• FIRST MUSLIM CONGRESSMAN SWORN IN ON QUR’AN
• FEMALE INFANTICIDE, UN REFUSES TO ACT
• DAY OF TRUTH TO COUNTER HOMOSEXUAL DAY OF SILENCE
• CHURCH RAIDED, LITERATURE CONFISCATED IN UZBEKISTAN

 

* FIRST MUSLIM CONGRESSMAN SWORN IN ON QUR’AN - The United States now has its first Muslim congressman. Democrat Keith Ellison from the 5th congressional district in Minnesota was sworn in January 4. During his campaign he played down his religious affiliation, but upon election, asked to be sworn into office with his hand on the Qur’an rather than the Bible.

Ellison chose to use a copy originally belonging to Thomas Jefferson. He said that he chose it because “a visionary like Jefferson” believed that wisdom could be obtained from many sources.

History reveals an interesting kind of wisdom that Jefferson was looking for when he read the Qur’an. It was during the time when Muslim pirates were raiding U.S. shipping all along the Mediterranean and West African coasts. They were capturing ships and selling the crew and passengers in the slave markets.

Jefferson was studying the Qur’an to find a way to deal with these pirates. The U.S. had just won independence from Great Britain and had no significant navy to combat the pirates. Jefferson and John Adams were assigned as ambassadors to negotiate with the leader of the Barbary States.

After meeting with one of their leaders, they reported back to Congress that Islam “was founded on the laws of their Prophet, that it is written in their Qur’an, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as prisoners, and that every Musselman (Muslim) who should be slain in battle was sure to go to Paradise.”

We see that this approach has not changed over the centuries. Islam’s advance in Africa today follows these same rules. Christians or non-Muslims who refuse to convert are either killed on the spot or taken as slaves. Suicide bombers are promised immediate tickets to Paradise.

Islam believes that the West is so morally decadent that it must be purged by the “sword” to make way for the moral purity of Muslim law. Their diagnosis is correct but their cure is of Satan. The only cure is repentance and revival to sweep across the Western continents. If this does not happen, we are doomed. No political appeasement or military might can turn back this new Muslim invasion. Only mass conversion to our Savior can save us. Soul winners, we have a lot of work to do.
(Battle Cry, www.chick.com, Mar/Apr 2007) (to index)

* FEMALE INFANTICIDE, UN REFUSES TO ACT - The U.N. Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) this week refused to pass a U.S.-introduced resolution condemning female infanticide and sex selective abortions. As a consolation, it was agreed to add a condemnation in the main document to be released by the Commission. Yet on the last day, the Chairman weakened the condemnation and other countries agreed, resulting in downplaying the most egregious form of discrimination and violence against girls.

Incredibly, this year's theme for International Women's Day (which is celebrated during the Commission's annual meeting) was Ending Impunity for Violence Against Women. CWA wrote a paper that was distributed to the U.N. delegates pointing out that "the CSW has never denounced sex selective abortion or female infanticide. … If the U.N. body tasked with monitoring and promoting the status of women and girls downplays this violence … The world will rightfully question the credibility of the Commission on the Status of Women."

The medical journal Lancet recently reported that up to 100 million girls are missing around the world, victims of sex selection abortion and infanticide. Using ultrasound to detect and abort females or brutally killing newborn girls is widely practiced, particularly in China and India which account for 80 million missing girls. According to UNICEF, India loses 7,000 girls a day (2.5 million per year).

Experts estimate that India has 50 million more men than women. In China, between 2015 and 2030, 25 million men will be unable to find a wife.

The European Institute for Family Policies Network, in a report released to the CSW, stated that in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Caucasus (Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia) female infanticide is giving way to selective abortion. These practices have caused a massive imbalance of men to women at a global level since these countries contain half of the world's population (3,000 of the 6,500 million inhabitants). The consequences include the creation of "bachelor villages" in India, the lack of young women to marry in China, an increase in violence, alcoholism, drug addiction and depression, in addition to an alarming increase in rape and trafficking of women at a national and international level.

Further manifestations include multiple men sharing the same wife, the kidnapping and trafficking of female children between neighboring countries and women being sold for 50 to 900 dollars (the younger the female, the higher the price).

