Last year an Egyptian girl wrote a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama from a Coptic Christian  website.

She told the president that Muslims in the United States are treated much better than Copts in Egypt, Compass Direct News (CDN) reported.

Dina Maher Ahmad Mo’otahssem and her father have been on the run for two years due to religious persecution in Egypt.

Dina Maher Ahmad Mo’otahssem, 16, has been in hiding since 2008 with her father, Maher Ahmad El-Mo’otahssem Bellah El-Gohary.  They have suffered constant persecution whenever people discover their identities, CDN said.

Dina asked Obama to pressure the Egyptian government to ensure religious rights, and expressed hope that she and her father could migrate to the United States, CDN reported.

Last week Dina and her father lived in a tiny, two-bedroom apartment in an unidentified city in Egypt.  The floor was littered with grime and trash. Clumps of dust and used water bottles were everywhere.  El-Gohary had taped over the locks and the inside of windows and doors to guard against eavesdroppers and intruders.

He taped over all the drain holes of the sinks and the shower so no one could pump in natural gas at night.  When the neighbors learned he was a Christian, they threw rocks and pebbles at his home, enough to litter the porch.  El-Gohary couldn’t open a window because rocks might get thrown in, according to CDN.

Whenever he leaves, he padlocks the door, wraps it with a small plastic bag and melts the bag to the lock with a match.  But he rarely leaves the place because it is not safe to go out.

Last month while walking to a market with Dina, someone poured acid over her jacket.  When El-Gohary saw it sizzle and dissolve he immediately ripped it off of her and threw it away before she was hurt, CDN said.

He can’t work and relies on other Christians to bring him food, water and the occasional donation. He cannot count on his own family for help.  When the food runs out, he has to brave going outside.

El-Gohary can’t attend a church more than once, nor can they go to a supermarket more than once.  He has been a Christian for 36 years, but he was forced to go into hiding after August 2008, because he sued the national government to allow him to change the religion listed on his state-issued ID from Islam to Christianity, according to CDN.

El-Gohary didn’t want his daughter to be forced to take Islamic education classes or have her declared an “apostate” by Egyptian Islamic authorities if she decided to stay a Christian into adulthood.  This is why he asked for the ID change.

Dina is required by law to possess an ID card, which is used for everything from opening a bank account to receiving medical care. The ID also determines whether Egyptians are subject to Islamic civil courts.  Dina is considered to be a Muslim because her father was born a Muslim, CDN said.

Conversion

El-Gohary became a Christian after he read the account of Jesus meeting a woman caught committing adultery.  He was touched by the level of mercy that Jesus showed her, CDN said.

El-Gohary said. “The basis of Christianity is love and forgiveness, unlike Islam, where it is based on revenge, fighting and war.”  He also said of the two religions’ versions of heaven, that the Islamic heaven is about physical pleasure, while for Christians it is about being with God, CDN reported.

El-Gohary was forced to hide because the State Council, a consultative body of Egypt’s Administrative Court, charged him with apostasy, the penalty for which is death, CDN said.  The case is still ongoing.

El-Gohary believes that he and his daughter are being used to set an example to other Muslims who want to convert.  Also, he thinks they fear that if he is allowed to leave the country, he will talk about how Egypt persecutes Copts.

He said, “We are trapped in our own country without even the rights that animals have.”  When the mosque across the street learned of his identity and of his case, they began to blast messages from their minaret megaphones on how to deal with Christians, CDN reported.

The imam shouted, “Do not shake their hands. Do not go into their homes. Do not eat their food.”  Since he has become a Christian, El-Gohary has been beaten, forcibly detained, endured death threats and poverty.

Still, he and Dina have no regrets about having become Christian, and they have no dreams to become Muslim again, the CDN said.

President Barack Obama made a pilgrimage to pray with Billy Graham, the American preacher who harnessed the media and made Christian evangelism a global phenomenon, recently.

Evangelist Billy Graham in 1966. Graham has met with every U.S. president since Harry Truman.

Obama rode in his motorcade to Graham’s mountainside log cabin in Montreat, which is near Asheville, N.C., upon the conclusion of his North Carolina vacation with his wife, Michele, and friends.

It was Obama’s first meeting with the ailing evangelist who has counseled commanders in chief since Dwight Eisenhower.

This makes Obama, 48, the 12th president of the United States to meet with the 91-year-old Graham.

He is also the first head of state to call on the famed evangelist, who is ailing, at the latter’s mountaintop home.

The visit lasted about 30 minutes and included aides and advisers to both men.  Obama had a private prayer and conversation with Billy Graham.

Graham gave Obama two Bibles, one for him and one for the first lady, according to the Associated Press.

