A Catholic priest is speaking up on behalf of tens of thousands of displaced Christians who believe the Muslim-led government in Iraq abandoned them to the Islamic extremist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
“The people are angry because the government just gave up on them. They told us that, in Mosul, where there had normally been a presence of 60,000 soldiers, after the onslaught of ISIS, in only a matter of hours, these soldiers abandoned them, laying down their weapons,” said Fr. Rami Wakim in The Catholic Herald.
Many Christians have been forced to flee to the Kurdish regions of the country where Kurdish fighter groups have protected them.
Fr. Wakim said that most of the churches in the region are unable to hold full services inside their sanctuaries because they are filled with people sleeping on mattresses and piles of clothing because they have nothing left after fleeing Mosul and other areas overtaken by the terrorists.
“People look up to priests and bishops as the only solution, the only help they can get at a time where — of course we need to pray with them — but at this time prayer alone doesn’t seem enough and actions are required,” Wakim added.
The influx of Christian refugees is overwhelming the refugee centers in many of the areas and some aid groups have been told that they will have to transport refugees to other villages.
A virulent anti-Christian organization is threatening a Mississippi school district after a pastor delivered a prayer and sermon at a convocation for teachers this month.
The American Humanist Association sent a letter to the superintendent of the Jackson Public School District on Monday claiming they were representing an anonymous teacher who attended the event. The AHA claims the teacher said attendance at the event was mandatory.
The speaker was Pastor Roy Maine, who works as an electrician in the district. He was invited to deliver an opening prayer and he offered words of exhortation during his invocation.
The anti-Christian group says their anonymous client described the event as “one long church service.”
Attorney Monica Miller of the anti-Christian group said that if the school does not bar the use of religious speech at events they could file a lawsuit.
“This letter serves as an official notice of the unconstitutional activity and demands that the school district terminate this and any similar illegal activity immediately. To avoid legal action, we kindly ask that you notify us in writing within two weeks of receipt of this letter setting forth the steps you will take to rectify this constitutional infringement,” Miller wrote.
The school district acknowledged receiving the letter but did not offer a public response to the letter’s content.
The state of California is forcing all faith-based employers to pay for abortions.
The California Department of Managed Health Care told insurance companies in the state all abortions must be covered. Michelle Rouillard, director of DMHC, said that “abortion is a basic health care service.”
Rouillard asserts that the California constitution prohibits health plans from “discriminating against women who choose” to kill their babies via abortion.
The directive is seen as a state agent acting to penalize two Roman Catholic/Jesuit universities that said they would no longer pay for abortions in health care plans but would not stop employees from obtaining it from third parties.
The Alliance Defending Freedom and the Life Legal Defense Foundation sent rebuttal letters on Friday saying the state’s mandate is a violation of federal law. The letter says that DMHC’s action is violation of the Weldon Amendment.
An anti-Christian organization that harassed a Georgia school district because football coaches were praying with players isn’t satisfied that the head of the school district has banned coaches from praying. Now they’re angry because they think Christians are still a majority.
Hall County Superintendent Will Schofield, caving into to pressure from the anti-Christian American Humanist Association, sent an e-mail to staff members saying that prayer is “off-limits for teachers and coaches” and that students alone can do their own prayers.
“The Hall County School District wholeheartedly defends the almost unlimited rights of students to exercise their religious beliefs,” Schofield wrote. “As long as activities do not infringe upon or disrespect the religious beliefs of others, or disrupt classroom instruction or school routines, students have the right to pray, read religious materials, talk to their classmates about their beliefs, and … form clubs or associations with students who share similar interests.”
The anti-Christianists made it clear their motivation was not really about stopping teachers from praying with students, but the elimination of Christians.
“It is not encouraging that Schofield referred to students’ religious freedom while in school as almost unlimited, as that sends a signal to the community that a culture of Christian predominance can continue,” AHA attorney David Noise wrote. “Based on the extensive feedback that we’ve received from the community, it’s clear that non-Christians feel that the atmosphere of Christian privilege is overwhelming, and the Schofield statement seems more concerned about appeasing the majority than addressing that problem.”
The AHA did not say if they will abandon their threat of a lawsuit.
A Christian owner of a pizza business is the latest believer to be targeted by the virulent anti-Christian group Freedom From Religion Foundation.
The Wisconsin-based group is threatening Steven Rose, owner of Bailey’s Pizza in Searcy, Arkansas. The business offers what he calls an “old school country atmosphere” and on Sundays offers a 10% off if you bring in a church bulletin.
