THE CRIMINALIZATION OF CHRISTIANITY

A review of Janet L. Folger's "The Criminalization of Christianity". Review by Bill Muehlenberg

This book makes for scary reading. Even if it were only half true, it would still be very scary reading. There is a war going on, and those who hold to faith and family values are subject to a relentless and focused attack.

Many of us have been aware of some of the moves to silence believers, to push activist agendas, to stifle freedom and to straightjacket the churches. But to see all this information concentrated in a book, which can be read in one sitting, makes for sobering reflection. The cumulative effect of the various assaults on faith, freedom and family, all assembled with full documentation in one volume, should challenge us all as to the very real war that is going on around us.

Many of us have been aware of the persecution of believers in countries such as China, North Korea and Sudan. It seems harder to believe that active persecution and suppression of the faith are happening in the "Christian" West. But that is indeed the case.

This book mainly documents the many attacks on faith and family occurring in North America, but the situation in Australia is quite similar. Horror story after horror story is laid out. Consider but a few examples:

Believers in Philadelphia faced felony charges and jail time for simply quoting from the Bible in public.

Two Christians (one heavily pregnant) were ordered off a bus and had to walk home in the rain because the driver said their discussion of their faith might "offend" other passengers on the bus.

A student in Nebraska was prohibited from reading his Bible silently during his free time.

A Canadian believer and print shop owner who declined to print homosexual material was found guilty of discrimination by the Ontario Human Rights Commission and fined $5,000, which went to the homosexual group. He also now has to pay off a $170,000 legal fee.

A group called Americans United for Separation of Church and State is sending people to churches to monitor sermons to see if there are any so-called church/state separation violations.

In Quebec, government officials removed a child from her Baptist family because "they might have unusual beliefs regarding child-rearing".

In a California town, $500,000 of public money was spent on constructing a statue to an Aztec god. The Aztecs, of course, were notorious for their countless child sacrifices. While this was held to be a "cultural symbol", the same council removed a nativity scene.

The search engine Google recently banned an ad on a Christian group's website because it was critical of homosexuality. It was branded by Google to be hate speech, even though the same search engine allows numerous explicit, hardcore homosexual ads.

A pro-homosexual ordinance in Madison Wisconsin resulted in this outrage: Two women advertised for a roommate. When they declined to take in a lesbian, they were forced by the Equal Opportunity Commission to attend "sensitivity training", pay the lesbian $1,500, write a formal apology, and have their housing situation "monitored" for two years. One of the women said in tears that she felt like she was living in totalitarian China instead of democratic America.

Also in Madison, 400 homosexual activists stormed a church service, shouting obscenities, urinating and defecating on the floor, and threatening worshippers.

Such examples can be multiplied at length. Every day, new anti-faith outrages are taking place, and the obvious question to ask is: "How long before Christianity is outlawed altogether?"

The author pulls no punches in declaring that the "greatest threat to our freedoms comes from the homosexual agenda". She is not alone in believing that many in the homosexual movement have as their ultimate goal the "criminalisation of Christianity".

But there are plenty of other threats to those concerned about faith and family. Radical civil libertarian groups, pro-abortion activists, and pornographers are a few more that come to mind. The author has certainly encountered these groups before, especially in her many years as a tireless pro-life campaigner.

Indeed, her first book, True to Life, describes her remarkable work on behalf of the unborn and contained a number of examples of how creative and thoughtful activities can be implemented to work for a culture of life. That same concern for proactive strategies and tactics is found here. Janet Folger offers practical help in how we can win these battles.



MORE STUPID PERSECUTION OF LITTLE KIDS

No doubt some people-hating Leftist teacher at work

A butter knife in a boy's book bag led to suspension at Omaha Public Schools this week. Ethan Gray is a first-grader at Ed Babe Gomez Heritage Elementary School at 17th and P streets. Gray said he didn't know the knife was in his book bag. OPS said it has a zero-tolerance policy.

Now, there's a standoff. Gray's parents say they won't send their son to school until the district backs down on its mandatory suspension, and the district said it doesn't have any plans to do that. Gray, who is 6, said he brought his book bag to school on Monday, but when he set it down, one of his family's butter knives fell out onto the cafeteria floor. A teacher walked up to question him. Gray told the teacher he wasn't sure how the knife got there. His family thinks his 4-year-old brother, Ben, put it there.

The school now plans to give the boy a one-day in-school suspension as part of its "no tolerance" weapons policy. "We're going to file suit to prevent that suspension," said the family's attorney, James Martin Davis. Gray's family said there needs to be some leeway in this case. It was an accident and they don't want an example to be made of their son. "If he ever needs the benefit of the doubt, he's not going to get it. He's going to be labeled as a kid who brought a weapon to school," said Ethan's mother, Lynette Gray.

OPS said any knife is considered a weapon. The principal has some discretion on the punishment for students in grades K through 3, as long as the weapon isn't a firearm. "It isn't like we have a hammer and treat everything like a nail. We try to redirect the behavior," said OPS's Steve Nelson.

The Gray family said redirecting behavior implies the boy brought the knife to school on purpose. "How can my son, who's still learning to tie his shoes, be responsible for a book bag that I shoved him out the door with?" Lynette Gray said.

Law enforcement was contacted in the case. OPS said the boy could have been expelled. The record will go into a confidential file along with test scores that only district employees, teachers and parents can access.

Source





A GOOD SUMMARY OF PC FROM CHATTANOOGA

From Robbie Wade

I have a bumper sticker on my truck that says "Politically Incorrect and Proud of It." Political correctness is a form of censorship administrated and promoted for it to be socially unacceptable to state a truth.

Political correctness is a philosophy that avoids absolute truths and is based on deceit. Do not let your views and opinions be censored by some left winger's idea of what you should think and feel.

Those who promote Political Correctness do so in an attempt to influence and brainwash the masses in what they should think. If they have their own opinions, and these opinions do not agree with what is deemed to be politically correct, then they want you to feel that it must be wrong.

Do not fall for this trap. Censorship of ideas and opinions is a threat to the very bowels of American life. These same "politically correct people" wouldn't dare call a terrorist, a Nation of Islam leader, or an American-hating Arab, politically incorrect. But you, as an American, are led to believe that you are wrong for any opinions you express that are not deemed politically correct.