Canadian Christian accused of bestiality... with a horse

Walt sincerely hopes that no-one takes "You don't understand! It's part of our culture!" (WWW 15/4/26) as a suggestion that we think a proclivity for bestiality is unique to followers of the Prophet. Oh my goodness golly, no! Christians are just as likely to succumb to the temptations of the (animal) flesh.

[Are you going to give us an example? Ed.] Certainly! According to a report on Canada's Global TV News, an horse by the name of Yola, pictured below, was the subject of a sexual assault by a non-Muslim. Details below.

Earlier this week, a man named Seth Christian appeared in a Vernon BC court, charged with bestiality after being accused of sexually assaulting the old grey mare. [You're sure Yola is a mare? Ed.] Her owner, Erica Van Meenen, said that in January she discovered surveillance footage that showed a man sexually assaulting one of her horses. 

She said she and her 10-year-old son were home one night when her phone began lighting up with notifications from the security cameras at her horse stables. "There was a clip and my horse [Yola] was looking very bright-eyed and aware that something was going on," she said, "So I scrolled to the next clip and that’s when a man walks by."

The Vernon detachment of the RCMP (known for their expertise in matters equestrian) were called to the property, where Ms Van Meenn watched the surveillance footage with an officer. "The officer's face just dropped," the owner said. "We both said, 'Oh my God!' He asked me right away if I was OK, and I just answered, "I'm in shock!"

Ms Van Meenan told Global News that it has been a lot to process, but finally, something is happening. "There’s a lot of people out there who were quite triggered by the situation, and it brought up a lot of trauma for other people. So it's relieving for not just myself and the horses, the owners of the horses of my property, but also the general public, because people are upset like this. It just is not acceptable."

So also says the Criminal Code of Canada, which defines bestiality as "any contact, for a sexual purpose, with an animal." Ms Van Meenan said she wants to see Mr Christian serve time. "I want to see him prosecuted to the full extent of the law. What that is, I’m not sure. I'm not sure if there is a fat jail sentence for this or what it is, but I want to see not just a slap on the wrist." [or some other bodily part. Ed.]

As for Yola, Ms Van Meenen said, "She is, seems to be, back to normal." But the situation has left her rattled. "It has given me this feeling of being uneasy in my own home, and then to see that trespassing by night wasn't on his list of charges. I'm not sure if it will be added at a later date, but that was a little bit disappointing to see that wasn't there."

Walt is reminded of a story about some British army officers who were gathered in the Mess in Cairo during the Great Unpleasantness of the early 20th century.

"Where's Smedley?" asked one. "I thought he was due back from leave."

"Didn't you hear?" replied another. "Old Smedley wasn't on leave. He was discharged from the service... dishonourably, I might add."

"Oh dear!" said the first. "Whatever for?"

"Caught having sex with a camel!" came the reply.

"Really!" said the first. "Male or female camel?"

"Female of course," came the answer. "Nothing wrong with old Smedley!"

VIDEO: Scott Adams last show???

Today, Scott Adams, creator Dilbert (BCSOAT), now dying of cancer, opened his podcast by saying that he's now having difficulty staying awake, and that his exhaustion and slurred voice have nothing to do with any medication. "Today’s going to be a tough one," he said, "because I fell asleep about five times just getting ready" for the show. 

For the next 30 minutes, Mr Adams went on with his regular routine, where he runs through the day's headlines and offers his thoughts. But in the show's final minutes, he said, "As of today, based on how I feel, I don’t know if there will be a show tomorrow or ever again. If I feel better, there will be." In closing, he sayts, "Bye, for now. I hope to see you later, but it might not be."

Mr Adams announced his prostate cancer diagnosis last May, revealing that the cancer had already "spread to my bones." He told us he wasn’t certain he would last the summer, but he did. However, he announced just a few days ago that his chances of surviving were now down to zero and that he expected to "transition" sometime in January.

Earlier this week, Mr Adams said he would convert to Christianity. "I’ve not been a believer," he explained. "You’re going to hear for the first time today that it is my plan to convert [to Christianity]. I still have time. My understanding is that you’re never too late."

Very true. Please join us in praying that Scott will indeed be baptized into the Mystical Body of Christ, receive the Last Rites of Holy Mother Church, die a Christian death and have a good defence at the awesome tribunal of Christ. Amen.

Charlie Kirk, RIP

In April, conservative activist Charlie Kirk, posted, "Assassination culture is spreading on the left." Sadly, that proved to be prophetic, as an assassin took Charlie's life yesterday while he was speaking at Utah Valley University. He was only  31 years old.

