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Be Alert! Homeschoolers-Christians Under Attack
Persecution in America, Toronto, Germany & Worldwide
Joel 2:31
"The sun will be turned into darkness
And the moon into blood
Before the great and awesome day of the LORD
comes.
Matthew 24:9
"Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill
you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My
name.
John 15:20
"Remember the word that I said to you, 'A slave is not
greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they
will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will
keep yours also.
1 Peter 4:12-14
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among
you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though
some strange thing were happening to you; but to the
degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on
rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you
may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the
name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of
glory and of God rests on you.
1) SWAT officers invade home, take 11-year-old at gunpoint
Cops demand boy go to doctor because of fall during horseplay
WORLDNETDAILY - By Bob Unruh - January 7, 2008
Nearly a dozen members of a police SWAT team in
western Colorado punched a hole in the front door
and invaded a family's home with guns drawn,
demanding that an 11-year-old boy who had had an
accidental fall accompany them to the hospital, on the
order of Garfield County Magistrate Lain
Leoniak.
The boy's parents and siblings were thrown to the
floor at gunpoint and the parents were handcuffed in
the weekend assault, and the boy's father told WND it
was all because a paramedic was upset the family
preferred to care for their son themselves.
Someone, apparently the unidentified paramedic,
called police, the sheriff's office and social services,
eventually providing Leoniak with a report that
generated the magistrate's court order to the sheriff's
office for the SWAT team assault on the family's home
in a mobile home development outside of Glenwood
Springs, the father, Tom Shiflett, told WND.
WND calls and e-mails to Garfield County
Social Services were not returned, and Leoniak, who earlier served as a
water court clerk/referee, also was not available.
Sheriff Lou Vallario, however, did call
back, and told WND he ordered his officers to do
exactly what the magistrate demanded.
"I was given a court order by the magistrate to seize
the child, and arrange for medical evaluation, and
that's what we did," he said.
According to friends of the family, Tom Shiflett, who
has 10 children including six still at home, and served
with paramedics in Vietnam, was monitoring his son's
condition himself.
The paramedic and magistrate, however, ruled that
that wasn't adequate, and dispatched the officers to
take the boy, John, to a hospital, where a doctor
evaluated him and released him immediately.
The accident happened during horseplay, Tom Shiflett
told WND. John was grabbing the door handle of a car
as his sister was starting to drive away slowly. He
slipped, fell to the ground and hit his head, Shiflett
said.
He immediately carried his son into their home
several doors away, and John was able to recite Bible
verses and correctly spell words as his father and
mother, Tina, requested. There were no broken
bones, no dilated eyes, or any other noticeable
problems.
The family, whose members live by faith and
homeschool, decided not to call an ambulance. But a
neighbor did call Westcare Ambulance, and
paramedics responded to the home, asking to see
and evaluate the boy.
The paramedics were allowed to see the boy, and
found no significant impairment, but wanted to take
him to the hospital for an evaluation anyway. Fearing
the hospital's bills, the family refused to allow that.
"This apparently did not go over well with one of the
paramedics and they started getting aggravated at
Tom for not letting them have their way," a family
acquaintance told WND.
"The paramedics were not at all respectful of Tom's
decision, nor did they act in a manner we would
expect from professional paramedics," the
acquaintance said.
So the ambulance crew, who also could not be
reached by WND, called police, only to be told the
decision was up to the Shiflett familiy.
The paramedics then called the sheriff's office, and
officers responded to the home, and were told
everyone was being cared for.
Then the next day, Friday, social services workers
appeared at the door and demanded to talk with
John "in private."
They were so persistent Tom ended up having to get
John out of the bathtub he was just soaking in, to
bring him to the front porch where the social workers
could see him, the family reported.
Then, following an afternoon shopping trip to town, the
family settled in for the evening, only to be shocked
with the SWAT team attack.
The sheriff said the decision to use SWAT team force
was justified because the father was a "self-
proclaimed constitutionalist" and had made threats
and "comments" over the years.
However, the sheriff declined to provide a single
instance of the father's illegal behavior. "I can't tell you
specifically," he said.
"He was refusing to provide medical care," the sheriff
said.
However, the sheriff said if his own children were
involved in an at-home accident, he would want to be
the one to make decisions on their healthcare, as did
Shiflett.
"I guess if that was one of my children, I would make
that decision," the sheriff said.
But he said Shiflett was "rude and confrontational"
when the paramedics arrived and entered his home
without his permission.
The sheriff also admitted that the injury to the child
had been at least 24 hours earlier, because the fall
apparently happened Thursday afternoon, and the
SWAT attack happened late Friday evening.
Officials with the
Home School Legal Defense Association
reported they were looking into the case, because of
requests from family friends who are members of the
organization.
"While people can debate whether or not the father
should have brought his son to the ER - it seems like
this was not the kind of emergency that warrants this
kind of outrageous conduct by government officials," a
spokesman said.
Tom Shiflett said when John was evaluated by the
physician, "they didn't find anything wrong with him."
He said the paramedics never should have entered
his home, but they followed his wife in the front door
when she came in.
"My attention was on my son," Shiflett said.
He said the SWAT team punched a hole in his door
with a ramrod, and the first officer in the home pointed
a gun right in the face of Tom's 20-year-old daughter.
"I don't know where social services ever got started, or
where they got their authority," he said. "But I want to
know why we have something in this country that
violates our rights, that takes a parental right away."
He said he saw a multitude of injuries in Vietnam, and
while he recognized that his son needed to be
watched, he wasn't willing to turn his child over to the
paramedics.
With 10 children, most of them older than John, it's not
as if he hasn't seen a bruise or two, either, he said.
"Now I'm hunting for lawyers that will take the case ---
I'm going to sue everybody whose name was on that
page right down to the judge," he said.
Mike Donnelly, a lawyer with the HSLDA, told WND the
case had a set of circumstances that could be
problematic for authorities.
"In Doe V. Heck, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals held
that parents have a fundamental right to familial
relations including a liberty interest in the care,
custody and control of their children," he said.
He also said many social services agencies apply "a
one size fits all approach" to cases, regardless of
circumstances.
2) Mother warns community about 'Nazi' home invasion
Officers told her 'rights' were 'only in the movies'
WORLDNETDAILY - By Bob Unruh - January 10, 2008
The mother of an 11-year-old boy abducted by SWAT
team members and taken to a hospital after he was
bruised while horsing around is warning members of
her community of the "Nazi" tactics she endured,
including a statement from the officers that her "rights"
were "only in the movies."
The case involves Jon Shiflett, who injured himself
while trying to grab the handle of a door on a car his
sister was driving. He slipped and fell to the
pavement, hitting his head. His parents treated him for
the injury and rejected paramedics' demands that they
be allowed to take him to a hospital.
Nearly 36 hours later, SWAT team members broke
into the family home in western Colorado near New
Castle and took Jon to a hospital, where a doctor said
the family should keep ice on his bruise, exactly the
treatment the family already had been providing.
Tina Shiflett, Jon's mother, has written a letter to the
editor to a local newspaper, the Post Independent, "to
awaken, alert and appall any who read it and hear the
bells ringing."
"A fully armed SWAT team broke into our home,
slammed my children to the floor face down with their
hands behind their backs and shoved a gun in my
daughter's face and handcuffed her---" her letter said.
In a separate letter to WND, she elaborated a little
more fully.
During the attack, she wrote, "One (officer) grabbed
my daughter Beth (18 years), who also had a gun to
her face, slammed her down and kneed her in the
back and held her in that position--- My sons Adam
(14) and Noah (only 7) lay down willingly, yet they were
still forced to put their hands behind their backs and
were yelled at to keep their heads down.
"My daughter Jeanette was coming out from the back
bedroom when she was grabbed, drug down the
hallway, across a couch and slammed to the ground,"
she said. "The officers then began throwing scissors
and screwdrivers across the room (out of our reach, I
suppose) and going through our cupboards.
"I asked if I could make a phone call and was told, 'no.'
My daughter asked if that wasn't one of our rights. The
reply was made, 'That's only in the movies,'" she told
WND.
It was some unidentified person, possibly a
paramedic who had been refused permission to take
Jon Shiflett to the hospital as she wanted, who
provided information last week that convinced a
magistrate to issue a court order that Jon be taken
into state custody and examined by a doctor.