The AP report said the older Graham and Obama did most of the talking. They reminisced about their roots in Chicago, where Graham attended college  and began some of his ministry in the region.

Obama moved to Chicago after college and began his political career there.  They also talked about golf.

When the president got ready to leave, the two ended in prayer, according to the AP. The elder Graham prayed for the nation and asked God to give Obama wisdom in his decisions.

The president prayerfully thanked God for Billy Graham’s life, Franklin Graham told the AP.

Obama confided, like other presidents before him, how lonely, demanding and humbling the presidency can be, according to Larry Ross, presidential spokesman.

“That is a discussion that Mr. Graham has had with previous presidents who realize not only the demands but the loneliness of the job. And they’re humbled by that,” Ross said.

“The only way one can do [the job] properly is to draw on spiritual resources,” the AP reported.

The president also spoke to Graham’s son Franklin, also an evangelist.  The Army cancelled an appearance of the younger Graham to pray at the Pentagon for National Prayer Day a few days before.

Billy Graham has met with every president since Harry Truman.  Eisenhower once mused about recruiting Graham as a speechwriter, and the two often read the Bible together.  John F. Kennedy played golf with Graham in Palm Beach.

Graham ministered many times to Lyndon Johnson.  With Nixon, Graham conducted regular worship in the White House.

Gerald Ford played golf with him, Graham visited the Carters in the White House, and with Reagan they had a relationship that spanned 50 years.

George H. Bush vacationed with Graham half a dozen times, and Graham counseled Bill and Hillary in the White House. George W. Bush credits Graham for his spiritual rebirth.

Recent surveys find many Americans mingling their Christian faith with New Age precepts, including Astrology

According to a December 2009 poll by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, an increasing number of Americans claim to mingle their Christian faith with New Age teachings and Eastern religion precepts, including “reincarnation, astrology and the presence of spiritual energy in physical objects.”

This survey is of particular interests to U.S. religious demographic studies, considering that in 2008 76 percent of American adults claimed to adhere to traditional Christianity. This is down from 86 percent in 1990.

Pew Forum noted that “sizeable minorities of all major U.S. religious groups say they have experienced supernatural phenomena, such as being in touch with the dead or with ghosts.”

In March of 2009, Catholic League President William Donohue cited the nation’s move toward individualism as a key contributing factor to the decline in traditional religious practices. In an exclusive interview with CNN’s Lou Dobbs, Donohue said of this radical shift, “The three most dreaded words are thou shalt not. Notice they are not atheists – they are saying I don’t want to be told what to do with my life.”

Further research by Pew Forum found that 13 percent of “white evangelicals profess to believe in astrology and about 10 percent accepted the possibility of reincarnation.”

Pew Forum has been careful to note that “reincarnation” has been defined as being physically reborn again and again, as opposed to the resurrection of Christ, a common misnomer among many traditional Christians.

Despite the aforementioned, the American Religious Identification Survey conducted earlier this year by Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, found that “born again” and “evangelical” Christianity is on the rise, according to CNN.

The survey also found Americans less interested in other “mainline” denominations such as Lutheran, Episcopalian, Methodist and Presbyterian as national attendance at churches of these religious origins has fallen significantly, while mega church attendance is on the rise worldwide.

In fact, the survey found mega church attendance has leaped from 200,000 in 1990 to over 8 million today. Unfortunately, there is still a national rejection of religion taking place throughout America says Mark Silk of Trinity College.

Silk, citing sexual abuse scandals within the Catholic Church and religious affiliations mingled with political parties, told CNN, “The culture has changed in a way that makes it easier to say, ‘No I don’t have a religion.’ Even in the past year, Mitt Romney and Barack Obama feel obliged to talk about ‘those of no faith.’”

In fact, Obama’s mention of “those of no faith” within his January inaugural address marked the first time in history a U.S. president has done so.

Still, many scholars believe Americans will return to their traditional religious practices within the next five years for comfort in such economically unstable times.

Citizens in Maine voted against legalization of gay marriage.

Poll voters in Maine officially overturned on Tuesday the gay marriage legalization act proposed and signed by Democratic Gov. John Baldacci.

With a 53-47 percent margin, Maine became the first state in history to reverse gay marriage legislation via the ballot system.

Interestingly, Maine is also the first northeastern state to consider legalizing gay marriage in the first place.

The defeat of the act has been termed “a harsh blow” to “the gay marriage drive” by the Associated Press, as well as a substantial obstacle to homosexual activists nationwide, many of whom were convinced they would win in Maine as they did in California.

According to a recent survey by Gallup, Maine is by far one of the most liberal and least religious states in the nation.

The vast majority of supporters had remained optimistic leading up the moment of the vote.

For months, gay marriage activists had poured time, energy and funds into a $4 million campaign backed and supported by leading politicians and several local and national newspapers.

