For the busy faithful, the greatest story ever told - in 100 minutes

For the busy faithful, the greatest story ever told - in 100 minutes


Ed Vulliamy
Thursday September 22, 2005
The Guardian

The 100-Minute Bible


The 100-Minute Bible. Photo: PA

They may be the words of the Lord. But there are simply too many of them for the modern attention span. That, at least, was the reasoning behind the launch yesterday of a more "user-friendly" edition of the great work.

The 100-minute Bible was published at the cradle and headquarters of British Christianity, Canterbury cathedral. It is a 57-page pocket-sized edition, the latest in the long and often turbulent legacy of the Holy Book, from Hebrew through Greek and Latin to Martin Luther, the glorious King James edition and various recent English translations. Entire cycles of frescos by medieval and renaissance painters may have derived from a few poetic sentences in the Bible, but the harsh reality of modernity suggests people just do not have the time to concentrate on the book any more.

The man who had the responsibility for condensing the Bible was the Rev Dr Michael Hinton, who spent two years on the task. "We have sacrificed poetry to clarity," Mr Hinton told people attending the launch. "Those who want a sense of the glorious poetry in the Bible will have to look elsewhere, but anyone who wants a sense of the story and the argument will find it here.

"This is a gateway to the Bible for everybody. We have to face the fact we live in an overwhelmingly secular society and must do all we can to present people with the story and what Christianity is about."

Some Christians are up in arms about this Bible but it is nothing more than a devotional. It is the Reader's Digest version or Cliff notes for college students. Hopefully it helps people to get into the Word and into church.

Group pushing textbook on Bible's influence

"Group pushing textbook on Bible's influence"

WASHINGTON - A group called the Bible Literacy Project is unveiling a 392-page textbook Thursday entitled "The Bible and Its Influence," which its members hope will be embraced by English, history and social studies teachers and form the basis of elective high school courses across the country.

The project's founder is an investment banker from a powerful family that has longstanding ties to President Bush's family and a history of religious activism.

But the textbook is a secular effort to educate young Americans, many of whom they say know so little about a work so central to Western civilization that they cannot grasp basic references in to it in literature, music and art.

New York investment banker Chuck Stetson, who established the Bible Literacy Project, spent years consulting with educators, publishers, various Christian and Jewish leaders and First Amendment experts, and studying polling of students and teachers, to come up with a text that could withstand legal scrutiny and find academic acceptance.

Stetson said in a telephone interview Wednesday that his aim is to fill a vacuum caused by educators' overreaction to a 1963 Supreme Court decision that declared unconstitutional the assigning of Bible readings and recitation of the Lord's Prayer in schools.

"Sixty percent of Americans want to see the Bible taught in literature, history or English classes. Eight or 9 percent of the public schools do it," Stetson said. "There are over 1,300 documented biblical allusions in Shakespeare. If kids don't understand the biblical allusions, they don't understand Shakespeare."

"Knowledge belongs in schools"

Many educators, parents and historians share his concerns. A Gallup Poll last year found only about half of teens knew the story of Jesus turning water into wine, and close to one in 10 didn't know what the Easter holiday observes.

Stetson said neither his group nor its textbook is advocating the teaching in public schools of intelligent design as an alternative to evolution.

"There are other people fighting that battle," he said. "We want to move from battleground to common ground.

"I differentiate between knowledge and belief," Stetson said. "Knowledge belongs in school. Belief is appropriate in the home and other places, but not in schools."

In 1999, Stetson's group teamed with the First Amendment Center on a guide on how to teach aspects of the Bible in public schools without violating the constitutional separation of church and state. That venture won endorsements from groups representing Muslims, Jews and evangelical Christians, as well as the National School Boards Association and the liberal advocacy group People For the American Way.

Charles Haynes, a senior scholar with the First Amendment Center who has reviewed the new textbook and who also worked with Stetson's group to develop the teaching guide six years ago, said Wednesday of the textbook, "I believe this really upholds the First Amendment and is sound educationally."

This nation is biblically illiterate. Even though we have more churches per capita than any other nation on earth we know less about the Bible with each passing decade. I hope this is a good text book and that it makes its way into the public schools.

ACLU targets abstinence-only programs

ACLU targets abstinence-only programs

By Cheryl Wetzstein
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

The American Civil Liberties Union yesterday began a campaign to urge officials in 18 states to reject abstinence-only sex-education programs.
Many abstinence programs contain false or misleading information, discriminate against homosexual youth and promote religion, ACLU leaders said, citing a December report issued by Rep. Henry A. Waxman, California Democrat.
The effort began as Maine announced that it had become the third state to reject federal abstinence-education funding, because of new rules that conflict with state policy.

Maine officials said this week that they will forgo a grant offered through the 1996 welfare-reform law because it must be used for abstinence programs and because they prefer comprehensive sex education. They used the grants for abstinence ad campaigns before the rules change.

"This money is more harmful than it is good," Dr. Dora Anne Mills, director of Maine's Bureau of Health, told the Portland Press Herald. "You can't talk about comprehensive reproductive information."

She said Maine didn't take $165,000 in Title V abstinence grants offered in fiscal 2005 and would not take the $161,000 that becomes available Oct. 1 for fiscal 2006. Pennsylvania and California also have rejected the grants.
"Maine likes to be in the lead in a lot of things, and I think this is one of these times when we have," Lynn Kippax, press secretary for Maine Gov. John Baldacci, a Democrat, said yesterday.

Abstinence-only programs define abstinence as "avoiding all genital contact and sexual stimulation" and teach teens how to set boundaries and practice self-control, said Libby Gray Macke, director of Project Reality in Glenview, Ill.
In contrast, comprehensive sex programs teach a "complete range" of behaviors, including oral sex and mutual masturbation, as alternatives to intercourse, she said. However, these behaviors put teens at risk for sexually transmitted diseases.

