Three Christian men have been viciously assaulted in Pakistan after seeking to build a local church.

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According to the British Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA), the conflict began last summer when a man named Azeem Masih felt called by God to donate some of his land to the local faith community so they could build a church in the city of Sahiwal.

“Azeem and his family and all the local Christian families had all been going to separate house churches within the community,” BPCA explained, noting that God put it on Azeem’s heart to “unite [the] local worshipping community under one roof in a purpose-built House of God.”

When the local Muslim community heard about the plan, they were furious.

Eventually, local authorities halted the construction process after claiming that the Christian community failed to attain the correct planning permission. This decision came after local Muslim families pressured the authorities to take action.

But when Azeem decided to build his own house on the plot of land, the Muslims were up in arms once again, accusing him of “building a church again despite strict orders from the District Commissioner.”

Though the local police had arrested members of the two groups on a previous occasion, the Muslim community ramped up its aggression and ended up surrounding the small Christian enclave, taunting the families to come out of their houses.

“They called us Chura (dirty cleaners) told us that kaffir should be toilet cleaners and threatened to rape all our women before us,” witness Wilson Raza told BPCA.

“We pleaded with the men to leave us alone but they seemed intent on violence. The women were screaming and we all began to pray seeking God’s intervention to save us all.”

When the Christians eventually emerged from their homes, Azeem and his brother, Sajid, were shot in the head. Another member of the mob threw an axe at a Christian man named Razaq Masih — he sustained severe injuries to his leg.

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As police arrived, one of the Muslim men reportedly shot his friend in the leg to make it look like a battle had ensued between the two sides. The group of Muslims then fled and evaded arrest. The injured Christians were rushed to hospital.

“On arrival at the hospital all the men were treated immediately and after a one night stay with treatment Razzaq Masih and Sajid Masih were discharged,” BPCA noted. “However Azeem Masih suffered a more severe head injury and is still admitted at the hospital and is still in critical condition.”

BPCA added that the father of Azeem, Gulzar Masih, has reported the incident to the police. Shockingly, the case has yet to be taken up by local police.

“Despite guns being used, a man left critically ill in hospital and a beleaguered Christian community still receiving threats including fear all the young women will be kidnapped, raped and forced into Islamic marriage – local police seem to be doing nothing to progress the case,” the group noted.

“The Muslim villagers who are against us are powerful politically and financially and we have little hope for justice – after all we are hated Christians,” Raza added. “This attack has left us devastated and fearful many of us our deciding whether or not to leave our community where our ancestors have been since the partition of India.

Raza said that it was “heartbreaking that the simple act of building a church can cause enough offense to Muslims to lead to such violence.”

“This hatred is so deep there is little hope for our future generations,” he added. “Even then we trust God.”

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The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of BCNN1. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author(s).

If you have kids, or if you ever were a kid, you know about the television show Sesame Street. It’s been around for more than 50 years and it’s been appropriately described as an American institution, with lovable characters, entertaining stories, and unique music. It was the first television show to base its content on educational goals and a curriculum, and for so many children (and their parents), it made learning fun.

Indeed, if there’s one street that always felt safe for children, it was Sesame Street. And why not? It features a plethora of friendly puppets, an 8-foot tall yellow bird with no teeth, and a character named Mr. Snuffleupagus. Does any of this sound the least bit alarming? The show teaches concepts such as numbers and letters, and values including kindness, sharing, cooperation, and respect.

Of course, the show hasn’t been immune to criticism during its 50-year run. Google “Sesame Street controversy” and you will find plenty of examples. That shouldn’t be surprising, because like most media and entertainment, Sesame Street has long been located near the intersection of culture and progressive ideology.

But now, as culture becomes evermore polarized, and “progressive ideology” becomes increasingly “progressive,” parents need to ask themselves a serious question: Is Sesame Street still a “safe place” for my children?

For many, recent headlines have thrust this question to the foreground.

