Friends of Mahmoud

The Iranian president gets a warm reception from the religious left.

From "Friends of Mahmoud" by Mark D. Tooley, posted 10/11/07 at The Daily Standard

NOT ALL OF Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's encounters in New York during his recent trip were testy. The Shiite theocrat had what the New York Times called a "warm, even friendly exchange" with 150 church officials at the United Methodist Women's Church Center for the United Nations.

One sponsor, the Mennonite Central Committee, called the gathering a "time of dialogue and prayerful reflection among the children of Abraham." A Mennonite official further explained that "mutual respect and graciousness in this conversation blunts the demonization which is part of the current rhetoric of both governments."

The meeting is the third between Ahmadinejad and his new church friends. Forty five of them had met the Iranian during his last New York visit a year ago. And 13 church officials saw him in Iran in February.

Seemingly, the church officials are fascinated and perplexed by the chief of Iran's Islamist police state. Unlike most of them, he has uncompromising theological views, especially about the end-times, about which he shares freely. Perhaps the apocalyptic dogma is bracing to these liberal religionists, who might be inwardly bored with their own mantras about endless tolerance.

"We haven't reached the point of hard truth-telling," explained United Methodist Women's Division chief Harriet Jane Olson, as reported in her news release. "But this dialogue may help to de-escalate the language of hostility, which is a necessary part of building bridges."

...Official co-sponsors of this latest bridge building included Jim Wallis' Sojourners, the World Council of Churches, Pax Christi, the Church of the Brethren, and the American Friends Service Committee (Quakers). But the assembled church officials came from a much larger swatch of Mainline Protestants, Catholics, and liberal evangelicals. Apparently Jews were invited but none were willing to participate.

...Stassen, a prominent voice on the Evangelical left and a critic of U.S. war policies, is reportedly preparing a statement from liberal evangelicals that will advocate broader U.S. dialogue with Iran. Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad left the church meeting with some gifts. A Mennonite official presented him with a children's book called "Let's Plant a Garden," and also a dove lapel pin, as an encouragement for him to "work for peace."

But Ahmadinejad left the United Methodist Women's Church Center at the United Nations with much more than a book and a pin. He knows he has reliable American friends who will oppose any strong policies aimed at his regime, while expressing limited concern about his intemperate plans towards the United States and Israel.

Read the whole article.

Forced Education in Homosexuality and Evolution Leads to Exodus of Mennonites from Quebec

The Canadian government's commitment to homosexual advocacy is making it nearly impossible for Christians to live, work, and raise children according to Biblical truth.

From "Forced Education in Homosexuality and Evolution Leads to Exodus of Mennonites from Quebec" by John-Henry Westen, posted 8/17/07 at LifeSite.org

A community of a dozen Mennonite families in Quebec is ready to leave the province rather than succumb to provincial government demands that would require their children to be taught evolution and homosexuality. While the government sees its actions as nothing more than enforcing technical regulations, many view the case an intolerance of Christian faith.

The community runs a small Mennonite school, out of a church in Roxton Falls, where eleven children in elementary grades were expected to commence studies this fall. Subjects include reading, writing, math, science, geography, social sciences, music and French. However, they are not schooled in evolution and homosexuality (sex education) as demanded by the official provincial curriculum.

Quebec Education Ministry spokesman Francois Lefebvre told LifeSiteNews.com that the province has two requirements for approval of private schools. "That the teachers are certified and that the provincial curriculum which is mandatory in all Quebec schools is followed," he said.

Ronald Goosen, a spokesman for the families, told LifeSiteNews.com that the community rejects both demands. With regard to certified teachers, he said, "we have pulled our students out of public schools and by asking us to have certified teachers they are asking us to send our teachers to public school. So basically they're asking something of us that we don't feel we can do."

...Given other incidents in the province, Goossen was concerned that if they don't comply, children might be taken from their families by social workers. In 2002, social workers in Aylmer removed seven children from a Mennonite family because the family used spanking as a form of discipline.

This move is an enactment of the Ministry of Education's decision last year to shut down schools that don't teach the full government-approved curriculum. The Ministry threatened to shut down private Evangelical schools that didn't want to teach evolution and sex-education (See http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/oct/06102404.html ).

Read the whole story.

This is the story about what happens when Christians ignore the moral decline in their own culture. It is probably the future of the Church in America. To where will we flee?

Our silence virtually guarantees that we will ultimately lose is the freedom to speak, live, work and raise our children according to Biblical truth...

I wonder if one day we won't curse ourselves as fools for letting something so precious as the freedom to do what is right slip through our fingers so casually...