I have to ask -- would the press ever respond to such bigotry with respectful, dispassionate discussion if it were directed at Jews or African Americans?

Is it significant that the five Supreme Court justices who voted to uphold the federal ban on a controversial abortion procedure also happen to be the court's Roman Catholics?

It is to Tony Auth, the Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist for the Philadelphia Inquirer. He drew Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. wearing bishop's miters, and labeled his cartoon "Church and State."

Rosie O'Donnell and Barbara Walters hashed out the issue on "The View," with O'Donnell noting that a majority of the court is Catholic and wondering about "separation of church and state." Walters counseled that "we cannot assume that they did it because they're Catholic."

And the chatter continues, on talk radio and in the blogosphere. In the latter category, no one has stirred it up quite like Geoffrey R. Stone, former dean and now provost of the University of Chicago's law school.

Once again we see, anti-Catholicism, long described as the anti-Semitism of the intellectual (or rather, I would suggest, the pseudo-intellectual) remains the most persistent prejudice in the American psyche.

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The sickness of these diabolically-inspired individuals knows no bounds.

Having arranged to meet these three Christians on Sunday morning for a Bible study, they brutally martyred Tilman Ekkehart Geske, Necati Aydin, Ugur Yuksel.

After Necati read a chapter from the Bible the assault reportedly began. "The young men tied Ugur, Necati, and TilmanÂ’s hands and feet to chairs as they videoed their work on their cell phones," ICC said, adding that what "followed in the next three hours is beyond belief."

ICC said the men were "disemboweled, and their intestines sliced up in front of their eyes. They were emasculated and watched as those body parts were destroyed." The group added that "fingers were chopped off" and "their noses and mouths and anuses were sliced open" as part of what it called "satanic torture."

It added that "possibly the worst part was watching as their brothers were likewise tortured. Tilman was stabbed 156 times, Necati 99 times and UgurÂ’s stabs were too numerous to count."

Finally, their throats were sliced from ear to ear, and their "heads practically decapitated," ICC said.

Such brutality would be shocking – were it not all too common among those who have taken to murdering non-Muslims in the name of the Islamic faith. Let us hope that the government of Turkey will vigorously deal with these perpetrators of these horrific actions. And may the blood of these martyrs be a spring that nurtures the Christian faith in Turkey, and draw more and more to the truth of the Christian faith.

H/T Jawa Report, Christian Persecution Blog

UPDATE: Will there be justice for Christians in Turkey? I think it is doubtful, given the arrest of four street evangelists in Turkey for attempting to spread the Gospel. Especially when you get quotes like this from senior officials of the Ministry of "Justice".

“Missionaries are more dangerous than terror organizations,” Niyazi Guney, Ministry of Justice director general of laws, reportedly commented only a day after the murders.

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If the proposed law on hate crimes isnÂ’t intended, in part, to silence religious believers, then why oppose this amendment.

Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) proposed an amendment protecting freedom of religion: "Nothing in this section limits the religious freedom of any person or group under the constitution," the amendment read, but that, too, was defeated.

Why on earth would anyone refuse to vote for an amendment stating that the law is to be interpreted consistent with the requirements of the First Amendment – unless it is the intent of those backing it that the law be used to limit rights guaranteed under the First Amendment. The failure of the amendment is therefore reason enough to oppose this legislation.

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Bigots! What else can you call a bunch of “religious” leaders who condemn public officials based upon their religion because they properly carried out their constitutionally defined role?

Hypocrites! What else can you call a group that complains that judges applying the Constitution and the clear (as mud) standards set out in Roe v. Wade to uphold an act of Congress are guilty of imposing their religion upon the American people – and then insist not only that THEIR religious values should be enacted but also that legislation be passed to forbid medical personnel from abiding by their own values?

A coalition of religious leaders took on the Catholic Church, the U.S. Supreme Court and the Bush administration on Tuesday with a plea to take religion out of health care in the United States.

They said last week's Supreme Court decision outlawing a certain type of abortion demonstrated that religious belief was interfering with personal rights and the U.S. health care system in general.

