Hawaii's state Senate has overwhelmingly approved a bill to celebrate "Islam Day," despite the objections of a few lawmakers who said they didn't think the state should honor a religion connected to Sept. 11, 2001.

The resolution to proclaim Sept. 24, 2009, as Islam Day passed the Senate on a 22-3 vote Wednesday. The bill was previously passed by Hawaii's House of Representatives.

The bill recognizes what it calls "the rich religious, scientific, cultural and artistic contributions" that Islam and the Islamic world have made.

But the Senate's two Republicans argued that radical Islamists cheered the 2001 attacks. They also noted that other religions didn't have a special day honored.

The lone Democrat voting in dissent opposed it on church-state separation grounds.

LINK

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The U.S. military is confirming that it has destroyed some Bibles belonging to an American soldier serving in Afghanistan.

Reuters News says the Bibles were confiscated and destroyed after Qatar-based Al Jazeer television showed soldiers at a Bible class on a base with a stack of Bibles translated into the local Pashto and Dari languages. The U.S. military forbids its members on active duty -- including those based in places like Afghanistan -- from trying to convert people to another religion.

Reuters quotes Maj. Jennifer Willis at the Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, who said "I can now confirm that the Bibles shown on Al Jazeera's clip were, in fact, collected by the chaplains and later destroyed. They were never distributed."

According to the military officials, the Bibles were sent through private mail to an evangelical Christian soldier by his church back home. Reuters says the soldier brought them to the Bible study class where they were filmed.

The Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, told a Pentagon briefing Monday that the military's position is that it will never "push any specific religion."

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Responding to a federal judge's directive, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday that it will now allow 17-year-olds to get the controversial "morning-after" birth control pill without a doctor's prescription.

In 2006, the FDA said it would limit over-the-counter access to the pill, also known as Plan B, to women 18 and older. But U.S. District Judge Edward R. Korman ruled last month in a New York lawsuit that the FDA had to reconsider whether to make the drug available to all women, regardless of age, without a prescription.

Plan B is an extra high dose of regular birth control that needs to be taken within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse to be effective. Essentially, the drug prevents pregnancy by delaying ovulation. It does not interrupt an already implanted pregnancy.

Religious conservatives object to Plan B, saying it is the equivalent of an abortion pill because it can prevent a fertilized egg from attaching to the uterus, and could also encourage premarital sex.

Supporters of broader access to Plan B argue that it is safe and effective in preventing unwanted pregnancy, and could also help reduce the number of abortions. They also contend that the FDA's decision to limit access to the drug to women 18 and older was a concession to the conservative views of then-President George W. Bush and his administration.

The FDA originally approved Plan B as a prescription drug in 1999. It is manufactured by Duramed Research Inc. of Bala Cynwyd, Pa.

FULL ARTICLE

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I made a post about this issue before. I am just glad that Joyce Meyer is making an effort and maybe it will clear her name from suspicion. I am still skeptical. Story below:

A US Senator says televangelist Joyce Meyer has shown a "good faith" effort to comply with a congressional review of nonprofit laws affecting churches and religious ministries.

Last week the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) announced it granted accreditation to Joyce Meyer Ministries and Oral Roberts University. Joyce Meyer is one of six televangelist ministries under investigation by the Senate Finance Committee for alleged violations of their tax-exempt status.

Meyer has been accused of lavishly spending ministry money on, among other things, a $23,000 marble-topped commode and an $11,000 French clock. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, who initially launched the probe, says he is encouraged that Meyer has accepted ECFA oversight.

"She wants to reassert to her givers that she's using the money in the fashion of which they intended it when it was given to her," he explains. "And that's important to me because when an organization has nonprofit status, they are a trustee for that money, and then it also backs up another goal that I have [which] is maintaining the credibility of the tax-exemption that goes with charitable and church giving."

