Atheist Group Complains about Bible Clubs at Ohio Schools

By Veronica Effinger
Editor, Christian Headlines

The atheist group Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) has filed a complaint against four Ohio school districts which has led two schools to suspend their Bible clubs.

The Christian Post reports that the FFRF claims that the Bible clubs, which are held during lunch breaks at the eight high schools, junior high schools, and middle schools, “violate protections of separation of church and state if they are led or regularly attended by local pastors,” according to Ryan Jayne, a legal fellow at the FFRF.

The FFRF said that the Bible clubs have to be completely student-led and could include no involvement from pastors of local churches.

Youth Pastor Aaron Green of Faith Memorial Church said that church leaders and school administrations "have always had an extraordinarily great working relationship, one that has helped these groups to thrive and to be encouraged in a special way during the school day."

Green asserted that he was not aware that any of the school’s administrators had a problem with the pastors’ involvement in the Bible clubs, although he said the schools had asked pastors to limit their involvement so that the clubs could be run primarily by students.

"Both youth leaders and schools are aware of the sensitive nature under which these things operate and need to be extra vigilant about rules governing separation of church and state,” said Green.

However, the letter of complaint sent by the FFRF maintains that if "FMC representatives have indeed been leading student Bible studies, those clubs are not bona fide student-initiated religious clubs and should be dissolved. ... Students would be free to re-establish the clubs, on their own initiative, in the future."

Link to story: http://www.christianheadlines.com/blog/

Public School System Sued for Pushing Islamic Propaganda

By Morgan Chalfant        

A public school system in Maryland is being sued for promoting Islam over other religions.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court Wednesday on behalf of a former Marine and his wife who fought back at their daughter’s high school for forcing students to complete assignments that endorsed Islam.

The Thomas More Law Center filed the civil rights complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, accusing leaders at the Charles County Public Schools of violating the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights.

John Kevin Wood, who served eight years in the Marine Corps, and his wife Melissa objected when they discovered that their daughter’s World History class at La Plata High School was circulating assignments that amounted to Islamic propaganda.

Their daughter and her fellow students were instructed to write out the Islamic creed “Shahada,” which says, “There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.” When recited by non-Muslims, the creed amounts to conversion to Islam.

Students were also required to memorize and recite the Five Pillars of Islam and were subjected to disparaging teachings about Christianity.

“Most Muslims’ faith is stronger than the average Christian,” one worksheet read.

The class also spent one day covering Christianity, while teachers devoted two weeks to instructing about Islam.

Upon learning of the lessons prioritizing Islam, Wood, who is Christian, contacted the school and demanded alternative assignments for his daughter. The school refused to allow his daughter to opt out of the assignments and threatened her with failing grades if they were not completed. She elected not to complete the worksheets.

Read more:  http://freebeacon.com/

CHURCH IN CUBA DEMOLISHED AND HUNDREDS ARRESTED

By Christian Solidarity Worldwide

Emanuel Church, a large church in eastern Cuba affiliated to the Apostolic Movement, an unregistered Protestant denomination, was demolished by the authorities on 5 February while hundreds of church members were detained.

The property of Reverend Alain Toledano in Santiago de Cuba was surrounded by officials including members of the police, state security and the military at approximately 5am on 5 February. They detained his wife, Marilín Alayo Correa, before demolishing both Emanuel Church and the pastoral home.

The destruction of the church follows similar demolitions of two Apostolic Movement churches in Camaguey and Las Tunas provinces on 8 January.

Over the course of 5 February approximately 200 leaders and members of Emanuel Church were also detained. A group of around 40 were held in a local school while others were taken to police stations across the region to stop them from protesting the demolition. Church leaders reported that many were beaten while they were being detained. The government has repeatedly refused to register the Apostolic Movement denomination

Reverend Toledano was in the United States attending a religious event at the time of the government action against the church. He told Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) that he believes the Cuban government intentionally carried out the eviction and demolition when he was out of the country. 

He expressed concern at the impact on his daughters, ages 11 and 12, who he said were screaming as they witnessed their mother being detained, adding that this is the second time they have experienced the destruction of their home and church. In 2007, the Cuban government carried out a significant operation to destroy the church, also located in the Abel Santamaria neighborhood of Santiago, which at the time had around 700 members.

