Christ, Christians and Christmas Under Attack In The Courts

[nChrist]

"It is very discouraging as a Christian soldier to see our Army punish him for destroying a Quran, but then it pays a private company to destroy some crosses," the soldier said. "I feel it is a slap in the face to me, my Lord and my freedom."

This is a sickening article, and it should give every Christian more than a hint about how far our country has fallen. I think it is also a SIGN of the times that we live in. It's almost unmistakeable that we are beginning to see the devil roam freely. GOD is in his way, so GOD is being shoved out. It appears that every effort is being made to ignore and disrespect the things of GOD. The same thing is happening in many of our so-called churches. At the SECOND COMING OF CHRIST, there will be ample reasons for HIS RIGHTEOUS WRATH! HE will provide absolute proof that HE is GOD, and HE will subject all things under HIS feet. HE will crush evil and reserve it for HIS Eternal JUDGMENT - the fires of HELL! HE won't just claim what is HIS - HE'LL take it, and there will be no question that HE Alone RULES as the KING OF KINGS!

Love In Christ,
Tom

Isaiah 2:1-5 NASB
The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. Now it will come about that In the last days The mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it. And many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths." For the law will go forth from Zion And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples; And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war. Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.

Isaiah 9:2-7 NASB
The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them. You shall multiply the nation, You shall increase their gladness; They will be glad in Your presence As with the gladness of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian. For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult, And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire. For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.

[Soldier4Christ]

Texas accused of 'viewpoint discrimination'
Organization staffed with Ph.D.s denied permission to offer degrees

The Institute for Creation Research Graduate School has accused Texas officials of participating in illegal "viewpoint discrimination" for refusing it a Certificate of Authority to grant degrees.

The Texas Higher Education Consulting Board recently rejected the formal application from the ICR graduate school program even though the organization now is approved to grant degrees by the state of California, and has been for decades.

The organization said today that it wants the education agency to reverse its rejection of the ICR plan to grant Master of Science degrees.

The petition paves the way for ICRGS to file a legal action against the state agency and its officials. Named in the action that cites the state's unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination are Commissioner Raymund Paredes, Assistant Commissioner Joseph Stafford, Academic Excellence Committee chairman Lyn Bracwell Phillips and other THECB board members.

According to ICR, they "denied the application of ICRGS because its program is based on a creationist interpretation of scientific data rather than an evolutionary interpretation, which is prevalent in public education."

The organization said its formal petition includes 26 evidentiary appendices that support the academic freedom and other legal rights of ICRGS to offer its 27-year-old graduate program to Texas residents. The petition also was delivered to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott because of the alleged constitutional violations.

WND reported earlier when the state made its decision. It came despite the face the ICRGS faculty sports Ph.D.s from UCLA, Penn State, the University of Montana, Colorado State, Case Western and Indiana University, and has a few lowly Ed.D. degrees thrown in.

The rejection came on the recommendation of Paredes despite earlier approval recommendations from a site team dispatched by the state agency to evaluate the education offerings as well as the agency's advisory committee.

In a situation that appears to be an example of the academic censoring described in Ben Stein's movie "Expelled," state officials even read into the record for the agency's hearing a state statute regarding "fraudulent" education programs without giving supporters of the ICR program an opportunity to explain or respond.

"Expelled" covers the following key questions:

    * Were we designed or are we simply products of random chance, mutations and evolution occurring without any plan over billions of years?

    * Is the debate over origins settled?

    * How should science deal with what appears to be evidence of design?

    * What should be taught to children and college students about our origins?

    * Is there any room for dissent from the evolutionary point of view?

    * Is it appropriate for eminent scientists who depart from strict evolutionary dogma to be fired and blacklisted, as is occurring in academia today?

    * Should government schools and other institutions be engaged in promoting the secular, materialistic worldview to the total exclusion of differing points of view?

    * Is science so advanced and so certain that it should be exempt from the societal norms of open dialogue and free debate?

    * Why is it simply inconceivable and unacceptable for some evolutionists to consider the possibility – no matter how remote – that our world might actually have a Creator?

"This is the second time in 18 years that a state's top educational authority has attempted to thwart the Institute for Creation Research's ability to offer master's degrees in science and science education," said a statement from the Answers in Genesis organization.

