Christians In Action

  There will indeed be a special suite in Hell for all of those that persecuted Christians!!                                                                                                                         On the eve of the Pope’s visit to the Middle East, Gaza’s only Catholic priest has given a damning indictment of the situation facing the people in the beleaguered Palestinian territory – especially Christians.

        Speaking on Thursday, after 14 years as a parish priest, Monsignor Manuel Musallam told Aid to the Church in Need that the humanitarian situation had declined drastically during his time there.

Thanking ACN for its emergency aid given during a wave of violence in Gaza in January, he said his poverty-stricken community felt strengthened by the support from outside.

But in his interview with the Catholic charity for persecuted and other suffering Christians, he stressed that Gaza’s 5,000-strong Christian community was increasingly desperate to leave the region in search of a better future abroad.

His comments will underline the call to do more to arrest the Christian exodus from the Middle East, which is expected to be a major theme of Pope Benedict XVI’s week-long visit to Jordan, Israel and the West Bank, due to start on May 8.

Mgr Musallam emphasised the impact of January’s three-week Israeli military campaign against Gaza, which left more than 1,100 dead, 400,000 people without running water and thousands of homes damaged and destroyed. Thirteen Israelis died in rocket attacks from Gaza.

He said that the conflict was just part of a cycle of decline spanning his 14 years as parish priest in Gaza.

The Gaza Strip’s population of 1.5 million – half of whom are children – have faced an increasingly serious humanitarian disaster according to the United Nations and leading aid agencies.

Mgr Musallam said: “The destruction has become deeper and deeper. Things are getting worse and worse. Many, many families are suffering.

“People cannot receive electricity all the time because there is a lack of fuel to run the generators. There is a shortage of clean water, sanity is poor. Education and medical care is also not good.

Things are getting worse and worse.

Monsignor Manuel Musallam

“Our precious trees have been uprooted. Our buildings have been destroyed. Our streets have been destroyed. Our land has been burnt by bombs and so we cannot produce anything. We are just consumers now. The machines and cars are old. Everything needs to be renewed.”

He underlined the effect of the suffering on the people’s psyche. He said: “The people are more aggressive. There is a lot more hate towards the situation they are in – especially among the young.”

But he said the £17,850 given by ACN as an emergency payment in early January had shown people “another way” towards hope.

The aid, administered by Mgr Musallam himself, was used to provide essential food and other supplies to some of the neediest families in Gaza City.

“We admire very much the solidarity shown towards the people of this land. The friendship between Christians elsewhere in the world and here is very strong. We hope this link will continue for a long time," he said.

“The support and love shown to the people of Palestine will continue to encourage them to bear witness to Christ. We hope this will encourage them not to emigrate.”

Mgr Musallam, 71, who will join family and friends in retirement in the West Bank town of Ramallah, said he had great confidence in Fr George Hermandes, a native of Argentina, who takes over as parish priest of Gaza City.

“I am leaving this place forever. I am not anxious or sad. I have completed my job and my successor is in place.”

Fr Humam Khzouz, chancellor of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the diocese that covers Gaza, paid tribute to Mgr Musallam and his ministry in Gaza.

He said “Fr Musallam has done great work over the many years he has been in Gaza where he has given a lot to support the Christian community and many others.”

Dear Readers :

  Every now and then I start to think that maybe if I'm thinking one way and the political tide is going the other way perhaps I'm wrong. And then God sends a Dumbass / Weed / Liberon into my consciousness. She does indeed work in mysterious ways.

 Can somebody explain to me how it is that The Weeds / Dumbasses / Liberons oppose capital punishment and the torture of terrorists on HUMANE grounds while simultaneously supporting abortion on the very same basis. I  thought the idea was to protect INNOCENT life.How can they possibly believe that serial killers , rapists  and mass murdering terrorists are innocent? Is it any coincidence that they do not support " The Right To Bear Arms? I also find it curious how they have the A.C.L.U. number on speed dial should anybody even mention federal funding of any faith based program yet have no compunction about taking my tax money to support abortion worldwide against my will . Why am I not given a choice in this matter from these pro choice folks?

 Today I will start a new feature called  " The Margaret Sanger Awards " A.K.A. "The Maggies" to call attention to some of the more blatant practitioners of this most depraved of human occupations.Upon winning their " Maggies "I will retroactively cyber abort these " winners " of life's lottery  and their sleazy friends whenever I feel the need.They can go to their just cyber reward immediately there after.

 Our first two winners are none other than The DANG       { Dumb Ass Nubian Guy } In Chief himself  and " Nancy " The Succubus Of San  Francisco " Pelosi. As validation of their awards I refer you to their very own Congressional voting records and political platforms.

