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Please read just a few of the headlines that World Net Daily has published.
October, 2005
FAITH UNDER FIRE
Muslims
trash Egyptian church
Coptic leaders ask U.N., U.S. to help
protect endangered Christians
Fearing a repeat of the recent riots against the Coptic Church in Alexandria, Egypt, which left four dead, more than 80 wounded and seven churches defaced, leaders of the Coptic church in the United States are calling on the U.S. government and the United Nations to take immediate action to stop the bloodshed and destruction of churches.
Exclusive video footage released by the International Christian Union and American Coptic Association, or ICU/ACA, yesterday reveals the destruction of the Assemblies of God Church for Evangelical Copts in Moharam Bek on Friday, Oct. 21.
An e-mail report from Dr. Monir Dawoud, president of the ICU/ACA, obtained by ANS says: "We are receiving numerous reports that extremist Muslim groups are planning to surround the Alexandria churches again on Friday, Oct.28, and at the end of Ramadan on the following Tuesday, promising the death of Christians and the continued destruction of churches throughout Egypt."
Dawoud faults the security forces for encouraging violence by first "giving the green light to the mob," and then failing to control the resulting riots.
"If the momentum of the riots is allowed to continue, the crowds will be impossible to contain," Dawoud said.
More than 5,000 Muslims demonstrated outside of the Alexandria Coptic Orthodox Church last Friday to protest the production of a drama staged at the church two years ago. The protesters said the play blasphemes Islam. According to recent statements by the Coptic Church, however, the play does not defame Islam.
"Copts and other minorities in Egypt are continually subjected to physical and verbal harassment by extremist Muslim groups. Yet we do not destroy their houses of worship or call for bloodshed," said Amgad Zakhari, one of the youth leaders with the ICU/ACA.
In addition to the protests, the Egyptian newspaper El Fagr published threats made by Muslim radicals against the Coptic Pope Shenouda III.
According to the report, Muslim radicals publicly announced their threats through mosques in the outskirts of the city of Alexandria and were calling for the death of Pope Shenouda in revenge for an alleged insult to Islam's prophet.
The
ICU and the ACA are planning a demonstration in front of the U.N. next
week to protest the persecution of Christians in Egypt.
TESTING THE FAITH
School board bans religious holidays
Nixes days off after Muslim group asked
classes be canceled for Eid
Rather than add a school holiday for Muslims who were requesting one, a Florida school board has canceled all religious observances – including Yom Kippur, Good Friday and the day after Easter.
The Hillsborough County School Board this week approved its 2006-07 calendar without the religious holidays, on a 6-1 vote, the Tampa Tribune reported.
"A school board cannot recognize a religious holiday for the sole purpose of recognizing a religious holiday," board attorney Tom Gonzalez is quoted as telling a packed meeting of the panel Tuesday.
The controversy began when Ahmed Bedier, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, in December requested a school holiday for Eid Al-Fitr, a holy day marking the end of Ramadan. The board then decided to reconsider the district calendar, voting to delete all religious holidays.
Bedier called the change away from observing religious holidays "just an excuse to hide bias against the Muslims."
Bishop Chuck Leigh, president of the Florida Council of Churches, backed Bedier, telling the Tampa paper: "I think it's really petty on the part of the school board. ... Instead of giving them one holiday, they decided they're not going to give anybody anything."
Bedier told Tampa Bay's 10 News: "It will stigmatize and cause friction between Christian and Jewish students and Muslim students, because now kids at schools will say, 'Hey, the Muslim kids were responsible for us losing our holiday.'"
Several individuals connected to the Council on American-Islamic Relations have been indicted on terrorism-related charges. In addition, CAIR's chairman of the board, Omar Ahmad, was cited by a California newspaper in 1998 declaring the Quran should be America's highest authority. He also was reported to have said Islam is not in America to be equal to any other religion but to be dominant.
Board member Jennifer Faliero voted against the new calendar, saying she believes Good Friday has become a secular holiday in American culture.
"It is now about the Easter Bunny. ... They have taken religion out of it completely," she said.
The
policy of excusing students with no penalty on their religious holidays
will continue, board members stressed.
