NEW YORK STATE BLOCKS "ICE" & BORDER PATROL ACCESS TO "DMV" DATABASE

NEW YORK STATE BLOCKS "ICE" & BORDER PATROL ACCESS TO "DMV" DATABASE

 Governor Cuomo’s gift to ISIS, the drug cartels, and human traffickers

BY MICHAEL CUTLER

SEE: https://cms.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2019/12/new-york-state-blocks-ice-and-border-patrol-access-michael-cutler; 

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research 

purposes:

On December 17, 2019 Democrat & Chronicle, a publication affiliated with USA Today, published this extremely worrisome report: ICE, Border Patrol had access to NY's DMV database. With a new license law, now they don't.

Here is how that report begins:

ALBANY, N.Y. – Federal immigration and border officials have been blocked from New York's DMV database, a move that keeps them from accessing data that can be used to help determine whether a vehicle owner has a criminal history or a warrant for their arrest.

New York's Green Light Law took effect Saturday, allowing those without legal immigration status to apply for driver's licenses in New York.

But the law also included a provision prohibiting state DMV officials from providing any of its data to entities that enforce immigration law unless a judge orders them to, leading the state to cut off database access to at least three federal agencies last week.

Among them were U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP — which patrols the U.S.-Canada border in New York — and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

Providing illegal aliens with driver’s licenses is reckless beyond belief, and reverses a previous policy that had been implemented in the wake of the terror attacks of September 11, 2001.

I detailed some of my more salient concerns about the dangers inherent in providing illegal aliens with driver’s licenses in my earlier article, "New York Will Provide Illegal Aliens With Driver’s Licenses."

Now I want to call your attention to a paragraph from the official report, 9/11 and  Terrorist Travel - Staff Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States:

Exploring the Link between Human Smugglers and Terrorists

In July 2001, the CIA warned of a possible link between human smugglers and terrorist groups, including Hamas, Hezbollah, and Egyptian Islamic Jihad.  Indeed, there is evidence to suggest that since 1999 human smugglers have facilitated the travel of terrorists associated with more than a dozen extremist groups. With their global reach and connections to fraudulent document vendors and corrupt government officials, human smugglers clearly have the “credentials” necessary to aid terrorist travel.

It is clear that bogus identity documents can serve as camouflage for criminals and terrorists and that providing illegal aliens with official identity documents when their true identities may be unknown and unknowable directly undermines national security and public safety.  It is in direct conflict with the findings and recommendations of the 9/11 Commission.

Then there is this brief paragraph from that report:

Mohammed Salameh, who rented the truck used in the bombing, overstayed his tourist visa. He then applied for permanent residency under the agricultural workers program, but was rejected. Eyad Mahmoud Ismail, who drove the van containing the bomb, took English-language classes at Wichita State University in Kansas on a student visa; after he dropped out, he remained in the United States out of status.

The unavoidable fact is that an illegal alien terrorist was able to rent the truck that was used in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center and another illegal alien terrorist drove that bomb-laden vehicle. For terrorists around the world, motor vehicles have become their weapon of choice for deadly terror attacks. Consider the August 20, 2018 CNN report, Terrorist Attacks by Vehicle Fast Facts.

New York City experienced such a deadly terror attack on October 31, 2017 on the Westside Highway just block from what came to be known as “Ground Zero.”

Ironically, on October 31, 2019 CBS News in New York reported, 2 Years Later, NYPD Says Halloween Terror Attack Along West Side Highway Still Fresh On Its Mind.

While it detailed how, in response to the attack Westside Highway terror attack, barriers were being erected to protect pedestrians from future such attacks, we now see that barriers to the driver’s seat for possible terrorists have been willfully removed even though the 2017 Halloween Terror attack is still “fresh in the mind of the NYPD!”

But it has gotten worse -- unfathomably worse. The so-called “Green Light Law” not only requires that DMV personnel issue driver’s licenses to illegal aliens, but also prevents any and all information contained in the databases of the New York State DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) from being provided to ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and CBP (Customs and Border Protection), compromising and obstructing their ability to carry out their vital duties.

On December 19, 2019 USA Today published a report, New York law lets undocumented immigrants apply for driver's licenses, blocks ICE access that included this explanation for the “reasoning” behind the decision to block ICE and CBP from accessing the DMV database:

The law reversed the state's post-9/11 policy of denying driving privileges to immigrants without legal immigration status.State lawmakers inserted the data-blocking provision into the bill a week before it passed, when immigrant organizations and Cuomo expressed concern that ICE and CBP would be able to easily obtain information about immigrants seeking a license, perhaps making it easier for them to be deported.

