Muslims Facing Tomorrow: Rally for Minority Christians and Other Religious Communities in the Middle East and the Muslim World

At Blazing Cat Fur, "Muslims Facing Tomorrow Rally For Persecuted Christians - Professor Salim Mansur's Address - ISIS Is Islam."

Presbyterians Join the Anti-Israel Choir

From Professor Jonathan Marks, at WSJ.

Read it at the link.

And at Free Beacon, "CNN Anchors Rip Presbyterian Official Over BDS Vote." I watched it. This Heath Rada, "moderator of the Presbyterian church’s 2014 General Assembly," either has no clue or is a consummate liar. Actually, it's probably a sick combination of both. He keeps backing off when pushed on the "apartheid" language his group's publications use to attack Israel. This isn't something that you can go halfway on, as BDS itself is clearly an anti-Semitic movement not to promote peace but the destruction of the Jewish state.

In any case, more from Yair Rosenberg, at Tablet, "Presbyterian Church USA Narrowly Approves Divestment."

PREVIOUSLY: "Presbyterian Church U.S.A. Votes to Divest from Israeli Companies."

Presbyterian Church U.S.A. Votes to Divest from Israeli Companies

What is happening to this church? It's like overnight they're taken hostage by radical leftists.

This was out yesterday, at USA Today, "Presbyterians in U.S. to allow gay marriage ceremonies," and the New York Times, "Presbyterians Vote to Allow Same-Sex Marriages":

The Presbyterians follow other religious groups that have taken similar steps, including the United Church of Christ, which affirmed “equal marriage rights for couples regardless of gender” in 2005; Quakers; the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations; and the Reform and Conservative movements in Judaism.

Right. The Presbyterians are turning into a sadistic cult.

And now today, at the Los Angeles Times, "Presbyterians to divest from 3 companies to protest Israeli policies":

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA voted to sell its stock in three major companies Friday night in protest of Israeli policies in Palestinian-controlled lands.

During its national meeting, the general assembly narrowly voted to divest from Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard and Motorola Solutions by a vote of 310-303. Those three companies are said to supply Israel with tools used in building settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem

Though advocates said the decision should not signal support for a broader movement aimed at taking action to encourage Israel to change its policies toward Palestine, there has been concern among Israeli supporters that a decision to divest could signal momentum for the movement. In the same meeting, the Presbyterian organization voted to reaffirm its stance that Israel has a right to exist.

“We recognize the complexity of the issues, the decades-long struggle, the pain suffered and inflicted by policies and practices of both the Israeli government and Palestinian entities,” the documents state.

That's a lie, of course. The Presbyterian Church has joined the push by the World Council of Churches to demonize and delegitimize Israel as an Apartheid state, as Melanie Phillips discussed in her must-read piece, "'Jesus Was a Palestinian': The Return of Christian Anti-Semitism." The Church has tacked leftward along with society's increasing abandonment of strong Christian values as the moral guide to life. It's not a good omen for the West, although fortunately the overall BDS movement continues to be widely repudiated.

The Return of Christian Anti-Semitism

From Melanie Phillips, at Commentary, "'Jesus Was a Palestinian': The Return of Christian Anti-Semitism":

In all the uproar over the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement and the campaign to delegitimize Israel, the role of Protestant churches has received scant attention. This is a terrible mistake. The return of replacement theology is of the greatest possible significance to the way Israel is regarded in the West. The Church still has great influence over Western culture. Even in Britain, people think Christian clerics embody integrity, conscience, and truth-telling; when they assert that Israel is a racist, oppressive, aggressive state, they are believed. And in the United States, such is the centrality of Christianity and the Hebrew Bible that if this theological and political slide into untruth and hatred is not stopped, there will be drastic consequences—not just for support of Israel but for American society.

As Christians are murdered by Islamists across the world, some of their churches are directing their passions elsewhere. They are busily rewriting history, constructing a theology out of gross political distortion and lining up once again with historic forces of unfathomable darkness. It is not just the State of Israel that is being threatened as a result. Stamping upon its parent, the Church is embracing its own assassin—and the West’s potential nemesis.

This is a complicated essay that deserves multiples readings. And so I'll leave off to dear readers for now on this. I can say that this piece is astonishingly eye-opening. The malignant historical revisionism is just sickening, which has turned Christian faith into an ideology of Nazism.

Christmas in Bethlehem

At LAT, "Bethlehem comes alive on Christmas Eve":

BETHLEHEM, West Bank – Thousands of Palestinians as well as international pilgrims and tourists descended on Bethlehem on Tuesday to celebrate Christmas Eve.

