PRO-ISRAEL FACEBOOK GROUP HACKED AND DESTROYED BY A PRO-HIZBALLAH GROUP

The story of Todd Snider and his Facebook group “I Wonder How Quickly I Can Find 1,000,000 People Who Support Israel,” which appeared on FrontPage last Friday in the article “Facebook Jihad," has taken a bizarre new turn.
Snider, you may recall, is the enterprising and dedicated fourteen-year-old who last summer started a Facebook group that quickly grew to become the largest pro-Israel group on the popular social networking site. Snider’s group, “I Wonder How Quickly I Can Find 1,000,000 People Who Support Israel,” which he founded in July 2008, had over 180,000 members by mid February of this year.
But on February 15, 2009, Snider’s Facebook group was hacked and destroyed by a pro-Hizballah group calling itself “Lebanese Shee’a Hackers.” The hackers completely erased the original site content and replaced it with threatening, obscenity-laced pro-jihad, anti-Israel propaganda datelined Bint Jbeil, South Lebanon: “DEAR ADMINS, DON’T WASTE MY AND YOUR TIME , LEAVE THIS GROUP ITS BETTER FOR BOTH THIS IS THE LAST TIME ILL EDIT YOU INFO , NEXT TIME AND IN A COUPLE OF HOURS YOU WILL LOOSE EVERYTHING RELATED TO THIS GROUP….”
Facebook did nothing to stop these hackers from destroying Snider’s site, answering repeated entreaties for help from him and others with blandly evasive form letters. Snider said that Facebook received “hundreds of messages and complaints” from group members, “including some to high-ranking officials through connections,” but remained “entirely unaffected by this type of pressure, likely because many of its employees themselves are anti-Israel.” And then last Friday afternoon, Facebook actually disabled Snider’s account, explaining rather bizarrely that the young man had been “misusing [its] features.” Facebook did this despite the fact that Snider was clearly listed as the creator of both the original “I Wonder How Quickly I Can Find 1,000,000 People Who Support Israel” and the replacement group he began in February after the hacking.
But Facebook’s seeming capitulation to the pro-jihad and anti-Israel sentiment that has elsewhere migrated to the U.S. from Europe may have been more a bureaucratic snafu than a calculated political gesture. Around the same time that Facebook officials deleted Todd Snider’s account, it also finally deleted the original “I Wonder How Quickly I Can Find 1,000,000 People Who Support Israel” group site, with the menacing material from the pro-Hizballah, pro-jihad, anti-Semitic hackers. This indicates that the complaints that Facebook received after the FrontPage article appeared Friday had results. It is disappointing, however, that it took Facebook authorities so long to take action, and that apparently public pressure was the only thing that moved them to do so.
It may be also that Snider’s account was disabled because he was still listed as the creator of the hacked group. In that case, then, we hope Facebook will restore his account forthwith, and provide him with some way to contact the 180,000 members of the original group who had signed on to his crusade; his new group, which he established in February after the original group site was hacked, has only 3,000 members.
Todd Snider deserves our admiration for his stand against Internet jihadis – and the strange story of his Facebook group illustrates anew how ubiquitous and persistent those jihadis are. Snider also deserves the wholehearted support of everyone who supports Israel at the front line of the global jihad. Facebook members, whether or not they belonged to the original group, should join his new group, also called “I Wonder How Quickly I Can Find 1,000,000 People Who Support Israel.” A million people should sign up to protest the attacks of the digital jihadis who are increasingly attempting to compromise our internet freedoms.
The Internet jihadis must come to see that they will meet a determined, informed resistance, and that their thuggery will not stand – just as they must in the wide world beyond the curious confines of Facebook. All too many in the West seem determined instead to take the path of appeasement. They would do well to learn from the example of Todd Snider.

MUSLIMS HACK ' CHRISTIANS ON FACEBOOK ' SITE

Chicago (IL) - The Facebook group, Christians On Facebook, has become the latest target of attack for hackers who are posting pro-Islam messages. At 11:15am CDT today, the group's name was changed to "La ilaha illallahu Muhammadur Rasulullah", which means "There is no god but Allah; Muhammad is the messenger of Allah." Since then the name has changed no fewer than ten times.The Christians on Facebook group itself has over 327,000 members from all variations of the Christian faith. This channel or group hack appears to have been designed to replace the fundamental tenants of Christianity with those of Islam.At 11:58am, the name began changing repeatedly to variations of the following:

La ilaha illallahu Muhammadur Rasulullah"
"La ilaha illallahu Muhammadur Rasulullah -- In ALLAH We Believe"
"La ilaha illallahu Muhammadur Rasulullah - There Is No God But ALLAH"

"There is No God but ALLAH; Muhammad is the messenger of Allah"The attack appears to be ongoing as the group's image has been changed, and the group's Basic Info section has also been changed to carry several paragraphs which claim to report on the foundation of Islam, including the first principle declaration in two parts, and several passages relating to the deity Allah and his prophet/servant/apostle Muhammad.

