Clipmarks | wiccantexan's 'christian' clips

Using religion to win votes subverts the Constitution

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 23:49:46 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.firstamendmentcenter.org

What began in January with Mike Huckabee’s “Christian Leader” ads in Iowa and subterranean attacks on Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith has further degenerated into false rumors about Barack Obama’s faith and ugly stories about a “witch-hunting” pastor who once blessed Sarah Palin.

In the long history of religion in presidential campaigns, the 2008 race may well be remembered as the sleaziest and most disturbing example of misusing religion to win votes and demonize the opposition.

But in Campaign 2008, the debate about who is and isn’t an authentic Christian has sunk to new lows.

In this theology-saturated climate, both Obama and McCain have felt compelled to emphasize their Christian bona fides in the race for the White House — as though the nation is electing a Christian in chief rather than a commander in chief.

But there is a critical difference between faith as motivation and faith as manipulation.

Tags: religion, government, faith, politics, christian

Wiccans Sneak Past Church Security Wearing Abercrombie and Fitch!

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 23:31:24 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.landoverbaptist.org

Several hours after the coven of Wiccans had slipped past church security, carefully disguised in the latest fall fashions from Abercrombie and Fitch, blood curdling screams were heard from the top floor of the Landover Baptist Nursing Home on Gallows Hill.

"We normally step up security efforts during the Season of the Witch or as Wiccans secretly call it - Our Master Satan's Birthday," says Pastor, Deacon Fred. "They try sneak onto our Godly church campus, into our church services, and now our nursing homes

I have no doubt they were trying to levitate and transport the body of Jerry Gardner because he is directly related to one of the founders of Wicca - Gerald Gardner. Well, you fat bunch of crazy Wiccans! Mr. Gardner is a Christian now! And he is under the protection of his brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus! So just, shoo!"

Pastor Deacon Fred told parishioners on Sunday that Wiccan hunting permits will be handed out during the first week in October

Tags: onion, satire, wicca, christian, pagan, church

Evangelist compound raided in child porn investigation

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 03:11:05 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

FBI agents and state police raided an evangelist's headquarters Saturday as part of a child pornography investigation, and social workers interviewed children who live at the complex in southwestern Arkansas to find out whether they were abused.

The raid at the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries south of Texarkana started an hour before sunset, but state police said no one was arrested. Armed guards regularly patrol the headquarters of the group — which critics call a cult — but there was no resistance as agents moved in, state police said.

Tom Browne, who runs the FBI office in Little Rock, said the investigation involved the Mann Act, which prohibits the transportation of children across state lines for criminal activity.

"We don't go into pornography; nobody in the church is into that," Alamo said. "Where do these allegations stem from? The anti-Christ government. The Catholics don't like me because I have cut their congregation in half. They hate true Christianity."

Tags: children, porn, crime, christian, religion

Controversial U.S. Church Group Stopped At Border

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 02:32:37 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.nationalpost.com

Residents rallied Thursday to protect the family of a young man murdered on a Greyhound bus last week from a posse of radical religious protesters planning to portray Tim McLean's death as God's wrath.

Earlier this week, the Westboro Baptist Church - an organization branded as a hate group and infamous for protesting the funerals of slain U.S. soldiers - announced they would picket Mr. McLean's funeral to let Canadians know that his decapitation was God's response to Canadian policies enabling abortion, homosexuality and adultery.

But Shirley Phelps-Roper, daughter of church's founder, Fred Phelps, said a small group of protesters was stopped at the Canada-U.S. border on Thursday afternoon.

The resistance to the planned funeral protest started on Facebook yesterday morning when Jim Cotton, a resident of Winnipeg Beach, launched a page asking city residents to help protect Mr. McLean's funeral.

Mr. Taylor's plan worked.

Tags: church, christian, hate, religion, god

Funeral no time for "altar call"

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 04:38:47 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan
clipper's remarks: " A: The “altar call” is one of the most distinctive and controversial elements of evangelical Christianity. It was “invented” about 150 years ago by American evangelist Charles Finney and popularized by Dwight Moody and especially Billy Graham. The people who come to the altar say a sinner’s prayer and accept Jesus as their Lord and savior."

Clip Source: www.buffalonews.com

Q: I’ve attended two memorial services in two weeks, both at nondenominational Christian churches (I’m Catholic). Toward the end of each service, both of which were respectful and quite lovely, the minister announced an “altar call,” stating that Jesus was the only way to salvation, and that those who had not come to Jesus should do so at that very instant! This exercise lasted a good 10 minutes.

