Why Christianity is the wrong path

Nigerian Pastor arrested over six year old girl's death

2012-02-04T18:46:00.000-08:00

THE General Overseer of Elshaddai Foundation Ministry at Oke Ira area of Ogba, Lagos, Pastor Tom Joseph, is now under interrogation at the State Criminal Investigations Department (SCID) Panti over alleged murder of a six year old baby with olive oil.

Trouble started when the wife of Elder Friday Duff, an elder in the Apostolic Church Iyaje Abatan, Ogba district took the little girl for deliverance in the church with the knowledge of the father.

She said she went for family planning so as to focus on the upbringing of her other children but she did all these without the consent of her husband.

According to her she went for medical attention from a nurse said to work in a government hospital.

The woman said she parted with an undisclosed sum of money to the nurse who administered some injections on her to make her unproductive, as she demanded.

According to her since she took the injection she has never been her normal self again due to excessive bleeding.

She said she became very weak and hardly does she walk a distance or do any tedious job.

Sensing trouble they had on a particular day went to church for prayers in their church due to the severity of the bleeding she called her husband aside and narrated her story and pleaded that he should put her in his prayers.

To the greatest amazement of the husband who became furious and decided to table the matter right there in the church before their women leader.

She was scolded but a particular woman in the church who was listening to the conversation called her aside and advised her that she knows a nurse who can solve her problem.

Mrs Duff, like a drowning man in search of help, opted to the woman's advise and they exchanged telephone numbers. A day was set aside and a point of meeting fixed. The strange woman in the church rather than taking her to the nurse as agreed changed gear and suggested to her that there was a very powerful man of God who can terminate the flow of blood within a twinkle of an eye.

The man of God lives in an uncompleted building where he used a small space outside the building made with canopy as his church.

Mrs. Duff said she told him of her problem which he dismissed with a wave of hand as a very minor issue and assured her to consider it as a forgotten matter. The pastor insisted that she must pay a token of N38,000 which was later reduced to N25,000 and the woman paid instantly and a date was fixed for the deliverance.

According to her, on that faithful day, January 17, 2012, the husband a staff of Unilever Warehouse at Abule Egba left to his working place as he was not notified by wife.

Daily Champion gathered that immediately he left, the wife also set out with her five children to the pastor's house for the deliverance.

They reached the church between 8 and 9 am and the deliverance commenced at the makeshift church.

Pastor Joseph was said to have demonstrated that he had gone into the spirit realm and God revealed to him that her children were being caged by satanic powers and they needed deliverance.

The man of God was alleged to have brought out a battle of olive oil where he poured into another bottle and gave two of the children to drink. Before this, the man of 'god' had warned them that the children would vomit and defecate regularly after taking the oil.

The mother said as soon as they drank the oil, their eyes turned as though, they were intoxicated. They rolled on the floor as though they were in a trance and fell into deep sleep. The nine year old son, Joshua was able to wake up at about 2pm but Victoria failed to wake up as soon as possible.

When the mother noticed that there was danger she became worried but the pastor allayed her fears and assured that all was well. The mother insisted that he should make the child to wake up without his response. Her persistence compelled the pastor to purchase a bottle of soft drink for her.

The mother said she demanded for palm oil for the child to drink apparently to neutralize the efficacy of what was given to her by the pastor but the pastor replied that he had no oil.

However, Joshua, the only son, who survived the storm said the substance that was given to them was very harsh adding that the olive oil where they were given was poured into another bottle with a black substance.

'I tasted it small and he warned me to drink it at once or it will burn my mouth I drank it slowly but Victoria poured everything at once into her mouth. I prayed before I drank slowly but Victoria poured everything at once into her mouth and I prayed before I drank it. There is one prayer we used to say in our church I said the prayer before I drank it'. Joshua said.

Mrs Duff further narrated that when it became obvious that there was danger the Pastor then suggested that the child should be taken to another nearby place of worship to save the child which they did.

She said another round of prayer was made 'they asked me to buy another Olive oil I bought it and they turned it round on her head and the bottle was thrown outside but the bottle failed to break as envisaged signifying that there was danger. I noticed that the woman shook her head with displeasure I then knew something serious has befell me' she said

According to her, the woman in the second church where they were transferred to then advised them to take the child to a nurse living nearby.

At this time, it was about 3am the following day and the father who had no idea of where the wife went to had embarked on a search for them since he returned from work 5pm the previous day.

He felt her family had either been kidnapped or something bad had happened to them since they could not communicate as the wife's telephone was faulty. At about 3am mother of the child and the Pastor had in an effort to save her life took her to Urban hospital located at Ogba and the child was confirmed dead.

They took the child to the father who was already filled with anger and fear on the fate of his family.

According to Elder Duff "At about 5am he heard a knock on the door and his first child asked him to open the door and behold he saw a man standing with a baby on his neck.

'This is a man that I had known for years when I was working as a driver, he was a mechanic and I had to connect him to be repairing my employers car, once he saw me he called my name and asked me is this your house and are these your children? I replied yes by then I never knew the child he was carrying was my daughter I ushered into my house. He started talking and he mentioned that my daughter was dead.

There I asked where she was and suddenly it occurred to me that the child he was carrying was my daughter. I went for a matchet to cut him into pieces I called neighbours who came out and he repeated his story. That was how I asked him to carry my daughter and we headed to the Area 'G' police station Ogba where he was arrested and detained'. The father narrated.

The pastor we gathered had since been transferred to the Homicide department of the State Criminal Investigations Department (SCID) Panti for discreet investigations while the corpse had been deposited at the Isolo General hospital mortuary for autopsy.Meanwhile, father of the deceased has demanded for justice to avert a similar occurrence in the future.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201202030736.html

Texas Pastor arrested for wife's murder

2012-02-02T16:39:00.000-08:00

GATESVILLE (February 1, 2012)-David Keith Allen, 49, was in the Coryell County Jail Wednesday charged with capital murder in the March 22, 2011 death of his wife in a house fire.

Allen was indicted on Monday and arrested at about 6:45 p.m. Tuesday by Coryell County Sheriff's deputies.

The indictment accuses Allen of setting the fire deliberately, using a flammable accelerant.

Paula Allen, 54, was found dead just inside the front door of a mobile home behind the New Life Church of Restoration just east of Gatesville.

The church has since changed its name.

David Allen also has remarried in recent days, according to records in the Coryell County Clerk's office where a marriage license was issued to David Allen and Megan Lynn Griffith, 27, also of Gatesville.

A clerk in the office said the license had been executed and returned for filing.

An initial autopsy report showed Paula Allen died of smoke inhalation and thermal burns.

David Allen was able to escape the flames that morning, but said he was overcome by smoke as he tried to rescue his wife.

He reported he was asleep in the living room and his wife was asleep in a bedroom when the fire broke out just after 1 a.m. on March 22, 2011.

Coryell County Justice of the Peace Coy Latham said earlier Allen reported that he awoke to the flames, jumped out of a living room window and ran around the mobile home to try to save his wife, who he said was in a back bedroom.

Gatesville Fire Chief Billy Vaden said firefighters tried to get into the back of the mobile home to find the woman, but the roof caved in before they could make entry.

David Allen did not require medical attention.

"We feel like the fire wasn't an accident early on, and felt something just wasn't right," said Paula Allen's daughters Miranda Waters and Malissa Casas in an email Wednesday night.

"The man that we have known for almost 20 years, being arrested for our mother's murder hurts us deeply. Our question still remains, 'Why?'"

http://www.kwtx.com/news/headlines/138477794.html?ref=794

Michigan Pastor arrested for sexually assaulting two girls

2012-02-02T16:33:00.000-08:00

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – A well-known former West Michigan pastor is now facing criminal charges.

In the summer of 2011, Newschannel 3 broke the story that Milton Wells was under investigation and was resigning from his post at two local organizations. Now, he's facing ten counts of criminal sexual conduct.

Wells was very involved in community issues, including homelessness, fighting neighborhood crime and helping felons re-enter society. Now the community leader is facing criminal charges himself.

Newschannel 3 has learned the alleged victims were both members of Open Door Ministries, that Wells had led at one point. Both girls were under the age of twelve when the alleged incidents occurred.

Wells is now facing two counts of first degree criminal sexual conduct as well as eight counts of second degree criminal sexual conduct.

Newschannel 3 spoke to the mother of one of the alleged victims on the phone. She did not want her name used in order to protect her daughter's identity.

“We regret that a dark shadow has been cast upon the church, but this is something that can't be overlooked or swept away,” said the mother. “We want there to be awareness of being an advocate for your children and protecting your children in any case.”

Newschannel 3 found a church member at Open Door Ministries on Thursday, but she did not wish to speak to us.

Wells is currently out of jail, his bail set at $10,000.

Newschannel 3 stopped at his home, but he did not wish to speak on camera, referring us to his Lansing attorney.

That attorney said Wells is presumed innocent, but wouldn't comment further.

Because Wells was so actively involved in Kalamazoo-based community programs, the case is being handled by a visiting prosecutor from Calhoun County to avoid a conflict of interest.

Meanwhile the mother of one alleged victim says they have been waiting for months to see these charges finally brought.

“Our families are very hurt, angry and disappointed at how things have come to the forefront,” said the mother. “How a man that we trusted, not only spiritually but naturally, manipulated not only our children but our families.”

Wells' next scheduled court appearance is February 9th.

http://www.wwmt.com/articles/arrested-1401306-pastor-kalamazoo.html

Meaning of a wife's obedience towards her husband

2012-02-01T08:49:00.000-08:00

Firstly see verses and hadiths on the equality, kindness and honor of women on the sie bar (comes after Bible verses): http://christianwomenwatch.blogspot.com/

As-salam `alaykum. I would like to ask you about the concept of obedience of a wife to her husband. It is my belief that this relates to religious matters, not to trivial issues such as making a cup of tea when told so. I understand that doing such a thing for one's husband is out of courtesy and a means of strengthening marital relationship; but is this the meaning of obedience? There is much discussion and misunderstanding on the concept of a wife's obedience, so please answer this question as fully as possible, making a clear distinction between courtesy, respect and obedience. JazakumAllahu Khayran.

Wa`alaykum as-salamu wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

Dear sister in Islam, we commend your keenness on getting your self well-acquainted with Islam and its teachings, which is the way Allah has chosen for the welfare of His servants.

Islam teaches that the relations between the spouses should be based on tranquility, love and mercy. These are very important concepts in Islam. These three summarize the ideals of Islamic marriage. It is the duty of the husband and wife to see that they are a source of comfort and tranquility for each other. They should do everything physically, emotionally and spiritually to make each other feel happy and comfortable. They must care for each other. They should not inflict any harm or injury, neither physically nor verbally, to each other.

In order to increase the tranquility and comfort in their relations and in their home, they should love each other and should have mercy and kindness for each other. Loving and merciful relationship is an important ingredient of a good marriage and good family life.

In Islamic marriage, neither the husband is allowed to demand his wife what is forbidden by Allah and what is harsh and unseemly, nor the wife is allowed to demand her husband to do anything that Allah has forbidden and what would put undue burden upon her husband.

Responding to the question you raised, Sheikh Yusuf Estes, a prominent Muslim scholar and director of Islamtomorrow.com, states the following:

There are two things that many enemies and even some Muslims refer to when trying to show that Islam in some way favors the men over the women. This has caused very serious problems within and without for a number of centuries but never so much as it has now. The first is the mention in the Qur’an that the (Men are in charge of women.)(An-Nisa' 4:34) That, however, is meaning not in superiority, but rather in responsibility. The man must care for the woman. His mother, sister, wife and his daughter are all charges that Allah has placed under him. He is responsible for their food, lodging, health care, education, clothing and general well being. He must be very careful to provide for his family to the best of his ability. There is no doubt that this is the meaning behind the message of men being "over" the women.

The second reference is to the hadith wherein the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said that if he could order anyone to make prostration to someone other than Allah, it would be the wife to the husband.

Again, the meaning is easy to manipulate for those who desire to misunderstand the true spirit of Islam. Women do have a responsibility to obey their men, whether their fathers, brothers, husbands or even grown-up sons. But it should be emphasized that this obedience is actually to the deen (religion) of Allah and how they follow Islam. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to wash his own clothes, cook food, clean up and care for things just as anyone else. Try to recall anytime when he ordered his family around like slaves. Did he? Of course not. This is obviously against the teachings of Islam.

Woman owns property in Islam exclusive of her husband and does not even have to offer one cent of her income to her husband even if he is out of work and has nothing. Whatever she contributes is recorded for her as charity and it is not obligatory on her. If she washes his clothes, prepares special dishes and does extra things for him, then this is considered very appreciated acts from her side. He should be very thankful to Allah for giving him such a wife. Her duties are always to Allah first, and then to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Her duties to her husband are no difference than the husband's duties. Both are equal in responsibilities, duties and intentions before Allah.

May Allah make us of those who understand and follow His deen of Islam, ameen!"

http://www.onislam.net/english/ask-the-scholar/family/marital-relationships/174940.html

Church worker arrested for sex crime against a young girl

2012-01-30T21:10:00.000-08:00

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- A church employee accused of a sex crime against a young girl is out of a job.

William Harrison, Jr. was arrested by Williamston Police Friday.

He is charged with two counts of lewd act on a minor.

Police say the crimes happened in Williamston, where Harrison lives.

Harrison was already on the Sex Offender Registry from a 1997 arrest and conviction of 2nd degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor.

Records show he did jail time and was released in 2004.

Three years later, he came to Redemption World Outreach Center on Haywood Road in Greenville and was hired with a criminal background.

The church says they immediately fired Harrison after finding out about his latest arrest. 7 On Your Side wanted to know why Harrison was hired in the first place with a criminal background.

The church says he worked off campus as a manager of halfway houses.

Anytime Harrison had to come to campus, the staff says he was always supervised and he was not allowed to be alone with children.

“We knew when he was going to be here,” explains Pastor Travis Hayes. “When he was not going to be here, he checked in with his supervisor when he came to work every Sunday, and so that's how we made sure we knew where he was.”

The church says they hired Harrison to give him a second chance.

He remains in jail Monday night. A judge denied bond over the weekend.

Thousands of kids are on the campus of Redemption World Outreach Center for church activities and for school. That's one reason Pastor Travis Hayes says the church does criminal background checks before it hires someone. Hayes says, “The security staff was well aware of his (Harrison’s) background, his run-in, his incarceration.”

The church hired Harrison a registered sex offender in 2007. The South Carolina Sex Offender Registry shows Harrison was convicted of second degree criminal sexual conduct in 1997, and he was released from prison in 2004. Hayes says, “As a church, we kind of felt like if he couldn't get a second chance with us, where could he get a second chance from?” Hayes says Harrison worked off campus at the church's halfway houses. Hayes says, “We brought him on board specifically to work with those adults in those halfway houses.”

Hayes says Harrison was on campus as a church member and for a few work-related activities, but that he was never left alone with kids. Hayes says, “He checked in with his supervisor when he came to work every Sunday, and so that's how we made sure we knew where he was.”

The church says it fired Harrison after he was arrested Friday, accused of another sex crime against a child. 7 On Your Side asked, in the future, will registered sex offenders get a second chance with the church? Harrison says, “We always sit back and look and see is there something we can do different? Is there something we can do better?” Hayes adds that the church would never hire a sex offender to work directly with kids. He says in light of the situation with Harrison, the church will review its hiring process to determine if any changes need to be made.

http://www2.wspa.com/news/2012/jan/30/4/sex-offender-fired-church-after-second-charge-ar-3139566/

Palestinian Christian woman bludgeoned to death for falling in love with a Muslim

2012-01-29T19:42:00.000-08:00

This is from 2005. After reading the article, please see how Robert Spencer though this was a Muslim honor killing.

RAMALLAH: Faten Habash’s father wept as he assured his daughter there would be no more beatings, no more threats to her life and that she was free to marry the man she loved, even if he was a Muslim. All he asked was that Faten return home.

Hassan Habash even gave his word to an emissary from a Bedouin tribe traditionally brought in to mediate in matters of family honour, a commitment regarded as sacrosanct in Palestinian society. But the next weekend, as Faten watched a Boy Scouts parade from the balcony of her Ramallah home, the 22-year-old Christian Palestinian was dragged into the living room and bludgeoned to death with an iron bar. Her father was arrested for the murder.

“He gave me his word she would not be harmed,” said Ibrahim Abu Dahouq, the Bedouin mediator. “He was crying and begging her to come home. They were even telling me that for their daughter to leave their house as a bride would be an honour for them. We never believed that love would lead to death in this ugly way.”

http://www.global-sisterhood-network.org/content/view/336/76/

Now see what an idiot Spencer is.

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2006/01/lapkin-palestinian-honor.html

Armenian man murders cousin then dumps her body on road

2012-01-27T22:25:00.000-08:00

Honor killings are a prt of the Armenian culture.

Homicide detectives of Los AngelesCounty sheriff arrested 27-year-old Aram Sarukhanyan on Tuesday on suspicion of murder after he was released from HuntingtonMemorialHospital. He had been admitted as result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound shortly after the body of his cousin, Adrine Arzumanyan, was found on the La Crescenta Avenue offramp, Glendale News Press reports.

As Armenian News-NEWS.am reported earlier, an Armenian woman who was shot dead and dumped on freeway in Glendale was related to her alleged assailant.

Adrine Arzumanyan, 33, was shot at least once and then pushed from a car onto the freeway, the newspaper writes.

“There is some kind of family relationship,” said Lt. Mike Rosson, adding that investigators are trying to determine whether they might have been cousins, or possibly related by marriage.

The shooter suffered an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound and was taken to hospital, law enforcers said.

http://news.am/eng/news/59023.html

Like father like son, Armenian honor killings continue

2012-01-23T22:05:00.000-08:00

GYUMRI. – Armenia’s Police Force solved the murder of Gyumri city resident Mari Davtyan, 21. To note, the police discovered Friday, at the basement of the damaged building of Gyumri’s former Polytechnic Institute, Davtyan’s dead body, which was burned and torn to pieces.

According to Armenian News-NEWS.am’s well-informed sources, Mari Davtyan was killed by Gyumri resident Gevorg Tadevosyan, 51, to protect her daughter’s honor. Our information was corroborated by the police, who also informed that it became apparent on Saturday that previously convicted Tadevosyan had struck blows at Mari Davtyan—on Friday at 4:30 p.m., at the first floor of the damaged building of Gyumri’s former Polytechnic Institute—subsequently tied her legs, put a plastic bag over her head, and suffocated her to death. Afterward, he covered the dead body with pieces of cloth, and went home. Then he returned at 7 p.m., poured diesel fuel on the young woman, and set her on fire.

Gevorg Tadevosyan is arrested, and an investigation is launched.

It is noteworthy that Tadevosyan’s son was just as cruel against another woman, back in 2009, as he had killed her, burned the body, and hid it in the same location. According to our source, the revenge was again to protect the honor of his sister.

http://news.am/eng/news/90084.html

Florida Pastor arrested for molesting young girl

2012-01-21T12:23:00.000-08:00

POMPANO BEACH, Fla. -- Fort Lauderdale Police arrested a youth pastor accused of groping a girl under 12 years old, luring her into his home with food and molesting her when she came inside.

Police report that on Jan. 15, Raymond Vincent, 41, lured the girl inside his residence and groped her. She also told police Vincent had molested her two times in 2011.

Vincent told detectives that he is a youth pastor at a church in Pompano Beach, which has police concerned there may be more victims.

Investigators are urging anyone whose children may have had inappropriate contact with Vincent to contact Detective Felicia Barnwell at 954-828-5533 or Detective Lorette Innocent-Doles 954-828-5137. They are also asking for the help of the public in identifying the church where Vincent is a youth pastor.

http://www.cbs12.com/articles/vincent-4738202-youth-pastor.html#ixzz1k7toObWh

Honor Killing in Armenia: Woman abused to death by husband

2012-01-17T17:42:00.000-08:00

The issue of domestic violence, long a taboo topic in Armenia, is generating lots of public debate these days. The catalyst for discussion is a shocking criminal case, in which a 20-year-old mother of a toddler was, according to witnesses, abused to death by her husband.

Social networks in Armenia have been buzzing about the case since October 1, when 20-year-old Zaruhi Petrosyan died after suffering a series of heavy blows that caused a brain hemorrhage and left her with a broken fingers and bruises all over her body. Shortly before collapsing, Petrosyan reported that she had suffered the injuries in a fall. Her neighbors and her sister, however, asserted that Petrosyan had been abused by her relatives at her home in Masis, a town in the Armavir Region, not far from the capital Yerevan.

The victim’s sister, Hasmik Petrosyan, alleged that her sister’s husband and mother-in-law routinely abused her, and that she often had extensive bruising on her body. She wanted to escape the abuse, but because she was an orphan, she did not have a strong support network to turn to for help, Hasmik Petrosyan maintained. “If there was a law, and the police were more attentive toward such cases, my sister might be alive today,” she said.

Based on witness accounts, authorities took Petrosyan’s 30-year-old husband, Yanis Sarkisov, into custody and charged him with inflicting bodily harm under Article 112 of the Armenian Criminal Code. No trial date has been set. He faces up to 10 years in prison, if convicted. Petrosyan’s mother-in-law is also under investigation in the abuse case, but no charges as yet have been brought against her.

According to Hasmik’s public account, about a year before her death, Zaruhi left her husband, and lived for a few weeks with her sister. But Sarkisov reportedly threatened to kill both women, along with Hasmik’s family members. Zaruhi thus felt compelled to return to her husband in order not to put her sister’s family at risk.

Rights groups are hoping that the Petrosyan case becomes a landmark in their efforts to implement legal safeguards against domestic violence. In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Tigran Sargsian that bore about 3,000 signatures, activists called on government leaders and legislators to address the issue quickly. “Our silence confirms that such cases are nothing extraordinary in Armenian society and allows them to be repeated,” the letter stated.

Susanna Vardanian, the head of the Women’s Rights Center, a Yerevan non-governmental organization, contended that the lack of legal protections played a big role in Petrosyan’s death. “Zaruhi had turned to the police twice, but they [authorities] only had her husband sign a promise not to beat her again; but how can that be a means of prevention!” Vardanian said.

Results from a survey of 1,000 Armenian women conducted in 2008 by the rights group Amnesty International showed that women in roughly three out of 10 families suffered from physical abuse and about two-thirds experienced mental duress. Laurence Broers, an Amnesty International expert on Armenian affairs, said that the problems could be more severe than indicated by the survey data, given the reluctance of many women to disclose instances of abuse.

“Women maintain silence, and the imposer of violence continues his abuse; and the victims of violence continue silently enduring the pain. Armenian society suffers from that: the number of children with mental problems keeps growing,” Broers said.

Another survey of 2,763 women, conducted in 2010 and sponsored by the United Nations Population Fund, showed that those who suffered from abuse tended to keep quiet about it: only 15 percent of those who acknowledged suffering from abuse were willing to discuss it. Another aspect of the survey involved participants being shown two images – one of a smiling face, the other of a crying face – and being asked which face they identified with more: about 70 percent of the participants selected the crying face.

“If before the organizations fighting against domestic violence were accused of breaking up families, now both the public and many politicians admit that the problem exists, and it has to be dealt with,” says Vardanian.

Armine Tanashian, a department head at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs who handles women’s issues, insisted the state is taking steps to address domestic violence. “The government approved a Gender Policy Concept within the framework of which an inter-departmental commission has been set up to develop a four-year national gender quality program. This is great progress and the law on violence will eventually be adopted as a result,” Tanashian told EurasiaNet.org.

Last year, the government had planned to allocate money from the state budget on building shelters, however the budget was cut because of the economic crisis and, as Tanashian explained, the draft budget for 2011 does not include it either.
If a few years ago many MPs were unconvinced that domestic violence was a problem in Armenia, that is no longer the case. “This [Petrosyan] case has made us acutely aware of the problem, and so now many realize that the issue should have been tended to before,” opposition Heritage Party MP Zaruhi Postanjian told EurasiaNet.org. “A law must be adopted and urgent steps should be taken to fight against these problems, which do not bring honor to our families.”

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/62258

Christian man tapes one year old girl's mouth, wrists, and ankles and posts photos on Facebook

2012-01-15T13:59:00.000-08:00

(CBS) CHICAGO - A Chicago man who posted a photograph on Facebook of his 22-month-old daughter bound with painter's tape was indicted Monday on felony charges.

