Please read just a few of the headlines that World Net Daily has published.

June, 2008

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Sex OK at 9, says Saudi cleric
'Muhammad is model we follow. He took 'Aisha to be his wife when she was 6'

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Age, or lack thereof, is no hindrance to marriage under Islam, according to Ahmad Al-Mu'bi, an officiant for marriages from Saudi Arabia who says sex at 9 is fine.

According to a video of the Saudi official recorded and translated by MEMRI, the Middle East Media Research Institute, Al-Mu'bi has confirmed that marriage contracts are appropriate for girls as young as age 1.

And he said the model for marriage continues to be Muhammad, who married one of his wives when she was but 6.

The video comes from a broadcast on LBC Television on June 19, according to the MEMRI report.

Al-Mu'bi said, "Marriage is actually two things: First we are talking about the marriage contract itself. This is one thing, while consummating the marriage – having sex with the wife for the first time – is another thing.

"There is no minimal age for entering marriage. You can have a marriage contract even with a 1-year-old girl, not to mention a girl of 9, 7, or 8. This is merely a contract [indicating] consent. The guardian in such a case must be the father, because the father's opinion is obligatory. Thus, the girl becomes a wife," he said.

"But is the girl ready for sex or not? What is the appropriate age for having sex for the first time? This varies according to environment and traditions. In Yemen, girls are married off at 9, 10, 11, 8, or 13, while in other countries, they are married off at 16. Some countries have legislated laws forbidding having sex before the girl is 18," he said.

He confirmed, "The Prophet Muhammad is the model we follow. He took 'Aisha to be his wife when she was 6, but he had sex with her only when she was 9."

An interviewer asked: "My question to you is whether the marriage of a 12-year-old boy to an 11-year-old girl is a logical marriage permitted by Islamic law."

"If the guardian is the father... There are two different types of guardianship. If the guardian is the father, and he marries his daughter off to a man of appropriate standing, the marriage is obviously valid," said Al-Mu'bi.

"People find themselves in all kinds of circumstances. Take, for example, a man who has two, three, or four daughters. He does not have any wives, but he needs to go on a trip. Isn't it better to marry his daughter to a man who will protect and sustain her, and when she reaches the proper age, he will have sex with her? Who says all men are ferocious wolves?" Al-Mu'bi said.

MEMRI also recently reported that Hamas Minister of Culture Atallah Abu Al-Subh made a statement on Al-Aqsa Television that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who has worked diligently to help establish a Palestinian state, should be condemned as a murderer.

"Every proud Palestinian views you as a murderer, and sees the blood of the children of Palestine between your lips and on your fangs. I pray to Allah that you will soon slither away," Al-Subh in a statement aired by Al-Aqsa.

A year ago, WND reported an online forum tied to the website of Hamas posted a photo of a little girl in a combat vest and the head band of the terrorist Al-Qassam Brigades.

The message accompanying the photo said the girl "is part of the Muslim generation which will go down in history [as a generation] … that refused to [accept] humiliation and defeat."

MEMRI is an independent nonprofit that monitors and reports on media broadcasts and publications in the Middle East.

The organization previously has featured messages to children about Nahoul, the bee, weeping over his "martyred" family as well as the "martyrdom" of Farfour, the Mickey Mouse-lookalike.

Hamas, which won a majority in parliament in January 2006 elections, officially is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. government. As WND reported, a prominent Hamas leader recently was captured on video boasting of using children, women and the elderly as human shields in its firefights with Israeli soldiers.

World Net Daily
June, 2008
For more information on this topic, Click Here

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TESTING THE FAITH
Judge blasts state ban on distributing Bibles to students
Law unconstitutional because it 'encourages arbitrary enforcement'

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A federal court has declared a Florida law banning representatives of the Gideons from handing out Bibles within 500 feet of any school in the state unconstitutional because it is vague and actually "encourages arbitrary enforcement."

The ruling in a case brought by the Alliance Defense Fund comes from U.S. District Court Judge K. Michael Moore and addresses an incident that developed Jan. 19, 2007, at Key Largo School, run by Principal Annette Martinson.

The law actually prohibits anyone without "legitimate business" from being within 500 feet of schools in the state and specifies "each principal or designee of each public or private school in this state shall notify the appropriate law enforcement agency to prohibit any person from loitering in the school safety zone who does not have legitimate business in the school safety zone or any other authorization, or license to enter or remain in the school safety zone or does not otherwise have invitee status in the designated safety zone."

The issue arose because of team of Gideons, known for paying all of their own expenses out of pocket while raising all of their own funds and giving away Bibles, had been distributing the Scriptures at Key Largo School.

The Gideons' procedure is to notify local police departments two weeks before their distribution date, give school administrators notice and have participants stand on a public bike path or sidewalk and avoid stepping on school grounds.

But WND reported earlier when two members of the Gideons organization were charged for handing out Bibles there, and when a judge dismissed those counts. 

Ernest Simpson and Anthony Mirto had been taken into custody by a sheriff's deputy and charged with trespassing after the principal of Key Largo School, Martinson, complained they were handing out Bibles.

The initial counts were dismissed at the request of the ADF shortly after the law firm got involved, but then authorities filed a second round of counts, under a different law – this state law that prohibits anyone from being within 500 feet of any school property, including on public sidewalks and streets, without having either "legitimate business" or permission.

The lawsuit lawsuit at hand then was filed on behalf of Gideon Thomas Gray, who was not arrested with Simpson and Mirto but arrived when they called to report trouble with a particular deputy sheriff.

"Gray approached Officer [John] Perez and asked what the charges were. Officer Perez was highly agitated and said that Gray would know in 48 hours when he received the report," the judge said.

Gray contacted another deputy through whom he'd arranged for the distribution.

"Gray then called Deputy [Ralph] Williams and asked for his assistance … Deputy Williams indicated that he would e-mail Officer Perez … Gray told Officer Perez that he had an e-mail in his car from another officer stating that the Gideons have a right to distribute Bibles from the public bike path/sidewalk, but Officer Perez indicated that he did not care," the judge wrote.

The ADF reported the two Gideons who were arrested were "placed in a Monroe County patrol car. A police officer mocked the two men, saying they could 'pray to Jesus all the way to jail.'"

The ADF, after seeing that the charges against Simpon and Mirto were dismissed, filed the action on behalf of Gray, who said he feared arrest if he exercised his right to distribute Bibles.

The federal judge found that the state definition of a school safety zone, in the Key Largo School location, would include a public bike path and walkway abutting U.S. Highway 1, the highway itself and businesses including a pet motel, a gas station, a restaurant and a plumbing business.

"Given the wide range of non-exempt persons and the various types of areas within the school safety zone, such as sidewalks, residential houses and streets, businesses, parking lots, etc., construing 'legitimate purpose' to mean any purpose which is connected with the operation of the school would result in an application so broad that it would likely infringe of First and Fourteenth Amendment rights," the judge said.

He ordered the state never again enforce that particular law.

"Christians shouldn’t be penalized for expressing their beliefs," said ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman. "Arresting or threatening to arrest Christians simply because they choose to exercise their First Amendment rights in a public place is unconstitutional. The court was right in its assessment that the particular law used against these members of the Gideons does not pass constitutional muster."

In a statement at the outset of the case to WND, Becky Herrin, of the public information office in the Monroe County sheriff's office, stated as a fact that the defendants in the case did trespass. She later declined additional comment.

"A copy of our police report (see attached) … clearly states that the people in question were arrested for trespassing on school property – not on a public sidewalk… In fact, they were given the opportunity to step off school property and onto public property, and they could have continued with their activities if they had done so. They chose instead to remain, against repeated warnings, on school property so deputies were forced to arrest them," Herrin said in a statement to WND.

