Preacher Arrested for Preaching Biblical Marriage from Genesis on a London Street

 Elderly Pastor Initially Refuses Arrest, Arguing His Free Speech Rights

By Emily Wood
Christian Post Reporter

A Christian street pastor was arrested last month for causing “alarm and distress” in London for preaching about the biblical definition of marriage being between one man and one woman from Genesis 1.

Pastor John Sherwood, the 71-year-old minister of the Penn Free Methodist Church in north London, was reportedly approached by police officers in the northwest London town of Uxbridge on April 23 while preaching on the final verses of Genesis 1. He allegedly stated that God designed families to have a mother and a father and not two parents of the same gender.

Pastor Peter Simpson, who was preaching alongside Sherwood, shared about the arrest in a blog for The Conservative Woman. He explained the need to raise awareness of how police in Great Britain are “clamping down on the freedom of Christians to proclaim in public places the teachings of the Scriptures.”

He said preaching the Gospel together in public is something the two pastors often do.

Police approached Sherwood and said three complaints had been received about his preaching and accused him of causing “alarm and distress” to members of the public.

Another police officer spoke to Simpson and explained the need to avoid any homophobic statements to avoid offending people, even though there is no law protecting people from being offended.

“I responded that the police would have no objection whatsoever to a Pride parade being held in Uxbridge, yet that would be highly offensive to Bible-believing Christians,” Simpson wrote. “The officer did not appear to appreciate the logic behind this argument.”

Police officers urged Sherwood to come down from a step ladder he was preaching from as he “respectfully” informed police he has freedom of speech and people have the freedom to ignore him and continue walking if they disagree with his statements, Simpson wrote.

Sherwood resumed preaching and spoke of the “precious right to freedom of speech,” which is traced back to the Magna Carta in 1215 and the Bill of Rights in 1689. Onlookers again accused him of making homophobic statements and hate speech.

Sherwood initially refused the arrest and argued he was engaged in lawful activity and had not committed a crime, Simpson said.

A video recorded by someone in the crowd showed Sherwood shaking his head at the officer, refusing to come down from the small step ladderThe officers proceeded to pull the 71-year-old pastor down from the ladder as he resisted arrest and seemingly lunged at an officer as multiple officers handcuffed him and arrested him.

A lady in the crowd was heard saying, “it’s a Christian country, let him speak,” while Simpson noted that others in the crowd had accused him of hate speech.

Sherwood stayed overnight at a police detention center and was released around noon the next day after being detained around 21 hours.

“This arrest of a faithful minister for doing nothing other than declaring what the Bible teaches about one of the important moral issues of our time reveals a dangerous assault upon freedom of speech and, not least, upon the freedom of Christian pastors to declare in public all that the Bible teaches,” Simpson wrote. “The State has no right to designate that some parts of God’s word are no-go areas.”

“Whatever one’s personal views on homosexuality might be, it is surely pertinent to ask what kind of nation have we become that the minister of a Christian church is arrested for upholding in the public square the very truths which Her Majesty the Queen promised to uphold in her Coronation Oath in 1953, with a Bible in her hand?” Simpson continued.

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Chinese Authorities Slap Catholic with Hefty Fine for Providing Chapel for 'Illegal' Mass

China Aid’s April report also states that CCP authorities invaded Christians' homes, raided family gatherings and interfered with parenting decisions. Authorities also sued Christians for homeschooling their children or sending them to church-run schools in numerous instances.

Catholics sing on Christmas eve at a church in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, China
December 24, 2015. | Photo: Reuters/Jon Woo

By Leah MarieAnn Klett
Christian Post Reporter

Authorities with the Chinese Communist Party are now punishing those who provide worship venues for believers as religious persecution continues to escalate in the country.

According to Asia News, a Catholic in the town of Wangli in the Zhejiang province was fined last month for offering his private chapel to the bishop of Wenzhou diocese, Msgr. Peter Shao Zhumin.

Zhumin is only recognized by the Vatican, not by the Chinese Communist Party.

On March 16, Huang Ruixun, 56, offered his chapel to Shao and about 20 Catholics. Shortly after that, he was sentenced to a hefty fine of 200,000 yuan (the equivalent of about $30,000) under the charge of hosting the bishop for “illegal religious activities, also providing him with lunch, a rest room, etc.”

Huang was accused of violating the state-sanctioned church’s principle since Shao “was ordained by a foreign institution,” which “goes against the principle of independence, autonomy and self-administration of the Church in China.”

A 2018 China-Vatican Agreement, renewed last year, permits the Chinese government to propose new bishops to the Vatican through its state-approved Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, with the pope having veto power on the decision.

At the time of the signing, the Vatican said it hoped the deal would promote unity among China’s estimated 10 million to 12 million Catholics.

According to the press agency of the Roman Catholic Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, the complaint against Huang states that "facilitating illegal religious activities" is against regulations requiring that religious activities take place in places registered by the government.

The unofficial Catholic Church in China continues to suffer, and religious persecution has worsened in recent years.

Recently, the CCP shut down two Catholic Church-run children’s homes: St. Joseph’s Disabled Infant Home in Renqiu, Xianxian, in the Diocese of Cangzhou, and the Liming (Dawn) Home in the Diocese of Zhaoxian. Both of those homes are in the Hebei province.

The CCP also shuttered Catholic-run orphanages in Zhangjiakou and Zhengding, both in Hebei. Two years ago, an orphanage in Baoji, Shaanxi province, run by the Sisters of the Sacred Heart, was also shut down.

