Looks like violence pays off. Borders and Waldenbooks won’t carry the upcoming issue of Free Inquiry because it carries the famous Muhammed cartoons. Why?

“For us, the safety and security of our customers and employees is a top priority, and we believe that carrying this issue could challenge that priority,” Borders Group Inc. spokeswoman Beth Bingham said Wednesday.

This is unbelievable. Does this mean that anytime someone doesn’t like what is published or produced they should start burning buildings and killing people? What a message! Maybe the Christians should start blowing up movie theatres and Hollywood studios. Is this insanity or what? Is this how we resolve things now in “civilized” societies?

Maybe we could send these two companies a civilized message… buy your books somewhere else.

Afghan Christian, Abdul Rahman is now safely in Italy and the American Family Association is pressing President Bush to grant Rahman asylum in the U.S. as well.

Meanwhile more Christians languish in an Afghanistan jail while Algeria enacts a law which makes leaving Islam a crime.

The Muslim leadership must not be too secure in their beliefs. Could it be that more Muslims are seeing the Light?

Reports are coming in that Abdul Rahman, the former Muslim who embraced Jesus Christ, is being held in a safe location pending the outcome of his request for asylum.

L’Agence France-Presse (via Truth and Terrorism) is reporting that Rahman may be in a U.N. compound for his protection. Apparently the U.N. human rights commission is following this along with the Afghan human rights commission. It is good to see both these agencies weighing in on the side of sanity.

Keep praying for his protection and his perseverance. Pray also for other Christians in Afghanistan who apparently have been arrested for leaving Islam.

The Anchoress has some interesting thoughts on the Rahman case here.

With the conviction of Democrat Senator Jim McDermott for illegally taping and distributing a conversation between Newt Gingrich and John Boehner the question naturally arises, “Will McDermott be removed from the Senate?”

Of course we know the answer is ‘no’ because Democrats rarely get held to account for their illegal behavior. Just ask Mr. Steele, the Republican from Maryland.

McDermott should go. To let him remain in the Senate sends a clear message that integrity and law abiding qualities don’t really matter in this country anymore, particularly when it comes to politicians. Laws seem irrelevant. Politicians do whatever they want. So they have to pay a fine. Big deal. While a large settlement ($700,000) it is probably peanuts to this man. I wonder how many will “contribute” to his “defense fund?”

It really is getting disgusting in this country. Laws are meaningless. Just ask all the illegal… yes illegal… immigrants. Don’t think they won’t be voting. And they will be voting Democrat. You can make book on that one.

Michelle Malkin has more.

By now you have all seen the headlines about Daniel Edwards’ “Monument to Pro-Life: The Birth of Sean Preston,” a life size statue depicting Britney Spears giving birth.

For a bit of a different take on this, check out what the Funky Presbyterian has to say about it. He’s got a fascinating position, here’s the first bit…

Here’s what I love about it:

First it’s pro-life, which is great. Second it is a very well executed sculpture. The Pro-Life movement is of course linked with the political right, which is not known to be a friend of the arts, so to a see a pro life work that has actual artistic merit is encouraging to me as a pro-lifer and as an artist.

In addition, I especially love that the work is mildly provacative. It would have been so easy for someone to have done a nice safe sculpture of a fully clothed mother cradling her child (ala Mary Cassat or whatever). But what would be the point of that? The fact that this work is mildly provacative removes it somewhat from the sphere of the political right & especially from the “Christian” right. Let’s face it. Minature models of this statue are not going to be sold as pewter bookends in any Chrisitian bookstore, with the proceeds going to a pro-life organization. So the very nature of the work cleanses the pro-life message from the ideologue stigma often (unfairly or fairly) attached to it by more liberal opponents. Ralph Reed ain’t making naked statues of Britney Spears.

Which is the other thing I love about this piece. The fact that it is Britney Spears works fantastically on a number of levels. First, if the provacative nature of the work removes the accusation of “conservative ideologue”, identifying the woman as Britney Spears removes the whole “frou-frou- too-cool-for school-artsy-fartsy-wine-and-cheese-pretense” from a work that could otherwise be seen as merely high culture sophistication. Britney is as low culture, as pop culture as it gets. Even better, Britney is pop culture icon ten minutes past her prime, which is the worst of all possible crimes in our culture.

