MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

By Elizabeth Harrington, CNS News – “America’s free-speech model is in desperate need of an update, says an American-Muslim human rights activist who recently spoke at an event linked to an Obama administration appointee.

Dr. Qasim Rashid argued that cyber-bullying laws could be used to limit freedom of expression – such as the burning of Korans — in war time:

‘When a nation is at war, many things that might be said in times of peace are a hindrance to this effort,’ Rashid said on March 19 at Howard University.  ‘And their utterance will not be endured so long as men fight and…no court can regard them as protected by any constitutional right.’

Rashid began his remarks by personally thanking Dr. Azizah al-Hibri, appointed by President Barack Obama to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in June 2011. Al-Hibri founded Karamah, a group devoted to the rights of Muslim women, and it was this group that invited Rashid to speak.

‘I do want to start by thanking Karamah,’ Rashid said.  ‘I was fortunate enough to have several constitutional scholars look at this paper and provide feedback. Dr. al-Hibri, of course…’

The topic of the March 19 event at Howard University was titled, ‘The Limits of Free Speech in a Global Era: Does America’s Free Speech Model Endanger Muslim Americans?’

‘Our understanding of free speech today is not some long-held 227- or 235-year understanding,’ said Rashid, a member of the Muslim Writers Guild of America, who presented a paper titled ‘In Harm’s Way: The Desperate Need to Update America’s Current Free Speech Model.’

Rashid quoted Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who in 2011 said, ‘Free speech is a great idea, but we’re in a war.’

Advances in technology that allow videos and messages to cross the world in an instant require a ‘revised speech model,’ Rashid said.

‘Most, if not all of you are familiar with the 2011 case where Terry Jones, a pastor from Florida, burned a Koran on March 20, 2011, and this event itself provides a prime example of the gap that advanced technology caused in America’s free speech model,’ Rashid said.

‘So in addition to placing a big sign on his church lawn that said Islam is the devil, Jones burned the Koran, screened it live on the Internet and put in layman’s translations so that people in war-torn [areas] in particular can see what he’s doing,’ he continued.  ‘Now like the hypothetical KKK member who might burn a cross on his black neighbor’s lawn to target him specifically, Jones did the exact same thing by burning the Koran — broadcast it and targeted Muslims in a war- torn country…to target them specifically.’

Rashid noted that government officials warned Jones that his actions might provoke violence, and while Jones said he knew it, he burned the Koran anyway, sparking deadly protests in Afghanistan and a condemnation by Pakistan’s government.

Using the Koran burning as an example, Rashid said that cyber-bullying legislation could be used to prosecute individuals for their speech …” Read more.

• Flashback: CPAC Speakers Warn Of Loss Of Religious Freedom In America, Sees ‘Disturbing Parallels’ Between 1930′s Germany And America Today
• Flashback: Obama’s Department Of Justice Will Not Confirm If Free Speech Towards Religion Will Remain Legal In America
• Flashback: Islamic American Leaders Exercise Their Right To Free Speech To Protest Against … Free Speech

The sad truth of the matter is that he would have likely been compelled to leave many churches in the West — both Catholic and non-Catholic — because of their indifference, appeasement and outright spiritual adultery with the religion of [anything but] peace …

Revelation 2:20-22, “… I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways.”

By Tiffany Gabbay, The Blaze – “In a shocking display that does not bode well for the Catholic Church and its stance on defending the multitudes of Christians currently being persecuted in Islamic countries, Magdi Christiano Allam, a prominent covert from Islam to Christianity, has left the Catholicism. He reasoned that he could not abide the church’s ‘weakness’ and policy of appeasement towards Islam.

The Egyptian-born Allam, who publicly converted in St. Peter’s Basilica on Easter 2008 with the oversight of Pope Benedict XVI himself, renounced his Catholicism because, in his view, the church legitimizes a religion that is ‘inherently violent’ to people of all walks, including fellow Muslims.

Ever-outspoken, Allam assures that he will remain a Christian, but roundly criticized the Catholic Church for also fostering an environment in which the Islamization of Europe will, in his mind, most assuredly take place.

Translated from the Italian news outlet, Corriere, Allam clarified that his mind had been made up before the new pope was chosen and that the driving factor to leave the church is its of Islam’s place among the monotheistic religions.

‘I am convinced,’ Allam stated, ‘that Islam is an ideology inherently violent as it has been historically conflictual inside and warlike outside.’

