was as telling as it was simple: “Because he wouldn’t listen to me.”

Some of us think that God is a lot like Braden. If you don’t stay one step ahead of him, leaping quickly from his crushing blow, God will maliciously scrub you into the dust. God will eventually catch up to you and squash you for every evil act ever committed, every wrong thought that has crossed your mind, and for every missed Sunday service.

Maybe it stems from an anxious childhood or from bad religious experiences, but we all too often see God for less than he is. We view him as some kind of irritated old school master keeping a ledger of our sins – an Ebenezer Scrooge – selfish, stodgy, and never to be crossed.

Or we think of him as a vindictive bully, angry at the world – a cosmic Simon Cowell – one who only lets the best get by, and only then after a severe tongue lashing. Sure, a few will make it through the pearly gates, but God will be none too happy about it. 

Or we may imagine God, sitting in a high and mighty palace somewhere, breathing threats and intimidation just waiting for someone to cross the line, to be noncompliant, so he can squash them like a bug. Or frog. Is this who God is?

If you believe some religious extremists, certainly this is accurate. But this is not the God revealed to us by the person of Christ. Jesus reveals a God who loves with such passion that he was willing to drive nails into his own flesh to set free those living in darkness.

If we’re not careful, these polluted images of God can even corrupt the very lynchpin of our faith – the cross. A vindictive God reduces Jesus to just a martyr – someone who finally stood up against this angry tyrant, and paid the price for it.

But on the cross God was not saying, “See! Look what you made me do to my Son,” launching the mother of all guilt trips. Not at all.  The cross reveals, not God’s anger, but God’s love. The cross, and the love that orchestrated it, was not designed to shame and guilt us into doing something we really don’t want to do.

It was an intentional act of revelation. God was showing us his heart. God was showing us his true nature. God was inviting us to flush away these horrible misconceptions about who he is. In the process he was calling us to himself; to a God worth believing, a God worth worshipping, a God worth loving.

And by the way, I don’t think Braden will turn out to be an axe murderer after all. Thankfully, a day later our family paused to say grace over our evening meal. When it was Braden’s turn to pray, he bowed and said: “Dear Jesus…I killed a frog.” All was forgiven.

Ronnie McBrayer is a syndicated columnist, speaker, and author. His books include “Leaving Religion, Following Jesus” and “The Jesus Tribe.” Visit his website at www.ronniemcbrayer.net.

Last week my son asked me a profound theological question: “Why did God make stinging bugs?”

Stumped, I told him to talk directly to God about it. Pausing for just a moment to consider my inadequate answer, he countered, “You know I can’t talk to God; I’m not even dead yet!”

In my son’s literal but complex eight-year-old mind, prayer does not qualify as “talking to God.”

Thus, his many and variegated questions about the mysteries of the universe, the meaning of life, and the purpose of wasps and biting flies, will have to wait.

Truth be told, my son’s conclusion about “talking to God,” and more pertinent, God talking to us, is the conclusion most of us have. God doesn’t really talk to people, does he?

And those mystical types who routinely say things like, “God spoke to me” or “I heard God say,” are we to take them seriously, or should they be scheduled for a mental health examination?

I remember a bizarre story from two decades ago about a Texas pastor who crashed his car while attempting to elude police.

It was a bizarre story, first, because all 20 of the pastor’s parishioners were with him in his vehicle – 15 adults and five children – in a single Pontiac.

Second, and stranger by the details, the congregants were all naked. It seems the devil had cursed their clothing, God had told them, so the voodooed garments were cast off per divine instruction.

And finally, the police were chasing the naked and mobile congregation because they had attempted to forcibly procure a parked RV, an RV that God said now belonged to them.

God gets blamed for a whole lot of the kookiness in this world, and stories like this one make me appreciate my son’s conclusion.

If this is how God speaks, I’ll be happy to wait till I’m dead for such divine instruction.

And let’s be honest; sometimes the stories are more tragic than comical. Some of history’s greatest atrocities have been committed because someone “heard God speak” to them.

Absurdity aside, I still believe God speaks.

Now, I don’t believe God’s instructions ever include harming others, stealing their property, or committing violence. Such voices are patently inconsistent with the way and person of Christ

And no, I don’t think God’s voice arrives in our inboxes as an unalterable blueprint for life. Further, it’s not likely that many of us will find God standing at the foot of our bed some early morning with a heavenly telegram in his hand.

