Biden HHS to Revoke Trump-era Religious Freedom Policy

A leaked document reveals that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services plans on reversing a Trump administration delegation that allows the Office of Civil Rights to investigate religious freedom complaints. One Biden administration official believes the Trump-era policy acts as “a sword to impose religious beliefs on others.” The document is a memorandum from the director of HHS’s Office of Civil Rights to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra.

 In the memo, OCR Director Lisa Pino expresses support for reversing a practice implemented in late 2017 by the Trump administration that delegated to OCR broad authority to enforce violations of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. “Prior to the delegation in 2017, no division was singularly responsible for the Department’s compliance with RFRA or the First Amendment,” she wrote in the memo. “That model recognized that all components of HHS had a responsibility for compliance and that OGC [Office of General Counsel] was a central partner in providing key legal advice on RFRA and defending the Department when RFRA claims were raised.”

 The Trump administration’s delegation followed a May 4, 2017, executive order directing the U.S. attorney general to issue guidance to federal agencies “interpreting religious liberty protections in Federal law.” Then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued the guidance on Oct. 6, 2017. Sessions asserted that RFRA “broadly [defines] the exercise of religion to encompass all aspects of observance and practice, whether or not central to, or required by a particular religious faith.” Pino maintained that “Rescinding the delegation to OCR does not lessen the commitment of the Department to compliance, but ensures that it is not used by any one agency to enact a broad, proactive agenda.”

 “While nothing in RFRA legally restricts an agency to work proactively to address a complainant’s (or ‘would be’ complainant’s) religious needs or rights, there is a serious concern that such an approach broadens the effect of RFRA in a way that may not be legally required and while causing significant detriment to civil rights and public health protections,” Pino’s draft memo reportedly states. “The prior Administration took an expansive view of the use of RFRA that resulted in negative impacts for underserved communities,” Pino added. She expressed particular concern about “broad-based exemptions from nondiscrimination requirements to child welfare agencies,” which she characterized as hampering “the ability of children and youth to obtain safe and loving foster and adoptive homes.” Pino accused the Trump administration’s interpretations of RFRA of sending a “signal to LGBTQ+ communities that the Department did not recognize their civil rights, including the right to marry.”

 “While the Department will need to continue to comply with RFRA, removing this delegation demonstrates our belief that RFRA is meant to be a shield to protect the freedom of religion, not a sword to impose religious beliefs on others without regard for third party harms, including civil rights,” she wrote. While Pino signaled opposition to a legal interpretation that would allow faith-based foster agencies to uphold policies preventing the placement of foster children with same-sex couples, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in July against the city of Philadelphia after it excluded a Catholic foster care agency over its policies preventing children from being placed with same-sex couples.

 Roger Severino, who headed the HHS civil rights office during the Trump administration, argued in a tweet that the leaked memo proves that HHS “plans to effectively end religious freedom enforcement at HHS. The Biden Admin declared open season on people of faith some time ago, this would make it official,” he declared.

 The forthcoming memo is not the first time the Biden administration has taken action deemed hostile to religious liberty by critics. In August, the Department of Justice dropped a lawsuit filed by the Trump administration against a Vermont hospital that coerced a pro-life nurse to assist in an abortion, a practice that violated her conscience. When a federal judge struck down a mandate requiring doctors and hospitals to perform gender transition surgeries even if doing so violated their religious beliefs, the Biden administration appealed the ruling.

 PRAY: Pray that the liberal agenda threatening religious freedom and Christianity will be defeated.

Old Testament Prophecies and Christ’s Birth

There are over 100 prophecies in the Old Testament that were fulfilled by Christ’s First Coming. Six of them, in particular, relate to His birth, including the first prophecy of the entire Bible. After the fall in the Garden of Eden, God said to the serpent:

 “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel,” Genesis 3:15.

 This is a prophecy of both the birth and the death of Christ. Concerning His birth, it refers to Him as the seed of the woman. As it is a man who has “seed,” and not a woman, this indicates that Jesus would be born of a woman, but not in the usual way. The angel spoke to Joseph of its fulfillment in Matthew 1:20. This brings us to the next prophecy, that of the virgin birth:

 “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel,” Isaiah 7:14.

 This would find its fulfillment in Mary’s own admission when the Angel Gabriel announced Jesus’ coming in Luke 1:26-35. Isaiah’s passage also contains another prophecy, that of our Savior’s name, “Immanuel,” Hebrew for “God with us,” a prophecy fulfilled by Jesus according to Matthew 1:22-23.

 The Savior’s birthplace at Bethlehem was prophesied by the Prophet Micah, and was fulfilled in Matthew 2:1.

 “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting,” Micah 5:2.

 When the wise men came to visit Jesus in his infancy, King Herod would display his insecurity about his own position by attempting to kill this new “King of the Jews” by slaughtering all the young male children in the Bethlehem area. This slaughter of the innocents was prophesied by Jeremiah:

 “Thus saith the Lord; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not,” Jeremiah 31:15.

 To insure that no harm came to the Christ child, Joseph was instructed to take Him and His mother to Egypt, then to bring them back when the danger posed by Herod was over (Matthew 2:13-23). This flight into Egypt and return was prophesied by Hosea:

 “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt,” Hosea 11:1.

 From these verses alone, it is easy to accept that Jesus Christ, by His birth, was the prophesied Messiah of Israel and Savior of the World. But when we consider that there are still over 100 prophecies related to other aspects of His First Coming that were just as accurately fulfilled, the evidence is unmistakable and irrefutable. The Apostle John put it well when he wrote towards the end of His Gospel:

 “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name,” John 20:31.

Focusing on God this Thanksgiving

One of the main issues in discussing Thanksgiving is the One to whom thanks should be given, and that, of course, is God.

 Looking back to the first American celebration of Thanksgiving, we know that the Plymouth colonists landed in the late fall of 1620, just before the dead of winter. Not able to plant, most of them stayed aboard their ship, the Mayflower, through the winter, where about half of them died from exposure or disease.

 When the survivors emerged in the spring, a bilingual Native American by the name of Squanto aided the colonists by showing them how to cultivate crops, hunt, fish, and avoid danger in their new environment. The Pilgrims’ first harvest was a success, and the result was a three-day celebration of thanks in November 1621, in which they invited their new Native American friends who had helped them so graciously.

 However, the Pilgrims knew that in spite of their hardships the previous year, it was ultimately God who had provided them a new home in the New World. Had they landed a few miles away either north or south, they may have missed their encounter with Squanto, had a disastrous first crop, and all perished. But God’s provision had sustained them.

 From its inception as a nation, the United States recognized that its blessings come from God. George Washington called upon Americans to celebrate Thanksgiving in 1789, in gratitude for a successful conclusion of the Revolutionary War and the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. In the dark days of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving an official American holiday, but asked that citizens request of God to “commend to His tender care of all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife” and to “heal the wounds of the nation.”

 With these thoughts in mind, it is clear that thanks should be given regardless of the outward circumstances in which we find ourselves. Many of us find ourselves facing difficulties, just as our American ancestors did. In these difficult economic times, many of us may even have to scale down the size and the cost of our Thanksgiving celebrations. Sickness and death take their toll at all times and in all places, and there may be some empty places at the table that were filled last year. But we must look at what we do have, rather than what we lack, just as was done by those who have preceded us, and give thanks accordingly:

 “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,” Ephesians 5:20.

