Muslim Mobs Destroy Christian Town in Pakistan

Hundreds of Christians in Lahore, Pakistan had their homes burnt down and later clashed with police who provided no protection after a dispute in which a Christian man was accused of blasphemy of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The rampant persecution against Christians in Muslim nations continues to be inflamed with little government help on the way.
Joseph Colony, an area of Lahore, where the attack took place has been ravaged by the destruction from the mob of angry Muslims who burnt down homes and businesses while the authorities told local police to let the angered Muslims “let them vent their grief and anger.”

According to reports:

Shahid Imran, a Muslim barber in Joseph Colony in the Badami Bagh area, on Friday (March 8) accused his Christian neighbor, 26-year-old Sawan Masih, of blaspheming Muhammad. Imran alleged that Masih, who runs a small billiards business, had “ridiculed” Islam’s prophet by saying that Jesus was the greatest prophet ever.
Soon after, crowds of armed Muslims began gathering in the area of about 200 Christian families, mostly sanitation workers, demanding that Masih be handed over to them. They besieged his house and started pelting it with stones, damaging the windows and door. Masih had fled the area as soon as news reached him about Imran’s accusation. (source).

 Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code calls for death or life imprisonment for those accused of blaspheming Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. These laws have emboldened the Muslim communities to attack those with vigilante or mob violence against those who are suspected of speaking out against Islam. And such was the case in Joseph Colony, where the angry mob rushed to Masih’s home. Efforts to calm the crowd were futile. Soon police arrested Imran’s father in hopes that would ease tensions but soon they were accused of being “blasphemers.” While he was taken into custody the crowd went on the attack.

The police stood by idly while homes, stores and churches were destroyed.

Despite a heavy police presence in Joseph Colony, the crowd started to destroy property. prompting the order from the local government to “let them vent their anger.” Approximately 170 homes, 18 shops and several churches were burned down and destroyed. Many of the homes were looted before being destroyed by the rioters.
“I have been robbed of all of my life’s savings,” Yousuf Masih said, standing close to his burned house.
Area resident Haroon Masih wept as he described how the raiders broke the locks of his door and stole the dowries of his four daughters that he had been gathering for several years.

“They made off with everything valuable I had and then simply set the house on fire,” he said. “My new rickshaw was also burnt to ashes.” Residents also showed Morning Star News gas pipelines that had been sawed off to ensure maximum spread of fires.

Jesus Christ prophesied that all Christians should expect to be despised, rejected and hated in the world.

If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me. – John 15-18:21.

Double Standard Imposed

Families in Joseph Colony returned to destroyed homes. All because of their faith in Jesus Christ.

In response to the destruction of the Christian neighborhood, approximately Several hundred Christian protestors blocked a highway, demanding that the police take some action to stop the destruction. According to police officials, they uprooted a fence and burned an electric generator. Rather than letting them “vent their frustration” police responded by using tear gas on the crowd and arresting 150 protestors.

The government has offered 200,000 rupees ($2,000US) as compensation to each family, which was immediately rejected by the people of Joseph Colony:

“It is like poison to us,” they screamed as Christian Senator Kamran Michael and Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah visited the area late Saturday night amid heavy security.

The crowd shouted slogans against Michael and the Punjab government, believing Islamic leaders would have heeded them and holding them responsible for doing nothing to stop the violence. The two officials were forced to leave the area after just a few minutes.

The Punjab government later raised the compensation amount to 500,000 rupees, and the checks were handed out to victims. (source).

Pray for the Christians in Pakistan who suffered this horrific attack and for others who may be in danger as well. It is difficult for some living in certain parts of the world to grasp a reality where just being known as a Christian literally puts your home, family and life in jeopardy. But this is the reality for millions of Christians worldwide today. Pray for the failure of their persecutors and for the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to lead them to repentance.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.- Romans 8:35-37.

