U.S. "ally" SEIZES Christian churches; Here's Obama's response… - Allen B. West - AllenBWest.com

U.S. "ally" SEIZES Christian churches; Here's Obama's response… - Allen B. West - AllenBWest.com

U.S. “ally” SEIZES Christian churches; Here’s Obama’s response…

Written by Allen West on April 26, 2016

There’s one thing we do appreciate being able to present to you, our readers, and that is hypocrisy. For instance, I love it when the progressive socialist detractors make comments on this site that no one cares what’s being written here — so why are they here?

Or when those affectionate little liberal progressive cupcakes rant about the intelligence level of the readers of this site, yet they’re reading every article. Oh the joy of witnessing the hypocrisy of the left. It is comical but there are times when hypocrisy is no laughing matter — as I shall now share.

As reported by the Christian Daily, “The Turkish government has seized all its last remaining Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant Churches in accordance with the expropriation order issued last month. The expropriation, according to the government, aims to rebuild and restore the historical center of Diyarbakir, the largest city in southeastern Turkey.

The government declared the “urgent expropriation” of 6,300 plots of land in the Sur district in March. The expropriation order came from a council of ministers led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish President.

Six Diyarbakir Christian Churches are now made state property of Turkey and under state control. These Churches are the following: the Virgin Mary Syriac Orthodox Church, the Surp (Armenian for “Saint”) Sarkis Chaldean Catholic Church, the Diyarbakir Protestant Church, the Apostolic Armenian Surp Giragos Church, an Armenian Catholic church, and the Mar Petyun Chaldean Catholic Church.

Reports by the Turkish-American Daily note that concerns by the Armenian, Syriac, and Chaldean communities regarding the ruling have greatly increased. About 330 structures in the Sur neighborhood were demolished for an urban renewal program. The decision, which was based on Turkey’s Expropriation Law Article 27, was claimed to be the “last resort” in keeping and protecting the area and the Churches.

“The government didn’t take over these pieces of property in order to protect them. They did so to acquire them,” Pastor Ahmet Guvener tells the World Watch Monitor. Guvener is a pastor of the Diyarbakir Protestant Church. He considers the expropriation as the government’s way of taking over the city’s Church buildings.”

And Obama’s response to all of this? Well of course it’s…nothing. Crickets. A dial tone. Silence.

Just a bit of history… Diyarbakir was the place where some of the worst of the Ottoman Turk massacres of the Assyrians occurred in 1914-1918. And just as then, so it is today — the world turns a blind eye. We have articulated it before, and shall do so again. Recip Tayyip Erdogan is not a Turkish leader in keeping with the traditions of Kemal Ataturk; he is an Islamist. And according to President Barack Obama, a very close friend and ally.

Yes, this is the same Erdogan who wants full European Union membership, but it should be denied at every turn based on this egregious action. And for Erdogan to believe that anyone would accept his excuse of “protection” is disingenuous to say the least. It also begs the question, from what do these churches require protection?

Here is the hypocrisy. What do you think would happen if Christians went in and seized mosques? Here we are in America and folks are all up in arms about surveillance of mosques where Islamist proselytization could be occurring. What if in America mosques were seized in order to provide them “protection?” Yep, you can just imagine the outcry. Where is the condemnation from Obama? Are these actions of Erdogan in keeping with the highest and best of our values and principles of freedom of religion? There can be no debate that Turkey – the Ottoman Empire – doesn’t have the best history when it comes to “coexistence” with the historical Christian communities, such as the Assyrians and Armenians. And some things just do not seem to change. Here is the bottom line: a Muslim nation just seized Christian churches and made them state property – any of you remember what the Hagia Sophia once was? Yes, it was the largest church in the Greek Orthodox Church in the Eastern Holy Roman Empire…it too was seized.

But the hypocrisy doesn’t end in Turkey. As reported by the FirstLiberty.org newsroom, “In just 33 days, the highest court in the military will hear oral arguments in United States v. Sterling, a case that will determine whether military members’ religious expression is constitutionally protected under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).

Even though the arguments are over a month away, the magnitude of the case necessitates the attention of all Americans now. It began with one U.S. Marine displaying a Bible verse in her personal workspace. The Bible verse was torn down, thrown in the trash, and the Marine ultimately court-martialed.

The first case of its kind, United States v. Sterling will have lasting implications for the religious freedom of military members. It could even go to the United States Supreme Court.

“If the government can order a Marine not to display a Bible verse, they could try and order her not to go to church on the weekend,” says First Liberty Director of Military Affairs and Senior Counsel Mike Berry. “Restricting a Marine’s free exercise of religion is blatantly unconstitutional.”
We brought you this story last year and it’s still unbelievable. “While stationed at Camp Lejeune in 2013, LCpl Monifa Sterling, a devout Christian, noticed that other service members had placed various personal items in their workspaces. She decided to follow suit by displaying one of her favorite Bible verses. Sterling printed a personalized version of Isaiah 54:17: “No weapons formed against me shall prosper.” But after taping it in three different places in her workspace, Sterling’s supervisor ordered her to remove the Bible verses.

When Sterling asked why, her supervisor said, “I don’t like the tone.” Sterling explained that it was her First Amendment right to display the Bible verse and declined to take them down. No other person in the unit ever complained about the verse.

The next day, Sterling discovered that her supervisor tore down the Bible verses and threw them in the trash. Sterling reprinted the verses and re-posted them around her workspace. The U.S. Government then charged Sterling with the crime of failing to obey a direct order.”

So where is first lady Michelle Obama on this case of discrimination — and Lance Corporal Sterling is a black female Marine. I guess her case means nothing for the first lady, or to the progressive socialist left period, end stop. Here in America we have folks all up in arms about not having cakes made for this same-sex weddings, yet a Marine cannot display inspirational Biblical verses in her workspace?

And we know our dear friend Mikey Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation has stated that Christians in the military who proselytize are deserving of courts-martial. So where does this case end up? We will be watching, but just imagine if the Marine supervisor had torn down Koranic verses and thrown them into the trash? Heck, remember when our Commanding Officers in Afghanistan had to apologize because a rumor got out that pages of the Koran were found in the trash? So, who will be apologizing to LCPL Sterling?

I’d prefer comical hypocrisy, but these stories need to be shared. So the next time someone tells you persecution of Christians isn’t happening — share these stories with them. But, knowing the progressive socialist left, truth to them is like sunlight on a vampire — totally repulsive, and deadly.