Christian Jews attacked in Israel

An AP article in the Washington Post today describes the sufferings of Messianic Jews (Jews who believe in Jesus as the Messiah) at the hands of their fellow Jews in Israel.

Despite their small numbers (only about 10,000 in Israel), these Jewish followers of Christ have suffered a variety of attacks in recent months. Last October, a church used by Messianic Jews in Jerusalem was damaged in an apparent case of arson, and a month ago Orthodox Jewish zealots set fire to a stockpile of Christian books. But the worst of the attacks came on March 20 of this year. Ami Ortiz (shown above), the 15-year-old son of a prominent Jewish Christian pastor, lost two toes and part of his hearing in the explosion of a booby-trapped gift box sent to his family.

While believers in Jesus are not overtly persecuted in Israel, the government has placed certain limitations on "proselytization" by them (speaking out in the name of Jesus). In some cases Christian synagogues have been closed, and authorities have tried to revoke the Israeli citizenship of some Messianic Jews. And three months after Ami Ortiz was maimed in an attack that police believe was carried out by fellow Jews, no arrests have been made in the case.

Read the full article here.

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Canada: Gay rights trump freedom (and truth)

In June 2002, Canadian pastor Stephen Boissoin wrote a letter to the editor of an Alberta paper, opposing the "homosexual agenda" that (he said) has been targeting children and corrupting North American culture since the 1960's. Rev. Boissoin, who has a ministry to at-risk youth, was chairman of the Concerned Christian Coalition at that time.

An anti-Christian activist (a certain Darren E. Lund) complained to the province's human rights commission. Rev. Boissoin was investigated, and two weeks ago an Alberta "Human Rights Panel" issued its sentence against him.

Judge Lori Andreachuk ruled that both Rev. Boissoin and the Concerned Christian Coalition are prohibited from "publishing in newspapers, by email, on the radio, in public speeches, or on the internet, in future, disparaging remarks about gays and homosexuals," and furthermore, "all disparaging remarks versus homosexuals are directed to be removed from current web sites and publications of Mr. Boissoin and The Concerned Christian Coalition Inc."

Not only that, but they "are prohibited from making disparaging remarks in the future about Dr. Lund or Dr. Lund’s witnesses relating to their involvement in this complaint," and are required to pay $5000 in damages to Lund and also $2000 in expenses to one of his witnesses. What is especially odd here is that the complainant (Lund) did not even claim that he had been harmed by Rev. Boissoin's remarks—only that he had experienced "pain and suffering" while filing and litigating his complaint!

If this ruling is allowed to stand, both religious freedom and freedom of speech are dead in Alberta. Chillingly, the judge's decision explicitly states that "the publication’s exposure of homosexuals to hatred and contempt trumps the freedom of speech afforded in the [Canadian] Charter." In other words, if a single "human rights" judge feels that your comments may expose homosexuals to hatred (no matter how compassionately those comments are expressed, and whatever "exposure...to hatred" might mean)...then to that degree, your freedom of speech no longer exists.

Sources: "The Corner" on National Review Online, Ezra Levant, Decision on Remedy in the Lund case, "Homosexual Agenda Wicked" (Rev. Boissoin's original letter to the editor). HT: Blog and Mablog

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