"We are hard pressed...
yet not crushed.... persecuted,
but not forsaken;
struck down,
but not destroyed..."
2 Cor. 2:7-10
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News: Seeds of Persecution
Today's growing hostility toward those who trust and follow God
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"We are hard pressed... yet not crushed.... persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed..." 2 Cor. 2:7-10
More Scriptures |
News: Seeds of Persecution Today's growing hostility toward those who trust and follow God
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March 2014
What's going on at Air Force Academy? God's word vs. Pentagon's word: "The Air Force Academy admitted Wednesday that a cadet leader had to remove a Bible verse he had displayed outside his dorm room because it offended non-Christians and could 'subordinates to doubt the leader’s religious impartiality.' The controversy started when a cadet leader posted a passage of scripture on his whiteboard with a quote from the New Testament book of Galatians. 'I have been crucified with Christ therefore I no longer live, but Christ lives in me,' the verse from Galatians 2:20 read. See Standing alone with God
January 2014
District bullies students over faith – again: "The teacher gave each child in the class a canvas bag with instruction to find something at home that represented a family Christmas tradition... and share it...
"'
Brynn took the Star of Bethlehem from the top of the family Christmas tree to represent her family’s tradition of remembering why Christmas is celebrated. Brynn worked diligently on a one-minute presentation....'"She began: 'Our Christmas tradition is to put a star on top of our tree. The star is named the Star of Bethlehem. The three kings followed the star to find baby Jesus, the Savior of the world. John…' At that point, she was interrupted by the teacher, who said: 'Stop right there! Go take your seat!' Then the teacher told the entire class that Brynn was not allowed to talk about the Bible or share any verses.
“The disapproval and hostility that Christian students have come to experience in our nation’s public schools has become epidemic.... The legal team said the incident came just days after a teacher...told first-grader Isaiah Martinez that 'Jesus is not allowed in school.'" See
Light after darkness
University of Michigan Ousts Christian Club From Campus for Not Allowing Non-Christian Leaders: "InterVarsity Christian Fellowship states that it was informed by campus officials that its policies conflicted with the university’s policies, which prohibit discrimination. 'The university is sending the message that religious voices are suspect and should be marginalized.'"
Hospital Bans Christmas Carolers From Singing Religious Songs: "A group of high school students from Augusta’s Alleluia Community School were prevented from singing traditional holiday songs that honor and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ to veterans by the medical center last week. ... the Veterans Affairs hospital’s 'spiritual care' grants holiday exemption only to secular characters..." See Her All for Him
Banning childrens' Christmas cards. VA hospital refuses to accept 'Merry Christmas' cards: "Boys and girls at Grace Academy in Prosper, Tex., spent most of last Friday making homemade Christmas cards for bedridden veterans at the VA hospital in Dallas.
"Fourth-grader Gracie Brown was especially proud of her card, hoping it would 'make their day because their family might live far away, and they might not have somebody to celebrate Christmas with.' 'I’d like them to know they’ve not been forgotten and somebody wanted to say thank you.' ... Gracie’s card read, 'Merry Christmas. Thank you for your service.' It also included an American flag.
"But the bedridden veterans at the VA hospital will never get to see Gracie’s card. Nor will they see the cards made by 51 other students. That’s because the Christmas cards violated VA policy." See Preparing for Persecution
October 2013
Seeds of Persecution. Christian sports broadcaster sues Fox Sports over dismissal: "Craig James, who was fired by Fox Sports Southwest because he voiced views reflecting traditional biblical belief, is going to court over his termination.... 'They have said themselves that the reason they terminated him was because of his religious beliefs concerning marriage,” says Mateer. “Craig actually believes that marriage is between one man and one woman – and he said that during a U.S. Senate debate over a year ago..."
July 2013
U.S. city looks to penalize Bible believers: "Think it’s hot in Texas these days? Just wait a few weeks, until the San Antonio City Council ... resumes work on a proposed change to its nondiscrimination ordinances that apparently will discriminate against all who take the Bible at its word and follow it. That’s because the change creates a penalty for those who ever exhibit a 'bias,' which clearly could include adopting the Bible’s condemnation of homosexuality....
"The proposal, however, does not define 'bias.... The new ordinance would state: 'No person shall be appointed to a position if the city council finds that such person has, prior to such proposed appointment, engaged in discrimination or demonstrated a bias, by word or deed, against any person, group or organization on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, age, or disability.'...
