Just in case you didn’t hear about it, nearly half a million pro-life supporters marched on Washington DC on Monday. As usual the event was under reported if reported at all by the main stream media.

For instance, the CBS coverage keyed in almost exclusively on the few hundred counter demonstrators who were also on hand.

Here’s a link to some actual photos and coverage of the event via telecare.

Also here’s how one pro-life writer-  Elizabeth Scalia responded to the distorted MSM coverage:

Unfortunately, the “big picture” is hard to come by, particularly if you’re looking for “big pictures” of this well-attended march. We have reached a remarkable era of photojournalism, as demonstrated by the once-noble Washington Post — one where a half million people can march, the headlines can call it “thousands” and the pictures show you none of it.

…

You want the truth? You think you deserve it? The press can’t handle the truth; they can’t bring it to you. The New York Times just ignores inconvenient truth, entirely.

That’s why 250 people camping out in a park gets thousands of stories, while half-a-million marching on Washington does not get reported at all, or if it does, the pictures are cropped; the attendees are caricatured, mis-named and under-represented while their opponents are over-represented.

Response: Elizabeth Scalia is correct. You will not find a large photo of this event anywhere in the MSM coverage which downplayed the numbers to ‘thousands’ rather than the obvious hundreds of thousands.

It just does not fit the media template and agenda. So 200 or so campers in a park can ‘occupy’ media coverage for months without any rational or clear statement of purpose, yet the media ignores an event like this with a very clear inconvenient message.

This march happens in January every year in protest of the Roe v Wade decision. Also every year it is ignored by the media even though the numbers participating are always in the hundreds of thousands.

Then there are folks who still claim that the American media tries to present the news in an un-biased way. Maybe years ago but that is obviously no longer the case. Thank goodness we now have alternate sources for news and information.            *Top

         (Cover of Jay Leno)

In American comedy everything is fair game. If I told you that Jay Leno had offended a whole religion while telling a joke on Mitt Romney you would probably assume that Mormons were the offended party but you would be wrong. After all what connection does Gov. Romney have with the Sikh religion?

During one segment of his show last Thursday, Jay Leno was poking fun at how rich the GOP candidate was by showing a supposed picture of one of Romney’s ‘vacation’ homes. The shot was actually a picture of the Sikh holy shrine Golden Temple in Amritsar, India.

The Sikh’s were offended and Sikh leader Dalbeg Singh demanded an apology while India’s foreign ministry lodged a formal complaint with the US State Department concerning the incident.

Now comes the word that a Sikh group in California filed a lawsuit on Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court against Leno and NBC over libel. The suit charges that Leno’s use of the temple image was an intentional and deliberate slight of the Sikh religion and they seek general, special, and punitive damages as well as court costs.

Response: Obviously this is no longer a joke. Also it should be obvious to most that Leno did not intend to offend the Sikh religion. His target was Romney’s wealthy lifestyle.

I find the story interesting because it points to an obvious disconnect between the approach most Americans have toward religion and that of those in other parts of the world.

Americans are use to making fun of religion and tolerate a great deal of ridicule when it comes to their own religion. Freedom of speech is highly valued in our culture and protected by the Constitution. Religion is fair game for the comedians, and TV and movie script writers. Nothing is considered so sacred that it cannot be the object of humor in America. Conservative Christians are the usual favorite target and sometimes it is offensive but a lot of the time one can see the humor in it nevertheless.

The rest of the world outside the the West is far more serious about the portrayal of their own religions. In many countries there is no ‘freedom of speech’ when it comes to religion. We have already documented many times how Muslims react to any kind of criticism, slights, or even cartoons involving their prophet or Quran. They are even seeking to have an international law against ‘blasphemy’ of Islam passed by the United Nations. Make fun of Islam and violence and even death can follow in some parts of the world.

The American culture is far different, at least it has been. One can bet that Leno and NBC and other related media are now looking for ways to avoid future troubles with world religions. Islam is already on the ‘do not go there’ list and now the Sikh religion just made it. Fortunately there are still plenty of Christians to make fun of in America.            *Top

                (Image via Wikipedia)

The dictator is gone and the ‘free’ elections in Egypt are over and have produced an Islamist majority in Parliament. Even though their were many incidences where the Coptic Christians were kept from voting, former president Jimmy Carter judged the elections to be “acceptable”

Now Coptic Christians who make up approximately 10% of the population are concerned about their future.

