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Archive for 03/01/2013

‘Judaism Has Lost Its Title As The World’s Most Persecuted Religion; Today, That Dubious Honor Goes To Christianity’

03/01/2013 7 comments

Although the author of the article below creates a sharp distinction between Judaism and Christianity, according to Biblical Scripture the Gospel — in both the Old and New Covenants — is written and administered by Jews. There is nothing Gentile about it. The Christian faith is therefore 100% Jewish, no matter the doctrine, just like the Old Covenant is 100% Jewish. The entire Bible is Jewish and it is Gentiles who are brought into fulfilled Judaism, which we call Christianity — not the other way around — by being grafted into the Jewish paradigm, not into a Gentile one. As I have said elsewhere, we should not view believing Jews as being a part of the Church of God because they believe in Jesus, but rather it is we as Gentiles who are now a part of the Church of God because we believe in Yeshua …

Ephesians 2:13-19, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ … who has made both one … to create in Himself one new man from the two … For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God”

Commentary Magazine – “In recent months, a new consensus has emerged: For the first time in millennia, Judaism has lost its title as the world’s most persecuted religion; today, that dubious honor goes to Christianity. ‘Christians are targeted more than any other body of believers,’ wrote Rupert Shortt in a 54-page report for the London-based Civitas institute in December, which meticulously documented their persecution on a country-by-country basis. Even politicians have begun grasping this fact: German Chancellor Angela Merkel publicly deemed Christianity ‘the most persecuted religion in the world’ in November. In short, as one commentator put it last week, Christians have become the new Jews.

There are two reasons why Christianity has displaced Judaism as the world’s most persecuted religion. One, obviously, is increased persecution of Christians, which stems largely from the rise of radical Islam: Though non-Islamic countries like China also repress Christians, only radical Islamists kill them wholesale. The other is that today, Jews face less persecution than ever before in history. And that is entirely due to the existence of the State of Israel.

Were hundreds of thousands of Jews still scattered throughout the Islamic world, as was true a century ago, they would assuredly face persecution no less severe than Christians do. But they aren’t, because most have relocated to Israel. In fact, for the last 64 years, any Jew anywhere who felt sufficiently threatened to want to leave his country has been able to find sanctuary in Israel, and Israel has repeatedly gone to great lengths to try to rescue those who want to leave but can’t.

Many Christians, too, might like to leave places like Egypt or Iraq. But unlike the Jews, they have nowhere to go: No country on earth will automatically open its doors for them–with no questions asked and Read more…

Nigeria: Christians Paralyzed Amid Islamic Extremist Attacks Across The Northeast, Fear Venturing Outside Day Or Night

03/01/2013 1 comment

Morning Star News – “In Mubi in northeastern Nigeria, Christians do not dare step out of their homes after 8 p.m., church leaders say. And many Christians are too afraid of Islamic extremist attacks to attend church services.

This month suspected members of the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram killed eight members of a Church of the Brethren (Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria, or EYN) congregation outside Mubi, among others – the latest in a series of attacks in or near the town in Adamawa state bordering Cameroon.

‘The crisis has created a lot of hardship for Christians, as even movement to eke out a living is restricted,’ said the Rev. Daniel Yumuna, a district secretary of the EYN. ‘Businesses of our church members have all collapsed because they face attacks regularly, and living generally has been made very difficult here not only for our church members but for all other Christians in this part of the country.’

The EYN church at Samunaka, on the outskirts of Mubi, was targeted on Feb. 1 and Feb. 4 in attacks on the area that killed at least 15 people; besides the eight Christians killed and one church member wounded by gunshot, according to church leaders, the church building and pastor’s office went up in flames, as did some Christian-owned homes. Two other EYN churches were burned down in Huwim, in Mussa District, on Feb. 2, and in Bita, in Gavva West district, on Feb. 3.

Among the dead from the attack on the Samunaka church, according to Yumuna, were Danjuma Garba, Ezra Kwada, Friday Toma, Kwasini Iliya and two children of Drami Tizhe.

‘In the town of Mubi, Christians are even afraid of going to the market to buy food and other sundry items they need to survive,’ Yumuna said.

Christians from EYN churches in other parts of Adamawa state – Song, Hong, Yola, and Maiha – have also been displaced, he said.

Military authorities in Nigeria say Boko Haram, which has its headquarters in neighboring Borno state, is responsible for the attacks on Christians in Mubi. The Islamic extremist group seeks to impose sharia (Islamic law) throughout the country.” Read more.

Flashback: Boko Haram: Our Goal is to Eliminate Followers of Christ – “Terrorist organisation Boko Haram has issued a statement making clear that its goal is to eliminate followers of Christ from Nigeria and establish an Islamic state. ‘The Nigerian state and Christians are our enemies and we will be launching attacks on the Nigerian state and its security apparatus as well as churches until we achieve our goal of establishing an Islamic state in place of the secular state … We are responsible for the suicide attack on a church in Jos and also another attack on another church in Biu,’ a spokesman for the group, Abul Qaqa, is said to have told reporters in the northeastern city of Maiduguri over the phone.” Read more.

