Algeria Shuts Down Church Accused of Illegally Printing Bibles and Evangelism Materials

By Samuel Smith
Christian Post

A church in the Northeastern African nation of Algeria has been closed down after authorities claimed that the church building was being used to print Bibles and other Christian materials.

World Watch Monitor reports that a church affiliated with the Protestant Church of Algeria in the Mediterranean coastal town of Ain Turk was shut down by government officials on Nov. 9.

Authorities in the port city of Oran, which is about 20 miles from Ain Turk, have claimed that the church was being used to "illegally print Gospels and publications intended for evangelism." Additionally, the police say that the church did not have state approval.

However, a Christian leader has decried the government's allegations against the church in question and called them "unfounded."

"Firstly, this community is indeed affiliated to the Protestant Church of Algeria, which has been officially recognized by the government since 1974 and is accredited with both the Ministry of the Interior and the local government," the Rev. Mahmoud Haddad explained, according to WWM. "Also there is no printing activity of Gospels or Christian publications inside these premises."

A church board member named Youssef also told the Christian persecution media outlet that the church was closed down based on "false motives."

"I am very saddened by this injustice and persecution we are facing in Algeria," Youssef was quoted as saying.

Algeria, a Muslim-majority country, ranks as the 36th-worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USA's World Watch List.

An Open Doors factsheet on Algeria states that the country prohibits public assembly for worship of religions other than Islam. However, Open Doors explains that Catholic and Protestant churches generally are able to conduct services without fear of government interference.

Although a new Algerian constitution enacted in February 2016 guaranteed the freedom of worship, churches have still been forced to fight for their rights to assemble due to the country's 2006 law banning non-Muslim worship.

Christian Post report continues

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Iranian Christian Convert Loses Appeal Against 10-Year Prison Sentence for 'Missionary Activities'

World Watch Monitor from left to right: Bahram Nasibov, Eldar
    Gurbanov, Yusif Farhadov, and Naser Navard Gol-Tapeh

By James Macinytre
Christian Today

An Iranian convert to Christianity has had his 10-year prison sentence for 'missionary activities' upheld after losing his appeal, World Watch Monitor has reported.

Naser Navard Gol-Tapeh was sentenced in May alongside three Azerbaijanis, and all four men were given 10-year sentences for 'missionary activities' and 'actions against national security' in Iran.

However, the three Azerbaijanis – Eldar Gurbanov, Yusif Farhadov and Bahram Nasibov – were released from Iran in November 2016 and, according to WWM, are unlikely to be forced to return, despite their representatives also failing to overturn their verdicts during the hearing on 

November 12.

The four men were arrested after security agents raided a wedding party in Tehran in June 2016, according to WWM. They spent four months in prison before being released on bail, after which the Azerbaijani men travelled home.

The charges were described as 'unwarranted and unjustifiable' by Mervyn Thomas, the chief executive of Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).

According to the advocacy group Article 18, 21 Christians have been sentenced to long prison terms in Iran since May.

Iran is ranked 8th on the Open Doors 2017 World Watch List of the 50 countries in which it is most difficult to live as a Christian.

In 2016, over 193 Christians were arrested for attending these prayer meetings and Bible studies in 'house churches' according to WWM.

Website: Christian Today

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UM Students Pass Anti-Israel Divestment Resolution: "Jews Are Not a Nation"

"Zionism is a Dirty Political Ideology"

By Rachel Frommer
Washington Free Beacon

Students at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (UM) supporting an anti-Israel student government resolution were caught on hidden camera rejecting the concept of Jewish nationhood and denying a Jewish student the right to participate in a discussion about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In one of the exchanges in the footage obtained exclusively by the Washington Free Beacon, students agree that Palestinian activists should engage in a "re-evaluation of the past nonviolent stance."

In another conversation, Ahmed Ismail, a member of Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE), the group that led the coalition of clubs supporting the resolution, is seen having an extended argument with an unidentified male and female about the existence of a relationship between Judaism and Israel.

"Jews are not a nation," he said repeatedly. "There's no nation called ‘Judaism,'" Ismail said. "Where on the map is there a country called ‘Jews'?"

"Zionism is a dirty political ideology," said Ismail, co-founder of the Michigan Muscle Club, which endorsed the SAFE motion. Zionism, a term coined in the nineteenth century, refers to the goal of rebuilding a Jewish state in the land of Israel. There are political, religious, and cultural forms of Zionism.

