Georgia Log Cabin Republican compares pro-family group to Nazis
Posted: February 20, 2009
11:40 pm Eastern
By Bob Unruh
WorldNetDaily
Michael Steele
A leader of a homosexual faction of Republicans is lobbying the new party chairman, Michael Steele, to ignore the suggestions of a pro-family Christian group to support traditional marriage, because the Christians are "terrorists."
The attack comes from Jamie Ensley, president of the Georgia "Log Cabin Republicans," who also compared the Illinois-based Americans for Truth to Germany's Nazi party.
Ensley's comments followed a request by Americans for Truth that the GOP rebuild its conservative base by defending a definition of marriage limited to one man and one woman.
Now Peter LaBarbera, chief of Americans for Truth, says Republicans who seek a party without a special homosexual agenda should let Steele know what they believe.
The Georgia Republican Party responded with a statement from Doug Reineke, confirming the Log Cabin Republicans "are an independent group not officially associated with the Georgia Republican Party."
As such, the group does not speak for the state GOP.
"While a healthy debate on the issues can help strengthen us as a party, to use the word 'terrorist' to describe those that disagree with you is not appropriate," the party said.
There was no response to WND calls and e-mails to the national party offices.
But LaBarbera said the attack is a reason people of faith "must remain vigilant to expose and confront anti-Christian bigotry whenever and wherever it rears its ugly head."
He said the issue involves no more or less than the foundation of the party itself.
"The GOP cannot be pro-marriage and [pro]-family while radically undermining both at the same time," he said.
Ensley's message to Steele, which was publicized by Americans for Truth, urged Steele "not to allow small biggoted [sic], anti-American and anti-Christian fringe groups such as Americans for Truth to influence you."
"Most Americans and people of medical science believe that people do not choose their sexual orientation. Groups like Americans for Truth simply want to divide Americans, and truthfully their group would be more welcome as a mainstream Nazi Germany organization, than an organization which provides any value at all in 21st Century America," Ensley's message said.
"I hope you will continue to support the Log Cabin Republicans, and not listen to the radical christian extremist domestic terrorist groups such as Americans for Truth," he wrote.
LaBarbera said the message of "slash-and-burn homosexual extremism" is an example of what Christians face should "hate crime" laws ultimately be applied in the U.S.
Hate crimes laws, LaBarbera said, are written specifically to protect homosexuals from criticism that is based on biblical principles.
"'Gay' militants routinely equate the defense of Judeo-Christian teachings on sexual morality to 'hate' and argue that pro-family rhetoric against homosexuality contributes to a 'climate of violence' against homosexuals," LaBarbera said. "This will inevitably result in calls to curb 'anti-gay' speech."
LaBarbera urged his supporters to contact the GOP regarding the dispute.
"Michael Steele and the GOP need to do the math: it is foolish and impractical to risk alienating millions of pro-family, pro-life, conservative grassroots Republicans to appease a tiny homosexual special interest group with fewer members than the population of Liberal, Kansas," LaBarbera said. "If the Republican Party is to turn itself around, it must reach out aggressively to real, pro-family minorities like Steele himself – not homosexual activists whose agenda would restrict our precious religious and First Amendment freedoms by using the government to promote aberrant sexual lifestyles."
According to a report in Southern Voice, Ensley, who is chairman of the 57th District of the Fulton County GOP, reported he was "infuriated" by LaBarbera's request the GOP reaffirm support for traditional marriage.
The Illinois Family Institute noted the argument and suggested Ensley ruminate on several facts. It said:
There is no research proving that homosexuality is biologically determined: none.
There is no research proving that homosexuality is ontologically equivalent to race or biological sex: none.
It is no more anti-American to believe that homosexual behavior is immoral than it is to believe that polyamorous or incestuous behavior is immoral.
There is a body of thought emerging from the homosexual community called "queer theory" that holds that homosexuality is neither inherent nor immutable.
