Nu.nl, a Dutch news website, reports that several Serbs have been found guilty of involvement in the genocide against Muslim Bosnians in Srebrenica. Back in 1995, Serbs - Christians - forced the Dutch UN peacekeepers to hand Srebrenica over to them - or the Dutch simply surrendered without fighting because they lacked courage; whatever interpretation suits you. Shortly afterwards many Muslim men were killed by the Serbian forces. (more…)

Islamists have threatened a Christian Bishop in the Philippines… (H/T: UP Pompeii)

Philippine bishop reports receiving threat to convert to Islam

MANILA, Philippines (CNS) — A bishop in the southern Philippines reported receiving a letter threatening him with harm if he does not convert to Islam or pay “Islamic taxes.”

Such brazenness in a country where over 86% of the population is Christian, 9% is Muslim and the remaining 5% is divided among various groups such as: Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, animists and non-believers.

Even if those who sent these letters are no more than common criminals who use religion as a mere tool, the fact that they chose to represent themselves as Muslims is in itself significant. But Muslim brazenness does not stop there, unfortunately, this one is far from an isolated case! Remember the kidnapped and murdered Chaldean archbishop of Mosul, Mgr Faraj Rahho? What about the plight of Assyrian Christians in Iraq? What about the Sabian Mandaeans? Or the plight of Christians girls kidnapped in Nigeria by practitioners of the Religion of Peace? What about the treatment of Christian Copts in Egypt? Ot the threats against Western politicians like Geert Wilders or Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi? The list, gentle reader, goes on and on ad nauseum…

You may read the rest at: Freedom’s Cost

A fascinating account over at AOL News about daily life in the FLDS, which was raided last week. As we all know, hundreds of women and girls were taken away from the sect by US federal authorities. Now that the sect has been raided we can finally understand what daily life was like for its members, and more specifically for the sect’s female members. (more…)

There’s no other way to put this: when a person says that Muslims should not be allowed to build any more mosques, that person’s close to a fascist. Alison Ruoff, a senior Church of England member” said that “there are enough mosques in this country,” and that buildings mosques in a neighborhood, ‘Islamizes’ the entire neighborhood, resulting in people having to live according to Sharia and Christians being oppressed. Therefore: NO NEW MOSQUES. (more…)

A leading Rabbi in Germany has condemned Pope Benedict’s Good Friday Prayer, saying that the prayer “is insulting to Jews.” According to Rabbi Walter Homolka, the Catholic Church has a Jewish problem; the prayer is just one of its manifestations. (more…)

Hallelujah; finally a person who takes the New Atheists to task, and criticizes them for what they are. Extremists. Fundamentalists in their own right. Intolerant. Dangerous. Chris Hedges does, mostly, a superb job explaining what’s wrong with the New Atheism school and why people like Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens are, when push comes to shove, dangerous. (more…)

Decades of rumors can finally be put to rest; former US President Ronald Reagan was right, Mikhail Gorbachev is a Christian. In Soviet Russia, people were not allowed to practice their faith publicly (or privately for that matter). Gorbachev’s wife’s parents were both killed during World War II “for having religious icons in their home.” (more…)

Both John McCain and Barack Obama are being criticized because of their association with bigoted pastors. (more…)

In what’s one of the most ludicrous, idiotic and silly Christmas stories I’ve heard this year, Greek Orthodox and Armenian priests beat each other up in Bethlehem when they were cleaning the Church of Nativity.

“The basilica, built over the grotto in Bethlehem where Christians believe Jesus was born, is administered jointly by Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic authorities,” CNN explains. (more…)

In Indonesia Muhammad Basri was convicted of beheading 3 Christian schoolgirls in 2005 and sentenced to a whopping 19 years in prison. He was also convicted of shooting two other students and a priest in 2004.

So that’s what a Christian’s life is worth in Indonesia? 5 years in the clink. Not much of a punishment when the killer will strut around like a banty rooster and be treated like a god for his heroic actions.

Talk about your cultural relativism. I suppose I should be glad the bastard was found guilty at all but it’s not in me to do so.

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In Texas this week, Governor Perry celebrated the June passage of the state’s Religious Viewpoint Anti-Discrimination Act in a ceremonial signing with schoolchildren at Clements High School in Sugar Land.

