Two Presbyterian Pastors Face Likely Death Penalty in Sudan, Persecuted for Their Christian Faith

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Two Presbyterian Pastors Face Likely Death Penalty in Sudan, Persecuted for Their Christian Faith

<b>Christian Post Report</b> – Christian church in Sudan in this undated photo.” title=”<b>Christian Post Report</b> – Christian church in Sudan in this undated photo.” name=”jpg” src=”http://images.christianpost.com/full/74241/christian-church-in-sudan-in-this-undated-photo.jpg” class=”imgPhoto” width=”550″ height=”450″ /> <small class=(Photo: Reuters / Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah)

Christian Post Report – Christian church in Sudan in this undated photo.

Two Presbyterian pastors are facing a likely death penalty as their trial in the Republic of Sudan begins. The Rev. Yat Michael and the Rev. Peter Yen Reith of the South Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church have been charged with espionage and blasphemy, though the Church says they are being persecuted for their Christian faith, like other pastors in the Muslim-dominated country.

“This is not ‘something new’ for our church,” says the Rev. Tut Kony, pastor of the South Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church. “Almost all pastors have gone to jail under the government of Sudan. We have been stoned and beaten. This is their habit to pull down the church. We are not surprised. This is the way they deal with the church.”

Michael and Reith were initially detained without charge in December 2014 and January 2015, respectively, the PC(USA) said on Tuesday. The Church has reached out to human rights organizations asking them to speak out for the pastors and urge Sudan’s government to respect religious minorities.

David Curry, CEO of Open Doors USA, said that the pastors, who are both married and have children, may be facing the death penalty.

“I’m fearful that they will execute these pastors for practicing their faith,” Curry said, according to Fox News.

If not sentenced to death, the pastors could still face other harsh sentences, such as life imprisonment, or 40 lashes.

Sudan finds itself in 6th place in Open Doors’ World Watch List of countries where Christians face the most persecution for their faith.

The Islamic government of Sudan famously sentenced Christian mother Meriam Ibrahim to death for marrying an American Christian citizen in 2014, but after much international pressure decided to acquit Ibrahim of the charges.

The Christian mother, who refused to deny her faith in Christ despite intense pressure by prison officials, has since moved to the U.S. and become a symbol of faith.

The PC(USA) has asked Christian to pray for Michael and Reith’s release. It noted that Christians now make up only a tiny minority in Sudan and receive very little protection, as most followers of Christ stayed in or moved to South Sudan after it broke away in 2011.

A number of Catholic and Protestant churches in Khartoum have been destroyed or confiscated by authorities since South Sudan announced its independence, while Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has promised to make Sudan a ‘fully Islamic state operating under the strictest interpretation of Sharia Law.’

Kony said, however, that Christians in Sudan continue trusting in God.

He said about the imprisoned pastors: “They have spent five months in jail and if it exceeds to a year we still know that God will intervene, and they will be released because they did not commit any crime.”

Curry noted that life is getting more difficult for Christians in Sudan.

“This case in particular, we feel the charges are trumped up. These are just good citizens practicing their Christian faith, but the Sudanese government is using any tactic they can to push Christianity out of the market place and out of daily life, and unfortunately they are having some success,” he said.

Source : Christian Post

Carrie Underwood Celebrates 10th Anniversary of ‘American Idol’ Win, Says She Is ‘Blessed’

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Carrie Underwood Celebrates 10th Anniversary of ‘American Idol’ Win, Says She Is ‘Blessed’

carrie underwood (Photo: Reuters/Harrison McClary)

Christian Post Report – Carrie Underwood performs a medley of songs at the 47th Country Music Association Awards in Nashville, Tennessee November 6, 2013.

Carrie Underwood is celebrating the tenth anniversary of her career-making “American Idol” win, saying she’s “blessed” and is “forever grateful” to the show that changed her life.

The multi-award-winning singer first rose to fame after winning the fourth season of the reality television series in 2005. Shortly thereafter, Underwood’s debut album Some Hearts was released, becoming the fastest-selling debut country album in Nielsen SoundScan history with huge crossover success of the singer’s hit song “Jesus, Take the Wheel.” Today, as Underwood continues to ride the wave of success, the singer reflected on her initial feat on social media.

