My easily excited cousin, also a pastor’s son, would climb on the outdoor wall of the church and sing improvisational reggae in a Jamaican accent to the passerby, while dancing a little jig, repeating “Come to our church and be baptized! Be baptized in the name of the Lord!” Strangers would stare, but we would duck and hide,
Death of Snake Handling Preacher Shines Light on Lethal Appalachian Tradition (CNN)
EXCERPT: When Mack Wolford, one of the most famous Pentecostal serpent handlers in Appalachia, is laid to rest Saturday at his West Virginia church, a week after succumbing to a snake bite, his friends may very well show up with boxes of copperheads, rattlesnakes and cottonmouths. That’s the Holiness Pentecostal way in tiny mountain towns…
UPDATE: California State Assembly Passes Workplace Religious Freedom Act
On May 29, the California State Assembly passed the Workplace Religious Freedom Act of 2012 by a vote of 63-6. AB 1964 is now on its way to the Senate.
California Senate Approves Controversial Counseling Ban (Pacific Justice Institute)
The California Senate today voted in favor of a groundbreaking bill designed to prohibit counselors and therapists from telling young people it is possible to change same-sex attractions.
3,000 Lynched In Tanzania For ‘Witchcraft’ In Past Six Years – The Huffington Post
EXCERPT: Over the past six years, more than 3,000 people were lynched in Tanzania by frightened neighbors who thought they were witches, according to a new report from the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC). Between 2005 and 2011, Tanzanians lynched an average of 500 people per year on suspicion of witchcraft, with most killings…
Give Bigotry No Sanction: George Washington Letter To Synagogue to Be Displayed
U.S. President George Washington traveled to Newport, Rhode Island where he met with the congregation at the Touro Synagogue. While there, the leader of the congregation, Moses Seixas, handed Washington a letter that noted past persecution and expressed hope that liberty of conscience would prevail in the new nation.
U.S. House Committee Votes to Strengthen Military Chaplains’ Liberty of Conscience
The U.S. House Armed Services Committee has adopted Congressman Todd Akin’s (R-Missouri) amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which creates a statutory conscience protection clause for members of the military in general and military chaplains in particular.
2nd Circuit Rules Town Should Encourage Diverse Groups to Pray at Town Meetings
[dc]O[/dc]n May 17, 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (Galloway v. Town of Greece, 0-3635-cv) ruled that the town of Greece, New York violated the U.S. Constitution by opening meetings with prayers that favored Christianity over other religions. Linda Galloway and Linda Stephens filed suit in 2008 claiming that the town’s…
Inspiration: Dr. Ben Carson’s Speech at Emory
Ben Carson: “Many people came to this nation and they were trying to escape from societies that tried to tell them what they could say and what they could think and here we come reintroducing it through the back door. And we need to remember that it is not important that we all think the same thing and the emphasis should not be on us all saying the same thing. The emphasis should be on learning how to be respectful of individuals who have a different opinion.”
Ninth Circuit to Determine Whether “Spiritualist” Charter Schools Get Tax Dollars
CASE NOTE: 10-17720 Plans Inc. v. Sacramento City Unified School District SAN FRANCISCO, CA – MAY 17, 2012 – [dc]T[/dc]he Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is hearing a case this morning on the issue of whether the Sacramento Unified School District is violating constitutional principles of separation of church and state in awarding Waldorf-method charter…