And they claim others are lawsuit happy.
Monday, January 10, 2005 Posted: 7:50 PM EST (0050 GMT)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A conservative group is threatening to sue the Secret Service for religious discrimination over security guidelines that would ban Christian crosses from President Bush's inaugural parade route.
The Secret Service said Monday the guidelines were meant to prohibit large structures that could be used as weapons. Crosses were the only religious symbols on the list of banned items.
In a December 17 directive to the National Park Service, the Secret Service mandated that signs and placards along the inaugural parade route down Pennsylvania Avenue be made out of cardboard, poster board or cloth. They may be no more than three feet wide or 20 feet long.
The directive also prohibited folding chairs, bicycles and other structures, and displays "such as puppets, papier mache objects, coffins, crates, crosses, theaters, cages and statues."
"The way it's written, it's an unequivocal ban on crosses," said the Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition. The group is seeking to have the prohibition overturned in federal court if the Secret Service fails to retract it.
"They are not banning large displays of the Star of David or Islamic symbols," Mahoney said. "The only resolution is that they would have to pull 'crosses' out. And they could easily protect religious freedom by saying, 'We ban all structures made of wood."'
The Secret Service was working on a clarification Monday to resolve the flap. Spokesman Tom Mazur said the ban on crosses "is strictly in regards to structures -- certainly not the symbol."
"There is no prohibition on crosses, symbols or messages based on content -- only structures made of materials or of a size that could be used in a potentially threatening or harmful manner," Mazur said.
Jan 11, 2005
Preacher dies with heaven on his lips
Is he in Heaven now or not? God only knows.
Tuesday, January 11, 2005 Posted: 7:41 AM EST (1241 GMT)
OVIEDO, Florida (AP) -- A Presbyterian minister collapsed and died at the pulpit after saying "And when I go to heaven...," his colleague said.
The Rev. Jack Arnold, 69, was nearing the end of his sermon Sunday at Covenant Presbyterian Church when he grabbed the podium before falling to the floor, said the Rev. Michael S. Beats, the church's associate pastor.
Several parishioners with medical backgrounds tried to revive Arnold and paramedics were called, but he appeared to die instantly, Beats said.
Arnold had been the senior minister at the church in this Orlando suburb until the late 1990s when he began traveling to Africa and the Middle East to teach pastors.
The cause of death was believed to be cardiac arrest. He had bypass surgery five years earlier.
Tuesday, January 11, 2005 Posted: 7:41 AM EST (1241 GMT)
OVIEDO, Florida (AP) -- A Presbyterian minister collapsed and died at the pulpit after saying "And when I go to heaven...," his colleague said.
The Rev. Jack Arnold, 69, was nearing the end of his sermon Sunday at Covenant Presbyterian Church when he grabbed the podium before falling to the floor, said the Rev. Michael S. Beats, the church's associate pastor.
Several parishioners with medical backgrounds tried to revive Arnold and paramedics were called, but he appeared to die instantly, Beats said.
Arnold had been the senior minister at the church in this Orlando suburb until the late 1990s when he began traveling to Africa and the Middle East to teach pastors.
The cause of death was believed to be cardiac arrest. He had bypass surgery five years earlier.
More from news for today
Enough 'morality' lectures, Thanks
“Satan must laugh in sneerful derision.” • January 11, 2005 11:57 AM ET
I am really tired of the implicit assumption in almost all MSM reporting that “evangelicals” and other (non-Moslem, of course) religious fundamentalists are more “moral” than the rest of us. Since when did we secularists (religious and otherwise) cede the definition of morality to them? If you ask me, it’s pretty damn “immoral” to discriminate against gays and working women, or to force a thirteen year old girl who has been raped by her father to give birth to that child. What’s more, I don’t find a literal reading of the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, to be a very useful moral guide. Is slavery really so terrific? Is it right to stone someone to death because they gather sticks on the Sabbath? Well, it’s there in black and white.
In any case, we don’t have to settle that one now, because the fact is that people who profess to teach us this kind of strict morality we should be practicing don’t really practice it themselves. I don’t mean merely Bill Bennett, Bill O’Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingriich, Jimmy Swaggart, Henry Hyde, etc. I mean all of ‘em—or at least most of ‘em. (And just so there’s no mistake, I don’t mind if people want to gamble, fornicate and get high on their own time. Just shut up about the rest of us, please.) Anyway, don’t take my word for it. The following is borrowed from an article by Ronald J. Sider, professor of theology, holistic ministry, and public policy and director of the Sider Center on Ministry and Public Policy at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also president of Evangelicals for Social Action. This article is excerpted from his book The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience and appeared in Christianity Today. Sider explains:
Scandalous behavior is rapidly destroying American Christianity. By their daily activity, most "Christians" regularly commit treason. With their mouths they claim that Jesus is Lord, but with their actions they demonstrate allegiance to money, sex, and self-fulfillment.
