Tag Archive for 'Germany'

Schmidt's "have their day in court"

Published on September 23, 2009 in Europe and IHRG's Work. 6 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Today began sunny and bright in Nördlingen, Germany.  This town is part of Germany’s Romantic Road and has the history to bear it up.  I would like to say it was by careful planning on my part, but it was only the providence of God that our hotel was literally thirty feet from the entrance to the court, the Amsgericht, where the Schmidt family was this day fighting for the right to keep custody of their youngest son, Aaron.

Aaron is fourteen and has two more years left of high school.  He is a normal well rounded young man who speaks English well, but seldom does because he is shy around the Americans.  He plays on a local football club and is quick to smile.  I was with Aaron right before the hearing.  He was calm and seemed convinced that everything would be fine.

I had asked permission to attend the court hearing as an interested person and a friend of the family.  The judge was happy to have me in the courtroom as long as I did not broadcast her name on the Internet.  The Jugendamt, however, was a different matter.  Gabriele Eckermann represented the parents in the hearing.  Johannes Hildebrandt represented the interests of Aaron.

The Jugendamt asked if I was associated with home schooling.  When Gabriele answered honestly that I was—I was one of the attorneys who filed the notorious Konrad case at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France back in 2003—the Jugendamt protested my being allowed in the courtroom for the hearing and so I was banned from enjoying the proceedings.  Had I been allowed in the courtroom my lack of working German would have kept me from enjoying the proceedings, so it was a trade off.

The first thing the judge did was asked to meet privately with Aaron and his attorney.  In itself this is a big victory.  In one case it took hours of arguments from the lawyers to have the attorney be permitted to be with the child.

After examining Aaron for herself the judge continued the hearing.  The Jugendamt asked to have Aaron psychologically tested, they naturally assume that there is something wrong with him because he is home schooled.  Johannes objected to the test stating that there was no evidence that there was anything wrong with Aaron and the court agreed.

The judge’s final decision today was that the local school should give Aaron a test to see if he is academically okay.  Pending the results of that test all the attorneys agree that the court will leave custody with the parents—instead of transferring custody to the State!

This is a big partial victory.  This is not the first time it has happened, but it is rare, that the court has not ruled that home schooling is against the law and therefore nothing further needed to be done other than putting the child in school.

This is one of the first times that a German court has intimated that they would not stop the home schooling as long as the child was being educated properly.

This is a huge victory in the making.  If we can get this court to continue and more courts to agree that home schooling is not, in itself, harmful, then we can begin to make a dent in the legal system that is currently punishing parents for exercising their legal right to control the education of their children.

After the hearing we went to a nearby restaurant to have tea and discuss the decision.  Gabriele and I had a discussion about the controls the State is trying to put on children in Germany and America.  There is no doubt that one of the goals of Germany, and the new American approach to government, is to control the thinking of the children in a way that is more aligned with the State rather than with the individual families.

That is why this fight is so important.

For His Kingdom,

Joel

The Beauty of Christianity

Published on September 19, 2009 in Christianity, Europe and IHRG's Work. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Christine Amanpour has a special that is airing on CNN.  It is about winning the hearts and minds of the next generation of Muslims.  In the special she asks a very interesting question that highlights the difference between Christianity and Islam.  She looks at the parent of a young Muslim being raised in Gaza and asks, “How do you teach them not to hate.”

I haven’t actually seen the program, only the advertisement which CNN International is running ad nausea.  Every time the question is asked I turn to the television and answer—I talk to the television, it relieves a lot of tension and is very fun—“It is easy, you don’t teach them not to hate, you simply don’t teach them to hate.”  This is the core difference between the violence that is being foster by Islam and the love of Christianity.

Mohammed conquered the world with an army and the sword.  Jesus has ruled His world with twelve uneducated souls and love.  When a couple of His uneducated souls wanted to call down fire from heaven Jesus refused permission—His mission was love not control.   When John reported to Jesus that others, who were not follow with the disciples, were casting out demons in Your name, Jesus’ response was simple.  It gives great insight into His thinking and the love with which He approached His mission, “He who is not against us is for us.”

Jesus’ mission was one of inclusion rather than exclusion.  He came to seek and save that which was lost.  He was not seeking to control the world, but show the world the love that God has for His greatest creation, man.

The mission of the Christian Church, Jesus’ body on this earth, is to love people without any strings attached.  Christian Churches start schools, hospitals, even programs to feed and cloth the poor for one reason—to show the lost how much God loves them.

I work with people around the world who show this love without strings.  In Cologne, Germany a Church has set up “stores” to provide the poor with good cheap clothing and furniture.  For one Euro a person can get a full hot meal with a drink.  If you don’t have a Euro, the meal is free.  The whole purpose of the outreach is to provide hope to the hopeless, to minister the love of God in a community that seldom sees love of any kind.

