'ISIS Is Not the Problem,' Says Christian Convert Tortured and Thrown to Dogs

Full article here. http://www.christianpost.com/news/christian-convert-tortured-thrown-to-dogs-isis-is-not-the-problem-167391/

By Samuel Smith , CP Reporter

August 2, 2016 |4:15 pm

(Photo: Reuters)

ISIS militants in Iraq are seen in this undated photo.

French priest  during a morning mass in Normandy that "ISIS is not the problem."

 (Photo: One Free World International) Majed el-Shafie

In an interview, Shafie, who was the subject of the 2012 documentary "Freedom Fighter," shared the story of how he was imprisoned, heinously tortured and sentenced to death by government actors in Egypt for converting from Islam to Christianity and helping build house churches in 1998.

"They shaved my head, they put my head in freezing cold water and then into boiling hot water," Shafie was quoted as saying. "They burned their cigarettes on me, they electrocuted me.

"They cut me and put salt in my wounds," he added. "I still wake with nightmares about it, even now 20 years on."

Shafie never lost his faith throughout the ordeal, and recalled a "miracle" moment when the guards let a pack of dogs into his cell, expecting them to maul him. 

"Quite honestly many people don't believe in miracles and that's fine, but when they released the dogs I sat in the corner and covered my face to the best of my ability," he explained. "I tried to protect my back and chest. … The dogs came and I prepared for pain and agony but I could not feel any."

"I moved my arms and the dogs were sitting around me. None of them moved toward me. … The dogs just didn't move," he continued. "The prison guards got another set of dogs and the same thing happened, but this time one of the dogs licked my face."

Shafie was eventually hospitalized and placed under house arrest, where, with the help of his friends, he was able to escape Alexandria.

"When I was escaping Alexandria I hid behind the police station, it was the last place they would look," he said. "I made my way to Sinai and there I stole a jet ski and I waited until it was 5:30 p.m. when the sun would be behind me and made my way towards the border with Israel."

Shafie was later granted asylum in Canada and founded his charity, which focuses on the persecution of Christians in the Middle East

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism--the New American Religion

6 minutes ago from anonymous

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  read more on www.christianpost.com
  I found this article to be very sad. Today's youth and even many adults today believe the same way.
  In an age where we have the ability to read and learn as much or more than any time in history. People seem to have forgotten or just don't want to sit down and read through the Bible to learn. Full of history and rich in content. The very thing that fills that empty void in their hearts remain stale.
  Be sure to check out the entire article at the site below.
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  read more on www.christianpost.com
  When Christian Smith and his fellow researchers with the National Study of Youth and Religion at the University of North Car
  When Christian Smith and his fellow researchers with the National Study of Youth and Religion at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill took a close look at the religious beliefs held by American teenagers, they found that the faith held and described by most adolescents came down to something the researchers identified as "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism."
  As described by Smith and his team, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism consists of beliefs like these: 1. "A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth." 2. "God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions." 3. "The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself." 4. "God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem." 5. "Good people go to heaven when they die."
  That, in sum, is the creed to which much adolescent faith can be reduced. After conducting more than 3,000 interviews with American adolescents, the researchers reported that, when it came to the most crucial questions of faith and beliefs, many adolescents responded with a shrug and "whatever."
  olina at Chapel Hill took a close look at the religious beliefs held by American teenagers, they found that the faith held and described by most adolescents came down to something the researchers identified as "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism."
  As described by Smith and his team, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism consists of beliefs like these: 1. "A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth." 2. "God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions." 3. "The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself." 4. "God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem." 5. "Good people go to heaven when they die."
  That, in sum, is the creed to which much adolescent faith can be reduced. After conducting more than 3,000 interviews with American adolescents, the researchers reported that, when it came to the most crucial questions of faith and beliefs, many adolescents responded with a shrug and "whatever."
• 
  
  read more on www.christianpost.com
  Amazingly, teenagers are not inarticulate in general. As the researchers found, "Many teenagers know abundant details about the lives of favorite musicians and television stars or about what it takes to get into a good college, but most are not very clear on who Moses and Jesus were." The obvious conclusion: "This suggests that a strong, visible, salient, or intentional faith is not operating in the foreground of most teenager's lives."

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Interfaith movement gains new strength

FaithHouse is probably the only multireligious church in the country, but its jumble of faiths and practices is becoming less unusual in today's religious marketplace.

clipped from www.washingtontimes.com 1 of 1 This is the first in a series of reports that will look at new efforts — driven largely by American faith leaders — to bridge old divisions among the nation's and the world's believers. NEW YORK | When FaithHouse Manhattan has its twice-monthly interfaith gatherings, the guest list is a carnival of religious belief and creed. An Islamic Sufi dervish greets you at the door, but the program director, an Episcopalian, makes the announcements. A rabbi, a female Muslim and a Seventh-day Adventist share leadership of the meeting. Oranges, nuts, apricots and hamentaschen, a Jewish holiday pastry, were offered as snacks. Participants put on costumes to act out the biblical story of Esther. It involves unlikely alliances, such as when one of the most conservative Christian pro-life groups staged a news conference on Capitol Hill in September applauding a Muslim prayer service on the Mall.

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