"Such a setback for a school – which has several qualified Ph.D. scientists on its faculty – merely confirms what the just-released film 'Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed' has been exposing: academia will not tolerate any challenge to evolutionist orthodoxy and will suppress the liberties of Darwin-doubters," AIG said.

ICR has been issuing master's degrees in California since 1981. In 1990 it overcame a challenge from state educational officials who tried to deny the school the opportunity to offer degrees.

Henry Morris III, the chief executive officer for the ICRGS, said the school prepares students to "understand both sides of the scientific perspective, although we do favor the creationist view."

[Soldier4Christ]

Churches 'harassed' in Minnesota

Officials in Ramsey County, Minnesota have sent letters to more than 800 churches and related entities there demanding various documents to justify the tax-exempt status of the ministries. Christian legal experts call the move illegal harassment.

Douglas Napier, senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), says the county is violating state law just by requesting the information. "Government officials have no right to harass churches in violation of state law," says the attorney. "And the county needs to realize that its threats to revoke the tax-exempt status of hundreds of churches, unless those churches submit their laundry list of documents, is [sic] clearly a violation of Minnesota law."
 
He says the county assessor's goal is not entirely clear. "It appears from the letters that they're on a fishing expedition to find out anything and everything that they can to possibly disqualify these churches," says Napier, noting that the only issue applicable is property tax. "So if it's land -- whether it's developed or not -- they are trying to, apparently, look for a way to disqualify them from their tax-exempt status for that land," he suggests.
 
Napier says that, at this time, the church's suit against the county does not address the First Amendment issues that are part of the case because the Minnesota law against what the county is doing is so clear. "It's simpler than even understanding the First Amendment," remarks the attorney. "They've got specific laws on the books in Minnesota that tell them that churches don't have to do this. And, certainly, from a First Amendment standpoint, there are serious issues of entanglement here, and overreaching."
 
ADF attorneys have already gotten the court to bar the county from collecting property taxes from one of the churches while a lawsuit against the county proceeds. Napier hopes the court will simply enforce the existing state law against the county and leave the churches alone.
 
"We just want them to back down and respect the nature of the churches and continue to acknowledge their tax-exempt status," he shares.

[Soldier4Christ]

Judge overrules city stall on Christian school project
City had erected rules to slow or prevent campus construction

A Catholic school has been given court permission to start building its new campus in Suwanee, Ga., even though city officials imposed a building moratorium and started assembling a new set of demands for construction project applicants when they discovered the school's plans to move to the town.

The ruling in the case involving Notre Dame Academy comes from Judge George Hutchinson in Superior Court for Gwinnet County after the issue was raised by lawyers for the school, from the Alliance Defense Fund.

"Plaintiff has … made out a prima facie case that the city has violated the 'equal terms' provision of [federal law] by virtue of its apparent use of the moratorium to target Notre Dame's planned use of the land for its religious school. In this regard, one of the defendant's city council members acknowledged in an e-mail to a Notre Dame representative that Notre Dame's plans to relocate to Suwanee [were] at least one of the motivating factors for the moratorium," the judge wrote.

"And city Planning Director Josh Campbell acknowledged that 'it was not a coincidence' that the moratorium was implemented shortly after Notre Dame inquired as to whether it would be able to locate its new campus on the land," he continued.

Lawyers for the school had cited the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act that determines zoning officials cannot impose "unduly burdensome" regulations on religious organizations on grounds it obstructs their right to free exercise of religion.

"Religious schools should not be singled out for discrimination by a city's zoning restrictions," said ADF Senior Counsel Joe Infranco. "Federal law prevents zoning officials from singling out religious organizations for discriminatory treatment. We are greatly pleased that construction of the elementary school can begin so that children can benefit from it sooner rather than later."

The Catholic school serving about 500 students in kindergarten through 8th grade had planned to move from an older campus in Duluth, Ga. Last February, school officials contracted to buy about 36 acres of land in Suwanee where they planned to build new school buildings and related structures.

But city officials within days imposed a new ordinance regarding "orderly growth" that adopted a 90-moratorium on building permits. However, the court noted that the language of the moratorium is ambiguous and it's not certain restrictions would have been lifted at the end of 90 days.

Then the city's planning commission started the process to adopt rules that would have forced Notre Dame into a special use permit process to develop its land.