Besides, if God did speak that clearly (and maybe he does), most of us would miss it anyway (maybe we have), for it seems God prefers communicating through quiet and stillness rather than through the pyrotechnics of signs, wonders, and naked-RV-stealing-hijinks.

“God didn’t speak through the whirlwind, the earthquake, or the fire,” the prophet of old tells us. Instead, God spoke “in a still, small voice.”

It’s summed up by Dan Rather’s magnificent interview of Mother Teresa more than twenty years ago.

Paraphrasing, he famously asked her, “What do you say to God when you pray?” She offered him a simple answer, “I don’t say anything. I just listen.”

Rather then asked the obvious follow-up question: “Well, what does God say?” Mother Teresa gave Rather that crooked little smile of hers, and said, “God doesn’t say anything either. He just listens.”

Does such a wordless “conversation” sound as bizarre as a Pontiac filled with naked Pentecostals? Hardly. In a relationship of love and trust, being together is enough, and more is understood in the silence than when using all the words in the world.

A great deal of religion, I fear, is built upon the desire for divine fireworks, megaphoned and crystal clear answers, God showing himself in flamboyant and undeniable style.

Yet, God only requires the quiet and silent heart to quietly and silently speak.

In other words, keep your shirt on. Getting quiet will do more to sharpen one’s perception of God than all the religious gymnastics in the world.

Ronnie McBrayer is a syndicated columnist, speaker, and author. His books include “Leaving Religion, Following Jesus” and “The Jesus Tribe.” Visit his website at www.ronniemcbrayer.net.

Justin Bieber and his father got matching tattoos recently with the name of Jesus in Hebrew on their left ribcages.

A newly-released photo showed the father and son, topless, with their matching “Yeshua” tattoos. They were photographed in Israel, where they got the tattoos done.

Justin Bieber and Dad get matching "Yeshua" tattoos. Yeshua is Jesus in Hebrew.

Father and son were in Israel for a show that Bieber had last May. It was part of an extended tour that started in England in March. During their spare time, they got the tats.

The tattoos say Yeshua, which is Hebrew for Jesus. They were done last May, just before Justin flew to Hawaii near the end of the month to be with Selena Lopez, his girlfriend.

Jeremy posted pictures of himself and Justin in the parlor while they were having their tattoos done, in Facebook. Among the photos shown was Justin grimacing and clutching his father’s hand for support.

Justin, 17, has another tattoo of a seagull inked on his left hip, which was done when he turned 16. Before then, he had a star tattoo placed on his elbow, both with his parents’ permission.

Although he is still underage, the new tattoo is legal because he was with his father when they were done, indicating parental permission. Jeremy himself has a number of other tattoos.

The tattoo could be clearly seen when Justin was in Hawaii with Gomez in late May.

Justin has always been open about his Christian faith. Before performing onstage, he prays in both Hebrew and English. During his recent visit to the Holy Land he visited its religious sites and told Christian Today that the experience was “truly special.”

Bieber enjoys a great relationship with his father, but it doesn’t follow that his childhood was perfect. He was largely raised by his mother Pattie Mallette, but always kept a close relationship with his father.

“I have a great relationship with my Dad,” the Daily Mail quoted Bieber. “When I was younger, he taught me how to play some songs on the guitar, like Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door by Bob Dylan. He taught me how to drive, too. He’s cool.”

The mother of a boy from Chicago filed recently a case against the Vatican for the alleged role it played in the cover up of sexual abuse committed by a priest on her son.

The case was filed within weeks of a landmark decision in Oregon which ruled that the Vatican should yield documents and testify under oath regarding its supervisory responsibility over a priest who was shown to have a long-term pattern of sexually abusive behavior toward children, the AFP said.

Jeffrey Anderson, lawyer for the mother of the boy, said his client filed the case against the Vatican because she was frustrated by its failure to shield children from known child abuse by clergy, the AFP reported.

Anderson said, “The reason we have to do this is because Daniel McCormack [a former Roman Catholic priest who molested the woman’s son] is just one of many offenders who’ve been allowed to offend in secret. Until there is change at the top, children remain at risk,” according to AFP.

Anderson said he has enough evidence to show that Pope Benedict XVI and recently-beatified Pope John Paul II played a role in enabling McCormack to abuse many children over a period of years, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Anderson said, “This case is not really about what Daniel McCormack did as much as it is about those at the top allowing him to do it,” including Cardinal Francis George, archbishop of Chicago, according Chicago Tribune.