CBS Chicago reports the most serious charge 21-year-old Andre Curry faces is aggravated battery, which carries a sentence of 7 years.

Curry's pastor says the father posted the picture as a joke and did not hurt the girl. His attorney said the incident had been "blown out of proportion."

FOX News reports prosecutors said Curry decided to tie up his daughter after he witnessed her playing with the tape on Dec. 13.

Curry put the tape over her mouth and bound her wrists and ankles together. He then allegedly photographed her with his cell phone and put it up on a social networking site.

A caption of the image read, "This is wut happens wen my baby hits me back. ; )"

Chicago police investigated Curry the day after the photo was brought to their attention. He was arrested and ordered held on $100,000 bond on Dec. 21 and barred from contact with his daughter or any children.

Curry faces charges of aggravated domestic battery, aggravated battery and unlawful restraint, Cook County State's Attorney's office spokesman Andy Conklin said.

He is scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 26.

The bolded part confirms Christinity's part in this.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57356073-504083/man-who-bound-daughter-with-tape-indicted-on-felony-charges/

Pastor to Rape Victim: "He Should Have Killed You. At Least You'd Have Died A Virgin."

2012-01-12T22:18:00.000-08:00

Hi, John. I became acquainted with your writing a couple of months ago and love it. I so wish I could travel back in time and hear your voice in my head while I was growing up, instead of the hard-core fundy "you're going to hell" soundtrack of my early life.
I've read with great interest the letter from the young woman who felt that God degraded Mary -- and your earlier post about why some folks consider it so important that Mary remain a virgin for life. I just had to share a bit of my story around exactly that issue.

When I was 16 years old, I was raped at knife-point by a stranger. Not having a clue how to handle it, I decided to confide first of all in my pastor. While I was literally still bleeding from the attack, he told me (and I quote) "It's too bad that you didn't force him to kill you instead. That way you could have at least died a virgin." That was the sum total of his "advice" to me -- not, "Oh, you should go to the police," or "Oh, I'm so sorry that happened to you," or anything that might have been even remotely helpful anywhere on this planet.

After that reaction, I decided not to tell anyone else -- including my parents or the police -- ever. It wasn't until six years later, after I had attempted suicide and was hospitalized for severe depression, that the truth came out. And then, only because I saw my rapist's wedding photo and announcement in our local paper and freaked out a bit. (Well, okay, a lot.) It took me a long time, a ton of therapy, and no small measure of the grace of God to get past this exhibit of what a pastor-friend calls the "cult of virginity."

God calls us to be sooooo much more than what happens with (or to) our genitals. Thank you, thank you, thank you for being a voice of reason and compassion in that regard!! To this day, almost 30 years later, I harbor more anger toward that "pastor" than I do toward the man who raped me. At least the rapist wasn't pretending to represent God. The damage the rapist did to my body and my psyche was not insignificant -- but the soul-damage done by this "man of God" nearly killed my faith.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-shore/pastor-to-rape-victim-he-_b_1160749.html

Pastor kills himself because police were investigating his sexual misconduct with a fourteen yeat old girl

2012-01-09T10:49:00.000-08:00

PHOENIX (Reuters) - An Arizona pastor shot and killed himself at his church after being served with a search warrant investigating his Internet conversations with a 14-year-old girl, police said on Friday.

Nicholas William Minerva, 52, committed suicide on Thursday, shortly after officers arrived at the Trinity Baptist Fellowship Church in south Phoenix,said Detective Frank Mendoza, a Chandler, Ariz., police department spokesman.

"After we made contact, he ran away and retreated back into the church," Mendoza told Reuters. "A short time later,he shot himself to death."

It was unclear if the girl or her family are church members, he said.

Police said Minerva allegedly contacted the teen in a chat room in July and continued through Thursday. He allegedly had "inappropriate conversations" with her and once showed his genitalia via a webcam, police said.

Minerva has been a Trinity Baptist pastor since January 2004, according to the church website.

A call to the church was answered by a voice mail recording made by Minerva.

http://uk.mobile.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE73L40420110422?irpc=932

Alabama Pastor arrested for sexually abusing twenty-one female students

2012-01-07T13:12:00.000-08:00

A pair of local pastors whose churches have ties to an Alabaster teacher arrested Jan. 4 and charged with four counts of sexually abusing children said Jan. 6 they were “shocked” by the arrest are doing whatever possible to support the victims.

Alabaster police arrested 49-year-old Alabaster resident Daniel M. Acker Jr. Jan. 4 and charged him with molesting a student in his Thompson Intermediate School fourth-grade classroom in 2009. The department added a fourth sexual abuse charge against Acker two days later.

According to Shelby County School System officials, Acker was also accused of abusing children in 1992, but a Shelby County grand jury did not indict him on the charges.

During the 1992 investigation, Acker was serving as a youth pastor at Alabaster’s Westwood Baptist Church. Westwood Baptist Church Executive Pastor Rick Swing said he was not with the church when Acker was attending or serving as a pastor at Westwood, but he said his church has taken steps over the years to protect children in the church.

“We value children. Since (1992), there have been many more protocols and awareness raised about things like this,” Swing said. “There are a lot more safety measures in place.”

Swing said the church’s “biggest concern” is for the victims of the alleged crimes. Both of Acker’s parents currently attend Westwood, and Swing said he would support both of them throughout the process.

“We want to support the Ackers, but we also know that justice must be served,” Swing said. “It’s a difficult position for us to be in as a church. We want to make sure we do the right thing.”

In a Jan. 5 interview, Montevallo resident Beverly Watson said the First Baptist Church of Pelham held spaghetti suppers to raise money for Acker after the 1992 allegations. Church Pastor Mike Shaw said Acker’s family members did hold a fundraiser in the church, but it was not a church-sanctioned event.

“In hindsight, I wish they would have found somewhere else to have it,” Shaw said. “I apologize to Beverly Watson, the victims and their families for allowing an event to be held in our facility which provided support for someone who used his position to prey on innocent children.”

Brian Erickson, the pastor of Alabaster First United Methodist Church, said some members of his congregation supported Acker during the 1992 allegations.

“Tonight I have talked to several folks in our church family who are feeling betrayed, having stood up for someone who turned out not to be who they thought he was,” Erickson said Jan. 5.

In a letter to his congregation, Erickson urged the church members to pray for the victims, Acker and his family and “all those in our community who have spent today in heartbroken disbelief.”

“As a pastor, I grieve that, yet again, it seems someone in a position to nurture children has used their authority to harm the most defenseless among us,” Erickson said. “Predators leave a seemingly endless trail of mistrust and suspicion in their wake.”

http://www.shelbycountyreporter.com/2012/01/06/pastors-react-to-acker%E2%80%99s-arrest/

South African Pastor arrested again for raping eighteen and twenty year old women

2012-01-04T19:04:00.000-08:00

Polokwane - A 50-year-old pastor, already out on bail in connection with a charge of rape, has been arrested again - this time for a different rape, Limpopo police said on Wednesday.

The pastor was arrested at his home in Seshego on Tuesday, after he was released on R2 000 bail on a rape charge involving a 14-year-old girl, Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said.

In the latest case, the pastor is accused of raping a young woman - now aged 18 - between 2009 and 2010.

"It is alleged the victim went to the pastor... to be prayed for as she was not feeling well. The victim was then allegedly raped."

The pastor was expected to appear in the Polokwane Magistrate's Court on Thursday.

Third case of rape

Mulaudzi said the same pastor had appeared in the Seshego Magistrate's Court on Tuesday in connection with the rape of the 14-year-old. He was granted R2 000 bail and that case was postponed to January 17.

"It is alleged the suspect raped the girl in Seshego between August and September 2011."

And in another development, police said a third case of rape was opened against the pastor on Wednesday. It involved a 20-year-old woman, who alleged the pastor raped her between July and October last year.

"We are investigating... for now we focus on the three charges. If there are people who might have been victims they must report it to the police."

In all the cases the women had gone to the pastor for prayer and healing.

A statement on the pastor's church website reads: "This is the place where we see practical miracles of God every day. The place where people come face to face with the fire of God and receive their total deliverance no matter the situation or the circumstances."

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Pastor-arrested-for-rape-again-20120104-2

South African Pastor arrested for raping fourteen year old girl

2012-01-03T11:58:00.000-08:00

And of course no Western media outlet would cover this, or any of the 300+ rapes, assaults, murders, harassments of women we have recorded since 2009.

A 50-year-old pastor who allegedly raped a 14-year-old girl is set to appear in the Seshego Magistrate's Court in Limpopo on Tuesday.

Police said the pastor lured the minor to his home next to the church under the pretext of praying for her.

It is alleged that similar incidents were repeated with other girls in August and September 2011.

The pastor was arrested on Christmas Eve.

"The girl worked as an usher and the pastor used to ask her to clean his room and pray for her. That is when the rape [allegedly] occurred," said police spokesperson Mothemane Malefo.

http://news.iafrica.com/sa/770473.html

Pastor's son arrested for sexual battery against two young girls

2011-12-28T13:41:00.000-08:00

The pastor's son at a local church has been arrested and charged on suspicion of sexual misconduct with two minors, according to court records and the sheriff's office.

Ruben J. Matuk, 28, has been charged by the district attorney's office on suspicion of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor, indecent exposure, attempted lewd acts with a child under 14 and sexual battery, according to San Benito County court records.

Investigators allege the crimes occurred at the Apostolic Full Gospel Church of Christ, 1515 Santa Ana Road, and also at Matuk's residence adjacent to the church address, said Detective Victor Casada with the San Benito County Sheriff's Office.

Sheriff's investigators first were informed of the suspected misconduct Nov. 14. The two alleging victims disclosed the incidents to someone else who, in turn, reported them to the sheriff's office. Deputies arrested Matuk that night, Casada said.

Matuk, however, was released from the San Benito County Jail on Nov. 23 after posting bail, which had been set at $100,000, according to court records. His attorney, Elvira Zaragoza Robinson, declined to comment when reached Monday.

"At this time, his attorney is not making a statement," she said.

Matuk's father and the pastor of the local church, meanwhile, could not be reached before press time.

Authorities believe the misdeeds started in September 2003 when they suspect Matuk committed lewd and lascivious acts with a girl who had been 12 years old, Casada said.

Regarding the second suspected victim, prosecutors charged Matuk on suspicion of attempted lewd and lascivious acts in June 2008, along with indecent exposure and sexual battery on Sept. 1 of this year, according to court records. Those dates mean the alleging victim would have been about 15 years old at the time.

Two of the charges are felonies. A conviction for lewd and lascivious acts would carry a maximum penalty of eight years in prison, while attempted lewd and lascivious acts has a maximum penalty of three years in prison, according to the penal code. If convicted, Matuk also would have to register as a sex offender.

At a hearing Friday afternoon, Judge Steven Sanders OK'd a protective order – requested by Deputy District Attorney Omar Rodriguez – against Matuk disallowing him from making any contact with the suspected victims. He also is barred from being on the church property because some of the accusations allege he committed the acts on the grounds.

Sanders set the next hearing in the Matuk case for 2 p.m. Dec. 8 at the San Benito County Courthouse. Deputy District Attorney Omar Rodrigues is overseeing the prosecution in the case.

http://www.gilroydispatch.com/news/city_local_government/article_e96da5ab-f999-5660-a443-4134995b0ad2.html

New Testament verse says to kill immoral people

2011-12-28T01:12:00.000-08:00

1 Corinthians 5:5

To deliver such one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus

From Barnes notes:

To deliver - This is the sentence which is to be executed. You are to deliver him to Satan, etc

Gill's Exposition:

for the destruction of the flesh; that is, that his body might be shook, buffeted, afflicted, and tortured in a terrible manner; that by this means he might be brought to a sense of his sin, to repentance for it, and make an humble acknowledgment of it:

Eighteen year old girl drowned by evangelical Pastor

2011-12-28T01:07:00.000-08:00

Police in Bolivia detained an evangelical pastor and his sister after they allegedly killed a sibling during a bathtub exorcism, officials said Monday.

The suspects, Carlos Uriona and Adelaida Marca, were arrested after they allegedly drowned their sister during the ritual, police spokesman Juan Carlos Corrales said.

"The suspects confessed that their 18-year-old sister was possessed by the demon and they wanted to purify her and christen her in a bathtub, but it went too far," said Corrales, speaking during a telephone interview.

He said the young woman drowned.

The incident occurred on Sunday in the city of Cochabamba. Police found the victim's body inside a store owned by the pastor.

Marca told investigators that he felt an evil presence when he submerged his sister in the tub, Corrales said.

"An evil spirit entered me, took control of my hand and began to submerge my little sister," Marca purportedly told police. "Satan was inside the tub."

Corrales said the suspects may undergo a psychological evaluation before they go to trial.

He said they had said they intended to perform a "purification" ceremony or exorcism because they felt their sister had been possessed by the devil

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/lifestyle/2011/12/21/bolivia-arrests-suspects-in-exorcism-killing/#ixzz1hoowl9K1

Iranian Christian man kills his daughters and family

2011-12-28T00:56:00.000-08:00

He was celebrating Christmas, doesn't that make him a Christian?

A 56-year-old suburban Dallas man facing marital and financial problems killed his estranged wife, two teenage children and three other family members on Christmas Day while dressed as Santa Claus before turning the gun on himself, authorities said Tuesday.

A police spokeswoman said Aziz Yazdanpanah died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound and the six others were shot to death.

Police responding Sunday morning to a 911 call found the seven people inside an apartment near Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. It appeared they had been opening presents around their Christmas tree just before the attack.

Yazdanpanah became the focus of detectives after his sport utility vehicle was found outside the apartment. The slayings have shaken friends and neighbors who knew Yazdanpanah and his wife, both of whom were born in Iran, as well as their two U.S.-born children.

"The Persian community is devastated," said Mashy Modjdehi, who knew both Yazdanpanah's wife of 24 years, Fatemah Rahmati, as well as her sister, Zohreh. Modjdehi called the two sisters "the nicest people in the world — angels."

Authorities said those killed were: Yazdanpanah, 56; Rahmati, 55; Nona Yazdanpanah, 19; Ali Yazdanpanah, 14; Mohamad Hossein Zarei, 59; Zohreh Rahmaty, 58; and Sara Fatemeh Zarei, 22.

Grapevine police spokesman Robert Eberling said Tuesday that detectives believe Yazdanpanah's marital and financial troubles led him to kill his family.

Yazdanpanah's wife filed for bankruptcy in August 2010, and she told her attorney she hoped the proceedings would stave off foreclosure of the home where the family had lived for more than a decade.

In the midst of the bankruptcy, she separated from Yazdanpanah and the proceedings were later dismissed because she failed to make the plan payments, said the attorney, George Barnes.

Yazdanpanah's wife, known to family and friends as Nasrin, moved out of the couple's home in the neighboring suburb of Colleyville in April and into the apartment complex near where the shooting took place. The two children moved with her.

http://news.ca.msn.com/top-stories/texas-murder-rampage-shooter-faced-marital-problems-15

If you know David Wood's a liar clap your hands!

2011-12-28T00:26:00.000-08:00

David Wood said on his blog that he doesn't approve of comments that promote violence against Muslims. His side bar says his entire pseudo blog is out of love not hate. But we all know on his blog the comments are pretty vile and degrading. Take for example here:

Thank you for giving us the chance to view the wretched, racist, misogynist, fascist, hate-filled and oppressive sickness (known to us as "Islam") in comparison to the remaining freedoms enjoyed by 21st century humanity.

May Heaven help us to be unwavering in our determination to set free the precious Muslim people and to send the scourge of Islam back to the hell from which it was derived.

No hatred for Muslims - no Tolerance for Islam.

Islam is Death - DEATH TO ISLAM!!

LOL

Young Jewish girl fears harassment from Orthodox Jews in Israel

2011-12-26T13:40:00.000-08:00

If you go on the link and to the bottom where the comments are, you'll see how Islam and Muslims are getting blamed.

Jerusalem (CNN)–Eight-year-old Naama Margolis is afraid to walk to school.

She's afraid, her mother says, because life has become a nightmare for anyone who doesn't follow the edicts of the ultra-Orthodox Jews who have flocked in recent years to their city of 80,000 just outside of Jerusalem.

"They threaten everyone in town over everything they don't like," Hadassah Margolis told CNN on Monday. "We have suffered swearing, they have had eggs, tomatoes, stink bombs and rocks thrown at us. They do this to anyone who doesn't think, look or act as they do."

"I'm afraid when one of them passes by me," she earlier told Israel's Channel 2 "I don't know if he will spit on me or will curse me 'whore', 'slut', "bastards" 'go away from here' - exactly in those words."

The Margolis family, whose story was detailed Friday in a nationwide television broadcast, is the latest in a series of high-profile examples of what critics say are attempts by groups within Israel's ultra-Orthodox community to impose its religious beliefs on the public and excise women from the public sphere.

CNN's Belief Blog – all the faith angles to the day's top stories

Last week, for instance, a young Israeli woman made headlines when she detailed her experience refusing a ultra-Orthodox man's demands that she sit in the back of a bus. Several well-publicized rallies have also voiced opposition to various forms of gender segregation favored by the ultra-Orthodox.

In addition to demanding more modesty and trying to segregate bus passengers, ultra-Orthodox Jews have posted unofficial signs in some neighborhoods commanding men and women to walk on different sides of the street.

The issue has prompted responses from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who broached the topic Sunday for the fourth time in two weeks.

He ordered officials to take down the street signs and promised a stiff response to harassment, saying that Israel was a democratic, western and liberal state.

"There is no place for harassment or discrimination," he said.

The issue has played prominently in the Israeli press for weeks, and much of the debate has centered on Beit Shemesh, where the Margolis family lives.

In recent years, an influx of adherents to what critics say are the most extreme sects in ultra-Orthodox Judaism has inflamed tensions with other residents holding less strident views.

The Margolis family practice Orthodox Judaism, but are not considered strict enough by the extreme ultra-Orthodox faction in the community.

"I am not anti-religious, anti-Orthodox or anti-secular" Hadassah Margolis said, "I am anti-bad people and they are bad. They need to be taken out of here."

In the television report aired Friday, one unidentified ultra-Orthodox resident was asked whether he wanted the entire city to become religious.

"Not just Beit Shemesh - all of Israel will be ultra-Orthodox," he replied. "And nothing can help you. The country, at the end, will be an ultra-Orthodox country whether you want it or not."

In response to growing tensions in the city, Israeli police and the Beit Shemesh officials announced a plan to install more than 300 security cameras to document harassment.

Police also have deployed extra officers to prevent violence, spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

Two suspects were arrested in separate incidents this week. One man spat at a passing woman. Another tried to attack television crews covering the events.

Much of the public debate in Israel has centered on who is to blame for the situation, with most holding the government responsible for ceding too much power to religious parties.

But much of the responsibility lies with Israel society, said activists who have worked on gender segregation issues.

"I believe while this government is responsible to the situation to a degree, they are not the only ones" says Shira Ben-Sasson Fustenberg of the New Israeli Fund. "All of us are to blame for not stopping this from happening when it first started, we could have taken a stand a long time ago."

Israelis outraged about the incident in Beit Shemesh have planned a candle-light protest Tuesday in support of residents there.

"There is a sense that extreme margins in the Israeli society are growing in confidence." event planner Tzviki Levin told Israel radio.

"There is an attempt to deny freedom and values of democracy, the values on which the state of Israel was created," she said. "The rally tomorrow is our way of making a strong statement."

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/26/ultra-orthodox-demands-spark-debate-in-israel/?hpt=hp_c2

Hadiths on kindness to haters and congratulating non-Muslims

2011-12-25T21:48:00.000-08:00

From: http://www.onislam.net/english/ask-the-scholar/morals-and-manners/social-manners/169282-congratulating-non-muslims-on-their-festive-occasions.html

Thus, if maternity and blood relation rights are obligatory upon a Muslim, in a way that exemplifies the beautiful manners of Islam and Muslims, it is also obligatory upon a Muslim to pay the due rights that work towards showing Muslims as people of beautiful character. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) advised Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) saying: “Be aware of Allah wherever you are, and follow up a sin that you have committed with a good deed, so that sin may be erased, and treat people with beautiful manners.” (Reported by Ahmad, At-Tirmidhi, Ad-Darmi, and Al-Hakim) As is evident, the emphasis is upon “…and treat people with beautiful manners” not “…treat Muslims”.

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) also strongly advised us to deal with non-Muslims in a mild and gentle manner, not using stern and terrorizing methods. It was reported that when a group of Jews approached the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and greeted him with twisted pronunciation, and thus uttered “Assam`alaykum, O Muhammad!” (meaning “death and destruction come upon you”) instead of “as-salamu `alaykum”, `A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) heard them and responded by saying, ‘assamu `alaykum also and the curse and wrath of Allah!” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) rebuked `A'ishah for what she had said. She told him, “Did you not hear what they said?” He said, “I did, and I responded by saying, ‘And upon you,’” (i.e., that death will come upon you as it will come upon me.) He went on to say, “O `A'ishah! Allah loves gentleness in all matters.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

Indeed the permissibility of congratulating non-Muslims on their festive days becomes more of an obligation if they offer their greetings on Islamic festive occasions, as we are commanded to return good treatment with similar treatment, and to return the greeting with a better one or at least with the same greeting. Allah Almighty says: “When you are greeted with a greeting, greet in return with what is better than it, or at least return it equally…” (An-Nisa' 4: 86)

A Muslim must never be less charitable or pleasant or indeed of lesser manners than any other, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stated in the hadith: “The most perfect believers in terms of their iman are those who possess the most beautiful manners.” (Reported by Ahmad, At-Tirmidhi, Ad-Darmi, and Abu Dawud), and he (peace and blessings be upon him) also stated: “Verily I have been but sent to perfect the most noble of manners.” (Reported by Ahmad, Al-Bukhari in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad and Al-Bazzar in Kashful Astar)

South African Pastor arrested for raping eleven young girls

2011-12-19T21:42:00.000-08:00

Second South African Pastor to be arrested this week.

A case of rape against a dental surgeon who is also a pastor of a local church in Mhluzi, near Middleburg, will resume in the Middleburg Magistrate’s Court tomorrow.

He was arrested for allegedly raping 11 girls, aged between 11 and 15, all members of his church.

The doctor, whose name is being withheld by police, was remanded in custody since his arrest two weeks ago for further investigations to take place.

In addition, the doctor is facing charges of attempted murder, assault with an intention to cause grievous bodily harm, damage to property, possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.

He was arrested with three alleged accomplices. They were accused of assaulting and forcing people to sign up as church members.

The doctor and his co-accused, who are also in custody, will appear with him tomorrow.

Provincial police spokesperson Sgt Gerald Sedibe said the doctor and his co-accused have been charged with assaulting a group of people and forced them to sign up as church members.

After police investigation, 11 charges of rape were laid against the doctor by the young girls, also church members.

“The doctor was also charged with an extra count of rape after police investigation revealed that 11 cases of rape were laid against him by 11 teenage girls, who are his church members.

“The suspects were all remanded in custody, including the extra charge of rape against the doctor,” said Sedibe.

http://www.thenewage.co.za/38212-1008-53-Case_against_rape_dentist_continues

Indiana Pastor arrested for sexually assaulting fourteen and eleven year old girls

2011-12-19T21:36:00.000-08:00

A former Harrison County deputy and church pastor who has already had a run in with the law is back in hot water.

Eddie Nichols was arrested Friday by Texas Rangers and charged with sexual indecency with a child by contact.

He was released after posting bond in the amount of $100,000.

This is the third arrest for Nichols in the last two months.

Nichols and his wife, Sharon, were arrested on the same charge in October.

That arrest stemmed from allegations the pair assaulted two girls ages 14 and 11.

Following his arrest, Nichols was fired from the Harrison County Sheriff's Office.

Sharon Nichols was fired from her job in the Harrison County Clerk's office

http://www.ktbs.com/news/30033091/detail.html

South African Pastor arrested for raping fifteen year old girl

2011-12-16T20:19:00.000-08:00

A pastor was arrested on Thursday for raping a 15-year-old girl in Butterworth, said Eastern Cape police.

The incident took place last Thursday near the Ibika informal settlement when the pastor allegedly lured the girl to a spot near an unused railway line, said Captain Jackson Manatha.

“She tried to run but the pastor overpowered her,” said Manatha.

