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HOME BIBLE STUDIES, ZONING, AND FREEDOM OF RELIGION

From the Family Research Council:

Phoenix Enters the Twilight Zone

In what can only be described as surreal, the City of Phoenix Court has sentenced Mike Salman, father of six and the owner of Mighty Mike's Burgers to 60 days in jail. What's the City's beef with Salman? According to our friend Todd Starnes at Fox News Radio, it has nothing to do with his business; it is what he has been doing at home. About 7 years ago Salman began holding Bible studies in his home that sits on almost 5 acres of land. In 2007 the City sent Salman a letter saying Bible studies were not permitted in their living room because it was a violation of the construction code. In 2009 after securing all the permits, Salman constructed a 2,000 square foot building in their backyard to host the 30 or so people who attended the Bible study. The harassment of the city only continued culminating in a raid of their home by police which led to them being criminally charged with 67 code violations.

What type of violations? No Exit Signs over the doors and no handicap parking spaces in front of their home. Not only was Salman found guilty and sentenced to 60 days in jail, he faces a fine of $12,180 and three years' probation. The City claims that because Salman was meeting on a regular basis he was operating a church and therefore had to meet zoning codes for public meeting spaces. When asked if the same would apply to someone who had a weekly poker night or a Monday Night Football gathering, the City prosecutor refused to respond.

If this sounds familiar, it's because it is. City governments are increasingly using zoning ordinances to trample on religious freedom. You may recall the Fromm family in San Juan Capistrano, CA that was fined by the city for violating zoning ordinances by holding a Bible study in their home. Fortunately after a public outcry San Juan Capistrano officials amended their ordinances to be faith friendly and refunded the fine. Religious freedom is our First Freedom and it recognizes our right not just to attend church services on Sunday mornings but to live out our faith in a real and tangible way. That would include the right to have a Bible Study, small group, or other "church" meeting in your own home

SHORT POSTS FROM WALTER RUSSELL MEAD

Mead, a professor of foreign affairs and humanities at Bard College, blogs at Via Meadia.  I have read him daily for the past week and find he generally shines a spotlight on areas not well covered elsewhere.  Short current blog posts:

- Africa the New Terrorist Safe Haven

- Meet the New Communist President of Europe

- Italy: the bomb that could blow up Europe

- Why Nothing is Shovel Ready Anymore

Longer essay published today:

- Jews and Muslims unite to fight Germany for basic human freedom [circumcision]

It was from reading the following article in the Wall Street Journal that I learned of Mead's blog.

- The Euro's Global Security Fallout (6/19/12)

AIR FORCE CENSORS EXPRESSIONS OF CHRISTIAN FAITH

The Family Research Council (FRC) makes extremely sobering observations.  I have always held our military in high regard and felt we were blessed by its traditional values of virtue and self-discipline and faith and its ability to resist political correctness eating away at so many of our culture's foundations.  But as FRC reports, things are no longer well, especially with the Air Force.  

Air Force Rejects Faith--Plane and Simple

In the U.S. Air Force, the one thing leaders are throttling back is faith. When President Obama took office, his policies had a chilling effect on religion across the military--but no branch has taken Christian censorship to extremes like the Air Force. To most people, the turning point came last year after a service-wide memo from Gen. Norman Schwartz. It was a stern warning that religious favoritism and proselytizing would not be tolerated in the Force. Instead, Gen. Schwartz urged "neutrality"--which has since turned to hostility--on faith.

Assaults on religion have come in almost daily waves since then, and service members are still struggling to cope with the changes. One by one, officers started flushing God out of their everyday routines--an overcorrection that has left several airmen confused about their rights. First, the Air Force suspended a 20-year-old class on "Just War Theory" because it included scriptural references. Next came the stripping of "God" from the Rapid Capabilities motto and the purging of Bibles from Air Force Inn checklists. At Christmas, the Academy ordered cadets to stop promoting a Christian charity for needy kids. Leaders even removed an article from a Squadron Office School curriculum for referencing chapel. FRC started to notice a change in 2010--before Schwartz's memo--when Andrews Air Force Base rescinded my invitation to speak at a prayer breakfast.

"When viewed individually," Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) said, "any of these actions is concerning. But taken together, they highlight an alarming pattern in the Air Force that we do not see in other branches of the military." The tension is so significant that the Air Force Times published a long expose about the new climate of political correctness and how it's affecting morale. Several servicemen emailed the paper anonymously, many concerned that believers are being forced into the closet. "Christian airmen say they're constantly walking on eggshells at work to avoid offending their non-believing colleagues." Another said, "I don't think the Air Force pushes religion on anyone. The only thing I have seen is the push to take any reference to Christianity out."

So far, Gen. Schwartz's strategy seems to be having the desired effect. In a Military Times poll, Air Force members were less likely than those in any other branch to say that "religion plays a larger role in their lives today than it did when they joined the service." In other words, the Air Force is systematically driving a wedge between the troops and their greatest source of solace and strength. What a tragedy. Our military was designed to protect religious liberty--not impair it. As Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) said, "When our sons and daughters join the military, they are not signing away their First Amendment right to religious liberty." He and 65 other House members are so outraged by the Air Force's pattern of religious hostility that they're calling on Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to conduct a full investigation. "Censorship," they write, "is not required for compliance with the Constitution and should not be required for compliance with military directives." We applaud the dozens of Congressmen who signed on to this letter to support the troops when they need it most.

CATHOLICS TAKE OUT AN AD TO MOBILIZE THE FAITHFUL AGAINST GOVERNMENT COERCION

A Catholic lay group, The Catholic Association, has a new television ad:

Ed Morrissey writes:

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops launched their two-week Fortnight for Freedom program today, their latest salvo in the battle between the Catholic Church and the Obama administration over the HHS contraception mandate. . .

The bishops are hoping that a massive protest now will force the Obama administration to reverse the mandate (or expand the religious exemption to all religious organizations) before civil disobedience becomes necessary.

To that end, the USCCB has begun sending letters out to parishioners in the Mass bulletins to get them involved in protests:

The most imminent threat to religious liberty—but not the only one—that the Catholic bishops have been protesting and seeking to draw public attention to is a regulation that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius issued under President Barack Obama’s health care law. The regulation will require virtually all health-care plans in the United States to cover, without any fees or co-pay, sterilizations, artificial contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs.

This month, the Catholic bishops are distributing an insert in church bulletins around the country pointing to the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s leadership of the Civil Rights Movement, and his defense of civil disobedience, noting that King, a Baptist minister, used the arguments of the Catholic Saints Augustine and Thomas Aquinas to justify peaceful resistance to unjust laws. In the bulletin insert, the bishops made clear that civil disobedience may be necessary when freedom of conscience is attacked.

“Some unjust laws impose such injustices on individuals and organizations that disobeying the laws may be justified,” says the bulletin insert.

“Every effort must be made to repeal them. When fundamental human goods, such as the right of conscience, are at stake, we may need to witness to the truth by resisting the law and incurring its penalties.”

Me: I say good for them!

ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS ARE HEADING TO FEDERAL COURT TO DEFEND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

The Obama Administration's hostility to religion, and its determination to have the government be the be-all and end-all to individual citizens, must be resisted.  The Bishops are suing the U.S. government, and  therefore Mike Huckabee (a Baptist) rightly says, "We're all Catholics now."  

In her article, "Why the Bishops are Suing the U.S. Government," Mary Ann  Glendon writes:

[...]More is at stake here than the mission of all churches, including the Catholic Church, to provide social services like health care and education to everyone regardless of creed, and to do so without compromising their beliefs. At the deepest level, we are witnessing an attack on the institutions of civil society that are essential to limited government and are important buffers between the citizen and the all-powerful state.

If religious providers of education, health care and social services are closed down or forced to become tools of administration policy, the government consolidates a monopoly over those essential services. As Cardinal Timothy Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, put it, we are witnessing an effort to reduce religion to a private activity. "Never before," he said, "have we faced this kind of challenge to our ability to engage in the public square as people of faith."

With this week's lawsuits, the bishops join a growing army of other plaintiffs around the country, Catholic and non-Catholic, who are asking the courts to repel an unprecedented governmental assault on the ability of religious persons and groups to practice their religion without being forced to violate their deepest moral convictions.

Religious freedom is subject to necessary limitations in the interests of public health and safety. The HHS regulations do not fall into that category. The world has gotten along fine without this mandate—the services in question are widely and cheaply available, and most employers will provide coverage for them.

But if the regulations are not reversed, they threaten to demote religious liberty from its prominent place among this country's most cherished freedoms. That is why Cardinal Dolan told CBS's "Face the Nation" on April 8: "We didn't ask for this fight, but we won't back away from it."

Mary Ann Glendon is professor at Harvard Law School.

INDIA: HINDU NATIONALISM FUELS VIOLENCE & INJUSTICE

Not many people are aware of the situation that Christians face in many parts of India.  Elizabeth Kendal, international religious liberty analyst and advocate, explains the violence and injustice Christians face:

Hindu nationalism -- the idea that India should be a Hindu State -- is the political construct of India's high caste Hindu powerbrokers who pursue political power for the purpose of perpetuating their own power and privilege.

Hindu nationalism works to dragnet the votes of India's Hindu majority (74 percent), primarily through promoting Hindu supremacy and to effect religious conversions for political gain through fear-mongering amongst India's indigenous tribal peoples who are traditionally non-Hindu. The Hindu nationalists tell the indigenous tribals that their nation is under threat from seditious elements (Muslims and Christians) who they say are in the pay of foreign enemies like Pakistan and the CIA. The only way to protect India from separatism and colonialism is for the tribals to join the Hindu mainstream and fight politically and physically. This Hindutva propaganda goes largely unchallenged and is responsible for the dramatic escalation in dangerous communal violence right across India, a situation that is further fuelled by the impunity with which attackers are rewarded.

ROMAN CATHOLICS AREN'T BACKING DOWN FROM THE HHS MANDATE FIGHT

This is a good, tough video.  Hat tip to Ed Morrissey, whom see for commentary.  Catholics Called to Witness created the video.  Good for them!  The Obama administration's war on religious freedom requires resistance from all quarters.

 

LIBERAL NORTHFIELD, MA DOESN'T WANT A CHRISTIAN COLLEGE IN THEIR TOWN

From the Family Research Council:

It looks like the owners of Hobby Lobby are dealing with another lobby--the liberal folks of Northfield, Massachusetts. When the craft chain bought an empty campus in the area with the intentions of donating the 217 acres to a Christian school, the town erupted. "We don't want it to go to a place that is not open-minded, not willing to listen to the views of others," said resident John Howley, an obvious slap at the Green family's conservative biblical worldview.

Concerned the property would be gifted to Liberty University, townspeople started circulating a petition calling the school "an extremist, homophobic, and intellectually narrow institution." Several other colleges are in the running for the land, and the Green family, which has donated millions to Christian education, hasn't decided who the fortunate recipient will be. Regardless, even Northfield's leaders acknowledge that it "does not have the ability to control the way in which Hobby Lobby transfers its property."

One of the most confusing parts of the debate is Northfield's insistence that the new school honor the property's first tenant, evangelist D.L. Moody. But like Liberty University, Moody believed the Bible was the authority on all things--including sexuality. I suppose if Massachusetts can redefine marriage, then it can rewrite someone's biography too.

Meanwhile, the controversy does highlight some of the fallout of redefining marriage, which Massachusetts was the first to do. People wonder about the impact of same-sex "marriage" on education. Well, this is it. States are using these laws as an excuse to elbow out faith--and even charity! They become intolerant, anti-Christian strongholds that wall off cities and schools from honest and open debate. This is no longer a matter of privacy or personal choice. When same-sex couples claim their relationships won't affect you, they're wrong. They absolutely affect you--from your ability to speak freely to your ability to learn and worship freely.

