Help A Persecuted Christian in Cuba

From Christian Solidarity Worldwide

Dear Friends,

Yesterday, on Sunday, July 20, Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet celebrated his 47th birthday in the Combinado del Este Prison in Guanabacoa, Cuba.

Dr. Biscet is now in his fifth year of a 25 year prison sentence, handed down during a massive crackdown on human rights and democracy activists in Cuba during what is now referred to as Cuba’s Black Spring. He had previously served a three-year prison sentence and was free for only a month before his detention, which took place when he tried to organise a human rights discussion group.

Through his imprisonments, Dr. Biscet has suffered from ill health and has repeatedly been denied medical treatment. He has also, on occasion, had his Bible and other religious materials confiscated. At the moment, however it appears that he is able to keep them with him.

Prison conditions, particularly for political prisoners, are generally very bad in Cuba and Dr. Biscet has frequently been forced to share a cell with prisoners convicted of committing violent crimes or has been sent to solidarity confinement in cells with no light or running water. He has also regularly been denied the right to pastoral and family visits. However, his faith, according to his wife, Elsa Morejon, remains strong.

Many of you have prayed for and written to Dr. Biscet and his family for many years. We would encourage you to consider sending him a birthday card or letter to remind him, and those responsible for his imprisonment, that although physically he may have celebrated his birthday alone, there were and are, in spirit, many people around the world celebrating another year of his life.

Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet
Prisión Combinado del Este
Carretera Monumental

del Cotorro, Guanabacoa CUBA

For additional guidance on letter writing do consult Connect & Encourage our address book for the persecuted church at http://www.csw.org.uk/writetothepersecuted.htm

Thank you,

CSW Advocacy Team

Graduate Changes Speech, But Fellow Valedictorian Adds Bible Verses to His

While at the request of school officials one West Ottawa (MI) High School valedictorian removed Bible verses from his graduation speech, another slipped some in.

“If they weren’t going to let Jed speak, I figured I could,” West Ottawa class of 2008 President Andrew Webster said of his fellow valedictorian Jed Grooters.

“What I said is what I truly felt and saying anything else would not have been true to who I am,” Webster said. “I wasn’t expressing the views of the school, I was expressing my own views. ... I was told to write an essay about a life

lesson and I did that.”

Each of the nine valedictorians was asked to prepare a two-minute speech to read at Sunday’s commencement ceremony. The speeches had to be pre-approved by school officials. School officials had asked Grooters to remove an extended Bible quotation from his speech and rewrite it in his own words. If he refused, Grooters would not have been allowed to speak at his graduation.

Grooters’ speech was first rejected because it consisted almost entirely of one long quote, West Ottawa Superintendent Patricia Koeze said earlier this week. The school’s legal counsel advised officials that quoting Scripture at the graduation ceremony was a violation of the “no establishment of religion” clause in the First Amendment, she said.

“You may have heard I will no longer be giving the speech I was going to because it is inappropriate for a graduation setting,” Grooters said Sunday afternoon, eliciting a boo or two from audience members.

He did not read 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 as he had planned. Instead, Grooters put together a few words, ending with: “Jesus loves you and that is the most important life lesson of all.”

He introduced the next valedictorian who had to wait for the standing ovation to die down.

Webster’s original, pre-approved speech was along the lines of “life is a game and we spend too much time spinning around and not focusing on important things,” he said.

Without telling officials, Webster changed his speech to include John 16:33, Ecclesiastes 3:10-14, 4:4, 4:7-8, 5:18-20 and 5:10 — “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.” — and 5:15 — “Naked a man comes from his mother’s womb, and as he comes, so he departs. He takes nothing from his labor that he can carry in his hand.”Webster said Grooters had inspired him to be true to himself.

School officials did not approach him after the ceremony and will not reprimand him, they said.

