| December 31, 2008
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"How long, O Lord, holy and true...?" |
Revelation 6:9-11
When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.
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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.
Ephesians 6:12
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
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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.
Matthew 10:22
"You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.
2 Timothy 3:12
Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
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| Shalom in Christ Jesus, |
As we reach the end of 2008
and for many of you it is already 2009 it seemed fitting to for the last alert
of the year to again remember our many brothers and sisters in Christ who are
facing unimaginable persecution at the hands of both vicious unbelievers and
so-called believers world-wide.
Although these alerts tend
be long I hope it does not detract from reading or at least browsing through.
It is always a challenge of what to include and not to include and many have
said they rather stay away from the internet and prefer just the email so I try
to include as much as possible without make the alerts too large to download.
It would be wonderful to have a team large enough to tailor according to each
persons needs but we have not been blessed with that yet.
One final comment concerning
the current crises in Gaza is that noting the articles below that Sharia Law
was instituted by Hamas just days before Israel said "enough", I can only
praise The Lord that they finally did something. The more I learn and
understand about these Satanic Allah/Mohammad worshipers the more I find it
difficult to have any compassion whatsoever for them. If they are so barbaric
to put their own children in the line of fire so they can cheer their deaths to
the world, I say praise the Lord. At least those young babes, who knew no
better, go to be with Christ because of His shed blood at Calvary. It is a much
better hope than they would have had than with the Islamic monsters that
brought them into this world, unless they somehow get saved, which I truly hope
some do. However, that hope seems to grow dimmer each day.
May the Lord bless you and
keep you,
BE/\LERT!
Scott
Brisk
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Moriel Missionary's Dad arrested for preaching
gospel and telling truth about Father Christmas in Manchester, UK
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Received via email December 21, 2008
Ed Note: Letter is in
original except for a few minor technical edits and a personal message removed
from the end.
Dear Friends and family,
Please consider forwarding
this email from my dad who regularly preaches the gospel in Manchester UK with
my brother Miguel. Though you might not share their views on Christmas, the
point is they were preaching Christ and while other people may speak publicly
against religion and Jesus who does exist, my dad was, for a short time,
arresting for saying that Santa does not exist. May it spur us on take the
opportunities to share the Gospel while we still have some daylight to do it.
God bless you,
Salvi
Hello
Today my son and I were both
preaching in Manchester City centre. As
I was preaching, I was approached by two police officers on horseback. I was told that I had committed a
"Breach of the Peace" by stating that Father Christmas did not
exist. Apparently, a complaint had been
made because a small child had got upset because of this.
One of the two officers
claimed to be a Christian and he was angry at me. I stated that I was not breaking any law, and that it was my
right to preach, they disagreed and told me that what I was doing was a
criminal offence. I was subsequently
placed under police arrest and the officer who claimed to be a Christian bent
down from the horse, grabbed me by the coat and pulled me up. He was very angry. Then my son was pushed out of the way and I was dragged along by
the officer on horseback through the street to await a police vehicle in order
to transport me to the police station.
Eventually the vehicle
arrived and I was placed in the back. I
gave the officers my details and was locked in the van. After a few minutes the
officers opened the van and told me that they wouldn't be taking me into
custody after all, I was De-arrested, but that I would be escorted out of the
City centre. However, if I returned to
the city centre again today I would be arrested and charged.
We have preached the Gospel
in this place for over 4 years now, handed out thousands of gospel tracts, we
have had a certain amount of hostility from drunks, irate Moslems and a couple
of homosexual men a couple of years ago because of our message. People can denounce idolatry, denounce
drunkenness, denounce religion, denounce hypocrisy, denounce televangelists,
sexual immorality, violence whatever, and that is fine. People can blaspheme God, advertise products
through sexual images on TV and the street, can read soft pornographic
materials on public transport, be drunk and lewd, spout out anti Semitic
propaganda, denies the Son of God, but it is a wicked offense to deny Father
Christmas!
I am truly convinced that
God hates this so-called "Christmas Feast" and all it stands for! ...
John
--
Y'varechecha
Adonai
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Live Teaching Engagements
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Islamists drive Christians out of Nineveh
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Iraqi city declared 'most dangerous place on Earth' for non-Muslims
WORLDNETDAILY - By Drew Zahn - December 16, 2008
Hundreds of thousands of Assyrian Christians, a minority people who live principally in northern Iraq, have fled the country under murderous threats from Islamic militants that have grown so bad, a U.S. government entity has now labeled Iraq "among the most dangerous places on earth."
In a report released today, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a federally-funded advisory team created and appointed by Congress, recommends that Iraq be designated a "country of particular concern" in light of ongoing, severe abuses against the country's religious minorities - stating that the situation is "particularly dire" for ChaldoAssyrian Christians.
"The lack of effective government action to protect these communities from abuses has established Iraq among the most dangerous places on earth for religious minorities," said USCIRF's chairperson, Felice D. Gaer.
In the first century, Assyrians were among the first Gentiles to follow Christ, and to this day many Assyrian Christians still speak Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus. They are also the people of ancient Nineveh, the city that was visited by the biblical prophet Jonah and that lies today near the modern city of Mosul, Iraq.
Nina Shea, a Washington, a member of the USCIRF, explained that following the onset of the Iraq war, many Assyrian Christians returned to Mosul seeking refuge.
"They want to escape persecution from southern points, like Basrah and Baghdad," Shea told ChristianWeek.
For Iraq's battered Christian community, Shea said, "Mosul in the north was the last refuge within Iraq."
In recent months, however, the city of Mosul has become a hotbed of religious persecution from Islamic militants.
Carl Hetu, national secretary of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association of Canada, reported to ChristianWeek, "What we've heard from people in the field is that each person identified as Christian has received a letter telling them: 'You leave Mosul and Iraq, or you will be killed.'"
The threats are neither new nor empty: Since 2003, the International Herald Tribune reports, over 25 churches across Iraq have been bombed, several priests have been abducted and beheaded, nuns have been stabbed and a 14-year-old boy was even crucified near Mosul. ...
Hetu's Catholic Near East Welfare Association of Canada, or CNEWA-Canada, estimates 400,000 Christians have fled Iraq since the start of the war, though a surge of refugees following the violence in Mosul may have pushed that number even higher.
Ken Joseph Jr., director of the Assyrian Christian Assistance Center in Baghdad, estimates there are now nearly 500,000 Assyrian Christians living as refugees in neighboring Jordan and Syria. - - - -
Read Full Report
Also:
Terrified Christian Families Flee Iraq's Mosul
ASSOCIATED PRESS - October 11, 2008
BAGHDAD - Hundreds of terrified Christian families have fled Mosul to escape extremist attacks that have increased despite months of U.S. and Iraqi military operations to secure the northern Iraqi city, political and religious officials said Saturday.
Some 3,000 Christians have fled the city over the past week alone in a "major displacement," said Duraid Mohammed Kashmoula, the governor of northern Iraq's Ninevah province. He said most have left for churches, monasteries and the homes of relatives in nearby Christian villages and towns.
"The Christians were subjected to abduction attempts and paid ransom, but now they are subjected to a killing campaign," Kashmoula said, adding he believed "Al Qaeda" elements were to blame and called for a renewed drive to root them out. ...
