LUFKIN — A Lufkin woman received a surprise visit from the Secret Service last week because of a “death threat” comment she "supposedly" made about Sen. Barack Obama to a campaign volunteer asking for her support of the presidential candidate.
Two federal agents arrived at Jessica Hughes’ home Thursday to ask her if she said, “I will never support Obama and he will wind up dead on a hospital floor.”
Hughes said her words were deliberately twisted by a volunteer who was apparently furious that Hughes didin't support Obama during a phone conversation. The Lufkin mother, a Republican, said she received a call on her cellphone Wednesday from a woman with the Obama Volunteers of Texarkana.
“She asked if I was an Obama supporter, to which I replied, ‘No, I don’t support him. Your guy is a socialist who voted four times in the state Senate to let little babies die in hospital closets; I think you should find something better to do with your time.’ (And then) I hung up.”
Hughes is referring to a “born alive” Illinois bill that did not pass in the Illinois state Senate in 2005 and had previously been opposed by Obama.
Obama Campaign Communications for Texas director Josh Taylor declined to comment Monday, referring the matter to the Secret Service, which he said is conducting an investigation. A message left with a Secret Service agent in Houston was not immediately returned.
Hughes said she was surprised to see two Secret Service agents at her door, and upset to learn that the conversation she had with the volunteer apparently had not been recorded.
“I find it hard to believe that (campaign volunteers) don’t tape these calls. They call people unsolicited and they aren’t monitoring the calls or recording them? I think that is absolutely ridiculous,” she said. “I mean, how often must this happen - that someone is rude to a volunteer that they don’t want to talk to?”
Hughes said she wants to file a countercomplaint against the volunteer.
“She has made a charge that will follow me the rest of my life,” she said. “I find that repugnant and violating - that some person who got her undies in a bundle because she didn’t like what I had to say.”
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6043299.html
By JESSICA SAVAGE
October 7, 2008
October 4, 2008
OJ Simpson declared guilty on all charges: He's finally going to jail
A NV jury has declared OJ Simpson guilty on all charges, including armed robbery and kidnapping.
13 years to the day that a jury in Los Angeles acquitted OJ in the brutal knife murder of his ex wife, Nicole Brown Simpson.
13 years to the day that a jury in Los Angeles acquitted OJ in the brutal knife murder of his ex wife, Nicole Brown Simpson.
October 3, 2008
Hindu religious rites taught to public school students causes stress among critics.
Hindu religious rites taught to public school students causes stress among critics.
MASSENA, N.Y. (AP) -- A group of parents and religious leaders in upstate New York want yoga classes out of public schools, saying the instruction violates boundaries between church and state.
Two high school teachers began using yoga last year to help students relieve stress before exams. Special education teacher Martha Duchscherer and Spanish teacher Kerry Perretta also were developing a districtwide program.
But those plans were halted after parents and others in the community complained students were being indoctrinated in Hindu rites.
"We are not opposed to the benefits. We can understand the benefits. We are opposed to the philosophy behind it and that has its ties in Hinduism and the way they were presenting it," said the Rev. Colin Lucid of Calvary Baptist Church in Massena.
The program does not have ulterior motives, Julie Reagan, Massena Board of Education president, said Thursday.
"If the school board felt there was any hidden religious activity behind the motives of our two instructors, we certainly wouldn't allow that," she said. "There is absolutely none of that. The teachers are well intended and trying to offer an aspect of fitness in the classroom that relaxes and readies the children for better learning."
A hundred schools in 26 states use yoga in the classroom to relieve stress, Reagan said. Federal funds and grants are available to educators seeking yoga certification, she said.
According to a statement on the Web site of the American Yoga Association, yoga is not a religion, although its practice has been adopted by Hinduism, as well as other world religions.
There are more than 100 different schools of yoga, which seeks to bring harmony to the mind and body. The most commonly practiced type in the United States is hatha yoga, which encompasses physical movements and postures, plus breathing techniques.
"It's been a little discouraging that this program has taken on a negative tone," said Duchscherer, who has taught in the Massena district for 11 years. "The intention was never to teach religion. ... It was to introduce relaxation techniques."
But Lucid believes the voluntary program causes stress and should be offered as an after-school activity.
"People have made it a religious war, and it's not a religious war. We are basically concerned parents, saying we don't want our children participating in something that could cause them more stress and confusion," Lucid said.
Parents in Aspen, Colo., were successful in demanding the removal of yoga in the local curriculum in 2002. In Alabama, religious leaders pushed for a 1993 law prohibiting the teaching of yoga in schools, citing connections between yoga and Hindu religious training.
MASSENA, N.Y. (AP) -- A group of parents and religious leaders in upstate New York want yoga classes out of public schools, saying the instruction violates boundaries between church and state.
Two high school teachers began using yoga last year to help students relieve stress before exams. Special education teacher Martha Duchscherer and Spanish teacher Kerry Perretta also were developing a districtwide program.
But those plans were halted after parents and others in the community complained students were being indoctrinated in Hindu rites.
"We are not opposed to the benefits. We can understand the benefits. We are opposed to the philosophy behind it and that has its ties in Hinduism and the way they were presenting it," said the Rev. Colin Lucid of Calvary Baptist Church in Massena.
The program does not have ulterior motives, Julie Reagan, Massena Board of Education president, said Thursday.
"If the school board felt there was any hidden religious activity behind the motives of our two instructors, we certainly wouldn't allow that," she said. "There is absolutely none of that. The teachers are well intended and trying to offer an aspect of fitness in the classroom that relaxes and readies the children for better learning."
A hundred schools in 26 states use yoga in the classroom to relieve stress, Reagan said. Federal funds and grants are available to educators seeking yoga certification, she said.
According to a statement on the Web site of the American Yoga Association, yoga is not a religion, although its practice has been adopted by Hinduism, as well as other world religions.
There are more than 100 different schools of yoga, which seeks to bring harmony to the mind and body. The most commonly practiced type in the United States is hatha yoga, which encompasses physical movements and postures, plus breathing techniques.
"It's been a little discouraging that this program has taken on a negative tone," said Duchscherer, who has taught in the Massena district for 11 years. "The intention was never to teach religion. ... It was to introduce relaxation techniques."
But Lucid believes the voluntary program causes stress and should be offered as an after-school activity.
"People have made it a religious war, and it's not a religious war. We are basically concerned parents, saying we don't want our children participating in something that could cause them more stress and confusion," Lucid said.
Parents in Aspen, Colo., were successful in demanding the removal of yoga in the local curriculum in 2002. In Alabama, religious leaders pushed for a 1993 law prohibiting the teaching of yoga in schools, citing connections between yoga and Hindu religious training.
October 2, 2008
Homosexuality as a ‘Choice’ Not to be Judged: Sarah Palin
Homosexuality as a ‘Choice’ Not to be Judged: Sarah Palin
Katie:The governor told us though she’s not a member of any church, she visits a couple of them regularly when she’s home. She took issue with news reports that one of them, The Wasilla Bible Church, sponsored a conference where gays could be made straight through prayer.
Palin: Well, it matters though, Katie, when the media gets it wrong. It frustrates Americans who are just trying to get the facts and ... be able to make up their mind on, about a person’s values. So it does matter. But what you’re talking about, I think, value here, what my position is on homosexuality and you can pray it away, because I think that was the title that was listed on that bulletin.
And you know, I don’t know what prayers are worthy of being prayed. I don’t know what’s prayers are going to be asked and answered.
But as for homosexuality, I am not going to judge Americans and the decisions that they make in their adult personal relationships.
I have one of my absolute best friends for the last 30 years happens to be gay, and I love her dearly. And she is not my “gay friend,” she is one of my best friends, who happens to have made a choice that isn’t a choice that I have made. But I am not going to judge people."
Click here to read the rest of the interview
September 12, 2008
CCM "artist" Ray Boltz comes out as homosexual
CCM "artist Ray Boltz comes out as homosexual - For 2011 updates on Ray Boltz see this post: http://thefullcourt.blogspot.com/2011/02/update-on-ray-boltz-comes-out-as-gay.html
Gospel singer Ray Boltz - who has sold about 4.5 million LPs, cassettes and CDs - has come out of the closet publicly in an interview with Washington Blade.
The formerly married singer, who has four children, came out to his family and friends several years ago. While sitting around the kitchen table at his daughter's house in December 2004 - the same day as the Tsunami in the Indian Ocean - Boltz's son, Philip, asked him what was wrong.
"I thought, 'Well, I can just do what I always do and hide the truth or I can take a risk and be honest,'" Boltz says. "That day, with the tsunami, has become very symbolic in our family."
Nobody was sure, at the time, what the ramifications of the revelation would be, least of all Ray.
"It's hard to say I came out because I didn't have all the answers. I just admitted what I was struggling with and what I was feeling. It's hard to go, 'This is the point where I accepted my sexuality and who I was,' but I came out to them and shared with them what I'd been going through."
Continuing to pretend, Boltz says, was no longer an option.
"I'd denied it ever since I was a kid. I became a Christian, I thought that was the way to deal with this and I prayed hard and tried for 30-some years and then at the end, I was just going, 'I'm still gay. I know I am.' And I just got to the place where I couldn't take it anymore … when I was going through all this darkness, I thought, 'Just end this.'"
His family's reaction took time.
"I don't want to downplay it like it was just, 'Oh, well that's OK.' It was a very tough time for them too, but the bottom line was they loved me and they still love me … it's been an amazing journey of acceptance on their part … I was offered support and love from each member of my family, including my wife."
Gospel singer Ray Boltz - who has sold about 4.5 million LPs, cassettes and CDs - has come out of the closet publicly in an interview with Washington Blade.
The formerly married singer, who has four children, came out to his family and friends several years ago. While sitting around the kitchen table at his daughter's house in December 2004 - the same day as the Tsunami in the Indian Ocean - Boltz's son, Philip, asked him what was wrong.
"I thought, 'Well, I can just do what I always do and hide the truth or I can take a risk and be honest,'" Boltz says. "That day, with the tsunami, has become very symbolic in our family."
Nobody was sure, at the time, what the ramifications of the revelation would be, least of all Ray.
"It's hard to say I came out because I didn't have all the answers. I just admitted what I was struggling with and what I was feeling. It's hard to go, 'This is the point where I accepted my sexuality and who I was,' but I came out to them and shared with them what I'd been going through."