CHARLES COLSON - RESTRICTING RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ON CAMPUS

The following is absolutely bizarre.  Chuck Colson writes:

Welcoming different viewpoints and beliefs is said to be one of the crowning glories of the modern university. Unless of course, your viewpoints and beliefs happen to be Christian.

Sadly, back in 2010, the Supreme Court laid the groundwork for a disturbing trend that is spreading to campuses nationwide. In the case Christian Legal Society vs. Martinez, little noted at the time, the high court ruled that a public college may refuse to recognize a student organization if it restricts membership or leadership to students who share the group’s core beliefs.

In other words, campus student organizations like InterVarsity or Campus Crusade now run the risk of being kicked off campus if they say that only Christian students may hold leadership positions. The Court ruling says, in effect, that Christian groups must allow people who hold non-Christian beliefs into leadership ranks.

Friends, that makes no sense. It’s like forcing campus atheists to make Billy Graham their president!  Of course we would welcome nonbelievers to hear the gospel, but they can’t run our groups!

Be that as it may, that’s where the law now stands — and the campus secularists know it. We’re already seeing them attempt to restrict religious freedom at several schools, of all places, in the Bible Belt.

Vanderbilt University’s administration in Nashville has a policy forbidding campus religious groups from making sure that student leaders share the groups’ core beliefs. Vanderbilt’s Intervarsity Graduate Christian Fellowship is in the thick of the battle there.

JOHN VENNARI - "WHAT OBAMA LEARNED FROM ALINSKY"

I'm grateful to a friend for passing along Vennari's important article.  (HT: bs)  I haven't read Saul D. Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals," but see the need to do so.  If Alinsky advocated a radical relativism and amorality in furthering political goals as stated below, we have all the more reason to fear the current occupant of the White House since he is regarded as Alinsky's disciple.  Vennari writes:

Obama was a student of the ruthless tactics of Saul Alinsky, the left-wing agitator whose landmark Rules for Radicals was dedicated to the devil.[9] Mike Kruglik, Obama’s Chicago instructor in Alinsky methods, said Obama was the best student of Alinsky tactics he ever had.[10]

David Alinsky, Saul Alinsky’s son, applauded Obama’s successful implementation of Alinsky methods. Immediately after Obama’s acceptance speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, David Alinsky wrote a letter to the Boston Globe in full praise of Obama as one who learned well his father’s methods.[11]

Even Obama zealot Chris Matthews, in a December 2010 broadcast of “Hardball”, referred to Obama as “the guy who comes from Saul Alinsky”.[12]

As is stated in his Rules for Radicals, Alinsky’s foundational principles are:

1) There is no such thing as dogma, all truth is relative: “For the organizer, everything is relative and changing,” said Alinsky. The organizer “does not have any fixed truth.” This places the organizer in a superior position, Alinsky insisted, because he is “free from the shackles of dogma.”[13]

2) There is no such thing as a fixed rule of ethics. For Alinksy, the end justifies the means, and all ethics are elastic according to the situation you are in or the strategy you need to employ. Alinsky taught, “Ethical standards must be elastic to stretch with the times.”[14] If you need to lie, you lie. If you need to make promises you know you won’t keep, you do it anyway.

3) Corruption in the leader is a kind of virtue: “To say that a corrupt means corrupts the ends is to believe in the Immaculate Conception of ends and principle”, Alinksy blasphemously asserted. “The real arena is corrupt and bloody. Life is a corrupting process. He who fears corruption, fears life.” Alinsky castigates the leader who places his personal conscience and personal salvation above the needs of the people, claiming that such a leader “does not care enough for the people to be corrupted for them”.[15]

This is the school in which Barack Obama was formed: no dogma; no objective truth; no fixed standards of ethics; the end justifies the means; and corruption in the leader is raised to the level of virtue.

How can anyone believe anything Obama says? There is no fixed standard of ethics preventing him from lying to achieve whatever aims he deems fit.

As a student of Alinksy (as is Hillary Clinton), [16] Obama will think nothing of stamping out those who stand in the way of his Party’s agenda. In his 1946 Reveille for Radicals: Alinsky wrote that if the radicals become stronger than the opposition, they must “crush the opposition”.[17]

Congressman Chris Smith and Tulsa’s Bishop Slattery appear aware of Obama’s aim to “crush the opposition”. As noted, Smith warned that Obama’s pro-abortion directives are designed so that “religious hospitals will be squeezed out.” Bishop Slattery observed the new mandate may end up “closing down every Catholic school, hospital and the other public ministries of the Church, which is perhaps their underlying intention.”

It is futile appealing the Constitution to Obama, since he publicly expresses support for its effective revision.

In a 2001 radio interview, Obama argued that the Warren Court, which started a long line of activist decisions in a number of areas, did not go far enough:

1) it failed to bring about “redistributive change” and a “redistribution of wealth”;

2) it failed to, in Obama’s words, “break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution”[18]

In his book, The Audacity of Hope, Obama had this to say:

“Ultimately, I have to side with Justice Breyer’s view of the Constitution – that it is not a static but rather a living document, and must be read in the context of the ever-changing world.”[19]

Obama belongs to the clique of doctrinal liberals whose basic tenet is, “the only law of the land should be what we say it is at the moment,” which is a formula for State Absolutism. . . .

Read the whole thing.  These facts should raise the fear factor of every freedom-loving America.

MICHAEL GERSON - "THE WAR ON RELIGION IS NOW FORMALLY DECLARED"

Michael Gerson, former speechwriter for President Bush and a Washington Post columnist, penned a column back on January 30th that I missed -- "Obama plays his Catholic allies for fools."  It's clear Gerson understood immediately the implications of Obama's "in your face" executive order putting a fist in the face of religious conscience.  Gerson in my mind has always been a restrained person, something of a "moderate" Republican, and a self-identified Protestant.  Yet he wrote:

Both radicalism and maliciousness are at work in Obama’s decision — an edict delivered with a sneer. It is the most transparently anti-Catholic maneuver by the federal government since the Blaine Amendment was proposed in 1875 — a measure designed to diminish public tolerance of Romanism, then regarded as foreign, authoritarian and illiberal. Modern liberalism has progressed to the point of adopting the attitudes and methods of 19th-century Republican nativists. . . .

And,

Obama is claiming the executive authority to determine which missions of believers are religious and which are not — and then to aggressively regulate institutions the government declares to be secular. It is a view of religious liberty so narrow and privatized that it barely covers the space between a believer’s ears.

Obama’s decision also reflects a certain view of liberalism. Classical liberalism was concerned with the freedom to hold and practice beliefs at odds with a public consensus. Modern liberalism uses the power of the state to impose liberal values on institutions it regards as backward. It is the difference between pluralism and anti-­clericalism.

The administration’s ultimate motivation is uncertain. Has it adopted a radical secularism out of conviction, or is it cynically appealing to radical secularists? In either case, the war on religion is now formally declared.  [emphases mine]

Me:  We are confronted with a serious and dangerous threat from our own President and his supporters.  Freedom in the United States is now under seige from a militant executive branch and its Democrat congressional allies intent on "reforming" (read: "deforming and obliterating") basic freedoms we have taken for granted all our lives.  These are serious developments indeed.

LAOS: CHRISTIANS THREATENED -- RECANT OR LEAVE

Religious liberty specialist Elizabeth Kendall reports:

Laos is a Communist-ruled South-east Asian state known for its abysmal human rights record, particularly its appalling prison conditions and systematic use of torture. Christians in this poor, landlocked nation face intensive persecution. Generally the religious persecution occurs outside the main cities, targets the already marginalised and persecuted ethnic minorities and is committed by belligerent and corrupt local officials. In Laos, religious liberty exists in theory but not in practice. Article 30 of the Laos Constitution states: 'Lao citizens have the right and freedom to believe or not to believe in religions.' However, the Prime Minister's 2002 Decree on Religious Practice (Decree 92) renders religious liberty illusory by mandating that religious activities first be approved by the village, district and regional authorities.

Furthermore, Decree 92 and Article 9 of the Constitution prohibit activities that could cause 'chaos' or 'social division'. Lao Communists oppose the growth of Protestant Christianity amongst the ethnic minorities, viewing it as part of a US conspiracy to destroy social cohesion and challenge Communist rule. Meanwhile, ethnic minority groups with a tradition of ancestor worship oppose Christianity, fearing reprisals from offended ancestral spirits. Denial of services (educational, medical, sanitation), imprisonments, forced renunciations of faith (using threats and torture) and expulsions are the main means employed against Christians by Communist officials determined to maintain control over a harmonious society. In January 2010 eleven Christian families consisting of 48 believers were expelled at gunpoint from Katin village in Ta-Oih district, Saravan Province, southern Laos, simply on account of their faith. Over the course of the year several other families, moved by the Christians' witness, decided to follow Christ and were also expelled. These believers have suffered greatly, losing everything they owned, with some even dying in the bush. They are slowly re-establishing themselves but life is hard. (background, see RLPB label: Laos)

QUICK TAKES

Chuck Colson - Vending Machine Abortions

When contraception is as convenient as sodas and candy bars, that’s the sign that sexuality has not only been divorced from marriage and procreation, it’s been divorced from any relational responsibility.

The Silence Regarding the Persecution of Christians

According to a Pew Forum study, Christians are being persecuted in 131 of the world's 193 countries (200 million according to the World Evangelical Alliance). (These data are reported in David Aikman, "The Worldwide Attack on Christians" Commentary, February 2012

The 1998 International Religious Freedom Act requires that the promotion of religious freedom worldwide be a part of U.S. foreign policy, but the Obama administration has yet to take a single step under this Act (see here).

Rick Warren Builds bridges to Muslims

The Rev. Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest and one of America's most influential Christian leaders, has embarked on an effort to heal divisions between evangelical Christians and Muslims by partnering with Southern California mosques and proposing a set of theological principles that includes acknowledging that Christians and Muslims worship the same God.   Hmmm....  Update: 3/3/12  -IMPORTANT:  The reporter of this story got it entirely wrong.  Rick Warren sets the record straight here. 

Why No Coverage of This Odd Obama Remark about Religion?

"Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance." Obama said this in his June 2009 Cairo speech that the media praised to the high heavens -- literally.

MAHATTAN DECLARATION -- TAKE ACTION TO DEFEND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY!

SIGNATURES IN SUPPORT OF THE PETITION

 

Mr. President, I Still Believe

---

Dear President Obama,

I am deeply disappointed at your recent failure to protect religious liberty in the context of the HHS preventive care mandate. As Americans we are used to having political and religious disagreements. But we should all be able to agree that the government should not force religious people and institutions to provide drugs and services that violate their faith.

The recent statement from HHS that it will give religious objectors one extra year to change their religious views added insult to injury. It is as if you are saying to religious people "We respect your religious views so much that we'll give you one extra year to abandon them." Religious principles have no expiration date. True protection for religious liberty--the kind required by the Constitution you swore to uphold and the federal laws you are obliged to enforce--requires a broad religious exemption, one that protects any person or institution from being forced to provide services in violation of sincerely held religious beliefs.

Please reconsider your administration's actions and order HHS to provide the kind of broad protection for religious liberty that our laws require. Doing so would honor the sacrifices of those who fought and died to give us our freedoms. It would allow religious employers across the country to stay in business and keep offering health insurance to their employees. And it would pay tribute to the great heritage of religious diversity upon which this great nation was built.

Sign the Petition:  (click here)

 

SENATE DEMOCRATS VOTE TO RESTRICT RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN AMERICA

I've borrowed the title of this post from Jim Loft over at Gateway Pundit who wrote:

The vote today suports Barack Obama’s HHS Mandate that forces religious institutions to provide free birth control, abortion drugs and sterilizations. This goes against church doctrine.

