Lionox News Blog

Churches using violent video games as recruiting method for youth

Leo — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 06:26:52 +0000

Across the country, hundreds of ministers and pastors desperate to reach young congregants have drawn concern and criticism through their use of an unusual recruiting tool: the immersive and violent video game Halo. The latest iteration of the immensely popular space epic, Halo 3, was released nearly two weeks ago by Microsoft and has already passed $300 million in sales. Those buying it must be 17 years old, given it is rated M for mature audiences. But that has not prevented leaders at churches and youth centers across Protestant denominations, including evangelical churches that have cautioned against violent entertainment, from holding heavily attended Halo nights and stocking their centers with multiple game consoles so dozens of teenagers can flock around big-screen televisions and shoot it out.

Catholic sex scandal as undercover reporter ‘films priests at gay clubs having casual flings’

Leo — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 18:29:51 +0000

A gay priest sex scandal has rocked the Catholic Church in Italy today after a weekly news magazine released details of a shock investigation it had carried out. Using hidden cameras, a journalist from Panorama magazine – owned by Italian Prime Minister and media baron Silvio Berlusconi – filmed three priests as they attended gay nightspots and had casual sex. Today there was no immediate comment from the Italian Bishops Conference and the Vatican – which has been rocked by a series of sex scandals involving paedophile priests since the start of the year.

Wretched: Aha! It’s not just about homosexuality…

Leo — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 03:23:46 +0000

Universalists encouraging acceptance of homosexuality as their foot in the door of the church that still has integrity to the true will and ways of God.

Anglican ‘priest’ openly advocates shoplifting

Leo — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 03:20:13 +0000

Here’s what he told his congregation: “My advice, as a Christian priest, is to shoplift. I do not offer such advice because I think that stealing is a good thing or because I think it is harmless, for it is neither. I would ask that they do not steal from small family businesses but from large national businesses, knowing that the costs are ultimately passed on to the rest of us in the form of higher prices. I would ask them not to take any more than they need. I offer the advice with a heavy heart. Let my words not be misrepresented as a simplistic call for people to shoplift. The life of the poor in modern Britain is a constant struggle, a minefield of competing opportunities, competing responsibilities, obligations and requirements, a constant effort to achieve the impossible. For many at the bottom of our social ladder, lawful, honest life can sometimes seem to be an apparent impossibility.”

Ed Young, senior ‘pastor’ of Fellowship Church

Leo — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 01:25:33 +0000

“…as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’” – 1 Peter 1:13-16

Taranis: The $214 million unmanned stealth jet named after the Celtic god of thunder

Leo — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 19:42:54 +0000

Looming ominously like a space ship from Star Wars, this is the future of unmanned flight. Defence firm BAE Systems today officially unveiled its first ever high-tech unmanned stealth jet. The Taranis, named after the Celtic god of thunder, is about the same size as a Hawk jet and is equipped with stealth equipment and an ‘autonomous’ artificial intelligence system. The plane will test the possibility of developing the first ever autonomous stealthy Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) that would ultimately be capable of precisely striking targets at long range, even in another continent.

108-Year-Old Rabbi Predicts Arrival of Messiah

Leo — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 07:09:27 +0000

A few months before Kaduri died at the age of 108, he surprised his followers when he told them that he met the Messiah. Kaduri gave a message in his synagogue on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, teaching how to recognize the Messiah. He also mentioned that the Messiah would appear to Israel after Ariel Sharon’s death. The Hebrew sentence (translated above in bold) with the hidden name of the Messiah reads: Yarim Ha’Am Veyokhiakh Shedvaro Vetorato Omdim. The initials spell the Hebrew name of Jesus, Yehoshua. Yehoshua and Yeshua are e‑ectively the same name, derived from the same Hebrew root of the word “salvation” as documented in Zechariah 6:11 and Ezra 3:2. The same priest writes in Ezra, “Yeshua son of Yozadak” while writing in Zechariah “Yehoshua son of Yohozadak.” The priest adds the holy abbreviation of God’s name, ho, in the father’s name Yozadak and in the name Yeshua.

Florida school district bans Bibles on Religious Freedom Day

Leo — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 06:22:20 +0000

Maitland-based Liberty Counsel filed a lawsuit Thursday to overturn a ban on Bible distribution on public school campuses in Collier County. According to the Liberty Counsel, the Collier County School Board allowed World Changers to distribute free Bibles to students during off-school hours on Religious Freedom Day, but now the school officials claim that Bibles do not provide any educational benefit to the students and the distribution should stop. The Collier County School District policy specifically allows the distribution of literature by nonprofit organizations, but only with the approval of the superintendent and the Community Request Committee, whose members are appointed by the superintendent. Approval was denied to World Changers, despite the fact that its distribution included a disclaimer of any school endorsement or sponsorship and that receiving a Bible was purely voluntary. “How sad that on the eve of Independence Day, when we celebrate the religious and political freedom our forefathers won for us at the cost of much blood and great sacrifice, we are compelled to sue to protect the right simply to make free Bibles available to students in public schools,” said Mathew D. Staver, Liberty Counsel founder.

MA elementary school distributing condoms to students

Leo — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 03:31:20 +0000

From Cape Cod, Massachusetts, condoms are now being offered to elementary students. Any student who wants one, no matter the age. Parents are not being given a say, and are not on board with the policy. Condoms and kids. They’re going together younger than ever at a Provincetown Elementary School, which goes from 6th grade right down to Pre-K. Under a new policy, condoms are available for any student who asks, at any age. It’s not just the age question that’s raising eyebrows though, it’s the policy that says parents can’t say no. One mom said it seemed too young. The superintendent says she wouldn’t expect first graders or kindergartners to ask for condoms, except, to maybe blow them up as balloons. But when the students do ask for condoms, at any age, they will have to talk to a counselor or a nurse. Superintendent Dr. Beth Singer, “The fact that parents don’t know what their children are doing at times, doesn’t mean that their children don’t need to be safe. And that we don’t have a responsibility to help them be safe.” According to the Boston Globe, the school committee voted unanimously to approve the policy at a public meeting, and the superintendent says no one came to comment.