Continuing to pretend, Boltz says, was no longer an option.
"I'd denied it ever since I was a kid. I became a Christian, I thought that was the way to deal with this and I prayed hard and tried for 30-some years and then at the end, I was just going, 'I'm still gay. I know I am.' And I just got to the place where I couldn't take it anymore … when I was going through all this darkness, I thought, 'Just end this.'"
His family's reaction took time.
"I don't want to downplay it like it was just, 'Oh, well that's OK.' It was a very tough time for them too, but the bottom line was they loved me and they still love me … it's been an amazing journey of acceptance on their part … I was offered support and love from each member of my family, including my wife."
September 3, 2008
The Very Strange World Of Rick Ousley's Accuser, Donna Jones
Regular readers of this blog will remember the Rick Ousley case. Ousley, long time pastor of a liberal Southern Baptist mega church stepped down from his personal ministry after admitting he had an extra marital affair with Ms. Donna Jones of Katy Texas. (Ousley retired from The Church at Brook Hills and founded his personal ministry "Quixotic Ministries.")
Religion reporter Greg Garrison scored a front page story thanks to the eagerness of Donna Jones to finally spill her guts about her long term sexual relationship with Rick Ousley.
A blog of sorts sprung up which gleefully reported the downfall of Ousley. Donna Jones soon made her way there and began posting hundreds of comments about her relationship with Ousley.
I soon noticed a glaring pattern of "sound the same" comments from Donna and people claiming to be her supporters, some who said they knew her and some who said they didn't. I reported here that the webmistress reluctantly and (only at the urging of others) finally admitted that posts by Donna Jones and posts by people who claimed they did not know Donna Jones, and even people who claimed to know her, all shared not only an obvious speech pattern, but the same ISP number.
Let me break that down. Many of the anti-Rick Ousley posts were being made under different names by Donna Jones, from her computer.
The webmistress and other Christian bashers at that site were willing to look the other way at the fraud perpetrated by Donna Jones of Katy Texas.
Four months later and Donna Jones is still at it. But she got a little careless and forgot that she was signed in under her fake screen name of Nathan. Not only did she write the post as Donna Jones, she signed her posts "Donna Jones" all the while forgetting that she was using the "Nathan" log in. Here is a screen capture of one of Donna Jones' fake posts.
"Nathan" is exposed as a fake. Donna Jones is exposed as a fraud, AGAIN.
As quick as Donna Jones made the post under a fake persona she had created, but signed her own name to, McMullen closed that section of her blog and opened a new section for comments, directing all the traffic to the "cleansed" area, where it would be harder to find Donna's glaring self exposure as a fraud.
But why is the webmistress Kathy McMullen, content to let the fraud continue. Read her blog and it will become obvious, it's a pro-sodomite, anti-christian blog of extremes. McMullen has an agenda. She thinks it is important to bring Rick Ousley down.
Newsflash: That was already done.
What is going on now at Kathy's blog is making Rick Ousley look better and better all the time.
Thanks Kathy, I bet Rick Ousley appreciates all you do for him.
Next question, where is the Birmingham News?
Isn't it just as important to report ALL the news?
August 26, 2008
August 25, 2008
Muslims and Black Liberation Theology Come to the Democrat Convention
August 24, 2008
Traditional Values Coalition
‘Faith’ Service includes Islamic Cleric
Radical liberal minister Ms. Leah D. Daughtry will be leading an interfaith service on August 24 before the Democratic National Convention in Denver. A featured speaker is Islamist Ingrid Mattson, a convert to Islam from Catholicism.
August 20, 2008 – An Interfaith Service, including Christians, Muslims, Jews, and Buddhist speakers will be held by the Democratic National Convention on August 24. Minister Leah Daughtry, a Black Liberation Theology advocate, will oversee the service and is the Convention CEO. (She formerly served in the Clinton Administration and serves as Howard Dean’s Chief of Staff at the Democratic National Committee.) Daughty’s preacher father founded the National Black United Front, which worked with the Black Panthers and Urban League and which preached black liberation theology.
According to Ms Daughtry, the purpose of the interfaith event is “to honor the diverse faith traditions inside the Democratic Party. This interfaith service will take place at 2 p.m. on Sunday, August 24 at the Wells Fargo Theater, inside the Colorado Convention Center in Denver.
__________________
Democrats open their 'faith0filled' convention with 'prayer'
Democrats open their 'faith-filled' convention with 'prayer'
DENVER - At the first official event Sunday of the Democratic National Convention, a choir belted out a gospel song and was followed by a rabbi reciting a Torah reading about forgiveness and the future.
Helen Prejean, the Catholic nun who wrote "Dead Man Walking," assailed the death penalty and the use of torture.
Young Muslim women in headscarves sat near older African-American women in their finest Sunday hats.
Four years ago, such a scene would have been unthinkable at a Democratic National Convention. In 2004, there was one interfaith lunch at the Democratic gala in Boston.
But that same year, "values voters" helped re-elect President Bush, giving Democrats of faith the opening they needed to make party leaders listen to them.
The result was on display at Sunday's interfaith service, staged in a theater inside the Colorado Convention Center, and will be evident throughout the convention agenda and on the sidelines.
(snip)ERIC GORSKI, AP Religion Writer
DENVER - At the first official event Sunday of the Democratic National Convention, a choir belted out a gospel song and was followed by a rabbi reciting a Torah reading about forgiveness and the future.
Helen Prejean, the Catholic nun who wrote "Dead Man Walking," assailed the death penalty and the use of torture.
Young Muslim women in headscarves sat near older African-American women in their finest Sunday hats.
Four years ago, such a scene would have been unthinkable at a Democratic National Convention. In 2004, there was one interfaith lunch at the Democratic gala in Boston.
But that same year, "values voters" helped re-elect President Bush, giving Democrats of faith the opening they needed to make party leaders listen to them.
The result was on display at Sunday's interfaith service, staged in a theater inside the Colorado Convention Center, and will be evident throughout the convention agenda and on the sidelines.
(snip)ERIC GORSKI, AP Religion Writer
August 19, 2008
August 14, 2008
Ala. judge facing complaint for praying in court
ANDALUSIA, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama judge who once wore the Ten Commandments embroidered on his robe has been accused of violating judicial ethics for ordering a group in his courtroom to hold hands and pray.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint with the Judicial Inquiry Commission against Covington County Circuit Judge Ashley McKathan of Andalusia, said Olivia Turner, executive director of the ACLU of Alabama. The complaint said McKathan violated ethics rules and the U.S. Constitution by ordering the group to pray.
Four years ago, McKathan donned the Ten Commandments robe, he said, to publicly acknowledge his belief that the law is based on more than just words written in law books.
The ACLU complaint said McKathan dropped to his knees and prayed aloud during a court hearing in February.
[Not surprising that the Ap would leave this out and misrepresent what actually happened, but this was actually a status conference before the hearing started.]
He told the 100 people in the courtroom that he was not afraid to call on the name of Jesus Christ, witnesses said, and ordered all to join hands and pray, according to the complaint filed soon after the hearing.
The hearing was for a case in which the pastor and several deacons of Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church in Monroeville sued the church's former secretary to gain possession of financial records.
In response to the complaint, McKathan told the Mobile Press-Register for a story Thursday: "Whatever comes of all that, I'll continue to have peace." Quoting Romans in the King James version of the Bible, the judge added: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to his purpose."
McKathan did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press Thursday.
The complaint was filed on behalf of several Monroeville residents, including some church members.
August 4, 2008
Another Roman Catholic Priest accused of child sex abuse
The priest who gave the invocation at David Paterson’s inauguration as New York’s Governor was suspended on Sunday amid accusations that he had sexually abused two minors.
Msgr. Wallace Harris, pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Roman Catholic Church on W.141st St., was forbidden to perform his priestly duties pending recommendations from an advisory review board, according to The New York Daily News which quoted the Archdiocese of New York.
Msgr. Harris has allegedly committed sexual abuse 20 years ago. The monsignor has denied the accusations according to an archdiocese statement released on Sunday. The issue is now the responsibility of the Manhattan district attorney’s office. During the investigation, the archdiocese said it received a second claim concerning Monsignor Harris, who helped organize Pope Benedict's recent visit. (Snip-full article here)
July 28, 2008
Rick Warren's ex "worship leader" threatens blogger with lawsuit
Blog Shut Down by 'Christian' Apologist's Threat (RICK WARREN, RICHARD ABANES, KEN SILVA)
Christian NewsWire ^ | 7-28-08 | pastor dustin segers
Posted on Monday, July 28, 2008 7:49:39 PM by Terriergal
Blog Shut Down by 'Christian' Apologist's Threat Contact: Pastor Dustin Segers, Coalition of Concerned Bloggers, ChristianResearchNetwork.com, 336-848-7197
MEDIA ADVISORY, July 28 /Christian Newswire/ -- Pastor Dustin Segers submits the following and is available for comment:
How safe are our blogs? That question was raised again when on the evening of July 26, 2008, a popular religious blog was shut down by an Internet service provider. A complaint filed by Christian author and apologist, Richard Asbanes, claiming that one article on the religious opinion site, Apprising.org, had slandered him, caused the web host, IPower, to send its publisher, Ken Silva, a 48-hour warning to remove the offending piece or be taken down. In that the piece was not believed to be slander at all, but rather religious and theological opinion, he refused to be forced into censoring his site by Richard Asbanes. The site went down.
There are serious implications here for all bloggers, regardless of what sort of blog they publish. Anyone who has a complaint about your views can claim that you have engaged in slander and the ISP Terms of Service usually allow for the companies to remove your website if you don't take the material in question down. The First Amendment means nothing in these cases. ISP's cannot and will not explore the claims of slander and simply notify bloggers to remove whatever is causing the problem. This opens the door for anyone to censor what a blogger writes online.
Everyone who values the right to read and publish blogs on the Internet has a vested interested in the issue. There is growing concern in the blog world over this, and a number of servers are popping up that offer "First Amendment" hosting. These are web hosts which require a court order before they will remove someone's website. Their day has clearly come.