Grassley says four of the six ministries he has been scrutinizing have chosen to continue stonewalling his investigation -- Randy and Paula White of Without Walls International Church, Eddie Long of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland of Kenneth Copeland Ministries, and Creflo and Taffi Dollar of World Changers Senator GrassleyChurch International.

Although he is still holding out hope the four ministries will voluntarily comply with his probe, Grassley admits he is "getting close" to asking Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus to issue subpoenas.

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Atheists have sued downtown Detroit for including churches in a local community improvement project.

Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorney Dale Schowengerdt says downtown Detroit wanted image repairs in preparation for the 2006 Super Bowl, so the City of Detroit Downtown Development Agency struck a deal with local establishments.

"Here the city of Detroit wanted to spruce up its downtown in anticipation of the Super Bowl and to spur some economic development, and so they offered all property owners downtown a matching grant to spruce up the exterior of their buildings," he explains.

According to an ADF press release, the contract between the city and local property owners said the city would reimburse half of the exterior improvements, up to $180,000. Dozens of properties entered into agreements to do just that, including three churches.

"Before the churches could be [reimbursed], even though they had already spent the money, American Atheists sued to enjoin the payment saying that it violated the so-called separation of church and state," Schowengerdt adds.

Schowengerdt is representing St. John's Episcopal Church in the case of American Atheists v. City of Detroit Downtown Development Agency. He contends the reimbursement contracted to the church was for non-religious purposes, does not establish religion, and therefore does not violate the Constitution.

He also notes that separation of church and state is not a part of the Constitution. Schowengerdt took the case to the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.


Charlie Butts and Marty Cooper - OneNewsNow - 3/10/2009

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Concerned Christians in Kalamazoo, Michigan, are being asked to call city officials and urge them not to approve an ordinance that would grant special rights for homosexuals.

Last year, city commissioners in Kalamazoo approved an ordinance granting protections to homosexual, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people. However, the commission rescinded it after petitions were filed in protest.

Now, a public forum will be held Monday on the issue. Mary Balkema, Kalamazoo County treasurer, says it is vital for people to speak out about the issue.

"We're excited that we got enough signatures to overturn the ordinance and had enough commissioners to vote that way," she admits. "But we're afraid they're just going to vote in a bigger and better ordinance, so we certainly want people to come to the meeting and have their voice be heard."

The city has opened a telephone hotline for people to record their comments about the proposed ordinance.

ARTICLE

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With all of focus on theology and doctrinal issues, many times the governance of the local church is overlooked. All of the different titles can be confusing. However, the most important position to know is that Christ is the head of the church (Ephesians 1:22; Colossians 1:18). This post will hopefully help clear up any confusion anyone may have.

Before I began looking at each position, lets look at what positions are actually biblical. Philippians 1:1 says "Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons" From this verse we see the people of the church are the saints, bishop(s) and deacons. I will look at these each individually.

The Saints

By calling the Philippian believers saints, Paul was not saying his readers were sinless. The Greek word he used, hagioi, means "those set apart." This is a reference to everyone who by salvation has been sanctified (set apart from sin in Christ). 1 Corinthians 1:2 "To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours"

The Bishop(s)

The first thing to understand about the title Bishop, is that it is also called other names. The Bible uses Pastor (Ephesians 4:11), Elder (Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5), and Bishop (1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:7). All of these titles mean the same. In Philippians 1:1 Bishop is plural. My understanding is that the plurality is dependent on the size of the congregation.

The primary duty for a Pastor is to instruct the congregation in God's truth (1 Timothy 4:13-16; 2 Timothy 4:2). They are also to be overseers and shepherds (Acts 20:28). The qualifications for this position can be found in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:6-9.

The Deacons

Many reference Acts 6: 1-7 as to the purpose of deacons. Deacons provide a voluntary leadership position under the Pastor to assist him. The qualifications found in 1 Timothy 3:8-13 are similar to that of a Pastor. Notice verse 8 starts with "Likewise." I find it odd how some churches are correct by not supporting female pastors, but allow female deacons.

