INTOLERANCE: Taxpayer supported cristophobia!

Christians face funding bias, says Archbishop | The Christian Institute
HT - Public bodies are ‘intolerant’ of Christian groups | Cranmer

The USA is not the only place where Christians feel their government is cristophobic.

The Archbishop of York has spoken of Government ‘intolerance’ against Christian groups when it comes to funding community initiatives. [TCI]

While faith remains a primary motivation for charitable and voluntary work in Britain, increasingly voluntary groups which have a Christian foundation are viewed as ‘tainted and unsuitable for receipt of funding’ by public bodies.
[Cranmer]

Of course the "separation of church and state" is enshrined in the left's mythological Constitution of the United States, where only hard fought victories are achieved through "faith based" efforts; no such ironclad and arbitrary barrier to government funding exists across the pond.

... Dr Sentamu has noticed ‘a chill wind that blows around grant makers and managers of funds’ when they consider the plans of faith groups. He said: “We must resist any trend in national or local Government where the decision as to whether a solution works is not based on results, but upon the intolerance that sees a project motivated by faith as being tainted and unsuitable for receipt of funding. Rather there should be a recognition of the valuable work being carried out by groups motivated to serve the common good by a belief in dignity of all as God’s creatures in which his divine spark resides.”[Cranmer]

So many volunteers have opted out of faith based work and so many organizations have given up under governmental cristophobic intolerance and disdain. This has resulted in many not receiving much needed care and service which might have been provided.

Christian groups “are working at the coalface of pastoral care and social practice,” he said, “motivated by nothing more than their love of God and the love for their neighbour”.

Many are working with the elderly, children and the disabled. Dr Sentamu said there are 22,000 religious charities helping people in England and Wales, while churchgoers contribute more than 23 million hours of voluntary service each year.[TCI]

I'm not aware of the comparable American data, so I can't say with any certainty the contribution of our people and organizations. However, any reasonable analyst must admit it is a least as good per capita/dollar of contribution.

More TCI ...
More Cranmer ...

Charity, Christianity, Cristophobia,
England, Intolerance, Religion

DISCRIMINATION: Can’t be seen promoting Jesus!

Christian bestseller blacklisted by BBC | The Christian Institute
Original - Shadowmancer author: BBC banned me because I'm Christian - Telegraph
HT - Christian bestseller blacklisted by BBC | BLACK KETTLE

In a nation which just institutionalized Sharia law it's surprising to hear the nation's public broadcasting authority is concerned about the boundaries of religious propriety.

A successful Christian children’s author says he was refused appearances on the BBC because it couldn’t be “seen to be promoting Jesus”.

G P Taylor’s first novel, Shadowmancer, spent 15 weeks at the top of the British book charts in 2003. His second book, Wormwood, sold 22,000 copies in one day.

Yet the author claims that invitations for appearances on the BBC stopped once producers found out he was a Christian.

“I had good relations with them until they realised that there were religious allegories in my stories,” he told The Sunday Telegraph.

As in most disputes, a debate continues as to the truth of Taylor's allegations.

Taylor ... says that he has been the victim of political correctness that favours minority religions at the expense of Christianity, a claim the BBC denies. [...]

[The author] who gave up life as a parish priest after signing a £3.5 million publishing deal with Faber in 2004, believes the BBC began to shun him after he was described as the new C S Lewis – the Christian author who wrote The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

BBC, Christianity, Cristophobia,
Discrimination, G P Taylor, Religion

PERSECUTION: Ancient orthodox body under serious persecution!

Orthodox Christianity under threat | International Herald Tribune
HT - Orthodox Christianity under threat | EuropeNews

When Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and his Islamic-rooted party came under fierce fire this summer from secularists, who came close to persuading the country's supreme court to bar both from politics, he called the campaign an attack against religious freedom and a threat to Turkey's efforts to join the European Union.

Yet in nearly six years in power, Erdogan has shown no inclination to extend even a modicum of religious freedom to the most revered Christian institution in Turkey - the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the spiritual center of 300 million Orthodox Christians throughout the world. As a result, Turkey's persecution of the Patriarchate looms as a major obstacle to its European aspirations, and rightly so.

Turkey is a secular state with a majority Muslim population; you fools who think there's no threat from this "peaceful" religion are setting up your grandkids and their children for serious heartache and suffering.

The Ecumenical Patriarchate, which was established in the fourth century and once possessed holdings as vast as those of the Vatican, has been reduced to a small, besieged enclave in a decaying corner of Istanbul called the Phanar, or Lighthouse.

Almost all of its property has been seized by successive Turkish governments, its schools have been closed and its prelates are taunted by extremists who demonstrate almost daily outside the Patriarchate, calling for its ouster from Turkey.

Christianity, Cristophobia,
Persecution, Politics, Religion

GOVERNMENT: Agency feeds the flesh but not the soul!

Christians livid as CRTC denies religious radio, OKs porn TV | Ottawa Citizen
HT - Christians livid as CRTC denies religious radio, but OKs porn | BLACK KETTLE

When you think about it, this makes good sense (not) ...

The CRTC -- the same agency that recently gave two thumbs-up to a homegrown Canadian porn TV network -- has nixed two applications for Christian radio stations in the Ottawa area, and that has left some supporters of the religious proposals very unhappy.

Americans and Europeans are finding it difficult to keep up with Canada's persistent destruction of their traditional Judeo-Christian roots.