The view that homosexual conduct is moral is an unproven, ethical belief – not a fact.
The belief that homosexual conduct is immoral does not constitute incitement to violence or hatred. It no more constitutes hatred toward homosexuals than does the belief that polyamory or selfish behavior is immoral constitutes hatred of polyamorists or selfish people.
The belief that volitional homosexual behavior is immoral is not an extreme position. Throughout history, it has been the dominant cultural view and remains so both in this country and many other countries throughout the world.
The Institute also insisted it is not bigotry to believe that homosexual behavior is immoral.
"The Merriam Webster Dictionary," the group said, "defines a bigot as a person who is 'obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices; especially: one who regards or treats the members of a group (as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance.' Clearly, there is a distinction between bigotry and moral views. Bigotry cannot simply refer to holding opinions or being in possession of moral precepts, for if it did, everyone but sociopaths would have to be considered bigots because everyone but sociopaths holds certain behaviors as moral and others as immoral."
Verse:
John 3:16; Jn 3:16; John 3
Keyword:
Salvation, Jesus, Gospel
With Operators:
AND, OR, NOT, “ â€
Showing posts with label Persecution. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Persecution. Show all posts
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Pro-life pastor prepares for sentencing
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow - 2/15/2009 4:10:00 AMBookmark and Share
Watler HoyeAn Oakland, California, pastor could face jail time for expressing his pro-life views.
Pastor Walter Hoye ran into trouble with an abortion clinic while doing an informational picket. Dennis Howard, leader of The Movement for a Better America, believes Hoye is innocent.
"His approach was simply to carry a sign that said 'Jesus Loves You. Can We Help?' and offering those who wanted it some information about alternatives to abortion," Howard explains.
A complaint was filed and Hoye was found guilty in spite of proof to the contrary. "There was a video taken of him doing this, and it shows that he was not harassing anybody," Howard points out. "In fact, he was being harassed by escorts from the abortion clinic."
Dennis Howard (Movement for Better America)
Pastor Hoye faces up to two years in jail and a $4,000 fine. Howard is calling Christians into action. "We feel that pro-life organizations around the country ought to take up this man's cause and pray and fast between now and February 19," he concludes.
That is when Hoye is due to be sentenced.
Watler HoyeAn Oakland, California, pastor could face jail time for expressing his pro-life views.
Pastor Walter Hoye ran into trouble with an abortion clinic while doing an informational picket. Dennis Howard, leader of The Movement for a Better America, believes Hoye is innocent.
"His approach was simply to carry a sign that said 'Jesus Loves You. Can We Help?' and offering those who wanted it some information about alternatives to abortion," Howard explains.
A complaint was filed and Hoye was found guilty in spite of proof to the contrary. "There was a video taken of him doing this, and it shows that he was not harassing anybody," Howard points out. "In fact, he was being harassed by escorts from the abortion clinic."
Dennis Howard (Movement for Better America)
Pastor Hoye faces up to two years in jail and a $4,000 fine. Howard is calling Christians into action. "We feel that pro-life organizations around the country ought to take up this man's cause and pray and fast between now and February 19," he concludes.
That is when Hoye is due to be sentenced.
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Stimulus to ban religious worship
'This isn't like a convenient
oversight, this is intentional'
Posted: February 06, 2009
11:50 pm Eastern
By Bob Unruh
WorldNetDaily
President Obama's proposed economic stimulus plan makes a deliberate – and unconstitutional – attempt to censor religious speech and worship on school campuses across the nation, according to a lawyer who argued related cases before the U.S. Supreme Court 20 years ago and won them all.
"This isn't like a convenient oversight. This is intentional. This legislation pokes its finger in the eyes of people who hold religious beliefs," Jay Sekulow, chief of the American Center for Law and Justice, told WND today.
