Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Textbook Jihad - Pro-islamic Textbooks Infiltrate Florida Schools
Aug 8th, 2013
Daily NewsFox News
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

School officials in Florida are defending a textbook that declares Muhammad as the “Messenger of God” after critics accused an Islamic education group of launching a stealth jihad in American public school classrooms.

The Prentice World History textbook being used in Brevard Public Schools includes a 36-page chapter on Islam but no chapters on Christianity or Judaism.

According to a copy obtained by Fox News, The ninth grade textbook declares that Muhammad is the “Messenger of God” and instructs students that jihad is a duty that Muslims must follow.

“Jihad may be interpreted as a holy war to defend Islam and the Muslim community, much like the Crusades to defend Christianity,” the book states.

The textbook published large passages from the Koran, but failed to include any Scripture from the Bible. And while the book makes declarations about Muhammad being God’s messenger, it does not make declarations about Jesus being God’s son.

“Some believed he was the messiah,” the textbook noted in an entry about Jesus. The book noted that He was later executed, but failed to mention His resurrection.

Brevard Public Schools defended the textbook and said it provided a balanced view of world religions.

“An analysis of one textbook cannot provide a balanced understanding as to what the students in Brevard Public Schools are learning throughout their academic careers,” spokeswoman Michelle Irwin said in a statement.

She said the Prentice Hall World History textbook incorporated a review of the origin of Christianity and Judaism – subjects covered indepth in sixth grade classrooms.

She also pointed out the book was among those approved by the state of Florida and that parents as well as community members were given the opportunity to review the textbook before it was adopted.

The book has been used in the classroom for the past three years without any complaints – until now.

Susan Aspey, a spokeswoman for the book’s publisher, told Fox News the textbook is balanced.

“Pearson and its authors adhere to the highest editorial standards when creating course materials, which undergo a rigorous review process,” she said. “A review of the book shows there is balanced attention given to the beliefs of Islam, Judaism and Christianity.

William Saxton, the chairman of Citizens For National Security, testified before the Brevard, Fla. School Board, warning them that the book rewrites Islamic history and presents a biased and incorrect version of the Muslim faith.

“They promote Islam at the expense of Christianity and Judaism,” Saxton told Fox News. “It blew my mind to see the kind of propaganda, the pro-Islam information that’s in this book – at the expense of Christianity and Judaism.”

Saxton said he believes the inclusion is deliberate and he placed the blame an organization that was once called Council on Islamic Education. The group works with education officials and publishers to produce chapters on Islam for American textbooks.

But today, the Council on Islamic Education is known as the Institute on Religious and Civic Values. It’s founder, Shabbir Mansuri, is listed as an academic reviewer on the textbook used in Brevard County.

In 2001 the OC Weekly newspaper in California interviewed Mansuri about comments former Second Lady Lynne Cheney made lamenting the amount of time schools were spending teaching cultures that were not American. Mansuri took her comments as a personal attack.

“For the past 11 years, Mansuri has waged what he calls a ‘bloodless’ revolution: promoting an increased emphasis on world cultures and faiths – including Islam – inside American junior high and high school campuses,” the newspaper reported.

Saxton said he is highly suspicious of Mansuri’s organization and questioned why they changed their name.

“These people are dedicated to getting this language into the textbooks,” he said, noting their new name is “benign and does not sound “threatening or Islamic. “But the same people are running it.”

Saxton said they are hearing from concerned parents across the country – and the complaints have generally been the same: public school textbooks that favor Islam over other world religions.

“It’s a form of stealth jihad,” he said. “(Jihad) is not just blowing up buildings. It’s more subtle. I began to understand that one of the ways the bad guys are trying to threaten our way of life is through our children. The Islamists want to get to the hearts and minds of our kids.”

Saxton’s all-volunteer organization launched a nationwide study in 2009 to root out what they believed to be Islamic bias in American school textbooks. He said they found as many as 80 textbooks that overtly promoted Islam.

Last year, the Citizens For National Security was able to get a similar book removed from the classroom in Palm Beach County.

“In short, you are using an Islam-biased, flawed textbook that has neither partially nor fully been corrected,” he told Brevard County school leaders.

A spokesman for IRCV told Fox News they would agree to an interview but never returned repeated calls.

In 2009 Mansuri found himself facing similar accusations of promoting and glorifying Islam – accusations he strongly denied in an Orange County Register interview.

“IRCV is recognized within the education community for our expertise in teaching about world religions,” he told the newspaper. “This expertise stands from our long-standing interest in religious liberty, religious pluralism and the practice of faith within a civic social framework.”

