Appeal to President Obama for help from a 15-year old apostate in Egypt

Let us see how much courage the President has now:

A 15-year-old Egyptian girl, Dina el-Gohary, has written an emotional appeal to President Obama asking him to use his influence to save her father, Maher el-Gohary, who is being persecuted for his beliefs. "Mr. President Obama, we are a minority in Egypt," Dina writes, according to a report from the Assyrian International News Agency. "We are treated very badly. ... We are imprisoned in our own home because Muslim clerics called for the murder of my father, and now the Government has set for us a new prison, we are imprisoned in our own country."

Dina and her father are Christian converts in a part of the world where conversion can mean death.

The Muslim-majority countries of the Middle East are among the world's greatest offenders against freedom of conscience. Religious liberty does not exist or is severely curtailed based on Shariah supremacy. Egypt is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which commits signatories to respect a variety of liberties, including religious freedom, but a court considering whether Mr. el-Gohary could legally change his religious affiliation ruled that Egypt was only bound to honor those provisions that did not contradict Islamic law, and "in the event of a contradiction, Shariah takes precedence."

From HERE.

Berlin plans 'integration contract' for immigrants

This is a very interesting development. I wonder if we will see more of these drafted around the West? I actually don't think it is a bad idea. Much of the trouble is that the West has told Muslims, you have freedom when you come here. And they understand (well, some of them) ok, freedom to establish an Islamic society and Islamicize this society and receive preferential treatment, like the Shariah says I should. Is Europe waking up? Or is it too little too late?

The new contract, a goal for the current legislative period, will elaborate on what kind of support immigrants can expect from Germany, in addition to “what we expect from the immigrants,” Maria Böhmer told daily Stuttgarter Nachrichten.

“All who want to live and work here for the long run must say yes to our country,” she continued. “To this belongs proficiency in the German language, but also a readiness to take part in society.”

German values, such as freedom of speech and equal rights for women must also be recognised in the proposed contract, said Böhmer, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats.

From HERE.

Russian priest killed, possibly connected to his mission to Muslims

MOSCOW — The Rev. Daniil Sysoyev, a priest in the Russian Orthodox Church who was known for promoting missionary work among Muslims, was shot and killed in his parish church late Thursday night, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

Father Sysoyev, 35, died at a Moscow hospital of gunshot wounds to the head and chest, RIA Novosti said. The Web site of the Moscow patriarchate confirmed his death. The parish’s choir director was wounded in the shootings at the Church of St. Thomas by the unidentified assailant.

A Moscow Patriarchate official called Father Sysoyev a “talented missionary” whose work among Muslims, including Tatars, might have been the motive for the shooting. [...]

From IHT.

Muslims translated Aristotle, and other myths

Medieval Muslims were reluctant to travel to infidel lands. According to Islamic jurists Muslims should not stay for too long in the lands of non-Muslims if they cannot live a proper Muslim life there. Muslims had little knowledge of or interest in any Western languages. Only Italian had some currency for commercial purposes, but mainly involving Jews and Eastern Christians, especially Greeks and Armenians. Few Muslims knew any non-Muslim languages well, the knowledge of which was considered unnecessary or even suspect.

Consequently, the translators of Greek and other non-Muslim scientific works to Arabic were never Muslims. They were Christians of the three dominant Eastern denominations plus a few Jews and Sabians. The language of culture for these Christians was Syriac (Syro-Aramaic or Eastern Aramaic) and their liturgical language was Greek. The translators already knew the languages they were to translate. We do have examples of translators who traveled to Greece to perfect their skills, but they were Christians for whom Greek was already at least a liturgical language.

Abu Daoud says: the truth is that Muslims were very insular and unwilling to acknowledge that they had things t learn from peoples of other religions and cultures. From HERE.

The Night Before Christmas and the PC Police

Twas the month before Christmas *When all through our land,* *Not a Christian was praying* *Nor taking a stand.* *See the PC Police had taken away,* *The reason for Christmas - no one could say.* *The children were told by their schools not to sing,* *About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.* *It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say* * December 25th is just a ' Holiday '.* *Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit* *Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!* *CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod* *Something was changing, something quite odd! * *Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa* *In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.* *As Targets were hanging their trees upside down* * At Lowe's the word Christmas - was no where to be found.* *At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears* *You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.* *Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty* *Are words that were used to intimidate me.* *Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen* *On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton !* *At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter* *To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.* *And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith* * Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace* *The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded* *The reason for the season, stopped before it started.* *So as you celebrate 'Winter Break' under your 'Dream Tree'* *Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.* *Choose your words carefully, choose what you say* *Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS, not Happy Holiday !*

Free Copts: Building churches in Egypt almost impossible

A Christian "dreaming" of building a church in Egypt must adhere to the ten stringent conditions laid by the Ezaby Pasha along the Hamayouni decree(Ottoman Empire-laid rules for building Churches), and may even have to seek the consent of the street stall radish seller in the vicinity !!

Simply put, [the] building of churches in Egypt is almost impossible.

Ah, where is all that wonderful Islamic tolerance we hear about? Read it all HERE.