Read Full Report
Iraq's newest refugees
YEDIOTH AHRONOTH [Yedioth Ahronoth Group - Private] - By Roee Nahmias - October 25, 2008
With relatively little media coverage, and no big headlines, an ethnic cleansing-like process - for lack of better terminology - is being conducted in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
According to various reports, over the last month approximately 2,300 Christian families, who comprise more than half of the Christian population in the northern oil city, have left the city en masse and moved to other Iraqi regions and even to neighboring countries, including Syria. ...
Read Full Report
'We are killed because we are Christians'
THE TIMES of LONDON [News Corporation/Murdoch] - By Deborah Haynes in Nineveh Plains, Iraq - October 27, 2008
One grey-haired woman understands more than most the fear that has gripped Iraq's beleaguered Christian community over the past month.
Her brother, Bashar al-Hazim, was among the first to be murdered in a wave of targeted killings that has forced more than 2,000 Christian families to flee the northern city of Mosul. ...
Read Full Report
Christians On the Run in Iraq
DER SPIEGEL [BMG: Bertelsmann Media Group/Gruner & Jahr Magazines] - By Peter Wensierski and Bernhard Zand - October 30, 2008
In Iraq, the persecution of Christians continues, as murders and a mass exodus contradict Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's promise of security for everyone. Churches are trying to help the refugees, and some may come to Germany -- if the government settles on a plan. ...
Since the US invasion of Iraq in March 2003, Christians in Mosul have had to fear for their lives. Churches have been set on fire, and priests, doctors, engineers and businesspeople have been murdered. In March, aides found the body of Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho on the outskirts of the city. A new series of killings that began in late September has already claimed 18 lives.
To stop the Christians who are fleeing Mosul, their persecutors set up fake checkpoints along the roads leading out of the city. They are often robbed, beaten and even killed. In the Sadik neighborhood, masked men recently stopped a man with his child. When they saw a Christian name on his identification card, they shot the man on the spot. When the boy said the man they had just killed was his father, they shot him as well. ...
Read Full Report
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| Hanged for being a Christian in Iran |
Eighteen years ago, Rashin Soodmand's father was hanged in Iran for converting to Christianity. Now her brother is in a Mashad jail, and expects to be executed under new religious laws brought in this summer.
LONDON DAILY TELEGRAPH [Barclay] - By Alasdair Palmer - October 11, 2008
A month ago, the Iranian parliament voted in favour of a draft bill, entitled "Islamic Penal Code", which would codify the death penalty for any male Iranian who leaves his Islamic faith. Women would get life imprisonment. The majority in favour of the new law was overwhelming: 196 votes for, with just seven against.
Imposing the death penalty for changing religion blatantly violates one of the most fundamental of all human rights. The right to freedom of religion is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and in the European Convention of Human Rights. It is even enshrined as Article 23 of Iran's own constitution, which states that no one may be molested simply for his beliefs.
And yet few politicians or clerics in Iran see any contradiction between a law mandating the death penalty for changing religion and Iran's constitution. There has been no public protest in Iran against it.
David Miliband, Britain's Foreign Secretary, stands out as one of the few politicians from any Western country who has put on record his opposition to making apostasy a crime punishable by death. The protest from the EU has been distinctly muted; meanwhile, Germany, Iran's largest foreign trading partner, has just increased its business deals with Iran by more than half. Characteristically, the United Nations has said nothing.
It is a sign of how little interest there is in Iran's intention to launch a campaign of religious persecution that its parliamentary vote has still not been reported in the mainstream media.
For one woman living in London, however, the Iranian parliamentary vote cannot be brushed aside. Rashin Soodmand is a 29-year-old Iranian Christian. Her father, Hossein Soodmand, was the last man to be executed in Iran for apostasy, the "crime" of abandoning one's religion. He had converted from Islam to Christianity in 1960, when he was 13 years old. Thirty years later, he was hanged by the Iranian authorities for that decision.
Today, Rashin's brother, Ramtin, is also held in a prison cell in Mashad, Iran's holiest city. He was arrested on August 21. He has not been charged but he is a Christian. And Rashin fears that, just as her father was the last man to be executed for apostasy in Iran, her brother may become one of the first to be killed under Iran's new law.
Read Full Report |
| Egypt: Children starved to coerce mom to renounce Christ |
Report says police assault woman, promise freedom for conversion
WORLDNETDAILY - December 23, 2008
The oracle concerning Egypt. Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt; The idols of Egypt will tremble at His presence, And the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.
Authorities in Egypt are starving children ages 2 and 4 to try to force their mother to abandon Christianity and return to Islam, according to reports from several ministry organizations.
The Egypt for Christ Ministry is reporting the woman, who converted to Christianity about five years ago and was arrested as she tried to leave her home country just days ago, also has been sexually assaulted by police officers.
The woman, identified by the ministry as Martha Samuel, also has been beaten and tortured in effort to force her to return to Islam, with police promises for her release if she accepts, reports are confirming.
The Assyrian International News Agency said Samuel was arrested last week as she, her husband and two sons were trying to leave Cairo for Russia, after her name was placed on a listed of people who are barred from leaving Egypt.
Then reports came today of the assaults on her. AINA said she was subjected to attacks by Egyptian police at El-Nozha police station as well as at the National Security office in Heliopolis.
"The children are not being provided with food deliberately to pressure their mother to return to Islam," the AINA reported.
Her husband, Fadl Thabet, also was in custody.
The report said Samuel formerly was known as Zainab Said Abdel-Aziz and her family was fleeing continuous persecution by her own family and Egyptian police officers.
She faces charges of forging official documents and changing her details after converting from Islam to Christianity and changing her name, officials said. ...
Read Full Report |
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Sharia: Palestinian Authority Adopts Islamic Criminal Code
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ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - By Nissan Ratzlav-Katz - December 25, 2008
In line with its Islamist ideology, the Palestinian Authority in Gaza has enacted a new law adopting the traditional Muslim criminal code. Penalties include amputation and crucifixion, as well as the death penalty for negotiations contrary to Hamas's interpretation of "Palestinian interests".
According to a report on the new law appearing Wednesday on the Al-Arabiya website, as translated by Palestinian Media Watch, the Palestinian Legislative Council approved a bill "to implement Koranic punishments." The Arabic website, the online arm of the popular Al-Arabiya satellite news outlet, refers to the London-based Saudi-owned newspaper Al-Hayat, which said the decision to implement shari'a (Islamic law) was "seen as unprecedented," and that it has "brought criticism and concern from human rights organizations in the Gaza Strip."
The criminal code adopted by the PA includes such punishments as lashes, amputation of thieves' hands, crucifixion, approval of blood revenge, and execution. According to the Arabic press, the law stipulates that only the victim of a crime can pardon opt to forgo the "Koranic penalties". ...
Touching on the political aspect of the Hamas ideology, the new law reportedly includes the death penalty for anyone who "raised a weapon against Palestine on behalf of the enemy during war, was appointed to negotiate with a foreign government on a Palestinian issue and negotiated against Palestinians' interest, performed a hostile action against a foreign country in a way that endangers Palestine in war or in harming political relations, served a foreign army in time of war, advised or helped soldiers to enlist in this army, weakened the spirit or the force of resistance of the people, or spied against Palestine especially during war."
