The Cultural War Against Christians

Townhall.com:

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer was right to veto SB1062, which would have amended the Arizona Religious Freedom Restoration Act. 

The bill, per most interpretations I’ve read, would have given broad discretion to business owners, because of their religious convictions, to refuse to do business with anyone associated with homosexual lifestyles. 

Religious freedom is about protection of your right to practice your religion and not being forced to violate it.

However, the right to religious freedom does not mean the right to write-off and marginalize into non-existence a whole class of citizens whom you don’t like or agree with. 

Under Jim Crow, the problem whites had with blacks was not what blacks thought or did, but that they existed. These laws were designed to relegate one class of citizens to separate and unequal status, simply because of who they were. 

Such actions have nothing to do with freedom and everything to do with bigotry and racism. 

But, unfortunately, the failure of this poorly conceived Arizona bill will be misinterpreted. Some will incorrectly claim that this means it is not a violation of religious freedom to force a business owner to provide a product or service for activity that is against his or her religious convictions. That is incorrect. 

Would anyone question the refusal of a black vendor to sells sheets to the local Ku Klux Klan chapter? Or a Jewish merchant refusing to sell the poster board for a Neo-Nazi rally? Or refusal of a Christian video service to make a pornographic film? 

So why is it not perfectly clear that the religious freedom of a Christian merchant is violated if that merchant is forced to bake a cake or prepare a flower arrangement for a same-sex marriage which is not only as personally repugnant to that vendor as any in the cases above, but is also a clear and literal violation of the scripture that defines the faith of these individuals? 

And why is it that same-sex couples have such a hard time finding bakers and florists that are not offended by their wedding? Why do they wind up with such regularity trying to buy from Christian vendors? 

The reality is that the “gay rights” crusade is not about a struggle for justice but rather it is a cultural war. 

Homosexual activists understand the ongoing erosion of traditional values as a pillar of our society and use this opportunity to push Christian reality, once and for all, into the closet and to lock the door. 

The cultural script has been re-written such that Christians have been put in a position of either rejecting the precepts and prohibitions of their religion, or being faithful to them and being branded as against “equality.”

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The Cultural War Against Christians

Fmr. Bush aide Matt Dowd: Arizona anti-gay Christians are like Islamic terrorists

President George W. Bush’s former chief strategist Matthew Dowd on Sunday likened Christians in Arizona who are using religion to discriminate against LGBT people to Islamic terrorists.

Last week, Arizona’s legislature passed a bill that would allow business owners to assert religious beliefs as an excuse to discriminate against gay and lesbian customers.

On Sunday, ABC’s Martha Raddatz asked Dowd to predict if Gov. Jan Brewer (R) would sign the bill into law.

“I think, in the end, Gov. Brewer is probably going to veto this because it seems like an easy veto for her to do because of everything that’s going in the business economy there,” Dowd explained.

“This is one of those problems when people use religion as a way to sort of enforce discriminatory practices,” he continued. “People used religion back in the 1860s when they defended slavery. They used religion to defend slavery.”

“We’ve used religion to go to war. People have criticized Islam because they use religion to fight people and kill people. This is the problem with that [bill].”

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Fmr. Bush aide Matt Dowd: Arizona anti-gay Christians are like Islamic terrorists

Christians Oppressed In Most Christian State In The Country

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Christians Oppressed In Most Christian State In The Country

Pakistani Muslims Can Have You Arrested If They Don’t Like You - ‘Firecracker’ conspiracy theory leads to arrest and torture of Christians

At Alternate Viewpoint, the privacy of our visitors is of extreme importance to us (See this article to learn more about Privacy Policies.). This privacy policy document outlines the types of personal information is received and collected by Alternate Viewpoint and how it is used.

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Like many other Web sites, Alternate Viewpoint makes use of log files. The information inside the log files includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, type of browser, Internet Service Provider (ISP), date/time stamp, referring/exit pages, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user"s movement around the site, and gather demographic information. IP addresses, and other such information are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable.

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Pakistani Muslims Can Have You Arrested If They Don’t Like You - ‘Firecracker’ conspiracy theory leads to arrest and torture of Christians

Video: “Liberal Christians And Bigfoot”

What do liberal Christians and Bigfoot have in common? There is no credible evidence that either actually exist.

