The West should add a department of religious autheticity to their governments.

It is interesting the violence in the Middle East was realized before it began after the removal of Former President Morsi. The question is why and the Vatican seems to understand it. 

It is known that Jesus Christ is considered a prophet in the Muslim faith. Perhaps with a rise in power by organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood there developed a greater benevolent view of Christians. Christians as literally brothers to the Muslim faith.

When Morsi was removed from power, the Christians would be easy scapegoats. The CIA should approach the Vatican about their observation regarding the victimization of Christians in the Middle East after Morsi. 

I'd say it was a Russian influence, but, in the past decade fundamental Christianity has taken over Russia as nearly a state sponsored religion. There is also a Chinese influence in many parts of the world. The Chinese have rather stringent court findings regarding practicing bishops and prominent individuals.

This court proceeding is posted on a United Kingdom page:

6 June 2013

Risk to Christians in China (click here) 

(1) In general, the risk of persecution for Christians expressing and living their faith in China is very low, indeed statistically virtually negligible. The Chinese constitution specifically protects religious freedom and the Religious Affairs Regulations 2005 (RRA) set out the conditions under which Christian churches and leaders may operate within China....

...(3)(iii) Exceptionally, certain dissident bishops or prominent individuals who challenge, orvare perceived to challenge, public order and the operation of the RRA may be at risk of persecution, serious harm, or ill - treatment engaging international protection, on a fact - specific basis.

This is a table from these judicial findings indicating an increase of problems with Christians.

(18) Thus, as Dr Hancock finally concludes, China is an intensely complex place, as is the monitoring or predicting of official attitudes towards religion. Simplification is a natural temptation and exaggeration too easy. A Christian who openly and provocatively engages in public acts of worship, evangelism, publishing, protest or litigation will generally attract the attention of the officials and may suffer censure, threat, violence or detention. However, Dr Hancock concludes:

‘...the Chinese’s government permissive acceptance of ‘unregistered’ churches continues. Christians themselves have power to limit or increase risk in line with their perception of obedient faith and government power. Not all Chinese Christians agree to interpret official dictates as requiring conformity or repudiation. Some Chinese Christians continue to interpret faithfulness to God as acceptance of the limitations imposed by the divinely sanctioned state authority; others question the legitimacy of an atheistic state to control, interpret or restrict the actions of churches or individual Christians. Evaluating the relative truth of these claims and resolving anomalies in accounts of Christianity in China, is a subtle and perplexing task.

With new relationships between the USA and countries seeking treaties there needs to be a clear understanding of human rights abuses as part of any agreement. It has to be standard practice for the US State Department to submit a history of human rights in any country the USA has relations. It would be helpful if that 'standard of practice of human rights' comes from the country itself and not an assessment by Americans.

Religion is a cultural issue and included in human rights. I might add if there are USA groups that cause concern or tend to come into scrutiny by other countries it should be submitted to the US State Department as well. The US State Department has a website where concerns about tourism and foreign employment are updated regularly and these concerns by countries can be included in that information.

The change in the status of extremist fundamentalism in Indonesia is surprising. I would expect some people in Indonesia will be asking for asylum to other countries. Discussions of any extremism should be part of the diplomatic dialogue with Indonesia, but, any country for that matter. This charismatic association of a caliphate is an ongoing problem regardless of the resolve by military victories in the Middle East.

Companies seeking to produce goods and services in this region of the world should have sound information to make decisions to their involvement. That would be especially true of any companies strongly affiliated with a certain faith.

Good night.

Christians came under attack AFTER Mohamed Morsi was removed from power.

This is more than interesting. The Vatican published a warning about "Christians at Risk," stating with the removal of Morsi in Egypt the Christians were being killed and harassed.
 
