What do Islam, Antisemitics, and some Catholics have in common?

 

They don't believe that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was Jewish. What was she if she was not Jewish? Would God have encouraged Joseph to marry outside of Judaism because He couldn't find a righteous Jewish girl to impregnate with His Son? 

The astonishingly stupid and often vulgar statements made on social media decry a desperate antisemitism that seems to link Islam, Jew haters, and some Catholics. Are there other pseudo-Christians who are offended by the idea that Mary was a Jew. If so, you had better learn some truth and humility in a hurry.

Caution: Vulgar language and extraordinary stupidity and hatefulness follow, as is often the case when quoting godless people. I call Muslims godless because their faith is not in God the Father or Jesus His Son.

Uproar Ensues as a Jewish Woman From the Middle East

Plays a Jewish Woman From the Middle East

Nov 17, 2024 10:00 am By Hugh Fitzgerald

All hell has broken loose because Netflix dared to make a movie about the mother of Jesus, Mary, and had the poor taste of using a Jewish woman from the Middle East to play the part of a Jewish woman from the Middle East. The outpouring of venom and display of ignorance at this choice was quite amazing. More on the outrage expressed can be found here: 

‘A disgusting Jew’: Uproar after Netflix casts

Jewish-Israeli actress to play Mary, Jesus’s mom

by Hannah Brown, Jerusalem Post, November 14, 2024:

Netflix released the trailer earlier this week for Mary, its upcoming movie about Jesus’s mother – a Jewish woman from the Middle East –  and a good chunk of the Internet is melting down, because the actress in the lead role is a Jewish woman from the Middle East.

Noa Cohen, a 21-year-old Israeli actress, portrays the world’s most famous Jewish mom in the movie, but some social media users are calling for a boycott.

Objections were raised both on the grounds that Cohen is Israeli and that she is Jewish, with anti-Zionism and antisemitism fusing in some posts, as they tend to do more and more these days. This subject, since it points to the fact that Jews lived in the land of Israel hundreds of years before Islam was established, whipped social-media users into a particularly petulant storm of grievance.

Jews have been living in the Land of Israel not for “hundreds of years” before Islam appeared early in seventh century, but for more than two thousand years before there was a single Muslim in the world.

Having Mary played by Noa Cohen, a 21-year-old actress from Israel, has enraged both the antisemites and the anti-Israel activists who always manage to overlap. They apparently cannot accept the idea that Mary was a Jew and — horribile dictu — so was Jesus.

Here are some of their hysterical remarks:

An X user called America First ZOE (AFZ) posted an image of Cohen’s Instagram account, writing, “A disgusting Jew got the part. lol.”

Red Pill Media wrote, “Jews created this and the actors are jewish. No thanks.”

Kathy, an X user whose bio reads, “It’s Palestine. It will always be Palestine,” wrote, “F*** you. I’m an offended Catholic. F***ing have an Israeli play Mary? May you all be f***ing smited. Blasphemous”

Apparently there are still a great many people who cannot accept the idea that Mary was Jewish, and so was Joseph, and so, of course, was Jesus. It’s just too upsetting. So please don’t upset them by trying to make them believe that tall tale about a Jewish Mary. How could a good Christian girl like Mary possibly be played by a “disgusting Jew”?

Can you imagine the outrage of having a cast of Jews playing a cast of Jews? It’s a Zionist plot. Everyone knows the Zionists call Mary a “whore” and reject her son — because both of them, obviously, were “Palestinians.” Why didn’t Netflix remain true to history and choose “Palestinians” to play the Holy Family?

Jeff Stan wrote on X/Twitter, “Mary was not a ‘Jew’.” Adam Kout said, “As a muslim you have no right to insult mother Mary, one of the best female figures in Islam.”…

So Mary was “not a Jew” for some commentators. And for others, she was not only “not a Jew,” but “one of the best female figures in Islam,” right up there with little Aisha and Dalal Mughrabi.

Imagine how unpleasantly surprised Jeff Stan will be if he ever discovers that Mary was indeed Jewish, despite his furious claims to the contrary, and how mortified Adam Kout will be to find out that she was not “one of the best female figures in Islam.”  And “America First AOZ” will learn that no one in his right mind would agree with his description of the beautiful Israeli girl who plays Mary, Noa Cohen, as a “disgusting Jew.”