He was taken by SWAT team members dispatched by
the sheriff to the family's home at 11 p.m. at night, and
they punched a hole in the front door and held guns
on other children in the family in order to take Jon.
"The armed men in black masks took my terrified son
against his wishes to Grand River Hospital, where he
was examined by a doctor and interrogated by Social
Services. No evidence was found that he had not been
properly taken care of. Upon his return, we were told to
keep ice on his head," Tina Shiflett's letter to the editor
said.
"To the SWAT Team members --- how far will you go
in 'just doing your job?' If you feel no guilt busting into
an innocent family's home, traumatizing young
children and stomping the security found therein, will
you follow more horrific orders?" she wrote.
"May I remind you that in Nazi Germany, outrageous,
monstrous crimes were committed by soldiers 'just
doing their job?' What will be next? Where will this
stop?" she wrote.
"Fathers, mothers, families and countrymen, I
challenge you to consider our story and ask yourself
the question, 'If this were my family, what would I do?'
For it very well could be you --- next!"
Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario told WND he
simply ordered his officers to do exactly what the
magistrate demanded.
"I was given a court order by the magistrate to seize
the child, and arrange for medical evaluation, and
that's what we did," he said. - - - -
Also
Sheriff defends capture of boy by SWAT
team
WORLDNETDAILY - By Bob Unruh - January 12,
2008
The Colorado sheriff who dispatched a SWAT team to
break into a family's home, hold them at gunpoint and
take custody of an 11-year-old boy for a medical exam
sought by Social Services is defending the actions,
saying the boy's father told officers to "bring an army" if
they returned.
The 11-year-old, Jonathan Shiflett, had suffered
bruises while horsing around in a mobile home park
near New Castle where the family lives. But his father,
Tom Shiflett, refused to allow paramedics who arrived
after a neighbor apparently called 911 to treat his son,
and refused to allow the ambulance crew to take
Jonathan to a hospital.
Multiple visits by police officers and sheriff's deputies
brought the same response, as did a visit from Social
Services employees, who reported to court
authorities: "Thomas Shiflett shouted at this worker
and advised this worker that if he obtained a court
order, he better 'bring an army,'" according to an
affidavit filed by Matthew McGaugh, a caseworker for
the Garfield County Department of Social Services.
Sheriff Lou Vallario used that alleged threat in an e-
mail response to a WND reader who questioned his
actions. Vallario also criticized WND reporting on the
events to a local newspaper, without contacting WND
with any concerns.
"Thank you for your concerns. I have had personal
confrontations with Mr. Shiflett and he has been
threatening, agitated and violent. In 2005 we arrested
him for chasing a man down the street with an ax and
his statement in the report was, 'if he didn't run faster
than me I would have planted the ax in the back of his
head.' He was not convicted because of our 'Make my
day' law (self defense of your home), but none the
less he clearly demonstrated violence in this case as
well as others. Further, when we requested his
cooperation he said, 'if you want my son, bring an
army,'" the sheriff responded via e-mail.
However, what the sheriff left out of his response was
what McGaugh reported happened just before the
alleged threat. McGaugh confirmed he had delivered a
not-so-veiled threat to Shiflett. - - - -
Read Full Report
3) Toronto: Regulators' assault plan puts church in crosshairs
Proposal considers taxes, fees, restrictions on numbers, sizes
WORLDNETDAILY - By Bob Unruh - January 6, 2008
A regulatory plan being considered by a Toronto
suburb would put churches in the crosshairs of an
assault that would include dramatically higher taxes
and fees as well as restrictions on the sizes and
numbers of worship centers.
A series of reports by the No Apologies website
featuring WND columnist Tristan Emmanuel has
revealed the stunning proposals in Brampton that one
source confirmed would be used in multiple cities
should the Brampton effort prove successful.
WND already has reported how many Biblical
standards of behavior are under attack by
the "bastardized courts" of Canada, where activists
who claim they have "hurt feelings" are demanding -
and getting - penalties imposed against those who
oppose the homosexual lifestyle.
That description of the courts, also known as the
provincial and national Human Rights Commissions,
comes from the Canada Family Action Coalition,
which is warning that the United States is not far from
having similar assaults on traditional family values.
Now comes the report from the site launched by
Emmanuel, the founder and president of the ECP
Centre - Equipping Christians for the Public-Square
as well as the host of "No Apologies," a weekly web-
radio show "dedicated to illustrating the absurdity of
political correctness."
