How Oklahoma cops took $53,000 from a Burmese Christian rock band

Muskogee County Sheriff's Office seized $53,234 intended for an orphanage and a religious college.



In Oklahoma, authorities announced that they would be returning over $53,000 in seized assets that it took from Eh Wah, a man who was pulled over in February while carrying the cash for a Burmese Christian rock band that had been raising funds for an orphanage in Thailand. They've also dropped a felony criminal charge against Eh Wah, who had been falsely accused of "acquiring proceeds from drug activity."

How police took $53,000 from a Christian band, an orphanage and a church

Not-so-coincidentally, the announcement came shortly after The Washington Post published a report about Eh Wah's plight. On February 27, a sheriff's deputy seized $53,234 in cash from Eh Wah, the volunteer tour manager for Klo & Kweh Music Team, a Burmese Christian music group on a tour of the United States.

Eh Wah had been driving with a broken tail light, and the deputy who pulled him over suspected that he was carrying drug money, despite having found no drugs or paraphernalia in his car. The cash was from concert ticket and merchandise sales and donations, much of it earmarked for an orphanage in Thailand, and some for a religious college back in Burma. Absolutely none of the money was derived from drug sales.

Again: no drugs, paraphernalia or weapons in the car. Eh Wah tried to explain where the cash came from -- it was difficult because English isn't his first language -- but officers weren't satisfied. He was taken to the police station for more questioning, and after six hours, eventually let go without any charges.

But the officers kept the money.

"Are You Asian and Don't Want To Be?"

All these years later, this fake billboard keeps making the rounds.



Feeling the need to post this, since an old meme seems to have popped up and is making the rounds again... Every couple of months, and once again within in the last week or so, I've recently seen several people post this photo with the expected levels of exasperation, usually in the realm of "WTF? Have you seen this?"

As a public service, let's make it clear: this image is at least seven years old, and it's fake.

Lousiana school board settles religious harassment lawsuit

Federal lawsuit alleged sixth grader was routinely belittled for being Buddhist



Last week in New Orleans, the ACLU settled lawsuit with a Louisiana school board on behalf of a sixth grader who says he was routinely harassed by teachers and administrators because of his Buddhist beliefs.

Settlement In Suit Involving La. Buddhist Student

The federal lawsuit, filed in January, alleged that a teacher at Negreet High School in Sabine Parish declared that Buddhism was stupid. It also said the school regularly incorporated Christian prayer into classes and school events and scrolled Bible verses on an electronic marquee in front of the school.

The student, a lifelong Buddhist of Thai descent, enrolled at Negreet earlier this year and quickly became the target of religious harassment by the school's staff. When his parents raised the issue with school officials,the superintendent told them that "this is the Bible belt" and suggested they change their son's faith.

Louisiana school district sued for religious harassment

Federal lawsuit alleges sixth grader was routinely belittled for being Buddhist



This week, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against a Louisiana school board, alleging that officials at one school routinely harassed and proselytized a sixth-grader because of his Buddhist faith.

ACLU accuses La. school of religious harassment

The federal lawsuit was filed against the Sabine Parish School Board on behalf of two parents, Scott and Sharon Lane, and three of their children, including their son, "C.C.," who is a lifelong Buddhist of Thai descent.

According to the complaint, C.C. enrolled at Negreet High School earlier this year and quickly became the target of religious harassment by the school's staff. In addition to the school board, the lawsuit specifically names Superintendent Sara Ebarb, Negreet High Principal Gene Wright and science teacher Rita Roark:

After ten years, publisher apologizes for Rickshaw Rally

LifeWay offers an apology for racist religious curriculum. It only took a decade.

Long time readers might remember the Rickshaw Rally controversy.

In 2003, LifeWay Christian Resources published an Asian-themed Vacation Bible School curriculum called "Far Out Rickshaw Rally - Racing Towards the Son." Fraught with racist, stereotypical imagery, the materials were criticized by Asian American Christian leaders, who led a campaign to get LifeWay to halt use of the curriculum, which was designed for children. You can still see the old Reconsidering Rickshaw Rally website archived on Geocities.ws.

For the most part, LifeWay didn't give a crap and the issue pretty much died off. Until this week.

The company is apparently under new management. On Wednesday -- ten years after the controversy -- LifeWay president and CEO Thom S. Rainier apologized for Rickshaw Rally via video message at the Mosaix conference in Long Beach, California, a gathering of about 1,000 multiethnic church leaders.