Read more: http://www.csw.org.uk/2016/02/09/

U.S. College Professor: Christians 'Filthy' in Eyes of Allah

By Leo Hohmann

Christians are “filthy” in the sight of Allah and worthy of being looted and slaughtered “in a time of jihad,” according to an American imam and professor of religious studies at a prestigious private college in Tennessee.

These are words Professor Yasir Kazi now disputes he ever said.

Kazi (also spelled Qadhi) is a professor of Islamic studies at Rhodes College, a four-year liberal arts college in Memphis, Tennessee. He has two master’s degrees from Yale and one from the University of Medina in Saudi Arabia. He is expected to complete his doctorate soon from Yale’s department of religious studies, according to his bio page on the college website.

He also heads up an Islamic school called AlMaghrib Institute, which has a worldwide following with 22 locations in the U.S., eight in Canada, seven in the United Kingdom, one in Sweden and others scattered throughout the Middle East and Asia. The school teaches the Salafist brand of Sunni Islam that strives to return to Islam’s roots and is modeled after the life of Muhammad.

He has a dynamic preaching ministry with a YouTube channel followed by nearly 78,000 subscribers.

New York Times Magazine, in a 2011 article, called Kazi “one of the most influential conservative clerics in American Islam.” The article painted him as a rising star within the American Muslim community who once preached violence and was monitored by the U.S. government, but has since moderated his views to become more peaceful.

Connections to Terrorists
Kazi has been on the radar of the FBI at least since 2009, when the Nigerian underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to blow up a Northwest Airlines jet bound for Detroit. The Nigerian terrorist was a student of Kazi’s AlMaghrib Institute.

Article continues: http://www.wnd.com/2015/12/

TOP 50 LIST OF CHRISTIAN PERSECUTORS

By Greg Corombos

The persecution of Christians is getting worse all around the world, and Open Doors USA CEO David Curry says it could well be the most severe since the early church was under assault by the Roman Empire.

On Wednesday, Open Doors USA released its 2016 World Watch List, an annual report listing the 50 most repressive nations for Christians.

“This past year saw the persecution of Christians escalating to an unprecedented rate,” Curry told WND and Radio America. “We think that perhaps not since the first century church have we seen such an unrelenting and spreading threat against the Christian faith.”

While there were some changes in the ranking of the 50 worst nations, Curry said there’s so much persecution around countries making the list, which are far more aggressive in targeting believers than even just a few years ago.

“One of the things that made this the most difficult time in the modern era is that it’s more difficult to get on the list,” he explained. “Every continent is more difficult. So, unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of bright spots.”

Once again, North Korea tops the World Watch List for the most brutal repression of Christians.

“Tens of thousands of Christians are imprisoned for their faith, some even executed for things just as simple as owning a bible,” said Curry, who listed three other elements that factor into Pyongyang’s depravity.

Read more: http://www.wnd.com/2016/01/

US Homeschooler Face Criminal Charges for Missing Paperwork

By Bob Unruh

Authorities in Ohio have filed criminal charges against homeschool parents in two families, with trials later this month that could result in fines and jail time if convicted.

For missing paperwork deadlines.

The parents, whose identities are not being publicized at this time, are facing accusations of “contributing to the delinquency of a minor” for not having their paperwork filed appropriately – or on time.

The families are being defended by officials with the Home School Legal Defense Association, the world’s biggest advocacy organization for homeschoolers. It has fought battles on behalf of homeschoolers in the United States as well as overseas, taking on state and federal governments from Germany to Sweden to Arizona and California.

The organization explained the paperwork pitfalls that snared the now-criminal case defendants.

See what American education has become, in “Crimes of the Educators: How Utopians Are Using Government Schools to Destroy America’s Children.”

“Both families were somewhat new to homeschooling in Ohio. One family filed a notice of intent when they began homeschooling last year, but did not know they had to file another notice for this school year. The other family filed their annual notice of intent, but did not submit an educational assessment with their notice because they had not yet completed it, and had been told by their school district that there was no deadline for submitting the assessment.”

Read more: http://www.wnd.com/2016/02/

Voice of the Martyrs: House Church Elder Sentenced to Two Years in Prison

Huang Quirui

ARRESTED JUNE 2014 IN CHINA

Quirui, a house church elder, was one of three Christians arrested and sentenced to two years in prison and fined 5,000 yuan (US $800) for “illegal business operations” by the Liunun District Court of Liuzhou. He is alleged to have been in charge of shipping the textbooks published by the school.