Without merit

Atty. Jeffrey Lena, who represents the Vatican in cases regarding clergy sex abuse, told the AFP, “This case is without any merit. The complaint rehashes the same tired theories already rejected by US courts. The plaintiff already received payment from the Archdiocese of Chicago and released all further claims. And, importantly, the Holy See had no factual involvement in this matter whatsoever.”

The U.S. has a Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act which provides certain protections for sovereign nations, including the Vatican, from being charged in a U.S. court. Anderson will have to prove the Vatican is an exception by showing evidence that it had a direct responsibility in the abuse.

Anderson claimed that he has enough proof to show that the Vatican, with protocols and its hierarchy, enabled McCormack to continue to abuse children as a priest, Chicago Tribune said.

Background

McCormack was arrested in 2005 on complaints of sexual abuse of several boys. However, he was allowed to still work at a Catholic school, after which more boys issued complaints of sexual abuse, the AFP said.

In July 2007 McCormack pleaded guilty to the abuse of five boys. The following year, the Archdiocese of Chicago reached a settlement of $1.6 million with the families of the boys (including the mother who is now suing the Vatican), the AFP said.

Anderson said the new lawsuit does not negate the settlement, but it may exert pressure on the Chicago archdiocese to release records as was agreed upon in the 2008 settlement and which, until now, has not been done, Chicago Tribune said.

The archdiocese was angered that Anderson would say they are stalling. In a statement it said, “We are surprised that Mr. Anderson is making an accusation like this because the Archdiocese is engaged in an ongoing mediation process with him that includes provisions about how to resolve disputes over the production of documents.”

The statement added, “Mr. Anderson has not invoked any of the processes required under these agreements for the resolution of disputes. Instead, he has made accusations in a press conference and in a lawsuit against the Holy See,” the Chicago Tribune reported.

Anderson said his client decided to file the case after an Oregon court decision was reached which ordered the Vatican to open all records regarding a Servite Order priest, Chicago Tribune said.

Legal precedence

Anderson, who is also involved in the Oregon case, said this is an impetus to go after the Vatican with the McCormack case, too. He said, “We have some legal precedence and some authority that really does make me believe we can do this,” the Chicago Tribune reported.

The Oregon court is trying to determine whether the Vatican can be viewed as an employer of abusive priests, and therefore, liable in clergy sex abuse cases. In previous lawsuits the Vatican has argued successfully that it wields spiritual control over clergy, but temporal control falls under the purview of local dioceses, the AFP said.

While winning the suit may appear to be a long shot, Bruce Boyer of Civitas Child Law Clinic, Loyola University, said filing the case in itself is significant. He told Chicago Tribune, “It’s difficult to fund litigation that the profession may look at as quixotic, [but there] is an important secondary goal which is to try to change the culture in which the church operates.”

Don’t discount Billy Graham just because he is now 92 years old. If anything, the man who has counseled sitting presidents for some 50 years, starting from Truman up to Obama (who visited Graham in his home), still has a lot to say that all of us can benefit from, whether it’s about old age, or citing the most important issues today.

Graham spends most of his time at home, and receives round-the-clock care. His son Franklin Graham, as president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, is now charged with giving sermons and making public appearances, Christianity Today said.

Billy Graham is having the normal trouble that a 92-year-old man would have with his sight, hearing and overall health. Four years ago his wife, Ruth Bell, died at the age of 87. But son Franklin said his father might preach again on video, although there is as of now no set date, Christianity Today reported.

About aging

The elder Graham did however take time to answer questions from Christianity Today. He acknowledged that being unable to do many things he used to be able to do is not easy, nor is having to depend more on others. At the same time he realizes that physical challenges “will only get worse,” he said.

Graham also said aging is a lonely time with the loss of spouse and friends, and children living independently and having families of their own. “But God has a reason for keeping us here (even if we don’t always understand it), and we need to recover the Bible’s understanding of life and longevity as gifts from God—and therefore as something good,” Graham said.

Noting that the bible often mentions those who died at “a good old age,” Graham told Christianity Today that it’s important to “learn to be content, and that only comes as we accept each day as a gift from God and commit it into his hands. Paul’s words are true at every stage of life, but especially as we grow older: ‘Godliness with contentment is great gain’ ” (1 Tim. 6:6).

Children of aging parents

To children of aging parents, Graham says one should be prepared for this stage of one’s parent’s life and accept it, along with the new responsibilities that go with it. He said the changes will call for patience and sometimes children will have to take charge for the safety of the aging parent, Christianity Today said.

“They [elderly parents] may resist, and you need to put yourself in their shoes and realize the turmoil these changes can cause them. But they need to realize that you’re doing it because you love them and want what’s best for them,” Graham told Christianity Today.

