Vatican Consultor Blasts ‘Homophobic’ Priests, Wants More LGBT Inclusion in Church

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The Rev. James Martin blasted “homophobic” pastors at the World Meeting of Families in Dublin, calling for the church to consider LGBT individuals’ lived experiences.

Martin urged the Catholic Church to more openly embrace homosexuals Thursday during a talk entitled “Showing Welcome and Respect in our Parishes for ‘LGBT’ People and their Families” at the conference.

He argued that the church should advocate for homosexuals, include them in parish life, apologize to those the church has harmed, and view them as a part of the body of Christ.

“By excluding LGBT people, you are breaking up God’s family; you are tearing apart the Body of Christ,” Martin said, according to National Catholic Register. “This is part of what it means to be a Christian: standing up for the marginalized, the persecuted, the beaten down. It’s shocking how little the Catholic Church has done this.”

Martin’s comments appeared to be aimed as much at the conference itself as they were at the church, given the fact that the World Meeting of Families barred LGBT groups from participating, pursuant to Catholic teaching on the definitions of marriage and family and God’s design for human sexuality. (Read more from “Vatican Consultor Blasts ‘Homophobic’ Priests, Wants More LGBT Inclusion in Church” HERE)

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Pastor, Wife Allegedly Told to End Bible Studies in Apartment—as It’s a ‘Business’—or Face Eviction

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A semi-retired Lutheran pastor and his wife allegedly have been ordered by their residential complex to stop holding Bible studies in their private apartment — or face eviction.

Why? Apparently the apartment complex defines “Bible study” as a “business” — and one that’s prohibited from taking place in private residential units. . .

According to First Liberty, the Hauges moved into the Evergreens in January 2017. Ken Hauge is a retired Lutheran minister who volunteers part-time pastoring at a small church in a nearby shopping center. Some residents in the Evergreens asked Hauge to lead a Bible study in the complex, and he agreed and applied to the complex manager to reserve the community room for the study.

But the law firm said management refused to let the gathering be called a “Bible study,” instead requiring it be named a “book review.”

A scheduling miscommunication resulted in the reservation getting canceled, and a resident volunteered to host the Bible studies in her apartment for the remainder of 2017. But the complex continued to insist that posted notices call the gathering a “book review.” (Read more from “Pastor, Wife Allegedly Told to End Bible Studies in Apartment—as It’s a ‘Business’—or Face Eviction” HERE)

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University’s Feminist Fight Club Teaches Women How to Raise Testosterone

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Participants in Colorado State University’s Feminist Fight Club are learning to confront and disrupt what the group calls displays of subtle sexism on the campus, The College Fix reported. . .

A guidebook for the program explains methods members can use. For example, female participants are encouraged to raise their testosterone levels by taking on masculine poses. The poses are considered a way to raise confidence. . . .

Another activity advises women to have a comeback ready for times when anyone asks them why they’re not smiling. This facet of the program is called “Don’t Tell Me To Smile.”

The group makes it clear where it is aiming its activities: “We fight PATRIARCHY (and all forms of harassment, bullying, inequity, discrimination, -isms, and -phobias), not each other,” the group’s discussion guidebook states. . .

Another exercise is taking part in a drinking game intended to rid people of their use of filler words and phrases such as “Um.” During the game, others are supposed to point it out and make the offender take a drink. (Read more from “University’s Feminist Fight Club Teaches Women How to Raise Testosterone” HERE)

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Mom Accidentally Locks Infant in Car, Calls 911. Emergency Services Tell Mom Help Isn’t Coming.

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A Michigan mother inadvertently locked her infant in the car while loading the child and her supplies up on Saturday. When she called emergency services for assistance in freeing the infant from the rising heat in the vehicle, she was told “no.” . . .

Lacey Guyton, 25, was leaving her grandmother’s home in Waterford, Michigan, when she realized that her car keys were in her 2-month-old daughter’s diaper bag — which Guyton had promptly loaded into her vehicle after securing her daughter in a car seat.

Guyton’s stomach dropped when she heard the car’s auto-locks deploy as she was circling the car to get into the driver’s seat. Guyton told ABC News that she had another key fob on her, but it refused to work when she tried to unlock the vehicle. . .

Guyton’s grandmother told dispatchers that there was an infant locked in the car, and the dispatcher reportedly responded that the emergency services department doesn’t answer to such calls of unlocking vehicles or breaking windows. The dispatcher, instead, reportedly offered to send a towing company to the scene. . .