Specifically, the provision says DMV "shall not disclose" any records or information to "any agency that primarily enforces immigration law.

"The only exceptions are if the DMV commissioner is served with "a lawful court order or judicial warrant," according to the law. Even then, the DMV has to notify the person at the center of a federal agency's inquiry within three days.

This “Green Light Law” will obstruct criminal investigations and aid and abet alien and drug smugglers and human traffickers.

ICE agents also conduct vehicle stops as part of their investigative assignments to combat a wide variety of serious crimes that include, but are not limited to, violations of our immigration laws.

Criminals who engage in human trafficking and/or drug smuggling virtually universally own and/or drive motor vehicles as an integral part of their crimes. Indeed, under 8 U.S.C. § 1324 - U.S. Code, transporting an illegal alien is a felony comprehended within the statutes concerning alien smuggling and harboring.

DMV records are vital to determining who the co-conspirators are in human trafficking and drug-smuggling criminal enterprises. Without DMV records the owners of vehicles used in these crimes will be shielded from ICE and Border Patrol agents and thus escape detection and prosecution.

This law has the potential to get Border Patrol and ICE agents badly injured or killed.

Border Patrol agents patrol the borders of the United States and, in their mission of interdicting illegal aliens and narcotics and other contraband, routinely stop countless vehicles along the northern and southern borders of the United States. Motor vehicles stops are among the most dangerous activities that law enforcement officers do. I have been involved in numerous vehicle stops and I can attest to how risky such stops are, although they are a routine part of law enforcement work.

ICE agents also conduct vehicle stops as part of their investigative assignments to combat  a wide variety of serious crimes that include but are not limited to violations of our immigration laws.

Any time police officers or federal agents prepare to make a vehicle stop, they radio in the license plate and description of the vehicle to determine if the plates match the car, to determine if the registered owner has an outstanding warrant, or to obtain other relevant vital information. If, for example the registered owner is the subject of an active warrant or the vehicle has been reported stolen, the officer will likely call for backup. Without that vital information, the Border Patrol or ICE agent making that stop may be walking into a nightmare scenario that may cost that agent his or her life!

There is another important matter to consider: CBP agents and ICE agents frequently encounter individuals who are the subject of active warrants by the NYPD or other law enforcement agencies. When such individuals are located, they are taken into custody and held for the law enforcement agency that posted the warrant in the database.

In fact, many of the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted” are encountered by other law enforcement agencies doing car stops.

Without access to the database such fugitives, wanted by the NYPD, New York State Police or other police agencies within the state of New York will not be stopped and continue on their way, perhaps to commit more crimes and kill or injure more innocent victims.

But this is clearly of no concern for New York Governor or legislature. I guess they think of dead victims as “collateral damage,” or perhaps speed bumps on the road to their corrupt political objectives.

ZAMBIAN PRESIDENT RESISTS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION'S PUSH TO LEGALIZE SODOMY UNDER THREAT OF LOSING AID

In December 2019, it was reported that Foote was "horrified" by Zambia’s jailing of same-sex couple Japhet Chataba and Steven Samba. After an appeal failed and the couple were sentenced to 15 years in prison, Foote asked the Zambian government to review both the case and the country's anti-homosexuality laws. Foote faced a backlash and canceled public appearances after he was threatened on social media, and was subsequently recalled after President Edgar Lungu declared him persona non grata. U.S. embassy sources said they "do not expect a replacement soon." 

(QUOTED ABOVE FROM: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Lewis_Foote

ZAMBIAN PRESIDENT TAKES CHRISTIAN STAND AGAINST DECRIMINALISING GAY SEX

PRO-GAY AMBASSADOR RECALLED AFTER SPEWING INSULTS ON ZAMBIAN PRESIDENT & CITIZENS

ZAMBIAN PRESIDENT RESISTS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION'S PUSH TO LEGALIZE SODOMY UNDER THREAT OF LOSING AID

‘It’s Unbiblical and Un-Christian’

BY HEATHER CLARK

SEE: https://christiannews.net/2019/12/26/its-unbiblical-and-unchristian-zambian-president-resists-trump-admins-push-to-legalize-sodomy-under-threat-of-losing-aid/; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:

LUSAKA — The president of Zambia is continuing to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to decriminalize homosexual sex acts worldwide, as U.S. Ambassador Daniel Foote threatened to pull aid to the African nation after two men received lengthy prison terms. President Edgar Lungu defended the sentence by declaring that homosexuality is “unbiblical and unChristian,” and “we don’t want it.” Foote has now reportedly been recalled from the country as Lungu refuses to work with him, and a replacement is not expected anytime soon.

