Bishop to Tell Copts to Leave Egypt

The collapse of Christianity throughout the Islamic world continues to accelerate, with a Coptic bishop now prepared to tell the faithful to leave Egypt if the Coptic Church is not assured self governance in religious matters. This is both a clear and highly sophisticated position, as it is not a reactionary stance against the Muslim Brotherhood and newly elected Egyptian President Morsi per se, but shows a full grasp of the potential status of Copts in Egypt as second-class citizens should Islamic shariah law be implemented. The shariah is not merely a code for Muslims to live by, but rather is universal in its scope, dictating how non-Muslims are to be treated in an Islamic society. Implementation of shariah in Egypt would reduce the Copts to an inferior position of total dependency on the Muslim majority. Components of shariah which would be most damaging to the Copts include the reinstitution of the jizya (the onerous poll tax levied against non-Muslims), prohibition against building new churches or repairing existing ones, and interference in Coptic ecclesiastical matters. Churches would likely be destroyed, as under shariah, a church cannot be taller than a mosque. Crosses would be torn off existing churches, as Christians would be prohibited from openly displaying or expressing their faith under shariah. 

Recent years have seen hundreds of Copts killed by Muslim mobs in massacres committed precisely during Christian feasts. Coptic women have been abducted and forcibly converted to Islam. Muslims riot against and attack Copts, burning their homes and churches, based on rumors and incendiary preaching by extremist imams. And all this by emboldened bands of outlaw Muslims eager to see Islam triumphant over Christianity. 

Bishop Paul sees the handwriting on the wall. If the Copts are not protected in the Egyptian Constitution, it will be literally "open season" on them, with more lawless and — according to the shariah — "lawful" assaults on the followers of Christ. Bishop Paul is heeding the words of the Lord: "If they persecute you in one place, flee to another." Even if it means leaving your ancestral home. This is a powerful, brave stance taken by a strong Christian leader. Let us hope and pray our bishops in America show solidarity with our Coptic brothers and sisters.

Bishop to tell Copts to Immigrate
Connor Molloy - Daily News Egypt - July 30, 2012

Coptic Christian Bishop Paul of Tanta will tell Copts to leave Egypt if the Church is not guaranteed religious jurisdiction. Bishop Paul, a representative of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the Constituent Assembly, is also threatening to leave the Assembly if Article II is not modified to his liking.

Bishop Paul wants the contentious Article II of the constitution, which deals with the nature of the state as it relates to religious authority and principles, to include text guaranteeing that the Church will be given the mantel of authority for issues concerning Copts.

“If this text is not added, I will tell the Copts: There is no longer a place for you in the land of Egypt, because it is not the right of the judiciary to rule on the clergy,” the Bishop told Al-Shorouk newspaper.

The Bishop’s threat to leave Egypt taps into worries within the Coptic community and the country at large that Copts will leave if Egypt becomes more Islamic. Others are arguing that they have already begun to do this.

Dr. Naguib Gabriel, head of the Egyptian Union of Human Rights, has conducted research finding that over one hundred thousand Copts have settled abroad since the revolution. This figure has been widely cited in Christian news outlets.

Those numbers, however, may be very difficult to verify, argued Sherief Etman of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights.

“We don’t have numbers like this, because we would need to get this information from the government,” Etman said. He added that the government does not like to incite fear and would therefore be reluctant to research and release information about the exact number of Coptic Christians who have left since the revolution.

Diana Maher Ghali of the Arab West Report argues that it is impossible to have accurate statistics on how many Coptic Christians have left Egypt.

“You cannot estimate that number for many reasons,” said Diana Maher Ghali of the Arab West Report. “Some go to the Austrian embassy and apply for a visa or religious asylum. They can apply at more than one embassy. How can you count those? The second thing is, embassies are not allowed to give out that information.”

The threat of a Coptic exodus was also called for earlier in the week by the Maspero Youth Union which objects to Article II.

“I understand the position of these young people well, and they are entitled to express their opinions, and I am very happy with them,” the Bishop said.

But the Maspero Youth Union has qualms with Article II. Rather than the inclusions of Coptic religious authority, a group calling itself Egyptians Against Religious Discrimination, comprised of Maspero Youth Union members, a spectrum of Egyptian rights groups and international Coptic groups, wants Article II to be the inspiration for civil law rather than grant religious jurisdiction.

“The stipulation in the draft constitution that ‘Sovereignty is for God’ should replace the current ‘Sovereignty is for the people,’ plays on religious sentiment,” said a member of the Maspero Youth Union. “It takes Egypt back to the Middle Ages, shatters the basis of a modern state, legalises theocracy, and opens the door for countless legal problems – let alone blackmail by opportunists who feign religiosity.”

The recent statements by Bishop Paul echo those made by Sunni Sheikhs in Al-Azhar. Earlier this month, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported that the Constituent Assembly representatives of Al-Azhar were advocating for an addition to Article II that would contain the text: “Christians and Jews shall resort to legislation derived from their own religions.” The proposal was greeted favourably by the Church.

Source

Good Law Enforcement or Profiling?

This analysis from RadicalIslam.org provides a concise history of Muslim Brotherhood activities in the USA, including the Muslim Student Association, intended to "eliminate and destroy Western civilization from within." Thankfully, the NYPD is not backing down in the face of lawfare threats from Muslim groups, and is in fact honoring its Intelligence Division at its annual Medal Day, precisely for its successful work in thwarting two terrorist bomb plots last year, plots involving Muslims. Let's hope good detective work and common sense continue to prevail.

A civil rights law suit was filed this past Wednesday in federal court against the New York City Police Department. It claims the legal surveillance of Muslims in New Jersey is unconstitutional because it “targets Muslims” strictly based on their religion.

by Gadi Adelman

A law suit, ‘Hassan v. The City of New York’, was filed in United States District Court on June 6, 2012 by Muslim Advocates of San Francisco and the Law Offices of Bhalla & Cho, LLC of Jersey City, New Jersey on behalf of Muslim individuals, organizations and businesses who claim they are been singled out for surveillance only based on their religion.