Courtesy of http://beginningandend.com/muslim-mobs-destroy-christian-town-in-pakistan/

Real Bullies: The Homosexuality Is Normal Movement

Think of us as crew members on the starship Enterprise of the Star Trek TV show, boldly going where no one has gone before. Folks, this is what it feels like challenging the Homosexuality Is Normal Movement. It is extremely dangerous.

Homosexual activists attempt to humiliate and politically destroy anyone who dares even criticize their agenda. Meanwhile, the MSM (mainstream media) casts us who believe marriage should remain between one man and one woman as the aggressors, as hate-filled villains.

Have the Homosexuality Is Normal Movement stolen our kids? Despicably, while we were not looking, homosexual activists sneaked their agenda in the back doors of our elementary schools, indoctrinating our kids early. Unquestionably, lack of access to your child for indoctrination contributes to the Left’s hatred for home schools and their relentless attempts to close them down.

Here is another example of homosexual activists’ in-your-face, aggressive indoctrination of our kids. A Massachusetts charter school, grades 7-12, will host a production of the play “The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told,” a retelling of the biblical story of Genesis with gay characters. Keep in mind, folks, that American schools have a cow when a kid brings a Bible or wears a t-shirt with religious, patriotic, or U.S. Military images. And yet, this school gleefully hosts a play which blasphemes Christianity while promoting homosexuality.

Our forty-year-old son and twenty-year-old granddaughter support homosexual marriage. Their attitude is What’s the big deal? It is only fair that gays be allowed to marry. America’s youths are parroting the liberals’ argument that opposition to same-sex marriage is discriminatory and bigoted. According to a Washington Post-ABC News poll, support for gay marriage is at 65 percent among those 18 to 29 years old. The gay marriage approval rating is probably even higher among high school kids.

A twenty-something-year-old Christian youth pastor picked me up from the airport in California. Justifying his support of same-sex marriage, he said, “God does not care who we love.” Wow, I could hardly believe my ears. This young man, who claimed to be a minister of God, chose to ignore the Bible and spout the liberal pop-culture spin.

From cooking shows to home improvement and everything in between, it has become difficult to watch TV without the Homosexuality Is Normal agenda being forced down your throat. If you do not believe that these people are outrageously aggressive, listen to this. The Green Street United Methodist Church will not perform heterosexual marriages until gays can marry.

Folks, I have dear friends and beloved relatives who are homosexual. I am loving and kind to their mates. My 85-year-old dad has been a Christian pastor over 50 years. Dad said he loves the homosexuals in his life, but they know where he stands on this topic, which is the biblical view.

Dad’s tolerance is not enough to please the aggressive Homosexuality Is Normal Movement bullying America today. They seek to politically bend Dad’s arm behind his back, forcing him to declare homosexuality normal, against his faith.

My point is, homosexual activists are extremely aggressive while portraying themselves as innocent victims of an intolerant society. In reality, we who believe in traditional values are the ones being bullied. The MSM gang vilifies anyone who dares to stand up for traditional marriage. Come hell or high water, they are going to make us embrace homosexuality as being normal by severely punishing those who refuse to comply.

And will someone please tell me why homosexual activists are so hell-bent on forcing Christian institutions to betray their faith by embracing the homosexual agenda? Homosexual activists have sued the Boy Scouts of America and launched a war on the Catholic Church.

No one is opposing homosexuals doing their own thing. Rather than aggressively trying to infiltrate the Boy Scouts and the Catholic Church, why not form their own Fabulous Scouts of America and the Church of If It Feels Good, Do It and leave Christian institutions be?

Christian institutions are simply saying you cannot come into our house and force us to change the rules – especially when those rules come from God. And what is the MSM’s response to Christian institutions defending their religious freedom? The MSM campaigns to brand the Boy Scouts of America and the Catholic Church intolerant haters. We are living in crazy, insidious, evil times, folks.

The Homosexuality Is Normal Movement takes no prisoners – not even new Pope Francis. They have already begun finding fault with him because he is against gay marriage and gay adoption.