I work with another man in Greece who feeds the refugees coming in from Northern Africa.  They are mostly Muslims and no one, not even their own people are doing anything to reach them.  This man provides free food and fellowship to them.  What is his purpose?  He is personally showing the love of Jesus to a people who desperately need to see that love more than they need to hear about it.

This is exactly what Jesus did when He went about doing good, preaching the Gospel of the Good News to the poor.  Jesus went further than merely preaching the Good News of the Gospel to the poor, however, He also met their needs.  Their needs included healing the sick, the blind, the deaf, the lame, virtually anyone who a need that could be met by love was introduced to love through the preaching of the Gospel and the healing of the sick.

These were not acts of people coming to God, these were acts of God coming to people—meeting them where they were and then giving them hope.

So, to get back to the original thought of how do we teach the children not to hate, that is a question that is not asked in Christian circles.

Fortunately for us, the answer is not complicated.  Hate, just like love, is passed down from generation to generation.  It is not a question of teaching children not to hate—it is a question of not teaching children to hate.

It will take a change of heart.  Just like Martin Luther King, Jr.  and Gandhi, Islam must make a decision that changes comes through love and tolerance, not through continuing to pass hate and anger on from generation to generation.

That is not likely to happen you say, and you are likely right.  That is one of the reasons that Christians have the moral standing order to bring the Gospel of the Good News to the world through missions of love, hope, and compassion.

The world will not change by itself.  Hate will not disappear by itself, there are too many people making too much money nurturing the culture of hate. 

Hate will only disappear when love has come and the Good News of the Gospel is preached and lived throughout the world.

You are the best hope for destroying the legacy of hate.

Why You Should Care About Home Schooling

Published on September 18, 2009 in Europe and IHRG's Work. 2 Comments Tags: , , .

The short answer is that at its core, the right of parents to educate their children is a religious freedom issue.

Most people get lost in their personal feelings about home school when we discuss the issue of home schooling in Germany.  It is easy to do. It is likely that we all know a home school family and we either think they are doing a good job or that they are not doing what they should for their families.

It is important, however, that we find a way to put aside our personal feelings about home schooling when we look at the international movement.  I believe that one of the most important requirements of a Christian is to raise their children in the fear of the Lord.  We have a great moral responsibility with our children.  If they are lost there is little hope for the coming generations.

Many school systems in America and abroad are becoming more secular and more hostile to the Christian faith.  This hostility is played out in a number of ways.  It might be a resistance to any type of Christian faith being shared amongst students.  It might also be a curriculum based not just on a lack of faith, but on a hostility to faith.

Modern man is turning further and further from God.  The public education system is beholden to the government.  Governments around the world are moving further and further away from any foundation of Christian faith.  This means that their school systems will, by design and involuntarily, move further from any foundation of Christian faith.

We first saw this in America with the debate over the teaching of evolution in the public schools.  The original request by the evolutionists was to grant them equal access to the students on their theories.  They turned equal access into access only for evolution.  The system that now exists is one that denies any belief in God.

The fight that is accruing in courtrooms around the country is a battle to keep out the simple belief that maybe, just maybe, there is a creator of some type who moved the process of evolution along.  Even this is unacceptable to evolutionists.

Many schools are also teaching sex education from a purely secular point of view.  This means that any teaching regarding abstinence is not allowed, as this is considered an antiquated religious view of sexual education.

Then there is a lot of new age religious teaching.  It might be a teaching regarding spiritual matters without a Christian base—something as simple as controlling the environment in a room by the proper placement of the furniture.  Now, I believe the furniture should be arranged properly, but that does not add a spiritual power to the room.  It could be teaching regarding other occultist beliefs that might seem harmless to some.

In America we have the ability to opt our children out of these questionable teaching sessions.  In Europe most schools do not allow the parents to opt out their children from questionable teaching that contradicts the core beliefs of the family.  There is a belief that the children belong to the State when they come onto school property and the parents do not have any right to question the educational choices of the State.

There is something going on here that is much deeper than merely home schooling.  Most of the home school families I know in Europe and in America are home schooling because of a sincerely-held religious belief.  They believe God has ordained for them to teach their own children.

As to that end, the German Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights both give parents the right to control the education of their children.

So you see, the education of children is a parental right that is often guaranteed by governments.  This battle is not merely about home schooling, it goes much deeper than that.  The battle is over whether the State or the family has the right to determine what the children will be taught.  At its core the question is are children wards of the state, or wards of their parents.

It is a much deeper right than merely the right to educate. 

It is a right that goes to the very right of parents to train their children in the ways they should go and when they are old they will not depart from it.