“What I’ll say about that is one of our speeches went longer than what was planned, but overall the kids did a great job,” Principal Kent Henson said after the ceremony.

http://www.hollandsentinel.com/news/x1489203826/Graduate-changes-speech-but-fellow-valedictorian-adds-Bible-verses-to-his

Holland, Michigan School District Violates Christian Student's Free Speech Rights

Family Group: Holland schools violate Constitution by censoring Christian valedictorian's "life lesson"

Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals: "The First Amendment does not demand a wall of separation between church and state."

HOLLAND, Mich. -- West Ottawa Public Schools Superintendent Patricia Koeze's censorship of a Christian high school senior's valedictory address -- planned for graduation ceremonies Sunday -- is a "clear, outrageous, and unconstitutional violation of the student's First Amendment free speech rights," a statewide family values group said Saturday.

The American Family Association of Michigan blasted Koeze's censorship of planned remarks by West Ottawa High School valedictorian Jed Grooters, who included quotations from the New Testament book of Corinthians. AFA-Michigan President Gary Glenn, Midland, said Koeze's action "is a clear case of unconstitutional discrimination based on the content of the student's speech, propped up by some obviously very poor legal advice from the school district's attorneys."

"Since the U.S. Supreme Court long ago prohibited school officials from unconstitutionally forcing students to surrender their First Amendment rights at the schoolhouse door," Glenn said, "Supt. Koeze's heavy-handed intolerance and discrimination toward this student's expression of his Christian worldview is an engraved invitation for a First Amendment free speech lawsuit against the school system for which local taxpayers would have to foot the bill for attorneys fees and damages."

The Grand Rapids Press Saturday reported that Grooters -- a 4.0 GPA student and eight-time varsity athlete who won the sportsmanship award in three different varsity sports this year -- was asked by school officials to give a valedictory address Sunday talking about a "life lesson" he wished to share with fellow students.
http://blog.mlive.com/grpress/2008/06/west_ottawa_valedictorian_aske.html

But upon submitting a draft of his speech to school officials, Grooters was told he would not be allowed to speak unless he removed his speech's references to the Bible. The student refused, and the matter was referred to Koeze.

According to the Press, Koeze labeled Grooters' comments "a religious speech" and insisted that allowing him to present it during the school's graduation ceremonies would violate the so-called "separation of church and state."

Glenn said the federal Appeals Court which acts on all federal court decisions originating in Michigan has ruled exactly opposite of Koeze's faulty interpretation of the First Amendment.

He cited a April 2006 case in which the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals -- by a vote of 19 to 5 -- upheld a three-judge panel of the court's earlier rejection of the American Civil Liberties Union's claim that a Kentucky courthouse violated the First Amendment by displaying a copy of the Ten Commandments found in the Old Testament of the Bible.
http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/06a0146p-06.pdf

In its ruling, the Sixth Circuit went beyond the specifics of the Kentucky case, issuing a broad statement of the Constitution's original intent, dramatically declaring that religious speech is protected by, not at odds with, the First Amendment.

"The First Amendment does not demand a wall of separation between church and state," the three-judge panel had unanimously ruled in December 2005 in an opinion authored by Senior Judge Richard Suhrheinrich of Williamston, a graduate of Michigan State University-Detroit College of Law and a full-time faculty member at Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing.

The Suhrheinrich-authored decision further characterized the American Civil Liberties Union's repeated references to the so-called "separation of church and state" as "extra-constitutional" and "tiresome."

See page 13 of the Court of Appeals panel's December 2005 decision: http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/05a0477p-06.pdf

"To quote the same Appeals Court that will eventually rule on any free speech lawsuit that results if Supt. Koeze continues to censor Jed Grooters' quotation of the Bible, the superintendent's false claim that the First Amendment requires her to do so is both 'extra-constitutional' and 'tiresome,'" Glenn said. "In fact, the First Amendment requires school officials to both respect and allow Jed to fully practice his First Amendment free speech rights."

Glenn said if the school district refuses to back off its unconstitutional censorship of Grooters' speech Sunday, "Christian legal defense foundations across the country will be waiting in line to provide free legal representation to this courageous, principled young man and his family."