 When we concentrate on the blessings of God, particularly His greatest gift of salvation through Jesus Christ for those who have placed their trust in Him, we will strengthen our relationship with Him and look at our circumstances with a new and more positive outlook.

 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning,” James 1:17.

 This in turn will give us more impetus to trust God to provide for all our needs and to direct our paths. If you will open your heart and life this Thanksgiving to the Savior who loves you and gave Himself for you, this could be the greatest Thanksgiving you have ever experienced!

 Happy Thanksgiving!

Dr. Ed Hindson and the World Prophetic Ministry team

Human rights groups document over 300 acts of persecution in 2021 in India

Human rights groups in India say they have documented over 300 incidents of Christian persecution in just the first nine months of 2021, warning that this year might be the worst in terms of the number of such incidents in the country’s history. While Christians make up only 2.3% of India’s population and Hindus comprise about 80%, radical Hindu nationalists have been carrying out attacks on Christians under the pretext of punishing the minority for using force or monetary rewards to convert Hindus to Christianity,

 A.C. Michael, the National Coordinator of the United Christian Forum, said at a press conference in Delhi, “The brutal attacks have taken place across 21 states. Most of the incidents are taking place in northern states and 288 instances were of mob violence,” he added, according to the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern. The press conference was held jointly by the United Christian Forum, the United Against Hate, and the Association of Protection of Civil Rights, which released a fact-finding report titled “Christians Under Attack in India.”

 “This is a scary situation, raising critical questions over the role and the position of the National Human Rights Commission and the Home [Interior] Ministry and their failures in stopping this violence,” Michael added. “Over 49 FIRs [police complaints] have been registered, too, but no substantial action has taken place.” Recently, a mob of 200 radical Hindu nationalists left a church damaged and at least three Christian women seriously injured in an attack in the northern state of Uttarakhand. The attackers accused the church of “illegally” converting people to Christianity.

 The mob attacked the church in Roorkee city’s Solanipuram Colony and was comprised of members of the governing Bharatiya Janata Party and radical Hindu nationalist groups associated with the party, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal. As the service was about to begin, the mob reportedly barged into the church, thrashed the congregants and vandalized church properties, injuring at least three Christian women who were taken to a hospital in Dehradun city.

 Several Indian states have “anti-conversion” laws, which presume that Christians “force” or give financial benefits to Hindus to convert them to Christianity. While some of these laws have been in place for decades in some states, no Christian has been convicted of “forcibly” converting anyone to Christianity. These laws, however, allow Hindu nationalist groups to make false charges against Christians and launch attacks on them under the pretext of the alleged forced conversion.

 The law states that no one is allowed to use the “threat” of “divine displeasure,” meaning Christians cannot talk about Heaven or Hell, as that would be seen as “forcing” someone to convert. And if snacks or meals are served to Hindus after an evangelistic meeting, that could be seen as an “inducement.” India ranks as the 10th worst country globally when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USA’s 2021 World Watch List. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has urged the U.S. State Department to label India as a “country of particular concern” for engaging in or tolerating severe religious freedom violations.

 Open Doors USA warns that since the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party took power in 2014, persecution against Christians and other religious minorities has increased. The group reports that “Hindu radicals often attack Christians with little to no consequences. Hindu extremists believe that all Indians should be Hindus and that the country should be rid of Christianity and Islam,” an Open Doors fact sheet on India explains. “They use extensive violence to achieve this goal, particularly targeting Christians from a Hindu background.” This is another example of Christian persecution continuing to expand throughout the globe, something that will only continue to rise as we get closer to the Rapture and the Tribulation.

 Pray- Pray for the persecuted church across the globe that is under attack because of their faith in Christ.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Says Iran is Dedicated to Destroying Israel

This fall, the United Nations marked the 20th anniversary of the World Conference on Racism. It coincided with the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.

Iran’s new foreign minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, said his nation’s “willpower is dedicated” to the elimination of Zionism at what was supposed to be a UN anti-racism conference. With the United States and 37 other nations boycotting a UN anti-racism conference due to its history of anti-Semitism, Abdollahian invoked the destruction of the Jewish state, perhaps giving the countries who boycotted the conference more reason to have stayed away.

The event, known as Durban IV, had the theme of “Reparations, racial justice and equality for people of African descent.” While the original purpose of the event was combating racism, critics say it has been hijacked by an anti-Israel agenda that turned it into an anti-Semitic hate fest leading the U.S. and Israel to walk out of the first conference.

Abdollahian, who was in New York for the UN General Assembly, said his country opposed all forms of racism while threatening the existence of Zionism.

“As the new foreign minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, I’m honored to announce that my nation’s willpower is dedicated to the total elimination of all forms of racial discrimination, including apartheid and Zionism,” he said. “These are crimes that constitute horrible atrocities such as child killing and the creeping occupation through settlements, which extends to the proximity of Al-Aqsa mosque.”

Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who focuses on Iran, told Fox News, “Abdollahian didn’t mince words: the Islamic Republic will use every opportunity afforded to it to seek ‘the total elimination’ of Zionism. That is code for working towards the destruction of the Jewish state.” Taleblu said the new foreign minister’s words should serve as a warning to the Biden administration about engaging with the regime in Tehran.

“Washington should understand that working zealously to engage Iran with the aims of reviving the flawed 2015 nuclear deal not only makes no strategic sense given Iran’s irreversible nuclear advances in 2021, but would result in yet another infusion of cash to the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism,” Taleblu said. “That would mean men like Abdollahian would be in a greater position to put their money where their mouth is.”

Of the sixty or so countries that had representatives speaking, only three came from the European Union: Belgium, Ireland and Portugal. Also speaking was the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, President of the UN General Assembly Abdulla Shahid and the UN Human Rights Chief Michelle Bachelet.

Anne Bayefsky, director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust and president of Human Rights Voices, organized a counter-conference and told Fox News, “For the enemies of Israel who had high hopes that Durban IV would fast track Israel to political isolation and oblivion, the global gathering was instead a major setback. Not only did 34 states boycott, but they boycotted because the demonization of Israel was recognized as a form of modern anti-Semitism.”  She noted that 75% of the countries with leaders speaking at the conference were deemed “not fully free,” according to the definition by Freedom House, which ranks countries based on freedom.

Bayefsky also commented that “Durban IV proved to be an opportunity for the Iranian Foreign Minister to broadcast over UN WebTV around the world a call for the ‘elimination’ of the Jewish state, in effect backing another mass genocide for the one they claim never happened. And yet in the 21st century UN, it was just business as usual and nobody interrupted, cut the mic, or escorted him off the premises.”

This is yet another example of the United Nations’ complete bias against Israel.

The Radicalization of Christianity

“Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.” 2 Thessalonians 2:15

 Have you ever walked into a church and thought, “What in the world is going on here? This doesn’t look like church, sound like church, or act like church. This is wild. This is crazy.”

 We are facing a challenge today like never before – the radicalization of Christianity – in which the entire Christian message has been redefined, repackaged, and reexplained in light of the culture in which we live. The Apostle Paul, when he wrote his second letter to the Thessalonians, according to the verse above, was saying to them, “Stand for truth and don’t cave in to something else.”

 Jesus said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). But we are living in a time of confusion and denial. Society has developed a repackaged Jesus. There is talk today about a gay Jesus, a married Jesus, a feminist Jesus, and so on. This reflection of our culture is nothing more than that of a perverted humanity that wants to reinterpret the Christian message. Instead of  simply saying, “I don’t believe it; I’m against it; I’m going to live a different way,” they are changing Jesus. They are saying, “I want to redefine Jesus so that Jesus is like me. I want to redefine morality so that which is moral is that by which I am choosing to live my lifestyle.”

