Bible ban Lifted from Boston Community Center

No longer banned in Boston: Church allowed to put Bible back into vacation Bible school

ADF letter prompts city community center to change unconstitutional meeting room policy banning religious content
Tuesday, June 15, 2010, 12:00 AM (MST) |
ADF Media Relations | 480-444-0020


Link to original article from ADF

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BOSTON — The Boston Centers for Youth and Families has notified Alliance Defense Fund attorneys that it will put an end to its problematic policy banning the use of religious content in its publicly available meeting rooms.

The city agency made its decision after receiving a letter from ADF on behalf of Calvary Chapel of the City, which has reserved space for its weekly after-school “Calvary Kidz” program, as well as an upcoming vacation Bible school. After providing biblical instruction to children for more than two years at the city’s Thomas L. Johnson Community Center, the program was told that the center’s policy no longer allowed religious teaching in its rooms that are open to the rest of the general public.

“Christian groups shouldn’t be discriminated against for their religious beliefs at facilities open to the public,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Joel Oster. “The city has done the right thing in agreeing to no longer enforce its unconstitutional policy so that Christian groups can enjoy the same access that has been freely offered to everyone else.”

Since January 2008, Calvary Chapel in the City has used a meeting room every Friday afternoon at the community center to teach character development and virtues from a biblical perspective through lessons, games, and other activities to children between the ages of 5 and 12.

Even though the Johnson Center--like other facilities under the oversight of the Boston Centers for Youth and Families--is available to various outside organizations and out-of-school programming, an official of the center notified the director of Calvary Kidz that the church’s program at the center can no longer include religious content. The director was told that Boston Centers imposes this “city policy” for all events at the center, as it stated that groups “cannot teach religion inside of a community center.” Calvary Kidz complied and withheld religious content from its meetings for weeks until the situation could be resolved.

“The training and materials provided by ADF proved very helpful in this case,” said Philip Moran, one of more than 1,600 attorneys in the ADF alliance, who is serving as local counsel in the matter. “Being in a position to simply cite the relevant case law helped us assist the attorneys for the city of Boston to realize that the city’s position was untenable and saved everyone the time and expense of a lawsuit.”

On June 7, ADF attorneys sent letters to 151 government entities to end religious discrimination policies at more than 750 government-run facilities across the nation.

• Pronunciation guide: Oster (Oh-stir), Moran (More-ann)

ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.

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Bible Outlawed in Idaho Now in Court

ADF files appeal over Western Civilization book ban in Idaho public schools, universities
Commission bans use of any texts it deems ‘religious,' even if used solely for objective literary or historical reference
Monday, June 14, 2010, 12:00 AM (MST) |
ADF Media Relations | 480-444-0020 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              480-444-0020      end_of_the_skype_highlighting

Link to original article from Alliance Defense Fund


BOISE, Idaho — Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed an appeal Monday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, contesting a federal judge’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit that challenges the Idaho Public Charter School Commission’s across-the-board ban on the use of texts and documents deemed to be “religious.” ADF attorneys filed the lawsuit on behalf of Nampa Classical Academy last November after the commission threatened to revoke the academy’s charter if it used the Bible or other religious texts on its classroom resource list for any purpose whatsoever.

“Censoring classical books, including religious books, does not improve a student’s education; it harms it,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel David Cortman. “A wholesale ban on books with religious content conflicts with established U.S. Supreme Court precedent stating that even ‘the Bible may constitutionally be used in an appropriate study of history, civilization, ethics, comparative religion, or the like.’ Nampa Classical Academy offered just this sort of complete education, which is what any child deserves.”

Cortman said that if the commission’s misinterpretation of the law is allowed to stand, all Idaho public school and university students will be subject to the ban. He explained that, contrary to the conclusion of last month’s ruling from the court, the local school district--not the charter school commission--is the entity allowed by law to make the ultimate determination on how to implement the state’s curriculum standards.