The 20-year-old pastor was charged with rape and will appear in the Butterworth Magistrate's Court on Monday. – Sapa

http://m.iol.co.za/article/view/e/1.1199562

Canadian Imam's condemn honor killings

2011-12-15T23:07:00.000-08:00

Two different Imam's. Firstly from here: http://www.lfpress.com/news/canada/2011/12/15/19129866.html

KINGSTON, Ont. -- The young imam here knows those alleged to have been part of the horrible Rideau Canal "honour" murders have nothing to do with Muslim life in Canada's original capital city. But he also knows, with the whole country watching this gruesome trial, they have everything to do it.

This trial has not yet had the Crown's case tested by a jury of the accused's peers. It will resume Jan. 9, 2012.

"The people on trial for these horrendous allegations are from Montreal and were just passing through," the imam at the Kingston Islamic Centre said Thursday.

"But I am realistic," said the 29-year-old Canadian-born Sikander Hashmi of what this trial means to every other Muslim living in the shadow of the horrible testimony of the alleged quadruple slaying of four women on June 30, 2009.

He knows that the first-degree murder trial of Mohammad Shafia, his wife Tooba Mohammad Yahya and their son Hamed for the murder of sisters Zainab, Sahar and Geeti, and Shafia's first wife, Rona Amir Mohammad could cast unfair aspersions on people who don't have anything to do with it."I don't know anybody who thinks like this," said Hashmi of Kingston's 1,000 or so Muslims.

He wanted to make sure the rest of Canada understands this. But he went even further.

On the off chance there are people at his mosque, or elsewhere in Canada, who are not clear on what he thinks is the obvious, he decided to speak out.

"Obviously, this is a Muslim issue that needs to be addressed because these things have happened inside the faith," he said. "I am a father of a daughter myself."

He "felt a need" to address the difficult subject in last week's sermon and will touch on it again this Friday.

"I just make it perfectly clear that no killing or domestic violence is acceptable for any reason" and is "reprehensible."

He wondered if some old-school Muslims would not appreciate drawing any attention, but he has been pleasantly surprised by the response.

"I did not hear one negative comment," he said. "Many have said it was good to address this because we all feel the same way that such crimes are wrong."

It did not offend anybody in the congregation, said member Wissal Mesfar who, with wife Malik Derbel, originally from Tunisia, have a young boy and a girl.

"It's just unacceptable," Mesfar said of "honour" killings.

Derbel added, "We follow Islam and feel the people who have these kinds of ideas of it should stay in their own countries."

This one allegedly happened in Canada, and the imam said he prays it never comes up here again.

By speaking out, Hashmi, who grew up a Habs fan in Montreal to immigrant-Pakistani parents, has shown great leadership.

In fact, he is speaking the language of common sense so many want to hear from Muslim leaders.

Other than being a Canadiens' fan, he is very impressive.

However, a national profile on such issues, he said, is not his focus or goal.

"I am here to serve my community," he said, adding the people in what he calls "Little Mosque North of the 401" are very good people of all sorts of different backgrounds.

He said Kingston's Muslims have done lots of great work here, like "raising $100,000 for Kingston General Hospital." The Islamic Society of Kingston Volunteer Team, a group of about 40, has worked on many charitable projects for the needy.

"I have to tell you, people in our centre are shocked by what they are hearing in this case and will be glad when (it's over)," he said.

Although the conclusion can't come soon enough for Imam Hashmi, he said, it won't be glossed over and it will be talked about again.

"What happened here needs to be talked about," he said.

Talked about by Muslims and talked about by everybody.

Second Imam from: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Ottawa+imam+condemns+honour+killings/5842386/story.html

OTTAWA — The imam of the Ottawa Mosque has condemned so-called honour killing, saying the practice speaks to a perverse sense of honour that is alien to Islam, and has no place in society.

Samy Metwally said Friday that it doesn’t make sense to think or believe that any religion will condone killing people to preserve family honour.

“What’s called honour killing is not part of Islamic teaching or tradition, and in fact there is no honour in this killing at all,” Metwally told The Citizen.

“It has nothing to do with religion and it has no backup either from the texts of the Qur’an or from the behaviour, sayings or deeds of the Prophet Muhammad, who is the model for Muslims.”

Metwally was speaking to The Citizen on the day of “a call to action” during which imams across the country delivered sermons against domestic violence, and to reiterate that Islam has no tolerance for violence against women.

“The purpose of this call to action is to raise awareness of Muslims that we are not allowed to do things like beating our wives or doing physical or emotional harm to them. The religion does not permit us to do these,” he said.

The nationwide sermons were triggered by the sensational trial in Kingston, Ont., in which Montreal businessman Mohammad Shafia, his son and wife are accused of killing his three teenage daughters and his first wife allegedly because their behaviour dishonoured the family. A Kingston imam, concerned that the deaths are being misrepresented as something to do with Islam, asked colleagues around the country to deliver special sermons on domestic violence and make clear Islam has nothing to do with so-called honour killings.

Metwally would not comment directly on the ongoing trial, but said there have been so many misconceptions about “honour-killings” that it is imperative that imams set the record straight.

Metwally, who took over as imam of the city’s largest Muslim community a little over a month ago, said he has been so inundated with complaints about marriage problems he realized domestic discord was a huge problem among his congregation. He decided to devote his sermons to the problem, and the “call to action” fit into his program.

In his sermon, Metwally urged a packed Ottawa Mosque to look to the examples of the Prophet Muhammad, who never hit or abused his wives in any form. Quoting statistics that he says show that one in three women are subjected to some form of physical, mental or emotional abuse, he said domestic violence has no religious boundaries. But he said Muslims have a special duty to refrain from abusing their wives because Muhammad, whose examples are supposed to guide them, not only refrained from the behaviour, but forbade it.

Using several examples from the life of the Prophet and his companions in how they related to their wives, Metwally said Muslims have a responsibility to treat their wives with dignity, kindness and “equity.” He reminded them of one the most famous sayings on the subject from the Prophet: “The best of you are those who are best to their wives.”

The imam told the Citizen that one of the major problems in dealing with many issues, including domestic abuse, is that people often pull Qur’anic verses out of context and

Pastor arrested for sexual misconduct against his stepdaughter

2011-12-07T18:11:00.000-08:00

A Shelby man police identified as the pastor of the Burning Bush faith organization northwest of Shelby was arrested Monday on two criminal sexual conduct counts for allegedly engaging in sexual contact with a stepdaughter, resulting in two children.

Timothy George Bender, 48, of 128 N. 64th Ave., turned himself in to the Oceana County Sheriff’s Department at approximately 3 p.m. Monday. He is charged with two counts of criminal sexual conduct, third degree, for allegedly engaging in sexual intercourse with his stepdaughter between September 2007 and September 2010. The
alleged incidents are to have taken place on the Bender property.

http://oceanaheraldjournal.com/news/43605-burning-bush-pastor-faces-sex-charges

Catholic Priest arrested for assaulting his daughter

2011-12-06T23:47:00.000-08:00

SUFFOLK, Va. (WAVY) - A Suffolk priest has resigned as pastor of two local churches after being charged with domestic assault.

Rev. Piotr Bialkowski was arrested on Nov. 28 for an incident that took place Nov. 27, according to Suffolk police spokesperson Debbie George.

"She advised the father of her child entered her home, came in the bedroom, forced her up against the wall, pinned her up against the wall. It took a friend jumping on his back to get him off of her," George said.

Bialkowski was a pastor at St. Mary's in Suffolk and Good Shepherd in Smithfield.

The congregations were informed of the accusation at the weekend Masses of Dec. 3 and 4 and Bialkowski confirmed the accusation was true, according to Rev. Francis X. DiLorenzo, Bishop of Richmond.

Bialkowski was also suspended from all priestly duties.

As a priest of the Diocese of Rodan in Poland, Bialkowski is under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rodan, DiLorenzo said.

DiLorenzo said he and his staff will be working on behalf of the two parishes to assign a new pastor.

http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/crime/priest-charged-with-domestic-assault

Can a husband boss his wife around?

2011-12-05T18:53:00.000-08:00

Taken from: http://askthescholar.com/question-details.aspx?qstID=9137

Question:

I was wondering if it is permissible in Islam to "order" his wife. I understand that in matters of need and important situations this is acceptable. However in everyday life can a man exercise this type of behavior? Furthermore does a woman have to oblige?For instance can a man say "I order you to iron my clothes" or "I order you to tell me what you were doing". There is no doubt that a husbands satisfaction and contentment is key to a woman entering jannah but do men possess such a right in ordinary circumstances? If so wouldn't this be unjust as the woman has no choice but to obey?I asked this question previously but have not received a response. JzkAssalamualaikum

Answer:

The basis of marriage life in Islam is mutual respect, love, and affection, rather than one party dominating the other.

Allah says, "Among His signs is that He created for you spouses of your own kind, in order that you may repose in tranquility with them, and He has implanted in your hearts mutual love and affection for one another. Certainly, in these are signs for those who reflect (on God's wisdom)". (Qur'an: 30:21)

Allah also ordered husbands to treat their wives with utmost kindness and affection, and the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "The best one among you is he who is best to his family; I am the best to my family."

Anas b. Malik, one of his companions who accompanied for ten years, had this to say about the Messenger of Allah, "I never saw anyone kinder than him to his family."

Therefore, no husband has the right to treat his wife, as if she were a maid, and order her around. That is not an acceptable behavior in Islam. Marriage life is different from a corporation. It is all about shared feelings of respect and love.

I would, therefore, advice for both of you to see a professional Muslim counselor who should help both of you to resolve the tensions in your marriage. You may also do well to order a copy of Blissful Marriage: A Practical Islamic Guide by Ekram Beshir. You can get it from amazon.ca or amazon.com.

Wife beating? Yeah right

2011-12-01T13:32:00.000-08:00

Pastor rapes and beats his own thirteen year old daughter

2011-11-27T15:27:00.000-08:00

I had this storey in April but back then they didn't mentioned the girl was his daughter.

A Queens Supreme Court jury heard opening arguments Tuesday in the trial of the Rev. Phillip Joubert, the pastor of Bayside’s Community Baptist Church, who is accused of sexually abusing and raping his then-13-year-old daughter in 2009.

Joubert, 50, is charged with first- and second-degree rape, incest, sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child. If found guilty on the top charge, first-degree rape, he faces up to 25 years in prison, the Queens DA’s office said.

The prosecution said the young woman, now 15, would testify against her father.

Assistant District Attorney Lauren Parson said Joubert’s daughter and her twin brother, the youngest of the minister’s six children with his estranged wife, left the Norwalk, Conn., home where they live with their mother in the summer of 2009 to stay with their father at his home at the church on the corner of 206th Street and 46th Road for two weeks to attend Bible camp.

One night between July 25 and Aug. 2 that summer, Joubert allegedly entered his daughter’s bedroom and forced himself upon her, physically and sexually assaulting her and then raping her, according to Parson.

The frightened young woman kept her abuse a secret, the prosecution said, until November 2009, when Joubert punched her after coming home to find his Norwalk apartment at 21 Lexington Ave. messy. It was then that she confided in her mother about the rape and the two went to the police.

Joubert was arrested in Norwalk Dec. 31 and a judge at Norwalk Superior Court issued a protective order that stipulated he was to stay away from the alleged victim and have no contact with her.

The case was turned over to Queens detectives, and Joubert was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport later that month after returning from a trip to Israel.

Parson said Joubert admitted to touching his daughter’s vagina “only after she touched his penis” but denied raping her.

Joubert’s attorney, Philip Russell, said his client’s accuser was coached by her mother, who talked about getting a divorce in June 2009. He said they went to the Norwalk police to report an alleged slapping.

“At some point, which it may never be clear to you, there was a complaint of a sexual assault in Queens,” he told the jury.

Russell called into question whether the written statement Joubert’s daughter submitted to police contained the words of a 13-year old or those of her mother.

He said Joubert, who suffers from diabetes, left Israel at 1:30 a.m. and at some point during his 13-hour flight became ill. It was in his “extremely weakened, sick shape” that Joubert was interrogated by police, Russell said.

The defense said it would call a passenger who sat next to Joubert on that flight to testify about his condition.

According to Norwalk’s The Hour newspaper, Joubert was arrested July 5, 2011, for allegedly placing a call to his daughter, violating the judge’s protective order.

He was due in Norwalk Superior Court Nov. 16 on third-degree assault charges, risking injury to a child and violating a protective order.

http://www.timesledger.com/stories/2011/46/jouberttrial_ft_2011_11_17_q.html

Teen girl commits suicide because her stepfather sexually abused her, did Christianity play a role?

2011-11-26T19:10:00.000-08:00

Of course the media will never directly say the father was Christian. But Texas is without a doubt the most conservative of the Bible belt. And I dunno but maybe this quote from the Mom sheds some light?

"He had sexually abused her and of course emotionally as well starting at 14,” Tiffany said. “She had demons we couldn't help her with."

Well thats good enough for me. And read the full shocking storey below, quite saddening what this young girl went through.

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2011/11/14/court-records-show-tweeting-suicide-victim-abused-by-stepfather/#ixzz1es74KUbX

Oklahoma Pastor recieves death threats because he employed women at his church

2011-11-20T17:35:00.000-08:00

Entire article focuses on gays but this particular quote stood out:

"It is highly recommended that you have somebody to answer the phone of your church, especially the dumb *** Pastor Blair," the caller warned. "Women should not be in a position in a church of employment that is non-Christian. It is recommended that a man answer the phone at your f--king establishment. I will be seeing you soon!"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/18/oklahoma-pastor-gay-rights_n_1101936.html

Twelve year old girl testifies against Pastor who molested her

2011-11-14T17:42:00.000-08:00

A 12-year-old girl testified today that Rio Linda Baptist preacher Tommy Gene Daniels molested her six years ago at his Citrus Heights home that also served as his wife's day care center.

The girl said she was taking a nap in a bedroom at the Daniels' residence when "Tom...tried to wake me up by touching me inappropriately."

She is one of five victims prosecutors intend to bring to the stand in the trial against Daniels, 49, the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Rio Linda.

Daniels is facing 12 molestation counts in incidents that took place between 2005 and 2008, Deputy District Attorney Kimberly Macy told a Sacramento Superior Court jury.

Defense attorney Michael L. Chastaine sought to find inconsistencies in the girl's story. Chastain suggested in his questioning that the girl changed her story from a recent videotaped interview in which she said she was asleep when the incident she described took place.

"I wasn't sure because I wasn't asleep, I wasn't awake," she said.

Chastaine said in his opening statement to the jury that Daniels "is a good man," "a good husband, a good father, a good member of this community."

The defense lawyer said some of the alleged victims who will testify against Daniels "are liars" who wanted to get back at him because they were troubled kids who didn't like going to his house for the "respite care" provided by his wife.

Daniels' wife, Brenda Daniels, had lost her state day care and foster care licenses in 2003 for assorted violations of state regulations but continued taking in referrals on problematic children whose parents needed temporary breathers.

There was no indication that the girl who testified today was one of those children. Her parents said they had been taking her to the Daniels house for on Wapiti Place in Citrus Heights for three years before the alleged July 5, 2005, molestation of their then-6-year-old daughter.

Citrus Heights police interviewed the girls' parents the same day and arrested Daniels, but he was not arrested until December 2010.

http://blogs.sacbee.com/crime/archives/2011/11/girl-identifies-preacher-as-molester.html#ixzz1djaO3SO6

Pastor arrested for raping mentally unstable girl

2011-11-13T12:57:00.000-08:00

Police at Sakumono have arrested a Pastor, Bright Nana Oduro, of Glorious Light Church on the Spintex road, for allegedly raping an imbecile.

The Sakumono District Police Commander, Superintendent Alex Wowolo, who confirmed the story to The Chronicle on Saturday said investigations are underway in the case.

According to him, on Sunday October 30th, 2011, the mother of an 18-year-old girl, said to be mentally deranged, was sent to the Pastor for prayers.

The District Commander said the girl was locked in the chapel from that Sunday to Wednesday, until she managed to escape. The family, however, managed to locate and apprehend her in the town on Friday November 4, 2011, and in the night at about 10:00pm they sent her back to the supposed man of God, to continue with the prayers.

The Pastor, however, reportedly forced and had sex with her, using a condom, and attempted to go a second round, which she resisted.
The Pastor reportedly went to lock the door, pocketed the key, and raped her again without a condom.

When the girl detected that the man of God was asleep, she managed to retrieve the key and took an amount of GH¢10 from his pocket. She opened the door and escaped.

A taxi driver took her home, to her grandmother, who in turn reported the case to the Sakumono police for action.

http://news.peacefmonline.com/news/201111/78778.php

Pastor arrested for sexually assualting two teen girls

2011-11-10T19:30:00.000-08:00

CORPUS CHRISTI — A 58-year-old former Alice pastor was arrested Wednesday after allegations surfaced that he sexually assaulted three teens two years ago at his church.

Last Friday, the mother of one of the three siblings brought her 18-year-old daughter to the Jim Wells County Sheriff's Office where the teen said she was assaulted by the former pastor when she was 16-years-old.

Sheriff's office investigators then questioned the 58-year-old former pastor who denied any wrongdoing, said Lt. Carlos Araujo of the Jim Wells County Sheriff's Office.

A few days later, a male and female sibling of the 18-year-old woman came forward and said they too were assaulted by the man two years ago when the boy was 13 and the girl was 15, Araujo said.

Investigators believe the teens worked odd jobs at the church and were assaulted on church grounds.

When sheriff's office officials brought the man back for questioning, he told police he assaulted the girls, but not the boy, Araujo said.A warrant was issued for the former pastor's arrest on suspicion of three counts of sexual assault of a child, each a first-degree felony.

Jose Humberto Herrera, 58, was arrested Wednesday at his Alice home off County Road 136.

Sheriff's office officials said Herrera is related to the teens through marriage. He served as pastor at the Baptist church for nearly 10 years.

Herrera was being held Thursday at the Jim Wells County Jail on $180,000 bail.

http://www.caller.com/news/2011/nov/10/police-former-alice-pastor-arrested-for-sexually/

Springfield Pastor arrested for sexually assaulting sixteen year old girl

2011-11-10T19:28:00.000-08:00

A Texas youth pastor who previously lived in Springfield has been arrested and charged with having sex with a teenager.

Chad Foster, 32, of Cypress, Texas, was charged with sexual assault of a child on Nov. 3, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office. Foster grew up in the Springfield area, according to people who know Foster and a blog kept by Foster.
Court documents indicate that Foster met a 16-year-old girl while he working at the Community Faith Church in Hockley, Texas.
Foster met the girl through a high school ministry program. The two started communicating via text messaging after exchanging phone numbers, court records say.
The girl said she had several encounters with Foster between July and October at his home in Cypress. During this time, she said Foster warned her that she shouldn't tell anyone about the relationship because she was underage. He also allegedly said that he would get into legal trouble if anyone found out, court records say.
The girl told investigators that she felt bad about the relationship and admitted what had been going on to a high school teacher before deputies became involved. She also told another pastor at the Community of Faith Church. Records indicate Foster is charged with two other felony sexual assault counts related to the incidents, court records say.
Efforts to contact officials with the Community of Faith Church were unsuccessful. Foster's blog said he worked at Second Baptist Church in Cypress, also as a youth minister.
People familiar with Foster's background said he grew up in the Springfield area and graduated from high school in 1997. According to News-Leader archives, Foster participated in track and basketball at Greenwood High School.

http://www.news-leader.com/article/20111110/NEWS12/111100348/pastor-sex-with-teenager

Texas Judge beat disabled daughter with a belt (graphic)

2011-11-09T21:21:00.000-08:00

Texas is without a doubt the most conservative state in the Bible belt, and this is yet another one of those 'bible beatings' Christians are obsessed with.

Axe Deodorant commercial banned for offending Christians

2011-11-09T21:16:00.000-08:00

Would the people of South Africa prefer something thats more Christianity compliant?

South Africa’s Advertising Standards Authority has banned a 60-second Axe commercial for offending members of the Christian faith.

The ad depicts several scantily clad female angels falling from heaven, lured by the scent of a young Italian man wearing “Excite” deodorant. The angels then smash their halos to the ground as they approach the man, boarding his moped.

“Even Angels Will Fall,” reads the tagline.

The ASA banned the spot after one male complainant was angered by the message, ruling that other Christians were likely to be offended as well, reports The Daily Mail.

South Africa’s News 24 posted the ruling, stating: ‘As such, the problem is not so much that the angels are used in the commercial, but rather that the angels are seen to forfeit, or perhaps forego their heavenly status for mortal desires.

‘This is something that would likely offend Christians in the same manner as it offended the complainant.”

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/axe-commercial-banned-south-africa-christian-254874

Youth Pastor arrested for sexual assault on girl

2011-11-08T13:34:00.000-08:00

A youth pastor in Alma was arrested Thursday after he engaged in sexual acts with a juvenile female youth group member, according to a news release from the Van Buren Police Department. Michael Brandon Lenzini, 34, was arrested at Crossroads Church in Alma on suspicion of four counts of first-degree sexual assault, a Class A felony, according to the release issued by detective Jonathan Wear, public information officer for the department. “At this point we don’t know of any other victims,” Wear said in a phone interview Monday. “I’m hoping there’s no other victims.” After receiving a tip from the child abuse hot line, investigators spent Thursday morning investigating Lenzini before arresting him, according to the release. The sexual acts are believed to have taken place during a one-month period, the release states. In Arkansas, first-degree sexual assault occurs when someone has intercourse or “deviate sexual activity” with a juvenile, and the abuser is in a position of trust or authority over the victim, Wear stated in the release. Consent is no defense, he added.

http://m.swtimes.com/mobile/news/article_6615d91a-0a12-11e1-b261-001cc4c002e0.html

Egyptian government covered up Christian honor killings?

2011-11-05T23:04:00.000-07:00

Long article from Stop Honor Killings, and a particular paragraph caught my attention.

Azza Suleiman's work provides much bleaker material. Incest is a major problem which no one will discuss, she says. Recently, an Egyptian man admitted killing his daughter because she was pregnant. But he was the father of his daughter's unborn child. It was a case of incest. But he killed her to protect the family's "honour". Four other women have recently been murdered by their families because they were raped. The Christian Coptic community – perhaps 10 per cent of the Egyptian population – has closed itself off from any "honour" killing investigations even though Christian girls have been murdered because they wanted to marry Muslim men. "Christians cannot talk about this outside the church," Azza Suleiman complains. "We have tried to open up shelters, but the government will not allow it. They say: 'Please, no talk of incest.' And 'honour' crimes are often also related to inheritance."

http://www.stophonourkillings.com/?q=node/4993

Now I'm just wondering, Arab Christians have the same names as Muslims (most of them do), so all the times we here about honor killings how do we no its not a Christian committing the crime? After all honor killing does exist in the Bible (Mathew 15:4 and Mark 7:10).

California Pastor arrested for molesting preteen girl

2011-11-03T21:59:00.000-07:00

SAN DIEGO - A one-time Marine who founded an Oceanside church was behind bars today on suspicion of having a two-year sexual relationship with a preteen Riverside County girl.

Matthias Anderson, 41, was arrested at the alleged victim's Murrieta home Tuesday morning and booked on suspicion of unlawful sex with a minor and lewd acts with a child under 14.

The girl and her mother are members of New Wine Ministries Church, which Anderson started in 2002 while stationed at Camp Pendleton, according to Murrieta police Sgt. Phil Gomez. Anderson has since retired from the military and become a full-time minister, the sergeant said.

The alleged victim and her mother, whose names have not been released, came forward recently with accusations that the pastor had been molesting the girl since 2009, Gomez said.

"The sexual relationship ... occurred multiple times in both Riverside and San Diego counties," Gomez alleged.

Anderson, who lives in Hemet, allegedly would pick the girl up at her home and take her to another location to have sex with her, the sergeant said.

"Based on the investigation, detectives believe there is a possibility of additional victims in the Oceanside area," he said.

Anderson was being held in lieu of $1 million bail at Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta.

http://www.thevillagenews.com/story/59627/

Archbishop in Tunisia tells Europe not to fear political Islam

2011-11-03T18:59:00.000-07:00

TUNIS – Following the electoral victory of Islamists in Tunisia’s first democratic elections, the country’s archbishop is urging the West not to fear the rise of Islamists to the helm of power in the Arab world.

