Today is the 6th anniversary of the horrific murders of three Christians in Malatya, Turkey. The names of those martyred on that terrible day are Necati Aydin, Ugur Yuksel and Tillman Geske.
Necati and Ugur were Turkish nationals and Tillman was a German citizen.
The three men were brutally tortured before being killed. They were murdered by Muslims. The killers each had letters containing these words,
“This should serve as a lesson to the enemies of our religion. We did it for our country.”
The trial of these men began in November, 2007 and is still ongoing.
A lawyer who provides legal counsel for the victim’s families has received death threats. He was allegedly threatened by one of the defendants in the trial. The Turkish authorities have been urged to provide protection for the lawyer.
We remember the families of Necati, Ugur and Tillman today and we hope that soon justice will be done, and that the evil killers of these three magnificent saints will not go unpunished.
The Truth Shall Set You Free 
Lest we forget!
Susan and Frances thanks for giving us a space to remember those who gave been brutally murdered.
May we remember the deaths of Gary Matson and Winfield Mowder who were brutally murdered by christian Reverend Benjamin Mathew Williams and James Tyler Williams on July 1 1999.
In November 1999 Rev Matthew Williams began giving interviews to various media outlets. In an interview with The Sacramento Bee, he admitted to the murders and said that when he killed Matson and Mowder he was “obeying the law of God.” Williams said that he committed the murders because he believed their homosexuality violated God’s laws, and he hoped his actions would incite more killings.
Williams insisted that his actions did not constitute murder. Because the Bible holds that homosexuality is a sin that must be punished by death, he claimed, the responsibility lies with the victims. Williams expressed regret that more “people who claim to be Christians” didn’t “have the guts” to act as he had. Facing the possibility of execution, he said he hoped to become a “Christian martyr” whose death would inspire others to lash out against Jews, homosexuals, and other minorities.
May we never forget the lessons from these horrific murders, that homophobia kills.
The murders you refer to are brutal and evil, and we condemn them in the strongest possible terms. We had not heard about these murders until you posted your comment.
The Williams brothers were not obeying the law of God when they killed the two homosexual men, so we can reject that claim outright. The Ten Commandments warn people everywhere that “Thou shalt not kill.”
In the Old Testament, certain sins were also crimes, and were punishable by death, in the theocratic state of Israel, but those punishments were judicial executions by the theocratic state, they were not carried out by people who took the law into their own hands, and the guilt of an accused individual had to be confirmed by two or three witnesses, the accused was not sentenced on the strength of gossip, rumour or innuendo.
The death penalty for moral sins no longer applies, and we see this in the way the Lord Jesus Christ dealt with the woman taken in adultery. He could have condemned her to death, but He did not. He rebuked her accusers, and it is possible that they were adulterers themselves, either in their hearts or in actual fact.
However, the Lord Jesus did tell the woman to “go and sin no more.” She was not to continue to commit adultery.
The death penalty for murder may still be Biblically applicable for today, although there is some disagreement about that matter among Evangelical Christians.
Regarding the Williams brothers, I did some research on google about them as we knew nothing about the case. I discovered that Matthew Williams was involved in the tax revolt movement, and a “Christian” fellowship which some described as a cult. He may also have had some association with, or involvement in, a bizarre, theologically confused, white supremacist movement called “Christian Identity.”
Matthew Williams committed suicide (according to articles we read,) so he was obviously a very troubled, confused, and ultimately tragic individual who may have been pushed over the edge into committing those appalling murders by some of the strange and bizarre beliefs of various groups with whom he had contact.
However, he was certainly influenced by the devil, who was a murderer from the beginning (as we read in the Bible.)
Some people have killed in Jesus’ name, but, to such, He would surely say, “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Matthew ch.7 v. 23
LGBT…
Just because someone abuses the Bible and twists it to support their personal agenda, that doesn’t make the Bible wrong, nor does it mean the Christian faith is wrong. You don’t judge something by those who violate all its precepts.
“Christians” have to abuse and misuse the Bible to justify violence, while Muslims just follow what their scripture teaches.
More ‘not true christians’ Glenn. The number of true christians is getting pretty small.
I didn’t see LGBT_is_Fabulous judging anyone – they simply remembered those murdered and the murderers justification of it (following what their scripture teaches)
Is it possible that the people Mrs Whte mentions are ‘not true muslims’ or have you interpreted their scripture for them in order to make them ‘true muslims’ in the same way you interpret your scriptures to define who you judge to be a ‘true christian’.
There is an awful lot of interpretation and judging by you. What makes you the arbiter of which interpretations are correct – or could you just be as wrong as all the others you judge as wrong.
You are correct, golfieni, there ARE very few true Christians. There are many who claim to be Christians, but are, in fact, wolves in sheep’s clothing.
We read in the Gospel according to Luke, ch.13 vs. 23-27,
“Then said one unto him, Lord are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate; for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are; Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.”
