Illinois Senate Passes Bill that Requires LGBT History in Public Schools and California Wants in

The Illinois Senate passed a bill Wednesday that would require public schools in the state to teach lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) history, as well as use inclusive and “non-discriminatory” textbooks.  

The bill, which passed with a 34-18 vote, would require “all elementary and high schools to teach a unit studying ‘the role and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the history of this country and this State,’ Fox News reported.

Supporters of the legislation, such as Democratic Sen. Heather Steans, who sponsored the measure, told Fox News that teaching LGBT history in schools is important to “increase compassion and understanding as well as to provide historical role models for LGBT students.”

“This measure is consistent with how Illinois public schools teach children about other marginalized communities and ethnicities, and it is one more step toward offering students a complete and accurate historical perspective,” she added.

The measure is not unlike the state’s school code, which “already ensures inclusion in history curriculum of the contributions and experiences of other historically marginalized communities, including of people of color, women, immigrant communities and people with disabilities,” LGBT advocacy group Equality Illinois said in a statement.

Video

Historians wrestle with how to teach LGBT history to schools

However, how much time is spent on the subject would be left up to school districts to decide. 

Opponents argue that the bill contradicts Judeo-Christian beliefs and have raised concerns regarding religious freedom.

“Schools should teach that we should be respectful of each student and each person. This is what we all agree on. However, schools should not be used to advocate for lifestyles that are against the religious values of the students and parents,” Illinois Family Institute lobbyist Ralph Rivera told legislators in a memo, according to The State Journal Register.

But Steans said she has “worked with opponents and have addressed their concerns about whether it is appropriate for children to learn about LGBT history and the implications for religious freedom.”

“This bill is about historical facts,” she added.

The measure will now head to the House, where Steans said she is “hopeful” it will pass. If enacted, Illinois would become the second state to approve an LGBT inclusive curriculum.

Gay history may soon become a mandatory part of history class in California as well. The history books in public schools today include figures from all walks of life that have made significant contributions to the development of this country. In California, some legislators do not believe the curriculum has gone far enough to include all Americans that have played a role in our nation’s history. To rectify the problem, lawmakers have introduced a bill that requires the teaching of gay history in schools. According to an Associated Pressreport, the California Senate approved the measure, but it still must pass the Assembly and Governor Jerry Brown’s desk before it becomes an official law of the state. The California legislation would require schools to add LGBT figures to the list of social and ethnic groups that must already be included in current history lessons. It would also require the California Board of Education and local school districts within the state to adopt textbooks that cover the historical contributions of sexual minorities in this country. Material that reflects adversely on gays or particular religions would be banned from classroom teaching as well. Each school district would be able to determine what material to use and at what age the material would be taught. 

Proponents of the bill say this addition to history books is no different than those made during the Civil Rights movement, when African-Americans, Mexican-Americans, women and other minority groups began to be recognized for their contributions to this country. Supporters add that this legislation would fill an obvious gap in the state’s current social studies curriculum and possibly curb anti-gay sentiment and attitudes that often lead to bullying of gay children in schools.

 

“It’s fine to imagine we would have these expert educators deciding what history education should look like, but that’s counter-historical in and of itself,” New York University history and education professor Jonathan Zimmerman told the Associated Press. “Its citizens’ groups who want to see themselves in the curriculum and see the curriculum as a rich, symbolic battlefield, which it is.”

Opponents of the bill say legislation is unnecessary, and it may lead to teachers providing instruction on sexual orientation, rather than history. Tucker Carlson, host of Daily Caller, said on TPM Muckraker, “At any age, teaching propaganda is wrong. No one is suggesting, and no one, as far as I know in the modern age, has ever suggested that people who are gay not be included in history. I mean, that’s ludicrous. But this bill would teach kids politically charged facts that are not the whole story. It would lie to kids; it would prevent schools from teaching things that somehow reflected poorly on a group that has political power.”

 

Others opposed to the bill say they are concerned about indoctrination of children by adding this material to the history lessons. They do not believe public school teachers should be called to make a value judgment on the gay lifestyle if they are uncomfortable doing so. During one tense hearing before the Senate Education Committee, Robert Evans, a pastor from a California church, wanted to know how the schools would be able to balance a twin mandate that eliminates a bias against gay people while fairly representing religions that do not embrace homosexuality.