Somalia: Islamists Shoot Christian Father Of Four Dead For Daring To Share His Faith

03/01/2013 1 comment

Morning Star News – “Suspected Islamic extremists in Somalia shot a Christian to death this month on the outskirts of the coastal city of Kismayo, sources said.

Two masked men killed Ahmed Ali Jimale, a 42-year-old father of four, on Feb. 18 at 1 p.m. as he stood outside his house in Alanley village, near a police station, they said. The killers were suspected to be members of the Islamic extremist Al Shabaab, a rebel militia ousted from the area four months ago but still engaging in hit-and-run tactics. A few of the four rival clans in Kismayo, 328 miles southwest of Mogadishu, are said to be housing members of Al Shabaab.

A businessman, teacher and medical consultant well-known in the area, Jimale ran a pharmacy in Kismayo. He would give private lessons on medicine and first aid, and as an underground Christian – as are all Christians in Somalia – he highlighted the teaching with discussions comparing the Bible and the Koran, sources said.

The students would share these lessons with other children, and this teaching, along with his close work with a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that provides aid, appeared to have caught the attention of the Al Shabaab extremists, said a source who worked with Jimale but is no longer in the area.

When the Somali National Army and the Kenya Defense Forces wrested control of Kismayo from Al Shabaab, Jimale became increasingly open in presenting the religious content of his teaching, and the Islamic extremists suspected he was a Christian – and guilty of ‘apostasy’ or leaving Islam, on the common assumption that all Somalis are born Muslim, the source said.

Toward the end of 2012, Jimale began receiving threatening messages in his phone, sources said.

‘We have been monitoring your activities,’ read one. ‘You have to stop introducing the children to foreign Christian religion as well as your close working relation with a foreign organization, otherwise we shall come for your head.'” Read more.

Flashback: Somalia: Muslims Gather To Watch Convert To Christianity Beheaded By Al-Shabaab Islamists – “Islamic extremists from Somalia’s rebel Al-Shabaab militants on Friday (Nov. 16) killed a Christian in Somalia’s coastal city of Barawa, accusing him of being a spy and leaving Islam, Christian and Muslim witnesses said. The extremists beheaded 25-year-old Farhan Haji Mose after monitoring his movements for six months, Christian sources said… A crowd assembled in the coastal city on Friday morning to watch the slaughter of Mose…” Read more.

Flashback: Al-Shabaab Vows To Continue Killing Those Who Do Not Worship Allah – “Somalia militia group Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for Sunday’s twin attacks on two churches in Garissa County that left 17 people dead… An Al-Shabaab loyalist Sheikh Hassan Takar said that the militia killed people who did not profess allegiance to Allah. ‘The mujahedeen (holy warriors) punished with their hands those believing and worshipping other than Allah,’ he said. ‘The militants will continue until such practice is eliminated.’ He added” Read more.

‘I Am A Muslim’: Confessed Murderer Jailed In Turkey Complains About Being Treated ‘Like A Christian’

03/01/2013 2 comments

A man who murdered two non-Muslim women in cold blood is sent to jail, only to complain that now he’s being treated like a Christian by the media. Or an atheist. Or a communist. But since he’s a Muslim he, apparently, should be treated with kindness, with gentleness, with respect. Not like a Christian. Oh, the humanity! …

Shannon Graham with boyfriend Recep Cetin

Shannon Graham with boyfriend Recep Cetin

By Michael Carroll, Herald – “A CONFESSED Turkish killer of two Irish women asked for reporters to be banned from his trial because media reports were ‘depressing him’.

THE request came shortly after the defendant, former waiter Recep Cetin, admitted the charges of murdering Marion Graham and Kathy Dinsmore, both 53 and from Newry, Co Down, in August 2011, at the Fifth High Criminal Court in Izmir, Turkey.

Recep Cetin, appearing in court alongside his alleged accomplice father, Erup Cetin, appealed for the media to be banned because of the effect reports were having on his mental health.

He complained he was being treated like, ‘a Christian, an atheist or communist’ in the trial.

‘I am a Muslim. My father is innocent, yet he has been in prison for one and a half years. Camera records show my father was not at the scene,’ he added…

Cetin claimed he was suffering from depression because of media coverage of the case and called for the court to remove reporters from the courtroom.

‘I have read reports claiming I cut off the victim’s heads,’ he said.

‘I murdered them, that is true. But the media has reported false allegations.’

Despite his admission of guilt, Cetin defended his father and denied that he had any involvement in the double murder.

