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There's a bookmark in my Bible that shows the winsome faces of two attractive 20-something dark-haired, brown-eyed Iranians with a kind of alluring beauty that makes Persian women some of the loveliest women on earth. What natural beauty Maryam Rostampour, 27, and Marzieh Amirizadeh Esmaeilabad, 30, had at the beginning of the year has certainly disappeared after a six-month stint in one of the world's worst jails.

SNIPPET: "The president has nominated Chai Feldblum, a lesbian activist, to be commissioner for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Her appointment is awaiting Senate confirmation." SNIPPET: "Feldblum, a law professor at Georgetown University, has signed an online petition titled, "Beyond Same-Sex Marriage: A New Strategic Vision for All Our Families and Relationships."" SNIPPET: ""Chai Feldblum is on record saying that the battle between our religious freedoms and homosexual so-called rights is a zero sum game," says Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth about Homosexuality." SNIPPET: ""She says she can't think of a case where the religious rights -- in...

Note: The following text is a quote: Friday, August 14, 2009 International Attorneys Urge Pakistan to End the Violence and Religious Persecution Caused by its Blasphemy and so-called ’Defamation of Religion Laws’ By Michael Ireland Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service WASHINGTON, DC (ANS) -- An international organization of staff and volunteer attorneys this week joined many in the international community urging Pakistan to end the mob violence and religious persecution caused by its blasphemy and other so-called 'defamation of religion laws.' Advocates International is an international organization of staff and volunteer attorneys in over 150 nations, including Pakistan, who seek...

BEIJING – By all accounts, Shi Weihan was a model Chinese citizen. A kind-hearted man with a sense of social responsibility, he donated funds to send poor kids to school, raised money for those suffering from congenital heart disease, and when the Sichuan earthquake hit, worked tirelessly for the emergency relief effort. But Shi had a fatal flaw. He printed Bibles – and gave them out for free. This week a criminal court in Beijing sentenced him to three years in jail.

WASHINGTON, DC (MetroCatholic) - International Christian Concern (www.persecution.org) has learned that radical Muslims running a tea stall beat a Christian man to death for using a cup designated for Muslims on May 9. The young man, Ishtiaq Masih, had ordered tea at a roadside stall in Machharkay village, Punjab, Pakistan, after his bus made a rest stop. When Ishtiaq went to pay for his tea, the owner noticed that he was wearing a necklace with a cross and grabbed him, calling for his employees to bring anything available to beat him for violating a sign posted on the stall warning...

Christians in the UK Facing Increasing Official Discrimination: Poll By Hilary White LONDON, June 3, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A poll conducted by the Sunday Telegraph has found that thousands of Christians in Britain fear losing job promotions and are being harassed at work because of their religious beliefs. The poll has been released at the same time that reports that Britain is becoming increasingly hostile to Christian believers are increasing. In the Telegraph poll, one in five said they had faced “opposition” at work because of their beliefs. Over half said they had suffered from some kind of “persecution” at...

The issue of legalizing same-sex marriages continues to be at the forefront of debate. On Tuesday the Californian Supreme Court upheld a referendum, Proposition 8, which modified the state constitution to restrict marriage to heterosexual couples. The referendum invalidated a previous decision by the state's Supreme Court that resulted in the legalization of same-sex marriage. In the weeks preceding the latest decision same-sex marriage was legalized in three states. As a result, five states now allow such marriages -- Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, Vermont and Iowa. As a May 27 article in the Washington Post pointed out, four of these states...

Wednesday, 27 May 2009 Religious Freedom in England Today ( On the 20th May I gave a talk on Religious Freedom to the Young Catholics Group at the Brompton Oratory a number of people have asked me for a copy of what I said so here it is) I begin by referring to a story that some of you may have heard of a couple of years ago a Crematorium in Devon removed its crosses on the basis that they did not want to Cause Offence” to non Christians and in particular to Muslims. The subject of this Crematorium was...

