Muddling Toward Maturity Blog

CANADIAN CHURCHES BURNED AND GOVERNMENT LOOKS ON COMPLACENTLY NOTHING

From Tucker Carlson:

Raymond Ibrahim's comments:

In one nation, at least two dozen mostly Catholic and some Anglican churches have been vandalized or torched in recent weeks; and that nation’s leaders are either openly calling for more or shrugging their shoulders.

That nation is not Iraq, Syria, or Libya under ISIS, but rather Canada.

According to one recent report titled “Canada has become the church-burning centre of the western world,”

As of publication [July 2], there have been almost 23 attacks against churches—including at least five completely destroyed by fires, at least three damaged by fires, and more than 15 vandalized to varying degrees.

Two days after that report was published, on Sunday, July 4, another church was set on fire in southeast Calgary, and “countless have been vandalized,” says a July 6 report.  After characterizing these ongoing attacks as a “shocking and unchallenged new reality” for Canada, the report adds:

Report: China Forcing Poor Citizens to Trade Faith for Welfare Checks

Gabrielle Reyes reports for Breitbart - 

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is leveraging economic restraints caused by the coronavirus pandemic to coerce increasingly desperate, low-income Chinese Christians to renounce their faith or lose welfare benefits, human rights magazine Bitter Winter reported on Friday.

The economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic has hit China’s low-income households hardest, many of which rely upon state-funded welfare benefits to survive. In recent months, the CCP has reportedly forced Christians across the country receiving state-funded welfare benefits to remove religious symbols from their households and replace them with images of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Mao Zedong; some are told to renounce their faith altogether. If Christians refuse, the state cancels their welfare payments, according to the magazine.

In April, the government of a town administered by Linfen, a city in northern Shanxi province, ordered officials from all local villages to “remove crosses, religious symbols, and images from the homes of people of [Christian] faith who receive social welfare payments and replace them with portraits of Chairman Mao and President Xi Jinping. The officials were instructed [by the CCP] to annul the subsidies to those who protest the order,” Bitter Winter reported.   [more . . .}

PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS CONTINUES WORLDWIDE

One could fill blog post after blog post with stomach-turning accounts of persecution of Christians.  Gary Lane of CBN News reports:

Transcript:   [Bolding is mine]   . . . Two thousand years after Christ's crucifixion and resurrection, Christians face more danger than ever before. Around the world, each day 260-million Christians suffer for their faith and the persecution is steadily getting worse. 2,983 Christians died for faith-related reasons last year and nearly 9,500 churches were attacked.

North Korea topped the Open Doors Watch List of worst offending countries. 

There are 60,000 Christians in labor camps for owning a bible and many of them died there," said Open Doors USA President and CEO David Curry.

PAKISTANI WOMAN IMPRISONED 9 YEARS FOR BEING A CHRISTIAN

Shamefully, Asia Bibi remains in prison!  Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D. writes: 

On Tuesday Asia Bibi will complete her ninth year of imprisonment for her Christian faith after being arrested for blasphemy in 2009 and sentenced to death by hanging in 2010.

In June 2009, Pakistani police arrested Asia Bibi on charges of blasphemy following complaints by Muslim women backed up by an Imam, who claimed she had insulted the prophet Muhammad.

The accusations followed on a row between Bibi and a group of Muslim coworkers. She had been harvesting berries in a field with a group of Muslim women who grew angry with her for drinking out of the same metal water bowl as them, insisting that as a Christian she was unclean.

From the outset Ms. Bibi has vehemently denied the charges of insulting the prophet. She claims that when her coworkers made derogatory statements about her faith, she merely answered: “I believe in my religion and in Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for the sins of mankind. What did your Prophet Muhammad ever do to save mankind?”

In November 2010, Bibi received the death sentence by the lower court in Nanka district and four years later the Lahore High Court confirmed the verdict. She imprisoned in the Multan female prison.

Wilson Chowdhry, chairman of British Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA) said last week that Bibi has been the victim of intense persecution for comparing Christ’s sacrifice with the prophet.

“She spoke about the wonderful sacrifice Christ made of his life for us and asked the simple question, ‘What has Muhammad done for you?’ For that, this torture, this beating, this isolation, attempts to assassinate her,” he said. 

TURKEY IS HOLDING AN AMERICAN PASTOR ON BOGUS CHARGES

Jazz Shaw reports:

Andrew Brunson is an American pastor and missionary from North Carolina who has been living in Turkey and preaching the Good Word for more than twenty years. His services were curtailed in October, however, when he was arrested by Erdogan’s goons and he’s currently in prison facing “terrorism” charges. Throughout this ordeal there has been little to no help from the Obama administration and now the pastor’s family has reached out to the Trump transition team. The Daily Caller has the latest details.

A Christian social activist group has been in touch with the Donald Trump transition team in hopes of freeing an American pastor who has been held in a Turkish prison for three months on bogus terrorism charges, The Daily Caller is told.

“We’ve reached out, and they’re obviously aware,” Jordan Sekulow, the executive director of the American Center for Law and Justice, says of the case of Andrew Brunson, a native of North Carolina who has served as a missionary in Turkey for 23 years.

“We haven’t seen the engagement from our highest level officials. They’re on their way out, and it doesn’t seem like necessarily it’s on their priority list,” Sekulow added of the outgoing Obama administration.

“It’s going to take more action from the Trump administration.”

The American Center for Law and Justice has been following this story from the beginning. Last month they published an extensive summary of the events to date which will bring you up to speed on Brunson’s situation.

IT'S TIME WASHINGTON SENT A MESSAGE TO EGYPT TO PROTECT ITS CHRISTIANS

Egypt receives $1.5 billion dollars of U.S. miitary and economic aid a year.  The Egyptian government is not serious about protecting Egyptian Christians.  Withholding aid money until Egypt protects its Christians makes total sense.   We need to press Trump to initiate a vigorous freedom of religion foreign policy. As John Stonestreet writes:

[Egyptian Christian] Copts have been, at best, second-class citizens since the 1952 coup that created the modern Egyptian state.  Repression, discrimination, and violence have all been part and parcel of their existence.

While the Egyptian government obviously didn’t attack the worshippers at St. Peter’s or attack Christians in Minya, the Egyptian government is largely indifferent to the fate of its Christian citizens.

Actually, it’s even worse than that. Mistreating Copts was the way that Egypt’s rulers, including the present one, have burnished their Islamic identity. And, until recently, virtually no one, especially in the West, said “boo!” about it. The sad truth is that Copts had to start dying in significant numbers for anyone to take notice, and that “anyone” includes their brethren in the West.   [more...]

THE DEADLIEST CHURCH ATTACK IN EGYPT’S MODERN HISTORY

Raymond Ibrahim reports on the recent church bombing atrocity in Cairo calling it "the spectacular manifestation of a constantly simmering hate." Ibrahim, the author of Crucified Again: Exposing Islam's New War on Christians, is the premier reporter on Muslim hatred towards Christians.

The worst attack on Egypt’s Christian minority in recent years occurred yesterday, Sunday, December 11, 2016.    St. Peter Cathedral in Cairo, packed with worshippers celebrating Sunday mass, was bombed; at least 27 churchgoers, mostly women and children, were killed and 65 severely wounded. As many of the wounded are in critical condition, the death toll is expected to rise.

As usual, witnesses say that state security was not present and that police took an inordinate amount of time to arrive after the explosion.   Preliminary investigations point to a bomb placed inside an unattended lady’s purse on one of the rear pews of the women’s section, though more recent revelations indicate there was a male suicide bomber involved.

Mutilated bodies were strewn along the floor and pews of the cathedral.  “I found bodies, many of them women, lying on the pews. It was a horrible scene,” said one witness.

Ibrahim makes important points about what life is like for Christians in Egypt so I would encourage reading the whole piece.  (Bolding emphasis is my own)

QUICK TAKES

-- Good idea of the day - relocate a number of federal bureaucracies out of D.C. and to the Midwest

-- Free speech is not a Dutch value: Geert Wilders convicted of hate speech.   Charlie Cooke: "Cherish the First Amendment, Americans.  It's exceptional."

-- French government votes to criminalize prolife websites

-- A major reason for Trump's victory - the progressives went too far in denying religious liberty and created a backlash.

SAEED ABEDENI REUNITES WITH MOTHER, FATHER AND SISTER

Abedini, held in Iranian prisons for 3 1/2 years, here reunites with his mother, father and sister in North Carolina.  A most touching scene!  I love Saeed's worshipful prayer as he embraces his family and Franklin Graham.

 

Czech Republic Offers Iraqi Christian Refugees a Safe Haven

   

Partial transcript:

While Americans debate their immigration policies, the people of the Czech Republic have just welcomed some Iraqi Christian asylum seekers into their country.

The first of a group of 153 Iraqi Christians arrived in Prague on Sunday. Among them was Kurdish Christian Majeed Kurdi and his family.

