Dawkins campaigns to keep God out of classroom
Alexandra Smith Monday
November 27, 2006EducationGuardian.co.uk
Oxford's campaigning atheist Richard Dawkins. Photograph: Guardian/Graham Turner
The University of Oxford geneticist and campaigning atheist Richard Dawkins has established a foundation to keep God out of the classroom and prevent "pseudo science" taking over in schools, it emerged today.
The new Richard Dawkins Foundation for Science and Reason will subsidise books, pamphlets and DVDs for teachers to fight what the professor describes as the "educational scandal" that has seen the rise of "irrational ideas".
His foundation will also conduct research into what makes some people more susceptible to religious ideas than others and whether these people are particularly vulnerable.
Prof Dawkins' renewed push to counter what he perceives to be the religious indoctrination of young people comes amid revelations that dozens of schools are using teaching materials in science lessons that promote the creationist alternative to Darwinian evolution, condemned by the government as "not appropriate to support the science curriculum".
The packs promote the theory of intelligent design and the group behind them, Truth in Science, said 59 schools are using the information as "a useful classroom resource".
The group sent the teaching pack to the head of science at all secondary schools in England on September 18. To date, 89 schools have returned the enclosed feedback postcard - 59 were positive, 15 negative or dismissive and 15 said the material was "not suitable".
Richard Buggs, a member of Truth in Science, said the group was not attacking the teaching of Darwinian theory. "We are just saying that criticisms of Darwin's theory should also be taught," he said.
"Intelligent design looks at empirical evidence in the natural world and says, 'this is evidence for a designer'. If you go any further the argument does become religious and intelligent design does have religious implications."
However, the government has made it clear that "neither intelligent design nor creationism are recognised scientific theories".
Prof Dawkins, Oxford's professor of the public understanding of science, is the author of several bestselling books extolling evolution, such as The Selfish Gene. His latest book, The God Delusion, is a sustained polemic against religious faith.
He has established foundations in both Britain and the US and is now applying for charitable status. They were founded in response to what he calls the "organised ignorance" that is promoting creationism, the belief that the Biblical account of the origins of man is true.
Another challenge to Darwinian theory comes in the form of intelligent design, the suggestion that life is the result of a guiding force rather than pure evolutionary natural selection.
Prof Dawkins said: "The enlightenment is under threat. So is reason. So is truth. So is science, especially in the schools of America. I am one of those scientists who feels that it is no longer enough just to get on and do science. We have to devote a significant proportion of our time and resources to defending it from deliberate attack from organised ignorance."
He also plans to campaign against children being labelled with the religion of their parents. "It is immoral to brand children with religion," he said. "This is a Catholic child. That is a Muslim child. I want everyone to flinch when they hear such a phrase, just as they would if they heard that is a Marxist child."
Prof Dawkins' views have sparked criticism from academics, religious leaders and fellow scientists. The Church of England described them as "disturbing", while others complained that Prof Dawkins' foundation bore the "whiff of a campaigning organisation" rather than a charity".
John Hall, dean of Westminster and the Church of England's education officer, told the Independent today: "He is clearly looking for a fight. His clear intention is to push his view that religion is dangerous and that to bring up a child in their parents' beliefs is a form of abuse.
Obviously I am concerned about that. There are good grounds for thinking that this would just be a charitable vehicle for pushing Richard Dawkins' views."
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
He Whose Name We Dare Not Speak: Taking Christ out of Christmas
He Whose Name We Dare Not Speak: Taking Christ out of Christmas
By John Lillpop
Monday, November 27, 2006
Growing up in America during the 1950s, I usually began to notice the first inklings of the “Christmas Spirit” creeping into my consciousness around Thanksgiving.
Having the “Spirit” meant that one was emotionally ready to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, openly and with gusto. This Christmas Spirit overshadowed hatred and enmity, if ever so briefly, and blessed one’s heart with feelings of good will for others; even those normally thought of as adversaries.
We celebrated Christmas enthusiastically in our music, literature, food, and social expressions.
Our joyful celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ was evident in parks, schools, churches, police stations, fire houses, court houses, shopping centers, gasoline stations, post offices, banks, airports, train stations, newspapers, magazines, television shows, restaurants, cocktail lounges, movie theaters, libraries, radio broadcasts, work places, homes, sports stadiums, cemeteries, funeral homes, and other public and private gatherings.
Christmas was everywhere, and nearly everyone seemed friendly and happy during this special season. Christmas offered the promise of hope to the human spirit.
And Christmas was unmistakably Christmas—not some neutered, weak-as-water euphemism.
We sent out Christmas cards, decorated Christmas trees, exchanged Christmas gifts, attended Christmas office parties, went door-to-door singing Christmas carols for complete strangers, and went to Christmas eve services.
And we greeted everyone with a heart-felt Merry Christmas!
Happy Holidays, anyone? Not on your bloody pagan life! We would have been genuinely appalled by the mere suggestion that any part of Christmas should be sans the Christ.
When did America change so dramatically—and so wrongly?
To wit, when did:
Public displays of the Nativity scene become offensive and unconstitutional?
Wishing someone “Merry Christmas?” become hate speech?
Christmas cards and Christmas trees become symbols of religious intolerance?
Beautiful Christmas music like Joy to the World!, Silent Night, and Noel become less important, and more offensive, in America than rap music?
Halloween become nearly as important as Christmas in the minds of American youth?
Relieving the inconvenience of a small minority become more important than preserving the long-standing traditions and culture observed by the overwhelming majority of Americans?
In the 1950s, we were often warned that Christmas was becoming too secular and commercial--and not sacred enough. Learned people worried that the real meaning of Christmas—the birth of Jesus Christ—was being obscured by flashing lights, sparkling tinsel, jolly old fat men in silly costumes, out-of-control Charge it Mania, and an unhealthy obsession with the crass at the expense of the spiritual.
In recent years, the ACLU, activist judges, and other liberal extremists have worked tirelessly to remove Jesus Christ from Christmas and into the category of “He Whose Name We Dare Not Speak.”
Although they have succeeded to a certain extent, the liberal attempt to eradicate Jesus Christ from Christmas will ultimately fail.
We can all help to hasten that failure by remembering the real meaning of Christmas, and by letting the Christmas Spirit bless our hearts with the Good News of the gospels.
Merry Christmas to all!
By John Lillpop
Monday, November 27, 2006
Growing up in America during the 1950s, I usually began to notice the first inklings of the “Christmas Spirit” creeping into my consciousness around Thanksgiving.
Having the “Spirit” meant that one was emotionally ready to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, openly and with gusto. This Christmas Spirit overshadowed hatred and enmity, if ever so briefly, and blessed one’s heart with feelings of good will for others; even those normally thought of as adversaries.
We celebrated Christmas enthusiastically in our music, literature, food, and social expressions.
Our joyful celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ was evident in parks, schools, churches, police stations, fire houses, court houses, shopping centers, gasoline stations, post offices, banks, airports, train stations, newspapers, magazines, television shows, restaurants, cocktail lounges, movie theaters, libraries, radio broadcasts, work places, homes, sports stadiums, cemeteries, funeral homes, and other public and private gatherings.
Christmas was everywhere, and nearly everyone seemed friendly and happy during this special season. Christmas offered the promise of hope to the human spirit.
And Christmas was unmistakably Christmas—not some neutered, weak-as-water euphemism.
We sent out Christmas cards, decorated Christmas trees, exchanged Christmas gifts, attended Christmas office parties, went door-to-door singing Christmas carols for complete strangers, and went to Christmas eve services.
And we greeted everyone with a heart-felt Merry Christmas!
Happy Holidays, anyone? Not on your bloody pagan life! We would have been genuinely appalled by the mere suggestion that any part of Christmas should be sans the Christ.
When did America change so dramatically—and so wrongly?
To wit, when did:
Public displays of the Nativity scene become offensive and unconstitutional?
Wishing someone “Merry Christmas?” become hate speech?
Christmas cards and Christmas trees become symbols of religious intolerance?
Beautiful Christmas music like Joy to the World!, Silent Night, and Noel become less important, and more offensive, in America than rap music?
Halloween become nearly as important as Christmas in the minds of American youth?
Relieving the inconvenience of a small minority become more important than preserving the long-standing traditions and culture observed by the overwhelming majority of Americans?
In the 1950s, we were often warned that Christmas was becoming too secular and commercial--and not sacred enough. Learned people worried that the real meaning of Christmas—the birth of Jesus Christ—was being obscured by flashing lights, sparkling tinsel, jolly old fat men in silly costumes, out-of-control Charge it Mania, and an unhealthy obsession with the crass at the expense of the spiritual.
In recent years, the ACLU, activist judges, and other liberal extremists have worked tirelessly to remove Jesus Christ from Christmas and into the category of “He Whose Name We Dare Not Speak.”
Although they have succeeded to a certain extent, the liberal attempt to eradicate Jesus Christ from Christmas will ultimately fail.
We can all help to hasten that failure by remembering the real meaning of Christmas, and by letting the Christmas Spirit bless our hearts with the Good News of the gospels.
Merry Christmas to all!
Just say 'Merry Christmas!' says Chuck Norris
Just say 'Merry Christmas!'
Posted: November 27, 20061:00 a.m. Eastern
Copyright 1997-2006All Rights Reserved. WorldNetDaily.com Inc.
With one of the largest retail weekends immediately behind us, and a huge season of shopping upon us, I have a bone to pick with some Christmas retailers and reductionists.
Shop until 'Christmas' drops
The National Retail Federation, the largest retail trade association, is projecting only a 5 percent increase in Christmas season sales over last year, to the tune of $457.4 billion. That compares with last year's 6.1 percent increase.
It appears as well that the majority of that increase (61 million people) will do their shopping on the Internet (up from 51.7 million last year).
What alarms me most, however, are not any economic forecasts, but the progressive disappearance of retail Christmas terminology.
What ever happened to ''Christmas?''
In the pursuit of being politically correct, I believe we have sold out to a neutered nativity — taking no sides to the slow elimination of ''Christmas'' in retail and culture.
Just say 'Merry Christmas!'
Of course I'm not against December commerce, just the overcompensation of sensitivity that leads to Christmas compromise.
I enjoy giving and receiving Christmas gifts as much as anyone else, though I prefer those presents that build up mind, body and spirit, like the educational gifts found at Shop.WND.com or the fitness and other items found at our online store (the proceeds of which go to benefit our Kick Start program).
I want to challenge corporate management, private businesses, and the American public to keep the word ''Christmas'' in their displays and advertisements, rather than replacing it with any generic ''holiday'' language.
Don't be afraid to inform businesses who keep ''Christmas'' alive that you are appreciative and will encourage others to patronize their businesses. Notify those who do not that you will not. (That includes Internet companies — the fastest growing shopping mall.)
If we don't stop the decline of Christmas language now, imagine what the yuletide will be like in a few years: full of ''holiday'' trees, ''holiday'' gifts, ''holiday'' wreaths, ''holiday'' dinners, ''holiday'' music, and ''holiday'' church services. Come to think of it: we're almost there!
It's time to just say ''Merry Christmas!'' Or there will be nothing merry about it for our children and grandchildren.
What mom modeled and so should we
Growing up in Oklahoma, Kansas and then California, our family was pretty poor by American standards.
We had so little money that I didn't have real toys to play with, so I used clothespins and an active imagination.
The clothespins served as toy soldiers or cowboys. I made the big clothespins the bad guys and the little ones the good guys. Of course the larger they were, the harder they fell! (Imagery that would later serve my Martial Arts career.)
Despite our economic and domestic adversities, mom did the best she could with us three boys.
I can still remember her coming home exhausted from her job at the laundry and saying that we were blessed. We didn't have much, but what we did have, we sure appreciated. And what we had most was each other, and the Lord.
Even though we had a hard life, mom maintained a strong faith in God. She instilled that faith in her sons and kept us in church.
Christmas in our hearts, not under the tree
Friends, we all must model and teach children that the heart of Christmas isn't found under a tree. It's discovered in our hearts.
We must also teach them that they were called to do more than consume resources; they were gifted to be a blessing and resource to others.
No wonder the Bible says it is better to give than to receive.
So call me old-fashioned
Some might call me old-fashioned, but I still believe in a white Christmas, chestnuts roasting on an open fire, and family and friends giving thanks to God.
Most of all, I still believe what mom taught me: the heart of Christmas is found in a stable not in a store.
No business can take away that fact from any of us.
(One of the best ways you and your family can be refreshed about the true meaning of Christmas this season is by seeing the new family-friendly movie, ''The Nativity Story,'' opening in 3,000 theaters nationwide this Friday, Dec. 1. I recommend it highly!)
Chuck Norris is the star of more than 20 films and the long-running TV series "Walker, Texas Ranger." His book, "Against All Odds," tells the inspirational story of how he overcame abject poverty from childhood, the effects of his father's alcoholism and desertion of the family, and his own shyness and lack of strength and ability early in his life. Learn more about his life and ministry at his official website, ChuckNorris.com.
Posted: November 27, 20061:00 a.m. Eastern
Copyright 1997-2006All Rights Reserved. WorldNetDaily.com Inc.
With one of the largest retail weekends immediately behind us, and a huge season of shopping upon us, I have a bone to pick with some Christmas retailers and reductionists.
Shop until 'Christmas' drops
The National Retail Federation, the largest retail trade association, is projecting only a 5 percent increase in Christmas season sales over last year, to the tune of $457.4 billion. That compares with last year's 6.1 percent increase.
It appears as well that the majority of that increase (61 million people) will do their shopping on the Internet (up from 51.7 million last year).
What alarms me most, however, are not any economic forecasts, but the progressive disappearance of retail Christmas terminology.
What ever happened to ''Christmas?''
In the pursuit of being politically correct, I believe we have sold out to a neutered nativity — taking no sides to the slow elimination of ''Christmas'' in retail and culture.
Just say 'Merry Christmas!'
Of course I'm not against December commerce, just the overcompensation of sensitivity that leads to Christmas compromise.
I enjoy giving and receiving Christmas gifts as much as anyone else, though I prefer those presents that build up mind, body and spirit, like the educational gifts found at Shop.WND.com or the fitness and other items found at our online store (the proceeds of which go to benefit our Kick Start program).
I want to challenge corporate management, private businesses, and the American public to keep the word ''Christmas'' in their displays and advertisements, rather than replacing it with any generic ''holiday'' language.
Don't be afraid to inform businesses who keep ''Christmas'' alive that you are appreciative and will encourage others to patronize their businesses. Notify those who do not that you will not. (That includes Internet companies — the fastest growing shopping mall.)
If we don't stop the decline of Christmas language now, imagine what the yuletide will be like in a few years: full of ''holiday'' trees, ''holiday'' gifts, ''holiday'' wreaths, ''holiday'' dinners, ''holiday'' music, and ''holiday'' church services. Come to think of it: we're almost there!
It's time to just say ''Merry Christmas!'' Or there will be nothing merry about it for our children and grandchildren.
What mom modeled and so should we
Growing up in Oklahoma, Kansas and then California, our family was pretty poor by American standards.
We had so little money that I didn't have real toys to play with, so I used clothespins and an active imagination.
The clothespins served as toy soldiers or cowboys. I made the big clothespins the bad guys and the little ones the good guys. Of course the larger they were, the harder they fell! (Imagery that would later serve my Martial Arts career.)
Despite our economic and domestic adversities, mom did the best she could with us three boys.
I can still remember her coming home exhausted from her job at the laundry and saying that we were blessed. We didn't have much, but what we did have, we sure appreciated. And what we had most was each other, and the Lord.
Even though we had a hard life, mom maintained a strong faith in God. She instilled that faith in her sons and kept us in church.
Christmas in our hearts, not under the tree
Friends, we all must model and teach children that the heart of Christmas isn't found under a tree. It's discovered in our hearts.
We must also teach them that they were called to do more than consume resources; they were gifted to be a blessing and resource to others.
No wonder the Bible says it is better to give than to receive.
So call me old-fashioned
Some might call me old-fashioned, but I still believe in a white Christmas, chestnuts roasting on an open fire, and family and friends giving thanks to God.
Most of all, I still believe what mom taught me: the heart of Christmas is found in a stable not in a store.
No business can take away that fact from any of us.
(One of the best ways you and your family can be refreshed about the true meaning of Christmas this season is by seeing the new family-friendly movie, ''The Nativity Story,'' opening in 3,000 theaters nationwide this Friday, Dec. 1. I recommend it highly!)