A San Diego-based homosexual activist group has filed a formal complaint with the Internal Revenue Service charging the Roman Catholic diocese of Portland, Me., with violating federal tax rules by taking part in a referendum campaign aimed at repealing the state's new same-sex marriage law. Tyler Davis, media director for the Empowering Spirits Foundation, told CNSNews.com that the complaint was filed at the IRS office in Dallas last Wednesday. The group wants the Church's nonprofit tax status revoked. “The problem is, Marc Mutty, who is the public affairs director for the Catholic diocese of Portland, Me., went onto public television...

Persecution – bring it on! Exclusive: Dave Welch asserts Christians will rise up only when true affliction begins Back in the early 1980s as I was just beginning to get involved in the pro-life, pro-family grass-roots movement, I had the opportunity to work with a man who had taken the mantle of an organization that was defending religious liberty. He had been working to get the church more engaged in the battle for several years and had just simply burned out. As he left the organization and the arena entirely, he made a comment that I have never forgotten. "Dave,...

The Equality Bill currently going through Parliament is the latest and potentially most oppressive attempt to impose politically acceptable attitudes and drive out any that fall foul of these criteria. Since the attitudes being imposed constitute an ideological agenda to destroy Britain’s foundational ethical principles and replace them by a nihilistic values and lifestyle free-for-all, they represent a direct onslaught on the Judeo-Christian morality underpinning British society. The most neuralgic of these issues is gay rights. This is because the tolerance of homosexuality that a liberal society should properly show has long been hijacked by an agenda which aims at...

New Hampshire lawmakers unexpectedly rejected a bill on Wednesday that would have made the state the sixth in the United States to authorize gay marriage. The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives voted down the bill in a 188-186 vote, hours after its Senate approved the legislation 14-10 along party lines. An earlier version of the bill passed the state's House of Representatives on March 26. Both chambers had been asked to approve language that would give religious institutions opposed to gay marriage legal protections, including the right to decline to marry same-sex couples. That wording was added by Governor John Lynch,...

An Open Letter to New York Republicans: As I read the news about the recent advances of marriage equality across our country, I think it is easy for many to get distracted by the politics and rhetoric on this issue and lose sight of what is really at its heart: the equality of freedom. No matter how politically charged the discussions about marriage equality may get, the question is really a simple one: Do the rights and privileges we offer citizens include everyone in our country, or only some of us? I believe that allowing gays and lesbians the freedom...

Friday May 22, 2009 British Churches to be Forced to Hire Active Homosexual Youth Workers under Equality Bill By Hilary WhiteLONDON, May 21, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com ) - British churches will be forced to accept practicing homosexuals or "transsexuals" in positions as youth workers and similar roles, under upcoming equality legislation, the government has said. The Labour government's Equality Bill will prohibit churches from refusing to hire active homosexuals even if their religion holds such behavior to be sinful, said deputy equalities minister Maria Eagle.The legislation is due to come into force next year, and churches fear that it will...

Valery Filimonov, academician, biocybernetics and management systems expert, introduced Interfax-Religion his thoughts on prospects of turning humanity in controllable “biomass” and comments on who stands behind these attempts, what are the dangers of electronic control over people. *Interview* Do you consider universal technotronic dictatorship a myth or reality? - It’s an old dream of the high and mighties. Zbigniew Brzezinski wrote about necessity of total control and technotronic dictatorship in 1968. David Rockefeller cynically said, “The super-national sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national auto-determination” Today their plans are gradually materializing. All of...

Catholic officials have launched a fresh initiative to influence secular law according to the religious teachings of the Catholic Church, with marriage equality firmly in their sites. Church officials in Maine, the fifth and most recent state to offer marriage equality to gay and lesbian families, seek to bring those families’ rights to a popular vote, in hopes of seeing marriage equality repealed, as happened in California last year when, after a bruising and extremely expensive campaign to rescind family rights for gays and lesbians, voters narrowly passed Proposition 8. An Associated Press story from May 10 quoted Maine’s Secretary...