Question: will homosexual activists get away with branding the pope a hater?

The Homosexuality Is Normal Movement is not made up of passive, well-meaning victims simply seeking tolerance and their place in the sun. They are relentless, viscious, and hell-bent on forcing all of us, particularly Christians, to say their behavior is normal.
Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/03/real_bullies_the_homosexuality_is_normal_movement.html#ixzz2ObVYHdl4
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Christians Upset Over UK’s First TV Abortion Ad

LONDON – The head of the Christian Legal Center has condemned plans to air the first ever TV advertisement for abortion services.

Marie Stopes is set to make TV history when it advertises its abortion services on Channel 4 at 2210 GMT on May 24. The ad asks “Are you late?” referring to women who may have missed a period. It will then run throughout June.

It is being broadcast as part of a wider campaign by the registered charity to “confront the taboo of abortion.”

The plans have upset pro-life and Christian groups, who are considering legal action to halt the broadcast of the advert.

While commercial abortion clinics are prohibited from advertising on TV by the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice, the ban does not cover not-for-profit abortion providers like Marie Stopes.

The CLC believes the ban should be extended to Marie Stopes as it charges for its private services and the advert refers to its commercial 24-hour helpline.

BCAP is charged with drawing up advertising codes, which then form the basis upon which the Advertising Standards Authority regulates advertisements.

A draft code, due to come into force in September, states: “Advertisements for commercial post-conception advice services offering individual advice on personal problems are not acceptable.”

The CLC warned that BCAP’s interpretation of advertising codes has “severely narrowed” the scope of the prohibitions in place.

CLC director Andrea Minichiello-Williams said family planning was a multi-million pound industry that “should not be aided by TV advertising.”

“It is entirely unsatisfactory that the advertising codes supposedly allow these adverts to take place, based on a very narrow reading of the term ‘commercial,’” she said. “Members of the public will be enraged that such adverts are allowed to be beamed into their living rooms, especially as early as 10.10pm, when very many teenagers are around.

“The notion that the destruction of human life can be advertised freely on TV as a service to the public is outrageous and we will be doing all we can to stop the advert from being aired.”

Around 200,000 abortions take place in the UK each year. Marie Stopes earns around £30m a year from the NHS for carrying out abortions.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales also hit out at the TV ad.

“Abortion is not a consumer service. To present it as such erodes respect for life and is highly misleading and damaging to women, who may feel pressured into making a quick decision, which can never be revoked,” they said.

“Moreover, to allow the broadcasting advertising of abortion-referral services is, in effect, to allow the exploitative promotion of these services and is not in the interests of the health or psychological well-being of women.

Courtesy of http://www.christianpost.com/article/20100520/christians-upset-over-uks-first-tv-abortion-ad/index.html

Intercession-Eric Ludy

This video has such a powerful message to all Christians I wanted to share it with you as we stand together as a body reaching out to others. What a great God we have. What a great Savior we have. What a great good message of truth we have. Let us never lose heart.

Clinton urged to protect ‘fragile’ Christian minority in Iraq

Church leaders from various denominations have urged Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to work with Iraqi authorities in protecting the persecuted Christian minority.

The National Council of Churches and its partners throughout the world on Monday sent a letter to Clinton and U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates expressing concern about “the ongoing situation of violent attacks on minority groups in Iraq.”

“Christians in Iraq have suffered more than a dozen violent deaths so far this year,” the letter states. “Our concern is now particularly acute because it is possible that tensions will increase as various political forces continue to vie for power following the recent elections.”

Iraq held its parliamentary election in March but the formation of a new government has been delayed amid heated disputes over the results.

As politicians continue to wrangle over a new coalition government, church leaders fear the “growing climate of mistrust and animosity” in the aftermath of the elections “will further threaten the fragile Christian community.”

