George Nathaniel, who was fired last week from driving a school bus for the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District near Minneapolis, says it's unconstitutional to forbid children on the bus from voluntarily praying with him and each other. After Nathaniel was given a warning by his employer, he continued to encourage children to pray because when he talked to parents, none of them were opposed. Nathaniel said his past employers in other states had no problem with his Christian prayers while driving school buses.
UPDATE 11/15/13 - Praying Bus Driver Fired at Rutgers: Safety Issue
For background, click headlines below to read previous articles:
Teacher Fired for Bible Gift at New Jersey School
New Jersey Teacher Investigated for Christian Beliefs
Teachers Forbidden Private Christian Lives
Teacher Suspended for Christian Beliefs at Home
Portland Boots Teacher for Countering Abortionist
Calif. Christian Principal Disciplined for Non-School Prayer
Virginia Principal Clamps Down on Christian Teachers
In addition, read Christians Cause Workplace Conflict, So Silence Them
-- From "School bus driver fired for leading children in prayer" by UPI 11/8/13
Nathaniel, who said he is a pastor at two Minneapolis churches, said no children were forced into anything. He said he would begin his prayers after the last child got on and continue during the 7-minute drive to school.
"We start out with a song," he said. "Then each person will pray if they want to pray. If they don't want to pray, they don't have to pray. Then I will pray and ask them if they want to join me in prayer. Just give them something constructive and positive to go to school with."
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1962 that school prayers breached the First Amendment ban on an established church.
A spokeswoman for the school district would not comment on Nathaniel's dismissal but said the district considers the bus ride an extension of the school day.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Minn. bus driver fired for leading kids in prayers" by The Associated Press 11/8/13
George Nathaniel, 49, of Richfield, who is also a pastor for a pair of Minneapolis churches, was in his second year as a school bus driver for Durham School Services, which is under contract to the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage district. Nathaniel told the Star Tribune Durham School Services originally gave him a warning and assigned him two new bus routes after receiving a complaint about the prayers.
Durham spokeswoman Molly Hart said that "the company does not have a specific policy on the subject of prayer."
The district's contract with the bus company allows for the schools to have an employee of the bus company removed if it deems that person unsuitable for the job.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
The root issue is American Religious Liberty vs. Anti-Christian Totalitarianism
To read the latest attacks on Christian prayer by atheists, click label "PRAYER" below:
Saturday, November 09, 2013
Friday, November 08, 2013
Increase NY Abortions, Promises Mayor De Blasio
The just-elected New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, a self-described “democratic socialist,” says that there are too few abortion clinics in the city, and so he has pledged to partner with abortionists, including Planned Parenthood, to open more clinics at taxpayer expense. In conjunction, de Blasio says he intends to put pro-life pregnancy counselors out of business.
For background, read Black Genocide in New York City (nearly 2 of 3 killed in womb) and also read Black Abortion Key to Reducing Poverty, Says Mayor
In addition, read The Truth About Abortion Offends New Yorkers as well as New York City Liberals Choose Abortion NOT Procreation
Fact: 41% of all pregnancies in New York City, of all races combined, end in abortion
From the campaign website of Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio:
De Blasio will work with [abortion] providers to ensure adequate protection for clinic access by ensuring close coordination with the NYPD, clinics and clinic access volunteers. In addition, he will continue New York City’s appeal of a judge’s order overturning New York’s local law to regulate sham crisis pregnancy centers, and if the law is ultimately struck down, he will work to craft new regulations to prevent these centers from masquerading as legitimate healthcare providers. Furthermore, Bill de Blasio will work with non-profit providers to identify neighborhoods underserved by reproductive health services and work with them to identify space in city sponsored development. De Blasio will also continue the Bloomberg administration’s groundbreaking abortion training initiative for medical residents at all HHC hospitals.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "NYC Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio pledges to open more abortion clinics, close ‘sham’ pregnancy centers" by Kirsten Andersen, LifeSiteNews.com 11/6/13
De Blasio calls crisis pregnancy centers “sham” clinics. In his view, their refusal to perform abortions means they do not offer “legitimate health care.”
To ensure there are enough abortionists to meet the city’s high demand, and fuel further expansion, de Blasio says he will continue to force doctors who train in city hospitals to perform abortions as a routine part of their training, a NARAL-backed program that started under outgoing mayor Michael Bloomberg, and which de Blasio called “groundbreaking.”
Another key part of de Blasio’s plan to build up the abortion industry in his city is to make sure women can pay for the procedure. To that end, he has promised to use ObamaCare to expand state-funded abortion coverage to more New York City women.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "De Blasio slams Graham's abortion bill" by Rebecca Shabad, The Hill 11/7/13
New York Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio (D) slammed via Twitter Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) strict abortion ban bill, which he planned to introduce Thursday.
The legislation is a companion bill to Rep. Trent Frank’s (R-Ariz.) bill, which the House passed in June.
The measure would make it illegal for a woman to have an abortion after the 20th week of pregnancy. Franks introduced it earlier this year, and had 184 co-sponsors, including Democrats.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Also read President Obama Asks God to Bless Planned Parenthood
For background, read Black Genocide in New York City (nearly 2 of 3 killed in womb) and also read Black Abortion Key to Reducing Poverty, Says Mayor
In addition, read The Truth About Abortion Offends New Yorkers as well as New York City Liberals Choose Abortion NOT Procreation
Fact: 41% of all pregnancies in New York City, of all races combined, end in abortion
From the campaign website of Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio:
De Blasio will work with [abortion] providers to ensure adequate protection for clinic access by ensuring close coordination with the NYPD, clinics and clinic access volunteers. In addition, he will continue New York City’s appeal of a judge’s order overturning New York’s local law to regulate sham crisis pregnancy centers, and if the law is ultimately struck down, he will work to craft new regulations to prevent these centers from masquerading as legitimate healthcare providers. Furthermore, Bill de Blasio will work with non-profit providers to identify neighborhoods underserved by reproductive health services and work with them to identify space in city sponsored development. De Blasio will also continue the Bloomberg administration’s groundbreaking abortion training initiative for medical residents at all HHC hospitals.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "NYC Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio pledges to open more abortion clinics, close ‘sham’ pregnancy centers" by Kirsten Andersen, LifeSiteNews.com 11/6/13
De Blasio calls crisis pregnancy centers “sham” clinics. In his view, their refusal to perform abortions means they do not offer “legitimate health care.”
To ensure there are enough abortionists to meet the city’s high demand, and fuel further expansion, de Blasio says he will continue to force doctors who train in city hospitals to perform abortions as a routine part of their training, a NARAL-backed program that started under outgoing mayor Michael Bloomberg, and which de Blasio called “groundbreaking.”
Another key part of de Blasio’s plan to build up the abortion industry in his city is to make sure women can pay for the procedure. To that end, he has promised to use ObamaCare to expand state-funded abortion coverage to more New York City women.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "De Blasio slams Graham's abortion bill" by Rebecca Shabad, The Hill 11/7/13
New York Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio (D) slammed via Twitter Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) strict abortion ban bill, which he planned to introduce Thursday.
The legislation is a companion bill to Rep. Trent Frank’s (R-Ariz.) bill, which the House passed in June.
The measure would make it illegal for a woman to have an abortion after the 20th week of pregnancy. Franks introduced it earlier this year, and had 184 co-sponsors, including Democrats.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Also read President Obama Asks God to Bless Planned Parenthood
Thursday, November 07, 2013
Calif. Kids OK with Same-sex 'Marriage:' Video
A new YouTube video showing kids' knee-jerk reactions to "gay marriage" proposals has gone viral. Although there's no statistical validity to the reaction of only thirteen children, it's common sense to assume that the video is a reflection of public school indoctrination.
For background, read Homosexual Indoctrination Month Celebrated at Schools and also read Sexual Confusion Reigns at Calif. High School Homecoming as well as Obama's DOJ Forces Girl into Boys Locker Room in California
In addition, read School Doesn't Back Gay Agenda, Obama Investigates
And also read the saga of homosexual indoctrination in California schools.
-- From "Watch Kids' Honest Reactions to Gay Marriage Proposals" posted at Indian Country Today Media Network 11/6/13
First the kids, ages 5-13, individually watch two videos of same-sex marriage proposals—the first of men, the second of women. During and after the airing of the video proposals, the producers, The Fine Brothers, feature the kids' candid reactions and ask them questions about their opinions on marriage between two people of the same gender.
The purpose of the video is to gain some perspective into how Americans perceive gay marriage today. "The opinions of children about these issues can give incredibly valuable insight into where our society currently stands and where we are headed as people," the video states. "It's important to discuss these topics openly in hopes of a better tomorrow through dialogue and conversation."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Watch Kids React to Gay Marriage" by James Hamblin, The Atlantic 11/5/13
"Kids React to Gay Marriage," a video posted two days ago in which 13 kids watch same-sex marriage proposals, already has more than 2 million views.
Progressives flaunt this as evidence that humans innately crave and celebrate all grand narratives of love. Social conservatives say stupid kids are stupid kids. All of these stupid kids happen to be from California, which clouds their ability to recognize violations of natural law and pass judgment in a manner necessary to stem the decay of civil society.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "'Kids React To Gay Marriage' In New Video From The Fine Brothers" by James Nichols, The Huffington Post 11/4/13
The video notes:
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Kids react to gay marriage, same-sex proposals in new video" by Victoria Taylor, New York Daily News 11/5/13
The children have spoken: They think it is OK to be gay.
Jayka, 10, applauded after the the man's boyfriend says yes.
Five-year-old Lucas, the youngest of the bunch, says he believes being gay is wrong, but when asked why it is wrong, he answers, “I don’t know.”
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Also read Everyone Pays for 'Gay Fertility' Treatments in California
For background, read Homosexual Indoctrination Month Celebrated at Schools and also read Sexual Confusion Reigns at Calif. High School Homecoming as well as Obama's DOJ Forces Girl into Boys Locker Room in California
In addition, read School Doesn't Back Gay Agenda, Obama Investigates
And also read the saga of homosexual indoctrination in California schools.
-- From "Watch Kids' Honest Reactions to Gay Marriage Proposals" posted at Indian Country Today Media Network 11/6/13
First the kids, ages 5-13, individually watch two videos of same-sex marriage proposals—the first of men, the second of women. During and after the airing of the video proposals, the producers, The Fine Brothers, feature the kids' candid reactions and ask them questions about their opinions on marriage between two people of the same gender.
The purpose of the video is to gain some perspective into how Americans perceive gay marriage today. "The opinions of children about these issues can give incredibly valuable insight into where our society currently stands and where we are headed as people," the video states. "It's important to discuss these topics openly in hopes of a better tomorrow through dialogue and conversation."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Watch Kids React to Gay Marriage" by James Hamblin, The Atlantic 11/5/13
"Kids React to Gay Marriage," a video posted two days ago in which 13 kids watch same-sex marriage proposals, already has more than 2 million views.
Progressives flaunt this as evidence that humans innately crave and celebrate all grand narratives of love. Social conservatives say stupid kids are stupid kids. All of these stupid kids happen to be from California, which clouds their ability to recognize violations of natural law and pass judgment in a manner necessary to stem the decay of civil society.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "'Kids React To Gay Marriage' In New Video From The Fine Brothers" by James Nichols, The Huffington Post 11/4/13
The video notes:
"The opinions of children about these issues can give incredibly valuable insight into where our society currently stands and where we are headed as people. It's important to discuss these topics openly in hopes of a better tomorrow through dialogue and conversation."The reactions of these children are both heartwarming and hopeful, suggesting that rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Americans could very well be close to a non-issue for the next generation. As one participant eloquently puts it, "If one person should be able to do something then everybody else should be able to do it."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Kids react to gay marriage, same-sex proposals in new video" by Victoria Taylor, New York Daily News 11/5/13
The children have spoken: They think it is OK to be gay.
