Religion

This news must have gone over well. The son of one of the higher ups of the militant Islamic Hamas has shunned his religious upbringing and has turned to Christianity instead. We would have preferred he become an atheist, but oh well, you can’t win them all.

The story of how his life unfolded is truly amazing, whether you agree or disagree with his views. Below is a transcript on an exclusive FOX News interview with Hassan as he tells firsthand how a West Bank Muslim became a West Coast Christian.

JONATHAN HUNT: Why, after 25 years, did you change?

MOSAB HASSAN YOUSEF: I believe that all those walls that Islam built for the last 1,400 years are not existing (sic) anymore. They don’t recognize this. They built those walls and made people ignorant because they’re afraid. They didn’t want people to discuss anything about the reality of Islam, about the big questions of Islam and they asked their followers, the Muslims, ‘Don’t ask about those certain questions.’

A couple was asked to leave a church during a wedding because their 2-year-old was supposedly making too much noise. Might seem somewhat reasonable, except that the bride didn’t seem to mind and thinks the vicar’s actions were way more disruptive than the child’s was.

Upset Vicky Thorpe said: “It’s not unexpected for a child to talk in a wedding. No one else minded, but the vicar stopped everything. Then a relative said Cameron was doing no harm and she was asked to leave too. It was ruined.”

The Rev David Cameron, who married Vicky, 20, and Ashley, 21, in Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent, “entirely rejected” her account. Church officials are investigating after the couple complained.

An Oregon teenager has died after refusing medical treatment for a urinary tract blockage, something that could have easily been corrected. Oddly enough, he’s the cousin of Ava Worthington, whose death from not receiving medical treatment led to criminal charges against her parents. Wonder if this new tragedy might weaken the congregation’s faith, and prevent more deaths in the future? Don’t count on it.

Tuesday’s death of 16-year-old Neil Beagley, however, may not be a crime because Oregon law allows minors 14 and older to decide for themselves whether to accept medical treatment.

“All of the interviews from last night are that he did in fact refuse treatment,” police Sgt. Lynne Benton said Wednesday. “Unless we can disprove that, charges probably won’t be filed in this case.”

An autopsy Wednesday showed Beagley died of heart failure caused by a urinary tract blockage.

He likely had a congenital condition that constricted his urinary tract where the bladder empties into the urethra, and the condition of his organs indicates he had multiple blockages during his life, said Dr. Clifford Nelson, deputy state medical examiner for Clackamas County.

“You just build up so much urea in your bloodstream that it begins to poison your organs, and the heart is particularly susceptible,” Nelson said.

Nelson said a catheter would have saved the boy’s life. If the condition had been dealt with earlier, a urologist could easily have removed the blockage and avoided the kidney damage that came with the repeated illnesses, Nelson said.

Carol Race, who was issued a restraining order after she refused to stop bringing her autistic son Adam to church, plead not guilty to charges she violated said order. Race has also started a website to inform other families with special needs children that may also have issues bringing them to church. Race was initially asked to not attend the church any longer because they felt her son was a danger to other parishioners.

Race initially ignored the order and was ticketed after attending church with Adam on Mother’s Day. Lately, she’s been attending a neighboring church, while friends with autistic children have taken her family’s pew in St. Joseph’s to show support.

The case sparked a national media blitz, including a spot on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” which was set in motion by Race and her support group of families with special-needs children.

Race hopes the new website, www.project-adams-pew.org, will prompt churches across the country to reserve a pew “for families that might need a special welcome.”

A bishop in the United Kingdom stated that those denying global warming are just as bad as Josef Fritzl, the man who kept his daughter locked in the cellar for 24 years. Hey, Bishop, go back to making with the Eucharist, eh?

The Bishop of Stafford, the Right Rev. Gordon Mursell, made the comparison in a parish “pastoral” newsletter and said that people who fail to act to prevent global warming are “as guilty as” Fritzl and “destroying the future of our children,” the Times of London reported Monday.

The bishop denied Monday that he was accusing those who ignore climate change of being child abusers, but said Fritzl was “the most extreme form” of a common selfish streak in humankind.

“In fact you could argue that, by our refusal to face the truth about climate change, we are as guilty as he is — we are in effect locking our children and grandchildren into a world with no future and throwing away the key,” he wrote in the letter entitled “following our dream,” distributed around the Diocese of Lichfield.

The parents of a 13-year-old boy with autism in Bertha, Minnesota have been issued a restraining order by the local church because of their son’s behavior. WWJD?

Walz claims Adam [Race] has urinated and spat in church and that his behaviour presents a danger to other parishioners.

But Adam’s parents say the boy has a medical disability and they try to control their son as best they can.

“He said that we did not discipline our son. He said that our son was physically out of control and a danger to everyone at church,” Carol Race said. “I can’t discipline him out of his autism, and I think that’s what our priest is expecting.”

But Walz told authorities he has spoken to the parents and the parish has tried to offer “many options for accommodations that would assist the family while protecting the safety of parishioners. (But) the family refused those offers of accommodation.”

We’re not exactly church going folks, but we gotta admit there’s something intriguing about the high drama of a church that bills itself as “apocalyptic”. Well, that is, right until we read that the head of said church — who claims to be the “Messiah” — may have been diddling some of the younger parishioners.

