End Times News & Gospel Message

 1. Secular schools -Let’s begin today with a quote: 'No academic skepticism, no secularist authors, no blatant materialism can so undermine the spiritual life of the country like the completely secularized training of a child under the authority of the State. If we think we can keep our children in a secular school system and escape the violence, dumb down, amoral, and immoral results of secular humanism in schools, we are sorely mistaken." David Alan Black – Greek Professor

My friend’s daughter wrote the following in school Monday. She asked God why He allows mass murders in schools. God respond told her" I AM NOT ALLOWED IN YOUR SCHOOLS.

Storm on the Sea of Galilee

 2.  The Gospel message - I am glad I was not a disciple. Why, you ask? I don’t think I would have trusted Jesus like I should have. So when I read the Scriptures, I don’t get frustrated with Peter when he denies Jesus three times, or when he cuts off the ear of the soldier when they come for Jesus. I know myself pretty well, and I think I would fall into Peter’s camp.
People followed Yeshua, because they had seen His miracles. He was doing things that they’d never seen anyone else do. They began to wonder: Who is this miracle worker? Is He the Messiah? Is His power from God or Satan? They were so intrigued; many began to follow Him.
After Yeshua fed the five thousand with bread and fish then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, this is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.” The disciples just witnessed a major miracle. How did Jesus feed all those people? This could only be by the hand of God. But wait a minute, they just saw this amazing miracle and then a short time later, they are in a boat, and they are afraid because they are stuck in a terrible storm and the winds and the waves are roaring. They are afraid they will drown. The disciples were “Jesus veterans”, they knew Jesus intimately. They had seen His miracles of healing people’s diseases and feeding the masses. If anyone was going to trust Jesus, it would be these men. Yet, they were intensely afraid.
We often think we are better than the disciples in these stories, and that we wouldn’t be scared if a situation like that happened in our lives. But is that really true?
If a gunman broke into your house and pointed a gun at you and your kids would you be afraid?
What if you woke up one day, and our government declared a bank holiday where no banks would be open, and you couldn’t take out any of your money? That has happened has happened in America before, it was called a bank holiday.
What if one day, it is announced on TV that the US dollar is now worthless and now you can’t buy anything with it. Would you be anxious or scared then?
What if you looked up one night, and the stars literally began to fall out of the sky?
What if you looked up and saw a planet move out of alignment and begin hurdling towards earth?
What if you saw an alien ship appear in the skies and hover above your city or town? Remember if or when that does happen, it will be one of two things: It will either be a hologram, or it will be demonic. Either way, Jesus has more power than either one of those!
God says in Luke 21:25, 26 “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.”

One of these days, something is going to happen that will literally make men’s hearts fail when they see it. 9/11 was difficult to watch and very traumatic for those who were there, but people didn’t have a heart attack when they watched those buildings come down. Something is going to happen in the coming days that will be so shocking that people will literally fall over dead when they see it.
Would you be scared if your doctor said you had cancer and only had two months to live?
Would you be afraid if the President of the United States declared martial law, and you saw tanks and troops on the streets of your cities?
Remember that Jesus had a very simple answer for the disciples and for us today in John 6:20, 21: “But he saith unto them, it is I; be not afraid. Then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.”

I love that: “It is I; be not afraid!” Jesus means what He says. He doesn’t take days off. My eyes might not like what I see and my heart might not like what it feels, but we walk by faith and not by sight! He will never leave us nor forsake us!
Remember, when those bad days arrive, lost people will be looking at us. They will want to see how ‘we Christians’ handle the tough times. The coming days are the days that we can make our Savior look great in the eyes of the lost!
No matter what you see with your eyes at the end of 2012 and beyond, always remember Who you trust, so be not afraid!

Russian Marines arrive in Syria

 3.  In the Middle East - elements of Russia’s northern fleet are heading to Syria while Russia’s largest anti-submarine ship is headed to the Gulf of Aden.  Meanwhile, the U.S. has withdrawn the USS Eisenhower aircraft carrier and its Strike Group and the USS Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group with 2,000 Marines aboard from the eastern Mediterranean.

Putin promised both George W. Bush and Obama he wouldn’t give Iskander missiles to Iran or Syria. Well, this week  Iskanders, 300 Russian marines and a large assortment of weapons were unloaded at Syria’s port of Tartus.