I obtained a copy of the 25-page complaint and it can be viewed on my website here: Hassan V. NYC.

The suit claims violations of the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause and the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause through discrimination. They seek monetary damages but the main goal is to put an end to the surveillance, which they claim is ongoing.

According to the compliant, back in 2002, shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the NYPD started watching entire neighborhoods where Muslims lived in Newark and other towns. The plaintiffs (Muslims) say that the NYPD also infiltrated Muslim organizations and mosques with undercover officers and informants. They claim that people who were the subject of the surveillance were chosen not because of any suspicion of wrongdoing, but strictly because of their religion.

The plaintiffs named are three individuals: Syed Farhaj Hassan, Moiz Mohammed and Jane Doe; two businesses -- All Body Shop Inside and Out and Unity Beef Sausage Co.; and three organizations-- the Council of Imams in New Jersey, Muslim Students Association of the U.S. and Canada, and Muslim Foundation Inc.

Number 2 of the ‘Preliminary Statement’ section of the complaint states,

In early 2002, the NYPD began a secret spying program (“Program”) to infiltrate and monitor Muslim life in and around New York City. The Department has focused, in particular, upon New Jersey Muslims, conducting surveillance of at least twenty mosques, fourteen restaurants, eleven retail stores, two grade schools and two Muslim Student
Associations, in addition to untold numbers of individuals who own, operate, and visit those establishments. The Department has also created over twenty precinct-level maps of the City of Newark, noting the location of mosques and Muslim businesses and the ethnic composition of the Muslim community.

So why would the NYPD be watching Muslims from NJ, not to mention 20 mosques as alleged in the complaint? Could it possibly have anything to do with the fact that the FBI has arrested Islamic terrorists from a Jersey City mosque including Sheikh Omar Abdel- Rahman a.k.a "The Blind Sheikh?" Or perhaps it was the fact that the World Trade Center bombing in 1993 was proven to have been planned in that same mosque?

I have written several times that “there is a difference between “profiling” and good law enforcement.” If I am driving late at night in a known high drug activity area of an African American neighborhood and get pulled over for no reason other than being white is that profiling or good law enforcement? This goes on day in and day out in the US and the percentage of drug arrests from that type of scenario lead to convictions.

My point is this, good law enforcement uses the statistics and the fact is that, statistically, terrorists are of Middle Eastern decent aged 18-34 and yes, Muslim. Sorry, I don’t make up the numbers, I use facts. And using the facts is called “Suspect Profiling.”

According to a Quinnipiac Poll from April of this year, most residents of NJ agree with the NYPD tactics. The poll revealed that 62 percent of New Jersey voters said the NYPD's focus on Muslims was appropriate, 18 percent said it was unfair and 20 percent did not express an opinion. Republicans supported it 83-8 percent, Democrats by 44-27 percent, and independents by 64-17 percent.

Number 3 of the ‘Preliminary Statement’ I actually find humorous,

As part of the Program, the NYPD takes photographs and videos and collects license plate numbers at mosques. It also utilizes undercover officers and informants to infiltrate and surveil Muslim communities, including mosques, Muslim Student Associations and Muslim-owned businesses. Upon information and belief, the NYPD Program has not undertaken similar surveillance with respect to non-Muslim communities.

“Has not undertaken similar surveillance with respect to non-Muslim communities”? I wonder why … Has any other “religious” group committed 19,027 deadly acts of terrorism since 9/11/2001? For that matter, I can’t recall any Christian, Jew, Buddhist or Hindu blowing himself/herself up to murder innocents in the name of God recently.

Also mentioned in Number 3 of the complaint was the Muslim Student Association (MSA). Let’s look at that group for a moment. According to an article by Patrick Poole, the MSA was,

Founded in 1963 at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and operated as an arm of the Saudi-funded, Muslim Brotherhood-controlled Muslim World League, the MSA is one of the oldest, largest, and most respected Islamic institutions in the country. They have chapters at more than 100 universities and colleges. 

Since its inception, the MSA has chronically been a vehicle of extremism, hatred, and incitement to violence. Its chapters host a wide variety of extremist speakers and have repeatedly raised funds for Islamic groups that have later been closed by the U.S. government for funding terrorism. For this reason, the MSA was identified in 2004 as one of 27 Islamic charities and groups in the U.S. under investigation by the Senate Finance Committee for terrorist support. 

The MSA is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood as explained above. I have explained before, about the Muslim Brotherhood strategy memo, also known in counter-terror circles as ‘the project’. It was key evidence during the largest terror trial to date in the US, the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) trial. The strategic objective of the Brotherhood in America as written by the MB and proven in court, 

The Ikhwan [the Muslim Brotherhood's name for itself] must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and "sabotaging" its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all other religions. Without this level of understanding, we are not up to this challenge and have not prepared ourselves forJihad yet. It is a Muslim's destiny to perform Jihad and work wherever he is and wherever he lands until the final hour comes, and there is no escape from that destiny except for those who chose to slack.

So, the Muslim Student Association (MSA) is a proven offshoot from the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and the MB’s goal is to “destroy the Western civilization from within and sabotage its miserable house by their hands.” Using our courts and Constitution would seem like a way to achieve that destruction.

Also, from the same MB document, it lists 29 organizations that they plan to use to carry out their goal. The header reads,

A list of our Organizations and the Organizations of our friends (Imagine if they all march according to one plan).

Number 2 on that list is the Muslim Student Association.

Patrick Poole’s article lists no less than 7 Presidents, Vice Presidents and members of the MSA that have been arrested and convicted on terror charges.

If we here in the US or elsewhere in the world were facing Jewish terrorists bent on our destruction, would anyone be upset if synagogues were under surveillance? If terrorists were coming out of Hillel (Jewish student organization on college campuses), would anyone be complaining that the Hillel were being watched? It’s common sense, not profiling.

