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Pakistan: Christian Family Living In Fear After Islamists Try To Kidnap And Kill Daughter For Refusing To Convert To Islam

04/26/2013 2 comments

By Xavier P. William, BosNewsLife – “A Christian father said Friday, April 26, his family is hiding in the Pakistani city of Lahore after Islamic militants tried to abduct and kill one of his daughters because they refuse to convert to Islam.

Sadiq Masih Zafar told BosNewsLife that the threats come nearly a decade after his family was forced to flee the nearby city of Muridke, where another daughter was nearly strangled to death in 2004 because of their church work.

He said the problems began when the Lahore Church Council appointed him to supervise the construction of a local church building. ‘Religious extremists tried to pressurize and stop the construction and took over the church land,’ he recalled.

‘They demolished the construction and brutally assaulted’ him, family members and even workers, Zafar said. Soon after, ‘A mosque was constructed near the church land and announcements were made that if the church is constructed, they would burn it,’ he added.

The ‘extremists’, he claimed, also pressured him and his family to convert to Islam. He recalled that his daughter Sarwat Naheed was returning home in 2004 from the city of Faisalabad, when she was ‘abducted by masked men.’ …

‘They broke her legs, she had a severe head injury as they tried to strangle her,’ he said. ‘She was found unconscious in the fields.’

Several days later his son Azeem Zafar was allegedly stopped on his way home and ‘assaulted’ as well. Zafer said his family fled Muridke and settled in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province. But the ‘extremists’ didn’t stop looking for them, he recalled.

‘I still remember that on March 27, 2004 [when] the family was sitting together in Bahar colony of Lahore, masked men forcefully entered our home.’

His family moved away to another location in Lahore, but was recently discovered when daughter Asma Tosheeba joined a local medical school, he said.

‘She was threatened and the extremists tried to abduct her.’ He complained that his family has been appealing for protection, but police ‘failed to act’.” Read more.

Flashback: Muslim Persecution Of Christians Escalating In Pakistan, ‘The Situation Is Becoming Alarming’ – “In recent years, the Christians of Pakistan have become one of the most vulnerable religious communities in the world. Most of the time, the Pakistani extremists use two common accusations to persecute the Christians: defamatory remarks toward Mohammed, and burning pages of Quran. Christians in Pakistan, a news site on behalf of the Pakistani Christian community, predicted that the situation is becoming alarming. The site alleges that there are currently many cases being reported of Christians being targeted, but no action to reform or address the problem by any government official.” Read more.

Flashback: Christians In Pakistan Told To Convert To Islam Or Leave, ‘Otherwise They Will Face Consequences’ – “Last Sunday when Church service was over, more than dozen Muslim criminals gathered in front of Church and started harassing Christian girls who were leaving after services. Ahmed Bhatti and Muslim home owners of area ordered their Christians tenants to convert to Islam otherwise vacate their properties. They have vacated some shops that were run by Christians. One Christian man had his Gospel music on in the shop; they beat him up and kicked him out from that shop on gunpoint. Ahmed Bhatti on his microphone was shouting, ‘I am giving Christians this invitation to convert to Islam otherwise they will face consequences’ while announcement was made gathering of Muslims were raising Islamic Slogans.” Read more.

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‘Deeply Disturbing’: Pentagon Blocks Access To Southern Baptist Convention Website Due To ‘Hostile Content’

04/25/2013 11 comments

Tip of the hat to otcaaron for the link …

By Todd Starnes, Fox News – “The U.S. Military has blocked access to the Southern Baptist Convention’s website on an unknown number of military bases because it contains ‘hostile content’ — just weeks after an Army briefing labeled Evangelical Christians and Roman Catholics as examples of religious extremism, Fox News has learned.

The Southern Baptist Convention is the nation’s largest Protestant denomination known for its support of the pro-life movement and its strong belief in traditional marriage.

Southern Baptist chaplains reported that SBC.net had been blocked at military installations around the nation. The censorship was made public after an Army officer tried to log onto the denomination’s website and instead — received a warning message.

