Christianity Under Attack

By Michael Coren

Toronto Sun

TORONTO -- As we prepare to celebrate the birthday of Jesus Christ there is surely nobody who seriously believes that Christianity is not under attack in North America. It was the author and critic Michael Medved, an Orthodox Jew, who pretty much summed it all up.
He made the point that even in a film as banal and forgettable as Alien 3, the secular establishment and its poodle that is media and entertainment managed to throw a few punches. In the movie, one of the violent sexual maniacs on a futuristic penal colony explains, "You know, we're all fundamentalist Christians here."
This, of course, is in outer space.
One would have thought the eternal struggle against man-eating aliens had little to do with organized religion, but apparently not.
Out of context, out of place and just dumb, it nevertheless enabled another group of Hollywood types to bash their favourite foe.
And let us be specific here. Organized religion invariably means Christianity. To attack an Eastern faith or even Judaism would be seen as being politically insensitive.
As for Islam, nobody in Hollywood or the Canadian movie and television business has the courage to risk a fatwa or two.
But in the final analysis it doesn't really matter. Tearing down Christmas trees, banning nativity scenes, mumbling happy holidays, preventing prayer in schools and council chambers - all the dying spasms of the liberal culture.
Now this is important. Never think that the attack upon Christianity is a sign of the decline of the victim. On the contrary. These attacks are evidence of the decline of the perpetrator. So insecure in their ideology are the atheist hordes that they try to destroy anything and everyone that reflects and exposes their weakness.
Every little victory for the secular culture is a major triumph for the Messiah whose birthday we are about to commemorate. Just as the Church was persecuted most harshly by a Rome in massive decline. The darkness before the new dawn.
The attacks also mean that the weak and watery ones fall away, leaving the faith to serious Christians who understand they are here not to edit but to follow Christ. So the culture-friendly types, who submit to every whim of decadence and materialism in their pathetic effort to remain popular, become irrelevant.
It's why the United Church will effectively disappear within 20 years, why the Anglicans will split and their liberal wing evaporate, why the attempt to hijack genuine Catholicism is now stone dead and why solid, orthodox churches are growing in all corners of the world.
It's not about socialism, recycling, sexual licence, climate change, group hugs, self-esteem or never offending anyone. It's about truth, unchanging Scriptural absolutes, church teaching, the undeniable facts of the virgin birth and bodily resurrection, speaking God's message even when it hurts the speaker as well as the hearer and unending love and forgiveness.
It's about doing what is right but never blurring the lines of what is wrong. About exposing sin but offering salvation. It comes at a cost but it is worth more than the world.
Have a wonderful, faithful and prayerful Christmas. Oh, and look forward to Alien 12, in which a sad group of once influential people will announce, "You know, we're all secular fundamentalists here." Then be eaten by an enormous spider from Neptune.

Coincidence? You decide.

Christmas Photo Captioning Contest

This is the somewhat disturbing picture I have chosen for the 1st Annual Rozetta Baptist Church Christmas photograph captioning contest. Competitors should either post their captions directly on the blog, or e-mail them to me at isaiah6@monmouthnet.net for posting later. A panel of impartial judges will consider each entry on its merits and the winner will receive a grand prize package that includes a hearty handshake, a pat on the back, and a half-consumed roll of Lifesavers. Deadline for entries is 10 p.m. on Saturday, December 23rd.

Bibles on a Plane!

Stewardess 'banned from taking bible on plane'
By Laura Clout

An air stewardess is claiming religious discrimination against an airline which she says banned her from taking the Bible to Saudi Arabia.

The stewardess has been told by BMI that it is against the law of the insular Middle Eastern country to bring in religious books other than the Koran.

The woman, who is understood to be a committed Christian, takes her bible everywhere she goes and is now set to take the airline to an industrial tribunal claiming discrimination on religious grounds.

BMI, formerly British Midland Airways, said today it was merely following the Foreign Office advice that no non-Islamic materials or artefacts are allowed into the country.

A spokesman from the airline said: "We issue advice to all our staff and passengers that these are the guidelines.

"She is saying she wants to carry her bible with her. We are saying we can't start designing rules around individuals when we've got several hundred members of staff. To take every personal preference into account would be impossible."

On its web site the Foreign Office says of Saudi Arabia: "The importation and use of narcotics, alcohol, pork products and religious books, apart from the Koran, and artefacts are forbidden."
BMI said it offered the stewardess the opportunity to transfer from long-haul duties to short-haul, but she refused.