But the attached report forwarded to WND revealed the two were arrested while in their vehicle parked near, but not on, school property.

The Gideons, a group founded in the late 1800s, has as its "sole purpose" the goal "to win men, women, boys and girls to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ through association for service, personal testimony, and distributing the Bible in the human traffic lanes and streams of everyday life."

Gideons have placed the Bible in 181 nations in 82 different languages over the years.

The organization focuses on hotels and motels, hospitals and nursing homes, schools, colleges and universities, the military and law enforcement and prisons and jails.

"The demand for Scriptures in these areas far exceeds our supplies that we are able to purchase through our donations. Much more could be done – if funds were available. However, we are placing and distributing more than one million copies of the Word of God, at no cost, every seven days in these areas…" the group said.

The organization only gives away the Bibles with the Gideon logo on the covers, but plain Bibles are available for consumers to purchase at its distribution center at P.O. Box 140800, Nashville, Tenn., 37214-0800. Information about the products is available on the group's website.

The Gideons serve as an extended missionary arm of the Christian church and are the oldest Christian business and professional men's association in the United States.

World Net Daily
June, 2008
For more information on this topic, Click Here

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MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH
State denies cancer treatment, offers suicide instead
'To say, we'll pay for you to die, but not pay for you to live, it's cruel'

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State officials have offered a lung cancer patient the option of having the Oregon Health Plan, set up in 1994 to ration health care, pay for an assisted suicide but not for the chemotherapy prescribed by her physician.

The story appears to be a happy ending for Barbara Wagner, who has been notified by a drug manufacturer that it will provide the expensive medication, estimated to cost $4,000 a month, for the first year and then allow her to apply for further treatment, according to a report in the Eugene Register-Guard.

But the word from the state was coverage for palliative care, which would include the state's assisted suicide program, would be allowed but not coverage for the cancer treatment drugs.

"To say to someone, we'll pay for you to die, but not pay for you to live, it's cruel," Wagner told the newspaper. "I get angry. Who do they think they are?"

She said she was devastated when the state health program refused coverage for Tarceva, the drug her doctor ordered for treatment of her lung cancer.

The refusal came in an unsigned letter from LIPA, the company that runs the state program in that part of Oregon.

"We had no intent to upset her, but we do need to point out the options available to her under the Oregon Health Plan," Dr. John Sattenspiel, senior medical director for LIPA, told the newspaper.

"I understand the way it was interpreted. I'm not sure how we can lift that. The reality is, at some level (doctor-assisted suicide) could be considered as a palliative or comfort care measure."

The 64-year-old Wagner lives in a low-income apartment in Springfield with her dog, the newspaper said.

State officials say the Oregon Health Plan prioritizes treatments, with diagnoses and ailments deemed the most important, such as pregnancy, childbirth and preventive care for children at the top of the list. Other treatments rank below, officials said.

"We can't cover everything for everyone," Dr. Walter Shaffer, a spokesman for the state Division of Medical Assistance Programs, told the paper. "Taxpayer dollars are limited for publicly funded programs. We try to come up with policies that provide the most good for the most people."

He said many cancer treatments are a high priority, but others reflect the "desire on the part of the framers of this list to not cover treatments that are futile."

Wagner, however, is ending up with the treatment needed when her lung cancer, in remission for two years, returned.

She reported a representative for the pharmaceutical company called and notified her the drug would be provided for at least the first year.

"We have been warning for years that this was a possibility in Oregon," said the "Bioethics Pundit" on the Bioethics blog. "Medicaid is rationed, meaning that some treatments are not covered. But assisted suicide is always covered."

"This isn't the first time this has happened either," the blogger wrote. "A few years ago a patient who needed a double organ transplant was denied the treatment but would have been eligible for state-financed assisted suicide. But not to worry. Just keep repeating the mantra: There are no abuses with Oregon's assisted suicide law. There are no abuses. There are no abuses!"

World Net Daily
June, 2008
For more information on this topic, Click Here

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FAITH UNDER FIRE
Quoting Scripture banned in library community room
'What next? Will board keep patrons from reading Bible?'

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Quoting from the Bible has been banned in a community room at the public library in Clermont County, Ohio, and now a couple who sought to use the facility for a financial planning seminar has brought a court case.

"What's next? Will the library board attempt to keep patrons from checking out Bibles and reading them on government property?" asked Tim Chandler, a legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, which is working on the case involving George and Cathy Vandergriff.

The couple asked for permission to use a public facility at the library to hold a financial planning seminar with the Institute for Principled Policy.

Under the use policy for the facility, the meetings rooms there "are available to all community groups and non-profit organizations engaged in activities that further the Library's mission to be responsive to community needs and to be an integral part of our community," according to the lawsuit.

"When the Library's meeting rooms are not being used for library-related programs, the rooms are available for non-profit use by community groups. The groups may use meeting rooms for private meetings or to present programs for the general public," it continues.

However, when Cathy Vandergriff asked in person to use a meeting room for a financial planning meeting, the conversation with the library employee took an unwelcome turn.

"When Mrs. Vandergriff indicated that the seminar would be a free ministry to the general public, the employee asked if she would be quoting the Bible in the presentation. Mrs. Vandergriff answered that she would be using the Bible, and the employee informed her that the Library's Policy would therefore not permit her to use the meeting room," the ADF said.

When she followed up with a written request for the use of the facility, an employee again warned about the ban on quoting from the Bible, and the written rejection soon followed. It carried the hand-written notation: "Contact Mr. Vandergriff will be quoting bible versus [sic] explained our meeting room policy."

The ADF's complaint, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Ohio, requests a declaratory judgment, preliminary and permanent injunctions and damages and costs for the action.

"The … Clermont Public Library Board of Trustees … is prohibiting plaintiffs from engaging in expressive activities in a generally available public forum solely due to the religious viewpoint of those activities," the ADF said.

The library did not return a WND message requesting comment.

The complaint cites alleged violations of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution including the right to free exercise of religion, and the 14th Amendment's equal protection and due process clauses.

"The library has no compelling reason that would justify excluding plaintiffs from these generally available public facilities solely on the basis of the religious nature of plaintiffs' speech," the complaint said.

"Refusing to grant this group permission to hold a seminar at a meeting room in a public library because they planned to quote the Bible is about as blatantly un-American and unconstitutional as you can get," Chandler said. "Christian organizations shouldn't be discriminated against for their beliefs."

"The denial sends the message to the Vandergriffs and other Christians that they are not deemed a valuable part of the community. Christians have the same First Amendment rights as anyone else in America," the ADF's Kevin Theriot added.

"Any government policy denying equal access rights to a group simply because it intends on quoting Bible verses does not comport with the Constitution. This is a financial planning seminar, and the library has previously allowed meetings that discuss financial planning. The fact that they may quote Bible verses during the meeting does not legally matter."

The Institute for Principled Policy planned to sponsor the two two-hour seminars for 10 attendees April 18 and 19 at the library using Larry Burkett’s Crown Ministries materials.

World Net Daily
June, 2008
For more information on this topic, Click Here

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Government to pastor: Renounce your faith!
Now banned from expressing opposition to homosexuality

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A Canadian human rights tribunal ordered a Christian pastor to renounce his faith and never again express moral opposition to homosexuality, according to a new report.

In a decision dated May 30 in the penalty phase of the quasi-judicial proceedings run by the Alberta Human Rights Tribunal, evangelical pastor Stephen Boisson was banned from expressing his biblical perspective of homosexuality and ordered to pay $5,000 for "damages for pain and suffering" as well as apologize to the activist who complained of being hurt.

