Secretary of State John Kerry is highlighting the case of Pastor Saeed Abedini as an example of Christian persecution in the Middle East.
“In Iran, U.S. Iranian citizen Pastor Saeed Abedini remains imprisoned. The Iranian authorities sentenced him to eight years behind bars simply because of his religious beliefs. We will continue to call for his release and we will continue to work for it,” Kerry stated.
The American Center for Law and Justice, who has been working to get Pastor Abedini freed, released a statement saying they were thankful that the Secretary of State was finally paying real attention to the case.
Kerry was speaking about the State Department 2013 Report on International Religious Freedom.
“On several occasions, however, senior U.S. government officials, including the President and the Secretary of State, raised directly with their Iranian counterparts the case of Christian pastor and dual U.S.-Iranian national Saeed Abedini, who is being held on charges related to his religious beliefs, and called for his release,” the report states. “The Department of State also publicly called for the release of Mr. Abedini and other prisoners held on religious grounds.”
Prayer vigils around the country are planned on September 26th, the two-year anniversary of Abedini’s unlawful imprisonment.
The U.S. Senate has approved $225 million dollars for Israel’s Iron Dome defense system.
“We could not go out for a month or five week [on vacation] and not act to help the Israelis replenish their supply of Iron Dome missiles,” Senator John McCain of Arizona said at a press conference.
Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma who objected to the bill because of budget concerns had originally held the bill. However, Coburn relented after speaking with McCain and South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham to see the urgent need for Israel.
“[The Israeli people need to know] we will stand with them and that we will provide them with what they need in order to defend themselves,” said McCain.
The House approved the bill 395-8 on Friday. The eight representatives who voted against it were Keith Ellison of Minnesota, Zoe Lofgren of California, Jim Moran of Virginia, Justin Amash of Michigan, Walter Jones of North Carolina, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Mark Sanford of South Carolina and Beto O’Rourke of Texas.
Meriam Ibrahim’s long journey to freedom has finally ended.
Ibrahim, her husband Daniel Wani and their children arrived in New Hampshire Thursday. The family arrived at the airport in Manchester to a huge, cheering crowd consisting of many of the Sudanese-American population of the city.
The family is going to be living in Wani’s home in the city near his brother and family.
The members of Sudanese Evangelical Covenant Church held signs saying “God Bless You” and cheering the family all the way to a waiting car. The church has been preparing Wani’s home for the family and providing all the necessary items for the family to start a new life.
Rev. Joel Kruggel, pastor of Bethany Covenant Church which sponsors the Sudanese church, says he wants the family to “absorb the fact that they are safe in New Hampshire, where life can be closer to normal.”
Two American missionaries who contracted the Ebola virus while working to help the African victims of the disease are being brought to the United States.
Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol are being flown to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. The two will be held in a very strictly controlled wing of the hospital inside a chamber with negative pressure keeping air inside the wing.
Both of the patients are said to be in grave but stable condition.
The patients are reportedly going to be transferred on a special plane chartered by the CDC that has isolation pods. The move comes on the heels of an experimental treatment being sent to Liberia. Dr. Brantley refused to take it and demanded it be given to Nancy Writebol.
The CDC issued a warning to travelers to avoid Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
Samaritan’s Purse, SIM and the Peace Corps are all pulling their volunteers from those countries because of the uncontrolled outbreak of the virus.
A group of pro-terrorist protesters began chanting slogans such as “We are Hamas!” as they marched through Miami.
The demonstration, sponsored by groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations Florida and the Islamic Circle of North America, was supposed to be a “stop the bombing” march.
The event started on topic with chants of “no more killing; no more war” but changed into Islamic chants of “Allahu Akbar” and “we are jihad!”
The crowd assaulted a Jewish photographer who was sent to cover the event when his Jewish faith was discovered. Several protesters threated to kill the photographer because he was “a Jew.” They used multiple Jewish slurs as they harassed the man until he left the area.
A local reporter covering the event said she found it chilling to see hate-filled Jihadists controlling streets in Miami and threatening someone because they were Jewish.
A federal appeals court has told a group of anti-Christianists that “the cross at Ground Zero” is not an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.
The group American Atheists had demanded the cross be removed because it violated the Establishment Clause of the Constitution.
“American Atheists contend that the Port Authority and the foundation impermissibly promote Christianity in violation of the Establishment Clause and deny atheists equal protection of the laws by displaying the cross at Ground Zero in the museum unaccompanied by some item acknowledging that atheists were among the victims and rescuers on September 11,” read the opinion.