The case follows that of British Airways worker Nadia Eweida, also committed Christian, whose objection to BA rules which forbade her visibly wearing a cross led to a review by BA of its uniform policy.

First Amendment?

Valedictorian Silenced Over Her Christian Faith Will Go to Court
By Nathan Burchfiel
CNSNews.com Staff Writer

December 19, 2006(CNSNews.com) - A high school student whose commencement speech was cut off when she spoke about her Christian faith will have her case heard in a federal court.A federal judge in Nevada ruled Monday that a debate over freedom of religious expression in public school commencement ceremonies will go to court.

The charges stem from a June 15 incident at Foothill High School in Henderson, Nevada, when school administrators cut off valedictorian Brittany McComb's commencement speech after she strayed from a pre-approved script. Earlier, they had removed from her speech references to the Bible and her faith.McComb described God's love as "something we all desire. It's unprejudiced, it's merciful, it's free, it's real, it's huge, and it's everlasting." Then the microphone was switched off.

Amateur video of the ceremony showed graduates and their families cheering and booing as McComb continued to deliver her speech without the microphone. Audience members heckled administrators as McComb argued with them onstage.After the ceremony, attorneys with the Virginia-based Rutherford Institute filed suit in the U.S. District Court in Nevada, accusing the administration of violating McComb's First Amendment right to freedom of speech and Fourteenth Amendment right to due process.

At the time, Rutherford Institute President John Whitehead told Cybercast News Service that McComb was not asking the court to award damages beyond declaring the school's actions unconstitutional.On Monday, Judge Robert C. Jones rejected the school's motion to dismiss the case, clearing the way for discovery hearings to begin after school attorneys file a response to the accusations.

"We're pleased that the court recognizes the validity of Brittany McComb's claims," Whitehead said in a statement. "This is an important first step in protecting Brittany's right to free speech."

Officials from Foothill High School could not be reached for comment Monday because school offices are closed for winter break. Bill Hoffman, general counsel for the Clark County School District where Foothill is located, did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Lassonde v. Pleasanton Unified School District (2003) that schools can censor religious speeches that proselytize because they give the "appearance of government sponsorship of religion." The Supreme Court declined to hear the case, allowing the Ninth Circuit's decision to stand. Religious freedom advocates expect that decision to be revisited as soon as another circuit issues a ruling contradicting the Ninth Circuit's opinion.

Happy Holidays Vs. Merry Christmas

A respected pollster has published a provocative statistic and I shared it in last Sunday's message:

"A new Zogby poll found that 95 percent of Americans say they are not offended by being greeted with a 'Merry Christmas' while shopping; but greet them with a 'Happy Holidays,' and 46 percent say they are offended."

Shouldn't this make politically correct retailers sit up and take notice? Reactions and thoughts?

Rozetta Baptist Church Christmas Program!

How about these young

people? Are they talented

or what?! Post your reviews

of the program in the comments

section and I'll share them with

the kids...

"The Nativity Story"

Which part of "The Nativity Story" touched you most deeply? Why?

From this coming Sunday's sermon:
One scene in particular that had a tremendous impact on me was Joseph and Mary’s arrival in Bethlehem. Mary’s labor pains are urgent, and Joseph desperately runs from house to house, banging on doors, asking for a room. After many refusals, finally a man directs Joseph toward the cave where the livestock is kept. “It’s the best I can offer you,” he says.
We’re told in Luke 2 verse 7 tells us that Mary “gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” We tend to view that anonymous innkeeper with a degree of fondness, because it seems he at least provided some kind of shelter for the birth of the Lord when no one else would. But an old preacher opened my eyes to something about that innkeeper. Mary was great with child. The innkeeper could see what was going on, and yet he sent them to the stable with the animals, declaring he had no room available. But if you really think about it, he really could have given this pregnant woman in labor a room rather than a barn. He said there were no rooms, but there was at least one he could have given them: He could have given them his own room. He could have seen the pitiful picture of a teenaged girl, panting and groaning with each contraction, and he could have said, “Use my room. I’ll bed down out back tonight.” But he didn’t do that. He could see the desperate need unfolding in front of his very eyes, yet he would not surrender his own comfort. And as I watched that film and saw the old innkeeper jerk his thumb in the direction of the livestock cave and say, “It’s the best I can do for you,” I realized that far too often, I’m just like Him. In the quietness of my bed in the dark of night, as I linger in my thoughts before sleep, I consider how many times and in how many ways the King of Kings has come to me, and instead of receiving him into the home of my heart, I have instead callously relegated him to an outbuilding, saying, “It’s the best I can do for you.”