According to One News Now:
In recently passing a non-discrimination policy for LGBT athletes, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) continued its years-long campaign to ensure that homosexuals and transgendered individuals are accommodated as much as possible through its policies. But when it comes to the persecution of Christians, the IOC is silent and apathetic, agreeing to hold events in nations with histories of grossly oppressing and even executing Christians.
According to The Independent:
Pope Francis has declared it his mission to take on climate change in 2015, through a series of speeches, summit appearances and a rare call-to-arms for the world’s Catholics.
According to Bishop Marcelo Sorondo, the chancellor of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the Pope wants to have a direct influence on the vital 2015 UN climate conference in Paris, the culmination of decades of negotiations that will help determine the planet’s future.
“The idea is to convene a meeting with leaders of the main religions to make all people aware of the state of our climate and the tragedy of social exclusion,” Sorondo was quoted as saying in the Observer.
According to the Los Angeles Times:
For the first time, a majority of Americans are living in a state that allows gay marriage. After a year of cascading court opinions tossing out many remaining restrictions, the dynamic in 2014 changed from how many states allow same-sex marriage to how many states don’t.
Now, at the end of the year, same-sex marriage is legally approved in 35 states and the District of Columbia, and court reviews are pending in many others.
Christian News Network reports:
The Supreme Court of Rhode Island has unanimously ruled that the religious rights of two firefighters were not violated when they were forced to participate in a “gay pride parade” a decade ago despite their objections.
Theodore Fabrizio and Stephen Deninno were assigned by city officials to drive a fire truck in the 2001 parade, but when the men asked if they could be reassigned as they do not agree with the homosexual lifestyle, they were refused. The men then carried out their assignment against their will, but state that they experienced sexual harassment, including sexual propositions and “at least 60 profanity-laced anonymous phone calls,” from parade attendees and their co-workers both during and after the event.
According to Pajamas Media:
Attorney General Eric Holder has issued an edict, through a memorandum [PDF], that cross dressing and transsexualism is now protected under federal civil rights laws which were designed to protect women from sex discrimination. Existing federal law provides no statutory support for treating cross-dressers and transsexuals as the law treats female victims of discrimination.
This means that the Justice Department could now, for example, consider the decision by a school or church to not hire a transvestite as a violation of federal law.
Christian News Net reports:
Voters in Fayetteville, Arkansas have repealed a law passed by city council earlier this year that would allow men who identify as women to use womens’ restrooms and vice versa.
By a vote of 52 to 48 percent, residents rejected Ordinance 119 approved in August by the Fayetteville City Council, which voted 6–2 for the controversial measure. In addition to making provision for “transgendered” persons to use the restroom of their choice, the law also prohibited landlords from turning away homosexual couples who sought to cohabitate on their property, banned employers from rejecting homosexual applicants, and disallowed businesses from refusing services that pertained to homosexuality. Non-compliance would result in criminal penalties.
Christian News Network reports:
The Supreme Court of Pakistan has ordered the arrest of two Muslim clerics for inciting a mob who killed a couple last month after being falsely accused of desecrating the Koran. Five police officials who failed to protect the couple have also been required to face disciplinary action.
As previously reported, Shama Bibi, 28, and Shahzad Masih, 32, were burnt to ashes after they were encircled by the mob who had been informed over mosque loudspeakers that the couple had been found guilty of blasphemy against Islam.
Christian News Network writes:
In one of the feasts and celebrations marked on the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar leading up to Christmas, Catholics around the world observed the Feast of Immaculate Conception on Monday, a day in which those who follow the religion commemorate their belief that Mary was born without sin.
The pontiff known as Pope Francis led Catholics in the annual observance of the holiday, delivering an Angelus address in St. Peter’s Square.
“Oh Mary, our mother, today the people of God in celebration venerates you, the immaculate, preserved from the contagion of sin from the beginning,” he prayed. “Accept the gift I offer on behalf of the church in Rome and throughout the whole world.”
Christian News Network reports:
A Minnesota high school sports league’s decision to allow male students who ‘identify’ as females to participate in girls’ sports has elicited concern from many parents and Christians.
On Thursday, the Minnesota State High School League Board of Directors approved a controversial “transgender” student policy. Once the policy goes into effect next year, male high school students who “identify” as females will be allowed to participate in female-specific athletic programs.
Christian News Network writes:
The research, which is now raising ethical questions, involves injecting cells from unborn babies into the brain tissue of baby mice.
“Researchers took the immature glial cells from donated human fetuses and injected them into mouse pups,” the New Scientist reports.