According to Perry:

“In a society where lawsuits long-ago replaced honest discussion, a culture of fear has led to limitations on our freedoms,” said Gov. Perry. “This trend has been especially troubling in our public schools; places created for the exchange of ideas, the expression of values and the shaping of lives.”

…

In one case, a school prohibited students from wishing a “Merry Christmas” to troops serving overseas. Another school reprimanded a first grader for invoking the name and image of Jesus when she was asked what she thinks of when she thinks of Easter.

“It is my hope that this bill and its guidelines for preserving freedom of faith-related speech will lower the tension level in our schools. Under its clear guidelines, teachers can teach and administrators can lead, knowing they are following a sensible, time-honored, and legal approach to self-expression,” said Gov. Perry.

Kudos to Texas legislators and to Governor Perry for creating and passing this measure - it was long overdue. The act’s text is brief and to the point and is perhaps best represented by Article V:

Students may organize prayer groups, religious clubs, “see you at the pole” gatherings, and other religious gatherings before, during, and after school to the same extent that students are permitted to organize other noncurricular student activities and groups. Religious groups must be given the same access to school facilities for assembling as is given to other noncurricular groups, without discrimination based on the religious content of the group’s expression. If student groups that meet for nonreligious activities are permitted to advertise or announce the groups’ meetings, for example, by advertising in a student newspaper, putting up posters, making announcements on a student activities bulletin board or public address system, or handing out leaflets, school authorities may not discriminate against groups that meet for prayer or other religious speech. School authorities may disclaim sponsorship of noncurricular groups and events, provided they administer the disclaimer in a manner that does not favor or disfavor groups that meet to engage in prayer or other religious speech.

Not everyone will agree, I am sure. But that’s to be expected. The churches of atheism and liberalism have long held sway in America’s public schools and will not appreciate having to accomodate Christian student groups.

Indeed, it wasn’t long after the bill’s passage that Steven Schafersman, among others, began to work the drums of fear in a strident rhythm:

The following is a letter sent to all members of the Senate Education Committee before their debate and vote, explaining why HB 3678 is illegal (unconstitutional), disingenuous, anti-scientific, and mean-spirited. Despite the entreaty, the Howard-Chisum stealth bill was passed and ultimately signed into law by Governor Rick Perry on June 15, 2007. Once the effects of this poorly-thought out statute are in force in Texas, an enormous amount of First Amendment litigation will occur. The bill–now a law–is an example of the powerful Texas radical religious right’s aggressive program to promote and force their sectarian religious beliefs into the public school environment using the power of the state. They do this to counter the Constitutional secular and neutral nature of the public school system, and to reinforce the almost pervasive religious proselytization of children in Texas society. The religion promoted and forced into the public schools by this new statute will be, of course, Protestant Christianity. The new law will obligate captive audiences of tens of thousands of school children to listen to Protestant Christian prayers and mini-sermons under the guidance and direction of state authorities (school administrators).

Dear Senator, I urge you to reject HB 3678, the so-called “Religious Viewpoint Anti-Discrimination Act,” that is being considered by the Senate Education Committee. The bill is a stealth bill whose true purpose is to promote religious discrimination and proselytizing in public schools, with the additional purpose of damaging science education in biology courses.

…

The bill is written to appear to be neutral and lawful, but First Amendment Constitutional law already protects legitimate student expressions of religion. The purpose of this bill is to allow students to aggressively state their beliefs about creationism in science and Protestant Christianity in history, health, and other classrooms without fear of contradiction by teachers.

…

The bill creates an officious and burdensome framework that every school district must create and adopt to carry out the stipulations of the bill. This is an authoritarian and even draconian solution to a non-existent problem. The bill’s analysis by Rep. Howard is flatly wrong. He writes, “School children are being censored and reprimanded at school, leaving them in fear of punishment for their religious beliefs. Due to hostility toward religious expression, children are being forced to defend their First Amendment rights in courtrooms all across Texas, and throughout the nation. School districts’ practices and policies continue to violate the free speech rights of students, regardless of court decisions to the contrary.” This is all untrue.