PA legislators in Gaza denied the reports that they adopted Islamic criminal penalties, saying that there has been no official statement to that effect. Al-Hayat, however, said the proposal for the law was submitted by the PA government led by Hamas's Ismail Haniyeh.
If in fact passed, as reported in the Arabic press, the new law only puts into practice what was stated succinctly by a PA legislator - Hamed Bitawi of the Hamas organization - just after Hamas won the January 2006 PA elections in a sweeping victory: "The Koran is our constitution, Mohammad is our prophet, jihad is our path and dying as martyrs for the sake of Allah is our biggest wish." His statement was answered with a standing ovation and calls of "Allahu Akbar".
It also bears noting that the Palestinian Authority Constitution as it was adopted under the PLO's Yasser Arafat and led by Fatah also declares, "The principles of Islamic shari'a are a major source for legislation."
Read Full Report
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| Palestinian Media Watch: Hamas's Denial on Islamic Law is a Lie |
ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - By Maayana Miskin - December 26, 2008
Hamas leaders in Gaza have denied a report in the London-based Al-Hayyat according to which the group plans to institute an Islamic penal code including punishments such as crucifixion, lashes and amputations. However, according to the Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) organization, the group is lying.
"Contrary to today's denials, official Hamas leaders have proudly announced in the Hamas-run media in the last two months that this Islamic penal code was being prepared," PMW explained. "Indeed, senior Hamas leaders went so far as to say that when these laws are implemented, they will have force not only in Gaza but also in the West Bank [Judea and Samaria-ed.]."
Heads of the Hamas-run Palestinian Authority in Gaza have specified that the new penal code will have "14 chapters and 220 clauses," according to PMW. Despite their denials this week, Hamas leaders recently announced that the new code is almost ready.
PMW gave specific examples of recent statements contradicting Hamas' denial of this week's report on its planned Islamic law system. While a statement published in Al Ayyam on Thursday said, "The [Legislative] Council did not discuss any article of the penal code," Hamas' Minister of Justice said, "This [Islamic penal] code is being discussed at the sessions of the Legislative Council, for a second reading," less than six weeks earlier.
In a separate statement, senior Hamas justice officials said, "Similar [Islamic penal codes] have already been implemented in a number of Arabic and Islamic states such as Sudan, Yemen, the [Arab] Emirates and Indonesia."
Preparation of the Islamic penal code was confirmed by the Bureau of Islamic Law in Gaza as well. In mid-November, the group released a statement saying, "The Bureau of Islamic Law is preparing a Penal Code in order to implement Sharia-Islamic Law." The statement was printed in the Hamas paper Al-Rissala.
Original Report |
| Iran and Hamas do Christmas |
JEWISH WORLD REVIEW - By Caroline B. Glick - December 26, 2008
Both Iran and its Hamas proxy in Gaza have been busy this Christmas week showing Christendom just what they think of it. But no one seemed to have noticed.
On Tuesday Hamas legislators marked the Christmas season by passing a Sharia criminal code for the Palestinian Authority. Among other things, the code legalizes crucifixion.
Hamas's endorsement of nailing enemies of Islam to crosses came at the same time as it renewed its jihad. Here too, Hamas wanted to make sure that Christians didn't neglected as its fighters launched missiles at Jewish day care centers and schools. So on Wednesday Hamas lobbed a mortar at Erez crossing point into Israel just as a group of Gazan Christians were standing on line waiting to travel to Bethlehem for Christmas.
While Hamas joyously renewed its jihad against Jews and Christians, its overlords in Iran also basked in jihadist triumphalism. The source of Iran's sense of ascendancy this week was Britain's state-owned Channel 4 network's decision to request that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad give a special Christmas Day address to the British people. Ahmadinejad's speech was supposed to be a response to Queen Elizabeth II's traditional Christmas Day address to her subjects. That is, Channel 4 presented his message as a reasonable counterpoint to the Christmas greetings of the head of the Church of England.
Channel 4 justified its move by proclaiming that it was providing a public service. As a Channel 4 spokesman told the Jerusalem Post, "We're offering [Ahmadinejad] the chance to speak for himself, which people in the West don't often get the chance to see."
While that sounds reasonable, the fact is that Westerners see Ahmadinejad speaking for himself all the time. They saw him at the UN two years in a row as he called for the countries of the world to submit to Islam; claimed that Iran's nuclear weapons program is divinely inspired; and castigated Jews as subhuman menaces to humanity.
They saw him gather leading anti-Semites from all over the world at his Holocaust denial conference.
They heard him speak in his own words when he called for Israel to be "wiped off the map."
Full Report Posted on the Be Alert! Blog
Original Full Report
Also:
Crucifixion OK with Mideast politicos
Islamic radicals also endorse cutting off hands, whippings
WORLDNETDAILY - December 30, 2008
The political arm of a radical Islamic group has approved a new law that allows traitors to their government to be crucified, thieves' hands to be chopped off and someone guilty of drinking alcohol to be whipped. ...
Read Full Report |
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Saudis to Christians: Get out!
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Those accused of worshipping in homes ordered deported
WORLDNETDAILY - August 4, 2008
More than a dozen Christians in Saudi Arabia who were accused by government officials of worshipping in their homes have been ordered deported.
According to a report from International Christian Concern, the Christians will be expelled tomorrow for their part in a home worship service in Taif in April.
The deportation conflicts with the message stated just weeks earlier by Saudi King Abdullah, who called for interfaith dialogue and held a summit in Spain with a representatives from several major religions.
"Deporting Christians for worshipping in their private homes shows that King Abdullah's speech is mere rhetoric and his country is deceiving the international community about their desire for change and reconciliation," said Jeff King, the president of ICC.
The report from the Washington-based human rights group said 15 Christians will be deported. Sixteen had been arrested April 25 when a dozen Saudi Arabian police officers raided a home during a prayer meeting. ...
The worshippers initially faced accusations of preaching and singing. "They later changed the charge to holding a 'dance party' and collecting money to support terrorism," the ICC said.
"During the raid, the police mocked, questioned and harassed the Christians for four hours," ICC said.. "Then they took them to a police station where the head of the station interrogated them. The head of the police then wrote down their 'statements' in Arabic and forced the Christians, who are immigrants and not able to read or write Arabic, to sign the statements."
They were released three days later, and one Christian immediately left the country. The others returned to their work but soon got letters ordered their departures tomorrow, ICC said. ...
Read Full Report
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| Christian missionaries stir unease in north Africa |
REUTERS [Thomson-Reuters] - By Tom Pfeiffer - December 15, 2008
RABAT - A new breed of undercover Christian missionary is turning to Muslim north Africa in the search for new converts, alarming Islamic leaders who say they prey on the weak and threaten public order.
Missionary groups say the number of Moroccan Christians has grown to 1,500 from 100 in a decade and that Algerian Christians number several thousand, although no official figures exist.
They say their message is reaching thousands more, thanks partly to satellite TV and the internet.
The Koran states no-one can be forced to follow one religion, but many Muslims believe that to abandon Islam is to shun family, tribe and nation and bring shame upon relatives.
