The World Wide (Religious) Web for Monday, October 3, 2011

YOUCEF NADARKHANI WATCH: The Islamic Republic of Iran arrested, indicted, tried, convicted, and sentenced to death Rev. Youcef Nadarkhani for the crime of apostasy from Islam. International outcry against this egregious violation of religious freedom has embarrassed Iran, evidently, which is now claiming that Nadarkhani committed other crimes.

The Associated Press reports, “Iranian pastor to be put to death for rape, not apostasy”:

Christian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani will be put to death for several charges of rape and extortion, charges that differ greatly from his original sentence of apostasy, the semi official Fars News agency reported Friday.

The American Center for Law and Justice, which has closely followed this case, reports that Iran has alleged that Nadarkhani is “a Zionist and has committed security crimes.”

Apostate, rapist, extortionist, Zionist, traitor. At this point, Iran is just making stuff up.

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RELIGIOUS FREEDOM WATCH, PART 1: “Criminalizing Christianity, in Iran and the West.”

One thing the Nadarkhani case puts in perspective is the indifference and confusion of the modern West about religious liberty. The month of September 2011 has witnessed an odd juxtaposition: two situations in which different governments have objected in different ways to the practice of Christian faith. One situation is that of Iran and Youcef Nadarkhani, a stark drama in which religious persecution is obvious and life and death are at stake.

The other is a case in the UK, in which the owner of a Christian café has been warned by the police that he must desist from displaying Bible verses on a wall-mounted screen, because doing so amounts to displaying “offensive or insulting words,” and puts him in violation of Britain’s Public Order Act. The incident, with its disquieting implications, is one in a continuing series of attempts to criminalize the public exercise or profession of Christian beliefs.

Another example is an “equality” law proposed in Parliament in 2009, which, according to proponents, would have made it illegal for religious organizations to decline to hire homosexuals for non-preaching positions (e.g., secretarial staff or youth workers). The law lost a vote in the House of Lords in 2010, but shelving the bill has put Britain at odds with the European Union, and at least one British advocacy group promises that “the Government will be prosecuted in the European Court of Justice.”

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RELIGIOUS FREEDOM WATCH, PART 2: “Will Obama Destroy Franciscan University of Steubenville?”

The Obama administration is also the most anti-Catholic administration in American history. Never before have tens of millions of Catholic Americans been forced to subsidize the killing of unborn children with their taxes—as they are under ObamaCare. But now they are also forcing Catholic institutions to take part in the destruction of innocent human lives and the maiming of others by paying for abortifacients and sterilizations. As Americans, we must defend our religious liberties—while we still have them. Steubenville is a little college, but there are those who love it!

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THE REST OF THE STORY: “Terri Roberts, Mother of Amish Shooting Perpetrator Cares for Her Son’s Victims.”

After the shooting, the world was riveted by the remarkable display of compassion shown by the Amish, as the quiet Christian sect embraced the Roberts family and strove to forgive its troubled sinner.

Five years after the shooting, the other side of the story is not well-known — that of a grief-torn mother seeking the still, small voice of God in the aftermath of tragedy.

One place where Terri has found peace is at the bedside of her son’s most damaged, living victim — a paralyzed schoolgirl, now 11.

During their weekly visit, Terri bathes and talks to her, brushes her hair and sings hymns.

“As we reach out in ways that bring a touch, we can find great healing,” Terri said.

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POLITICS AND FAITH: “Justices attend toned-down Red Mass.”

A half dozen Supreme Court justices, hundreds of members of the legal profession and other dignitaries attended the annual Red Mass in Washington Sunday to hear what amounted to an uncharacteristically noncontroversial service.

Does the reporter mean that Mass is “characteristically controversial” or that that Red Mass is “characteristically controversial”?

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GOD AND MAMMON: “Preachers confront ‘last taboo’: Condemning greed amid Great Recession.”

Three years after an implosion of the nation’s financial system helped push the country into its worst economic nosedive since the Great Depression, pastors are still trying to figure out how to address people’s fears from the pulpit.

But first they have to deal with their own fears, some pastors and scholars say.

Though millions of Americans are angry over the economy, little moral outrage seems to be coming from the nation’s pulpit, they say. Too many pastors opt for offering pulpit platitudes because they are afraid parishioners will stop giving money if they hear teachings against greed, said the Rev. Robin R. Meyers, senior minister of Mayflower Congregational United Church of Christ in Oklahoma City.

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IS ANYONE SURPRISED BY THIS? Over at the Red Letter Christians blog, Tony Campolo writes, “My Disappointment in Obama and the Unbalanced Reporting of Fox News.”

If you think that I am disappointed in Obama, you are right, but it’s nothing compared to the disappointment I have in the Republicans.

He’s disappointed in Obama, you see, because Obama has caved to the Republicans. And, anyway, it’s all George W. Bush’s fault.

He [Obama] didn’t create the mess we are in, and they have given him two years to get us out of it. It’s almost ludicrous to remember that it took eight years to create the disaster that we presently face economically, and that he is expected to solve the problem in two years.

Predictable.

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NEWS YOU CAN USE: “5 Necessary Shifts for Missional College Ministry.”