Jim Kouri reported in the Examiner,

Another large Muslim group -- the Council on American Islamic Relations -- is expected to file a similar lawsuit in Manhattan against the NYPD. A CAIR affiliate, attorney Mary Catherine Roper from the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, stated, “They should be spending their time looking at the more specific behaviors that ought to draw their attention and make them investigate a person or a group.” She goes on to say that congregating to pray should not be a foundation of suspicion."

Maybe if the places of prayer weren’t recruiting grounds for the future terrorists of America and Imams weren’t preaching hate, it wouldn’t be a “foundation of suspicion.”

I have said time and time again, “that we in America need to be proactive rather than reactive when it comes to terrorism.” I am glad that the NYPD is being proactive, performing good law enforcement and not backing down due to the law suits.

Gadi Adelman is a speaker on terrorism, jihad, sharia and Islam. He is a contributing editor for the Family Security Matters website as well as writing for Conservative Camp, Faith for Freedom, Gold Coast Chronicle and Pronline news. He has his own weekly radio show "America Akbar" that can be heard on the Radio Jihad network.

Source.

Metropolitan Hilarion warns against PC Mania

Metropolitan Hilarion comes to the rescue with his characteristically sober and reserved, yet standing-firm-in-the-Truth insights. Much of what he warns about Europe can be applied to the United States; we are following in Europe's footsteps to a great extent. Excerpts below. Complete interview here.

Metropolitan Hilarion: Political correctness mania destroys Europe

Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s department for external church relations, speaks at a time difficult for the Church about the tendency to reject traditional morality and Russia’s special way... in an interview to Olga Lipich of RIA Novosti news agency.

Q. Many believers see the ban against the wearing of an underwear cross at working hours in Great Britain as a vivid example of growing xenophobia in Europe in recent years. It is known that the British citizens who were sacked for demonstrating their religious symbols have appealed to the Strasbourg Court. What are the developments now, and what do you think about it?

A. ...The most important thing, it seems to me, is the very posing of the question whether an employer can prohibit his employees from wearing religious symbols, especially a cross. I think it points to a very serious moral decline and a conscious rejection of the country’s Christian roots on the part of British leaders.

I believe the only parallel that can be drawn here as it naturally comes to one’s mind is the Soviet Union in which this very thing, the wearing of crosses was forbidden and a cross could be torn away from one’s neck if noticed. I myself was a schoolboy; I wore a cross and I remember the teacher, having noticed the chain, took the cross out and tore it away… If Great Britain becomes like the Soviet Union in its ideological diktat characteristic of militant secularism, then it will not be the most beneficial comparison for a country which claims to be a democracy.

Q. What do you attribute such cases to, as they have been registered one after another in recent year?

A. I think in many countries in the West, in particular in Great Britain, a kind of political correctness mania has appeared to develop with a speed of manic psychosis. This political correctness lies in this: God forbid that out of all people we, Christians, or we as representatives of a particular Western country, should in any way offend Muslims, Jews or Hindu or representatives of other religions. And to prevent religious conflicts, they propose this solution: let us remove religion from public space altogether and remove religious symbols from the life of society. Then peace and love between confessions will presumably prevail.

But we know that the religious symbols of one confession in the most cases do not cause any irritation among the people of other confessions. On the contrary, they arouse sympathy. Actually, it is among atheists and people of secular worldview that religious symbols provoke irritation. It is not accidental that among fighters against crosses we see first of all militant atheists.

Q. Can one say that a lobby of high-ranking people has been formed in European countries, who ardently support the legalization of same-sex unions and euthanasia, seeking to lift as many as possible bans which have existed in society for centuries? Tentatively speaking, there is a certain conspiracy, not just anti-Christians, aimed against all traditional religions?

A. Of course, for these people Christianity, cross and other Christian symbols are like a red rag for a bull. It is not accidental that they are irritated by these symbols: Christianity has a very unambiguous attitude to all these problems.

We have repeatedly stated, though, that in a number of Christian churches, in particular in the Church of England, these traditional notions of moral values themselves are being obliterated today. The moral doctrine fixed in Holy Scriptures, in the New Testament, in the Gospels and apostolic epistles and patristic works is being replaced by new liberal standards which get incorporated in a particular Church’s teaching on morality, modifying these moral postulates to conform to the modern secular standards.

Q. What prospects do you see then? How probable is it that this process will grow into severe persecution against the Church in the next decades, not only in England but in Russia as well? Indeed, we can see the growth of anticlerical sentiments in our society, too. There is this much-talked-of action of young women in the Church of Christ the Saviour; there is this fuss around the Primate’s flat in the House on the Embankment; there are these letters written by Berezovsky to the Patriarch – all this has grown into one big campaign.

A. We should say straightforwardly that it is not anticlericalism but anti-church-minded people who arrange these campaigns in both our own and Western societies.

But if we still move back to the West, it seems to me that this process cannot continue endlessly, at least because it is suicidal for the whole Western society. It will lead either to the physical elimination of European nations or the leaders of these states will think about it and begin to reconsider their attitude.

Why am I saying about physical elimination? Because, for instance, this godless liberal ideology, which has prevailed in many Western countries today, delivers a blow not only to religions but first of all to such foundations of human existence as family and family values.

Indeed, what does homosexuality lead to? It leads to creating an increasing number of same-sex unions who claim to be marriages, while it goes without saying that such union do not produce posterity. The destruction of traditional family ideals leads to a considerable decrease in the number of extended families. An extended family in Western countries today, just as in Russia, is a great rarity. Extended are the families of Muslims, not Christians, even less, atheists.

That is to say, the population crisis that has spread through Western countries, has already led to a population decrease. And it will continue decreasing if these liberal standards continue lying in the basis of legislation, forming the public opinion propagated by the mass media.

If someday the powers that be realize that it is a suicidal way and begin to take measures to change the situation, then a reversal may begin. But if they do not realize this and insist all the way, then, I would say, the Western empire is to expect the fate of many great empires which used to exist and which died due to, first of all, a moral decay as was the case with the Roman Empire.

[...]

