Matt Margolis – May 09, 2022

A Christian children’s book publisher says that Facebook has disabled its ad account, severely limiting its ability to reach new customers.

Good & True Media is a Christian company dedicated to making wholesome children’s literature. Since launching in the Fall of 2021, they’ve already had several best sellers. Since September, they’ve been advertising on Facebook without any problems but found their ad account disabled two days after posting an ad containing a Bible verse.

The full text of the ad read as follows:

Have you ever felt that your child has been harmed by the media they consume? As a parent or grandparent it is becoming increasingly difficult to find movies, music and books that promote classical virtues and strong morals. In a nutshell it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain our children’s innocence in this digital world.

We are a family media company dedicated to inspiring children to live virtuously. Every printed book, animated book and audio drama we make is directed to this end. We create wholesome content built upon three fundamental beliefs. If you don’t believe these, don’t sign up with us – we aren’t the publisher for you.

1) God exists and He is good.

2) There is such a thing as right and wrong.

3) The family is the backbone of society.

We feel that modern media has forgotten these simple tenets of life and often seek to refute them. We pledge to NEVER publish anything that violates the above beliefs.

We tell stories where good triumphs over evil and the hero saves the day. We publish fairy tales where dragons are slain. We publish classics with timeless lessons free from modern nonsense. We publish unforgettable stories that show virtue in action, so that children across the country can grow to be better reflections of their Creator. We hope you join the family and see for yourself.

Two days after Good & True Media posted the ad, Facebook informed Brian Gallagher, the founder, and publisher of Good & True Media, that his ad account was disabled because the account “may not fully comply with [Facebook’s] Advertising Policies or other standards.”

https://pjmedia.com

RT – April 29, 2022

The US government is still mandating all members of the military to get a Covid-19 vaccine and discharging those who refuse – even on religious grounds – in what amounts to a deliberate purge of troops with beliefs the current Pentagon considers wrong, a sergeant and two officers told the podcast hosted by Republican congressman Matt Gaetz on Thursday.

Gaetz (R-Florida), who hosts a podcast called ‘Firebrand,’ said he wants to propose an amendment that would ban mandates for experimental vaccines and restore rank and pay to those forced to leave the military, but admitted that some of his Republican colleagues might not support it, not to mention the majority Democrats.

“If you are a believer and you are listening to this podcast, you need to understand that God-fearing service members are being intentionally purged from the services,” said one of his guests, Air Force Captain Jordan Karr.

“It’s a purposeful purge,” argued Army Major Samuel Sigoloff. “Anyone who would disobey an unlawful order is being purged out of the military,” he added, alleging there is a “shadow policy” in place to protect the leadership doing this.

Karr, Sigoloff and Air Force Master Sergeant Nickolas Krupper made their case against the mandate by bringing up religious freedom, natural immunity, and the discrepancy between the jabs used under emergency authorization and the one officially approved, which technically isn’t available in the US.

Though they are legally distinct, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidance says that Pfizer’s emergency-use vaccine and the officially approved Comirnaty “can be used interchangeably… without presenting any safety or effectiveness concerns.”

All three service members face “involuntary separation” over their refusal to get the jab, but have sued the Defense Department on religious exemption grounds. They technically remain on active duty until the lawsuits are resolved. Sergeant Krupper pointed out he is two years away from retirement and would lose his pension and family medical benefits if the USAF kicks him out.

https://www.rt.com

Michael Foust – April 7, 2022

China has banned “Christ” and other religious words from social media apps under a new policy that went into effect on March 1. According to a new report, the policy also requires licensing and training to post Christian and religious content on the internet.

The Chinese Communist Party’s new law – dubbed the “Measures for the Administration of Internet Religious Information Services” – prohibits individuals and organizations from posting religious information on the internet unless they have first obtained permission from a provincial government department, according to China Aid, which monitors religious freedom within the country.

Early Rain Covenant Church, a Chinese congregation, recently discovered the far-reaching impact of the new law. Using the messaging app WeChat, a church member tried posting the names of eight books for members of a reading group, asking them to vote on their favorite. Among the titles: The Defense of the Faith by Cornelius Van Til, Tradition and the Individual Talent by T. S. Eliot and The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis.