People stood at Manger Square outside the Church of the Nativity watching a parade of bagpipe- and drum-playing youths, followed by the Roman Catholic patriarch of Jerusalem, Fouad Twal, and his entourage, walk into the church to begin the Christmas religious festivities.

Choirs on a stage in Manger Square sang songs celebrating the birth of Jesus. The area was brightly lighted and decorated with tall Christmas trees.

RTWT.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Christmas Greeting 2013

He's a great man.

Via Algemeiner, "Netanyahu Conveys ‘Warmest Christmas Greetings’ From ‘the City of Peace, Jerusalem’ (VIDEO)."

Nobody Should Fear a Merry Christmas

From Jonathan Tobin, at Commentary:

The notion of a liberal war on Christmas has become something of a seasonal evergreen discussion topic for pundits. As such, at this point at times it’s not clear whether conservatives like Fox’s Bill O’Reilly talk about it more than politically correct secularists wage it. In this overwhelmingly Christian country, there is little doubt that Christmas is a national holiday and is often practiced in such a manner as to make it more of a secular celebration of consumerism than a Christian religious observance.

Nevertheless, it must be admitted that the holiday plays a not unimportant role in the ongoing battle over the height of the so-called wall of separation between church and state. The fight about whether crèches, the lyrics in carols, or Christmas trees constitute an unconstitutional establishment of Christianity has done little to undermine the hold of the holiday or to make religious minorities more comfortable in America. To the contrary, such disputes do much to undermine good community relations between members of different faiths. Dennis Prager is correct when he writes today that those who claim to be “emotionally troubled” by the sight of a Christmas display on public property are indeed emotionally troubled...

Continue reading.

Andrea Tantaros: 'The Administration's Actually Enabling the Jihadists Rise Up...'

The beautiful Ms. Tantaros calls it on the bullseye.



More at Jihad Watch, "Interfaith outreach in Nigeria: Muslims murder at least 205 Christians."

Patriots Release Tim Tebow

I first saw the news on Twitter.

But here's WaPo, "A door closes: Tebow cut by Patriots but remains in ‘relentless pursuit’ of his NFL dream":

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — A Heisman Trophy, a riveting playoff game, an international following.

Tim Tebow won all that in his football career.

On Saturday, he lost his third NFL job in 18 months. It might be hard to find another.

The quarterback with two big problems — throwing the ball and reading defenses — was cut by the New England Patriots less than 12 weeks after they signed him and just five days before the season.

But, as Tebow sees it, this long journey is not over.

“I will remain in relentless pursuit of continuing my lifelong dream of being an NFL quarterback,” he tweeted.

Coach Bill Belichick gave the player whose profile was higher than his production what may have been his last chance when he signed him June 11, the day the Patriots’ three-day minicamp began. And Tebow is grateful.

He thanked Belichick, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and owner Robert Kraft, who said last Tuesday he was “rooting” for Tebow but would let Belichick make the decision.

In his tweet, Tebow thanked the “entire Patriots organization for giving me the opportunity to be a part of such a classy organization.”

The Patriots cut 12 other players and put safety Adrian Wilson on injured reserve. That left them with 51 players, two below the regular-season limit they had to reach by 6 p.m. EDT.

Belichick didn’t comment on Tebow’s release.

But NFL.com analyst and former NFL executive Gil Brandt wasn’t surprised.

“He has had a great career and I think it’s probably time for him to admit that he just wasn’t right up to NFL standards,” Brandt said. “I’m sure that whatever he does in life he’ll be a huge success.

No word there on whether being an outspoken evangelical hurt his chances.

But RTWT.

Controversial Reza Aslan Interview on Fox News

I don't know much about Reza Aslan and I don't much care.

I have no plans to read his book, and I probably still wouldn't read it if the publisher sent me a desk copy.

I don't much care about him, and I certainly don't care about his revisionist history of Jesus.

Pamela Geller had this the other day, so folks have a substantive critique here, "REZA ASLAN IS ACADEMIA'S ANWAR AWLAKI."

More at First Things, "Reza Aslan Misrepresents His Scholarly Credentials."

And from Andrew Kaczynski, "Author Attacked by Fox News Is Actually Kind of a Jerk on Twitter."

Below is the first part of the interview, with Lauren Green.

And at the Los Angeles Times, "Reza Aslan's Jesus book a No. 1 bestseller, thanks to Fox News":

Near the end of Reza Aslan's strange, 10-minute television exchange with Fox News, the author of "Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth," gives voice to a thought that’s entered the mind of many an author while being interviewed: “I’m afraid it seems like you haven’t read my book.”

