War on Terror and Free Trade Are Incompatible, Expert Says
Iranian Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh:
"The United States has the power to cause harm and pain, but the United States is also susceptible to harm and pain. So if that is the path that the U.S. wishes to choose, let the ball roll." • Read More
The Patriot Post
"The quagmire isn't in Iraq but at home. For five years, beginning with the designation of 'war on terror,' the President's public presentation has been consistent: Islam is a great religion, religion of peace, marvelous stuff, White House Ramadan Banquet the highlight of the calendar, but, sadly, every barrel has one or two bad apples, even Islam believe it or not, and once we've hunted those down we'll join the newly liberated peace-loving Muslim democracies in a global alliance of peace-loving peaceful persons. Most sentient beings have been aware that there is, to put it mildly, a large element of evasion about this basic narrative, but only now is it being explicitly rejected by all sides." —Mark Steyn
Muslim: I attacked 'out of love for Allah'
Man who barreled SUV into 9 people sends letter to N. Carolina TV station, cites Quran in defense
"Allah gives permission in the Quran for the followers of Allah to attack those who have raged war against them, with the expectation of eternal paradise in case of martyrdom and/or living one's life in obedience of all of Allah's commandments found throughout the Quran's 114 chapters. My attack on Americans at UNC-CH on March 3rd was in retaliation for similar attacks orchestrated by the U.S. government on my fellow followers of Allah," wrote Mohammed Taheri-azar in a letter sent to WTVD-TV, an ABC affiliate in Durham. He said he had intended to kill the people he struck.
A spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations told the Associated Press Taheri-azar's claims of religious support for his actions are an old and repudiated claim. "Islamic scholars have clearly and repeatedly stated that attacks on innocent civilians of any kind are prohibited by Islam and should be repudiated," spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said yesterday. Read more at WorldNetDaily
UNC Grad in Court on Alleged Hit and Run A University of North Carolina graduate
from Iran, accused of
running down nine people on campus to avenge the treatment of Muslims, said at a hearing Monday that he was "
thankful for the opportunity to spread the will of Allah."
Read more.
WO Comment: Islamic terrorism has reached the streets of America. Apparently the exhortations of the "Islamic scholars" are not reaching some Muslims. Instead of scholars Islam perhaps needs a central religious authority, like the Catholic Pope and cardinals, along with getting the word out to all followers: "attacks on innocent civilians are prohibited." And with news reports like the above it's not surprising to see reports like the one below:
Negative perception of Islam increasing
As the war in Iraq grinds into its fourth year, a growing proportion of Americans are expressing unfavorable views of Islam, and a majority now say that Muslims are disproportionately prone to violence, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. The poll found that nearly half of Americans -- 46 percent -- have a negative view of Islam, seven percentage points higher than in the tense months after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Vision America
Many who practice the more radical forms of Islam are turning their venom on Christians around the world, and few are willing to call that persecution what it is. If Islam is a religion of peace, as we are often told, why are more of its leaders not speaking out against their extremist followers who are killing innocent men and women around then world in the name of Allah? In India, Bangladesh, the Sudan, and around the world, churches are being destroyed by Muslims, and followers of Christ are being murdered or carried away into slavery, for the simple crime of being Christian. There is a war against Christianity raging and you cannot win the war until first you face it honestly.
In America, Muslims, Jews, atheists and others are allowed to pursue their religious beliefs freely without fear, and rightfully so. But in the Arab world, far too often you can be arrested or worse, lose your life, for the crime of carrying a Bible openly or discussing your Christian views publicly. Our soldiers are shedding their blood in Iraq to secure the freedom of differing Moslem sects to pursue their faith freely. However, they cannot themselves, openly express their Christian faith while there. What's wrong with this picture?
The War Within:
Eliminating Religion & Faith in the U.S.
Ban Stevie Wonder! by Erik Rush
Banned! Yes, banned by activists in a movement spearheaded by groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. "'Lord'? 'Heaven blessed'? 'What God has done'? Oh, that will never do. People are being force-fed religion subliminally every time they turn on the radio, you see..."
