War on Christianity > After 8 Years Christian Family Free; Buddhists Bash Bangladeshi Church; Harvard Elects Atheist Head Chaplain

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Pakistani Christian couple released from death row

granted asylum in Europe

By Anugrah Kumar, 

Christian Post Contributor| 

Saturday, August 14, 2021

Shagufta Masih and her husband, Shafqat Emmanuel, with their children | ADF International

Two months after being acquitted by a high court and surviving death threats, a Pakistani Catholic mother and her partially paralyzed husband, who were on death row for seven years on false blasphemy charges, have arrived in Europe.

Shagufta Masih and her husband, Shafqat Emmanuel, faced death threats after reports of their acquittal by the Lahore High Court broke in early June. In 2014, a session court had sentenced the couple to death by hanging.

“We are so relieved to finally be free. The last eight years have been incredibly hard, but we are so happy to be reunited with our children,” said Shafqat Emmanuel on behalf of the family, according to ADF International, a human rights group that supported the Christian couple.

“Although we will miss our country, we are happy to finally be somewhere safe,” added Emmanuel, who was the watchman of a school in the Gojra area of Toba Tek Singh district in Pakistan’s Punjab Province.

The Catholic couple was arrested in July 2013 under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws after a local imam accused them of committing blasphemy by sending him an offensive text message.

Maulvi Mohammed Hussain, a leader at a local mosque, claimed that Emmanuel used his wife's cellphone to send an anti-Islamic text message. He later claimed other messages followed. Hussain said he was praying when he received the offensive text message from an unknown number.

The Muslim cleric reportedly showed the text message to two other imams before approaching his counsel for legal proceedings. He and his lawyer later claimed they both received subsequent blasphemous messages.

Masih’s brother, Joseph, previously told the BBC that his brother-in-law had been tortured and forced to make a false confession.

The text messages were also alleged to have been written in English. Aside from being illiterate, Shafqat and Shagufta are not familiar with the English language — written or spoken.

And yet they were found guilty and originally sentenced to death. Tells you a lot about the justice system in Pakistan.

ADF International’s Director of Advocacy for Asia, Tehmina Arora, said in a statement that their case “is not an isolated incident but testifies to the plight that many Christians and other religious minorities experience in Pakistan today.”

The couple’s lawyer, Saif Ul Malook, said, “These cases are very difficult to litigate, due to the concern for security. There is a very real threat to the life of the clients and the lawyers.” 

Christians are often targeted by both Pakistan’s blasphemy laws meant to protect Islamic sensitivities and by hardliners who carry out violence and have killed scores of believers in the past several years.

The blasphemy law, embedded in Sections 295 and 298 of the Pakistan Penal Code, is frequently misused for personal revenge. It carries no provision to punish a false accuser or a false witness of blasphemy.

Islamist extremists also use the law to target religious minorities — Christians, Shias, Ahmadiyyas and Hindus.

“While the right to religious freedom is protected by the Pakistani constitution, many face severe persecution and denial of their fundamental rights to freedom of expression and assembly,” Arora said. 

“Hopefully, the blasphemy laws in Pakistan will soon be abolished, so others won’t suffer the same fate as Shagufta and I,” Emmanuel said.

The couple's country of asylum has not been disclosed due to security concerns.

Bangladeshi Church Faces Ongoing Oppression From Buddhists

Source(s): AsiaNews, Christian Post

Date: 12 August 2021

Church before and after destruction. - Photo: AsiaNews

For several weeks, a small church in Suandrapara, a village of southeastern Bangladesh, has been facing threats from militant Buddhists who were attempting to coerce the Christians to return to Buddhism, even though many of the churchgoers had converted several years before. As a result of the oppression, most of the 50 members of the Bangladesh Tribal Baptist Church have been forced to stay away from their homes for fear of attack.

Along with the threats, the church building has been physically damaged on two occasions. The Buddhist militants first ordered the church members to demolish their place of worship. When the Christians refused, the assailants destroyed parts of the building, including the front gate and cross, on July 15th. The oppressors demanded that there be no further church activities, giving the believers seven days to return to their former religion. When that deadline passed, the church was again attacked on July 22nd, resulting in additional damages – this time to a wall, door and the tin roof. The Christians were threatened that there would be further consequences if they reported the incident to the police or members of the media.

The pastor, Rev. Tubel Chakma Poran Adetion, states that the members of his church have not gone to the police, since they are considered a minority people group within the village. "We want to live in peace with [the Buddhists] and discuss things with them," he explained. However, if a collaborative discussion cannot bring about a peaceful resolution, the believers are prepared to take the matter to court.

Both Christians and Buddhists are a small minority in Bangladesh, with the vast majority of the population being Muslim. To learn about the challenges facing Christians in Bangladesh, go to our country report.

Pray that God will bestow wisdom upon the members of the Bangladesh Tribal Baptist Church, giving these persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ the right words to say to their neighbours who so strongly oppose the Gospel. May the Holy Spirit provide the inner peace needed so these Christians will remain committed to Jesus, no matter the cost. Pray that God’s Spirit will also touch the hearts of the instigators, bringing about radical transformation in their lives and ultimately harmony to this village community as a whole.

Like all Ivy-League universities, (I think), Harvard was founded as a Christian college.

Harvard University Elects Atheist as New Chief Chaplain

Amanda Casanova |
ChristianHeadlines.com Contributor |
Friday, August 27, 2021

Greg Epstein, 44, was recently unanimously elected to the top spot at the college and is set to begin work this week, Yahoo News reports.

Epstein is the author of the book “Good Without God.”

