A New South Wales man who allowed his 12-year-old daughter to illegally marry in an Islamic ceremony has been sentenced to at least six years in jail.
The 63-year-old, who cannot be identified to protect the girl’s identity, was convicted in April of procuring his daughter for sex with a man, who was 26 at the time, and being an accessory.
Judge Deborah Sweeney said they were serious offences which cannot be excused by the man’s Islamic faith and the sentence needed to deter others from similar conduct.
The girl, now 13, was married to a 26-year-old man in a ceremony by a local sheikh at the family home in the Hunter Valley last year.
Judge Sweeney said the man “failed in his duty as a father to protect his daughter”.
The court heard he viewed the marriage as a solution to the risk of his daughter committing sin and allowed the ceremony to go ahead, against the wishes of the child’s mother.
She described his actions as a breach of trust.
Judge Sweeney said he “lacks insight into his offending”.
She imposed a total sentence of eight years for both offences.
With time already served, the man, who has been an unemployed disability pensioner for the past 20 years, will first be eligible for parole in November 2020.
They keep insisting that recognising gay “marriage” won’t affect anybody else, but the facts are different.
Bill Muehlenberg writes:
More Islamic and Homosexual Sharia
In an earlier piece I noted the frightening similarities between the Islamic war on faith, family and freedom, and the homosexual war on faith, family and freedom. The attempt to push Islamic sharia law throughout the West is destroying democracy and liberty, but so too is the attempt to force everyone to embrace and promote the militant homosexual agenda.
Thus it is now not even worth bothering to differentiate between the two, since both are totalitarian movements designed to crush all opposition and silence all critics. So here I will simply offer more examples of Islamic sharia in action and homosexual sharia in action.
Let me start with the ugly Big Brother activism of the homosexual lobby. They and their buddies in the courts and the media are doing a great job of smashing freedom and destroying genuine debate. Let me begin with a Christian bakery forced to close down because homosexual militants sued them in court for not making them a cake.
Rachel and Laurel Bowman-Cryer sued Aaron and Melissa Klein of Sweet Cakes Bakery, forcing it to close its doors and won damages which will bankrupt the family. The Bowman-Cryers claimed they felt “mentally raped” in a list of 88 symptoms of emotional distress at being refused a cake. Rachel and Laurel Bowman-Cryer were awarded $135,000 for damages.
A similar case occurred in Iowa where another Christian business was forced to close down by the hate-brigade:
The owners of a Christian family run business is being forced to shut their doors after being charged with discrimination against a homosexual couple. Betty Odgaard and her husband, Richard, have been the owners of Görtz Haus Gallery since 2002, when they purchased a 77-year-old stone church and transformed it into a bistro, flower shop, art gallery and wedding venue. On August 3, 2013, a homosexual couple from Des Moines asked to rent Görtz Haus for their wedding, and because of their Mennonite faith, the Odgaards told the couple they couldn’t host their wedding.
The couple immediately filed a discrimination complaint through the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, and knowing their business was going to be in trouble, the Odgaards ended their wedding business in order to avoid the probability of another complaint and the associated fines and penalties. After leaving the wedding business, Görtz Haus struggled to survive, but the Odgaards felt they had no choice. The risks were simply too great.
And consider this appalling case of homofascism from Boston:
On March 30, a major Harvard-affiliated hospital in Boston, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), expelled a well-respected urologist from its medical staff because he voiced concerns about the unhealthy nature of homosexual behavior and objected to the hospital’s aggressive promotion of “gay pride” activities.
Dr. Paul Church has been a urologist on the BIDMC staff in Boston for nearly 30 years. He is a member of the Harvard Medical School faculty. He has done research on diagnosing prostate and bladder cancer, and has been a frequent volunteer for medical mission projects in Mexico and Africa. He has also spoken before educational and civic groups on the subject of high-risk sexual behaviors.
So telling the truth about the health risks of homosexuality will now get you fired. So much for tolerance, acceptance, inclusion and diversity. So much for medical and scientific truth. Now the only thing that matters is if you don’t hurt the feelings of a homosexual. Truth can be damned as the militants and their agenda get preferential treatment.