Graham also said children should pray for the aging parent, “that they will experience God’s peace and comfort as they grow older,” Christianity Today reported.

Most important issue today

Billy Graham has had an insightful experience into politics, having counseled so many sitting presidents, but he said if he had it to do over again, he would have kept away from politics, according to Christianity Today.

Instead, he says the most important issue today is not economic, social or political, but rather moral and spiritual. He told Christianity Today, “Our calling is to declare Christ’s forgiveness and hope and transforming power to a world that does not know him or follow him. May we never forget this.”

A British tycoon has achieved fame and wealth, but said this does not compare to the greater cause of building up the U.K. South Asian Christian community as a force to forward the gospel.

Manoj Raithatha was once an award-winning playwright who went on to earn millions in realty. Now he serves as National Coordinator for the newly-formed South Asian Forum of the Evangelical Alliance, Christian Today reported.

The SAF was formed by the Evangelical Alliance early this year. It seeks to unite and support U.K. Christians who originally came from Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Maldives, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

There are some 75,000 South Asian Christians in the U.K., a potentially strong force that can be used to forward their interests in media and government, lend encouragement and support to one another, and strengthen ministry, Christian Today said.

Ram Gidoomal, who chairs SAF’s Steering Group told Christian Today, “For too long South Asian Christians have not had a voice. But, with the appointment of Manoj, we can look forward to fostering greater unity among churches and representation to the wider community.”

The challenge will be in overcoming barriers that are to be expected from people who have ethnicity in eight countries, each with its own culture, customs, dialects and languages, according to Christian Today.

Manoj, 38, is a young Christian, having committed his life to Christ in 2008 after a family tragedy led him to clarify the meaning of true wealth. To augment the task he faces, he is now pursuing theology at St Paul’s Theological Centre, in South Kensington, London, Christian Today reported.

Manoj told Christian Today, “At one time my main focus was on making money and being successful in business. Nowadays, my ambition is to bring together fellow South Asian believers as well as connect with people of other faiths.”

In 2008 Manoj’ then two-year-old son was brought to St. Thomas Hospital in London due to severe breathing problems. “(He) was intubated, Christian friends set up a prayer vigil. After five days in the intensive care unit my son suddenly bolted upright in bed. Miraculously, he was healed,” Christian Today reported.

Manoj and his wife Maria went to their local church to thank God, and kept going back until they committed their lives to Jesus at Soul Survivor Church in Watford. Manoj told Christian Today, “It was by God’s grace and love that my son now lives, and it is also by God’s grace that I’ve been given an altogether new direction in life.”

Long journey

As a young professional Manoj was a writer for the TV series, “My Life as a Popat,” which won a Bafta award. His first play, “BBA (British-born Asian) and Proud” won an Edinburgh Fringe First award and toured UK theatres, Christian Today said.

He became a tycoon when he established Summertime Properties. Among his biggest deals was purchasing Clarence House in Leeds at some $54.3 million. Manoj also bought and sold properties in Sheffield, Bradford and London, according to Christian Today.

Manoj told Christian Today that it is a miracle that his business, though affected temporarily, survived the recession. However, he said the biggest turning point in his life was when he became a Christian.

The Supreme Court is  hearing a controversial case between a cult that claims to be Baptist, and which has garnered headlines for some 20 years by protesting against gays at military funerals; and a family that was one of its victims.

The Westboro Baptist Church, which does not belong to any Baptist convention or association, has 80 members, mostly family members, grandchildren and relatives of its founder, Pastor Fred W. Phelps Sr. (He has 13 children), an 80-year-old disbarred lawyer. The cult blames all tragedies of the world on society’s tolerance of homosexuals, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

For some 20 years the cult has traveled around the country getting permits and protesting at the funerals of fallen soldiers with signs such as “God Hates Fags,” and “God Hates You.” They attest that soldiers are dying because of the gays in the military, ABC News said.

The cult has also protested at the funeral of Rev. Jerry Falwell saying he is a “false prophet.” More recently, when 29 miners were killed in West Virginia, the cult was there with signs reading, “Thank God for dead miners,” The Salt Lake Tribune said.

First Amendment

In 2006, during the funeral of Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder who died in Iraq, the cult showed up with placards, one of which said, “You’re in hell.” Snyder was not gay. A few days later on their website the sect addressed a post to Snyder’s parents saying, “They taught him to support the largest pedophile machine in the history of the entire world, the Roman Catholic monstrosity,” ABC News reported.