LAW OF THE LAND
Kennedy
tries another tack on 'hate crimes'
Group says senator 'trying to slip it in
under the radar'
After a failed attempt at passing "hate crimes" legislation, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., is trying to attach an amendment favored by homosexual-rights activists to another bill, an activist group warns.
Kennedy sought to pass the controversial legislation – adding "sexual orientation" to the hate-crimes law – through the "Child Safety Act," but this time the vehicle is "The Streamlined Procedures Act of 2005," which deals with federal criminal procedures, says Concerned Women for America.
The group says: "Mr. Kennedy may have gotten the word that many people have been warning the Senate not to add his amendment to the Senate version of 'The Child Safety Act,' so he appears to be trying to slip it in under the radar."
That strategy worked in the House of Representatives in September, CWA says, when a hate crimes amendment by Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., adding "sexual orientation" and expanding federal power was rushed through the House in 40 minutes.
The House amendment to the Children's Safety Act – which, among other things, creates a national website for child sex offenders and stipulates that sex felons face up to 20 years in prison for failing to comply with registration requirements – passed 223-199. Thirty Republicans, 192 Democrats and one Independent voted to add the "sexual orientation" language, while 194 Republicans and five Democrats voted no.
Current "hate crimes" law includes stiffer penalties for federal offenses when the attacker is motivated by the actual or perceived race, religion or ethnic background. The Conyers provision adds to that list sexual orientation, gender and disability.
CWA's Robert Knight was stunned the House took up the vote with little attention.
"We had no notice that this was happening," Knight said in an e-mail announcing the action. "The only positive thing I can say is that this was a recorded vote."
The bill itself was approved by a 371-52 vote in the House.
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, argues "criminalizing thoughts as well as actions, and creating special categories of victims, are contrary to our entire system of laws."
"Furthermore, granting special protections based on one's 'sexual orientation' has repeatedly been rejected by Congress," he said. "It is shocking that a bill designed to protect children from sexual predators is now being used to protect the sexual preference of homosexuals."
CWA notes that under Pennsylvania’s newly enacted hate-crimes law, 11 Christians were arrested and jailed overnight last year for singing and preaching in a Philadelphia public park at a homosexual street festival.
Five, including a 17-year-old girl, each were charged with five felonies and three misdemeanors and faced possible 47-year prison sentences before a judge dismissed the case.
But the judge reasoned unpopular speech such as that expressed by Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan is protected, upholding the free-speech right of the Christians but placing it in the same category as fringe groups.
"Homosexual activists have redefined any opposition to homosexuality as 'hate speech,'" CWA says. "Laws already criminalize speech that incites violence. It's easy to imagine a scenario in which any incident involving a homosexual can be blamed on people who have publicly opposed homosexual activism."
High school hosts
'National Coming Out'
Parents protest campus events, including
'gay' film festival
A Maryland high school is observing "National Coming Out Week" with events organized by the campus Gay/Straight Alliance, prompting protests from parents.
The activities at Pikesville High School in Pikesville, Md., near Baltimore – all approved by school officials – include pink and rainbow shirt day and a homosexual film festival, according to local WJZ-TV.
An angry father told the station he believes students shouldn't have to be exposed to this kind of event.
"This one sent me over the edge," said Duane Johnson. "They're asking the straight students to wear pink in support of the gay and lesbian agenda, coming out and coming out strong here."
The observance, which began Monday, encourages homosexuals to admit their sexual preference to others and encourages heterosexuals to show support.
The event comes as Time magazine's controversial cover story on "gay teens" is being denounced by critics as blatant homosexual propaganda – which is not surprising, since the Time journalist who researched and wrote the story is a homosexual with a long history of advancing "gay" causes, including the promotion of anonymous homosexual orgies.
Many Pikesville parents, noticing the police presence, found out about the observance for the first time when they arrived Monday morning at the school campus.
Parent Sherry Gholson told the Baltimore station, "I don't think it's something that should be done in high school. Again it's a personal preference. I think it's something that should be looked at at home."
School Principal Dorothy Hardin says she understands the concerns of parents but believes they shouldn't worry because the message is tolerance, understanding and awareness.
There won't be any school-sponsored activities, she explained, and it's a club event in which students are not required to participate.