The anti-Christianists claim that making such an offer violates the 1964 Civil Rights Act which states “all persons shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, and privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public accommodation, … without discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, religion, or national origin.”
The FFRF claims that they’re discriminating against people who aren’t Christians.
Rose says that the offer is just one of many other offers including discounts for police, fire departments or the Boy Scouts. Rose also says the deal does not specifically state “for Christians” but that you need a bulletin. He said that anyone can bring in a bulletin regardless of their beliefs.
Another Christian college has been exempted from the nation’s healthcare laws.
Louisiana College in Pineville filed suit in 2012 over the healthcare mandate’s requirements regarding abortion-inducing drugs. The Alliance Defending Freedom brought the suit on the school’s behalf.
“This is bigger than a preliminary injunction — they already had won that,” said Focus on the Family Judicial Analyst Bruce Hausknecht. “This is a decision ‘on the merits’ of the college’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act claim, which they won at the district court level. But this is big because it’s apparently the first such decision in either the nonprofit or for-profit cases that actually decides the substantive issue — not just the temporary reprieve.”
The Department of Justice tried to get the case initially dismissed but it’s now likely in light of the recent Supreme Court decision the case would not be appealed by federal prosecutors.
So far, 56 injunctions against the law have been put in place by various federal judges.
The plight of Christians in Iraq has reached the point that even Islamic broadcasters are unable to deal with the level of violence and hatred shown by the extremist group Islamist State of Iraq and Syria.
Nahi Mahdi was participating in a discussion on his show when the subject was brought up about Christians being forced from their homes and killed by the terrorists. Mahdi surprised his fellow panelists when he said that he had been crying that morning over the treatment of the Christians.
“They are our own flesh and blood,” Mahdi said. “Some of them have left for Sweden, for Germany. Who does (ISIS) think it is to drive out our fellow countrymen? They must take immediate measures to help these people.”
One of the other Muslim men on the show said Mahdi breaking down in tears showed the marks of “a true Iraqi.”
“Our country is like a rose,” Mahdi said. “And its petals are the Christians, the Arabs, the Kurds, the Sabians, the Shabak people…these are all our countrymen.”
Christians forced to flee Mosul, Iraq because of the extreme Islamic terrorist group Islamic State are recounting their tales of horror as they fled for their lives.
“We heard the gunshots outside our door, and knew the terrorists were killing Christians,” Munira Aziz told Fox News. “But we hoped someone might rescue us. We cowered inside for two days, then knew we had to leave. We gathered some clothes and left at night.”
Aziz is now living inside a church in the northern Iraqi city of Sulemaniyah suffering from a broken hip. All she has left is the clothes on her back.
Aziz said that thousands of Christians were killed simply because they had no way to flee the city.
“There were Christians everywhere we went. In every garden, and in every doorway, there are just so many with nothing and with nowhere to go,” Aziz told Fox News. “But I am so happy now we are safe, we are the lucky ones.”
The exiled believers have stood firm in their faith.
“People say it would be easy to become a Muslim, but my religion is everything I now have — why would I give that up?” a refugee said. “I would die first.”
The Christians in exile are hoping that the recent advances by Kurdish fighters with the help of U.S. airstrikes will allow them to return their homes and churches.
Christian organizations are demanding the Internal Revenue Service release the details of a deal they made with the anti-Christian Freedom From Religion Foundation to target churches and their tax-exempt status.
The agreement between the IRS and the anti-Christianists was part of a hearing in federal court on July 17th to settle a lawsuit brought in 2012.
The virulent anti-Christian Freedom From Religion Foundation said that churches were illegally influencing the outcome of elections by talking to congregants about political issues from the pulpit during services.
The Faith and Freedom Coalition says that the IRS has a history of harassment of conservative and Christian groups, making this secret deal with those aiming to destroy Christians dangerous for all Americans.
“Given the history of the IRS in harassing, persecuting and infringing on the First Amendment rights of Christians and other people of faith, this is a deeply disturbing development,” said Ralph Reed, chairman of Faith & Freedom Coalition. “For the Christian community to be targeted for increased enforcement power and the threat of loss of tax-exempt status by this scandal-plagued agency defies logic, common sense, and any sound legal basis.”
The group is not the only ones looking into the secret deal. Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt has sent letters to the IRS and Department of Justice demanding to see all communications between the government and the anti-Christianists.