Albert Snyder, father of the deceased sued the cult and ultimately a federal court judgment awarded him $5 million. However, an appeals court overturned the judgment, and the case is now set before the Supreme Court, according to ABC News.

The Appeals Court wrote in their decision, “We are constrained to agree that these signs are entitled to First Amendment protection.” Craig Trebilock, Snyder’s lawyer, told ABC News, “Mr. Snyder felt that he had one opportunity, a few hours, to say goodbye to his son and they were torn away from him. We don’t believe there is an unlimited First Amendment right to engage in outrageous conduct intended to inflict harm on a private person.”

Son speaks out

A son of Phelps who left the family cult 30 years ago told ABC News, “I think it’s wrong, it’s evil. When they protest at people’s funerals, they defy and deny everything that we consider decent and proper in our society.”

Of his growing up, Nate said his father was physically and verbally abusive, beating the young children with a barber’s strap that cut the flesh, and later, using a four feet long, solid, heavy wooden handle of a mattock, ABC News said.

With the mattock handle, Nate told ABC News, “He would go down the back of the legs and up to the lower back, and when he was really angry and raging he would use it to hit you with the arms. On one occasion I can remember being hit with it in the head and it split my scalp.”

A daughter of Phelps, Shirley Phelps-Roper, who is the cult spokesman, told ABC News that as children they were spanked with a strap until they were about 13, as a disciplinary measure, citing the bible. When they were older, she said they were hit with a paddle.

The father would also horrify the children with graphic images of hell and tell them if they did not behave they would go there. Nate told ABC News he left home at midnight when he turned 18. “I bought a car when I was 17, hid it, no one knew it was mine, packed my stuff up and at 11:30 on the night of my 18th birthday I backed it into the driveway and loaded it up and went inside, waited for the clock to hit midnight and then I left.”

Two Christian leaders were arrested on false charges, and two Christian women were robbed through extortion by Muslim leaders in Bangladesh, with the husband of one beaten.

It all began with a baptism on the banks of the Brahmanputra River at Jamalpur. Out of 55 converts, seven were invited by Johura Begum, CDN said.

However during the baptism Muslims in the area became enraged and protested loudly, so that only six of the 55 were baptized when the police arrived and arrested some of the Christians including two leaders, CDN said.

For the next three days Muslims used bullhorns to shout death threats at the Christians in the village. They said, “We will peel off the skins of the Christians,” and swore they would drive all the Christians away, CDN reported.

One of those at the baptism, Hafijur Rahman, 45, said he was forced by police to sign a statement saying that four Christian leaders offered him money to attend the ritual, CDN said.

Rahman told CDN, “I was not aware of the content of the case copy – later I came to know that a case was filed against the four Christian neighbors by me. I am an illiterate man. Police took my fingerprint on a blank paper under duress, and later they wrote everything.”

Rahman told CDN that he attended the baptism upon the invitation of a neighbor and went out of curiosity. He denied being offered money by any Christian to be present. However local police chief Golam Sarwar insisted that Muslims were offered $70 each to become Christian.

Johura Begum, 42 of Pingna village, Jamalpur said a local council member and a government representative (whose son is a policeman) threatened to harm her twin daughters unless they were paid $283.

Begum was particularly alarmed because the policeman son of one extortionist was investigating fabricated charges that she paid Muslims to join the river baptism, CDN said.

Because her husband is just a laborer at a rice mill, Begum borrowed $283 from a Christian cooperative to pay the extortionists. She said, “It not possible to say aloud what abusive language they used against me for inviting people to God,” CDN said.

Begum said twenty years ago she was beaten by area Muslims and forced to leave the village. However she managed to go back three years later. “Local Muslims bombarded us with propaganda – that when I became a Christian, I would have to be naked in the baptism before the Christian cleric. Recently they are bad-mouthing Christianity with these kinds of disgraceful and scurrilous rumors, and my daughters cannot attend their classes,” CDN said.

In another development, another Christian woman, Komola Begum, 35, of Doulatpur Village was threatened by villagers backed by a member of the ruling Bangladesh Awami league, CDN said.

Begum invited 11 people, three of them women, to a baptism. The villagers upon hearing this demanded $3,535 from Begum. The wife of a wealthy seller of fertilizer, Begum was accused of being rich because she receives funds from Christians, CDN said.

The Muslim villagers beat her husband so badly he required three days of hospital treatment. His life was spared because she paid the Muslims the money they demanded, CDN said.