A local priest lamented earlier this month after children were transferred to state-run facilities that the government is “not only ignoring the beautiful contribution and quality social services provided by the Catholic Church, but wants in fact to destroy them.”

A report has claimed that children in state-run facilities are left "emaciated" and "low-spirited.”

According to newly-released reports, religious persecution in China intensified in 2020, with thousands of Christians affected by church closures and other human rights abuses.

Under the direction of Chinese President Xi Jinping, CCP officials worked to more fully control religion, according to a report released last month by the persecution watchdog China Aid.

Christian Post report continues

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Christian MP Faces 6 Years in Prison for Tweeting Bible Verses on Marriage, Sexuality

Räsänen is no stranger to controversy as she has become known as a prominent Finnish defender of traditional Christian views on marriage, euthanasia and abortion.

Finnish Member of Parliament, Päivi Räsänen. | ADF International

By Anugrah Kumar
Christian Post Contributor

A Christian member of the Finnish Parliament is facing six years imprisonment for allegedly committing three crimes, including “hate speech,” for sharing her opinion on marriage and human sexuality on social media, on television and in a pamphlet.

The country’s chief prosecutor has brought three criminal charges against Finnish Member of Parliament and former Minister of the Interior, Päivi Räsänen, according to the Austria-based Christian legal group ADF International.

The politician, who is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and former chair of the Christian Democrats, has been under police investigation since June 2019 for publicly voicing her opinion on marriage and human sexuality in a 2004 pamphlet, for comments made on a 2018 TV show, and a tweet directed at her church leadership.

A medical doctor, mother of five and grandmother of six, Räsänen now faces two years in prison for each alleged crime, the group said.

“I cannot accept that voicing my religious beliefs could mean imprisonment,” said Räsänen in a statement issued by ADF International, which is representing her. “I do not consider myself guilty of threatening, slandering or insulting anyone. My statements were all based on the Bible’s teachings on marriage and sexuality.”

A Member of Parliament since 1995, Räsänen said she will “defend my right to confess my faith so that no one else would be deprived of their right to freedom of religion and speech.”

She said she holds on to “the view that my expressions are legal and they should not be censored.”

“I will not back down from my views. I will not be intimidated into hiding my faith. The more Christians keep silent on controversial themes, the narrower the space for freedom of speech gets,” she said.

ADF International Executive Director Paul Coleman added, “Freedom of speech is one of the cornerstones of democracy.”

“The Finnish Prosecutor General’s decision to bring these charges against Dr. Räsänen creates a culture of fear and censorship,” Coleman continued. “It is sobering that such cases are becoming all too common throughout Europe. If committed civil servants like Päivi Räsänen are criminally charged for voicing their deeply held beliefs, it creates a chilling effect for everyone’s right to speak freely.”

In 2019, Räsänen wrote a tweet questioning the leadership of her church for sponsoring the LGBT event “Pride 2019,” it was accompanied by an image of a Bible verse. As a result, she was accused of hate speech and interrogated by the police.

Christian Post report continues

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China: Authorities detain Christians in secret ‘transformation’ facilities to make them renounce their faith

While about 30 percent of the world’s population identifies as Christian, 80 percent of all acts of religious discrimination are directed at Christians. 
Int'l Society for Human Rights 

The Persecution of Christians
News

Persecution of Christians in China: the Chinese government’s use of torture techniques as detailed in this article is part of its ongoing efforts to destroy Christianity and fashion a new religion that is superficially Christian but is actually a pliant tool of the Communist Party. This threatens all the Christians of the country, including the tiny community of Orthodox Christians in China.

China offers yet another instance of the persecution of Christians by governing officials that is unfortunately on the increase not only in China, but in all too many other nations around the world.

For previous ChristianPersecution.com coverage of the persecution of Christians in China, see here.

“Chinese Christians Held in Secretive Brainwashing Camps: Sources,” Radio Free Asia, April 1, 2021:

Authorities in China are detaining Christians in secretive, mobile “transformation” facilities to make them renounce their faith, RFA has learned.

A member of a Christian “house church” in the southwestern province of Sichuan who asked to be identified by a pseudonym Li Yuese said he was held in a facility run by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s United Front Work Department, working in tandem with the state security police, for 10 months after a raid on his church in 2018.

“It was a mobile facility, that could just set up in some basement somewhere,” Li said. “It was staffed by people from several different government departments.”

“It had its own (CCP) political and legal affairs committee working group, and they mainly target Christians who are members of house churches,” he said.

The Chinese Communist Party, which embraces atheism, exercises tight controls over any form of religious practice among its citizens. State security police and religious affairs bureau officials frequently raid unofficial “house churches” that aren’t members of the CCP-backed Three-Self Patriotic Association, although member churches have also been targeted at times.

The CCP under Xi Jinping regards Christianity as a dangerous foreign import, with party documents warning against the “infiltration of Western hostile forces” in the form of religion.

Li said he was held in a windowless room for nearly 10 months, during which time he was beaten, verbally abused and “mentally tortured” by staff, eventually resorting to self-harm by throwing himself against a wall. His account is chillingly similar to those of former inmates of “transformation” camps in the northwestern region of Xinjiang.

“They use really underhand methods,” Li said. “They threaten, insult and intimidate you. These were United Front officials, men, women, sometimes unidentified, usually in plain clothes. The police turn a blind eye to this,” he said.

“You have to accept the statement they prepare for you,” he said. “If you refuse, you will be seen as having a bad attitude and they will keep you in detention and keep on beating you.”