 In our modern culture, we are informed by secular education that there are no absolutes. Every truth is relative to its culture and to its experience. However, if there are no absolutes, the only virtue is tolerance. We are to tolerate every viewpoint: they are all equally true in some sense, so they should all be accepted, even if they are controversial or contradictory. I would counter this to say one thing we have learned in the past two years in our country is that there is very little tolerance to Christians or the traditional values upon which America was founded.

 I’m all for radical Christianity – radical in the sense that we radically believe the message of the Bible. Jesus said, “Take up your cross and follow Me. Abandon all and come after me. He who is not willing to forsake everything is not worthy to be My disciple” (Luke 14:27). He taught a radical kind of spirituality that was based on commitment to the Word of God.

 Jesus taught that the spiritual nature of a human being was more important than his material prosperity. A relationship with the God of Heaven is more important than some kind of spirituality that is an ill-defined, mystical experience with a great force out there who does not love you, who does not relate to you personally, and who cannot change your life.

 That is not the message of the Bible. The message of the Bible is that a real, personal God send His Son to Earth in physical form, to go to the cross, to die for your sins, and to literally rise from the dead. He promised that one day, He would literally return.

 The message of the Bible is solid. It is timeless. It is relevant, no matter what the culture teaches. It is concrete reality. It speaks of real people in real places. It gives us the real history of a real Savior who entered into the human race, and who came to change your heart, life, and soul. It is a real, personal experience that you can have with the God of Heaven. If you have never done so, you can come to know that same Savior as well. He can change your life, and He can use you to change the world.

 If you have done this today, we would love to hear from you: www.thekingiscoming.com/contact-us

Massive Life-Like Statues Being Created Across the World

“And he deceives those who dwell on the earth—by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed” (Rev. 13:14-15).

 For decades people have wondered what this passage in Revelation 13 could be referring to; an image that the False Prophet is able to bring to life in some way? An image that can move and speak? An image of the Antichrist that people will bow down and worship? What on earth is John describing? Well, it is possible that we are now seeing technology that is being developed that can mimic many of the elements of this passage.

 Developers in Ireland have created a plan in which they will build 21 10-story-tall statues around the world. Called “The Giant”, it’s a programmable, moving statue covered with millions of LED pixels that allow it to take the form of any person. The Giant’s arms and head can move to a diversity of positions and its patented skin, a matrix of millions of programmable LED pixels gives it the ability to instantly take the form of any man or woman, boy or girl from historical figures such as Albert Einstein or Amelia Earhart to stars of today from Lionel Messi to Beyoncé. The Giant can take on any image and can also sing and speak.

 The idea was developed by entrepreneur Paddy Dunning, Berlin-based architecture studio Dan Pearlman and backed by the commercial real estate company Enterprise Ireland. Each “Giant” will cost $18 - $24 million to develop depending on the location and chosen size, according to a press release. The company estimates the sculpture to bring in about $14 million in revenue for the host cities and that each of the statues could be built within 18 months of the start of construction.

 While the 21 cities have yet to be formally announced, Phoenix has been identified as a strong possibility for one location.

 Speaking about the launch of The Giant, Dunning said; “With patents in place, we are excited to unveil our plans! We have already had interest from investors from Europe, Australia, Abu Dhabi and cities across the US. The beauty of this attraction is that its exhibition can be tailored to individual cities and cultures and the sculpture can be posed in a number of positions to suit the location.”

 While this is all highly speculative, it shows that the type of technology needed to create something similar to what John describes in the Book of Revelation is already present. People have long scoffed at John’s claim that people during the Tribulation would bow down to a little idol like they did in the ancient world.

 However, it is much easier to see the Antichrist and the False Prophet creating something as large as Nebuchadnezzar’s statue from Daniel 3, using technology to make it look like the Antichrist and demand that people bow down and worship it. This technology even would allow the statue to speak through a computer program or a recording of the Antichrist’s voice. 

 Technology continues to develop at an amazing rate. While much of it has worked to better lives, some of these technological innovations or others like them will no doubt play a major role during the Tribulation.

 PRAY: As technology continues to advance, pray for world evangelization and for believers to be mindful of warnings mentioned in Revelation about the coming Antichrist.

Harvard Chaplains Elect Atheist as New President

John Harvard would be horrified by the actions of the school that bears his name. Greg Epstein, an atheist and humanist chaplain at Harvard University who says he doesn’t look to God but people for answers, has been elected by his colleagues as the newest president of the Harvard Chaplains. Esptein, 44, was elected to the presidency of the university’s organization of chaplains by more than 40 chaplains from some 20 different faith and spiritual traditions even though he is an atheist. He shared the news in an announcement on Twitter along with a profile of his election to the position by The New York Times.

 Margit Hammerstrom, the Christian Science chaplain at Harvard, told the publication that while Epstein’s election to such a role may have been problematic at a more conservative institution, the decision was unanimous at Harvard. “Maybe in a more conservative university climate, there might be a question like, ‘What the heck are they doing at Harvard, having a humanist be the president of the chaplains?’ But in this environment, it works. Greg is known for wanting to keep lines of communication open between different faiths,” Hammerstrom said. This shows just how far Harvard has fallen from its founding, with its original purpose to train pastors for the ministry.

 The new leader, who authored Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe, is expected to coordinate activities for the corps of chaplains. He has served as a humanist chaplain at Harvard since 2005. Recent survey data highlighted by the Harvard Crimson shows that a growing number of students enrolled at the Ivy League campus don’t identify with any particular faith. In 2017, some 32.4% of incoming freshmen identified as either atheist or agnostic. By 2019, the share of incoming freshmen who identified as either atheist or agnostic increased to 37.9%.

 “There is a rising group of people who no longer identify with any religious tradition but still experience a real need for conversation and support around what it means to be a good human and live an ethical life,” Epstein, who was raised in a Jewish household, told The New York Times. “We don’t look to a god for answers,” he said. “We are each other’s answers.”

 A study from the Pew Research Center published in late 2019 showed that only 65% of Americans identify as Christian, showing a 12% decline over a decade earlier. The number of Americans who identify as religiously unaffiliated also increased to 26%. “The changes underway in the American religious landscape are broad-based.

 The Christian share of the population is down and religious ‘nones’ have grown across multiple demographic groups: white people, black people and Hispanics; men and women; in all regions of the country; and among college graduates and those with lower levels of educational attainment,” Pew researchers reported. “Religious ‘nones’ are growing faster among Democrats than Republicans, though their ranks are swelling in both partisan coalitions,” Pew added. “And although the religiously unaffiliated are on the rise among younger people and most groups of older adults, their growth is most pronounced among young adults.”

 This is another example of the growing movement within the United States, especially among Millennials and Gen. Z, toward an abandonment of our Christian foundation and a move to hard-line secularization. Whereas in the past places like Harvard, who have long abandoned any sort of Christian foundation, would at least keep up a charade of acceptance of Christianity, many of these groups now actively and openly share their disdain for Christianity and their complete acceptance of the secular worldview.

 PRAY: Pray for our young people in America to turn to God and abandon the hopeless worldview of secularism.