>> Read Full Column
Catholic Charities in Boston Will Close on June 30, 2006
CWA, 5.31.2006
Modified Image on School Yearbook Cover Upsets Some Parents: 'In God We Trust' Scrubbed from Image of Liberty Nickel Agape Press, Jim Brown, 5.30.2006
Bible Club Battles Maryland School District in Discrimination Suit
Agape Press, Jim Brown, 5.30.2006
City Bars Paintings with Bible Verses: 1 Piece Features Artist's Granddaughter, Quote from Psalms WorldNetDaily, 5.31.2006 (Brett Harvey of ADF)
Assault Against America's Christian Traditions Continue
Renew America, Felicia Benamon, 5.31.2006
Supreme Court rejects appeal in Boy Scout case The Supreme Court rejected an appeal Tuesday from an atheist father over Boy Scout recruiting at his son’s public school. John Scalise had asked the court to bar public schools from opening their doors to Boy Scout recruiters and promoting membership.
Ten Commandments Litigation from Coast to Coast ACLJ, 5.31.2006
Kentucky: ACLU Sues to Halt Graduation Prayer
AP on Lexington Herald-Leader, 5.17.2006
"Terms like Jesus Christ, heavenly father, and the prayers were offensive to me," the 17-year-old Muslim, Arshiya Saiyed, said.
Court Order Does Not Stop Students From Saying the Lord's Prayer and Thanking God at Graduation Ceremony
ACLU Says the War on Christianity is a Myth Citizen Link, 5.15.2006
Lawmaker sued over use of 'Jesus'
Who says you can't pray in school?
District gives in on prayer, ACLU sues anyway
Praying school board likened to terrorists
ACLU fights school board's prayers
ACLU: Jail school officials for prayer
ACLU: Punish officials for 'un-American' prayer
AJC Brief Backs N.Y. City in Barring Religious Worship Services at Public Schools
U.S. Newswire, 5.16.2006 (ADF case)
Rutherford Institute Attorneys Sue School Officials Over South Carolina Church’s Right to Meet In High School for Sunday Services
Rutherford, 5.16.2006
Sign the petition to save the Mt. Soledad Cross & Veterans' Memorial
SC: Apartment Managers Ban Bible Study In Commons Area
Religion Clause Blog, 5.10.2006
Bible-Study Group Told to Leave Public Meeting Area
NC: School District Sued After Suspending Christian Student
Agape Press, Jim Brown, 5.10.2006 (Dave Cortman of ADF)
Escalating Church and State Clashes Over Gay Marriage Inevitable, Say U.S. Experts
“The impact will be severe and pervasive”
By Gudrun Schultz
BOSTON, Massachusetts, May 9, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Conflict between religious liberty and same-sex marriage is inevitably going to escalate, said leading religious liberty scholars from both sides of the issue, in an article by the president of the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy, Maggie Gallagher. In an article published by the Weekly Standard yesterday, Ms. Gallagher explored the question of state interference with the freedom of religious institutions who object to same-sex marriage. What she found, after speaking with a variety of experts in legal and academic fields, was a conviction among those tracking the development of the pro-gay movement in the U.S. that religious freedom was in danger of losing significant ground to the demands of the anti-discrimination campaigners. “The impact will be severe and pervasive,” said Anthony Picarello, president and general counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, one of the best religious liberty law firms and the only firm to defend all faith groups. “This is going to affect every aspect of church-state relations…because marriage affects just about every area of the law, gay marriage is going to create a point of conflict at every point around the perimeter.” Marc Stern is general counsel for the American Jewish Congress. He agreed with Picarello that coming conflicts over same-sex marriage would be pervasive. “Same-sex marriage would…work a sea change in American law. That change will reverberate across the legal and religious landscape in some ways that are today unpredictable,” he wrote in a paper for the Becket Fund. The threat to freedom of religion cannot be dismissed as hysteria, he told Gallagher. “You look around the world and even the right to preach is in doubt. In the United States we are not foreseeably in that position. Fundamentally speech is still safe in the United States. Beyond speech, nothing is safe.” Gallagher pointed out that it is not simply same-sex marriage but a specific vision of gay rights that has “placed church and state on a collision course.” “Once sexual orientation is conceptualized as a protected status on a par with race, traditional religions that condemn homosexual conduct will face increasing legal pressures regardless of what courts and Congress do about marriage itself.” Gallagher said legalizing gay marriage carries significant weight in the public perception of homosexuality and the impact on church institutions. “Precisely because support for marriage is public policy, once marriage includes gay couples, groups who oppose gay marriage are likely to be judged in violation of public policy, triggering a host of negative consequences, including the loss of tax-exempt status.” “Because marriage is not a private act, but a protected public status, the legalization of gay marriage sends a strong signal that orientation is now on a par with race in the non-discrimination game. And when we get gay marriage because courts have declared it a constitutional right, the signal is stronger still.”