He blamed the criticism on “children of 9-11,” who were miseducated, the newspaper reported.

Saxton said the Prentice Hall textbook is riddled with errors. He especially took issue with their definition of jihad. The book called it a personal duty for Muslims and a way to defend their faith.

“Violent Islamic groups have used jihad for centuries,” he said. “The 9-11 attacks were an example of jihad as terrorism, not self-defense. Declarations of jihad have been made for purposes of violence against Christians, Jews, Americans, British and fellow Muslims hundreds of times.”

The textbook also alleges that “Muslims consider Jews and Christians to be ‘People of the Book.’”

Saxton said in practice, Jews and Christians have been subjected historically to violence and murder by Muslims.

“Christians and Jews are permitted very few of the rights and freedoms that the Muslim majority is allowed,” he said.

The textbook said under Islamic law women are spiritually equal, although they may have different roles and rights.

“This content is confusing at best and intellectually dishonest at worst,” he said. In Egypt and other Arab countries, women may not be employed in the private sector because they belong in the home. Women are stoned to death under Sharia law in Iran for adultery.”

School Board member Amy Kneessy told Fox News she had a chance to read the textbook and she was especially troubled by the section about how Muslims treat women.

“I was really disheartened,” she said. “To see such a blatant misportrayal of how women are treated in Muslim countries, I found disconcerting.”

Kneessy said there seems to be a double-standard and found evidence of bias in a number of passages – especially when it came to religious wars.

“When wars were involving Jewish people or Christians, some very hard adjectives were used – like ‘massacre,’” she said. “Whereas when it was a Muslim group, it was ‘occupy’ or a very innocuous term.”

She said the school has an obligation to be fair and balanced when teaching history.

“War is never clean and tidy,” she said. “Wars are bloody. People die and bad things happen. The facts need to be reported fairly from all perspectives.”

Kneessy said she plans on asking the entire school board to reevaluate the textbook.

“I am concerned it is more ammunition that continues to water down what this country was founded on,” she said. “This country was founded with Christian values. God was very much a part of our government. When you take the religious context out of it, then you take away the very heart of what this country was founded on.”

State Funding for Temple Institute to Build Third Temple Stirs Controversy in Israel
Aug 8th, 2013
Daily NewsJpost
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

The state has been subsidizing nonprofit organizations that advocate the building of the Third Temple atop Jerusalem’s holiest site, an Army Radio expose revealed on Sunday.

Over the course of the last decade, the Education Ministry and the Culture and Sport Ministry have transferred between NIS 300,000 and 700,000 to a non-government organization known as The Temple Institute. Just last year, the group received NIS 282,000 from the Education Ministry and another NIS 134,000 from the Culture Ministry.

“The Institute is dedicated to every aspect of the Biblical commandment to build the Holy Temple of God on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem,” the group’s website reads. “Our short-term goal is to rekindle the flame of the Holy Temple in the hearts of mankind through education. Our long-term goal is to do all in our limited power to bring about the building of the Holy Temple in our time.”

Anyone browsing the group’s website could see images of models of the Third Temple, with the Muslim holy places like the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque conspicuously absent from these illustrations.

Army Radio also discovered that aside from subsidies, the state also permits young women who opt to forgo compulsory military service to perform national service as unpaid tour guides and instructors with the institute. The women are also sent to schools and kindergartens around the country to speak about their experiences as well as the educational programs the institute has to offer.

The Education Ministry responded to the Army Radio report, saying: “The nonprofit meets criteria for receiving subsidies that go toward instructing students who visit the institute, and this has been the case for over 10 years now.”

“The Temple Institute deals with research, and it is supported by the ministry in accordance with professional criteria that has nothing to do with directly supporting the individual who heads it,” a Culture and Sport Ministry spokesperson said in response.

“Thus far we have found nothing that would raise suspicions of incitement or anything unusual as it relates to the temple. In light of the Army Radio report, it is the ministry’s intention to bring this matter to the attention of our legal department.”

“For over 25 years the Temple Institute has stood at the forefront of research, education and preparation towards the time of the rebuilding of the Holy Temple,” a spokesperson for the Temple Institute told The Jerusalem Post. “The Institute's efforts have been recognized and awarded by Israel's Ministry of Education. Its trailblazing educational materials and scholarly publications have revolutionized these difficult areas of Torah knowledge for young and old alike.”

“Over one million people from all over the world, of every background and religion, have visited the Institute's exhibition located in Jerusalem's Old City," the spokesperson said. "The Temple Institute's website is the most popular and educational web site on the subject of the Holy Temple in the world."