He posted the following MUST VIEW video:

Loft further wrote:

Americans United for Life is launching this educational video along with a website to help people understand the manipulative policies in the pending healthcare law that are forcing both an abortion mandate and an abortion-inducing drug mandate on all Americans — regardless of their personal beliefs. In a public relations bait-and-switch tactic, the administration pretends that this is about contraception. It is not.

GLENN BECK - "WE'RE ALL CATHOLICS NOW"

Beck is absolutely right.  And the issue is huge.  He writes in today's Washington Post, "Why we are all Catholics now":

[..] The the state is telling the Catholic Church to violate its principles and teachings. So if you are a person of faith, you must call yourself a Catholic.

Today, the Catholic Church is defending a historic American freedom. We tend to forget that many of America’s earliest European settlers were religious refugees. Europe was not a kind place to the faithful if the state didn’t approve: Jews in Spain, Puritans in England, Protestants in France and so on. You were cast out, or worse.

Our Founding Fathers remembered this. They knew if you can’t serve God as you choose, you are not free. And so they enshrined that right in the First Amendment of the Constitution: The state “shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”

This is why Americans are offended by the ruling from the White House that would force church-run institutions to pay for birth control and morning-after pills, which are tantamount to abortion. The so-called compromise is no compromise – under government-approved health insurance plans that the church pays for, abortifacients would be covered. Sin by proxy – that’s the compromise.

This isn’t a fight over abortion or birth control. This is about whether the state can force someone to pay to have their religious beliefs violated.

GLENN BECK - "WE'RE ALL CATHOLICS NOW"

Beck is absolutely right.  And the issue is huge.  He writes in today's Washington Post, "Why we are all Catholics now":

[..] The the state is telling the Catholic Church to violate its principles and teachings. So if you are a person of faith, you must call yourself a Catholic.

Today, the Catholic Church is defending a historic American freedom. We tend to forget that many of America’s earliest European settlers were religious refugees. Europe was not a kind place to the faithful if the state didn’t approve: Jews in Spain, Puritans in England, Protestants in France and so on. You were cast out, or worse.

Our Founding Fathers remembered this. They knew if you can’t serve God as you choose, you are not free. And so they enshrined that right in the First Amendment of the Constitution: The state “shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”

This is why Americans are offended by the ruling from the White House that would force church-run institutions to pay for birth control and morning-after pills, which are tantamount to abortion. The so-called compromise is no compromise – under government-approved health insurance plans that the church pays for, abortifacients would be covered. Sin by proxy – that’s the compromise.

This isn’t a fight over abortion or birth control. This is about whether the state can force someone to pay to have their religious beliefs violated.

MUST READ - "CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER ON PRESIDENTIAL DECREE #1"

Read it here.  I hope to get back to the article to put up excerpts, but meanwhile, read it for yourself.  It's that important.  It's truly unbelievable what is happening to this nation; how so many swallow the flimsiest of justifications.  We are a nation devoid of clarity and logic.  Time to look up from our diversionary technological devices and begin THINKING.  

Here's HotAir's summary:

Consider the constitutional wreckage left by Obamacare:

First, the assault on the free exercise of religion. Only churches themselves are left alone. Beyond the churchyard gate, religious autonomy disappears. Every other religious institution must bow to the state because, by this administration’s regulatory definition, church schools, hospitals and charities are not “religious” and thus have no right to the free exercise of religion — no protection from being forced into doctrinal violations commanded by the state.

Second, the assault on free enterprise. To solve his own political problem, the president presumes to order a private company to enter into a contract for the provision of certain services — all of which must be without charge. And yet, this breathtaking arrogation of power is simply the logical extension of Washington’s takeover of the private system of medical care — a system Obama farcically pretends to be maintaining. …

Third, the assault on individual autonomy. Every citizen without insurance is ordered to buy it, again under penalty of law. This so-called individual mandate is now before the Supreme Court — because never before has the already hypertrophied Commerce Clause been used to compel a citizen to enter into a private contract with a private company by mere fact of his existence.

CHARLES COLSON - WHAT'S REALLY AT STAKE IS WHETHER WE WILL CONTINUE TO BE A FREE COUNTRY

Colson's is a veteran's voice especially needed during this crisis in American history - for that is what it is, a crisis.  Who would have thought that government would overreach and violate the Constitution so brazenly.  Months ago I saw President Obama and his henchmen (and women) as subversive to the American state.  That is daily being born out.  The crisis hour is upon us.  Below is Colson's take:  [my bolding]

"Leviathan's Appetite: Abortion inducing drugs, the Catholic Church, government mandates. What's all this really about?"

Listen Now | Download

Make no mistake. The raging controversy over the Obama Administration’s refusal to exempt religious organizations from onerous health care mandates is a big deal. A very big deal.

But why? What’s really at issue here?

Despite what the media and the Obama Administration are telling you, it’s not just a battle between the so-called “archaic beliefs” of the Catholic Church on the one hand and advocates of women’s health on the other. It’s not just about access to abortion-inducing drugs, contraception, and sterilization, bad as that is.

And it’s even more than a battle over religious freedom. I have to say, the Obama Administration’s move boggles the mind. What part of “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . .” does the administration not understand?

There is no way this outrage would survive if it has to get to the courts. And I’m grateful to see lawmakers in Congress on both sides working together to reverse the decision. Let’s hope they can succeed.

I’m even more gratified to see people of faith rallying against this violation of religious liberty. I’ve heard from ministers, rabbis, even Muslims, outraged at this threat.

That’s a point that Cardinal Donald Wuerl, archbishop of Washington, D.C., Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik of Yeshiva University, and I make together in today’s Wall Street Journal. As we say in our opinion piece, a Catholic, a Protestant, and a Jew can all agree that “under no circumstances should people of faith violate their consciences and discard their most cherished religious beliefs in order to comply with a gravely unjust law.” Come to BreakPoint.org, and we’ll link you to our Wall Street Journal article.

So why in the world would the Administration brushoff at the Bill of Rights and antagonize people of faith — maybe 80 percent of the U.S. population?

Because what’s really at stake here is whether or not there is any limit to government power.

That’s the point made by Daniel Henninger in his excellent piece yesterday, also in the Wall Street Journal.  “The American Catholic Church,” he writes, “is now being handed a lesson in the hierarchy of raw political authority.”

But the question for all of us, Henninger writes, “is whether anyone can remain free of a U.S. government determined to do what it wants to do, at whatever cost.”

Friends, the answer to that question depends on whether we the people, and especially we Christians and people of all faiths will rise up and say, “Enough! You may not intrude on our religious beliefs, you may not prohibit us from living out our faith.”

So today, as I have earlier this week, I am asking you to take action. Go to ManhattanDeclration.org, sign our petition to the President to reverse the HHS decision. Thousands of people have already done so. And then sign the Manhattan Declaration itself and get your friends to do the same thing.

I have said before, now is the time to speak out—and to remain vigilant in the face of the government’s enormous appetite for power over the lives and liberties of its citizens.

What’s really at stake is whether we will continue to be a free country.

** Further Reading and Information

United We Stand for Religious Freedom
Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Charles Colson, Meir Soloveichik | Wall Street Journal | February 10, 2012

Transformers
Daniel Henninger | Wall Street Journal | February 9, 2012

The Time Is Now
Chuck Colson | Two-Minute Warning | February 8, 2012

First They Came for the Catholics
Timothy George & Charles Colson | Christianity Today | February 9, 2012

Decision unchanged on HHS exemptions
David A. Zubik | Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh | January 2012

An Urgent Call to Defend Our Religious Liberty
James Dobson | Family Talk Radio | February 9, 2012

Petition to the President
ManhattanDeclaration.org

Manhattan Declaration
ManhattanDeclaration.org

SATURDAY JAN. 28TH - VOICE OF THE MARTYRS REGIONAL CONFERENCE IN CHARLOTTE, NC

Those in the Carolinas should take note of this wonderful conference.    Guest speakers include Sarah Liu (imprisoned 6 years in China), Getaneh Getaneh (tortured in Ethiopia), Gracia Burnham (held hostage in Philippines; husband killed), Darcie Gill (VOM spokesperson who travels worldwide).

Host Church:

Steele Creek Church of Charlotte
1929 W. Arrowood Rd.
Charlotte, NC 28217

For more information go here and for a great PDF poster, go here.   Even if you haven't registered yet, you can still go.

OBAMA REIGN - SUBVERTING AMERICA'S GREATNESS

I view President Obama as undermining America's uniqueness and greatness.   Two examples (conscience and religious freedom, and undermining military preparedness) appear in today's Wall Street Journal.

--  See Timothy Dolan's article - "ObamaCare and Religious Freedom."  Dolan appropriately subtitles his article, "How about some respect for Catholics and others who object to treating pregnancy as a disease?" (Dolan is archbishop of New York and president of the U.S. conference of Catholic Bishops.)

--  See also Margaret Eaglen - Defense Cuts and America's Outdated Military   Her concluding paragraph reads:

 What the Obama Pentagon will lay out this week is the final nail in the coffin of our national contract with our all-volunteer military—that if they fight, they'll have the very best to win. It marks the beginning of the end of America's unquestioned international military dominance. Our soldiers will increasingly go into combat with aged equipment, lacking assurance that they'll prevail against any enemy.

Update 1/27/12 : - Arthur Herman - "Obama's Strategy for Disaster"
    Me: One weeps at the self-destructive forces at work in the United States.  It seems God has given us over to delusions, a way of bringing destruction on ourselves through ourselves.

HEAVY-HANDED GOVERNMENT TYRANNY SWELLS UNDER OBAMA AND SABELIUS

The Family Research Council reports:

Thanks to President Obama, the tens and thousands of pro-lifers who streamed into D.C. for today's March have another cause to fight: the future of religious liberty. Late Friday, the Obama administration marked the anniversary of Roe v. Wade by cementing one of the biggest attacks on conscience rights the country has ever seen. Starting next year, any organization that offers health insurance to employees will be forced to cover birth control, sterilizations, and abortifacients--no matter what their objections.

CHUCK COLSON - "GAY RIGHTS AND FREEDOM OF RELIGION"

Under the Obama Administration gay "rights" is on a collision course with freedom of religion.  Colson explains:

Listen Now | Download

It started as a drip, drip, drip. Then the flow increased, and now it’s a gusher: The Obama Administration has decided to promote and emphasize lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered rights—and it is doing so at the expense of everyone’s God-given freedom of religion.

Those are tough words, but regrettably, true words.

In December 9, 2009 in a major address entitled, “Human Rights Agenda for the 21^st Century,” Secretary of State Clinton said people “must be free to worship, associate, and to love in the way that they choose.”

Did you catch that? In one sentence, little noticed at the time, Mrs. Clinton showed the Administration’s true priorities. In one fell swoop, she changed our God-given right to freedom of religion, a public act, to a much more restricted “freedom of worship,” a private act, which any Chinese official could go along with. And at the same time, Mrs. Clinton, speaking for the administration, elevated the quote “right to love in the way they choose” as a fundamental human right.

Lest you think I’m overreacting to an isolated statement, the intervening years have amply borne out my concerns.

Freedom of worship has been substituted for freedom of religion in speech after speech by administration officials. Just last month, the Secretary told a gathering of diplomats that “gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights.” She also said the “most challenging issue arises when people cite religious or cultural values as a reason to violate or not to protect the human rights of LGBT citizens.” As I mentioned before on BreakPoint, this is a disastrous foreign policy. African nations are already up in arms, and it certainly isn’t going to help us with Muslim nations, who view U.S. advocacy for homosexuality as proof of Western decadence.

Not to be outdone, President Obama told a pro-gay-rights group, “Every single American—gay, straight, lesbian, bisexual, transgender—every single American deserves to be treated equally before the law.”