“If they held free and democratic elections in any Arab country at this moment, Islamic inspired parties would win," said the Archbishop of Tunis, Migr Maroun Elias Lahham, reported MISNA news agency.

"This has happened in Tunisia and will probably happen in Egypt, but it should not lead to fears and concerns.”

Islamic-leaning Ennahda party won most votes in last month’s first election in Tunisia since the ouster of president Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali earlier this year.

The election will result in an assembly which will write the country’s new constitution and set the date for presidential elections.

"The vote is laden with symbols for Tunisia,” Lahham said.

“It was the first country to revolt against decades of a dictatorship disguised as democracy or otherwise accepted by the West. Tunisia was also the first country in the so-called Arab Spring to take a process of transition."

Lahham believes that Ennahda won the polls, thanks to its struggle against Ben Ali’s regime as well as to its electoral campaign.

“Members suffered persecution through the years, and the party became the bearer of values felt by all,” he said.

Ennahda is led by Rachid Ghannouchi, forced into exile in Britain for 22 years because of harassment by Ben Ali's police.

Ghannouchi is at pains to stress his party will not enforce any code of morality on Tunisian society, or the millions of Western tourists who holiday on its beaches.

He models his approach on the moderate party of Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.

Democratic Islamists

The Archbishop of Tunis opines that Islamists will emerge the biggest winners in any democratic elections in other Arab countries.

“I think that in Egypt, the Islamic parties will also do well in elections... And if one day they vote in Libya, there will probably be the same scenario,” he said.

Egyptians will go to polls on November 28 in their first elections since the ouster of president Hosni Mubarak in February.

The Muslim Brotherhood, long oppressed under Mubarak, is expected to emerge the biggest winner in the election.

"The point is not, however, that an Islamic party governs, but rather what kind of Islam. Tunisian Islam is not Sudanese Islam, it is not Iranian nor is it Egyptian,” Lahham said.

“Probably in Egypt, the situation would be different, but there is something new now that any party or coalition that wins power must remember. The street has shown that it is capable of rebelling against dictatorship and those who fail to respect democracy will likely face the same end. It is this challenge which now faces Tunisia.”

The Archbishop of Tunis advises the Europeans not to fear Islamists.

"Europe must have a new and different approach to the realities that are taking shape in the southern shore of the Mediterranean: just as it has had parties of Christian inspiration, it must not place conditions that compromise governments featuring parties of an Islamic inspiration,” he said.

“Islam can be democratic and Ennahda has been asked to demonstrate that.”

http://www.onislam.net/english/news/africa/454611-dont-fear-islamists-tunis-archbishop.html

Twelve year old girl beaten by father with belt for not accepting Jesus

2011-11-01T17:36:00.000-07:00

A few years old, but the Christian media continues to ignore their own teachings and attack Islam.

PORT ST. LUCIE — He struck his 12-year-old daughter with belts because she lied, because her homework was incomplete and because “it is stated in the Bible that it is OK to spank your children,” the father told police.

The girl said she was beaten for not reading well enough, for using slang, and for “not accepting Jesus into her heart,” police reported.

After the statements, police over the weekend arrested Michael C. Bilodeau, 48, of Coral Springs, on felony charges of aggravated child abuse and neglect of a child. He was released Sunday from the St. Lucie County jail on $10,000 bail. He declined to discuss the charges on Monday.

The case began Friday night when police responded to a report of a girl begging for money outside the Walgreen Drug Store at Southwest Port St. Lucie and Bayshore boulevards.

The girl told investigators she had been sent from Coral Springs to Port St. Lucie about three years ago to live with family friends “who share the same religious beliefs and values” as her parents.

The girl said she ran away from the Port St. Lucie home about 12:30 a.m. Thursday after being spanked with a belt by a woman in the home. She said she spent the night in a vacant home under construction.

When police took the girl to the Port St. Lucie address, Bilodeau answered the door, saying he had received a call his daughter had run away and had come to Port St. Lucie to look for her.

According to police reports, Bilodeau said the girl had been sent here because she wasn’t doing well in school in Coral Springs, and because the biological mother couldn’t care for her because of “misbehaving.” The girl told police the mother “was addicted to the internet and would ignore her.”

Bilodeau allegedly admitted he “spanked” the girl a few days earlier. He had her undress and lean across a bed, then “struck her several times with a belt,” according to police.

“She needs some discipline,” Bilodeau allegedly told police.

When asked why he ordered the girl to take off her clothes before striking her, Bilodeau allegedly replied that “he wants her to feel the pain,” police reported.

Bilodeau also told police he had given the woman in the Port St. Lucie home permission to spank the girl. He said when the woman spanks the girl the woman calls him “and puts it on the speakerphone so he could listen to the spanking as her witness,” police reported.

Bilodeau told police the local woman spanked the girl four separate times the day before she ran away. Police said they plan to speak with the woman and that the investigation is continuing.

Police said they found old and new bruises to the girl’s legs, back and sides, “consistent with injuries that could be sustained from a belt.” She now is in the custody of the state Department of Children and Families.

“I think the bruises on her body pretty much tell the story,” said Officer Robert Vega, police spokesman. “This is definitely not a situation where it was just parental discipline — these people took it a step further.”

http://www.religionnewsblog.com/14299/coral-springs-dad-charged-with-abuse-claims-bible-permits-spanking

Christian parents in Russia kill their daughter by ripping out her intestines

2011-11-01T09:25:00.000-07:00

Yet another Holy Spirit guided honor killing. Remember Mark 7:10 and Mathew 15:4 commands Christian parents to slaughter dishonorable children.

MOSCOW - A Russian couple went on trial Tuesday accused of disembowelling their 26-year-old daughter then trampling her to death in a gruesome Christmas eve exorcism.

Investigatoirs said Sergei Koshimbetov, a 49-year-old taxi driver, and 50-year-old Elena Antonova, a teacher, of the central Russian city of Voronezh, tortured their daughter for several hours before killing her on the night of January 7 when Orthodox Russia celebrates Christmas.

On the pretext of "exorcising demons" they first beat up their daughter and tried to force-feed her five litres (11 pints) of what they claimed was "holy water."

"After that, Antonova ripped a part of her daughter's intestine out with her hands," investigators from the Voronezh region said in a statement. "After that the husband and wife trampled her body until she died."

The parents, who deny the killing, were ordered to stand trial despite being deemed mentally ill by psychiatrists, the investigators said. They were expected to be committed to a mental institution.

"I absolutely did not kill her," Antonova said on television. "What I did, I did to her body."

Investigators said the couple insisted they wanted to save her from evil.

"The mother and father believed they were helping their daughter to stop loving her husband, believing him to be Satan," investigator Murat Suroyev said in televised remarks.

When their daughter Alexander stopped breathing, her parents wrapped her in a blanket telling relatives she would be resurrected in three days, state-controlled NTV channel said.

The next day their younger daughter called an ambulance. Medics said they were shocked by the scene.

"The woman was lying in some kind of a crucifix position," paramedic Irina Semirod said.

Citing the findings from the Serbsky psychiatric hospital, investigators said the parents were mentally ill and needed to undergo treatment.

Arriving at the hearing with a Bible, Antonova said she did not understand why she had to be committed.

"How can they send me to a madhouse?" she said. "I feel fine."

http://www.canada.com/mobile/iphone/story.html?id=5637425

Two Priests took pornographic pictures of young girls

2011-11-01T09:11:00.000-07:00

shed: October 14, 2011

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A bishop in the Roman Catholic Church has been indicted for failure to report suspected child abuse, the first time in the 25-year history of the church’s sex abuse scandals that the leader of an American diocese has been held criminally liable for the behavior of a priest he supervised.

The indictment of the bishop, Robert W. Finn, and the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph by a county grand jury was announced on Friday. Each was charged with one misdemeanor count involving a priest accused of taking pornographic photographs of girls as recently as this year. They pleaded not guilty.

The case caused an uproar among Catholics in Kansas City this year when Bishop Finn acknowledged that he knew of the photographs last December but did not turn them over to the police until May. During that time, the priest, the Rev. Shawn Ratigan, is said to have continued to attend church events with children, and took lewd photographs of another young girl.

A decade ago the American bishops pledged to report suspected abusers to law enforcement authorities — a policy also recommended last year by the Vatican. Bishop Finn himself had made such a promise three years ago as part of a $10 million legal settlement with abuse victims in Kansas City.

Though the charge is only a misdemeanor, victims’ advocates immediately hailed the indictment as a breakthrough, saying that until now American bishops have avoided prosecution despite documents showing that in some cases they were aware of abuse.

“This is huge for us,” said Michael Hunter, director of the Kansas City chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, and a victim of sexual abuse by a priest. “It’s something that I personally have been waiting for years to see, some real accountability. We’re very pleased with the prosecuting attorney here to have the guts to do it.” The bishop signaled he would fight the charges with all his strength. He said in a statement: “We will meet these announcements with a steady resolve and a vigorous defense.”

The indictment announced on Friday by the Jackson County prosecutor, Jean Peters Baker, had been under seal since Oct. 6 because the bishop was out of the country. He returned on Thursday night.

In a news conference, Ms. Baker said the case was not religiously motivated, but was about the obligation under state law to report child abuse.

“This is about protecting children,” she said.

If convicted Bishop Finn would face a possible fine of up to $1,000 and a jail sentence of up to a year. The diocese faces a possible fine of up to $5,000.

Ms. Baker said that secrecy rules for grand jury proceedings prohibited her from discussing whether other charges were considered, such as child endangerment, a felony. But she said the fact that the bishop faces a single misdemeanor count should not diminish the seriousness.

“To my knowledge a charge like this has not been leveled before,” she said.

It also may not mark the end of the legal troubles facing the diocese in the case, which includes civil and criminal cases in federal court. Last month Bishop Finn and Msgr. Robert Murphy testified before another grand jury in neighboring Clay County. A spokesman for the prosecutor’s office there declined to comment.

The priest accused of taking the lewd photos, Father Ratigan, was a frequent presence in a Catholic elementary school next to his parish. The principal there sent a letter to the diocese in May 2010 complaining about Father Ratigan’s behavior with children. Then, last December, a computer technician discovered the photos on the priest’s laptop and turned the computer in to the diocese. A day later Father Ratigan tried to kill himself. The diocese said that Monsignor Murphy described — but did not share — a single photo of a young girl, nude from the waist down, to a police officer who served on an independent sexual abuse review board for the diocese. The officer said that based on the description it might meet the definition of child pornography, but he did not think it would, the diocese said.

Bishop Finn sent Father Ratigan to live in a convent and told him to avoid contact with minors. But until May the priest attended children’s parties, spent weekends in the homes of parish families, hosted an Easter egg hunt and presided, with the bishop’s permission, at a girl’s First Communion, according to interviews with parishioners and a civil lawsuit filed by a victim’s family.

Parents in the school and parishioners — told only that Father Ratigan had fallen sick from carbon monoxide poisoning — were stunned when he was arrested in May after the diocese called the police. He was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of taking indecent photographs of young girls.

The new indictment released on Friday said that Bishop Finn and the diocese had reason to suspect that Father Ratigan might subject a child to abuse.

It cited “previous knowledge of concerns regarding Father Ratigan and children; the discovery of hundreds of photographs of children on Father Ratigan’s laptop, including a child’s naked vagina, upskirt images and images focused on the crotch; and violations of restrictions placed on Father Ratigan.”

Bishop Finn said in his statement on Friday that he and the diocese had given “complete cooperation” to law enforcement. He also pointed to steps he had taken since the scandal first became public, including commissioning a report to look into the case, and reinforcing procedures for handling allegations of abuse.

That report found that the diocese did not follow its own procedures. It also found that Bishop Finn was “too willing to trust” Father Ratigan.

The case has generated fury at the bishop, a staunch theological conservative who was already a polarizing figure in his diocese. Since the Ratigan case came to light, there have been widespread calls for him to resign.

Contributing to the sense of betrayal is the fact that only three years ago, Bishop Finn settled lawsuits with 47 plaintiffs in sexual abuse cases for $10 million and agreed to a list of 19 preventive measures, among them to immediately report anyone suspected of being a pedophile to the law enforcement authorities.

France may be the only country where a bishop has been convicted for his failure to supervise a priest accused of abuse, said Terrence McKiernan, president of BishopAccountability.org, a victims’ advocacy group that tracks abuse cases.

A grand jury in Philadelphia indicted a top official in the archdiocese there, Msgr. William Lynn, for mishandling cases of abuse. The former archbishop, Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, was not indicted, but he has been called to testify.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/15/us/kansas-city-bishop-indicted-in-reporting-of-abuse-by-priest.html

Tulsa Pastor arrested for raping a mentally challenged fifteen year old girl

2011-10-29T13:34:00.000-07:00

A DNA match helps police arrest a West Tulsa pastor in connection to the rape of a teenager.

Tulsa Police Sex Crimes detectives arrested Allen Ray Jeffers, 63, for raping a 15-year-old girl who is mentally challenged.

They say a DNA profile from the teen’s assault matched Jeffers, who is a convicted felon in California.

Police say on September 6th, the girl walked away from her school in East Tulsa.

They claim Jeffers, who didn't know the girl, picked her up and took her to an area near 5th and N. Mingo and sexually assaulted the teen.

He then dropped her off at a North Tulsa McDonald’s where she flagged down someone for a ride home.

Police were called and she was taken to the hospital for a sexual assault exam.

DNA recovered from the exam linked to Jeffers' DNA.

Detectives say Jeffers has been in Tulsa since 2000 and preaches at Summit Park Full Gospel Church in West Tulsa.

They say in California he was convicted of Indecent Exposure and Lewd Molestation.

Police say DNA evidence helped greatly in this case. They encourage victims of sexual assaults to be examined immediately for any evidence to help catch the predator.

Detectives encourage anyone who knows Jeffers or has any information about potential victims to call police.

FOX23 has left a message with Summit Park Full Gospel Church.

Jail records show Jeffers was arrested at Summer Park Full Gospel Church Friday night and booked facing Rape by Instrumentation, Lewd Molestation and Kidnapping charges.

He is being held on $100,000 bond.

http://www.fox23.com/mostpopular/story/W-Tulsa-pastor-arrested-for-rape/x6nRXaq1eE-gaiMzHZYgHg.cspx

Israeli court fines woman for not cooking for her husband?

2011-10-29T12:26:00.000-07:00

Well actually the court aquitted her on that, but charged her with witchcraft. So where's FOX news? Where's David Wood?

Rabbinical court penalizes a woman for witchcraft. And no, it’s not Monty Python

The rabbinical court of Haifa ruled against a woman whose husband claimed she practiced witchcraft in their home. The court acquitted the woman of refusing to cook for her husband, as the latter committed adultery, which the court found constituted mitigating circumstances in the woman’s dereliction of culinary duties. (Hebrew)

The woman denied being a witch, but she failed a polygraph test – which is not accepted as evidence in regular Israeli courts. Presumably the duck test was unavailable. The court, composed of rabbis Yitzhak Shmuel Gamzo, Michael Bleicher, and Meir Kahan, admitted they found no legal precedent for reducing the woman’s ktuba – the money her husband pledges her in case of divorce – presumably since the Halachaic punishment for witchcraft is death. They nevertheless relied on the dubious book of Rabbi Nachman of Breslau, which is not generally considered to be law book (much more of a moral tale) to deprive her of some 90,000 NIS. Impressive.

And no, this isn’t mythical medieval England. This is Israel, 2011. And the court is funded by the government.

http://972mag.com/fine-her-shes-a-witch/26388/

Elderly woman quits church because Pastor repeatedly stole her pain medication

2011-10-28T18:02:00.000-07:00

SMYRNA, Tenn. (AP) — A Smyrna woman said she left the church she belonged to for 55 years after her pastor was charged with stealing her pain medicine.

Rickey Alan Reed, pastor of First Free Methodist Church in Smyrna, was charged with aggravated burglary after church member Jean Harris set up video surveillance on a side door to her home to find out why her Lortab pain medication kept disappearing. An entire bottle went missing in May.

Harris said she was prescribed the powerful medication after a 2006 shoulder injury to help her manage pain.

A video recording showed Reed coming to the locked door and trying to get into the house. Harris told The Tennessean on Monday that she called police after realizing that Reed was going to keep stealing painkillers (http://bit.ly/niKzKI ).

"It took me a week and a half of prayer," Harris said Monday. "But if I didn't, he was going to keep doing this."

Smyrna Police confirmed on Monday that Reed, 55, turned himself in last month and was arrested. A call left on an answering machine Tuesday at a telephone listed in Reed's name wasn't returned.

Ronald Balzer, superintendent for the New South Conference of the Free Methodist Church, said Reed is on voluntary leave of absence and told the newspaper details of the case have been overstated.

"There has been a problem with some pain, and that took him places he didn't want to go," Balzer said.

Police said there might be other members of the congregation who Reed stole medicine from and they asked that anyone with information call them.

Harris said the church leadership had been trying to keep the incident quiet.

"We're sweeping this stuff under the rug," she said. "That's exactly what that was."

Harris said after she confronted Reed, other church members pressured her to not go to police.

She said after she did, some members ostracized her and she felt uncomfortable attending there and left the church.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/Pastor-s-arrest-prompts-Tenn-woman-to-quit-church-2212935.php#ixzz1c81SDFTj

Coptic Bishop in Egypt: 1.8 million Christians embraced Islam

2011-10-26T22:23:00.000-07:00

Youth Pastor from Ohio arrested for sexual battery on fifteen year old girl

2011-10-26T15:21:00.000-07:00

A Hocking County judge set bond at $100,000 for a Logan youth pastor accused of sexual battery involving a minor.

Sheriff Lanny North says Travis Bransetter, 29, was arrested yesterday morning.

North says Bransetter confessed to investigators he had had a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old female member of his church.

Bransetter is charged with three counts of sexual battery and three counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.

Investigators say the relationship took place between Nov. 2010 and Feb. 2011.

Bransetter resigned his position with the Church of the Nazarene in February.

A preliminary hearing is set for Nov. 4th.

http://woub.org/2011/10/26/former-logan-youth-pastor-arrested-sex-charges

Investigation reveals Christian Clinics lied, insulted and attempted to convert pregnant women

2011-10-26T00:08:00.000-07:00

Christian Farmer slashes girlfriend with a machete then rapes her

2011-10-23T12:54:00.000-07:00

Angered by his girlfriend’s refusal to sleep with him in the bush on the grounds that it was a taboo to do so there, Yaw Badu, alias Agya Koo; a farmer, hacked Abena Agyeiwaa and their two month-old baby at Breman Kuntanase in the Central Region.

And as if that was not enough, Agya Koo, reportedly dragged his victim from the farm into the nearby bush and raped her before fleeing into hiding.

He, however, could not hide ad infinitum as the long arm of the law eventually gripped him and hauled him into prison for nine years in hard labour on each of the two counts, which run concurrently.

On his first appearance before the Agona Swedru Circuit Court on two counts of causing harm to Agyeiwaa and the baby, Agya Koo’s plea was not taken and so was remanded for a fortnight.

On his second appearance on September 20, 2011, however, the court, presided over by Mr K.E. Osam, convicted him on his own plea of guilty and slapped him with the jail term.

The facts, as narrated by Chief Inspector Ivy Agadia, were that Agyeiwaa was Badu’s concubine with whom he lived at Bremen Kuntanase and they had a daughter, Yaa Atta.

According to Ms Agadia, the family left for the farm on August 9, 2011 and whilst on the farm, Badu requested to sleep with Agyeiwaa who declined on the grounds that it was a taboo to do so in the bush.

She said that Agyeiwaa’s reply was not acceptable to machete wielding Badu who threatened to kill her if she did not agree to his demands and inflicted several machete wounds on her and the child who received two hits from the machete.

Chief Inspector Agadia said after smashing the child, he hit Agyeiwaa’s jaw with the machete till she fell unconscious.

She said Agya Koo then dragged her to the nearby bush and raped her after which he abandoned them to their fate and bolted.

The prosecutor said Agyeiwaa’s groans attracted a witness, who was passing by, to the scene and found Agyeiwaa lying naked with her baby beside her.

“The passer-by raised an alarm which drew sympathisers who assisted the local Asafo Company to convey the victims to the Our Lady of Grace Hospital at Bremen Asikuma,” he said.

The police, upon receipt of the information, went to the scene and found the blood-soaked skirt and a cap belonging to Agyeiwaa.

Chief Inspector Agadia further told the court that the police flushed out Badu from his hide-out in the bush at Bremen Nwomaso on August 18, 2011 and he admitted the offence in his caution statement.

http://edition.myjoyonline.com/pages/crime/201110/74405.php

Ghana Pastor arrested for licking female hairdresser's vagina

2011-10-23T12:42:00.000-07:00

Kusi Twumasi, the drummer of Pastor Stephen Addy Powell, a pastor with Crown Power Ministries International who has been arraigned for allegedly licking a hairdresser’s vagina under the pretext of praying for her, on Monday testified against his boss.

He told an Accra Circuit Court presided over by Mrs. Georgina Mensah-Datsa, in his examination in-chief led by ASP Sarah Ekua Acquah, that he was the drummer of the church for four months.

According to him, on April 15 2011, while they were at a crusade, the pastor asked which of the church members knew of someone called Nana, to which he responded in the affirmative and said all those he knew with that name were all male.

He said the pastor told him the Nana he was referring to was a lady, adding that he then remembered that the hairdresser, who is the complainant, was called Nana Ama Asabea but told the pastor that she lived faraway at Omanjor.

He said Pastor Addy Powell insisted that he should call her for him because he had a revelation about her.

Kusi, who said he was unemployed, stated that because he did not have call credit on his phone, the accused person gave him his phone to call Nana and when she answered, he handed her over to the pastor who spoke to her.

The witness said after talking to Nana Ama, the pastor gave the phone to him and he told the complainant that he indeed gave the number to the pastor to talk to her.

He stated that the pastor, after the phone call, later told him they should go and see the complainant so the two of them, in the company of a certain lady called Esther, went to see Nana.

He said when they got there, the pastor told them to wait outside for him while he went to see her for a discussion, adding that he was not privy to what took place in the room.

The unemployed man noted that the complainant later called him and Esther to the room, where the pastor asked him to pray and after the prayers, they left. He however noted that on their way, Nana called him through the pastor’s phone and told him to see her later.

He said when he met the complainant, she narrated her ordeal and said she would have the pastor arrested.

Under cross-examination by J.K. Yeboah, the witness said he had worked with the accused person for four months but said he did not always attend crusades with him.

He denied that he was not being truthful to the court.

The case has been adjourned to October 28, 2011.

At the last hearing, the complainant had said the pastor used a white handkerchief to wipe his mouth after he licked her.

The pastor, who has been charged with indecent assault, also told her that if she knew the evil spirit he exorcised from her, she would have been grateful to God.

The hairdresser told the court that on April 15, 2011, at about 1:00p.m, she received a call from the accused person, introducing himself as a pastor and said he was given the number by one of her friends called Twumasi.

She said the pastor, who said he was with Twumasi, gave the phone to her friend who spoke to her, after which the pastor said he had a vision concerning her marriage.

She said he added that he would like to see her but she told him she was not at home and gave him the time she would be there.

According to her, the pastor came to her house and said he had something to tell her so she took him to her room while her sister was in the kitchen, with Twumasi and others who accompanied the pastor waiting for him outside the house.

She said the accused person told her that she had a problem with marriage because she had been spiritually married to a spirit so they had to pray and in the course of the prayers, he asked her to hold him tightly because the spirit behind her woes was in the room.

The complainant noted that the self-styled Pastor Addy Powell later told her to lie in supine position for him to remove something spiritual from her stomach, adding that the pastor used a handkerchief to wipe her face and she became dazed.

The hairdresser said the accused person took advantage of the situation and shifted her panty aside and started licking her but in the process, she regained consciousness and started struggling with him and set herself free.

She said she asked him why he acted the way he did since he did not know her and the accused person knelt down and apologised to her, after which she told him to get up.

The complainant noted that when the pastor stood up, he spat saliva into the white handkerchief he used to wipe her face before she became dazed and told her if she knew the evil spirit he had exorcised from her by his action, she would have thanked him.

http://edition.myjoyonline.com/pages/crime/201110/74983.php

Disney star Selena Gomez recieves death threats from a Christian

2011-10-19T16:26:00.000-07:00

Most Al Queda, Taliban and those other so called 'Muslims' who give death threats are also mentally unstable, but why wouldd the media and Christians care? They make money off of this.