“We have complained officially to the American government, and we are waiting for their response because we don’t want such people in our midst,” Lungu advised on ZNBC-TV on Dec. 15. “We want him gone.”

“You cannot ask a government to make a decision at gun point, [saying that] ‘because we are giving you aid, we want you to do this.’ You can’t,” Foreign Minister Joseph Malanji also remarked.

Foote, who was appointed in 2017 by the Trump administration, recently criticized the Zambian government after two men who were caught in the act of having sexual relations “against the order of nature” were sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Section 155 of the penal code in Zambia states that “[a]ny person who … has carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature; or … permits a male person to have carnal knowledge of him or her against the order of nature is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for fourteen years” to life in prison.

“We know that there could be people who are homosexual in Zambia. But we don’t want to promote it, because we frown upon it — the practice. Most of us say it’s wrong. It’s unbiblical, un-Christian and we don’t want it,” Lungu told Sky News on Dec. 2, adding that he felt the two men sentenced are “sick” and need help.

“Why should we be forced to do it … [W]e want to be seen to be smart, to be seen [as] civilized and advanced and so on,” he continued. “If there are such countries which will allow bestiality, let them do it. But not here.”

Lungu also remarked that the country would rather remain poor than have its financial aid being conditioned on such a matter.

“If that is the how you are going to bring your aid, I’m afraid that the West can leave us alone in our poverty and we will continue scrounging and struggling and see how we can get going,” he stated.

View Lungu’s remarks, in part, in the Sky News video report below.

Foote said that he was “horrified” at the severity of the sentence, and asserted that Zambians were not behaving in a Christlike manner because of the “venom and hate” that he received on social media following his remarks, which caused him to cancel a World AIDS Day event. He also expressed concern that Zambia was doing “untold damage to its international reputation by demonstrating that human rights in Zambia is not a universal guarantee.”

“I thought, perhaps incorrectly, that Christianity meant trying to live like our Lord, Jesus Christ,” Foote wrote in a statement. “I am not qualified to sermonize, but I cannot imagine Jesus would have used bestiality comparisons or referred to his fellow human beings as ‘dogs’, or ‘worse than animals’ — allusions made repeatedly by your countrymen and women about homosexuals.”

He also expressed concern that “[d]iscriminatory and homophobic laws, under the false flags of Christianity and culture, continue to kill innocent Zambians, many of whom were born with the [AIDS] virus. Your citizens are terrified of being outed as HIV-positive, because of the inaccurate and archaic associations between HIV and homosexuality.”

“My job as U.S. ambassador is to promote the interests, values, and ideals of the United States,” Foote explained at one point. “Zambia is one of the largest per-capita recipients of U.S. assistance in the world, at $500 million each year. In these countries where we contribute resources, this includes partnering in areas of mutual interest, and holding the recipient government accountable for its responsibilities under this partnership.”

Read his remarks in full here. 

According to Reuters, the Zambian government consequently sent a letter to U.S. officials, taking issue with his words and stating that the ambassador is “no longer tenable.”

The U.S. subsequently decided to remove Foote from the country as Lungu does not want to work with him.

“Since Lungu says he does not want to work with Foote, there was no point of him remaining. Also don’t forget that there are security issues so Washington wants their man back,” an unnamed State Department representative told Reuters. “The U.S. cannot be paying a salary to someone who cannot work because the hosts don’t want him.”

The AFP also reports that the representative advised, “We do not expect a replacement soon.” However, the U.S. desires “an open and frank relationship of mutual respect, commensurate with the generous aid provided to the Zambian people by the United States.”

“The United States firmly opposes abuses against LGBTI persons. Governments have an obligation to ensure that all people can freely enjoy the universal human rights and fundamental freedoms to which they are entitled,” they said.

THE CAMPAIGN TO DECRIMINALIZE HOMOSEXUALITY WORLDWIDE

Click to enlarge.

As previously reported, the Trump administration launched a global campaign to decriminalize homosexuality earlier this year, a move that Trump himself confirmed on social media in giving a nod to Pride Month.

“As we celebrate LGBT Pride Month and recognize the outstanding contributions LGBT people have made to our great nation, let us also stand in solidarity with the many LGBT people who live in dozens of countries worldwide that punish, imprison, or even execute individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation,” he wrote.

