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Why Does Air Force Academy Encourage Atheism, Prosecute Christianity?

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Photo Credit: Fox News There appears to be a double-standard at the Air Force Academy.

The Academy is defending its promotion of an atheist event just a week after a Christian cadet was pressured into removing a Bible verse from his personal white board because it allegedly offended non-Christian cadets.

“Ask An Atheist Day” was sponsored by The Freethinkers Club, an Academy approved cadet club. The event was advertised all week on Academy bulletin screens and an official email sent to the Cadet Wing. An invitation was also issued by a cadet to the entire Cadet Wing assembly on Tuesday.

As I reported last week, a cadet “voluntarily” removed a Bible verse he had written on a white board hanging outside his dorm room. “I have been crucified with Christ therefore I no longer live, but Christ lives in me,” the verse from Galatians 2:20 read.

That verse led to a formal complaint from Mikey Weinstein, of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. Exactly two hours and nine minutes after the complaint was filed, the Bible verse was erased.

Read more from this story HERE.

Vatican Chief Justice: Obama’s Policies ‘Progressively More Hostile Toward Christian Civilization’

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Photo Credit: AP / Charles DharapakPresident Barack Obama’s policies “have become progressively more hostile toward Christian civilization,” Cardinal Raymond Burke, head of the highest court at the Vatican, said in a recent interview.

Cardinal Burke added that Obama wants to restrict religious freedom and force the individuals, outside of his or her place of worship, “to act against his rightly-formed conscience, even in the most serious of moral questions.”

In an interview first published in Polish in Polonia Christiana magazine and republished exclusively in English at LifeSite News, Cardinal Burke, the former archbishop of St. Louis, was asked about President Obama’s policies towards Christian civilization and if there are any “Catholic reactions against this policy? If yes, what are they, [or] if not, why?”

Cardinal Burke, who heads the Apostolic Signatura, the highest court at the Vatican, said: “It is true that the policies of the president of the United States of America have become progressively more hostile toward Christian civilization. He appears to be a totally secularized man who aggressively promotes anti-life and anti-family policies.”

“Now he [Obama] wants to restrict the exercise of the freedom of religion to freedom of worship; that is, he holds that one is free to act according to his conscience within the confines of his place of worship but that, once the person leaves the place of worship, the government can constrain him to act against his rightly-formed conscience, even in the most serious of moral questions,” said Cardinal Burke.

Read more from this story HERE.

UN Blasts Iran for Persecution of Christians, Other Religious Minorities

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Photo Credit: APThe election last year of self-professed moderate President Hassan Rouhani has not brought Iran’s Christians any relief, according to a new United Nations report which finds the Islamic Republic’s Bible believers more persecuted than ever.

The detailed report finds Iran has continued to imprison Christians for their faith and designated house churches and evangelical Christians as “threats to national security.” At least 49 Christians were among 307 religious minorities being held in Iranian jails as of January 2014, noted the UN, which also blasted the regime for its hostility to Jews, Baha’is, Zoroastrians and Dervish Muslims, the UN report stated.

“These are indicators that President Rouhani has no influence over hard-liners, who remain fully in charge of the judiciary and security apparatus, government entities that are responsible for the most severe abuses against religious minorities,” Dwight Bashir, deputy director for policy at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, told FoxNews.com.

Among the Christians held in Iranian prisons is American citizen and Christian pastor Saeed Abedini, who is serving an eight-year prison term for alleged crimes related to his faith. President Obama has called for Abedini’s release, even as his administration has negotiated a disarmament deal with Iran.

“This report is as an important reminder about the true nature of the Iranian regime,” Sen. Mark Kirk, (R-III), told FoxNews.com. “We can’t pretend we are negotiating with Western moderates – we are negotiating with Islamic radicals who persecute Christians, Baha’is, other religious and ethnic minorities and women, while denying all of its citizens basic human rights — including the freedom of speech and assembly.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Number of Christians Killed Through Persecution Increased by 75 Percent in 2013

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Photo Credit: APPersecution of Christians continues to worsen, fueled in part by the “Arab Spring,” which not only unleashed a wave of Islamist radicalism across the Arab world but also left Christians holding the blame for many of the uprisings that removed Arab leaders from power.

