Trump Derangement Syndrome personified

Agent 9 sent a message to Ed. wondering if something had happened to Walt, because after a flurry of activity at the beginning of the month, there's been almost nothing for a week now.

The truth is that Walt has been shocked and appalled by recent developments in the persecution of President Trump, as the weaponized Democrat judges pull out all the stops to throw a spanner [wut? Ed.] into the Donald's re-election campaign. 

I'm lost for words, so this will have to do.

Further comment seems unnecessary. However...

Noted this morning: A survey of New York Jews reports that 61% of those polled plan on voting for President Trump. That probably includes some bankers, businesspersons and others who have yet to succumb to TDS.

I'll be talking at ya on Sunday, after the South Carolina results are in.

VIDEO: Deep State persecution of Babylon Bee begins in earnest

The Democrats, the Deep State, the gliberals, the wokesters, the secular humanists and the lickspittle media all dislike The Babylon Bee - your trusted source of Christian satire. In some cases, it's more than dislike, more like HATE, although we know that only conservatives and right-wingers can be "haters".

It's noto hard to figure out why. The Bee is now one of the leading publishers of articles goring sacred cows and uncovering steaming piles of bullshit. For example: "God Sends Giant Waves To Wash Away California Sidewalk Poop" (30/12/23) and "The Biden Administration's Top 10 Accomplishments Of 2023" (30/12/23) -- the latter a must-read. 

And that's just part of yesterday's output. It's all Walt can do to manage one really good article (as opposed to videos and filler) every week. Of course the Bee's staff is considerably larger than ours. [Glad you understand. Ed.]

Anyway, it's no wonder that contributors to the Bee are walking around with targets on their backs. And now that the re-election of President Trump is less 11 months away, the gloves (or the left globe at least) are coming off. 

The Bee's Siaka Massaquoi was recently separated by the FBI from his pregnant wife, who arrested him at an airport over charges related to January 6th. In this video he tells what really happened on January 6th and what he was doing at the Capitol Building on that fateful day. . 

 

If  you agree that Mr Massaquoi is being unjustly persecuted by the weaponized FBI, and would like to help, click here to contribute to his legal defence fund. And keep reading the Bee!

Movie Review: "OPPENHEIMER", a cautionary tale

The screenwriteres strike offers some respite from the steady stream of crapulous drivel coming out of Hollywood in the Age of Woke. So bad has it been that Walt hasn't been to the cinema/theater in something like five years. But Mrs Walt talked me into going to see Oppenheimer because (she said) it says something about the persecution of people who offend the powers that be (read: Deep State, liberal elites, etc) in today's America (and Canada, aka Little America). 

Here's the first trailer, the official one.

   

And here's the second one.

   

You would think, from the trailers, that the movie is all aqbout the making of the atomic bomb. It is not. We'll come to the real story, and its relevance to the politics of 2023, in a moment, but first a capsule review: 

Oppenheimer - Directed by Christopher Nolan. Written by Christopher Nolan, based on the 2005 biolgraphy American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin. 

Starring Cillian Murphy (as J. Robert Oppenheimer), Emily Blunt (Kitty Oppenheimer), Robert Downey Jr. (Lewis Strauss), and (IMHO) Florence Pugh (as Jean Tatlock, Oppenheimer's sometime paramour).

Oppenheimer is the story of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer, his role in the development of the atomic bomb, and his subsequent persecution by the Atomic Energy Commission and other instruments of Deep State in the anti-Communist mania of the McCarthy era.

Running time: 180 minutes, comprising approximately 170 minutes of dialogue, and (to wake you up) about 10 minutes of Very Loud Noises. All the same, Walt gives it 4 1/2 stars out of 5. Academy Award nominations expected for Cillian Murphy as the protagonist Robert Oppenheimer, and Robert Downey Jr as his antagonist, Lewis Strauss (factoid: He prounced it "Straws", so it wouldn't sound so Jewish). 

I thought Mr Downey was the better of the two, but he'll have to settle for Best Supporting Actor since Mr Murphy plays the hero, a good guy hounded almost to death for his naïveté in daring to hold and voice opinions contrary to those of the stablishment. Florence Pugh gets my Wally for Outstanding Nubility and Cuteness. Her face reminds me vaguely of that of Shaye Cohn, leader of Tuba Skinny, the best New Orleans jazz band going. But I digress...

The story predominantly focuses on Dr Oppenheimer's studies, his direction of the Manhattan Project during World War II, and his eventual fall from grace due to his 1954 security hearing. The Atomic Energy Commission hearing, directed from behind the scenes by Lewis Strauss, was a classic kangaroo court. The movie shifts back and forth between it and the Mr Strauss's later confirmation hearing in the Senate (he was up for Secretary of Commerce) in which his vindictiveness toward Oppenheimer was exposed, resulting in his homination being rejected.

The scenes of the AEC hearing provide the lesson to which I alluded. Dr Oppenheimer's counsel were not allowed enough time to prepare properly, or to see or hear much of the evidence against him. The prosecutor was malicious and unfair in the extreme. If he couldn't prove the scientist was a card-carrying Communist -- he wasn't! -- he was determined to show that he was a "comsymp" and "fellow traveller". The result was what you would expect. Dr Oppenheimer's security clearance was revoked and he went into exile in disgrace.

Mrs Walt, who comes from a country in which kangaroo courts and persecution for one's politics are the norm, said she was reminded of nothing so much as the current prosecutions of President Trump. "They're trying to destroy him," she said, "and will stop at nothing to do that." Indeed. 

Just yesterday, US District Judge Tanya Chutkan orderered the federal trial over President Trump's alleged illegal efforts to overturn the 2020 election to start on 4 March 2024 -- one day before "Super Tuesday" in the GOP presidential primary.

In so doing, she rejected both an expedited timeline requested by special presecutor Jack Smith (which would have had the trial start even earlier) and a request from Mr Trump\s lawyers to delay the trial until 2026. Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance called her ruling "straight up election interference." 

