Is the Iraqi
government doing enough to protect the country’s Christian minority from an
expected spike in violent attacks as they prepare to celebrate Christmas?
Amnesty International doesn’t think so. The group is calling on the government
to do more.

“Attacks on
Christians and their churches by armed groups have intensified in past weeks
and have clearly included war crimes” says Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International
director for the Middle East and North Africa. “We fear that militants are
likely to attempt serious attacks against Christians during the Christmas
period for maximum publicity and to embarrass the government.”

Amnesty
International has cause to be concerned. Last year armed groups carried out
fatal bomb attacks on churches in Mosul on Dec. 15 and Dec. 23. Some 65 attacks
on Christian churches in Iraq were recorded between mid-2004 and the end of
2009.

The increase in
violence against Christians in the last month takes place against a backdrop of
sectarian violence in Iraq, including several bomb attacks on Shia gatherings last week during the Ashura
period, which have reportedly killed more than a dozen people.

In fact, attacks
have increased since about 100 worshippers were taken
hostage in a Baghdad Assyrian Catholic church by an armed group on Oct. 31, with
more than 40 people killed as Iraqi security forces tried to free the hostages,
Amnesty reports. The Islamic State of Iraq, an armed
group linked to al-Qaida, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Following the
hostage crisis, Christian families in Baghdad have been subjected to increasing
bomb and rocket attacks on their homes, as well as systematic threats in the
mail or by text message, Amnesty reports. Dozens of Christian families have
fled Baghdad, Mosul and Basra and have sought refuge in the Kurdistan region of
Iraq.

The summary,
released by the Barnabas Fund, says that Iraqi
Christians in threatened cities like Mosul “are living behind locked doors.
They are compelled to take long leaves of absence from work, in Mosul and other
cities, as a result of the dangers they face at work. The universities are
almost empty of Christian students, as are the schools.”

According to
media reports, as Christmas approaches the Iraqi authorities have started
constructing concrete walls to protect Mosul and Baghdad churches from security
threats, and are introducing stringent security checks at their entrances.
Religious services have been scaled back due to fear of attacks.

“Building
walls around churches is a sign that the government has failed to provide real
security,” Smart says.
“Now that Iraq is finally forming a government, that new government’s
effectiveness will be measured by whether it achieves an actual reduction in
sectarian attacks by armed groups, and helps stem the flood of Christians
fleeing Iraq to escape the violence.”

As Christmas Eve
approaches, the war on celebrations of Christ’s birthday is still raging. Local
governments in Nevada and Indiana are receiving threats for public Christmas
celebrations.

The American
Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU, contends that expressions of Christmas violate
the First Amendment. On Friday, the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) and allied
attorneys sent letters to the local governments encouraging them not to give in
to the ACLU’s threats. The letters explain that stifling Christmas expression
is instead a violation of First Amendment protected rights.

“It’s ridiculous
that people have to think twice about whether it’s OK to publicly celebrate
Christmas. An overwhelming majority of Americans celebrate Christmas and
are opposed to any kind of censorship of it,” says ADF
Senior Counsel David Cortman. “The misguided attacks on Christmas by
the ACLU and its allies expose an even larger, more aggressive attack on
anything and everything Christian.”

Virgin
Valley High School in Mesquite, Nev., was
among those threatened. The school subsequently entered into an “agreement”
with the ACLU to prohibit teachers and staff from saying “merry Christmas” and
engaging in other Christmas activities. Teachers are reportedly not
allowed to post any religious Christmas decorations and are only permitted to
say “happy holidays.” Christmas trees must instead be called “holiday
trees.”

Meanwhile, the Freedom From Religion Foundation threatened Franklin
County, Ind., for displaying a 50-year-old nativity scene on county property
near a Christmas tree and three reindeer. ADF Senior Legal
Counsel Bryan Beauman says, “This display is clearly constitutional as
displayed, and the county should not give in to the Freedom From Religion
Foundation’s threats, which have no basis in the law.”

A 2008 Gallup poll found that 93 percent of Americans
celebrate Christmas. A 2009 Rasmussen poll found that 83 percent of
American adults believe public schools should celebrate religious holidays, and
76 percent believe religious symbols, such as Christmas nativity scenes, should
be allowed on public land.

It’s no great
revelation that Americans are divided over what greetings businesses should use
during the December holiday season. But in case you had any doubts, a PRRI/RNS Religion News Survey has made it official.

Forty-nine
percent of Americans say stores should use “merry Christmas” this holiday
season, compared to 44 percent who say that they should use more generic “happy
holidays” or “season’s greetings” out of respect for people of different
faiths. The survey reveals large religious, partisan and regional differences
over the appropriateness of different holiday greetings.