"Church leaders who oppose the proposed change argue it violates First Amendment rights to freedom of religion, freedom of speech and freedom of association."
See Spiritual Warfare: Hating TruthUniversity Tells Student to Remove Cross Necklace: "A Sonoma State University student was ordered to remove a cross necklace by a supervisor who thought other students might find it offensive....Audrey Jarvis, 19, a liberal arts major at the northern California university, said she had no choice but to seek a 'religious accommodation' in order to wear the cross." See Can't We All Share One Religion?
DOMA Supreme Strikedown Could Lead to Loss of Non-Profit Status for Traditional Religions: "It seems inconceivable, but so far we’ve had cake shops and photographers sued for turning down gay marriage events and a church was targeted because it refused to allow the use of its property. The Boy Scouts are on the way being beaten. The next target will be religious schools of any kind."
May 2013
Baptist Newspaper Said IRS Targeted Them : "Among the ministries targeted are the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Samaritan’s Purse and the Biblical Recorder – the news journal of the North Carolina Baptist State Convention. ...the IRS was targeting more than just Tea Party groups and conservative political organizations. 'I am bringing this to your attention because I believe that someone in the Administration was targeting and attempting to intimidate us,' wrote Franklin Graham.... 'This is morally wrong and unethical." Seeing the world from His perspective
Army Email Labels Christian Ministries as “Domestic Hate Groups”: "A U.S. Army officer sent an email to dozens of subordinates listing the American Family Association and Family Research Council as 'domestic hate groups' because they oppose homosexuality — and warned officers to monitor soldiers who might be supporters of the groups....
"Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, [said]... 'It’s very disturbing to see where the Obama Administration is taking the military and using it as a laboratory for social experimentation — and also as an instrument to fundamentally change the culture.'....
"The Army denied there is any attack on Christians or those who hold religious beliefs. ...'Any belief that the Army is out to label religious groups in a negative manner is without warrant.” Not true! See Rising Persecution in the "Land of the Free"?
April 2013
Police won't say why pastor arrested: "Several city police officers swooped in and arrested a preacher named Chet Gallagher while he walked along a public sidewalk in front of the abortion clinic, preaching the Word of God to a dozen or more people, this week. The charges? Don’t know; police didn’t tell him. Department officials even declined to give him charging documents when he was ordered to appear in court in June." See Spiritual Warfare, Part 3: Hating God's Truth
Military Labels Evangelicals, Catholics as ‘Religious Extremism’: "The U.S. Army listed Evangelical Christianity and Catholicism as examples of religious extremism along with Al Qaeda and Hamas during a briefing with an Army Reserve unit based in Pennsylvania.... The incident occurred during an Army Reserve Equal Opportunity training brief on extremism. Topping the list is Evangelical Christianity. Other organizations listed included Catholicism, Al Qaeda, Hamas, the Ku Klux Klan, Sunni Muslims, and Nation of Islam. The military also listed 'Islamophobia.'" See Can't We All Share One Religion?
American Arrested for Anti-homosexual Statements: "What does the Islamic world and [much of today's] Europe have in common? ....in neither place are Christians allowed to fully express their beliefs without fear of persecution....The victim is 47-year-old New Yorker Shawn Holes, who was on a UK tour when he was arrested in Glasgow after running afoul of UK hate-speech laws....
"When asked about his views on homosexuality, Holes said: 'Homosexuals are deserving of the wrath of God – and so are all other sinners.' ...Holes’ arrest was followed by the imposition of a £1,000 fine, which is a harsher penalty than even some Britons who commit violent crimes must endure." See Zero Tolerance For Non-Compliance
Genuine Repentance and Transformed Lives: "Fast becoming like heathen nations, America is now rejecting -- even banning -- God's Word and ways. ... A dark monument to the envisioned unity of nations and world religions, it aims to eradicate God's eternal Truth and establish a new world order based on power, tyranny and dark spiritual mysteries that few can even fathom."
March 2013
Alabama School Bans Word ‘Easter’: "Boys and girls at an Alabama elementary school will still get to hunt for eggs – but they can’t call them ‘Easter Eggs’. ...the principal banished the word for the sake of religious diversity.... 'So we’re just trying to make sure we respect and honor everybody’s differences.'" See Brainwashing aimed at silencing Christianity?
