By Gregory Tomlin, Christian Examiner CHICAGO (Christian Examiner) – Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan has issued a second forceful warning for black ministers in Christian churches who refuse to support his "Justice, or Else!" movement after he called for exercising the Quran's law of retaliation against whites and the government during an address at a Miami church in July. In a series of interview videos posted to his Facebook page, after which he solicits donations and support for his upcoming gathering on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., Oct. 10, Farrakhan says the ministers who have closed their doors to him are failing their communities and him. "I have to say this. All of you know what you have done to me," Farrakhan says with his voice raised in the video. To read the rest of the article, click here. … [Read more...]
Archives for September 2015
Brave new world: Obama says gay rights trump religious liberty
By Gregory Tomlin, Christian Examiner NEW YORK (Christian Examiner) – Should gay rights come into conflict with religious belief, religious liberty will lose, President Barack Obama told an audience of lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender activists at the Democrat National Committees annual LGBT Gala in New York Sept. 27. "We affirm that we cherish our religious freedom and are profoundly respectful of religious traditions," Obama said. "But we also have to say clearly that our religious freedom doesn't grant us the freedom to deny our fellow Americans their constitutional rights." Obama said government will be respectful and accommodate the "genuine concerns and interests of religious institutions," but that American should "reject politicians who are supporting new forms of discrimination as a way to scare up votes." To read the rest of the article, click here. … [Read more...]
Atheists, ‘Go fly a kite,’ says Texas police chief
By Kelly Ledbetter, Christian Examiner CHILDRESS, Texas (Christian Examiner) – Childress Police Chief Adrian Garcia has a way with words: efficient and direct. So yesterday when he wrote a response to the Freedom from Religion Foundation letter he received about police vehicles bearing the words, "In God We Trust," Garcia needed to use only four words -- "Go fly a kite." "After carefully reading your letter I must deny your request in the removal of our Nations motto from our patrol units, and ask that you and the Freedom From Religion Foundation 'go fly a kite.'" This was his entire one-sentence response. To read the rest of the article, click here. … [Read more...]
Pro-lifers: PPFA head fails to satisfy concerns
By Tom Strode, Baptist Press WASHINGTON (BP) - Congressional testimony by Planned Parenthood's president failed to satisfy the concerns of lawmakers and pro-life advocates in the wake of undercover videos providing evidence the organization trades in baby body parts. Cecile Richards, head of Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), denounced charges -- apparently of unethical or illegal activity by her organization -- based on the videos as "offensive and categorically untrue" in a House of Representatives hearing Tuesday (Sept. 29). The hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee followed the release of 10 secretly recorded videos that show various Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of organs from aborted children. The videos recorded and released by the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) also display PPFA employees acknowledging their willingness to manipulate the abortion procedure to preserve body parts for sale and use. In addition, the videos include evidence of the dissection of live babies outside the womb to remove organs. Less than one percent of PPFA's centers facilitate federally approved fetal tissue donation, something many of their patients request, Richards … [Read more...]
Naghmeh Abedini says faith ‘more real’ than before
By Morning Star News ISTANBUL, Turkey, (BP) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani Monday (Sept. 30) declined to meet with the wife of imprisoned American pastor Saeed Abedini during his trip to the United Nations, days after the Christian's wife learned her husband had recently been tortured. Rouhani instead said in a television interview that releasing Iranian criminals held in U.S. prisons would change the "atmosphere and environment," hinting that such a change would be necessary for possibly freeing prisoners such as Abedini. The Iranians in question were sentenced to prison for violating the international trade embargo placed on Iran for trying to develop nuclear weapons, Rouhani said. "There are a number of Iranians in the United States who are imprisoned, who went to prison as a result of activities related to the nuclear industry in Iran. Once these sanctions have been lifted, why keep those folks in American prisons? So they must be freed," he said Sept. 27 on CNN through an interpreter. "If the Americans take the appropriate actions vis-a-vis Iranian citizens who are being imprisoned here, then the right atmosphere and environment will be created for reciprocal action perhaps." Rouhani left New York Monday … [Read more...]
