By Monte Sahlin – One of the items on the hit list of the new majority in the House of Representatives to “balance the budget” is the Community Action Program (CAP) or what is currently labeled Community Service Block Grants. This is a program begun in the 1960s in the Lyndon Johnson administration. It is…
Category: Family
Analysis: Obama Administration Declines to Defend Part of the Defense of Marriage Act
Today Attorney General Eric Holder and the Obama Administration announced that the Justice Department will no longer attempt to defend Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) (which defines “marriage” as between one man and one woman and “spouse” as a member of the opposite sex) from challenges in states that recognize gay marriage.
The Health-Religion Connection by Joshua Crouch
The struggle between faith-healing and public health services may not be a mainstream topic, yet it continues to rage throughout our nation. Oregon has recently had a string of adolescent deaths tied to extreme Christian conservatism. The Christian Science Church has pushed law makers to allow parents to exempt their children from all medical treatment,…
Pope says European sex education an ‘attack’ on religious freedom (AFP)
EXCERPT: Sex and civic education in schools in Europe is an “attack” on religious freedom, Pope Benedict XVI said on Monday, following a Vatican row with Spain over a new course promoting liberal values. “I cannot remain silent about another attack on the religious freedom of families in certain European countries which mandate obligatory participation…
Colorado School’s Rosary Rule Disputed (KKTV)
EXCERPT: COLORADO SPRINGS — An announcement made by a Colorado Springs middle school, stipulating how students can wear rosaries, has the ACLU speaking out against the decision. The group says religious liberty does not stop at the entrance to a public school. [District spokesperson Elaine] Naleski says some students were offended at how others were…
Italy Fights School Crucifix Ban (AJE)
The Italian government has begun its appeal against a decision by the European Court of Human Rights to ban crucifixes in school classrooms.
“Spritual but not religious” community growing (CNN)
EXCERPT: June 4, 2010 – (CNN) — “I’m spiritual but not religious.” It’s a trendy phrase people often use to describe their belief that they don’t need organized religion to live a life of faith. But for Jesuit priest James Martin, the phrase also hints at something else: egotism. “Being spiritual but not religious can…
On a Visit to the U.S., a Nigerian Witch-Hunter Explains Herself (New York Times)
EXCERPT: May 21, 2010 – HOUSTON (NYT) – At home in Nigeria, the Pentecostal preacher Helen Ukpabio draws thousands to her revival meetings. Last August, when she had herself consecrated Christendom’s first “lady apostle,” Nigerian politicians and Nollywood actors attended the ceremony. Her books and DVDs, which explain how Satan possesses children, are widely known….
Conference Held to Relaunch Protection of Work-Free Sunday at European Level (ARLP)
A conference whose aim was to relaunch the protection of a work-free Sunday debate at European level (see www.comece.org) was held on Wednesday the March 24, 2010 in Brussells. ARLP has posted a story on their website along with a video of the keynote address. Here are some of the reasons for the conference: Purpose…
Gendercide: China’s shameful massacre of unborn girls means there will soon be 30m more men than women (Daily Mail)
EXCERPT: By the year 2020, there will be 30 million more men than women of marriageable age in this giant empire, so large and so different (its current population is 1,336,410,000) that it often feels more like a separate planet than just another country. Nothing like this has ever happened to any civilisation before. The…