But the WeChat app rejected the post, saying the word “Christ” was not allowed.

“The word ‘Christ’ you are trying to publish violates regulations on Internet Information Services, including but not limited to the following categories: pornography, gambling, and drug abuse; excessive marketing; incitement.”

The issue could only be resolved by editing the post, which the church member did.

“Unfortunately, the group administrator had to replace part of the word ‘Christ’ to pass censorship,” China Aid said.

https://endtimeheadlines.org

Anugrah Kumar – March 28, 2022

A Christian doctor who lost his job for refusing to use trans pronouns will appear before a tribunal in the United Kingdom this week to challenge a ruling that held that biblical beliefs on gender are “incompatible with human dignity” and not “worthy of respect in a democratic society.”

Dr. David Mackereth, a physician who in July 2018 was forced out of his job in the Department of Work and Pensions, will challenge the ruling at the Employment Appeal Tribunal in London on Tuesday and Wednesday.

He is represented by the Christian Legal Centre.

“My case affects everyone, not just me and Bible-believing Christians, but anyone who is concerned by compelled speech and transgender ideology being enforced on the NHS and other public services,” Mackereth said in a statement.

“The judgment from two years ago said to Christians, ‘you have to believe in transgender ideology.’ That is totalitarianism. It made out Christianity to be nothing, the Bible to be nothing. That cannot be allowed to stand.”

The case comes about a week after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told members of Parliament that “when it comes to distinguishing between a man and a woman, the basic facts of biology remain overwhelmingly important.”

In the two-day hearing, lawyers are expected to cite Maya Forstater’s tribunal victory last June, maintaining that an earlier decision against her “erred in law.” Forstater served as a senior researcher at a think tank in London and was fired in 2019 for tweeting that “men cannot change into women.” She criticized the decision to house a trans-identified biological male in a woman’s prison.

https://www.christianpost.com

Milton Quintanilla – March 7, 2022

A Florida teen has filed a discrimination lawsuit against his former school after allegedly being targeted by staff and students because of his Christian faith.

Nicolas Ortiz, who attended Mater Academy from 2018 to January 2022, claims he was mistreated by staff and students for bringing his Bible to school. According to the suit, Ortiz would often read his Bible during his free time to build his faith.

Representing Ortiz is The Dhillon Law Group, which filed a 206-page lawsuit against Mater Academy on Monday.

“Mr. Ortiz is experiencing something that no American should ever have to experience,” the law firm’s managing partner, Harmeet K. Dhillon, said in a statement.

“It’s bad enough that the school has done nothing to stop the bullying from his peers, but have gone as far as joining in on targeting Mr. Ortiz for simply practicing his faith. This blatant violation of his first amendment rights is another example of how extreme so many in our education system have become, and why Dhillon Law Group is coming to Mr. Ortiz’s defense.”

According to The Christian Post, Ortiz was ridiculed and threatened by other students, publicly humiliated after his science teacher called him “ignorant” during class, and more because of his faith.

In September 2021, Ortiz reportedly had his Bible ripped apart by his peers while he was reading it during his free time. When Ortiz reported the incident, he was told by the vice principal to stop bringing the Bible to school altogether.

A month later, Ortiz was suspended for 10 days after he defended himself against a student who allegedly kicked his iPad out of his hands. The aggressor, on the other hand, reportedly never faced disciplinary action.

https://www.christianheadlines.com

Raymond Ibrahim – March 14, 2022

According to a new report published by Greece’s Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, there were 2,339 incidents of church desecrations in the country between 2015 and 2020, when tiny Greece, seen as Europe’s eastern gateway, was flooded with migrants from the Islamic world.  As the Greek City Times writes in regards to the report, “There appears to be a correlation between the increase in illegal migration and the incidents of attacks on Greek Orthodox religious churches and religious spaces during the five year period which occurred during the peak of the migration crisis.”