"This is not a day where students were going to go on morning announcements and come out," Hardin said. "They are not going to be presenting themselves as coming out. The message of our students are one of tolerance, understanding, awareness. Those elements are part of the American quilt."
She said she could understand that "parents might be concerned if this was a group that was proselytizing. They are not."
"National
Coming Out Week" is observed on many college campuses nationwide.
Iraq Constitution:
Bad
news for Christians
The new Iraq Constitution gives hope that, in a post-Saddam era, this ancient nation may arise as the first truly democratic republic in the Middle East. Unfortunately, the operative word here is "hope." The new Constitution, with the blessings of the United States and Great Britain, has instead turned the once-secular Iraq into an Islamic republic.
The new Iraqi Constitution states, as follows: "Article (2): 1st - Islam is the official religion of the state and is a basic source of legislation: (a) No law can be passed that contradicts the undisputed rules of Islam." The reality is that this new constitution subjugates Iraq's 700,000 Christians, its less than 100 remaining Jews, and an indeterminate number of secular Iraqis to the reign of Islamic law.
In modern times, Iraq's Jewish community has been virtually destroyed by Islamic fundamentalists. In 1950, after repeated terrorist attacks on Iraq's Jewish community, the government encouraged Iraqi Jews to flee their homeland by allowing immigration to Israel. One-hundred twenty-thousand Jews fled this domestic terrorism and arrived in Israel, penniless, as the Iraqi government saw fit to freeze the assets of departing Jews. Today, like the Jews before them, Christian Iraqis are fleeing their homes in this once Christian nation. (The nation today known Iraq was, at one time, part of Assyria, which was the first nation to accept Christianity; the Assyrian Church was founded in A.D. 33.)
A series of church bombings in August and September have reportedly been linked to the exodus of as many as 40,000 Christians from Iraq. Prior to these attacks, which have gone largely unreported by the Western media, kidnappings, bombings and murder by Muslim extremists resulted in a flood of Christian refugees into neighboring Jordan and Syria. According to the Syrian government, more than half of the 4,000 families from Iraq officially registered as "refugees" from Iraq are Christians. Since there are approximately 300,000 Iraqi refugees in Syria, it can be safely assumed that the number of Christians who have fled the newly Islamic Iraq for secular Syria is in excess of 150,000 individuals.
The most troubling phrase in the new Iraqi Constitution is as follows: "No law can be passed that contradicts the undisputed rules of Islam." The only undisputed rules in Islam are those found in their holy book, the Quran. Muslims believe that the Quran is the literal word of God and that it was relayed to the prophet Muhammad by the Archangel Gabriel. It is certainly not my right to question the legitimacy of another's religion, but it is an irrefutable duty to report, accurately, on its view of Christians and Jews.
According to the Quran, "The only true faith in God's sight is Islam. (Q 3:19)" A few verses later, this holy book teaches, "He that chooses a religion over Islam, it will not be accepted from him and in the world to come he will be one of the lost. (Q 3:86)" The followers of Christianity have, clearly, chosen a religion over Islam and are, therefore, considered infidels and idolaters by members of the Islamic faith. This automatically puts them in grave danger in any Islamic society, as the Quran dictates that followers of Islam may "Slay them wherever you find them. Drive them out of the places from which they drove you. Idolatry is worse than carnage. (Q 2:190-3)"
Soon after, this good book claims, that Gabriel ordered Muhammad on behalf of God to "make war on the unbelievers and the hypocrites and deal rigorously with them. (Q 9:73)" Since Islam claims the same God of Abraham who is worshiped by the Christians and Jews, one must seriously ask why God would order the destruction of his own chosen people.
It is also interesting, from a comparative religious standpoint, that God spoke directly to his prophet Moses in the Torah and it is the Holy Ghost that spoke to Simeon in the New Testament of the Christians. (St. Luke 2:25-26) Without questioning the authenticity of Islam, one must wonder why God did not see fit to communicate his word directly to Muhammad. Was Simeon more worthy of direct dialogue with God than Muhammad? And why would God relegate a being, claiming to be Gabriel, to rescind his covenant with Moses? These are questions I dare not answer, but they ought to be considered by greater minds than mine.