"One person who's involved --- has told us at
NoApologies.ca that Brampton is considered a test
scenario for dozens of other municipalities in Canada,
and that if the tax changes can be pushed through
there, other cities are almost sure to follow," the report
said.
Among the changes being reviewed:
- A plan to subject all "non-worship" space owned
by religious groups to property taxes. This "non-
worship" space would include offices, kitchens,
nurseries, fellowship halls, parking lots, restrooms,
etc. Not even the sanctuary would all be exempt: only
the area "where the congregation sits/stands/gathers
for actual worship."
- A new definition of "places of worship" to eliminate
current provisions allowing church properties to be
used for day care centers or soup kitchens.
- New limits for start-up churches, who would be
allowed to rent only 3,000 square feet of industrial
space for a maximum of three years before being
required to buy property.
- A limit allowing only one "place of worship" for
every 10,000 residents.
- A stratospheric rise in fees for things like zoning
and variance issues. One church reportedly had to pay
Brampton $400,000 for the paperwork required to
build a new sanctuary.
- Ban religious meetings in homes if they involve
more than 20 people, children included. - - - -
4) Germany: Open season on homeschoolers
'The situation is horrible. We must leave our country'
WORLDNETDAILY - By Bob Unruh - January 11, 2008
Homeschoolers need to be making plans to flee
Germany en masse after a government document
implied the advent of a coming crackdown that would
target them, an advocate says.
The government letter is addressed to "School
Administrations of State and Private Schools" and its
subject line specifies "Custody withdrawal for violation
of mandatory school attendance."
"The [German] court determined that the parents'
refusal to send their children to either a state or a
state approved private school is a misuse of parental
custody rights, which violates the well-being of the
child," the letter, dated just a few weeks ago,
said, "and which requires actions by the family court.
---"
"We ask for acknowledgment and compliance," the
letter, signed by N. Hauf., director of school affairs,
said.
WND has carried numerous reports of
homeschooling families in Germany running afoul of
that nation's Nazi-era law banning homeschooling,
and being fined or otherwise penalized. In recent
days, however, the threats against homeschooling
parents frequently have included loss of custody of
their children, and several families already have fled.
The government letter was forwarded to the United
States by a homeschooling advocate in Germany, who
expressed his own personal fears for the safety of his
family and contemplated leaving his home country
himself.
"It is very likely that our family [will have] to leave the
country this year. Maybe I have to bring my children
and my wife to a place of safety within the next weeks
or even days," the advocate said in a personal
message to the Home School Legal Defense
Association, the world's largest homeschool advocacy
organization, which has been involved in a number of
recent cases in Germany.
"The behavior of German authorities against families
who homeschool goes against the very fiber of what
free and democratic societies stand for - that
governments exist to protect the rights of people not to
take them away," Mike Donnelly, a staff attorney for the
HSLDA, said. "In Germany it appears that the judicial,
executive and legislative branches of government do
not care to protect the human right of parents to direct
the upbringing and education of their children which
includes the right to homeschool - a view shared by
nearly all other western civilized countries."
The government letter was from the State of Bavaria's
Ministry of Education and appeared to be directed to
local school officials, essentially declaring an open
season on homeschoolers in Germany. - - - -
5) Homeschool family reaches England
Fled native land because of attempt by mayor to take custody of children
WORLDNETDAILY - By Bob Unruh - January 9, 2008
A German family has completed its flight to Great
Britain after the mayor of their hometown filed a court
action to give custody of the children to the state
because the parents have been homeschooling,
according to an advocacy group.
Officials with Netzwerk-Bildungsfreiheit said Klaus
and Kathrin Landahl and their five children, including
four of school age, "are in safety in England. They
reached Dover on Saturday midnight."
However, officials said the court has not issued a final
ruling in the case brought by the mayor of Altensteig, a
city with a sister-city promotional relationship with
Butte, Mont.
Chief Executive Paul Babb of Butte told WND he had
not been aware of such controversies and he would
have to solicit input from members of the community
before determining whether "this would impact this
relationship."
He said he believes "it's the parents' right to school
their children they way they see fit."
