Majority of Americans Still Want "One nation, under God" in Pledge of Allegiance

http://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/christian-trends/majority-of-americans-want-to-keep-under-god-in-pledge-of-allegiance.html

In the midst of multiple lawsuits over the possible removal of "one nation, under God," a recent study has actually indicated that the majority of Americans (85%) want to keep this statement in the Pledge of Allegiance. I was surprised by this data, but if it is actually accurate, then I agree that we should be listening to the majority of the population, and keeping this statement in the Pledge.

National Day of Reason

http://www.christianheadlines.com/columnists/denison-forum/humanists-compete-with-national-day-of-prayer.html

In response to the National Day of Prayer, the American Humanist Association sponsored their own National Day of Reason to occur on the same day. Many religious leaders were offended, claiming that the AHA was implying that faith was competing with reason. I agree that faith and reason can coexist, so while I do not fully support the National Day of Prayer, I also do not support the counter holiday either.

Authenticity of Gospel of Jesus' Wife in Question

http://www.christianheadlines.com/blog/research-raises-new-doubts-about-gospel-of-jesus-wife.html

Research has been revealed that raises new concerns about the authenticity of the Gospel of Jesus' Wife. The gospel was first introduced in September 2012 and has caused many scholars to research the authenticity of the document.

Satan Statue to be Built Next to Ten Commandments Monument

http://christiannews.net/2014/05/04/proposed-homage-to-satan-near-ten-commandments-monument-nears-completion/

A satanist group from New York is planning to erect a twelve foot statue of satan next to an existing Ten Commandments monument on the grounds of the Oklahoma state capitol building. This seems like a massive amount of conflict just waiting to erupt. Christians in Oklahoma are definitely not going to be excited about a twelve foot satan statue next to their Ten Commandments monument.

Rick Perry Re-Baptized

http://www.christianpost.com/news/texas-governor-rick-perry-baptized-in-texas-river-118875/

Governor Rick Perry was re-baptized last month in Little Rock Creek. Governor Perry insists that he simply wanted to reaffirm his faith with this religious ceremony. Once again these devoutly religious people in such important political roles tend to scare me. Sometimes with Republicans it seems like a competition to see who is the most religious.

Religious Groups Outraged by Sarah Palin Comments

http://www.christianpost.com/news/religious-groups-demand-sarah-palin-apologize-for-saying-waterboarding-is-how-we-baptize-terrorists-118947/

Religious groups are outraged by Sarah Palin's statement in which she said that water boarding is the way she would baptize terrorists. It's nice to hear that people in the religious community are finally upset about an offensive comment from a republican politician.

Mega-Church Pastor/Senate Candidate Under Scrutiny for Accepting Church Offerings

http://www.christianpost.com/news/nc-gop-senate-candidate-mark-harris-under-scrutiny-for-accepting-church-offerings-119007/

Just another scary example of the mixing of church and state. A pastor of a mega-church in Charlotte, NC is running for senate and is being accused of wrongly accepting church contributions for his campaign. He is at risk of breaking a campaign finance law.

Atheist Church to Hold First General Assembly

http://www.christianpost.com/news/uks-atheist-church-holds-first-global-general-assembly-plans-expansion-119086/

A church in the United Kingdom known as the "Atheist Church" which has congregations every sunday, but does not worship any God, is holding its first "general assembly" to establish a church-like management system and discuss governing principles and "doctrines. I thought the belief in some type of God was essential for churches, but this U.K. church has proved me wrong.

Oklahoma School District Bans Prayer at Baseball Games

http://www.christianpost.com/news/oklahoma-school-district-bans-prayer-at-baseball-games-atheist-group-claims-success-119113/

An Oklahoma public school district agreed to bar coach-led prayers at baseball games. I think this is a step in the right direction, and I have to say I am very surprised that a school district ruled this way in Oklahoma of all places.

Guns in Church?!

http://www.christianpost.com/news/guns-in-church-119099/

A law was passed in Georgia allowing licensed gun owners to bring firearms into various public buildings, including churches. Many religious leaders are outraged over the passing of the law.

Crossfitt For Jesus

http://www.christianpost.com/news/texas-church-aims-to-boost-membership-by-promoting-crossfit-for-jesus-119151/

A nice example of a Church using its influence to truly benefit people's lives. Clear Creek Community Church in League City, Texas, in an effort to improve church attendance, is partnering with Crossfit to promote physical fitness. The church intends to explain the importance of maintaining a spiritual and physical balance through Christian-inspired exercises.

First Openly Gay Bishop Gets Divorced

http://www.christianpost.com/news/first-openly-gay-bishop-gene-robinson-announces-divorce-from-partner-of-25-years-119100/

Sad and disappointing news that the man holding the title of first openly gay bishop is now getting a divorce from his partner of twenty-five years.

