Short Creek Trouble: Polygamist Officials On Trial For Alleged Civil Rights Violations. “Dear Uncle Warren, I rejoice in the peace that comes over me when I follow the directives you sent to me,” wrote Fred Barlow.
That seems like a loving letter from uncle to nephew, but it’s something slightly more sinister: “Warren” is Warren Jeffs, the disgraced pedophiliac prophet of the polygamist Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS). And Barlow, who signed the letter “your servant,” wrote it during his tenure as the police chief of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. The two border towns are collectively known as the Short Creek community, and have served as a FLDS stronghold for decades. Greek Orthodox Church bishop urges people to spit on gays.
Members of the Greek parliament will vote before Christmas to re-draft a 2008 civil partnership law to accommodate gay couples.
But the move has enraged Greek Orthodox Bishop Amvrosios of Kalavryta, above, who wrote in an Internet rant that homosexuals: Are not human! ‘Soldier of Christ’ boy, 7, killed by Christian music producer. Australian Christian hip-hop producer Kodi James Maybir, 31 above, has been found guilty of murdering a boy he was training to be ‘a soldier for Christ’.
According to this report, during the course of a six-week trial, a Supreme Court jury heard that Maybir, who performs under the stage name “Kopri”, had subjected the youngster to repeated acts of violent abuse before murdering him at his southern Sydney recording studio some time before May 21, 2013. The fatal injuries had taken the form of severe blunt force trauma inflicted on the front and back of the little boy’s skull.
Earlier in trial, Maybir was described by his defence attorney as “an idiot” – someone who lacked even “a modicum of common sense” – and that the abusive treatment meted out to the boy was part of his training to be a “soldier of Christ”. Pastor Steven Furtick Won’t Tell You How Much He Makes Because Jesus Said Not To. Thank you for your interest in Patheos newsletters!
Please enter your email address below and click the "Subscribe" button. Thank you for your subscription. You can visit your Preference Center to complete your profile and see what else we have to offer. A Religion for the Nonreligious. The mind…can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven. ― John Milton The mind is certainly its own cosmos. — Alan Lightman You go to school, study hard, get a degree, and you’re pleased with yourself.
But are you wiser? You get a job, achieve things at the job, gain responsibility, get paid more, move to a better company, gain even more responsibility, get paid even more, rent an apartment with a parking spot, stop doing your own laundry, and you buy one of those $9 juices where the stuff settles down to the bottom. But are you happier? Who Needs God’s Protection? Christian University President Tells Students to Arm Themselves. Thank you for your interest in Patheos newsletters!
Please enter your email address below and click the "Subscribe" button. Thank you for your subscription. You can visit your Preference Center to complete your profile and see what else we have to offer. We apologize, we were unable to complete your subscription at this time, please try again later. GOP Mayor Who Placed Ten Commandments At City Hall Arrested For Stealing. It’s doubtful that you’ve ever heard the name Reford Theobold.
He has served as a council member and also the mayor of Grand Junction, Colorado. But it’s something he did way back in 2001 that put him squarely in the news. See, in 2001 Theobold fought tooth and nail to keep a Ten Commandments monument on City Hall grounds by using tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars to build an historical documents plaza as a legal loophole to keep the religious statue. We Don’t Need No Education?: Texas High Court Mulls Limits Of Homeschooling. The Texas Supreme Court is set to determine if parents have a religious-freedom right to homeschool with no state oversight whatsoever.
Michael and Laura McIntyre, who homeschooled their nine children after pulling them out of a local Christian school, claim the El Paso Independent School District violated their rights when it attempted to verify the children were being educated. The Associated Press reports that in court filings, the McIntyres have claimed the school district is “biased against Christians” and called its investigation a “startling assertion of sweeping governmental power.” But this isn’t really a witch hunt. The family sued after the school district requested evidence that they used an academic curriculum to teach their children; state law requires homeschooling families to use a written curriculum that includes instruction in math, reading, spelling, grammar and citizenship.