The fact is that most abstinence programs are effective. There has been an overall reduction in teen pregnancy where they were taught. You will never get pregnant or contract a sexually transmitted disease when you practice abstinence.

Here our ACLU buddies are at it again. Never mind that abstinence programs work the real issue is that the most effect abstinence programs are faith based. This is true because there is no good reason to be moral unless there is a moral law giver that we are accountable to.

Interest in Dalai Lama

North Jersey Media Group providing local news, sports & classifieds for Northern New Jersey!:

"Interest in Dalai Lama shows Buddhism's reach

By JOHN CHADWICK
STAFF WRITER

When the Dalai Lama delivered his first lecture to an American audience, the year was 1979, and the place was in northwestern New Jersey, at an obscure Buddhist teaching center.

'We had maybe several hundred people,' said Diana Cutler, who has lived at the center for decades. 'He wasn't famous then.'

That has changed.

On Sunday, the 75-year-old leader of Tibetan Buddhism and global human rights champion will address more than 32,000 people at Rutgers University's football stadium - one of Rutgers' largest crowds for a guest speaker."

The appearance, during which he will speak on "Peace, War and Reconciliation," has electrified the university, inspiring a series of events throughout the semester, including films with Tibetan themes, lectures on global conflict and exhibits of Asian art.

But the sheer number planning to attend also has served notice of a change going on outside the campus: Buddhism has entered the mainstream of the American religious landscape, spreading from remote monasteries and university lecture halls to suburbs like Ridgewood and Wyckoff.

Buddhism is still popular in America but most of the Buddhists in America are immigrants. Immigrants out number American converts 3 to 1. Still it is estimated that there are two million Buddhists in the U. S.

Interesting that the ACLU does not act here at Rutgers. If this was a Christian event that was causing class discussions, movies, and art shows on campus then the university would surely be sued by the ACLU.

Mosques 'made my husband a bomber'

"Mosques 'made my husband a bomber'

SUICIDE bomber's widow Samantha Lewthwaite has told how her husband's mind was poisoned by visits to radical mosques.

She said her husband, Jermaine Lindsay, had once been a "peaceful man who loved people".

But Lindsay, 19, killed 26 people when he blew himself up on a Piccadilly Line train between King's Cross and Russell Square stations in the worst of the suicide attacks on London on July 7.

He was one of four bombers who carried out attacks on the capital that day.

Samantha, 21, who gave birth to the couple's second child after the atrocities, said her husband had tenderly kissed their young son, Abdullah, goodbye before leaving on his lethal mission.

"He kissed our child goodbye and then crept off to blow up King's Cross," said Samantha.

Converts

"In the morning I found he'd left his keys on a table downstairs. He obviously had no more use for them."

The couple, both converts to Islam, met over the internet and married in 2002 when, she said, he had been a "peaceful man who loved people". But Lindsay, who used the Muslim name Jamal, changed after they moved from Huddersfield to Aylesbury.

He would disappear for days, visitn mosques in London, Luton and the north.

She had assumed he was at a mosque that fateful Thursday, but said when police interviewed her and showed her CCTV footage of her husband, her "world collapsed". She "totally abhorred" what he had done.

Islam should be considered a violent religion until proven otherwise. We are not talking about a few here but many that have killed in the name of Islam. It is up to them to change the hearts and minds of people.

United Church of Christ gay marriage resolution divides local congregation

Another church falls to liberal leadership who side with homosexuals.

Local church of Christ split

United Church of Christ gay marriage resolution divides local congregation

By BRYANT PERKINS
The Eagle-Gazette Staff
bperkins@nncogannett.com

LANCASTER - The issue of gay marriage has arrived at the altar of Grace United Church of Christ in Lancaster.

The United Church of Christ's governing body, the General Synod, passed a resolution July 4 in Atlanta, Ga., supporting equal marriage rights for same-sex couples.

The decision is sending shock waves through Lancaster's religious community and has split the 30-member congregation of Grace Church in half.

Sue Hockradel, 72, has been a member of Grace Church for 15 years and is strongly opposed to the gay-marriage resolution. Like others, she worries that potential persecution of her church could cause members or even whole congregations to break away from the denomination.

"It scares me that this is dividing us," Hockradel said.

She's not the only Grace Church member concerned with the United Church of Christ's decision.

"Now we are being targeted in our own community, by other churches who believe we are gay-marriage supporters," Grace Church member Paul Delong said.

Associate minister for the United Church of Christ's Central South East Ohio Association, Rev. Dr. G. Forrest Hoppe, and Grace Church members organized a forum to discuss the resolution at the church July 19.

Delong, 68, attended the meeting and strongly opposed the resolution. He believes marriage should be between a man and a woman.

"I am not a homophobe, and I am not anti-gay, but I just don't believe in gay marriage in the church. I thought the General Synod and the delegates from the Central South East Ohio Association that voted on the resolution were brash and arrogant in there decision," Delong said.

Jill Glass is the administrative assistant for the association's 38 churches. She was also at the meeting at Grace Church and was one of four delegates from the Central South East Ohio Association who went to Atlanta and voted in support of the resolution.

"I have personal friends who are in a same-sex committed relationship who I feel deserve to have the same rights as a heterosexual couple," Glass said.

The Ohio delegation was not unanimous in its support of the resolution. Neither was the Synod. The final vote on the resolution appeared to represent a 75 percent approval with 25 percent either opposed or abstaining, Hoppe said.

Fox Home - Family and Christian Films

Fox targeting Christian audiences.

Twentieth Century Fox, which distributed the video of "The Passion," recently launched a Web site (http://www.foxfaith.com ) to target Christian and family-based films directly to a religious audience. The site includes a "church resources" link, which lists several movies and includes written guidance suggesting Bible verses to discuss in conjunction with scenes from the films according to By GARY GENTILE AP Business Writer.

