- Did you know about this?
But how many people heard about the recent arrest and jailing in Saudi Arabia of a group of Filipino guest workers for holding Christian prayer services in the privacy of their home? Or who knows about the three Sunday School teachers charged in Indonesia last year with the crime of “Christianization” and summarily sentenced to three years in prison?
The story is similar wherever Sharia — orthodox Islamic law — reigns supreme. From Pakistan to Darfur, Christians have become regular targets for Islamic gangs who shoot at worshipers, then torch their houses of worship.
Even in Islamic countries not strictly run by Sharia law, pressures mount on local Christians to leave the homes they’ve known for centuries. Iraq’s Christian sects, among the oldest Christian communities anywhere in the world, have been directly targeted by terrorist bombs, and Christians are now high on the list of those fleeing Iraq’s sectarian strife. Thirty years ago, Lebanon was 60% Christian. Since then, an estimated 3.5 million Christians have emigrated, reducing the country’s Christian population percentage to barely 25%. And in the Palestinian territories, direct and indirect pressures have also led to an increasing Christian exodus. One striking result: Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus and once a predominantly Christian Arab community now has an overwhelming Muslim majority.
Where is the media on this?
Religion
Rahman Update
Do you recognize him?
- Are they interested in a just solution or a political solution or a diplomatic solution?
- The judge presiding over the case of an Afghan man who could face the death penalty for converting to Christianity said on Sunday the case was flawed and would be sent back to prosecutors.
- The row over the man, Abdur Rahman, 40, jailed this month for abandoning Islam, threatens to create a rift between Afghanistan and the United States and other Western backers who have been calling for the man’s release.
- “The case, because of some technical as well as legal flaws and shortcomings, has been referred back to the prosecutor’s office,” the judge, Ansarullah Mawlavizada, told Reuters.
- A prosecutor said Rahman’s mental state would be examined on Monday following suggestions that he may be mentally unstable.
- Rahman, detained this month for converting to Christianity, told an Italian newspaper from his Kabul jail cell that he was ready to die for his new faith.
- The row over the man, Abdur Rahman, 40, jailed this month for abandoning Islam, threatens to create a rift between Afghanistan and the United States and other Western backers who have been calling for the man’s release.
New faith? I thought he’s been a Christian for at least 15 years.
Whatever the case, he’s ready to die for it. (Unlike American Christian military chaplains who seem — mostly — to prefer to kow-tow or sue over praying in Jesus’ name?)
- Then there’s this in the story:
- The government is trying to satisfy Western demands for the man’s release, while not angering powerful conservatives at home who have demanded a trial and death sentence under Islamic law.
- Officials in President Hamid Karzai’s government declined to comment. “I’m hopeful something will be worked out,” said one.
- Officials and analysts say they do not expect Rahman to be executed. The outcome could hinge on his mental state.
- A spokesman for the Supreme Court said the mental examination had been ordered after Rahman’s relatives said he suffered from mental problems — something he denies.
- Officials in President Hamid Karzai’s government declined to comment. “I’m hopeful something will be worked out,” said one.
- What a pickle the Afghan government finds itself in!
- Defying the conservative clamor, one newspaper — Outlook — made the first public call in Afghanistan for Rahman’s release, saying the country could not ignore international opinion when it needed support to fight terrorism and rebuild.
What a bother to have to consider the opinions and support of other countries when pursuing domestic law enforcement!
(I don’t think the Afghans have a corner on such dilemas.)
Not My Christians!
Christian youths burned the corpses of Muslims…- …on Thursday on the streets of Onitsha in southeastern Nigeria, the city worst hit by religious riots that have killed at least 138 people across the country in five days.
- Christian mobs, seeking revenge for the killings of Christians in the north, attacked Muslims with cutlasses, destroyed their houses and torched mosques in two days of violence in Onitsha, where at least 85 people have died.
“The way of peace have they not known.”
And, “Ye are the light of the world.”
And, “Love, bless, and pray for those who treat you terribly.”
Religious Sensitivity
- I read news like this and half-wonder about the hue and cry about to be released on the “Arab street” and from the Muslim mosque:
- Thirty people were killed and 36 wounded when a suicide bomber attacked a Shiite Muslim funeral procession northeast of the Iraqi capital, police said.
What if this had been a mis-directed missile strike, say by Americans, British, or Israelis?
What if it had been caused by some “Christian” or Jewish zealot?
I remember not so long ago when all manner of warnings were issued against the US military to back off during Ramadan. Gotta show sensitivity and respect for Islam and Ramadan, you know.
Do these Muslim homicide bombers show respect and sensitivity for their own religion?
I say not.
But then again, maybe they’re no more Muslim than some “Christians” are Christian.
The answer is Jesus, folks, not some cultural-religious creed.
ACLU’s Tiresome Arguments
I just learned about this at World Magazine’s blog. And it’s nine-day old news. I want to know why I didn’t know any sooner.
- But never mind, here are the story’s lead paragraphs:
- A federal appeals court has upheld a display of the Ten Commandments alongside other historical documents in the Mercer County, Ky., courthouse.
- The judge who wrote the opinion blasted the American Civil Liberties Union, which challenged the display, in language that echoed the type of criticism often directed at the organization.
- Judge Richard Suhrheinrich’s ruling said the ACLU brought “tiresome” arguments about the “wall of separation” between church and state, and it said the organization does not represent a “reasonable person.”