“My administration has launched a global campaign to decriminalize homosexuality and invite all nations to join us in this effort!” Trump urged.

View the tweets here.

In February, NBC News reported that “[t]he U.S. embassy is flying in LGBT activists from across Europe for a strategy dinner to plan to push for decriminalization in places that still outlaw homosexuality — mostly concentrated in the Middle East, Africa and the Caribbean.”

On Dec. 18, two U.S. ambassadors, including the openly homosexual Richard Grenell — who is leading the effort to decriminalize homosexuality worldwide — held an event at the United Nations entitled “Decriminalizing Homosexuality in Solidarity with LGBTQ People.” He spoke of the 69 nations that currently criminalize sex acts between those of the same gender.

According to Fox News, countries on the list include Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jamaica, Kenya, Senegal, Cameroon Antigua, Barbuda, Syria and Yemen. The outlet notes that 33 African countries recognized by the U.N. consider homosexual sex acts a crime. Punishments vary from nation to nation, from jail time to the death penalty.

“I want these countries to be called out! I want these countries to feel the pressure! This list should be read here every day,” Grenell said.

Others on the panel included Robert Destro, the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor; Stuart Milk, the executive director of the Harvey Milk Foundation and nephew to Milk; and Johnnie Moore, commissioner for the United States Commission for International Religious Freedom and former senior vice president for communications at Liberty University.

“We need religious leaders to stand up and say, ‘This is not only a bad law that needs to be changed, but it is in defiance of the human dignity of an individual,’” Moore said, according to Fox News.

Screenshot of press release. Click to enlarge.

The press release surrounding the event also pointed to the exhortation of President Trump in September at the U.N. General Assembly:

“As we defend American values, we affirm the right of all people to live in dignity. For this reason, my administration is working with other nations to stop criminalizing of homosexuality, and we stand in solidarity with LGBTQ people who live in countries that punish, jail, or execute individuals based upon sexual orientation.”

Read the press release in full here.

As previously reported, in 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized sodomy nationwide in the case of Lawrence v. Texas, which involved two men that had been charged with “deviate sexual intercourse” after they were caught engaging in a sexual act while police were investigating a complaint of a weapons disturbance.

“The case does involve two adults who, with full and mutual consent from each other, engaged in sexual practices common to a homosexual lifestyle. The petitioners are entitled to respect for their private lives. The State cannot demean their existence or control their destiny by making their private sexual conduct a crime,” wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy, a Reagan nominee. “Their right to liberty under the Due Process Clause gives them the full right to engage in their conduct without intervention of the government.”

The majority of the concurrence was Republican, joined by two Democrats: David Souter, nominated to the bench by then-President George H.W. Bush; John Paul Stevens, nominated to the bench by then-President Gerald Ford; Sandra Day O’Connor, nominated to the bench by then-President Ronald Reagan; Ruth Bader Ginsburg, nominated to the bench by then-President Bill Clinton; and Steven Breyer, also nominated by Clinton.

ZAMBIA DAILY MAIL EDITORIAL 

However, as previously reported, the Zambia Daily Mail published an editorial in July applauding Lungu’s refusal to cave to pressure from various western nations, noting that Zambia is a Christian country that seeks to be governed by biblical principles.

“In recent years, many developing countries have come under pressure from some sections of the Western world to embrace homosexuality in exchange for financial help. Those countries with the financial muscle use that to lure developing countries through hefty donations,” the piece read.

“For Zambia, which is a Christian nation as enshrined in the Constitution, embracing homosexuality is an affront to the declaration. Through the declaration as a Christian nation, Zambia chose to be governed by biblical principles,” it stated.

“The Bible is very clear about homosexuality; it is an abomination and is detestable before the eyes of God. It is a rebellion against God. God created human beings as male and female to get married and multiply and raise families.”

The outlet said that to disobey God is to provoke His wrath.

“God demonstrated His seriousness to His commands governing human sexuality when He rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah because of their involvement in homosexual activities (Genesis 19:24-25),” it outlined. “Whether proponents of homosexuality are aware or not, such acts attract the wrath of God.”

It also stated that God’s design was for children to be brought up by both a mother and father, and to deprive a child of that opportunity only brings confusion.

“The proponents are subtly packaging homosexuality as a sexual orientation and right. In whatever way it is branded, homosexuality is an abomination and has no place in Zambia,” the editorial concluded.

Read the Zambian Daily Mail piece in full here. 