Read the full article:
http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/012/191kgwgh.asp
Banned in Boston: The Coming Conflict Between Same-Sex Marriage and Religious Liberty.
Weekly Standard, Maggie Gallagher, 5.15.2006 (ADF)
Just how serious are the coming conflicts over religious liberty stemming from gay marriage? "The impact will be severe and pervasive," [Anthony Picarello of Becket Fund] says flatly. "This is going to affect every aspect of church-state relations . . . Can a group--a church or religious charity, say--that opposes gay marriage keep its tax exemption if gay marriage becomes the law? "That," says [Marc Stern of American Jewish Congress], "is the 18 trillion dollar question." . . . Right now, [Jonathan Turley, George Washington U. Law Professor] notes, there is no clear federal public policy against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. But such a policy is imminent, he believes, most likely within the decade.
Religious Liberty and Marriage Conference Hits Weekly Standard Cover, Becket Fund, 5.2006 Same-Sex Marriage has Serious Implications for Religious Liberty, Legal Experts Say, CNA, 5.8.2006 Institute for Marriage and Public Policy Book: The Homosexual Agenda: The Principal Threat to Religious Freedom Today "Banned in Boston": Universities Prove Maggie Right
PhiBetaCons Blog on National Review, David French of ADF, 5.8.2006
Judge orders San Diego cross removed - gives city 90 days in case brought by ACLU-backed atheist Read it on WND.com
Judge Orders San Diego Cross Removed: Gives City 90 Days in Case Brought by ACLU-Backed Atheist WorldNetDaily, 5.3.2006
SIGN THE PETITION to save the cross
Navy Chaplain May Face Court Martial for Praying
NBC 4, 5.4.2006
ACLU Goes Back to Court Over Ten Commandments Monument at Capitol WKYT.com, 5.4.2006
6th Circuit Favors Homosexuality Over Chaplain’s Rights
Baptist Press, 5.3.2006
Liberty Counsel Defends Christian Businessman Ordered
to Duplicate Homosexual Videos
A Catholic activist organization has written to Oregon's governor and state lawmakers to protest a University of Oregon student newspaper for having published cartoons showing Jesus Christ naked and with an erection. Read it here on World Net Daily
Palm Beach County's Proposed Zoning Ordinance Unconstitutionally Restricts Church Size and Location
Palm Beach County, FL – On behalf of a large number of churches in Palm Beach County, Florida, Liberty Counsel wrote a letter to the Commissioners stating that a proposed zoning ordinance which restricts the size and location of churches is unconstitutional and subject to legal challenge.
The proposed ordinance limits the maximum size of churches to 750 seats in residential areas, with even smaller limitations in suburban and rural neighborhoods. The space limitations include meeting halls and daycare centers or other church facilities. South Palm Community Church, where its current 1,200 worshippers (2,200 on Easter) meet in a public school building, purchased an option to buy 38 acres for a planned expansion. The proposed ordinance would limit the church to 250 total seats throughout the facility. Beacon Baptist Church's current building is packed out with 280. Their building project will provide 800 seats on 20 acres, which the Church owns debt free. The Church has spent about $80,000 on zoning and building studies. The proposed ordinance would prevent the church from building. Even though the Church meets all the current zoning laws, the proposed ordinance, which some believe is designed to stop Beacon Baptist, is retroactive and would divest the Church of its property interest.