Okay, so Carrie Prejean, Miss California, posed topless. Is this suppose to disqualify her from standing up for traditional marriage? Then, the media came out with a story about her dad being gay. So, what! This is another dirty trick of the liberal left to silence conservatives. Unfortunately this tactic continues to work. Here is their premise, unless you live a 'perfect' life, you can not stand for principles or distinguish between right and wrong. This is hog wash. Remember when Bill Bennett authored, “The Book of Virtues”? The media cheered and did cartwheels when they discovered he had a...

When the D.C. Council passed a measure to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere, council members...violated the sacred trust of their office...a strange brand of reverse bigotry is being perpetrated. Defenders of virtue and protectors of family and age-appropriate education of children are being called "bigots." ... The institution of marriage is unique in our society. It is the one institution that binds women and men together to form a family, serving incredibly important societal purposes. There is little doubt that the best environment for raising children is by a loving married mother and father. Advocates of same-sex marriage purport that...

Recently, a friend of mine asked me what I thought about the chances of gay marriage becoming the norm in this country. Well, the state of Maine just signed the same-sex marriage bill into law, making it the fifth of fifty to do so as of this date. In addition, New Hampshire's legislature just voted to legalize gay nuptials and is awaiting the governor's signature. Meanwhile, the City Council of the District of Columbia took a preliminary step, voting 12 to 1, to recognize marriages between gay people certified in other states. Furthermore, similar legislation is pending in other states,...

Carrie Prejean was destroyed for expressing her views on "same-sex marriage." But the Anointed One gets a free pass for expressing the exact same opinion. We all know the story by now. During the Miss U.S.A. Pageant last month, Miss California Carrie Prejean became a household name when she said she believed marriage should be between a man and a woman. To be precise, of all the questions that pageant judge and gossip columnist Perez Hilton could have asked, he chose to ask Ms. Prejean about same-sex marriage. Noting that it had just become legal in Vermont, Hilton asked her,...

WHITINSVILLE, Mass., – Twenty years after he met the love of his life, nearly five years after their wedding helped make history, it took a nasty bout of pneumonia for Gary Chalmers to fully appreciate the blessings of marriage. "I was out of work for eight weeks, spent a week in the hospital," Chalmers said. "That was the first time I really felt thankful for the sense of the security we had, with Rich there, talking with the physicians, helping make decisions. ... It really made a difference." At stake was the most basic recognition of marital bonds — something...

The "tolerant" proponents of homosexual marriage, following the hateful lead of homosexual, Perez Hilton and the likes of anti-Christian bigot Keith Olbermann of MSNBC, have had their fun bashing Miss California, Carrie Prejean. For simply stating the obvious truth that marriage ought to be between a man and a woman, Carrie has been unjustly slandered, insulted and ridiculed. "By courageously shining the light of God's truth on the marriage issue, now homosexuals and their allies irrationally seek to defame and destroy Carrie Prejean," said Dr. Gary Cass, Chairman and CEO of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission. "Perez Hilton, 'queen of all...

A deliberate campaign to enforcce “diversity” and political correctness by “unelected or quasi-governmental bodies” is turning Britain into the “the first modern soft totalitarian state”, an Australian political science expert and author says. Hal Gibson Pateshall Colebatch, an Australian historian, author, poet, lecturer, journalist, editor, and lawyer, has warned in an editorial in the Australian that while there may as yet be no concentration camps or gulags in Britain, “there are thought police with unprecedented powers to dictate ways of thinking and sniff out heresy, and there can be harsh punishments for dissent.” He points to the dozens of cases...

Despite opposition from some local churches, the Washington, DC Council has voted 12-1 to recognize homosexual "marriages" legal in other states. View Video News Report : http://www.onenewsnow.com/vidPlayer.aspx?videoId=12834 Associated Press reports advocates from both sides of the debate were part of an overflow crowd that filled city hall, and more than 100 opponents from churches in the Washington region held a rally across the street. Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council believes the DC Council is on a slippery slope to recognition of same-gender marriage. "It's unfortunate that the Council chose not to respond to the outpouring of opposition that...