Does that include marriage? Well, the President’s secretary for Housing and Urban Development, Shaun Donovan, has just said that he “absolutely” supports same-sex marriage. The Administration has already refused to defend the Defense of Marriage Act. And before the EEOC, officials have said in a contest “between religious liberty and sexual liberty,” sexual liberty triumphs

Can you see where all this is headed?

But how, you might ask, does elevating so-called LGBT rights actually threaten religious rights? Well, as Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York has said, framing homosexual marriage as a civil right equates those who oppose it with those who practice either “intentional or willfully ignorant racial discrimination.”

Dolan is predicting “a national conflict between church and state of enormous proportions and to the detriment of both institutions.” Friends, no one wants to oppress gays, but what happens to Christians’ right to practice our religion, which does not allow us to accept “gay marriage”?

That’s why I am urging you, and everyone you know, to sign the Manhattan Declaration, which takes a bold stand for religious freedom and traditional marriage. Do it today, ManhattanDeclaration.org.

Further Reading and Information

Obama's EEOC Nominee Draws Fire for Gay Rights Activism
Shannon Bream | Fox News | December 10, 2011

So Now It's Freedom of Religion?
Chuck Colson | BreakPoint.org | September 1, 2010

The Wrong Kind of Export
Chuck Colson | BreakPoint.org | December 20, 2011/p>

Human Rights Agenda for the 21st Century
Hilary Clinton | Department of State | December 14, 2009

Catholics warn of 'national conflict' over gay marriage
David Gibson | USA Today | September 23, 2011

Manhattan Declaration
ManhattanDeclaration.org

 

NEW YORK CITY BANS CHURCHES FROM MEETING IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Update 1/11/12 - FRC has initiated a petition:

Equal access means equal access. Right? Not for Christians in New York City.

Last week the city's Department of Education reversed course on its policy of allowing religious congregations the use of public schools for Sunday worship services, sending pastors packing with just six weeks to find a new home.

For the last ten years, New York's Department of Education has given at least 60 small, mostly Christian, upstart or itinerant congregations the option to hold their weekend services in any one of the city's empty school buildings provided, of course, they pay to use the facilities - a nice benefit to the cash strapped public education system.

When possible, public schools should and have customarily been made available to community organizations of every stripe. It's called equal access. But by essentially disallowing some groups over others because, in this instance, they are religious, NY's Department of Education has engaged in nothing other than viewpoint discrimination.

This Thursday, pastors from across New York City will be gathering at Mayor Bloomberg's State of the City address at Morris High School to protest this troubling discrimination.

From Tocqueville's America to today's, community groups, fraternal societies, churches and other voluntary associations have been the hallmark and backbone of our society, fostering networks of support and civic engagement. We should be encouraging not evicting these congregations. The fact that they're doing it on religious grounds only makes it all the more insulting to right sensibility.

Sign our petition to NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg to stop the city's discrimination against churches and grant them equal access for building use.

AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY SHOULD INTEGRATE A STRESS ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

I appreciate Nina Shea, the author with Paul Marshall, of Silenced: How Apostasy & Blasphemy Codes Are Choking Freedom Worldwide.  

[...]  In an interview with Kathryn Jean Lopez, Nina Shea offers a striking comparison between the state of religious freedom at home and abroad: “We don’t face death squads, torture or labor camps, as millions do elsewhere, so we should be careful in our rhetoric. At the same time, there are growing, dangerous restriction on religious freedom in the U.S., and more so in Europe, and we need to protest and fight them. We can do both, while not confusing their gravity.” . . .

Who is your nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, from among those profiled in Silenced?

Shahbaz Bhatti and Gov. Salman Taseer of Pakistan wouldn’t qualify since both have been murdered this year and posthumous nominations for the prize are not permitted. I would, therefore, nominate Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Somalian-Dutch former member of parliament. For raising the issue of violence against women in the Netherlands’ Muslim communities, she endured and overcame death threats, a criminal hate speech investigation, a civil hate-speech trial , the stripping of her citizenship, eviction from her home, a constant need for bodyguards and social ostracism. She, however, has not been silenced.

How should the name Shahbaz Bhatti, the Pakistani politician who was assassinated this year, be known?

Shahbaz Bhatti was quite simply a Catholic martyr. He was murdered early this year because he opposed Pakistan’s blasphemy law, which is regularly used to persecute the Christian and Ahmadi minorities and Muslim liberals. Peacefully defending minorities persecuted for their religious beliefs in Pakistan was his life’s work both from his base as the head of a non-governmental organization and from his post as the only Christian in the government’s cabinet as minister of minority affairs. He put his life on the line every day.

What can American Catholics do?   [This goes for Protestants like me, also]

Catholics need to become more aware of the intense religious repression suffered by other Christians in Iraq, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, northern Sudan and elsewhere. They need to pray for them and reach out to them. They need to use their rights as citizens of the world’s leading democracy to insist that their president and members of Congress defend persecuted believers.

A good place to start would be with Asia Bibi, the 45-year-old Catholic mother of five who has been on death row in a Punjab prison awaiting appeal on blasphemy charges since November 2010. The Catholic media Asia News reports: “The bishop of Islamabad wants Pakistan’s highest authorities, including the justice minister, to intervene. However, so far, warnings by Western governments and Pope Benedict XVI’s appeal and words of solidarity for the Christian mother have fallen on deaf ears. … She had been arrested on blasphemy charges in June of 2009 stemming from a discussion she had had with Muslim women. At the time, she tried to defend her Christian faith and Jesus, who died on the cross for humanity’s sins, asking her co-workers what Muhammad had done for them. After verbally assaulting her, they accused her of “contaminating” a well by drawing water from it. … Local Muslims retaliated against her once the charges of blasphemy were made. They surrounded her home and tried to lynch her.”

While American Catholics—and all people who take their religion seriously—are understandably offended when their faith is mocked, hate-speech laws are not the solution.

Government-coerced speech codes would be applied in a broad fashion to curtail individual freedom and would also be used against them. The state regulation of Christian preaching has already happened in Western countries that have hate speech laws: clergy have been put on trial for preaching against gay marriage and for teaching the differences, in Christian theological terms, between Islam and Christianity. Following the example of Father John Courtney Murray in the last century, we must promote, including in Rome, the importance of the American First Amendment.

A lot of the nations you survey are allied with the U.S. in one way or another. What can we do to influence religious liberty abroad? Why is it any of our business?

We need to better integrate religious freedom into our foreign policy. We should now anticipate great persecution against Christians, a religious cleansing, for example, in Iraq, Egypt and Syria and make plans to forestall that though our diplomacy and aid. We should stop partnering with the Organization of the Islamic Conference on issues involving freedom of religion and speech; this validates its agenda of repression.

PODCAST INTERVIEW WITH INTERNATIONAL FREEDOM OF RELIGION ADVOCATE NINA SHEA

John J. Miller of National Review Online announced:

Today’s Between the Covers podcast is with Nina Shea, co-author of Silenced: How Apostasy & Blasphemy Codes Are Choking Freedom Worldwide. We discuss why Muslims seem so much touchier about their religion than people of other faiths, whether Muslim faith is compatible with modern democracy, and Canada’s persecution of Mark Steyn.

VOICE OF THE MARTYRS REGIONAL CONFERENCE - NOV. 12TH IN KNOXVILLE, TN.

This looks very good.  The speaker line-up is most impressive.  The Saturday conference goes from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM,  Nov. 12th.     www.vommeetings.com     www.persecution.com  

Speakers include:

·       Bob Fu, founder of China Aid Association (CAA), was raised in mainland China. He was a leader in the student democracy movement and God used its failure to bring Bob to Himself. In 1992 Bob became the pastor of a house church. Four years later he and his wife were imprisoned. After fleeing to the United States, Bob Fu began CAA to draw international attention to the persecuted church in China.

·       Russell Stendal was raised on the mission field in Colombia, South America and became a missionary jungle pilot at age nineteen. Kidnapped in 1983 by Marxist rebels and held hostage for five months, his book, “Rescue the Captors” relates his experience. Russell’s work today in Colombia and surrounding countries includes radio stations, literature publishing and air drops (VOM parachute project) and more.

·       Pastor Steven Khoury is the youngest ordained Arab pastor in Israel and the Palestinian territories. Pastor Khoury currently writes articles for Al-Quds, the largest Arabic newspaper in the Holy Land. He is also authored the book "Diplomatic Christianity: Standing in the Shadow of Tomorrow's Persecution."

·       Darcie Gill has been on staff with The Voice of the Martyrs for over 10 years. She has met with and served our persecuted brothers and sisters in China, Sudan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cuba, India, Myanmar, Laos, Bangladesh, Colombia and many other countries.

·       Worship and music by Amy Shreve.

THE WEST'S REFUSAL TO SPEAK AGAINST RELIGIOUS APARTHEID IN MUSLIM LANDS IS IMMORAL

Elizabeth Kendal writes:  [my emphases]

The West's reluctance to challenge the immoral religious aparthide inherent in Islam is both immoral and short-sighted. If the West truly believes in the principle of universal human rights, then religious and cultural rights can never trump human rights. Furthermore, silence in the face of Islamic religious aparthide is discriminatory; for why should these victims be less worthy of our moral outrage? Anyone who maintains that the systematic religious aparthide inherent in Islam is the religious right of Muslims, is clearly no defender of universal human rights.

See also:  A Double-Bind Upon the Copts: dhimmitude in action.
Rev Dr Mark Durie, Monday, October 10, 2011

Quote: "The Copts are in a double bind. If they protest against the abuses brought upon their heads by the dhimma system, they are treated as rebels, and the value of their blood and possessions discounted accordingly: the more they protest, the less right they have under Islamic law even to exist. On the other hand, the more they acquiesce, the more voracious and emboldened their persecutors will become. [. . .] The international community will be held accountable if they do not act swiftly on the brutal attacks towards Egypt’s Coptic Christians who are suffering under a modern day form of apartheid where institutionalised discrimination and deadly attacks have a become a way of life for Egypt’s 15 million Copts."

The forgotten Christians of the East
By Caroline B. Glick, Jerusalem Post, 10 Oct 2011

Quote: "JUST AS the Jews of the Islamic world were forcibly removed from their ancient communities by the Arab rulers with the establishment of Israel in 1948, so Christians have been persecuted and driven out of their homes. Populist Islamic and Arab regimes have used Islamic religious supremacism and Arab racial chauvinism against Christians as rallying cries to their subjects. These calls have in turn led to the decimation of the Christian populations of the Arab and Islamic world. [. . .] It is unclear what either Western governments or Western churches think they are achieving by turning a blind eye to the persecution and decimation of Christian communities in the Muslim world. As Sunday’s events in Egypt and other daily anti-Christian attacks by Muslims against Christians throughout the region show, their behavior is not appeasing anyone. What is clear enough is that they shall reap what they sow."

ISLAM MUST BE UNDERSTOOD AS A POLITICAL RELIGION

In addition: Robert Spencer argues there is no meaningful distinction between "Islam" and "Islamist."  Such is an artificial distinction imposed by the West without substance or merit.

(Original Post) - It seems many people fail to understand that Islam is a "political religion." Elizabeth Kendal, the editor of the "Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin," has produced one of the finest,  succinct statements of that fact I have come across:

"Islam is a political religion that aims to achieve dominance -- demographically or through military or political conquest -- so that Muslims might rule and Sharia (Islamic Law / the law of Allah) might be applied. Where Islam is dominant, atheists and polytheists have two choices: convert to Islam or die. Jews and Christians (the People of the Book), however, have a third choice: dhimmitude -- they may pay for their 'protection' (i.e. their right to life) with 'jizya' ('tax': religiously sanctioned extortion) and by submitting to total subjugation and abject humiliation (Sura 9:29 http://quran.com/9/29 ). This state of subjugation is one of immense insecurity, vulnerability, perpetual anxiety and psychological trauma. The people subjugated are known as dhimmi (singular) and dhimma (plural). The agreement between Muslims and the dhimma is known as the dhimma pact. If the dhimma pact is violated, then 'protection' ends and jihad resumes. Europe's rise and Islam's decline -- commencing in the late 17th Century and culminating in defeat for Islamic forces in the 20th Century's two world wars -- saw dhimmitude wane. Today, however, Islam is back and so too is dhimmitude -- and nowhere is this more evident than in Egypt."

