The Scriptorium

In the continuing saga of the Plano Independent School District and their grinch-like ways, a federal judge has granted a temporary restraining order. This order will allow attendees of the “winter break party” to exchange candy canes with religious messages and to wear red and green. With the U.S. Justice Department also investigating the Plano ISD, it sounds like constitutional freedoms might actually win out in this case, and the school district will get an education on what our constitution is really all about.

WorldNetDaily: Judge rules against school district

Good news! Palestinian terrorists may start killing eachother. Maybe they’ll have less time to kill Jews this way.

A growing rift between Hamas and Islamic Jihad has led to a break in cooperation between the two groups, and is threatening to lead to an all-out clash between them, according to a leading Hamas preacher who recently slammed Jihad for trying to outmuscle Hamas.

“There was a time when there were more Islamic Jihadists than us, but now we are more than them, but nonetheless they have managed to take over the media and to get ahead of us, and are now intensively competing with us,” said Fathi Hamad, a member of the Sura Council, the supreme Hamas religious body in Gaza responsible for the the organization’s communications system in Gaza. . . . . .

This disgusting scandal and the Oil for Arms scandal were all going on while the U.N. was condemning Abu Graib and proclaiming the Iraq war illegal and unjust. Hypocrites.

U.N. peacekeepers threatened U.N. investigators investigating allegations of sexual misconduct in Congo and sought to bribe witnesses to change incriminating testimony, a confidential U.N. draft report says.

The 34-page report, which was obtained by The Washington Post, accuses U.N. peacekeepers from Morocco, Pakistan and Nepal of seeking to obstruct U.N. efforts to investigate a sexual abuse scandal that has damaged the United Nations’ standing in Congo.

The report documents 68 cases of alleged rape, prostitution and pedophilia by U.N. peacekeepers from Pakistan, Uruguay, Morocco, Tunisia, South Africa and Nepal. U.N. officials say they have uncovered more than 150 allegations of sexual misconduct throughout the country as part of a widening investigation into sexual abuse by U.N. personnel that has plagued the United Nations’ largest peacekeeping mission, U.N. officials said. . . . . . . . . .

Washington Post Article

Hanging chads make a comeback in Ohio. Democrats will once again huddle around ballots and try to divine voter intent. Desperate to hold on to their claims to a stolen election in 2000, Jesse Jackson and every other left wing conspiracy theorist has been called in to join the battle. Jackson is still filing law suits and claiming voter intimidation and suppression of the black vote. For the most part he’s being shot down by Ohio election law and judges who actually uphold those laws. It remains to be seen whether the media will give this any attention. Even if the Dems don’t get the media spotlight, perhaps the whole exercise will help them in PEST recovery.

In a scene reminiscent of Florida circa 2000, two teams of Republican and Democratic election workers held punch-card ballots up to the light Wednesday and whispered back and forth as they tried to divine the voters’ intent from a few hanging chads.

Observers for the presidential campaigns of John Kerry, President Bush and Green Party candidate David Cobb kept watch from chairs a few feet away.

The scene is being repeated statewide this week in a recount in the state that put Bush over the top in the election last month.

Officially, Bush beat Kerry by 119,000 votes in Ohio, but two third-party candidates collected the required 113,600 for a recount they claim will show serious irregularities. The Kerry campaign is supporting the recount, though it has acknowledged it will not change the outcome.

Associated Press Article

I know I’m posting a lot of really depressing articles today. I’ll try and throw in some variety. This article is worth posting, though. If the events here are being accurately reported, this is truly scary. Especially ominous is the judges agreement in calling the Bible “fighting words”.

Four Christian protesters who demonstrated at a Philadelphia homosexual event face a possible 47 years in prison if convicted of felony charges filed against them, while a prosecutor referred to Scripture verses they read as “fighting words.”

The four are part of 11 demonstrators who went before the Philadelphia Municipal Court in a preliminary hearing this week. Judge William Austin Meehan Tuesday ordered four of the Christians to stand trial on three felony and five misdemeanor charges. If convicted, they could a maximum of 47 years in prison.

As WorldNetDaily reported, on Oct. 10, the group was “preaching God’s Word” to a crowd of people attending the outdoor Philadelphia “OutFest” event and displaying banners with biblical messages.

After a confrontation with a group called the Pink Angels, described by protesters as “a militant mob of homosexuals,” the 11 Christians were arrested and spent a night in jail.

Eight charges were filed: criminal conspiracy, possession of instruments of crime, reckless endangerment of another person, ethnic intimidation, riot, failure to disperse, disorderly conduct and obstructing highways.

None of the Pink Angels was cited or arrested. . . . . . . . .

WorldNetDaily Article

A “giving tree” in Bellevue city hall has made an atheist couple feel unwelcomed and offended. The tree generates $25,000 in donations each year, but no amount of charity is worth two atheists feeling uncomfortable.

The couple, who are asking the city to remove the tree, say it should be removed because “it is impossible for everybody’s religious belief to be displayed and non-religious belief to be displayed, so therefore, no religious beliefs should be displayed.”

Not displaying religious beliefs is doing exactly what they say can’t be done. It’s catering to their non-belief. They suggest that if you can’t cater to everyone, you should just cater to them.

Jennifer Stocks chimed in, “There are a lot of people who’ve come to this country, maybe have been here for years, who don’t feel freedom to say anything, so we feel we’re saying it for those people. Not just for ourselves.”