“There is a rising group of people who no longer identify with any religious tradition but still experience a real need for conversation and support around what it means to be a good human and live an ethical life,” Epstein said.

Epstein was raised Jewish and in 2005 received ordination as a humanist rabbi from the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism.

He then worked as the humanist chaplain for Harvard and later at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In his new role, Epstein will work with students and help coordinate religious events and counsel students.

“Greg was the first choice of a committee that was made up of a Lutheran, a Christian Scientist, an evangelical Christian, and a Bahá’í,” said Lutheran chaplain Rev. Kathleen Reed, chairwoman of the nominating committee. “We’re presenting to the university a vision of how the world could work when diverse traditions focus on how to be good humans and neighbors.”

No Muslims, no Catholics, no Jews (Epstein doesn't count)! But a firm belief that the world would work better without God!

Margit Hammerstrom, the Christian Science chaplain at Harvard, said in an interview that Epstein is respected and popular among the other chaplains at the college.

“Maybe in a more conservative university climate there might be a question like ‘What the heck are they doing at Harvard, having a humanist be the president of the chaplains?’” she said. “But in this environment, it works. Greg is known for wanting to keep lines of communication open between different faiths.”

According to a poll from the Harvard Crimson, Harvard’s student newspaper, more than 40 percent of the students identified as either atheist or agnostic in 2020. In 2017, that number was 32 percent.

With atheistic chaplains, it would be a surprise if the numbers were any different.

War on Christianity > Antifa Attacks Church Meeting in Portland Park; Two Wins for the Christian Side

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The Great Tribulation, which is rapidly approaching, will see the world turn violently against Christians as it did against Jews leading up to the Holocaust. Lead by the far-left, this is already happening, and, as we have observed over the past few decades, what is far-left ideology becomes mainstream in a remarkably short period of time.

VIDEOS show Antifa attacking Portland ‘prayer event’ as

left-wingers claim violent ambush broke up ‘far-right rally’

8 Aug, 2021 07:48

©  Twitter / @stillgray

A black-clad Antifa mob hurled projectiles and destroyed equipment at what appeared to be a peaceful event in Portland, Oregon, prompting a right v left fracas on social media about the ambushed gathering’s true purpose.

A “prayer event” held at a park in downtown Portland on Saturday was attacked by a group of left-wing activists who threw objects at attendees and assaulted them with pepper spray, the conservative Post Millennial reported. 

Organizers announced the event last month, saying it would feature controversial Canadian preacher Artur Pawlowski. The Calgary pastor has made headlines for his vocal opposition and resistance to lockdown measures that have shuttered churches in the Canadian city. 

Footage taken at the event shows black-clad Antifa members throwing projectiles at the event’s attendees, as some of the masked activists shouted “No hate speech.”

Right! Throwing rocks is much better than reading the Bible or praying to God!

“They threw a bomb already. We’ve got kids here,” the narrator of the video says. 

The activists eventually march up to the stage. One Antifa member takes the microphone, announcing: “All cops are bastards. In the name of Jesus, Amen.” The group of left-wingers then kick and destroy the sound equipment. One black-clad individual can be seen carrying a speaker to the nearby Willamette River, apparently so that they could toss it into the water. 

A woman who attended the event later said on camera that the activists had thrown a “flash bomb into a group of kids,” some as young as four months old. 

“We were about to have a worship event and Antifa just rolled in like an angry mob and started throwing flash bombs at everybody, macing everybody,” she said. 

The incident reportedly did not result in any arrests. 

While the violence elicited disgust and outrage among conservative pundits, many came to Antifa’s defense, insisting that the event was nefarious. 

A Portland minister responded to reports about the attack by insisting that the gathering was a “far-right political rally organized by a failed MAGA congressional candidate from CA.”

One Twitter user said that she rode her bike to the part and saw “gun-toting Proud Boys running security for this prayer service.”

Right! Watch the video and show me where there is one Proud Boy, armed or otherwise. There weren't even any police. Far-lefties feel no obligation to tell the truth.

Footage appears to show members of the right-wing group sporting paintball guns near the event’s location, but it doesn’t appear that they were present when Antifa attacked the gathering. Another video, purportedly taken on the same day, shows the group skirmishing with Antifa in downtown Portland. A police officer can be seen observing the mini-battle, but doesn’t intervene. 

Antifa has been linked to months of unrest in the city following the killing of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis Police in May 2020. 

And a win for the Good-Guys...

Christian Doctors Beat Biden in Court: Won't Be Forced

to Perform Abortions, Transgender Surgery

Michael Foust | 

ChristianHeadlines.com Contributor | 

Tuesday, August 10, 2021

On Monday, a federal judge handed religious liberty advocates a major win by ruling that the Biden administration cannot force Christian doctors and religious hospitals to perform abortions or gender transition procedures under Obamacare.

The case involves a portion (Section 1557) of the Affordable Care Act that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. The Obama administration interpreted Section 1557 as also prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, although the Trump administration reversed that policy and said it interpreted it as referencing "male or female and as determined by biology."

In May of this year, the Biden administration reverted to the Obama policy, with the Department of Health and Human Services saying it would interpret Obamacare as banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

The various interpretations impact what doctors and hospitals are required to do under federal law.

A coalition of religious and Christian doctors and hospitals filed suit in 2016 and have won several rounds in court, although the latest federal court ruling, handed down Monday, is the first one that addressed the Biden administration's new interpretation.

Federal Judge Reed O'Connor, in a 23-page decision, ruled the Biden administration's rules "substantially burdens Christian Plaintiffs' religious exercise in clear violation of" the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a 1993 law.