The US is currently going through the legal consequences of gay marriage in litigious society. You may have heard of christian bakers and florists being hounded,bullied, fined and persecuted because they refuse to participate in gay weddings. In each case the business people involved have been happy to serve people regardless of their sexuality, but because of their faith will not provide flowers or wedding cakes that endorse an event of a gay wedding.
Lately there was outrage over a law passed in Indiana that protects the rights of religious people to not be prosecuted or sued for merely following through their beliefs. Ironically a dozen other stated have passed identical laws without the same outrage.
Some commentators have wondered about the outrage over christians refusing to participate in gay weddings (or other events for that matter). We know that Muslims share the same belief about homosexuality that christians do because just about every Muslim country in the world has banned homosexuality with some quite severe penalties.
So if a gay guy goes into a Muslim bakery and asks them to bake a cake for a gay wedding then you can expect rejection. So a guy did this several times over with a hidden camera, with the expected result. But there’s no outrage from the media, Hollywood, Discirimmation Commisars or even the gay lobby.
Do Muslims get a free pass on every issue? Or is thereal agenda of all of the leftist lobby groups just to oppose christians?
Terror and Fear: The Largest Denominations of Islam’s Currency
Islamic State fighters walk 21 Coptic Christians to their execution spot. (FTD News/YouTube)
ISIS apparently chose the tallest butchers for the photo-op, to project intense fear and horror to their targeted audience: America, The Great Satan.
The Philistines were the ISIS of the Gaza Strip in 1000 B.C. Their champion, 9-foot-6 Goliath of Gath, daily summoned, “‘Why are you all coming out to fight? … I am the Philistine champion, but you are only the servants of Saul.
“‘Choose one man to come down here and fight me! If he kills me, then we will be your slaves. But if I kill him, you will be our slaves! I defy the armies of Israel today! Send me a man who will fight me!’ When Saul and the Israelites heard this, they were terrified and deeply shaken.”1
Terror and fear are the largest denominations in the adversary’s currency.
Most interesting, “Goliath’s armour is given unusually detailed attention. We never learn anything about David’s armor after he became king. 1 Samuel 17:5 says that the Philistine giant was wearing ‘scale armour’, and the Hebrew word simply means ‘scales.’ This sort of armour is attested throughout the ancient Near East, but the fact that he is described as wearing ‘scales’ indicates that Goliath was a serpent.”2 Once again, a serpent is using fear in the Middle East, history repeats itself.
Although green, David, the son of Jesse, had discovered the secret to battling 9-foot-6 giants, “For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.”3
The predicament in America, we lack those handy with the Sword, therefore, no punitive angles are being dispatched to punish the rebels by the living God. Proverbs 17:11, “A rebel truly seeks evil, and a cruel messenger will be sent against him.”
The denial of the existence of evil, that God actually has enemies, is part of the fallout of a biblically illiterate nation.
Our previous president was conned, “Mr. President, when you talk about peace in the Middle East, you’ve often said that freedom is granted by the Almighty. Some people who share your beliefs don’t believe that Muslims worship the same Almighty. I wonder about your views on that.”
President George W. Bush said, “I do say that freedom is the Almighty’s gift to every person. I also condition it by saying freedom is not America’s gift to the world. It’s much greater than that, of course. And I believe we worship the same God [Islam and Christianity].” (11/20/03)
“Syncretism”—combining of different, often seemingly contradictory beliefs, while melding practices of various schools of thought—is well-behaved against serpents, for there is no fear of God. “[B]ut did not God’s smile make Belshazzar to tremble at the handwriting on the wall? Oh, what are His frowns, if His smiles be so terrible?”4
Americans want God’s help, but not His holiness. We cry out to God in crisis, but not in our daily lives. We have acclimated to the false religion of secularism, “There are many people who think it’s useful to have God on their side. In a way they want to honour God.