"Many Muslims told me 'If I find you I will kill you'," said Amin, a young man from northern Morocco who did not want to give his full name for fear of reprisals.
Amin said he became aware of Jesus Christ after dreaming that a figure dressed in a white robe approached him in a forest and handed him a Bible.
"When I told my father I had become a Christian he just stared at me without speaking. Then he said: 'From now on, you are not my son. Go to those people, let them feed you and give you a home -- we'll see who cares for you'," said Amin.
He left town, stopped his studies and now lives from translation work offered by a Christian missionary group.
Mission groups in North Africa range from broad alliances such as Partners International and Cooperative Baptist Fellowship to small Baptist and Pentecostal churches based in the Americas and Europe, according to their Web sites.
Their activity is growing as churches turn their focus to places where the Christian message is rarely heard, said Dana Robert, world Christianity professor at Boston University.
"With the internet and the increase in travel, you have a democratization of missions where anyone who feels like it can go anywhere they want," said Robert. "The new breed of missionary doesn't have the same historical training as the older established denominations, nor necessarily the cultural training, so there's a bull-in-a-china-shop effect."
PERSECUTION, EXPLOITATION
Converts recount stories of persecution as evidence of the risks they run. These are impossible to verify, but one said he heard a newly converted Moroccan was thrown from a balcony in a shopping mall by two acquaintances, leaving him paralyzed.
Another said people of a town in eastern Morocco threatened to decapitate a convert unless he renounced his faith.
Islamic leaders say missionaries exploit people with a weak understanding of their religion, target the poor and the sick and try to win over north Africa's Berbers by telling them Islam was imposed on them by Arabs. ...
The missionaries deny exploiting the weak. They say their clandestine status means they have to set up businesses or language schools at which converts are sometimes employed.
"Three years ago I began praying about parts of the world that had not taken up the Gospel," said Tyler, a member of an Ohio Baptist church who set up Project North Africa in Morocco. He said that his work could be disrupted if he gave his surname.
"The goal is to give a clear presentation of the Gospel and address things people might have been told -- for example that the Bible is corrupt or that we worship three gods." ...
FAILURE
Christian communities existed in north Africa until Arabs arrived from the east from the eighth century, and most of the local population adopted Islam. ...
Morocco's government says it practices religious tolerance but the Christian presence is low-key. St. Peter's Cathedral in Rabat does not ring its bells and churchgoers are all foreign.
Moroccan Christians worshipping there would risk arrest and Archbishop Vincent Landel told Reuters he would not baptize a Moroccan convert as it is against the law.
He said U.S.-funded missionaries had made life harder for the Roman Catholic church in north Africa.
"It upsets everything because all these evangelical converts lack restraint and discretion -- they do any old thing," he said. "And to Muslims there's no difference between a Catholic, an evangelist or a Protestant, so in their minds the head of all the Christians must be the Catholic Archbishop."
"ONE WAY TO HEAVEN"
Outside the cities, the visible Christian presence is limited to small communities from Roman Catholic orders who lead charitable work including medical and wealth-creating projects, but avoid preaching.
They rely on smooth relations with the authorities, but in Algeria the climate has soured in recent months after a series of trials against local Protestants accused of proselytism.
The constitution of Algeria, the birthplace of St. Augustine, a Berber, allows freedom of conscience but a 2006 law strictly regulates how religions can be practiced and forbids attempts to convert Muslims. ...
Missionaries like Tyler take a more radical line.
"If there is just one way to heaven, it is my responsibility to show it," he said. "If you had the cure to the AIDS virus, would you not want to take it to the people?"
(Additional reporting by Algiers and Tunis bureau; Editing by Tom Heneghan and Sara Ledwith)
Original Report
* Emphasis Added
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| British missionary couple in Muslim African country face months in jail 'hell hole' after being charged with sedition |
LONDON DAILY MAIL [Associated Newspapers/DMGT] - By Steven Henry - December 5, 2008
A British missionary couple face up to two years in an African hell hole jail after being charged with sedition in The Gambia.
David and Fiona Fulton were arrested last Saturday in the West African Muslim country, and have been separated and held in custody, according to sources.
The couple have been jailed over claims they had been speaking out against the government of president Yahya Jammeh, who has ruled Africa's smallest country with an iron fist for 14 years.
Mr Fulton, 60, who is originally from Troon, Ayrshire, was being held in the country's notorious Mile II prison - a high security jail outside the capital Banjul, described as a tough former colonial jail built during the days of the British Empire.
His wife Fiona, 46, was is understood to be in police custody with the couple's adopted two-year-old daughter Elizabeth.
She has been treated well by police officers who have run errands to buy nappies - but there were growing fears for her husband's safety.
A friend, who did not want to be named said: 'Fiona has been treated well. We are not sure about David. We don't think he's fared quite as well. He's not eating.'
The couple are being held until they are able to raise bail of £125,000 and meet other conditions.
They were offered bail - on condition four Gambian property owners would vouch for them - which they have not yet managed to find.
Friend Pastor Martin Speed, of Westhoughton Pentecostal Church in Bolton, Greater Manchester, said he heard that the couple, who were supported by his church, were arrested last weekend.
Mr Fulton is chaplain to the Gambian army and carries the rank of major, while his wife looks after terminally ill people and visits women in their homes and in hospital.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: 'Two British nationals have been arrested in The Gambia and Foreign Office consular staff have been in touch with the couple and are providing consular assistance.' ...
The Westhoughton Pentecostal Church website states: 'This is a major challenge, as it involves a 10-day trip up river every month.
'But by God's grace he sees many won for the Lord from Islam and animism.'
The Gambia, one of Africa's smallest countries, is predominantly Muslim but has a significant Christian community, and indigenous beliefs are also practised.
A report in the International Herald Tribune said the Fultons were paraded on state television on Wednesday and charged in court in the capital, Banjul, yesterday. ...
President Jammeh, who believes he has herbal treatments that can cure AIDS, has tolerated little dissent since he seized power in a 1994 military coup. ...
A concerned friend of the couple added: 'While we are free to speak out, in Gambia you cannot.
'As a chaplain part of David's job is to provide comfort to all sorts of people, people high up and people low down - and people who have perhaps fallen out of favour.
'I don't know of anything they have done that could be called sedition. Their whole focus has been teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.'
Pastor Martin Speed, of Westhoughton Pentecostal Church in Bolton, Greater Manchester, said the couple had visited Christians at his church to talk about their work.
'The work he is doing is not political,' Pastor Speed said.
'He's sharing his Christian faith with people. There does seem to be a growing difficulty of Christians in the country of Gambia. We are really concerned about the situation.'
Read Full Report |
| Report: Hindu Groups in India Offering Rewards to Kill Christians |
 THE TIMES of LONDON [News Corporation/Murdoch] - November 20, 2008
Extremist Hindu groups offered money, food and alcohol to mobs to kill Christians and destroy their homes, according to Christian aid workers in the eastern India state of Orissa.
The U.S.-based head of Good News India, a Christian organization that runs several orphanages in Orissa - one of India's poorest regions - claims that Christian leaders are being targeted by Hindu militants and carry a price on their heads. "The going price to kill a pastor is $250," said Faiz Rahman, the chairman of Good News India.