The Quran is now the law of the land in Iraq. Its own words and the actions of its followers make clear that this is a tragic day for Iraqi Christians. Today, no law can be passed that contradicts the undisputed tenets of Islam, and the undisputed rules teach that it is righteous to slaughter both Christians and Jews. How, then, can the new Iraqi government pass any law that protects its Christian minority? As one who respects the religion of any person who worships a Supreme Being, I am deeply offended by Iraq's new constitution and fear for the future bloodshed that history shows it will inevitably create.
LAW OF THE LAND
U.S. hate-crimes bill
'threatens free speech'
Global movement sees it as attack on natural family
A bill that would add "sexual orientation" to federal hate-crimes law will make homosexuals a protected class for civil rights purposes and threaten free speech, charges the leader of a global movement supporting traditional families.
The bill, passed in the House in September and now pending in the Senate, is a "subtle attack on the natural family," warns Allan Carlson, founder and convener of the World Congress of Families.
"While it's presented to the public as a way to stop physical attacks on gays, adding so-called sexual orientation to existing hate-crimes law could be used to crush dissent," said Carlson.
"After all, gay activists have told us repeatedly that objections to homosexuality spawn anti-gay violence," he continued. "It then becomes a short step from adding an extra punishment for physical acts to penalizing controversial views."
The companion bill in the Senate is expected to be approved soon by the Senate Judiciary Committee, paving the way for a floor vote.
Carlson noted that in Canada and Sweden similar laws have been used to punish _expression.
In Sweden in 2004, Pentecostal Pastor Ake Green was sent to prison for a month for a 2003 sermon in which he described homosexual acts as "abnormal, a horrible cancerous tumor in the body of society."
In the Canadian province of Alberta, Rev. Stephen Boissoin is being threatened with thousands of dollars in fines by the province's Human Rights Tribunal for writing a letter to the editor decrying public school indoctrination in favor of the gay lifestyle.
Carlson points out that in the past, hate-crimes laws have been based on race, religion, ethnicity or sex – mostly immutable characteristics.
If homosexuals are added to federal law in the U.S., he said, for the first time a protected class would be designated solely on the basis of sexual behavior.
"Homosexuality isn't biologically determined," he insisted. "The much-touted search for a 'gay gene' of several years back has elicited no scientific evidence."
Carlson contended that while everyone's rights should be protected, and physical attacks on individuals should always be punished, "the purpose of adding gays to hate-crimes laws is to suppress dissent and legitimize conduct which all of the world's great religions view as immoral."
Civil-rights laws for homosexuals will lead to promotion of curricula that will press children to believe all forms of sexual _expression are equally valid, he said.
"But the future of society and civilization is based exclusively on one relationship – the monogamous relationship of a man and a woman, sanctified by law and tradition," Carlson declared. "For Congress to pass such legislation is a move fraught with danger – for families and society."
The World Congress of Families held its third conference in Mexico City in 2004. More than 3,300 delegates from around the world adopted "The Mexico City Declaration," an international declaration of principles affirming the natural family as the fundamental unit of society.
A congress also was held in Prague in 1997 and in Geneva in 1999. The fourth congress is planned for Warsaw in 2007.
NEWS ANALYSIS
Ramadan and nuke terror
Is 'American Hiroshima' set for this month?
The next terrorist attack on the United States – a "nuclear hell storm" planned for seven major cities – is set to occur this month.
That's the word from al-Qaida.
In a communiqué to Osama bin Laden, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the top al-Qaida lieutenant in Iraq, mentions the "Great Ramadan Offensive" that will create a "fateful confrontation" with the United States and Israel.
"I think that the plans for the next stage of the jihad has reached you or will reach you in a few days," Zarqawi writes in the letter. "O God, make the plans of Osama come to fruition!"
The communiqué, dated May 30, was intercepted by CIA officials and remains on the Global Information System database that is accessible only to government officials with high-security clearance.
Most U. S. intelligence officials dismissed Zarqawi's letter as wishful thinking until Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden's second in command, appeared on al-Jazeera, the official television network of Saudi Arabia, to deliver a message to the American people.
