Please read just
a few of the headlines that World Net Daily has published.
July, 2005
"Because
They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America,"
is written by Brigitte Gabriel. This is an edited version of our
interview.
Larry Elder:
You are of Christian Lebanese descent. When you heard what Rosie
O'Donnell said, that Christian extremism is as bad as Islamic
extremism, how did you react?
Brigitte
Gabriel: Well, I do not know what land she is living in, but I
do not recall when the last time I saw a Christian behead anybody on
television, or behead somebody and advertise it on the Internet. I do
not recall hearing a Christian preach that Muslims are apes and pigs
because they are cursed by Jesus, the way that Muslims are teaching
that we are apes and pigs. I do not recall the last time a Christian
went into an elementary school, hijacked children and started shooting
them in the back like the Muslims did in Beslan in Russia when they
went into a schoolyard and took over the children and started
butchering them and killing them. [Rosie] better be thankful that she
is living in America, because if she were living in Iran and spoke
against her country – or any Arabic country – she would be beheaded or
actually buried halfway in the ground, to be stoned to death.
Elder:
Did you study Islam?
Gabriel:
No, I did not study Islam; I lived Islam. I lived in the Middle East. I read the Quran in the Arabic
language – I do not need translation. There is something about living
in a place and being an eyewitness and coming from a culture and
blowing the whistle on that culture, and that is very different from
someone majoring in Islam and living in the Middle
East for two months so they can write their thesis.
Elder: You
were raised in Lebanon.
You were 10 years old and living in southern Lebanon
when militant Muslims ... poured into your country and declared jihad
against Lebanese Christians such as yourself.
Gabriel:
Yes, my 9-11 happened to me in 1975 when I was a 10-year-old child,
living and minding my own business [in] a small town in south Lebanon.
I was an only child to a businessman and his wife. I was blessed with a
wonderful childhood. ... They showered me with love and everything life
had blessed them with. However, our lives were turned upside down
because in 1975, the Muslims declared holy war on the Christians of
Lebanon. My home exploded around me, buried in the rubble, wounded as
the perpetrators shouted, "Allahu Akbar" [God is great]. My only crime
was that I was a Christian living in a Christian town. I learned at 10
years old the meaning of the word "infidel." I had a crash course in
survival not in the Girl Scouts, but in the bomb shelter that I lived
for seven years of my life in freezing cold, pitch darkness, drinking
stale water and eating grass to live. I remember at the age of 13, I
dressed in my burial clothes going to bed at night, waiting to be
slaughtered . By the age of 20, I had buried most of my friends, who
were slaughtered by Muslims.
Elder:
You call your book a wake-up call. Tell us what the West does not
understand about what I call Islamo-fascism. And, do you think
"Islamo-fascism" is an appropriate term?
Gabriel:
Yes, it is an appropriate term. We are fighting Islamo-fascism, we are
fighting a war that is much worse than Nazism, anything we have fought
before, because even the Nazis did not encourage their children to
strap bombs onto their bodies and then rejoice at their deaths, as well
as the deaths of their victims. Islamists are encouraging their
children to die.
Elder:
There are 1.2 billion Muslims in the world. I want you to analyze them
by ideology.
Gabriel:
Not all of them are radicals. We estimate that the radicals are between
15 and 25 percent; that translates to between 180 and 300 million
people like Mohamed Atta who are willing to strap bombs to their bodies
and commit martyrdom operations. Now, that is still a minority, 15 to
25 percent, but 300 million Mohamed Attas ready to unleash their blood
upon the West. ... Now, the rest of them ... despise the West, they
hate our westernization, they think we are morally corrupt, that we are
corrupting the world, and they think we are such a bad influence on the
world that we need to be stopped at any cost. They may not be willing
to commit martyrdom operations themselves, but they will sit there and
cheer on and rally those who are willing to kill us.
Elder:
Are we winning?
Gabriel:
No, we are losing.
Larry Elder:
What caused Lebanon's
1975 jihad invasion?
Brigitte
Gabriel: ... In the early '70s, Lebanon
was a majority Christian country ... a republic very much like America.
We prospered. We focused on growing our economy. We were multicultural,
fair and tolerant, and had an open border policy. We welcomed everybody
into our country, because we wanted to share the Westernizations we had
created in the Middle East. ...
Sadly, many people who came didn't want to assimilate and adopt
Westernizations, but wanted to drag us down to their tribal Islamic
culture. ... By 1974, Christians stopped traveling. We became prisoners
in our homes and cities because Muslims would set up fly-by-night
checkpoints. ... Our religion is written on our national ID. ... So,
Muslims would stop cars, look at their IDs and if a Christian family
was traveling, they would shoot them in cold blood – the whole family.
... Extremist Muslims started coming from all around the Arabic world
to fight alongside the Muslims in Lebanon.
Elder:
Tell us about Islamo-fascism in the West.
Gabriel:
The Center for Religious Freedom went undercover last year and
collected 200 publications from some of the most prominent mosques in
the United States.
Those books, provided by the government of Saudi Arabia
to American mosques, teach Muslims living in an infidel land how to
deal with infidels. These Saudi publications repeatedly exalt Muslims
to, and I quote, hate them for their religion – meaning Christians,
Jews, atheists and everybody in between. ... They say that democracy,
justice, freedom, brotherhood and equality cause all of the world's
problems. This is being taught in the mosques. And it gets worse. They
say it is the religious duty of every Muslim to impose functionally
Islamic government on every country in the world. This religious duty
is binding ... and a sacred obligation of jihad. ... Many people do not
realize that under the banner of Islam the Muslims killed children in
Israel, massacred children in Lebanon, killed cops in Egypt, murdered
Armenians i n Turkey, killed Hindus in India, and expelled over 900,000
Jews from Arab land. All that happened before they turned their eyes to
the West and before Sept. 11, 2001. ... This is the religion of Islam.
...
Elder:
Are there moderate Muslims who condemn the radicals, who don't feel
threatened by democracy?
