Christian Persecution

God’s Not Dead: Movie Review by Andy McKinney

Anita Christy

God’s Not Dead is very much a film for Christian believers.  The producers made the film for a tiny $2 million and so far, it has returned a fabulous $59 million at the box office.

In the world of low budget films, this is a miracle in itself.   The film has found an audience, in spite of crushing reviews by the mainstream critical community.  Christians will find their faith strengthened, scoffers will likely be bored.

The story comes from a series of actual court cases brought by the Alliance Defending Freedom which readers may remember as the Alliance Defense Fund, its previous name.  The ADF specializes in litigation involving issues of religious freedom.

In the fictionalized and stylized movie version, a freshman enters a philosophy class dominated by a strongly anti-religious professor.

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God’s Name Will be Heard again in Gilbert, after 14 Years of Silence

Anita Christy

God’s name was mentioned at tonight’s Gilbert School Board meeting so many times, I think He descended to earth to see what was up.  (The Gilbert Governing Board meetings had always been "off limits" to the sound of God’s name.)  
The question being debated was:  Should the Gilbert School Board bring the Invocation back to their board meetings?  The answer was:  Yes!  
This issue had been brought to the board over a year ago by Staci Burk.  It was voted down 4-1.  After the most recent election, Daryl Colvin brought it to a vote, but it didn’t pass 2-2.  Board President Staci Burk was in the hospital.  Then, Julie Smith brought it up again, and it passed 3-2.  
So, tonight, Ms. Segal, the GPS attorney, gave a blow by blow description of various court cases.  The Resolution is jam packed with case law and Supreme Court statements that she said will minimize the exposure to a lawsuit.
The board voted 3-2 in favor of the Invocation Resolution.  17 citizens spoke in favor; 3 against.  There were 31 comment cards submitted by people who were in favor but did not speak, and 2 were submitted by people who were opposed, but did not speak.
I don’t know the number of emails that were sent to the Board.  Lots.  This is a community that believes very strongly that we were all endowed by our Creator, and that we are a religious people who recognize a Supreme Being.  Further, we have the right and the duty, to ask for our Creator’s guidance and blessing in a public forum.  Most of the people who spoke were Christian, but they expressed a welcoming heart toward those of other religious traditions.  "Let a thousand flowers bloom," stated a parent who learned that statement from a law professor.  
Every person who spoke considered the issue from a slightly different angle.  Many eloquent statements were made by each person.  There were 4 high school students who spoke in favor.  They understand very well that the issue is one of tolerance of religious expression.  Brett Harvey, an attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom, spoke in favor.  Harriet and Bill Bathman, who spent 30 years as missionaries behind the Iron Curtain, also spoke.  A J LaFaro, Chairman of the MCRC, spoke in favor.    So did Glen Frakes, who taught in Gilbert Schools for several years.  Patrick O’Malley, Gordon Ray, Gil Fidler, Anita Christy, Yvonne Hoskins, and Lina Hatch spoke in favor,  
No one from the Freedom From Religion Foundation spoke.  It was an extraordinary evening. 
"It’s not ok anymore to be silent," said a young mother of four children who had never been to a Gilbert School Board meeting before tonight.
I know this sounds a little dramatic, but it almost seemed like God was present.  It was as if He heard someone speak His Name. 

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Gilbert School Board to Vote on Invocation 1/28

Anita Christy

He died for you.  Are you too busy to say a few words on His behalf?  
On Tuesday, January 28, the Gilbert Public Schools Governing Board will be voting on a Resolution to replace the "Moment of Silence" with an Invocation.  Already, the board members have received a letter from FREEDOM FROM RELIGION (FFR) Foundation threatening a lawsuit.  
Click HERE to read the threat from FFR.
Click HERE to read the Resolution to bring back the Invocation.  
Three members of the Gilbert Schools Governing Board will most likely vote YES to the Invocation Resolution.  The three board members expected to vote in favor are Staci Burk, Julie Smith, and Daryl Colvin.  It is expected that 2 will vote against the Resolution.  They are Lily Tram and Jill Humphreys.  See the 1/14/2014 video of the Invocation Resolution discussion, which begins at 01:47:30.    
Please arrive EARLY and complete a Request to Speak card prior to the start of the meeting.  It will not be accepted if you turn it in after the meeting has started.
Date:              Tuesday, Jan. 28.
Time:              7 pm.
Location:        Governing Board Room, Gilbert Public Schools District Office, Building B, 140 S. Gilbert Rd., Gilbert, AZ 85296

You will be speaking on Agenda Item. 8.01.  Click HERE to see the Agenda.  Item 8.01 reads: "Approval of a Resolution Authorizing of Voluntary Opening Invocation before the start of the Governing Board Meetings (Policy requested), Presentation by Susan Segal."
In addition to, or in lieu of, speaking out, please send an email to the Governing Board expressing your desire that they vote YES to the Invocation Resolution.  board@gilbertschools.net
 
The bottom line message from everyone who opposes the Invocation is this:  DON’T SAY ANYTHING I DON’T WANT TO HEAR.   Another name for the “Moment of Silence” is:  DON’T SAY ANYTHING I DON’T WANT TO HEAR. 
  