A GOP consultant said, "You're starting the trial the day before the biggest primary day? It's called Super Tuesday for a reason. It's the biggest day of primaries. That's when you start the trial?" Well, that's what the Democrats [sic] and Deep State want -- to keep President Trump off the 2024 ballot since they know in a head-to-head contest he would trounce Dementia Joe, the puppet President. 

They're out to get him, if not in New York, then in Washington, and if not Washington, then Georgia. That's how the rule of law and principles of fair play and justice work in Brandon's America. And not just in America. Watch this space for more persecution news from the Great No-longer-white North.

Further viewing: Walt recommends Atomic Cafe. This 1982 cult classic juxtaposes Cold War history, propaganda, music and culture, seamlessly crafted from government-produced educational and training films, newsreels and advertisements. It's an absurdist blast from the past that would be downright laughable if it weren’t so eerily relevant to our fake news present. Click here to watch it. Running time: 1:26:37.

Further reading (highly recommended): "Donald Trump’s Trial For Election Interference Set To Begin In Time To Interfere With Election", Babylon Bee (of course), 29/8/23.

Chinese Commies won't allow "Patriotic Catholic" churches to re-open

May is the month of Mary. The non-essential Pope Francis has called on Catholics everywhere to pray to Her Immaculate Heart, pray the Rosary, make pilgrimages to holy places like Fatima... if they're allowed by the all-powerful state so to do.

But if the government says churches must remain closed because of the Dempanic, and that we must not gather together to pray -- just stay home! -- then of course we must obey the laws of the state, not God's law. Yes, he actually said that yesterday, in response to the call of the bishops of Italy for churches to reopen so people can have access to the Sacraments!

Italy is, of course, not the only country in which churches have been closed and gatherings of worshippers forbidden. [That applies only to Christians, of course. Ed.]  The bishops of the AABC countries (America, Australia, Britain and Canada) have drunk the liberal Koolaid and believe that the only way we can save ourselves is to follow our governments' guidelines, not our instincts which tell us that in time of crisis, the best place to be is in church, on our knees!

And then there's China. The bishops of the heretical and schismatic Chinese Patrioitic Catholic Association, to which the Vatican sold out back in 2018, have yet to utter a single word against the order of the Communist government to close all churches and "suspend" all religious activities, including not just worship but education. These are the requirements of the CPCA and the Council of Chinese Bishops, the two bodies that manage the life of the Catholic communities in China.

And now (this past Sunday), those authorities have ordered a "double suspension and a postponement" which will apply throughout the month of May. The first "suspension" is that churches will remain closed throughout China. The places of worship have been closed since January 23, the day the quarantine was triggered across the country due to the coronavirus.

In late March and early April, isolation was lifted from the country and the government pushed the population to resume normal life and go to work. But, the Commies warn, although "the epidemic situation in China is currently under control...the pandemic continues to spread abroad, and the danger of cases from abroad has found considerable growth.". Therefores, "the suspension of the opening of places for Catholic activities and for all religious activities must continue." Geddit, comrade?

The second "suspension" is for all activities related to Marian pilgrimages. The reality is that almost every diocese in China has a Marian shrine and these are highly popular during feast days relating to the Blessed Virgin and in particular in the month of May. This year, "no type of pilgrimage activity will be organized during the Marian month."

"To ensure the safety and health of priests and the faithful," says the new order, "please avoid any relapses caused by the gatherings of people; dioceses and parishes are required to suspend group pilgrimage activities, or organize interregional pilgrimages. The bishops and priests must notify their faithful in advance, asking them to pray in their home, recite the rosary, do meditation to venerate the Virgin Mary, spending this month dedicated to Her in peace." Just stay home, like the Americans, Canadians, Britons, Italians, French, etc etc.

The CPCA and the Council of Bishops say, as do our own bishops, that they are just following orders from the state, and that in order to "continue the anti-coronavirus work", it has been established that "religious gatherings should be avoided." Walt predicts that the end of May will see further extensions of the "just stay home" orders, not just in China but around the world. The difference is that in China there's a very good possibility that our churches and holy places may never reopen... ever!

Further reading: "Betrayed and abandoned: why China's underground Catholics feel like Jesus on Good Friday", by Mimi Lau, South China Morning Post, 30/3/18.

Further viewing: "COVIDGATE: Will Trump Lose in November?", by Michael Matt, editor of The Remnant newspapers. Best line: "Don't let them turn America into a medical dictatorship!"

People's Party of Canada policy statement on refugees

Anticipating the general election scheduled for October 21st, Maxime Bernier's People's Party of Canada has released its policy papers on immigration, refugees and other critical issues on which Canadians will be asked to vote. Walt has just received the following press release which, IMHO, sets out a sensible policy not just for Canada but for the other AABC countries and western Europe. [Too bad it's too late for Europe. Ed.]

Refugees: Ending Open Borders Policies

and Prioritizing Persecuted Groups

Issue
The Liberal government is deliberately attempting to erase our borders. Over the past three years, it has done nothing to stop the flow of tens of thousands of asylum seekers illegally crossing our borders. Accepting all these refugees will cost Canadian taxpayers billions of dollars.

Moreover, in 2018, Canada welcomed more resettled refugees than any other Western country; more than the United States, a country with ten times our population, and as many as all of the European Union.

The UN’s Global Compact for Migration, which the Liberal government signed last year, aims to normalize this kind of situation, and to make it easier for millions of people to move to Canada and other Western democracies at will.

Facts
Since early 2017, more than 45,000 migrants have illegally entered Canada, mainly at Roxham Road in Quebec, avoiding official border checkpoints where they would be turned away and told to file refugee claims in the United States. About 40% of the refugee claims that have been processed have been rejected. These false refugees will eventually have to be deported, after costing governments tens of thousands of dollars each.