Q. We place a great responsibility on political leaders and legislators. What else can ordinary Christians in Europe do to save the native population of the continent from extinction? And how can the Russian Orthodox Church help?

A. First, we should keep unshakable the basic doctrine and basic moral teaching we have inherited from Christ Himself, the apostles and the early Church who have preserved them for centuries even at the price of martyrdom. I think the power of the Orthodox Church lies precisely in her ability not to yield to the trends of time, to preserve both her doctrine and moral teaching without changing them to please secular liberal standards.

It concerns however the Orthodox Church as, say, an organization. If we talk about concrete believers, we should state an obvious fact: not every parishioner lives according to the commandments of Christ. And not all who claim to be Orthodox Christians are parishioners of our churches who participate in the life of the Church and her Sacraments. And the most important thing is that not all Orthodox see the teaching of the Church as guidance for action in their everyday life.

When we learn to build our everyday life on lofty moral foundations preached by religious traditions, then we will be able to say that we take religion seriously.

Q. Your Eminence, you spoke about the meaning of life. Is there some universal meaning of life which you could reveal to everyone who comes to you with such a question?

A. It would be very difficult to formulate the universal meaning of life. Had it been possible, it would have been done long ago. But I think for us as Christians there is nothing higher than the meaning formulated and the task given by Jesus Christ: seek first the Kingdom of God and the rest will be given you.

It is not easy to explain to every person what the Kingdom of God is, because usually people, even believers, image the Kingdom of God as something accessible after death and something having no direct bearing on our life. Meanwhile, we as practicing Christians can say that the Kingdom of God may be present already in our life on earth, if we wish it.

In the Church, we come in touch with the Kingdom of God, which becomes a reality of our life through our devotional experience, through our participation in the sacraments, first of all, in the sacrament of the Eucharist (Communion), when we not merely communicate with God but get united with Him spiritually and physically.

This presence of the Kingdom of God, which we experience most fully in church, can and must penetrate our life. If we make this experience of participation in the Kingdom of God our priority, the rest is built around it, the rest comes with it. I can testify from experience of at least my own life. I can testify to it from the experience of many other people as well, whom I know, my friends, my parishioners, my mother, not to speak of people of the previous generations, the saints who could live up this commandment more fully than we do.

Q. And how is the commandment to seek the Kingdom of God expressed in a person’s behaviour, apart from his going to church? What is his inner feeling – the love of God, his neighbours, life or something else?

A. Again, there is no model of behaviour to be prescribed to a person for fulfilling this commandment. Each person finds for himself some specific ways of living this commandment if he really wants to live according to it.

For instance, St. Augustine is ascribed this remarkable utterance: ‘Love God and you could do whatever you wish!’. It means that if a person really loves God, he does not need all other commandments because he will fulfil them anyway by virtue of his love of God. If he loves God, it means he will love the neighbour. If he loves God, it means he will not commit cardinal sins or even sinful thoughts, etc.

If a person puts the Kingdom of God above all, all the rest will come with it. A search for the Kingdom of God and its truth as commanded by the Lord Jesus Christ becomes the leitmotif of his life, not only religious but also private, family life and professional life.

How is it manifested? If you are an Orthodox Christian, you create a strong family, love your wife and children and have as many children as the Lord gives you. You are protector and breadwinner of your family. In professional work, you are also guided by Christian moral norms. For instance, if you are a businessman, you do not steal, refuse to be corrupted, avoid immoral actions for the sake of personal profit; you wear a cross under your clothes, even if it is contrary to the official dress code.

I am not saying now whether you should wear a cross under your clothes or on the outside; it is a secondary matter. I am saying that a person should have the right to be guided by Christian spiritual and moral norms in all the aspects of his life.

Source

African Christians Ascend Golgotha

Christ is Risen! and Blessed Easter to our Western Christian brothers and sisters!

But this Western Easter, and as Orthodox celebrate Palm Sunday and the beginning of the Lord's Passion Week, let us offer prayers for our Christian brethren suffering throughout the world. In Africa, dire news is being reported:

Southern Sudanese Christians fear forced repatriation - Compass Direct News:

JUBA, South Sudan, April 6 (CDN) — Christians from South Sudan who have until Easter Sunday (April 8) to try to become citizens of Sudan or be deported fear authorities will use the occasion to rid the country of Christianity, church leaders said.

More than 500,000 citizens of southern ethnic origin who have been living in Sudan for decades – some of them born there – will be considered foreigners after Sunday. Human rights organizations have called on Khartoum to grant them more time to either leave or apply for citizenship.

Christian leaders expressed concern that local media such as the daily Al Intibaha newspaper have been stoking hatred against predominantly Christian southern Sudanese, describing them as “cancer cells in the body of Sudan, the land of the Arab and Islam,” and calling on the government to deport them. 




Nigeria Bombing Kills At Least 38 (AP via WSJ):

LAGOS, Nigeria—A car bomb exploded along a busy roadway Sunday morning in a central Nigeria city, killing at least 38 people in the latest attack on a region beset by religious, ethnic and political violence, an official said.

The blast struck Kaduna, the capital of Kaduna state, leaving charred motorcycles and debris strewed across a major road in the city where many gather to eat at informal restaurants and buy black-market gasoline. Nearby hotels had their windows blown out of by the force of the powerful explosion, which engulfed a group of motorcycle taxmen.  At least 38 people were killed ...

And for further perspective on persecution of Christians worldwide, here are highlights with links for April (so far) from the Bulletin of Christian Persecution:

April 1, 2012

Turkey (h/t to JihadWatch)
Turkey's Greek Orthodox citizens living on the island of Gökçeada (Imbros) in the north Aegean cannot buy property on the island, the Taraf daily claimed on Sunday. The issue emerged when lawyer Erhan Gökçe complained in court about officials who put up difficulties before non-Muslims on the island who want to obtain property.

April 2, 2012

Egypt (h/t to Jihadwatch)
Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church has announced it is withdrawing from talks on a new constitution, saying Islamist domination of the drafting body has made its participation "pointless," Egypt's state news agency said.

