In Diyarbakir, Turkey, a Protestant Church faces significant obstacles from the government in acquiring land for building a new worship center. The Diyarbakir Protestant Church Foundation, established in 2019, struggles amidst rising nationalism and Islamization in the country.

The ongoing denial of land zoned for religious use by Turkish authorities has sparked international concerns about religious freedom and human rights, The Christian Post reported.

The foundation, serving over 100 Protestant Christians, needs a larger space to accommodate its growing congregation. Currently, the community gathers in an inadequate, constrained area.

Despite zoning for religious use, local authorities have ignored or rejected the foundation's repeated applications. This has prompted legal challenges supported by ADF International, a global advocacy group.

Legal Advocacy Groups Step in to Aid Protestant Foundation

ADF International, led by Global Religious Freedom Director Kelsey Zorzi, argues that the Turkish government's actions are discriminatory and violate international human rights commitments.

Zorzi states, "The land in question is designated for religious use, but the government discriminates against the church because it is not associated with the state's preferred religion."

The legal battle centers on urban planning laws, which the court interprets to hinder establishing new religious facilities, creating significant obstacles for religious minorities.

Orhan Kemal Cengiz, the lead attorney for ADF International in Turkey, highlights the broader challenges Christians face.

"Christians encounter numerous legal and practical barriers when they wish to establish a legally recognized worship place in Türkiye," Cengiz notes.

Increasing Pressure on Christian Communities

This obstruction coincides with broader national trends, such as the deportations of foreign Protestant ministers and the conversion of historic Christian sites into mosques. Since 2018, Turkey has deported at least 185 foreign Protestant ministers under ambiguous pretexts.

Moreover, in June, the Turkish Constitutional Court upheld the expulsion of nine foreign Christian workers, adding to the unease within the Christian community. Judge Zühtü Arslan dissented, arguing these expulsions lacked solid legal justification.

Furthermore, the Christian population in Turkey is relatively small, numbering around 170,000 in a nation of 83 million. Consequently, these deportations and policies have drawn international criticism, including from European bishops.

Global Religious Community Responds

This situation has garnered international attention. Consequently, religious leaders across Europe have criticized the Turkish government's policies toward Christians, urging Turkey to respect and uphold the rights of religious minorities.

Similarly, the Diyarbakir Protestant Church Foundation's struggle illustrates the challenges Christians face throughout Turkey.

Seeking a safe and adequate place of worship, the foundation continues to fight for their right to religious expression in an increasingly restrictive environment.

In conclusion, the Diyarbakir Protestant Church Foundation's efforts to secure land for a new worship center highlight broader religious freedom and human rights issues in Turkey.

With international advocacy support, they continue to challenge government policies and advocate for the rights of Protestant Christians amid nationalistic and exclusionary policies.

Governor Andrew Cuomo failed to stockpile medical supplies for his state back in 2015 when he was advised that New York did not have enough ventilators in a pandemic. Back then, the ventilators would have cost a little over half a billion dollars out of a budget well in excess of $150 billion dollars. Now that there is a pandemic, Cuomo is using the crisis to make up for his dereliction of duty, getting the federal government to pay for something that New York should have paid for years ago.

Day after day, Cuomo has been demanding that the federal government send more ventilators, saying they don't have enough. When asked if he was stockpiling the ventilators, he said of course, because the hospitals don't need them yet. Cuomo is planning for the worst case scenario, 30,000 people needing ventilators at the same time. That sounds reasonable, but Cuomo has been saying repeatedly that the hospitals do not have enough ventilators now.

Dr. Deborah Birx debunks the 60-70% number

Dr. Deborah Birx, a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force,  reassured New Yorkers and Americans that our health care system is adequate to the task and the country is working overtime to supply what is needed. She also said that there is no model that they are working with that shows 60% to 70% of Americans infected with the coronavirus.

New Yorkers flee the city

Meanwhile, New York City residents have been fleeing the city and possibly spreading the virus to other parts of New York and other states. Rhode Island has told New Yorkers to stay away.

Dr. Deborah Birx, a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, warned those fleeing NYC to quarantine themselves for 14 days after arriving in a new place to avoid spreading the virus.

