Tag: religion

Britain Imposes Islamic Blasphemy Law as Man is Convicted of Burning a Quran

Britain’s transformation into an Islamic state is almost complete.

The case in question relates to a man who has been convicted of a “religiously aggravated public order offence” after he burned a Quran outside the Turkish consulate in London.

The Spectator magazine reports:

This law has been created by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and District Judge John McGarva. Between them they have prosecuted and found a man guilty of a ‘religiously aggravated public order offence’ because he burned a Quran outside the Turkish consulate.

The CPS mounted a prosecution conflating the religious institution of Islam, with Muslims as people, and a British judge has accepted this. Islamic blasphemy codes are now being enforced by arms of the British state, via what the National Secular Society describes as ‘a troubling repurposing of public order laws as a proxy for blasphemy laws’.

Hamit Coskun burned a Quran outside the Turkish consulate in February, before being attacked by a man named Moussa Kadri who has since pleaded guilty to the assault. Mr Coskun was initially charged under the Crime and Disorder Act with ‘intent to cause against the religious institution of Islam harassment, alarm or distress’.

On sentencing Coskun, the left-wing activist Judge John McGarva said Coskun’s conduct was “provocative and taunting” and accused him of harboring a “deep-seated hatred of Islam and its followers.”

Keep reading

FBI opens investigation into targeted violence against Christians in Seattle

Dan Bongino of the FBI announced on Tuesday that the agency has opened an investigation into “allegations of targetd violence against religious groups at the Seattle concert.” This follows an incident on Sunday in which Mayday USA, a Christian group, held a permitted concert in Cal Anderson Park which drew Antifa counter-protesters who then attacked the Christians.

Following the attack, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell condemned the Christian group who was attacked, claiming that they were “far-right” and had no business holding an event in the park due to its proximity to the locus of the LGBTQ+ community. 23 arrests were made among the militants who showed up to harass the Christian event.

“We have asked our team to fully investigate allegations of targeted violence against religious groups at the Seattle concert. Freedom of religion isn’t a suggestion,” Bongino said.

“Today’s far-right rally was held here for this very reason – to provoke a reaction by promoting beliefs that are inherently opposed to our city’s values in the heart of Seattle’s most prominent LGBTQ+ neighborhood,” Harrell said following the event on Saturday.

“When the humanity of trans people and those who have been historically marginalized is questioned, we triumph by demonstrating our values through our words and peaceful protest – we lose our voice when this is disrupted by violence, chaos, and confusion,” Harrell went on. 

This led to calls for Harrell’s resignation and those calls turned into a protest on Tuesday where the Christian group protested Harrell and more Antifa and trans activists showed up to protest the Christians.

It was later revealed that, despite Harrell’s protestations against the Christian group and his complaints over the location of their event, city officials had previously suggested that the event happen in the park. Event organizers had suggested Pike Street, the location of the iconic Pike Place Market, but an official said that “other Seattle Parks locations” should be considered, including Cal Anderson Park on Capitol Hill where the event did go forward.

Keep reading

SCOTUS redux? California courts reject Christian baker punished for lesbian wedding cake refusal

It’s deja vu all over again for makers of custom wedding cakes who seek to operate their bakeries based on their religious beliefs, and possibly for the U.S. Supreme Court as well.

The California Supreme Court has declined to hear a petition for review by Christian baker Cathy Miller, who says her Tastries Bakery is limited to custom wedding cakes and refused to make one for a lesbian wedding in 2017, leading her lawyers to promise to petition SCOTUS. It didn’t give a reason for the denial.

A week-long trial determined Miller engages in “pure speech” and “expressive conduct” protected by the First Amendment, reflecting a SCOTUS precedent for Colorado web designer Lorie Smith, who resisted designing same-sex marriage websites and received a $1.5 million settlement from the state after the SCOTUS ruling.

But a California appeals court overruled the factual findings, deeming the white, three-tiered cake sought by Eileen and Mireya Rodriguez-Del Rio “predesigned” because it appeared as a “display cake” in the shop and allegedly held “no recognizable symbolic meaning.”

That violates a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals precedent upholding the First Amendment rights of tattoo artists, who use similar “sample books” as starting points for original designs, Miller’s petition says.

The couple itself “emphasized the expressive import of the cake,” with Mireya testifying “she wanted a cake inspired by two of Tastries’ display cakes,” and later commissioned “a tiered symbolic Styrofoam cake with a small, edible top layer” from a former Tastries employee who then served it at their wedding. 