The group, calling itself the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, said it planned to submit its proposals to other church groups and lobby Congress and state legislators.

"With the April 18 Supreme Court decision banning specific abortion procedures, concerns are being raised in religious communities about the ethics of denying these services," the group said in a statement.

"They are imposing their points of view," Barbara Kavadias, director of field services for the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, told reporters in a telephone briefing.

She noted that the five Supreme Court justices on the majority in the 5-4 decision were all Catholic men -- Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Anthony Kennedy, Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Antonin Scalia.

All were appointed by conservative Republican presidents who oppose abortion, including President George W. Bush.

The group also complained about Catholic-owned hospitals that refuse to sterilize women who ask for it, refuse to let doctors perform abortions and do not provide contraception.

"Doctors, pharmacists and nurses are also increasingly exercising a so-called 'religious or moral objection,' refusing to provide essential services and often leaving patients without other options," the group said in a statement.

In other words, they not only want to disqualify Catholics and other conservative Christians from holding public office (or at least bringing their values with them), but they want to require that Catholic hospitals quit being Catholic and that Catholic and other conservative Christian medical professionals stop acting on their religious beliefs.

I think that this response says it best.

Marie Hilliard of the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia said she had grave concerns about the report.

"There is no recognition of the true meaning of the separation of church and state, which mandates that the free exercise of religion, including that of the provider, be respected," she said.

And at the risk of offending these hypocritical religious bigots in pastor’s robes, may I heartily say “Amen!”

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I just wish it hadn't taken so long.

The Wiccan pentacle has been added to the list of emblems allowed in national cemeteries and on goverment-issued headstones of fallen soldiers, according to a settlement announced Monday.

A settlement between the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Wiccans adds the five-pointed star to the list of "emblems of belief" allowed on VA grave markers.

Eleven families nationwide are waiting for grave markers with the pentacle, said Selena Fox, a Wiccan high priestess with Circle Sanctuary in Barneveld, Wis., a plaintiff in the lawsuit.

The settlement calls for the pentacle, whose five points represent earth, air, fire, water and spirit, to be placed on grave markers within 14 days for those who have pending requests with the VA.

Speaking as a Christian who loves my country and its Constitution, my only question is "What took so long?" This should have been settled as soon as the issue was raised.

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And yet this same imam no doubt demands the full protection of the First Amendment for his loathsome belief system. However, he insists that author and human rights activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali must die for rejecting such barbarism.

Imam Fouad ElBayly, president of the Johnstown Islamic Center, was among those who objected to Hirsi AliÂ’s appearance.

“She has been identified as one who has defamed the faith. If you come into the faith, you must abide by the laws, and when you decide to defame it deliberately, the sentence is death,” said ElBayly, who came to the U.S. from Egypt in 1976.

* * *

Although ElBayly believes a death sentence is warranted for Hirsi Ali, he stressed that America is not the jurisdiction where such a crime should be punished. Instead, Hirsi Ali should be judged in a Muslim country after being given a trial, he added.

“If it is found that a person is mentally unstable, or a child or disabled, there should be no punishment,” he said. “It’s a very merciful religion if you try to understand it.”

Yeah, merciful if you are willing to submit to the barbarism of sharia and not use your head on pain of having it separated from your shoulders for daring to reject its false teachings.

Not content to seek this heroic woman's death, though, ElBayly and other Islamic leaders also sought to ban her speech at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. Fortunately, university officials let the lecture go on, but the mere fact that they were even willing to hear and consider their anti-freedom point of view is distressing. They should have been told to pound sand, and given precisely the amount of consideration that the KKK or American Nazi Party would be given if they came around demanding a speech be canceled.

ElBayly's statements leave me wondering if there is any possibility of his being deported back to Egypt. Regardless, his Islamist mosque must be put under intense surveillance and scrutiny, just like any Christian Identity pukes receive.

