An interesting exchange between Dr. Zacharias and a Muslim student. The Muslim student has a hard time grasping grace. He understands the law system from his own religion and that of Judaism and believes Christianity has no moral law. It really sounds as if he really desires to understand Christianity.
Damascus: January 19, 2012. (Barnabas Aid) The Christian community in Syria has been hit by a series of kidnappings and brutal murders; 100 Christians have now been killed since the anti-government unrest began.
A reliable source in the country, who cannot be identified for their own safety, told Barnabas Aid that children were being especially targeted by the kidnappers, who, if they do not receive the ransom demanded, kill the victim.
And the source provided detailed information ¨C some of which cannot be made public for security reasons ¨C about incidents that have taken place since Christmas. Two Christian men, one aged 28, the other a 37-year-old father with a pregnant wife, were kidnapped by the rebels in separate incidents and later found dead; the first was found hanged with numerous injuries, the second was cut into pieces and thrown in a river. Four more have been abducted, and their captors are threatening to kill them too.
Please click here to read the rest of the article.
Iran’s Supreme Court says an evangelical pastor charged with apostasy can be executed if he does not recant his faith, according to a copy of the verdict obtained by a religious rights activist group.
Christian Solidarity World says Iranian-born Yousef Nadarkhani, who was arrested in 2009 and given the death sentence late last year, could have his sentence suspended on the grounds that he renounce his faith.
(AINA) — A mob of nearly four thousand Muslims has attacked Coptic homes this evening in the village of Soul, Atfif in Helwan Governorate, 30 kilometers from Cairo, and torched the Church of St. Mina and St. George. There are conflicting reports about the whereabouts of the Church pastor Father Yosha and three deacons who were at church; some say they died in the fire and some say they are being held captive by the Muslims inside the church.
Witnesses report the mob prevented the fire brigade from entering the village. The army, which has been stationed for the last two days in the village of Bromil, 7 kilometers from Soul, initially refused to go into Soul, according to the officer in charge. When the army finally sent three tanks to the village, Muslim elders sent them away, saying that everything was “in order now.”
A curfew has been imposed on the 12,000 Christians in the village.
This incident was triggered by a relationship between 40-year-old Copt Ashraf Iskander and a Muslim woman. Yesterday a “reconciliation” meeting was arranged between the relevant Coptic and Muslim families and together with the Muslim elders it was decided that Ashraf Iskander would have to leave the village because Muslims torched his house.
The father of the Muslim woman was killed by his cousin because he did not kill his daughter to preserve the family’s honor, which led the woman’s brother to avenge the death of his father by killing the cousin. The village Muslims blamed the Christians.
The Muslim mob attacked the church, exploding 5-6 gas cylinders inside the church, pulled down the cross and the domes and burnt everything inside. Activist Ramy Kamel of Katibatibia Coptic advocacy called US-based Coptic Hope Sat TV and sent an SOS on behalf of the Copts in Soul village, as they are presently being attacked by the mob. He also said that no one is able to contact the priest and the deacons inside the burning church and there is no answer from their mobile phones.
Coptic activist Wagih Yacoub reported the mob has broken into Coptic homes and has called on Copts to leave the village. “Terrorized Copts have fled and some hid in homes of Muslim neighbors,” he added.
Witnesses said the mob chanted “Allahu Akbar” and vowed to conduct their morning prayers on the church plot after razing it.
By Mary Abdelmassih
This article is from Pajamas Media. This trend will continue to other countries. The U.S. needs to take a stand now. Click here to read the entire article.
Islamists have made no secret of their desire to impose sharia law on the country.
January 19, 2011 – by Hege Storhaug
In terms of values, 2010 was a red-letter year for Norway. Our innocence was destroyed. From one end of the country to the other, and in no uncertain terms, Islamists proclaimed their sinister message. Henceforth, only those in deep denial will insist that our freedom is not endangered. And only true innocents will fail to grasp that we are headed for a raging conflict about values.
It all started at the same spot where Quisling and his followers held rallies in the 1930s. Around 3,000 people filled University Square in Oslo on February 12, 2010, many of them dressed just like Muhammed himself – a long coat, baggy, ankle-high pants, and a head covering, plus full beard. In the gravest of tones, they articulated their contempt for the society that has given them so many benefits. The threat of a new September 11 on Norwegian soil, issued by Mohyeldeen Mohammed (who had studied sharia in Medina), marked the end of one era and the beginning of a new one.
By Gary Bauer of Human Events. Click Here to read the entire article.
“Few Americans would deny that Judeo-Christian beliefs and values informed the Founding of this country and that they continue to shape much of American life today. Nor would many of us deny that Americans who embrace Islamic values are a distinct minority here.
I raise these two facts because of an emerging reality: that, in a variety of contexts, American Muslims are treated better than American Christians. That might seem like a bizarre assertion, so think about it in another way: What if the Christians were treated like Muslims in America, and Muslims like Christians?
