Chairman’s Report for March 8, 2012

THE PRESIDENCY 

OBAMA APOLOGIZES FOR QUR’AN BURNING – In 2009, several boxes of Holy Bibles were burned at the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan because they were in the native Afghan language. There was a fear among military officials that rather than be given to Afghan Christians, the Bibles could possibly be used to “convert Muslims.” Of the few news agencies which did report the story, not one used the word “holy” in front of the word Bible. Last month however, President Barack Obama crawled forward to apologize for the burning of a couple of Qur’ans that had been defaced by Muslim terrorist prisoners in an effort to pass escape plans to one another at a prison at that same Bagram Air Base. Does anyone see a double standard here?

The first response came from an Afghan soldier with a weapon supplied with our tax dollars. He killed two Americans and wounded five more in “revenge.” A day later two high ranking members of our military, a major and a colonel, were each shot in the head inside an Afghan Ministry building by one of their Afghan security guards, again using weapons paid for by American tax dollars. In just one week a total of seven Americans were murdered in revenge for the burning of a couple of defaced Qur’ans. No apology came from the Afghan government,  and none was requested by President Obama. The message to Islamic terrorists: “No need to apologize for murder in the name of Islam, but as a nation we will crawl on our knees and kiss your butts to apologize if we inadvertently harm your precious Qur’an.”

The same week a report came from Pakistan of used Qur’ans being tossed in a sewer. The paper from worn-out books is apparently used as toilet paper there, and hundreds of books have been found in the sewer. In other Muslim nations unreadable or defaced copies are burned or buried. The whole uproar was just another Muslim excuse to kill people.

DON’T ATTACK IRAN? – At a meeting of a pro-Israel group in Washington, DC the first weekend of March, Barack Obama said he “had Israel’s back.” This must be an election year and Obama must want the Jewish vote. At the same time he expressed some bravado about defending Israel, he also warned the Jewish state not to attack Iran. For Barack Obama to actually defend Israel would take divine intervention. Obama was a member of an extreme anti-Semitic church for more than twenty years and never had a problem with sermons against Israel.

OBAMA TARGETS TEA PARTY WITH IRS- Using the IRS to target enemies is not new. In the 1990′s Bill Clinton had an enemies list. The Clinton Administration targeted for IRS audits the National Rifle Association, the Heritage Foundation, the National Review, the American Spectator, Citizens against Government Waste, Citizens for Honest Government, Concerned Women for America and the San Diego Chapter of Christian Coalition.

Today, Obama has an enemies list. The IRS is investigating conservative political groups including the Tea Party who oppose Obama’s agenda. The attack on the Tea Party is widespread and comes, of course, in an election year. The purpose of the IRS attacks is to cost the various Tea Parties, all of which are small, both time and the cost of attorney’s fees. All the while Obama will use tax dollars for Air Force One to campaign.

THE CONGRESS 

CATHOLIC SENATORS HELP OBAMA KILL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM – An amendment to defend religious freedom against the recent federal contraception mandate was voted down in the Senate with the help of 13 Catholic politicians on March 1^st. Of the 24 Catholic members of the U.S. Senate, 13 Democrats opposed the amendment to a spending bill offered by Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO). Only three Catholic Democrats, Bob Casey (D-PA) Joe Manchin (D- WA.) and Ben Nelson (D-NE) voted for the Amendment which was supported by the Catholic Bishops and an overwhelming number of evangelical leaders.

Senator Roy Blunt expressed his disappointment with the bill’s narrow defeat, but said the “fight is not over” and that he would continue to work to protect the First Amendment.   The Senate voted 51-48 on Thursday to “table” the proposed amendment, effectively killing it by preventing an up-or-down vote. The amendment would have allowed health care providers to opt out of providing coverage that violates their “religious beliefs or moral conviction.”

Liberals, siding with the agenda of President Barack Obama, stated over and over again that the right for women to get free contraceptives was more important than religious freedom. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said it would undermine “women’s ability to access basic healthcare.” There is a mindset among liberals that the most important aspect of health care is to prevent live births in first world nations.

The contraception mandate, first announced January 22, is not in the original 7,200 pages of the Obama Care bill pushed through by radical leftist Nancy Pelosi when she was Speaker of the House. The measure, which forces employers to buy insurance plans that cover contraception, sterilization and abortion-causing drugs even if doing so violates their conscience, is a “rule” added this year. Under Obama Care, unelected officials now mandate not only what health insurance must cover, but what care is delivered as well.

RESOLUTION ON IRANIAN DEATH SENTENCE FOR PASTOR – There are hundreds of Christians in jail in Islamic nations for so-called crimes of blasphemy and apostasy. Most of those in jail for apostasy are former Muslims who have become Christians. Many of them face the death penalty because the Qur’an mandates death for anyone who leaves Islam.   Even Muslims who become atheists are executed. Iranian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani is one of those facing death because he has refused to renounce Jesus Christ and return to Islam.

The plight of Pastor Nadarkhani came to the attention some time ago of Congressman Randy Forbes (R-VA) who is the chairman of the Congressional Prayer Caucus, and Forbes and other members of Congress have made several statements demanding his release. On March 1st, the House of Representatives passed H. Res. 556, a resolution introduced by Rep. Joseph Pitts (R-PA), also a member of the Congressional Prayer Caucus. The resolution condemns the government of Iran for its continued persecution, imprisonment, and death sentence of Pastor Nadarkhani for refusing to recant his Christian faith.

Regrettably, there are “blame America first” leaders from the right and left who believe that the Islamic rulers of Iran are rational. Presidential candidate Ron Paul repeatedly says that the leaders of Iran only hate America because we interfere with their internal affairs. President Obama also believes the Mullahs can be reasoned with. There can be no reasoning with a government that kills men and women for becoming Christians.

