Tag: religion

South Korea’s Church Raids: A Political Assault by the New Administration Disguised as Law Enforcement

In the span of just a few months in 2025, the South Korean government under President Lee Jae-myung has launched a series of unprecedented raids against major churches and senior Christian leaders. What makes this wave of crackdowns so alarming is not only its scale, but also its unmistakable political targeting.

The churches under attack—Yeouido Full Gospel Church, SaRang Jeil Church, Segyero Church, and Unjeong Chamjon Church—have something in common: they are at the forefront of defending freedom, practicing biblical convictions, and voicing opposition to the impeachment and imprisonment of former President Yoon Suk-yeol and former First Lady Kim Keon-hee.

Since the National Assembly forced through the impeachment bill in December 2024, these churches have been the backbone of nationwide protests demanding Yoon’s reinstatement and release.

Public opposition to impeachment surged above 50%, largely driven by church-led movements. Today, the overwhelming majority of citizens who still reject Lee Jae-myung’s presidency and call for Yoon’s release are Christians.

The government knows this. And by striking at churches, it is attempting to dismantle the very infrastructure of resistance.

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Why the Media Won’t Tell You Who Killed Children at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis

On Wednesday morning, a gunman dressed in black opened fire at Annunciation Catholic Church and school in Minneapolis while children were celebrating Mass. At least two young children were killed, and 17 others, mostly children, were injured. The shooter, who killed himself, identified as trans.

The mass shooting and its media coverage echo what happened more than two years ago in Nashville, when a trans shooter, Audrey “Aiden” Hale, murdered three children and three staff at The Covenant School, a Christian school connected to the Covenant Presbyterian Church. In that case, the liberal press downplayed or completely ignored Hale’s trans radicalism, despite the disturbing details revealed in her journals.

Now, Democrats and much of the media are concealing the Minneapolis shooter’s identity. The truth: 23-year-old Robin M. Westman, of Minneapolis, was previously known as Robert Paul Westman. He came from a liberal Saint Paul, Minn. family that fully affirmed his transition as a minor. In 2020, his parents petitioned the court to change his legal identity.

“[‘Robin’] identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification,” his mother, Mary Westman, wrote in the filing. When Robert turned 18, his father, James Westman, marked the occasion with a public Facebook announcement using the trans flag colors.

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Robin Westman named as Minneapolis Catholic school shooter as chilling videos plotting attack are revealed

The shooter who opened fire in the church of a Minneapolis Catholic School, killing two children, has been identified as Robin Westman, 23.

Westman, formerly known as Robert, shot through stained glass windows at the children sitting on the pews inside Annunciation Catholic School’s church at about 8.30am local time Wednesday, officials said. He then turned the gun on himself.

The shooter, who grew up in Richfield, changed his name to Robin in 2020, when he was 17, KARE 11 reported.

His mother was an employee at the school before her 2021 retirement.

Two children aged eight and 10 were killed in the attack and at least 17 other victims – – 14 children and three adults – were injured, according to authorities.

The shooter’s identity was first confirmed by the local outlet KSTP. Officials said they are looking into his motive but said he has no extensive known criminal history.

A now-deleted YouTube account believed to belong to Westman shared what appeared to be a manifesto just hours before the shooting.

Police are looking into the disturbing 20-minute video, according to The New York Post.

The video appeared to show a drawing of a church. It then showed someone stabbing the drawing repeatedly as he quietly says ‘I’m going to kill myself.’

Other clips posted to the YouTube account show gun parts and semi-automatic rifle and a shotgun. The gun parts had the names of other mass shooters written on them.

Police said the gunman parked his vehicle near the school and they will be investigating it as part of their probe.

Officials said in a press conference the shooter was armed with three guns – a rifle, a shotgun and a pistol. He fired all three weapons during the attack, police said.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the shooter approached the side of the church and shot through the windows toward the children sitting in the pews.

It is unclear if the shooter fired any of the weapons from inside the church or carried out the entire mass shooting outside before going inside.

Police said at least two of the church doors appeared to have been blocked by two by fours before the shooting, suggesting the gunman wanted to trap the people inside.

The students at the Catholic grade school had started school on Monday and were attending mass when the shooter stormed the church, which is connected to the school.

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Convicted NZ mosque murderer Brenton Tarrant was an intelligence operative

FBI Director Kash Patel travelled to New Zealand July 31, 2025 to open a dedicated law enforcement attaché office in Wellington. While the FBI has stationed personnel in New Zealand for several years, establishing a full legat position in the country will strengthen and enhance the longstanding cooperation with a key Five Eyes partner in the southwestern Pacific region. 