 I also refer you to the article below as a confirmation of their just victory. I'm fairly certain Mr. Farah would concur judging by his article.

You really have to wonder about people who, on the one hand, are morally outraged at the idea of coercive interrogations of enemy combatants to save the lives of innocent people and who, on the other hand, have no problem with plunging scissors into the brains of unborn babies.

That's what I'm thinking about today as the misplaced indignation continues about coercive interrogations – deceptively labeled as "torture."

Let's begin with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She told that guardian of liberty and justice, Rolling Stone magazine: "Even if you want to forget about a sense of decency and just say in terms of reciprocity: We don't want this to happen to our people so we're not doing it to anybody else. Separate and apart from the fact that there are international standards for this, and we have a Constitution that we want to honor. And on top of this, and this is the most important part, in terms of having justice be done for 9/11. It's five years later – they have no convictions. They won't have any convictions that will be upheld by the Supreme Court unless they follow certain principles. And so not one person directly responsible for 9/11 has been convicted and/or punished. Because they have this sense that they can operate outside the law outside of any regime or convention that relates to human dignity."

Human dignity?

I wonder when Pelosi's concern for human dignity begins?

Does it begin after you are born?

Or does it begin after you wage war on the United States?

Let's look at Pelosi's concern for human dignity when the target is an unborn child. She doesn't merely excuse it, she encourages it with taxpayer funding and insists there can be no legal restrictions on abortion up to and including the moment before birth.

How about Barack Obama?

He has concluded that it's "torture" to splash water on the faces of enemy combatants believed to have knowledge of impending lethal attacks – a coercive interrogation technique known as "waterboarding" that leaves no scars, no lasting physical damage while conducted under the supervision of physicians.

Meanwhile, as a state legislator in Illinois, Obama spearheaded an effort to require that babies who defied the odds and survived abortions be deprived of nourishment and medical attention until they died of neglect.

What can you say about people like this whose moral compass is so askew?

What you should say is that you don't want them making life and death choices for the country.

It is as if they live in a parallel moral universe where up is down, left is right, black is white and right is wrong.

Imagine the world they are shaping right now with policies like these:

• They are encouraging future terrorist attacks on the U.S. – perhaps some that will rival 9/11 – by joining with our most reprobate enemies in condemning past U.S. defensive policies.
  
  
• They are preventing the military and intelligence agencies from using the most valuable tool in their arsenal when it comes to preventing terrorist attacks.
  
  
• They are condemning honest efforts to defend the U.S. – efforts that even they admit had success.
  
  
• They mislabel humane but harsh interrogation techniques as "torture," while characterizing the real torture and murder of the most innocent lives as "humane."

I know these people are in power. I know they have pushed the right buttons to be elected. I know there is precious little we can do to change that immediately.

However, it is important that we begin to learn the stark and bloody truth about their perverted and evil worldview.

Don't let these people hide behind their phony, perverted masquerade of "compassion."

This is not compassion. This is corruption.

Dear Readers :

  There will be a special place in Hell for those that persecute Christians.

Khmu Christians in Laos Stand Firm Despite Intense Persecution

Fourteen Khmu Christian families in Laos are standing strong in their faith, despite the Communist government forcing them to relocate to another village and their homes and church building being destroyed, according to The Voice of the Martyrs contacts.

In 2003, the families were evicted by the government and relocated to another village where they were moved again. "After these 14 families stayed at this village for a year, the Communist party members of the village found out that the head of the village loved them," VOM contacts said. "[The village leader] even allowed them to build a bamboo church on his land."

The Communist district governor was not happy with the head of the village. "... [The] governor kicked him out from his post and then replaced [him] with another man. The new head of the village started persecuting them from 2006 to 2009," VOM contacts report. The leader refused to allow them to register, making them illegal residents and he stopped them from farming land, the contacts said.

Only after each family paid 50,000 kip (US$6) were the 14 families allowed to stay in the village and farm. Locals in the village have also tried to tear down the bamboo church where the families worship. VOM contacts say village officials continually threaten to destroy the church and its bamboo roof has been repeatedly ripped off. VOM has assisted these families with resources to rebuild their homes and church every time they have been displaced. The ministry has helped with zinc roofs, pigs and cattle, among many other things.

In spite of the hardship endured, and the Communist government treating them like second-class citizens, these families remain strong in their faith. "Although this bamboo church has roof tops ripped off, they are still holding worship three times a week with joyful hearts. They love God and are willing to die for their God any time for any cause," VOM contacts said. We encourage you to pray for these courageous families. Ask God to protect them and encourage them. Praise God for their faithfulness.

Posted April 9, 2009