 

One of the opponents of the bill, Sen. Doug La Malfa of Butte, told PrideSource, “I’m deeply troubled kids would have to contemplate at a very, very early age, when many of us are teaching abstinence…what is sexuality.”

 America is morally bankrupt, and is now a country of low/no standards- almost anything that’s perverted is allowable and protected! Prayer has been taken out of the schools and replaced with abominable acceptation. The church has been commercialized, compromised to worldly standards to maintain relevance, is ineffective in the local government and no longer a respected voice in our society. Values which were once regarded as the pride of this country are now mocked such as foot-soldiers being men and brides being women. One day, after the new generations of this country have been thoroughly indoctrinated into filthy behaviors and confusing lifestyles, the history books will be re-written once again to teach about a time when the church couldn’t be bought, a man married a woman and a woman was indeed a woman – all of which will be laughable to that generation as if it were fiction. – Mrs. Catherine C. Sutton/Winston Salem,NC

Babylon Today edited/contributed to this post originally posted by NBC NEWS.

 

Bolivia Bans Evangelism and Calls Sharing the Gospel a Form of ‘Human Trafficking’

Bolivia adopted a new penal code on December 15th called Article 88. The measure states that “whoever recruits, transports, deprives of freedom, or hosts people with the aim of recruiting them to take part in armed conflicts or religious or worship organizations will be penalized 5 to 12 years of imprisonment,” the Evangelical Focus, a Spanish media organization, reported. 

Although Bolivia is run by an atheistic socialist government, most of its population is Christian with 77% identifying as Catholic and 16% Protestant. Now, many Christian leaders are concerned that even more of their rights will be taken away. 

“Will they denounce us if we bring a group of people to a Christian camp?” one pastor told Evangelical Focus. “Will I no longer be able to preach the Gospel on the streets?”

According to the Inter-American Federation of Christian Journalists and the Bolivian Association of Christian Journalists, the law compares sharing the gospel with human trafficking. 

“The article says that one commits the crime of human trafficking who: captures, transports, transfers, welcomes, or receives people, with the purpose of participation in religious or worship organizations,” the organizations stated. “This means that one can be punished: a) who carries out proselytizing activities, in public or private, because they are ‘capturing people’; b) who transports a person from their home to their church or religious temple, or simply invites them to the church; c) who welcomes or receives people to participate in a religious or worship organization, that is, who would commit this crime are pastors, rabbis, priests, parents, leaders, etc.” 

 Birmingham diocese visit to Bolivia in 2015

Evangelical leaders say this is a violation of human rights. 

“It is deplorable that Bolivia becomes the first Latin American country to persecute the rights of freedom of conscience and of religion, which are protected by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the declaration of San José de Costa Rica, and our Constitution,” the National Association of Evangelicals in Bolivia said in a statement. 

The new penal code comes after Bolivia’s government abolished term limits, allowing President Evo Morales to stay in power indefinitely. 

Ritual killings on the increase in Nigeria

A crowd at the ritualists den in Lagos

It is fast becoming an everyday occurrence across the country. In recent times, thousands of people lose their lives in an inexplicable manner. In fact, hardly does any day pass without the gory news of people being murdered in most gruesome manner for ritual purpose.  

Almost on a daily basis, many police stations nationwide are flooded with reports of missing persons. Available records, according to reports, show that less than 10 per cent of such persons ever return home. While a scary 90 per cent of them are never found.

The bodies of a negligible number eventually seen are dumped either on the roadsides, bush paths or inside gutters. They are often mutilated and their vital organs removed. A few weeks back, there were shock waves across the nation, as cases of the discovery of kidnappers’ dens in parts of Lagos metropolis surfaced in the media.

The most notable being the one at Obadeyi in Ijaye area of the state. As revealed by the then state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, the dungeon was discovered through the joint efforts of security agents and members of the public.

The den was reportedly discovered after a highway sweeper with the Lagos State Waste Management Agency (LAWMA) raised the alarm when she heard the voice of a woman calling for help from the canal. Following the discovery, the Lagos State police command arrested seven persons suspected to be ritual killers. As this was still raging, another hideout of suspected kidnappers emerged in Ile-Zik, near Ikeja.

