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Please read just a few of the headlines that World Net Daily has published.
August, 2007
HOMELAND INSECURITY
Radical mosque to feed proposed N.Y. Arabic school?
Foes fear publicly funded 'madrassa' will promote jihad
Foes of a new publicly funded Arabic-themed school in New York worry it will draw students from a radical mosque tied to terrorism and become an incubator for young jihadists.
The Khalil Gibran International Academy, scheduled to open next month in Brooklyn, is located three blocks from the Masjid al-Farooq mosque frequented by one of the terrorists involved in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
The Boerum Hill mosque counts among past imams:
- Blind Sheik Omar Abdul Rahman, who is serving a federal prison sentence for conspiring to blow up New York City landmarks.
- Fawaz Abu Damra, who has preached that Muslims should be "directing all rifles at the first and last enemy of the Islamic nation, and this is the sons of monkeys and pigs – the Jews."
- Gulshair El-Shukrijumah, one-time interpreter for the Blind Sheik and the late father of Adnan el-Shukrijumah, a suspected al-Qaida operative wanted by the FBI as possibly training to be the "next Mohamed Atta."
Federal investigators recently traced money raised for al-Qaida back to the al-Farooq mosque, which did not return phone calls seeking comment.
"It is still frequented by Islamists," said Sara Springer, an eighth-grade teacher at a public middle school in Brooklyn.
"I am very concerned that the school will be a madrassa, funded by taxpayer dollars," she said. "We will in effect be supporting the training of future terrorist cells."
(Story continues below)
Officials say the new school, known as KGIA, will educate students about Islamic culture and Arabic, but will not promote Islam. Local detractors are not swayed, however.
"You cannot separate Arabic culture from Islam," argued Robert Hall, a co-leader of the Bronx Household of Faith. He described KGIA as a "publicly funded religious school."
Springer is leading a group of parents and concerned citizens calling itself "Stop the Madrassa Coalition" to close the school, which so far has enrolled 44 students.
The group contributed to last week's ouster of KGIA's principal – a native of Yemen, a country well-represented at al-Farooq mosque – by calling attention to her close ties to an organization selling T-shirts that glorify Palestinian terrorism. Dhabah "Debbie" Almontaser defended the shirts – which are emblazoned with the phrase, "Intifida NYC" – before resigning in the wake of public outrage.
"Both parents and teachers have a right to be concerned about children attending a school run by someone who doesn't immediately denounce campaigns or ideas tied to violence," said Randi Weingarten, head of the United Federation of Teachers in New York.
The intifadas were Palestinian terror campaigns that left 1,221 Israelis dead. Most of the attacks were suicide bombings, and many of the victims were civilians.
Still, school officials are pressing ahead with plans to open the school, which will offer students internships with Muslim lawyers, trips to the Middle East and community activism.
The program will integrate intensive Arabic language instruction and the study of Middle Eastern history and historical figures – which Springer says will include the life and teachings of the Muslim prophet Muhammad.
Text books, lesson plans and teacher materials will be adapted from publications supplied by the Council on Islamic Education, Springer says. CIE's chief consultant is Susan Douglass, a Muslim activist whose husband is on the Saudi government payroll as a teacher at an Islamic academy that has graduated terrorists.
"Parents have raised the fear of jihad incitement privately," said Springer, who has attended a few of the PTA meetings concerning the school.
Garth Harries, chief executive of New York City's Office of New Schools, would neither confirm nor deny Springer's assertions regarding the curriculum.
He did, however, assert that KGIA is a "non-religious" New York City public school.
"It is not a vehicle for political or religious ideology," Harries said. "And if the school is used this way, we will close it." He says his department will monitor funding and curriculum at KGIA.
But Springer doubts officials will be able to detect jihadi indoctrination when many of the classes will be taught in Arabic.
"How will they know what is transpiring within the school?"
she said.
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AUDIONETDAILY Muslims declare sovereignty over U.S., UK Hear Islamic leaders in London: 'Queen Elizabeth, go to hell!' Across town from the site of the recent attempted car-bomb attacks, several thousand Muslims gathered in front of the London Central Mosque to applaud fiery preachers prophesying the overthrow of the British government – a future vision that encompasses an Islamic takeover of the White House and the rule of the Quran over America. "One day my dear Muslims," shouted Anjem Choudary, "Islam will govern Britain!" Choudary was a co-founder of Al Muhajiroun, the now-banned group tied to suspects in the July 7, 2005, London transport bombings and a cheerleader of the 9/11 attacks. "Democracy, hypocrisy," Choudary chanted as the crowd echoed him. "Tony Blair, terrorist! Tony Blair, murderer! Queen Elizabeth, go to hell!" The Muslim leader's charge, along with interviews with protesters and a "literal foaming-at-the-mouth" diatribe by another speaker, were captured on tape June 22 by nationally syndicated talk radio host Rusty Humphries. Humphries, who was in London with WND Jerusalem bureau chief Aaron Klein, recorded angry Muslim leader Abu Saif, who kept his voice at a fever pitch through declarations such as: "Brothers and sisters, make no mistake. Make no mistake. The British government, the queen, the MPs in this country, they are enemies to you, enemies to Allah and enemies to the Muslims." A protester told Humphries Abu Saif is a member of the group Hizb ut-Tahrir, the Party of Liberation, which states its aim is to unify Muslims and establish the rule of Islamic law over the world. Group spokesman Taji Mustafa insisted to WND, however, Abu Saif is not a member. Hizb ut-Tahrir, which casts itself as "non-violent," also has denied testimony and British media reports charging its Cambridge cell tried recruit the Iraqi doctor now suspected of mounting the attack on Glasgow's airport June 30. The failed car-bomb assault followed two similar attempts in London the previous day. Abu Saif spoke with disdain of Blair's appointment as a special envoy to the Middle East, issuing an apparent threat. "Inshallah," meaning "Allah willing," he told the crowd, Blair will "go to the Middle East as an envoy, and he'll come back in a box. Inshallah. What box that is, we leave that up to you." Humphries estimated nearly 3,000 Muslims were gathered in front of the mosque in north London June 22, after Friday prayers, to protest Queen Elizabeth's knighting of Indian author Salman Rushdie, the target of a death-sentence fatwa for "insulting" Islam's prophet Muhammad in his 1988 book "The Satanic Verses." For Humphries, the response of the Muslims at Islam's largest house of worship in the UK was telling. "Not one said, 'You're not speaking for me' or 'Not in my name.' They stood there and watched and applauded," he told WND. Like the UK, Humphries said, the U.S. has three major vulnerabilities to patient, fundamentalist Muslims who believe their purpose for living in the West is to help fulfill Islamic prophecies: The loss of border control, the inability to say no and lack of assimilation. "I feel like I'm Rusty Revere. I'm out there yelling the Muslims are coming, the Muslims are coming," he said. "But we don't want to hear it. We don't want to hurt people's feelings." Humphries' interview with Abu Saif underscored the radically different vision many of Britain's citizens have for the country's future. The Muslim leader said he does not believe in democracy and insists there is no such thing as freedom of religion, "because freedom is an absolute term." "Are we to say that Muslims can fully practice religion in America," he asked in an attempt to explain. "Say, for instance, I was a Muslim in America. Could I call for the destruction of the American government and establishment of an Islamic state in America? No. So where is the freedom of religion? There is none." Humphries asked: "Do you call for that?" "Of course," he replied, "we want Islam to be a source of governance for all of mankind. And we also believe that one day America will be ruled by Islam." Abu Saif explained Islam, like Christianity, has a prophetic tradition. "One of the prophecies of the message of Muhammad was the hour will never come, i.e., the last day – which you also believe in – will never come until a group of the Muslims … will rise and conquer the white house." The reference, many Muslims believe today, is to America's symbol of executive power. Islamic leaders in the U.S. largely have been careful to not assert publicly the Muslim belief that Islam ultimately will gain worldwide supremacy. As WND reported, Omar Ahmad, the founder of a prominent U.S.