Stanford Kills Popular Course on Free Market: "In 2009, Professor John McCaskey began teaching 'Moral Foundations of Capitalism' at the Palo Alto, Calif. institution. The seminar explored and evaluated historical arguments for the free-market model.... The course proved more popular than Stanford expected, drawing double the planned number of students with even more sitting on the floor outside....So what does a university do with a runaway academic hit? Cancel it, of course....
[In contrast] Stanford’s Department of History presents such essentials as 'Capitalism and Its Discontents...' and “Social Democracy from Marx to Gross National Happiness.'" See Mandatory Training in Orwellian Thinking
January 2013
Muzzling Military Chaplains: "One of the items on Obama’s second term agenda is to root out traditionally Christian chaplains from the military. He sees them as bigots unworthy of conscience protections. Like Chick-fil-A, they don’t uphold Obama’s 'values.' ...Lieutenant General Thomas P. Bostick, the Army’s deputy chief of staff in charge of personnel, said military members who dissent from Obama’s gay rights agenda should 'get out.'"
November 2012
Potty-Training Toddler Pees in Front Yard…Mother Gets Fined $2,500: "...a police officer witnessed the incident and wrote Ashley Warden, the 3-year-old boy’s mother, a $2,500 ticket for public urination."
October 2012
? "Why is our government so hostile to the Christian message of God's love? Why would America follow the intolerant ways of Communist and Islamic nations that outlaw genuine Christian ministries to the hungry and homeless?"Which social and political goals are fueling this war on God's Truth? One clue may be found in Barack Obama's 'Call to Renewal' speech on June 28, 2006. He said, 'Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific values.'...'
"But the apostle Paul said, '
We must obey God rather than man.' Committed Christians cannot yield to rules that would quench our freedom to share God's Word. Meanwhile, we must prepare to face the kind of hostility that would have been unthinkable in this 'land of the free' six decades ago..."Francis Schaeffer points to the heart of today's battle: 'Let us not forget why the Christians were killed. They were not killed because they worshiped Jesus.... Nobody cared who worshiped whom so long as the worshiper did not disrupt the unity of the state, centered in the formal worship of Caesar. The reason the Christians were killed was because they were rebels..."
September 2012
Persecution of Christians on Rise -- in U.S.: "...government agencies around the U.S. are trying to push Christian expression out the door. ...'senior citizens being banned from praying over their meals in the Senior Center....'One of the most strident examples: the misuse of the Establishment Clause to attempt to ban any mention of God from historical markers, monuments or even museum exhibits, 'French says. This represents an effort to whitewash God from American history." See His light in the darkness
Obama Curbs Military Drills With Israel, Increases Drills with Muslim Brotherhood: "Just days after a report that the U.S. was sharply cutting its participation in a military exercise scheduled with Israel, U.S. planes landed in Egypt Tuesday for a joint exercise....The exercise is one of a series of steps the U.S. has undertaken in recent weeks to build ties with the regime of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi, the new President of Egypt. According to U.S. reports, Washington is set to forgive a billion dollars of Egyptian debt as part of its international assistance program for Egypt. The debt will be dumped in the laps of U.S. taxpayers. Egypt currently owes the U.S. some $3 billion."
August 2012
Police have ‘a pattern’ of ignoring anti-Christian hate crimes: "Washington, D.C., is one of many localities that includes a 'hate crimes law, which says additional consequences will be imposed if a criminal targets a person for one of many reasons, including the 'political affiliation of a victim.' Why then are the capital’s police not investigating the Family Research Center shooting as a hate crime? ...FRC shooter Floyd Corkins II – a homosexual activist from Herndon, Virginia – reportedly shouted, 'I don’t like your politics' as he opened fire inside the headquarters of the Family Research Center....Yet there is no word D.C. police intend to punish someone of Corkins’ political orientation."
Christians victims of rising 'hostility' from gov't and secular groups, report says: "...there's been a rising pattern of hostility toward Christians in America over the past decade. The 140-page 'Survey of Religious Hostility in America,' prepared by the Liberty Institute and the Family Research Council, highlighted more than 600 examples illustrating what it characterized as religious animosity shown by judges, government bureaucrats, schools and secular groups. Among the examples listed in the survey:
~ Matthew Reynolds, valedictorian for HLV Junior-Senior High School in Victor, Iowa, was told he had to give a 'secular' speech after he wished to attribute his success to his faith in Jesus Christ during his graduation speech....
