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Dishwasher, a Christian, Awarded $21 Million in Lawsuit Over Working Sabbath

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By The Blaze. A former Miami hotel dishwasher was awarded a $21 million settlement in court after being made to work Sundays despite conflicts with her Catholic missionary work and eventually getting fired, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

Although the jury awarded 60-year-old Marie Jean Pierre $21 million in damages, punitive damages in federal court are capped so she will likely receive around $500,000. But her attorney said it wasn’t about the money in the first place. . .

Pierre was hired to work at the Conrad Miami hotel in 2006. She said she told her employer at the time of her hiring that she could not work Sundays because she is a member of Soldiers of Christ Church, which is a Catholic missionary group.

The scheduling arrangement was fine from 2006 until 2009, when the hotel began scheduling her on Sundays. After she told them she’d have to quit if she was forced to work on Sundays, the hotel again accommodated her requests.

The issue resurfaced in 2015, when according to the lawsuit her manager demanded that she work Sundays of swap shifts with other coworkers to have the day off. (Read more from “Dishwasher, a Christian, Awarded $21 Million in Lawsuit Over Working Sabbath” HERE)

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Hotel Dishwasher Awarded $21 Million After Boss Made Her Work on Sundays

By NBC News. . . Marie Jean Pierre, who worked as a dishwasher at the Conrad Miami, sued Virginia-based Park Hotels & Resorts, formerly known as Hilton Worldwide, in 2017 for violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The landmark law bans employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin.

The award was filed on Tuesday with the U.S. District Court in Miami. The jury also found she was due $35,000 in back wages and $500,000 for emotional pain and mental anguish.

Pierre, 60, is a mother of six and a member of the Soldiers of Christ Church, a Catholic missionary group that helps the poor, her attorney said. . .

Sometime in 2015, the kitchen manager at the Conrad Miami, “demanded” Pierre work Sundays, the lawsuit states and for a short time allowed her to swap shifts with other coworkers to have the day off.

On March 31, 2016, Pierre says she was fired for alleged misconduct, negligence and “unexcused absences,” according to the lawsuit. (Read more from “Hotel Dishwasher Awarded $21 Million After Boss Made Her Work on Sundays” HERE)

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Facebook Censors Photo That Depicts Santa Claus Kneeling to Honor Baby Jesus

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Facebook has covered over a posting of a picture of Santa Claus kneeling before the Baby Jesus, warning viewers that the photo “may show violent or graphic content.”

A second warning beneath the obscured image of Santa on bended knee, reverentially adoring the Christ Child states, “This photo was automatically covered so you can decide if you want to see it.” . . .

Facebook explains on its site what it means by “Violence and graphic content:” . . .

The image in question — of the Savior of the World as an infant and a popularized version of a saint — was originally posted on December 1, 2015, with this accompanying poem explaining the touching illustration:

My dear precious Jesus, I did not mean to take your place,
I only bring toys and things and you bring love and grace.
People give me lists of wishes and hope that they came true;
But you hear prayers of the heart and promise your will to do.
Children try to be good and not to cry when I am coming to town;
But you love them unconditionally and that love will abound.
I leave only a bag of toys and temporary joy for a season;
But you leave a heart of love, full of purpose and reasons.
I have a lot of believers and what one might call fame;
But I never healed the blind or tried to help the lame.
I have rosy cheeks and a voice full of laughter;
But no nail—scarred hands or a promise of the hereafter.
You may find several of me in town or at a mall;
But there is only one omnipotent you, to answer a sinner’s call.
And so, my dear precious Jesus, I kneel here to pray;
To worship and adore you on this, your holy birthday.

(Read more from “Facebook Censors Photo That Depicts Santa Claus Kneeling to Honor Baby Jesus in Manger” HERE)

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Progressives Do Want Religion: Compulsory Progressivism

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So much for progressivism’s obsession with “thou shall not judge.” Good. Because it was always a scam anyway. The plan was always to judge, and to judge harshly. But just as the devil needed to go undercover in the Garden of Eden with his own “did God really say?” deception, progressives needed deceptions like tolerance and diversity for as long as it took to eat away at truth like water against a rock. Then, when the time was right, the throne could be usurped for good in broad daylight.

The final act of that play is upon us now. We need not guess at it. Men and women like Apple CEO Tim Cook are taking to their pulpits with a megaphone and promising the great unwashed their own version of “thus sayeth the Lord.”

Cook used the occasion of the Anti-Defamation League’s first-ever “Courage Against Hate” award to preach:

“We only have one message for those who seek to push hate, division, and violence: You have no place on our platforms,” Cook said. “You have no home here.”

