Court-Martialed for Praying in Jesus Name

Come on America, Wake Up! This is what our "so-called brother", President Bush has given us? Alert Focus: Persecution / The Dragon and the Serpent Matthew 24:9 "Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. Mark 13:9 "But be on your guard; for they will deliver you to the courts, and you will be flogged in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them. Navy dismisses chaplain who prayed 'in Jesus' name' 'We are homeless, jobless,and we are in God's hands' WORLDNETDAILY - By Bob Unruh - January 12, 2007 -- A U.S. Navy chaplain who prayed "in Jesus' name" as his conscience dictated is being ejected from the military service "in retaliation" for his victorious battle to change Navy policy that required religious rites be "non-sectarian." "This fight cost me everything. My career is over, my family is now homeless, we've lost a million dollar pension, but Congress agreed with me and rescinded the Navy policy, so chaplains are free again to pray in Jesus' name," Chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt told WND. "My sacrifice purchased their freedom. My conscience is clear, the fight was worth it, and I'd do it all again." Klingenschmitt, as WND has reported, has fought an extended battle with the Navy over its restrictions on religious expression by its chaplains. He appeared and delivered a public prayer "in Jesus' name" at a White House rally last winter and was court-martialed for that. The Navy convicted him of failing to follow a lawful order because his superior didn't want him praying "in Jesus' name." He's also launched a legal battle that he said he hopes eventually will result in his reinstatement, alleging the Navy assembled a "civic religion" by ordering its chaplains to pray in a certain way. "There's a Unitarian system of religion that's aimed at Christians," John Whitehead, founder of the The Rutherford Institute, told WND. "It boils down to that. We're seeing it all across the country, with council prayers, kids wanting to mention Jesus. What's going on here is it's generally a move in our government and military to set up a civic religion." "I think the Supreme Court's going to have to look at the idea of can the government in any of its forms tell people how to pray, set up a basic religion and say you can only do it this way," he said. Klingenschmitt told WND he'd been delivered a formal letter of reprimand for his appearance at a White House function in March 2006 at which he wore his uniform and prayed "in Jesus' name." For that he was convicted at a special court-martial of violating a lawful order from his commanding officer not to do that. His appearance was with former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice and WND columnist Judge Roy Moore, who was removed from his office when he refused to follow a federal court order he considered unlawful: to remove a Ten Commandments monument from public property. Klingenschmitt's $3,000 fine was suspended and because of the issues, Congress got involved and ordered the Navy to rescind that particular policy, and allow chaplains to pray as their "conscience dictates." In a Congressional report on the situation, members of a conference committee noted, "The House bill contained a provision … to prescribe that military chaplains shall have the prerogative to pray according to the dictates of their conscience, except as must be limited by military necessity, with any such limitation being imposed in the least restrictive manner feasible." That position was adopted with orders that the "Secretary of the Navy rescind Secretary of the Navy Instruction 1730.7C dated February 21, 2006, titled 'Religious Ministry within the Department of the Navy'" and replace it with a policy allowing such freedoms. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld also then promised Congress that no chaplain would be punished under the now-cancelled policy, but the Navy's plans to get rid of Klingenschmitt moved forward anyway. A federal judge in Klingenschmitt's lawsuit also concluded that his termination from the service and the damage that would result would not be "irreparable," so he would not step in at this point, and Klingenschmitt was delivered a Navy letter this week ordering him to move out of his home in conjunction with his removal from the service. "Access onto all military installations within Navy Region Mid-Atlantic for Lieutenant Gordon J. Klingenschmitt, CHC, USNR, will terminate on January 31, 2007," said the letter from S.W. Wong, who is with the Judge Advocate General's Corp. While he's battling for reinstatement, Klingenschmitt said, he'll be accepting speaking invitations and can be contacted through his website, and working with supporters Alan Keyes and Rick Scarborough who have assembled an online petition that calls on new Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to honor Rumsfeld's promise that no chaplain would be punished under the old policy. "U.S. Navy Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt is being unjustly punished for praying in Jesus' name, for quoting Scripture passages in a military chapel, for voicing evangelical messages about Christ while in uniform," the petition says. "Chaplain Klingenschmitt courageously stood for what is right, and his stand was completely vindicated by Congress. I am calling on you to immediately exonerate him and allow him to continue his outstanding service as a Navy chaplain. Mr. Secretary, you must act! And fast! Otherwise Chaplain Klingenschmitt will be kicked out of the service by Jan. 31, ending an award-winning 15.5-year career. He will lose his pension, health care benefits and be evicted from