June 16, 2014
By Giacomo Galeazzi Vatican City

...In Egypt as well, (click here) Christians have come under attack, particularly after the dismissal of former President Mohamed Morsi, who came to power in 2012 after the electoral victory of the Muslim Brotherhood. After the intervention of the armed forces who arrested Morsi, the attacks against Christians, as confirmed by the expert committee appointed by the National Council for Human Rights to take stock of the situation of the Copts in the country. The members of the religious minority suffer many forms of violence, especially in the governorates of Luxor, Sohag and Aswan. The document speaks of kidnappings, fires set to the houses of the Copts, vandalism against their shops, obstacles to the practice of their religious rites. But the situation for Christians is especially dramatic in Iran and Iraq, where today the Chaldeans represent only 1% of the population. Here Christians came under attack in Baghdad on Christmas Day (37 deaths).
 
The case of Meriam Yahia Ibrahim has shaken the conscience, but the dramatic story of a 27 year old Sudanese Christian sentenced to death for apostasy is just the tip of the iceberg and turns the spotlight on the conditions under which Christians live in dozens of African and Asian countries. According to a recent report by the American NGO “Open Doors”, in the last year persecutions against Christians have increased globally, particularly in Africa. In the north-east of Nigeria (the "most dangerous country for Christians") the massacres by extremist group Boko Haram multiply.

Paper presented at the Association of Asian Studies (AAS) Forum conducted at the Hilton Hotel, New York, March 27-30, 2003

Religious and Islamic Fundamentalism  (click here for downloadable pdf)

Islam is obviously an open-minded and inclusive faith, and is not an intolerant political ideology nor is a religion which forces people to embrace.  The Qur’an is very clear that “there is no force in religion” (QS al-Baqarah/2:256).   

However, the fundamentalists have exposed a face of the religion which is terrorizing global human security.  Islamic fundamentalism has displayed a terrifying face of Islam because of its characters, mainly in exerting an aggressive agenda for the politicization of the religion to achieve certain objectives.  Religious symbols have been used to pursue political agenda.  It is, therefore, important to distinguish Islam as a belief and cultural system and Islam as a tool to build political legitimacy by political authorities, oppositions and other fundamentalist movements....

The strain of Islamic faith considered to be valid by extremists is actually a lie. The majority of Muslims, with Indonesia being the largest population of Muslims in the world, do not practice this fundamentalist extremism. 

In the case of a book in Indonesia introduced to turn children into extremists is worrisome. It could literally undermine benevolent societies into war machines through elections. 

It appears there is a charismatic movement within the Muslim faith characterized by extremism practiced in violence. This type of charismatic movement could survive past the end of regimes such as Daesh. 

March 24, 2015
By Janelle P
 
Teachings of fundamental Islam (click here) similar to Islamic State ideology have crept into Indonesian public schools. A textbook on the subject of the Islamic religion being used in a senior high school in an East Java province carries a statement that “people who worship other than Allah (non-Muslims) should be killed.”

This finding raised a critical concern among local media, which reported that this might be a sign of deeper infiltration of the Islamic State into the Indonesian education system. Some suspect that identical books have been distributed to other provinces.
While fundamentalist teachings are common in Islamic boarding schools, it is the first time they have reached government-run schools, where a majority of Indonesians attend.

“These books can further propel the spread of extremism in the country,” said Sidney Jones, an international expert on terrorism.

East Java is one of the most hostile places for Indonesian Christians to live. It has witnessed assaults of believers, such as the multiple stabbings of an evangelist while he was asleep. The presence of literature hostile to Christians could further justify violence in the name of religion. Pray that the government would take firm action by banning the books....

It seems Easter has brought the reality of recent deaths of Christians center stage.

April 5, 2015
By Ruth Giedhill

The Archbishop of Canterbury (click here) and the Pope will today issue a powerful call today on behalf of all Christians persecuted by Islamic militants worldwide.

Pope Francis warns in his Easter homily of the difficulty of maintaining the Christians presence in lands where most Christians used to live.

Archbishop Justin Welby says issues such as sexuality which have torn churches apart internally, along with politics and gender, are "irrelevant".

He uses his Easter sermon today to remember the hundreds of thousands of Christians being martyred in Africa and the Middle East....