Red Pill Media saw a sinister Jewish plot behind the movie — “Jews created this [movie] and the actors are jewish. No thanks.” Then the anti-Israel brigade chimed in, with chatty Kathy (whose on-line biography says “It’s Palestine. It will always be Palestine”) nicely blending her anti-Israeli animus with antisemitism, writing, “F*** you. I’m an offended Catholic. F***ing have an Israeli play Mary? May you all be f***ing smited. Blasphemous.” And Salim and Adam claimed her for Islam. And Jeff insisted “Mary was not a Jew.”

Beautifully expressed, by all of you. Take a bow, Kathy, Jeff, Adam, Salim, Red Pill Media, tutti quanti. Really, I can’t imagine a more informative display.

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Why 'LGBT-Free Zones' are on the Rise in Poland

Far-left backlash in a far-right country

Nationalist ruling party calls 'LGBT ideology' a 'threat'

amid growing number of Pride marches

CBC Radio 

On stickers distributed in weekly conservative magazine, Gazeta Polska, this week, the phrase 'LGBT-free zone'

circles a rainbow with a cross through it. (Kacper Pempel/Reuters)

Activists in Poland say so-called LGBT-free zones across the predominantly Catholic country point to efforts by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party to stoke anti-LGBT sentiment ahead of a parliamentary election this fall.

Local media reports suggest that across Poland, more than two dozen cities and towns — some led by PiS members — have declared their regions LGBT-free zones in recent months. The majority are situated in the historically conservative southeastern part of the country.

While the declarations are not enforceable, activists say they signal a targeted effort to exclude LGBT residents.

"It's a statement saying that a specific kind of people is not welcome there," said Ola Kaczorek, co-president of the Warsaw-based Love Does Not Exclude Association.

The number of supposedly LGBT-free regions has grown since Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski signed a declaration in February supporting sexual and gender diverse communities in that city, Kaczorek said.

Ola Kaczorek, second from right, waves a flag during the pride parade in Warsaw,

representing Love Does Not Exclude Association. (Love Does Not Exclude Association)

Officials of the nationalist PiS party, which won a majority in 2015 running on an anti-immigration platform, have been vocal in their opposition to LGBT rights. Activists say that with migration to Poland slowing significantly since 2015, the party is looking for a new group to target.

Because a political party has to have people to demonize in order to win an election.

At a rally ahead of European Parliament elections in May, PiS president Jaroslaw Kacynski told a crowd that "LGBT ideology" was a "threat" to Polish society.

"They are not saying LGBT+ people are a threat, but they're saying that LGBT+ ideology is a threat," said Kaczorek. "Then people who are taking part [in pride marches] are not seen as humans, but as a part of some kind of ideology … [and] that is terrifying for some people."

Violence at pro-LGBT march

On July 20, advocates took to the streets of Białystok, a city in the Law and Justice party stronghold Podlasie Voivodeship, for the region's first-ever Pride march, and were met with violence from conservative and religious protesters. 

Białystok is considered an LGBT-free zone, according to a map plotted by LGBT advocacy group Lambda Warsaw.

Protesters chanted slogans, including 'God, honour, motherland', and burned a rainbow flag, at the first-ever

Pride march in Białystok, Poland on July 20. (Agnieszka Sadowska/Agencja Gazeta via Reuters)

Video from the event shows firecrackers exploding throughout the crowd and homophobic chanting from a group of men burning a rainbow flag.

"I have never seen anything like that before," said Małgorzata Mróz, a 20-year-old University of Warsaw student who travelled to join the march.

"People shouted at me that I'm a bitch, that I should die," she said adding that counter-protesters threw rocks and bottles at LGBT advocates. 

It's been just this great grassroots movement

that's been growing and expanding

- Ola Kaczorek

Both Mróz and Kaczorek told Day 6 there wasn't enough of a police presence.

Police arrested 25 people following the attacks, according to a Reuters report.

While the Polish government did not respond to a question about accusations that they support anti-LGBT sentiment, they did address the violence in Białystok.

"In Poland, there is no acceptance of behaviours slighting the rights of other persons," said Elżbieta Witek, the minister of the interior and administration, in an emailed statement to Day 6.

Małgorzata Mróz, 20, covers her mouth after tear gas is dispersed during the first-ever Pride march in Białystok, Poland, on July 20. The protest became violent when conservative and religious counter-protesters intercepted the march. (Agata Kubis/Submitted by Malgorzata Mroz)

But while the country's Education Minister Dariusz Piontkowski told private broadcaster TVN on Sunday that LGBT people shouldn't be excluded in Poland, he questioned the intent of pride marches.