"The rebuilding of the Holy Temple, called by the prophet Isaiah a 'house of prayer for all nations,' is a positive commandment, and the vision of the Temple's rebuilding, which will usher in an unparalleled era of world peace and harmony, is the central theme of the entire Torah. The Temple Institute is proud to represent the concept which has been heartfelt prayer of the Jewish people for two millennia.”

Radical Islam's New Training Ground As Muslim Prison Population Jumps 200%
Aug 8th, 2013
Daily Newsgatestoneinstitute.org
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The number of Muslim convicts in British prisons has surpassed the 11,000 mark for the first time, according to data included in a new report produced by the British Parliament.

The statistics -- from a July 29 House of Commons research report entitled, "Prison Population Statistics" -- show that the number of Muslim inmates in England and Wales jumped to 11,248 in 2012, up from 3,681 in 1997. Stated another way, over the past 15 years, the number of Muslims in British prisons has jumped by more than 200%.

The rate of increase of Muslim inmates in British prisons is eight times faster than that of the overall prison population, and the numbers show a clear overrepresentation of Muslim convicts: Muslims, who make up roughly 5% of the British population as a whole, now make up 13% of the British prison population (compared to just 6% in 1997).

The growth in the number of Muslim inmates is fueling fears that British prisons are becoming hotbeds for Islamic radicalization.

Although most of the Muslims in British prisons are immigrants from Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, an increasing number of Muslim inmates are converts to Islam.

According to a research report recently commissioned by the British Ministry of Justice, many non-Muslim inmates in British prisons are being bullied into conversion or are embracing Islam in exchange for promises of protection from physical assault.

The study examines the Islamic "gang culture" inside the Whitemoor Prison in Cambridgeshire, which houses around 500 of the most dangerous prisoners in Britain. Researchers from the Cambridge Institute of Criminology who wrote the report found that more than one third (39%) of the prisoners at Whitemoor are Muslims.

Prisoners told the researchers that they had felt overwhelming pressure to convert. In some instances, they said, Muslim inmates had left Islamic literature in their cells and ordered them to "read this." In other instances, inmates were promised that if they converted to Islam, they would be safe from physical assault.

The report states that if loners, including sex offenders, converted to Islam, fellow Muslims would defend them; they could thereby gain safety from a large and dominant group. Others used their newly acquired faith as a tool for status in establishing influence.

Non-Muslims and prison officers inside Whitemoor described Islam as an "organized gang" and a "protection racket," which "glorified terrorist behavior and exploited the fear related to it."

Prison guards said there were "proper Al-Qaeda" members in the prison who were regarded with "awe" by younger inmates. Some prisoners described Whitemoor as a "recruiting drive for the Taliban" and fertile ground for hatred and a new generation of extremists.

Guards also said they had a policy of "appeasement" towards the powerful and growing Islamic prison population, particularly convicted terrorists who were feared to be recruiting future extremists.

The report states: "The threat of assaults motivated by religious fanaticism or extremist ideology added weight to the atmosphere at Whitemoor," and continues: "The new population mix, including high numbers of Muslim prisoners, was disrupting established hierarchies in the prison. Social relations among prisoners had become complex and less visible. Too much power flowed among some groups of prisoners, with some real risks of serious violence. There were high levels of fear in the prison. In particular, there were tensions and fears relating to 'extremism' and 'radicalization.'"

The report concludes: "More prominent, in practice, were pressures (and temptations) felt by some prisoners to convert to Islam. Conditions in the prison made participation in Islamic practices the most 'available' option for those looking for belonging, meaning, 'brotherhood,' trust and friendship."

Meanwhile, British media recently reported that Dale Cregan, a notorious quadruple murderer who is serving a life sentence at the Manchester Prison, is being targeted by extremist Muslims who want to convert him to Islam.

Cregan, who is of Irish Catholic background, is said to be afraid of rival gang members who have offered a bounty to anyone who attacks him in prison. Muslims have offered to protect Cregan if he converts to Islam. According to prison officials, Cregan is so well known that if he converts to Islam, it would be seen as a way to further increase the influence of Muslim gangs inside the prison.

The growing problem of Muslim gangs taking over British prisons was the topic of a recent BBC investigation. The program includes an interview with a former inmate named Jay, who says, "Muslims run it. Muslims run the prisons and there's nothing the screws [British slang for a prison guard] can do about it. For a Muslim you'd say it's good but for a non-Muslim, it's very, very bad."

