Christian Intolerance? Remember Persecuted Christians this Easter

by Kate on April 20, 2014

Christians everywhere are observing the Easter holiday this weekend. Some of us here in America will be in church; singing songs and thinking of Sunday dinner, while others of us will enjoy family gatherings and egg hunts. Yet for believers who live in hostile and restricted nations, this is a particularly dangerous time.

This, from CDN:

Todd Daniels of International Christian Concern, another group that works to help Christians in danger because of their faith, agrees. “An attack on a church on Easter sends a very loud symbolic message, which is often what terrorist groups aim to do.” He also notes the conflicting nature of the holiday for Christians who are persecuted. “For some, it has made the celebration all the more special because it gives them a break from the fear that surrounds them, but for those who have suffered loss it is a reason for mourning.”

I’m certainly going to enjoy the holiday with my family and hope you are doing the same. But I’m also reminded this Easter of those around the globe who suffer simply because they are Christian, like Pastor Saeed Abedini – the Iranian American – whose been languishing in an Iranian prison since 2012. We know he has been severely mistreated and even tortured; his family receiving death threats. Why? Because he’s a Christian. Does he know it’s Easter? I suspect somehow he does. Has our State Department done all they can to broker his release and return him to the US and his family? I think not.

There’s also the dire situation for the Christians of Syria: “Convert. Submit to Islam or Face the Sword!” It’s a horrible life there for them; one of complete persecution and utter dhimmitude. Egypt’s Coptic Christians have suffered greatly at the hands of the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood. Their churches and neighborhoods burned to the ground routinely. And of course, the infamous Underground Church in China who, for decades upon decades, has been brutalized by a vicious Communist government.

These are just a few places around the world who have exchanged hope and reconciliation for bloodshed and fear. Yet the beauty of Easter is that it reminds all believers everywhere (even places like Iran, Syria, Egypt, and China) that there IS an end to the suffering and a most certain purpose in the pain…

Maybe you’re not a Christian or even religious. That’s fine. But you should still care that Christians are the single most widely persecuted religious group in the world today — a fact that most folks are not talking about. Did you know that 75% of acts of religious intolerance are directed against Christians? Sadly, we’re even seeing an increase in Christian intolerance here in America, where the freedom to practice faith as one sees fit, is in our collective national DNA; a most certain birthright of every American.

On this Easter day, I’m spending time with family and friends. On this Easter day, I will remember that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and triumphed over an insatiable evil; his grace doing what we could not do for ourselves. And on this Easter day, I am remembering those who suffer for Christ’s sake, the worldwide persecuted church.



A terrific video combining CS Lewis and The Passion of the Christ. Turn up your sound because the music is great!



UPDATE: As we discussed above, because of his faith, Iranian-American Pastor Saeed Abedini has been a prisoner of Iran since 2012. He has release an Easter message this weekend that you’ll definitely want to read. You can find it here.

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Brandeis University Gender Studies Faculty Behind Petition Against Ayaan Hirsi Ali

by Jennifer Davis on April 19, 2014

I thought that I could not be more shocked, or further outraged, by the unbelievably offensive behavior of Brandeis University that I wrote about last week on this blog-and then I was proved wrong.

Prof. Dian Fox, defender of the culturally backward

According to gentlemen at The Other McCain the petition that led to the rescinding of an honorary degree in Social Justice studies from feminist and exposer of the truth about Islam Ayaan Hirsi Ali was started by two of the University’s professors of women’s studies-Karen Hansen and Dian Fox . I know, shocking isn’t it? In fact the petition wasn’t just started by faculty,  21% of the signatures on the document were from faculty members who were associated in some capacity with the Women and Gender Studies Program at the University. The petition stated:

 ”… by honoring Aayan Hirsi Ali, Brandeis would suggest “to the public that violence toward girls and women is particular to Islam . . .  thereby obscuring such violence in our midst among non-Muslims, including on our own campus,” and concluded:  ”We cannot accept Ms. Hirsi Ali’s triumphalist narrative of western civilization, rooted in a core belief of the cultural backwardness of non-western peoples.”