They will go to church. They will say prayers. They will ask a pastor to bless a marriage or their new house. The kind of God they want is simply a God who will help them get their own way and win their own battles. They want God to be a servant to help them get things done, but at the same time they want to have their own views and live their own lives.”5
“What work, think you, was Daniel doing in the lion’s den? Or Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace? Their work was glorious, ‘laudable, and honourable,’ they were glorifying God in suffering.”6
“Christian capitulation to secular politics—more the rule than the exception in the modern church—is nothing less than apostasy, a denial of the gospel that announces Jesus as Lord.”7
We need a Gideon or Rahab the Harlot to stand.
1 1 Samuel 17:8-11
2 Peter J. Leithart, A Son To Me, An Exposition of 1 & 2 Samuel
Egyptian Christian leaders call on followers to pray for their enemies
As the world reels in response to the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians by ISIS on Sunday, leaders of Egyptian Christians are calling on followers to pray for their enemies.
In a statement, the General Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom, Bishop Angaelos has reminded Christians that life is fleeting and the church must witness to the world.
“In the midst of this sorrow however, we must continue to dig deeper for the joy that comes from an understanding that this life is but a “vapour that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (James 4:14), and that true glory and joy are found in an eternal life prepared for all those who live in and for love and peace.
It is only through this understanding that we can continue to live according to the words of 1 Peter 3:15 as demonstrated in the life and witness of the Coptic Church and her children over centuries, ‘…always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you…’”. You can read the rest of his statement here.
He also appeared on BBC World News, which you can watch below.
Meanwhile, Bishop Mouneer, head of the Anglican Church in Egypt has released a statement condemining the killings and reminded Christians they are to be full of joy knowing Jesus has overcome.
“It is with great sadness I write you today about the heinous murder of 21 Egyptian Christians at the hand of the so-called Islamic State branch in Libya… Please join me in praying for peace in Libya, Egypt, and the entire Middle East. Please pray the international community will act in wisdom, correctly and efficiently, and support Egypt in its war on terror. Please pray the churches of Egypt will comfort their sons and daughters, encouraging them to resist fear and hatred. And please pray for the perpetrators of this terrible crime, that God would be merciful to them and change their hearts.
Jesus tells us in John 16:33, “In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
Such cheer may seem impossible, but it is God’s promise. Please pray for us, that we may live lives worthy of his name, and hold to the testimony exhibited by the brave Egyptians in Libya.”
Soon after Muslim gunmen killed 12 people at Charlie Hebdo offices, which published satirical caricatures of Muslim prophet Muhammad, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)—the “collective voice of the Muslim world” and second largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations—is again renewing calls for the United Nations to criminalize “blasphemy” against Islam, or what it more ecumenically calls, the “defamation of religions.”
Yet the OIC seems to miss one grand irony: if international laws would ban cartoons, books, and films on the basis that they defame Islam, they would also, by logical extension, have to ban the entire religion of Islam itself—the only religion whose core texts actively and unequivocally defame other religions, including by name.
And here we are again. You might recognize this place. We’ve been here frequently over the past, say, 1,500 years or so. It’s the place where the whole world stands in dumbfounded shock after witnessing unspeakable brutality at the hands of Islamists. Maybe we should stop being so surprised.
This time around, three masked gunmen stormed the offices of a French satirical newspaper, executing 12 people in cold blood, including two police officers. This is the same newspaper that infamously published a cartoon poking fun at the Prophet Mohammed a few years ago, and was promptly greeted with death threats and a Molotov cocktail for their troubles. In fairness, there’s still a lot we don’t know about this attack, but it seems very certain that this was another case of Muslim terrorism. The gunmen took out 12 people while shouting “Allahu Akbhar” and “the Prophet has been avenged.” All of this over some jokes in a magazine.
Can you imagine Christian radicals committing mass murder at The Onion offices because they’re upset about something they found on its website? Can you even fathom such a thing? Probably not, because it never happens. It just never happens. And it’s not like Christians don’t have plenty of provocation. I still remember stumbling upon this lovely little gem from The Onion last year. It’s a hysterical article imagining that Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, became a prostitute to make ends meet. Haha?