“So hard to believe it’s been 10 years,” wrote the 32-year-old along with a photo from her “American Idol” run.

Underwood added: “I’m forever grateful to ‘American Idol’ for changing my life. #blessed.”

The singer is one of the most successful artists to arise through “American Idol,” which will enter its final season next year. After winning the singing competition series, Underwood went on to set and break several records over the course of her career, and the singer has since been inducted into both the Grand Ole Opry and the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. Further, the “Before He Cheats” singer has won 11 Academy of Country Music awards, eight American Music awards, and seven Grammy awards.

Just last week, Underwood accepted the Billboard Music Award for Top Christian Song with her hit “Something in the Water.” The faith-filled ballad incorporates strong themes of Christianity such as conversion, baptism and keeping the faith, and the win marked Underwood’s 17th Billboard Award.

In addition to recognizing her 10-year “American Idol” anniversary over the weekend, Underwood shared a message about Memorial Day and honored the families of U.S. veterans who died in combat.

“I hope you all are enjoying #MemorialDay I am so thankful for those who have sacrificed their lives to keep us safe & free. #GodBlesstheUSA,” the singer wrote on Twitter.

Source : Christian Post

ISIS Claims to Be ‘Infinitely’ Closer to Buying Nuclear Weapon From Pakistan and Smuggling It Into the US

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ISIS Claims to Be ‘Infinitely’ Closer to Buying Nuclear Weapon From Pakistan and Smuggling It Into the US

John Cantlie (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Christian Post Report – British war photographer John Cantlie before being taken hostage by the Islamic State.

The Islamic State terrorist organization proclaims it’s now “infinitely” closer to buying a nuclear weapon and sneaking it inside the United States than it has ever been, a “far-fetched” claim that’s designed only to spark fear of deadly chaos on American soil.

In the latest issue of ISIS’ monthly English propaganda magazine, Dabiq, an article believed to have been written by captured British photojournalist John Cantlie states that it would be much easier than people realize for ISIS to acquire a nuclear weapon and smuggle it through South and Central Americas and up to the U.S.’s southern border.

The article, which is titled “The Perfect Storm,” presents the idea that ISIS could purchase nuclear weapons from corrupt Pakistani officials, by way of militants in the Islamic State’s affiliated Pakistani militia group.

“Let me throw a hypothetical operation onto the table,” the IJReview quotes the Dabiq article as stating. “The Islamic State has billions of dollars in the bank, so they call on their wilayah [province] in Pakistan to purchase a nuclear device through weapons dealers with links to corrupt officials in the region. The weapon is then transported overland until it makes it to Libya, where the mujahidin move it south to Nigeria.”

The article continues by reasoning that since drug shipments from Colombia pass through West Africa, it would make smuggling “other types of contraband from East to West just as possible.”

“The nuke and accompanying mujahidin [militants] arrive on the shorelines of South America and are transported through the porous borders of Central America before arriving in Mexico and up to the border with the United States,” the article explains. “From there it’s a quick hop through a smuggling tunnel and hey presto, they’re mingling with another 12 million ‘illegal’ aliens in America with a nuclear bomb in the trunk.”

The article readily admits that the scenario that was presented is a bit of an exaggeration, but still argues that given ISIS’ growth in the last year and expected growth for the coming future, there’s no limit on what ISIS’ capabilities will be a year from now..

“Perhaps such a scenario is far-fetched but it’s the sum of all fears for western intelligence agencies and it’s infinitely more possible today than it was just one year ago,” the article states. “And if not a nuke, what about a few thousand tons of ammonium nitrate explosive? That’s easy enough to make.”

According to The Independent, the Dabiq article also contends that any attack on America will be of much greater scale than any of its previous malicious attacks or murders elsewhere in the world.

“They’ll [ISIS] be looking to do something big, something that would make any past operation look like a squirrel shoot, and the more groups that pledge allegiance the more possible it becomes to pull off something truly epic,” Cantlie allegedly wrote. “Remember, all of this has happened in less than a year. How more dangerous will be the lines of communication and supply a year on from today?”

