Just the facts.

Marine General: ”There Will be Great Pressure” to Change the Standards for Women in Combat

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According to CNSNews:

A top Marine general predicts that the Defense Department’s vows to maintain the same standards for women and men in combat jobs won’t last, saying the military will eventually be pressured to lower the qualifications so more women can serve in jobs like the Marine infantry.

The public comments by Gen. John Kelly, head of U.S. Southern Command, underscored how strongly the Marines opposed Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s plans to fully integrate women into all combat jobs, including the Marine Corps and special operations forces like Navy SEALs and Army Green Berets. A new, high-level disagreement is erupting over whether the Marine Corps must also fully integrate its 12-week recruit training program at Parris Island in South Carolina.

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Texas Governor Calls for Constitutional Convention to Give Power Back to States

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Christian News Network reports:

The governor of Texas has proposed a Constitutional Convention of States that would amend the U.S. Constitution in an effort to take back states’ rights and override federal decisions with a majority vote.

In an address on Friday, Gov. Greg Abbott, introduced what he called “The Texas Plan,” which seeks to strengthen founder’s original intent of the Tenth Amendment, which declares, “the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

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Children who spend time with their fathers have a higher IQ

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This new study will not surprise those who have a biblical worldview. Scripture tells us that God’s intention from the beginning is for children to have both a mother and a father who are married to each other. The Telegraph has the full report:

Strong fatherly involvement in their early life can also improve a child’s future career prospects, the research shows.

Academics at the University of Newcastle, who carried out the study, also found that men tended to pay more attention to their sons than their daughters.

The researchers warned that it was not enough for parents to live together, but that a father should be actively involved in a child’s life to benefit their development.

The study looked at more than 11,000 British men and women, born in 1958.

The scientists asked their mothers how often the father of their child took part in activities with them, including reading, organising outings and general “quality time”.

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Rep. Chris Smith: “Planned Parenthood Dismembers or Chemically Poisons a Baby to Death Every 2 Minutes”

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According to CNSNews:

Rep. Chris Smith, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Global Human Rights, said on the House floor on Wednesday that Planned Parenthood is “Child Abuse, Incorporated,” and that the group “dismembers or chemically poisons a baby to death every 2 minutes.”

In its latest annual report, Planned Parenthood said its affiliates performed 323,999 abortion procedures in fiscal 2014 (which ended on Sept. 30, 2014). Given that there are 525,600 minutes in a 365-day year, that means Planned Parenthood’s 323,999 abortions in fsical 2014 averaged one every 1.62 minutes.

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Obama Admin Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Strike Law That Could Close Most Texas Abortion Facilities

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According to Christian News Network:

The Obama administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to strike down new abortion regulations in Texas that some say would close most of the abortion facilities in the state. The brief was one of 45 filed by entities from across the country, including members of Congress and various state attorney generals.

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Pastor “not guilty” of insulting Islam

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Christian Examiner has the story from Belfast:

After a lengthy trial in which a prominent Islamic cleric came to the defense of an Irish pastor’s free speech rights, the pastor has been cleared of insulting Islam, the BBC has reported.

James McConnell, now retired, was found not guilty of “grossly offensive” remarks about Islam he made during a sermon at Whitewell Metropolitan Tabernacle in Belfast in 2014. According to prosecutors, McConnell violated the 2003 Communications Act, which prohibits irreverent speech about other races, genders, sexual orientations or religions, when he referred to Islam as “Satanic” and “heathen.”

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Scalia Dismisses Comcept of Religious Neutality in Speech

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According to the Associated Press:

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said Saturday the idea of religious neutrality is not grounded in the country’s constitutional traditions and that God has been good to the U.S. exactly because Americans honor him.

Scalia was speaking at a Catholic high school in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie, Louisiana. Scalia, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986 is the court’s longest serving justice. He has consistently been one of the court’s more conservative members.

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Discovery of Water Deep Below Earth’s Surface May Confirm Biblical Accounts

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Christian Nets Network reports:

Scientists who have long been puzzled by the origins of Earth’s water are beginning to believe it originated deep inside of the planet—just like the Bible describes.

Where did our planet’s water come from? This question remains a hotly-debated issue among geologists and astronomers, who concede that it is still largely a mystery. Evolutionists who believe the Earth was originally a hot molten sphere abounding with toxic gases have struggled to make sense of the abundance of water currently on our planet.

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Vatican recognition of Palestinian state comes into effect

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According to The Jerusalem Post:

An agreement signed last year making the Vatican’s de facto recognition of a Palestinian state in 2012 official has come into effect, the Holy See said on Saturday.

The Vatican signed its first treaty with the “State of Palestine” last June when it called for moves to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and backed a two-state solution.

“… the Holy See and the State of Palestine have notified each other that the procedural requirements for (the accord’s) entry into force have been fulfilled, the Vatican said in a statement on Saturday.

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States plan renewed debate on LGBT rights, religious freedom

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The Washington Times reports:

With same-sex marriage now legal nationwide, lawmakers in numerous states are preparing for a new round of battles in 2016 over whether to grant discrimination protections to LGBT people or religious exemptions to nonprofits and businesses that object to gay marriage.