Gabriel:
Yes. ... I call it a practicing Muslim and a non-practicing Muslim. I
think it is a better description than "moderate" and "radical." A
practicing Muslim goes to mosque, prays five times a day, doesn't
drink, believes God gave him women to be his property – to beat, to
stone to death. ... He believes Christians and Jews are apes and pigs
because they are cursed by Allah. He believes it is his duty to declare
war on the infidels because they are Allah's enemies. That is a
practicing Muslim. A non-practicing Muslim no longer goes to mosque or
prays five times a day, has an occasional glass of wine and believes
that a woman is equal to a man. ... He believes he cannot murder his
wife just because he wants to. He does not believe in taking four wives
just for sexual pleasure. ... He no longer believes that, as a Muslim,
it is his duty to kill the apes and pigs that have been cursed by
Allah. A non-practicing Muslim is educated, an intellectual who
believes the Quran – writt en in the seventh century – doesn't apply to
today's standards, and Islam needs to be reformed. Those Muslims do
exist and live in the West. However, they are such a minority – we
estimate about 2 percent – they are irrelevant because it is the
majority that is causing the problem now.
Elder: What
should be done?
Gabriel:
Shut our borders. We have terrorists coming through our borders.
Al-Qaida is working with the MS-13 gang [El Salvadorian gang Mara
Salvatrucha], smuggling al-Qaida terrorists into the country. Hezbollah
is doing the same. ... We estimate thousands have already been smuggled
into America.
... Hamas is here. ... They have cells in over 40 states. ... We also
need to reform our immigration and visa programs. We need to monitor
who is coming into our country and why. ... We need to increase human
intelligence. ... To get that human element that gets you the
information, it takes years to establish trust with the enemy in order
to get the secrets out of them. ... As for profiling, I want everyone
who fits the terrorist profile to be profiled. We have men between the
ages of 16 and 40 who have committed terrorist acts around the world in
the name of Islam. They are not little old ladies from Ohio with blue
hair. They are not children going to Disney World on their Easter vaca
tion.
Elder: What
happens if a Democrat wins the 2008 election?
Gabriel: We are doomed. Our enemies want the
Democrats to win. This last election, jihadist websites were playing
victory songs and declaring the Democrats are our allies in the war
against America.
... Whoever comes next is going to have to deal with the same things
Bush is dealing with.
Muslim nations
throttle
U.N. terror resolution
Criticism of suicide bombers censored by
global body's Islamic member states
Islamic
United Nations representatives blocked an attempt to have the world
body condemn killing in the name of religion.
The International
Humanist and Ethical Union said it submitted the request to the U.N. Human Rights
Commission in Geneva in response to moves by Islamic clerics to
legitimize the current wave of terror attacks.
IHEU
representative David Littman tried to deliver a prepared text in the
names of three international NGOs � the Association for World
Education, the Association of World Citizens and the IHEU � but was
blocked by the "heavy-handed intervention" of Islamic representatives
of the panel.
Littman said
that after repeated interruptions, he was unable to complete his
speech.
The Muslims
members said they saw the text as an attack on Islam.
The
IHEU argued Littman's speech was a report on recent critical comment on
Islamist extremism by a number of notable Muslim writers.
The
intent was for the U.N. Human Rights Commission "to condemn calls to
kill, to terrorize or to use violence in the name of God or any
religion."
The
text referred to recent decisions by high-ranking Muslim clerics to
confirm that those who carry out suicide bombings remain Muslims and
cannot be treated as apostates.
A
Saudi cleric, for example, issued a fatwa saying that innocent Britons
were a legitimate target for terrorist action. Also, Yusuf al-Qaradawi,
dean of the College of Sharia and Islamic Studies at Qatar University,
who has visited Britain, said terror attacks are permissible.
Roy
Brown, president of IHEU, said the censorship is "part and parcel of
the refusal by the Islamic representatives at the U.N. to condemn the
suicide bombers, or to accept any criticism of those who kill innocent
people in the name of God."
World Net Daily
July, 2005
Pope won't call
Islam
religion of peace
'I would not like to use big words
to apply generic labels'
Pope
Benedict XVI yesterday refused to declare Islam "a religion of peace."
Asked
by reporters whether Islam could be considered a religion of peace
shortly before entering a meeting with priests and deacons of Valle
d'Aosta in northwest Italy where he is spending a brief holiday, the
pontiff refused to reply positively.
"I
would not like to use big words to apply generic labels," he replied.
"It certainly contains elements that can favor peace, it also has other
elements: We must always seek the best elements."
The day
before, he asked God to stop the terrorists.
"Even
these days of serenity and repose have been disrupted by the tragic
news of the execrable terrorist attacks which have brought death,
destruction and suffering to various countries such as Egypt, Turkey,
Iraq and Great Britain," he said. "As we entrust to divine goodness the
dead and injured and their loved ones, victims of gestures that offend
both God and man, we call on the Almighty to block the murderous hand
of those who, driven by fanaticism and hatred, committed these acts,
and we ask that He convert their hearts to thoughts of reconciliation
and peace."
He asked
Muslims to embrace peace.
"Renounce
the way of violence which causes so much suffering to civilian
populations, and instead to embrace the way of peace," he said in a
statement issued through Vatican Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo
Sodano, in response to terrorist attacks at the popular Red Sea resort
of Sharm al-Sheikh in Egypt.
World Net Daily
July, 2005
IRS,
FEC dismiss Falwell complaints
Messages regarded by some as illegal
political endorsements
Two
federal agencies have dismissed separate complaints related to messages
by Rev. Jerry Falwell that were regarded by some as illegal political
endorsements.
The
Internal Revenue Service closed its books on a complaint about a
seminary chapel speech in which Falwell personally endorsed President
Bush's re-election.
Separately,
the Federal Election Commission dismissed a complaint related to
statements Falwell, a WND
columnist, made in a "Falwell Confidential" e-mail sent during the
2004 presidential election season.