Louisiana ACLU accuses Airline High School, principal of pushing religion
By Brian Blackwell, Message staff writer BOSSIER CITY – Northwest Louisiana is the sight of yet another battle for religious freedom in public schools. The Louisiana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union recently sent a letter to the superintendent of the Bossier Parish Schools, accusing Airline High School of “engaging in a pattern of religious proselytization.” The letter states that prayer boxes with Christian symbols have been established by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (a student organization) throughout the school and religious messages have been included in newsletters posted on Airline High School’s website. After the letter was sent to Bossier Parish Schools, the ACLU learned information from a source was not entirely accurate. “We had a photograph of those boxes and were told that they were scheduled to be installed the next day, which did not happen,” said ACLU Louisiana Executive Director Marjorie Esman in an email to The Baptist Message. “Our goal is, as it always is, to ensure compliance with the law. I hope you will make clear that the ACLU has a long and proud history of defending the religious rights of all Americans.” The ACLU also states in the letter they understand that Airline … [Read more...]
NOBTS report at Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee meeting highlights God’s grace during tragedy
By Gary Myers, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary public relations NASHVILLE (BP) - With the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina fresh on his mind, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary President Chuck Kelley offered a testimony of God's grace and mercy during his report to the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee. "We serve an awesome God who delights in expressing His character through amazing works He does on behalf of His churches, His people and the lost of the world," Kelley said Sept. 21 in Nashville. God's sufficient grace, Kelley said, sustained the seminary through the Katrina recovery effort and provides hope for current challenges at NOBTS. God's grace also provides a framework of hope for denominational challenges such as the funding crisis at the International Mission Board, he noted. "Ten years ago at this meeting I stood before you homeless," Kelley said. "The clothes I was wearing were purchased for me by Dr. John Sullivan of the Florida Baptist Convention. This little storm called Katrina had come ashore near New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast." Early in the storm recovery, prospects for New Orleans Seminary looked bleak. The entire main campus family -- faculty, … [Read more...]
Pope, in unscheduled visit, shows solidarity with nuns in religious liberty fight with U.S. government
By Gregory Tomlin, Christian Examiner WASHINGTON (Christian Examiner) – The Little Sisters of the Poor received an unexpected visitor Sept. 23 when Pope Francis made an unscheduled stop at their community in Washington, D.C. The move, according to Vatican officials, was a show of support for the nuns who are entangled in a lawsuit with the federal government over the contraception mandate in the Affordable Care Act, known to the public – sometimes derisively – as "Obamacare." In July, the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the Little Sisters – based in Denver, Colo. – must comply with procedures for opting out of the birth control mandate in Obamacare because the process did not impose a "substantial burden" on them. But the Little Sisters argued that the mandate does just that. Under the rules established for religious organizations, those which object to providing contraceptives must notify the federal government of their claim of conscience in writing. To read the rest of the article, click here. … [Read more...]
Bibles burned, churches bombed & Christians warned ‘anything can happen’
By Kelly Ledbetter, Christian Examiner KATHMANDU, Nepal (Christian Examiner) – Two Nepal churches were bombed in a series of focused attacks suspected to be releated to extremist Hindu groups who wanted a "Hindu" constitution in mid-September -- an action that had just failed to muster legislative action. Instead Nepal was kept a secular state just prior to the attacks. The bombs detonated in two churches, while a bomb found at another church exploded later after it was taken to a police station, injuring three police officers. The churches were targeted in a Sept. 15 attack in Jhota, an eastern district of Nepal, in the likely retaliation for legislation that was supported to keep Nepal a secular state. To read the rest of the article, click here. … [Read more...]
Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee calls for increased CP to remedy IMB shortfall
By David Roach, Baptist Press NASHVILLE (BP) - In response to the International Mission Board's announcement of a personnel reduction, the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee has adopted a resolution urging Southern Baptist churches to give "more than ever before" through the Cooperative Program. The resolution, which was adopted without opposition, stated, "At this urgent hour of desperate need in our nation and around the world, we, the members of the SBC Executive Committee, pledge to encourage and lead our churches to give more than ever before through the Cooperative Program in 2015 and beyond. We also call upon all cooperating Southern Baptist churches prayerfully to join us in doing more than ever before." The resolution was adopted during the Executive Committee's Sept. 21-22 meeting in Nashville, where President David Platt and other IMB leaders addressed questions from EC members. The IMB had announced previously that it would reduce its total number of missionaries and staff by 600-800 in light of expenditures that exceeded revenues by $210 million over the past six years. Platt's extended report to the EC Sept. 21 preceded 10 minutes of questions and answers. EC President Frank S. Page then … [Read more...]
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