Schmidt Family Update From The Road In Germany

Published on September 16, 2009 in Europe and IHRG's Work. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Let me begin by saying that recently a new German friend of mine expressed concern that my reports on German home school families made it sound like I thought Germany was evil. 

Nothing could be further from the truth.  I have loved the German people since I was in the third grade, my next door neighbors were from Germany.  The father was a professor of German at Berry College and I learned to like the sound of English spoken with a Bavarian accent and the sharp sounds of German spoken by a native.

Germany has given much to the world, including the Reformation.  They are a wonderful people and I have never experienced anything other than great hospitality from the people and the government.

With that said, let me update you on our trip.

David and I landed in Stuttgart, Germany on Monday—just hours before a Lufthansa flight with 73 people on board made an emergency landing on the same runway.  No one was killed; one was injured, when the plane landed amidst flames without its landing gear.

We immediately began a four train trip to Otting, Germany where the Schmidt family lives.  In addition to the legal help the IHRG is giving to the family we have been blessed to work with CBN developing a television report on the plight of the parents and their youngest child.  Right now the family faces about 9000 Euros in fines.  Next week they have a hearing in family court where the Jugendamt, Youth Welfare Office is seeking to have legal custody of the 14 year old son of Hans and Petra Schmidt taken from the parents and given to the Jugendamt.  This is a legal tactic that has been used in Germany before.  In fact, if you remember Melissa Busekros, this is the same thing that happened in her case.

In Melissa’s case this lead to Melissa being taken from her family by the police and placed in a psychiatric ward and eventual a youth home for girls for nearly three months.  The parents had very limited access to their daughter until she returned home on her on.

The Schimdts are facing the same predicament.  If the court grants the transfer of custody to the State it means that at any time afterward the police could arrive at the Schmidt home, during the day or even in the middle of the night to take their youngest child away.

What a terrible pressure for parents to be forced to live under by their own government.  There are no accusations of child abuse, no accusations of neglect.  The only problem with the Schmidts is that they are exercising their constitutionally guaranteed right to control the education of their own children. 

In Otting this right is guaranteed by the Bavarian State Constitution, the German Federal Constitution, and the European Convention on Human Rights.  Three times it is guaranteed, yet here we are on the last leg of a lengthy legal journey.

I was surprised to find Hans and Petra peacefully dealing with their situation.  They have set their face like flint to stand strong no matter what happens.  With great resolve they told CBN that they will not retreat from their fight to raise their child according to their faith, without interference from the State.

Both Hans and Petra looked into the camera’s eye, with great effort to control the emotion rising in them, and told us that they knew that God would stand with them—no matter what happens next week or thereafter.

I wish I had that type of courage.  I am here as a Christian attorney standing with them, but my family is not on the line.  I will return home to my “normal” life.  They will stay home and fight.

One of the nicest benefits of my job is that for two days I was invited into the Schmidt home.  I was told to act like I was home.  I was given coffee, tea, Coke Light (the German version of Diet Coke), pastries, and a meal of sauerkraut and homemade bratwurst straight off the grill served with cheese, bread, and potatoes grow in their backyard garden.

I left, after two days, encouraged that we have brothers and sisters in our faith who calmly face the persecution of a government willing to take their children away.

I am returning next week to be there at the hearing.  Hopefully, the court will allow me to enter the courtroom and observe the hearing.  Regardless, I will be there to encourage the family and their attorneys.  We are helping with the cost of their legal defense.

Check back later for an update on this case.  Thank you for all you do, praying and supporting our work financially.  We really do understand that without your prayers and support we could not be there for these families in their time of great need.  Because of your prayers you are here with us, in spirit supporting us.

Hearing Set In Germany For Schmidt Family

Published on August 28, 2009 in Europe and IHRG's Work. 2 Comments Tags: , , , .

Our team is headed to Germany in a couple of weeks.  We have a four or five goals for this trip, but the most important goals are to help the 700 Club’s reporter put together a piece on the Schmidt family.  This report is important because it will expose the persecution that many families are facing in Germany from overzealous school and government officials.  It will also put pressure on those local officials who have decided that they can run roughshod over the rights of this incredible Christian family whose only “fault” is that they have chosen to home school their own children in Germany.

 As a result of this decision the family has been fined over $10,000 by the government.  As if that were not enough, they have a hearing scheduled for 22 September 2009.  This hearing is to determine whether the Schmidts keep the legal custody of their one child remaining in school or have the court take that custody and give it to the Youth Welfare Office.