That former employee testified that she considers herself a “cake artist” and that the California Civil Rights Department, which sued Miller for declining the lesbian wedding order, “advised her not” to promote the cake she made for the Rodriguez-Del Rios on Instagram, the petition says, implying the department knew that would undermine its case.

The petition asked the California Supreme Court to consider whether the First Amendment’s free speech clause protected her right to refuse creating a lesbian wedding cake, and whether the appeals court’s ruling that the state’s Unruh Act is “neutral” and “generally applicable” conflict with three SCOTUS and one 9th Circuit precedents since 2018.

“As a former teacher, Cathy’s process for designing wedding cakes is unique: she meets with each couple for over an hour, and spends time teaching them the religious and symbolic meaning behind the wedding cake they’re commissioning to celebrate their union,” her lawyers at religious liberty law firm Becket said.

Miller set up “written design standards” early in her business in response to customers asking for designs that “contradict her faith,” such as “gory or pornographic images,” celebrations of drug use or depictions that “demean others” in addition to violations of “the Christian sacrament of marriage,” the firm said.

Those resemble the standards observed by Colorado custom cake baker Jack Phillips, who has spent a decade in state and federal court for his Masterpiece Cakeshop’s right to resist making cakes that celebrate same-sex marriage or gender transitions. 

Keep reading

Anti-Christian agenda now costing Hawaiian taxpayers $100,000

An agenda to deprive after-school Bible clubs of the same access to schools that other clubs were granted routinely now is costing the taxpayers in the state of Hawaii.

A report from Liberty Counsel, which fought the state on behalf of Child Evangelism Fellowship and its Good News Clubs, revealed that the state appropriations bill, just signed by Gov. Josh Green, provides $100,000 to CEF following a court ruling.

It was last December that a federal judge granted Liberty Counsel a permanent injunction on behalf of CEF against the state that provided equal access to school facilities.

That access had been “unlawfully denied” by the state Department of Education and six different elementary schools, the report said.

The injunction granted CEF Hawaii “prevailing party” status in the dispute, a move that now protects the Good News Clubs from the previous viewpoint discrimination, but also calls for the state to cover litigation costs.

The result now is that the state will give CEF’s clubs access to schools equal to other similarly situated organizations across the state.

Liberty Counsel reported, “During the lawsuit, Hawaii’s Department of Education conceded that one school denied CEF Hawaii use of its facilities based on religion, while another school’s denial was due to a ‘misapplication’ of school policies. CEF Hawaii contended that after it appealed the ‘blatant religious discrimination’ of these denials to the Hawaii State Department of Education, it never received any response, nor did school officials take any corrective actions.”

Other organizations that had been granted access included the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, Girls on the Run, A+ After School Programs, and YMCA.

The state had allowed CEF’s Good News Clubs in more than a dozen schools on Oahu and other islands before COVID-19.

“Then, after restricting after-school programs due to COVID-19, schools fully restored after-school programs in 2022. However, the Hawaii State Department of Education, through four of its superintendents and other officials, had denied every request submitted by CEF to restart its programs and either expressly or effectively denied every appeal, while allowing access for other similar groups to meet after school on campus,” Liberty Counsel explained.

There are more than 3,000 Good News Clubs in elementary schools across the nation.

Keep reading

Seattle’s Woke Problem: You Don’t Hate Antifa Or Leftist Politicians Enough

If you want to travel back in history and get a glimpse of the spread of violent Bolshevism across Europe in the early 20th Century, the west coast of the US in 2025 is a close parallel.  Seattle in particular has become a cesspool of extreme Antifa activism and apathetic local governance.  It’s a place where zero tolerance is displayed for differing political views and violence is considered an acceptable strategy to silence opponents.  Seattle is a glimpse back to the height of the woke era, and a warning of what could happen if the political left is ever allowed to gain real power again.

As we covered last week, Antifa groups organized and descended on a Christian event held by Mayday USA in Cal Anderson Park, within the same area that was once the “CHAZ autonomous zone” during the riots of 2020.  The reaction from the woke mob to the peaceful free speech event was vicious and at least 23 arrests were made by police.