Sesame Street recently announced it will feature Billy Porter on an upcoming episode. Who is Billy Porter? He’s an actor and entertainer, and he’s been described as a “gay icon.” Billy stars in Pose, a television show about New York City’s LGBTQ and gender-nonconforming ballroom culture scene. In 2013, he won a Tony Award for his portrayal of “drag queen” Lola in the Broadway musical Kinky Boots. And last year, he made waves when he donned a black velvet tuxedo gown to the 2019 Oscars.

In case you’re wondering, Billy brought that dress to Sesame Street.

Not surprisingly, Sesame Street’s announcement generated quite the stir. Nearly 60,000 people have signed a LifeSite petition, asking HBO and its parent company, AT&T, to drop the episode. Billy responded, “If you don’t like it, don’t watch it,” and further told critics to “[s]tay out of my bedroom.”

Tony Perkins, President of Family Research Council, countered, “Leave the bedroom out of our children’s shows, and it won’t be our business.” He also noted that it appears Sesame Street is focused on teaching the letters “L-G-B-T.”

SOURCE: Christian Post, James Gottry

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Aegean locals are tiring of refugees from Turkey, but migration doesn’t look to be stopping any time soon.

Greece has decided to stop construction on new refugee camps, but Tasos Ioannidis with AMG International believes that the situation is only meant to appease locals and won’t last very long.

Neither are the islanders going to get what they really want. “They want, really, the refugees to be moved from the islands to the mainland, and the government does not want to do that, because then Turkey refuses to take back those who come but are denied asylum. So once they leave the islands it’s harder to return them if their applications for asylum are rejected. So it’s a complicated situation.”

If refugees can reach the mainland, they get much better care than in severely overcrowded refugee camps. AMG can also help them assimilate to Greek culture, training them in language and giving them permanent homes.

Ioannidis says, “There are times when there is medical help needed, and they have nowhere else to turn, So, in those cases, we do care for a number of refugees at St. Luke’s Hospital as the need arises and as we have the ability to do so.”

SOURCE: Mission Network News, Kevin Zeller

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The Parent’s Television Council (PTC) launched a petition against AT&T to stop children from stumbling across pornographic content.

“AT&T is a $19 billion Texas-based company that owns HBO and DirecTV,” said PTC president Tim Winter in an email to PTC supporters. “Both networks are damaging tens of millions of families with horrible porn streaming into our homes with programs targeting our children.”

Like PTC, Movieguide® has warned parents of the negative effects porn has on media consumers, specifically youngsters. Additionally, porn is seeping into the lives of young adults too. In recent days even, Steven Spielberg’s daughter said she’s getting into the porn industry.

Winter shared about his interactions with HBO, who, in turn, dismissed his concerns:

Last month, when I wrote to ask you to renew your support for 2020, I promised that two of PTC’s major goals for 2020 would include canceling AT&T porn shows like Euphoria and cleaning up streaming and satellite TV.

AT&T owns HBO, the creator of Euphoria. In response to our letters and petitions, AT&T’s HBO replied that Euphoria‘s 30 scenes of penises, child rape, and sexual choking were “creative freedom.” They called this explicit sexual violence “the art of TV” that will “entertain and engage audiences, and at times encourage a public dialogue.”

Sadly, HBO’s lewd programming isn’t a new trend. Movieguide® previously covered that descriptions of EUPHORIA show reveal that it’s vile beyond belief.

SOURCE: Movieguide

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President Trump wrapped up his trip to India this week by praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday, saying that they have worked hard to improve religious freedom conditions in the country.

The president’s two-day trip comes as ongoing riots and clashes between Muslim and Hindu groups over a controversial citizenship amendment that Muslims say is unfair has led to the death of at least 13 people in Delhi in recent days.

Although Trump did not take a position on the legislation, which has been criticized by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom as a possible “religious test” for citizenship, he did seem to express optimism regarding the condition of religious freedom in India.