April 4, 2012

Egypt
An Egyptian court on Wednesday sentenced a 17-year-old Christian boy to three years in jail for publishing cartoons on his Facebook page that mocked Islam and the Prophet Mohammad, actions that sparked sectarian violence.

April 5, 2012

Tunsia (h/t to Raymond Ibrahim, translator)
The Christian Orthodox Church in Tunis, one of very few churches in the country of Tunisia, is being "abused" and receiving "threatening messages" from "Salafis." Church members are described as "living in a state of terror," so much so that the Russian ambassador in Tunis specifically requested the nation's Ministry of Interior to "protect the church."

The abuse has gotten to the point where "Salafis covered the cross of the church with garbage bags, telling the church members that they do not wish to see the vision of the Cross anywhere in the Islamic state of Tunisia."

April 6, 2012

Iran
Twelve Christians are to stand trial in Iran on Easter Sunday on charges including "crimes against the order", an activist assisting them with advocacy told BosNewsLife.

Sudan
Christians from South Sudan who have until Easter Sunday (April 8) to try to become citizens of Sudan or be deported fear authorities will use the occasion to rid the country of Christianity, church leaders said.

Christian leaders expressed concern that local media such as the daily Al Intibaha newspaper have been stoking hatred against predominantly Christian southern Sudanese, describing them as "cancer cells in the body of Sudan, the land of the Arab and Islam," and calling on the government to deport them.

April 7, 2012

Iran (h/t to thereligionofpeace)
According to Iranian Christian news agency, Mohabat News, a two hundred year old historical graveyard in the Ghal'e-dokhtar area in Kerman province "has completely demolished".

Tunisia (h/t to JihadWatch)
Non-Muslim places of worship are being targeted by still-unidentified individuals. After the attacks perpetrated against the Orthodox church on Avenue Mohamed V, the Russian school located behind the church as well as the Christian cemetery of Montplasir in Tunis have been vandalized.

The walls of the school were smeared with fecal matter, as also a fresco of Saint Siberian [sic] located in the back courtyard of the Orthodox church, while the cemetery's crosses were destroyed.

April 8, 2012

Nigeria (h/t to thereligionofpeace)
At least 50 people were killed when explosives concealed in two cars went off near a church during Easter Sunday services in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna, eye-witnesses said. Shehu Sani, the President of Civil Rights Congress based in Kaduna, said two explosions took place at the Assemblies of God's Church near the centre of the city with a large Christian population and known as a major cultural and economic centre in Nigeria's north.

Three Stages of Jihad - Essential Video

While grabbing the link and text for the preceding post (Not a Hate Crime), I came across this very important educational video from David Wood of Answering Muslims. It's just shy of 25 minutes, but is absolutely essential viewing, and is quite witty, interspersing President Obama's didactic Cairo speech to lead us through the lesson. Share it with your friends and family.

Here is a link to the PDF brochure on Jihad David Wood discusses towards the end of the video.

Go here for more on Jihad at AnsweringMuslims.com

Not a Hate Crime?

Perhaps you have read or seen news reports of the brutal murder of a Muslim woman in California. This shocking slaying was immediately reported as a hate crime, but now reports are revealing there is more to the story, and that it increasingly appears to be an honor killing. Here is a report from the website Answering Muslims, posted by the always trustworthy Christian apologist David Wood:

Police Records Cast Doubt on California "Hate Crime"

For years, the media have assured us that Americans are suffering from a mental disorder called "Islamophobia." Oddly enough, the only evidence they've ever been able to produce for this charge is that many Americans believe in freedom of speech, freedom of religion, women's rights, etc. (values not shared by Muhammad and his companions).

Recently, however, the media finally found the proof they've been waiting for. A Muslim woman named Shaima Alawadi was brutally murdered in her California home. A note was reportedly found beside her body, calling her a terrorist and telling her to go back to her country. Her family said that she had received a similar note a few weeks earlier. Clearly, Shaima was murdered by racist, Islamophobic bigots who spend their days reading articles at Jihad Watch and Atlas Shrugs (but who somehow manage to ignore Spencer and Geller's repeated calls for peaceful activism). 

Even before the facts were in, the media leapt at the chance to expose the bigotry and intolerance so prevalent in America. They assured us that Shaima was killed because she chose to wear the hijab, just as Trayvon Martin was killed for wearing a "hoodie." Women around the world have been posting pictures of themselves wearing the hijab, in a movement called "One Million Hijabs for Shaima." Muslims and non-Muslims have gathered at vigils to remember her.

But facts are beginning to emerge, and things aren't looking good for the media. Shaima was planning to divorce her husband and move to Texas. Her daughter Fatima was distraught over an impending arranged marriage with her cousin. As Fatima was being interviewed by police, she received a text message, which said: "The detective will find out tell them cnt talk."

Of course, it's always possible that further evidence will prove that Shaima was the victim of an anti-Muslim hate crime. In the meantime, the only "evidence" we have that this was perpetrated by "Islamophobes" was the note left by Shaima's body, which turned out to be a photocopy. All other evidence points in an entirely different direction.

EL CAJON — Search warrant records obtained Wednesday in the beating death of an Iraqi-American woman show a family in turmoil and cast doubt on the likelihood that her slaying was a hate crime.

Shaima Alawadi, a 32-year-old mother of five, was apparently planning to divorce her husband and move to Texas when she was killed, a family member told investigators, according to the court documents.

The records obtained at El Cajon Superior Court also reveal Alawadi’s 17-year-old daughter, Fatima Alhimidi, who called 911 to report the attack, was distraught over her pending arranged marriage to a cousin.

A search of Fatima’s cellphone records shows that while she was being interviewed by investigators hours after the attack, someone sent the teen a text message that read, “The detective will find out tell them (can’t) talk,” the affidavit states.

Fatima and her mother were the only ones at their El Cajon home on Skyview Street when the attack occurred about 11 a.m. on March 21.