6-story Jesus statue in Ohio struck by lightning

Leo — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 07:49:52 +0000

A six-story statue of Jesus Christ was struck by lightning and burned to the ground, leaving only a blackened steel skeleton and pieces of foam that were scooped up by curious onlookers Tuesday. The “King of Kings” statue, one of southwest Ohio’s most familiar landmarks, had stood since 2004 at the evangelical Solid Rock Church along Interstate 75 in Monroe, just north of Cincinnati. The lightning strike set the statue ablaze around 11:15 p.m. Monday, Monroe police dispatchers said. The sculpture, about 62 feet tall and 40 feet wide at the base, showed Jesus from the torso up and was nicknamed Touchdown Jesus because of the way the arms were raised, similar to a referee signaling a touchdown. It was made of plastic foam and fiberglass over a steel frame, which is all that remained Tuesday.

The Book of Mozilla: Cryptic messages embedded into Firefox/Mozilla

Leo — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 03:30:12 +0000

The Book of Mozilla is a computer Easter egg found in the Netscape and Mozilla series of web browsers. It is viewed by directing the browser to “about:mozilla” in the address bar. There is no real book entitled The Book of Mozilla. However, apparent quotations hidden in Netscape and Mozilla give this impression by revealing passages in the style of apocalyptic literature, such as the Book of Revelation in the Bible. When about:mozilla is typed into the location bar, various versions of these browsers display a cryptic message in white text on a maroon background in the browser window.

‘Follow the Islamic way to save the world,’ Prince Charles urges environmentalists

Leo — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 22:12:57 +0000

Prince Charles yesterday urged the world to follow Islamic ’spiritual principles’ in order to protect the environment. In an hour-long speech, the heir to the throne argued that man’s destruction of the world was contrary to the scriptures of all religions – but particularly those of Islam. He said the current ‘division’ between man and nature had been caused not just by industrialisation, but also by our attitude to the environment – which goes against the grain of ’sacred traditions’. Charles, who is a practising Christian and will become the head of the Church of England when he succeeds to the throne, spoke in depth about his own study of the Koran which, he said, tells its followers that there is ‘no separation between man and nature’ and says we must always live within our environment’s limits. The prince was speaking to an audience of scholars at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies – which attempts to encourage a better understanding of the culture and civilisation of the religion. His speech, merging religion with his other favourite subject, the environment, marked the 25th anniversary of the organisation, of which he is patron. He added: ‘The inconvenient truth is that we share this planet with the rest of creation for a very good reason – and that is, we cannot exist on our own without the intricately balanced web of life around us. ‘Islam has always taught this and to ignore that lesson is to default on our contract with creation.’

Denver International Airport installs statue of Egyptian underworld ‘god’ Anubis

Leo — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 05:05:06 +0000

A crew is installing a seven-ton, 26-foot-tall concrete sculpture of an Egyptian god at the airport. Anubis, a statue with a jackal-head, will be built south of the Jeppesen Terminal. Although part of the lore of the 9,000-pound “Mustang” is that its creator, Luis Jiménez, was tragically killed while making the piece, Anubis may be even more notorious. He’s the Egyptian god of death and the afterlife. It’s being put in to preview the Denver Art Museum’s King Tut exhibit.

‘Artificial life’ breakthrough announced by scientists

Leo — Fri, 21 May 2010 00:08:50 +0000

Scientists in the US have succeeded in developing the first synthetic living cell. The researchers constructed a bacterium’s “genetic software” and transplanted it into a host cell. The resulting microbe then looked and behaved like the species “dictated” by the synthetic DNA. The advance, published in Science, has been hailed as a scientific landmark, but critics say there are dangers posed by synthetic organisms.

Robot “Priest” Marries Couple in Japan

Leo — Mon, 17 May 2010 20:20:55 +0000

The robot is usually used in museum and exhibitions to direct visitors, but with the help of a flower headpiece, and a new programme, it pronounced Satoko Inoue and Tomohiro Shibata man and wife at a Sunday ceremony. “I always felt that robots would become more integrated into people’s everyday lives. This cute robot is part of my company, I decided that I would love to have it at my ceremony,” Inoue said.

Netanyahu turns to Bible in tussle over Jerusalem

Leo — Wed, 12 May 2010 22:55:13 +0000

Beset by questions about Jerusalem’s future in talks with the Palestinians, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reached for the Bible on Wednesday to stake out the Jewish state’s contested claim on the city. Netanyahu told a parliamentary session commemorating Israel’s capture of East Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 war that “Jerusalem” and its alternative Hebrew name “Zion” appear 850 times in the Old Testament, Judaism’s core canon. “As to how many times Jerusalem is mentioned in the holy scriptures of other faiths, I recommend you check,” he said.

Orwellian Amber Alert GPS enables full real-time monitoring of children

Leo — Tue, 11 May 2010 22:51:45 +0000

Introducing the new Amber Alert GPS 2G. The world’s smallest, most powerful GPS tracking device. Tracking your child is as easy as placing a call or sending a text. Simply place this device in a pocket, purse, backpack or car, or attach to a wrist, ankle, or belt. Call or text the AAGPS device, and within seconds you’ll receive a detailed map and address of their exact location right on your web-enabled phone. You can also track one or more devices from your computer.

Devil Companies, Devil Products, Devil Logos?

Leo — Fri, 07 May 2010 04:15:19 +0000

What messages are some of the world’s top corporations sending with their choices for names of products and companies? Tex Marrs profiles several well-known companies and their curious occult and satanic associations.

Comedy Central developing Jesus Christ cartoon

Leo — Thu, 06 May 2010 22:22:27 +0000

Comedy Central might censor every image of the Prophet Muhammad on “South Park,” yet the network is developing a whole animated series around Jesus Christ. As part of the network’s upfront presentation to advertisers (full slate here), Comedy Central is set to announce “JC,” a half-hour show about Christ wanting to escape the shadow of his “powerful but apathetic father” and live a regular life in New York City. In the show, God is preoccupied with playing video games while Christ, “the ultimate fish out of water,” tries to adjust to life in the big city. “In general, comedy in purist form always makes some people uncomfortable,” said Comedy Central’s head of original programming Kent Alterman. When asked if the show might draw some fire, especially coming on the heels of the network’s decision to censor the Muslim faith’s religious figure on “South Park,” Alterman said its too early in the show’s development to be concerned about such matters. “We don’t even know what the show is yet,” he said. Like all Comedy Central executives, Alterman declined to address the recent controversy over “South Park,” where the network aired a heavily redacted episode after the show’s creators were threatened by an extremist Islamic Web site. “JC” is produced by Reveille (”The Office”), Henrik Basin, Brian Boyle (”American Dad”), Jonathan Sjoberg and Andreas Ohman.