 This is a critical human rights battle and we must be there in order to keep the pressure up.  We have a great team of lawyers preparing to handle this case.  Johannes Hildebrandt is a skilled advocate for families like the Schmidts.  Also, Gabriele and Armin Eckermann have led the fight in the courts of Germany for years.  Together we will do everything in our power to see that the Schmidt family has a chance to educate their son according to their sincerely-held beliefs.

 I will be in the court room as an international human rights observer, making sure the court knows that the world is watching what happens in Germany.  Already we have seen states like California try to import a German style treatment of home school families.  Sweden is currently looking at a law that could be used to make home schooling all but illegal.

 Why is this so important?  It is not just about home schooling.  The real issue is the right of parents to control the upbringing of their children.  One of the fundamental rights of parents is the right to educate their children according to the dictates of their own religious beliefs.  If the state has the right to control education regarding the reading and math curriculum without question, they will soon exercise the right to control the religious education as well.  This is a real threat in an ever increasing secular society.

 Stand with us in prayer!  These trips cost about three hundred dollars a day for two people.  We travel as inexpensively as possible.  Your gift to the ministry will help us make sure we can be there for the Schmidts and others when they need the IHRG!

Socialism Equals Racism?

Published on August 19, 2009 in Talking Politics and The Bigger Picture. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

            I miss the good old days when socialists were white, mostly Europeans or even Russians.  Those days also included Orientals.  Man, those were the days.  Then we could be against socialism and not be accused of being racists.  Then we could talk about the evils of socialism without the argument deteriorating into accusations that we were just using cover language for racism.

             Maybe I slept through a couple of years of history, but when did everything become a racial issue?  And why is it that I can vote for Barack because he is black and not be considered a racist, but if I vote for someone running against him who is not black I am a racist?

             I miss the days when we were honest about our politics and not hiding behind the politically correct nonsense to stop those we disagree with.  Let me say it on the record, when I am against a policy of Barack Obama I could care less that he is a black man.  If he were white I would still disagree with policies with which I disagree.  I know it seems like a circular argument but that is what we are reduced to making.  I used to believe that Jimmy Carter was the worst President we ever had.  Take heart Jimma, your incompetence is being challenged.

             I know there are some who will consider me a racist because I do not blindly follow my leaders, and now my leader is a black man.  I guess because he is black I should change my approach to government and trust him.  After all, because he is black he cannot be a racist and therefore I should trust him to look out for me.

            Let me be perfectly clear, I am against socialism.  I do not care what color you are.  I do not care if you are Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Canadian, African, or German, I do not think socialism is a good idea.  If that qualifies me as a racist, then it seems we have redefined racism.

            Green is the new red.  Atheism is the new religion. Socialism is the new racism. 

            Somewhere, George Orwell is rolling over in his grave with one thought on his mind—when I wrote 1984 I was not aggressive enough.  I should have had more insight or more courage.  What a fool am I?

            Well, George, you might have foreseen it, but we have to live with it.  Pray for us!

Why The European Court Of Human Rights Refuses To Hear The German Home School Cases

Published on April 17, 2009 in Europe and IHRG's Work. 5 Comments Tags: , , , .

            Courts are hard to figure out.  That is true in America; it is even truer in Europe.  One of the problems with the European Court system—especially the international courts—is that they are very politically oriented.  There are a number of reasons for this sensitivity to the politics of the European Union and the Council of Europe.  These reasons lay the foundation for why the European Court of Human Rights (“ECHR”) refuses to hear a variety of cases; the most conspicuous of these cases is the German Home School cases.

 

            There have been literally dozens of home school cases brought to the attention of the ECHR.  The closest the court has come to looking at the cases is the Konrad case where the court issued a couple of pages praising the German courts and their thorough look at the case before the ECHR refused to hear the case.  Typically the court issues a couple of sentences declaring that they do not find an issue worthy of their time.

 

            Upon this pallet we look at the reasons for this consistent refusal to enter into an area of the law that is extremely straightforward.  Parents have the right to control the education of their children guaranteed by the German Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights.  Furthermore, both instruments guarantee the right to freedom of conscience and freedom of religion.

 

            I have talked with people throughout Europe and Germany seeking answers to the questions of why the Germans fear home schooling so much and why the courts will not provide a fair hearing on the issue.

 

            Here is what I have learned as to the ECHR. 

 

            In the fall of 2000 I was at a reception in Strasbourg, France, the home of the ECHR.  At this reception were members of the European Parliament and justices from the ECHR.  The Clerk of the Court was also present.  During the course of the evening I was able to speak with the lady who was the clerk, she shared with me the greatest fear the court had at the time.

 

            The court, she explained, was fighting to keep its budget in tact from the Council of Europe.  At the time there were budget cuts going throughout the governments of Europe.  Many were declaring that the ECHR had outlived its usefulness and could easily be cut out of the budget.