A spokesman for the All-India Christian Council said: "People are being offered rewards to kill, and to destroy churches and Christian properties. They are being offered foreign liquor, chicken, mutton and weapons. They are given petrol and kerosene."
Ram Madhav, a spokesman for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the largest hardline Hindu group, denied the claims. "The accusation is absolutely false," he said.
Orissa has suffered a series of murders and arson attacks in recent months, with at least 67 Christians killed, according to the Roman Catholic Church. Several thousand homes have been razed and hundreds of places of worship destroyed, and crops are now wasting in the fields. - - - -
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| Buddhist clerics in Bangladesh take Christians captive |
COMPASS DIRECT - December 20, 2008
DHAKA, Bangladesh - Buddhist clerics and local council officials are holding 13 newly converted Christians captive in a pagoda in a southeastern mountainous district of Bangladesh in an attempt to forcibly return them to Buddhism.
A spokesman for the Parbatta Adivasi (Hill Tract) Christian Church told Compass on condition of anonymity that "the plight of the Christians is horrifying."
Local government council officials in Jorachuri sub-district in Rangamati district, some 300 kilometers (186 miles) southeast of Dhaka, are helping the Buddhist monks to hold the Christians against their will, he said.
"The 13 tribal Christians were taken forcefully to a pagoda on Dec. 10 to accept Buddhism against their will," he said. "They will be kept in a pagoda for 10 days to perform the rituals to be Buddhists - their heads were shaved, and they were given yellow saffron robes to dress in."
All the captive Christians are men between 28 and 52 years old, he said. They became Christians around four months ago at various times in the country, which has a Buddhist population of 0.7 percent. Muslims make up nearly 90 percent of the Bangladeshi population, with Hindus accounting for about 9 percent, according to government figures.
According to the source, two Buddhist clerics, Pronoyon Chakma and Jianoprio Vikku, and two local council members, Vira Chakma and Rubichandra Chakma, were behind the anti-Christian activities along with nine other Buddhist leaders. ...
The Christian leader said Buddhist leaders and local council officials have warned Christians to return to Buddhism or be evicted, saying, "You cannot live here - you have to leave this place with your family members because you became Christians. Those who became Christians cannot live in this predominantly Buddhist area."
Fearing for their lives, the source said, some area Christians have gone into hiding.
Mogdhan Union Council Chairman Arun Kanti Chakma, the source said, warned that Christian converts would be ostracized, beaten, and - assuming they returned to Buddhism only to return to Christianity - killed.
"The chairman threatened to beat the Christians unless they change their faith to Buddhism," he said. "The chairman also threatened, 'If you become Christian again, we will not keep you alive.'"
In another mountainous neighborhood in the Khaokhali area near Jorachuri, about 50 recently converted Christians have been cut off from all communications. They are barred from going to Rangamati town and are living in isolation.
"Those captors and other influential Buddhists leaders are threatening other converted Christians that they will face the same consequences as the 13 captives are facing," the source said. "They are warning us, 'All of you should be reconverted to Buddhism in the same way.'"
About 400 people in the district have become Christians over the past year. Like Buddhists, Christians make up less than 1 percent of the Bangladeshi population of 153.5 million.
Christians in the district have not informed police, fearing that any police action would infuriate terrorist groups among the tribal people of the area. The source said terrorist groups have been known to put the lives of Christians in jeopardy at the slightest provocation.
"We did not inform police because underground terrorist groups of those tribal people would get riled up by any kind of police action, and our life would come to a sticky end," he said. "If we tell police, it will create more problems." ...
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| Russia plans 'liquidation' of ministries |
 Pressure on evangelical groups coming from a combination of resurging Russian hatred for the West, pressure from Orthodox churches and an increasing level of persecution from Muslim majorities in many locations
WORLDNETDAILY - December 11, 2008
Dozens of Christian organizations that have been providing social services, ministry and other help inside Russia are being targeted for "liquidation" by the nation's Ministry of Justice, according to a new report.
The information comes in a newsletter from a leader with an American Christian organization, Youth With A Mission, who reported he found a declaration recently on the webpage of the Russian Ministry of Justice listing the pending "liquidation" of 56 religious organizations.
The American ministry leader was out of the country and unavailable today, but his wife, contacted by WND, explained the pressure on evangelical groups is coming from a combination of resurging Russian hatred for the West, and pressure from Orthodox churches to ban outside organizations.
However, the ministry leader's wife asked that her husband's name not be used, because he continues to work in Russia, and could be targeted for retaliation.
She told WND all of central Asia is seeing an increasing level of persecution of Christians, since there are Muslim majorities in many locations.
"[Russian authorities] definitely want [Christians] out. They are targeting them," she said. "They are allowing only three-month visas, and then you have to leave. Obviously you can't do long-term ministry there."
The American ministry leader's original newsletter said other groups also were targeted in Russia, including Buddhist, Jewish and Islamic organizations.
"Yet at least 35 of the 56 listed qualify as Protestant organizations," the newsletter said. "These include the humanitarian 'World Vision' and 'Youth with a Mission." At least six Baptist organizations are listed. These include one established by the Russian branch of the 'Billy Graham Evangelistic Association' and three regional districts of the 'Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists,'" he said.
"Apparently; several entire churches are up for liquidation, including the 'Union of Churches of Presbyterian Christians' and the 'Assemblies of God.' Even the 26-congregation-strong 'Union of Churches of Evangelical Christians' is scheduled for elimination," the newsletter said.
The leader continued, "The situation in Russia has continued to worsen this past year as the new visa law went into effect. This limits missionaries to three-month stays after which they need to leave for three months then reapply for a new expensive three-month visa. This has made it especially difficult on families and many have been forced to leave. This has affected every mission.
"We have been spared this in some of the rural areas where some of our workers have received residency permits, but in the cities this has been impossible and has reduced our numbers to the nationals themselves," he said.
"Our Russian YWAMers have continued the work in a number of places but further restrictions could be coming," he continued.
"Things seem to be heating up for the surrounding countries as well. Georgia remains in somewhat of a delicate state as well as Ukraine. Meanwhile the Central Asian countries where we have seen so many breakthroughs in the last decade are also beginning to follow Moscow's example."
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| China: 'Tis the season to arrest Christians |
China cracks down on house church believers
WORLDNETDAILY - December 27, 2008
'Tis the season in China to crack down on Christians in house churches, according to a new report from China Aid Association, which says nine Christians were arrested during the Christmas season while re-enacting a nativity play.
The organization, which directs its work to helping Christians in the fast-growing faith community inside the communist nation, said in a Christmas Day report that attacks in just the past few days have included those arrests, the threats of house church building demolition and bans on house church meetings.
The arrests and threats come just a week after authorities demolished a building used by a Christian church group, leaving nearly a dozen church participants who tried to defend their facility beaten.
The government's Christmas attacks were confirmed in two different provinces and another region, the organization said. ...
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The Bible under onslaught of attacks
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WORLDNETDAILY - December 28, 2008
In case you haven't noticed, we're living in a very strange time.
It's a time when evil is celebrated as good, and good is condemned as evil, as predicted by the prophet Isaiah.