Lastly I will look at different styles. There is much debate over Pastor led, plurality of elders, and congregation led forms of government. After looking at the roles of each position, my conclusion is that a congregation led church has the least amount of biblical support. I tend to favor a Pastor led style. How I came to this conclusion is based on the role of the Pastor. How is he suppose to be an overseer and a shepherd if he is not leading? Do not misunderstand me, I am not advocating a dictatorship. As far a a plurality, I only find this necessary if the congregation is very large. I will end by making a comment in regards to denominations, the early churches were autonomous and did not report to any central office.

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Most Christians are not happy with Obama' policies. The fact that in his first week of taking office he used an executive order to use reverse the Mexico City Policy. Issues like this can make it difficult for someone to pray for someone with that character. However, praying for our leaders is pleasing to God. 1 Timothy 2:1-3 "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior" For those unaware, Paul said this in the rising of Nero's growing hatred for Christians. Just do a google search of "Nero persecution of Christians" and you will see the horrible things he did.

In addition to pleasing God, we must remember God's sovereignty. Proverbs 21:1 "The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes." There is evidence of this with Pharaoh (Exodus 10:1-2), Tiglath-Pileser (Isaiah 10:5-7), Cyrus (Isaiah 45:1-6), and Artaxerxes (Ezra 7:21; Nehemiah 2:1-8).

Notice that I did not mention obedience. Such as, God appointed authorities (Romans 13:1-2), it should be a part of our attitude (Titus 3:1-2), or that it is God's will (1 Peter 2:13-17). For it is much easier for us to be law abiding citizens than to pray for someone who enacts law contrary to our beliefs.

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Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute have filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal district court against the Oklahoma Department of Corrections for its refusal to allow a Christian prison outreach ministry to send Bibles and other religious materials to prisoners. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, argues that restrictions imposed by the Dept. of Corrections upon Wingspread Prison Ministries' correspondence with prisoners violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and Oklahoma's Religious Freedom Act.

Founded in 1986, Wingspread Prison Ministries is a Christian ministry that reaches out to individuals incarcerated in prisons, penitentiaries, and correctional institutions throughout the United States. The ministry relies upon personal communications with prisoners in order to assure them that God and people outside their penal institutions care about them and want to assist them in changing their lives. Thus, as part of its outreach efforts, Wingspread mails Bibles, books about Jesus Christ and Christianity, newsletters on religious topics, teaching audiotapes, and other religious materials to prisoners who want to learn more about Christianity. Wingspread volunteers correspond with prisoners about their own life stories in the hopes that by doing so, they can help the prisoners understand the Bible's relevance to their own lives.

However, in March 2008, officials with the Oklahoma State Penitentiary informed Wingspread that it was prohibited from sending Bibles or religious books to prisoners in accordance with a policy allowing prisoners to receive books only from a publisher, book store, or book dealer. Wingspread was also allegedly informed that while individuals could write letters to inmates, ministries could not do so. Wingspread has only encountered such restrictions in Oklahoma.

Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute subsequently contacted the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, urging them to lift the restrictions, which are in violation of the U.S. Constitution and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act ("RLUIPA"), as well as being contrary to existing regulations of the Department of Corrections. No response was forthcoming.

FULL ARTICLE

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Six Things You Should Know About the “Stimulus”

1.) The House of Representatives has broken a commitment to posting the legislation online for no less than 48 hours before a vote.

Only a few hours after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a motion to instruct conferees on H.R. 1 mandating that the conference report be posted online in a searchable and downloadable form for no less than 48 hours before it may be voted on, negotiations began under the cover of night behind closed doors with no representatives of the Congressional minority present. Ultimately, the Democratic House leadership did not make the bill's language available until around 11:00 p.m. on Thursday, giving the public a mere 15 hours to scrutinize the bill (mostly overnight hours during which most Members of Congress were no doubt sleeping), of which only 5 hours were working hours. Congressional Record, page H1096.