Pop Culture Blasphemy: Christina Aguilera’s new overtly Satanic music video

Leo — Wed, 05 May 2010 23:42:53 +0000

In the music video for her song “Not Myself Tonight”, Christina Aguilera is depicted in bondage performing sex acts with her dancers (male and female). At various points in the video there are scenes of homosexual sex acts in a church setting, with a stained-glass window of Christ in the background.

Christian preacher arrested for saying homosexuality is a sin

Leo — Mon, 03 May 2010 04:11:27 +0000

A Christian street preacher was arrested and locked in a cell for telling a passer-by that homosexuality is a sin in the eyes of God. Dale McAlpine was charged with causing “harassment, alarm or distress” after a homosexual police community support officer (PCSO) overheard him reciting a number of “sins” referred to in the Bible, including blasphemy, drunkenness and same sex relationships. The 42-year-old Baptist, who has preached Christianity in Wokington, Cumbria for years, said he did not mention homosexuality while delivering a sermon from the top of a stepladder, but admitted telling a passing shopper that he believed it went against the word of God. Police officers are alleging that he made the remark in a voice loud enough to be overheard by others and have charged him with using abusive or insulting language, contrary to the Public Order Act. The Public Order Act, which outlaws the unreasonable use of abusive language likely to cause distress, has been used to arrest religious people in a number of similar cases.

Chaplains Warn Against ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Repeal

Leo — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 06:09:09 +0000

A group of former U.S. military chaplains say the Obama administration’s plan to repeal “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” could have a major impact on spiritual life in the armed forces. In a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates and at a Washington, D.C., press conference, the chaplains warned against ditching the policy that prevents homosexuals from serving openly in the military. The policy has been in place for nearly 20 years. Despite some polls showing 75 percent public approval “Don’t ask, Don’t tell,” the chaplains say there is still widespread opposition from those in uniform. “Do not misinterpret the silence from the rank and file as approval of this policy,” Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said. ‘That is why you will repeatedly see those who have retired and are free to speak, speaking out for those who are not.” Some legal experts claim that if the law is changed, the military will be at odds with tenets of the major religions in the country.

World’s largest optical telescope gains a powerful tool, with L.U.C.I.F.E.R.

Leo — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 05:07:31 +0000

L.U.C.I.F.E.R., an acronym for LBT NIR spectroscopic Utility with Camera and Integral-Field Unit for Extragalactic Research, is a new near-infrared camera/spectrograph system being added to the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) on Mt. Graham in south-eastern Arizona. The tool has been in development for over a decade, and is now ready to offer astronomers “spectacular insights into the universe, from the Milky Way up to extremely distant galaxies.” Its large field of view and high resolution will allow for unprecedented observation of star-forming regions, which were previously difficult to view due to dust clouds.

Baby boy survives for nearly two days after abortion

Leo — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 02:53:57 +0000

The 22-week infant died one day later in intensive care at a hospital in the mother’s home town of Rossano in southern Italy. The mother, pregnant for the first time, had opted for an abortion after prenatal scans suggested that her baby was disabled. However, the infant survived the procedure, carried out on Saturday in the Rossano Calabro hospital, and was left by doctors to die. He was discovered alive the following day – some 20 hours after the operation – by Father Antonio Martello, the hospital chaplain, who had gone to pray beside his body. He found that the baby, wrapped in a sheet with his umbilical cord still attached, was moving and breathing. The priest raised the alarm and doctors immediately arranged for the infant to be taken to a specialist neo-natal unit at the neighbouring Cosenza hospital, where he died on Monday morning. Italian police are investigating the case for “homicide” because infanticide is illegal in Italy. The law means that doctors have had an obligation to try to preserve the life of the child once he had survived the abortion. The Italian government is also considering an inquiry into the conduct of the hospital staff.

Evangelical Researchers Claim Discovery of Noah’s Ark Atop Turkish Mountain

Leo — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 03:44:10 +0000

The group claims that carbon dating proves the relics are 4,800 years old, meaning they date to around the same time the ark was said to be afloat. Mt. Ararat has long been suspected as the final resting place of the craft by evangelicals and literalists hoping to validate biblical stories.

Noah’s Ark claimed found in Turkey

Leo — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 18:34:29 +0000

The remains of Noah’s Ark have been discovered 13,000ft up a Turkish mountain, it has been claimed. A group of Chinese and Turkish evangelical explorers say they have found wooden remains on Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey. They claim carbon dating proves the relics are 4,800 years old — around the same time the ark was said to be afloat. Yeung Wing-Cheung, from the Noah’s Ark Ministries International research team, said: “It’s not 100 per cent that it is Noah’s Ark, but we think it is 99.9 per cent that this is it.” He said the structure contained several compartments, some with wooden beams, that they believe were used to house animals. The group of evangelical archaeologists ruled out an established human settlement on the grounds none have ever been found above 11,000ft in the vicinity, Yeung said. Local Turkish officials will ask the central government in Ankara to apply for UNESCO World Heritage status so the site can be protected while a major archaeological dig is conducted. The biblical story says that God decided to flood the Earth after seeing how corrupt it was. He then told Noah to build an ark and fill it with two of every animal species. After the flood waters receded, the Bible says, the ark came to rest on a mountain. Many believe that Mount Ararat, the highest point in the region, is where the ark and her inhabitants ran aground.

GM, church team up to convert sales

Leo — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 22:06:11 +0000

In what organizers said was the first event of its kind in the area, Hartford Memorial Baptist Church in Detroit teamed up Sunday with GM and the GM Minority Dealers Association to offer churchgoers a chance to test drive more than a dozen cars. As congregants left the northwest side church at 1 p.m., Pastor Charles Adams said the idea of Ride and Drive was to demonstrate GM’s commitment to minority causes, its employment of thousands of local African Americans and to encourage churchgoers to buy a new GM car. “Americans now must support American-made products,” Adams said outside the church with Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, a longtime member. “We are encouraging our church members to take care of their community by buying locally. This is an ethical purpose that is beyond profit.” After a cruise in a shiny maroon 2010 Chevy Camaro, Indira Murray was all smiles. “It’s a beautiful car,” the 38-year-old Detroit resident said. “I love it. When I get a job, I might get one.”