Ismail reinforced his comments in a phone call with the Free Beacon, saying that Zionism was the Jewish version of the Ku Klux Klan or ISIS.

"Any person who is a Zionist believes in the State of Israel, even though it oppresses and kills millions of Palestinians—which I call terrorism," said Ismail.  "Most Jews are Zionists," he added.

As proof, though, that Zionism has no inherent tie to Judaism, Ismail said there are more non-Jewish Zionists than Jewish Zionists. Ismail noted that he has "lots of Jewish friends," and that "terrorism in Israel has nothing to do with it being Jewish."  He said that his views were formed by literature given to him by SAFE, and his experiences growing up as a Muslim in Egypt. He said he has never taken a class on Zionism or the history of Judaism.

Another exchange documented the practice by Palestinian activists of "anti-normalization," or a refusal to speak with or participate in ordinary conversation with those they believe to be pro-Israel.

A Palestinian female student is seen cutting off the discussion on Palestinian politics she was leading in a public hallway, when she noticed that a male student wearing a traditional Jewish skullcap and ritual tassels known as tzitzit had started to listen.

"You are not welcome into this conversation," she told him, prompting praise from other students on "the strength" it takes to "say that to someone's face."

A man, who said he was Muslim and supportive of the divestment motion, later approached the group and asked if his friend was sent away because he's Jewish. "No, it's because he's Zionist," he was told.

She later instructed someone to tell the Jewish student that he is "welcome to ask permission to stand and listen and not ask questions." Conditionally invited to ask permission to be an observer of the discussion, the Jewish student is granted permission to listen.

"You can’t ask me questions though," said the Palestinian student. "I’m not going to have a conversation with you. Those are my guiding principles."

The Palestinian student who steered the exchange could not be reached for comment.

Washington Free Beacon article continues

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Sudan Arrests 5 Pastors for Preaching the Gospel in Crackdown on Christians

By Stoyan Zaimov
Christian Post

Pastors in Sudan are speaking out against the arrests of five church leaders last week for allegedly "disturbing the peace," and said that Christians are being punished by the government for preaching to Muslims and living out the New Testament.

"The government is using the court of law to persecute Christians who are peaceful in carrying out their mandate as commissioned in the New Testament. After spending 14 months in a jail in Khartoum, I was released this year in January due to lack of evidence. I was again arrested this Sunday for unfounded reasons," Pastor Kuwa Shamal, who has been arrested on a number of occasions without charge, told International Christian Concern in a statement released on Monday.

ICC, a persecution watchdog group that reports on attacks against Christians worldwide, said that the five church leaders are all from the Sudanese Church of Christ, and includes the Rev. Ayoub Matin, evangelist Habail Abraham, the Rev. Ali Haakim, Pastor Ambrat Hammad, and elder Abdo Elbaya.

"Why is the government coercing us to surrender the leadership of the church to a select committee? What crime have we done?" Shamal asked.

The Rev. Ayoub Tiliyan, chairman of the SCOC, explained that the persecution of Christians has been rising this year in the African country.

"It is very disturbing to see the government that we obey, pray for, and pay taxes to harass members of the society just because they belong to a different faith," Tiliyan said.

"This has become the norm over the years, with threats heightening in the past three years. Several churches have been demolished, pastors arrested, and evangelists warned against preaching the Gospel to Muslims."

The Islamic-majority nation has seen at least four Christian churches closed in Khartoum so far this year, with the government planning to demolish another 20 houses of worship.

SCOC, which is part of a reformed denomination, has been targeted on a number of occasions, with another seven Christian leaders arrested in another incident in August.

The pastors were reportedly held for refusing to comply with an order from a government agency demanding they give up leadership of the church.

The pastors were later released on bail, with Shamal telling Morning Star News at the time that Christians will continue opposing government efforts to impose committees on the church.

Christian Post continues

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Kenyan Christian Convert Disowned by Muslim Family After Giving Life to Christ Shares Her Story

Christians from the World Victory Centre sing hymns during an Easter
Easter crusade service for the victims of the Garissa University attack
in Kenya's capital Nairobi, April 5, 2015. 

By Samuel Smith
Christian Post

A 21-year-old Kenyan who grew up in a strict Muslim household and was forced to pray five times per day is now paying the consequence that many from strict Muslim families experience when they leave Islam and give their lives to Christ, a Christian non-governmental organization has reported.