Christians in Afghanistan Face Persecution and Death under Taliban Rule

Afghan Christians are living in fear as the Taliban has declared they will carry out executions and other brutal punishments, including amputations, under Islamic Sharia law as part of their rule in Afghanistan. “Cutting off of hands is very necessary for security,” Mullah Nooruddin Turabi, a member of the Taliban’s interim government and chief enforcer of the group’s strict interpretation of Sharia law, told The Associated Press. “Everyone criticized us for the punishments in the stadium, but we have never said anything about their laws and their punishments,” he continued. “No one will tell us what our laws should be. We will follow Islam and we will make our laws on the Quran.” Turabi, who is under U.N. sanctions, also said the new government may consider carrying out such punishments in public.

 Turabi’s announcement has many Afghan Christians bracing for persecution, the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern reported, explaining that the Taliban’s strict interpretation of Sharia is a threat to Afghan Christians due to their conversions from Islam to Christianity. “As apostates, Afghan Christians will be subject to Sharia’s deadliest consequences, including execution,” ICC said. Almost all Afghan Christians — estimated to be between 8,000 and 12,000 — are converts from Islam and remain largely closeted and hidden from the public eye due to severe persecution.

When the Taliban took control of much of Afghanistan following the drawing down of U.S. troops in August, many ministries working with the country’s underground church worked tirelessly to evacuate at-risk Christians, William Stark, ICC’s regional manager for South Asia, told The Christian Post earlier this month. “Christians are now in hiding because of active threats against their community,” Stark said.

 He shared stories of how Christians continue to face threats from members of the Taliban. In one situation, an Islamic extremist threatened to kidnap a Christian man’s daughters and marry them off to members of the Taliban. In another, a Christian man received a letter from the Taliban saying his house belonged to them. Christians have also been warned to refrain from gathering. “Even within the networks that we have, a number of people have changed their phone numbers because it’s simply not safe anymore,” Stark said. “Their work to lie low in the country makes it hard for someone on the outside to stay in contact.”

 As persecution continues to increase, Afghan Christians need “help from the outside” to escape their circumstances, he said. “It’s going to take a diplomatic process by the U.S., the U.K. and other countries that are going to allow them to leave that country,” he said. “Essentially, what they need is some sort of special status that would allow them to travel outside of Afghanistan.”

 The Taliban are arresting, and in some instances executing, people they perceive as their enemies, Christian missionary David Eubank, a former U.S. Army Special Forces and Ranger officer, said in a recent interview with CBN News. Eubank also said recent photos and video suggest they’re killing as many as 30 to 40 at a time. “They [the Taliban] are hunting down people right now, trying to get all the names of anyone they perceive as an enemy,” Eubank said, adding that the enemies include “people who work with the U.S. government, people who are with other governments, people who work with non-governmental organizations they don’t agree with.”

Five of the Taliban-appointed leaders in the interim government were in detention in Guantánamo and later exchanged for Bowe Bergdahl in 2014, according to Long War Journal. Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, the current “Emir of the Faithful” or top leader of the Taliban, issued religious decrees justifying the Taliban’s operations, including suicide attacks, from 1996 to 2001, the Journal said. Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, the acting head of state, refused to turn over Osama bin Laden after the al Qaeda terror group bombed the U.S. Embassy in August 1998. Akhundzada and Akhund are among more than a dozen new leaders who were sanctioned by the U.N. Security Council in early 2001.

 Pray- Pray for our brothers and sisters in Afghanistan, that they will be protected in this troubling time.

The Rise of Apostasy

The Bible tells us that at the time of the end, men will begin to depart from the truth and to deny the basic message of the Word of God. Certainly, some of the major controversies facing the Church today – the problems of apostasy, atheism, preterism, and secularism – fulfill that prophecy. What effect are these issues having on our culture today?

 The challenge of apostasy is rising from within the evangelical church. There are those who claim they believe the Bible, but who are watering down the truths of the Word of God.

 In 1984, Francis Schaeffer, the great theologian, wrote a book called The Great Evangelical Disaster, in which he predicted that this exact trend would occur in the future – that people would depart from the basic truths of the Word of God while claiming to believe its message.

 Notice what the Apostle Paul predicted 2,000 years ago in 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2. Moved by the Spirit of God, Paul looked down through the corridor of time, and reminds us that there is a tragic deception coming that will precede the return of Christ.

 “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first…,” 2 Thessalonians 2:3.

 The term for “falling away” is the Greek word apostasia, to depart or fall away from a standard of truth. In other words, a time of apostasy will come first. Then the man of sin, the son of perdition, will be revealed. Finally, the Lord Jesus Christ will return.

 Paul says in his last letter to Timothy, the last letter that he wrote:

 “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned into fables,” 2 Timothy 4:2-4.

 He goes on to instruct, “Don’t listen to what they have to say.” Today there are those who try to water down the message of the Gospel, the challenge of Jesus Christ Himself who said, “Follow Me. Repent. For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

 If you start changing the Biblical message to simply accommodate today’s culture, then culture defines Scripture, instead of Scripture defining the culture. Sin then becomes redefined as nothing more that “poor choices.” Hell is not real.

 The doctrine of repentance will be diminished in the last days. A strong call to personal salvation and transformation will be eliminated. The Gospel will be reduced to nothing more than easy believism. The day and age will come when inner feelings replace objective truth.

 That is exactly what Francis Schaeffer predicted 37 years ago and what the Apostle Paul predicted 2,000 years ago. Jesus becomes totally repackaged. The Gospel becomes redefined. The Bible is irrelevant. The Church is unnecessary. Biblical statements about men, women, marriage, and family are all culturally conditioned, so they do not apply to today’s culture.

 As secular culture moves further and further away from God and the things of God, it removes itself from the message of the Word of God. Meanwhile, churches start to accommodate themselves to attract more people. Thus, we end up demeaning the message of the Word of God, and ultimately eliminating the challenge of the call of Christ Himself.

 “… I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me,” John 14:6.

 That is a very clear, narrow statement from Jesus Himself. Jesus also said:

 “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven,” Matthew 10:32-33.

 If we, as evangelical, Bible-believing Christians, water down the Gospel message, then a wave of apostasy will come like a tsunami and roll over what is left of evangelical culture and wipe out the message of Christ. To combat the rise of apostasy, we must stand firm on the inerrant, inspired Word of God!

 We here at The King is Coming are committed to the authority of the Bible, to preach “thus saith the Lord,” to call people to a personal point of repentance and faith, to give your heart, life, and soul not to some vague mythological idea, but to the real, living Savior, who died for your sins, who rose from the dead, and indeed, who is coming again!

China Increasing Nuclear Arsenal

China has begun construction of what independent experts say are more than 100 new silos for intercontinental ballistic missiles in a desert near the northwestern city of Yumen, a building spree that could signal a major expansion of Beijing’s nuclear capabilities. Commercial satellite images obtained by researchers at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, Calif., show work underway at scores of sites across a grid covering hundreds of square miles of arid terrain in China’s Gansu province. The 119 nearly identical construction sites contain features that mirror those seen at existing launch facilities for China’s arsenal of nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles.

The acquisition of more than 100 new missile silos, if completed, would represent a historic shift for China, a country that is believed to possess a relatively modest stockpile of 250 to 350 nuclear weapons. The construction boom suggests a major effort to bolster the credibility of China’s nuclear deterrent, said researcher Jeffrey Lewis, an expert on China’s nuclear arsenal and part of a team that analyzed the suspicious sites, first spotted by colleague Decker Eveleth as he scoured photos taken by commercial satellites over northwestern China. Lewis described the scale of the building spree as “incredible.”