The two girls and one boy — all under the age of 18 — were taken from the northeastern New Mexico compound following an April 22 investigation, Romaine Serna, spokeswoman for the state Children, Youth and Families Department spokeswoman, said Wednesday.

She said a fourth child, a girl, agreed to be interviewed by the department. Serna said that girl had been at the compound but now lives elsewhere with her parents.

The three children were taken into state custody because of allegations of inappropriate contact between minors and the adult leader of The Lord Our Righteousness Church, Serna said.

Well here’s something you don’t see every day — Rev. Thomas Szydlik, a Roman Catholic priest, is being accused of forcing a woman to have an abortion after he found out she was pregnant. Did we mention that Szydlik allegedly was the father of the baby? You’re not supposed to be *that* kind of father, Father!

Holly Force claims Szydlik began pursuing a relationship with her in 2004 while she attended a church in Peoria. The complaint states the Forces left Peoria and moved to Edwardsville to distance themselves from Szydlik.

Force alleges she had an abortion in July 2006 due to coercion by Szydlik.

Diocese Chancellor Patricia Gibson said Szydlik told Bishop Daniel Jenky in March 2005 that he had feelings for a woman, but that no vows had been broken. Szydlik asked then to be transferred to a different parish.

Who would have thought the Catholic Church — that great bastion of gender equality — would not allow a female referee to officiate a boys basketball game simply because she’s a woman? Our minds are blown.

The Kansas State High School Activities Association said referees reported that Michelle Campbell was preparing to officiate at St. Mary’s Academy near Topeka on Feb. 2 when a school official insisted that Campbell could not call the game.

The reason given, according to the referees: Campbell, as a woman, could not be put in a position of authority over boys because of the academy’s beliefs.

Campbell then walked off the court along with Darin Putthoff, the referee who was to work the game with her.

“I said, ‘If Michelle has to leave, then I’m leaving with her,”‘ Putthoff said Wednesday. “I was disappointed that it happened to Michelle. I’ve never heard of anything like that.”

Two beautiful, teenage girls were allegedly shot by their father and left for dead in a taxi cab last Friday in Texas.

Rumors have it that the girls were shot for defying their father’s native cultural and religious boundaries of Islam, as the girls were very Americanized.

An ongoing manhunt is under way for Yaser Abdel Said, 50, of Lewisville, Texas, wanted for shooting Sarah Yaser Said, 17, and Amina Yaser Said, 18, in his taxi Tuesday night. Police say they don’t have a motive for the shootings, but believe a domestic issue may have led to the deaths.

A public viewing for Sarah and Amina Said was planned for 6 to 9 p.m. CST Friday in Dallas. Their funeral will be at 11 a.m. CST Saturday, also in Dallas.

Friends and Lewisville High School classmates of the Said girls posted photos and comments in a tribute to the sisters set up on the social networking site Facebook.com called “Rest in Peace, Sarah & Amina.”

I had to do a double take when I read this, did this happen in the United States of America or Afganistan???

Lutz said she was sitting in the back of the bus, but wasn’t being disruptive. She claimed she was stunned when the bus driver interrupted her reading.

“She asked me to stop reading my Bible,” Lutz told FOX 4. “I said, ‘No, I’m reading the Bible, I’m teaching the kids, I’m going to continue.’ And I continued.”

Lutz said the next thing she knew, the bus had pulled over and she was being escorted into a supervisor’s van, which then took her and her family to church.

Can a 14 year old really be held accountable and mature enough to make life or death decisions (based on religion)? If so, shouldn’t they be paying taxes??

SEATTLE, Washington (AP) — A few hours after a judge ruled that a 14-year-old Jehovah’s Witness sick with leukemia had the right to refuse a blood transfusion that might have helped him, the boy died, a newspaper reported.

Dennis Lindberg died Wednesday night at Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center, his father, Dennis Lindberg Sr., told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Lest I be victim of some Jihad, I think this story just speaks for itself and the tolerant religion/culture of Islam. Muslims need to speak out about this. The time is now!

A British primary school teacher arrested in Sudan faces up to 40 lashes for blasphemy after letting her class of 7-year-olds name a teddy bear Muhammad.

Gillian Gibbons, 54, from Liverpool, was arrested at at Khartoum’s Unity High School yesterday, and accused of insulting the Prophet of Islam.

Her colleagues said that they feared for her safety after reports that groups of young men had gathered outside the Khartoum police station where she was taken and were shouting death threats.

The Unity school is a Christian-run but multi-racial and co-educational private school that is popular with Sudanese professionals and expatriate workers.

It’s one thing for adults to blow themselves up, but why can’t they spare the children??? I know they’re crazy but that’s not the fault of these poor kids…

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) — A doomsday cult leader whose followers are barricaded inside a cave in southern Russia will be taken to the site in an attempt to secure the release of several children, according to a government official.

The 29 cult members — including four children as young as 18 months — retreated last month to the hideout in the Penza region, about 640 kilometers (400 miles) southeast of Moscow, threatening to blow themselves up if the authorities tried to intervene.