New York, U.S.A. — AJC called on the Knesset to censure one of its members for desecrating the Christian Bible.

MK Michael Ben-Ari of the National Union Party, in his Knesset office, tore pages from the New Testament as he condemned the Christian holy book for fostering anti-Semitism.

“MK Ben-Ari’s extremist views and actions are outrageous,” said AJC Executive Director David Harris. “The photograph of MK Ben-Ari tearing up the Christian Bible, holy to many around the world, is a sacrilegious outrage, an abominable assault on an entire religion.”

Ben-Ari has a long record of open hostility towards Israel’s Arab citizens, and has been barred from visiting the U.S., his country of birth, due to his association with the extremist Kach movement, banned in Israel. The Kach party was banned in Israel after a law was passed that stated political parties who incited racism could not be elected to office. Today the party is considered a terrorist organization in Israel, Canada, the United States, and the European Union.

Harris, praising today’s remarks by Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, and by Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, urged other Israeli leaders to speak out and take appropriate action against Ben-Ari.

“I condemn all disrespect of holy writings, including the tearing of the New Testament by an MK last night. Imagine a foreign parliament member tore the bible, relating to it as a provocation,” Rivlin said at today’s Knesset session in Jerusalem. “Democracy means freedom of speech but not freedom to disrespect other religions. A foundation of the state is freedom of worship and belief.”

Speaking for the Israeli government, Regev said, “We totally deplore this behavior and condemn it outright. This action stands in complete contrast to our values and our traditions. Israel is a tolerant society, but we have zero tolerance for this despicable and hateful act.”

Image Courtesy of   ygurvitz

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Toledo, U.S.A. — Long-time street preacher and former convict Rev. “Slim” Lake is expanding into the holy ground of publishing. On July 1, 2012, the minister will release his first book, The Now Testament: Featuring the New Gospel, which he calls the “third testament of the Christian bible.”

Written during a six-year prison term at Allen County Correctional Institution, The Now Testament is a semi-autobiographical story that guides readers through translated Old and New Testament scriptures to an understanding of the Bible’s relevance today. The book blends powerful storytelling with raw evangelism.

“I was inspired by God to write The Now Testament as a way to reach young people and street people in my hometown and around the world,” says Rev. Slim. “It speaks to them using non-traditional words, not normally accepted in religious teaching. When in Rome, you must speak as the Romans speak.”

Convicted of illegal fundraising to match the needs of a poverty-stricken community’s people, Rev. Slim – who ran Toledo’s longest independently operated free Sunday meal program – was released in 2010. Since returning home, he has diligently worked to edit and self-publish The Now Testament, with the goal of having it recognized as the third testament of the holy Bible throughout the world; inviting “haters from all denominations to test the purity of God’s holy word.”

Though he has been one of Toledo’s most controversial figures, due to his criminal record and past drug addiction, Rev. Slim is also widely acknowledged as a champion for the young, struggling and people of weakened faith. Even the judge who sentenced him to his last prison term described Rev. Slim as “a pillar of his community,” in explaining the decision to let the preacher remain free until sentencing.

Rev. Slim reminds readers who question his background that even the more notable figures of the Old and New Testaments had tainted pasts: “If you read the Bible, you know that Moses committed murder, Noah got drunk, and Paul terrorized followers of Christ before he was inspired to write the majority of the New Testament. The Now Testament simply states that the young are chosen to lead God’s army in now time.”

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