“If we can’t be clear on moral questions like these, then we’ve got big problems,” Cook continued. “I believe the most sacred thing that each of us is given is our judgment, our morality, our own innate desire to separate right from wrong. Choosing to set that responsibility aside at a moment of trial is a sin.”

Morality. Sacred. Right. Wrong. Sin. These are words and concepts traditionally associated with a place called church. Which brings us to another part of the great progressive scam. Separation of church and state was never their aim, either. They want the state to be the church.

But unlike the one true church, which has largely forgotten its charge of excommunication for those who insist on confusing the light with the darkness, the progressive church excels at casting out those who refuse to bend the knee to the idols du jour. Judgment is its jam.

This is ultimately an argument of what it means to be human, and when competing definitions strain against one another to the extent that they are now, it also becomes an argument about our very right to exist in public at all if we don’t bow to a counterfeit god.

Will we be leaven, or will we be lepers? We ignore at our peril the unforgiving gospel of priest, prophet, and king Cook, whose definition of morality is 180 degrees different from the real Gospel’s. Nothing less than a total hijacking of the created, redemptive, and sanctifying order is well under way. That’s why it looks like a church. Because it is one.

When the White Witch thought she killed Aslan in “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” she shaved his mane and turned it into a crown to wear as she mercilessly mowed down all those who continued to oppose her in Aslan’s name. In killing him, she also desperately wanted to be him.

“Desperate” is the operative word there. No such replacement of the true king of heaven and earth can ever appear to be anything but desperate in its definitions and defenses, which is why the defense of progressivism will be ruthless to its core. How else are you going to defend definitions that are ever careening toward the insane? Only ruthlessly.

Reason and science and all the other fronts won’t get you there. There will be religion, and the progressive religion will be compulsory.

Be baptized in it, or be bulldozed. (For more from the author of “Progressives Do Want Religion: Compulsory Progressivism” please click HERE)

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UK Supreme Court Makes Unanimous Decision, Backs Bakery That Refused to Make Gay Marriage Cake

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By The Guardian. A Belfast bakery run by evangelical Christians was not obliged to make a cake emblazoned with the message “support gay marriage”, the supreme court has ruled, overturning a £500 damages award imposed on it.

The unanimous decision by the UK’s highest court was greeted as a victory for free speech but condemned by gay rights groups and the Equality Commission of Northern Ireland as a backward step in combating discrimination.

Ashers had refused to produce the cake, featuring the Sesame Street puppets Bert and Ernie, in 2014 for Gareth Lee, who supports the campaign to legalise same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland. He wanted to take it to a private function marking International Day Against Homophobia.

The judgment, delivered after the supreme court’s first hearing in Northern Ireland in May, reverses earlier decisions in Belfast county court and a court of appeal ruling that the company discriminated against Lee, who is gay, on the grounds of sexual orientation.

The five justices on the supreme court – Lady Hale, Lord Mance, Lord Kerr, Lord Hodge and Lady Black – found the bakery did not refuse to fulfil Lee’s order because of his sexual orientation and therefore there was no discrimination on those grounds. The business relationship between Lee and Ashers did not involve people being refused jobs or services because of their religious faith, the judges added. (Read more from “UK Supreme Court Makes Unanimous Decision, Backs Bakery That Refused to Make Gay Marriage Cake” HERE)

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The Supreme Court’s Ruling on the ‘Gay Cake’ Row Is a Victory for Common Sense

By Telegraph. The decision of the Supreme Court in the great “gay cake” row is a victory not just for common sense but for freedom of expression. The affair began four years ago when a customer ordered a £36 sponge cake from Ashers bakery in Northern Ireland which refused his order.

They did so not because he was gay but because they objected to the political slogan on the cake in support of gay marriage. (Read more from “The Supreme Court’s Ruling on the ‘Gay Cake’ Row Is a Victory for Common Sense” HERE)

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‘The Middle’ Star Reveals How He Has Kept His Faith While Working in Hollywood

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Atticus Shaffer, star of ABC’s “The Middle,” a popular sitcom that went off the air earlier this year after a nine-year run, is an outspoken Christian who has openly shared his perspective on faith, Hollywood and the harrowing journey he has faced to overcome the side effects of osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as brittle-bone disease.

Shaffer, 20, recently took audience questions during an appearance on PureFlix.com’s “Pure Talk,” revealing, among other issues, how he has navigated the complex world of Hollywood without compromising his faith.

