Madam Mayor Says No to Shariah Law in Irving TX

A Texas tribunal that was set up to establish legal counsel for Shariah law for American Muslims is now calling for the mayor of Irving, Texas to apologize for not supporting the foreign Islamic law.

Shariah law is the set of legal guidelines that all Muslim people must follow, including specific laws on crime, politics, economics, sexual intercourse, hygiene, diet, prayer, etiquette, and fasting.  The set of laws are thought to be created by the prophet Muhammad and written in the Koran.

The Dallas-area tribunal was first created earlier this year by four Muslim lawyers who said that a group was needed to regulate those laws for the ever-growing number of Muslims living in America.  [read my blogs – “‘Mission Creep’ of Islamic Shariah Law in U.S.” dated February 18, 2015 and “MS Bans Shariah Law” dated February 20, 2015]

But Irving, TX mayor Beth Van Duyne opposed the creation of any type of foreign law in the city or the state of TX.  In a Facebook post, Van Duyne explains that allowing Shariah law in TX was never even something she considered, and she reassured the people of Irving that this tribunal has no influence over the town’s government.  “Shariah Law Court was NOT approved or enacted by the City of Irving,” she said.

Go girl!

Question: Should Roman Catholic Vatican law trump the constitutional guarantees of U.S. law for all American citizens?  I suspect you would say, “No.”  Yet, Shariah law is gaining judicial triumph over protections in various communities of U.S. Muslims.  Wake up!  The Islamic State strategy is to so populate a geographic area (from neighborhood to precinct, city, state, region, nation) so as to secure legitimate elected governance and eventual implementation of Shariah law over all the inhabitance.  It’s already happening in European countries and American communities! 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Wake Up West – Deal With ISIS There or We Will Deal With Them Here

The recently displaced archbishop of Mosul, Iraq was speaking with particular candor when he said, “People in the West say ‘they don’t know.’ How can you not know?  You either support ISIS or you must have turned off all the satellites.  I am sorry to say this, but my pain is big.”

Mosul is Iraq’s second largest city and was once the home of Iraq’s most vulnerable and persistent Christian community, tracing their lineage nearly to the time of Christ.  Now there are no Christians left.

Like so many Christians in Iraq and Syria who watched ISIS kidnap their leaders, burn their churches, sell their children, and threaten all others with conversion or beheading; the archbishop wonders how it is that these maniacs so easily took his home city this summer.

All of this happened under the watchful eye of the West; and while you’d hope that the humanitarian threat (alone) would have motivated the West to act, you would be certain that Mosul’s strategic importance would do so.  Neither proved true.

Mosul was easily taken by ISIS troops, riding in on their decrepit pick-up trucks with guns bolted to them.  Her ancient streets have since been turned red with innocent blood, and the city has become a base for a jihad that rages wildly throughout the entire region.

The people whose lives have been threatened or destroyed by ISIS just don’t understand how this pre-modern evil could run unchecked.  They wonder how it could be that it took the most powerful nations in the world, using airstrikes, over four months with the help of Kurdish forces to defeat a few hundred jihadists waging war in the town of Kobani, and how it is that ISIS has been able to openly run its ‘state’ from a self-determined capital city called ‘Raqqa’ without the daily threat of hundreds of unrelenting airstrikes.  They also wonder how it is that Turkey’s border remains so porous allowing jihadist after jihadist to readily join ISIS.  And the examples of Western inaction are unending.

At present, as many as 300 Assyrian Christians remain in captivity having been kidnapped 2-weeks ago as ISIS assaulted 10-Assyrian, Christian villages along the Khabour River in Syria.  That assault was conducted by a group of ISIS fighters travelling in a convoy of more than 40 clearly marked ISIS vehicles directly toward these vulnerable, Christian villages.

The prevailing argument against Western engagement, or Western support of regional engagement, remains a sense that this is “their” fight and not ours.  Critics say, “It’s high time the Middle East takes care of their own issues.”

