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Feds Forced Churches to Get Baptism Permits

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Photo Credit: Fox News

Photo Credit: Fox News

For as far back as anyone can remember, Missouri Baptists have gathered on river banks for Sunday afternoon baptisms.

The preacher leads the new believers into the water, draped in white robes as a choir sings, “Shall We Gather at the River.”

It’s the way it’s been done for generations – baptizing in creeks, lakes, and rivers “in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

But now the long-cherished tradition of “taking the plunge” has been drawn into a controversy with the federal government.

The National Park Service began enforcing a policy recently that required churches to obtain special use permits in order to baptize in public waters. As part of the same permit process, the NPS also mandated that churches give the Park Service 48 hours advance notice of pending baptisms.

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A Whopping 85% of Americans Believe Businesses Should Be Able to Turn Away Homosexual Customers

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Photo Credit: PargonThis is no idle hypothetical from Rasmussen. A photography studio in New Mexico was fined years ago under the state’s Human Rights Act for refusing to accept a lesbian couple’s request to photograph their commitment ceremony because it was contrary to the owners’ Christian beliefs. The studio lost several rounds of appeals because the state’s antidiscrimination law forbids “public accommodations” from discriminating on the basis of orientation. As Gabe Malor said a few weeks ago after the big SCOTUS DOMA decision, this is the next flashpoint in political skirmishing over gay rights. Does free exercise of religion extend to how you run your business?

A heavy, heavy majority says yep, sure does:

If a Christian wedding photographer who has deeply held religious beliefs opposing same-sex marriage is asked to work a same-sex wedding ceremony, 85% of American Adults believe he has the right to say no. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only eight percent (8%) disagree even as the courts are hearing such challenges.

You can, if you like, agree with the majority here without bringing free exercise into it. A strong-form libertarian would say that the photographer has a right to refuse for whatever reason he chooses, religious or not. It’s a matter of private property, not free exercise.

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Jimmy Carter Compares Catholic Church to Islam on Women’s Rights

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter says religious leaders, including those in Christianity and Islam, share the blame for mistreatment of women across the world.

The human rights activist said Friday religious authorities perpetuate misguided doctrines of male superiority, from the Catholic Church forbidding women from becoming priests to some African cultures mutilating the genitals of young girls.

Carter said the doctrines, which he described as theologically indefensible, contribute to a political, social and economic structure where political leaders passively accept violence against women, a worldwide sex slave trade and inequality in the workplace and classroom.

“There is a great aversion among men leaders and some women leaders to admit that this is something that exists, that it’s serious and that it’s it troubling and should be addressed courageously,” Carter said at an international conference on women and religion.

The 39th president is hosting representatives from 15 countries at The Carter Center, the human rights organization he launched in 1982 after leaving the White House.

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U2’s Bono’s on Jesus Christ

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Photo Credit: Lisa Cadman

Photo Credit: Lisa Cadman

Growing up in Ireland with a Protestant mother and a Catholic father, Bono imitated C.S. Lewis in “Mere Christianity,” where Lewis argued that Jesus was a lunatic, liar or Lord.

“When people say ‘Good teacher,’ ‘Prophet,’ ‘Really nice guy,’ … this is not how Jesus thought of himself,” Bono said. “So, you’re left with a challenge in that, which is either Jesus was who he said he was or a complete and utter nut case.”

“And I believe that Jesus was, you know, the Son of God,” Bono said, according to a transcript provided to Religion News Service. “I understand that for some people and we need to … if I could be so bold, need to be really, really respectful to people who find that ridiculous.”

In the interview that will be broadcast on Tuesday (June 25), Bono made comparisons between biblical characters and music.

“First of all, David’s a musician so I’m gonna like him,” Bono said. “What’s so powerful about the Psalms are, as well as they’re being gospel and songs of praise, they are also the Blues. It’s very important for Christians to be honest with God, which often, you know, God is much more interested in who you are than who you want to be.”

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Pro-Abortion Biden Boasts His Theology Credentials, Claims Amnesty Bill is “Christian Thing to Do”

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Photo Credit: Washington Examiner

Photo Credit: Washington Examiner

Vice President Joe Biden, speaking at the National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast Thursday, slammed Republican lawmakers opposed to the push for comprehensive immigration reform, calling the White House’s blueprint the “Christian thing to do.”

As lawmakers move closer to a compromise on border security, the free-talking Biden had some fiery words for Republicans . . .

“Many of these same [GOP] representatives talk about their Christianity and their fidelity to the Bible, but they forget Matthew Chapter 25, Verse 34, where scripture teaches us: ‘I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty — you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you welcomed me,’” Biden said pointing to a Republican amendment that would have blocked President Obama’s decision to halt the deportation of so-called DREAMers.