“American Atheists acknowledge that there is no historic artifact that speaks particularly to the loss of atheists’ lives or to atheists’ rescue efforts … we conclude that American Atheists’ challenge fails on the merits. Accordingly, we hereby affirm the judgment in favor of appellees.”
The president of American Atheists says it’s not fair that a cross is in the 9/11 Museum and his group can’t put up some kind of tribute to atheists, even though the “cross” wasn’t given by any Christian group but rather discovered as part of the debris of the Twin Towers.
“They’re trying to Christianize 9/11 with this cross and it’s not American and it’s not fair,” said David Silverman.
The anti-Christianist group will likely appeal the decision.
Outspoken Christian NBA player Jeremy Lin celebrated his joining the L.A. Lakers in a way that seems unusual in the world of high-dollar sports.
He fed the homeless.
“Famed shooter Jeremy Lin who was recently acquired by the L.A. Lakers, embraced his new city by serving meals to the homeless today along with teammates Xavier Henry and Laker Girls at The Midnight Mission SoCal’s largest social service provider,” the Midnight Mission shared online.
Lin has previously conducted multiple outreaches in cities where he plays as part of the Jeremy Lin Foundation. The foundation says their work is “compelled by [Lin’s] relationship with Jesus.”
Lin’s official first interview with the Lakers, posted to the team’s website, had Lin saying that he was going to be playing for God and would let the Lord decide the results and how it will benefit his team and his community.
“When I look back on the past two years, I think I’ve grown and learned a lot as a person, as a Christian and also as a basketball player,” Lin said.
Sudanese Christian refugee Meriam Ibrahim and her family are due to arrive in the United States this week.
The family is reportedly going to be arriving in New Hampshire and will settle in the Manchester area according to her brother-in-law. Gabriel Wani lives in Manchester with his wife and three daughters.
Local officials in Manchester say there is a strong Sudanese community that is ready to welcome the family. The Sudanese Evangelical Covenant Church is planning a huge reception and celebration upon the family’s arrival.
Italian officials who flew her to Rome rescued Ibrahim and her family from Sudan last week. She and the family met with Pope Francis, who reportedly had been working behind the scenes to help Italian officials free Ibrahim.
The Pope praised Ibrahim’s “courageous witness to perseverance in the faith.”
Iran’s supreme leader has been reported by Iran’s official news agency as saying the only way to achieve peace in Gaza is to destroy Israel.
The declaration came the same day that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said they have a new missile system that can completely destroy Israel’s Iron Dome system and leave them vulnerable to rocket attacks by Hamas and other terrorist organizations.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told a group of college students Israel’s existence is the reason for the conflict in Gaza.
“These crimes which are beyond imagination and show the true nature of the wolfish and child killer regime, which the only solution is its destruction,” the ayatollah declared to his audience. “However, until that time, the expansion of the armed resistance of the Palestinians of the West Bank is the only way to confront this wild regime.”
He then attacked the U.S. and England for supporting Israel.
“We believe that the West Bank needs to be armed just like Gaza and those interested in the future of Palestine must become active in this field [guerrilla warfare] so that the suffering of the Palestinian people through their strength and their weakness due to the Zionist regime is reduced,” he said. “Some Western countries including America and filthy England defend with clarity the crimes that no ordinary person would. The President of America in the face of these child killings, destruction, torture and suffering of the people in Gaza, with a comical logic states that Israel has the right to defend itself! Don’t the Palestinians have the right to defend their lives and security?”
Three New Mexico teenagers are in custody after they reportedly beat two homeless men to death and then went to one of the teen’s homes to hang out. Alex Rios, 18, and two boys aged 16 and 15 are being held on $5 million bail.
A third homeless man who survived the beating and was able to crawl to a nearby home for help identified the boys. He told police that one of the boys lived near the location of the attack.
Police found the boys hanging out at the home described by the victim. One of the boys hadn’t even bothered to clean the blood from the victims off his clothing.
Investigators say the two dead men were beaten so badly they’re having trouble making any kind of identification. An Arizona driver’s license was found at the site but there was no way to use it to make a facial comparison.
The criminal complaint says the 15-year-old was “very angry” over a breakup with a girlfriend so they went looking for someone to beat and rob.
“I personally, after reading that complaint, was sick to my stomach because of the nature of the violence and the age of the offenders,” police spokesman Simon Drobik said.