2.) In signing this bill today, President Obama is violating his own transparency pledge.

Consider his campaign promise: “No more secrecy. … when there's a bill that ends up on my desk as president, you, the American voter, will have five days to look online and find out what it is before I sign it, so that you know what your government's doing.” Manchester, New Hampshire, June 22, 2007 http://tinyurl.com/dl2wog (time: 20:20) Today, the bill will have been posted for only four days – not five.

3.) No Member of Congress voting for the bill confirmed prior to the vote that they had read the bill.

Americans for Tax Reform had asked all Members of Congress intending to vote for the conference report to sign and fax back/email to ATR the following form:

I, _____________________________, commit to the taxpayers of the (___________________ district of the) State of _______________________, that my vote in favor of the conference report on H.R. 1 will be an informed vote, because I will have read the full text of the bill and the conference report by the time I cast my vote.

All Members who voted for the package refused to make this commitment. http://atr.server278.com/even-one-democrat-read-bill-a2887

4.) No Member of Congress voting for the bill confirmed that they were not looking to personally benefit corruptly from the bill with their vote.

Americans for Tax Reform asked all Members of the U.S. House of Representatives who voted in favor of the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009” and U.S. Senators planning to support the package to commit to their constituents in writing that they will not accept political contributions from any recipient of “stimulus” funds, nor will seek or accept employment with any recipient.
All Members who voted for the package refused to make this commitment. http://atr.server278.com/atr-challenge-pelosi-obama-reid-spending-a2858

5.) In signing the bill, President Obama also breaks his promise to enact net spending cuts.

During a discussion about government spending in the second presidential debate on October 7, 2008, Obama said “So we’re going to have to make some investments but we’ve also got to make spending cuts, and what I’ve proposed -- you’ll hear Senator McCain say ‘he’s proposing a whole bunch of new spending’ --but, actually, I’m cutting more than I’m spending. So that it will be a net spending cut.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM0Eri8VWiw

6.) The “Stimulus” package will undo much of the progress of the 1996 welfare reform.

The package contains language that would essentially abolish the accomplishments of the 1996 welfare reform which drastically reduced welfare rolls and child poverty. Further, it would add large amounts in new welfare spending over the next decade. http://tinyurl.com/dax6xf

ATR president Grover Norquist said: “President Obama hasn’t even been in office for a full month yet – but, aided by the Democratic majority in Congress, he has already managed to break a series of promises in an effort to burden taxpayers with a massive spending package that will do nothing to promote economic growth, but will permanently grow the size of government undo much of the progress made in the mid-1990s in the area of welfare reform. If this first month is a sign of what’s to come, then taxpayers will be in for a rough ride.”

Conveniently, that pledge was later massaged to only extend to “non-emergency” bills, however even by that standard, the President has already twice violated that commitment with the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the S-CHIP reauthorization bill that contained a tax increase (and broke another one of his campaign promises not to raise taxes on anyone making less than $250,000).


The picture was taken from fiscalaccountability.org and the article was taken from ATR.org.

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Americans United for Life (AUL) released its sixth annual ranking of the most and least pro-life states. Pennsylvania, Louisiana, and South Dakota top the ranking, while California, Hawaii, and Vermont ranked lowest.

While AUL's criteria covers states' treatment of all life issues, final rankings depend largely on each state's enactment of prudent and well-supported laws. Such laws fence in the abortion license granted by the U.S. Supreme Court in its 1973 decision, Roe v. Wade. Among the laws AUL looks for are informed consent, parental involvement for minors, medically-supported regulation of abortion providers, and limitations on the use of taxpayer dollars for abortion.