Basement Brainwashing Sessions

Li said most of his fellow inmates were also people who had been released on bail during criminal detention for taking part in church-related activities. Most hadn’t done anything that could trigger any criminal prosecution, so police sent them to the “transformation” facilities instead, Li said.

“They were using brainwashing methods on those of us who were on bail from the detention center,” he said. “It was in a secret location, in a basement.”

Christian Persecution report continues

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Illinois Church with Drag Queen Leader has Reached 'Doctrinal Annihilation': Al Mohler

“By the time any kind of church or church body reaches this point, it has already basically embraced doctrinal annihilation. There is virtually nothing left of the historic Christian tradition.”

Isaac Simmons, an openly gay clergy candidate in the United Methodist Church, doing a

video in April 2021 as his drag queen alter ego Ms. Penny Cost. YouTube/Woke Preacher Clips

By Michael Gryboski
Christian Post Reporter

Southern Baptist leader Albert Mohler has denounced an Illinois church’s consideration of having a drag queen as their pastor, calling it “doctrinal annihilation.”

Hope United Methodist Church in Bloomington garnered headlines for having an openly gay man who is also a drag queen serve as a leader at their congregation, with a local UMC body advancing him as a candidate for ministry.

In a Wednesday episode of his podcast “The Briefing,” Mohler blasted the church's advancement of Isaac Simmons as “an intentional refutation and revolt against the very order of creation that God has given us, and a direct violation of the clear teachings of Scripture concerning the fact that those whom God has made as men should identify as men.”

“This is open revolt, and of course, you're going to see a division between those who are appalled by it, deeply troubled by it, deeply concerned by it and opposed to it on the one hand, and those who celebrate it and say that it's arrived far too late on the other hand,” said Mohler.

“By the time any kind of church or church body reaches this point, it has already basically embraced doctrinal annihilation. There is virtually nothing left of the historic Christian tradition.”

Mohler went on to explain that “you're looking not only at two different positions” when it came to whether Simmons should be a church leader, but rather “you're looking at two different religions.”

“Those two different religions cannot possibly continue to exist in one church or in one denomination,” he added. “Once conservatives are out of the picture in the United Methodist Church, this is only the start of where things will go in the future.”

A student at Illinois Wesleyan, Simmons has been known to be involved in online worship as his drag persona, Ms. Penny Cost, including on April 11, known as “Drag Sunday.”

In an interview with CBS News affiliate WMBD in Illinois, Simmons explained that he wasn't expecting to be approved for clergy candidacy, given the UMC’s official stance against homosexuality, noncelibate homosexual ordination and same-sex marriage.

Christian Post continues

Suspected Fulani Gunmen Raid Baptist Church Service in Nigeria, Abduct 4 Worshipers; 1 Killed

In its 2021 report, the U.S. Commission on International and Religious Freedom warned Nigeria “will move relentlessly toward a Chrisitan genocide” if action is not taken.

                         Christians in Nigeria worship at a church in this undated file photo. Open Doors

By Emily Wood
Christian Post Reporter

Armed Fulani radicals raided a Baptist church’s Sunday service in Nigeria, killing one person, injuring another and abducting four women as violence accelerates in the Kaduna state.

Charity Musa, Rose Zacharia, Alheri Bala and Liatu Zakka, a widow whose husband was murdered in an earlier attack, were the four women kidnapped from the church service at Haske Baptist Church in Manini village of the Chikun Local Government Area, according to the United Kingdom-based human rights organization Chrisitan Solidarity Worldwide.

Sources claim heavily armed men killed health worker Zacharia Dogon Yaro and injured Shehu Haruna.

Government officials confirmed the attacks.

“Preliminary investigation conducted so far revealed that, four persons are missing which arouse a suspicion that they might have been kidnapped by the hoodlums," police command spokesperson Mohammed Jalige told Nigerian media.

“Two others sustained gunshot wounds, namely; Dr. Zakariya Doga Yaro, a staff of Kaduna State Ministry of Health attached to the Primary Healthcare Center in Rimi village, Udawa, Chikun LGA and Shehu Haruna."

Khataza Gondwe, CSW’s head of advocacy in the organization’s office in Nigeria, told The Christian Post in a Tuesday interview that the danger of attacks and kidnappings has become widespread in Nigeria.

“Kidnappers have expanded their operations to the extent that everybody, every civilian right now feels like prisoners because they’re afraid when driving outside of towns and cities,” Gondwe said. “Once on an open road, they are subject to being abducted. … Armed men can emerge [from] the bush and take people away, leave cars behind. At the moment, that kind of kidnapping is coming closer and closer to the cities.”

The militant groups threaten everyone, Gondwe said, but Christians face “particularly bad treatment” depending on who the abductors are.

“If Christians fall into the hands of armed groups that have an extremist religious ideology, then the danger is definitely heightened,” Gondwe explained.

A source told CSW the kidnappers are expanding their activities, especially in rural areas.

“We are like prisoners. We can hardly step out of the city. Once you’re on the road, your heart is in your mouth until you reach your destination,” the source told CSW.

The abductors often kidnap to demand ransom money, which has become a lucrative industry in Nigeria.

After years of not being addressed effectively by authorities, the danger is now widespread. Gondwe said the attacks began around 2011 and became worse in 2015 when the current administration took control.

Christian Post continues

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Christian Nurses Attacked, Arrested under Blasphemy Law in Pakistan

Church leaders and rights activists have appealed to the government to ensure fair investigation as panic spread among Christian medical workers in Faisalabad

Morning Star News
Pakistan Correspondent

LAHORE, Pakistan, April 12, 2021 (Morning Star News) – Two Christian nurses complying with a supervisor’s orders to remove stickers at a government hospital were arrested in Faisalabad, Pakistan on Friday (April 9) after a Muslim employee attacked one of them with a knife for the removal of a sticker bearing Koranic verses, sources said.