A report by the Parliamentary Budget Officer found that the federal government spends on average about $14,000 for each asylum seeker crossing into Canada outside of official border points. The total annual cost for federal agencies to process these claims is expected to reach $396 million in 2019-2020. It does not include expenses incurred by the provinces, territories or municipalities, which pick up costs related to social services.

Our Plan
Our current refugee policy is unsustainable, costly, and it is being abused by false refugees at our borders. This must end. The moral obligation of Canada’s government is to first help those in need among our own population, and then to give priority to real refugees.

A People’s Party Government Will:

• Accept fewer resettled refugees (see also Immigration policy).
• Take every measure necessary, in partnership with our American neighbours, to stop the flow of illegal migrants at the US-Canadian border.
• Declare the whole border an official port of entry for the purposes of refugee claims to send back to the US anyone trying to enter Canada illegally.
• Fence off the areas where illegal border jumping is prevalent, such as Roxham Road in Quebec.
• Rely on private sponsorships instead of having the government pay for all the costs of resettling refugees in Canada.
• Stop our reliance on the United Nations for refugee selection.
• Give priority to refugees belonging to persecuted groups who have nowhere to go in neighbouring countries. For example: Christians, Yazidis, and members of other minority religions in majority Muslim countries; members of the Ahmadi community, and other Muslims in these countries who are persecuted because they reject political Islam and adhere to Western values; and members of sexual minorities.
• Take Canada out of the UN’s Global Compact for Migration.

Further reading: "Max Bernier's PPC policy on immigration, in point form" WWW 25/7/19.

25 worst places to be a Christian

The British newspaper The Guardian has published an overview of the persecution of Christians worldwide, accompanied by a list of the 25 worst places to be a Christian. "Christians are facing growing persecution around the world," they wrote, "fueled mainly by Islamic extremism and repressive governments, leading the Pope to warn of 'a form of genocide' and for campaigners to speak of 'religio-ethnic cleansing,'."

Click here to read The Grauniad's list, with their reasons. Walt's "Reader's Digest version" follows. The list is not in bad-worse-worst order because, well... I don't need to explain, do I?

North Korea - Asia, Communist dictatorship. Believers meet in secret "house churches", risking imprisonment, torture and martyrdom.
Somalia - Horn of Africa, officially Muslim, lawless and chaotic. Christians often executed on the spot.
Iraq - Middle East sandpit, officially Muslim, but which kind of Muslim? Shi'ites and Sunni Muslims are fighting it out in a Muslim civil war, in which the USA and its reluctant allies are meddling for no good reason.
Syria - Like Iraq, only worse.
Afghanistan - Like Syria, only worse.

Sudan - Northern Africa, officially Muslim, Sharia law. Converting to Christianity punishable by death. Blasphemy gets you the lash.
Iran - Middle East, officially Muslim. Safer for Christians than Iraq or Syria, and that's about all you can say.
Pakistan - Asia, officially Muslim. Christians are second-class citizens. Blasphemy (against the Prophet or the Holy Qu'ran) punishable by death.
Eritrea - Horn of Africa, pseudo-Communist dictatorship, Muslim majority. See North Korea.
Nigeria - Africa, divided between Muslim north and nominally Christian south. Sharia law in the north. Boko Haram abducts girls, kills Christians by the thousands.

Maldives - Never heard of it, right? Beautiful little islands in the Indian Ocean, southwest of India. Great tourist destination. Officially Muslim. Converting from Islam means forfeiting Maldivian citizenship, and owning a Bible is punishable by death. Churches are banned; Christian migrants and tourists also have to meet in secret and cannot own Bibles.
Saudi Arabia - Middle East, feudal kingdom. Officially Muslim and we're talking Wahabi, the most extreme branch of Sunni Islam. For their faith, Christians may be arrested, imprisoned, tortured and deported.
Libya - North Africa, officially Muslim. ISIS hotspot, going through a civil war following a pointless Western invasion. The new Somalia.
Yemen - Middle East, feudal, officially Muslim. Christians treated as in Saudi Arabia, and caught in the middle of a civil war, with Saudis intervening on the side of Islamic fundamentalists.
Uzbekistan - Central Asia, pseudo-Communist dictatorship. As in China [How did China get left off this list?! Ed.], all churches must be registered with the state. Converts from Islam face imprisonment, beatings and sometimes banishment.

Vietnam - Asia, Communist dictatorship. Not quite as bad as China, since the Roman Catholic Church still has a large following, the legacy of the colonial days. As in China and Uzbekistan, churches must be officially registered. As in China, many churches have been destroyed, and Christians attacked and imprisoned.
Central African Republic - Africa [Duh! Ed.], chaotic, lawless. The militant group Séléka, (= CAR rebels + Muslims from neighbouring countries), have raped, tortured and killed Christians throughout the country. Unlike in other countries on this fecal roster, defence groups made up of people claiming to be Christians are fighting back. Victims, Christian or Muslim, may be eaten.
Qatar - Middle East, Islamic kingdom. Converts to Christianity face banishment and death. Large population of migrant workers have to keep their faith to themselves.
Kenya - Africa. Like Nigeria but substitute Al Shabaab for Boko Haram. If you're a white, presumably Christian tourist, keep your head down.
Turkmenistan - Central Asia, quasi-dictatorship, officially Muslim. See Uzbekistan.

India - Asia. Officially a secular state but under the ruling BJP effectively "Hindustan". Like Pakistan, only with the persecutors being Hindus. In some states there are anti-conversion laws, and attacks on Christians and church buildings occur frequently. Indian Muslims are recommended to move to Pakistan or Bangladesh.
Ethiopia - Horn of Africa. I don't agree with The Guardian on this one, as the majority of Ethiopians are Coptic Christians. But there are Muslim-dominated areas, where Christians report harassment for their faith. The Grauniad says there were 60 violent incidents reported in 2014.
Egypt - Northern Africa, officially Muslim. There is a large(ish) minority of Coptic Christians who were largely left alone until the US-supported overthrow of the Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, which was followed by a sharp increase in anti-Christian violence, with 65 churches, convents, Christian bookshops and schools attacked. There are fears these attacks will increase as radical Islamist groups gain power in the region.
Djibouti - Horn of Africa, officially Muslim. You'll find it on the map next to Eritrea, which it greatly resembles. That's all you need to know.
Burma - Asia, quasi-dictatorship, officially Buddhists. Included in The Guardian's list (I guess) to show that it's not only the Islamists who have it in for Christians. There has been a rise in nationalist religious movements in the past few years, with nearly two dozen Christians killed in clashes with the army in 2014. Buddhist nationalist groups are putting pressure on the government to adopt laws that would make life harder for Christians, such as limiting conversions and restricting interfaith marriages.