What the local news does not mention, however, is the fact that these kinds of disruptive actions are a regular occurrence in the Seattle area.  Any visit from a conservative group or speaker in a public venue is immediately swarmed and attacked; people who attend the events are specifically targeted for harassment.  Antifa isn’t only seeking to intimidate the speakers or the organizers, they go after anyone who shows up to listen.  The establishment media will never show you most of these incidents.

Keep reading

Pro-Trump Christian: Kennedy Center Fired Me Over My Religious Beliefs

A prominent pro-Trump Christian says he was fired from his role as vice president of the Kennedy Center just because he refused to renounce his belief that marriage is between one man and one woman.

Floyd Brown, the founder of Western Journal, had been recruited about a month ago to serve as the performing arts center’s vice president.

He accused Kennedy Center president Ric Grenell, who is married to a man, of being intimidated by a CNN hit piece that highlighted what the news network called Brown’s anti-gay rhetoric.

He asked to speak to Grenell for an explanation, but his request was rejected. The Kennedy Center has not responded to inquiries about the allegations.

Brown said “the only explanation is the one given to me at the time of my firing. ‘Floyd, you must recant your belief in traditional marriage and your past statements on the topic, or you will be fired.’ Needless to say, I refused to recant and was shown the door. My beliefs are much more common to Biblical Christianity.”

CNN’s KFile published the attack on Brown Thursday titled, “Far-Right with history of anti-gay comments fired from leadership role at Kennedy Center after CNN investigation.”

Brown said the article, which is behind a paywall, rehashed “past writings and statements about traditional marriage and homosexual influence in the GOP.”

Brown released a statement CNN in response to their hit piece.

“It is an honor to work at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and with the many amazing people who are employed here. Comments rooted in my personal Christian views, which I have made in the past, have no impact upon my work here at the Kennedy Center nor do they impinge on my interactions with colleagues who do incredible work for the patrons of the Center. As a Christian I am called to work with others of different beliefs and worldviews.”

Brown said there was no intention to offend anyone with his Christian beliefs.

Keep reading

Smotrich Calls For ‘Rebuilding Temple’ During Jerusalem Day Celebrations

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has called for the rebuilding of a Jewish temple on the site of Al-Aqsa Mosque and for the expansion of Israel’s borders and Jewish settlements in Gaza.

In speech addressing crowds at a Jerusalem Day rally on Monday, which celebrates Israel’s occupation of the old city of Jerusalem, Smotrich also called for “complete redemption” and reconstruction of “the Temple here,” referring to Al-Aqsa Mosque, which settlers had raided earlier.

“We are conquering the Land of Israel, liberating Gaza, settling Gaza and defeating the enemy,” Smotrich said to crowds that had chanted “death to Arabs” as they marched through Jerusalem’s Old City and attacked Palestinians. 

“With God’s help, we will expand Israel’s borders, bring about complete redemption, and rebuild the Temple here,” he said.

Smotrich also reiterated his calls for Jewish settlement in Gaza, declaring that “Israel is not afraid of the word occupation”.

“Some people are afraid of victory. We are not afraid of victory,” he said. “Lets give strength to our brave and heroic fighters”.

Several attacks and brawls were caught on film during Jerusalem Day marches…

Keep reading

FBI Probing Allegations Of ‘Targeted Violence’ Against Religious Groups in Seattle: Official

The FBI is investigating after officials said a religious event in Seattle was disrupted by violence, a top FBI official said on May 27.

“We have asked our team to fully investigate allegations of targeted violence against religious groups at the Seattle concert,” Dan Bongino, the FBI’s deputy director, said on social media platform X. “Freedom of religion isn’t a suggestion.”

The office of Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.

Organizers said the May 24 event was held at Cal Anderson Park in support of “the sanctity of human life, the sacrality of biological gender, the importance of the nuclear family, and the right to freedom of speech and religion.”

They said the movement organizing the event stands against indoctrination of children “by a liberal, political, and sexual agenda that seeks to destroy their God-given identities.”

Counterprotesters, including the Freedom Socialist Party, said their demonstration was meant to “keep your bibles off our bodies.”

Clashes at the event resulted in 23 arrests, the Seattle Police Department said. One juvenile was released. The rest of those arrested were charged with assault and obstruction.

The White House Faith Office said in a statement on Tuesday that it condemned “the violent disruption of Seattle’s MayDay USA worship event.”

