Pastors' convictions for quoting Quran overturned

I guess its only a matter of time before these so called vilification Laws come to America. They are already in Candada and Australia. God help America when such a law comes here!

Story from WorldNetDaily.

Two Australian pastors who were convicted of "vilifying" Muslims when they quoted from the Quran during a seminar on jihad have had their appeals upheld by the Victorian Supreme Court.

And while that means they will return to a lower court for another trial, that actually is a good result, according to a new report from Voice of the Martyrs.

"In a sense we are happy with this decision… It means this case will be kept alive in the public consciousness," Pastor Danny Nalliah said in a VOM report. "There's a need to keep these vilification laws in sharp focus to reveal the problems this law is creating."
The Australian law was imposed in order to prevent the denigration of people based on their race or religion, and similar laws also have been approved in Canada, where critics of the law say they include sexual orientation and forbid pastors from condemning homosexuality as a sin.

Many of the "hate crimes" proposals in the United States are based on a similar concept: designating as "crimes" the statements people make about their own beliefs or convictions.

Muslim Persecution of Christians in the Holy Land

As the world bends over backward to make sure Muslims dont feel they are being offended or persecuted, we see that obviously many muslims arent worried about the feelings of Christians living among. This story is about Christians in Bethlhem, the birthplace of Christ.


O, Muslim town of Bethlehem...
http://thisislondon.co.uk
Dec. 16,2006.

All is quiet in Bethlehem. On Manger Square, the Church of the Nativity stands in the pale gloom of dusk, its doors open to passing pilgrims.

But inside, the nave is empty of visitors and the collection boxes depleted of coins.

In the candlelit grotto downstairs, a silver star marks the spot where Jesus is supposed to have been born.

It is one of the most sacred sites in Christendom, but there are no tourists queuing to see it.

Just 500 yards down the road, Joseph Canawati is not looking forward to Christmas.

The expansive lobby of his 77-room Hotel Alexander is empty and he says: "There is no hope for the future of the Christian community.

"We don't think things are going to get better. For us, it is finished."

Life for Palestinian Christians such as 50-year-old Joseph has become increasingly difficult in Bethlehem - and many of them are leaving.

The town's Christian population has dwindled from more than 85 per cent in 1948 to 12 per cent of its 60,000 inhabitants in 2006.

There are reports of religious persecution, in the form of murders, beatings and land grabs.

Meanwhile, the breakdown in security is putting off tourists, leading to economic hardship for Christians, who own most of the town's hotels, restaurants and souvenir shops.

The situation has become so desperate that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, are to lead a joint delegation to Bethlehem this week to express their solidarity with the beleaguered Christian populace.

The town, according to the Cardinal, is being "steadily strangled".

The sense of a creeping Islamic fundamentalism is all around in Bethlehem.

...(Story continues here)

Scandal-hit Jefferson wins Louisiana runoff

From cnn.com

"Rep. William Jefferson won re-election by a wide margin over fellow Democrat Karen Carter in a Louisiana runoff. He returns to Congress for a ninth term despite an FBI bribery probe in which $90,000 in cash allegedly was found in his home freezer. His presence in Washington could be embarrassing for Democrats, who won control of Congress in part on a platform of cleaning up corruption."


Wow. Breathtaking to say the least. $90,000 in cold cash in the fridge, and he gets re-elected, and by a wide margin, no less. What are people thinking when they decide this man is the one they want to represent them in Congress? This is both kinda funny and sad at the same time. Amazing.(Shaking my head in disgust).

Muslim woman cites gym after interrupted prayer

This is a mind-boggling story to me, especially since in most Muslim countries there is intolerance toward Christians and Jews in particular. Yet we now see many Muslims, and immigrant Muslims in particular, complaining that America isn't being welcoming, accommodating, or tolerant toward them!!

I particularly love the line that says: "Sultan said she came to the United States to secure her freedom and to avoid intolerance."

Too bad our fellow Christian brothers have to leave Muslim countries, not go to them, to avoid intolerance and secure their freedom.


http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061205/LIFESTYLE04/612050368/1041

DEARBORN -- Fitness USA, a gym chain, is investigating an alleged civil rights violation involving a local Muslim woman who says her afternoon prayer was interrupted by a fellow patron, and that her complaint to management about the situation was rejected.

"The manager told me, 'You have to respect her (the patron), but she does not have to respect your God,' " said Wardeh Sultan of Dearborn. "I've had my membership for seven or eight years, and I've never had a problem with praying there.

"I told that manager, 'I can't believe you said that' " Sultan said. "Honestly, I feel humiliated and I feel ashamed, right now, to go back to Fitness USA."

Sultan said she came to the United States to secure her freedom and to avoid intolerance.