The Orwellian logic that’s turning the faith Britain was built on into a crime

Dale McAlpine was hauled to court after telling a gay police community support officer he thought homosexuality was a sinBy Melanie Phillips – 3rd May 2010

Terrifying as this may seem, the attempt to stamp out Christianity in Britain appears to be gathering pace.

Dale Mcalpine was preaching to shoppers in Workington, Cumbria, that homosexuality is a sin when he found himself carted off by the police, locked up in a cell for seven hours and charged with using abusive or insulting words or behaviour.

It appears that two police community support officers – at least one of whom was gay – claimed he had caused distress to themselves and members of the public.

Under our anti-discrimination laws, such distress is not to be permitted.

Dale McAlpine was hauled to court after telling a gay police community support officer he thought homosexuality was a sin.

And so we have the oppressive and sinister situation where a gentle, unaggressive Christian is arrested and charged simply for preaching Christian principles.

It would appear that Christianity, the normative faith of this country on which its morality, values and civilisation are based, is effectively being turned into a crime. (more…)

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Franklin Graham: Christians Will Lose the Power to Pray Outside Church Walls ‘Maybe in My Lifetime’

C:\\Documents and Settings\\JASONG\\Desktop\\Franklin Graham.jpgWednesday, May 05, 2010 By Pete Winn, Senior Writer/Editor, CNS News
Two top evangelical leaders sounded a defiant tone on the eve of National Day of Prayer — warning that the American right to freedom of religion “is being eroded every day” and may be lost in an onslaught of secularism unless Americans “have the guts to stand up.”

The Rev. Franklin Graham, who last month was officially “dis-invited” by the Army to speak at a National Day of Prayer ceremony at the Pentagon for statements he made about Islam, said he will not back down in preaching the Gospel as he sees it.

“We’re living in a time where we cannot compromise, we cannot back up, we cannot retreat,” Graham said Wednesday during a live Webcast from the Washington, D.C. offices of the Family Research Council.

“The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is to be preached to the ends of the Earth – that’s what He’s called us to do,” he said.

Graham, the honorary chairman of this year’s National Day of Prayer, made his comments in a sermon to an audience of leaders making final preparations for Thursday’s National Day of Prayer. (more…)

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When the Thought Police Come Knocking on Your Door

Bill Muehlenberg of CultureWatchCultureWatch  – Bill Muehlenberg’s commentary on issues of the day…

Let me tell you in advance something you will need to know. If in the near future you notice that no new articles are being added to this website, and no new comments are being posted, there will be one very good reason for this: I will be in jail, or fighting a lengthy court battle, because of Victoria’s new EOC law which was just passed.

Now I realise that for my many enemies this will be tremendous news indeed. But for those at least concerned about freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of conscience, this should be a very worrying development.

And to be honest, I am perfectly aware that there will be some Christians as well who will see the closure of this website as a good thing: “Yes, Bill was just too radical, and too much of a trouble maker. It is probably a good thing he has been put away. He was giving Christianity a bad reputation”.

Of course I will not find such attitudes surprising. Jesus had warned about these very things. He told his disciples to be ready for the coming persecution: “All this I have told you so that you will not go astray. They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you. I did not tell you this at first because I was with you” (John 16:1-4). (more…)

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Ex-Muslim Defends Franklin Graham’s Islam Remarks

By Michelle A. Vu, Christian Post Reporter, Thursday April 29th

Graham and others like him who criticize Islam are not saying they hate Muslims, said Sabatina James, a well-known Paskistani convert to Christianity who lives in Europe, in an interview with The Christian Post on Wednesday.

The granddaughter of a mullah weighed in on the Franklin Graham controversy this week, contending that there is a difference between critisizing Islam and Muslims

 “Make the difference between sin and sinner,” said James, “between Islam and Muslims. Don’t say that every Muslim is a terrorist and every Muslim is bad because that is just not true. But there are definitely things that need to be changed in Islam or else you can’t live in a democracy.”

James, who is living under police protection and constantly on the move because of death threats against her, said Islamic rights do not fit in a country like the United States.

“Nobody is allowed to beat up his wife just because she’s not obedient but that is written in the Quran,” she said. “You know you have to think about it.”