Anthony Glees, director of University of Buckingham’s Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies, told the Daily Mail that the claim that Pakistan would sell ISIS nuclear weapons is a “beggar’s belief.”

“It would be suicidal for Pakistan to supply them and suicidal for ISIS to seek to acquire them — it would lead to immediate military intervention,” Glees said. “However, it is possible that ISIS might try to acquire nukes from somewhere, but if so, all western intelligence agencies would be on the highest alert to prevent this.”

“As for getting non-nuclear explosives, well that would indeed not be hard. But they’re not nukes, I can’t believe ISIS could acquire nukes,” he added. “ISIS is swaggering and posturing. It is taunting both us in the West but also other Middle Eastern states and embarrassing Pakistan at the same time.”

Newsmax reports that U.S. officials claim there’s no indication that the militant group could obtain nuclear weapons and many other experts refuted the claim that it would be easy to smuggle nuclear weapons or other deadly explosives out of Iraq or Syria.

Source : Christian Post

‘Racism Is Much Worse Than We Ever Thought,’ Theologian Claims in Discussion About the Gospel’s Definition of ‘Race’

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‘Racism Is Much Worse Than We Ever Thought,’ Theologian Claims in Discussion About the Gospel’s Definition of ‘Race’

Christian Post Report – Not many Christians know what they’re talking about when they discuss racial reconciliation and their reliance on the modern social construct of “race,” as opposed to the Bible’s approach to the term, which leads to an “incomplete Gospel” and underestimation of the pervasiveness of racism, according to a New Testament scholar.

  • Jarvis J. Williams, associate professor of New Testament Interpretation at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.
    (Photo: www.sbts.edu)
    Jarvis J. Williams, associate professor of New Testament Interpretation at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.

“I think when we in the Christian community, when you listen to a lot of folks talk about … when they actually talk about racial reconciliation, I’m not convinced that many know what they’re talking about,” said Jarvis J. Williams, associate professor of New Testament interpretation at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. “There’s a sense of confusion about what race is, in terms of the modern social construction of race and how race functioned in the biblical word.”

He suggested that the “typical evangelical Protestant Christian” thinks the Gospel is limited to how one becomes a Christian. “And I’d be the first to say, ‘Certainly, that’s the foundation of what we find in the New Testament.’ How does one become right with God, trusting Christ by faith, believe that God offered Jesus to die on the cross for our sins and He raised Him up from the dead. But the Gospel is not only that. It is that, but it’s more,” Williams insisted.

In the professor’s view, if Christians are going to seriously take on the work of racial reconciliation in their churches, communities and organizations, then they must know how to “offer biblical responses to that question or to that issue.” That means “we’ve got to understand what the Bible means by ‘race,’ what we mean by ‘race’ in a modern construct, and thirdly, we must also understand what the Gospel actually is.”

As Williams explained it in a recent television interview, the category of “race” existed in the ancient world of the Bible and general society as a means of identifying oneself based on geography, politics, religion or dialect, and not by skin color.

“We have a lot of examples where a person identified as part of the Greek race because he spoke Greek. In terms of the Bible, you have the categories of ‘Jew’ and ‘Gentile’ and there are all sorts of different kinds of Gentiles, which would be non-Jews. But those Gentile people were not classified based on their skin color. Whereas in the modern construct of race, race is actually a category that derives from racist assumptions about classes of people,” Williams explained, before touching on the evolutionary theories of 18th century British biologist Charles Darwin.

Christians should consider the full scale of “otherness” in their efforts to embrace diversity, instead of simply focusing on skin color, he suggested.

If the Gospel, that is the good news of atonement through Jesus Christ, is to inform matters of racial reconciliation, then Christians must acknowledge “that all kinds of ‘others’ regardless of their ethno-racial identity, regardless of their skin color need to be reconciled to God and to each other …,” Williams said.