Rio De Janeiro’s “Christ the Redeemer” statue graffitied

Leo — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 07:26:24 +0000

Brazilian officials were Friday cleaning up graffiti on the famed Christ statue overlooking Rio de Janeiro, which was vandalized after access was cut off in the wake of devastating rains. Vandals over the past week took advantage of the rare closure of Mount Corcovado, following deadly landslides, to gain access to the Christ the Redeemer statue, spraying black graffiti up the figure’s head and arms, said Bernardo Issa, head of the Tijuca National Park. On part of Rio’s landmark — one of the Seven Modern Wonders of the World — someone sprayed screeds about violence and unsolved crimes, and the taunting phrase “When the cat’s away, the mouse will play.” “The area (of damage) is very large. We didn’t expect a cowardly act like this,” said Issa, adding that surveillance would be stepped-up to protect the eight-decade-old statue, host to some one million tourists per year. Landslides triggered by heavy rain earlier this month killed at least 246 people, mainly in poorly constructed slums perched on the side of mountains around the city.

Catholic Priest arrested for punching Jehovah’s Witness

Leo — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 22:52:48 +0000

It appears to be a battle of faiths after a priest of a small Catholic church and a Jehovah’s Witness got into an altercation in Fort Worth. The Jehovah’s Witness has accused Father John Parnell, a priest at the St. Augustine Mexican Catholic Church in Fort Worth, of assaulting him after he knocked on Parnell’s door. However, Parnell said it was he who was attacked.

Pupils “sadistically tormented” at German monastery

Leo — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 20:11:20 +0000

Children were “sadistically tormented and also sexually abused” at a Catholic monastery in Pope Benedict’s native Bavaria, according to a new report commissioned by the Roman Catholic Church. A lawyer investigating accusations of abuse in a Benedictine monastery school in Ettal presented a final report to the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising Monday, including 173 pages of victims’ accounts of abuse. “My investigations quite clearly show that for decades up until around 1990, children and adolescents were brutally abused in the Ettal monastery,” Thomas Pfister said in a statement. “The number of victims’ accounts has increased significantly since the intermediary report of March 5,” added Pfister, who said last month that hundreds of pupils had been beaten and some sexually abused at the school.

Atheists in Britain plot to arrest Pope for “crimes against humanity”

Leo — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 20:09:31 +0000

Lawyers are trying to produce a case for charging him over his alleged cover-up of sex abuse in the Catholic Church. Atheist writers Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, who hired the human rights experts, want to exploit the legal principle used to nick late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. He was seized on a medical visit here in 1998. Pope Benedict XVI was hit by new controversy this weekend over a letter he signed in 1985, arguing against defrocking a sex-abuser priest. He is due to visit Britain in September. International law allows an arrest for crimes against humanity outside a person’s own borders. Hitchens said: “The institutionalised concealment of child rape is a crime under any law.” The pair hope to either convince Crown prosecutors to take the case, launch their own civil action, or refer it to the International Criminal Court.

The Wealth Gospel of Modern Evangelists

Leo — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 23:03:00 +0000

Creflo Dollar’s ministry demonstrates the emerging wealth gospel increasingly preached in modern evangelical churches.

Special Forces Commander Apologizes for Civilian Deaths, Follows Afghan Custom

Leo — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 19:12:47 +0000

Vice Admiral William McRaven — the commander of Joint Special Operations Command — showed up with two sheep, and in the cultural understanding of the region, surrendered himself. He didn’t literally surrender. But he didn’t have to. In the code followed by the southeastern Afghan family so devastated by the February incident, offering two sheep is the equivalent of begging for forgiveness. And the father — whose has lost two sons, two daughters and one grandchild — accepted McRaven’s apology, according to family members and Afghan investigators. “I am the commander of the soldiers who accidentally killed your loved ones,” McRaven told the family, according to the Times of London, which was present for the meeting. It was the first time special operations forces acknowledged their participation. “I came here today to send my condolences to you and to your family and to your friends,” McRaven said. “I also came today to ask your forgiveness for these terrible tragedies.” McRaven continued, addressing the father: “Sir, you and I are very different. You are a family man with many children and many friends. I am a soldier. I have spent most of my career overseas away from my family, but I have children as well and my heart grieves for you. “But we have one thing in common, one very important thing,” McRaven said. “We have the same god. He is a god who shows great love and compassion. I pray for you today, sir, that in your grief he will show you love and compassion and ease your pain. … I also pray today that he will show mercy on me and my men for this awful tragedy.” Presenting sheep is such a powerful form of requesting forgiveness that the father is now obligated not to take revenge, even though he has told reporters he wanted to become a suicide bomber.

Gay Jesus Play Headed to Fort Worth Stage

Leo — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 19:52:59 +0000

After drawing much scrutinty when it was set to play at Tarleton State University, where it was eventually canceled, the play has found a new home at a theater in Fort Worth, the Dallas Morning News reports. Though a specific date for the show has not been finalized, John Jordan Otte’s production of Corpus Christi is expected to debut at the 250-seat Rose Marine Theater in May. Adam Adolfo, executive director of the theater, is offering the theater to the students free of charge, and told the Morning News that it was important to him to give the Tarleton students “a place that is safe and supportive” to present their work. Critics, who said the play was blasphemous, caused such a stir that the university became concerned for the well-being of those in attendance. First, they blocked access to the show by making it invitation only and then canceled the production outright just hours before it was to debut. Otte said he is a gay Christian and chose the play to help other gay youths who may be struggling with their faith.

What’s Wrong with Christian Rock…

Leo — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 01:06:06 +0000

A detailed exposition, with countless examples, of blasphemy in Christian rock music.

Shocking Message To Pastors & Churches

Leo — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 00:21:30 +0000

A man poses questions to the crooked pastors of lukewarm churches, challenging them with a selection of clips of their false messages and practices.

Texas church gives prizes (cars, TVs, etc) at Easter services

Leo — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 00:05:28 +0000

The Bay Area Fellowship Church in Corpus Christi, Texas gave away up to $2 million in prizes (cars, TVs, guitars, etc) at their Easter service in order to attract consumers to hear the message of Christ. Pastor Bil Cornelius explains his choice on FOX News.