Hundreds of thousands? 

...Life for Christians in most of the 50 countries on the Open Doors world watch list is getting more difficult, the charity says...

"Open Doors" (click here)

...In Syria along, four in ten Christians have fled the country. Nigeria, Iraq and Sudan are among the countries where thousands are suffering still, while in North Korea, which heads the persecution list, tens of thousands have been banished, arrested, tortured and killed and where the kidnapping and arrest of South Korean missionary Kim Jeong-Wook saw dozens more, presumed to be Christians, also rounded up, tortured and murdered.

In Pakistan Christians are socially excluded, living in fear of trumped-up blasphemy charges. Open doors says persecution is increasing most rapidly in Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa where even Christian-majority states are experiencing unprecedented levels of exclusion, discrimination and violence. Kenya, the scene of the terrible mass university shootings, was the highest riser on the latest watch list, up to 19th from 43. Open Doors says Islamic extremism is "the most significant engine of persecution".

April 5, 2015
By Ines San Martin

ROME — As Christians commemorate (click here) the suffering and death of Jesus on Good Friday, attacks on believers in various parts of the world are causing many pastors and other leaders to cast modern martyrdom as an extension of Christ’s agony which, they say, will also end in the resurrection.

During the Easter period, Christian churches in India have stepped up security fearing attacks from radical Hindus, a university in Kenya is recovering from a rampage by Muslim extremists that targeted Christians and left an estimated 147 people dead, and fear hangs over Church services in Iraq and Syria where Christian holy days tend to be favorite windows for ISIS assaults.

Facing those realities, Pope Francis said on Wednesday that the Christian martyrs of today, by shedding their blood, join Christ in serving the Church as witnesses to the faith.

“Even today, there are many men and women, true martyrs, who offer their lives with Jesus to confess the faith,” the pope said. “It is a service: Christian witness to the point of shedding blood.”...

...In India, after a series of attacks on churches in the capital, New Delhi, the local police enlisted more than 10,000 officers to guard the services during Holy Week....

Security gaurds were tied...(click here)
The men escaped with some cash, a mobile phone, a laptop computer and a camera, all belonging to the school, the officer said. They also ransacked the school's chapel and holy items, the Press Trust of India news agency cited the archbishop of Kolkata, Thomas D'Souza, as saying....

...The Indian Express reported on Wednesday that churches are being barricaded along a half-mile radius, fearing terrorist attacks from extremist Hindus.
Last month, a nun in her 70s was gang-raped by a group of men in India. The men who attacked the Convent of Jesus and Mary School also ransacked the chapel and destroyed holy items, police said.

Last Friday in Egypt, while locals were celebrating a Mass to mark 40 days since the death of the 21 Coptic Christians beheaded by ISIS in Libya, a church that was being built in their memory was attacked with petrol bombs by Muslims protesting its proposed location.

On the same day, a mob identified by witnesses as composed of members of the Muslim Brotherhood attacked the home of a family of one of the martyrs.
British Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s foreign minister, presided over a prayer vigil in Rome this Tuesday, organized by the Community of Sant’Egidio, a movement that specializes in inter-faith dialogue.

During his sermon, Gallagher strongly condemned terrorism, saying that a martyr is someone who gives his or her life for the love of God, not who sheds it. A martyr is the victim, he said, not the victimizer....

Back in the USA for a pause.

April 5, 2015
By Kim Trent

...Perhaps (click here) that is why I'm so inspired by the life of white civil rights martyr Viola Liuzzo. A Detroiter, Liuzzo spent part of her childhood in the Jim Crow South, but from a young age, she rejected the region's ideas about white supremacy. She became a dues-paying member of the NAACP in the 1940s, a time when such an act was considered to be wildly radical even for Southern blacks, and much more so for a white woman. She donated money to black college charities. Her best friend was a black woman, Sarah Evans, and Liuzzo's five children were raised with Evans' family and taught that people of all races are created equal....