The threat of ISIS is spilling over European and Western borders again and again.  ISIS sympathizers have attacked innocent people, businesses and governments in at least the United States, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, and Belgium.  Even wanna-be jihadists travel to and from America and Europe on Western passports to fight in the ISIS jihad themselves.  The ISIS propaganda machine is causing mega-corporations like Google and Twitter to struggle to keep up with the amount of jihadist propaganda showing up online every single day; and, shockingly, one study recently noted that one-in-five Arabic language tweets in the United States and the United Kingdom referencing ISIS were in “support” of the organization.

The fact is, we will deal with this crisis there or we will deal with it here.  Not dealing with it is simply not an option.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Christians Murdered at Church Suicide Bombings in Pakistan

There were two suicide bomb attacks at two different Christian churches in the city of Lahore, Pakistan on Sunday.  The explosions killed 15 and left about 70 wounded, according to the Associated Press.

The churches that were bombed were reportedly about 650-yards apart, and the attacks occurred in the “Christian neighborhood of Youhanabad ... while parishioners worshipped at Sunday morning services.”

Following the bombings, a “mob” of Christians — angry at the attacks — found two people they suspected of involvement in the persecution, and reportedly killed them.  Christians also poured into the streets to demonstrate against the suicide bombings.

One mother, Shaheen Bibi — whose 10-year-old son, Abhishak, had been killed in one of the church bombings — spoke to reporters.  “My son had gone to the church to pray for a good result in his examinations,” Bibi said as she cried and struck her head against the chest of a relative.   “He wanted me to sew him some new clothes if he passed his examinations.”

According to the report, witnesses said the bombers had “targeted a crowded gate when a large group of worshippers were waiting to enter one of the churches.”

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

U.S. Veterans are Volunteering to Fight ISIS

Recently, the New York Times reported about U.S. military veterans returning to Iraq to fight the Islamic State (ISIS).  A number of American vets have volunteered in recent months to take up arms against the militants in Iraq and Syria … even as the Obama Administration has hesitated to put combat troops on the ground.  Driven by a blend of motivations — outrage over the ISIS’s atrocities, boredom with civilian life back home, dismay that an enemy they tried to neutralize is stronger than ever — they have offered themselves as pro bono advisers and riflemen in local militias.

Patrick Maxwell is one of them.  With the rise of ISIS, Maxwell, a former sergeant in the Iraq War … who was selling real estate in Texas … was finally able to see “the enemy” that was more like a phantom when he was deployed in Anbar Province in 2006.  Horrified by the atrocities of ISIS, Maxwell decided to volunteer to fight ISIS, along with other veterans.  Yet, while this may seem admirable, it places the U.S. in an awkward legal position.  Some of these veterans end up fighting alongside Kurdish militias that have ties to groups labeled “terrorist organizations” by the State Department.  This, of course, is on top of the dangers of being killed or captured in the fight against ISIS forces.

With ISIS hoisting its black flag above many Iraqi cities that many U.S. troops spent years working to secure, Maxwell saw this as a second chance.  He connected with a Kurdish military officer online, packed his body armor, some old uniforms and a faded green ball cap with a TX flag patch on the front, and flew to Iraq.  Within days, he was on the front lines as a volunteer fighter with Kurdish security forces (known as the pesh merga) in northern Iraq, peering through a rifle scope at ISIS fighters as bullets whizzed past.

“More than anything, they don’t like ISIS and want to help,” said Matthew VanDyke, an American filmmaker who has spent time this winter with four American veterans covertly training a militia of Assyrian Christians in northern Iraq to resist ISIS.  In a phone interview from Iraq, Mr. VanDyke said that many veterans spent years honing combat skills in war only to have them shelved in civilian life and that they are eager for a new mission.  “A lot of guys did important stuff overseas and came home and got stuck in menial jobs, which can be really hard,” he said.  “[This is] kind of a dream job, a chance to do what they are trained to do without all the red tape and PowerPoints.”

Though there is no official count, a spokesman for the Y.P.G. Kurdish militia in Syria said that more than 100-American citizens are fighting there. Though pesh merga officials in Iraq recently said there were more than 10 Westerners fighting in Iraq, they now say there are none.

