Michael Coren on Christian Persecution | Holy Post

Michael Coren interview: Why he believes Christianity is the most abused faith on Earth

  May 4, 2012 – 10:11 PM ET | Last Updated: May 4, 2012 10:14 PM ET

Peter J. Thompson/National Post

Peter J. Thompson/National Post

In his new book, Michael Coren calls Christianity the most abused faith on Earth. “I believe the evidence is overwhelming,” he writes.

Michael Coren is growing increasingly impatient. He sees the world around him becoming dangerously intolerant of Christianity. In the just-released Heresy: The Lies They Spread About Christianity, his 14th book, he writes that Christianity has become the most abused faith on Earth. “I believe the evidence is overwhelming … that Christianity is the main, central, most common, and most thoroughly and purposefully marginalized, obscured, and publicly and privately mis-represented belief system in the final decades of the twentieth century and the opening years of the twenty-first century.” He rails that the same intellectual class that so quickly condemns anything Christian will do cartwheels to explain away Islamic terrorism. National Post religion reporter Charles Lewis spoke to Mr. Coren in his Toronto home this week about his latest book — the second in a year in which the broadcaster does battle with Christianity’s enemies — and the place of Christians in what he sees as a hostile world.

Q: You start off in Heresy with the statement that Christianity has become the “most thoroughly and purposely marginalized belief system in the world.” Certainly Christians are under physical threat in much of the Middle East and Africa. But is that really the case here?
A: There’s a radical difference in the life of a Christian in the Islamic world and the life of a Christian in the West. And any North American Christian who says we’re being persecuted should really hold on a minute. This is not the same as the Coptic Christians being in physical danger in Egypt.

Q: So how do you see things here in Canada and in the West in general?
A: Christians are marginalized, they’re mocked, they’re told their views don’t belong, they’re told to keep their views out of the public square and keep their religion at home. And where it can be quite sinister is at universities where Christian students they’re told that their ideas are stupid. I’ve even seen it with my children who are in university. Somehow Christianity is not a valid area of thought any longer. You can bring your socialism, your feminism, your homosexuality, your anti-Zionism into the class but if you bring your Christianity that’s not to be taken seriously.

Q: But there is a lot about Christianity that can seem unreal: the Virgin Birth, the Resurrection of Jesus. Is it any surprise that people sometimes have trouble taking it seriously?
A: Christians are mocked for believing in the Virgin Birth and the Resurrection but really what they are mocked for is the moral consequences of their beliefs: that life begins at conception and ends at natural death, that abortion is wrong, that promiscuity is wrong. We live in a culture where no one wants to hear the word “no.”

Q: There is a tone of exacerbation in your book. Are you getting fed up with have to defend your faith?
A: When you get it from intelligent people it’s particularly irritating, because they will give other ideologies and other religions a great deal of room to try to understand. When it comes to Christianity they seem to assume that any sense of fairness or sympathy should be thrown out the window. They will say things that are blatantly stupid and that’s irritating.

Q: Like what?
A: To say Hitler once said he was a Christian so he must have been a Christian and Nazism came out of Christianity. Nazism was the antithesis of Christianity. The idea that because a tiny number of Catholic priests acted in an appalling manner should jaundice everything said by the Roman Catholic Church is also so illogical. You might as well say that no comment by a Canadian should ever be taken seriously because there are some serial killers in Canada.

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Anders Breivik

Q: In the book you say how angry you are that Anders Breivik, the Norwegian mass murderer, is constantly referred to as a Christian. Yet before it was known who the perpetrator was most people assumed it was a Muslim. If it’s okay to label one criminal with his religion, why not the other?
A: When the Norwegian massacre took place I said the chances are that this is a Muslim attack. I said that because there had been an attack in Sweden by Muslim groups and because Muslim groups had been promising they would attack Norway and because there are thousands of attacks every year by Muslims. It was a perfectly good assumption given all the evidence.

Q: But who is to say that these Muslim terrorists are devout Muslims and that the Christians are not devout?
A: Muslims read the Koran just before they attack and declare what they’re doing is in the name of Allah. The Koran supports violent acts. And I’m afraid many ordinary Muslims rejoice in these attacks. But no where in the New Testament does Jesus justify violence. Jesus never led armies and was not a warlord. The few Christians who do these terrible things do it despite their Christian faith. Those Muslims who commit acts of terrorism do it because of their faith. Breivik hadn’t been in a church in 17 years. There is just no evidence for Christian terrorism today.

Q: But I’m sure a lot of ordinary Muslims would disagree with you, especially those living in Canada.
A: I did a radio show and a Muslim called and said, “Well I believe it’s wrong to attack Christianity and I think you would find most every Muslim in the world would agree with me.” And I said: ‘Sir, I cannot listen to this. I’ve held a Bible soaked in the blood of Nigerian Christians slaughtered by Muslim fanatics. I’ve held the bullets fired from the guns of Muslim fanatics attacking Christians in a Baghdad church. There’s not a Muslim country in the world where Christians are treated with absolute equality.’