April 5, 2015
By Cassandra  Spartling
 
But it got worse for her family. The FBI assassinated her character, spreading rumors she was unfaithful and an unfit mother. Crosses were burned at her family's home and her five children, ages 6 to 18, were taunted. Husband Anthony Liuzzo Sr. hired armed guards to protect their home.
During the radio report, a daughter talked about how sad the family was that Detroit's only tribute was a deteriorating city park a few miles from their old house.
Mezza, who lives in St. Clair Shores, wanted to do something. She called her longtime friend and running buddy Julie Hamilton of Royal Oak, and the two women set out to restore the park, and Viola Liuzzo's name....

Viola Liuzzo Park Association (click here)

Iran should consider sending three Americans home. It has nothing to do with a framework for Iran's nuclear program.

Naghmeh Abedini, Saeed Abedini (click here) and the children.

January 21, 2015

Update (Mar. 20): Despite asking the President of the United States in person (click here) to "please bring daddy home for my birthday," Jacob Abedini turned seven years old on Tuesday (Mar. 17) without his father, Saeed Abedini. But President Obama marked the Iranian New Year today by demanding that Iran's government "immediately release" the imprisoned pastor and two other Americans.

"Saeed Abedini of Boise, Idaho has spent two and a half years detained in Iran on charges related to his religious beliefs," said Obama. "He must be returned to his wife and two young children, who needlessly continue to grow up without their father."...

...More than 100,000 people had signed a petition, sponsored by the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), asking the President to let Naghmeh make a “personal appeal for her husband” during his visit today to Boise, Idaho. Obama met privately with her and her two children for about 10 minutes.

“I am extremely thankful the President took the time to meet with our family and told us that securing the release of my husband is a top priority,” said Naghmeh Abedini, according to an ACLJ statement. “The President was focused and gracious—showing concern to me and my children. I know that this meeting could not have occurred without prayer, and I am grateful to the many people around the country and world who continue to pray for Saeed’s release....

Two months later another asking for the return of Americans.

March 20, 2015

 

The spirit of family (click here) is deeply woven into all of the rich cultural traditions of the Nowruz holiday.  It is a time for reuniting and rejoicing with loved ones and sharing hopes for the new year.  Today, as families across the world gather to mark this holiday, we remember those American families who are enduring painful separations from their loved ones who are imprisoned or went missing in Iran.

Saeed Abedini of Boise, Idaho has spent two and a half years detained in Iran on charges related to his religious beliefs.  He must be returned to his wife and two young children, who needlessly continue to grow up without their father.

Amir Hekmati (click here) is a different class of prisoner. He actually was a USA military soldier. After leaving the military he went to work as a consult for private contractors regarding cultural standards in other countries. The program he was working for was Human Terrain System (HTS). It was simply an independent system for awhile, but, as of 2011 it has been considered part of USA intelligence. It puts Amir Hekmati in more peril than an ordinary visitor to Iran. I am sure he wasn't acting for the USA government in intelligence gathering, but, to another government he appears to be a threat by credentials only.

Amir Hekmati of Flint, Michigan has been imprisoned in Iran on false espionage charges for over three and a half years.  His family, including his father who is gravely ill, has borne the pain of Amir's absence for far too long.

Jason Rezaian of Marin County, California, an Iranian government credentialed reporter for the Washington Post, has been unjustly held in Iran for nearly eight months on vague charges.  It is especially painful that on a holiday centered on ridding one’s self of the difficulties of the past year, Jason’s mother and family will continue to carry the heavy burden of concern regarding Jason’s health and well-being into the new year....

Journalists are frequently considered an enemy of the state because they collect information for publication. The government in many instances likes to control the information available to their citizens. Unfortunately, when a Western journalist practices his craft it appears as though it is an anti-government activity. What makes Jason's disappearance worrisome is that he is a credentialed Washington Post journalist. Major media organizations don't put their journalists in a country for the sake of espionage.