‘I swear to this country, to this nation, that whatever my father says is true. I am guilty and my guilt is a sufficient punishment for me,’ he said.” Read more.

Flashback: Turkey: Muslims Subjecting More Christians to Discrimination and Attacks, Followers of Christ Vilified in Media, Textbooks – “… Christians in Turkey continue to suffer attacks from private citizens, discrimination by lower-level government officials and vilification in both school textbooks and news media, according to a study by a Protestant group. In its annual ‘Report on Human Rights Violations,’ released in January, the country’s Association of Protestant Churches notes mixed indicators of improvement but states that there is a ‘root of intolerance’ in Turkish society toward adherents of non-Islamic faiths.” Read more.

Flashback: Turkey, Key US Ally, Added to List of Worst Religious Freedom Offenders – “Yes, you’ve read that right. The country that has become ‘a useful model for new Arab regimes’ has now been added to the list of worst religious freedom offenders in the world. Alongside Egypt who now vows to one day kill all Jews, this is a nation that the Obama Administration is now actively arming, a nation that now makes verbal attacks against Israel ‘a central feature’ of its political discourse. Welcome to the ‘new’ face of ‘moderate Islam’ …” Read more.

Egypt: Hundreds Of Muslims Riot, Attack Church In Search Of Woman Suspected Of Converting To Christianity

03/01/2013 4 comments

Bukhari, Volume 9, #17, “Allah’s Messenger said, ‘The blood of a Muslim who confesses that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that I am His Messenger, cannot be shed except in three cases: in Qisas (equality in punishment) for murder, a married person who commits illegal sexual intercourse and the one who reverts from Islam (Apostate) and leaves the Muslims.‘”

And many Muslims today are adding a fourth reason: not being “serious” enough about the Muslim faith …

StarTribune – “LUXOR, Egypt – Dozens of Muslim residents threw firebombs and rocks at police on Friday as they tried to storm a church in southern Egypt in search of a woman suspected of converting to Christianity, security officials said…

Officials said 11 policemen were wounded in the clashes in the town of Kom Ombo, which is near Aswan High Dam, about 980 kilometers (608 miles) south of Cairo. Coptic Christian activist Ibrahim Louis said 12 Christians also were wounded, including one man who was in serious condition.

The fighting erupted late Thursday night when hundreds of Muslim residents tried to get inside the church. Police used tear gas to keep the crowd from storming the church as some of the residents burnt tires along a major highway and cut off traffic. The clashes erupted again Friday afternoon when dozens of residents again threw firebombs and rocks at police. In anticipation of renewed clashes, police had set up checkpoints and increased their presence around the church.

Tensions rose after a 36 year-old Muslim woman, who has been missing for five days, was allegedly seen outside the church with a female Christian friend on Thursday. Some residents believe the woman, who is a teacher, converted to Christianity and is hiding inside the church.” Read more.

Flashback: A Growing Number of Muslims Convert to Christianity After Visions of Jesus in Their Dreams (Video)

Dumb Question Of The Day: Is Iran Outsourcing Its Nuclear Program To North Korea?

03/01/2013 1 comment

I’d have to call this a “duh” moment. Is the media only beginning to ask such a pertinent question like this now when the answer should have been obvious years ago? …

By Pamela Browne, Fox News – “Is it possible Iran has paid for and outsourced their nuclear program to North Korea?

One leading expert say yes. And Iran might be providing their best nuclear scientist as well.

Reports that Iran’s leading nuclear scientist, Dr. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was present for North Korea’s third nuclear test on Feb. 11 are raising further concerns. Particularly since the latest international negotiations over Iran’s nuclear ambitions concluded this week in Almaty, Kazakhstan, with little more than an agreement to meet again.

The London Times first reported on Feb. 17 that Fakhrizadeh, who despite the terms of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1747, may have traveled ‘evidently to Pyongyang, most likely via China’ to witness North Korea’s third and successful nuclear test. This despite the U.N. calling upon member states to ‘exercise vigilance and restraint’ and ‘notification’ in allowing him entry or transit.

Iran has refused to make Fakhrizadeh available for interviews by investigators from the International Atomic Energy Agency. No confirmed image of him has been made public.

In an exclusive interview with Fox News, Ambassador Thomas Graham, Jr, who has advised five U.S. presidents as a world renowned authority on arms control and nuclear non-proliferation, noted ‘If the assessments are correct as to his (Fakhrizadeh’s) role in the Iranian nuclear program, if China knowingly permitted him transfer from Iran across China to witness the North Korea test … then it would appear that China or at least some element in China are cooperating with nuclear programs in North Korea and Iran.’

The Feb. 11 test has been described by experts as a miniaturized atomic bomb test of a relatively small yield of 6-7 kilotons, mounted on a Nodong missile.” Read more.