-based Islamic lobby group, denies a newspaper report that he told a group of Muslims in the San Francisco Bay area they are in America not to assimilate but to help bring about Islam's rule over the nation. Like other protesters, Abu Saif presented a typical list of grievances Muslims have with the U.S. and Britain, such as the nations' part in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the wars in Afghanistan and Iran. But the Islamic leader admitted he believes Jews and Christians will always hate Muslims, because Allah has said it is so. "There's nothing we can do to be friends?" Humphries asked. Abu Saif replied: "There is something you can do to be friends. You can become Muslim." He also had a simple solution to the conflict in the Holy Land. "We want the Jews to leave Israel, and to hand the whole of Israel, not just Gaza and the West Bank – the whole of Israel to the Muslims. Only then will the Muslims stop." 'Politics of terror' BBC-TV last week highlighted Hizb ut-Tahrir in a program called "Politics of Terror," noting "the attempted terrorist attacks on London and Glasgow have once again focused attention on the rise of political Islam." If al-Qaida is to be defeated, the narrator said, "the key battlefield is in the realm of ideas. Today's would-be suicide bombers are almost invariably yesterday's campaigners for political Islam." During the Prime Minister's Questions session in Parliament Wednesday, opposition leader David Cameron left the new premier, Gordon Brown, stammering after demanding to know why the government had not banned Hizb ut-Tahrir after promising to do so two years ago. Brown replied: "Of course in all these details – and I have had to deal with this in the Treasury, when we're dealing with terrorist finance – you have to have evidence to do so." The answer was met by a chorus of jeers from MPs. Cameron responded: "The prime minister said we need evidence to ban Hizb ut-Tahrir. This organization said, and I quote, 'Jews should be killed wherever they are found.' What more evidence do we need before we ban this organization? It is poisoning the minds of young people. Two years ago the government said it should be banned. I ask again, when will this be done?" Brown seemed even more hesitant this time. "We can ban it under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, and, of course, of course, of course ... I think the leader of the opposition forgets I've been at this job for five days ... ," he said, as jeers once again filled the chamber. Brown already, in fact, has issued a ban of another kind – prohibiting his ministers from using the word 'Muslim' in connection with the worldwide terrorism threat. He also has instructed his team to drop the phrase "war on terror," Britain's Daily Express reported. The paper says the "shake-up is part of a fresh attempt to improve community relations and avoid offending Muslims, adopting a more 'consensual' tone than existed under Tony Blair." The New York Times reported last week many Britons were happy with Brown's tempered approach to the foiled terrorist attacks just days after he succeeded Blair. Brown, wrote London-based reporter Alan Cowell,
"played down the threat, treating the episodes as a crime rather than a
threat to civilization. Yet, his minimalist approach seemed to strike a
reassuring chord with Britons, many of whom had expressed fatigue with
Mr. Blair's apocalyptic view of terrorism."
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LAW OF THE LAND
Now praying gets 7 Christians arrested
Cops call holding Bibles while lying prostrate 'disturbing peace'
Christians have been arrested recently at "gay" festivals for nothing more than having a protest sign that is "wider than their torso," but now police have gone even further, targeting Bible-carrying ministers for praying on public property and for standing on a public sidewalk near a "gay" festival.
One of the new cases comes from Elmira, N.Y., where police arrested seven Christians who went into a public park where a "gay" fest was beginning and started to pray, faces down, while holding their Bibles.
They were cited for "disturbing the peace," and Assistant Police Chief Mike Robertson told WND that the seven are accused of a "combination" of allegations under that statute, which includes the "intent" to cause a public inconvenience, any "disturbance" of a meeting of persons, obstructing vehicular or pedestrian traffic, or taking part in "any act that serves no legitimate purpose."
The second such case arose in Wichita, Kan., where police arrested Spirit One Christian Center Pastor Mark Holick, who had received permission earlier from officers to be on the public sidewalk adjacent to the park where the festival was occurring but then was arrested doing exactly that.
Julian Raven, a street preacher, told WND his group of seven assembled to pray for three hours the night before Elmira's recent "pride" festival in promotion of the homosexual lifestyle.
"We have a legal right to be at an event held in a public square. We're not a hate group," he said. "We're Christians and we're going to be there to pray."
He said he contacted police, who told him he had no free speech rights in the public park.
"The female officer, she said, 'You're not going to cross the street. You're not going to enter the park and you're not going to share your religion with anybody in this park,'" he told WND.
"When she said that, for the first time in my life as a Christian, I felt now my freedom of speech is threatened or challenged," he said. "I was being told I could not share my religion with anybody in that park."
Raven said he told the officer "she was violating the Constitution that she had sworn to uphold, and she was very agitated and adamant, and couldn't look me straight in the eye."
Raven asked for the justification for such a threat and was not given a response.
He said his team of Christians then went into the park, holding Bibles over their heads to signify their subservience to God's Word, and lay on their faces to pray.
Within three minutes, police officers had put handcuffs on the seven, to the cheers of the homosexual crowd, he said.
He said a court date is pending for the seven July 23.
"I have the highest respect for the police officers. They have a very difficult job to do. But we were treated unfairly in a public setting. This was a hasty show of force. It was not called for," he said.
He said if the situation is left unchallenged, the city of Elmira will be in the position of being able to control the content of people's messages in a lawful assembly – or even thoughts if they are nearby.
"We didn't say boo to a goose, still we were arrested," he said.
The local newspaper reported the arrests came just "moments" after Elmira Mayor John Tonello delivered a speech "celebrating diversity."
And the actions prompted some immediate criticism from newspaper readers.
"I was appalled and disgusted by the gay stories strewn through the … paper. … What was even more disturbing was the way the city acted. Since when is it illegal to sit on the ground in a public park and recite Bible verses? Are they not protected by the same Constitution that allows gay people to have their gay pride event. These Bible thumpers had their constitutional right to free speech and assembly trampled on by the city. They should not have been arrested," said Kevin Raznoff.
Robertson told WND the Christians "certainly" have a right to assemble, but not on public property when there's an "organized" event there. Asked repeatedly about how the "disturbance" statute relates to First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech, he did not answer.
"Obviously, they caused a disruption to an event that was taking place," he said.
But Raven confirmed to WND the seven Christians did not approach a single person, did not speak to anyone and did not even make any audible statements until after they were arrested.
Pastor Holick's case in Wichita was even more drastic. He had gone, with a team from his church, to pass out flyers and pray at a recent "pride" festival held there.
He had checked with the police department and was told, "The sidewalk is your friend."