“The FBI has had a strong relationship and collaborated closely with our counterparts in New Zealand for years,” said Director Patel.

“Expanding the Wellington office demonstrates the strength and evolution of our partnership as we continue to work together to address our shared security objectives in the region.”

Although Kash Patel’s recent visit has not heralded any major incident in New Zealand there was an occasion when visiting US officials did precede an alleged mass shooting.

John Podesta, Hilary Clinton’s campaign manager and Obama counsel, arrived in New Zealand five days before the mosque massacre March 15, 2019 along with two members of the National Security Council. The number 14 emblazoned on the receiver of the rifle used by Tarrant coincides with ’14’ on Podesta’s right hand. The Christian fish symbol, known as an Ichthys, is an ancient symbol representing Jesus Christ

Now disgraced FBI Director James Comey flew into Queenstown on April 23, 2017 preceding a visit by suspected satanist John “mangled fingers” Podesta, who was Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager and Obama counsel, who coincidentally visited New Zealand March 10, 2019, five days before the infamous mosque shootings in Christchurch.

Podesta was attending a Global Progressives conference, heaping praise on Ardern while warning of a potential major online hack against her coming election?

The New Zealand Herald reported two members of the United States National Security Council visited New Zealand days before a media conference on March 10, 2019 where PM Ardern confirmed the Americans had visited, just five days before the massacre.

Ardern said the visitors were Asia defence experts—Matt Pottinger and Alexander Gray, but did not elaborate why they were in New Zealand.

At the media briefing a reporter asked Ardern, “Yesterday Podesta told us that New Zealand being a member of the Five Eyes network, New Zealand is a juicy target for cyber-attacks that could undermine our democracy. Do you agree with that?”

Ardern replied: “Oh, look, we’re not complacent, and certainly you will have heard me say that many, many times. We do need to make sure that we have the protection in place in NewZealand, either for direct attacks but also where New Zealand may be caught up indirectly.

“And so, regardless of what anyone else thinks or what any other member of Five Eyes thinks, we actually need to make sure that we’re prepared and vigilant.”

New Zealand’s mosque shooting happened on March 15, 2019, five days after the Podesta and two National Security members’ visit, and was allegedly carried out by an Australian shooter who has proven to be an Israei-trained assassin on a watch list since 2012. The assassin presented a real threat to then Iraqi President Bashar Assad according to Veterans Today.

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Colorado’s Zoning Tyrants Go To War Against A Christian-Owned French Bakery

Acherished French bakery in Jefferson County, Colorado, is facing potential closure because of the county’s harsh enforcement of exclusionary zoning regulations. This situation underscores how overly restrictive regulations create unnecessary hurdles that stifle entrepreneurship, especially when the local economy is struggling.

Lookout Mountain, Colorado, is celebrated for its breathtaking views, luxurious homes, and as the final resting place of Buffalo Bill. Just 12 miles from downtown Denver, it has become a must-visit destination for hikers, mountain bikers, and tourists from all over the globe.

This charming mountain community has long grappled with one significant drawback: the lack of a quality café. For many years, residents and visitors have had to travel to the nearby city of Golden for a decent cup of coffee or tasty pastries. So both locals and tourists were thrilled when a French bakery, Et Voilà!, opened less than half a mile from Buffalo Bill’s Museum and Grave.

Et Voilà! — meaning “Here you go” in French — is run by a passionate trio of French immigrants: husband-and-wife team Eric and Rachel Dufour, along with Rachel’s sister, Ruth. After leaving a successful career as an economist, Ruth pursued her passion for baking at renowned chef Olivier Bajard’s pastry school. The Dufours want to share their love for authentic French cuisine with the Lookout Mountain community, creating a welcoming space for locals and visitors. They also count on the bakery’s financial success to support their nonprofit, Serving Alongside Ministry (SAM), which provides counseling services for Christian organizations and leaders globally.

To turn their dream into reality, the Dufours sold their home and put the proceeds into starting a bakery business. They rent an old storage building on Lookout Mountain Road and spent almost a year transforming it into a clean and inviting space.

With American and French flags at the entrance, the bakery feels like a community hub. One side features cozy café seating, while the other has a long picnic table for gatherings. The walls showcase vibrant posters of famous Paris landmarks, and shelves with board games invite customers to relax and connect.

Like many immigrant entrepreneurs, the Dufours work tirelessly. Their bakery is open six days a week, with Ruth starting her baking at 1 a.m. every day. Eric and Rachel typically work on their nonprofit from 4 to 6 a.m. before joining Ruth to prepare for the bakery’s 7 a.m. opening.

