With So Many Muslims Finding Christ, Could Islam Fall?

CHARISMA NEWS: The headlines say Islam is going to be the largest religion in the world. But Islam is facing a crisis.

The terrible deeds of ISIS, done in the name of Allah and following the violent example of Muhammad, have horrified Muslims who are now questioning their faith.

Missionaries to the Islamic world say more Muslims have converted to Christianity in the last 14 years (since 9/11) than during the entire 14 centuries of Islamic history.

Secret Lives

Many keep their conversion a secret, afraid for their lives. In London, CBN News talked to Imran (no last name given to protect his identity), a British college student from a Pakistani immigrant family. Imran left Islam after a lengthy study convinced him the Quran could not be true. Leaving Islam can be a tough road.

"If someone leaves Islam and becomes an apostate, he is thrown out of his family; his family will be the first ones to abandon him," Imran explained. "His friends will reject him and he will be killed or he will be persecuted. A lot of my friends said, 'This is the last time I'm talking to you because you disrespected the prophet Muhammed, you disrespected Islam.'"

Imran has not yet become a Christian, but has studied the Bible and says Christianity is superior to Islam. » | Dale Hurd | CBN | Monday, June 01, 2015

Schweiz: Der Imam von Bern

«Die Kernbotschaft des Islam ist das friedliche Zusammenleben der Menschen», sagt Mustafa Memeti. Er ist Imam des «Muslimischen Vereins Bern» und Präsident des «Albanisch Islamischen Verbandes Schweiz». Memeti kämpft gegen Extremismus und für den Dialog zwischen den Religionen.

How and Why Hitler, the Nazis and the Third Reich Came to Power – Full Documentary

Hitler in Colour: Nazi Rise to Power

A documentary about Adolf Hitler rise to power in 1933. This video is meant for educational purposes only.

RENSE.COM: David Lloyd George's Impression After A Meeting With Adolf Hitler, September 4, 1936 » | By The Right Honourable DAVID LLOYD GEORGE, The Daily Express - London | November 17, 1936

Wahlkampf in der Türkei: Erdogan droht kritischem Journalisten

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Ein türkischer Journalist hat über angebliche Waffenlieferungen an Extremisten in Syrien berichtet - trotz Nachrichtensperre. Dafür hat Präsident Erdogan dem Autor nun gedroht, er werde "einen hohen Preis dafür bezahlen".

Vor der Parlamentswahl am kommenden Sonntag ist der türkische Präsident Recep Tayyip Erdogan im Wahlkampfmodus. Dabei herrscht in der Türkei ein rauer Ton - auch gegen unliebsame Medien. Journalist Can Dündar hatte über angebliche Waffenlieferungen an Extremisten in Syrien berichtet - nun hat ihm Erdogan offen gedroht. Der Chefredakteur der regierungskritischen Zeitung "Cumhuriyet" werde "einen hohen Preis dafür bezahlen", sagte Erdogan im Staatssender TRT. » | vek/dpa/AFP | Montag, 01. Juni 2015

Österreich: FPÖ berauscht sich an Wahlerfolgen

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Von 10 auf 27 Prozent: Die rechtspopulistische FPÖ hat bei zwei Landtagswahlen unerwartet viele Stimmen hinzugewonnen - mit einer ausländerfeindlichen Kampagne. Parteichef Strache tönt, man sei auf dem Weg zur stärksten Partei des Landes.

Nach großen Stimmenzuwächsen bei zwei Landtagswahlen sieht sich die rechtspopulistische FPÖ auf dem Weg nach oben. "Die FPÖ ist am Weg zur stärksten und bestimmenden Kraft in Österreich", sagte der Parteivorsitzende Heinz-Christian Strache. Er sieht die beiden Abstimmungen als "Vorspiel" für die Wahlen in Oberösterreich und Wien im Herbst.

Bei den Wahlen vom Sonntag hat die Partei mit einer ausländerfeindlichen Kampagne teils spektakuläre Gewinne eingefahren. In der Steiermark kann sie laut vorläufigem amtlichen Endergebnis ihren Stimmenanteil um 16,5 Prozentpunkte auf 27,1 Prozent steigern.

Sie liegt damit nur knapp hinter sozialdemokratischer SPÖ (29,2 Prozent) und konservativer ÖVP (28,5 Prozent). Auch im Burgenland gelang fast eine Verdoppelung auf 15 Prozent. » | fab/dpa | Montag, 01. Juni 2015

US Muslim in Abercrombie Hijab Court Win

BBC AMERICA: The US Supreme Court has ruled in favour of a Muslim woman who was denied a job because of her headscarf.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co refused to hire Samantha Elauf because her dress violated the clothing retailer's "Look Policy" for sales staff.

Ms Elauf wore a hijab at interview but did not say she was Muslim.

But Justice Antonin Scalia said the retailer "at least suspected" that she wore a headscarf for religious reasons and she did not need to make a request.

