There’s a tricky and potentially-troubling situation going on when it
comes to individuals who are studying counseling in college, but who
happen to oppose homosexuality. Jennifer Keeton, a Christian, learned
this the hard way after she was expelled from the graduate program at
Georgia’s Augusta State University in 2010 for expressing her
disagreement with the same-sex lifestyle. Now, two years later, she has
lost a subsequent court case defending herself against the school’s
decision.
Here’s how the situation unfolded. The university‘s program
apparently stressed that students couldn’t discriminate against others
based on any indicators, including sexual orientation. But Keeton,
citing her religious views, refused to alter her engagement with gay
students and clients (clearly, these views impacted her relations with
these individuals). It’s not clear exactly what Keeting said inside or
outside of the classroom that created such a stir, but this is certainly
an interest First Amendment case to continue watching.
While the school argues that Keeton deserved to be dismissed, the
former student says that she, in fact, was the victim of discrimination —
especially considering the fact that she was kicked out of the program
explicitly over her personal beliefs.
READ MORE
Friday, June 29, 2012
Obamacare Makes Christians Complicit in Abortion
The United States Supreme Court voted to uphold the individual insurance requirement of President Obama's Affordable Care Act.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List), maintains that Obamacare is fundamentally flawed legislation because it makes American taxpayers complicit in the deaths of countless unborn children.
As she sees it, Thursday’s decision to uphold the individual mandate to force individuals to purchase health care plans that offend their conscience is incredibly disappointing.
“Over the last four years, President Obama has revealed his loyalty to the abortion industry. At no time was this clearer than during the health care reform debate, when he fought tenaciously for the largest expansion of taxpayer funding of abortion on demand since Roe v. Wade,” Dannenfelser says.
“As the presidential race heats up, the Susan B. Anthony List will continue to remind American voters where the President’s allegiance truly lies. We will not stop fighting until every U.S. taxpayer is freed from under-writing the abortion business.”
READ MORE
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List), maintains that Obamacare is fundamentally flawed legislation because it makes American taxpayers complicit in the deaths of countless unborn children.
As she sees it, Thursday’s decision to uphold the individual mandate to force individuals to purchase health care plans that offend their conscience is incredibly disappointing.
“Over the last four years, President Obama has revealed his loyalty to the abortion industry. At no time was this clearer than during the health care reform debate, when he fought tenaciously for the largest expansion of taxpayer funding of abortion on demand since Roe v. Wade,” Dannenfelser says.
“As the presidential race heats up, the Susan B. Anthony List will continue to remind American voters where the President’s allegiance truly lies. We will not stop fighting until every U.S. taxpayer is freed from under-writing the abortion business.”
READ MORE
Christian group backs away from ex-gay therapy
MINNEAPOLIS – The president of the
country's best-known Christian ministry dedicated to helping people
repress same-sex attraction through prayer is trying to distance the
group from the idea that gay people's sexual orientation can be
permanently changed or "cured."
That's a significant shift for Exodus International, the 36-year-old Orlando-based group that boasts 260 member ministries around the U.S. and world. For decades, it has offered to help conflicted Christians rid themselves of unwanted homosexual inclinations through counseling and prayer, infuriating gay rights activists in the process.
This week, 600 Exodus ministers and followers are gathering for the group's annual conference, held this year in a Minneapolis suburb. The group's president, Alan Chambers, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the conference would highlight his efforts to dissociate the group from the controversial practice usually called ex-gay, reparative or conversion therapy.
"I do not believe that cure is a word that is applicable to really any struggle, homosexuality included," said Chambers, who is married to a woman and has children, but speaks openly about his own sexual attraction to men. "For someone to put out a shingle and say, 'I can cure homosexuality' — that to me is as bizarre as someone saying they can cure any other common temptation or struggle that anyone faces on Planet Earth."
That's a significant shift for Exodus International, the 36-year-old Orlando-based group that boasts 260 member ministries around the U.S. and world. For decades, it has offered to help conflicted Christians rid themselves of unwanted homosexual inclinations through counseling and prayer, infuriating gay rights activists in the process.
This week, 600 Exodus ministers and followers are gathering for the group's annual conference, held this year in a Minneapolis suburb. The group's president, Alan Chambers, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the conference would highlight his efforts to dissociate the group from the controversial practice usually called ex-gay, reparative or conversion therapy.
"I do not believe that cure is a word that is applicable to really any struggle, homosexuality included," said Chambers, who is married to a woman and has children, but speaks openly about his own sexual attraction to men. "For someone to put out a shingle and say, 'I can cure homosexuality' — that to me is as bizarre as someone saying they can cure any other common temptation or struggle that anyone faces on Planet Earth."
Three Missionary Wives: The Martyr, the Heroine, the Forgotten
The motto of every missionary, whether preacher, printer, or school master, ought to be "devoted for life." –Adoniram Judson
Although five young men were commissioned as missionaries on February 6, 1812, considerable interest was concentrated on the three young wives who were so publicly expanding expectations of the role and capabilities of women in missions. Prevented by cold weather, distance and preparations for her imminent marriage to Samuel Nott, Roxana Peck of Franklin, Connecticut was the only one unable to attend the ordination at Salem.Roxana was twenty-seven years old at the time she married Samuel Nott the week after the Salem commissioning service. Ann "Nancy" Hasseltine Judson of Bradford, Massachusetts was twenty-three and had married Adoniram the day before the commissioning. The darling of the three was Harriet Atwood of Haverill, Massachusetts – beautiful, delicate and only eighteen years old. She married Samuel Newell just days after the commissioning.
After their departure for India on two different ships, the lives of the first three missionary women, intertwined by fate and the public imagination, took surprisingly different turns. Each in her own way became a model for the practice of women in mission. United at first by circumstances, by similar spiritual experience, and by shared goals, the lives of Harriet, Ann and Roxana demonstrated how a range of hard realities could reshape mission theory and dictate practice.
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Trafficking: 'Tricked, Trapped, Traded'
NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- Sandy Wisdom-Martin didn't realize what she was
getting into when she stepped through the doorway of the Diamond
Cabaret, a strip club in East St. Louis, Mo.
It was 10 years ago, during Southern Baptists' evangelistic Crossover outreach that precedes each year's Southern Baptist Convention.
Wisdom-Martin was part of a Crossover team working to share Jesus with exotic dancers, a job "way outside" her comfort zone. The goal was simple: free these women from the exploitation and oppression of the sex industry through an encounter with Christ that would radically change their lives. Little did Wisdom-Martin know the experience would radically change her life as well.
Today Wisdom-Martin, executive director/treasurer of Texas WMU, was tapped to lead a breakout session on human trafficking during WMU's Mission Celebration and Annual Meeting in New Orleans, June 17-18, in conjunction with the SBC annual meeting.
The breakout, titled "Tricked, Trapped, Traded (Project HELP: Human Exploitation)," focused on raising awareness about human trafficking and giving WMU attendees practical steps they can take to join the fight. Project HELP is Woman's Missionary Union current initiative against human trafficking.
"The issue of human trafficking is part of a larger worldwide issue of slavery," Wisdom-Martin told the breakout audience, explaining that human trafficking is generally divided into two categories: sex trafficking and labor trafficking.
She introduced statistics from the anti-human trafficking website, www.freetheslaves.net, which reports there are 27 million slaves in the world today, the majority in India and African nations. Every year, thousands of slaves are trafficked into the United States, working in fields, homes, brothels and restaurants. The average cost of a human slave sold around the world is $90.
"Many victims that are trafficked to the United States do not speak English so they can't communicate with service providers or law enforcement officials who might be able to help them," Wisdom-Martin said.
READ MORE
It was 10 years ago, during Southern Baptists' evangelistic Crossover outreach that precedes each year's Southern Baptist Convention.
Wisdom-Martin was part of a Crossover team working to share Jesus with exotic dancers, a job "way outside" her comfort zone. The goal was simple: free these women from the exploitation and oppression of the sex industry through an encounter with Christ that would radically change their lives. Little did Wisdom-Martin know the experience would radically change her life as well.