“We affirm the fundamental rights to free speech and religious freedom for all Americans, as protected by federal law. Public officials must protect the inalienable rights of all citizens, regardless of their faith or religious beliefs. We urge the City of Seattle to uphold these rights at all faith-based events, safeguarding the ability of people of faith to gather and express their beliefs without fear of harassment or violence,” the office said.

After the event, Harrell, a Democrat, called it a “far-right rally” that he said was meant “to provoke a reaction by promoting beliefs that are inherently opposed to our city’s values, in the heart of Seattle’s most prominent LGBTQ+ neighborhood.”

He said that anarchists infiltrated counterprotesters and “inspired violence,” which led to officers making arrests and asking organizers to end the event early. The request was accepted.

Organizers said in a statement to news outlets that “under Mayor Harrell’s leadership, the city of Seattle has continued its spiral into lawlessness and dysfunction while the First Amendment rights of citizens to peacefully assemble has been disregarded.”

Keep reading

When City Hall Chooses the Mob

In Seattle last weekend, violence broke out—not from the pulpit, but from the pavement.

Pastors and churchgoers, gathered for a permitted worship event in a city park, found themselves besieged by a black-clad mob who attempted to tear down fencing, rush the stage, and shout them down.

The attackers were not counter-protesters in any constitutional sense of the word. They were masked militants whose tactics have become a hallmark of Antifa: organized, aggressive, and aimed not at persuasion but suppression.

To their credit, the Seattle police intervened. Arrests were made. Barricades held. For a moment, law reasserted itself in a city too long governed by hesitation.

Then came the mayor.

Bruce Harrell, elected to lead but seemingly content to triangulate, did not respond with praise for law enforcement or a reaffirmation of Seattle’s civic obligations to neutrality and free expression.

Instead, he questioned the Christian group’s presence—why they had been issued a permit and why their event had not been relocated to a “less provocative” area.

Translated: The fault lies not with the mob—heaven forbid—but those who dared to speak within earshot of it.

This goes beyond appeasement or failed civic leadership. The mayor effectively signaled that the rule of law in Seattle is conditional—and that those who assault Christians may expect indulgence, while those who dare to preach in public may expect scrutiny.

Harrell’s statement is a masterclass in moral evasion. It nods toward “anarchists,” then downplays their aggression with sanitized language like “infiltrated” and “disrupted”—as if masked militants had simply wandered in with the breeze.

Rather than commend his officers or affirm the constitutional right of peaceful assembly, Harrell issued a statement directing the Parks Department to reexamine the permitting process and urging the police to produce an after-action report focused on crowd management tactics and the arrests themselves.

The subtext was unmistakable: those arrested may soon be recast as misunderstood protesters, and the officers who protected the event could find themselves under internal review.

In Seattle, even enforcing the law can become grounds for investigation—if you defend the wrong group.

The mayor then implies that the real danger lies in “far-right” speech held in a historically LGBTQ+ neighborhood. In other words, the public square is now zoned for ideology.

Speech rights may exist on paper but are conditional—revocable if your message strays from the orthodoxy or irritates Seattle’s cringeworthy Mayor LaTrivia, always eager with bureaucratic balm for the mob’s bruised feelings.

Keep reading

US State Department Concerned Over Malaysia’s Arrest of Falun Gong Practitioners Before Xi’s Visit

Malaysia’s decision to detain dozens of Falun Gong practitioners before and during a visit from Chinese leader Xi Jinping has drawn alarm from the U.S. State Department and human rights advocates.

Two days before Xi’s arrival in mid-April in the country’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, about two dozen police officers appeared at a private venue where nearly 80 Falun Gong practitioners had gathered for a routine study of spiritual texts. The officers demanded their identification documents and forcibly detained them.

Those arrested include a woman older than 80 and a 10-year-old child. Among the group were also 29 people originally from China who are seeking protection from the sweeping persecution targeting their beliefs in China. Several are U.N. refugees. The 47 Malaysian citizens were released hours after Xi left, and the Chinese nationals were freed during the two weeks that followed.

The mass arrest marked the first of its kind in Malaysia, taking place as Xi toured Southeast Asia to promote the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as a reliable trading partner amid a tariff war with the United States.

The U.S. State Department expressed concern about the reports.

“We call on the Chinese Communist Party to end its nearly 26-year campaign to eradicate Falun Gong and to cease its attempts to pressure other governments to repress the practice of Falun Gong,” a department spokesperson told The Epoch Times.

Keep reading