His was the organization that decades ago argued on behalf of speech freedom on school campuses, winning repeatedly at the U.S. Supreme Court. Since then, the 2001 Good News Club v. Milford Central School District decision was added, clarifying that restricting religious speech within the context of public shared-use facilities is unconstitutional.
The problem in the proposed stimulus bill comes from a provision that states: "PROHIBITED USES OF FUNDS. - No funds awarded under this section may be used for - (C) modernization, renovation, or repair of facilities - (i) used for sectarian instruction, religious worship, or a school or department of divinity; or (ii) in which a substantial portion of the functions of the facilities are subsumed in a religious mission."
The wording that specifically targets religious speech already has been approved by the majority Democrats in the U.S. House – all GOP members opposed it. In the Senate, Jim DeMint, R-S.C., proposed an amendment to eliminate it, but again majority Democrats decided to keep the provision targeting religious instruction and activities.
Critics argued schools would accept any money offered, then impose a ban on religious events.
DeMint warned organizations such as the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Campus Crusade for Christ, Catholic Student Ministries, Hillel and other religious groups would face new bans on access to public facilities that would not apply to other organizations.
"This is a direct attack on students of faith, and I'm outraged Democrats are using an economic stimulus bill to promote discrimination," DeMint said. "Democrats should be ashamed of themselves for siding with the ACLU over millions of students of faith."
"These students simply want equal access to public facilities, which is their constitutional right. This hostility toward religion must end. Those who voted to for this discrimination are standing in the schoolhouse door to deny people of faith from entering any campus building renovated by this bill," said DeMint.
The senator said the stimulus bill now becomes an "ACLU stimulus" that has the goal of triggering lawsuits "designed to intimidate religious organizations across the nation."
"This language is so vague, it's not clear if students can even pray in a dorm room renovated with this funding since that is a form of 'religious worship.' If this provision remains in the bill, it will have a chilling effect on students of faith in America," he said.
DeMint cited Obama's statement at the National Prayer Breakfast this week that faith "can promote a greater good for all of us."
"This provision is an assault against both. It's un-American and it's unconstitutional. Intolerant and it's intolerable," DeMint said.
The ban on religious organizations is linked to the $3.5 billion intended for "renovation of public or private college and university facilities."
The ACLJ, which focuses on constitutional law, said the provision "has nothing to do with economic stimulus and everything to do with religious discrimination."
"The thing is I litigated these cases on these exact issues 20 years ago," Sekulow told WND. "Not only did we win, two of the decisions were unanimous and the other was 8-1.
"We're seeing a rollback to the 1970s regarding church-state relations," he said. "That's what is troubling. It is a complete rollback that now institutionalizes discrimination through targeting religion."
Sekulow said he already is drafting a complaint that will challenge the constitutionality of the provision, to be used if it isn't removed.
He said under current court precedents, it will be a open-and-shut victory.
However, he also warned that the problem is the damage that can be done within the probable four years it would take to get the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court and what that court would look like at that point.
Under Obama, he said, "there will be an ideology shift." New appointments to the bench by Obama, he said, would be "much more left of where Justices (Judith) Ginsburg and (Stephen) Breyer are."
On an online forums page, readers were incensed.
"Here comes the assault against Christian churches … Looks like he's trying to see how much damage he can do in the briefest period of time."
"Obama is the most dangerous man of our times, period. He will seek to overturn everything our nation was built upon, personal freedom, capitalism, even the rock of faith. And he will seek to do it from within, openly, overtly and boldly. Will Christians now respond to this dangerous man in a strong, unified way? Or will Obama succeed in destroying the fabric of the greatest nation in human history?".
"He's just following the Saul Alinsky rule (in his book, Rules for Radicals) to 'clothe everything you do in morality' because this is what most effectively fools the 'middle class' into agreeing with what you want to do."
oversight, this is intentional'
Posted: February 06, 2009
11:50 pm Eastern
By Bob Unruh
WorldNetDaily
President Obama's proposed economic stimulus plan makes a deliberate – and unconstitutional – attempt to censor religious speech and worship on school campuses across the nation, according to a lawyer who argued related cases before the U.S. Supreme Court 20 years ago and won them all.