"Enforcement of the 2021 Interpretation" by the Biden administration "forces Christian Plaintiffs to face civil penalties or to perform gender-transition procedures and abortions contrary to their religious beliefs," O'Connor wrote. He was nominated by President George W. Bush.

Do you really want a doctor who is dead-set against transgenderism to be operating on your sexual organs?

O'Connor's decision "permanently" prohibits HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and his successors from "interpreting or enforcing Section 1557" in a manner that would require the plaintiffs to "perform or provide insurance coverage for gender-transition procedures or abortions.

Luke Goodrich, vice president and senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, called the decision a "victory for compassion, conscience, and common sense."

"No doctor should be forced to perform controversial, medically unsupported procedures that are contrary to their conscience and could be deeply harmful to their patients," Goodrich said in a statement. "These religious doctors and hospitals provide top-notch medical care to all patients for everything from cancer to the common cold. Everyone benefits when doctors are able to follow their professional medical judgment and their Hippocratic Oath to 'Do No Harm.'"

==========================================================================================

And another win...

Manitoba medical student expelled over 'pro-gun and pro-life'

Facebook posts wins court ruling

Rafael Zaki said he was expelled for his conscientious and religious beliefs.

The judge said the university appeared biased in its decision

Author:Tyler Dawson

Publishing date: Aug 11, 2021 

The University of Manitoba lost its case against medical student Rafael Zaki.

PHOTO BY BRIAN DONOGH/WINNIPEG SUN/POSTMEDIA NETWORK

A Manitoba medical student who was expelled after failing to satisfactorily apologize for his controversial views on guns and abortion has been granted a new adjudication of his expulsion.

Rafael Zaki, a Coptic Orthodox student at the University of Manitoba who was supposed to graduate in 2022, posted three items on his Facebook page in February 2019. He was expelled in August 2019.

One year later, after losing two appeals within the university system, Zaki asked Manitoba’s Court of Queen’s Bench to review the decision made by the University Discipline Committee. Zaki said he was expelled “for holding conscientious and religious beliefs that abortion is harmful.”

The university, meanwhile, said that it must ensure professional behaviour and attitudes in order for its students to become doctors, and that Zaki was expelled for failing to reach that standard “even after numerous attempts … to assist (him) in remediating his conduct.”

"Remediating his conduct!" That's what they call 'brainwashing' in China.

Ken Champagne, the provincial judge in the case, found that there was a perception of bias and the university discipline system had failed to consider Zaki’s Charter rights to freedom of expression.

“The decision is quashed,” Champagne wrote, calling it “incorrect and unreasonable.”

Carol Crosson, Zaki’s lawyer, said the family had emigrated from Egypt because of concerns over freedom of religion.

“They came here to find freedom, and then their son went through this at the university,” Crosson said. “I’m very happy for the family that the trek to freedom has been positive in the final result.”

The War on Christianity > Philadelphia Loses a Skirmish at Supreme Court; Liberals Slapped Down; Virginia's LGBT Law

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Supreme Court rules Christian foster agency can't be forced

to place kids with same-sex couples

By Michael Gryboski, Christian Post Reporter 

Thursday, June 17, 2021

A general view of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, U.S., November 15, 2016. | REUTERS/Carlos Barria

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the city of Philadelphia can't exclude a Catholic charity from its foster program because the organization won't place children with same-sex couples in accordance with religious beliefs. 

In a unanimous decision released Thursday morning in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, the high court ruled city officials were wrong to quit working with Catholic Social Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for refusing on religious grounds to place children with same-sex couples.

The decision reversed a judgment of a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and remanded it for further proceedings.

Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the court's opinion, concluding that “the City has burdened the religious exercise of CSS through policies that do not meet the requirement of being neutral and generally applicable.”

“Government fails to act neutrally when it proceeds in a manner intolerant of religious beliefs or restricts practices because of their religious nature,” wrote Roberts.

“The refusal of Philadelphia to contract with CSS for the provision of foster care services unless it agrees to certify same-sex couples as foster parents cannot survive strict scrutiny, and violates the First Amendment.”

Roberts also pointed out that Philadelphia can grant an exemption from the city's anti-discrimination policies to CSS, noting that city contracts include many exemptions.

“Once properly narrowed, the City’s asserted interests are insufficient. Maximizing the number of foster families and minimizing liability are important goals, but the City fails to show that granting CSS an exception will put those goals at risk,” continued Roberts.

“The creation of a system of exceptions under the contract undermines the City’s contention that its nondiscrimination policies can brook no departures.”

The opinion refutes the notion that fostering children is tantamount to a public accommodation.

"Certification as a foster parent, by contrast, is not readily accessible to the public," the opinion reads. "It involves a customized and selective assessment that bears little resemblance to staying in a hotel, eating at a restaurant, or riding a bus."

"As the City itself explains to prospective foster parents, '[e]ach agency has slightly different requirements, specialties, and training programs,'" Roberts wrote. "All of this confirms that the one-size-fits-all public accommodations model is a poor match for the foster care system." 

In addition to the court opinion, there were also multiple concurring opinions.

Although Alito concurred in the judgment, he expressed concern that the Supreme Court decision will not have a lasting impact on the dispute between Philadelphia and CSS.

“The City has been adamant about pressuring CSS to give in, and if the City wants to get around today’s decision, it can simply eliminate the never-used exemption power,” wrote Alito in a concurring opinion joined by conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch. 

“Not only is the Court’s decision unlikely to resolve the present dispute, it provides no guidance regarding similar controversies in other jurisdictions.”

