A Georgia school board has given into a group of anti-Christianists who demanded Bible verses be removed from a statue donated to the school.
The virulent anti-Christian group American Humanist Association sent a threatening letter to the school over a monument that was built in August and touched by the school’s football team on the way to the field. The monument has two Bible verses on it.
The school board voted unanimously to give into the anti-Christian group and remove the Bible references because the school’s attorney said it was likely they would lose a court challenge.
“Kirby told board members, in part, that the monument presented some legal problems in connection with the 1971 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Lemon v. Kurtzman. The case produced the so-called ‘Lemon test,'” reported Jim Thompson of the Athens Banner-Herald.
“Kirby went on to tell the board that the issues raised by the Madison County High School monument were too similar to other court cases on the establishment clause to believe that the county’s situation might set a new legal precedent …”
The AHA celebrated the removal of Christianity from public.
It was a simple article from a Commander in the Air National Guard about their own spiritual journey in their role as a Commander.
However, after one anti-Christianist complained about the content, a higher-ranking commander ordered the article removed so as not to offend the unidentified service member.
Col. Craig R. Baker sided with the anti-Christianist and said the publication would be sent out again minus the life story of Col. Florencio Marquinez.
“There have been many challenges and adversities along the way that really impacted my life,” he shared, after speaking about his appreciation for the Airman’s Creed. “It is my strong spiritual foundation that has kept the light shining on my path. I would not be the man I am today if isn’t wasn’t for my mother leading our whole family to Jesus Christ. Her creed to us five children growing up is God first in your life, then comes family and third, work.”
“My career both in the military and civilian world has brought many challenges and struggles, but one verse from the Bible that really helped me get through them is from Matthew 19:26, ‘With God, all things are possible,’” Marquinez continued. “So no matter how stressful your life can be with juggling family issues, relationships, career advancement, work, school or any burden that life throws your way, cast it upon the Lord and He will sustain you.”
The Alliance Defending Freedom is accusing Col. Baker of violating the civil rights of Col. Marquienez because his views cannot be squelched simply because of his religious beliefs.
A Chinese pastor who was arrested during the recent government crackdown on Christians is thanking God for the “opportunity of going to jail.”
Huang Yizi, 40, is facing up to seven years in prison for his speaking out against the government’s destruction of Christian churches. He was arrested in August when police dragged him from his home in front of his wife and two children.
The official charge is “gathering crowds to disturb social order.”
Beijing rights lawyer Zhang Kai says Yizi is doing well and that from what he can see there is no basis to charge him.
“As a defense lawyer and judging from the evidence so far I don’t think Huang’s actions constituted any crime. Personally, I believe Huang’s arrest is directly related to the general crackdown on churches in Zhejiang.”
Chen Guangcheng, a human rights activist in China, said that the communist government is actually more dangerous than terrorist group ISIS.
“I believe that we have underestimated the threat from the Communist regime like China. They are many, many times more dangerous than the terrorist groups out there. I believe the people will realize later this is true,” Chen said.
A Christian pastor that had been kidnapped by the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram escaped after 10 months in captivity.
Pastor Rotimi Obajimi had been taken to the Sambisa Forest where he was tied down for months. He was then moved to another location before bring brought back to the Forest where he escaped during a heavy downpour.
“We were so amazed to see him because we have been praying earnestly for a long time trusting Jesus that He would surely come back, but lo and behold he was brought to our headquarters in Maiduguri by the military,” a pastor at Redeem Church in Maiduguri told SaharaReporters.
The pastor is in Maimallari Hospital for treatment and will be debriefed by military officials before he will return to his church.
Boko Haram has been slaughtering Christian pastors so the fact Pastor Obajimi was shocking to Nigerian officials.
A New York high school that was caught discriminating against a Christian club last year and tried it again this year has reversed course.
Ward Melville High School in Long Island tried for the second straight year to deny the Christian group Students United in Faith permission to meet on campus. After pressure from Christian rights groups, they reversed course.
“Please be advised the district has decided to alter its position on this issue,” wrote John Sheahan, an attorney for the Three Village Central School District. “In light of this change, the district will grant SUIF recognition as a student group for the 2014-15 school year and reverses any contrary decision.”