Q: Do Christians in Canada stand up for themselves enough or are they cowed by secular society telling them to keep their religion at home or in the church?
A: First of all, forget mainstream Protestants (Anglican, United Church, etc.). They’re barely Christian anymore, and they’ll accept anything.

Q: What about Catholics? In Ontario a new anti-bullying bill, Bill 13, now in second reading, would allow the formation of gay-straight alliances in Catholic schools yet there seems to have been little protest.
A: I think certainly Roman Catholics and evangelicals should have stood up more to Bill 13. We are being told our view on homosexuality is somehow wrong.

Darren Calabrese/National Post

Q: Could the Catholic Church leaders be afraid of being labeled homophobic?
A: They’re going to be called homophobic whatever they do. I think the Catholic Church has spent too much time worrying about the reaction it might get rather than reacting itself.

Q: Let’s talk about homosexuality a bit more. The Catholic Church teaches that homosexual acts represents “grave depravity” and “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered … and under no circumstances can they be approved.” It also says gay people should be loved and respected. You say you have gay friends. Wouldn’t most gay people be insulted by being told their behaviour is “intrinsically disordered?”
A: If someone calls me a homophobe because I believe marriage is between one man and one woman, then I would rejoice in that. But frankly, with gay friends, I try to avoid the subject. They know I am opposed to gay marriage and they also know I’m fond of them as people and would defend them against personal attack. But let me be clear, anyone who hates gay people is a moral criminal.

Q: But a gay person might still ask, how can you be my friend when you think what I do is “intrinsically disordered.”
A: First, I would never use the same language as the Catholic Church. It sounds too clinical. A young gay woman once asked me if God loved her. I told her, ‘We all face challenges. You are loved as a person but you are more than your sexuality. We’re all sinners and we’re all struggling. I just can’t affirm homosexual behaviour.”

Q: I was surprised you devoted a chapter to Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code. It seemed odd to me you would choose something that is now fairly old and forgotten. Even Opus Dei, who were portrayed as assassins, no longer seem to care.
A: Well, it has influenced millions of people. They’ve been led by the book to read other books that oppose Christianity. Brown quotes real people and he makes a lot of it seem like non-fiction. I thought it was worth taking on again. I wanted to make sure that what is in The Da Vinci Code is just not true.

Q: In Heresy you say one of the myths is that Christians are obsessed with abortion. But in the chapter on abortion you too seem obsessed with it. Can you explain what you were getting at?
A: Christians, I believe, react so strongly to abortion, so intensely because they’re part of an institution given by God — so they feel it more when the most vulnerable are destroyed. And they feel it more intensely than other people. I guess we are obsessed because it is such a tragedy. And if we dare to mention it, the world tells us to be quiet.

National Post

There is at Least One Moderate Muslim in Iran, But He's Going to Jail.

Pastor Youcef’s Attorney to be Jailed for Representing the Persecuted

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Jordan SekulowFiled in:
IRAN4:40 PMMay. 3, 2012

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Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani’s Iranian attorney has been convicted for his work defending human rights and is expected to have to begin serving his nine-year sentence in the near future.

As we have previously reported, Pastor Youcef’s attorney, Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, was sentenced to nine years in prison and banned from practicing law or teaching for ten years by the Iranian government, essentially for representing individuals like Pastor Youcef.

Dadkhah recently stated, “I was in a court in Tehran defending one of my clients, Davoud Arjangi, a jailed political activist on death row when the judge told me that my own sentence has been approved and I will be shortly summoned to jail to serve the nine-year sentence.” He continued, “I have been convicted of acting against the national security, spreading propaganda against the regime and keeping banned books at home.”

The ACLJ has learned that the Judge who informed Dadkhah his appeal had been denied is Iranian Judge Abolghasem Salavat, also known as the “Judge of Death.” He is infamous for the harsh imprisonment of those accused of political and religious “crimes.”

This news is disturbing for another reason: Dadkhah’s imprisonment leaves Pastor Youcef without legal representation. Dadkhah has previously communicated to us that if the sentence against him were carried out, no attorney would be willing to represent Pastor Youcef for fear of being imprisoned or disbarred for representing the persecuted pastor.

Iran has recently begun to crack down on attorneys who represent clients, like Pastor Youcef, who Iran dubs as enemies of the state for their beliefs. Dadkhah, a world-renowned Muslim human rights attorney in Iran, has defended numerous political and religious prisoners, including recently 12 Christians who were tried on Easter Sunday for their faith, in the same Iranian provincial court that sentenced Pastor Youcef to execution. Because he provides his legal services free of charge, the Iranian regime has asserted that he is “aiding and abetting” in the alleged crimes of his clients.

The news that this incredibly brave human rights attorney has been sentenced to prison by Iranian officials is very troubling to say the least. This development reinforces that Iran has no regard for basic human rights. It also raises further concern about the fate of Pastor Youcef. With his attorney facing nine years in prison, and no other lawyer likely to take the case, Pastor Youcef has no legal advocate, placing him at greater risk.

