Of Persecution, Politics, Islam, Communists and the Pope

After the game
The Daily Jot

Daily reporting and analysis of current events from a biblical and prophetic perspective.

Thursday, December 17, 2010

Of Persecution, Politics, Islam, Communists and the Pope

If you are in a good mood and just out mowing your yard, don't yodel. Don't yodel, especially if your neighbors are Islamists and they are having a prayer meeting. It could land you in jail or cause you to have to pay a fine. According to the Kronen Zeitung newspaper, a 63 year old Austrian man has been fined over a thousand dollars for offending his Islamist neighbors by yodeling while they were praying. They filed charges because they thought the man was mocking the Islamic call to prayer. But the man, who is being called Helmut G by the media says, "It was not my intention to imitate or insult them. I simply started to yodel a few tunes because I was in such a good mood."

A YouTube video of New Hampshire Republican State Representative David Bates addressing the New England Solemn Assembly in Plymouth, Massachusetts outraged the New Hampshire Democratic Party. Press secretary for the New Hampshire Democratic Party Harrell Kirstein, attacked Bates: "Why does House Republican leadership appear so intent on forcing their Bible Belt social agenda upon the people of New Hampshire?...The proposals Rep. Bates and his extremist allies in the House have proposed are out of touch with New Hampshire values." Bates paraphrased 2 Chronicles 7:14 in saying that the only hope for America was to turn from "our wicked ways and ask God to heal our land."

Roman Catholic Church Pontiff Pope Benedict XVI recently released his remarks for the World Day of Peace held January 1, 2011. The Pope's theme is "Religious Freedom, the Path to Peace." In it, Pope Benedict cited the attack on Christians in Iraq, singling out the October 31 massacre of 52 Catholics during mass. He said, "At present, Christians are the religious group which suffers most from persecution on account of its faith . . . this situation is unacceptable since it represents an insult to God and to human dignity." He ended his messages by saying that the world needs God and the universal spiritual values that religion offers for building a just and peaceful social order. Worthy intent and good sounding words, but off a bit.

So called universal spiritual values is what gets us as humans in trouble--they are relative to whatever spirit is followed. What the world really needs is Jesus Christ and a true conversion of the heart to love one another and to keep the commandments of Jesus as guided by the Holy Spirit. It is Muslims and Communists that are leading the persecution of Christians--and that includes the ones in New Hampshire and the ones in Austria. State Rep Bates is right--we do need to have a 2 Chronicles 7:14 movement in our nation: "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
Bill Wilson
Word of Life Ministry