"This isn't like a convenient oversight. This is intentional. This legislation pokes its finger in the eyes of people who hold religious beliefs," Jay Sekulow, chief of the American Center for Law and Justice, told WND today.
His was the organization that decades ago argued on behalf of speech freedom on school campuses, winning repeatedly at the U.S. Supreme Court. Since then, the 2001 Good News Club v. Milford Central School District decision was added, clarifying that restricting religious speech within the context of public shared-use facilities is unconstitutional.
The problem in the proposed stimulus bill comes from a provision that states: "PROHIBITED USES OF FUNDS. - No funds awarded under this section may be used for - (C) modernization, renovation, or repair of facilities - (i) used for sectarian instruction, religious worship, or a school or department of divinity; or (ii) in which a substantial portion of the functions of the facilities are subsumed in a religious mission."
The wording that specifically targets religious speech already has been approved by the majority Democrats in the U.S. House – all GOP members opposed it. In the Senate, Jim DeMint, R-S.C., proposed an amendment to eliminate it, but again majority Democrats decided to keep the provision targeting religious instruction and activities.
Critics argued schools would accept any money offered, then impose a ban on religious events.
DeMint warned organizations such as the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Campus Crusade for Christ, Catholic Student Ministries, Hillel and other religious groups would face new bans on access to public facilities that would not apply to other organizations.
"This is a direct attack on students of faith, and I'm outraged Democrats are using an economic stimulus bill to promote discrimination," DeMint said. "Democrats should be ashamed of themselves for siding with the ACLU over millions of students of faith."
"These students simply want equal access to public facilities, which is their constitutional right. This hostility toward religion must end. Those who voted to for this discrimination are standing in the schoolhouse door to deny people of faith from entering any campus building renovated by this bill," said DeMint.
The senator said the stimulus bill now becomes an "ACLU stimulus" that has the goal of triggering lawsuits "designed to intimidate religious organizations across the nation."
"This language is so vague, it's not clear if students can even pray in a dorm room renovated with this funding since that is a form of 'religious worship.' If this provision remains in the bill, it will have a chilling effect on students of faith in America," he said.
DeMint cited Obama's statement at the National Prayer Breakfast this week that faith "can promote a greater good for all of us."
"This provision is an assault against both. It's un-American and it's unconstitutional. Intolerant and it's intolerable," DeMint said.
The ban on religious organizations is linked to the $3.5 billion intended for "renovation of public or private college and university facilities."
The ACLJ, which focuses on constitutional law, said the provision "has nothing to do with economic stimulus and everything to do with religious discrimination."
"The thing is I litigated these cases on these exact issues 20 years ago," Sekulow told WND. "Not only did we win, two of the decisions were unanimous and the other was 8-1.
"We're seeing a rollback to the 1970s regarding church-state relations," he said. "That's what is troubling. It is a complete rollback that now institutionalizes discrimination through targeting religion."
Sekulow said he already is drafting a complaint that will challenge the constitutionality of the provision, to be used if it isn't removed.
He said under current court precedents, it will be a open-and-shut victory.
However, he also warned that the problem is the damage that can be done within the probable four years it would take to get the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court and what that court would look like at that point.
Under Obama, he said, "there will be an ideology shift." New appointments to the bench by Obama, he said, would be "much more left of where Justices (Judith) Ginsburg and (Stephen) Breyer are."
On an online forums page, readers were incensed.
"Here comes the assault against Christian churches … Looks like he's trying to see how much damage he can do in the briefest period of time."
"Obama is the most dangerous man of our times, period. He will seek to overturn everything our nation was built upon, personal freedom, capitalism, even the rock of faith. And he will seek to do it from within, openly, overtly and boldly. Will Christians now respond to this dangerous man in a strong, unified way? Or will Obama succeed in destroying the fabric of the greatest nation in human history?".