So there you have it -- the 25 worst countries in which to be a Christian. OK, 26 if you count China, which you definitely should. And The Guardian says nothing of the persecution of believers in the True Faith by the secular humanists who have triumphed in post-Christian Europe and North America.

Dear Christian readers, please keep in your minds and hearts the words of St. Paul:
2 Timothy 3:12 - And all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
Romans 8:35/37 - Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or persecution, or sword? / But in all these things we overcome, because of Him that hath loved us.

Further reading: "Dying for Christianity: millions at risk amid rise in persecution across the globe" (Companion piece to The Guardian's list)

Religious persecution rampant in 15 countries. Guess which ones...

Earlier today I wrote about the increasing persecution of Christians -- and Muslims and Buddhists -- in Communist China. See "Religious freedom guaranteed by Communist China's constitution? LMAO!" But China is not the only country whose government is out to get believers.

In its newly released annual report for 1914, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) urges the State Department to designate (or redesignate) 15 nations as “countries of particular concern” (CPCs) because they are places “where particularly severe violations of religious freedom are tolerated or perpetrated.”

Here's the USCIRF list, in alphabetical order, with notes from Walt on who's persecuting whom.

CPCs -- Countries of Particular Concern
Burma - Buddhist majority would like to drive Muslim and Hindu minorities out of the country entirely.
China - No discrimination, persecutes all religions. Follow the link above.
Egypt - Cracking down on the Muslim Brotherhood at the moment, but Coptic Christians are a much persecuted minority.
Eritrea - The Eritrean government tolerates Orthodox, Catholics, Lutherans and Muslims, but has cracked down in the last decade on evangelical Protestants. "In Eritrea, 'Persecution greater than ever and getting worse'"
Iran - The Ayatollahs are still in charge. No infidels allowed.
Iraq - Like Iran except that the Muslims are killing each other, with Christians caught in the middle. See "'We are a ruined church': Patriarch Sako talks about Christianity in Iraq"
Nigeria - "Boko haram". Virtual civil war between the militant Islamists in the north and the somewhat Christian south.
North Korea - Worse than China.
Pakistan - Kill anyone who dares to blaspheme against the Prophet.
Saudi Arabia - Worse than Iran.
Sudan - Another Islamic state. Christians should refugee to strife-torn South Sudan PDQ.
Syria - Worse than Iraq, even without the "help" of America.
Tajikistan - No. 44 (only) on the OpenDoors watch list of countries that persecute Christians.
Turkmenistan - See Tajikistan (above) or Uzbekistan (below). All the "Stans" are the same -- no place for infidels.
Uzbekistan - Human Rights Watch said in its 2013 World Report authorities "persecute religious believers who worship outside strict state controls". Yes, even Muslims.
Vietnam - Like China, only smaller, and with no to worry about. Like Cuba in struggling to suppress the Catholic Church.

"Governments that engage in or tolerate violations that are serious, but which are not CPC-level violators"
Afghanistan - No comment necessary.
Azerbaijan - Another state where all citizens are theoretically free to choose their religion. In practice the government -- like those of China and Eritrea -- maintains many Soviet-era controls over religion. 90% of the people are non-observant Muslims.
Cuba - Communist government hasn't been able to extinguish the deep Catholic Faith of the people, but the Church is far from free.
India - Supposedly a secular state, but violence by Hindu extremists against Muslims and (especially) Christians goes unpunished.
Indonesia - World's biggest Muslim nation (by population), with Sharia law being promoted in some places (like Aceh province) and ongoing violence against Christians.
Kazakhstan - Another "Stan"; see Pakistan, Tajikistan, etc.
Laos - Majority Buddhist population. Government doesn't mind Catholics, but seeks to control incursions by Protestant missionaries. Malaysia - Very Muslim, but Christians aren't killed so much as locked up if they don't follow Islamic laws and customs. For instance, a Christian who dares to say "Allah" could do some jail time.
Russia - Probably on the list because the USA doesn't like the Putin government. Orthodox Christianity is the established religion -- antagonism to Catholicism lurks below the surface -- but it's really the Protestants who are targeted.
Turkey - Officially a secular state, becoming more and more Islamic in practice.

Countries which persecute religious minorities but somehow got left off the USCIRF list
Israel - Even John Kerry knows it's a de facto "apartheid state".
United States of America - Where the secular humanists who run the media and the so-called administration of President Hussein Obama are trying harder than ever to restrict or eliminate entirely the freedom of Christians -- especially Catholics and evangelical Protestants -- to live their lives in accordance with their religious convictions. Or, we might say, to obey God rather than the godless.

Freedom of religion is enshrined in the United States constitution. Just like that of Communist China.

Church refuses to see tyranny of Chinese communism: Cardinal Zen

Joseph Cardinal Zen Zekiun may have retired from his position as bishop of Hong Kong, but he is still -- at 81 years of age -- fighting the good fight against the Vatican's policy of trying to reconcile with the Communist Chinese and their scihsmatic "Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association".

Cardinal Zen is in Rome for the opening of the Academic Year of the Pontifical Lateran University, and gave a provocative interview to the ZENIT news agency in which he again deplored the Beijing government’s ongoing persecution of the Church and the bishops and priests who still owe allegiance to Rome.

China, he said, is still a dictatorship of the [Communist] Party. "Despite the fact that an opening has been reached from the economic point of view, there still hasn’t been any change in politics and religion."