“And the curriculum it chose, in this case, is fully within what the U.S. Supreme Court has stated is acceptable and constitutional,” Cortman said. “On these grounds alone, we trust the decision will be reversed on appeal.”

After being in the development process for more than six years, Nampa Classical Academy recently completed its first year of instruction with more than 500 students. It received approval from the State Board of Education in 2008 and received positive responses from the commission at each stage of its development. Last year, however, the commission voted to prohibit the academy from using any “religious documents and text” in its curriculum or in its classroom, even if used objectively as a curriculum resource.

“Nampa Classical Academy is endeavoring to exercise its right to provide the best possible education for its students and has decided to include the Bible--along with dozens of other religious and secular writings--as resources in its curriculum to enrich instruction of literature, history, and culture, among other topics,” Cortman explained. “Schools have been doing this throughout American history.”

Attorney Bruce Skaug of Nampa is serving as local counsel in the lawsuit, Nampa Classical Academy v. Goesling, filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho.

ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.

www.telladf.org facebook.com/AllianceDefenseFund twitter.com/AllianceDefense

JMC LIVE Reviewing President Obama's Speech About The Oil Spill

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JMC LIVE Show June 15, 2010 Reviewing President Obama's Address To The Nation about the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf Of Mexico.

President Obama Speech On The Oil Spill In the Gulf Of Mexico

Written By Miranda and Jeremy Caverley

This evening President Obama addressed the Nation to talk about the Oil Spill in the Gulf Of Mexico that has been spewing oil from a ruptured pipe 5,000 feet below the ocean for nearly 60 days now.

The first sentence he says,is how America will continue to fight against the war on terror we will go into any country or any place in the world. America will continue to fight against terrorism.

Now our first question is....What does this have to do with the oil spill. If in fact this was not a terrorist attack that caused the Oil Spill in the Gulf?

Our Second Question is....Obama made a public address in 2009 not even a year after being in office that "the war on terror is over" saying that America is not at war against terrorists but against and quote "We are at war with al Qaeda," he said. "We are at war with its violent extremist allies who seek to carry on al Qaeda's murderous agenda."So why then would he say tonight in his address that we will continue to fight against terrorism if we've not been at war with them since the beginning of 2009? Hmmmm it just boggles the mind.

Now President Obama says that he is going to be dispatching 17,000 national guard troops to the gulf to help with clean up and stopping the oil spill. Excuse us Mr. President, why have you waited nearly 60 days to send help? When just a few months ago when the Haiti earthquake happened you sent troops, planes, and goods to help the people of Haiti not even 2 weeks after the quake happened. But you make your own country wait nearly 60 days to send help? Something is wrong with that.

President Obama also never even mentioned sending aid or trying to get people to donate to the people living in the Gulf who because of the oil spill have lost their jobs, have no way to feed their families and hundreds of businesses who depend on tourists now have no business and are facing hard times. Where are the Big Concerts for the Gulf that they had for Haiti? Where are all the famous people donating money to help the people in the Gulf like they did for Haiti? Where are the Organizations sending teams of people to help the those like they did for Haiti? We haven't heard of any and President Obama never mentioned it.

The President did say they have a plan to stop the oil from pouring into the Gulf Of Mexico and it is to drill a relief well which will take months to finish. So until this is finished Oil will continue to pour into the Gulf of Mexico. 31 years ago when an almost identical oil spill happened in the Gulf that was the only thing that helped stop the oil from pouring into the Gulf and back then it took 9 months to stop the oil spill and then the pipe was just 200 feet deep. Now to stop this they have to drill 5,000 feet. How long do you think it will take this time to stop the oil spill? Longer than before that is for sure.

But to really sum up President Obama's speech it was to promote Green Jobs. Half his speech was how America will be spending more money (that we don't have) to stop our dependency on oil and fossil fuel. Yes America needs to start creating more green jobs and stop being so dependent on oil and other Countries Like Iran and Saudi Arabia who keep hiking up the oil prices on us. But during this recession we would like to know where he is going to get this money? When he has already borrowed millions and billions from China and who knows what other countries and put us in debt in the trillions. Trying to boost the economy in the past 2 years that hasn't worked. People are still losing jobs and are out of work.

