Leo van Doesburg

“One thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, press on towards what is ahead, press on towards what is ahead, press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:13-14) Today it is the 31 st of December. The year 2012 has almost come to a close. Usually it is a time to reflect on what happened this year, our achievements, but also our challenges ; our happy, but also our sad times. The apostle Paul teaches us, however, how we have to evaluate our times and how to look forward to the next year. He asks us not to stick to what is behind. Sometimes bad experiences or issues that hurt us can block us and stick us to the past. We remain in the past and we do not want to look forward anymore. On the other hand, previous achievements can also make us so satisfied that we do not look forward anymore. The apostle Paul asked us to strain forwards, and even to press on towards wha...

The Observatory's Report on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in the Year 2011 was released on March 19th, 2012. This report portrays the most important developments with regard to freedom of religion, the most striking cases of intolerance and discrimination throughout Europe – and what individuals and institutions say about it. The report includes several statistics as well as analysis of the meaning of freedom of religion in the European context. Dr. Gudrun Kugler, director of the Observatory, explains: „Studies suggest that 85% of all hate crimes with an anti-religion background in Europe are directed against Christians. It is high time for the public debate to respond to this reality! We also notice professional restrictions for Christians: a restrictive application of freedom of conscience leads to professions such as magistrates, doctors, nurses and midwives as well as pharmacists slowly closing for Christians. Teachers and parents get ...

Together with Anca Bulica (Care for Europe), I wrote an article about the fact that with the proposal for the new anti-discrimination legislation in Moldova with as title: "Freedoms of Religion and Conscience under serious attack in the Republic of Moldova". You can read the article here . That this threat is serious (even before the acceptance of the proposed anti-discrimination law), is proven by the fact that Marian Vitalie is taken into court by the organization "Gender Doc-M" that defends the rights of sexual minorities in the Republic of Moldova. On August the 1st, the court issued a conclusion, by which he was banned from disclosing to the public while the charges against him have not been proven by the court yet.  Even in case the new law on anti-discrimination would not be accepted by the Moldovan parliament, it seems that already the freedom of expression is in quite danger in the Republic of Moldova. Therefore he started a campaign: "In the Rep...