military housing – and our sailors will lose this faithful vicar of Christ." "I think the Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, should keep the promise of his predecessor," the chaplain told WND. "We are homeless, jobless and we are in God's hands." "My separation is in direct retaliation for my victory on Capitol Hill. This is how the Navy treats whistleblowers," he added. In the lawsuit filed by the Rutherford Institute, the authors noted that courts in the District of Columbia already have concluded: "What we have here is the government's attempt to override the Constitution and the laws of the land by a directive that clearly interferes with military chaplains' free exercise and free speech rights, as well as those of their congregants." The case developed when "one Navy Captain decided that he did not like the content of the Chaplain's religious speech during an optionally attended sermon in the chapel," the lawsuit said. Then a Navy investigation showed Klingenschmitt had prayed "in Jesus' name" and had even prayed in public in uniform. For that, the court-martial was held, "ignoring Naval Uniform Regulations that permit chaplains to wear the uniform during public worship." The lawsuit notes that the Navy is using the chaplain's resignation from one "ecclesiastical endorsement" and acceptance of another from a different church group as its reason for terminating him. However, the lawsuit notes that the Navy's own regulations state that a chaplain "shall" be recertified on request. In apparent conflict, a letter from J.C. Harvey Jr., a vice-admiral, ordering Klingenschmitt's removal from the Navy, opined that "presentation of a new ecclesiastical endorsement from a qualified Religious Organization does not automatically mandate recertification." The district court judge also found, in ruling against the chaplain, that in the military "public worship" is different from "worshipping in public," so that the Navy's punishment could move forward. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53731 Sudan: Police Deny New Year’s Church Attack COMPASSDIRECT - January 10, 2007 -= ISTANBUL -- Sudanese police have denied attacking 800 Christians at a New Year’s Eve service at Khartoum’s Anglican cathedral and injuring six members of the congregation, the church priest said. Canon Sylvester Thomas of All Saints Cathedral told Compass that officers firing tear gas into the church claimed they were trying to apprehend a man involved in a stabbing. “The police were trying to claim, ‘This group doesn’t belong to us and we don’t know where they came from,’” Thomas said. “But they were all in uniform and using guns and [police] cars.” A 19-year-old man was badly injured in the leg and stomach when the chair he was sitting on went up in flames, Thomas said, and the sound system, pews, chairs and windows were damaged. A police spokesman in Khartoum contacted by Compass refused to comment on the attack. http://www.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=lead&lang=en&length=long&idelement=4730&backpage= Boy slave 'crucified' by Sudanese Muslim Now a youth, he tells Voice of the Martyrs he's forgiven attacker WORLDNETDAILY - September 28, 2006 -- A Sudanese slave who was assigned to watch his Muslim master's camels was "crucified" when he was caught sneaking out to attend a Christian church, according to reports from Voice of the Martyrs. The aid organization that helps persecuted Christians worldwide said the reports come from witnesses in the Sudan who were in contact with the youth, now about 15. Damare Garang was seven when the attack happened, officials said. He had been captured by Islamic soldiers when his Sudanese village was attacked, and then sold as a slave to a Muslim family in Tuobon, Bahr el Gazel. His duties were to tend the master's camels, but one day one fled. "How could you do this? You will surely have to pay! You stupid slave, I should just kill you now," he was told. However, the child escaped any injuries at that point. Then the following day Damare, who had been raised in a Christian family, sneaked away for a time to a small church service across the village. His master was waiting when he returned. "Where have you been?" he was asked, and partly from fear and partly from not having another answer, he said, "to church." "You have made two grave mistakes," the slave master said. "Yesterday you lost one of my camels, and today you worship with infidels!" The master went to a barn and returned with a large board, some rusty spikes and a hammer, the report said. "Frozen in fear, Damare was dragged out to the edge of his master's compound where he was forced to the ground with his legs over the board," the VOM report said. "The savage brutality of the master was unleashed as he proceeded to drive the long nails through Damare's knees and then nail his feet securely onto the board." While Damare was screaming in agony, the slave master simply walked away. The boy's help arrived in the form of a Good Samaritan who happened by, and saw the small boy. The man sneaked into the compound and carried the boy to a hospital where the board and nails were removed. Damare later was released to the custody of his helper, with whom he lived for the next 18 months. Once again, then, there was a militia attack on his village, and he was separated from his protector. When the Islamic army soldiers were driven off, a commander of village forces recognized Damare's speech as being of the Dinka tribe, and took charge of him. That commander eventually adopted Damare, who now lives in Mario Kong. He remains disappointed he is unable to run quickly like other boys, but he says he's forgiven his attacker, because Jesus was nailed to a cross to forgive all sins... "Please tell the Christian children in America to remember to pray for the children of Sudan," Damare told his visitors. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52181 Christian teen recovering from attack by Islamists Voice of Martyrs helping with medical, emotional cataclysm WORLDNETDAILY - December 21, 2006 -- In many ways Noviana Malewa is like any other teen-aged Christian girl in Indonesia. But it is her eyes – which reveal a sadness and strength far beyond her years – that are different, and give evidence of the emotional and mental trauma of her own experience with radical Islam, a new report concludes. That, and the machete chop scar that runs from her cheek bone across her face down onto her neck, says the report from Voice of the Martyrs. As WND has reported, Noviana and three of her friends were walking on a school path Oct 29, 2005, when they were assaulted by radical Islamic jihadists wielding machetes. Noviana was the only survivor, and suffered the massive slash across her face and neck; the other three girls were decapitated. VOMedical, a division of the outreach to persecuted Christians worldwide that deals with medical issues, eventually was able to arrange transportation for Noviana to a hospital in Surabaya, and officials are planning to continue follow-up physical treatment. "Though Noviana's physical scars are beginning to heal, she still struggles with the emotional and mental scars from witnessing the brutal murder of her three friends. Yet, she remains steadfast in her faith," the group confirmed in its report. Noviana and her friends had been taking a small footpath on their way to their Christian high school in Poso, Indonesia, when radical Islamists dressed all in black jumped suddenly from the jungle and began slashing the girls with machetes. VOM reports that Noviana fought back as she was struck, then fell to the ground and rolled down into a ravine. Above, she heard her friends screaming. Just as she was about to lose hope, a van of soldiers appeared and the attackers fled. The soldiers then took her to a hospital. But she had to be hidden in a Christian village and guarded by police because her testimony was needed in court, and the radical Muslims who had killed her friends still were hunting her. At that point it was too dangerous even to leave her in a hospital, but after months of negotiations to guarantee her safety, arrangements were made for her to be in the Surabaya hospital, VOM said. She's had successful surgery and VOM is working on continuing care, officials said. She suffered from an involuntary tick in her eye and another near her mouth because of the nerve damage from the slash, and she also suffered other nerve damage and a dislocated jaw. Earlier reports said daily massages are being used to stimulate nerve repair and skin salves must be given daily. Plastic surgery also was obtained to reduce the scarring. Authorities said Theresia Morangke, 15, Yarni Sambue, 15, and Alfita Poliwo, 17, were killed in the attack. Their heads were found in bags on the steps of a church and along a road, carrying a message, "We will murder 100 more Christian teenagers and their heads will be presented as presents." The Pakistan Christian Post reported that Noviana recalled streaming with blood. "All I could do was pray to Jesus for his help,' she said. According to a subsequent report in The Jakarta Post, the Islamic suspects in the deaths have confessed to the fatal attack. Authorities reported that the suspects have ties to Noordin Top, who is considered a key leader of the Al-Qaida-linked group Jamaah Islamiyah. There also have been reports that the defendants told authorities they planned the murders as a "gift" to mark the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. ... [More] http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53450 Ambush by 'radicals' leaves pastor in hospital Church leader en route to worship when youths lure him to beating WORLDNETDAILY - October 19, 2006 - A Christian pastor in India is being treated for injuries following an ambush into which he was lured by several Hindu youths, according to officials with The Voice of the Martyrs, the Christian aid organization that reaches out to persecuted Christians worldwide. The report said Pastor Bhadikar Barshi was on his way to a regular service at his home in the Barshi region of Maharashta state when two youths approached him recently. "Asking him to join them in a prayer for a friend who had been suffering from a sickness over the past 15 years, the young men walked alongside the pastor for some time," the report said. The attackers used wooden clubs to beat the pastor, 48, all over his body, including his head where he suffered a severe gash on his right eye, officials reported. "His chest and back sustained most of his injuries," VOM said. He was hospitalized for treatment, as well as stitches to close a cut on the left side of his forehead. VOMedical covered the expenses for his eight-day hospitalization, officials said. Local sources told VOM that the minister was targeted by the violent Hindu faction because of his missionary work. Police reports said officers were looking into the "radical" group whose members attacked Pastor Bhadikar in the region where there is a high level of Hindu opposition to any teaching of the Christian faith. However, VOM said the pastor "remains faithful in continuing his ministry." ... http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52497 Pastors' convictions for quoting Quran overturned WORLDNETDAILY - December 28, 2006 -- Two Australian pastors who were convicted of "vilifying" Muslims when they quoted from the Quran during a seminar on jihad have had their appeals upheld by the Victorian Supreme Court. And while that means they will return to a lower court for another trial, that actually is a good result, according to a new report from Voice of the Martyrs. "In a sense we are happy with this decision… It means this case will be kept alive in the public consciousness," Pastor Danny Nalliah said in a VOM report. "There's a need to keep these vilification laws in sharp focus to reveal the problems this law is creating." The Australian law was imposed in order to prevent the denigration of people based on their race or religion, and similar laws also have been approved in Canada, where critics of the law say they include sexual orientation and forbid pastors from condemning homosexuality as a sin. Many of the "hate crimes" proposals in the United States are based on a similar concept: designating as "crimes" the statements people make about their own beliefs or convictions. In a statement released through Catch the Fire Ministries, where Nalliah serves as president, he thanked his friends for their moral, prayer and financial support during the trial and appeal process to date. "The battle for Freedom to express Truth is far from over, as a retrial at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (with a different Judge) is expected sometime next year… I believe the Lord will continue to use this case to further awaken His Church, our nation of Australia, the nations of the world, and to discredit the vilification laws in Victoria," he wrote. Nalliah and Pastor Daniel Scot were charged following a complaint filed by The Islamic Council of Victoria, and were the first people found guilty of religious vilification under the Victorian Religious and Racial Tolerance Act of 2002. They were accused of vilifying Muslims at a seminar on jihad on March 9, 2002. VOM said the two were lecturing on the differences between Christianity and Islam, and quoted directly from the Quran. After his conviction, Nalliah had refused to apologize. "Right from the inception, we have said that this law is a foul law, this law is not a law that brings unity. It causes disunity and as far as we are concerned right from the beginning we have stated that we will not apologize. We will go to prison for standing for the truth and not sacrifice our freedom and freedom to speak," he told VOM. In a commentary in the Herald Sun, Andrew Bolt noted the travesty of the case, and that besides the death threats to the pastors and their families, they still must pay an estimated $150,000 for the court proceedings against them. ... [More] http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53526 See Also: Catch the Fire Appeal: Media Reports and Comment from Ros Phillips Christian preacher injured when bus rams SUV But he says Muslim militants' reports of his death premature WORLDNETDAILY - September 21, 2006 -- A Christian man whose witnessing enraged Muslims is recovering from his injuries after a bus driver rammed into his SUV, driving shards of broken glass into his arms, according to a new report from Voice of the Martyrs. Because of death threats against the man, as well as the potential for danger to other Christians, relatives and acquaintances, many of the details of the recent attack in Bangladesh on the minister known as Andrew were being withheld by Voice of the Martyrs. But the report said he was en route to visit a group of 17 families whose members have converted from Islam to Christianity when his vehicle was rammed by a bus. "His left elbow was broken from the impact, and his right forearm was embedded with glass and severely lacerated in five places," the VOM report said, so the group is working to provide continuing medical care for him. The ministry, which was launched by Rev. Richard Wurmbrand, author of "Tortured for Christ" relating his experiences representing Christ in war-torn Europe, focuses on getting help, support, and the Gospel to persecuted Christians worldwide. The group said drivers of four buses had been hired by a militant Muslim group to crash into Andrew's SUV, and one succeeded. Immediately after the crash, the bus driver ran from the scene and reported that he had "killed the targeted Christian preacher." However, while two others from the militant group were racing to the scene to confirm the fatality, Andrew's driver drove the smashed SUV to a nearby hospital, where the unconscious Andrew was admitted. ... Ominously, during that trip, Andrew took four calls on his mobile phone, where callers told him, "Now you are going to heaven with your Isa (Christ)." A pin was installed in his elbow to hold together a broken chip, and further surgery and physical therapy may be needed, officials said. "Despite all of this hostility and opposition, Andrew remains determined to continue his ministry to Muslim-background believers," the VOM said. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52065 German homeschool advocate says Nazis have returned Reports of government persecution vastly under-reported, he tells WND WORLDNETDAILY - By Bob Unruh - December 23, 2006 -- For parents who wish to teach their own children in the Judeo-Christian tradition, Germany today is not much better than it was under Nazi party control in the 1930s and 1940s, according to a man who lives there and is pleading for international help for his country. "We are not far away from an intolerant dictatorship in our country," the man wrote WND. "Parental rights are more and more abolished. If you do not the way the state wants, to so-called Jugendamt (youth welfare office) is quickly to check out if they can take away the custody of your children." He said for homeschoolers, the crackdown is getting so "draconian" they are fleeing to other countries, leaving homes and sometimes jobs behind, in order to protect their children from the anti-Christian teachings of the secular school system. The man identifies himself as being part of the German homeschool support organization Netz-Bildung Freiheit (Net-Education Freedom). He contacted WND after the news website broke the story that a German government official had warned that families' religious beliefs will have to be brought into alignment with required school attendance laws. His name is being withheld by WND so that he is not targeted for speaking out, because he is pleading with those outside of Germany to launch a campaign to focus international attention on their actions. "We hope that it will have an impact on the persons in responsibility that the international publicity is looking on them," the homeschool leader wrote to WND. "Express your protest against the violation of parental rights and the right of the free choice of education." "The situation for families is depressing, all the lawsuits have been lost in the past, judges are not ready to acknowledge the conflict in conscience of the Christian homeschoolers," he wrote. "Freedom of faith and conscience is a matter which is officially a basic right granted in the constitution, but practically it isn't worth the paper it is written on. "As long as you practice your faith in a church building you have no problems, but as soon as you act in accordance to your faith, for example, in the education of your children, the freedom ends rapidly," he said. He likened the situation to that of families under the Nazi regime, or "like in the former Soviet Union under the Communists." "For that reason many homeschool families have left the country and emigrated to Norway, Ireland, Canada, USA, Great Britain and others. The families who remained are in a desperate situation. So every help from America or other countries is welcomed and may help us. "So my urgent appeal to you: Don't forget us. [Tell people] the government harasses homeschooling parents who do the best for their children and who are in most of the cases Bible-believe Christians." The Home School Legal Defense Association, at the same time, was issuing a plea for help for German homeschoolers: "We have sent out information periodically on Germany. The situation, unfortunately, is not getting any better, and they need your prayers and support," the organization said. "Most recently, a decision was handed down by the European Court of Human rights (which) … completely turned the European Union Constitution's Article 14, the section on parent's rights to control the education of their children, completely upside down." That decision will allow any nation in the EU, should it choose, to outlaw homeschooling. "Meanwhile, the German homeschoolers continue to be unmercifully persecuted. In our last report, we explained that there were approximately 40 families in court at one stage or the other. Families are fleeing regularly to other foreign countries in order to continue homeschooling…" One lawyer who worked on the German case said what is "stunning" is the state's aggression against homeschoolers, while it ignores "the hundred thousand students who do not go to school at all, where the parents do not even care about their children." The HSLDA noted that one homeschool mother recently was interviewed by the Christian Broadcasting Network, and two days later was jailed. In one of the German states, the the Romeike family had their grade-school children forcibly hauled to the public school by police until they moved. Another homeschool family was ordered to have their children in school, even though a doctor provided a medical reason for one child to be at home, "so they have fled outside of Germany and are in the underground." The HSLDA said tax-deductible donations could be made to its Foundation to help those families. The German homeschool father said public comments would be very helpful, and should be directed first to several state education administrators, because they are the ones in whom Germany has invested the power to make such decisions: - Mr. Steffen Flath, The Free State of Saxony, via e-mail at: Steffen.Flath@smk.sachsen.de or by mail at: Saechsisches Staatsministerium für Kultus, Carolaplatz 1, 01097 Dresden, Letter post: Postfach 100 910 01079 Dresden or via telephone at: +49 351-564-0. - Helmut Rau, Baden-Württemberg, via e-mail at: Helmut.Rau@km.kv.bwl.de or by mail at: Ministerium für Kultus, Jugend und Sport Schlossplatz 4 70173 Stuttgart or via telephone at: +49 711/279-2531. - Barbara Sommer, North Rhine-Westphalia, via e-mail at: barbara.sommer@msw.nrw.de or by mail at: Ministerium für Schule und Weiterbildung, des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, 40190 Düsseldorf or via telephone at: +49 211/5867-3535 or 3536. The earlier threat from a state education official was reported in an English translation at the Homeschoolblogger.com website. "The Minister of Education does not share your attitudes toward so-called homeschooling and is not prepared to approve a corresponding pilot project," said a government letter in response to a request for consideration for a family whose children were taken to school by police. "You complain about the forced school escort of primary school children by the responsible local police officers on the basis of paragraph 86 of the education law as a measure of the execution of authority. It is known to the ministry of education that primary school students can be particularly burdened by the related contradiction between the norms of the parent-house and that of