"These kinds of marches... awaken resistance"

Education Minister Dariusz Piontkowski

"These kinds of marches, initiated by groups that are trying to force through their non-standard sexual behaviours, awaken resistance ... it's worth considering if such events should be organized in the future," he said. 

Mróz, who grew up in Częstochowa, organized a pride march in the small, southern city last year. There was no violence like that in Białystok, but the march was unwelcomed.

"Częstochowa is also my city," she said. "I will be there because it's my place and I have a right to be there."

Church and state

Ahead of last weekend's events in Białystok, Archbishop Tadeusz Wojda opposed the march, in a statement, calling it "foreign" to the region. Wojda also expressed "gratitude" for those who "defend Christian values."

According to 2016 numbers from Statistics Poland, more than 90 per cent of Poles identify as Roman Catholic.

"The church has a huge influence on people and it's a great outlet if someone wants to use it — and the ruling party is using it because lots and lots of people are regularly going to the church," Kaczorek said.

Though Kaczorek believes the Law and Justice party will win a second term in an election to be likely held in October, she has hope the LGBT community's activism will pay off.

Participants attend the city's first Pride march in support of the LGBT community in Bialystok, Poland, on July 20. (Agnieszka Sadowska/Agencja Gazeta via Reuters)

When Gazeta Polska, a conservative weekly magazine, included stickers emblazoned with the words "LGBT-free zone" in Wednesday's issue, a Polish judge ordered a ban on distributing the stickers any further Thursday.

Kaczorek believes if the ruling party continues to oppose LGBT rights, it will encourage the community to fight back. 

This year, there were more than 20 pride marches across Poland's 16 voivodeships.

"It's been just this great grassroots movement that's been growing and expanding — and there are new young people in smaller towns that don't want to migrate to bigger cities," Kaczorek said.

"They want to show themselves in their local communities and do something to show that we are here; we are everywhere. We are normal everyday people."

Why do Catholics and most Christians have a problem with LGBTQ ideology? Is it because God called it an abomination? Is it because He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and a couple other small cities because of their sexual license? Does it have to do with their Pride Parades, which are often obscene and yet tolerated by police and parents of small children? Is it because God hates 'pride' in any form? 

There should be absolutely no tolerance for violence against gays and lesbians and trans. But neither should they be flaunting their stuff in the face of God and man. As the Education Minister said, 'These kinds of marches... awaken resistance.'

A little common sense and modesty would go a long way toward peace and coexistence.

6 Killed in Gunman Attack on Catholic Church in Burkina Faso

This week's battle in the War on Christianity - Islam, Burkina Faso

A Burkina Faso police officer stands guard, FILE PHOTO: © AFP / Issouf Sanogo

Six people, including a priest, have been killed in an attack on a Catholic church in Dablo, Burkina Faso after attackers opened fire as people prayed at Sunday mass.

"Towards 9.00 am, during mass, armed individuals burst into the Catholic Church," the mayor of Dablo, Ousmane Zongo, told AFP. "They started firing as the congregation tried to flee."

Dablo is a village located 90km from Kaya in the north-central part of the country.

The attack is the first on a Catholic church since terrorist attacks began in the country in 2015. Over 350 people have been killed in the raids which have been attributed to a number of jihadist groups, including the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara and the Ansarul Islam group.

Ansar ul Islam is a militant Islamist group active in Burkina Faso and in Mali. Ansar ul Islam is the Ansar Dine branch in Burkina Faso. 

Ansar Dine, also known as Ansar al-Din ("defenders of the faith") is a militant Islamist group led by Iyad Ag Ghaly, one of the most prominent leaders of the Tuareg Rebellion (1990–1995) who is suspected of having ties to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, which is led by his cousin Hamada Ag Hama. Ansar Dine seeks to impose strict Sharia law across Mali.

Wikipedia.

On April 29, gunmen attacked a Protestant church, killing a pastor and four worshippers in Silgadji near Djibo, which was the first attack on a church, France 24 reports.

Muslim and Christian clerics have been targeted by the groups. In February, a Spanish Catholic priest was killed in a raid in Nohao in the center of the country.

So, from murdering a priest in February to massacres in churches in April and May with increasing numbers of casualties, shows a clear progression. Sin is progressive! This will get worse before it gets better without dramatic action.