“So in my view, we shouldn’t pat ourselves on the back if we have a multi-racial church but no poor people. We shouldn’t pat ourselves on the back if we welcome people who are a different skin color but they have the same educational status. We should seek to be reconciling to all kinds of others, i.e. races, regardless of their race in terms of skin color, and regardless of their economic background, regardless of their education. So for me, ‘race’ is the big category that includes all kinds of other people; so therefore, racism is really much worse than we ever thought.”

“So when you actually look at what Jesus does and what he preaches in the New Testament, he is about the business of unifying all people in Christ into this new community of people and that unification takes place by people relating to God rightly, and then reconciling to each other rightly through the Gospel,” Williams added.

The SBTS professor and author of One New Man: The Cross and Racial Reconciliation in Pauline Theology referenced Luke 4:14-21, which tells of how Jesus entered a synagogue and read from the scroll of Isaiah about the promised prophet preaching the Gospel to the poor, to the oppressed, and bringing about their liberation.

“When you look at Jesus then in Luke’s Gospel after chapter four, he is going to all kinds of people — the social elite, the marginalized, leprous people, people who are healthy, people who are rich, who are poor. … And he’s calling them to repent of their sins and he’s recreating them into this new community of a new race of people filled with many different races. That, I would argue, is the Gospel. Not only how we get into the believing community, but how do we relate to each other once we are in,” Williams said.

Williams went on to explain his view that some churches neglect to address racial reconciliation because they do not understand it as a Gospel issue.

Jesus, a Jew, came to save Jewish and Gentile people, he said. “He came to save people, not an idea but actual people, and He’s calling these people into a new community of God by faith in him. So therefore then, if you do not practice horizontal reconciliation, I would argue that you have an incomplete Gospel.”

Watch Williams remarks in full at KET.org.

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Source : Christian Post

Strength Beyond Self

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Strength Beyond Self

Christian Post Report – 2 Corinthians 1:8-11

  • Dr. Charles F. Stanley
    (Photo: In Touch Ministries)
    Dr. Charles F. Stanley (File).

“Into every life a little rain must fall.” So goes the familiar saying about the inevitability of hardship. But what if the rain turns into a torrential downpour—a life challenge that requires strength beyond what is humanly possible? Paul describes such a situation in his second letter to the Corinthians. He wrote of an affliction that weighed so heavily on his heart and body that he didn’t expect to survive.

The apostle’s approach to his problem still works today: “We would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead . . . and will deliver us” (2 Corinthians 1:9-10). The strength that we need during trials is available through Jesus Christ, whose supernatural energy flows through every believer’s mind, body, and spirit.

How does this happen? When someone receives Jesus as Savior, His Spirit comes to live inside the new believer (John 14:17). As a result of this indwelling, the power that Christ demonstrated while on earth prevails in those who now call upon Him for aid. However, for us to access His supernatural strength, we must trust His promise to supply what we need when we need it (Philippians 4:19). As long as we attempt to muddle through using our own abilities, we will prevent His Spirit from unleashing divine help.

Jesus Christ’s power is released into our life when we acknowledge our helplessness. The effect is immediate. As soon as we surrender to the Lord, His might is working within us so we can endure hardship while maintaining our joy and peace.

Used with permission from In Touch Ministries, Inc. © 2015
All Rights Reserved.

Source : Christian Post

ISIS Brags of Raping Girls, Releasing Pregnant Sex Slaves to ‘Jihadi Husbands’ After Forcing Their Conversion to Islam

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ISIS Brags of Raping Girls, Releasing Pregnant Sex Slaves to ‘Jihadi Husbands’ After Forcing Their Conversion to Islam

<b>Christian Post Report</b> – Christians in Mosul are fleeing the city after ultimatum from ISIS in July 2014.” title=”<b>Christian Post Report</b> – Christians in Mosul are fleeing the city after ultimatum from ISIS in July 2014.” name=”jpg” src=”http://images.christianpost.com/full/74315/christians-in-mosul-are-fleeing-the-city-after-ultimatum-from-isis-in-july-2014.jpg” class=”imgPhoto” width=”550″ height=”450″ /> <small class=(Photo: Reuters)

Christian Post Report – Christians in Mosul are fleeing the city after ultimatum from ISIS in July 2014.