Christian NewsWire ^ | 7-28-08 | pastor dustin segers
Posted on Monday, July 28, 2008 7:49:39 PM by Terriergal
Blog Shut Down by 'Christian' Apologist's Threat Contact: Pastor Dustin Segers, Coalition of Concerned Bloggers, ChristianResearchNetwork.com, 336-848-7197
MEDIA ADVISORY, July 28 /Christian Newswire/ -- Pastor Dustin Segers submits the following and is available for comment:
How safe are our blogs? That question was raised again when on the evening of July 26, 2008, a popular religious blog was shut down by an Internet service provider. A complaint filed by Christian author and apologist, Richard Asbanes, claiming that one article on the religious opinion site, Apprising.org, had slandered him, caused the web host, IPower, to send its publisher, Ken Silva, a 48-hour warning to remove the offending piece or be taken down. In that the piece was not believed to be slander at all, but rather religious and theological opinion, he refused to be forced into censoring his site by Richard Asbanes. The site went down.
There are serious implications here for all bloggers, regardless of what sort of blog they publish. Anyone who has a complaint about your views can claim that you have engaged in slander and the ISP Terms of Service usually allow for the companies to remove your website if you don't take the material in question down. The First Amendment means nothing in these cases. ISP's cannot and will not explore the claims of slander and simply notify bloggers to remove whatever is causing the problem. This opens the door for anyone to censor what a blogger writes online.
Everyone who values the right to read and publish blogs on the Internet has a vested interested in the issue. There is growing concern in the blog world over this, and a number of servers are popping up that offer "First Amendment" hosting. These are web hosts which require a court order before they will remove someone's website. Their day has clearly come.
July 27, 2008
Who are those attacking the ministry at Hephzibah House?
Atheist and pornography lover Kevin Smith is driving force behind attacks on Hephzibah House
Click on above link for more information!Ecclesiastes 12:14
For God shall bring every work into judgment,
with every secret thing,
whether it be good,
or whether it be evil.
For God shall bring every work into judgment,
with every secret thing,
whether it be good,
or whether it be evil.
(Warning, Smith's language has been left intact on the comments he leaves. He's as foul as they come.)
April 21, 2008
Texas Case: **TEXAS Case: 142 children gave birth!** 63 were raped!
Of course, that is not at the FLDS ranch. That was within the Texas Foster Care system in 2004.
"In 2004, noted Strayhorn, 38 foster children were killed; 48 were killed the following year. In addition, "about 100 children received treatment for poisoning from medications; 63 foster children received medical treatment for rape that occurred while in the foster care system; and 142 children gave birth while in the state foster care system."
hat tip:William N. Grigg
"In 2004, noted Strayhorn, 38 foster children were killed; 48 were killed the following year. In addition, "about 100 children received treatment for poisoning from medications; 63 foster children received medical treatment for rape that occurred while in the foster care system; and 142 children gave birth while in the state foster care system."
hat tip:William N. Grigg
April 17, 2008
Pope Benedict: No Trial, No Punishment for Molester
In recent news Pope Benedict, leader of the Roman Catholic institution has stated "We will absolutely exclude paedophiles from the sacred ministry."
He is a liar.
No Trial, No Punishment for Accused Molester Says Vatican
A well-connected Vatican insider accused of molesting young priests in training will not face a trial or be severely punished, the Vatican said today. Instead, Father Marcial Maciel was asked to give up all of his public ministry appearances.
A statement issued by the Vatican earlier today invited Father Maciel, who retired in 2005, "to lead a reserved life of prayer and penitence." There was no official finding of guilt.
A number of former priests told Vatican investigators they were abused by Father Maciel, the founder of the Legion of Christ, a small but wealthy Catholic order that operates in the United States and 25 other countries.
Many of Maciel's accusers had waited for years for the Vatican's decision. "It has to come, we are so many victims of this man," Juan Vaca, one of the accusers, told ABC News earlier this week. The accusations go back to the 1950s.
The allegations were presented to Pope Benedict XVI in 1998 when he was a Cardinal. Some of the accusers said then-Cardinal Ratzinger attempted to cover up the case because of Maciel's prominence and close relationship with Pope John Paul II.
The then-Cardinal Ratzinger became visibly upset when asked about the Maciel case by ABC News' Brian Ross in April 2002.
"You do not ask such questions," he said and then slapped Ross's hand.
Any finding of guilt "would automatically become a stain on the legacy of Pope John Paul II, who was a huge supporter of Maciel," according to Jason Berry, author of "Vows of Silence," which deals with sex abuse cases in the Catholic Church.
He is a liar.
No Trial, No Punishment for Accused Molester Says Vatican
A well-connected Vatican insider accused of molesting young priests in training will not face a trial or be severely punished, the Vatican said today. Instead, Father Marcial Maciel was asked to give up all of his public ministry appearances.
A statement issued by the Vatican earlier today invited Father Maciel, who retired in 2005, "to lead a reserved life of prayer and penitence." There was no official finding of guilt.
A number of former priests told Vatican investigators they were abused by Father Maciel, the founder of the Legion of Christ, a small but wealthy Catholic order that operates in the United States and 25 other countries.
Many of Maciel's accusers had waited for years for the Vatican's decision. "It has to come, we are so many victims of this man," Juan Vaca, one of the accusers, told ABC News earlier this week. The accusations go back to the 1950s.
The allegations were presented to Pope Benedict XVI in 1998 when he was a Cardinal. Some of the accusers said then-Cardinal Ratzinger attempted to cover up the case because of Maciel's prominence and close relationship with Pope John Paul II.
The then-Cardinal Ratzinger became visibly upset when asked about the Maciel case by ABC News' Brian Ross in April 2002.
"You do not ask such questions," he said and then slapped Ross's hand.
Any finding of guilt "would automatically become a stain on the legacy of Pope John Paul II, who was a huge supporter of Maciel," according to Jason Berry, author of "Vows of Silence," which deals with sex abuse cases in the Catholic Church.
March 14, 2008
Obama wants to be an instrument of God and establish a kingdom here on earth
Barack Obama has put his religion back into the headlines, trumpeting the power and salvation of faith and asking a church audience in South Carolina to help him become “an instrument of God” and join him in creating “a Kingdom right here on Earth."
Editors note: Yes, this news is somewhat old, but imagine if a Republican had made the same comments. You'd still be hearing about it.
March 11, 2008
Mormon Missionaries 'desecrate' Catholic Shrine
Missionaries Probed in Shrine Vandalism
> By DAN ELLIOTT
Associated Press Writer
Buy AP Photo Reprints
Your Questions Answered
Ask AP: Superdelegates, Windy Landings
>
SAN LUIS, Colo. (AP) -- Photos posted on the Internet show three Mormon missionaries mocking a Catholic shrine and holding the broken head of a statue of a saint there, a church official said.
Costilla County Sheriff Gilbert Martinez said deputies on Monday were beginning to investigate whether the men vandalized the Shrine of the Mexican Martyrs at the Chapel of All Saints, which stands on a butte overlooking San Luis.
The photos show young men holding the broken head of a statue, preaching from the Book of Mormon at an altar and pretending to sacrifice one another.
The vandalism apparently occurred in 2006, though damage to the statue went unnoticed until last week, when a parish member saw the photos on the picture-sharing Internet site Photobucket. They have since been taken down.
"The community is sad; it feels they've been victimized," Sangre de Cristo Parish Council spokesman Alonzo Payne said Monday. The parish has nine churches and about 450 families across Costilla County.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a statement Monday saying its missionaries "were evidently responsible" for the incident and offered "profound regret and sincere apologies" to Catholics and to the San Luis church.
Bruce Olsen, a spokesman for the church in its Salt Lake City headquarters, said church officials have given authorities the names of the missionaries believed to have been involved. The names have not been made public.
One was still serving in Colorado when the allegations surfaced; he has been disciplined and his mission has been ended, Bruce said. Others allegedly involved had already been sent home and will face church discipline, Bruce said.
The damaged statue seen in one of the photos depicts Manuel Morales, who was the 28-year-old president of Mexico's National League for the Defense of Religious Liberty when he was executed in 1926 for refusing to recognize laws he considered anti-religion. He was among more than two dozen Mexican saints canonized in 2000.
The broken head had gone unnoticed because it had been placed back on the statue. The parish council, based near the New Mexico line in San Luis, voted Sunday to ask for the investigation.
The sheriff said charges could include desecration of a venerated object, criminal trespass, defacing property and bias-motivated crime.
Payne would not rule out a lawsuit seeking the cost of replacing or repairing the statue. The Rev. Patrick Valdez, the parish pastor, referred questions to Payne.
Photobucket released a statement saying that it had no record of the shrine photos but that its rules forbid content that is illegal, obscene or threatening.
> By DAN ELLIOTT
Associated Press Writer
Buy AP Photo Reprints
Your Questions Answered
Ask AP: Superdelegates, Windy Landings
>
SAN LUIS, Colo. (AP) -- Photos posted on the Internet show three Mormon missionaries mocking a Catholic shrine and holding the broken head of a statue of a saint there, a church official said.
Costilla County Sheriff Gilbert Martinez said deputies on Monday were beginning to investigate whether the men vandalized the Shrine of the Mexican Martyrs at the Chapel of All Saints, which stands on a butte overlooking San Luis.
The photos show young men holding the broken head of a statue, preaching from the Book of Mormon at an altar and pretending to sacrifice one another.
The vandalism apparently occurred in 2006, though damage to the statue went unnoticed until last week, when a parish member saw the photos on the picture-sharing Internet site Photobucket. They have since been taken down.
"The community is sad; it feels they've been victimized," Sangre de Cristo Parish Council spokesman Alonzo Payne said Monday. The parish has nine churches and about 450 families across Costilla County.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a statement Monday saying its missionaries "were evidently responsible" for the incident and offered "profound regret and sincere apologies" to Catholics and to the San Luis church.
Bruce Olsen, a spokesman for the church in its Salt Lake City headquarters, said church officials have given authorities the names of the missionaries believed to have been involved. The names have not been made public.
One was still serving in Colorado when the allegations surfaced; he has been disciplined and his mission has been ended, Bruce said. Others allegedly involved had already been sent home and will face church discipline, Bruce said.
The damaged statue seen in one of the photos depicts Manuel Morales, who was the 28-year-old president of Mexico's National League for the Defense of Religious Liberty when he was executed in 1926 for refusing to recognize laws he considered anti-religion. He was among more than two dozen Mexican saints canonized in 2000.