The interview, now circulating widely on social media sites, has helped propel the book to No. 1 on the Amazon bestseller list Monday.

Aslan is a Muslim scholar of religion and a one-time Christian convert who’s just published a popular book about the life of Jesus. This earned him the wrath of those who wage a daily crusade against the “liberal media”— Fox News. Fox News religion correspondent Lauren Green tried to give Aslan the proverbial third degree Friday on the show "Spirited Debate," only to see Aslan patiently and deftly parry her attempts to corner him as an angry Muslim.

“Is This The Most Embarrassing Interview Fox News Has Ever Done?” BuzzFeed asks in the headline above its posted video of said interview.

In the interview, Green says, “You are a Muslim. Why did you write about Jesus?”

Aslan answers this, and many other of Green’s questions, in a deliberately slow tone, as if he were being interviewed by the not-very-well-informed editor of a high school newspaper. “I am a professor of religions,” he says. “It’s what I do for a living.”

I thought he was petulant and overly defensive.

More here, FWIW, "Reza Aslan talks 'Zealot,' the book behind the viral Fox News video."

Watch the rest of the interview here.

American Tony Miano Arrested in Britain for Reading Bible Aloud and Calling Homosexuality Sinful

Hey, coming to America!

At Telegraph UK, "Christian arrested for calling homosexuality a 'sin' warns of 'real-life thought police'."

Also at Cranmer, "Tony Miano arrested for 'hate' speech - full video and police transcript."

'I was offended because I believe as a Christian woman it is my prerogative to display my faith any way I like so long as it is not harming anyone else...'

Because outwardly expressing your faith in Christ is hateful. Hateful!

At Campus reform, "Public university allegedly orders student to remove cross necklace because ‘it might offend others’":

A student at a public university in California is alleging school officials ordered her to remove a cross necklace while she was working at an orientation fair because they feared others find the religious symbol offensive.

Nineteen year-old Audrey Jarvis, an employee of Sonoma State University’s (SSU) Associated Students Productions (ASP), told FOX News her supervisor initially ordered her to remove the necklace because “it might offend others, it might make incoming students feel unwelcome, or it might cause incoming students to feel that ASP was not an organization they should join.”

In a second encounter, her supervisor reportedly told her to hide the cross under her shirt or remove it.

Jarvis, identifies as devout Catholic, said she was in “complete shock” and “thrown for a loop” by her supervisor’s instructions.

“I was offended because I believe as a Christian woman it is my prerogative to display my faith any way I like so long as it is not harming anyone else,” Jarvis told FOX News. “I was very hurt and felt as if the university’s mission statement – which includes tolerance and inclusivity to all – was violated.”

More at that top link.

Vegans and Pagans Win 'Equal' Workplace Rights in Britain

This is another one of the stories that's just wow.

At London's Daily Mail, "What an insult to Christians! After crucifixes are allowed at work, human rights quango tells firms: Give vegans and pagans special treatment too":

Druids, vegans and green activists should be given special treatment at work, according to ‘lunatic’ advice from the equalities watchdog.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) warns employers that they risk ‘potentially costly legal action’ unless they allow staff to follow their ‘religion or belief rights’ in the workplace.

This could include giving believers time off to go on pilgrimages, such as druids and pagans going to Stonehenge, while environmentalists should be free to lecture other staff about their car use.

Also at Telegraph UK, "Vegans and druids to gain workplace rights under new equality rules."

Research Dates Shroud of Turin to Era of Christ

At NYT, "Turin Shroud Going on TV, With Video From Pope."

And at Telegraph UK, "Mystery solved? Turin Shroud linked to Resurrection of Christ":

The Turin Shroud has baffled scholars through the ages but in his new book, The Sign, Thomas de Wesselow reveals a new theory linking the cloth to the Resurrection.

Also at Guardian UK, "Turin shroud makes rare appearance on TV amid claims that it is not a forgery."

Pilgrims Reenact Passion of Christ in Jerusalem on Good Friday

Via Telegraph UK:

Reforming the Roman Catholic Church

All of a sudden today, for no particular reason, I found myself reading a lot of articles on the problems and prospects of the Catholic Church after Benedict XVI.

I particularly liked this piece at the Economist, "Pope, CEO: Management tips for the Catholic church."

Also interesting, from the communist perspective, at Truthout, "Will the next pope embrace liberation theology?"

And see also Walter Russell Mead, "Scandals Are Only One Half of the Catholic Story."