Charlie Kirk's time as a Republican influencer in the new right was much too brief. Kirk founded Turning Point USA when he was just 18 years old and spent his media career making the argument for conservatism in a generally hostile media ecosystem. 

That’s what he was doing Wednesday afternoon when he was fatally shot in the neck. In the moment before the loud snap of a gun could be heard and a gushing injury appeared on his neck, he finished a sentence about "violence".

So far two suspects have been arrested and then released. As is customary these days, police say the shooting is still under investigation and they have no clue (duh!) as to the shooter's identity or motive. 

Still, it's impossible not to make any connection to politics and the growing wave of societal derangement. Mr Kirk was one of the American right's top conservative influencers. Now, after years of the progressive left preaching about revolution, about words being violence and about President Donald Trump being the second coming of Hitler, he's been "cancelled". RIP.

Charlie Kirk was reviled by the left not just because he was a Trump supporter, but also because he was so effective. He founded a media organization that, along with a handful of others on the right, played a key role in shattering the monopoly of ideas held by the left-leaning mainstream media. 

But he famous mostly for his debate-style "Prove me wrong!" videos, in which he sat with a microphone, listening to a long diatribe from a progressive audience member attempting to prove him wrong, and afterwards replying with a firehose of counterpoints. His style was sharp and humorous. It was a golden formula for engagement on Youtube, and no doubt an outlet for closeted young conservatives and disillusioned liberals who rarely get to see these beliefs expressed in the wild.

Charlie Kirk was a Christian*, a firm believer in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Just last week, he quoted Psalm 34:18, "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit." A few days ago, he posted, "Jesus defeated death so you can live." Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.

* On his vlog Return to Tradition, Anthony Stine reveals that, shortly before his death, Charlie Kirk and his wife began attending Holy Mass once or twice a month at St. Bernardette's Catholic Church in Scottsdale AZ, and was very close to coming into the Church.

Christian convicted of aiding Muslim jihadis

Interesting report a couple of days ago in the Washington Times under the headline "Three Florida men sentenced for providing material to support to ISIS".

Way back in July of 2016, government agents at Miami International Airport stopped ex-Marine Gregory Hubbard, 54, who was attempting to get on a plane bound for Syria, where he intended to join ISIS. Apparently Mr Hubbard was impressed by the example of Cassius Clay (aka Muhammad Ali) and converted to the Religion of Peace some years ago, without, however, changing his name to something more Islamic. By 2016 he had become convinced that the sure way to Paradise (and the services of 72 virgins) was to join the jihad against infidels.

The Justice Department announced this week that Mr Hubbard would be spending the next 12 years as the guest of the state, i.e. in prison. But he won't be alone. Two co-defendants, also converts to Islam and, like Mr Hubbard, sometime residents of Palm Beach County FL, were convicted of plotting to provide guns and other help to the Islamic State, and received lesser sentences. One of them was Darren Arness Jackson, 52, who got four years. The other, who received a sentence of eight years, was 33-year-old Dayne Christian.

Christian crosses ordered to be hung in all government offices

Really! But (Walt hears you ask) where? Surely not in the AABC countries (America, Australia, Britain and Canada). `Struth, mate...surely not. But this is in "post-Christian" western Europe, specifically... wait for it... Germany! Well, in Bavaria, the most Catholic of all German states. Really.

As one of his first acts in office, Markus Söder, Bavaria's newly sworn-in state premier, has ordered that crosses be hung in all government buildings in the southern German state, by June 1st. He called the move an "avowal of Bavarian identity and Christian values."

Herr Söder said the directive was not a violation of constitutional rules about religious neutrality, the Premier explained, because it was a symbol of "Bavarian identity" rather than religion. He told the meeja that after the cabinet meeting at which the decision was made, he had immediately gone out to hang a cross in the lobby of the state chancellery in Munich.

The directive applies only to buildings housing agencies of the state of Bavaria, including all courts and school classrooms, but not local district buildings or federal buildings, over which the Bavarian government has no authority. It comes amid heated public debate over the role of religion in Germany society. Angela Merkel publicly rebuked her interior minister, Horst Seehofer, earlier this year after he claimed "Islam has no place in Germany."

Herr Söder, leader of the Christian Social Union (the Bavarian sister party to Frau Merkel's Christian Democrats), took over the premiership from Herr Seehohofer when the latter joined Frau Merkel's hastily cobbled-together coalition government in March. In spite of the criticism of his Islamophile boss, Herr Seehofer has steadfastly refused to walk back his statement or change his views on the issue.