Defending Life 2009 State Rankings

1. Pennsylvania
2. Louisiana
3. South Dakota
4. Oklahoma
5. Mississippi
6. Texas
7. North Dakota
8. Nebraska
9. Arkansas
10. Indiana
11. Georgia
12. Kentucky
13. Michigan
14. Kansas
15. Virginia
16. Missouri
17. Wisconsin
18. Ohio
19. Alabama
20. South Carolina
21. Minnesota
22. Utah
23. Colorado
24. Florida
25. Rhode Island
26. Idaho
27. North Carolina
28. Delaware
29. Arizona
30. Tennessee
31. Maine
32. West Virginia
33. Wyoming
34. Iowa
35. New Hampshire
36. Montana
37. Alaska
38. New Mexico
39. Massachusetts
40. Maryland
41. Illinois
42. Washington
43. New York
44. Oregon
45. Nevada
46. Connecticut
47. New Jersey
48. Vermont
49. Hawaii
50. California

LINK

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Students in Quebec, Canada are being required to take a new Ethics and Religious Culture class that teaches that "all religions -- including pagan animism and cults -- are equally 'true.'"

It is not a religion instruction course. It is religious culture," Stephanie Tremblay, a spokeswoman for Quebec's education department, told Canada's National Post newspaper. "We introduce young people to religious culture like we introduce them to musical culture. The goal is to better know and understand others."

But school boards across Quebec reported in December that they had received and rejected more than 1,400 requests from public school parents seeking to have their children exempted from taking the course, which requires about two hours per week and also is mandatory in private schools.

Not only did students at one Quebec high school have their exemption requests turned down, but they were suspended and threatened with expulsion for not attending the class they said violates their freedom of conscience. At least one set of parents is challenging the class in court, the newspaper said.

"All the parents are doing is claiming a right that is recognized, the right to educate one's child in conformity with one's religious or philosophical convictions," Jean-Yves Cote, a lawyer representing the family, said.

Paul Donovan, the principal at Loyola High School in Montreal, told the National Post his school has initiated a court challenge against the class, which he said does not ask students to distinguish between right and wrong.

"What it essentially says is that religion is just, 'You like tomato soup and I like pea soup, so don't be all offended because someone likes tomato soup. It's really just a matter of preference,'" he said. "Religion could be Wiccan or Raelian or any of the new movements or atheism or agnosticism."

A Voice of the Martyrs blog post commended the students for their opposition to state religious teaching.

"We believe that the state has no right to mandate religious education, force students to learn the content of other religious and to deliberately seek to undermine the religious convictions of those who refuse to accept a relativistic view of truth," VOM said.

"It is the right and responsibility of parents to train their own children according to their own religious beliefs, not those of the state," the persecution watchdog group said. "Religious courses, if offered, should be optional or alternatives provided. But the state must not mandate what religious content will or will not be taught to children, especially against the wishes of their parents."

Erin Roach - Baptist Press

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President Obama said he is worried that detainees freed from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay might resume attacks on this country - but argued that its closure had to be done in order to "uphold" what he called "our values."

"Can we guarantee that they're not going to try to participate in another attack? No," Obama said in an NBC interview that aired today.

"But what I can guarantee is that if we don't uphold our Constitution and our values, that over time that will make us less safe. And that will be a recruitment tool for organizations like al-Qaeda."

In one of the first acts of his new administration, Obama signed an executive order directing that Guantanamo be closed within a year.

Some 250 terrorists are being held there - many of them detained following the Sept. 11 attacks without charge and some subjected to interrogation that human rights groups say amounted to torture.

But critics fear some of the detainees may again plot to attack the US once they are released.

"Is it going to be easy?" Obama said in the interview. "No, because we've got a couple hundred of hard-core militants that, unfortunately, because of ... problems that we had previously in gathering evidence, we may not be able to try in ordinary courts but we don't want to release."

Obama also expressed confidence that his administration would ultimately find a solution balancing security and US legal values.

"I have to make the very best judgments I can make in terms of what's going to keep the American people safe and ... what's going to uphold our Constitution and our traditions of due process," he said. "And what I'm convinced of is [that] we can balance those interests in a way that makes all of us proud, but also assures that we're not attacked."