Nurse Mariam Lal and student nurse Navish Arooj were charged under Section 295-B of Pakistan’s blasphemy statutes against “defiling the Koran” after an Islamist mob demanded “death to blasphemers” inside Civil Hospital, their attorney said. Conviction under Section 295-B is punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment and/or a fine.

The two Roman Catholic nurses were sent to jail in judicial custody on Friday night (April 9) for their security, according to police. Their families have gone into hiding out of fear of Islamist mobs.

A Muslim co-worker attacked Lal, according to cell phone video recorded by an unidentified hospital employee showing the co-worker, identified only as Waqas, telling a group he attacked her with a knife. He is shown saying he saw Lal ask Arooj to tear off a sticker inscribed with the Durood Sharif, an exaltation prayer used for Prophet Muhammad, from a wall cabinet.

“I could not remain silent over blasphemy of our holy prophet, so I attacked Mariam,” Waqas tells the group, who during the recording shout slogans praising Muhammad and call for the hanging of the two women. “The prophet’s respect is more precious than my life or yours.”

Attorney Akmal Bhatti, chairman of the Minorities Alliance of Pakistan, said from Faisalabad that Lal, a single parent to a teenage daughter, and Arooj, engaged to be married in two weeks, work in the psychiatric ward of the hospital.

“According to Mariam’s statement, a senior nurse had directed her on Thursday evening to remove all old wall hangings and stickers, some of them inscribed with Koranic verses. She said a sticker on a cabinet was already half torn off by some patient when Navish removed it,” Bhatti told Morning Star News. “Mariam said she and Navish were simply following the directives when a nurse made an issue over the torn sticker, reportedly over a personal grudge.”

The matter was seemingly settled after the two Christians assured co-workers that they had no ill intentions and left the hospital after ending their duty, he said.

“On Friday morning, someone again instigated the staff, and they attacked the two women,” Bhatti said, adding that it was clear that both women had been framed in a false case. Sources said a Muslim nurse with help from Waqas instigated staff members against the two women.

News article continues here

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Church Forced to Cancel Event with Conservative Activist Charlie Kirk after Receiving Threats of Violence

 

Charlie Kirk,Turning Point Founder

By Amanda Casanova
Christian Headlines

According to The Washington Times, Roger Archer, senior pastor of Motion Church in Puyallup, Washington, said, "radical terrorist mobs" threatened the church with violence in response to Kirk's scheduled appearance.

"Upon hearing that Mr. Kirk was coming to our church, radical terrorist mobs like the ones that rallied on Capitol Hill in Seattle, they sprung into action," Archer said in a video posted online Friday.

"They sprung with threatening declarations," he added. "They vowed to not only burn our properties to the ground, but also brought threats of physical violence against our church leadership, our neighbors, their properties, and basically wreak havoc in our community, this precious community that we love."

Kirk is the founder and executive director of Turning Point USA, a right-wing organization that advocates for conservatism on high school and college campuses.

In 2016, Kirk addressed the Republican National Convention and supported President Donald Trump.

Archer did not name the group that made the threats, but conservative radio host Jason Rantz tweeted that the cancellation was due to "Antifa radicals."

The group Indivisible Puyallup, which says they aim to protect "our nation's values & principles through grassroots political action to resist Trump," tweeted their thanks to activists.

Indivisible Puyallup

@PuyallupIndivis

"Congrats are in order for local activists in The Puyallup/South Hill area that put enough pressure on Motion Church to cancel the Charlie Kirk event,"The event, which the church website said was sold out, was billed as "An afternoon with Charlie Kirk" and was scheduled for May 2.

"Therefore, it is for the safety of my precious city and our precious church people that I have heartbreakingly cancelled our event with Mr. Kirk," Archer said. "Our deepest apologies go out to Mr. Kirk and his organization. He deserves much better from our state leadership, but, unfortunately, this is where we are. I will not put soft targets in harm's way. I will not subject our community to destruction. And since our governor will not protect us, we must take this course of action."

Christian Headlines blog

Christians Confined to Home by Police, Tribal Threats in India

“What mistake have we done that they were beating my small children?”

Southern India Correspondent
Morning Star News

HYDERABAD, India, April 15, 2021, A Christian family in eastern India has been confined to their home for months amid police threats to jail them for “breach of peace” after tribal mob assaults for leaving their native religion, sources said.

The mob of tribal followers of native religion gathered police and news media to accompany them when they beat Christians in Jharkhand state’s Khala village, Garhwa District, earlier this year, said one of the attacked Christians, Asha Korwa, a mother of two young children.

“The mob brought with them the village president, media and police officers,” said Korwa, whose children, ages 3 and 6, were beaten on Jan. 31 along with her and her husband. “As the media clicked our pictures and videotaped the attack, the police watched as mere spectators. They did not stop the assailants or the media.”

After the midnight attack by a large mob of tribal animists, Garhwa police ordered the Christian family not to leave the village, she said.

“Police officers at Garhwa police station summoned my husband to the police station and told him that he has been held responsible for the breach of peace and public tranquillity under Section 107 of the Criminal Procedure Code,” Korwa told Morning Star News. “They told him that nobody from my family will step out of the village and that, if necessary, they would take our entire family into custody.”

Police harassed them the following days, she added.