In 2013, 2,123 Christians were killed in persecution around the world, up from 1,201 in 2012.

In countries across the Middle East, North Africa and south Asia, Christians are murdered or imprisoned, their homes and businesses destroyed and their rights removed. This area represents just four percent of the world’s 2.2 billion Christians, but the treatment they receive is nothing short of horrific.

“It is not an accident, the persecution and mass murder of Christians by Muslims,” said Lee Habeeb, a Lebanese Christian and vice president of content at Salem Radio Network. “It is not episodic. It is by design. It is part of a plan to destroy any competing narrative about God. To bully, threaten, and intimidate Christians into submission, or mass evacuation.”

Earlier this month, Open Doors, an organization dedicated to strengthening Christianity throughout the world, especially in oppressed nations, released its 2014 “World Watch List,” designed to highlight the countries where Christians are most oppressed. Countries in the Middle East, northern Africa and south Asia dominate the list. Here are some of the worst offenders…

Read more from this story HERE.

Report: Rate of Christians Killed for their Faith Doubled in 2013

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Photo Credit: Reuters

Photo Credit: Reuters

Reported cases of Christians killed for their faith around the world doubled in 2013 from the year before, with Syria accounting for more than the whole global total in 2012, according to an annual survey.

Open Doors, a non-denominational group supporting persecuted Christians worldwide, said on Wednesday it had documented 2,123 “martyr” killings, compared with 1,201 in 2012. There were 1,213 such deaths in Syria alone last year, it said.

“This is a very minimal count based on what has been reported in the media and we can confirm,” said Frans Veerman, head of research for Open Doors. Estimates by other Christian groups put the annual figure as high as 8,000.

The Open Doors report placed North Korea at the top of its list of 50 most dangerous countries for Christians, a position it has held since the annual survey began 12 years ago. Somalia, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan were the next four in line.

The United States-based group reported increasing violence against Christians in Africa and said radical Muslims were the main source of persecution in 36 countries on its list.

Read more from this story HERE.

North Korea Tops Somalia, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan as Worst Place to Be Christian

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Photo Credit: AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon

On the day former NBA star Dennis Rodman sang “happy birthday” to Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang, a religious freedom advocacy group named North Korea the world’s worst country to be a Christian for the 12th consecutive year.

Islamic states dominated Open Doors’ 2014 world watch list, accounting for nine of the ten countries with the worst records. Of the full 50-country list released Wednesday, 36 are countries where Islamic extremism is “the main engine driving persecution of Christians,” stretching from North Africa to Brunei.

The top ten countries for persecuting Christians over the last year were: North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Maldives, Pakistan, Iran and Yemen.

“In no other country in the world are Christians so fiercely persecuted because of their faith than in North Korea,” said Open Doors. “Like others in that country, Christians have to survive under one of the most oppressive regimes in contemporary times. They have to deal with corrupt officials, bad policies, natural disasters, diseases and hunger.

“On top of that, they must hide their decision to follow Christ. Being caught with a Bible is grounds for execution or a life-long political prison sentence. An estimated 50,000 to 70,000 Christians live in concentration camps, prisons and prison-like circumstances under the regime of leader Kim Jong-un.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Prince Charles says Christians are Being Targeted in Middle East. Obama says….Nothing. (+video)

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Photo Credit: YouTube

Photo Credit: YouTube

It’s Christmastime and regardless what anyone else says, this is the time when the birth of Jesus Christ is celebrated and remembered. It’s a special time for Christians – like me.

However, at this time when Christians celebrate the birth of the Savior, our Messiah — sorry Barbara Walters, we’re talking about the real one — this year we’re also seeing something horrific.