‘The site you have requested has been blocked by Team CONUS (C-TNOSC/RCERT-CONUS) due to hostile content,’ the message read.

Team CONUS protects the computer network of the Dept. of Defense. The SBC’s website was not blocked at the Pentagon.

It’s unclear what the ‘hostile content’ might have been. The SBC is pro-life and opposed to same-sex marriage.

‘So the Southern Baptist Convention is now considered hostile to the U.S. Army,’ the officer wrote in an email to the American Family Association.

Sing Oldham, spokesman for the SBC, told Fox News he had been in touch with the Dept. of Defense and had serious concerns.

‘This is deeply disturbing,’ he told Fox News. ‘While the Deputy Chief of Operation of the US Army has assured us this is a random event with no malicious intent, the Army must run this to the ground to assure that this is the case.’

However, Fox News has received reports from across the country of Southern Baptist chaplains unable to access the website.

‘If the government blocked any portion of the SBC.net Web site for any purpose, that would be an unconscionable breach of trust with the American public,’ Oldham said. ‘The First Amendment exists to protect the church from governmental censorship of or infringement upon religious speech and the free exercise of religion.’

The Dept. of Defense confirmed to Fox News late Wednesday that the SBC website had been blocked — but not intentionally.

‘The Department of Defense is not intentionally blocking access to this site,’ said Lt. Col. Damien Pickart. ‘We are working diligently to investigate what might be causing access issues for some of our service members and to correct the situation as quickly as possible.’

The AFA sent out an action alert urging its members to contact the Pentagon and ask them to ‘stop the military’s alarming trend of hostility towards faith and religious freedom in our military.’

‘Most disturbing to him (the Army officer) was the fact that the military labeled his personal religious faith as ‘hostile’ to the U.S. Army,’ AFA spokesman Randy Sharp told Fox News.” Read more.

Flashback: US Military Groups Evangelical Christianity, Catholicism, Islamophobia As Forms Of ‘Religious Extremism’ Alongside Islamic Terrorism – “The U.S. Army listed Evangelical Christianity and Catholicism as examples of religious extremism along with Al Qaeda and Hamas during a briefing with an Army Reserve unit based in Pennsylvania, Fox News has learned. ‘We find this offensive to have Evangelical Christians and the Catholic Church to be listed among known terrorist groups,’ said Ron Crews, executive director of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty. ‘It is dishonorable for any U.S. military entity to allow this type of wrongheaded characterization.’” Read more.

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Churches Raided, Crosses Burnt, Fathers Arrested: ‘Arab Spring’ In The Caucasus And Central Asia Spelling Doom For Local Christians

04/24/2013 Leave a comment

Acts 14:22, “… continue in the faith … we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”

By Enza Ferreri via Jihad Watch – “Mirroring what is happening in the world, there is an Islamic revival in the Caucasus and Central Asia, with all that it means for local Christians.

The predominantly Muslim Central Asian Republics, after the collapse of the Soviet Union of which they were part, have seen an increase in the persecution of Christians. The fall of dictatorship, in a pattern similar to that of post-war Iraq and the ‘Arab Spring’ in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, seems to have ‘liberated’ the radical elements within the Muslim communities.

The now independent countries of Central Asia are the following five, in order of population size: Uzbekistan (just under 30 million people), Kazakhstan (16-17 million), Tajikistan (7-8 million), Kyrgyzstan (5-6 million), which is particularly topical now because it is where the family of the Boston bombings suspects lived for a time, and Turkmenistan (just over 5 million), for a total population of 64.7 million in 2012, the vast majority of whom are Muslim. Another Muslim-majority country that was part of the Soviet Union is the Republic of Azerbaijan, the largest in the Caucasus, at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, with a population of over 9 million, 95 percent of whom are Muslim.

What is paradoxical is that, while during the Soviet era the ruling Communist Party, through the education system and official propaganda, imposed so-called ‘scientific atheism’ (a name reminiscent of so many Western atheists who, à la Richard Dawkins, fallaciously declare the denial of God to derive from science), for Christians in Central Asia and the Caucasus the end of the Communist regime, which was supposed to bring freedom of religion among other freedoms, brought instead another form of religious oppression.

