(Alamogordo, NM via Wikipedia)

A man who was upset that his former girlfriend aborted their unborn child without consulting him posted his feelings on a billboard along the main thoroughfare in Alamogordo, New Mexico. The billboard read:

“This Would Have Been A Picture Of My 2-Month Old Baby If The Mother Had Decided To Not KILL Our Child!”

It also showed a picture of Greg Fultz the potential father holding an outline of an infant.

Although the ex-girlfriend was not named in the billboard or in the press, she sued to get the billboard taken down and a local court agreed with her. Now Fultz is appealing the court ruling and his lawyer says that it is a matter of ‘free speech’.

Response: It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the courts. Other court cases have maintained the mothers rights for an abortion over the objections of the father. However, this case is framed to be all about ‘free speech’ and really doesn’t name the woman. If she hadn’t sued then no one would know who it is except for probably close friends.

This case is well on its way towards going viral with those taking sides depending largely upon ones view of abortion rights. Obviously I sympathize with the father though a billboard is a rather radical response.         *Top

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(Reliant Stadium via Wikipedia)

Over the weekend, Texas Governor Rick Perry invited other governors to join him in August for a “solemn gathering of prayer and fasting” for the future of America:

“I sincerely hope you’ll join me in Houston on August 6th and take your place in Reliant Stadium with praying people asking for God’s forgiveness, wisdom and provision.”

The event he is referring to is called:  “The Response, a Call to Prayer for a Nation in Crisis.”

Here’s part of what Gov. Perry has to say said on the event’s website:

“Right now, America is in crisis. We have been besieged by financial debt, terrorism, and a multitude of natural disasters. As a nation, we must come together, and call upon Jesus to guide us…”

Response: It is refreshing to see a governor pick up the gauntlet and seek God for the answers to the many questions facing America. We agree with Gov. Rick it really is time to pray for the future of America.

Last week economic experts were all addressing concerns that America was now probably facing a double-dip recession or even a depression rather than the recovery that everyone had expected to happen this Summer.

In times past, our leaders would call the nation to prayer when it was such a time as this. Even President Franklin D. Roosevelt called upon the nation to respond in prayer and seek God numerous times during his presidency and he was not known to be all that ‘religious’.            *Top

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The Vietnamese authorities are using force this year to block Protestant Christians from celebrating Christmas together.

According to Compass Direct and Christian Post hundreds of Christians were locked out of a celebration on Sunday:

The throngs who arrived at the National Convention Center (NCC) in the Tu Kiem district of Hanoi for the Christmas event found the doors locked and a phalanx of police trying to send them away, sources said. Deeply disappointed, some of the Christians began singing and praying in the square in front to the center, they said.

Police moved in, striking some Christians with fists and night sticks in the melee that followed. A number of video clips of the action were posted online by Monday morning, Hanoi time. Christian leaders worked to calm the disappointed crowd, which eventually left, but not before at least six people – including the Rev. Nguyen Huu Bao, the scheduled speaker at the event – were arrested. They had not been released at press time.

According to the Christian Post article at least 4 other Christmas events were similarly shut down by the government.

Lately the government has been moving to curtail the growth of Protestant Christianity in Vietnam, this is just the lastest move against the church. Recently there was a report that a building being used as a Christian church and school was destroyed in the South.

We really do need to remember these Vietnamese Christian brothers and sisters in our prayers during this  Christmas season.

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This act should be condemned by all, particularly Christians. Sometime early Sunday morning a fire was started at the Salman AlFarisi Islamic Center in Corvallis, Oregon.

This was the mosque where Mohamed Osman Mohamud, the suspect who attempted to bomb a Portland tree-lighting ceremony on Friday night, was a member and occasionally attended.

The Corvallis Fire Department has confirmed that the fire appears to have been intentionally set in the office of the mosque.The FBI are proceeding under the assumption that the fire was started in retaliation for the bombing attempt in Portland. They are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person or people responsible for an apparent attack.

Arthur Balizan, special agent in charge of the FBI in Oregon said on Sunday:

"We have made it quite clear that the FBI will not tolerate any kind of retribution or attack on the Muslim community. We are working very closely with the leadership at the mosque. We will find the person responsible for this attack and bring the full force of the federal justice system to bear."

Yosof Wanly, the center’s imam has some concerns about further retaliation against the Muslim community. He even talked about temporarily relocating his own family:

"We know how it is, we know some people due to ignorance are going to perceive of these things and hold most Muslims accountable.

"The common scene here is to be very friendly, accepting various cultures and religions. The Islamic center has been here for 40 years, it’s more American than most Americans with regards to age."