“Is there a different Quran? No they are teaching the same Quran where it is written ‘beat your wife if she is not obedient.’ They are teaching the same Quran where it is written ‘the Christians and Jewish people are evil.’ It is written in the Surah Al-Maidah. It is written there ‘don’t take Jewish and Christian people as your friend.’ That is what you are taught in the Quran schools.” (more…)

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Tolerating Ahmadinejad’s Jew-Hate

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejadby Anav Silverman on Apr 14th, 2010

Four years ago, the International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust’ was held in Tehran on December 11, 2006. Manouchehr Mottaki, the Iranian Foreign Minister, stated at the time that the aim of the conference was to “neither to deny nor prove the Holocaust but to provide an appropriate scientific atmosphere for scholars to offer their opinions in freedom about a historical issue.”

Those who contributed to the scientific atmosphere at the conference, included David Duke, a Ku Klux Klan leader and former US state representative, Robert Faurisson, a convicted Holocaust denier from France and a number of other academic professors and educators all engaged in Holocaust Denial research and rhetoric. One such professor, Dr. Fredrick Toben, an Australian citizen, runs an Internet site vilifying Jews while promoting that Nazis did not commit the mass murder of the Jewish people. Several right-extremist politicians from Germany’s neo-Nazi NPD party were invited as well, although the German government barred them from attending.

However, the central purpose of the conference went beyond providing a friendly environment for international Holocaust deniers to share their twisted sentiments. The Iranian Foreign Minister elaborated that “If the official version of the Holocaust is thrown into doubt, then the identity and nature of Israel will be thrown into doubt. And if, during this review, it is proved that the Holocaust was a historical reality, then what is the reason for the Palestinians having to pay the cost of the Nazis’ crimes?” (more…)

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PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU’S SPEECH ON HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin NethanyahuPress Release from the office of the Prime Minister of Israel

Tonight, the eve of Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day,  we remember our brothers and sisters who were murdered in the death camps,  in the forests and in the killing fields. We listen to the voices of the survivors who serve as the voice of the millions who died. Before their deaths, many of the murdered begged, “Do not forget us. Tell our story—tell the world, tell the coming generations – how great our suffering was, how terrible the horror was, how great our sacrifice was.”

Several months ago, I headed the Israeli delegation to the ceremony marking 65 years since the liberation of the death camps Auschwitz and Birkenau. The candle-lighting ceremony took place outside in front of the monument. It was 15 degrees Celsius below zero, but it was still warmer than the terrible winter of 1944-1945 when temperatures ranged from 30 to 35 degrees below zero. We stood for about 30 minutes during the ceremony, well-dressed for the weather, nevertheless, we were freezing. Suddenly I understood a simple, chilling truth about millions of my brothers and sisters who ended up in that cursed place: those who didn’t burn, froze; and those who didn’t freeze, burned.
 
Several months earlier, I visited the Wannsee Villa in Berlin. There, I saw the original invitation for the meeting of high-level Nazi officials, in which they decided to wipe out the Jewish people. On the invitation that was sent by the Deputy Head of the SS was written: “The chief of the Reich main security office, Reinhard Heydrich, cordially invites you to a discussion about the Final Solution to the Jewish problem. Breakfast will be served at 09:00.” This is how, in an elegant villa on the shore of a pastoral lake, over breakfast and glasses of cognac, 15 men sat and decided how to destroy our people. No one batted an eyelid; no one expressed any doubt regarding the mission, either its necessity or its justness. (more…)

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ISRAEL CELEBRATES ITS INDEPENDENCE

Israeli FlagThe Jerusalem Post

Israelis celebrated 62 years since the founding of the Jewish state with fireworks and street parties after sundown on Monday 20th April. The festivities continued until sundown on Tuesday, with thousands flocking to parks and nature reserves for traditional barbecues and family gatherings. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the day as a “double miracle in the life of the Jewish people”. “The first miracle is the restoration of Jewish sovereignty,” Netanyahu said in an Independence Day message.

“The second miracle is what we’ve done since the establishment of the Jewish state. Israel is fast becoming a regional economic power and one of the world’s leading technological powers,” he said. Israel was founded on May 14, 1948, which according to the Jewish calendar corresponds this year to April 20. Celebrations began after a state ceremony that marks the annual transition from a day of mourning for Israel’s fallen to Independence Day celebrations.