“Celebrations of
the birth of Jesus in Christianity have always blended the explicitly religious
with elements of the contemporary culture,” says Robert P.
Jones, CEO of PRRI. “That roughly equal numbers of
Americans both read the story of the birth of Jesus from the Bible and the
story of Santa Claus in ’Twas the Night Before Christmas
is a continuation of that tradition.”

Here’s how it
breaks down demographics-wise:

• A majority
  of white evangelical Protestants (69 percent) and white mainline Protestants
  (57 percent) support stores using “merry Christmas.” A majority of Catholics
  (55 percent), however, support stores using more generic greetings like “happy
  holidays.”

• Nearly
  two-thirds (64 percent) of Republicans also support saying “merry Christmas” as
  opposed to more generic greetings. In contrast, nearly 6-in-10 (58 percent)
  Democrats say stores and businesses should be using “happy holidays” or
  “season’s greetings” out of respect for people of different faiths.

• A majority
  of Americans living in the Midwest (56 percent) and the South (54 percent), and
  a plurality (49 percent) of those living in the West say stores and businesses
  should greet customers with “merry Christmas,” while nearly 6-in-10 (58
  percent) Americans living in the Northeast say businesses should use more
  generic greetings.

What about you? Do you say “merry
Christmas,” “happy holidays” or something else?

American
children are battling rejection as families are increasingly falling apart. A
disturbing 55 percent of American children come from broken homes—and 55
percent of American teenagers’ parents have rejected each other, either through
divorce, separation, or choosing not to marry. So says the Index
of Belonging and Rejection.

Produced by Pat Fagan, Ph.D., of the Marriage and Religion Research
Institute, a project of Family Research Council, the Index defines an
intact family as a biological mother and father remaining legally married to each
other since before or around the time of their child’s birth.

As Fagan sees
it, American society is dysfunctional, characterized by a faulty understanding
of the male-female relationship. The solution, he says, is a compass
correction, learning again how to belong to each other when we have begotten
children together. 

“If we fail in
this, as a nation we will continue to ‘define deviancy down,’
in the inimitable phrase of Daniel
Patrick Moynihan,” Fagan says. “The merging again of the realities of
father and mother with those of husband and wife will strengthen our children
and lead to immeasurable benefits for children, adults and society.  These
include financial, educational, legislative, legal and judicial gains.”

According to the
Index’s analysis of the 2008 American Community Survey,
significant variations in the capacity to belong occur across regions and
within different ethnic groups. For example:

• 62 percent
  of Asian-American teenagers live with both married parents.

• 54 percent
  of white youth, a slight majority, live with both parents.

• 41 percent
  of teenagers from multiracial family backgrounds live in intact families.

• 40 percent
  of Hispanic teenagers nationwide live with both parents.

• 24 percent
  of American Indian and Alaskan Native adolescents—fewer than one in four—have
  lived with both married parents throughout childhood.

• 17 percent
  of African-American youth—fewer than one in five—live with both married
  parents.

Beyond racial
differences, the Index varies across regional and socioeconomic lines.
Forty-one percent of adolescents living in the South grow up belonging to an
intact family. What’s more, large urban counties whose populations are less
educated, less affluent and contain high concentrations of minority groups tend
to have lower proportions of two-parent families.

“Individual
children, communities and the nation as a whole suffer the consequences of the
culture of rejection in American homes,” Fagan says. “Children in broken
homes are more likely to be poor or welfare-dependent. They enjoy less academic
achievement and less social development, have more accidents and injuries, and
have worse mental health and more behavioral problems. These children also have
worse relationships with their parents and are more likely to reject their own
spouses later.”

Fagan goes on to
say that the culture of rejection burdens communities with higher levels of
poverty, unemployment, welfare dependency, domestic abuse, child neglect,
delinquency, crime and crime victimization, drug abuse, academic failure and
school dropout, and unmarried teen pregnancy and childbearing.

“The United States experiences increased costs in
education, health care, mental health and the administration of justice,” he
concludes. “Our future as a country depends on the strength of our
families. Such strength is waning, which should give every American pause
for concern and motivation for action.”

The
centuries-old Christian community in Iraq is on the verge of extinction,
according to Open Doors, an organization that fights for Christian freedom in
dangerous countries.

The estimated
number of Christians in Iraq has been cut in half—from about 700,000 in 2003 to
a mere 350,000 today. Open Doors reports that thousands of Christians have fled
the country while others have taken refuge in northern Iraq.

“The
‘religicide’ of Christians holds disturbing parallels to a previous effort to
eliminate Iraqi Jews in 1941,” says Open Doors USA
President Carl Moeller. “Many Jews fled and today virtually nothing remains
of the once-vibrant community. People of all faiths must unite to prevent this
from happening again. We must fight for freedom of religion for all imperiled
faith groups in Iraq.”