Million Dollar Church Sold For $1.00

http://www.christianpost.com/news/arizona-baptist-church-sold-for-1-new-owners-move-from-school-cafeteria-to-1m-facility-119133/

I just thought this was a nice article about a church that truly practiced what they preached. They sold their estimated million dollar church property to a church that had been using an elementary school cafeteria for services. This is an example of Christian people actually living based on good Christian values, and it's really nice and refreshing to see.

Prayers Before Town Hall Meeting

http://www.christianpost.com/news/supreme-court-rules-new-york-town-can-hold-christian-prayers-before-meetings-119130/

Supreme court ruled that a small town in New York could in fact continue holding Christian prayers before their official town hall meetings. I don't actually have a problem with this specific ruling, but it does seem to be a blending of church and state, which always worries me a little bit.

Chinese Government Destroys Christian Statues

http://www.christianpost.com/news/chinese-authorities-destroy-christian-statues-depicting-passion-of-christ-in-wenzhou-119055/

Chinese authorities in the city of Wenzhou removed all statues representing the Passion of Jesus from a hilltop Catholic site in the city, saying that the statues violated construction regulations. This is another disappointing example of the Chinese government inhibiting its citizens' rights.

The Abortion President...?

http://www.christianpost.com/news/dr-dobson-explains-remarks-at-natl-day-of-prayer-condemning-obama-as-the-abortion-president-118988/

James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, referred to President Obama as "the abortion president" during the Day of Prayer Event in Washington D.C.. In an interview with Fox News, Dobson went on to say that President Obama has done everything he can to promote abortion. It really makes me mad that someone as ignorant as James Dobson has as much voice and influence as he does. President Obama certainly is not anti-abortion, but to say that he has done everything he can to promote abortion is just a straight up lie. When I wrote about the National Day of Prayer in my previous post, I did not even know that James Dobson was involved with it. It would be one thing if the National Day of Prayer was actually just a day to promote prayer and spirituality, but of course completely insane fundamentalists like Dobson use the event to spew his ignorant views about politics. I was unsure about how I felt about the National Day of Prayer before, but now that I know that it is just a platform for religious extremists like James Dobson, I definitely do not support it at all.

National Day of Prayer

http://blogs.christianpost.com/cp-events/reminder-national-day-of-prayer-is-thursday-21164/

The 63rd annual National Day of Prayer is tomorrow (May 1st). Christian leaders, politicians and concerned citizens will gather at the Cannon House Office Building in Washington, D.C. tomorrow morning. The National Day of Prayer was established sixty-three years ago by President Eisenhower.

I had never heard of this day before, and honestly the idea of it kind of freaks me out. The fact that it was started by Eisenhower almost makes it weirder for me, because it makes me feel like this is a Christian holiday established by a former U.S. president. Having a National Day of Prayer that is open to all religions sounds like a great idea to me, but the fact that this is Christian focused is what I don't like. It seems like an attempt to promote the idea that the U.S. is strictly a Christian nation, when in fact we are a nation of many religions.

Praying With Your Doctor

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/healthscience/2014/February/Surgeons-Who-Pray-Before-they-Cut/

This is an article about several different surgeons who are also devout Christians. They offer to pray with their patients before surgery begins. I actually think this is a very nice idea that I am sure brings peace of mind to many people who are about to undergo surgery. While it is a nice idea, I can also imagine that non-religious patients might feel uncomfortable with their surgeon offering to pray with them.

Two New Saints

http://www.christianheadlines.com/blog/catholic-church-welcomes-2-new-saints.html

Former Popes John Paul II and John XXIII were announced new saints on Sunday. This is the first time two former popes have been canonised at once. Pope Francis and his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI were both in attendance for the ceremony in St. Peter's Square.

Mix Martial Arts Church

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2014/04/27/punch-thy-neighbor-fight-church-doesnt-turn-the-other-cheek/

This article is about a pastor who is also a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter. He says this violent sport does not contradict the teachings of the bible, and his church actually has an MMA gym inside.

College Student Denied Admission Because of Religious Belief

http://www.christianpost.com/news/college-student-denied-admission-into-program-because-he-said-god-is-most-important-in-his-life-118531/

This article is about a student who applied to a program at a community college in Maryland, and was actually denied admittance, due to his belief in God. When asked what the most important thing in his life was, he answered "My God." When the student asked why he was not admitted, a staff member reportedly responded to the student saying, "this field is not the place for religion."

Hearing about this kind of discrimination of a Christian in America, is really shocking and surprising to me. It is pretty hard to believe that someone working in the education system, would actually deny a student an academic opportunity, simply because of their devout religious belief. I am not a particularly religious person myself, but I definitely do not believe that some fields are "not the place for religion." 

The People's Pope talks about Communion

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/24/pope-francis-divorced-remarried-communion_n_5204888.html

The fact that Pope Francis actually takes the time to personally call some people that write to him, is one of the reasons that many people are calling Pope Francis the "people's pope." Recently, one of his calls was with a divorcee from Argentina who was upset that she is not allowed to take communion at her church. Reportedly, Pope Francis said that this particular issue with the holy communion is "being looked at" by the Vatican. I think it would be pretty ground breaking if Pope Francis actually enacts some kind of reformation of the holy communion.