While the U.S. authorities have tracked and prosecuted citizens who try to join ISIS, it is unclear how they will respond to Americans’ fighting ISIS … especially since some Kurdish militias in Syria have ties to groups the State Department classifies as terrorist organizations.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

A Different ‘Hotel California’ than the 70’s Rock Lyrics of the Eagles

Question: Have you ever heard of “birth tourism”?  You better!  It’s on the rise in America, and directly affects you!

“Birth tourism” is the practice of wealthy women from another country (typically China or Turkey) paying tens-of-thousands of dollars to give birth in the United States for their newborn to become American citizens before returning to their home country with their child.

Recently, federal agents raided several hotels and apartment complexes used by birth tourism rings to house pregnant women, citing suspicions of visa fraud and money laundering.  While nobody was arrested, the IRS and Department of Homeland Security launched the raids after two Homeland Security Investigations agents (posing as pregnant Chinese women) were told how to hide their pregnancies and fabricate employment histories in order to gain entry to the U.S. to have a child.  There were also concerns that despite the thousands of dollars paid to birth tourism agencies, the hospitals where women actually gave birth were never compensated.

From USA Today, agents also said hospitals were defrauded.  In one case, new parents last year paid just $4,080 of a $28,845 hospital bill … even though their bank account showed charges at Louis Vuitton, Rolex and Wynn Las Vegas hotel-casino.

Agents with search warrants raided about 20 locations in Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties (California), including a luxury apartment complex in Irvine that was home to an operation called ‘You Win USA Vacation Resort.’

Authorities did not reveal how many women were found, or say whether any -- or how many -- might be allowed to stay to give birth.  Cases will be handled on an individual basis.

The practice of coming to the U.S. to give birth isn’t illegal, but visa fraud most certainly is.

Understandably, people will attempt to beat China’s oppressive one-child policy.  And why shouldn’t people be able to fly into the U.S. to give birth to a child; they’re certainly walking over the boarder to give birth to an American citizen!

The point is: American citizenship should mean something … not just be used as something to exploit when it comes time to apply for college.  (American citizens living abroad do not have to apply to U.S. schools through the international pool, which tend to be more competitive than the domestic pool of applicants.)

While Congress has toyed with bills to restrict the “birth tourism” practice and redefine the U.S. policy of jus soli citizenship, they haven’t gone anywhere.  The U.S. and Canada are the only two developed nations on earth who grant citizenship to every child born on its soil.  Most countries require that one or both parents are either citizens of or legally residing in the country in order to transfer citizenship to a child.

The practice of “birth tourism” should end … as part of comprehensive immigration reform.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Iran Holds U.S. Christian Pastor Saeed in Prison While U.S. State Department Negotiates a Nuclear Deal

While the U.S. State Department is negotiating with Iran over its nuclear pursuit, U.S. Pastor Saeed Abedini remains in an Iranian jail for his Christian faith – now nearly 2 ½ years.  According to his wife (Naghmeh), he is “shaken” as 6 of his fellow prisoners were executed around him last week.

“Saeed was quite shaken as he had to witness 6 fellow prisoners being beaten and taken to be executed (hanged) that day,” Naghmeh was quoted as saying in a report by American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ).  “It was a hard and dark day having witnessed that and seeing life being taken.  The prison visit was also very hard as the families of those who were executed were crying and wailing,” she added.

Naghmeh learned about this after Pastor Saeed’s family members in Iran were able to have a short visit with him at the prison.  “It was also an emotional visitation as it is getting closer to Jacob’s 7th birthday.  Last time Saeed saw Jacob he was 4-years old,” she said, urging Christians to continue to pray for her husband “to have the strength to endure in that harsh prison and that Jesus would continue to meet him there and give him hope.”  “Please pray that this will be the year that Saeed is released,” she said.

Pastor Saeed remains in an incredibly dangerous situation, ACLJ says, explaining that summary executions, inmate violence and beatings are common-place.  Saeed has also sustained prolonged internal injuries due to beatings in the prison.  “The Obama Administration must do all within its power to bring this wrongfully imprisoned U.S. citizen home to his family in America,” ACLJ says.

President Obama raised the issue of the pastor’s detention during his first phone conversation with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in September 2013, but authorities in Iran have not responded.