Singer-actor Selena Gomez is terrified after she received a death threat. The Los Angeles Police Department’s Threat Management Unit is investigating the matter after Gomez obtained a restraining order against her stalker Thomas Brodnicki. The 46-year-old allegedly told his psychiatrist that he was going to kill the 19-year-old singer after having conversations with god. According to Tmz.com, Gomez is in “extreme fear”.

Gomez’s lawyer Blair Berk claim Brodnicki was picked up for mental evaluation last month after he allegedly threatened to “scratch people’s eyes out on the street”. Detectives are also taking Brodnicki’s threats “extremely seriously” because of his history of mental illness

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Gomez-receives-death-threat/Article1-759108.aspx

Jewish group vandalizes ice cream parlour saying licking cones causes promiscuity

2011-10-18T21:04:00.000-07:00

Christianity and Judaism are sister religions (according to christians, and despite the fact the two faiths contradict the hell outta each other).
Something else to note this conservative group set up gender segregated areas for men and women. And these have influenced other Jews in America and the UK where they ignorantly and publically set up their own values. But naw lets jus blame the muzlims.

An ultra-orthodox Jewish sect trashed a Jerusalem ice cream parlour because they were disgusted by people licking cones in public believing it promotes promiscuity.
The owners of the Zisalek parlour in the Mea Shearim neighbourhood had put up posters asking people not to consume the snacks in public and installed separate entrances for men and women.

But religious zealots from the ultra strict Sikrikim sect did not believe the measures went far enough and broke in during the night to vandalise the premises.

Owner Guy Ammar said: 'They had a real ball with us.

'But we were not deterred. Residents here told us not to give up and business is going well now.'

The Sikrikim are named after a Jewish group which 2,000 years ago fought against Roman rulers and suspected Jewish collaborators.

They wear masks to hide their identity and strike mainly at night.
Ultra-Orthodox Jews make up about 8 percent of Israel's 7.7 million population. With an average of eight children per family, they are a fast-growing population.

Many live below the poverty line and tend keep to their own towns and neighbourhoods.

Mea Shearim area is small, less than half a square mile, and home to about 30,000 residents considered among the most tight-knit and reclusive of Israel's ultra-Orthodox Jews.
Other stores in the neighbourhood, where men wear traditional black garb and women bare little but their face, have had their windows broken, locks glued and foul-smelling liquid smeared on walls.

Marlene Samuels, manager of the nearby Or Hachaim bookshop said: 'They also threw once a bag of excrement inside and smashed our windows three times.'
Marlene's shop has been attacked more than 10 times since it opened a year and a half ago, Samuels said. The latest assault was last week when one of the store's branches had its locks glued overnight.

The shop's owner met with the Sikrikim several times.

Although the store stocks only religious books, they include volumes published by Zionist organsiations while the Sikrikim believe a Jewish state can be established only with the coming of the Messiah.

Sikrikim attacks have also been reported at Beit Shemesh, a mixed secular and religious town with a growing ultra-Orthodox community, about half an hour's drive from Jerusalem. The latest target there has been a religious girls' school.

The Sikrikim who reside near the school object to the way the girls dress. Since the school year began in September they have regularly picketed outside shouting out at the students, most of them younger than 12, that they are promiscuous.

'They claim to be religious but what they do is a crime against God, against the Torah and against humanity,' said David Rotenberg, who works at Or Hachaim.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2050573/Ultra-strict-Jewish-sect-trashes-ice-cream-parlour-claiming-licking-cones-public-promotes-promiscuity.html#ixzz1bCiHCtoA

Devoted Christian open fires, killing three

2011-10-18T20:59:00.000-07:00

CUPERTINO, Calif. — The man who shot dead three co-workers before being killed by police Thursday had complained about racism at work and was recently notified about erratic driving on the job, his shop steward said.

Mike Ambrosio, who was shot in the arm, told the San Jose Mercury News that he had confronted Shareef Allman less than a week ago about having turned over a truck and snagging overhead wires when he left the truck bed in the air at the quarry where they worked in Cupertino, Calif.

"He's had so many accidents and always said that because he's African American, the company was after him," Ambrosio told the newspaper. "He was an unsafe driver."

Ambrosio added that he told Allman last Thursday that "no one has ever had so many accidents in the company like you have."

When Allman started shooting, Ambrosio said, he shouted: "You guys want to (expletive) with me? You want to (expletive) with me?"

Allman was on the run for a day before being cornered, shot and killed Thursday morning, law enforcement sources told NBC affiliate KNTV.

Allman was shot by police in the same Sunnyvale neighborhood that police had searched a day earlier.

The Santa Clara County coroner confirmed Thursday evening that Allman was the man killed by deputies, KRON television reported.

Three deputies were on routine patrol when they encountered a man crouched behind a vehicle in the driveway of a home, Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith said.

He matched Allman's description, and deputies fired after he "displayed in a threatening manner his firearm," Smith said.

The workplace shootings and subsequent manhunt had stunned Allman's friends. They described him as a devoted single father of two, a strong Christian and the author of a novel about the evils of domestic violence.

The portrait of Allman, 47, diverged strongly from the man authorities suspect in the fatal shooting of three co-workers. Seven others were also wounded in the attack, some critically.

"If you live in San Jose, you could not help but know him. He had a great smile, and he lit up the room. He was such a peaceful man," said the Rev. Jeff Moore of the NAACP's San Jose-Silicon Valley chapter. "It's not making any sense to us, and it hurts us to the core. We want to do whatever we can to bring him home."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44799232/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

Inheritance laws in Islam

2011-10-17T14:01:00.000-07:00

Why do Muslim women inherit half what men do? Isn't that discrimination against women?

Salam, Nicky.

Thank you for your question. To answer, I need to make some points clear.

What you noted in your question, that women inherit less than men, is just part of the truth, and not the whole truth.

In Islam, there are three other cases regarding inheritance:

1. Women inherit as much as men.

2. Women inherit more than men.

3. Women inherit while men don't.

The variables that control values of inheritances are:

1. Closeness to the deceased.

2. Responsibility of the inheriting generation, which means that the young generations inherit more than the older ones because they are facing more responsibilities, and are obliged to look after the older ones..

Now, let's have some examples for the above-mentioned cases.

Women Inherit As Much As Men:

If a person dies leaving the two parents and even one child, each of the two parents inherits a sixth of the inheritance; the Qur'an rules that:

*{For parents, a sixth share of inheritance to each if the deceased left children.}* (An-Nisaa' 4:11)

Also, the brothers and sisters of the deceased from the same mother all inherit equal portions.

Women Inherit More Than Men:

If a person dies leaving one full sister and three half-brothers (by the father), the full sister gets half the inheritance, and the other half is distributed equally among the three half-brothers.

Women Inherit While Men Don't:

If a woman dies leaving a husband, a full sister, and a brother by her father, the husband gets half the inheritance and the sister gets the other half, and the half-brother gets nothing at all. But if there is not any full sister, the half-brother gets her share (i.e. half).

So as you can see now, the case is not always that a woman gets half what the man inherits. It depends on the closeness of the deceased.

A Case Study

As for the first case, when women inherit less than men, it may sound unfair to you, but let me explain the responsibility of men and women in Islam through the following example.

If a person dies leaving 150,000 dollars and a son and a daughter, the son gets 100,000 and the daughter only 50,000. There are two scenarios that may happen after this inheritance is distributed.

One is that both of them may get married. In Islam, the man pays the bridal money or dower gift to the bride. So the son will spend about 25,000 and the daughter will receive the same amount. Now both of them have 75,000.

Then after marriage the husband is responsible for the household expenses, while the wife keeps her money.

The husband is solely responsible for everything, while the wife is not required to pay a single penny. However, if she decides to help her husband, this will be considered as an act of charity.

The second scenario is that they don't get married, or the son marries and the daughter does not. Even if the daughter in the above example remains unmarried, her brother is obligated by Islam to be financially responsible for her.

If the woman is not married, still her male relatives have the responsibility to spend on her. If she is a mother, it is her son's responsibility; if she is a daughter, it is her father's responsibility; if she is a sister, it is her brother's responsibility.

Even if she has no male relatives, according to Islamic teachings, the society as a whole has the responsibility to provide for such a woman.

Islam is about perfect justice for both the man and the woman. If the son and the daughter get equal shares, this will be really unjust to the son.

The Concept of Submission

I hope the above answer clarifies to you the wisdom behind the distribution of inheritance in Islam.

At the end, I would also like to make another point clear: the concept of submission in Islam.

In Islam, we believe that Almighty God, Who created us, knows what is best for us. Sometimes He reveals the wisdom behind His commands, and sometimes the wisdom is hidden from us.

However, Islam is about submission to the Law of God whether we understand the wisdom behind His commands or not.

I hope this answers your question. Please stay in touch.

http://www.onislam.net/english/ask-about-islam/society-and-family/status-of-women/167166-islamic-inheritance-laws-inherently-unjust.html

Indian Sunni scholars denounce terrorism, Saudi brand of Islam

2011-10-17T13:54:00.000-07:00

DELHI, Oct 17 (bdnews24.com/Reuters)- The ideology of Islamic radicalism and its justification of related terrorism as 'jihad', which is predicated on a distorted interpretation of the tenets of Islam, received a major jolt from Indian Sunni clerics on Sunday in Moradabad, a small town in Uttar Pradesh.

Maulana Syed Mohammad Ashraf Kachochavi, general secretary of the All India Ulama and Mashaikh Board (AIUMB) which represents the majority of Sunni Muslims in India, denounced the hardline Wahabi interpretation of Islam espoused by Saudi Arabia.

Addressing his constituency of over 100,000 people at a 'maha-panchayat' (great congregation), the Maulana exhorted his flock to reject such distortion of the normative principles of Islam.

Bemoaning the fact that a small group of Muslims had given a bad name to their great religion, he added: "The time has come for us to come out and claim our rights. Let us take a pledge that we will never support Wahabi extremism -- not today, not tomorrow".

Since the tragedy of 9/11 that felled the Twin Towers and the more recent terror attack on Mumbai in November 2008, there has been considerable ferment in the Indian Muslim populace (estimated to be 138 million as per the 2001 census data) about the distorted ideology which has been justifying and nurturing such extremism.

As is often the case, the larger majority of Muslims the world over are law-abiding citizens who do not support the malignancy of Islamic extremism -- but have either been silent or invisible.

Thus, the unambiguous stand taken by the AIUMB which represents almost 80 percent of India's Sunni Muslims -- who in turn are the majority faction of Indian Muslims (the Shia, Ismaili and Ahmadiyya amongst others are estimated to be less than 30 million in all) -- is a very significant development in the ongoing contestation about the interpretation and practice of Islam.

The stand taken by AIUMB President Hazrat Syed Muhammad Ashraf Ashrafi and his colleagues was long overdue, for many Indian Muslims had warned of the dangers being posed by the spread of virulent Wahabi ideology in Indian madrasas, which received generous funding from Saudi sources. The control of madrasas and what they teach and propagate to impressionable minds has been a contentious issue in India for decades.

It is regrettable that the state in India has chosen to turn a blind eye to this malignant trend for short-term electoral considerations. Hence, many poisonous and anti-national ideologies and discourses have been swirling amongst the Indian Muslim constituency.

Calling for the creation of a Central Madrasa Board that would monitor these religious prep schools, Maulana Kachochavi asserted: "Right now, the madrasas are under the control of Wahabi-inspired organisations which run on Saudi money. The ideology they teach and spread is hardline Wahabism". The proposed Board, he added, would keep a watch on the flow of Saudi money into madrasa education in India.

India has been a model of relative tolerance, as far as the practice of Islam is concerned, for over a millennium and is currently home to as many as 150 million Indian Muslims. The factional diversity in India which has a mix of Sunni, Shia and other smaller sects is the envy of many Muslim nations and the syncretic culture that has evolved for centuries has withstood many challenges including the partition of 1947 and the more recent 2002 pogrom in Gujarat.

However, in recent years, the hardline Islamic factions that have an Arab-Wahabi texture to them have been gaining ground in India and many subtle changes have been evidenced. For instance, the common greeting in the sub-continent, 'salam-alekum' has gradually transmuted into 'khuda-hafiz' and has now become 'allah-hafiz'. The word 'khuda' has been dropped since it is of Persian origin and is also seen to be preferred by the Shia populace.

Predictably, women have become the target of such imposed conformity and the new advocacy of groups like the Tablighi is that a 'purdah' (veil) to cover the face is not enough -- young Muslim girls are now advised (firmly) -- to keep a 'purdah' on their voices. To be barely seen and remain submissively within the family fold, in a silent mode, is the prevailing Wahabi-derived prescription for the young Muslim girl -- a template that the Taliban and their adherents in Afghanistan and Pakistan ardently support.

The post 9/11 global challenge to quarantine and shrink terror predicated on a distortion of Islam cannot be won by military means alone. The greater war is that of resisting toxic interpretations of the Quran and insidious narratives that serve pernicious political ends.

The Maulanas in Moradabad have picked up the gauntlet. This denunciation of the distortion of Islam and the hijacking by the Wahabi school is to be globally commended and calls for many debates within the Muslim fold -- with women and girls being allowed to voice their opinions about what constitutes a gender equitable interpretation of Islam.

http://world.bdnews24.com/details.php?id=209142&cid=1

Does Islam call for the killings of innocent people?

2011-10-15T20:11:00.000-07:00

Why kill innocents? Did our civilization not learn from previous times, the Crusades and other "wars-of-faith". We are all God's children. All faiths and religions are like fingers on the hands of God (Allah, Buddah, Christ, Muhammad, Zoroaster, Vishnu, or however we choose to call our god). We are one! Who are we that we deign to play God and take life? Spare innocents, as they are not yours to kill. Seek your path if you must, but spare the innocents, as they did not wrong you.

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

Dear questioner, thank you for contacting us and the great confidence you place in us, and we implore Allah Almighty to help us serve His cause and render our work for His Sake.

It is to be stressed first that Islam is a universal religion that aims at spreading the principles of peace, love, and cooperation among all people, regardless of their race, color, cultural background, or religion. As Muslims we do not hate non-Muslims. Islam teaches us to wish and strive for the goodness and welfare of all people. On the contrary, Islam is against oppression and injustice and killing innocent people, whether they are Muslims or non-Muslims. This fact is declared in the Qur’an when Allah says: "Allah commands justice, the doing of good, and liberality to kith and kin, and He forbids all shameful deeds, and injustice and rebellion: He instructs you, that ye may receive admonition." (An-Nahl: 90)

Islam is strictly against taking even a single life without justice. This, in fact, is an understatement, for Islam is not merely against taking life without justice, but considers doing so as depriving all humankind of the right to live—the sacred right bestowed upon humans by their Creator, Who alone can take that right away from them when He so decides, according to His absolute knowledge, wisdom and mercy.

In his answer to the question, the prominent Muslim scholar Dr. Muhammad Abu Laylah, professor of the Islamic Studies & Comparative Religions at Al-Azhar University states:

"Thank you for your question or rather your statement. You should know that Islam holds human life in high esteem, human blood is sacred, human property is safeguarded, killing others is a criminal act in Islam, and it is severely punishable not only in this world but also in the Hereafter.

Even the child in his mother’s womb is well protected in Islam and even the dead body in the grave is totally honored. The lives of animals also come under the Islamic law of protection. If a Muslim [deliberately] kills another Muslim, he must be killed after all evidence is established, unless the family of the murdered forgive the murderer or accept to compromise the matter with him [by accepting blood money from him].

Yes, it is a pity nowadays we find Israel killing Palestinians in masses while the whole world is watching or listening to false justifications. The Crusaders, as you know, came from Europe to kill Muslims and occupy their land using religion as a justification to their claim. I would like to recall here that the intolerant Catholics in Spain went very far against the teachings of Jesus himself, the prince of peace.

In Islam, the protection of one soul from being killed may be equal to giving life to all humankind; likewise, the killing of an innocent soul may be equal to the killing of the entire human race.

Allah Almighty says: "For that cause We decreed for the Children of Israel that whosoever killeth a human being for other than man slaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoso saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind. Our messengers came unto them of old with clear proofs (of Allah's sovereignty), but afterwards lo! many of them became prodigals in the earth." (Al-Ma’idah: 32)

In Islam, jihad is not to kill others or to deny their existence or their rights to live and develop their life. It is only to protect the Muslim people against any aggression or invasion.

Islam is also ready to offer protection to non-Muslims who are wronged and unjustly treated. Islam tries always to keep the balance between nations and to secure a better life and always calls for a better understanding between nations.

In the just war allowed in Islam, it is forbidden to kill innocent children, women and unarmed people, or to burn crops, destroy the means of living, torture the captives, or mutilate the dead bodies under any circumstance. If the enemies of Islam call for peace, Islam urges Muslims to accept and to decline war and enter into peace immediately with them.

War in Islam is circumstantial and accidental. But peace is the everlasting rule. We agree with you that the religious community should stop killing and stop carrying weapons against each other and give way to peace. They should help each other and cooperate with one another to overcome and conquer the myriad problems our race is facing. We should maintain justice, peace, security and order in the world.

I do not agree with you about the image you gave that “all faiths and religions are like fingers on the hands of God (Allah, Buddah, Christ, Muhammad, Zoroaster, Vishnu, or however we choose to call our god).” We Muslims do not believe that Muhammad is our god, nor that Buddha, Christ, Zoroaster, Vishnu, et cetera are gods. They are mortals. We believe that Muhammad is the Prophet and Messenger of Allah who was chosen by Him to deliver His final message to mankind. Muhammad was granted many miracles, the best of which after the Qur’an is the everlasting influence upon Muslims and humanity in large. We honor Jesus as a mighty Prophet. Allah in Islam is above time and space and nothing in this world can resemble Him or even stand in any degree similar to Him. We are not children of God (Allah), but children of the first humans created, Adam and Eve."

Allah Almighty knows best.

http://www.onislam.net/english/ask-the-scholar/international-relations-and-jihad/jihad-rulings-and-regulations/169164-does-islam-call-for-killing-innocents.html?Regulations=

Are Muslims allowed to have non-Muslim friends?

2011-10-15T20:07:00.000-07:00

As-salaamu `alaykum. I just wanted an understanding of the following verse of the Qur’an: "O ye who believe! Turn not (for friendship) to people on whom is the wrath of Allah, of the Hereafter they are already in despair, just as the unbelievers are in despair about those (buried) in graves.” (Al-Mumtahinah: 13) Does this verse mean that we are not allowed to be friends with non-Muslims because of their belief or is this referring to those who are hostile towards Islam? Many thanks.

Wa `alaykum as-Salamu wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

Thank you for your good question.

Islam does not prevent a Muslim from making friends with anyone regardless of his beliefs, race, country, etc.

In his response to your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and an Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states,

Verses such as the one you have quoted refer to those who were fighting the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his cause in order to prevent the spread of Islam. They should never be taken to mean that Muslims cannot befriend non-Muslims.

In fact the Qur'an and the Prophetic traditions have made it clear that we are to cooperate with everyone, regardless of differences in creed or religion, for all that is good and virtuous.

Hence the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) declared, "If Quraysh were to call me to cause of honoring the ties of kinship and reverencing that which is sacred, I would hasten to join them."

He also said, "I attended a pact of virtue in the house of `Abd Allah ibn Jud`an; for restoration of justice and coming to the aid of the oppressed. If I were to be called to it in Islam, I would rush to join it!"

It is also important to recognize that Islam spread in various parts of the world mainly because of Muslims interacting with others compassionately.

Allah Almighty knows best.

http://www.onislam.net/english/ask-the-scholar/dawah-principles/dawah-to-non-and-new-muslims/454151-having-non-muslims-as-friends.html?New_Muslims=

Pastor who raped sixteen year old girl re-arrested for raping twenty-two year old woman

2011-10-15T20:00:00.000-07:00

Now this is the third time he's raping. Under Sharia he'd be dead, and other future rapists would think twice before commiting a crime.

BARELY TWO weeks after being freed from cells after allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl, Pastor Richard Addo, a self-styled man of God has been re-arrested by the police for purportedly raping another lady- a 22-year old.

This was the third time the self-styled man of God had been arrested by the police for alleged sexual crimes against his female victims.

Earlier, he had been nabbed by the Adenta District Police Command for allegedly inserting his fingers into the private parts of five women under the pretext of praying for them in February this year.

The self-styled man of God was arrested after one of the women boldly reported the incident to the police. He was also said to have charged the women various amounts of money ranging from GH¢150 to GH¢200.

Pastor Addo, according to the latest victim who resides at Kasoa in the Central Region, inserted a bottle of anointing oil into her vagina, after which he went on to rape her.

Confirming the story to Daily Guide, the Commander in charge of the Kpeshie Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, DSP Margaret S. Agbemabiese, said the victim resides at Kasoa while the suspect lives at Nungua.

On the morning of June 14, 2011, the victim received a phone call from the suspect who identified himself as a pastor. Pastor Addo then told the victim that God had revealed an issue concerning her to him. Pastor Addo then asked the victim to see him as soon as possible and that the issue was serious.

He urged her to bring along a bottle of olive oil for purification as well. When the victim got to the Nungua lorry station, the suspect met her on the way and consequently took her to his house.

After a short conversation between them, the suspect told the young woman that there was an evil spirit pursuing her and that he would try to exorcise it. He then asked her to remove all her clothes while he smeared the oil on her body as part of the purification process.

Initially, the victim said she became suspicious and declined to undress, but Addo allegedly forcibly grabbed her and removed her dress.

The suspect then pushed her onto his mattress and smeared the olive oil on her stomach. The next thing the victim realized was that Pastor Addo had taken the whole bottle of anointing oil and pushed it into her vagina, claiming that he was purifying her womb as well.

Not satisfied, Addo then removed the bottle of oil from the victim’s vagina and this time inserted his penis in a forcible sexual encounter. After satisfying himself sexually, Addo left the traumatized lady to her fate and walked out of the room.

The victim called a witness to narrate the incident and subsequently reported the matter to the police. A medical report was issued but the police could not apprehend the suspect until September 30, 2011 when Richard Addo was arrested for having committed a similar offence with regard to another lady.

The suspected rapist had since been remanded into police custody by an Accra circuit court awaiting trial.

http://news.peacefmonline.com/social/201110/74332.php

Four women come forward against Texas Pastor for sexual assault

2011-10-14T21:40:00.000-07:00

AUSTIN -- An Elgin pastor has been arrested and charged with sexually assaulting children in his congregation.

Austin police say in June four women in their 20s and 30s came into APD headquarters to report they had been victims of sexual abuse as children.

One woman, now 25, claims her former pastor, Francisco Antonio Hernandez, molested her in 1991 in his South Austin home.

The other three women are sisters. They say they too were abused in his home in 1989. KVUE spoke to the oldest sister who is now 31. She asked that we not reveal her identity.

"I thought it was my fault, you know, what happened, and so all this time I've been carrying that," she said.

The woman says her family met Hernandez, or who she came to know as Pastor Javier, at a local grocery store. He invited them to a church service. She says he would preach several times a week at the homes of church members. She says at the time, there were 25 to 30 families involved, and she remembers the children not being so nice to him.

"I know why now, because he had already done that stuff to them, tried to touch them and all that," she said.

When she was in fourth grade, her parents went out of town for a weekend leaving she and her sisters in the pastor's care. While inside his home on West Wind Trail, she says he sexually assaulted them.

She says he paid her $20 to keep everything a secret adding if she didn't, something bad might happen.

"For me and my situation it was hard carrying all this for the longest," she said. "Now that I have my kids, you know, what if he's doing it to other people?"

Last spring she reached out to other victims.

"They all started talking, and they came to me, even guy friends," she said.
In May, she says the pastor showed up at her parents' house with an apology.

"He said, 'Sorry for what I did to your children, and I want forgiveness,'" the victim said.

Still, she went to police.

On Thursday, officers arrested the pastor at his home in Elgin. He is charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child and indecency with a child. He is in the Travis County Jail with a bond of $200,000.

"He messed up our lives, and he's gonna pay it; he's gonna pay," the victim tearfully said.

While still emotional about what happened, the victim says she's relieved he's in jail and wants others to speak out.

"Come forward and if anything that's why the law is here to protect us. He's in jail. There's nothing is going to do to us. It's where he belongs," she said.

