Christian News Roundup, 3/4/09

Friends, my apologies for the lack of headlines lately. It’s been a little busy around here!

Today, we have eight stories about school prayer, Obama’s favoring of Christian clergy at his rallies, horrors from Islam including the support of honor killings by the Chechnyan President and the illegality of yoga in Indonesia, Proposition 8 news, a Christian mother’s fight to keep her daughter from a lesbian’s clutches, and more! The first four stories are included in the excerpt; click through for the rest!

Christian Victory! Obama agrees Christian clergy should offer public prayers before his rallies!

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/religion/post/2009/03/63562997/1

Dan Gilgoff, who blogs God & Country for U.S. News and World Report, recently described the unprecedented Obama campaign and administration policy of having official invocations at his public rallies.

One more reason Christians should support Obama . . . he is one of us!

Christian Hero! Christian mother sues to keep her child away from lesbian’s depraved influence!

http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=90625

A Christian mother seeking to protect her daughter from court-ordered time with a lesbian has launched a new round of arguments in the Virginia Court of Appeals.

The new appeal in the case of Lisa Miller and her 6-year-old daughter, Isabella, by Liberty Counsel asks for a determination on whether the Virginia Constitution is the controlling legal authority in the state.

Miller left the homosexual lifestyle and became a Christian when her daughter was 17 months old. But Jenkins, Miller’s same-sex partner when she gave birth to Isabella, has been seeking full custody of the girl, claiming she was a parent even though she is not biologically related and never sought to adopt her.

Homosexual Loophole! Lawyers seek way around Proposition 8

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-prop8-supreme-court4-2009mar04,0,7225200.story

The California Supreme Court may reveal Thursday whether it intends to uphold Proposition 8, and if so, whether an estimated 18,000 same-sex marriages will remain valid, during a high-stakes televised session that has sparked plans for demonstrations throughout the state.

One conservative constitutional scholar has said that the court could both affirm its historic May 15 ruling giving gays equality and uphold Proposition 8 by requiring the state to use a term other than “marriage” and apply it to all couples, gay and straight.

“The alternatives are for the court to accept Proposition 8 and authorize the people to rewrite the Constitution in a way that undermines a basic principle of equality,” said Pepperdine law professor Douglas Kmiec. If the court overturns Proposition 8, “that is the short course toward impeachment.”

Christian Outrage! Bible club bullied for requiring members to be Christians!

http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=90571

Campus Bible Fellowship had been a registered student organization at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, for more than 30 years. Upon seeking re-registration for 2009, the university denied the Bible group’s access to facilities, student club fairs, advertising venues and recruiting opportunities – essentially blacklisting the club – because of CBF’s requirement that voting members adhere to a doctrinal statement and “accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior.”

Christian Outrage! Elementary school removes “In God We Trust” from student posters!

http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=90674

Administrators at Lakeview Elementary School in Mt. Juliet, Tenn., told parents that the posters, promoting the See You at the Pole student prayer event, mentioned “God” and are therefore precluded by school board policy and prohibited in the hallways as inappropriate.

Catholic Cowardice! Pope demotes priest for criticizing Harry Potter books!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29467156/

Pope Benedict XVI on Monday formally rescinded the promotion of an ultraconservative priest who came under fire for suggesting that God punished New Orleans with Hurricane Katrina.

Wagner had questioned whether the “noticeable” increase of natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina — which devastated New Orleans in 2005 — was a result of pollution caused by humans or the result of “spiritual pollution.”

Wagner also has characterized Harry Potter novels as satanic.

Islamofascist Terror! Chechnyan President approves of “honor killings”

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/02/chechen-women-face-strict-rule-of-islam/

The bullnecked president of Chechnya emerged from afternoon prayers at the mosque and, with chilling composure, explained why seven young women who had been shot in the head deserved to die.

Ramzan Kadyrov said the women, whose bodies were found dumped by the roadside, had “loose morals” and were rightfully shot by male relatives in honor killings.

Islamofascists Strike Terror! Fatwa issued against . . . people stretching?

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.da993057fc1b3034b22c1f2903602b9f.01&show_article=1

An eight-day international yoga festival opened Tuesday on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali despite a fatwa against the exercise from the country’s top Muslim body.

Organisers said seminars and workshops would help introduce yoga to a wider audience and rejected the clerics’ concerns that some forms of the popular exercise were a threat to Islam.

“The festival has a universal value. It doesn’t belong to any religious teachings,” International Bali-India Yoga Festival spokeswoman Susi Andrini told AFP.

But the Indonesian Council of Ulemas, the top religious body in the mainly Muslim country, issued a fatwa in January banning Indonesian Muslims from all forms of yoga that involve Hindu religious rituals such as chanting mantras.

Related articles:

1. Christian News Roundup, 3/16/09
2. Christian News Digest, Monday 2/9/09
3. Christian News Digest, 2/11/09
4. Christian News Digest, Tuesday 2/10/09
5. Christian News Digest, 2/12/09

Jenny Donati is webmistress and co-editor of Secular News Daily. Jenny is an outspoken secularist who believes firmly in the separation of church and state. She demands evidence to support arguments, and holds herself to the same standard. She doesn't write about herself in the third person . . . but there's a first time for everything.

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