When the Passion of the Christ made lots of money they saw God. The God of money is what they saw. It is not all a bad thing for film studios to make cleaner faith based films but the church need to beware of being used by the film industry.

Tony Campolo on Katrina--The Hebrew Bible doesn't say God is omnipotent.

Katrina: Not God's Wrath--or His Will
The Hebrew Bible doesn't say God is omnipotent. When disaster strikes, he cries with the rest of us.
By Dr. Tony Campolo

Perhaps we would do well to listen to the likes of Rabbi Harold Kushner, who contends that God is not really as powerful as we have claimed. Nowhere in the Hebrew Scriptures does it say that God is omnipotent. Kushner points out that omnipotence is a Greek philosophical concept, but it is not in his Bible. Instead, the Hebrew Bible contends that God is mighty. That means that God is a greater force in the universe than all the other forces combined.

This is disturbing that a prominent Christian leader doesn't understand that God is all powerful. He is not just the most powerful being in the universe, He is unlimited in power. "Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases." (Psalm 115:3)

The bible may not use the term omnipotent but it does describe God having infinite power and knowledge.

(Isa 40:28 NKJV) Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.

(Jer 32:17 NKJV) ‘Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.

He does not get fatigued or lack knowledge in anything. Just because God does not intervene and stop all evil does not mean He is not all powerful.


Campolo’s premise is faulty. For if God created the universe surely He can control one storm if He wanted to.

(Mark 4:39 NKJV) Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.
(Mark 4:41 NKJV) And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”

(Psa 148:8 NKJV) Fire and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind, fulfilling His word;

Donations for Hurricane Recovery Pass $1-Billion

Donations for Hurricane Recovery Pass $1-Billion

By Nicole Lewis and Nicole Wallace

American charities have raised $1.06-billion to help the survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

The pace of giving is unprecedented in American history. In the two weeks after the 2001 terrorist attacks, Americans donated $558-million to charitable causes, and in the two and a half weeks after the tsunamis hit, major American relief groups raised $406-million.

Still, the contributions do not yet come close to the total amount raised in the wake of those disasters. After the 2001 terrorist attacks, charities raised more than $2.2-billion and U.S. charities have collected nearly $1.3-billion for the tsunamis.

The American Red Cross, in Washington, has raised far more than any other charity, taking in $762.5-million. By comparison, two and a half weeks after the South Asian tsunamis, the Red Cross had raised a little more than $173-million.

"It's overwhelming," says Sarah Marchetti, a spokeswoman for the Red Cross. "People are just pouring their hearts out, and making a donation is an expression of that."

Major Donors

Corporations have been significant donors to the charitable efforts, as have numerous celebrities and wealthy Americans. Wal-Mart has contributed the most so far, donating $17-million. The foundation created by the company's founders, the Walton family, also has donated $15-million to groups working on hurricane relief.

As of Friday, $372-million had been donated by corporations, foundations, and wealthy individuals, according to a tally by The Chronicle.

Among the largest donations:

• The Lilly Endowment, in Indianapolis, donated $10-million apiece to the Red Cross and the Salvation Army.

• John Grisham, the author of legal thrillers, and his wife, Renee, donated $5-million to the Rebuild the Coast Fund, which they established at a Tupelo, Miss., bank to help recovery efforts in Mississippi.

• The Michael and Susan Dell Foundation gave $5-million for relief efforts.

• Boone Pickens and Leona Helmsley each gave $5-million to American Red Cross relief efforts.
  

Online Gifts

In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, the Internet has also proved to be an important source of gifts.

Of the 762.5-million the Red Cross has raised for relief efforts, $335.9-million has come in through the Internet.

In addition to gifts made through the organization's own site, the search engine Yahoo and the online retailer Amazon.com are also collecting donations to the Red Cross through their Web sites, as they did after the earthquake and tsunamis that struck South Asia last December. Yahoo has collected more than $55-million, and Amazon has collected more than $12-million.

The Baton Rouge Area Foundation, which has raised more than $10-million, had to move its Web site to more powerful servers to accommodate the volume of donations coming into the group's two hurricane-relief funds.

"We had to change the provider to manage the volume," says John G. Davies, president of the foundation. "It's been coming in fast and furious."

For a number of groups struggling to keep up with the pace of donations, the amount raised online is the only total they know for sure.

Officials at Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief, in Alpharetta, Ga., report raising $1.8-million online so far, but expect that number to rise dramatically after donations roll in from its 40,000 churches, says Jonathan Wilson, a spokesman for the charity. He anticipates that when a tabulation is done, it will be the most the group has ever raised after a disaster.

One More Thing (Maybe More) About Demons

OneTrueGodBlog.com

This is a new blog by some very respected Christian bloggers. It is in a different format than most blogs. However, it is worth looking at from time to time.

Lawmakers override governor's contraception veto

Lawmakers override governor's contraception veto
Move will ease morning-after pill's availability

By Scott S. Greenberger, Globe Staff

It could take weeks or months for a new state emergency contraception law to take effect, despite the Legislature's resounding endorsement of the measure yesterday.

Massachusetts became the eighth state to allow pharmacists to dispense the emergency contraception pill without a doctor's prescription when lawmakers easily overrode Governor Mitt Romney's veto yesterday. But the state's Department of Public Health, which is overseen by Romney, must write regulations to implement it. Sally Fogerty, the associate commissioner of the state agency, could not immediately offer a timetable for the new rules.

The emergency contraception pill, also called Plan B, is a high dose of hormones that women can take up to five days after sex to prevent pregnancy. The pill is not to be confused with RU-486, which is used to end pregnancies up to 49 days after the beginning of the last menstrual cycle.

The FDA approved the use of Plan B as a form of prescription birth control in 1999. But the agency has refused to grant a request by the pill's manufacturer, Barr Laboratories, to sell it over the counter, despite the overwhelming vote of an advisory panel in 2003 recommending it.