- The judge who wrote the opinion blasted the American Civil Liberties Union, which challenged the display, in language that echoed the type of criticism often directed at the organization.
That’s, like, way cool, dude!
Sorry. 😀 That’s not how I talk.
But I think I might like that judge. 🙂
I wonder who appointed him.
Does a quick Google on the subject.
- Well, well. According to this, this:
- Judge Suhrheinrich has served on the United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, since being appointed by President Bush in 1990. He ascended to the Sixth Circuit after serving on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, following an appointment by President Reagan in 1984.
How about that.
Jones, Darwin, and God
- Over at WorldViews I learned about a great piece by David Klinghoffer posted at The Seattle Times
- Wrote Jones, “[M]any of the leading proponents of ID make a bedrock assumption which is utterly false. Their presupposition is that evolutionary theory is antithetical to a belief in the existence of a supreme being and to religion in general. Repeatedly in this trial, [p]laintiffs’ scientific experts testified that thetheory of evolution… in no way conflicts with, nor does it deny, the existence of a divine creator.”
- As a matter of fact, Jones is wrong. Darwinism is indeed “antithetical to a belief in the existence of a supreme being and to religion in general.” There are three reasons for this, and you don’t have to be a theologian to grasp the point.
The three basic reasons he cites are these:
- Not all Darwinists, including the most famous and admired, share Judge Jones’ view that Darwin and God may coexist peacefully.
- Darwinism and religious faith begin from antithetical metaphysical assumptions.
- Thinkers who have tried to assert the compatibility of God and Darwin invariably end up changing the meaning of one or the other.
Food Fight (and More)!
- In Hong Kong:
- A transatlantic row on food aid boiled over and anti-globalisation protesters clashed with police on Tuesday as troubled trade talks got under way in Hong Kong.
- Tension between the United States and the 25-nation European Union burst into the open as the meeting got under way, with European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson calling for “radical reform” to the U.S. system of food aid for developing nations.
- Meanwhile, another marriage chapter begins to open in the US and Canada (and elsewhere also, no doubt:
- “Polygamy rights is the next civil rights battle.” So goes the motto of a Christian pro-polygamy organization that has been watching the battle over homosexual “marriage” rights with keen interest.
- Oh, and speaking of marriage, here’s a story from Northern Africa somewhere:
- Four American women — a missionary named Molly*, a journeyman named Susan* and two volunteers — sit among a dozen or so African prostitutes in a circle of mismatched chairs and a couch. They all listen intently as the Old Testament story of Joseph and Potiphar plays from a cassette. From the hall outside comes the sound of Molly’s toddler, Joshua*, playing with African friends.
- In a home across town, Molly’s husband, Mike*, pulls dishes from the cabinet and sets out two pans of lasagna to thaw, getting ready for the evening’s house church. Christopher*, the couple’s 3-year-old, throws a ball outside with a neighbor.
- And while we’re focused on family, some public school parents may have had a rude awakening in Hillsboro County, Florida:
- In a districtwide survey, nearly half of high school students and one in five middle school students said they have had sexual intercourse, and a higher percentage of high school boys than girls reported being physically hurt by their “significant others.”
- Before we leave Florida, there’s this from West Palm Beach:
- They could be called the other “anti-abortion” photographs, if photographer J. Scott Kelly could stomach those words for only a moment.
- Instead of trying to persuade people not to do something with what he describes as gruesome “shock and awe” pictures plastered on buses and the like, Kelly decided last spring that he wanted to sway expectant mothers from abortion by exhibiting the tenderness of parenthood in poster-sized black-and-white studio portraits.
- North Carolina is (back?) in the ACLU crosshairs:
- In an effort to end the Bible’s monopoly on the swearing-in procedure in the courtroom, the American Civil Liberties Union is now suing the state of North Carolina.
- A lawsuit has been filed in Superior Court in Wake County, N.C., on behalf of the organization’s statewide membership of approximately 8,000 individuals of many different faiths, including Islam and Judaism.
- And in a Florida courtroom:
- For a third time, a court dismissed claims in a lawsuit against Jews for Jesus prompted by a woman who complained she was defamed when the group called her a “Jewish believer” in its newsletter.
- This time, Florida State Circuit Court Judge Edward Fine in West Palm Beach dismissed the entire $1 million suit with prejudice, meaning none of the claims can be re-filed.
- And in a courtroom in San Diego:
- A federal judge on Monday lifted the final legal barrier to completing a border fence meant to thwart illegal immigrants in the southwestern corner of the U.S. The project comprises 14 miles of additional fencing in San Diego.
- And in El Paso, Texas, today . . . .
- Two national presidents set off an explosion that diverted the Rio Grande, reshaping the U.S.-Mexican border and ending a century-old dispute. President Johnson and Mexican President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz. In 1964.
- Further away (I assume), in Adwar, Iraq . . .
- Saddam Hussein was captured by U.S. forces while hiding in a hole — two years ago today.
And in Los Angeles, Tookie Williams finished his 26 years (or so) in prison. He left San Quentin a little over seven hours ago. Lying down. In plain sight of a few people. I wonder what he is learning wherever he arrived after that.
“Laughed as he told his friends
how the victim gurgled as he lay dying”
I spent way, way, way too much time at this! 🙁