Walt says Herzliche Glückwünsche to both of the courageous Christian politicians. God bless them, and send us in the politically correct AABC countries some politicians who will stand up for the Faith of our fathers!

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!

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?

Catholics in Pakistan -- follow-up

On November 26th I wrote about Asia Bibi, a Christian Pakistani woman who had been sentenced to death for blasphemy against Islam. Her case was under appeal, and there was some talk at the time, that the anti-blasphemy might be changed before the appeal was heard, to let her off the hook. (As she was sentenced to death so "off the hook" is putting it too lightly.)

However, the High Court at Lahore has now ordered the Pakistani government not to change the nation’s blasphemy law before the court hears the appeal, so it's still quite possible Ms Bibi may feel the sting of the executioner's sword.

Meanwhile, terrorist organizations associated with the Taliban have issued a fatwa against Shabhaz Bhatti, Pakistan's minister for religious minorities (sic), who is himself a Catholic. Mr. Bhatti is -- or was -- leading a commission that would have considered changes to the blasphemy law.

On Monday, ZENIT, a Catholic news service, ran an interview with another Pakistani Christian, Shaheryar Gill. Mr Gill is associate counsel to the American Center for Law and Justice. Here, Mr. Gill speaks of the effects of Pakistan's blasphemy law.

"20 years or more of the blasphemy law in Pakistan has instilled in people that punishment for insulting Islam is death. So, rather than going to the court, people have taken the law into their own hands.

"There was an attack on a village in Kasur by a Muslim mob where hundreds of Muslims attacked a Christian village of 135 families. The triggering event was a blasphemy charge. There was a dispute between a Christian and a Muslim.

"A Christian was driving his tractor and he saw a motorbike standing in the middle of the road. He asked the owner of the motorbike to please move so that he could pass. The owner said to the Christian with the tractor: 'How could a "Chuhra" [a derogatory term for a Christian] tell him what to do'? Over this they had a little fight. Some people intervened and stopped the fight and everybody went home.

"After a few hours a Muslim family gathered other people and attacked and beat the Christian family. The next day they announced in the mosque that a Christian desecrated the Quran. A mob gathered and attacked 135 families of that village just because of a petty fight between two people."

Let's be clear. We are talking about people who are being killed for no other reason than their belief in Christianity. They are dying for their Faith. The Church has a name for such people. It's MARTYRS.

Islamist ideology = kill the Christians

His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, is seen here comforting some of the Iraqi Christians who survived the tragic and disgraceful Hallowe'en Massacre perpetrated by Muslim militants at the Syriac Catholic cathedral in Baghdad.

This past Sunday, at the Angelus, the Holy Father prayed for the victims of the "continual attacks that are taking place in Iraq against Christians and Muslims." Then and previously he cited other "situations of violence, of intolerance, of suffering...in the world." But the insistent reference to Iraq seemed to express unusual concern.

The October 31 attack was deliberately planned for a time when hundreds would be hearing Mass. 58 Catholic faithful were butchered and scores wounded, in what can only be seen as a revelation of the true intention of the Islamist radicals.

The attackers were wearing explosive belts. They opened fire and threw grenades shouting, "You will all go to hell, but we to paradise. Allah is most great." The attack lasted five hours! In that time, the terrorists stopped killing twice to pray to Allah, and all the while recited the Qur'an as if in a mosque.

They devastated the altar, used the crucifix for target practice, and terrorized even small children simply because they were "infidels".

Here we see confirmed the widely-held Muslim belief that violence against "the infidel" is something intrinsic to Islam, not a distortion of it. This is the idea that was at the centre of the Pope's lecture in Regensburg, for which he was widely condemned as "racist" and "intolerant".

What the Holy Father was saying, though, is that this idea of "jihad against the infidels"and that pope Ratzinger maintains can be reversed only with a "revolution of enlightenment" on the part of Islam itself.

What are the chances of such enlightenment? Don't hold your breath while waiting. In Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq the killing of Christians just because they are Christians goes on, with western nations turning blind eyes and deaf ears.

Just two days ago, a married couple were attacked murdered in their own home. And the exodus of Christians from the Middle East continues.

Flood aid in Pakistan for Muslims only!

A revealing report from Pakistan says that some Pakistani Christian families are being denied flood aid unless they convert to Islam.