Liberty Counsel advised pastors, builders and planners that the proposed ordinance violated both federal and state law. The proposal violates the First Amendment, the Florida Constitution, the federal law known as the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, and the Florida Religious Freedom Restoration Act passed by the Florida legislature in 1998, which was drafted by Mathew D. Staver, President and General Counsel of Liberty Counsel.
The Commissioners have been flooded with e-mails and phone calls in opposition to the proposal. The overwhelming show of opposition surprised county officials during a public hearing in March. Today county planning officials will be seeking approval to advertise several options to be voted on in May. One option is to pass the ordinance as drafted. Another is to table the proposal, and another is to eliminate the church size restrictions. The letter by Liberty Counsel to the Commissioners warns that the size restrictions are unconstitutional, and, if passed, Liberty Counsel will file suit on behalf of the churches and houses of worship.
Commenting on this situation, Mathew Staver said: "We first want to seek an amicable resolution with Palm Beach County. But make no mistake, we are resolved to stop the county from infringing upon the religious rights of these churches and houses of worship. If the proposed ordinance is passed, we will sue, and we intend to win. The county should do the right thing and abandon the proposed ordinance. Otherwise, the county will face a costly and losing battle."
California: Homeowners Ban Bible Study: Association Leaders Claim Right to Cut Off Religious Gathering WorldNetDaily, 4.21.2006
University of Wisconsin Cuts Funding for Catholic Group
CNA, 4.21.2006
Pennsylvania: District Accused of Equating Bible with Profanity
WorldNetDaily, 4.22.2006 (ADF Ally Randall Wenger)
See also: Lawsuit Stuns DASD Solicitor, Daily Local, Michael Crist, 4.24.2006
Islamist Protest in N.Y. – 'Mushroom Cloud on Way': Rally at Israeli Consulate Features Pictures of Muslim Flags Flying Over White House WorldNetDaily, 4.22.2006WO Comment: For those who think there is no war on faith and no overwhelming disrespect for Christianity, the following is but one of many detailed on this page:
Comedy Central censors Muhammad image, but
'South Park' episode depicts Jesus defecating on Bush, flag Read it here
Jesus Yes, Mohammed No, on South Park
CNSNews, Patrick Goodenough, 4.17.2006
The Pope's Easter: Benedict XVI Takes on the Excesses of Secularization and Radical Islam.
WSJ Op. J., Daniel Henninger, 4.14.2006
So... Is it 2006 A.D. or 2006 C.E.? In yet another measure to remove Christian references from society, not even the calendar year designation is safe. Whether you view it as political correctness run amok or part of the ongoing purge of all things Christian, some organizations including the Kentucky Board of Education are beginning to replace A.D. (anno Domini) with C.E. (common era). Even though the beginning of the historical dating system is the birth of Christ, I guess some feel that using C.E. will help neutralize that fact. What will people think of next??? >> Read full story
Kentucky Education Officials Blasted for Modernizing Historical Dating System
The Kentucky Board of Education is under fire for approving a new, more contemporary system of describing historical dates in its public school curriculum. One critic feels modernizing the system is an effort to conceal from students their culture's Judeo-Christian heritage. >> Read full story
Take Action!--Should we replace the birth of Christ to date time (BC/AD) with a secular dating method? Click to read the information and vote!