If you are a victim or think you know someone who is, police ask that you call the child abuse unit at 974-6880.

http://www.kvue.com/news/Pastor-arrested-in-child-sex-assault-case-131888953.html

Oklahoma Youth Pastor arrested for raping several young girls

2011-10-10T00:47:00.000-07:00

Rogers County Sheriff's Office arrested 39-year-old Joe Cheater Jr. on five counts of sexual related felony charges Friday afternoon. Cheater is a youth pastor for Catoosa area churches. Several female children between the ages of nine and 14 have come forward about Cheater. He is charged with two counts of first degree rape, and three counts of lewd and indecent proposals or acts with children under 16.

Rogers County neighbors are shaken up after hearing about Cheater’s alleged behavior.
“It's disgusting,” says resident Nathan Bradshaw. “It's really disappointing.”

“If he is guilty I think it's appalling,” says another resident Doug Quinn.

“What a sick individual who preys on young children,” says Rogers County Sheriff Scott Walton.

Sheriff Walton says this investigation started months ago but after another victim came forward, deputies had enough evidence to support arresting Cheater.

“When we think of an innocent precious nine-year-old being victimized by a grown-up it's certainly aggravating,” says Sheriff Walton. “A lot of emotions go through investigators'minds.”

If Cheater's charges are proven true, residents say they want him locked up for good.

“People who get into a position of power like that and have a lot of people's trust, and they abuse it,” says Bradshaw.

“He is someone we put our trust in as far as our children and stuff and he is supposed to be setting an example not betraying people's trust,” says Quinn. “I pray that that never happens.”

Cheater is booked into the Rogers County jail in Claremore. His bond is set at $450,000.

http://www.fox23.com/news/local/story/Catoosa-area-youth-pastor-charged-with-sex-crimes/LkzeBApj2EaJ1EcYSGu0kw.cspx

Kansas Pastor who sexually abused girl for years is arrested

2011-10-08T19:00:00.000-07:00

SALINA, Kansas (KSN) -- Salina police say a local pastor has been arrested, accused of sexually assaulting a child.

The man, who KSN is not naming pending formal charges, is accused of rape, indecent liberties with a child and sodomy. The teenage victim came forward this week to police, saying the man had sexually abused her for several years.

The 54-year-old man is a pastor at Salina Seventh-day Adventist Church. Those who live nearby are say the news is upsetting.

"It's very disturbing, disgusting and terrifying," said Sarah Miller. Her children have attended events at the church. "You would think something like that would be going on across the street and with him being the pastor of the church."

Salina police say they know of only one victim, but their investigation continues.

"We don't have any information to imply there were other victims but there were a lot of people he was around. but, if anyone has any information we certainly would like them to call," said Deputy Chief Carson Mansfield, Salina Police Department.

The pastor remains behind bars awaiting an appearance in court on Monday.

KSN has contacted the church and the Kansas-Nebraska conference of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, but were unable to reach someone for comment on the arrest.

http://www.ksn.com/news/local/story/Salina-pastor-arrested-on-child-sex-charges/OQBUUlApU0yy79CyMH8DBg.cspx

Orange County Pastor arrested for molesting eight year old girl, with more possible vtcims

2011-10-08T18:55:00.000-07:00

Now thats weird, FOX news, the left wing Christian channel (not to mention Israeli hugging) is reporting this?

Buena Park - The pastor of a non-denominational Christian church in Buena Park has been arrested on suspicion of molesting an 8-year-old girl and Huntington Beach investigators suspect there may be more victims, police said today.

Christopher Raymond Olague, 39, of Westminster, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of a lewd act on a child less than 14 years old and posted $100,000 bail Thursday morning, Huntington Beach police Lt. Russell Reinhart said.

Olague allegedly picked up the girl to have a play date with one of his five children, but instead of taking him to his home he is accused of taking the girl to a park in Huntington Beach and molesting her in his car, Reinhart said.

Olague allegedly gave the girl $40 to keep quiet about it, but when the girl got home she told her parents, who then called police, Reinhart said.

Police contacted Orange County Child Protective Services because Olague has five children, who are now in the custody of Olague's wife, Reinhart said.

Olague is pastor of Refuge Southland Church, 6711 Beach Blvd., Buena Park. On the church's website there's a picture of Olague with his wife of 14 years, Diana, and their five daughters who range in age from 25 to 6.

The alleged victim's parents may know Olague through the church or because the girl went to school with one of the pastor's daughters, Reinhart said.

Investigators suspect there may be more victims, Reinhart said.

"The investigator so far leads us to believe there will be more victims," he said.

Olague has not been charged, but the case has been presented to prosecutors. Since he bailed out, Olague would not be due in court until Nov. 28, Reinhart said.

Anyone with information was asked to call Detectives Kevin Johnson at (714) 960-8834 or Mike Szyperski at (714) 536-5988.

http://www.myfoxla.com/dpp/news/local/pastor-arrested-for-alleged-molestation-20111007#ixzz1aFIL4cQv

Kenyan Pastor arrested for trafficking 12 year old girl

2011-10-04T20:37:00.000-07:00

A pastor has been arrested and grilled by children’s officers in Gucha District in connection with child trafficking allegations.

The pastor appeared before the children’s department on Tuesday following summons to answer questions concerning a 12-year-old girl from Tanzania.

Last week, children’s officers rescued the girl from a residential house in Ogembo town where she was reportedly working as a house help. Two people including a teacher recorded statements over the matter.

The child was allegedly trafficked from Tarime, Tanzania into Kenya in August and later reportedly taken to the pastor’s home in Kenyenya District. However, the pastor claimed the child’s uncle in Tanzania gave him the child so that she could study in Kenya.

Gucha children’s officer Caleb Makatiani said the officers were tipped off by the public that an underage girl was working as domestic worker in the teacher’s house. Investigations by police officers and the children’s department revealed the child was in the country illegally.

New home

Makatiani said the girl would still be hosted at the Child Protection Unit at Ogembo Police Station pending further investigations.

The pastor claimed he handed over the child to the teacher so that she could be taken to school next year. "I was given this child by church friends in Tanzania. This is the second child I have brought from that country as I have another boy in form one," argued the pastor.

Makatiani said the pastor had no documents allowing the child to stay in Kenya. "Our initial investigations indicate this could be part of a syndicate of cross-border child trafficking. Members of the public should report such cases," said Makatiani.

He said the pastor would be arraigned in court, once investigations were complete and the child’s parents contacted.

http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/sports/InsidePage.php?id=2000044119&cid=159

Ghana Pastor who was arrested earlier for sexual offences arrested again for raping sixteen year old girl

2011-10-01T12:08:00.000-07:00

A 29-year-old self-styled man of God who was arrested earlier this year for fingering five ladies has been re-arrested for a sex-related offence.

Pastor Richard Addo was arrested around 2pm yesterday afternoon for allegedly defiling a 16-year-old girl.

The suspect is being detained in the cells of the Nungua Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) while investigations continue.

The police are tight-lipped on the latest arrest of the randy self-styled Man of God.

According to information available to DAILY GUIDE, the suspect, Richard Addo, parades himself as a pastor and fellowships with the Word Miracle Church, Nungua but the authorities have denied that he is part of their congregation. The church says it has no branch at Nungua.

He is said to lure his victims with revelations and thereafter charges them money so he can buy olive oil to undertake spiritual interventions for them.

Having adequately grabbed his victims, he proceeds to assault them sexually as in the case of the girl in question.

He was granted bail by an Accra circuit court after his arrest by the Adenta District Police for fingering five ladies.

Even as the case was pending in court, the suspect allegedly defiled the 16-year-old girl at Nungua and was subsequently grabbed yesterday afternoon.

Pastor Addo was nabbed by the Adenta District Police Command for allegedly inserting his fingers into the private parts of five women under the pretext of praying for them in February this year.

The self-styled man of God was arrested after one of the women reported the incident to the police.

He was also said to have charged the women various amounts of money between GH¢150 to GH¢200.

According to one of the victims, she met the so-called man of God in November 2010 on the streets when he prophesied that he could see a vision in which a baby was walking and crying behind her.

'I then confessed to him that I have had an abortion before and he said that he would help me pray to break that bondage.

'We then made an appointment to meet at my hostel for prayers. Later, he asked me to give him GH¢150 to purchase olive oil for the deliverance prayers while the remaining balance would also be used as seed money for prayer request.'

According to her, during a subsequent prayer session, Prophet Richard Addo asked her to remove her clothes and go naked, in a hotel room while he used the olive oil to rub her whole body as he administered the olive oil into her vagina.

Another victim also narrated that Prophet Richard Addo, after meeting her, prophesied that it had been revealed to him that she was barren.

'He made me to pay GH¢200 for olive oil and the rest to be used as prayer request.'

She maintained that Prophet Richard Addo inserted four of his fingers under her private parts while praying for her.

Meanwhile, a police source at the Nungua Domestic Violence and Victim Support unit, who confirmed the arrest, said the police were yet to take statements from both parties.

By Linda Tenyah

http://www.modernghana.com/news/353558/1/pastor-busted-again-for-rape.html

Another Christian honor killing, and where's the media?

2011-09-29T20:29:00.000-07:00

Like Pastor like son.

After a Houston pastor's wife was shot execution-style in her garage last year, police suspected her husband.

They later came to charge the pastor, his son and the woman who was dating both men.

Pastor Tracy Bernard "T.B." Burleson distracted Pauletta Burleson with a shouting match so his 21-year-old son could creep up and shoot her in the head for part of her life insurance money, prosecutors said Monday.

"He manipulated his son, who was easily manipulated," prosecutor Kari Allen said Monday in opening arguments of Burleson's capital murder trial. The 46-year-old faces life in prison without parole if convicted.

Defense lawyers for Burleson said a web of skulduggery, including an affair Burleson had with a woman his son was in love with, led to the slaying.

Attorney Laine Lindsey said William Fuller was trying to frame his father for the shooting so he could date Burleson's mistress, Tyonne Palmer.

"William ended up dating Ty after the shooting," Lindsey told jurors. Fuller, who is charged with murder, is expected to testify against his father.

Lindsey also suggested an even more nefarious plot alleging that Palmer, 32, orchestrated the shooting to be with the pastor whose church burned down a week earlier. Palmer also is charged with capital murder, accused of picking up Fuller after the shooting and helping him destroy the murder weapon.

$60,000 policy

Jurors in state District Judge Susan Brown's court spent Monday afternoon listening to the first half of Burleson's recorded statement to police.

The pastor is accused of convincing his son to shoot his 56-year-old wife as she sat in the family's garage on May 18, 2010.

For more than two hours, he can be heard saying he was not involved.

"I'm giving you the truth," Burleson said. "I did not shoot my wife."

Jurors also heard there was a life insurance policy on Pauletta Burleson totaling about $60,000. They will hear the rest of the statement today.

Police investigating the shooting said a neighbor heard a gunshot about 10:15 p.m.

An hour later Burleson called police to report that he had just arrived home to find his wife was dead.

He said the couple argued in the driveway, then he went to a convenience store for chips and candy, neither of which were found in his car, according to court records.

Police did discover, however, that the store he said he went to closed at 10 p.m. that night.

A confidential informant later told police Fuller admitted to shooting his stepmother in exchange for money from his father, court records show. He also said he often fought with his stepmother.

No charges in fire

Before the shooting, Fuller was diagnosed with sickle cell anemia. He was living with Palmer, who acted as a caretaker.

He is expected to testify that he fell in love with her, but his father became involved with her first. Then, after the shooting, Palmer also began dating Fuller.

Investigators said she was dating both men at the same time.

After being arrested, Fuller led police to the murder weapon that he said he tried to burn with Palmer.

During his taped interview, the pastor also denied any wrongdoing involving a fire that destroyed his Fifth Ward church, the First New Mount Calvary Baptist Church, the week before the shooting.

No charges are expected to be filed in the connection with the fire.

Burleson's trial is expected to last a week.

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Trial-starts-for-pastor-in-murder-for-hire-case-2190179.php

Tennessee Pastor arrested for soliciting the rape of a sixteen year old girl

2011-09-28T18:21:00.000-07:00

KINGSPORT — A former Kingsport pastor has been arrested for allegedly soliciting the statutory rape of a 16-year-old girl via text messages.

Anthony Michael Adinolfi, 55, 2109 Faulk Lane, Kingsport, is charged with solicitation of statutory rape by an authority figure, a Class D felony, and solicitation of aggravated statutory rape, a Class E felony.

Sullivan County Assistant District Attorney Julie Canter said Tuesday that Adinolfi was pastor of The Church of Jesus Christ, 3300 Bloomingdale Road, Kingsport, when he allegedly sent sexually explicit texts to the teen.

Sealed indictments a Sullivan County grand jury returned Aug. 30 allege Adinolfi solicited conduct from the alleged victim which, if completed, would constitute the offenses of statutory rape by an authority figure and aggravated statutory rape.

The indictments allege the solicitations occurred between August 2010 and October 2010.

Adinolfi reportedly turned himself in at the Sullivan County jail on Sept. 16. He was released on a $10,000 bond the same day.

Kingsport Police Detective Sgt. Chris Tincher, who investigated the allegations, said Adinolfi “was, but is no longer” the church’s pastor.

Court records indicate he was employed at a Knoxville business at the time of his arrest.

Chicago Pastor being investigated for asking women to strip

2011-09-28T18:15:00.000-07:00

In a small house overlooking a lake in Wauconda, a minister directed his female followers to go into a back room and take off their clothes.

In one-on-one sessions, he got naked, touched their bodies and told them to touch his.

He called them prayer sessions.

What allegedly happened in that room over a series of months would spur a criminal investigation in one county, spark civil litigation in two others and reopen the age-old debate on what's a cult.

Calling it "light therapy," the minister, Philip Livingston, testified in a Kane County case that he repeatedly performed the naked ritual — claiming it helped cure everything from drug addictions to yeast infections. He said it was done only with consenting adults who were members of his donor-funded Light of the World Ministries. But one participant testified that a teenage girl was involved too.

The case offers a window not only into the evolution of a fringe church, but also the struggles of authorities to know when such a group warrants their attention.

Livingston's supporters have maintained he's an earnest, albeit unconventional minister who has done no wrong. But a Kane County judge this summer ordered that three children be kept away from Livingston and his church. That was after police in Wauconda, inLake County, where Livingston's church is now based, launched a pending criminal investigation.

Since then, aCook County judge has ordered Livingston, his wife and his top assistant to stay away from the onetime follower whose allegations of child endangerment sparked the latest legal rounds.

The cases cap allegations that have long dogged the onetime contractor — a man whose preaching career sprang from leading a renegade prayer group at one of the area's largest churches.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-naked-minister-20110928,0,6374377,full.story

Colorado Pastor gets ten years probation for sexually abusing teen girl

2011-09-27T16:45:00.000-07:00

A former Colorado Springs lay pastor who pleaded guilty to a three-year sexual relationship with a troubled teenage girl was sentenced Monday to a minimum of 10 years’ intensive supervised probation.

Under the plea agreement, Eric Caverly, 37, won’t face prison time, and an additional count alleging that Caverly sexually abused a second girl while serving at Springs Community Church was dismissed.

Caverly must register as a sex offender, and he was banned from using a computer until counselors in a sex treatment program give their approval.

At the time of the assaults, Caverly and his wife, Nicole, were both lay pastors at the church at 7290 Lexington Drive. They declined to comment after the sentencing.

The parents of one victim said their family was nearly “destroyed” by the abuse after their now-adult daughter stepped forward to report Caverly last December.

The girl, who was 15 when the abuse started, struggled with depression so severe that she stopped eating and lost hair, they said. At one point, she received eight staples in her leg after cutting herself in despair.

“This supposed man of God was the source,” the girl’s mother said, charging that Caverly slowly encouraged the girl to push her family and friends away until her “world revolved around” him alone.

The Gazette does not generally identify victims of sexual assault, and the names of their relatives will also be withheld.

The girl’s father, who also served as a lay pastor at Springs Community Church, told 4th Judicial District Judge David S. Prince that Caverly manipulated his daughter by drawing on information the father disclosed at weekly prayer meetings.

While praying with Caverly, the man said he freely shared concerns about his daughter’s depression and recently diagnosed bipolar disorder – privileged details he said Caverly used to earn the girl’s trust and ultimately lure her into a sexual relationship.

The second victim stepped forward six months after Caverly was arrested on suspicion of abusing the 15-year-old. She, too, was a teenager at the time of her alleged assault, and said in court she feared there could be others.

Another former Springs youth pastor, 22-year-old Joshua Amoroso, was sentenced to 60 days in jail and at least 10 years' probation Sept. 8 after pleading guilty to a similar relationship with a girl from his congregation.

http://www.gazette.com/articles/lay-125667-pastor-girl.html#ixzz1ZCRrcnRL

Ghana Pastor arrested for sexually assaulting female worshippers

2011-09-23T21:23:00.000-07:00

2 years old.

A spiritual pastor in Adenta, a suburb of Accra, is in police grips following accusations that he fondled the private parts of his lady followers.

“What he does is that when the victims went for healing, he stripped them naked and covered their faces and asked them to sleep on a mat that he had spread in his consultation room. Then he will ask them to open their thighs, pour some concoction into their private parts and stir with his hands,” Superintendent of police, Stephen Ahiatafor told Joy News.

According to him, the said pastor whose name he will not disclose will ask victims to open their eyes after he brings out mysterious items he purports to have removed from their private parts.

He then attributes the childlessness of his victims to those mysterious items.

The spiritual pastor, police say has been practicing for 15 years.

The police superintendent has asked female victims of the church who have fallen prey to the wanton abuse by this pastor to assist with investigations.

This report comes barely a week after another Teshie based pastor was found guilty for 'cleansing' the private parts of his lady followers.

He was fined by the La Magistrate Court to pay an amount of GH¢ 600.00

http://www.modernghana.com/news/234358/1/pastor-arrested-for-fondling-private-parts-of-lady.html

Ghana Pastor arrested for raping his own daughter

2011-09-23T21:19:00.000-07:00

An Accra-based pastor, is in police custody charged with committing incest.

Nana Kofi Yirenkyi, head pastor of the Jesus One-Touch Church at Oblogo near Weija in the Greater Accra Region is alleged to have had sex with his 10-year-old daughter.

Sources at the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) told Joy News a relative of the pastor detected some changes in the bahaviour of the girl and therefore lodged a complaint with the police

http://www.modernghana.com/news/266791/1/pastor-arrested-for-sleeping-with-10-year-old-daug.html

About a year old. Nontheless why are pastor's frequently raping their own flesh and blood?

Pastor arrested for raping his own granddaughters

2011-09-21T20:05:00.000-07:00

A pastor of a Hunter Valley-based Christian church has been committed to stand trial for the alleged indecent assault of his three young granddaughters.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was in his 60s when the alleged offences occurred in October and November last year.

He appeared in Newcastle Local Court yesterday with a female supporter, and his solicitor, Warwick Hill, waived the right to enter a plea to 15 counts of indecently assaulting a person under the age of 16 and two counts of sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 10.

Magistrate Mark Buscombe committed the matter for trial and the man will appear in Newcastle District Court on September 29.

According to a police statement, the accused is the senior pastor of the church in which the families of the three children are members.

Crown prosecutors will allege the accused was in a significant position of authority over all three children at the time of these offences.

They say the parents of three alleged victims and their siblings are vigilant about what they are exposed to through television, leaving them sexually naive.

The offending began when the accused’s daughter was taken to hospital on October 13, the court heard.

The accused and his wife looked after her children for the night and the first alleged indecent assault occurred on a seven-year-old girl.

The offending allegedly continued against another seven-year-old girl and a nine-year-old girl until November 26, when the girls spoke to their sisters about the assaults.

The girls’ parents were told about the allegations on November 30 and immediately confronted the accused.

Police were notified on December 1 and a provisional apprehended violence order was put in place to protect the girls.

The children were interviewed by specialist police on December 7 and two days later police executed a search warrant at the man’s home and arrested him.

Mr Buscombe granted the man conditional bail and continued the interim AVO until December 20, when the man will appear for hearing in Newcastle Local Court.

http://www.maitlandmercury.com.au/news/local/news/general/pastor-to-stand-trial-for-sex-assault/2300016.aspx

Pastor on trial for raping nine year old girl

2011-09-17T21:03:00.000-07:00

FREEPORT - Albert Alexander Whylly, the clergyman accused of having sex with a nine-year-old girl, gave sworn testimony before a Supreme Court jury yesterday after the prosecution closed its case.

Whylly, 59, denied having sex with the victim, who was a fourth grade student on February 6, 2011, when the incident is alleged to have happened.

According to earlier evidence, the mother of the victim dropped her daughter at the Whylly home around 6.30pm on the day in question.

The mother asked Whylly's wife to watch the girl for about three hours while she was at a Super Bowl party.

The mother testified that she had known Whylly for 18 years. She took her daughter to the home about once or twice a week, she said.

Whylly, a pastor and fruit vendor, told the court he was at home when the alleged victim arrived.

He took her, with some other children who were at the house, to a nearby party at his sister's house in the church van, he said.

After getting them some food, he decided to take the children home, he said.

After dropping the children, he said he went home to pick up his wife while the alleged victim stayed in the van.

When he got home, his wife and daughter were leaving in another car, he said.

The prosecution asked Whylly if he had a conversation with his wife.

"I didn't speak with my wife, I went inside to use the bathroom," he replied.

Whylly testified that he left the victim in the van alone and in the dark. He said they returned to the party around 7pm.

The prosecution asked if it had crossed Whylly's mind to send the alleged victim with his wife, who was also going to the party.

"No, it never crossed my mind," he said.

According to earlier testimony by the alleged victim, she was told to stay in the van while Whylly went inside. After his wife left, she said, Whylly told her to come inside the house.

It is alleged that Whylly had sex with the girl on a blanket on the floor in the front room of the home.

The alleged victim said Whylly told her not to tell anyone, and instructed her to say he was in the bathroom if anyone asked what he had been doing.

The alleged victim wrote her mother a note the following day (February 7) telling of what had happened, according to testimony.

The mother said after reading the note, she contacted the police and put her daughter's clothing and underwear in a bag which she gave to investigators.

The note, which was signed by the alleged victim, was entered as evidence by the prosecution.

Sgt Terryjo Lowe of Sexual Crimes Unit, the lead investigator, told the court she went to the Rand Memorial Hospital around 7.28pm on February 7, where she saw the mother and daughter and filled out a police hospital form.

Sgt Lowe said she collected a sexual assault evidence kit from the doctor and proceeded to CDU.

Some time around 10pm, Sgt Lowe and Sgt Michael Merinard went to a home on Jobson Avenue, where they arrested Albert Whylly.

Sgt Lowe said she instructed scenes of crime officers to take photographs of the home.

She said Albert Whylly was interviewed by police, but refused to give a statement.

During cross-examination, Carlson Shurland asked Sgt Lowe if his client had been co-operative.

The officer said Whylly was co-operative and agreed to go to the hospital to give a blood sample.

"Did you check for evidence inside the Whylly residence?" Mr Shurland asked.

"No," she replied.

"Did you find a sheet or blanket?" he asked.

"No," she replied.

According to earlier testimony, no DNA evidence was found on the victim's clothing.

The trial resumes today.

http://www.tribune242.com/news/09092011_Rape-case-9yrs-minor_news_pg6

Pastor arrested for raping five year old girl

2011-09-17T20:59:00.000-07:00

Following the alleged rape case of a 5-year old girl, the matter came up on Saturday 27th August 2011 before Magistrate J. O Wellington at the Freetown Magistrate Court No 2. Led in evidence by Inspector Dunia, the child alleged that one day in the afternoon the accused, Emmanuel Kelly, called her and sexually abused her, after which her stomach started aching and something came out of her.
After the incident, she was afraid to tell her mother but while her mother was taking her bath she tried to clean her private part properly but she was feeling pain but her mother suspected that something has happened.
After the testimony of PW1, the mother of the victim then took the witness stand. The woman recognized the accused in the dock as a pastor living in the same area with them.
She recalled the 9th August 2011 at 8:00 pm while she was relaxing her daughter’s hair and washing it, she noticed that when she was going around her private part, she proved reluctant and the mother asked her what happened but she was afraid to talk and after she was threatened by her mother, she finally spilled the beans.
Her mother realized that she was badly damaged and when she started crying, her mother called her father to come and see for himself but he vehemently refused.
At around 12:00 pm she continued, “We went to the Congo cross police station, but they said that they don’t have family support unit at that station” therefore she was sent to the Lumley police station where she made a statement.
She was later given a medical paper which she used to take the child to the hospital and was examined and proper care was taken of her. The accused was arrested on that day and taken to the Lumley police station.
The matter was adjourned to Saturday, 3rd September 2011.

http://www.awoko.org/2011/08/31/5-years-old-girl-raped/

Pastor rapes his sister-in-law

2011-09-17T20:49:00.000-07:00

Notice how in that culture the father would kill his own daughter if she was raped. Hmmm now if this was in a Muslim country....