The United States-based organization International Christian Concern shared the experiences of a Kenyan Christian convert, identified only by the pseudonym Rahma.

Rahma, according to ICC, was raised in a Muslim family of eight with parents who desired nothing more than for their children to be devout Muslims. The problem was that Rahma felt that Islam was nothing more than a "heavy burden" she had to carry.

"Islam was a yoke to my heart. I felt as if I was forced to believe in things that were a heavy burden to carry. So three weeks ago, I yielded to the call of God and put my faith in Christ Jesus," Rahma was quoted as saying.

Rahma detailed that as she began to question the practices of her family's faith, she often forgot to do her daily prayers and would be disciplined by her father.

After Rahma's mother passed away in 2001, her father got so fed up with Rahma being a less-than devout Muslim that he sent Rahma to her aunt's house in Mombasa in hopes that she would learn the importance of submitting to the strict demands of the Muslim faith.

"Living with my auntie and cousins in Mombasa got even worse because in the house we had two rooms dedicated for prayers — one for the men and the other for the women. As if this was not enough, my uncle employed a sheikh to help me grow in the ways of Allah," Rahma explained. "This went on for some weeks and I could not continue with the lessons because I could not understand anything. The sheikh gave up on me and this upset my family very much. A new level of war had just begun."

While Rahma continued to question her family's faith, ICC noted that her curiosity about the Christian faith continued to grow until it blossomed in 2016. That year was when she began to sneak out of her aunt's house and attend church services. She was eventually disciplined after her family found out that she snuck out to attend an overnight prayer session in Mombasa, where she received Christian literature.

"When I returned home in the morning, my auntie disciplined me after learning that I was in church. She insulted me before my cousins and affirmed that she will never give me permission to leave the house. That week she gave me $30 to start a small home-based beauty business," Rahma said. 

"My desire to become a Christian was gaining momentum as well as having a very strong dislike for Islam but I wanted to know exactly what Christianity is all about and who could understand me and help me change my faith."

Although Rahma continued to go through the motions of being a Muslim just to appease her family, a friend put her in contact with a pastor named John Magenge. Rahma met the pastor for the first time this past October, according to ICC.

"When she came to see me in October, I knew that she had already overcome some obstacles to Muslim evangelism. She was ready to put her faith in Christ, publicly testify of her new faith and maybe get baptized," Magenge told ICC. "And so I interrogated her desire to become a Christian and yes, she had valid reason to be helped in the Christian faith. She has been growing tremendously and we have put her into mentorship that involves Bible reading, prayer and fellowship."

Christian Post article continues

Pray for the Persecuted Church: Abroad and at Home

Dr. Jerry Newcombe is a key archivist of the 

D. James Kennedy Legacy Library, 

a spokesman and cohost of Kennedy Classics.

Dr. JerryNewcombe
Christian Post

Sunday, November 5 and 12, 2017, has been designated as the International Days of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.

I planned to write about this topic and focus on anti-Christian persecution overseas at this time. And then came this tragedy — the mass shooting in a church in Texas, killing 26 and wounding 20 on Sunday. The killer was described as one who "preached atheism" and "hated religious people."

Of course, killing Christians just because they are Christians is the exception in America. However, in about sixty countries on earth, for millions of professing Christians, it is dangerous to be a practicing believer in Jesus, yet God is using Christian martyrdom to grow the church.

"We are witnessing an astonishing escalation in Christian persecution, like we have rarely seen since the first century," writes Johnnie Moore in his new book called The Martyr's Oath: Living for the Jesus They're Willing to Die For. Johnnie wrote a book a few years ago that was a bestseller, called Defying ISIS. After writing that first book, he was able to raise $25 million on behalf of the persecuted church.

In a radio interview with him about his new book, Moore told me he got involved in this because, as a college student at Liberty University, he witnessed an unusual (to him) graduation ceremony in India.

Moore said, "There were 2000 graduates to this Bible school ... and yet, before they got their diploma and a bicycle and a one-way train ticket to an unreached place of their choice, they had an extra step. They had to actually stand up and take a 'martyr's oath.' They had to pledge that if they had to die for their faith, they would be willing to die for their faith."

"I AM A FOLLLOWER OF JESUS. I believe he lived and walked among us, was crucified for our sins, and was raised from the dead, according to the Scriptures," begins the "Martyr's Oath," which Moore includes in the appendix of his book. This is the same type of pledge that the Indian bishop administered.