Chuck Norris is the star of more than 20 films and the long-running TV series "Walker, Texas Ranger." His book, "Against All Odds," tells the inspirational story of how he overcame abject poverty from childhood, the effects of his father's alcoholism and desertion of the family, and his own shyness and lack of strength and ability early in his life. Learn more about his life and ministry at his official website, ChuckNorris.com.
'Nativity' Booted From Ill. Holiday Fair
'Nativity' Booted From Ill. Holiday Fair
Nov 27 10:21 PM US/Eastern
By DON BABWIN Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO
A public Christmas festival is no place for the Christmas story, the city says. Officials have asked organizers of a downtown Christmas festival, the German Christkindlmarket, to reconsider using a movie studio as a sponsor because it is worried ads for its film "The Nativity Story" might offend non-Christians.
New Line Cinema, which said it was dropped, had planned to play a loop of the new film on televisions at the event. The decision had both the studio and a prominent Christian group shaking their heads.
"The last time I checked, the first six letters of Christmas still spell out Christ," said Paul Braoudakis, spokesman for the Barrington, Ill.-based Willow Creek Association, a group of more than 11,000 churches of various denominations. "It's tantamount to celebrating Lincoln's birthday without talking about Abraham Lincoln."
He also said that there is a nativity scene in Daley Plaza _ and that some vendors at the festival sell items related to the nativity.
The city does not want to appear to endorse one religion over another, said Cindy Gatziolis, a spokeswoman for the Mayor's Office of Special Events. She acknowledged there is a nativity scene, but also said there will be representations of other faiths, including a Jewish menorah, all put up by private groups. She stressed that the city did not order organizers to drop the studio as a sponsor.
"Our guidance was that this very prominently placed advertisement would not only be insensitive to the many people of different faiths who come to enjoy the market for its food and unique gifts, but also it would be contrary to acceptable advertising standards suggested to the many festivals holding events on Daley Plaza," Jim Law, executive director of the office, said in a statement.
Officials with the German American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest, which has organized the event for several years, did not immediately return calls for comment. The festival started Thursday.
An executive vice president with New Line Cinema, Christina Kounelias, said the studio's plan to spend $12,000 in Chicago was part of an advertising campaign around the country. Kounelias said that as far as she knew, the Chicago festival was the only instance where the studio was turned down.
Kounelias said she finds it hard to believe that non-Christians who attended something called Christkindlmarket would be surprised or offended by the presence of posters, brochures and other advertisements of the movie.
"One would assume that if (people) were to go to Christkindlmarket, they'd know it is about Christmas," she said.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Nov 27 10:21 PM US/Eastern
By DON BABWIN Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO
A public Christmas festival is no place for the Christmas story, the city says. Officials have asked organizers of a downtown Christmas festival, the German Christkindlmarket, to reconsider using a movie studio as a sponsor because it is worried ads for its film "The Nativity Story" might offend non-Christians.
New Line Cinema, which said it was dropped, had planned to play a loop of the new film on televisions at the event. The decision had both the studio and a prominent Christian group shaking their heads.
"The last time I checked, the first six letters of Christmas still spell out Christ," said Paul Braoudakis, spokesman for the Barrington, Ill.-based Willow Creek Association, a group of more than 11,000 churches of various denominations. "It's tantamount to celebrating Lincoln's birthday without talking about Abraham Lincoln."
He also said that there is a nativity scene in Daley Plaza _ and that some vendors at the festival sell items related to the nativity.
The city does not want to appear to endorse one religion over another, said Cindy Gatziolis, a spokeswoman for the Mayor's Office of Special Events. She acknowledged there is a nativity scene, but also said there will be representations of other faiths, including a Jewish menorah, all put up by private groups. She stressed that the city did not order organizers to drop the studio as a sponsor.
"Our guidance was that this very prominently placed advertisement would not only be insensitive to the many people of different faiths who come to enjoy the market for its food and unique gifts, but also it would be contrary to acceptable advertising standards suggested to the many festivals holding events on Daley Plaza," Jim Law, executive director of the office, said in a statement.
Officials with the German American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest, which has organized the event for several years, did not immediately return calls for comment. The festival started Thursday.
An executive vice president with New Line Cinema, Christina Kounelias, said the studio's plan to spend $12,000 in Chicago was part of an advertising campaign around the country. Kounelias said that as far as she knew, the Chicago festival was the only instance where the studio was turned down.
Kounelias said she finds it hard to believe that non-Christians who attended something called Christkindlmarket would be surprised or offended by the presence of posters, brochures and other advertisements of the movie.
"One would assume that if (people) were to go to Christkindlmarket, they'd know it is about Christmas," she said.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Man Pleads Guilty in Shrine Desecration
Man Pleads Guilty in Shrine Desecration
Nov 27 11:10 PM US/Eastern
A 21-year-old man pleaded guilty Monday to desecrating one of Wisconsin's most popular religious shrines to commemorate "Satan's birthday."
Tyler Groth pleaded guilty to felony criminal damage to religious property, and could face up to a year and a half in jail when he is sentenced Jan. 11.
Groth and his 17-year-old cousin, David J. Groth, were accused of spraying paint on statues and spray painting a devil's face at several locations in June at the Basilica of Holy Hill, National Shrine of Mary, in Erin.
It was to commemorate the date 06-06-06, and Tyler Groth told investigators the date is "Satan's birthday." In the Bible, the Book of Revelation describes triple sixes as the mark of the Antichrist.
Groth agreed to plead guilty in exchange for the dismissal of two unrelated misdemeanor graffiti charges, his attorney said.
David Groth had pleaded no contest to the same charge.
He is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 11.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Nov 27 11:10 PM US/Eastern
A 21-year-old man pleaded guilty Monday to desecrating one of Wisconsin's most popular religious shrines to commemorate "Satan's birthday."
Tyler Groth pleaded guilty to felony criminal damage to religious property, and could face up to a year and a half in jail when he is sentenced Jan. 11.
Groth and his 17-year-old cousin, David J. Groth, were accused of spraying paint on statues and spray painting a devil's face at several locations in June at the Basilica of Holy Hill, National Shrine of Mary, in Erin.
It was to commemorate the date 06-06-06, and Tyler Groth told investigators the date is "Satan's birthday." In the Bible, the Book of Revelation describes triple sixes as the mark of the Antichrist.
Groth agreed to plead guilty in exchange for the dismissal of two unrelated misdemeanor graffiti charges, his attorney said.
David Groth had pleaded no contest to the same charge.
He is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 11.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
New U.S. dollar coins hide 'In God We Trust'
New U.S. dollar coins hide 'In God We Trust'
On gold-colored presidential pieces, national motto relegated to thin edge
Posted: November 27, 20061:52 a.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
WASHINGTON – "In God We Trust," the official national motto since 1956 and a familiar sight on U.S. coins and currency, will be hard to find on the new presidential dollar coins scheduled for release to the public Feb. 15, 2007.
The new gold-colored dollar pieces, featuring images of U.S. presidents, will move the inscription from the face of the coin to the thin edge, along with the year and the previous national motto, "E Pluribus Unum," Latin for "Out of Many, One."
The official reason for the design change? To allow space for larger portraits of the presidents on the face and the Statue of Liberty on the reverse, according to the Mint.
The new coins will be the same size as the 1979 Susan B. Anthony and the 2000-2002 Sacajawea.
For the first time the coin will also say "$1" instead of "One Dollar."
Images of George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison are scheduled to appear on the coins in 2007, with a different president appearing every three months.
The series will honor four different presidents per year, in the order they served in office. Each president will appear on only one coin, except for Grover Cleveland, who will be on two because he was the only president to serve non-consecutive terms. To be depicted on a coin, a president must have been dead for at least two years.
"In God We Trust" became the national motto by an act of Congress in 1956 and officially superseded "E Pluribus Unum."
The most common place where the motto is observed in daily life is on U.S. currency and coinage. The first United States coin to bear this national motto was the 1864 two-cent piece. It wasn't until 1957 that the motto was permanently adopted for use on U.S. money.
If you'd like to sound off on this issue, please take part in the WorldNetDaily poll.
On gold-colored presidential pieces, national motto relegated to thin edge
Posted: November 27, 20061:52 a.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
WASHINGTON – "In God We Trust," the official national motto since 1956 and a familiar sight on U.S. coins and currency, will be hard to find on the new presidential dollar coins scheduled for release to the public Feb. 15, 2007.
The new gold-colored dollar pieces, featuring images of U.S. presidents, will move the inscription from the face of the coin to the thin edge, along with the year and the previous national motto, "E Pluribus Unum," Latin for "Out of Many, One."
The official reason for the design change? To allow space for larger portraits of the presidents on the face and the Statue of Liberty on the reverse, according to the Mint.
The new coins will be the same size as the 1979 Susan B. Anthony and the 2000-2002 Sacajawea.
For the first time the coin will also say "$1" instead of "One Dollar."
Images of George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison are scheduled to appear on the coins in 2007, with a different president appearing every three months.
The series will honor four different presidents per year, in the order they served in office. Each president will appear on only one coin, except for Grover Cleveland, who will be on two because he was the only president to serve non-consecutive terms. To be depicted on a coin, a president must have been dead for at least two years.
"In God We Trust" became the national motto by an act of Congress in 1956 and officially superseded "E Pluribus Unum."
The most common place where the motto is observed in daily life is on U.S. currency and coinage. The first United States coin to bear this national motto was the 1864 two-cent piece. It wasn't until 1957 that the motto was permanently adopted for use on U.S. money.
If you'd like to sound off on this issue, please take part in the WorldNetDaily poll.
Rick Warren called 'enabler and defender' of evil Megapastor's appearance in Syrian propaganda triggers criticism
Rick Warren called 'enabler and defender' of evil Megapastor's appearance in Syrian propaganda triggers criticism
Posted: November 28, 2006 1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
Megachurch pastor Rick Warren may have been unprepared for the Syrian media's propaganda using his name during his recent visit and he may have confused religious tolerance with religious freedom, but neither is an excuse for becoming "an enabler and defender of evil," according to experts on the Mideast and its persecution of non-Muslims.
"Rick Warren can do us all a favor and keep his remarks and opinions to himself. When you don't stand up against and condemn evil, let alone say misrepresented facts about an evil regime, you become an enabler and defender of evil, plain and simple," Brigitte Gabriel told WND.
Gabriel, a Lebanese-American who wrote "Because They Hate," and the founder of the The American Congress for Truth, was responding to Warren's recorded statement about Syria that: "It's a moderate country, and the official government rule and position is to not allow any extremism of any kind."
Warren, the pastor of Saddleback Church and the author of the best-selling "The Purpose-Driven Life," told WND when the comment first was reported that he had been misquoted, and further, he wasn't a diplomat and probably wasn't fully prepared for a situation in which he was used for propaganda.
But a video posted on YouTube showed Warren making the statement, and when WND linked to it, it suddenly disappeared.
Larry Ross, who acts as a spokesman for the church, told WND the video showing Warren making the statement was removed because Warren had heard there were "reports" about his Syrian visit, but not necessarily the reports from WND.
The Warren YouTube postings had been ongoing as kind of a travelogue to his congregation, Ross said. But when Warren arrived in Rwanda from Damascus and found out there were concerns about his activities in Syria, he suggested that no video from Syria be posted. "Let's not post one for Syria until we see where we're at," Warren had said, according to Ross.
But it already had been put up, so it was pulled down, only a few hours after it was put up, Ross said. "It was in the context of reports that they'd heard about, not specifically yours (WND's)," he said. "It was obviously with the understanding or the awareness that there were some reports about the trip to Syria."
But before it was removed, Bruce Delay, a talk-show host at KFAQ 1170 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, downloaded the audio portion of Warren's comments, and it can be heard here:
"What Rick Warren saw was 'religious toleration.' Not only is it a common mistake, it is the media norm to confuse the two," said Ergun Mehmet Caner, the president of the Liberty Theological Seminary at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.
"He was shown open churches, and worshiping people. He was not shown a single Muslim who converted to Christianity, he was shown people who are 'grandfathered in," Caner continued. "If he would have seen a Muslim convert, the scene would be different, and tragic. He would have seen one of my kinsmen … buried up to his waist in his burial cloth … and then stoned to death. Killed for the sole crime of finding faith in Jesus Christ.
"That is not religious freedom, and that is not tolerance. That is religious genocide," said Caner, who has authored 14 books on Christian apologetics and world religions, including "Unveiling Islam."
And the country is anything but neutral on the international issues involving differences between Muslim, Jew and Christian. The U.S. Congressional Research Service forwarded to the U.S. State Department earlier this year a massive report documenting that many believe it was Syria's decision to resupply Hezbollah with missiles and other materials that allowed Hezbollah to wage war with Israel over the summer.
That same report noted that Syria, which has not signed the Chemical Weapons Convention, has acquired an arsenal of chemical weapons and surface-to-surface missiles, as well as research centers for conducting work on biological weapons "and may be interested in a nuclear weapons capability."
Nerve agents such as sarin already are stockpiled and scientists may be working on the more deadly VX, said the report.
Syria also has been listed – since 1979 – on the list of nations considered by the U.S. to be sponsoring terrorism, and while its direct credit for individual terrorism acts has been limited in recent years, "Syria has continued to provide political and material support for Palestinian groups that have committed terrorist acts, and allows them to maintain offices in Damascus," the report said.
"Rick Warren's comments about Syria are an insult and a slap on the face to every Christian who ever lived under that regime or suffered from Syria's evil dictatorship not only in Syria but also the Christian Lebanese," said Gabriel.
"Rick Warren needs to speak to some of the Christians who fled Syria because of the oppression of the Syrian regime and are now here in America. They can tell him about the Syrian troops storming their Christian schools when they were children and burning (the schools) because they were Christians. They can tell him about fearing for their lives, controlling their tongues, living with humiliation and trying to get out of the country in any way possible."
She said it's actually the fortunate and well-to-do who are able to leave Syria; others must stay. "They do not have any weapons to protect themselves with, they are outnumbered by the oppressing Islamic majority and are under the mercy of radical tyrants who will not think twice about killing people for any reason at any time," she said.
Further, it was under Syrian control and protection that Muslims in Lebanon went on a killing spree against Christians, said Gabriel, who was 10 and living in Lebanon in 1975 when militant Muslims poured into her country and declared jihad against Lebanese Christians.
"To call Syria a moderate peaceful country where Christians and Jews live peacefully protected by the regime is nothing more than a statement of his ignorance, lack of intelligence and lack of grasp and understanding of the Middle East conflict. There are Christians in Syrian prisons now whose families do not know anything about them or if they are still alive or dead. My neighbor's son was kidnapped over 25 years ago and until today they do not know if he is dead or alive," she said.
Caner said it's a matter of definition.
"When a Muslim speaks of 'religious freedom,' what he actually means is 'religious toleration.' Not only are they NOT the same thing … the difference is dangerous," he said.
"Religious toleration only allows Christian expats to worship in a church, and even then it is greatly restricted. No churches are allowed to be built, or modified. Christians in the country must allow their children (daughters) to marry Muslims, but no Muslim woman may marry a Christian man."
"The most extreme difference is simple – Christians must allow their children to convert to Islam, but if a Muslim converts, the penalty is imprisonment, prosecution and even death," said Caner, a Turkish immigrant who was raised as a devout Sunni Muslim.
According to SANA, Warren, who met with various religious and political leaders in Syria including President Bashar al-Assad, had "hailed the religious coexistence, tolerance and stability that the Syrian society is enjoying due to the wise leadership of President al-Assad, asserting that he will convey the true image about Syria to the American people."
The reports also quoted Warren saying about four in five Americans reject the U.S. policies and actions in Iraq.
In his defense, Warren said he'd only made the trip to Syria at the request of his next-door neighbor. And he reported that Americans do not realize that both Christianity and Judaism are legal in Syria, and the Syrian government provides free electricity and water to all churches and allows Christians to create their own civil law instead of having to follow Muslim law.
Mark Tooley, of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, said Warren should consider what he's doing.
"It's not very difficult for most dictatorships who are very adroit at their own propaganda work to exploit someone who does not have experience in that area," he said.
An annual report on religious freedoms from the U.S. State Department, as WND reported earlier, agreed with a few of Warren's statements. The report said Syria's constitution allows Christians and Jews, and the government does provide utilities to churches.