THE BIBLE ON HOMOSEXUALITY

As previously reported, The Bible teaches in Genesis 19 that the city of Sodom was full of various wickedness, including homosexuality. It states that as the men of Sodom saw angels enter into Lot’s home, “both old and young” surrounded the house and called out, “Where are the men which came in to thee this night? Bring them out unto us, that we may know them.”

“I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly,” Lot replied.

The angels then “smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness” so that they could not enter, and advised Lot, “[W]e will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord, and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it.”

In the New Testament, Jude, the earthly brother of Jesus, pointed to the sorrowful fate of Sodom, writing, “Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”

In Romans 1:26-27, the apostle Paul described homosexuality as being “against nature,” “unseemly” and against “the natural use of the woman,” but declared with hope in 1 Corinthians 6:11, “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”

________________________________________________________

U S Ambassador to Zambia, Mr Daniel Foote respond Back to Zambian Government

SEE ALSO:

https://ratherexposethem.blogspot.com/2019/12/us-ambassadors-host-united-nations.html

ANOTHER CHRISTMAS IN THE AGE OF JIHAD: OPPRESSION & APPEASEMENT~SWEDISH SCHOOL FORCES NON-MUSLIM STUDENTS TO WORSHIP ALLAH ON PRAYER MATS

ANOTHER CHRISTMAS IN THE AGE OF JIHAD: OPPRESSION & APPEASEMENT

BY ROBERT SPENCER

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2019/12/another-christmas-in-the-age-of-jihad-oppression-and-appeasement; 

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research 

purposes:

Oppression of Christians in Muslim lands and appeasement of Muslims in post-Christian lands. My latest in FrontPage:

Another Christmas is upon us, and the story is familiar: in Muslim lands, Christians are oppressed and in constant danger of violent jihad attacks. And in the lands once known as Christendom, Christians freely abdicate their own traditions and mores in order to appease and accommodate Muslims.

Take, for example, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, Indonesia. In the Sharia-compliant Aceh province, the BBC reported Monday that Christians “are preparing to celebrate Christmas in makeshift tents in the jungle.” Why? Because “their churches were destroyed four years ago by Islamic vigilante groups and the police,” and “local authorities are stopping them from rebuilding.”

Another Indonesian province, West Sumatra, has “banned Christians from celebrating Christmas in private homes….This year, authorities have barred Christians from holding worship services and Christmas celebrations in Sungai Tambang, Sijunjung Regency and Jorong Kampung Baru, Dharmasraya Regency in West Sumatra.” An Indonesian named Sudarto, who is director of the Center for Inter-Community Studies, explained: “They did not get permission from the local government since the Christmas celebration and worship were held at the house of one of the Christians who had been involved. The local government argued that the situation was not conducive. It has been going on for a long time, so far they have been quietly worshiping at the home of one of the worshipers, but they have applied for permission several times. Yet the permit to celebrate Christmas was never granted.”

Nor is that all: “The house where they performed worship services was once burned down in early 2000 due to resistance from residents.”

Anti-Christian sentiment in Indonesia runs so high that Indonesian President Joko Widodo felt it necessary to warn Muslims against committing violence against Christians on Christmas. Nearly 200,000 police officers have been deployed to protect the nation’s Christians.

Meanwhile, in Australia, according to 3aw.com, “a couple were left stranded and out of pocket after a rideshare driver refused to pick them up because they had a Christmas ham….They ordered an Uber, but as they approached the car the driver told them the ride was cancelled.” Why? “The driver told the couple he wouldn’t take them home with the ham because he was Muslim.” But surely Uber fired or at least disciplined this supremacist clown, no? No. In fact, Uber charged the couple for a cancelled ride.

In England, reports the Mail on Sunday, “children at a primary school have been told not to sing the word ‘Lord’ in the Christmas carol Away In A Manger – so that pupils of all beliefs can join in….Youngsters at Whitehall Primary School in Chingford, Essex, have also been told to sing edited versions of two modern hymns when they attend a carol service and nativity play at a nearby church on Tuesday. The words ‘Jesus the saviour’ in the carol Love Shone Down have been replaced with ‘Jesus the baby’, while the words ‘new King born today’ in the carol Come And Join The Celebration have been replaced with ‘a baby born today.’”

Why? Whitehall Primary School head teacher Zakia Khatun explained that she didn’t want students of other beliefs to feel “excluded.” She “defended her decision, insisting the school is inclusive of all children, and maintained that last year 60 children did not attend the carol service and nativity at St Peter and St Paul Church in Chingford because of their religious beliefs.”