On the other hand, while Islam may celebrate the murder of 11 Christians this year in Burkina Faso, it's a good bet those martyrs went straight into the presence of Jesus Christ and were welcomed with open arms. While their murderers are flagged for judgment to stand before that same Christ. No Paradise; no virgins; just judgment, then Hell. Poor fools! They've lost and they think they've won.

‘Take a Selfie with God and I’ll Resign,’ says Duterte

There is a lot to like about Rodrigo Duterte, and a lot to hate. His efforts to clean up the Philippines drug culture is both laudible and horrifying, but I wish he would extend his enthusiasm to cleaning up the rampant child sex abuse that makes the Philippines the world's premier hotspot for child sex tourism and child pornography. 

One good thing about Duterte is that Christians don't have to apologize for him. We do have to pray for him because he has the most pathetic grasp of theology of almost any world leader.

© Romeo Ranoco / Reuters

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has promised to resign immediately – if a Christian can show him any proof that God exists. It comes just weeks after he outraged religious groups for calling God “stupid.”

The outspoken leader made the vow on Friday during one of his signature freestyle speeches. Duterte said if anyone can say that they have either “been to heaven, talked to God [or] saw him personally,” he would resign as president “tonight.”

“I just need one witness who will say, ‘Mayor, those fools at the church ordered me to go to heaven and talk to God. God really exists. We have a picture together and I brought a selfie,’” he added, during the opening of a science and technology event in southern Davao city.

I would like to introduce you to Someone called Jesus. Have you heard of Him as other than a curse word? I dare you to find out Who He is.

Duterte then hit out at the Catholic Church by asking why followers are required to donate money to the Church. “If you are really helping people, why do you ask money from them?” he questioned.

This isn’t the first time the 73-year old has criticized Christian groups and their ‘God.’ In June, Duterte called God “stupid” during a discussion about the Biblical story of creation. In response, Christian groups accused him of insulting God and demanded an apology, to which the president replied: “Not in a million years.”

You might get a million years to change your mind! But I don't think it will take that long.

Duterte's tirade against God started, at the beginning, with Adam and Eve. With God allowing them to choose to sin and thereby contaminating every human being born after them, except Jesus, with their sin. Duterte called it stupid, and at first glance, in fact after several glances, it still appears pretty stupid from the view of an extremely limited human mind.

But what was God thinking? He didn't have to allow Satan into the Garden of Eden, did He? He threw him out of Heaven after he sinned against God, but threw him to earth where he could tempt and infect all of mankind. How bright was that?

One of the erroneous assumptions we make as human is to think that this life that we are living is all there is, or is the whole purpose of our existence. But, contrary to some weak theological theories, God did not create us and put us on the earth for the purpose of just enjoying our lives and avoiding suffering. We may have those opportunities, but most of us struggle through life suffering in a myriad of ways.

What was God's purpose in creating us and putting us on a planet with demonic spirits, with evil personified? God created us to love and enjoy Him forever. But love is a funny thing. You may 'fall' in love with someone but that almost invariably fades over time. True love, the love that God showers upon us and the love He hopes to get from us is deeper than that. It includes a decision to love, a choice. 

Our lifetime on earth is an infinitely small fragment of forever, but a vital one. For it is here that God determines those who shall go on to enjoy Him forever, and those who will not. Those who will go on to be in God's presence are those who choose to love God. They are those who choose good over evil - not what they think is good, man cannot make his own definition of good or evil. One evil that God consistently hates is man's desire to be his own god. To ignore what God says and to ignore the phenomenal sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ. 

But choosing good over evil requires that there be evil to choose! If there was only good and no evil, man would have no choice but to 'love' God. Such love would ultimately fail as it did in Heaven where there was no evil and therefore no real choice to make. Satan's love for God faded and he decided to put himself on the throne. Many of us are still doing that today - Duterte is one of them.

So earth is a testing ground, a boot camp almost, where those committed to God are taught and tested to determine if their commitment, or faith, is real and will last through Eternity.

God shows Himself to believers in many ways. He has proved Himself to me many, many times. He will not prove Himself to unbelievers, generally speaking, because we have to come to Him in faith. If God could be seen by unbelievers, there would be no need for faith, and without faith there can be no lasting, pure love, and no hope for an Eternity with God.

Duterte has just celebrated his second year in office but critics cite his verbal war with Christians as one of the many reasons he has “become isolated domestically and internationally,” and may not see the end of his six-year term.