“If the silos under construction at other sites across China are added to the count, the total comes to about 145 silos under construction,” Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies, part of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, said in a summary of his findings. “We believe China is expanding its nuclear forces in part to maintain a deterrent that can survive a U.S. first strike in sufficient numbers to defeat U.S. missile defenses.”

The discovery follows recent warnings by Pentagon officials about rapid advances in China’s nuclear capability. Adm. Charles Richard, who commands U.S. nuclear forces, said at a congressional hearing in April that a “breathtaking expansion” was underway in China, including an expanding arsenal of ICBMs and new mobile missile launchers that can be easily hidden from satellites. In addition, the Chinese navy has introduced new nuclear-weapons-capable submarines to its growing fleet.

John Supple, Defense Department spokesman, declined to comment on the satellite images or to discuss U.S. intelligence assessments of China’s nuclear program. But he noted “Defense Department leaders have testified and publicly spoken about China’s growing nuclear capabilities, which we expect to double or more over the next decade.”

Missile silos are easily spotted by trained imagery analysts, and they are vulnerable to destruction by precision-guided missiles in the early hours of a nuclear war. For those reasons, Lewis sees the silo construction project as part of an expanded deterrent strategy by a country whose nuclear arsenal is dwarfed by those of the United States and Russia, which collectively possess more than 11,000 nuclear warheads.

In February, Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed in a statement that the Biden administration would “pursue arms control to reduce the dangers from China’s modern and growing nuclear arsenal.” He did not explain how that goal would be accomplished but said the administration would seek “effective arms control that enhances stability, transparency and predictability while reducing the risks of costly, dangerous arms races.”

Since the end of the Cold War, many have pushed to deescalate the nuclear arms race. However, with China expanding its arsenal, a new nuclear arms race could be on the horizon. Many have identified some of the judgments in the Book of Revelation sounding like nuclear fallout, so we could see how a rise in nuclear capabilities as moving closer to the Rapture and Great Tribulation.

Biden Administration May Repeal Rule Protecting Christian Groups at Universities

The Biden administration is reviewing a federal rule that prohibits public universities and colleges from, among other things, removing the funding of religious student organizations whose leadership policies conflict with campus anti-discrimination rules. The U.S. Department of Education posted a blog entry written by Acting Assistant Secretary for Office of Postsecondary Education Michelle Asha Cooper, announcing a review of the “Free Inquiry Rule.”

 In November 2020, the Trump administration passed a final rule centered on protecting the rights of religious student groups at public colleges and universities. The rule, known as the “Improving Free Inquiry, Transparency, and Accountability at Colleges and Universities” regulation, is also called the “Free Inquiry Rule.” The rule came partly in response to legal battles centered on Christian student groups facing punishment from public universities for not allowing non-Christians or those who refuse to adhere to biblical sexual ethics to become leaders of their student clubs.

 According to the summary of the rule, the regulation was created in response to then-President Donald Trump signing Executive Order 13864 in March 2019, as well as recent litigation regarding student rights. “These regulations also require a public institution to not deny a religious student organization any of the rights, benefits, or privileges that are otherwise afforded to other student organizations,” stated the summary.

 In the blog entry, Acting Assistant Secretary Cooper also wrote that following the review, the Education Department expects to publish “a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register to propose rescinding parts of the Free Inquiry Rule. Throughout this process and beyond, public colleges and universities must ensure protection of First Amendment freedoms, including religious freedom and freedom of association, which long predate the Free Inquiry Rule,” she continued. “Compliance with nondiscrimination requirements must be in a manner consistent with the First Amendment. We urge public colleges and universities and their students to engage thoughtfully on these matters.”

 Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which, alongside American Atheists, is challenging the Free Inquiry Rule in court, celebrated the announcement. “We applaud the Department of Education for its willingness to reconsider this harmful regulation, and for sending the message to colleges, universities and their students that this wrong may soon be righted,” said Richard B. Katskee, vice president and legal director of Americans United, in a statement. “We anticipate that the Biden administration will agree with us that discrimination has no place in our public colleges and universities — even if religion is used to justify it.”

 In April, a federal court sided with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, which sued Wayne State University after its official student club status was revoked in 2017. Not being recognized as an official club means that the group can't access benefits that campus groups receive, such as reserving meeting rooms for free and applying for campus funding. Judge Robert H. Cleland of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan ruled that other student groups were allowed to restrict their leadership based on sex, gender identity, political partisanship, ideology, creed, ethnicity, GPA or attractiveness. However, the “small group of Christians ... were denied [student organization] benefits because they require their Christian leaders to be ... Christian.” Other courts have also ruled in favor of other Christian student groups, including another InterVarsity chapter that filed similar lawsuits against the University of Iowa.

 Ismail Royer, director of the Islam and Religious Freedom Action Team for the Religious Freedom Institute, a supporter of the "Free Inquiry Rule," stated last year that “This new regulation is an important policy for Muslim student organizations because it allows them to select their own leaders and define their own mission by their faith’s principles.” According to Royer, “This right should be reserved for all student religious organizations, and not usurped by university officials based on their own shifting, unpredictable standards.”

 This is yet another example of secular policies trying to be forced in the public square that would eliminate not only Christians, but many religious groups from being able to function. These secularists will not stop until religious groups that hold to traditional values are eliminated from public dialogue.

 Pray- Pray that the legal system will protect religious students from these secular attempts on university campuses.

Can We Still Believe in the Rapture?

The Rapture Changes Everything

“The Lord himself will come down from heaven … and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

 One of the most exciting and compelling prophetic events described in the Bible is the rapture of the church. It will occur instantaneously and without warning. Suddenly, millions of people will be missing—caught up to heaven to meet the Savior in the air. While this prophetic promise is of great comfort and assurance to believers, it will have a shocking impact on those who are left behind.

 At the moment of the rapture, the bodies of all believers who have died with faith in Christ since the day of Pentecost will suddenly be transformed into new, living, immortal, resurrected bodies. Even those whose bodies have long since decayed or whose ashes have been scattered across the oceans will receive a new body. This new body will be joined together with the person’s spirit, which Jesus brings with Him from heaven. Then the bodies of those who are alive on earth and have accepted Christ as their Savior will also be instantly translated into new, immortal bodies.

 Notice the similarity between the descriptions of the Rapture in 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 and 2 Thessalonians 4:15-18. When Christ comes to take His church (all believers) to heaven in fulfillment of His promise in John 14:1-3, He will include all New Testament believers, both the living and the dead.

 Together, all believers will be instantly transported into heaven to meet their loved ones “in the clouds” and then to meet the Lord in the air. Those who have rejected the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ and remain on earth will witness a miraculous event of astonishing proportions—the sudden mass disappearance of millions upon millions of Christians from the face of the earth.

 Scripture calls the Rapture “the blessed hope” (Titus 2:13) because this event provides comfort not only to those believers who are concerned about the coming tribulations of the last days, but also to those who long to be reunited with their departed loved ones who shared faith in Christ.

 The Second Coming, which encompasses both the Rapture and the glorious appearing, is one of the most significant events mentioned in the entire Bible. The New Testament alone has 321 references to this awesome event, making it the second-most prominent doctrine presented in Scripture after the doctrine of salvation. The concept of the Second Coming is clearly taught in both the Old and New Testaments. It is also affirmed in the doctrinal statement of every major Christian denomination.

 On average, the New Testament mentions the Second Coming in one out of every 30 verses, and it is mentioned in every chapter of 1 and 2 Thessalonians, the first books written for the early church. Moreover, all nine New Testament authors mention the Second Coming, and 23 of the 27 New Testament books reference it.