School Officials Ban Second-Grader from Distributing Easter Candy Containing Religious Messages ADF, 4.13.2006
"Will Anti-Gay Speech Get a Religious Pass?" Comments in Huffington Post Reveal Extreme Vitriol Toward Christians
Huffington Post, 4.11.2006 (Warning! Foul Language) (ADF/CLS)
Queer Studies,’ Catholic Style – DePaul Launches ‘LGBTQ’ Minor
Catholic Online, Monta Monaco Hernon, 3.30.2006
add to above items on Baylor becoming less Christian & Christianity Today scoffing at notion of War on Religion calling it merely the persecution of Christians that's always existed. then comment on waging the battle in light of those in denial
Human Events U: Taking Christ Out of Christian Colleges
Christ is slowing being removed from America's Christian colleges. The latest example takes place in Texas at the world's largest Baptist university. Full Story
Support for ID Behind Baylor Colleague's Tenure Snub, Dembski Suspects
Agape Press, Jim Brown and Jenni Parker, 4.5.2006
The PC Inquisition Comes to Baylor University
FrontPage Magazine, Steve Plaut, 4.5.2006
Baylor recently decided to deny tenure to Francis Beckwith, a leading bio-ethicist and one of the most accomplished scholars at Baylor. Beckwith had been associate director of the J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies and associate professor of church-state studies. The vote to deny him tenure was little more than an act of political censorship directed against his conservative political and religious views.
NC: Homosexuality vs. Christianity the Great Battle has Begun
Christian Newswire, 4.10.2006
The Media's War on the "War on Christians" Conference
Front Page Magazine, Don Feder, 4.4.2006
The Liberal “War” On Christians and Values Voters: Hysterical Females, Perverted Sodomites, and the Collapse of “Christian America” People for the American Way, 4.2006
WO Comment: Be wary of People for the American Way, a radical secularist group that shares the goals of the ACLU--eliminating religious faith from public life, attacking persons of religious faith, supporting activist judges, advancing the gay agenda, advocating hedonism, and more by distorting the Constitution and playing loose with the law. Both organizations also use the term "American" in their names in a deceptive and near blasphemous way since their activities are more anti-American than American.
8th Circuit Upholds Contempt Finding For Conducting Religious Baccalaureate Ceremony Religion Clause Blog, 4.6.2006
Canadian Broadcast Regulators: 'Gay' Toronto Radio OK, Catholic Radio No Way Lifesite, 4.6.2006
Lawsuit Alleges City Resolution Labels Catholics as 'Outsiders'
A resolution passed unanimously by San Francisco's Board of Supervisors has prompted a lawsuit alleging the city officials have launched a "startling attack" on the Catholic Church, its teachings and beliefs, and its adherents. >> Read full story
No Damages Awarded In "Atheism Is A Religion" Case
Religion Clause Blog, 3.30.2006
Homosexuals Use California’s New Pro-Homosexual “Civil Rights” Law Against a Christian Private School
Independent Conservative, 3.30.2006
Christian Teens' Rally Irks San Francisco's City Fathers
An estimated 25,000 youths showed up last weekend for a "Battle Cry" rally in San Francisco -- and then became the latest targets to receive a resolution against them by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
National Post: A War Against Christians
Full Story
New Attack Launched Against Ex-Gay Ministries
CWA, 3.31.2006
New British Law Forces Catholic Retreat Houses to Accommodate 'Militant Gay Rights Campaigners or Satanists'
CWNews, 3.30.2006
Legal Group Files Second Religious Freedom Suit Against Plano Schools A Texas-based legal organization has filed its second federal lawsuit against a public school district accused of trampling the constitutional rights of Christian students. Read More
Is Christianity under attack?
Belgian Priest to Stand Trial for Hatred for Citing Fears of Coming Islamic Persecution
Lifesite, John-Henry Westen, 3.30.2006
His offending statement: "Every thoroughly islamized Muslim child that is born in Europe is a time bomb for Western children in the future. The latter will be persecuted when they have become a minority."
Is Christianity Under Attack? Tom DeLay Says There is a "War on Christianity" in America
MSNBC, Chris Matthews, 3.30.2006 (Tony Perkins of FRC on Hardball)
The ACLU's Leap to Inaction
Front Page, Hillel Stavis, 3.30.2006
Protecting Churches’ Right to Speak
ACLJ, 3.31.2006
World Observer Education Research & Policy Position: Dealing with Sexuality & Religious Freedom Issues in Public Schools
WORLD OBSERVER
Terrorism and the Global Religious War Against Jews, Christians & Western Civilization
