An American Christian is facing trial in North Korea on charges that he was trying to undermine the country’s government.
His crime? He left a Bible in his hotel room after he and his tour group checked out to head back to America.
Jeffrey Fowle, 56, is being charged with leaving the Bible in his room, which is “inconsistent with the purpose of a tourist visit.” The North Korean government has not officially named charges against Fowle, just stating he will be tried for leaving behind the Bible.
“The significance of these arrests and trials cannot be overstated: North Korea is choosing to publicly blame Christian missionaries for its human rights problems and internal difficulties,” Seoul USA CEO Pastor Eric Foley told The Christian Post. “There are important lessons to be learned from the arrests by Christians seeking to reach North Korea in the future. Now is not the time to comment on the strategies of those being detained. But what we can conclude with certainty is that there is no ‘back door’ into North Korea – no strategy for sharing the gospel there that does not involve paying the highest of personal prices. This is what North Korean underground Christians have known and practiced for years.”
A spokesman for Fowle’s family said that he was not in North Korea on any kind of church mission. They denied there was anything that he could have done to “confirm suspicions” of undermining the government as claimed by North Korean prosecutors.
The U.S. State Department has repeatedly warned American citizens traveling to North Korea that they could be detained for any reason and imprisoned without trial or charge. The U.S. does not have diplomatic relations with North Korea.
East Carolina University officials are telling students to ignore the instructions from a chemistry professor to not mention God at all in their departmental graduation ceremony.
Assistant Professor Eli Hvastkovs sent an e-mail to his students to prepare a “family friendly” statement for the department’s graduation event but that God was prohibited.
“I’ve had some submissions that needed to be edited. so [sic] here are some guidelines,” Hvastkovs wrote. “1. You can’t thank God. I’m sorry about this – and I don’t want to have to outline the reasons why.”
The e-mail was published by the website Campus Reform drawing a response from the school that the e-mail was not authorized by ECU.
ECU Provost Dr. Marilyn Sheerer wrote to students saying that religious references “of any type will not be restricted.”
The virulent anti-Christian Freedom From Religion Foundation is attacking the 2013 National Baseball Coach of the Year because he would lead his team in a prayer before they took the field.
Larry Turner of Owasso High School teaches his baseball players to do more than just play the game. The team also visits war veterans in hospitals and teaches the sport to children who want to compete in the Special Olympics.
Now, the aggressive anti-Christian FFRF says a “concerned citizen” filed a complaint with them over the coach leading the team in prayer. The Freedom From Religion Foundation routinely files complaints all over the country where it is not located on behalf of anonymous people they do not provide evidence of truly existing.
The group did say in their letter they have no actual evidence of the coach leading the prayers, just the allegations of an unnamed source.
The anti-Christian group has been focusing this year on high school coaches who may lead or participate in prayers with their teams before games.
The school has not yet responded to the demands of the FFRF.
Another school has been forced to remove a Bible verse after the virulent anti-Christianist group Freedom From Religion Foundation filed a complaint.
Parkersburg South High School in West Virginia had Philippians 4:13 hanging in their gymnasium and also posted on the school wrestling team’s website. The team has been using the verse “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” as a way to encourage the team’s members to strive to be their best.
The FFRF, which is not even located in West Virginia, filed a complaint with the school earlier this month as part of their campaign to eradicate Christians and any reference to Christianity from the public.
The foundation’s attorney claimed the simple existence of the verse meant the school was endorsing Christianity.
Wood County Superintendent said they painted over the verse on the wall of the gym that was above the entrance to the wrestling room and has removed it from the website.
The town of Pismo Beach, California will no longer have any form of prayer in their council meetings after bowing to the demands of the virulent anti-Christian groups Freedom From Religion Foundation and Atheists United San Luis Obispo.
The city claims they are trying to save taxpayer dollars by giving in to the demands of the anti-Christianists.
The two groups had filed a lawsuit against the city six months ago claiming the city was violating the mythical separation of church and state because the prayers were mostly Christian in nature. They said the city’s volunteer chaplain was a Christian and thus had a Christian tone to his prayers.
They also said that the volunteer chaplain, Rev. Paul E. Jones, would tell people to live a life “in accordance with the Bible.”
The city agreed in their settlement to eliminate the volunteer chaplain position but claimed no liability in the lawsuit.
David Leidner, a member of the anti-Christian Atheist United, said he was “very happy” that the Christian chaplain was no longer part of the meetings and that there will be no prayers allowed.
A virulent anti-Christian organization has complained to Clemson University accusing the football team of promoting “Christian worship.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation of Wisconsin claims, “Christian worship seems interwoven into Clemson’s football program. We are concerned that this comingling of religion and athletics results, not from student initiative, but rather from attitudes and unconstitutional behaviors of the coaching staff.”
The FFRF’s main problem is that the coach of the team hired a Christian to be the team’s chaplain. They claim that because the coach is an employee of a public university, his hiring of a Christian is showing preference and endorsement of the Christian religion.
The group is also upset that almost the entire team shows up for a voluntary chapel service the night before each game. They also reportedly know the coach’s favorite Bible verses, 1 Corinthians 9:24-25.
Coach Debo Swinney dismissed the accusations saying that there is no Christian coercion on the team. He told the Chronicle of Higher Education that his team has Muslims, Catholics and Mormons and that the best player takes the field every game regardless of their personal faith.
The virulent anti-Christian Freedom From Religion Foundation is attacking the police chief of Birmingham, Alabama because of his participating with a group that prays in the most crime-ridden sections of town.
Chief A.C. Roper, who is an ordained minister, is assisting a group called Prayer Force United. The group consists of the chief, members of the force, area churches and local residents. The goal of the group is to bring faith-based activities to parts of the community that have been negatively impacted by crime.
The anti-Christianists are demanding that the chief no longer participate in the events unless he makes sure to remove any reference to his position as a leader in the police department. The group claims that his participation in the events and allowing a police car to roll through the area as part of the “prayer walks” in crime-infested neighborhoods is a violation of the Constitution.
The FFRF did not address the presence of the police officers providing security and safety for the prayer walkers who are residents of the city the officers are sworn to protect.
Chief Roper told reporters that he is not ashamed of his association with the group and that working with faith-based groups is part of their overall plan to deal with crime in Birmingham.
The Air Force is taking another step to remove any Christian emblems from being displayed anywhere on their bases.
This time, they removed a memorial to men missing in action because the display contained a Bible.
A veteran who visited the base discovered the Missing Man Table at Patrick Air Force Base removed last week. The Missing Man Table is a remembrance of soldiers who are missing. The table consists traditionally of an inverted glass, a red rose and a Bible among other items.
When questioned on the disappearance, the Air Force admitted they removed the display because there was a Bible in it.
The Air Force replaced the display with a POW/MIA flag while they claimed to be seeking “an acceptable solution” to the controversy they created with the removal and targeting of the Christian holy book as the removal of the display.
Officials say they plan to return the display but did not say if they would allow the Bible to be returned to its rightful place in the display.
A pair of federal judges is endorsing discrimination against groups because of their faith in a ruling against churches meeting in New York City schools.
In a 2-1 ruling by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, the court said that New York City school officials could deny Christian groups the same right to rent space inside their buildings that are offered to other groups. The liberal judges ruled that the Free Exercise Clause did not require government to finance exercise of religion.
However, the dissenting justice pointed out the majority’s endorsement of discrimination.
“Allowing an entity to use public school space open to all others on equal terms is hardly the financing of that entity,” Judge John Waller wrote. “However, shutting the door to religious worship services in such a setting when every other activity is permitted strikes at the Clause’s core.”
The Alliance Defending Freedom, who is representing the church involved with the case, is working on an appeal of the ruling.
Over 500 residents of Sandpoint, Idaho took to the streets to protest an anti-Christian group attempting to get a Ten Commandments monument removed from a public area.
Most of the residents were upset that the Wisconsin-based anti-Christian Freedom From Religion Foundation, which targets Christians and Christian emblems nationwide, would be trying to come into their town and have something removed that the community doesn’t want to see gone.
“I don’t like this at all,” resident Gladys Johnson told the Bonner County Daily Bee. “There’s no way someone can come into our town and dictate what goes on here.”
The FFRF sent a letter last November to the mayor of Sandpoint taking issue with the monument being on public property. The people who sent the letter do not live or have never been to Sandpoint.
The monument was placed in Farmin Park after being donated to the city by the Fraternal Order of Eagles. The city says they have no current plans to remove it but are working with the Eagles to find an alternative location.