 While various views exist as to when the Rapture will occur (before, during, or after the Tribulation), all must acknowledge that there will be a rapture. The only real question is, when will it occur? The chief characteristic of the Rapture is that it will be sudden and will catch people by surprise.

 “Of that day and hour no one knows” (Matthew 24:36), which is why we should live so as to “be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect” (Matthew 24:44). Indeed, throughout the ages, the Rapture has appeared imminent to Christians of every generation. And one day He will! The trumpet will sound, the archangel will shout, and we will all go home to be with Jesus.

God intended His church to be motivated to holy living, fervent evangelism, and missionary concern by the study of the second coming of Christ. If Jesus is indeed coming again, then we who are Christians need to let the world know it!

World Hunger Dramatically Worse in Pandemic Year

The United Nations lamented what it called a “dramatic worsening” of world hunger last year, saying much of that is likely connected to the pandemic. A report issued jointly by five U.N. agencies said hunger outpaced population growth in 2020, with nearly 10 percent of all people are estimated to be undernourished. It said the sharpest rise in hunger came in Africa, where 21 percent of the people are estimated to be undernourished.

 Children paid a high price, with 149 million of those younger than 5 estimated to have stunted growth since they are too short for their age. More than 45 million children are too thin for their height. “A full 3 billion adults and children remain locked out of healthy diets, largely due to excessive costs,’’ the U.N. agencies said. “In many parts of the world, the pandemic has triggered brutal recessions and jeopardized access to food,’’ the United Nations said in a summary of its findings. “Yet even before the pandemic, hunger was spreading; progress on malnutrition lagged.”

 “Disturbingly, in 2020 hunger shot up in both absolute and proportional terms, outpacing population growth,” the report’s authors concluded. The report found that some 9.9 percent of the world’s population was estimated to have been undernourished last year, compared to 8.4 percent in 2019. The United Nations said that the pandemic further undercut a U.N. goal of zero hunger by 2030. Based on current trends, it estimates that the goal will be “missed by a margin of nearly 660 million people,” and approximately 30 million of that number “may be linked to the pandemic’s lasting effects.”

 The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report was prepared by U.N. agencies including the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Food Program and the International Fund for Agricultural Development. The other two agencies were the United Nations Children’s Fund, commonly known as UNICEF, which is based in New York, and the World Health Organization, or WHO, headquartered in Geneva. The report was described by the agencies as the “first global assessment of its kind in the pandemic era.” Among the U.N.’s recommendations, was one calling for strengthening “the resilience of the most vulnerable to economic adversity,” such as through programs to lessen the impact of “pandemic-style shocks” or steep food price increases.

 While the Covid Pandemic is not the same as the Great Tribulation of the Book of Revelation, it does give us a glimpse of the types of things that will occur. The Third Horseman of the Apocalypse, the black horse, represents pandemic, plague and devastation. Revelation 6: 5-6 states, “And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, “A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.”

 What the black horse represents is the massive famine and plagues that will occur in the future, presumably after the war that the red horse brings. We also see John describe the inflation of prices on goods that will occur, just as we are seeing with the Covid Pandemic. Thus, the Covid Pandemic, even as bad as it has been, is only a small glimpse of the type of famine, devastation and inflation that will occur during the Great Tribulation.

Christians in Afghanistan desperately need our prayers.

Believers are caught behind the Islamic Curtain. They are trapped, facing beatings and death for their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I urge you to pray and support individuals and organizations taking a risk to rescue those in danger.

 James 5:16 exhorts us to, “Confess your faults one to another, and pray for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

 When we look at a map of the Middle East, it shows us the countries where leadership structures have changed, dictators have fallen. And yet, dictators are still in charge. People have been martyred for their faith in Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Egypt, and in virtually every Islamic country on the planet. This is not a religion of peace. It is a religion that intends to spread its message by force and violence to make a convert and to keep a convert.

 When a religion threatens to kill people if they do not convert to it, and then threatens to kill them if they dare leave it, I submit to you, you do not have the world’s largest religion; you have the world’s largest cult.

 What is occurring today in the Middle East is setting the stage for the events the Bible predicts will happen in the future. Forces are at work to destabilize governments and bring them into an Islamic Caliphate.

 The Bible says in Psalm 2 the rulers of the world plot against the Messiah, God’s Anointed One:

 “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision,” Psalm 2:1-4.

 The Psalmist reminds us that God is on the throne. God is in control of what is happening in the universe. Today we can respond to His truth or reject it. There is something afoot in Afghanistan and the Middle East that is beyond human explanation. The Bible describes it as an influence of the Prince of Darkness, Satan himself.

 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places,” Ephesians 6:12.

 We are dealing with spiritual warfare that is playing out in the politics of the world in which we live. Time may very well be running out for our planet. The depraved nature of the human heart is incapable of living at peace with others because so many are not at peace with God and with themselves.

 As chaos unfolds and the world totters on the brink of disaster. Many wonder if we have already passed the point of no return. However, the grace of God is longsuffering. God often waits longer than we would as human beings because He is giving people an opportunity to come to faith in Christ.

 While we know God is sovereign and in control, He does use our prayers and finances to accomplish His will on Earth. Pray today how God can use you to help persecuted Christians in Afghanistan and the Middle East.

Harris Becomes First Sitting Vice President to March in Pride Event

Vice President Kamala Harris has made history once again, becoming the first sitting Vice President to march in a Pride event. Harris participated in a march with Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff during Capital Pride in Washington, D.C. earlier this summer. She wore a “love is love” t-shirt as she walked with other Pride-goers to a rally at Freedom Plaza, telling them, “Happy Pride!”

She spoke briefly at the event, advocating for the passage of the Equality Act while expressing her and President Joe Biden’s commitment to advancing LGBTQ rights. “We need to make sure that our transgender community and our youth are all protected. We need, still, protections around employment and housing,” Harris said, according to NBC Washington. “There is so much more work to do, and I know we are committed.”

The Vice President also observed the fifth anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub shooting on Twitter, paying tribute to the 49 people who were killed at the Orlando gay club on June 12, 2016. “Five years ago, 49 LGBTQ+ people and allies were enjoying an evening out at Pulse Nightclub,” she wrote. “And then, in an instant, they were gone. Today, we remember those who died and their loved ones-and we recommit to building a world free from gun violence.”

Harris’ post came as President Biden issued his own statement announcing that he’ll sign a piece of legislation to name the nightclub a national memorial, which recently passed the House and Senate. He also advocated for stricter gun control and the passage of the Equality Act, acknowledging that the LGBTQ community is disproportionately impacted by gun violence, particularly transgender women of color. “In the memory of all of those lost at the Pulse nightclub five years ago, let us continue the work to be a nation at our best-one that recognizes and protects the dignity and safety of every American,” Biden said in his statement.

The Biden/Harris administration has made LGBTQ issues one of their priorities, restoring transgender healthcare protections and removing Donald Trump’s ban on transgender military members. One of Biden’s first executive orders was calling for an end to discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation. “Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports,” the order read. “Adults should be able to earn a living and pursue a vocation knowing that they will not be fired, demoted, or mistreated because of whom they go home to or because how they dress does not conform to sex-based stereotypes. People should be able to access healthcare and secure a roof over their heads without being subjected to sex discrimination.”

Many Evangelicals had warned prior to the election that a Biden/Harris ticket would push for these types of progressive policies. The Left has completely accepted the LGBTQ cause, with few exceptions, and will continue to drive this agenda forward, regardless of how it impacts religious freedom for Christians, Jews and Muslims.