Jay, who has been in and out of prison for most of his life, openly admits helping to convert non-Muslim inmates to Islam, and has meted out violence against anyone who dares to "disrespect" his religion.

According to Jay, "It hurts as a Muslim to have someone disrespect my religion. If we deal with him one time, with violence, and show him what time it is, he will never disrespect our religion again."

Jay first went to prison when he was 15 and says there were hardly any Muslims inmates back then. "At the beginning not many knew about Islam. There weren't many converts. The mosque was empty, but nowadays jails are run mostly by the Muslims," he says.

"There are certain brothers that convert purely on the basis that they read Islam and they want to believe in something that does good for them. Then other people because they want to be looked after. I've been in jail five times," he says, "and on my last occasion, I've seen jails being run by Muslim inmates. Muslim prayers on a Friday are very, very busy. In some prisons there's no space. In one jail I was in, they do the prayers in two sessions because there's no space."

The BBC investigation also includes an interview with the national chairman of the Prison Officers Association, Colin Moses, who says: "People are being radicalized, forcibly radicalized by these gangs. We see it as a real danger, now and for the future of prisons."

Moses says that those who are in gangs or have converted to Islam often do it to carry out criminal activities. "As the Muslim population grows, the gangs are becoming more and more prevalent by the week and they fight to take control of the drug trade and the dealing of mobile phones in prison. This will make our prisons even more violent," he says.

Speaking anonymously, a former prison officer who worked at the Long Lartin Prison in Worcestershire talks about cases where non-Muslim prisoners were seriously assaulted and intimidated for refusing to abide by unofficial rules imposed by Muslim gangs, for example about eating pork or listening to Western music.

Writing in the July 2013 issue of the prisoner's magazine, Inside Time, a "long serving prisoner" at Long Lartin has this to say: "We are able to cook our own food here but if we attempt to cook pork in the communal kitchen it is deemed dangerous, even a threat to your life. The kitchen is usually occupied by 90% Muslims and we have been told if we cook pork we will be stabbed. There have been incidents here where people have been targeted and pressured and bullied into converting to Islam."

He adds: "I am writing to inform people of these radical extremists views in this prison where I see no official steps being taken to combat them. Young Muslim men are being radicalized in here and one day they may commit acts of terrorism in this country. There seems to be nothing being done here to stop it and people are scared to speak out. I hope we get some feedback from this; it needs to be sorted out."

Let the Headlines Speak
Aug 8th, 2013
Daily NewsFrom the Internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Obama administration using housing department to compel diversity in neighborhoods
...the Department of Housing and Urban Development is imposing a new rule that would allow the feds to track diversity in America’s neighborhoods and then push policies to change those it deems discriminatory. The policy, "Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing," will require HUD to gather data on segregation and discrimination in every single neighborhood and try to remedy it.  

Exclusive: IRS manual detailed DEA's use of hidden intel evidence
Details of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration program that feeds tips to federal agents and then instructs them to alter the investigative trail were published in a manual used by agents of the Internal Revenue Service for two years. The practice of recreating the investigative trail...is now under review by the Justice Department. Two high-profile Republicans have also raised questions about the procedure.  

Egypt crisis: US-EU call to end 'dangerous stalemate'
The US and the European Union have called on all sides in Egypt's political crisis to end "a dangerous stalemate" after the interim government said foreign mediation had failed. In a joint statement, they said the Egyptian government bore a special responsibility to begin this process. The army-backed government says it will break up sit-ins in Cairo being held by supporters of ousted President Morsi.  

EU refreshes diplomatic contacts with Iran
The EU has reacted to Iran's appeal for better ties with a series of informal meetings and friendly statements. French foreign minister Laurent Fabius met with Iran's ambassador to France, Ali Ahani, in Paris on Tuesday (6 August), while Italy's deputy foreign minister, Lapo Pistelli, the same day went to Tehran for a two-day visit.  

Egypt Islamists stage Eid protests after military holds back
Islamist supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi began marching to demand his restoration on Thursday after the military-led authorities that removed him held off from carrying out a threat to clear protest sit-ins by force. Interim President Adli Mansour declared ...that international diplomatic efforts... had failed and...warned protesters to leave their protest camps...  

Report: Iran launch site 'likely for testing ballistic missiles'
Iran has built a new rocket launch site which is likely to be used for testing ballistic missiles, The Daily Telegraph cites military analysts as saying. According to the report, satellite images of the structure taken last month and published by IHS Jane’s Military and Security Assessments shows a 23 meters tall launch tower sitting on a launch pad. The images also shows a 125 meters long exhaust deflector.