Today Wisdom-Martin, executive director/treasurer of Texas WMU, was tapped to lead a breakout session on human trafficking during WMU's Mission Celebration and Annual Meeting in New Orleans, June 17-18, in conjunction with the SBC annual meeting.
The breakout, titled "Tricked, Trapped, Traded (Project HELP: Human Exploitation)," focused on raising awareness about human trafficking and giving WMU attendees practical steps they can take to join the fight. Project HELP is Woman's Missionary Union current initiative against human trafficking.
"The issue of human trafficking is part of a larger worldwide issue of slavery," Wisdom-Martin told the breakout audience, explaining that human trafficking is generally divided into two categories: sex trafficking and labor trafficking.
She introduced statistics from the anti-human trafficking website, www.freetheslaves.net, which reports there are 27 million slaves in the world today, the majority in India and African nations. Every year, thousands of slaves are trafficked into the United States, working in fields, homes, brothels and restaurants. The average cost of a human slave sold around the world is $90.
"Many victims that are trafficked to the United States do not speak English so they can't communicate with service providers or law enforcement officials who might be able to help them," Wisdom-Martin said.
READ MORE
Thursday, June 28, 2012
EFN: Where Have Morals Gone in America?
NEWS we covered on tonight's EFN!
http://eternalflamenews.blogspot.com/2012/06/court-sidesteps-broad-issue-of.html
http://eternalflamenews.blogspot.com/2012/06/ill-supreme-court-sex-with-17-ye...
http://eternalflamenews.blogspot.com/2012/06/more-americans-cant-afford-tv-ca...
http://eternalflamenews.blogspot.com/2012/06/swarms-of-cyborg-insect-drones-a...
http://eternalflamenews.blogspot.com/2012/06/adidas-cancels-shackle-shoes-wit...
http://eternalflamenews.blogspot.com/2012/06/food-delivery-truck-stolen-from-...
http://eternalflamenews.blogspot.com/2012/06/help-still-needed-building-new-o...
http://www.efca.org/reachglobal/reachglobal-ministries/touchglobal/hurricane-...
http://eternalflamenews.blogspot.com/2012/06/canadas-assisted-suicide-ban-str...
Eternal Flame News 6-15-12 Church Fights Town To House Homeless
TOPICS ON ETERNAL FLAME NEWS 6-15-12
Jerusalem As Islam's Capital?
http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/columns/keeping-jerusalem/jerusalem-as-isl...
http://makeadifference.cufi.org/?p=1642
Military Suicides Up to Almost One Per Day
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2012/June/Military-Suicides-Up-to-Almost-One-Pe...
Study suggests risks from same-sex parenting
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jun/10/study-suggests-risks-from-sam...
Church fights Alhambra for right to give temporary shelter to homeless families
http://www.sgvtribune.com/news/ci_20820986/church-fights-alhambra-right-give-...
Military Logos No Longer Allowed on Troop Bibles
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2012/June/Military-Logos-No-Longer-Allowed-on-T...
Food supply tenuous for 16 million NKoreans
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/06/12/food-supply-tenuous-for-16-million-nk...
Supreme Court Upholds Mandate as Tax
WASHINGTON—A divided Supreme Court largely upheld the Obama administration's health-care law, saying the law's penalty for those who ignore a mandate to carry health insurance counted as a tax and was justified by Congress's constitutional taxing power.
The court did find one part of the law unconstitutional, saying its expansion of the federal-state Medicaid program threatened states' existing funding. The court ruled that the federal government can't put sanctions on states' existing Medicaid funding if the states decline to go along with the Medicaid expansion.
WASHINGTON—A divided Supreme Court largely upheld the Obama administration's health-care law, saying the law's penalty for those who ignore a mandate to carry health insurance counted as a tax and was justified by Congress's constitutional taxing power.
The court did find one part of the law unconstitutional, saying its expansion of the federal-state Medicaid program threatened states' existing funding. The court ruled that the federal government can't put sanctions on states' existing Medicaid funding if the states decline to go along with the Medicaid expansion.
READ MORE
Obama: Mandate is Not a Tax
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Obama: Mandate is Not a Tax
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Sustain Hope: AG ministry seeks to improve lives of poor and needy
In a world where nearly half the population survives on less than $2 a day and 1 billion people lack access to clean water, causing suffering from easily preventable diseases, it's tempting to believe that God doesn't provide, He's not truly rich and generous, and healing for half the world remains an impossible dream.
But often people simply need to be awakened to solutions that may be close by, according to Carol Young, director of Sustain Hope. This Assemblies of God World Missions ministry is designed to improve lives through community-initiated, sustainable solutions that use local resources in areas of agriculture, alternative fuels, water and sanitation. Of utmost importance to Sustain Hope is the transformation of the individuals they serve through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Networking with AG missionaries, Sustain Hope listens to the needs of the national church and local communities, and, in return, ministers the love of Christ in practical ways that affect everyday lives, says Young. Simple methods, such as providing training in solar water disinfection or improving agricultural techniques, improve quality of life using materials that can be obtained locally.
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| Sustain Hope worker, Andy Rogers, displays cooking techniques using a rocket stove in Nicaragua. |
Prior to joining Sustain Hope, Young served AGWM HealthCare Ministries in the video and information technology department. She connected with missionaries ministering in places where families often were unable to both feed their children and send them to school. Yet Young knew there must be a way to offer assistance that is both Christ-centered and holistic while not fostering dependency.
Sustain Hope is engaged in sharing such methods. Today, Young and five Sustain Hope missionaries travel worldwide at the invitation of AGWM field missionaries to help people address problems that often have simple solutions.
"We get excited about manure tea and compost," Young says, "because we see how much simple, doable methods such as these can change people's everyday lives."
For example, in areas where most people live on less than $2 a day, cooking fuel often costs more than food itself and can be hard and dangerous to obtain. It causes deforestation, which exacerbates water shortages and health problems.
Sustain Hope provides instruction about technologies such as fuel briquettes made from agricultural waste, fuel-efficient stoves, and solar cooking that can greatly reduce fuel use and expense. Some technologies, such as solar ovens, lend themselves to microenterprise by empowering people to generate income through building and selling these ovens.
Container or rooftop gardening techniques can be used in urban settings where there is little land. Sustain Hope teaches food cultivation methods that can even be employed in apartments.
The moringa tree, the world's most nutrient-dense plant, is found in almost every country where Sustain Hope has ministered - and throughout every malnutrition-plagued area of the globe. All parts of the high-protein moringa are nutritious. Moringa tea even soothes coughs.
"These trees are a gift from God to these people," team member Bob Bachman says. "We just need to educate."
"We use Scripture in our materials and presentations, and we share the salvation message," Young says. "Without Christ, one's heart and life can't be truly transformed. When lives and communities are transformed by Christ, an 'other-centeredness' often occurs, and people begin to care more about their neighbor."
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County Officials Force Georgia Church Underground
Rockdale County is allegedly discriminating against a Georgia church, effectively forcing it underground.
Rockdale County refused the small church access to several properties for its worship services because the properties are less than three acres. The restriction does not apply to non-religious groups. The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) has filed a lawsuit.
“Government officials should not use zoning restrictions to close down religious services of small, start-up churches,” says ADF Senior legal counsel Erik Stanley. “Not only is it irresponsible to target small ministries dedicated to serving the community, it’s unconstitutional and violates federal law.”
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Clinics Offer Sunday Abortion Discounts to Counter Churches’ Pro-Life Protests
Back in November, we told you that an Orlando-based clinic was offering discounts on abortions that were performed on Sundays. Months later, the Orlando Women’s Center is continuing this practice, with a new coupon that extends the invitation for $50 off a Sunday abortion through April 1, 2013 (unfortunately, although the deal ends on April Fool’s Day, it isn’t a joke).