“The first 10 days of February, we could not breathe in our own home,” Korwa said. “The police officers were stopping by to enquire if we have committed a breach of peace. They would go to our neighbors to take their report as to whether we behaved well.”

The tribal animists first attacked on Jan. 22, holding her husband, Sukender Korwa, by his shirt and striking his back as they ordered them to stop Christian worship in their home, she said.

“Our house is very close to the main road, and they get annoyed by even the slightest of the noises that can be heard when we praise and worship,” she said. “On the day of the first attack on Jan. 22, a batch of strongmen from the community stormed into our home and started badgering us, ‘Why are you shouting hallelujah? How dare you worship a foreign god!'”

After beating Sukender Korwa, the assailants left after threatening that they would chase down and kill the family if they ever heard Christian worship from their home again, she said.

When a larger mob arrived the following week and began beating all family members, Asha Korwa asked them why they had returned.

“I asked them that they have warned us and gone away just few days ago, so why did they return to attack us again?” she said. “What mistake have we done that they were beating my

 small children?”

Christian Headlines report continues

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Protesters Urge Biden Admin. to take Action against Ethiopia for Genocide of Amhara, Orthodox Christians

The letter included a short list of “gross human rights violations,” including the ethnic cleansing of about 1 million people in southern Ethiopia, the murder of “scores of Orthodox Christians” and the subsequent burning of their churches and the “ongoing genocide against members of the Amhara ethnic group.”

Protesters gather outside the U.S. State Department to demand a stronger response
 for acts of genocide committed in Ethiopia, April 20, 2021. The Christin Post
 

By Ryan Foley
Christian Post Reporter

A new civic engagement group based primarily in the Washington, D.C. area, called Voice for the Voiceless Ethiopians, held a protest in front of the U.S. State Department Tuesday, where several dozen gathered to urge the Biden administration to take action against the Ethiopian government for its indifference to and perpetration of acts of genocide against ethnic and religious groups.

Through their efforts, the group hopes to create “public awareness about the ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing against the Amhara and Orthodox Christians in Ethiopia.”

They also called for an end to “the illegal imprisonment without bail of leaders of Balderas for True Democracy in Ethiopia: Eskinder Nega, Sentayehu Chekol, Aster (Qeleb) Seyoum and Askale Demele who opposed (the ruling) OPDO-Prosperity Party’s acts of human rights abuses in Ethiopia and its policy of complete marginalization of residents of the metropolitan Addis Ababa,” the country’s capital and largest city. Balderas for True Democracy in Ethiopia is a registered political party in the country.

In an interview with The Christian Post, Yohannes Gethaun, the public relations officer for Voice for the Voiceless Ethiopians, elaborated on why his organization decided to hold the protest event. “We demand that Ethiopians shall be governed through a transient period led by technocrats, no politicians. They’ve failed us for the last 47 years so we prefer a government run by technocrats, which will have a term limit, those people, the technocrats, will arrange an election process, lead the transition period through a peaceful process.”

Gethaun slammed Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali, a member of the Oromo Peoples Democratic Organization, who has held that position since 2018, for his lack of action as churches have been destroyed along with entire towns. “He doesn’t care,” he maintained. Another person who attended the event, also named Abiy, alleged that “he acts like he doesn't care, but he’s behind the whole thing.”

“As long as he’s in power, for the next 10 years or 20 years, that is his plan,” Abiy continued. Contending that “the election is already rigged,” he explained that “it’s just another dictatorship we’re going through again.” Abiy contended that Ethiopia has never operated as a true democracy since the first Tigray People’s Liberation Front took power in 1991.

Another attendee, Waussihan, told CP that he was attending the event to raise awareness for a “very serious situation in Ethiopia” where Abiy Ahmed is just waging war against Amhara people.” He asserted that “Abiy Ahmed organizes his own militias and sends these militias to the farmers to kill children … mothers and they even just cut the abdomen of the mother and to just give her the baby because the baby was Amhara.” He also expressed disappointment that “the international media is denying this fact.”

“Abiy Ahmed is waging war against Tigrays and he’s allowing ... other external forces to just rape children,” Waussihan insisted. “He’s killing people because of their identity, because they are ethnic Amharas.”

“What we want is the international community to know what is really happening in Ethiopia,” he said. “That is the only thing we need. We don’t need any help, we need the international community to learn what is … happening in Ethiopia.”

“It is high time that Abiy Ahmed Ali be removed from power,” Voice for the Voiceless Ethiopians Task Force Chairman Shimelis Legesse wrote in a press release announcing Tuesday’s protest, which was obtained by CP. “The fate of Ethiopia’s 116 million people should never be left at the hands of this narcissist person. Politically independent Ethiopian technocrats shall be given the opportunity to form a transitional government with a legally binding term limit.”

Christian Post report continues here

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Chants and Incantations to Aztec Gods of Human Sacrifice in California’s Public Schools?

Thank God for Christopher Rufo and Rod Dreher for having the courage to warn Americans about this looming, highly flammable fuel for a cultural apocalypse.

Richard Land

By Richard Land
Christian Post Executive Editor

I have told my seminary students for years that a society or culture is never in a state of stasis. It is just the nature of human societies — they are constantly in flux, heading in one direction or the other, getting worse or getting better, depending on your perspective.

I have never been more depressed to have been proven right about American society’s increasing volatility. Current news stories contain harrowing reports of ever more radical “woke” philosophies being imprinted on the impressionable minds of our nation’s youth — in this case, the 6 million primary and secondary students attending California’s public schools.