The broken head had gone unnoticed because it had been placed back on the statue. The parish council, based near the New Mexico line in San Luis, voted Sunday to ask for the investigation.
The sheriff said charges could include desecration of a venerated object, criminal trespass, defacing property and bias-motivated crime.
Payne would not rule out a lawsuit seeking the cost of replacing or repairing the statue. The Rev. Patrick Valdez, the parish pastor, referred questions to Payne.
Photobucket released a statement saying that it had no record of the shrine photos but that its rules forbid content that is illegal, obscene or threatening.
January 20, 2008
Bronner Burgess is in Heaven
Rick and Bubba radio show co-host Rick Burgess's son, 2, drowns in pool
Monday, January 21, 2008
CAROL ROBINSON and JEREMY GRAY
News staff writers
The youngest child of Rick and Bubba Show co-host Rick Burgess drowned in the family's pool over the weekend.
William Bronner Burgess, 2, was pronounced dead at Children's Hospital Saturday night after "exhaustive medical efforts" to save him failed, authorities said Sunday.
The funeral for Bronner, affectionately known to listeners as "Cornbread," will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Shades Mountain Baptist Church.
"He was real energetic, just a beautiful child," said Shades Mountain pastor the Rev. Danny Wood. "He was kind of a mama's boy in the sense that he was really attached to Sherri (Burgess). He was a very healthy child. He was a typical boy."
Shelby County 911 at 7:24 p.m. Saturday received a report of a possible drowning.
Sheriff's deputies and North Shelby Fire and Emergency Medical personnel responded to the Burgess home on Indian Crest Drive in Indian Springs Village. Bronner had fallen into the swimming pool.
"Our preliminary investigation indicates that this is a tragic accident and our deepest sympathy goes out to the family," Shelby County Sheriff Chris Curry stated in a press release.
Burgess, who often speaks of his faith on the radio show, was a guest speaker over the weekend at a Christian retreat in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., for high school students. He flew home as soon as he received the call about Bronner's death.
The family's pastor said he spent time with the Burgess family Sunday.
"The death of a child, it's very difficult but they have a great strength because of their faith in Jesus Christ," Wood said.
Monday, January 21, 2008
CAROL ROBINSON and JEREMY GRAY
News staff writers
The youngest child of Rick and Bubba Show co-host Rick Burgess drowned in the family's pool over the weekend.
William Bronner Burgess, 2, was pronounced dead at Children's Hospital Saturday night after "exhaustive medical efforts" to save him failed, authorities said Sunday.
The funeral for Bronner, affectionately known to listeners as "Cornbread," will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Shades Mountain Baptist Church.
"He was real energetic, just a beautiful child," said Shades Mountain pastor the Rev. Danny Wood. "He was kind of a mama's boy in the sense that he was really attached to Sherri (Burgess). He was a very healthy child. He was a typical boy."
Shelby County 911 at 7:24 p.m. Saturday received a report of a possible drowning.
Sheriff's deputies and North Shelby Fire and Emergency Medical personnel responded to the Burgess home on Indian Crest Drive in Indian Springs Village. Bronner had fallen into the swimming pool.
"Our preliminary investigation indicates that this is a tragic accident and our deepest sympathy goes out to the family," Shelby County Sheriff Chris Curry stated in a press release.
Burgess, who often speaks of his faith on the radio show, was a guest speaker over the weekend at a Christian retreat in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., for high school students. He flew home as soon as he received the call about Bronner's death.
The family's pastor said he spent time with the Burgess family Sunday.
"The death of a child, it's very difficult but they have a great strength because of their faith in Jesus Christ," Wood said.
December 10, 2007
Seventh Day Adventist students attack police, riot
Huntsville police: 16 people arrested at Oakwood College melee
12/10/2007, 5:10 p.m. CST
The Associated Press
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — A fight between two women turned into a melee at Oakwood College, police said, with 16 individuals under arrest after hundreds of people allegedly confronted officers who broke up the altercation.
Two officers suffered minor injuries in the fracas, which began late Saturday, and authorities said Monday they were still sorting out what happened at the small college.
"I don't even know what started it yet," Huntsville police spokesman Wendell Johnson said. "It was a major disturbance so we have a stack of incident reports and arrest reports to go through."
Johnson said he wasn't sure how many of those arrested were students. He said 15 adults and one juvenile were booked on various charges including disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and harassment, while four were charged with felony assault for allegedly attacking police officers.
Officials at the school had no immediate comment.
Johnson said officers were at the Oakwood gymnasium for a basketball game when a fight broke out between two women about 11:45 p.m. Saturday. One of the women, an 18-year-old student, was arrested by an off-duty Huntsville Police officer and placed inside a police car.
"That's when several hundred individuals circled a Huntsville police car trying to get the girl out of the police car," he said.
With students beating and rocking the car, Johnson said the officer sprayed a chemical irritant into the crowd in an attempt to get people to leave. Other officers arrived as a backup, he said.
Oakwood administrators held a closed-door meeting with students on Sunday, but neither President Delbert W. Baker nor a school spokeswoman immediately returned messages seeking comment.
Oakwood, a private school affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist church, has 1,824 students. It plans to change its name to Oakwood University on Jan. 1.
12/10/2007, 5:10 p.m. CST
The Associated Press
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — A fight between two women turned into a melee at Oakwood College, police said, with 16 individuals under arrest after hundreds of people allegedly confronted officers who broke up the altercation.
Two officers suffered minor injuries in the fracas, which began late Saturday, and authorities said Monday they were still sorting out what happened at the small college.
"I don't even know what started it yet," Huntsville police spokesman Wendell Johnson said. "It was a major disturbance so we have a stack of incident reports and arrest reports to go through."
Johnson said he wasn't sure how many of those arrested were students. He said 15 adults and one juvenile were booked on various charges including disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and harassment, while four were charged with felony assault for allegedly attacking police officers.
Officials at the school had no immediate comment.
Johnson said officers were at the Oakwood gymnasium for a basketball game when a fight broke out between two women about 11:45 p.m. Saturday. One of the women, an 18-year-old student, was arrested by an off-duty Huntsville Police officer and placed inside a police car.
"That's when several hundred individuals circled a Huntsville police car trying to get the girl out of the police car," he said.
With students beating and rocking the car, Johnson said the officer sprayed a chemical irritant into the crowd in an attempt to get people to leave. Other officers arrived as a backup, he said.
Oakwood administrators held a closed-door meeting with students on Sunday, but neither President Delbert W. Baker nor a school spokeswoman immediately returned messages seeking comment.
Oakwood, a private school affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist church, has 1,824 students. It plans to change its name to Oakwood University on Jan. 1.
October 24, 2007
Padre Pio used acid to fake stigmata
An Italian monk who became the country's best-loved saint after being canonised by Pope John Paul II and who claimed to suffer stigmata or the wounds of Christ was a fake who used carbolic acid, according to a controversial new book.
Padre Pio, who died in 1968 and who was canonized in 2002, claimed to have first suffered the stigmata – holes in his hands and feet where nails pierced Christ at the Crucifixion – since he was a young priest aged 24.
He enjoyed a massive following with thousands visiting him and even today nearly 30 years after his death he has a millions of devotees around the world and he is especially popular with Italian celebrities such as Sophia Loren and Andrea Bocelli.
Scroll down for more...
Padre Pio
Saint Padre Pio with bandaged hands covering his 'holy stigmata'
However a new book called "The Other Christ: Padre Pio and the Italy of the 19th Century" by historian Sergio Luzzatto claims that the wounds were self created using carbolic acid and he claims to have found documentary evidence to prove it in the Vatican's secret archives.
A letter he has discovered from a pharmacist called Maria De Vito, 28, who had made a pilgrimage in 1919 to see Padre Pio at his monastery at San Giovanni Rotondo near Foggia, southern Italy.
In the document Maria wrote: "I was an admirer of Padre Pio and met him for the first time in July 1919. I was there for a month and had the opportunity to see him close hand several times and I always had an excellent opinion of him.
Scroll down for more...
Padre Pio
Padre Pio has been accused of faking his stigmata using carbolic acid
"The eve of my departure for Foggia, Padre Pio called me to one side and in great secrecy and asking me not to tell his fellow brothers gave me personally an empty bottle he asked me to act as a chauffeur take it back from Foggia to San Giovanni Rotondo with four grams of pure carbolic acid.
"He explained that the acid was for disinfecting syringes for injections and he also asked for other medicines such as Valda tablets."
The document added that a month later a further request arrived from Padre Pio in which he asked for four grams of veratrine (painkiller) which was not available in her pharmacy so she asked her cousin who refused because he feared it was being used for faking his stigmata.
The book highlights that the testimony was presented to the Vatican by the local archbishop Pasquale Gagliardi who was an enemy of Padre Pio and who always suspected that the wounds were self inflicted with acid and then perfumed with cologne.
However the Vatican dismissed the documents after carrying out their own investigations which ruled that the wounds were not caused by "external forces."
The Catholic Anti-Defamation League have hit back at the author of the book, historian Sergio Luzzatto, saying:
"We would like to remind Mr Luzzatto that according to Catholic doctrine, canonisation carries with it papal infallibility."
Padre Pio, who died in 1968 and who was canonized in 2002, claimed to have first suffered the stigmata – holes in his hands and feet where nails pierced Christ at the Crucifixion – since he was a young priest aged 24.
He enjoyed a massive following with thousands visiting him and even today nearly 30 years after his death he has a millions of devotees around the world and he is especially popular with Italian celebrities such as Sophia Loren and Andrea Bocelli.
Scroll down for more...
Padre Pio
Saint Padre Pio with bandaged hands covering his 'holy stigmata'
However a new book called "The Other Christ: Padre Pio and the Italy of the 19th Century" by historian Sergio Luzzatto claims that the wounds were self created using carbolic acid and he claims to have found documentary evidence to prove it in the Vatican's secret archives.
A letter he has discovered from a pharmacist called Maria De Vito, 28, who had made a pilgrimage in 1919 to see Padre Pio at his monastery at San Giovanni Rotondo near Foggia, southern Italy.
In the document Maria wrote: "I was an admirer of Padre Pio and met him for the first time in July 1919. I was there for a month and had the opportunity to see him close hand several times and I always had an excellent opinion of him.
Scroll down for more...