Falwell's
chapel-service message was about spiritual maturity, and he emphasized
any views expressed were his own. But a complaint was filed against
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, based on an account in the
Fort Worth Star Telegram of the Aug. 24, 2004, meeting.
Falwell and
the seminary are represented by Liberty Counsel President and General
Counsel Mathew D. Staver.
Staver
pointed out the seminary's chapel, scheduled three days a week, is a
religious meeting in which outside speakers regularly are invited to
address the students and faculty.
The
messages are personal to the speaker, he emphasized, and Falwell told
reporters after his address that his statements supporting Bush for
president were his personal views.
Liberty
Counsel filed a response to the IRS on Dec. 17, 2004, and the agency
now has closed its file on the matter.
Staver said
that while he was pleased the complaint was dismissed, it is
"disconcerting" that it was filed in the first place.
"The IRS
should not be eavesdropping and pursuing complaints based upon one
citizen forwarding a newspaper account," he said.
Staver
said that while no church has ever lost its tax-exempt status for
engaging in political activity, most Americans believe the IRS
regulation implemented in 1954 regarding political candidates should be
repealed.
"Pastors
and churches, as much as any other private citizen, have the right to
express their opinions regarding political candidates," he said.
Meanwhile,
the FEC unanimously dismissed a complaint filed against Jerry Falwell
Ministries and Liberty Alliance by a 6-0 vote.
On
July 1, 2004, Falwell sent a "Falwell Confidential" e-mail urging
people of faith to exercise their vote during the presidential
election.
In
the email, he stated, "For conservative people of faith, voting for
principle this year means voting for the re-election of George W. Bush.
The alternative, in my mind, is simply unthinkable."
The e-mail
also urged supporters to contribute to the Campaign for Working
Families Political Action Committee.
Campaign
Legal Center filed a complaint with the FEC alleging that Jerry Falwell
Ministries and Liberty Alliance, a lobbying organization, violated
election laws by circulating an e-mail that expressly advocated the
election of a federal candidate and contained a solicitation for
contributions to a political action committee.
Liberty
Counsel argued that those groups are covered by the press exemption.
Falwell
is the founder of Liberty Broadcasting Network, WTLU television
station, the Liberty Channel cable network and two radio stations, WRVL
FM and WWMC FM.
His
"Old Time Gospel Hour" has been broadcast since 1956 and is the longest
running, uninterrupted religious program in the nation.
The
response also argued that that Jerry Falwell Ministries and Liberty
Alliance meet the "qualified nonprofit corporation" status because they
are supported by private, rather than corporate, contributions. In
addition, the response argued that the cost of disseminating the e-mail
was minimal.
Staver
argued Falwell does not "lose his right to personal _expression each
election cycle."
"As
a member of the media, the media outlets through which he communicates
enjoy the protection of the First Amendment, just as much as the
Washington Times," Staver said.
Falwell
commented: "Religious nonprofit groups are not orphans to the First
Amendment. I have been expressing my views on politics for five decades
and am pleased with the FEC's ruling."
World Net Daily
July, 2005
Tancredo to request
al-Qaida nuke briefing
Congressman to ask Justice Department
for report on 'American Hiroshima' plan
WASHINGTON
– Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., a staunch critic of the federal
government's lax immigration and border enforcement policies, said
yesterday he would request a briefing from the Justice Department on
information it has on plans
revealed by WND this week for a nuclear attack on the U.S. by al-Qaida
terrorists.
Tancredo
said he was greatly alarmed by the report and would seek whatever
information he could get from the nation's law enforcement authorities
– either in classified or unclassified reports.
Al-Qaida's
plans, known as "America's Hiroshima" according to captured terrorists
and terrorist documents, calls for the multiple detonation of nuclear
weapons, already in the possession of Osama bin Laden's operatives
currently inside the U.S. The agents and arms having been smuggled
across the U.S.-Mexico border with the help of the MS-13 street gang
and other organized crime groups, according to the report originating
in Joseph Farah's
G2 Bulletin, a premium, online intelligence newsletter published by
the founder of WND.
The
attack is designed to kill at least 4 million Americans.
Al-Qaida
has obtained at least 40 nuclear weapons from the former Soviet Union –
including suitcase nukes, nuclear mines, artillery shells and even some
missile warheads, according to the report. In addition, documents
captured in Afghanistan show al-Qaida had plans to assemble its own
nuclear weapons with fissile material it purchased on the black market.
In
addition to detonating its own nuclear weapons already planted in the
U.S., military sources also say there is evidence to suggest al-Qaida
is paying former Russian Spetznaz, or special forces operatives, to
assist the terrorist group in locating nuclear weapons formerly
concealed inside the U.S. by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Bin
Laden's group is also paying nuclear scientists from Russia and
Pakistan to maintain its existing nuclear arsenal and assemble
additional weapons with the materials it has invested hundreds of
millions in procuring over a period of 10 years.
The
plans for the devastating nuclear attack on the U.S. have been under
development for more than a decade. It is designed as a final deadly
blow of defeat to the U.S., which is seen by al-Qaida and its allies as
"the Great Satan."
At
least half the nuclear weapons in the al-Qaida arsenal were obtained
for cash from Chechen terrorist allies.
But
the most disturbing news is that high-level U.S. officials now believe
at least some of those weapons have been smuggled into the U.S. for use
in the near future in major cities as part of this "American Hiroshima"
plan, according to an upcoming book, "The al-Qaida Connection:
International Terrorism, Organized Crime and the Coming Apocalypse," by
Paul L. Williams, a former FBI consultant.
According
to Williams, former CIA Director George Tenet informed President Bush
one month after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that at least two suitcase
nukes had reached al-Qaida operatives in the U.S. President Bush
reportedly went "through the roof" upon hearing the news, prompting him
to order his national security team to give nuclear terrorism priority
over every other threat to America.