It would be wonderful to have more green jobs. Not only to help the Earth but also to help put people back to work. But who is going to pay for all this is our question?

This is the worst oil Spill Ever and it is still not over, until they accomplish drilling this relief well and even then the affects of the oil spill will continue for years to come. We can only pray that God gives those working to stop this the wisdom to know what will work, and for the United States to reach out to their fellow man and help those affected by the oil spill.

Earthquakes & The Gulf Oil Spill~Are these signs of the END TIMES?

6-story Jesus Statue Struck By Lightening in Ohio

Click to read full story from Yahoo News

MONROE, Ohio – A six-story-tall statue of Jesus Christ with his arms raised along a highway was struck by lightning in a thunderstorm Monday night and burned to the ground, police said.

The "King of Kings" statue, one of southwest Ohio's most familiar landmarks, had stood since 2004 at the evangelical Solid Rock Church along Interstate 75 in Monroe, just north of Cincinnati.

The lightning strike set the statue ablaze around 11:15 p.m., Monroe police dispatchers said.

The sculpture, 62 feet tall and 40 feet wide at the base, showed Jesus from the torso up and was nicknamed touch down Jesuse because of the way the arms were raised, similar to a referee signaling a touchdown. It was made of plastic foam and fiberglass over a steel frame, which is all that remained early Tuesday.

The fire spread from the statue to an adjacent amphitheater but was confined to the attic area, and no one was injured, police Chief Mark Neu said. The fire department would release a monetary damage estimate Tuesday, he said.

Travelers on Interstate 75 often were startled to come upon the huge statue by the roadside, but many said America needs more symbols like it. So many people stopped at the church campus that church officials had to build a walkway to accommodate them.

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JMC Ministries Response

This is just really strange news but it is true, you just can't make this stuff up. Over the past almost 2 weeks now, we have been having really severe thunderstorms, tornadoes all kinds of crazy weather. The lightening has been so bad, it has been striking so much when we've had storms that we are not surprised that this happened.

Our mom was in her home 2 days ago and it started to rain suddenly lightening struck. It struck so close to her house that it blinded her, made her body tingle all over, and it even made the magnetic kitchen alarm on her refrigerator go off. She said she's never experienced anything like that before.

Just north of Columbus last week a families home was struck by lightening and they didn't even know it until they saw smoke coming off their roof. It had caught their roof and attic on fire when it struck.

We are suppose to get more storms this week over the weekend so please pray for us here in Ohio that no more lightening strikes and kills Jesus or destroys anymore homes.

Reporters Being Told To Stop Filming Oil Spill Or Be Arrested

Written By Miranda Caverley

Over the past weeks many stories and rumors have been popping up all over the internet and news that BP is trying to keep the media from reporting and filming the oil spill and the devastation it has caused and continues to cause in the Gulf Of Mexico. The reason we haven't reported on this is because we couldn't find any proof of this happening until today.

We found a video from CBS News and anyone who lives in the U.S, knows that CBS is one of the biggest National News Reporting Agencies in the country. While they were filming on location at the Oil Spill in Louisiana, A Coast Guard Boat that also had BP Contractors on it told the CBS News Reporters, to leave the area and turn off the cameras or be arrested. You will also hear the U.S Coast Guardman say This isn't our rules, it's BP's...When did a company over ride the U.S Government and take away our Right Of Freedom of Speech And Freedom Of Press?

It is Clear that BP and the U.S Government are hiding what is really going on and will stop at nothing even violating our Rights to keep the World from finding out the truth. But, we know that the truth always comes out and the TRUTH SETS US FREE!

Americans and Citizens of this world we need to pray and fight against those who stop the truth from being exposed and stand up and share all we can find out from these brave reporters that are continuing to go down there to film the oil spill in the face of being arrested serving Jail time for reporting the truth.