Russia delivered 24 Iskander SS-26 mobile cruise missiles. The U.S. and NATO have no answer for the Iskanders because they travel at 1.3 miles per second and have a 280 mile range and pack a 1,500 pound warhead that hits with pin point accuracy. 12 were placed opposite Turkey and 12 opposite Jordan and Israel. All are pointed at NATO targets.

The Russians have raised the poker stakes in Syria.

In Iran, the Iranians now have enough plutonium for 24 type Nagasaki bombs.

 4.  With the Bible traditionally viewed as a document that condemns the actions associated with same-sex attraction, some anonymous editors have set out to reinterpret scriptures to create a new translation - “The Queen James Bible” - that is favorable to gays and lesbians.
It’s difficult to discern who is behind the publication of the “Queen James” Bible. The publisher of the book on Amazon is listed as “Queen James”. There is no organization mentioned on the web site advertising the alternative Bible. The editors, though unnamed, are bold in explaining their intriguing project.
“The Queen James Bible resolves any homophobic interpretations of the Bible, but the Bible is still filled with inequality and even contradiction that we have not addressed,” the web site notes.
“No Bible is perfect, including this one. We wanted to make a book filled with the word of God that nobody could use to incorrectly condemn God’s LGBT children, and we succeeded.”
The editors claim that the word “homosexual” was not placed in the holy book until 1946. Their new version is purportedly a purer take on the scriptures although references to same-sex attraction were clearly in the Bible from its inception.
Taking into account the eight verses that are most frequently cited in arguments against homosexuality and same-sex attraction, the editors amended them “in a way that makes homophobic interpretations impossible.” Because the King James translation is the most popular version of the Bible, it was selected for change.
Why “Queen James?,” you may be asking. According to those behind this new publication, King James the man who ordered the Bible translation, was a bisexual. We’ll let the editors tell you in their own words:
Commonly known to biographers, but often surprising to most Christians, King James I was a well-known bisexual. Though he did marry a woman, his many gay relationships were so well-known that amongst some of his friends and court, he was known as “Queen James.” It is in his great debt and honor that we name The Queen James Bible so.
Among the verses that they changes was Genesis 19:5. Originally reading, “And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? Bring them out unto us, that we may know them,” they amended it to, “And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men who came in to thee this night? Bring them out unto us, that we may rape and humiliate them.”
The rationale for this change, as described by the Bible’s editors, is as follows: We side with most Bible scholars who understand the story of Sodom and Gomorra to be about bullying strangers. Strangers were not well-treated or well-regarded at the time of Bible. We know Lot asks that the men do not “know” the angel visitors “wickedly,” (Genesis 19:7), in other words “brutally,” which we understand to mean “rape.” We know from Leviticus that one is not allowed to have sex with a beast, and angels are not human.
Plus, the passage mentions the men of the city; Obviously women and children aren’t going to be invited to a dominating and public rape, but we know there were women and children in Sodom because Lot had daughters. Rapes such as this one are common between men in prison; they aren’t sexual acts, they are power-dominating acts.
And as for Leviticus 20:13, which reads, “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lite with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them,” yet another interpretation is given. The Queen James Version now reads, “If a man also lie with mankind in the temple of Molech, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.” I believe King James probably was a wicked man, but it demonstrates that God can use evil man and evil events to accomplish good things. For example, God used Pharaoh to get his chosen people freed from bondage. God used Moses, a murderer to lead his people to freedom. There are numerous other examples. The bottom line, the King James Bible translation was a good thing.

5.     Friends, the reason we are experiencing these vicious attacks is that the shooters and their families are mind-controlled or patsies set up like Lee Harvey Oswald. Manchurian Kandidates controlled by the Illuminati are programmed to commit murder and spread mayhem and unwitting victims are their  patsies.  New Age author, Bill Cooper, stated in 1992 in his book, "Behold A Pale Horse", public shootings were being carried out by the Illuminati in order to so turn Americans against guns. The Illuminati wants the public to support a campaign of forcible removal of guns from the entire population. Friends, if we emasculate the Second Amendment the government will enslave us. One only has to look at the history of gun control to see that. What kind of Absolute Dictatorship will the Illuminati impose upon us, once they have removed our guns? Read carefully below and warn others.

a.  In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control and 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

b.  In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5
million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and
exterminated.

c.  Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, a total
of 13 million Jews, Christians, communists, Gypsies and others who were unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.

d.  China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million
political dissidents, unable to defend themselves were rounded up and
exterminated.

e.  Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000
Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and
exterminated.

f.    Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000
Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and
exterminated.

g.  Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one
million people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up
and exterminated.

h.  The total defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Century
because of gun control is over 56 million people.