As reported in The Telegraph via BizPac Review,

“The United Kingdom’s Prince Charles addressed a problem largely ignored by President Obama — Christians are being targeted for persecution in the Middle East and North Africa by fundamentalist Muslims.

The prince made his remarks at a reception for religious leaders at Clarence House, the official London residence of The Prince of Wales.

Read more from this story HERE.

Christians Face Culture of Fear, Intimidation in U.S. Military Today (+video)

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Photo Credit: APThe Family Research Council (FRC) released a video in time for Veterans Day that warns Americans about the persecution of U.S. troops who express their Christian faith.

The four-minute-and-44 second video, “A Clear and Present Danger,” features active duty members of the U.S. military sharing their concerns about the “tremendous culture of intimidation and fear in the ranks of the American military right now.”

The identities of the men the faces and voices of the man are obscured to cloak their identities.

“Soldiers give up a lot of privileges or rights to be soldiers and defend the freedom of others,” says one soldier in the video. “But certainly the free exercise of religious freedom is not one of them.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Iran Gives Christians 80 Lashes for Communion Wine as UN Blasts Human Rights Record

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Photo Credit: ReutersFour Iranian Christians were reportedly sentenced to 80 lashes for drinking wine for communion, a shocking punishment meted out even as a new United Nations report blasted the Islamic republic for its systematic persecution of non-Muslims.

The four men were sentenced Oct. 6 after being arrested in a house church last December and charged with consuming alcohol in violation of the theocracy’s strict laws, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide. They were among several Christians punished for their faith in a nation where converting from Islam to Christianity can bring the death penalty. According to a new October UN report by Ahmed Shaheed, UN special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, such persecution is common, despite new President Hasan Rouhani’s pledge to be a moderate.

“At least 20 Christians were in custody in July 2013,” Shaheed wrote. “In addition, violations of the rights of Christians, particularly those belonging to evangelical Protestant groups, many of whom are converts, who proselytize to and serve Iranian Christians of Muslim background, continue to be reported.”

Iran’s regime has made stopping the spread of Christianity a cornerstone of its crackdown on religious freedom. There are estimated to be as many as 370,000 Christians in Iran, according to the most recent U.S. State Department report. The clerical rulers see Christianity as a threat to Iran’s majority ultra-orthodox Shiite Islamic religion.

Read more from this story HERE.

Rand Paul Warns of War on Christianity (+video)

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By Garth Kant.

“You won’t hear much about it on the evening news,” warned Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., “but there is a worldwide war on Christianity.”

The senator chose to highlight the danger of radical Islam in his speech before the Values Voter Summit Friday morning.

Paul explained the war on Christianity is not making the headlines it should because the “narrative is not convenient” to the establishment media.

“The president tries to gloss over who’s attacking and killing Christians. The media describes the killings as ‘sectarian.’”

But the truth, said the senator, is war is being waged on Christians “by a fanatical element of Islam.”

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: Daily CallerRand Paul shames media for ignoring ‘worldwide war on Christianity’

By Alex Pappas.

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul spent Friday morning telling stories to conservatives about the persecution of Christians across the world.

“Today I want to tell you about a war the mainstream media is ignoring,” the Republican lawmaker said Friday during the Values Voter Summit in Washington. “From Boston to Zanzibar, there is a worldwide war on Christianity.”…

Examples referenced by Paul:

Referencing an incident in Syria, Paul spoke of Islamic rebels storming into town and demanding everyone convert to Islam or die. “Sarkis el Zakhm stood up and answered them, ‘I am a Christian and if you want to kill me because I am a Christian, do it.’ Those were Sarkis last words.”

“Elsewhere in Syria, Islamic rebels have filmed beheadings of their captives and celebrated by eating the heart of an enemy soldier,” Paul said. “Two Christian bishops have been kidnapped and one priest recently killed.”

Read more from this story HERE.