FOR Jason Rezaian, the Iran correspondent of the Washington Post and his wife Yeganeh Salehi, herself a journalist, the knock on the door came on July 22nd. Security men took them away and, almost two weeks later, they and a photographer for the American newspaper are still in custody. Nobody knows what they are accused of and family members have received no information about their whereabouts. On August 4th the case became murkier when it was reported that the caretaker of Mr Rezaian's building died after being tasered by Revolutionary Guards when he asked to see an arrest warrant....

April 5, 2015
By Kathryn Jean Lopez

Pope Francis has said that there are at least as many martyrs today as during the times of the early church. This isn’t an academic debate. And even as we’ve been touched by the testimonies of relatives of Christian martyrs in the Middle East and Africa, it still may seem a world away. A visit to that area from an American presidential candidate could lead the way in bringing the tragic and inspiring stories home....

...”Religious freedom (click here) is a sacred space that must be protected in the name of civilization,” Nebraska Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, co-chair of the Caucus for Religious Minorities in the Middle East, tells me....

...He adds a visit to the area by an American presidential candidate would be a “bonanza for the humanitarian agencies like Catholic Relief Services and World Vision.” For anyone seeking to be president, it would not only demonstrate some mature leadership, it would also be the decent thing to do.

Everyone benefits from protecting human dignity.

Speaking during a “religious freedom summit” put on by New York Archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan just before Easter, an imam suggested that Muslims take a lead from Catholics and others who have worked to integrate their faith into a pluralistic society.

Truth be told, Christians in the West have miles to go yet in terms of emulating Christ, but in walking that humble walk, by seeing God in others, they do make a difference....

I don't know how realistic it is for all US Presidential candidates to make a trip to the Middle East to promote the well being of Christians. Not because they don't care about the faith, but, because there is a a fairly good chance they may meet up with violence.

I don't believe anyone should be setting a standard involving unknown danger for potential leaders of the free world. I think that comes later after they are elected. 

The fact of the matter is, Christians across the world are running into problems with prison or worse, even in countries such as China.

Kenya is a disaster. This attack was expected.

There is something very wrong with the attacks on Garissa University College campus. The university was primarily Christian in a strongly Muslim region. Even students claiming to be Muslim to save their own lives had been given a chance to prove it by reciting a Muslim prayer. There is no doubt this is an attack that can be called ethnic cleansing. Some of the students worried about an attack and resolved they would be okay due to a nearby security headquarters. The few survivors stated they did not understand why it took hours for the security unit to arrive.

There are many questions without answer currently. I am sure there will human rights groups looking into this massacre. There is no surprise there is a new President in Kenya. How many bad decisions are made internationally that imperil Christians?  That is what occurred here. Ethnic cleansing. Why was this location chosen when Christian students dominated the population and feared an attack exactly like this would occur?

April 5, 2015
By Robin Dixon

Kenyan Christians hold candles as they offer prayers Sunday at a Catholic church in Garissa for the 148 people killed in an attack on Garissa University College by the Islamist militant group Shabab. (Dai Kurokawa / European Pressphoto Agency)

...In a town (click here) long known for violent extremist attacks, the campus of mainly Christian students was an obvious target in a predominantly Muslim area within striking distance of Somalia, 90 miles away. Students said they felt unsafe and exposed, knowing the university was vulnerable to attack.

“We were fearing that if these people [Shabab] came, they could kill many, many Christians,” said Muli, who had been shot in the thigh but survived in his hiding place. He said the government “failed to protect us. We are angry, because we lost some of our best friends. We think, ‘How come security wasn’t there when we were are the university?’ They took no care.”

Garissa University College was inaugurated in 2011, the first university in northeastern Kenya, but its first full-year intake was in 2013. Students said almost no one wanted to be there because of Garissa’s security problem, but they were declined spots on the mother campus, Moi University in Eldoret. Most wanted to transfer, but found it impossible....

Is religion and faith the next sexual harassment?

Is praying for a peer an aggressive thing to do? This case is interesting because the employment 

April 5, 2015
By Elaine O-flynn 

A devout Christian (click here) has launched an appeal against an employment tribunal which found she had ‘bullied’ a Muslim colleague by praying for her and inviting her to church.

