Recently in Religion Category

In the state Capital of Washington:

I love how the atheist is pushing the whole winter solstice thing. Yeah, we are running out and buying presents, decorating our houses with lights and nativity scenes and preparing to make cookies and pies to celebrate the winter. It doesn't matter that Christianity "stole" a pagan holiday, it has no bearing on our celebration. We celebrate the birth of our Savior on December 25 without regard to what was celebrated there before and we use Christmas trees and lights without regard to how they were used by pagans because we use them to celebrate the birth of our Savior who is life and the light of the world.

Christmas is a tradition, not only in this country but around the world. It is a national holiday and the only day of the year when almost everything is closed. Whether they want to do it our not, atheists have to accept the fact that this nation celebrates the birth of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And trying to fight against that is impossible. You're pushing against a very large stone and very steep hill there, Sisyphus.

Also, he's instance that it's not a religious display is ludicrous. Of course it's a religious display, it's his position about God:

"There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds."

BTW, any belief "hardens hearts and enslaves minds" to opposing views . The atheist rejects anything that is supernatural, his heart is hard to it. His mind is enslaved to his worldview. This guy might want to think about his own presuppositions before he points his finger at us (atheists should really listen to themselves sometime, it would help them see just how intractable they are in their position -- not exactly open to a theist point of view there).

And another BTW, I think it's great that he put the sign up. I think Christianity can stand the challenge. Look at both of the messages. Christianity is about hope, love and peace between God and man and each other. Atheism is about negating the Christian message -- hope, love and peace between God and man is a myth. There is no hope for you once you die, you cease to exist. That feeling you have that there is something bigger than you, that you were created for a purpose, that feeling that you want to thank someone when things are going great (like at the birth of a baby), that need to turn to someone when they aren't, all of that is....nothing, it's not real. I think our message wins the day, if people want something more from their life than just to live it and die.

While we're celebrating, he just wants to be a fly in our soup, the cop telling us to turn the music down, the neighbor hitting his ceiling with a broom, reefs at our love feasts, waterless clouds. Nothing to celebrate about his message. There's no party going on there. As for me, I'd rather rock! :-)

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Why in the world can't we let each other talk? Why do we want to silence those with different opinions? Here are two very different cases of people trying to exercise their right to free speech, having to fight those who want to silence them because they don't like the message.

The first is from a woman who wrote a letter to the editor of her local paper noting that being gay was not the same as being black (Um...I would think was obvious) and was fired from her job because of it:

A woman is suing the university where she worked for firing her over a privately written newspaper commentary expressing her Christian views on homosexuality.

Crystal Dixon, the former associate vice president of human resources at the University of Toledo
, was fired in May after she objected to an opinion article in the Toledo Free Press that compared striving for "gay rights" with the civil rights struggles of black Americans.

Dixon responded with a Free Press editorial of her own, written not in her capacity as a university employee but as a private citizen.

"As a Black woman," Dixon wrote, "I take great I take great umbrage at the notion that those choosing the homosexual lifestyle are 'civil rights victims.' Here's why. I cannot wake up tomorrow and not be a black woman. I am genetically and biologically a black woman and very pleased to be so as my Creator intended."

University of Toledo President Lloyd Jacobs immediately suspended Dixon and condemned her statements. Within days, Dixon was fired.

Now, with the help of the Thomas More Law Center, a not-for-profit law firm dedicated to the defense and promotion of the religious freedom of Christians, Dixon has today filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court claiming violations of her constitutional rights of free speech.

Well, how about this one?

Withrow's neighbors are humbugging out about the "Yes We Can" message she wrote in red, white and blue lights on the roof of her home in southeast Aurora's Tuscany subdivision.

Yes they are. No kidding.

Members of the Tuscany Maintenance Association apparently are so offended by the three words that they have sent not just one, but two testy letters citing a threat to property values, demanding the lights' immediate removal and threatening Withrow with a fine.

And trying to silence someone never works and usually backfires:

She also is mulling further flexing her First Amendment muscles with more lights on her roof that are sure to annoy the association.

" 'Praise Allah,' I'm thinking, or 'Allah is Great,' " she said.

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It can be used for birth control, examinations, STD screenings and abortions:

For the first time, Planned Parenthood in Indiana is offering gift certificates. The organization said a big increase in calls and visits from newly unemployed and uninsured Hoosiers prompted what it calls the unusual, yet practical gift option.