In this I have to disagree with these ladies (and I use that term very loosely here). Perhaps these women need to acquaint themselves with some of the more backward cultural beliefs of the Islamists-forced child marriage, murder of rape victims, hanging of suspected or confirmed homosexuals, stoning of women-should I continue ladies? In this I have to agree with the gentlemen at The Other McCain:

“Perhaps the Brandeis University feminists could send their young female students on a field trip to Tehran, Kabul or Mogadishu to protest against this “triumphalist narrative.””

What do you think? Perhaps they could start off with a trip to observe a local girl undergoing Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) which is still practiced throughout the Muslim world, then continue on to witness the humiliation of a woman accused by her husband’s family of adultery and then top it all off by celebrating the forced marriage of a 9 year old to an 80 year old man.

Prof. Karen Hansen of Brandeis University, defender of women’s rights-NOT

Call me callous, but I really have zero interest in living in a society that views the above as anything but culturally backward and until these women are personally subjected to the things that Ayaan Hirsi Ali has survived (including FGM and an attempted forced marriage) under radical Islam, I do not see where they have any right to judge her truth or how she shares it.

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General Mills Says If You Like Them on Facebook Then You Cannot Sue Them

by Kit Lange on April 18, 2014

While this is a departure from my normal litany of NSA abuses and federal overreach, this one couldn’t be passed up.  General Mills, maker of all the yummiest GMO-infested cereals, “fruit” snacks and other Things That Taste Good But Are Bad For You, has decided to include changes to its privacy policy that make it nearly impossible for consumers to ever sue them for any reason. How do they pull this off? Business Insider has the scoop:

General Mills has placed a banner at the top of its website announcing changes to its legal terms that will require all consumer complaints to be settled either through an informal e-mail back-and-forth or through individual arbitration…What’s particularly outrageous about the updated policy is General Mills’ assertion that consumers agree to the terms by doing things as simple as visiting one of its websites, liking one of its brands on Facebook, or buying one of its products.

While consumers are allowed to opt out of the new terms, the policy specifies that consumers opt back in the moment they buy a General Mills product (which includes brands like Cheerios, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury and others), or visit one of its websites or social media pages.

Keep in mind that GM has been called out for such things as lying about GMOs in Cheerios (then claiming the grain was GMO-free but remaining silent on the fact that all the other ingredients of Cheerios contain GMOs). They also had to pay more than $8 million “to settle a suit that accused it of making false claims about the health benefits of its Yoplait Yo-Plus yogurt, and agreeing to take pictures of strawberries off the labels of its Strawberry Fruit Roll-Ups after consumers claimed the fruit was not actually an ingredient.”
In short, they’ve made a practice of lying to consumers, and in an effort to ensure that they don’t get embroiled in another big-dollar class action lawsuit, they’ve now figured out a way to force consumers into either arbitration or having a casual conversation with some customer service rep.  It doesn’t matter what the company does; if you click Like on a Facebook page for Cheerios to get a $1.00 off coupon, or if you click an ad, or—as Whataburger told its customers in 2008—even walking through the door of their establishment means you agree to arbitration and forfeit your right to bring a lawsuit. While any liberty-minded conservative abhors frivolous lawsuits as much as the next guy, the truth is that some lawsuits—when brought for reasons like false advertising, among other things—actually help make companies accountable to the public.  When a company lies about its ingredients or engages in false labeling practices, there’s a very real risk of people dying because of it.
Why should you care?  Here’s why.  The problem is layered: GM makes a lot of grocery products; food that you and your family put into your bodies.  What if your child died because of an allergy to an ingredient that GM failed to mention in its product?  What if they started putting harmful chemicals in your food to save money?  It’s not like it’s a far-fetched idea.  The entire anti-GMO movement is because of just such acts by various companies—and GM is one of those companies.  Think about it: Strawberry Fruit Roll-ups do not even contain strawberries.  Don’t you think it’s important to mention that?
In a free market, the consumer decides what businesses fail and what businesses thrive.  When a corporation can stack the deck by taking away a consumer’s means of holding them accountable—so they can go on deceiving that same consumer about what’s in their food—there’s a problem.