But the report also said the government encourages negative and even violent expressions of Islamic religious sentiment, and monitors Christians and Jews through surveillance and other tactics.
"Security services were constantly alert for any possible political threat to the State, and all groups, religious and nonreligious, were subject to surveillance and monitoring by government security services," the report said.
The government also imposes Muslim law in cases of child custody and inheritance, and if the government believes missionaries pose a threat to the "relations among religious groups," they are subject to terms of up to life in prison.
The comments attributed to Warren also contradicted documentation by the International Counter Terrorism organization.
That group reported "frequent use of the 'terror weapon' has been made by Syria against Lebanon, Jordan and the Palestinians" in an attempt "to impose Syrian hegemony over them and bring them into line with Syrian policy."
In a report to his church wrapping up the trip, Warren said "in hindsight" he should have been better prepared, and watched words more closely as he visited the nation listed by Open Doors USA as the 47th in the world among nations that violate religious rights.
Todd Nettleton, a spokesman for Voice of the Martyrs, said Syria is considered a "restricted" nation because although there are some freedoms, there is virtually no freedom for a Muslim to convert to Christianity.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said in a report that Christians in some parts of Syria report that the government has "confiscated their property … without compensation and … Assyrian Christians also alleged that the Kurdish Democratic Party-dominated judiciary routinely discriminated against non-Muslims."
Saddleback Church, with 30,000 members, was begun by Warren and his wife in 1979 and now has more than 200 ministries in the Orange County area.
His popular book, which has sold millions of copies, focuses on worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry and evangelism. It tells readers life is "not about you" and shows how God can enable each one to live for His purposes.
Warren is scheduled to preach in North Korea next year.
Posted: November 28, 2006 1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
Megachurch pastor Rick Warren may have been unprepared for the Syrian media's propaganda using his name during his recent visit and he may have confused religious tolerance with religious freedom, but neither is an excuse for becoming "an enabler and defender of evil," according to experts on the Mideast and its persecution of non-Muslims.
"Rick Warren can do us all a favor and keep his remarks and opinions to himself. When you don't stand up against and condemn evil, let alone say misrepresented facts about an evil regime, you become an enabler and defender of evil, plain and simple," Brigitte Gabriel told WND.
Gabriel, a Lebanese-American who wrote "Because They Hate," and the founder of the The American Congress for Truth, was responding to Warren's recorded statement about Syria that: "It's a moderate country, and the official government rule and position is to not allow any extremism of any kind."
Warren, the pastor of Saddleback Church and the author of the best-selling "The Purpose-Driven Life," told WND when the comment first was reported that he had been misquoted, and further, he wasn't a diplomat and probably wasn't fully prepared for a situation in which he was used for propaganda.
But a video posted on YouTube showed Warren making the statement, and when WND linked to it, it suddenly disappeared.
Larry Ross, who acts as a spokesman for the church, told WND the video showing Warren making the statement was removed because Warren had heard there were "reports" about his Syrian visit, but not necessarily the reports from WND.
The Warren YouTube postings had been ongoing as kind of a travelogue to his congregation, Ross said. But when Warren arrived in Rwanda from Damascus and found out there were concerns about his activities in Syria, he suggested that no video from Syria be posted. "Let's not post one for Syria until we see where we're at," Warren had said, according to Ross.
But it already had been put up, so it was pulled down, only a few hours after it was put up, Ross said. "It was in the context of reports that they'd heard about, not specifically yours (WND's)," he said. "It was obviously with the understanding or the awareness that there were some reports about the trip to Syria."
But before it was removed, Bruce Delay, a talk-show host at KFAQ 1170 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, downloaded the audio portion of Warren's comments, and it can be heard here:
"What Rick Warren saw was 'religious toleration.' Not only is it a common mistake, it is the media norm to confuse the two," said Ergun Mehmet Caner, the president of the Liberty Theological Seminary at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.
"He was shown open churches, and worshiping people. He was not shown a single Muslim who converted to Christianity, he was shown people who are 'grandfathered in," Caner continued. "If he would have seen a Muslim convert, the scene would be different, and tragic. He would have seen one of my kinsmen … buried up to his waist in his burial cloth … and then stoned to death. Killed for the sole crime of finding faith in Jesus Christ.
"That is not religious freedom, and that is not tolerance. That is religious genocide," said Caner, who has authored 14 books on Christian apologetics and world religions, including "Unveiling Islam."
And the country is anything but neutral on the international issues involving differences between Muslim, Jew and Christian. The U.S. Congressional Research Service forwarded to the U.S. State Department earlier this year a massive report documenting that many believe it was Syria's decision to resupply Hezbollah with missiles and other materials that allowed Hezbollah to wage war with Israel over the summer.
That same report noted that Syria, which has not signed the Chemical Weapons Convention, has acquired an arsenal of chemical weapons and surface-to-surface missiles, as well as research centers for conducting work on biological weapons "and may be interested in a nuclear weapons capability."
Nerve agents such as sarin already are stockpiled and scientists may be working on the more deadly VX, said the report.
Syria also has been listed – since 1979 – on the list of nations considered by the U.S. to be sponsoring terrorism, and while its direct credit for individual terrorism acts has been limited in recent years, "Syria has continued to provide political and material support for Palestinian groups that have committed terrorist acts, and allows them to maintain offices in Damascus," the report said.
"Rick Warren's comments about Syria are an insult and a slap on the face to every Christian who ever lived under that regime or suffered from Syria's evil dictatorship not only in Syria but also the Christian Lebanese," said Gabriel.
"Rick Warren needs to speak to some of the Christians who fled Syria because of the oppression of the Syrian regime and are now here in America. They can tell him about the Syrian troops storming their Christian schools when they were children and burning (the schools) because they were Christians. They can tell him about fearing for their lives, controlling their tongues, living with humiliation and trying to get out of the country in any way possible."
She said it's actually the fortunate and well-to-do who are able to leave Syria; others must stay. "They do not have any weapons to protect themselves with, they are outnumbered by the oppressing Islamic majority and are under the mercy of radical tyrants who will not think twice about killing people for any reason at any time," she said.
Further, it was under Syrian control and protection that Muslims in Lebanon went on a killing spree against Christians, said Gabriel, who was 10 and living in Lebanon in 1975 when militant Muslims poured into her country and declared jihad against Lebanese Christians.
"To call Syria a moderate peaceful country where Christians and Jews live peacefully protected by the regime is nothing more than a statement of his ignorance, lack of intelligence and lack of grasp and understanding of the Middle East conflict. There are Christians in Syrian prisons now whose families do not know anything about them or if they are still alive or dead. My neighbor's son was kidnapped over 25 years ago and until today they do not know if he is dead or alive," she said.
Caner said it's a matter of definition.
"When a Muslim speaks of 'religious freedom,' what he actually means is 'religious toleration.' Not only are they NOT the same thing … the difference is dangerous," he said.
"Religious toleration only allows Christian expats to worship in a church, and even then it is greatly restricted. No churches are allowed to be built, or modified. Christians in the country must allow their children (daughters) to marry Muslims, but no Muslim woman may marry a Christian man."
"The most extreme difference is simple – Christians must allow their children to convert to Islam, but if a Muslim converts, the penalty is imprisonment, prosecution and even death," said Caner, a Turkish immigrant who was raised as a devout Sunni Muslim.
According to SANA, Warren, who met with various religious and political leaders in Syria including President Bashar al-Assad, had "hailed the religious coexistence, tolerance and stability that the Syrian society is enjoying due to the wise leadership of President al-Assad, asserting that he will convey the true image about Syria to the American people."
The reports also quoted Warren saying about four in five Americans reject the U.S. policies and actions in Iraq.
In his defense, Warren said he'd only made the trip to Syria at the request of his next-door neighbor. And he reported that Americans do not realize that both Christianity and Judaism are legal in Syria, and the Syrian government provides free electricity and water to all churches and allows Christians to create their own civil law instead of having to follow Muslim law.
Mark Tooley, of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, said Warren should consider what he's doing.
"It's not very difficult for most dictatorships who are very adroit at their own propaganda work to exploit someone who does not have experience in that area," he said.
An annual report on religious freedoms from the U.S. State Department, as WND reported earlier, agreed with a few of Warren's statements. The report said Syria's constitution allows Christians and Jews, and the government does provide utilities to churches.
But the report also said the government encourages negative and even violent expressions of Islamic religious sentiment, and monitors Christians and Jews through surveillance and other tactics.
"Security services were constantly alert for any possible political threat to the State, and all groups, religious and nonreligious, were subject to surveillance and monitoring by government security services," the report said.
The government also imposes Muslim law in cases of child custody and inheritance, and if the government believes missionaries pose a threat to the "relations among religious groups," they are subject to terms of up to life in prison.
The comments attributed to Warren also contradicted documentation by the International Counter Terrorism organization.
That group reported "frequent use of the 'terror weapon' has been made by Syria against Lebanon, Jordan and the Palestinians" in an attempt "to impose Syrian hegemony over them and bring them into line with Syrian policy."
In a report to his church wrapping up the trip, Warren said "in hindsight" he should have been better prepared, and watched words more closely as he visited the nation listed by Open Doors USA as the 47th in the world among nations that violate religious rights.
Todd Nettleton, a spokesman for Voice of the Martyrs, said Syria is considered a "restricted" nation because although there are some freedoms, there is virtually no freedom for a Muslim to convert to Christianity.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said in a report that Christians in some parts of Syria report that the government has "confiscated their property … without compensation and … Assyrian Christians also alleged that the Kurdish Democratic Party-dominated judiciary routinely discriminated against non-Muslims."
Saddleback Church, with 30,000 members, was begun by Warren and his wife in 1979 and now has more than 200 ministries in the Orange County area.
His popular book, which has sold millions of copies, focuses on worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry and evangelism. It tells readers life is "not about you" and shows how God can enable each one to live for His purposes.
Warren is scheduled to preach in North Korea next year.
Pope to meet angry Muslims, oppressed Christians
Pope to meet angry Muslims, oppressed Christians
1st visit to Islamic land after his controversial remarks in Germany
Posted: November 28, 20061:00 a.m. Eastern
By Mary Jo Anderson© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
As multiple "popemobiles" follow decoy routes through the streets of Istanbul, police boats zip across the Bosphorus and snipers pace along the roofs of ancient buildings, drama worthy of a Hollywood thriller precedes the arrival of Pope Benedict XVI in Turkey today for a visit in which he will be met by angry Muslims and the leader of oppressed Christians.
An estimated 30,000 Islamic protesters gathered to demonstrate Sunday against the head of the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics. The pro-Islamic political parties that organized the event say Benedict insulted Islam in his Sept.12 speech at Regensburg, Germany. "Go home" chanted student members of the Felicity political party that threatened to bus in 75,000 demonstrators for the pope's visit.
Benedict is traveling to Turkey at the invitation of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual leader of 250 million Orthodox Christians worldwide. The two will celebrate the feast day liturgy of Andrew the apostle, the brother of Peter. Tradition holds Andrew founded the Christian faith in Asia Minor, building a church in the city known as Byzantium – later Constantinople, now Istanbul.
The ecumenical patriarchate of Constantinople is the head of the communion of Eastern churches, including the Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox and Serbian Orthodox churches.
The Orthodox communion broke away from Roman Catholicism in 1054 – the Great Schism – over matters of papal primacy and points of doctrine. Pope John Paul II fostered a great affection and concern for "the other lung of the church," despite the divisions that remain between them. Both churches seek reunion.
'Do you doubt that we live in dhimmitude?'
The pope and the patriarch are sure to discuss the plight of the Orthodox in Turkey where issues of religious tolerance and freedom chafe against their daily lives. The Orthodox are not permitted to freely elect their leadership. Turkish law determines who is eligible to be elected ecumenical patriarch, confining potential candidates to Turkish citizens who reside in Turkey.
According to an Orthodox source, "The result of these restrictions is that in the not-so-distant future, the ecumenical patriarchate may not be able to elect a patriarch."
Currently the Orthodox in Turkey, including the highest level of the patriarchate itself, are prohibited from owning property. Recently the Turkish government confiscated an Orthodox seminary and an orphanage. Even the books for Orthodox schools come under Turkish scrutiny.
"Do you doubt that we live in dhimmitude?" scoffed an Orthodox physician.
Partly for this reason, Bartholomew I is anxious to promote Turkey's membership in the European Union. Such membership would force Turkey to observe the EU laws on religious freedom.
The patriarch plans to urge the pope to relax his views on Turkey's membership in the EU.
"It is not wrong for Turkey to become a member of the EU as a Muslim country because it would bring mutual richness," he said.
Much is at stake in the historic visit – the first visit of Pope Benedict XVI to an Islamic nation. Among Muslim nations, Turkey is considered the most moderate religiously, and its secular government ardently hopes to become the first Islamic member of the European Union.
However, in recent years radical political groups have gained power in this nation of 70 million where 98 percent of the population is Muslim.
Tuesday, the pontiff will arrive in Ankara, the nation's capital, to discuss political and religious concerns with the president, Necdet Sezer, and outspoken Islamic cleric, Ali Bardakoglu, head of Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate.
In September, Bardakoglu publicly denounced the pope and suggested the pontiff cancel his trip to Turkey. The source of Bardakoglu's ire was Benedict's speech to scholars at Regensburg in which the pope quoted from a 14th century text that denounced Muhammad's decree – that the Islamic faith could be forced with the sword – as "evil and inhumane."
Within hours of the address in Regensburg, priests in Islamic countries were murdered and churches were burned. Muslims "protesting" the speech – because it insulted their "peaceful" religion – shot an African nun in the back. Threats were made against the life of the pope.
Western commentators rushed to report the pope had apologized, but a careful reading of the official remarks show he expressed "regret" that "some were offended" by the text that had been cited.
Just days ago in Ankara, Bardakoglu declared, "I think the attitude the pope should take is that neither Islam nor Christianity is a source of violence."
That comment prompted one Vatican watcher to quip, "Then Ali Bardakoglu should instruct his imams to behave peacefully."
Bardakoglu oversees the work of 100,000 Islamic clerics along with their lectures and teachings.
In addition to the awkwardness between the pope and Turkish officials following Regensburg, there is the matter of Turkey's proposed EU membership.
As Cardinal Ratzinger, before his election to the papacy, he advised Europeans that an Islamic Turkey was incompatible with European culture and legal traditions.
When questioned about the compatibility of the EU and his country, Ali Bardakoglu responded: "The European Union as a Christian club would pave the way for other similar groupings that would seriously hurt the cause of world peace. For that reason, I think it important that the EU be based on common values rather than religion."
While the secular Western press speculates the pontiff will be "seeking to mend fences" after Regensburg, the reality is likely very different. The pope will participate in the usual public gestures and overtures, such as a photo op at Istanbul's famous Blue Mosque, but stop short of kissing the Quran as John Paul II did in 1999 as a gesture of respect. The cognocenti speculate Benedict has a new angle of view – less about accommodation of Muslim sensitivities and more about an engagement of the Islamic intellect on matters of truth.
'Offensive' lecture
James V. Schall, S.J., professor of government at Georgetown University, analyzed the "offensive" Regensburg lecture.
He noted, "The pope was given the occasion to speak in an academic lecture format the truth about something that concerns us all, including Muslims themselves. Before any action can take place, understanding must come first. This is where the really difficult work lies. The lack of a serious effort first to understand the validity of Islam's claims about itself has resulted in a political confusion about what to do about it. Unless one's theology is straight, one's politics probably will be skewered. The central issue is not about 'terrorism,' … but about whether Islam, or many of its followers, thinks that it is their right and duty to use terror to further their religious goals."
Others concur. After Regensburg, an opinion piece appeared in the Asia Times saying, "But of greater weight is the pope's observation that Allah is a god whose 'absolute transcendence' allows no constraint, to the point that Allah is free if he chooses to promote evil."
Christian theologians are careful to point out that the Christian God is constrained – constrained by love for man. This is precisely the dialogue some say Benedict fully intended to open in public. They point to his first papal encyclical, "God is Love."
"In a world where the name of God is sometimes associated with vengeance or even a duty of hatred and violence," he wrote, "this message (that God is love) is both timely and significant."