It may have freed Christianity but, by freeing Islam as well, it unleashed hostility against Christianity, from governments as well. Churches are raided, closed and torched, crosses are burnt, fathers are arrested and fined for holding a prayer meeting and religious leaders for not registering the church (while at the same time the strict legislation makes it impossible for churches to register), believers are beaten up during raids on their homes, Christian literature is destroyed, and families are restricted to owning only one Bible. There is growing intolerance, and the media target organizations and beliefs.

The organization Russian Ministries’ Facebook page says: ‘However due to the strictness of the laws in these countries, it is practically impossible for churches to register and practically all religious materials are illegal, meaning that it is becoming more or less de facto illegal to practice Christianity’.

It does not end there. In Azerbaijan ‘The government is also intent on vilifying Christians to the public. Government-controlled mass media accuses believers of occult practices, hypnosis, and extremism, while newspaper articles encourage discrimination and physical abuse of Christians and other minorities’.

In the article Central Asia: Growing Religion Oppression, Anneta Vyssotskaia, of the World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission, writes:

During 2007 there were numerous reports of restriction and persecution of Christians in Central Asia. However, these may be only the tip of the iceberg of the real situation regarding persecution of the Christians living and worshipping God in the predominantly Islamic environment. Most of what would be considered persecution in Western countries is just part of daily life for every Christian there; persecution comes from family, neighbours, Muslim religious leaders and the government. Most of these cases may never become generally known. Religious legislation in these countries is undergoing changes that restrict worship and evangelism even more. Despite this, the number of Christians is constantly growing.

In Uzbekistan a small Baptist church which has endured more than a decade of official harassment was again raided during Sunday morning worship on 24 March. ‘The secret police officer who led the raid told the Baptists that ‘all believers are backward-looking fanatics who drag society down”. This pronouncement again rings a bell to Western ears. Take away the raid and you can hear our own ‘progressives’ and ‘enlightened’ gay-marriage supporters saying very much the same.

In its survey analysis of freedom of religion or belief in Kazakhstan, Forum 18 News Service found serious, continuing violations of human rights, including:

attacks on religious freedom by officials ranging from President Nursultan Nazarbaev down to local officials; literature censorship; state-sponsored encouragement of religious intolerance; legal restrictions on freedom of religion or belief; raids, interrogations, threats and fines affecting both registered and unregistered religious communities and individuals; unfair trials; the jailing of a few particularly disfavoured religious believers; restrictions on the social and charitable work of religious communities; close police and KNB secret police surveillance of religious communities; and attempts to deprive religious communities of their property. These violations interlock with violations of other fundamental human rights, such as freedom of expression and of association.

And it is getting worse. In Kazakhstan, a proposed new Criminal Code expected to Read more…

Categories: Radical Islam, Wars and Rumors of War Tags:

Report: Muslim Threatens Christian High School In Virginia, Promises School To Be ‘The Scene Of Another Massacre’

04/24/2013 1 comment

Tabari 9:69, “Killing Unbelievers is a small matter to us” – The Words of Muhammad, Prophet of Islam.

The Daily Caller – “Police are investigating an anonymous forum poster who praised Boston bombing suspects Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and later made a threat against a Catholic high school in Fairfax, Virginia.

The online poster goes by the handle ‘Prophet Muhammad’ and has made several disturbing statements on the Fairfax Underground website in the last month. On Friday, he posted a threat against Paul VI Catholic High School:

‘Inshallah, Paul VI High School will be the scene of another massacre. Allahu akbar!’

‘Inshallah’ is an Arabic phrase that means ‘God willing.’ ‘Allahu akbar’ means ‘God is the greatest.’ [ICA: A more accurate translation of ‘Inshallah’ is ‘Allah willing’. ‘Allahu akbar’ is more accurately translated as ‘Allah is greater’]. Both sayings are commonly associated with the Islamic faith.