A woman has been accused of trying to conceal a rape incident involving her husband at her home last Wednesday night.
It is said the woman tried to cover up the rape of her younger sister in fear of their father. However, things did not go as planned. It is said the girl was raped by the woman’s husband, who is also a pastor.
According to a source the girl (16) was visiting her sister, who lives with her husband at Msunduza when she suffered the sexual abuse. It is said after she was raped the sister frantically called her mother and they colluded that the matter be kept a secret.
“Instead of calling the police, she started looking for a car around the neighbourhood but the first one she got was a company car, which could not help her. She eventually got one,” said the source. The car ferried the raped girl together with her sister to hospital, where her plan to hide the rape was foiled by the nurses on duty.
The nurses are said to have demanded a police report of the incident but she could not produce it and they were eventually called.
After they were called, it was discovered that the sister had been trying to cover up the whole rape incident of her younger sibling.
“She told the police she tried to cover up because her father would kill her for allowing her younger sister, who is doing form two, to be raped,” she said. It was also gathered that the girl had left home to visit her sister against the will of her father. When called yesterday, the woman confirmed the incident.
She said she tried keeping the matter under wraps because she feared her father would kick her sister and mother out of their home.
She wondered how the matter leaked to the media because she had made a pact even with the police that it would not be made public.
When questioned further, she confessed that she tried concealing it because her husband was the rapist. Police PRO Superintendent Wendy Hleta confirmed that the man was eventually arrested and charged with rape. “He has already appeared in court,” she said.

http://www.observer.org.sz/index.php?news=29268

Swaziland Pastor arrested for trying to rape 15 year old girl

2011-09-17T20:38:00.000-07:00

IN what is likely to shake the pillars among the Christian fraternity, a pastor from one of the churches in the Shiselweni region is said to have dangled his manhood and fondled a 15-year-old, squeezing her private parts.
The incident happened on a Sunday, a few hours after the man of God had ministered to his church.
It is said Pastor Percival Nhlabatsi, who is in his late 60s and leader of Philadelphia Church at KaPhunga, arrived at the homestead, where he attempted to rape the 15-year-old minor doing Grade Seven at KaLaMdladla Primary School.
Information gathered is that little *Nombuso (not her real name) was at home with her two younger brothers aged seven and nine when Pastor Nhlabatsi arrived unannounced.
The parents were away to attend another family gathering. They were shocked upon return home when they found their three children crying, with the eldest daughter crying uncontrollably.
It is said Pastor Nhlabatsi, who looks after orphans from the area, claimed to have gone to the homestead to look for an exercise book with a list of the orphans fed at his home. The said exercise book had been lost and was found by the little girl. When the pastor arrived at the homestead, he explained the purpose of the visit and it was then that the little girl went inside the family’s main house (endlini ka-gogo) to fetch the exercise book. However, the pastor followed her and closed the door.
The unsuspecting girl got only curious when Pastor Nhlabatsi made sexual advances and later touching her.
It is reported that the terrified little girl tried to resist as the pastor approached her with his manhood already dangling.
It is said the pastor started romancing the little girl who, it is said tried to warn him against what he wanted to do to her. Even warnings that she would report him to her father fell on deaf ears. It is said the pastor tried to coerce the girl to sleep with him by pledging to reward her with anything she wanted.
The pastor is said to have then touched the girl’s private parts. He allegedly also fondled her buttocks and breasts, and pressed her against the wall. Just when he tried to advance his actions, the girl started screaming. The scream attracted the girl’s two younger brothers, who were playing in the family yard. they rushed to the house. The two found their sister with her head buried between her arms and crying. Their parents found them crying and upon enquiry, the three narrated the whole incident. Without any waste of time, the parents went straight to the police (KaPhunga) to report the incident.
The police investigated the allegations and arrested the pastor last Friday, where he was slapped with an indecent assault charge.
Deputy Police PRO Assistant Supt Stephen Dlamini confirmed the matter. “It is true that a matter of a minor sexually abused by a pastor has been reported.
It is still being investigated in as far as the reports I have received are concerned,” said Assistant Supt Dlamini.

http://www.observer.org.sz/index.php?news=29182

Christian Parents let a Pastor rape their own daughter

2011-09-17T16:37:00.000-07:00

KYTX -- A man and his wife face charges of organized criminal activity and aggravated sexual assault involving their own daughter.

Anderson County deputies arrested Jerry Ham, 56, and Christina Ham, 36, of Palestine according to the Palestine Herald.

It's in relation to alleged abuse of the couple's daughter by a pastor living with the family when the girl was 12. The girl is 14 now.

Deputies arrested Pastor Larry Martin, 68, in the case in January.

http://www.cbs19.tv/story/15476254/pastor-parents-arrested-for-alleged-sexual-assault-of-daughter

16 Filipino Christian women embrace Islam in Dubai

2011-09-16T17:01:00.000-07:00

DUBAI — The department of Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities in Dubai on Wednesday saw the conversion of 16 women into Islam.

According to a senior official at the department, the new converts are all Asians and mostly from the Philippines.

“The new Muslims willingly approached the department to officially declare Shahada (conversion words) believing that Islam is the true religion and reason for happiness in life and the Hereafter,” said Dr Omar Al Khatib Assistant Director General of the Department.

The Islamic Department in Dubai, paying much attention to new Muslims, explains and educates them on how tolerant and merciful Islam is. “We develop their awareness about the new religion; its teachings and principles in an attractive, persuasive and gentle way as instructed in the Holy Quran.”

As per official statistics, Dubai hosts expatriates from around 204 nationalities. “Our staff preachers and counsellors, who speak 11 languages, including English, French and Asian languages, simply brief people about Islam in shopping centres, hospitals and community gatherings,” Dr Al Khatib said.

New Muslims also join courses on the five daily prayers which top the most pivotal pillars of Islam. “They learn how to perform Prayers as instructed by Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him),” he added.

Aisha Al Kash, Head of Religious Cultivation and Counselling Section, said the converted women were touched by the special treatment they received from both Muslim Emiratis and expatriates. “They have felt no discrimination here based on religion, colour, language, country, or ethnic backgrounds,” she said.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2011/September/theuae_September348.xml§ion=theuae

How reliable is MEMRI? Non-Muslim scholars respond

2011-09-15T18:42:00.000-07:00

Get this, Jewish and Arab Christian academics put MEMRI in its place.

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) provides daily English translations of film and print media stories originating in Arabic, Iranian and Turkish media. It also furnishes original analysis of cultural, political and religious trends in the Middle East.

It sends its daily postings to every news outlet in the United States and Europe, in addition to politicians and cultural leaders.

And it's free, which makes it a Godsend for journalists, editors and policy analysts.

But according to its critics, it is also a dangerous, highly sophisticated propaganda operation, disseminating hate and disinformation on an unprecedented worldwide basis.

"They use the same sort of propaganda techniques as the Nazis," Professor Norman G. Finkelstein, a well-known scholar on Israel/Palestine, told InFocus. "They take things out of context in order to do personal and political harm to people they don't like."

Take the case of Professor Halim Barakat, a novelist and scholar associated with the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University.

In 2002, he published an article on Zionism in London's Al-Hayat Daily, but says that in certain instances, MEMRI selectively edited what he wrote.

"I know how to make a distinction between Judaism and Zionism, but they distorted the article," Barakat told InFocus. "They left out certain things and tried to make it look anti-Semitic."

Shortly afterward, Campus Watch, the brainchild of notorious Islamophobe Daniel Pipes, used the allegedly doctored translation in an effort to smear Georgetown University.

Finkelstein, an outspoken critic of Israeli policies and the U.S. pro-Israel lobby, also had a run-in with MEMRI.

In 2006, he gave a TV interview in Lebanon on the way the Nazi Holocaust is used to silence critics of Israel.

Finkelstein later wrote on his Web site: "MEMRI recently posted what it alleged was an interview I did with Lebanese television on the Nazi Holocaust. The MEMRI posting was designed to prove that I was a Holocaust denier."

Far from being a Holocaust denier, Finkelstein's own parents were Holocaust survivors, a fact he has often spoken about.

But MEMRI was able to create the opposite impression, as Finkelstein demonstrated on his Web site, by editing out large chunks of the actual interview.

When some comments by the moderator were included, it appeared that Finkelstein's interview was about nitpicking the number of Jews who died in the Holocaust rather than about Israel/Palestine.

MEMRI's obsessive interest in protecting Israel derives from the people and interests that founded, fund and manage the institute's international operations.

It was founded in 1998 by Yigal Carmon, a former colonel in the Israel Defense Forces (Intelligence Branch) from 1968 until 1988, acting head of civil administration in the West Bank from 1977 to 1982; and Israeli-born Meyrav Wurmser, an extreme rightwing neoconservative now affiliated with the Hudson Institute.

Meyrav is married to David Wurmser, at one time an American Enterprise Institute "scholar" and then a State Department apparatchik under John Bolton.

Both participated in the collective writing of "A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm," a seminal 1996 neocon document that advocated an end to negotiations with the Palestinians and permanent war against the Arab world.

They also worked with Douglas Feith, Elliot Abrams, Richard Perle and other rightwing ideologues who promoted and embellished the fiction that Saddam Hussein was behind 9/11.

MEMRI has offices in Jerusalem, Berlin, London, Washington and Tokyo, and in a 2006 Jerusalem Post interview, Carmon claimed to have one in Iraq.

It translates film and print into English, German, Hebrew, Italian, French, Spanish and Japanese.

Tax returns for 2004 indicate American funding of between two to three million dollars, much of it from conservative donors and foundations - but those who have followed its far-flung operations suspect much higher expenditures.

Besides Carmon, several MEMRI staffers are former Israeli intelligence specialists. Especially troubling are suspected links between MEMRI and the current Israeli intelligence establishment.

According to a 2005 article in Israel's Ha'aretz, the Israeli Defense Forces plants fake stories in the Arab media, which it then translates and tries to retail to Israeli journalists. How much of MEMRI is simply an extension of such IDF operations?

The questions raised by the Ha'aretz story caused Proffesor Juan Cole to write, "How much of what we know from Arab sources about Hizbullah terrorism was simply made up by this fantasy factory in Tel Aviv?"

British journalist Brian Whitaker, Middle East editor of the Guardian, dismisses MEMRI as "basically a propaganda machine."

Ken Livingstone, mayor of London, accuses them of "outright distortion," and former CIA case officer Vince Cannistraro has written that "they (MEMRI) are selective and act as propagandists for their political point of view, which is the extreme-right of Likud."

With characteristic bluntness. Norman Finkelstein has written: "MEMRI is a main arm of Israeli propaganda. Although widely used in the mainstream media as a source of information on the Arab world, it is as trustworthy as Julius Streicher's Der Sturmer was on the Jewish world." (Der Sturmer was a rabidly anti-Semitic newspaper, and Streicher a notoriously cruel Nazi.)

In an e-mail to InFocus, Cole characterized MEMRI as "a Right-Zionist propaganda organ, which usually does its propaganda unobtrusively, by being very selective in what it translates."

Indeed , MEMRI appears to view the Arab world as a malevolent, mind-numbing monsters' ball, populated almost exclusively by fanatics, freaks and fundamentalists.

Every story that could possibly make Middle Eastern people look deranged, hateful or diabolical gets translated; anything that could make them look informed, talented or admirable is ignored.

MEMRI says it covers reformers in the Arabic-speaking world, but longtime observers point out that people who make Islam or Arab culture look attractive rarely get translated, regardless of their position.

Nor does MEMRI feature stories about Palestinian suffering, Israeli dissenters, moderate Islamists, Christians in Arab governments or the growing nonviolent movement against the apartheid wall in the Occupied Territories, especially around Bal'in.

Instead, it promotes highly-edited footage featuring people like Wafa Sultan.

It was MEMRI that translated the sound bites from her famous al-Jazeera debate with Dr. Ibrahim al-Kouly that ended up on YouTube, making her an instant rock star to those who promote an international clash of cultures.

It is said by TV viewers who watched the entire debate that al-Kouly was rather patient with Sultan despite her extreme opinions.

(Among other things, Sultan has declared herself an atheist.) But MEMRI never bothered to translate and promote the whole debate.

MEMRI President Yigal Carmon was contacted to ask why the entire Sultan debate wasn't translated and circulated, at least in a print version.

"MEMRI couldn't do the whole interview because of the limitations of our resources," Carmon told InFocus. "And it was just our best judgment of what was fit to translate." He said he thought there was an "almost" complete version in the archives.

InFocus asked Carmon why MEMRI didn't post more stories about domestic events in Israel and the OTC.

"Eighty percent of such stories are already in English," Carmon said.

Then why not buy a few every week and send them out in order to give a more balanced picture of the Middle East, InFocus asked, "It probably wouldn't be legal ," he responded.

That brought up the thorny issue of copyright, ownership and power.

Why, Carmon was asked, does MEMRI copyright all the stories it translates, when most stories are written by Arab authors?

"Of course we copyright," Carmon told InFocus. "Once we translate a story into another language, it becomes ours, because it's our work."

To test this theory in an American context, InFocus contacted The New York Times.

"If you translate copy from the Times, it would still belong to us, because we originated it," said an employee of the Rights and Royalties Department who did not wish to be named.

When war and peace hangs on the translation of a single word or phrase, nuance is everything.

But can we trust the translator?

According its critics, until MEMRI starts translating Hebrew stories about the rightward drift of Israeli society, torture of Palestinians in Israeli jails, the forced exile of Ilan Pappe and Azmi Bishara, and the elevation of the neo-fascist Avigdor Lieberman to deputy prime minister of Israel, they aren't really covering all Middle Eastern media.

"I think it's a reliable assumption that anything MEMRI translates from the Middle East is going to be unreliable," Finkelstein said.

http://www.infocusnews.net/content/view/15069/135/

Massachusetts Priest charged for having images of prepubescent girls on laptop

2011-09-14T20:10:00.000-07:00

Seems like a Catholic thing however they're still holy spirit guided Christians. And if a Shia person or group did something un-Islamic it'd be ALL over the news.

A FILIPINO priest in Massachusetts was arraigned in court on charges of possessing child pornography and stealing from the parish.

Lowe B. Dongor, who was the Diocese of Worcester’s first Filipino priest, was arraigned in Fitchburg District Court on Monday, September 12, after an investigation by the Worcester district attorney’s office found that he had been stealing from St. Joseph Parish where he was associate pastor and that one of his laptops contained images of child pornography.

Dongor, 35, has been charged with larceny of over $250, larceny from a building and possession of child pornography, according to The Worcester Telegram.

He was released on personal recognizance by Judge Andrew L. Mandell and was ordered not to use computers and not to have unsupervised contact with children under 14, the report states.

Dongor was placed on administrative leave of absence and relieved of his duties last July after state police were notified by an independent computer service that one of Dongor’s laptops contained images of child pornography.

The Worcester Telegram, citing court documents, reports that the images found on his computer were of “prepubescent girls around the ages of 10 and 11 in various states of undress.”

Police said the chest and genitals of the girls in the images were “prominently displayed,” the report states.

Dongor also allegedly admitted to police in an interview that on several occasions he stole “$40 or $60” from the parish office in Fitchburg to wire home to his family in the Philippines and also admitted to visiting several child pornography websites.

A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for Oct. 25

http://www.asianjournal.com/fil-am-news/3-filamnews/12601-pinoy-priest-charged-with-larceny-and-child-porn.html

Bethlehem Pastor raped young girl for 13 years, molested another in 2007

2011-09-13T18:06:00.000-07:00

A former Bethlehem pastor admitted Tuesday to systematically sexually abusing a girl for years starting when she was 12, a crime a prosecutor said shows that no one can be trusted.

Santos A. Rosado, 45, pleaded guilty to offenses that could bring a maximum of 35 years in prison, acknowledging that he repeatedly had sex with a girl that eventually resulted in her pregnancy.

It is just one of two sexual assault cases that Rosado, who had a South Side ministry, faces sentencing for. On Friday, Rosado will be before another Northampton County judge in the abuse of a troubled teen who sought his help while he was pastor of a congregation at the Bethlehem Community Fellowship building in the Marvine-Pembroke housing development

"Don't trust anybody," Assistant District Attorney Patricia Broscius said when asked if she could bring perspective to Rosado's case.

The crimes Rosado admitted Tuesday began in 1993, his victim, now in her 30s, has testified. Rosado would crawl into bed with her, pull up her nightgown and rape her, Broscius related in court.

At 18, the victim got pregnant by Rosado and he tried to force her to get an abortion. As part of the plea agreement, Rosado agreed to renounce parental rights to the son who was born — a "very important" component for the victim, Broscius said.

The assaults were such a part of the victim's life that Rosado continued to have sexual contact with her until she was 25 years old, said Broscius and Bethlehem police detective Thomas Galloway, who investigated Rosado.

"She was programmed to respond in a certain way, and she was forced to respond in a certain way," Broscius said.

The guilty plea was to two counts of statutory sexual assault and one each of indecent assault, corrupting a minor, and endangering the welfare of a child. Judge Craig Dally underscored for Rosado that plea negotiations did not include a fixed sentence when he is before Dally again on Dec. 16.

Rosado, handcuffed and in a prison jumpsuit, paused at length when Dally asked him if he admitted the crimes outlined by Broscius, and whether he would give up his parental rights to the now 10-year-old boy.

"Yes," Rosado finally said both times.

Under the charges, Rosado will have to register as a sex offender for 10 years after he is released from prison, and could be required to register for life if Dally deems him a sexually violent predator.

Defense attorney Ron Creazzo told Dally that he advised his client to refrain from any statements until his sentencing. Creazzo declined to comment to the media after the hearing.

In July, Rosado admitted to corrupting a minor and two counts of indecent assault for molesting 14-year-old girl he met in 2007.

The girl, a runaway who was in and out of foster placement, was counseled by Rosado until the age of 16, Broscius has said. The inappropriate contact started with a kiss and continued to mutual fondling, Broscius told Judge Leonard Zito, who will sentence Rosado on that case.

Rosado was charged in August 2010. Seven months before, he was arrested for stealing from Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem, where he worked.

Police said Rosado created fake player cards and loaded them with promotional credits to bilk money from the casino. He eventually pleaded guilty to theft and access device fraud and was sent to Northampton County Prison for three to 23 months.

http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-bethlehem-pastor-sex-assault-20110913,0,5681089.story

Kenyan woman and lover stoned to death

2011-09-10T18:22:00.000-07:00

Four people have been killed in two separate incidents in Nathu village, Igembe North District.

In the first incident, a man and a woman were stoned to death by angry villagers on suspicion they were having an illicit love affair.

Mr Alexander Mukangu, 45, and Ms Lillian Nkatha were allegedly found in a compromising position in a miraa farm house.

Mr Mukangu was said to have taken Ms Nkatha to his matrimonial home while his wife was away. Ms Nkatha was in her late 20s.

The wife got wind of the relationship and informed the villagers who confronted the two lovers.

On arrival at the home, they found the two in bed.

“They were beaten with stones and other assorted weapons. They died as they were being taken to hospital,” said Igembe police boss Ali Zimbu.

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/regional/Two+stoned+to+death+over+illicit+love+affair/-/1070/1232370/-/j60gx9z/-/index.html

Notable Maryland Pastor arrested for sexually assaulting young girl

2011-09-09T22:06:00.000-07:00

Two communities are in shock after a popular pastor was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a child.

Joe Ivey is a pastor at Barnesville Baptist Church in Montgomery County.

The man people call Pastor Joe is known to be very close to his parishioners. Their children would sometimes spend the night at his house.

According to a charging document, the 74-year-old pastor made inappropriate sexual contact with one of his parishioners daughters' on two occasions. One incident allegedly happened at the pastors' home in Walkersville, Md., nearly two years ago when the girl was 10.

“I think it's a shame either way ... either he's been accused of something he didn't do or if he did something he shouldn't have done,” Barnesville resident Robin Garrett said.

Authorities say the girl spent the night at Ivey’s house during a snowstorm. The next morning, Ivey's wife left and he allegedly initiated sexual contact with the girl for half an hour.

The girls' mother went to police Monday after hearing her daughter's story two days before. Authorities then arranged a monitored phone call between the girl and Ivey. The charging document says when the 11 year-old asked him if she should tell anyone, he replied no, saying"this is between you, me and God."

Many of Ivey's Frederick neighbors are shocked at the allegations and say the pastor has been a good neighbor.

“I don't have any complaints… not my business is the way I look at it," said Larry Shepley.

Authorities say the man denied having sexual contact with any other minors, including the victim's two younger siblings.

"We are sorry to the church for what this has caused and to the family involved. A lot is exaggerated and the truth will come out. I am standing by my husband. He is a good man,” his wife said over the phone. There was no answer at Ivey's home Friday.

Ivey is no longer a pastor at Barnesville Baptist church. He's been released on bail and a preliminary hearing is set for September 28th.

http://www.wjla.com/articles/2011/09/pastor-charged-with-sexually-assaulting-child-66035.html

Ghana Pastor jailed for raping 15 year old girl

2011-09-09T22:03:00.000-07:00

A circuit Court at Akim Swedru in the Birim South District has sentenced Paul Nkansah, head pastor of the Jesus Faith Tabernacle Prayer Centre, Akim Achiase, to 20 years imprisonment for defiling a 15-year-old student.

Nkansah pleaded guilty to defilement and was convicted on his own plea.

Presenting the facts of the case to the Court, presided over by Mr Yaw Atta Sampong, Police Chief Inspector Adelaide Appiakorang said the complainant (name withheld) is a form one student of a Junior High School at Akim Oda.

Chief Inspector Appiakorang said sometime in July this year, the victim’s mother and sister became ill and were sent to the pastor at Akim Achiase for spiritual healing.

She stated that on July 15, the girl visited her mother at the prayer camp and when Nkansah saw her he claimed that he had a vision that the girl was being tormented by the “spirit of prostitution” and could expel it through deliverance.

The Police Chief Inspector said as at 0100 hours the following day, Nkansah accompanied the 15-year girl to a hilly site near the prayer camp to bath her.

On their return to the prayer camp, she said, the victim went into a room to dress up but Nkansah forcibly entered and demanded to have sex with her and when she refused, Nkansah struggled with her and sprinkled some powder on her face to put her to sleep.

When the victim woke up, she realised the convict had defiled her, the prosecutor said, as there was spermatozoa around her genitals.

Nkansah warned her not to inform anybody otherwise she would die, but the victim made a report to the Police who arrested the convict.

http://vibeghana.com/2011/09/08/pastor-jailed-for-drug-raping15-year-old-girl/

Nigerian Pastor arrested for raping 12 year old girl

2011-09-04T22:57:00.000-07:00

Uromi (Edo State) : The police in Edo have arrested a pastor who allegedly raped a 12-year-old choir member of his church at Afuda-Uromi, Esan North East Local Government Area of the state.

The incident incurred the wrath of some residents around the area, who destroyed some church equipment, while the pastor was detained at the Uromi Police Divisional headquarters.

Narrating her ordeal to newsmen on Thursday, the rape victim said she had gone to church for choir rehearsals when the incident occurred.

She said she and three other children were in the church, awaiting the arrival of other members, when the pastor and founder of the church drove into the premises in his Mercedes Benz car, and started enquiring about their names.

She said after they had given their names, the pastor called her into his office and asked her to sit on his laps.

While on his laps, the victim alleged that the pastor began to suck her breast and dipped his finger into her private part.

She added that she felt severe pains in her stomach, and consequently struggled to regain her freedom.

The incident, she alleged, also caused her to bleed as a result of the injuries she sustained.

The father of the victim, Mr Lawrence Okoduwa, an operator of a rental service, told newsmen that he and his family became members of the church barely two months ago.

He noted with regret that joining the church had caused him pains, because he never expected that his daughter could undergo such unfortunate experience.