In the letter, NCC General Secretary the Rev. Michael Kinnamon and church leaders – including the Rev. Paula Clayton Dempsey of the Alliance of Baptists, Bishop Serapion of the Coptic Orthodox Church in North America, and the Rev. Mark Hanson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America – strongly request that Clinton and Gates communicate the concern to the Government of Iraq.

The letter comes days after Christians in northern Iraq erected a statue of Jesus, modeled after Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, amid mounting attacks by extremists.

Bashar Jarjees Habash, coordinator of Christian affairs in the city of Hamdaniya, said the statue of Jesus opening his arms was built to “send a message of peace to everyone to say that we want to live in peace with all,” as reported by Agence France-Presse.

“The people of this area have always tried to live in peace with everyone, even those who fight and threaten them,” he told AFP.

Since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, some 250,000 to 500,000 Christians, or about half the Christian population, have left the country, according to the U.N. High Commission for Refugees.

Christians have been the target of attacks for years and violence against the shrinking community escalated earlier this year, ahead of the March 7 elections. At least 10 Iraqi Christians were killed by unknown gunmen in Mosul in February.

Hundreds of Iraqi Christians took to the streets that month a number of protests, chanting “Stop the killing of Christians.”

In the new appeal this week, church leaders asked U.S. officials to work with Iraqis to not only protect Christians and other minority groups but also encourage the preservation of religious and ethnic diversity in Iraq.

Courtesy of http://www.christiantoday.com/article/clinton.urged.to.protect.fragile.christian.minority.in.iraq/25808.htm

Christians in These Times We Must Cleave Unto God Above All Else

Joshua 23:8 (KJV):

But cleave unto the LORD your God as you have done this day.

Deuteronomy 4:4 (KJV)

But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day.

        We are to cleave unto God all the days of our lives. The word “cleave” in the Hebrew means “to cling, to stick as things that are glued together and to be joined together.” In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the equivalent Greek word literally means “to glue, cement, join or firmly fasten together.” It is to hold fast and not let go. It is to embrace something with our entire heart. God wants us glued and fastened to Him above anything else in life. We cling to many things during our lives and hold tightly to things for security, love, fear and many other reasons. We  also allow things to fasten to our hearts and tighten its grip, squeezing the life out of us. We must be aware and alert to not let anything fasten to our heart above God or that turns our heart from God.  We must also cling to God first and tightly hold unto His heart, His love, His mercy and His grace. If we are glued or fasted to God then no matter how much the Devil shakes the world around us, we will remained attached to Him. Nothing can separate us regardless of the trouble or circumstance. We are fastened and stuck to God to the point we become joined together as one and His heart becomes our heart. We are united in purpose and function and we move as one. Literally our hands and feet become His hands and feet. Our arms outstretched become His arms outstretched. Our words and actions become His words and actions as we illustrate the heart of the Almighty God we are attached to.  We are a true representation of our God to the world showing forth His magnificent glorious works, words and heart. We are truly one.

         Who else would you want to be fastened to? What else would you want to be glued to? Once we become fastened to something apart from God it is often very difficult to unfasten it without His intervention. We can fasten to something that will hold us in its grip of bondage all the days of our lives unless we turn our hearts to God. Many things like money, people, power, greed, politics, lust, pride, ego, and selfishness can have a very powerful grip as they fasten to our heart instead of God.  King David, a man after God’s own heart, warned about allowing these evil things to fasten their grip upon your heart.

Psalm 101:3 (NAS):

I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not fasten its grip on me.

        “Fasten its grip”  is the same Hebrew word as “cleave” and illustrates that David did not allow anything wicked or evil to fasten its grip upon his heart. Charles Spurgeon, the great preacher and man of God, said about this verse, “I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes. I will neither delight in it, aim at it or endure it. If I have wickedness brought before me by others, I will turn away from it. I will not gaze it upon it with pleasure. The psalmist is very sweeping in his resolve, he declines the least, the most reputable, the most customary form of evil-no wicked thing-not only shall it not dwell in his heart, not even before his eyes for what fascinates the eye is apt to gain admission into the heart.”