Below, see the current ad that is active on the Orlando Women‘s Center’s web site:
Recently, The Christian Post explored this issue, examining whether clinics like the Orlando Women’s Center are purposely choosing a day on which many Americans attend churches to offer the disturbing discounts. According to the outlet, this day has been chosen in an effort to respond to church-led protests against abortion clinics that are sometimes held on Sunday afternoons.
Image Credit: Fund Abortion Now
“I don’t think there is any coincidence…abortion facilities are facing increasing presence from Christians praying during business hours, and are having to change up their business hours to try to avoid the attention,” he said.
Now, here’s an even more surprising tidbit. Martelli also said that the practice of collecting funds to help others secure abortions is an increasing phenomenon. Take, for instance, the web site Fund Abortion Now, which helps women across the nation pay for the procedure. Here’s a brief synopsis, in the group’s own words, of its work to help “women and girls” secure abortions:
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Widening sex scandal rocks Texas Air Force base
SAN ANTONIO
(AP) -- From a chapel pulpit on Lackland Air Force Base, where every
American airman reports for basic training, Col. Glenn Palmer delivered
his first order to nearly 600 recruits seated in the pews: If you're
sexually harassed or assaulted, tell someone.
"My job is to give you a safe, effective training environment," Palmer said firmly.
What
the colonel did not mention directly in his recent address was a
widening sex scandal that has rocked the base, one of the nation's
busiest military training centers. Allegations that male instructors had
sex with, and in one case raped, female trainees have led to criminal
charges against four men. Charges against others are possible.
The
most serious accusations surround an Air Force staff sergeant scheduled
to face a court-martial in July on charges that include rape and
multiple counts of aggravated sexual assault. The other three defendants
were charged with lesser crimes ranging from sexual misconduct to
adultery. All of the defendants were assigned to turn raw recruits into
airmen in eight weeks of basic training.
A
two-star general is now investigating alongside a separate criminal
probe, which military prosecutors say could sweep up more airmen.
Advocates for female service members and members of Congress have
started taking notice.
"It's a pretty big
scandal the Air Force is having to deal with at this point," said Greg
Jacob, a former Marine infantry officer and policy director of the
Service Women's Action Network. "It's pretty substantial in its scope."
S.F. gay rights advocate arrested over child porn
San Francisco police have arrested veteran gay rights advocate Larry Brinkin in connection with felony possession of child pornography.
Brinkin, 66, who worked for the San Francisco Human Rights Commission before his retirement in 2010, was taken into custody Friday night. He spent the night in jail before he was released on bail, according to a spokeswoman for the sheriff's department.
The district attorney's office will decide Tuesday whether to file charges. "We're still reviewing the case," district attorney's spokeswoman Stephanie Ong Stillman said Monday.
Police say that Brinkin had pornographic images, some that appear to show children as young as 1 and 2 or 3 years old being sodomized and performing oral sex on adult men, in e-mail attachments linked to his account, according to a search warrant served by San Francisco police.
Representatives of America Online contacted authorities after coming across e-mail attachments from one of its subscriber's accounts containing what they believed to be child pornography.
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Poll: Obama slips in Ohio
President Obama's lead in Ohio has narrowed, according to a new survey.
Obama leads Mitt Romney 47 percent to 44 percent in the Buckeye State, according to the latest poll by the Democratic-leaning firm PPP. But that's down from a seven point lead that he maintained in the last two PPP surveys of the state.
Obama is clinging to his lead based on his strength with three demographic groups: black voters, young voters and women. Obama leads among African-Americans 93 percent to 6 percent, and he beats Romney among young voters 54 percent to 36 percent. Women support Obama over Romney 52 percent to 41 percent.
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Short on Funds: Democrats Cancel Speedway Event At Charlotte Convention
Democrats canceled a political convention kick-off event at the Charlotte Motor Speedway and will move the activities to Charlotte’s main business district, the convention’s host committee announced.
“While we regret having to move CarolinaFest away from our great partners at the Charlotte Motor Speedway and the City of Concord, we are thrilled with the opportunity that comes with hosting this event in Uptown Charlotte,” said Dan Murrey, the executive director of the Charlotte in 2012 Convention Host Committee.
The move comes as party planners are grappling with a fundraising deficit of roughly $27 million, according to two people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to discuss internal party politics. With a party ban on direct contributions from corporations, the host committee has raised less than $10 million, well short of its $36.6 million goal, said one of the people.
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“While we regret having to move CarolinaFest away from our great partners at the Charlotte Motor Speedway and the City of Concord, we are thrilled with the opportunity that comes with hosting this event in Uptown Charlotte,” said Dan Murrey, the executive director of the Charlotte in 2012 Convention Host Committee.
The move comes as party planners are grappling with a fundraising deficit of roughly $27 million, according to two people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to discuss internal party politics. With a party ban on direct contributions from corporations, the host committee has raised less than $10 million, well short of its $36.6 million goal, said one of the people.
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Survey: 70% of teens hide online behavior from parents
(CNN) -- Here's a real shocker: Teens are better than their parents at using the Internet, and are likely to hide some of their online behaviors from them.
That news comes from a
2,017-person survey funded by the online security software maker McAfee,
which is pushing a product that helps parents monitor their kids
online.
Seventy percent of teens
"hide their online behavior" from parents, according to the report,
which was released Monday. That's up from 45% in 2010, the group says.
These hidden behaviors
include some things you might expect -- such as accessing violent (43%)
or pornographic (32%) content online -- but also a few surprises.
Fifteen percent of teens have hacked into social networks; 9% have
hacked into e-mail accounts; 12% have met face to face with a person he
or she met on the Internet; and 16% of teens surveyed said they had used
their phones to cheat on tests at school.
McAfee said parents are often unaware of these behaviors.
S. African party protests ‘Made in Israel’ warning
PRETORIA – A South African opposition
The African Christian Democratic Party’s call to demonstrate came after Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies’s proposal a few weeks ago to label imports from
Pro-Palestinian NGO Open Shuhada Street and Palestinian groups in South Africa had lobbied for the proposal, alleging that certain products such as
Last week, ACDP president Rev. Kenneth Meshoe opposed Davies’s proposal, stating that the entire notion was flawed and based on allegations that cannot be proven.
He further stated that there is no such state as occupied Palestine: “I am disputing that the Palestinian territories are not legally and officially recognized in the world.”
Meshoe then accused the South African government of being misleading and unfair toward Israel, demanding that the
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SIN: Treating the Symptoms and Not the Sickness.
This past week I was really sick, I mean really sick. Fever, headache, chills, you name it. For days I took pain relievers and the turmoil in my body would ease for a while.. but inevitably, the gut wrenching symptoms returned. Although treating the symptoms of my sickness provided a temporary solution to what I was experiencing, it did not cure it. And that goes for all types of sicknesses. We can treat our symptoms all we want, day in and day out, but until our immune system (the real weapon) kills the virus/bacteria, we are waging a battle that won’t end.
So should we neglect this whole battle with sin? Should we just stop trying? Should we not set filters on our computers? Should we just live in complete license and presume upon the grace of God, doing whatever we want to do, whenever we want to?
God Forbid.
Paul Washer has put this thought into words very clearly, and the Spirit has engrained it into my mind: “Your Christian life should not consist of doing all the righteous things you hate, while refraining from all the wicked things you love."
Do you see what Washer is getting at here? He’s attempting to plunge past the external behaviors, whether good or bad, and reach into the heart of a person. The heart, the broken, destitute and sin-ravaged heart of the person, is the root of the problem. This heart is the dark spring from which all our sinful thoughts, desires, and eventually behaviors arise. The external sins we see in our lives, the behaviors we hopefully detest, are not the root of the problem…they are merely symptoms of the unseen disease waging war inside of us. Indwelling sin, or our sin nature, is the universal disease that plagues every fiber of every human being, physically and spiritually. This nature causes us to turn from God, bow down in reverence to ourselves…desiring things that we ought naught and committing shameful acts, day in and day out. But when we are made new in Christ and given the gift of the Spirit, we are aware of this innate sickness and embark on a life long journey to battle the ever-present evil inside of us. But how are we to wage this battle? We’ve been told “Don’t lie, God hates liars!” and “Don’t have sex, or God’ll getcha!”, but those of us who have tried to just not do these things using our own will power know we fail every time we try.