 

            This fear alone is enough to create tension on the court when decisions are being made involving countries with great political and financial influence in the European Union and the Council of Europe.  Those countries are Germany, France, and England.

 

            These three countries provide the majority of the money to the Union and the Council.  These countries thus wield the most influence.  This is highlighted by the nature of the creation of the court.  The ECHR was established in a post World War II world where the greatest fears were human rights violations.  At the same time, the Soviet Union was creating political tension in Europe and the West wanted to show that they were champions of human rights.  Thus, the court was created. 

 

With the power to dry up the budget of the court and the threat, however subtle, to use the power, the countries of greatest influence further politicize the nature of the court.

 

            European courts are much more politically sensitive than our courts.  This sensitivity comes into play when the court is determining which cases to hear and what decision to give once a case has been accepted.

 

            In the case of the German Home School cases the decision is to not even accept the cases.  This keeps the court from coming into direct conflict with the German government on an issue that is extremely critical to them—the issue of home schooling which is primarily Christian based.

 

            Their refusal to accept any of these cases further emboldens German authorities and they have, as a result, declared a war of sorts on home school families in Germany.

 

            I firmly believe that if these cases were coming from former Soviet Bloc countries the court would have already accepted a case and ruled in favor of the parents.  If the court continues to refuse to protect the rights of parents, they will embolden other countries and we will eventually have a case from one of the Soviet Bloc countries on which to test my theory.

2008, A Quick Look Back

Published on December 31, 2008 in Europe and IHRG's Work. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

This has been a very busy year for me.  I have managed to work on a variety of cases, with very little expenses. 

 

Your prayers and your support made this possible.  So, let me begin by saying thank you!  Your partnership has made all the difference in the lives of a number of people in America and Europe.

 

That’s right!  We have worked on a variety of cases in America.  At the same time, we have done what no one else has been doing in Europe; we stood up for religious freedom across the Continent!

 

It is important to give praise for the success we have had.  That is part of how we prepare for moving forward.  2009 looks to be every bit as busy as 2008.  We will look to 2009 soon, for now I want to take a few minutes and review our work this year.

 

One easy, cost free way you can also help us is by using GoodSearch for your Internet searches. Go to www.goodsearch.com and enter International Human Rights Group as your charity to begin supporting the ministry through GoodSearch.

 

Battles won in America

 

In the States we worked on a number of different cases and issues.  I want to talk about a couple of them that you probably heard nothing about because we handled them quietly to protect the reputation of our clients.

 

In Atlanta we worked for over two years to resolve free speech issues in the areas surrounding the Georgia Dome, Centennial Park, and the Philips Arena.  There are a number of groups that provide security and they played off of each other to hinder free speech on public sidewalks.

 

Earlier this year I met with attorneys for one of those groups and finalized the negotiations whereby everyone has now agreed that evangelists have the right to share their faith on the sidewalks surrounding all of these public arenas.

 

It was a hard fought victory and required a lot of time and energy, but we persevered and won the rights that are guaranteed under the Constitution of the United States.

 

Thank you for standing with these evangelists through the IHRG!

 

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The Gentleman Evangelist, Bill Adams, sharing his faith at an Atlanta Falcons football game!

 

We also worked with a large church in a southern city.  For the sake of the church and the community I am not at liberty to share the name of the church or the city and state.  This church has an outreach that is changing the way Christians look at the arts.

 

The church was looking to erect a large cross on property they own in a rural area.  The property is used for sports outreach and special church programs.  County officials refused the church the building permit required to erect the cross because they said it violated their local sign ordinances.

 

I was invited down to meet with county officials.  We spent over an hour discussing the fact that the Constitution and other laws protect the right of the church to erect religious worship symbols on their property for the purpose of religious expression.

 

Then, our local attorney took the county attorney by the property and let him see for himself the rural nature of the property.

 

After several weeks, the county relented and the cross has been erected.

 

Our International Work

 

I made six trips to Europe this year working on cases involving religious freedom.  While this may sound like nothing but fun it means that I was away from my family for over 70 days this year.  It means that I missed some of those moments that make up our private lives. 

 

Don’t get me wrong, this is what I am called to do and I do it gladly.  It does not, however, come without costs.

 

First case of 2008 filed in Strasbourg, France

 

My first trip to Europe in 2008 found me filing a case before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.  This court is the equivalent of the Supreme Court of the United States for issues involving human rights and religious freedom.

 

This case involves Petar Keseljevic who is an evangelist from Oslo, Norway who was arrested for sharing his faith on public sidewalks in Oslo.  You might remember that in August of last year we were in Oslo at Petar’s trail.

