Female Circumcision

The practice crosses ethnic and cultural lines and is not tied to a particular religion. Activists say it is intended to deny women sexual pleasure. In its most extreme form, the clitoris and parts of the labia are removed and the labia that remain are stitched together.
Since 2001, the State Department estimates that up to 130 million women worldwide have undergone circumcision.
Knives, razors or even sharp stones are usually used, according to a 2001 department report. The tools are frequently not sterilized, and often, many girls are circumcised at the same ceremony, leading to infection.
It is unknown how many girls have died from the procedure, either during the cutting or from infections, or years later in childbirth. Nightmares, depression, shock and feelings of betrayal are common psychological side effects, according to a 2001 federal report.

It is so very hard not to become very cynical of humanity after seeing news like this. 1/3 of the worlds population or more are still living in the dark ages. And that is being positive its hopefully only 1/3 not 1/2.

Ohio executes cult leader who killed doubters

LUCASVILLE, Ohio (AP) -- Ohio executed a religious cult leader Tuesday for murdering a family of five followers who were taken one at a time to a barn, bound and shot to death. The youngest was a girl just 7 years old.
Jeffrey Lundgren, 56, died by injection at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility.
"I profess my love for God, my family, for my children, for Kathy (his wife). I am because you are," Lundgren said in his final statement.
The evidence against him in the deaths of the Avery family -- Dennis, 49, Cheryl, 46, Trina, 15, Rebecca, 13, and 7-year-old Karen -- was compelling.
Upset by what he saw as a lack of faith, Lundgren arranged a dinner hosted by cult members. Afterward, he and his followers led the family members one by one -- the father first, young Karen last -- to their deaths while the others unknowingly cleaned up after dinner.
Lundgren shot each victim two or three times while a running chain saw muffled the sound of the gunfire.
Lundgren argued at his trial in 1990 that he was prophet of God and therefore not deserving of the death penalty.
"It's not a figment of my imagination that I can in fact talk to God, that I can hear his voice," he had told the jurors. "I am a prophet of God. I am even more than a prophet."
Lundgren formed the cult with about 20 members in the northeast Ohio town of Kirtland after he was dismissed in 1987 as a lay minister of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, an offshoot of the Mormon church.
He said God commanded him, through interpretation of Scriptures, to kill the Avery family, who had moved from Missouri in 1987 to follow his teachings.
Lundgren's attorneys had tried to put off the execution, arguing that he should be allowed to join a lawsuit challenging Ohio's use of lethal injection as cruel and unusual punishment. They said his execution had more of a chance of being painful because he was diabetic and overweight at 275 pounds.
Late Monday, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati issued an order allowing the execution to go forward. The U.S. Supreme Court refused a last-minute request to stop his execution Tuesday, and Gov. Bob Taft denied clemency.
Thirteen cult members were charged in the case, including Lundgren's wife, Alice, now 55, and their son, Damon, now 35, both serving life prison terms.

An Editorial about Churchs and Politics

Avoiding church-state conflict
By the Helena IR - 10/04/06
Last week’s federal court ruling against a lawsuit filed by a Helena-area Baptist Church is a reminder that issues of church and state aren’t likely to go away any time soon.

The Canyon Ferry Road Baptist Church was accused by the state commissioner of political practices of violating campaign laws by failing to report its activities on behalf of a successful 2004 constitutional ban on gay marriage. The church sued, alleging the laws violated its freedom of speech and religion.

Federal District Judge Donald Molloy ruled against the church. Molloy noted that the First Amendment prevents the state from establishing a religion or preventing people from practicing the religion of their choice, but said in this case the church became an “incidental campaign committee” by holding meetings, distributing petitions, and other overt political activities.

“Nothing in the First Amendment keeps the state from exercising its regulatory authority over the political process,” he said, “even when the politicking takes place in the sanctuary.”

This sort of conflict is not a matter of liberal or conservative politics — the Internal Revenue Service is increasingly being asked to investigate whether churches are violating their tax-exempt status with their political activities. The complaints usually are made by conservatives about liberal political activities or the other way around.

This problem is hardly surprising. Whenever church goers believe their religious teachings compel them to take political action, the possibility of church-state conflict is never far away.

This conflict, however, is the last thing churches need, or should want. Church members who want to enter the political arena should create separate political committees to do so.

Molloy’s ruling was sound, but hardly new. The message goes back 2,000 years: Give onto Caesar what is Caesar’s.

Blessings

Community Blessing of Animals set for Oct. 1
By The Helena IR - 09/29/06
The Episcopal Church of the Nativity in Helena will hold a Community Blessing of Animals on Sunday, Oct. 1, at 4 p.m.The service will be held at the future home of Church of the Nativity at the top of Lola Street, south of Highway 12 East. The public is welcome to bring pets of any size to the blessing.The Blessing of the Animals is being held in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, known as a loving friend of all God’s creatures and creation.A design phase for the new Church of the Nativity building and surrounding land has been completed and the fundraising for the building has begun. Church members say they hope to break ground during the summer of 2007. In the meantime, services are being held every Sunday morning at 9 a.m. at the Elks Club.

I find this article beyond comprehension.
I guess I really don't understand the concept of Blessings. I will need to do some research on this.

Christian politics/A Letter to the Editor

A Disclaimer
I post local letters to the editor I find interesting but do not necessarily support what they say.

From the Helena IR 9-14-06
Interesting that Ken Toole of the Human Rights Network and Jeff Lazloffy are arguing over who is picking and choosing scripture to support their own goals.In truth, both he and Ken Toole are cherry-picking from scripture. The difference is that the Human Rights Network is not looking at the whole Bible; they are looking at the words of Jesus himself. Jesus never said a thing about abortion or gay marriage, but he had much to say about poverty.And although Biblical men before and after him did speak to condemn homosexuality, I think we can all agree that the actual words of Jesus Christ have the most importance in the Christian faith. And on abortion, the Bible has this to say: “If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows” — (footnote: or “has a miscarriage”). In ancient Israel, the fetus has rights only as it was “property” of its parents. And, while there are laws against nearly everything else, nowhere do the books of law even mention voluntary abortion.
Matthew Downhour1013 Broadway