The Dufours recognized from the beginning that living within walking distance of the bakery is crucial for the success of their business adventure. Winters in Lookout Mountain are long and harsh, and frequent snowstorms can easily dump several feet of snow and block the road. Operating their business during these long winters would be nearly impossible if they lived further away.

The Dufours found a strategic temporary solution, ordering two custom-made trailer coaches from Canada and placing them behind their bakery shop. These trailer coaches serve as their living space, home office, and Ruth’s test kitchen. The solar panels attached to the trailer coaches even became the emergency energy source to keep the bakery running during a recent power outage. Always respectful of the surroundings, the Dufours ensured the trailer coaches’ exterior and design matched the bakery’s, while tastefully blending in with the natural environment.

The Dufours plan to live in the trailers for the first two years while saving to buy a home nearby. While the plan is ambitious — given that the median house price in the neighborhood is around $1.4 million — the Dufours are driven by the promise of the American dream. Importantly, they communicated their plan to their realtors and landlord before signing the lease and received unanimous support.

Unfortunately, an anonymous zoning complaint in September last year claimed that the area where the Dufours’ trailers are located is not zoned for residential use. As a result, Jefferson County’s zoning inspectors have ordered the Dufours to remove the trailer coaches.

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Christian bookstore in Colorado Springs sues Colorado over new anti-discrimination act

The owners of a Christian bookstore in Colorado Springs are suing the state over a new anti-discrimination law they claim violates First Amendment rights by forcing them to use pronouns that conflict with their religious beliefs.

Attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom filed the federal lawsuit Wednesday on behalf of Born Again Used Books, a family-owned bookstore operated by Eric and Sara Smith, with the aim of “seeking to uphold religious and commonsense beliefs about biological sex.”

The lawsuit challenges the Kelly Loving Act, a new state law named after a woman who was killed during the 2022 Club Q shooting.

The act, signed into state law in May, amends the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) to expand protections for transgender individuals, recognizing misgendering and deadnaming as forms of discrimination and prohibiting such acts in public spaces.

Under the revised CADA, businesses classified as “public accommodations” – including bookstores – are prohibited from denying services, advertising in a discriminatory way, or making customers feel unwelcome based on gender expression.

In the lawsuit, the bookstore owners argue that this amended policy infringes on their First Amendment rights to free speech and religious freedom by forcing them to express beliefs they don’t hold.

The lawsuit states that the bookstore’s owners believe that “God created everyone in His image, male or female,” and that “sex is immutable.” Born Again Used Books says it welcomes all customers, but cannot affirm “gender choices” that contradict its religious views.

“Although Born Again Used Books happily sells its products to everyone, Colorado now compels the bookstore to speak using pronouns and titles based on a person’s preferred gender expression—thereby requiring the store to prioritize a person’s professed identity over biological reality,” Alliance Defending Freedom said in a release. “That violates the Christian bookstore’s beliefs and the First Amendment.”

In the lawsuit, the store says it wants to be transparent with customers by formalizing this policy into a written pronoun policy and publishing blog posts explaining its reasoning – but the owners believe these actions would now be illegal under the amended Colorado law.

“Because CADA now makes all this illegal, Born Again Used Books must instead profess an ideological view it opposes … and avoid explaining its Christian beliefs about human sexuality in store and online,” the lawsuit reads in part. “In effect, the law requires this Christian bookstore to abandon its core religious beliefs.”

The bookstore is now asking a federal court to block Colorado from enforcing parts of the anti-discrimination law. Specifically, the lawsuit seeks a preliminary and permanent injunction to stop the enforcement of provisions related to gender expression and pronouns.

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Saudi AI Firm Launches Halal Chatbot

Companies with AI chatbots love to highlight their capability as translators, but they still default to English, both in function and in the information they are trained on. With that in mind, Humain, an AI company in Saudi Arabia, has now launched an Arabic-native chatbot.

The bot, called Humain Chat, runs on the Allam large language model, according to Bloomberg, which the company claims was trained on “one of the largest Arabic datasets ever assembled” and is the “world’s most advanced Arabic-first AI model.” The company says that it is not only fluent in the Arabic language, but also in “Islamic culture, values and heritage.” (If you have religious concerns about using Humain Chat, consult your local Imam.) The chatbot, which will be made available as an app, will first be available only in Saudi Arabia and currently supports bilingual conversations in Arabic and English, supporting dialects including Egyptian and Lebanese. The plan is for the app to roll out across the Middle East and eventually go global, with the goal of serving the nearly 500 million Arabic-speaking people across the world.