Even the Holy Bible is under attack as never before. Just recently, Newsweek magazine featured a cover story suggesting the Bible has no problem with same-sex marriage, sparking Bible defenders to fire back. ...
"Had Newsweek been completely honest, it would have stated the Bible is consistently against homosexuality. The Good Book not only states same-sex relations are an abomination in the Book of Leviticus - verses which Newsweek calls 'throwaway lines' - it addresses the subject in numerous places in both the Old and New Testament."
Just perusing the Book of 1 Kings, for instance, there are several mentions of "sodomites," long after the city of Sodom was completely destroyed by God:
- And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel. (14:24)
- And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father. And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. (15:11-12)
- And the remnant of the sodomites, which remained in the days of his father Asa, [King Jehoshaphat] took out of the land. (22:46)
The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines sodomites as those who practice sodomy, explaining the word directly derives "from the homosexual proclivities of the men of the city in Genesis 19:1-11."
The New Testament brings up Sodom quite often, with examples such as:
"Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." (Jude 1:7, KJV)
And the Apostle Paul noted:
"Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relationships with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men and, as a result, suffered within themselves the penalty they so richly deserved." (Romans 1:26-27, NLT) ...
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Court considers ACLU demand for Bible ban
WORLDNETDAILY - December 12, 2008
A federal appeals court is considering a Missouri dispute in which the American Civil Liberties Union challenged a school district policy that treated the Bible the same as other books and demanded the authority to veto what would be handed out to students.
The controversy arose over a request by the Gideons to distribute Bibles in the South Iron School District, which has a neutral policy that allows distribution of outside literature by various groups under set rules, irrespective of whether the literature is secular or religious.
"Under this policy, an outside group may offer Bibles to students who wish to take them in the same manner as other nonreligious groups are permitted to distribute secular literature," according to Liberty Counsel, whose chief, Mathew Staver, argued the case today before a panel of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis.
The Bible distribution was targeted by an ACLU lawsuit in 2006, and the school responded with a written policy that treats all literature the same. ...
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SWAT America! Armed officers raid home, hold mom, kids for 6 hours
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Health department cops allege licensing issues over food co-op
WORLDNETDAILY - December 17, 2008
An Ohio family whose members have served their friends and neighbors with food cooperative services involving bulk and discount supplies has been targeted in a raid by armed law enforcement officers wearing black fatigues who forcibly rounded up the mom and 10 children and held them for six hours.
The raid prompted a complaint filed today on behalf of the family by the Center for Constitutional Law at the Buckeye Institute. It alleges authorities "made a haphazard unannounced entry into the property with guns drawn, as other officers surrounded the property, with guns drawn," then "confiscated the family's personal food supply, personal computers, and personal cell phones."
The complaint names the Ohio Department of Agriculture, the Lorain County General Health District and the state's attorney general. A spokeswoman at the Department of Agriculture said its officers were at the scene in an advisory role. A spokeswoman at the county health agency refused to comment except to explain it was a "licensing" issue regarding the family's Manna Storehouse.
An prosecutor assigned to handle the case declined to respond to WND requests for a comment.
It's not the first such case of authorities invading a home over issues involving the operations of food co-ops. WND reported several months ago when authorities in Pennsylvania demanded $4,000 in fines from a farmer who provided raw milk to friends and neighbors.
That case also was highlighted by a SWAT team-like raid on Mark Nolt's farm, when government agents confiscated tens of thousands of dollars worth of his products as well as pieces of machinery he used for his milk handling and sales.
John and Jacqueline Stowers, whose Ohio home was raided, explained their work in providing affordable, healthy foods to friends and neighbors in a video posted both on YouTube and on the Buckeye Institute's website.
The video also is embedded here ...
"We had a sheriff's department group of about 11-12, I don't know, 13 men come into our home. It was violent, it was belligerent, they didn't identify themselves," she stated.
She and 10 children were forcibly herded into a room and held there for at least six hours, she said.
"In the meantime we had people with guns inside and outside," she said. ...
"The use of these police state tactics on a peaceful family is simply unacceptable," said Buckeye Institute President David Hansen. "Officers rushed into the Stowers' home with guns drawn and held the family - including 10 young children - captive for six hours. This outrageous case of bureaucratic overreach must be addressed." ...
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Also:
Raid on Family's Home and Organic Food Co-Op Challenged
Media Release - The Buckeye Institute
Food co-op hit by SWAT raid fights back
WORLDNETDAILY - By Bob Unruh - December 24, 2008
... The organization, which is intended to protect and defend the rights of farmers and consumers to have direct commerce, has announced it is working with the Center for Constitutional Law at the Buckeye Institute, which has filed a court complaint alleging authorities "made a haphazard unannounced entry into the property with guns drawn, as other officers surrounded the property, with guns drawn," then "confiscated the family's personal food supply, personal computers, and personal cell phones."
The complaint names the Ohio Department of Agriculture, the Lorain County General Health District and the state's attorney general. A spokeswoman at the Department of Agriculture said its officers were at the scene in an advisory role. A spokeswoman at the county health agency refused to comment except to explain it was a "licensing" issue regarding the family's Manna Storehouse. ...
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SWAT raid on food co-op called 'entrapment'
Lawyer says family badgered by agent to 'sell' eggs
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| Quebec: 7 students suspended for refusing anti-Christian class |
Officials are 'veering into creepy Orwellian political territory here'
WORLDNETDAILY - December 20, 2008
Seven Christian students in Quebec have been handed suspensions in the last few days - and could face expulsions - for refusing to participate in a new mandatory Ethics and Religious Culture course that, according to a critic, is a "superficial mishmash of trendy theoretical platitudes" with the goal of convincing children that "all religions - including pagan animism and cults - are equally 'true.'"
Canada's National Post has reported on the developing confrontation between educators who have ordered students to take the course and students and their parents who object to what they see as a virtual indoctrination into a social and moral relativism.
While seven students already have been targeted for punishment, hundreds more are demanding to be relieved of the obligation to attend the classes, and several parents have begun legal actions over the course.
Diane Gagne's 16-year-old son, Jonathan, is one of those hit with a suspension. He has refused to take part in the two-hour-per-week course because it teaches values that run counter to his religious beliefs. ...
Under the course requirements, "it is the state deciding what religious content will be learned, at what age, and that is totally overriding the parents' authority and role," Jean Morse-Chevrier, of the Quebec Association of Catholic Parents, told the newspaper.
In 2005, a change in the law eliminated a family's right to choose among "Catholic," "Protestant" or "moral" instruction in classrooms, a change that took effect last summer. ...
In the National Post, columnist Barbara Kay took school officials to task for teaching what she described as "a chilling intrusion into what all democratically inspired charters of rights designate as a parental realm of authority."
She continued, "ERC was adopted by virtual fiat, its mission to instill 'normative pluralism' in students. 'Normative pluralism' is gussied-up moral relativism, the ideology asserting there is no absolute right or wrong and that there are as many 'truths' as there are whims."
"The program is predicated on the worst worst possible educational model for young children: the philosopher Hegel's 'pedagogy of conflict.' As one of the founders of the ECR course put it, students 'must learn to shake up a too-solid identity' and experience 'divergence and dissonance'...