Saeed grew up in Iran before converting to Christianity at the age of 20.  He later traveled with his family back and forth between Iran and the U.S. to meet other members of his family and for Christian work.  During one such trip in 2009, Saeed was detained by Iranian officials and interrogated for his conversion.  While he was released with a warning against engaging in underground church activities, he was once again arrested in 2012 while working on a non-sectarian orphanage project.

Saeed was sentenced for endangering Iran’s “national security,” but the ACLJ believes the punishment has more to do with Saeed’s Christian faith.

Where is the true Church?  Does the Lord’s Church leave a brother in the hands of the enemy?  Is your church in constant prayer for persecuted Christians world-wide, or are you a part of a church that is only concerned for its own survival and good name? 

Fellow Christians: Just as God freed the Apostle Paul from prison (read Acts 16:16-40), let’s believe in the power of the Living Lord to do the same for Saeed … to His honor and glory!

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Assyrian Christians Refuse to Convert to Islam

Two of the 200+ Assyrian hostages kidnapped by the Islamic State (ISIS) during an assault on Christian villages along Syria’s Khabur River in February have provided insight into their abduction in recent interviews where one revealed that the ISIS militants tried to force the Christian hostages to convert to Islam, but the captives boldly refused.

On February 23, the terrorist group raided approximately 35 different Christian villages in the Hasakah province and abducted somewhere between 263 to 373 men, women and children … according to the Assyrian International News Agency (AINA).  But about a week after the raids, ISIS released a handful of hostages on March 1.  A released hostage going by the name of ‘Robert’ told AINA that he was abducted from his village of Tel Goran, which is on the south bank of the Khabur River, along with 16 other men and 4 women.  He recalls the militants storming into his village at around 5 a.m., knocking on all the doors and waking everybody up.  He explained that the terrorists corralled everybody who was left in the village and placed them all into a small room, where they waited until the fighting subsided between the ISIS fighters and the Kurdish forces.  Robert further explained that the fighting subsided about 3-hours after being placed in the room, and said the militants got upset when the local church’s bell rang in the quiet of the night.  Then, the Assyrian captives were transported to the Abdul Aziz Mountain, where they were placed into two rooms and spent the night.

While staying at the mountain, Robert recalls that the first thing the militants did was demand that the hostages convert to Islam.  “They asked us to convert to Islam. … Yes, that was their [first] idea that we should convert to Islam,” Robert said.  “Many bearded people spoke to us, and everyone asked us to convert to Islam.”  When asked about how many militants had spoken to them about conversion, Robert replied, “very many, everyone spoke to us who saw us.”

After spending the night in the house at Abdul Aziz Mountain, Robert said he and the rest of the hostages were driven about 4-hours north in the mountains.  When they arrived, the hostages were placed into two different homes where they remained for 5-days until they were released.  Although they were in a new location, the militants’ goal was still to get the hostages to convert to Islam.  “They kept pressuring us to convert to Islam.  It was their constant focus.  But we were not mistreated.”  Robert continued, “We said we would not convert.  They said you must then pay the jizya [a Christian poll tax] or leave the country.  That was the option given to us.  We said we would pay the jizya, but we would not convert.”

Although the hostages were told they would have to pay, Robert said the militants uncharacteristically released them without forcing them to pay the tax.  “They said this time they would not collect the jizya because we had not fought against them.  They said that they would release use on one condition — that we not return to our village,” said Robert, who then added, “"They said if we returned and they captured us again they would kill us without any other option; they would behead the men and enslave the women.”

Even though the ISIS fighters continuously tried to get the Christians to convert, Robert said he and the rest of the hostages were not roughed up or cruelly treated and were even given everything they needed.  “We were provided with all necessities — food, water, bathing facilities.  They brought us everything,” Robert asserted.

Another released hostage from Tel Goran, going by the name ‘Peter,’ told The Times he and the other hostages were tried in Shariah court, but it was ruled that they were non-combatants.  The Times reports that a Sunni tribal leader helped negotiate their release.