 

In near record time, Petar’s case went through the entire system in Norway.  A ruling from the ECHR will set a precedent for the entirety of Europe.  Please pray that the court will accept this case and give us a chance to present Petar’s case for freedom of expression.

 

From Strasbourg, we traveled to a meeting with the Robinson family in Nürnberg, Germany where Clint Robinson is the English language pastor of a Baptist Church.  We spent a considerable amount of time last year working on the Robinson family’s case.  We were able to resolve their case so they remained in Germany ministering through the end of 2008.  Now, the Robinson family is back in the States on furlough preparing to return to Europe and plant a new church.

 

Your prayers and partnership helped in both of these cases.  Please continue to pray for Petar and the Robinson family.  Pray that they will be able to continue their ministries in Norway and Germany/Austria.

 

We also met with Mosaic and Samhol ministries in Iceland.  We have partnered with these ministries to support their outreach in Iceland.  These two dynamic ministries are making a huge difference in Reykjavik.  Mosaic is a local evangelical church that began this Easter.  Already they have one hundred members, many of them street people who have come to the Lord through the ministry of the church and Samhol.

 

One hundred members doesn’t sound like a big church by American standards.  You have to realize that the largest evangelical, non-state church in Iceland has only four hundred members to see what a huge start this is.  This country is like the rest of Europe, hardened to the Gospel in many ways.  Yet, in Reykjavik Christian men have dedicated their lives and ministries to seeing revival in the Icelandic people.

 

Samhol is a ministry to the street people and addicts of Iceland.  They work to not only bring these hurting souls to the Christian faith; they are also working at the street level to free them from the chains of addiction.  Their program is simple.  They help them physically defeat the addiction and then they counsel them through the emotion and mental difficulties of returning to normal, productive lives.

 

Mosaic and Samhol are changing Iceland, one soul at a time.  We are proud to be partnered with such dynamic ministries.

 

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An inside look at the work of Samhol in Iceland

 

Please continue to pray for these two dynamic ministries to have greater influence in Iceland and beyond!

 

This is a different fight for the IHRG.  Religious freedom is currently strong in Iceland.  Here we will support the local work of these two ministries and others.  We will support their leadership with legal counsel as they grow and have a greater reach into the cities and villages of Iceland. 

 

Second and Third Case of 2008 Filed Before ECHR in Strasbourg

 

We filed our second and third applications of 2008 before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France on behalf of the Plett and the Pauls families.  (To understand why I consider religious freedom in Europe so important please see a recent article of mine that was published in The Voice Magazine.  You can see the article by clicking here.

 

The Plett and the Pauls familes are home schooling their children for religious reasons.  Their right to control the education of their children is protected by the German Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights.  Unfortunately, the German school authorities have refused to grant these rights to the parents and have persecuted the parents for home schooling their children.  And the German courts agreed with the school officials.

 

This persecution included removing the custody of the children on questions of where the children live from the parents and giving it to the Youth Welfare Office.  They levied fines against the parents of thousands of Euros, they showed up at the family home unannounced to take the children from the parents. 

 

One family eventually fled to Canada to try and stay together while they continue home schooling.  The other family fled in part to Austria to continue home schooling.  The European Court of Human Rights is these families’ last hope for justice and we are there to help fight for justice.

 

Please pray for these families and their cases!  Pray that the court will grant justice in instances where they have refused to enforce the law on behalf of parents and their children who are seeking to raise their children according to the dictates of their faith.

 

Criminal Trial in Oslo, Norway

 

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Norwegian attorney, Joel, and Petar Keseljevic after criminal trial in Oslo in July

 

In July I was in Oslo, Norway.  For the second time in a year police officers in Oslo arrested an evangelist for sharing his Christian faith in public.  This time, Petar Keseljevic was joined by Larry Keffer, an American evangelist.  These two men were in public areas of Oslo on May 17, 2008 sharing their faith when they were arrested.  The criminal hearing was in July and I was there representing Larry Keffer.

 

I read Larry’s fact statement into the record.  Then I cross examined a police officer.  Then I presented a closing argument based on the international law that protected the rights of Petar and Larry.

 

The prosecuting attorney told me after the trial that she believed this was the first time in Norway’s history that an American had participated in a criminal trial.  That seems a bit much to me, however, it was certainly an honor to be able to represent such an important case before the court in Oslo.

 

Both Petar and Larry were found guilty.  We appealed Larry’s case to the Norwegian Court of Appeals.  They denied the appeal and Larry’s appeal is currently pending before the Norwegian Supreme Court.

 

Please continue to pray for Larry.  We are prepared to file the final appeal in Strasbourg, if the Norwegian Supreme Court does not rule in Larry’s favor.  This is a critical case on free speech issues that could affect all of Europe and ultimately America.

