Post by Watchman on May 18, 2007 11:50:01 GMT -5
Sex, violence, cannibalism could get Bible sealed
Hundreds urge authorities to classify Good Book as 'indecent' material
By Joe Kovacs
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Bibles could be wrapped with a warning label if authorities classify it as 'indecent'
Hundreds of citizens are urging a media watchdog to classify the Bible as "indecent" due to the high amount of sex and violence throughout the Scriptures, and could force the Good Book to be sealed in plastic with a warning label.
The Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority of Hong Kong said it received 1,406 complaints about biblical indecency by this afternoon.
The sudden surge of complaints comes in the wake of the launch of an anonymous website, TruthBible.net, which claims the Bible "made one tremble" due to its graphic content, including rape, incest and bestiality.
If authorities classify the book as "indecent," only people over 18 could purchase it, and the Scriptures would need to be sealed in a wrapper with a mandatory warning on the outside.
"Wow, another excuse to try and remove Jesus or anything about Him from the world, so to speak," said one poster on an Internet messageboard. "The Enemy is hard at work in these last days."
According to the Gospel Herald, the Chinese Christian News Service, the TruthBible site was created by an anonymous person introducing himself as a student who attended Christian school at an early age.
"He claimed that the Bible is illogical and teachers in the school have not [been] able to clarify the problems. He even commented that 'many Christians are just blindly following their beliefs' and has caused 'tragedy.' The purpose of the website is to prove that 'the Bible is not the absolute truth, rather it is merely a mythical book made up by human beings,'" the report said.
The site, which is in the Chinese language, features a "legal disclaimer" at the top in English, saying: "This website contains Bible material which may offend, and may not be distributed, circulated, sold, hired, given, lent, shown, played or projected to a person under the age of 18 years."
It also includes passages from both the Old and New Testament featuring acts of violence, sexual activity and even cannibalism.
Among the selections is the story of incestuous relations between Lot and his daughters after the destruction of the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Book of Genesis.
Rev. Stephen Leung, a Protestant pastor of the evangelical Remembrance of Grace Church, is blasting the move to reclassify the Bible as indecent.
"The Bible clearly defines God's laws against incest, homosexuality as well as sex between man and animal," he told the Herald. "The Bible guides people how to become a better person."
At this point, the agency says it's undecided on whether or not the Bible had violated laws regarding obscene or indecent articles.
As WND previously reported, a Christian minister in Sweden was sentenced to a month in prison for a month in 2004 for offending homosexuals during a sermon.
Pastor Ake Green had described homosexuality as "abnormal, a horrible cancerous tumor in the body of society."
Swedish pastor Ake Green was sentenced to a month in prison for preaching Bible verses that offended homosexuals, but his sentence was eventually thrown out
But the Swedish Supreme Court eventually acquitted Green on charges he violated the nation's hate-speech laws.
The court ruled the Christian was free to espouse his religious views even if they were deemed offensive by some, though prosecutors said the high court's decision will not lead to acceptance of "gay bashing."
They noted the court recognized Green's comments were made during a religious sermon and did not incite others to take harmful actions against homosexuals.
Green, pastor of a Swedish Pentecostal Church congregation in Kalmar, Sweden, initially was convicted by a lower court for violating the country's laws against hate speech in 2004. But an appeals court overturned his conviction, citing his right to freedom of speech and religion. The high court ruled 5-0 to uphold the appeals court decision.
Green, 64, was the first pastor to be convicted under the new laws, which were amended in 2003 to include homosexuals.
The BBC reported Green had expressed little remorse over his comments, but in expressing relief at the high court's decision said in the future he would curb his comments about homosexuals since – because of the international notoriety of his case – everyone now knows his sentiments on the issue.
The U.S.-based Alliance Defense Fund, which filed friends-of-the-court briefs in support of Green, called the high court's ruling "a huge victory for religious liberty everywhere."
"As David slew Goliath, Ake Green slew the radical homosexual agenda in this case," said Benjamin Bull, ADF's chief counsel. "We can only hope this will deter other attempts to censor Christian ministers from delivering Bible-based messages against harmful homosexual conduct. Ake Green is a hero, and we are grateful for his stand and his perseverance."
In comments to Swedish Public Radio, Green said the court's ruling was vindication of his and other preachers' right to espouse what they see as the biblically correct view that homosexuality is anathema to traditional human behavior.
"This means we can continue to speak the way we have, and therefore it feels very good that they have ruled in a way that that there should not be any infringement in our way of preaching," he said.
In testimony before the Supreme Court, Green said his sermon was meant as a warning to homosexuals that if they continued their lifestyle they would suffer "eternal divorce" from God.