"So we have come here first to provide a secure life for our families, and secondly, to get a job and do something here in order to serve society as well as to take care of our families," Kurdi told CBN News.

Kurdi is well known to this reporter and others from CBN. In a story aired in September 2014, Kurdi assisted CBN News Middle East Bureau Chief Chris Mitchell on his visit to Iraqi Kurdistan.

He told Mitchell that ISIS gave the Christians of Mosul three choices.

"They are not allowed to open their churches and even if they are opened, they are going to burn the churches and also the Christians are being asked to pay the tax [jizya, tax for non-Muslims under Sharia law]. If not they can leave Nineveh…and if they didn't pay the tax, they should give their heads," he explained at the time.

*** THE 10 ABSOLUTE WORST AND MOST DEADLY PLACES TO BE A CHRISTIAN IN THE WORLD TODAY

Billy Hallowell at the The Blaze writes:  (HT: Kathryn Jean Lopez)

Christian persecution rose on every continent in the world throughout 2015, with North Korea listed as the most dangerous country to be a Bible-believer, according to a new report released by Open Doors USA, a group that works to combat global persecution.

Open Doors released its annual “World Watch List” report on Wednesday, ranking the top 50 countries “where it is most dangerous and difficult to be a Christian” during a morning event at the National Press Club. 

The report found that the 10 worst nations are as follows (listed from most dangerous to least): North Korea, Iraq, Eritrea, Afghanistan, Syria, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, Iran and Libya. See the complete list of 50 below:

The findings in the “World Watch List” present a dire picture in which at last 7,000 Christians died throughout 2015 due to faith-related reasons. . .   Islamic extremism, according to the “World Watch List, is the “lead generator of persecution for 35 out of the 50 nations” on its list.

The day before the above list was published, Kathryn Jean Lopez at National Review Online gave  Crux and the Boston Globe credit for (rare) articles on religious persecution.

For several months now, Crux, the Sunday religion magazine published by the Boston Globe, has been putting out a series of well-researched pieces from all over the world on the new Christian martyrs mostly written by John L. Allen. There have been 13 stories posted to date, many of them in the final days of December.   ...   Though estimates vary widely, even low-end counts suggest that one Christian is killed for motives related to the faith somewhere in the world every hour of every day.

"HE TOLD CHRISTIANS THEY WOULD MEET GOD IN ONE SECOND, THEN HE SHOT THEM"

Anastasia Boylin tells the story of the Oregon shooting in The Daily Mail.  (Includes photos and video with links to other articles)

Anastasia Boylan was in a classroom on her fourth day studying at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg when Chris Harper-Mercer entered and shot her professor dead point-blank.

She told her family that he told his victims to stand up and declare their religion, before telling them: ‘Good, because you’re a Christian, you’re going to see God in just about one second.’

He then shot his victims, including Anastasia, who told her father she survived by playing dead. She underwent surgery on Thursday after doctors found a bullet lodged in her spine, but was strong enough to speak with her family before the operation.  [more . . .]

ISIS GENOCIDE AGAINST CHRISTIANS REQUIRES U.S./EUROPEAN RESCUE

Writing in the Wall Street Journal, "Saving Christians From ISIS Persecution, Chloe Valdary says:

 . . .  It is ISIS policy to kidnap and rape Christian women and girls. The terrorist group has razed Christian sites, including monasteries dating to the fifth century. Last October the ISIS magazine Dabiq referred to Christians as “crusaders” and vowed to kill “every Crusader possible.”

That should remind Western policy makers: Christians are not random victims, caught in the maw of Mideast strife. They are targets of genocide, much like the Jews during World War II. This entitles them to broad protection under the 1951 U.N. Genocide Convention, to which the U.S. is a signatory.

It is also worth noting that because Christians in Iraq and Syria are facing genocide—as opposed to displacement—there is a limited window for rescue. Unlike the thousands of refugees pouring into Europe, who are mostly escaping the violence driven by the sectarian war in Syria, Christians are facing a targeted campaign of annihilation. The U.S. ought to take that distinction into consideration when prioritizing the resettlement of the additional 30,000 refugees the country is slated to absorb over the next two years.  [Read the whole article..]

CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY JAILING CHRISTIAN HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYERS

Some Christian lawyers are simply disappearing!   Full story here.   

Update 9/4/15:  

Timothy C. Morgan, writing for Christianity Today magazine titled his article,  "Leading Lawyer Defending Crosses in 'China's Jerusalem' Jailed Before Meeting US Ambassador."  Morgan writes:

China has arrested the leader of “Lawyers for Protection of the Cross.” The group defends churches whose crosses have been forcibly removed amid a government campaign to strip skylines of Christian symbols.

Zhang Kai is the latest of more than 250 attorneys, pastors, and human rights activists detained or arrested since July in connection with the 400 to 1,200 crossremovals in the eastern province of Zhejiang, a Christian stronghold.

On August 25, police in Wenzhou, a coastal city known as “China’s Jerusalem,” jumped a wall at Xialing Church and arrested Zhang Kai and his intern, Liu Peng. The arrests occurred on the eve of a scheduled meeting with David Saperstein, the US ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom.

“These detentions fit into the disturbing pattern of state intimidation of public-interest lawyers, internet activists, journalists, [and] religious leaders,” Saperstein said to news media. “Other people that I have met, or tried to, have suffered harassment of some kind. [The US government] demands the immediate release of these activists, who boldly underline the precariousness of religious life in China.”

According to China Aid, Zhang and Liu are being held for six months in a so-called “black jail,” one of several detention facilities outside the established penal system. Torture is common in such centers, where prisoners may be held without trial, China Aid said.

ISIS THREATENS TO KILL CHRISTIANS IN JERUSALEM AT END OF RAMADAN (JULY 18)

Elizabeth Kendal of Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin writes:

Arabic leaflets have appeared in Jerusalem, purportedly issued by an ISIS-aligned group, telling Christians they must flee Jerusalem by the end of Ramadan [18 July] -- otherwise they will be slaughtered. The threat comes as ISIS and Hamas engage in a struggle for the allegiance of Palestinian Muslims. Religious tensions are rising across Israel and Christians are being attacked by Jewish ultra-nationalists and radicalised Muslims, leaving some wondering if Christians have a future in Israel. The Israeli government has condemned the violence against Christians as 'an attack on us all' and affirmed Israel's commitment to religious liberty and rule of law. The ISIS threat against Christians could prove a serious challenge, especially if it extends to Gaza, with no Israeli security presence. Please pray for Israel and its Christians.

x

More details and photos . . . 

QUICK TAKES

Daniel Greenfield - The Internalized Racism of White Leftists

Walter Williams - Culture and Social Pathology

Cal Thomas - China's Big Hack Attack

Raymond Ibrahim - Islam's Jihad on Churches

David French - S.C. Suspect Caught and the Politicization begins  (* Especially important)

            Question - Was Dylann Storm Roof taking anti-depressant drugs?  Update: Apparently YES!

SUDAN: PASTORS CHARGED

Elizabeth Kendal writes in the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 309 | Wed 13 May 2015   

After predominantly Christian South Sudan seceded from the Republic of Sudan in July 2011, Sudan's Arab-Islamist regime in Khartoum declared its intention to Islamise Sudan fully.

The Islamisation includes a campaign of systematic persecution, especially in the strategic major centres of Khartoum, Khartoum North (Bahri) and Omdurman. Foreign Christians have been expelled, numerous Southerners have been driven out and several churches have been seized and destroyed.

In mid-November 2014 National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) agents oversaw the partial demolition of the Khartoum Bhari Evangelical Church, a property belonging to the South Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (SSPEC) [see RLPB
288 (26 Nov 2014)]. Then on Sunday 21 December 2014, Rev Yat Michael, an SSPEC pastor visiting from Juba, South Sudan, was arrested as he addressed the congregation at the partially demolished property.


Then, on 11 January 2015, SSPEC pastor,Rev Peter Yein Reith, was arrested as he returned to his home at the Gerif West Bible School in Khartoum after a prayer meeting. It has been suggested that Pastor Reith was arrested because he had delivered a letter to the Office of Religious Affairs in Khartoum in which denominational leaders enquired about the arrest of Pastor Michael. Both pastors were taken to a secret location and held incommunicado without charges or access to their families or a lawyer, triggering graveconcerns for their welfare. On 30 April the men were transferred from a police station in down-town Khartoum to a NISS detention centre in Khartoum, before being transferred to Omdurman Prison on Monday 4 May.

Both pastors faced the Khartoum Bhari Criminal Court on 4 May where they were charged jointly with undermining the constitutional system (Article 50 of the Sudanese Penal Code); waging war against the state (Article 51); disclosure and receipt of official information or documents (Article 55); arousing feelings of discontent among regular forces (Article 62); breach of public peace (Article 69); and offences relating to insulting religious beliefs (Article 125). Of the five charges, Articles 50 and 51 carry the death penalty or life imprisonment if found guilty.

