UK:Church School Tells Girl To Remove Cross Necklace

Considering that top Christian leaders in the UK actually backed the opening of the Sharia Courts there, I guess that this should come as no surprise. The slow suicide continues.

Hat tip to the Savvy one.

CROSS BAN FOR CHURCH SCHOOLGIRL

Young Lauren banned from wearing her necklace
By Emily Fox

A CHURCH of England school has ordered a pupil to remove her necklace with a cross even though children of other faiths can wear religious jewellery.

Lauren Grimshaw-Brown, eight, was told by St Peter’s School in Chorley, Lancs, to wear a brooch instead on safety grounds.

Her furious mother Laina, 27, says the pin would be more risky.

She added: “A letter said that if she had been a Sikh she would be allowed to wear bangles.

“I’ve got no problem with any other religion wearing bangles but why can’t my daughter wear a necklace with a cross?

“After all, it’s a church-led school.

Head teacher Helen Wright said: “The best solution would be a brooch.”

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Florida Church Will Not Bow to CAIR!

The Gainsville Florida Church which has recently put up a sign that stated "Islam is of the Devil", was approached by the Hamas supporters, the Council on American Islamic Relations, (CAIR). CAIR of course wanted the Church to take the sign down but the Church stayed strong and told them no. I applaud them.

Islamic advocate holds a meeting with Dove Outreach pastor over sign
Ramzy Kiliç was unable to persuade Terry Jones to take the sign down.
By Megan Rolland
Staff Writer

An advocate for the Muslim community in Florida, during a one-on-one meeting Tuesday, was unable to persuade the senior pastor of Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville to remove a sign that reads "Islam is of the devil."

"I was pleased that at least he was making the bridge to meet with me," said Ramzy Kiliç, Tampa's executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "It doesn't seem like (taking down the sign) is going to happen, and he didn't want to know more about Islam."

Kiliç met with Jones for about 25 minutes Tuesday at the Dove World Outreach Center, 5805 N.W. 37th St., which has a series of hand-painted signs that read in red "Islam is of the devil."

Senior Pastor Terry Jones was not available for an interview Tuesday.

Jones told The Sun at the beginning of the month that the sign was "an act of saying there is only one way, and that is actually what Christianity is about. It is about pointing the people in the right direction, and that right direction is Jesus and only Jesus."

Jones called the sign a "great act of love."

Kiliç said his concern isn't based on the fact that the sign is offensive to him personally, but rather the fear that it might galvanize a subset of the population to act violently against a Mosque or even worse a Muslim individual.

"I don't think (Terry Jones) had any intent to be hateful to Muslims, but I just think he sees the Bible as the only way to God," Kiliç said of Jones and the church.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, is a national non-profit organization that works on civil rights issues on behalf of Muslim Americans.

The center in Tampa received calls from concerned citizens in Gainesville and Kiliç said that prompted him to set up the meeting Tuesday to try to convince Jones to remove the sign.

Kiliç said that Jones demonstrated very little knowledge about Islam during the meeting.

Jones has an honorary doctorate in theology from the California Graduate School of Theology.

"A lot of the things he was raising were not even about Islam. They were about countries with Muslim majorities," Kiliç said. "Many Muslims come to America so they can practice Islam freely. I don't even consider Osama bin Laden a Muslim."

The faith of Islam believes that Jesus Christ was a prophet but not the son of God, a strong dividing point between Christianity's belief that Jesus Christ is the one true savior and the son of God.

And while the Bible focuses on the life and teachings of Jesus, the Quran, or holy book for Islam, is the revelation made by the prophet Muhammad.

Kiliç said these two teachings are not mutually exclusive and have much in common that can be reconciled with the same message that both Jesus and Muhammad preached of "one God and free will to accept God."

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Russia to Saudis, Respect is a Two way Street

The Christian oppressing Saudi Royal Family has asked Russia if they can build a Mosque in Russia. Russia has done what no other country has done and has answered yes, but only if they can build a Church in Saudi Arabia. Do any of the politicians of the US or the UK have guts to take this stand?

A Russian church for a Saudi mosque?
Belief Blog
POSTED December 03 2008 BY Julia Duin
This delightful story just came in thanks to getreligion.org: The Saudis have recently asked permission to build a mosque in Moscow, a city where there are only four mosques and 2 million Muslims. The Russians, however, are saying they want, in return, an Orthodox church in Saudi Arabia.

As we all know, the Saudis have a habit of constructing mosques in dozens of world capitals while forbidding houses of worship for any religion whatsoever outside its Wahabist brand of Islam. They've gotten some bad PR locally for some of the hate language in textbooks at the Saudi Academy in northern Virginia. Not only are hapless Christians terrorized and jailed for daring to hold private prayer services in Saudi Arabia, but God help them should they try to convert someone to their religion. And that's for a fellow People of the Book: One can only guess at what the treatment of Buddhists and Hindus must be like.

Wouldn't it be so ironic if the Russians were the first Christian body to win acceptance of the right to build a church in, say, Riyadh? (Some of the Russians are calling for a church in Mecca, but the chances of any other religion getting a foothold within walking distance of the world center of Islam is less than zero.) Of course we all know the Saudis aren't about ready to let Bibles or other religious literature, let alone a church, anywhere near their homeland, but all the same, it's amusing to see the Russians give the Saudis a taste of their own medicine.

-Julia Duin, religion editor

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