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It is not known whether the “donated human fetuses” had been aborted or miscarried.
The injection resulted in the creation of smarter mice as compared to ordinary lab mice as the cells assist with memory retention. Scientists compared the outcome to “ramping up” the memory of one’s computer.
CBS Miami reports:
Florida’s Capitol will have a new holiday decoration this year. The Satanic Temple will be among its nativity scenes and secular presentations.
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The Florida Department of Management Services this week approved the proposed holiday display from the Satanic Temple, which a year ago was rejected because the agency said its proposal was “grossly offensive.”
According to Fox News, the town of Piedmont, Alabama wanted to honor the “reason for the season” but out-of-town atheists objected. The Freedom From Religion Foundation sent Piedmont’s mayor a threatening letter stating that the theme “alienates non-Christians and others in Piedmont who do not in fact have a ‘strong belief in prayers’ by turning them into political outsiders in their own community. … The sentiment of ‘Keeping Christ in Christmas’ does not qualify as a secular celebration.”
According to Christian News Network:
A Christian legal organization is warning that the recent repeal of an exemption that allowed private schools in Washington, D.C. to adhere to their convictions about sexuality will have a “severe impact on religious liberty.”
Liberty Counsel reports that the D.C. City Council passed the Human Rights Amendment Act of 2014 this week, which does away with an exemption afforded to faith-based schools to live out their beliefs on homosexuality. The exemption is better known as the Armstrong Amendment, which was passed by Congress in the 1980’s.
Christian News Network reports:
Four Iraqi children firmly declared their love for Jesus in the face of death when Muslims in the country recently demanded that they convert to Islam.
Andrew White, chaplain of St. George’s Anglican Church in Baghdad, relayed the story in a recent video as he shared both about the persecution that Christians face in the country and the bravery of the children in standing up for their faith despite the consequences.
According to Christian News Network:
The Supreme Court of Maine has ruled that a local school district discriminated against a male student that identifies as a female when it denied him from using the girls’ restroom.
The court ruled 5-1 on Thursday that the Orono School District violated the Maine Human Rights Act when it offered then-5th grader Wyatt Maines the use of the staff bathroom, but barred him from using the restroom for female students.
According to Christian News Network:
In a new video, megachurch leader and author Rick Warren is calling for Christians to unite with Roman Catholics and “Pope Francis,” who Warren recently referred to as the “Holy Father” —a move that is raising concerns among Christians nationwide and is resulting in calls for Warren to repent.
Warren made the comments following his visit to the Vatican last month, where he spoke at an interfaith conference on the “Complementarity of Man and Woman.”
Christian News Network reports:
In a move that drew some concerns from onlookers worldwide, the Roman Catholic pontiff known as Francis visited Turkey’s Blue Mosque on Saturday, expressing reverence during a moment of prayer observed by the nation’s grand mufti, who led him on a tour of the Islamic facility.
According to reports, Francis took off his shoes, folded his hands and bowed his head, standing silently next to Rahmi Yaran, who serves as the nation’s highest Islamic leader as grand mufti. The two faced Mecca as Yaran prayed with his palms raised.
According to Fox News:
As church attendance falls, one group believes that the lure of a burger and fries might make church more appealing.
McMass Project, which is the brainchild of Paul Di Lucca – a creative director at the church branding agency Lux Dei Design – is raising funds to put a McDonald’s franchise inside a place of worship.
“Christianity is unable to capture modern audiences,” Di Lucca told NBC News. “There’s a lack of innovation and lack of design thinking in Church communities.”
Christian News Network report:
A former lesbian turned Christian is coming out about her conversion from living as a homosexual, and is testifying about the power of God to change a life.
Jackie Hill Perry, 25, is a spoken word poet, and is expecting her first child, a girl, next month along with her husband, poet Preston Perry.
According to Christian News Network:
A homosexual activist organization whose co-founder was recently jailed for sex abuse charges has launched an aggressive campaign to convert Christians to the same-sex ‘marriage’ cause.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) describes itself as a “civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans.” With over 1.5 million members and supporters, the HRC is the largest such organization in the United States.
Christian News Network reports:
A prominent homosexual activist who was arrested for child rape last week was once called by Obama a “great friend and supporter,” and has raised over a million dollars toward his election efforts since 2007.
As previously reported, Terrance Bean, 66, of Portland was taken into custody at his home last Wednesday by the Portland, Oregon Police Bureau Sex Crimes Unit following an indictment by a Lane County Grand Jury. He was booked at the Multnomah County Jail and released after posting 10 percent of his $50,000 bail.