 

We were also able to work with German lawyers to protect the rights of parents to choose the education of their children.  We spent time in the Czech Republic where we made key contacts that will be very important in the coming year.

 

There is more we have done, but time and space concerns need to keep this shorter. 

 

Please continue to pray for our work!  Please continue to pray for those we represent and their families!  They are the true heroes of our faith!

 

Thanks for standing with us!

Victory for German Home School Family

Published on December 10, 2008 in Christianity, Europe and IHRG's Work. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , .

Zittau, Germany—The IHRG is pleased to announce that the Brause family, a German home school family, that has lived under the cloud of criminal charges for the past couple of years has been redeemed.  German officials accused the parents of criminal child neglect for the home schooling their children.

 

On December 2nd we received word from our German counsel in this case, Johannes Hildebrandt, that the court and the prosecutor are dropping the charges against Mr. and Mrs. Brause.  This means they no longer face up to 2 years in prison and the potential loss of their children.  The decision of German officials is a huge victory for this family and for home school families in Germany.

 

Joel Thornton, President and General Counsel for the IHRG, said “we are pleased that the court and the prosecuting counsel asked whether the process can be ended.  This comes after the court received a detailed psychiatric report that there is no psychological harm to the children from home schooling.  The report stated that the children have not been harmed which is evidenced by their exit exams from high school.

 

“Now the Brause family may choose whether they want to have a sentence of acquittal in a public meeting in court or a document issued that declares the process closed and the charges dropped.

 

“This is a huge victory for home school families in Germany.  It means that government officials must be more careful when bringing criminal charges against home school families.”

 

Case History:

 

Since 2001, Bert Brause and his wife have taught their 8 children at home. Bert has studied Math and will soon be a certified teacher. The Brause’s live on a farm near the

 

 Polish and Czech Republic borders. Bert wrote a letter to the governor of Saxony asking for permission to home school his children. The state authorities in Saxony tried to force the parents to register their children in the public school. (There are no alternative schools close-by).

 

The Brause’s received threats and fines. Eventually, the social youth workers and, later, the court-ordered child defendant testified that the children were taught well and that they had a positive impression of them. Regardless of these findings, the Family Court ruled against the parents in Spring 2007. The custody for the school-aged children was partially taken from the parents and given over to the state. Under this ruling the parents had no say concerning school matters and where the children live. The children could be taken by the state authorities anytime. Just before the end of school in 2008 the parents received an ultimatum. The government had registered the children in school. If the children were not sent to school within 3 weeks, the authorities would take action. Regardless of this ruling the children remained in the home under the threat of removal at any time.

 

Then the state prosecutor ordered a hearing of the parents whom they charge with a criminal offense based on a law that requires intentional harming of a child, punishable with up to 2 years in prison.

 

The court set a trial date for 24 July 2008.  This was a criminal trial on the charge of intentional child neglect.  This trial was postponed after the IHRG announced its intention to bring in experts from America and England to testify as to the positive results of home schooling there.  The trial strategy also called for international human rights monitors to attend the hearing. 

 

Criminal charge: Intentional child neglect – Mr. and Mrs Brause were charged with willingly, knowingly preventing their children from going to school. Preventing the child from receiving a school education is considered harmful to the well being of the children.

 

The two oldest homeschooled children, aged 18 and 16, completed their public school exams successfully. Being homeschooled, they took advantage of the school law which permits “school exams for external students”. The Brauses want a regular school diploma for all their children so they can attend university after high school. They clearly informed the school authorities about their vision for their children.

 

Mr. and Mrs. Brause are Christians and homeschool their children for reasons of parental responsibility before God and the law. They chose to home educate their children for their best interest.

 

The IHRG will continue to work with the Brauses and other German home school families to make sure they can return to a normal life, home schooling their children as they have from the beginning of their children’s schooling.

 

Why Europe Matters To America

Published on November 14, 2008 in Christianity, Europe and The Bigger Picture. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

We live in an increasingly smaller world. Information travels at the speed of the Internet. One of the questions I am asked as I speak to people in churches around the country is why does Europe matter to us at all?  People are genuinely concerned that any attention we give to Europe keeps us from solving the problems of America.  I believe that many people in the church are guilty of seeing the pie as already made with no possibilities of a new pie or increasing the size of the pie.  We have to understand that in the spiritual world we have barely scratched the surface of our potential.  This means that we must be concerned with more than one country at a time.

 

Europe and America are tied together in a number of ways.  I want to look at our ties.

 

Patriotism is a great emotion.  It is important for us to feel good about our country.  It is important for us to bloom in the land where God has planted us.  At the same time, it is important for us to align ourselves with proper Christian principles for living.

