A Bavarian judge who ordered the crucifix to be removed from the courtroom during the trial of an Afghan migrant has faced a backlash. The defendant says he does not mind being tried under the cross.
Klaus-Juergen Schmid, a judge in the Bavarian town of Miesbach, has ordered a crucifix to be removed from the courtroom during the trial of a 21-year-old Afghan asylum-seeker accused of making death threats to another Afghan who converted to Christianity.
Initially reported last week, the story received wider coverage later with people on social media weighing in. Shortly after the case was made public, Schmid began receiving “angry emails” accusing him of removing a symbol of Germany’s “cultural and religious sovereignty.”
“The blood shed by the hands of the defendant will be partly due to you,” the judge quoted one of the comments as saying. This is despite the judge’s claim that he imposed the maximum penalty on the defendant.
“I can’t believe it,” one Facebook user, Otti Friedrich, wrote. “The judge just has to realize where he lives, in a Christian country? Or did I miss something?”
Another person said: “Sorry, but this judge is dishonorable… There are laws in Germany and judges should adhere to them. Poor Germany, everyone is only thinking of our government in the first place. We are foreigners in our own country.”
Explaining his move, Schmid said that there is no law that requires having a crucifix in the courtroom in the first place. He also said he wanted to show the Afghan man that his decision is not a reflection or a sign of conflict between Christians and Muslims.
“So I did not think it would be proper to convict him under the cross – that was the issue,” he said, as quoted by Bayerischer Rundfunk.
The judge said that he does not want to have the crucifix in the courtroom anymore. “After Bavarian Judicial Law was changed so that neither crosses nor headscarves should be worn by judges during trials, I do not believe it is right that religious symbols should hang in the courtroom,” he said.
The Afghan defendant, meanwhile, said he did not mind being tried under the crucifix. “I don’t care if there’s a cross hanging in the courtroom,” he told Bild newspaper, as cited by Rosenheim24.
The man, who claims to have fled Afghanistan because the Taliban threatened his father, added: “I’m a normal person, I’m not a [Muslim] believer, I have Christian friends.”
Pope Francis denounced “fake news” as evil, comparing it to the snake that tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden.
In his annual social communications message, Francis dedicated his missive this year to “fake news and journalism for peace,” saying misinformation dates back to the Biblical beginning of time.
“The strategy of this skilled ‘Father of Lies’ is precisely mimicry, that sly and dangerous form of seduction that worms its way into the heart with false and alluring arguments,” he said, adding “fake news” played on stereotypes and prejudices. “This biblical episode brings to light an essential element for our reflection: There is no such thing as harmless disinformation; on the contrary, trusting in falsehood can have dire consequences.”
Francis then called on journalists to be “protectors of the news” and to rediscover the dignity of their profession. He said it was their responsibility to communicate the truth.
“The tragedy of misinformation is that it discredits others, presenting them as enemies, to the point of demonizing them and fomenting conflict,” Francis said.
A journalism of peace, Francis said, is one that is truthful, and devoid of “rhetorical slogans and sensational headlines.”
Yes He Worships the Devil.
“A journalism created by people for people, one that is at the service of all, especially those – and they are the majority in our world – who have no voice,” he said. “A journalism less concentrated on breaking news than on exploring the underlying causes of conflict, in order to promote deeper understanding and contribute to their resolution by setting in place virtuous process. A journalism committed to pointing out alternatives to the escalation of shouting matches and verbal violence.”
The Pontiff’s message comes after he faced unprecedented bad press during his South American tour. It also comes a week after President Trump announced his “Fake News Awards” winners.
The message made no reference to how some public figures often label unflattering or critical reports “fake news” to try to discredit the information.
Francis has frequently railed about journalists, and before he became pope was known for his frosty relations with the Argentine media. Just this week, while chatting with reporters aboard the papal plane, he admitted he hated giving interviews and joked: “And look at the job God gave me now.”
A community college professor in Texas frightened several of his students when he walked into class Tuesday night with his face covered and incoherently mumbled about the Koran, the moon and the dark night.
Students attending a lecture at Tarrant County College called the police after adjunct professor Daniel Mashburn walked into his astronomy class and started acting out of character.