If you were concerned about the cultural divisiveness of the centrifugal forces generated by critical race theory, intersectionality and Black Lives Matter, wait until you see what the formerly “Golden” state of California is contemplating inflicting on the unsuspecting youth of their state.

Christopher Rufo reports that next week the California Department of Education will decide whether to approve a statewide “ethnic studies” curriculum with the goal of “decolonizing” American society of its biased “Eurocentric” white “hegemony” over the indigenous peoples which allowed white settlers to establish a “regime of coloniality, dehumanization, and genocide.”

As Rod Dreher reports on Rufo’s research: “the ultimate goal is to 'decolonize' America and replace it with a new social order of 'countergenocide' and 'counterhegemony,' which will overthrow the dominant Christian culture and result in the 'regeneration of indigenous songs, chants and affirmations' culminating in teachers leading students in chants to Aztec gods, seeking empowerment to be 'warriors' for 'social justice' and importuning the Aztec God of war and human sacrifice, Xipe Totec known as 'Our Lord the Flayed One' because typically victims of human sacrifice, before they were disemboweled, dismembered and eaten, were skinned alive (Wikepedia, 'Human sacrifice in Aztec culture')."

The curriculum asserts that “white Christians committed ‘theocide’ against indigenous tribes, killing their gods and replacing them with Christianity.” This all culminates, according to Dreher and Rufo, with students shouting “Panche beh! Panche beh!” seeking ultimate “critical consciousness.”

This is all so comprehensively evil and destructive it is hard to know where to begin criticism of this dangerous, divisive, retrograde cultural vandalism. The idea that a tax-supported public school system would, or could, be used to unleash this vicious cultural and spiritual poison into our young people’s consciousness is both extremely offensive and quite possibly illegal.

How does this curriculum not violate the First Amendment’s "establishment clause?” If public schools are not allowed to sponsor Christian prayers, why would they be allowed to sponsor prayers to an Aztec pagan idol to whom human sacrifices were offered routinely?

If California’s authorities approve this curriculum, they should be challenged in court. Approval of this curriculum would also reveal that California is indeed a state surrounded on all sides by reality.

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CHILLING: California Police Reform Bill May Ban Christians From Law Enforcement

A.B. 655 does threaten to make it impossible for many conservative Christians to join California police departments...

New York City Police Academy graduates salute during the national anthem at their graduation ceremony,
 adding 457 new members of the NYPD, Thursday April 18, 2019, in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

By Tyler O'Neil 

PJ Media

Police officers have a duty to protect all citizens, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, or any other identity. Governments have an interest in preventing violent criminals and members of the Ku Klux Klan from joining police forces. Yet a new bill supposedly aimed at preventing gang members from joining law enforcement could prevent conservative Christians from taking the blue or result in their firing.

California Assembly Bill 655 would require police departments to investigate whether not potential cops had “engaged in membership in a hate group, participation in hate group activities, or public expressions of hate.” It would make such activities “grounds for termination.”

When Americans think of a “hate group,” many minds would conjure up a domestic terrorist group motivated by racial animus like the Ku Klux Klan. Yet some transgender activists and organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) use the term “hate group” as an epithet to demonize their political and ideological opposition. The SPLC has become notorious for branding mainstream conservative and Christian groups as “hate groups” because they advocate against same-sex marriage or transgender activism.

Assembly Member Ash Kalra, the author of A.B. 655, told PJ Media that he does not intend his bill to “curtail freedom of religious views or political affiliations — conservative or otherwise.” He acknowledged that the bill’s “definitions are a work in progress.” If so, he should seriously reconsider the definition of “hate group.”

A.B. 655 defines a “hate group” as “an organization that, based upon its official statements or principles, the statements of its leaders, or its activities, supports, advocates for, or practices the denial of constitutional rights of, the genocide of, or violence towards, any group of persons based upon race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability.”

That definition seems reasonable, but it can easily encompass mainstream conservative Christian organizations like Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). ADF opposes the Orwellian redefinition of civil rights laws to kowtow to transgender activism. In Bostock v. Clayton County (2020), the Supreme Court ruled that when Congress outlawed “discrimination on the basis of sex” in the 1960s, that law also applies to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity today.

As Justice Samuel Alito warned in his dissent, the Bostock ruling creates serious threats to religious freedom, free speech, fair play in women’s sports, women’s privacy, and women’s safety, among other things. There are serious problems with the logic Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch used to reach his decision in Bostock, and the decision arguably should be overruled.

According to Bostock, organizations like ADF that advocate against transgender activism may fit A.B. 655’s definition of a “hate group.”

Furthermore, pro-life organizations arguably fit the definition, as they seek to deny women the “constitutional right” to abortion established in Roe v. Wade (1973).

Matthew McReynolds, senior staff attorney at the Pacific Justice Institute (a conservative legal organization the SPLC falsely brands a “hate group”), warned that the overbroad definition of “hate group” in A.B. 655 raises important questions.

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9th Circuit Again Denies High School Football Coach Right to Pray on Football Field after Game

Banning coaches from praying just because they can be seen is wrong and contradicts the Constitution

Coach Joe Kennedy filing his complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in
 December 2015 against Bremerton School District. | Courtesy Liberty Institute

By Michael Gryboski, Christian Post Reporter

A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled against a high school football coach who was fired from his job for praying on the field after games.

For years, high school football coach Joseph Kennedy has pursued legal action against Bremerton School District in Washington state for suspending him due to his prayer practices.

Namely, this involved him praying at the 50-yard line after games, often being joined by players and sometimes giving a motivational speech.