According to the FDA, the pill mostly works by stopping the release of an egg from the ovary. But it also may block fertilization or prevent a fertilized egg from attaching to the womb. For those who believe life begins at conception, that amounts to abortion.

For those who worry the the nomination of judge Roberts will eventually overturn Roe v. Wade should consider this. Abortion as we know it will be a thing of the past anyway. These new abortion pills are fast replacing a visit to abortion doctors. They also neglect to mention that many women have bleed to death after taking these abortion pills.

Lobos McKay fuses coaching, religion complains ACLU

By Jeff Carlton
Tribune Reporter
September 14, 2005

The leader of the state American Civil Liberties Union is renewing concerns that University of New Mexico men's basketball coach Ritchie McKay is inappropriately mixing religion and coaching.

McKay said the charge is "completely asinine."

In a letter sent Aug. 4 to McKay and Athletics Director Rudy Davalos, ACLU Executive Director Peter Simonson writes that he is troubled by McKay's "use of religion in recruiting and coaching."

Unhappy with Davalos' response, Simonson said Tuesday, he has decided to make his case publicly.

"Things keep on surfacing, emerging around coach McKay," Simonson said. "I think he is a good coach, a hard-working and honest coach.

"I also think he doesn't yet understand where the line should be drawn between coaching responsibilities and his religious faith. And the reason I believe that is evidence of that fact continually comes up in the press."

McKay, who said he did not receive the ACLU's letter, denied crossing the line that is supposed to separate church and state.

"Very emphatically, I never, ever in my 18 years of coaching have forced a young man or demanded or made it mandatory for a young man to attend church," McKay said. "I appreciate the ACLU, but to not listen to my bosses and to file a complaint, maybe its mission is to be controversial. Obviously I know the difference between making it mandatory and personal convictions and what the First Amendment says."

At issue is the establishment clause of the First Amendment, said Andy Schultz, a partner at Rodey law firm and a volunteer for the ACLU on church-state issues. It protects people from a state endorsement of religious beliefs and prohibits infringement upon one's religious beliefs. McKay, as an employee of a state university, is an agent of the state, Schultz said.

Newspaper articles about McKay's recruitment of Kansas transfer J.R. Giddens prompted ACLU involvement, Simonson said. The ACLU honcho specifically cited the following articles, published in July following Giddens' commitment to UNM.

Giddens told the ESPN Web site that McKay talked about making him a better player and person. "(McKay) lives by the Lord, and we talked a lot about that," Giddens said.

Giddens made similar comments to the Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World, saying: "(McKay) is a Christian coach (who) felt I could become a better person and build a better relationship with God, which is the most important part of my life now. Basketball is important. It's more important to build a better relationship with the Lord. Coach McKay will help me with that as well."

Giddens' mother, Dianna, told the Journal-World that McKay wants to get Giddens into a church. "It's mandatory to go to church," she said.

Davalos said Giddens' mother was mistaken and that church attendance is not mandatory for any UNM student-athlete. UNM players told The Tribune last year that McKay does not pressure them on religious matters.

"I know how to run an athletic program," Davalos said. "I know all about the separation of church and state. I know all that and so do my coaches. The ACLU can't tell me how to run my program and they won't. Period."

These anecdotes are more compelling, Simonson said, because they come from sources who have no interest in getting McKay in trouble.

"These new stories are from a very innocent source," Simonson said. "J.R. Giddens and his mother certainly have no reason to bring scrutiny down on coach McKay.

"Let me be real clear. We support coach McKay in practicing his religion privately. In fact, we defend his right to do that. It is only where he uses his authority as coach to promote his religious beliefs that we have a problem."

Simonson said the ACLU cannot proceed through the courts because no plaintiff has come forward alleging specific complaints about his treatment by McKay.

Giddens wants to be a better person and grow closer with God. What is wrong with that? Apparently the ACLU thinks it is a bad thing. Now it has become evil to do good. It does not seem to bother the ACLU that Laker Coach Phil Jackson promotes his eastern religious philosophy among his players. BTW, doesn’t Notre Dame require players to attend mass?

They would say that this has to do with the separation of church and state. Well I say Congress still has a chaplain and opens in prayer. The founders promoted their religion therefore it was never their intent to eliminate religion from public life only the intent not to promote a singular church.

Pastor's parable was real life for evacuees

Pastor's parable was real life for evacuees

By Erica Meltzer
ARIZONA DAILY STAR



The biblical parable of the rich fool tells of a man who stores up earthly treasures and plans to live a life of ease, only to learn he will die in the morning.

"In a moment, in a matter of a few hours, in a matter of a few days, everything you have stored up might be gone," said the Rev. D. Grady Scott, connecting the parable to the devastation from Hurricane Katrina. "This past week showed us how everything can be turned upside down."

His congregation, gathered for Sunday worship at Grace Temple Missionary Baptist Church on Tucson's South Side, nodded in agreement. And several among the congregation knew only too well what the pastor was talking about.

Like other predominantly black churches in Tucson, Grace Temple has opened its doors to the evacuees from New Orleans. Those who accepted the offer said they still praise God, despite all they have lost.

"Everything he said was true," Stella Galloway said after the service.

Galloway said she is grateful to have escaped New Orleans alive. Thinking she could take shelter in a relative's third-floor apartment if the storm got bad, Galloway stayed too long in her New Orleans home. By the time she left, the water was up to her neck.

She nearly drowned twice before making her way to the convention center, where another nightmare - this one of hunger, thirst, gunshots and corpses - began.

She prayed to God to show her a way out, and somehow - she still isn't sure just how - she ended up in a truck heading for California.

She had learned from a computer registry that her daughter Yolanda Anderson had come to Tucson with her husband and children. Galloway reunited with them here on Wednesday night.

"I don't care for material things," she said. "I live for him (God) and only him. He gets me up in the morning."

Michael Smith, Galloway's son-in-law, found himself in tears during the service.