In 2018, Philadelphia stopped placing children in the homes of foster parents affiliated with CSS and Bethany Christian Services of Greater Delaware Valley due to the groups’ refusal to place children with same-sex couples for religious reasons.

Although Bethany eventually changed its policy, foster parents and others who worked with CSS filed a lawsuit against city officials, arguing that it violates the U.S. Constitution.

Plaintiff Sharronell Fulton fostered as many as 40 kids during her 25 years of working with CSS. Fellow plaintiff Toni Simms-Busch is a former social worker who adopted her foster children through CSS.

Both were represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. Becket argued that CSS was the “most successful” foster care agency in the city and that the city ended its partnership with the organization at a time that city officials admitted an urgent need for foster families with thousands of kids in the system.

“I am overjoyed that the Supreme Court recognized the import work of Catholic Social Services and has allowed me to continue fostering children most in need of a loving home,” Fulton said in a statement. “My faith is what drives me to care for foster children here in Philadelphia and I thank God the Supreme Court believes that’s a good thing, worthy of protection.”

Simms-Busch stressed that the justices "understand that foster parents like me share in the common, noble task of providing children with loving homes."

“Our foster-care ministry in Philadelphia is vital to solving the foster care crisis and Catholic Social Services is a cornerstone of that ministry," Simms-Busch stated. "The Supreme Court’s decision ensures the most vulnerable children in the City of Brotherly Love have every opportunity to find loving homes.”

The Supreme Court decision follows the ruling of a three-judge panel of the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in favor of the city in April 2019. The panel concluded that the First Amendment “does not prohibit government regulation of religiously motivated conduct so long as that regulation is not a veiled attempt to suppress disfavored religious beliefs.”

Judge slaps down Trudeau government for denying summer jobs grants

to Christian university

Redeemer University met all the conditions for funding but were rejected anyway after a 'cursory search of the Internet' by a Service Canada bureaucrat, ruled a judge

Author of the article:Tristin Hopper

Publishing date:Jul 04, 2021  

Redeemer University College pictured in 2011. PHOTO BY PETER J. THOMPSON/NATIONAL POST

In an unusually harsh judicial slapdown of the Trudeau government, a federal judge has ruled that an Ontario university was barred access to the Canada Summer Jobs Program for little reason other than the fact that it was a Christian institution.

Justice Richard Mosley ruled that the federal government had breached “procedural fairness” in its treatment of Redeemer University, a private Christian liberal arts university in Hamilton, Ont. – and had denied the school funding based solely on its religious opposition to same-sex marriage. In a rare move, Mosley also ordered the federal government to pay Redeemer’s full legal costs, which amounted to $102,000.

“I have never seen that in any court, let alone the federal court,” Redeemer University’s lawyer, Albertos Polizogopoulos, told the National Post on Friday, calling the judge’s decision an obvious “punitive” measure.

Redeemer University College v. Canada by Tristin Hopper on Scribd

In 2019, Redeemer University applied for $104,187 from the Canada Summer Jobs Program in order to subsidize 11 temporary positions at the school. At the time, Redeemer had been participating in the Canada Summer Jobs Program since 2006 without incident.

Within two months, the application was rejected on the grounds that Redeemer could not demonstrate “that measures have been implemented to provide a workplace free of harassment and discrimination.”

At the time of the application, Redeemer University required its students to avoid “sexual intimacies which occur outside of a heterosexual marriage” – a policy that also informed the selection of faculty and staff.

An excerpt from Redeemer University’s 2012/2013 Academic Calendar, a version of which was cited in Service Canada’s rejection of the school’s application for Canada Summer Jobs funding.

Nevertheless, those strictures didn’t extend to the school’s 11 Canada Summer Jobs Program positions, which ranged from summer camp attendants to workers at an onsite water treatment plant. In its application Redeemer had even expressly pledged to target “LGBTQ2 youth” for hiring.

Soon after its application, Service Canada asked Redeemer to provide “missing information” as to how the school intended to maintain a non-discriminatory work environment.

In reply, Redeemer forwarded its 35-page Anti-Discrimination Policy which cited the school’s adherence to the Ontario Human Rights Code and cited Redeemer’s campus policy of the right to be “free from the threat of harassment and discrimination.”

Service Canada then rejected the school’s application, citing Redeemer’s “sexual intimacies” policy, as well as academic handbooks published by the school which listed “homosexual practice” as one of the school’s “unacceptable practices” for students and faculty.

Redeemer University College pictured in 2011. PHOTO BY PETER J. THOMPSON/NATIONAL POST

Tuesday’s Federal Court decision effectively concluded that Redeemer University hadn’t been rejected out of any red flags in its application, but because of a “cursory search of the Internet” to which Redeemer hadn’t been given the chance to respond.

“If the concern of (Service Canada) was that Redeemer discriminated based on sexual orientation, there was no contemporaneous evidence of that in the file,” wrote the Federal Court decision.

Justice Mosley added “there is no evidence … that (Service Canada) made any overt attempt to consider Redeemer’s rights to freedom of religion, freedom of expression or freedom of association in considering its application.”

Or, as Redeemer University lawyer Albertos Polizogopoulos summed up the government’s stance, “we don’t like your position on sexual morality and that’s why you’re denied.” In Polizogopoulos’ submissions to the court, he alleged that Redeemer had been subjected to a “background check” beyond the usual scope of the Canada Summer Jobs Program application proceed.

There is no place for sexual morality in Canada's federal Liberal party!