"Upon arriving we began to set up," he said. "Immediately, I was approached by WPD and told that we could not go into the park (a public park mind you where everyone else – except the Christians – was allowed in) and that we could not be on the sidewalk on that side of the street but that we could go to the other side of the street.
"In other words, one side of the street is open to Christians but the public park and the public sidewalk next to the park is not," he said.
But then Holick was arrested within about four minutes of his arrival.
"It is obvious that the WPD did not keep their word and that they wanted to arrest as quickly as possible. The First Amendment … was cast aside like so much garbage," he said.
"The sin is 'coming out' further and further and the church is now being pushed further and further back inside the four walls of the church building; we are the ones that are seen as 'the trouble makers.' The police arrest the Christians and allow all manner of perversion to flaunt itself in the streets of Wichita. And we the church … well … I'm not sure we care," he said.
Police alleged that they asked Holick five times to "leave" the festival, even though he never purchased the required admission fee or went in.
As WND reported , Holick already had been targeted by the Internal Revenue Service for the moral statements he posted on the church's sign.
The notice he got from the IRS warned him about putting his Christian beliefs on the sign, and he responded that he would continue to preach the Word of God.
Just a week earlier, WND reported police in St. Petersburg, Fla., arrested five Christians for carrying signs "wider than their torsos" outside an officially designated protest area at that city's homosexual festival.
Pastor Billy Ball, Assistant Pastor Doug Pitts, Frankie Primavera and Josh Pettigrew, all of Faith Baptist Church in Primrose, Ga., were arrested after leaving a small area set aside by city officials for protest activities. Bill Holt, of Lighthouse Baptist Church in Jefferson, Ga., was also taken into custody.
According to Lighthouse Pastor Kevin Whitman, the five men were told by police their signs were not allowed outside the protest area because they were wider than their torsos. When the men refused to put them away, they were arrested for violating a controversial city ordinance that governs permitted events.
As WND reported, St. Petersburg officials, following disturbances at a previous homosexual pride festival, implemented rules governing outdoor events that set aside "free speech zones," where protesters are allowed.
The resulting ordinance came under fire by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Alliance Defense Fund for being too broad. It allows the city to create prior restraints of speech on an event-by-event basis, with virtually no predictable limits. It also criminalizes certain free speech behavior around public events and authorizes the police to enforce breaches of permits – the penalty for such breaches being arrest.
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GLOBAL JIHAD
Palestinian official: Women must martyr themselves
Praises females who make 'Jews – the brothers of apes and pigs – taste the bitterness of death'
News stories of female suicide bombers – young women in the prime of life, sometimes pregnant or with their children – blowing up themselves and dozens of innocent bystanders with explosive belts, have shocked the world in recent months.
It's well known that young Muslim men are taught they will be rewarded with 72 virgins in the afterlife. But what is the appeal of martyrdom to women?
A Palestinian member of parliament representing Hamas explained the answer on Al-Rafidein TV last Sunday.
Here, translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute, or MEMRI, are excerpts of what Al-Astal said about Muslim women's "duty" to engage in violent jihad.
Yunis Al-Astal: "The most exalted form of jihad is fighting for the sake of Allah, which means sacrificing one's soul by fighting the enemies head-on, even if it leads to martyrdom. Martyrdom means life next to Allah.
"… When jihad becomes an individual duty, it applies to women too, because women do not differ from men when it comes to individual duties. …"
Interviewer: "What are the purposes behind women's participation in the jihad of conquest and invasions?"
Yunis Al-Astal: "I have mentioned some of these purposes. [Women] prepare food, they bring water, they tend to the wounded and convey them from the battlefield, they protect the [soldiers'] possessions, and so on. But in many cases, women participated in combat, especially if the Islamic army was weakening, and you could see that the enemy was about to gain the upper hand. In such cases, a woman would draw out her sword, or pull out a pole from her tent, and would resist to the best of her ability.
"… Let's take another example. Safiyya, the aunt of the Prophet Muhammad, used a pole to kill a Jew in the Battle of the Trench. Likewise, in the Battle of Hunayn, Umm Sulaym had a dagger, and when asked about it, she said: 'If an enemy of Allah comes near me, I shall stab him with this dagger.' History has recorded, in shining letters, the fact that Al-Khansaa sacrificed her four children at the battle of Al-Qadisiyya. She inflamed their emotions and she herself incited them to fight until they attained their martyrdom, and then she thanked Allah for honoring her with the killing of them all."
Mother praises Allah for taking son's life
Yunis Al-Astal: "I would like to tell you a wonderful story which took place in later times. There was a woman called Umm Ibrahim Al-Hashimiya, and Ibrahim was her only child. She prepared 10,000 dinars, to hold him a wedding the likes of which had never been seen. All the girls of the neighborhood were hoping to become his wife. One day, she attended a sermon about jihad, the virtues of the mujahideen, and about the black-eyed virgins of Paradise. She immediately decided that her son would marry the black-eyed virgins. She went to the preacher and paid him the 10,000 dinars, on the condition that her son would marry the black-eyed virgins, about whom she heard things that encouraged her to act the way she did.
"Her son did indeed wage jihad for the sake of Allah, and she awaited news of his martyrdom with bated breath. When the army returned, she hastened to ask: 'Should I be congratulated because my gift was accepted, or should I be offered condolences because it was returned?' The army commander said to her: 'The gift was accepted, and the bride has been brought to the groom.' She praised Allah for accepting her sacrifice – her only son, who was about to be married. She believed that his wedding was his martyrdom for the sake of Allah."
Intifada breeds female martyrdom-seekers
Yunis Al-Astal: "In the second Al-Aqsa Intifada, females martyrdom-seekers emerged. These are young women, in the prime of their life, at a time when girls like these think only about jewelry and preparing for marriage. Nevertheless, they went to their martyrdom, advancing head-on with a great fighting spirit. This intifada of ours has recorded more than 15 exemplary cases of girls who were martyred for the sake of Allah. But not before making the Jews – the brothers of apes and pigs – taste the bitterness of death, and not before avenging the blood of the martyrs, the wounded, the bereaved, the prisoners, the displaced, those whose homes were destroyed, those whose lands were bulldozed, and all those who were affected by the earthquake of the sons of Zion."
Do female martyrs have to wear their veil?
Interviewer: "Dr. Al-Astal, we have seen that some of the female martyrdom-seekers set out on their martyrdom operation without a veil. To what extent does our religion allow women, when they embark upon jihad for the sake of Allah, to use means of camouflage such as removing the veil?"
Yunis Al-Astal: "When jihad becomes an individual duty, the husband's permission or consent is not required, because jihad becomes like prayer. Just like a woman does not have to ask for permission to pray, to fast during Ramadhan, or to give charity, she does not need to ask for permission when jihad becomes an individual duty. In my opinion, in places invaded by the enemy, jihad becomes an individual duty.
"With regard to your question about the veil, especially when it comes to martyrdom-seekers who had to go into the Zionist cities deep in Palestine – jihad is a duty, and so is wearing a veil, but the duty of jihad is ten times great than the duty of wearing a veil."