"There is absolute control, contempt for the Church, the humiliation of our bishops," the prelate continued. "Some of them have been in prison for ten years! We, who in Hong Kong still have freedom of speech, must make our voice heard and say what we think."

"There are those who are content at least with an apparent harmony, precisely to avoid any clash," he added, in what can only be a reference to the policies of the Vatican Secretariat of State under its former master, the despised Cardinal Bertone. "But this is mistaken, because arrogance is encouraged by silence. Instead, it is [our] duty to continue to talk and to protest, especially for religious liberty." [Walt's emphasis.]

Cardinal Zen denounced the "make nice with the Commies" actions of some foreign prelates who have had meetings with "bishops" affiliated with the government-controlled CPCA.

"So many cardinals have come, but what have they resolved?" he asked. "They haven’t done anything. They let themselves be photographed and embraced by illegitimate bishops, and, returning to their countries, they have praised China, when instead they saw nothing of the truth."

Iranian Christians warned to lay off communion wine...or else!

The persecution of Christians in Muslim countries continues. Of course apologists for "the Religion of Peace" -- Hello President Hussein Obama! Hello Tony Bliar -- don't like to talk about the intolerance of the "Religion of Peace", but it's a fact. And sometimes it takes bizarre forms.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a UK-based organization which champions religious freedom [especially for Christians! Ed.] reports the existence of something called the Church of Iran, a Christian sect whose rites include the taking of wine at communion. This is not a good idea in countries governed by Sharia law, since alcohol is strictly forbidden to Muslims.

According to a report on the CSW website, four members of the Church of Iran congregation in Rasht -- a small city in northwestern Iran -- have been sentenced to eighty (count `em -- 80) lashes for consuming communion wine during a recent church service.

The report says that the sentence was handed down on October 6th, but doesn't say when it will be carried out. Walt will be keeping his eyes on YouTube for the video, which will almost certainly be posted "pour encourager les autres".

Nigerian archbishop says Boko Haram fanaticism increasing

Walt is still checking stories on the persecution and killing of Christians. Last Sunday we told you how the Muslim extremists who call themselves Boko Haram had massacred 44 students at a college in northeastern Nigeria. Today, the Vatican news agency FIDES has a comment from Most Rev. Ignatius Kagama, the Archbishop of Jos and president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria.

Abp. Kagama averred that Boko Haram is becoming more fanatical. "In the beginning the aim of Boko Haram was to attack Christians in order to destabilize the community," said the prelate. "But now the ferocity of the members of this movement has no limits to the point of slaughtering even those who should be their fellow Muslims."

"Boko Haram has made further progress in the sophistication and ferocity of their attacks," he added, "but it is now made up of fanatics who have lost their original goal."

Walt isn't so sure about that last part, about "losing sight of their original goal". Is there goal not to exterminate all the infidels in Nigeria, and rid the country of every trace of Western culture and influence? Seems to me they're right on track.

I saw the behatted Nigerian president shaking hands with the Prez himself on TV just a couple of nights ago. I didn't hear O'bama say anything about sending US forces to deal with Boko Haram. So the slaughter of Christians looks likely to continue. Any Muslims killed in the crossfire will be just collateral damage.

Christians attacked every day in Mid-East, Africa and Asia

News from "the cradle of civilization" continues to be depressing, at least for Christians. All the other "belief systems" -- fanatical Muslims, Hindus, even Jews ("our fathers in faith", as the mainstream Church calls them now) -- keep killing and otherwise persecuting those who hold to the True Faith. Here are three items from yesterday's Catholic World News. We'll include the links so you can read for yourself.

2 Christians shot in Libya after refusing to convert to IslamTwo Coptic Christians were shot in northeastern Libya after they refused to convert to Islam, according to Morning Star News, a news service that reports on the persecution of Christians. . . .

Attack on Catholic mission outpost in Central African RepublicSudanese members of the Séléka rebel coalition, which assumed power in the Central African Republic in March, have ransacked the Catholic mission in Bouar, a city of 40,000 in the western portion of the nation, according to the Fides news agency. . . .

Tombstones smashed in Christian cemetery in JerusalemFour young men whom the Jerusalem Post described as “Jewish nationalists” smashed tombstones and broke off crosses in a Christian cemetery in Jerusalem, according to a story that appeared on the newspaper’s website. . . .

Assassination attempt against Coptic bishop in EgyptA Coptic Orthodox bishop survived an assassination attempt as he was traveling to console the family of a murder victim, according to multiple media reports. . . .

This kind of thing is reported every bloody day! (I chose that adjective deliberately.) And yet the Church and Francis the Party Pope keep telling us that we must love the heathens and the heretics, keep reaching out to them, invite them into our places of worship, not to mention out countries. DAFT, isn't it?

Confession from Ed.: I borrowed the graphic from the cover of this week's Economist because I thought it was about right for this story. Look for the mag at your newsstand. Oh... no more newsstands in your neck of the woods? Walt will keep you posted!

VIDEO: Michael Matt talks about the worldwide persecution of Christians, Vatican II and the victory of relativism

One of the best truly Catholic newspapers extant is The Remnant. Since 1990 it has been edited by Michael J. Matt, a graduate of Christendom College. In the Wanderer and elsewhere, Mr. Matt has written hundreds of articles on the state of the Roman Catholic Church as well as anti-Chrisitan political trends in the world.

Mr. Matt is the author of Christian Fables, Legends of Christmas and Gods of Wasteland (Fifty Years of Rock ‘n’ Roll) and regularly speaks to traditional Catholic groups across the USA and Canada. His most recent appearance was at The Path to Peace Conference held in Niagara Falls, Canada, by the Fatima Center.

The title of his talk is "Will there soon be martyrs?" If you're Christian -- even if you're not Catholic -- and want to understand what's going on in the Middle East and why Christians and Christianity are under attack worldwide, watch this video.