Although Trump has vowed to promote religious freedom worldwide, his administration has not spoken out as boldly on the deteriorating religious freedom conditions in India as it has with other religious freedom violations across the globe, such as those in China.

Many called on the president to bring the issue up during his meeting with Modi.

Trump told reporters during a news conference that he and Modi “did talk about religious freedom” for “a long time.” Trump stressed that he “really believes” religious freedom is what Modi wants.

“The prime minister was incredible on what he told me. He wants people to have religious freedom,” Trump said at a news conference Tuesday. “He said that, in India, they have worked very hard to have great and open religious freedom. And if you look back and you look at what’s going on, relative to other places especially, they have really worked hard on religious freedom.”

Since Modi and the BJP came to power in 2014, rights groups have warned that Hindu nationalists have acted with relative impunity in attacking and persecuting Christians and other minorities that they view as “non-Indian.”

ADF India reported last year that there have been over 1,000 reported incidents of Christian persecution in India since 2014. ADF India and its partners who facilitate a database of Christian persecution report there to have been over a dozen incidents of Christian persecution in India in February 2020 alone.

Most recently, the database reported that police personnel raided Christians’ homes in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh at around 11 p.m. on Feb. 19. The Christians were reportedly warned that their names would be removed from a ration register and they wouldn’t be allowed to avail government facilities.

SOURCE: Christian Post, Samuel Smith

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U.S. Attorney General William Barr will be a featured speaker today at the National Religious Broadcasters convention in Tennessee. U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Jay Sekulow, one of the attorneys who defended President Donald Trump during his impeachment trial, are also on the schedule.

Barr’s afternoon presentation is part of a forum that will explore how the First Amendment should handle “divergent, and sometimes clashing, religious faiths,” according to the convention schedule.

DeVos and Sekulow will form part of a morning panel discussing public policy.

National Religious Broadcasters, or NRB, describes itself as an international association of Christian communicators. Members subscribe to a conservative statement of faith that includes a belief in the infallibility of the Bible, a belief that marriage is between one man and one woman and a belief that men and women have “distinct roles.”

The convention at a Nashville hotel runs through Friday.

SOURCE: AP

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Authorities have identified a woman’s body found off a forest road in northern Arizona as a New Mexico resident reported missing over a month ago.

Sasha Krause, 27, was last seen Jan. 18 picking up items from the Farmington Mennonite Church in northwestern New Mexico. Her car was parked outside.

A body that matched her description was discovered Friday near Sunset Crater Volcano and Wupatki national monuments, more than 270 miles (434 kilometers) away from where Krause last was seen. Fingerprints taken at the scene matched Krause’s driver’s license record in Texas, authorities said Tuesday.

The investigation into how she died is ongoing, said Coconino County sheriff’s spokesman Jon Paxton. The Coconino County medical examiner’s office said the results of an autopsy will take a few weeks.

“I think it’s all just kind of a mystery right now,” Paxton said. “Once we get a cause from the ME, that’s really going to lead us forward.”

Paxton said it’s unclear when Krause died or how long her body had been there.

Krause was wearing the same clothing—a gray dress with white pinstripes, a white jacket and black shoes—that she had on outside the Mennonite church in Farmington, New Mexico, said San Juan County, New Mexico, sheriff’s spokeswoman Jayme Harcrow.

San Juan County authorities have been treating Krause’s disappearance as suspicious, checking Krause’s cellphone records and bank statements, and interviewing those who knew her. Searches by ground and air near where she lived turned up no sign of her.

Krause lived close to the church with other women who were known to travel together. She also taught Sunday school, was seemingly happy, wasn’t struggling financially and had a good relationship with her parents, Harcrow said.

She disappeared after eating dinner with her roommates but without her wallet, money, her driver’s license or car, indicating she might not have left on her own or willingly, Harcrow said.

“Based off her leaving unusually and being found dead in a remote location, our office is comfortable saying we’re treating it as a homicide investigation,” Harcrow said.

SOURCE: AP

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