Life under Mubarak was not all that rosy for the Copts but at least they were protected most of the time from radical violence. Lately the authorities have stood by while churches were attacked and Christian businesses and homes were burned.

Now with a coming new government dominated by Islamists who control 70% of the Parliament (the Muslim Brotherhood controls 46% of the seats along with the more radical Salafi Nour Party who control 24%), Coptic Christians are worried that their community will no longer be protected from radical violence. Also, if Sharia law becomes a larger part of the legal system in the country, then the Copts will not receive equal justice under the law and possibly be subject to paying a tax to remain Christian in their own ancient homeland.

One Coptic author, Amin Makram Ebeid, has summarized four different Coptic responses to the situation:

1. A minority, though sizeable, is planning to emigrate.

2. The largest group is looking for spiritual, perhaps even mystical solutions.

3. A smaller party is dedicated to stay and fight for their rights, especially in securing a non-Islamist constitution, which according to the national referendum in March is the provenance of parliament.

4. Finally, there is a group that is looking to cooperate with Islamists, provided Copts do not lose their identity in the process.

Response: Meanwhile, leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood before the election promised to look after the interests of the Coptic Christians after they took over the reins of government. However, the Brotherhood and the Salafi Noor party also promised that they would establish sharia to be the law of the land so it will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Christians should remember to pray for our Christian brothers and sisters in Egypt that it will be resolved in their favor and they will be able to remain and thrive in their ancient homeland.            *Top

More than 40,000 joined in eighth annual ‘Walk for Life West Coast’ event in San Francisco, California, on Saturday.

According to the Christian Post:

The crowd gathered at Civic Center Plaza in front of the San Francisco City Hall on Saturday morning for an "Info Fair," which featured music, speakers and activities for kids. The march began in the afternoon. The activists walked down Market Street to Justin Herman Plaza at the Embarcadero, filling the length and breadth of the street.

The pro-life event was held the day after the Occupy San Francisco’s "Day of Action" drew only a few thousand protesters on Friday. According to reports, the unruly ‘occupy’ event ended with Police arresting a 23 protesters while there were no arrests made during the ‘pro-life’ march.

The Saturday date was chosen to protest the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion which was the next day on Sunday.

Response: Guess which event got the most media attention? Yep, the couple of thousand hooligans got all of the attention! The main stream press has been very quiet about the peaceful 40,000 pro-life marchers though it could not be ignored in the Bay area and received considerable coverage from the San Francisco press.

However, there were a couple of hundred pro-abortion ‘counter protesters’ who ended up getting nearly equal coverage to the thousands of pro-lifers.

You are probably hearing about it for the first time here unless you were in San Francisco that day or read about it in the CP Internet report. There is also an East Coast pro-life march scheduled today in Washington DC. It will be interesting to gage the press response to the over 100,000 expected in that event.             *Top

                     (Image via Wikipedia)

In 2007 I ran across an interview on Al-Jazeerah with Sheikh Ahmad Al Katani  lamenting the fact that over 6 million Muslims were being converted to Christianity in Africa every year.

Since that time, Muslim leaders have substantially failed in the arena of ideas and persuasion and have increasingly turned to violence and persecution against Christians in order to stem the growth of Christianity in Africa.

Now every where you turn in reading news coming out of Africa you find one story after another about Muslim extremists Attacking Christians and burning churches. Here’s just the latest sample:

1. Egypt: Muslims Burn Christian Homes and Shops, Attack Church

(AINA) — A Muslim mob attacked Copts today in the Upper Egyptian village of Rahmaniya-Kebly, Nag Hammadi, Qena province, destroying and torching their homes, straw huts and shops, while chanting Allahu Akbar. No one was reported killed or injured. According to reports, security forces were present but did not intervene and the fire brigade arrived 90 minutes late.  …

In another incident today, a large number of Salafis and members of the Muslim Brotherhood entered the Abu Makka church, in Bahteem, Shubra-el-Khayma, Qaliubia province, and informed the congregation that the church has no licence and no one should pray in it. One Muslim said the 1300 square meter church would be suitable for a mosque and a hospital.

Response: As usual the attacks come after Muslim Friday services. According to the reports, the attacks were made by Salafists (Islamic radicals) in order to keep the Coptic Christians from voting in the parliamentary elections on Friday. So much for a new ‘democratic’ Egypt. Notice that the Egyptian security forces refused to protect the Christians.