According to a report from Pete Vere at the Catholic Exchange, the penalty could foreshadow the possible fate of the Rev. Alphonse de Valk, who also cited the biblical perspective on homosexuality in the nation's debate over same-sex "marriage" and now faces HRC charges.

Boisson wrote a letter to the editor of his local Red Deer, Alberta, newspaper in 2002 denouncing the advance of homosexual activism as "wicked" and stating: "Children as young as five and six years of age are being subjected to psychologically and physiologically damaging pro-homosexual literature and guidance in the public school system; all under the fraudulent guise of equal rights."

The activist, local teacher Darren Lund, filed a complaint, and the guilty verdict from Lori G. Andreachuk, a lawyer, was handed down Nov. 30, 2007. The latest decision involved the penalty phase of the trial.

"While agreeing that Boisson's letter was not a criminal act, the government tribunal nevertheless ordered the Christian pastor to [stop expressing his opinion]," Vere reported.

Andreachuk noted that Lund, who brought the complaint, wasn't, in fact, injured.

"In this case there is no specific individual who can be compensated as there is no direct victim who has come forward," she wrote.

However, that did not stop her from ordering the payment anyway.

And as for the future, she wrote:

"Mr. Boissoin and The Concerned Christian Coalition Inc. shall cease publishing in newspapers, by e-mail, on the radio, in public speeches, or on the Internet, in future, disparaging remarks about gays and homosexuals. Further, they shall not and are prohibited from making disparaging remarks in the future about … Lund or … Lund's witnesses relating to their involvement in this complaint. Further, all disparaging remarks versus homosexuals are directed to be removed from current Web sites and publications of Mr. Boissoin and The Concerned Christian Coalition Inc.," the lawyer opined.

Andreachuk also ordered Boissoin to apologize for the original letter in the Red Deer Advocate and told the two "offenders" to pay $5,000.

The apology letter, Vere said, "threatens civil liberties in Canada, according to Ezra Levant, an author and lawyer who himself was targeted by an HRC attack."

"[The] government now believes that if it can't convince a Christian pastor that he's wrong, it will just order him to condemn himself?" Levant wrote on his blog. "Other than tribunals in Stalin's Soviet Union and Mao's China, where is this Orwellian 'order' considered to be justice?"

"This is like a Third World jail-house confession – where accused criminals are forced to sign false statements of guilt," Levant wrote. "We don’t even 'order' murderers to apologize to their victims' families. Because we know that a forced apology is meaningless. But not if your point is to degrade Christian pastors."

"In essence, the Alberta Human Rights Tribunal is ordering to the minister to renounce his Christian faith, since his opposition to homosexuality is based upon the Judeo-Christian Bible," Vere wrote.

WND reported recently about de Valk, the target of a Human Rights Commission case over his biblical references regarding homosexuality.

"Father [de Valk] defended the [Catholic] Church's teaching on marriage during Canada's same-sex 'marriage' debate, quoting extensively from the Bible, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and Pope John Paul II's encyclicals. Each of these documents contains official Catholic teaching. And like millions of other people throughout the world and the ages – many of whom are non-Catholics and non-Christians — Father believes that marriage is an exclusive union between a man and a woman," Vere wrote.

Vere raised the question that Canada now considers morality a "hate crime."

"If one, because of one's sincerely held moral beliefs, whether it be Jew, Muslim, Christian, Catholic, opposes the idea of same-sex marriage in Canada, is that considered 'hate'?" he asked.

Vere wrote that the response he got from Mark van Dusen, a spokesman for the federal human rights prosecution office, shocked him.

The government agent confirmed the agency investigates complaints but doesn't set public policy or moral standards. He said the agency job is to look at the circumstances and decide whether to advance it or dismiss it.

What is shocking about that, Vere wrote, is the admission that unjustified complaints can be dismissed, yet the case against de Valk has continued now for more than six months.

An extended audio recording between Vere and van Dusen is posted on YouTube:

A second part of the interview also is posted.

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ELECTION 2008
Nation of Islam activists on Obama camp payroll
Former insider worried by senator's connection
to Louis Farrakhan, members of radical group

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JERUSALEM – Sen. Barack Obama employed and continues to employ senior staffers who belong to the Nation of Islam, and the presidential candidate has some "worrying" ties to the controversial group headed by Louis Farrakhan, a former key Obama insider told WND.

The former insider, who spoke on condition of anonymity, expressed particular concerned that Obama employed at least two Nation members in his early days as a state senator, when his office was staffed by only a handful of workers.

"When you're a state senator, you have little money given to you to hire staff. It is ironic that two of Obama's employees in those days were known Nation of Islam activists when Obama employed perhaps a total of maybe three or four staffers," said the former insider.

The former insider confirmed Obama is directly aware of the Nation of Islam members on his staff.

Obama was elected to the Illinois state Senate in 1996, serving the 13th district, which then spanned Chicago's South Side neighborhoods, including areas in which Farrakhan was considered to be highly influential.

"A key constituency for Obama was Hyde Park, where Farrakhan lives. To be successful politically in that area, you need to be involved with Farrakhan, since he's a strong power in the district," said the former insider.

The former insider identified early employees of Obama as Nation of Islam members, including Jennifer Mason, who still works in Obama's Chicago Senate office as director of constituency services – a key community liaison position.

Also, Cynthia K. Miller, whom the former insider identified as a Nation of Islam activist, served Obama in his early state Senate days and later as treasurer for his U.S. senatorial campaign.

Miller was also a paid consultant in 2003 and 2004, according to financial documents obtained by WND. She currently runs a Chicago real estate firm.

The former insider said Obama asked indicted Chicago businessman and Obama financier Tony Rezko to get his treasurer, Miller, a state government job with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

"She got an offer but turned it down. She ended up doing real estate," the ex-insider said.

The former insider also identified former Obama worker Shakir Muhammad as a Nation of Islam activist. Muhammad was paid by Obama's office as a photographer in the late 1990s.

According to a black supremacist source tied to Farrakhan, Muhammad previously worked as a bodyguard for the Nation of Islam chief.

The Anti-Defamation League identifies the Nation of Islam, the oldest black nationalist organization, as consistently racist and anti-Semitic.

The Nation of Islam operates "under the guise of instilling African-Americans with a sense of empowerment since its founding in the 1930s," reads an ADL description.

Mason did not return a WND request for comment at Obama's Chicago office.

Miller did not reply to phone messages left on her cell phone.

Michael Ortiz, Obama's deputy press secretary, did not return a WND request for comment about Illinois senator's alleged ties to Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam.

WND verified the former insider speaking about Obama's Nation of Islam workers held a key position with the presidential candidate.

The former insider said he quit, in part, because of Obama's ties to the Nation of Islam and the senator's positions on Israel.

He previously also talked with columnist Debbie Schlussel, who first wrote about the Nation of Islam employees on Obama's staff.

"How many Nation of Islam members will work in an Obama White House?" Schlussel asked on her blog.

Obama-Farrakhan links

The exact nature of Obama's ties to Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam are unclear.

The presidential candidate repeatedly has denounced Farrakhan's views and would not accept the Nation of Islam leader's high profile endorsement.

"You know, I have been very clear in my denunciation of minister Farrakhan's anti-Semitic comments. I think they are unacceptable and reprehensible. I did not solicit this support," Obama said on NBC in February.

"We're not doing anything, I assure you, formally or informally with minister Farrakhan," Obama said.

But Obama's former church of 20 years – Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago – and his former spiritual adviser, Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., have a different view of Farrakhan.

Wright, who accompanied Farrakhan to Libya in 1984, has been involved in Farrakhan initiatives and labeled him "one of the most important voices in the 20th and 21st century" during a national address to the media in April at which Nation of Islam officials were invited guests.