Protocol #5 of Despotism and Modern Progress states, “These (gun control)  laws will withdraw one by one all the indulgences and liberties which have been permitted ... and our kingdom will be distinguished by a despotism (New World Order) of such magnificent proportions as to be at any moment and in every place in a position to wipe out any ... who oppose us by deed or word."

Did you catch the kind of dictatorship [despotism] that the Illuminati has planned for every nation once they are brought under the rule of Antichrist?

"... a despotism of such magnificent proportions as to be at any moment and in every place in a position to wipe out any ... who oppose us by deed or word."

Further, once they have full control, they plan on "wiping us out".

Now, can you understand why our Illumined leaders want to take our guns away, before the vast majority of citizens understand what will happen to us immediately after we turn in our guns? Absolute Dictatorship will quickly follow and millions of citizens will die. Patriots, we have past history as a guide.

Remember the historical fact that our Founding Fathers knew. Throughout history, the #1 killer of citizens was the government! In the 20th Century, the Absolute Dictators, Adolf Hitler of Germany, Josef Stalin of Communist Russia and Mao Tse-tung of Communist China brutally murdered their own people after the people had surrendered their weapons.

  6.     Pope Benedict XVI shocked and infuriated the world by his comments that child pornography and pedophilia might be considered "normal"! "Victims of clerical sex abuse have reacted furiously to Pope Benedict's claim that pedophilia wasn't considered an 'absolute evil' as recently as the 1970s ... Pope Benedict XVI also claimed that child pornography was increasingly considered 'normal' by society."

These remarks from the Pope reveals that Catholicism cannot be considered genuine Christianity, because all Biblical commands are absolute, simply and only because God Almighty issued them for all time and eternity.

Yet, Catholicism considers that something is right or wrong simply based upon the prevailing societal opinion. If you doubt this is what Pope Benedict meant, please carefully read his next statement.

"It was maintained — even within the realm of Catholic theology — that there is no such thing as evil in itself or good in itself. There is only a ‘better than' and a ‘worse than'. Nothing is good or bad in itself'.”

This damnable heresy has resulted in sex and financial scandals throughout the past 1,200 years! This statement alone stamps Roman Catholicism as a counterfeit "Christianity". The reaction of a former Catholic abuse victim was telling:

Barbara Blaine, the head of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said, "Catholics should be embarrassed to hear their Pope talk again and again about abuse while doing little or nothing to stop it and to mis-characterize this heinous crisis Barbara Blaine, the head of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, and it is fundamentally disturbing to watch a brilliant man so conveniently misdiagnose a horrific scandal', she added.

Why would Pope Benedict try to excuse such inexcusable sexual crimes by Catholic priests? There are two possible reasons: 1) Throughout the past 1,200 years, Catholic Popes, Cardinals and Bishops have protected each other and the priests under their control from being charged for their sex crimes. 2) Pope Benedict XVI may have covered up sexual crimes when he was Cardinal Ratzinger in Germany.

"The latest controversy comes as the German magazine Der Spiegel continues to investigate the Pope's role in allowing a known pedophile priest to work with children in the early 1980s."

What will the Lord Jesus say to the leaders of Catholicism on the day of final judgment?

"And then I will say to them openly (publicly), I never knew you; depart from Me, you who act wickedly, disregarding My commands." (Matthew 7:23KJV)

The abomination of Roman Catholicism is thus laid bare for all discerning people to know the true spiritual nature of this Neo-Pagan religion! No wonder the Illuminati is going to hand the global spiritual leadership of the New World Religion to the Pope, perhaps Petrus Romanus.

Predator Drone

  7.     Far from the battlefields of Afghanistan, a Predator drone was summoned into action last year to spy on a North Dakota farmer who allegedly refused to return a half dozen of his neighbor’s cows that had strayed onto his pastures.