The Ikorodu axis of Lagos State has, for some time now, also assumed a kind of notoriety on issues of suspected ritual killings. Badoo cult group has held a firm grip of this area which they have literarily turned to a den of terror. In most of their operations, they would enter into target homes after cutting the burglar-proof bars and hack their victims to death.

“The private parts of a woman were messed up in one of their evil operations. And they often rape their female victims and use them for rituals,” a resident of Ikorodu, said. Similar cases of underground dens as sites of dark practices are not also new in other parts of the country, according to reports. One of the most shocking was the ‘forest of horror’ in the Soka area of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. It was reportedly chanced on by a motorbike rider.

The forest had over 20 decomposed human bodies and hundreds of human skulls at the time of the discovery. About 20 people were rescued from it. Behind all of these, however, is the desire for illicit wealth by misguided individuals. They are, unfortunately, in large numbers.  

Scores of people thronged the Oyo State police headquarters, Eleyele, Ibadan to catch a glimpse of the four suspected ritual killers. They could not hold back their tears as one of the suspects, Tunde Jimoh, gave a chilling description of how they tricked their victim, Akintoye Oyeyemi, into a deep forest and murdered him in cold blood. Looking deceitfully innocent, Jimoh said: “I am a business man who deals in cashew nuts. My brother’s friend came to him and said he would pay the sum of N10 million for a business transaction.

When he was saying this, my friend was with me, he then sold an idea to me that we should kidnap him and rob him of the money. “The victim called us that he was coming to Ajase; it was there we kidnapped him. After moving deep into Igbo Nla (thick forest), I parked the bike that we used. I then pointed the gun at him. He was afraid and surprised. He then said was it because of the money he had on him that we wanted to kill him. He dropped his bag and started running away.

I shot and killed him. We then took his bag and found only N100,000 and some clothes in it.” Recently, another report of ritual murders including that of one-year-old Success lme in Calabar, hugged media headlines. Her heart was reportedly ripped out from her small body.

This was discovered in a church along with other items for occult rituals. There is also the case of Pastor Samuel Okpara in Ahoada East Local Government Area of Imo State, who was kidnapped, killed and cannibalised by suspected ritual killers.

Okpara was purportedly beheaded and his liver and intestines allegedly used for pepper soup and plantain porridge. His was also a horrific narrative. In Minna, Niger State, Abdulrashed Aminu, 22, and Ismaila Mohammed, 27, were equally caught with a fresh human head about 9pm along Minna Paikoro road’s junction during a stop and search operation not too long ago. The beheaded eight-year-old boy was later identified as Hassan Abubakar of Bakajeba village in Paiko Local Government area of the state, according to police.

Not too long ago, a Nigerian woman living in Bavarian, Germany, who identified herself simply as Mrs F. Owodunni, alleged foul play after his 20-year-old son visiting Nigeria was said to have committed suicide. She doubted such claim and insisted that her son may have been killed for ritual purposes. According to a petition she sent to the Federal Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Homicide Section, Alagbon Close, Ikoyi, Lagos, Owodunni said she started suspecting underhand dealings after people close to the boy began to avoid her phone calls while the boy was with them in Nigeria.  

She said: “I am writing a petition about the suspected murder of my son, Edwin, 20, and I am a citizen of Germany. My son had been coming to Nigeria to visit his father and this trip was his fourth. Edwin came to Nigeria on March 16, for the burial of his paternal grandmother in the village at Owerri.

“He was expected to return to Germany on April 7. He was communicating with me (via phone). He called on April 12, to inform that he had extended his flight to May 12, as he wanted to spend more time with his father.

That was the last time the family here in Germany heard from Edwin. All efforts to reach Edwin’s father proved abortive. All efforts to reach my son also proved abortive. “But to our surprise, we were told that Edwin had committed suicide.

We got this news on June 26, while he allegedly committed suicide about three months ago in his father’s village in Owerri.” She said the boy was buried without her knowledge. This fueled her suspicion that her son may have been a victim of ritual killing.