"Each
suitcase weighed between 50 and 80 kilograms (approximately 110 to 176
pounds) and contained enough fissionable plutonium and uranium to
produce an explosive yield in excess of two kilotons," wrote Williams.
"One suitcase bore the serial number 9999 and the Russian manufacturing
date of 1988. The design of the weapons, Tenet told the president, is
simple. The plutonium and uranium are kept in separate compartments
that are linked to a triggering mechanism that can be activated by a
clock or a call from the cell phone."
It
is worth noting Bush failed to translate this policy into securing the
U.S.-Mexico border through which the nuclear weapons and al-Qaida
operatives are believed to have passed with the help of the MS-13
smugglers. He did, however, order the building of underground bunkers
away from major metropolitan areas for use by federal government
managers following an attack.
Bin
Laden, according to Williams, has nearly unlimited funds to spend on
his nuclear terrorism plan because he has remained in control of the
Afghanistan-produced heroin industry. Poppy production has greatly
increased even while U.S. troops are occupying the country, he writes.
Al-Qaida has developed close relations with the Albanian Mafia, which
assists in the smuggling and sale of heroin throughout Europe and the
U.S.
Some
of that money is used to pay off the notorious MS-13 street gang
between $30,000 and $50,000 for each sleeper agent smuggled into the
U.S. from Mexico. The sleepers are also provided with phony
identification, most often bogus matricula consular ID cards
indistinguishable from Mexico's official ID, now accepted in the U.S.
to open bank accounts and obtain driver's licenses.
The
Bush administration's unwillingness to secure the U.S.-Mexico border
has puzzled and dismayed a growing number of activists and ordinary
citizens who see it as the No. 1 security threat to the nation. The Minuteman
organization
is planning a major mobilization of thousands of Americans this fall
designed to shut down the entire 2,000-mile border as it did in April
with a 23-mile stretch in Arizona.
According
to Williams' sources, thousands of al-Qaida sleeper agents have now
been forward deployed into the U.S. to carry out their individual roles
in the coming "American Hiroshima" plan.
Bin
Laden's goal, according to the book, is to kill at least 4 million
Americans, 2 million of whom must be children. Only then, bin Laden has
said, would the crimes committed by America on the Arab and Muslim
world be avenged.
There
is virtually no doubt among intelligence analysts al-Qaida has obtained
fully assembled nuclear weapons, according to Williams. The only
question is how many. Estimates range between a dozen and 70.
The
future plan, according to captured al-Qaida agents and documents,
suggests the attacks will take place simultaneously in major cities
throughout the country – including New York, Boston, Washington, Las
Vegas, Miami, Chicago and Los Angeles.
In
response to the G2
Bulletin revelations,
Chris Simcox, founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a citizen
action group demanding the U.S. government take control of its borders,
said an immediate military presence on the borders is now imperative
"to stop the overwhelming influx of unidentified, potentially hostile
and seditious persons coming across at an alarming rate."
"Terrorists
have carte blanche to carry practically anything they want across our
national line at this time," he said. "As ordinary citizens have warned
this government for years, the only surprising part about the new
information reported here is that nothing apocalyptic from
Mexican-border weapons trafficking has yet happened. Terrorism has
reared its ugly head in London again these past few days, and as we
know all too well we are not immune in this country.
"At
this point, the next attempt to attack America at home is just a matter
of 'when,' not 'if.' And our unsecured borders have surely contributed
to this threat – yet our government officials continue to fiddle while
our nation's margin of security and safety burns away. The president
and Congress had better wake up before they have to answer for another
devastating terrorist incursion on our own soil."
World Net Daily
July, 2005
GLOBAL JIHAD
Muslim scholar:
Killing civilians OK
Head of Islamic center in London responds
to attack
Responding
to questions about the terrorist attack on London, a Muslim scholar in
the British capital asserted Islam makes no distinction between
civilians and military targets.
"The
term 'civilians' does not exist in Islamic religious law," said Hani
Al-Siba'i, head of the Al-Maqreze Centre for Historical Studies in
London.
Al-Siba'i,
in an interview with the Arab news channel al-Jazeera, elaborated,
"There is no such term as 'civilians' in the modern Western sense.
People are either of Dar Al-Harb or not."
Dar
Al-Harb refers to the Muslim concept of the world being divided into
two "houses," the House of Islam and the remaining territories, the
House of War, or Dar Al-Harb.
Al-Siba'i
speculated that a Western nation could have been responsible for the
attack, but he acknowledged it could have been carried out by Osama bin
Laden's terrorist organization, according to a transcript provided by
the Middle East Media
Research Institute, or MEMRI.
"If
al-Qaida indeed carried out this act, it is a great victory for it," he
said. "It rubbed the noses of the world's eight most powerful countries
in the mud."
But
al-Siba'i said British Prime Minister Tony Blair "made a grave error
when he spoke before the investigation and claimed that the
perpetrators of these acts were acting in the name of Islam."
The
Muslim leader said "the possibility that it was done by the
intelligence agency of another Western country hostile to Britain"
should not be ruled out.
He also
conjectured it could have been done by "some Zionist Americans who
wanted to overshadow the G-8 summit."
Al-Siba'i
finally said al-Qaida could not be ruled out as the perpetrator.
He asserted
the terrorist organization controls the "war agenda" in Iraq and
"imposes its policies" on the Middle East.
As
an example, he pointed out that al-Qaida's beheading of an Egyptian
envoy prompted Cairo to lower its level of representation in Baghdad.
On
the subject of targeting civilians, the al-Jazeera host asked
Al-Siba'i: "You, as a Muslim and as the director of a center for
Islamic history. ... Is targeting wretched civilians considered brave
or manly?"
Al-Siba'i
replied that after the Madrid bombing, bin Laden called on the people
of Western nations to pressure their governments.