The Islamic State terror group recently released a propaganda article justifying the raping of girls, while boasting that they released some Yazidi women to their “ISIS husbands” after they converted to Islam.

In an ISIS propaganda article titled, “Slave-Girls or Prostitutes?, a woman who goes by the name Umm Sumayyah Al-Muhajirah was quoted as saying, “I swear by Allah, O you who feign to be knowledgeable and shout with falsehoods in every gathering, surely the slave markets will be established against the will of the politically correct.

“Some slave girls in our State are now pregnant,” she added, “and some of them have even been set free for Allah’s sake and got married in the courts of the Islamic State after becoming Muslims and practicing Islam well.”

In the propaganda piece, Al-Muhajirah continued to defend ISIS’ subjugation of women as sex slaves and argued that ISIS’ aim “is sublimity for the religion and humiliation of whoever desires a religion other than Islam.”

The woman also attempted to disparage First Lady Michelle Obama by declaring that she would not fetch more than $40 on the slave market.

Elise Hilton, a communications specialist at the Acton Institute and author of A Vulnerable World: The High Price of Human Trafficking, told The Christian Post: “Islamic extremism places no value on non-Islamic women. Islamic women are used as suicide bombers, recruiters and for child-bearing. Non-Islamic women have value only in that the can be sold, either as slaves or for sex trafficking.

“The places where this is most prevalent are also the places where Christians are most persecuted. It’s very difficult for Christian organizations to have ‘boots on the ground;’ it’s just too dangerous,” she added.

Hilton also told CP that “in December 2014, the Vatican hosted a multi-faith meeting that resulted in the signing of an agreement to work to end human trafficking by 2020,” and further mentioned the important work being done by International Justice Mission, a global organization that protects the poor from violence throughout the developing world.

Zainab Bangura, the U.N. special envoy on sexual violence, is calling for a global response to the sexual atrocities being committed against women and girls by ISIS. In an interview with the Toronto Star she explained that the terror group is known to include “40,000 men from more than 100 different countries [who are committing] brutal sexual violence as a strategic tactic to terrorize. We need all 100 countries involved, helping to deal with the aftermath.”

“We heard about one girl who was traded 22 times, and another, who had escaped, told us that the sheikh who had captured her wrote his name on the back of her hand to show that she was his ‘property.'”

In an interview with the Middle East Eye after touring refugee camps, Bangura added, “It was painful for me. The countries I have worked on include Bosnia, Congo, South Sudan, Somalia and Central African Republic; I never saw anything like this. I cannot understand such inhumanity. I was sick, I couldn’t understand.”

“After attacking a village, IS splits women from men and executes boys and men aged 14 and over. The women and mothers are separated; girls are stripped naked, tested for virginity and examined for breast size and prettiness. The youngest, and those considered the prettiest virgins fetch higher prices and are sent to Raqqa, the IS stronghold,” she continued, as reported by MEE.

“There is a hierarchy: sheikhs get first choice, then emirs, then fighters. They often take three or four girls each and keep them for a month or so, until they grow tired of a girl, when she goes back to market. At slave auctions, buyers haggle fiercely, driving down prices by disparaging girls as flat-chested or unattractive.”

According to the U.N., over 3,000 women and girls are enslaved by the Islamic State, many of them Yazidi. More than 5,000 Yazidis have been murdered by ISIS. Yazidis, are a Kurdish monotheistic religious community prevalent in Northern Iraq, and have long been persecuted by Muslims.

Source : Christian Post

Gay Vicar Pushes Church of England to Celebrate Transgender Identity Like a Baptism; Sex Change Surgery Is ‘Absolute Trauma’ Clergy Must Mark Occasion

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Gay Vicar Pushes Church of England to Celebrate Transgender Identity Like a Baptism; Sex Change Surgery Is ‘Absolute Trauma’ Clergy Must Mark Occasion

Church of England (Photo: REUTERS/Finbarr O’Reilly)

Christian Post Report – Members of the Church of England General Synod attend the opening at Church House in London February 6, 2012 .