I learned from reading Kendal's latest blog post that 19,000 Coptic Christians have fled Egypt since March 19, 2011.  "This figure," she writes, "comes from a report by the Egyptian Federation of Human Rights (EFHR). Furthermore, Naguib Gabriel, the head EFHR, estimates that the figure could increase to 250,00 by the end of 2011.  NGO report: 93,000 Copts left Egypt since March

Kendal offers a strategic collection of materials related to the recent horrible "Maspero Massacre." 

WILL IRAN EXECUTE YOUCEF NADARKHANI?

Elizabeth Kendal, who writes the Prayer Bulletin for the Australian Evangelical Religious Liberty Alliance, provides a perceptive analysis.  [Bolding is my own; see previous post on Nadarkhani here.]

As was reported in RLPB 127 (28 Sep 2011) the trial court has ruled that
whilst Youcef Nadarkhani was not a practising Muslim before his conversion to Christianity, he is an apostate because of his Muslim ancestry. As mandated by the Supreme Court, Pastor Nadarkhani was brought before the trial court on 25, 26, 27 & 28 September and provided with a daily opportunity to renounce Christ and return to Islam. Those who maintain that this blatant disregard for religious liberty is contrary to Islam are wrong. Some schools of Islamic jurisprudence maintain that three opportunities should be provided on the grounds of Sura 4:137. Other schools maintain that no opportunity should be given on the grounds of Sura 2:217 that deems 'fitna' (anything that shakes the faith of a Muslim) is worse than killing. Also the Hadith (sayings of Muhammad) is very clear: 'He who changes his [Islamic] religion, kill him.' This is about Islam and politics: sanity has really nothing to do with it. Meanwhile, standing firm in his faith, Youcef Nadarkhani has refused each opportunity to renounce Christ and return to Islam.

The case has caused an outcry in the West -- not 'internationally', as is
widely reported -- with Western leaders decrying the situation as
appalling and demanding Pastor Nadarkhani's immediate release. But, it
must be noted, no such outcry is emerging from the Muslim world or from the regimes behind emerging powers such as China or Russia, or from the UN. Furthermore, as noted in RLPB 126 (21 Sep), Iran is working hard to exploit the Arab uprisings with the aim of drawing Sunni Arab Islamists into the Iranian (political) axis. As Islam rises and Western leverage and influence declines, the Iranian regime may decide that a stand for Islam in defiance of the West can only profit them.

Now that the court has confirmed Nadarkhani is an apostate and sentenced
him to death, the regime has three options. It may: (1) defiantly execute
Pastor Nadarkhani for apostasy, making a stand for Islam in defiance of
the 'colonialist' and 'Christian' West; (2) condemn Nadarkhani's apostasy,
confirm his death sentence and then release him in a very public
'humanitarian' gesture before making sure he is quietly eliminated by the
secret services. This is exactly what Iran did in 1994 in the case of
Pastor Mehdi Dibaj. The Church will get the message, even if the Western
political and journalistic elite do not. Or it may (3) change the charge
to one that otherwise discredits the accused and evokes revulsion (such as
rape), and for good measure throw in a charge that, according to the
constitution, is punishable by death or life imprisonment (such as
treason).

UPDATE ON "NON"-RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN CHINA

 Courtesy of the Family Research Council: 

A group of 19 Chinese Christian leaders has drafted and sent a petition to their Communist government asking that it honor the Chinese Constitution's assurance of religious liberty. "For the last six decades, the rights to liberty of religious faith granted to our country's Christians by the Constitution of the People's Republic of China have not been put into practice," they wrote. The Chinese government is continuing its campaign of repression against the so-called "unofficial" Chinese churches, whose members number as many as 70 million believers. According to China scholar Dr. William Jeynes in a lecture at FRC, the Chinese government realizes that Christianity fosters personal morality and economic growth, but "unofficial" Christians make the government "nervous." Why? Because the government can't control people whose first commitment is not to the state, but to Christ.

One of America 's great champions of religious liberty, Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), held an important hearing earlier this month on China's ongoing assault on "unregistered" churches. "Because the Chinese government demands that religious organizations serve the aims of the state," he said, "religious organizations must receive government approval to operate... However, many religious observers adhere to the tenet that they must 'render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, but unto God what is God's,' and as a result, they are persecuted." For up-to-the-minute reports on the crisis of Christian faith in China, go to FRC's RealCompassion.org website and click over to Voice of the Martyrs.

CAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS TAKE AWAY KIDS' RELIGIOUS FREEDOM?

The "Candy Cane Case" will be argued tomorrow (Monday, 5/23/11) before the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.  How important is it?  Informed officials say, "This is widely considered one of the most important religious liberty cases in the nation."

What happened?  According to the Liberty Institute:

First, they banned eight-year-old Jonathan Morgan from handing out candy canes with Jesus’ name on them to classmates at a school holiday party.

Then they confiscated a little girl’s pencils after school because they mentioned “God.” But that’s not all…

They even banned an entire classroom from writing “Merry Christmas” on cards to our troops serving in Iraq!

Where is this?  Plano, Texas.  Liberty Institute, along with two former U.S. Solicitors General--Ken Starr and Paul Clement (of Defense of Marriage Act fame)--will go to battle for the rights of American students before all 17 judges on the Court.

 

EGYPT'S COPTS SUFFER MORE ATTACKS

From Nina Shea, director of the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom:

Copts in Egypt are begging for Egyptian Armed Forces protection today after a Muslim mob of several thousand attacked their church in the village of Soul, about 30 kilometers from Cairo, last night. The Church of St. Mina and St. George was torched, and its clergy are unaccounted for. The fire department and security forces failed to respond to Coptic pleas for help during the arson attack.

According to a report from the Washington-based Coptic American Friendship Association, the mob, chanting “Allahu Akbar,” pulled down the church’s cross and detonated a handful of gas cylinders inside the structure. The ensuing fire destroyed the church and all its contents, including the sacred relics of centuries-old saints. It is reported that a romantic relationship between a Christian man and a Muslim woman, which sharia forbids, and the refusal of the woman’s father to kill her to restore the community’s “honor,” aroused the Muslim ire. An account of this incident is here. (I also received a message from a Coptic friend that this week members of the Muslim Brotherhood, shouting “Allahu Akbar,” stormed a Christian school on Thabit Street in downtown Asyut and attempted to take it over. Egyptian security forces, including an army unit, intervened and routed out the Brotherhood members. The school had been built by Presbyterian missionaries in the early 1900s, and is now directed by Presbyterian Pastor Naji. Christian leaders from this southern area expressed a deepening sense of insecurity as the Muslim Brotherhood emerges from the underground.)

This incident follows separate brutal attacks by armed forces using heavy machine-gun fire against two monasteries, ostensibly for zoning problems, on February 23. Compass Direct, an American-based Christian news agency, reported that one monk and six church workers were shot and wounded when the Egyptian Army attacked the Coptic Orthodox Anba Bishoy Monastery in Wadi Al-Natroun, 110 kilometers north of Cairo, in order to destroy a wall monks had built to defend their property from raiders. On the same day, it reported that, in a similar incident, the army also attacked the Anba Makarious Al Sakandarie Monastery in Al Fayoum, 130 kilometers southwest of Cairo. Under an Egyptian law carried over from Ottoman times, state permission is required to build or repair church property and such permits are rarely issued.

There are growing concerns that Egypt’s 10 million or so Coptic Christians are being targeted under the cloak of political chaos during these uncertain times. A friend reports that the local Egyptian police have abandoned their posts in the provinces and thus many churches no longer have armed guards protecting them as they did following the al-Qaeda-inspired church bombing of New Year’s Day in Alexandria. Egypt’s army is one of the largest recipients of U.S. military aid.

THREE CHINESE CHRISTIAN LEADERS CONTINUE TO SUFFER, BLIND ACTIVIST BEATEN

China Aid Association reports:

Here are updates of some major persecution cases ChinaAid has been following:

Gao Zhisheng - Christian human rights attorney Gao Zhisheng was kidnapped over 740 days ago.  He resurfaced briefly in the March of 2010 (read the AP report of his interview), but disappeared in April and has not been heard from since.  The Chinese embassy has repeatedly rejected the petition to free Gao, signed by nearly 150,000 people worldwide.  His whereabouts are still unknown. Bob Fu recently called for Gao’s release at a press conference with Congressman Frank Wolf on January 18, 2010 (watch video report). Visit FreeGao.com for more.

Alimujiang Yimiti - In far western China's Xinjiang region, authorities sentenced Uyghur Christian Alimujiang to 15 years in prison on trumped up charges of leaking state secrets. In a welcome development last December, Xinjiang's People's High Court agreed to review the case. No decision has yet been announced. ChinaAid continues to support Alimujiang's family and to fund his legal defense, and will continue to do so until he is free. Visit FreeAlim.com to learn more about his case.  

Dr. Fan Yafeng - Dr. Fan, a leading advocate of constitutional democracy and the head of Christian Human Rights Lawyers of China, the Shengshan (Holy Mountain) Culture Research Institute and the Shengshan (Holy Mountain) Church, remains under house arrest since his return home from police detention on December 18, 2011.  During his arrest he was tortured for several days.  Nineteen Beijing lawyers have written a letter protesting the torture of Fan and Gao.

Chen Guangcheng

Last week, ChinaAid received a breathtaking hour-long video about Chen Guangcheng, the blind self-taught human rights lawyer who exposed 130,000 mass forced abortions and forced sterilizations in Linyi County, Shandong Province, in 2005. Chen was released at the end of a four-year jail term on September 9, 2010, but has since been under daily house arrest.

The video shows Chen, his wife and daughter living in miserable conditions, cut off from all outside contact, and detained illegally in their home. Chen describes being monitored daily by three shifts of agents with each shift consisting of 22 people.

Chen and his wife Yuan speak with unfailing spirit and brave hearts to expose their inhuman treatment from the Chinese government.  He thanks supporters from around the world, and he indicates that he will never stop fighting for justice and rule of law.

Since its release, the video has received more than 33,000 hits on YouTube.  

Soon after the video’s release, ChinaAid learned that Chen Guangcheng and his wife were beaten by the police for releasing the video. They were beaten so severely that they were unable to move from their bed, and they were denied the right to go to the hospital for medical care.

"By taking further brutal action against this family,” said Bob Fu, “the Chinese government has not only shown total contempt for the rule of law in China, but also its determination to continue this absolute wrong path toward more disregard of its own citizens’ basic rights and freedom. We call for the leaders of the free world, especially the US and the European Union, to take immediate steps to help this family before more tragedies occur."

Visit Free Guangcheng, a primarily Chinese website, for information on writing to Chen.

ChinaAid Press Releases

2/15/11 Government Retaliation Continues, Foreign Journalists Mistreated in Wake of Smuggled Video by Blind Activist Chen Guangcheng
2/10/11 Urgent! Chen and Wife Beaten Severely, Chinese Citizens Appeal to America
2/9/11 Exclusive Video Shows Ill Treatment & Illegal Detention of Blind Activist Chen Guangcheng
2/9/11 A Video Shows Blind Activist Perseveres Under House Arrest

News from Other Media

CNN - Chinese Activist Truly Free?