In the last two
months alone, between 70 and 80 Christians have been targeted and killed by
Muslim extremists, including the massacre of 58 at Our Lady
of Salvation Church in Baghdad on Oct. 31.

“The Christians
in the Middle East, including Iraq, have become the new Jews of our times,”
says Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein, director of Interfaith
Affairs for the Simon Wiesenthal Center. “We call on all people of faith,
and all Americans, to speak up for the embattled Christians of Iraq and against
the disturbing pattern of violence against other faiths and places of worship.”

The White House
is calling on religious leaders to help make the DREAM Act a reality. The White
House hosted a call on Thursday morning with rabbis, pastors and Christian leaders
who hope to convince at least 60 United States senators to pass the bipartisan
legislation before Congress takes its holiday break.

The DREAM Act is
legislation that would give students who grew up in the U.S. a chance to
contribute to the nation’s well-being by serving in the U.S. armed forces or
pursuing a higher education. The limited, targeted legislation would allow only
the best and brightest young people to earn their legal status after a rigorous
and lengthy process. It applies to those brought to the United States as minors
through no fault of their own by their parents.

“This is a
critical moment for the government, for our educational and military
institutions, for the faith community, and most importantly for the young
people all across our great nation,” says Joshua Dubois,
director of the White
House Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. “Through
the DREAM Act we are on the verge of bringing a greater degree of rationality
and compassion to our nation’s immigration system and at the same time
improving our economy as well.”

On the call were
Rabbi Jack Moline from Congregation Agudas Achim
in Alexandria, Va.; Joel C. Hunter, pastor of
Northland, A Church Distributed in Longwood, Fla.; pastor Rich Nathan from
Vineyard Columbus in Columbus, Ohio; and Noel Castellanos
from the Christian Community Development Association in Chicago. All these
men support the DREAM Act.

Moline says many of the kids at schools in his Alexandria
community epitomize what the
Bible calls a resident stranger—an individual who is already with but not of
you. He says the Torah instructs Jews to welcome strangers and make them
members of their home.

“I don’t suggest
for a moment that the laws of this land should be determined by the Bible or
any religious text. That’s Congress’ job. But the values that our senators and
representatives rely on to decide what good law is must come from somewhere,”
Moline says. “What I would offer as the Jewish contribution to this
deliberation about the DREAM Act is the notion that we have a special
responsibility to these young people who wish no longer to be resident
strangers, but to take their place among us with shared values and practices.”

In terms of the
larger immigration reform picture, Hunter says helping youth by passing the
DREAM Act is the easiest and most sensible part of the challenge to address. As
he sees it, it’s morally wrong to punish kids for something their parents did.
The voice of any religion, he says, is to transfer people from the wrong path
to the right one.

“These are talented young people who grew up with
Americans and want to give back to the nation they call home. They are willing
to put their lives on the line for the country they love,” Hunter says. “This
is not amnesty. Amnesty comes at no cost. There’s a high cost and a very strict
guideline to the completion of these requirements.”

Remember Delia
Knox, the music minister who stood up and walked out of a wheelchair that held
her captive for 22 years? Well, now she’s not only walking—she’s dancing.

Knox, a popular
singer who pastors Living World Christian Center in Mobile,
Ala., with her husband, Bishop Levy Knox, had been paralyzed since a car
accident on Christmas Day 1987. A video
captured her miraculous healing at the Bay of the Holy Spirit Revival at the
Mobile Convention Center in September.

On Thursday
night, the Knoxes will host “A Night With the
King—Celebrating the Miracle.” The night has been organized to celebrate
the miracle God performed in Knox’s life. A tweet Knox distributed said, “It’s
Time to Dance! One Night With the King! A Christmas Celebration 23 years in the
making!” The celebration will feature artist Adlan Cruz at The Battle House Hotel Crystal Ballroom.

Check out the
video of Knox walking on stage giving praise to God a couple months after her
miraculous healing.

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PLUS: Pastor
Mark Wyatt, who witnessed Delia Knox’s miraculous healing up-close, offers
insight into why some people refuse to believe in miracles even after seeing
them. To read his article, click here.

Does Knox’s miracle
inspire your faith?

In a case many
see as the “Roe v. Wade of Europe,” the Grand Chamber of
the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that the document
contains no “right” to abortion. That’s the Thursday decision in the case A, B and C v. Ireland.

A loss would
have forced all countries in the Council of Europe to allow abortion or face
large financial penalties in damages if sued. The case is pivotal because the
lawsuit was decided in the Grand Chamber of the ECHR and the judgment is
therefore binding on all lower chambers and member states.