“You keep your focus on Him,” he said of God. “You talk with Him about everything.”

Shaffer also shared his two favorite books of the Bible: John and Isaiah. He noted that he and his mother do a daily Bible study, bouncing back and forth between the Old and New Testaments in an effort to more deeply understand the unity of the Scriptures. . .

On a personal and professional level, Shaffer said he finds joy in getting to be a storyteller in Hollywood — and said that he’s hoping to be able to tell powerful stories through his production company, while also continuing to perform in new projects. (Read more from “‘The Middle’ Star Reveals How He Has Kept His Faith While Working in Hollywood” 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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Study: Children With Religious Parents Less Likely to Commit Suicide

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Having religious parents significantly decreases the risk of children having or acting upon suicidal thoughts according to a recently published study from JAMA Psychiatry.

The study, titled Association of Parent and Offspring Religiosity With Offspring Suicide Ideation and Attempts, showed that having religious parents was associated with an 80 percent decrease in risk of those parents’ children having suicidal thoughts and behavior. The decrease in risk of suicidal behavior was observed in children with religious parents regardless of whether or not the children themselves adhered to religious belief and practice.

“We found that a parent’s belief in the high importance of religion was associated with an approximately 80% decrease in risk in suicidal thoughts and behaviors in their children compared with parents who reported religion as unimportant,” study authors Connie Svob and Priya Wickramaratne of Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute told PsyPost.

“This finding was independent of a child’s own belief (or lack of belief) in the importance of religion and independent of other potent parental risk factors (e.g., parental depression, history or suicidal behavior, divorce),” they added.

The researchers noted that parents’ religious beliefs were a better predictor of whether or not their children would display suicidal behavior than was the parents’ religious service attendance. The study authors proposed that this finding suggests that religious teaching in the home has more of an association with decreased risk of suicide than does consistent service attendance. (Read more from “Study: Children With Religious Parents Less Likely to Commit Suicide” HERE)

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Christian Chaplain Facing Court Martial Over Practicing Own Beliefs

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An Army chaplain is facing punishment because he abided by the tenets of his faith, according to attorneys defending Chaplain Scott Squires.

Squires, who has been serving at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, ran afoul of the Army’s rules when he told a soldier he could not hold a marriage retreat that included same-sex couples.

“Chaplain Squires is a Southern Baptist chaplain, so he has to follow the teachings of the Southern Baptist Convention,” said Mike Berry, an attorney at First Liberty Institute, which is representing Squires in his appeal of the punishment leveled against him this spring.

Squires is endorsed by the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board.

“NAMB, just like many other endorsing organizations, prohibits their chaplains from facilitating or providing religious services that include same sex couples, such as a marriage retreat like this,” Berry said, according to Army Times.

Berry said Squires offered the soldier an alternative event under a different chaplain.

“In this instance, Squires did exactly what Army regulations tell him to do, which is to reschedule the event,” Berry said. “In fact, the event was rescheduled at the detriment of other couples who could not attend the new event.”

“But that’s what the procedures say to do, so that’s what he did,” Berry added.

In its investigation, however, the Army said Squires put his personal philosophy ahead of that of the Army and discriminated against the soldiers wanting to participate in the retreat. It said he acted with a “complete lack of urgency” by waiting three days to reschedule the event.

The investigation recommended Squires be found guilty of violating Army Equal Opportunity policy and be given “an administrative or non-judicial punishment.”

The investigation also called for punishment against Kacie Griffin, who was an assistant to Squires, for not working faster to resolve the issue.

“I simply did what I’m required to do under Army regulations and my endorser’s rules,” Squires said, according to columnist Todd Starnes, who has written about the chaplain’s case. “I am shocked that I would even be investigated, let alone threatened with punishment, for following the rules.”

Berry told Starnes that the real misconduct was committed by Maj. Gen. Kurt Sonntag, who authored the report calling for Squires to be punished.

“The United States Army, acting under the command of Major General Sonntag, is threatening to punish one of its chaplains because he followed the rules,” he said. “The Army, or Congress, must hold Major General Sonntag accountable for allowing this aggressive anti-religious hostility against its military chaplains to occur under his command.”

“Major General Sonntag must immediately reject this investigation, if any chaplain under his command is to have the confidence that he or she will be protected when following military policy,” Berry says. “No chaplain should face the specter of a court martial and military prison for following the rules of their faith and the Army.”

In an op-ed for The Daily Caller, Berry explained why he is fighting the case.