CBN - Chinese Activist Beaten After Video's Release

BBC - China activist Chen Guangcheng 'beaten'
AFP - US concerned on China activist: official
Women’s Rights without Frontiers - China: Blind Activist “Beaten Senseless” for Smuggled Video
Associated Press - Secret video released of detained Chinese lawyer

 

Visit China Aid to learn how to help.

THE LATEST "SOCIAL CONSERVATIVE REVIEW: THE INSIDER'S GUIDE TO PRO-FAMILY NEWS" - JANUARY 20, 2011

These compilations of articles from a variety of sources by the Family Research Council continue to offer interested people a gold mine.  A new edition appears every two weeks.  Readers will find in each a wealth of information not readily found elsewhere. For previous reviews I've posted, click here.

LETTER TO U.S. CONGRESS BY WIFE OF TORTURED CHINESE HERO

Jay Nordlinger has sobering words to share with reference to the visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao to the United States.  Nordlinger writes:

In a below post, I mentioned Gao Zhisheng, one of the best people in all of China — I believe he is still alive.  [Me: See my earlier post on Gao Zhisheng here.]  With the PRC, the government we Americans are honoring this week, you never know. Gao has been incredibly brave: He has defended Falun Gong practitioners, “house church” activists, and other people targeted by the government for arrest, torture, and death. Gao has paid very, very heavily for his principles.

In April 2009, Gao’s wife, Geng He, wrote a letter to the U.S. Congress. I wrote about this matter in a column, here. The letter in full can be found here. Geng began,

“On the night of September 21, 2007, my husband, with a black hood thrown over his head, was kidnapped and brought to an unknown location. For 59 days, many people tortured and ravaged him in all kinds of ways, including beating him with an electric prod, inserting bamboo sticks into his reproductive organs, holding lit cigarettes close to his eyes and nose, etc., so that his eyes would burn and he would be forced to inhale smoke. My husband told me later that he was in such unbearable pain at the time that his sweat, blood, and other bodily fluids covered the floor. Among the reasons the authorities gave for tormenting my husband was that he had written to the United States Congress.”

The head of the government that has done this to Gao, we are honoring at the White House, our American home. Isn’t that wonderful? Are you proud?

Geng went on to write,

“I remember that, when my husband was still free, whenever major human rights cases arose in China, he would always look towards the United States. He always said: The United States is the cornerstone of world freedom, human rights and social order; the United States would not tolerate despotic rule and the wanton abuse of the weak and the masses.”

Ain’t that quaint? I’m sure you’re laughing your head off. One more excerpt, from Geng’s letter:

“Honorable members of the U.S. Congress, please help me support my husband, lawyer Gao Zhisheng, so that the evil forces will know that there is resistance against persecution; so that the millions of Chinese suffering this despotic rule will know that the United States is concerned about their human rights situation, and will not give up. My husband would be more resolute because of this, the Chinese people would feel inspired because of this, and China and the world would eventually transform because of this!

“Many thanks for your concern!”

“Your concern”? Our concern?! I’ll tell you what our concern is, lady: to make money and go with the flow.

At the beginning of this administration, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, traveling in Asia, said that human rights would not be allowed to “interfere” with such urgent issues as “the global climate-change crisis.” This week’s pomp in honor of Hu Jintao proves that the administration is true to its word: Human rights sure as hell aren’t interfering.

SHAMEFUL FAILURE OF THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO SUPPORT DEMOCRACY IN IRAN - AND CHINA

I remember well the silence of the Obama administration in 2009 when Iranians rose up in revolt against their rulers.  Fouad Ajami in a Wall Street Journal article today also recalls that moment.  He writes: (my bolding)

. . .  Mr. Obama had come into office with a belief that he knew and understood the Islamic world. He was proud that Islam was a strand in his identity. He was sure that the policy of his predecessor had antagonized Islam. President George W. Bush's "diplomacy of freedom" was not given the grace of a decent burial. "Ideology is so yesterday," Secretary Clinton proudly proclaimed in early 2009. Realpolitik was to be the order of the day.

The Bush diplomacy had declared an open ideological assault against the Iranian theocracy. Mr. Obama would offer that regime an olive branch and a promise of engagement. Syria had been pushed out of Lebanon and viewed as a renegade regime that had done its best to frustrate the American war in Iraq. The Obama diplomacy would offer the rulers in Damascus diplomatic rehabilitation.

Thus the word went forth to the despots in the region that the American campaign on behalf of liberty that Mr. Bush had launched in 2003 had been called off. A new Iraqi democracy, midwifed by American power, was fighting for its life. The Obama administration would keep Iraq at arm's length.

This break of faith with democracy was put on cruel display in the summer of 2009, when the Iranians rose in revolt against their rulers. True, American diplomacy was not likely to alter the raw balance of power between the regime and its democratic oppositionists. But the timidity of American power, and the refusal of the Obama administration to embrace the cause of the opposition, must be reckoned one of American foreign policy's great moral embarrassments. . .   [more . . .]

Me:  Mr. Ajami goes on to talk about Syria, Lebananon, and Tunisia in this article.   But I wanted to record Ajami's assessment of President Obama's inexplicable and shameful failure to support the 2009 uprising.  Though it struck me forcefully at the time, it seemed that Obama's silence never received the attention it deserved.  Now the distinguished Fouad Ajami offers his opinion, and explains how the ebb of Americn power continues to affect the Middle East.

(Ajami is a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. )

Update 1/20/11 - Regarding the visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao to Washington, Ellen Bork notes that awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo

undermined the carefully cultivated image of a legitimate regime in full control of, and tacitly accepted by, its people.  Chinese leaders fear international support for individuals who are brave and stubborn enough to work for a democratic alternative to the Communist party. . . .

On January 13, he [President Obama] did meet at the White House with a group of experts and activists on China. But people who would have offended Chinese leaders — people like Harry Wu, the former prisoner of China's laogai or forced labor camps; Rebiya Kadeer, the exiled Uighur leader; Ngawang Sandrol, a Tibetan nun jailed and tortured for her songs of praise for the Dalai Lama; Wang Juntao, a former Tiananmen protester; or Wan Yanhai, a famous AIDS activist and longtime associate of Liu Xiaobo — they were absent.

The president's determination to avoid using the weight and prestige of his office to support democratic opponents of authoritarian regimes in China, Iran, Belarus, and elsewhere is quickly becoming a hallmark of his administration. It's a dispiriting trend. And it suggests that the president simply does not grasp the meaning and potential of Liu Xiaobo and his fellow Chinese democrats.  (my emphases)

Update #2 - Washington Post editorial - "President Obama makes Hu Jintao Look good on rights"

CHRISTIANS FLEE IRAQ... NO PROTECTION OFFERRED

Nina Shea, writing in National Review Online, notes that the New York Times has finally decided to cover the story.  (Where have they been all these years???)  Shea writes:

The obliteration from Iraq of its ancient Christian presence — and with it the reality of religious freedom and pluralism — is an unintended consequence of the U.S. invasion but has never been factored in as a U.S. strategic concern. There is no Obama policy, not even a safe-haven or refugee policy, designed specifically to help Iraq’s Christians as they confront religious cleansing.

Similarly, Mindy Belz, writing in World Magazine, asks, "Why has U.S. war strategy left out religious minorities in the Middle East?" She writes:

[...] It's always been curious to me that the successful strategy to stamp out sectarian violence somehow did not extend to protecting Iraq's minorities, particularly a Christian population that stretched back nearly 2 millennia and numbered up to 1.5 million under Saddam Hussein. By December 2007, church leaders estimated, that population had been halved through death and displacement to somewhere under 700,000.  . . .

FREEALIM.COM

Petition to Free Alim:

Chairman of the People’s Republic of China, Mr. Hu Jintao
Chairman of the National People’s Congress, Mr. Wu Bangguo,
Secretary of the Communist Party in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Mr. Zhang Chunxian,
Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the United States, Mr. Zhang Yesui, 

Dear Sirs:

We are deeply concerned that Uyghur Christian Alimujiang Yimiti was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for allegedly leaking “state secrets to a foreign individual.” The unfair charge and conviction was based on two private conversations between Alimujiang and an American friend. There is no evidence to suggest their conversations included any sensitive information, pointing to Alimujiang’s innocence.

After he was detained on January 12, 2008, Alimujiang Yimiti was held illegally for over one year without sentence. Originally accused of conducting illegal religious activities, he was finally given the severe sentence of 15 years for “leaking state secrets” in August 2009. The verdict followed two secret trials, the first held in May 2008, and the second in July 2009.

Alimujiang Yimiti is a peace-loving and upstanding Uyghur Chinese citizen. Formerly an adherent of Islam, he has been a Christian believer since 1995. As a house church leader in Kashgar, he was very aware of the ethnic tensions in the region Uyghur people and lived out his faith and ran his business with committment to promoting genuine inter-ethnic harmony and love for all peoples.

Alimujiang’s shocking sentence and brutal treatment is an unjust reaction to his choice of religious belief and his ethnic status. His sentence violates Article 36 of China’s Constitution, which acknowledges religious freedom for all Chinese citizens. Furthermore, the illegal actions of the Xinjiang courts, double-jeopardy secret trials, severe sentencing, and harassment of Alimujiang’s lawyers violate Chinese law, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which the People’s Republic of China has signed.

We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned with Alimujiang’s welfare and this severe case of religious persecution. We pray for the leaders of China, and formally request that you immediately release Alimujiang Yimiti and restore his political rights and freedoms according to the law.

Thank you for your immediate attention to this matter.
Sincerely,

- - - - -

 China Aid informs us of Alim's current prison status:

Family of Imprisoned Uyghur Christian Alimujiang Denied Visiting Rights

ChinaAid Press 07-19-2010

 Since Uyghur Christian prisoner Alimjan Yimit (Alimujiang Yimiti) was moved in April to No. 3 Prison on the outskirts of Urumqi to begin serving a 15-year sentence, it was expected the normal rules regarding monthly supervised family visits would allow his mother and his wife Gulinuer and children to see him again. After being held for over two years in a detention center in Kashgar and denied all contact with family, the possibility of seeing Alimjan was their sole consolation in light of this extremely harsh and unjust sentence. Now, even that hope has been lost as the prison officials, or more likely higher-ups behind them, perpetuate the abuse. They demand a new letter be brought each visit, written and stamped by the local police verifying Alimjan's wife and mother's relationship to him.  The local police, meanwhile, say it is unnecessary and refuse to cooperate.
 
After the first visit in April, reported on by China Aid, Alimjan was allowed only one other twenty minute interaction with them in May. Alim's lawyers have never been allowed to meet with him since being moved into prison. Each week Gulinuer mails a letter to her husband only two of which she knows he's been given. She has yet to receive a reply.
 
Thank you for upholding Alimjan's family in your prayers. Gulinuer is also very grateful for some of you who have taken the time to e-mail her your words of encouragement and sympathy and sign the online petition at www.FreeAlim.com. These acts serve as tangible evidence of your faithfulness to firmly stand with Alim and his family and the Uyghur church in China through this trial.
 
 Prayer Requests:

1. May God continue to sustain Alim in prison. Nobody has seen or heard anything about him of late.
2. May God give relief to the frustration and powerlessness his family feels and change the hearts of the officials to allow them to visit Alim in prison.
3. May this injustice be somehow set right and Alim be released.
4. May God be glorified through this difficulty and the Uyghur believers be strengthened and multiplied no matter what the outcome.

Visit www.FreeAlim.comto Sign the Petition and encourage Alim and his family today!

Additional Info

• Taking Action 1: SIGN THE PETITION
  
• Taking Action 2: WRITE TO ALIM
  
• Taking Action 3: DONATE (Donar)

Me:  I am glad to know which Congressmen and Congresswomen (listed below) have gotten involved in Alim's case.  It's worth knowing (and respecting highly) those in Congress who are stalwarts for religious liberty.  We need to pray for them as well.