So what’s the solution? I mean, this sounds pretty hopeless right? Right. The truth is, you are utterly hopeless to defeat the sin in your life… in and of yourself, as am I. There’s not any amount of self control or discipline that you can muster up from within yourself to crush this thing. The only thing, and I mean the only thing, that can change you is the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit…. specifically, the love of God being poured into your heart to such a degree that your desires actually start to change. And by change, I do not mean completely disappear… my same-sex feelings have not totally disappeared. But what I’m saying is that the love of Christ that’s poured into our hearts by the Spirit swallows up all of our other carnal desires, drowning them out and putting them at bay. They may still be present, but the love of Christ is the overwhelming presence inside of our hearts…. the love of Christ controls us, not our sinful natures.
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FBI saves 79 kids held as sex slaves in US
The FBI, working alongside state and local authorities across the U.S., rescued 79 minors being held as sex slaves, the agency announced Monday.
The minors – two of whom were boys, the rest girls – were taken from 57 different cities during “Operation Cross Country” raids on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
The youngest kid was 13, while another told of being held as a sex slave since age 11, said Kevin Perkins, the head of the FBI’s criminal division.
Pimps were luring the kids through social media, targeting ones who came from “dysfunctional” families and offering them gifts, Perkins told Fox News.
It takes more than food to feed the poor
A few years ago, a good friend of mine noticed a homeless man begging on the side of the road. Now, any of us who have watched specials on television know that most of these guys are faking it–looking for a free hand out, right? A good Samaritan might give him a few bucks just to show him generosity.
My friend decided to do way more than that. He picked him up and took him out to eat. After a long conversation over a McDonald’s meal, he learned that his destitute state was a reality. The problem was he had no desire to change. The conversation ended somewhat like this, “Sir, thank you for the free meal. I needed it. Honestly, though, I just want money for liquor.” Well, how do you fix that? He is destitute and he doesn’t want to change. Sometimes I think it’s too easy for us to believe that benevolence alone will change someone.
I do understand that people need their basic needs met before they can wrestle through higher levels of thinking. We have all studied Abraham Maslow and his infamous hierarchy of needs, the most basic being food and water. Yet we must not forget the most important issue of the heart.
Until there is a transformation of the will, any economic adjustment will be short lived.
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Disappearing Daughters: India's Female Feticide
Every 12 seconds, a baby girl is aborted in India. That's about 7,000 girls killed every day just because they are females.
The United Nations now calls India the most dangerous place on earth for a girl.
So
why are these parents taking such action? CBN News went searching for
answers in a remote village of Rajasthan in northeast India.
Beware the 'Medicine Man'
In
rural villages and big cities, millions of families are turning to men
like Kilash Boria to help eliminate their girl children.
For
more than two decades, Boria's father was known around Rajasthan as the
medicine man. He created a secret brew that he'd give to pregnant women
to help abort their babies.
"From the time I was a child I saw my father giving this drink to women in the village," Boria told CBN News.
"Do you have any idea how many women your father saw during his lifetime?" CBN News' George Thomas asked.
"At least 500 women," Boria replied.
Abortion is legal in India. Sex-selective abortion,
however, is illegal but widely common. The impact is devastating, with
census figures showing the child sex ratios getting worse.
In
2001, there were 927 girls for every 1,000 boys. Now the girls in that
ratio are down to 914. In some parts of the Indian state of Punjab, the
ratio is as low as 300 girls.
"Indians are obsessed with having a boy," Boria explained. "They just don't want to have girls."
Boria's Deadly Brew
Like
his father, Boria is also a farmer but with no training as a
professional doctor. Nevertheless, Boria took over his father's gruesome
line of work when he passed away three years ago.
He now sees on average between four to five women each month. He showed CBN News how he concocts the traditional abortifacient.
"I
crush the bark of the mango tree and marva tree together into
paste-like substance," he explained. "It has to sit for about two hours.
I then mix it with other ingredients and black magic."
The
instructions to the pregnant woman are very specific: He tells her that
this entire glass has to be consumed. But before that happens, Boria
explains that about 100 milligrams of a locally brewed wine should be
mixed with the pasty concoction.
Then on an empty
stomach, first thing in the morning, half of it needs to be drunk. The
remainder is to be taken right before going to bed with a full stomach.
"Within two or three days the women has an abortion," Boria said.
And
what is the evidence that Boria's concoction is actually working? After
each abortion the patient would place two coconuts on his front porch
as a way of thanking him for his efforts.
Kaveena, 26, was one of those women. Several years ago she underwent an abortion with Boria's help.
"I
already had a son, but then I became pregnant again and discovered that
I was having a girl," she told CBN News. "The family and village
pressure was so much I had to do it."
Tenn. Pro-Abstinence Sex Education Law Sparks Debate
A pro-abstinence sex education law enacted recently in Tennessee has critics warning that it will fail to check the state's teen pregnancy rate, as supporters stand their ground on the need for barring explicit sex education.
The bill, labeled by critics as "no holding-hands bill," was signed into law by Republican Gov. Bill Haslam last month. It prohibits educators from advocating "gateway sexual activity," and uses the criminal statute on sexual assault to specify acts such as groping or fondling.A New York-based reproductive health research organization, the Guttmacher Institute, is arguing that comprehensive sex education is appropriate and necessary for young people.
"What we know ... from the research is that comprehensive sex education works," said Elizabeth Nash, the institute's state issues manager, according to The Associated Press. "It delays sexual activity, it reduces the number of partners teens have, and it increases contraceptive use. There is very little in the way of any rigorous research that shows that abstinence education has any of these long-term benefits."
Nash attributes declining pregnancy rates around the United States to a move the country's state lawmakers took about a decade ago to consider more comprehensive sex education programs that talked about abstinence as well as contraception.
Tennessee's pregnancy rate among girls 15 to 17 has also dropped from 48.2 pregnancies per 1,000 girls in 1998 to 29.6 in 2009, according to the state Commission on Children and Youth. However, the institute says, it remains one of the highest in the nation.
READ MORE
S.C. couple building Christian-based camp in Ky.
GRAYSON, Ky. (AP) — A South Carolina couple has begun working to turn a hundred-acre farm in eastern Kentucky into a Christian-based summer camp for children in Appalachia.
Stephen and Millissia Owens told The Independent (http://bit.ly/MX3zh9) that they envision children attending the camp and learning about farm life including gathering eggs and milking cows. They say lessons will be given in a spiritual context and include services at a nearby Baptist church.
Stephen Owens said campers will stay at rustic sites and will learn how to be more self-reliant. Millissia Owens says the camp will be based on Christian principals, but won't be marketed just to churches.
"Kids need a place where they can just be ... and get away from electronics," said Millissia, who grew up in the nearby Rush community with 10 brothers and sisters and graduated from East Carter High School in 1987.
Stephen Owens said the activities will be fun, but will incorporate lessons.
"We plan to teach them how to plant seeds in the ground and how that is the same thing as it is in your life. What you put into that seed is what you're going to get out of it," he said.
READ MORE
Court Allows Man to Distribute Bibles at Gay Pride Festival
A Wisconsin man was allowed to pass out Bibles at a gay pride festival on Sunday after a federal appeals court granted him a last-minute preliminary injunction late last week.
Brian Johnson, a taxidermist from Hayward, Wis., was awarded the opportunity to distribute Bibles at the Twin Cities Pride Festival, which is held at the 42-acre Loring Park in Minneapolis, this past weekend. The U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals granted him a temporary injunction on Thursday.According to the Star Tribune, Johnson attended the 40th annual Pride Fest with his family and a suitcase full of Bibles. He spent several hours passing out the books while, at the advice of his attorneys, he was filmed by his adult son in order to document his interaction with others at the event.