Response: I call on all Christian pastors and leaders to condemn this act and person or Persons who attempted to burn down this mosque. It is totally unacceptable, un-American, and un-Christian. 

American Muslims should not be afraid in their own country. Christian leaders need to make this very plain to all of their followers. An assault on one religion is an assault on all. Our very freedoms are being challenged- the freedom of religion for all faiths in America.

We need to reach out with love and concern to the Muslim community and show our support during this time of need and uncertainty.            *Top of the Blog

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The US Supreme court will hear arguments today (Wednesday 10/6/10) in the controversial case involving the so-called Westboro  Baptist Church and their protests at military funerals.

Westboro Church proudly boasts of having held more than 44,000 pickets at military funerals and other events.

I certainly sympathize with the Snyder family who brought the suit and had to face the vicious Westboro family pickets at their sons military funeral. For them this case isn’t about First Amendment rights but about harassment:

“I want them to stop doing this to our military men and women,”Albert Synder said on Fox and Friends, Tuesday morning. “I want the judges to hear that this case is not about free speech, it’s about targeted harassment.”

Response: It is unfortunate that this Westboro family of religious nuts have brought us to a situation and case where the limits of free speech and religious freedom in this country will be judged and tested.

It is really hard to know which side to be on here since the case could end up having untold effects upon all religious organizations. Nevertheless I am sympathetic with all of the families and friends that have had to endure harassment from the Westboro Baptist ‘Church’/Phelps family.

The fact that this crazy family does what they do in the name of God and claims to be a Christian church is beyond the pale. However the remedy might might end up being worse than the rabid disease.            *Top of the Blog

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Should Christians ‘be fruitful and multiply’?

Yes, according to Daniel Akin, president, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary:

“There is a scriptural mandate for it, and you have admonitions in the psalms that speak of the blessedness of God providing many children to a husband and wife. And there’s a general tenor throughout scripture that children are a blessing and a heritage from the Lord. So, should Christians be fruitful and multiply? I say absolutely.  …”

No, according to a church committee of Australia’s Anglican Church:

“A church committee has asked the General Synod of Australia’s Anglican Church to adopt a statement calling for citizens to have fewer children, recommending that the government cut childbirth incentives to new parents and instead offer incentives for parents to have fewer children. The country is on track for overpopulation, the church warned, which could break the eighth commandment by stealing resources from future generations.”

Read how other Christian leaders have responded to the question in an article from Christianity Today:

“Be Fruitful and Multiply?”

Response: I am with Daniel Akin on this issue. I believe the world would be a better place with more Christians and not less. I believe that marriage, children, and families are still the basic building blocks of a strong society and culture. Churches need to encourage young families and support them in the midst of a culture that no longer values children as it once did.

In fact, Western civilization hangs upon this issue. In America children are still valued but in many European countries they have stopped having children for economic and selfish reasons.  It has become such a problem and issue in some parts of Europe that some are beginning to refer to it as ‘cultural suicide’.

Some question whether Western European cultures could disappear and be replaced in one generation by an immigrant Muslim culture since the birth rate is below replacement levels in a number of different countries including Italy.

Some are even beginning to wonder if the Vatican will be a Christian island in the midst of a Muslim dominated Italy in 30 years or so.

Since many Europeans have chosen to stop having kids in order to have a better lifestyle for themselves, there are concerns that the continent at the very least will be a very different place in 30 or 40 years.

This question is far more important and has very different ramifications depending on the area of the world we are talking about.

Folks in China are forced to have only one child per couple even if they would rather have more. While Christians in some parts of Africa and India might well consider limiting the number of children that they have considering overpopulation and the meager resources available in the area. While those in Europe and America not so much. In fact in Europe maybe more rather than less should be the goal.          *Top of the Blog

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I doubt that you will ever find any ‘Coexist’ bumper stickers in Pakistan. This weeks worst persecution story comes from Pakistan and features a Christian who was forced by his Muslim boss to sell one of his kidneys.

John Gill, a molding machine operator at Shah Plastic Manufacturers, borrowed money from his boss to send his daughter to college at 400% interest. You read it right! 400% interest from his employer Ghulam Mustafa who proudly observes that Gill deserves that kind of interest since he is an infidel Christian.

If that isn’t bad enough, when Gill could not pay back the loan fast enough, Mustafa took his home from him and sent five armed men who kidnapped him and took him to Ganga Ram hospital where he was forced to sell one his kidneys against his will.

Response: Muslim persecution of Christians happens every day in Pakistan but this is one of the worst examples that I have ever run across. The inhumanity of it all. It really does leave me rather speechless.              *Top

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