Padre Pio
Padre Pio has been accused of faking his stigmata using carbolic acid
"The eve of my departure for Foggia, Padre Pio called me to one side and in great secrecy and asking me not to tell his fellow brothers gave me personally an empty bottle he asked me to act as a chauffeur take it back from Foggia to San Giovanni Rotondo with four grams of pure carbolic acid.
"He explained that the acid was for disinfecting syringes for injections and he also asked for other medicines such as Valda tablets."
The document added that a month later a further request arrived from Padre Pio in which he asked for four grams of veratrine (painkiller) which was not available in her pharmacy so she asked her cousin who refused because he feared it was being used for faking his stigmata.
The book highlights that the testimony was presented to the Vatican by the local archbishop Pasquale Gagliardi who was an enemy of Padre Pio and who always suspected that the wounds were self inflicted with acid and then perfumed with cologne.
However the Vatican dismissed the documents after carrying out their own investigations which ruled that the wounds were not caused by "external forces."
The Catholic Anti-Defamation League have hit back at the author of the book, historian Sergio Luzzatto, saying:
"We would like to remind Mr Luzzatto that according to Catholic doctrine, canonisation carries with it papal infallibility."
October 1, 2007
How sick is this? Houston parents take children and babies to a homosexual bar for "kids day"
In the photo:Matt Schomburg, left, hangs out with his son Maverick Schomburg, 2, and Will Badger, 2, along with Badger's father, Chris. Will Badger tries to knock one back, but the beer bottle is empty.
This is not a joke. This is real.
'Baby Loves Disco' phenomenon makes its premiere in Houston
By ANNE MARIE KILDAY
They arrived in feather boas, glittering hair accessories, sparkling dresses and tutus over diapers.
At the premiere of "Baby Loves Disco" in downtown Houston on Saturday afternoon, infants, toddlers, young children and parents boogied under a mirrored disco ball, floating bubbles and occasional "smoke" from a machine. The "bars" at Rich's Houston [infamous homosexual bar] were lined with boxes of juice and healthy snacks, such as sliced veggies, apples, grapes, cheese, crackers and cheese pizza slices.
Babies and older children danced alone — or in a parent's arms — to the beats of the '70s and '80s. They twirled, whirled and unfurled bright scarves or tried to do the twist in yellow hula hoops.
While the babies bounced to the beat, older children showed off their moves — two young girls did the flamboyant arm move made famous by John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever.
The event is part of a new "dance craze" sweeping the nation — OK, more like 20 cities — according to founder Andy Hurwitz, a New Yorker who started the family-friendly event about five years ago. Hurwitz, who is in the music business, got help from Cheryl Miller, a local mom who organized the event.
"I just started it a little while after my son was born, and it's really taken off," Hurwitz said. A portion of the proceeds from the dance events, which are held in cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Seattle, go to Alex's Lemonade Stand, a charity benefiting childhood cancer research.
Most busy parents learned about the new activity from e-mails or text messages and turned out in droves to watch or dance with their children.
Bubbles and hula hoops
"We're just out bar-hopping," quipped Sarah Eldridge, who sat near the dance floor with her daughter, Anna, who was finishing a grape juice. Smiling at her friend, Angela Rosteet, and her daughter, Celeste, Eldridge said the 2-year-old girls "just love to dance."
"They love the bubbles, the little egg-shakers and the hula hoops," Rosteet said.
The two moms said they needed to sit down after about an hour on the dance floor.
"I haven't been dancing in I-don't-know-how many years," she said.
"But, we don't bar-hop with our husbands," Eldridge said, laughing.
Many parents agreed that the $12 admission charge for adults was a bargain, compared with other children's activities.
Meanwhile, in the "Chill Out Zone" in one part of the club, some children took a break from the pounding music to draw, color or climb through a cardboard playhouse.
Connor Murray Smith, 5, said he had to take a break from the dancing.
"I thought that he would either love it or hate, but he's been dancing the whole time," said his mom, Sara Smith.
Bob Gerber and his son, Lucas, were enjoying some popcorn in the chill-out area. Lucas, 7, was wearing ear plugs provided by the club.
Back on the dance floor, Charla Mock watched in amazement as her 7-year-old daughter, Sydney, moved to the music with her shoulders shaking.
"I don't know where this is coming from. We don't even have television," Mock said. "It's innate, I'm convinced. I'm seeing a whole new side of her — she's blossomed since she started the first grade."
Mock was in the club with her husband, Robert Mock, and their 5-year-old son, Sawyer. "This takes me back to my club days," Charla Mock said. "The lights, the bubbles, the music — we're really having fun."
September 18, 2007
September 5, 2007
Dr. D James kennedy dies
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/shared-gen/ap/National/Obit_Kennedy.html
Dr. D. James Kennedy dies.
Conservative leader the Rev. D. James Kennedy died Wednesday morning, sources at his Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church reported today.
The pastor died "peacefully, in his sleep, at home" around 3 a.m., according to the Rev. Ronald Siegenthaler, executive minister at the 10,000-member church. By his side was Anne, his wife of five decades.
Kennedy, who also founded a broadcast ministry, a seminary and an annual series of conservative conferences, suffered multiple complications ever since Dec. 28, when he suffered arrhythmia and cardiac arrest.
Dr. D. James Kennedy dies.
Conservative leader the Rev. D. James Kennedy died Wednesday morning, sources at his Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church reported today.
The pastor died "peacefully, in his sleep, at home" around 3 a.m., according to the Rev. Ronald Siegenthaler, executive minister at the 10,000-member church. By his side was Anne, his wife of five decades.
Kennedy, who also founded a broadcast ministry, a seminary and an annual series of conservative conferences, suffered multiple complications ever since Dec. 28, when he suffered arrhythmia and cardiac arrest.
August 4, 2007
The very strange world of Rick Ousley's Accuser, Donna Jones
Regular readers of this blog will remember the Rick Ousley case. Ousley, long time pastor of a liberal Southern Baptist mega church stepped down from his personal ministry after admitting he had an extra marital affair with Ms. Donna Jones of Katy Texas. (Ousley retired from The Church at Brook Hills and founded his personal ministry "Quixotic Ministries.")
Religion reporter Greg Garrison scored a front page story thanks to the eagerness of Donna Jones to finally spill her guts about her long term sexual relationship with Rick Ousley.
A blog of sorts sprung up which gleefully reported the downfall of Ousley. Donna Jones soon made her way there and began posting hundreds of comments about her relationship with Ousley.
I soon noticed a glaring pattern of "sound the same" comments from Donna and people claiming to be her supporters, some who said they knew her and some who said they didn't. I reported here that the webmistress reluctantly and (only at the urging of others) finally admitted that posts by Donna Jones and posts by people who claimed they did not know Donna Jones, and even people who claimed to know her, all shared not only an obvious speech pattern, but the same ISP number.
Let me break that down. Many of the anti-Rick Ousley posts were being made under different names by Donna Jones, from her computer.
The webmistress and other Christian bashers at that site were willing to look the other way at the fraud perpetrated by Donna Jones of Katy Texas.
Four months later and Donna Jones is still at it. But she got a little careless and forgot that she was signed in under her fake screen name of Nathan. Not only did she write the post as Donna Jones, she signed her posts "Donna Jones" all the while forgetting that she was using the "Nathan" log in. Here is a screen capture of one of Donna Jones' fake posts.
"Nathan" is exposed as a fake. Donna Jones is exposed as a fraud, AGAIN.
As quick as Donna Jones made the post under a fake persona she had created, but signed her own name to, McMullen closed that section of her blog and opened a new section for comments, directing all the traffic to the "cleansed" area, where it would be harder to find Donna's glaring self exposure as a fraud.
But why is the webmistress Kathy McMullen, content to let the fraud continue. Read her blog and it will become obvious, it's a pro-sodomite, anti-christian blog of extremes. McMullen has an agenda. She thinks it is important to bring Rick Ousley down.
Newsflash: That was already done.
What is going on now at Kathy's blog is making Rick Ousley look better and better all the time.
Thanks Kathy, I bet Rick Ousley appreciates all you do for him.
Next question, where is the Birmingham News?
Isn't it just as important to report ALL the news?
'Celebrity priest' in paedophilia probe
Published: 04 August 2007
A "celebrity" priest, founder of an organisation with more than 280 drug rehabilitation centres around the world, is under investigation in central Italy for alleged paedophilia.
Don Pierino Gelmini is one of the church's best-known faces on Italian television, a close friend of top politicians including former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, a rent-a-quote figure with right-wing views on drugs and family values.
In 2004, while still Prime Minister, Mr Berlusconi made the 80-year-old priest, founder of "Comunita Incontro", a public gift of 10 billion lira (£3.5m) for the organisation's work.
But yesterday La Stampa newspaper revealed that the priest has been under investigation, on suspicion of sexually molesting young people, for more than six months. "It seems that the accusations are numerous and coherent," the paper reported. "They revolve around a closed community in which a figure of enormous charisma seems not to have restricted himself to taking care of souls."
The priest's accusers are former residents of Comunita Incontro's centres with a history of drug use. But the magistrates have also interviewed many other possible witnesses, as well as Father Gelmini himself.
No details of the accusations have leaked to the media. Notoriously indiscreet when politicians are under investigation, in this case, perhaps thanks to the power of the church in Italian public life, the magistrates have kept the investigation under wraps.
A friend of the priest, Alessandro Meluzzi, said: "We are anguished, but are pleased to carry the cross that has been thrown on a man who has always served Christ, the church and the lowest of the low." The accusations, he added, came from "a small group of lads who were expelled from the community, who had all the typical problems of drug addicts, and of behaviour and personality as well."
As news of the investigation broke, right-wing politicians rushed to the priest's defence. Maria Burani Procaccini, spokesman on families and children for Forza Italia, Berlusconi's party, said: "In our hearts we say that Don Gelmini is a saint. And we ask the media not to murder the innocent."
July 14, 2007
L.A. Archdiocese to Pay $600M to Victims
L.A. Archdiocese to Pay $600M to Victims
Your Catholic church at work in the world.
Your Catholic church at work in the world.
July 10, 2007
Problems in Pentacostalism
Ugandan police are holding a Ghanaian preacher over a stage magic device they fear may dupe people into believing they have experienced miracles.
Customs officials seized the Electric Touch device -- which magicians use to give small electric shocks to volunteers -- from "Prophet" Obiri Yeboah at the airport last week, the state owned New Vision daily reported Tuesday.