"I do this once a year. I talk to people about the love of Jesus Christ," he told the Tribune.
READ MORE
Friday, June 22, 2012
Court sidesteps broad issue of broadcast indecency, throws out FCC fines for nudity, cursing
WASHINGTON — Broadcasters anticipating a major constitutional ruling
on the government’s authority to regulate what can be shown and said on
the airwaves instead won only the smallest of Supreme Court victories
Thursday.
The justices unanimously threw out fines and other penalties against Fox and ABC television stations that violated the Federal Communications Commission policy regulating curse words and nudity on television airwaves.
Forgoing a broader constitutional ruling, however, the court concluded only that broadcasters could not have known in advance that obscenities uttered during awards show programs on Fox stations and a brief display of nudity on an episode of ABC’s “NYPD Blue” could give rise to penalties. ABC and 45 affiliates had been hit with proposed fines totaling nearly $1.24 million.
Broadcasters had argued that the revolution in technology that has brought the Internet, satellite television and cable has made the rules themselves obsolete. The regulations apply only to broadcast channels.
The justices said the FCC is free to revise its indecency policy, which is intended to keep the airwaves free of objectionable material during the hours when children are likely to be watching.
The agency’s chairman, Julius Genachowski, said the ruling “appears to be narrowly limited to procedural issues related to actions taken a number of years ago. Consistent with vital First Amendment principles, the FCC will carry out Congress’s directive to protect young TV viewers.”
It was the second time the court has confronted, but not ruled conclusively on the FCC’s policy on isolated expletives. Justice Anthony Kennedy said in his opinion for the court that “it is unnecessary for the court to address the constitutionality of the current policy.”
READ MORE
The justices unanimously threw out fines and other penalties against Fox and ABC television stations that violated the Federal Communications Commission policy regulating curse words and nudity on television airwaves.
Forgoing a broader constitutional ruling, however, the court concluded only that broadcasters could not have known in advance that obscenities uttered during awards show programs on Fox stations and a brief display of nudity on an episode of ABC’s “NYPD Blue” could give rise to penalties. ABC and 45 affiliates had been hit with proposed fines totaling nearly $1.24 million.
Broadcasters had argued that the revolution in technology that has brought the Internet, satellite television and cable has made the rules themselves obsolete. The regulations apply only to broadcast channels.
The justices said the FCC is free to revise its indecency policy, which is intended to keep the airwaves free of objectionable material during the hours when children are likely to be watching.
The agency’s chairman, Julius Genachowski, said the ruling “appears to be narrowly limited to procedural issues related to actions taken a number of years ago. Consistent with vital First Amendment principles, the FCC will carry out Congress’s directive to protect young TV viewers.”
It was the second time the court has confronted, but not ruled conclusively on the FCC’s policy on isolated expletives. Justice Anthony Kennedy said in his opinion for the court that “it is unnecessary for the court to address the constitutionality of the current policy.”
READ MORE
School encouraged pupil to write 'suicide note'
Wesley Walker, 14, was told to write to his mother as if he had a terminal
illness and only had a few hours to live.
But when he handed the note to his mother Vicki, she believed it was a suicide
letter and thought her son was going to hang himself. (Click
here to view the letter).
The letter, seen by the BBC,
said: "I am writing this letter to say goodbye and thank you for giving
me life and don't cry I don't want you to be sad I want you to remember the
fun times and the happy times."
Wesley added: "I know I have been a pain at the best of times but I am
with nan and grandad now."
He also asked his mother to give his Xbox console and games to his father,
leaving her everything else.
READ MORE
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Does Belief in Heaven & a Forgiving God Lead to Higher Crime Rates?
Can we blame God’s mercy for higher crime rates? This is the seemingly bizarre question that the NewScientist is asking this
morning, as the outlet explores eternal damnation and the ways in which
faith interacts with, complicates and impacts criminal activity.
The focus of the article is a new study from the University of Oregon in Eugen, which seems to show that there could be a correlation between belief in heaven and a forgiving God and…breaking the law.
Dr. Azim Shariff, a psychology professor, and his team looked at global data that highlights peoples’ beliefs about life after death and also looked at information collected by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The massive examination included 143,000 individuals living in 67 nations. Obviously, such a massive sample enabled the team to include a diversity of religious backgrounds.
In most of the countries examined, it was more likely that people reported a belief in heaven than in hell. From this, the researchers were able to examine the intensity and degree to which each nation’s belief of heaven outpaced its acceptance of hell. The goal was to explore how differences in belief surrounding both post-mortem localities impact crime.
Interestingly, here’s what the researchers found: Even after controlling for crime-related issues like GDP, income inconsistencies, population density and life expectancy, national crime rates were higher when nations believe strongly in heaven but have weak acceptance of a hell.
“Belief in a benevolent, forgiving god could license people to think they can get away with things,” Shariff explains, but he cautions that this speculation is preliminary and that causation hasn’t yet been proven between religious beliefs and crime rates.
READ MORE
The focus of the article is a new study from the University of Oregon in Eugen, which seems to show that there could be a correlation between belief in heaven and a forgiving God and…breaking the law.
Dr. Azim Shariff, a psychology professor, and his team looked at global data that highlights peoples’ beliefs about life after death and also looked at information collected by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The massive examination included 143,000 individuals living in 67 nations. Obviously, such a massive sample enabled the team to include a diversity of religious backgrounds.
In most of the countries examined, it was more likely that people reported a belief in heaven than in hell. From this, the researchers were able to examine the intensity and degree to which each nation’s belief of heaven outpaced its acceptance of hell. The goal was to explore how differences in belief surrounding both post-mortem localities impact crime.
Interestingly, here’s what the researchers found: Even after controlling for crime-related issues like GDP, income inconsistencies, population density and life expectancy, national crime rates were higher when nations believe strongly in heaven but have weak acceptance of a hell.
“Belief in a benevolent, forgiving god could license people to think they can get away with things,” Shariff explains, but he cautions that this speculation is preliminary and that causation hasn’t yet been proven between religious beliefs and crime rates.
READ MORE
Ill. Supreme Court: Sex With 17-Year-Old Was Legal, Pictures Were Not
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CBS) – In a case that highlights
one of the unusual incongruities of state laws, the Illinois Supreme
Court ruled Thursday that a downstate man didn’t commit a crime when he
had sex with his 17-year-old girlfriend, but he did break the law when
he took pictures of them in the act.
Marshall Hollins was arrested in downstate Freeport in March 2009, and charged with three counts of child pornography after photographing himself having sex with his 17-year-old girlfriend, but he was not charged with statutory rape, since the age of consent for sex in Illinois is 17. But, in Illinois, it is illegal to photograph anyone under the age of 18 engaged in a sexual act.
READ MORE
Marshall Hollins was arrested in downstate Freeport in March 2009, and charged with three counts of child pornography after photographing himself having sex with his 17-year-old girlfriend, but he was not charged with statutory rape, since the age of consent for sex in Illinois is 17. But, in Illinois, it is illegal to photograph anyone under the age of 18 engaged in a sexual act.
READ MORE
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Russian Ship Carrying Attack Helecopters For Syria Stopped By Great Britian
A Russian ship believed to be carrying helicopters and missiles for Syria has been effectively stopped in its tracks off the coast of Scotland after its insurance was cancelled at the behest of the British government.
The British marine insurer Standard Club said it had withdrawn cover from all
the ships owned by Femco, a Russian cargo line, including the MV Alaed.
"We were made aware of the allegations that the Alaed was carrying munitions destined for Syria," the company said in a statement. "We have already informed the ship owner that their insurance cover ceased automatically in view of the nature of the voyage."
British security officials confirmed they had told Standard Club that
providing insurance to the shipment was likely to be a breach of European
Union sanctions against the Syrian regime.