"The curriculum is strewn with politically correct material that openly subverts Judeo-Christian values. In many of the manuals, ideology and religion are conflated. Social engineering is revealed as the heart of the ECR program; in the most recently published activity book, for example, Christianity is given 12 pages, feminism gets 27 pages...."
She continued, "Paganism and cults are offered equal status with Christianity. Witches 'are women like any other in daily life;' 'Technologically [the Raelians] are 25,000 years in advance of us.' And considering that of the 80,000 ethnic aboriginals in Quebec only 700 self-identify with aboriginal spirituality (the vast majority of ethnic aboriginals are Christian), aboriginal spirituality (falsely equated with environmentalism) is accorded hugely disproportionate space and reverence." ...
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| Ministries fear restrictions under Obama administration |
ASSOCIATED PRESS - December 20, 2008
Christian ministries are bracing for what they fear will be restrictions on religious liberty once Barack Obama is sworn in as president.
Kelly Shackelford, president of the Liberty Legal Institute, says Congress could move quickly to outlaw discrimination in hiring based on sexual orientation, even if a school or ministry teaches that homosexuality is sinful.
He says ministries also fear that a federal hate crimes law could be used against preachers, and that re-imposition of the "Fairness Doctrine" could require Christian broadcasters to air anti-Christian views.
"The impact [the Fairness Doctrine] would have on religious radio is huge," Shackelford contends. "To tell a religious radio station that they have to present the opposite view of theirs on their radio station would create an incredible conflict with religious liberty." ...
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| Pastor beaten while decorating church |
KABC-TV ABC 7/53 LOS ANGELES, CA [Disney/ABC] - December 8, 2008
LOMA LINDA, Calif. -- The pastor of a Highland church is in critical condition after he was beaten and robbed by two men while trying to decorate his church with Christmas lights. Now he's fighting for his life in a Loma Linda hospital.
Pastor Dennis Warman is in critical condition. He suffered skull fractures, internal bleeding and is in a medically-induced coma.
Police say the beating was so bad, if they ever find the suspects, they say they will charge them with attempted murder.
"He was just sobbing, and [we were] helping him, and he had fallen to the ground," said Mendy Warman, the victim's wife. "And he couldn't move, and there was just blood everywhere."
Mendy and her daughter Megan were there Saturday night at the Church of the Valley in Highland when it happened. Pastor Warman was there to make last-minute preparations for his sermon in the morning.
"I saw the Christmas tree, and half of one of our Christmas trees in the church, the lights had gone out. And so, he turned and said, 'Oh I'll go ahead and get you a light bulb out of the shed,'" said Mendy.
The next thing she heard was a cry for help from her husband. ...
Family members and friends of Pastor Warman will take any good news they can get.
"By yesterday afternoon, the bleeding had stopped. And there's no brain damage," said Mendy. "And so we're rejoicing today in a God that loves us and cares about the details."
"We're asking for the public's assistance," said Jodi Miller, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. "This is an awful, heinous crime -- very, very sad that this pastor was approached."
As police search for suspects, there's been an outpouring of support. But people are asking how something like this could happen.
"That's a question even my daughter asked," said Mendy. "'Daddy was serving God. How can someone attack him?' Because he loves people so much. And so my heart's desire is that God will get a hold of people's lives and it will stop being about violence, and all the things that are going on that are prevalent. Because there's a man up there in a bed that loves the community and wants to see a difference. And loves his God and has a calling in his life."
Police say the motive was robbery. The suspects got away with the pastor's wallet. There isn't much of a description. The assailants are believed to be between 19- and 25-years-old. If you have any information, call (909) 425-9793.
The pastor's wife says no fund has been set up, but people can make donations to the church.
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| Words associated with Christianity and British history taken out of children's dictionary |
 LONDON DAILY TELEGRAPH [Barclay] - Julie Henry, Education Correspondent - December 8, 2008
Oxford University Press has removed words like "aisle", "bishop", "chapel", "empire" and "monarch" from its Junior Dictionary and replaced them with words like "blog", "broadband" and "celebrity". Dozens of words related to the countryside have also been culled.
The publisher claims the changes have been made to reflect the fact that Britain is a modern, multicultural, multifaith society.
But academics and head teachers said that the changes to the 10,000 word Junior Dictionary could mean that children lose touch with Britain's heritage.
"We have a certain Christian narrative which has given meaning to us over the last 2,000 years. To say it is all relative and replaceable is questionable," said Professor Alan Smithers, the director of the centre for education and employment at Buckingham University. "The word selections are a very interesting reflection of the way childhood is going, moving away from our spiritual background and the natural world and towards the world that information technology creates for us."
An analysis of the word choices made by the dictionary lexicographers has revealed that entries from "abbey" to "willow" have been axed. Instead, words such as "MP3 player", "voicemail" and "attachment" have taken their place.
Lisa Saunders, a worried mother who has painstakingly compared entries from the junior dictionaries, aimed at children aged seven or over, dating from 1978, 1995, 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2007, said she was "horrified" by the vast number of words that have been removed, most since 2003.
"The Christian faith still has a strong following," she said. "To eradicate so many words associated with the Christianity will have a big effect on the numerous primary schools who use it."
Ms Saunders realised words were being removed when she was helping her son with his homework and discovered that "moss" and "fern", which were in editions up until 2003, were no longer listed. ...
Anthony Seldon, the master of Wellington College, a leading private school in Berkshire, said: "I am stunned that words like "saint", "buttercup", "heather" and "sycamore" have all gone and I grieve it. ...
"When you look back at older versions of dictionaries, there were lots of examples of flowers for instance. That was because many children lived in semi-rural environments and saw the seasons. Nowadays, the environment has changed. We are also much more multicultural. People don't go to Church as often as before. Our understanding of religion is within multiculturalism, which is why some words such as "Pentecost" or "Whitsun" would have been in 20 years ago but not now."
She said children's dictionaries were trialed in schools and advice taken from teachers. Many words are added to reflect the age-related school curriculum. ...
Words taken out: [Partial, see full report for full list]
Abbey, aisle, altar, bishop, chapel, christen, disciple, minister, monastery, monk, nun, nunnery, parish, pew, psalm, pulpit, saint, sin, devil, vicar
Coronation, duchess, duke, emperor, empire, monarch, decade - - - -
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| UK: Booklet issues warning about 'Christian values' |
WORLDNETDAILY - March 1, 2008
Education ministers in the United Kingdom evaluating sex education programs have produced a new booklet for school children that warns Christian values should not be taught in schools, and sex education classes should teach only "how to," not "whether to."
Now it's coming under criticism from those who say the material borders on propaganda and is completely inappropriate for schools to provide, according to a report in the Daily Mail.
One such comment came from Norman Wells, the chief of Family and Youth Concern. He told the newspaper the booklet is being used to manipulate impressionable youngsters.
"It's verging on brainwashing," he said. "The forum is committed to promoting the view that there are no rights and wrongs when it comes to sexual relationships.