Warning: The video is just over 58 minutes long, but if you have any doubt as to how the almighty State "hungers for Christian blood" -- Mr. Matt's words -- you should pay attention to every minute. He explains how those of us who still believe -- the remnant -- are part of "a Christophobic narrative which is at work and very serious". If you doubt Walt [How could you?! Ed.], try the first 10 minutes or so. You won't be able to turn it off.

Former Archbishop of Canterbury slams British PM for promoting gay "marriage", aggressive secularism

British Prime Minister David Cameron has a hidden agenda of "aggressive secularism", and is alienating Christians by promoting gay marriage. So says Very Rev. George Carey, a former Archbishop of Canterbury (head of the Anglican Communion), in a strongly worded article in the Daily Mail.

The still-influential Anglican cleric said Mr. Cameron's plan to legalize same-sex unions threatened the link between church and state. For American readers not clear on this point, Britain's largely unwritten constitution is opposite to that of the USA in that church and state are not separate, but linked together in the person of Her Majesty the Queen, who is both head of state and head of the schismatic Anglican church.

Wrote Lord Carey (as he is now known), "The danger I believe that the government is courting with its approach both to marriage and religious freedom is the alienation of a large minority of people who only a few years ago would have been considered pillars of society."

The former leader of the world's 80 million Anglicans also condemned what he saw as a lack of government support for Christians who choose to wear a cross at work, a practice that has been challenged in the past due to politically correct rules on religious expression at the workplace.

He referred to a ComRes survey, reported here earlier today, which revealed that more than two-thirds of British Christians felt they were a "persecuted minority".

Lord Carey opined that "it was a bit rich to hear that the prime minister has told religious leaders that they should 'stand up and oppose aggressive secularization' when it seems that his government is aiding and abetting this aggression every step of the way."

Most British Christians see themselves as persecuted minority

Yesterday (Holy Saturday) brought depressing news from the Disunited Kingdom, a.k.a. Once-great Britain. A survey done by pollsters ComRes revealed that more than two-thirds of  British Christians feel they are now part of a "persecuted minority".

And guess who the persecutors are? Not Romans and Jews, as in the time of Jesus, or even Muslims, but the promoters of what the polling firm calls "aggressive secularism", which churchgoers increasingly feel threatens freedom of religion.

In the UK, even more than in the USA and Canada, court rulings against people who want to wear crosses at work, and legal action preventing prayers before council meetings, have combined with a persistent anti-religious bias in the press to make Christians feel marginalized.

Adding fuel to the flames of resentment is the British Government's decision to legalize "marriage", in spite of the opposition of the Church -- including, in a half-hearted way, the Church of England -- and a significant chunk of popular opinion.

According to the PressTV article on the poll, if the march of secularism continues unabated, by 2030 Britain will no longer be a Christian country. By that date, there will be more non-believers than Christians. Why, because immigrants from Asia keep their faiths, and "born Christians" (as opposed to "born-again Christians") don't.

In the past six years, the report says, the number of Muslims has surged by 37% to 2.6 million. Hindus have increased their numbers by 43%, and Buddhists by a massive 74 per cent. Meanwhile, people who choose to call themselves Christians declined in number by more than 4 million between the censuses of 2001 and 2011. In the latter census, fewer than 60% of all residents of the UK described themselves as Christian. That's down from 72% in 2001.

A former Archbishop of Canterbury -- head of the so-called Anglican Communion -- has a comment on the role of Britain's government in the decline of Christianity in his country. Walt will be posting a précis later today.

Saint Ho Chi Minh? Oppression of the Church in Vietnam continues

In a remote corner of the Vietnamese province of Gia Lai, an intrepid traveller would find the village of Dak Pnan. The people who live there are lepers. The chapel is based in Dak Pnan village, whose members are lepers. Most of them belong to a tiny ethnic minority, the Bahnars. And most of them are Catholics

In 1999, a charitable organization based in France built a chapel in Dak Pnan in which the villagers could worship and hold their common activities. The villagers furnished the building with an altar, tabernacle, crucifix, and an image of the Blessed Virgin.

Last week, Communist officials ordered the faithful villagers to remove the Catholic pictures and items -- every last one -- from their chapel. If they didn't, the Communists told them, their lay leader would be put in prison.

So the villagers had to carry the cross, Marian picture, altar and tabernacle to the lay leader’s house. Authorities then put two pictures of Ho Chi Minh in the places where the cross and Marian picture were.

On the following day, authorities dismantled the bell of the chapel after local Catholics refused to do it. The bell was also taken to the lay leader’s house.

Stories like this are common in Communist-ruled countries like Vietnam, China and North Korea, but also in nominally secular states like India. I'm posting this one to remind all readers (not just Catholics) that Communism and Christianity are antithetical. The official belief system of Communism is atheism. That's why we call it "godless Communism". To Communists and atheists, Christianity is the enemy, to be treated accordingly, as in this example.

The same can truly be said of the secular humanists who rule the United States of America. President Obama and his administration are waging war on Christianity, especially in its truest form, Catholicism.

Believers! It is your right and your duty to resist such oppression, at home and abroad. Support in whatever way you can those who are persecuted for the sake of the True Faith. And remember Christ's promise: Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice's sake, for theirs is the kindgom of heaven. Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and peresecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake. (St. Matthew 5:10-11)

Persecution of Church in China getting worse: Cardinal Zen

May 24th -- Feast of Our Lady Help of Christians -- was a special World Day of Prayer for China. To mark the occasion, Joseph Cardinal Zen, the bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, gave an interview to ZENIT, in which he asserted that the persecution of the Church in China is becoming "more real and concrete".

According to the prelate, the Chinese Communist government is "employing increasingly dangerous and skilled methods, because they no longer stop at just threatening people; instead, they are now leading them into temptation. They do not want to make martyrs, they want to encourage renegades. For the Church this is so much worse. They have the means to test people, good, weak or timid, and reduce them to obedience. Their tools are money, but also prestige, honour or positions in society.