The farmer had become engaged in a standoff with the Grand Forks police SWAT team and the sheriff’s department. So the local authorities decided to call on their friends at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to deploy a multimillion dollar, unarmed drone to surveil the farmer and his family.
The little-noticed August 2011 incident at the Lakota, N.D., ranch, which ended peacefully, was a watershed moment for Americans: it was one of the first known times an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) owned by the U.S. government was used against civilians for local police work.
Since then, the Washington Guardian has confirmed, DHS and its Customs and Border Protection agency have deployed drones — originally bought to guard America’s borders — to assist local law enforcement and other federal agencies on several occasions.
The practice is raising questions inside and outside government about whether federal officials may be creating an ad-hoc, loan-a-drone program without formal rules for engagement, privacy protection or taxpayer reimbursements. The drones used by CPB can cost between $15 million and $34 million each to buy, and have hourly operational costs as well.
In addition, DHS recently began distributing $4 million in grants to help local law enforcement buy its own, smaller versions of drones, opening a new market for politically connected drone makers as the wars overseas shrink.
The double-barreled lending and purchasing have some concerned that federal taxpayers may be subsidizing the militarization of local police forces and creating new threats to average Americans’ privacy.
Jennifer Lynch, a lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) that studies privacy issues and has sought information on drone use in the United States said, “We’ve seen bits and pieces of information on CBP’s Predator drones, but Americans deserve the full story,” “Drones are a powerful surveillance tool that can be used to gather extensive data about you and your activities. The public needs to know more about how and why these Predator drones are being used to watch U.S. citizens.”
The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), another privacy advocate which is pursuing litigation to force the disclosure of more information from DHS on drones, says it has found that the government has no official policies for how the drones can be used by local police, does not seek compensation from local law enforcement to recoup taxpayers’ expenses and claims it doesn’t keep records on how many times its drones have been deployed for local use.
“CBP’s drone program is shrouded in secrecy and legal ambiguity. Despite a specific mission to protect the border from illegal immigration and drug smuggling, CBP continues to let other federal agencies and local law enforcement bureaus use (its drones) for unrelated purposes.
Indeed, when the Washington Guardian inquired about how many times DHS or CPB lent drones to local authorities, officials responded they didn’t have a formal loan-a-drone program but did on occasion lend the UAVs to help local police. But they declined to provide an exact number or a list of localities.
Ian Phillips, a spokesman for Customs Border and Protection said, “While CBP does not have a ‘loan a drone’ program, we do work with national and sometimes state and local agencies for assistance.” Such answers aren’t satisfying to members of Congress worried about the costs to taxpayers and the implications of letting machines built for war to potentially impact privacy inside the United States in the name of security.
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., an influential voice on the federal budget said, “We should not run from our basic constitutional principles because we have fear. That’s the best way I know for us to lose liberty and you eventually give up your liberty if fear is your No. 1 guide.”
Local police departments, stretching from the Canadian border in the Midwest to the Mexican border in Texas, confirmed to the Washington Guardian they have summoned CPB drones to help in local police matters ranging from the service of arrest warrants to armed standoffs. Local SWAT commanders, in fact, said DHS and CPB encouraged the use of the drones to give its unmanned pilots training opportunities. And they argue the collaborations and deployments have helped saved lives.