On Thursday’s Countdown show, Michael Musto of the Village Voice appeared to help MSNBC host Keith Olbermann lambast Miss California, Carrie Prejean, because of her expression of opposition to same-sex marriage. After Olbermann set up the segment by revealing that Prejean had received breast implants paid for by the Miss California organization, Musto made a number of crude sexual jokes, and even cracked that she was like a "Klaus Barbie Doll," presumably a reference to Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie, who was a Gestapo officer responsible for thousands of deaths during World War II. Referring to the Miss California organization,...

The U.S. military is confirming that it has destroyed some Bibles belonging to an American soldier serving in Afghanistan. Reuters News says the Bibles were confiscated and destroyed after Qatar-based Al Jazeer television showed soldiers at a Bible class on a base with a stack of Bibles translated into the local Pashto and Dari languages.

For those who were shocked by Obama "faith" advisor Harry Knox knocking the Knights of Columbus, the Catholic men's group, as an "army of oppression," he is not alone. Gay activists are now taking pride in getting Knights charity drives crushed at supermarkets. Metro Weekly, a D.C-based gay "news" magazine, honored a man for his "Storefront Stand" -- he harassed Knights of Columbus volunteers raising funds for the mentally disabled (usually with Tootsie Roll candies) outside a Safeway store in northern Virginia. Allison also succeeded in getting other Knights thrown off one Giant supermarket's property. To passers-by at Safeway, Brad...

The flip-side of same-sex marriage Those who object on religious grounds need legal protection too. By Robin Wilson May 3, 2009 As a growing number of states stand poised to pass same-sex marriage laws, they should consider this: It's possible to legalize gay marriage without infringing on religious liberty. But it takes careful crafting of robust religious protections. And no state has gotten that right yet. The country is deeply divided on same-sex marriage. But once it is recognized legally, all kinds of people -- clerks in the local registrar's office, photographers, owners of reception halls, florists -- might not...

CBNNews.com - The House is expected to act on hate crimes legislation Wednesday. Opponents spoke out against the bill, Tuesday, on Capitol Hill calling it a "gag bill for ministers. The legislation adds gay and transgender people to the list of federally protected classes for hate crimes. Texas congressman Louie Gohmert is a former judge. He says the law already punishes people who commit terrible crimes for any reason. A hate crimes law, he said, would add nothing but punishment for pastors who preach biblically held beliefs against homosexuality. "It would not take too many arrests to have an extraordinary...

The shadow Leader of the House of Commons made the comment on Friday's Have I Got News for You, prompting complaints to the BBC, Ofcom and even the police. The openly gay MP, who is married to 40-year-old press officer James Dunseath, was commenting on remarks made by the reigning 21-year-old Miss California Carrie Prejean at the Miss America beauty pageant last week. She was asked whether every US state should legalise gay marriage, and replied: "I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. "No offence to anybody out there, but that's how I was...

Carrie Prejean, whose now famous answer on homosexual unions cost her the Miss USA crown, apparently has the power to inspire murderous fantasies from the powerful. Something very odd is afoot in the culture (and not just American culture), when an opinion shared by a majority of voters in most states inspires worldwide rage. The following comes from a senior Tory MP: Mr Duncan, who had earlier in the show revealed his ambition to become Home Secretary, was discussing American Beauty Queen Carrie Prejean's belief that same sex marriages were wrong. And the MP called her a "silly b***h" and...

Greetings, from a poolside cabana at a trendy boutique hotel in Santa Monica. Oh, how I love these overpriced overnight stays. The sleek designs. The ambient music. The uniformly attractive and stylishly dressed young staffs. The plush beds with sheets of an absurdly high thread count. Weird faucets and weirder sinks. I bask in the attention to detail. W is my favorite letter. Philippe Starck is a personal hero. As a realist, I've built into my mindset that the majority heterosexual population is less than exclusively responsible for creating this and countless other high-end consumer and artistic experiences. Plus, I...