"What we need most today is to be faithful to the true nature of the Church -- one, Catholic, apostolic, founded on the rock of Peter" he continued, adding that he hopes for the day when Catholics "now still under the slavery" of the schismatic and heretical Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association reconcile with the faithful Catholics of the underground community.

"Humanly speaking, we see no intention of the government willing to recognize religious freedom," said the cardinal. "But God, through Our Lady Help of Christians, can work miracles."

Dear Catholic readers, your prayers for the "underground church" -- the true Church -- in China are needed not only on one special day, but every day of the year. Implore Our Lady to help the millions of Chinese who are not allowed by their diabolical government to worship God and His Divine Son in freedom and peace.

Previous posts on this topic: "The Church in China -- persecuted but still growing" (27/4/12), "Where religious persecution bites hardest" (4/9/11), "Zen Catholicism" (10/9/10).

The Church in China -- persecuted but still growing

First the good news. In spite of constant discouragement -- putting it mildly -- from China's Communist government and state-controlled media, Chinese are converting to the Catholic Faith in record numbers. According to the Vatican Information Service, over 22,000 new Christians -- almost three-quarters of them adults -- were baptized on Easter Sunday. However some dioceses had not yet reported their baptisms, so that figure is likely to rise.

The report includes 3,500 baptisms in the Diocese of Hong Kong, continuing a remarkable record of evangelization that has stretched across the years, even after the former British colony was handed over to the Communists in 1997. Hong Kong claims about half a million Catholics, including nearly 140,000 non-Chinese. So the adult converts received into the Church at Easter amounted to roughly 1% of the current Chinese Catholic population. An equivalent success for, let's say... Boston... would require nearly 13,000 new adult converts. Good luck with that!

The figures for Easter baptisms are particularly impressive because not all Chinese dioceses gear their programs toward baptisms at the Easter Vigil. In Shanghai, for example, the Easter report showed 379 baptisms, but diocesan officials expect a total figure of 1,500 for the year.

The picture of the state of the Church in China is murky, however, because of the ongoing persecution of the "underground Church" -- the bishops, priests and faithful who owe allegiance to the Holy See -- by the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, the schismatic "church" established by the Communists shortly after they seized power in 1949.

This week, a special papal commission urged Chinese Catholics to resist the efforts of the CPCA to control the Church in China. A statement released April 26th expressed sympathy for the Chinese bishops and priests who are under pressure. The statement noted the “particular difficulties” of pastors who feel that they must cooperate to some degree with the regime in order to preserve their ability to preach the Gospel.

Here again, that's putting it mildly. Priests and even bishops continue to be harassed, arrested, detained in "hospitals", jailed, and subjected to "re-education" sessions for months on end. Masses are held secretly in "house churches" because the CPCA controls the church buildings. Religious activities such as pilgrimages are forbidden, with worshippers turned away from shrines and holy places by baton-wielding police.

The commission put it a little more diplomatically. Its statement expressed admiration for bishops and priests who "are detained or who are suffering unjust limitations on the performance of their mission." Admiration was expressed for the strength of their faith and for their union with the Holy Father.

The report called upon all Catholics to pray for these persecuted clerics. Dear Catholic friends, please pray for all Chinese Catholics, including the laity, whom the papal commission asks:
"…to take part in civic life and in the world of work, offering their own contribution with full responsibility: by loving life and respecting it from conception until natural death; by loving the family, promoting values which are also proper to traditional Chinese culture; by loving their country as honest citizens concerned for the common good. As an ancient Chinese sage put it, 'the way of great learning consists in illustrating noble virtues, in renewing and staying close to people, and in reaching the supreme good.'"

Footnote: For a recent example of the CPCA's efforts to dominate the Church in China, see "Patriotic Association takes control at ordination of Chinese bishop".

Note from Ed. about the Vatican Information Service website: The first two links in this post take you to the VIS website, which seems to take a long time to load using IE8. Don't push it, e.g. by maximizing the window; just give it time to load and ye shall see.

Canada says it will fight religious persecution (but doesn't say how)

A year ago Walt told you about Shahbaz Bhatti, the only Christian minister in the so-called government of Pakistan. Mr. Bhatti had been quite vocal in calling for the repeal of Pakistan's anti-blasphemy laws, under which many Christians had been persecuted.

Not two months later, a fatwa issued against Mr. Bhatti was carried out. Assailants purportedly sent by al-Qaeda and the Taliban sprayed his car with bullets outside his parents' driveway, killing him instantly.

This kind of thing goes on all the time in the Third World, especially in Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Or hellholes like Nigeria and India, where Muslims and Hindus (respectively) fighting with Christians for souls. And of course there's China and Vietnam, where Communist régimes routinely jail, torture and even execute those who adhere to religious institutions not approved by the state.

Now, in a move that Walt finds not a little surprising, Canada's rightish Conservative government says it is preparing to carve out a new role for Canada as a "champion of religious rights abroad". This major shift in Canadian foreign policy is said to have its roots in... wait for it... the assassination of Shabaz Bhatti!

Jason Kenney, Canada's Minister of Immigration and Pandering to Minorities, is quoted in today's Globe and Mail as saying Mr. Bhatti made a major impression on Prime Minister Harpoon when they met shortly before Bhatti's death.

"The Prime Minister was deeply affected by this as was everyone who had the chance to meet him," said the minister. "His visit to Canada shortly before his assassination helped to galvanize within the government the reality of this kind of persecution."

The Conservatives say they were impressed by Bhatti’s refusal to stop fighting religious intolerance despite death threats. Mr. Kenney recalls that "just before I brought Shahbaz to meet the Prime Minister, I told the Prime Minister it would be a miracle if the man he was about to meet would be alive in a few months’ time." How prescient!

Well, whether it's to buy votes from immigrants, appease the "Christian Right", or honour and avenge Mr. Bhatti doesn't matter. The Tories are setting up an Office of Religious Freedom within the quite secular confines of the Department of Foreign Affairs – a controversial pledge that has drawn accusations of vote pandering and blurring lines between church and state.

