In the aftermath of the recent Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris, France has disclosed plans to establish a “dialogue forum,” which would engage “leading associations, intellectuals and other notable figures from the Muslim community into regular talks with the government.”
An interior ministry source said much of the focus will be on training Muslim preachers, including requiring them to get a diploma from a state-run curriculum if they plan to work in prisons as chaplains where radicalization often happens. It is estimated that more than 60 percent of prisoners in France are Muslim, making them prime targets for radicalization by extremists.
Prison chaplains “will only be recruited if they have obtained the new training diploma in the fundamental principles of the Republic,” Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said. What he is really saying is that those without the government diploma will not be hired.
While the nation’s strict secular laws make this a delicate task for the government in balancing France’s legal secularization and freedom of religion, the government wants imams to take the new civic responsibilities diploma in an effort to educate them how to work against radicalization. “Certain imams lack knowledge of the language and the law,” the ministry official said.
While engaging religious leaders to help the government enforce its laws is not new, these Muslim preachers are being singled out for special treatment. This could easily expand to other religious faiths, particularly if they are not ecumenical.
While the government also wants to keep an eye on education to make sure that religious schools follow the national curriculum, it is also providing funding for surveillance video in mosques in the name of protecting Muslims from anti-Muslim violence. “It is crucial the Republic protects all its children and especially mosques from anti-Muslim acts,” Cazeneuve said.
Imagine government surveillance cameras in your church in the name of keeping you safe. While many churches and other houses of worship already have their own closed-circuit video surveillance, what is to stop the government from regularly viewing the video, particularly if the government funds it? While this would be very intimidating to pastors and others charged with giving the true Bible message in these last days, it would also place a heavy burden on freedom of speech. In recent times, the lesbian mayor of the city of Houston, TX subpoenaed sermon notes from some church pastors to see if their sermons violated the law in preaching against an ordinance supporting gay rights.
Imagine church pastors or elders having to pass a government-mandated diploma on how to teach the Bible before they can preach in a church pulpit, minister inside prisons, hospitals, or other civic organizations. How would this affect their ability to give an unpopular, though Biblical message?
There is already a similar precedent. Passing government-mandated classes or government background checks is already a requirement in some countries for anyone who is to be involved with children, including those engaged in church ministry to children. Why not require something similar for pastors to minimize risk of radicalization of their members?
The focus on imams is ominous. While anyone in their right mind would decry the violence of radicalization, what will happen when your church pastor is pressured or required to take classes in anti-radicalization training so that he is aware that preaching against Babylon from the Bible is not acceptable and is a threat to national security. Under threat or intimidation of laws that make it illegal to give the full Bible message, how will pastors and laymen preach what the Bible says about apostate churches in the last days, such as the identity of Babylon or the daughters of Babylon? How difficult will it be for faithful pastors to give the full Bible message when government-mandated training teaches them that they must be ecumenical?
The window of time to present the full Bible message for these last days unrestricted is closing rapidly. “The work which the church has failed to do in a time of peace and prosperity she will have to do in a terrible crisis under most discouraging, forbidding circumstances. The warnings that worldly conformity has silenced or withheld must be given under the fiercest opposition from enemies of the faith.” Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, page 463
Now you can understand how this prophecy could be fulfilled.
Source Reference
- France unveils reforms to tackle Muslim radicalisation [1]
- Houston subpoenas pastors’ sermons in gay rights ordinance case [2]