The 10th Parallel is the line of latitude 700 miles north of the equator. It cuts across central Africa: Nigeria, Sudan, Somalia, all the way to the Philippines. More than half of the world’s Muslims live along the parallel, so do most of the world’s Christians.
Journalist and poet Eliza Griswold spent seven years traveling in this region of the world, a place where religious conflict intersects with the growing struggle for land, resources and political power. She examines all of this in a new book called “The Tenth Parallel: Dispatches from the Fault Line between Christianity and Islam.”
Eliza Griswold joins me now from our New York bureau. Thanks for being here.
Ms. ELIZA GRISWOLD Author, “The Tenth Parallel: Dispatches from the Fault Line between Christianity and Islam”): Thanks for having me, Rachel.
[blockquote]Christians in Bekasi, West Java have faced growing opposition in recent months from Muslims opposed to “Christianization.” On July 5, a banner with the picture of a Christian man with a noose around his neck was hung on the front of a mosque in Bekasi, stating, “This man deserves the death penalty.” The man, Andreas Sanau (29), is one of two men accused of organizing mass baptisms. The accusations came after busloads of poor villagers arrived at a Christian relief agency on June 30 as part of an outreach program. However, baptism is not a part of the program.
Church services throughout the city have been repeatedly interrupted and Christians threatened. In June, the Bekasi Islamic Congress met and set up a “mission center” along with a youth army to oppose Christian efforts. There is also a push for sharia law in the region. (Sources: AsiaNews, Compass Direct)[/blockquote]
http://www.persecution.net/id-2010-07-08.htm
“The Tenth Parallel” also reviewed in the NY Times … twice![url=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/18/books/18book.html]here[/url] and [url=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/books/review/Robinson-t.html?scp=1&sq=The tenth parallel&st=cse]here[/url].
Griswold seems like a more level-headed person than Paul Moore’s daughter