After complaints from anti-Christian groups, an Oklahoma school board has dropped an elective course on the Bible proposed by the head of the craft chain Hobby Lobby.
The Mustang School Board has approved in April the “Museum of the Bible” curriculum that Steve Green presented to them. The class would show the Old and New Testament’s impact on American society.
The virulent anti-Christian groups Freedom From Religion Foundation and Americans United for Separation of Church and State claimed the curriculum was unconstitutional because it spoke positively about Christianity.
“The topic of a Bible course in the Mustang School District is no longer a discussion item nor is there a plan to provide such a course in the foreseeable future,” the school’s superintendent wrote, according to reports. “All students who were pre-enrolled in the elective had their schedules changed to a Humanities course or they were afforded the opportunity to select another elective.”
Officials with the Museum of the Bible seem unfazed by the outcome of the bigoted attack against them by the anti-Christian groups.
“We understand Mustang’s decision to withdraw the new, elective Bible course from consideration,” said course representative and editor Jerry Pattengale. “Museum of the Bible remains committed to providing an elective high school Bible curriculum and continues work on an innovative, high-tech course that will provide students and teachers with a scholarly overview of the Bible’s history, narrative and impact.”
Islamic terrorist group ISIS beheaded four Iraqi children who would not deny the name of Jesus.
Rev. Canon Andrew White, the “Vicar of Baghdad”, told the story of the four children during an interview for the Orthodox Christian Network. He said that the story is just one of the many examples of the Islamic group’s brutality.
“ISIS turned up and they said to the children, ‘you say the words that you will follow Muhammad.’ The Children, all under 15, four of them, they said, ‘no, we love Yasua [Jesus]. We have always loved Yasua. We have always followed Yasua. Yasua has always been with us.'” White said. “[The Militants] said, ‘say the words!’ [The Children] said, ‘no, we can’t do that.’ They chopped all their heads off.”
White said that many parents are being forced to say they’re converting to Islam to protect the lives of their children. ISIS routinely makes children kneel before their parents with weapons to their heads saying they will murder the children if the adults don’t convert to Islam.
White finally had to leave Iraq because of death threats from ISIS.
“They have threatened to kill me. They are after me. They wanted that Abuna [Father] from England,” White said. “So the Archbishop of Canterbury said ‘you’ve got to leave now.'”
Officials in Borno State are reporting a massacre over the weekend in the Christian town of Shani carried out by Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram.
The communications with the town were cut off during the attack and officials say they are just now learning the scope of the attack.
A resident of the town told the Nigerian Daily Post that Boko Haram descended on the town around 8 p.m. local time on Saturday.
“They came on about 10 motorcycles from Gwaskara axis, well armed with Ak47 rifles, improvised explosive devices and petrol bombs, wrecking havoc without confrontation as there was no military operatives, nor police to assist the armless civilians who were running for dear lives,” the witness said.
The witness said at least two dozen people were killed and many businesses looted.
“A boy ran into my shop and said his father and elder brother had been shot. He was only wearing shorts, no top and sweating despite the wintry weather. I shut down my shop immediately, leaving some items outside,” business-owner Shuabu Lawal said.
A hostile anti-Christian organization is aiming a hate campaign toward Christians in the southern part of the U.S.
American Atheists is buying billboards across the south with a picture of a devious looking child and a message that says “Dear Santa, All I want for Christmas is to skip church! I’m too old for fairy tales.”
The hostile group is pushing their agenda against Christians.
“Even children know churches spew absurdity, which is why they don’t want to attend services. Enjoy the time with your family and friends instead,” said American Atheists President David Silverman. “Today’s adults have no obligation to pretend to believe the lies their parents believed. It’s OK to admit that your parents were wrong about God, and it’s definitely OK to tell your children the truth.”
The group placed billboards in Memphis and Nashville, TN, St. Louis, MO, Fort Smith, AR and a local group in Milwaukee sponsored their city.
Billboard providers in Jackson, MS refused to sell space to the anti-Christian group.
Police and security personnel have arrested the leaders of a Sudanese Christian church that refused to surrender their property and possessions to the government.
Authorities stormed the compound of the Khartoum Bahri Evangelical Church on Sunday and arrested church leaders who were leading a prayer vigil on the remains of a home destroyed the previous week by the government.
Rev. Daud Fadul, elder Fathi Hakim, elder Nouh Manzoul, deacon Iman Hamid and Tilal Mafishi were taken to the Khartoum North Police Station after they refused to stop praying and worshipping on the site.
The members of the church have been maintaining a round the clock vigil to keep the government from destroying the rest of the church’s property.
A Muslim businessman went to the government and told them that he owned the land, so the government has sided with him to remove the Christians from the land and demolish the church.