Students told FOX4 that Mashburn walked in about 20 minutes late and promptly turned off the lights. He was wearing a baseball hat, a beanie, a scarf over his face and gloves.
“The kid next to me had said he was acting very strange, and I looked over at the girl next to me and she seemed very scared,” student April McLeod said.
The students said Mashburn then started talking about the Muslim holy book the Koran and the moon and the dark night.
“Mostly he was talking about different things of the Muslim faith,” McLeod said. “I was in class for about five minutes. He kept messing with his pocket and you could tell there was an object in the right-hand pocket. And whenever he went to pull out his hand, I started having this really bad feeling and jumped up and ran out of the classroom.”
She added: “At one point he stood face-to-face with the board of the classroom and was just talking to the board.”
Eventually campus police arrived and searched Mashburn, who didn’t take off the scarf or baseball hat. Police found no harmful or illegal objects on the professor.
McLeod filmed police searching Mashburn outside the classroom. He was not arrested.
When reached by FOX4 News, Mashburn seemed to deflect many questions and said several times his teaching of astronomy goes hand-in-hand with Islam.
“I keep it secret. I keep it safe. I do my best, but I am tired of hiding in the shadows,” he said when asked if he explained his teaching philosophy when he interviewed for the position. “I am tired of fearing their law. I fear Allah.”
I hope President Trump understands you can’t negotiate with the devil and win.
“DACA is probably dead because the Democrats don’t really want it,” Trump wrote on Twitter on Sunday.
He suggested that Democrats were preparing a government shutdown over the issue after they leaked details of a private conversation with them to the media.
“They just want to talk and take desperately needed money away from our Military,” Trump wrote.
On Saturday, he said it was “too bad” that Democrats were not serious about reaching a DACA deal.
“I don’t believe the Democrats really want to see a deal on DACA,” he said. “They are all talk and no action. This is the time but, day by day, they are blowing the one great opportunity they have. Too bad!”
Trump urged a return to a merit-based system of immigration.
“I, as President, want people coming into our Country who are going to help us become strong and great again, people coming in through a system based on MERIT,” he wrote. “No more Lotteries! AMERICA FIRST.”
I, as President, want people coming into our Country who are going to help us become strong and great again, people coming in through a system based on MERIT. No more Lotteries! #AMERICA FIRST
I don’t believe the Democrats really want to see a deal on DACA. They are all talk and no action. This is the time but, day by day, they are blowing the one great opportunity they have. Too bad!
Sadly, Democrats want to stop paying our troops and government workers in order to give a sweetheart deal, not a fair deal, for DACA. Take care of our Military, and our Country, FIRST!
Actor and producer Nick Loeb is joining with pro-life leaders in the production of Roe v. Wade, described as “the first movie ever about the true story” of the controversial Supreme Court case that created a right to abortion though no such right ever existed in the Constitution.
Pro-life leader Dr. Alveda King, who heads Civil Rights for the Unborn, a division of Priests for Life, is serving as an executive producer of the movie.
Academy Award-winning actor Jon Voight is attached to play a Supreme Court Justice in the film, says the fundraising site.
“No one’s ever done this movie before,” Loeb told Breitbart News in an interview.
“Planned Parenthood is a major theme throughout our film,” he said. “The movie opens up with the founder of Planned Parenthood Margaret Sanger giving a speech at a KKK rally, talking about how we should reduce the black population in America.”
Loeb explained that Planned Parenthood and abortion advocacy organization NARAL were behind the effort to find a young girl – Norma McCorvey, who eventually became “Roe” – about whom “they could manufacture a case to bring before the Supreme Court.”
McCorvey ultimately became a pro-life advocate.
The movie’s Indiegogo crowdfunding site states:
Hollywood only wants you to hear their version of the story – in fact, there are 3 movies currently in development that take a pro-abortion stance. But you shouldn’t be surprised. Hollywood has always had an agenda to influence Americans to accept abortion, even if they have to re-write history to do it.
The producers note that ten percent of the net proceeds of the film will be donated to pro-life organizations.
The crowdfunding site, however, has been blocked by Facebook, as has been the sharing of the site by followers.
“It is outrageous that Facebook purports to be apolitical when there have been trends of blocking pages of conservative causes, such as our Roe v. Wade movie page,” said Jalesia McQueen, an executive producer of the movie, in a statement to Breitbart News.