Morning Star News (MSN) was able to speak briefly with Pastor Michael on 7 May. 'God will intervene and protect us even in prison despite the serious charges brought against us,' the pastor said. 'Thank you all for your prayers and concerns for us over this long period of imprisonment.' According to MSN, whilst NISS officials offered to drop the charges if the SSPEC paid $12,000, SSPEC will not open itself up to extortion. The pastors commenced a hunger strike on 28 April to protest their detention. Their families are understandably anxious. Pastor Michael's wife implored MSN, 'Let us continue to pray for them so that God can help them to be released.' The next hearing is scheduled for Thursday 14 May. [Visit the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin blog for updates.]

 

(Prayer guide follows): 

 

PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS IN CHINA HAS REACHED ALL TIME HIGH

Angie Chui writes in the UK publication Christian Today:

 T
he persecution of Christians has reached an all time high in China and the government is contributing to the suffering of the faithful, according to the 2014 annual report released last week by Christian human rights organisation China Aid.

Based on the report, there were 572 documented cases of persecution against individuals from different religions last year compared to 143 cases in 2013, equating to a 300 per cent increase.

The report told of government sanctioned modifications or demolitions of Christian property under the guise of eradicating illegal structures.

"The increase in government-sanctioned persecution against religious practitioners and human rights lawyers and advocates reflects the overall political transformation that is occurring within the Communist Party in China (CPC), namely an orchestrated effort to consolidate power and suppress dissent and any perceived threats to the Chinese government, including the growth of religion in China," China Aid stated.

As for the number of religious practitioners who suffered from abuse, 17,884 reported being persecuted in 2014 compared to the previous year's 7,424. The number of persecuted church leaders also rose to 2,682, compared to 800 in 2013.

Based on the statistics, one of the most alarming changes reported was the huge increase in the number of 'dissidents' sentenced by the government, from just 12 people in 2013, to a total of 1,274 individuals in 2014.

U.S. State Department won't allow Sister Diana into the country to tell Americans about ISIS persecution of Christians.

  Nina Shea reports:

Why is the United States barring a persecuted Iraqi Catholic nun — an internationally respected and leading representative of the Nineveh Christians who have been killed and deported by ISIS — from coming to Washington to testify about this catastrophe?

Earlier this week, we learned that every member of an Iraqi delegation of minority groups, including representatives of the Yazidi and Turkmen Shia religious communities, has been granted visas to come for official meetings in Washington — save one. The single delegate whose visitor visa was denied happens to be the group’s only Christian from Iraq.  . . .  [More...]

Update:  Nina Shea stands by her story in the face of State Department intimidation.

. . .  As an articulate, English-speaking Iraqi Christian, who is not only personally a victim of ISIS but also an aid worker with a broad perspective on the suffering of the Christian community there, Sister Diana would make an exceptional witness.

Whether conscious or not of her high value in that regard, those who decided to block Sister Diana from entering this country on a visitor visa acted in a manner consistent with the administration’s pattern of silence when it comes to the Christian profile of so many of the jihadists’ “convert-or-die” victims in Syria, Libya, Nigeria, Kenya, and Iraq. In typical U.S. condolence statements, targeted Christians have been identified simply as “lives lost,” “Egyptian citizens,” “Kenyan people,” “innocent victims,” or “innocent Iraqis.”

Me:  It's certainly true that the Obama administration cares not a fig about religious persecution around the world, but in addition to that, it has developed a particularly strong animosity toward reporting atrocities and persecutions committed against Christians.   I have almost finished reading the remarkable story of Bob Fu [God's Double Agent], who as a Chinese advocate for religious freedom secured wonderful cooperation from the George W. Bush White House and President George Bush himself.  The contrast between Presidents Bush and Obama could not be more dramatic.  GWB put religious freedom high on his list of foreign policy concerns.  From all the evidence, the current occupant of the White House despises Christians.

OBAMA'S "HO-HUM" ATTITUDE TOWARD W0RLDWIDE KILLING OF CHRISTIANS

Kirsten Powers distinguishes herself as being one of the few reporters willing to report on the massacre of Christians worldwide and Obama's "ho-hum" attitude. Powers writes in USA Today:

What do you call it when 12 men are drowned at sea for praying to Jesus?

Answer: Religious persecution.

Yet, when a throng of Muslims threw a dozen Christians overboard a migrant ship traveling from Libya to Italy, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi missed the opportunity to label it as such. Standing next to President Obama at their joint news conference Friday, Renzi dismissed it as a one-off event and said, "The problem is not a problem of (a) clash of religions."

While the prime minister plunged his head into the sand, Italian authorities arrested and charged the Muslim migrants with "multiple aggravated murder motivated by religious hate," according to the BBC.

As Renzi was questioned about the incident, Obama was mute on the killings. He failed to interject any sense of outrage or even tepid concern for the targeting of Christians for their faith. If a Christian mob on a ship bound for Italy threw 12 Muslims to their death for praying to Allah, does anyone think the president would have been so disinterested? When three North Carolina Muslims were gunned down by a virulent atheist, Obama rightly spoke out against the horrifying killings. But he just can't seem to find any passion for the mass persecution of Middle Eastern Christians or the eradication of Christianity from its birthplace.

Religious persecution of Christians is rampant worldwide, as Pew has noted, but nowhere is it more prevalent than in the Middle East and Northern Africa, where followers of Jesus are the targets of religious cleansing. Pope Francis has repeatedly decried the persecution and begged the world for help, but it has had little impact. Western leaders — including Obama — will be remembered for their near silence as this human rights tragedy unfolded. The president's mumblings about the atrocities visited upon Christians (usually extracted after public outcry over his silence) are few and far between. And it will be hard to forget his lecturing of Christians at the National Prayer Breakfast about the centuries-old Crusades while Middle Eastern Christianswere at that moment being harassed, driven from their homes, tortured and murdered for their faith.

A week and a half after Obama's National Prayer Breakfast speech, 21 Coptic Christians were beheaded for being "people of the cross." Seven of the victims were former students of my friend and hero "Mama" Maggie Gobran, known as the "Mother Theresa of Cairo" for her work with the poorest of the poor. She told me these dear men grew up in rural Upper Egypt and had gone to Libya seeking work to support their families. They died with dignity as they called out to their God, while the cowardly murderers masked their faces.

Rather than hectoring Christians about their ancestors' misdeeds, Obama should honor these men and the countless Middle Eastern Christians persecuted before them.

Monday, there was more horrifying news: ISIL terrorists released a video purporting to show more religiously motivated killing. According to CNN, before beheading and shooting two groups of Christians in Libya, a speaker said, "The Islamic State has offered the Christian community (the opportunity to convert to Islam or pay a tax for being Christian) many times and set a deadline for this, but the Christians never cooperated."

So they kill them.

Indeed, let's talk more about the Crusades.

Kirsten Powers writes weekly for USA TODAY and is author of the upcoming The Silencing: How the Left is Killing Free Speech

In addition to its own editorials, USA TODAY publishes diverse opinions from outside writers, including our Board of Contributors. To read more columns like this, go to the Opinion front page.

LIBYAN BISHOP: I AM READY FOR MARTYRDOM AND WILL NOT LEAVE

The 21st century is the era of Christian martyrs -- faithful men and women who remain steadfast in their testimony to Christ's salvation to the end.  It is the power of Christ's resurrection and the living presence of Christ in their lives and loyalty to Him that overcomes all thoughts of self-preservation and apostasy.  [cf. The New Testament - Mark 8:34-38]  It is shameful that the free world cares so little and does so little to protect innocent people.

Mark Woods reports:

The Italian Bishop of Tripoli has refused to leave the Libyan city in spite of the deaths of the 21 Coptic Christians, and has said that he is ready for martyrdom.

Bishop Giovanni Martinelli has stayed in the city although almost all of his countrymen have left, repatriated by the Italian government in the face of the serious threat posed by Islamic State jihadists. They returned on a ferry escorted by an Italian warship covered by Predator drone flying overhead.

In an interview with the Corriere del Veneto newspaper, Martinelli said that his decision to stay was "the culmination of my testimony". He said that he had been threatened in the street by a Muslim man who told him, "You are against Islam."

"In church they came to tell me that I must die," he added.

 "But I want you to know that Father Martinelli is well," he said, adding that if it was God's will that he should be beheaded, "so it will be".

"Being able to give testimony is a precious thing," he said. "I thank the Lord that he allows me to do so, even with martyrdom.

"I'm not moving from here. And I'm not afraid." . . . 

The bishop has lived in Libya since 1971 and regards it as his home. When he arrived in the country there were 150,000 Christians there, a number that has dwindled to only 300.