"He's just following the Saul Alinsky rule (in his book, Rules for Radicals) to 'clothe everything you do in morality' because this is what most effectively fools the 'middle class' into agreeing with what you want to do."
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Behead a Christian, raise your rank
Islam's Shariah cited in 7 of 10 worst nations worldwide
Posted: February 03, 2009
8:50 pm Eastern
By Bob Unruh
WorldNetDaily
Reports that at least 10 Christians were abducted and killed for their faith – sometimes by beheading – during 2008 has pushed Somalia into the Top 10 among nation's that aggressively persecute Christians, according to a new report from Open Doors USA.
The organization today released its 2009 World Watch List, which cited Korea – for the seventh straight year – as the nation that persecutes Christians more intensely than any other around the globe.
But Somalia rose from 12th in 2008 to 5th this year because of the growing level of attacks there, according to the report which noted two of the worst three nations, Saudi Arabia and Iran, are nations governed by Islamic Shariah law, and seven of the Top 10 nations fall into that category.
Paul Estabrooks, the organization's minister-at-large, told WND that those Islamic nations "certainly are impacted significantly by Shariah."
According to reports from Compass Direct News, it was only about 12 weeks ago when an aid worker was beheaded in Somalia specifically for converting from Islam to Christianity.
Witnesses told the organization Muslim extremists had gathered a crowd in Manyafulka village by telling them of a feast that was being prepared.
Eyewitnesses who insisted on anonymity because they feared reprisals said the Islamics carried guns and swords and dragged a handcuffed Mansuur Mohammed with them. They reported one Muslim pulled back Mohammed's head, another recited the Quran and another twisted his head so an executioner could slit his neck.
The killers then displayed the severed head to the petrified crowd, the report said.
The report said a video taken on a mobile telephone later was circulated in what many saw as a strategy to terrify anyone contemplating conversion from Islam to Christianity.
Open Doors said Afghanistan, Somalia and the Maldives are fourth, fifth and sixth, with Afghanistan moving up three spots because of an aggressive effort from Taliban officials during 2008.
In seventh is Yemen, Laos is No. 8, Eritrea, a newcomer to the Top 10, is No. 9 and Uzbekistan No. 10.
Estabrooks told WND Eritrea's jump into the Top 10 was because of its dictator's decision to place as many as 3,000 Christians in prison cells – many made of no more than steel shipping crates – without court hearings.
China dropped from No. 10 to No. 12 this year and Bhutan dropped from No. 5 to No. 11, although they remain of high concern, officials said.
The top offenders influenced by Shariah are Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, Somalia, Maldives, Yemen and Uzbekistan. North Korea and Laos are communist while Eritrea is a dictatorship.
The World Watch List is compiled from a specially-designed questionnaire of 50 questions covering various aspects of religious freedom. A point value is assigned depending on how each question is answered. The total number of points per country determines its position on the World Watch List of countries that are the worst persecutors of Christians.
"It is certainly not a shock that North Korea is No. 1 on the list of countries where Christians face the worst persecution," said Carl Moeller, president of Open Doors USA. "There is no other country in the world where Christians are persecuted in such a horrible and systematic manner."
The rights of Christians deteriorated in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, Somalia, Pakistan (13), Iraq (16), Mauritania (18), Algeria (19), India (22), Northern Nigeria (26), Indonesia (41), Bangladesh (43) and Kazakhstan (50) for the 2009 report, Open Doors said.
Persecution continued "unabated" in Saudi Arabia, where the daughter of a member of the nation's religious police force was killed for writing online about her new faith in Christ.
According to the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, Saudi police also just two weeks ago arrested a man "because of his opinions and his testimony that he had converted from Islam to Christianity."