Jayka, 10, applauded after the the man's boyfriend says yes.
Five-year-old Lucas, the youngest of the bunch, says he believes being gay is wrong, but when asked why it is wrong, he answers, “I don’t know.”
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Also read Everyone Pays for 'Gay Fertility' Treatments in California
Wednesday, November 06, 2013
'Atheist Jew' Sues Calif. Town Council for Praying
Pismo Beach, California is being sued by local resident Dr. Sari Dworkin, a psychologist, and self-identified "atheist Jew," who is represented by the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF). The lawsuit blames the city council for chaplain Dr. Paul Jones' prayers addressed to God -- prayers that imply that God blesses America -- which certainly violates the intent of the nation's founders, the atheists say.
For background, read Pennsylvania Town Prays, Ignores Atheists' Threats and also read Atheists Threaten to Sue Every School in Tennessee and in Mississippi but admit they're Short on Lawyers to Sue ALL Christians
UPDATE 5/13/14: U.S. Supreme Court rules prayers to Jesus Christ OK at government meetings
-- From "Pismo Beach city council gets sued for saying prayers before meetings" by Connie Tran, KSBY-TV 6 (San Luis Obispo) 11/5/13
. . . But, the city said there is no viable lawsuit. City attorney Dave Fleishman said since the city passed a policy in 2003 that all invocations have to be non-sectarian, they've followed closely to that.
"I would be hard pressed to find any invocation that Dr. Jones has given where Jesus has been invoked by name. There have been one or two, but it hasn't been Dr. Jones. And, Dr. Jones has been very good about making his invocations non-sectarian in nature," said Fleishman.
The local atheist group, Atheists United San Luis Obispo, said they support Freedom From Religion Foundation and has been helping them prepare the lawsuit for more than a year.
At Tuesday nights meeting, Rev. Jones said in his invocation, "Our Heavenly Father", "But our hearts and minds are tuned to God in child-like trust, God the Invisible enables us to complete any assignment", and "This invocation we pray in the name of our loving Lord". He ended the invocation with an "amen".
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Pismo invocations focus of lawsuit" by Brian Bullock, Santa Maria Times 11/5/13
The lawsuit stems from a complaint against the city from Sari Dworkin, a member of Atheists United of San Luis Obispo and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, in 2012 that objected to invocations being offered prior to city meetings.
In it’s announcement, the FFRF claims that the retired Rev. Paul Jones has offered “explicitly Christian prayers” at its meetings for years, specifically citing that Jones delivered 125 of 126 invocations from 2008 to 2013.
Over the past two months, Rajan Zed, president of Universal Society of Hinduism, and Pastor Paul Toms, of Grace Bible Church, have also offered the invocation at the council meetings. However, Jones has handled the duties at 15 of the council’s 18 meetings this year.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Pismo Beach hit with lawsuit from religious watchdog" by Rhys Heyden, New Times (San Luis Obispo) 11/4/13
The suit alleges that prayers conducted at Pismo Beach City Council meetings are unconstitutional, requests a permanent end to said prayers, and seeks to declare the city's appointment of Dr. Paul Jones as city chaplain as unconstitutional, too.
The suit names the city of Pismo Beach, the Pismo Beach City Council, Mayor Shelly Higginbotham, and Dr. Paul Jones as defendants.
The exhaustive lawsuit consists of a 25-page complaint, 170 pages of exhibits, and a 57-page appendix.
Particularly damning is Jones' prayer from Oct. 16, 2012, when he asked the "Heavenly Father" to prompt citizens to "elect leaders who will stand up for the clear standards that are expressed in the Bible, the Holy Writings of God." Jones also complained that "many of our citizens and leaders have turned from the path of righteousness in our lives and lifestyles."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Atheist Group Sues Calif. City Over Chaplain's Prayer at City Council Meetings" by Katherine Weber, Christian Post Reporter 11/5/13
The FFRF lawsuit against the city of Pismo Beach comes as the Supreme Court prepares to take up the case of Greece, N.Y. v. Galloway, Susan, a lawsuit filed by residents of Greece, New York who argue their city violated their first amendment rights by allowing predominately Christian prayers to take place at government meetings. The ruling of the case would set a precedent for prayer at government meetings in the U.S.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation stated that "regardless of how the Supreme Court decides the Greece case, FFRF's case can proceed, and could carve out protections against government prayer for all citizens in the country's most populated state."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
In addition, read Texas Law Tells Schools to Ignore Atheist Threats
The root issue is American Religious Liberty vs. Anti-Christian Totalitarianism
To read the latest attacks on Christian prayer by atheists, click label "PRAYER" below:
For background, read Pennsylvania Town Prays, Ignores Atheists' Threats and also read Atheists Threaten to Sue Every School in Tennessee and in Mississippi but admit they're Short on Lawyers to Sue ALL Christians
UPDATE 5/13/14: U.S. Supreme Court rules prayers to Jesus Christ OK at government meetings
-- From "Pismo Beach city council gets sued for saying prayers before meetings" by Connie Tran, KSBY-TV 6 (San Luis Obispo) 11/5/13
. . . But, the city said there is no viable lawsuit. City attorney Dave Fleishman said since the city passed a policy in 2003 that all invocations have to be non-sectarian, they've followed closely to that.
"I would be hard pressed to find any invocation that Dr. Jones has given where Jesus has been invoked by name. There have been one or two, but it hasn't been Dr. Jones. And, Dr. Jones has been very good about making his invocations non-sectarian in nature," said Fleishman.
The local atheist group, Atheists United San Luis Obispo, said they support Freedom From Religion Foundation and has been helping them prepare the lawsuit for more than a year.
At Tuesday nights meeting, Rev. Jones said in his invocation, "Our Heavenly Father", "But our hearts and minds are tuned to God in child-like trust, God the Invisible enables us to complete any assignment", and "This invocation we pray in the name of our loving Lord". He ended the invocation with an "amen".
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Pismo invocations focus of lawsuit" by Brian Bullock, Santa Maria Times 11/5/13
The lawsuit stems from a complaint against the city from Sari Dworkin, a member of Atheists United of San Luis Obispo and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, in 2012 that objected to invocations being offered prior to city meetings.
In it’s announcement, the FFRF claims that the retired Rev. Paul Jones has offered “explicitly Christian prayers” at its meetings for years, specifically citing that Jones delivered 125 of 126 invocations from 2008 to 2013.
Over the past two months, Rajan Zed, president of Universal Society of Hinduism, and Pastor Paul Toms, of Grace Bible Church, have also offered the invocation at the council meetings. However, Jones has handled the duties at 15 of the council’s 18 meetings this year.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Pismo Beach hit with lawsuit from religious watchdog" by Rhys Heyden, New Times (San Luis Obispo) 11/4/13
The suit alleges that prayers conducted at Pismo Beach City Council meetings are unconstitutional, requests a permanent end to said prayers, and seeks to declare the city's appointment of Dr. Paul Jones as city chaplain as unconstitutional, too.
The suit names the city of Pismo Beach, the Pismo Beach City Council, Mayor Shelly Higginbotham, and Dr. Paul Jones as defendants.
The exhaustive lawsuit consists of a 25-page complaint, 170 pages of exhibits, and a 57-page appendix.
Particularly damning is Jones' prayer from Oct. 16, 2012, when he asked the "Heavenly Father" to prompt citizens to "elect leaders who will stand up for the clear standards that are expressed in the Bible, the Holy Writings of God." Jones also complained that "many of our citizens and leaders have turned from the path of righteousness in our lives and lifestyles."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Atheist Group Sues Calif. City Over Chaplain's Prayer at City Council Meetings" by Katherine Weber, Christian Post Reporter 11/5/13
The FFRF lawsuit against the city of Pismo Beach comes as the Supreme Court prepares to take up the case of Greece, N.Y. v. Galloway, Susan, a lawsuit filed by residents of Greece, New York who argue their city violated their first amendment rights by allowing predominately Christian prayers to take place at government meetings. The ruling of the case would set a precedent for prayer at government meetings in the U.S.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation stated that "regardless of how the Supreme Court decides the Greece case, FFRF's case can proceed, and could carve out protections against government prayer for all citizens in the country's most populated state."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
In addition, read Texas Law Tells Schools to Ignore Atheist Threats
The root issue is American Religious Liberty vs. Anti-Christian Totalitarianism
To read the latest attacks on Christian prayer by atheists, click label "PRAYER" below:
Tuesday, November 05, 2013
'Jesus' Booted from Predominantly Jewish IL School
Marshon Sanders, a recently-baptized Christian twelfth-grade student, arrived at his public high school in the affluent Chicago suburb of Highland Park dressed for Halloween as Jesus Christ, but was immediately removed from class. School administrators told Marshon to remove his costume because it was offensive, even though other students were dressed as Greek gods, Catholic priests, Mormons, and Moses.
Click headlines below to read previous articles:
Witch and Devil Costumes OK. Jesus Not Allowed.
Student Suspended for NOT Desecrating Jesus' Name
School Bans Jesus from Prayers: Atheists Threaten
Wisconsin Atheists Say: Bar Pastors From Tennessee Schools
Jesus' Name Unconstitutional at School Board Meetings
God NOT Your Idol, Teacher Tells Student -- Michael Jackson Is
-- From "Highland Park H.S. student pulled from class over Jesus costume" by Judith Masterson, Chicago Sun-Times 10/31/13
According to Sanders’ mother, Angenetta Frison, some teachers found his costume offensive. He was readmitted to school after changing out of the costume, Frison said.
Shortly before school let out for the day, the high school released a statement, saying that upon further review, Sanders was told he could put the costume back on.
But Frison, who met with school administrators along with her son to discuss the matter, said he chose not to do so.
“They realized they might have been premature and didn’t really assess the situation,” said Frison.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Boy dressed up like Jesus Christ temporarily kicked out of school" by Carol Kuruvilla, New York Daily News 11/1/13
17-year-old Marshon Sanders stepped into Highland Park High School Thursday morning wearing a white toga, red sash, sandals, a giant cross necklace and a crown of thorns.
. . . The Christian deity is something of a superhero for this deeply religious teen. Sanders made a conscious decision to get baptized over the summer. The mother and son are members of the Jesus Name Apostolic Church in Waukegan.
[His mother] said that her neighborhood is “predominantly white and predominantly Jewish.” Although diversity and inclusion are a big part of her community, she wonders if race was a factor and whether seeing a “black Jesus” was what caused the tensions.
“Racism, stereotypes, and prejudice still exist everywhere,” the mother said. “If it had been a Caucasian student who dressed up as Jesus, would it have the same impact and sensitivity? Would they be pulled out of two classes?”
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Click headlines below to read previous articles:
Witch and Devil Costumes OK. Jesus Not Allowed.
Student Suspended for NOT Desecrating Jesus' Name
School Bans Jesus from Prayers: Atheists Threaten
Wisconsin Atheists Say: Bar Pastors From Tennessee Schools
Jesus' Name Unconstitutional at School Board Meetings
God NOT Your Idol, Teacher Tells Student -- Michael Jackson Is
-- From "Highland Park H.S. student pulled from class over Jesus costume" by Judith Masterson, Chicago Sun-Times 10/31/13
According to Sanders’ mother, Angenetta Frison, some teachers found his costume offensive. He was readmitted to school after changing out of the costume, Frison said.