Obama has appeared at least three times on the cover of Trumpet magazine, founded by Wright, which in 2007 gave Farrakhan its Empowerment Award.

The magazine, to which Obama last year granted a lengthy, exclusive interview, regularly hails Farrakhan.

Obama's face was featured on the cover of a 2006 issue of Trumpet alongside Farrakhan's image.

Wright and Obama reportedly attended the Million Man March on Washington, which was led by Farrakhan and other prominent black leaders such as Al Sharpton.

Another Obama connection to supporters of Farrakhan comes from Obama's chief political strategist, David Axelrod.

WND reported this week Axelrod sits on the finance committee of St. Sabina, the Chicago Catholic parish that was led by controversial pastor Michael Pfleger, an outspoken Farrakhan supporter who hosted the Nation of Islam chief at his parish several times.

The Archdiocese of Chicago yesterday removed Pfleger from his duties at St. Sabina for an unspecified time following a well-publicized sermon at Trinity church two weeks ago in which Pfleger claimed Sen. Hillary Clinton cried in public because she thought being white entitled her to the Democratic presidential nomination.

Pfleger told the Chicago Sun-Times he felt free to speak about Clinton because he believed his sermon was not being recorded. He said he thought the live Internet link that normally broadcasts Trinity sermons was not running.

"They told me it was down," Pfleger said. "Their live streaming had been down all day, and they didn't know whether it was back up. … I regret the dramatization that I was naive enough to believe was just going to be kept among that church."

Pfleger hosted Farrakhan at his church as late as last May, Farrakhan's first public appearance since he announced in 2006 he had been suffering from prostate cancer and was seriously ill.

According to reports, Pfleger spent hours with the Nation of Islam chief during his illness. Pfleger previously enlisted Farrakhan's support for several of his initiatives, including an anti-gun protest last year.

Rev. Willie Barrow, a member of the Obama campaign's official Faith Outreach Team and a pledged Obama superdelegate, is a close friend of Farrakhan's and a staunch Nation of Islam supporter.

Farrakhan stated in a 2002 interview he met with Barrow to devise his Nation of Islam platforms.

In 2006, Barrow condemned four Jewish members of the Illinois state Hate Crimes Commission after Blagojevich refused to remove from the commission Sister Claudette Muhammad, Farrakhan's minister of protocol.

"Not only should [Muhammad] continue to serve on the commission, but, I think those that resigned because they disagree, what have they done to bring about an agreement?” Barrow told the CBS affiliate in Chicago, WBBM.

Larry Johnson of the No Quarter blog posted a 2004 photo of Obama's wife, Michelle, posing with Barrow at a woman's luncheon for the Rainbow/Push Coalition for which Barrow serves as chairman emeritus.

In the picture with Michelle Obama is Khadijah Farrakhan, Louis Farrakhan's wife.

World Net Daily
May, 2008
For more information on this topic, Click Here

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DO I HAVE THIS STRAIGHT?

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HIS FATHER WAS A BLACK AFRICAN MUSLIM FROM KENYA.
WE HAVE SEEN PICTURES OF HIS AFRICAN FAMILY.
HIS MOTHER WAS A WHITE AMERICAN ATHEIST FROM KANSAS.
WHERE ARE THE PICTURES OF HIS AMERICAN FAMILY?
HIS FATHER DESERTED HIS MOTHER WHEN HE WAS ONLY TWO YEARS OLD AND WENT BACK TO AFRICA BY WAY OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY. HOW? WAS HIS FATHER WEALTHY?

HIS MOTHER MARRIED AN INDONESIAN MUSLIM AND THEN MOVED TO JAKARTA WHERE HE WAS ENROLLED IN A MUSLIM SCHOOL.
WHEN HE REACHED HIGH SCHOOL AGE HIS MOTHER SENT HIM TO HAWAII TO BE WITH HIS WHITE GRANDPARENTS AND HE WAS PUT INTO AN EXPENSIVE PRIVATE SCHOOL. HE LATER WENT TO HARVARD UNIVERSITY. HOW? WERE HIS GRANDPARENTS RICH?

HE LIVES IN A $1.4 MILLION HOUSE OBTAINED THROUGH A DEAL WITH A WEALTHY FUNDRAISER. HOW?
HE 'WORKED' AS A CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST IN CHICAGO. HE HAS NEVER HELD A PRODUCTIVE JOB OR RECEIVED A PAY CHECK THAT WAS NOT GOVERNMENT-FUNDED AND/OR TAXPAYER SUPPORTED.

THE PRESIDENCY IS NOT A CIVIL RIGHTS POSITION, NOR IS IT SUBJECT TO AFFIRMATIVE ACTION SET ASIDES; ON-THE-JOB TRAINING WON'T CUT IT.

HE ENTERED POLITICS AT THE STATE LEVEL AND THEN THE NATIONAL LEVEL WHERE HE HAS MINIMAL EXPERIENCE.
HE IS PROUD OF HIS 'AFRICAN HERITAGE' (A FATHER WHO GOT A WHITE GIRL PREGNANT AND DESERTED HER).
WHERE IS THE PRIDE IN HIS 'WHITE HERITAGE'? (A MOTHER WHO FLAUNTED CONVENTION AND DID NOT BELIEVE IN GOD).
SOME MIGHT THINK THERE WAS NOT MUCH TO BE PROUD OF EITHER WAY.
HE BELONGS, AND HAS BELONGED FOR OVER 20 YEARS, TO AN 'AFRO-CENTRIC' CHURCH IN CHICAGO THAT HATES WHITES, HATES JEWS, AND BLAMES AMERICA FOR ALL THE WORLD'S PERCEIVED FAULTS. (INCLUDING CREATING THE AIDs VIRUS IN ORDER TO INFLICT IT ON AFRICANS).

HE REPEATEDLY WHITEWASHES THE PASTOR, HIS CHURCH AND THE MEMBERS WHO CHEERED AFTER HEARING VITRIOLIC TIRADES AGAINST AMERICA.

HE COULD NOT CONFRONT HIS PASTOR BUT HE WANTS US TO BELIEVE HE CAN CONFRONT NORTH KOREA AND IRAN ?
YEAH RIGHT ! !
DURING HIS VERY BRIEF TIME IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE HE HAS MANAGED TO AMASS THE NUMBER ONE ULTRA LIBERAL VOTING RECORD OUT OF THE ONE HUNDRED MEMBERS.

HE HAS VOTED CONSISTENTLY FOR BIGGER GOVERNMENT AND HIGHER TAXES. HE HAS VOTED FOR BIG ENTITLEMENTS AND LEGISLATION THAT WOULD SEVERELY CURTAIL AMERICA'S ABILITY TO FIGHT TERRORISM AND TO PROTECT OUR BORDERS AND OUR NATIONAL INTERESTS AROUND THE WORLD.

BUT, HE IS A GOOD ORATOR. ISN'T THAT A COMFORT?
YEAH, I THINK I SEE HOW WELL HE COULD UNITE THE COUNTRY.
I THINK THE TRUTH IS THAT HE HOPES NO ONE WILL PUT THE PIECES TOGETHER.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO OUR NEW CHIEF PILOT. HE HAS NEVER FLOWN AN AIRPLANE, IN FACT HE HAS NEVER EVEN SAT IN THE COCKPIT, BUT HE SAYS HE HAS RIDDEN ON PLANES BEFORE. WE ARE SURE HE WILL GUIDE US SAFELY THROUGH THE STORMS WE MAY ENCOUNTER ON THIS FLIGHT.

