Teacher Ordered to Stop Praying with Children Before Lunch

A first-grade teacher who prayed with her class before lunch every day has been told to stop due to a complaint from a parent and an atheist organization.

The unidentified teacher at Norwood Elementary School in Birmingham, Ala., led her class in prayers each day at lunchtime, according to a letter from the Freedom From Religion Foundation to the school superintendent. The teacher also allegedly taught her students Bible verses and Christian songs. 

“Public school teachers and administrators may not promote religion by leading students in prayer, encouraging students to pray, participating in student-initiated prayer, or otherwise endorsing religion to students,” attorney Christopher Line of the Freedom From Religion Foundation wrote to the Birmingham City Schools superintendent.

The same letter alleged the principal began meetings with prayer.

A Birmingham City Schools attorney wrote back this month, telling the Freedom From Religion Foundation that the teacher and principal were told to stop praying with students and faculty. 

“It is our understanding that no further complaints have been received,” Birmingham City Schools attorney Ashaunti Parker wrote. 

A teacher-parent conference also was held to “address the parent’s concern,” Parker said.

“The teacher was advised to refrain from conducting any religious instruction and teacher-led prayer,” Parker wrote.

Armed Gunmen Kidnap 19 Christians, Kill One in Kaduna State, Nigeria

Suspected Fulani herdsmen stormed a church choir practice and kidnapped 17 Christians in north-central Nigeria the night of May 18, and the same night gunmen killed a Christian and kidnapped two others at a Baptist church, sources said.

Each attack took place in Kaduna state, where assaults on Christians with impunity have recently ramped up in the increasingly lawless country.

In Dankande village, in the Dogon Dawa area of Birnin Gwari County 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of the city of Kaduna, the gunmen attacked Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) after midnight, at 12:30 a.m. on May 19, as a combined choir made up of members of two churches was at a 9 p.m.-to-1 a.m. rehearsal, one of the choir members said.

“As we were in the church, Fulani herdsmen numbering over 20 just surrounded the church and started shooting,” Ezekiel Ishaya told Morning Star News. “Everybody was terrified, but there was no way we could run because they had already surrounded the church. They were asking for the pastor’s house, and they threatened to shoot us if we don’t show them the house. Some of them went to the pastor’s house while others kept watch over us.”

The Rev. Nathaniel Waziri, chairman, of the ECWA Zaria District Church Council, confirmed in a press statement on Thursday (May 23) that the gunmen kidnapped the Rev. Zakariya Ido, his daughter and 15 other church members, including the son of the pastor of an Assemblies of God Church.

“The gunmen came and asked everyone in the church to surrender phones and thereafter demanded the whereabout of the pastor,” he said. “After threatening the choristers, they became afraid and showed them the pastor’s house.”

Ishaya said besides the ECWA pastor and his daughter, 10 females and five males were abducted.

“It was in the midst of the confusion that I escaped from the attackers,” Ishaya said.

The Rev. Emmanuel Ibrahim, chairman of the Birnin Gwari chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), confirmed the assault and said Nasara Baptist church in Guguwa-Kwate village, in the Rigasa area of Igabi County 37 kilometers (22 miles) north of the city of Kaduna, was attacked the same night.

“One member was killed and two other members were kidnapped the same night by another group of Fulani herdsmen,” Pastor Ibrahim told Morning Star News, identifying the slain Christian as Obadiah Samson. 

Kaduna Kidnappings 

Christians and churches in Kaduna state have been under attack for years by either herdsmen or Muslim terrorist groups.

Armed herdsmen in May 2017 kidnapped pastor James Effiong Okon of The Apostolic Church in Zaria while he was on his way from Zaria, Kaduna state, to the city of Kaduna. Pastor Okon was area superintendent of the Apostolic Church in Lawna, Cote D’Ivoire, before being transferred to Zaria.

There has been no word of him since he was kidnapped.

In March 2016, a Fulani gang kidnapped three pastors. The president and vice president of the United Church of Christ in Nigeria (HEKAN), the Rev. Emmanuel Dziggan and the Rev. Illiya Anthony respectively, along with the Rev. Yakubu Dzarma, were abducted from Dutse village in Kaduna state. Pastor Anthony fell ill and was reportedly left in the forest to be found by relatives, while the other two church leaders were held for nine days before a ransom was paid for their release.

Christians make up 51.3 percent of Nigeria’s population, while Muslims living primarily in the north and middle belt account for 45 percent.

Nigeria ranked 12^th on Open Doors’ 2019 World Watch List of countries where Christians suffer the most persecution.  