Women’s sports are already being impacted, with many transgender females dominating sports across the country. As more and more of these policies become standard throughout the nation and as generations grow up with this worldview enforced through the school systems, it will become much more difficult to both eliminate the policies further down the line and to hold to a Christian view on gender issues. As this agenda continues, it will soon impact many areas of life, including the workplace, public schools, universities and religious organizations.

PRAY: Pray this push against the ways of God will be stopped and that America will return to the biblical view of gender and marriage.

Jews Gain International Recognition in Both London and Tokyo

Usually when the Jewish people are mentioned in the media, it is either to attack them or to mention Anti-Semitism. However, two positive stories about the Jewish people came out recently on the international stage. The British government approved plans to build a national Holocaust memorial beside Parliament, rejecting claims by campaigners that the location was unsuitable. The government said building the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre in Victoria Tower Gardens, a park in the shadow of Parliament, would send a “powerful associative message.”

The memorial was announced in 2016, but the choice of location has faced opposition. A group of campaigners argued that it would remove valuable green space in the heart of the city and would be better built elsewhere. After public inquiries last year, the government said the benefits of the location outweighed the “modest loss of open space” in the park.

The 100-million-pound ($140 million) memorial — designed by leading architects David Adjaye and Ron Arad — is scheduled to open in 2024 and will be free to visit. It is intended as the focal point for Britain’s national remembrance of the 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust and all other victims of Nazi persecution, and to provide a place for reflection on “subsequent genocides” in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur. Marie van der Zyl, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said “there will be something uniquely powerful about locating a memorial to the Holocaust right next to the center of the U.K.’s democracy.”

Meanwhile, at the Opening Ceremony at the Tokyo Summer Olympics, an acknowledgment of the Israeli athletes killed by terrorists at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich was given, marking the first time the murders were mentioned in an opening ceremony.

“As we join together here in the Olympic Stadium, across Japan and around the world, let us all take a moment to remember all those friends and loved ones who are no longer with us, in particular because of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the announcer said. A notice for a moment of silence appeared on screens at Olympic Stadium. “They will forever have a special place in our hearts. We, the Olympic community, also remember all the Olympians and members of our community who have so sadly left us. In particular, we remember those who lost their lives during the Olympic Games. One group still holds a strong place in all our memories and stand for all of those we have lost at the Games: the members of the Israeli delegation at the Olympic Games Munich 1972.”

The ceremony then shifted to a dancer’s performance during the creative portion of the event before the announcer continued. “For all those we have lost, we invite everyone around the world to respect a moment of silence, wherever you are,” he said. “And for all of us here in the stadium, we invite you to stand for this moment of silence.”

Members of the Palestinian terrorist group Black September stormed the Olympic Village during the Munich Games, killing two Israeli athletes and taking nine others as hostages. The hostages were later killed during an airport shootout. Five terrorists and a policeman from West Germany were also killed. Competition across all Olympic sports was postponed for 24 hours to hold services for those who died. Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency would later kill the Black September assassins. While both recognitions are somewhat limited, perhaps they will begin to turn the tide against the immense negative criticism and attack that constantly is portrayed against the Jewish people.

Pray- Pray that the Jewish people will continue to be recognize in a positive manner and the Anti-Semitic slant that constantly goes against them will decrease.

Victory for Religious Freedom in the Supreme Court

The United States Supreme Court recently gave an important win for religious freedom. In a unanimous 9-0 decision, the US. Supreme Court ruled decidedly in favor of what had been traditional understandings of the religious free exercise clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia. In this case, the City of Philadelphia had attempted to block a Catholic adoption agency from being allowed to function unless they would give children to LGBTQ families.

There are several important aspects of this decision that are very encouraging to those who cherish religious freedom. First, the decision was unanimous (9-0). Given the fractious nature of this Court, particularly on issues involving the LGBTQ community, this fact alone signals a significant Court shift on this issue. Second, the fact that the unanimous opinion was written by the Court’s Chief Justice, John Roberts, adds to the signaled significance of this opinion given his perceived reticence in recent years to take decisive and bold action on contentious culture war issues.

Third, the decision amplifies the fact that elections have consequences. If Hillary Clinton had won the 2016 presidential election, Justices Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett would not be Supreme Court Justices and a President Clinton would have appointed justices who would have ruled in a very different fashion and would have exercised a gravitational pull on the more liberal justices: Kagan, Breyer, and Sotomayor.

Instead, we have a unanimous decision affirming the free exercise of religious rights of Americans and refuting the drumbeat of articles in law school journals and other venues over the last two decades. The argument was that when LGBTQ rights conflict with traditional religious beliefs, religious free exercise rights must always give way as if every issue was, and is, a “zero sum” game where one side must win and the other side must lose.

Many of those defending exceptions that respect genuine religious convictions have argued this is not the case and the rights of the LGBTQ community could be recognized while still respecting the religious convictions of their fellow citizens. The Fulton decision proves the “zero sum” belief of complete winners and complete losers was fallacious.

Chief Justice Roberts writes in his unanimous opinion “the City has burdened the religious exercise of CSS through policies that do not meet the requirement of being neutral and generally applicable.” He then significantly notes the decision “prohibits no one from serving children,” but rather “simply ends a state discrimination” against those with deeply held religious convictions. Roberts is arguing that both the LGBTQ and Catholic Social Services (CSS) community can be accommodated, and more needy children can be served.

As the Chief Justice also noted, CSS “seeks only an accommodation that will allow it to continue serving the children of Philadelphia in a manner consistent with its religious beliefs; it does not seek to impose those beliefs on anyone else.” One could only wish the LGBTQ community were as tolerant and as accommodating of their fellow citizens as CSS has demonstrated itself to be.

This is indeed a decision to greatly encourage those who love and believe in freedom of conscience from government coercion in matters of religion. It shows at the very least the Supreme Court has a conservative majority willing to block overzealous governments that attempt to override the First Amendment. How widespread the Supreme Court will defend religious freedom in other areas is yet to be seen for religious groups.

PRAY: Pray the Supreme Court will defend religious freedoms while facing continued opposition from the political left.

News from the United Nations

Iran’s Election to UN Women’s Body Draws Outrage From Rights Activists

Iran’s election to the U.N.’s top women’s empowerment body despite having a poor record has drawn outrage from rights activists who criticized the Islamic republic’s treatment of women. The result of the secret ballot also has been met with silence from the U.S. 43 of the 54 nations in the U.N.’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) elected Iran to the Commission on the Status of Women for a four-year term beginning next year. The commission is the U.N.’s principal intergovernmental body dedicated to “the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.”

Iran received the smallest number of votes of the five nations elected to the body. Of the other four elected nations, China and Japan were already commission members while Lebanon and Pakistan will be new additions. Iran was not currently a member of the commission. Iran’s poor record on women’s rights was under fire at the world body earlier this year.

In his annual address to the U.N. Human Rights Council, U.N. Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, Javaid Rehman, noted “some positive steps” for Iranian women and girls in education and in citizenship rights. But he also said, “egregious gender-based discrimination persists in law, practice and societal attitudes, disempowering women and girls from participating and contributing in society.”

Austria-based Iranian rights activist Sholeh Zamini denounced Iran’s election to the commission as “shameful.” She said Iran will be the only country in the 45-member commission to have not ratified the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. “Not only has Iran not done this, but it is acting quite systematically to violate women’s rights,” she said.