Though we can confirm that Pastor Youcef was still alive as of yesterday, the imprisonment of his attorney places him in grave danger of execution without any further appeal. We are dedicated to continuing our efforts internationally to secure Pastor Youcef’s release. We urge Iran to overturn both Pastor Youcef’s and his attorney’s convictions, and at the very least postpone Dadkhah’s imprisonment pending further appeal.

The ACLJ will continue to use all available means to fight for their freedom, including the Tweet for Youcef campaign, which is now reaching more than 2 million Twitter accounts each day. We also continue to call on the Senate to pass a pending resolution calling for Pastor Youcef’s release.

Please continue to pray and Tweet for Youcef, as we fight for his freedom and that of his attorney.

More Secularists' Fantasies of Fairness

Suspended Nova Scotia student defiantly wears T-shirt with pro-Jesus message

  May 3, 2012 – 8:32 PM ET | Last Updated: May 3, 2012 8:45 PM ET

Ryan Taplin for National Post

Ryan Taplin for National Post

Student William Swinimer wearing his banned shirt. “I believe this is worth standing up for — it’s not just standing up for religious rights, it’s standing up for my rights as a Canadian citizen; for freedom of speech, freedom of religion,” he says.

For the past six months, a yellow T-shirt with the slogan “Life is Wasted Without Jesus” has been just another shirt in William Swinimer’s wardrobe.

Lately, the 19-year-old Nova Scotian has worn it every single day since the vice-principal at his high school told him he couldn’t, that it was considered offensive, that it spewed, in his own words, “hate talk.”

Instead of peeling the shirt off like they wanted him to, Mr. Swinimer continued to wear it — straight through a series of in-school suspensions and straight through the five-day at-home suspension he’s currently serving.

When he comes back to class at Forest Heights Community School in Chester Basin, N.S., on Monday, he plans to wear it again — even if it means he could be suspended for the rest of the school year.

“I believe this is worth standing up for — it’s not just standing up for religious rights, it’s standing up for my rights as a Canadian citizen; for freedom of speech, freedom of religion. I don’t think this is right.”

‘There was no profane language, there was no drug references, there was nothing inappropriate on [my] shirt’

The Grade 12 student’s act of defiance has shone a light on the balance schools attempt to strike between accommodating all faiths and differing viewpoints while trying to keep the peace.

It has also reignited the debate about whether students should have the right to express their beliefs at school even at risk offending others.

Mr. Swinimer wonders why his shirt has only now become so controversial, especially when he’s seen other students around school wearing T-shirts with slogans like ‘Hail Satan.’

“There was no profane language, there was no drug references, there was nothing inappropriate on [my] shirt,” he said.

South Shore Regional School Board superintendant Nancy Pynch-Worthylake said students are indeed allow to express their religious beliefs at school.

“I know it’s out there that somehow we don’t allow religious beliefs in school, which is absolutely false,” she said. “The only time is when we have students come forward and say ‘I really feel this is a criticism of my beliefs’ and that’s what happened in this situation.”

The students who complained to the principal took the shirt’s slogan to mean “Your life is wasted without Jesus,” she said, which could reasonably be construed as a judgment.

Mr. Swiniman said it’s a quote from the Bible book Philippians.

This case was handled the same way schools in the board tend to handle any complaint about T-shirt slogans; complaints about offensive clothing do come up every now and then, Ms. Pynch-Worthylake added.

‘Is it obvious that someone would be silly to think it’s offensive? Well no — we can kind of see both [sides]‘

“In meeting with students, we would ask ‘Is it blatantly offensive? And in this case it was ‘No.’ Is it obvious that someone would be silly to think it’s offensive? Well no — we can kind of see both [sides],” she said. “And then in meeting and talking with students we would say ‘The easy way to deal with this respectfully would be to just wear a different shirt.’”

But Mr. Swinimer wasn’t going to wear a different shirt, and defiance —especially repeated defiance — is grounds for suspension, Ms. Pynch-Worthylake said.

The school board issued a statement clarifying that “students may choose to wear clothing that embraces their beliefs. However, it is expected that students will not wear clothing with messages that may offend others’ beliefs, race, religion, culture or lifestyle.”

The school board is also consulting a human rights expert to assess whether the shirt can indeed be considered offensive, Ms. Pynch-Worthylake said, adding that she hoped Mr. Swinimer will be back at school as soon as possible.

The Grade 12 student said he continues to wear the shirt because he has been “bullied” about his faith in the past. Though he’s not usually one to rock the boat, he felt he had to take a stand this time and defend his views.

Varrick Day, who is pastor at Jesus the Good Shepherd Church in Bridgewater, N.S. where Mr. Swinimer and his family worship, said he encouraged the shy student to speak out.

“This is not about the T-shirt — it’s about our children and our grandchildren having the right of freedom of speech and religion,” he said. “That’s being taken away in our schools.”

National Post

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