PEOPLE WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? HAVE YOU NEVER HEARD THE STORY ABOUT THE WOLF HIDING IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING SO HE CAN DESTROY THEM FROM WITH-IN ? THE HAND WRITING IS ON THE WALL, DO YOU NOT HAVE EYES TO SEE IT ?

THINK LONG AND HARD BEFORE YOU VOTE FOR THIS GUY!

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BRAVE NEW SCHOOLS
Texas children roped into Islamic training
Class by CAIR teaches: 'There is one god, Allah'

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Public school students at Friendswood Junior High in the Houston area have been roped into Islamic training by representatives from the Council on American-Islamic Relations during class time, prompting religious leaders to protest over Principal Robin Lowe's actions.

Pastor Dave Welch, spokesman for the Houston Area Pastor Council, confirmed the indoctrination had taken place and called it "unacceptable."

"The failure of the principal of Friendswood Junior High to respect simple procedures requiring parental notification for such a potentially controversial subject, to not only approve but participate personally in a religious indoctrination session led by representatives of a group with well-known links to terrorist organizations and her cavalier response when confronted, raises serious questions about her fitness to serve in that role," the pastors' organization said.

According to a parent, whose name was withheld, the children were given the Islamic indoctrination during time that was supposed to be used for a physical education class.

"I am simply trying to get the word out to those whose kids may not have told them about an Islamic presentation that all kids were required to attend," wrote the parent, who was working to assemble protests to the school board.

WND previously has reported how public school textbooks being used across the nation have begun promoting Islam, teaching even the religious doctrines.

WND also has reported on several other school situations in which Islam has been taught as a required subject, and when administrators have defended those decisions.

In the Texas case, a school e-mail to parents provided only a half-hearted acknowledgement that such mandatory religious indoctrination might not have been the best decision.

"In hindsight, a note should have been sent home to parents indicating the purpose and content of the presentation in time for parents to contact me with questions or concerns or requests to exempt their child," the school note from Lowe said. "This will be our practice in the future, should we ever have another presentation of a similar nature."

School officials also said the "Islamic Awareness" presentation was "to increase understanding of the Islamic culture in response to racially motivated comments that have been made to students on campus."

The pastors said in a statement: "According to students who were forced to attend these sessions, these Islamic evangelists taught them:

• Adam, Noah and Jesus are prophets
  
  
• There is one god, his name is Allah
  
  
• The 5 Pillars of Islam
  
  
• How to pray five times a day
  
  
• Islamic religious garb"

The pastors noted that the principal's claim there were "comments" to students on campus was unverified. Nor does that excuse or justify "this infringement upon the religious beliefs of students and parents of the community nor the violation of school policy and possibly state and/or federal law," they said.

"We do not believe that this unapproved action by Principal Robin Lowe represents the school district and certainly not the majority of students or parents in the Friendswood community. Our commitment is to support all appropriate administrative, legal and political remedies to assure that this will not happen again and these Islamic activist organizations are kept out of our schools," the pastors said.

The parent reported the presentation was 30-40 minutes long and handled by two Muslim women from CAIR's Houston office. CAIR, as WND has reported, is spinoff of the defunct Islamic Association for Palestine, launched by Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzook and former university professor Sami al-Arian, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide services to Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Among the convicted CAIR staffers are former communications specialist Randall Todd "Ismail" Royer, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges he trained in Virginia for holy war against the U.S. and sent several members to Pakistan to join a Kashmiri terrorist group with reported ties to al-Qaida; and Bassem Khafagi, who was arrested in January 2003 while serving as CAIR's director of community relations and convicted on fraud and terrorism charges in connection with a probe of the Islamic Assembly of North America, an organization suspected of aiding Saudi sheiks tied to Osama bin Laden. In October 2006, Ghassan Elashi, a member of the founding board of directors of the Texas branch of CAIR, was sentenced to nearly seven years in prison for financial ties to a high-ranking terrorist.

The parent reported that Lowe told students her sister, niece and nephew were Muslim.

But the parent complained the Muslims "were given full attention of our kids, during academic school time, to present their religious beliefs … This was put right at the end of the school year … which will most likely prevent a Christian response."

There also was no parental notification and students were required to attend.

"The kids did not even know they were having an assembly or what topic it pertained to until they entered the gym," the parent wrote. "I send my kids to school for academics … I teach them religion at home."

World Net Daily
May, 2008
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WorldNetDaily
TV news crew probing Islam at public school attacked
Sought comment on state report ordering institution to stop religious accomodation

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Officials at a charter school in Minnesota attacked a TV news crew yesterday that came to investigate whether the publicly funded institution complied with a state order to stop accomodating Islamic prayers and religious programs.

KSTP-TV in Minneapolis-St.Paul reported police are probing the incident at the Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy in Inver Grove Heights, Minn., which is housed in the same building as a mosque and the Minnesota chapter of the Muslim American Society. The station said a photographer was injured while wrestling with two school officials over a camera.

As WND reported, a substitute teacher at the school reported religion appeared to be a significant educational focus. Amanda Getz said her duties included taking students to the bathroom, four at a time, to perform "their ritual washing." She told a Minneapolis Star-Tribune columnist teachers also "led the kids into the gym, where a man dressed in white with a white cap, who had been at the school all day" led prayer.

The school, which came under investigation after a series of Star-Tribune reports, yesterday was ordered by state officials to comply with state and federal law. The academy must no longer allow Islamic prayers on school grounds and must stop delaying transportation until an after-school religious program is completed, the state officials said.

The state, according to the Minneapolis newspaper, found the 30-minute prayers take up so much time they could burden non-praying students and prevent the school from fulfilling its required number of instruction hours. The state report also noted allowing teachers to participate, even though they don't lead prayers, could give the impression the school endorses Islam.

The KSTP crew was dispatched to the school to cover the story and obtain reaction from school officials, according to a statetment on the station's website .

"While on school grounds, our crew was attacked by school officials," the station said. "Our photographer was injured while wrestling with the two men over the camera. Our photographer was examined by paramedics and suffered minor shoulder and back injuries."

The Minnesota Department of Education's deputy commissioner, Chas Anderson, said the agency "goes to great lengths to make clear to charter schools and their sponsors that, while schools should appropriately accommodate students' religious beliefs, they must be 'nonsectarian' under the state's charter school law."

Along with the issue of communal prayer giving the appearance of state sponsorship, the state said the school should stop delaying its bus service until completion of the after-school Islam course, so students who don't particupate can go home immediately.

"We have directed the school to take appropriate corrective actions regarding these matters and will continue to provide oversight to ensure that the school is in compliance with state and federal law," Anderson said.

KSTP reporter Chris O'Connell told Fox News today he and his photographer had been on public property in front of the school trying to reach school officials for an hour. Another camera crew arrived and went directly onto the property to try to obtain a comment, so he and his cameraman followed, he said.

O'Connell said that as soon as he and his cameraman stepped onto the school property, two men from the school "came right out" and tried to wrestle the camera away.

"There were two guys on my cameraman," he said.

O'Connell called police.

"It's quite clear they targeted us as a station," he said.

He said police were investigating various charges related to the cameraman's injuries, as well as possible trespassing charges against the news crew brought by school officials.

"The police are going to try to look into our videotape," O'Connell said. "Our competing station also got video from another point of view. It's pretty telling video. You see it all go down."

The state report said many of the school's operations comply with state charter school law and federal guidelines for prayer in schools, but the two areas – the formalized Islamic prayer time during the school day and the plan delaying transportation home for children until after the post-class religious instruction is finished – must be addressed.

School director Asad Zaman told the Star-Tribune, "I now have proof that this is not a religious school."