The tussle over civil rights and religious freedoms is one of several hot-button issues that could drive states in opposite policy directions, as lawmakers seek to appeal to voters during a year in which more than 5,800 state legislative seats will be up for election.

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Nearly 200 Muslims Fired at Meat-Packing Plant After Walkout for “Insufficient Prayer Accommodations”

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Christian News Network shares a Reuters story:

Nearly 200 workers, mostly Somali immigrants, have been fired from a meat-packing plant in Colorado after staging a walkout to protest what they said were insufficient prayer accommodations, the company and Islamic advocacy groups said on Thursday.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said the workers were treated in a “discriminatory manner” by managers at the Cargill Meat Solutions [CARGIL.UL] facility in Fort Morgan, about 75 miles northeast of Denver.

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Norway Officials Place Children Seized From Parents Over “Christian Indoctrination” Up for Adoption

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Christian News Network reports:

Officials in Norway have moved to place five children that were seized from their parents on charges that included “Christian radicalization and indoctrination” up for adoption, reports state.

As previously reported, on Nov. 16 and 17, Norway’s child welfare services, the Barnevernet, seized Marius and Ruth Bodnariu’s two daughters, two sons and their baby, Ezekiel. The two eldest children were reportedly removed from school without their parents knowledge, and then Barnevarnet representatives arrived with police at the Bodnariu home, where welfare services seized the remaining children, minus the baby.

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Prosperity preachers claim private planes prevent flying with “demons” on commercial airlines

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According to Christian Examiner:

Demons - Saint AnthonyKenneth Copeland and Jesse Duplantis – both multi-millionaire preachers of the “name it and claim it” prosperity gospel – have taken to the air to explain their need for private luxury jets, in part because they travel to so many locations weekly, but also so they won’t have to fly with “demons.”

Duplantis said in a five minute video clip Dec. 30 (begin at 2:08) that God revealed to him the need for the private jet in the midst of a flight in his plane, just after a meeting with fellow prosperity preacher Creflo Dollar – the minister who this summer produced a slick marketing video asking his followers to donate $60 million for a new jet.

The board of directors for Dollar’s ministry later apologized for the video, but insisted the luxury aircraft was a legitimate need for the minister.

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Schools must teach Great Britain is a Christian country, secretary says

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According to Christian Examiner:

Great Britain’s education secretary says schools must teach that Britain is a “Christian country,” according to The Telegraph. Education Secretary Nicky Morgan published the new guidelines to “non-faith schools” on Sunday.

The new guidelines also clarify how schools interact with non-religious views after a landmark court decision from the nation’s highest court said the secretary had unlawfully excluded atheism from the school curriculum. The Telegraph reports that Morgan was concerned that atheist groups were using the courts as part of a “creeping ratchet effect” that would one day lead to primary schools being forced to teach children about atheism.

“I am clear that both faith and non-faith schools are completely entitled to prioritize the teaching of religion and faith over non-religious worldviews if they wish,” Morgan said.

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Doctor Loses Appeal of Expulsion from Boston Hospital for Statements About Health Dangers of Homosexuality

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Christian News Network reports:

A Massachusetts urologist has lost his appeal of his expulsion from a Boston hospital for making statements on an internal online portal expressing concern about the health dangers of same-sex sexual activity.

As previously reported, Dr. Paul Church serves as a urology professor at Harvard University and has also had admitting privileges at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where he has seen patients for nearly the past 30 years. He has additionally participated in medical missions outreaches in Mexico and Africa.

For over the past decade, Church has expressed concern to his colleagues about the hospital’s promotion of homosexual events. He has commented both via email and on the hospital’s internal portal that it is improper to promote lifestyles that are contrary to the goals of the healthcare community, and has been met with allegations that his comments constitute “discrimination and harassment” and are “offensive to BIDMC staff.”

“The evidence is irrefutable that behaviors common within the homosexual community are unhealthy and high risk for a host of serious medical consequences, including STD’s, HIV and AIDS, anal cancer, hepatitis, parasitic intestinal infections, and psychiatric disorders,” Church wrote on the portal on one occasion.

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Catholic Newspaper Names Plaintiffs in Supreme Court “Gay Marriage” Case “Persons of the Year”

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Christian News Network reports:

A prominent Roman Catholic newspaper has named two of the plaintiffs in the U.S. Supreme Court’s “gay marriage” case that was ruled upon in 2015 as being among their “persons of the year.”

“For their historic roles as plaintiffs in Obergefell v. Hodges and for their faithful public witness as gay Catholics, we name Greg Bourke and Michael DeLe­on NCR’s persons of the year for 2015,” writes the National Catholic Reporter, based out of Kansas City, Missouri, in an editorial published on Monday.