The court said the case met the federal law's definitions of religious institution as well as land use regulations. Further, the city plan would have violated the "substantial burdens" provision of the federal law, the ruling said.

"The city's actions have caused, and will likely cause in the future, substantial additional delay, cost and uncertainty for Notre Dame's plans," the judge wrote. His order requires the city to set aside its moratorium and not to re-enact any such limits in regard to the Notre Dame project.

The ADF noted the land had been zoned for use as a school even before the dispute arose.

"The city had no right to increase bureaucracy for the Catholic school," said ADF-allied attorney Jonathan Crumly, who represented the academy. "We hope other cities will understand the rights that religious schools have under federal law."

[Soldier4Christ]

Coach fired for alleged religious pressure

A high school principal in Dearborn has dismissed a longtime wrestling coach after complaints from Muslim parents that the coach's former assistant -- an evangelical Christian pastor -- was trying to convert Muslim students into Christians.

But the pastor, Trey Hancock, head of Dearborn Assembly of God, said today that he never mixed his religion with sports. And the coach, Jerry Marszalek, said that Hancock "never did that ... he knew the difference between church and state."

Imad Fadlallah, head of Fordson High School, decided this month not to renew the contract of Marszalek, who has coached wrestling at Fordson for 35 years. Marszalek is an at-will employee and so the principal has the right not to extend his contract, said David Mustonen, spokesman for Dearborn Public Schools.

Fadlallah, the first Muslim principal at Fordson, heads a high school where more than 80 percent of the students are of Arab descent, a majority of them Muslim. In recent years, parents and students have complained that Hancock was using his position on the wrestling team to convert Muslims – a claim Hancock strongly denies.

“When I coached, I never preached, I never witnessed,” Hancock said.

Fadlallah's decision was praised by Arab-American Muslims at a packed board meeting Tuesday night that was standing room only; hundreds of Muslim parents, students, religious leaders, and community advocates showed up in support of him.

"Fordson was a mess before he came," said Ali Reda, a sophomore at Fordson, who attended the Tuesday meeting.

During the public comments section, which went until midnight, speakers praised Fadlallah and said he was being unfairly attacked because of his Arab ethnicity and Muslim religion.

But Hancock and Marszalek said they are the ones who are being unfairly attacked. A few years ago, Marszalek hired Hancock as an assistant coach in a non-paid position; he said that Hancock was an excellent coach.

But in 2005, Hancock came under attack by some Muslims after he baptized in Port Huron a Muslim student from Dearborn.

“If people want to come to Jesus, I’m here for them,” Hancock said. He added that such activities were done outside Fordson and the wrestling team.

Marszalek said Fadlallah then told him to remove Hancock and keep him away from wrestling practices and events. Marszalek said that Fadlallah told him this month he was removing him because he ignored his earlier directive.

Trey's son, Paul Hancock, is a member of the Fordson wrestling team and so Trey Hancock would often attend meets and practices.

Fadlallah was not available for comment today.

Marszalek said he met last week with state officials in Lansing, including a representative from the office of Attorney General Mike Cox, to discuss his options.

[Soldier4Christ]

Islam-promoting principal defied order to protect kids
Students required to attend CAIR indoctrination event

A public school principal in Texas who arranged for an Islamic instruction presentation for students by an organization whose leaders have been linked to terror groups apparently arranged for that indoctrination after being told not to by her district's superintendent, parents have told WND.

The issue developed this week when public school students at Friendswood Junior High in the Houston area were herded into an assembly scheduled by Principal Robin Lowe that suddenly replaced a scheduled physical education class, according to reports.

There, two women from the Houston division of the Council on American-Islamic Relations instructed students that Adam, Noah and Jesus are prophets, announced "there is one god, his name is Allah," taught the five pillars of Islam, told students how to pray five times a day, and instructed what Islamic religious rules require for dress.

Pastor Dave Welch, spokesman for the Houston Area Pastor Council, confirmed the indoctrination had taken place and called it "unacceptable."

"The failure of the principal of Friendswood Junior High to respect simple procedures requiring parental notification for such a potentially controversial subject, to not only approve but participate personally in a religious indoctrination session led by representatives of a group with well-known links to terrorist organizations and her cavalier response when confronted, raises serious questions about her fitness to serve in that role," the pastors' organization said in a statement.