Shortly before school let out for the day, the high school released a statement, saying that upon further review, Sanders was told he could put the costume back on.
But Frison, who met with school administrators along with her son to discuss the matter, said he chose not to do so.
“They realized they might have been premature and didn’t really assess the situation,” said Frison.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Boy dressed up like Jesus Christ temporarily kicked out of school" by Carol Kuruvilla, New York Daily News 11/1/13
17-year-old Marshon Sanders stepped into Highland Park High School Thursday morning wearing a white toga, red sash, sandals, a giant cross necklace and a crown of thorns.
. . . The Christian deity is something of a superhero for this deeply religious teen. Sanders made a conscious decision to get baptized over the summer. The mother and son are members of the Jesus Name Apostolic Church in Waukegan.
[His mother] said that her neighborhood is “predominantly white and predominantly Jewish.” Although diversity and inclusion are a big part of her community, she wonders if race was a factor and whether seeing a “black Jesus” was what caused the tensions.
“Racism, stereotypes, and prejudice still exist everywhere,” the mother said. “If it had been a Caucasian student who dressed up as Jesus, would it have the same impact and sensitivity? Would they be pulled out of two classes?”
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Monday, November 04, 2013
Top Penn. Republican 'Evolves' To 'Gay Marriage'
Tom Ridge, who was President George W. Bush's choice to be the first Secretary of Homeland Security, says that the only way for Republicans to win upcoming national elections is to abandon the party platform positions on social issues such as same-sex "marriage" and abortion. In a recent speech, he said that the party must be tolerant toward government policies based on deviant sexual behavior and murder of unborn children.
More High-profile Republicans Going Gay Agenda
GOP Unanimously OKs First Homosexual Appeals Judge
Same-sex 'Marriage' Lawlessness Spreads in Pennsylvania
New Jersey GOP Gov. Christie Says Homosexuality is NOT a Sin
GOP Strategy: Dump Old Uneducated Christian Voters
Will GOP Go Pro-abortion in Addition to Pro-Gay?
-- From "Guys, Tom Ridge Changed Mind on Gay Marriage *Months Ago*" by Simon van Zuylen-Wood, Philadelphia Magazine 10/25/13
As we told you back in March, Ridge signed an amicus brief urging the Supremes to strike down California’s Prop 8 ban. At the time, of course, this was notable: Ridge signed Pennsylvania’s ban on gay marriage and hadn’t publicly indicated his support for same-sex marriage until the brief. So, just to be clear, Tom Ridge has been a gay rights proponent since at least March, 2013.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Tom Ridge tells gay Republicans that GOP is sometimes too 'self-righteous'" by John L. Micek, Central Pennsylvania Patriot-News 10/25/13
Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge says he thinks Republicans should take a more practical and less divisive approach to politics as the party approaches the 2014 mid-terms and the 2016 presidential cycle.
When it came to his stance on gay issues, Ridge said that "life, politics and government is a journey, and your positions on issues as you go along that journey may become more fully embedded or, because of circumstances or other changes, they can change. As you know, when I was governor, I signed the Defense of Marriage Act [in Pennsylvania]. Since that time, frankly, my point of view has evolved.”
[Ridge spoke of] ". . . a philosophy that I hope most [Republicans] embrace as I talk about what we need to start winning national elections and, frankly, be a more positive and compelling force for change in the 21st Century," he said. "You can’t change government unless you win elections. Our roots are conservative, but we should be far less — not even far less — we oughtta quit being judgmental.”
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Tom Ridge’s prepared remarks to the Log Cabin Republicans dinner" (Log Cabin Spirit Of Lincoln Event 10/23/13) posted at BuzzFeed
I’m pleased to join you today and to be among those who supported the Amicus brief in the case of Perry v. Brown (Hollingsworth) [to overturn Prop 8 -- the one-man-one-woman marriage amendment passed by a majority of Californians].
. . . all of us are equal in the eyes of the God we worship and the same should be true of the government to which we “render unto Caesar.”
. . . [I have also evoled away from the GOP platform] on any number of issues – abortion, immigration, school choice, fiscal policy, foreign policy.
. . . For many observers, the GOP has become intolerant, judgmental and self-righteous – perhaps worthy of attitudes of the Pilgrims in 1620, but hardly attractive qualities for a political party nearly 400 years later.
. . . Our own narrow thinking on social issues is one of the principal reasons we have lost the last two national elections.
. . . If our expectation is the respect of our individual rights, we must respect the rights of others to live and let live.
. . . If we want a government that acknowledges our God-given right to freely choose how we live—in regard [to] marriage and others issues – we must demand a government that respects the rights of others to choose and follow their conscience just the same.
. . . 63% of millennials hope to achieve full marriage equality. The times they are changing.
To read the entire Tom Ridge speech above, CLICK HERE.
From "Tom Ridge Ignores Responsibility for Kermit Gosnell, Attacks Pro-Lifers" by Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com 10/31/13
Former Governor Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania is not interested in accepting any responsibility for the horrors that happened at Kermit Gosnell’s abortion clinic.
Instead of acknowledging how the Grand Jury report in the case pointed the blame squarely at the feet of his administration for not following state law and routinely inspecting abortion clinics, Ridge has decided to attack pro-lifers.
Gosnell was allowed to operate his “house of horrors” with impunity thanks to irresponsible and unjustifiable policies put in place by former Governor Tom Ridge. The grand jury report in the Gosnell case revealed that “Ridge administration officials concluded that inspections would be ‘putting a barrier up to women’ seeking abortions. Better to leave clinics to do as they pleased.’”
At the instructions of Ridge and in support of the multi-million dollar abortion cabal, neither Gosnell’s abortion facility nor any other Pennsylvania abortion clinic had been inspected by the Pennsylvania Department of Health for the 17 years between 1993 and 2010.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Also read Nationwide Marriage Amendment Puts GOP to Test
In addition, read Senator Ted Cruz Says the Gay Agenda Ends Christian Liberty
“[Republicans] just come across as too damned self-righteous . . . if we’re going to change the party, we should accept [gay marriage and abortion] and build a positive agenda rather than just saying no . . .”Click headlines below to read previous articles:
-- Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge
More High-profile Republicans Going Gay Agenda
GOP Unanimously OKs First Homosexual Appeals Judge
Same-sex 'Marriage' Lawlessness Spreads in Pennsylvania
New Jersey GOP Gov. Christie Says Homosexuality is NOT a Sin
GOP Strategy: Dump Old Uneducated Christian Voters
Will GOP Go Pro-abortion in Addition to Pro-Gay?
-- From "Guys, Tom Ridge Changed Mind on Gay Marriage *Months Ago*" by Simon van Zuylen-Wood, Philadelphia Magazine 10/25/13
As we told you back in March, Ridge signed an amicus brief urging the Supremes to strike down California’s Prop 8 ban. At the time, of course, this was notable: Ridge signed Pennsylvania’s ban on gay marriage and hadn’t publicly indicated his support for same-sex marriage until the brief. So, just to be clear, Tom Ridge has been a gay rights proponent since at least March, 2013.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Tom Ridge tells gay Republicans that GOP is sometimes too 'self-righteous'" by John L. Micek, Central Pennsylvania Patriot-News 10/25/13
Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge says he thinks Republicans should take a more practical and less divisive approach to politics as the party approaches the 2014 mid-terms and the 2016 presidential cycle.
When it came to his stance on gay issues, Ridge said that "life, politics and government is a journey, and your positions on issues as you go along that journey may become more fully embedded or, because of circumstances or other changes, they can change. As you know, when I was governor, I signed the Defense of Marriage Act [in Pennsylvania]. Since that time, frankly, my point of view has evolved.”
[Ridge spoke of] ". . . a philosophy that I hope most [Republicans] embrace as I talk about what we need to start winning national elections and, frankly, be a more positive and compelling force for change in the 21st Century," he said. "You can’t change government unless you win elections. Our roots are conservative, but we should be far less — not even far less — we oughtta quit being judgmental.”
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Tom Ridge’s prepared remarks to the Log Cabin Republicans dinner" (Log Cabin Spirit Of Lincoln Event 10/23/13) posted at BuzzFeed
I’m pleased to join you today and to be among those who supported the Amicus brief in the case of Perry v. Brown (Hollingsworth) [to overturn Prop 8 -- the one-man-one-woman marriage amendment passed by a majority of Californians].
. . . all of us are equal in the eyes of the God we worship and the same should be true of the government to which we “render unto Caesar.”
. . . [I have also evoled away from the GOP platform] on any number of issues – abortion, immigration, school choice, fiscal policy, foreign policy.
. . . For many observers, the GOP has become intolerant, judgmental and self-righteous – perhaps worthy of attitudes of the Pilgrims in 1620, but hardly attractive qualities for a political party nearly 400 years later.
. . . Our own narrow thinking on social issues is one of the principal reasons we have lost the last two national elections.
. . . If our expectation is the respect of our individual rights, we must respect the rights of others to live and let live.
. . . If we want a government that acknowledges our God-given right to freely choose how we live—in regard [to] marriage and others issues – we must demand a government that respects the rights of others to choose and follow their conscience just the same.
. . . 63% of millennials hope to achieve full marriage equality. The times they are changing.
To read the entire Tom Ridge speech above, CLICK HERE.
From "Tom Ridge Ignores Responsibility for Kermit Gosnell, Attacks Pro-Lifers" by Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com 10/31/13
Former Governor Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania is not interested in accepting any responsibility for the horrors that happened at Kermit Gosnell’s abortion clinic.
Instead of acknowledging how the Grand Jury report in the case pointed the blame squarely at the feet of his administration for not following state law and routinely inspecting abortion clinics, Ridge has decided to attack pro-lifers.
Gosnell was allowed to operate his “house of horrors” with impunity thanks to irresponsible and unjustifiable policies put in place by former Governor Tom Ridge. The grand jury report in the Gosnell case revealed that “Ridge administration officials concluded that inspections would be ‘putting a barrier up to women’ seeking abortions. Better to leave clinics to do as they pleased.’”
At the instructions of Ridge and in support of the multi-million dollar abortion cabal, neither Gosnell’s abortion facility nor any other Pennsylvania abortion clinic had been inspected by the Pennsylvania Department of Health for the 17 years between 1993 and 2010.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Also read Nationwide Marriage Amendment Puts GOP to Test
In addition, read Senator Ted Cruz Says the Gay Agenda Ends Christian Liberty
Sunday, November 03, 2013
Christmas Music Banned in New Jersey School
Parents and other citizens in Bordentown, New Jersey are fighting back after school superintendent Constance J. Bauer announced that music celebrating Christmas shall NOT be allowed because people have complained in the past. However, the Bordentown Regional District calendar includes "winter" activities including a "Breakfast with Santa and Santa Workshop."
For background, read Wisconsin School Bans Christmas Music, Citizens Revolt and also read Nativity Banned at Florida School by Obama Dept. of Education as well as Christmas Music at School is a 'Form of Bullying'
-- From "New Jersey district bans religious music at school winter concerts" by David Mitchell, KDVR-TV31 (Denver) 11/1/13
A New Jersey school district has issued a new rule that says no Christmas music can be played at this year’s winter concerts.
The superintendent of the district told parents that there were some parents who questioned last year’s musical selections.