“Loophole” from Obama’s IRS: Protect your IRA or 401(k) with gold and silver… click here to get a NO-COST Info Guide >

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Video: “Liberal Christians And Bigfoot”

Video: “Liberal Christians And Bigfoot”

What do liberal Christians and Bigfoot have in common? There is no credible evidence that either actually exist.

“Loophole” from Obama’s IRS: Protect your IRA or 401(k) with gold and silver… click here to get a NO-COST Info Guide >

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Video: “Liberal Christians And Bigfoot”

Suicide bombers kill 78 Christians outside Pakistani church

1 of 2. A man cries at the death of his brother at the site of a suicide blast at a church in Peshawar, September 22, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Fayaz Aziz

By Fayaz Aziz

PESHAWAR, Pakistan | Sun Sep 22, 2013 7:15am EDT

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – A pair of suicide bombers blew themselves up outside a 130-year-old church in Pakistan after Sunday Mass, killing at least 56 people in the deadliest attack on Christians in the predominantly Muslim South Asian country.

Religious violence and attacks on security forces have been on the rise in Pakistan in past months, undermining Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s efforts to tame the insurgency after coming to power in June.

The attackers struck the historic white-stone All Saints Church in the north-western city of Peshawar just as hundreds of parishioners streamed out of the building after Sunday mass.

“I heard two explosions. People started to run. Human remains were strewn all over the church,” said one parishioner, who only gave her first name, Margrette.

Her voice breaking with emotion, she said she had not seen her sister since the explosions ripped through the gate area outside the church.

Christians make up about four percent of Pakistan’s population of 180 million and tend to keep a low profile in a country where Sunni Muslim militants frequently bomb targets they see as heretical, including Christians, Sufis and Shi’ites.

Attacks on Christian areas occur sporadically around the country but Sunday’s assault was the most violent in recent history.

In 2009, 40 houses and a church were set ablaze by a mob of 1,000 Muslims in the town of Gojra in Punjab province. At least seven Christians were burnt to death. Seventeen Christians were killed in an attack on a church in Bahawalpur in 2001.

Najeeb Bogvi, a senior police officer, put the death toll from Sunday’s attack at 56, saying more than 100 people were wounded. Police said the death toll included many children and women.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in the densely populated Christian residential area in the old walled city in Peshawar.

ANGRY RESIDENTS

Some residents, enraged at the lack of adequate security at the church, took to the streets immediately after the attack, burning tires and shouting slogans. Shops were closed in the Kohati Gate area where several other churches are located.

“Terrorists have not spared mosques, temples and churches. Please have mercy on us,” one man outside the church, his face distorted by fear and anger, told Pakistan’s private Geo television channel.

Protests by Christians were also reported in other cities including the violent port city of Karachi.

A bomb disposal security source said there were two explosions carried out by a pair of attackers. More than 600 parishioners were inside the church for the service.

Pakistan, which also faces a Taliban insurgency, is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for minorities, and Christians, Shi’ite Muslims and Ahmadis are victims of a rising tide of deadly violence.

Sunday’s attacks could complicate efforts by Sharif to engage militants in peace negotiations at a time when roadside bombs, targeted killings and suicide attacks continue unabated.

“The Prime Minister said that terrorists have no religion and targeting innocent people is against the teachings of Islam and all religions,” his office said in a statement.

“He added that such cruel acts of terrorism reflect the brutality and inhumane mind set of the terrorists.”

(Writing by Maria Golovnina; additional reporting by Hameedullah Khan and Syed Raza Hassan; Editing by Nick Macfie)

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Suicide bombers kill 78 Christians outside Pakistani church

Video: Egypt Muslim Brotherhood Murders Christians For Not Paying Jizya Tax

Reports are coming out of Egypt that members of the Muslim Brotherhood are executing Christians for not paying the Jizya tax. The Jizya is the extortion/protection money non-Muslims must pay to Muslims to avoid being murdered…by Muslims.

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Video: Egypt Muslim Brotherhood Murders Christians For Not Paying Jizya Tax

Christians demand free speech guidance from Scotland Yard chief

The American, a former deputy sheriff in Los Angeles, was eventually released without charge but later said his experience suggested that “thought police” had become a reality in Britain.

Andrea Williams, the director of the CLC, has written to Sir Bernard insisting that human rights laws allow Christians to express their genuinely-held views without fear of arrest, providing they do not incite a breach of the peace.

The Christian Legal Centre (CLC), which is representing Mr Miano, points out in its letter that Sir Bernard’s officers took no action against a woman who told Mr Miano to “**** off” but arrested the preacher for reading from the Bible.