A parent, whose name was withheld, reported the presentation was 30 to 40 minutes long and handled by Muslims from CAIR, which, as WND has reported, is a spinoff of the defunct Islamic Association for Palestine, launched by Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzook and former university professor Sami al-Arian, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide services to Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

It has a history of links to questionable activity. Among the convicted CAIR staffers are former communications specialist Randall Todd "Ismail" Royer, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges he trained in Virginia for holy war against the U.S. and sent several members to Pakistan to join a Kashmiri terrorist group with reported ties to al-Qaida; and Bassem Khafagi, who was arrested in January 2003 while serving as CAIR's director of community relations and convicted on fraud and terrorism charges in connection with a probe of the Islamic Assembly of North America, an organization suspected of aiding Saudi sheiks tied to Osama bin Laden. Also, in October 2006, Ghassan Elashi, a member of the founding board of directors of the Texas branch of CAIR, was sentenced to nearly seven years in prison for financial ties to a high-ranking terrorist.

Welch told WND today that parents have told him school officials confirmed to them that the principal in question had been instructed not to involve students in any such program.

A mother who had alerted some of the other parents about the situation when she discovered the circumstances told WND, "The superintendent told this principal that the children could not be part of this assembly. It happened anyway."

"The school board member I talked to … he was outraged," Welch told WND. "This is part of a nationally orchestrated effort to indoctrinate students through the school system," he said.

School officials did not return WND calls seeking a comment.

WND previously has reported how public school textbooks used across the nation have begun promoting Islam, teaching even the religious doctrines.

WND also has reported on several other schools that have taught Islam as a required subject.

In the Texas case, a school e-mail to parents provided only a half-hearted acknowledgement that such mandatory religious indoctrination might not have been the best decision.

"In hindsight, a note should have been sent home to parents indicating the purpose and content of the presentation in time for parents to contact me with questions or concerns or requests to exempt their child," the note from Lowe said. "This will be our practice in the future, should we ever have another presentation of a similar nature."

The apparent goal of the "Islamic Awareness" presentation was "to increase understanding of the Islamic culture in response to racially motivated comments that have been made to students on campus."

The pastors noted that the principal's claim there were "comments" to students on campus was unverified. Nor does that excuse or justify "this infringement upon the religious beliefs of students and parents of the community nor the violation of school policy and possibly state and/or federal law," they said.

"We do not believe that this unapproved action by Principal Robin Lowe represents the school district and certainly not the majority of students or parents in the Friendswood community. Our commitment is to support all appropriate administrative, legal and political remedies to assure that this will not happen again and these Islamic activist organizations are kept out of our schools," the pastors said.

The parent reported Lowe told students her sister, niece and nephew were Muslim.

But the parent complained the Muslims "were given full attention of our kids, during academic school time, to present their religious beliefs. … This was put right at the end of the school year … which will most likely prevent a Christian response.

"The kids did not even know they were having an assembly or what topic it pertained to until they entered the gym," the parent wrote. "I send my kids to school for academics. … I teach them religion at home."

Noted a WND reader: "All I could think while reading this was what would have happened to this school had it been Christianity being taught?

"Then I thought, 'So where's the ACLU and the other complainers?' … I guess some religions are more equal than others."

[nChrist]

Brothers and Sisters,

We shouldn't be naive. This principal knew exactly what she was doing. She should be held completely responsible, regardless of whether it's the end of the school year or not. She should be fired.

I would also like everyone to know there is another side of the coin to all of the organized problems we read about in schools. My wife has been a teacher for over 30 years, and many of our friends are teachers and/or school administrators. They have resigned from the unions and other teacher organizations pushing garbage like this, and they stand against it. So far, there has been grossly insufficient power in our school district to pull any of the Islam or sex garbage. So far, the power in our school district is Christian traditional by overwhelming percentages. However, I'm not hinting this couldn't change. I'm just telling you that the devil will have an uphill battle here, and the vast majority of the teachers and principals WILL NOT cooperate with the devil. I'm also not saying there have been no negative effects here. They are using textbooks with GOD removed, and many other things involving GOD have also been removed. The loss of these things could be viewed as serious defeats, but at least all of the replacement garbage has been refused so far.