CULTURE AND RELIGION 

U.S. JUDGE SAYS MUSLIM ATTACK ON ATHEIST OK – This may seem an odd place to report on the plight of an atheist, although it does prove the point that atheists in the United States should thank God this nation has a Judeo-Christian culture.

There was some kind of a “zombie parade” in Philadelphia and two atheists dressed up for the part. One dressed as a “zombie Pope” and the other dressed as a “zombie Mohammed.” Atheist Ernie Perce dressed as the “zombie Mohammed” was, of course, attacked by a Muslim. The police intervened and charged the Muslim. The atheist then had the misfortune to find the case against the Muslim being heard in front of a Muslim judge. The judge dismissed the case against the Muslim and lectured the atheist for insulting Mohammed, telling him that in some other nations he would die for his crime. Going far beyond the ruling, Judge Martin stated:

“Having had the benefit of having spent over 2 and a half years in predominantly Muslim countries I think I know a little bit about the faith of Islam. In fact I have a copy of the Koran here and I challenge you sir to show me where it says in the Koran that Mohammad arose and walked among the dead. I think you misinterpreted things. Before you start mocking someone else’s religion you may want to find out a little bit more about it it makes you look like a dufus and Mr. (Defendant) is correct. In many Arabic speaking countries something like this is definitely against the law there. In their society in fact it can be punishable by death and it frequently is in their society. 

“Islam is not just a religion; it’s their culture, their culture. It’s their very essence their very being. They pray five times a day towards Mecca to be a good Muslim, before you die you have to make a pilgrimage to Mecca unless you are otherwise told you cannot because you are too ill too elderly, whatever but you must make the attempt. Their greetings wa-laikum as-Salâm (is answered by voice) may god be with you. Whenever, it’s very common when speaking to each other it’s very common for them to say uh this will happen it’s it they are so immersed in it.” 

Judge Martin further complicated the issue by not only abrogating the First Amendment, but completely misunderstanding it when he said,

“Then what you have done is you have completely trashed their essence, their being. They find it very very very offensive. I’m a Muslim, I find it offensive. But you have that right, but you’re way outside your boundaries or first amendment rights. This is what, and I said I spent about 7 and a half years living in other countries. when we go to other countries it’s not uncommon for people to refer to us as ugly Americans this is why we are referred to as ugly Americans, because we are so concerned about our own rights we don’t care about other people’s rights as long as we get our say but we don’t care about the other people’s say” 

http://youtu.be/kzGTaEQebfE

The mass media and the entire political establishment insist that warnings of Sharia law coming to the United States are alarmist and false. What happened in this court room is Sharia law. Shari law is not enforced by a civil code; it is enforced by the Qur’an. The judgment in this case was decided not by the rule of civil law, but by the Islamic code that no infidel may insult a Muslim in any way. The Muslim judge in this case was clearly saying that the attack on the atheist was justified because of his blasphemy against Islam. Judge Martin’s comments also made it very clear that Islam is not a religion, but a total culture which cannot be violated by an “infidel.” This is Sharia law. Please visit our site at www.shariafreeUSA.org

INTERNATIONAL

SYRIA: TARGETED KILLINGS OF CHRISTIANS – Christians make up 12% of Syria’s population of twenty-three million. That is greater than the 10% in Egypt. There are nearly three million Christians in Syria and they hold an even greater percentage of government positions. Because Christians tend to have smaller and more educated families, they fare far better than Muslim families financially. The women of the Christian community are much better educated and thus are better prepared to educate their children.  

Christians hold influential positions in the ruling Baath Party as they did in Iraq. The Baath Party is in many ways modeled after the National Socialists of Germany and Spain. It is authoritarian and represses many freedoms, but it is secular in nature. As was the case in Iraq before the American invasion, religious political parties are banned.

It is this banning of religious parties that has caused the current uprising. Islamists in Syria, including the Muslim Brotherhood, have watched as attempts by the West to bring about Jeffersonian democracy in the Middle East have given Islamic organizations the opportunity to take control. The free election in Egypt, which allowed religious political parties for the first time, gave the Muslim Brotherhood and even more conservative Islamist parties 80% of the seats in Parliament. The uprising since 2011 in Syria has been driven by fiery sermons from the pulpits of mosques in more Islamist conservative areas such as Homs. The revolt against President Assad is not a popular secular uprising despite the delusional visions of Senator John McCain and President Barack Obama.

Would the Christians of Syria prefer to live in a democracy such as the United States? Yes, but that will only occur if we open up our immigration policy and allow them to move here. The choice in Syria is the same as it was in Iraq: live under a secular dictator or perish under Sharia law.

Christians have already been targeted in areas that have fallen to what Senator John McCain lovingly calls “the rebels.” Christians have been forced from their homes, and without the rule of secular law young Christian girls are being kidnapped and forced into Islamic marriages. The “rebels” are supported by al-Qaeda and other Islamic extremist organizations.

It is for that reason that most Christian leaders in Syria have supported the current government. They face a “devil I know versus a devil I don’t know” situation, but they are pretty sure that the incoming devil will be worse.

Just as in Iraq, Yemen, Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, the establishment press, the radical left and the Republican hawks all want to see the “dictator” removed in Syria.  They show no concern for the horror the religious minorities there will face as a result. To put it in the words of Senator McCain, “Give the rebels guns.” How is that working in Afghanistan, Senator, where Afghan soldiers killed seven American servicemen including two field grade officers last month with guns we furnished them? Unless we are ready to pledge our protection of the Christians of Syria, we should not be furnishing guns, or any support, to Islamist rebels. Learn how to help Syria’s Christians.

William J. Murray, Chairman

Religious Freedom Coalition, 601 Pennsylvania Ave, NW  #900 , Washington, DC, 20004