2. Nigeria: Death Toll Climbs in Islamist Attacks in the Northeast

Members of the Boko Haram group continue their attacks on Christians. This week alone, 9 Christians were killed in Gombe, Nigeria while worshipping in a revival meeting. Also, at least 21 Christians were killed in the neighboring Adamawa state.

Response: Violence against Christians in Nigeria is a daily occurrence. This is just what happen this week. Typically the Nigerian army cannot be counted upon to keep the peace since Muslim members of the forces many times refuse to protect the Christian community.  

3.  Zanzibar: Radical Muslims Burn Two Churches

Muslim extremists destroyed two church buildings on the island of Zanzibar. Meanwhile the government is not doing anything to stop violence against Christians or the destruction of churches on the island. According to Bishop Fabian Obedi of the Pentecostal Evangelical Church of Zanzibar:

“The Muslims are burning our church buildings quite frequently here in Zanzibar, but the government is not speaking against this kind of destruction of our church premises.”

Response: Again this is a situation where the Muslim dominated government authorities are doing nothing even though the churches were legally built and approved.

4.  Sudan: Church Leaders are Threatened

Sudan President Omar al-Bashir told cheering crowds on Jan. 3:

“We are an Islamic nation with sharia as the basis of our constitution. We will base our constitution on Islamic laws.”

His government recently ordered all church leaders to register the names and contact information of all of their leaders in Sudan, sources said. They were also warned not to participate in any evangelistic activities.

Hamid Yousif Adam, undersecretary of the Ministry of Guidance and Religious Endowment, recently sent threatening letters to church leaders warning them:

“We will take legal procedures against pastors who are involved in preaching or evangelistic activities.”. “We have all legal rights to take them to court.”

Response: Thousands of Muslims had converted to Christianity but nearly all of them have fled to breakaway South Sudan as the persecution of Christians has increased in the north.          

Conclusion: The point is that Muslim violence against Christians is on the rise in Africa and very few of these stories are in any way carried by the Western media who are overly concerned with the PC claims of Islamophobia.

These are just a few prominent stories of recent Muslim persecution of Christians. The fact is that there are many other incidences that go unreported.  Literally you can now find stories like these every week on the Internet with very little effort.

One thing for sure, the violence against Christians will not stop Christianity from increasing in Africa nor will it force converts back to Islam. The new Christians have found the reality of a relationship with a loving God and a community of believers who care for one another. No amount of force or violence will convince them otherwise.

I am however concerned about the Coptic Christians in Egypt who now seem to be facing new rounds of persecution. Also, thanks to the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ they now have a very bleak future under the domination of a future Islamic extremist government run by the Muslim Brotherhood and even more radical Salafist party. Already with the tide of change on the horizon, the Egyptian Security forces are refusing to protect them.           *Top

        (Bloomberg via Wikipedia)

32 out of 51 members of the New York City council protested, along with over 300 people including pastors from all over the city, the upcoming expulsion of over 60 churches  from meeting in NYC public schools.

Since the U.S. Supreme court refused to hear the case in December, notices of eviction have been sent out to the churches with a February 12 deadline.

Here’s links to our previous posts on this issue: 

-NY City Councilman and Others Arrested for Prayer Protest 

-Supreme Court Allows Church Ban from NYC Schools to Stand 

-U.S Court of Appeals: Churches Can be Barred from Using Schools

The churches and Council members have been trying to get the school district administrators to allow the churches to stay at least until the end of the current school year in order to find alternate meeting places but school chancellor Dennis Wolcott has refused.

Most of those involved in this situation believe that it is Mayor Michael Bloomberg that is really standing in the way of any positive resolution of this situation. You might remember that is was also Mayor Bloomberg who would not allow prayers or clergy at the 10th anniversary ceremonies in September 2011 of 9/11/01 attacks.            *Top

     ( Getty Images via @daylife)

Texas Gov. Rick Perry took time out from his busy presidential campaign in South Carolina to attend a prayer event. While there, without any fanfare or introduction he took the stage at the large prayer gathering called "The Response" in Greenville, S.C. and prayed for President Obama and his family:

“Perry led a prayer in which he asked God to grant safety to "our president" and his family. He also said that "we pray that you light his way" in dealing with national issues.”

Response: We all should be praying for our President and his family regardless of what we think about his policies and politics. It would be good if he did receive some ‘light’ from above on how to deal with the problems facing our nation right now and for the whole year of 2012 while he is President.            *Top