BY MICHAEL B. OREN
Several prominent scholars have taken issue with Jimmy Carter's book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," cataloguing its historical inaccuracies and lamenting its lack of balance. The journalist Jeffrey Goldberg also critiqued the book's theological purpose, which, he asserted, was to "convince American Evangelicals to reconsider their support for Israel."
Mr. Carter indeed seems to have a religious problem with the Jewish state. His book bewails the fact that Israel is not the reincarnation of ancient Judea but a modern, largely temporal democracy. "I had long taught lessons from the Hebrew Scriptures," he recalls telling Prime Minister Golda Meir during his first tour through the country. "A common historical pattern was that Israel was punished whenever the leaders turned away from devout worship of God. I asked if she was concerned about the secular nature of the Labor government." e complains about the fact that the kibbutz synagogue he enters is nearly empty on the Sabbath and that the Bibles presented to Israeli soldiers "was one of the few indications of a religious commitment that I observed during our visit." But he also reproves contemporary Israelis for allegedly mistreating the Samaritans--"the same complaint heard by Jesus almost two ...   more »

By Bob Unruh
Thousands of Christians are fleeing from the violence in war-torn Iraq to Syria, but their new home also holds "ruthless" positions against Christianity which range from life in prison for talking about your beliefs to death for a Muslim who converts, according to ministries working there.
"It's better than Iraq, but it's no bed of roses there for sure," Jim Jacobson, president of Christian Freedom International, told WND. "The Christians (there) are stuck between a rock and a hard place."  
While Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Iran and other Middle East nations are well-known for persecuting Christians, Syria's actions are of a lower profile. But it is listed among those nations around the world that persecute Christians by everyone from Jacobson's organization to the U.S. government.
In Syria, the constitution requires the president to be a Muslim and specifies that Islamic jurisprudence is a principal source of legislation. And sharing your Christian faith with someone – anyone – is discouraged as "posing a threat to the relations among religious groups" and carries a penalty of up to life in prison, he said.
"For Christians, one of the core tenets is the ability to share your faith, but in ...   more »

JEDDAH, 28 December 2006 — A two-day conference organized by the Makkah-based Muslim World League yesterday called for a consultative commission in order to take legal action against those who abuse Islam and its Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and Islamic sanctities, at local and international courts of justice, the Saudi Press Agency said.
The conference titled “In Defense of the Prophet” called upon Islamic countries and governments to stand united to defend the Islamic faith and its Prophet. It denounced the smear campaigns to tarnish the image of the Prophet and urged Muslims to make all-out efforts to project the true picture of Islam and the great divine teachings of the Prophet.
Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh, who presided over the conference, called upon Muslims to follow the Prophet’s teachings.
“Our enemies are exploiting Muslims’ weak adherence to the Prophet’s Sunnah,” said Al-Asheikh. “We should not be ashamed of implementing his Sunnah. On the other hand, all Muslims must observe his teachings in all walks of their life.”
MWL Secretary-General Abdullah Al-Turki said the attack on the Prophet was an expression of enmity toward Islam.
“The whole Muslim Ummah, including its leadership, scholars and ordinary people was ...   more »

Moussa Salemi, the Friday prayer leader of Asadabad, in an interview with the news agency said: “By the grace of God, the administration of Mr. Ahmadinejad, has been inspired by and received revelations from the command of 12th Imam. The closer we get to “the end of days”, the closer we get to hope. Just as God almighty has promised, soon poverty, discrimination and oppression of people and the real justice will spread on earth. The administration of Mr. Ahmadinejad has also brought these good tiding to people and we are trying to solve those problems; that way we can secure the axis of justice. This is what the 12th Imam wants. Of course we do not expect that this event would happen all that soon. Discussing justice is also good news for the masses. The Revolution happened so that people can attain their desires and as such, today one can smell Imam Mahdi’s justice. The Qur’an has commanded that Muslims do not oppress anyone and that they do not put up with oppression either. This is compatible with logic too. The real Muslim is a person who does not lash out at people. Devotion is also an element of ...   more »

What does God think about disaster preparedness?
People of faith challenged to take lead
By Thomas Horn
Today, a strange paradox exits. What looks like the fulfillment of prophecy is everywhere; unrest in the Middle East, the rise of a European Superstate, the alignment of Gog and Magog, forming of a national ID and gateways through biotechnology that could unleash upon earth pestilence of biblical proportions. People from all three of the world’s great religions see these developments as potential omens of an ‘End Times’ scenario leading to the Apocalypse.
Yet many believers in God, especially in America, are indifferent to the need to prepare for the unexpected.
An article by Mimi Hall in USA TODAY this week said, "Most Americans haven't taken steps to prepare for a natural disaster, terrorist attack or other emergency, according to a new study on preparedness, and only about a third have made plans with family members about how they would communicate with each other during a crisis."
Part of the reason for this may be that we are well off in the United States, and we trust in our bank accounts to sustain us. Unfortunately, money sitting in savings and investments are useless ...   more »