The Diocese of Arlington, which oversees the high school, took the threat seriously. Police searched school grounds over the weekend using bomb-sniffing dogs, according to a spokesperson for the diocese.

‘No threat was discovered,’ said Michael J. Donohue, director of communications for the diocese, in an interview with The Daily Caller News Foundation.

The online poster had already caught the attention of police by writing threatening statements concerning law enforcement officers. Police are trying to track the origins of the comments.” Read more.

Flashback: New Study Shows That 80% of Mosques in America Teach Jihad Violence and Islamic Supremacism – “… Then there was the Center for Religious Freedom’s 2005 study, and the Mapping Sharia Project’s 2008 study. Each independently showed that upwards of 80% of mosques in America were preaching hatred of Jews and Christians and the necessity ultimately to impose Islamic rule. And now comes yet more confirmation that mosques in the U.S. are teaching these things, and again the percentage is remarkably similar: around 80% of mosques are found to be teaching jihad warfare and Islamic supremacism.” Read more.

Flashback: Report: Saudis Export Anti-Christian and Anti-Jewish Textbooks that Continue to Fuel Intolerance and Violence Around the Globe – “Textbooks used in Saudi Arabia’s schools contain virulent forms of anti-Christian and anti-Jewish bigotry that continue to fuel intolerance and violence around the globe, says a new report…  ‘Because of the Saudis’ great oil wealth, it is able to disseminate its textbooks … to many Muslim schools, mosques and libraries throughout the world. ‘This is not just hate mongering, it’s promoting violence,’ … Christians are referred to as ‘swine’ and Jews as ‘apes,’ …” Read more.

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Syria: Two Christian Bishops Who Had Warned Of The Muslim Threat To Religious Tolerance Kidnapped By Islamist Rebels

04/23/2013 1 comment

By Dominic Evans, Reuters – “Two prominent Syrian bishops, who had warned of the threat to religious tolerance and diversity from the two-year conflict in their country, were kidnapped on Monday by armed rebels in the northern province of Aleppo, state media said.

SANA news agency said the Syriac Orthodox and Greek Orthodox Archbishops of Aleppo, Yohanna Ibrahim and Paul Yazigi, were seized by ‘a terrorist group’ in the village of Kfar Dael as they were ‘carrying out humanitarian work’.

A Syriac member of the opposition Syrian National Coalition, Abdulahad Steifo, said the men had been kidnapped on the road to Aleppo from the rebel-held Bab al Hawa crossing with Turkey.

Several prominent Muslim clerics have been killed in Syria’s uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, but the two bishops are the most senior church leaders caught up in the conflict which has killed more than 70,000 people across Syria.

Christians make up less than 10 percent of the country’s 23 million people and, like other religious minorities, many have been wary of the mainly Sunni Muslim uprising against Assad, whose Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam.

Fears for their future if the rebels were to end 40 years of Assad dynastic rule, which ensured religious freedom without political rights, have increased with the growing strength of Islamist rebels and a pledge of allegiance to al Qaeda by the hardline Nusra Front rebels two weeks ago…

Last September Ibrahim said that hundreds of Christian families had fled Aleppo as rebels and soldiers battled for control of the country’s biggest city.

‘In its modern history Aleppo has not seen such critical and painful times…Christians have been attacked and kidnapped in monstrous ways and their relatives have paid big sums for their release,’ he told Reuters.” Read more.

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Nigeria: Islamists Pull Over Bus Near Maiduguri, Kill All Christian Passengers, Embark On Door-To-Door ‘Islamisation Campaign’ At Gunpoint

04/23/2013 5 comments

John 16:2b, “… the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing a holy service for God.”

Christian Today – “Release partners are reporting targeted violence against Christians in the northern state of Borno this weekend.

Stefanos Foundation says that gunmen pulled over a bus near Maiduguri on Saturday, demanded passengers declare their faith and then killed the six people who said they were Christian.

Meanwhile, in Gwoza, also in Borno state, Islamists are reported to have embarked upon an ‘Islamisation campaign’. Stefanos reports that gunmen are going from door to door demanding people profess allegiance to Islam at gunpoint.