US law requires that employers must "reasonably accommodate" an employee's religious beliefs, as long as it does not provide an undue hardship to the business. » | Monday, June 01, 2015

Islamic State Militants 'Filmed Torturing Syrian Boy'

BBC AMERICA: A graphic mobile phone video obtained by the BBC appears to show militants from Islamic State (IS) torturing a 14-year-old Syrian boy.

The footage, filmed by a defector from the jihadist group, shows the boy being beaten while he hangs by his wrists.

The UN has accused IS and other armed groups in Syria and Iraq of torturing and killing children.

Children have also been recruited, trained and used on the battlefield.

Another teenager told the BBC how he fought and killed for the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front at the age of just 15, and that when he switched to IS he found 13-year-olds being indoctrinated. (+ BBC videos) » | Quentin Sommerville, BBC News, Turkey-Syria border | Monday, June 01, 2015

Calls to Refer to God as a Woman as Female Bishops Take Up Posts

Bishop Libby Lane at Chester Cathedral

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Support is growing within the Church of England to rewrite its official liturgy to refer to God as female following the selection of the first women bishops

Support is growing within the Church of England to rewrite its official liturgy to refer to God as female following the selection of the first women bishops.

Growing numbers of priests already insert words such as “she” and “mother” informally into traditional service texts as part of a move to make the language of worship more inclusive, it has been claimed.

But calls for a full overhaul of liturgy to recognise the equal status of women have already been discussed informally at a senior level.

It comes after the “Transformations Steering Group”, a body which meets in Lambeth Palace to examine the impact of women in ministry on the Church of England, issued a public call to the bishops to encourage more “expansive language and imagery about God”.

Hilary Cotton, chair of Women And The Church (Watch), the group which led the campaign for female bishops, said the shift away from the traditional patriarchal language of the Book of Common Prayer in already at an “advanced” stage in some quarters.

“The reality is that in many churches up and down the country something more than the almost default male language about God is already being used,” she said. “Quietly clergy are just talking about God as ‘she’ every now and then.

“The response you often get at one end is ‘why does it matter because God is beyond all this?’

“At the other end the reaction is ‘you mustn’t because Jesus calls God father.” » | John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor | Sunday, May 31, 2015

Bacha Bazi - The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan (2009)

It was an ancient tradition banned by the Taliban but now it's back: Ghaith Abdul-Ahad reports from northern Afghanistan on the hiring out of young male dancers by older men.

Our Leaders Keep Telling Us That Islam is Loving and Peaceful, But This Film Will Show You What the Cowardly Politicians––the Creeps––Won’t Tell You

Why I Left Islam & Goodbye

Sharia4Australia: Muslim Cleric Says "Democracy is the Devil's Law"

Islam Center Stage as Turkish Election Campaign Enters Final Week

REUTERS.COM: Evoking the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople and vowing the Muslim call to prayer would forever ring out, President Tayyip Erdogan put religion center stage on Saturday as campaigning for Turkey's parliamentary election entered its final week.

Persuading religious conservatives, including pious Kurds and nationalists, to back the Islamist-rooted AK Party will be key in an election Erdogan hopes will bring him stronger presidential powers that opponents see as a threat to democracy.

Turkey's most dominant politician for more than a decade and founder of the AK Party, Erdogan draws much of his support from the pious masses. His rhetoric often plays on a tension reaching back to the 1920s when Mustafa Kemal Ataturk forged a secular republic from the ruins of an Ottoman theocracy.

"We will not give way to those who speak out against our call to prayer," he said in a speech in Istanbul to mark the anniversary of the 1453 Islamic conquest that turned the capital of the Byzantine Empire into the seat of Ottoman power.

"We will not give space to those who want to extinguish the fire of conquest burning in the heart of Istanbul for 562 years," he told a sea of supporters waving the red Turkish flag, most of the women covered in the Islamic headscarf and some of the men wearing headbands bearing Erdogan's name.

An AK Party video released to commemorate the conquest culminated with the Muslim call to prayer being recited from a minaret of the Hagia Sophia, Christendom's greatest cathedral for 900 years until the Ottomans turned it into a mosque.

Ataturk, who banished Islam from state affairs and promoted Western dress and women's rights, decreed it a museum in 1934. But a burgeoning sense of Islamic identity that Erdogan has encouraged has revived interest in praying there. » | Daren Butler and Humeyra Pamuk | Istanbul | Saturday, May 30, 2015

C of E Crisis as It Loses 1.7m Followers - and Islam Gains 900,000: Former Archbishop Lord Carey warns: 'Church Is a Generation from Extinction'

MAIL ON SUNDAY: Lord Carey called for urgent action to reverse slump in followers / Britons identifying themselves as C of E or Anglican dropped to 17 per cent / Current Archbishop Justin Welby has also said decline needs tackling / Government statistician says figures are 'very serious' for Church

The Church of England has suffered a dramatic slump in its followers, shocking new figures show.

Between 2012 and 2014, the proportion of Britons identifying themselves as C of E or Anglican dropped from 21 per cent to 17 per cent – a fall of about 1.7 million people.