"… The most important message is that our enemies should know that there is no place for them on the land of Palestine. Each and every boy and man, and each and every girl and woman, is a potential martyrdom-seeker. The enemy should know that we are prepared to wear explosive belts, and to throw ourselves in the midst of the enemy, in order to make them taste the evil consequences of their deeds. They should know that they have no other choice – either they leave or they will die, even if it takes a long time."
"… The message of the female martyrdom-seekers to the enemies is that they should go back to where they came from, or else our jihad will continue until this land regains its holiness – from the [Mediterranean] Sea to the [Jordan] River" (WND editor's note: i.e., all of Israel).
"… The women of Islam, especially in regions of tension – and
I emphasize Iraq and Afghanistan, where the Americans run rampant. ...
If we are capable – and, Allah willing we are indeed capable – of
shattering America's might and rubbing its nose in the dirt, we will
deliver the world from this global American bully, from the European
Crusader hypocrisy, and the hateful paganism worldwide. What is
required of the men and women of these peoples – but especially the
women – is that they take [an example] from Rim Al-Riyashi, from Fatima
Al-Najjar, and from the long list of women, and especially from Umm
Nidhal, the mother of Muhammad Farhat, who sacrificed three children as
martyrs, and who threatens the enemy that her remaining children will
become martyrdom-seekers, and will make the Jews taste the evil
consequences of their deeds."
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FAITH UNDER FIRE
Gaza's forgotten Christians
'The people are under siege from the sky, land and sea'
Caught amid the infighting between Hamas and Fatah and Israel's retaliation for rockets launched at its southern towns lies an easily overlooked segment of the population: Christians number only 2,000 among 1.3 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip – less than 1 percent of the population.
Evangelical Christians are even fewer.
"We are a minority of minorities," Hanna Massad, pastor of Gaza Baptist Church, told Israel Today. "It is really difficult. The Christian community here is 2,000 including Catholic, Greek Orthodox and evangelical Christians."
Gaza Baptist Church, the only evangelical church in the Strip, ministers to 150 to 200 people.
In recent fighting, an Israeli missile landed on a Hamas office, shattering all the windows in Massad's house just 300 feet away. No one was injured, but the consequences of a war they are not involved in are continually getting closer to home.
Frequently, one faction or the other commandeers the church's buildings to use as a lookout point. Once a library worker was caught in the crossfire and shot in the back. He has since recovered.
The church driver wasn't as fortunate. The 22-year-old newlywed was shot and killed in a Hamas-Fatah shootout, an innocent bystander.
Massad said living in Gaza is like being in a big prison. Many people have died because they haven't been able get over the border in time for proper medical treatment in Israel or Egypt.
"The people are under siege from the sky, land and sea," he said, adding that medical supplies and food are often delayed getting to the Strip. "Unemployment is 72 percent. Militant Muslims are against us, and some Christians are not with us because we are evangelical."
Not long ago terrorists carried through on a threat to bomb the Gaza Bible Society where Massad's wife is a director. Now the church itself has been threatened.
"There is a small militant group that hates everything Western and Christian, and in their minds, they are trying to clean up the city," Massad said. "They are a narrow-minded group, and the government is unable to control it."
But the Gaza church isn't playing victim to the circumstances. Instead the Christians are running clinics, libraries, bringing humanitarian aid to the needy and carrying on meeting. They meet openly at the church.
"One thing that strikes me is that you don't hear negative language from them," Labib Madanat, executive director of the Palestinian Bible Society, told us. "Their language is positive, a language of mission: 'What is my role as a believer; what can I do in this situation?'"
"I'm not saying it is not hard, that they don't have fears," he said. "There are troubles, threats, danger and sometimes they are down. But the overall sum is they are a group of people who are resilient, totally dependent on the Lord and positively thinking of what God wants them to be in the Gaza Strip."
Madanat said the church worldwide needs to encourage believers in Gaza. Compared to believers in the West Bank, the believers in Gaza are more "focused on what God wants them to do in this situation. Gaza is much more difficult. The sense of need of total dependency on the Lord is much stronger."
The U.S. consulate has been warning all Americans to get out of Gaza because of the constant dangers. Massad, who also holds American citizenship, was asked by the consulate if they want to leave.
"Without any hesitation I said no," he explained. "This is where we feel God wants us to be at this time and it is a privilege to be in the midst of God’s will."
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FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU
Christians warned: Accept Islamic law
'New Hamas rule means real changes,' missionaries to be 'dealt with harshly'
JERUSALEM – Christians can continue living safely in the Gaza Strip only if they accept Islamic law, including a ban on alcohol and on women roaming publicly without proper head coverings, an Islamist militant leader in Gaza told WND in an exclusive interview.
The militant leader said Christians in Gaza who engage in "missionary activity" will be "dealt with harshly."
The threats come two days after a church and Christian school in Gaza was attacked following the seizure of power in the territory by the Hamas terror group.
"I expect our Christian neighbors to understand the new Hamas rule means real changes. They must be ready for Islamic rule if they want to live in peace in Gaza," said Sheik Abu Saqer, leader of Jihadia Salafiya, an Islamic outreach movement that recently announced the opening of a "military wing" to enforce Muslim law in Gaza.
Jihadia Salafiya is suspected of attacking a United Nations school in Gaza last month, after the school allowed boys and girls to participate in the same sporting event. One person was killed in that attack.
"The situation has now changed 180 degrees in Gaza," said Abu Saqer, speaking from Gaza yesterday.
"Jihadia Salafiya and other Islamic movements will ensure Christian schools and institutions show publicly what they are teaching to be sure they are not carrying out missionary activity. No more alcohol on the streets. All women, including non-Muslims, need to understand they must be covered at all times while in public," Abu Asqer told WND.
"Also the activities of Internet cafes, pool halls and bars must be stopped," he said. "If it goes on, we'll attack these things very harshly."
Abu Saqer accused the leadership of the Gaza Christian community of "proselytizing and trying to convert Muslims with funding from American evangelicals."
"This missionary activity is endangering the entire Christian community in Gaza," he said.
Abu Saqer claimed there was "no need" for the thousands of Christians in Gaza to maintain a large number of institutions in the territory.
About 2,000 Christians live in the Gaza Strip, which has a population of over 1 million.
Abu Saqer said Hamas "must work to impose an Islamic rule or it will lose the authority it has and the will of the people."
His comments come after gunmen Sunday attacked Gaza's Latin Church and adjacent Rosary Sisters School, reportedly destroying crosses, bibles, pictures of Jesus and furniture and equipment. The attackers also stole a number of computers.
The attack was the first targeting of Christian institutions since Hamas last week staged a coup against the rival Fatah party of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, seizing all Fatah positions and security compounds, essentially taking complete control of the Gaza Strip.
Hamas officials in Gaza claimed to WND Fatah was behind Sunday's church attack in an attempt to discredit Hamas to the international community.
Abu Saqer claimed he had "good information" the attack actually was a robbery aimed at the church's school computers, even though Bibles and Christian holy objects were destroyed.
Christians, secular institutions targeted
Israel evacuated the Gaza Strip in 2005. Since then, there have been a slew of attacks there against Christians and non-Muslims.
A month before the U.N. school was targeted, Palestinians bombed a Christian book store in Gaza reportedly funded by American Protestants that exclusively sold Christian books. Two nearby Internet cafes also were bombed.