On Sept. 4, he had just arrived in Tucson, confused and disoriented. His New Orleans home is under 12 feet of water, he said, as are his truck and the tools he needs to do his job as an apartment maintenance supervisor.

"We lost everything," he said.

He rode out the storm in his mother's higher, drier home in Louisiana's Jefferson Parish, but with only two days' supply of food and water, life there soon became unbearable.

He loaded his family in a van and drove along a levee to reach U.S. 61 to Baton Rouge. From there, he headed to Tucson because his younger brother is stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.

This Sunday, going to church seemed like a step back toward his normal life, at once joyful and painful.

"When the children started singing, it really got to me," he said.

Though some might wonder how God could send such devastation, Galloway said she knows it happened for a reason.

Iraqi Soldiers Donate to Katrina Victims - DefendAmerica News Article

Iraqi Soldiers Donate to Katrina Victims

TAJI, Iraq, Sept. 9, 2005 — Iraqi soldiers serving at Taji military base collected 1,000,000 Iraqi dinars for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Iraqi Col. Abbas Fadhil, Iraqi base commander, presented the money to U.S. Col. Paul D. Linkenhoker, Taji Coalition base commander, at a Sept. 5 staff meeting.

"We are all brothers. When one suffers tragedy, we all suffer their pain."
Iraqi Col. Abbas Fadhil

“We are all brothers,” said Abbas. “When one suffers tragedy, we all suffer their pain.”

The amount of money is small in American dollars - roughly $680 - but it represents a huge act of compassion from Iraqi soldiers to their American counterparts, said U.S. Army Maj. Michael Goyne.


“I was overwhelmed by the amount of their generosity,” Goyne said. “I was proud and happy to know Col. Abbas, his officers, NCOs and fellow soldiers. That amount represents a month’s salary for most of those soldiers.”

Abbas read a letter he wrote after giving the envelope to Linkenhoker.

"I am Colonel Abbas Fadhil; Tadji Military Base Commander,” Abbas wrote. “On behalf of myself and all the People of Tadji Military Base; I would like to console the American People and Government for getting this horrible disaster. So we would like to donate 1.000.000 Iraqi Dinars to help the government and the People also I would like to console all the ASTs who helped us rebuilding our country and our Army. We appreciate the American's help and support. Thank you."

There are many good people in Iraq who appreciate all that the United States has done for them. This country is beginning to turn the corner now. The $680 dollars is about a years salary for a soldier in Iraqi.

ASU religious groups allowed to exclude non-believers

"ASU religious groups allowed to exclude non-believers"

Pact keeps ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation intact

Religious student groups at Arizona State University can discriminate against those who don't share their religious beliefs, according to the settlement of a lawsuit against the school by a Christian legal organization.

But the settlement says religious organizations at the university cannot exclude students from membership on the basis of sexual orientation.

In its lawsuit, the university chapter of the Christian Legal Society had sought a court order to allow the group to discriminate on both religious and sexual-orientation grounds.

The university said it had previously denied the group a waiver from its ban on discrimination on both grounds.

Both sides touted the settlement, announced last week, as a way of preserving protections for students.

Casey Mattox, a lawyer for the Christian Legal Society, said Wednesday that the group can exclude from its membership all people who have sex - whether homosexual or heterosexual - outside marriage because that conflicts with the organization's principles.

Mattox said students whose beliefs conflict with the group's principles can still attend the organization's meetings but cannot be allowed to become members or take leadership positions in the group.

This is a good moral victory. Those interested can attend meetings but those who wish to push a deviant lifestyle cannot use the groups for their agenda.

Pastor faces hearing over 'anti-gay' letter

Pastor faces hearing over 'anti-gay' letter

A Canadian pastor who works with at-risk youth is preparing to face his province's Human Rights Tribunal because of a letter to the editor he wrote calling homosexuality immoral and dangerous.

The letter by the Rev. Stephen Boissoin of Alberta also called into question the province's new homosexual-rights curriculum, reported LifeSiteNews.com.

The complaint was filed by Darren Lund, an assistant professor at the University of Calgary, after Boissoin's letter was published in the Red Deer Advocate.

If Boissoin loses, he could be forced to pay $7,000 in fines – $5,000 to Lund personally and another $2,000 to the homosexual-rights group EGALE Canada.

In addition, Lund requests that Boissoin, married with two children, be forced to apologize to his readers in another letter in the Red Deer Advocate.

Boissoin says, however, he will not apologize or pay the fines, even if it means prison.

He told LifeSiteNews.com he has no money to represent himself before the Alberta Human Rights Commission, which likely will hear his case in October.

"I know nothing about human rights case law," he says. "I'm trying to learn. Understand this, I work every single day, have two kids … and right in the middle of that I'm trying to learn human rights law. So, I'll be very happy when it's over."

In his letter, Boissoin wrote, "Children as young as 5 and 6 years of age are being subjected to psychologically and physiologically damaging pro-homosexual literature and guidance in the public school system; all under the fraudulent guise of equal rights."

Boissoin said he's concerned behavior that is dangerous, and sometimes fatal, is being presented as normative and even healthy to the most impressionable.

"I was just writing a letter to the editor, to the heterosexual population," he said, "saying this is something to be very, very concerned about."

I knew this would be the next step once Canada legalized homosexual marriages. This same thing will happen in the United States if gay marriages are sanctioned. Honest debate and sincere disagreement will be portrayed as slander and then a hate crime.

Why was the American Red Cross slow to enter New Orleans?

Hurricane Katrina: Why is the Red Cross not in New Orleans?

Here is the answer from the American Red Cross on this question.

• Acess to New Orleans is controlled by the National Guard and local authorities and while we are in constant contact with them, we simply cannot enter New Orleans against their orders.

• The state Homeland Security Department had requested--and continues to request--that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans following the hurricane. Our presence would keep people from evacuating and encourage others to come into the city.