1st visit to Islamic land after his controversial remarks in Germany
Posted: November 28, 20061:00 a.m. Eastern
By Mary Jo Anderson© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
As multiple "popemobiles" follow decoy routes through the streets of Istanbul, police boats zip across the Bosphorus and snipers pace along the roofs of ancient buildings, drama worthy of a Hollywood thriller precedes the arrival of Pope Benedict XVI in Turkey today for a visit in which he will be met by angry Muslims and the leader of oppressed Christians.
An estimated 30,000 Islamic protesters gathered to demonstrate Sunday against the head of the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics. The pro-Islamic political parties that organized the event say Benedict insulted Islam in his Sept.12 speech at Regensburg, Germany. "Go home" chanted student members of the Felicity political party that threatened to bus in 75,000 demonstrators for the pope's visit.
Benedict is traveling to Turkey at the invitation of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual leader of 250 million Orthodox Christians worldwide. The two will celebrate the feast day liturgy of Andrew the apostle, the brother of Peter. Tradition holds Andrew founded the Christian faith in Asia Minor, building a church in the city known as Byzantium – later Constantinople, now Istanbul.
The ecumenical patriarchate of Constantinople is the head of the communion of Eastern churches, including the Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox and Serbian Orthodox churches.
The Orthodox communion broke away from Roman Catholicism in 1054 – the Great Schism – over matters of papal primacy and points of doctrine. Pope John Paul II fostered a great affection and concern for "the other lung of the church," despite the divisions that remain between them. Both churches seek reunion.
'Do you doubt that we live in dhimmitude?'
The pope and the patriarch are sure to discuss the plight of the Orthodox in Turkey where issues of religious tolerance and freedom chafe against their daily lives. The Orthodox are not permitted to freely elect their leadership. Turkish law determines who is eligible to be elected ecumenical patriarch, confining potential candidates to Turkish citizens who reside in Turkey.
According to an Orthodox source, "The result of these restrictions is that in the not-so-distant future, the ecumenical patriarchate may not be able to elect a patriarch."
Currently the Orthodox in Turkey, including the highest level of the patriarchate itself, are prohibited from owning property. Recently the Turkish government confiscated an Orthodox seminary and an orphanage. Even the books for Orthodox schools come under Turkish scrutiny.
"Do you doubt that we live in dhimmitude?" scoffed an Orthodox physician.
Partly for this reason, Bartholomew I is anxious to promote Turkey's membership in the European Union. Such membership would force Turkey to observe the EU laws on religious freedom.
The patriarch plans to urge the pope to relax his views on Turkey's membership in the EU.
"It is not wrong for Turkey to become a member of the EU as a Muslim country because it would bring mutual richness," he said.
Much is at stake in the historic visit – the first visit of Pope Benedict XVI to an Islamic nation. Among Muslim nations, Turkey is considered the most moderate religiously, and its secular government ardently hopes to become the first Islamic member of the European Union.
However, in recent years radical political groups have gained power in this nation of 70 million where 98 percent of the population is Muslim.
Tuesday, the pontiff will arrive in Ankara, the nation's capital, to discuss political and religious concerns with the president, Necdet Sezer, and outspoken Islamic cleric, Ali Bardakoglu, head of Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate.
In September, Bardakoglu publicly denounced the pope and suggested the pontiff cancel his trip to Turkey. The source of Bardakoglu's ire was Benedict's speech to scholars at Regensburg in which the pope quoted from a 14th century text that denounced Muhammad's decree – that the Islamic faith could be forced with the sword – as "evil and inhumane."
Within hours of the address in Regensburg, priests in Islamic countries were murdered and churches were burned. Muslims "protesting" the speech – because it insulted their "peaceful" religion – shot an African nun in the back. Threats were made against the life of the pope.
Western commentators rushed to report the pope had apologized, but a careful reading of the official remarks show he expressed "regret" that "some were offended" by the text that had been cited.
Just days ago in Ankara, Bardakoglu declared, "I think the attitude the pope should take is that neither Islam nor Christianity is a source of violence."
That comment prompted one Vatican watcher to quip, "Then Ali Bardakoglu should instruct his imams to behave peacefully."
Bardakoglu oversees the work of 100,000 Islamic clerics along with their lectures and teachings.
In addition to the awkwardness between the pope and Turkish officials following Regensburg, there is the matter of Turkey's proposed EU membership.
As Cardinal Ratzinger, before his election to the papacy, he advised Europeans that an Islamic Turkey was incompatible with European culture and legal traditions.
When questioned about the compatibility of the EU and his country, Ali Bardakoglu responded: "The European Union as a Christian club would pave the way for other similar groupings that would seriously hurt the cause of world peace. For that reason, I think it important that the EU be based on common values rather than religion."
While the secular Western press speculates the pontiff will be "seeking to mend fences" after Regensburg, the reality is likely very different. The pope will participate in the usual public gestures and overtures, such as a photo op at Istanbul's famous Blue Mosque, but stop short of kissing the Quran as John Paul II did in 1999 as a gesture of respect. The cognocenti speculate Benedict has a new angle of view – less about accommodation of Muslim sensitivities and more about an engagement of the Islamic intellect on matters of truth.
'Offensive' lecture
James V. Schall, S.J., professor of government at Georgetown University, analyzed the "offensive" Regensburg lecture.
He noted, "The pope was given the occasion to speak in an academic lecture format the truth about something that concerns us all, including Muslims themselves. Before any action can take place, understanding must come first. This is where the really difficult work lies. The lack of a serious effort first to understand the validity of Islam's claims about itself has resulted in a political confusion about what to do about it. Unless one's theology is straight, one's politics probably will be skewered. The central issue is not about 'terrorism,' … but about whether Islam, or many of its followers, thinks that it is their right and duty to use terror to further their religious goals."
Others concur. After Regensburg, an opinion piece appeared in the Asia Times saying, "But of greater weight is the pope's observation that Allah is a god whose 'absolute transcendence' allows no constraint, to the point that Allah is free if he chooses to promote evil."
Christian theologians are careful to point out that the Christian God is constrained – constrained by love for man. This is precisely the dialogue some say Benedict fully intended to open in public. They point to his first papal encyclical, "God is Love."
"In a world where the name of God is sometimes associated with vengeance or even a duty of hatred and violence," he wrote, "this message (that God is love) is both timely and significant."
Illegal aliens murder 12 Americans daily; Death toll in 2006 far overshadows total U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq, Afghanistan
Illegal aliens murder 12 Americans daily
Death toll in 2006 far overshadows total U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq, Afghanistan
Posted: November 28, 20061:00 a.m. Eastern
By Joseph Farah© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
WASHINGTON – While the military "quagmire" in Iraq was said to tip the scales of power in the U.S. midterm elections, most Americans have no idea more of their fellow citizens – men, women and children -- were murdered this year by illegal aliens than the combined death toll of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan since those military campaigns began.
Though no federal statistics are kept on murders or any other crimes committed by illegal aliens, a number of groups have produced estimates based on data collected from prisons, news reports and independent research.
Twelve Americans are murdered every day by illegal aliens, according to statistics released by Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y. If those numbers are correct, it translates to 4,380 Americans murdered annually by illegal aliens. That's 21,900 since Sept. 11, 2001.
Total U.S. troop deaths in Iraq as of last week were reported at 2,863. Total U.S. troop deaths in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan during the five years of the Afghan campaign are currently at 289, according to the Department of Defense.
But the carnage wrought by illegal alien murderers represents only a fraction of the pool of blood spilled by American citizens as a result of an open border and un-enforced immigration laws.
While King reports 12 Americans are murdered daily by illegal aliens, he says 13 are killed by drunk illegal alien drivers – for another annual death toll of 4,745. That's 23,725 since Sept. 11, 2001.
While no one – in or out of government – tracks traffic all U.S. accidents caused by illegal aliens, the statistical and anecdotal evidence suggests many of last year's 42,636 road deaths involved illegal aliens.
A report by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Study found 20 percent of fatal accidents involve at least one driver who lacks a valid license. In California, another study showed that those who have never held a valid license are about five times more likely to be involved in a fatal road accident than licensed drivers.
Statistically, that makes them an even greater danger on the road than drivers whose licenses have been suspended or revoked – and nearly as dangerous as drunk drivers.
King also reports eight American children are victims of sexual abuse by illegal aliens every day – a total of 2,920 annually.
Based on a one-year in-depth study, Deborah Schurman-Kauflin of the Violent Crimes Institute of Atlanta estimates there are about 240,000 illegal immigrant sex offenders in the United States who have had an average of four victims each. She analyzed 1,500 cases from January 1999 through April 2006 that included serial rapes, serial murders, sexual homicides and child molestation committed by illegal immigrants.
As the number of illegal aliens in the U.S. increases, so does the number of American victims.
According to Edwin Rubenstien, president of ESR Research Economic Consultants, in Indianapolis in 1980, federal and state correctional facilities held fewer than 9,000 criminal aliens. But at the end of 2003, approximately 267,000 illegal aliens were incarcerated in all U.S. jails and prisons.
While the federal government doesn't track illegal alien murders, illegal alien rapes or illegal alien drunk driving deaths, it has studied illegal aliens incarcerated in U.S. prisons.
In April 2005, the Government Accountability Office released a report on a study of 55,322 illegal aliens incarcerated in federal, state, and local facilities during 2003. It found the following:
The 55,322 illegal aliens studied represented a total of 459,614 arrests – some eight arrests per illegal alien;
Their arrests represented a total of about 700,000 criminal offenses – some 13 offenses per illegal alien;
36 percent had been arrested at least five times before.
"While the vast majority of illegal aliens are decent people who work hard and are only trying to make a better life for themselves and their families, (something you or I would probably do if we were in their place), it is also a fact that a disproportionately high percentage of illegal aliens are criminals and sexual predators," states Peter Wagner, author of a new report called "The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration." "That is part of the dark side of illegal immigration and when we allow the 'good' in we get the 'bad' along with them. The question is, how much 'bad' is acceptable and at what price?"
Death toll in 2006 far overshadows total U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq, Afghanistan
Posted: November 28, 20061:00 a.m. Eastern
By Joseph Farah© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
WASHINGTON – While the military "quagmire" in Iraq was said to tip the scales of power in the U.S. midterm elections, most Americans have no idea more of their fellow citizens – men, women and children -- were murdered this year by illegal aliens than the combined death toll of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan since those military campaigns began.
Though no federal statistics are kept on murders or any other crimes committed by illegal aliens, a number of groups have produced estimates based on data collected from prisons, news reports and independent research.
Twelve Americans are murdered every day by illegal aliens, according to statistics released by Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y. If those numbers are correct, it translates to 4,380 Americans murdered annually by illegal aliens. That's 21,900 since Sept. 11, 2001.
Total U.S. troop deaths in Iraq as of last week were reported at 2,863. Total U.S. troop deaths in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan during the five years of the Afghan campaign are currently at 289, according to the Department of Defense.
But the carnage wrought by illegal alien murderers represents only a fraction of the pool of blood spilled by American citizens as a result of an open border and un-enforced immigration laws.
While King reports 12 Americans are murdered daily by illegal aliens, he says 13 are killed by drunk illegal alien drivers – for another annual death toll of 4,745. That's 23,725 since Sept. 11, 2001.
While no one – in or out of government – tracks traffic all U.S. accidents caused by illegal aliens, the statistical and anecdotal evidence suggests many of last year's 42,636 road deaths involved illegal aliens.
A report by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Study found 20 percent of fatal accidents involve at least one driver who lacks a valid license. In California, another study showed that those who have never held a valid license are about five times more likely to be involved in a fatal road accident than licensed drivers.
Statistically, that makes them an even greater danger on the road than drivers whose licenses have been suspended or revoked – and nearly as dangerous as drunk drivers.
King also reports eight American children are victims of sexual abuse by illegal aliens every day – a total of 2,920 annually.
Based on a one-year in-depth study, Deborah Schurman-Kauflin of the Violent Crimes Institute of Atlanta estimates there are about 240,000 illegal immigrant sex offenders in the United States who have had an average of four victims each. She analyzed 1,500 cases from January 1999 through April 2006 that included serial rapes, serial murders, sexual homicides and child molestation committed by illegal immigrants.
As the number of illegal aliens in the U.S. increases, so does the number of American victims.
According to Edwin Rubenstien, president of ESR Research Economic Consultants, in Indianapolis in 1980, federal and state correctional facilities held fewer than 9,000 criminal aliens. But at the end of 2003, approximately 267,000 illegal aliens were incarcerated in all U.S. jails and prisons.
While the federal government doesn't track illegal alien murders, illegal alien rapes or illegal alien drunk driving deaths, it has studied illegal aliens incarcerated in U.S. prisons.
In April 2005, the Government Accountability Office released a report on a study of 55,322 illegal aliens incarcerated in federal, state, and local facilities during 2003. It found the following:
The 55,322 illegal aliens studied represented a total of 459,614 arrests – some eight arrests per illegal alien;
Their arrests represented a total of about 700,000 criminal offenses – some 13 offenses per illegal alien;
36 percent had been arrested at least five times before.
"While the vast majority of illegal aliens are decent people who work hard and are only trying to make a better life for themselves and their families, (something you or I would probably do if we were in their place), it is also a fact that a disproportionately high percentage of illegal aliens are criminals and sexual predators," states Peter Wagner, author of a new report called "The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration." "That is part of the dark side of illegal immigration and when we allow the 'good' in we get the 'bad' along with them. The question is, how much 'bad' is acceptable and at what price?"
N.J. Bill: Equal Rights, No Marriage for Gays
N.J. Bill: Equal Rights, No Marriage for Gays
By Geoff Mulvihill
Associated Press Writer
November 27, 2006
CBNNews.com - TRENTON, N.J. - Conservative groups in New Jersey are pushing a proposal that would grant the rights of marriage - but not the title - to gays, siblings and others involved in domestic partnerships.
The plan comes in reaction to a landmark Supreme Court ruling last month that said gay couples in New Jersey should have access to the same rights and benefits as married couples. Whether to call those rights marriages, civil unions or something else was left up to lawmakers.
Under the conservatives' plan, rights would be available to gay couples, relatives and other twosomes who are not eligible to marry, said Len Deo, president of the New Jersey Family Policy Council. Unrelated opposite-sex couples, who can legally marry, would not be eligible for the designation.
For instance, a brother and sister who live together would be able to register under what supporters call an "equal benefits" bill. That way, one sibling could be covered under the other's employer-sponsored health insurance, and the survivor would not be taxed on inheritance if the other died.
Making the law broad would avoid something distasteful to many conservatives - elevating the relationships of same-sex couples to the same legal status enjoyed by married couples.
"We're going to vigorously oppose civil unions if it raises up to marriage without the m-word," said John Tomicki, president of the New Jersey Coalition to Preserve and Protect Marriage, a group of clergy, scholars and conservative groups.
Steven Goldstein, executive director of the gay rights group Garden State Equality, said the measure was a long shot to pass and, if it did, would not satisfy the state Supreme Court's requirements.
The plan is one in a wide range of options lawmakers have to consider. Conservative groups also are backing a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as being between only a man and a woman.
Some lawmakers, backed by gay civil rights leaders, are pushing for full marriage rights - and the name - for gays. Gay rights activists say that it's important for them to be able to call their unions "marriage" because everyone understands what that term means, unlike "civil unions."
Key lawmakers in the Democratic majority in the Legislature say they favor letting gay couples register in civil unions that would offer all the benefits of marriage but not the title. Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts Jr. has said action may be taken by the end of the year.
State Sen. Gerald Cardinale, one of the most socially conservative members of the Legislature, said he would support an "equal benefits" law because it does not discriminate against people who are not gay.
Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
By Geoff Mulvihill
Associated Press Writer
November 27, 2006
CBNNews.com - TRENTON, N.J. - Conservative groups in New Jersey are pushing a proposal that would grant the rights of marriage - but not the title - to gays, siblings and others involved in domestic partnerships.
The plan comes in reaction to a landmark Supreme Court ruling last month that said gay couples in New Jersey should have access to the same rights and benefits as married couples. Whether to call those rights marriages, civil unions or something else was left up to lawmakers.
Under the conservatives' plan, rights would be available to gay couples, relatives and other twosomes who are not eligible to marry, said Len Deo, president of the New Jersey Family Policy Council. Unrelated opposite-sex couples, who can legally marry, would not be eligible for the designation.
For instance, a brother and sister who live together would be able to register under what supporters call an "equal benefits" bill. That way, one sibling could be covered under the other's employer-sponsored health insurance, and the survivor would not be taxed on inheritance if the other died.