In this Sept.19, 2012 file photo, Stephane Charbonnier also known as Charb , the publishing director of the satyric weekly Charlie Hebdo, displays the front page of the newspaper as he poses for photographers in Paris. Masked gunmen shouting “Allahu akbar!” stormed the Paris offices of a satirical newspaper Wednesday Jan.7, 2015, killing 12 people including Charb, before escaping. It was France’s deadliest terror attack in at least two decades. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)
This is the kind of thing Christians encounter all the time. Brutal mocking and ridicule dressed up as “humor,” but designed only to offend. There’s no wit, no punchline, just scorn heaped upon people of my faith. Kind of like this “Family Guy” episode, featuring an adulterous Jesus looking to have sex with a man’s wife. Or that hilarious “Curb Your Enthusiasm” episode a few years back where Larry David peed on a picture of Jesus. Or of course the famous “Piss Christ,” a crucifix dunked in a bottle of urine and passed off as art. Or the painting of the Virgin Marysmeared in elephant dung. Or “Dogma.” Or “The Da Vinci Code.” Or a thousand other examples.
Boko Haram has seized the town of Chibok in Borno state, northeast Nigeria, from where 276 schoolgirls were kidnapped more than six months ago.
“Chibok was taken by Boko Haram. They are in control,” Enoch Mark, a Christian pastor whose daughter and niece are among the 219 teenagers still being held, said.
Mr Mark and the senator for southern Borno, Ali Ndume, said the militants attacked at about 4:00 pm on Thursday, destroying communications masts and forcing residents to flee.
Mr Ndume said that he had received calls from fleeing residents saying the town “was now under [Boko Haram] control”.
“There is no telephone service now in Chibok, which is why it took time before the reports reached me,” he added.
Boko Haram fighters stormed the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok on the evening of April 14 this year and forced students onto trucks in a mass abduction that caused global outrage.
Fifty-seven managed to escape.
The group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, claims to have carried through his promise to marry off the teenagers still being held and said that they had all converted to Islam.
More than six months on, talks aimed at securing their release are at an impasse, despite government claims last month to have brokered a ceasefire deal with the militants and peace talks.
Mark said the attack on the town appeared to come after Boko Haram overran the towns of Hong and Gombi in neighbouring Adamawa state following the group’s ouster from the commercial hub of Mubi.
“They came in and engaged soldiers and vigilantes in a gunfight,” he added.
“Some of us managed to escape. All the telecom towers in the town were destroyed during the attack with RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades).
“No one can say what the situation is in the town in terms of destruction to property.”
Nigeria’s government has been heavily criticised for its response to the mass abduction, its failure to free the girls as well as its apparent inability to protect its citizens.
Last Monday, 58 boys were killed when a suspected Boko Haram suicide attacker detonated explosives at a school in Potiskum, Yobe state.
Six weeks after ISIS overtook their village outside of Mosul, Iraq, Sief and Jacob Jebrita said they received an official cease and desist letter from the terrorist group saying their work was forbidden under Islamic law. The two brothers, partners in a small photography and videography business, lost their sole source of income. But that was just the beginning.
Sief Jebrita, who fled Iraq after ISIS took over his village, with his sons.
A pledge by church leaders from diverse theological and political beliefs who have come together to form a Circle of Protection around programs that serve the most vulnerable in our nation and around the world.
Sief and Jacob shared their story while sitting in St. Mary, Mother of the Church in Amman, Jordan, with a delegation of religious media. The church, led by Fr. Khalil Jaar, has become home to more than 150 Iraqi Christian refugees who have fled their homes while ISIS continues to push through the region.
