Bridge of Grace

Easter is to be a time of rejoicing for the practitioners of the Christian faith, a time to remember how God granted us our salvation, the time of celebrating the gift of life, yet for many Sri Lankans, it became a terrible catastrophe.  On April 21, 2019 Easter Sunday, terrorists attacked multiple targets in the nation, with suicide bombers launching a simultaneous attack.  The targets included three churches: Shrine of St. Anthony Church, Zion Evangelical Church, and St. Sebastian's Church.   All three church bombings occurred between 8:45-9:05 am, at the precise time when many Christians gathered for Easter worship.  During the same time period, attacks also occurred that the Shangri-La Hotel, Kingsbury Hotel, and the Cinnamon Grand Hotel.  Two other attacks occurred in the early afternoon near the National Zoo and at a Housing Complex where a cornered suspect blew himself up, killing three police officers.  The causalities are horrific with 321 confirmed dead and over 500

When I first began my theological study of the Christian faith, I soon became aware of one important fact, the resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone of the entire faith.  In fact, the New Testament states this directly.  In 1 Corinthians 15:14 it is written that: " If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is worthless, and so is your faith."   This same New Testament writing also makes it abundantly clear that the resurrection of Jesus was preached from the very offset of Christianity.   1 Corinthians 15: 3-4 contains this religious creed that scholars unanimously agree was a creed recited by the Christian community in the 30's A.D., within a few years after the death of Jesus:  " For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to scriptures, that he was buried, the he was raised on the Third Day, according to the scriptures." As I read this, I decided that before I went any further in my st

Terrorism has been an ongoing part of daily life in Pakistan ever since the 9/11 attacks.  For decades radicalism has built up in the country to the point that violent attacks are occurring throughout the country.  It is estimated that ever since 9/11, over 50,000 Pakistanis have died from terrorist attacks and over a million have been internally displaced in various areas of the nation where insurgency is particularly strong.  There is no shortage of the number of targets chosen by terrorists.  In May 2010, 86 Ahmadi Muslims & one Christians was slaughtered by Taliban insurgents in Lahore, the reason being that the Taliban & other Orthodox Sunni Muslims consider the Ahamdis "infidels."  These same insurgents target Christians for the same reason, bombing churches throughout the nation, the most recent attack being in Quetta where a suicide bomber attacked the Bethel Memorial Methodist Church, killing 9 Christians and injuring dozens more.  Just one week ago, in April

Planned Parenthood Founder Margaret Sanger is on record stating that  birth control should be used to facilitate "the process of weeding out the unfit [and] of preventing the birth of defectives."  She likewise wrote that  "consequences of breeding from stock lacking human vitality always will give us social problems and perpetuate institutions of charity and crime."  She essentially wanted to prevent a "society of the unfit."  Seems kind of like the Nazi T-4 program to me.   Today, the number of aborted children in America shows and astounding trend.  Of the 300,000 abortions performed on average each year, a staggering one-third of the unborn children are African American despite that fact that African American women only make up 6% of the national population.  In New York City, more African American children are killed in the womb than are born live!  It's sad to say this, but the most dangerous place for an African American child in New Yor

The 2019 NCAA Basketball Tournament in Minneapolis was tainted by a massive arrest of dozens of human traffickers.  During the Final Four Weekend, over 50 people were arrested in a sex trafficking sting operation at the tournament, and 28 victims were freed from the traffickers.  Some of the victims were younger than 16.  Sadly, this is not the only instance that has happened in Minnesota.  Less than a year early, the authorities busted up another human trafficking ring in Minnesota in which Thai women were brought to the U.S. under fake visas.  Allegedly they were promised work to help pay off debts, but upon arrival were forced to become sex slaves.  The women were afraid to try to escape as the traffickers warned that they would hurt their families back in Thailand if they tried to do so.   Human trafficking is not only a problem in Minnesota, but our entire society it's everywhere in the world, and people who are often brought into the country illegally under the pretext o

In the month of April 2019, the news sources of Europe have published the story of a woman who suffered a brutal honor killing.  The victim was an Iranian migrant by the name of Avan Najmadeen, a 32-year-old mother of four who was killed by her husband, Dana Abdullah, for converting to Christianity and for refusing to support his case for citizenship.  Dana Abdullah  was denied citizenship and deported for committing sexual assault against a child.  He came back to the UK illegally and stabbed his wife fifty times, killing her.  Dana Abdullah has been convicted of murder and will serve at least 19 years in prison and the couples children are now orphans.  This was a horrific crime and there is no justification for it, but to understand why this heinous crime happened,  one must understand the concept behind the Honor/Shame culture that permeates the Middle East.   The dynamic of Honor/Shame in the Middle East wasn't necessarily a uniquely Arab or Islamic phenomenon, but it wa

Recently, Congressman Ilhan Omar came under fire for referring to the 9/11 attack as "Some people doing something," and that this prompted a backlash against the Muslim community of America, which forced the organization known as the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR), to form in order to fight for the Civil Rights of Muslims that were under threat after the attack.  Many people have taken a strong exception to her statement.  The media outlet The New York Post ran a powerful cover showing the horrific attack that claimed the lives of 2,977 innocent people.  The strong backlash against Ilhan Omar drew strong criticism from other Democratic Congresswomen like Rashida Tlaib who claim that Omar's critics took her words out of context, that she was speaking the truth, and those who are condemning her are doing so out of racism.   Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez echoed this sentiment, ridiculing Republican Congressman Dan Crenshaw for tweeting t

Former Vice President Joe Biden recently put out a post on Twitter in which he condemned Brunei's recently enacted laws that mandate that homosexuals & adulterers be stoned to death and that thieves have their hands cut off.  In his tweet, Joe Biden stated: "Stoning people to death for homosexuality or adultery is appalling and immoral.  Every single person on earth is entitled to be treated with dignity and to live without fear. There is no excuse—not culture, not tradition—for this kind of hate and inhumanity."  However, does Joe Biden's criticism make him a bigot, and if so, should his Twitter Account be Suspended?  Well according to those who run Twitter, the answer to both questions is yes.   The stoning of homosexuals and adulterers are both practices that are mandated by Sharia Law.   Now one might ask, "Why don't Muslim rulers simply dismiss this ancient decrees from over a thousand years ago?"  Well, according to  Surah 4:65  of  the