The Star-Tribune previously documented that the charter high school for kindergarten through eighth-grade students is named after a Muslim warlord, shares the address of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, is led by two imams, is composed almost exclusively (99 percent) of blacks and has as its top goal to preserve "our values."

And it's all funded by the taxpayers of Minnesota.

Star-Tribune columnist Katherine Kersten wrote she was denied permission to visit the school. The school also has declined to return WND telephone requests for an interview.

The institution has drawn criticism from a number of observers, including Robert Spencer, who monitors such developments at Jihad Watch.

"Can you imagine a public school founded by two Christian ministers, and housed in the same building as a church? Add to that – in the same building – a prominent chapel. And let's say the students are required to fast during Lent, and attend Bible studies right after school. All with your tax dollars," he wrote. "Inconceivable? Sure."

If such a place existed, Spencer said, "the ACLU lawyers would descend on it like locusts. It would be shut down before you could say 'separation of church and state,' to the accompaniment of New York Times and Washington Post editorials full of indignant foreboding, warning darkly about the growing influence of the Religious Right in America."

The substitute teacher Getz told Kersten after she spent the day at the school, "The prayer I saw was not voluntary. The kids were corralled by adults and required to go to the assembly where prayer occurred."

Kersten previously revealed other links between the school and Islam, including a carpeted space for prayer, halal food in the cafeteria and fasting for students during Ramadan.

The Muslim American Society of Minnesota has not hidden the fact that the charter school is located at its facility. The published program for its annual convention last year – featuring the theme "Establishing Islam in Minnesota" – asked, "Did you know that MAS-MN … houses a full-time elementary school?"

On the adjacent page was an ad for Tarek ibn Ziyad.

World Net Daily
May, 2008
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LAW OF THE LAND
Church battles for property lost to bake sale tax dispute
'To put lien on worship facility over resale activity is ludicrous'

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The city of Chicago has been handed another defeat in its effort to take over a church's property in order to use in it a redevelopment project, according to officials with the Alliance Defense Fund.

Government officials took title to the property after they first claimed the organization had failed to pay sales taxes on fundraising bake sales, even though such activities are exempt from sales tax requirements, and then sending notifications of the taxes due as well as the tax lien sale to the wrong address.

Officials with Beth-El All Nations Church now have gone to court to regain title to their facility, and yesterday a judge rejected an effort by city officials to have the action thrown out.

"The government should not demonstrate hostility toward religion by penalizing churches when there's clearly no reason to do so," said ADF Senior Counsel Joe Infranco.

"To put a lien on a church's property for the invented reason that the church somehow engaged in some undefined 'resale activity' and didn't collect and pay sales tax is simply ludicrous," said ADF-allied attorney and lead counsel Andy Norman of the Chicago law firm Mauck & Baker. "The court was right to allow the church's case against the city to proceed."

The long-running dispute dates back to shortly after the church acquired its property in the Chicago neighborhood of Englewood in 1976 and rehabilitated the location to begin worship services.

While there were no complications at first, about 1986 Cook County officials decided that the church no longer was exempt, and started assessing property taxes, totaling more than $100,000 between the period 1986 to 1995.

The law firm said the issue was that county officials had decided the church was engaging in an unspecified "resale activity," but church officials said the only such event that could be described that way – even remotely – would be its fundraising bake sales, which in Illinois are not subject to sales taxes.

Then because of "numerous procedural errors" by government officials, the church never was informed of the taxes, or the government's later decision to put a lien on the property, or the eventual tax sale through which the county obtained a title to the church. The county later re-assigned that to the city of Chicago.

According to documents in the case, among other mistakes that happened, was a notice to the church about its right to redeem its property.

"An employee of the city of Chicago mistakenly addressed a notice to Beth-El All Nations Church at 1534 East 63rd Street, instead of Beth-El's true address, 1534 West 63rd Street," court records note. "The notice was pretty important: it advised the church of its right to redeem title to the 63rd Street property after the parcel was sold for delinquent taxes."

Similar mistakes had happened with earlier tax notifications, the court documents confirmed.

"Despite the misaddressed notice, the city acquired a tax deed to the 63rd Street property in 1998. … The city sought to oust Beth-El from the property in 2006," but a federal complaint was filed to correct the government employees' mistakes.

According to the ADF, the site long has been desired by government officials to be used in a redevelopment project there.

The documents in the case reveal that the not only did the city use the wrong address, it then represented to the court "that all required notices had been served."

The church said the 1998 proceedings should be set aside because "the tax deed had been procured by fraud or deception."

Bishop Edgar Jackson, the pastor since 1995, testified the church never was located at 1534 East 63rd Street, and that he hadn't been told of any disputes over what he assumed was the church's tax-exempt status.

A state court ruling sided with the city, concluding the city's mistake should be overlooked and it could take over the property, but in federal court, the church alleged violations of the Fourth Amendment for "unreasonable search and seizure" and other violations.

A judge in the case, U.S. District Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan, at one point scolded the city for its actions. Ordering the church to shut down, he said, could cause "severe harm" and result in "losses to the community that could not be quantified in dollars and cents … In fact, it is entirely unclear why the city would desire such an asset to the community to cease its operations…"

World Net Daily
April, 2008
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Teacher keeps Bible, cites God-given rights
Principal ordered Good Book hidden from students

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An Ohio school teacher has refused an order from his public school principal to hide his personal Bible, which he's kept on his desk for 18 years, from his students.

The teacher, John Freshwater, held a news conference today to respond to questions from local reporters about the issue as the deadline set by school officials for him to hide his Bible passed.

No formal action was taken immediately by officials in the Mount Vernon, Ohio, School District in response to Freshwater's move, according to Coach Dave Daubenmire of Pass The Salt Ministries and Minutemen United, who was acting as a spokesman for Freshwater.

Daubenmire has had his own experience with such perspectives, having been sued by the American Civil Liberties Union in 1999 for praying with his football teams while coaching in Ohio.

Freshwater has been a middle school science teacher for 20 years in the Mount Vernon School District. Recently the principal visited his classroom, and then notified him of several changes he would be required to make.

One was a demand to remove a copy of the Ten Commandments from a collage of historic information in one location in his classroom, a demand Freshwater agreed to fulfill.

But he said the district must prove to him how it can order him to remove his personal Bible from his desk without infringing on his God-given and First Amendment rights to free exercise of religion.

"John Freshwater has sounded the alarm and we have hope that his cause will not die for a lack of a second from the church leadership in Mount Vernon," said Jim Harrison, national director of Minutemen United.

He said the hope is the community churches will rally behind Freshwater's desire to keep his Bible handy.

"This is an incredible opportunity to right some historical misconceptions about the church and state relationship in our great nation," Harrison said.

Daubenmire, who said he "has a deep appreciation and understanding for what John is doing," told WND Freshwater is not yet represented by counsel, but hasn't been subjected to any sanction by the school yet either.

"Today at noon he informed them he would not comply with the order to remove his personal Bible from where it's sat for 18 years," Daubenmire told WND. "It's his personal Bible. He draws great strength from it."

He also said Freshwater has not, and does not, use the Bible in his interaction with students, but he also believes he does not forfeit his own rights just for being a teacher.

Such a school demand, he said, amounts to an ongoing viewpoint discrimination, since a Muslim woman would not be ordered to hide her head covering from students' views.

The school district's superintendent, Steve Short, could not be reached by WND. But school officials released a statement:

"The Mount Vernon Schools today directed one of its middle school science teachers to remove from his classroom the 10 Commandments he had displayed and to remove his Bible from his desktop while students were in his room. The Mount Vernon Schools has not taken this action because it opposes religion, but because it has an obligation under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution to protect against the establishment of religion in the schools. As a public school system the district cannot teach, promote or favor any religion or religious beliefs."