After several more tries, Guyton was able to break the window, but not before her child stopped crying and had started to close her eyes. (Read more from “Mom Accidentally Locks Infant in Car, Calls 911. Emergency Services Tell Mom Help Isn’t Coming.” HERE)

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Gay Duo Married by Ginsburg Accused of Raping Student

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The New York Daily News reports David Daniels and Scott Walters, who were married by Ginsburg in 2014, are under investigation for allegedly drugging and violently raping a student in 2010. . .

“The couple is so highly regarded that they were married in 2014 by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg,” the Daily News noted. . .

The report said Schultz was a 23-year-old graduate student at Rice University, and he kept his experience secret for years because he feared repercussions.

“Emboldened by both the #MeToo movement and upon learning that Daniels had made tenure at the University of Michigan – where he’d be in close personal contact with young aspiring singers – Schultz filed a complaint with the U-M Police Department’s special victims unit in July. Authorities in Michigan, in turn, passed the complaint on to the Houston Police Department,” the report said. . .

He alleges he met Daniels and Walters in 2010 at a party for Houston Grand Opera’s run of “Xerxes,” and it was at a corporate apartment where they were staying that he accepted a drink. (Read more from “Gay Duo Married by Ginsburg Accused of Raping Student” HERE)

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Republicans Block Senator Rand Paul’s Effort to Defund Planned Parenthood

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Senator Paul was attempting to add an amendment to the appropriations bill funding the departments of Labor and Health and Human Services, to stop Planned Parenthood from receiving federal funding. . .

There are a limited number of amendments that can be added to a bill, so to fill up space, GOP leadership inserted a useless amendment that would change funding in a program by $1.

“One of the top priorities for a Republican Congress that professes pro-life values on the campaign trail should be to stop taxpayer funding for abortion providers,” Senator Paul said in a statement. “This is our chance to turn our words into action, stand up for the sanctity of life, and speak out for the most innocent among us that have no voice.”

The March for Life issued a statement thanking Senator Paul for his efforts.

“March for Life is grateful to Senator Paul and to those who voted in favor of an amendment to the appropriations bill that would have banned funding to abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, our nation’s largest abortion provider and subject of Department of Justice investigation into the trafficking of aborted baby body parts. Unfortunately, many Senators who claim to be pro-life defied their constituents and the consensus of the American public by giving the abortion industry a pass. Almost two-thirds of Americans say they do not want to fund abortion with their tax dollars. Disentangling American taxpayers from the abortion industry is long overdue. Our elected representatives should join the national consensus and put an end to taxpayer funding of abortion, or risk being voted out of office,” March for Life President Jeanne Mancini said.

(Read more from “Republicans Block Senator Rand Paul’s Effort to Defund Planned Parenthood” HERE)

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Watch: UFC Fighter Details How Jesus Saved Him From Death

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UFC fighter Cody Garbrandt revealed that he once contemplated suicide and said that his Christian faith is now the one immovable thing in his life. . .

During a video interview for White Chair Film’s “I Am Second,” the former UFC bantamweight champion detailed his upbringing. His adolescence involved a very dark period during high school, which ultimately left him contemplating taking his own life. . .

“I was a teenager. I think I was a senior in high school. I wanted to become a state champion again. I won state as a freshman, I got beat as a sophomore, I was injured as a junior,” Garbrandt explained. “Wrestling was something I did my whole entire life, and I think losing the passion for that, I didn’t have any drive. I just felt unaccomplished, and I got in with the wrong crowd and started doing some drugs and partying and kind of living super carelessly, and it almost consumed my life. I felt like my road was running to an end.”

“It was a changing point for me in my life,” a visibly emotional Garbrandt said in the video. “That moment, that bond and that thing that we went through really … brought us even closer. [He and I] attending church services together. It was nice to be there with my big brother, worshipping God and growing toward Him.”

Garbrandt said that it was during this time that his relationship with the Lord began to grow through taking part in church services, reading the Bible, and prayer.

(Read more from “UFC Fighter Details How Jesus Saved Him From Death” HERE)

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Angel Mom: How Many More Have to Die?

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After police officials arrested and charged an illegal immigrant with first-degree murder in Mollie Tibbetts’ death, an “angel mom” asked “how many more” Americans have to die in order for the U.S. border to be secured.

“JUST HOW MANY MORE WILL IT TAKE FOR ALL OF AMERICA TO WAKE UP & GET BEHIND (President Donald Trump) 2 SECURE OUT BORDERS & CLEAN UP OUR COUNTRY,” angel mom Sabine Durden asked, according to Breitbart.

Durden’s son Dominic was killed by an illegal immigrant who turned the wrong way in an unlicensed truck and hit Dominic’s motorcycle in 2012. The driver had two felonies and two DUIs at the time of the crash. He was jailed for 35 days for the accident.

Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts’ body was found on August 21 after the girl had been missing since July 18.

Christhian Rivera, a Mexican national, told police that he followed Tibbetts in his car while she was jogging, Fox News reported. After Rivera started to jog with her, Tibbetts threatened to call the police, which made Rivera mad. Over a month later, Rivera led police to her body but said he could not remember many details of the incident in which she was killed.

Another angel mom, Mary Ann Mendoza, also responded to the news and asked, “What’s it going to take for our politicians to care about Americans safety?”

Mendoza’s son Brandon was killed in 2014 by an illegal immigrant who was driving drunk the wrong way on a highway, according to Breitbart.

During a rally in West Virginia, Trump said that the incident “should have never happened,” Fox News reported.

“You heard about today with the illegal alien coming in, very sadly, from Mexico and you saw what happened to that incredible, beautiful young woman?” Trump said. “Should have never happened. Illegally in our country.”

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds responded to the tragedy on Twitter. “As Iowans, we are heartbroken, and we are angry. We are angry that a broken immigration system allowed a predator like this to live in our community, and we will do all we can bring justice to Mollie’s killer.”

During the last spark in the immigration debate in June, angel moms joined Trump at the White House to talk about the permanent separation that takes place when illegal immigrants commit deadly crimes.

“We don’t owe illegal aliens anything,” angel mom Agnes Gibboney said at the event. “We need to take care of our own. We have military. We have homeless people. We have children living in poverty. We need to take care of our own.”

Her son, Ronald da Silva, was slain in 2002 by an illegal immigrant who was part of a gang.

“The media doesn’t report truthfully what separation of families really is,” Gibboney said on Fox News. She held up a picture of her son’s tombstone and continued, “I would like to show what real separation of families is. This is what separates my son and myself … a coffin and six feet of dirt.” (For more from the author of “Angel Mom: How Many More Have to Die?” please click HERE)

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National Cemetery Evacuated Over Bomb Threat

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Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia was evacuated Wednesday morning after officials received a bomb threat.

Bomb technicians were sweeping cars at the cemetery in a search for explosives, according to WTOP-TV in Washington.

The Washington Post reported that evacuation of the facilities and grounds started around 9:30 Eastern time.

Arlington officials said an emergency services team from nearby Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall was on the scene investigating the threat.

“All families, visitors and employees were evacuated safely from all public buildings and work areas while the threat is being investigated,” cemetery officials announced in a tweet just before 11 a.m.

At noon, the cemetery announced that it would be closed to the public for the rest of the day.

Eleven funerals were scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, according to WTOP.

Arlington spokeswoman Barbara Lewandrowski told The Post that the threat was made to the cemetery as a whole and not to one specific area.

She said officials were checking “every single part of the grounds and facilities.”

There was no immediate word on how the threat had been made.

The cemetery conducts 27 to 30 funerals each weekday, according to its official website.

“Arlington National Cemetery is the final resting place for more than 400,000 active duty service members, veterans and their families,” it says. “Service to country is the common thread that binds all who are remembered and honored at Arlington.”

The site is also home to the Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Home National Cemetery, where more than 14,000 veterans — many from the Civil War — are buried. (For more from the author of “National Cemetery Evacuated Over Bomb Threat” please click HERE)

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Great but Doomed: Rand Paul Introduces Promise-Keeping Amendment to Defund Planned Parenthood

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Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., wants Republicans to fight to defund Planned Parenthood in the government spending bill currently making its way through the United States Senate.

In a statement released Friday, Paul said it was time for Republicans to change words into action.

“One of the top priorities for a Republican Congress that professes pro-life values on the campaign trail should be to stop taxpayer funding for abortion providers. This is our chance to turn our words into action, stand up for the sanctity of life, and speak out for the most innocent among us that have no voice,” he said.

According to Paul’s office, the amendment would not block health care providers that do not perform abortions from receiving federal funding.

In the 2016-2017 fiscal year, Planned Parenthood received a total of $543.7 million in federal funding at the taxpayer’s expense.

According to The Hill, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., warned that Paul’s amendment would be a “spoiler” to the massive Defense, Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor, and Education funding bill. GOP leadership has promised to avoid adopting “poison pill” proposals to these funding bills.

What that means, in plain English, is that Senate leadership is unwilling to force the Democrats to choose between funding abortion providers with taxpayer dollars or shutting down the government. Murdered babies aren’t worth the effort for most Republicans. (For more from the author of “Great but Doomed: Rand Paul Introduces Promise-Keeping Amendment to Defund Planned Parenthood” please click HERE)

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