Carl Moeller is CEO of Open Doors USA, an organization that combats anti-Christian persecution. He is quoted as saying “Some Christian refugees are openly denied aid, while others are told to leave or convert to Islam. You can imagine that terrible choice: either you abandon your faith or you cannot feed your child.”

The Fides news agency has collected testimony from several Christians who have been denied aid. Click here to read their stories.

By contrast, the Catholic Church, in spite of hostility from the Pakistani government, is doing all it can to help flood victims of all faiths.

Bishop Max John Rodrigues said today, “The tireless work of Caritas [a large Catholic relief agency] continues in all directions, in every diocese and without discrimination on the recipients.... We help everyone. Many religious and Catholic volunteers are working in the area. I see a lot of solidarity: Muslims, Christians, and Hindus are united in suffering.

“As far as the aid brought by Islamic charity groups, they defend themselves by saying that according to their doctrine, the money from the zakhat [Islamic alms] should go only to Muslims,” he added. “In this country there is a general discrimination against minorities and the poorest workers. It is a widespread mentality which can also affect this tragedy. The fact that the rich are better off than the poor, having saved their own land, is a serious matter which the government must address.”

Lesson: If you want to contribute to the relief effort, do NOT send your money to organizations which work through the Pakistani government. Give instead to Caritas or your own Christian church-sponsored aid effort. God and the afflicted will bless you for it, even if the imams don't.

Book review: The vanishing Christians of the Near East

William Dalrymple has written three travel books: In Xanadu: A Quest; City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi; and From the Holy Mountain . Having discovered Dalrymple only recently, I have read them all over the course of the last two months. They are that good.

Mr. Dalrymple has a deep interest in art, architecture and archaeology. He has a tendency to rabbit on about the arcania of arches and architraves. [That's enough alliteration. ed.] But there's a generous admixture of historical trivia, social commentary and humour, which renders his writing the opposite of dull.

From the Holy Mountain records Dalrymple's meandering journey through the Holy Land, as it used to be called, from Mount Athos in Greece to Al Kharga in upper (southern) Egypt. Along the way, the author, a not-quite-lapsed Catholic, finds himself touched and perplexed by the plight of the Christians of Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel/Palestine and Egypt.

He paints a grim picture of the dwindling and downtrodden Christian communities, and gives vivid and provoking details of their persecution by Muslims and Jews alike. He makes the point that for the six centuries until the rise of Islam in the 7th century, the Near East was predominantly Christian. It boasted thousands of fine churches, monasteries, shrines and other holy sites. The 21st-century Christian pilgrim will see almost none of these, because they are being vandalized and wilfully obliterated by Muslims and (especially) Jews.

Whereas Christians are nowadays generally tolerant of the religious minorities in their midst, the same is not true of the Jews and Muslims of the Holy Land. Dalrymple hears and records the voices of survivors of deportation, persecution, humiliation and even massacre. Their graphic accounts give life and meaning to the sterile term "ethnic cleansing". And they are unanimous in their belief that within a decade or two, there will be no indigenous Christians left in the Holy Land.

Dalrymple writes "Christianity is an Eastern religion which grew firmly rooted in the intellectual ferment of the Middle East. John Moschos [Syrian monk and ascetical writer, c. 550-619] saw that plant begin to wither in the hot winds of change that scoured the Levant of his day. On my journey in his footsteps I have seen the very last stalks in the process of being uprooted."

From the Holy Mountain was written in 1997. In one section the author describes the confiscation of thousands of acres of Christian-owned land on the West Bank, where the Israeli government is busy building settlements on top of the rubble of Christian churches and Muslim mosques. Thirteen years later, the occupation and settlement of the West Bank continues.

William Dalrymple is no raving anti-Semite. But his travels in Israel lead his inexorably to the conclusion that the Israels intend to continue in their "settlement" until there are no Muslims and no Christians left in their "promised land".

In this hate crime -- for that's what it is -- the Israelis apparently have the full support of America and Canada. Such is the power of the Jewish lobby in New York and Toronto. Dear reader, if you want to make your pilgrimage to the Holy City, do it now, before it's razed to the ground.

"Don't you dare pray for your sick pupil!"

Do we (Americans, Canadians, British) live in Christian countries or not?! Here's another example of the absurdities we descend to to avoid offending those who do not believe. [We used to call them pagans or heathens. ed.]

The online edition of BBC News reports that an English schoolteacher who has the special assignment of tutoring children too sick to attend classes has been dismissed from her job. The reason? She was so bold as to offer to pray for one of her pupils!