The opposition will say:  1) "The board is establishing religion."  (Really? Which religion, specifically?  How is allowing Gilbert citizens the ability to invoke Divine Guidance "establishing religion"?  Also, isn’t the FFR forcing its own “religion” of Anti-Religion on everyone?)  2) "We could be sued if we have an Invocation."  (You could be sued if you "prohibit citizens the free exercise of religion."   3) "We need to be inclusive."  (The board is inviting all religions to be represented.  How is that not "inclusive"?).  4) "The Moment of Silence has worked well for everyone involved."  (This was actually stated by Board member Jill Humphreys at the 1/14/2014 board meeting.  The Moment of Silence–aka DON’T SAY ANYTHING I DON’T WANT TO HEAR–hasn’t worked for the many citizens who have for the last year spoken in favor of bringing back the Invocation.).  5) "I don’t want to be subjected to that person’s point of view."  (This was stated by a citizen at the 1/14/2014 board meeting.  The only way to never be subjected to another person’s point of view is to be declared dead.)
Many people, including the Freedom From Religion Foundation, use statements made by Thomas Jefferson to bolster their anti-religion arguments.  It is impossible to believe that Thomas Jefferson would ever stand in this meeting and speak in opposition to a School Board wishing to allow private citizens to say a simple prayer at the beginning of their meetings.  It is incredible that he would wish to silence anyone in such a meeting, because that person asked a Supreme Being to help the board make good decisions, and to offer His blessings on them and to everyone in the room.  Could you visualize Thomas Jefferson telling someone, "I don’t want to be subjected to your point of view"?  
As president of the United States, in both his first and second Inaugural addresses, Thomas Jefferson called upon God to guide him, and to bless the people of America.
He stated at the end of his first Inaugural address….”And may that Infinite Power which rules the destinies of the universe lead our councils to what is best, and give them a favorable issue for your peace and prosperity."   Thomas Jefferson First Inaugural Address
In his second Inaugural Address, he must have felt a stronger need for Divine Guidance, because his plea for help was much longer and more plaintive. President Thomas Jefferson stated….”I shall need, too, the favor of that Being in whose hands we are, who led our forefathers, as Israel of old, from their native land, and planted them in a country flowing with all the necessaries and comforts of life; who has covered our infancy with his providence, and our riper years with his wisdom and power; and to whose goodness I ask you to join with me in supplications, that he will so enlighten the minds of your servants, guide their councils, and prosper their measures, that whatsoever they do, shall result in your good, and shall secure to you the peace, friendship, and approbation of all nations."  Thomas Jefferson Second Inaugural Address

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Rob Haney Responds to LD28 Chair Scott O’Connor

Anita Christy

I read an email exchange recently between Republican LD28 Chairman Scott O’Connor and Precinct Committeeman Rob Haney.  Mr. Haney is a former Maricopa County Republican Committee Chairman.  It was chilling to read this exchange, because I had just finished reading an article in Pravda titled "America Resembling Anti-Democratic Regime:  Russia’s Moment to Lead."
During the Cold War, Pravda was well known as the official voice of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
And now, after all these years, it is Pravda that has observed that, while Russia has returned to its religious roots and the end of Soviet Communism,  America is in rapid moral and institutional decline:
"In recent decades, Russia has undergone vast political and social reforms underscored by a return to religious roots, the end of Soviet Communism, and new existential threats (among them domestic Islamic radicalism).  All of these changes have necessarily resulted in political transformation.
"As Russia has changed, its former adversary – the United States of America – has also changed, with breakneck speed.  America is in rapid moral and institutional decline – fueled by lawless government leaders and a seismic move away from God (at least the Judeo-Christian God that underpins Russian and Western societies), as well as the parallel rise of an entertainment escapism that displaces public awareness and voter engagement while blinding citizens to the loss of freedom and resultant blurring of moral boundaries.
"In short, America is beginning to resemble the regimes it topples and wars against.  America no longer has the moral credibility to lecture other nations on the incontrovertible virtues of democracy and republican government."  
Here is the email exchange between Scott O’Connor and Rob Haney.  Mr. Haney copied members of the Executive Committee
 
January 10, 2014
Dear Scott,
I am taking the liberty of publishing our exchange of emails in an open forum because I view removal of the Invocation from our LD 28 meetings at the sole discretion of the executive board as a continuance of the attack on religion in our country.   Other districts need to be made aware of how easily they can lose the rights they took for granted through the actions of a few anonymous complaints brought to a receptive executive board.  To have a universally accepted, decades long practice within the Republican Party ended by fiat of the executive board without even debate or a vote of the body, is the height of arrogance and is reminiscent of Obama’s executive orders. 