Humain took on Allam and the chatbot project after it was started by the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority, a government agency and tech regulator. For that reason, Bloomberg raises the possibility that Humain Chat may comply with censorship requests of the Saudi government and restrict the kind of information made available to users.

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Federal Judge Orders Oakland Schools to Allow After-School Christian ‘Good News Clubs’ Equal Access

A federal judge has ordered the Oakland Unified School District to grant Good News Clubs equal access to school facilities as other after-school programs.

U.S. District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. issued a preliminary injunction, prompted by a lawsuit from Liberty Counsel representing Child Evangelism Fellowship’s (CEF) NorCal East Bay, requiring the district to allow Good News Clubs to meet on the same terms as nonreligious groups.

The suit, filed in December 2024, followed the district’s rejection of club applications at four campuses. Judge Gilliam ruled that the district’s actions violated free speech protections, rejecting claims that allowing the clubs would breach the Establishment Clause.

Decision Magazine reports:

Liberty Counsel, a religious liberty law firm, had filed a brief on behalf of CEF against the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) and Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell. Liberty Counsel says it will now seek a permanent injunction to guarantee Good News Clubs continue to receive the same access afforded other similar clubs.

According to the lawsuit, CEF applied for access on four different campuses over a two-year period but was denied on “religious grounds, pretextual schemes, and even by silence,” according to a Liberty Counsel news release. The district judge’s written opinion noted that one elementary school principal defended his opposition to CEF by stating, “[As] a public school, we are not in support of evangelism on our campus.”

In his ruling, Judge Gilliam cited a 2001 Supreme Court decision Good News Club v. Milford Central School affirming that schools cannot exclude religious clubs if secular groups have access. The ruling ensures Good News Clubs can hold weekly meetings like other programs.

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‘Right This Wrong’: GRACE Act Would Strip Federal Funding From Schools That Ban Religious Exemptions

A member of the U.S. Congress has drafted legislation that would strip federal funding from schools that don’t allow parents to apply for religious exemptions from vaccination requirements for their children.

The GRACE Act, or Guaranteeing Religious Accommodation in Childhood Education Act, drafted by Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.), would target elementary and secondary schools, as well as local and state educational agencies.

The legislation would not require state authorities or educational institutions to offer religious exemptions, but it would deny federal funds to those entities if they maintain vaccine mandates that don’t include provisions for religious exemptions.

“The denial of religious exemptions to families and children is un-American and unconstitutional,” said Michael Kane, CHD’s director of advocacy and founder of Teachers for Choice. “CHD and I thank Rep. Steube for putting forth this important legislation to right this wrong that is a clear violation of the First Amendment.”

The GRACE Act is a response to the “alarming erosion of civil rights” that occurred under the Biden administration, said Cait Corrigan, a former congressional candidate from New York and an advocate for medical freedom and religious liberty.

“This issue is one of religious freedom, individual liberty and parental rights, which I often describe as part of a broader response to years of increasing concern,” Corrigan said.

Steube’s office did not respond by deadline to The Defender’s request for comment on the legislation.

‘A matter of conscience, faith and the fundamental dignity of every family’

Corrigan said the proposed legislation is “not just an issue of policy” but “a matter of conscience, faith and the fundamental dignity of every family in this country.”

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Las Vegas church outrages neighbors as congregation parks SIX HUNDRED cars on lawns and driveways

Las Vegas residents were left outraged as congregants at an Ethiopian orthodox church continue to illegally park their vehicles on lawns and driveways.

Neighbors of the Hamere Noah Kidane Mihret and Saint Michael Ethiopian Church told KLAS they have repeatedly reached out to Clark County Commissioner Michael Naft and used the Fixit app as they were instructed, but nothing has changed in years.

‘We document that and we provide that proof and we have found that there’s no follow up,’ said Daria Wu, who gathered her fellow neighbors to discuss the issues they have faced during the services at the church.

These include a spike in speeding cars, vehicles running the stop signs and illegally parked cars.

‘It’s not great to sometimes have your driveway blocked by someone else’s car,’ Wu noted, as a recent morning ceremony brought more than 600 vehicles, most of which were parked illegally in front of county ‘no parking’ signs.

The swath of illegally-parked vehicles extended more than a mile, completely blocking some off some roads. 

Church members have claimed the hundreds of illegally parked vehicles only come once a year, though residents say it is much more frequently that they are dealing with the issue.

A congregant also reportedly admitted that the parking jobs were illegal according to the signs, but was not an issue because the county has not enforced ‘no parking’ rules.

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