Making the law broad would avoid something distasteful to many conservatives - elevating the relationships of same-sex couples to the same legal status enjoyed by married couples.
"We're going to vigorously oppose civil unions if it raises up to marriage without the m-word," said John Tomicki, president of the New Jersey Coalition to Preserve and Protect Marriage, a group of clergy, scholars and conservative groups.
Steven Goldstein, executive director of the gay rights group Garden State Equality, said the measure was a long shot to pass and, if it did, would not satisfy the state Supreme Court's requirements.
The plan is one in a wide range of options lawmakers have to consider. Conservative groups also are backing a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as being between only a man and a woman.
Some lawmakers, backed by gay civil rights leaders, are pushing for full marriage rights - and the name - for gays. Gay rights activists say that it's important for them to be able to call their unions "marriage" because everyone understands what that term means, unlike "civil unions."
Key lawmakers in the Democratic majority in the Legislature say they favor letting gay couples register in civil unions that would offer all the benefits of marriage but not the title. Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts Jr. has said action may be taken by the end of the year.
State Sen. Gerald Cardinale, one of the most socially conservative members of the Legislature, said he would support an "equal benefits" law because it does not discriminate against people who are not gay.
Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Iraqi President Seeks Iranian Help
Iraqi President Seeks Iranian Help
By Ali Akbar Dareini
Associated Press Writer
November 27, 2006
CBNNews.com - TEHRAN, Iran - Iraqi President Jalal Talabani sought Monday to enlist Iran's help in quelling the spiraling violence that threatens to tear his country apart.
He arrived in Tehran with a delegation of Iraqi officials and headed to Iran's Presidential Palace to meet with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose government has been trying to organize a summit joining Iran, Iraq and Syria in a bid to assert the Islamic Republic's role as a regional power broker. Iranian officials have said an invitation was extended to Syrian President Bashar Assad, but Syria has not responded, apparently to avoid embarrassing Iran with a direct rejection.
Talabani had planned to come to Tehran on Saturday but had to postpone his trip until Baghdad's airport, which was closed in a security clampdown, reopened Monday.
The Iraqi leader also is scheduled to meet Iran's former president, Hashemi Rafsanjani, later Monday and Iran's top leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Tuesday.
The United States has refused to negotiate with Iran and Syria to seek their support to bring stability to Iraq, accusing both Tehran and Damascus of aiding Iraqi insurgents, but President Bush has come under increasing pressure at home to engage them.
Iran is believed to back Iraqi Shiite militias blamed in sectarian killings that have killed thousands this year. Iran has repeatedly denied the allegations.
The New York Times reported Monday that a draft report by the study panel led by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III recommends increased regional diplomacy, including holding talks with Iran and Syria.
Ahmadinejad has said Iran is willing to help Washington with Iraq if the U.S. drops its "bullying" policy toward Tehran. Iran also has made clear that it wants to exert its influence in Iraq on Tehran's terms, not Washington's.
" occupiers need countries to help them get out of the quagmire," IRNA quoted Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki as saying.
Iran is Syria's only close ally and a refusal of its summit invitation would be an unusual snub, but Damascus may be looking further down the road to potential talks with Washington.
It is the fourth visit by Talabani, who speaks fluent Farsi, since he took office. He is a member of Iraq's Kurdish minority, but he had close ties with Iranian officials before Saddam Hussein was driven out by the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
By Ali Akbar Dareini
Associated Press Writer
November 27, 2006
CBNNews.com - TEHRAN, Iran - Iraqi President Jalal Talabani sought Monday to enlist Iran's help in quelling the spiraling violence that threatens to tear his country apart.
He arrived in Tehran with a delegation of Iraqi officials and headed to Iran's Presidential Palace to meet with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose government has been trying to organize a summit joining Iran, Iraq and Syria in a bid to assert the Islamic Republic's role as a regional power broker. Iranian officials have said an invitation was extended to Syrian President Bashar Assad, but Syria has not responded, apparently to avoid embarrassing Iran with a direct rejection.
Talabani had planned to come to Tehran on Saturday but had to postpone his trip until Baghdad's airport, which was closed in a security clampdown, reopened Monday.
The Iraqi leader also is scheduled to meet Iran's former president, Hashemi Rafsanjani, later Monday and Iran's top leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Tuesday.
The United States has refused to negotiate with Iran and Syria to seek their support to bring stability to Iraq, accusing both Tehran and Damascus of aiding Iraqi insurgents, but President Bush has come under increasing pressure at home to engage them.
Iran is believed to back Iraqi Shiite militias blamed in sectarian killings that have killed thousands this year. Iran has repeatedly denied the allegations.
The New York Times reported Monday that a draft report by the study panel led by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III recommends increased regional diplomacy, including holding talks with Iran and Syria.
Ahmadinejad has said Iran is willing to help Washington with Iraq if the U.S. drops its "bullying" policy toward Tehran. Iran also has made clear that it wants to exert its influence in Iraq on Tehran's terms, not Washington's.
" occupiers need countries to help them get out of the quagmire," IRNA quoted Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki as saying.
Iran is Syria's only close ally and a refusal of its summit invitation would be an unusual snub, but Damascus may be looking further down the road to potential talks with Washington.
It is the fourth visit by Talabani, who speaks fluent Farsi, since he took office. He is a member of Iraq's Kurdish minority, but he had close ties with Iranian officials before Saddam Hussein was driven out by the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Imams Stage Airport 'Pray-In'
Imams Stage Airport 'Pray-In'
By Leslie Miller
Associated Press Writer
November 27, 2006
CBNNews.com - WASHINGTON - Imams, ministers and a rabbi staged a "pray-in" demonstration Monday at Reagan Washington National Airport and demanded an apology from US Airways for barring six Muslims from a Minneapolis to Phoenix flight last week.
The religious leaders called for an end to racial profiling, saying it was unacceptable in America.
"These things are troubling to us," said Mahdi Bray, executive director of the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation. "Driving while black, flying while Muslim, traveling with a Torah or getting with Jesus."
Imam Omar Shahin, one of the six imams detained last Monday at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, said they hadn't done anything suspicious.
The imams, who were returning from a religious conference, had prayed on their prayer rugs in the airport before the flight. After they boarded the flight, a passenger, who was alarmed by their activity, passed a note to a flight attendant. The men were taken off the airplane, handcuffed and questioned.
"It was the worst moment in my life," Shahin said.
US Airways Group Inc. spokeswoman Andrea Rader said prayer was never the issue.
"Apparently, as they were boarding, one passenger overheard them saying what they thought were anti-U.S. statements," Rader said.
She also said the men got up and moved around the airplane, forcing the flight crew to consult with the airline about whether they might pose a security risk. Local law enforcement and the FBI thought they did, she said.
"We're sorry the imams had a difficult time, but we do think the crews have to make these calls and we think they made the right one," she said. US Airways plans to meet with the imams this week, Rader said.
On Monday, Shahin and a handful of other Muslims bowed down on rugs and prayed in Terminal A near the US Airways ticket counter. Jewish and Christian clergy also said prayers.
After the prayer session, Shahin and other religious leaders boarded a US Airways flight to demonstrate their determination to continue praying and flying.
Hilary Shelton, director of the NAACP national office, called on Congress to pass legislation that would end racial profiling. The bill is necessary because airlines are unclear how to deal with racial and ethnic profiling, he said.
In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, four airlines accused of breaking federal anti-discrimination laws settled with the government. Transportation Department investigations found the airlines had unlawfully removed passengers because of their perceived ethnic or religious backgrounds.
Though the air carriers - American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Continental Airlines - admitted no wrongdoing, they agreed to carry out civil rights training for their employees.
The Transportation Department hasn't received any complaints about the incident, said spokesman Brian Turmail.
"Should someone file a complaint, then we would investigate," Turmail said.
The Homeland Security Department's Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties said last week that it was investigating the US Airways incident.
Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
British Airways Backs Down on Cross Ban! Great News!
British Airways Backs Down on Cross Ban
CBN News
November 27, 2006
CBNNews.com - British airways has backed down over its ban on workers wearing crosses.
The London Daily Mail reports that the airline's chief is now re-thinking its rules, to allow symbols of faith to be worn openly.
"Though our policy is consistent with that of many other airlines, it has become clear that the policy will need to change in the light of the public debate," said Willie Walsh, the airline's chief executive.
The airline has been heavily criticized by many religious groups, including the Church of England, which threatened to sell over six million of its British Airways shares.
The Archbishop of York and more than 100 members of Parliament have also protested against the airline's stand.
The controversy flared when a worker was suspended from her job after wearing a cross necklace over her clothes.
British Airways permits Muslims and Sikhs to wear head scarves and turbans.Sources: CBN News, Associated Press
CBN News
November 27, 2006
CBNNews.com - British airways has backed down over its ban on workers wearing crosses.
The London Daily Mail reports that the airline's chief is now re-thinking its rules, to allow symbols of faith to be worn openly.
"Though our policy is consistent with that of many other airlines, it has become clear that the policy will need to change in the light of the public debate," said Willie Walsh, the airline's chief executive.
The airline has been heavily criticized by many religious groups, including the Church of England, which threatened to sell over six million of its British Airways shares.
The Archbishop of York and more than 100 members of Parliament have also protested against the airline's stand.
The controversy flared when a worker was suspended from her job after wearing a cross necklace over her clothes.
British Airways permits Muslims and Sikhs to wear head scarves and turbans.Sources: CBN News, Associated Press
Drug Town Miracle has World-Wide Effect
Drug Town Miracle has World-Wide Effect
By Wendy Griffith
CBN News
CBNNews.com - MANCHESTER, Kentucky - Last fall, we brought you the amazing story of a Kentucky drug town that was transformed by the power of God. Little did anybody know the huge impact this story would have on cities and towns all over the world.
It was the march seen around the world. In May, 2004, nearly 4,000 people came out to march against drugs in the small town of Manchester, Kentucky.
The pastors repented before God and their communities for allowing the darkness to settle in. The drug dealers were put on notice: "get saved or get busted."
They'd had enough. Over the next 12 months, they saw dramatic changes in their town -- drug arrests went way up, drug dealers and users started coming to church and getting free from their addictions, and the story of Manchester was seen around the world on the 700 Club.
Pastor Doug Abner of Community Church said, "About two hours after the story of Manchester aired the first time live, we started getting telephone calls."
Pastor Abner keeps track of all the states that have contacted him - 33 so far - and hundreds of towns.
"Not only did we hear from people in the U.S., but we got e-mails from New Zealand, France, Wales, England, and British Columbia.just mind-boggling," said Abner.
Nearly every request was the same: "Help us do in our town what you did in Manchester."
Pastor Mike England of Tri-State Christian Center in Blue Ridge, Georgia, said, "We were blown away, because we knew we had a serious, serious methamphetamine problem. We have other drugs too, but meth is just overwhelming. We had no idea how to battle it - or deal with it. We saw that video and we got hope that somebody might have an answer about how to attack it!"
Pastor England showed the 700 Club story to his church.
"I didn't even preach because the floor of the church was just littered with people weeping and weeping after seeing that video, and I wasn't going to touch that because that's a holy thing." After that - my wife decided we needed to come here and see for ourselves," England explained.
And that's just what they did. After a surprise visit to Manchester, Pastor England and his wife just showed up on Pastor Abner's doorstep.
Then the Englands headed back to Georgia, where they helped organize the first-ever march against meth. In August, some 3,000 residents of Fannin County, Georgia took to the streets.
The local news covered the event.
In Longview, Texas - a similar story of desperation. Shannon Smallwood's family was almost ready to give up, after struggling for years with a family member hooked on crack cocaine.
Smallwood said, "I just flipped on the TV and the 700 Club was on, and I saw this community marching, concerning drug abuse in their city. And what God did in that city was just amazing and miraculous, and pretty much I said, 'God, would You do that in our city?'
Shannon's prayer was answered. In May, hundreds of residents in Longview, Texas donned red-T-shirts in what they called "The Big March."
Their theme: "The Battle is the Lord's - taken from 2nd Chronicles, Chapter 20.
Participant Roger Carr said, "Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the battle is not yours, but God's - tomorrow, march down against them."
And in Oceana, West Virginia, sometimes referred to as "Oxy-ana" because of the drug problem associated with the pain killer Oxycontin, two marches were held after hearing about what God did in Manchester.
"We had over 550 people march and it was awesome," said Debbie Davis. "The Word tells me that God is no respecter of persons -- if He can do that in Manchester, Kentucky, than He can do that in Oceana, West Virginia."
Nobody could have imagined that so many towns, so many lives, would be inspired - even changed by a single story. And, that a town -- once hopeless when it came to its drug problem --could give hope to so many who need it.
"What I saw on TV that day gave me hope," Texas march organizer Smallwood said.
Amanda Tornberg, a former drug user, said, "I believed that I would never be anything more than the hopeless junkie that I had been for so long, but God spoke to me and He said, 'You know what, when you were still in your sins, Christ died for you.'"
"You cannot underestimate the value of hope in the community," said England. "Churches are letting down the walls and seriously starting to work together…The government agencies and the churches are working together for the first time ever -- that's never happened."
Not only that, but England says that since the march, they are receiving 10 times the number of calls to the county's drug-tip hotline. A good indicator, he says, of things to come.
And in Manchester, two 1/2 years after the march -- the area once known as the pain killer capitol of the nation is now seeing a dramatic dip in the number of pain killers prescribed by doctors -- and there's more.
Pastor Abner said, "We've been told by drug dealers who've now been set free by Jesus, that if they were still dealing drugs they wouldn't even stop in our town and buy gas because the climate has changed so much."
And Abner says that he's grateful for how God used the 700 Club to share their story.
"The 700 Club totally changed our lives," Abner said, "in that, every day, we get to do things in the Kingdom because people saw that. And every time it's been re-run, we get telephone calls. We've got a couple of dvd's now; we always send the story of Manchester out. And we follow that up with calls and we pray for them and the communities on Sat. morning. I really believe what's going to happen is that eventually the fire is going to move across our nation, and we're going to have a tremendous revival in America again."
England said, "When we saw that video, we saw a community where the church was actually making an impact. And after visiting here, I am convinced now - this is reproducible in any community in America. And this may be the key for the church really impacting America nation-wide."
The Christian Broadcasting Network, Inc. © 2006
By Wendy Griffith
CBN News
CBNNews.com - MANCHESTER, Kentucky - Last fall, we brought you the amazing story of a Kentucky drug town that was transformed by the power of God. Little did anybody know the huge impact this story would have on cities and towns all over the world.
It was the march seen around the world. In May, 2004, nearly 4,000 people came out to march against drugs in the small town of Manchester, Kentucky.
The pastors repented before God and their communities for allowing the darkness to settle in. The drug dealers were put on notice: "get saved or get busted."
They'd had enough. Over the next 12 months, they saw dramatic changes in their town -- drug arrests went way up, drug dealers and users started coming to church and getting free from their addictions, and the story of Manchester was seen around the world on the 700 Club.
Pastor Doug Abner of Community Church said, "About two hours after the story of Manchester aired the first time live, we started getting telephone calls."
Pastor Abner keeps track of all the states that have contacted him - 33 so far - and hundreds of towns.
"Not only did we hear from people in the U.S., but we got e-mails from New Zealand, France, Wales, England, and British Columbia.just mind-boggling," said Abner.
Nearly every request was the same: "Help us do in our town what you did in Manchester."
Pastor Mike England of Tri-State Christian Center in Blue Ridge, Georgia, said, "We were blown away, because we knew we had a serious, serious methamphetamine problem. We have other drugs too, but meth is just overwhelming. We had no idea how to battle it - or deal with it. We saw that video and we got hope that somebody might have an answer about how to attack it!"
Pastor England showed the 700 Club story to his church.
"I didn't even preach because the floor of the church was just littered with people weeping and weeping after seeing that video, and I wasn't going to touch that because that's a holy thing." After that - my wife decided we needed to come here and see for ourselves," England explained.
And that's just what they did. After a surprise visit to Manchester, Pastor England and his wife just showed up on Pastor Abner's doorstep.
Then the Englands headed back to Georgia, where they helped organize the first-ever march against meth. In August, some 3,000 residents of Fannin County, Georgia took to the streets.
The local news covered the event.
In Longview, Texas - a similar story of desperation. Shannon Smallwood's family was almost ready to give up, after struggling for years with a family member hooked on crack cocaine.