Victoria Wasteney, 38, says she was branded a ‘religious nutcase’ when she was suspended from her job as a senior occupational therapist, after her colleague Enya Nawaz, then aged 25, accused her of trying to convert her to Christianity.

Her lawyers have now submitted a challenge to an employment tribunal, arguing that they broke the law by restricting her freedom of conscience and religion - enshrined in article nine of the European Convention of Human Rights.

Miss Wasteney, a born-again Christian, was working at the St John Howard Centre in Homerton, east London, when she became friendly with a junior colleague Miss Nawaz.

The two women had discussed Islam and Christianity, as well as the work done by her church at the Christian Revival Church in the O2 Arena in Greenwich against human trafficking....

This particular employer in London is not affiliated with a religious order of any king. It is a mental health facility where dangerous criminals are maintained.

Switchboard - John Howard Center (click here).

It's Sunday Night

"Holy" by Pvris (click here)

Yeah, you've got it all,
But you've got it all wrong.
No, you don't know
You're a poor unfortunate soul.
Oh I know,
You make it seem that you feel whole,
So they don't know
You're a poor unfortunate soul.

Yeah you put on a faith facade,
Think you're holy when you're not.
I hate to break it to you baby,
But you're simply lost.
You can right all the wrongs just to feel you belong,
But simply calling out sins don't bring you closer to God.
You're just a ghost at most,
A set of empty bones,
Searching for anything and everything to make you feel whole,
When it gets cold, oh oh oh.

You don't know.
No you don't know.
Oh you're all alone,
You poor unfortunate soul.
You can't control where your body lets you go.
Oh you're all alone,
You poor unfortunate soul.

And you say that I've got it all wrong.
'Cause you just know I'm a poor unfortunate soul.

But there's no way that there's weight in the words that you preach,
When you're claiming your faith and you contradict your speech.
So I sit here and listen to your tongue and cheek,
I know that when you sit and pray you're only praying for keeps.
Cause you're a ghost at most,
A set of empty bones,
Searching for anything and everything to make you feel whole,
When it gets cold, oh oh oh.

You don't know.
No you don't know.
Oh you're all alone,
You poor unfortunate soul.
You can't control where your body lets you go.
Oh you're all alone,
You poor unfortunate soul.

You're shallow and empty and filled with regret.
I think that chest must be heavy from that cross on your neck
You only wear 'cause you're wary of what comes next after you're death.
Don't think I didn't notice.

Don't think I didn't notice.

Don't think I didn't know you just a po-oh-oh-oh
Poor unfortunate so-o-o-oul
Poor unfortunate so-o-o-oul
Poor unfortunate so-o-o-oul
Poor unfortunate

And you've got it all (poor unfortunate so-o-o-oul)
You've got it all wrong (poor unfortunate so-o-o-oul)
No you'll never know, never know, never know (poor unfortunate so-o-o-oul)
You're a poor unfortunate soul.

Don't think I didn't notice.

"LGBT not welcome here."

Governor Bobby Jindal stated the RFRA laws proposed does not ban the LGBT community from any participation of society's everday activities.

BUT. And it is a huge but.

The LGBT community cannot participate in any marriage in any restaurant or organization's hall if they are denied services because of religious devotion.

So, Bobby Jindal states, the religious discrimination can be practiced underground. If Bennigans has a hall for rent for special occasions it can deny the same members of the LGBT community it willing serves in their restaurant. It is unconstitutional as the RFRA laws are.

When these young ladies decide to marry they are not going to find a hall that will serve them or a bakery or a florist because they are lesbians. Tell me where the rights of these young women change because they decide to get married?

No law can create an underground that will breed voids of services for LGBT Americans? Where in the USA Constitution is there the right of people to deny services to the LGBT Community. I want to know where exactly the US Constitution removes the rights from these young women? 