You can watch the video of Rainier's apology here. And here's the transcript:

An Open Letter from the Asian American Community to the Evangelical Church

On cultural insensitivity and reconciliation in the church



This has been a long time coming... Recent incidents of repeated, offensive racial stereotyping of Asians in the evangelical Christian church have compelled a group of Asian American leaders to come together and speak out against this growing gap in the church's understanding and pursuit of racial reconciliation.

I've covered a number of these incidents here over the years, from VBS curriculum, to youth skits, to general Christian trade books, in which Asians have been mocked, caricatured and stereotyped in the name of... I don't know what. Jesus? I didn't see a whole lot of Jesus in any of those things.

Most recently, well-known Christian leader Rick Warren posted an image of a Chinese Red Guard on Facebook, in a failed attempt at humor. When it was pointed out why this imagery might be culturally insensitive, he was dismissive, ultimately issuing one of those perfunctory sorry-if-you-were-offended non-apologies.

And last week at Exponential West, a popular Christian conference attended by thousands, programming included a video featuring a white person mimicking Asian accents and kung fu fighting (do I really have to describe this further?), prompting criticism from Asian American attendees. Organizers have since apologized and promised to remove the video from future conference content.

All of this, and the mounting concern over the church's troubling treatment of Asian Americans and Asian culture, have prompted leaders to draft and post An Open Letter to the Evangelical Church from the Asian American Community, to draw awareness and dialogue to the situation.

Here's the letter:

Jeremy Lin opens up about faith, identity and "Linsanity"

The Houston Rocks guard gets introspective in front of a crowd of 20,000.



Jeremy Lin was recently a featured speaker at the "Dream Big, Be Yourself" Christian youth conference in Taiwan. In front of a crowd of 20,000 attendees, through a translator, the NBA star shared about his faith, his identity and his career, getting honest about his amazing highs on the court -- who can forget "Linsanity"? -- and the tremendous pressure and scrutiny that was placed on him when he arrived in Houston.

Ultimately, Jeremy says he could not let himself be defined by the critics and onlookers, nor could he strive to live up to the "Linsanity," because that would be setting himself up for disappointment. After much reflection, Jeremy says it always came back to his identity in God. And he challenged the audience to do the same.

Here's video of Jeremy's speech (it begins at 1:06:22):

J. David Kuo, former leader of Bush's faith initiative, dies at 44

J. David Kuo, an evangelical Christian leader who was an influential figure in President George W. Bush's faith initiative who later turned his back on the administration, died on Friday after battling brain cancer. He was 44: J. David Kuo, Who Split From Bush Faith Effort, Dies at 44.

Kuo was deputy director the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, and played an instrumental role in the Bush administration's effort to link religious groups with the delivery of social services.

But after only two years, he left the administration, claiming that President Bush had failed to live up to his promise of "compassionate conservatism" and used the evangelical movement as a political prop:

Terminally ill woman who battled with her family over life support dies at 28

Just heard this sad news out of New York... Grace Sung Eun Lee, the terminally ill cancer patient who clashed with her devoutly religious parents last year in a legal battle over her right to die, only to later change her mind, died over the weekend. She was 28: Ill Woman, Kept Alive by Family, Dies at 28.

Lee, who was paralyzed from the neck down by a brainstem tumor and unable to breathe on her own, had moved back home to parents' home in Queens with a life support system. She passed away Sunday night after her ventilator reportedly stopped working properly:

Fund This: The Ken Fong Project

Passing along word about film project that might be worthy of your crowdfunding attention... The Ken Fong Project is a documentary about an Asian American pastor's journey and struggle to understand what it means for the LGBTQ community to be a part of the evangelical church.

The film, directed by Christopher Wong and Christopher Min, follows Rev. Dr. Ken Fong, Senior Pastor of Evergreen Baptist Church of LA in Rosemead, California, as he follows what he believes is the call of God to stick his neck out to bring LGBTQ folks and the Church together.

This has the makings of a fascinating documentary, and the filmmakers are seeking help via Indiegogo to fund the film. Here's the project's pitch video with more information:

Fund This: Rex and Rooty by Deep Fried Manna

I recently heard from my friend Mike Su, co-founder of Massive Joe Studios, who's getting the word out about their next project. Deep Fried Manna, started by Mike and team of dedicated folks, is an interactive studio whose goal is to make faith-based apps for kids. They're currently in the throes of a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for Rex and Rooty, an interactive Christian book. Check out the fundraising video, which features none other than NBA star Jeremy Lin: