Christian Persecution

Danger of Christian Persecution in America

Orthodox Forum | by Pastor Symeon | Nov. 24, 2009

On the one hand there are those who find it [the Manhattan Declaration] “shocking” and part of the culture war, etc. These are frightened that the document will be perceived as harsh and unloving, etc.. God forbid that anyone Christian ever stand in public for Truth. And on the other hand those that are relieved to see an Orthodox Pastor with backbone to stand with others and speak truth to error, truth to power, and truth to the politically correct stricture in our society that is choking free speech and seeking to criminalize Truth. – If this much sets you off, don’t bother to read further. [Read more…]

Orthodox Priest Who Converted Muslims Murdered in Russia

Flier

RIA Novosti | Nov. 20, 2009

A Russian Orthodox priest, Fr. Daniel Sysoyev, who carried out missionary work among immigrants from ex-Soviet republics, many of them Muslims, received over a dozen death threats before his murder on Thursday, a Russian paper said.

Fr. Daniel of St. Thomas Church in Moscow foresaw his death, writing in his internet diary that he had received telephone threats from Muslims. Fr. Daniel’s evening ‘talks’ for inquirers included several especially designed for Muslims. [Read more…]

Turning a Blind Eye to Murdered Christians

FrontPage Magazine | Mark D. Tooley | Aug. 17, 2009

In June, North Korean’s beastly communist dictatorship executed a 33 year old Christian woman for distributing Bibles, while also imprisoning her 3 little children, husband and parents, in conditions undoubtedly ghastly.

Several weeks ago, mobs involving hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of enraged radical Islamists destroyed several Christian villages in Pakistan, responding to incendiary rumors about Christians supposedly desecrating the Koran. Hundreds of homes were destroyed, and at least 14 Christians were murdered, including three Christian women and a child who were burned alive as the radicals torched houses and shops. [Read more…]

Obama’s Lost Opportunity to Address Coptic Persecution

FrontPageMag | Joseph Puder | June 8, 2009

President Obama’s trip to Cairo gave him an opportunity to confront the persecution of Egypt’s ancient Christian community, an opportunity he apparently passed up. The American Coptic Association had planned a demonstration in front of the White House during the June 4th meeting between President Obama and Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.

Dr. Monir Dawoud, chairman of the American Coptic Association, is an Egyptian native who has since retired as a heart surgeon. He said he would ask President Obama: “Where is the change you promised during your campaign? Do you realize that by announcing that you will speak to the Islamic world from an Islamic country you are blessing the continuance of human rights violations against minorities in Islamic nations?” [Read more…]

Making Free Speech a Hate Crime

American Daughter | Jerry A. Kane | May 7, 2009

The hate crime bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives April 29 is an attempt by democratic socialists and progressives to silence dissent against alternative lifestyles. Their incessant iconoclastic attacks on once established values and morality have nearly eroded this nation’s spiritual and cultural legacy. Instituting same-sex marriage and prosecuting hate speech will complete the process and shatter the remaining hopes for cultural regeneration and tear down the last vestiges of the country’s Judeo-Christian ethic.

In America’s brave new post-modern multiculture, homosexual and transgender people will become a federally-protected class under the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, HR-1913. Under this act, anyone who publicly opposes the practice of homosexuality or any of the 30 other sexual orientations as designated by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) could be charged with expressing “hateful words” and convicted of a “hate crime.” [Read more…]

Christian student booted for not embracing homosexuality

Christian Examiner | May 7, 2009

A graduate counseling student at Eastern Michigan University, who was expelled from the program for not affirming homosexual behavior as acceptable, has filed a federal lawsuit.

Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund Center for Academic Freedom said the school dismissed Julea Ward from the program because she would not agree prior to a counseling session to affirm a client’s homosexual behavior and would not retract her stance in subsequent disciplinary proceedings. [Read more…]

On Enduring Scandals in Faith

OCANews.org | Fr. Josiah Trenham | May 1, 2009

“St. John Chrysostom wrote a penetrating treatise entitled On the Providence of God while he himself was in the midst of a crucible of personal suffering. He had been uncanonically deposed by a corrupt synod of bishops, and unjustly banished from his see in Constantinople by a weak Emperor whose wife despised Chrysostom for his honesty and pastoral forthrightness. He was separated from his altar and the liturgical services upon which he sustained his ascetical life. He was removed from the company of his closest friends, who themselves were being viciously persecuted by the new bishop who had been installed as Chrysostom’s successor. He was being physically abused by the imperial soldiers. He was terribly ill, burning with a fever. He was in constant danger of barbarian attack. He was ceaselessly slandered by shameless ecclesiastical opponents. He was being driven to the extreme corner of the Empire, distant from all the urban amenities he was accustomed to, and death was at his door. [Read more…]

Miss Calif. Featured in Ad Warning About ‘Gay Marriage’ Consequences

Christian Examiner | Michael Foust | May 1, 2009

With the assistance of Miss California USA Carrie Prejean, a leading conservative group launched a television ad April 30 saying the criticism the beauty contestant has received is symbolic of what will happen to religious freedoms if the nation legalizes “gay marriage.”

Nom, a leading conservative group, launched a television ad saying the criticism the beauty contestant received is symbolic of what will happen to religious freedoms if the nation legalizes “gay marriage.” [Read more…]

Faith Groups Increasingly Lose Gay Rights Fights

Washington Post | Jacqueline L. Salmon | Apr. 10, 2009

Faith organizations and individuals who view homosexuality as sinful and refuse to provide services to gay people are losing a growing number of legal battles that they say are costing them their religious freedom.

The lawsuits have resulted from states and communities that have banned discrimination based on sexual orientation. Those laws have created a clash between the right to be free from discrimination and the right to freedom of religion, religious groups said, with faith losing. They point to what they say are ominous recent examples: [Read more…]