The oath continues, 

"I believe he is the King of the earth, who will come back for his church .... As he has given his life for me, so I am willing to give my life for him. I will use every breath I possess to boldly proclaim his gospel."

Moore reflected on how this struck him at the time: 

"Here I was, a sheltered American, never having been exposed to such a thing; and all of a sudden, I was in the heart of the persecuted church. And I felt like I was standing in the book of Acts." He notes that persecution of Christians has often been the norm in history, not the exception.

Moore told of a Muslim couple that converted to Jesus and left Syria for a neighboring country. One of their relatives wrote, saying he knew what they had done (leaving Islam), and he knew where they lived. When he caught up with them, he would crucify them, unless they changed back.

Moore said the couple wrote back to the relative, answering that they were glad to know Jesus and were willing to die for Him — but that they were not worthy to die in the same manner as He did.

Christian Post article continues

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Georgia School District Bans Coaches from Praying with Team: Players Pray Anyway

Many parents and students were outraged at the school district's decision to ban coaches from praying with their teams.

US CBN News

Fans noticed one difference last Friday night when the East Coweta High School football team in Georgia took off their helmets to pray before the game -- no coaches were present.

The Coweta County School System has banned the coaches from participating in the traditional pre-game prayer.

So in a show of solidarity, the entire team took off their helmets and standing shoulder to shoulder, prayed right next to the bleachers with many parents and students in the stands clasping hands and praying with the team.

Last month, a group called the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF), a Wisconsin-based non-profit, wrote a letter to the Coweta County School System, warning them it was illegal for public school employees to participate with students in prayer. It included a video showing Coach John Small bowing his head in prayer with his team. The video, the group said, was taken by a local concerned citizen.

According to The Newnan Times-Herald, Steve Barker, the district's superintendent, asked school board attorney Nathan Lee to provide legal guidance on the issue. Barker told the newspaper he wanted to make sure to have legal guidance available for school system employees.

"As superintendent, it is very important that when we have any matter with a legal question that we pass along the information to our employees," he said. "Obviously we have responsibilities to our students."

"We also want our employees to be aware of anything that they might not even understand to be a problem from a legal perspective," Barker continued.

"I feel like it is my responsibility to make sure that we are following the law," he said.

In addition, last Friday, Barker met with coaches from the three public high schools to discuss the rules surrounding religious activity during school events.
A memo was then distributed to all high school principals this week.

FFRF legal fellow Christopher Line said Small's praying with his team violates the First Amendment.

CBN News article continues

Iranian Christian Convert Arrested, Believers Told They'll Be Beaten to Death for Faith in Jesus

By Stoyan Zaimov
Christian Post

A growing number of Christian converts have been arrested by the Iranian government and warned that they'll either be forced to leave the country or be beaten to death for their faith in Jesus Christ.

Mohabat News reported on Monday that Abdol-Ali Pourmand, a member of the Payam-e Aramesh (Message of Peace) house church in Dezful, was arrested last week after security officials raided his house and found Bibles and Christian CDs.

The Christian convert, who has been transferred to the city of Ahwaz, has been allowed to make a short phone call to his family, sharing that he has been told that he will not be held long.

Concern for Christians in Iran continues to grow after recent arrests of three other believers in Dezful.

"Mohabat News has obtained confirmed reports of them being beaten in prison and threatened that if they don't renounce their faith in Christ and turn away from their Christian faith they will be forced to leave the country or be beaten to death," the article noted.

Mohammad Ali Torabi, also a member of the Message of Peace church, was arrested at his work place on Oct. 10. Like Pourmand, he has also been told that he will be released soon, but still remains in custody.

The Iranian regime has denied it's persecuting Christians despite numerous reports of arrests, harassment and heavy sentences in the past few years and decades, targeting Farsi-speaking believers in particular.

The Iranian government does not allow for house churches to operate, and continues to carry out home invasions, accusing members of inciting anti-government and "national security" activities.

In August, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom named Iran among the five worst-scoring countries when it comes to blasphemy laws that protect the state religion of Islam but discriminate against minorities.

"Advocates for blasphemy laws may argue that they are needed in order to protect religious freedom, but these laws do no such thing. Blasphemy laws are wrong in principle, and they often invite abuse and lead to assaults, murders, and mob attacks. Wherever they exist, they should be repealed," USCIRF Chairman Daniel Mark said at the time.