Britain has been home to non-Christians for centuries, and they never complained about Christmas carols. There is only one group in Britain that might object to calling Jesus “Lord,” and that group isn’t likely to attend the Christmas pageant now that the word has been removed, because the whole idea of celebrating the birth of Jesus is predicated upon the now-unmentionable title.

One mother noted: “If he was just a baby boy named Jesus, there wouldn’t be a celebration in the first place. He is our Lord and Saviour and King of all Kings – that’s the whole point. It is also a tradition – it is taking away the traditions of the country.”

Yeah.

And in Germany, a Muslim woman who supports the Islamic State (ISIS) “started an apprenticeship as a truck driver sponsored by the employment office, where she also stood out due to radical statements. During a driving exercise, she is said to have answered the teacher’s question of where she actually wanted to go: ‘I’m going to the next Christmas market.’” Christmas markets in Europe have more than once been targeted for jihad massacres.

None of this is new, or surprising. It’s just another Christmas in the age of jihad.

______________________________________________________________

Sweden: School forces non-Muslim fifth graders to kneel on prayer mats facing Mecca and worship Allah in Arabic

BY ROBERT SPENCER

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2019/12/sweden-school-forces-non

-muslim-fifth-graders-to-kneel-on-prayer-mats-facing-mecca-and-

worship-allah-in-arabic; 
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research 
purposes:

Imagine what Sweden will be like in ten years, or 25. Right, a lot more of this.



“‘Role Play’? Swedish School Forces Pupils to Recite Muslim Prayer in Arabic – Reports,” Sputnik News, December 24, 2019 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

Fifth-grade pupils in Bjurbäcksskolan, Emmaboda Municipality had to participate in a religion lesson, where they kneeled on prayer mats facing Mecca and worshipped Allah in Arabic, the news outlet Samhällsnytt reported.

The class was also reportedly divided by gender and the girls had to move to the back of the room.

“Today my girls came home from school and told me that they were forced to lie on prayer mats and pray in Arabic. The girls had to be in the back of the classroom. Then they would dance to Arabic music and eat Arabic cake. My girls did not even want to be there because they could not understand a word of what the teacher read from the Quran in Arabic”, an angry parent who called himself Markus told Samhällsnytt.

According to Markus, some students brought their own mats. The teacher distributed mats to the students who did not have their own. The pupils would be facing the Kaaba, the centrepiece of the Great Mosque of Mecca.

When confronted by parents, school authorities said it was “role-playing”.

“I was obviously upset to hear that. That the school, at lesson time, chooses to divide the children by gender and put the girls in the back of the classroom is absolutely crazy. As is kneeling on a rug and praying to Mecca. All while a native speaker recites the Quran”, Markus told Samhällsnytt.

According to Markus, kneeling in the face of a “hostile” religion that “oppresses and marginalises girls” contradicts the very idea of school education and sends the wrong kind of message, as is the idea that one gender is somehow more important than the other.

By his own admission, Markus wants the school to apologise, explain itself and follow Sweden’s laws. He has requested that the headmaster take a time out during the investigation period.

Tweet: “Swedish students in grade 5 in Emmaboda were forced to lie on Muslim prayer rugs turned toward Mecca and pray to Allah in Arabic. The headmaster dismisses it as ‘role play'”…

POPE FRANCIS ASSERTS: "THE CHURCH DOES NOT GROW OUT OF PROSELYTIZING---IT GROWS OUT OF ATTRACTION"

POPE FRANCIS ASSERTS: 

"THE CHURCH DOES NOT GROW OUT OF PROSELYTIZING---IT GROWS OUT OF ATTRACTION" 

BY HEATHER CLARK

SEE: https://christiannews.net/2019/12/24/pope-francis-asserts-the-church-does-not-grow-out-of-proselytizing-it-grows-out-of-attraction/;

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research 

purposes:

ROME — During a visit to a high school in Rome on Friday, Roman Catholic leader Jorge Bergoglio, also known as Pope Francis, told students that “the Church does not grow out of proselytizing,” but rather “out of attraction” and one’s life “witness,” stating that “[i]f someone says he is a disciple of Jesus and comes to you with proselytism, he is not a disciple of Jesus.” Some feel that Bergoglio was only referring to pressuring others into the faith, and was not condemning evangelism as a whole, while others believe that his remarks imply an opposition to confronting and “convincing” others as he opined, “The last thing I have to do is talk.”