         We see a perfect illustration of these truths in the Old Testament when we look at King Hezekiah, King Jehoram and King Solomon.

^{II Kings 18 (Amplified)}

³Hezekiah did right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his [forefather] had done.

⁴He removed the high places, broke the images, cut down the Asherim, and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until then the Israelites had burned incense to it; but he called it Nehushtan [a bronze trifle].

⁵Hezekiah trusted in, leaned on, and was confident in the Lord, the God of Israel; so that neither after him nor before him was any one of all the kings of Judah like him.

⁶For he clung and held fast to the Lord and ceased not to follow Him, but kept His commandments, as the Lord commanded Moses.

⁷And the Lord was with Hezekiah; he prospered wherever he went.

       Hezekiah trusted, leaned on and was confident in the Lord more than any of the Kings of Judah. He clung and held fast to the Lord and followed Him for he was fastened and glued to God and wherever Hezekiah was, God was with Him. He truly was one of the greatest kings of Judah because he fastened Himself to God above all else.

       King Jehoram was a different story though.

II Kings 3 (Amplified):

²He did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not like his father and mother; for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made.

³Yet he clung to the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not from them.

       King Jehoram did not cling to the Lord but rather clung to the sins of Jeroboam. We can cling to sin and refuse to let go. We can glue our hearts to those things that will turn us away from God. The great and wise King Solomon, the wisest of all men, did not learn this lesson in his life.

I Kings 11 (Amplified):

¹BUT KING Solomon [defiantly] loved many foreign women–the  daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites.

²They were of the very nations of whom the Lord said to the Israelites, You shall not mingle with them, neither shall they mingle with you, for surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods. Yet Solomon clung to these in love.

³He had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines, and his wives turned away his heart from God.

⁴For when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not perfect (complete and whole) with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.

        In the Hebrew verse 2 literally reads “they will bend your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these women in love instead of clinging and holding fast to the Lord. When we cling to anything other than the Lord, the thing we cling to will turn our heart away from God and set up an idol in our heart.  Solomon fastened his heart so hard on these women instead of God that his heart became completely bent in the other direction. His heart became so entangled in the grip in what he cleaved to that He even built places of worship to these other gods defying the most important commandment of all of loving God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength and having no other gods before Him. How the heart can become twisted by what we fasten and glue ourselves to.  How quickly Solomon fell by clinging to these women with a false sense of devotion above His Creator and His God.

         We are bombarded daily by many things we can cling and fasten our lives to. Are we going to be like King Hezekiah or Kings Jeroham and Solomon? In this age that continues to turn away from God with a ferocity and wants nothing to do with God, we must cleave to Him with all our heart. Fasten your life to God like glue; do not let go. Pursue God with a passion with all your heart. Get to know your wonderful, magnificent and good God and you will soon realize that there is nothing better in life than to cleave to Him and fasten our entire heart in His loving embrace.

10 Questions About Christians, Discrimination and the Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court will need the wisdom of Solomon as it navigates the case of Hastings vs. Martinez. At stake are questions of free speech in America and whether faith groups are being unduly targeted for discrimination. In 2004 Hastings College in San Francisco withdrew the Legal Christian Society’s right to be recognized as an official club on their campus. The reason? The society asked would-be members to sign a statement of faith consistent with a biblical standard of sexual morality.

Hastings College maintains that such a criteria discriminates against homosexuals. The Christian Legal Society states that all people are welcome to participate but voting members and officers should be those who share the unique beliefs of the club to which they are seeking membership. With club status comes access to campus facilities, student e-mail lists and activity fee funds.
The following are 10 questions pertaining to Christians, discrimination and the Supreme Court:

1. Hastings recognizes clubs that center on beliefs as diverse as Judaism, feminism, gay and animal rights. Why the undue calling out of a Christian group?

2. Although Hastings bases its argument on discrimination against homosexuals, no avowed homosexual ever sought acceptance into the C.L.S. at Hastings. Why the contrived argument?