February 2, 2009
NY Post Article

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President Barack Obama will have a face-to-face meeting with his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez in April in Port of Spain, when the two leaders will be among three dozen heads of government and state at the three day Summit of the Americas. This information was confirmed by Summit Secretariat Communications Co-ordinator, Felipe Noguera.

Top of the agenda of the Summit will be burning energy issues in which both the United States and Venezuela have a keen interest. The Trinidad Express reported that Noguera told newsmen that Secretariat Chairman, Ambassador Carlos Luis Alberto Rodriguez indicated that Venezuela and the USA were at loggerheads on energy issues to be highlighted in the Declaration of Port of Spain. The declaration -- outlining policy goals in coming years for the 34 countries in the Americas in the fields of energy, education, environment and health -- will be signed by the leaders during the April 17-19 summit.

Chavez has been at loggerheads for months with former US President George W Bush accusing him of being a warmonger. Two months ago he expelled the US Ambassador to Venezuela. Since Obama took office on January 20, however, Chavez has toned down his anti-US rhetoric, even saying he has great expectations of the new US President.

ARTICLE

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There has been a lot of speculation on what changes an Obama administration will make. Some think that he will fix everything, no more war, restore the economy, anything that is troubling our nation. Others think it is the end of the world. I wouldn't go that far and for the sake of our country I am not going to lower myself to the likes of liberals and hope he fails. However there will be changes and while there are many big changes being rumored such as closing GITMO, I will focus on some social issues that may not get center stage, but have a big effect.

First, will Obama overturn a policy that bans homosexuals from serving in the military? A better question may be not "will" but rather "when". When Obama's press secretary was asked "Is the new administration going to get rid of the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy?" his press secretary responded "Yes." While Obama could get rid of "don't ask, don't tell" the actual law that prohibits homosexuals from serving in the military can only be changed by Congress. This may be difficult because when the law was passed in 1993, it was passed with bi-partisan support, veto-proof majorities -- and the law has been upheld by the courts several times.

The second issue is funding abstinence-education. Funding for abstinence-education runs out on June 1st and is unlikely to be kept. Many believe that Obama will support abstinence-plus programs. A study by The Heritage Foundation found that on average, abstinence-plus curricula devote only 4.7% of their page content to the topic of abstinence. The main focus is on so-called "safe" sex. They also say that it sends a confusing message to teenagers who are bombarded with sexually provocative messages in the media. While some will argue that the main responsibility is with the parents, the problem is when the school contradicts the home.

* UPDATE *
Here is his LGBT agenda

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You could see this coming a mile away. The fury that the pro-gay left had towards Obama when he announced Rick Warren would give the inaugural invocation put enough pressure on Obama to appease them. Of course sources close to Obama refute the thought that this choice was in response to Warren. An Obama source said: “Robinson was in the plans before the complaints about Rick Warren. Many skeptics will read this as a direct reaction to the Warren criticism — but it’s just not so.”

Rev. V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, who was elected the Episcopal Church’s first openly gay bishop in 2003, will deliver the invocation for Sunday’s kickoff inaugural event on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. “The president-elect has respect for the Rt. Rev. Robinson, who offered his advice and counsel over the past couple of years,” an inaugural official said. “It also has the benefit of further reinforcing our commitment to an open and inclusive inaugural.”

Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay civil rights organization, said in a statement that the choice was "encouraging."

“Bishop Robinson models what prayer should be — spiritual reflection put into action for justice," Solmonese said. "It is encouraging that the president-elect has chosen this spiritual hero, and that should remain our focus today."

FULL ARTICLE

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First and foremost let me state that I do not agree with any new revelation. However, I do post on current events within the Christian realm. This particular post has to do with Pat Robertson making his annual prediction for the year. He claims his predictions come directly from God.