Sgt. Bill Macki, the leader of the Grand Forks, N.D., SWAT team said,”CBP reached out to us for training. We have developed a relationship with them, and we can call them when we feel we need their help,” Macki summoned the drone back in August 2011 at the North Dakota ranch during the farmer standoff. Macki said his department has asked to use CPB drones three times –inclement weather prevented one of those deployments — and he personally knows of other local departments in the Dakotas that have also used the unmanned aerial vehicles in the last year. “The Predator drone helps us pull back and gives us the ability to control the perimeter and de-escalate the scene significantly,” Macki explained. “The drones have been a tremendous asset to our high-risk operations.” An added bonus for law enforcement is that so far federal officials haven’t asked the local cops to repay the costs. “We have not been charged by CBP for the use of the Predator drone.”
While ad hoc deployments continue, in May the Department of Homeland Security launched its “Air-based Technologies Program” to hand out grants to help underwrite local law enforcement purchases of their own drones, said John Appleby of DHS Science and Technology Directorate’s division.
The Texas Rangers, another local police agency, confirmed they too have summoned drones on several occasions from CPB, but said they do not keep records of how often.
A recent report by DHS’s inspector general, the agency’s internal watchdog, mentioned the Rangers’ use as one of several examples in which CPB has deployed its drones for outside police agencies – both at the federal and local level.
For instance, a CBP drone conducted surveillance for a sister federal agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, over a suspected smuggler’s tunnel. The mission yielded information that, according to an ICE representative, would have required many cars and agents to obtain, the report said.
The inspector general report warned that CBP has not implemented a formal process for participants to submit mission requests, and does not have agreements in place for reimbursement of the drone’s operational costs.
DHS is adding to its current drone fleet of 10 with the purchase of 14 more UAVs that will cost taxpayers $443 million. CBP officials have said they would like to ultimately fly the unpiloted aircraft to any part of the nation within a few hours at the request of other agencies to perform non-border security missions.
Safety in increasingly crowded American skies is also a concern. The Federal Aviation Administration has raised concerns about airport towers’ ability to recognize the UAVs.
Earlier this year Congress authorized the FAA Modernization and Reform Act that directed the FAA to accelerate the integration of unmanned aircraft into the national airspace system by 2015.
But numerous issues continue to dog the FAA’s progress of getting thousands of drones airborne. “Concerns about national security, privacy, and the interference in Global Positioning-System (GPS) signals have not been resolved and may influence acceptance of routine access for UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) in the national airspace system,” a September 2012 Government Accountability Office reported.
Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass. said, the “FAA does not appear to be prioritizing privacy and transparency measures in its plan to integrate nonmilitary drones into U.S. airspace, while there are benefits to using drones to gather information for law enforcement and appropriate research purposes, drones shouldn’t be used to gather private information on regular Americans.”
Others in Congress are supporting the expansion of drones. At least 60 lawmakers have formed a caucus to support the industry.
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif. Said, “UAVs have been absolutely critical in the fight against terrorism overseas, significantly reducing the loss of U.S. lives in war zones, which is one reason why I joined the House caucus. Another reason is that UAVs are made right here in San Diego.”
The impact of the drone industry can be seen in San Diego. It provides California with a much-needed $1.3 billion infusion of revenue.
According to a National University System report, the industry has doubled in the last five years and industry analysts predict the drone marketplace will double again and has the ability to grow its domestic business potentially adding $12 billion to the San Diego economy.
One of the smaller San Diego upstart drone companies, Datron, sees a bright future for smaller drones that weigh fewer than four pounds. Its top-selling drone, the “Scout,” flies for 20 minutes and provides real-time color videos needed to assist law enforcement agencies.
“Our product is geared toward meeting the mission requirements of our tactical users,” said Christopher Barter, program manager for Datron. The Scout operates using a PC tablet computer that is pre-programed, and requires little training. Barter says, “The Scout is the perfect search and rescue UAV.” Also, the 20-minute flight time curtails some privacy issues raised by civil liberties activists, he said.