I just wanted everyone to know that there are STILL many Godly teachers and administrators in this country. Furthermore, Godly parents should get behind them and support them in any way that they can. Sooner or later, all Christians are going to be persecuted, and that certainly includes Christian teachers. Please don't take the remaining Christian teachers for granted. Pray for them often, thank them every now and then, and encourage them to keep up the good fight. Please don't wait unless they have all given up to think about them and pray for them.

[Soldier4Christ]

I just wanted everyone to know that there are STILL many Godly teachers and administrators in this country. Furthermore, Godly parents should get behind them and support them in any way that they can. Sooner or later, all Christians are going to be persecuted, and that certainly includes Christian teachers. Please don't take the remaining Christian teachers for granted. Pray for them often, thank them every now and then, and encourage them to keep up the good fight. Please don't wait unless they have all given up to think about them and pray for them.

Amen!

[Soldier4Christ]

Yuma church fights for its rights

A Christian church is suing the City of Yuma, Arizona, for denying it the right to meet at a building the church owns in the city's historic district.

Centro Familiar Cristiano Buenos Nuevas Christian Church wanted to expand its outreach into the Old Town District of the city of Yuma.  Byron Babione, senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), says the church even consulted city officials about their plans to relocate to the historic area.
 
"They purchased a building [in the district] upon recommendation from city officials that that would be a good place to have a church," Babione explains. "So they bought on old building that was formerly a J.C. Penney, years ago -- and in the last couple of decades it's really remained largely vacant."
 
The church planned to revitalize the structure and hold their weekend worship services there, in addition to numerous community outreach functions throughout the week. They applied for a conditional use permit, which is required only of religious gathering places.
 
"But the planning commission for the City of Yuma denied them and said that they weren't a good fit for the Old Town District," says Babione. According to ADF, members of the Yuma Planning and Zoning Commission determined the church was inappropriate for the area because it would not generate tax revenue and would not attract patrons for the stores in the district.
 
Babione says the problem with that decision is that the city allows other assemblies and membership organizations, including tax-exempt non-profit groups, to locate in the district -- and denial of the church's permit, he argues, violates federal law and the Constitution.
 
"That runs counter to equal protection principles and the principles in the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which says that governments, municipalities, cannot treat religious assemblies on worse terms than they treat non-religious assemblies," says the ADF attorney.
 
The church has filed suit in federal district court for Arizona asking that its proposed use of the property be allowed and that the city's discriminatory ordinance be ruled unconstitutional.

[Soldier4Christ]

6th-grader warned: Stop wearing pro-life T-shirts
'It's scary to stand up to people in authority,' says mom of boy on a mission

A 12-year-old 6th-grader in Hutchinson, Minn., committed to an unusually brave mission for the month of April: he intended to wear T-shirts with a pro-life message to his middle school every day for a month.

His courage, however, was met with resistance. According to the boy's attorney, his principal and teachers told him "not to wear the T-shirts, publicly singled him out for ridicule in front of his classmates, removed him from class, sent him to the principal's office, forced him to turn his pro-life T-shirt inside out, and threatened him with suspension if he did not stop wearing the offending pro-life T-shirts."

Over the course of his one-month quest, the boy, identified only as K.B., was reprimanded by the school a dozen times.

"We're a Christian family," his mother told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "He knows (abortion) is the termination of life. He knows that it's wrong. He should have the right to wear the shirt to express that. Even if he's the only person at the school who believes that, he should still be able to wear that shirt under the Constitution, and they've taken that away from him."

K.B. began his T-shirt mission in honor of April 29th being designated "National Pro-Life T-shirt Day" by the American Life League, a group that calls itself the "largest grassroots Catholic pro-life organization in the United States."

K.B. took it a step farther in opting to wear his T-shirts – sometime inside-out as demanded – for a month.

The shirts themselves, all produced by the American Life League, displayed photos of unborn babies and pro-life messages. One shirt read, "Abortion: Growing, Growing, Gone," a second read, "What part of abortion don't you understand?" and the third read, "Never Known – Not Forgotten" on the front with "47,000,000 babies aborted 1973-2008" printed on the back.

K.B. reported that he was first confronted on April 2nd by a teacher saying that the shirt "could be offensive." On April 4th he was sent to the principal's office because, his teacher said, the shirt was "inappropriate for class." In mid-April, K.B.'s mother reports, the school principal told her in a phone conversation that the shirts were forbidden because they had become a distraction and "some of the kids were starting to ask questions." On April 25th K.B. was threatened with in-school suspension.

When April 29th arrived, the day designated as "National Pro-Life T-shirt Day," the school principal called K.B.'s homeroom and ordered the boy to his office. "Why do you keep wearing those shirts when you know that they annoy me?" the principal allegedly asked.

Throughout that day, K.B. was singled out by his teachers, their displeasure with him and with his shirts made publicly clear.

Hutchinson school district policy specifically states that schools are not to "abridge the rights of students to express political, religious, philosophical, or similar opinions by wearing apparel on which messages are stated." The policy does prohibit lewd, vulgar, obscene or profane messages.

"We allow (a slogan on a T-shirt) as long as it doesn't interrupt or disrupt the educational process," the school's superintendent told the Student Press Law Center. "It's not necessarily the message, but if it's offensive or if it disrupts the (educational) process."

K.B. and his mother, Jeanne Ibbitson, claim that the shirts contain no offensive material and if there's been any disruption in the educational process, it's come from teachers objecting to the message.

Lawyers from the Thomas More Law Center, a non-profit law firm whose purpose is to provide "legal representation without charge to defend and protect Christians and their religious beliefs in the public square," has now filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court to defend K.B.'s Constitutional rights.

Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Law Center, commented, "This courageous young Christian was ridiculed and threatened by teachers for expressing his deeply held beliefs. These school officials clearly violated the U.S. Constitution and the school's own written dress policy, which specifically states it is not intended to abridge the rights of students to express political or religious messages."

Specifically, the lawsuit charges that the school's actions run counter to the 1969 U.S. Supreme Court ruling of Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, which clarified that schools cannot censor student speech without a reasonable expectations of "material and substantial disruption" or invasion of other's rights.

"They allow students to practice their First Amendment rights as long as it's not disruptive to the learning process and as long as it's not lewd, vulgar, obscene or profane," said a spokesman for the Law Center. "According to the Supreme Court and many circuit courts, you can't bootstrap that into (banning) unpopular or unpleasant viewpoints."

The lawsuit seeks recognition that the school has violated K.B.'s rights and that it applied its dress code in an unconstitutional manner. It asks that the court instruct the school to no longer reprimand or discipline K.B. for exercising his rights, and it seeks a jury trial to determine damages. Ibbitson explained to the Pioneer Press how, in part, her son has suffered from the school's reaction. "He shouldn't have lost his reputation as a good kid," she said. "He shouldn't be known as the kid who is constantly going to the office. They look at him as defiant now."

She nonetheless praised her son for standing for his convictions. "I applaud him. He is really shy. And it's scary to stand up to people in authority," she said. "It was hard for him to get up every day and put the T-shirt on and go to school to try and carry on his mission for the month."

[Soldier4Christ]

Islam-promoting principal out
District announces 'new position' for controversial administrator

A principal who staged a mandatory lesson in Islamic religious beliefs for nearly 900 students at a public school near Houston has been reassigned, the district announced.

The controversy erupted at Friendswood Junior High when students were diverted from a scheduled physical education class and taken to an assembly set up by Principal Robin Lowe.

In the 40-minute session, representatives of the Houston office of the controversial Council on American- Islamic Relations, an organization critics link to terrorist groups, presented a 40-minute lesson in the religious beliefs and requirements of Islam.

The CAIR representatives instructed students that Adam, Noah and Jesus are prophets; announced "there is one god, his name is Allah"; taught the five pillars of Islam; told students how to pray five times a day; and gave instruction on Islamic religious requirements for dress.

The assembly had not been authorized by the district, officials confirmed.

Trish Hanks, the Friendswood superintendent, said had been asked about having such a presentation because of allegations made by a Muslim who claimed to have been involved in an altercation.

Hanks told parents in a memo she had authorized the presentation for staff members only, not students.

"My concern for our community and for our students is not as much with the content of the presentation as explained to me," she wrote, according to a Houston Chronicle report, "but with the fact that a group had an audience with our students without consent from parents or this administration.

"I am not surprised by the community's reaction," she continued. "Most of you receiving this letter have had years of experience with this district and know the kinds of activities your child has been exposed to in school. This was an isolated incident and a mistake."

Texas Education Agency officials confirmed that state law allows parents to remove their children from activities or classes that violate their religious or moral beliefs.

