Stories of Christian Persecution | Iraq's Refugees

This video gives us a glimpse of the shattered lives of persecuted Iraqi Christians who have been displaced by the violence and terrorism in their homeland. Many Christians have had to move to other countries in order to feel safe and secure. May God continue to protect and preserve these persecuted and displaced Iraqi Christian refugees.

In 2014, Iraq was ranked as the fourth hardest place to be a Christian due to christian persecution by the World Watch List.

News Story: In Quebec, parents no longer have any say in what type of religious instruction is given in the schools

From Lifesite News

Quebec Kills Parents' Rights To Choose Religion Instruction -

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski

MONTREAL, October 17, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The new mandatory Ethics and Religious Culture program that was introduced this fall in Quebec schools has parents fuming, with many complaining that the program effectively removes their right to choose the kind of religious education their children receive. To show their displeasure a group of Quebec parents has organized a protest march for tomorrow, Saturday, October 18.

Three years ago, the clause in the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms that guaranteed freedom of religious instruction and parental rights (parents have "the right to require that, in the public educational establishments, their children receive a religious or moral instruction in conformity with their convictions") was changed without any public consultation. The amended clause read that parents have the "right to give their children a religious and moral education in keeping with their convictions and with proper regard for their children's rights and interests."

Removal of the phrase "in the public educational establishments" meant that parents no longer had any say in what type of religious instruction is given in the schools.

The new compulsory religion course, from which children cannot be exempted, replaces three options that had been available to Quebec students - a generic course in moral education or two other courses that were either Catholic or Protestant in nature.

The Canadian Press reports that lawyer Jean-Yves Cote, representing a couple in Drummondville that has started legal action against the their local school board and the government, says the number of angry parents is likely in the thousands and is growing.

The suit filed by Cote seeks the right for parents to exempt their children from the course.

A request for exemption from the Ethics and Religious Culture program by Loyola High School, a private Catholic boys' school in Montreal, on the grounds that the course conflicted with the school's Catholic character, was refused by Education Minister Michelle Courchesne, which prompted the school administration also to take the issue to court.

Sylvain Lamontagne, a parent from Valcourt, told the Canadian Press that he is concerned the course exposes his children to world religions at a very young age while threatening their Christian faith, and will cause confusion and push his kids towards atheism.

He refers to the new course as religious fast-food.

"We can't do this to children. It will only confuse them," said Lamontagne. "Religion isn't a Chinese buffet. You can't just pick one and then another however you want."

The protest march, organized by Angelo Polcaro, hopes to see several thousand parents from all parts of the province gather in Montreal on Saturday to voice their displeasure to Quebec's Education Department.

"How can a child, six-years-old, have an opinion on a religion when he doesn't even know his own religion? He has to have a base before he can make an opinion," Polcaro said in the Canadian Press report.

"I've got a problem with that. First let's teach the child his own religion and then we can go from there."

For more information please contact:

Martin P. Murphy, Executive Director
The English Speaking Catholic Council
2005 St. Marc
Montreal, Quebec, H3H 2G8
Phone: 514-937-2301
Fax: 514-907-5010
E-mail: escc@bellnet.ca

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Quebec Mandates Relativistic Ethical and Religious Education For All Students in Province
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/oct/07100409.html

Pray for India

Phil Johnson @http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2008/08/pray-for-india.html notes that:

eports out of India over the past week or so describe a dramatic increase in violence against Christians, mainly at the hands of radical Hindus in the state of Orissa. The conflicts are to a large degree rooted in Hinduism's caste system and Hindu resentment over lower-caste people who have converted from Hinduism to Christianity.

But the incident that sparked the current violence was the August 23 murder of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, Orissa's top leader of Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), a hard-line Hindu nationalist organization. Saraswati was well-known for his militant opposition to Christianity. He is alleged to have directed the burning of hundreds of churches.



Maoists (communists) have taken responsibility for Swami Saraswati's murder, but Christians have been the main targets of the radical Hindiu backlash. VHP leaders insist Christian missionaries plotted the murder.

See the full story and: Burned Alive: Some Background on the India Violence

New York: Steal the Baby Jesus, that's OK, Kick the Menorah Go to Jail

NEW YORK, January 9, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) -

On Sunday, the New York Times ran a story about two 20-year-olds, and an 18-year-old, who were arrested for stealing statues of baby Jesus from nativity scenes over the past two years. They hit the New York-suburban communities of Suffern and Haverstraw several times in 2005 and 2006. The police said they will not charge them with committing hate crimes; each is being charged with 14 counts of petty larceny.

Also on Sunday, WNBC.com reported that a 20-year-old was arrested for kicking a menorah in the New York suburban community of St. James. He is being charged with a hate crime and could face seven years in prison. He is being charged with a felony.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue commented saying, "This is so interesting. The reason the menorah is allowed in New York City public schools is because the authorities have branded it a secular symbol, and the reason the crèche is barred is because the same authorities have branded it a religious symbol. Yet when a 20-year-old man vandalizes a menorah outside New York he is charged with a hate crime and may spend seven years behind bars for his felony, while three others of the same age who vandalize several crèches outside New York-over a two-year period-are given a slap on the wrist."

Donohue concluded, "We have long maintained that hate-crime laws evince a bias of their own. This proves it."