‘I am even more convinced that Europe will eventually be submitted to Islam, as has already happened since the seventh century.’

Allam also criticized the church for not having ‘the vision and the courage to denounce the incompatibility of Islam with our civilization and fundamental rights of the person.’

‘I will continue to believe in Jesus,’ he continued. ‘I have always loved and proudly identify with Christianity as the civilization that more than others brings man closer to God who chose to become man.” Read more.

Scottish Aberdeen Church Opens Doors To Muslims To Pray Side By Side – “A Scottish reverend has invited Muslims to pray alongside Christians in an Aberdeen church because the nearby mosque is so small that some worshippers were forced to pray outside. The rector of St John’s church, Rev Isaac Poobalan, has made parts of the building available to the congregation of the mosque. Up to 100 Muslims now pray in the main chapel five times every Friday. Church leaders believe this may be the only place in the UK where Christians and Muslims worship side by side; there have been similar moves in the US, including in Memphis two years ago.” Read more.

Flashback: ‘Time Is Running Out’: US Congressman Asks Why Churches In The West Are Silent On Worldwide Christian Persecution – “I can think of a few reasons why: It’s convenient to ignore an inconvenient topic. It makes many comfortable Christians uncomfortable. And if the truth were made known it could even cause some of them to begin questioning a few of the popular doctrines currently being taught by the church today which are, for many Christians in the West, unquestionable …” Read more.

Flashback: Falling Away from the Faith: Over 50 US Churches to Hold Qur’an Readings – “Now we go from a church buying and donating dozens of Qur’ans to a bookstore, to churches now holding Qur’an readings? This is idolatry. This is spiritual fornication. This is wrong on many levels. If your church is among those holding these readings I encourage you to protest and demand that it be cancelled, and if they refuse, find another church to attend.” Read more.

Saudi Arabia is the birthplace and the spiritual homestead of Islam and Islamic extremism. Does it make any logical sense whatsoever to believe that the number one country still actively encouraging world-wide Islamic terror will all of a sudden change the hearts and minds of “closet radicals” into never again thinking about taking advantage of America’s accommodating position on Islam and its politically correct security apparatus? With 80% of all mosques in America today teaching violent jihad and Islamic supremacy (while often issuing words of peace and brotherly love publicly) we’re already seeing the fruit produced, with hundreds of thousands of American Muslims believing that anyone mocking Islam should be put to death, not to mention a substantial increase in homegrown Islamic terror during Obama’s Presidency or global terrorism in general since 9/11. And this is something that isn’t going to change any time soon regardless of the so-called “bond between the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” …

Fox News – “A Department of Homeland Security program intended to give ‘trusted traveler’ status to low-risk airline passengers soon will be extended to Saudi travelers, opening the program to criticism for accommodating the country that produced 15 of the 19 hijackers behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Sources voiced concern about the decision to the Investigative Project on Terrorism, which issued a report Wednesday on the under-the-radar announcement — which was first made by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano after meeting in January with her Saudi counterpart. According to the IPT, this would be the first time the Saudi government has been given such a direct role in fast-tracking people for entry into the United States.

‘I think you have radical Wahhabism in certain elements in Saudi Arabia, and I think to be more lenient there than in other places would be a mistake,’ Rep. Frank Wolf told the Investigative Project on Terrorism. ‘There were 15 [hijackers] from that country, and there is a lot taking place in that region.’

Only an exclusive handful of countries enjoy inclusion in the Global Entry program — Canada, Mexico, South Korea and the Netherlands. According to the IPT, some officials are questioning why Saudi Arabia gets to reap the benefits of the program, when key U.S. allies like Germany and France are not enrolled; Israel has reached a deal with the U.S., but that partnership has not yet been implemented.

Any Saudi travelers cleared through the program will be able to bypass the normal customs line after providing passports and fingerprints. The status lasts for five years.

The decision is a turnaround, the IPT notes, from when Saudi Arabia was briefly placed on a list of countries whose U.S.-bound travelers would face higher scrutiny, in the wake of the failed Christmas Day bombing attempt in 2009.

But Napolitano spoke highly of ‘the bond between the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’ when she announced the change in January.

‘By enhancing collaboration with the government of Saudi Arabia, we reaffirm our commitment to more effectively secure our two countries against evolving threats while facilitating legitimate trade and travel,’ Napolitano said.” Read more.