“Inexplicably, even though the Army investigator concluded that any ‘discrimination’ was ‘unintentional’ and that the Army’s regulations regarding the matter are ‘unclear,’ he recommended that Chaplain Squires be reprimanded, something that would tarnish the career and reputation of an otherwise exemplary officer and soldier,” Berry wrote. (For more from the author of “Christian Chaplain Facing Court Martial Over Practicing Own Beliefs” please click HERE)

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Scientific Study Reveals Something Amazing About Religious People

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By The Daily Caller. Religious affiliation actually prolong one’s life through positive social effects according to a recent study of obituaries in Iowa and across the nation.

Laura E. Wallace of Ohio State University, one of the study’s authors, found that among the social factors that affect one’s physical health and longevity, religion plays a large and observably positive role. Her findings showed that people who had active religious affiliations in life lived an average of 10 years longer than their non-religious counterparts in Des Moines, and an average of five years longer nationally.

“Being healthy doesn’t just mean going to the gym and eating well. Our social worlds have such a large influence on our health as well. Religion is clearly one of these factors that makes a big difference,” Wallace said, according to PsyPost.

“Religion has a strong relationship with longevity. Our research suggests that, in part, this is due to the opportunities that religion provides to make social connections and give back to the community,” she added.

Researchers for the study, which was initially published in Social Psychological and Personality Science, analyzed 505 obituaries from the Des Moines Register and a further 1,096 obituaries from across the country. The parameters of the study, however, presented some drawbacks, according to Wallace. (Read more from “Scientific Study Reveals Something Amazing About Religious People” HERE)

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Do Religious People Really Sleep Better?

By Psychology Today. Years of research have shown that religious involvement is associated with many dimensions of good health. Among patients with cancer, for example, religion is associated with fewer physical symptoms and better functioning. Additional research has found significant correlations between religion and better mental health.

Do people who are involved in religion also sleep longer and better? A recent study addressed this question by reviewing seven relevant studies. Here’s what they found:

1. People who were religiously involved were more likely to get at least 7 hours of sleep per night. Interestingly this association was found only for those from what were described as “liberal-to-moderate” religions (e.g., Presbyterian) and not among those from “conservative” religions (e.g., Baptist).

2. People who regularly attend religious services are more likely to report sound sleep quality. This effect was found for those who attended religious services at least once per week; attending less often was not associated with an advantage.

3. People who believe that God is in control of their life report better sleep quality. A similar effect was found for those who believe that their body is sacred, though only among those who also ascribed control to God. (Read more from “Do Religious People Really Sleep Better?” HERE)

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Trump Launches Religious Freedom Task Force to Undo Another Obama Legacy

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On Monday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the formation of a Religious Liberty Task Force to protect the conscience rights of Americans from being violated by government regulations.

“Today I am announcing our next step: the Religious Liberty Task Force, to be co-chaired by the Associate Attorney General and the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy—Jesse and Beth,” Sessions said at a Department of Justice Religious Liberty Summit.

“The Task Force will help the Department fully implement our religious liberty guidance by ensuring that all Justice Department components are upholding that guidance in the cases they bring and defend, the arguments they make in court, the policies and regulations they adopt, and how we conduct our operations. That includes making sure that our employees know their duties to accommodate people of faith,” he explained.

The formation of this task force follows an October memo from Sessions broadly directing the Department of Justice to make accommodations to protect religious liberty. In his remarks, Sessions warned of “dangerous” anti-religious sentiments in the country threatening the rights protected by First Amendment.

“A dangerous movement, undetected by many, is now challenging and eroding our great tradition of religious freedom. There can be no doubt. This is no little matter. It must be confronted and defeated,” Sessions said.

“We have gotten to the point where courts have held that morality cannot be a basis for law; where ministers are fearful to affirm, as they understand it, holy writ from the pulpit; and where one group can actively target religious groups by labeling them a ‘hate group’ on the basis of their sincerely held religious beliefs.”

Sessions cited examples of Americans being forced by government to violate their conscience, notably “nuns ordered to buy contraceptives” — referencing the plight of The Little Sisters of the Poor — and the bigoted anti-Catholic questions asked by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., of Judge Amy Coney Barrett at her confirmation hearing last September.

He said the Department of Justice will remain in contact with religious groups across the country to continue to improve its policies and respect religious liberty.

“This administration is animated by that same American view that has led us for 242 years: that every American has a right to believe, worship, and exercise their faith in the public square,” Sessions said. (For more from the author of “Trump Launches Religious Freedom Task Force to Undo Another Obama Legacy” please click HERE)

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