Tag: religion

Pakistani firm ordered to demolish illegal Saitama mosque

Municipal authorities in Kawagoe City have issued a corrective directive demanding the removal of a newly constructed mosque, declaring it an illegal structure built without permits on restricted land, reports the Sankei Shimbun (May 31).

The facility, named Japan Jama Masjid Ramzan, sits in the city’s Shimo-Akasaka district. Despite its unauthorized status, the mosque held a grand opening ceremony on April 3, an event reportedly attended by the Pakistani Ambassador to Japan.

According to the city’s Development Guidance Division, the mosque was erected in an “Urbanization Control Area” — a designated zone where development and construction are strictly regulated under the City Planning Act. The builders never submitted applications or received permission to build.

City officials first learned of the rogue construction in October following complaints from local residents. By the time officials arrived, the exterior of the building was already largely complete.

Despite repeated demands from the city to halt construction, the warnings were ignored.

“Initially, the situation continued where the workers would just tell us, ‘Nihongo wakaranai‘ (I don’t understand Japanese),” a city official said. “Our staff went to the site numerous times to explicitly tell them that building there was prohibited.”

Because the structure remains unregistered and its exact owner technically unknown, the city issued its directives to the landowner. In March, ownership of the plot was transferred from a Fujimi City real estate agency to a company headed by a Pakistani national, with its headquarters listed at the same site.

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British Cop Banned from Policing for Having Christian Book in Work Locker Wins Settlement

A former British police officer who was banned from serving after asking questions about Islam has reached a settlement with the police force that banned him.

“I am pleased to have now reached a settlement, I want to move on with my life but believe radical national change is needed in our police force,” former officer Luke Salmons said, according to the BBC.

Salmons ran afoul of the rules when during an October 2024 training session he asked some hard questions about Islam.

“The whole day was pretty much about Islam. At one point the trainers walked up and down the room for several minutes saying ‘Islam is a religion of peace’ over and over again. It was bizarre,” he said.

A Muslim sergeant invited him to a discussion over coffee after a private lunch conversation. To be prepared, Salmons brought a copy of “Answering Jihad — A Better Way Forward” by Nabeel Qureshi, an ex-Muslim turned Christian, to work with him.

Two officers photographed the book, and the next day, the hammer fell when an inspector took him aside.

“She took me in a room, deliberately said to me, ‘I don’t like your beliefs,’ which indicates to me that she was meaning my Christian beliefs, which is discrimination towards me and my faith, which in itself is gross misconduct,” he said, according to Fox News.

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James Talarico Said Christianity Is the ‘Most Violent’ Religion, Has Done ‘More Damage’ to Islam

Texas Democrat U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico, who is running against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, has accused Christianity of causing unmatched harm while opposing President Donald Trump’s immigration restrictions on terrorism-prone nations and repeatedly aligning himself with Muslim communities.

Texas state Rep. and Presbyterian seminarian James Talarico said earlier this year in a New Yorker profile that Christianity is the “most violent” religion and has done “more damage” to Islam than it has done to any other religion.

The remarks stand in contrast to figures from the Cato Institute, which say radical Islamic terror has killed at least 3,100 Americans in the United States since 1975, along with thousands of U.S. soldiers overseas. The Cato figures also state that radical Islamic terror has accounted for 87 percent of terrorism-related deaths over the past 50 years.

In a clip provided exclusively to Breitbart News, Talarico spoke to the Pakistani American Council of Texas and criticized President Donald Trump for restricting immigration from countries described as radical Islamic terrorism hot spots. Talarico called Trump “a threat to all of us” and said he stands with his “Muslim brothers and sisters.”

Talarico has publicly supported Muslim Texans for years. In 2017, Talarico wrote, “Proud to stand with our Muslim neighbors today. Texas is big enough for all of us. #NoBanNoWall.” Critics of Trump’s policy frequently referred to it as a “Muslim ban,” though Breitbart News noted that the January 2017 order applied to countries previously identified as particularly vulnerable to terrorism, partly because of substandard internal record-keeping, including Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen, rather than to Muslims generally.