Ritual sacrifice of children on rise in Uganda

Leo — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 21:43:56 +0000

Caroline Aya was playing in front of her house in January when a neighbor put a cloth over her mouth and fled with her. A couple of days later, the 8-year-old’s body was found a short walk away – with her tongue cut out. Police believe she was offered up as a human sacrifice in a ritual killing, thought to bring wealth or health. “If it is a sickness you try to treat it, and if they die that is one thing,” said Caroline’s father, Balluonzima Christ. “But when you slaughter a person like a goat, that is not easy.” The practice of human sacrifice is on the rise in Uganda, as measured by ritual killings where body parts, often facial features or genitals, are cut off for use in ceremonies. The number of people killed in ritual murders last year rose to a new high of at least 15 children and 14 adults, up from just three cases in 2007, according to police. The informal count is much higher – 154 suspects were arrested last year and 50 taken to court over ritual killings. Children in particular are common victims, according to a U.S. State Department report released this month. The U.S. spent $500,000 to train 2,000 Ugandan police last year to investigate offences related to human trafficking, including ritual killings.

Satan behind media attacks on the Pope, asserts Italian exorcist

Leo — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 01:20:44 +0000

Noted Italian exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth, commented this week that the recent defamatory reporting on Pope Benedict XVI, especially by the New York Times, was “prompted by the devil.” Speaking to News Mediaset in Italy, the 85-year-old exorcist noted that the devil is behind “the recent attacks on Pope Benedict XVI regarding some pedophilia cases.” “There is no doubt about it. Because he is a marvelous Pope and worthy successor to John Paul II, it is clear that the devil wants to ‘grab hold’ of him.” Father Amorth added that in instances of sexual abuse committed by some members of the clergy, the devil “uses” priests in order to cast blame upon the entire Church: “The devil wants the death of the Church because she is the mother of all the saints.” “He combats the Church through the men of the Church, but he can do nothing to the Church.” The exorcist went on to note that Satan tempts holy men, “and so we should not be surprised if priests too … fall into temptation. They also live in the world and can fall like men of the world.”

Scientists discover moral compass in the brain, controllable by magnets

Leo — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 22:47:13 +0000

Scientists have discovered a real-life ‘moral compass’ in the brain that controls how we judge other people’s behaviour. The region, which lies just behind the right ear, becomes more active when we think about other people’s misdemeanours or good works. In an extraordinary experiment, researchers were able to use powerful magnets to disrupt this area of the brain and make people temporarily less moral.

Iowa Town Tries to Rename Good Friday to ‘Spring Holiday’

Leo — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 21:14:27 +0000

One week before the most solemn day in the Christian year, the city of Davenport, Iowa decided to officially axe Good Friday from its municipal calendar, setting off a storm of complaints from Christians and union members whose contracts give them that day off. Taking a recommendation by the Davenport Civil Rights Commission to change the holiday’s name to something more ecumenical, City Administrator Craig Malin sent a memo to municipal employees announcing Good Friday would officially be known as “Spring Holiday.” “My phone has been ringing off the hook since Saturday,” said city council alderman Bill Edmond. “People are genuinely upset because this is nothing but political correctness run amok.” Edmond said the city administrator made the change unilaterally and did not bring it to the council for a vote, a requirement for a change in policy. “The city council didn’t know anything about the change. We were blind sided and now we’ve got to clean this mess up. How do you tell people the city renamed a 2,000 year old holiday?” said Edmond. It didn’t take long for the city the resurrect the name Good Friday. Malin was overruled today and the words “Spring Holiday” disappeared.

Raids target Christian militia in Midwest

Leo — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 01:19:44 +0000

Federal agents arrested at least seven members of a self-proclaimed Christian militia group in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio over the weekend, according to the FBI and a leader of another militia organization. The target of the raid was a group called the Hutaree, which proclaims on a Web site that it is “Preparing for the end time battles to keep the testimony of Jesus Christ alive.” As many as six members of the group were arrested at a wake for one of its members, and the property of its leader was searched by federal agents, said Mike Lackomar, a county leader for the Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia, who cited the FBI for his information. No details of the charges against any of those taken into custody were immediately available. The arrest warrants remain under court-ordered seal, FBI spokesman Jason Pack said Sunday. At least two of the arrests were in the Ohio towns of Huron and Sandusky, but the case is being handled out of Detroit, said Scott Wilson, an FBI spokesman in Cleveland. Lackomar, who told CNN his own group is aimed at “aiding the community in times of emergency,” called the Hutaree a “religious militant group” with about a dozen members. He said Hutaree members trained with his organization “on a couple of occasions in years past” but stopped about a year ago, after having an issue with federal firearms regulators. He did not elaborate.

Clergy abuse threatens to tarnish pope’s legacy

Leo — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 23:28:17 +0000

The Vatican is facing one of its gravest crises of modern times as sex abuse scandals move ever closer to Pope Benedict XVI – threatening not only his own legacy but also that of his revered predecessor. Benedict took a much harder stance on sex abuse than John Paul II when he assumed the papacy five years ago, disciplining a senior cleric championed by the Polish pontiff and defrocking others under a new policy of zero tolerance. But the impression remains of a woefully slow-footed church and of a pope who bears responsibility for allowing pedophile priests to keep their parishes.

Scientists robotically control swarm of bacteria to build tiny pyramid

Leo — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 06:45:01 +0000

A robotic micro-assembly process relies on several thousand flagellated bacteria acting as micro-workers to build a pyramidal structure. Work presented at IROS ‘09 by Sylvain Martel and Mahmood Mohammadi from the NanoRobotics Laboratory, École Polytechnique de Montréal, Canada.

On Satan’s trail with Don Gabriele, the world’s most famous exorcist

Leo — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 08:48:41 +0000

Father Amorth made headlines this week by suggesting that those who had “given in to Satan’s temptations” included paedophile priests and even some cardinals and bishops who paid only lip service to the Gospels. The growing crisis over the clerical sex abuse now engulfing Pope Benedict XVI and the Vatican, he said, was the work of Satan, who had even “infiltrated the Vatican corridors”. Is the sex abuse crisis really due to the Devil? “Oh yes. All evil is due to the intervention of the Devil, including paedophilia.” And the Vatican? “Legions of demons have lodged there. The majority of those in the Vatican do good work. But Pope Paul VI talked about the ’smoke of Satan’ infiltrating the Vatican as long ago as 1972. Satan sets out to damage the leadership of the Church – and of politics, industry and sport, for that matter.”