In the message, which was broadcast Aug. 8, al-Zawahiri said: "What you have seen, O Americans, in New York and Washington and the losses you are having in Afghanistan and Iraq, in spite of the blackouts by your media, are only the losses of the initial clashes. ... You will soon experience horrors that will make you forget the horrors you have encountered in Vietnam."
The al-Qaida chieftain went on to say: "Jihadist forces have been established in all of Western Europe to defend the powerless within the nation. For the crimes that the Crusaders have committed against the Muslims will be reaped by Christians and Jews throughout the Western world."
Zawahiri's video messages are viewed by intelligence officials as telling signs that a terrorist attack is imminent. His televised message Sept. 6, 2004, took place before the December 6, 2004, bombing of the U.S. consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, while his message of June 17, 2005, preceded the London bombings.
Concerns about an October attack were heightened even more by reports that the radical Islamic community viewed the ravages of hurricanes Katrina and Rita as signs that Allah was pleased with the plans for "the American Hiroshima."
"Allah has punished America with winds and water," one imam is quoted in the GIS report as saying. Another imam reportedly quipped that America, as evidenced by the natural disasters, is "under the curse of the Jews."
Christopher Brown, research associate with the Hudson Institute's Transitions to Democracy project, maintains that the hurricanes have presented al-Qaida with a unique strategic opportunity.
"If this attack is launched soon," Brown said, "the devastation to the American economy alone could easily far exceed that of the September 11 attacks and could be equivalent to the detonation of a small nuclear device on American soil."
Ramadan represents the ninth month of the Islamic year, the month in which the Koran was revealed to the Prophet Mohammed. According to Muslim tradition, the actual revelation occurred on the night between the 26th and 27th days of the month. On this "Night of Determination," Allah determines the fate of the world for the coming year.
The fate of the world for the next Islamic year, if bin Laden has his way, will include the nuclear destruction of the United States.
Bin Laden has been amassing nuclear weapons and materials since 1992, when he was in the Sudan. This was substantiated by the testimony of al-Qaida officials in federal court during the hearings of "The U.S. v. Osama bin Laden."
When he returned to Afghanistan, bin Laden purchased tactical nuclear weapons from the Chechen Mafia. News of the sale was confirmed by Saudi, Israeli, British, Saudi and Russian intelligence and reported in The Times of London, the Jerusalem Report, Al Watan al-Arabi, Muslim Magazine, Al-Majallah (London's Saudi weekly) and by the BBC.
In 1997, bin Laden made additional small nuclear weapons from materials bought not only from the Chechens but also black market sources in Russia, China, Kazakhstan and the Ukraine.
In 1998, he purchased large quantities of highly enriched uranium from Simeon Mogilevich, a Ukrainian arms dealer. For one delivery of fifteen kilos of uranium-236, Mogilevich was paid $70 million. Bin Laden also purchased several bars of enriched uranium-138 from Ibrahim Abd, an Egyptian arms dealer and several Congolese opposition soldiers.
From 1999 to 2001, bin Laden hired scientists and technicians from the A.Q. Khan Research Facility in Pakistan not only to build new nukes from the highly enriched uranium and plutonium but also to maintain, upgrade, reconfigure, and redesign his "off-the shelf" nukes, including nuclear mines, so that they could be packed into lightweight (less than eight pounds) suitcases and backpacks or molded into warheads that could be launched from 120 or 155 millimeter recoilless rifles.
Upon the arrests of Dr. Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood and Dr. Chaudry Abdul Majid, two top officials from the Khan facility, the CIA discovered that several of bin Laden's tactical nukes had been forward-deployed to the United States from Karachi.
More information concerning al-Qaida's nukes came with the arrest in Pakistan of Sharif al-Masri, a key al-Qaida operative. Al Masri, an Egyptian national with close ties to al-Zawahiri, operative, informed CIA and ISI (Pakistani intelligence) officials that several tactical nukes for use in the American Hiroshima had been forward deployed to Mexico for transportation across the border by members of Mara Salvatrucha ("MS-13"), a Salvadoran street gang.
These developments caused both President Bush and Sen. John Kerry to speak of nuclear terrorism in the 2004 presidential campaign as "the single greatest danger facing the American people," and for Vice President Cheney to say that a nuclear attack from al-Qaeda appears "imminent."