JUDGE RULES IN FAVOR OF HOMOSEXUAL STUDENT CLUB

Jacksonville - A federal judge has ruled that a student club that promotes tolerance for gays at a north Florida high school must be allowed to meet.

U.S. District Judge Henry Adams issued the decision Wednesday in a case involving two students from Yullee High School near Jacksonville. Adams ordered a local school board to grant official recognition to the Gay-Straight Alliance and afford it the same privileges as any other student organization.

The school district had argued in court that it would grant school access to the group if its name were changed, citing the name as its chief objection. But the judge ruled that the group did not need to make a change. The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit on behalf of two gay students.

KENTUCKY PRESBYTERY VOTES TO OVERTURN BAN ON GAY MINISTERS

For the first time, leaders from the majority of Presbyterian Church (USA) congregations in Central and Eastern Kentucky have agreed that a national ban on gay ministers should be overturned, raising fears of a schism in the denomination.
The commissioners of the Presbytery of Transylvania, which includes 56 Central and Eastern Kentucky counties, voted 83-61 Tuesday to approve an amendment that, if supported by the majority of the presbyteries in the United States, would open the door for gays and lesbians to be ordained as pastors, elders and deacons.
The proposal is being considered by each of the nation's 173 presbyteries. It would have to be accepted by a simple majority of them to take effect.
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The Presbyterian Church (USA) has considered such amendments to its Book of Order several times since 1996, when an amendment was put in place requiring church officers to live "in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness."
Each time, amendments to change that language have failed, but a close vote is expected this year.
The Rev. John Manon of Corbin Presbyterian Church, who opposed the amendment, said he expects the proposal to be approved nationally. If that happens, "the potential is there" for a split in the denomination, he said. "My hope and prayer is that it does not" cause a schism, he said.
Still, Manon called the amendment "a movement for our church to begin serving man instead of God."
Under the amendment, individual churches would be able to choose a gay or lesbian person for ordination under "really tight circumstances," said Richard Smith, general presbyter for the Transylvania presbytery. "We're not going to be ordaining anybody who's not a confirmed, solid Christian person. It's not a wide open door by any means," he said. "We take the question of ordination very seriously."
As general presbyter, Smith handles administrative matters and acts as a "pastor to the pastors."
The amendment deletes the "fidelity and chastity" wording and replaces it with a paragraph that says those who are ordained "pledge themselves to live lives obedient to Jesus Christ the Head of the Church, striving to follow where he leads through the witness of the Scriptures, and to understand the Scriptures through the instruction of the Confessions. In so doing, they declare their fidelity to the standards of the Church."
Smith said he thinks the votes from all the nation's presbyteries should be in by May. Mid-Kentucky Presbytery, which includes Louisville, voted by a wide margin last month to support the amendment.
Seven meetings on this issue were held over the past two months at churches throughout the Presbytery of Transylvania, which includes First, Second, Maxwell Street and Beaumont Presbyterian churches in Lexington.
"I think this is much better crafted language, and the times have changed," Smith said of the local vote. "There's much more willingness to recognize and accept the diversity."
The Rev. Eric Mount, a former Presbyterian pastor and professor emeritus of religion at Centre College, said leaders are working hard to avoid a split in the church. "There are efforts being made to build bridges across the divide of disagreement on this," he said.
However, he acknowledged that some congregations and individual members will probably leave the denomination. Some already have.
After the vote of the Presbytery of Transylvania Tuesday, Mount said he thought some commissioners, a group made up of pastors and church elders, were "deeply disappointed" at the outcome.
The Rev. Scott Wiest Sr., pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Pikeville, was one of those who spoke against the amendment. In a written statement Wednesday, Wiest said he opposes "the ordination of any person who continues to live in sexual sin and refuses to repent of it."
Wiest said he expects the amendment to fail on a national level, but if it is approved, he expects a split will occur. However, he pledged to "encourage the members of this church to stay together ..."
Mount said he was proud of how folks on both sides handled the debate and the announcement of the final vote.
"I was pleased that our presbytery did pass it," he said. "There are a lot of really good people standing outside the gate waiting for a chance to serve in leadership positions in our church."