Pastor and His Daughter Kidnapped with More than a Dozen Church Members in Nigeria

Suspected Fulani herdsmen stormed a church choir practice and kidnapped 17 Christians in north-central Nigeria the night of May 18, and the same night gunmen killed a Christian and kidnapped two others at a Baptist church, sources said.

Each attack took place in Kaduna state, where assaults on Christians with impunity have recently ramped up in the increasingly lawless country.

In Dankande village, in the Dogon Dawa area of Birnin Gwari County 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of the city of Kaduna, the gunmen attacked Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) after midnight, at 12:30 a.m. on May 19, as a combined choir made up of members of two churches was at a 9 p.m.-to-1 a.m. rehearsal, one of the choir members said.

The Rev. Emmanuel Ibrahim, chairman of the Birnin Gwari chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), confirmed the assault and said Nasara Baptist church in Guguwa-Kwate village, in the Rigasa area of Igabi County 37 kilometers (22 miles) north of the city of Kaduna, was attacked the same night.

“One member was killed and two other members were kidnapped the same night by another group of Fulani herdsmen,” Pastor Ibrahim told Morning Star News, identifying the slain Christian as Obadiah Samson. 

Germany 1933 or Europe 2019?

Are we seeing a repeat of Germany 1933?

Jewish shop owners are hounded, threatened and run out of town. Their businesses are the targets of prolonged campaigns of intimidation, culminating in months of demonstrations at their doors with up to a thousand angry protesters at a time shooting red paint bombs and mutilated dolls at employees.

Owners of these businesses threatened with death and (real) bombings. The threats including their families. Police refuse to step in, saying the protesters are behaving lawfully. In fact, a top politician supports and is listed as a patron of the organization behind the protests.

Germany 1933? Or the UK in 2019? Actually both. Since we know how the Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses which began in 1933 ended, let's talk about what's happening in today's UK.

The Palestine Solidarity Campagin, of which Labour party head Jeremy Corbyn is a patron, has, in reality, been waging this campaign against Jewish businesses that sell Israeli products (both those originating from inside Israel proper as well as those made in the disputed territories) since 2001. They have not only targeted Jewish businesses but also the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall, an Israeli theater company at Shakespeare's Globe and an Israeli LGBT event in London.

The group is prominent in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement against Israel, which has been deemed anti-Semitic at its core by the U.S. State Department's definition of anti-Semitism. Most recently, the group has forced shops selling Israeli cosmetics to close, like the one owned by UK citizen Nissan Ayalon, 33, who was forced to move his business three times, starting from scratch each time, before finally giving up and fleeing the country. "Eventually, I lost faith in being able to make a life once again in Britain," Ayalon said in a newly-released film called Hounded, which documents the on-going campaign of intimidation of Jews who sell products from Israel. "I just couldn't keep moving to a new city every two years. I had a family to look after."

The true litmus test of anti-Semitism is whether the actions are against Jews per se (biogtry) or simply making a political statement. The BDS movement holds Jews to a different standard than in similar conflicts worldwide. It is a clear case of anti-Semitism. Moreover, it is a known fact that while the movement has created little damage to Israel, the movement significantly harms the Palestinian people (another litmus test of its real raison d'etre: anti-Semitism). Businesses that are targeted in Israel and forced to close because of the movement are mainly located in the disputed territories, which are known for employing large numbers of Palestinians (and paying them at a higher rate than they would receive working for Palestinian companies.

These jobs not only benefit the individuals themselves but also translate to more tax income for the Palestinian Authority - not to mention the good will and peace building atmosphere these companies have been known to create among their Jewish and Palestinian workers. But the story doesn't end there (and if it did, it would be bad enough).

Germany's interior minister and the Berlin mayor allowed the annual pro-Iranian/pro-Hezbollah Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day rally to take place in Berlin. The purpose of the rally is traditionally to call for the destruction of the Jewish state. The U.S. embassy in Germany tweeted, "Germany's federal courts decided years ago that Hezbollah is a unified organization dedicated to the destruction of Israel. Symbols of Hezbollah are banned, why not the entire organization?" Ironically, just days after the rally, Angela Merkel, Germany's leader, said, "There is to this day not a single synagogue, not a single daycare center for Jewish children, not a single school for Jewish children that does not need to be guarded by German policemen."

The rally also came on the heels of an unprecedented report released by Germany's domestic security agency about how anti-Semitism among the country's Muslim population is a major problem in the country. Not only has Merkel and her interior minister blatantly refused to ban the internationally-recognized terror group Hezbollah dedicated to the destruction of Jews, they have refused to even entertain the question.

Small wonder that every Jewish establishment in Germany needs police protection.