The pastor heads one of many Pentecostal churches in Uganda, receiving large sums of money from congregations seeking miracle cures for diseases or help with financial problems.
The Electric Touch device is usually sold in magic shops alongside card tricks, magic coins and disappearing balls.
"With a simple touch, make a fluorescent bulb glow on and off at your command, make confetti move, charge a spoon and watch as it shocks a volunteer!" says one online magic shop selling the device.
"People could be duped to think it is a miracle," the New Vision quoted Civil Aviation Authority security chief Herman Owomugisha as saying.
Officials are worried about the proliferation of "miracle" churches in Uganda, many of which claim to cure HIV/AIDS.
Customs officials seized the Electric Touch device -- which magicians use to give small electric shocks to volunteers -- from "Prophet" Obiri Yeboah at the airport last week, the state owned New Vision daily reported Tuesday.
The pastor heads one of many Pentecostal churches in Uganda, receiving large sums of money from congregations seeking miracle cures for diseases or help with financial problems.
The Electric Touch device is usually sold in magic shops alongside card tricks, magic coins and disappearing balls.
"With a simple touch, make a fluorescent bulb glow on and off at your command, make confetti move, charge a spoon and watch as it shocks a volunteer!" says one online magic shop selling the device.
"People could be duped to think it is a miracle," the New Vision quoted Civil Aviation Authority security chief Herman Owomugisha as saying.
Officials are worried about the proliferation of "miracle" churches in Uganda, many of which claim to cure HIV/AIDS.
July 7, 2007
Snake Handlers and their churches
I just figured something out. It is the music that drives these people. I guarantee you this, not a one of them would ever pick up a big old timber rattler if they were listening to hymns instead of what they listen to.
July 3, 2007
July 1, 2007
Female Episcopalian priest says "I am both Muslim and Christian" | Seattle Times Newspaper
"I am both Muslim and Christian"
Shortly after noon on Fridays, the Rev. Ann Holmes Redding ties on a black headscarf, preparing to pray with her Muslim group on First Hill.
On Sunday mornings, Redding puts on the white collar of an Episcopal priest.
She does both, she says, because she's Christian and Muslim.
Redding, who until recently was director of faith formation at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, has been a priest for more than 20 years. Now she's ready to tell people that, for the last 15 months, she's also been a Muslim — drawn to the faith after an introduction to Islamic prayers left her profoundly moved.
Her announcement has provoked surprise and bewilderment in many, raising an obvious question: How can someone be both a Christian and a Muslim?
Babies not as innocent as they pretend | Science | Earth | Telegraph
Babies caught lying from infanthood.
Once again, science plays catch up with Scripture.
Psalms 58:3 The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.
Once again, science plays catch up with Scripture.
Psalms 58:3 The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.
June 29, 2007
Jo Hovind sentenced to Prison
Alvin Peabody
apeabody@pnj.com
Jo Hovind, the wife of creationist theme-park owner Kent Hovind, stood solemnly beside her attorney Friday as U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers handed down a sentence of one year and one day in federal prison.
Jo Hovind, 51, also was ordered to pay $8,000 in fines and three years supervision when she is released from prison.
Hovind was found guilty in November on 45 counts of evading bank-reporting requirements.
[Law requires banks to report transations greater than $10,000. Mrs. Hovind was convicted of making deposits under $10,000. Of course there is no law against this.....]
The same jury found her husband guilty on 58 federal counts, including failure to pay $845,000 in employee-related taxes. He was sentenced in January to 10 years in federal prison.
Jo Hovind’s attorney, Jerry Barringer, said after the sentencing that he plans to file an appeal against the guilty verdict as well as the prison sentence.
apeabody@pnj.com
Jo Hovind, the wife of creationist theme-park owner Kent Hovind, stood solemnly beside her attorney Friday as U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers handed down a sentence of one year and one day in federal prison.
Jo Hovind, 51, also was ordered to pay $8,000 in fines and three years supervision when she is released from prison.
Hovind was found guilty in November on 45 counts of evading bank-reporting requirements.
[Law requires banks to report transations greater than $10,000. Mrs. Hovind was convicted of making deposits under $10,000. Of course there is no law against this.....]
The same jury found her husband guilty on 58 federal counts, including failure to pay $845,000 in employee-related taxes. He was sentenced in January to 10 years in federal prison.
Jo Hovind’s attorney, Jerry Barringer, said after the sentencing that he plans to file an appeal against the guilty verdict as well as the prison sentence.
June 23, 2007
Devilish Rock Festival at Glastonbury, England boast 1,200 injured, over 160 arrests, most for drugs
Still they come. And they bring their innocent children to this hedonist hell weekend.
Revellers line up in a sodden, rubbish littered que to brush their teeth and get water.
Glastonbury, the world's biggest open air arts and music festival, has made environmental issues a pillar of the three-day event by launching its I Count campaign to stop climate change.
The target is for 100,000 festival-goers to sign up at the festival, which has a line-up of hot rock bands, comedians and circus performers at a farm in rural southern England, and each attendee gets a We Can Stop Climate Chaos wristband.
"We've put a lot of effort into focusing Glastonbury on the environment and climate change this year," said festival organiser Michael Eavis, who was recently given an award for services to music by Queen Elizabeth.
"We hope to see at least 100,000 new supporters sign up to the I Count campaign and I'll be the first to put my name down," the 71-year-old bearded organiser and campaigner said.
Lucy Pearce, I Count campaign manager, described it as creating a "massive, popular, irresistible movement for change".
John Sauven, representative for Greenpeace, described climate change as a "man-made disaster" and urged people to make "personal" changes in their lives as well as "putting as much pressure as we can on governments to act".
Atlanta officials declare Constitution-free zone
Atlanta officials declare Constitution-free zone
Punishing pastors so perverts can parade.
June 22, 2007
June 21, 2007
June 20, 2007
Joe Kennedy's First Marriage: Still On | TIME
Joe Kennedy's First Marriage: Still On | TIMEThe most controversial "marriage that never was" in recent U.S. political history is back. Sources tell TIME that the Vatican has reversed the annulment of Joseph P. Kennedy II's marriage to Sheila Rauch. The annulment had been granted in secrecy by the Catholic Church after the couple's 1991 no-fault civil divorce. Rauch found out about the de-sanctification of their marriage only in 1996, after Kennedy had been wedded to his former Congressional aide, Beth Kelly, for three years.
June 19, 2007
Church's street ministry attacked
OnlineAthens.com | News | Church's street ministry attacked
JACKSON COUNTY-The city of Jefferson's police chief wants a group of anti-abortion protesters to tone down their act and has asked the Jefferson City Council to adopt an ordinance to help him do that.
But the pastor whose church stages the regular protests says the Jefferson Lighthouse Baptist Church will fight any ordinance the city passes that would limit church members' right to express themselves.
A group of a dozen or more church members regularly gathers on Saturday mornings - often in Jefferson - holding up signs with anti-abortion slogans and handing out anti-abortion pamphlets.
The church has held these weekend events regularly for the past 15 years, said the Rev. Kevin Whitman, the church's pastor for the past nine years.
MULTIMEDIA
VIDEO: Watch a video news story on a Saturday protest by members of the Jefferson Lighthouse Baptist Church
Get Flash to see this player.
But they're a street ministry, not a demonstration, Whitman said.
In the past and now, the group has demonstrated without a problem - not just in Jefferson, but in other places like Commerce; Hendersonville, N.C.; Greensboro, N.C.; and Atlanta, Whitman said.
In only two places, Hendersonville and Jefferson, has there been any government attempt to tone down the group's message, he said.
But in the past few months, the church members have added two new visual aids - at first, a ketchup-covered baby doll, now replaced with large placards that purport to be photographs of aborted fetuses, body parts of fetuses and the like.
One of the placards shows a life-size photograph of a newborn or near-full-term fetus, its head crushed and jaw nearly severed.
"The picture is the problem," said Jefferson Police Department Lt. Steven Bannister.
The baby and the fetus photos have horrified children in cars passing by and elicited a wave of unhappy telephone calls from their upset parents and other citizens, said Jefferson Police Chief Joseph Wirthman.
"I thought these signs were beyond the pale," Wirthman said.
As a handful of church members shouted their message Saturday morning from the driveway of Wal-Mart on U.S. Highway 441, most shoppers either ignored the demonstration or gawked at the photographs for a second or two.
A few shouted insults or asked the church members to go away.
"I think it's ridiculous," said Chris Collins, of Jefferson. His family - including his 5-year-old son - came to shop, but had to pass the anti-abortion photos to get to the Commerce store's one entrance.
"I support what they are saying, but the use of the photographs, especially for people with small children, is obscene," Collins said.
When the family was stopped at a red light one recent Saturday, a Lighthouse member approached the car and showed his son one of the photographs, Collins said.
"He saw it up close, and he had nightmares about it," he said. "They have every right to say what they want to say, but at the same time, I think you have a responsibility to say it tactfully."
While describing the problem to the city council, Wirthman said that one group, whose name he did not know, had to cancel a fundraising event because of the protesters.
But Whitman said when the church knows of another group's fundraiser, such as a firefighter boot drive, the street ministry moves elsewhere.
Recently, one of the photos sparked a confrontation that might have become violent as the church picketed in Jefferson over Memorial Day weekend, Wirthman told the Jefferson City Council last week.
A man stopped his truck and got out, scolding the anti-abortion posters for their graphic photos, and snatched one of the photo placards from a church member's hands.
The two men exchanged sharp words, but the confrontation did not escalate to any kind of physical assault, both Whitman and Wirthman said.
But the next time, it might, Wirthman warned the council, which is scheduled to discuss adopting an ordinance at Monday's meeting, set for 6 p.m. in the Jefferson Civic Center.
Whitman said church members will resist any efforts to make them hide their graphic signs, just as they've ignored at least one threat from Jefferson police officers that the protesters could face arrest, he said. Overall, police have been "very professional," he said.
The signs are just telling a truth, Whitman said.
"It's not just the abortion. Obviously, we want the babies to be saved, but we want the mother to be saved from a lifetime of knowing she murdered her baby. That's our goal, to see people saved, but we obviously cannot see people saved unless they know what their sins are," he said.
Whitman quoted a Bible verse, Isaiah 58:1, which admonishes believers to "lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins."