The hypocrisy here is staggering. Christians have been slapped with PC lawsuits Christmas after Christmas until most people are afraid to say the word Christmas, or put up a tree. Atheists and anti-religionists have no problem being heard. Read a newspaper.

As difficult as it is to watch our religious freedoms being systematically taken away, we should all remember that as Christians we can still rejoice, and we should praise God that we suffer for His name.

1 Peter 4:16 “However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. ”

Luke 21:12-19 “But before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. This will result in your being witnesses to them. But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. All men will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. By standing firm you will gain life.”

Komo 4 News, Seattle

We finally have a Justice Department that will at least acknowledge some of the religious discrimination going on in the U.S.

The U.S. Department of Justice has opened a preliminary investigation into a Texas school district that was sued yesterday for allegedly infringing on the rights of students and parents to exercise their Christian faith on school property.

As WorldNetDaily reported, lawyers filed suit on behalf of 20 students and parents of the Plano Independent School District, claiming the district’s policies and practices – which include a ban on candy cane distribution when a religious card is attached, a ban on parents giving religious-oriented items to one another on school property, a ban on criticizing school board members or administrators on campus, and the barring of any colors but white at a school “Winter Break” party – are unconstitutional.

WorldNetDaily

The Saudis are rounding up Muslim converts to Christianity again, and using torture to force them to return to Islam. This goes on regularly in Saudi Arabia, and occasionally makes it into the news. If American troops were rounding up Christians and torturing them, you can be sure it would be on all the front pages, and liberals would be calling for a publich linching of all those involved – and, of course, demanding to know how this benefitted Haliburton. As it is, our government simply puts them on a list that no one reads or pays attention to, and labels them “a country of particular concern”. Well, I’m glad they’re at least concerned.

Where are the resolutions from the U.N. condemning this horrific act? Where’s the conference on Christophobia? With the Arabs you can’t be so direct and accusatory. You must take the sensitive approach. If they’ve been on the “state sponsor of terrorism” list for a decade, and they’ve been waging jihad on any minority in sight since the beginning of time, then by golly it’s time to put our foot down and tell them we’re concerned.

Pray for Christians in Muslim lands.

Saudi religious police arrested a 30-year-old citizen who converted from Islam to Christianity.

Emad Alaabadi, who has a wife and four children, is in prison in Jeddah after his Nov. 29 arrest in the town of Hufus, reports International Christian Concern, a Washington, D.C.-based human-rights group.

Alaabadi was driving his children home from school Nov. 29 when he was intercepted by police. The police escorted him home to drop off the children then took him to prison in Hufus before being transferred to Jeddah.

The Saudi man made contact Dec. 4 with his mother in Australia, who said he sounded very weak.

ICC said if Alaabadi’s case is like others, he probably has been tortured as the religious police attemp to reconvert him to Islam.

Saudis are forbidden by law from converting to another religion.

The kingdom bars all public expression of religion, except for its strict Wahhabi interpretation of Islam. No church buildings are allowed, and religious police have cracked down at times on worship in private homes. . . . . . .

WorldNetDaily

The pre-Christmas attack on Christianity goes “merrily” on, but one school district is definitely in the lead for the “Grinch Award.” The Plano Independent School District in Plano, Texas has banned the colors red and green at the “Winter Break Party.” Parents have been asked to bring white plates and white napkins, sugar cookies with no colored icing, and students have been told to avoid wearing red and/or green clothing.

The ridiculous policies go on: candy canes may not be distributed if a religious card is attached, parents may not exchange religious items on campus, and there is a ban on criticizing the school board or administration on school property. One parent went to the school to ask if her daughter could hand out pencils with “Jesus” on them at her birthday party, and the principal got so upset that he called the police!

Parents and students have filed a lawsuit, and the complaint is 150 pages citing instance after instance of religious hostility at the school district. The Liberty Legal Institute and the Alliance Defense Fund have filed a lawsuit on behalf of 20 parents and students.

WorldNetDaily: Schools prohibit Christmas colors

Plano Independant School District board and administration email addresses

It’s really sad when a school has to consult with a lawyer before allowing certain music into a school. A performance by a Christian rock band at an anti-drug rally was cancelled after the principal of Rossford High School decided it was too controversial.

When parents weigh in on the possibility of a Christian rock band playing in a school, they tend to sound as if the performance could cause permanent psychological damage to their children, or at least create religious fanatics out of everyone in attendance. It’s the kind of hysterical reaction you would have expected from parents in the 60′s to a film about homosexuals. Now a film on homosexuality would not only be allowed, but mandatory.

When I was in school, our music curriculum covered a wide variety of music. We sang songs from other countries, in different languages, from different religions, and for different seasons, and never once did we consult a lawyer. Playing a religious song in a school does not violate the first amendment. For any liberals reading this, the establishment clause reads, “the congress shall make no laws respecting the establishment of religion”. In a Christian rock concert, are there any laws being established? No. And, my guess is Congress won’t even be in attendance. Ah…but that’s not all of the first amendment, you say. It continues, ” or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. ” So, Congress shall make no laws prohibiting the free exercise of religion, free speech, and the right to peaceably assemble. A Christian band isn’t Congress and they aren’t establishing any laws, but they are exercising their freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom to peacefully assemble. Something’s backwards here.

If it were Hindu music, Islamic music, or New Age music, they could call it multicultural studies, however Christians have no cultural value and are therefore banned. In a country that was at one time proud of our freedom of religion, secularists now take pride in removing religion from the public square as if they’re doing us a great service and saving our children.

Read the Article Here

Others blogging this article: David Limbaugh