They said they were continuing to monitor the ship, which has been the subject of a fierce international row since US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week revealed it was adding to the arsenal of weaponry available for Mr Assad to use against rebellious Syrian towns.
"We have various ways of keeping track of this ship and that is what we are doing," a source told The Daily Telegraph.
The MV Alaed picked up its cargo of Mi25 helicopters – known as "flying tanks" – from the Russian port of Kaliningrad, where they had been sent to the state-owned manufacturer Mil's "Factory 150" for servicing and repairs.
They were originally sold to the Syrian government by Moscow, its major arms supplier, at the end of the Soviet era.
But under sanctions announced last year, the EU has banned not only exporting arms to Syria but also providing related services such as insurance.
As first revealed by The Sunday Telegraph at the weekend, the US notified the UK government that the insurance was British last week.
As it neared the Dutch coast, the authorities there also hailed the ship, the security sources said, and it made an abrupt turn, heading towards Scotland. It was last night now off the coast of the Hebrides but with no insurance covering the ship security sources say it may now have to return to port.
In their attempts to bombard rebel towns into submission, Assad regime forces have increasingly brought up helicopters, strafing the towns of Haffa and Rastan last week.
Their use, condemned by Kofi Annan, the UN peace envoy, has not stopped Russia's continued insistence on providing arms to the Syrians. Moscow is continuing with a 2007 contract to provide more than 20 MiG-29 M2 fighter aircraft, according to the Americans.
Russia also announced it was preparing to send an elite unit of marines to Tartous, a move which a Western defence source said was intended as a powerful signal that Russia would not tolerate foreign military intervention.
Classified US satellite images last week indicated that loading work had begun on two amphibious landing vessels, the Nikolai Filchenkov and the Caesar Kunikov, at the Crimean naval base of Sebastopol.
Read More from The Telegraph
More American's Can't Afford TV Cable, Cutting The Cord To Save Money
Journalists routinely used the phrase "Age of Obama" shortly after the 44th President of the United States took the oath of office in January 2009.
Said scribes clearly expected great things to follow - perhaps they read their own biased news clippings.And they were eager to associate all the impending good news on this magical new age.
The term is rarely used these days, even when it's oh, so applicable to current events.
Take the cable industry. For months, cable subscribers have been cutting the cord on their services, opting to utilize streaming technology for their home entertainment needs. This consumer did just that a few months ago with no regrets. But it turns out my situation was the exception, not the rule.
Those cord cutters were simply trying to save every last penny possible in a rickety economy.
Industry officials had worried that Americans would begin "cord-cutting" in a shift to internet TV, but the recession is more to blame, not internet bling.
Read More from Breitbart
New Zealand Woman Faces Losing Her Job For Carrying A Bible In Her Pocket
New Zealand---A union claims an Auckland casino worker faces the sack after bosses caught her carrying a pocket Bible with her at work.
Tuni Parata was left stunned after receiving a letter from her SkyCity managers accusing her of misconduct for carrying the Bible on her shifts as a tower host at the casino.
SkyCity says carrying the Bible is a breach of the uniform code.
Ms Parata has worked at SkyCity for 16 years but now fears for her job after keeping her faith close to her.
A disciplinary hearing is scheduled for Thursday but her union, Unite, has called for the action against her to be dropped.
"This is completely absurd," said Unite national director Mike Treen.
"Since when does carrying a Bible in your pocket become unlawful in New Zealand workplaces?"
Grainne Troute, SkyCity general manager group services, called the union's response "alarmist" and said a breach of uniform policies was unlikely to result in a sacking.
"Different roles have different uniform standards but as a general principle staff in customer service roles are in breach of SkyCity's uniform standards if they carry items such as mobile phones, books and other items which might interfere with their full engagement with their customers."
She said such a breach of uniform policies was not considered serious misconduct and would not be expected to result in the dismissal of any staff member.
In a letter to Ms Parata last Tuesday, the casino said: "The company is considering disciplinary action being taken in relation to the alleged incident on April 26 2012 when you were seen by a senior manager of another department with non-work related material in a front of house work environment."
An earlier letter of May 27 related how a manager saw Ms Parata with the Bible in toilets and how a union rep told her it didn't matter if it was "a Playboy magazine or a Bible, it was not work related material, therefore should not be with you front of house and certainly not being read".
Ms Parata said today that carrying a Bible at all times was a vital part of her faith and relationship to God.
She was reluctant to comment further, saying: "I'd rather wait til after Thursday's meeting."
Unite, which has 8000 members across several sectors in New Zealand, including 700 - 800 at Skycity, said it had already tried to argue for their member but the casino seemed unmoved.
"We tried to explain that a business that feeds off gambling addictions of many people in this country and is seen as a den of inequity already won't do its reputation any good. However, our efforts fell on deaf ears."
He accepted that the casino needed strict rules over dealers and workers handling money and what they could carry on them but said the policy went "overboard".
"What happened to freedom of opinion and religion as guaranteed by the Bill of Rights?
"It gets to the point where the bureaucratic rigidity rides over practical common sense.
Read More from NZ Herold
Tuni Parata was left stunned after receiving a letter from her SkyCity managers accusing her of misconduct for carrying the Bible on her shifts as a tower host at the casino.
SkyCity says carrying the Bible is a breach of the uniform code.
Ms Parata has worked at SkyCity for 16 years but now fears for her job after keeping her faith close to her.
A disciplinary hearing is scheduled for Thursday but her union, Unite, has called for the action against her to be dropped.
"This is completely absurd," said Unite national director Mike Treen.
"Since when does carrying a Bible in your pocket become unlawful in New Zealand workplaces?"
Grainne Troute, SkyCity general manager group services, called the union's response "alarmist" and said a breach of uniform policies was unlikely to result in a sacking.
"Different roles have different uniform standards but as a general principle staff in customer service roles are in breach of SkyCity's uniform standards if they carry items such as mobile phones, books and other items which might interfere with their full engagement with their customers."
She said such a breach of uniform policies was not considered serious misconduct and would not be expected to result in the dismissal of any staff member.
In a letter to Ms Parata last Tuesday, the casino said: "The company is considering disciplinary action being taken in relation to the alleged incident on April 26 2012 when you were seen by a senior manager of another department with non-work related material in a front of house work environment."
An earlier letter of May 27 related how a manager saw Ms Parata with the Bible in toilets and how a union rep told her it didn't matter if it was "a Playboy magazine or a Bible, it was not work related material, therefore should not be with you front of house and certainly not being read".
Ms Parata said today that carrying a Bible at all times was a vital part of her faith and relationship to God.
She was reluctant to comment further, saying: "I'd rather wait til after Thursday's meeting."
Unite, which has 8000 members across several sectors in New Zealand, including 700 - 800 at Skycity, said it had already tried to argue for their member but the casino seemed unmoved.
"We tried to explain that a business that feeds off gambling addictions of many people in this country and is seen as a den of inequity already won't do its reputation any good. However, our efforts fell on deaf ears."
He accepted that the casino needed strict rules over dealers and workers handling money and what they could carry on them but said the policy went "overboard".
"What happened to freedom of opinion and religion as guaranteed by the Bill of Rights?
"It gets to the point where the bureaucratic rigidity rides over practical common sense.
Read More from NZ Herold
50th Anniversary Of Prayer Banned In U.S Schools
Fifty years ago this month, the Supreme Court declared an official school prayer unconstitutional. How have the schools fared since then? The facts speak for themselves.
The June 25, 1962 ruling by the Supreme Court was Engel v. Vitale, the first in a string of decisions that seemed to rule God and the Bible out of our public schools. Justice Hugo Black wrote the Engel decision, saying, "a union of government and religion tends to destroy government and to degrade religion." I agree with that statement, but not his decision.Justice Potter Stewart, the lone dissenter, wrote, "On the contrary, I think that to deny the wish of these schoolchildren to join in reciting this prayer is to deny them the opportunity of sharing in the spiritual heritage of our Nation." As we'll see, that heritage is quite considerable.