See Video: http://www.butasforme.com/2009/04/27/miss-california-state-sponsors-told-me-you-need-to-not-talk-about-your-faith/Carrie Prejean said that her state sponsors urged her to apologize afterward [after telling a judge gay people shouldn't marry] but she rejected the advice and says officials from the Miss California USA pageant were worried that her comments would cost their contest financial backing and tried to prepare her for a string of post-pageant media interviews by discouraging her from discussing her religious beliefs. “You need to apologize to the gay community. You need to not talk about your faith. This has everything to do with you representing California and saving the brand,’” Prejean recalled being told....

The attacks aren't letting up on a pro-family organization whose leaders and workers were confronted with death threats for their effort in a program encouraging students to stay away from classes while pro-homosexual activists staged demonstrations.

A senior teacher has been suspended from his £50,000-a-year job after he complained that a training day for staff was used to promote gay rights. Kwabena Peat, 54, was one of several Christian staff who walked out of the compulsory session at a North London school after an invited speaker questioned why people thought heterosexuality was natural. The presentation was given by Sue Sanders, a co-founder of the Schools Out organisation which campaigns for gay equality in education. According to Mr Peat, Ms Sanders, herself a lesbian, said that staff who did not accept that being gay was normal had...

In an article linked to FreeRepublic, I made an erroneous statement about the legislation (HR1388) Obama signedon April 21st. I need to clarify that statement and this is my attempt to do so. We always demand that the MSM come clean when they misrepresent facts in the way they write articles. I have come to the conclusion after thoughtful deliberation that I need to set the record straight on a claim I made in my article. What follows will be a clarification of my article about the legislation pertaining to Obama's Youth Brigade. To everyone who might have a problem...

Federal lawsuit claims Eastern Michigan University dismissed grad student from counseling program for her views on homosexuality by Amanda Hamon | The Ann Arbor News Monday April 06, 2009, 9:49 AM A national legal group has filed a lawsuit against Eastern Michigan University on behalf of a graduate student who allegedly was dismissed from a counseling program because of her beliefs about homosexuality.The complaint was filed Thursday with the U.S. District Court in Detroit, according to a federal database of lawsuits.The Alliance Defense Fund Center for Academic Freedom says student Julea Ward was dismissed from her graduate program in March...

Meowww. The claws are coming out. The Miss USA contestants from the four states that allow same-sex marriage say Miss California should have been more politically correct and socially aware when she was asked for her thoughts on the issue during the nationally televised pageant on Sunday. Miss Massachusetts Alison Cronin told FOXNews.com she was "shocked" when Carrie Prejean, 21, told Miss USA judge and celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton that she believes marriage should be "between a man and a woman." Hilton's question — “Vermont recently became the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriage. Do you think every...

Mario Armando Lavandeira, Jr. told NBC's "Today," that Miss USA contestants need to be "politically savvy." Questioned about the Christian faith of Carrie Prejean he showed how little tolerance he has for people with differing worldviews saying he did not want her "talking about Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, because that's offensive." There was a word used when I was young which in most dictionaries refers to a cruel “ruffian”. The word was “thug”. In my opinion, Mario Armando Lavandeira, Jr. is a gay thug. As the verbal assault against Carrie has continued, her integrity and character have continued to shine. During...

MOSCOW, April 22, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A delegate of the Russian Orthodox Church to the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR), being held in Geneva this week, has asked that Christianophobia be included in international law as a form of discrimination and intolerance. "It is very important to the Russian Orthodox Church to raise the issue of introducing to the list of threats the notion of Christianophobia in addition to anti-Semitism and Islamophobia," deputy head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations Archpriest Georgy Ryabykh told the Interfax news service. Ryabykh pointed out...

A public hearing on the Maine Legislature's gay marriage proposal has opened with a standing ovation for the bill's sponsor. Sen. Dennis Damon received a roar of approval at Wednesday's hearing when he said the time has come to recognize same-sex marriages in Maine. He said his proposal -- backed by 60 co-sponsors -- "recognizes the worth of every man and woman among us." Gay rights activists have set a goal of establishing gay marriage in all six New England states by 2012, and they're already halfway there....