The school denied accusations they violated the Equal Access Act.
Hiram Sasser of the Liberty Institute praised the teens who stood up to their school in a statement to Fox News.
“John Raney and Jeremy Johnson may just be high school students, but they did more for liberty than all of Washington, D.C.,” he said.
Christian relief group Samaritan’s Purse announced they will be airlifting almost 90 tons of aid and supplies to those who have been forced to leave everything behind to flee the Islamic terrorist group ISIS.
“Winter is coming to the area, making a difficult situation even worse for these families,” read a Samaritan’s Purse press release. “The airlift will bring critical supplies to the region, including winter coats for children, blankets, warm socks, sleeping bags and shelter materials.”
Items in the airlift include over 2,500 kerosene heaters for families to keep their makeshift homes warm.
Christian groups working in the area have decried the lack of support for Christians and other minorities that are fleeing the murderous Islamic group.
“I think you’re seeing the rise of ISIS because of a lack of attention to the freedom of expression within the Middle East. You have extremist groups within Islam, like ISIS. It’s not true of every person who is Islamic. But there are extremist groups like this who want to force people to convert to Islam at the point of a gun,” David Curry, the CEO and president of Open Doors USA, told The Christian Post in an interview in September.
“Unless we understand that threat, not just to Christians in the region but to people worldwide, we’re not going to respond properly. I think it has risen because of a lack of attention and a lack of concern for Christians and other minority groups.”
The Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram is continuing to follow in the footsteps of ISIS as they beheaded another seven people.
The seven were murdered in the northeastern Nigerian town of Ngamdu during the night as people slept. Resident woke in the morning to find the seven bodies on display.
“[The murderers] slit their throats just the way people slaughter goats,” a Ngamdu resident told reporters.
Fifteen terrorists were killed in the Ngamdu area two weeks ago when local militia rose up and drove the terrorists out of the town. The group vowed to get revenge on the town because of the killings.
The Nigerian government has been helpless in stopping the terror group from overtaking about two dozen towns in the northern part of Nigeria. The group claims they have an Islamic caliphate.
Survivors of an Islamist attack in Kaduna State, Nigeria say that at least 46 people have been killed including two pastors.
Church leaders say the Islamists stated their goal was to “cleanse” the area of any Christians.
The two pastors were killed along with 31 other Christian s in Karshin Daji. The attack left 15 injured and at least 15 homes of Christians burned to the ground. The slain pastors were Pastor Ezra Ibrahim of the Evangelical Church Winning All and Pastor Julius Jako of ECWA who was butchered beside his wife and daughter.
Danjuma Awe, 60, was one of the survivors of the assault.
“Suddenly we heard sounds of gunshots around our village,” Awe said. “The pastor was still in the pastorate when the Muslim Fulani gunmen forced their way onto the church premises. They cut him, his wife, and a daughter with a machete, and then tied the hands and feet of the three of them before setting the house on fire. The three of them were burned to ashes in the living room of the pastorate. We only found the charred remains of the three of them the following morning.”
Residents say the Nigerian authorities did nothing to stop the Islamists from their assault.
Officials with a high school in Long Island, New York that was caught discriminating against Christian students last year has been caught doing it again.
Ward Melville High School told John Raney, 17, that he could not have a Christian club as part of the clubs at the school last year. Raney had founded Students United In Faith, a service-oriented Christian group. When the Liberty Institute stepped in, the school Superintendent Cheryl Pedisich reversed the decision and apologized.
Now that the spotlight was off, the school is trying to discriminate against Christian students again.
The school’s Assistant Principal, ironically named Christian Losee, is trying to keep the Christians from having a group this year because of alleged lack of interest and “financial limitations.” However, the school approved four new clubs.
The Liberty Institute was surprised the school would try again to discriminate against Christian students and is taking action.
“This is not a complicated issue,” Sasser wrote. “Simply put, public schools cannot discriminate against religious clubs and must treat them equally, and provide them equal access to school facilities, as non-religious clubs.”