Senators Schumer (D) and Graham (R) Propose National Work ID Card

Leo — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 08:04:44 +0000

A tamper-proof national work identification card, potentially with biometric information, is being proposed by New York Democratic Senator Charles (Chuck) Schumer and South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham as part of their join immigration reform legislation. Chris Calabrese, of the ACLU Legislative Counsel, voiced his concern: “We’re talking about fingerprinting every single American worker, and that card, in turn, will be used probably not just to work but also to travel, to vote, perhaps even to own a gun. If you just look at the way the social security number has expanded over the years, I’m sure there will be a lot of uses for this card.”

Chavez trusts God and nature in power crisis

Leo — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:53:34 +0000

President Hugo Chavez is confident that God and nature will pull Venezuela out of a power crisis battering both the economy and his popularity. Rationing and blackouts have afflicted the South American oil exporter since late 2009, due mainly to a drought that has cut water levels at hydroelectric installations normally supplying more than two-thirds of power needs. The crisis may cause a second year of economic contraction in Venezuela and is also weighing on Chavez’s approval ratings ahead of a legislative election in September that he and opponents are casting as a referendum on his rule. “The squalid ones are hoping it won’t rain,” Chavez said late on Tuesday, using his usual term for the opposition. “But it’s going to rain, you’ll see, because God is a ‘Bolivarian.’ God cannot be squalid. Nature is with us,” the socialist leader added during an event with athletes.

Chief exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth says Devil is in the Vatican

Leo — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:19:35 +0000

Sex abuse scandals in the Roman Catholic Church are proof that that “the Devil is at work inside the Vatican”, according to the Holy See’s chief exorcist. Father Gabriele Amorth, 85, who has been the Vatican’s chief exorcist for 25 years and says he has dealt with 70,000 cases of demonic possession, said that the consequences of satanic infiltration included power struggles at the Vatican as well as “cardinals who do not believe in Jesus, and bishops who are linked to the Demon”. He added: “When one speaks of ‘the smoke of Satan’ [a phrase coined by Pope Paul VI in 1972] in the holy rooms, it is all true – including these latest stories of violence and paedophilia.”

Officer says God shielded him from Pentagon gunman

Leo — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:11:19 +0000

One of the two police officers shot by a gunman outside the Pentagon says he is doing fine and credits God for shielding him. Pentagon police Officer Jeffery Amos declined to answer questions about the shooting when reached by telephone by The Associated Press. Officials said Amos and Officer Marvin Carraway were wounded when a gunman identified as John Patrick Bedell opened fire at the entrance to the Pentagon Thursday night. Bedell was mortally wounded by return fire. Amos and Carraway were treated for superficial wounds. They have been released from the hospital. Amos told the AP: “I just thank the Lord that he shielded me when all of this took place.”

Georgia Senate bans involuntary microchip implants

Leo — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 05:03:46 +0000

State senators have moved to protect Georgians from being implanted with a microchip without their permission in attempt to thwart what some call the “Mark of the Beast.” Georgia State Senate has passed legislation sponsored by Chip Pearson (R-Dawsonville), that would protect individuals from having a microchip implanted on their person. The Senate voted 47-2 on Thursday to approve a bill banning microchipping without consent, now a. misdemeanor considered assault and battery.

Voodoo religion’s role in helping Haiti’s quake victims

Leo — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 22:29:17 +0000

Haiti’s traditional religion has kept a low profile in the aftermath of the earthquake. The songs and prayers heard amid the rubble and tent cities around Port-au-Prince are overwhelmingly Christian. The voodoo religion may be practised by many Haitians – the exact number is unknown – and has not been totally absent from the aid effort. Louis Leslie Marcelin, another singer who also describes himself as a spiritual guide and healer, has used his home in Port-au-Prince as an alternative school and a care centre. “We work with children and parents,” he says. “We work with poor people whose relatives have died.” But such efforts by voodoo leaders have been few and far between. The bulk of the religious relief aid work in Haiti has been carried out by Catholic and Protestant groups. “For a religion that’s supposedly the national religion of the Haitian people, it’s amazingly absent in the earthquake phenomena,” says Gerald Murray, a University of Florida anthropologist who has carried out extensive fieldwork in Haiti.

Vice Guide to Travel: Heaven and Hell in Liberia

Leo — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 04:35:58 +0000

VBS travels to West Africa to rummage through the messy remains of a country ravaged by 14 years of civil war. Despite the United Nation’s eventual intervention, most of Liberia’s young people continue to live in abject poverty, surrounded by filth, drug addiction, and teenage prostitution. The former child soldiers who were forced into war have been left to fend for themselves, the murderous warlords who once led them in cannibalistic rampages have taken up as so-called community leaders, and new militias are lying in wait for the opportunity to reclaim their country from a government they rightly mistrust.

Generation Hex: Wicca is the fastest-growing religion in America

Leo — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 23:32:18 +0000

While many Christians today are closely monitoring the growth and activity of Islam, especially after 9/11, another religious movement has been steadily growing “under the radar” and could become among the largest religions in the United States in less than five years. “Wicca is the fastest-growing religion in America, set to be the third largest religion by 2012,” claims Marla Alupoaicei, who co-wrote the recently released book “Generation Hex” with fellow Christian author Dillon Burroughs. “The numbers of adherents are doubling every 30 months,” she says. Furthermore, every major city in the United States has networks of Wiccans, adds Burroughs.

Lingerie line for kids to be launched

Leo — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 04:04:53 +0000

Whether it’s dressing like a dominatrix for Halloween, skipping around a pole-dancing pole or performing the totally un-PG hits ‘Smack That’ and ‘Tik Tok’, we suspect this nine-year-old could easily notch up more scandals than her big sis by the time she hits her teens. She’ll be teaming up with her pint-sized best friend Emily Grace to launch a children’s lingerie collection for ‘Ohh! La, La! Couture’.