Olive Jones, a teacher with 20 years of experience, found one girl too sick to study, and tried to comfort her by offering to pray for her health. When she learned that the family was not religious, she dropped the subject—but not in time to avoid a formal complaint that prompted her dismissal.

A spokesman for North Somerset Council said Miss Jones hadn't been dismissed, merely suspended. Said Miss Jones, "I am amazed that a country with such a strong Christian tradition has become a country where it is hard to speak about your faith."

I love a holiday parade

New Yorkers have their Macy's parade on Thanksgiving. Torontonians have their Santa Claus parade around the same time. And there are countless small-town versions of these festive holiday events.

We seem to be in danger of forgetting that the parades are related to Christian celebrations. Thanksgiving was instituted by Protestant Christians to thank God for His bounty. And of course Christmas is -- or should be -- a joyous celebration of the coming of the Son of God, the Saviour of mankind.

Sadly, in today's post-secular age, the religious connotations of the events are all but forgotten. Except by the non-Christians. The minorities seem to resent the majority celebrating special events in the Christian calendar. So we have the campaign -- and it is a campaign, not just a spontaneous movement -- to take God out of Thanksgiving and Christ out of Christmas. Hey, why not abolish the words "Thanksgiving" and "Christmas" altogether? The politically correct thing, now, is to have a "Winter Holiday Parade"!

I was reminded of this while watching the TV coverage of a Santa Claus parade the other day. The commentators, ever so politically correct, kept using the phrase "happy holidays" instead of "merry Christmas". As in, "And here's Santa, waving at the crowd, wishing everyone a happy holiday."

It's enough to make you puke. God forbid that we should be anything less than inclusive. Sorry, but Santa says, "Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas!"

If African-Americans want to celebrate Kwanzaa (which real Africans have never heard of) or Muslims want to celebrate Eid, or Hindus want to celebrate Diwali, let them organize their own damn parades! Instead of Santa Claus they could have actors portraying Idi Amin (he was a Muslim, supposedly) or Yassir Arafat or Mahatma Gandhi...nice jolly characters that epitomize their cultures.

Parades for every culture and every religion. Another great idea from Walt!

Cuckoo clocks and chocolate, but no minarets, please

For anyone unfamiliar with the term, a minaret is a tower built into at least one corner of a Muslim mosque. Think CN Tower attached to a Walmart. It is from the minaret that the muzzein calls the Muslim faithful to prayer, five times a day, with the aid of a pwerful amplifier.

In non-Muslim countries this annoys the neighbours. But it's not just the noise. Some see the minaret as "a political symbol of Islamization … a symbol of political victory.” Minarets are sprouting up all over Europe and in many areas of North America. Look outside. Can you see a strange tower that wasn't there yesterday?

Even though only 4 of Switzerland's 160 mosques (160! In Switzerland!) have minarets, the right-wing Swiss People's Party decided they were fed up and weren't going to take it any more.
They called for -- and won! -- a referendum on a constitutional ban on the construction of new minarets. Four of the nation’s 160 mosques currently have minarets-- the spires from which Muslims are traditionally called to prayer.

Turnout was high at 53%, as was the margin of victory. In spite of the opposition of the oh-so-politically-correct Swiss government and the Roman Catholic church, nearly 58% of voters approved the initiative.

Why? What does this mean? It means that the tolerant and fair-minded Swiss are getting up on their hind feet to oppose the Islamization of the West! The Swiss public, in spite of their wealth, education and traditional civility, has come to believe that minarets are symbols of fundamentalism.

They believe, it seems, that the Muslims in their midst harbour extreme beliefs and practices. And they complain, rightly, that Christians in Muslim countries would not be free to build churches and otherwise make their faith visible, as are Muslims in so-called Christian countries.

Reaction has been swift and predictable. The Vatican, which of late has never heard of a heathen religion it couldn't live with, released a statement saying that the Swiss voters' decision was a setback for religious freedom and for the cause of coexistence among peoples. An international boycott of Swiss goods and an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights are under discussion. Seems to me it's all part of the liberal humanist deathwish for the Christian West.
The nation of 7.5 million is 44% Catholic and 4% Muslim.

Persecution of Christians part of "culture of Quran": Syrian archbishop

There are Christians, mainly Catholic or Orthodox, in the Middle East. They are a tiny and very much embattled minority amongst millions of Muslims and, in Israel, Jews.

The Jews generally don't kill the Christians, except occasionally as "collateral damage" in their attacks on the Muslims. But the militant Muslims persist in their jihad -- "holy war" -- against their Christian compatriots.