Because of their Christian faith, Sief, Jacob, and their families were targeted by ISIS. They told me of a soldier ripping an earring out of a girl’s ear, slicing it open because it was not acceptable for her to wear jewelry. As ISIS militants forced people out of their homes, they would not allow them to bring anything with them at all except the clothes on their backs. They told me the story of one mother walking with her little boy who was forced to leave behind his bottle of milk after a soldier knocked it to the ground and shouted at them. As the situation worsened, they said they saw Yazidi men killed for refusing to accept Islam, and Yazidi woman sold into slavery in Mosul – $500 for younger women and $100 to $300 for older women.
During the initial fighting to overtake their village, the brothers said that two of their neighbor’s children were killed. While the community was literally burying its dead, the militants attacked a second time. That was when the brothers decided to take their families and leave immediately, first to Erbil, where they were assured they could return home if only they paid a tax. But both told me that they knew in their hearts that they could never return.
“We can’t go back because not only of ISIS, but because our neighbors have turned against us too,” Sief lamented.
They spoke sadly of how all the people in their village, Muslims and Christians, had lived together peacefully. But when ISIS came, everything changed. They acknowledged struggles between Christians and Muslims have existed since 2001 – but not like what is happening now. They said their neighbors shunned them, possibly out of fear or apprehension of being seen as abettors.
So with only the barest of possessions, they left Erbil and eventually made it to Jordan, where they ended up at Fr. Jaar’s parish. Sief underscored that this is a tragedy for all Iraqi people, not just Christians. All are suffering at the hands of ISIS. Every night the refugees gather to pray and discuss their situation, trying to figure out what do to next. They are no longer living in constant fear — and they appreciate the generosity of Fr. Jaar and the Jordanians — but no one wants to go back. No one trusts the government — or the neighbors who turned against them.
But despite everything, they believe that from this terrible situation, God can make something good.
One night when some of the men began to despair at how much they had lost, an older woman they thought was sleeping suddenly sat up and said, “Do you want a clearer miracle than this? We have lost everything, but we did not lose our faith.”
With the help of Fr. Jaar, the Christian community in Amman, the Jordanian government, and the support of one another, they are acclimating to their new life. Fr. Jaar said any country would be lucky to receive these families — that they are good people with much to offer. He does not consider them refugees but guests.
I found the courage and fortitude of these displaced Iraqi Christians inspiring. Despite the hardships they faced and the daunting challenge of creating a new life in a new land, they remain faithful.
“This is the time to be strong, to love and help, and to be in solidarity with all people.” Jacob told me through an interpreter.
Amen.
Cynthia J. Martens is Senior Director of Circulation and Production for Sojourners.
Bible College, Churches Shut Down as Boko Haram Claims Territory in NE Nigeria
At least 350 Christians killed in the past week, church leaders say.
September 7, 2014 By Our Nigeria Correspondent – Leave a Comment
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau. (Wikipedia)
JOS,Nigeria (Morning Star News) – Leaders of northeastern Nigeria’s Church of the Brethren in Nigeria (EYN) said Boko Haram attacks that have killed more than 300 Christians in the past week have forced the temporary closure of Kulp Bible College and many churches.
In an emergency prayer message sent Saturday night (Sept. 6) to Morning Star News among others, EYN President Samuel Dali said the headquarters of the church is under grave threat from the Islamic extremist insurgents who seek to impose sharia (Islamic law) throughout the country.
“Boko Haram violence has been getting worse every day, and our members are fleeing the area by the thousands,” he said. “Recent attacks in Borno and Adamawa states where are our churches are located have seen Boko Haram take over the Army base. As a result, about 350 Christians have been killed.”
Following a recent online video declaration by Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau that Boko Haram was establishing an Islamic caliphate in Borno state’s Damboa and Gwoza towns and Yobe state’s Buni Yadi, including their surrounding villages, Boko Haram has killed more Christians and burned down more churches, Dali said.
Soon after Muslim gunmen killed 12 people at Charlie Hebdo offices, which published satirical caricatures of Muslim prophet Muhammad, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)—the “collective voice of the Muslim world” and second largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations—is again renewing calls for the United Nations to criminalize “blasphemy” against Islam, or what it more ecumenically calls, the “defamation of religions.”
New Life Narrabri 