| | Iran: More than 40 killed in mass protests after 'morality police' kill woman over 'improper hijab' | | Curated for you byCP Editors | | Good afternoon! It's Monday, September 26, and today's headlines include mass protests in Iran after a woman was killed by Iranian "morality police" for not properly wearing a hijab, Evangelical charities that are partnering with churches to aid Puerto Ricans impacted by Hurricane Fiona, and a pregnancy center that is accusing police in New York of "withholding" surveillance footage of its facility being firebombed by activists. | | At least 41 people have been killed and more than 1,200 have been arrested during anti-government protests in dozens of Iranian cities in response to the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who was arrested by the Iranian "morality police" for not properly wearing a hijab earlier this month. Reuters reports this is an unofficial death toll as an official count has not been released. 22-year-old Amini, a Kurdish woman, is said to have fallen into a coma in police custody after her arrest for not following Iran's strict conservative dress codes. She reportedly experienced blows to the head while under interrogation at the Vozara detention center. Authorities claim she died of natural causes, but critics are skeptical. | | Acting United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif called for an impartial investigation by an "independent competent authority, that ensures, in particular, that her family has access to justice and truth." Women worldwide have been protesting Amini's death by burning their headscarves and cutting their hair. CNBC reports that crowds called for the fall of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and shouted: "death to the dictator." State-organized rallies to counter anti-government protests were reportedly held in several Iranian cities, with protestors calling for the execution of "rioters" who were portrayed as "Israel's soldiers." The marchers also called for "offenders of the Koran" to be executed. Continue reading. | | P.S. Get rewarded for sharing our newsletters! We are excited to announce the CP referral program—the more you share, the more you earn. Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter to get started today! |
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| Hurricane Fiona: Evangelical charities partner with churches to aid Puerto Ricans | | Evangelical charities are partnering with local churches in Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Fiona, which has left at least eight dead and hundreds of thousands without water or electricity. Samaritan's Purse airlifted more than 16 tons of emergency relief supplies, including 2,200 shelter tarps, two community water filtration units and 1,000 portable family water containers, Samaritan's Purse said in a statement. The organization is partnering with local churches that it worked with following Hurricane Maria in 2017, said Samaritan's Purse President Franklin Graham, the son of the late evangelist Billy Graham. Meanwhile, Operation Blessing, a nonprofit associated with the Christian Broadcasting Network, has delivered more than 10,000 aqua tabs to clean water and has also provided cleaning buckets, tarps and other essential items. International Christian charity World Vision is also raising funds and gearing up to send supplies, such as clothes, blankets, tents, cleaning supplies and fans. Read more. | | Police accused of 'withholding evidence' of NY pro-life center firebombing | | Rev. Jim Harden, the CEO of CompassCare, is accusing police in upstate New York of withholding evidence of a firebombing at its clinic, alleging in a Tuesday statement that police have failed to return video footage of the attack. Attorneys for the pro-life pregnancy center have filed a special proceeding in the Supreme Court of New York in Erie County to compel the Amherst Police Department to return the footage, per a statement from CompassCare. The organization released the footage to police after they were unable to make a copy of the original "due to catastrophic damage" from the firebombing. Police have denied several requests to view the footage and failed to return the footage following a request by an attorney that it be returned by Aug. 19. Amherst Town Attorney Stanley Sliwa told a Buffalo-area news outlet the footage has not been released because the attack is still under investigation. He told The Epoch Times he is concerned the information could provoke more violence but indicated it would eventually be released. Read more. |
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| Vote to defend faith, family, life and freedom | | Dr. James Dobson and Gary Bauer pen a letter outlining why the upcoming midterm elections represent one of the most critical votes in American history. "At the federal level, this election will determine who has the majority in the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. At the state level, dozens of governorships and state legislatures are at stake. At the local level, new mayors, city councils, and school boards will be elected. At all three levels of government, the men and women we elect will pass laws that will determine the kind of country we pass on to our children and grandchildren," they write. With the U.S. facing serious issues pertaining to the right to life, religious liberty and the protection of children, now is the time for "millions of individual Christians, like you, [to] fulfill their responsibilities of Christian citizenship." Read more. | | Actually, America is too a Christian nation | | Both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution incorporated fundamental precepts of the Reformation, including statements such as the belief that people are "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights," as well the acknowledgment of the birth of Jesus Christ in Article VII of the Constitution, explains Scott Hogenson. Forty-six states explicitly mention God in their constitutions. Despite some Americans choosing to deny this heritage, the fact remains: "[O]ur national founding and ongoing civic philosophy are unquestionably Christian. President Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat, said it most succinctly in observing, 'America was born a Christian nation,'" Hogenson writes. Read more. |
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| CofE bars Desmond Tutu's lesbian daughter from leading godfather's funeral | | The Church of England has banned Mpho Tutu van Furth, an Episcopal priest, from conducting the late Martin Kenyon's funeral because she is in a same-sex relationship. Tutu, the daughter of the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu and goddaughter of Kenyon, argued that the Church of England should change to allow clergy members to engage in same-sex relationships but acknowledged that the denomination moves at its own pace. Read more. |
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| How can Christians minister to traumatized victims of marital abuse? | | In this interview with The Christian Post, ARISE Healing Community's Helena Lovejoy-Knowlton discusses the often hidden trauma of spousal abuse and how she benefitted from trauma-informed care, which inspired her to share what she learned with others. The survivor advocate, educator and trauma-trained coach discusses learning about covert abuse and narcissism and how experiencing abuse as a child ultimately led to her marrying an abusive husband and enduring "a 19-year marriage of hell." Lovejoy-Knowlton discusses how many churches are ill-equipped or lack the resources to deal with abuse, including emotional and spiritual abuse. Further, how churches define "abuse" and what they consider legitimate grounds for separation and divorce present significant challenges. "I started to see that women were really struggling with their panic, fear, confusion, anxiety, being numb and other trauma reactions," Lovejoy-Knowlton said. "But they were blaming themselves for all these responses because no one in the Christian community was explaining that these were God-given survival reactions to abuse and threat." Read more. | | | | Also of Interest... | | How the Church can best help struggling couplesDomestic abuse has no place in Christ's Church | | | | | | Thank you for spending part of your day with us. We look forward to seeing you again tomorrow! -- CP Editors |
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