If Muslims were treated like Christians in America, Muslims would have to tolerate the defamation of their holiest images in our national museums, acts which would be called “artwork” — and, if particularly provocative, even given taxpayer-funded grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. They would also have to accept Korans being burned and thrown into toilets, which instead of inciting worldwide outrage and retribution would provoke a collective shrug of the shoulders.”
An editorial from Investor’s Business Daily. The entire article can be found here.
Islamofascism: A New Year’s attack on an Egyptian Coptic Christian Church that killed 21 worshipers was not a random act. It also suggests Ground Zero mosque supporters preaching tolerance picked the wrong location.
If further evidence is needed of the nature of the enemy the United States and what’s left of Western civilization faces, it can be found in the ruins of the Talbiya church in the Egyptian port city of Alexandria.
In a terrorist attack one minute after midnight, 21 Christians attending a New Year’s Mass were killed and 97 people, mostly Christians, were injured after a car bomb detonated outside the Coptic church. The pastor of the church told the Malta Times, “I was inside the church and heard a huge explosion. People’s bodies were in flames.”
From VOA News
The Iraqi Interior Minister announced that 17 members of extremist groups affiliated with al-Qaida were arrested.
There is some good news for the beleaguered Christian community in Iraq. The Iraqi Interior Minister announced that 17 members of extremist groups affiliated with al-Qaida were arrested in connection with the attack on a Christian cathedral in Baghdad on October 31st, which killed 56 people. Among those apprehended was Huthaifa al-Batawi, the Baghdad chief of Islamic State of Iraq, the al-Qaida front group which carried out the attack.
Iraqi authorities also seized 6 tons of explosives and toxic gas in the properties raided. They said the arrests had helped prevent several attacks, including ones targeting Baghdad’s Green Zone — an area which is home to several embassies and government buildings.
After the attack on Our Lady of Salvation cathedral, al-Qaida declared Christians everywhere “legitimate targets.” That announcement was followed by a string of bombings targeting Christian homes and shops in Baghdad that killed six more people. It is little wonder that Christians have left Iraq in droves. Between 800,000 and 1.2 million Christians lived in Iraq before the U.S.-led invasion of 2003, but their numbers have since shrunk to around 500,000 in the face of continued persecution.
But Christians are not only fleeing Iraq. In fact, according to the Vatican, from Egypt to Iran, 17 million have left due to hostile environments. In Algeria, four converts to Christianity are facing trial for attempting to open a protestant place of worship. In Egypt, Christian Copts, who represent about 10 percent of Egypt’s population, have taken to the streets over their frustration with construction delays of a church in the Cairo suburb of Giza. In Iran, the government bans proselytizing by Christian groups, has closed some churches and regularly arrests Christian converts. And in Saudi Arabia the government bans any public observance outside of Islam.
Clearly, religious freedom and Christianity in particular are under threat from authoritarian regimes and violent extremist groups like al-Qaida. The United States, said U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, “wants to see religious freedom available universally. And we want to advocate for the brave men and women who around the world persist in practicing their beliefs in the face of hostility and violence.”
While surfing, I found this article. It codifies into United Nations law persecution against Christians in Islamic countries. Excerpts from the article are shown below. If you’d like to read the entire story, click here.
“At its meeting in Mexico in December, the members of the United Nations General Assembly will vote on an initiative sponsored by the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) entitled the “Elimination of all forms of intolerance and of discrimination based on religion or belief(document A/C.3/65/L.32/Rev.1).”
In advance of that vote, a draft of the resolution was presented Monday for provisional approval to the members of the Third Committee of the United Nations. The proposed text was approved without a vote by the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee (Third Committee)…
Open Doors and its allies fear that the ultimate goal of the OIC is the inclusion of the text of this latest anti-defamation initiative in the greater anti-racism restrictions already in place. The amending of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination to include religion would essentially criminalize the preaching of Christianity in Muslim nations. Proselytizing would be interpreted as an attempt to encourage one to change religions, thus representing an attack on Islam, which would be illegal as a form of racism.”
Below is an article I found on the Christian Post. I mirrors thoughts I’ve had for some time. Where are all the feminists? Seeing how Islam treats women, they should be screaming from the rafters but all we hear is silence.
Where Have All the Feminists Gone?
By Michael Youssef
I remember back in the late ’60s or early ’70s, Germaine Greer and many of her feminist cohorts used to appear on Australian television and “pile on” Christianity as an oppressor of women.
Coming fresh out of the Middle East into the West and knowing how Christian women are lovingly treated in comparison to their Muslim counterparts, I wanted to scream at the television. Do these people understand that Jesus is the only true liberator of women? Have they ever read the Bible? Do they really know what it means to truly oppress women?
Are they so clueless they don’t understand that Western civilization came into being because of the light of Christianity?
But fast forward just a few decades later. Today you see Islamic ideology, with its emphasis on beating women into submission to men, openly and boldly broadcast through the media. Proclaiming that a woman is only equal to half of a man, Sharia courts are spreading (like Kudzu in July here in the South) in England, Europe and the United States.
Click here to read the rest of the article with embedded video.