Of the most recent year in the recording period, 2020, there were 385 incidents against Christian churches and buildings, including “vandalism, burglary, theft, sacrilege, necromancy, robbery, placement of explosive devices and other desecrations.”

Over the years, a few of these desecrations made it to English language media.

In April 2021, Muslim migrants entered into and utterly desecrated a small church.  Proud of their handiwork, they also videotaped portions of the incident and uploaded it on TikTok (available here).  It shows a topless migrant dancing to rap music as he walks towards and inside the church.  The next clip shows the aftermath: devastation inside the church, with smashed icons and the altar overthrown.

In 2020, Muslim migrants ransacked and transformed another church into their personal toilet. This public restroom was once the St. Catherine Church in Moria, a small town on the island of Lesvos, which was flooded with migrants who arrived via Turkey. “The smell inside is unbearable,” said a local. “[T]he metropolitan of Mytilene is aware of the situation in the area, nevertheless, he does not wish to deal with it for his own reasons.”

While there are many such examples from between 2015-2020—in 2016, the Church of All Saints in Kallithea near Athens was set aflame by “Arabic speakers”—historically conscious Greeks see a continuum in the Islamic targeting of their churches.  As one report on the desecration of Greek churches explains,

We should remember that Greece spent 400 years under Turkish Islamic rule and that the fight for freedom was bloody.  With that in mind it is even more dramatic seeing these images of fighting age migrants desecrating Greek holy places and having no respect for the country they are allegedly seeking refuge in.

https://www.frontpagemag.com

Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D. – February 22, 2022

ROME — Christian churches in Europe have been “targets of repetitive vandalism, desecration and even arson” in the first two months of 2022, a human rights watchdog group reports Tuesday.

Every year sees numerous incidents of vandalism against nativity scenes, notes the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe (OIDAC), but the beginning of 2022 has also seen “many incidents of threats, arson and severe vandalism” against Christian sites.

It is “terrible to see so many churches being attacked with vandalism and arson in such a short period of time,” declares OIDAC executive director Madeleine Enzlberger. “The amount of vandalism that took place in France at the beginning of the year even prompted the Ministry of Interior to release a new four million Euro budget to secure religious sites” following “an epidemic of attacks against churches at the beginning of 2022.”

“As the minister in charge of cults, my job is to protect them,” said French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin. “In this way, we increase the means that make it possible to equip places of worship, in particular with video protection.”

Elsewhere, arsonists set fire to the Paul Gerhardt Church in Berlin on January 20, and the flames destroyed the altar, an image of Christ, and the organ, OIDAC observed, and 30 Firefighters were required to extinguish the fire.

On February 13, the Jackson Church of Scotland in Airdrie, a North Lanarkshire town near Glasgow, was also set ablaze in an attack that police are treating as arson. The vandals started the fire around 3:00 am and the fire brigade was called around 4:00 am, OIDAC reports, and the fire caused extensive damage to the church vestibule.

Physical violence against Christian sites is not the only form of anti-Christian activity taking place, OIDAC states.

https://www.breitbart.com

William Kilpatrick – February 25, 2022

Päivi Räsänen is a member of the Finnish Parliament, a former minister of the interior, a public speaker and the mother of five grown children.

She faces a heavy fine and two years in prison for quoting the Bible.  In response to the Evangelical Lutheran Church’s affiliation with the Helsinki LGBT Pride event, she posted the Bible passage from Romans 1: 24-27 which condemns homosexual behavior.

Finnish prosecutors stated that the use of the word “sin” could be harmful, and alleged that Ms. Räsänen’s comments were made to cause intolerance, contempt, and hatred toward homosexuals.

But couldn’t the prosecutor’s remarks cause intolerance, contempt and hatred toward Ms. Räsänen?  If criticizing another person’s beliefs or behavior is a hate crime, then isn’t she the victim of a hate crime?