"If two men sleep with each other, or if two women do so, it is abnormal, just like pedophilia," he said.
Hundreds urge authorities to classify Good Book as 'indecent' material
By Joe Kovacs
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Bibles could be wrapped with a warning label if authorities classify it as 'indecent'
Hundreds of citizens are urging a media watchdog to classify the Bible as "indecent" due to the high amount of sex and violence throughout the Scriptures, and could force the Good Book to be sealed in plastic with a warning label.
The Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority of Hong Kong said it received 1,406 complaints about biblical indecency by this afternoon.
The sudden surge of complaints comes in the wake of the launch of an anonymous website, TruthBible.net, which claims the Bible "made one tremble" due to its graphic content, including rape, incest and bestiality.
If authorities classify the book as "indecent," only people over 18 could purchase it, and the Scriptures would need to be sealed in a wrapper with a mandatory warning on the outside.
"Wow, another excuse to try and remove Jesus or anything about Him from the world, so to speak," said one poster on an Internet messageboard. "The Enemy is hard at work in these last days."
According to the Gospel Herald, the Chinese Christian News Service, the TruthBible site was created by an anonymous person introducing himself as a student who attended Christian school at an early age.
"He claimed that the Bible is illogical and teachers in the school have not [been] able to clarify the problems. He even commented that 'many Christians are just blindly following their beliefs' and has caused 'tragedy.' The purpose of the website is to prove that 'the Bible is not the absolute truth, rather it is merely a mythical book made up by human beings,'" the report said.
The site, which is in the Chinese language, features a "legal disclaimer" at the top in English, saying: "This website contains Bible material which may offend, and may not be distributed, circulated, sold, hired, given, lent, shown, played or projected to a person under the age of 18 years."
It also includes passages from both the Old and New Testament featuring acts of violence, sexual activity and even cannibalism.
Among the selections is the story of incestuous relations between Lot and his daughters after the destruction of the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Book of Genesis.
Rev. Stephen Leung, a Protestant pastor of the evangelical Remembrance of Grace Church, is blasting the move to reclassify the Bible as indecent.
"The Bible clearly defines God's laws against incest, homosexuality as well as sex between man and animal," he told the Herald. "The Bible guides people how to become a better person."
At this point, the agency says it's undecided on whether or not the Bible had violated laws regarding obscene or indecent articles.
As WND previously reported, a Christian minister in Sweden was sentenced to a month in prison for a month in 2004 for offending homosexuals during a sermon.
Pastor Ake Green had described homosexuality as "abnormal, a horrible cancerous tumor in the body of society."
Swedish pastor Ake Green was sentenced to a month in prison for preaching Bible verses that offended homosexuals, but his sentence was eventually thrown out
But the Swedish Supreme Court eventually acquitted Green on charges he violated the nation's hate-speech laws.
The court ruled the Christian was free to espouse his religious views even if they were deemed offensive by some, though prosecutors said the high court's decision will not lead to acceptance of "gay bashing."
They noted the court recognized Green's comments were made during a religious sermon and did not incite others to take harmful actions against homosexuals.
Green, pastor of a Swedish Pentecostal Church congregation in Kalmar, Sweden, initially was convicted by a lower court for violating the country's laws against hate speech in 2004. But an appeals court overturned his conviction, citing his right to freedom of speech and religion. The high court ruled 5-0 to uphold the appeals court decision.
Green, 64, was the first pastor to be convicted under the new laws, which were amended in 2003 to include homosexuals.
The BBC reported Green had expressed little remorse over his comments, but in expressing relief at the high court's decision said in the future he would curb his comments about homosexuals since – because of the international notoriety of his case – everyone now knows his sentiments on the issue.
The U.S.-based Alliance Defense Fund, which filed friends-of-the-court briefs in support of Green, called the high court's ruling "a huge victory for religious liberty everywhere."
"As David slew Goliath, Ake Green slew the radical homosexual agenda in this case," said Benjamin Bull, ADF's chief counsel. "We can only hope this will deter other attempts to censor Christian ministers from delivering Bible-based messages against harmful homosexual conduct. Ake Green is a hero, and we are grateful for his stand and his perseverance."
In comments to Swedish Public Radio, Green said the court's ruling was vindication of his and other preachers' right to espouse what they see as the biblically correct view that homosexuality is anathema to traditional human behavior.
"This means we can continue to speak the way we have, and therefore it feels very good that they have ruled in a way that that there should not be any infringement in our way of preaching," he said.
In testimony before the Supreme Court, Green said his sermon was meant as a warning to homosexuals that if they continued their lifestyle they would suffer "eternal divorce" from God.
"If two men sleep with each other, or if two women do so, it is abnormal, just like pedophilia," he said.