More…

There is some delicious irony in the fact that John Kerry avoids tomato based products or sandwiches.

Like, say, ketchup.

As reports come in about the dismissal of the case against Abdul Rahman, the Afghan man who left Islam to embrace salvation in Jesus Christ, the case has hardly been resolved. The charges have been dropped under the auspices of “lack of evidence.” But the legal premise surrounding the case remains; that is anyone who chooses to abandon the fanaticism of Islam for Christianity is subject to death.

As Rep. Tom Lantos points out this kind of governmental tyranny is unacceptable.

“President Karzai has a tremendous opportunity at the moment because he’s now naming new members to the supreme court, and it’s absolutely critical that every single member he names be a civilized, moderate individual who understands that having death sentences passed on people who convert to Christianity is not acceptable in the 21st century, particularly not by a country which has been liberated by soldiers of the United States and other NATO countries, most of whom are Christian.”

It’s good to finally see at least one member of Congress speaking out about this. Let’s see if it will continue or if this is just some sort of political opportunism. (Sorry to be so skeptical, but that’s what the current political grandstanding is creating.) Anyway our hats off to Rep. Lantos for speaking directly and forcefully.

And thanks too, to President Karzai for his part in the release of Abdul Rahman. May you move to protect him from harm by those who still live in the mindset of murder and tyranny.

Citing a lack of evidence, the Afganistan court dismissed the case of Abdul Rahman, the former Muslim who became a believer in Jesus Christ.

But from early reports the case may not be over. WorldNetDaily notes…

One official told the Associated Press the case had been returned to the prosecutors for more investigation, but Rahman would be released in the meantime.

“The court dismissed today the case against Abdul Rahman for a lack of information and a lot of legal gaps in the case,” the official told AP on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile Rahman is still a prisoner and we will need to watch and see if this is just a sly effort to get his case out of the news.

Addition: Check out the video posted at AfghanTimes.com (h/t WorldNetDaily). Plus lots more from and about Afghan Christians on this site.

Taking a page from liberal Democrats, Dan Brown gets amnesia on the stand.

He had almost no recollection of matters that related to timing. He would struggle to recall a year, was rarely able to recall a month. His general attitude in cross-examination was uncooperative,” Rayner James said, referring to Brown’s testimony during three days on the stand last week.

CBS reports this interesting piece of “evidence”…

A crucial piece of evidence in the case, points out CBS News Correspondent Richard Roth, is the underlined and highlighted copy of “Holy Blood, Holy Grail” that Brown insists he didn’t even read until after he’d plotted his own book.

Yeah, right.

And then Brown offers the ultimate defense… his wife did it.

In a written statement handed to the court Monday, Rayner James said Brown had copied from “The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail,” but acknowledged he may have done so “unwittingly because of the research materials supplied by Blythe Brown.”

The case has been sent to the judge who will supposedly decide in a couple of weeks.

Will the movie be delayed? Like one friend noted, “Not a chance.” “It all depends on the payoff price,” he said.

I guess we’ll know soon.

Maria Langer has some thoughts here.

Clearly one cause of the barbarity enveloping the world is Muslim Sharia law. In what appears to be a “Where’s Waldo?” move, Kofi Annan is AWOL when it comes to human rights violations against Christians in Muslim countries.

The case of Abdul Rahman is just one glaring example.

Of course we can offer lots of excuses for Kofi. After all he heads one of the most corrupt organizations in the world. He is apparently not interested in ending this corruption. Kofi, no doubt, loves the money passing through the hallowed halls by the East River. Kofi does speak out about human rights… that is when Jews are the perpetrators.

Kofi, here’s a suggestion for you. Any government that has Sharia law as its basis should be expelled from the U.N. No back door deals. No funneling cash to the violaters. No sham “oil for food” programs. Just a hard stand for human rights.

What do you say Kofi? What’s your take on Sharia law? Good or evil? Does it promote freedom and human rights or does it crush the souls of people? No waffling Kofi. No bob and weave. No shifting the subject.