The Stand for Marriage Maine Campaign sought to overcome the proposed legislation by “warning voters [and conservative parents] that if Question 1 lost, ‘gay marriage’ would be taught as normative in public schools,” according to the Baptist Press.

Stand for Marriage Maine ran six television commercials concerning the legislation, five of which included the theme of public school’s teaching of homosexuality.

No win for gay agenda in one of nation's most liberal and least religious states.

Bob Emrich, a spokesperson from Stand for Marriage Maine, told the Baptist Press, “This was going to have an impact on children – the way that children think, what children are taught.The people of Maine responded to that.”

This victory (or defeat, depending on how you see it) comes at a critical time in our nation, particularly after President Barack Obama’s early vow to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA as it is often abbreviated.

Signed into law on Sept. 21, 1996 by former U.S. President Bill Clinton, the act states that “the federal government defines marriage as a legal union exclusively between one man and one woman.”

President Obama, however, has made it clear both in national speeches and in the White House website’s Civil Rights section that he is pro same-sex marriage.

He has also indicated that he believes homosexual couples should be granted all the legal rights currently enjoyed by monogamous couples, including the right to adopt.

Currently, five U.S. states have legalized gay marriage.

Boston-based G.L.A.D. (Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders) has stated it intends to see all six New England states legalize gay marriage by 2012.

Unfortunately, this most recent turn of events may prove a significant thorn in their side.

The majority of political analysts believe New Jersey and New York will be the next frontiers for the fight to legalize same-sex marriage.

May Christians across the nation rejoice in the defeat of the act, not out of contempt toward homosexuals, but in an effort to give God the glory and seek to love the gay community all the more.

In an age when marriage is steadily being redefined by the government, we as Christians must hold fast to our belief that marriage is indeed intended by God to be between one man and one woman.

Such a belief in a God of infinite love should continually spur us to reach out to those in need of the saving gospel of Jesus Christ.

A nationwide legalization of gay marriage will not only affect the gay community, but the very fabric of our society as a whole, our families, children, churches and our futures.

How will this new law affect the future of gay rights & Christian free speech?

In a bold political move and statement, President Barack Obama officially signed into the law on Wednesday the first Hate Crimes Bill which will grant specific protection to the gay, lesbian, transgendered and homosexual demographics, according to several national news media outlets. The Matthew Shepherd and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, as it had been titled while still in the Senate, was a small piece of a large $680 billion defense spending agenda. For more on this, see my piece: U.S. Senate Passes LGBT Hate Crimes Bill 68-29.

Since its origins within the U.S. Senate, countless conservative Christian groups, churches, organizations and pastors have voiced their concerns over the bill’s likelihood to subsequently stifle their free speech rights to oppose homosexuality.

Dr. Gerald B. Kieschnick, president of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod—told the Christian Post, “Although we don’t know the full ramifications of this bill as of yet, my staff and I will be watching closely for any possible infringement on the rights of our members and pastors to speak out against the sin of homosexuality based on the Word of God.”

During his official remarks at the reception ceremony, President Obama spoke of hate crime’s abilities to “break spirits” and “instill fear”, in addition to the physical harm associated with such violent acts. Obama also noted, “No one in America should ever be afraid to walk down the street holding the hands of the person they love,” according to FOX News Contributing Editor Anne Marie Riha of the Fox News’ White House View.

To the thunderous applause of Shepherd’s and Byrd’s family members and countless Associated Press members and TV camera crews, Obama stated that the signing of the law was “the culmination of a struggle that has lasted more than a decade” and “another step forward” in creating a more perfect union.

In his recent annual address to the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest advocate for the equal rights of gays, Obama noted that there are still changes to be made: “Despite the progress we’ve made, there are still laws to change and hearts to open. This fight continues now and I’m here with the simple message: I’m here with you in that fight,” according to CNN.

Although U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has previously attempted to assure conservatives and Christian/religious pastors and speakers that the bill will in no way infringe upon free speech rights, the vast majority are still wary of its future ramifications.

How are we to account for stark differences in Obama's approval ratings between Jewish-Americans & those living in Israel?

Washington, D.C.–The latest data research and analysis polls from world renowned, Washington, D.C.-based Gallup Organization reveal the Jewish-American demographic to retain the highest approval ratings of President Barack Hussein Obama’s current administration, in comparison to other religious groups.

According to Gallup’s official Daily Tracking polls from the month of September, 64 percent of Jewish Americans said they agree with the president’s decisions and policies.

Surprisingly, these numbers stand in stark contrast to approval ratings stemming from other religious sects and denominations throughout the U.S., including Protestants, Catholics and Mormons. The survey found that only 47 percent of Protestant Christians approve of Obama, with Mormons ringing in at a low 32 percent.