I’m a pluralist, so I don’t believe accepting Jesus is the only path to salvation, and I was very uncomfortable for my Jewish and Muslim friends in attendance. Is this a new trend? Is it appropriate? It seems as though the minister was taking advantage of a captive audience. However, no matter how offended anyone might have been personally, no one was going to be disrespectful by walking out.

Tags: religion, belief, christian, christianity, church, respect

Dozens blinded in India looking for Virgin Mary in the sun

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 03:47:42 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

At least 50 people have lost their sight after staring at the sun hoping to see an image of the Virgin Mary, according to reports.

Alarmed health authorities in India's Kottayam district have set up a sign dispelling rumours of a miraculous image in the sky and warning of the dangers of looking into direct sunlight.

Forty-eight cases of sight-loss, allegedly caused by photochemical burns on the retina, have been recorded at St Joseph's ENT and Eye hospital in the region since Friday.

Despite warnings, and the potentially harmful effects of their actions, believers are allegedly still flocking to a hotelier's house in Erumeli near where the divine image is said to have appeared.

The hotelier, who has since moved, had claimed that statues of the Virgin Mary in his house have been crying honey and bleeding oils and perfumes.

Tags: india, christian, health, sun, medical

10 Unconventional Religious Artifacts

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:41:46 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

Religious images seem to have appeared over the years in everything from a sliced potato to 400-year-old granite, and some lucky finds from around the world have sold for thousands of dollars on eBay and reportedly delivered divine messages.

The following is a list of the top 10 improbable relics — which may or may not be worth their weight in gold.

1. Virgin Mary on Rye

2. Nun Bun

3. Holy Cow

4. Potato-Salad Jesus

5. Cooking-Pan Jesus

6. Fish-Stick Jesus

7. Fish-Bone Jesus

8. Granite Jesus

9. Miraculous Melon

10. Virgin Mary in a Tree

• Click here to see photos of the unlikely religious icons.

Tags: religion, belief, christian

Would Garlic Protect Us From the Courts?

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 17:40:47 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: More insanity from Texas which seems to have more than its share. This superstitious stupidity really needs to end. This religious immunity from critical scrutiny has existed for too long. It's time to begin shinning a light on these barbaric practices practiced by this death cult.

Clip Source: scienceblogs.com

Texas court approves traumatic exorcisms

Well now…if you've had a hankerin' to torture, abuse, and do who knows what else to people at your whim, here's what you do: move on down to Texas and set up a religion. The Texas Supreme Court just ruled on a case in which a young woman was subjected to extreme distress and restraint during a church-run exorcism

The court ruling basically says that because this church carries out this practice all the time, and because adherents of the religion accept it, it's OK to pin people to the floor and scream at them for a few hours.

"The laying of hands" and the presence of demons are part of the church's belief system and accepted as such by its adherents," the ruling said in part.

Hello, world. In the United States, it is not considered unusual to accuse teenagers of being possessed by demons, and we subject them to frightening magic rituals to cast out such satanic forces with some regularity.

Tags: religion, exorcism, superstition, fundamentalism, christian

Marine removed from duty over Bible coin

Fri, 30 May 2008 23:45:12 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

A U.S. Marine in Iraq has been removed from duty amid complaints that he was handing out coins with Bible verses at an American checkpoint, the military said Thursday.

U.S. military regulations prohibit religious proselytizing.

At least one of the coins is stamped with the words "Where will you spend eternity?" according to a report published Thursday by McClatchy Newspapers.

The other side of the coin reportedly contains a verse from John 3:16 that reads, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life."

Several Falluja residents said they were given the coins over a two-day period and complained that U.S. troops, whom they consider foreign occupiers, were acting as Christian missionaries.

The reports stoked religious concerns in Iraq just weeks after Iraqi police discovered that a U.S. soldier had used the Quran, Islam's holy book, for target practice.

Tags: religion, belief, christian, christianity, islam, muslim, bible, prostelytizing, marines, military

McCain Rejects Pastor's Endorsement

Fri, 23 May 2008 04:41:57 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: abcnews.go.com

Republican John McCain on Thursday rejected endorsements from two influential but controversial televangelists, saying there is no place for their incendiary criticisms of other faiths.

McCain rejected the months-old endorsement of Texas preacher John Hagee after an audio recording surfaced in which the preacher said God sent Adolf Hitler to help Jews reach the promised land. McCain called the comment "crazy and unacceptable."

He later repudiated the support of Rod Parsley, an Ohio preacher who has sharply criticized Islam and called the religion inherently violent.