Earlier in the day, traffic ground to a halt across Israel as drivers joined pedestrians in two minutes of silence while sirens wailed in commemoration of fallen soldiers and attack victims. The memorial day started at sunset on Sunday and continues for 24 hours. For the duration, radio stations play sombre music and television channels replaced regular entertainment programs with documentaries on Israel’s wars. The two minutes of silence was announced by air raid sirens at 11am (1800 AEST) and official ceremonies were scheduled at dozens of military cemeteries and memorials. (more…)

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Son of Hamas Founder Shares Faith Journey, Reveals He Spied for Israel in New Book

Son of Hamas Founder now following Christ02 March 2010 – Ken Walker – Featured News Charisma Online
  
The son of a Hamas founder whose Christian conversion made international headlines released the complete story of his faith journey Tuesday in a memoir brimming with spy-novel-like drama.

Son of Hamas by Mosab Hassan Yousef details a six-year-long conversion process that originated with a Bible study in Jerusalem and resulted in his departure from the Islamic terrorist organization. He was baptized in 2005 near Tel Aviv in a ceremony performed by a San Diego woman visiting the church that Yousef attended.

The 31-year-old says his faith has sustained him ever since, particularly since leaving his homeland in 2007. The pain of separation is better understood when one reads his account of the lifelong, close-knit ties forged by Palestinian families.

“Whenever I compare my pain to [Christ’s], I forget my pain,” said Yousef, who lives on the West Coast.

“When I feel alone in this journey, I know that He feels with me because He went through much worse. Every step I get closer to the cross I learn more about His sacrifice and pain, which absolutely makes me forget about my pain.” (more…)

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U.S. Court Rules that National Day of Prayer is Unconstitutional

John Jalsevac (Apr. 16, 2010)

A little history: June 30, 1812: It being a duty peculiarly incumbent in a time of public calamity and war, humbly and devoutly to acknowledge our dependence on Almighty God, and to implore His aid and protection:

Therefore, Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that a joint committee of both Houses wait on the President of the United States, and request that he recommend a day of public humiliation and prayer to be observed by the people of the United States, with religious solemnity, and the offering of fervent supplications to the Almighty God for the safety and welfare of these States, His blessing on their arms, and the speedy restoration of peace. (Resolution requesting the President of the United States to recommend a day of public humiliation and prayer)

In a decision released Thursday, U.S. District Judge Barbara B. Crabb declared the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional. The decision comes in the case filed by The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), a Wisconsin-based organization, which challenged the constitutionality of a 1988 federal law giving the president the authority to designate the first Thursday in May as a National Day of Prayer. (“The First Prayer in Congress” by T.H. Matteson 1848)

The day of prayer “goes beyond mere ‘acknowledgment’ of religion because its sole purpose is to encourage all citizens to engage in prayer, an inherently religious exercise that serves no secular function in this context,” Crabb wrote. “In this instance, the government has taken sides on a matter that must be left to individual conscience.” (more…)

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European Union Moves to Defend Persecuted Christians

Friday, February 26, 2010 – By Michael Ireland Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service 

Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net — E-mail: assistnews@aol.com

WASHINGTON, D.C, (ANS) — The European Union (EU) has established a working group to protect persecuted Christians and prepare a manual for embassies of member states regarding the treatment of persecuted Christian minorities.

According to International Christian Concern (ICC) www.persecution.org, Italy’s Foreign Minister, Franco Frattini, in an interview yesterday with the Italian daily newspaper Avvenire said, “We could promote a group of like-minded countries who take to heart the right of Christians to profess their faith anywhere in the world. …You see, Christians have never had a political group offering them strong support through their governments.”

ICC reported that the Foreign Minister also stated that his country will hold an international conference on religious freedom this year and will soon introduce a resolution at the United Nations General Assembly regarding the rights of Christians. (more…)

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Victoria – Review of ‘hate crime’ laws

Removal of Free Speech in VictoriaSalt Shakers E-News – Helping Christians Make A Difference

‘Hate crimes’ are under review in Victoria. If what is being proposed in one of the review documents is introduced into legislation, it will mean even MORE RESTRICTIONS on the freedom of speech.

In fact, if you OFFEND or INSULT a homosexual you could be hauled before the Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission – and with their NEW POWERS, the EOHRC could launch their own investigation into behaviour they think ‘offends’ someone! Churches and Christians will be under even more threat if this is put into legislation!