Are you willing to abandon your love affair with totalitarianism? Do you believe in equal opportunity and freedom of conscience? Do you subscribe to the idea of personal choice when it comes to religious belief? Are you willing to give us more than lip service?

Where’s Kofi?

You gotta laugh. Hillary Clinton invoking the Bible as reason to oppose illegal immigration. Hillary even claimed Jesus was an illegal immigrant. Looks like Hillary has been skipping Sunday School (For the uninitiated, that’s where churches are supposed to be teaching the Bible.)

The facts are that Jesus went to extraordinary measures to be a legal immigrant.

Hillary, check out the book of Philippians.

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

What was the point of His death on a cross? It was to reconcile a rebellious, sinful creation to God. But in order for this sacrifice to reconcile you, you have to accept it and believe it; put your faith in Jesus to make your restoration complete.

So, Hillary, I know you are busy, but why don’t you sacrifice a little time to “study up” as we common folks might say. As Jesus said, “What good does it do you to gain the whole world and lose your very soul?”

Addition: You know, in thinking about it, Hillary has probably done a good thing. She has given the green light to invoking the Bible as a basis for opposing federal legislation or, in essence the converse, enacting legislation. Sounds like the founding fathers to me. Ah… I can see it now. Hillary, our founding mother.

One might have expected to see this at the end of the press release from the Christian Peacemaker Teams. Instead they indicate that the hostages have been “released” instead of rescued and make no mention of the rescuing force.

Absolutely incredible.

UPDATE: Lots more from Michelle.

Stockholm hospital now calls him Manuel to avoid any confusion.

Bosses at a Stockholm hospital have asked a nurse called Jesus to change his name, after concerns that it might cause confusion among patients.

According to Jesus, an auxiliary nurse at Huddinge hospital, his superiors were worried that patients told “Jesus will be coming soon ,” might get the wrong idea.

“If they thought that Jesus was coming they might believe that they were already dead,” the nurse told The Local.

Interesting.

Dr. Jacques Chaoulli argued “patients will continue to suffer and die” because of waiting lists.

I’m offended by this.

Teachers at nursery schools in Oxfordshire, England, have asked children to change the words of “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep” to “Baa, Baa, Rainbow Sheep” to avoid the possibility of offending anyone.

Looks like the Afghanistan government is heading for cover. They’re trying to declare Abdul Rahman insane so he doesn’t have to stand trial and the case gets dropped.

A Western diplomat in Kabul and a human rights advocate — both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter — said the government was desperately searching for a way to drop the case because of the reaction it has caused.

Michelle Malkin has a video of Abdul Rahman here. It’s worth a look.

But there is a big problem… folks who become believers in Jesus Christ are not insane. The insanity is with those whose religion sends their children as suicide bombers to kill and maim women and children. The insanity is those whose religion only keeps its adherents by force and fear and terror.

President Karzai, it is time to admit you are wrong. Killing people because they believe different from you is not only morally wrong it is also a violation of your own constitution. Sir, your judge is unqualified to hold his position. His thinking and action are archaic and barbaric. Hiding behind some face saving “insanity” rendering is ludicrous. You may think it will look good, but the reality is the world will see right through it.

And by taking such a course you will have demonstrated to the world who is really insane.

Stop the madness, the insanity if you will, that has become Islam. It is time to lead your country into the civilized world. Stand tall sir. The world is behind you. Free Abdul Rahman.

***

UPDATE by Eric: More from Michelle on a rally being held. Also at Stop the ACLU, Jawa, Tapscott, LaShawn, Hyscience and lots of others.

Help Abdul Rahman. Call the White House (202-456-1111, FAX 202-456-2461). Contact the Afghanistan embassy (202-483-6410, FAX 202-483-6488). Contact Congress.

Voice of the Martyrs can be reached here. This is an organization that works to free persecuted Christians.

LaShawn Barber has more.

Italy and Germany are joining the campaign to save Mr. Rahman.

Michelle Malkin has more here.

Pray for Abdul Rahman.

Update: The Times of London has picked up the story of Abdul Rahman.

So is Mark Tapscott…

He wants to know where all the libs are from Hollywood to the liberal Protestant denominations to CAIR.

