Bridge of Grace

In February of this year, four students at Wakefield's Kettlethorpe High School in England were suspended for school for allegedly "disrespecting the Qur'an."  According to the the BBC, one student brought the Qur'an to school after losing a bet with his friends when he lost a game of "Call of Duty."  While at the school, the Qur'an suffered a slight tear to the the cover and had some dirt on a few of the pages.  Islamic community leader Akef Akbar stated that this happened because the Qur'an was kicked around on school premises, a claim denied by both the students and school who stated that there was no malicious intent involved in the incident.   For this seemingly harmless bet, four students at the school were suspended for not showing the Qur'an "the respect that it deserves."  Personally, I don't respect a book that calls Christians and Jews "The Worst of Creatures" (Surah 98:6), that endorses sex slavery "Fo...

For years, many have accused YouTube of employing clear double-standards in regards to video restrictions and content warnings.  For many Christian apologists like Jon McCray who use YouTube to try and teach the Gospel, this has simply become a fact of life.  Jon runs the popular Christian apologist YouTube channel: Whaddo You Meme?  With nearly 300,000 subscribers, Jon's video's reach a vast audieance.  However, over the last few months, many of his video's have been flagged with "Content Warnings" and "Age Restrictions."  Moreover, with every video that he has released over the last few months, they have been flagged by YouTube as not being eligible for adds.  Jon's frustration is certainly understandable considering that other videos such as Lil Nas  X "Twerking on the Devil" and Miley Cyrus "Wrecking Ball" faces no such restrictions despite the fact that they are clearly delivering negative messages to people, especially child...

Coptic Solidarity was Formed in 2010 to Monitor and Report on the ongoing persecution of the Coptic Christian Community of Egypt.  In September of 2020, Coptic Solidary publicized a report detailing the ongoing crisis of the Sex-Trafficking of the Coptic Christian women of Egypt.  Human Trafficking is a violation of numerous laws and human rights charters all over the world.  The U.S. passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act in 2000 to combat the epidemic, & numerous other nations have followed this lead.  Article 10 of the Arab Charter of Human Rights denounces all forms of slavery.  Egyptian Law likewise denounces the practice of Human Trafficking.  However, despite these facts, little has been done by Egyptian authorities or the International Community to bring a halt to the sex trafficking of Coptic Christian Women in Egypt.   Ranya Abd al-Masih: 39-year-old Coptic Christian Teacher & Mother of Three Daughters Kidnapped in Ap...

The issue of child marriage typically involves young girls, typically pre-teen or early teens, being married off to older men.  Though more common in some areas of the world then others, it is a practice that occurs everywhere.  However, it's also a practice that is facing growing criticism and calls from International Bodies & Human Rights organizations to be banned worldwide.  This has led many nations, including Turkey, to pass laws deeming the practice of child marriage illegal.  However, many are criticizing Turkey by stating that their laws banning child marriage are merely an act of lip service to the International Community.  Under the 2002 Civil Code, the legal age for a woman to marry in Turkey is 17, although courts are permitted to grant marriage under "exceptional circumstances" if the woman is 16.  However, within the nation, religious ceremonies for child marriage are held throughout the nation, and these marriage often do not go through ...

The issue of the trafficking of Coptic women in Egypt is not a new issue as it has been going on for many years, but it is an issue that has not been at the forefront of human rights until recent years.  Congressman Christopher Smith of New Jersey was the first politician to bring the issue to the floor of the House of Representatives in 2011, the time that the Arab Spring in Egypt was in full swing.  Since then, Coptic Solidarity has worked with Congressman Chris Smith tried to bring awareness to this human rights issue.  For years Congressman Smith has spearhead the U.S. Government's campaign to combat human trafficking both domestically and internationally, even going as far as to author the Trafficking Victims Prevention Act of 2000.    Caroline Doss: President of Coptic Solidarity Piero Tozzi: Republican Staff Director at Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Lindsey Rodriguez: Director of Development & Advocacy for Coptic Solidarity Despite the efforts to...

In Dec. of 2017, eight young Christians traveled in a van to engage in evangelistic work in Western Pakistan, near the border of Afghanistan.  On Dec. 24, their van's tire went flat, and as they waited for it to be fixed, they distributed leaflets about Jesus to locals.  As some of the locals were accepted the literature, members of the Pakistani secret police emerged from the crowd and arrested five of the Christians.  The young Christian men were taken to a local police station where they endured hours of interrogation.   Day after day, the men were interrogated and threatened, sometimes in groups, sometimes individually.  The Christians were told if the accepted Islam, they'd be forgiven & released, but if they did not, they'd be tortured & killed.  However, none of the men denied their faith.   As the days wore on, the men were kept in solitary cells, only removed for interrogation and beatings.  They were warned that they wo...

In Nepal Min Maya grew up in a Buddhist home.  As a young girl, she had no use for Christianity except to visit the local church to obtain free school supplies.  When she was old enough to leave home, Min moved in with her older sister in the capital city of Kathmandu to find work.  While there, Min became ill, and when the remedies offered by Buddhist monks didn't work, her sister invited some of her Christian friends to pray for her.  Amazingly, Min's health improved.  After this happened, Min and her sister began to take an interest in Christianity and decided to become a follower of Jesus.  However, Min's mother did not approve of her choice.   Min's mother was a Buddhist lama who performed blessing rituals for the local villagers.  As she occupied such a prestigious position within her faith, her daughter's conversion didn't sit well with her.  Min's mother first took her home and tried to push Min back into Buddhism.  When Min...