Also at Der Spiegel, "Zero Hour at the Vatican: A Bitter Struggle for Control of the Catholic Church," and the Los Angeles Times, "Roman Catholic Church feels Europe slipping from its hands."

More later. The big question is will the conclave go big with a new Pope from the global South. We'll see..

Why Public Schools Should Teach the Bible

From Roma Downey at Mark Burnett, at WSJ:

Have you ever sensed in your own life that "the handwriting was on the wall"? Or encouraged a loved one to walk "the straight and narrow"?

Have you ever laughed at something that came "out of the mouths of babes"? Or gone "the extra mile" for an opportunity that might vanish "in the twinkling of an eye"?

If you have, then you've been thinking of the Bible.

These phrases are just "a drop in the bucket" (another biblical phrase) of the many things we say and do every day that have their origins in the most read, most influential book of all time. The Bible has affected the world for centuries in innumerable ways, including art, literature, philosophy, government, philanthropy, education, social justice and humanitarianism. One would think that a text of such significance would be taught regularly in schools. Not so. That is because of the "stumbling block" (the Bible again) that is posed by the powers that be in America.

It's time to change that, for the sake of the nation's children. It's time to encourage, perhaps even mandate, the teaching of the Bible in public schools as a primary document of Western civilization.

We know firsthand of its educational value, having grown up in Europe—Mark in England, Roma in Ireland—where Bible teaching was viewed as foundational to a well-rounded education. Now that we are naturalized U.S. citizens, we want to encourage public schools in America to give young people the same opportunity.

This is one of the reasons we created "The Bible," a 10-part miniseries premiering March 3 on the History Channel that dramatizes key stories from Scriptures. It will encourage audiences around the world to open or reopen Bibles to understand and enjoy these stories.

Without the Bible, Shakespeare would read differently—there are more than 1,200 references to Scripture in his works. Without the Bible, there would be no Sistine Chapel and none of the biblically inspired masterpieces that hang in countless museums world-wide.

Continue reading.

And at Fox News, "'The Bible' TV show headed to History Channel."

Pope Benedict XVI Says He is Following God's Wishes by Stepping Down

At the Los Angeles Times, "In final Sunday blessing, pope pledges service."

Video: "Pope Benedict XVI delivers final Angelus blessing."

Catholics React to Pope Benedict's Resignation

From Peggy Noonan, at the Wall Street Journal, "A Faith Unshaken but Unsettled":

It is disquieting, the resignation of the pope. "We are in uncharted territory," said a historian of the church. An old pope is leaving but staying within the walls of the Vatican, and a new one, younger and less known, will come before Easter.

In a week's conversation with faithful and believing Catholics, I detected something I've never quite heard before, and that is a deep, unshaken, even cheerful faith accompanied by a certain anxiety, even foreboding. I heard acceptance of Pope Benedict's decision coupled with an intense sympathy for what is broadly understood to be his suffering, from health problems to the necessity that his decision was a lonely one, its deepest reasoning known only to him. There was a lot of speculation that attempting to run the Vatican in the new age of technology, of leaks and indiscretions and instant responses, would have been hard on him.

So here are some things Catholics have been telling me...

RTWT.

'If Charles Dickens were writing A Christmas Carol today, surely he would have replaced Ebenezer Scrooge with the figure of the joyless, rage-fuelled Dawkins spitting out ‘Bah, humbug!’ at families sitting down to the Christmas turkey...'

I wish I'd posted this on Christmas Eve, but definitely better late than never.

From Melanie Phillips, "Raising a child as Christian worse than sex abuse? Oh, do put a sock in it, you atheist Scrooge":

It is not just [Richard] Dawkins and his followers, however, who are dancing prematurely on Christianity’s grave.

In the eyes of just about the entire governing class, cultural milieu and intelligentsia, belief in Christianity is viewed at best as an embarrassment, and at worst as proof positive of imbecility.

Indeed, Christianity has long been the target of sneering comedians, blasphemous artists and the entire human rights industry — all determined to turn it into a despised activity to be pursued only by consenting adults in private.

As it happens, I myself am not a Christian; I am a Jew. And Jews have suffered terribly under Christianity in the past.

Yet I passionately believe that if Britain and the West are to continue to be civilised places, it is imperative that the decline in Christianity be reversed.

For it is the Judeo-Christian ethic which gave us belief in the innate equality of all human beings, the need to put others’ welfare before your own and the understanding of absolute truth. Without this particular religious underpinning, our society will lose the moral bonds that instil respect and care for other human beings. Without a belief in absolute truth, it will succumb to the dominance of lies.

Melanie Phillips is freakin' awesome.