Okoduwa appealed to government and the police to ensure that justice was done in the case to serve as a deterrent to other randy pastors.

He alleged that the suspect, who told him he was merely carrying out deliverance on his daughter, was arrested and later released on bail by the police.

The Chairman, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Esan North East Local Government Area chapter, Rev. Francis Okhai, confirmed that the matter had been reported to the PFN, to which the alleged rapist pastor belongs.

He said several cases of misconduct had earlier been reported against the pastor, but that it was the first time that allegation of rape was reported.

Okhai added that disciplinary action would be taken against the pastor if found wanting “in the abominable act, because the PFN does not condone any misconduct from its members”.

He said the pastor had, however, denied the allegation when questioned by some PFN officials.

The Divisional Police headquarters at Uromi, a police officer, who pleaded anonymity, confirmed the arrest of the pastor

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/pastor-defiles-12-year-old-girl-in-church/

Youth Pastor arrested for lewd acts on young girl

2011-08-31T15:30:00.000-07:00

BENICIA - A 38-year-old youth pastor has been arrested for sexually preying on a Benicia girl who was one of his Bible study students, police said Wednesday.
John Edward Gamboa, of American Canyon, allegedly began talking to and texting the girl in February or March, police said. The communications stopped for a while after the girl's parents became suspicious and complained to the church, police said. Police would say only that the girl is under 14.

However, in July, the two began texting again, arranging for Gamboa to sneak into the victim's home in August where the two "engaged in kissing and inappropriate touching," police said.

Five days later, Gamboa met the girl at an event at a Fairfield business, arranging via text messages to meet in a secluded area where he allegedly committed more lewd acts, police said.

The victim's mother discovered what appeared to be an inappropriate relationship when she checked her daughter's phone, police said. The parents reported the allegations to police after their daughter confided in them about the meetings.

Gamboa was contacted by police, provided a statement "admitting the allegations" and was booked into Solano County jail on $65,000 bail Tuesday night, police said. He is set to be arraigned Thursday afternoon in Fairfield.

Police did not release the name of the Solano County church the girl attended to protect her privacy. However, police said the church is not in Benicia.

Gamboa faces charges of lewd act with a

minor, contacting a minor for the purpose of engaging in lewd behavior and entering a dwelling with the intent to commit a felony.
"This illustrates the importance of parents monitoring the behavior of their children and, when necessary, the information on their children's cell phones," police Lt. Mike Daley said. "Sexual predators who have gained the trust of a child or minor have found texting an easy way to engage young children in conversations at any time of the day or night."

http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_18798070

Armenian woman raises voice on domestic violence

2011-08-31T01:17:00.000-07:00

Interestingly enough, this was from the site 'Stop Honor Killings'

“If the day ends up without a fight and I have no blood on my body, I am happy that day,” says Varduhi Khachatryan, 47, resident of the village of Burastan in the Artashat region.

Such days are too few in Varduhi’s life. Seventeen years ago, while she was pregnant, her husband beat her with a stick. Varduhi gathered her things and fled to her parents’ home.

“My father did not accept me, he said: ‘Go, he is your husband. He may happen to beat you from time to time . . .’

“I had nowhere to run. I came back. From that time on, the day without beating is not a day,” says Varduhi.She is the mother of four. They witness the beatings and the mother says they, too, are the victims of her husband’s anger.

Yeranuhi Khachatryan is 12. She tells about a time when her father had thrown the mother downstairs from the first floor, then held his foot on her throat to strangle her.

“What can we do? We can’t escape; he will later catch us and kill us. We can’t call the police. It’s a shame. The neighbors will laugh at us,” says Yeranuhi.

Experts say such cases of violence against women in Armenia are widespread, but the traditional stereotypes do not allow women a proper recourse against them.

“When we raise the question of violence against women in high places to pass a law, they say there is no such problem in Armenia; that it is artificially imported from foreign countries,” says Director of the Women’s Rights Center Susanna Vardanyan.

“We are even blamed for having sold ourselves to the foreigners and for making our traditionally strong families deteriorate.”

At least one Armenian scientist says the blame is legitimate.

Ethno-sociologist Mihran Galstyan, of the Institute of ethnography of the Armenian Academy of Sciences, says, too, that claims of domestic violence are exaggerated.

“Many organizations just extort grants from abroad, the foreign mediation into Armenian families is quite dangerous, if the woman is constantly told her husband has no right to reprimand on her, we will not have families,” says Galstyan.

Research favors the opinion that domestic violence is a serious issue.

Independent sociological survey center “Sociometer” conducted research in Yerevan and eight towns and eight villages. Among 1,200 women, 75 percent said they are victims of husbands’ violence. The survey also found that in one out of four cases, children witness the violence.

http://www.stophonourkillings.com/?q=node/1079

Nigerian Christians kill several Muslims

2011-08-29T19:55:00.000-07:00

JOS, Nigeria (Reuters) - Gangs of armed youths in the volatile Nigerian city of Jos attacked Muslims as they gathered to celebrate the last day of Ramadan on Monday, killing a number of them and burning their cars, witnesses and the military said.

The city, which lies between the country's mostly Muslim north and the predominantly Christian south, has been a flash point for ethnic and sectarian tensions between the two faiths.

If the violence worsens or triggers reprisals, it may prove another major headache for President Goodluck Jonathan, whose security forces are already stretched by daily attacks from an Islamist sect in the northeast, which also claimed Friday's deadly bomb attack on the U.N. offices in Abuja that killed 23.

"The Muslim faithful went for their Eid prayers and on completion of the prayers they were trapped by the youths in that area," Brigadier General Hassan Umaru, commander of the military Special Task Force keeping security in Jos, told Reuters by telephone.

"They burnt some cars, quite a number a of cars. The number of people killed, I can't give that yet. We are still checking with local hospital sources," he added. He said there had been several deaths.

Witnesses said Christian youths set up road blocks and attacked Muslims as they gathered in Jos's Gada Biu and Rukuba areas, shooting a number of them dead.

A Reuters witness saw several bodies. At least one was charred after being set alight.

Umaru said the youths had since been "pacified."

Nigeria has a roughly equal Christian-Muslim mix.

More than 200 ethnic groups live side by side in the West African country. Though generally peaceful, Nigeria has seen periodic bouts of religious violence, with Jos in particular showing a tendency to flare up.

At least 80 people were killed in bombings there last December 24 and clashes between Muslim and Christian youths.

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news/international/Nigeria_youths_kill_several_Muslims_during_prayers.html?cid=31017068

Christians desecrate Muslim graves in Britain

2011-08-29T17:06:00.000-07:00

The impact of Saturday’s planned English Defence League demonstration in Manchester has rightly been highlighted in coverage of the desecration of Muslim graves in the city’s Southern Cemetery. But the role of the British National Party in inciting hatred against Manchester’s Muslim community should not be ignored.

In recent weeks the BNP have conducted a hysterical campaign (“Genocide: how Islamic colonisation destroys your heritage”) against the conversion of a derelict church in Longsight into an Islamic Centre. The BNP made a particular issue of what they falsely claimed was the demolition of the (long disused) cemetery:

http://loonwatch.wordpress.com/2009/10/08/britainmuslim-graves-desecrated-in-manchester/

Arkansas Pastor sexually assaulted 3 year old girl

2011-08-28T03:41:00.000-07:00

TEXARKANA, Ark. (AP) — A pastor of a Texarkana church has pleaded not guilty to sexual assault of a 3-year-old girl.

The Texarkana Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/pVeSfw ) 66-year-old Travis Payne is accused of inappropriately touching the girl during revival services on April 25. Payne appeared in court Thursday and entered his plea.

Circuit Judge Joe Griffin set bail at $30,000, which Payne met and was released. He was ordered to have no contact with the alleged victim.

A woman who was at the April church service told police she saw Payne inappropriately touching the child as she used a back hallway to avoid walking through the sanctuary on the way to the bathroom. The woman told police the girl's pants had been lowered.

The woman first went to church officials, then informed police.

http://www.chron.com/news/article/Texarkana-pastor-charged-in-child-sex-case-2142415.php

Threats cause Catholic High School to cancel Ramadan dinner

2011-08-28T03:30:00.000-07:00

Hmm, now if Muslims were on the opposite end........

CINCINNATI — A Roman Catholic high school dropped plans for a Ramadan dinner after hearing complaints about its partnership with a Muslim advocacy group that federal officials have linked to a terror financing case.

Archbishop Dennis Schnurr received "emotionally charged" emails — mostly from outside the area — and asked the girls school to cancel plans to host the Friday night dinner, Kirsten MacDougal, president of Mother of Mercy school, told The Cincinnati Enquirer. The dinner to build goodwill with Muslims will be held instead at a church parish center.

There were no threats among the "heated" complaints over the school's plans to co-host the meal with the local chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, but the archbishop didn't want to take chances with children's safety, Dan Andriacco, a spokesman for the Cincinnati archdiocese, told The Associated Press on Friday.

"There was an elevated emotional temperature on the part of some people that caused the archbishop concern," Andriacco said.

Roula Allouch, board president of the local CAIR chapter, said she considered canceling the event after she learned of the school's decision, but was grateful that a local group of lay Catholics would rent the parish center to CAIR for the meal.

"It's unfortunate for an event with the purpose of bringing together people of faith" was almost canceled, Allouch told the newspaper.

Andriacco said he had not seen the complaints, but believes they mostly centered on concerns over the national council.

Schnurr was not available for comment.

The school planned to co-host the dinner after groups of Mercy students and students linked with the council worked together on community service, and several families were planning to attend, MacDougal told the AP.

"We share the concern over safety, but it is sad that this has distracted from our positive intent on both sides," she said.

MacDougal didn't know how many complaints the archdiocese received, but said they were mostly emails from people who follow the news about CAIR's national office.

CAIR, based in Washington D.C., is a Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. It has been on the radar of federal agencies investigating terrorism for years, and the FBI no longer works directly with the group. Local agents do talk to CAIR officials and have investigated claims of civil rights violations against Muslims, said Mike Brooks, the FBI spokesman in Cincinnati.

"They are not considered to be a terrorist organization or anything like that," Brooks said.

MacDougal said her school and the archdiocese still support interfaith dialogue, but the dinner's proximity to the 10th anniversary of 9/11 also was a factor.

Tom Tegenkamp — whose daughter wanted to attend the event — understands the concerns, but said it was a "shame this had to be canceled over security concerns."

Another Mercy parent, Kelly Jennings, told the Enquirer that she was glad it was canceled.

"There were a lot of parents who were up in arms about it," she said.

Ramadan is the holiest month in Islam, a time when Muslims abstain from eating and drinking during the daylight hours but break their fast with a meal at night that is sometimes shared with non-Muslims.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44286249/ns/us_news-life/

The embarassing lies of Islam Watch! (Part 1)

2011-08-25T15:23:00.000-07:00

So we all know Christians love resorting to hate sites, and they get a lot of their material from them. It's amazing how much these people are willing to lie right infront of our faces.

So this article here: http://www.islam-watch.org/Azam_Kamguian/Lethal-Tribalism-Islam-Cultural-Relativism.htm deals with honor killings and the author tries his best to make it all the more Islamic. This article reads just like wikipedia, with a lot of POV, unsourced, and plain stupidity. There is no such thing as 'family honor' in Islam, it appears nowhere in the Quran or Hadith, so I suggest these morons get a new excuse.

Hundreds of women get shot, burned, strangled, stoned, poisoned, beheaded or stabbed every year in Muslim inhabited countries because their male relatives believe their actions have soiled the family name. They die so that family honour may be preserved. According to tribal and religious culture a woman is a man's possession and a reflection of his honour. It is the man's honour that gets tarnished if a woman is 'loose'. Being killed deliberately and brutally is, in fact, a price that victims pay for attempting to practice their minimal human rights.

One thing that should be mentioned is that the country of India leads the world in honor killings (http://www.stophonourkillings.com/) by a long shot. And I'd says 70% are comitted by Hindu's (though many hindu organizations and groups high disaprove of this act). If we look at the articles they all have a theme. A woman marrying someone her family doesn't approve of. What the Westerners interpret is completely different. Like they'll think the girl secretly dated the boy or something. Well dating in most parts of India (the less Westernized ones) is unheard of, and a majority of the marriages are done arranged. The values of India, especially around the tribal regions are very different from the West.

Both India and Pakistan, as well as some Arab countries still have the class system (100% UN-ISLAMIC). It's dishonarble for a tribe member to mingle with a member of a lower tribe. This is the most frequent theme in honor killings.

Another thing that should be noted is that MEN and BOYS are also frequently killed in honor crimes. So it's not just limited to females.

Because the concepts of male honour and female subservience are deeply ingrained in Islam and in tribal culture, honour killings have become commonplace in Arab and Middle Eastern countries, in other Muslim inhabited countries and Muslim immigrant communities in the West.

Uh no, I find no evidence of such in the Quran or Hadith and its strange the author never provides and Quran verses or Hadiths. While its true due to CULTURE there is that male honor thing, it has nothing to due with Islam.

Frequently, honour killings are conducted in an even more calculated manner. In the patriarchy/religion-ridden society where a woman's honour is a family's only measurable commodity, male family members and elder women gather to vote on the death of women. They also decide who will carry out the killing, usually someone under the age of 18 who will be treated more leniently under the law. Murderers walk almost free, no witnesses speak, so the court has to believe what the perpetrator says, and he gets the minimum charge, although it is homicide and it is calculated and is in cold blood.

How does this guy get all this inside info? Because he doesn't, he's from Islam Watch. And thats really wierd because of all the honor killings in the West have been done by males OVER the age of 18.

Is this the stone age? Courts look at DNA, motives, the interogation of witnesses and suspects etc, they don't just immediately decide that the killer is free.

The articles regarding honour killing in the penal codes of the Middle Eastern countries conform to or are influenced by the Islamic Shari'a Law. These articles are found in the penal codes of majority of Arab and Middle Eastern countries. Article 562 in Lebanon (abolished in February 1999), Article 340 in Jordan, Article 548 in Syria, Article 153 in Kuwait, Article 237 in Egypt, Article 309 in Iraq, Article 334 in the United Arab Emirate, Article 70 in Bahrain, Article 179 in Iran before 1979, Articles 418-424 in Morocco, and Article 252 in Oman. Saudi Arabia, Iran, the Sudan, Pakistan and Qatar apply the Islamic Shari'a law.

Now this part really made me chuckle. So much that I recall I even slapped my knee once. Firstly, Syria is a secular country with no Sharia. The same with Jordan. And Lebanon is a Christian country. But the thing about Lebanon is that Hezbollah is very active into denouncing honor killings and the sprirtual leader has called for severe punishments for those who commit such crimes. And just a little note, Sharia had little to do with creating penal codes, many Arab countries use the Napolian Code (who btw was a Christian).
Now what made me laugh was the fact that this author blindly labeled articles of several countries, but how true are they?

ARTICLE 153 of KUWAIT (from http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/ku00000_.html)

[Monopoly]
No monopoly may be granted except by a law and for a limited period.

Wait what? Oh my God how dare they put such a degrading thing in their constitution! This goes against women's right!!

ARTICLE 237 of EGYPT (from http://www.egypt.gov.eg/english/laws/constitution/chp_five/part_Eight.aspx)

Oh, um the egyptian constitution only goes up to Article 184.

ARTICLE 309 of IRAQ (from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/12/AR2005101201450.html)

Oh um the Iraqi constitution only goes up to Article 139.

ARICLTE 334 of UAE (from http://www.helplinelaw.com/law/uae/constitution/constitution01.php)

Oh um actually the UAE constitution only goes up to 12 articles.

ARTICLE 70 of BAHRAIN (from http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/ba00000_.html)

[Legislation]
No law shall be promulgated unless approved by both the Consultative Council and the Chamber of Deputies, or the National Assembly as the situation demands, and ratified by the King.

Wait, what?

ARICLTE 179 of Iran- Hmmm dear author what happened in Iran at this time? Oh ya the friggin ISLAMIC REVOLUTION, where MULLAH'S cam into power. They created ISLAMIC banking, ISLAMIC shooling, an ISLAMIC constitution, an ISLAMIC dress code. So because they came to Islam, all non-Islamic things were forbidden.

Now as for Morocco, that is just like Syria and Jordan. These so called Muslim countries of Tunisia, Jordan, Syria, Morocco, and Algeria are secular Muslim countries with no dress code, gambling and alcohol and prostitution legalized (you find strip clubs right nxst to mosques). Any attenpt to label these countries as 'Islamic' is sheer blasphemy. Oman is an ibadi country, a heretical sect of Islam. So any argument fails about Oman.

The author then listed some Muslim countries, yet NONE of their constitutions or penal codes condone honor killings. The author thought we'd fall into his moronic trap of false claims, so he just was like 'what the heck' and threw in a few more Muslim countries, thinking we'd see a pattern (though as we clearly saw this author cannot read nor count properly, maybe thats why he's so ill upon Islam). Oh and can the author find me a SINGLE honor killing in Iran, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE, Malaysia, Indonesia, Egypt, Maldives, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia or Brunei?

Judges and police officers have been known to side with the "wronged" man. Judges usually look for justifiable excuses to exonerate the killers. It is ironic that society denies women certain rights under the pretext that they are emotional beings and may become irrational when under pressure, while resorting to the "emotion argument' as an excuse for men's behavior in 'honour crimes'. A man is not accused of adultery unless the act occurs in the marital home, and if there is proof of adultery, the punishment must not exceed six months imprisonment.

Yeah thats no wrong I'm not even gonna respond to this. Can we all see a pattern from this fool (may Allah guide him btw)? He's pulling all of this outta his arse!! He's CLEARLY making stuff up right infront of our eyes!!

No Muslim is allowed to take the law into his/her own hands, thats a grave sin to do so. All the honor killings have happened because families decided to create their own judgments (and of course we know the reasons for honor killing are totally haraam). Only top Islamic authorities can carry out punishments, NO one else is allowed to. Many non-Muslim haters complain that Muslims in the west bring sharia into their own hands, that's just unislamic. Again, ONLY top Islamic authorities from ISLAMIC COUNTRIES are allowed to make judgements on criminal issues.

Pastor arrested for raping female worshippers

2011-08-25T03:23:00.000-07:00

A CONTROVERSIAL South African pastors now runs a church for sexual activities in which he woodwink female worshippers into bed under false pretence of cleansing their sins, it has been reported.

The church pastor popularly known among worshippers as Prophet Paseka “Mbhoro” Motsoeneng is sexually serving young and desperate women who visit his congregation with the home of rebuilding their shattered lives.

Mbhoro has allegedly been getting to “know” his patient and personal assistant

Olipha Dube-Modiga an unsuspecting troubled woman found her self in the pastor’s bed, then discovered that there were many other girls of her age also being sexually serviced by the daring “prophet”

He is married and does this behind his wife’s back

Now the extra-marital affair has backfired and is the subject of a police matter after Mbhoro laid charges of intimidation and crimen injury against her.

http://www.zimdiaspora.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6413:pastor-demanding-sex-from-worshippers&catid=38:travel-tips&Itemid=18

A little note, the word 'Prophet' for a church official in Africa is quite common and has no divine qualities. In this particular context the word is given to honourable religious men.

Former Youth Pastor charged with forcible rape on two girls

2011-08-22T02:37:00.000-07:00

A former Orange County High School girls soccer coach and youth minister charged in April with forcible rape of two girls was indicted by a grand jury yesterday on 10 felony charges.

In addition to the rape charges, Steven M. Bowers Jr., 32, who lives in the town of Orange, was indicted on six counts of taking indecent liberties and two counts of sexual object penetration.

According to Orange County Commonwealth's Attorney Diana Wheeler, the victims live in Spotsylvania County. They are now teenagers and were never students at Orange High School, where Bowers had a part-time job coaching the girls soccer team.

All of the alleged sexual offenses involved the two girls and occurred in the town of Orange.

Bowers was relieved of his coaching duties after he was arrested on March 30. He was also relieved of his duties as a youth minister with the Salem Fields Community Church.

Susan Coleman, chief executive officer of the church, issued a statement in April saying that the incidents Bowers was charged with took place before he was employed by the church.

Bowers was released on $25,000 bond after a hearing before Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Judge Frank Somerville on April 11.

At a preliminary hearing before Judge Somerville June 13, the two rape charges were certified to the Circuit Court, which, along with the eight additional charges, were presented to the grand jury yesterday.

As a condition of his bond, Bowers cannot be in the presence of anyone under 18 without the supervision of an adult. The exceptions are his own three children and a nephew who is in his custody.

Bowers must stay at least 50 feet away from the alleged victims and is not allowed to go their residence or school. He also cannot go to his wife's place of employment because she works with children. He cannot use drugs or alcohol.

Appearing before Circuit Judge Daniel R. Bouton yesterday, Bowers said he had not hired a lawyer but was working out the financial arrangements with Charlottesville attorney Lloyd Snook.

Bouton told Bowers to return to court Oct. 3 for an attorney-status hearing.

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2011/082011/08162011/645684

Pastor threatened female inmate if she didn't have sex with him

2011-08-22T02:30:00.000-07:00

DUNLAP, TN (WRCB) -- A Sequatchie County pastor is charged with having sex with an inmate.

Before his arrest, Charles Rawlins didn't have so much as a traffic ticket on his record. Some locals refuse to believe it, but police say otherwise. In an interview with the TBI, Pastor Charles Rawlins admitted to having sexual contact with an inmate.

"I know people that go to the church there, they say he's the finest man they've known, just shocked, hate to think it is true," said Dunlap resident Steve Harmon.

According the affidavit, it is true. Charles Rawlins admitted to having sex with a female inmate on four different occasions this year at the Sequatchie County Food Bank which he started years ago.

Rawlins who pastors the Covenant Fellowship Center with his wife, works with the Sequatchie County Jail Ministry Program.

"We as Christians should set the standards and show other people Christ through us, so it's very disheartening to hear something like this," said Sharon Neighbors a concerned Christian.

Neighbors isn't a member of the Covenant Fellowship Center, but she like everyone else we talked to feels for Rawlins' family, and church members.

"He's supposed to be teaching us the right way, and he goes out and does something like that. That confuses a person if they're just learning, trying to follow the right steps. Well if my minister can do it, I can do it," said Stewart

The TBI said that they were investigating Rawlins for sexual contact with an inmate.

They were rushed to make an arrest when a witness said Rawlins made a threat by saying, "bad things happen to bad people."

Stewart said it's just tough to trust anyone these days, but she said she's not going to judge, it's not her job.

"There's only one judge and one judge only. We ain't got the right to judge him, just the good lord up above can. But it's not giving a good example of God's people," said Stewart.

http://www.wrcbtv.com/story/15293321/dunlap-pastor-charged-for-a-sex-crime

Freedom of expression under attack? Russian court bans Mickey Mouse painting because it offends Christians

2011-08-21T23:02:00.000-07:00

A court in central Russia has ruled that a painting of the Sermon on the Mount that features Mickey Mouse instead of Jesus Christ is extremist, the regional prosecutor's office said on Friday.

Unless the Kaluga Region court's ruling is successfully appealed, the painting will be banned from exhibitions, newspapers, magazines or television. The case was heard in the Kaluga Region after a local complained to the authorities.

Alexander Savko's Sermon on the Mount painting - part of a series entitled Mickey Mouse's Travels Though Art History - was first shown at a controversial 2007 exhibition called Forbidden Art.

"During the court hearing, it was established that Savko's technique of uniting the image of Jesus Christ, which is sacred for Christians, and the comical image of Mickey Mouse, which in this situation is vulgar, has turned the graphic work into a caricature of Jesus Christ," a statement on the prosecutor's office's website says.

"The Gospel story is therefore presented by the artist in the form of a comic, which is an extremely cynical and mocking insult to the religious beliefs and feelings of Orthodox Christian believers," it says, adding that the court agreed with the prosecutor's reasoning.

A probe into the legality of the painting was launched in 2007 after a Christian organization accused the Forbidden Art curators of defacing religious symbols. The Moscow City Court in 2010 ruled the exhibition's organizers were guilty of inciting national and religious hatred and fined them.

"It's hard to comment on this news, as this is utter absurdity," an official at Moscow's Aidan Gallery - where Savko's paintings have been exhibited, told gazeta.ru.

Savko was unavailable for comment.

http://en.rian.ru/art_living/20110819/165945914.html