Some leading Islamic seminary officials, such as Ayatollah Alavi Boroujerdi, have pointed to "accurate reports indicating that the youth are becoming Christians in Qom and attending house churches."

Clerics have raised the alarm over the number of Iranian youths becoming Christians, and have blamed "foreign influence" for the conversions.

Website: Christian Post

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Catholic Agency Denies Adoption to Couple Who Hold Christian View of Sexuality

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman  

Live Site News

A Christian couple in the Canadian province of Alberta have been told by local Catholic Social Services and the provincial government that they are unfit to adopt children because they accept Biblical teaching regarding the immorality of homosexual acts, according to their attorneys at the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms.

The married couple, whose initials are given as “C.D. and N.D,” have filed a civil suit against the province alleging religious discrimination, and calling the decision to reject their candidacy for adoption “unreasonable and void by virtue of arbitrariness, bias, bad faith, as well as breaches of procedural fairness and natural justice.”

They ask that a declaration be made that “the decision to deny adoption violates sections 2(a) and 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Alberta Bill of Rights and the Alberta Human Rights Act,” and that they be permitted to become adoptive parents, according to the Justice Centre.

The Justice Centre reports that the couple submitted an application to adopt a child with the province’s Child and Family Services in October of last year. The province assigned their case to Catholic Social Services in Edmonton, which reviewed the couple psychologically, financially, and economically, and recommended that they be approved for adoption.

However, in March of this year, Catholic Social Services informed the couple that the province’s Child and Family Services had additional questions regarding their beliefs about homosexuality, in light of the fact that they are Evangelical Christians. 

The couple “reiterated their commitment to treating any child in their care with unconditional love, respect, and compassion regardless of what the child chose to do, and regardless of the child’s sexual orientation or behavior,” in the words of the Justice Centre.

Despite this assurance, Catholic Social Services informed them that they would reverse their recommendation to approve the couple for adoption, because they wouldn’t be able to “help” a child who “has sexual identity issues.” In May, the couple was informed by Alberta’s Child and Family Services that they would not be approved because they “reject” LGBT children, and that this is the “official position of the Alberta government.”

“Making determinations about who is suitable to adopt on the basis of their sincere religious beliefs violates this couple’s right to religious freedom and equality under the law as guaranteed in the Charter and in Alberta’s own Bill of Rights and Human Rights Act,” said Justice Centre president John Carpay in a press release.

“If left to stand, this decision would have grave consequences for the freedoms of all Canadians, not to mention adverse consequences for the many children who will never be adopted if the government continues with this discrimination,” he added.

Life Site News article news 

Christian Pastor Tortured For His Faith: North Korea Is ‘Hell’

A female North Korean soldier guards the banks of the Yalu River near the Chongsong county of North Korea opposite the Chinese border town of Hekou, northeastern China's Liaoning province May 31, 2009.

By Ryan Pickrell, China/Asia Reporter
The Daily Caller

A North Korea pastor who was brutalized for his Christian faith describes North Korea as “hell.”

“There is an enormous difference between my life in North Korea and my life in the U.S,” Choi Kwanghyuk, who defected from North Korea a few years ago and now lives in Los Angeles, told Fox News. “The life in North Korea is hell, life in America is heaven.”

While there is a “show church” in Pyongyang for tourists, public worship is forbidden in North Korea. “In this totalitarian communist state, Christians are forced to hide their faith completely from government authorities, neighbors and often, even their own spouses and children,” Open Doors, a non-profit organization dedicated to serving persecuted Christians.

North Korea tops Open Door’s list as the worst country in the world for Christians.

“In North Korea, Christians, and any people of faith, must remain hidden,” David Curry, president and CEO of Open Doors USA, wrote in an op-ed, “Christians who are caught attempting to serve the spiritual needs of their struggling communities are punished with imprisonment, labor camp sentences and even death.”

When he lived in North Hamgyong Province, Choi ran a literal underground church with about nine people. “We meet in this rectangular hole and use [a] lantern to study the Bible. Since we cannot sing out loud, we praise by humming the hymn,” he previously told The Christian Post.

“We couldn’t raise our voice during a service, we couldn’t sing out loud during a worship … that was hard,” Choi told Fox News. “We had to hide so that other people could not see us.”

Authorities arrested Choi in 2008 and tormented him for his beliefs.