Over the same period, the number of Muslims in Britain grew by nearly one million, according to a survey by the respected NatCen Social Research Institute.

Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey warned last night that unless urgent action was taken, the Church was just ‘one generation away from extinction’.

The number of Anglicans in Britain has dropped from about 10.3 million to 8.6 million, and will raise fresh fears over the future of the Church of England, which has been in decline since the 1960s.

Lord Carey, who has warned before about dwindling congregations, said: ‘These figures are a call to urgent mission. I have no doubt at all that the Archbishops, together with the whole leadership of the Church of England, are doing all they can to reverse this trend.’

The current Archbishop, Justin Welby, has also called for the decline to be tackled and is introducing measures to streamline the Church and strengthen its leadership. Read on and comment » | Sanchez Manning and Jonathan Petre for ‘Mail On Sunday’ | Sunday, May 31, 2015

Sydney Same-sex Marriage Rally: Tony Abbott's Sister Christine Forster among Speakers at Demonstration

THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: A bill on the issue in being introduced on Monday in Australia

More than a thousand people took to the streets of Sydney on Sunday to rally in favour of equal marriage in Australia.

Christine Forster, Liberal Party politician and the gay sister of the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, was among the speakers at the demonstration.

It came days after Mr Abbott seemingly bowed to pressure by hinting that he would allow his MPs a free vote on a same-sex marriage bill which will be introduced in federal parliament on Monday.

Although Ms Forster is engaged to a woman, the Prime Minister has been a long standing opponent of gay marriage, and rejected calls for a referendum after Ireland's public vote earlier this month reignited debate on the issue in Australia. » | David Hughes | Sunday, May 31, 2015

USA: Anti-Islam Rally Targets Arizona Mosque

Tony Blair 'in £330,000 Demand for Hunger Talk'

SUNDAY EXPRESS: A SPEECH by Tony Blair at a world hunger conference was dropped after the former Prime Minister allegedly demanded a massive £330,000 fee, it has emerged.

Mr Blair was asked to speak at the Eat food forum in Stockholm, Sweden, which starts tomorrow.

The event, which last year featured a talk by former American president Bill Clinton, claims to be a forum where 'science politics and business can share insight and ideas to achieve our common goal of sustainably feeding a healthy world population.

Kruger Cowne talent agency, which represents Mr Blair, asked for a £250,000 fee plus £80,000 expenses for a twenty minute speech, according to the Sunday Times.

Mr Clinton got a total of £327,000 for his half-hour talk last year. Eat offered Mr Blair, who stepped down from his role as Middle East peace envoy last week, £215,000, but after months of talks, an agreement was not reached.

A source said: "Blair is just not Clinton, and even his star peer is fast diminishing.

"So for his talent reps to think Eat was going to pay massive bucks for him shows they overestimated his worth." » | Peter Henn | Sunday, May 31, 2015

'We're Coming to Get YOU' UK Special Forces Launch Cyber WAR against ISIS Networks

SUNDAY EXPRESS: BRITISH Special Forces are mounting cyber attacks on Islamic State communications networks, warning its commanders: “We’re coming to get you”.

The news emerges as Whitehall prepares to send 50 additional SAS and SBS troops to join the fight against the terror group in Iraq.

Another 120 Special Forces support troops are also being considered.

They are to help Peshmerga, the military forces of Iraqi Kurdistan, advance further into Syria. Kurdish forces have already established coalition enclaves just hours from Raqqa, the headquarters of IS.

The idea of expanding Britain’s training mission outside of Kurdistan was discussed at a National Security Council meeting chaired by Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday.

General Mike Jackson yesterday echoed calls from General Richard Dannatt, his successor as Chief of the General Staff, that Britain should go further and consider putting regular troops into Syria.

Speaking to the Sunday Express, General Jackson said: “How long is Britain and the West prepared to stand back and allow IS to carry on? » | Marco Giannangeli | Sunday, May 31, 2015

Austrians Fear Smoking Ban Threat to Café Culture

BBC AMERICA: After years of debate, Austria's government has announced plans to introduce a total smoking ban in cafes and restaurants by 2018.

Anti-smoking groups say that is too long to wait, but there have been protests by some restaurant owners, who say their business will suffer.

Austrians like order, or "Ordnung" as they say in German. It is hugely frowned upon for a pedestrian to cross the road on a red light. And the streets and underground network of Vienna are kept remarkably clean.

But smoky air in cafes and restaurants has been widely tolerated for years.

Cafe culture

"Smoking is a sort of culture, especially in Austria," Margit Schwed told me as she sat in Cafe Ritter in Vienna, with its gilt chandeliers and marble table tops.

"In the typical Vienna Kaffeehaus you take your coffee and your cigarette. I think people like the flair in the coffee houses."

Austria has one of the highest rates of smoking in Europe, particularly among young people: 33% of Austrians smoke regularly, according to a 2012 Eurobarometer study. Only Greeks, Bulgarians and Latvians smoke more. (+ BBC video) » | Bethany Bell, BBC News, Vienna | Sunday, May 31, 2015