Alawadi’s husband, Kassim Alhimidi, had reportedly left to take the couple’s other younger children to school, although police state in the March 27 affidavit that his whereabouts had not yet been confirmed. . . .

The sheriff’s crime lab determined a threatening handwritten note found near the victim was a copy, not the original, the records state. . . .

Some of the search warrant records remain sealed by a judge.

During a search of the home and the couple’s vehicles in the hours after the attack, police found court paperwork to file for divorce in Alawadi’s Ford Explorer. The packet was not filled out, but a form requesting a court fee waiver was filled out in handwriting with Alawadi’s name, address and phone number.

Majhed Alhasan, secretary for the Islamic Center of Lakeside and a close friend of the family, said Wednesday he had never heard that Alawadi had been thinking about a divorce and moving.

“This is the first time I’ve heard of it,” Alhasan said. “About a month ago, her mother, non-married sister and two non-married brothers moved to Texas.”

He said a married sister of Alawadi already was living in Houston.

Police also searched computers, cellphones and other devices. Among the evidence they were searching for was an earring matching a bloody one found near Alawadi. Family told investigators that she usually wore four earrings, according to the records.

Detectives were also seeking any other notes, a weapon similar to a tire iron and any forensic evidence.

Investigators also learned of a previous police contact with Fatima.

On Nov. 3, police found Fatima with a 21-year-old man after responding to a report of two people possibly having sex in a car, the documents state. Officers called her mother, who came to the location and picked up the girl. As they were driving away, Fatima said, “I love you, mom,” before jumping out of the vehicle onto Mollison Avenue at 35 mph.

She was taken to a hospital with several injuries, including a possible broken arm. She refused to talk to police at the hospital but reportedly told paramedics and hospital staff that she was being forced to marry her cousin and didn’t want to.

Source

Saying Unpopular Truths

I recently had a challenging conversation with a friend, whose family is from the Middle East. This friend, we'll call him 'George' to protect his anonymity, and I veered off onto the subject of Islam, about which we agree in many respects. We were lamenting how difficult it seems to be for peaceful, good-hearted Muslims of conscience to rein in, stand against, or refute their violent supremacist co-religionists. George related the story of his family's village, where Muslims and Orthodox Christians lived in harmony for centuries, respecting and honoring one another's festivals and fasts, the Muslims protecting their Christian neighbors and looking out for them.

Fair enough, good to know, and thanks be to God.

But then George began lamenting about the violent jihadists, and how they are going completely against the peaceful tenets of Islam. In other words, George was affirming Islam to be a 'Religion of Peace' which has been hijacked by a 'Tiny Minority of Extremists'.

This is when I felt obliged to correct his impression, or to at least try to attenuate it somewhat.

George's position is that shared by most sincere people of good will and kind heart, many of whom, like George, have had direct experiences with kind and virtuous Muslims who treated them and their families with respect, dignity, affection. Because of these experiences, George and those with similar experiences and similarly sincere hearts extrapolate from the microcosm to the macro, from their family or village experience to making a blanket assessment of Islam as a whole. Thus, "Islam truly must be a 'Religion of Peace' because my Muslim neighbors are peaceful people." And if that is the case, then "the jihadists must not be true Muslims, and must be deceived, misguided extremists and not followers of true Islam at all."

Yet is this necessarily so? I don't think it is, and I tried to offer a few thoughts to George as to why.

First of all, I began with Muhammad and his example as being the "beautiful pattern of conduct" for Muslims. As some have put it, Muhammad is the "secret decoder ring" to the Koran, which is indecipherable without the Sunnah, or "Way" of the prophet. Muhammad's life (by Ibn Ishaq) combined with the hadith (traditions and saying by and about Muhammad, which number in the hundreds of volumes) inform the ulema, the collective of Islamic jurists, who apply Muhammad's example to literally every imaginable situation so as to clarify how a devout Muslim should live. Some actions are obligatory, some optional, some permissible, some prohibited. One might think that this is a virtuous exercise for a pious Muslim, wanting to follow the example of their prophet. And indeed, there are many virtuous aspects to Islamic moral code. One can find an Islamic manual for life in the book Way of the Traveler, published by Al Azhar University in Cairo Egypt, the foremost center of Islamic jurisprudence in the world. Yet much of the "moral" code put forth in this book would shock any sane person.

A moral code is only as good as its source. And according to the Islamic source texts themselves, Muhammad is a decidedly un-moral person to follow. Muhammad married his favorite bride Aisha when she was only six years old, and consummated the marriage (i.e., had sexual intercourse with her) when she was nine years old.  Muhammad was 53 at the time.   Think on that for a moment.

“The Prophet wrote the (marriage contract) with Aisha while she was six years old and consummated his marriage with her while she was nine years old and she remained with him for nine years (i.e. till his death).” (Sahih Al Bukhari 7.62.88)

Muhammad had numerous wives, nine to eleven at one time according to Islamic source texts, as well as concubines captured during his many raids. He is described as having a schedule for regular conjugal visits, and sometimes had sex with all of his wives in one night, one after the other (Bukhari 1:5:268). Fr Zakaria Botros, using the Islamic source texts, tabulates the number of women Muhammad was intimate with, and comes up with a total of sixty six. Muhammad himself is reported as saying, "I never have enough of women" (from hadith Faid al-Qabir 3:371).

We also are told Muhammad was a ruthless warlord, who personally beheaded (according to the Life of Muhammad by Ibn Ishaq, a devout Muslim) 700-800 Jews after one battle.

Muhammad extolled deceit in dealing with his enemies. And most importantly for our consideration here, he commanded his followers to wage jihad until the world was brought under the rule of Allah and Islam dominated everywhere. This is the pattern of conduct Muslims are commanded in the Koran to follow. This Muhammad is who the jihadis are following. And this is the reason why so-called "moderate" Muslims have such a hard time. Their own texts are not on their side. There is no "moderate" Islam.

But perhaps Islam could be reformed?