• The Red Cross has been meeting the needs of thousands of New Orleans residents in some 90 shelters throughout the state of Louisiana and elsewhere since before landfall. All told, the Red Cross is today operating 149 shelters for almost 93,000 residents.

• The Red Cross shares the nation’s anguish over the worsening situation inside the city. We will continue to work under the direction of the military, state and local authorities and to focus all our efforts on our lifesaving mission of feeding and sheltering.

• The Red Cross does not conduct search and rescue operations. We are an organization of civilian volunteers and cannot get relief aid into any location until the local authorities say it is safe and provide us with security and access.

• The original plan was to evacuate all the residents of New Orleans to safe places outside the city. With the hurricane bearing down, the city government decided to open a shelter of last resort in the Superdome downtown. We applaud this decision and believe it saved a significant number of lives.

• As the remaining people are evacuated from New Orleans, the most appropriate role for the Red Cross is to provide a safe place for people to stay and to see that their emergency needs are met. We are fully staffed and equipped to handle these individuals once they are evacuated.

It is becoming more evident that help was just outside New Orleans before Katrina hit but the local city and state department of homeland security turned them away. It was reported on the Sean Hannity show that the Red Cross repeatedly was turned away from delivering food and water to people in the Surper Dome and New Orleans convention center.


Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2005 11:52 p.m. EDT - Newsmax

Gov. Kathleen Blanco's Bureaucrats Blocked Food and Water

The Red Cross was reportedly ready to deliver food, water and other supplies to flood-ravaged refugees who were sweltering inside New Orleans' Superdome last week - but the relief was blocked by bureaucrats who worked for Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco.

Fox News Channel's Major Garrett reported Wednesday that the Red Cross had "trucks with water, food, hygiene equipment, all sorts of things ready to go ... to the Superdome and Convention Center."

But the Louisiana Department of Homeland Security, Garrett said, "told them they could not go."

"The Red Cross tells me that Louisiana's Department of Homeland Security said, 'Look, we do not want to create a magnet for more people to come to the Superdome or Convention Center, we want to get them out,'" he explained.

"So at the same time local officials were screaming where is the food, where is the water, the Red Cross was standing by ready [and] the Louisiana Department of Homeland Security said you can't go."

Scientists win right to create human embryo with three genetic parents

More here

By Mark Henderson

Critics claim that watchdog has ignored public opinion to approve experiment for which it changed its own rules
BRITISH scientists have been given permission to create human embryos that will have three genetic parents.

The fertility watchdog cleared a team at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne yesterday to conduct an experiment to prevent genetic disease by merging single-cell embryos with donated eggs.

The decision to approve the procedure on appeal, after two previous applications were rejected, is controversial because it could eventually lead to the birth of children who carry genes from two mothers and a father.

It also opens the possibility of “germ-line” genetic engineering, because any children born would carry added genes that would be passed to successive generations.

I am all for research that will save and enhance life but not at the expense of creating and taking life. I do not like the implications of having multiple parents beyond the normal two. This will lead to more than defect correction it will lead to designer children and the breakdown of family.

'Intelligent design' and faith-based science

'Intelligent design' and faith-based science:

by: John Mohawk / Indian Country Today

President Bush and Sen. Bill Frist support the idea that schools should teach the theory of ''intelligent design'' as an alternative to Darwin's theory of evolution. The theory of ''intelligent design'' urges that there are things in nature that are so complicated that they could not have ''evolved'' incrementally through natural selection, as was proposed by Darwin. American culture these days is powerfully impacted by the fact that very wealthy people who have some pet ideas can bring these into public discourse by giving huge sums of money to so-called conservative think tanks which then pay people to write articles advancing their ideas.

To find out who's behind the ''controversy,'' follow the money. A major player has been the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture, financed by ultra-wealthy Christian conservatives such as Roberta and Howard Ahmanson, Phillip Anschutz and Richard Mellon Scaife. Their funding has fostered some 50 books on the subject and intense lobbying and is spearheaded by an argument that evolution is a theory contested by other scientific theories.

But the funders are not advocates of science. They are Christian ideologues such as the AMDG Foundation, whose acronym reflects a Latin phrase ''to the greater glory of God,'' and the Stewardship Foundation, an evangelical Christian outfit. These and other groups have settled on a ''teach the controversy'' strategy, designed to weaken the theory of evolution although no legitimate controversy exists among scientists.

Darwin's observations urge that biological changes have been random and therefore a matter of chance. The fact of biological change in response to altered conditions is undisputed. As we know, medicines are developed to kill disease organisms that then mutate to become immune to the medicine. The successful mutations ''evolve,'' and over long periods of time can become more complex species. The people who advocate ''intelligent design'' are far more successful at politics than science, but their target is the element of randomness, or chance, in Darwin's theory of evolution and the strategy is to create doubts about evolution in the political arena.

True the main proponents of Intelligent Design are Christians but that does not negate the truth of the science. To discount the message because you do not like the messenger is foolish.

There are mutations in living organisms but they do not lead to more complexity. The mutation of a virus does not add any new information to the virus therefore it does not evolve to a more complex organism but only a different configuration of that virus.

Listen here for a great presentation on intelligent design.

Calif. Lawmakers Pass Gay Marriage Bill

BREITBART.COM - Just The News:

By STEVE LAWRENCE
Associated Press Writer

SACRAMENTO, Calif.

The California Legislature on Tuesday became the first legislative body in the country to approve same-sex marriages, as gay-rights advocates overcame two earlier defeats in the Assembly.

The 41-35 vote sends the bill to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The bill's supporters compared the legislation to earlier civil rights campaigns, including efforts to eradicate slavery and give women the right to vote.

"Do what we know is in our hearts," said the bill's sponsor, San Francisco Democrat Mark Leno. "Make sure all California families will have the same protection under the law."