In Lawsuit, Moody Bible Institute Accused of Fleecing the Elderly of Their Money. Godless kids more generous & tolerant. A new American study indicates that young children brought up in faith-free environments are more likely to be generous and tolerant than those who grow up in religious households.
Published in the Current Biology journal, The Negative Association between Religiousness and Children’s Altruism Across the World‘s findings are in line with previous research among adults which showed that the more religious a person was the more intolerant they were. Dr Jean Decety at the University of Chicago is quoted here as saying said: Some past research had demonstrated that religious people aren’t more likely to do good than their non-religious counterparts. 'Women Have No Rights To Their Bodies' Claims Arkansas Pastor. An Arkansas pastor named Jeff Crawford has recently caused a controversy by using Christianity to state that women have no rights over their body.
Whilst speaking at a sermon at Crosschurch on the dangers of pornography, which Crawford sees as “an offense against the self,” he spoke about how each person’s body is owned by God, and they therefore have no right to control what happens to it. Crawford argues that the mind and soul cannot be separated from the body, meaning that under Christianity, it all belongs to God. He goes on to say that the body is a temple and we must all treat it as such by taking into consideration whether all of our actions concerning our body glorify God. He warns against watching pornography, getting tattoos and “punching holes in your body,” and claims they are all sinful, as they result in damaging a body that does not actually belong to you.
The 8 Most Terrifying Threats to Separation of Church and State. Thank you for your interest in Patheos newsletters! Please enter your email address below and click the "Subscribe" button. Thank you for your subscription. You can visit your Preference Center to complete your profile and see what else we have to offer. We apologize, we were unable to complete your subscription at this time, please try again later. Christianity forced on public school students in Louisiana. Photo by Zack Kopplin During health class, students at Airline High, a public school in Bossier Parish, Louisiana, read Bible passages, and their teacher asks them to identify their favorite verses. Airline students told me they are taught creationism as science and pressured into attending Fellowship of Christian Athletes club meetings. During gym class, girls are warned against contraception by a “born again virgin” from the local crisis pregnancy center, a Christian anti-abortion, anti-birth control, anti-premarital-sex advocacy center.
Yet in Bossier, conservative Christians say they feel under attack. Poll Finds Americans, Especially Millennials, Moving Away From Religion. A woman prays at Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. The shift away from religion among Americans has taken place in a relatively short period of time. Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images hide caption itoggle caption Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images A woman prays at Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. Patheos. Thank you for your interest in Patheos newsletters!
Please enter your email address below and click the "Subscribe" button. Thank you for your subscription. The Ghosts of a Brethren Past. A breathless humidity hangs in the air. Shoppers haggle for chickens at the market, and thousands of commuters rush to and from a nearby metro station. Hong Kong couldn’t be further from my childhood in the quiet backwaters of New Zealand. Yet my upbringing has been playing on my mind for the past few weeks. Teacher returns to school after student's unlawful cucumber condom lesson. Patheos. Luciferian Church Opens Up in Texas with Christians Protesting Outside. How to Sit Next to a Gay Person on an Airplane: Homophobe Edition. Handwritten Draft Of King James Bible Discovered. Pentagon Problems: Family Research Council VP Once Paid Christian Missionaries To Spy For America.
The story of an Arkansas politician who gave away his adopted child, and the tragedy that followed. Hobby Lobby Family Under Federal Investigation for Smuggling Artifacts. Hobby Lobby Family Under Federal Investigation for Smuggling Artifacts. My life in the cult: How “serving God” unraveled into sex abuse, child neglect and a waking nightmare. The Bible Could Have Used a Copy Editor… My child is not in heaven: Your religion only makes my grief harder.