“To this end, we want the police to thoroughly investigate this case to unravel the mystery behind the death of my son,” she begged. Ernest Nmezuwoba, father of Victory Chikamso, the eight-year-old girl abducted, raped and killed by suspect, Ifeanyi Dike, the 200 level Physics student of the University of Port Harcourt, who recently escaped from police custody in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, is also lamenting. Nmezuwoba said his joy has been cut short and that he may never recover from the trauma the death of his beloved son has left him with.

There are countless other outpouring of anguish by parents and relatives of those suspected to have been killed for ritual purposes. Incidentally, such nuisances are often not enough to deter the evil doers. Early in the year, a Mass Communication undergraduate of the Cross River State University of Technology, Joy Odama, reportedly died in circumstances believed by her parents to be ritualistic. She was said to have gone to the home of an Alhaji to seek financial help with the knowledge of her mother.

In another case, a 300-Level student of the Benue State University, Grace Onaivi, went missing and her body later found, mutilated with some parts missing, in a manner suspected to be ritual killing. Her corpse was dumped along a road in Lokoja, Kogi State. Also, a 400-Level student of the Osun State University, Rofiat Damilola Adebisi, was reportedly killed in a similar manner while on her way to a religious programme. Just like that of Onaivi, her corpse was also discovered two days later with vital parts missing.

Two suspects who were arrested confessed she was kidnapped and “sold” to a herbalist for N10,000. Just recently, a 16-year-old secondary school student, Raimi Fatai, equally suffered the same fate in Abeokuta, Ogun State. His killing was said to have followed the administration of suspected liquid substance on him by his three classmates during a moneymaking ritual. Before then, the Ondo State Police Command had arrested a 44-year-old, Shaba Samuel, for allegedly beheading his three-year old niece, Dieko Adunbarin for same purpose at Ikara Akoko area of the state. Everywhere, hundreds of Nigerians lose their lives to ritual murderers.

The killers usually go in search of human parts such as head, breast, tongue and sexual organs at the request of shamans, juju priests, and traditional medicine practitioners. These witchdoctors often require these parts for some sacrifices or for the preparation of assorted magical potions.

The beliefs in dogmas, myth, and magical thinking, many believe, fuel this evil practices. Ignorance, poverty, desperation, gullibility, and irrationalism, hold others hostage to this brutal act. Regrettably, many of those suspected to be ritual killers, even when they are arrested, often escape the long hands of the law.

[copied from Niaja News and Events]

Pakistan Christian teen detained over ‘Koran burning’

Pakistani police have arrested a Christian teenager after he was allegedly caught burning pages of the Koran. It’s the latest incident in Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy-related arrests and vigilante killings.

Police said Sunday that Asif Massih, an 18-year-old member of the minority Christian community, was caught “red handed” desecrating the Muslim holy book, the Koran. The incident took place in the central Punjab province.

“On the night of August 12, police received a complaint that a Christian boy has been found burning pages of the holy Koran outside the shrine,” Asghar Ali, a police official, told the AFP news agency.

Another security official, Pervaiz Iqbal, said a crowd of 200 people had gathered outside the police station demanding that Massih be handed over to them for vigilante punishment.

“We then secretly moved the culprit to the police station in Wazirabad where he was interrogated and confessed to his crime,” Iqbal said.

A sensitive matter

Massih was charged under section 295-B of Pakistan’s penal code that makes the death sentence mandatory for insulting Islam.

Blasphemy is a highly sensitive topic in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, where around 97 percent of its 180 million inhabitants are Muslim. Rights advocates have long been demanding a reform of the controversial blasphemy laws, which were introduced by the Islamic military dictator General Zia-ul-Haq in the 1980s.

Activists say the laws have little to do with blasphemy and are often used to settle petty disputes and personal vendettas. Religious groups oppose any change to the blasphemy law and consider it necessary for Pakistan’s Islamic identity.

In April, 23-year-old journalism student Mashal Khan was killed by a vigilante mob over allegations of blasphemy in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Mardan.

At least 65 people have been murdered by vigilante mobs over blasphemy allegations since 1990.

Living in fear

Pakistan’s Christians and other religious minorities complain of legal and social discrimination. In the past few years, many Christians and Hindus have been brutally murdered over unproven blasphemy allegations.