Netszerk-Bildungsfreiheit said the situation with the
Landahl family is just one of many such attacks on
German homeschoolers, which appear to be coming
more frequently and with more intensity.
Just this week, a message was sent from a Bavarian
man who identified himself as "Mathew."
"This morning we received a call from the German
ministry of education. Tomorrow (Wednesday)
morning they will send the police to our home and
take Josia (6), Lou Ann (10) and Aileen (13) by force,
to the public school," the worried father wrote.
"We have been teaching our children through the
German Home School Association for 10 years with
the approval of the German School authorities. Even
though we spend most of the time outside of Germany
(in Eastern Europe), the government insists that our
children visit the German school," he continued.
"If we do not comply the government will ultimately
revoke our rights as parents and take custody of our
children. Since the Supreme Court ruled against
homeschooling last fall, most of the homeschooling
families have left, some even fled, the country. The
government is cracking down ruthlessly on families
and there is no legal protection," he said. - - - -
6) UK: Woman loses right to wear cross
Court decides in favor of British Airways in discrimination suit
WORLDNETDAILY - January 9, 2008
A Christian British Airways employee who sued the
company after it required her to cover up a cross
necklace while on the job has lost her discrimination
suit, but she vows to return to work tomorrow wearing
the cross.
As WND reported, Heathrow check-in worker Nadia
Eweida, who is a Coptic Christian and whose father is
Egyptian and mother English, was sent home after
refusing to remove the cross, which British Airways
claimed violated its dress code.
Eweida, who was placed on unpaid leave, sued her
employer, charging religious discrimination, since the
company allowed employees of other religions, such
as Islam and Hinduism, to wear faith-related items,
including clothing, jewelry and religious markings.
The suit continued despite the airline loosening its
cross prohibition last year.
An attorney affiliated with the Alliance Defense Fund
represented Eweida in court.
"Christian employees should not be singled out for
discrimination. This decision will be appealed," said
ADF Chief Counsel Benjamin Bull, in a
statement. "According to British Airways, it's OK for
employees to wear a symbol of their faith unless it's a
Christian cross. The airline took no action against
employees of other religions who wore jewelry or
symbols of their religion. That type of intolerance is
inconsistent with the values of civilized communities
around the world."
The 56-year-old Eweida is quoted by BBC as
saying: "I'm very disappointed. I'm speechless really
because I went to the tribunal to seek justice. But the
judge has given way for BA to have a victory on
imposing their will on all their staff."
Eweida lost her initial suit against the company but
won an injunction on appeal in the Reading
Employment Tribunal. However, in yesterday's ruling
in the case, Eweida v. British Airways, the court ruled
the airline can continue to prohibit Eweida from visibly
wearing her cross. The court concluded that other
types of religious symbols, such as turbans, bangles
and other religious markings, are unable to be
concealed and are therefore acceptable. - - - -
7) India: Attacks on Indian Christians exploding
Reports surpass 1,000 for 2007, worst toll ever for nation
WORLDNETDAILY - January 11, 2008
A new report confirms what Christians in India already
feared: 2007 was the worst year since their nation's
independence in 1947 for attacks on Christians.
The report from Compass Direct cited statistics
compiled by the All India Christian Council in
confirming that the number of attacks on Christians in
2007 surpassed 1,000 for the first time in India's
history.
At least 200 anti-Christian attacks, including four
murders, had been documented before the recent
violence erupted in Orissa State's Kandhamal district,
the report said. There, at least another four Christians
were killed and about 800 attacks were reported. At
least 730 homes and 95 churches were burned, the
report said.
"It is a matter of serious concern to the country that
violence has been widespread in different parts of the
country in general and against the Christians in
particular," said Babu Joseph, a spokesman for the
Catholic Bishops Conference of India.
"In all the villages we have visited, people testify that
the attacks, destruction and looting was done in the
presence of the police," the report continued, with
Hindu extremists from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad
suspected in many of the gun, knife and bomb
assaults.
There exists a "conspiracy to hide the bodies of
Christians killed by VHP cadre to destroy evidence ---
Many are missing - both adults and children - in every
village," the report said.
In one area around the Barakhama village, 415 of the
450 homes belonging to tribal Christians were
burned, the AICC wrote. A Christian, Bhogra Naik of
Barakhama, was "cut into three pieces" by attackers
after his house was destroyed, the report said.