3. What happened to First Amendment Rights?

4. Are we ready for White Supremacists being given the right to be officers of the Black Law Student Association for fear that any other action would constitute discrimination?

5. Why are we not highlighting the outstanding contributions to community and society by faith-based clubs across America?

6. If people of faith are tolerant of clubs that adhere to beliefs that are contrary to their convictions, why is the adverse not true?

7. Is it possible that the true discrimination in this case is against those who practice their faith in an increasingly secular society?

8. Have we become so politically correct that we no longer feel comfortable being biblically correct?

9. Should people be given second-class citizenship based on their beliefs?

10. Are we on the verge of outlawing groups in America solely on the basis that we disagree with their views?

The Christian Legal Society would still be an official club on the Hastings College campus if they had agreed to be Christian in name only and not in practice. The C.L.S. asks for nothing more than is guaranteed in the First Amendment: The free exercise of their religious beliefs, the freedom to speak and the ability to peaceably assemble. The reverberations of this case will be felt for years to come with the rights of far more than Christian clubs at stake.

Rev. Bill Shuler is pastor of Capital Life Church in Arlington, Virginia. For more, visit CapitalLife.org. 

Courtesy of http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/04/25/shuler-christian-legal-society-hastings-college-san-francisco/

Prayer Requests from Iran

According to a new report from Middle East Concern, Iranian Christians have requested prayer regarding several recent incidents of Christian persecution.

On April 11, Daniel, 19, was arrested in Isfahan during a raid on his home by security agents.  They stated that they were acting on the orders of the Revolutionary Court and that the accusations against him included the formation of a Christian house-church.  They confiscated personal electronic items and books.  

On April 14, house church pastor Bahnam was arrested in Karaj.  Police raided a fellowship meeting in his home, confiscated several items and assaulted Bahnam as they arrested him.  Approximately ten other believers were present who were required to disclose details of how they came to the Christian faith and who baptized them.  They were warned that they would face further questioning.  Pastor Bahnam spent one month in prison about five years ago.

In separate incidents, two Christians from Tabriz who were detained in recent weeks have been released from prison.  Reza, arrested on February 20, was and accused of leading a house fellowship, assisting converts and “spying for foreign powers,” was released from prison on bail on March 6.  

Saeed, arrested on March 7, and also accused of Christian activities, was released on bail on March 16.  His identification documents have been retained by the police and he has been barred from leaving Tabriz.  Both Reza and Saeed face the possibility of further court proceedings.

On April 13, Maryam and Marzieh were summoned to a court hearing where it is understood that they would face charges of propagating Christianity and of apostasy (i.e. leaving Islam).  At the hearing they were informed that more time was needed to consider their case and were allowed to return home.  The case remains ongoing.  They have both been in poor health since their release after eight months in prison.

Christians in Iran request prayer for the following:

• Christians in prison will know the peace and presence of Jesus;  

 

•  Charges against those released will be dropped;

 

•  Those present when Bahnam was arrested will not face further questioning or pressure;

 

•  Saeed’s documents will be returned and the travel restrictions on him lifted;

 

•  Maryam and Marzieh will experience the healing touch of Jesus, completely recover from their illnesses and be strong physically, mentally and spiritually;

 

•  All officials involved will love mercy and act justly, and hear the truth about Jesus;

 

•  The Iranian government will stop regarding Christians as being anti-government and therefore a threat.

Courtesy of http://www.christianfreedom.org/category/news/

Haiti Judge: Charges Against All 10 Volunteers Stand

 

Despite news on the contrary, the Haitian judge overseeing the case of the ten American volunteers who tried to take children out of the country said Monday that all charges remain standing.

Judge Bernard Saint-Vil said he did not make any decision yet to drop charges for any of the U.S. Christian volunteers. He said he is still considering the case of the group’s leader, Laura Silsby, who is still being held in Port-au-Prince, and the nine other Americans who were released on condition they return to Haiti if further questioning was needed.