At the time, Abu Saqer, who didn't take credit for the attack, told WND the Christian bookstore was "proselytizing and attempting to convert our people."
"As a principle, we believe that Jews and Christians will always do everything in order to keep Muslims far from their religion," Abu Saqer said.
Even before Hamas took over Gaza last week, some analysts here called the recent bombings of secular and Christian institutions in the territory indications Hamas may be seeking to impose Islamic rule on the Palestinian population.
Israeli officials said Hamas in 2005 established hard-line Islamic courts and created the Hamas Anti-Corruption Group, described as a kind of "morality police" operating within Hamas' organization. Hamas has denied the existence of the group, but it recently carried out a high-profile "honor killing" widely covered by the Palestinian media.
A Hamas-run council in the West Bank came under international criticism last year when it barred an open-air music and dance festival, declaring it was against Islam.
'West can learn from Islamic values'
In response to the uproar, Hamas chief in Gaza and former foreign minister Mahmoud al-Zahar told WND in a recent interview: "I hardly understand the point of view of the West concerning these issues. The West brought all this freedom to its people but it is that freedom that has brought about the death of morality in the West. It's what led to phenomena like homosexuality, homelessness and AIDS."
Asked if Hamas is seeking to impose hard-line Islamic law on the Palestinians, al-Zahar responded, "The Palestinian people are Muslim people, and we do not need to impose anything on our people because they are already committed to their faith and religion. People are free to choose their way of life, their way of dress and behavior."
Al-Zahar said his terror group, which demands strict dress codes for females, respects women's rights.
"It is wrong to think that in our Islamic society there is a lack of rights for women. Women enjoy their rights. What we have, unlike the West, is that young women cannot be with men and have relations outside marriage. Sometimes with tens of men. This causes the destruction of the family institution and the fact that many kids come to the world without knowing who are their fathers or who are their mothers. This is not a modern and progressed society," al-Zahar explained.
The terror chieftain told WND the West can learn from his group's Islamic values.
"Here I refer to what was said in the early '90s by Britain's Prince Charles at Oxford University. He spoke about Islam and its important role in morality and culture. He said the West must learn from Islam how to bring up children properly and to teach them the right values."
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ELECTION 2008
Group sics IRS on Mormon critic
'Bring it on,' evangelist says of investigation of Romney comment
The Internal Revenue Service has been asked to investigate the Florida ministry of Bill Keller, host of the Live Prayer TV program as well as LivePrayer.com for his comments about Mormonism.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State said it has written to request the review of Keller's comments that a "vote for Mitt Romney [is a vote] for Satan."
"Americans United asserts that Bill Keller Ministries seems to have violated federal tax law when its online division, Liveprayer.com, ran articles warning readers that a vote for Romney is a vote for Satan," the activist organization announced.
Barry Lynn, the executive director of the group, urged an investigation into what the group called a "blatant example of religiously based partisan politicking."
"The 2008 presidential election is 18 months away, and already we're seeing reckless attempts by some religious leaders to abuse their non-profit status by engaging in partisan politicking," he said.
In a telephone interview with the Washington Post, Keller laughed off the claims. "Let them come after me for making a spiritual statement about Mitt Romney. I would love that," he said.
As WND reported at the time, while some evangelical Christians were defending the presidential candidacy of Mormon Mitt Romney from an attack by Al Sharpton, Keller took a step in the other direction.
"If you vote for Mitt Romney, you are voting for Satan!" he wrote in a daily devotional sent to 2.4 million e-mail subscribers on May 11.
Sharpton, the Democratic Party activist and former presidential candidate, has been widely condemned for singling out Romney's faith as an issue in the campaign.
"As for the one Mormon running for office, those who really believe in God will defeat him anyways, so don't worry about that; that's a temporary situation," he said.
Keller also came out swinging against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints as a cult.
"This message today is not about Mitt Romney," he wrote. "Romney is an unashamed and proud member of the Mormon cult founded by a murdering polygamist pedophile named Joseph Smith nearly 200 years ago. The teachings of the Mormon cult are doctrinally and theologically in complete opposition to the Absolute Truth of God's Word. There is no common ground. If Mormonism is true, then the Christian faith is a complete lie. There has never been any question from the moment Smith's cult began that it was a work of Satan and those who follow their false teachings will die and spend eternity in hell."
"I guess what I can tell you is it shows that bigotry can still rear its ugly head in society," Alex Burgos, a spokesman for the Romney campaign, told WND. "It's sad that anyone would target a fellow American on the issue of faith."
"We really have no comment," Kim Farah, a spokeswoman for the Mormon church, told WND.
Several days later, Keller followed up.
"As you know I am a huge advocate of Christians taking their stand in all areas of the marketplace, including politics," he wrote. "Most likely our only real option will be choosing a third party candidate who will take a stand to uphold Biblical values."
But the focus of his criticism was Mormonism.
"I have been warning you for years now about this cult born out of the pits of hell and responsible for sending millions of souls to eternal damnation," Keller said. "For the nearly 200 years this cult has been in existence they have strived for mainstream acceptance. They are the most devious of all the cults since they have always tried to portray themselves as 'just another Christian group' when in fact, they are no more Christian than a Muslim is! Their deception starts with their name, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Sounds like a Christian church doesn't it? Some Mormons have recently changed their name to simply Community of Christ to disguise even better who they are in an attempt to lure people in."
Keller said that when LDS members talk of God and Jesus they are not talking about the God and Jesus of Christianity. He claims Romney's high-profile candidacy for the presidency is an important effort by the church to gain credibility and respectability.
"There are reportedly 12 million Mormons worldwide, half of those in the United States," he said. "The worldwide holdings of the Mormon cult are in the tens of billions of dollars. Mitt Romney is the first member of this cult who has had the legitimate opportunity to help them achieve their goal of mainstream acceptance while holding the most powerful office in the world. Romney will have the full resources of this cult behind him in his bid for the White House."
He said if Romney wins the White House, millions of people will be attracted to Mormonism.
"Those who follow the false teachings of this cult, believe in the false jesus of the Mormon cult and reject faith in the one true Jesus of the Bible, will die and spend eternity in hell," he charged. "Romney getting elected president will ultimately lead millions of souls to the eternal flames of hell!"
Keller also criticized Romney for political flip-flops on issues like abortion, citing a recent report that his wife donated money to Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the world.
"Please take some time today and pray for Mitt Romney and all those who have been deceived by the lies of the Mormon cult," Keller added. "The fact is that unless they renounce those lies and turn to faith in the one true Jesus of the Bible, they will die and spend eternity in hell."
Keller was a businessman convicted of insider trading in 1989, a crime for which he served more than two years in federal prison. After getting out, he received a degree in biblical studies from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, and has been in full-time ministry ever since.
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FAITH UNDER FIRE
IRS to church: Shut up – Church to IRS: No way
Pastor under investigation says he 'will not stop preaching God's word'
A Christian church in Kansas has told the Internal Revenue Service that it will not stop teaching and preaching God's Word, "even if it relates to contemporary issues in the world," after the federal agency demanded answers to 31 questions about its beliefs and warned about "political" activity.
Spirit One Christian Center Pastor Mark Holick told WND that the IRS, perhaps, should brush up on the freedoms assured U.S. citizens regarding religion and speech before making such demands in the future.