Islam, Rape, and Norway

A quote from a newspaper article:

"When a lightly dressed, intoxicated woman gets in alone into a taxi, the starting point is that she's already sinned. A Muslim woman can't do that. Those who attacked and raped women in the street thought that they were within their rights. They saw an intoxicated woman without an escort. She's then considered fair game in some Muslim communities. And by their own perception, the men think that women have no value as witnesses in a criminal case," says Thorsen.

Well, Norway, you asked for it.

From here.

And also this, on rape in Oslo:

Q: You're saying that Norwegian girls are asking to be raped?

A: Not exactly asking, but when then go out almost completely naked and get completelydrunk in Frogner park or go to a party together with some friend, and then they complain about being raped? It's their fault, says the 26 year old from Somalia.

Q: But even if they go around lightly dressed and get drunk then they're certainly not asking to be raped?

A: No, but many of the foreigners aren't used to this where they come from. They're not accustomed that girls go dressed as they want, then maybe they interpret this a bit wrong, you understand?

From here.

Viorst on despotism, "the Arabs' most pervasive political instituion"

“In fact, a strong argument can be made that Islam, the heart of Arab culture, sets the limit of personal and social development in the Arab world. Despotism, the Arabs' most pervasive political institution, is surely its offshoot, even though Islam has sometimes been at odds with its despots.”

Milton Viorst. 1994. Sandcastles: The Arabs in Search of the Modern World. New York: Knopf. pp 357-8.

Hmm, what do you think? Fair or unfair?

Louay Safi on the legal core of Islam

The importance of the Islamic legal code for the Arab, and Muslim society in general, may be appreciated by realizing that, historically, the most influential intellectual figures were not theologians, as was the case in Christian Europe, but jurists and doctors of law.

Louay Safi. 1994. The Challenge of Modernity: The Quest for Authenticity in the Arab World. New York, London: University Press of America. p 141.

Temple Gairdner on the Church as home for Muslim converts

If any church desires to be a spiritual home for those who come to Christ from Islam, a brotherhood, a spiritual garden, then it must have a very definite and well thought-out plan for teaching and training them in the Christian faith; and it must also, having determined its responsibility with regard to their human needs, be ready to shoulder the same. A church that makes this preparation in a spirit of thoughtful love, is already more than half-way to the ideal of being a home. A church that makes no such preparation, or whose preparation is ill thought-out, is making it that much harder for itself to be a home, indeed has not declared unmistakably that it thinks of itself as such.

WHT Gairdner, "The Christian Church as a Home for Christ's Converts from Islam", The Muslim World Vol. 14, p. 241.

Europeans too selfish to have children, says Rabi

This is according to the Lord Chief Rabi of London. He is quite right, IMHO.

Lord Sacks said: “Parenthood involves massive sacrifice of money, attention, time and emotional energy.

“Where today in European culture with its consumerism and instant gratification – because you’re worth it – where will you find space for the concept of sacrifice for the sake of generations not yet born?

“Europe, at least the indigenous population of Europe, is dying.”

“That is one of the unsayable truths of our time. We are undergoing the moral equivalent of climate change and no one is talking about it.

“Albert Camus once said, 'The only serious philosophical question is why should I not commit suicide?’.

“I think he was wrong. The only serious philosophical question is, why should I have a child? Our culture is not giving an easy answer to that question.”

He added: “Wherever you turn today - Jewish, Christian or Muslim - the more religious the community, the larger on average are their families.

“The major assault on religion today comes from the neo-Darwinians.’’

Discussing the popular secular idea that there are no absolute moral values, he said: “You cannot defend a civilisation on the basis of moral relativism.

The whole thing is HERE.

Temple Gairdner on obedience and rebirth

Oh my God,--
Obedience restores the golden, free days of childhood, for the twice-born are children always.

Gairdner, W.H.T. 1930? W.H.T.G. To His Friends. London: SPCK. p. 49.

Root Causes of Muslim Persecution of Christians

Root Causes of Persecution
The first generation of Muslims was a minority in the non-Muslim world it set out to conquer. For the Muslims, this created a sense of defensiveness and a fear of being overwhelmed by the conquered communities that persist today in spite of centuries of Muslim dominance. Even in modern secular Muslim-majority states, Islam and shari’a have such a hold on public perceptions that attitudes of contempt and practices of discrimination against non-Muslims are accepted as normal.

From this article by Patrick Sookhdeo.

Pray for Yemen: Qat and Water

Yemen is running out of water, and farmers there are using what they have to cultivate a crop that is not even a food--qat.

JAHILIYA, Yemen — More than half of this country’s scarce water is used to feed an addiction.

Even as drought kills off Yemen’s crops, farmers in villages like this one are turning increasingly to a thirsty plant called qat, the leaves of which are chewed every day by most Yemeni men (and some women) for their mild narcotic effect. The farmers have little choice: qat is the only way to make a profit.

Meanwhile, the water wells are running dry, and deep, ominous cracks have begun opening in the parched earth, some of them hundreds of yards long.

Pray for Yemen. Without the power of the Gospel true freedom and wisdom will never come to this country.

Read it all here.