…

Howard and Chisum’s religious expression bill is a sham; it is a stealth bill designed not to permit legitimate and proper religious expression (which is already protected), but to promote creationism and encourage sectarian proselytization by extreme right-wing Protestant Christians. If enacted, the new law will create an adversarial environment in which intimidation of religious minorities will become commonplace. The bill will certainly lead to massive amounts of litigation as religious minorities are increasingly affected.

Typical anti-Christian dogma, in other words. Evidently Schafersman envisions a veritable army of teenage preachers holding sway during biology class and the nation falling apart as a result.

What nonsense. The harm done to American college students by a single semester’s political science class - 50 hours of state-mandated indocrination in the alleged virtues of leftist liberalism - is much greater than the sum of all high school kids bold enough to stand up in front of their peers and profess their faith.

Who’s going to get beat up after school? The pack of ne’er-do-wells sniggering in the back of the classroom or the boy who stands up at the front alone and lays out his beliefs for all to see and accept or ridicule?

Schafersman also makes a point about the expense to Texas taxpayers when the inevitable First Amendment lawsuits are filed. This is a valid concern as there is no shortage of litigation-happy fools in this country, Texas being no exception.

Speaking about the law, Perry says this:

“For years, our children have not been able to share their faith and beliefs for fear that they’ll end up in the principal’s office. That’s sure not the American way and that’s sure not the Texas way.”

That’s exactly right. Read the Constitution if you think I’m wrong. Liberals hinge their argument against school prayer, nativity scenes, plays, WWJD bracelets, etc. on the First Amendment. This reads:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, …

Where is the silver bullet that’s been used to exclude religion from public life? Not in that phrase, surely. Russell Miller, a left-leaning liberal blogger I’ve had discussions with in the past, invokes the 14th Amendment to bolster the 1st. Yet the 14th merely states:

No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, …

As an argument against public religion this is anemic at best. Worse still, it’s only marginally relevant, particularly when contrasted against the powerful clarity of the 10th:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

The 14th Amendment is only relevant if the 1st is assumed to apply - it provides no support whatever to the validity of the 1st. Therefore, the issue is strictly a question of the 1st Amendment versus the 10th. Perry, a politician I don’t care much for, gets this issue exactly right.

Cracking down on kids for speaking about their faith is NOT the Texas way. Furthermore, contorting the 1st and 14th Amendments does not justify the federal government in restricting our citizens from expressing their faith, young or old, in school or out.

I hope that when related cases inevitably reach the Supreme Court that the justices will recognize the state’s right to determine its own standards, as guaranteed by the 10th Amendment. But I doubt that they will.

Regardless, in all respects but that of taxpayer expense - a cost Texas legislators undoubtedly considered and found acceptable - the anti-Christian lobby gets it completely backward. In fact, they seem to have utterly missed what should be the biggest controversy about the new law: minority religious expression and the friction it will create.

What will happen when Muslim students decide to organize a Religion of Peace club at the local high school?

As to that we can only wait and see.

Cross-posted at Black Shards.

The Jerusalem Post reports that Christians living in Gaza fear for their lives. According to the JP, they are increasingly attacked by extremist Muslims. As a result, Christian Gazans “appealed to the international community [on Monday] to protect them” against before mentioned extremists. “Many Christians said they were prepared to leave the Gaza Strip as soon as the border crossings are reopened.”

Over the past few days, a Christian school and Church in Gaza city have been attacked by Muslim terrorists. “Father Manuel Musalam, leader of the small Latin community in the Gaza Strip, said: “The masked gunmen used rocket-propelled grenades to storm the main entrances of the school and church. hen they destroyed almost everything inside, including the Cross, the Holy Book, computers and other equipment.”

They did not just destroy “the” Cross, they destroyed every single Cross, and burned every single cope of the Bible they could get their hands on. The good news:

He said Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas phoned him on Sunday night to express his strong condemnation for the attack. “President Abbas promised that he would do his utmost to prevent such attacks on Christians here,” he said.

The bad news: Abbas has no influence whatsoever over what happens in Gaza. He can say everything he wants, he can promise whatever he wants, but Hamas is in power now and Hamas considers Christians to be infidels who should either be killed or forced to leave Gaza.

Hypocritically enough, “Islam Shahwan, spokesman for Hamas’s Executive Force in the Gaza Strip, denied responsibility.” He said: “We have instructed all our men to withdraw from the area. We will punish anyone who targets churches and public institutions.”