“Duterte’s tirade against God and the Bible reveals again that he is a psychological freak, a psychopath, an abnormal mind who should have not been elected as president of our civilized and Christian nation,”  Catholic Bishop, Arturo Bastes

Unfortunately, the Bishop doesn't seem to understand that it is God who places Kings, Queens, Prime Ministers and presidents. His purposes are not always what Christians might want or hope for. Sometimes it is to clean up messes that religious people have created or have allowed to exist.

Christian Genocide in Nigeria - 20 Parishioners, 2 Clergy Murdered

Fulani Tribesmen massacre Catholic Church 

Nigerian President Buhari is a Fulani and appears to support them

Of course, you will find no mention of this on Mainstream media

by Raymond Ibrahim 

Two days ago in Nigeria, on April 24, around 30 Muslim herdsmen stormed a church during early morning mass and massacred nearly 20 parishioners and two clergymen.

Rev. Fathers Joseph Gor and Felix Tyolaha were slaughtered while officiating at the altar of St. Ignatius Catholic Church in Mbalom village, Benue. 

Worshippers were gathered in the church for the daily 5:30 a.m. service when they heard gunshots. “People started scampering and wailing,” said Terhemen Angor, a local resident. Several people were “gunned down in cold blood while many sustained injuries including bullet wounds… After attacking the church, the invaders descended on the community and razed over 60 houses. The community is on fire and deserted, people are fleeing to neighbouring villages hoping to find a safe haven for their families.”

As in similar occurrences, “concerted efforts to get [a] reaction from the Benue Police Command failed,” according to Vanguard News. As far back as January 3, and further indicative of the authorities’ indifference, one of the slain reverends, Fr. Gor had written on Facebook, “Living in fear. The fulani herdsmen are still around us in Mbalom. They refuse to go. They still go grazing around us. No weapons to depend on ourselves.”

“In their classic style they burn down homes, destroy food items and kill,” a statement concerning this latest atrocity from the local Catholic diocese read. “The police seem to know nothing of the attacks which have been going on in other villages within Benue State.”

The statement suggests that Fulani herdsmen attacks are part of the anti-Christian jihad in Nigeria that is more commonly associated with the Islamic terror group, Boko Haram:

Many people are asking why the International community has remained silent over the massacre of Benue citizens? The answer is simple: It has been the goal of the jihadists to conquer Benue and Tiv people who resisted their advance into the middle belt since 1804; the [Christian] people who rejected Islam and fought for the unification of Nigeria in the civil war of 1967 – 1970… [T]he Muslim North is enjoying a sweet revenge overshadowed by an insensitive regime…. The diocese has been active in providing relief materials including education and skills acquisition lessons. To go for the priests means total destruction of everything we stand for and believe in!

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari

The frequency and deadliness of Muslim herdsmen raids on Christian farmers is “now more deadly than the Boko Haram jihadist insurgency that has ravaged Nigeria’s northeast,” reports Agence France-Presse.

“I have just returned from Nigeria where over 100 Christians were killed in the 2 weeks I was there. The killings are now weekly and this isn’t even Boko Haram!” a leading human rights lawyer, Emmanuel Ogebe, whose hometown is the site of this latest massacre of Nigerian Christians and their priests, told Gatestone.

The Fulani Herdsmen are jihadists who invaded the region in 1804 and imposed a puritanical form of Islam. It is impossible to separate their antecedents from their present. More than just a land dispute, the attacks on an American mission compound last month and today’s attack on a church service are indicators of the Islamist extremism driving this genocide.

Boko Haram and the Fulani “are not only allies but have collaborated on attacks in Nigeria,” continued Ogebe. “It is no coincidence that both are now waging jihad on Nigeria given their long history.”

Many Christians in Nigeria accuse its president, Muhammadu Buhari of being complicit. Although he publicly condemns the ongoing massacre by Fulani herdsmen of Christians, they contend that he does nothing to stop them. Ogebe goes further with his accusations:

Buhari, who is himself from the jihadists’ Fulani tribe, has filled his security council with his kinsmen. He infamously refused to visit Benue State after the New Year’s Day Massacre that claimed over 70 lives then commanded the state governor to go and “accommodate” the Fulani Herdsmen who had killed his people. The minister of defense has justified the killings and General Buhari’s Government condones and sometimes outrightly supports the Herdsmen. Worse still, General Buhari is a life patron of one of the Herdsmen associations that has claimed some of the attacks.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is set to visit the White House next week, April 30.