CATHOLIC BISHOPS : CLERGY ABUSE CLAIMS ROSE IN 2008

NEW YORK — Roman Catholic dioceses and religious orders saw a rise in molestation claims against clergy last year, according to a new report from U.S. bishops. Nearly all the 803 cases involved adults who said they had been abused as children decades ago.
Church leaders paid less in settlements, attorney fees and other abuse-related costs. Still, the amount reached just over $436 million, bringing the total payouts for abuse to more than $2.6 billion since 1950, according to studies commissioned by the prelates.
The statistics are part of an annual review of child safety in American dioceses and religious orders that is mandated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The report is set to be released Friday. The Associated Press obtained a copy.
As part of the review, auditors found that all but one of the dioceses they evaluated had fully implemented the bishops' child protection policies by the end of the year.
The safeguards include background checks for employees and volunteers, safe environment training for children and a discipline plan for offenders that removes them from any public church work. Dioceses increased their spending on safety programs to $23 million in 2008.
The noncompliant diocese was Tulsa, Okla., which had not completed training for children.
Despite the high marks for dioceses, auditors did find some need improvement.
Investigators said they could not easily find contact information for the lay review boards in some regions. The panels are supposed to help bishops respond to abuse claims.
Investigators also said many church administrators need to increase contact with police and other outside authorities when evaluating cases.
"Unfortunately, many dioceses are conducting the investigations themselves without also making a report to civil authorities," auditors said. Advocates for victims have repeatedly urged them to make their first report to police, not the church.
The Diocese of Lincoln, Neb., as it has in previous years, refused to participate in the audit. Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz has said the evaluation wouldn't "place into context" the large number of priests who were not abusive. Bishop Robert Vass of the Diocese of Baker, Ore., also refused, saying the diocese will not conduct safe environment training for children.
Separately, five eparchies, or regional districts for parishes that follow the Eastern rite, also refused the review.
The reports from the bishops are part of the reforms they enacted in 2002, at the height of the scandal, which began with the case of one predatory priest in the Archdiocese of Boston and spread throughout the U.S. and beyond. Thousands of clergy have been accused since 1950.
The number of abuse claims in 2008 increased by 16 percent over 2007, when 691 claims were made. Similar to past years, more than 80 percent of the clergy accused in 2008 are dead, missing or already out of public ministry or the priesthood altogether. However, 40 percent of those accused last year had never been named in previous abuse cases.
Following a pattern that researchers discovered in previous studies, most of the people who came forward last year were men and more than half said they were between the ages of 10 and 14 when they were molested. Only 30 percent of the new claims came through attorneys.
Auditors conducted onsite evaluations in one-third of the dioceses, while the rest compiled data that was evaluated offsite. The bishops are rotating which dioceses receive an onsite review, so that each diocese is visited every three years.

THE NEW CALVINISM - 10 IDEAS CHANGING THE WORLD RIGHT NOW

If you really want to follow the development of conservative Christianity, track its musical hits. In the early 1900s you might have heard "The Old Rugged Cross," a celebration of the atonement. By the 1980s you could have shared the Jesus-is-my-buddy intimacy of "Shine, Jesus, Shine." And today, more and more top songs feature a God who is very big, while we are...well, hark the David Crowder Band: "I am full of earth/ You are heaven's worth/ I am stained with dirt/ Prone to depravity."
Calvinism is back, and not just musically. John Calvin's 16th century reply to medieval Catholicism's buy-your-way-out-of-purgatory excesses is Evangelicalism's latest success story, complete with an utterly sovereign and micromanaging deity, sinful and puny humanity, and the combination's logical consequence, predestination: the belief that before time's dawn, God decided whom he would save (or not), unaffected by any subsequent human action or decision. (Read about the re-emergence of Catholic indulgences.)
Calvinism, cousin to the Reformation's other pillar, Lutheranism, is a bit less dour than its critics claim: it offers a rock-steady deity who orchestrates absolutely everything, including illness (or home foreclosure!), by a logic we may not understand but don't have to second-guess. Our satisfaction — and our purpose — is fulfilled simply by "glorifying" him. In the 1700s, Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards invested Calvinism with a rapturous near mysticism. Yet it was soon overtaken in the U.S. by movements like Methodism that were more impressed with human will. Calvinist-descended liberal bodies like the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) discovered other emphases, while Evangelicalism's loss of appetite for rigid doctrine — and the triumph of that friendly, fuzzy Jesus — seemed to relegate hard-core Reformed preaching (Reformed operates as a loose synonym for Calvinist) to a few crotchety Southern churches.
No more. Neo-Calvinist ministers and authors don't operate quite on a Rick Warren scale. But, notes Ted Olsen, a managing editor at Christianity Today, "everyone knows where the energy and the passion are in the Evangelical world" — with the pioneering new-Calvinist John Piper of Minneapolis, Seattle's pugnacious Mark Driscoll and Albert Mohler, head of the Southern Seminary of the huge Southern Baptist Convention. The Calvinist-flavored ESV Study Bible sold out its first printing, and Reformed blogs like Between Two Worlds are among cyber-Christendom's hottest links.
Like the Calvinists, more moderate Evangelicals are exploring cures for the movement's doctrinal drift, but can't offer the same blanket assurance. "A lot of young people grew up in a culture of brokenness, divorce, drugs or sexual temptation," says Collin Hansen, author of Young, Restless, Reformed: A Journalist's Journey with the New Calvinists. "They have plenty of friends: what they need is a God." Mohler says, "The moment someone begins to define God's [being or actions] biblically, that person is drawn to conclusions that are traditionally classified as Calvinist." Of course, that presumption of inevitability has drawn accusations of arrogance and divisiveness since Calvin's time. Indeed, some of today's enthusiasts imply that non-Calvinists may actually not be Christians. Skirmishes among the Southern Baptists (who have a competing non-Calvinist camp) and online "flame wars" bode badly.
Calvin's 500th birthday will be this July. It will be interesting to see whether Calvin's latest legacy will be classic Protestant backbiting or whether, during these hard times, more Christians searching for security will submit their wills to the austerely demanding God of their country's infancy.