Other Iranian women’s rights activists expressed similar sentiments on social media. Hillel Neuer, the executive director of the Geneva-based group UN Watch, said in an online statement that while ECOSOC typically rubber-stamps regional groups’ nominations for the Commission on the Status of Women, the U.S. exercised its authority as an ECOSOC member to call for a vote.

“I commend the Biden administration for forcing the vote, but they should also speak out to condemn the obscene election of [Iranian Supreme Leader] Ayatollah Khamenei’s regime to a women’s rights body,” Neuer said.

Since only 11 of ECOSOC’s 54 members did not vote for Iran in Tuesday’s secret ballot, Neuer noted that at least four of the council’s 15 European Union (EU) and Western Group democracies voted in favor of Iran. The State Department did not respond to a request for comment on how the U.S. voted and what it thinks of votes by its allies. Neuer expressed disappointment in the U.S. “going silent” on the issue. “Those who believe in the founding values of the United Nations cannot be silent when they are subverted,” he wrote.

In the Biden administration’s first report on Iran’s human rights record published last month, the State Department highlighted multiple issues with women’s rights including a “lack of meaningful investigation of and accountability for violence against women” and “significant legal, religious, and cultural barriers to political participation” for women.

“I hope that the U.S. & EU states negotiating with the Iranian regime over its nuclear weapons program did not make a Faustian bargain to betray women in Iran who are subjugated, discriminated against in law and practice and criminalized if they sing, dance or show their hair,” Neuer said.

This is yet another display of the United Nations favoring Iran, even though they have blatant rights violations and constantly attacks Israel over every move that they make.

UN Opens Israeli War Crimes Probe, Calls For Embargo

The United Nations Human Rights Council voted 24-9 to launch an investigation against Israel for alleged war crimes, including during the recent war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and called for an arms embargo against the Jewish state. An additional 14 countries out of the 47-member body abstained. It marks the first time that the UNHRC created a permanent fact-finding mission with respect to any UN member state. Israel’s Foreign Ministry immediately stated that it had no intention of cooperating with the probe.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated: “Today’s shameful decision is yet another example of the UN Human Rights Council’s blatant anti-Israel obsession. Once again, an immoral automatic majority at the Council whitewashes a genocidal terrorist organization that deliberately targets Israeli civilians while turning Gaza’s civilians into human shields. This while depicting as the ‘guilty party’ a democracy acting legitimately to protect its citizens from thousands of indiscriminate rocket attacks. This travesty makes a mockery of international law and encourages terrorists worldwide.”

In the debate that preceded the vote, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michele Bachelet warned that Israeli actions may already constitute “war crimes.” The “commission of inquiry” would examine incidents that occurred both before and after April 13, 2021 within sovereign Israel, including Jerusalem, as well as in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The decision to call for such a probe was submitted by the Palestinian Authority and Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

The United States said it was “deeply unfortunate” that the vote occurred “while we and others have been working to uphold and strengthen the ceasefire, ensure humanitarian assistance to Gaza.” It’s Geneva mission added that creation of a probe “threatens to imperil the progress that has been made in recent weeks... We will continue to advocate for Israel to be treated fairly in the Human Rights Council.” Germany took issue with an “indefinite” commission of inquiry that would “far exceed” any past fact-finding probes.

Israel’s Ambassador to the UN in Geneva Meirav Eilon Shahar warned the council against making a moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas, noting that prior to the start of the Gaza war one of its leaders called to cut off the heads of Jews. “On May 7th, a senior Hamas leader, Fathi Hammad, said and I quote “cut off the heads of the Jews with knives.” Just three days later, Hamas launched an unprovoked, unjustified attack against the civilian population in Israel, while cynically hiding military infrastructure in the midst of Gaza’s civilian population. This constitutes a double war crime,” Eilon Shahar said. “We will make no apologies for defending our citizens. Israel has the capabilities to defend its people in accordance with international law and we will continue to do so,” she said. Earlier in the day, she said, those who support the Palestinians should condemn Hamas.

During the debate Bachelet agreed Hamas caused deaths and injuries in southern Israel and its “rockets are indiscriminate and fail to distinguish between military and civilian objects, and their use, thereby, constitutes a clear violation of international humanitarian law.” Such violations include Hamas launching rockets from civilian areas, she said. “However, the actions of one party do not absolve the other from its obligations under international law,” Bachelet explained, nor did she accuse Hamas of potential war crimes. This is yet another example of the United Nations blatant attacks on Israel while failure to hold other groups accountable.

Favorable View of Palestinian Authority on the Rise

Recently in Atlanta, as hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators rallied downtown, one sign stood out: “We can’t breathe since 1948,” it read – a nod to the social unrest of the past year after the death of George Floyd. Experts said it’s a reflection of the way American support for the Palestinian cause is growing. A recent Gallup poll showed it was on the rise even before the latest Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Results of Gallup’s annual World Affairs poll, released in March, show that although most Americans still sympathize with Israel, favorable views of Palestinians are on the rise. Roughly 30% of overall respondents said they had favorable views of the Palestinian Authority, up from 21% in 2018 and higher than the annual average of 19% since 2001. Such views are increasingly partisan: Republican support for Israel is at 85% compared with 77% of Independents and 64% of Democrats. The percentage of Republicans who view the Palestinian Authority favorably has risen to 19%, up from 9% in 2018.

Omar Baddar, communication director for the California-based Institute for Middle East Understanding, said that even before the recent conflict, liberals had been increasingly critical of Israel. Although more Americans say the United States should pressure Palestinians more than Israel to resolve the conflict, Gallup reports those saying the onus is on Israel represent a new high of 34%, up from 27% in 2018.

Celebrities are increasingly outspoken about Palestinian support. This has caused an increase in support in the younger generations that many times blindly follow their favorite celebrities. Thousands demonstrated from Boston to Los Angeles, supporting Palestinians in rallies and marches marking the 73rd anniversary of the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. Among those marching in New York City’s Brooklyn borough was supermodel Bella Hadid whose father is Palestinian. Entertainers Rihanna, Zayn Malik and Rage Against the Machine posted Palestinian support on Instagram. Actors Mark Ruffalo, Susan Sarandon and Viola Davis took to Twitter to condemn Israel. Last year, actor Seth Rogen made waves when he said he was “fed a huge amount of lies about Israel” growing up as a Jewish boy, and his elders omitted information about Palestinian displacement.

The violence has also raised tensions with the United States. In Los Angeles, a brawl broke out outside a sushi restaurant between sidewalk diners and a group of men passing by in cars waving Palestinian flags. In Michigan, President Joe Biden’s visit to a Ford plant in heavily Arab American Dearborn was met with protest over U.S. support of Israel.

Some see similarities between struggles of Palestinians and Black community in U.S. When the most recent conflict began, the Black Lives Matter chapter in Paterson, New Jersey, issued a statement expressing Palestinian solidarity. “Our deep roots of solidarity are part of a rich tradition of mutual support and exchange between Palestine and U.S.-based liberation movements.”

Baddar said the link between the struggles of Palestinians and Black Americans – a concept scholars call Black-Palestinian transnational solidarity – dates to the 1980s, when Jesse Jackson ran for president on a platform that included demands for Palestinian human rights. The years since have produced other comparisons in terms of discriminations and militarized police response, he said.

Although most Americans still support Israel, one cannot downplay the significance of celebrity political activism to sway the younger generation. In the future, this could lead America away from supporting Israel.