Asked if he could relay a message to the White House, Ogebe said:

General Buhari is presiding over a low-grade genocide perpetrated by his Fulani Herdsmen tribe. He must be told to fish out the murderers of Rev Fathers Joseph and Felix and bring them to justice. The killings must stop. US should halt aircraft sales to Nigeria until these attacks are halted and the perpetrators convicted.

Mbalom Village, Benue State, Nigeria

Religious Symbolism in Germany and Islamization

The New Normal - Crosses and Kippahs

German state orders all government buildings to display a Christian cross

Religious symbol is already compulsory in public schools and courtrooms in predominantly Catholic Bavaria

Shehab Khan 
The Independent Online

Markus Soeder, Governor of the German state of Bavaria, hangs up a cross at the entrance of the state chancellery in Munich, Germany AP

A German state has ordered that Christian crosses should be placed on the entrance of all government buildings. 

Bavaria's conservative government has said the crosses should not be seen as religious symbols, but are meant to reflect the southern German state's "cultural identity and Christian-western influence."

Crosses are already compulsory in public schools and courtrooms in predominantly Catholic Bavaria.

The governing Christian Social Union — the Bavaria-only wing of Chancellor Angela Merkel's party — is hoping to avoid losing its state majority to Alternative for Germany (AfD), a party on the right whose anti-Muslim campaigns have struck a chord with some German voters.

Bavaria is one of the richer states in Germany and has managed migrant inflows better than other areas. Despite this, in the most recent election the AfD rose to 12 per cent in the region. 

There has also been talk of Bavaria’s own border guard after large numbers of migrants entered the state. 

The number of migrants could rise after Germany agreed to take in 10,000 migrants who were selected by the United Nations’ refugee (UNHCR) agency.

Ms Merkel said the refugees would be part of a resettlement programme in Germany but did not indicate where in the country they would settle or from which countries they would come.

Bavaria

Meanwhile:

Germany's Jews urged not to wear kippahs after attacks

A "Berlin Wears Kippah" rally is planned in the German capital on Wednesday

The leader of Germany's Jewish community has advised Jews to avoid wearing traditional skullcaps (kippahs) following anti-Semitic attacks.

Josef Schuster, the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, told Berlin public radio that Jews should exercise caution in big cities.

His comments come ahead of a "Berlin Wears Kippah" solidarity march in the German capital on Wednesday.

Last week, two young men wearing kippahs were assaulted in the city. The attacker was filmed shouting anti-Semitic abuse.

Jewish organisations in Germany have expressed alarm over a number of recent anti-Semitic insults and threats in schools.

At the weekend, Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned what she described as "another form of anti-Semitism".

She told Israel's Channel 10 TV network that aside from anti-Semitism by right-wing groups, similar threats were coming from some Muslim refugees in the country.

"Defiantly showing your colours would in principle be the right way to go [to tackle anti-Semitism]," he (Shuster) said.

"Nevertheless, I would advise individual people against openly wearing a kippah in big German cities," Mr Schuster added.

But he also stressed that if Germans refused to stand up to anti-Semitism "our democracy would be at risk".

"This is not only about anti-Semitism - it goes along with racism, it goes along with xenophobia. You need a clear stop sign here."

What about reaction from other groups?

Mr Schuster's comments apparently contradict the position taken on the kippah issue by the Berlin-based Jewish Forum for Democracy and Against Anti-Semitism - the organisation which shared video of last week's attack on Facebook.

"I used to always advise my Jewish friends and acquaintances not to wear a kippah so as not to show their Jewish identity. I changed my opinion," a spokesman said last week.

"We must take up this fight and be visible again in public."

Separately, the head of Germany's Central Council of Muslims condemned recent anti-Semitic attacks.

"Anti-Semitism, racism and hatred are great sins in Islam, therefore we will also never tolerate that," Aiman Mazyek told Germany's Rheinische Post newspaper.

Say what?

Germany's Jewish population has grown rapidly since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

Before 1989, the population was below 30,000 but an influx of Jews, mainly from the former Soviet Union, has raised the number to more than 200,000.

Number of Atheists in Russia Halves in 3 Years – Poll

© Sergey Pyatakov / Sputnik

The number of Russians who describe themselves as atheists has fallen from 26 to 13 percent in just three years, according to recent research. The share of those who back the Church’s involvement in state politics has increased slightly.