“I was tortured there,” he said, talking about his time in a state prison. He was interrogated repeatedly, but he held his ground, denying the existence of the underground church. The middle-aged pastor was sent to a brutal labor camp, horrible facilities where enemies of the state often languish in terrible conditions until they die. The injuries that Choi suffered while incarcerated continue to affect him, even preventing him from finding work.

He told reporters that he was offered freedom if he denied his beliefs, but he and others chose to remain faithful.

Choi managed to escape into China before they could kill him or send him to a concentration camp. The North Korean pastor then applied for asylum and made his way to the U.S., which he calls “heaven.”

Website: The Daily Caller

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Christian Human Rights Lawyer Disappears After Being Recaptured by Chinese Officials; Friends Beaten

By Stoyan Zaimov
Christian Post

Concerns for Gao are rising due to his declining health, including tooth loss and other issues. The watchdog group warned that authorities might treat him even worse after this past summer's escape.

"Though we are glad to know that Mr. Gao enjoyed brief freedom that was taken away from him for more than a decade, we are concerned about his treatment after being recaptured," said Gina Goh, ICC's regional manager.

"In most cases, the Chinese government treats human rights advocates and Christians on the same level as terrorists once they are imprisoned, often putting them through torture and solitary confinement. Given Gao's successful escape, he is subject to retaliation from law enforcement," she added.

"We hereby urge the Chinese government to stop its unlawful detention of Mr. Gao immediately."

China Aid elaborated on Gao's problems, noting that according to Li, the lawyer "had no teeth and had not eaten a decent meal for three years because of constant bleeding and toothaches."

Gao was initially scheduled to receive dental treatment when he escaped, but he refused to go out of fear that he would be found.

Gao has published writings and defended victims of various human rights abuses in China, and over the past decade he has disappeared and was officially detained by the Communist government on a number of occasions.

Back in 2016, Gao talked about the three years he spent in solitary confinement for standing up to the Chinese government, and said in an interview that it was his Christian faith that helped him through the isolation.

Prominent Chinese Christian human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng reportedly managed to briefly escape house arrest. But he was rearrested and his whereabouts are now unknown, a persecution watchdog group has found.

International Christian Concern reported on Wednesday that Gao's friends, Shao Zhongguo and Li Fawang, had helped the activist escape from his home in Shaanxi in August.

Gao hid in a vacation house in Jiexiu city for 23 days until he was recaptured by a large groups of state officers.

Li and Shao were also captured. Li briefly saw Gao when he was about to be sent back to Shaanxi for detention but "the encounter was so brief that Li was unable to utter a word to Gao. Gao's whereabouts became unknown after they parted ways," ICC reported.

"Both Li and Shao suffered mistreatment in detention. They were shackled, rejected daily necessities, beaten, fed leftover food, and Li, who suffers from diabetes, was denied medicine for the first few days and lost his eyesight as a result."

The Christian lawyer's wife and representatives have not been able to confirm what exactly happened to Gao, with the Communist government sharing little information.

The wives of several Chinese human rights lawyers imprisoned and tortured by the government spoke before the U.S. Congress in May.

Christian Post article continues

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College Event Asks if the Phrase ‘You Need Jesus’ Qualifies as ‘Hate Speech’ or ‘Free Speech’

By Dave Urbanski

The Blaze

An advertisement for a Kent State University event asked if the phrase “You Need Jesus” is a form of “hate speech” or “free speech” — and a Christian student leader wants an apology.

The Twitter announcement for last week’s forum sponsored by the Ohio school’s Center for Student Involvement included an image of figures holding various signs: Three read “No More Gays,” “Women Need To Serve Their Man” and “Build a Wall” — the fourth read “You Need Jesus.”

Student Jared Small, president of Kent State’s chapter of Campus Ministry International, told the College Fix that Christianity was unfairly singled out on the advertisement.

“The university should apologize because it appears to be targeted toward one political and religious side,” Small told the outlet in an email. “They could have included hate speech against [P]resident Trump or hate speech against Christians as examples. In my opinion, free speech protects hate speech to an extent. However, the university appears to show a bias against Christians and conservatives.”

Amy Reynolds, dean of Kent State’s College of Communication and Information, moderated the “Free Speech or Hate Speech?” forum and told the College Fix she had nothing to do with creating the advertisement. She added that the Center for Student Involvement “created all of the promotional materials … I’m not sure what the process is/was,” the outlet said.

Officials from the Center for Student Involvement and the school’s media relations department didn’t reply to the College Fix’s inquiries about the ad.

Website: The Blaze