Iraqi Chaldean Christians

8.     As Christmas approaches, it is worth remembering the historical roots of Christians in the Middle East, and recognizing just how much the plight of Middle East Christians has deteriorated.

 Over 2,000 years ago, Jesus was born in Bethlehem, inspiring a faith that would spread from Jerusalem to all parts of the Levant, including territories in modern Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, and Egypt.  Christianity flourished as one of the major religions in the Middle East until the Muslim crusades of the 7th century. Despite Muslim domination of the region, Christians comprised an estimated 20% of the Middle East population until the early 20th century. Today, however, Christians make up a mere 5% of the Middle East and their numbers are fast dwindling.
Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes estimated that Middle East Christians would "likely drop to" half of their numbers "by the year 2020" because of declining birth rates, exclusion and persecution that leads to emigration.
The "Arab Spring" has only worsened conditions for the indigenous Christians of the Middle East. Like the Kurds, Middle East Christians are a stateless minority, struggling to survive in the world's toughest neighborhood.
But the Kurds at least have enjoyed partial autonomy in Iraqi Kurdistan since 1991 and most of them are Sunni Muslim, making it easier for them to survive in the Muslim-dominated Middle East. Christians, on the other hand, are a religious minority that controls no territory and is entirely subject to the whims of their hosts. These host countries, with the exception of Israel, offer a grim future to Middle East Christians.
In Egypt, the fate of Christians lies with Mohammed Morsi, who used to be a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood, and who has lost no time in trying to introduce Sharia law to Egypt. Home to one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, Egypt also has the largest Christian population in the Middle East, totaling 8-12 million people. But because Christian Copts make up only about 10-15% of Egypt's estimated 80 million people, they have for decades lived in fear as second-class citizens, subjected to attacks on churches, villages, homes, and shops; mob killings; and the abduction and forced Islamic conversion of Christian women compelled to marry Muslim men. If such abuse took place under the staunchly secular regime of Hosni Mubarak, which had banned the Muslim Brotherhood, what can the Christians expect under the rule of an Islamist like Mohammed Morsi?
In Lebanon, Christians represent a bigger portion of the population, so their fate is for now less precarious than that of their Egyptian coreligionists, but their long-term prospects are worrisome. The Christian population is estimated to have dropped from over 50% (according to a 1932 census) to about 40%. Over the last few years, the de facto governing power in Lebanon has become Hezbollah, the radical and heavily-armed Shiite movement sponsored by Iran.
With all of the spillover violence and instability produced by the Syrian civil war and/or the next war that Hezbollah decides to start with Israel, the emigration of Christians out of Lebanon will probably only increase in the coming years, leaving those who stay increasingly vulnerable.
In Syria, 2.5 million Christians comprise about 10% of the population and enjoyed some protection under the secular and often brutal regimes of the Assad dynasty. But when the Syrian civil war eventually brings down the Assad regime and Alawite rule, the past protection of Christians may be the cause of their future persecution by the next regime and/or by the Syrian Sunnis who suffered under the Alawites. Christians have already been targeted and killed by rebels, and the sectarian chaos and violence that will likely prevail in Assad's wake will only increase the number of Christians fleeing Syria.
In Iraq, the bloody aftermath of the 2003 invasion demonstrated how dangerous life can become for a Christian minority when a multi-cultural society in the Middle East explodes into sectarian violence. By 2008, half of the 800,000 Iraqi Christians had left, rendering those remaining even more insecure. In 2010, Salafist extremists attacked a Baghdad church during Sunday Mass, killing or wounding nearly the whole congregation. Such incidents turn any communal gathering into a potential massacre, forcing Christians across the Middle East to ask the ultimate question of faith: "Am I prepared to die for Christian worship?"
As new Islamist regimes in the Middle East condone religious intolerance and introduce Sharia and blasphemy laws, the long-term trend for Christians in their ancestral lands will only grow bleaker.
The one bright spot is the state of Israel – "the only place in the Middle East where Christians are really safe," according to the Vicar of St George's Church in Baghdad, Canon Andrew White. Home to Christianity's holiest sites and to a colorful array of Christian denominations, Israel has the only growing Christian community in the Middle East. Because Israel is the only non-Muslim state in all of the Middle East and North Africa, it represents a small victory for religious minorities in the region, and serves as the last protector of freedom and security for Jews, Christians, Bahai, Druze, and others. Without Israel, how much more vulnerable would Christians in the Middle East become?

  9.     New census data released in Britain show that Islam is the fastest-growing religion in England and Wales. The number of people identifying with no religion has almost doubled over the last 10 years, and the number of those describing themselves as Christian has dropped to 59 percent, down from 72 percent in 2001. Major church denominations put a brave face on the results, arguing that people are less likely these days to call themselves Christian simply as a cultural indicator, and that those who say they are Christians tend to be committed to their faith. “Christianity is no longer a religion of culture, but a religion of decision and commitment,” said spokesmen for the Catholic Church and the Church of England. “People are making a positive choice in self-identifying as Christians.” The results of the 2011 census released this week apply to England and Wales only. Separate data from Scotland will be published shortly. Of the total 56.07 million people counted in the census, 33.24 million described themselves as Christian. The number of self-identified Muslims rose to 2.7 million--an increase from 3.0 percent to 4.8 percent over a decade, making it the fastest-growing religion. Islam’s 2.7 million adherents make it the second-largest religion in England and Wales, far ahead of Hinduism (817,000), Sikhism (423,000), Buddhism (248,000) and Judaism (263,000). Other mainstream and fringe faiths (including pagan, pantheist, wiccan, satanist, druid, “Jedi Knight” and others) lagged far behind, but the number of people declaring themselves to have no religion jumped to 14.4 million, from 7.7 million a decade ago. This means a full one-quarter of people in England and Wales now identify as having no faith. British secularist groups did not conceal their delight, reiterating predictions that Christians could be in the minority within five years. The British Humanist Association (BHA) had argued that the wording of the census form question – “What is your religion?” – was biased since it implied that every respondent has one. It campaigned to encourage people who are “not religious” to make that clear on the form, rather than simply tick a box reflecting family background or tradition. Terry Sanderson of the National Secular Society said the census figures “should serve as a warning to the churches that their increasingly conservative attitudes are not playing well with the public at large.” Arora, the Church of England spokesman, noted drily that the total membership of groups like the BHA and National Security Society “would barely fill half of Old Trafford” – the home stadium of Manchester United.