In Iran, Islamic crackdowns have been boosted aggressively on house churches, in Afghanistan, a Christian was killed after being accused of "spreading" Christianity, and India's ranking rose from 30 to 22 because of the "worst outbreak of religious violence on record for Christians in … the state of Orissa," the report said.
The organization estimates 100 million Christians worldwide suffer interrogation, arrest and even death for their faith in Christ, with millions more facing discrimination and alienation.
Posted: February 03, 2009
8:50 pm Eastern
By Bob Unruh
WorldNetDaily
Reports that at least 10 Christians were abducted and killed for their faith – sometimes by beheading – during 2008 has pushed Somalia into the Top 10 among nation's that aggressively persecute Christians, according to a new report from Open Doors USA.
The organization today released its 2009 World Watch List, which cited Korea – for the seventh straight year – as the nation that persecutes Christians more intensely than any other around the globe.
But Somalia rose from 12th in 2008 to 5th this year because of the growing level of attacks there, according to the report which noted two of the worst three nations, Saudi Arabia and Iran, are nations governed by Islamic Shariah law, and seven of the Top 10 nations fall into that category.
Paul Estabrooks, the organization's minister-at-large, told WND that those Islamic nations "certainly are impacted significantly by Shariah."
According to reports from Compass Direct News, it was only about 12 weeks ago when an aid worker was beheaded in Somalia specifically for converting from Islam to Christianity.
Witnesses told the organization Muslim extremists had gathered a crowd in Manyafulka village by telling them of a feast that was being prepared.
Eyewitnesses who insisted on anonymity because they feared reprisals said the Islamics carried guns and swords and dragged a handcuffed Mansuur Mohammed with them. They reported one Muslim pulled back Mohammed's head, another recited the Quran and another twisted his head so an executioner could slit his neck.
The killers then displayed the severed head to the petrified crowd, the report said.
The report said a video taken on a mobile telephone later was circulated in what many saw as a strategy to terrify anyone contemplating conversion from Islam to Christianity.
Open Doors said Afghanistan, Somalia and the Maldives are fourth, fifth and sixth, with Afghanistan moving up three spots because of an aggressive effort from Taliban officials during 2008.
In seventh is Yemen, Laos is No. 8, Eritrea, a newcomer to the Top 10, is No. 9 and Uzbekistan No. 10.
Estabrooks told WND Eritrea's jump into the Top 10 was because of its dictator's decision to place as many as 3,000 Christians in prison cells – many made of no more than steel shipping crates – without court hearings.
China dropped from No. 10 to No. 12 this year and Bhutan dropped from No. 5 to No. 11, although they remain of high concern, officials said.
The top offenders influenced by Shariah are Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, Somalia, Maldives, Yemen and Uzbekistan. North Korea and Laos are communist while Eritrea is a dictatorship.
The World Watch List is compiled from a specially-designed questionnaire of 50 questions covering various aspects of religious freedom. A point value is assigned depending on how each question is answered. The total number of points per country determines its position on the World Watch List of countries that are the worst persecutors of Christians.
"It is certainly not a shock that North Korea is No. 1 on the list of countries where Christians face the worst persecution," said Carl Moeller, president of Open Doors USA. "There is no other country in the world where Christians are persecuted in such a horrible and systematic manner."
The rights of Christians deteriorated in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, Somalia, Pakistan (13), Iraq (16), Mauritania (18), Algeria (19), India (22), Northern Nigeria (26), Indonesia (41), Bangladesh (43) and Kazakhstan (50) for the 2009 report, Open Doors said.
Persecution continued "unabated" in Saudi Arabia, where the daughter of a member of the nation's religious police force was killed for writing online about her new faith in Christ.
According to the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, Saudi police also just two weeks ago arrested a man "because of his opinions and his testimony that he had converted from Islam to Christianity."
In Iran, Islamic crackdowns have been boosted aggressively on house churches, in Afghanistan, a Christian was killed after being accused of "spreading" Christianity, and India's ranking rose from 30 to 22 because of the "worst outbreak of religious violence on record for Christians in … the state of Orissa," the report said.