The seven cities targeted by al-Qaida for nuclear destruction are New York, Washington D.C., Miami, Houston, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Chicago.
Several Islamic scholars say that Ramadan is an unlikely time for al-Qaida to strike since it is the holiest month of the year, a time in which Muslims traditionally refrain from warfare to spend time in fasting, meditation, and prayer. But many Islamic battles throughout history took place during Ramadan, including the following:
- 624 – The Battle of Badr occurred on 17 Ramadan when the Prophet Mohammed led his forces to victory over the Arabian tribes who opposed him.
- 627 – The Muslims trained for the Battle of Ditch during Ramadan
- 630 – The soldiers of Islam, under Mohammed, established a training camp in Tabouk during the month of fasting and attacked the Byzantine army.
- 653 – During Ramadan, the Muslim army conquered Rhodes and melted the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, into weapons for the soldiers.
- 1187 – The Battle of Hattin in which a combined force of Sunnis and Shiites destroyed the Christian army occurred the morning after the "Night of Determination."
- 1973 – On Oct. 6, Egyptian and Syrian forces launched a surprise offensive against Israel to launch the Yom Kippur or the 10th of Ramadan War.
- 2000
– Al-Qaida launches the suicide bombing of the USS Cole in Aden harbor
Yemen. The attack of Oct. 5 kills 17 and wounds 39 American sailors.
In 2001, Dr. Fuad Mukheimar, secretary-general of the Egyptian Sharia Association, published an article in which he encouraged bin Laden to launch an attack against the U.S. during the holy month.
"During the month of Ramadan," Mukheimar wrote, "a great Muslim victory was won over the Crusaders under the leadership of Saladin. His advisers counseled him to rest from the jihad during the month of fasting, but Saladin insisted on continuing the jihad during Ramadan because he knew ... that fasting helps to [achieve] victory, because during Ramadan the Muslims overcome themselves through fasting, and thus their victory over their enemies is certain."
Bin Laden, who views himself as Saladin's successor, could opt to heed this advice.
Ramadan
began Tuesday, Oct. 4, and ends Nov. 2. The Night of Determination will
occur Oct. 29.
FAITH UNDER FIRE
Chinese Christian
battles for freedom in U.S. court
Appeals panel paved way for his
deportation, imprisonment in China
A Chinese Christian battling in U.S. courts to prevent his deportation to China won a reprieve from the Board of Immigration Appeals, which reversed an earlier decision to send him back to the communist country.
Xiaodong Li, who was denied asylum by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, says he would face certain imprisonment if deported.
The three-member Board of Immigration Appeals reversed its own 2003 ruling Oct. 6.
In August, the 5th Circuit upheld the panel's decision denying asylum.
But a broad coalition, including the Alliance Defense Fund and Amnesty International, led the board to reopen the case. The coalition was joined Sept. 30 by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, a panel established by Congress to bring religious rights issues to bear on foreign policy.
"Everyone agrees that the United States should be the world leader in protecting human rights and religious freedom," said ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman. "This was a clear cut case of religious persecution, and ADF is pleased that the board reached this wise conclusion."
China restricts Christian worship to officially registered churches under government control. Millions of Protestants and Catholics gather in house churches.
Li obtained a visa and left China in 1995 after being beaten, shocked, jailed and forced to clean public toilets without pay, fearing further torture and imprisonment.
Despite his reprieve, the appeals court remains on the books.
Cortman said the Alliance Defense Fund is asking the Department of Justice to vacate the court's decision denying Li asylum."
"It is important to all those facing religious persecution that the Li decision be withdrawn by the court," he said.
October, 2005
Other
related articles from other sources:
The Congressional-Executive Commission on China released its 2005 Annual Report last week, which detailed a myriad of deplorable human rights abuses routinely committed by the Chinese regime. The Commission, created by Congress in October 2000 with the legislative mandate to monitor human rights and the development of the rule of law in China, reports that "The Chinese government monitors and inspects registered seminaries, where it is forbidden to teach anything contrary to Party policy, including Catholic moral teaching on abortion, euthanasia, contraception, and divorce."
Released on October 11, the report notes that the Chinese government interferes in the selection of Catholic bishops, a prerogative reserved to the Pope.