According to reports, Bergoglio visited the approximately 800 students at Pilo Albertelli High School, where he answered questions from youth, including what he would say if an atheist asked for the reason to believe, and what his thoughts were toward other religions when he was a teacher.

“I am the son of a migrant, and this has made a culture of coexistence. I went to public school and we always had companions from other religions. We were educated to coexistence,” Bergoglio stated of his upbringing in Argentina, according to a translation of his remarks. “This [one] was Mohammedan; this [one] was Jewish. But we all played soccer together. We were all friends. This taught me so much: that we are all the same, all children of God. And this purifies your gaze. It makes you human.”

He said that as a teacher, it never occurred to him to say to students, “You are Jewish; you are Muslim. Come, be converted!”



“You be consistent with your faith and that consistency is what will make you mature. We are not in the times of the Crusades,” Bergoglio said, telling of his opposition to the forced conversions of Muslims during that time, sometimes under the threat of death.

He went on to explain that he doesn’t think the unsaved need to be won over with words, as example should peak curiosity. If an unbeliever inquires about one’s life, then they can be answered.

“In front of a nonbeliever, the last thing I have to do is try to convince him. Never. The last thing I have to do is talk. I have to live by my faith,” Bergoglio opined. “And it will be my testimony that will awaken the curiosity of the other who says, ‘But why do you do this?’ And that’s where I can talk. But listen — never, never proselytize the gospel.”

“If someone says he is a disciple of Jesus and comes to you with proselytism, he is not a disciple of Jesus,” he asserted. “The Church does not grow out of proselytizing. Pope Benedict said it grows out of attraction, out of witness. Proselytism is done by soccer teams — this can be done — political parties, it can be done there. But with faith, no proselytism.”

“And if someone tells me, ‘But why do you do this?’ [I tell them,] ‘Read, read, read the Gospel; that’s my faith.’ But without pressure.”

Read Bergoglio’s responses in full here.

Bergoglio’s remarks to Italian youth are not the first time that he has outlined that while he believes Christians are called to share the Gospel, he finds evangelism and proselytizing to be two different concepts.

“We need to ask the Lord to give us the grace to feel as Paul did: to feel that fire, that burning in our hearts, to evangelize. This has nothing to do with proselytizing; not at all. The Church, the Kingdom of God, does not grow by proselytizing,” he said in 2017 before the bishops of Bangladesh. “She grows by witness. That means showing by our words and our lives the treasure we have received. That is what it means to evangelize. I live this way, I live this word, and may others see this. But that is not to proselytize.”

“The Church grows not through proselytizing but through attraction, that is, through witness. Pope Benedict XVI said this. What is evangelization? It is living the Gospel; it is witnessing to how one lives the Gospel: witnessing to the Beatitudes, witnessing to Matthew 25, witnessing to the Good Samaritan, witnessing to forgiveness seventy times seven. And in this witnessing, the Holy Spirit works and there are conversions,” Bergoglio also stated that same year.

“This calling of the Lord is expressed with such humility and respect in the text from the Book of Revelation: ‘Look, I am at the door and I am calling. Do you want to open the door?’ He does not use force, He does not break the lock, but instead, quite simply, He presses the doorbell, knocks gently on the door and then waits. This is our God!” he stated in 2015 in Ecuador.

IS IT BIBLICAL?

However, while a popular statement in recent times is, “Preach the Gospel at all times. When necessary, use words,” a number of Christians note that such a sentiment is unbiblical as “faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17).

Michael Kruger, president of Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina, wrote in a 2016 blog post on the topic that while God’s people are “commanded to keep a close watch on more than simply our doctrine, but our lives also,” the common catchphrase “can give the impression that good deeds are primary, and that gospel proclamation is secondary.”

“On the contrary, the Bible makes it clear that ‘Word ministry’ — the proclamation of the gospel and the instruction of God’s people — is the core mission of the Church,” he explained. “The Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20) makes it clear that the core mission of the Church is Word and Sacrament: ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them … teaching them.'”

“In order to for people to believe and be saved, they have to hear the message of the gospel. Paul is clear about this reality: ‘How are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without some preaching?’ (Rom. 10:14).”

Brett Ricley of the site Display the Gospel also took the concept to task.

“The majority of Christians, who I know personally [and] who love this quote, are people that are scared of sharing their faith with others and almost never even talk about their faith in general,” he wrote. “Is this really what Jesus had in mind for his disciples when He rose from the grave and gave them His great commission? (Matthew 28:18-20) Live good lives, but only talk about it when and if it comes up?!”