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Ritual child abuse and rape is a societal norm in ‘Israel’ according to latest investigation by Zionist media outlet

From religious ritualistic rape to the sadistic rape of Palestinian prisoners including children, this is a society drunk on violence, depravity and without any recognisable boundaries

18-month old Karim tortured by the Zionist forces in Gaza. Photo: Osama Al-Kahlout

In recent weeks, Zionist forces tortured an 18-month old child to force his father, who witnessed the abuse, to confess. The horrific event took place in Central Gaza, in the Al Maghazi refugee camp.

The father, Osama Abu Nasser was already suffering from Zionist-enforced poverty after his horse, his sole means of income, was killed. He took his son to buy supplies for the family. He was trapped by gunfire near his home and the IOF ordered him to abandon his son on the ground and to approach the Zionist checkpoint. He was then forced to strip naked.

According to witness statements, the Zionists took the child and interrogated the father with the child in front of him. The terrorists burned the child with cigarettes, inserted a metal nail into his leg while the father watched, powerless. This was later confirmed by a medical report.

After 10 hours of abuse, the child Karim was released and handed over to the International Red Cross. The father is still being detained.

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DOJ Backs Catholic Nuns Fighting New York Law Requiring Biological Men to Be Housed with Women in Hospice Care

The Trump Justice Department has stepped into a major religious liberty battle, backing an order of Catholic nuns challenging a New York law that would force them to house biological men with female patients in their residential hospice facility.

As The Gateway Pundit reported in April 2026, the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, a 125-year-old order of Catholic nuns, were forced to sue radical New York Governor Kathy Hochul and her administration after the state threatened them with fines, license revocation, and even jail time for refusing to house biological men identifying as women in rooms with terminally ill female cancer patients at their free Rosary Hill Home hospice.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Governor Kathy Hochul and the state Department of Health.

The law, the LGBTQ Long-Term Care Facility Residents’ Bill of Rights, requires nursing homes to assign patient rooms based on gender identity even over a roommate’s objection, use preferred pronouns including when the patient is not present, allow restroom access based on gender identity, and post public notices of compliance.

The Sisters argue that the state’s transgender accommodation mandate violates their constitutional rights and threatens their ability to continue their century-old mission of caring for the dying poor.

The state sent the sisters three “Dear Administrator Letters” in March 2024, October 2024, and January 2025, notifying them of their obligation to comply. The sisters stated they have not complied, and do not intend to.

The law applies to all licensed nursing homes in New York State, with the trigger being the state license to operate rather than the receipt of state funding. Courts have generally allowed the government to attach conditions to public funding, but applying mandates to private religious organizations that take no public funds is a significantly harder legal argument for the state, and more likely to be seen as direct infringement on religious freedom and free speech. New York granted an exemption to facilities run by the Church of Christ, Scientist, but not to Catholic institutions.

On Thursday, the Department of Justice notified a federal court that it intends to intervene in a lawsuit brought by the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne against the State of New York.

“States should take notice that they cannot require Americans to abandon their religious beliefs in the name of woke gender ideology,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division declared.

“For more than a century, the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne have provided free palliative care to indigent cancer patients in their last days. New York’s law would force these religious women to choose between their faith and their license if they wish to continue serving the dying.”

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Iran Sentences Singer Parastoo Ahmadi to 74 Lashings for Performing Without a Hijab

An Iranian singer, along with her production team, has been sentenced to 74 lashings for performing a patriotic song without a hijab in a viral video.

In 2024, Parastoo Ahmadi, age 29, livestreamed a video of her singing the patriotic song Az Khoone Javanane Vatan (From the Blood of the Youth of the Homeland) that went viral, generating millions of views. She and several musicians who performed with her was briefly detained before being released, but according to court documents obtained by The Guardian, she received a harsh and brutal punishment by the regime for not wearing a hijab.