China to have largest Christian population by 2025

http://www.christianpost.com/news/china-to-have-worlds-largest-christian-population-by-2025-religion-expert-says-118646/

Experts on religious population say that China will have the largest population of Christians by 2025. This surprised me, as China is a communist country without any kind of state religion. This also might shock some conservative Christians in America, who probably like to think of the United States as the "great Christian nation." It'll be interesting to see how accurate these experts' predictions turn out to be.

Social Networks and Christianity

http://www.christianpost.com/news/global-media-outreach-ministry-reaches-1-billion-people-through-virtual-gospel-presentations-118525/

This article is about Global Media Outreach, a web-based evangelical ministry, that has reportedly spread the gospel to one billion people. The site allows users to view Gospel presentations and connect with online missionaries who respond to their questions. I just thought it was interesting to see how religion is adapting in our current age of social networks.

Gospel Spreading Marijuana Shop

http://www.christianpost.com/news/calif-evangelical-couple-runs-medical-marijuana-shop-to-spread-the-gospel-and-heal-the-sick-118472/

This is an interesting article about a Christian couple who opened a marijuana dispensary as a way to heal the sick and spread the gospel. I just thought this was a fascinating example of how some evangelical Christians are using the legalization of marijuana as a way to spread the word.

The Secularization of Easter

http://www.christianpost.com/news/do-bunnies-and-eggs-take-away-from-the-gospel-message-of-easter-118156/

Just an interesting article on whether or not the inclusion of secular symbols like bunnies and eggs in Easter traditions takes away from the religious meaning of the holiday.

Persecution? There's an App for that

http://www.christianpost.com/news/catholic-priest-creates-arabic-app-to-support-persecuted-christians-118016/

The above article is about a technologically savvy priest who invented an app that allows Catholics to access prayers and readings on their mobile devices. He made an Arabic version of the app so that Christians in heavily persecuted areas where Christian scripture might be banned can still access the prayers and readings on their smart phones or other mobile devices.

More people say the Good Book isn't a God book

http://www.religionnews.com/2014/04/09/bible-study-people-say-good-book-isnt-god-book/

This article talks about the increase of skepticism from Americans on whether or not the bible is actually the direct word of God and how certain religious groups are reacting to this new data.

Pedophile Priest Gets Disability Pay From Catholic Church

http://www.charismanews.com/us/42923-pedophile-priest-gets-disability-pay-from-catholic-church

Reverend Gil Gustafson was convicted of child sex abuse 30 years ago. He abused a young boy from 1977 to 1982. After he was convicted though, the Catholic church continued to pay him his salary, continued his health insurance, and covered many of his living expenses. Even more shocking, in 2006 he was actually declared "disabled" by the church due to his pedophilia and he now collects disability checks.

It's disturbing enough to hear about pedophilia going on within the Catholic church, but to actually hear about the church taking care of it's convicted pedophile priests is truly sickening to me. This man abused a child for 5 years and yet now he is living comfortably thanks to the Catholic church supporting him over the years. It is honestly disgusting to think about the money for a christian organization actually going to support past pedophiles. This is just more evidence that the Catholic Church seriously needs to reevaluate itself.

Bill Nye vs Ken Ham Debate

As we have discussed in class, Bill Nye is set to debate creationist Ken Ham on Tuesday, February 4^th.  The debate is supposed to revolve around the question “Is creation a viable model of origins?” The topic is one that many people have passionate steadfast opinions about, and this fact has led some people to criticize Bill Nye for agreeing to participate in the debate. Matt Zimmerman, founder and executive director of The Clergy Letter Project, said the debate has “no intellectual purpose” and “will make for good theater” at best. Dan Arel, a self proclaimed “secular advocate,” said “Scientists should not debate creationists. Period.” He went on to say that, “Debating creationists offers their position credibility.” Bill Nye has responded to some of these critics by explaining that he is not trying to win anyone over, and that he is not going into the debate as a scientist, but rather as a "reasonable man."

I agree with some of the critics that maybe Bill Nye should not have agreed to partake in this debate. I just do not see what he will gain from debating this topic with someone who is as rigid in his beliefs as Ken Ham is. I also agree with some of the critics who say that Bill Nye is accepting creationism as a credible position by agreeing to participate in this debate. As a man of science, Bill Nye should have known better than to agree to debate creationism, when in reality it has no scientific basis and is in no way a viable alternative to evolution. I am afraid that Bill Nye might be a little naïve heading into this debate, and that Ken Ham might try to just use the debate as a chance to promote creationism while denying everything Bill Nye says against it. I just do not think a real fair academic debate can occur when one side is advocating for science and the other is advocating for religion. They are two entirely different topics in my opinion and I cannot imagine any real “winner” emerging from this debate. I am excited to watch though, because no matter what happens it will certainly be entertaining.