~ Dr. Frank Turek, a Cisco employee, was fired for expressing his views on traditional marriage in his book, even though he never voiced his religious opinions at work.
~ Samantha Schulz, 8, was barred from singing 'Kum Ba Yah' at a Boys and Girls Club in Port Charlotte, Fla., because the song included the words 'Oh, Lord.'
~ Lorena Cenzon-DeCarlo, a nurse at Manhattan's Mount Sinai Hospital, was forced to participate in a late-term abortion against her religious convictions, and was threatened with job termination and loss of license. "
See Can't We All Share One Religion?
July 2012
Mayor Menino on Chick-fil-A: “Chick-fil-A doesn’t belong in Boston. You can’t have a business in the city of Boston that discriminates against a population. We’re an open city, we’re a city that’s at the forefront of inclusion....' Mayor Thomas M. Menino is vowing to block Chick-fil-A from bringing its Southern-fried fast-food empire to Boston... after the family-owned firm’s president suggested gay marriage is 'inviting God’s judgment on our nation.'" See Declaration on Tolerance
One nation under…government: "When Barack Obama promised to 'fundamentally transform the United States,' we could not have anticipated the extreme transformations he would seek. The evidence is rolling in that he is determined to transform America into a totally secular land." While Christian expressions would be forbidden except in government regulated churches, Islamic expressions might well be legal anywhere.
Judge says man can't hand out Bibles at Twin Cities Pride fest: "A Wisconsin man who wants to hand out Bibles at the 40th Annual Twin Cities Pride festival in Loring Park this month will have to confine himself to a booth just outside of the event....Johnson, an evangelical Christian and taxidermist from Hayward, said in his lawsuit that he has distributed Bibles at the annual event since 1995 and that he had no problems until 2009, when the organization refused to rent him a booth after an exchange about his views on homosexuality." See Declaration on Tolerance
June 2012
Islamic Indoctrination in Textbooks: "Political correctness has a double standard when it comes to teaching about religion in public schools. Drop Christianity down the memory hole but give extensive and mostly favorable coverage to Islam.German Court Makes Circumcision for Religious Reasons a Crime: "In a ruling bound to fuel a long-running debate over circumcision, a regional court in Cologne said Tuesday that the 'fundamental right of the child to bodily integrity outweighed the fundamental rights of the parents.' ... For Jews, however, circumcision of baby boys at eight days has been a key tenet of faith for some 4,000 years. Prescribed by God in Genesis 17, it symbolized that a person was in covenant with his Creator." See Can't We All Share One Religion?
Lawmakers claim Air Force culture becoming ' hostile towards religion': "Dozens of House lawmakers accused the U.S. Air Force this week of being 'hostile towards religion,' citing a string of recent incidents they claim show the military is taking separation of church and state too far. ...Among the incidents: ~ A decision to remove a Latin reference to 'God' from a logo... ~The suspension of an ethics course because the material included Bible passages...."
Patriotism Should be Celebrated in School, Not Banned: “'God Bless the USA' is one of America’s most popular patriotic songs, and it took on new meaning after the deadly terrorist attacks of 9/11. Yet, a school in New York City has banned this song from a graduation ceremony for kindergarten students. The principal says 'God Bless the USA' is not 'age appropriate' and could end up 'offending other cultures.' Singing "I'm proud to be an American" is wholly appropriate in school, and this patriotic song should be reinstated on the program." See Trading U.S. Rights for UN Rules
Banning Bibles out of line -- Congress told Resolution also would address censorship of faith elements at military funerals: "The Veterans Administration in recent months has tried to prohibit Bibles at its military hospitals and ban the use of the word 'God' at military funerals, and now there are members in Congress who say enough is enough. So HR 2720 has been introduced, stating emphatically that 'no official of the federal government, including the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, may interfere with the content and creed of the funeral, memorial service, or ceremony of a deceased individual, as expressed by the last will and testament of the individual or as determined by the family or agent of the individual, as provided under state law." See UNESCO's Declaration on the Role of Religion in a Culture of Peace
"Even the mainstream media have provided extensive coverage of the steady stream of court cases and threatening letters from the American Civil Liberties Union aimed at removing all signs of Judeo-Christianity from public schools. Not only must prayer be prohibited, a cross and the Ten Commandments removed.... a valedictorian banned from thanking God for his help, a football coach prohibited from bowing his head during a student-led pre-game prayer." See Spiritual Warfare: Good or Evil - Who Wins?