Flashback: Former Ambassador John Bolton: Iran May Be Much Closer to a Nuclear Bomb Than the World Realizes – “A report that Iran is about a year away from having the capability to build a nuclear bomb may be too optimistic, contended John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. ‘I worry the publicly available information is giving only a very small picture and that Iran is actually even much further along,’ Bolton said today in a radio interview… Reacting to the one-year timeline, Bolton stated, ‘I think it can be even less than that.’” Read more.

Flashback: Connecting The Dots: North Korean Nuke Test Was Attended, And Paid For, By Iran – “All intelligence indicators received and processed by GIS/Defense & Foreign Affairs show that the nuclear weapon tested by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) on Feb. 12, was paid for, and intended for, the Islamic Republic of Iran. It was, in essence, a test of an Iranian nuclear weapon, and involved scientific as well as financial involvement by the Iranian government. Moreover, the weapon was not — as some media reporting has averred — a ‘step toward’ a North Korean or Iranian nuclear weapons capability: it was in fact a demonstration of a common North Korean and Iranian operationally-ready nuclear weapon.” Read more.

Flashback: Walid Shoebat: Iran Will Obtain Nuclear Weapons, Will Destroy Saudi Arabia – “… remember, the Israelis have the Arrow missile. It could meet any missile coming from Iran mid-way over the top of Saudi Arabia. And if you look at the Bible, remember, the Harlot is destroyed by two entities. By … the hand of My people, Israel, and then you have in Isaiah 21, Arise O Elam to destroy what? Arabia. Elam is Iran. Persia will destroy Arabia. I believe Arabia is the Harlot of Babylon. If you look at the Bible — when you read Babylon in the Bible — all the names of the cities, entities, regions within those [areas of] Babylon in the Bible, you will never find any ancient name of any Babylonian city … Every single vicinity [mentioned in Isaiah 21] is in Arabia.” Watch Video.

Libya: Benghazi Islamists Round Up ‘More Than 100’ Christian Preachers For Spreading Christianity (Video)

03/01/2013 3 comments

Qur’an Sura 9:14, “Fight them [non-Muslims], Allah will punish them by your hands and bring them to disgrace …”

The title of the YouTube posting says, “More Than 100 Egyptian Preachers of Christianity Arrested in Libya”, so this could only be a portion of all those detained as it appears to be a few dozen in this particular video. Judging from the video itself they’ve also managed to seize Bibles, Christian books, photos of Christ, photos of Christian leaders, and crosses. Of course, the video of this triumphant subjugation of Christians by Islamists would not be complete without the obligatory battle cry of victory: “Allahu akbar! [Allah is greater!]”. Tip of the hat to Walid Shoebat

Flashback: Situation Critical: Muslim Fundamentalists Driving Christians From Libya – “Christians are being driven out of the eastern Libya area of Cyrenaica by Muslim fundamentalists …  Islamic fundamentalism now governs decisions in Libya. Before the overthrow of Gadaffi about 3% of Libyans were Christians but many hard-line Islamists were active in the battle against Gadaffi. Now in many areas they wield considerable power. Only a few thousand Christians now remain in Libya and many of them are expatriates.” Read more.

Flashback: Libya: Foreigners Arrested In Benghazi On Suspicion Of Being Missionaries, Spreading Christianity – “Four foreigners have been arrested in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on suspicion of being Christian missionaries and printing books about Christianity, a security official said on Saturday… ‘Proselytizing is forbidden in Libya. We are a 100 percent Muslim country …'” Read more.

1 Corinthians 1:18, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

Egypt: Opposition Leaders Refuse To Meet US Secretary Of State John Kerry In Protest Against US Pro-Islamist Stance

03/01/2013 2 comments

Finally, a bit of good political news out of Egypt for a change …

Egypt Independent – “Hamdeen Sabbahi and Mohamed ElBaradei of the National Salvation Front (NSF) will not meet US Secretary of State John Kerry during his visit to Egypt, said Heba Yassin of the Popular Current Party.

The United States insists on painting a positive image of President Mohamed Morsy, despite the criticisms and demands of the opposition, the political figures claim.

Kerry is visiting Egypt early in March. It is his first visit to the country since he took over from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier this month. Kerry plans to meet with Egyptian officials to discuss regional and international issues.

US President Barack Obama had told Morsy on the phone that Kerry would meet government officials and opposition forces in an effort to encourage collaboration, and support the nation’s burgeoning democracy.

The NSF is boycotting the parliamentary elections scheduled for 22 April on the grounds that there are no guarantees for the integrity of the electoral process, and no neutral government to oversee and manage it.

‘There is US pressure on the opposition to support the Muslim Brotherhood, Washington’s allies in Egypt,’ Yassin said. ‘The boycott puts Morsy in a predicament that the United States is trying to avoid.'” Source – Egypt Independent.