This weekend’s violence followed intense fighting on Friday in the far north of Borno between the military and Islamist extremist group, Boko Haram. The BBC says that at least 185 people have reportedly died in violence centred on the remote town of Baga, near the border with Chad. Up to 2,000 homes were destroyed. Boko Haram wants to create an Islamic state in northern Nigeria.” Source – Christian Today.

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Enduring Till The End: Iran Tells Imprisoned Christian Pastor To Renounce His Faith In Jesus And Return To Islam, Or Else

04/23/2013 Leave a comment

Romans 8:38-39, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

By Erin Roach, Baptist Press – “Iranian officials have pressured imprisoned pastor Saeed Abedini to renounce his faith in Jesus even as they have stepped up their physical abuse and psychological torture of him, including taking him to a hospital but denying him medical treatment, according to recent reports.

In a letter obtained by the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), Abedini — a U.S. citizen of Iranian descent — wrote that he was told by Iranian prison officials, ‘Deny your faith in Jesus Christ and return to Islam or else you will not be released from prison. We will make sure you are kept here even after your 8 year sentence is finished.’

Abedini’s response, he wrote, is Romans 8:35-39, which says persecution and death cannot separate a believer from Christ.

‘The reality of Christian living is that difficulties or problems do arise in our lives,’ Abedini wrote. ‘Persecution and difficulties are not new occurrences, but are seen often in the Christian life. It is through the suffering and tribulations that we are to enter the Kingdom of God.’

The pastor closed the letter, ACLJ said in a news release April 10, by writing, ‘Pastor Saeed Abedini, the servant and slave of Jesus Christ in chains, with a lot of joy to see you soon. Evin Prison 9th March 2013.’

Jordan Sekulow, ACLJ’s executive director, said it’s clear that Abedini’s faith is sustaining him even as he suffers from increased brutality at the hands of prison guards.

Sekulow reported April 15 that Abedini’s Iranian family visited him in prison that day and saw firsthand the marks and symptoms left by a severe beating he received when officials took him to a hospital the previous week.

After being promised medical care for internal bleeding caused by repeated abuse, Abedini, a naturalized U.S. citizen, finally was granted a hospital visit but then was taken away without receiving treatment, being told the specialist he was to see was not available.

‘These beatings and the internal injuries are causing Pastor Saeed frequent fainting spells,’ Sekulow wrote. ‘Iranian officials are telling Pastor Saeed it could be an additional two months before he will receive medical treatment. Such a delay is inhumane and a gross violation of Iran’s international obligations.'” Read more.

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Somalia: Islamists Kill Christian Widow Of A Man Who Was Murdered For His Christian Faith In December

04/23/2013 1 comment

Hadith: Bukhari 9.84.57, “Muhammad said, ‘Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him.’”

Morning Star News – “Islamist militants in Somalia have killed the widow of a Christian who was slain for his faith in December, leaving the couple’s five children orphaned, sources said.

Islamic extremist Al Shabaab rebels shot 42-year-old Fartun Omar to death on April 13 in Buulodbarde, 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Beledweyne, according to Abdi Aziz Suleiman of Radio Shebelle in Beledweyne. The extremists had been searching for her for several months, as they knew that she was a secret Christian like her late husband, Mursal Isse Siad, sources said.

Siad had been receiving death threats for leaving Islam. After his death, initially Omar fled the area with her five children and at one time had received protection from from African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) soldiers, sources said.

‘A week before she was killed, rumors were flying that the Al Shabaab were looking for her,’ one of Omar’s neighbors said.

Due to the threat of persecution, Omar on April 10 decided to leave the central Somalian city of Beledweyne by bus with another neighbor to seek refuge with relatives, the first neighbor said. On reaching Buulobarde, which is controlled by Al Shabaab, militants at a roadblock ordered passengers to disembark and questioned them one by one.