"He
told them: We did not attack you. You have been attacking us for more
than two centuries, and your campaign continues. He said to them
simply: Withdraw your soldiers from the Arabian Peninsula, withdraw
from Afghanistan and Palestine. …"
Asked
whether he considered bin Laden a religious scholar who issues fatwas
or the head of al-Qaida, Siba'i said, "First of all, he is one of this
(Islamic) nation. ... We have no clergy or a pope, or anything like
this. Anyone can carry out his religious duty, even if he is by
himself."
The
host argued that the religious law assembly in Mecca at the end of last
month issued a fatwa forbidding the killing of civilians.
"Should we
follow it or Osama bin Laden?" the host asked.
Al-Siba'i
said, "These assemblies resemble the assemblies of the church. These
assemblies forbid young people from going to Iraq to fight the jihad. …
The Higher Religious Authority (in Saudi Arabia) are the ones who
allowed the presence of Crusader forces in the Land of the Two Holy
Places (Saudi Arabia)."
World Net Daily
July, 2005
LAW OF THE LAND
Allstate
terminates manager
over homosexuality column
On own
time, man posted anti-'gay' article
insurance giant says didn't reflect its values
A former
manager with Allstate
has sued the insurance giant, alleging the company, which financially
supports homosexual advocacy groups, fired him solely because he wrote
a column posted on several websites that was critical of same-sex
marriage and espoused his Christian beliefs.
J.
Matt Barber was a manager in Allstate's Corporate Security Division,
its investigative arm, at the Fortune 100 company's headquarters in
Northbrook, Ill. Besides working for the insurance provider, Barber was
and is a professional
heavyweight boxer, a jazz drummer and a Web commentator. His
columns have appeared on TheConservativeVoice.com, MensNewsDaily.com
and others.
Though
the column
in question
was written and posted in December, it wasn't until Jan. 31 that Barber
was called into a meeting with two Human Resources officials, one of
whom Barber says "slapped down" a printed copy of the column in front
of him and asked if he had written it.
Recognizing
the piece, Barber confirmed he had written it on his own time, at his
home and on his own computer. Barber claims he was told, "Here at
Allstate we have a very diverse community."
Barber
says the Human Resources assistant vice president told him the column
didn't reflect Allstate's view and that he was suspended with pay.
Barber was immediately ushered off company grounds – "which was
humiliating," the former employee said.
"I
explained to Allstate that the article was a reflection of my personal
Christian beliefs, and that I had every right to both write it and to
have it published," Barber told WND. "I further explained that I had
written the article while at home on my own time, that I never
mentioned Allstate's name and that I neither directly nor indirectly
suggested that Allstate shared my Christian beliefs or my views on
same-sex marriage."
Three
days later, on Feb. 3, Barber, who had worked for Allstate for five
years, says he got a call informing him he was fired "for writing the
article," he said. Now, with the help of the Christian Law Association
and David Gibbs III, who represented Terri Schiavo's family in the
final weeks of her life, Barber is challenging Allstate in federal
court.
According
to an investigation by the state of Illinois' Department of Employment
Security related to Barber's claim for unemployment benefits, an
organization – likely a "gay"-rights group – complained to Allstate
about the column. But how did the group connect Barber to the insurance
company? It turns out one site that posted the column,
MensNewsDaily.com, added to the bio
line on the article the fact that Barber worked for Allstate.
Barber
says he did not include that fact in the original column submission but
that the site "disclosed that without my knowledge or consent."
According to Barber, he is somewhat well-known in the boxing field in
Chicago, and Allstate would sometimes tout the fact that he worked for
the company.
The
columnist told WND even if he had included a reference to Allstate in
his bio, "I wasn't intimating that I was representing Allstate or that
these were the views of Allstate."
Barber
stressed to the unemployment office that he did not intend for the
affiliation to be included in the bio. Allstate argued to the agency
that Barber should not be given unemployment, but upon investigation,
the agency agreed with Barber's contention and ruled he was entitled to
the money.
Said
the agency's report: "The claimant was discharged from Allstate
Insurance Company because an outside organization had complained about
an article he had written while on his own time."
The
state agency also ruled Barber did not engage in misconduct, saying,
"The term misconduct means the deliberate and willful violation of a
reasonable rule or policy of the employer. … In this case, the
claimant's action which resulted in his discharge was not deliberate
and willful."
Homosexuality
a violation of 'natural law'
In
the commentary piece, which Barber refers to as "the article that got
me fired," he makes several arguments against same-sex marriage.
Wrote
Barber: "Marriage between one man and one woman, and the nuclear family
have forever been cornerstones of civilized society. Regrettably, there
are at present, many within the militant homosexual lobby who wish to
take a sledge hammer to those cornerstones – many who hope to undermine
both the historical and contemporary reality of marriage and family –
many who, through judicial fiat, aim to circumvent the Constitution,
the legislative process, and the overwhelming will of the people in an
effort to redefine marriage. Accordingly, the unsolicited, oxymoronic
and spurious _expression 'same-sex marriage' has been forced into
popular lexicon."
Barber,
who holds both a law degree and a masters in public policy, uses
anatomy to argue against homosexual behavior.
"For
one to believe that homosexual behavior, the act of sodomy in
particular, follows the biological order of things," wrote Barber, "one
must ignore the fact that sodomy violates natural law – you know …
wrong plumbing … square hole/round peg. The whole thing really is a
testament to man's creativity. Give us something good, and we'll bend
over backwards to twist it into something else."
'Diversity
and inclusion'
Barber
– known in the boxing world as Matt "Bam Bam" Barber – says Allstate
has a decidedly "pro-homosexual" philosophy, requiring employees to
undergo "diversity training" and offering domestic partnership
benefits.
The
training, Barber says, "is really indoctrination hostile toward
thousands of employees' Christian beliefs."
The insurance
company's foundation
has donated money to homosexual-advocacy organizations, including the
Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and the LAMBDA Legal
Defense and Education Fund. A notice about the Allstate foundation says
funds are given to "nonprofit organizations that are related to
tolerance, diversity and inclusion."