We at Eternal Flame News Will Continue to share video and news about the oil spill as we find it and if you have videos or anything that you would like to see us share here send us an email at eternalflamenews@gmail.com

U.S Cities Warned to Stop Persecuting Christians

Click to read full story from World Net Daily

By Bob Unruh
© 2010 WorldNetDaily

Some months ago, officials in Elk River, Minn., reversed a policy banning religious meetings at its public library at the urging of Alliance Defense Fund attorneys.

Now letters have gone out from ADF to more than 150 other government jurisdictions across the nation asking them also to correct policies that illegally target the religious content of community activities.

"I think it's finally gotten to a head," ADF senior legal counsel Joel Oster told WND today. "The Supreme Court in 2001 in the Good News case sealed the deal on this issue. It should not be litigated any more."

But the organization explained litigation might be needed if officials don't change suspect policies in the Chambers County library in Valley, Ala.; the Carlsbad, Calif., city library system; the Old Lyme-Phoebe Griffin Noyes library in Old Lyme, Conn.; the Gwinnett County public library in Lawrenceville, Ga.; the Sycamore, Ill., public library; the Clinton, Ind., public library; the Nelson County public library in Bardstown, Ky.; and the Lynn, Mass., public library.

Also, the Ann Arbor, Mich., district library; the Pamlico County public library in Bayboro, N.C.; and others in Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas were sent letters.

A total of 151 governmental entities that control more than 750 public facilities are receiving notice, according to the ADF.

The organization explained government officials "frequently refuse or restrict Christian churches, groups, and individuals when they attempt to reserve facilities otherwise open to the public at schools, libraries, parks, and community centers – a practice routinely determined to be unconstitutional by the courts."

"Christians shouldn't be excluded and restricted from using public meeting rooms and other facilities simply because they plan to express a Christian viewpoint," Oster said. "The Constitution prohibits the government from deciding who can and cannot use space based upon which viewpoints are being discussed during those meetings. Public officials can't give preferential treatment to some views over others."

He said that many times inappropriate policies – imposing illegal limits on Christian and other religious groups – have gone unchallenged, and, as a result, churches and others are prevented from discussing their faith, while secular subjects are not banned.

ADF reported that as a result of its litigation over the years, policy changes have been made that already affect more than 1,900 other public locations.

One such case was Elk River, Minn. City officials there stated a library meeting room was "free of charge, for use by community members for non-religious, non-commercial meetings, which are open to the public." The policy further said "usage may not be for prayer or other worship purposes."

The city allowed reduced rate rentals for park facilities to all Elk River non-profits, except groups using them for "prayer or other worship purposes." That meant those engaging in religious expression would have to pay the full rate charged to commercial and out-of-town groups.

Elk River resident Brad Bjorkman approached the city council about its discriminatory policy, and one member responded that the policy would not be changed and that his only option was to sue the city. Bjorkman then contacted ADF attorneys, who sent a letter on his behalf to Mayor Stephanie Klinzing urging the city to change its policy based upon well-established First Amendment case law.

The city council soon agreed to remove the problematic restrictions.

Oster told WND the heart of the problem is the longstanding insistance that there is a "separation of church and state" in the U.S. Constitution.

He pointed out the concept is not in the Constitution and a lot of education will be needed before the belief is corrected.

"The Supreme Court has been very clear. The Constitution does not require government to be hostile to religion," he said. "Religious speech clearly is protected."

He said what is forbidden is for the government to establish a church and require citizens to attend or support it.

Report Says United States More Violent Than China and Cuba

Click to read full story from Fox News

BRUSSELS (AP) — Cuba and China are more peaceful than the United States, according to a report published Thursday.

The global peace index, prepared by the Sydney, Australia-based Institute for Economics and Peace, says the world in general is becoming a more violent place. The report says nearly two-thirds of the countries it ranks every year have become more violent since 2007.

Iraq is the most violent nation in the world, the report says, followed by Somalia, Afghanistan, Sudan, Pakistan, Israel, Georgia, Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Beacons of peace are New Zealand — which tops the index — Iceland, Japan, Austria, Norway, Ireland, Denmark, Luxembourg, Finland and Sweden.