Police detained school director Cheng Jie at the school on Feb. 18, 2014. Four months later, on June 24, 2014, authorities also arrested church elder Huang Quirui and church member Li Jiatao in their homes.

Authorities claimed the defendants, all part of the Liangren house church which founded the kindergarten, “illegally” made a profit from the creation and publication of kindergarten curriculum. The curriculum used by The Hualin Foreign Language Experimental Kindergarten teaches students about character. It does not mention God or Jesus, but uses stories and games to teach children about honesty and trustworthiness. The school charged students only the cost of printing the books.

“This is absolutely a wrongful verdict,” said lawyer Tan Yongpei, who along with two other lawyers from his firm replaced the three Christian defendants’ original lawyers after they were “disqualified” by the court during the trial on Feb. 9, 2015.

“The act of printing is not an illegal business operation, and Cheng Jie’s act of taking care of the books is not an illegal business operation. The act of shipping the books, which Huang Quirui did, is not an act of an illegal business operation,” Tan said.

Authorities have had a long-running campaign against the Liangren Church and its school for promoting Christianity among young students. Authorities accused the school of violating the “Law of Education” by forcing citizens to believe in a religion. As a result of the arrests, the Liangren Church closed the school, refunded tuition, and reassigned teachers to other locations.

Prisoner Alert story continues: http://www.prisoneralert.com/pprofiles/

Afshin Javid – Ex-Hezbollah Iranian Muslim Saw Jesus And Jesus Said Who He Was

Afshin Javid

There are many stories of religious persecution. I want to share one story of Divine love, mercy and forgiveness. This is one of many on the internet. Jesus loves all mankind and doesn't want anyone to perish, including terrorists.
Terry Noble

[Afshin Javid:] Source: LYBIO.net

I was born in the southern part of the Iran a city called Abadan, born in a Muslim family Shahid Muslim family. My grandfather was a Muslim leader I joined Hezbollah.

I was in [ ] army for about three years. I was studying Kuran extensively depth. I traveled to Malaysia where I was caught with 30 illegal passports, put in prison and so I started teaching Islam in the jail and telling everybody what they must to do what are their duties towards Allah and so I did this routine every day. I prayed obviously five times a day.

Shiad do pray three time and they include the 17 roka in the three times but what I did when because I wanted to spend more time with – with god. I did it at five s separate times and that in the end of the evening I would have pray extra prayers.

I would have the habit of reading through the kuran cover to cover once every ten days and so as I was doing that one night, I just was meditating in verses and there are words in the Kuran that are repeated continually and repeatedly but they have no meaning, but still they are the secrets of Kuran and so when I was meditating on this a spirit entered the room and it was much more powerful that i could handle or I could overcome and so I was filled with fear and so I tried and using all the tools Islam had given me and in the name Allah I command you to leave you know Satan I will your cure, kind of things I used all those and nothing was helping. And that moment I was totally desperate and I felt like it is choking me choking the life out of me and I felt like I’m dying in that cell.

And I just cried out to the heavens and I said god in Farsi, “Khoda”, help me and immediately I heard the voice just as clear as you hear my voice today saying greet the name of Jesus.

See Afshin Javid's conversion story at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIbCIJsCMbA

Three Egyptian Christian Teens to Stand Trial for ‘Insulting Islam’

By Thomas D. Williams, PH.D.

Three Christian high school students will stand trial for blasphemy in Egypt Thursday on charges that they insulted Islam, after a video of the students emerged in which they allegedly mock Muslim prayers.

If found guilty, the three teenagers could face up to five years in a juvenile detention center for violating the country’s strict blasphemy law.

The 30-second video shows one the boys reciting Muslim prayers while another behind him laughs, as well as parodies of the students slitting each other’s throats. The boys’ teacher reportedly filmed the video in a hotel room during an overnight trip, shortly after Islamic State militants slaughtered 21 Coptic Christians on a beach in Libya last February.

The three high schoolers are to appear in court in the southern city of Minya. According to the boys’ lawyer, Maher Naguib, their teacher, who is also Christian, will stand trial under the same charges and faces a prison sentence if convicted.

Naguib downplayed the significance of the video, calling it the result of a “random and spontaneous action by some youngsters” that lasted “for only few seconds.”

Story continues: http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2016/02/03/