The findings in numerous national polls conducted by highly respected pollsters like The Gallup Organization and The Barna Group are simply shocking. "Gallup and Barna," laments evangelical theologian Michael Horton, "hand us survey after survey demonstrating that evangelical Christians are as likely to embrace lifestyles every bit as hedonistic, materialistic, self-centered, and sexually immoral as the world in general."1 Divorce is more common among "born-again" Christians than in the general American population. Only 6 percent of evangelicals tithe. White evangelicals are the most likely people to object to neighbors of another race. Josh McDowell has pointed out that the sexual promiscuity of evangelical youth is only a little less outrageous than that of their nonevangelical peers.
“Satan must laugh in sneerful derision.” • January 11, 2005 11:57 AM ET
I am really tired of the implicit assumption in almost all MSM reporting that “evangelicals” and other (non-Moslem, of course) religious fundamentalists are more “moral” than the rest of us. Since when did we secularists (religious and otherwise) cede the definition of morality to them? If you ask me, it’s pretty damn “immoral” to discriminate against gays and working women, or to force a thirteen year old girl who has been raped by her father to give birth to that child. What’s more, I don’t find a literal reading of the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, to be a very useful moral guide. Is slavery really so terrific? Is it right to stone someone to death because they gather sticks on the Sabbath? Well, it’s there in black and white.
In any case, we don’t have to settle that one now, because the fact is that people who profess to teach us this kind of strict morality we should be practicing don’t really practice it themselves. I don’t mean merely Bill Bennett, Bill O’Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingriich, Jimmy Swaggart, Henry Hyde, etc. I mean all of ‘em—or at least most of ‘em. (And just so there’s no mistake, I don’t mind if people want to gamble, fornicate and get high on their own time. Just shut up about the rest of us, please.) Anyway, don’t take my word for it. The following is borrowed from an article by Ronald J. Sider, professor of theology, holistic ministry, and public policy and director of the Sider Center on Ministry and Public Policy at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also president of Evangelicals for Social Action. This article is excerpted from his book The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience and appeared in Christianity Today. Sider explains:
Scandalous behavior is rapidly destroying American Christianity. By their daily activity, most "Christians" regularly commit treason. With their mouths they claim that Jesus is Lord, but with their actions they demonstrate allegiance to money, sex, and self-fulfillment.
The findings in numerous national polls conducted by highly respected pollsters like The Gallup Organization and The Barna Group are simply shocking. "Gallup and Barna," laments evangelical theologian Michael Horton, "hand us survey after survey demonstrating that evangelical Christians are as likely to embrace lifestyles every bit as hedonistic, materialistic, self-centered, and sexually immoral as the world in general."1 Divorce is more common among "born-again" Christians than in the general American population. Only 6 percent of evangelicals tithe. White evangelicals are the most likely people to object to neighbors of another race. Josh McDowell has pointed out that the sexual promiscuity of evangelical youth is only a little less outrageous than that of their nonevangelical peers.
Jan 10, 2005
"The Church" & gays
A Letter to the Editor by someone in the Helena, Montana area
This is support?I read, with some interest, the article regarding a group of Christians from Kansas who are coming to Helena to protest against various community churches and their "support" of homosexuals. As a gay man living in this community for the past 30 years I was perplexed to learn that indeed there was so much support for my lifestyle by the various religious institutions singled out by the "Reverend" Fred Phelps. I didn't realize, for example, that the Catholic Church was so supportive of me. But if you read between the lines of what Monsignor Kevin O'Neill stated: "…(the Catholic Church) does not discriminate against the sexual orientation of the individual" I think everyone knows what that means. Frankly, I'm glad that there is a hate-filled group coming to this town to protest my life. I would much rather deal with a group like this, that I know where they are coming from, than with an organization like the Catholic Church that subverts its message and meaning with hidden agendas and rhetorical dogma.Robert B
This is support?I read, with some interest, the article regarding a group of Christians from Kansas who are coming to Helena to protest against various community churches and their "support" of homosexuals. As a gay man living in this community for the past 30 years I was perplexed to learn that indeed there was so much support for my lifestyle by the various religious institutions singled out by the "Reverend" Fred Phelps. I didn't realize, for example, that the Catholic Church was so supportive of me. But if you read between the lines of what Monsignor Kevin O'Neill stated: "…(the Catholic Church) does not discriminate against the sexual orientation of the individual" I think everyone knows what that means. Frankly, I'm glad that there is a hate-filled group coming to this town to protest my life. I would much rather deal with a group like this, that I know where they are coming from, than with an organization like the Catholic Church that subverts its message and meaning with hidden agendas and rhetorical dogma.Robert B
Jan 7, 2005
4 out 5 news sites did not mention Killen was a Preacher
A 79-year-old preacher is arrested in Mississippi for a murder that happened 40 years ago. Edgar Ray Killen is accused of taking part in the 1964 Ku Klux Klan killing of three civil rights workers. The case was dramatized in the 1988 movie "Mississippi Burning." Jerry Mitchell is a reporter with The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Mississippi. He's covered the story for the last 15 years. NPR's Renee Montagne speaks with Jerry Mitchell, a reporter with The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss. about the case.
Amazing.
40 years later, finally an attempt for justice. I love the fact there is no statute of limititions for murder. Only bad thing is this man has been able to live without punishment for so long.
Amazing.
40 years later, finally an attempt for justice. I love the fact there is no statute of limititions for murder. Only bad thing is this man has been able to live without punishment for so long.
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