“I struggle to see how any person can exegetically come to that conclusion after reading the book of Acts (not to mention any other New Testament letter),” Ricley said. “The early church community frequented public spaces and went from home to home on a daily basis (Acts 2:46) sharing the gospel, proclaiming the Kingdom, and teaching about the resurrected Christ as those who were eyewitnesses.”

He lamented that the mindset of simply waiting to be asked about one’s faith has caused such great harm — especially in the United States.

“[I]t’s this way of thinking that has led America to be one of the top ten mission fields in the world,” Ricley opined. “Statistics show that modern Evangelical Christianity in America is in steep decline, and I believe part of the reason for this is the horrifying statistic that concludes that 95% of believers will never share their faith with one person throughout the course of their entire life!”

“That, my friends, is truly pure disobedience to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is why quotes like the one above must be addressed, evaluated, and, if necessary, rebuked.”

In teaching a parable in Luke 14:23, Jesus said, “Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.”

In Ezekiel 33:8, the Lord also warned, “When I say unto the wicked, ‘O wicked man, thou shalt surely die,’ if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thine hand.”

“CHRISTIANITY TODAY” MUST BE REPLACED WITH ALTERNATIVE CHRISTIAN MEDIA

“CHRISTIANITY TODAY” MUST BE REPLACED WITH ALTERNATIVE CHRISTIAN MEDIA

SEE: https://pulpitandpen.org/2019/12/20/christianity-today-must-be-replaced-with-alternative-christian-media/; 

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research 

purposes:

It is time that the evangelical establishment’s flagship publication, Christianity Today, be replaced with alternative Christian media. We have the power, the numbers, and the readership to topple the liberal rag magazine and replace it with something that represents real evangelicals (the type who actually go to church, believe the Bible, and vote Republican).



The uber-leftist Christianity Today editor-in-chief, Mark Galli, ran an editorial in the magazine yesterday, calling for the U.S. Senate to affirm the impeachment findings of the Democrat members of the House of Representatives against President Donald J. Trump. This is shocking to mainstream news consumers who assume that Christianity Today (CT) speaks for evangelicals. But for those familiar with Pulpit & Pen, you are well-aware that CT – known as Christianity Astray by our readership – is a tool of the Evangelical Intelligentsia used as a political machine to drive evangelical voters to the left.

We recently posted Top Three Liberal Articles from Democrat Rag, Christianity Today. In that post, you’ll see the gross liberalism that they espouse (and it is gross).

CT has been overtaken by Democrat dark money and the Evangelical Intelligentsia (which is funded largely by Clinton Global Initiative member and convicted felon, James Riady, Democrat financier, George Soros, and the Kern Family Foundation).





Their online readership is massive, even though their print publication – like all print publications – is dying. They’re basically having to give the print version away for free and hovers at about 200k in publication.

On Alexa, a web-ranking service, places Christianity Today at 6,905 in the United States. Pulpit & Pen ranks at 7,492 – a hair’s breadth from a publication funded by deep Democrat money and with a full-time writing staff and tons of publicity.

Pulpit & Pen, on the other hand, a low-down and despicable, despised (supposedly) discernment blog has a shoe-string budget, volunteer writers, a couple of staff members on a stipend, and a team of freelancers from around the world working for peanuts. We are headquartered in a pastor’s study in rural Montana and the majority of our work is done from laptops stationed in residential houses around the country.



Behind Pulpit & Pen are all the alternative Christian news websites we have carved out a niche for in the marketplace including Reformation Charlotte, Capstone Report, and so many more. Together, especially, we can beat the “flagship publication” of America’s fake evangelicals.

Here are ways you can help throw Christianity Today in the dustbin of history where they belong and give ordinary Christ-followers a voice through alternative media:

Support P&P from our Patreon page. Even the smallest amount helps us beat the big guys, as we are already beating other leftist rags like Religion News Service (funded by a Soros dark money grant, by the way) and Relevant Magazine. When you do stuff, you get full-access to stuff like podcasts that not everybody gets.



Make a one-time financial gift to support our operations. You can do so by clicking here.

Support our book projects. Our Ungodly Mess books will savagely expose these leftists for who they really are.

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God loves the underdog. He loves confounding the wise with what is perceived as ‘foolishness.’ He loves exalting the poor and making lowly the proud. God loves using his heralds who are in the wilderness to change the world.

Please support Pulpit & Pen and any alternative Christian media you can find.