 

There is no doubt that America plays a great role in world events.  It is even more true that America plays a great role in spiritual events.  This is why we must be vigilant in our pursuit of spiritual matters in America and around the world.

 

There are a variety of important reasons why what happens in the rest of the world, most particularly in Europe, matters to the church in America. Perhaps the primary reason that must be central to our thinking is that as Christians we have a charge to reach the world.

 

Jesus commanded us to reach the world by beginning at home.  He was not telling us to only work at home when he said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.”  (Matthew 28:19.)  Jesus made sure we understood the details of His commandment in Acts 1:19.  “You shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

 

While it is great to love our country and commit ourselves to the spiritual awakening of our country, we must look further than our own doorsteps.  We must work in the remotest part of the earth as well.

 

The late Keith Green summed it up well, “Jesus commands us to go; it should be the exception if we stay.”

 

As a group of lawyers and legally-minded lay people, we stand on the front lines against the tide of secularism that is growing stronger around the world. We fight to maintain the open doors for the proclamation of the Gospel. This fight often involves battling with government officials to keep public places open for the expression of religious belief. We can no longer afford to look at our world as only America. We live in a larger place and this larger place must include the entire world and the legal work that must be done there to protect religious liberty.

 

A simple example of why it matters is found in an exchange I had with a lawyer and local Parliamentarian in Holland in 2001.  We had just fought off the push of the same-sex marriage agenda in Hawaii and Alaska.  In both of those states the voters voted against legalizing same-sex marriage by near equal percentages in the general election—this is the most liberal and most conservative state.  As a result the battle was withdrawn from America and taken to Europe.

 

In May of 2001 I was working in Holland.  One day we were talking about the fact that Holland was going to legalizing same-sex marriage.  When we walked away from the conversation my wife turned to me and said, “Thank God we will not have to fight that fight in America.  There is no way same-sex marriage will ever be legal in America—our Christian foundation is too strong.”  We were not naïve; in fact, we had been very involved in the fight in America.

 

The most amazing fact of all is that less than two years later the fight for same-sex marriage returned to America and the results have been harmful to our culture.

 

America is a world leader in a number of fields. We must lead in the field of religious freedom. To do that, we must help train and develop a network of Christian attorneys, around the world, who are capable of standing up for repressed minorities in their own countries. If we do not do this, one day we will find that our own freedoms are shrinking further in the tide of lost religious freedom elsewhere.

 

            This principle has become truer since the Supreme Court of the United States has recently turned to the European Court of Human Rights to find the legal answers to questions of moral importance to us all.  If Christians do not fight for the same religious freedoms in Europe we will find the courts here using legal precedents that are not influenced by Christian morals to reshape our Christian foundations.

 

We live in a circular world, spiritually and legally.  What happens in America will eventually happen in other key areas of the world.  Just as true is that what happens in key areas around the globe will eventually happen in America.  We cannot simply turn our back on what happens in the courtrooms and parliamentary halls of other countries and hope that we will not be affected by the outcome of their debates over the moral and legal issues of our day.  We must be proactive around the globe, just as we are proactive in America.

 

In both the United States and in the rest of the world, the clear end goal of many political forces is a purely secular society that is based on the acceptance of all lifestyle choices, except Christianity, and the concept that science should be the determiner of the national moral structure rather than religion. These views include the belief that the government is in a better position to determine what our children learn than are parents.  Therefore we cannot wait until the change comes and hope to battle the forces of change.  We must begin to stem the tide now.

 

            Europe cannot be ignored.  We have a great relationship with the countries of the European Union and many within the Council of Europe.  To begin with, we come from similar political philosophies.  American concepts of freedom and individual responsibility were born from the Age of Enlightenment which was sweeping through Europe at the time of our founding.  Additionally, we have treaties with the countries of Europe for security purposes—NATO is the key to these treaties which bind us to the common defense of the western world.

 

            More importantly, Europe is one of our greatest trade partners.  The past few weeks have shown us that we live in an economic system that is truly global.  While we remain one of the most vibrant economies in the world, our economy is still tied to the rest of the world.  Life as we know it is determined by Europe and, to a lesser extent, the rest of the world.

 

            We owe a great debt to Europe.  Europe is the birthplace of the Evangelical Church.  It was in the 1500s that the Protestant Reformation began in Germany.  From the Reformation most of our religious traditions were birthed.

 

            Now Europe stands in need of America for spiritual awakening.  We need to see new churches planted in Europe.  We need churches that bring real change to the lives of their people; change to the countries where they minister. 

 

            Additionally, we need to bring legal change to Europe; legal change that respects the religious freedom that is guaranteed by the laws of every country in Europe.

 

            We cannot afford to be passive in our approach; that is why we are standing for religious freedom in the courts of Europe.