Federal cabinet minister Patty Hajdu. She was Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour when

new guidelines were placed on the Canada Summer Jobs Program requiring organizations to support abortion rights.

She later became Minister of Health during the COVID-19 crisis. PHOTO BY REUTERS/BLAIR GABLE

In a statement to the National Post, Redeemer University said it pursued its court action against the federal government because the school felt it “was being rejected only because Redeemer held legal views on traditional marriage.”

Interim president David Zietsma referenced a section of the Civil Marriage Act – the 2005 law which legalized same-sex marriage in Canada – which states that “no person or organization shall be deprived of any benefit” if they held official beliefs viewing marriage “as the union of a man and woman to the exclusion of all others.”

Said Zietsma, “we were concerned about the precedent this kind of discrimination would set for religious institutions.” The lawsuit intentionally did not seek payment of the $104,187 grant, but was pursued instead because of the “principles involved.”

In 2018, the Canada Summer Jobs Program was subject to a wave of lawsuits after employment minister Patty Hajdu made funding conditional on organizations’ pledging their support for abortion.

The federal government ultimately backed off the abortion pledge, and by the time Redeemer University made its 2019 application, Service Canada was instead mandating a much more general policy of a “safe, inclusive, and healthy work environment free of harassment and discrimination.”

Redeemer University applied again for the Canada Summer Jobs Program in both 2020 and 2021. Polizogopoulos said that Service Canada delayed the school’s 2020 application until the program was out of money, but then approved its 2021 application without incident. As a result, this summer Redeemer University hired its first Canada Summer Jobs Program workers since 2017.

Said Polizogopoulos, “I don’t know what changed other than we held the government’s feet to the fire.”

Glad somebody is, the national media most certainly is not!

Judge rejects churches’ challenge to Virginia’s 

LGBT antidiscrimination law        

By Michael Gryboski, 

Christian Post Reporter| 

Thursday, July 22, 2021

Participants carrying a rainbow flag attend the annual gay pride.

| Reuters/Annika Af Klercker/TT News Agency

A judge has ruled against a group of churches, schools and a pro-life pregnancy center challenging a Virginia law that adds sexual orientation and gender identity to state antidiscrimination law.

Judge James E. Plowman Jr. issued a ruling from the bench last week in favor of the Virginia Values Act, which was passed by the Democrat-controlled state government in 2020.

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring released a statement last Friday expressing support for the ruling, which will be entered as an order within the next few weeks.  

“Our landmark civil rights protections will remain in place, and Virginia will remain a place that is open and welcoming to all, no matter what you look like, where you come from, how you worship, or who you love,” stated Herring.

Except for anyone who actually believes in the God of the Bible.

“I was proud to support passage of the Virginia Values Act and am so proud of our work to successfully defend the law twice against legal attack.”

God hates pride!

In late September of last year, Alliance Defending Freedom filed a lawsuit on behalf of two churches, three private schools, and a pregnancy care center against the Virginia Values Act.

In the suit, Calvary Road Baptist Church of Fairfax County and its school, Community Fellowship Church of Staunton and its school, Community Christian Academy of Charlottesville, and Care Net of Loudon County claimed that the new law forced them to compromise various hiring and employment practices based on their sincere religious beliefs.

“[The Act] puts the Ministries in an impossible position: they must either abandon the religious convictions they were founded upon, or be ready to face investigations, an onerous administrative process, fines up to $100,000 for each violation, unlimited compensatory and punitive damages and attorney-fee awards, and court orders forcing them to engage in actions that would violate their consciences,” stated the suit, in part.

“Even merely posting their religious beliefs on their own websites could subject the Ministries to prosecution and exorbitant fines. These penalties could easily exceed a million dollars, ruin the Ministries financially, and make continuing their Christian missions impossible.”

In March, U.S. District Court Judge Claude M. Hilton rejected a separate challenge to the Virginia Values Act, another lawsuit filed by the ADF, this time on behalf of Robert Updegrove of Bob Updegrove Photography.

In his decision, Hilton argued that the Updegrove lacked the standing to sue since the Act “has never been enforced against” him “or any other person.”

“In the almost nine months since the statute became effective, no complaint has been filed under the statute,” wrote Hilton in late March. 

It won't be long now!

“No case or controversy exists when a person expresses a desire to change his previously compliant conduct to violate a new statute that no person, government or otherwise, has ever sought to enforce.”

So, you have to wait until the circumstances are such that your ministry will be destroyed before you can sue. Good system.

English church vandalised just days after reopening, with windows

smashed & premises covered with bleach, fire extinguisher powder

31 Jul, 2021 11:14

St Mary Magdalene's parish church, Caldecote, Hertfordshire. © Wikipedia

A church in Caldecote, Hertfordshire was heavily vandalised in an attack which saw its windows and decorations smashed – a mere ten days after it reopened following nine months of repairs.

The 14th and 15th century Church of St. Mary Magdalene, which is Grade II-listed and maintained by the Friends of Friendless Churches charity, had its windows smashed, its decorations destroyed, and its furniture, floors and altar covered in fire extinguishing powder and bleach on Thursday afternoon.

The Friends of Friendless Churches published photos of the destruction on social media, noting that though “it may not look like much,” the fire extinguishing powder “is everywhere” and “in every crevice.”

“It's thick. Hours of cleaning and barely any difference made,” the charity declared. “The vandals were very obviously disturbed. It could have been so much worse, but this is so disheartening. Why? Why do something like this?”

In its own statement, the Church of St. Mary Magdalene condemned the “mindless act of vandalism,” and claimed that the police “are treating the crime very seriously.”