A vicar in the Church of England has proposed a motion that would allow for a liturgical celebration of an individual’s identity following gender transition.

The Rev. Chris Newlands, the vicar of Lancaster Priory, recently proposed the motion for the church’s General Synod to consider.

“That this Synod, recognising the need for transgender people to be welcomed and affirmed in their parish church, call on the House of Bishops to consider whether some nationally commended liturgical materials might be prepared to mark a person’s gender transition,” reads the motion.

Newlands, who is in a civil union with another man, told the U.K. publication The Guardian his reasons for wanting the church to celebrate transgender identity.

“It’s an absolute trauma to go through this, with the surgery, as people get a lot of transphobic bullying,”  asserted Newlands. “The church needs to take a lead and be much more proactive to make sure they are given a warm welcome.”

This is not the first time that Newlands has been a critic of the Church of England over its position on sexual ethics matters.

In 2012, Newlands declared that the church had a “glass ceiling” for clergy who were openly gay and supported same-sex marriage.

The motion for church celebration of transgender identity is not without its critics. Andrew Symes, the executive secretary of the conservative Anglican Mainstream, told the Guardian that the “Christian faith has always taught that people are created male and female.”

“We are aware there are a number of people who want to change from one gender to another and that’s a new thing for the church to deal with,” said Symes. “It would be something that would go against the teachings of the church up till now. It would be something that would cause controversy.”

Source : Christian Post

ISIS ‘Burned Alive’ 20-Y-O Girl After She Refused ‘Extreme Sex Act,’ Forces Sex Slaves to Become Prostitutes, UN Rep Says

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ISIS ‘Burned Alive’ 20-Y-O Girl After She Refused ‘Extreme Sex Act,’ Forces Sex Slaves to Become Prostitutes, UN Rep Says

Iraq (Photo: Reuters/Stringer)

Christian Post Report – Displaced Sunni women fleeing the violence in Ramadi, carry bags as they walk on the outskirts of Baghdad, May 24, 2015. Iraqi forces recaptured territory from advancing Islamic State militants near the recently-fallen city of Ramadi on Sunday, while in Syria the government said the Islamists had killed hundreds of people since capturing the town of Palmyra.

Islamic State militants have allegedly burned a 20-year-old women alive because she refused to perform what a United Nations official deemed was an “extreme sex act.” The same official also disclosed that ISIS is forcing some sex slaves to be prostitutes.

As The Christian Post previously reported, Zainab Bangura, the U.N.’s special representative on sexual crimes in war, recently conducted interviews with displaced ISIS victims in Iraq and Syria, as she toured through five Middle East countries compiling information on ISIS’ sex crimes.

Bangura, who also visited Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon, recently spoke with the Middle East Eye and provided more shocking details of the horrors that women and children face at the hands of ISIS’ systemic sex trafficking operations.

“They commit rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution and other acts of extreme brutality,” Bangura asserted. “We heard one case of a 20-year-old girl who was burned alive because she refused to perform an extreme sex act. We learned of many other sadistic sexual acts. We struggled to understand the mentality of people who commit such crimes.”

ISIS (Photo: Reuters/Asmaa Waguih)

Ilham, a Yazidi woman, folds the curtain of the tent where she lives in a refugee camp near Duhok, February 26, 2015. Reuters photographer Asmaa Waguih: Ilham was kidnapped by Islamic State in August last year and was transported to Tal Afar along with other girls and women. She was raped several times by one of the militants. When Ilham tried to escape, some people she asked for help handed her back to the militants. She managed to get away a few weeks later. At refugee camps in northern Iraq I met and photographed Yazidi women who had survived being kidnapped by Islamic State. I needed government approval to visit some of the camps. The camp officials wanted to protect the women and were wary of the fact that I had a camera. It took a while for the women to get used to me. But when they did, they were happy to share their stories, to tell me what had happened to them. It is very difficult for women living in a quiet, conservative area to admit they have faced sexual violence. In some cases, I heard from camp officials that a woman had been raped, but when I met her she would speak of the brutality of the militants and then mention knowing that some women had even been raped. In general, escapees would try to find a time when the militants were busy working and then seek help. Sometimes people would agree to hide them and then find cars to take them to other areas. At other times they would return the women to Islamic State. Some had managed to escape in groups. Others had family members still being held by the insurgents. It’s a disastrous situation for these families’ and it’s not over yet.