Pagan religions get worship area at US Air Force Academy

Leo — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:52:17 +0000

The Air Force Academy has set aside an outdoor worship area for Pagans, Wiccans, Druids and other Earth-centered believers, school officials said Monday. A double circle of stones atop a hill on the campus near Colorado Springs has been designated for the group, which previously met indoors. “Being with nature and connecting with it is kind of the whole point,” said Tech. Sgt. Brandon Longcrier, who sponsors the group and describes himself as a Pagan. “It will dramatically improve that atmosphere, the mindset and the actual connection.”

Moscow mayor calls gay pride march ‘Satanic’

Leo — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 20:06:10 +0000

The mayor of Moscow, known for his overtly homophobic statements, said Monday that he would never allow a gay pride parade in the city, calling it “Satanic” and saying marchers should be punished. “A gay parade… cannot be called anything but a Satanic act,” Yury Luzhkov told an education conference, quoted by Interfax news agency. “We haven’t permitted such a parade and we won’t permit it in the future.” Luzhkov called for gay marchers to be punished. “It’s high time that we stop propagating nonsense discussions about human rights, and bring to bear on them the full force and justice of the law,” he said.

Photos of Pollution in China

Leo — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 06:19:36 +0000

October 14, 2009, the 30th annual awards ceremony of the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund took place at the Asia Society in New York City. Lu Guang (卢广) from People’s Republic of China won the $30,000 W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography for his documentary project “Pollution in China.”

Furor Erupts Over Atheist Display At Illinois State Capitol

Leo — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 22:48:33 +0000

William J. Kelly announced Tuesday that he planned to take down the sign put up by the Freedom from Religion Foundation, and on Wednesday, he tried to make good on his plan. But Kelly said when he turned the sign around so it was face down, state Capitol police were quick to escort him away. Illinois Secretary of State’s office spokeswoman Henry Haupt said Kelly was escorted from the rotunda by state Capitol police, who briefly detained him, wrote an incident report, and directed him to leave the building. “It doesn’t matter how we feel about the message on a display,” Haupt said. “Our obligation is to protect the property within the state Capitol building, and we would do the same for any other display.”

The sign reads: “At the time of the winter solstice, let reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is just myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.”

Inconvenient truth for Al Gore as his North Pole sums don’t add up

Leo — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:45:23 +0000

Mr Gore, speaking at the Copenhagen climate change summit, stated the latest research showed that the Arctic could be completely ice-free in five years. In his speech, Mr Gore told the conference: “These figures are fresh. Some of the models suggest to Dr [Wieslav] Maslowski that there is a 75 per cent chance that the entire north polar ice cap, during the summer months, could be completely ice-free within five to seven years.” However, the climatologist whose work Mr Gore was relying upon dropped the former Vice-President in the water with an icy blast. “It’s unclear to me how this figure was arrived at,” Dr Maslowski said. “I would never try to estimate likelihood at anything as exact as this.” Mr Gore’s office later admitted that the 75 per cent figure was one used by Dr Maslowksi as a “ballpark figure” several years ago in a conversation with Mr Gore.

Pope: Rich nations must assume environmental duties

Leo — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:40:31 +0000

Industrialized nations must recognize their responsibility for the environmental crisis, shed their consumerism and embrace more sober lifestyles, Pope Benedict said on Tuesday. The pope’s call for more environmental commitments came in his message for the Roman Catholic Church’s annual World Day of Peace, to be marked on Jan 1 and whose theme is “If You Want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation.”

Nikola Tesla in 1900: “We Have a Message from Another World…”

Leo — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 03:22:47 +0000

Nikola Tesla, as far back as 1899, was playing with his magnifying transmitter. He received a signal of patterns, what he called ‘counting codes.’ This was in fact the first cosmic radio signal ever detected. He believed it was either from Venus or Mars, and that he was the first to receive a message from another civilization. The Red Cross proceeded to ask him what will mankind’s greatest achievement be in the 21st Century. Here is his response.

Ahmadinejad Reportedly Claims U.S. is Blocking Return of Mankind’s Savior

Leo — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:51:01 +0000

Ahmadinejad reportedly claims he has documented evidence that the U.S. is blocking the return of Mahdi, the Imam believed by Muslims to be the savior. “We have documented proof that they believe that a descendant of the prophet of Islam will raise in these parts and he will dry the roots of all injustice in the world,” Ahmadinejad said during a speech on Monday, according to Al Arabiya. “They have devised all these plans to prevent the coming of the Hidden Imam because they know that the Iranian nation is the one that will prepare the grounds for his coming and will be the supporters of his rule,” Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying.

Saudi Arabia steps up hunt for ‘witches’ and ‘black magicians’

Leo — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 22:29:34 +0000

When the popular 46-year-old Lebanese psychic Ali Sibat went on-air and made his predictions about the future, the phone lines of the satellite television station Sheherazade used to be flooded with calls. But what the star psychic probably did not predict was that his claims to supernatural prowess would land him a death sentence. “He was the most popular psychic on the channel,” the Lebanese news agency Naharnet quoted Sibat’s lawyer May Khansa as saying. “The number of callers, including from all over the gulf, spiked in number when he appeared.” But while on pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia last year, Sibat was spotted by religious police in the holy city of Medina. Their job it is to battle vice and uphold virtue in the ultraconservative kingdom. So they arrested Sibat in his room at the Medina Hotel on charges of sorcery. On Nov. 9, Sibat was given a death sentence by a Mecca court for allegedly practicing witchcraft. Sibat’s fate is common in Saudi Arabia.

Pope tells artists beauty can be a path to God

Leo — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:30:27 +0000

Pope Benedict met artists from around the world in the Sistine Chapel on Saturday and urged them to inject spirituality into their work, saying contemporary beauty was often “illusory and deceitful.” The Pope told the gathering of hundreds of painters, sculptors, architects, poets and directors, held beneath the vaulted ceiling of the chapel painted by Michelangelo, that he wanted to “renew the Church’s friendship with the world of art.” “Beauty … can become a path toward the transcendent, toward the ultimate Mystery, toward God,” Benedict said.

Obama Defending Islam

Leo — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:55:01 +0000

United States President Barack Obama speaks about his family’s Muslim roots and defends Islam.