To everyone who has left New York over the last few days, because of the rate of the number of cases, you may have been exposed before you left New York. Everybody who was in New York should be self-quarantining for the next 14 days to ensure the virus doesn't spread to others, no matter where they have gone — whether it's Florida, North Carolina, or out to far reaches of Long Island."

Dr. Birx appeals to New Yorkers that have left NYC to self-quarantine. Watch:

As if New York City didn't have enough problems with the number of victims of Covid-19 rising,  Mayor Bill de Blasio is releasing "non-violent" prisoners early. He seems to be pleased that jail populations are lower than in 1949.

The problem is, he is releasing criminals into the city at a time when the city is suffering from the worst of the coronavirus outbreak.

According to the New York Times:

By late Wednesday, 200 inmates had been freed, bringing New York City’s jail population to 4,906, Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a news conference on Thursday. The last time it was below 5,000, he said, was 1949. Another 175 inmates were expected to be released by Thursday night.

New York is not the only place that prisoners are being released "early" to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Los Angeles' mayor, Eric Garcetti is doing the same thing in his city. New Jersey has released prisoners, too. Common sense suggests that this will not turn out well for law-abiding citizens.

New York City hit hardest by Covid-19

New York City is the "epicenter" of the Covid-19 crisis in the US. Half the cases of coronavirus are in New York City. There are over 23,000 cases and 365 people are dead including a nurse, Kious Kelly.

Watch the video to see what New York City is dealing with:

The city is suffering and Tucker Carlson gives one explanation about why the city has been so hard hit by the virus. He ran a story on the leaders of New York City and their ill-advised policies designed to prevent them from appearing racist while at the same time putting their constituents at risk.

Many of  New York City's leaders, like Mayor Bill DeBlasio, spent  time encouraging New Yorkers to go out to theaters and parades and just "live their lives."  Sadly, the desire to not appear racist put the citizens of the largest city in the US at risk and people are dying.

At this stage of the pandemic, more people are dying in New York City than anywhere else in the US. The New York National Guard is setting up temporary hospitals and refrigerated trucks are being used to store the bodies as the morgues fill up.

Pray for the people in New York City.

Watch:

One of the stars of the White House Coronavirus Task Force is Dr. Anthony Fauci, an immunologist and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

He has served in that capacity since 1984 through many national crises such as AIDS, H1N1, Ebola, SARS, and MERS. He speaks almost daily in the press briefings and he has impressed the nation as a scientific, measured, and respectable voice.

Fauci speaks carefully during the task force press briefings, but he does not parrot the president. The media sees that as an opportunity to pit President Trump against Fauci, but both the president and Fauci deny that there is any problem.

In a recent interview, Mark Levin questioned Dr. Fauci on what he thinks about the efforts the task force is making. Dr. Fauci praised the coordinated response of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, saying among other things:

"Well, we've never had a threat like this and the coordinated response has been, there are a number of adjectives to describe it. Impressive, I think is one of them."

He obviously believes that the White House efforts are exceptional, saying,

...I can't imagine that under any circumstances that anybody could be doing more. I mean, obviously, we're fighting a formidable enemy -- this virus. This virus is a serious issue here.

Watch what Dr. Fauci has to say:

The media is following an old playbook - divide and conquer. Thus far, Trump and Fauci are resisting their efforts.

It's a beautiful thing to see the media's disappointment.

New York governor Andrew Cuomo, in a press briefing today, demanded that President Trump send more ventilators to New York, saying that they needed 30,000 ventilators or people would die.

President Trump, armed with information, shot back that Cuomo should have followed the advice he received in 2015 to buy 16,000 ventilators to prepare for a pandemic. Cuomo did not buy the ventilators and he is now seeking to direct attention away from his improvidence by accusing President Trump of dereliction of duty.

Mainstream media outlets claim that the president is relying on "far-right" blogs, but the language is right there in the "New York State Department of Health and New York State Task Force on Life and the Law Update Ventilator Allocation Guidelines."

In 2015, Dr. Howard Zucker counseled Cuomo in the guidelines. "Pandemic influenza is a foreseeable threat, and New York has a responsibility to plan now."

Zucker admitted that New York did not have enough ventilators to deal with a flu pandemic, and then went on to say that if they bought more ventilators they wouldn't have the technicians to run them!