Graeme Wood, a writer with The Atlantic who covers the Islamic State, told CNN that ISIS’ willingness to release the hostages by order of Shariah courts is an attempt to build more religious credibility.  “ISIS has claimed for a long time to follow rules, and it claims that these Shariah courts will impose limits,” Wood said.  “They can attempt to get credibility by showing that they follow rules and that they have some kind of transparent process that follows their particular implementation of Shariah law.”

Robert added that upon release, ISIS hired a car to take the hostages to the town of Hasakah, where other Christians from the region have taken refuge in a church.  As ISIS has seized many of the region’s villages, Robert said he and many other Assyrians in the region are planning to flee to Lebanon.

Even though Robert, Peter and the rest of the hostages they were with from Tel Goran were released, over 200 Assyrians remain in ISIS captivity after more than 2-weeks. Other reports have indicated that ISIS may have executed 15 other Christian hostages.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

WV Republican Legislation Overrides Democrat Governor’s Veto on Abortion Law

The newly elected Republican legislature in West Virginia (WV) recently flexed its muscles by overriding Democratic Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin veto of an abortion law that would ban the practice after 20-weeks.  In short, late-term abortion is now banned in WV.  The ban provides some exemptions for women in medical emergencies, but not for rape and incest.

The bill is based on the assertion that fetuses can feel pain at 20-weeks, which is disputed in medical research.  Opponents say it’s unconstitutional and intrusive into doctor-patient relationships.  Ten other states ban abortions after 20-weeks.

The WV law resembles one that was struck down in Arizona in 2013.  The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) decided not to reconsider that case.

WV is one of the few states in the country where a simple majority is needed to override a veto.  Gov. Tomblin, who touts himself as pro-life, vetoed the legislation due to constitutional concerns, but even Democrats in the legislature supported the bill.

Despite what abortion advocates may say about 20-week bans, they’re popular … especially amongst American women.  In a 2013 Washington Post/ABC News poll, 60% of women supported the measure (56% amongst all adults).  Polling also showed that there was immense support for more restrictions on abortion as well.  In fact, of four major polls conducted in recent weeks on the 20-week abortion ban, each one show women are actually more supportive of the law than men.  A new Quinnipiac poll shows 60% of women prefer allowing unrestricted abortions for only the first 20-weeks of pregnancy rather than the SCOTUS-prescribed 24-weeks.  Among men, 50% support the 20-week law … a 10-point gap.  Two other polls (from NBC/Wall Street Journal and National Journal) showed the gap at six and four points, respectively.  And those numbers may actually understate support among women for the new restrictions.

In the Washington Post/ABC News poll, rather than choosing between a 20-week ban and the current 24-weeks, 8% of women volunteered that abortion should never be legal, and 3% volunteered that the window should be smaller than 20-weeks.  If you add them to the 60% of women who support the 20-week abortion ban, then 71% of women would seem to support the effort to increase abortion restrictions.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

All Aboard! The Gravy Train is Head’in to the Welfare State

A new report from the Census Bureau showed a total of 108,592,000 people were on some sort of means-tested government benefits program in the 4th quarter of 2011, yet only 101,716,000 people were employed full-time for the entire year.

An individual counted as a beneficiary of a means-tested program if they resided in a household where someone received benefits.

Means-tested benefits programs are the second-largest category of government spending.  The government spends more on these programs than public education and defense spending.  From a Heritage Foundation report, the 69 means-tested programs operated by the federal government provide a wide variety of benefits, including:

12 programs providing food aid;

10 housing assistance programs;

10 programs funding social services;

9 educational assistance programs;

8 programs providing cash assistance;

8 vocational training programs;

7 medical assistance programs;

3 energy and utility assistance programs; and

2 child care/child development programs.

Programs such as Social Security, unemployment insurance, workers compensation, and veterans benefits are not considered to be “means tested;” therefore, recipients of these benefits are not included in the 108,592,000 figure.