According to court documents, the criminal court of Qom province sentenced the artists to flogging, a two-year ban on leaving the country and a two-year ban on engaging in artistic activities on charges that include offending public decency through the production and publication of “vulgar and immoral content” online.

Although the official judiciary news agency has yet to publish the ruling, rights groups and lawyers who reviewed the documents said the pattern of arrests and legal cases against artists publicly defying the regime reflects a broader effort to deter cultural dissent.

Bahar Ghandehari, the director of advocacy at the US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran, said that the punishment shows the severity of Iran’s human rights abuses.

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Trump-Appointed Judge Orders ICE to Release Hamas-Linked Milwaukee Mosque President Salah Sarsour Despite Terror Convictions and Immigration Fraud Allegations

A federal judge on Thursday ordered the immediate release of Salah Sarsour, the president of Wisconsin’s largest mosque. Sarsour had been locked up by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who flagged him as a serious foreign policy and national security threat.

As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, ICE arrested Salah Sarsour, president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee (Wisconsin’s largest mosque) and board member of the pro-Palestinian group American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), on March 30.

DHS labeled him a terrorist. He was convicted by an Israeli military court of throwing a Molotov cocktail at Israeli forces and later attempting to possess weapons and ammunition. He allegedly lied on his U.S. immigration forms to secure a green card under President Bill Clinton.

Sarsour also raised funds for the Holy Land Foundation (HLF), the Hamas front group convicted of funneling over $12 million to terrorists. An FBI memo from 2001 listed him as a Hamas fundraiser in the U.S. through HLF. His brother Imad was similarly flagged.

Now a federal judge has set him free.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge James Patrick Hanlon, nominated to the bench by President Trump in 2018, ordered ICE to immediately release Sarsour from the Indiana county jail where he was being held, according to CNN.

Hanlon ruled that Sarsour raised a “substantial” claim he was targeted for speaking out in favor of Palestinian rights. The judge said ICE and DHS failed to provide enough evidence to refute allegations of retaliation for protected speech or explain why Sarsour suddenly became a national security threat after more than three decades as a legal permanent resident.

“The mere invocation of foreign relations concerns does not automatically trump First Amendment rights,” Hanlon wrote in the decision, according to CNN.

Sarsour was released within hours. He returned to Milwaukee, where supporters greeted him as he headed back to the Islamic Society of Milwaukee.

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Christian Therapist Beats State of Oregon, Will Not Have to Pay Eye-Watering Fine for Standing By Christian Beliefs

A Roman Catholic therapist who refused to bow to the LGBT altar is no longer being threatened with a $90,000 fine for being true to his beliefs.

Frank Canepa ran afoul of Oregon’s rules when he refused to get all gushy over a client’s same-sex relationship, according to Just the News.

Oregon’s Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists decided that standing up instead of bowing down required a hefty dose of discipline, and whacked Canepa with a $90,000 fine. The penalty and the disciplinary notice that went with it have both been rescinded.

Then came a March ruling from the Supreme Court that cut the legs out from under Oregon by ruling in favor of a Colorado therapist, Kaley Chiles, who did not fall into line with state thinking by saying minor clients suffered from gender confusion.

During a counseling session with a client Canepa had seen for more than two years, he refused to support her same-sex relationship, as noted by a news release from the Alliance Defending Freedom.

Canepa explained that his faith would not allow him to do what his client wanted.

“The government can’t target counselors for their views and force people to say things that go against their core convictions,” ADF Senior Counsel and Vice President of Litigation Strategy Jonathan Scruggs said.

“The Supreme Court recently took Colorado to task for censoring counselors and mandating orthodoxy in the counselor’s office, and Oregon should take notice. ADF will continue to ensure that free speech is protected in Oregon — and every state where it’s threatened — and halt states’ attempts to weaponize their licensure systems,” he said.

Although Canepa tried to avoid passing judgment on his client’s relationship, the client persisted until he finally told her what he believed was not compatible with what she was doing.