And the photos make the transgression of abortion abundantly clear, he said.
"People get upset about us holding up the signs, and to me they ought to get upset about the fact that it's happening 4,200 times a day. The best way to stop abortion signs is to stop abortion," Whitman said.
Many cities, including Athens, have ordinances regulating street demonstrations and other "special events," and Wirthman showed the council one from the city of Gainesville that he thought could provide a model for a Jefferson ordinance.
Wirthman suggested that groups that stage public demonstrations should not only have to get a permit beforehand with the Jefferson Police Department, but should also have to pay for police security when the police chief deems a threat might exist, either to the public or demonstrators.
But the city will be on treacherous legal ground if it tries to make the church pay for security based on how people might react to them, or if the city tries to restrict the content of the signs the group uses, said Gerry Weber, legal director of the Georgia American Civil Liberties Union.
"I think the city has to be very careful in drafting an ordinance along these lines," Weber said. "There are a lot of pitfalls."
Governments can require a group to get a permit for a demonstration, but is allowed very little discretion to deny anyone a permit, he said.
And in a case involving Georgia's Forsyth County, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a city or county cannot charge a fee based on "the anticipated reaction of listeners," Weber said.
And finally, the city will find it "very difficult" to legally impose restrictions that would require the church group to tone down their signs, Weber said.
"Content-based restrictions are very difficult," he said.
• Staff Writer Allison Floyd contributed to this report.
June 17, 2007
Wife of evangelist Billy Graham rejected Biblical baptism
Wife of evangelist Billy Graham rejected Biblical baptismA loyal, lifelong Presbyterian
Though the wife of a famous Baptist minister, the independent-minded Ruth Graham declined to undergo baptism by immersion and remained a loyal, lifelong Presbyterian. When in Montreat, a town built around a Presbyterian conference center, Billy Graham would attend the local Presbyterian church where his wife often taught the college-age Sunday School class.
Due to her husband's travels, she bore major responsibility for raising the couple's five children: Franklin (William Franklin III), Nelson, Virginia, Anne and Ruth.
Ruth Graham was the author or co-author of 14 books, including collections of poetry and the autobiographical scrapbook "Footprints of a Pilgrim."
In 1996, the Grahams were each awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for "outstanding and lasting contributions to morality, racial equality, family, philanthropy, and religion."
Crime novelist Patricia Cornwell began her writing career with a Ruth Graham biography that depicted many deeds of personal charity. Cornwell said as a youth in Montreat she thought Ruth Graham "was the loveliest, kindest person ever born. I still do."
She helped establish the Ruth and Billy Graham Children's Health Center in Asheville, and the Billy Graham Training Center near Montreat.
Ruth Graham will be buried at the new Billy Graham Library in Charlotte -- a source of apparent discord within the family last year. This week, Billy Graham said he and Ruth had decided "after much prayer and discussion" they would be laid to rest at the foot of a cross-shaped walkway in the library's prayer garden.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Though the wife of a famous Baptist minister, the independent-minded Ruth Graham declined to undergo baptism by immersion and remained a loyal, lifelong Presbyterian. When in Montreat, a town built around a Presbyterian conference center, Billy Graham would attend the local Presbyterian church where his wife often taught the college-age Sunday School class.
Due to her husband's travels, she bore major responsibility for raising the couple's five children: Franklin (William Franklin III), Nelson, Virginia, Anne and Ruth.
Ruth Graham was the author or co-author of 14 books, including collections of poetry and the autobiographical scrapbook "Footprints of a Pilgrim."
In 1996, the Grahams were each awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for "outstanding and lasting contributions to morality, racial equality, family, philanthropy, and religion."
Crime novelist Patricia Cornwell began her writing career with a Ruth Graham biography that depicted many deeds of personal charity. Cornwell said as a youth in Montreat she thought Ruth Graham "was the loveliest, kindest person ever born. I still do."
She helped establish the Ruth and Billy Graham Children's Health Center in Asheville, and the Billy Graham Training Center near Montreat.
Ruth Graham will be buried at the new Billy Graham Library in Charlotte -- a source of apparent discord within the family last year. This week, Billy Graham said he and Ruth had decided "after much prayer and discussion" they would be laid to rest at the foot of a cross-shaped walkway in the library's prayer garden.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
“Cloud Nine-groovy-hippie-liberals bringing ‘enlightenment’ to inner city schools”
The lesson began with the striking of a Tibetan singing bowl to induce mindful awareness.
With the sound of their new school bell, the fifth graders at Piedmont Avenue Elementary School here closed their eyes and focused on their breathing, as they tried to imagine “loving kindness” on the playground.
“I was losing at baseball and I was about to throw a bat,” Alex Menton, 11, reported to his classmates the next day. “The mindfulness really helped.”
As summer looms, students at dozens of schools across the country are trying hard to be in the present moment. This is what is known as mindfulness training, in which stress-reducing techniques drawn from Buddhist meditation are wedged between reading and spelling tests.
Mindfulness, while common in hospitals, corporations, professional sports and even prisons, is relatively new in the education of squirming children. But a small but growing number of schools in places like Oakland and Lancaster, Pa., are slowly embracing the concept — as they did yoga five years ago — and institutions, like the psychology department at Stanford University and the Mindfulness Awareness Research Center at the University of California, Los Angeles, are trying to measure the effects.
During a five-week pilot program at Piedmont Avenue Elementary, Miss Megan, the “mindful” coach, visited every classroom twice a week, leading 15 minute sessions on how to have “gentle breaths and still bodies.” The sound of the Tibetan bowl reverberated at the start and finish of each lesson.
The techniques, among them focused breathing and concentrating on a single object, are loosely adapted from the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn, the molecular biologist who pioneered the secular use of mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts in 1979 to help medical patients cope with chronic pain, anxiety and depression. Susan Kaiser Greenland, the founder of the InnerKids Foundation, which trains schoolchildren and teachers in the Los Angeles area, calls mindfulness “the new ABC’s — learning and leading a balanced life.”
At Stanford, the psychology department is assessing the feasibility of teaching mindfulness to families. “Parents and teachers tell kids 100 times a day to pay attention,” said Philippe R. Goldin, a researcher. “But we never teach them how.”
The experiment at Piedmont, whose student body is roughly 65 percent black, 18 percent Latino and includes a large number of immigrants, is financed by Park Day School, a nearby private school (prompting one teacher to grumble that it was “Cloud Nine-groovy-hippie-liberals bringing ‘enlightenment’ to inner city schools”).
But Angela Haick, the principal of Piedmont Avenue, said she was inspired to try it after observing a class at a local middle school.
“If we can help children slow down and think,” Dr. Haick said, “they have the answers within themselves.”
It seemed alternately loved and ignored, as students in Ms. Graham’s fifth-grade class tried to pay attention to their breath, a calming technique that lasted 20 seconds. Then their coach asked them to “cultivate compassion” by reflecting on their emotions before lashing out at someone on the playground.
Tyran Williams defined mindfulness as “not hitting someone in the mouth.”
“He doesn’t know what to do with his energy,” his mother, Towana Thomas, said at a session for parents. “But one day after school he told me, ‘I’m taking a moment.’ If it works in a child’s mind — with so much going on — there must be something to it.”
Asked their reactions to the sounds of the singing bowl, Yvette Solito, a third grader, wrote that it made her feel “calm, like something on Oprah.” Her classmate Corey Jackson wrote that “it feels like when a bird cracks open its shell.”
Dr. Amy Saltzman, a physician in Palo Alto, Calif., who started the Association for Mindfulness in Education three years ago, thinks of mindfulness education as “talk yoga.” Practitioners tend to use sticky-mat buzzwords like “being present” and “cultivating compassion,” while avoiding anything spiritual.
Dr. Saltzman, co-director of the mindfulness study at Stanford, said the initial findings showed increased control of attention and “less negative internal chatter — what one girl described as ‘the gossip inside my head: I’m stupid, I’m fat or I’m going to fail math,’ ” Dr. Saltzman said.
A recent study of teenagers by Kaiser Permanente in San Jose, Calif., found that meditation techniques helped improve mood disorders, depression, and self-harming behaviors like anorexia and bulimia.
Dr. Susan L. Smalley, a professor of psychiatry at U.C.L.A. and director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center there, which is studying the effects on schoolchildren, said one 4-year-old noticed her mother succumbing to road rage while stuck in traffic. “She said, ‘Mommy, Mommy, you have to sing the breathing song,’ ” Dr. Smalley said.
Although some students take naturally to mindfulness, it is “not a magic bullet,” said Diana Winston, the director of mindfulness education at the U.C.L.A. center. She said the research thus far was “inconclusive” about how effective mindfulness was for children who suffered from trauma-related disorders, for example. It is “a slow process,” Ms. Winston added. “Just because kids sit and listen to the bell doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be more kind.”
Glenn Heuser, who teaches a combined fourth- and fifth-grade class at Piedmont, said one student started crying about a dead grandparent and another over melted lip balm. “It tapped into a very emotional space for them,” Mr. Heuser said. “They struggled with, ‘Is it O.K. to go there?’ ”
Although mindful education may seem like a New Yorker caricature of West Coast life, the school district with possibly the best experience has been Lancaster, Pa., where mindfulness is taught in 25 classes a week at eight schools. The district has a substantial poverty rate, with 75 percent of students qualifying for free lunch.
Midge Kinder, a yoga teacher, and her husband, Rick, started the program six years ago at George Ross Elementary, where their daughter Wynne taught.
Camille Hopkins, the principal, said initially she was skeptical. Growing up in South Philadelphia, “I was never told to take an elevator breath”— a way of breathing in stages, taught in yoga — “or hear the signals of chimes to cool down,” Ms. Hopkins said.
But the stresses today are greater, she conceded, particularly on students who lived with the threat of violence. “A lot of things we watched on TV are part of their everyday life,” she said. “It’s ‘Did you know so-and-so got shot over the weekend.’ ”
In after-school detention, children are asked to “check in with their feelings,” Ms. Hopkins said. “How are you really changing behavior if they’re just sitting there?”
Yolanda Steel, a second-grade teacher at Piedmont, said she was hopeful that the training would help an attention-deficit generation better manage a barrage of stimuli, including PlayStations and text messages. “American children are overstimulated,” Ms. Steel said. “Some have difficulty even closing their eyes.”