Part of the problem with the case in question was that the New York State Board of Regents – a government body – had written a bland prayer that they hoped would offend no one.
Well, bad cases can end up causing bad precedents. Those who objected to the prayer could, and did, point out that the state had no business getting into the prayer-writing business.
But the bigger issue is the symbolic one. The Supreme Court seemed to begin a process of censorship of God in the public schools that continues to this day.
The next year, the high court said you can't read the Bible in the schools – for devotional purposes – but they explicitly said that objective "study of the Bible or of religion" is to be allowed in schools. But many schools eventually threw the Bible out entirely.
After writing in favor of voluntary school prayer a few months ago, I had some interesting feedback from a Baptist deacon involved in the public schools. He said this of Engel : "The SCOTUS determined that any kind of organized prayer, composed by public school districts, even nondenominational prayer, is an unconstitutional government sponsorship of religion."
He added, "Public Schools should be religiously neutral." He also said the real solution is what parents do:
"We should be encouraging and equipping parents to lead their children in daily prayer and Bible study, before school. Daily parent-led devotions in Christian homes across America would do more for the moral development of our children than all the government-composed generic prayers could ever hope to do." I certainly agree with him on that point.
Also he said, "Our public schools did not 'ban God from the classroom.' The US Supreme Court banned sectarian prayer and other religious observances that had been imposed on school children. Student prayer is not illegal – it happens every time there is an exam!"
Read More from Christian Post
Volunteer Police Chaplains Banned From Praying In Jesus Name
Volunteer chaplains in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department
have been banned from using Jesus’ name during prayers that are uttered
during public events.
Rather than serving as a discriminatory practice, the new policy is intended — at least according to Major John Diggs who oversees the chaplain program — as an effort to respect people of all faiths.
“[It's a] matter of respecting that people may have different faiths and that it is not aimed at any one religion or denomination,” Diggs told WSOC-TV.
But while Diggs claims that the decision is rooted in not offending non-Christians and that it is not geared toward any particular denomination, some are voicing their disapproval. Take, for instance, Pastor Terry Sartain, who is the senior faith leader at Horizon Christian Fellowship and who has been a chaplain with the police department for seven years.
Sartain was scheduled to speak recently at a government event where he planned, as per usual, to use Jesus’ name in his invocation. Just before the event, he received a phone call informing him of the new-found ban. Naturally, he was saddened and made the decision not to attend the event.
“When I heard this I was sad,” he explained. ”I asked if I could withdraw, because Jesus is the only thing I have to bless people with.”
In the end, the pastor was told that his decision not to attend and pray at the event will hurt his standing as a chaplain. Despite this incident, Sartain pledges to stay with the ministry, as he believes his work with the police officers is important. That being said, he has asked to have his name removed from the roster of individuals who would offer up public prayers at local events.
Read More From The Blaze
Rather than serving as a discriminatory practice, the new policy is intended — at least according to Major John Diggs who oversees the chaplain program — as an effort to respect people of all faiths.
“[It's a] matter of respecting that people may have different faiths and that it is not aimed at any one religion or denomination,” Diggs told WSOC-TV.
But while Diggs claims that the decision is rooted in not offending non-Christians and that it is not geared toward any particular denomination, some are voicing their disapproval. Take, for instance, Pastor Terry Sartain, who is the senior faith leader at Horizon Christian Fellowship and who has been a chaplain with the police department for seven years.
Sartain was scheduled to speak recently at a government event where he planned, as per usual, to use Jesus’ name in his invocation. Just before the event, he received a phone call informing him of the new-found ban. Naturally, he was saddened and made the decision not to attend the event.
“When I heard this I was sad,” he explained. ”I asked if I could withdraw, because Jesus is the only thing I have to bless people with.”
In the end, the pastor was told that his decision not to attend and pray at the event will hurt his standing as a chaplain. Despite this incident, Sartain pledges to stay with the ministry, as he believes his work with the police officers is important. That being said, he has asked to have his name removed from the roster of individuals who would offer up public prayers at local events.
Read More From The Blaze
Adults Heckle NYC Schoolchildren While They Sing ‘God Bless the USA’
We already told you about the New York City public school principal who banned
“God Bless the USA” from a kindergarten graduation program. Now, the
same schoolchildren who were forbidden from singing the song at P.S. 90
in Brooklyn were heckled by adults when they performed the song at a
protest event held in a nearby park.
(Related: Update: Principal Pulls Bieber Song From Graduation Line-Up, Still Doesn‘t Reinstate ’God Bless the USA’)
Parents, outraged by Principal Greta Hawkins’ decision to ban the song, organized the protest and invited Rep. Bob Turner (R-NY) to attend (he’s running against Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand). But the event, which was assembled to allow the children and families to make their opposition to Hawkins’ stance known, went terribly wrong when some adults chose to shout over the children in protest.
Video of the incident shows boys and girls waving flags and singing Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA.” As they performed, though, some angry adults began swarming and shouting. Turner confirmed that these events unfolded in an interview with Fox News Radio, calling the actions “really bad form.”
“You Republicans come go to a Republican area and do that, we don’t do that here,” proclaimed one of the counter protesters. “This is ridiculous, this is sad. This is so crazy. This is sad.”
As Fox’s Todd Starnes notes, one of the staffers told the protesters to stop intervening and to let the kids sing. To that request, one of them responded, claiming that the spectacle was “ridiculous” and that those orchestrating the event were going to “burn in hell.”
“The kids don’t even know what they’re singing. They got something you tell them to say. It’s ridiculous,” he said. “It’s sad, sad, sad. You all are going to burn in hell. You all burn in hell. Shame on you. Shame on you.”
In an attempt to drown the protesters out, the children began chanting “USA, USA, USA!“ One of the kids even told the most vocal of the detractors to ”get out of here.”
Read More from The Blaze
(Related: Update: Principal Pulls Bieber Song From Graduation Line-Up, Still Doesn‘t Reinstate ’God Bless the USA’)
Parents, outraged by Principal Greta Hawkins’ decision to ban the song, organized the protest and invited Rep. Bob Turner (R-NY) to attend (he’s running against Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand). But the event, which was assembled to allow the children and families to make their opposition to Hawkins’ stance known, went terribly wrong when some adults chose to shout over the children in protest.
Video of the incident shows boys and girls waving flags and singing Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA.” As they performed, though, some angry adults began swarming and shouting. Turner confirmed that these events unfolded in an interview with Fox News Radio, calling the actions “really bad form.”
One of the hecklers yelling at children and adults during their "God Bless the USA" performance
“You Republicans come go to a Republican area and do that, we don’t do that here,” proclaimed one of the counter protesters. “This is ridiculous, this is sad. This is so crazy. This is sad.”
As Fox’s Todd Starnes notes, one of the staffers told the protesters to stop intervening and to let the kids sing. To that request, one of them responded, claiming that the spectacle was “ridiculous” and that those orchestrating the event were going to “burn in hell.”
“The kids don’t even know what they’re singing. They got something you tell them to say. It’s ridiculous,” he said. “It’s sad, sad, sad. You all are going to burn in hell. You all burn in hell. Shame on you. Shame on you.”
In an attempt to drown the protesters out, the children began chanting “USA, USA, USA!“ One of the kids even told the most vocal of the detractors to ”get out of here.”
Read More from The Blaze
Swarms of cyborg insect drones are the future of military surveillance
The kinds of drones making the
headlines daily are the heavily armed CIA and U.S. Army vehicles which
routinely strike targets in Pakistan - killing terrorists and innocents
alike.But the real high-tech story of surveillance drones is going on at a much smaller level, as tiny remote controlled vehicles based on insects are already likely being deployed.
Over recent years a range of miniature drones, or micro air vehicles (MAVs), based on the same physics used by flying insects, have been presented to the public.
The fear kicked off in 2007 when reports of bizarre flying objects hovering above anti-war protests sparked accusations that the U.S. government was accused of secretly developing robotic insect spies.