« 19 Congressmen issue Letter to Ambassador Zhou for Alim's release

MORE ON "FREEDOM OF RELIGION" VS. "FREEDOM OF WORSHIP"

The Family Research Council hits the subject again.  It's that important.  [Bolding mine]

Can one word change the world? President Obama certainly hopes so. Since last year's speech in Cairo, one phrase is subtly worming its way into speeches with high level White House officials. With incredible precision, the President is abandoning the term "freedom of religion" in favor of what he calls the "freedom of worship." Now to most people, that rhetoric is nothing to write home about. But to those of us standing guard for our faith in Washington, the shift is ominous. As Nina Shea, director of the Center for Religious Freedom said, "[Freedom of worship] excludes the right to raise your children in your faith; the right to have religious literature; the right to meet with co-religionists; the right to raise funds; the right to appoint your religious leaders, and to carry out charitable activities, to evangelize," and perhaps the most troubling, to engage in the public square.

This is the culmination of a 40-year process to expel God from America. First it was taking prayer and the Bible from public schools; then it was driving out the 10 Commandments from courthouses and nativities from town squares. Now religion would be squeezed out of every pocket of society until it exists only within the four walls of the church. This is more than semantics; it's a bold leap forward to completely secularize America. We've already witnessed what the courts and culture have done to alienate faith. President Obama's vision is to codify those decisions in policy--making it virtually impossible for men and women to exercise their religion in public. And that includes any church outreach like homeless shelters or orphanages. If we pursue this to its logical conclusion, America would eventually shut out or constrict anything having to do with Christ. President Obama says plenty of things he doesn't mean. But in this, his pursuit of wiping religion off the map, we should take him at his word.

VIDEO: LYING POLICE REPORT FILED IN DEARBORN, MICHIGAN

As the current phrase blandly puts it, "This is unacceptable."  No, it's more than unacceptable.  It is infuriating and maddening, and must not be tolerated!  When police arrest someone, and then blatantly lie about the circumstances and reason for the arrest, all American citizens must protest and demand that the corruption be cleaned up immediately -- and those responsible pay a steep price!  Dearborn, Michigan has become an unsafe place for anyone but Muslims.   One wonders what tick in the brain has infected the Mayor and police department to suppose they can deprive ordinary citizens of free speech and the rule of law.   The United States must never allow sharia law to trump the freedom of American citizens anywhere in this nation. 

Pamela Gellar posts:

Back in June, four Christians were arrested and their cameras confiscated at an Arab festival for passing out leaflets. Yes, the lefties, the Muslims, the commies, can go berserk at their hate protests, but decent Americans, OTOH, are living in a police-enforced sharia state. The Christians are being represented by the same brilliant legal team that brought my free speech lawsuit against Detroit, The Thomas Moore Law Center.

David Wood and Acts 17 finally got their video cameras back yesterday, and the police didn't even erase the footage. They have them lying about a dozen or so times. They will be posting the footage over the next few days. Here's a video of Negeen's arrest (apparently for telling police officers not to touch her).

Negeen's Arrest at Dearborn Arab Festival

Here's the video footage from Negeen's camera while she was being assaulted by Dearborn Police. In any other city, in any other state, police officers would recognize her Constitutional rights. But this is Dearborn. They can accuse a Christian of anything, and violate her rights in any way they see fit.

If this doesn't make your blood boil, nothing will.

It is reported that more footage is on the way.

IS THERE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN "FREEDOM OF WORSHIP" AND "FREEDOM OF RELIGION"?

Chuck Colson thinks so.  [Update: see Colson's 4 minute video] So does Christianity Today:

"Freedom of worship" has recently replaced the phrase "freedom of religion" in public pronouncements from the Obama administration. Experts are concerned that the new rhetoric may signal a policy change.

"Freedom of worship" first appeared in President Obama's November remarks at the memorial service for the victims of the Fort Hood shooting. Days later, he referred to worship rather than religion in speeches in Japan and China.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton echoed the shift in language. In a December speech at Georgetown University, she used "freedom of worship" three times but "freedom of religion" not at all. While addressing senators in January, she referred to "freedom of worship" four times and "freedom of religion" once when quoting an earlier Obama speech.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom noted the shift in its 2010 annual report. "This change in phraseology could well be viewed by human rights defenders and officials in other countries as having concrete policy implications," the report said.

Freedom of worship means the right to pray within the confines of a place of worship or to privately believe, said Nina Shea, director of the Center for Religious Freedom and member of the commission. "It excludes the right to raise your children in your faith; the right to have religious literature; the right to meet with co-religionists; the right to raise funds; the right to appoint or elect your religious leaders, and to carry out charitable activities, to evangelize, [and] to have religious education or seminary training."

The State Department does acknowledge that worship is just one component of religion, said spokesperson Andy Laine. . . [more . . .]

Writing in First Things, Ashley Samelson notes:

Any person of faith knows that religious exercise is about a lot more than freedom of worship. It’s about the right to dress according to one’s religious dictates, to preach openly, to evangelize, to engage in the public square. Everyone knows that religious Jews keep kosher, religious Quakers don’t go to war, and religious Muslim women wear headscarves—yet “freedom of worship” would protect none of these acts of faith.

Those who would limit religious practice to the cathedral and the home are the very same people who would strip the public square of any religious presence. They are working to tear down roadside memorial crosses built to commemorate fallen state troopers in Utah, to strip “Under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance, and they recently stopped a protester from entering an art gallery because she wore a pro-life pin.

The effort to squash religion into the private sphere is on the rise around the world. And it’s not just confined to totalitarian regimes like Saudi Arabia. In France, students at public schools cannot wear headscarves, yarmulkes, or large crucifixes. The European Court of Human Rights has banned crucifixes from the walls of Italian schools. In Indonesia, the Constitutional Court is reviewing a law that criminalizes speech considered “blasphemous” to other faiths. Efforts to trim religion into something that fits neatly in one’s pocket is the work of dictators, not democratic leaders. So why then have our leaders taken a rhetorical scalpel to the concept of religious freedom?

This shift in semantics could have huge implications for how the United States promotes religious freedom in countries such as these, as well as how we engage in international institutions regarding the ongoing efforts to restrict religious expression around the world.

In just a few weeks, the Human Rights Council will once more review the “defamation of religions” resolution in Geneva. The resolution, passed every year at the United Nations since 1999, claims that speech deemed offensive to another faith is a violation of international law. While the resolution is relatively toothless, it provides cover for domestic blasphemy laws used to restrict proselytism and religious speech around the world. However, the Ad Hoc Committee on Complimentary Standards, a rogue UN body with a nebulous and expansive mandate, is currently reviewing a proposed amendment that would criminalize defamation of religion to the International Convention for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), a treaty to which the United States is a signatory.

Given that a fundamental element of any religion are truth claims that by nature may conflict with or offend those of another faith, the efforts of international institutions to restrict expression of these claims go right for the religious jugular. And in reducing freedom of religion to “freedom of worship” in its political and diplomatic pronouncements, the United States can no longer invoke the First Amendment and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, thus weakening its ability to combat the international movement to criminalize religious speech.

This early, one is left only with conjectures as to why “freedom of worship” seems to be the favored phraseology of this administration when discussing religion of late. It could just be sloppy work coming out of someone’s press office. But rhetoric matters—particularly when one is the leader of the free world. In Secretary Clinton’s Georgetown address she said, “Freedom doesn’t come in half measures.” The Obama administration should heed its own words when it comes to religious freedom.

FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL (FRC) COLLATES VALUABLE ESSAYS AND ARTICLES

The Family Research Council is launching The Social Conservative Review.  An e-mail states it will constitute

"a unique summary of news of interest to social conservatives. The focus of this comprehensive collation of stories, journal articles, and op-eds is the intersection of moral  concern and public life, the issues that reflect and shape not only events and legislation, but the nation's very soul.

FRC will send the Review out twice monthly.

It will feature important pieces from the country's leading newspapers, magazines, journals and conservative Web sites. FRC's goal is to help keep you informed -- and ready to act -- about the policies and proposals, research and reports that bear directly on life, liberty, family and Christian faith.

Me: I have reproduced the e-mail below, complete with links.  It looks to me like a fabulous service.

---

The Social Conservative Review: The Insider's Guide to Pro-Family News

April 29, 2010

Educational Freedom and Reform

• "The ACLU: Unwelcome Schoolyard Bully?"
  Cynthia Hill, Family Research Council
• 2010 April School Reform News (full text pdf)
  Edited by Ben Boychuk, The Heartland Institute
• "Making Men without Chests: The Intellectual Life and Moral Imagination"
  R. J. Snell, First Principles Journal
• "Are There Harms of Home Schooling?"
  Christopher O. Tollefsen, The Witherspoon Institute
• "Expulsion may await campus pro-lifers"
  Bill Bumpas, OneNewsNow
• "Teach Social Justice-Or Else"
  Mark Bauerlein, Students For Academic Freedom
• "Education Spending in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: Stimulating the Status Quo"
  Lindsey Burke, The Heritage Foundation

Environmental Issues

• "How a Climate Change Treaty Threatens You, Your Nation and Your Church"
  Dr. Cal Beisner, FRC Family Policy Lecture
• "My Tribute to Earth Day"
  Jeanne Monahan, Family Research Council
• "Titles You Can't Make Up: Cleaner Air Could Speed Global Warming"
  Tom McClusky, Family Research Council Action
• "Creation and Man"
  Chuck Colson, Prison Fellowship
• "Getting Into Hot Water: Evangelicals and Global Warming"
  Benjamin B. Phillips, Acton Institute, Journal of Markets and Morality
• "Polls on the Environment and Global Warming"
  Karlyn Bowman, Andrew Rugg, American Enterprise Institute
• "Celebrate Earth's Best Friend"
  James M. Taylor, Heartland Institute
• "The Green Shepherd: The White House Wants Churches To Advance It's Climate Change Agenda"
  Meghan Clyne, The Weekly Standard
• "Environmentalism is now a religion, and being overtaken by extremism"
  Robert H. Nelson, The Catholic Thing

Faith and Policy

• "Fiscal Conservatism Is Not Enough: What Social Conservatives Offer the Party of Lincoln"
  Robert W. Patterson, The Family in America Journal
• "Prophet Jim Wallis and the Ecclesia of Economic Ignorance"
  John Couretas, The Acton Institute
• "Living Under God"
  Ken Blackwell, Family Research Council

Health Care

• "States Face Their First ObamaCare Test"
  Grace-Marie Turner, The Wall Street Journal
• "Hospital Visit Horrors? Here's the Rest of the Story"
  Peter Sprigg, Family Research Council
• "Ten Ways Consumer-Driven Health Care Is a Proven Success"
  Greg Scandlen, The Heartland Institute
• "The Separation of Health and State: What happens when all medical decisions are political"
  Opinion, Wall Street Journal
• "Krugman Admits Rationing (Death Panels) From Obamacare"
  Wesley J. Smith, First Things
• "The Tea Party Spirit and Lawless Health Care Reform"
  Charles R. Kesler, Claremont Review of Books
• "Bad Medicine: The Public Square"
  Joseph Bottum, First Things
• "US Is Turning Into Dependency Society"
  Lee Edwards, Ph.D., The Heritage Foundation
• "Where's the Administration's Cost Estimate?"
  James C. Capretta, National Review

Homosexuals in the Military

• "FRC's Tony Perkins Condemns Franklin Graham's Rescinded Invitation" to participate in Pentagon prayer event.
  FRC Press Release
• "Sex Matters in the Military"
  Peter Sprigg, The Washington Times
• "Homosexuals in the Military"
  Mackubin Thomas Owens, The Ashbrook Center
• "The Real Anti-Christian Bigotry"
  Jay Sekulow, American Center for Law and Justice

