Just the facts.

Some Wheaton College alumni back professor, threaten to rethink donations

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Chicago Tribune reports:

Some Wheaton College alumni say they’re reconsidering future donations to their alma mater in a show of support for a professor who faces termination after declaring she would wear a hijab because Christians and Muslims worship the same God.

Alumni submitted a petition to college administrators and board members Friday requesting the school reconcile with tenured political science professor Larycia Hawkins, 43, who last month announced she would wear a head scarf as part of her Advent devotion to show solidarity with Muslims.

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Group sues over county’s funding for historic churches

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New Jersey Hills Media Group reports:

A Madison man has taken issue with some of Morris County’s historic preservation grants going to the preservation of churches and other houses of worship — and is pursuing that issue in court.

The county is the subject of a lawsuit filed by David Steketee, of Ferndale Road, Madison, and the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation on Dec. 1 in state Superior Court in Morristown, asking the courts to bar Morris County from presenting historic preservation grants to churches and other houses of worship. The group’s stated purpose is to “promote the constitutional principle of separation of state and church.”

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Human-animal hybrid research continues despite federal funding ban

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According to Christian Examiner:

Despite a ban on federal funding for “Chimera” research – or the mixing of human genes with those of other members of the animal kingdom – several research centers and universities in the U.S. are moving forward with the process, MIT Technology Review has reported.

Scientists involved in the research claim they are looking for ways to create and harvest human organs from other animals, such as sheep and goats, by inserting human DNA (“pluripotent cells”) in animal embryos. Critics see the potential for disaster – the creation of a beast like the mythical Chimera, made up of a lion, a goat and a serpent (or dragon).

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American Pastor Imprisoned in Iran Set Free in Prisoner Swap

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Christian News Network has the good news:

An American pastor who has been imprisoned in Iran for over three years as part of an eight-year prison sentence has been set free in a prisoner swap between the U.S. and Iran.

“It is confirmed: Saeed is released!” Saeed Abedini’s wife Naghmeh posted on social media this morning.

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Primates distance themselves from the US Episcopal Church in official statement

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According to Church Times conservative Primates, or heads of churches, unexpectedly won in their push to censure the US Church because of its violation of Scripture’s teaching on marriage by allowing same-sex couples to marry:

The Episcopal Church in the United States is to spend three years out in the cold because of its support for same-sex marriage, the Primates have decided at their gathering in Canterbury.

In a surprise move, a statement was posted on the Primates’ website at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, a day before the planned press conference, in order to counter speculation that had begun to circulate during the afternoon.

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Obama Uses Last State of Union Address to Again Condemn “Lie” That ISIS Represents Islam

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Christian News Network reports:

During his last State of the Union address of his presidency, Barack Obama again condemned what he called the “lie” that the barbaric terror group ISIS is representative of the Islamic religion.

While speaking on a variety of issues during his Tuesday night speech before members of Congress, the U.S. Supreme Court, representatives of the U.S. Department of Defense and other members of his cabinet, Obama addressed what he called a “dangerous time” in American history.

“Priority number one is protecting the American people and going after terrorist networks,” he said. “Both al Qaeda and now ISIL pose a direct threat to our people, because in today’s world, even a handful of terrorists who place no value on human life, including their own, can do a lot of damage.”

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Lawyer: 231 children abused in German Catholic choir

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USA Today has the story:

Allegations that more than 200 boys in a Catholic-run choir and two connected schools in Germany were abused over the span of several decades, some of them sexually, have brought the church’s abuse scandal uncomfortably close to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, whose older brother directed the famous Bavarian choir during that time.

The allegations were reported by an attorney, Ulrich Weber, who had been hired by the Diocese of Regensburg last year to investigate claims of abuse at the Regensburger Domspatzen choir and two feeder schools between 1953 and 1992.

Weber told a news conference in Berlin on Friday that at least 50 of the 231 alleged victims made “plausible” claims of sexual abuse.

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Read our research paper on Roman Catholicism

South Carolina Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Interpose Against Supreme Court Same-Sex “Marriage” Ruling

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According to Christian News Network:

Two Republican lawmakers in South Carolina have introduced a bill that would interpose against June’s same-sex “marriage” ruling and defend the state’s constitutional amendment defining marriage as being the union of one man and one woman.

Rep. Bill Chumley, R-Woodruff, and Rep. Mike Burns, R-Taylors, recently filed Bill 4513 in the General Assembly, otherwise known as the South Carolina Natural Marriage Defense Act.

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Pope Calls for Collaboration With World’s Religions, Those Who “Meet God in Different Ways”

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Christian News Network reports:

In his first-ever video declaring what is known as his “prayer intentions,” the Roman Catholic leader Jorge Bergoglio, also known as Pope Francis, called for dialogue and collaboration among those of the various world religions on Tuesday, who he asserted were simply “seeking or meeting God in different ways.”

“Most of the planet’s inhabitants declare themselves believers,” he states in the production released on the Feast of Epiphany. “This should lead to dialogue among religions. We should not stop praying for it and collaborating with those who think differently.” The video then features clips of those from different world religions declaring belief in their various deities.

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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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