In a severe public health emergency on the scale of the 1918 influenza pandemic, however, these ventilators would not be sufficient to meet the demand. Even if the vast number of ventilators needed were purchased, a sufficient number of trained staff would not be available to operate them.

 

Betsy McCaughy, Lieutenant Governor under Governor George Pataki, wrote that Cuomo authorized "death" panels. She has been smeared as far-right also, but the authority to choose who will get ventilator treatment in the event of a shortage is in the New York State Task Force document, also.

All patients in need of a ventilator are subject to one of the three clinical protocols, using objective, universally-applied clinical criteria to evaluate a patient's likelihood of survival.

Patients who have the highest likelihood of survival with ventilator therapy receive priority...To ensure that patients receive the best possible care in a pandemic, the guidelines call for a triage officer or triage committee to determine who receives or continues to receive ventilator therapy. To prevent a conflict of interest, these decision-makers are not the patients' attending physicians. The decision regarding whether to use a triage officer or committee is up to each hospital, given the different resources at each site...

Patients not receiving ventilator therapy should receive alternative forms of medical intervention. Palliative care will be provided to all patients to manage patient discomfort.

President Trump wants to re-open the American economy by Easter

Perhaps many people at this point in the coronavirus pandemic have been wondering and discussing if locking the entire country down is really necessary. Older people, the most vulnerable, are suggesting that they can self-isolate while the rest of the country gets back to work.

Others, like Dr. Anthony Fauci of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, are offering hope that increased testing will allow states to target hotspots while allowing the rest of the state to go about their business.

If we do the kind of testing that we're doing ... and you find after a period of time that there are areas that are very different from other areas of the country, you may not want to essentially treat it as one force for the entire country, but look at flexibility in different areas." Dr. Fauci

President Trump set the goal of being able to restart the world's largest economy by Easter which is April 12th. Let's hope and pray that happens.

Watch:

The Democrats have blocked the Coronavirus Response Bill twice now as the American people wonder what will be left of their jobs, their businesses,  or their economy. Just as the Senate was about to pass the bill, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi blew up the negotiations in order to craft her own bill in the House.

Majority Whip James Clyburn wants the coronavirus relief bill to be about a Democrat wish list. "This is a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision.”

Ostensibly, the Senate bill does not offer enough protection for "workers" among other things. The Democrats say "workers" need more protections, which is just code for "the unions need more power."

The Democrats, are nothing if they are not loyal to the unions, which donated more than $1.1 billion dollars to Democrats in 2018.  Now those same unions want to hold up much-needed stimulus in the form of loans for businesses until they get their pound of flesh, more power in the name of the "worker."

Republicans fall into a trap

Republicans and President Trump have fallen into the trap of using Democrat terms, calling Americans "workers." They think they are talking about all Americans that work, including small businessmen, tradespeople, independent contractors, and employees, but that is not what Democrats mean.

They only consider union members as "workers," which represent 1  in 10 Americans. The federal government needs to consider all the people that power the largest economy in the world, and Republicans need to stop calling Americans "workers."

88% percent of the American workforce is not unionized.  36% of those unionized "workers" are government employees such as teachers, police officers, firefighters, and others. Only 6.4% of the private sector is unionized.

Except among government agencies, union membership is in decline, yet unions like the AFL-CIO and SEIU wield a disproportionate amount of power in places like California, New York and Washington DC. Government employee unions make up a whopping 36% of all unionized workers.

Government agencies are particularly suited to meet union demands in "collective bargaining" because they have an endless supply of tax revenue. The private sector just doesn't have as much money to meet union demands.

Union-backed bill harms Californians

Sadly, policy that is crafted for the "worker" often harms small businesses and their employees, and independent contractors which can include bookkeepers, stylists, exotic dancers, authors, artists, dancers, musicians, consultants, translators, and many more.

Indeed, California is just realizing the full effect of an AFL-CIO crafted bill since it went into effect in January. The bill was sold to Californians as legislation to protect Uber and Lyft drivers and provide them with employee status.

But, in reality, the bill has hurt upwards of 16% of the workforce in California, which amounts to thousands and thousands of independent contractors. Many of them are women needing the flexibility of working for themselves to manage their work and family time.