Saint-Vil’s statement contradicts that of Idaho Sen. Jim Risch. He said though a spokesman last week that the State Department informed him that Haiti had dropped all charges against nine of the volunteers, most of whom are residents in Idaho.

The ten U.S. volunteers were arrested in January while trying to take 33 Haitian children across the border to an orphanage in the Dominican Republic. They were jailed in Port-au-Prince and charged with child kidnapping and criminal association.

Haiti said the team did not have government permission to take children out of the country, raising concerns of human trafficking.

In February, eight of the volunteers were conditionally released and the ninth was freed in March. Silsby is still being held for further investigation over previous trips to Haiti and an earlier attempt to take dozens of children to the Dominican Republic.

The Haitian judge has until early May to make a decision on whether to release Silsby or order a trial.

Courtesy of Christian Post at http://www.christianpost.com/article/20100420/haiti-judge-charges-against-all-10-volunteers-stand/index.html

Wisconsin Federal Court: National Day of Prayer Unconstitutional

By Jay Sekulow, American Center for Law and Justice

A federal district court in Wisconsin has issued a decision declaring the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional. 

As you may recall, we represented 31 members of Congress in an amicus brief defending the National Day of Prayer in a federal lawsuit filed by the The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), a Wisconsin-based organization, which challenged the constitutionality of a 1988 federal law giving the President the authority to designate the first Thursday in May as a National Day of Prayer.

In a decision released today, U.S. District Judge Barbara B. Crabb declared the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional. 

It is unfortunate that this court failed to understand that a day set aside for prayer for the country represents a time-honored tradition that embraces the First Amendment, not violates it.

This decision runs counter to well established legal precedent and we’re confident that this flawed decision ultimately will be overturned.  We will be filing a brief representing members of Congress challenging this federal district court decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.  If the appeals court fails to reverse this decision, we’re confident the Supreme Court will hear the case and ultimately determine that such proclamations and observances like the National Day of Prayer not only reflect our nation’s rich history, but are indeed consistent with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

This is the first step in what could be a lengthy legal process that ultimately puts this issue before the Supreme Court.  This issue could very well be decided by the next appointee to the high court.  An issue like this underscores the importance of why it’s so critical for the nominee to answer direct questions about their judicial philosophy, how they view the role of judges, and their view of the rule of law.

In our brief filed with the federal district court in Madison, Wisconsin, the ACLJ we represented 31 members of the 111th Congress – including Rep. J. Randy Forbes of Virginia, who chairs the Congressional Prayer Caucus.

We represented the following U.S. Representatives who are serving in the 111th Congress:  J. Randy Forbes, Robert B. Aderholt, Michele Bachmann, Roscoe G. Bartlett, John A. Boehner, John Boozman, Eric Cantor, K. Michael Conaway, Mary Fallin, Virginia Foxx, Trent Franks, Scott Garrett, Louie Gohmert, Wally Herger, Peter Hoekstra, Walter B. Jones, Jim Jordan, Doug Lamborn, Thaddeus G. McCotter, Patrick T. McHenry, Mike McIntyre, Jeff Miller, Sue Wilkins Myrick, Randy Neugebauer, Pete Olson, Mike Pence, Joseph R. Pitts, Heath Shuler, Adrian Smith, Lamar Smith, and Joe Wilson.

In our brief, we noted that the country has a long history of recognizing a national day of prayer dating back to the late 1700′s with the Continental Congress recommending that the states set apart a day for prayer and thanksgiving.  The brief stated that “the historical evidence establishing a National Day of Prayer as deeply embedded in the tradition and history of this country is indisputable.”

The ACLJ amicus brief is available here.

As we prepare for this legal appeal, we will be bringing you important information so you can join with us in standing up to protect the National Day of Prayer.

Stay tuned.

Courtesy of http://www.aclj.org/TrialNotebook/Read.aspx?ID=942