The organization estimates 100 million Christians worldwide suffer interrogation, arrest and even death for their faith in Christ, with millions more facing discrimination and alienation.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Judge tells Christian: 'I would kill you'
Reportedly threatens woman who chooses to worship Jesus
Posted: January 27, 2009
10:26 pm Eastern
WorldNetDaily
A woman arrested at the Cairo airport because her identity card described her as a Christian has been threatened for her faith by the judge in her case, according to a new report.
As WND reported, authorities in Egypt deprived the woman's two children, ages 2 and 4, of food to try to coerce her to abandon Christianity and return to Islam.
According to the Assyrian International News Agency, a woman identified as Martha Samuel Makkar was arrested Dec. 13 as she, her husband, Fadl Thabet, and two sons were trying to leave Cairo for Russia.
Makkar, formerly known as Zainab Said Abdel-Aziz, was accused of carrying forged government documents, because she identified herself as a Christian. Islamic law forbids Muslims from abandoning the faith.
Now, according to Compass Direct News, she has been granted bail, and released to rejoin her husband and sons at home pending her forgery trial.
However, the release was not without complications.
Makkar's lawyer, Nadia Tawfiq, reported that Judge Abdelaa Hashem questioned Makkar closely about her Christian faith during a courtroom hearing.
The decision to grant her bail came Saturday in the hearing before Hashem after Makkar told the judge about her new Christian faith and her abandonment of Islam.
Tawfiq told Compass Direct "the judge then said, 'I want to talk with Martha alone,' so we all left the room, and he said to her, 'Nobody changes from Muslim to Christian – you are a Muslim.'
"And she said, 'No, I am a Christian.' He told her, 'If I had a knife now, I would kill you,'" the lawyer said.
Makkar, 24, has said she's been enduring death threats from police and members of her extended family for the five years since she converted.
There is no established legal precedent in Egypt for allowing people to leave Islam. And national law doesn't provide a channel through which to change the religious designation on an identity card.
The Compass report said George Abyad, 67, and Masood Guirges, 55, employees of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate in Alexandria, also were arrested on suspicion they aided Makkar with her papers.
Egypt formally recognizes Islamic Shariah law as the source of justice, and Christians have faced persecution there for generations.
The American Center for Law and Justice has participated in a fight to keep a man who fled Egypt from being deported from the U.S. A recent decision from the 3rd U.S. District Court of Appeals gave Sameh Khouzam the right to challenge Egypt's "diplomatic assurances" that he would not be tortured on his return to the Middle East nation.
Egypt has been demanding his extradition in a homicide case he alleges is trumped-up. The case has been highlighted by spokesman Sam Grace of Coptic News. He praised U.S. District Judge Thomas Vanaskie's earlier ruling that Khouzam "most assuredly has a right not to be tortured."
Grace earlier told WND Christians in Egypt are hostages.
"We live in a time that is really as bad if not worse than the time of the martyrs," he said.
Multitudes of Christians have been attacked, and many killed, yet not one Muslim ever has been convicted in the attacks, he said.
"The why is very simple, because Shariah law says the blood of the Muslim should not be shed for the blood of an unbeliever," he said.
Grace said since Egypt's constitution concludes laws derive from the Quran, persecution of Christians is not only allowed but endorsed by the government.
"In the last 10 years, more than 5,000 Christians have been massacred in Egypt," he told WND. "Hundreds of businesses and homes first have been looted, then burned and destroyed. Churches have been burned and destroyed."
Grace told WND that attacks, lootings and burnings are common in Egypt on Fridays, after the local imam preaches violence against Christians at his mosque.
"The life of a Christian in Egypt is now worth zero. Every Muslim now knows killing a Christian [is not prosecuted]," he said.
A report from the Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights concluded Coptic Christians in Egypt have been harassed, tortured and killed by Muslims for 1,400 years.