The United States ranks 85th, below Cuba and China and just ahead of Angola.

The idea for the index came from Steve Killelea, an Australian entrepreneur who wanted to identify what makes a peaceful country. He asked the Economist Intelligence Unit, which is affiliated with the Economist news magazine, to look at a range of variables, from levels of homicides per 100,000 people — which drags down America and boosts Denmark — to corruption and access to primary education.

South Africa Hides It's Homeless As The World Cup Games Draw Closer

Click to read full story from NPR News

As Friday's kickoff to the 2010 World Cup approaches, some of South Africa's host cities are going to great lengths to clean up their images.

After all, the four-week, 32-team tournament is expected to draw more than 300,000 international soccer fans and the attention of a global television audience.

Just a few blocks from Cape Town's new Green Point soccer stadium is Sea Point, where high-rise hotels stand atop old stone walls at the ocean's edge. Families and tourists stroll through the area's grassy waterfront parks.

It is beautiful, and that's partly because of what visitors don't see: dozens of homeless people who normally live in the area.

Ahead of the matches, Cape Town police have been arresting homeless people who live there and, in some cases, relocating them to the outskirts of the city.

Shane Raymond is a homeless man who eats at a nearby soup kitchen.

Blikkiesdorp is supposed to provide temporary shelter for Cape Town residents who are waiting for government housing. But many say they have been forcibly relocated there in an attempt to clean up Cape Town streets and make way for a World Cup stadium.

Blikkiesdorp is supposed to provide temporary shelter for Cape Town residents who are waiting for government housing. But many say they have been forcibly relocated there in an attempt to clean up Cape Town streets and make way for a World Cup stadium.

"There are people that I have known who are no longer in circulation. And there's this little area just outside of Cape Town near the airport that they call Blikkiesdorp, and that is where they are moving these people to," Raymond says.

Life In 'Tin Can City'

Blikkiesdorp is about 45 minutes outside Cape Town. The name is Afrikaans for "Tin Can City," and it's easy to see how it got the name — there are hundreds of identical metal shanties laid out in perfect rows. Children and dogs run through the area's maze of gravel roads.

About 300,000 families in Cape Town are awaiting government homes, and Blikkiesdorp is supposed to provide temporary shelter for many of them.

But most people there are never issued a home elsewhere. Natasha Flor says she lived in a field near Green Point stadium for 14 years before a social worker brought her to Blikkiesdorp.

"I ended up here when that lady, she just come and throw us here, because she is a social worker in Green Point for [those of us who are] outside, and then she just dropped us here," Flor says.

Gavin Brooks and his three children were brought to Blikkiesdorp from Sea Point. He says he was told he couldn't stay where he was and that the government had a better place for them to live, but that they would have to live in Blikkiesdorp for three to five years.

"We feel like we are thrown away here, like the government is just throwing us away. It's like a dump," Brooks says.

No Coercion, Official Says

Cape Town officials deny that anyone has been moved to Blikkiesdorp against their will. Hassan Khan is on the board of the City Improvement District — the organization responsible for cleaning up Cape Town's streets — and he also directs the Haven, a night shelter for homeless people.

"I think there's a misunderstanding here. It is quite possible that those people ... didn't think that they had any other choice of housing than going to Blikkiesdorp. But if the implication is that they were forced there, then I would have to say that that's not possible in a democratic country," Khan says.

South Africa wants to present itself as a top tourist destination to World Cup fans, and ridding the streets of homeless people seems to be an important part of the preparations in many of the nine cities hosting matches.

In Johannesburg, one official bluntly acknowledged the city's intention to chase away homeless people, saying, "You have to clean your house before you have guests."

More than 800 people in Johannesburg have been arrested or relocated, according to local reports, and similar actions are reportedly taking place in Rustenburg and Durban.

In a country where the forced removal of millions of black people during apartheid is still a recent memory, the relocations are especially controversial.