BlackTerrel
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http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/WorldwideOutrageGrowsOverCondemnedIranianPastor/2012/03/03/id/431293
A couple things I think warrant mentioning here that I bolded:
1. The ONLY thing that has kept this Pastor alive is public opinion. Iran still cares about how they are perceived in the outside world and that is why his death sentence has been pushed back a number of times. Not threats of war or sanctions but public opinion. If we do go to war - I assume that will no longer matter to them and this guy will be executed.
2. The House vote was unanimous. The sole nay vote was a democrat who claims she voted against it by accident. So I assume Ron voted for it as well?
The U.S. House, Donald Trump, worldwide Christian and human rights groups, a Brazilian soccer legend, and Twitter users in 198 countries have created a growing international coalition of millions trying to stop Iran from executing a modern-day Christian martyr who refuses to renounce his faith and embrace Islam.
Dr. Richard Land, a leading figure in the influential Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), tells Newsmax that Youcef Nadarkhani is still alive today only because of the worldwide outpouring of support.
“The only thing that has kept this dear pastor from being executed already is the cold, public light of world opinion being focused on Tehran,” he said.
Nadarkhani, the father of two small children, was sentenced in 2010 to death by hanging, and has now been imprisoned for more than 873 days in northern Iran. His case has ignited a maelstrom of outrage that has reached more than 960,000 Twitter users around the world and done something that few thought possible in Washington, D.C. — unite Republicans and Democrats in an election year.
“People are working together that probably never thought they would work together because you can put a lot of differences aside versus such a basic right and such an abuse of power,” declared Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which launched the Twitter campaign to overturn Nadarkhani’s death sentence on a charge of apostasy.
The ACLJ also heard from more than 180,000 Americans who urged the House to approve Thursday’s resolution condemning Iran for its continued “persecution, imprisonment, and sentencing” of Nadarkhani, something it did by a margin of 417-1.
In this case, apostasy is interpreted as abandoning Islam. The original indictment against Nadarkhani, an evangelical pastor who became a Christian at age 19, also accused him of organizing evangelistic meetings, sharing his faith, trying to convert Muslims to Christianity, running a house church, and rejecting Islamic values.
Iranian officials amended the indictment last fall to include allegations of rape, extortion, and threats to national security, as well as Zionism. Critics viewed the additional charges as trumped-up allegations by Iran to counter international outrage over the case.
A couple things I think warrant mentioning here that I bolded:
1. The ONLY thing that has kept this Pastor alive is public opinion. Iran still cares about how they are perceived in the outside world and that is why his death sentence has been pushed back a number of times. Not threats of war or sanctions but public opinion. If we do go to war - I assume that will no longer matter to them and this guy will be executed.
2. The House vote was unanimous. The sole nay vote was a democrat who claims she voted against it by accident. So I assume Ron voted for it as well?