The Commission, consisting of nine Senators, nine members of the House of Representatives, and five senior Administration officials appointed by the President, reports that the transition between Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI was granted "perfunctory recognition by granting the events minimal media coverage," but added that "public security officials also increased harassment of Catholics, detaining 13 clerics." Moreover, the report indicates that "Chinese authorities also blocked discussion of the transition (between Popes) on domestic and international Web sites."
The Congressional report also notes that "The Chinese government continues to maintain a coercive population control policy that violates internationally recognized human rights standards in three ways. First, the Population and Family Planning Law limits the number of children that women may bear. Second, this law coerces compliance by penalizing women who illegally bear a child with a ''social compensation fee,'' a fine that often exceeds an average family's annual income. Third, although physical coercion to ensure compliance with population control requirements is illegal in China, reports persist of local officials using physical coercion to ensure compliance, and in one case Chinese officials attempted to physically coerce a visiting Hong Kong woman to have an abortion."
Those local officials are encouraged in their extremism by the fact that "Local officials who fail to meet provincial and central government birth rate targets face loss of bonuses and denial of promotions."
After finding these and a host of other abuses, the commission found "no improvement overall in human rights conditions in China over the past year, and increased government restrictions on Chinese citizens who worship in state-controlled venues or write for state-controlled publications."
However the commission was not apologetic for its report noting that it is for the good of China and its inhabitants that the truth come out and the needed reforms take place. "This is an honest report that takes a comprehensive look at human rights and rule of law in China," said Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE), the Commission's Chairman. "China's leaders will not achieve their long-term goal of social stability and continued economic development without building a future that includes human rights for all Chinese citizens. China's development will impact all of Asia, and the world. Respect for human rights must be part of that future," Hagel said.
LifeSiteNews.com
President Bush informed the nation, during a press conference, that he might seek to use the U.S. military to quarantine parts of the nation should there be a serious outbreak of the deadly avian flu that has killed millions of chickens and 60-some people in Southeast Asia. That's the second time Bush has expressed a desire to use the military for local policing. The first was in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
The Posse Comitatus Act (18 U.S.C. 1385) generally prohibits federal military personnel and units of the U.S. National Guard under federal authority from acting in a law enforcement capacity within the United States, except where expressly authorized by the U.S. Constitution or Congress.
Enacted during Reconstruction, the purpose of the Posse Comitatus Act was to severely limit the powers of the federal government to use the military for local law enforcement. Would Americans tolerate such a gigantic leap in the federalization of law enforcement? I'm guessing the answer is yes. In the name of safety, we've undergone decades of softening up to accept just about any government edict that our predecessors would have found offensive. Let's look at some of it.
The anti-smoking movement might be the beginning of the softening up process. They started out calling for reasonable actions like no-smoking sections on airplanes. Then it progressed to no smoking on airplanes altogether, then private establishments such as restaurants and businesses. Emboldened by the timidity of smokers, in some jurisdictions there are ordinances banning smoking in outdoor places such as beaches and parks.
Then there are seatbelt and helmet laws that have sometimes been zealously enforced through the use of night vision goggles. On top of this, Americans accept government edicts on where your child may ride in your car. Americans sheepishly accepted all sorts of Transportation Security Administration nonsense. In the name of security, we've allowed fingernail clippers, eyeglass screwdrivers and toy soldiers to be taken from us prior to boarding a plane.
We've accepted federal intrusion in our financial privacy through the Bank Secrecy Act. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, says, "More than 99.999 percent of those [who] had their privacy invaded were law-abiding citizens going about their own personal financial business." Most recently, there's the U.S. Supreme Court Kelo decision, where the court held that local governments can take a private person's house and turn it over to another private person. Politicians have learned and become comfortable with the fact that today's Americans will docilely accept just about any legalized restraint on their behavior.
You say, "Hey, Williams, but it's the law!" In the late-1700s, the British Parliament enacted the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts, and imposed other grievances that are enumerated in our Declaration of Independence. I'm happy that we didn't have today's Americans around at the time to bow before King George III and say, "It's the law." Respectful of the Posse Comitatus Act, President Bush has suggested that he'll ask Congress to amend the law to allow for the use of the U.S. military to enforce regional quarantines. Whether Congress amends the law or not, Bush has no constitutional authority to deploy military troops across the land. Why?