Legislating the Church Underground - Church of England to be Sued for Refusing to Perform Same-sex M
Aug 8th, 2013
Daily Newschristianpost.com
Categories: Today's Headlines;Persecution

A gay couple in Great Britain has announced plans to pursue legal action against the Church of England for refusing to perform same-sex marriage ceremonies, less than one month after the country officially legalized gay mariage, but explicitly excluded the Church from being forced to conduct the ceremonies as they go against biblical teachings.

Barrie Drewitt-Barlow and his partner, Tony, have been considered by many in Great Britain to be the "poster couple" for same-sex marriage legalization, as they became the first gay parents in 1999 through surrogacy, and have since had five other children through surrogacy. The couple had a civil partnership ceremony in 2006, and own a surrogate center in Chandlers Quay, Maldon.

The gay marriage legislation approved in Great Britain earlier this year, known as the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013, included a "quadruple lock" meant to protect the Church of England and other religious institutions from being forced to perform same-sex marriages against their faith. Under the current law, churches may "opt-in" to perform same-sex marriages, but they cannot be forced to conduct ceremonies.

Despite that highly-publicized safeguard being included in the legislation, many critics believed that gay activists would ignore that exclusion and continue to push for churches to be forced to participate in gay marriage ceremonies against their will. Now just weeks after the legislation was passed, it appears those fears were well-founded; Drewitt-Barlow and his partner argue that they wish to "test" this protection in court. The couple have claimed that they are practicing Christians and they want their children to see them wed in a church ceremony.

"We are happy for gay marriage to be recognised – in that sense it is a big step. But it is actually a small step because it is something we still cannot actually do," Drewitt-Barlow told the Essex Chronicle in a recent interview, adding he and his partner "need to convince the church that it is the right thing for our community for them to recognise as practicing Christians."

"It upsets me because I want it so much – a big lavish ceremony, the whole works, I just don't think it is going to happen straight away," Drewitt-Barlow continued, adding "as much as people are saying this is a good thing I am still not getting what I want."

The couple told Gay Star News that they have been speaking to the legal counsel at Cannon Law experience, which believes the couple may in fact have a case.

Additionally, the couple contends that some of the "biggest critics" of their decision to sue the Church of England have been members of the gay community, who have reportedly told the couple that they "should be grateful for what we have and telling us we should not feel we are representing the gay community as a whole." The couple argues, however, that this is a personal decision and they are not doing it on behalf of the same-sex community.

When introducing the "quadruple lock" plan for same-sex marriage in December, England's culture secretary Maria Miller assured the Church of England, the Catholic Church, and other religious groups that the new law would protect them from being forced to perform same-sex ceremonies. The law bans the Church of England and Church in Wales from performing same-sex marriages, and requires other religious organizations to "opt-in" in order to perform gay wedding ceremonies. 

However, Justice Minister Crispin Blunt admitted in June 2012 that the Same-Sex Couples Act's protection of churches could possibly be challenged in court.

"We're seeking to protect, indeed, proscribe religious organizations from offering gay marriage," Blunt, who is openly gay, said in June 2012.

"That may be problematic legally, but the proposal the Government are putting forward is that marriage should be equal in the eyes of the state whether it's between a same-sex couple or between a man and a woman. We'll have to see what happens with that," Blunt added.

The Church of England and the Catholic Church both spoke out at the time, arguing that they were suspicious over whether the promised safeguards granted to religious groups would hold up in courts, and they feared that churches may eventually be forced to perform same-sex marriage unions to avoid discrimination lawsuits. Others argued such a development would force churches to stop performing all marriages as they would not be permitted by church rules to perform same-sex ceremonies.

Colin Hart, director for the Coalition for Marriage, a pro-biblical marriage advocacy group, told the Daily Mail that the Church of England's previous concerns regarding their protection are warranted. 

"The ink's not even dry on the Bill and churches are already facing litigation. We warned Mr. Cameron this would happen, we told him he was making promises that he couldn't possibly keep," Hart said. "He didn't listen. He didn't care. He's the one who has created this mess."

"Mr. Cameron's chickens are coming home to roost and it will be ordinary people with a religious belief who yet again fall victim to the totalitarian forces of political correctness," Hart continued.

"We now face the real prospect of churches having to choose between stopping conducting weddings, or vicars, and priests defying the law and finding themselves languishing in the dock," Hart added.

The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 cleared parliament earlier in July and was officially signed into law by Queen Elizabeth II on July 17. The first same-sex weddings are expected to commence in summer 2014.