Due to the police investigation and clean-up efforts, the church announced that it would “remain closed until further notice” until it can be “safely re-opened.”

Several cases of vandalism against churches have been recorded in the UK during the coronavirus pandemic. In April, historic stained glass windows at a church in Lincolnshire were damaged after vandals appeared to use them for “target practice,” while, in October last year, a man was filmed trying to pull a large crucifix off a church roof in London.

This summer, Canada has also experienced a surge in arson attacks against churches, with at least 57 churches set on fire or otherwise vandalised. The attacks started after the discovery in May of unmarked graves near an old Catholic school for indigenous Canadians.

War on Christianity > China Tears Down 900 Church Crosses in First 6 Months of 2020

China removes over 900 church crosses in first half of 2020: report

By Leah MarieAnn Klett, Christian Post Reporter 

In the first half of 2020, hundreds of crosses were removed from churches the eastern province of Anhui, which has the second-largest Christian population in China. | Bitter Winter

In the first half of 2020, over 900 crosses were removed from state-run churches across China amid Xi Jinping’s ongoing crackdown on places of worship, according to the Italian-based magazine Bitter Winter.

According to the religious liberty magazine, crosses were removed from over 250 state-run Three-Self churches in the eastern province of Anhui, which has the second-largest Christian population in China, in the first four months of the year. Additionally, 656 state-run Protestant churches in the province saw their crosses removed during the first half of this year.

A Three-Self church in the city’s Yingdong district, which lost its cross in April, was told by authorities that the cross-demolition campaign was part of national policy.

“If a church refuses to remove its cross, congregation members may lose their social benefits, like pensions and poverty-alleviation subsidies, and possibilities for their children’s future employment will be affected,” a church member explained.

United Front Work Department officials who removed the cross from a church in Hanshan county informed church congregants that any crosses taller than government buildings “must be demolished because they overshadow state institutions,” a church member told Bitter Winter. 

“Only churches that look like enterprises are considered legal. To ‘sinicize’ Christianity, Xi Jinping does not allow churches to have Western crosses.”

The believer also revealed that government officials warned an elder in the church that “protesting cross demolitions means protesting against the government.”

“I feel sad thinking that all crosses in our church have been demolished,” the believer added. “Even though it is a symbol of our faith, who dares to disobey the central government order?”

On several occasions, Christians who attempted to stop cross removals were injured by authorities or detained.

In May, the government of Ma’anshan-administered Dangtu county removed crosses from the Lingyunshan Christian Church using three large cranes. 

Hundreds of police officers “cordoned off the church, forbidding vehicles or pedestrians from approaching, and then stormed into the church having cut off an iron chain lock,” a local believer told the outlet, adding that an elderly believer who stepped forward to stop the demolition had her hands injured.

Bob Fu of China Aid, a U.S. based Christian rights group, previously explained that China’s cross removal campaign — which began in 2013 — “demonstrates the Chinese regime’s determination to contain the rapid growth of Christianity in China.”

China’s crackdown on religion and religious minorities has been widely condemned by international actors such as the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, rights groups, and the U.S. State Department. 

In its 2020 annual report, USCIRF noted that not only have authorities removed crosses from churches across the nation, but they have also banned youth younger than 18 from participating in religious services and replaced images of Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary with pictures of President Xi.

China has also been labeled by the U.S. State Department as a “country of particular concern” for “continuing to engage in particularly severe violations of religious freedom.”

In a recent webinar on China’s rising threat to human rights, Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said the Chinese Communist Party is “counting on” the fact that the world will be “bullied and intimidated into silence” because of China’s power and wealth. 

He explained that the Chinese government wants to make itself god, which is why it targets religious groups including Christians, Uighur Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists, Falun Gong practitioners, and any religious minority that would say there is an allegiance higher than the state itself.

“This attempt to even rewrite the scriptures and holy texts of these various religions in order to see to it that China is ultimate,” he said. “But as Christians, we of course know that God is ultimate, God is greater than any would-be Caesar. And we know that the image of God does not belong to any would-be Caesar, it belongs to God.”

China ranks as the 23rd-worst nation in the world when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USA’s 2020 World Watch List. 

Japan deified their Emporer. Look how well that turned out for them at the end of the 2nd world war.

War on Christianity - Turkey's Erdogan Converts 4th Century Church into Another Mosque

After Hagia Sophia, Turkey's historic Chora church

also switched to mosque

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan reconverted the historic Chora church, one of Istanbul’s most celebrated Byzantine buildings, into a mosque on Friday, a month after opening the famed Hagia Sophia to Muslim worship.

FILE PHOTO: Turkish police officers stand guard atop the Kariye (Chora) museum, the 11th century church of St. Savior, during a visit by Britain's Prince Charles and his wife Camilla in Istanbul, November 28, 2007. REUTERS/Fatih Saribas

The mediaeval Church of the Holy Saviour in Chora, built near the ancient city walls of Constantinople, contains 14th century Byzantine mosaics and frescoes showing scenes from biblical stories.

They were plastered over after the city was conquered by the Muslim Ottomans in 1453, but brought to light again when - like Hagia Sophia - the building was converted to a museum by Turkey’s secular republic more than 70 years ago.

Erdogan, whose AK Party is rooted in political Islam, has positioned himself as a champion of Turkey’s pious Muslims and last month joined tens of thousands of worshippers in the first prayers at Hagia Sophia in 86 years.

The move was sharply criticised by church leaders and some Western countries, who said that reconverting Hagia Sophia exclusively for Muslim worship risked deepening religious rifts.