After a legal review, a decision was made that religious music should not be part of the elementary school programs.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "N.J. school district won't allow religious songs at holiday concerts" by Jeff Goldman, The Star-Ledger (New Jersey) 10/30/13
Michael Stratechuk, whose children attended Columbia High School and Maplewood Middle School sued in 2004, saying the [New Jersey] South Orange-Maplewood school district's ban violated the First Amendment's freedom of worship provision.
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia upheld the ban, however. The judges said public school administrations can determine which songs are appropriate according to constitutional guidelines to create a secular "inclusive environment."
The conservative legal group Alliance Defending Freedom [ADF] is battling the Bordentown district's choice, though. It fired off a letter asserting that district official misunderstood the court ruling.
"We write to explain that every federal court to examine the issue has determined that including Christmas carols and other religious music in school choir programs fully complies with the First Amendment and to urge you to immediately rescind the new policy instituted by administrative officials."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "N.J. School District Banning Christmas Carols at Elementary Schools Put on Notice by Religious Freedom Advocacy Group" by Alex Murashko, Christian Post Reporter 10/30/13
"Schools should not have to think twice about whether they can allow students to perform Christmas carols," said ADF Legal Counsel Matthew Sharp. "Courts have unanimously upheld their inclusion in school productions – even when songs deal with Christian themes that are naturally a part of the holiday."
The [ADF] letter also explains that "the cultural and educational merits of Christmas carols and other religious songs are well established." One federal appellate court, for example, "recognized over thirty years ago that there is no constitutional objection to students in public schools learning and performing religious songs 'presented objectively as part of a secular program of education….' Music educators, not administrative officials, should choose which choral pieces--secular or sacred--are best-suited to the occasion…."
"Misinformation about the First Amendment is frequently what leads to censorship of constitutionally permissible and culturally significant songs performed during Christmas concerts," added Senior Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco. "We urge the Bordentown Regional School District to rescind this new policy and permit religious music to be included among the many non-religious songs performed at school concerts."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
For background, read Wisconsin School Bans Christmas Music, Citizens Revolt and also read Nativity Banned at Florida School by Obama Dept. of Education as well as Christmas Music at School is a 'Form of Bullying'
-- From "New Jersey district bans religious music at school winter concerts" by David Mitchell, KDVR-TV31 (Denver) 11/1/13
A New Jersey school district has issued a new rule that says no Christmas music can be played at this year’s winter concerts.
The superintendent of the district told parents that there were some parents who questioned last year’s musical selections.
After a legal review, a decision was made that religious music should not be part of the elementary school programs.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "N.J. school district won't allow religious songs at holiday concerts" by Jeff Goldman, The Star-Ledger (New Jersey) 10/30/13
Michael Stratechuk, whose children attended Columbia High School and Maplewood Middle School sued in 2004, saying the [New Jersey] South Orange-Maplewood school district's ban violated the First Amendment's freedom of worship provision.
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia upheld the ban, however. The judges said public school administrations can determine which songs are appropriate according to constitutional guidelines to create a secular "inclusive environment."
The conservative legal group Alliance Defending Freedom [ADF] is battling the Bordentown district's choice, though. It fired off a letter asserting that district official misunderstood the court ruling.
"We write to explain that every federal court to examine the issue has determined that including Christmas carols and other religious music in school choir programs fully complies with the First Amendment and to urge you to immediately rescind the new policy instituted by administrative officials."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "N.J. School District Banning Christmas Carols at Elementary Schools Put on Notice by Religious Freedom Advocacy Group" by Alex Murashko, Christian Post Reporter 10/30/13
"Schools should not have to think twice about whether they can allow students to perform Christmas carols," said ADF Legal Counsel Matthew Sharp. "Courts have unanimously upheld their inclusion in school productions – even when songs deal with Christian themes that are naturally a part of the holiday."
The [ADF] letter also explains that "the cultural and educational merits of Christmas carols and other religious songs are well established." One federal appellate court, for example, "recognized over thirty years ago that there is no constitutional objection to students in public schools learning and performing religious songs 'presented objectively as part of a secular program of education….' Music educators, not administrative officials, should choose which choral pieces--secular or sacred--are best-suited to the occasion…."
"Misinformation about the First Amendment is frequently what leads to censorship of constitutionally permissible and culturally significant songs performed during Christmas concerts," added Senior Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco. "We urge the Bordentown Regional School District to rescind this new policy and permit religious music to be included among the many non-religious songs performed at school concerts."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Saturday, November 02, 2013
Catholics Defeat ObamaCare: Appeals Court Ruling
The devout Roman Catholic brothers Francis and Philip M. Gilardi, owners of Freshway Foods and Freshway Logistics of Sidney, Ohio, sued the federal government to stop the onerous ObamaCare penalties imposed on them for their religious opposition to paying for abortifacients, contraceptives and sterilizations. Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in their favor, an action likely to cause this case, and those similar, to be decided by the Supreme Court.
For background, read Bishops Say Catholic Church Will Defy ObamaCare and also read Christians Defeating ObamaCare, Obama's DOJ Surrenders as well as Federal Judge Rules Against ObamaCare, For Catholics
The battle: Report Says Not Enough Abortions - ObamaCare the Answer and so ObamaCare Covers Abortion & Pays Abortionists
In addition, read Morning-After Abortifacient is Becoming the 'Contraceptive' Choice
-- From "Obamacare Birth Control Coverage Mandate Ruled Unconstitutional" by Karen Gullo, Bloomberg News 11/2/13
A provision of President Barack Obama’s health-care reforms requiring group insurance plans to cover contraceptives violates the constitutional right to religious freedom, a federal appeals court in Washington said.
“We must determine whether the contraceptive mandate imposed by the act trammels the right of free exercise -— a right that lies at the core of our constitutional liberties -— as protected by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” wrote Circuit Judge Janice Rogers Brown. “We conclude it does.”
The case is Gilardi v. Department of Health and Human Services, 13-104, U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (Washington).
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Court Rules Contraception Mandate Infringes on Religious Freedom" by Sarah Wheaton, New York Times 11/1/13
The ruling was largely in line with most others around the country so far. Of nearly 40 challenges, only a handful of courts have upheld the government’s requirement that employer health plans provide free birth control, emergency contraception and sterilization.
Francis A. Gilardi Jr. and Philip M. Gilardi, brothers from Sidney, Ohio, should not have to provide contraception coverage to employees of the companies they own if it goes against their Catholic faith, the court ruled. However, those companies themselves, Freshway Foods and Freshway Logistics, do not have the right to challenge the mandate on religious grounds, the court said.
“While this is a victory for the individual plaintiffs,” said Francis J. Manion, [of the American Center for Law and Justice] who argued the case, “the appeals court rejected a critical argument that the rights of the companies be protected as well.”
However, the question of companies’ rights is just a “procedural technicality,” said Eric Baxter, a senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which has represented other high-profile challengers to the ban, including the craft store chain Hobby Lobby. The Supreme Court is expected to decide before Thanksgiving whether to review that or other cases about the mandate, Mr. Baxter said.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "D.C. Appellate Court Rules Against Contraceptive Mandate in Affordable Care Act" by Dottie Perry, The Legal Examiner 11/1/13
A divided Federal court in the District of Columbia sided with more business owners who brought suit to challenge the Affordable Care Act (“ObamaCare”) birth control mandate today. The court’s order expressly provided “a temporary reprieve from the mandate.” The plaintiff business owners complained that the mandate violated their beliefs as Roman Catholics.
This D.C. Court of Appeals ruling is in line with at least nine other courts that have ruled against the contraceptive coverage mandate.
Dozens of additional suits have been, and continue to be, filed throughout the country. Most notably, Hobby Lobby, a craft store, has also filed suit over various ObamaCare mandates such as the contraceptive coverage requirement. Hobby Lobby sought and has been granted an expedited en banc hearing on the issue. Ultimately, this mandate will likely end up in front of the U.S. Supreme Court for final resolution.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Appeals court deals blow to ObamaCare contraceptive mandate" by The Associated Press 11/2/13
[Judge Janice Rogers] Brown, an appointee of President George W. Bush, said that the mandate presented the Gilardis with a "Hobson's choice: They can either abide by the sacred tenets of their faith, pay a penalty of over $14 million, and cripple the companies they have spent a lifetime building, or they become complicit in a grave moral wrong."
But Brown upheld the lower court's dismissal of an injunction for the brothers' companies, writing, "we have no basis for concluding a secular organization can exercise religion."
. . . Judge A. Raymond Randolph joined Brown's main conclusion about the Gilardis but dissented from her conclusions about Freshway companies' exercise of religion.
"Why limit the free-exercise right to religious organizations when many business corporations adhere to religious dogma?" asked Randolph, an appointee of President George H.W. Bush. "If non-religious organizations do not have free-exercise rights, why do non-religious natural persons (atheists, for example) possess them?"
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Appeals Court Rules for the Gilardis but Leaves Key Questions Unresolved" by Francis J. Manion, American Center for Law and Justice 11/1/13
In [Friday's] decision, a majority of the Court agreed with our argument that the HHS Mandate places a substantial burden on the free exercise of religion of the Gilardis in trying to run their business in accordance with their religious beliefs. But the Court declined to go further and also hold that the Gilardis’ companies, as such, also have free exercise claims that they can assert in court.
We are obviously pleased with the Court’s recognition that the Mandate burdens the Gilardis’ beliefs. At the same time, we believe we need to ask the Supreme Court to decide the question left unanswered so that there will be no ambiguity about the protection afforded by this decision. Therefore, we intend to file a petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court next week.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Click headlines below to read previous articles:
President Obama Redefines 1st Amendment Freedom of Religion using ObamaCare
President Obama Says His Daughters Need ObamaCare's Free Contraceptives
President Obama Prays to an Unknown God
President Obama Asks God to Bless Planned Parenthood
For background, read Bishops Say Catholic Church Will Defy ObamaCare and also read Christians Defeating ObamaCare, Obama's DOJ Surrenders as well as Federal Judge Rules Against ObamaCare, For Catholics
The battle: Report Says Not Enough Abortions - ObamaCare the Answer and so ObamaCare Covers Abortion & Pays Abortionists
In addition, read Morning-After Abortifacient is Becoming the 'Contraceptive' Choice
-- From "Obamacare Birth Control Coverage Mandate Ruled Unconstitutional" by Karen Gullo, Bloomberg News 11/2/13
A provision of President Barack Obama’s health-care reforms requiring group insurance plans to cover contraceptives violates the constitutional right to religious freedom, a federal appeals court in Washington said.
“We must determine whether the contraceptive mandate imposed by the act trammels the right of free exercise -— a right that lies at the core of our constitutional liberties -— as protected by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” wrote Circuit Judge Janice Rogers Brown. “We conclude it does.”
The case is Gilardi v. Department of Health and Human Services, 13-104, U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (Washington).
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Court Rules Contraception Mandate Infringes on Religious Freedom" by Sarah Wheaton, New York Times 11/1/13
The ruling was largely in line with most others around the country so far. Of nearly 40 challenges, only a handful of courts have upheld the government’s requirement that employer health plans provide free birth control, emergency contraception and sterilization.
Francis A. Gilardi Jr. and Philip M. Gilardi, brothers from Sidney, Ohio, should not have to provide contraception coverage to employees of the companies they own if it goes against their Catholic faith, the court ruled. However, those companies themselves, Freshway Foods and Freshway Logistics, do not have the right to challenge the mandate on religious grounds, the court said.