Leno's bill had failed in the Assembly by four votes in June, but he was confident he could get it through on a second try after the Senate approved a same-sex marriage bill last week.

Democratic Assemblyman Paul Koretz called bans on gay marriage "the last frontier of bigotry and discrimination, and it's time we put an end to it."

Assemblyman Tom Umberg, a Democrat who abstained when another gay marriage bill fell four votes short in June, said he was concerned about what his three children would think of him if he didn't join those "who sought to take a leadership role in terms of tolerance, equality and fairness."

But opponents repeatedly cited the public's vote five years ago to approve Proposition 22, an initiative put on the ballot by gay marriage opponents to keep California from recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states or countries.

"History will record that you betrayed your constituents and their moral and ethical values," said Republican Assemblyman Jay La Suer.

This will be a battle that will divide the country for years and years. Even when voters clearly approve marriage bills that affirm marriage is between and man and woman the legislators push their agenda of same sex marriages. Pray for California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to veto this bill.

Homosexuals celebrate in ravaged New Orleans

Why has the main stream media clearly avoided this but have attempted to show those who are working to aid New Orleans as uncaring?

Dozen of 'gays' march up Bourbon Street, reslate Southern Decadence for tomorrow

By Joe Kovacs


Despite the devastation and ongoing suffering by thousands from Hurricane Katrina, homosexuals paraded on Bourbon Street in New Orleans over the weekend, and have rescheduled their "Southern Decadence" event for tomorrow.

"It's New Orleans, man. We're going to celebrate," Matt Menold, a 23-year musician wearing a sombrero and a guitar slung on his back, told the Associated Press.

An account of the small parade on the homosexual newssite 365gay.com noted:

It was a scene like something from a Fellini movie. Amid the death, the destruction, and suffering in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina a small parade behind a tattered rainbow flag made its way up Bourbon Street on Sunday.

The marchers said they were celebrating Southern Decadence. The group – about two dozen people – all said they lived in the largely gay French Quarter. Defiant, they said they were not about to flee the community despite orders from the city to do so.

One marcher carried a sign proclaiming, "Life Goes On?"


Homosexuals march in parade on Bourbon Street Sunday afternoon
(courtesy The Daily Breeze)

"The shocking callousness of New Orleans' gay activists towards the severe suffering of its fellow citizens cannot be adequately articulated in a news report," says James Hartline, a former homosexual, who describes the "Southern Decadence" festival as being "replete with tens of thousands of men and women engaged in public nudity, prostitution, illegal drug use and destructive public S & M sex."

"The idea that human beings are continuing to party while hundreds of thousands of fellow citizens are starving, dying and suffering from a multitude of sicknesses brings into focus the real lack of judgment that these constant advocates of special gay rights demonstrate in a time of crisis."

According to Agape Press, Hartine himself has AIDS and is now warning homosexuals about the consequences of their lifestyle.

As WorldNetDaily previously reported, Hurricane Katrina walloped New Orleans just two days before the annual homosexual "Southern Decadence" festival was to begin in the town, an act characterized by some as God's work.

The event has been slated to go on tomorrow in the nearby town of Lafayette, La., featuring "Floatin' Floozies," according to the event's website.

As writer John d'Addario explained in "Southern Decadence 2005: A How-To Guide" posted on FrenchQuarter.com:

Parades and non-stop parties aside, Southern Decadence may be most famous (or infamous) for the displays of naked flesh which characterize the event – which is only fitting, since New Orleans in early September is generally the closest thing you'll ever experience to walking around in a steambath outside of a health spa. While police have started to crack down on public lewdness and pressure from a local crackpot conservative religious organization has caused the five-day festival to become a little more sedate than it was in years past, the atmosphere of Southern Decadence has stayed true to its name and public displays of sexuality are pretty much everywhere you look.

The event has been endorsed by Mayor Ray Nagin, who promoted the activities in a letter stating: "There is no place like this on Earth! Southern Decadence XXXII is an exciting event. We welcome you and know that you can anticipate great food, great music and great times in New Orleans."

Sunday School teachers get 3 years prison

Islamic radicals threaten Christians tried for teaching Muslims

In an Indonesian court under threat of violence from Islamic radicals, three women were found guilty yesterday of violating the country's Child Protection Act by "Christianizing" Muslims.

Rebecca Laonita, Ratna Mala Bangun, and Ety Pangesti – who conducted a "Happy Week" program in their homes – were sentenced to three years in prison.

Indonesia's Child Protection Act of 2002 prohibits the enticement of minors to convert to another religion.

The three women had operated the Sunday School program out of one of their homes until it was closed by a local branch of the Muslim Clerics Council in May, according to the British-based human-rights group Jubilee Campaign.

The women began accepting Muslim children only after receiving permission from the children's parents or guardians, the British group said.

But the Muslim Clerics Council, claiming the women had no such permission, pressured the police to arrest them in mid-May.

The women remained in jail for the duration of their trial.

At the trial, radical Muslim activists staged vociferous protests, conducting prayers both outside and within the courtroom and loudly demanded that the defendants be convicted.

An observer who had attended most of the court sessions said yesterday was no different.

"[The protestors] arrived in nine trucks and brought a coffin to bury the accused if they were not found guilty. Their violent threats continued in their speeches before the session began. When the panel of judges read the verdict … the crowd erupted with 'Allahu akbar' or 'Allah is greatest.'"

Islam, a religion of peace of tolerance, I think not. These three ordinary housewives are really heroes of the faith. May our loving God be with them.

10 ways you can help disaster victims

10 ways you can help disaster victims
Key organizations aiding displaced, injured residents of hurricane-ravaged areas

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Thank you goes to WorldNetDaily.com for putting this list together.

Here are some key ways to help the struggling victims of one of the worst natural disasters in American history:

AMERICAN RED CROSS: All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. You can help the victims of this disaster by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to those in need. Call 1-800-HELP NOW or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund may be sent to your local American Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P. O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013. Make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org.