In the letter, seen by The Telegraph, Mrs Williams says: “We formally request that you issue guidance to all officers immediately that the Bible message on the ‘sin of homosexuality’ is lawful.

“Currently, the police appear to enforce the law to silence the viewpoint that homosexual conduct is a sin. This conduct by the police is unlawful and amounts to a systemic pattern of discrimination against Christians.”

Mrs Williams suggested Christians were becoming “fearful” of expressing their lawful views because of the police’s “intimidatory tactics”.

The CLC said there had been at least 16 cases of Christians being arrested for expressing their views on homosexuality over the last 11 years.

Mrs Williams said: “We would like to see clear guidance from the Metropolitan Commissioner that Christians preaching from the Bible that homosexual conduct is sinful is lawful free speech.

“The police officers in this case found that the complainant saying ‘**** off’ was non-offensive and lawful, but that the evangelist’s preaching from the Bible was an arrestable offence.

“Free speech is under threat and we need to protect it. We hope that the Commissioner will take a lead in this.”

Mr Miano has instructed Paul Diamond, the human rights barrister, to act for him in the case.

It is understood the CLC will launch judicial review proceedings against Scotland Yard if Sir Bernard fails to issue the guidance to officers.

The group is also asking the Association of Chief Police Officers to draw up guidelines for police officers in other forces across England and Wales.

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Christians demand free speech guidance from Scotland Yard chief

Chris Rodda: Congress Members Want Military Gays to be Free to Mock Christians

An amendment to the FY14 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), if it remains in the bill and is signed into law, would give gays serving in the military permission to openly mock and denigrate Christians.

The amendment, introduced by Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) has already passed in the House, but has also already been objected to by the Obama administration. A similar amendment, introduced by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) has passed the Senate Armed Services Committee.

What Rep. Fleming’s amendment would do is alter the language of the “religious freedom” amendment that made it into last year’s NDAA, raising the bar on just how much our gay men and women in uniform can mock and denigrate their Christian fellow service members.

If passed, these new rules will be a huge victory for gays in the military. No longer will they have to be respectful of those whose religious beliefs tell them that homosexuality is a sin. They will be free to openly mock the Bible and Christians and push the gay agenda on everybody — and their commanders won’t be able to do a damn thing to stop them.

This is how the proposed changes will alter section 533 of last year’s NDAA (new language bolded and in brackets):

(a) PROTECTION OF RIGHTS OF CONSCIENCE.–

(1) ACCOMMODATION.–[Except in cases of military necessity,] the Armed Forces shall accommodate the beliefs, [actions, and speech] of a member of the armed forces reflecting the conscience, moral principles, or religious beliefs of the member and, in so far as practicable, may not use such beliefs, [actions, and speech] as the basis of any adverse personnel action, discrimination, or denial of promotion, schooling, training, or assignment.

(2) DISCIPLINARY OR ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION.–Nothing in paragraph (1) precludes disciplinary or administrative action for conduct that is proscribed by chapter 47 of title 10, United States Code (the Uniform Code of Military Justice), including actions and speech that threaten [actually harm] good order and discipline.

No longer will name-calling and harassment be prohibited if these “sticks and stones” merely pose a threat to good order and discipline; they will have to result in actual harm to good order and discipline. In other words, a commander will no longer be able to head off a potential breach of good order and discipline in their unit by stopping a gay service member from calling a Christian a “Bible thumper” or “Jesus freak” — they will have to wait until such name-calling escalates to a point where the persecution of the Christians in their unit becomes so great that the unit cannot function efficiently.

And Fleming’s amendment doesn’t stop at mere words. The anti-Christian actions of gays in the military will also be protected! Gays will be free to push their gay agenda on everybody in any manner that doesn’t rise to the level of violating Chapter 47 of the UCMJ! Pro-gay chaplains will even be able to stop heterosexual Christian wedding ceremonies from taking place in military chapels!

Yeah, right. Now go back and read this post reversing Christians and gays because that, of course, is what Rep. Fleming’s amendment will do. This amendment, under the guise of “religious liberty,” is really all about undermining and even reversing the repeal of “Don’t ask, don’t tell,” and everybody knows it.

Follow Chris Rodda on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ChrisRodda1

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Chris Rodda: Congress Members Want Military Gays to be Free to Mock Christians