The Games Have Begun. Part II.

The Games Have Begun. See my blogging yesterday. TGHB, Part I. This has been getting pretty absurd, as this was on the YLE TV news in Finland today. Not a new piece of news, but new to many of us.

Churches Must Report on Offerings (See the whole story here.)
by Carl Schreck (Moscow Times):


Moscow, Russia - Churchgoers who drop money in the collection plate might want to consider the consequences of their generosity, lest their places of worship be shut down in April amid a blizzard of bureaucracy.

Under new rules that Protestants fear will threaten religious freedom, churches must start counting how much of their tithe and offerings come from Russians and foreigners.

The new rules also require churches to account for every service and any other event, including the time and date it took place, how many people attended and the "makeup" of the participants, such as whether they were mostly students, small-business people or some other group, according to documents that churches and other nongovernmental organizations have to submit to the Federal Registration Service.

The rules are part of the contentious new law on NGOs that forced all foreign groups to reregister with the service by October. For religious organizations, the law means they must submit the new accounting forms to the service by April 15 or face closure.

"If there is a collection box in the corner, how are we supposed to know who donated what?" Konstantin Bendas, a spokesman for the Russian Church of Christians of Evangelical Faith, said Friday.