And I wonder -- where are the denunciations of such hate by so-called mainstream Muslims? Or are they silent because ElBayly accurately reflects the true nature of Islam?

MORE AT Jawa Report, LGF, Riehl World View , Ace of Spades HQ, Hot Air, PAWaterCooler.com, Right Voices, Blue Crab Boulevard, Freedom Zone, Sister Toldjah, Blog-o-Fascists, Atlas Shrugs

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After all, Islam traditionally treats women as inferior and lacking in the full rights due a man.

Elections Canada has begun to contact Muslim organizations to gauge their feelings on how to accommodate veiled women if photo identification becomes necessary to cast a federal ballot, Sun Media has learned.
Sameer Zuberi, with the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations, said he spent 30 minutes on the telephone with an Elections Canada representative on Tuesday.
"They asked about how we can deal with this and what are the ways we can deal with it," said Zuberi.
Zuberi said veiled Muslim women should be given the option of unveiling in front of another woman.

Of course, there is this little bit of absurdity from the representative of another group.

Khaled Mouammar, president of the Canadian Arab Federation, said veiled women should not be asked to show their faces.
"If somebody comes in with a valid ID then it doesn't matter how you're dressed," said Mouammar.

Never mind, of course, that the veil would obscure the identity of the individual in question – making the question of whether they possess a valid ID something more than an academic exercise.

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1 Happy blogiversary

Posted by: Gabrielle at Thu Apr 19 14:08:56 2007 (8BH0j)

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And I'm sorry, but I disagree with this move.

The Vatican's ambassador to Israel will attend a Holocaust memorial service at the Yad Vashem museum, reversing an earlier decision to boycott the event, officials said Sunday.

Vatican officials had said they would skip the Sunday event because of a caption at the Holocaust museum describing the wartime conduct of Pope Pius XII.

Officials from Yad Vashem, the Vatican's Embassy and the Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed Sunday that the ambassador, Monsignor Antonio Franco, would attend.

The caption next to the picture of Pius reads, "even when reports about the murder of Jews reached the Vatican, the pope did not protest."

Pius "maintained his neutral position" with two exceptions, the caption says, criticizing "his silence and absence of guidelines." The exceptions were appeals to the rulers of Hungary and Slovakia toward the end of the war.

The boycott had threatened to upset fragile relations between Israel and the Vatican.

As I've said, this is a bad move, because the original decision was the correct one. Such blood libel should not be allowed to stand -- and no nation should participate in any event at Vad Yashem as long as such a lie appears.

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That is a very important question being faced by churches as sex offenders seek to become members of their congregations. Christ enjoins us to forgive and accept the repentance of sinners -- but what does that mean when those sinners have a history of preying upon children?

On a marquee outside and on a banner inside, Pilgrim United Church of Christ proclaims, “All are welcome.” Sustained by the belief that embracing all comers is a living example of Christ’s love, Pilgrim now faces a profound test of faith.

In late January, Mark Pliska, 53, told the congregation here that he had been in prison for molesting children but that he sought a place to worship and liked the atmosphere at Pilgrim.

Mr. PliskaÂ’s request has plunged the close-knit congregation into a painful discussion about applying faith in a difficult real-world situation. Congregants now wonder, are all truly welcome? If they are, how do you ensure the safety of children and the healing of adult survivors of sexual abuse? Can an offender who accepts Christ truly change?

“I think what we have been through is a loss of innocence,” said the Rev. Madison Shockley, Pilgrim’s minister. “People think of church as an idyllic paradise, and I think that is a great part of that loss.”

I'd love to say that I know what I would do in such a situation -- but I don't. And i say that as a former Catholic seminarian, married to a former UCC pastor. Forgiveness is the easy part, but dare we trust such individuals, even with the most strict limits placed upon them? Indeed, within the denomination in which I was raised, it was a willingness to forgive and trust too easily that led to a scandal that has shaken Catholicism -- and society as a whole.

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Libs get all in a tizzy over Ann Coulter – but do her words ever really reach the level of vitriol found in this column published by the major daily in oh-so-tolerant San Francisco?