Compass Direct reported between 1950 and 1998,
government figures show there were only 50 anti-
Christian attacks. In 2000, that reached 100, and the
tally has been continuing to rise.
"What is most distressing is the regularity at which
these attacks are meticulously planned and almost
clinically executed in order to hurt the Christians,"
Joseph told Compass Direct.
"In all these instances of atrocities against Christians,
it proved beyond doubt that some right-wing Hindu
organizations were behind them; they indulge in
unhindered hate campaigns creating bad blood
between communities of different faiths, and that has
caused immense social rupture in India," he said. - - -
-
Also
9 dead in attacks by Hindu gangs
WORLDNETDAILY - January 3, 2008
Nine people are dead and dozens of churches and
hundreds of Christians' homes have been torched
during a surge of Hindu violence in India, according to
reports from organizations working there.
Compass Direct News reports that the deaths and
damage have been reported since Christmas Eve,
when members of the extremist World Hindu Council
launched their assaults on the faithful belonging to
Christianity.
"Orissa state's Kandhamal district remains tense 10
days after the series of anti-Christian attacks began,
and thousands of Christians whose houses have
been burned down are facing hunger and fear," the
Compass Direct report said.
Pastor Victor John, who was in the region during the
attacks, said federal Indian troops have been
deployed, but there still remain tensions and worries.
The nation's Human Rights Commission this week
reported nine deaths from the attacks, close to 90
churches burned, about 600 homes either torched or
vandalized, and about 5,000 people forced to flee. - - - -
8) Bush Ends Visit to Israel, Walks in Jesus' Footsteps
Ed Note: A perfect example why
Christians are increasingly hated by the world.
President Bush masquerades as a believer but he is
not and that is partially the fault of the fallen away
church I am sad to say. I work with a person who
cannot stand Bush or many so-called Christians and
always has to point out that Bush as well as the
founder of Blackwater Global (The Private Corporate
Military contracted by the United States and many
others in Iraq and involved in various scandals) are
born again Christians. I then have to point out that they
are not, but frauds. This sort of lie is bringing hatred
and persecution upon true believers and you will see
the lie clearly portrayed in this article. It frankly
disgusts me.
BE/\LERT!
BLOOMBERG [Bloomberg L.P.] - By Holly Rosenkrantz
and Janine Zacharia - January 11, 2008
President George W. Bush called it ``amazing'' to walk
in the footsteps of Jesus as he wrapped up a three-
day visit to Israel and the Palestinian areas during
which he outlined a framework for peace talks
between the two sides.
Bush, a devout Christian [Ed. Note: No he is
not! He took a blood oath to Satan when he joined
Skull & Bones that he refuses to break, he believes
that Yahweh and Allah are the same and that
Moslems will go to heaven. He is a devout anti-
christian!] , flew by helicopter from Jerusalem
to visit Christian holy sites in Israel's Galilee region,
stopping first in Capernaum, which according to the
Gospels is where Jesus first began to preach and
performed miracles.
Standing among ruins of an ancient synagogue on the
bank of the Sea of Galilee, Bush smiled as a
Franciscan father in a long, brown robe read him a
Bible passage about casting out the unclean
spirit.
After his tour of Capernaum, Bush was given a crystal
inscribed with his name and the Biblical passage:
``Blessed are those who are peacemakers for they
will be called children of God.'' [Ed Note: You
cannot be a peacemaker when you blatantly disregard
and disobey the word of God]
He then traveled to the Mount of Beatitudes, where
Jesus delivered his Sermon on the Mount. Grasping
the hands of two nuns, Bush said it was an ``amazing
experience'' to walk in Jesus' footsteps.
``This isn't an everyday occurrence,'' he added with a
laugh. - - - -
9) The Golden Compass: Glorifying a lying, rebellious brat
WORLDNETDAILY - By Dr. Ted Baehr - December 4,
2007
Despite the hype, "The Golden Compass" is a
mediocre movie with lots of eye candy and too many
boring speeches. However, given the promotion
budget, many people will see the movie and probably
will forget how dull the first two-thirds are, because the
battle sequences are so engaging.