Me:  Thank God for those organizations that stand for religious freedom and help materially the families of those who are killed, the thousands made refugees, and those otherwise persecuted for their faith

Open Doors USA, website

Voice of the Martyrs website

Freedom House website

International Christian Concern website

Christian Solidarity International website

MYRIAM'S STORY AND SONG

Myriam is an Iraqi Christian whose family had to flee their home near Mosul when ISIS took control of their town in mid 20014. They fled to Irbil, in the relatively safe area of the autonomous region of Kurdistan where they live as refugges. She told her story to Essam Nagy, the presenter of one of SAT-7 KIDS' most popular programmes called 'Why is that?', when he visited Irbil at Christmas 2014. Read story:http://www.wazala.org/2014-02-letters..

 

IRANIAN CHURCH GROWING DESPITE RISK OF DEATH

 

Gary Lane, CBN News, reports from an undisclosed location:

THE MIDDLE EAST -- Iran's new president has promised to protect the country's Christians, but attacks are intensifying.

As they work to survive, CBN News was given an exclusive, rare view that few outsiders witness: a secret meeting of new Iranian believers in a neighboring country, not far from the border.

The brand new followers of Christ received Bible teaching and participated in their very first communion.

After a few songs and prayers, several were baptized. Then they returned to more late-night Bible study and training before returning to Iran.

Rev. Franklin Graham: ‘Imagine the Outcry if 21 Muslims Had Been Beheaded by Christians? … The Storm is Coming’

Michael W. Chapman, CNSNews.com reports:

The Islamic State beheaded 21 Egyptian Christians over the weekend, propping the severed heads on the victims’ backs, a barbaric slaughter that led Reverend Franklin Graham to ask, “Can you imagine the outcry if 21 Muslims had been beheaded by Christians?”

“Where is the universal condemnation by Muslim leaders around the world?” he asked.

The brutal killing of the 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians, who had been abducted in Libya by members of the Islamic State, was videotaped and the entire death film was posted online on Sunday, Feb. 15. It is entitled, “A Message Signed With Blood, To The Nation of the Cross.”

In a Facebook post on Feb. 16, Rev. Graham, who heads the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, said, “The militant Islamic terrorist group ISIS has released a video called A MESSAGE SIGNED WITH BLOOD TO THE NATION OF THE CROSS  showing the beheadings of the 21 Egyptian Christians who had been kidnapped in Libya.”

“Can you imagine the outcry if 21 Muslims had been beheaded by Christians?” said Rev. Graham. “Where is the universal condemnation by Muslim leaders around the world?”

“As we mourn with the families of those 21 martyrs, we’d better take this warning seriously as these acts of terror will only spread throughout Europe and the United States,” warned Rev. Graham.

“If this concerns you like it does me, share this,” he said. “The storm is coming.”

FOUR CHILDREN IN IRAQ BEHEADED FOR REFUSING TO DENY CHRIST

The U.K. Independent reports:

Isis have beheaded four Christian children in Iraq for refusing to convert to Islam, a British vicar based in the country has claimed.

Canon Andrew White, who is known as the ‘vicar of Baghdad’, told Orthodox Christian Network that the killings happened in a Christian enclave close to Baghdad which has been taken over by Isis (formerly known as Islamic State).

He spoke of how Isis has “hounded” the Christians out of Iraq, and how “they killed in huge numbers, they chopped their children in half, they chopped their heads off, and they moved north and it was so terrible what happened”.

He told the network that militants “came to one of our people the other day, one of the Christians”.

“They said to one man, an adult, ‘Either you say the words of conversion to Islam or we kill all your children’.

“He was desperate, he said the words. And then he phoned me, and said, ‘Abouna [Father], I said the words, does that mean that Yeshua doesn’t’ love me anymore?’ I said, ‘Yeshua still loves you, he will always love you”.

Canon White claimed that the children who were beheaded had refused to “follow Mohammed”.

“Isis turned up and said to the children, ‘You say the words that you will follow Mohammed’.”

“The children, all under 15, four of them, said no, we love Yeshua, we have always loved we have always followed Yeshua, Yeshua has always been with us.

“They said: ‘Say the words.’ They said ‘No, we can’t.’ They chopped all their heads off. How do you respond to that? You just cry.”

Canon White said that Isis were threatening to kill him, and that he is now living in Israel, following orders from the Archbishop of Canterbury to leave Iraq. He said that most of his staff are still in the north of Iraq trying to look after displaced Christians.

"WORLD'S MOST PERSECUTED MINORITY" -- CHRISTIANS

Raymond Ibrahim does an excellent job spotlighting the persecution of Christians in the Middle East and the Western media's failure to give serious attention to this reality.  Ibrahim is the author of Crucified Again: Exposing Islam's New War on Christians.

 

TheBlaze introduces the video saying:

Author Raymond Ibrahim has produced a new video for Prager University that reveals what he says is the most “persecuted religious group in the world today.”

Christians — mainly those living in Middle Eastern countries — face the harshest treatment at the hands of fundamentalist Muslims who, many times, torment and kill them simply because of their faith, according to Ibrahim.

“I’m not talking about ‘War on Christmas’ type harassment,” he said in the new Prager University video. “I’m talking about, ‘know your place or we’re going to kill you persecution.’”

The author said that 20 percent of the population in North Africa and the Middle East was Christian 100 years ago, but that the proportion has since decreased to just 4 percent.

“Muslims are rendering North Africa and the Middle East free of Christians,” he said, noting that businesses have been torched, young girls have been abducted and acts of violence have been committed.

Ibrahim added, “Christians are being persecuted in Muslim countries, because they’re Christians or, as the Koran puts it, infidels — that is non-Muslims who are regarded by many fundamentalist Muslims as inferior.”

PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS CONTINUES

  --  Suicide Bomber Kills 48 at Nigerian school

  --  Christian Couple in Pakistan Burned to Death for Blasphemy; also here.  Summary from Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin:

On 4 November a young Christian couple, Shahbaz Maseeh (32) and his pregnant wife Shama Bibi (28) -- both bonded labourers (slaves) -- weresavagely murdered by a large mob of angry Muslims in the town of Kot Radha Kishan, Punjab Province. Local mosques had broadcast the claim that the couple had desecrated Qur'anic texts. According to some reports the couple were beaten to death and then burned. Other reports say they were alive when thrown into the kiln. Police are reportedly investigating and have increased security around Christian neighbourhoods.  The couple had reportedly been under extreme pressure and were not being paid. When they applied to leave they were told that as bonded labourers they would have to pay to redeem themselves. But it was much more than they could afford, so they were planning to flee with their four young children. Pray for the Church in Pakistan.

   -- Severe persecution of Christians in district of Chhattisgarh, India

Elizabeth Kendal reports:  Tensions are erupting in Chhattisgarh's southern Bastar district as violent persecution with impunity becomes prevalent. At least 50 villages have banned all non-Hindu religious practice. In many places Christians are being denied food rations and access to water. Churches are being attacked and Christians assaulted without the authorities intervening, which guarantees that the situation will escalate. Officials in Madota invited Christians to meet with them for mediation on 25 October. The Christians attended but nobody else did. Then in the evening a truck arrived with 50 Hindu militants who attacked the defenceless Christians with knives, swords and axes.  Fifteen believers were wounded and 12 required hospitalisation for serious injuries. Many Christians have fled. Impunity is almost inevitable. Please pray for the Church in India.

RECENTLY RELEASED FROM UNDER A DEATH SENTENCE IN A SUDANESE PRISON, MARIAM IBRAHEEM HONORED WITH THE "COST OF DISCIPLESHIP" AWARD

Mariam Ibaheem is the heroic, courageous 27 year old Sudanese Christian woman imprisoned for her faith and sentenced to death because of her faith in Christ.  With her in prison was her 20 month old little boy, Martin, and while in prison she gave birth to a baby girl.  Thanks to the hard work of many individuals and organizations, the Islamist Sudanese government finally released her.  The Family Research Council celebrated her release with a stunning gala program last Saturday.  You won't regret watching all (or even just part) of the video below.  You especially won't want to miss Mariam Ibraheem's appearance at around the 57:00 point in the video.  Her elegant, regal bearing makes it hard to recall and imagine the suffering she underwent for her refusal to renounce Christ which would have meant her immediate release and freedom.

 

If you listen to the whole video, you will be inspired by short talks by Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.  7:40), Rep. Chris Smith (R - NJ  25:25) and Rep. Mark Meadows (45:00 R - NC) who all worked hard to secure Mariam's release.  These three stalwart, hard-working conscientious Congressmen deserve our gratitude and continued prayers.  Tina Ramirez of Hardwiredglobal.org (37:20) works hard to train local nationals in how to advocate for human rights and challenge legal systems.  Her organization's work proved crucial in Mariam's release.  Nachmeh Abedini appears and talks of her husband Saeed's continuing two year imprisonment in Iran (17:20).  The persecution of Christians in the world today may be the worst ever in history.  Who cannot fail to be inspired by Mariam Ibraheem's courage and steadfastness in remaining true to her Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ?