Clearly, this is a huge problem.  How long can a country survive if its citizens are not willing or able to work?  In 35-states, welfare pays better than an actual job.  This is what is called an “incentive” … and the U.S. is incentivizing people to not work.  Why would a person actually get a job if they could be paid more to stay home?  In Pennsylvania, a single woman with children working a job that pays $29,000 a year actually receives $57,345 in total income when benefits are factored in.  Conversely, if the woman were to work a job that paid $69,000 a year, her net pay after taxes is only $57,045.  If the woman were to make more than her $29,000 salary, she would miss out in nearly $30,000 in government benefits.  Short of winning the lottery, a person’s income is not likely to increase rapidly from $29,000 to $69,000.  This is referred to as the “welfare cliff.”  There is no incentive for the woman to better her life and stop receiving welfare.

This is the problem with how means-tested benefits are distributed in the U.S.; yet it appears nobody is actually doing anything about it.  The amount of people on SNAP (food stamps) has nearly doubled since 2006 … despite the economic recovery.  Disability claims are also at record highs. Even liberal 60 Minutes thought those numbers were suspicious and did an investigation about it.  They found the system is being gamed.

If American welfare recipients were counted as a country, they would be the 12th largest in the world.

Is this “change we can believe in”?!

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

ISIS Releases 19 Assyrian Christians, But 100s Remain Captive

Nineteen Assyrians from the village of Tel Goran in Syria’s al-Hasakah province were released after local Arab leaders negotiated with ISIS for 3-days, said Assyrian International News Agency (AINA).  The Assyrians have arrived safely at St. Mary’s Church in Hasakah, the group said.  Those released include 17-women and 2-men.  Many more from the village of Tel Goran and hundreds from other villages remain captive.

An elderly woman who was released said ISIS did not release her son and two other men who were guarding the village.  ISIS also refused to let a 6-year-old girl go, according to the released hostages, who believe the terror group plans to use the girl as a “bargaining chip.”  The girl’s mother was released, but she refused to go and stayed with her daughter.  The hostages who returned had not been harmed.

AINA estimates that ISIS captured between 262 and 373 Assyrians from 35-villages on February 23.  Their release is also being negotiated.  AINA had earlier said that ISIS agreed in principle to set free only those who did not fight back when ISIS attacked their villages.

The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which documents human rights situation in Syria, had reported that a Shariah Court of ISIS issued an order for the release of 29-Assyrian citizens.

“ISIS has claimed for a long time to follow rules, and it claims that these Shariah courts will impose limits,” Graeme Wood of The Atlantic told CNN. “They can attempt to get credibility by showing that they follow rules and that they have some kind of transparent process that follows their particular implementation of Shariah law.”

Meanwhile, Catholic Herald reported that ISIS militants have killed 15 of those captured.  “Around 15 young Assyrians are martyred.  Many of them were fighting to defend and protect the villages and families,” it quoted Abbot Emanuel Youkhana as saying.  “It is believed there are casualties and many Assyrians have been killed in the village,” he added.  Youkhana also said that the hostages have likely been transported to the nearby area of Mount Abdul Aziz, which is controlled by ISIS.

About 3,000 Assyrians have fled their villages, and there are no families left in the 35 Assyrian Christian villages that were attacked.  The only people left in the region are Christian militia fighters who are fighting alongside Kurdish troops.

Since last June, when ISIS declared its ‘caliphate,’ the terror group has killed roughly 2,000 people, about two-thirds of them civilians, according to the Observatory.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Court Ruled Christian Ministries Can Hire/Fire According to Beliefs

A federal court has ruled that Christian ministries can hire or fire people based on their religious beliefs.  The decision comes after Alyce Conlon filed suit against InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF) after she was fired for not reconciling her marriage.  Previously, she had worked as a spiritual director for the fellowship.  Conlon was placed on paid leave so she could reconcile with her husband.  

Then in December 2011, she was fired because the organization had “not seen enough progress.”  Later, her husband filed for divorce.  Conlon then filed suit against IVCF in 2012, claiming discrimination under the 1st Amendment’s free exercise clause.  Her case was initially dismissed, but Conlon appealed to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Christian News Network reports the court upheld the ruling this week.  “Because IVCF is a religious organization and Conlon was a ministerial employee, IVCF’s decision to terminate her employment cannot be challenged under federal or state employment discrimination laws,” the three-judge panel declared.  “The Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses do not permit federal or state courts to adjudicate such matters when the defendant properly asserts the ministerial exception as an affirmative defense.”

