World Magazine reports:
The U.S. Air Force appears to be systematically removing the phrase “so help me God” from the oaths of office taken by officer candidates and enlistees.
According to Judicial Watch, a legal watchdog organization, the United States Air Force Academy has removed the phrase from some written materials, including the oath administered to new cadets, because of a single atheist’s objections.
Christian News Network reports:
A well-known evolutionary professor stated in a recent interview that those who do not accept evolution are “fundamentally irrational” with “a kind of slightly crazy mindset,” and claimed that a Christian apologist’s evolution-challenging film is “a great example” of “Biblical porn.”
Craig Stanford is a professor of anthropology and biological sciences at the University of Southern California. Known for his outspoken evolutionary and atheistic beliefs, Stanford appeared on The No God Cast Podcast – a weekly program that, according to the show’s website, provides “a platform” from which atheists can “share their stories and speak their minds.” Though the podcast’s weekly audience is rather small, comments Stanford made on the September 20th episode have generated controversy.
Baptist Press reports:
Katherine Walton was sitting in her backyard during the Skype interview. Her 13-month-old was toddling in and out of the camera, beautiful blond hair shining in the sunlight. Voices in the background of her sons, Blaise and Ian, sometimes interrupted – once to report a scraped knee from the trampoline, other times just to ask a question.
They could have been any American family playing in the yard after school.
Just days ago, however, they were crouching in a grocery store in Westgate Mall in Nairobi, praying that God would protect them from terrorists who were shooting guns and throwing hand grenades. Walton’s 4-year-old Portia has been seen worldwide running to the arms of a rescuer.
Christian News Network reports:
The dean of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. claimed during his weekly address this past Sunday that it is a sin to oppose homosexuality.
The message was part of a weekend tribute to the homosexual youth at the National Cathedral, and a commemoration of the death of Matthew Shepherd, whose slaying sparked the passage of the federal “hate crimes” bill signed into law by Barack Obama in 2009. During his speech, Gary Hall blamed churches across the country for influencing American beliefs about homosexuality.
According to Christian News Network:
A homosexual advocacy group is recruiting volunteers to influence churches nationwide to embrace homosexuality.
The Reformation Project describes itself as “a Bible-based, Christian non-profit organization that seeks to reform church teaching on sexual orientation and gender identity.” Based in Wichita, Kansas, the organization aims to “accelerate the acceptance of LGBT people in the Church.”
Christian Post reports:
Calvary Chapel founder Pastor Chuck Smith, considered one of the major catalysts of the Jesus Movement of the ’60s and ’70s, died after a battle with lung cancer at the age of 86 on Thursday.
“My beautiful, beloved, darling Daddy is in Heaven,” his daughter Janette Smith Manderson posted on Facebook early Thursday morning. “He has heard the words, ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.’ Matthew 25:21.”
Smith had been undergoing treatments for cancer off and on for almost two years, but had maintained a full schedule of preaching both from the pulpit at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa and on a radio talk show heard nationwide.
According to the Washington Times:
The Office of Personnel Management ruled Monday that members of Congress and their staffs will be able to buy health care plans that pay for abortions, even though the premiums are funded largely by taxpayer money — a move that conservatives say breaks federal law on abortion funding.
Under the terms of Obamacare, lawmakers and their aides are required to ditch their government-sponsored plans and buy insurance on state-based health care exchanges, though unlike most people on the exchanges, the staffers and members will have most of the costs of their premiums paid by their employer — in this case, taxpayers.
Christian News Network reports:
Support is pouring in for a Christian ministry’s new Genesis-based movie that is being described as an “incredibly unique,” “breathtaking” project.
“Genesis 3D” is a feature-length documentary film being produced by Creation Today—a Florida-based Christian ministry. Using stereoscopic 3D animation, the movie will portray the universe’s beginning, as recorded in the biblical book of Genesis. “[This project] will bring Genesis to life in a full, stereoscopic, 3D, feature-length film,” says the movie’s director and producer, Ralph Strean, in a recently released promotional video.
Christian News Network reports:
The United Methodist Judicial Council is set to decide on whether resolutions passed at regional conferences regarding the homosexual lifestyle are permissible according to church doctrine or are a violation of the denomination’s rules.
Specifically, the council will decide whether churches within the denomination may support homosexual causes, whether ministers can officiate same-sex ceremonies, and whether regional conferences can urge members to avoid church law regarding homosexuality.
The Reliable Source reports:
Another prominent Republican has come out in support of same-sex marriage — or at least, in support of one particular same-sex marriage.
Former President George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara served as an official witnesses Saturday at the Maine wedding of Bonnie Clement and Helen Thorgalsen, co-owners of a Kennebunk general store. Thorgalsen posted a photo on Facebook of the 41st commander-in-chief signing a set of documents for them at an outdoor celebration: “Getting our marriage license witnessed!”
According to Christian News Network:
A Republican Congressman from Idaho has introduced a bill that seeks to protect Christians and other religious citizens from being punished by the federal government for their belief in Biblical marriage.
Representative Raul Labrador announced on Thursday his submission of the “Marriage and Religious Freedom Act,” which already has the support of over 60 Congressman, mainly Republicans.
LifeNews reports:
On January 1, 2014 state health exchanges, or the federal or “partnership” versions that will operate in their stead in a narrow majority of states, are required by law to be up and running.
By October 1, 2013 consumers are supposed to be able to begin researching and comparing insurance options in these exchanges. Delays in the implementation of the Affordable Care Act are evident in nearly all areas of the law, including a feature called “multi-state plans” (MSPs) that are designed to be phased in over a four-year period for every state in the Union.
According to Christian News Network:
An evangelical Christian university has reportedly asked one of its professors to leave the school after she announced that she was changing her gender identity from female to male.
Azusa Pacific University (APU) is a private educational institution near Los Angeles with a student body of nearly 10,000. According to APU’s website, the university is committed to fostering “a strong, clear, unswervingly evangelical Christian worldview that permeates the university and guides its activity,” and holds to “the historic Christian understanding of Scripture” by reaffirming that “sexuality is a gift from God and basic to human identity as well as a matter of behavioral expression.”
Christian News Network reports:
A new reality show is set to launch this fall featuring a Gospel musician and his blended family, who claim that they were called by God to be rich.
Ben Tankard is a best-selling jazz musician, who has won 12 Stellar awards for his instrumental Gospel albums, and has received multiple Dove and Grammy nominations. The Nashville-based musician is now poised to have his own reality show called Thicker Than Water, which will give viewers a glimpse into his lavish lifestyle.
Christian News Network reports:
In an article published on Thursday by the Italian magazine La Civilta Cattolica, Pope Francis explained that he believes the Roman Catholic Church needs to find a “new balance” in reaching unbelievers, rather than focusing on the issues of homosexuality and abortion.
During the lengthy piece, which covered a variety of topics, from being a Jesuit to the role of women in the church, Francis pointed back to comments he made last month when asked how Catholics can reach out to people who are divorced or involved in same-sex relationships.
According to Life News:
The man who shot up the offices of the Family Research Council on August 15, 2012, saying he wanted to kill “conservative right-wing Christians,” was sentenced to 25 years in prison today.
Corkins entered the lobby armed with a loaded semi-automatic pistol, 100 rounds of ammunition, and 15 Chick-fil-A sandwiches. He started firing at FRC’s building manager Leo Johnson who heroically tackled the shooter after a gunshot shattered his arm.
Christian News Network reports:
A Canadian bridal boutique has reached a settlement with a man who identifies as a woman after the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission ruled that the owner broke the law by refusing to allow him to try on a gown for his wedding.
The incident occurred in April of this year as Rohit Singh, who moved to Canada from India three years ago, went to Jenny’s Bride Boutique with his fiance Colin Peace to shop for a gown for their “wedding.”
However, when Singh wanted to try on a particular gown in the women’s changing room, owner Jenny Correia refused to allow him to do so.
LifeNews has posted incredible images of human life as it develops inside the womb:
As LifeNews continues to report, pro-life advocates are pushing pro-life listicles on the Buzzfeed social media web site. Buzzfeed gives pro-life groups an opportunity to expose the pro-life message to people who may not otherwise see it through traditional social media.
LifeSiteNews reports:
A publication of the international socialist movement has explicitly stated it is promoting abortion and gay “marriage” as part of a multi-pronged campaign to “replace global capitalism” with Marxism.
The admission came on Monday in an article entitled “How Can We Change the World?” by Todd Chretien in the Socialist Worker, which is published by the International Socialist Organization. The ISO proudly “stands in the tradition of revolutionary socialists Karl Marx, V.I. Lenin, and Leon Trotsky.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports:
College football analyst Craig James is learning the hard way that politics and sports do not mix well. The former ESPN star has reportedly been fired from his most recent job at FOX Sports Southwest after alleged anti-gay comments he made during a run for Texas’ U.S. Senate seat last year resurfaced. According to the Dallas Morning News, James joined the network in late August but was fired after just one appearance.
During a debate in February 2012, James allegedly said that homosexuals will have to “answer to the Lord for their actions” and argued that being gay was “a choice.” He also chastised his opponent for attending a gay pride parade.
The Atlantic Wire shares a disturbing report on famed atheist Richard Dawkins:
Richard Dawkins defended “mild pedophilia” in an interview this weekend. And while the quote itself is quite jarring, especially to those who look to Dawkins for his influential writings on atheism (but haven’t noticed some of his other strange stances), it’s far from the first time that the scientist has launched a defense of the behavior — or talked about his own abuse at the hands of boarding school teachers.
LifeNews reports:
The pro-life movement has actively engaged in promoting pro-life lists at the popular Buzzfeed social media web site. Joining the National Right to Life Committee in bringing the pro-life message to its community forum today is Live Action.
Lila Rose’s organization posted a list of seven moms who either rejected abortion or courageously chose life in risky birth situations.
“Nailed it! With the help of their awesome moms, these awesome babies blew raspberries at death,” Live Action said.
Fox News radio talk show host Todd Starnes reports:
A Florida ministry that feeds the poor said a state agriculture department official told them they would not be allowed to receive USDA food unless they removed portraits of Christ, the Ten Commandments, a banner that read “Jesus is Lord” and stopping giving Bibles to the needy.
“They told us they could no longer allow us to have any religious information where the USDA food is going to be,” said Kay Daly, executive director of the Christian Service Center.
According to the Los Angeles Times:
She was excited to be pregnant, excited enough that she brought the new sonogram of her unborn child to show coworkers.
But hours later that day in late March, R.L. — as she came to be known in the pile of criminal court documents that followed — felt sick, with cramping and pain.
R.L. went home and bled heavily the next day. She began to suspect the antibiotics her boyfriend had given her weren’t really antibiotics at all.
Then, on March 31, doctors in Tampa, Fla., confirmed the worst: Her unborn child was dead.
LifeNews reports:
NAACP President Benjamin Jealous will be stepping down in a few months from his position as the head of the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights group. During his tenure, Jealous oversaw the NAACP’s transformation into an abortion advocacy organization.
The NAACP passed a 2004 resolution voicing support for “equal access to abortion” and urging its members to participate in a pro-abortion rally in Washington. Then, in 2007, the NAACP, for the second time in four years, blocked a proposed resolution expressing opposition to abortion.