Monday, December 17th, in the year of our Lord 2018
By Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldView.com)
100 Iranian Christians Arrested
More than 100 Christians have been arrested in Iran in just one week and ordered to cut all contact with religious groups and house churches, reports The Christian Institute.
Many of the 114 believers were converts to Christianity from Islam who were accused of proselytizing. Conversion to Christianity is an offense punishable by more than 10 years’ imprisonment.
Russia Added to State Dept. Watch List
The U.S. State Department has added Russia to its “special watch list” for religious freedom violators and added Pakistan to its list of “countries of particular concern”, reports the Christian Post.
The other nine countries designated as “countries of particular concern” include Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.
Trump’s Former Personal Attorney: The President Is Lying
President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen claimed in an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that candidate Trump directed him to arrange hush-money payments with two women because Trump “was very concerned about how this would affect the election” if their allegations of affairs became public.
STEPHANOPOULOS: “He is saying very clearly that he never directed you to do anything wrong. Is that true?”
COHEN: “I don’t think there is anybody that believes that. First of all, nothing at the Trump organization was ever done unless it was run through Mr. Trump. He directed me to make the payments, he directed me to become involved in these matters. Including the one with McDougal. … I just reviewed the documents … in order to protect him. I gave loyalty to someone who truthfully does not deserve loyalty.”
STEPHANOPOULOS: “He was trying to hide what you were doing, correct?”
COHEN: “Correct.”
STEPHANOPOULOS: “And he knew it was wrong?”
COHEN: “Of course.”
STEPHANOPOULOS: “And he was doing that to help his election?”
COHEN: “You have to remember at what point in time that this matter came about — two weeks or so before the election. Post the Billy Bush [“Access Hollywood”] comments, so, yes, he was very concerned about how this would affect the election.”
STEPHANOPOULOS: “To help his campaign?”
COHEN: “To help him and the campaign.”
STEPHANOPOULOS: “You mention dirty deeds in your allocution yesterday. When you think about it, when you look back, did you know what you were doing?”
COHEN: “I am angry at myself because I knew what I was doing was wrong. I stood up before the world yesterday and I accepted the responsibility for my actions. The actions that I gave to a man, who, as I also said in my allocution, I was loyal to. I should not be the only one taking responsibility for his actions.”
STEPHANOPOULOS: “So he’s still lying?”
COHEN: “Yes.”
CNN reports that Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison last Wednesday for crimes that included arranging payments during the 2016 election to silence women who claimed affairs with Trump after the President’s onetime “fixer” attributed his offenses to “my duty to cover up his dirty deeds.”
Cohen’s sentence is the longest imposed to date on anyone connected to the President or stemming from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the election — a probe that has consumed much of Trump’s presidency.
Texas Federal Judge Strikes Down ObamaCare
A federal judge in Texas has issued a ruling striking down the entirety of Obamacare, although whether the decision to strike down the pro-abortion government insurance program will last permanently is another question, reports LifeNews.com.
Several Republican state attorneys general argued in their lawsuit that the repeal of the tax penalty gutted the argument for Obamacare itself.
Ohio Governor Threatening to Veto Heartbeat Bill
Republican Ohio Governor John Kasich has threatened to veto the Heartbeat Bill for a second time, reports Christian Headlines.
The Heartbeat Bill, which passed in the Ohio House by a vote of 53-32 and the Ohio Senate by a vote of 18-13, would prohibit abortions if a heartbeat were detected.
Kasich, who was ineligible to run for re-election due to term limits, is in his final days as governor. Governor-elect Mike DeWine, who will be inaugurated in January, has said he will sign the Heartbeat Bill.
Urge Republican Governor Kasich to sign the Heartbeat bill into law by calling (614) 466-3555 . That’s (614) 466-3555. Or you can email Kasich through a link in our transcript today at www.TheWorldView.com.
Psalm 139:13-14 declares, “For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”
Atheist Couple Awarded $12,000 for Opposing Christmas
An atheist couple in British Columbia was handed a nice lump of cash after they complained about the Christmas-themed decorations in their daughter’s classroom, reports FaithWire.com.
The entire ordeal began in 2014, when Gary Mangel and Mai Yasué, two outspoken atheists of Jewish and Japanese descent, respectively, learned the school’s plans for the month of December, which included decorating elf ornaments and lighting candles on a menorah.
Ultimately, the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal awarded the humbuggers $12,000 because their daughter’s enrollment in the Bowen Island Montessori School was allegedly threatened by their views.
Psalm 14:1 notes that “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’”
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And that’s The World View in 5 Minutes on this Monday, December 17th in the year of our Lord 2018. Subscribe by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldView.com. I’m Adam McManus. Seize the day for Jesus Christ.
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Egyptian Police Officer Kills Coptic Christian Man and Son
International Christian Concern has learned that on the evening of December 12th, Egyptian police officer Rabi Mustapha Khalifa shot and killed Coptic Christian Emad Kmal Sadeq and his son David.
Oddly enough, the police officer was stationed as a security guard at the Nahded al-Qadasa Church in Minya City, Upper Egypt.
According to Ezzat Ibrahim, manager of the al-Kalma Center for Human Rights, “The two Christians were demolishing their own home; they asked him to move his motorbike away from the dust and house. He refused to take his motorbike away and menaced them!’”
Claire Evans of International Christian Concern, said, “It is extremely worrying that a police officer, one specifically tasked with the security of a church, would be the perpetrator of such a violent act of persecution against Christians.”
Germany Approves “Third Gender”
Germany’s Parliament has approved a so-called “third gender”, reports FaithWire.com.
Now citizens of the European country can identify as male, female or “diverse.”
Germany boasts around 160,000 citizens “of indeterminate gender,” according to the Daily Mail.
Kentucky Pro-Life Bill Would Make Abortion a Felony
A proposed bill would make abortion illegal in Kentucky, reports WAVE.
Legislation pre-filed last Thursday by Rep. Robert Goforth would require abortion providers to check for a fetal heartbeat before performing a procedure. If a heartbeat is detected–which can happen as early as six weeks after gestation,–it would become a Class D felony to perform an abortion unless it is deemed a medical emergency. Documentation would be required to prove that a medical emergency exists.
Class D felonies in Kentucky are punishable by one to five years in prison.
Why Would “Christian” Groups Oppose Scripture?
In the last few months, to their shame, the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (council@cccu.org) and the National Association of Evangelicals endorsed the idea that unbiblical sexual preference and gender identity should be protected classes under federal anti-discrimination laws, reports Christian Headlines.