Is this how coexistence and tolerance work? Read it all
Executive Order Gaily Darkens USA Religious Freedom Further
Does the order include re-education training for violators?
Endangered Christians
Convert or Be Gone
When Protestants refuse to convert to Catholicism
I wonder what I would do if this happened to me:
The Protestants were forcibly displaced in early 2010 after village authorities destroyed their church and issued an ultimatum to the Protestants to convert to Catholicism.
I wonder what side of this story is offered by the village authorities.
I wonder what the Protestants did or didn’t do to trigger this action.
I wonder what the Pope’s stance is on this. Read it all
Wishing You Could Help Fleeing Iraqis?
Christian Aid Ministries is looking to assist. Do you want to help?
I’m not here to report on the news. You don’t need that.
I’m here to let you know how you can help, if seeing and hearing about the unfolding collapse in Iraq makes you wish you could help the suffering ones somehow.
You know about Christian Aid Ministries, right?
Here are some excerpts of what they have to say about ISIS in Iraq and the crisis going on right now: Read it all
When Will My Throat Be Next in Its Claws?
And what will I do then? And now (to prepare)?
Hate’s strangling of
freedom of thought
continues is merciless squeeze,
gaining strength
by declaring itself to be
freedom of thought.
freedom of thought
continues is merciless squeeze,
gaining strength
by declaring itself to be
freedom of thought.
How long
til it seizes me
by the throat
?
Bangladeshi Christians Told to Convert to Islam
"They were derailed, so we tried to put them on the right track."
Since some friends have served in Bangladesh and one of them plans to return later this month, this story of forced conversions to Islam drew my attention:
A local government official in central Bangladesh has halted the construction of a church, forced Christians to worship at a mosque and threatened them with eviction from their village unless they renounce their faith.
[…]
“Their threats chilled me to the bone. That is why I pretended to accept Islam, but faith in Christ is the wellspring of my life. Now I am no longer a Muslim; I am a Christian.”
[…]
Eight Christians agreed to return to Islam since Sept. 14, under the chairman’s orders. The chairman and his associates had already beaten some of those Christians three years ago for accepting Christianity.
[…]
Local chairman Faruk told World Watch Monitor that some Christians had been acting against Islam, due to their incorrect interpretation of the Qur’an.
“The Imams and other elders of the society called them for rectification because of their aberrant behaviour. They were derailed, so we tried to put them on the right track,” he said.
“Eight people who had deviated came back to Islam. We are trying to bring back others. To change a religion, a person needs to swear his or her name, and should inform a local magistrate. If the magistrate permits, then he or she can change religion. But what they are doing is completely wrong.”
To read the full article I quote above, read Bangladeshi Christians told to close church, convert to Islam.
HT: persecution.org
Ken Miller Back to Jail
Miller told the judge that the week he has spent in jail has strengthened his resolve. The judge wants to test that further.
A week ago, Judge Sessions sent Ken Miller to jail for a week. That means the week was up and the time had come for another chat: Read it all
Missiles Fired at Jerusalem
Friday was a potentially game-changing day for Israel. For the first time since 1970, Iranian-made missiles were fired at Jerusalem from terrorists in Gaza.
Joel C. Rosenberg just posted to his blog:
Friday was a potentially game-changing day for Israel. For the first time since 1970, Iranian-made missiles were fired at Jerusalem from terrorists in Gaza. Missiles were also fired from Gaza at Tel Aviv. Air raid sirens were blaring in both cities this evening, rattling residents because of their exceedingly rare nature. As I write this late Friday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his Security Cabinet have been meeting for several hours behind closed doors. One decision has been made for certain: Israel is now calling up 75,000 reserve soldiers, not the 30,000 that were just approved on Thursday.
The big question now: Will the Palestinian terrorists’ attacks on Jerusalem, Israel’s political and religious capital — and Tel Aviv, its largest population center and its commercial capital — trigger an IDF ground invasion of Gaza?
Israel is certainly moving rapidly to prepare for such a possibility.
I just remembered asking: What do Israel’s enemies make of the result?
Maybe there’s no connection between that and this.
Update at 2:20 pm Pacific: BREAKING: Israeli officials tell nation to prepare for 7 weeks of war:
Home Front Command asks local authorities to prepare for seven-week fighting period […] The Home Front Command sharpened instructions for the Tel Aviv metropolitan area and southern residents and, accordingly, communities located in a range of between 40-75 kilometers from the Gaza Strip must enter nearby, protected spaces the moment blasts or sirens are heard. If there is no protected space in the vicinity, residents should enter the nearest structure or stairwell. In light of the long-range rockets fired over the past few days, these instructions apply to all communities within a 75-kilometer range and not only in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area.