Here’s the
background: Three women sued to have the Ireland’s constitutional amendment
protecting innocent life abolished. Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorneys
defended Ireland’s legal protections for pre-born children on behalf of the
Family Research Council. The three women, who never went to any doctor or court
in Ireland—went directly to Britain to obtain their abortions—fought to
establish a “right” to abortion in Ireland. The women also sought a
precedent that would open the door to abortion as a right across all of Europe
under the ECHR.

“No one should
be allowed to decide that an innocent life is worthless, and no one should
force any sovereign nation to give up its right to protect life in its
constitution if it so chooses,” says ADF Legal Counsel
Roger Kiska, who is based in Europe. “In this case, the court wisely
upheld that right as it has done in the past. The stakes were clearly high
for all of Europe, but also for other Western nations, such as the U.S.,
because their courts often closely watch how European courts are ruling.”

The court
dismissed the claims of two of the three women. In the remaining woman’s
situation, the court found that Ireland should provide a more clear procedure
to determine risk to the life of the mother and therefore access to abortion
rather than requiring a person in her situation to file a legal action with
regard to the country’s constitution. She was awarded 15,000 euros ($19,840)
in monetary damages.

“The court was
right to reassert that there is no right to abortion under the Convention, but
it’s regrettable that Ireland lost on the third count despite such a lack of
judicial record, physician consultation, or recourse to Irish courts,” Kiska
says. “We will be closely monitoring the effect of that portion of the
decision.”

The Bill of
Rights protects many freedoms—but do you know what they are? An alarming number
of American adults can’t tell you what those rights are, according to a Bill of
Rights Institute study conducted by Harris Interactive.

When asked
questions about the nation’s founding documents, American adults selected the
correct answer 32 percent of the time, on average, on questions about the Bill
of Rights and the freedoms it protects and American government.

Perhaps most
shocking is the finding that 42 percent of American adults incorrectly chose
one of America’s founding documents as the source of Karl Marx’s exposition of
Communism, “from each according to his ability, to each according to his
needs.” Of these incorrect answers, the most commonly chosen was the Bill of
Rights.

“It is
imperative that Americans understand how vital the Bill of Rights is to the
future of our country,” says Jason Ross, vice president of Education Programs
at the Bill of Rights Institute. “With a better understanding of our founding
documents, Americans can see how much our experiment in self-government depends
on the ideas of the founders and why America has been an example of freedom up
to this point.”

Other noteworthy
findings from the poll include the following:

• 60 percent
  of American adults did not correctly identify the principle that the U.S.
  government’s powers are derived from the people as an attribute that makes
  America unique.

• 55 percent
  of American adults did not recognize that “education” is not a First Amendment
  right.

• Nearly one
  in 10 American adults do not realize that the right to petition our government
  is a freedom guaranteed in the First Amendment.

• Only 20
  percent of American adults correctly selected the 10th Amendment as the
  amendment that reserves powers to the states and the people.

The results of
this survey are serving as the impetus for the Bill of Rights Institute’s
launch of a new initiative to educate Americans about the freedoms embodied in
the first 10 amendments. Included in the new educational initiative is the
launch of a new website, , which focuses on the text of the first
10 amendments, landmark Supreme Court cases and decisions based on those
amendments, and various games and resources for students and educators.

It’s been a year
since Oral Roberts went home to be with the Lord. But his legacy lives on at
the university he founded in 1963. Oral Roberts University (ORU) continues to
focus on the vision and mission of one of this generation’s most effective
evangelists—and the school is paying tribute to its founder in an online collection
of photos and videos.

“Oral Roberts
was a great man who profoundly impacted the world for Jesus Christ. We are
deeply thankful for his life,” says ORU President Mark Rutland. “Nowhere is the
imprint of this man of God more evident than ORU. This university is the
enduring legacy of Chancellor Roberts.”

Roberts founded
ORU in obedience to God’s mandate to build a university on His authority and
the Holy Spirit. God’s commission to Roberts was to “raise up your students to
hear My voice, to go where My light is dim, where My voice is heard small, and
My healing power is not known, even to the uttermost bounds of the earth. Their
work will exceed yours, and in this I am well pleased.”

A year after
Roberts’ passing, the university remains committed to educating the whole
person in spirit, mind and body to prepare graduates to be professionally
competent servant-leaders who are spiritually alive, intellectually alert,
physically disciplined and socially adept.

“ORU is Oral
Roberts’ most enduring legacy,” says Thomson Mathew, dean of ORU’s College of
Theology and Ministry. “It represents everything he stood for—from healing
evangelism to whole person living to academic excellence.”

ORU is paying tribute to Roberts on its website. This
site includes photos and video of Roberts, a biography, comments from around
the world at his passing and a message from Rutland. ORU will also honor
Roberts at the first chapel service of the spring semester.