For 2008, he predicted a much more violent world, a U.S. recession and oil hitting $150 a barrel. Robertson's global forecast for the coming year was equally grim, predicting violent threats, poverty and misery. Russia, he said, "will be the most dangerous."

Robertson said "The Lord said the economy of your nation will recover" during a prayer session which he broadcast on the 700 Club. He also said "I'm flying in the face of all of the experts or most of the experts who say, 'Oh no, no, no, it's going to get worse,' but I don't think so." He explains this will be done by bigger government "The people will welcome socialism in order to relieve their pain."

In regards to Islam, he thinks that it will weaken. "The violence and the bloodshed has turned away many against this religion of hate and the Lord said expand your outreach to Muslims. They are ready to listen."

Israel "is entering a period of extreme crisis." He added, "A strong government that deals forcefully with the Palestinians will bring international condemnation and sanctions, but the Lord will uphold his people despite world opinion."

FULL ARTICLE

Questions:
What do you make of "new revelation" (i.e. visions, dreams)?

What is your opinion of Pat Robertson?

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According to Taxpayers for Common Sense lawmakers get an automatic pay raise every January, and this year is no different. The problem this year is that the economy is in the dumps and they giving bailouts like they are going out of style.

Members of Congress will be receiving a $4,700 pay increase this year, even though more than two million of their constituents have lost their jobs. Congress has set up a structure where they automatically receive a cost-of-living adjustment or pay raise every year unless they act to stop it.

Story

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Obama's selects Arne Duncan who is the head of Chicago Public Schools and pushed for a gay high school. The following is taken from a Chicago Tribune article:

The Chicago Public Schools' first high school designed for gay, lesbian and transgender teens is among 20 new schools recommended to the school board today by CPS Chief Arne Duncan...

"If you look at national studies, you see gay and lesbian students with high dropout rates...Studies show they are disproportionately homeless," Duncan said. "I think there is a niche there we need to fill.

"Supporters have said the Pride Campus would help students find a safe school environment because studies have shown that gay youth are at a greater risk of dropping out of school and abusing drugs and alcohol, and are two to three times more likely to attempt suicide. A 2003 district survey shows that gay and lesbian youths are three times more likely to miss school because they don't feel safe.

Is this the type of person America wants for their Education Secretary? Don't forget about an older post of mine about Chicago Public Schools involved in a program to pay students for good to even average grades.

To top it all off, Obama has now invited Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration. Is this a smoke screen to calm down evangelical conservatives? Thus far the only thing that is happening is that Obama is making everyone angry by playing both sides.

ARTICLE

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Ralph Silvestro, a legal clerk in Philedelphia proudly displayed an American flag he had taped to the side of his work computer. Silvestro served in the Navy for six years and in the Air Force Reserve for another six, the miniature American flag affixed to his computer was a symbol of his patriotism. He never thought it would be a problem especially working in a courthouse.

No one complained about the flags. Then on Sept. 23, Silvestro got an e-mail from his supervisor. The email said "the flags must come down. They are not appropriate for the workplace." He also had a pirate flag, which he had no problem taking that down, but was confused to why take down the American flag. "I served this country for 12 years. I could have died for this flag, but I can't hang it up. What's up with that? I don't understand," Silvestro said in an interview earlier this week. Silvestro added: "For me, this is about my rights being taken away from me in a building where your rights are supposed to mean more than anything."

When asked if Smith had violated Silvestro's constitutional rights, perhaps infringing on his freedom of expression, a civil-rights lawyer said: "No."

"Here's the thing: Your boss rules your life," said Mary Catherine Roper, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania's Philadelphia office. "Your employer gets to make the rules."

As long as Smith applies the same rules to everybody evenly, meaning no staffer is allowed to display the American flag at the public counter, Smith is on solid legal ground, Roper said.

"People really have no idea how much control they have to give up when they go work," Roper said. "Workers generally don't have a lot of rights."

Questions
- Are you surprised at this story?
- Do you think patriotism is low?

Full Article

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