They are losing their livelihoods due to the draconian penalties included in the bill. Sponsors of the bill simply don't consider the people working outside of unions and big companies as "workers," and therefore they believe they can't have hurt anyone because they simply don't exist. You can listen to some of the justifications here.

This video explains the harm done by such legislation.

This is America

This is America. If someone wants to work for a company he should be free to make that choice. If someone wants to work for herself, she should be able to. Americans do not need politicians to take care of them. People should be able to make their livings as they please without government passing legislation that destroys their livelihoods.

Independent contractors enjoy working for themselves, setting their own schedules, and taking responsibility for their own healthcare and taxes. But people like the AFL-CIO think that they know better how to manage "workers." They condescendingly believe the "workers" can't take care of themselves, they need a government "safety net." This is a slap in the face to all the many Americans that have managed their own work lives.

No Americans are safe with Democrats in power

If you think you are safe from such destructive legislation, think again. Now that labor legislation has been implemented in California, the Democrats in Congress want to force the same kind of law on the rest entire country in the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. The only thing saving the rest of the country from such destructive legislation is a Republican majority in the Senate.

Tucker Carlson excoriates the Democrats for delaying passage of the Coronavirus Response Bill:

The number of senators is dwindling in the Senate. Senator Rand Paul just received a positive test result for the virus and some senators that were near him recently are also self-quarantining per CDC guidance. Paul is "asymptomatic" meaning he has no symptoms of the virus. He was tested out of an abundance of caution because of his travels.

Republican Senators Mike Lee and Mitt Romney both from Utah, have self-quarantined as they were in close proximity to Paul recently. Sen. Romney's office stated, "Since Senator Romney sat next to Senator Paul for extended periods in recent days and consistent with [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] guidance, the attending physician has ordered him to immediately self-quarantine and not to vote on the Senate floor."

Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo) and Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) are also self-quarantined.

Coronavirus Relief legislation fails

The loss of Republican senators is making it hard to pass any legislation in the Senate as Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell struggles to act in the face of an impending economic crisis.

McConnell announced Paul's results on the Senate floor on Sunday, "Colleagues, as everyone now knows, the coronavirus has arrived in the Senate. There are at least five senators who are in self-quarantine at the moment." All five of the senators in self-quarantine are Republicans, bringing the number of Republicans available to vote on legislation to 48 against the Democrat"s 47.

The Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), after working with Republicans, decided to block the massive spending bill designed to help Americans through the coronavirus crisis.

After meeting with McConnell, Schumer, and Ranking member Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to discuss the bill, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced that the House would be drafting their own bill. McConnell was visibly angry after the vote, accusing Democrats of obstruction. Another vote is scheduled for Monday morning.

Watch:

California Governor Gavin Newsom just issued an executive order to lockdown the entire state. At this time, people are unsure of what that means.

According to the official web page California Coronavirus Response, here are the business and events that are closed or canceled:

  • Dine-in restaurants
  • Bars and nightclubs
  • Entertainment venues
  • Gyms and fitness studios
  • Public events and gatherings
  • Convention Centers

Businesses and services that are open:

  • Gas stations
  • Pharmacies
  • Food: Grocery stores, farmers markets, food banks, convenience stores, take-out and delivery restaurants
  • Banks
  • Laundromats/laundry services

The order, per the Public Health official Dr. Sonia Y. Angell, went into effect March 19th and will remain in effect until further notice.

The California State Public Health Officer and Director of the California Department of Public Health is ordering all individuals living in the State of California to stay home or at their place of residence, except as needed to maintain continuity of operation of the federal critical infrastructure sectors, critical government services, schools, childcare, and construction, including housing construction.

Although Governor Newsom said,  "We're going to keep the grocery stores open. We're going to make sure that you're getting critical medical supplies. You can still take your kids outside, practicing common sense and social distancing. You can still walk your dog, you can still pick up food at one of our distribution centers, at a restaurant, at a drive-thru — all those things we will still be able to do."

Some people have reported being stopped by CHP and asked where they were going. It is uncertain how and when fines will be imposed on violators of the "shelter in place" order.

Californians can expect the economic cost of the "lockdown" to be high and the effects long-lasting, perhaps some of them good, but mostly harmful.