"Obviously, I find these remarks and others deeply offensive and indefensible, and I repudiate them. I did not know of them before Reverend Hagee's endorsement, and I feel I must reject his endorsement as well," he said.

Then in an interview with The Associated Press, McCain said he rejected Parsley's support, too.

Tags: politics, religion, mccain, christian

'Earth worship' on the rise among evangelical youth

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 01:42:48 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.onenewsnow.com

Janice Crouse, a senior fellow with Concerned Women for America, says it's disturbing that many young people in evangelical churches are experimenting with the Wiccan religion. Church leaders and Christian parents, she warns, must be ready to counter that growing interest among their youth.

Crouse cites an article in Religion Journal which said youth pastors in the Southern Baptist Convention were worried about large numbers of evangelicals taking part in Wicca, a religion that involves nature worship, stresses moral autonomy, and includes remedies and spells -- beliefs that Crouse points out are distinctly different from orthodox Christianity, not to mention incompatible with the Bible.

According to Crouse, "earth worship" -- as she describes Wicca -- appeals to people who do not want to be bound by any book of authority or have imposed on them any requirements to be "believers."

Tags: religion, wicca, nature, evangelical, youth, christian, earth

Televangelist John Hagee apologizes to Catholics

Wed, 14 May 2008 01:08:09 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: hosted.ap.org

John Hagee, an influential Texas televangelist who endorsed John McCain, apologized to Catholics Tuesday for his stinging criticism of the Roman Catholic Church and for having "emphasized the darkest chapters in the history of Catholic and Protestant relations with the Jews."

In a letter to William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights, Hagee wrote: "Out of a desire to advance a greater unity among Catholics and evangelicals in promoting the common good, I want to express my deep regret for any comments that Catholics have found hurtful."

Hagee has cited the Inquisition and the Crusades as evidence of anti-Semitism within the Catholic church and has suggested that Catholic anti-Semitism shaped Adolf Hitler's views of Jews.

Tags: religion, belief, controversy, christian, catholic, jewish

Gay movement looks for welcoming church

Sun, 11 May 2008 16:00:32 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.mysanantonio.com

San Antonio mom Della Nagle thought it would be a simple task: Go to some of the nation's largest churches, visit with members and prove to them that she and her wife — yes, wife — can be part of a Christian family, too.

But with the first church visit scheduled today in Houston, Nagle and her lesbian partner, Ruth Pinkham, whom she married in Canada, are facing a rude awakening.

The movement was to continue until Father's Day, with gay families and their clergy supporters visiting megachurches throughout the country from California to Maryland to promote “meaningful dialogue” about homosexuality and Christianity.

the group was essentially asking churches: Can you show hospitality to strangers with whom you disagree?

But just getting a chance to talk has proven difficult.

“Pray these churches will be girded up, each member protected from unclean spirits and false doctrine,” states a council-written prayer.

Tags: gay, lesbian, marriage, church, christian

Yale Divinity Course Examines Theology in Harry Potter

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:52:25 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.christianpost.com

Most people agree that the wildly popular Harry Potter series has a religious following. But do the stories about a fictional boy wizard contain religion in them?

Danielle Tumminio, a Yale Divinity School graduate student who instructs a course called "Christian Theology and Harry Potter" at Yale would say, "Yes."

Her course uses all seven Potter books to examine Christian themes such as sin, evil and resurrection, a CNN feature story recently reported.

The resurrection theme is supposedly explored in J.K. Rowling's seventh installment, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.” (Spoiler warning: Read no further if you don't want to find out what happens.)

Cat Terrell, a student in Yale's Harry Potter course, told CNN that "the lens of the Harry Potter books actually makes theology ... easier to understand."

Outside of Yale, a minority group of Christians have also attempted to justify "Pottermania."

Tags: religion, theology, harry potter, christian

Obama Suggests Jesus Christ Not the Only Way to Heaven

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 03:48:15 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.christianpost.com

While answering a question about his Christian faith, Obama said he believes that Jesus Christ died for his sins and through God’s grace and mercy he could have “everlasting life,” according to the Los Angeles Times.

But he also believes Jews and Muslims and non-believers who live moral lives are as much “children of God” as he is, according to The Associated Press.

As an example, he spoke about his late mother who was “not a believer.”

"[S]he was the kindest, most decent, generous person that I have ever known," Obama said, according to the Times. "I'm sure she is in heaven, even though she may not have subscribed to everything that I subscribe to."

Tags: politics, obama, christian, heaven, jews, muslim, god