My next point to George was to cite Dr Mark Durie and Islam scholar Raymond Ibrahim, who both solidly argue that the call for a "reformation" in Islam is a false hope. Those who assert that Islam is peaceful, and that it just needs to go through a reformation as did Western Christendom have lost sight of what the reformation was all about. Martin Luther and others sought to strip away the accretions and excesses of Roman Catholicism and return to the source texts, to the Gospels and the New Testament.

(*Note added 4/5/12 - Of course, as an Orhodox Christian, I would suggest that if one strips away the accretions and errors of Roman Catholicism, one arrives at the Orthodox Church, which is the New Testament, Apostolic Church.)

Yet when you apply the same principal to Islam, and return to the source texts (the Koran, the hadiths, the Sira) you get precisely what we see today in Salafism, Wahhabism, the Muslim Brotherhood, Al Qaeda, Boko Haram, etc. They ARE the Islamic reformation. Islam by its very nature as evinced by its source texts commands what these so called "extremist" groups are doing. They are following the dictates of the Koran and their prophet:

Fight against those who believe not in Allah, nor in the Last Day, nor forbid that which has been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger and those who acknowledge not the religion of truth [i.e. Islam] among the people of the Book [Jews and Christians], until they pay the jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued. (Sura 9:29)

Kill the unbelievers wherever you find them, and capture them and besiege them, and prepare for them each and every ambush. (Sura 9:5)

I will cast terror into the hearts of those who have disbelieved, so strike them over the necks, and smite over all their fingers and toes. (Sura 8:12)

Against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into the enemies of Allah and your enemies. (Sura 8:60)

So, when you meet those who disbelieve, smite at their necks till when you have killed and wounded many of them, then bind a bond firmly on them... Thus you are ordered by Allah to continue in carrying out jihad against the disbelievers till they embrace Islam. (Sura 47:4)

After getting to this point with George, I offered something of an olive branch.

How do we then understand the peaceful, generous, kind and virtuous actions of Muslims, especially when they are directed towards non-Muslims? This phenomenon is a result of a purely human, sincere heart — that is — of a warm and living human conscience which has not been subdued by the anti-human "meta-conscience" based on the Koran and Muhammad's example and commanded by the ulema. Put another way, a Muslim acting according to conscience will filter out disturbing passages from the Koran, and act according to conscience. Our conscience is a gift from God, an inner sense of knowing right from wrong. In fact, it is one of the traits which we bear within us by virtue of being created in the image and likeness of God. Thank God many Muslims do, in fact, live this way.

But here is a hard saying: Muslims who live according to their conscience are not living as true Muslims. This is the crucial fact.

Conversely, when a Muslim starts becoming more devout, desiring ever more to follow the Sunnah, the Way of the prophet, that Muslim is in danger of having his God-given conscience slowly supplanted by the "meta-conscience" of Islam. Imposed from without, the Islamic meta-conscience commands the Muslim to go precisely against his God-given conscience, as seen in this verse from the Koran:

Fighting [i.e., Jihad] is prescribed for you, and ye dislike it. But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and that ye love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knoweth, and ye know not. (Sura 2:216)

In the case of a jihadist, the human conscience is all but dead, subdued by the Mohammedan uber-conscience. This is how jihadists can kill innocent civilians and children. True Islam is not a religion of peace, but something quite dark and disturbing.

These considerations are an affirmation of the human conscience, and of Christian anthropology, while identifying a very concerning question, namely, where 1.2 billion Muslims on the planet stand in the continuum between possessing a basically healthy human conscience, and having that conscience subverted and replaced by the Islamic meta-conscience.

As I have written in my book and elsewhere, the answer to this challenge is for us to grow ever deeper in our own Orthodox Christian Faith, so that we might be prepared to confess Jesus Christ and share the Gospel when the opportunity presents itself. The heroic Priest-Martyr Fr Daniil Sysoev converted some eighty Muslims to the Orthodox Christian Faith before he was killed by an Islamic extremist. He even reached several very extreme Wahhabis. This should give us great hope, that in the heart of a zealous but misguided Muslim, there may remain a pure desire to know the True God, which can be touched by the Truth of Jesus Christ.

Forgive me, George, for speaking so boldly, but it is the truth, spoken in love.

The Meaning of Greek Independence Day

March 25, in addition to being the Great Feast of the Annunciation, is also the day Greeks celebrate their independence from the Ottoman Empire. Although the Greek declaration of independence and the start of the revolt was in 1821, it took a decade of war, and the intervention of great powers Russia, the United Kingdom and France, to defeat the Islamic axis (which also included Egypt and Tunisia).

The Greeks had some dramatic initial successes against the Ottoman Turks, including defeating their navy in the Aegean, before the Egyptian forces re-captured the Peloponnese. But the Russian, French and English turned the tide, eventually destroying the combined Ottoman-Egyptian fleet, and the French aided the Greek armies in driving the Turks out of the Peloponnese. After years of negotiation, Greece was formally recognized as an independent nation in 1832.

Thanks be to God for the steely backbone and determined resistance of the Greek Orthodox, who were subjected to Muslim rule for nearly four hundred years following the fall of Constantinople in 1453. The famous "Secret Schools" kept the Orthodox Christian Faith and the Hellenic culture alive during those dark years, while the soil was frequently watered with the blood of the Holy Neo-Martyrs. Great Church figures like St Kosmas of Aitolia and St Joachim (Papoulakis) of Vatopaidi Monastery, Mt Athos, traveled throughout Greece, teaching the people and bolstering their faith. The date of March 25 is recognized as Greek Independence Day for the significance of Bishop Germanos of Old Patros blessing the Greek banner at Agia Lavra at the beginning of the revolt on March 25, 1821 (see the image above, click to enlarge).

The Orthodox Church has always traditionally seen God's providential hand acting in contemporary events. Natural disasters, plagues, foreign invasion and subjugation under alien armies and false religions — as with Israel in the Old Testament — are interpreted as prophetic events, always calling us back to repentance, and providentially allowed by God to spur us to seek Christ and seek to be found in Him. The Greeks heeded this prophetic understanding of the Muslim takeover of Byzantium and Greece, and thus their Orthodox faith was the key component of their battle for freedom from four centuries (think of it!) of Muslim domination and persecution.