But she noted that some students tapped pencils and drummed on desks instead of closing their eyes and listening to the bell. “The premise is nice,” Ms. Steel concluded. “But mindfulness can’t do it all.”
June 16, 2007
"I wasn't going to make a big deal about it," the mother said Thursday, "but then he got sick."
A toddler who was served a margarita at a restaurant earlier this week is doing well, and investigators say the incident appears to have been an accident. Police say 2-year-old Julian Mayorga ordered apple juice but instead received an alcoholic beverage in a covered, plastic sippy cup on Monday night at an Applebee's franchise in Antioch, between San Francisco and Sacramento.
The boy's mother, Kim Mayorga, said she noticed Julian making funny faces and pushing away his cup. She opened the lid and was hit by the smell of tequila and Triple Sec. The toddler grew drowsy and started vomiting a few hours later and was rushed to the hospital.
"I wasn't going to make a big deal about it," the mother said Thursday, "but then he got sick."
Applebee's Vice President Randy Tei said the restaurant keeps apple juice and the premixed margarita concoction in identical-looking plastic bottles on ice behind the bar. A manager on duty mistakenly grabbed the margarita bottle instead of the apple juice jug, Tei said.
The company will reimburse the Mayorgas for their medical bills. It will no longer keep the juice and margarita mix in similar-looking containers, Tei said.
"We absolutely believe it was an honest mistake," Tei said.
The boy's mother, Kim Mayorga, said she noticed Julian making funny faces and pushing away his cup. She opened the lid and was hit by the smell of tequila and Triple Sec. The toddler grew drowsy and started vomiting a few hours later and was rushed to the hospital.
"I wasn't going to make a big deal about it," the mother said Thursday, "but then he got sick."
Applebee's Vice President Randy Tei said the restaurant keeps apple juice and the premixed margarita concoction in identical-looking plastic bottles on ice behind the bar. A manager on duty mistakenly grabbed the margarita bottle instead of the apple juice jug, Tei said.
The company will reimburse the Mayorgas for their medical bills. It will no longer keep the juice and margarita mix in similar-looking containers, Tei said.
"We absolutely believe it was an honest mistake," Tei said.
June 15, 2007
June 11, 2007
"Jesus is coming back to Missouri!" Mormons rage at Romney
Tom Grover, 26, a Mormon who is the host of a weekday talk show on politics on radio station KVNU here, said that while he thinks Mr. Romney has handled the scrutiny admirably, some of his callers were incensed about Mr. Romney’s repudiation of his own ancestors’ polygamy. The church outlawed the practice a century ago, but members are taught to understand that polygamy had a theological and historical context in the church, which Mr. Romney’s remark ignored.
“That really left a bad taste in people’s mouths,” Mr. Grover said. “That’s a tough thing for people to hear when their ancestors sacrificed a lot to live that life. They probably wouldn’t bring polygamy back, but they honor the place of it in church history.”
Audrey M. Godfrey, a historian who has written books with her husband, Kenneth, said of Mr. Romney, “If I were one of his relatives, I would be upset with him.”
Another case arose when George Stephanopoulos of ABC News asked Mr. Romney about a Mormon teaching that Jesus will come to the United States when he returns to reign on earth. Mr. Romney responded that the Messiah will return to the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, “the same as the other Christian tradition.”
Mr. Grover said some of his radio listeners were astounded.
“They were just in disbelief, saying that’s not true, Jesus is coming back to Missouri,” Mr. Grover said. “It’s the L.D.S. Church’s 10th article of faith that Zion will be built upon the American continent.”
A Letter From Jack Schapp
I believe it is necessary for me to speak personally to the issue of our college students’ church membership while they are attending our college.
We are a local-church college. Hyles-Anderson College is owned and operated by the First Baptist Church of Hammond. That perhaps in itself is one of the greatest blessings of attending Hyles-Anderson College-to be a vital active part of this fine church. Such is true about each of the Christian colleges that are operated by a local New Testament Church. I believe in the LOCAL CHURCH.
That very fact is why I tell students that I may send to other colleges than ours that they should immediately introduce themselves to the pastor of the church where they attend, and they should join that church and become an active member.
I have found two main concerns of pastors who think it unwise for their college students to transfer their membership. One is a matter of control and influence. There is definitely a trust issue when one sends a student off to a Bible college.
I certainly am honored and humbled that a pastor or parent would send us a member or child. I also think it is a great honor to send a member or child to Hyles-Anderson College. I would never seek to replace either a pastor or a parent in our students’ lives; yet, I would ask to have the authority of the local church to direct and influence our students. I don’t think it wise or practical to pastor your members, nor do I think it wise or practical for you to co-pastor a student in our college which is under my pastoral care and leadership.
I do not seek the students’ money, but I do desire to have their heart and you and I both know that “where you treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Many students never give us their heart, and forfeit a great learning experience. Many students are constantly relaying back home to their pastors what I am preaching while I am preaching, and they are sitting in judgment of what our college is doing. I believe that is a most undesirable situation.
I feel that if a student does not want to be under the pastoral care and leadership of our church he should not pretend to be under the authority of the college, for the college authority is that of the local church and pastor.
If you were the pastor overseeing a college, I would insist that my students who attend your college would place themselves under your authority and join your church. It only fits with our philosophy of the local church.
I certainly respect your right to disagree with me on this matter; however, I am not trying to build a college enrollment; I am trying to build men and woman with a passion for God and His work! I want our students to be active members and participants in this church, not casual observers of this operation.
If you think we are using this college to build our church, then you have never run a church-operated college. It simply does not work that way. First Baptist Church was declared the largest Sunday school in the world BEFORE Hyles-Anderson College was started. Ever since that day, it has been a fight to keep the church growing. Colleges do not build churches, but a growing church can provide a wonderful opportunity to teach and train your pastoral candidates.
I would like too have my hands untied with the students you send us. I will exalt you and endorse you, and your students will love and honor you more for having been here; however I want to be the pastor of our students and not simply a figurehead puppet leader whose strings are pulled by the “home pastor.” Our college is boot camp, and we don’t need “Daddy” overriding the drill instructor’s direction. If we are good enough for you to send us your students, then send all of the student, including his heart and mind!!
In closing, let me thank those of you who support us and have loved us through the years. Many of you are graduates of our college, and your alma mater is certainly proud to have had a part in your ministry.
Others of you are tied to us through Pastor’s School. You also are dear to us as fellow laborers in the work of Christ.
Our world has never needed an institution like Hyles-Anderson College as it does now. Colleges and Christian ministries are compromising quickly. Many Bible colleges are graduating nice, polite, decent Christians, but fewer and fewer red-hot, passionate, holy, church builders are coming out of the Bible college movement.
This nation and this world will never be influenced by the large number of above-average, good, decent Christians we graduate; it will be changed by the few great men who have learned to walk with God, work for God, and live for God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength!
To that end, Hyles-Anderson College is dedicated! Everything else ultimately really does not matter!
For Christ’s sake,
Jack Schaap
Pastor
We are a local-church college. Hyles-Anderson College is owned and operated by the First Baptist Church of Hammond. That perhaps in itself is one of the greatest blessings of attending Hyles-Anderson College-to be a vital active part of this fine church. Such is true about each of the Christian colleges that are operated by a local New Testament Church. I believe in the LOCAL CHURCH.
That very fact is why I tell students that I may send to other colleges than ours that they should immediately introduce themselves to the pastor of the church where they attend, and they should join that church and become an active member.
I have found two main concerns of pastors who think it unwise for their college students to transfer their membership. One is a matter of control and influence. There is definitely a trust issue when one sends a student off to a Bible college.
I certainly am honored and humbled that a pastor or parent would send us a member or child. I also think it is a great honor to send a member or child to Hyles-Anderson College. I would never seek to replace either a pastor or a parent in our students’ lives; yet, I would ask to have the authority of the local church to direct and influence our students. I don’t think it wise or practical to pastor your members, nor do I think it wise or practical for you to co-pastor a student in our college which is under my pastoral care and leadership.
I do not seek the students’ money, but I do desire to have their heart and you and I both know that “where you treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Many students never give us their heart, and forfeit a great learning experience. Many students are constantly relaying back home to their pastors what I am preaching while I am preaching, and they are sitting in judgment of what our college is doing. I believe that is a most undesirable situation.
I feel that if a student does not want to be under the pastoral care and leadership of our church he should not pretend to be under the authority of the college, for the college authority is that of the local church and pastor.
If you were the pastor overseeing a college, I would insist that my students who attend your college would place themselves under your authority and join your church. It only fits with our philosophy of the local church.
I certainly respect your right to disagree with me on this matter; however, I am not trying to build a college enrollment; I am trying to build men and woman with a passion for God and His work! I want our students to be active members and participants in this church, not casual observers of this operation.
If you think we are using this college to build our church, then you have never run a church-operated college. It simply does not work that way. First Baptist Church was declared the largest Sunday school in the world BEFORE Hyles-Anderson College was started. Ever since that day, it has been a fight to keep the church growing. Colleges do not build churches, but a growing church can provide a wonderful opportunity to teach and train your pastoral candidates.
I would like too have my hands untied with the students you send us. I will exalt you and endorse you, and your students will love and honor you more for having been here; however I want to be the pastor of our students and not simply a figurehead puppet leader whose strings are pulled by the “home pastor.” Our college is boot camp, and we don’t need “Daddy” overriding the drill instructor’s direction. If we are good enough for you to send us your students, then send all of the student, including his heart and mind!!
In closing, let me thank those of you who support us and have loved us through the years. Many of you are graduates of our college, and your alma mater is certainly proud to have had a part in your ministry.
Others of you are tied to us through Pastor’s School. You also are dear to us as fellow laborers in the work of Christ.
Our world has never needed an institution like Hyles-Anderson College as it does now. Colleges and Christian ministries are compromising quickly. Many Bible colleges are graduating nice, polite, decent Christians, but fewer and fewer red-hot, passionate, holy, church builders are coming out of the Bible college movement.
This nation and this world will never be influenced by the large number of above-average, good, decent Christians we graduate; it will be changed by the few great men who have learned to walk with God, work for God, and live for God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength!
To that end, Hyles-Anderson College is dedicated! Everything else ultimately really does not matter!
For Christ’s sake,
Jack Schaap
Pastor
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)