One of Pakistan’s most high profile blasphemy cases is that of Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who was found guilty of committing blasphemy while working in the fields in 2009 and was sentenced to death. In 2014, her death sentence was upheld by the Lahore High Court. Amnesty International called the verdict a “grave injustice.”

Read: Asia Bibi’s appeal against death penalty – A test case for Pakistan

In one case, a young girl between the ages of 10 to 14 years with Down syndrome, was accused in August of 2012 of burning pages upon which verses of the Koran were inscribed. Rimsha Masih was taken into police custody and only released months later, when charges were dropped. The case caused an uproar in her home town and beyond and sparked riots and violence against Christians in the region. In 2013, she and her family relocated to Canada.

In 2014, a Christian couple was beaten to death for allegedly desecrating a copy of the Koran. Their bodies were subsequently burned in a brick kiln.

State support

Pakistan’s liberal activists blame their country’s authorities for emboldening religious fanatics.

In June, a Pakistani court sentenced a man to death for committing blasphemy on Facebook.

“This vigilantism is being supported by the state as well as the judiciary. Religious clerics are fanning hatred. Even the civil society has failed to perform its duties,” Aatif Afzal, an Islamabad-based rights activist and communication strategist with a media development organization, told DW.

Government critics and secular writers in Pakistan fear religious extremists and the government alike when it comes to blasphemy allegations, which are enough to put them in prison or get vigilante mobs to lynch them.

Read: Blasphemy allegations – the new way of muzzling free speech in South Asia

The “abduction” of liberal bloggers in January – allegedly by Pakistan’s security forces – and the lynching of a secular journalism student shocked activists and the journalist community in Pakistan. There has been increased social media vigilantism, which is forcing critics of the government and military as well as human rights activists to censor their thoughts and words.

Activist Afzal says that blasphemy violence will not stop in Pakistan until the government takes firm action against vigilantism and those who wrongly accuse people of blasphemy.

“It can be a defining moment in Pakistan’s war against religious extremism. But I am afraid the political parties will not act. They are only interested in securing their vote bank,” Afzal told DW, adding that Pakistani civil society will continue to build pressure on the government to reform blasphemy laws.

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  FORCED PIETY – PAKISTAN’S RAMADAN LAW AND VIGILANTISM

  Harsh penalties

  In Pakistan, it is illegal to drink, eat or even smoke in public during Ramadan. You can be sent to jail, heavily fined, or may even be beaten by vigilantes. Earlier this month, the country’s lawmakers introduced stricter penalties that could see people jailed for up to three months for a violation.

Christians sueing FEMA for not Funding Churches Damaged by Disasters

Houses of worship and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, otherwise known as FEMA, are at odds—after Hurricane Harvey. From CT’s report:

Three Texas churches impacted by Hurricane Harvey sued FEMA this week for deeming them ineligible for disaster relief grants. The agency’s policy excludes sanctuaries that serve as shelters after natural disasters.

Conflicts between FEMA and houses of worship aren’t new. In 1995, there was a debate over whether churches could use federal aid to repair damage from the Oklahoma City bombing. (Congress passed a law saying yes, they can.) In 2002, the Justice Department said Seattle churches were eligible for earthquake aid. In 2013, the House voted overwhelmingly to say churches can get FEMA funds for Hurricane Sandy but the bill ultimately died in the Senate.

Part of the reason why there’s been no federal statute solution is that there isn’t always political urgency around the issue, said Chelsea Langston Bombino, the director of strategic engagement for the Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance at the Center for Public Justice.

“I would love to see the broader nonprofit community say, ‘We don’t all have to agree on our mission. We live in a diverse society, and we need diverse organizations to meet the needs of that society,’” she said.

There are more than 350,000 congregations in the United States contributing economically to their communities and offering architectural and artistic value to their neighbors, and the majority offer services for people beyond their congregations, Langston Bombino said.

“To restore a community you have to restore its institutions in which that community lives their lives,” she said. “That would include small business, non-profits, community centers, and houses of worship.”

Langston Bombino joined assistant editor Morgan Lee and editorial director Ted Olsen this week to discuss why FEMA’s denial of funds is a religious freedom issue, why a recent Supreme Court case could be important on the court’s ruling, and how we can love our neighbors through politics.

[written by CT EDITORS]