Yeah, I’m sure you will. Just as I am sure that you love Jews, but hate “Zionists.”

Mike Huckabee talked to the Pew Forum about “the fate of social conservatives and how he sees religion playing out in 2008 and beyond.”

He also talked about “how he has witnessed religion impacting public affairs in his roles as a pastor and governor, and how his own faith guides his public life.”

No, he did not just talk about religion: he also talked about other issues such as the nature of the political debate in America, foreign policy, health care, etc.

I encourage all of you to read the transcript. It provides for quite an interesting read. The moderator of the discussion: EJ Dionne Jr.

When reading the transcript I concluded a couple of things: he knows what he’s talking about, he’s serious, but he also has a good sense of humor. For instance:

There are some interesting points of opposition that I faced along the way. I love to tell the story of the lady who asked me in my early political life if it was true that I was a Baptist minister, and I said, “Yes, ma’am, that is true.” She said, “Well, let me ask you, are you one of those narrow-minded Baptists who think only Baptists go to heaven?” I said, “No, ma’am, actually I’m more narrow than that; I don’t think all of the Baptists are going to make it.”

He said something quite interesting about Republicans and African-Americans:

I think one of the milestones that I celebrate, not so much in terms of programs – perhaps we’ll talk about that later – but politically, was that in 1998, I received 49 percent of the African-American vote. It’s one of the things for which I am most grateful because I think sometimes people assume that Republicans can’t win that vote. I have said for a long time that Republicans have made a huge mistake by not understanding that they can win African-American votes, and they should do everything possible to try. I also believe that we Republicans have to make sure that we communicate the message that resonates down to people of all levels of the economic spectrum. Frankly, we have not done that very well, and as a result, we have had some struggles. I think part of the reason for the 2006 disasters was that we didn’t do that.

I agree completely with that. The Republicans have just about handed over the African-American vote to the Democrats. The Democrats believe that there is not much they can do wrong in this regard - as far as I can tell, they consider the support of African-Americans to be logical, unquestionnable. If the Republican Party, however, would court African-Americans more actively, I am quite sure that it can win quite some of them over. Doing so, will, of course, be good for the African-American community in the US: if Republicans try to persuade African-Americans to vote for them, Democrats have to work harder to get the votes they’d normally get and that means that they’ll be willing to do more for this ‘group.’

About the debates Huckabee said:

A frustration of the debate process was that in three debates – California, South California and last night in New Hampshire – In those three debates with the Republican candidates, there was not a question about education, which I thought was unfortunate. There was only one question last night about health care. Very few questions – no questions last night – Think about this: Republicans were on a stage for two hours and not one question was asked about the tax system, taxes or economic development, which are typically cornerstones of Republican politics.

It was an unusual format and one that I think left many of us saying, my gosh, are we going to talk about some of the issues that people talk about at their dinner tables at night? Somebody asked me after the debate what I thought about the question I got on evolution. I said it was OK, but the truth is, I have been out there campaigning every day for quite some time and here is a reality: Not one person in America has asked me about evolution at a forum or town-hall discussion – nobody, not one. I get on national television twice, and I’m asked about it in California and I’m asked about it in New Hampshire. I’m happy to give my answer; it’s not that I’m ashamed or afraid to speak of it. But I’m thinking that all over America there were families sitting down to have dinner, and I doubt that any of them said, I wonder what the next president will think about evolution. I just don’t think that came out of the conversation.

I agree completely with that. When watching the debates, I found it to be quite frustrating to see that they did not spend a lot of time on issues such as health care, education, taxes, etc. as well (purely speaking as an observer here). It seems to me that these issues are far more important than whether the candidate believes in evolution, if so to what degree, etc.
(more…)

What were they thinking?

Saudi officials have arrested a man in Mecca for being a Christian, saying that the city, which Muslims consider to be holy, is off-limits to non-Muslims.

Nirosh Kamanda, a Sri Lankan Christian, was detained by the Saudi Expatriates Monitoring Committee last week after he started to sell goods outside Mecca’s Great Mosque.

Selling goods outside a mosque you say? Are you sure it’s a Christian and not a Jew?