Daubenmire said, however, the school's demands go far beyond making sure it doesn't "establish religion" and reaches the level of a "continuous purging of Christianity."

In an earlier commentary for WND, Daubenmire framed the issue as a rampant attack singling out Christianity.

"Please notice that the attack on religious freedom in America is on Christianity. No one is trying to silence the religious freedom of Muslims or atheists or humanists. Quite the contrary. We are told to 'understand' Muslims, to be sensitive to the atheists and to tolerate the humanists and their various denominations of 'isms' (environmentalism, feminism, secularism, socialism, communism), which we teach openly in our schools," he said.

"Our rights are God-given rights. They are not 'constitutional' rights," he continued. "Take some time and read the U.S. Constitution. You will see that it does not grant any rights to anyone. Instead, while setting up the federal government, the document (the first 10 amendments) also prohibits the government from interfering with various aspects of human freedom. The first 10 amendments limit what the government can do. They shouldn't be called the Bill of Rights; they should be called the Bill of Limitations."

Instead of claiming constitutional rights, citizens of the U.S. should proclaim their God-given rights, he said.

World Net Daily
April, 2008
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FAITH UNDER FIRE
Face of Olympic spirit: China threatens Christian with death
'Leading up to the Olympic Games, we actually see things getting worse'

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A Chinese man has been taken into custody and faces a possible sentence of death for charges alleging "subversion of the national government and endangering national security." But several Christian organizations that monitor human rights activities in China say Alimujiang Yimiti could face the penalty simply because he is a Christian.

While much headline space has been devoted during recent days to China's crackdown on residents of Tibet, such attacks are more-or-less everyday experiences for Christians in the communist nation, according to officials with three of the largest organizations monitoring China: International Christian Concern, China Aid Association, and the Voice of the Martyrs.

"In the months now leading up to the Olympic Games, we actually see things getting worse," said Todd Nettleton, a spokesman for Voice of the Martyrs. "There are more raids, foreign Christians are not having their visas renewed and are being forced to leave the country. There are numerous circumstances where the churches are under attack by the government."

China had assured the international community when it was awarded the 2008 Summer Games that it would address concerns that have been raised about its human rights record. However, the three organizations see no evidence yet.

"Christians who refuse to come under the communist control are subject to arrest, imprisonment, harassment by the police at any time," Nettleton said. "There are places where Christians are facing very serious persecution."

He cited the case of Alimujiang. "He possibly could be executed for what the government says is subversion of the national government. What he's facing a penalty for, in reality, is he's a Christian."

He said the Chinese government believes, perhaps naively, that in 2008 it can clean up its international image by simply repressing those who disagree.

"I think there is an element of sort of keeping things under the rug until the Olympics are over, making sure there's no disturbances or embarrassment during the Games," he said.

Since visitors supposedly will be allowed to travel as they wish in China during the Olympics, the one place to keep dissidents is in prison, since those still will be off-limits to visitors, he said.

"China has thousands of Internet policemen," he continued. "Their job is to monitor information and keep in the information they want to keep in, and keep out the information they want to keep out. I think they do have a little bit of a naïve sense they can control the message and information."

Ashley Dingler, regional manager for East Asian for International Christian Concern, said her organization sees evidence routinely that human rights violations in China are getting worse as the Olympics approach.

"I think it has a large part to do that they could lose face on such a world stage," she said, "when everyone is looking at China.

"Christians and others might stage protests, reveal information," she said. "I think the manner of going about it is counterintuitive, but they are trying to save face by imprisoning more and more.

"We've seen a huge increase in the numbers of house churches that are being raided, especially the leaders of the house churches are being taken into custody," she said. "In early March, there were 70 [leaders] taken at one time."

A few are released occasionally, but the arrests are so many it's hard to keep track, she said. Some of those taken into custody simply have vanished, she said.

Bob Fu, founder of China Aid Association, said the deterioration in human rights started getting worse as soon as China was awarded this year's competition.

"From all measures we can find in terms of religious freedom, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, it all shows it's becoming much worse," he told WND.

"In the past two years, we found more than 3,000 underground pastors were arrested, detained, some sentenced," he said. Those sentences were up to and including the death sentence.

All three of the organizations obtain reports regularly from within China, and it was Fu's organization that documented the case of Alimujiang.

"We should call upon the democratic country leaders including President Bush to withdraw from the opening ceremonies," he said, "and not become part of the showcase.

"We're not calling for a boycott of the athletic events, but for these political leaders to go there and be part of the Chinese government's propaganda machine, it's simply wrong," he said.

Alimujiang, a Uyghur Christian, Muslim convert and father of two, is expected to be sentenced before the end of April, China Aid's report said. He had been accused last year of "illegal religious activities," but then was arrested in January on claims of "subversion."

"Alimujiang is neither a separatist nor a terrorist, local sources say. He has told officials many times during interrogation that as a Christian he loves and supports the Chinese government, something many young Uyghurs struggle with as Han Chinese culture becomes increasingly dominant in Xinjiang. As a loyal Chinese citizen and business entrepreneur, Alimujiang has held to high standards, paying his taxes faithfully and avoiding a common local custom of paying bribes for business favors. He has also done his best to assimilate into Chinese culture, making the unusual decision to send his children to a Chinese language school in a predominantly Uyghur area," the report said.

"Friends say Alimujiang simply wants the freedom to quietly express his faith, a right guaranteed to him in the Chinese constitution. Currently however, it is illegal for Alimujiang to own a Uyghur Bible," the report continued.

Even his lawyer is not being allowed to meet with officials with the Bureau of State Security, because of a so-called "national secret" reason, China Aid said.

According to officials with the persecution monitors, anti-Christian efforts broke out in China in 1922, three years after communism emerged. When the Communist Party took control in 1949 it started expelling missionaries immediately, and the arrests and torture of Christian leaders was begun.

A brief respite arrived in the 1970s when Deng Xiaoping released some Christians from prison to demonstrate to the West its "religious freedom," but with a few years the arrests had returned by the thousands. In the 1990s, a number of church organizations were labeled "evil cults."

Among recent cases was one in which four people were arrested in Taizhou for distributing Gospel flyers at a bus station.They each were sentenced to several days in jail.

The work of the government, however, has failed to stop the interest in Christianity, with one organization estimating 3,000 people are joining Christian churches in China on a daily basis.

According to International Christian Concern, China ranks fourth in the world, behind only North Korea, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, in its persecution of Christians.

"Chinese Christians, wary of state-controlled religious organs, have increasingly turned to the model of 'house churches,' which have helped spark a once unthinkable revival across the Middle Kingdom, as estimates now number Chinese believers at more than 100 million," the group's annual report said.

That, in turn, has triggered more and more government repression, the report said.

"Their fingers bleed, but they press on, for if they don't make the day's quota – 5,000 bulbs – they are beaten. The Christmas lights that decorate the trees of Christian believers around the world are often made by inmates like these. Their crime? Preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. House church pastors are sent to work camps after their arrest, and in some respects, these are the lucky ones, for they survived the standard interrogations that greet most Christian leaders after they are detained; several are killed or 'disappear,' never to be seen or heard from again. …," the report said.

President Bush, meanwhile, believes it will be better to be "calling on" China to reach out and work with dissident factions rather than give in to growing pressure to formally protest that nation's human rights abuses by boycotting the opening ceremonies of this year's Beijing Olympic Games.

Following up on an announcement by Bill Donohoe, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, that Sen. Hillary Clinton is right to suggest such a boycott because of China's record, Les Kinsolving, WND's correspondent at the White House, recently asked about the possibility of such plans.

"Since we presume the president is as devoted to human rights as any world leader, why has he failed to join the president of France, the chancellor of Germany, and now the prime minister of Canada in their announced refusal to appear at China's Olympic Games?" he asked at today's news briefing.

"The president's position on this has been very clear. But the key part of what the president can do as the president of the United States is before, during and after the Olympics, push very hard for increased human rights, press freedoms, and political freedom in China," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

World Net Daily
April, 2008
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Terror suspects planned family sacrifice

A gang of Muslim fanatics discussed "sacrificing" their wives and babies by taking them on an alleged suicide bombing mission to blow up transatlantic jets, a court has heard. Alleged bomb plotters justify slaughter in videos Empty flat was 'turned into bomb factory' In pictures: Airline bomb plot The alleged "martyrdom" plot, which was just "a couple of weeks" from fruition, also included plans to attack nuclear power stations, oil refineries and the skyscrapers of London's Canary Wharf, it is alleged. Excerpts from six "chilling" alleged suicide videos were played to a jury, in which the defendants said they would "scatter body parts" over the streets in revenge for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Wearing headscarves and posing in front of black flags with white Arabic writing, the defendants were filmed saying they would unleash "volcanoes of anger and revenge" and "rain terror and destruction" down on "non-believers". They said the deaths of "so-called innocents" were justified because British taxpayers, who funded the Army, did not care about the fate of Muslims, as they were more interested in drinking, watching EastEnders and "complaining about the World Cup". The court has already been told that up to 18 suicide bombers were allegedly to be used to simultaneously bring down seven or more flights bound for the US and Canada from Heathrow Airport. If successful, the alleged bombings would have killed hundreds and possibly thousands of people in what would have been the worst terrorist atrocity since the September 11, 2001 attacks on America. The defendants are Abdulla Ahmed Ali, 27, Ibrahim Savant, 27, Arafat Waheed Khan, 26, and Waheed Zaman, 23, all from Walthamstow, east London; Tanvir Hussain, 27, of Leyton, east London, Mohammed Gulzar, 26, of Barking; and Assad Sarwar, 27, and Umar Islam, 29, both of High Wycombe, Bucks. All eight deny conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to commit an act of violence likely to endanger an aircraft, between January 1 and August 11, 2006. Before their arrests in August 2006, the alleged conspirators were covertly recorded discussing their plans, the prosecutor, Peter Wright QC, told Woolwich Crown Court. When one of the men, Abdulla Ali, was asked "how long 'til the event?" he replied: "A couple of weeks." Another, Umar Islam, added: "This is really going to happen, isn't it?", the court heard. The discussion is then said to have turned to whether the men should take their wives and children on the alleged suicide missions. Umar Islam was asked whether his wife might consider going with him on the "operation". He allegedly said: "I think if I was to say to her that this was a significant operation she might even find it in herself to do that." Ali asks: "What about the babies?... Maybe she taken them with her?" Islam replies: "Maybe, you know what I mean. She'd like to do it though." Mr Wright said: "Such a sacrifice is beyond contemplation for those who are the target of an attack such as this but not those who are about to carry them out." As the full scope of the alleged terror plot was revealed for the first time, the jury heard that information had been gathered on the 1986 Chernobyl meltdown, the world's worst nuclear disaster. The plotters may also have intended to bring down the internet by hitting Britain's main web server, according to information seized at the home of Assad Sarwar. Mr Wright said: "The horizons of Mr Sarwar in respect of his terrorist ambitions were, we say, limitless." On a computer memory stick found at Mr Sarwar's home, said Mr Wright, was: "Information about one of the largest gas stations in the UK, oil refineries, the National Grid, and power stations including nuclear power stations. "There was also information on Chernobyl and UK airports, including Heathrow's new control tower." The memory stick also included information on Canary Wharf. A diary found in Mr Sarwar's home included the names of oil refineries at Fawley in Hampshire, Kingsbury, Warwicks., Coryton, Essex, and a gas terminal at Bacton, Norfolk. The alleged plotters bought a flat in Walthamstow, East London, to use as a "bomb factory", Mr Wright told Woolwich Crown Court, and had bought all the materials they needed to assemble liquid-based bombs which could be "smuggled" on aircraft disguised as soft drinks. The jury was shown a video of a test explosion carried out in a police laboratory using a similar bomb, which was so powerful it shattered thick protective glass set up around the bomb. During raids on Ali's home, police found a letter which talked about his "beautiful wife" and nine-month-old son. It said: "It is more dear to my heart that I am waiting in a tent in the cold, dark, chilly wind waiting for dawn so that I may attack the enemy." A CD found at another address allegedly linked to him, titled "ha ha ha!", contained footage of the beheading of an American hostage by Islamic extremists. Gang's possible other targets identified in court The alleged plotters had considered other targets in the UK, the court heard. They were: • Canary Wharf • The National Grid • A gas pipeline between Britain and Belgium • UK airports, including Heathrow's new control tower • Oil and gas refineries at Bacton, Fawley, Correton and Kingsbury • Several UK power plants, including nuclear stations • Companies which store and process hydrogen peroxide

------------------------------ By Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter, and Duncan Gardham Security Correspondent April, 2008 For more information on this topic, Click Here

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Report: Non-Muslims Deserve to Be Punished

A report posted on Islam Watch, a site run by Muslims who oppose intolerant teachings and hatred for unbelievers, exposes a prominent Islamic cleric and lawyer who support extreme punishment for non-Muslims — including killing and rape.

A question-and-answer session with Imam Abdul Makin in an East London mosque asks why Allah would tell Muslims to kill and rape innocent non-Muslims, including their wives and daughters, according to Islam Watch.

"Because non-Muslims are never innocent, they are guilty of denying Allah and his prophet," the Imam says, according to the report. "If you don't believe me, here is the legal authority, the top Muslim lawyer of Britain."

The lawyer, Anjem Choudary, backs up the Imam's position, saying that all Muslims are innocent.

Click here to watch the interview with Islamic lawyer Anjem Choudary.

"You are innocent if you are a Muslim," Choudary tells the BBC. "Then you are innocent in the eyes of God. If you are not a Muslim, then you are guilty of not believing in God."

Choudary said he would not condemn a Muslim for any action.

"As a Muslim, I must support my Muslim brothers and sisters," Choudary said. "I must have hatred to everything that is not Muslim."

Click here to read the report from Islam Watch.

FOX News
April, 2008
For more information on this topic, Click Here

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NORTHERN EXPOSURE
Dobson editing radio show to avoid 'hate crimes' laws
Focus working to meet demands of 'human rights laws'

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"Hate crimes" laws were defeated in Congress just a few months ago. Just a few weeks ago, Frank Wright of the National Religious Broadcasters Association warned, "We must be one in Christ to face the days ahead" because "hate crimes" laws would create untold new liability for Christians.

Now a major Christian ministry has confirmed that such "hate crimes" laws already are setting limits on what it can broadcast.

The issue is "hate crimes" laws in Canada, and they are affecting U.S. Christian ministries that broadcast into that nation.

WND reported just a week ago on a Christian ministry based in Canada that essentially was ordered shut down under that nation's "hate crimes" laws which prevent Christians from expressing Biblical opinions on a wide range of issues.

So what used to be called MacGregor Ministries with offerings in how to recognize and eliminate "faulty fads" in Christian churches has been re-created in the United States, and now operates under the name MM Outreach Media Ministries, according to spokeswoman Lorri MacGregor.

"Canada has very strong hate laws," she told WND.

She said the ministry points out the differences between Christianity and various cult beliefs, but also with respect, and never as a proponent. She said the work always is in response to a question or issue.

"When a group such as Jehovah's Witnesses said of our doctrine we're worshipping a freakish three