China continues its war against the Christian faith by forcing churches to replace hymns and spiritual songs with those praising the country.

Earlier this year, the Chinese government required all believers to sing from Newly Compiled Hymns, a hymnal published by China’s Two National Christian Council. As reported by Bitter Winter, a magazine on religious liberty in China, the new required singing includes Bible chapters through a secular lens.

“The hymns published by the government only promote political, secularized content,” director of a Three-Self church in China said. “All believers are unwilling sing them.” One of the hymns reads: “China is beautiful; China is great; the sons and daughters of China love China. … Bless China, O Lord.”

“Such hymns aren’t praising the Lord at all,” the director continued. “They are entirely praising the country, and are no different from secular songs. Isn’t the government engaging in dishonesty and deceit?”

Last month, churches in Mudan district were required to create “Christian cultural activity centers.” These places will “write and perform Chinese operas and skits; form activity groups for painting and calligraphy, Chinese operas, fashion shows, and photography; incorporate local cultural characteristics into Christian traditions, and promote the ‘sinicization’ of…

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark religious liberty decision Thursday and let stand a 94-year-old cross-shaped war memorial that was at the center of a dispute between an atheist group and a veterans organization. 

The court, in a 7-2 decision, ruled the 40-foot Bladensburg WWI Veterans Memorial – often called the Peace Cross – does not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. It sits on public property in Bladensburg, Md., and was completed in 1925.

The justices did not overturn the so-called Lemon Test as requested by some religious liberty groups but did issue a new set of principles that could protect other historic religious-themed monuments from lawsuits.

“The cross is undoubtedly a Christian symbol, but that fact should not blind us to everything else that the Bladensburg Cross has come to represent,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the majority. “For some, that monument is a symbolic resting place for ancestors who never returned home. For others, it is a place for the community to gather and honor all veterans and their sacrifices for our Nation. For others still, it is a historical landmark.”

Tearing down the cross, Alito wrote, could be viewed as an unconstitutional hostile act toward religion.

“For many of these people, destroying or defacing the Cross that has stood undisturbed for nearly a…

Khan Academy, a free online resource for homeschooling, includes some LGBT material, according to LifeSite News.

In one Khan Academy session, the lesson, “Irregular Plural Nouns: from ‘f’ to ‘ves,’” the student is asked to choose the correct plural noun to use in the given sentence.

“Brittany and Sofia went to lunch with their (blank) every Saturday,” the sentence reads.

The choices given are “wifes” and “wives.”

“Activist Mommy,” Elizabeth Johnston, told her readers on her blog, that Khan Academy has an “agenda.”

“It didn’t take long for leftism to creep in,” she said.

“Some might say that a parent could simply skip this one question while working with their homeschooled child, but the only reason this question even exists is that we have buried our heads in the sand and skipped over this garbage for far too long,” Johnston said Monday on her online blog. “If you think it’s just this one question, think again. There’s no doubt more material from this company, and likely others will soon follow suit.”

Khan Academy has received a Gates Foundation grant and another more than $17 million in funding. According to CBN News, the site is funded by corporate and private investors with “agendas.”

“This is proof once again that the gay agenda has never been about assuring equality for all,” Arthur Schaper of California Mass Resistance…

An atheist group is demanding a Wisconsin school district ban a pastor from future events after he discussed his faith at a graduation ceremony, mentioned “Jesus Christ,” and urged the students not to “succumb to the pressure of being politically correct.”

Pastor Alvin Dupree, a member of the Appleton Area School District’s Board of Education, delivered a 10-minute speech during the Appleton North High School graduation June 6.

“As the principal mentioned, whatever your source of strength is, you lean on it,” he said, according to Madison365.com. “Never let anyone make you hide it. For me, my source of strength is my faith and my relationship with Jesus Christ.”

When Dupree heard cheers, he added, “Sounds like I’ve got some believers in this room. If you are here and you believe that, go ahead and clap your hands. Never succumb to the pressure of being politically correct. Be you, wherever you go. Be you.”

The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), in a June 13 letter to the district, said Dupree has repeatedly discussed his religion during his time as a board member, including during an MLK Day of Service at a district high school. He mentioned religion at the 2017 high school graduation ceremony, too, according to the organization.

“Dupree is gleefully thumbing his nose at the Constitution – and at the students the district…

The FBI arrested a Syrian refugee on Wednesday who was planning to bomb a Pittsburg church in the name of ISIS.

According to Fox News, 21-year-old Mustafa Mousab Alowemer was under investigation by the FBI and he met several times in between the months of April and June with an undercover FBI agent and an FBI informant – both of whom were posing as ISIS sympathizers.

The FBI agent was able to uncover Alowemer’s plan to bomb Legacy International Worship Center Christian church in northern Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. According to Fox News, the 21-year-old disclosed details of his plan, information about the materials he purchased to build a bomb and Google satellite images of the church along with his escape routes to the undercover FBI agent.

ABC News reports that prosecutors found that Alowemer had recently purchased a handful of materials to be used to make a bomb including nails, batteries and chemicals.

Reportedly, Alowemer intended to carry out his plan in the early morning hours sometime next month.

According to a criminal complaint, while being investigated, the agent also learned that Alowemer – who came to the United States in 2016 as a refugee from Daraa, Syria – had been in contact with another ISIS supporter and had pledged his allegiance in a video to the leader of ISIS.

ABC News reports that the Department of Justice…