August 6 2001

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Bending to international pressure, the Taliban regime in Afghanistan has backed off its recent edict requiring Hindus and other non-Muslims to wear yellow badges and orange or yellow clothing, the Afghanistan Peace Organization reports. Instead, Hindus will be required to carry identification cards to show to authorities. A Taliban official said the dress code was meant to protect Hindus from harassment by Muslim religious police. Warren Larson, academic program director of Muslim studies at Columbia International University, says the Taliban's mistreatment of non-Muslims is actually turning people away from Islam. "I think they're digging their own grave—making Islam unpopular," he said. "The more Muslims see of this harshness, the more they are coming to Christ."

Leaders from both Jewish and Orthodox Church communities in Russia met recently to question the mission activities of the evangelical groups Jews for Jesus and Shma Israel. Conference participants said the missionaries—who call Jews to believe in Jesus Christ—interpret many aspects of Judaism and Orthodoxy incorrectly. The Moscow meeting (which used the theme "The Missionary Threat—How to Combat It?") included training for specialists who will oppose missionaries in the Jewish communities. Leaders also announced that a "Magen" league would be established to monitor the activity of the groups. David Brickner, executive director of Jews for Jesus, said that while organized opposition is not unusual, Russian Jewish leaders are using a "bizarre" strategy of allying with the Orthodox Church and the Russian government—two institutions that have been responsible for persecuting Russian Jews in the past. Brickner sees their efforts as "a direct response to the work of ...