“While this is a victory for the individual plaintiffs,” said Francis J. Manion, [of the American Center for Law and Justice] who argued the case, “the appeals court rejected a critical argument that the rights of the companies be protected as well.”
However, the question of companies’ rights is just a “procedural technicality,” said Eric Baxter, a senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which has represented other high-profile challengers to the ban, including the craft store chain Hobby Lobby. The Supreme Court is expected to decide before Thanksgiving whether to review that or other cases about the mandate, Mr. Baxter said.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "D.C. Appellate Court Rules Against Contraceptive Mandate in Affordable Care Act" by Dottie Perry, The Legal Examiner 11/1/13
A divided Federal court in the District of Columbia sided with more business owners who brought suit to challenge the Affordable Care Act (“ObamaCare”) birth control mandate today. The court’s order expressly provided “a temporary reprieve from the mandate.” The plaintiff business owners complained that the mandate violated their beliefs as Roman Catholics.
This D.C. Court of Appeals ruling is in line with at least nine other courts that have ruled against the contraceptive coverage mandate.
Dozens of additional suits have been, and continue to be, filed throughout the country. Most notably, Hobby Lobby, a craft store, has also filed suit over various ObamaCare mandates such as the contraceptive coverage requirement. Hobby Lobby sought and has been granted an expedited en banc hearing on the issue. Ultimately, this mandate will likely end up in front of the U.S. Supreme Court for final resolution.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Appeals court deals blow to ObamaCare contraceptive mandate" by The Associated Press 11/2/13
[Judge Janice Rogers] Brown, an appointee of President George W. Bush, said that the mandate presented the Gilardis with a "Hobson's choice: They can either abide by the sacred tenets of their faith, pay a penalty of over $14 million, and cripple the companies they have spent a lifetime building, or they become complicit in a grave moral wrong."
But Brown upheld the lower court's dismissal of an injunction for the brothers' companies, writing, "we have no basis for concluding a secular organization can exercise religion."
. . . Judge A. Raymond Randolph joined Brown's main conclusion about the Gilardis but dissented from her conclusions about Freshway companies' exercise of religion.
"Why limit the free-exercise right to religious organizations when many business corporations adhere to religious dogma?" asked Randolph, an appointee of President George H.W. Bush. "If non-religious organizations do not have free-exercise rights, why do non-religious natural persons (atheists, for example) possess them?"
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Appeals Court Rules for the Gilardis but Leaves Key Questions Unresolved" by Francis J. Manion, American Center for Law and Justice 11/1/13
In [Friday's] decision, a majority of the Court agreed with our argument that the HHS Mandate places a substantial burden on the free exercise of religion of the Gilardis in trying to run their business in accordance with their religious beliefs. But the Court declined to go further and also hold that the Gilardis’ companies, as such, also have free exercise claims that they can assert in court.
We are obviously pleased with the Court’s recognition that the Mandate burdens the Gilardis’ beliefs. At the same time, we believe we need to ask the Supreme Court to decide the question left unanswered so that there will be no ambiguity about the protection afforded by this decision. Therefore, we intend to file a petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court next week.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Click headlines below to read previous articles:
President Obama Redefines 1st Amendment Freedom of Religion using ObamaCare
President Obama Says His Daughters Need ObamaCare's Free Contraceptives
President Obama Prays to an Unknown God
President Obama Asks God to Bless Planned Parenthood
Friday, November 01, 2013
'Gay Marriage:' Hawaii Government Oppose Citizens
Shortly after over 10,000 citizens gathered at the Capitol demanding preservation of marriage as one man and one woman, the Hawaii Senate passed a bill to redefine marriage and unconstitutionally discriminate against Christians, Jews, Muslims and others. Today, the state House continues hearing testimony from thousands of citizens, and yet the mainstream media is reporting that Democrats, who control the legislature and governorship, will certainly pass same-sex marriage.
For background, read Hawaii Civil Unions NOT Marriage, Federal Judge Rules and also read Lesbians Find Christians to Sue in Hawaii
And read of the 14 other states that have redefined marriage.
-- From "House committee hearing on gay marriage to resume" by Oskar Garcia, Associated Press 11/1/13
A Hawaii House committee hearing on gay marriage took a break early Friday after a 14-hour session, and will resume later in the morning to hear testimony from more than 4,000 people who have yet to speak.
The House judiciary and finance committees are considering a bill passed by the state Senate to legalize gay marriage. The legislation is the centerpiece of a special session called by Gov. Neil Abercrombie, with a goal of passing a bill so same-sex couples married in Hawaii can receive federal benefits as granted by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this year.
With two minutes allotted for each speaker, the rest of public testimony could take as much as 139 hours — nearly six days if the hearing was to run continuously. Not all testifiers have been present when their number was called, but many waited in the Hawaii Capitol for several hours for their turn to speak.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Hawaii Senate passes bill to legalize gay marriage" by Treena Shapiro, Reuters 10/31/13
The 20-4 vote in favor of the bill, with three Democrats joining the state Senate's lone Republican to oppose the measure, came two days after the start of a special session called by Democratic Governor Neil Abercrombie to take up the legislation. One senator was absent for the vote.
If the bill is approved, as expected, by the state House of Representatives - where Democrats outnumber Republicans 44-7 - Hawaii would become the 15th vote to make it legal for gay and lesbian couples to wed.
Abercrombie, who served more than two decades in the U.S. House of Representatives before running for governor in 2010, signed a same-sex civil unions bill into law two years ago and has since been a vocal proponent of gay marriage.
His predecessor, Republican Linda Lingle, vetoed a civil unions bill in 2010.
In 1993, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled it was discriminatory to deny marriage rights to same-sex couples.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Opponents of Same Sex Marriage Overwhelm the Capitol, but Bill Easily Passes Senate Judiciary Committee" posted at Hawaii Reporter 10/29/13
As many as 12,000 people on three islands turned out Monday, October 28, at a 5-hour rally to protest Senate Bill 1, a bill that would legalize same sex marriage in Hawaii.
Coordinated by Christian churches and family advocacy groups, the rallies were timed with the opening day of the special legislative session called by Gov. Neil Abercrombie to pass a same sex marriage bill before the end of the year.
The massive crowd chanted and waved signs that said “Let the people decide,” demanding legislators allow a public vote on the issue, and a number of religious and political leaders spoke at the event held in the capitol rotunda.
People stood on line for hours to testify before the Senate Judiciary and Labor Committee on the gay marriage bill. More than 400 people testified in person after 3,459 people sent testimony in advance and hundreds more submitted testimony after the deadline or in person.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Experts say Hawaii’s gay marriage bill worst at protecting religious freedom" by Malia Zimmermann, Hawaii Reporter 10/30/13
While SB1 protects religious clergy from liability for refusing to solemnize a same sex marriage, the legislation offers no exemption to non-clergy members, such as judges, [Civil rights attorney Jim] Hochberg said.
SB1 also fails to protect religious organizations from liability if they decline requests to use their properties for same sex celebrations, Hochberg said, because to qualify for the protection, a church must “not make its facilities or grounds available to the general public for solemnization of any marriage celebration for a profit.”
Five noted law professors told Hawaii lawmakers this week they agree SB 1 will infringe on religious liberties, and the bill should be amended.
While the professors expressed support for same-sex marriage, they warned careless or overly aggressive drafting could create a whole new set of problems for the religious liberty of those believers who cannot conscientiously participate in implementing the new regime.
“The gain for human liberty will be severely compromised if same-sex couples now force religious dissenters to violate their conscience in the same way that those dissenters, when they had the power to do so, used to force same-sex couples to hide their sexuality,” the law professors wrote.
“A bill that addresses only solemnization would do less to protect religious liberty than any other state that has enacted same-sex marriage by legislation,” the professors wrote.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Also read Hawaii Ends Prayer in Senate - Bows to ACLU
Fn addition, read Homosexualists Say Gay Agenda will be Complete when Christians are Muzzled as well as Senator Ted Cruz Says the Gay Agenda Ends Christian Liberty
For background, read Hawaii Civil Unions NOT Marriage, Federal Judge Rules and also read Lesbians Find Christians to Sue in Hawaii
And read of the 14 other states that have redefined marriage.
-- From "House committee hearing on gay marriage to resume" by Oskar Garcia, Associated Press 11/1/13
A Hawaii House committee hearing on gay marriage took a break early Friday after a 14-hour session, and will resume later in the morning to hear testimony from more than 4,000 people who have yet to speak.
The House judiciary and finance committees are considering a bill passed by the state Senate to legalize gay marriage. The legislation is the centerpiece of a special session called by Gov. Neil Abercrombie, with a goal of passing a bill so same-sex couples married in Hawaii can receive federal benefits as granted by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this year.
With two minutes allotted for each speaker, the rest of public testimony could take as much as 139 hours — nearly six days if the hearing was to run continuously. Not all testifiers have been present when their number was called, but many waited in the Hawaii Capitol for several hours for their turn to speak.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Hawaii Senate passes bill to legalize gay marriage" by Treena Shapiro, Reuters 10/31/13
The 20-4 vote in favor of the bill, with three Democrats joining the state Senate's lone Republican to oppose the measure, came two days after the start of a special session called by Democratic Governor Neil Abercrombie to take up the legislation. One senator was absent for the vote.
If the bill is approved, as expected, by the state House of Representatives - where Democrats outnumber Republicans 44-7 - Hawaii would become the 15th vote to make it legal for gay and lesbian couples to wed.
Abercrombie, who served more than two decades in the U.S. House of Representatives before running for governor in 2010, signed a same-sex civil unions bill into law two years ago and has since been a vocal proponent of gay marriage.
His predecessor, Republican Linda Lingle, vetoed a civil unions bill in 2010.
In 1993, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled it was discriminatory to deny marriage rights to same-sex couples.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Opponents of Same Sex Marriage Overwhelm the Capitol, but Bill Easily Passes Senate Judiciary Committee" posted at Hawaii Reporter 10/29/13
As many as 12,000 people on three islands turned out Monday, October 28, at a 5-hour rally to protest Senate Bill 1, a bill that would legalize same sex marriage in Hawaii.
Coordinated by Christian churches and family advocacy groups, the rallies were timed with the opening day of the special legislative session called by Gov. Neil Abercrombie to pass a same sex marriage bill before the end of the year.
The massive crowd chanted and waved signs that said “Let the people decide,” demanding legislators allow a public vote on the issue, and a number of religious and political leaders spoke at the event held in the capitol rotunda.
People stood on line for hours to testify before the Senate Judiciary and Labor Committee on the gay marriage bill. More than 400 people testified in person after 3,459 people sent testimony in advance and hundreds more submitted testimony after the deadline or in person.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Experts say Hawaii’s gay marriage bill worst at protecting religious freedom" by Malia Zimmermann, Hawaii Reporter 10/30/13
While SB1 protects religious clergy from liability for refusing to solemnize a same sex marriage, the legislation offers no exemption to non-clergy members, such as judges, [Civil rights attorney Jim] Hochberg said.
SB1 also fails to protect religious organizations from liability if they decline requests to use their properties for same sex celebrations, Hochberg said, because to qualify for the protection, a church must “not make its facilities or grounds available to the general public for solemnization of any marriage celebration for a profit.”
Five noted law professors told Hawaii lawmakers this week they agree SB 1 will infringe on religious liberties, and the bill should be amended.
While the professors expressed support for same-sex marriage, they warned careless or overly aggressive drafting could create a whole new set of problems for the religious liberty of those believers who cannot conscientiously participate in implementing the new regime.