Smallwood said, "I just flipped on the TV and the 700 Club was on, and I saw this community marching, concerning drug abuse in their city. And what God did in that city was just amazing and miraculous, and pretty much I said, 'God, would You do that in our city?'
Shannon's prayer was answered. In May, hundreds of residents in Longview, Texas donned red-T-shirts in what they called "The Big March."
Their theme: "The Battle is the Lord's - taken from 2nd Chronicles, Chapter 20.
Participant Roger Carr said, "Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the battle is not yours, but God's - tomorrow, march down against them."
And in Oceana, West Virginia, sometimes referred to as "Oxy-ana" because of the drug problem associated with the pain killer Oxycontin, two marches were held after hearing about what God did in Manchester.
"We had over 550 people march and it was awesome," said Debbie Davis. "The Word tells me that God is no respecter of persons -- if He can do that in Manchester, Kentucky, than He can do that in Oceana, West Virginia."
Nobody could have imagined that so many towns, so many lives, would be inspired - even changed by a single story. And, that a town -- once hopeless when it came to its drug problem --could give hope to so many who need it.
"What I saw on TV that day gave me hope," Texas march organizer Smallwood said.
Amanda Tornberg, a former drug user, said, "I believed that I would never be anything more than the hopeless junkie that I had been for so long, but God spoke to me and He said, 'You know what, when you were still in your sins, Christ died for you.'"
"You cannot underestimate the value of hope in the community," said England. "Churches are letting down the walls and seriously starting to work together…The government agencies and the churches are working together for the first time ever -- that's never happened."
Not only that, but England says that since the march, they are receiving 10 times the number of calls to the county's drug-tip hotline. A good indicator, he says, of things to come.
And in Manchester, two 1/2 years after the march -- the area once known as the pain killer capitol of the nation is now seeing a dramatic dip in the number of pain killers prescribed by doctors -- and there's more.
Pastor Abner said, "We've been told by drug dealers who've now been set free by Jesus, that if they were still dealing drugs they wouldn't even stop in our town and buy gas because the climate has changed so much."
And Abner says that he's grateful for how God used the 700 Club to share their story.
"The 700 Club totally changed our lives," Abner said, "in that, every day, we get to do things in the Kingdom because people saw that. And every time it's been re-run, we get telephone calls. We've got a couple of dvd's now; we always send the story of Manchester out. And we follow that up with calls and we pray for them and the communities on Sat. morning. I really believe what's going to happen is that eventually the fire is going to move across our nation, and we're going to have a tremendous revival in America again."
England said, "When we saw that video, we saw a community where the church was actually making an impact. And after visiting here, I am convinced now - this is reproducible in any community in America. And this may be the key for the church really impacting America nation-wide."
The Christian Broadcasting Network, Inc. © 2006
Family Advocate Wants Children's Book on Same-Sex-Parent Penguins Put on Ice
Family Advocate Wants Children's Book on Same-Sex-Parent Penguins Put on Ice
By Jim Brown and Jenni Parker
November 27, 2006
(AgapePress) - An Illinois pro-family group is protesting an elementary school's decision not to restrict students' access to a picture book in the school library, a story about two male penguins who "adopt" a baby penguin as their own.
Shiloh Elementary School in metro East St. Louis, Illinois, is embroiled in a controversy over the book titled And Tango Makes Three (Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, 2005). The picture book is, according to School Library Journal, "based on a true story" and tells of two male penguins living in a zoo who share a nest and "want to become parents."
In the story, a sympathetic zookeeper decides the two male birds "must be in love" and gives them a fertilized egg to care for, which the two "fathers" nurture until it hatches into a female chick. It was when one Shiloh parent was reading the book to her five-year-old daughter and encountered the reference to the two male penguins being "in love" that the debate over the book's inclusion in the elementary school's library began.
That mother and other East St. Louis parents see And Tango Makes Three as an unwelcome effort to introduce school children to the idea of homosexual parenting. They have called for the book to be moved to a section of the library reserved for materials addressing mature issues. Also, the parents are asking that children to be required to obtain parental permission before checking out the controversial book.
However, school superintendent Jennifer Filyaw maintains that limiting children's access to And Tango Makes Three would amount to censorship. As a result, the school official has opted not to accommodate the parents' requests, and the book remains available to young children without restrictions.
But David Smith, executive director of the Illinois Family Institute (IFI), claims the children's book is not being censored, as it is readily available at Barnes & Noble and Borders bookstores as well as on Amazon.com. He feels Shiloh Elementary School should not be introducing young children to what he calls "new social experiments" when their parents clearly object to this.
Smith is convinced there is a clear agenda behind And Tango Makes Three. "It's acclimating young children to the idea that family could be anything that you want it to be," he contends.
The cutely illustrated kids' story suggests that parents "could be two moms, could be two dads, could be three moms and three dads, and not just a mother and a father," the IFI spokesman says. Children of 4 to 8 years of age should not be exposed to such ideas, he insists.
"The school has a responsibility to the taxpayers to teach the children the basics of education," Smith asserts. "Teaching them new social experiments or trying to acclimate them to new social experiments is just not in [the schools'] purview," he says.
© 2006 AgapePress all rights reserved.
By Jim Brown and Jenni Parker
November 27, 2006
(AgapePress) - An Illinois pro-family group is protesting an elementary school's decision not to restrict students' access to a picture book in the school library, a story about two male penguins who "adopt" a baby penguin as their own.
Shiloh Elementary School in metro East St. Louis, Illinois, is embroiled in a controversy over the book titled And Tango Makes Three (Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, 2005). The picture book is, according to School Library Journal, "based on a true story" and tells of two male penguins living in a zoo who share a nest and "want to become parents."
In the story, a sympathetic zookeeper decides the two male birds "must be in love" and gives them a fertilized egg to care for, which the two "fathers" nurture until it hatches into a female chick. It was when one Shiloh parent was reading the book to her five-year-old daughter and encountered the reference to the two male penguins being "in love" that the debate over the book's inclusion in the elementary school's library began.
That mother and other East St. Louis parents see And Tango Makes Three as an unwelcome effort to introduce school children to the idea of homosexual parenting. They have called for the book to be moved to a section of the library reserved for materials addressing mature issues. Also, the parents are asking that children to be required to obtain parental permission before checking out the controversial book.
However, school superintendent Jennifer Filyaw maintains that limiting children's access to And Tango Makes Three would amount to censorship. As a result, the school official has opted not to accommodate the parents' requests, and the book remains available to young children without restrictions.
But David Smith, executive director of the Illinois Family Institute (IFI), claims the children's book is not being censored, as it is readily available at Barnes & Noble and Borders bookstores as well as on Amazon.com. He feels Shiloh Elementary School should not be introducing young children to what he calls "new social experiments" when their parents clearly object to this.
Smith is convinced there is a clear agenda behind And Tango Makes Three. "It's acclimating young children to the idea that family could be anything that you want it to be," he contends.
The cutely illustrated kids' story suggests that parents "could be two moms, could be two dads, could be three moms and three dads, and not just a mother and a father," the IFI spokesman says. Children of 4 to 8 years of age should not be exposed to such ideas, he insists.
"The school has a responsibility to the taxpayers to teach the children the basics of education," Smith asserts. "Teaching them new social experiments or trying to acclimate them to new social experiments is just not in [the schools'] purview," he says.
© 2006 AgapePress all rights reserved.
Pro-Life Groups File Briefs in Frozen Embryo Wrongful Death Case
Pro-Life Groups File Briefs in Frozen Embryo Wrongful Death Case
By Jim Brown and Jenni Parker
November 27, 2006
(AgapePress) - Several pro-life organizations based in Illinois and other U.S. states are backing a lawsuit brought by two Illinois parents over a Chicago in vitro clinic's killing of their frozen human embryos.
Last year, Cook County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Lawrence refused to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Alison Miller and Todd Parrish against the Center for Human Reproduction, which mistakenly destroyed the couple's embryos nearly seven years ago. Miller and Parish stored nine embryos at the Center in January 2000, and were told that one of these looked promising; however, six months later the couple learned that their embryos had been discarded.
The couple's wrongful death claims had been rejected by previous courts, but Lawrence's ruling reversed those decisions. The fertility clinic then appealed the judge's decision to allow the lawsuit to proceed.
On November 17, a coalition of nine Illinois and national pro-life organizations filed friend-of-the-court briefs in the case in support of the parents. Comprising the coalition are Illinois Citizens for Life, Concerned Women for America, the Illinois Right to Life Committee, Life Advocacy Resource Project, Illinois Federation for Right to Life, Concerned Christian Americans, the Illinois Family Institute, Lutherans for Life, Inc., and the Catholic Conference Center of Illinois. The case is now pending before the Illinois appellate court.
Paul Linton is special counsel for the Thomas More Society of Chicago, which is representing the pro-life coalition. He says the trial judge was correct in concluding that the embryos were human beings under the state's wrongful death statute and should be protected by the law in the event of their destruction.
"Of course," Linton points out, "we want to maintain the standard that human life begins at conception -- understood as fertilization -- and not at a later stage of development, for example, where there is implantation."
The Center for Human Reproduction and the American Civil Liberties Union claim the wrongful death statute does not apply in this case, and that there is, therefore, no cause of action. However, the trial judge declared in his ruling that "there is no doubt in the mind of the Illinois legislature when life begins. It begins at conception."
The location of this suit is significant, Linton notes. "There are a handful of states – maybe seven or eight states -- that do not have any type of gestational requirements for wrongful death suits involving unborn children," he explains. "Illinois, however, is the only state where, in their wrongful death statute, they not only eliminate any gestational requirements, but also any developmental requirements," the attorney observes.
Thomas Brejcha, president and chief counsel for the Thomas More Society, told LifeNews.com in a statement that this wrongful death case is "the modern equivalent to Dred Scott in a petri dish." His remark refers to the 1857 U.S. Supreme Court decision that declared black slaves and slave descendents to be non-citizens who, as such, had no rights or protection under the law.
The crucial question in the present-day case, Brejcha contends, is whether the pre-implanted embryo is to be considered a human being or personal property. He says the Thomas More Society is in "full agreement" with Judge Lawrence that human life begins at conception and should be protected, and that the plaintiffs have the same right to seek compensation as any other parents whose child has been killed.
© 2006 AgapePress all rights reserved.
By Jim Brown and Jenni Parker
November 27, 2006
(AgapePress) - Several pro-life organizations based in Illinois and other U.S. states are backing a lawsuit brought by two Illinois parents over a Chicago in vitro clinic's killing of their frozen human embryos.
Last year, Cook County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Lawrence refused to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Alison Miller and Todd Parrish against the Center for Human Reproduction, which mistakenly destroyed the couple's embryos nearly seven years ago. Miller and Parish stored nine embryos at the Center in January 2000, and were told that one of these looked promising; however, six months later the couple learned that their embryos had been discarded.
The couple's wrongful death claims had been rejected by previous courts, but Lawrence's ruling reversed those decisions. The fertility clinic then appealed the judge's decision to allow the lawsuit to proceed.
On November 17, a coalition of nine Illinois and national pro-life organizations filed friend-of-the-court briefs in the case in support of the parents. Comprising the coalition are Illinois Citizens for Life, Concerned Women for America, the Illinois Right to Life Committee, Life Advocacy Resource Project, Illinois Federation for Right to Life, Concerned Christian Americans, the Illinois Family Institute, Lutherans for Life, Inc., and the Catholic Conference Center of Illinois. The case is now pending before the Illinois appellate court.
Paul Linton is special counsel for the Thomas More Society of Chicago, which is representing the pro-life coalition. He says the trial judge was correct in concluding that the embryos were human beings under the state's wrongful death statute and should be protected by the law in the event of their destruction.
"Of course," Linton points out, "we want to maintain the standard that human life begins at conception -- understood as fertilization -- and not at a later stage of development, for example, where there is implantation."
The Center for Human Reproduction and the American Civil Liberties Union claim the wrongful death statute does not apply in this case, and that there is, therefore, no cause of action. However, the trial judge declared in his ruling that "there is no doubt in the mind of the Illinois legislature when life begins. It begins at conception."
The location of this suit is significant, Linton notes. "There are a handful of states – maybe seven or eight states -- that do not have any type of gestational requirements for wrongful death suits involving unborn children," he explains. "Illinois, however, is the only state where, in their wrongful death statute, they not only eliminate any gestational requirements, but also any developmental requirements," the attorney observes.
Thomas Brejcha, president and chief counsel for the Thomas More Society, told LifeNews.com in a statement that this wrongful death case is "the modern equivalent to Dred Scott in a petri dish." His remark refers to the 1857 U.S. Supreme Court decision that declared black slaves and slave descendents to be non-citizens who, as such, had no rights or protection under the law.
The crucial question in the present-day case, Brejcha contends, is whether the pre-implanted embryo is to be considered a human being or personal property. He says the Thomas More Society is in "full agreement" with Judge Lawrence that human life begins at conception and should be protected, and that the plaintiffs have the same right to seek compensation as any other parents whose child has been killed.
© 2006 AgapePress all rights reserved.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Iran says will help U.S. if it quits Iraq
Iran says will help U.S. if it quits Iraq
Sun Nov 26, 2006 9:45am ET
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday Iran was ready to help the United States and Britain in Iraq but only if they pledged to change their attitude and withdraw their troops.
The remark comes amid growing calls for Washington to engage Iraq's neighbors, Iran and Syria, to help prevent Iraq plunging into civil war.
A senior U.S. official said this month Washington was "in principle" ready to discuss Iraq with Iran but said the timing of such talks was unclear. Ahmadinejad has previously said he would talk but only if Washington changed its behavior.
"The Iranian nation is ready to help you get out of that swamp (in Iraq) on one condition ... you should pledge to correct your attitude," Ahmadinejad said in a televised speech to a parade of the Basij religious militia.
"Go back and take your forces to behind your borders and serve your own nations," he added.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani should make a delayed visit to Tehran on Monday to discuss Iraq after a curfew in place since a mass car bombing on Thursday was due to be lifted.
Ahmadinejad regularly condemns the U.S. occupation of Iraq and complains about U.S. bases in the region. Washington accuses Iran of seeking to foment unrest, while Iran blames the violence on the presence of U.S. troops.
The Iranian president also criticizes what he says is a hostile U.S. and British attitude to Iran, particularly over its disputed nuclear programme.
Western countries, including the United States and Britain, accuse Iran of seeking to develop atomic bombs, a charge Iran denies. It says its aim is to generate electricity.
Ahmadinejad urged countries in the region to work together to expel foreign forces from their soil.
"Let us put our hands together and expel enemies who are against humanity from our countries and our sacred lands," he said.
Iran has in the past called for a security pact between Iran and other regional states, but Gulf Arab countries, dominated by Sunni Muslims, have long been suspicious of Shi'ite Muslim Iran's intentions in the region.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
Muslim barber who taught kids jihad flees U.S.
Muslim barber who taught kids jihad flees U.S.
Judge allowed him to keep passport when released prior to sentencing
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
A Muslim who allegedly used his Seattle barber shop to teach children "how to shoot and fight the Americans" has fled to Somalia to avoid prison after he was convicted on federal counterfeiting and weapons charges.
Ruben Shumpert, a black American who converted to Islam, was among more than a dozen arrested by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force two years ago on charges including immigration fraud and bank fraud, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported.
Shumpert was able to leave the country because a judge allowed him to keep his passport when he was released from custody prior to sentencing. A condition of Shumpert's release was that he surrender the passport prior to his sentencing, which was scheduled for Tuesday.
While he was not convicted on terrorism-related charges, federal agents allege Shumpert's barber shop was a gathering place for radical Muslims where he showed children videotapes of "fighting, shooting and killing with images on his computer screen of al-Qaida and the Taliban," the PI reported.
In court documents, the agents called his shop a kind of "anti-American training ground for Muslims."
Federal authorities have issued a warrant for the arrest of Shumpert, also known as Amir Abdul Muhaimin.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Redkey said Shumpert had been free on personal recognizance and faced sentencing under a plea agreement.
According to Redkey, Shumpert made a phone call from Somalia to an FBI agent on the Joint Terrorism Task Force from Somalia. The convict apparently has little fear of being tracked down as the African nation, considered a hotbed of radical Islam, has no extradition treaty with the U.S.
Redkey told the Seattle paper it has become more common in recent years for judges to allow defendants to turn in their passports after they are released from custody, but the U.S. Attorney's Office is reviewing the practice.