Where are Hollywood and the Glitterati? Where are Barbara Streisand? Where is Cindy Sheehan? George Clooney? Sean Penn? All the rest of the intellectual elite of the entertainment world who think it their inherent right to instruct the rest of us on the virtues of tolerating everything from porn to persecution? Everything except the simple faith of one Christian man standing by himself in a Muslim nation.

Right on Mark.

Abdul Rahman, the Afghan man who left the madness of Islam to embrace true peace in the name of Jesus Christ still stands condemned by a “judge” in Afghanistan.

Of course the “judge” in this case has already decided the outcome since he is still trapped in the archaic thinking of the 7th century Taliban. The evidence? Abdul Rahman possesses a Bible. It would be laughable if this brave man’s life wasn’t on the line.

Ah, but the “judge” in the case, with a deeply passionate understanding of tolerance, has this to say (via Junkyard Blog) …

“We will ask him if he has changed his mind about being a Christian,” Mawlazezadah says. “If he has, we will forgive him, because Islam is a religion of tolerance.”

Sorry “judge” but, as Junkyard Blog points out, that is totalitarianism.

Good chance they are torturing Mr. Rahman now to get him to recant.

Clearly the Muslims don’t believe what they claim to believe. Clearly they have no faith in the god they worship. If what they present is true then people would be flocking to Islam by choice. And the adherents would never want to leave. But that is not the case with Muslims. This is a religion that is propagated by force. It is a religious tyranny that only survives through fear, terror, and intimidation. That’s the point of this trial of Mr. Rahman. It is to make clear to everyone else not to dare consider leaving Islam.

Let me offer a challenge to the Muslim leadership around the world. Open up the marketplace of ideas. Let your people go. Let your captives choose without fear of death or torture. And we will see how appealing Islam is to the people. We will see its ‘truth.’

Everyone but the so-called mainstream media (with the exception of ABC) is picking up the story of Abdul Rahman.

Michelle Malkin has great coverage. International Christian Concern is appealing to the Afghan President.

And the campaign is underway to free Abdul Rahman. You can help here, here, and here.

Why not take a moment right now to pray for Abdul Rahman. Pray too for his captors that they may be graced with the light of truth. Jesus said, “You shall know the Truth and the Truth will set you free.” May God’s grace and His boldness give Mr. Rahman a testimony to his captors.

Wow. Must be a busy news day in Arizona. This made the paper.

It was a very small army that protested the Iraq war Friday outside the Scottsdale offices of U.S. Rep. J.D. Hayworth.

Only two peace activists stood near Raintree Drive and Northsight Boulevard, holding anti-war posters for passing cars to see.

Without knowing the first thing about actuarial processes or how insurance companies set rates, my gut reaction as that this is just more whining. If having less education or a different occupation puts you in a higher risk category statistically, it would be ridiculous for an insurance company to give you the same rate as someone with more education and an occupation that statistically carries a higher risk.

Under Geico’s guidelines, he said, a New Orleans factory worker without a high school education would pay $2,636 for insurance, 91 percent more the $1,382 that a white-collar worker with a graduate degree would pay for the same vehicle and location.

“There is clearly a disparate impact on minorities and lower income people,” Hunter said in an interview. “If it isn’t violative of the law, it should be. It strikes me as very unfair.”

In a March 14 letter to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, the CFA said Geico’s use of educational status alone to determine rates allows it to bypass prohibitions on using income as a guideline for setting rates, on the grounds that doing so is racially discriminatory.

“What is very troubling is that Geico appears to be using these guidelines as a de facto rating method,” it said. “Geico’s methodology is reprehensible because not everyone has the opportunity or can afford to pursue a four-year college degree.”

I guess some things in life are just not fair. Stop the whining. I was a 20 year old kid once and I had high car insurance rates. If I smoke I would expect higher life insurance rates. If statistically someone with a lower educational level is more likely to wreck their car (or maybe it puts them at a higher risk of not paying their premiums, or not paying them on time (basically a credit issue), which would add to Geico’s cost of managing the policy), then make them pay more for insurance. Nothing wrong with that.