“The gain for human liberty will be severely compromised if same-sex couples now force religious dissenters to violate their conscience in the same way that those dissenters, when they had the power to do so, used to force same-sex couples to hide their sexuality,” the law professors wrote.
“A bill that addresses only solemnization would do less to protect religious liberty than any other state that has enacted same-sex marriage by legislation,” the professors wrote.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Also read Hawaii Ends Prayer in Senate - Bows to ACLU
Fn addition, read Homosexualists Say Gay Agenda will be Complete when Christians are Muzzled as well as Senator Ted Cruz Says the Gay Agenda Ends Christian Liberty
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Pennsylvania Town Prays, Ignores Atheists' Threats
The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) put the Newberry Township Board of Supervisors on notice for having prayer at their meetings. After consultation with legal counsel, the Board continued to allow citizens to pray during the public comment section of their meetings, and no legal action has been taken by the FFRF.
UPDATE 5/13/14: U.S. Supreme Court rules prayers to Jesus Christ OK at government meetings
-- From "God and government: Does prayer belong at public meetings?" by Ivey DeJesus, Central Pennsylvania Patriot-News 10/29/13
No sooner did the public comment period of last week’s meeting of the Newberry Township Board of Supervisors get underway than a member of the audience stepped up to the microphone and offered to say a prayer.
Those present, including the township supervisors, rose to their feet, bowed their heads and joined in the unison recital of the Lord’s Prayer.
Township officials have long held that no laws prohibit local governments from dedicating time to prayer at meetings. Indeed, they point out, the state Legislative chambers and their federal counterparts open sessions with some type of prayer.
The legal benchmark for legislative prayer remains the 1983 Supreme Court decision, Marsh v. Chambers, which ruled that the Nebraska Legislature does not violate the Constitution with its tradition of opening session with a prayer by a paid chaplain.
For now, anyone in attendance at the Newberry meetings would be hard pressed to find objections to the moment of prayer. For the past six months, someone from the public invariably takes the floor and leads the gathering in prayer.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Controversy brews in Newberry Township over prayer at public meetings" by Jeffrey A. Johnson, Central Pennsylvania Patriot-News 4/25/13
Board Chairman Carl Hughes said supervisors were advised by their attorney that it was legal for a member of the audience to do this. A supervisor for 12 years, Hughes said he sees the argument against prayer at public meetings, but said it’s long been a practice in this township of about 15,000.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation on March 21 sent Hughes and the other supervisors a letter that said a resident of Etters contacted the group with concerns about the Lord’s Prayer being recited at township meetings.
FFRF said it has more than 19,000 members across the country, including 650 in Pennsylvania. It sued the IRS for allowing tax-exempt churches and religious organizations to become involved in political campaigns.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
In addition, read Texas Law Tells Schools to Ignore Atheist Threats
The root issue is American Religious Liberty vs. Anti-Christian Totalitarianism
To read the latest attacks on Christian prayer by atheists, click label "PRAYER" below:
“I see something wrong with one person stopping everyone from what they’re doing because they want freedom from religion. It’s irritating. I’m willing to be tolerant. [but . . .] If it’s only one person, then they don’t have to participate. They can stay seated.”For background, read Atheists Threaten to Sue Every School in Tennessee and in Mississippi but admit they're Short on Lawyers to Sue ALL Christians
-- Supervisor Maxine Kauffman
UPDATE 5/13/14: U.S. Supreme Court rules prayers to Jesus Christ OK at government meetings
-- From "God and government: Does prayer belong at public meetings?" by Ivey DeJesus, Central Pennsylvania Patriot-News 10/29/13
No sooner did the public comment period of last week’s meeting of the Newberry Township Board of Supervisors get underway than a member of the audience stepped up to the microphone and offered to say a prayer.
Those present, including the township supervisors, rose to their feet, bowed their heads and joined in the unison recital of the Lord’s Prayer.
Township officials have long held that no laws prohibit local governments from dedicating time to prayer at meetings. Indeed, they point out, the state Legislative chambers and their federal counterparts open sessions with some type of prayer.
The legal benchmark for legislative prayer remains the 1983 Supreme Court decision, Marsh v. Chambers, which ruled that the Nebraska Legislature does not violate the Constitution with its tradition of opening session with a prayer by a paid chaplain.
For now, anyone in attendance at the Newberry meetings would be hard pressed to find objections to the moment of prayer. For the past six months, someone from the public invariably takes the floor and leads the gathering in prayer.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Controversy brews in Newberry Township over prayer at public meetings" by Jeffrey A. Johnson, Central Pennsylvania Patriot-News 4/25/13
Board Chairman Carl Hughes said supervisors were advised by their attorney that it was legal for a member of the audience to do this. A supervisor for 12 years, Hughes said he sees the argument against prayer at public meetings, but said it’s long been a practice in this township of about 15,000.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation on March 21 sent Hughes and the other supervisors a letter that said a resident of Etters contacted the group with concerns about the Lord’s Prayer being recited at township meetings.
FFRF said it has more than 19,000 members across the country, including 650 in Pennsylvania. It sued the IRS for allowing tax-exempt churches and religious organizations to become involved in political campaigns.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
In addition, read Texas Law Tells Schools to Ignore Atheist Threats
The root issue is American Religious Liberty vs. Anti-Christian Totalitarianism
To read the latest attacks on Christian prayer by atheists, click label "PRAYER" below:
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Homosexual Teacher Jailed: Paying Boys to Sext Him
Mark Kandel of Peckville (Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania) who was a school administrator in Archbald, and previously a Scranton School Board member, was sentenced to over 14 years in prison for offering money to male students (no females) to send naked pictures of themselves to him.
Senior U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo told Kandel his actions were "depraved."
For background, read Gay Teacher Sexting Boy Resigns, Media Silent and also read Arizona School OKs Teacher: Pedophilia, Bestiality as well as Gay Pedophile Teacher Defended by Michigan School
In addition, read Pedophilia is Sexual Orientation, Like 'Being Gay' and also read Normalization of Pedophilia Urged by Psychiatrists
UPDATE 8/29/14: Illinois Homosexual Teacher Arrested on Child Porn Charges
-- From "Pa. school administrator gets 14 years for sexting students" by UPI 10/29/13
Prosecutors said Kandel sent as many as 13,000 text messages, most of them sexual in nature, to 17 juveniles during a short period in 2012. One of the victims came forward after Kandel sent him a nude photo of himself and was ridiculed at the school by fellow students. The victim told Senior U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo he attempted suicide during the ordeal.
"I am a victim of Mark Kandel," the teenager proclaimed.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Ex-educator sentenced for soliciting sex from boy" by Edward Lewis, Wilkes Barre Times-Leader 10/28/13
The boy, now a student at a college in Lackawanna County, said he had to withdraw from attending school at Valley View High School due to stress and ridicule from other students. He told Caputo he attempted suicide and self mutilated while reading the text messages from Kandel.
Kandel was indicted by a federal grand jury in December on four counts. He pleaded guilty in June to a single count of online enticement of a minor while the three other counts were withdrawn under a negotiated plea deal with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Scranton.
Kandel did not move when his youngest daughter, currently a student at Valley View, said she was ashamed to call him a father. She told Caputo that for the first 15 years of her life she held her father on a “pedestal,” saying they had an “unbreakable bond.”
She said her family forgave their father when he was charged and later sentenced to 90 days home confinement in 2008 for supplying alcohol to minors during a party at their home.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Former educator sentenced to 14 years in prison for solicting sex from boy" by Edward Lewis, Wilkes Barre Times-Leader 10/28/13
. . . The then 17-year-old man, now attending college in Lackawanna County, told investigators about his contact with Kandel while he was a student at Valley View High School. The boy sent an email to Kandel asking for help with a college entrance exam essay and stayed in touch by texting. Their communication was harmless at first but quickly turned explicit, with Kandel asking the boy to send him pictures of the boy wearing Calvin Klein underwear.
The boy said he had to withdraw from attending Valley View because of stress from other students. He told Caputo he attempted suicide.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
For further background, read the history of President Obama's Gay Agenda for Schools
And also read Obama's DOJ Forces Girl into Boys Locker Room
In addition, read School Doesn't Back Gay Agenda, Obama Investigates
Senior U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo told Kandel his actions were "depraved."
For background, read Gay Teacher Sexting Boy Resigns, Media Silent and also read Arizona School OKs Teacher: Pedophilia, Bestiality as well as Gay Pedophile Teacher Defended by Michigan School
In addition, read Pedophilia is Sexual Orientation, Like 'Being Gay' and also read Normalization of Pedophilia Urged by Psychiatrists
UPDATE 8/29/14: Illinois Homosexual Teacher Arrested on Child Porn Charges
-- From "Pa. school administrator gets 14 years for sexting students" by UPI 10/29/13
Prosecutors said Kandel sent as many as 13,000 text messages, most of them sexual in nature, to 17 juveniles during a short period in 2012. One of the victims came forward after Kandel sent him a nude photo of himself and was ridiculed at the school by fellow students. The victim told Senior U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo he attempted suicide during the ordeal.
"I am a victim of Mark Kandel," the teenager proclaimed.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Ex-educator sentenced for soliciting sex from boy" by Edward Lewis, Wilkes Barre Times-Leader 10/28/13
The boy, now a student at a college in Lackawanna County, said he had to withdraw from attending school at Valley View High School due to stress and ridicule from other students. He told Caputo he attempted suicide and self mutilated while reading the text messages from Kandel.
Kandel was indicted by a federal grand jury in December on four counts. He pleaded guilty in June to a single count of online enticement of a minor while the three other counts were withdrawn under a negotiated plea deal with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Scranton.
Kandel did not move when his youngest daughter, currently a student at Valley View, said she was ashamed to call him a father. She told Caputo that for the first 15 years of her life she held her father on a “pedestal,” saying they had an “unbreakable bond.”
She said her family forgave their father when he was charged and later sentenced to 90 days home confinement in 2008 for supplying alcohol to minors during a party at their home.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Former educator sentenced to 14 years in prison for solicting sex from boy" by Edward Lewis, Wilkes Barre Times-Leader 10/28/13
. . . The then 17-year-old man, now attending college in Lackawanna County, told investigators about his contact with Kandel while he was a student at Valley View High School. The boy sent an email to Kandel asking for help with a college entrance exam essay and stayed in touch by texting. Their communication was harmless at first but quickly turned explicit, with Kandel asking the boy to send him pictures of the boy wearing Calvin Klein underwear.
The boy said he had to withdraw from attending Valley View because of stress from other students. He told Caputo he attempted suicide.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
For further background, read the history of President Obama's Gay Agenda for Schools
And also read Obama's DOJ Forces Girl into Boys Locker Room
In addition, read School Doesn't Back Gay Agenda, Obama Investigates
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Bishop Shoves 'Gay Marriage' Up Methodists' Alley
Homosexualists inside the United Methodist Church, both clergy and laity, have worked for decades to reverse the denomination's lack of acceptance of homosexual behavior as a "Christian teaching," but to no avail. Although many avenues for amicable exit from the UMC (including money and/or property) have been offered to defiant pastors, and entire church congregations, these homosexualists refuse to leave but rather insist that the denomination change.
This week, a retired San Francisco UMC bishop, who sat in the Birmingham jail with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., says the UMC is "immoral and unjust" concerning homosexuality, and now has officiated a same-sex "marriage" in an Alabama church, in order to intimidate the Christian majority of the worldwide denomination.