The government has forcibly removed Christians from their homes and land after the formation of the mostly Christian South Sudan in July 2011. They claim that any Christian land was owned by people who are now in South Sudan.
Two anti-Christian organizations have singled out a professor at Georgia Southern University, claiming that he is “preaching” in his classroom.
The virulent anti-Christian group Freedom from Religion Foundation and the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science sent a letter to the president of the university stating that Professor Emerson Tom McMullen promotes religion.
“McMullen appears to use at least some of his class to preach religion instead of teach history,” the letter reads. “Our reports and information indicate that McMullen (1) is known for injecting religion into his classes, (2) gives extra credit to students willing to endure and describe additional proselytizing, and (3) uses his position at a public university to promote religious beliefs like creationism, while undermining legitimate sciences, like biology.”
The groups hate the fact that McMullen speaks positively about Christianity.
“McMullen not only lowers the reputation and standards of this university, but has created serious constitutional problems,” the groups wrote. “As a public university, GSU is subject to the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which separates state and church. … Creationism cannot be taught as scientific fact in public schools.”
McMullen has an “A” rating from his students and no students had complained about the professor. The University said it is investigating the 24-year veteran teacher because of the anti-Christians targeting him.
Police in Lahore, Pakistan tortured and killed a 35-year-old Christian man, setting off a firestorm of protest in the city.
The family of the slain man, Rakha Shahzad, stormed the police facility demanding justice for his killing. The agents claimed the Christian man had drugs and alcohol in his system as well as selling them and died of a “heart attack” during questioning.
The family says that Shahzad was arrested because he was a Christian.
Local Christian officials say that Shahzad’s death is just the latest in ongoing campaigns of hate and intimidation against the Christians of the region by Islamic officials.
“The whole world is still deeply shocked and outraged for the lynching of the Christian couple in Kasur, but violence continues: it is urgent to repeal laws that are routinely used to persecute Christians and ensure justice and legality, starting with the work and the behavior of the police and public officials,” Christian lawyer Mushtaq Gill told The Christian Post.
At least 44 people have been arrested in connection with the lynching of the Christian couple. Gill hopes that police officials in Lahore will be investigated and charged in the death of Shahzad.
Two pastors in Bangladesh are facing two years in prison because they were preaching Christ where Muslims could hear them.
Arif Mondol of the Faith Bible Church of God in Lalmonirhat and his co-pastor were conducting a baptism with their congregation of 40 residents when a mob of about 200 Muslims stormed into their building and began attacking the pastors.
“More than 100 Muslims headed by local Jamaat-e-Islami party members and Muslim clerics gathered at the house and started barking questions at the pastors: why did they propagate Christianity in the locality and convert some of them,” a source told Morning Star News. “The pastors replied that it did not take any permission from any authority to propagate any religion and convert people to any religion.”
Local police arrested the pastors and every Christian in the building while doing nothing to the Muslims who caused the incident.
Mondol and his co-pastor have been released on bail pending a trial.
Bangladesh does not have laws against evangelism, so the pastors are being charged with “Hurting Religious Sentiments.”
Christians in North Khartoum, Sudan are fighting to stop the government from completely tearing down their church and homes of Christians.
Government security forces accompanied a bulldozer that knocked down a wall of the Khartoum Bahri Evangelical Church and also some homes that belonged to Christians. The Christians, in turn, formed a human barrier to stop the further demolition attempts by the government.
One of the homes destroyed belonged to the Nile Theological College and a Chrsitian doctor who had rented the home lost all his belongings.
The government claimed they had the right to appoint leaders for the church despite the fact the church members did not want them.
“The government recently installed some committee to the running of the church, and these are the same people who want to sell the church for business purposes,” pastor Daud Fadul told Morning Star News.
Church members say the move is part of a government movement to take all land from Christians.
The man who founded an aggressive anti-Christian group was confronted by a Congressman during a recent hearing about his hate and bigotry toward Christians.
Representative Randy Forbes challenged Mikey Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation for statements that were made regarding the purpose of the MRFF and Weinstein’s views.
Weinstein initially tried to avoid questioning from Forbes when the Congressman brought up Weinstein’s quote that his group’s goal was to “lie down a withering field of fire and leave sucking chest wounds.” Weinstein began to spew hate toward Christians before the Congressman cut him off and Weinstein confirmed he said it.
Congressman Forbes also challenged Weinstein on his bigoted statement that followers of Christ were “Christian monsters who terrorize their fellow Americans.”
“I haven’t heard any people of faith calling atheists ‘monsters’ or saying they want to put sucking chest wounds in them,” Forbes said.
Weinstein is also notorious for comparing people of faith to rapists.