He said the issues the church addressed – and will continue to address – concern issues that the Bible addresses, such as killing and protecting the defenseless.
The response came to a series of questions from the IRS questioning whether the church was involved in "political" activity. In specific, Holick said, the IRS cited a sign that read: "Sebelius accepted $300,000.00 from abortionist Tiller, price of 1000 babies."
But that, he said, was just part of a responsibility on the part of a Christian church to comment on abortion, a red-hot topic in the church's home city of Wichita.
That's also the location of the abortion business of George Tiller, whose political connections in Kansas have been documented by Operation Rescue, a pro-life organization, and reported by WND.
A Christian organization needs to be able to talk of the moral issues of the day – including abortion, Holick noted. The sign just told of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' connections to the abortion industry.
Holick told WND that the IRS letter challenged a variety of the church's activities, including the posting of various pro-life messages on the building marquee.
"They felt like they had a reasonable concern that we had been involved in political activity," he said.
But politics are of no interest to the church; issues of moral character addressed in the Bible are, he said.
"The church does not intend to engage in political intervention activity as prohibited by federal law and the United States Constitution," he told the IRS. "But the church will not stop communicating its Biblical message, even if it relates to contemporary issues in the world.
"Thus," Holick continued, "the church cannot agree to not engage in any activity that may favor or oppose a candidate. Simply preaching the word of God on a moral issue which a candidate is opposed, may be deemed to oppose a candidate. While it is the church's policy not to oppose or endorse a candidate for office, it will not stop preaching God's word."
He continued: "The United States Constitution guarantees that Spirit One will be able to freely exercise its religion, and that Congress will not pass any law restricting that right. This is all Spirit One wants to do – communicate God's word.
"The 1st Amendment of the Constitution is a respected and renowned oracle celebrated all over the nations of the world. It is quite specific and clear; 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press...,'" Holick said.
He said the IRS also raised questions about a voter information guide that was handed out in Wichita, although his church did not sponsor it, as well as an abortion-issue related e-mail he had forwarded.
He said he didn't know who would have filed a complaint about his church with the IRS. "We're a very vocal pro-family, pro-life church," he said. "That creates enemies."
"These are not political issues, these are Gospel issues, Christian issues," he said.
He noted that the IRS even wanted to know whether Phill Kline, the Republican state attorney general who was defeated in his re-election bid in 2006, had ever spoken at the church, and what were the details of his address.
"It's crazy," Holick told WND.
"Please provide a detailed explanation of Mr. Kline's speech. Include details such as the topic of the speech, whether he solicited votes during this speech to the congregation, whether he discussed the election during the speech, and whether he discussed other candidates in the election during the speech," the IRS wrote.
"He ministered from the Bible, mostly the book of Genesis, and on truth. He did not speak about elections or political candidates. But because it was so long ago (2003 and 2004), the church does not remember any more specific details," Holick responded.
To another question about whether certain signs were "political," Holick wrote:
"The signs were not political activities, but rather, were examples of how Spirit One communicates its religious message. The signs all pertained to respect for life and family, a key and fundamental teaching of the scriptures (see Ps. 139:13-15, Jer. 1:4-5, Lk. 1:41-44, Lk. 1:15, Ge. 25:23, Gal. 1:15, Ge. 1:27, Job 10:12, Pr. 24:11-12, Jr. 7:2, Jr. 22:3, 17, Ex. 23:7, Ex. 20:13, Rv. 21:8, Ge. 9:6, 2 Ki. 17:16-20, Jr. 32:35, Jr. 7:31, Mt. 19:5.)."
Holick said the congregation of about 100, meeting as a church for 16 years already, has been strong throughout the challenge by the federal government.
Holick also told the IRS that the signs all "are spiritual messages that communicate God's truth, or are directly related to messages in the Bible." And to the question "why," he said: "The purpose is to obey the Lord, proclaim His Word (the Gospel), and establish His kingdom."
"The following are just a few of the many Scripture references related to the purpose of the signs:
-to lift up Jesus (Ps. 24:7-9)
-to rebuke sin (Lk. 3:8)
-to destroy the works of the devil (1 Jn. 3:8)
-to save babies (Lv. 20:1-5)
-to be honest (Is. 59:14)
-to take a righteous stand (Ps. 9:8)
-to rescue the weak and needy (Ps. 12:5)
-to demonstrate true religion by loving preborn neighbors (Jm. 1:27)
-to call a wicked city to repent (Ex. 23:7)
-to educate and inform about Jesus who IS truth (Jn. 14:6)
-to obey the call to preach, including rebuking (Acts 16:10)
-to stand in the gap against evil (Ez. 22:30)
-to confront hypocrites (1 Ki. 18:17-18)
-to confront immoral politicians (1 Ki. 18)
-to declare the whole counsel of God (Jn. 14:26)
-to disciple children (Pr. 22:6)
-to save America (Dt. 28)
-to stop the shedding of innocent blood (Jr. 22:17)
-to not allow the city to be comfortable while babies are murdered (Pr. 1:32)
-to glorify God (Ps. 86:12)
-to destroy the works of the devil (1 Jn. 3:8)
-to make the Pastor’s calling and election sure (2 Pe. 1:3)
-to work out the Pastor’s salvation with fear and trembling (Ph. 2:12)
-to take dominion for King Jesus over this wicked city (Dn. 7:14)
-to promote the fear of God, for it is the beginning of wisdom (Pr. 9:10)
-to spark a Revival (Jl. 2:12-13)
-to separate the wheat from the chaff in this church and other churches (Is. 40:24)
-to obey Ephesians 5:11 and reprove the fruitless deeds of darkness (Ep. 5:11)
-to act like a Christian (Jm. 1:27 – what the Bible calls true religion)
-to train others how to act and speak (Jm. 2:22)
-to expose and confront evildoers (Ez. 20:4)
-to prophesy against wickedness (Is. 58:1)
-as an act of worship (Jn. 14:15)"
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Young U.S. Muslims back suicide attacks
The first nationwide survey of Muslim Americans revealed that more than a quarter of those younger than 30 say suicide bombings to defend Islam are justified, a fact that drowned out the poll's kinder, gentler findings suggesting that the community is mainstream and middle class.
"There are trouble spots," noted Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center, which conducted the survey of 1,050 adult Muslim Americans -- two-thirds of whom were foreign-born -- January to April. The results were released yesterday.
"We should be disturbed that 26 percent of these young people support an ideology in which the ends justify the means," said Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, chairman of the Arizona-based American Islamic Forum for Democracy.
"But the survey also found that only 40 percent of the overall American Muslim population would even admit that Arabs were behind 9/11. They're in denial, refusing to take moral responsibility, and the radicals will feed on this," Dr. Jasser said.
Farid Senzai of the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding said he had "concern" about evidence of youthful radicalism.
The revelation that some young American Muslims condone violent bombings led coverage from CBS News, the Associated Press, Reuters, the Detroit Free Press, the Los Angeles Times and other news organizations.
"I'm not surprised that the press picked up on the bad news, because that's what sells. I'd like to see another ethnic group get asked the same question," said Laila Al-Qatami of the District-based American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.