Methodists Ignore Own Rules re: Lesbian Pastor
Renegade Methodist Clergy for Same-sex 'Marriage'
Baby Jesus with Two Lesbians: Methodist Nativity
Methodist Clergy Buck Bible, Church - Science Also
Methodists Team Up with Atheists for Bible Study
Allah Worshiped in Virginia Methodist Church
African Methodists Vote to Keep United Methodist Church on 'Straight and Narrow'
In addition, read this NON-joke: A Rabbi, Pastor & Imam Join a Methodist Seminary, and ...
UPDATE 12/21/13: Apostate Methodist Bishops Support Defrocked Pastor (see excerpts below)
-- From "Methodist bishop performs gay wedding" posted at Montgomery Advertiser 10/27/13
A retired United Methodist bishop performed a wedding for two gay men Saturday in [Center Point,] Alabama despite opposition from other church leaders.
Joe Openshaw said he and longtime partner Bobby Prince asked [San Francisco's former United Methodist Bishop Melvin] Talbert to marry them when they were refused permission to marry in their United Methodist church.
Talbert and other Methodist supporters of same-sex rights have been encouraging their denomination to recognize gay marriages for years. Alabama does not recognize same-sex marriage.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Defiant Methodist bishop fuels gay-marriage battle" by Matt Smith, Center for Investigative Reporting, posted at San Francisco Chronicle 10/27/13
San Francisco's former United Methodist Bishop Melvin Talbert gave a sermon at the denomination's global conference last year, urging pastors to defy church law by performing same-sex wedding ceremonies.
Church leaders predict that Talbert's action will aggravate a conflict between conservative and liberal factions of the United Methodist Church - one of the last mainline Protestant denominations that bans same-sex marriage.
Talbert says he doesn't want to divide the church or its 12 million members worldwide. His goal, he said, is to address hypocrisy in a denomination that includes thousands of gay parishioners and gay pastors living with partners.
. . . While church policy calls for punishing those who perform same-sex weddings, the denomination said Tuesday that it would nonetheless extend employee benefits to same-sex couples.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Bishop follows through on commitment to conduct same sex wedding" by Bart Styes, Correspondent, United Methodist Reporter (a UMC official, but liberal, publication) 10/26/13
. . . With three sheriff’s deputies, multiple media representatives and an officiating United Methodist bishop in jeopardy of facing charges for violating the denomination’s Book of Discipline, this was a unique occasion. However, for the majority of the approximately one-hundred and fifty in attendance, this remained a marriage ceremony, even in the face of the implications for the United Methodist Church and the presiding clergy. Like most “traditional” weddings, there were flowers, music, and restless children.
For several of the clergy in attendance, there was a sense of frustration at this even being a divisive or contentious issue. One elder of the North Alabama [regional] conference in asserted that “some clergy were told not even to attend the wedding as it could hurt their careers.”
“We just need to get over it,” said Rev. Mike Harper. “It’s obvious these guys care about each other. I’m embarrassed that we feel awkward about affirming something so beautiful.”
Openshaw and Prince requested that the service end with a prayer for the affirming clergy in attendance and for the United Methodist Church as a whole. Local elders and deacons of the North Alabama Conference filled the front two rows of the sanctuary. Several ministers from different parts of the country participated in the service as supporting clergy. During the prayer the Bishop Talbert and the other supporting clergy who participated in the service were compared to Jesus turning over the tables of the money-lenders in the temple.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Methodist Gay Marriage Debate Being Formally Considered By Court As LGTB Acceptance Grows" by Renee K. Gadoua, Religion News Service, on Huffington Post 10/23/13
The United Methodist Church’s highest court gathers for its semiannual meeting in Baltimore on Wednesday, as the denomination confronts a growing movement of defiant clergy members opposed to church doctrine on gays and unwilling to back down.
The church law cannot change until the next quadrennial conference, in 2016. But at its meeting, the Judicial Council, the “Supreme Court” of the United Methodist Church, will consider a number of related resolutions. One asks the council to support a Western [liberal] Jurisdiction 2012 resolution that says the church is in error on homosexuality and should ignore the Book of Discipline’s laws on it.
Also on the docket are a New York [liberal] Conference resolution commending clergy, laity and congregations who “help to provide for the pastoral needs of same-sex couples” and a case involving the ordination eligibility of a Southwest Texas candidate who is a lesbian.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Gay marriage debate threatens to splinter the United Methodist Church" by Ivey DeJesus, Central Pennsylvania Patriot-News 10/25/13
Under the stiffest penalties, the Rev. Frank Schaefer, pastor at Zion United Methodist Church of Iona [Lebanon County], could lose his ordination credentials. Schaefer faces charges of marrying his son Tim and his gay partner in 2006 in Massachusetts.
A considerable number of Schaefer’s congregation has walked away in opposition to his actions, but the German-born pastor has also garnered mounting support from among his flock and peers.
Next month, in a show of solidarity for Schaefer, as many as 30 United Methodist pastors from 25 churches in eastern Pennsylvania will preside over gay marriages in Philadelphia.
The most recent pastor to be convicted of performing same-sex marriages was the Rev. Amy DeLong, a Wisconsin pastor who in 2011 was found guilty of performing gay marriages. A lesbian, she was also found not guilty of being a “self-avowed practicing homosexual.”
“This is nothing new really,” [Christian UMC Rev. Tom] Lambrecht said. “What is new is the widespread inclination to disregard and disobey the church’s policy... in an attempt to get the church to change it through pressure tactics.”
Lambrecht said his group [of UMC Christians] has over the years received thousands of letters from United Methodist parishioners who say they can no longer remain church members amid flagrant disobedience of church policy.
Given the demographics of the general assembly, Lambrecht doubts the policy will change anytime soon. Approximately 40 percent of the representatives to the general assembly come from outside the United States, the majority from Africa, the Philippines and Europe.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
UPDATE 12/21/13: "Methodist bishops offer support to pastor who lost credentials over son’s same-sex wedding" by Michelle Boorstein, Washington Post
The cause of Frank Schaefer, whose credentials were taken after he officiated at his son’s same-sex wedding, is spreading at high levels in his denomination, with a New Jersey bishop [John Schol] releasing a tearful video supporting gay equality and a California bishop inviting Schaefer to be a pastor in her region.
Schaefer’s credentials were formally removed Thursday after he told a clergy oversight body in Philadelphia that he could not uphold doctrine “in its entirety,” saying church teachings were contradictory and un-Christian on the treatment of gays and lesbians. They jury had given him 30 days to decide whether he could abide by the ban on clergy officiating same-sex weddings.
On Friday Bishop Minerva Carcano invited Schaefer to serve as a minister in the California-Pacific Annual Conference in the Los Angeles area. In a statement, Carcano said she was inspired by Methodist leaders in the 1960s who came to the support of clergy fighting racial discrimination.
Schaefer said he is also considering an offer to become a member of Foundry United Methodist Church, a large church in the Dupont Circle area, where he is scheduled to preach Sunday. . . .
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
A Message from Bishop John Schol - December 20, 2013 from Greater New Jersey Annual Confer on Vimeo.
For myriad attacks on the Bible and Christian faith, read CBS Gives Voice to Atheists, Heretics, & Apostates
This week, a retired San Francisco UMC bishop, who sat in the Birmingham jail with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., says the UMC is "immoral and unjust" concerning homosexuality, and now has officiated a same-sex "marriage" in an Alabama church, in order to intimidate the Christian majority of the worldwide denomination.
"I think it would be appropriate for those who think they cannot live within the policies of the church to withdraw from the church, and [the denomination majority] would be willing to allow them to keep their property, their pensions, and send them forward."Click headlines below to read previous articles:
-- Rev. Tom Lambrecht, UMC Christian pastor
Methodists Ignore Own Rules re: Lesbian Pastor
Renegade Methodist Clergy for Same-sex 'Marriage'
Baby Jesus with Two Lesbians: Methodist Nativity
Methodist Clergy Buck Bible, Church - Science Also
Methodists Team Up with Atheists for Bible Study
Allah Worshiped in Virginia Methodist Church
African Methodists Vote to Keep United Methodist Church on 'Straight and Narrow'
In addition, read this NON-joke: A Rabbi, Pastor & Imam Join a Methodist Seminary, and ...
UPDATE 12/21/13: Apostate Methodist Bishops Support Defrocked Pastor (see excerpts below)
-- From "Methodist bishop performs gay wedding" posted at Montgomery Advertiser 10/27/13
A retired United Methodist bishop performed a wedding for two gay men Saturday in [Center Point,] Alabama despite opposition from other church leaders.
Joe Openshaw said he and longtime partner Bobby Prince asked [San Francisco's former United Methodist Bishop Melvin] Talbert to marry them when they were refused permission to marry in their United Methodist church.
Talbert and other Methodist supporters of same-sex rights have been encouraging their denomination to recognize gay marriages for years. Alabama does not recognize same-sex marriage.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Defiant Methodist bishop fuels gay-marriage battle" by Matt Smith, Center for Investigative Reporting, posted at San Francisco Chronicle 10/27/13
San Francisco's former United Methodist Bishop Melvin Talbert gave a sermon at the denomination's global conference last year, urging pastors to defy church law by performing same-sex wedding ceremonies.
Church leaders predict that Talbert's action will aggravate a conflict between conservative and liberal factions of the United Methodist Church - one of the last mainline Protestant denominations that bans same-sex marriage.
Talbert says he doesn't want to divide the church or its 12 million members worldwide. His goal, he said, is to address hypocrisy in a denomination that includes thousands of gay parishioners and gay pastors living with partners.
. . . While church policy calls for punishing those who perform same-sex weddings, the denomination said Tuesday that it would nonetheless extend employee benefits to same-sex couples.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Bishop follows through on commitment to conduct same sex wedding" by Bart Styes, Correspondent, United Methodist Reporter (a UMC official, but liberal, publication) 10/26/13
. . . With three sheriff’s deputies, multiple media representatives and an officiating United Methodist bishop in jeopardy of facing charges for violating the denomination’s Book of Discipline, this was a unique occasion. However, for the majority of the approximately one-hundred and fifty in attendance, this remained a marriage ceremony, even in the face of the implications for the United Methodist Church and the presiding clergy. Like most “traditional” weddings, there were flowers, music, and restless children.
For several of the clergy in attendance, there was a sense of frustration at this even being a divisive or contentious issue. One elder of the North Alabama [regional] conference in asserted that “some clergy were told not even to attend the wedding as it could hurt their careers.”
“We just need to get over it,” said Rev. Mike Harper. “It’s obvious these guys care about each other. I’m embarrassed that we feel awkward about affirming something so beautiful.”
Openshaw and Prince requested that the service end with a prayer for the affirming clergy in attendance and for the United Methodist Church as a whole. Local elders and deacons of the North Alabama Conference filled the front two rows of the sanctuary. Several ministers from different parts of the country participated in the service as supporting clergy. During the prayer the Bishop Talbert and the other supporting clergy who participated in the service were compared to Jesus turning over the tables of the money-lenders in the temple.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Methodist Gay Marriage Debate Being Formally Considered By Court As LGTB Acceptance Grows" by Renee K. Gadoua, Religion News Service, on Huffington Post 10/23/13
The United Methodist Church’s highest court gathers for its semiannual meeting in Baltimore on Wednesday, as the denomination confronts a growing movement of defiant clergy members opposed to church doctrine on gays and unwilling to back down.
