On October 29, 2014, Houston mayor Anissa Parker announced that she is asking city attorneys to drop the controversial subpoena of pastors’ communications. Parker claimed the subpoenas were still appropriate but that she did not “want to have a national debate on freedom of religion when my purpose is to defend … a city ordinance.” […]
Archives for October 2014
Unsettled and Inconsistent Law: Fetal Rights and Personhood
The legal status of the unborn child is not as clear as most people think. There are glaring inconsistencies in the way that the law is practiced, even in states with liberal abortion policies. For instance, if a person kills a fetus in California without the consent of the pregnant woman or for medical necessity it is considered murder under Penal Code section 187. This is why Scott Peterson was convicted for double-homicide when he killed his pregnant wife, Laci, in 2002. This January in Florida, John Andrew Weldon was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison when he tricked his pregnant girlfriend into taking abortion-causing drugs, leading to the miscarriage of her 6-week-old fetus.
Adventist Pastor In Ukraine Released from Detention (ANN)
October 16, 2014 – Adventist News Network ergei Litovchenko, pastor of the Horlivka Seventh-day Adventist Church in eastern Ukraine, has been released and is being reunited with his family after 20 days of detention. Local Church and family members would like to thank Adventists and others who have prayed for his freedom throughout the ordeal. […]
Seven California churches sue to keep from funding abortion
A campaign against the state of California mandating abortion coverage in insurance plans is intensifying. Several complaints have been filed with the federal government to keep it from violating what Christian legal groups consider American’s fundamental rights and go against their religiously held beliefs and conscience.
Should ministers at for-profit wedding chapels be compelled to perform same-sex ceremonies?
Two ordained ministers, Donald and Evelyn Knapp, who operate a for-profit wedding chapel in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho were threatened with a misdemeanor charge for refusing to perform same-sex marriage ceremonies. The Knapps responded by filing a lawsuit and a motion for a temporary restraining order against the city in the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho.
Many Reasons to Celebrate Constitution
We loudly celebrate July 4 because on that day in 1776, our forebears declared their independence from Great Britain. But it was the ratification of our Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787, that dictated what kind of government the recently liberated colonists — and you and I — would live under.
Opinion: Atheists, Conscience and God’s Name
An atheist airman at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada recently wasn’t allowed to re-enlist because he refused to sign an oath containing the phrase “so help me God.”
Initially, Air Force personnel reported that enlistees used to be allowed to opt out of the oath’s appeal to deity, but the provision had been withdrawn on Oct. 30, 2013. The Air Force claimed that only Congress could reinstate it.
However, when the American Humanist Association and the media became involved, the Air Force sought legal counsel and reverted to the former practice. But that didn’t please some Christians.
Opinion: Will the Quest for Cost Containment Under the Affordable Care Act Lead to Death Panels?
It’s not enough that only 35% of the people think favorably about The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). (Statistic from the 9/11/14 Investor’s Business Daily, citing a Kaiser Family Foundation poll.) Or that premiums will be going up significantly higher for those still paying for their own insurance. (Mine has already gone up $400. per month.) Once the government stops subsidizing the insurance industry (which, of course, will not happen before the midterm elections) those paying for their own insurance are likely to see a further price increase. In the meantime, many insurers are limiting the size of their networks for covered hospitals and doctors in order to keep their costs down.
Adventist Pastor Abducted During Communion Service in Eastern Ukraine
On September 27, 2014, a Seventh-day Adventist pastor in eastern Ukraine was abducted by gunmen as he was conducting a communion service at a small church in Horlivka. According to parishioners, reports the Adventist Review, the gunmen refused to identify themselves or answer any questions. They forced Pastor Sergei Litovchenko to close the church and […]