Taken for Granted
Going to homeschool conferences always helps me remember the freedoms that we take for granted. Homeschoolers have fought for years for the freedom to educate their children according to the dictates of conscience.
Going back to the founding of the United States, a primary weapon against freedom was taxes, leading to the Boston Tea Party and ultimately, the American Revolution. The phrase "no taxation without representation" is still echoed all over the country.
In other countries, though, taxation is still used as an tool of oppression, even religious oppression. From the Koran, for instance, comes the concept of jizya, or protection tax. Jizya was first used by Muhammed himself against Christians, and is the price demanded of non-Muslims to prevent forcible conversion or death.
Now the jizya is being used to actively persecute Christians in the part of Baghdad that has been predominately Christian. The militant leaders are demanding money that would be enough to supply a six-person family for an entire month!
For the whole story on this recent development, click here. Please be in prayer for these suffering believers, faced with an impossible choice!