By Gregory Tomlin, Christian Examiner BELFAST (Christian Examiner) – A gay rights activist at the center of a fight against a family of Christian bakers in Northern Ireland that refused to bake a gay-themed cake has publicly reversed his position now that the family has been found guilty of discrimination. Same-sex marriage remains illegal in Northern Ireland, but the country's discrimination laws still left Ashers Baking Company in a lurch when it declined to bake the cake for gay rights activist Gareth Lee nearly two years ago, the BBC reported. To read the rest of the article, click here. … [Read more...]
Evangelicals propel Cruz toward upset win in Iowa
By Michael Foust, Christian Examiner DES MOINES, Iowa (Christian Examiner) – Evangelicals helped carry Ted Cruz to a surprising victory in the Iowa Republican caucuses Monday night, although they were far from unified in their preferred candidate. With frontrunner Donald Trump leading in every pre-election poll, Cruz carried 34 percent of the vote of Republicans who identify as evangelical or born-again Christians, a group that comprised 64 percent of Republican voters according to entrance polls. Trump won 22 percent and Marco Rubio 21 percent among evangelicals, with Ben Carson (12 percent) being the only other GOP candidate to reach double digits. Among all caucus attendees, Cruz won 28 percent, Trump, 24 percent and Rubio 23 percent. Trump led Cruz by an average of 4.7 percent in the RealClearPolitics.com average of Iowa polls, although two weekend surveys showed Cruz cutting Trump's lead to one point, with Rubio surging. To read the rest of the story, click here. … [Read more...]
Iowa caucuses: Southern Baptists ‘highly involved’
By David Roach DES MOINES, Iowa (BP) - Iowa pastor Todd Stiles had a specific prayer for caucus season: "Lord, come quickly, and till then, help me stand strongly." Southern Baptists across the Hawkeye State apparently agreed with the sentiment because many, including pastors, stood for biblical principles during caucus season, campaigning for the presidential candidates they believed would best represent their values. Iowa pastors and state convention staff members spoke for candidates at their respective caucus sites -- in keeping with a unique feature of Iowa's caucus process. Some agreed to serve as delegates to Republican county conventions -- another unique feature of Iowa's process. And at least two Southern Baptist churches allowed their buildings to be used as caucus sites -- one Democratic and one Republican. "Iowa Southern Baptists are engaged and involved," said Stiles, pastor of First Family Church in Ankeny, Iowa. "They're part of that evangelical vote that affects the caucuses so much, and I'm glad about that. I'm glad we are plugged in, connected, vocal and at the same time kind and compassionate." National commentators said evangelical support, which included that of Southern Baptists, was a key … [Read more...]
US Supreme Court agrees to tackle religious hostility by states
By Staff, Alliance Defending Freedom WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Jan. 15 to take up a case that addresses the question of whether states can exhibit hostility to religion by prohibiting churches and church-run organizations from participating in state programs solely because the groups are religious. Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys represent a church-run pre-school and daycare center which the state of Missouri excluded from a program that provides recycled tire products to surface children’s playgrounds. Last month, ADF filed a brief with the high court that answered the state’s arguments in favor of religious discrimination in the program. “No state can define religious neutrality as treating religious organizations worse than everyone else,” said ADF Senior Counsel David Cortman. “That isn’t neutrality; it’s a hostility to religion that violates the First Amendment. That’s the primary issue that the Supreme Court will address. In this case, the state should not have excluded this preschool from the recycled tire program simply because a church operates the school.” “Children’s safety is just as important on church daycare playgrounds as it is on other daycare playgrounds,” added ADF Senior … [Read more...]
Decision America Tour not just about a nation, but a generation
By Cicely Gosier, BGEA Communications BATON ROUGE -- Franklin Graham has never been tight-lipped about his age. “I was born in 1952, grew up in the ’60s and ’70s, started my ministry in the ’80s. I’ve had a good life,” he said at the Decision America Tour rally in Baton Rouge on Wednesday. Yet, even with decades between him and some of the attendees at the latest Decision America prayer rally, a connection resonated. “I look at my grandchildren. They’re not going to have the same country that I grew up in,” Franklin said. “That’s why I’m doing this tour. “… My father, when he went to school, they still had the Ten Commandments on the wall. The teachers still led the Lord’s Prayer with the entire class. They still said the Pledge of Allegiance,” he later added. “Now this is gone.” That reality is driving much of the passion behind Decision America. Baton Rouge marked the third stop on the 50-state tour urging Christians to live out their faith and pray for our nation. Passing the Torch Local resident Linda Clark is a home-school teacher and brought her eight highschoolers. Clark doesn’t typically follow Franklin Graham or the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. She simply saw a post from a friend on … [Read more...]