"What's also missing were responses about what it means among Muslims to be an American, or their opinions about education, health care and domestic issues. Failure to include this stuff lends an impression that American Muslims are different," she added.
The survey, which estimates the U.S. Muslim population to be 2.3 million, emphasized the more positive findings, billing the group as "middle class and mostly mainstream," socially assimilated and happy.
"Clearly, this public comes across as much more moderate than much of the Muslim public in most of the world. They are decidedly American in outlook," Mr. Kohut said.
Indeed, seven out of 10 of the respondents rated their communities as good or excellent and said they would get ahead through the "American work ethic," a greater percentage than found in the general public. Seventy-three percent have never been discriminated against as a Muslim on these shores, and 78 percent said they were either "pretty happy" or "very happy" with their lives.
Practicing their religion was a positive as well: 74 percent said they were satisfied with the quality of mosques in their neighborhood. Most identify themselves as Democrats (63 percent) and seven out of 10 voted for Sen. John Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat, in the 2004 presidential race. Sixty-one percent say homosexuality should be discouraged.
Yet many are troubled by politics or policy: 69 percent disapprove of President Bush, 75 percent disapprove of the Iraq war and 48 percent disapprove of the war in Afghanistan. Only 26 percent say the war on terrorism is a "sincere effort," compared with 67 percent of the general public.
Where are their hearts? It depends on the age group. Sixty percent of the younger-than-30 demographic said they were "Muslim" first, and a quarter were Americans first. Among the total population, 47 percent consider themselves Muslims first and 28 percent are Americans first.
Social factors also come into play. The survey found that 54 percent are dissatisfied with the general state of the nation, 53 percent say life has gotten more difficult for Muslim Americans since September 11, 2001. More than half believe that their population has been singled out by the U.S. government for surveillance.
Among respondents who were converts, 91 percent were U.S. citizens. Of the total number of converts, 59 percent were black, 55 percent followed Sunni traditions and 67 percent had converted from a Protestant denomination.
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
May, 2007
YOUR GOVERNMENT AT WORK
Bill sees churches as political lobbies
Grassroots advocacy again under fire from Congress
A Christian law firm is launching an urgent petition drive to try to convince Congress to drop plans to re-classify Christian ministers and ministries as "lobbyists," a move that would create reams of red tape and subject the leaders to fines of up to $50,000 if they don't follow all of the fine print.
Jay Sekulow, of the American Center for Law and Justice had warned several months ago when a similar proposal was defeated in the U.S. Senate that the issue may return.
"We're still deeply concerned that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others will attempt to push through these dangerous restrictions in the House," he had said when Section 220 of S.B. 1 was rejected.
Now it has been.
"This legislation, in essence, attempts to override the United States Constitution," said the appeal from the ACLJ. "What we're dealing with here is the work of politicians who want to control, limit, and silence Christians and conservative groups."
"We MUST fight back, and quickly," the group said.
The plan now is called House Resolution 2093, but would do just about the same thing as the earlier Section 220 in the Senate. "House Resolution 2093 would drastically affect churches that speak out on issues like partial-birth abortion, same-sex marriage, conservative judicial nominees, and military chaplains' right to pray," the ACLJ said. "It would also impact Christian groups using TV, radio, or the Internet to mobilize citizens around an issue."
The proposal, as did the earlier plan, could require pastors, church leaders, advocacy organizations and even some individuals to register as lobbyists, under penalty of fines of up to $50,000, the ACLJ said.
The ACLJ's protest petition is available online.
Sekulow noted that he's already assembled a legal team and produced a legal analysis, available on the organization's website, that details the dangers of the bill.
"We are preparing a complaint to file in federal court if necessary," he said.
Sekulow's analysis said the Senate was wise to reject the plan, on a bipartisan basis in January, and recommended the House do the same.
Many of the phrases in the legislation are similar or identical to the earlier proposal.
"The main difference between H.R. 2093 and Section 220 of S. 1 is that H.R. 2093 would simply shift the bulk of the financial and regulatory burden of registration and reporting from the grassroots organizations themselves to the media companies that help distribute their message," the analysis said.
"H.R. 2093 would chill the exercise of First Amendment rights by requiring the media firms that help grassroots organizations to share their message to register with the government and disclose information about the groups' activities," it continued.
"The cost of compliance with federal lobbying laws – including the need to hire lawyers, accountants, and other personnel to ensure that all legal requirements are met – would be great. Undoubtedly, many companies will make their grassroots clients bear the cost of compliance with the lobbying law rather than imposing the burden upon their entire clientele. Moreover, some companies would stop working with grassroots organizations altogether to avoid the onerous burden of lobbying registration."
The real problems come up in the definition of lobbying and employees. "For example, if a church or other non-profit client organization receives, spends, or agrees to spend $100,000 within a quarterly period to influence the general public to contact members of Congress about legal issues, an employee that directs how that money is spent – such as a pastor, treasurer, or public policy director – could be considered a 'lobbying firm,'" the analysis said.
Also, if a church or other group spends just $5,000 to encourage the general public to contact members of Congress about important policy issues, the printing, publishing or other media companies would be required to provide information about the group and its issues.
"H.R. 2093 casts an unduly broad net of regulation over many churches, public advocacy organizations, and individuals that are not 'lobbyists' and subjects the media companies … to burdensome registration and reporting requirements," the analysis ssaid.
In the end, First Amendment violations would abound under the proposal, Sekulow's organization found.
When the earlier plan was defeated, James Dobson, chairman of Focus on the Family Action, said, "The big winners in this battle are the American people. Getting rid of the onerous grass-roots lobbying restrictions in S.1 is a triumph of the representative form of government our Founding Fathers established 230 years ago."
He had interrupted his regular schedule of broadcasts to alert people to the legislation that would have imposed huge limits on Christian organizations.
That original plan would have required the pro-family groups to provide documentation of their actions to the government any time they try to spark any "grass-roots" action.
Phone calls, personal visits, e-mails, magazines, broadcasts, phone banks, appearances, travel, fund-raising and other items all would be subject to government tabulation, verification and audits, Dobson said his broadcast.
"What is being illustrated here is a passion by congressional liberals to consolidate power and operate within a cloak of secrecy. It is unconscionable and unconstitutional. We will not be intimidated by attempts to criminalize those who would hold Washington accountable. The right to do so is as American as apple pie," Dobson said.
The Senate plan, sponsored by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., was listed as a proposal "To provide greater transparency in the legislative process," however Dobson was joined by American Family Association Chairman Donald Wildmon, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins and American Values President Gary Bauer in urging listeners to flood Capitol Hill with phone calls demanding those speech limits be removed.
World Net DailyMay, 2007
FAITH UNDER FIRE
Muslims cracking down on Christianity
Costs of remaining steadfast include family, home, even life
Christian churches are being ordered closed and those who are steadfast in the faith are losing homes, families and jobs as the cost of being Christian in Pakistan is rising, according to new reports from the Voice of the Martyrs and others. Even the death penalty soon could be a possibility.
The Voice of the Martyrs said, however, Christians are remaining faithful under the persecution, and are in need of prayer.
"The Voice of the Martyrs recently received information from Pakistani contacts that Christians remain steadfast in their faith, although they are losing relationships with their families because of their faith in Jesus Christ," the VOM report said.