This is true all over the Middle East, including Iraq, the cradle of civilization. Iraqi Muslims make war on each other, but are united in their persecution of the Catholic community.

Jules Mikhael Al-Jamil, Auxiliary Archbishop of Antioch (Syria), says this is not a matter of politics. The persecution of Christians was not peculiar to Saddam Hussein. Rather it is ultimately rooted in a culture inspired by the Quran.

Speaking at a press conference organized by the Italian Chamber of Deputies, Archbishop Al-Jamil said the Iraqi Christians are victims of a religious -- not political -- persecution caused by a social system that is inspired by a view of the Quran, according to which Islam and its followers must dominate and regard believers of other religions as citizens with fewer rights.

The archbishop, an expert in Arab culture and literature, explained that according to the Quran, Islam is a religion that is above all others. This attitude is found wherever Islam is the religion of the state. Indeed, in the Arab countries, Islam and the state are one.

That means that in places like Iraq, Libya and -- the worst offender -- Saudi Arabia, the Christian minority does not enjoy the rights and freedoms which we stupid westerners guarantee to the Muslim minority.

Visit Saudi Arabia and you will look in vain for a Christian church. You will not find a Bible in your hotel room night table. And you will not see anyone wearing or displaying any symbol of Christianity, such as a cross or crucifix.

But here in North America the Muslims are free to build mosques (has your neighbourhood got one yet?), wear the hejab or niqab, and preach against our wicked value system, all the while complaining about discrimination and persecution. You want to see persecution? See what they do to Christians in their own countries.

According to Archbishop Al-Jamil, in a democratic country, which Iraq says it is and wants to be [really?! ed.], Christians should enjoy the same rights as the rest of the citizens.

The prelate told ZENIT (a Catholic news agency) he is not in favor of a proposal to protect the rights of Christians by creating a Christian enclave in Nineveh, where there is a Christian majority. Christians are part of the social fabric of the whole country, he said, and should not withdraw into a ghetto.

Click here to read the complete ZENIT report.

A seasonal thought

Thanks to Agent 71 for this thought about the coming holidays.

Twas the month before Christmas, when all through our land,
Not a Christian was praying, nor taking a stand.
The PC Police had taken away
The reason for Christmas, which no one could say.
The children were told by their schools not to sing,
About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.
It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say
December 25th's only a "Holiday".
Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit
Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!
CDs from Madonna, an X-box, an I-pod
Something was changing, something quite odd!
Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa
In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.
As Walmarts were hanging their trees upside down
At Lowe's the word "Christmas" was nowhere to be found.
At K-Mart and Staples and Penney's and Sears
You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.
Inclu-sive, sens-i-tive, Di-ver-si-ty
Are words that were=used to intimidate me.
Now Daschle, Now Daden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen
On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton !
At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter
To eliminate Jesus from all public matter.
And we spoke not a word, as they removed our faith
Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace
The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded
The seasonal reason just never got started.
As you celebrate "Winter Break" 'neath your "Dream Tree"
Sipping your Starbucks, just listen to me.
Choose your words carefully, choose what you say.
Shout "MERRY CHRISTMAS", not "Happy Holiday"!

Walt asks all Christians to join him in wishing everyone you meet during the holidays a MERRY CHRISTMAS! Christ is The Reason for Christmas!

Latest Asian Christian Martyrs

AsiaNews has another disturbing report from Vietnam. On July 26th, in the northern city of Vinh, Father Peter Nguyen The Bin was savagely beaten by police and gangs acting on their orders. The priest was beaten into a coma, then defenestrated -- thrown from a hospital window.

On the same day, Father Paul Nguyen Dinh Phu was taken to a hospital in Dong Hoi with broken ribs and head injuries. A statement from the Diocese of Vinh denounces police and gangs of thugs for their savage attacks on anyone who dares to do as little as wear a cross or other Catholic religious symbol. When we say "anyone", we mean even women and children. In one gruesome incident, thugs savagely beat a woman, Nguyen Thi Yen and her child, aged only 9 years.

TESTIMONY OF AN EYE-WITNESS -- Read Sister Emily Nguyen's report from Vinh diocese, Catholic World News feature story.

Meanwhile, in North Korea, a female member of an evangelical Protestant sect has been executed for the heinous crime of distributing Bibles.

Let it be remembered that Vietnam and North Korea are both totalitarian communist regimes. It is communist policy -- thus the policy of the governments of those and other communist countries -- to destroy Christianity. And they are doing it "one Christian at a time".