Judge allowed him to keep passport when released prior to sentencing
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
A Muslim who allegedly used his Seattle barber shop to teach children "how to shoot and fight the Americans" has fled to Somalia to avoid prison after he was convicted on federal counterfeiting and weapons charges.
Ruben Shumpert, a black American who converted to Islam, was among more than a dozen arrested by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force two years ago on charges including immigration fraud and bank fraud, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported.
Shumpert was able to leave the country because a judge allowed him to keep his passport when he was released from custody prior to sentencing. A condition of Shumpert's release was that he surrender the passport prior to his sentencing, which was scheduled for Tuesday.
While he was not convicted on terrorism-related charges, federal agents allege Shumpert's barber shop was a gathering place for radical Muslims where he showed children videotapes of "fighting, shooting and killing with images on his computer screen of al-Qaida and the Taliban," the PI reported.
In court documents, the agents called his shop a kind of "anti-American training ground for Muslims."
Federal authorities have issued a warrant for the arrest of Shumpert, also known as Amir Abdul Muhaimin.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Redkey said Shumpert had been free on personal recognizance and faced sentencing under a plea agreement.
According to Redkey, Shumpert made a phone call from Somalia to an FBI agent on the Joint Terrorism Task Force from Somalia. The convict apparently has little fear of being tracked down as the African nation, considered a hotbed of radical Islam, has no extradition treaty with the U.S.
Redkey told the Seattle paper it has become more common in recent years for judges to allow defendants to turn in their passports after they are released from custody, but the U.S. Attorney's Office is reviewing the practice.
Vandalized church gives gifts to suspect
Vandalized church gives gifts to suspect
© 2006 The Associated Press
MISSOULA, Mont. — Congregants of a church that was badly vandalized have collected "love baskets" full of electronics for the three suspects.
"The judge will give them consequences, but as a congregation we want to reach out and extend love and mercy to them," said Jason Reimer, a pastor at the South Hills Evangelical Church. "A lot of us, whether we're churchgoers or not, have been in their shoes before and have made some bad choices. But God forgives us."
Justin Wurth, 18, Duane Barry, 19, and Tyler Pearce, also 19, are accused of breaking into the church just before midnight Nov. 12. Police say they stole money and electronic equipment, smashed windows and computer monitors and sprayed a fire extinguisher in the church gym.
Authorities arrested them at the church and charged them with felony burglary. It was not immediately clear whether they had lawyers.
"We've collected several hundred dollars' worth of gift cards, X-Boxes and controllers, a DVD, a VCR," Reimer said. "All three young men still live with their parents or grandparents, so we hope the message will be clear."
© 2006 The Associated Press
MISSOULA, Mont. — Congregants of a church that was badly vandalized have collected "love baskets" full of electronics for the three suspects.
"The judge will give them consequences, but as a congregation we want to reach out and extend love and mercy to them," said Jason Reimer, a pastor at the South Hills Evangelical Church. "A lot of us, whether we're churchgoers or not, have been in their shoes before and have made some bad choices. But God forgives us."
Justin Wurth, 18, Duane Barry, 19, and Tyler Pearce, also 19, are accused of breaking into the church just before midnight Nov. 12. Police say they stole money and electronic equipment, smashed windows and computer monitors and sprayed a fire extinguisher in the church gym.
Authorities arrested them at the church and charged them with felony burglary. It was not immediately clear whether they had lawyers.
"We've collected several hundred dollars' worth of gift cards, X-Boxes and controllers, a DVD, a VCR," Reimer said. "All three young men still live with their parents or grandparents, so we hope the message will be clear."
Chavez vows to beat the "devil"
By Brian Ellsworth
CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela's leftist President Hugo Chavez on Sunday promised hundreds of thousands of supporters he would win a resounding victory in his December 3 reelection bid he describes as a challenge to Washington.
The former soldier and self-styled revolutionary is favored in the polls to beat rival Manuel Rosales after building a solid political base through a social development campaign financed by oil revenues.
Chavez supporters flooded Caracas thoroughfares waving flags and banners, congregating in different parts of the downtown a day after Rosales sympathizers held a similar march to close his campaign in the capital city.
"We are confronting the devil, and we will hit a home run off the devil next Sunday," said Chavez, who ruffled feathers in October by calling President Bush the devil in remarks at the United Nations.
"On December 3 we're going to defeat the most powerful empire on earth by knockout," Chavez said.
Donning red like most of his supporters, Chavez delivered a two-hour speech marked by his signature combination of fiery leftist rhetoric and crowd antics typical of pop music concerts.
He spent nearly ten minutes trying to see which of four groups of demonstrators could cheer louder -- then told them all to be quiet.
"Whoever talks first will turn into a donkey," he thundered, only to break into his unmistakable giggle.
Following his speech, Chavez drove through the packed Avenida Bolivar standing atop a campaign vehicle, dancing to political jingles and occasionally reaching into the crowd to shake hands with supporters.
POLARIZED SOCIETY
The weekend, with massive government and opposition rallies choking the capital's streets, reflected the country's political polarization.
In the opposition stronghold of Altamira, Chavez supporters on their way to the march leaned out of windows waving posters of their "Comandante," and screamed "Viva Chavez."
Residents in expensive sports-utility vehicles honked their horns in protest and shouted the opposition slogan "Dare."
But a street cleaner and parking attendant held up their hands and spread their fingers, a symbol of Chavez's goal of sweeping 10 million of Venezuela's 16 million voters.
The demonstrations themselves were also markedly different, with Chavez's joking spontaneity contrasting with Rosales' emotional but stern and unsmiling appearance in the opposition's Saturday march.
Rosales in August united a fractured opposition movement that failed to oust Chavez through a botched coup and a grueling two-month oil strike in 2002 and a failed recall referendum in 2004.
Most polls give Chavez a wide lead, with one AP-Ipsos poll showing Chavez sweeping 59 percent of likely voters compared to only 27 percent for Rosales, who points to opposition-linked polls that show the race much tighter.
First elected in 1998, Chavez, a close ally of Cuba's Fidel Castro, has galvanized the nation's poor with promises of a revolution. But he has sparked outcries among middle class critics who call him an authoritarian.
The State Department describes him as a menace to regional democracy, though Venezuela remains the fourth-largest exporter of oil to the United States.
(Additional reporting by Saul Hudson)
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela's leftist President Hugo Chavez on Sunday promised hundreds of thousands of supporters he would win a resounding victory in his December 3 reelection bid he describes as a challenge to Washington.
The former soldier and self-styled revolutionary is favored in the polls to beat rival Manuel Rosales after building a solid political base through a social development campaign financed by oil revenues.
Chavez supporters flooded Caracas thoroughfares waving flags and banners, congregating in different parts of the downtown a day after Rosales sympathizers held a similar march to close his campaign in the capital city.
"We are confronting the devil, and we will hit a home run off the devil next Sunday," said Chavez, who ruffled feathers in October by calling President Bush the devil in remarks at the United Nations.
"On December 3 we're going to defeat the most powerful empire on earth by knockout," Chavez said.
Donning red like most of his supporters, Chavez delivered a two-hour speech marked by his signature combination of fiery leftist rhetoric and crowd antics typical of pop music concerts.
He spent nearly ten minutes trying to see which of four groups of demonstrators could cheer louder -- then told them all to be quiet.
"Whoever talks first will turn into a donkey," he thundered, only to break into his unmistakable giggle.
Following his speech, Chavez drove through the packed Avenida Bolivar standing atop a campaign vehicle, dancing to political jingles and occasionally reaching into the crowd to shake hands with supporters.
POLARIZED SOCIETY
The weekend, with massive government and opposition rallies choking the capital's streets, reflected the country's political polarization.
In the opposition stronghold of Altamira, Chavez supporters on their way to the march leaned out of windows waving posters of their "Comandante," and screamed "Viva Chavez."
Residents in expensive sports-utility vehicles honked their horns in protest and shouted the opposition slogan "Dare."
But a street cleaner and parking attendant held up their hands and spread their fingers, a symbol of Chavez's goal of sweeping 10 million of Venezuela's 16 million voters.
The demonstrations themselves were also markedly different, with Chavez's joking spontaneity contrasting with Rosales' emotional but stern and unsmiling appearance in the opposition's Saturday march.
Rosales in August united a fractured opposition movement that failed to oust Chavez through a botched coup and a grueling two-month oil strike in 2002 and a failed recall referendum in 2004.
Most polls give Chavez a wide lead, with one AP-Ipsos poll showing Chavez sweeping 59 percent of likely voters compared to only 27 percent for Rosales, who points to opposition-linked polls that show the race much tighter.
First elected in 1998, Chavez, a close ally of Cuba's Fidel Castro, has galvanized the nation's poor with promises of a revolution. But he has sparked outcries among middle class critics who call him an authoritarian.
The State Department describes him as a menace to regional democracy, though Venezuela remains the fourth-largest exporter of oil to the United States.
(Additional reporting by Saul Hudson)
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
Christian Organisations Call on Blair to Tackle Worldwide Persecution
Christian Organisations Call on Blair to Tackle Worldwide Persecution
A host of leading Christian and religious organisations have signed a joint letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair to tackle issues of persecution on a global scale.
by Daniel Blake
A host of leading Christian and religious organisations have signed a joint letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair to tackle issues of persecution on a global scale.
The joint letter to Blair marks the 25th Anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion and Belief on 25th November 2006.
In it the Christians call for a cross-departmental strategy for tackling religious persecution worldwide.
The letter, signed by 24 UK-based religious leaders and faith-based organisations from different traditions, highlights “the violations of religious freedom that are taking place worldwide and outlines fifteen recommendations to the government on ways to assist in countering violations of religious freedom”, explained Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), a human rights group that has backed the letter.
The recommendations include:
1) To appoint an envoy for religious freedom to investigate cases of religious persecution and prepare briefings for relevant government departments and parliamentary committees.
2) To require British Embassies and High Commissions to prepare an annual report on the state of local equality and tolerance, including freedom of religion and belief.
3) To train Foreign Office and Home Office Case Officers (and others where appropriate, such as in the Research Directorate), to ensure promotion of the right to freedom of religion and belief, accurate reporting of religious persecution, and the provision of relief and asylum for victims of religious persecution.
4) To support peace and reconciliation initiatives designed to counter religious hatred and promote understanding.
CSW’s Advocacy Director, Tina Lambert, said: “Twenty five years after the adoption of this UN declaration, the international promotion of the elimination of religious intolerance and discrimination still lags far behind mechanisms adopted in other areas of human rights, such as the elimination of racial discrimination.
“It is time the international community recognises the need to commit to ensuring the implementation of this declaration.
“In the worldwide Church, some estimate that upwards of 250 million people are suffering as a result of their faith, with Christians being harassed, attacked, imprisoned, tortured and even killed for their choice of faith. UN instruments clearly indicate that it is a basic human right to adopt and practice a religion or belief.”
Lambert concluded: “On the anniversary of this UN declaration, we hope that those who still suffer so much for exercising this right will be remembered. Through this letter to the UK government, we a calling for a more proactive stance in promoting religious freedom worldwide.”
A host of leading Christian and religious organisations have signed a joint letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair to tackle issues of persecution on a global scale.
by Daniel Blake
A host of leading Christian and religious organisations have signed a joint letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair to tackle issues of persecution on a global scale.
The joint letter to Blair marks the 25th Anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion and Belief on 25th November 2006.
In it the Christians call for a cross-departmental strategy for tackling religious persecution worldwide.
The letter, signed by 24 UK-based religious leaders and faith-based organisations from different traditions, highlights “the violations of religious freedom that are taking place worldwide and outlines fifteen recommendations to the government on ways to assist in countering violations of religious freedom”, explained Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), a human rights group that has backed the letter.
The recommendations include:
1) To appoint an envoy for religious freedom to investigate cases of religious persecution and prepare briefings for relevant government departments and parliamentary committees.
2) To require British Embassies and High Commissions to prepare an annual report on the state of local equality and tolerance, including freedom of religion and belief.
3) To train Foreign Office and Home Office Case Officers (and others where appropriate, such as in the Research Directorate), to ensure promotion of the right to freedom of religion and belief, accurate reporting of religious persecution, and the provision of relief and asylum for victims of religious persecution.
4) To support peace and reconciliation initiatives designed to counter religious hatred and promote understanding.
CSW’s Advocacy Director, Tina Lambert, said: “Twenty five years after the adoption of this UN declaration, the international promotion of the elimination of religious intolerance and discrimination still lags far behind mechanisms adopted in other areas of human rights, such as the elimination of racial discrimination.
“It is time the international community recognises the need to commit to ensuring the implementation of this declaration.
“In the worldwide Church, some estimate that upwards of 250 million people are suffering as a result of their faith, with Christians being harassed, attacked, imprisoned, tortured and even killed for their choice of faith. UN instruments clearly indicate that it is a basic human right to adopt and practice a religion or belief.”
Lambert concluded: “On the anniversary of this UN declaration, we hope that those who still suffer so much for exercising this right will be remembered. Through this letter to the UK government, we a calling for a more proactive stance in promoting religious freedom worldwide.”
Ecumenical Christian Delegation Concludes Historic Visit to China
Ecumenical Christian Delegation Concludes Historic Visit to China
by Jennifer Gold
Posted: Saturday, November 25, 2006, 7:28 (GMT)
The World Council of Churches’ General Secretary, Rev Dr Samuel Kobia, has concluded his tour of China on 22 November 2006.
World Council of Churches (WCC) General Secretary, Rev Samuel Kobia, has led an ecumenical delegation on a China tour, which ended 22 November 2006.(WCC)
Leading an ecumenical delegation, Kobia publicly affirmed that, “it is in the best interests of the government to actually expand the space for the practice of religion”.
The WCC general secretary said he had been impressed by the way in which Christian communities are growing in the country, and by the enabling and safe environment in which Christians practice their faith.
He encouraged the government to ensure wider participation and involvement of religious people in efforts to bring about the Chinese vision of a “harmonious society”.
“It would be detrimental to the government if it is not seen to be providing freedom of religion,” he said.
“If China wants to be the kind of global player that it is clearly becoming, then there are norms and standards" in terms of religious freedom "which will be expected of its government, and I think they are aware of this,” he said.
On 22 November, Kobia and members of an ecumenical delegation visited the Dong Zhou Children's Village in San Yuan County, Shaanxi Province.
They spent time with 29 children under the age of 14 whose parents are in prison, or were executed or unable to meet their basic needs. “Although the parents of these children paid for their own crimes, their children are innocent,” an official told the delegation.
The Village, which is supported by the Amity Foundation, the Shaanxi Christian Council and the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), aims to provide a healthy environment and protect the children from becoming child labourers, garbage collectors, street children or from falling into illegal activities.
The official praised the role played by Christians in supporting the Village in order to help “these children who should have lived a life like those growing up happily with their families”.
“Love, education and hope are the three words that characterise what I have seen here,” Kobia told the staff and supporters of the Village.
“This project was born out of an active, practical love. And when the children feel loved and have been given education and training here, then they have hope for the future. There is no better gift that this community can give to these children than hope,” Kobia said.
The delegation was moved by the response of a 9-year-old girl who expressed gratitude on behalf of the children.
On the previous day, Kobia visited the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and addressed a group of scholars.
Dr Zhuo Xinping, and other scholars affiliated with the Academy, who focus their research on a wide variety of specialisations within Christianity, engaged in dialogue with Kobia and members of the delegation.
The WCC general secretary presented an overview of the changing landscape of Christianity today.
The ecumenical delegation accompanying the WCC general secretary on his visit 15 to 22 November to China was composed of Rev Dr Tyrone Pitts (WCC central committee member, general secretary of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, USA); Rev Dr Seong-Won Park (WCC central committee member, from the Presbyterian Church of Korea, South Korea); Rev Fr Gabriel Papanicolaou (ecumenical officer of the Church of Greece), Dr Mathews George Chunakara, (WCC Asia secretary) and, as consultants, Dr Monika Gaenssbauer (director of the China Study Project of the Protestant churches and mission agencies in Germany) and Rev Deborah DeWinter (WCC programme executive for the United States).
by Jennifer Gold
Posted: Saturday, November 25, 2006, 7:28 (GMT)
The World Council of Churches’ General Secretary, Rev Dr Samuel Kobia, has concluded his tour of China on 22 November 2006.