‘Unfortunately, she was not cleared by the Al Shabaab,’ said the neighbor who accompanied her. ‘I only heard one of them saying, ‘This is the woman whose husband was killed last year. Do not let her in.’’ …

Sources said Omar was found dead on the outskirts of Buulobarde with bullet wounds to her right side.

‘The children are in safe hands, and I am trying to look for some of the relatives of Omar,’ the neighbor said. ‘The only problem that I am experiencing at the moment is that the small children are crying for their mother.'” 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.

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Why Do So Many Muslims Embrace Religious And Ideological Warfare?

04/22/2013 Leave a comment

DominateWorldBy Victor Sharpe, American Thinker – “Mahatma Gandhi is quoted in his book, Gandhi: The Power of Pacifism, by Catherine Clement, as follows:

While Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Parsees and Jews, along with several million adherents of an animistic religion, all coexisted in relative harmony, one religion that would not accept compromise stood out from the rest: Islam.

Gandhi was referring to the experience during his lifetime in the Indian sub-continent, but the growth of Wahhabism and the current resurgence in Islamic triumphalism since Gandhi’s death in January 1948 now poses an increasingly existential threat to the West, to Judeo-Christian civilization, as well as to Hindus, Buddhists, and members other faiths.

The question repeatedly posed by the talking heads on the TV networks and cable television is how and why so many Muslims, young and old, are living in the West and enjoying all the material and educational benefits bestowed upon them — and also committing hideous acts of terror and perpetrating atrocities upon innocent civilians, even against their very own neighbors.

The Times Square bombing attempt on May 1, 2010 by Pakistan-born Faisal Shahzad and the 2009 Fort Hood massacre of unarmed members of the military by Major Nidal Hasan (still described by the problematic U.S. administration as ‘workplace violence’) are well-known.  So too is the attempt at terrorism by a Somali immigrant, Mohamed Osman Mohamud, who had come to America at the age of five with his family as a refugee from the hell that is Somalia, and who attempted to kill thousands during a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony in Portland, Oregon.  But until the Chechen Muslim brothers succeeded in their massacre at the Boston Marathon, most terror attacks had been thwarted since the 9/11 destruction of the Twin Towers and part of the Pentagon by the 19 Saudi Arabian hijackers, in which 3,000 people were murdered.  This time, however, the Muslim miscreants succeeded.

It was the baleful President Carter who undercut the shah of Iran, an autocrat who jailed and restricted the jihadists and Islamic groups but who was nevertheless a supporter and ally of America.  Just like President Obama, who equally undercut Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the subsequent void was quickly and gleefully filled by Islamic fundamentalists and the Muslim Brotherhood who imposed sharia law and raised the banner of Islamic supremacy.

With the shah’s fall came the Ayatollah Khomeini from his exile in France, and almost immediately Carter’s foolish act resulted in a seemingly endless and most definitely humiliating imprisonment of American Embassy staff in Tehran.  Since then Iran has fed the flames of Islamic terror around the globe, arming, and funding terror organizations such as Hamas and Hezb’allah.  Ayatollah Khomeini preached violence to ultimately conquer ‘the land of the infidel.’  By that he meant Israel, Christian European states and Britain, the United States, and the entire non-Muslim world.  His followers throughout the Muslim and Arab world have all endorsed the legitimacy of jihad against what they call the ‘enemies of Islam.’  Islamic martyrdom operations — specifically blowing up soft targets like the spectators at sporting events — are guarantees to paradise even if the victims are children.

So the answer to those talking heads in the media who endlessly ask why so many Muslims commit such atrocities can be seen both in Koranic passages and in, for instance, the sickening hate indoctrination found in the government-controlled Palestinian TV and radio broadcasts.

Here are some of the grisly passages from the Koran Read more…

Categories: Man-Made Disasters, Radical Islam, Wars and Rumors of War Tags:

Islamist Ultimatum To Syrian Christians: Convert, Leave, Or Die

04/22/2013 Leave a comment

AINA – “Syria’s Christians fear an Islamist takeover should the current government be overthrown. During the ongoing civil war there has been a well-documented rise in the number of salafi-jihadist groups operating in Syria that pose a direct threat to Syria’s Christian community.1 These militant opposition forces espouse an Islamist ideology, which incorporates elements of Wahhabism2 and Salafism3 and whose stated goals and objectives are by definition hostile towards Christians. Firsthand accounts from Syrian Christian refugees in Lebanon reported by award winning investigative journalist Nuri Kino detail the horror in which they described kidnappings, rapes, harassment, theft and other violent reprisals at the hands of Islamist groups.