 

PRAYER VIGIL FOR PASTOR SAEED IMPRISONED IN IRAN

PRAYER VIGIL

SEPTEMBER 26, 2014

It has been two years since Pastor Saeed Abedini was imprisoned in Iran for preaching his Christian faith.  Naghmeh Abedini, Pastor Saeed’s wife, invites us to join her in remembering Pastor Saeed Abedini and others who are persecuted for their faith by participating in prayer vigils across the world.  

"The kids and I are longing to see Saeed returned home safely to us," Abedini said in a release. "The kids have been suffering for too long. Our family is ready. It is time. We are praying for a miracle. My hope is that, as thousands gather together on September 26, our governments and leaders will be reminded of the importance of religious freedom for all and continue to pressure Iran to secure Saeed’s release.”

 Vigils in 27 countries will be held on September 26th, the anniversary of Saeed’s imprisonment.  Click here for a list of churches in the USA holding prayer vigils.

- Elizabeth Kendal writes of the situation in Iran - 

UN PANEL RAPS IRAN OVER IMPRISONMENT OF CHRISTIAN PASTOR SAEED ABEDINI

Many of us have been praying for Pastor Abidini and his family for a long time.  May this UN report add pressure on Iran to release Saeed Abidini immediately.

Lisa Daftari of Fox News reports:

A United Nations panel this week blasted Iran's continued imprisonment of American citizen Saeed Abedini, who is serving an eight-year prison term in the Islamic republic for practicing his faith.

Abedini, 34, of Boise, Idaho, "has been deprived of his liberty for peacefully exercising the rights to freedom of religion, belief, and association,” said the report, from United Nations Human Rights Council Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. The report comes just a week before leaders from around the world, including Iran, gather for the annual UN General Assembly in New York, and ahead of the Sept. 26 two-year anniversary of Abedini's jailing.

The six-page document detailed Abedini's plight and called for his immediate release. His wife, Naghmeh Abedini, who remains home with their two children, has pleaded with lawmakers and the White House to pressure Iran. She told FoxNews.com she believes the UN stance could go a long way toward bringing Saeed Abedini home.  [more . . .]

PAKISTANI CHRISTIAN WOMAN'S BLASPHEMY COURT APPEAL SCHEDULED OCT. 16, 2014

The story of Asia Bibi is very troubling.  This lady has been kept in prison since June 29, 2009 leaving her children and husband without a mother and wife.  Here's the story with the latest update:

Asia Bibi, a 37-year-old Pakistani woman from the village of Ittanwali, was arrested by police on Friday, June 19, 2009. Asia (also called Asia Noreen) is the wife of 50-year-old Ashiq Masih, and their family is one of only three Christian families in a village of 1,500 families.

Many of the local women, including Asia, work on the farm of Muslim landowner Muhammad Idrees. During their work, many of the Muslim women have pressured Asia to renounce Christianity and accept Islam. In June, the pressure became especially strong.

On Friday, June 19, 2009,V there was an intense discussion among the women about their faith. The Muslim women told Asia about Islam. Asia responded by telling them about her faith in Christ. Asia told the Muslim women Christ had died on the cross for sins, then asked them what Mohammad had done for them, according to VOM sources. She told them Jesus is alive, but Mohammad is dead. “Our Christ is the true prophet of God,” she reportedly told them, “and yours is not true.”

Upon hearing this, the Muslim women became angry and began to beat Asia. Then some men took her and locked her in a room. They announced from the mosque loudspeakers that she would be punished by having her face blackened and being paraded through the village on a donkey. Local Christians informed the police, who took Asia into custody before the Muslims could carry out their plan. She was held at the police station in Nankana city. Christians there urged the police not to file blasphemy charges, but police claimed they were under pressure from local Muslim leaders.

ISIS SWALLOWING IRAQ: "THEY'RE BEHEADING CHILDREN"

 CBN News provides a complete report including an interview with Ret. Gen. Paul Vallely who pulls no punches in stating what he would do if he were commanding operations.

 

ERBIL, Kurdistan -- Islamic terrorists in Iraq are beheading children and burying people alive, and it won't stop there. They have a message for America: "We're coming for you."

Over the past week, the army of ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), also known as IS (Islamic State), swallowed up swaths of Iraq like a pervading darkness.

In just one day, tens of thousands of Christians fled from towns like Qaraqosh and Bartilla, about 25 miles away. Most came to the town of Erbil with nothing more than the clothes on their backs.

"America is at a crossroad," says Retired Gen. Paul Vallely, who has more than 15 years of experiencce in special operations and other military ops. He shared his insight on the chaos in Iraq and how it will impact America, on The 700 Club, August 11.

"They take everything from the house, from the store, everything," one refugee told CBN News. "They hate Christian especially. We don't know why."

The choice was leave or die.

World Ignores Christian Exodus from Islamic World

Raymond Ibrahim has provided the best concise overview of recent persecution of Christians in the Middle East currently available.  He writes: (dated 8/8/2014)

While the world fixates on the conflict between Israel and Hamas—and while most mainstream media demonize Israel for trying to survive amid a sea of Arab-Islamic hostility—similar or worse tragedies continue to go virtually ignored.

One of the most ancient Christian communities in the world, that of Iraq—which already had been decimated over the last decade, by Islamic forces unleashed after the ousting of Saddam Hussein—has now been wiped out entirely by the new “caliphate,” the so-called Islamic State, formerly known by the acronym “ISIS.”

As Reuters reported:

Islamist insurgents have issued an ultimatum to northern Iraq’s dwindling Christian population to either convert to Islam, pay a religious levy or face death, according to a statement distributed in the militant-controlled city of Mosul….

It said Christians who wanted to remain in the “caliphate” that the Islamic State declared this month in parts of Iraq and Syria must agree to abide by terms of a “dhimma” contract—a historic practice under which non-Muslims were protected in Muslim lands in return for a special levy known as “jizya.”

“We offer them three choices: Islam; the dhimma contract—involving payment of jizya; if they refuse this they will have nothing but the sword,” the announcement said.

The amount of jizya-money demanded was $450 a month, an exorbitant sum for Iraq.

Hours after the demand for jizya was made, Islamists began painting the letter “n” on Christian homes in Mosul—in Arabic, Christians are known as “Nasara,” or “Nazarenes”—signaling them out for the slaughter to come.

Most Christians have since fled. A one-minute video in Arabic of their exodus appears here—women and children weeping as they flee their homes—a video that will not be shown by any Western mainstream media outlet, busy as they are depicting instead nonstop images of Palestinian women and children.

WHY CAN'T OBAMA SPEAK OF THE SUFFERING AND SLAUGHTER OF CHRISTIANS IN IRAQ?

Yes, I know Obama recently did manage to mention "Christians" but only in the context of ISIS persecution of Yazidis as well.  He  uttered nary a word when  hundreds of thousands of Christians were driven out of Mosul and their ancestral home area  fleeing for their lives.   I believe Obama harbors a disdain, an antipathy (a hatred?), towards Christianity.   

View the following video in which Kirsen Powers takes Obama to task for his failure to recognize Christian suffering:

  

Powers:

“He has not uttered the word ‘Christian,’ and now suddenly he throws it in with the Yazidis,” Powers said. “We’re not doing any airdrops to the Christians, who are refugees in the Kurdish region. [Virginia Congressman Frank] Wolf has taken to the floor, I think, seven days in a row now, pleading with the administration: Please help these people. They need humanitarian aid; they need drinking water. They have nothing. They’ve lost their homes; they’ve lost everything. The White House has done nothing; they’ve said nothing. And then the president goes on and goes into quite a lot of detail about the Yazidis, and never really gets into the specifics about Christians. I mean, it’s really unbelievable, and he has no right to invoke humantiarianism, because he is not a humanitarian president. A humanitarian president does not sit quietly by, while hundreds of thousands of Christians in Iraq [are uprooted or killed]– forget about the rest of the Middle East — and doesn’t say a word.”

CRITICS: US CONSPICUOUSLY ABSENT IN IBRAHIM RELEASE

 

TRANSCRIPT:

Meriam Ibrahim, the Sudanese mom who refused to recant her Christian faith even in the face of death, will soon head to the United States.

The news comes one day after she and her family were allowed to leave the U.S. Embassy in Sudan, where they took refuge after her release from prison.
     
Meanwhile, critics note that although Ibrahim's husband and children are American citizens, it was the Italian government and the Vatican that negotiated her release, not the U.S.

MERIAM IBRAHIM IS FINALLY FREED FROM SUDAN AND IS NOW IN ITALY

This is tremendous news!

CBN News headlines: Sudanese Christian Mom Now Free, Arrives in Italy

 CBN News:

Meriam Ibrahim, the Sudanese Christian woman who nearly died for refusing to recant her faith, is now a free woman.

Ibrahim, 27, arrived in Italy Thursday following an extended stay at the U.S. Embassy in Sudan.