Barber
says he hopes consumers who hold traditional values will stop
patronizing Allstate.
Addressing
those who do, Barber said, "You are helping to support an organization
that brazenly and illegally discriminates against religious employees
who do not blindly and silently toe the extremist, liberal line on
official company policy – policy that is not just overtly
pro-homosexual, but is demonstrably anti-family."
Gibbs is
the lead attorney on the case.
"To
have Fortune 100 companies like Allstate firing people for expressing
their sincerely held religious beliefs and even their personal
viewpoints on their own time demonstrates just how out of kilter things
have gotten," Gibbs told WND.
"Allstate
aggressively pushes and promotes the homosexual agenda in the name of
tolerance, but the minute someone speaks up with what would be
considered the traditional moral-values viewpoint, the tolerance
disappears and it results in a termination."
Gibbs
rhetorically asked if Allstate would take the same action against
someone who put forth a pro-homosexual viewpoint.
"The
answer is absolutely not," he said. "The tolerance is only running one
way."
Such
discriminatory action violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, Gibbs
contends.
Said
Gibbs: "The law was intended to make sure people of faith didn't have
to leave their religion or viewpoints at the workplace stairs."
Gibbs
compared the situation to that of racial discrimination.
"Just
like Allstate can't go in and say, 'We've discovered your ethnicity and
we're going to fire you,' I don't believe Allstate should be able to go
in and say, 'We've discovered your anti-homosexuality viewpoint and
we're going to fire you.'"
The
complaint claims Barber was "terminated from his employment and
discriminated against by Defendants, with respect to his compensation,
terms, conditions or privileges of employment because he expressed
during non-work hours his sincerely held religious beliefs."
Whistleblower
retaliation?
Part
of the complaint filed in court discusses a 2003 business trip to
Lisbon, Portugal, Barber took to attend the annual Chairman's
Conference with hundreds of other Allstate employees.
According
to the suit, Barber witnessed on the trip his boss' boss, Ben Tarver,
assistant vice president for corporate security, "engaging in various
public displays of affection with a young female physician who had been
hired by Allstate to serve as the on-call physician for the conference
team."
Following
Barber's report of the assistant vice president's alleged behavior to
his immediate supervisor, the ex-employee says Tarver began harassing
him and treating him in an "abusive manner."
Barber
eventually filed a sexual harassment/retaliation complaint against
Tarver with the Human Resources Department at Allstate.
Barber
pointed out the irony of the head of the agency that investigates
company-policy violations and fraud allegedly breaking the rules of
sexual conduct.
"He was
a married man," Barber explained. "It made me very uncomfortable,
especially because we investigate sexual harassment."
Barber
believes the whistleblower action was a motive in his being fired and
that officials were looking for a reason to terminate him. It was the
very people to whom he had reported Tarver's alleged misconduct who
confronted him about the online article.
'Allstate
is very fair'
Marissa
Quiles, media relations spokesperson for Allstate, told WND the company
could not comment on a lawsuit its lawyers have not yet seen. According
to Barber's attorneys, the company was to be served with the suit
today.
"Allstate
is very fair and has a very good reputation for being inclusive,"
Quiles said.
"It's
the company's policy to maintain a working environment free of any type
of discrimination and harassment that may affect an employee's terms or
conditions of employment."
Continued
Quiles: "We cannot disclose or discuss details related to the former
employee's termination, nor can we comment on a lawsuit we have not yet
received."
Barber
says his termination from Allstate came at a stressful time in his life
with his wife just having given birth after a problem pregnancy.
He
recently described the situation in a narrative:
To
add insult to injury, about two weeks before I was fired, my wife,
Sarah, and I delivered our third child in four years following a highly
stressful at-risk pregnancy. Allstate was fully aware of our new
arrival and that Sarah was still recovering from her C-section surgery
when they callously snatched away both our medical insurance and our
means of providing for our young family.
All
of this notwithstanding, my personal faith and optimism remain intact.
I always knew that people were persecuted in the workplace for their
religious beliefs, but I never imagined it would happen to my family
and me. We’re losing our home, and we may be forced into bankruptcy;
but I know that somehow, God will provide. I believe it’s crucial to
take a stand for truth, even if that stand results in suffering in the
short term.
The
lawsuit, which was filed May 26, seeks compensatory and punitive
damages, as well as attorneys' fees.
An
initial status hearing on the federal lawsuit is set for July 5 in the
Illinois Northern District Court.
World Net Daily
June, 2005
London a Longtime Haven
for Radical Muslim Figures
(CNSNews.com) - Terrorism experts have long warned that
Islamists espousing violence enjoy a haven in London, an assertion that
has come into sharp focus again with Thursday's bombings in the British
capital.
For years, Britain tolerated the presence of
high-profile and outspoken Islamic clerics whose fiery sermons
frequently extolled jihad against the West. Since 9/11, however,
anti-terror legislation has been tightened, some groups have been
outlawed, terror rings have been broken and some controversial figures
have been arrested.
One of them, Egyptian-born Abu Hamza
al-Masri, went on trial this week at London's Old Bailey courthouse,
where he faces more than a dozen charges include inciting terrorism and
racial hatred.
Al-Masri was formerly the imam at a North London
mosque linked to confessed al-Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui and
Richard Reid, who tried to blow up a U.S.-bound flight from Europe with
explosives hidden in his shoe.
He also is wanted in the United States and Yemen on terror-related
charges.
For
years before his May 2004 arrest al-Masri used the Finsbury Park mosque
as a base to speak for what he insisted were political causes.
Despite
his radical rhetoric and close links to a group that claimed
responsibility for attacks including the Oct. 2000 bombing of the USS
Cole in Yemen, it was only in 2003 that the authorities acted against
him, stripping him of his British citizenship and barring him from
preaching at the mosque.
Al-Masri then took to addressing his
followers -- mostly young British- and foreign-born Muslims -- on the
street outside the building.