World Council of Churches (WCC) General Secretary, Rev Samuel Kobia, has led an ecumenical delegation on a China tour, which ended 22 November 2006.(WCC)
Leading an ecumenical delegation, Kobia publicly affirmed that, “it is in the best interests of the government to actually expand the space for the practice of religion”.
The WCC general secretary said he had been impressed by the way in which Christian communities are growing in the country, and by the enabling and safe environment in which Christians practice their faith.
He encouraged the government to ensure wider participation and involvement of religious people in efforts to bring about the Chinese vision of a “harmonious society”.
“It would be detrimental to the government if it is not seen to be providing freedom of religion,” he said.
“If China wants to be the kind of global player that it is clearly becoming, then there are norms and standards" in terms of religious freedom "which will be expected of its government, and I think they are aware of this,” he said.
On 22 November, Kobia and members of an ecumenical delegation visited the Dong Zhou Children's Village in San Yuan County, Shaanxi Province.
They spent time with 29 children under the age of 14 whose parents are in prison, or were executed or unable to meet their basic needs. “Although the parents of these children paid for their own crimes, their children are innocent,” an official told the delegation.
The Village, which is supported by the Amity Foundation, the Shaanxi Christian Council and the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), aims to provide a healthy environment and protect the children from becoming child labourers, garbage collectors, street children or from falling into illegal activities.
The official praised the role played by Christians in supporting the Village in order to help “these children who should have lived a life like those growing up happily with their families”.
“Love, education and hope are the three words that characterise what I have seen here,” Kobia told the staff and supporters of the Village.
“This project was born out of an active, practical love. And when the children feel loved and have been given education and training here, then they have hope for the future. There is no better gift that this community can give to these children than hope,” Kobia said.
The delegation was moved by the response of a 9-year-old girl who expressed gratitude on behalf of the children.
On the previous day, Kobia visited the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and addressed a group of scholars.
Dr Zhuo Xinping, and other scholars affiliated with the Academy, who focus their research on a wide variety of specialisations within Christianity, engaged in dialogue with Kobia and members of the delegation.
The WCC general secretary presented an overview of the changing landscape of Christianity today.
The ecumenical delegation accompanying the WCC general secretary on his visit 15 to 22 November to China was composed of Rev Dr Tyrone Pitts (WCC central committee member, general secretary of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, USA); Rev Dr Seong-Won Park (WCC central committee member, from the Presbyterian Church of Korea, South Korea); Rev Fr Gabriel Papanicolaou (ecumenical officer of the Church of Greece), Dr Mathews George Chunakara, (WCC Asia secretary) and, as consultants, Dr Monika Gaenssbauer (director of the China Study Project of the Protestant churches and mission agencies in Germany) and Rev Deborah DeWinter (WCC programme executive for the United States).
PETA Mistakenly Targets Alaska Church Over Nativity Scene
PETA Mistakenly Targets Alaska Church Over Nativity Scene
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The pastor at Anchorage First Free Methodist Church was mystified.
Why was the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals chastising his church?
No animals are harmed in the making of the church's holiday nativity display. In fact, animals aren't used at all.
People, however, do dress the parts — Mary, Joseph, wise men, etc. The volunteers stand shivering at a manger on the church lawn, a silent tribute to Christmas.
The Rev. Jason Armstrong was confused by an e-mail earlier this week from PETA. It admonished him for subjecting animals "to cruel treatment and danger," by forcing them into roles in the church's annual manger scene.
"We've never had live animals, so I just figured this was some spam thing," Armstrong said. "It's rough enough on us people standing out there in the cold. So we're definitely not using animals."
Jackie Vergerio, PETA's captive animals in entertainment specialist, said her organization tracks churches nationwide that use real animals in "living nativity scenes."
Seems the confusion started with the church's choice of phrase. PETA flagged Free Methodist's display as a "living nativity," and indeed, that's how the church describes it on its Web site.
To PETA, that means animals.
"Those animals are subject to all sorts of terrible fates in some cases," Vergerio said. "Animals have been stolen and slaughtered, they've been raped, they've escaped from the nativity scenes and have been struck by cars and killed. Just really unfathomable things have happened to them."
In the letter to Armstrong, Vergerio shared some sad fates of previous nativity animals — like Brighty the donkey, snatched from a nativity scene in Virginia and beaten by three young men. Ernie the camel fled a creche in Maryland but was struck and killed by a car. Two sheep and a donkey had to be euthanized after a dog mauling at a manger scene in Virginia.
Free Methodist's display is totally peaceful, Armstrong said. The congregation erects the stable. They spread some straw and don costumes. Some may dress as manger animals.
"We have some puppet camel things we put out," Armstrong said. "We have a cow hood thing that a person will wear that actually just looks spooky."
The volunteers stand beneath a brightly lit electric star, as Christmas music fills the frosty air. They don't even speak. Consider it a meditative tribute to the holiday season.
"A lot of folks will think we're plastic statues till one of us moves," Armstrong said.
The scene usually unfolds for a few nights during the week before Christmas. Sometimes people stroll by, or troll past in vehicles to observe.
"No one's come by protesting or thrown bloodstained fur at us or anything," Armstrong said. "We even use a plastic baby."
© Associated Press. All rights reserved.
© 2006 FOX News Network.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The pastor at Anchorage First Free Methodist Church was mystified.
Why was the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals chastising his church?
No animals are harmed in the making of the church's holiday nativity display. In fact, animals aren't used at all.
People, however, do dress the parts — Mary, Joseph, wise men, etc. The volunteers stand shivering at a manger on the church lawn, a silent tribute to Christmas.
The Rev. Jason Armstrong was confused by an e-mail earlier this week from PETA. It admonished him for subjecting animals "to cruel treatment and danger," by forcing them into roles in the church's annual manger scene.
"We've never had live animals, so I just figured this was some spam thing," Armstrong said. "It's rough enough on us people standing out there in the cold. So we're definitely not using animals."
Jackie Vergerio, PETA's captive animals in entertainment specialist, said her organization tracks churches nationwide that use real animals in "living nativity scenes."
Seems the confusion started with the church's choice of phrase. PETA flagged Free Methodist's display as a "living nativity," and indeed, that's how the church describes it on its Web site.
To PETA, that means animals.
"Those animals are subject to all sorts of terrible fates in some cases," Vergerio said. "Animals have been stolen and slaughtered, they've been raped, they've escaped from the nativity scenes and have been struck by cars and killed. Just really unfathomable things have happened to them."
In the letter to Armstrong, Vergerio shared some sad fates of previous nativity animals — like Brighty the donkey, snatched from a nativity scene in Virginia and beaten by three young men. Ernie the camel fled a creche in Maryland but was struck and killed by a car. Two sheep and a donkey had to be euthanized after a dog mauling at a manger scene in Virginia.
Free Methodist's display is totally peaceful, Armstrong said. The congregation erects the stable. They spread some straw and don costumes. Some may dress as manger animals.
"We have some puppet camel things we put out," Armstrong said. "We have a cow hood thing that a person will wear that actually just looks spooky."
The volunteers stand beneath a brightly lit electric star, as Christmas music fills the frosty air. They don't even speak. Consider it a meditative tribute to the holiday season.
"A lot of folks will think we're plastic statues till one of us moves," Armstrong said.
The scene usually unfolds for a few nights during the week before Christmas. Sometimes people stroll by, or troll past in vehicles to observe.
"No one's come by protesting or thrown bloodstained fur at us or anything," Armstrong said. "We even use a plastic baby."
© Associated Press. All rights reserved.
© 2006 FOX News Network.
Nablus: Explosive teddy bears found in lab
Nablus: Explosive teddy bears found in lab
Joint paratrooper, Shin Bet force uncovers explosives lab in West Bank city, finds toys with wires hanging from them, apparently slated to be used as deadly explosives
Efrat Weiss Published: 11.25.06, 14:51
A joint paratrooper and Shin Bet force uncovered an explosive lab in Nablus Friday night. In the lab, the forces found teddy bears with wires hanging from them, apparently slated to be used as explosive devices.
The lab was detonated in a controlled manner, and there were no reports of injuries.
The forces also found in the explosives lab three belts made from cloth, ready to contain explosives, a hollow coat used for hiding explosives, and 20 light bulbs and light sockets used for activating explosives.
Test tubes, a hollow gas tank, hollow pipes, batteries, 40 liters of hydrogen peroxide and ohms were also found in the lab.
Since the beginning of the year, Israel Defense Forces soldiers operating in Nablus hit 41 gunmen who were planning, according to the defense establishment, to hit IDF troops or Israeli citizens.
Some 320 wanted terror suspects were arrested in the West Bank city and its surroundings since the beginning of the year, most of them affiliated with Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Fatah and Hamas.
At the beginning of the year, another explosives lab was uncovered in the city's casba. The forces located the lab in an abandoned building after receiving intelligence.
Captain Assaf Cabra, a company commander at the Haruv battalion, addressed the operation at the time: "We launched a regimental operation in Nablus, which included searches, seizing weapons and arrests. We uncovered the explosive lab in the casba, which contained between 40 to 50 kilograms (88 to 110 pounds) of explosives for preparing explosive devices."
The defense establishment reported that the terror organizations were working with greater vigor to carry out terror attacks from the city, and in the past months many explosive belts were captured in the area and gunmen were arrested on their way to carry out attacks in Israel .
Copyright © Yedioth Internet. All rights reserved.
Joint paratrooper, Shin Bet force uncovers explosives lab in West Bank city, finds toys with wires hanging from them, apparently slated to be used as deadly explosives
Efrat Weiss Published: 11.25.06, 14:51
A joint paratrooper and Shin Bet force uncovered an explosive lab in Nablus Friday night. In the lab, the forces found teddy bears with wires hanging from them, apparently slated to be used as explosive devices.
The lab was detonated in a controlled manner, and there were no reports of injuries.
The forces also found in the explosives lab three belts made from cloth, ready to contain explosives, a hollow coat used for hiding explosives, and 20 light bulbs and light sockets used for activating explosives.
Test tubes, a hollow gas tank, hollow pipes, batteries, 40 liters of hydrogen peroxide and ohms were also found in the lab.
Since the beginning of the year, Israel Defense Forces soldiers operating in Nablus hit 41 gunmen who were planning, according to the defense establishment, to hit IDF troops or Israeli citizens.
Some 320 wanted terror suspects were arrested in the West Bank city and its surroundings since the beginning of the year, most of them affiliated with Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Fatah and Hamas.
At the beginning of the year, another explosives lab was uncovered in the city's casba. The forces located the lab in an abandoned building after receiving intelligence.
Captain Assaf Cabra, a company commander at the Haruv battalion, addressed the operation at the time: "We launched a regimental operation in Nablus, which included searches, seizing weapons and arrests. We uncovered the explosive lab in the casba, which contained between 40 to 50 kilograms (88 to 110 pounds) of explosives for preparing explosive devices."
The defense establishment reported that the terror organizations were working with greater vigor to carry out terror attacks from the city, and in the past months many explosive belts were captured in the area and gunmen were arrested on their way to carry out attacks in Israel .
Copyright © Yedioth Internet. All rights reserved.
'Gutless' publisher nixes bookover fears of Islamic sensitivity
'Gutless' publisher nixes bookover fears of Islamic sensitivity
Thriller dumped after booksellers, librarians refused to stock novel with Muslim bad guy
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
Award-winning author John Dale's latest novel is a gripping, page-turner of a thriller by all accounts, but it won't be in stores soon because his publisher has dumped the novel after booksellers and librarians said they wouldn't carry it because the "baddie" was a Muslim terrorist.
Dale, an Australian writer, was commissioned in March 2004 by Scholastic Australia, a leading children's publisher to write a "tough, snappy thriller," that would cause their young readers to "break out in sweats and their eyes to bulge without giving them actual nightmares."
The result was "Army of the Pure," a book Dale described to the Australian as a contemporary action adventure written to appeal to his own son, "a book he could not put down."
The novel tells the story of four children pursued by Afghan terrorists after they discover a plot to blow up a nuclear reactor in a Sydney suburb.
Scholastic was pleased with the book, calling it a "gripping page-turner" and Dale's writing "almost flawless."
But that was before the marketing department had its say.
The company surveyed "a broad range of booksellers and library suppliers" about carrying the new book and were met with concerns over its featuring of a Muslim terrorist.
"They all said they would not stock it," said Andrew Berkhut, Scholastic's general manager, "and the reality is if the gatekeepers won't support it, it can't be published."
The "gatekeepers," however, had no problem with terrorists in two recent Australian bestsellers. Richard Flanagan's "The Unknown Terrorist" and Andrew McGahan's "Underground" portray terrorists as victims who were driven to violence by the West.
McGahan's "Underground" has Muslims executed en masse or herded into ghettos as the war on terror twists Australia into an unrecognizable society.
Flanagan, who describes Jesus Christ as "history's first ... suicide bomber," dedicated his book to David Hicks, an Australian currently detained at Guantanamo after being captured fighting with the Taliban.
In a 2004 documentary, Hicks' father read excerpts of his son's letters, written before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, in which he said that he was training in Pakistan and Afghanistan to ensure "the Western-Jewish domination is finished, so we live under Muslim law again," and warns his father to ignore "the Jews' propaganda war machine."
Dale's not happy with any of the gatekeepers, his publisher included.
"There are no guns, no bad language, no sex, no drugs, no violence that is seen or on the page," Dale told the Australian, "but because two characters are Arabic-speaking and the plot involves a mujahideen extremist group, Scholastic's decision is based "100 percent (on) the Muslim issue."
Scholastic's decision was "disturbing because it's the book's content they are censoring," he said.
"A gutless" publishing decision, added Lyn Tranter, Dale's agent. "I am appalled that this is censorship by salesmen."
In addition to being an author, Dale is director of the Center for New Writing at the University of Technology in New South Wales.
Thriller dumped after booksellers, librarians refused to stock novel with Muslim bad guy
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
Award-winning author John Dale's latest novel is a gripping, page-turner of a thriller by all accounts, but it won't be in stores soon because his publisher has dumped the novel after booksellers and librarians said they wouldn't carry it because the "baddie" was a Muslim terrorist.
Dale, an Australian writer, was commissioned in March 2004 by Scholastic Australia, a leading children's publisher to write a "tough, snappy thriller," that would cause their young readers to "break out in sweats and their eyes to bulge without giving them actual nightmares."
The result was "Army of the Pure," a book Dale described to the Australian as a contemporary action adventure written to appeal to his own son, "a book he could not put down."
The novel tells the story of four children pursued by Afghan terrorists after they discover a plot to blow up a nuclear reactor in a Sydney suburb.
Scholastic was pleased with the book, calling it a "gripping page-turner" and Dale's writing "almost flawless."
But that was before the marketing department had its say.
The company surveyed "a broad range of booksellers and library suppliers" about carrying the new book and were met with concerns over its featuring of a Muslim terrorist.
"They all said they would not stock it," said Andrew Berkhut, Scholastic's general manager, "and the reality is if the gatekeepers won't support it, it can't be published."
The "gatekeepers," however, had no problem with terrorists in two recent Australian bestsellers. Richard Flanagan's "The Unknown Terrorist" and Andrew McGahan's "Underground" portray terrorists as victims who were driven to violence by the West.
McGahan's "Underground" has Muslims executed en masse or herded into ghettos as the war on terror twists Australia into an unrecognizable society.
Flanagan, who describes Jesus Christ as "history's first ... suicide bomber," dedicated his book to David Hicks, an Australian currently detained at Guantanamo after being captured fighting with the Taliban.
In a 2004 documentary, Hicks' father read excerpts of his son's letters, written before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, in which he said that he was training in Pakistan and Afghanistan to ensure "the Western-Jewish domination is finished, so we live under Muslim law again," and warns his father to ignore "the Jews' propaganda war machine."
Dale's not happy with any of the gatekeepers, his publisher included.
"There are no guns, no bad language, no sex, no drugs, no violence that is seen or on the page," Dale told the Australian, "but because two characters are Arabic-speaking and the plot involves a mujahideen extremist group, Scholastic's decision is based "100 percent (on) the Muslim issue."
Scholastic's decision was "disturbing because it's the book's content they are censoring," he said.
"A gutless" publishing decision, added Lyn Tranter, Dale's agent. "I am appalled that this is censorship by salesmen."
In addition to being an author, Dale is director of the Center for New Writing at the University of Technology in New South Wales.
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