California's healthcare system already in distress

California's public health care system was already under great strain caring for the homeless and immigrant populations. According to NPR in January 2020,

A range of health concerns has spread among homeless communities. A few years ago, hepatitis A, spread primarily through feces, infected more than 700 people in California, most of them homeless, according to state officials. Ancient diseases, such as typhus, have resurged. Homeless people are dying in record numbers on the streets of Los Angeles, according to data from the county coroner.

Cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles are dealing with human excrement and filth on their streets. Making those places and other cities sanitary will be an expensive task.

Tucker Carlson recently aired a segment on the unsanitary conditions in California. Watch:

In today's press conference, President Trump announced that he is invoking the Defense Production Act to meet the needs the coronavirus pandemic has produced.

There is a limited supply of ventilators, masks, and protective gear needed to fight the Chinese coronavirus.

The Defense Production Act was first enacted in 1950 to ramp up supplies during the Korean War. The language in the bill allows the president to use it in the "war" against the coronavirus. The president can authorize the production of medical items like respirators, ventilators, face masks, and other items if needed during the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the Lexington Institute military expert Loren Thompson,

The Defense Production Act permits the president to push national security items to the front of the line, rather than following items that were previously ordered. It exists to speed up urgently needed items."

In fact, the president said he is now a "wartime" president, identifying the enemy as Covid-19, the Chinese coronavirus.

“Now it's our time. We must sacrifice together, because we are all in this together, and we will come through together. It's the invisible enemy. That's always the toughest enemy, the invisible enemy.”

The president asked for questions after he and his various task force members finished updating the nation. The second question asked was the media's new talking point, their attempt to label the president a "xenophobe," asking if he would continue to call the virus the "Chinese" virus.  The president responded that he would call it that because that is where the coronavirus originated.

Watch:

An ABC correspondent repeated the question about labeling the virus the "Chinese" coronavirus.

After listening to the reporter's comments and question one would think that President Trump was the only person who had called Covid-19 the Chinese coronavirus. It turns out that the president is simply calling the coronavirus by the same name the mainstream media called it until now.

The Media Research Center created a montage of the many times the media used the name.

Watch:

President Trump, while taking questions during a press conference, was asked if he should call Covid-19 the "Chinese" virus.  The reporter that asked the question was concerned that calling the virus the "Chinese" virus might create a stigma. The president's response was quick and to the point, exposing the question and questioner as dumb at best and malicious at worst.

Many are coming to realize that China must be held accountable for allowing the virus to escape their country. The Chinese attempt to accuse and blame the US for the coronavirus is reprehensible.

The US and other countries should rethink their dependence on China for essentials such as antibiotics, pharmaceuticals, and medical supplies. Go here to read an excellent article by Victor Davis Hansen about our current situation and China's role in bringing the world to a standstill.

Praise from his enemies

After days and days of listening to the media and the Democrats excoriate the president for his "incompetency" in handling the coronavirus outbreak, praise for his actions came from unlikely sources like New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and CNN's Dana Bash.

Cuomo and Trump have had their disagreements in the past, especially over the president's tax reform of the SALT deduction capped at $10,000. New York taxes residents heavily, and with the cap on the deduction of state and local taxes, many residents are having to pay more tax to the federal government. New York could ease the tax burden on residents, but they haven't. Cuomo has voiced his displeasure with Trump frequently.

Cuomo said of the tax reform, "It was politically diabolical and also highly effective, and if your goal is to help Republican states and hurt Democratic states, this is the way to do it.”

In spite of his dislike of the president, Cuomo is willing to praise him for the work he and his task force are doing to manage the coronavirus outbreak in New York and in general. New York is the hardest-hit state in the country at this writing.

Even more shocking than hearing Cuomo praise the president for anything at all is to hear a CNN anchor say something good or positive about him. But CNN's Dana Bash did just that saying that President Trump is being the kind of leader we all need. Please watch this rare event.

Slowing the virus and saving lives

The coronavirus, now in every state, is claiming more victims, but President Trump and his task force are making their recommendations, and states are settling on a method to slow the virus. The American people are figuring out what they need to do to help.

Hopefully, if we all are willing to reduce our movements, we can help slow and even end the progress of the coronavirus. Let's get this done, America, so we can get back to normal.

Here is Vice President Mike Pence explaining that 15 days of social distancing will help slow the virus.

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