Those who survived reported ‘just being Christian is enough to be a target,’4 disproving theories that violence and kidnapping directed towards Syrian Christians is purely incidental or for economic reasons. One individual openly declared ‘We’re not poor. We didn’t run from poverty […] we ran from fear.’5

There are several dozens of armed Salafi-jihadist groups both foreign and domestic currently operating in Syria that explicitly advocate Islamist agendas and possess the intentions and capabilities to commit violent persecution towards Syria’s Christians. Most notably from the global Sunni jihadist milieu is al-Jabhat al-Nusra lil-Ahl al-Sham min Mujahedin al-Sham fi Sahat al-Jihad (The Front for Supporting the People of Greater Syria by the Mujahedin of Syria on the Battlefields of Jihad) A.K.A. Jabhat al-Nusra, which in December 2012 the U.S. government officially listed as a terrorist organization.6 Also, on April 9 of this year the leader of Tanzim Qai’dat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (Organization of Jihad’s Base in Mesopotamia) A.K.A. al-Qaeda in Iraq released an audio announcement that officially declared the unification of al-Qaeda in Iraq and Jabhat al-Nusra including the establishment of an Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, effectively expanding the threat to Syria’s Christians.7 The other notable militant Islamist group is al-Jabhat al-Islamiya al-Suriya (Syrian Islamic Front), a large armed coalition force comprised of several interdependent blocs and alliances organized throughout Syria.8 Even the relatively less hardline al-Jaysh al-Suri al-Hurr (Free Syrian Army) and al-Majlis al-Watani al-Suri (Syrian National Council) are by no means monolithic entities, rather both exist as umbrella organizations comprised of several independent and competing ideological currents and sub-currents including Islamism.

Indeed, regardless of the means employed whether violent or non-violent to achieve the stated goals and objectives of these Islamist movements, the future is unfortunately no less hostile towards Christians. Within an Islamic State governed by Shari’a (Islamic Law), Jews and Christians, known colloquially as ahl al-Kitaab (People of the Book), are afforded a certain protected status called dhimmi, but only if they willingly submit to a tribute or coercive tax known as jizya.9 Based on Islamist interpretation, which is strictly literal and employs the ‘doctrine of abrogation’ promulgated by the 13th century Islamic scholar Ibn Taymiyyah,10 the later and more belligerent suras (chapters) of the Qur’an take precedence over the earlier and more tolerant suras.11 As a result, the salafi-jihadists frequently reference Sura al-Tawba (The Repentance) otherwise known as Sura al-Bara’a (The Ultimatum), which is the 9th chapter of the Qur’an, to justify their violent actions. Numerous internationally recognized translations of Verse 29 of Sura al-Tawba explicitly state,

Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.12

Ultimately, Syria’s Christians as well as Jews will be forced to suffer persecution at the hands of Islamists unless they convert to Islam, submit to Shari’a and pay the jizya, emigrate or die.” Read more.

Categories: Radical Islam, Wars and Rumors of War Tags:

What Islam Teaches About Killing: Understanding The Islamic Bombing Of The Boston Marathon

04/21/2013 2 comments

 “I have been made victorious with terror” – The ‘Prophet’ Of Islam, Mohammed (Al Bukhari Hadith 2977)

By David Wood, Answering Muslims – “In response to the Islamic bombing of the Boston Marathon, the ‘Why Islam?’ campaign sent out a Tweet on one of history’s most deliberately misrepresented verses.

Since the same verse has been ripped out of context by Fox News, CNN, the Washington Post, and President Obama, it’s time for a careful analysis of the text.” Watch video below. Source – Answering Muslims.