There was no information available on Lowe's new position. The district's brief statement said Lowe "has accepted another administrative position effective immediately."

Parents and community leaders had been outraged by the presentation, especially because parents were not notified and given the opportunity for their children to opt out.

"We are very pleased that Supt. Trish Hanks and the Board of Trustees have been so responsive to the community and taken appropriate action," said Pastor Dave Welch, a spokesman for the Houston Area Pastor Council, an inter-denominational organization closley monitoring the issue.

"We believe that the school officials are very committed to complying with existing laws, policies and parameters addressing religious expression, activities and beliefs in public schools. It is our commitment to working with them to bring the highest level of expertise to assist them," he said.

"Finally, we are not going to let the primary issue slide by of this highly controversial Islamic activist organization slipping into schools for the purpose of mainstreaming radical Islam using our children. We plan to implement a review of every school district in the greater Houston area and ultimately throughout Texas to make sure that neither CAIR nor any similar group gets a free pass with their agenda under the guise of diversity training," said Welch.

A spokesman for CAIR's Houston office, Tarek Hussein, told the Houston paper he contacted Lowe asking to do an "educational presentation" after a man reported his son was attacked because he is Muslim.

Hussein, however, declined to provide details about the alleged attack.

Hanks told the Chronicle she decided the staff members could be given the information, but no assembly would be allowed to indoctrinate students.

"I presented [to students] who Muslims are and the beliefs they have," Asma Siddiqi, one of the women who delivered the lesson to students, told the newspaper.

State Board of Education member David Bradley told the paper the assembly about Islam was a waste of tax dollars and not the way to respond to a dispute between students.

"There's a personal incident between two students and as a result of that we're going to yank everyone out of class?" he told the paper. "I got beat up in junior high. Did my dad go down and force all the kids to sit through sensitivity training in their P.E. class? No, that's absurd. The coach gave us licks and sent us home. That was the end of those incidents."

Hussein, however, told the newspaper he now will ask other schools in the area for permission to teach students about Islam during classtime.

CAIR, as WND has reported, is a spinoff of the defunct Islamic Association for Palestine, launched by Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzook and former university professor Sami al-Arian, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide services to Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

A number of CAIR employees have been convicted on terrorism-related charges. Among them are former communications specialist Randall Todd "Ismail" Royer, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges he trained in Virginia for holy war against the U.S. and sent several members to Pakistan to join a Kashmiri terrorist group with reported ties to al-Qaida; and Bassem Khafagi, who was arrested in January 2003 while serving as CAIR's director of community relations and convicted on fraud and terrorism charges in connection with a probe of the Islamic Assembly of North America, an organization suspected of aiding Saudi sheiks tied to Osama bin Laden. Also, in October 2006, Ghassan Elashi, a member of the founding board of directors of the Texas branch of CAIR, was sentenced to nearly seven years in prison for financial ties to a high-ranking terrorist.

WND previously reported public school textbooks across the nation have begun promoting Islam, teaching even the religious doctrines.

WND also has reported several other schools  have taught Islam as a required subject.

[Soldier4Christ]

Historic district fights to keep cross
'We need not purge references to religion to satisfy militant atheists'

Officials in Frankenmuth, Mich., a city that was founded by Lutheran missionaries and today is known as "Michigan's Little Bavaria" for its heritage and beer festivals, have decided to fight to keep their city shield, which includes a swath of grain to represent the missionaries' farming roots, and a "Luther Rose" with a tiny cross in the center.

The emblem, and a related cross in the city park, have come under attack from Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, according to officials.

"The council's unanimous vote to retain the Thomas More Law Center in the face of a previous attempt to remove the small cross from its city shield and now the more recent focus on the cross in Cross Park … reflects a deep commitment on the part of the council to defend these symbols of the city's unique history and culture," said Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel for the law center.

The city founders traveled from Bavaria in 1845 to settle a unique German community inside the United States. They are represented on the city shield by the swath of grain and the rose with the cross. Other parts of the shield depict the Bavarian region from which the missionaries came, officials said.

Today the city is a magnet for tourists and visitors who want to see the ethnic heritage that has made the city famous.

The council voted at a recent meeting to retain the TMLC to defend the shield, and its related cross in the city's Cross Park, from attack.