However commendable may be the notion of compelling the persecutors of Christians to stop creating martyrs, Walt wonders exactly how the Canadian government plans to do this. What will the ORF do, exactly, to force its vision of religious freedom down the throats of, say, the Mullahs of Iraq and Iran?

Will Canada bomb Vietnam with 1000s of tiny Bibles? Will it invade the Middle Eastern bastions of the Islamic empire? Start a crusade, perhaps? The Chinese and the Arabs must be quaking in their boots!

Or is it possible that the Office of Religious Freedom may be merely full of sound and fury, signifying nothing? What do you think?

Springtime for Muslims in Eeeegypt

Coptic Christians in Egypt must be longing for the bad old days of deposed president Hosni Mubarak. In those days, they weren't exactly free to practise their religion [as we are here in North America? Ed.] but at least not many of them got killed for it.

Things have changed. As part of the "Arab spring" much beloved of Al O'Bama and other non-Muslims (???), Muslim extremists are rampaging through Cairo and other Egyptian cities, burning Christian churches and killing believers.

The Christians have gotten tired -- and hurt -- turning the other cheek, and have decided to fight fire with fire, literally. Yesterday, flames lit up downtown Cairo, where massive clashes raged, drawing Christians angry over a recent church attack, hard-line Muslims and Egyptian security forces. Associated Press reports that at least 24 people were killed and more than 200 injured in the worst sectarian violence since the uprising that ousted Mubarak in February.

After midnight, mobs roamed downtown streets, attacking cars they suspected had Christian passengers. In many areas, there was no visible police or army presence to confront or stop them.

Christians, who make up about 10 percent of Egypt's 80 million people, blame the country's ruling military council for being too lenient on those behind a spate of anti-Christian attacks since Mubarak's ouster. As Egypt undergoes a chaotic power transition and security vacuum in the wake of the uprising, the Coptic Christian minority is particularly worried about the show of force by militant Islamists.

The Christian protesters said their demonstration began as a peaceful attempt to sit in at the television building. But then, they said, they came under attack by thugs in plainclothes who rained stones down on them and fired pellets.

“The protest was peaceful. We wanted to hold a sit-in, as usual,” said Essam Khalili, a protester wearing a white shirt with a cross on it. “Thugs attacked us and a military vehicle jumped over a sidewalk and ran over at least 10 people. I saw them.”

Television footage showed the military vehicle slamming into the crowd. Coptic protesters were shown attacking a soldier, while a priest tried to protect him. One soldier collapsed in tears as ambulances rushed to the scene to take away the injured.

Last week, the military used force to disperse a similar protest in front of the state television building. Christians were angered by the treatment of the protesters and vowed to renew their demonstrations until their demands are met.

Western nations, especially the USA, which are backing the rebels in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and other sandpits, have so far turned blind eyes and deaf ears to the plight of Christians in those countries. Will any actions or even words of sympathy be coming out of Washington or London or Paris? Walt predicts nothing will be said or done. Lifetime pct: .977.

Where religious persecution bites hardest

Economists love graphs and charts of this sort. So do writers and pundits, because at least 1000 words of text are required to interpret the picture to the average reader. Here's what this one means.
"Rising Restrictions on Religion", a worldwide survey published in August by the much-respected Pew Forum, shows an increase in restrictions on and violence directed against believers in religion. The top offenders are Egypt, Pakistan, and India. Among the Muslim countries, the only one going against the trend is Turkey. The most mistreated group is... wait for it... faithful Christians.

More than 2.2 billion people – nearly a third (32%) of the world’s total population of 6.9 billion – live in countries where either government restrictions on religion or social hostilities involving religion rose substantially between mid-2006 and mid-2009, the period covered by the study.

The survey was done before the "Arab spring" now causing turmoil in northern Africa and the Middle East. But it promises nothing good about future developments there. Even before the Islamists began fomenting rebellion, the indicators were signaling deterioration almost everywhere. In fact, Pew did a similar survey three years earlier, and the situation now shows a widespread increase of persecution, torture and killing of the faithful.

The graphic above focuses attention on countries with populations of more than 50 million inhabitants. That includes Pakistan and Nigeria, from where we get disturbingly regular reports of the execution of Christians and burning of churches. One has only to follow the RSS feeds from a site like Catholic World News (which Walt recommends highly) to see such stories virtually every day.

Then we come to the two giants -- India and China -- where the persecution of Christians just gets worse and worse. India remains the record holder for hostilities among religious groups, which are added to the already burdensome legal restrictions there. They even have laws against the conversion of non-Christians, which effectively prohibit not just foreign missionaries but local Catholic clergy who have been serving India for six centuries, from ministering to their communities. One might expect such laws in Islamist states such as Afghanistan and Iran, but according to its constitution, India is supposed to be a secular state. Ha!

China continues to hold the record – challenged only by Iran and Egypt – for political restrictions on the Roman Catholic Church and other religous groups such as the Falun Gong. (Falun Gong is a rather eclectic mixture of Buddhism, Taoism and taiji. It has the qualities of a religion -- a belief system and numerous adherents -- and was banned by the Communist government of China in 1999.)

Walt has written many times about the schismatic and heretical Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, the so-called "Catholic" church set up by the Communists after they seized power in 1949. In "Communist Chinese persecution of Catholic Church intensifies", I explained how the Chinese government is grinding the heels of its jackboots even more fiercely into the bodies of the faithful, in spite of the Vatican's misguided and now discredited attempts to make nice with the atheistic Communists.

More instances of the increased persecution -- and execution -- of Christians may be found in "No summer stop to Chinese repression", published September 2nd on the AsiaNews website, which I also read regularly.

Conclusion: If you're a Christian -- especially if you're a Catholic living in the Third World -- the Islamists, the Hindus and the Communists are out to get you! They have declared war on Holy Mother Church. How much longer must we turn the other cheek?