Official denials and suggestions from entomologists that they were actually dragonflies failed to quell speculation, and Tom Ehrhard, a retired Air Force colonel and expert on unmanned aerial craft, told the Daily Telegraph at the time that 'America can be pretty sneaky.'
Around the same time the Air Force also unveiled what it called 'lethal mini-drones' based on Leonardo da Vinci's blueprints for his Ornithopter flying machine, and claimed they would be ready for roll out by 2015.
That announcement was five years ago and, since the U.S. military is usually pretty cagey about its technological capabilities, it raises the question as to what it is keeping under wraps.
The University of Pennsylvania GRASP Lab recently showed off drones that swarm, a network of 20 nano quadrotors flying in synchronized formations.
The SWARMS goal is to combine swarm technology with bio-inspired drones to operate 'with little or no direct human supervision' in 'dynamic, resource-constrained, adversarial environments.'
However, it is most likely the future of hard-to-detect drone surveillance will mimic nature.
Research suggests that the mechanics of insects can be reverse-engineered to design midget machines to scout battlefields and search for victims trapped in rubble.
Scientists have taken their inspiration from animals which have evolved over millennia to the perfect conditions for flight.
Nano-biomimicry MAV design has long been studied by DARPA, and in 2008 the U.S. government's military research agency conducted a symposium discussing 'bugs, bots, borgs and bio-weapons.'
Researchers have now developed bio-inspired drones with bug eyes, bat ears, bird wings, and even honeybee-like hairs to sense biological, chemical and nuclear weapons.
Judge Rules That Prostitution Site Run By College Professors Is Legal
A website that authorities say two aging professors used to run a
multistate prostitution ring is legal, a state judge has ruled,
highlighting the difficulties that prosecutors face in using decades-old
laws to combat a modern phenomenon.
The ruling comes as prosecutors were scheduled to present to a grand jury their case against former University of New Mexico President F. Chris Garcia, who is accused of helping a physics professor from New Jersey oversee a prostitution website called "Southwest Companions."
State District Judge Stan Whitaker ruled that the website, an online message board and Garcia's computer account did not constitute a "house of prostitution," the Albuquerque Journal reported.
Whitaker also said the website wasn't "a place where prostitution is practiced, encouraged or allowed."
The ruling means that prosecutors will now have to decide how to proceed with a case involving Garcia, retired Fairleigh Dickinson University physics professor David C. Flory and others.
They were arrested last June on a criminal complaint charging them with promoting prostitution. Flory, a retired physics professor at the New Jersey school and has a home in Santa Fe, is accused of buying the site in 2009.
Garcia's attorney, Robert Gorence, said Garcia was satisfied with the judge's decision and felt vindicated. A woman who answered the phone at Flory's Santa Fe residence said he had no comment.
Investigators said the prostitution ring had a membership of 14,000, including 200 prostitutes. Members paid anywhere from $200 for a sex act to $1,000 for a full hour. Prostitutes were paid with cash, not through the website, according to police.
But the ruling also showed the difficulty that prosecutors have in trying prosecute owners of websites that promote or facilitate prostitution because of laws created long before the Internet age, experts say.
"Most state laws only address street walkers and brothels and are so narrowly written that it's hard to prosecute these new cases," said Scott Cunningham, a Baylor University economics professor who has written about technology and prostitution.
For example, Cunningham said, Craigslist withstood lawsuits and challenges by law enforcement agencies and district attorneys' offices to shut down its erotic services section and only closed them later for publicity reason.
To change laws, Cunningham said, some states will have to pass laws that outline step-by-step regulations on websites.
Read More From ABC News
The ruling comes as prosecutors were scheduled to present to a grand jury their case against former University of New Mexico President F. Chris Garcia, who is accused of helping a physics professor from New Jersey oversee a prostitution website called "Southwest Companions."
State District Judge Stan Whitaker ruled that the website, an online message board and Garcia's computer account did not constitute a "house of prostitution," the Albuquerque Journal reported.
Whitaker also said the website wasn't "a place where prostitution is practiced, encouraged or allowed."
The ruling means that prosecutors will now have to decide how to proceed with a case involving Garcia, retired Fairleigh Dickinson University physics professor David C. Flory and others.
They were arrested last June on a criminal complaint charging them with promoting prostitution. Flory, a retired physics professor at the New Jersey school and has a home in Santa Fe, is accused of buying the site in 2009.
Garcia's attorney, Robert Gorence, said Garcia was satisfied with the judge's decision and felt vindicated. A woman who answered the phone at Flory's Santa Fe residence said he had no comment.
Investigators said the prostitution ring had a membership of 14,000, including 200 prostitutes. Members paid anywhere from $200 for a sex act to $1,000 for a full hour. Prostitutes were paid with cash, not through the website, according to police.
But the ruling also showed the difficulty that prosecutors have in trying prosecute owners of websites that promote or facilitate prostitution because of laws created long before the Internet age, experts say.
"Most state laws only address street walkers and brothels and are so narrowly written that it's hard to prosecute these new cases," said Scott Cunningham, a Baylor University economics professor who has written about technology and prostitution.
For example, Cunningham said, Craigslist withstood lawsuits and challenges by law enforcement agencies and district attorneys' offices to shut down its erotic services section and only closed them later for publicity reason.
To change laws, Cunningham said, some states will have to pass laws that outline step-by-step regulations on websites.
Read More From ABC News
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
UNDER ATTACK: Marion County, Fla PRAYERS ARE TOO CHRISTIAN.
Marion County, Fla., commissioners are now considering their response to an Americans United for the Separation of Church and State complaint that their prayers opening commission meetings are tooChristian.
According to a report in the Star-Banner of Ocala, Fla., Americans United said it was acting on a complaint from an unidentified source and that it had reviewed video from eight regular commission sessions since the beginning of the year. They claimed that on five occasions the name of Jesus Christ was specifically mentioned during the opening prayer. It was the mentioning of the name of Jesus Christ to which the legal group was protesting.
The group’s lawyer, Ian Smith, requested that the board of commissioners bring its “prayer practice” into compliance by using a “nonsectarian” invocation or by abandoning the practice of prayer altogether.
According to the Star-Banner, Smith suggested that the board switch to a more inclusive moment of silence, make the prayers nonsectarian or invite members of the community and “prayer-givers” from varying faiths to present the invocations.
“The Commission’s prayer practice,” Smith said, “unconstitutionally affiliates the county with Christianity.”
But Pastor Carl Gallups, author of the Amazon No. 1 Bestseller “The Magic Man in the Sky: Effectively Defending the Christian Faith,” says the United States is affiliated with Christianity, a fact he says even Americans United could embrace if they understood its significance.
“Here is a classic example of the collision of two worldviews,” Gallups told WND. “I have an entire chapter in my book devoted to this phenomenon. The chapter is titled, ‘When Two Worlds Collide.’ The collision is the clash between the completely unique and distinctive message of the Christian faith with the secular worldview that there is no God. Or, conversely, it is a clash with the universalism message that ‘all religious views hold equal value and consideration.’”
“When was the last time that you heard of a lawsuit in America dealing with a public prayer that was ‘too Muslim’ or ‘too Hindu’ or ‘too secular in nature?’” asked Gallups.
Gallups continued, “There is such an emphasis on political correctness in our culture that I am afraid we have gone mad in our assessment of what is reality. The truth is that our nation has its definitive and indisputable roots in the Judeo-Christian heritage. We were not founded upon the principles of atheism, or Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism or secularism. We were founded as a constitutional republic with a distinctly Christian underpinning.
“From the earliest history of our nation,” Gallups continued, “our Founding Fathers opened meetings, conventions and Congress with distinctly Christian prayers. Often what made these prayers distinctly Christian was that they were made in the name of Jesus Christ. The Constitution itself ends with the words ‘In The Year of our Lord.’ Those words, in that period of time, in the early United States of America, were indisputably referring to ‘Our Lord Jesus Christ.’ Every one of the signers of the Constitution penned their names under that declaration.”
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