"They have been subjected to all kinds of hate crimes including, the abduction of young Coptic girls, the killing of Coptic women and children and the destruction of their places of worship," the report said.
Posted: January 27, 2009
10:26 pm Eastern
WorldNetDaily
A woman arrested at the Cairo airport because her identity card described her as a Christian has been threatened for her faith by the judge in her case, according to a new report.
As WND reported, authorities in Egypt deprived the woman's two children, ages 2 and 4, of food to try to coerce her to abandon Christianity and return to Islam.
According to the Assyrian International News Agency, a woman identified as Martha Samuel Makkar was arrested Dec. 13 as she, her husband, Fadl Thabet, and two sons were trying to leave Cairo for Russia.
Makkar, formerly known as Zainab Said Abdel-Aziz, was accused of carrying forged government documents, because she identified herself as a Christian. Islamic law forbids Muslims from abandoning the faith.
Now, according to Compass Direct News, she has been granted bail, and released to rejoin her husband and sons at home pending her forgery trial.
However, the release was not without complications.
Makkar's lawyer, Nadia Tawfiq, reported that Judge Abdelaa Hashem questioned Makkar closely about her Christian faith during a courtroom hearing.
The decision to grant her bail came Saturday in the hearing before Hashem after Makkar told the judge about her new Christian faith and her abandonment of Islam.
Tawfiq told Compass Direct "the judge then said, 'I want to talk with Martha alone,' so we all left the room, and he said to her, 'Nobody changes from Muslim to Christian – you are a Muslim.'
"And she said, 'No, I am a Christian.' He told her, 'If I had a knife now, I would kill you,'" the lawyer said.
Makkar, 24, has said she's been enduring death threats from police and members of her extended family for the five years since she converted.
There is no established legal precedent in Egypt for allowing people to leave Islam. And national law doesn't provide a channel through which to change the religious designation on an identity card.
The Compass report said George Abyad, 67, and Masood Guirges, 55, employees of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate in Alexandria, also were arrested on suspicion they aided Makkar with her papers.
Egypt formally recognizes Islamic Shariah law as the source of justice, and Christians have faced persecution there for generations.
The American Center for Law and Justice has participated in a fight to keep a man who fled Egypt from being deported from the U.S. A recent decision from the 3rd U.S. District Court of Appeals gave Sameh Khouzam the right to challenge Egypt's "diplomatic assurances" that he would not be tortured on his return to the Middle East nation.
Egypt has been demanding his extradition in a homicide case he alleges is trumped-up. The case has been highlighted by spokesman Sam Grace of Coptic News. He praised U.S. District Judge Thomas Vanaskie's earlier ruling that Khouzam "most assuredly has a right not to be tortured."
Grace earlier told WND Christians in Egypt are hostages.
"We live in a time that is really as bad if not worse than the time of the martyrs," he said.
Multitudes of Christians have been attacked, and many killed, yet not one Muslim ever has been convicted in the attacks, he said.
"The why is very simple, because Shariah law says the blood of the Muslim should not be shed for the blood of an unbeliever," he said.
Grace said since Egypt's constitution concludes laws derive from the Quran, persecution of Christians is not only allowed but endorsed by the government.
"In the last 10 years, more than 5,000 Christians have been massacred in Egypt," he told WND. "Hundreds of businesses and homes first have been looted, then burned and destroyed. Churches have been burned and destroyed."
Grace told WND that attacks, lootings and burnings are common in Egypt on Fridays, after the local imam preaches violence against Christians at his mosque.
"The life of a Christian in Egypt is now worth zero. Every Muslim now knows killing a Christian [is not prosecuted]," he said.
A report from the Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights concluded Coptic Christians in Egypt have been harassed, tortured and killed by Muslims for 1,400 years.
"They have been subjected to all kinds of hate crimes including, the abduction of young Coptic girls, the killing of Coptic women and children and the destruction of their places of worship," the report said.
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