"All four hostages, which included a Fuller Theological Seminary graduate, aboard a yacht were shot dead early Tuesday after they were held captive by Somali pirates.
The U.S. Central Command said negotiations for the release of the hostages were ongoing when there was gunfire at approximately 1 a.m. ET Tuesday.
U.S. Forces responded to the gunfire aboard the pirated vessel, named the Quest, by boarding the yacht but discovered that all the hostages had been shot.
"Despite immediate steps to provide life-saving care, all four hostages ultimately died of their wounds," the U.S. Central Command said in a statement."
Christian Post
OK, so that's pretty much the story we've all been hearing on the news. But what about this part:
"Scott and Jean Adams were retired and had been sailing around the world for the past six years on their yacht. The couple was on a worldwide trip to distribute Bibles.
On the couple's website, Jean Adams wrote, “Another aspect of our travels is friendship evangelism – that is, finding homes for thousands of Bibles, which have been donated through grants and gifts, as we travel from place to place.”"
A friend on Facebook named James Mace posted about this so I decided to look it up. Why is the media ignoring the evangelism and Bible distribution? Is it because to do so would provide a motive for the killings? A motive which would not be...politically correct, that wouldn't fit the story of the religion of peace that gets crammed down our throats day in and day out?
These pirates don't normally kill Westerners, they take them hostage and demand a ransom. Killing these people causes all kinds of problems for the pirate leaders because they're running a business that depends on a certain set of rules, no matter how perverse those rules seem to us. They don't kill hostages, we don't kill pirates, ransoms get paid and we do it all over again. Stuff like this ups the ante because if they are going to start killing hostages then the gloves will come off.
So it makes no sense to kill the hostages unless there was some powerful ulterior motive. My guess is that the motive can be found in their Islamic faith and jihad. The distribution of Bibles in Islamic countries, even supposedly civilized ones like Saudi Arabia will get you the death sentence. Why would it be any different on the open seas? Islam knows no borders.
So I'll be interested to see if we hear anything at all in the mainstream press about the Bibles and Islam. My guess is it'll all be kept nice and quiet...wouldn't want to offend anybody or upset a carefully constructed storyline.
MORE NEWS ABOUT THE PLIGHT OF CHRISTIANS IN SOMALIA:
After reading the stories below I'd definitely believe that there's more to the killings on board the Quest than simple piracy. I feel confident in saying that there's a religious motivation behind them.
"The Somali militant group Al-Shabab has been arming and training pirates in exchange for a share of their spoils, says a newly released Canadian intelligence document.
Al-Shabab has formed a “relationship of convenience” with one of the two main pirate networks operating off the Horn of Africa, the “Top Secret” intelligence assessment says.
The report describes an “Islamist extremism-piracy nexus” that involves Al-Shabab providing “weapons, combat training and local protection” to the Mudug pirates of southern Somalia.
In return, “elements of Al-Shabab continue to receive portions of the spoils from successful hijackings either in cash or seized weapons and materiel,” it says."
National Post
"Bringing Muslims to Jesus is bringing a new wave of persecution in Somalia.
Members of an Islamic Somali extremist group have confiscated farm lands owned by Somali Christians and Muslims who attended Bible studies in the cities of Afgoye and Baidawa. Al-Shabaab is the name of the group behind the persecution, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
It’s not a one-time incident, either. The Islamists have confiscated eight farms since January 19. A Somali church leader confirmed to ICC that five of the farms were owned by Somali Christian converts from Islam and three were owned by Muslims who attended Bible study groups to learn about Christianity. Most of the landowners fled their homes and remain in hiding. There are also unconfirmed reports of additional Christian farm seizures in Dinsor and Burhakaba districts.
Al-Shabaab handed over the confiscated lands to businessmen who regularly donate to the group. The Islamic group has vowed to cleanse Somalia of any Christian influence. Since January 2009, Al-Shabaab has killed 23 Christians, most of whom were church leaders. Al-Shabaab has also desecrated three Christian cemeteries in Mogadishu and destroyed a Christian library in the Luuq district."
Charisma Magazine
"Canadian newspapers report that more than 100 Arab-Canadian Christians have been put on a list published by website close to Al Qaeda, apparently charged with encouraging conversions from Islam. The website Shumukh-al-Islam, often seen as an Al Qaeda propaganda tool, has created a list with photos, addresses and phone numbers of Coptic Christians, most with dual Egyptian and Canadian nationality, who spoke openly against Islam.
Three web pages, in classical Arabic, entitled "Complete information on Copts" are meant to "identify and call by name all the Copts in the world who hope to defame Islam" and refers to them as "dogs in diaspora”.
In the website forum a member, who goes by the name "Son of a sharp sword," writes: "We will return to Islam and all the mujahideen will cut off their heads." One of the people included on the list told reporters: "This is a direct threat to our lives. They are trying to inform one another in the hope that someone can carry out this threat. It could be here, or in Egypt. " Some of the people only found out they were on the list when the Canadian security services contacted them. The existence of such sites is often criticized even by the defenders of freedom of expression, but some security experts say that in reality they are a great resource for those fighting terrorism.
This episode, and what we report now, testify to the very concrete reality Benedict XVI’s warning contained in his speech to the Roman Curia on December 20 on the growing scale of Christianaphobia in the world, and are linked to Al Qaeda threats launched against Christians in Iraq as "legitimate targets". Here is the example of an episode that occurred in Somalia. On December 16 militants of Al-Shabaab, the militant Islamic group, destroyed a Christian library in the district of Luuq. After vandalizing the premises, the militants took all of the shop’s material, books, Bibles, audio and video material, to the town centre and set flames to it after midday prayer."
Spero Forum
"International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on December 16, members of Al-Shabaab, an Islamic militant group, destroyed a Christian library in the Luuq district of Somalia.
The militants destroyed the library and brought Bibles, Christian books, and audio/video materials to the city center and burned them after the Muslim noon prayer. The guardian of the library fled the area hours after the library was found by the Islamists. His whereabouts are unknown.
Al-Shabaab’s district commissioner in Luuq, Sheik Farhaan Abdi Elmoghe, described the discovery of the library as “a blow to the misguided Somali Christians.”
The library was located in a derelict farm on the Juba River. It is not uncommon for the persecuted Somali Christians to literally bury their Bibles and other Christian materials because of intense persecution from Islamists.
Speaking from Mogadishu to ICC, a leader of an underground church said, “The library served as an underground Somali Bible college, [and it’s] one of the biggest and the most comprehensive Somali Christian libraries in southern Somalia.” He further added that the destruction of the library would not stop the Somali Christians from studying the scriptures.
Al-Shabaab has openly declared that it wants to wipe out Christianity from Somalia. This year alone, the Islamists have killed at least half a dozen Somali Christians. Despite the attacks by Islamists, the number of Somali Muslims converting to Christianity has grown in the past 15 years.
ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa, Jonathan Racho, said, “Christians in Somalia are paying the ultimate price for their faith in Jesus Christ. It’s high time for the churches throughout the world to stand with the underground churches of Somalia. Unfortunately, the world has ignored the atrocities that Al-Shabaab has been committing against innocents in Somalia.”
You are free to disseminate this news story. We request that you reference ICC (International Christian Concern) and include our web address, www.persecution.org. ICC is a Washington-DC based human rights organization that exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide. ICC provides Awareness, Advocacy, and Assistance to the worldwide persecuted Church. For additional information or for an interview, contact ICC at 800-422-5441."
Midnight Reveler
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Just the fact that there were 19 pirates onboard a 58ft. sailboat sent up red flags the second I heard it, something just isn't right about the whole story
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