Meriam Ibrahim is safely in Rome but is her ordeal over? Tina Ramirez, founder of Hardwired, an organization that works to end religious oppression around the world, explains what's next and how you can continue to help.

Sign the petition to help change Sudan's oppressive apostasy laws.

The mother of two had been sentenced to death for marrying a Christian, who is an American citizen, and for abandoning the Muslim faith.

A judge dropped the sentence after international outcry, but not before Ibrahim was forced to give birth to her second child in shackles.

Her release comes just one day after a congressional hearing about her plight, where religious rights advocates warned that her case is just one of many.

"She is the tip of the iceberg," Zuhdi Jasser, vice-chairman of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, testified before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee.

"For every one case of Meriam Ibrahim, there are hundreds, if not thousands of those Sudanese and others who are victims of a draconian implementation of Sharia law that creates an existence for the Sudanese under the leadership of President Bashir that is really an abomination of religious freedom," he charged.

Perkins, who also testified before the House panel, agreed, suggesting the Obama administration has dropped the ball on addressing religious persecution.

"The United States needs to show more concern about religious hostility and persecution abroad, in particular the case with Meriam Ibrahim, where I think the response of the United States has been woefully inadequate," Perkins told lawmakers.

Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., chairman of the subcommittee was equally critical, saying the U.S. State Department is aggressively promoting gay rights at the expense of religious rights.

One of Iraq’s Most Ancient Christian Communities Now Has No Christians

Molly Wharton reports:

The Islamic State presented Christians in Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, with a deadly ultimatum last Friday: Convert to Islam, pay a tax, leave, or face death. The order from the militants said they had until noon on Saturday to leave the city, and almost all of them appear to have left. 

The Islamic State, which controls parts of northern Iraq and eastern Syria, ordered Christians in Mosul a couple of weeks ago to pay a tax, known as “jizya,” in return for protection, according to the Blaze. Jihadi then started occupying churches and seizing the homes of Christians who had fled, and militants have now apparently removed the cross from one of Mosul’s cathedrals, replacing it with the black flag of al-Qaeda.

Christians living in Mosul make up one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, dating back 1,700 years. Their population has decreased dramatically since the U.S. invasion of the country in 2003, as it has in Iraq more broadly: The city’s Christian population dropped from 30,000 to just a few thousand, before the most recent jihadist offensive. In Iraq generally, there were about 1 million Christians before the U.S. invasion, a number that’s dropped to about 450,000 in the past decade.

According to a United Nations report released Friday, Christians are among several minority groups that are being systematically expelled or killed by Islamic State militants. Most of the Christians have reportedly fled to the areas of Iraq controlled by the Kurds, which are close to Mosul.

MERIAM IBRAHIM, THE CHRISTIAN MOTHER IMPRISONED IN SUDAN AND SENTENCED TO DIE FOR APOSTASY, HAS BEEN FREED

Update 6/24/14   10:30 PM - Meriam cannot leave the country!!  The British Daily Mail reports in an exclusive story that she is being charged with fraud.  Reporter Dan Bates writes:

. . . Meriam Ibrahim has been accused of falsifying travel documents as she tried to leave the African country hours after the death penalty was dropped against her.

It is understood that the authorities told her she should have used the Muslim name she had when she was born, not the Christian name she uses after choosing to worship that faith.

It is not clear if her husband Daniel Wani, who is from Manchester in New Hampshire, has also been charged with any offenses.

The new allegations are a huge setback to Meriam's hopes of leaving Sudan and a further sign that the Sudanese government is playing twisted games over her release.

Meriam, a doctor, is on bail which was put up by a friend. She cannot leave Sudan until this matter is resolved as part of her bail conditions.

It came as campaigners working to free the mother-of-two attacked the U.S. Department of State for its ‘shameful’ response to helping her.

Tina Ramirez, founder of religious freedom organization Hardwired, called for Congress to investigate the 'incredibly negligent' handling of Meriam Ibrahim’s case.

Meriam and her husband were detained at the airport of the Sudanese capital Khartoum when they tried to leave the country with their son Martin, 21 months, and daughter Maya, one month.

Meriam was only freed on Monday after nine months in jail, during which she was shackled to the floor while she gave birth to Maya.

As noted, Tina Ramiraz of Hardwired, accuses the State Department of incredible negligence.  Read the whole news report to understand why.  Note also the reporter's chilling observation:

In a worrying twist, Meriam and Daniel were taken into custody by the feared National Intelligence and Security Services, MailOnline has confirmed.

NISS does not operate through the courts if it claims to be working on a matter of national security and can detain people indefinitely, Hardwired said.

The organisation was described as ‘Agents of Fear’ in a damning report by human rights campaigners Amnesty which outlined a catalogue of abuses they had carried out.

NISS is also notorious for taking prisoners to secret 'ghost houses' where they are tortured. . . 

We need to pray this family safely released and out of Sudan!  

(Original Post) - The following CBN News video interview offers  lots of insights into the freeing of Meriam Ibrahim.  Noteworthy is that Ibrahim was represented by Muslim lawyers who demonstrated tremendous courage in so doing.   Also noteworthy has been the negligence of the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum.   As Tony Perkins points out, "where the Obama administration has fallen short, House and Senate conservatives have not. Congressmen from Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), Chris Smith (R-N.J.), and Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) to Senators Cruz, Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), and Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) were doing the heavy lifting -- while not a single White House official met with the Sudanese ambassador."  

 

Perkins also notes that,

If the State Department isn't busy bringing Meriam home or dealing with the imploding Middle East, what exactly is it doing? According to Secretary Kerry, he's "working hard to… have lesbian, bisexual, and transgender ambassadors." Like his boss, Kerry foreign policy seems to be a foreign concept for this administration, whose only real overseas "progress" is bullying other nations into accepting this President's twisted sexual agenda.

During last week's LGBT pep rally at the State Department, Kerry's rah-rah moment was saying that if confirmed, Ted Osius would be the sixth openly homosexual ambassador. "… We now have hundreds of LGBT individuals in our bureaus at State, USAID, and at posts all around the world." Of course, what Kerry neglected to mention is that many of those posts are in complete and utter turmoil -- in large part because the Obama administration is too obsessed with its homosexual agenda to focus on the real priority of protecting America's national interests. It all confirms what former Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrote in his book -- the only time he sensed passion from the President about any issue involving the military was overturning "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

Last week I read of the disturbing fanatical gay foreign policy of the Obama Administration when it cut U.S. aid to Uganda because it refuses to bow down to imperialist U.S. government pressures to remove restrictions on homosexual practice in the country.  I read:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday cut aid to Uganda, imposed visa restrictions and canceled a regional military exercise in response to a Ugandan law that imposes harsh penalties on homosexuality.

The White House said in a statement the measures were intended to "reinforce our support for human rights of all Ugandans regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity."

Homosexuality is taboo in most African countries and illegal in 37, including in Uganda where it has been a crime since British rule.  [more . . .]

Which leads one to ask why the Obama administration doesn't cut aid to countries that persecute Christians?  Why doesn't it, at the very least, advocate for freedom of religion and speak up on behalf of imprisoned Christians?  Why the Johnny one-note imperialist commitment to homosexual acceptance worldwide and failure to address human rights more broadly?

The news of Ibrahim's release has brought to my attention the good work of Hardwired, an organization I had not heard of before. 

PETER BURGER - "IS THE CHINESE REGIME CHANGING ITS POLICY TOWARDS CHRISTIANITY?"

Famed sociologist of religion Peter Berger reflects on the widely-reported government demolition of a prominent church in the Southeast city of Wenzhou and reads the tea leaves.  His article is must reading for followers of Christianity in China.

PROTEST AT WHITE HOUSE OVER PRESIDENT'S SILENCE ON IMPRISONED MOTHER SENTENCED TO DIE

Paul Strand, CBN News, reports:

WASHINGTON -- Protesters from some 40 groups marched and rallied outside the White House Thursday, accusing the president of not doing enough to push Sudan to free Meriam Ibrahim, a 27-year-old mother of two who's been sentenced to die for her Christian faith.

 Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, attended the rally and pointed out Ibrahim, who is a daughter of a Muslim father, has been sentenced to die because she herself is a practicing Christian.

"Very simply the fact that she is a Christian, that she attends a local Catholic church, is deemed a crime there," Cruz said of Sudan. "And for that crime, she has been sentenced to 100 lashes and then to hang by the neck till dead."

Meriam's young son is imprisoned with her, as is her newborn baby daughter. Some of the protesters calling for their freedom wore red links as they marched and demonstrated.

"These represent the chains that Meriam Ibrahim has been wearing since she was imprisoned in Sudan," Penny Nance, with Concerned Women for America, told CBN News.

"She actually was forced to give birth while wearing them. So we wanted to wear them today in solidarity with our Christian sister, who was imprisoned only because of her faith," she added.