The church law cannot change until the next quadrennial conference, in 2016. But at its meeting, the Judicial Council, the “Supreme Court” of the United Methodist Church, will consider a number of related resolutions. One asks the council to support a Western [liberal] Jurisdiction 2012 resolution that says the church is in error on homosexuality and should ignore the Book of Discipline’s laws on it.
Also on the docket are a New York [liberal] Conference resolution commending clergy, laity and congregations who “help to provide for the pastoral needs of same-sex couples” and a case involving the ordination eligibility of a Southwest Texas candidate who is a lesbian.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Gay marriage debate threatens to splinter the United Methodist Church" by Ivey DeJesus, Central Pennsylvania Patriot-News 10/25/13
Under the stiffest penalties, the Rev. Frank Schaefer, pastor at Zion United Methodist Church of Iona [Lebanon County], could lose his ordination credentials. Schaefer faces charges of marrying his son Tim and his gay partner in 2006 in Massachusetts.
A considerable number of Schaefer’s congregation has walked away in opposition to his actions, but the German-born pastor has also garnered mounting support from among his flock and peers.
Next month, in a show of solidarity for Schaefer, as many as 30 United Methodist pastors from 25 churches in eastern Pennsylvania will preside over gay marriages in Philadelphia.
The most recent pastor to be convicted of performing same-sex marriages was the Rev. Amy DeLong, a Wisconsin pastor who in 2011 was found guilty of performing gay marriages. A lesbian, she was also found not guilty of being a “self-avowed practicing homosexual.”
“This is nothing new really,” [Christian UMC Rev. Tom] Lambrecht said. “What is new is the widespread inclination to disregard and disobey the church’s policy... in an attempt to get the church to change it through pressure tactics.”
Lambrecht said his group [of UMC Christians] has over the years received thousands of letters from United Methodist parishioners who say they can no longer remain church members amid flagrant disobedience of church policy.
Given the demographics of the general assembly, Lambrecht doubts the policy will change anytime soon. Approximately 40 percent of the representatives to the general assembly come from outside the United States, the majority from Africa, the Philippines and Europe.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
UPDATE 12/21/13: "Methodist bishops offer support to pastor who lost credentials over son’s same-sex wedding" by Michelle Boorstein, Washington Post
The cause of Frank Schaefer, whose credentials were taken after he officiated at his son’s same-sex wedding, is spreading at high levels in his denomination, with a New Jersey bishop [John Schol] releasing a tearful video supporting gay equality and a California bishop inviting Schaefer to be a pastor in her region.
Schaefer’s credentials were formally removed Thursday after he told a clergy oversight body in Philadelphia that he could not uphold doctrine “in its entirety,” saying church teachings were contradictory and un-Christian on the treatment of gays and lesbians. They jury had given him 30 days to decide whether he could abide by the ban on clergy officiating same-sex weddings.
On Friday Bishop Minerva Carcano invited Schaefer to serve as a minister in the California-Pacific Annual Conference in the Los Angeles area. In a statement, Carcano said she was inspired by Methodist leaders in the 1960s who came to the support of clergy fighting racial discrimination.
Schaefer said he is also considering an offer to become a member of Foundry United Methodist Church, a large church in the Dupont Circle area, where he is scheduled to preach Sunday. . . .
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
A Message from Bishop John Schol - December 20, 2013 from Greater New Jersey Annual Confer on Vimeo.
For myriad attacks on the Bible and Christian faith, read CBS Gives Voice to Atheists, Heretics, & Apostates
Monday, October 28, 2013
Male Homecoming Queen at Univ. of Northern Iowa
21-year-old Steven Sanchez, who is 100% male but describes himself as gender non-conforming, competed for the homecoming queen crown by dancing while dressed as a woman at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, and won.
For background, read Sexual Confusion Reigns at California Homecoming and also read Massachusetts Male 'Transgender' Student Voted Prom Queen
In addition, read Boys & Girls Shower Together in Co-ed Locker Rooms at Iowa College
And read how the Gay Agenda permeates public schools with "transgender rights."
-- From "Transgender student named homecoming queen at Iowa university" by Noreen O'Donnell, Reuters 10/12/13
For his routine, Sanchez wore his school colors - a purple ball gown, belted as a skirt, a purple shirt and the gold pumps.
Sanchez said his gender identify was in transition, though he was unsure that he would ever physically become a woman.
"I identify as gender queer so not really one or the other," he said.
His grandmother, mother and an aunt are all encouraging, he said.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Iowa college crowns transgender homecoming queen" by Jens Manuel Krogstad, USA TODAY 10/12/13
There was a time when Sanchez hated himself: He regularly cut his wrists and once overdosed on pills in a suicide attempt, he said. Those memories and emotions overflowed at a vigil Wednesday for those affected by hate crimes and suicide, an event scheduled for Northern Iowa's Coming Out Week.
Sanchez has become a crowd favorite, performing as "Lola" on stage at various events, since arriving two years ago on the Cedar Falls campus, Pope said. He came to Iowa after earning an associate degree and taking high school classes at a community college in Texas.
In the process, Northern Iowa has become a place where Sanchez finally feels at home. His open, welcoming attitude puts others at ease, Pope said.
Student leaders and university administrators have backed LGBT students and their allies . . .
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "After big win, Sanchez plans activism for future" by Linh Ta, The Northern Iowan 10/14/13
While Sanchez said he still deals with depression, he’s received a newfound confidence and wants to share it with other lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
However, Sanchez has not received purely positive feedback from people who have heard or read his story. He’s seen negative homophobic comments on social media sites and has been criticized by “radical” feminists who say he’s appropriating women’s culture.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Transgender student wins UNI homecoming queen crown" by Mackenzie Elmer, Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier Staff Writer 10/11/13
Sanchez will reign over this year's homecoming court alongside Yaw Kyeremateng, a graduate student who was crowned king. The 440 students who attended Tuesday night's competition voted to select the winners.
Sanchez performed a drag routine during Tuesday night's competition, lip synching and dressing in drag to imitate singer Selena Gomez.
Sanchez nominated himself for the title in a new court application process instated last year by the Campus Activities Board. He detailed his work in the university relations department and on the UNI Proud board, an advocacy group representing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender students and others.
A panel of students and faculty selected ten applicants based on their academic standing, responses to essay questions and campus involvement.
But any identification, like the name and gender of each candidate, was removed from applications before judges saw them, said Ashley Minshall, program coordinator of student activities.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Transgender rights: Restroom battles emerge" by Jason Clayworth, Des Moines Register 10/26/13
. . . three cases are the first to advance through a civil rights complaint process since 2007, when lawmakers added gender identity to the state’s nondiscrimination policies.
Confusion about the law is compounded by little court precedent on the issue, said Beth Townsend, director of the Iowa Civil Rights Commission.
“The new law does require ... that individuals are permitted to access (restrooms) in accordance with their gender identity, rather than their assigned sex at birth, without being harassed or questioned,” Sara Stibitz, a civil rights specialist with the state commission . . .
The number of gender identity complaints made to the Iowa Civil Rights Commission has increased from six in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2008, to 51 in the year that ended June 30, 2013.
Chuck Hurley, a vocal opponent of Iowa’s 2007 law . . . says he is concerned that new policies will allow voyeurs and sex offenders to simply claim a different gender identity to gain access to areas where women and children are vulnerable.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Also read Parents Allow Babies to Choose Gender From Birth as well as 2-year-old Says She's a Boy, 'Parents' Say OK
In addition, read Transgenderism is a 'Delusion' According to Victim
"He can dance amazingly well in high heels."Meanwhile, the Iowa Civil Rights Commission ruled that sexually confused men are free to use women’s restrooms in public places.
-- David Pope, president of UNI Proud (student group advocating for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people)
For background, read Sexual Confusion Reigns at California Homecoming and also read Massachusetts Male 'Transgender' Student Voted Prom Queen
In addition, read Boys & Girls Shower Together in Co-ed Locker Rooms at Iowa College
And read how the Gay Agenda permeates public schools with "transgender rights."
-- From "Transgender student named homecoming queen at Iowa university" by Noreen O'Donnell, Reuters 10/12/13
For his routine, Sanchez wore his school colors - a purple ball gown, belted as a skirt, a purple shirt and the gold pumps.
Sanchez said his gender identify was in transition, though he was unsure that he would ever physically become a woman.
"I identify as gender queer so not really one or the other," he said.
His grandmother, mother and an aunt are all encouraging, he said.
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From "Iowa college crowns transgender homecoming queen" by Jens Manuel Krogstad, USA TODAY 10/12/13
There was a time when Sanchez hated himself: He regularly cut his wrists and once overdosed on pills in a suicide attempt, he said. Those memories and emotions overflowed at a vigil Wednesday for those affected by hate crimes and suicide, an event scheduled for Northern Iowa's Coming Out Week.
Sanchez has become a crowd favorite, performing as "Lola" on stage at various events, since arriving two years ago on the Cedar Falls campus, Pope said. He came to Iowa after earning an associate degree and taking high school classes at a community college in Texas.
In the process, Northern Iowa has become a place where Sanchez finally feels at home. His open, welcoming attitude puts others at ease, Pope said.
Student leaders and university administrators have backed LGBT students and their allies . . .
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From "After big win, Sanchez plans activism for future" by Linh Ta, The Northern Iowan 10/14/13
While Sanchez said he still deals with depression, he’s received a newfound confidence and wants to share it with other lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
However, Sanchez has not received purely positive feedback from people who have heard or read his story. He’s seen negative homophobic comments on social media sites and has been criticized by “radical” feminists who say he’s appropriating women’s culture.
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From "Transgender student wins UNI homecoming queen crown" by Mackenzie Elmer, Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier Staff Writer 10/11/13
Sanchez will reign over this year's homecoming court alongside Yaw Kyeremateng, a graduate student who was crowned king. The 440 students who attended Tuesday night's competition voted to select the winners.
Sanchez performed a drag routine during Tuesday night's competition, lip synching and dressing in drag to imitate singer Selena Gomez.
Sanchez nominated himself for the title in a new court application process instated last year by the Campus Activities Board. He detailed his work in the university relations department and on the UNI Proud board, an advocacy group representing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender students and others.
A panel of students and faculty selected ten applicants based on their academic standing, responses to essay questions and campus involvement.
But any identification, like the name and gender of each candidate, was removed from applications before judges saw them, said Ashley Minshall, program coordinator of student activities.
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From "Transgender rights: Restroom battles emerge" by Jason Clayworth, Des Moines Register 10/26/13
. . . three cases are the first to advance through a civil rights complaint process since 2007, when lawmakers added gender identity to the state’s nondiscrimination policies.
Confusion about the law is compounded by little court precedent on the issue, said Beth Townsend, director of the Iowa Civil Rights Commission.
“The new law does require ... that individuals are permitted to access (restrooms) in accordance with their gender identity, rather than their assigned sex at birth, without being harassed or questioned,” Sara Stibitz, a civil rights specialist with the state commission . . .
The number of gender identity complaints made to the Iowa Civil Rights Commission has increased from six in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2008, to 51 in the year that ended June 30, 2013.
Chuck Hurley, a vocal opponent of Iowa’s 2007 law . . . says he is concerned that new policies will allow voyeurs and sex offenders to simply claim a different gender identity to gain access to areas where women and children are vulnerable.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Also read Parents Allow Babies to Choose Gender From Birth as well as 2-year-old Says She's a Boy, 'Parents' Say OK
In addition, read Transgenderism is a 'Delusion' According to Victim
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