Facebook did not respond to an email regarding its reasons for blocking the Roe v. Wadefundraising site itself and the sharing of the site by followers. Its press office sent a generic response letter.
The Christian Postreported Tuesday that Facebook had also censored Christian ministry Warriors for Christ, which opposes abortion and homosexuality, claiming it violated its standards on bullying and hate speech.
The report notes the Warriors’ Facebook page was taken down on December 29, reinstated on January 2 after an online petition was launched, and then removed again by Facebook on January 5.
Pastor Rich Penkoski of the Warriors told the Post Facebook is censoring his group due to complaints by LGBT activists.
“Yet, homosexuality is the focus that everyone keeps talking about with us,” he reportedly said. “We talk about abortion. We talk about adultery. We talk about fornication. Nobody ever talks about that stuff.”
Penkoski said he received an email from Facebook regarding its censoring of the Warriors’ page that offered no path to appeal its decision.
“Your Page ‘Warriors for Christ’ has been removed for violating our Terms of Use. A Facebook Page is a distinct presence used solely for business or promotional purposes. Among other things, Pages that are hateful, threatening or obscene are not allowed,” the email reportedly read. “We also take down Pages that attack an individual or group, or that are set up by an unauthorised individual. If your Page was removed for any of the above reasons, it will not be reinstated. Continued misuse of Facebook’s features could result in the permanent loss of your account.”
In 2013, LifeNews reported that Facebook CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife donated 18 million shares of Facebook stock, valued at $992.2 million, to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation – which distributes funds from donors to companies, one of which is Planned Parenthood.
In Planned Parenthood’s latest annual report released two weeks ago, the abortion industry giant boasted, “Tech stands with Planned Parenthood”:
Last spring, at the massive South by Southwest Conference, Planned Parenthood and Tumblr launched Tech Stands With Planned Parenthood to foster stronger partnerships with the tech community. More than 70 tech leaders and executives sent a letter to congressional leadership in support of Planned Parenthood. Employees at Google organized to raise funds for Planned Parenthood and launched internal initiatives under the Tech Stands with Planned Parenthood campaign. Many other tech supporters have continued to show their support through local partnerships with Planned Parenthood affiliates, hosting matching campaigns, and more.
Similarly, in October, tech industry giant Google honored Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards during an event titled “Heroes on the Front Lines of Resistance.”
She is a bug-eyed fraud just like most liberals are.
The Yale University psychology professor who called President Trump “mentally impaired” appears to lack a valid license to practice psychiatry in her home state of Connecticut.
The prominent professor Bandy Lee made the headlines over the past few days when she made a diagnosis of the president as suffering from a “mental impairment” that would disqualify him from the highest office in the land.
Following Lee’s comments, the American Psychiatric Association released a statement on Tuesday warning members of its profession to refrain from making public diagnoses of public figures like Trump without a proper medical exam.
“We at the APA call for an end to psychiatrists providing professional opinions in the media about public figures whom they have not examined, whether it be on cable news appearances, books, or in social media,” wrote the APA, without mentioning Lee specifically. “Arm-chair psychiatry or the use of psychiatry as a political tool is the misuse of psychiatry and is unacceptable and unethical.”
Lee and her colleague responded to the issue in a piece to Politico on Wednesday, in which they claimed it is “perfectly OK to question the president’s mental state” because of their profession as “psychiatrists.”
The professor, who has met with lawmakers in Capitol Hill to talk about the issue, is now facing scrutiny amid allegations that she is not licensed to practice psychology in Connecticut.
Campus Reform reports that state records indicate that Lee’s “physician/surgeon” license expired some three years ago — on May 31, 2015 — and that her application for reinstatement has been pending ever since. The publication was able to produce Lee’s license details to back up the claim.
In addition to her pending physician’s license, the professor’s “controlled substance registration for practitioner” license is also lapsed, having expired last February. In other words, Lee is not legally able to prescribe medication as a medical practitioner.
Lee responded to Campus Reform’s inquiries, stating simply: “I only need one license.” She did not clarify precisely what license she has, or in which state she is registered.
As TheDC’s Joe Simonson writes, the U.S. president’s public meeting with congress shattered the narrative that he is mentally unfit to run the country.