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World Watch List – North Korean Christians are the Most Persecuted in the World

Anita Christy

“For the eleventh year running, North Korea is the most difficult place on earth to be a Christian. One of the remaining Communist states, it is vehemently opposed to religion of any kind. Christians are classified as hostile and face arrest, detention, torture, even public execution. There is a system of labor camps including the renowned prison No. 15, which reportedly houses 6,000 persecuted Christians alone. Despite the severe oppression, there is a growing underground church movement of an estimated 400,000 Christians."  World Watch List – North Korea.  

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The Institutional Church versus the Church

Anita Christy

A religious divide is taking place in America.  Nobody understands it better than the Anglicans who have pulled away from The Episcopal Church (TEC).  These Anglicans refuse to remain with a church that has slowly but surely endorsed unbiblical beliefs.   TEC leadership has been questioning the authority of Scripture for decades.  Back in the 1990s, Bishop John Shelby Spong was publicly deriding the virgin birth, the resurrection of Christ, and the reliability of the Bible, and  Bishop John Chane in his 2002 Easter sermon declared Jesus’ resurrection "at best conjectural."  Katharine Jefferts Schori, who became the first female bishop in 2006, has questioned the resurrection, and adamantly denies Christ as the only way to God.  
All of these departures from the Bible have been very troubling for many Anglicans, but the last straw was when TEC consecrated Gene Robinson as its first openly homosexual bishop in 2004 date, and later, when the denomination approved liturgy for homosexual weddings.  Since then, hundreds of churches have fled the denomination.  Gene Robinson married his first wife Isabella in 1972.  They had two daughters. He divorced his wife in 1986 and entered a formal relationship with his current spouse, Mark Andrew, in 1988.  
The Episcopal Church wages War Against those who Stand Firm for the Authority of Scripture
TEC has fought their own departing church members with astonishing tyrannical vindictiveness.  They have sued the fleeing churches for their buildings, even though the church members paid for those buildings.  In one case, the congregation of Christ Church Anglican in Savannah, Georgia, lost their building, even though they had held title to the property since 1773.  A judge ruled against them.    
Even when the churches have offered to pay TEC for the buildings, TEC has refused and in some cases have sold them at bargain basement prices to other denominations, including to Muslims.  The Church of the Good Shepherd offered the TEC $150,000 for their own church building.  But TEC stuck its finger in their eye, and sold it to local Muslims for $50,000.  The Muslims used a crane to tear down the cross.  It is now the Islamic Awareness Center.  
Rev. Jefferts Schori has stated that "Bad behavior must be confronted."  She has likened the departure of believing Christians from TEC to murderes.  "It’s not terribly far from the state of mind evidenced in school shootings…." 
Anglicans aren’t the only ones fleeing their denomination.  In 1965, membership in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) numbered 3.70 million.  Today, it numbers 1.85 million.  At least 110 congregations left the PCUSA in 2012, shortly after the denomination ordination of homosexuals in 2011.  

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Catholic Priests in Military Face Arrest for Celebrating Mass – Welcome to Tyranny

Anita Christy

Here’s an excerpt from the article titled Catholic Priests in Military Face Arrest for Celebrating Mass.
Broglio said some military bases have forbidden the contract priests from volunteering to celebrate Mass without pay.
“They were told they cannot function because those are contracted services and since there’s no funding they can’t do it – even if they volunteer,” he said.
John Schlageter, general counsel for the archdiocese, said any furloughed priests volunteering their services could face big trouble." 
“During the shutdown, it is illegal for them to minister on base and they risk being arrested if they attempt to do so,” he said in a written statement.
Another excerpt:
Please click the “Read More” link below for the rest of the story.

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Pray for Christians Persecuted Worldwide: International Day of Prayer

Anita Christy

Over the last two years, there has been a sharp increase in violence against Christians. See Not Forsaken, published in WORLD magazine. Much of the world’s Christians cannot practice their faith without fear of church burnings, torture, incarceration, humiliation, and death. Most of this persecution has been at the hands of Muslims. See Christians Being Persecuted all Over the World.
As Jamie Dean writes in Not Forsaken, persecuted Christians believe in the Power of Prayer. They will pray openly today, November 4, even at the risk of violence. They believe that condemned pastor Youcef Nadarkhani was released from his prison in Rashi on September 8, 2012, because church members around the world prayed for his release. Prayers were repeated in emails, on FaceBook, and Twitter. He was facing a death sentence for his crime of "apostasy against Islam."

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The New Underground Railroad: North Korean Refugees Find Help from Christian Rescuers

Anita Christy

A recent article in WORLD magazine titled "The New Underground Railroad" by Marvin Olasky describes how Christians are willing to take huge risks in order to help desperate North Koreans flee from their country. North Korean border guards do not hesitate to shoot people in the back as they’re crossing the border.
A communist regime run by totalitarian dictator Kim Jong Un, North Korea keeps its citizens in the dark in more ways than one. From a satellite view at night, it is virtually completely black, devoid of electricity. The regime also seals its citizens from any knowledge outside its well patrolled borders. Merely being caught talking on a cell phone is punishable by death.

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