U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT DOESN'T SUPPORT OVERSEAS AMERICANS - ESPECIALLY CHRISTIANS

Update 6/5/14 -  Consider sending a card or letter to Miriam

*Assuring her of your prayer and support and her witness of Jesus Christ. *Congratulate her for the birth of her daughter Maya. *Praise her for her stand and testimony for Christ. *Feel free to share if you want the impact this had in your life and relation with God.   Her Address: Dr. Meriam Yahia Omdurman Prison for Women P.O.Box 65, Omdurman, Sudan

Update 5/28/14 - From the Family Research Council:

American Children Imprisoned in Sudan: Does Obama Care?

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Sign the petition at WhiteHouse.gov to pressure the Obama administration to act in the case of Meriam Ibrahim in Sudan and her baby and toddler in prison.

 

May 28, 2014 - Wednesday

Today, as you read this, two innocent children -- a toddler and a newborn baby, who based upon available evidence are American citizens -- lie in a Sudanese prison while their mother awaits execution for the "crime" of following Jesus.

Already mother of 20-month old named Martin, Dr. Meriam Ibrahim gave birth to her second child, a daughter, in the prison clinic in Khartoum. This unusual delivery venue is because Meriam recently was sentenced to death in Sudan for refusing to renounce her Christian faith. Meriam was born of a Muslim father, but her father abandoned the family. Meriam became a Christian and married a Christian man who is a United States citizen -- a fact that makes her two children eligible for American citizenship.

At this point the Sudanese government has refused to entertain Meriam's release, and has refused to turn over the children to their father upon the claim that her marriage is not valid because she married a Christian. Now, Meriam and her two American babies languish in Khartoum's Omdurman Prison -- a place which a 2008 United Nations report said had an infant mortality rate of one infant death per day in the summer months.

The situation is critical. The lives of the babies and their mother hang in the balance. While many international groups have taken up efforts to pressure the Sudanese government to release Meriam and her children, the Obama administration has said little, and done nothing.

Think about this: two innocent American children are imprisoned abroad as their life hangs in the balance. If President Obama will not act in a situation like this, what will he act upon? Does Obama care?

The President has at his disposal the means to quickly grant Meriam and the children the ability to come to the U.S.; once here, she could seek permanent asylum. He could also put great pressure on the Sudanese government over this gross human rights violation. He could do any number of things, but President Obama's inaction speaks volumes about his diminished view of what being an American means. Apparently the latent American citizenship of these children is not a status the President sees as worth acting upon.

Help us today pressure the Obama administration to take action. Join me in signing a petition we have created on the White House website to move the President to pave the way for Meriam and her children to seek asylum in the U.S. If it reaches 100,000 signatures in 30 days, the White House, according to the guidelines they have established, must respond to the petition.

We may not have 30 days. Please sign the WhiteHouse.gov petition.

Me:  I signed the petition.  Please do so as well.  

** Original post 5/21/14: What good is the State Department and U.S. Consulates if they won't stand up for American citizens abroad?  

From the Family Research Council: 

For three months, a young Christian wife -- now almost eight and a half months pregnant -- has been shackled in a Sudanese prison on death row. Authorities, who refuse to recognize her marriage to a Christian man, have sentenced her to 100 lashes for adultery and execution for her faith.

As if that weren't horrifying enough, her stateside husband, Daniel Wani, an American citizen, says their 20-month-old toddler is behind bars with her, enduring unspeakable horrors at the hands of the oppressive Sudanese. Her frantic husband, who continues to plead with the U.S. Embassy for help, flew from New England to Khartoum to visit his wife, Meriam Ibrahim -- and was beside himself to find her bound up and swollen. For now, authorities refuse to release his son to Daniel, because of his faith. Although the court gave Meriam days to recant her Christianity, she refused, saying, "I am a Christian, and I will remain a Christian."

And while the court does allow pregnant women to give birth before their hanging, the international community is pressing to overturn the verdict. Unfortunately for Daniel, his home country has barely lifted a finger to help the family, saying only that it was "disturbed" by the case. Yesterday, in a shocking exchange with CNSNews.com, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki showed the absolute indifference of the Obama administration toward this family's nightmare. Asked if Daniel was in fact a U.S. citizen, Psaki told CNSNews, "Typically we don't confirm those type of details, but I'm happy to check and see if there's more to share." "You don't know whether that little boy in prison is a U.S. citizen?" CNS fired back. "I don't have any more details to share," Psaki answered.

CHRISTIANS FORM HUMAN SHIELD AROUND CHINESE CHURCH TO PROTECT FROM BULLDOZERS...

Tom Phillips of the UK Telegraph reports from Wenzhou, China:  (HT: Drudge)

Thousands of Chinese Christians have mounted an extraordinary, round-the-clock defence of a church in a city known as the 'Jerusalem of the East' after Communist Party officials threatened to bulldoze their place of worship.

In an episode that underlines the fierce and long-standing friction between China's officially atheist Communist Party and its rapidly growing Christian congregation, Bible-carrying believers this week flocked to the Sanjiang church in Wenzhou hoping to protect it from the bulldozers.

Their 24-hour guard began earlier this week when a demolition notice was plastered onto the newly-constructed church which worshippers say cost around 30 million yuan (£2.91 million) and almost six years to build. . .    (Read more . . .) 

Syrian Jihadists Are Forcing Christians to Become Dhimmis Under Seventh-Century Rules

Nina Shea,  director of Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom and co-author of Persecuted: The Global Assault on Christians, reports:

The religious persecution in Syria deepened this week, as evidenced by a written ultimatum purportedly distributed by the rebel jihadist group ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) to Christians in the northern provincial capital of Raqqa. Rejecting conversion to Islam or death, some 20 Christian leaders of that city held firm in their faith and submitted to the Islamists’ demands to live by as dhimmis.

Under this arrangement, in exchange for their lives and the ability to worship as Christians, they must abide by purported seventh-century rules of the Caliph Umar. According to the Raqqa ultimatum, these include bans on renovating and rebuilding churches and monasteries, many of which need repair because they’ve been shelled and blown up over the past three years, and bans against the public display of crosses and Christian symbols and the ringing of bells. They are forbidden from reading scripture indoors loud enough for Muslims outside to hear, and the practice of their faith must be confined within the walls of their remaining churches, not exercised publicly (at, for example, funeral or wedding processions).

They are prohibited from saying anything offensive about Muslims or Islam. The women must be enshrouded, and alcohol is banned.

And the Raqqa Christians, who numbered about 3,000 before the conflict diminished them through migration and deaths, must henceforth pay the jizya, or Islamic protection money. The ultimatum sets the jizya at four golden dinars for the rich, two for those of average income, and one for the poor, twice annually, for each adult Christian.  [more . . .]

Rare Video of North Korean Underground Christians

From CBN reporter Gary Lane's blog:

Just about anyone who follows North Korea's underground church can tell you how rare it is to see actual video of North Korea Christians worshipping in their homes in North Korea. Now we have a glimpse of these bold believers doing what they do regularly under threat of discovery and imprisonment.

The Colorado-based ministry that serves North Korean Christians--Seoul USA--recently obtained an exclusive video and has agreed to share it with CBN News.

Each year, North Korea tops the Open Doors Watchlist of the world's worst persecuting countries. That's because the Kim regime--though friendly to former NBA star Dennis Rodman--is unfriendly to North Koreans who practice any faith other than Juche, the state religion.

Seoul USA believes at least 30,000 Christians are currently imprisoned in North Korea.

Watch the rare video included in my Skype interview with Seoul USA CEO Rev. Eric Foley. Foley discusses the video and provides some insights on the North Korean underground church. The identities--faces and bodies of the North Korean Christians--are blurred to protect them from harm.

Also, pray this Thanksgiving season and thank God for the bold example of devout faith demonstrated by our North Korean brothers and sisters in Christ. With His help, they are honoring Jesus and keeping the faith alive in the most restricted nation on Earth. May we be more like them!

 

SAEED'S LIFE IN JEOPARDY AFTER PRISON TRANSFER

This is serious; definitely a call to prayer!

 

From CBN News:

Saeed Abedini, an American pastor imprisoned in Iran for his faith, is facing life threatening conditions after a recent prison transfer, the America Center for Law and Justice reports.
    
Saeed's family says he has been moved from the brutal Evin Prison to Rajai Shahr Prison, known to be an even more dangerous jail.
  
"Going to Karaj is a severe punishment," Loes Bijnen, a Dutch diplomat from the embassy in Tehran, described the jail in a 2005 report.

"Once in there one stops to be a human being," she wrote. "One is put out of sight, even of human rights activists and the press. Murders or unexplained deaths are a regular occurrence."

According to the ACLJ, Saeed is in a ward with those convicted for crimes like rape and murder.

Family members tried to visit the pastor Monday but were told he isn't allowed to have visitors in the new prison.
    
"The transfer to this prison is a deeply disturbing development and can only be viewed as a move that puts Pastor Saeed's life directly at risk," ACLJ Executive Director Jordan Sekulow warned.