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ISIS alive and well in the hometown of Jesus? Israeli intelligence says “yes”

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Christian Examiner reports:

Israel’s domestic intelligence agency has announced a series of arrests of Arab-Israeli men from Nazareth – the home town of Jesus – after they reportedly pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS) and plotted attacks in Israel, according to multiple reports from news sources inside and outside of the Jewish state.

All of the men were young Arabs, but citizens of Israel, a spokesman for the intelligence agency Shin Bet said in a statement Dec. 8. The men were reportedly training with military style firearms, meeting in secret and preparing for jihad against “infidels.”

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Oregon bakers pay fine after state seizes their bank accounts

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According to World Magazine:

On Monday, Aaron and Melissa Klein paid the state of Oregon $136,927.07—the fine levied against them for declining to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple in 2013. The payment also included interest accrued since the couple lost their appeal in July.

The Kleins, owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, had asked the state to postpone collecting the fine while they continued the appeal process. But just weeks before Christmas, the state labor commissioner who brought the case against them seized their bank accounts.

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Evolutionists Startled by “Exceptionally Preserved” Embryos in Ancient Fossils

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Christian News Network reports:

A team of French and Canadian scientists have identified preserved embryos within the eggs of a tiny shrimp-like creature believed to have lived over 500 million years ago, raising questions about both the development of the creatures’ brooding abilities and the likelihood of such delicate materials surviving for thousands of millennia.

Waptia fieldensis is a tiny, shrimp-like arthropod whose fossilized remains were first found 100 years ago in Cambrian layers of fossils in Canada. Now extinct, Waptia was a frail creature that carried the eggs of its young within its own body.

Canadian researchers studying Waptia specimens recently made a startling discovery: despite the fossils’ purported ages, collections of tiny eggs somehow survived within their fossilized bodies. The scientists marveled at the remarkable condition of the creatures, describing them as “exceptionally preserved.”

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New York City to Fine Employers Who Refer to “Transgendered” Workers by Birth Gender

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Christian News Network reports:

The New York City Commission on Human Rights has announced new guidelines under the city’s Human Rights Law that may impose fines on employers who use masculine pronouns for male workers who wish to identify as women and vice versa.

The Commission released its interpretive guide to the law on Monday, which includes a prohibition on “[i]ntentionally failing to use an individual’s preferred name, pronoun or title,” such as “repeatedly calling a transgender woman ‘him’ or ‘Mr.’ when she has made it clear that she prefers female pronouns and a female title.”

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U.S. to Allow Homosexual Men to Donate Blood if Abstinent for at Least One Year

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According to Christian News Network:

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued its final guidance on allowing homosexual men to donate blood, stating that men should be allowed to do so if they have been abstinent for at least one year.

As previously reported, the FDA first announced its intent to loosen its restrictions on blood donations from homosexual men last year, stating that it would “take the necessary steps to recommend a change to the blood donor deferral period for men who have sex with men from indefinite deferral to one year since the last sexual contact.”

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Christians in China feel full force of authorities’ repression

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The Washington Post reports:

Pastor Su Tianfu slides into the back seat and tells the driver to hit it.

He looks over his shoulder: “Is there anybody following us?”

It is days before Christmas, but instead of working on his sermon, Su is giving his tail the slip.

The slight and soft-spoken Protestant preacher is no stranger to surveillance. Su has worked for years in China’s unregistered “house churches,” and he said he has been interrogated more times than he can count.

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Christianity And LGBT Rights: More Christians Than Ever Say Gays Should Be Accepted By Society

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International Business Times reports:

More American Christians are accepting LGBT people, even if their churches strongly oppose gay and lesbian relationships, according to a Pew Research Center report of U.S. religious beliefs and practices released Friday. While more non-Christians accept gay relationships than Christians, the number of Christians who say LGBT relationships should be accepted and not discouraged has grown by 10 percentage points since 2007, the study found.

Overall, 54 percent of Christians say gay people should be accepted, compared with 76 percent of non-Christians and 83 percent of religiously unaffiliated people. Across the general U.S. population, 62 percent accept gay relationships, up from 50 percent in 2007. Most churches teach gay relationships are an act of sin or “intrinsically disordered,” the Pew study said.

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Billy Graham’s Muslims Are “Saved” Remarks Revived After Son Franklin Opposes “Same God” Professor

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According to Christian News Network:

Billy and Franklin GrahamRemarks from Billy Graham asserting that Muslims and those of other religions who “turn to the only light they have” without consciously trusting Christ are saved—despite clear warning in Scripture—have come back to light after his son Franklin Graham, the president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA), expressed disagreement with a Wheaton professor who contends that Christians and Muslims worship the same God.

As previously reported, associate professor Larycia Hawkins posted to Facebook two photos of herself wearing a hijab earlier this month, and stated in a lengthy explanation that she plans to wear it everywhere she goes during the Advent—including at the professedly Christian college and to church.

“I stand in human solidarity with my Muslim neighbor because we are formed of the same primordial clay, descendants of the same cradle of humankind—a cave in Sterkfontein, South Africa that I had the privilege to descend into to plumb the depths of our common humanity in 2014,” Hawkins wrote.

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