Last year a Turkish court annulled a 1945 government decision converting Chora - known as Kariye in Turkish - into a museum run by the Education Ministry.

On Friday, an edict signed by Erdogan and published in Turkey’s official gazette declared “the management of the Kariye Mosque be transferred to the Religious Affairs Directorate, and (the mosque) opened to worship.”

A church was first built at the site in the 4th century, but most of the existing building dates to an 11th-century church that was partly rebuilt 200 years later following an earthquake.

War on Christianity at Another Christian University

Private Christian university says no sex outside heterosexual marriage. LGBTQ alumni say that discriminates

School forbids sexual intimacy outside 'biblical intentions' of heterosexual marriage

Bobby Hristova · CBC News 

Redeemer University, a private Christian university in Hamilton, Ont., is facing criticism from former students who say the school's policies discriminate against LGBTQ people. (Bobby Hristova/CBC)

Within a year of starting school at Redeemer University, Lauren Druif wanted out.

As a queer student, she knew there was a risk of being an outcast at the private Christian school in Ancaster, a suburban area of Hamilton, Ont.

But a school policy that says students will be disciplined for any sexual behaviour that occurs outside a heterosexual marriage, based on what Redeemer calls "biblical intentions," made her feel like an outsider. 

"That was a huge influence on the final decision to leave.... I can't think of anything other than discrimination to call it," said 22-year-old Druif of Acton, Ont., who left the school in 2016.

CBC has spoken to a number of Redeemer students, past and present. Some did not want to speak on the record for fear of reprisal from the university or because they hadn't publicly revealed their sexual orientation, but all of them expressed concerns about a school policy they say discriminates against LGBTQ students.

The school says the policy is part of the Reformed Christian tradition and does not discriminate.

Druif's sentiments were also echoed in the Rainbow Report, an internal document submitted to the school last year with LGBTQ alumni reflections of their time on campus and what they described as an unwelcoming climate for LGBTQ students.

Policy covers 'broad range' of behaviour

According to the school's Student Conduct and Accountability Policy, obtained by CBC, Redemeer disciplines students for what it refers to as "sexual misconduct."

"This covers a broad range of sexual behaviour by students when it falls outside biblical intentions and/or explicit guidelines. These include sexual intimacies which occur outside of a heterosexual marriage, including any type of intercourse or sexual relations or involvement with pornographic material," the policy says.

It's unclear how the school would discipline a student if it received a complaint, but in general, punishments range from warnings to fines to suspension and expulsion. School policies also apply beyond campus.

Before 2013, the school's standards of conduct didn't allow what it called "homosexual practice."

Same-sex marriage became legal in Canada in 2005.

Policies of public universities like the University of Toronto and McMaster University only pertain to sexual violence and sexual harassment, not consensual sex between two people.

Human rights experts told CBC they see Redeemer's policy as discriminatory and that it could be challenged in court.

Redeemer University declined multiple interview requests, but president Robert Graham responded to questions with an email.

"All people, including LGBTQ people, are created in the image of God and therefore deserve to be treated with dignity, love and respect. Redeemer condemns violence, harassment and intimidation," he wrote.

"As an institution based in the Reformed Christian tradition, we believe that all people are sinful and that this affects everyone's sexuality and relationships. The tradition also includes the understanding that Christian marriage is between a man and a woman and that sexual intimacy is reserved for a marital relationship."

He said that the Ontario Human Rights Code, specifically, sections 18 and 24, protects Redeemer's right to operate in accordance with its religious beliefs.

"What some refer to as discrimination is, in fact, freedom of association, which is protected by the law and is a core Canadian value," Graham said.

Trinity Western loses fight for Christian law school as court rules limits on religious freedom 'reasonable'

Debates about the rules in religious universities are not new. Trinity Western University in British Columbia tried, and failed, to create a law school with a similar rule. It was a battle between LGBTQ rights and religious freedom, which saw the Supreme Court of Canada rule that the law societies of British Columbia and Ontario have the power to refuse accreditation based on Trinity Western's policy.

In Redeemer's case, human rights experts say the policy could lead to lawsuits and human rights complaints.

"They're not discriminating against [students] because they're Christian, they're discriminating against them because they're LGBTQ by this code of conduct," Susan Ursel, the Toronto lawyer who represented the Canadian Bar Association against Trinity Western, told CBC.

"You can discriminate on the basis of only wanting Christians, sure, but once you're inside your Christian community, you don't get to pick and choose whether you like people who are gay or straight. You take your community the way you find it and you serve it."

Christopher Karas, a paralegal and human rights activist, said if challenged, Redeemer's policy would likely have to change.

"The courts have generally held that religious rights are institutional rights whereas sexual orientation and gender are individual rights, which supersede religious rights," he told CBC.

'I lived daily in fear'

The Rainbow Report, a 45-page document submitted to the university in 2019, features personal accounts from students and alumni, many of whom identify within the LGBTQ community.

The report is full of reflections that describe living in a culture of fear and shame. Many say they didn't feel safe on campus and some left school before graduation.

"My years at Redeemer, and especially those two when I lived on campus, were marked with guilt and fear! I felt guilty that I wasn't straight ... I lived daily in fear. I was afraid that someone would catch my eyes wandering," reads one submission. 

Wow! That must have been just terrifying! What could be worse than 'wandering eyes'?

Another person wrote: "Redeemer was the strongest and most painful experience of silent and submersive deconstruction, for me, and for many of my friends."

Another horror! 'Silent and submersive deconstruction'! Could anything possibly be worse than that? BTW, does anybody know what that means? 