10 Ways Darwin Got It Wrong

Leo — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 08:34:40 +0000

This year marks the bicentennial of Charles Darwin’s birthday and, coincidentally, 150 years since the publication of his book On the Origin of Species. One of the most influential books in modern history, it has helped shape philosophy, biology, sociology and religion in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. But both Darwin’s theory and his book are doomed by major flaws.

When E.T. Phones The Pope: Are We Alone?

Leo — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:30:58 +0000

This week the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Sciences is holding its first major conference on astrobiology, the new science that seeks to find life elsewhere in the cosmos and to understand how it began on Earth. Convened on private Vatican grounds in the elegant Casina Pio IV, formerly the pope’s villa, the unlikely gathering of prominent scientists and religious leaders shows that some of the most tradition-bound faiths are seriously contemplating the possibility that life exists in myriad forms beyond this planet. Astrobiology has arrived, and religious and social institutions — even the Vatican — are taking note.

Scientists Create Sperm And Eggs From Stem Cells

Leo — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:46:43 +0000

Human eggs and sperm have been grown in the laboratory in research which could change the face of parenthood. It paves the way for a cure for infertility and could help those left sterile by cancer treatment to have children who are biologically their own. But it raises a number of moral and ethical concerns. These include the possibility of children being born through entirely artificial means, and men and women being sidelined from the process of making babies. Opponents argue that it is wrong to meddle with the building blocks of life and warn that the advances taking place to tackle infertility risk distorting and damaging relations between family members. The U.S. government-funded research also offers the prospect of a ‘miracle pill’ which staves off the menopause, allowing women to wait longer to have a child.

Africa bishops speak of Obama in religious terms

Leo — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 21:00:30 +0000

African bishops attending a Vatican meeting are speaking about the election of Barack Obama in divine terms—putting them very much at odds with many of their U.S. counterparts. Archbishop Gabriel Charles Palmer-Buckle of Accra, Ghana said Wednesday that there was “a divine plan behind” Obama’s election. “It’s like the biblical story repeating itself,” he told reporters, citing the Old Testament figure Joseph, who after being sold into slavery in Egypt ends up becoming a top official. “We believe God has his own plans. God directs history,” he said of the U.S. election. “We pray that it (Obama’s presidency) brings blessings for Africa and the whole world.” He acknowledged that Obama has earned the wrath of many conservative American bishops because of his support for abortion rights. Earlier this year, dozens of U.S. bishops denounced the leading U.S. Catholic university, Notre Dame, for giving Obama an honorary degree. “We are definitely aware of it,” Palmer-Buckle said. “But we feel it our duty to meet him and find out what are the things that unite us more than divide us.”

The New World Order and The Demise of the Dollar

Leo — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 07:48:20 +0000

In the most profound financial change in recent Middle East history, Gulf Arabs are planning – along with China, Russia, Japan and France – to end dollar dealings for oil, moving instead to a basket of currencies including the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a new, unified currency planned for nations in the Gulf Co-operation Council, including Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar. Secret meetings have already been held by finance ministers and central bank governors in Russia, China, Japan and Brazil to work on the scheme, which will mean that oil will no longer be priced in dollars.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews accused of fight to keep ‘Jews for Jesus’ out

Leo — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 05:49:13 +0000

Israel is using an ultra-Orthodox group to crack down on Messianic Jews – who believe that Jesus is the Messiah – and prevent them from staying in the country, officials have told The Times. The Messianic Jews have been accused of Christian missionary activities and complain of harassment and intimidation by the state. An official at the Interior Ministry said that an anti-assimilation group called Yad L’Achim was working with the ministry to prevent Messianic Jews – known as Jews for Jesus – from being allowed to live in Israel, which they consider their spiritual home. “There is a known history of Yad L’Achim working directly with the ministry. They play a distinct role in the ministry’s decision about citizenry,” the official said.

Homosexual Social Engineering in California Public Schools

Leo — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 06:46:32 +0000

Bill O’Reilly’s guests, Gretchen Carlson and Margaret Hoover, talk about another example of the indoctrination of our children in California.

FLASHBACK: Obama to CBN: We’re no Longer Just a Christian Nation

Leo — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:17:05 +0000

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama tells CBN news that “America is no longer just a Christian nation” and laid out ways both religious conservatives and liberals can begin to find common ground: “I think that the right might worry a bit more about the dangers of sectarianism. Whatever we once were, we’re no longer just a Christian nation; we are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers. We should acknowledge this and realize that when we’re formulating policies from the state house to the Senate floor to the White House, we’ve got to work to translate our reasoning into values that are accessible to every one of our citizens, not just members of our own faith community.”

Obama to Turkey: We are not a Christian or Jewish or Muslim nation

Leo — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:13:31 +0000

President Obama told reporters in Turkey that America is not defined by any one religion. “I’ve said before that one of the great strengths of the United States is, although as I mentioned we have a very large Christian population, we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation. We consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values,” said the president.

Cheerleaders’ religious signs draw fire

Leo — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:11:52 +0000

Community members are rallying around Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School cheerleaders after they were banned from displaying signs with Bible verses urging fans and players to “commit to the Lord” and “take courage and do it.” Catoosa County Schools spokeswoman Marissa Brower said a Fort Oglethorpe resident lodged a verbal complaint to Superintendent Denia Reese last week, saying that the display of a Bible verse on the football field is a violation of federal law. The mayor said football coach John Allen made the signs a tradition around 2003 and it has continued ever since. “If it’s offensive to anyone, let them go watch another football game,” he said. “Nobody’s forced to come there and nobody’s forced to read the signs.”

FLASHBACK: Pastors Arrested, Praying Outside of White House

Leo — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 05:14:50 +0000

Two pastors spent the day in jail after kneeling and praying outside the White House in a restricted area. The men said since President Obama didn’t attend any of the National Day of Prayer events Thursday, they brought the prayer to him. Before they were handcuffed and taken away, the two African-American pastors said they’re particularly upset with the president for not taking a stand against abortion, especially in the black community.

Obama calls for New ‘World Order’ at UN

Leo — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:34:22 +0000

“The time has come for the world to move in a new direction,” Obama said before a U.N. chamber packed with more than 100 of his global counterparts. … “In an era where our destiny is shared, power is no longer a zero-sum game,” Obama said. “No world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will succeed.” … “The world must stand together to demonstrate that international law is not an empty promise and that treaties will be enforced,” he said.