The European Institute for Family Policies Network, a pro-family group, recommended that the CSW encourage countries to commit to "Strengthen existing legislation, or introduce legislation prohibiting female infanticide and selective abortion; Change any national legislation that considers women as a burden; Support the initiatives of local organizations working to promote the birth of female children and their acceptance into the family; Provide education on equal rights and opportunities in different countries; Create an environment that favors female children, supporting those families that have them, foster and/or adopt them."

Yet the CSW revealed its lack of interest or commitment to ending the killing of baby girls by publicly rejecting the U.S. resolution and watering down further proposals.

In a paper distributed to the delegates, CWA called on them to recognize the magnitude of what they were doing, quoting from an official release from the United Nations. One delegate exclaimed after reading it, "This is exactly right - the Commission will lose its credibility."
(Concerned women for America, 11 Mar 2007) (to index)

* DAY OF TRUTH TO COUNTER HOMOSEXUAL DAY OF SILENCE - A federal judge has placed a preliminary injunction against a North Carolina public school district stating that they cannot prohibit biblical literature distribution by the students. The case came out of a situation where students were countering the homosexual “day of silence” with a “Day of Truth.”

The “day of silence” is an annual event sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) in protest against perceived harassment of homosexual students. Students are encouraged to remain silent all day and not respond to teachers or administrators to show their sympathy with the homosexual agenda.

GLSEN has planted over 2500 homosexual clubs called Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) in public schools and colleges overseen by 40 regional chapters nation wide. Thousands of students have been enlisted in the “day of silence” event which occurs in April each year in hundreds of schools and colleges.

The Christian students, who saw this event as a promotion of a sinful, unbiblical lifestyle, began their own “Day of Truth” and handed out cards and wore T-shirts with biblical messages containing the truth about homosexuality. School administrators, who were actively promoting the GLSEN agenda, moved to stop the Christians, declaring that their event was illegal promotion of religion.

The Christians appealed to the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a legal organization dedicated to protecting freedom of speech. ADF filed suit and won the injunction on behalf of the students. They have won several cases where students were denied their rights to freedom of viewpoint expression.

This decision by a federal judge in favor of the students’ rights to observe a “Day of Truth”, is a landmark case. It clarifies the rights of students, not only to speak against the sin of homosexuality, but to promote the gospel through discussion with other students and distribution of literature during non-class periods.

The ADF now sponsors the “Day of Truth” annual event and hosts a web site at www.dayoftruth.org for anyone who wishes to become involved. The next “day of silence” is scheduled by GLSEN for April 19. ADF has set the “Day of Truth” for the next day.

Joe Infranco, senior attorney for ADF said there are a couple of reasons for the choice of the day. “We wanted to be respectful and permit the other side to express their message. We’re not afraid to have the Gospel compete in the marketplace of ideas.”

Also, if the school permits the “day of silence,” then it is legally bound to allow the Day of Truth. “For a school to allow the former and not the latter would be viewpoint discrimination, which is impermissible under any circumstances. The courts have unanimously struck down any restrictions based on viewpoint discrimination,” Infranco said.

Cases such as this strengthen the cause for freedom of speech. Some schools and institutions have attempted to curtail students from expressing their viewpoint in gospel tracts. In the past, other courts have found that “student’s free speech rights do not stop at the school house door.”

Soul winners should be glad for these cases. The truth of the gospel will set men free, but sometimes it makes people miserable in the process. Because of this, some try to make laws against witnessing. America’s founding fathers wisely foresaw that and gave us freedom of speech. But we have to keep reminding people of that. And we need to get the gospel to as many as we can while we have that freedom.
(Battle Cry, www.chick.com, Mar / Apr 2007) (to index)

* CHURCH RAIDED, LITERATURE CONFISCATED IN UZBEKISTAN - The Voice of the Martyrs has received photographs of police officers interrogating believers in and around a church in Qarshi (“Karshy”), Uzbekistan. According to VOM sources police burst into the service on February 25, 2007, confiscated literature and demanded to know who was funding the church.

Police also brought video cameras to video tape the worship service. When police started to film, Pastor Sergei Shandyvayev didn’t panic, but simply continued the worship service. After the service finished, the officers shut the doors and began to question the believers gathered there, especially asking why they had become Christians. Pastor Shandyvayev’s church is not registered with the Uzbek government. The Christians expected to be summoned to court for a hearing

Pray God gives Christians in this area wisdom and protection as they face persecution. Pray that they might even have opportunities to witness to police and court officers as they are questioned.
(VOM News, www.persecution.com, 5 Mar 2007) (to index)