Seriously though: Saudi Arabia is one of the worst regimes in the world. To the outside world, the rulers of SA pretend to be open-minded, anti-terrorism, etc. but in fact, they are constantly feeding their people lies, anti-Western and anti-Semitic propaganda, Christians are only allowed in certain parts of the country, Bibles have to be left at the airport, etc.

How did they find out that Kamanda is a Christian you ask? Simple:

After running his fingerprints through a new security system, Saudi police discovered that he was a Christian who had arrived in the country six months earlier to take a job as a truck driver in the city of Dammam. Kamanda had subsequently left his place of work and moved to Mecca.

Col. Suhail Matrafi, head of the department of Expatriates Affairs in Mecca, told the Saudi daily Arab News that “The new fingerprints system is very helpful and will help us a lot to discover the identity of a lot of Christians criminals.”

A fingerprint system just so they can easily identify Christians (who try to enter Mecca)! Sweet!

Next point on the agenda of the Knesset: making it illegal for Muslims to enter Jerusalem.

That’ll show ‘em.

It’s the same everywhere, isn’t it?

The above “personnel advertisement” is imaginary. But it sums up the mood in Ankara, as parties rush to recruit candidates that will burnish and balance their images at home and abroad. The search is on for so-called “vitrin” candidates, a Turkish word for “window front” that might as well translate as “showcase.”

As general elections approach, virtually all political parties launched the hunt for new faces to promote themselves, signing up — or trying to sign up — former ambassadors, military officers, businessmen, football players and even wrestlers. And now, minority groups.

The Turkish Daily News has learned that a Turkish citizen of Armenian origins, Kagem Karabetyan, is being mentioned as a candidate, most likely for the traditionalist Justice and Development Party (AKP), known for its roots in political Islam. Karabetyan apparently wants to run for election but is still awaiting a formal invitation. With or without Karabetyan, the AKP is expected to have a Christian candidate on its lists, but his name is not expected to be on the top of the list, reducing the likelihood of ultimate election.

The CHP: “We should encourage members of minority communities to become candidates. Greeks, Armenians and Jews should be represented in the Turkish Parliament as well. There are many people who are struggling for Turkey but we cannot reach them because of unexpected elections.”

In other words, no time to find a few good Christian candidates.

Here is my take on it: a person should not be elected, or made a candidate, because that person is a Christian, or a Muslim, or a Jew, etc. A person should be (s)elected because that person is the right person for the job. What’s relevant is whether the individual is qualified or not.

Americans United issued a statement on the death of Jerry Falwell; Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United:
“Jerry Falwell politicized religion and failed to understand the genius of our Constitution, but there is no denying his impact on American political life. He will long be remembered as the face and voice of the Religious Right.

“Falwell manipulated a powerful pulpit in exchange for access to political power and promotion of a narrow range of moral concerns. I appeared with him on news programs dozens of times over the years and, while I disagreed with just about everything Falwell stood for, he was a determined advocate for what he believed.

“Falwell reached his apex of power in the 1980s. Since then, leadership of the Religious Right has passed to James Dobson, Pat Robertson, Tony Perkins, Donald Wildmon and others. However, Falwell remained influential in politics, with Republican presidential candidates seeking his support this year.

“Americans United extends its condolences to members of Dr. Falwell’s family, the congregants of Thomas Road Baptist Church and the students and staff of Liberty University.”

Agreed, agreed and agreed.

Kathryn Jean Lopez writes at National Review:

A reporter who was in one of the congressional press galleries when word came in that Jerry Falwell had died e-mails:

The reaction from the reporters? Grins and chuckles mostly. One grizzled veteran journalist said, “I hope they (CNN) remember all the horrible things he said.”

Another reporter simply said, “It is a good day.”

Classy.

H/t Hot Air which is keeping track of some reactions from the left side of the blogosphere.

Michelle Malkin has a post up about a Church in Spring Hope, North Carolina, about a Church sign that has caused quite some controversy. The sign:

(’Don’t be deceived, the message of “Islam” is submit - convert - or die. Not salvation in Jesus Christ.’)

Michelle defends the sign, I have absolutely no intention of doing so. Firstly: it’s stupid (somehow I don’t think you’re winning over moderate Muslims if you put up signs like this); secondly, it’s not true; thirdly, I thought that Christianity was about love, not about trying to insult as many people as possible.