Britain also detained another
London-based extremist cleric, Abu Qatada, whose sermons were found in
the 9/11 hijackers' apartment in Germany.
But other radical
leaders remained free, among them Omar Bakri Mohammed, a Syrian-born
cleric who has promoted and praised violence against Israel, America
and Britain for years.
Yael Shahar of the Israel-based
International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) said that
although London had been a center for Islamic extremism for years, the
British security services only started taking the threat seriously
after 9/11.
Before that, Shahar said, "the firebrand clerics who
preached jihad and hatred of the West were dismissed as 'armchair
warriors' by British intelligence."
Even since 9/11, however, critics have questioned Britain's apparent
tolerance for highly-controversial Muslim figures.
As
recently as last year, the government allowed a visit by Yusuf
al-Qaradawi, a Egyptian cleric who has publicly voiced support for
suicide bombers. London's leftwing Mayor Ken Livingstone, who has
called al-Qaradawi a "man of peace," welcomed him as an honored guest. (see
related story).
Exploiting democracy
In 2000, Bakri told Cybercast News Service in an interview: "We will
use your democracy to destroy your democracy."
Britain's
legal system and its willingness late last century to offer asylum to
figures like Bakri, al-Masri and Abu Qatada made it a magnet for exiled
radical organizations.
"In the past decade, the United Kingdom's
undisputed political, economic, and cultural center has also become a
major world center of political Islam and anti-Semitic, anti-Israel,
and anti-American activism," writes Hebrew University of Jerusalem
academic Robert S. Wistrich, in online excerpts of an article to be
published soon.
"Through its Arabic-language newspapers,
magazines, and publishing houses, not to mention its flourishing
network of bookshops, mosques, and community centers, radical Islam has
taken full advantage of what British democracy has to offer for its
anti-Western goals, reaping the benefits of London's significance as a
hub of global finance, electronic media, and mass communications
technology."
Osama bin Laden himself laid the groundwork for a London-based network,
according to terrorism researcher Yossef Bodansky.
In
his biography on bin Laden, written before 9/11, Bodansky wrote that
the al-Qaeda leader based himself in the London suburb of Wembley in
1994. By the time he left, after the Saudis began demanding his
expulsion, "he had consolidated a comprehensive system of entities" in
the city.
In Nov. 1998, Bakri hosted a conference in London
called Western Challenge and Islamic Response, attended by more than a
dozen extremist groups. At the gathering, Bakri voiced support for
Osama bin Laden's jihad and said recent anti-U.S. attacks such as those
in Saudi Arabia and East Africa were "legitimate acts."
Following 9/11, Bakri was one of the first Islamist figures to publicly
applaud the attacks.
Since
then he has spoken often of his support for violent jihad, even
admitting to signing up recruits for Islamist campaigns in places like
Kashmir and Israel.
A number of governments -- including those
of India, Algeria, Sri Lanka and Egypt -- have long complained about
the presence in Britain of groups connected to violent campaign in
those countries.
Extremists recruited in Britain for terrorist
acts abroad include "shoe bomber" Reid, eight men involved in
kidnappings in Yemen, and two men who carried out a deadly suicide
bombing in Tel Aviv in 2003.
Bakri insisted that fighters were
never recruited to carry out violent acts inside Britain itself,
although he did say it was his dream to see the Islamic banner flying
over Downing Street.
After the fall of the Taliban and its
al-Qaeda allies in Afghanistan in late 2001, a member of Bakri's
organization, Hassan Butt, told the BBC from Pakistan that British
Muslim volunteers who had been fighting in Afghanistan would return to
Britain where they would "strike at the heart of the enemy."
In an interview with a Portuguese magazine in April 2004, Bakri said
attacks on London were "inevitable."
One
"very well organized" group in London called itself al-Qaeda Europe, he
said. "I know that they are ready to launch a big operation."
By
Patrick Goodenough
CNSNews.com International Editor
Britain's
online imam declares war as he calls young to jihad
Omar Bakri Mohammed, banned from many British mosques, is
issuing a call to arms to a committed audience
AN EXTREMIST London cleric is using live broadcasts on the
internet to urge young British Muslims to join al-Qaeda and has
condoned suicide terrorist attacks. Omar Bakri Mohammed, who has lived
in the UK for 18 years on social security benefits, pledged allegiance
to Osama bin Laden and told his followers that they were in a state of
war with Britain. The Times monitored Mr Bakri Mohammed’s
nightly webcasts in which he declared that the "covenant of security"
under which Muslims live peacefully in the UK had been "violated" by
the Government’s tough anti-terrorist legislation, The Syrian-born
radical said: "I believe the whole of Britain has become Dar ul-Harb
(land of war). In such a state, he added, "the kuffar
(non-believer) has no sanctity for their own life or property." In his
broadcasts, conducted through an internet chatroom, Mr Bakri Mohammed
stopped short of calling for terrorist attacks in Britain. But he said
that Muslims should join the jihad "wherever you are" and told one
woman that she was permitted to become a suicide bomber. Mr Bakri
Mohammed, 46, has indefinite leave to remain in the UK but could be
detained without trial under the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act
if the Home Secretary were to decide he is a terrorist associate. Last
Monday he told his listeners: "Al-Qaeda and all its branches and
organisations of the world, that is the victorious group and they have
the emir and you are obliged to join. There is no need . . . to mess
about." Two nights later he said that the voices of dead Mujahidin were
calling young Britons to fight. "These people are calling you and
shouting to you from far distant places: al jihad, al jihad. They say
to you my dear Muslim brothers, ‘Where is your weapon, where is your
weapon?’ Come on to the jihad," he said. The cleric is regarded as a
fringe extremist by mainstream Muslims and is banned from preaching at
many mosques. But every night he is using internet forums to reach an
audience of between 60 and 70 committed listeners, most of whom are
under 30. He lectures for 90 minutes and his audience responds
enthusiastically, typing questions about jihad and suicide bombing
which are answered verbally. An announcement last October that Mr Bakri
Mohammed had disbanded his al-Muhajiroun movement was welcomed. But it
appears that he has regrouped and is delivering a more hardline message
through the internet and at secretive meetings. Speaking directly to The
Times, Mr Bakri Mohammed denied that he was calling for violent
action in the UK. He said his definition of Britain as Dar ul-Harb was
"theoretical". He added: "It means that Muslims can no longer be
considered to have sanctity and security here, therefore they should
consider leaving this country and going back to their homelands.