Republican Legislation Will Use Religion to Defund Planned Parenthood and Obamacare. Highly religious people see little conflict with science. 31% of Americans Reject Evolution, According to New Report. The God-serving bias: thank God if you live, but don’t blame God if you die. The cult of Duggar worship must be stopped: There’s nothing glamorous about the family’s ongoing hypocrisy. Atheist Delivers Invocation in Florida, but Mayor Asks Local Pastor to Give Replacement Prayer Later. Five women sue Bill Gothard’s ministry that has ties to the Duggars. Christian fundamentalists’ plot against the Constitution: What Kim Davis’s newly unearthed emails reveal. Hymen Inspections: Certificate Of Purity Offered To Father On Daughter’s Wedding Day. CBS is Developing a Sitcom All About Taking the Bible Literally. World of Life Church: couple charged in sons' beatings lived in 'abhorrent' home.
GOP Event Underscores That Religious Voters Aren't Forgotten : It's All Politics. A Program That Gives Scholarship Money to Religious Schools Could Be Struck Down in Oklahoma. The Problems with Catholic Hospitals. Maine’s Governor Has Appointed a Creationist to Head Up the State’s Department of Education. Religion: Ruining Everything Since 4004 BC, Now on Kickstarter. Taking Care Of Business: Religious Right Group Plans ‘Religious Liberty’ Ratings For Companies. Don’t Buy God’s Mansion Before You Inspect It Carefully. Oops! Read a Christian doomsday cult’s excuse for why the world didn’t end as they predicted. Despite Atheist Politician’s Bill, Nebraskans Suspend Death Penalty Ban and Could Overturn It. Pat Robertson Laments the “Organized Thrust” of Gay People Who Want to “Stick It” to Christians. NY church where man was fatally beaten showed signs of ‘cult-like’ behavior. Pat Robertson Has to Explain to Viewer Why He Has Surgery When He’s Supposed to Have Faith. Superintendent Reminds Football Coach That He Can’t Pray with Kids No Matter What a Christian Group Says.
Washington D.C. Church Leaders Say New Bike Lane Would Infringe Upon Their Religious Rights. After Putting Their Faith in God, High School Football Team Goes Winless. Tennessee church kicks out ‘sexually impure’ Boy Scouts after organization lifts LGBT ban. Magnetic Energy Directed Into Your Brain Can Reduce Your Religious Beliefs, Say Researchers.
Teen Murdered In Church At The Hands Of Home-Schooler Parents And Church Members (VIDEO) Kim Davis' Attorneys Throw In Towel, Admit Same-Sex Marriage Licenses Are Valid. Police: Girl Dies After Parents Pray for Healing Instead of Seeking Medical Help. Faith-Healing Parents Jailed After Second Child’s Death. Dale and Shannon Hickman receive 6-year sentence, harshest yet for faith-healing church. Fallen followers: Investigation finds 10 more dead children of faith healers. Oregon couple who chose prayer over doctors will go to prison for child’s death. Christians Beat Son To Death In Church While Trying To Make Him ‘Confess’ To His ‘Sins’ Why are some Christians so hung up on same-sex marriage? God Didn’t Invent Hell. We Did.
Retired priest: ‘Hell’ was invented by the church to control people with fear. Lonely anti-Muslim protester greeted lovingly with hugs and invitation to learn about Islam — and she does. Watch Matt Dillahunty Explain Why the Existence of Evil Isn’t a Strong Argument Against Religion. Texas pastor promised to restore woman’s purity by fondling her in ‘true religious ritual’: police.
Boy Says He Didn't Go To Heaven; Publisher Says It Will Pull Book. Jim Bakker And Friends Spread More BS About Planned Parenthood. Do a Lot of Nonreligious Americans Really See Evidence of a Creator? There’s a silver lining in the religious right’s onslaught of discrimination. Religion is popular because it satisfies ‘peacemakers and those who want a vengeful God': researcher.
Buddhism. Catholicism. Christianity. Creationism. Duggar Family. Hinduism. Islam. Freedom From Religion. Jehovah's Witnesses. Judaism. Mormonism. Prosperity Gospel. Satanism. Scientology. An Honest Poem About Religion. Lawsuit Dismissed Against Teacher Who Punished Second-Grader for Being an Atheist. Wicca. Atheism. Former anti-LGBT activist explains why the ‘family values’ crowd is full of hypocrites like Josh Duggar.