"People are making really tough decisions about putting gas in their car and food on their table, so we know that many women especially put healthcare at the bottom of their list to do," said Chrystal Struben-Hall, Vice President of Planned Parenthood of Indiana.

[...]

The organization hopes people might purchase the certificates, and then turn them back in for their patients who need reproductive healthcare, but can't pay for it.

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Here's a report that states they didn't think they were part of a suicide mission.

The gang of terrorists who wreaked mayhem in Mumbai for three days were made to believe by their Lashkar bosses that they were not
being sent on a suicide mission and that they would be coming back alive.

In a sensational disclosure made by Ajmal, the jihadi nabbed alive by Mumbai cops, the group had planned to sail out on Thursday. Their recruiters had even charted out the return route for them and stored it on the GPS device which they had used to navigate their way to the Mumbai shoreline.

This suggests that the terrorists were willing to undertake a mission which they knew would be very risky, but not necessarily suicidal.

Sources said that the bait of safe return must have been used by the recruiters to convince the wavering among the group to join the audacious plot against Mumbai.

According to Maharashtra ATS sources, the terrorists who attacked Mumbai had instructions to kill till their death. A instruction that commandoes involved in the operation say they had followed to the end, littering the hotels with dead bodies. These disclosures are a part of some shocking revelations that came out after initial investigations.

Security sources quoting the arrested terrorist revealed that these terrorists were given extensive marine commando training for three months at Muzaffarabad in Pakistan occupied Kashmir.

I'm sure that you guys have been praying for the people of India and the families of those who have been attacked. We know how they feel to be attacked by Islamic militants who hate them because of who they are. Here is an example of the joy militants expressed when they heard the news:

Al-Qaeda websites on Thursday were swamped with messages from people who were celebrating the devastating Mumbai attacks which have left over 100 people dead and 281 injured. "Oh Allah, destroy the Hindus and do it in the worst of ways," was one of the comments that appeared on Islamist forums on the Internet immediately after the attacks.

"The battle that is underway in Mumbai is a battle for Allah between its servants and the infidels," said another message published on the al-Falluja forum.

Update: Here's a report on the amazing bravery and graciousness of the hotel staff during the terrorist attack:

Prashant Mangeshikar could be dead, one of more than a hundred victims of militant attacks across Mumbai landmarks, if it had not been for an employee at the Taj Mahal Hotel.

Mangeshikar, his wife and daughter were in the foyer of the 105-year-old hotel on Wednesday night when Islamist gunmen opened indiscriminate fire in one of a series of coordinated attacks in India's financial capital.

Recovering from the initial shock and chaos, hotel staff shepherded the guests, including the Mangeshikar family, through the service section upstairs -- only suddenly to come face to face with one of the gunmen.

"He looked young and did not speak to us. He just fired. We were in sort of a single file," Mangeshikar, a 52-year-old gynecologist, told Reuters. "The man in front of my wife shielded us. He was a maintenance section staff. He took the bullets."

The tale of the unnamed staff member has echoed across Mumbai where, time after time, hotel workers have emerged as the people who shielded, hid or evacuated their wealthy guests from militants at the Taj and Trident/Oberoi hotels.

Hotel workers in one case ushered guests into a conference room and then locked the doors to protect them from the militants. The guests were later rescued by the fire brigade.

The staff often proved essential, knowing short cuts to safety and where emergency exits were located.

The Obama effect on cookie sales Obama's favorite cookie when he was in Iowa is suddenly a big hit:

Suddenly, sales of 400 cookies in a good week soared to more than 1,000 a week, with requests coming from as far away as Mexico. Alas, the price is going up, from 50 cents to 75 cents a cookie to make up for the time it takes to make more each day.

[...]

"I think everybody just ... thought, 'Oh, great cookie, great president--the world is a happy place. Barack's going to fix all the problems and if I have a bite of this cookie it's going to make me feel good,'" Maxfield said.

Wow! Obama really has his work cut out for him lowering expectations. He's been trying to warn people it's going to take years to fix the economy but the people just aren't getting it. Maybe he shouldn't have sold himself as the one the world was waiting for
. It makes people think you're able to solve the problems of the world. Good luck with that.