Through the course of Bangura’s investigation, she has gained an understanding of how ISIS processes religious minority women and girls through its sex slave operation. After capturing the women and girls, Bangura said militants check them to see if they are virgins and examine the women for the features before shipping them off to be sold in sex slave markets.

“After attacking a village, IS splits women from men and executes boys and men aged 14 and over. The women and mothers are separated; girls are stripped naked, tested for virginity and examined for breast size and prettiness,” she said. “The youngest, and those considered the prettiest virgins fetch higher prices and are sent to Raqqa, the IS stronghold.”

In a media briefing earlier this month, Bangura stated that ISIS even strips girls naked and puts them on display for sale in sex slave “bazaars.”

In her interview with Middle East Eye, she further explained the pecking order in which the ISIS chain of command gets to pick which girls they get to buy, take home, rape and beat.

“There is a hierarchy: sheikhs get first choice, then emirs, then fighters. They often take three or four girls each and keep them for a month or so, until they grow tired of a girl, when she goes back to market,” Bangura said. “At slave auctions, buyers haggle fiercely, driving down prices by disparaging girls as flat-chested or unattractive.”

As virgins are valued more in ISIS sex slave markets, Bangura told the media briefing that one enslaved woman, who was bought and sold by over 20 different ISIS fighters, was forced to undergo virginity restoration surgery each time she was give to another ISIS fighter. She also mentioned how another sex slave was sold over 22 times.

As more and more radicalized foreign fighters are joining ISIS from nations all over the world, Bangura said that means more fighters are coming with the expectation of receiving a sex slave or jihadi bride, thus continuing to fuel the market.

“To understand this, we must examine the concept of jihad al-nikah, or sexual jihad — whereby women’s bodies are used as part of supporting the IS campaign,” Bangura stated. “There are tens of thousands of men who expect that they will ‘get’ women to ‘marry.’ A woman’s contribution is to marry them and cater for them in many ways, including sexually. IS men may have a wife, as well as several slaves. We heard few stories of wives who helped the slaves to escape.”

Source : Christian Post

Irish Archbishop Calls Passing of Gay Marriage in Ireland a ‘Social Revolution,’ Says Church Has ‘Big Challenge’ Ahead

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Irish Archbishop Calls Passing of Gay Marriage in Ireland a ‘Social Revolution,’ Says Church Has ‘Big Challenge’ Ahead

Ireland (Photo: Reuters/Cathal McNaughton)

Christian Post Report – Children wave rainbow flags as they stand with their same-sex marriage supporting parents at Dublin Castle in Dublin, Ireland, May 23, 2015. Irish voters appear to have voted heavily in favor of allowing same-sex marriage in a historic referendum in the traditionally Catholic country, government ministers and opponents of the bill said on Saturday.

Diarmuid Martin, the archbishop of Dublin, Ireland, believes the Catholic Church needs to reestablish itself as a moral authority in Ireland after the passing of same-sex marriage by popular vote last week.

Martin spoke with broadcaster RTE about the Catholic Church needing to reconnect with young people after a referendum found 62 percent of people were in favor of changing Ireland’s constitution to allow gays and lesbians to marry.

“We [the church] have to stop and have a reality check, not move into denial of the realities. We won’t begin again with a sense of renewal, with a sense of denial,” said Martin.

He also elaborated on the point of view of gays and lesbians who are now celebrating.

“I appreciate how gay and lesbian men and women feel on this day,” he continued. “That they feel this is something that is enriching the way they live. I think it is a social revolution.”

The archbishop admittedly voted no to the changing of the constitution, however, he does believe “gay rights” should be respected without changing the definition of marriage.

Martin also said he feels the church has lost its influence with the younger generation.