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Muslim Persecution Of Christians: February, 2013

04/18/2013 Leave a comment

Matthew 10:22, “And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.”

By Raymond Ibrahim, Gatestone Institute – “Reports of Christian persecution by Muslims around the world during the month of February include (but are not limited to) the following accounts. They are listed by form of persecution, and in country alphabetical order, not necessarily according to severity:

Church Attacks

Egypt: Once again, soon after Friday prayers, a throng of Muslims in Fayoum province destroyed a Coptic church. The reason cited this time was that the church is ‘an unlawful neighbor to the Muslims who live adjacent to it and must therefore be moved.’ According to AINA, ‘The mob climbed to the church dome and started demolishing it and setting it on fire. The dome collapsed into the burning church and caused great damage. Muslims used bricks from the dome and the holy cross and hurled it at the altar inside the church, causing part of it to be demolished; all the icons of saints were destroyed. Muslims tried to assault Father Domadios and threw stones at him, but he was saved by a Muslim family who brought him away from the village in their car.’ Local Christian families were reported as staying indoors for fear of being assaulted by the Muslims. And, once again, although state security was present throughout this entire proceeding, it did nothing to prevent it. None of the perpetrators was arrested. Two days later, hundreds of Copts demonstrated, demanding a halt to the ongoing attacks on their churches. In response, the church was attacked again, by Muslims hurling more Molotov cocktails and stones while shouting ‘We do not want the church.’ Some Muslims climbed atop the church again to destroy completely the remains of the wooden dome.

Indonesia: Four churches were firebombed with Molotov cocktails in the world’s most populous Muslim nation. Two were attacked on a Sunday morning in South Sulawesi. Another two churches were attacked a few days later. All the churches suffered various degrees of fire damage. According to Barnabas Fund, the same region was earlier ‘ravaged in a bloody anti-Christian campaign by Islamic extremists between 1997 and 2001. Hundreds of churches and thousands of homes were destroyed; according to some estimates 30,000 Christians were killed and about half a million driven out in what amounted to ethnic cleansing…. The beheading of three girls as they made their way [to] their Christian school in Central Sulawesi in 2005 was among the most egregious.’ Elsewhere, in the village of Mekargalih, some 50 members of the Islamic Defenders Front descended upon a Pentecostal church, scaling its gates, vandalizing the building, and assaulting the church’s minister, including strangling him with his own necktie. The reason cited for this assault was that the church was operating without a permit. Two days later, the only person arrested and currently serving a three month prison sentence, was the minister, for continuing to hold services without a valid permit. The church, which has been running for 26 years, has made repeated attempts, at significant financial cost, to obtain the required permit but has been obstructed by local authorities. This was the third violent attack against the church by the Islamic party in the last two years. According to the minister’s wife, who has also been threatened and harassed, this latest attack has ‘traumatized’ the 400-strong congregation; many Christians are now too afraid to attend services.

Libya: A Coptic Christian church located in Benghazi, Libya, was attacked by armed Muslim militants. Initial reports indicate that at least one priest, Fr. Paul Isaac, was injured, as well as his assistant. This was the second church to be attacked in two months. Earlier, on Sunday, December 30, an explosion had rocked a Coptic Christian church near the western city of Misrata, where a group of U.S. backed rebels hold a major checkpoint. The explosion killed two people and wounded two others, all Egyptians.

Zanzibar: Arsonists set the Evangelical Church of Siloam aflame on the island, populated 99% by Muslims. The church was under construction following a previous attack in January 2012. The current attack follows a string of other attacks on church leaders and Christian property across the country. Two days earlier, a Catholic priest was shot dead on his way to church for Sunday worship. Two Muslim youths at the church entrance shot him in the head. A message signed by ‘Muslim Renewal’ later appeared saying, ‘We thank our young men, trained in Somalia, for killing an infidel. Many more will die. We will burn homes and churches. We have not finished: at Easter, be prepared for disaster.’ A few days before the slaying of the Catholic priest, an Assemblies of God pastor was beheaded by Muslims on the Read more…

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