Here's the good news: The Republican party is dying. Slow, painful, twitching, secreting war and intolerance and desperation like a fetid gas, snarling and gagging like Jabba the Hutt being choked by the hard chain of progress and hope and relaxed social mores and an upcoming Generation Next that seems to sense that screaming about gays and women's rights and Muslims and drugs actually doesn't do much to move the human experiment forward in the slightest.

Is this not delicious? Is this not cause for rejoicing? According to Pew Research, the percentage of young 'uns age 18 to 25 (a.k.a. Generation Next) who identify with Republicans has been in steady decline since the early '90s, and now hovers around a meager 35 percent, down from a high of 55 percent in the Reagan-toxic early-90s, and is still dropping, whereas fully 48 percent of 18-to-25-year-olds now lean Democratic ... and rising.

Seems Generation Next tend to be more socially liberal and much less worried about the trembling "sanctity" of the failed nuclear family, and are overall less inclined to align with a particular religion. Indeed, it almost makes you want to weep and sigh and go buy a large grass-fed free-range organic hybrid vibrator.

Ah, but there is a flip side. A counterargument. A dark cloud of righteous bleakness and it looms like a giant synthetic cheesecake-scented Glade PlugIn of potential misery.

It is this: According to another set of data, for the past 30 years or so, conservatives -- particularly those of the right-wing red-state Christian strain -- have been out-breeding liberals by a margin of at least 20 percent, if not far more.

It's true. The reason? Why, God loves babies, of course. White American babies, most especially. Also: issues of space, religion, sexual orientation and, of course, conscience. Or, you know, lack thereof.

IÂ’ll take Liberal Hatemongers for $500, Alex.

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Or are we in fact dealing with a religion of that values something else entirely?

The Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) has just learned that an Ethiopian evangelist named Tedase was beaten to death by militant Muslims on Monday, March 26th, as he and two young women were on a street evangelism assignment in Jimma, Ethiopia. This marks the second time in six months that Christians residing in Southeast Ethiopia have been attacked and killed by extremist (Wahabbi) Muslims.

On Monday afternoon Tedase and two female coworkers were conducting street evangelism on Merkato Street in Jimma, Southern Ethiopia. Merkato Street runs by a Wahabbi Mosque. As the team was walking by the Mosque, a group of Muslims exited the Mosque and began to run after them to confront them. Tedase's female coworkers ran away from the mob but Tedase continued on. The Muslims caught up with Tedase, pulled him into the mosque, and savagely beat him to death. Sources from Jimma reported that Tedase was beaten with a calculated intention to kill him. This was no accident or case of mob frenzy getting out of control. His body was later taken to the hospital for an autopsy and he was buried Tuesday, March 27.

Our sources also reveal that Jimma Christians were conducting an evangelism campaign, and news of the outreach was spreading among Jimma residents as well as militant Muslim groups in the area. The Muslims that belonged to the Wahabbi sect purposefully beat Tedase to death as a message to Christians that they are ready to combat evangelism.

In the West, we grant Islam full rights along with other religions – as is appropriate, given that freedom of conscience is a fundamental human right. However, all too often Islamic nations deny such rights to Christians – or turn a blind eye to the violation of the rights of Christians by Islamic religious groups. It has been only a little over six months since a full-scale pogrom against Christians took place in the same region of Ethiopia, with no significant response from the Ethiopian government.

To register your outrage at this event:
Ethiopian Embassy, Washington D.C.
3506 International Drive, NW
Washington, DC 20008 USA
Tel: 202/364-1200
Fax: 202/587-0195
info@ethiopianembassy.org

Ethiopian Embassy, London
17 Princes Gate
London SW7 1PZ UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 7589 7212
Fax: +44 (0)20 7584 7054
info@ethioembassy.org.uk

Ethiopian Embassy, Canada
#210-151 Slater Street
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1P5H3
Tel:- 613-235-6637
Fax: 613-235-4638
infoethi@magi.com

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