Without going into the review of the movie (that you will
be able to access at MovieGuide.org the day the film
opens), it is important to understand what's wrong
with children seeing "The Golden Compass."
While most commentators are focusing on the
atheism and paganism in the book, the movie has
been slightly toned down so that the more troubling
elements are the person of the heroine herself and
some of the movie's themes. Children learn their
scripts of behavior from movies and entertainment.
The more intelligent the child is the more likely he or
she will encode the behavior.
The role model for children in this movie is the
heroine, Lyra. Lyra is immediately established as
pugnacious, willful, rebellious, lawbreaking and
deceitful. A witch tells Lyra that she is the fulfillment of
a prophecy about a girl messiah who will overthrow
authority, especially the Magisterium, a thinly cloaked
reference to the Catholic Church.
Although the heroine and her friends are portrayed as
the people the audience supports, a little objective
examination of who they are would make any
discerning viewer question why they're rooting for
them. Lyra is known for her lying so much so that her
bear friend calls her "silver tongue." In the story, this is
a positive adjective. Even pagan and other non-
Christian societies have disliked liars, however, so it's
very strange that Lyra, the story's heroine, should be
commended in this way. In fact, Lyra's lying is often a
useful pragmatic device to solve the story's plot
problems.
Mrs. Coulter, who turns out to be Lyra's mother,
reaches out to the girl a couple times, including
saving her from having her daemon separated from
her and killed. In return, Lyra tricks her mother into
opening a tin can containing a deadly poisonous
mechanical insect. Her mother doesn't die, but Lyra
doesn't seem to care and, in fact, wants to get rid of
her mother. While Lyra is opposed to all authority,
including her mother, she easily befriends strangers
and accepts their authority and their directives.
Thus, the more one thinks about the world of "The
Golden Compass," the more one realizes how upside
down and inside out it is. Do parents really want their
children hate them, rebel against them and want to kill
them? Mrs. Coulter may be the villain, but all she really
tries to do in this movie is to save her daughter's life.
Although the story's character motivations are not well
developed, Mrs. Coulter and the rest of the
Magisterium contend they are trying to protect the
children, establish order and give peace to society.
The way they express these statements, however, it
becomes clear the audience should not trust them.
Though most of the dialogue is too didactic, it never
answers these motivations. Lyra's motivation to save
Roger is clear, but why she hates her mother is not so
clear, except that her mother appears to be a very
unpleasant character. In fact, several times, the goal
of getting rid of the Magisterium and keeping it from
imposing its will is commended as part of the ultimate
goal of overcoming all authority.
The logical consequences of these claims, however,
are contradicted by the plot and by reality itself. Most
children go through periods of rebelling against their
parents. Quite often, they want to choose strangers
instead of their parents. The real-world consequences
of such rebellion can be devastating. For instance,
one of my boys liked to play soccer across a busy
street. When I stopped him from doing so, he directed
his anger at me. The next day, a truck hit our family's
dog. My boy's perspective, like Lyra's, was self-
centered, thinking only of his momentary pleasure. My
perspective was to keep him from getting run over like
our dog.
What's bad about the movie, therefore, is not overt
atheism. That comes in the later books in the three-
part series. What's bad is that it creates a heroine who
is selfish, willful and stubborn to such a degree that
she does not express love, kindness, joy, peace or
any of those other wonderful virtues that make us put
others before ourselves. The Good News of the
Gospel is a message of love and forgiveness, not a
message of control. It is a personal relationship with a
living God, Jesus Christ, who loves us so much that
He has laid down his life for us and has given us new
life where we can experience real joy, real happiness
and real fulfillment. Every one of the virtues Lyra
disdains is a virtue based in love. Her lying hurts
others, but telling the truth in love helps others. If, for
instance, we could not trust anyone, society would fall
apart. Trust, honesty, integrity and the other virtues
flow from our love of one another.
Finally, the world portrayed in "The Golden Compass,"
the book and the movie, is a mean and vicious world.
It is too violent and too cruel for children and will plant
hateful scripts of behavior in the minds of susceptible
youths.
Beyond that, in the interest of self-satisfaction, it
motivates children to seek to be joined with occult,
demonic powers and principalities to get their own
way. The official website has an area where children
can meet their own daemon. It says:
"To discover your very own Daemon, look into your
heart, and answer the following 20 questions openly
and honestly. Your true character and the form of your
Daemon will be revealed."