“I ask myself, most of these young people who voted yes are products of our Catholic school system for 12 years? I’m saying there’s a big challenge there to see how we get across the message of the church,” he said.

Around 84 percent of people in Ireland identify as Catholic. However, its influence in society and politics has dwindled along with church attendance since the early 1990s.

Last Friday, over 1.9 million people voted whether or not to amend Ireland’s constitution which originally defined marriage as being between one man and one woman. Voters were asked if they agreed with the statement: “Marriage may be contracted in accordance with law by two persons without distinction as to their sex.”

The victory for same-sex marriage comes just 22 years after homosexual acts were decriminalized in the country.

The referendum prompted many young people to vote for the first time. However, the older generation was not as quick to embrace the change.

“You can give gays their rights without redefining the whole institution of marriage. What they’re asking for is too much,” said 61-year-old voter Bridget Ryan to The Associated Press.

Ireland (Photo: Reuters/Cathal McNaughton)

A nun votes in central Dublin as Ireland holds a referendum on gay marriage, May 22, 2015.

Source : Christian Post

Australian PM Tony Abbott Says Australia Will Not Hold Gay Marriage Referendum, Despite Pressure From Lesbian Sister and His Family

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Australian PM Tony Abbott Says Australia Will Not Hold Gay Marriage Referendum, Despite Pressure From Lesbian Sister and His Family

<b>Christian Post Report</b> – Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott speaks at a joint news conference with his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak during an official visit in Putrajaya September 6, 2014.” title=”<b>Christian Post Report</b> – Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott speaks at a joint news conference with his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak during an official visit in Putrajaya September 6, 2014.” name=”jpg” src=”http://images.christianpost.com/full/83931/australian-prime-minister-tony-abbott-speaks-at-a-joint-news-conference-with-his-malaysian-counterpart-najib-razak-during-an-official-visit-in-putrajaya-september-6-2014.jpg” class=”imgPhoto” width=”550″ height=”450″ /> <small class=(Photo: Reuters/Olivia Harris)

Christian Post Report – Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott speaks at a joint news conference with his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak during an official visit in Putrajaya September 6, 2014.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has said that his country will not follow in the footsteps of Ireland and hold a referendum on legalizing same-sex marriage, despite pressure from other politicians, including his own lesbian sister and fellow politician Christine Forster. Abbott added that he’s probably the last person in his family to uphold traditional marriage.

“Referendums are held in this country when there is a proposal to change our constitution and I don’t think anyone is suggesting the constitution needs to be changed in this respect,” Abbott said following the referendum in Ireland, the Irish Times reported on Monday.

“It’s up to members of parliament who are eager for change to decide whether they want to bring it forward.”

Australia permits gay couples to enter civil unions, but not marriage, a position which Abbott has defended.

On Saturday, Ireland became the first country in the world to legalize gay marriage by way of public referendum, when 62 percent of the population who voted chose to change the nation’s constitution to include same-sex couples in the definition of marriage.

Australian ACT Liberal Senator Zed Seselja suggested on Sunday that Australia should follow suit, even though he does not support gay marriage.

“If you are going to make such a fundamental change it should go to a referendum. I think there is a reasonable argument for that,” Seselja told the ABC on Sunday.

Forster, a Liberal Party politician, has said that she will attempt to change her brother’s mind and allow the issue to go to a referendum.

“I’d like something more from the current prime minister, who happens to be my brother,” Forster told Sky News.

“I absolutely will be lobbying my brother, and I hope the party room makes enough noise about this.”

Bills looking to legalize same-sex marriage have failed in the Australian parliament in recent years, with the high court striking down such proposals in December 2013.

Abbot, who is a Roman Catholic, admitted that he’s probably the last person in his family to uphold the traditional definition of marriage.

“Inside the Abbott family I’m probably the last holdout for the traditional position, so look, it is a serious issue,” he said.

“I don’t know if and when it’s going to come before our parliament again. It came before our parliament in the last term and was dealt with fairly decisively,” the PM added about future gay marriage legislation.

Source : Christian Post

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