"The question Supt. Koeze and West Ottawa school board members should ponder is how school district taxpayers are likely to feel about being forced to pay attorneys fees and damages when the federal courts reject her blatant violation of Jeb Grooters' First Amendment free speech rights," he said.

The American Family Association of Michigan's mission is to promote and defend traditional Judeo-Christian family values, Glenn said.

****

The American Family Association of Michigan is asking supporters to contact West Ottawa Schools Superintendent Patricia Koeze to voice their objection to the district's censorship and persecution of Christians:

Supt. Patricia Koeze

Phone: 616-738-5700

E-mail: KoezeP@westottawa.net

Christian Preachers Face Arrest in England

From The Telegraph
By David Harrison

A police community support officer ordered two Christian preachers to stop handing out gospel leaflets in a predominantly Muslim area of Birmingham (England).

Warned: Arthur Cunningham [left] and Joseph Abraham

The evangelists say they were threatened with arrest for committing a "hate crime" and were told they risked being beaten up if they returned. The incident will fuel fears that "no-go areas" for Christians are emerging in British towns and cities, as the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, claimed in The Sunday Telegraph this year.

Arthur Cunningham, 48, and Joseph Abraham, 65, both full-time evangelical ministers, have launched legal action against West Midlands Police, claiming the officer infringed their right to profess their religion.

Mr Abraham said: "I couldn't believe this was happening in Britain. The Bishop of Rochester was criticised by the Church of England recently when he said there were no-go areas in Britain but he was right; there are certainly no-go areas for Christians who want to share the gospel."

Last night, Christian campaigners described the officer's behaviour as "deeply alarming".

The preachers, both ministers in Birmingham, were handing out leaflets on Alum Rock Road in February when they started talking to four Asian youths.

A police community support officer (PCSO) interrupted the conversation and began questioning the ministers about their beliefs.

They said when the officer realised they were American, although both have lived in Britain for many years, he launched a tirade against President Bush and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr Cunningham said: "I told him that this had nothing to do with the gospel we were preaching but he became very aggressive.

"He said we were in a Muslim area and were not allowed to spread our Christian message. He said we were committing a hate crime by telling the youths to leave Islam and said that he was going to take us to the police station."

The preacher refused to give the PCSO his address because he felt the officer's manner was "threatening and intimidating".

The ministers claim he also advised them not to return to the area. As he walked away, the PCSO said: "You have been warned. If you come back here and get beaten up, well you have been warned".

West Midlands Police, who refused to apologise, said the incident had been "fully investigated" and the officer would be given training in understanding hate crime and communication.

Alexy II: Catholics and Orthodox Must Stand Together

Paris (AsiaNews) – In the modern society a new “persecution” of the Church is (at hand) and so Catholics and Orthodox are called to stand together in defence of Christian values.

Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia believes the Orthodox and the Catholics should seek answers to today’s challenges together. The highest ranking spiritual leader of the Russian Orthodox Church is currently in France, where on October 2nd he spoke to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg and yesterday visited the Cathedral of Notre-Dame to venerate the relics of Our Lord’s crown of thorns, in the presence of Archbishop André Vingt-Trois of Paris and numerous faithful.

Meeting with the president of the French Bishops Conference Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, Alexy II denounced modern society, particularly in Europe, “attempts are made to bring in a worldview that, in its destructive force, can well be compared to the external persecution against the Church”. “In a situation where any external persecution seems to be absent, a threat has emerged for religion in general and Christianity in particular to be marginalized”. This is why we must remain united on some fundamental questions (abortion, family, bioethics, secularization); issues which seem to be the basis on which the new reconciliation between the two Churches is being built.

“We Christians – he declared in the Parisian cathedral yesterday evening – we must find possibilities to witness together the truth of the Gospel and its eternal moral values. In fact, we see that contemporary society is losing its ethical base and is following false values. It is being increasingly dehumanised and becoming a cruel generator of conflicts not only between people but between communities”.

At the European Parliament Alexy II criticised the “new generation of rights” of humanity “which are in contrast with morals” and in various interviews with global press spoke of a meeting with Benedict XVI in the next couple of years.