The court prosecutors worried that the word “sin” could be harmful.  One supposes they mean harmful to one’s self-esteem.  And, indeed, the list of sins in Romans 1: 24-32 is meant to make you feel bad about yourself.  From a Biblical perspective, acknowledgment of sin, followed by repentance, leads on to salvation.  In other words, feeling bad about your behavior is, in some cases, a good thing.  It’s not only homosexual behavior that is condemned in Romans I.  The extended passage condemns all manner of sins including idolatry, deceitfulness, envy, gossip, slander, and disobedience to parents.

From one point of view this is highly offensive and insulting to those disposed to deceitfulness and slander.  From another point of view, it can be looked upon as highly therapeutic—a moment of self-recognition that leads on to change.

Prosecutors should have no difficulty understanding the concept.  After all, they apply painful therapeutics as a matter of course.  They hope that a heavy fine or a dose of prison will force the criminal to recognize his crimes and put himself on the road to rehabilitation.

Increasingly, however, prosecutors are prosecuting “thought crimes” rather than real crimes, and courts are using hurt feelings as a criterion for making decisions.  Take the case of Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff, an Austrian woman who was found guilty of “inciting hatred” by an Austrian Court because of her assertion that the prophet Muhammad was a pedophile.  In 2018, the ruling was upheld by the European Court of Human Rights which held that her right to freedom of expression was outweighed by “the right of others to have their religious feelings protected.” In short, feelings trumped facts, and the alleged pain caused to Muslims by the “slander” of their prophet became the deciding factor.

https://www.frontpagemag.com

Billy Hallowell – Febuary 17, 2022

VOM recently shared a reimagined version of the Bible’s revered story centered on Jesus’ love and corrective compassion for a woman caught in adultery.

“The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) announced plans to update the Bible to ‘keep pace with the times.’ The revisions will include adding ‘core socialist values’ and removing passages that do not reflect communist beliefs,” a VOM Facebook post read. “In a textbook for high school students released in September 2020, the authors included a passage from John 8, as revised in their new version.”

Before we explore the revised communist version, let’s look at John 8 as it stands in the genuine and authentic Bible.

As the famous forgiveness story goes, the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery before them and challenged Jesus, proclaiming, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”

The Bible notes that these Jewish leaders were “using this question as a trap” to accuse Jesus. Still, Christ started writing on the ground with his finger (it’s a mystery what he was writing) and then uttered some transformational words (verse 7): “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

After the people — clearly shaken by Jesus’ words — walked away, Christ and the woman were left standing together, and their exchange went as follows (NIV):

Christ: “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

Woman: “No one, sir.”

Christ: “Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.”

The Chinese Communist Party, though, reportedly has a different vision for how this interaction unfolded — an anti-biblical, faux account that flies in the face of scriptural truth.

In the Chinese government’s new version — purportedly observed in a textbook published in September 2020 — the crowd disperses, but then the text states, “When everyone went out, Jesus stoned the woman himself, and said, ‘I am also a sinner.’”

https://www.faithwire.com

Laurel Duggan – January 24, 2022

Finnish politician Päivi Räsänen went on trial Monday for tweeting a Bible verse in 2019 and challenging the Finnish Lutheran Church’s involvement in gay pride events.

Räsänen faces charges of “ethnic agitation” under the War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity section of the country’s criminal code, the Daily Wire reported. Finland’s hate speech laws criminalize the expression of opinions that “threaten, defame, or insult” others, with offenders facing up to two years in jail.

Charges against the politician are rooted in voicing opinions about marriage and sexuality in a 2004 pamphlet and a 2019 radio show in addition to tweeting a photo of an open Bible with the caption, “#kirkko [the church] has stated that he is the official partner of #seta #Pride2019 . How does the doctrinal foundation of the Church, #raamattu [the Bible] fit in with shame and sin being raised as a matter of pride?”

A medical doctor, mother of five and grandmother of six, Räsänen has been a Member of Parliament since 1995 and was Minister of the Interior from 2011 to 2015, during which time she handled church affairs for Finland, according to ADF International. Police investigations into her began in 2019, and Räsänen has undergone multiple police interviews.“

I will not be intimidated into hiding my faith,” Räsänen said, according to ADF. “The more Christians keep silent on controversial themes, the narrower the space for freedom of speech gets.“

https://www.wnd.com