October 30, 2013
By Lucy Hallowell

We told you about (click here) Br{ache the Silence (BTS) last month. The organization is working to end discrimination and homophobia in women’s sports and has just put out its first video in its Tour of Champions. The Tour’s purpose is to use NCAA Champion teams and individuals to send the message that LGBTQ athletes are welcome in women’s sports at its highest levels.
The first stop on the tour is Storrs, Connecticut home to the University of Connecticut Women’s Basketball Team. The Huskies won the NCAA Championship a year ago and were voted number one in the coaches poll yesterday. The team has won eight national championships and has been at the top of the sport for more than a decade. When the top team in the country makes a video that says not only are gay players welcome here, but discrimination is absolutely not, it’s a message that filters down through other programs....

The discrimination is not based in the Freedom of Religion Right in the First Amendment. There is no justification in the First Amendment for discrimination of any American based in religion. 

The First Amendment of the USA Constitution PROVIDES a SPACE for religious practice in the country. It does not provide a place of the practice of religion in an underground framework in any law.

Is an organization withholding services to the LGBT community, allowed to post signs openly that it does not serve the LGBT patrons in private party services? What does that look like? Can a business owned by a Christian be allowed to post a sign that states we only serve the LGBT community in the back of the restaurant? Is that same organization or business that refuses the LGBT certain services allowed to post a sign stating they refuse to allow any LGBT person from using the public restroom open to heterosexuals. They discriminate between the two. Those discriminating in certain services, where do their services stop? Serving food. The LGBT Community is allowed to go into businesses and organizations' building, but, they can be refused services. 

Who decides what services are provided to them? 

Can a florist have a defined limited menu of choices for anyone LGBT and make it so hideous no one would want that arrangement, hence, they are not welcome. This is the same exact basis of the poll tax. By law everyone can vote, but, certain ethnicities have to pass tests or pay for a voter registration card so expensive no one can afford it.

There is always a way to defeat laws without really breaking the law. 

There can be no special status for public services or services by private industry that serves the public. If A minister states he or she only provides services to those of the same faith he is legitimate, but, he is legitimate anyway. He is not obligated to perform marriages to anyone outside of his faith. That already exists.

Just because the butcher, the baker and the candle stick maker is Christian, there is no special status. The business cannot refuse services simply because a person is not of their faith. If at Easter all he provides for purchase is Hot Cross Buns, that is legitimate, but, that is legitimate anyway. If a baker wants to provide a service to Christians and limits the choice from a religious definition, it is allowed so long as the entire community can have access unless the service is provided in a different space exclusively refusing LGBT individuals. 

That is very true of the Jewish faith when they are shopping for 'correct' menus for their family. Walk into any public grocer and find products or a section that is Kosher. That is what most Americans expect. They expect to find choices based in their faith because that is good business. If a grocer wants to make profits, it will occur because the community has it's needs met. 

This idea there can be a separate but equal place for the public in any establishment is discrimination and assaults the individual's identity. It is an attack against a person that has no control over their genetic identity. 

The legislation is illegitimate for all these reasons and more. Can LGBT be treated in a Christian hospital?  

How does anyone decide what child is gay or straight? Does a day care center managed by a Christian owner have the right to determine if a child is gay and prohibit that child from services reserved for 'normal' children? If that owner is required to provide services to the public will that mean the children of gay parents be placed in a certain room with different playground time than children of straight parents? Where does the special status stop? Who determines the rules? 

The RFRA laws state services have to be provided to the LGBT community, EXCEPT, for special circumstances. Who defines what those special services are and how are they administered?

Providing certain rights but not all rights to the LGBT Community is toxic to our society. It will hurt people if it doesn't already. 

What qualifications does it take to fly in a jet? Certain jets are set aside for the LGBT Community? Is Amtrak exempt from any rules and must provide accommodations for the entire public or is a Christian noting the RFRA law which states they have special status and cannot sit in the same train car as any LGBT person to be accommodated? 

RFRA rules are nighmares and belong nowhere in American legislation that passes into law.