As we see the Islamic resurgence rising all around the world like an evil tide — with Muslim leaders and clerics alike calling for a million-man march on Jerusalem (the capitol of Israel), calling for the annihilation of Israel and the United States, calling for the overthrow of Rome, for turning Buckingham Palace into a mosque, calling for flying the flag of Islam over the White House — we must not merely resist in a secular sense, but must turn to the Lord and His Church in heartfelt repentance.

Dire times are surely ahead, yet we have the promises of Christ, who told us, "Do not fear those who can only kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do" (LK 12:4), and "Shall not God avenge His own elect, who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?" Christ assures us that He will "avenge us speedily!" (LK 18:7)

"Yet when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" (LK 18:8)

APPEAL FOR ASSISTANCE TO THE SERBIAN CHURCH IN KOSOVO AND METOCHIA

From Pravoslavie.ru

An Appeal to the readers of Pravoslavie.ru/Orthodox Christianity,

And to all those willing to help the Church in Kosovo and Metochia

For two decades now, a terrible tragedy has unfolded on Serbian soil—the Orthodox people of Kosovo and Metochia are being pushed out of their native land. During the past years, thousands of Christians have been murdered, many churches and monasteries desecrated and destroyed. This lawlessness is going on even today.

There is no other land in the world like Kosovo and Metochia, where so many churches and monasteries were built on such a small territory. The very name “Metochia” translates as “Church land”. This is truly an ancient, holy land of the Church.

250,000 Kosovo Serbs were forced to flee their ancestral homeland after 1999. Nevertheless, there are still Orthodox Christians living there. They refuse to leave, because they feel and with their whole heart and soul that Holy Orthodoxy must be preserved on their native soil, even under the most difficult circumstances, even in an extremely unfriendly, antagonistic environment.

In certain cities of Kosovo and Metochia, there remain literally just a few courageous Orthodox people, outcasts in their own homeland, who refuse to allow the candle of Orthodoxy to be extinguished in this ancient Christian land. Services are conducted in monasteries and churches, although the monks living in these monasteries cannot even leave their enclosures without risking life and limb. In order to go out and obtain their basic material needs, they have to be guarded by international armed forces.

Despite the enormous political and material hardships, the Serbian Church is caring for their people’s salvation. With its blessing, charitable organizations, medical centers, and free “people’s kitchens” are active in Kosovo. In these kitchens, people who have lost their jobs and food sources receive daily nourishment.

No doubt it would be much safer to abandon these places and move to Central Serbia. But several thousand Serbian Christians remain in the homeland of their Orthodox ancestors, carrying on a daily ascetic struggle unknown and largely misunderstood by the world.

Not long ago, Serbian Orthodox Christians performed yet another true and astonishing feat of self denial. They sent to Kosovo what is dearest to them—their own children. In the city of Prizren, inhabited almost exclusively by Albanians, one of the oldest theological seminaries of the Serbian Church was reopened after many years of desolation. Youths age 15–16 were sent there to study, and t become the future priests of Christ’s Holy Church. Unfortunately, the Albanians living around the seminary behave very aggressively toward them. For safety reasons, none of these youths ever leave the seminary enclosure.

The students of the Prizren seminary. Fall, 2011.

These courageous young Christians live the entire semester within the seminary walls, and all their basic needs—food, medicine, and clothing—are brought to them from Serbia. The entire seminary, both the church and the school buildings, were looted and burned in 2004. Now only a small portion has been rebuilt.

With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, we have begun a collection of aid for the seminary in Prizren, and for other monasteries and churches of Kosovo. As hard as it may be for us in these days of economic pressure, the Serbs of Kosovo are experiencing unimaginable difficulties.

The brothers of Sretensky Monastery will also be donating a part of the proceeds from their book publishing and agricultural enterprises to the Orthodox in Kosovo. with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and on his behalf, we also call upon you, brothers and sisters everywhere, to participate in this charitable endeavor to help those Christians courageously preserving the Orthodox faith in one of the most sacred, and yet most troubled areas of the world. After Pascha, a delegate from Sretensky Monastery will bring these donations to Kosovo.

On behalf and with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, we especially ask your prayers for the suffering Serbian Church.

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ (Gal. 6:2). May the Lord grant that by our small efforts, by our widow’s drachma, we might at least ease the very difficult lives of our Orthodox brothers and sisters, support them, and not let the candle of Orthodoxy go out in Kosovo.

Bank information for donations in US dollars

JSCB VOZROZHDENIYE, MOSCOW,
CENTRAL BRANCH
PAYMENTS INSTRUCTIONS

(USD)

BANK-CORRESPONDENT:
THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON, NEW YORK, USA          

SWIFT CODE – IRVT US 3N
СОR. АСС No 890-0085-681

BENEFICIARY’S BANK:
JSCB VOZROZHDENIYE, MOSCOW,                 SWIFT CODE – VBNK RU MM
CENTRAL BRANCH

In favour of SRETENSKY MANS MONASTERY OF MOSCOW

Account No 40703840200200143316

VO 70030

For the Serbian Church in Kosovo

***

Bank information for donations in euros

JSCB VOZROZHDENIYE, MOSCOW,
CENTRAL BRANCH
PAYMENTS INSTRUCTIONS

(EUR)

BANK- CORRESPONDENT:
VTB BANK (DEUTSCHLAND), AG, FRANKFURT AM MAIN, GERMANY
SWIFT CODE: OWHB DE FF
COR. ACC № 0102912011

BENEFICIARY’S BANK :
JSCB VOZROZHDENIYE, MOSCOW         SWIFT CODE - VBNK RU MM
CENTRAL BRANCH

In favour of SRETENSKY MANS MONASTERY OF MOSCOW

Account No 40703978400202143316

VO 70030

For the Serbian Church in Kosovo

All questions regarding aid to the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo and Metochia may be sent tokosovo@pravoslavie.ru