For that, the Oregon board said Canepa violated Oregon law and the American Counseling Association’s Code of Ethics. In addition to the fine, he was ordered to undergo six hours of education.

“The Supreme Court has ruled that the First Amendment protects counselors and that the government cannot then attempt to punish counselors for answering a client’s question about a counselor’s view on a subject,” Logan Spena, legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom’s Center for Free Speech, said, according to the Statesman-Journal.

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RAPE GANGS: New Report Exposes How Woke Ideology Enabled One of the Most Horrific Scandals in British History

It sounds too horrible to be true: Predominantly Muslim gangs reportedly kidnapped, raped, and trafficked 250,000 young white girls in Britain over a period of decades, and authorities repeatedly looked the other way due to “political correctness,” the woke ideology preaching that men from certain foreign countries could only ever be considered victims, not perpetrators.

A horrifying new report provides further evidence clarifying the phenomenon, however, and it reveals the astonishing extent to which woke ideology can blind people, even to direct threats against Britain’s vulnerable young girls.

The Rape Gang Inquiry published a report Tuesday, finding that these “coordinated operations” extended “to all corners of the country,” in 149 local authority districts, about 40% of all such districts. Member of Parliament Rupert Lowe, leader of the Restore Britain party, led the initiative, and his report heavily criticizes both the leftist Labour Party and the establishment Conservative Party.

The report accuses Labour leaders of having “framed legitimate concerns as ‘far-right’ agitation,” and claims the government “failed to impose mandatory ethnicity recording or launch a full statutory inquiry despite clear evidence.”

Why ignore or suppress the investigations? Because they’re politically inconvenient.

“Political correctness, fear of accusations of racism, and fear of losing electoral support from certain demographics have taken precedence over the protection of British children,” the report states.

Naturally, Lowe has an axe to grind, and the British government is running a separate investigation into the issue, but there’s good reason to take Lowe’s report seriously.

The rape gang issue is politically explosive—and extremely problematic for the woke leftist worldview.

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The Banality of Keir Starmer: Chestless Bureaucrats and the Betrayal of Britain’s Daughters

In 1961, Hannah Arendt, already well known among the intellectual elites of America as an expert on the Nazi atrocities, was commissioned by The New Yorker to cover the trial of Adolf Eichmann, the man who had organized the logistics of the Holocaust. Eichmann had been captured the previous year in Argentina in a daring Mossad operation and smuggled out of the country so that Israel could put him on trial for his crimes.

As Arendt watched the trial, she realized in horror that the smug, evil, monstrous character she had expected to see was in fact a petty, banal, and sometimes silly bureaucrat, a man of little creativity and no real moral agency. Eichmann was an apparatchik who spouted bureaucratese and blamed “the system” for actions that led to the cold-hearted murder of millions of Jews and other innocent people.

This was not the dramatic villain of popular imagination. Eichmann did not foam at the mouth with ideological fury. He did not radiate demonic charisma. He was ordinary. He was shallow. He was obsessed with his own minor career successes and wrapped himself in the comforting language of duty, procedure, and obedience. The man who had coordinated the trains, the roundups, and the machinery of death spoke like a mid-level manager defending his quarterly reports.

Arendt had come to Jerusalem prepared to witness radical evil. What she encountered instead was something more disturbing: the banality of evil. In her subsequent book, Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, she argued that the great atrocities of the modern age are often carried out not by monsters, but by thoughtless functionaries: men and women who fail to think critically, who cannot (or will not) see the human reality of their actions, and who hide behind the impersonal shield of bureaucracy and cliché.

The evil was real. The deeds were monstrous. But the perpetrator, at least in this case, was strikingly mediocre. Arendt’s phrase was never meant to excuse Eichmann. It was meant to warn us: this kind of evil is harder to fight precisely because it looks so ordinary. It spreads not through grand passion, but through small, everyday failures of moral imagination.

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