Last year Victoria’s Attorney-General Rob Hulls initiated changes to the Sentencing Act regarding the sentencing of hate crimes. The amendment requires a sentencing court to have regard to whether an offence was motivated (wholly or partially) by hatred of, or prejudice against, a group of people with common characteristics with which the victim was associated or with which the offender believed the victim was associated.

But that isn’t enough for Mr Hulls.

Mr Hulls has asked Hon Geoffrey Eames, a retired Supreme Court judge, to conduct a review of ‘Identity Motivated Hate Crime’ in Victoria to “determine whether current hate crime laws are adequate”. They are considering whether ‘hate crimes’ should be a specific part of the criminal law. (more…)

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Australia Bans Christian Schools from Teaching Creationism

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski ADELAIDE, South Australia, March 4, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/mar/10030403.html

The South Australian Non-Government Schools Registration Board has published a new education policy that states it requires the ”teaching of science as an empirical discipline, focusing on inquiry, hypothesis, investigation, experimentation, observation and evidential analysis.” It then goes on to state that it “does not accept as satisfactory a science curriculum in a non-government school which is based on, espouses or reflects the literal interpretation of a religious text in its treatment of either creationism or intelligent design.”

The policy effectively bans the teaching of creationism in South Australian Christian schools.

A spokesman for the South Australian Non-Government Schools Registration Board is quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald saying there is no ban on teaching creationism. “It can be taught in religious studies,” said the spokesman.

However, Stephen O’Doherty, the chief executive of Christian Schools Australia, said that he believes the intention of the South Australian policy was to ban the teaching of the biblical perspective on the nature of the universe altogether. It was the only such subject singled out, he said. (more…)

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Geert Wilders on course to be next Dutch prime minister

Geert Wilders looks like next Dutch Prime MinisterBy Bruno Waterfield – The Telegraph – 05 March 2010

Municipal results announced on Thursday put his party in first place in Almere, a region near Amsterdam and second in The Hague, one the country’s largest cities and the seat of the Dutch government.
 
If repeated in national elections on June 9, the Freedom Party could win 27 out of 150 seats, becoming the largest single party and putting him in line to become prime minister and form a new government.

Mr Wilders has called Islam a backward religion, wants a ban on headscarves in public life and has compared the Koran to Hitler’s Mein Kampf.

“We are going to conquer the entire country we are going to be the biggest party in the country,” he said after the vote. (more…)

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Muslim leader wants elements of sharia in Australia

Sydney Morning Herald – Paul Bibby – March 8, 2010
 
ELEMENTS of Islamic law – the sharia – should be legally recognised in Australia so that Muslims can live according their faith, a prominent Muslim leader says.

Addressing an open day at Lakemba Mosque on Saturday, the president of the Australian Islamic Mission, Zachariah Matthews, said parts of sharia could be recognised as a secondary legal system so that Muslims were not forced to act contrary to their beliefs. ”Sharia law could function as a parallel system in the same way that some traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander law was recognised in the Northern Territory,” Dr Matthews told the Herald after the session.

”I don’t think we are so unsophisticated that we cannot consider a multilayered legal system as long as it doesn’t conflict with the existing civil system.”

The comments shocked some attending the open day. They felt Dr Matthews was advocating the introduction of the penal system under which women have been stoned to death for adultery, and corporal punishment is meted out for some offences. (more…)

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President Obama’s anti-Israel hysteria and plan to microchip citizens

President ObamaDear family & friends in Christ in Australia and around the World,Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Nethanyahu
 
President Obama is definitely de-Christianizing America, making it an Interfaith nation to further the Antichrist’s diabolical agenda of a One World Government, Religion, and Economy.
 
He is planning to microchip citizens in America and trying his very best to divide Jerusalem. We must continue to pray that the Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will continue to stand strong and not let this happen.  Pray for Israel and especially Jerusalem!
 
I am shocked that thousands (perhaps millions) of Christians are so misled and do not support Israel. Thank God for the nameless and faceless remnant who will rise up and take a stand for the soon coming King of kings and the Lord of lords! These Kingdom warriors will prepare the way for the second coming of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We must remember that where there is darkness, the light shines even brighter. So let your light shine!
 
Following are 2 very interesting and alarming articles regarding President Obama’s anti-Israel hysteria and plan to microchip citizens.
 
Jesus is coming back very soon!!! ARE YOU READY TO MEET HIM?????? Please pray for the nations!!!

(more…)

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