Christianity, Cristophobia, Government,
Religious intolerance, Religion

INTOLERANCE: Media's cristophobia is embarrassing!

Can Someone Hire a Religion Tutor for CNN Reporters? | NewsBusters
Media is anti-Christian, says Sky News reporter | BLACK KETTLE
Stop the Presses: Palin's Church Holds to Bible's Teaching on Homosexuality! | NewsBusters
AP Next Going After Palin's 'Derided' Religion | NewsBusters

Cristophobia is running rampant among media personalities; but they still think they're filing insightful and well researched news reports.

When I hear leftists and socialists, and the MSM, speak on religious or theological aspects of Sarah Palin's faith, I am reminded of prepubescents questioning adult decisions.

It's like the Louvre hiring a playground chalk artist to make new acquisitions. It's like an air guitarist replacing Aerosmith's lead guitarist. It is flat out embarrassing.

So ridiculous and juvenile are their concerns and questions that authentic believers are rendered speechless.

They are mad! Very mad! Mad at McCain-Palin! Mad at you! Mad at me! Why? Because we embarrassed them during and after the RNC; because they know they are responsible for the incredible and apparently enduring McCain bump. [CNN HT - NB]

I, for one, hope they continue on this cristophobic rant; what they don't know in this case is going to hurt them big time.

Some Pentecostals from Assembly of God also believe in "faith healing" and the "end times" -- a violent upheaval that they believe will deliver Jesus Christ's second coming. [News Busters]

Both faith healing and end times are orthodox teachings of the Christian faith but are presented in such a way as to insinuate red flags for the reader.

Gov. Sarah Palin's church is promoting a conference that promises to convert gays into heterosexuals through the power of prayer.

"You'll be encouraged by the power of God's love and His desire to transform the lives of those impacted by homosexuality," according to the insert in the bulletin of the Wasilla Bible Church, where Palin has prayed for about six years. [CBS HT - NB]

Sarah Palin often identifies herself simply as Christian... Yet John McCain's running mate has deep roots in Pentecostalism, a spirit-filled Christian tradition that is one of the fastest growing in the world. It's often derided by outsiders and Bible-believers alike. [Miami Herald HT - NB]

The New English Review comments ...

Seemingly they were on the prowl up there in Alaska, looking for wild-eyed Christian fundamentalists at the Wasilla Bible Church, but they come up short. Her church and beliefs are very solidly mainstream.

I won't be surprised to soon hear someone suggest Palin's current church is planning an altar for slaughtering sheep in their parking lot; all because a CNN reporter saw a bulletin from five years ago which listed the hymn "Power in the Blood" in the order of service.

What am I thinking? Only church goers will know what a bulletin is or what is meant by "Order of Service."

Each of the world's religions have a language of their own; for the media to think they can learn its grammar and syntax overnight is wilder than a Hopi peyote lodge.

CROSS POSTED - SHEEP'S CRIB Issues

Christianity, Cristophobia, Media,
Palin, Politics, Religion

ANTI-FREE SPEECH: Prayer now "grossly insulting & inflammatory"!

Oxford’s Christians apologise to Muslims for daring to pray during Ramadan | Cranmer
HT - British Muslims Offended by Christians Praying during Ramadan | Brussels Journal

Amazing and frustrating are the words that come to my mind; amazing that the Western World can't see what is going on, and frustrating that only a few do [WARNING - Pat Condell can be profane]!

Cranmer is most disturbed, if not a little irritated, to read that a Christian group in Oxford has apologised to the city’s Muslims for having the audacity to organise a day of prayer during Ramadan. Oxfords Muslims found it ‘ill-conceived and insensitive’, not to mention ‘grossly insulting and inflammatory’.

More ...

Christianity, Cristophobia, Free speech,
Muslims, Prayer, Ramadan, Religion

CRISTOPHOBIA: A list of resources and other useful materials!

RESOURCES/REFERENCES/PEOPLE/ORGANIZATIONS -

Individuals involved in anti-Cristophobia efforts:

[Tristan] Emmanuel is the author of the book, Christophobia: The Real Reason Behind Hate Crime Legislation, which argues that the rights of religious freedom being lost through new "hate crime" laws that are being used against individuals such as Pastor Stephen Bossison, Dr. Chris Kempling and Calgary Roman Catholic Bishop Fred Henry. [Wikipedia]

David Limbaugh has two excellent tomes on Christophobia in America: Persecution: How Liberals Are Waging War Against Christianity and The Criminalization of Christianity: Read This Book Before It Becomes Illegal!

Euro-Med, a Danish commentary blog, has a fine collection of anti-Cristophobia quotes and events from numerous sources around the world. [Christophobia I]

Resources not endorsed or evaluated one way or the other:

Christian Falangist Party of America - per its website the CFPA exists to "defend Christians in the United States from official 'Christophobia' in the public sphere" and "educate the public about the true nature of the Islamic threat to western civilization." [Wikipedia]

Christianophobia in Europe - website is hosted by the NGO Europe for Christ! registered in Germany (www.europe4christ.net) operating in all European Union countries.

The goal of this website is to provide European Union-institutions, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the United Nations and other Institutions with objective and reliable data on the phenomenon of Christianophobia in Europe. [...] Further, this website wants to encourage victims of Christianophobia to tell their story.

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Christianity, Cristophobia, Religion