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The Yellow Star Revisited

by Kelley Kruse on April 17, 2014

In a frightening move reminiscent of 1930′s Germany, Jews in eastern Ukraine were greeted with pamphlets today telling them they had to register “or else have their citizenship revoked, face deportation and see their assets confiscated.”  Denis Pushilin, the head of “Donetsk’s temporary government,” said that even though his name was on the pamphlet, he was not responsible…but does it matter?  Visions of those black and white movie reels, the books we’ve read,  the first hand accounts we’ve heard about the holocaust  sent untold chills up our spines yesterday. Tears were shed remembering the star— the yellow star.

In November 1939, one year after Kristallnacht, the Nazi government followed the recommendation of leader Reinhard Heydrich and first introduced mandatory ID badges for Jews in Poland. It was announced that “severe punishment is in store for Jews who do not wear the yellow badge on back and front.”

This Nazi policy was one of the tactics used to isolate Jews from the rest of the population and it enabled the Nazi government to identify, concentrate and ultimately murder the Jews of Europe. Helmut Knochen, chief of Security Service & the Security Police in France and Belgium, stated that the yellow badge was “another step on the road to the Final Solution.”

The distribution of Anti-Semitic leaflets to Ukrainian Jews in the city of Donetsk is yet another fearful giant step forward for Russian President  Putin. A tried and true Russian KGB tactic: ruling with fear. Our own Liberals do it here—does the “War on Women” ring a bell?

The truth is that it doesn’t matter who did it…it’s been done. The intent is to foster ripples of fear amongst the Jewish communities, not just in Donetsk but throughout the region.

“This is a frightening new development in the anti-Jewish movement that is gaining traction around the world,” [President of the Zionist Organization of America, Morton] Klein said.

Putin is an  anti-Semitic Communist tyrant and his message is clear. He is moving in and moving the Jews out.

In regards to John Kerry and Sergey Lavrov in Geneva, Putin doesn’t play by anybody’s rules, he makes his own.
Not to fear though, our ever-loving Wimp-in-Chief has already sent ahead helmets and blankets.

God help us all.

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East Ukraine Jews Receive Leaflets Ordering Registration

April 17, 2014

As if the hostile takeover of part of a sovereign nation by its neighboring country is not alarming enough, the news coming out of Ukraine this morning should scare the bejeezus out of us all. USA Today is reporting that Jews in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, where pro-Russian militants have taken control of government […]

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Gavin McInnes compares Al Sharpton to someone with Down syndrome on Hannity

April 17, 2014

I still remember when I first found out that my son had Down syndrome. It’s not really something you forget. The week before, my husband and I had to decide whether or not to get the amniocentesis. We did, because I just had to know. I didn’t want to have an abortion, but I had […]

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Denver Woman Shot in the Head While on the Phone With 911 Waiting for the Police

April 17, 2014

A Denver woman was shot in the head by her husband on Monday night.  What makes this so much more awful is that she was on the phone to 911, waiting for the police to come help her.  She waited for 13 minutes, and the last sound the operator heard was that of a gunshot.  […]

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The Iron Tyranny of Forced Equality

April 16, 2014

I saw this over the weekend, and I have already waxed poetic enough on this previously (please review if you are not familiar).  The nugget is: Santangelo said there came a point when she could not persuade her body to perform. “It wasn’t a matter of will, but of pure physical strength,” she wrote. “My […]

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White House Asked Ben Carson To Apologize for Offending Obama

April 15, 2014

Someone needs to give the Obama White House a primer on a little document called the Constitution.  After Dr. Ben Carson’s highly conservative and controversial message at the National Prayer Breakfast last year, the event organizers called him to say that “the White House was upset and requesting that I call the president and apologize […]

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Happy Tax Day: Obama Proposed 442 Taxes Since 2009; IRS Seizing Decades-Old Debt

April 15, 2014

“Taxation without representation is tyranny.” —James Otis Another year. Another April 15th, the day most of us who actually pay taxes dread with every ounce of our being. For the record, I hate taxes. So to “honor” the yearly tradition of paying months of our hard-earned dollars to an agency that targets specific groups of […]

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