Of course the problem with that is who gets to define what a true christian is – You? I find it highly unlikely that some woman in this plot of land has stumbled on the correct definition and that the rest of the world is wrong. That’s the trouble with chistianity – it’s so ambiguous. You would have thought that an omnipotent, divine, infallible being could have made itself a little clearer.
The obvious answer is that it is all made up by man who has spent 2000 years trying to manipulate things to gain power and advantage over the masses with the result that no-one can actually define what it is. Every time someone wants to exert power they have to find a theological difference which allows them to split off into another cult. It is truly laughable if you think about it.
Golfieni,
EVERY TIME you say that the Whites or I am wrong about something, YOU are judging us with your subjective belief system. LGBT was doing that, as you do with every comment you make.
Those so-called Christians who claim that the Bible justified their murders had to take the passages totally out of the context in which they were written. Of course, since you have no understanding of the Bible, you wouldn’t know better.
I have studied the Qur’an and much Hadith, as well as the general teachings of sharia law and Islam in general, and I am using THEIR interpretations of THEIR “holy” books. Perhaps you should try a wee bit of research so you would know better than to make such statements of ignorance.
Your comment sure was “an awful long of interpretation and judging by you.”
Glenn
I was judging no one! I was using the space for remembrance that Susan and Frances kindly provided to remember two people who were brutally murdered!
Sadly however, you fine example of christian love, Glenn, could not respect the sanctity of remembering the dead, you had to turn it into an opportunity to try and points score! Thanks!
LGBT, your accusation is worthless because it is untrue. My comment about judging was directed at Golfieni, who was the one who turned the post into an opportunity to attack the Whites.
Studying is not the same as understanding Glenn.
As for judging you with a ‘subjective belief system’ – it’s really not the case, many times it is based on a thing called evidence, real peer reviewed evidence.
Golfieni,
I study so as TO understand. I fully understand what I study.
The judging I do is based on evidence as well. The point is that you make judgments about us all the while decrying that we are judging. That is hypocrisy.
Susan, are you receiving my post directed to Glenn in this matter?
Glenn, I am afraid that you remain guilty as charged and furthermore have now exposed yourself as a LIAR!
You posted in response to Susan and my comments, remembering those who had been brutally murdered on April 21st at 1.04am. At this point only myself and Susan had posted remembering those who had been murdered, but you had to turn it into an opportunity to point score. To make it crystal clear for you, Golfieni had not posted on this topic when you made your post!
Furthermore, you stated on April 22nd at 4.05pm that “LGBT, your accusation is worthless because it is untrue. My comment about judging was directed at Golfieni”. Once more you expose yourself as a downright LIAR as you had stated on April 21st at 7.31pm “Golfieni,
EVERY TIME you say that the Whites or I am wrong about something, YOU are judging us with your subjective belief system. LGBT was doing that, as you do with every comment you make.” A clear accusation that I was judging as well!!!!
LGBT,
My post at 1:04 AM was a response to your judging the Christian faith; it was not redirecting the subject, rather it was rebutting your comment about a reason those people were killed. I was pointing out that the reason cited was not biblical; it was you who took the opportunity to change the subject of the topic at hand so as to promote the homosexual agenda and label murder as a result of “homophobia” and biblical teachings. It had nothing to do with trying to “score points” as you accused me of doing. YOU were the one trying to “score points” by bringing in completely off topic incidents so as to attack Christianity.
Secondly, I took your comment to be addressing my comment addressed to Golfieni. I forgot that I mentioned you in that same paragraph. So I’m sorry I said there was no comment directed at you.
However, back to the charge, which you deny, you did indeed make judgmental statement by claiming “homophobia” was a motivation. There is no such thing as homophobia – it is a made up word to marginalize those who are against sanctioning homosexuality. And by calling it murder, you make a judgement. The point I was making with Golfieni is that every time you or him or others who attack things on this blog, you are making judgments and yet you attack us as being judgmental – which in itself is a judgmental claim! Every time you make a moral claim you make a judgement, and yet you attack us for making moral claims.
Yes, we have received your repeatedly sent posts. We are reluctantly publishing your lengthy comment to Glenn, to give him the opportunity to respond to your libellous remarks.
By the way, my post, entitled, “Lest we forget…..” was about three Christian martyrs who were brutally murdered by Muslims. You brought up the subject of the murders of two homosexuals, which of course we roundly condemn. However, by introducing this subject, you distracted attention away from the Christian martyrs, so we want to redirect our reader’s attention back to the Malatya martyrs.
Just on a point of order, for something to be libellous it has to be untrue. I provided evidence, using Glenn’s own words, that he had lied! Therefore libel does not exist!
Point of order, to be a lie one has to be intentionally deceiving. The fact that I forgot a statement included in a larger comment may be an error of memory, but not intentional deception.