Said Alliance Defending Freedom: “As the Sixth Circuit affirmed, the ability of faith-based groups to make employment decisions consistent with the very faith they espouse is a ‘structural limitation imposed on the government by the Religion Clauses [of the 1st Amendment], a limitation that can never be waived,’” Senior Legal Counsel David Hacker said in a statement.  “The court was right to recognize that this freedom extends to groups beyond just those that are directly run by churches and denominations.”

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Escaping Girls Speak Out About Boko Haram Terrorists

It’s been more than 300-days since Islamic terrorists with the group Boko Haram snatched more than 270-girls from a boarding school in Nigeria in the dead of night.  [read my blog dated May 12, 2014 – “Christian Persecution in Abduction of Nigerian Girls”]

Despite a worldwide outcry and military action, most of the girls are still missing.  But some have managed to escape.

“They told us that if we do not convert to Islam they will slit our throats.  They asked the healthy ones to perform the (Islamic) rites while we, the sick ones, did not perform the rites,” said 15-year-old Abigail John, who was held by Boko Haram for more than 4-weeks.  John was among three girls who recently escaped from Boko Haram.  She had worried she would never see freedom again.  “The way they spoke to us, they had no intention of releasing us,” she said.  “They said we would be married off as soon as we got well and that they would marry us to their members who were single. We never thought we would regain our freedom.”

Dorcas Aiden, a 20-year-old held captive for 2-weeks last September, admitted that she denied her Christian faith and pretended to become Muslim, to stay alive.  She described what she witnessed in captivity.  “They are teaching (girls) Islamic (religion); some say they are married, then they are saying that they are training them (to fight),” she said.  “And they are showing us inside (on) the laptop (videos) every day, and they are showing us the way they are killing people, killing soldiers,” she continued.  “And they say if they catch you ladies, they will marry the ladies, and if they catch a man, they will kill the man.”

The local priest, Father Maurice Kwairanga, has been helping these girls.  “(For) some of them it’s very painful for them to go through this process of even telling what happened to them,” he said.  “But gradually, they are able to open up and to talk freely, to feel accepted and to feel that the world has not turned its back on them.”

At least 219-girls are still missing.  The fight with Boko Haram killed more than 6,000 civilians in 2014.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel

Did You Miss It? ISIS Burns 45 Alive in Iraq

You more than likely were appalled with ISIS burning alive the Jordanian pilot.  You certainly should have been!  Did your news source reveal they did it again … times 45?!  Yes, ISIS continues its evil march through the Middle East with yet another grisly mass execution.  This time, they have burned 45-people to death in al-Baghdadi … just five miles away from Ain al-Asad (an air base housing hundreds of U.S. Marines).

According to the BBC, at least some of the victims appear to be security forces that had been fighting for control of the town.

Fox News reports that Col. Qasim Obeidi was pleading for help from the Iraqi government and the international community, saying that families of security personnel were now under siege.

In a separate report, The Daily Beast revealed that Italy now fears an ISIS invasion after the barbaric killings of 21-Coptic Christians in Libya in which threats were made in a video release that terrorists had their sights on Rome.

Because of the ever-increasing rate of refugees – many of them smugglers and criminals – flooding into southern Italy over the last few years, defense analysts are warning that Italy has never been so exposed to an attack as now.

According to The Daily Beast, in October, terrorists dedicated the cover of its Dabiq magazine to a story called “Reflections on the Final Crusade” about how they will conquer Rome … complete with a photo of a black jihadist flag flying over St. Peter’s Square.  “We will conquer your Rome,” they wrote, “break your crosses, and enslave your women, by the permission of Allah, the Exalted.  If we do not reach that time, then our children and grandchildren will reach it, and they will sell your sons as slaves at the slave market.  Every Muslim should get out of his house, find a crusader and kill him ... And the Islamic State will remain until its banner flies over Rome.”

Don’t forget, they said they would fly their flag over the U.S. White House as well.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel