Archive for October 11th, 2007

Muslims Leaders Warn Pope ‘Survival of World’ at Stake

Thursday, October 11th, 2007

More rumblings on the prophetic front. Christians, time is getting so short. Stay faithful and keep looking up.

The “survival of the world” is at stake if Muslims and Christians do not make peace with each other, leaders of the Muslim world will warn the Pope and other Christian leaders today.

In an unprecedented open letter signed by 138 leading scholars from every sect of Islam, the Muslims plead with Christian leaders “to come together with us on the common essentials of our two religions” and spell out the similarities between passages of the Bible and the Koran.

The scholars state: “As Muslims, we say to Christians that we are not against them and that Islam is not against them - so long as they do not wage war against Muslims on account of their religion, oppress them and drive them out of their homes.”

The phrasing has echoes of the New Testament passage: “He that is not with me is against me” - a passage used by President George Bush when addressing a joint session of Congress nine days after 9/11.

The Muslims call instead for the emphasis to be on the shared characteristics of world’s two largest faiths.

The letter, addressed to Pope Benedict XVI, to the Orthodox Church’s Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew 1 and all the other Orthodox Patriarchs and to the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams and the leaders of all other Protestant churches worldwide, will be rolled out around the world this morning in a series of press conferences beginning in Jordan. It is supported by the Bishop of London, the Right Rev Richard Chartres.

It is expected to be followed by a joint conference between Muslim and Christian world leaders at on “neutral” ground, such as at an American university.

“Finding common ground between Muslims and Christians is not simply a matter for polite ecumenical dialogue between selected religious leaders,” the Muslim scholars say, noting that Christians and Muslims make up over a third and a fifth of humanity respectively.

Original Link.

Iran Admits “We Do Have Homosexuals”

Thursday, October 11th, 2007

During Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s recent visit to New York, he made the statement “In Iran we don’t have homosexuals like in your country”. I suppose he said that to try to prove the moral superiority of Iran. Apparently, he has now chnaged his story. The truth is that homosexuality in Iran is punishable by death (so maybe they don’t have as many homosexuals there because they kill them?) What I cannot understand is that prominent homosexual activists (Rosie O’Donnell for instance) continue to preach tolerance of Islam and side with Muslims in the war effort, yet these same Muslims would kill them for their sexual choices. Pretty crazy if you ask me.

Iran has conceded that it does have homosexuals - but not as many as in the United States.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad caused a worldwide storm last month when he insisted there were no gays in the Islamic country.

Addressing New York’s Columbia University, Mr Ahmadinejad was emphatic when asked about whether Iran was home to homosexuals.

“In Iran we don’t have homosexuals like in your country,” he maintained.

Speaking through a translator, he added: “In Iran we don’t have this phenomenon.”

But a presidential aide has now said the meaning of Mr Ahmadinejad’s reply had been lost in translation.

Iran does in fact have homosexuals, he conceded.

“What Ahmadinejad said was not a political answer,” presidential media adviser Mohammad Kalhor explained.

“He said that, compared with American society, we don’t have many homosexuals.”

Mr Kalhor said because of historical, religious and cultural differences, homosexuality was less common in Iran and the Islamic world than in the West.

Homosexuality is punishable by death in the Islamic Republic Of Iran.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said in May the last person known “with reasonable certainty” to have been sentenced to execution in Iran for consensual homosexual conduct was in 2005.

Original Link

Empire State Building To Honor Muslim Holiday

Thursday, October 11th, 2007

I wonder how long it will be before the US is called a Muslim nation.

New York’s iconic Empire State Building is to be lit up green from Friday in honor of the Muslim holiday of Eid, the biggest festival in the Muslim calendar marking the end of Ramadan, officials said.

“This is the first time that the Empire State Building will be illuminated for Eid, and the lighting will become an annual event in the same tradition of the yearly lightings for Christmas and Hannukah,” according to a statement.

Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the fasting month, is expected to be celebrated in New York from Friday, depending on when the new moon is sighted, and the city’s tallest skyscraper will remain green until Sunday.

Built in the early 1930s, the 443-meter-tall (1,454-feet-tall) Empire State Building was first lit up with colored lighting in 1976, when red, white and blue lights were used to mark the American Bicentennial.

An estimated seven million Muslims live in the United States.

Original Link

Clergy Being Briefed on Free Speech for Election ‘08

Thursday, October 11th, 2007

Church pastors and religious groups all too commonly find themselves targets of IRS lawsuits, or threats of lawsuits, after speaking out on social issues of the day and the policy records of politicians and political candidates. But a coalition of groups has decided to take a proactive approach to that issue as election time nears, issuing a letter titled “Constitutional Protections for Pastors: Your Freedom to Speak Biblical Truth on the Moral Issues of the Day.” The October 1 letter [PDF] was issued jointly by Concerned Women for America (CWA), Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), Focus on the Family, James Madison Center for Free Speech, and Family Research Council.

CWA’s Wendy Wright says the letter is intended to assure clergy members of their free-speech rights without having to worry about losing their church’s tax-exempt status. Wright says clergy would be remiss if they could not train their church members on what the Bible says concerning the most controversial issues of the day, especially when many of those issues will be the focus of the 2008 elections.

According to Wright, “America faces a moral free-fall, and some would hurry it along with the threat of government sanctions against Christians who dare to speak out on critical issues. But the First Amendment protects the freedom of religion, not government restriction of religion. Religion and morality are foundational to America’s success and Christian leaders would neglect their duty if they allow themselves to be silenced by empty threats.”

Original Link.
We have a copy of the letter here.

California Public Cchool District Sued Over Community Service Policy

Thursday, October 11th, 2007

California school systems are still trying to relegate Christians into second class citizens.

A federal lawsuit has been filed against the Long Beach Unified School District over a community service policy that some say is unconstitutional.

Starting with the class of 2007, the district required all high school students to complete 40 hours of community service to qualify for their high school diploma. Chris Rand, 15, completed more than 80 hours of community service through a local church. He assisted with arts and crafts projects, helped to store equipment, and performed other duties at the Long Beach Alliance Church. But school officials refused to give Rand credit for his work because it was associated with a church.

“Obviously, the school is saying that in order to graduate community service is required — but only it’s going to be accepted if you do it to secular venues, not to religious ones. That particular discrimination I think offends the First Amendment,” he (Liberty Counsel founder Mat Staver) says. “And I think it is blatantly discriminatory to say that churches or other religious communities that engage in a lot of community service are simply off limits solely because of their religious nature.”

Original Link.


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