Otherwise they are under siege and obviously we do not want to see that
we are living under siege." The alternative to leaving was to put
pressure on the Government to review its anti-terrorist laws, he said,
and that the definition of jihad took many forms and not simply
military activity. He also denied that he was inciting others to commit
acts of violence. Andrew Dismore, a Labour MP who has long campaigned
against Mr Bakri Mohammad’s extremism, said: "With these words he may
well be committing offences under the Terrorism Act and other
legislation. I will be raising this immediately with the Home Secretary
and the Metropolitan Police." WAR OF WORDS "If I am living
under a system, Islam allows me to take the benefit that system
offers." August 1998 on accepting social security benefits
What happened was a direct consequence of the evil foreign
policy of the USA. This is compensation and payback for its own
atrocities against Muslims."
September 2001 on 9/11 attacks
"I am very happy today. As much as I regret the innocent
people who passed away, with the USA you must pay."
September 2001 on 9/11 attacks
"We don’t want to see a September 11 in the UK and I think the
British public should take these threats very seriously."
February 2003 on danger of terror attacks in Britain
"I can sense there is frustration in the hearts of the youth
and they want action. I can see from debates and talking to people on
the internet that there are many people abroad wanting to attack
Britain."
February 2003 on anger among Muslim youth
"You must fight for the way of Allah, for the sake of Allah,
to kill first and to be killed."
March 2004 address to followers in Derby
"What happened in Madrid is all revenge. Eye for eye, tooth
for tooth, life for life."
March 2004 referring to the Madrid train bombings
Martyrdom is what you want. Do the effort. Clear your
intention. Go forward, never look backwards. Make sure you have nothing
left behind you to think about or cry for and fight in the name of
Allah." April 2004 addressing followers in East London
By Sean O'Neil and Yaakov Lappin
CHINA:
Executed for
Distributing Bibles
Brought to you by The
Voice of the Martyrs
When
34-year old Jiang Zongxiu went to her neighboring market last June
in Guizhou Province, China. Along with her mother-in-law, Jiang went
through the marketplace, taking opportunities to hand out Bibles and
Christian literature and telling people about Jesus. Only this day they
had an encounter with the Chinese police.
The two Christian women were handcuffed together and brought to the
police station. They were interrogated throughout the evening of the
17th. The next morning they were sentenced by the Public Security
Bureau (PSB) to 15 days incarceration for "suspected spreading of rumor
and disturbing the social order."
Jiang and her mother-in-law knew the risk of spreading Christian
literature in communist China. Both had been active in their church for
more than 10 years and dared to go forth. Even when they were arrested,
interrogated and sentenced to serve 15 days, they were willing to
accept the consequences of their actions-all from a government that
claims to have "freedom of religion."
But it was not enough for the PSB to arrest and beat these two
Christian women for the crime of passing our Christian literature. In
the afternoon of June 18th, Mrs. Jiang Zongziu was pronounced dead by
the PSB office of Tongzi County. They claimed she died of "natural
causes." The fact is she was beaten to death.
The Voice of the Martyrs has received video testimony from the
surviving family, photos of Jiang body showing her bruised body, and a
copy of the actual arrest document. All of this had to be smuggled out
of China as the authorities continue to attempt to hide their
systematic persecution of Christians. An international campaign is now
under way on behalf of the surviving family.
Much of the world would like you to believe Christians are no longer
persecuted. Sister Jiang's family would disagree. Now you can stay
informed of what is really happening to your Christian brothers and
sisters in countries like China and even discover practical ways to
help, with a FREE subscription to The Voice of the Martyrs monthly
newsletter. Don't turn your back on today's persecuted church.
Subscribe today.
FAITH UNDER FIRE
5 years in jail for
teaching Sunday School?
Indonesian housewives in hot water after
kids invite Muslim friends
Three
Christian housewives in Indonesia have been charged with endangering
children and face a possible five years in prison after teaching a kids
Sunday School class, a human-rights group reports.
According
to International
Christian Concern,
which helps persecuted believers worldwide, the criminal charges stem
from three Sunday School lessons the women – Rebecca Laonita Z, Rama
Mala Bangun and Etty Pangesti – taught in 2003 and 2005.
The
activities the women led included: telling stories and teaching from
the Bible, teaching Christian prayers, providing prizes like pencils
for memorizing Bible verses, giving children towels with a picture of
Jesus, and giving kids blue sport shirts that bore a cross and the logo
of their church. The women also allegedly invited a child to attend a
church service and lent a girl a Bible to read, International Christian
Concern reported.
While
most of the children involved went to the women's church, the kids had
invited some of their Muslim friends to the classes – and that's when
the trouble began.
Indonesia
has a child-protection criminal statute that states:
Any
person who purposely uses deception, lies or enticement to make a child
choose another religion not of his own free will ... will be prosecuted
by imprisonment for five years and/or a fine of Rp.100,000,000.
In
the last several years, Indonesia has seen the destruction of entire
Christian villages by Muslim mobs.
"ICC
has toured many of these burned down villages and seen firsthand the
destruction wrought by intolerance, hatred, and fear of those that are
different," International Christian Concern said. "ICC is still
assisting these victims of hate."
Indonesia
is the world's largest Muslim nation.
ICC
is asking its supporters to contact the Indonesian Embassy in
Washington, D.C., to protest the prosecution of the Christian women.
World Net Daily
July, 2005