Artur Davis, D-Ala., admitted that the law would not protect a pastor from prosecution. Scarborough reported the U.S. plan is to be voted on in the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. "Hate crimes laws are actually 'thought crimes' laws that violate the right to freedom of speech and of conscience," warned Liberty Counsel. "Hate crimes laws will have a chilling effect on people who have moral or religious objections to homosexual behavior. Evidence of a person’s beliefs will be used against any individuals who are even suspected of criminal activity. "Hate crimes laws are unnecessary, as criminal laws already provide criminal...

Miss California Carrie Prejean, blasted by a Miss USA contest judge because she opposes gay marriage, may have grounds for a discrimination lawsuit herself — against the Miss USA pageant, a legal analyst says. "If she really feels some tremendous stress as a result of losing — and I'm certain she's probably devastated from what happened to her — she can articulate a viable claim for monetary compensation for psychic injury," said FOX News legal analyst Mercedes Colwin. Prejean fielded a question during Sunday night's pageant from celebrity blogger Perez Hilton about whether every state should legalize same-sex marriage. Prejean...

A case in which two preachers, including an American, were arrested for talking in public about Jesus will be appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, according to a law firm working on the case. Officials with the International Human Rights Group have announced plans to prepare the appeal of the case involving Larry Keffer, who works through the Biblical Research Center in Tampa, Fla. Keffer was accompanied by Norwegian evangelist Petar Keseljevic last year when both were arrested for sharing the Gospel along a parade route in Oslo, Norway. IHRG officials said they also will continue to watch...

Miss USA: Christians Need Not Apply

Check out the video on the Today show of Miss California, Carrie Prejean, claiming it wasn't about being politically correct but "biblically correct." She said it goes against what she stands for. She said she wouldn't change a thing and that she has a purpose and knows now she can go out to young people about standing out for what you believe in and stand up for what you believe in for anyone or anything even if it is for the crown of Miss USA. http://www.tmz.com/videos?autoplay=true&mediaKey=a8b115bb-6b53-4cf7-86e0-6439e56bb803

A vote is looming this week in Congress on a bill that one conservative activist warns would not only silence Christian opposition to homosexuality, but also would legitimize deviant forms of "sexual orientation." A markup vote is expected Wednesday in the House Judiciary Committee on the Local Law Enforcement and Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009. House Democrats only have to give 24-hours notice before the vote. The measure (H.R. 1913) sponsored by Representatives John Conyers (D-Michigan) and Mark Kirk (R-Illinois) would add homosexuals and transgender people to the list of classes federally protected from so-called "hate crimes."

The first openly gay Episcopal bishop told a Studio City gathering today that the church should begin mending divisions over the issue of same-sex marriage by getting out of the civil marriage business altogether. During a visit to St. Michael & All Angels Church this morning, the Rev. V. Eugene Robinson said he favored the system used in France and other parts of Europe in which civil marriage – performed by government officials – is completely separate from religious vows. In the U.S., the civil and religious ceremonies are often combined with the cleric signing the government marriage license. "In...

<p>NEW YORK — For most of the country, the unanimous decision this month by the Iowa Supreme Court to legalize same-sex marriage was an unexpected and seemingly random victory for a movement that has long drawn its deepest support from major cities in liberal coastal states.</p>

McCain Strategist Warns GOP Risks Becoming 'Religious Party' Steve Schmidt urges Republicans to begin voicing more support for civil unions and gay rights. FOXNews.com Friday, April 17, 2009 John McCain's top adviser from the presidential campaign urged fellow Republicans on Friday to warm up to gay rights and warned that the GOP risks becoming the "religious party" with its opposition to same-sex marriage. Steve Schmidt, in his first political appearance since the election, spoke at the Washington, D.C., convention for the Log Cabin Republicans -- a grassroots group for gay and lesbian Republicans. He urged Republicans, in the near-term, to...