Interestingly, The Jerusalem Post, which claims to be “Israel’s Best-Selling Daily” newspaper, sponsored a recent poll of Jewish people within the nation of Israel to aid in furthering Gallup’s research. The results were not surprising to most. According to the survey, only a mere 4 percent of Jewish Israeli citizens truly believe President Obama’s policies and strategies are “Pro-Israel.”

During former President George W. Bush’s tenure in office, a much higher 88 percent of Jewish Israeli citizens believed Bush was “Pro-Israel.”

The question for the majority of political analysts, journalists and researchers has become “What does the Jewish culture living in Israel know that their American Jewish counterparts do not, concerning Obama’s policies towards the nation of Israel?” What is the reason for such stark differences in approval rating percentages?

Gallup accounts for the higher approval of Obama by citing that two-thirds of Jewish Americans identify themselves as Democratic, a surprising figure considering the larger proportions within other religious groups lean more toward the Republican Party.

Overall, President Obama’s approval ratings from Americans in general continue to steadily decline, falling by 14 percent between the months of January and September, according to several national news media outlets. This is coupled with a 19 percent approval rating decline among the Jewish American sect between the same months.

However, an astonishing 83 percent of Jewish Americans approved of Obama in January of this year, a number that has now fallen to the aforementioned 64 percent.

Although many of these numbers may be taken as trivial or meaningless to many Americans, there is overwhelming Biblical truth at work. There are prophesized events already unfolding before our very eyes in the Middle East. Circumstances that surprise many should not surprise the aware and alert Christian man or woman.

And as the Psalmist David reminds us, we must always remember to “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May those who love you be secure.” (Psalm 122:6, New International Version).

References:

All Gallup research, polls, statistics and percentages citied within this article are ©2009 of the worldwide Gallup Organization and can be found by visiting Gallup’s official website at: www.gallup.com.

You can visit the official website of The Jerusalem Post daily Israeli newspaper at: www.jpost.com.

How vocal can or should a church pastor be concerning politics?

Playing Politics in the Pulpit: Good Idea or Bad Idea?

These days, there may be no other topic so widely discussed, dissected, argued, broadcast, or all together spoken of than politics. Like no other cultural or societal issue in existence, political topics retain the power to instigate division and tension or to promote peace and prosperity. And now, particularly in terms of our nation’s current presidential administration, political decisions and strategies are becoming more highly scrutinized, both by the public and the mainstream news media, than ever before.

While there is nothing wrong with talking politics over a cup of coffee at your favorite restaurant, addressing these topics within a church setting is a more complex and separate issue altogether.

According to the official Web site of the Internal Revenue Service, nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations, including churches, are typically not allowed to endorse, financially support or otherwise promote any political figure or party. This includes discussing the stances of politicians in such a way as to elevate one above the other.

Today, upon the publishing of this article, Sunday, September 27, 2009, over 80 church pastors will preach on political topics, issues and agendas from their pulpits in what has been termed Pulpit Freedom Sunday, according to The Christian Post. This highly controversial movement came in response to the aforementioned rule set forth by the IRS.

The nonprofit Christian organization known as The Alliance Defense Fund was said to have helmed this radical free speech movement that will unite several church leaders together in unison over discussing politics and related moral issues before their congregants. Subjects will range from abortion and gay marriage to the war in Iraq. This is the second annual Pulpit Freedom Sunday.

Historically, church leaders and clergymen were not only encouraged to discuss politics within their sermons, but were legally allowed to do so. Additionally, the vast majority of Americans sought out their church leaders concerning political issues, particularly when it came time to vote. The stance of the church was valued.

Upon ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1778, up until 1954, ministers could speak openly and freely before their flock about specific candidates running for office without fear of governmental reprisal. This also included the moral stances of said candidates.

Unfortunately, current regulations set forth by the IRS seem to censor pastors. An increasing percentage of ministers now feel they are being observed by the government and must be more careful of what they say, lest they be fined or prosecuted.

Instances of undercover government officials monitoring select church leaders across the country have already made national headlines. Is this a form of Big Brother?

In the opinion of this writer, the heart of the issue is not what specific politician your church/pastor may endorse. Rather it is the undue involvement of the government into highly religious and spiritual issues. No church pastor, volunteer or congregant should ever live in fear of the government trampling on their First Amendment right to free speech, especially within the confines of their church walls. A church and pastor should be free to discuss and preach clear Biblical truth and values concerning political and moral issues.

“The separation of church and state is a source of strength, but the conscience of our nation does not call for separation between men of state and faith in the Supreme Being.”—Lyndon B. Johnson: 36^th U.S. President. 1963-1969.