In a unanimous opinion released Thursday, the panel said Kennedy’s practice of praying on the 50-yard line after games was a violation of the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

“BSD’s efforts to prevent the conduct did not violate Kennedy’s constitutional rights, nor his rights under Title VII,” wrote Judge Milan D. Smith Jr. in the panel's opinion.

“In sum, there is no doubt that an objective observer, familiar with the history of Kennedy’s practice, would view his demonstrations as BSD’s endorsement of a particular faith. For that reason, BSD had adequate justification for its treatment of Kennedy …”

The First Liberty Institute, a law firm based in Plano, Texas, which is helping to represent Kennedy, denounced the panel's opinion and vowed to appeal the decision.

“Banning coaches from praying just because they can be seen is wrong and contradicts the Constitution,” stated Mike Berry, First Liberty’s general counsel.

“Today’s opinion threatens the rights of millions of Americans who simply want to be able to freely exercise their faith without fear of losing their job. We plan to appeal, and we hope the Supreme Court will right this wrong. This fight is far from over.”

Americans United for Separation of Church & State, a Washington, D.C.-based group that participated in oral arguments on behalf of the school district, supported the panel's opinion.

“Public schools must provide an inclusive and welcoming environment for all students, regardless of their religious beliefs. That includes ensuring that student athletes don’t feel compelled to pray or participate in religious activities to secure their place on a team,” stated Americans United Legal Director Richard B. Katskee.

“Bremerton School District did the right thing: It protected the religious freedom of all the students and their families. Americans United was proud to support the district’s efforts.”

In 2016, Kennedy sued the school district after being suspended in 2015 for his practice of praying on the football field after games, accusing officials of violating his religious freedom.

A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit had previously ruled against Kennedy in 2017, with Smith also authoring that unanimous opinion.

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Chinese Christian Woman Persecuted for Faith Reveals Why Time in Prison was 'Wonderful'

Sister Tong shared how, during her time in prison, God was right there with her, every step of the way. "He felt so near to me during that time," she said.

                    Chinese Christians pray at an underground church

By Leah Marie Ann Klett, Christian Post Reporter

When Voice of the Martyrs’ Todd Nettleton traveled to China in 2002 to interview Sister Tong, a Chinese Christian who was sentenced to six months in one of the country’s notorious prisons because of her faith, he wasn’t prepared for her response.

“Oh yes, that was a wonderful time,” she told him.

Baffled, Nettleton asked Sister Tong to explain. Was she not imprisoned for six months because she hosted a church — an “illegal religious gathering” under Chinese law — in her home? Were government officials not trying to “re-educate” her, forcing her to become less Christian and more Chinese?

“I'm thinking she’s going to paint a picture for us of how miserable her life was in prison. How hard the bed was, how cold the cell was, how big the rats were,” Nettleton told The Christian Post. “But instead, she looked at me with this heavenly smile."

Sister Tong shared how, during her time in prison, God was right there with her, every step of the way.

"He felt so near to me during that time," she said.

She was also able to start a women’s ministry in prison, sharing Christ with those who had never heard His name.

“So, yes, it was an absolutely wonderful time,” Sister Tong said.

As a relatively new member of the VOM team, Nettleton said he was “blown away.”

“I couldn’t imagine myself being in prison and thinking it was a wonderful time,” he said. “Sister Tong changed my perspective on how I view persecution. What if we all had the attitude, when we faced difficulties like unemployment or sickness, that Jesus was giving us an opportunity to minister and witness to others?”

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Iran: 62-year-old Christian Convert with Parkinson’s Disease faces Prison for Belonging to a Church

An Iranian Christian convert with advanced Parkinson’s disease and his wife have been told to expect a summons any day to begin their prison sentences for belonging to a house-church

March 22, 2021

Iran

The persecution of Homayoun Zhaveh and Sara Ahmadi is not unique. The Iranian government often targets converts to Christianity as apostates, which is a criminal offense in Iran. That is why Zhaveh and Ahmadi were charged with “actions against national security,” solely for practicing the Christian faith. The laws in Iran that grant some limited freedoms to the Christians are generally not considered applicable to converts from Islam to Christianity, who are all too often considered enemies of the state, as we see in this case. The U.S. State Department has classified Iran as a “country of particular concern” for “having engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom.”

The Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle, Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, requests that the government of Iran grant full religious freedom to all of its citizens, not interfering with their freedom of worship in any way, and immediately clear these seven converts.

For previous ChristianPersecution.com coverage of Iran, see here.

“Iranian Christian convert with Parkinson’s disease faces prison,” Article 18, March 16, 2021:

An Iranian Christian convert with advanced Parkinson’s disease and his wife have been told to expect a summons any day to begin their prison sentences for belonging to a house-church.

Homayoun Zhaveh, who is 62, and his wife Sara Ahmadi, 42, were sentenced in November 2020 to two and 11 years in prison, respectively, for membership and leadership of the church, though their case has not been made public until now.

They were also banned from foreign travel or membership of any social or political group for two years after their release, and given six months’ community service at a centre for the mentally disabled.

Their appeals were rejected in December – though Sara’s sentence was reduced to eight years – and on Sunday, 14 March, they were informed that their case has been forwarded on to the government body responsible for enforcing judgments, which may therefore summon them at any moment.

Homayoun and Sara were arrested by agents from Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence in June 2019 as they holidayed with several other Christian families in the city of Amol, near the Caspian Sea.

The other Christians were also questioned, but only Homayoun and Sara were detained – first in Sari, near Amol, and then in the notorious Evin Prison back in their home city of Tehran.