The poll, conducted by the Russian independent research center Levada in late June, showed that majority of Russians (62 percent) describe their attitude to atheists as “good and respectful,” with only 8 percent stating negative feelings towards this group. These figures remain virtually unchanged since 2014.

At the same time, the share of those who describe themselves as atheists fell sharply over this period – from 26 percent in 2014 to 13 percent today. Nine percent of participants in the poll said that they considered themselves “very religious” and 44 percent said they were “partly religious.”

That would leave 34% as 'religious'.

In the same poll, 28 percent of respondents said that they were confident that the Church must influence the decision-making process in the upper echelons of state power. This is up from 26 percent three years ago.

The share of those who oppose such actions remained unchanged at 36 percent, while 39 percent said that in their minds the influence of the Church on state politics was “exactly at the necessary level.”

When researchers asked the Russian public about their attitude to representatives of various popular religions and confessions, Orthodox Christianity came out as the most popular with the approval of 92 percent of respondents. Just under three-quarters (74 percent) said that they had positive feelings towards Catholics and 61 percent said they felt respect towards Protestants.

The share of those who reported positive feelings towards Muslims is now 59 percent – which is unchanged since 2013. Seventeen percent described their feelings towards Muslims as “controversial” and 13 percent as “fear and hostility.”

Just over half (55 percent) of Russians said they had a good attitude to Jewish people, with 17 reporting controversial feelings and 11 percent stating they had negative sentiments.

Analysts from the Levada Center noted in comments published on the group’s website that while the share of religious people in the country was on the increase, the strength of their faith was apparently getting weaker.

“The increase in the number of believers is not accompanied by sincere faith or understanding of importance of the religion for spiritual life,” the comments read.

“Indirectly, the weakness of Orthodox Christian norms can be confirmed by growing opposition to restrictions imposed during major fasts – such as the restrictions on entertainment, alcohol or sex. The number of people who say that they are not ready to bear this burden has increased up to two times over the past few years.”

The Russian Orthodox Church expects partial fasts on Wednesdays and Fridays, plus they have a plethora of other fasts that vary from forbidding a few things to not eating from Monday morning until Wednesday evening. While many of the fasts are aimed at monks and clergy, it seems devout Orthodox believers often try to follow them as well.

Fasting is a powerful tool in the church, but it seems to me that it should always be volunteered, not imposed. Fasting, while resenting the fast, is not only ineffective but is probably quite a negative experience. Jesus disciples shocked the religious establishment when they picked a few ears of corn to eat on the Sabbath. They had that freedom in Christ as do all who believe in Him. 

Failed Suicide Bomber Stopped in Indonesia Catholic Church

By Yvette C. Hammett

A 17-year-old suicide bomber failed in his attempt to blow up a

Roman Catholic Church in North Sumatra Sunday morning,

leaving a priest with only minor injuries

St Yoseph Catholic Church, Medan, Indonesia

JAKARTA, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- A 17-year-old suicide bomber failed in his attempt to blow up a Roman Catholic church in North Sumatra Sunday morning, leaving a priest with only minor injuries.

The bomber, who also sustained minor injuries, is in custody, thanks to the quick action of the congregation, Jakarta Globe reported.

Father Albert S. Pandingan was conducting the Sunday service at Medan's St. Yoseph Church when the teen, strapped with a bomb, ran toward the pulpit and tried to stab the priest. The bomb, tucked inside the suspect's vest, failed to detonate. It created only sparks that injured the attacker, identified as I.A.H. The priest received some minor scratches to his arm.

"We have seized a backpack from the perpetrator," said National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar. "The perpetrator is alive and injured and there are no casualties in this incident."

Amar also said police found what appeared to be a drawing of the Islamic State flag, but it is unclear whether the student from Setia Budi in Medan Selayang, North Sumatra, is affiliated with a terror cell. Police are investigating any potential terrorist links.



Photos have shown the attacker lying bloody on the floor in the church after parishioners held him for police, Sky News reported.

Looks like parishioners more than just held him.

The teen had reportedly been sitting with members of the congregation prior to the attack, when he rushed toward the priest. He was carrying an ax, a knife and a pipe bomb in his backpack.

This is the second recent suicide bomb attempt in Indonesia. A suicide bomber attacked the Solo police headquarters in early July before Idul Fitri celebrations, killing himself, but no one else.


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