Judiciary

• The Judicial Review
  Family Research Council Action's Constitutional and Legal Commentary
• "The Coming Constitutional Debate"
  Judge Stephen Markham, Imprimis
• "Koh Fails the Democracy Test"
  John Fonte, Hudson Institute
• "Delegitimizing the Roberts Court"
  David Marion, The Ashbrook Institute
• "ADF on striking down the National Day of Prayer Statute"
  Alliance Defense Fund
• "More Prayer than Protests"
  Tobin Grant, Christianity Today

Marriage and Family

Family Economics

• "The Family GDP: How Marriage and Fertility Drive the Economy"
  Patrick F. Fagan, Ph.D., Family Research Council
• "The Economics of the Family Household"
  Patrick F. Fagan, Ph.D., Family Research Council Family Policy Lecture
• "Family Policy Lecture: The Crushing Burden of Student Loans on Family Formation for Generation X+"
  Dr. Allan Carlson, The Howard Center, Family Research Council Family Policy Lecture
• "Obamacare Update: About That Only Tax the Rich Thing . . ."
  Tom McClusky, Family Research Council Action
• "The VAT's in the Fire"
  Ken Blackwell, The Patriot Post

Marriage

• "Facing the Bad News (on out-of-wedlock births)"
  Patrick F. Fagan, Ph.D., The Catholic Thing
• "Culture Clash: Monogamy vs. Polyandry"
  Patrick F. Fagan, Ph.D., Family Research Council

Pornography

• "The Effects of Pornography on Individuals, Marriage, Family and Community"
  Patrick F. Fagan, Ph.D., Family Research Council
• "Standing for Truth"
  Daniel Weiss, Citizen Magazine
• "Pornography and the Muslim World"
  Carson Holloway, The Public Discourse
• "Public urged to take action to prevent .xxx web domain"
  Erin Roach, Baptist Press

Religious Liberty

• "Wall of Separation Between Church and State: Myth, Reality, Results"
  Dr. Kenyn M. Cureton, FRC Lecture
• "High Court Says Mojave Cross in California Can Stay"
  Robert Barnes, The Washington Post
• "Supreme Court Protects War Memorial Cross"
  Jay Sekulow, American Center for Law and Justice
• "Texas students see religious bias with 'year of Our Lord'"
  Casey Curlin, The Washington Times
• "Homeless in Binghamton"
  Faith J.H. McDonnell, Front Page Magazine
• "Western Civilization on Trial"
  Paul Marshall and Nina Shea, National Review Online Symposium
• "Hastings Case Tests Religious Freedom on Campus"
  By Newt Gingrich, Jim Garlow, The Washington Post

Sanctity of Life

Abortion

• "Post-Abortion Suffering: A Psychiatrist Looks at the Effects of Abortion"
  Dr. Martha Shuping and Chris Gacek, J.D., Ph.D., Family Research Council
• "Virginia Cuts Funding of Abortions"
  Jeanne Monahan, Family Research Council
• "Abortion Isn't Painless"
  Editorial, The Washington Times
• Oklahoma Senate overrides governor's vetoes to pass abortion laws
  Joe Sterling, CNN
• Legal status of induced abortions around the globe
  CBC News

Adoption

• "A Passion to Serve, A Vision for Life"
  Family Research Council Publication
• "Louisiana Senate panel rejects gay adoption expansion"
  Bill Barrow, Times-Picayune
• "Visits to mission result in adoption"
  Rob Hedelt, Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star

Cloning

• "UK Scientists Clone 3-Parent Embryos"
  Dr. David Prentice, Family Research Council

Bioethics

• "Obama Administration Eyes a More Active Role in Genomics"
  Rachel Lehmann-Haupt, BNET
• "Panel to take broad view of bioethics: President Obama appoints commission to advise on stem cells, clinical trials and more"
  Brendan Borrell, Nature
• "The First Christian Voices Against Euthanasia"
  David W.T. Brattston, The Weekly Standard
• "Euthanasia Bill turned away, but work goes on"
  Charlie Butts, One News Now

Stem Cell Research

• Family Research Council's major adult stem cell initiative, "Adult Stem Cells Saved My Life" ("Stem Cell Research Facts") features compelling video stories of persons whose lives have been transformed through adult stem cell implantation. The site also contains leading-edge information on this dynamic, transformative and entirely ethical type of stem cell treatment.
• "Vatican Funds Adult Stem Cell Research"
  Dr. David Prentice, Family Research Council

Other Articles of Note for Social Conservatives

• "Apologist in chief"
  Ken Blackwell, World Magazine
• "A Crisis Republicans Should Not Waste"
  Hadley Arkes, Weekly Standard
• "After Virtue: Localism and the Restoration of Character and Community"
  Austin Lipari, First Principles Journal
• "How America became a 'secular-socialist machine'"
  Newt Gingrich, The Washington Post
• "Schumer: Obama's 'counter-productive' Israel policy 'has to stop'"
  Ben Smith, The Politico
• "The Foreign Policy of Self-Abasement"
  Mona Charen, National Review
• "When Free Speech Wins"
  Eric Giunta, Front Page Magazine

WAR AGAINST "INFIDELS" TAKING PLACE IN THE MUSLIM WORLD

- Update 1/23/10 from CNS News via Wintery Knight blog: "One Year Later, Obama Administration's Top Religious Post Still Vacant.  Excerpt:

One year after President Obama took office, the administration’s top international religious freedom post remains empty, at a time when a wave of religious persecution is troubling veteran campaigners.

“President Obama has not yet named an ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom,” a State Department press officer confirmed by phone late Wednesday.

The Christian advocacy organization Open Doors USA launched a petition Wednesday urging Obama to appoint an ambassador immediately, saying that leaving the position unfilled violated U.S. law.

“By not having an ambassador-at-large for the past 12 months, the U.S. has failed to demonstrate the importance of religious freedom,” said advocacy director Lindsay Vessey.

- (Original Post) - Cliff May asks why the rest of the world refuses to pay attention and express outrage:

Connect these dots: In Nigeria this week, Muslim youths set fire to a church, killing more than two dozen Christian worshippers. In Egypt, Coptic Christians have been suffering increased persecution including, this month, a drive-by shooting outside a church in which seven people were murdered. In Pakistan, Christian churches were bombed over Christmas. In Turkey, authorities have been closing Christian churches, monasteries, and schools, and seizing Christian properties. Recently, churches in Malaysia have been attacked, too, provoked by this grievance: Christians inside the churches were referring to God as “Allah.” How dare infidels use the same name for the Almighty as do Muslims!

In response to all this, Western journalists, academics, diplomats, and politicians mainly avert their eyes and hold their tongues. They pretend there are no stories to be written, no social pathologies to be documented, no actions to be taken. . .  [more . . .]

On Tuesday, Coptic Christians took to the streets in front of the UN to protest the killing of Christians by Muslims in Egypt.  Pamela Geller offers commentary and a gallery of pictures of which the following are samples:

It is time for America, for President Obama to demand that President Mubarak end this genocide.

Colson - The American Press doesn't cover religion well at all!

THE TRAGIC PLIGHT OF CHRISTIANS IN IRAQ LEFT UNPROTECTED BY THE U.S. AND THE WORLD

John F. Cullinan offers the sad report.  Before posting the entire article, I wish to highlight a couple of sentences:  (my bolding)

U.S. officials have deliberately refused to take any steps to safeguard Iraq’s persecuted Christians — or even to acknowledge their plight — for fear of being seen as aiding unpopular and unfashionable religious minorities. . .   The U.S. government’s consistent policy of studied and shameful indifference forms rare common ground between the Bush and Obama administrations. It is an indelible stain on American honor that two administrations did nothing to assist, much less protect, a beleaguered religious minority. Such was not the case in the Balkans a decade ago, when the Clinton administration came to the aid of embattled Muslim minorities in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo with decisive military force in similar circumstances.

The entire article follows:

Spare a thought — and perhaps also a prayer — for Iraq’s beleaguered Christians, who yesterday observed the somber Feast of the Holy Innocents. Perhaps nowhere else does this particular occasion cut closer to the bone: In Iraq, Christians mourn their friends, the most recent martyrs for the faith, on the same day that

SUPREME COURT REFUSES TO HEAR CASE OF SILENCED CHRISTIAN VALEDICTORIAN

Wintery Knight has the full story. Valedictorian Brittany McComb's microphone was cut off when she began talking about Jesus in the  midst of her 2006 graduation speech.  Below is a video of that event.  What has happened to America?  Wintery Knight is right:  "If this young lady were gay or a Muslim or anything else, she would have been allowed to speak about that, and Christians would have remained silent and respectful. Only Christians are suppressed . . .

WHERE IS RIFQA BARRY? WHY IS SHE NOT ALLOWED CONTACT WITH FRIENDS?

Rifqa Barry, the teenage Muslim girl who embraced Christianity is being held in virtual house arrest.  Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs posts the following:

In the most egregious violation of Rifqa's Bary's civil rights, Rifqa is being denied essential contact with the outside world.

Her laptop has been confiscated. And now friends of hers are being denied the right to see her. And the couple of people who were allowed to see her in the past were fingerprinted.

She has been in Ohio for two weeks, and still there is no "pre-approved list" of visitors for Rifqa. On more than one occasion Rifqa has asked and been denied her request to see friends. At a previous almost covert hearing that was held, Mohamad and Aysha Bary moved to restrict her visitation, and it seems they succeeded.

Can any outside pressure be applied? How do we know she is all right? How do we know she is not being psychologically pressured?

She has not been granted pastoral care. She is being denied the freedom to practice her religion. Where are Rifqa's protectors? Who speaks for Rifqa? 

Inmates in prison get visits from their clergy. She is not being afforded the right of prisoners. She has not committed any crime. Why can't friends see her? One of the people who spoke to

HOW IMPORTANT IS "HUMAN RIGHTS" IN OBAMA'S FOREIGN POLICY?

Answer:  Not Important at All.

I find that disgusting.  Chuck Colson's report is an eye-opening, important read.  I knew about Obama's refusal to meet with the Dalai Lama, following are some things I didn't know:  (excerpts)

Obama and his aides have also reportedly refused to meet with a representative of Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi.

And now we learn that the President has been quietly cutting off aid to groups that monitor human rights abuses and fight on behalf of human freedom—especially in Iran.

Colson says:

In the Wall Street Journal, David Feith and Bar Weiss write that the administration has eliminated millions of dollars in funding for the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, Freedom House, and the State Department’s Iran Democracy Fund.

These actions go against everything America stands for. Our worldview is largely informed by our Christian heritage—one that puts human dignity first. Has this administration forgotten that human rights have always been America’s greatest export?

Colson points out rightly,

We believe that all humans are created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, as our Declaration of Independence says. We can’t just write off these rights for the sake of climate change or the economy; they’re central to who we are.

[More . . .]

MALAYSIA REFUSES TO LET CHRISTIANS HAVE 10,000 BIBLES THAT USE "ALLAH" FOR "GOD"

Robert Spencer reports:

Islamic Tolerance Alert from modern, moderate Malaysia: an update on this story. The Malaysian government is refusing to release the confiscated Bibles: "Actually the publications, the Bibles are already banned."

A Christian spokesman says: "This constitutional right (to practice freely) is rendered illusory if Christians in Malaysia are denied access to Bibles in a language with which they are familiar."

Uh, yeah. Details here.

RIFQA BARY UPDATE

Jamie Glazov interviews Pamela Geller for an up-to-date report on the Muslim apostate (now Christian) 17-year old, Rifqa Bary.  The interview explains why this case is hugely important.  Read it here.  My earlier posts on Rifqa can be found here.