The U.S. Constitution's Article IV, Section 4 reads, "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened), against domestic Violence." Coupled with the Tenth Amendment, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people," this means short of an insurrection, the U.S. military must be invited by a state legislature or executive. Any federal law that violates these constitutional provisions is null and void and can only be enforced through fear, intimidation and brute military force.By Walter Williams
Let there be no doubts, an Islamic terrorist is like a wolf in sheeps clothing. They live amongst us, but because of some of the verses in the Quran, they have a hatred for Jews and Christians. We need to do our part on this war of Islamic terrorism against countries like Canada, The U.S.A, England and others who represent freedom for all Religious faiths, not dominance by one.
May the TRUE GOD of Israel guide us to defend those Christians who are being persecuted in all of the Islamic societies around the world today. The situation is in Holocaust demensions and growing at a Very, Very alarming rate. Christian villiges are being up-rooted in an apparent atteamt to deminish all thoughts of Christianity, or to controll what they have to say.
The Mind of our Christian God, differs greatly from Islamic thoughts, culture, teachings and laws. Is saying this, should I be beatin? Should I take 40 lashes? Should I be thrown into prison to do hard labour? Perhaps you are one that says these are their laws, their culture. Let me add, that even though you are born and raised in an Islamic socity, if you are a christian, you will never work for the goverment, like Hitler, they dont hire Jews or Christians in an Islamic socity. In Iran, if you are a Christian and you have a nice family resterunt, dont expect any Muslims to eat there, they are not allowed to. And just to be extremly carfule about this Islamic law, all Non-Muslims, including Christians, must place a sign outside their reterruant saying that your store is run by Christians.
Dont you think we all have been decieved enough? Could we not aleast open our eyes to the possibilty that maybe its the Teachings of Islam, the teachings of the Quran, the Hadiths, and not the Muslim terrorists that may be a danger to Canada?
Perhaps its time to give it some of your attension?
Please help to expose the teachings of Islam.
I am so glad that Mr. Day could spend time with some of the citizens of Walkerton and surrounding area.
My hat goes off to the wonderful service and fantastic dinner that was given at the Knights of Columbus Hall, and concrats to all who gave their time to make this a successful event.
Mr. Day was wonderful at helping the audience laugh a little, and this was heaven sent, as the topic of Aborted Babies, is to me, a very difficult subject. But thanks to Mr. Day we were all allowed a smile with his sincere sense of humor.
There were many ladies who stepped forward in Ottawa to tell of the horrors of abortion, and they would know about it well, they went through it. There were also many who could not be there because they had such a trauma from killing their babies by abortion, that they took their own lives. The women that were there, had found their way, and now they can speak on behalf of those young ladies who weren’t so fortunate. And they speak to those who just may be more fortunate one day because of their experiences and organizations such as Right To Life.
On another issue, Mr. Day also made comment that we Canadians were all very lucky to be able to stop the Sharia Islamic Law from becoming a legal Court in Canada.
But when asked about the possibility of our government opposing Islamic teachings found in the Quran, that are just as intolerant and racist against women, Christians and Jews, well, Mr. Days answers were confusing.
He said that no government in Canada would condemn a religious faith like Islam .
Limited to time, I was not allowed to ask one more important question. A question that you and your Church and your neighbors should be asking.
If Canada has found that in the Islamic Sharia Law, there are very intolerant and racist comments made against women, Christians and Jews, then why do we allow the Quran to be placed in our schools and libraries and Courts ? The Quran "is" the very foundation of the Sharia Law. If we have condemned the Shaira Law, then Canada must condemn Islam, the Quran and the Islamic faith as intolerant and Racist, for that is what it is. In my opinion, based on my 15 years of evangelism to Muslims in Canada, I would recommend that as the Islamic Sharia Law has been castrated from our Canadian way of life, and so it should be because of its Calais teachings of hatred and death, so should the Quran which is as equally evil compared to its child the Shaira laws.
So when Mr. Day says that "no government in Canada would condemn Islam as a religion, Im puzzled. For it seems the Canadian Liberals have all ready done so for us, and I for one say THANK YOU.
Mark Harding