NY court: Farmers can’t obey their faith even in their own backyard
By Staff, Alliance Defending Freedom ALBANY, N.Y. – A New York court Thursday affirmed a Division of Human Rights ruling against an upstate couple for declining to coordinate a same-sex wedding ceremony in their own backyard. “All Americans should be free to live and work according to their beliefs, especially in our own backyards,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Caleb Dalton, who argued before the court on behalf of the couple in Gifford v. Erwin. “The government went after both this couple’s freedom and their ability to make a living simply for adhering to their faith on their own property. The court should have rejected this unwarranted and unconstitutional government intrusion, so we will consult with our client regarding appeal.” Robert and Cynthia Gifford live in a barn they built on their farm and have occasionally hosted weddings on the first floor and the surrounding backyard area. Cynthia serves as a wedding coordinator for those events and does everything but officiate the ceremony. After the agency ruled that the Giffords were guilty of “sexual orientation discrimination,” it fined them $10,000 plus $3,000 in damages and ordered them to implement re-education training classes designed to … [Read more...]
Are you ready to March? Come out and support Cenla Right to Life March Jan. 30
Three pro-life marches in the state are quickly approaching and to prepare you more for the events, Louisiana Right to Life has released a preview video. The Baton Rouge and Shreveport/Bossier City marches are scheduled for Jan. 23 with a third, which was added just this year, taking place Jan. 30 in Alexandria/Pineville. For more information, watch the video and visit the Louisiana Life March website. https://youtu.be/0UyImJX_NK4 … [Read more...]
Five enemies of religious liberty
By Gerald Harris, Georgia Christian Index Editor During the current legislative session under the Gold Dome, Georgia Baptists will coalesce with a myriad of other groups to attempt to get a strong anti-discrimination Religious Liberty bill passed. This kind of legislation has come to be known as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), because many of them are patterned after the federal RFRA that was passed by Congress in 1993 and signed into law by then-President Bill Clinton. In my estimation there are several enemies of religious liberty in America. First there is secular humanism. Although those who espouse this ideology would probably deny it, secular humanism is a religion – a religion that deifies man and humanizes God. Secular humanism puts man at the center of the universe and everything revolves around him. The humanists would embrace with appreciation and affirmation the words of William Ernest Henley, the author of Invictus, who penned, “I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.” Secular humanism is supported and facilitated by the ACLU, the Atheist Alliance of America, the National Organization of Women, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Freethought Society, Center for Inquiry, and … [Read more...]
Homosexual activist group targets Southern Baptist colleges & universities
By Will Hall, Message Editor ALEXANDRIA – The homosexual activist group Human Rights Campaign has targeted 23 institutions of higher learning with Southern Baptist ties in a report that also names 35 other colleges and universities with distinct Christian identities. Released just before the 2015 Christmas season, the report, “Hidden Discrimination: Title IX Religious Exemptions Putting LGBT Students at Risk,” asks Obama Administration education officials to increase reporting requirements for these 58 schools because each was granted “exemptions of interest” relating to either “gender identity” or “sexual orientation” or both. Unlike President Obama’s 2014 executive order on LGBT rights, affecting federal employees as well as contractors, which did not allow exemptions for religious organizations, the Title IX law does not apply to an educational institution “controlled by a religious organization” that has “contrary religious tenets.” However, individual schools must apply for specific exemptions and confirm they are either a divinity school or department, or, an educational institution that requires faculty, students and employees to be members of a specific religion, or, a college or university that essentially is an … [Read more...]
President of university challenging Obama mandate to be senator’s guest at State of the Union Address
By Staff, Alliance Defending Freedom WASHINGTON – Dr. Everett Piper, the president of an Oklahoma university that is challenging the Obama administration’s abortion-pill mandate and its religious non-profit compliance mechanism at the U.S. Supreme Court, will be the guest of Sen. James Lankford at President Obama’s State of the Union Address on Tuesday at 9 p.m. EDT. Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys represent Oklahoma Wesleyan University together with three other Christian universities in Oklahoma and a Christian college in Pennsylvania as part of consolidated lawsuits before the high court. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services mandate forces employers, regardless of their religious or moral convictions, to provide abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and contraception through their health plans under threat of heavy penalties. Oklahoma Wesleyan University, Southern Nazarene University, Oklahoma Baptist University, and Mid-America Christian University in Oklahoma, as well as Geneva College in Pennsylvania, specifically object to providing abortifacients. “The reason for our lawsuit is simple and clear: Under the guise of Obamacare, the Obama administration claims it has the right to require Oklahoma … [Read more...]
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