While there is broad bi-partisan support for a Senate resolution calling for Saeed's release, Sekulow says it's crucial President Barack Obama step in "directly and forcefully" to save his life.

***Urge the president to push for Pastor Saeed's release by signing the ACLJ's petition.

SYRIA'S CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY CRIES OUT FOR HELP

Nina Shea reports:

The Vatican news agency Fides reports today that two new mass graves containing a total of 30 bodies were found in Sadad, an ancient Christian town of some 15,000 people between Damascus and Homs, bringing to 45 the number of residents killed there by Islamist militias since October 21.

Surviving relatives and friends uncovered the graves after government forces recently recaptured the town from rebels. Those killed were reported by the local Syriac Orthodox metropolitan, who presided over 30 of their funerals this week, to be Christian civilians, including women and children. A list of their names was provided to the Catholic press.

The Islamist rebel militias of Al Nusra Front and Daash were identified by eyewitnesses as responsible for this war crime.

The battle also resulted in the destruction and looting of the town, including its homes, hospitals, schools, government buildings and electrical, telephone, and water capabilities. St. Theodore’s Syriac Orthodox Church and a number of the 4,000-year-old Assyrian town’s 14 other churches and a monastery have been desecrated.

Some 2,500 Sadad families have fled so far and ten others are missing.

Syriac Orthodox archbishop Selwanos Boutros Alnemeh remarked that this was the deadliest single attack against Syria’s Christian community of the civil war and ranks close to the massacre at Baghdad’s Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic church by jihadists during Sunday Mass on October 31, 2010, when 58 were killed.  

 According to international media reports, rebel shelling has increasingly hit several majority-Christian districts in Damascus. Together with a devastating siege on Maalula that Lela Gilbert reported on last month, this has heightened fears among Syria’s Christians that they are being targeted for religious reasons by Islamist extremists in the rebellion.

ATTACK ON MAALOULA (SYRIAN CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY) WAS RELIGIOUS CLEANSING, NOT A MILITARY TARGET

And the U.S. is supplying arms to these "moderates"!  Full report here.

OBAMA'S SPEECH AT THE U.N. SHOWED INDIFFERENCE TO FREEDOM AND RELIGIOUS MINORITIES IN MIDDLE EAST

Obama's failure to stand up for freedom and the persecuted betrays American history and ideals.  Does his partiality towards Islam justify total silence towards the massacring of non-Muslim peoples?    Elliot Abrams observes:

President Obama’s speech to the United Nations today displayed the tone-deafness to freedom and to the fate of non-Muslim peoples in the Middle East that he has shown since coming to office.

When he discussed Iran, a vicious dictatorship whose regime is rejected by the great majority of that nation’s population, what words of encouragement did he have for the Iranian people? None. On the contrary he said, “We are not seeking regime change,” reassuring not the people but their rulers. Adding insult to injury he then said, “Iran’s genuine commitment to go down a different path [on nuclear weapons] will be good for the region and the world, and will help the Iranian people meet their extraordinary potential — in commerce and culture; in science and education.” Missing entirely was the word freedom, which most Iranians think is a central part of their “extraordinary potential.” When one thinks of Ronald Reagan’s messages to the people of the Soviet Union, assuring them that we understood the true nature of the tyranny under which they lived and that we hoped for the day when it would fall, the decline in America’s moral leadership is shocking.

The president also had a comment about violence within Middle Eastern societies. Telling the U.N. that “we will be engaged in the region for the long haul,” he then added:

      This includes efforts to resolve sectarian tensions that continue to surface in places like Iraq, Syria and Bahrain. Ultimately, such long-standing issues cannot be solved by outsiders; they must be addressed by Muslim communities themselves. But we have seen grinding conflicts come to an end before — most recently in Northern Ireland, where Catholics and Protestants finally recognized that an endless cycle of conflict was causing both communities to fall behind a fast-moving world.

What is the message here to Christians, Baha’is, Zoroastrians, and other religious minorities who live in the Middle East? Tragically the message is that they don’t even exist in his eyes. He actually made a reference to Christians in the very next sentence, apparently unaware that Christian communities are under attack every day in the region — most recently in Egypt. “Sectarian tensions” are not the problem; attacks on religious minorities are the problem that is destroying Christian communities, and the solution is not for it to be “addressed by Muslim communities” as if the non-Muslims were not citizens with equal rights and greater antiquity.

The president’s speech may well cause smiles in Tehran, but in the homes of Iranians desperate to rid themselves of that despotic theocracy, and in the homes and churches of Middle Eastern Christians who fear for the futures and their very lives, the president is more likely to have produced despair. It’s quite a day’s work.

EGYPTIAN MILITARY HAVE NO INTEREST IN PROTECTING CHRISTIANS

lizabeth Kendall  concludes her important survey saying:

The violence in Egypt is settling into a deadly cycle: (1) The MB [Muslim Brotherhood] challenges the military (resisting the coup); (2) the military responds with force; (3) MB supporters react with violence against Coptic Christians (whom they blame for the coup). Then the cycle starts again.  The military cares nothing for Christians and, with money coming from Saudi Arabia, it has no interest in protecting Christians but only in protecting itself. The military would kill Christians without a second thought if it felt it were in its interests to do so, as it did in Maspero, October 2011. With the MB recruiting jihadis in Algeria and beyond, it can only be anticipated that terrorism against the State and genocidal violence against the Coptic Church will increase. Egypt's
Christians need our prayers.

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT -

* God, 'the hope of all the ends of the earth', will intervene in Egypt   and 'still . . . the tumult of the peoples' (from Psalm 65).

* the Holy Spirit will move powerfully amongst Egyptian Christians,   enabling them to stand firm in faith (Isaiah 7:9b) with confidence and   assurance (Hebrews 10:35-39), so they might live radically  counter-cultural lives, loving their enemies and praying for those who  persecute them (Luke 6:27-36); not fearing what people fear, but honouring the Lord in all circumstances and knowing his presence according to his promise (Isaiah 8:11-15).

* the Holy Spirit will bring awakening to Egyptian Muslims, convicting multitudes of 'sin and righteousness and judgement' (from John 16:7-11); as Egypt is 'shaken' may Islam be brought down and the Lord  exalted (Isaiah 2:7-21 and Hebrews 12:26-29).

SIMON DENG - FORMER SUDANESE SLAVE SPEAKS OUT ON ARAB GENOCIDE

As a friend correctly wrote: "The UN spends all its time on Israel, while the Arabs get away with genocide on a massive scale."  

Below is a MUST READ speech given by Simon Deng, a former Sudanese slave, at the Durban III Counter- Conference held in New York City in September, 2011.   The Arab atrocities in Sudan and elsewhere continue! This speech is not out of date!!!   The text of the speech appears below.  

 

I want to thank the organizers of this conference, The Perils of Global Intolerance. It is a great honor for me and it is a privilege really to be among today's distinguished speakers.

I came here as a friend of the State of Israel and the Jewish people. I came to protest this Durban conference which is based on a set of lies. It is organized by nations who are themselves are guilty of the worst kinds of oppression.

It will not help the victims of racism. It will only isolate and target the Jewish state. It is a tool of the enemies of Israel. The UN has itself become a tool against Israel. For over 50 years, 82 percent of the UN General Assembly emergency meetings have been about condemning one state – Israel. Hitler couldn't have been made happier.

The Durban Conference is an outrage. All decent people will know that.

But friends, I come here today with a radical idea. I come to tell you that there are peoples who suffer from the UN's anti-Israelism even more than the Israelis. I belong to one of those people.

Please hear me out.

By exaggerating Palestinian suffering, and by blaming the Jews for it, the UN has muffled the cries of those who suffer on a far larger scale.

For over 50 years the indigenous black population of Sudan — Christians and Muslims alike — has been the victims of the brutal, racist Arab Muslim regimes in Khartoum.

The UN is focused about Palestinians, while ignoring ethnic cleansing in Sudan.

In South Sudan, my homeland, about 4 million innocent men, women and children were slaughtered from 1955 to 2005. Seven million were ethnically cleansed and they became the largest refugee group since World War II.

The UN is concerned about the so-called Palestinian refugees. They dedicated a separate agency for them, and they are treated with a special privilege.

Meanwhile, my people, ethnically cleansed, murdered and enslaved, are relatively ignored. The UN refuses to tell the world the truth about the real causes of Sudan's conflicts. Who knows really what is happening in Darfur? It is not a "tribal conflict."

It is a conflict rooted in Arab colonialism well known in north Africa. In Darfur, a region in the Western Sudan, everybody is Muslim. Everybody is Muslim because the Arabs invaded the North of Africa and converted the indigenous people to Islam. In the eyes of the Islamists in Khartoum, the Darfuris are not Muslim enough. And the Darfuris do not want to be Arabized. They love their own African languages and dress and customs. The Arab response is genocide! But nobody at the UN tells the truth about Darfur.