Homayoun was released a month later, but Sara was held for a total of 67 days, including 33 days in solitary confinement – mostly within the Intelligence Ministry’s Ward 209 – during which time she was subjected to extreme psychological torture.

Their sentences were pronounced by Judge Iman Afshari on 14 November 2020, following a hearing three days earlier at Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran.

They appealed the verdict, but though the judge, Ahmad Zargar, slightly reduced Sara’s sentence in his 30 December verdict, the other aspects of their sentences were upheld.

The couple’s lawyer had argued in his appeal that the law was “unclear” on how meeting as a group of Christians could be construed as membership of an “illegal organization”.

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Chinese Authorities Seize Church Property Days After Raiding House Church

The U.S. State Department has labeled China as a “country of particular concern” for “continuing to engage in particularly severe violations of religious freedom.”

A cross is seen behind a poster with the logo of Communist Party of 
 China near a Catholic church on the outskirts of Taiyuan,North China's  
 Shanxi province, December 24, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Lee

By Anugrah Kumar   
Christian Post

Communist authorities in China removed all the belongings of a house church in China’s Chongqing municipality without showing any legal documents, days after raiding the building during a worship service, according to reports.

More than 30 officials, including local police, state security and local district administration, came with trucks and took away all the property, including chairs and books, at Mt. Olive Church in Chongqing on Wednesday, the U.S.-based advocacy organization International Christian Concern reports.

The Texas-based non-governmental organization China Aid reported the same group of officials, led by the Yuzhong District Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau, raided the church during its worship service last Sunday. The authorities sent the members home and sealed the church without showing any papers to prove official authorization.

Pastor Zhu Dong and several leaders were said to have been brought to the police station.

In January 2018, Mt. Olive Reformed School, founded by the church, was also raided, sealed and charged with being an “illegal venue for proselytization.”

China Aid suspects that the recent crackdown against house churches, which targets especially reformed churches, could be a “gift” to the upcoming 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party.

The Chinese government also continued its campaign against Christianity during the country’s coronavirus outbreak by destroying crosses and demolishing a church while people were on lockdown.

On February 28, authorities raided the Chongqing Living Fountain Church during one of its Sunday services and arrested two Christians, one of whom preached that day. According to China Aid, officers confiscated a computer belonging to the church and told those attending the service not to come on the church grounds again because the church is not registered and "there’s the potential risk of spreading the COVID-19 virus."

In January, police officers, education bureau officials, national security officers and urban management officers raided a house where homeschooled children of Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu were playing together, the church said in a Facebook post.

“The police are now raiding the home. There are a large number of police officers outside and inside of brother Liang Huali and Sister Shu Qiong’s home, and they are currently removing brother Liang’s personal belongings. Please pray!” the church wrote.

Open Doors USA, which monitors persecution in over 60 countries, estimates that there are about 97 million Christians in China, a large percentage of whom worship in what China considers to be "illegal" and unregistered underground home churches.

China ranks as the 17th-worst country in the world when it comes to the persecution of Christians, according to Open Doors USA’s 2021 World Watch List.

A November 2020 report from the Pew Research Center showed that restrictions on religion in China had risen to a record level. Researchers found that China continued to have “the highest score on the Government Restrictions Index out of all 198 countries and territories in the study.”

In addition to Early Rain Covenant Church, the Chinese Communist Party has forced several well-known churches to shut down, including Rongguili Church in Guangzhou and Xunsiding Church in Xiamen.

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Arkansas Governor Signs Law to Protect Religious Conscience of Healthcare Providers

The bill contends that the conscience of medical practitioners, healthcare institutions and healthcare payers has been increasingly threatened in recent years.

Getty Images/Science Photo Library

By Emily Wood
Christian Post

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed legislation Friday to provide conscience protections for the religious objections of healthcare providers, payers and institutions.

Sponsored by Sen. Kim Hammer and Rep. Brandt Smith, both Republicans, “The Medical Ethics and Diversity Act,” S.B. 289, will protect medical professionals from providing services that go against their moral, religious or ethical beliefs, such as performing abortions or sex-change surgeries.

Hutchinson said in a statement that he “weighed this bill very carefully” before signing.

The governor originally opposed the legislation in the 2017 legislative session until it was changed to ensure the ability to exercise the right of conscience is limited to “conscience-based objections to a particular health care service.”

“Most importantly, the federal laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, sex, gender, and national origin continue to apply to the delivery of health care services,” Hutchinson said in the statement.

The governor said he supports this legislation as long as emergency care is exempted and conscience objections cannot deny general healthcare services to any class of people.

“This bill is about elective things, things you can take time to find a provider who’s willing to offer the service rather than a force a provider who doesn’t believe in doing it,” Hammer said about the bill, according to the Associated Press.

Stephanie Nichols, legal counsel for Alliance for Defending Freedom, a religious freedom legal advocacy group that has argued numerous cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, commended the governor’s signing for protecting the right of “health care heroes” to serve according to their ethical and religious briefs.

“Patients are best served by doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals who are free to act ethically and consistent with their oath to ‘do no harm,’” Nichols said in a statement. “The MED Act ensures that no medical professional is compelled to breach this oath by being forced to participate in procedures or treatments that violate their conscience.”

“Driving out doctors, nurses, and other medical providers because of their faith or ethical convictions means fewer health care options for patients at a time when our nation’s health care system is overstretched and experiencing a dire shortage of providers,” Nichols continued.

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Persecution Unveiled has been called to prick the consciences of our nation and all free people to pray for, speak up and act on behalf of those who are persecuted for their faith. Follow us on Pinterest.