"The authors of this --- are clearly aiming to steer children away from a belief in moral absolutes and encouraging them to think everything is relative," he said. "The only truly safe and healthy choice is to follow a clear moral code that keeps sexual intimacy within the context of a faithful and lifelong marriage." - - - -
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| US: Cops use banned noise ordinance against street preacher |
Court orders limit tossed, but officers say it doesn't apply to them
WORLDNETDAILY - December 5, 2008
Attorneys for the Alliance Defense Fund earlier this year settled a case against Ithaca, N.Y., over an ordinance that violated the free speech rights of a street preacher. A federal court banned enforcement of the disputed rule, which restricted sounds that could be heard from 25 feet away.
But it took only a couple of visits from another street evangelist, and the attorneys were back in court with another action against Ithaca. Police officers who were told about the court order insisted it didn't apply to them, because they weren't involved in the first case.
The original 1999 dispute, involving Kevin Deegan, was settled earlier this year, according to ADF officials. The resolution included a court order prohibiting officials "from enforcing a municipal code that ... restricts sounds on public streets, sidewalks, or paths that can be heard from 25 feet," which, the legal group noted, would ban sneezing or cell phone rings.
"Three months ago, a friend of Kevin's, Jim Deferio was standing at Kevin's accustomed spot on the commons, doing a little preaching of his own. He, too, was approached by police officers who told him he'd have to stop, since he was violating the same city ordinance their predecessors had invoked against Kevin," the ADF said in a new report.
"The next week, Kevin went back to the spot with Jim, and the two of them were approached by police, citing the same law. Kevin produced a copy of the federal court order authorizing him to exercise his rights, but the officers told him - incredibly - that the order didn't apply to them - only to the specific officers who had confronted Kevin years earlier," the ADF reported.
"So, now ADF is representing Jim. We've filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Ithaca on his behalf, along with a motion asking the court to suspend the ordinance while the case moves forward."
Nate Kellum, a senior counsel with ADF, commented.
"Police officers cannot step beyond their authority and illegally suppress Christian speech in defiance of a court order," he said.
The new complaint explains, "This is a civil rights action challenging city ordinances and policy, on their face and as applied, that prohibit noise heard 25 feet from its source in the City of Ithaca. These precise ordinances and policy of City of Ithaca have already been declared unconstitutional by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and enjoined by this court in Deegan v. City of Ithaca, et al."
City officials did not respond to a WND request for comment today. - - - -
Read Full Report |
Palin church burning - 'hate crime' virtually ignored?
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ONE NEWS NOW [American Family News Network] - By Jim Brown - December 19, 2008
A religion columnist and journalism professor says the mainstream media's coverage of the fire that gutted Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's home church has been thin, but it's hard to say exactly why it's been underplayed.
Investigators say the fire that destroyed Wasilla Bible Church in Alaska on December 12 was likely the work of an arsonist, but the mainstream news media, with the exception of The Associated Press, has largely ignored the story.
Terry Mattingly is the editor of the website GetReligion.org, a Scripps Howard columnist, and director of the Washington Journalism Center. He says because the fire occurred in a remote area, major networks may not want to fly reporters in from Los Angeles, Washington, or New York. Mattingly believes a regional bias could be at play, but adds that he has no doubt that if a fire occurred at the church of a socially accepted victim group, the coverage would have been more extensive.
"To give you an example: right now in a parallel case down in California, we have demonstrations and some vandalism and stuff at Mormon churches....We're beginning to see some coverage of that," he points out. "Yet I think that if you had some sort of corresponding mirror image situation, say, conservative crowds that were doing vandalism and picketing, say, a congregation in the gay-friendly Metropolitan Community Church, you'd be seeing that on page one of the Los Angeles Times." ...
AP's report says an accelerant -- possible gasoline -- was poured around the exterior of the church and the fire was set near the entrance. A small group of people, including two children, was inside. No one was injured in the blaze.
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Palin's Church Severely Damaged by Arson
ASSOCIATED PRESS - December 13, 2008
ANCHORAGE -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's home church was badly damaged by arson, leading the governor to apologize Saturday if the fire was connected to "undeserved negative attention" from her campaign as the Republican vice presidential nominee.
Damage to the Wasilla Bible Church was estimated at $1 million, authorities said. No one was injured in the fire, which was set Friday night while a handful of people, including two children, were inside, according to James Steele, the Central Mat-Su fire chief.
He said the blaze was being investigated as an arson. Steele said he didn't know of any recent threats to the church, and authorities did not know whether Palin's connection to the church was relevant to the fire.
"It's hard to say at this point. Everything is just speculation," he said.
Pastor Larry Kroon declined to say whether the church had received any recent threats. ...
The fire was set at the entrance of the church and moved inward as a small group of women worked on crafts, Steele said. The group was alerted to the blaze by a fire alarm.
Read Full Report
Arson suspected in fire at Palin's church
From the Anchorage Daily News
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| Protesting nuns branded terrorists |
Pair classified by state police; names placed on national list
THE WASHINGTON TIMES [News World Communications/Moon-Unification Church] - By Tom LoBianco - October 10, 2008
BALTIMORE - For decades, Sister Carol Gilbert and Sister Ardeth Platte have practiced their Roman Catholic faith with an unwavering focus on world peace. Their antiwar activities even landed them in federal prison earlier this decade for trespassing onto a military base and pouring blood onto a nuclear missile silo.
Now they face fresh infamy as two nuns secretly branded by Maryland State Police as terrorists and placed on a national watch list.
"This term terrorist is a really serious accusation," Sister Ardeth, a nun for 54 years, told The Washington Times on Thursday in the first interview that the women have given since being informed they were among 53 people added to a terrorist watch list in conjunction with an extensive Maryland surveillance effort of antiwar activists.
"There is no way that we ever want to be identified as terrorists. We are nonviolent. We are faith-based," she said. - - - -
Read Full Report |
| Google in Shift on 'Abortion' as Keyword |
 NEW YORK TIMES [NYTimes Group/Sulzberger] - By Stephanie Clifford - September 21, 2008
After a lawsuit from a Christian anti-abortion group, Google is allowing religious organizations to take out ads using the keyword "abortion," a rare case of the search giant admitting it was wrong.
In March, Google rejected an ad from the Christian Institute, a British organization, that read, in part, "UK abortion law: Key news and views on abortion law from The Christian Institute."
The group, which wanted to advertise because the House of Commons was considering a bill involving abortion issues, filed a lawsuit against Google in April, saying the company was discriminating on religious grounds.
Google has limits on what can and cannot be advertised; it will not allow ads for products derived from endangered species, for example, nor will it allow ads promoting violence. In the past, Google would not sell the "abortion" keyword to religious groups, but did sell it to other groups, including secular groups, doctors offering abortions and resource sites like Our Bodies, Ourselves.
Google's policies are based on a number of factors. "We build out our policies based upon local customs and business practices and, as any sensible business would do, review them from time to time to make sure they are up to date and current," said Ben Novick, a London-based Google spokesman.
Google reviewed its policy, and announced last Wednesday it had reached a settlement with the Christian Institute. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but Google immediately began allowing ads linked to abortion from religious groups as long as they were determined to be factual, and not graphic or emotional ads. Google uses a combination of automated and manual processes to detect advertising violations. The change in policy applies worldwide.
"We are pleased with Google's constructive response to this matter," the Christian Institute said in a statement.
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