Hollywood may or may not understand the
supernatural, but a read of anthropology books such
as "The Spirit of the Rain Forest" will reveal how
horrible the pagan world of daemons, revenge and
magic truly is. "The Spirit of the Rain Forest" about the
fierce people of the Amazon is a great place to start
because people today have a politically correct
aversion to the wisdom of God's Word.
True to form, the daemons in this movie are always
fighting, strangling, hitting and causing havoc.
Ultimately, the movie's pagan worldview and occult
content are confusing, nonsensical and abhorrent, as
well as harmful to children and teenagers.
How "The Golden Compass" could have become a
popular novel is amazing. Why people are interested
in this story that is so destructive of their own
happiness is a profound mystery about the human
condition.
There are great movies in the theater right now,
like "Bella," "August Rush" and Disney's delightful
comedy "Enchanted," and there are great movies for
rent and sale. Our suggestion is avoid "The Golden
Compass" if you don't want to turn your children into
spoiled brats who want to kill their parents like Lyra.
Also
The Golden Compass: Satanically Inspired
Movie
Read
Special Collection of Reports Posted on the Be Alert!
Weblog
10) Additional Articles, Links and Posts on the Blog
US: Homeschooler's trial date abandoned
WORLDNETDAILY - January 12, 2008
A trial date for a homeschooling mom from Utah who
fled the state when a judge threatened to take away
custody of her children has been vacated, officials
have confirmed. - - - -
Read Full Report
Terror plot to blow up Eiffel Tower uncovered
THE EVENING STANDARD of LONDON [Associated
Newspapers/DMGT] - January 12, 2008
A plot by Islamic terrorists to blow up the Eiffel Tower
has been uncovered.
A scrambled short-wave radio conversation exposing
the planned attack on the world's most visited
monument was picked up by Portuguese air traffic
controllers and passed on to French spy chiefs.
The 1,060ft high tower has more than six million
visitors a year - an average of more than 16,000 a
day. - - -
The threat was uncovered in a "vague and muffled"
radio conversation picked up by air traffic controllers in
Lisbon on Thursday. - - - -
Read Full Report
LAPD Plan To Map Muslim Communities Angers
Some Groups
KNBC-TV4 NBC LOS ANGELES, CA [NBC Universal] -
November 9, 2007
LOS ANGELES -- A plan by the LAPD counterterrorism
bureau to create a map detailing the Muslim
communities in that city was reported Friday to be
angering civil rights groups. - - -
The estimated 500,000 Muslims living in the Greater
L.A. area, including Orange and Riverside counties,
represent the second-biggest U.S. concentration
outside New York City. - - - -
Read Full Report
Online Islamist Forum Hosted in Texas Posts
Guide for Kidnapping Americans
MEMRI (The Middle East Media Research Institute) -
Special Dispatch Series - No. 1680 - August 15,
2007
The popular Islamist-jihadist forum
www.alhesbah.org, hosted by RealWebHost in Texas,
U.S., recently posted an anonymously written
document from 2003 titled "The Excellent Summary of
the Rules of the Art of Kidnapping Americans." The 60-
page guide describes each stage of the kidnapping,
explaining how to select the target and then how to
follow him, seize him, transport him to a safe location,
and hold him there, as well as how to conduct
negotiations. The guide also explains how to execute
the hostage should negotiations fail.
The following are the details:
The guide begins by enumerating goals that a
kidnapping can achieve, including the release of
prisoners, extraction of information from the hostage,
weakening the enemy's morale and creating
deterrence, raising international awareness of
conflicts in which the kidnappers' organization is
involved, blackmailing the enemy for money, and
generating anti-government sentiment in the
hostage's country of origin. - - - -
Read Full Report
See These Reports Posted on the Be Alert!
Weblog
Flight 93 memorial: 'Giant mosque' [Really a
Monument to the Terrorists!]
Be Alert!
Weblog
See these important articles at other sites:
US: Parents race to escape before court takes
kids
WorldNetDaily
Chinese police release bookstore owner
WorldNetDaily
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BE ALERT!
Is part of Moriel Ministries, the teaching ministry of J.
Jacob Prasch & Friends.
Various alerts and press releases are sent out
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