The VOM cited one specific case, that of "Karim," who comes from a devout Muslim family.
He routinely suffers the loss of jobs, contact with friends, and even homes, because of his Christianity, VOM said.
"After I became a Christian in 1997, I visited my family during the Muslim festival called, 'Eid-ul-Zaha,' where Muslims sacrifice animals before Allah," he told VOM. "I questioned my mother asking her why she was sacrificing animals to Allah and yet in the Christian faith Jesus Christ sacrificed himself for us. I explained there was no need to sacrifice any animals. My mother was shocked. She started verbally abusing me and told me she had noticed a change in me, but had never thought it was because I had converted to Christianity."
She warned him the rest of the family would not be as understanding as she was.
"Before I left home my brother asked if I was reading the Bible and if I had an interest in the Christian faith. He slapped and verbally abused me, saying Christians are 'churda,' dirty people. He said Christians would make me dirty and I should stop reading 'churda's books, the Bible,'" Karim said.
VOM reported that Karim has lost jobs because of his faith, and constantly moves from one location to another to avoid harassment from members of his extended family. But he said his Christianity, to which he was introduced by a co-worker who gave him a Bible, is worth it.
"One day I read where the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, and after this I also asked Jesus to teach me how to pray. I said, 'Jesus, I have no teacher who can guide me and teach me about the Bible and faith, give me the Holy Spirit so I can learn about this faith.' From that day the Holy Spirit has been my teacher," Karim told VOM.
He said he spent years investigating before he made that decision.
"For two and a half years I was reading it every day. I started a comparative study of the Bible and the Quran. I saw there was a sequence, continuity and discipline in the Bible. I could not find these things in the Quran," he said.
According to Elizabeth Kendal, who reports on the persecution for the World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission, the root of the developing problem in Pakistan is the nation's pro-Sharia, Islamist Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal alliance of Muslim devotees, which holds the balance of power in the nation's National Assembly.
As a result, President Pervez Musharraf frequently makes political agreements that advance his agenda of staying on power while granting the alliance some of its wishes – which could be summarized as the conversion of Pakistan into a Islam-controlled state.
One of the pending proposals is the Apostasy Act, under which any man who leaves Islam for another religion would be killed. Women would be imprisoned for life.
The report also said owners of stores trading in the "un-Islamic" have been ordered to close or "suffer dire consequences," female students have been threatened if they continue their schooling, and in the Charsadda district, churches have been issued hand-written letters with an ultimatum to close down.
Faith McDonnell, the religious liberty director of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, said the nation's consideration of the death penalty for leaving Islam is two steps backwards for religious freedom.
"The apostasy bill is the work of political parties aligned with Taliban-style repression," she wrote. She said such laws would open the door to massive abuse, and in fact, such cases already have been launched.
In one case, she said, a Christian boy was sentenced to death for writing blasphemy on the wall of a mosque. The penalty was based on Muslim "witnesses." However, the child was illiterate and could not write, she said.
There also have been reports from ASSIST News Service which cited a Pakistani Christian who is a lawyer, Khalil Tahir Sandhu, about random attacks on Christian women who are abducted, assaulted, and then forced to "convert" to Islam.
The Barnabas Fund reported that Shahbaz Bhatti, chief of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance, confirmed the Christians are being ordered to convert. "We will not do it, even if we have to die," he said.
Officials also cited similar concerns developing in Egypt, where unsubstantiated claims that Christians were planning to build a church in violation of national law sparked rioting that left Christians injured and their homes and businesses destroyed.
As WND has reported, three Christians also were martyred recently in Turkey by Islamists who feigned interest in a Bible study, then attacked the leaders.
Voice of the Martyrs is a non-profit, interdenominational ministry working worldwide to help Christians who are persecuted for their faith, and to educate the world about that persecution. Its headquarters are in Bartlesville, Okla., and it has 30 affiliated international offices.
It was launched by the late Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, who started smuggling Russian Gospels into Russia in 1947, just months before Richard was abducted and imprisoned in Romania where he was tortured for his refusal to recant Christianity.
He eventually was released in 1964 and the next year he testified about the persecution of Christians before the U.S. Senate's Internal Security Subcommittee, stripping to the waist to show the deep torture wound scars on his body.
The group that later was renamed The Voice of the Martyrs was
organized in 1967, when his book, "Tortured for Christ," was released.
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TROUBLESPEAK
Radio host suggests putting GPS on Muslim immigrants
U.S. should consider bugging homes, monitoring calls, e-mails
A radio talk show host in Denver asked his audience to consider whether or not it would be right for all Muslim immigrants admitted to the U.S. to wear GPS units and have the FBI bug their homes and monitor their telephone calls and e-mails.
The comments from "Gunny Bob" Newman on 850 AM KOA radio were reported by the Denver Post. He was reacting to the recent arrests of six men charged in an alleged plot to attack and kill as many soldiers as they could at Fort Dix, N.J.
The suspects, Muslims, have been ordered held without bond, and court documents now reveal one of the men told the others how to make bombs and gave them weapons for the planned attack.
Newman, on his talk show on a station that also carries Rush Limbaugh, the nation's most-listened-to radio talk show host, said he was fed up with attacks by Muslims on the U.S. and its interests.
"I want – tell me if I'm wrong or tell me if I'm right. I want every Muslim immigrant in America who holds a green card, a visa, or who is a naturalized citizen to be required by law to wear a GPS tracking bracelet at all times," Newman said in a recent diatribe against such unprovoked attacks on the U.S.
"And the FBI and the NSA should monitor their phones and their e-mails, all communications – electronic – at all times, as well as bug their places of work and their residences. If they don't like the idea, or if they refuse, throw their a---- out of this country," he said.
"All mosques and community centers as well as Muslim organizations must be monitored. We know with the arrests … that the Muslim terrorists are absolutely, positively here – and we invited them to our country! And I think maybe it's time that we should stop doing that," he said.
The words immediately unleashed a firestorm of criticism from organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union, and a lobbying campaign convinced three companies to withdraw their advertising from the show.
"We sent numerous e-mails," said a spokeswoman for Colorado Media Matters, which bills itself as a resource that monitors and corrects conservative broadcast statements.
His boss at the Clear Channel station, Kris Olinger, reported "Gunny Bob" was expressing an opinion, "an extreme one, but his opinion. [Hosts] are paid to express opinions. That's the nature of what we do."
"Newsradio 850 KOA understands that some of you may have been offended by remarks Gunny Bob made regarding Muslim immigrants to the United States. That was not the intention. 850 KOA believes in being fair and respectful while encouraging discussion and debate of complex issues," the station said in a website statement.
"Call me kooky, but I think maybe it's time for a little moratorium on Muslim visas, period. Hey, I'm sorry guys – I know that a lot of you are great people. I know you just like to do business here or become a U.S. citizens (sic) and be a peaceful person. I know that. But you know what? You better get control of your own people. Once you get control of them, then come see us again and we'll think about – however many decades down the road it is – we'll think about maybe opening our doors to you again.
"But you are doing absolutely freaking nothing to help, to, to help this nation. And that's that," Newman said.
Newman had been honored in 2006 with a "Gunny Bob Day" declaration by Colorado's governor, who wrote the three-hour daily program is responsible for "educating and enlightening Colora