Biden later added, “It’s the right thing to do; it’s the Christian thing to do.”

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Liberty High Valedictorian Makes a Stand, Says the Lord’s Prayer at Graduation (+video)

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Photo Credit: YouTube

An Upstate high school valedictorian tore up his graduation speech and prayed instead.

Valedictorian Roy Costner spoke at his Liberty High School graduation as people in the crowd cheered when he threw away his pre-approved speech, reciting the Lord’s Prayer instead.

…Costner said he spoke to his pastor and prayed before deciding his speech was the time to make a statement.

“It was an emotional moment,” Costner told FOX Carolina on Tuesday. “It was overwhelming to look out and see the crowd and yelling.”

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Integrity in a Post-Christian America

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Photo Credit: Art ~ 4ThGlryOfGod

America is now called a post-Christian place; its government is overtly attacking Christian beliefs about birth control, abortion, and gay marriage. The threat to these beliefs is a small though telling symptom of the larger social changes that, though little considered, are proceeding as traditional Judeo-Christian integrity departs. The problem is, abandoning America’s traditional religion discards its related moral behavior, too. And societies without a strong moral order are very unpleasant places to live — try Afghanistan, Somalia, or Mexico.

It’s instructive to compare two dictionary definitions of “integrity” from the same source, Merriam-Webster, in 1943 and in 2013.

1943 definition: Moral soundness, honesty, purity, freedom from corrupting influences or practices. (Webster’s New International Dictionary of the English Language, Second Edition, 1943)

2013 definition: Firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values : incorruptibility. (Free Merriam-Webster.com, 2013)

Both definitions agree on the avoidance of corruption. But the older definition implicitly assumes a shared single standard of morality, while the current definition implicitly assumes the existence of more than one such, and thereby equates them. The first was intended to reflect an objective standard applicable uniformly to all; the second, multiple standards of equal validity.

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Florida Public School: Christianity Causes Islamic Extremism

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Photo Credit: Newsmax

International terrorists are motivated to acts of unspeakable violence because they suffer from low self esteem, students at an internet-based public high school are being taught.

Violent influences from Christianity also contribute, says a world history lesson plan offered by the Florida Virtual School.

The plan asks students to think of “what comes to mind” when talking about the concept of fundamentalism in a religious context. Then, they are told to think about how “this type of fundamentalism” has played out in Islam, according to Fox News.

“Common traits that psychologists have found in terrorists are that they are often risk-takers and many suffer from low self-esteem,” the lesson plan states. “Sometimes joining a terrorist group provides these individuals with a sense of belonging.”

It then implies that Christianity may have influenced the violent nature of Islamic fundamentalism saying that the transition from Christianity to Islam “softly could imply Christianity may be affecting (therefore causing) Muslim extremism.”

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Congressman: Christianity ‘Will Restore our Nation’

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Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore

Barack Obama, shortly before he moved into the Oval Office, said, “Whatever we once were, we’re no longer a Christian nation. At least not just. We are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, and a Buddhist nation, and a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers.”

But Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, believes he’s wrong. That America remains a nation based on the Judeo-Christian foundations on which it was launched, and those values will return.

“I think if you are going to reverse engineer America, go back through history … you could not build America without Christianity,” he told WND reporter Taylor Rose is an interview that focused on faith, not politics.

“Whether it shows up on our sleeve or in our heart, it’s what will restore our nation,” he said.

The congressman explained that the rule of law on which free societies function today is traceable back to the Ten Commandments, given to Moses by God.

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Despite Objections, Prayer Goes on at High School Graduation (+video)

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Photo Credit: Nancy LeedyDespite the opposition of at least six students, Lincoln County High School kept to its tradition of student-led prayer during its graduation ceremony Friday.

Class of 2013 President Jonathan Hardwick received a standing ovation after he prayed for about one minute during Friday’s commencement ceremony at the school. Many audience members echoed his closing of “Amen.”

A video of Hardwick’s prayer quickly hit social media websites such as YouTube and Topix, with most online comments supporting Hardwick’s decision.

Part of the class president’s prayer was the following, “Thank you for helping us get here safely today, Lord, and thank you for the many blessings you have given us.”

In an interview with The Advocate-Messenger earlier this month, Principal Tim Godbey acknowledged that six students — including at least one atheist — had pleaded with him not to allow student-led prayer to be a part of the school’s graduation ceremony. Godbey, a self-professed Christian who says he prays for each of his students daily, said under separation of church and state laws, faculty members have never been able to pray publicly on school grounds or during school-sponsored functions. However, he noted that the U.S. Constitution does not prohibit students from doing so as long as they are not otherwise disruptive.

Read more from this story HERE.