the public school through such forced escorts." The government letter continued with a solution: "In order to avoid this in future, the education authority is in conversation with the affected family in order to look for possibilities to bring the religious convictions of the family into line with the unalterable school attendance requirement," the government said. U.S. homeschool leaders are very worried. Michael Farris, cofounder of the HSLDA, has called for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to protect the right of parents to educate their children at home, in light of what is developing in Europe, and the growing influence of international court conclusions in the U.S. His concern is that if the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child were ratified by the Senate or adopted by the federal courts as enforceable international law, American homeschooling could be banned. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53450 Homeschoolers say 'so long' to eBay Internet giant's ban on homeschool texts triggers alternatives WORLDNETDAILY - October 6, 2006 -- Members of the biggest homeschool group in the United States, with more than 80,000 families, are telling eBay, the Internet trading giant, "so long" with the launch of a new auction website for them to exchange books and supplies. The new site was begun only about a week ago by the Home School Legal Defense Association, and already there are more than 1,500 registered users signed up. It's meant to serve as many people as are interested who are part of the estimated $1 billion annual homeschooling supplies business. It was triggered by eBay's recent announcement that it was banning all teachers' textbooks of any sort, including all such homeschool supplies. "HSLDA created this site in response to our members' concerns about the policies of other auction sites that do not allow the sale of teacher or instructor materials," said a statement from HSLDA President J. Michael Smith. "Anyone can sell materials on this site. You can sell through auctions, multiple item auctions, bartering, and fixed price sales. And if you have a lot to sell, you can upload the auction listings in bulk," he said. He said since the project is being offered as a member benefit, only HSLDA members will be allowed to buy. "This also helps ensure that teacher materials are being sold only to teachers," he said. There are no fees for the use of the site, he said, with all profits going directly to sellers. But much the same as other sites, sellers will have profiles and buyers will rate their services. "Our hope is that this service will be a blessing to you, allowing you to save money on curriculum purchases and recoup some of your costs by selling used curriculum," Smith said. A homeschooling supporter named Joan said HSLDA is widely known for its services to and support of homeschool families. "I personally trust this organization and can't express sufficiently the joy I have over this," she wrote. The new policy from eBay was made known as people who were auctioning various books watched as their postings were deleted. The company said it was just policy. "As you may know, eBay does not permit items that are illegal, dangerous, offensive, or potentially infringing. Additionally, eBay has just recently made the decision to prohibit the sale of Teacher's Editions of textbooks and solutions manuals that are intended solely for use by teachers. Since eBay strives to be a level-playing field, all Teacher's Edition textbooks, manuals and guides will be covered under this policy. Unfortunately, home schooling Teacher's Editions are not exempt from this policy and this policy will apply to all grade levels." ... [More] http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52309 British stewardess challenges airline's Bible ban WORLDNETDAILY - By Dan Wooding, ASSIST News Service - December 30, 2006 -- LONDON – A Christian airline stewardess is planning to challenge a ruling by a British airline that prohibits staff from traveling to Saudi Arabia with a Bible. Journalist Claire Bergen, writing for the Independent Catholic News website, said, "BMI, formerly British Midland Airways, confirmed that the matter is now subject to an industrial tribunal due to take place in the New Year." She went on to say, "The stewardess, a committed Christian, likes to take her Bible, which was once her mother's, with her when she travels. "But BMI says it has banned her from taking the Bible with her in accordance with Foreign Office advice that no non-Islamic materials or artifacts are allowed in Saudi Arabia." On its website, the British Foreign Office says of Saudi Arabia: "The importation and use of narcotics, alcohol, pork products and religious books, apart from the Quran (Koran), and artifacts are forbidden.".... Now a Christian councilor from East London has entered the fray. Councilor Alan Craig, leader of the Christian Peoples Alliance group on Newham Council, is calling for Christians and Muslims to work together in support of the BMI air stewardess. "It is ludicrous for BMI to take this stand and to condone Saudi religious intolerance," he said, speaking from Newham in East London, where Christians and Muslims comprise respectively 47 percent and 25 percent of the population (2001 UK census). "British Christians and Muslims know the value of religious freedom as in the UK we have the right to openly carry our Bibles and Qurans and worship at our churches and mosques whenever we want." Craig also called on Dr. Muhammed Abdul Bari, Secretary General of Newham-based Muslim Council of Britain, to speak out publicly in favor of the BMI stewardess, to express his support for her to BMI directors, to work with church leaders on her behalf and to use his contacts with Saudi Arabia to get their strict policy changed. "Dr. Bari and other Muslims benefit from Britain's religious freedoms and the London Muslim Center even received significant British government subsidy," said Craig. "He should welcome this opportunity to use his significant influence in senior Saudi circles to benefit this Christian woman in that Muslim country." The case follows that of British Airways worker Nadia Eweida, also a committed Christian, whose objection to BA rules which forbade her visibly wearing a cross led to a review by BA of its uniform policy. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53571 Christian landscaper won't soilhands with work for 'gay' clients WORLDNETDAILY - October 21, 2006 -- A Houston landscaping company is under fire for turning down a job because its Christian owners have a policy of not working for homosexual customers – a decision that has spurred calls for a boycott and an anti-discrimination ordinance that would prevent them from selecting clients based on sexual orientation. Todd and Sabrina Farber have owned and operated The Garden Guy since 1991 and, like other landscape contractors, use the Internet to show the quality of their past work and to solicit future business. The Garden Guy was just one of the landscaping businesses Michael Lord and Gary Lackey, a homosexual couple who has been together for nine years, requested bids from earlier this week for the new home they're building in Houston Heights. Lord said he found The Garden Guy through an Internet search and liked the "before and after" pictures on the website. "We sent e-mails to several local landscaping companies asking for quotes. Garden Guy called Michael back saying they would like to bid," Lackey told the Houston Voice. Lord called the company Wednesday morning to set up an appointment. "Michael was asked if 'his wife would be home' when the consultation would take place. He brushed it off, but when he was asked again if his wife would be joining, Michael said, "No, but my partner Gary will be.' "Michael set up the appointment, but a few minutes later we got the e-mail." That e-mail has now become the subject of a nationwide online debate. Subject: Cancel Appt – Garden Guy Dear Mr. Lord, I am appreciative of your time on the phone today and glad you contacted us. I need to tell you that we cannot meet with you because we choose not to work for homosexuals. Best of luck in finding someone else to fill your landscaping needs. All my best, Sabrina Todd and Sabrina Farber Owners, Garden Guy, Inc. After receiving the e-mail, Lord called Lackey. "He was in shock," Lackey said. "We just couldn't believe that had happened." Lackey forwarded the e-mail to about 200 of his friends, asking that they not patronize Garden Guy in the future. Had Lord looked more closely he would have seen that the Farbers were very upfront with their faith. Beneath a photo of the couple and their four children, the Farbers wrote: The God-ordained institution of marriage is under attack in courts across the nation, and your help is needed. Go to: www.nogaymarriage.com to take action. Ephesians 5:8 (Amplified Bible) ... For once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of Light and lead the lives of those native-born to the Light. That stance shortly became the topic of discussion online and in the homosexual press. The Farbers quickly set up a forum on their website but it was taken down Thursday, possible because of the crude language of some posters. "I am embarrassed for you and your husband," wrote "Chris." "Just as you choose not to do business with us, I, my friends, my family, my co-workers and everyone I meet, will not do business with you! I have sent your e-mail to over 50 people I know and work with. These people know 50 others each ... was your bigotry worth it?" Some critics noted that the Garden Guy website stated that the business was a member of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers, a claim disputed by the trade organization's president in a statement criticizing the Farbers. Amid the threats of boycotts and criticism of the Farber's faith, one poster found the angry messages to be the problem: "There is more hate in these posts than in the original e-mail," wrote "Dave." "Why do you feel that we Christians MUST accept you? Don't you find it ironic that while you demand in one breath that we give up our position that homosexuality is a sin worthy of hell, that you condemn us to that very place in your next?" A copy of the temporary forum site can be viewed here. And while they've refused to talk with the media, the Farbers issued a public explanation for their decision: To the Houston media We did not refuse service with malicious intent. We do not hate homosexuals and we are sorry that we hurt Michael Lord and Gary Lackey. We meant to uphold our right as a small business owner to choose who our clients are. We are humbly sorry for the hurt that it has caused. Respectfully, Todd and Sabrina Farber That may not be enough, though. Some in the homosexual community are angry that what the Farbers did was not illegal. "That's the biggest issue. This is not against the law and that is a travesty," Jerry Simoneaux, an attorney who specializes in homosexual issues told Houston's KHOU-TV. He noted other cities like Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth and El Paso have adopted ordinances that would prohibit similar discrimination. "We need something like that in Houston, but we don't have it," said Simoneaux. The response to the Farber's decision has not been universally negative. The American Family Association issued a statement defending their business decision, saying, "Todd, like millions of Americans, obviously has a moral conviction based on his religious beliefs against homosexual behavior and that lifestyle. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that." Lord and Lackey say they have received "lots of offers and recommendations" for a new landscaper. Both men are listed as "hosts" for the homosexual group Bunnies on the Bayou, a Texas 501(c)3 charity that raises money for AIDS-related organizations and art groups. Bunnies was selected to serve as organization grand marshal for the 2006 Houston Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Pride Parade. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52554 Another college drops cross emblem Official: It sent 'wrong message,' created 'confusion' WORLDNETDAILY - By Bob Unruh - December 30, 200 -- Another university is dropping a cross from its historic imagery, saying it creates confusion and sends the wrong message. The announcement from Simon Fraser University near Vancouver, B.C., about the school's Coat of Arms brings it in alignment with a precedent set earlier by the College of William and Mary, which said in a story WND broke that a historic cross in a structure built as a Christian chapel hundreds of years ago would have to go because it offended some people. A spokesman for Simon Fraser said the two crosses on the 40-year-old emblem are a problem. Warren Gill, the school's vice-president of university relations, said the school doesn't want people to think the wrong thing. "For some people, particularly internationally, the crosses were seen to identify us as a private religious institution as opposed to a secular public one, and a lot of our international folks were getting that back," he said. "If our name was the University of Burnaby, it probably wouldn't have conveyed the same thing, but named for a person it caused some confusion internationally," he told the CBC. The school is named for Canadian explorer Simon Fraser, who lived from 1776-1862 and owes his fame to his expeditions through Canada in 1805 and 1808. He spent many years in the fur trade and took part in the conflict between the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company, but in 1818 he was acquitted of treason, conspiracy and being an accessory to murder. He established several trading posts and explored the river that now bears his name. "We had to pass where no human being should venture," Fraser later concluded. Gill said a new coat of arms will replace the crosses with emblems of books, although the old coat of arms, which has been used since 1965, will remain on university buildings. It was approved by the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the custodian of and the authority for Scottish Heraldry, and was based on the personal coat of arms of the clan chief, Simon Fraser Lord Lovat. ... [More] http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53568 'Pro-marriage' sign leads to firing WORLDNETDAILY - October 21, 2006 -- A Virginia man claims he was fired from his job because a message on the window of his pickup truck supported a proposed state constitutional amendment on marriage. Luis Padilla, who worked in the human resources office at Cargill, the international provider of food and agricultural products and services, wrote on his vehicle's rear window, "Please, vote for marriage on Nov. 7." Virginia's proposed amendment would define marriage as a union between one man and one woman. An attorney for Cargill, Al Sufka, says Padilla was dismissed for insubordination, because he did not remove the message, which company officials say could be considered harassment, the Harrisonburg Daily News Record in Virginia reported. The 40-year-old's actions, Sufka said, created an environment inconsistent with his role in human relations. "Although Mr. Padilla is clearly entitled to believe whatever he wants, he has no legal right to act in a manner that violates our company policies of equal employment opportunity, non-harassment and tolerance of differences." Cargill spokesman Mark Klein explained the message was considered harassment because people who complained about it said it offended them. As WND reported, Cargill is among the companies given a perfect score of 100 percent on the Human Rights Campaign's 2006 Corporate Equality Index, with policies beneficial toward homosexuals. ... [More] http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52549 Irony of ironies Rome's Colosseum lights up in death penalty protest AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE - January 6, 2007 -- The Colosseum in Rome was illuminated evening as part of Italy's campaign for a global moratorium on the death penalty following the bungled hanging of Saddam Hussein. Following an initiative by the Italian capital's left-wing mayor Walter Veltroni, the arches of the world-famous 2,000-year-old Roman era stadium were lit up as night fell.In attendance were members of Italy's libertarian Radical Party, whose 76-year-old leader Marco Pannella began a hunger strike on December 26 in support of the moratorium. Italian politicians were unanimous in their revulsion over Saddam's execution, with former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi calling it a "political and historic error." Rome's initiative will involve 85 UN member states that signed a non-binding declaration in December against capital punishment, Prime Minister Romano Prodi has said. http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/01/06/070106220015.scoe89pg.html FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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