"These symbols serve to link and promote Frankenmuth's unique origins and history – all secular purposes," said Thompson. "The sign at Cross Park expresses gratitude from a people with a missionary history. We need not purge all historical references to religion merely to satisfy militant atheists."

There has been a complaint about the shield, and the city also has been on the receiving end of threats of legal action for the city park that was built in 1976. Cross Park was one of three projects the city created to celebrate the bicentennial of the United States. There's a log cabin as well as a cross in the park, "both representing the history of the founding of this 'grateful' community," officials said.

The German word "Franken" refers to the province of Franconia in Bavaria, and the word "muth" means courage, giving the city's name the meaning of "courage of the Franconians."

Christian symbols, such as crosses, however, have come under attack in recent days and years, including a plan to remove them from a chapel used by Christians in Iraq.

WND also has reported on a multi-year battle over a cross in a veteran's memorial in California.

[Soldier4Christ]

Council: Mongtomery schools cave to pressue with Islam book

A new report issued by the American Textbook Council says books approved for use in local school districts for teaching middle and high school students about Islam caved in to political correctness and dumbed down the topic at a critical moment in its history.

"Textbook editors try to avoid any subject that could turn into a political grenade," wrote Gilbert Sewall, director of the council, who railed against five popular history texts for "adjust[ing] the definition of jihad or sharia or remov[ing] these words from lessons to avoid inconvenient truths."

Sewall complains the word jihad has gone through an "amazing cultural reorchestration" in textbooks, losing any connotation of violence. He cites Houghton Mifflin's popular middle school text, "Across the Centuries," which has been approved for use in Montgomery County Schools. It defines "jihad" as a struggle "to do one's best to resist temptation and overcome evil."

"But that is, literally, the translation of jihad," said Reza Aslan, a religion scholar and acclaimed author of "No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam." Aslan explained that the definition does not preclude a militant interpretation.

"How you interpret [jihad] is based on whatever your particular ideology, or world viewpoint, or even prejudice is," Aslan said. "But how you define jihad is set in stone."

A statement from Montgomery County Public Schools said that all text used by teachers had been properly vetted and were appropriate for classroom uses.

Aslan said groups like Sewall's are often more concerned about advancing their own interpretation of Islam than they are about defining its parts and then allowing interpretation to happen at the classroom level.

Sewall's report blames publishing companies for allowing the influence of groups like the California-based Council on Islamic Education to serve throughout the editorial process as "screeners" for textbooks, softening or deleting potentially unflattering topics within the faith.

"Fundamentally I'm worried about dumbing down textbooks," he said, "by groups that come to state education officials saying we want this and that - and publishers need to find a happy medium."

Maryland state delegate Saqib Ali refrained from joining the fray. "The job of assigning curriculum is best left to educators and the school board, and I trust their judgment," he said.

[Soldier4Christ]

NYC school displays offensive 'art'

A prestigious New York school is displaying supposed "art" that many Christians are finding highly offensive.

The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City has displayed student art with vile and obscene depictions of Christianity. [Editor's note: The depictions are too graphic to describe herein.] Frank Russo of the American Family Association of New York says it is becoming more common for Christianity to be targeted -- but enough is enough, he adds.
 
"My view is that, in a free society, they are free to do that," the activist acknowledges. "What I think we [as Christians] are free to do, and I hope we consider something like this, is to publicize the names of people who are donating to Cooper Union and ask people to contact them about this. I mean, what do they think about this? I think that's also part of a First Amendment right in a free society," Russo contends.
 
The New York family advocate believes the school would not think of displaying such items if they targeted Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, or Buddhist themes. "But when it has to do with Christianity, somehow Christianity is viewed as a legitimate target of disgraceful and clearly sacrilegious actions by people," he argues.
 
Cooper Union is considered a prestigious school, especially in the field of engineering. Russo shares that he is disappointed in the school and no longer holds it in high regard.

[Soldier4Christ]

The New York family advocate believes the school would not think of displaying such items if they targeted Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, or Buddhist themes. "But when it has to do with Christianity, somehow Christianity is viewed as a legitimate target of disgraceful and clearly sacrilegious actions by people," he argues.

Why is this? Because Christians usually turn the other cheek instead of resulting to violence. Now I am definitely not advocating that Christians do the same thing but there are legal and peaceful ways to approach these matters instead of just completely turning our back on them and ignoring them.