OPERATION BLESSING / 700 CLUB: TV's 700 Club's Operation Blessing teams are on the ground in the storm-ravaged regions of the U.S. Gulf Coast. Even before Katrina struck, OBI tractor trailer trucks were already on the move, ensuring partner agencies were stocked with emergency relief supplies for immediate distribution. OBI is now collaborating with emergency officials and making final assessments of the heavily impacted areas. Together with partner agencies like the Salvation Army, a large-scale disaster response is unfolding. Truckloads of food and mobile kitchen equipment have been delivered by OBI to Salvation Army staging areas in Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida. After four mobile kitchens and dozens of mobile canteens from partnering groups are in place, OBI will be helping provide up to 310,000 meals a day to storm victims in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. OBI is also working with local churches and other nonprofits to determine strategic and effective ways to bring aid to those struggling to cope in the aftermath of the brutal hurricane. Donate by phone by calling 1-800-730-2537 or visit www.cbn.com.

SALVATION ARMY: A $100 donation to the Salvation Army will feed a family of four for two days, provide two cases of drinking water and one household clean-up kit, containing brooms, mops, buckets and cleaning supplies. For victims needing assistance, please call 1-888-363-2769. Financial contributions are greatly needed and provide the Salvation Army with the funds to purchase what storm victims need. They also allow the Salvation Army to assess the unique needs of individuals and families, as well as put money back into the economy of those communities affected by the disaster. To make a secure online contribution visit www.salvationarmyusa.org. To donate by phone, call 1-800-SAL-ARMY. To donate by mail, send checks, earmarked "disaster relief," to P.O. BOX 4857, JACKSON, MS 39296-4857. Visit your local Wal-Mart or Sam's Club to donate to the Salvation Army's Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

DIRECT RELIEF: One of the major relief programs comes from Direct Relief International. Visit www.directrelief.org. Direct Relief has already gone into action with the state of Louisiana and federal officials overseeing the Katrina aftermath in the South. Direct Relief focuses on replenishing medical inventories and providing emergency medical material where needed. Direct Relief has in stock medical inventories that undergird health services and respond to emergencies such as the Katrina hurricane. It has a long history of giving backup to official emergency efforts in America as well as other countries around the globe. For further contact, call 1-805-962-3700 or e-mail jm@surfmedia.com.

CHURCH WORLD SERVICE: CWS Disaster Response and Recovery is ready to respond to the Katrina hurricane disaster. CWS plans on deploying efforts to the calamity based on specific invitation for assistance by CWS partners. For updates on how to help, call the CWS HOTLINE at 1-800-297-1516.

CATHOLIC CHARITIES USA: This agency is commissioned by the U.S. Catholic Bishops to represent the Catholic community in such disasters as the Katrina hurricane. The response is to emergency as well as long-term help requests. The Disaster Response Office contacts the Catholic Church's social service offices and disaster programming agencies throughout America. For further information, visit www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/news/katrina.cfm or call Catholic Charities at 1-800-919-9338.

INTERNATIONAL ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHARITIES: IOCC is providing assistance to those in the storm-affected areas. IOCC works with Orthodox Christian churches and the Church World Service and others to assist in efforts of housing, food, and miscellaneous help, particularly to the displaced by the hurricane. Already the bishops have activated emergency response networks. Donations for the IOCC Hurricane Disaster Response Fund may be sent to IOCC, "Hurricane Relief," P.O. Box 639225, Baltimore, MD 21263-0225. Call toll-free 1-877-803-IOCC (4622).

LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF/EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH OF AMERICA: The ELCA Domestic Disaster Response to the hurricane will include spiritual care for those affected by the disaster, care for caregivers, and hardship grants. Hardship grants are available to those who need short-term assistance for expenses unmet by insurance or FEMA grants, such as rent, insurance deductibles, or special medical equipment. Please send donations to ELCA Domestic Disaster Response, designated for "Hurricane 2005," to ensure that funds are available to be released immediately once community needs are assessed. All 100 percent of your gifts will go to help individuals and communities rebuild their lives following this disaster. LDR coordinators will be organizing volunteers to assist in the debris removal and clean up as soon as possible. Make your check or money order out to: ELCA Disaster Response, P.O. Box 71764, Chicago, Illinois 60694-1764. Mark "Katrina Hurricane" on your check or money order.

LUTHERAN CHURCH/MISSOURI SYNOD: Gifts for hurricane relief may be made out to LCMS World Relief and sent to LCMS World Relief and Human Care, P.O. Box 66861, St. Louis, MO 63166-9810. Please designate your check "2005 Hurricane." You may also call the Credit Card Gift Line at 1-888-930-4438.

Churches start war on Crusci-fiction

Churches start war on Crusci-fiction
Liam Houlihan, religious affairs reporter

AN ARTWORK that shows Star Wars characters nailed to crosses has sparked controversy before its public debut.

The controversial piece called Crusci-fiction consists of a roomful of 25 replicas of robot C3P0 hanging on crosses.

Church leaders and Christian groups have condemned the exhibit as ridiculing and trivialising their beliefs.

They said it was only a matter of time before Christians started to use Victoria's religious vilification laws to defend their faith.

Catholic Vicar-General for Melbourne Monsignor Les Tomlinson, said the crucifixion was very sacred to all Christians because it depicted Jesus "in the very act of winning salvation for mankind".

"To trivialise it is offensive," he said. "It's disappointing that Christian symbols seem to be able to be ridiculed, but those of other religions or groups are not."

Samaritan's Purse | International Relief

Hurricane Katrina relief fund

I recommend donating to Samaritan's Purse International Relief or to Operation Blessing.


I know Operation Blessing is associated with Pat Robertson but I have seen first hand how well this organization works. They are able to move mountains of food into the area. With Samaritan's Purse, I am assured the gospel will also get to the needy.