One more reflection read: "So much fear. So many thoughts of being broken ... all because I signed a piece of paper making me fear expulsion and therefore being outed before I even knew where I stood with regards to faith and sexuality." 

So, the logical question is, why did you sign with a Christian school? Your fear of being outed makes it quite clear that you knew where you stood with regard to your sexuality. 

The document also includes recommendations from some students about how the school can improve. Some say the Bible can be interpreted to accept LGBTQ intimacy while others say the institution and staff should be more open about having constructive conversations.

The Bible cannot be interpreted to accept LGBTQ intimacy and still be The Bible. God is God, and He is not 'progressive'! Sin is progressive!

Abby Terpstra-Paterson contributed to the Rainbow Report. She graduated from Redeemer University in 2001 and said seeing anti-LGBTQ policies wasn't shocking back then.

"The fact that it's still 20 years later and it hasn't changed, that's alarming to me. I now have children who are looking at going to college and university and I would never send them [to Redeemer] now," the 40-year-old Mississauga, Ont., resident told CBC.

While Redeemer did receive the report, it's unclear what the school did with it.

In his responses to CBC, Graham did not mention the report specifically. He did say undergraduate programs are only open to students who share the school's beliefs. He also maintained that incoming students must sign a form that they understand the policies before joining the school.

Redeemer University president Robert Graham said the school has a Sexuality and Gender Awareness group on campus run by a hired external counselling agency. It's unclear what the purpose of the group is.

"No Redeemer student has ever been expelled or suspended because of their sexual orientation and Redeemer University's policies would not permit such," Graham wrote. 

"Redeemer recognizes that Christians also struggle with issues of sexuality and identity, and is committed to walking with all who desire to be part of its community as shaped by its beliefs and policies."

Some submissions in the Rainbow Report note that the school is trying to be more progressive.

"The air about Redeemer is changing, it's growing and it should absolutely continue to do so. But we absolutely need to make sure that Redeemer is equipped to actually help nurture the people who are coming to study in its halls, not continue to make them feel isolated and hurt," one person wrote

Students have a choice to attend, but it isn't simple

LGBTQ students in the report also explain why some of them stayed at Redeemer despite knowing a private Christian school may harbour resistance to being LGBTQ. The report indicates many students attended because their family forced them to and that leaving for another school wasn't always possible.

Older alumni said many start school at 17 or 18 years of age and still haven't revealed their sexual orientation or gender identity to loved ones, let alone strangers. University and college years can also be when many might start exploring their sexuality or gender.

"I will get angry about those comments until the day I die because as [LGBTQ] people, we agree to things all the time in order to protect ourselves so people don't look at us sideways, so that people don't push us out of the one thing we want so badly, which is a community. We want to be loved," Druif said.

"A lot of us grew up loving our churches, loving the people who raised us in a church and loving these people who are saying these things about us and that hurts so bad."

Redeemer receives taxpayer money

Redeemer doesn't receive government operating funding like a public university does, and must rely on donations.

But it can still access taxpayer money through grants and funds. 

Human rights experts say the government giving money to a school found to discriminate would contravene the Canadian Human Rights Act and potentially the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

According to the school website, the largest single sum of government money Redeemer ever received was $2.9 million for infrastructure projects in 2009 through the Knowledge Infrastructure Program by the federal government.

The school has also received money through other federal government programs.

Between 2003 and 2019, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) awarded faculty members $577,000 for research.

The most recent grant avenue has netted a total of $336,312 between 2013 and 2021 from the Research Support Fund. That money comes from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

Redeemer University's website shows how much money it has earned from the Research Support Fund of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. It adds up to $336,312. (Redeemer University)

Both SSHRC and NSERC are overseen by the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Industry.

The office of Minister Navdeep Bains declined multiple requests for comment or interview.

When asked about whether it would be appropriate for taxpayer money to go to a private religious institution that had policies found to be discriminatory, Dominique Bérubé, vice-president of programs at SSHRC, said there was an "obvious answer," but explained that the fund's eligibility criteria doesn't review a school's policies, giving them "no leverage to assess that question."

This is bizarre, and evil! Why would LGBTQ go after research grant money which would not be the least bit discriminatory in its application to strait or gay students? This is just a thinly veiled attempt to weaken and destroy the school.

"This is a fair question that needs to be addressed," she said. "Discrimination against LGBTQ groups is a critical issue."

So is discrimination against Christians. I'm inclined to believe that this is another LGBTQ attack on the right of Christians to exist in a Christian environment. You have virtually every other university in Canada at your disposal; how can it be discrimination for a few small schools to want to function as God intended.

At least two other schools with similar policies to Redeemer University (Tyndale University in Toronto and Ambrose University in Calgary) also receive money from the fund.

The majority of the SSHRC money Redeemer received went toward paying administrative salaries and lab maintenance tied to the research in each grant application.

"The question for decision makers in our courts is, 'Can religion do anything it wants? Or in a decent, multicultural, diverse society, are there even limits on what religion can do?' " Ursel said.

That's an absurd question and diverts away from the real question which is, 'Can Christian schools exist in a climate of hostility from LGBTQ lobbies?' 

Another question is, 'What is more important to a Christian School, not hurting the feelings of LGBTQ students who are too immature to tell their parents that they are gay, or pushing God into a corner and telling Him to be quiet?' 

Those who want to destroy Christian schools don't believe in God the Father or Jesus Christ the Son. They think that schools can ignore the morality God-ordained and there will be no consequences from God. They're wrong. There will be consequences for both the schools and those who persist in their attempts to destroy them.