Clipmarks | wiccantexan's 'religion' clips

Controversial U.S. Church Group Stopped At Border

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 02:32:37 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

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

Theocrats to Pray for McCain's Death

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 23:55:10 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.talk2action.org

The more theocratic elements of the Religious Right have a disturbing habit, (more like a practice) of invoking "imprecatory prayer" -- a call for God to literally pour his wrath down on those they consider to be his enemies.

The most recent target of theoractic imprecations is none other than Republican presidential candidate John McCain. They hope that an act of God will make Sarah Palin president.

Well, that is quite a standard, and one that is arguably prone to abuse. That said, at least two people have written in recent days that hope that McCain/Palin are elected so that they can pray for God to crush John McCain and to elevate Sarah Palin to her rendevous with destiny.

Tags: mccain, palin, politics, religion, god

Palin: Soldiers on a "task from God"

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 01:00:30 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan
clipper's remarks: Crusades, anyone? Bush must be so proud. Oh, I'm sorry, I meant McCain.

Clip Source: firstread.msnbc.msn.com

As questions have been raised over how thoroughly Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign vetted Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for the V.P. slot, it seems the McCain campaign was unaware of a video -- available online -- in which Palin talks about God's role in U.S. military action overseas, according to a political operative familiar with the situation.

The video, first reported by the liberal blog HuffingtonPost.com, is from a June Palin speech to the graduating class of commission students at Palin's former church in Wasilla, Alaska. While describing her family, Palin told students about her oldest son, 19-year-old Track, who is set to be deployed to Iraq this month with the U.S. Army. She urged students to pray “that our leaders -- that our national leaders -- are sending [soldiers] out on a task that is from God.”

She added, “That's what we have to make sure that we are praying for: that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan.”

Tags: palin, god, war, religion, military

People misunderstand what paganism is about

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:35:58 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.canada.com

It takes a lot to surprise me when it comes to human nature, but last night I met a woman in her 60s at a coffee shop who warned the people at our table about a 'devil' that was going to be at Departure Bay today.

At first I thought she was joking but she said no, she was serious there was going to be a group of devil worshippers gathering there today. She said groups from all the churches were gathering to protest. I asked her if it was the Pagan Pride festival and when she said yes' I said, 'well, my daughter is Wicca and I'm proud of her."

She had nothing to say to that. I really thought that self-righteous people like her had disappeared in the era when witches were being burned.

It's religious fanatics like her who cause destruction in this world because of the fervour of the their beliefs.

I had one daughter become a Catholic and one daughter become Wicca and I'm proud of both of them for making choices that were right for them (I'm Anglican).

Tags: pagan, witch, witchcraft, church, wicca, religion, belief

Pagans pray to Athena to protect Acropolis

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 05:00:32 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

In what organizers said was the first such ceremony performed amid the Acropolis ruins in Athens since the ancient Greek religion was outlawed in the fourth century, dozens of Greek pagans huddled near the Parthenon in a downpour Sunday to worship in protest of the new museum being built at the foot of the site. They gathered before the temple’s east wing and prayed to Athena, goddess of wisdom and patron of Athens, to protect the Parthenon from further destruction.

The Greek Culture Ministry forbids ceremonies of any sort at archaeological sites, but the small band of pagan revivalists entered the Acropolis’s heavily guarded grounds as tourists and then persuaded guards to allow the 15-minute rite. It was organized by Ellinais, an Athens group that recently won a court battle for state recognition of the ancient religion.

Tags: pagan, greece, history, culture, belief, religion

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

Doctors Can't Deny Lesbians Care on Religious Grounds

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:56:45 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: abcnews.go.com

The California Supreme Court today ruled unanimously that doctors cannot cite their religious beliefs as grounds to deny gay and lesbian patients medical care.

Justice Joyce Kennard ruled that two Christian fertility doctors who refused to artificially inseminate a lesbian couple cannot claim a free speech or religious exemption from California's anti-discrimination law.

The ruling extends a state law barring sexual orientation-based discrimination to the medical profession.

In 1999, after a year of surgeries and hormone treatments — all covered by insurance — Benitez was finally ready to get pregnant. But at the crucial moment, her doctor refused to do the procedure for "religious" reasons.

Benitez is a lesbian and sued her doctors under California's civil rights laws, charging that they discriminated against her because of her sexual orientation.

Tags: medical, gay, lesbian, religion, belief, discrimination

Doomsday cult calls credit cards satanic

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 04:06:42 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

A Russian doomsday cult sheltering in a bunker say credit cards and food packaging bar codes are satanic, the official negotiating the release of children from the group said on Monday.

Around 30 followers, including four children, from across Russia and neighboring Belarus met last October and barricaded themselves into a hillside to escape an apocalypse their preacher says is looming in either April or May.

"They have burned their passports and say that all plastic (credit) cards and strip codes on food packaging are the work of Satan," he told reporters.

He said progress was slow but local authorities were negotiating with the group to leave their refuge.

Local residents said the bunker was a pre-revolutionary convent, with a well, a kitchen and areas for sleeping and praying.

Tags: religion, faith, cult, russia, satan, belief

Jews, Pagans Lived And Worshipped Together

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 03:02:37 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.cbsnews.com

An Israeli scientist says a Roman temple unearthed in the center of an ancient Jewish city in northern Israel shows pagans and Jews lived and worshipped together.

Hebrew University professor Zeev Weiss said Monday the 2nd century temple was found during excavations at Sepphoris, or Tzippori in Hebrew.

The city, the capital of Galilee, was a refuge for Jews who fled Jerusalem after the Romans pillaged the city and destroyed the Jewish temple in A.D. 70.

Weiss says the find sheds light on life during those times. "It shows that pagans who were a minority prayed in the center of the city and lived in harmony with the Jewish majority," he says.

He says a church was built on top of the temple in the 5th century.

Tags: pagan, jewish, jews, religion, belief, history

5 Most Ridiculously Unjust Religious Afterlives

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 21:36:37 GMT

clipped by: dulios

Clip Source: www.cracked.com

The 5 Most Ridiculously Unjust Religious Afterlives

Zoroastrians: Judged by Their Bridge-Crossing Ability

Judgement is decreed by the individual's ability to cross the Bridge of Chinvat, the account keeper (a St. Peter type person). Cross the bridge and you're in paradise, sitting on your golden stool in Mazda's house of songs. Fall off and you're dropping to hell.

The Aztecs: It All Depends on How You Die

There was, however, more to Aztec religion than just gods who demanded the regular offing of children. According to experts, the Aztecs believed there were three different afterlives, one hell-like realm called Mictlan and two places which are quite nice, Tlalocan, and Tonatiuh.

Rastafarians: If You're Good, You Go To Ethiopia

Are you familiar with Ethiopia at all?

Tribal Ancestor Worship: It's All About Your Skull

Ancient Egyptians: Basically Based on How Nice Your Funeral Was

Tags: religion, afterlife

Inmate can't keep Old Testament hairstyle

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 00:05:45 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.firstamendmentcenter.org

Prison officials did not violate an inmate’s rights when they disciplined him for refusing to cut his hair and beard, which he said would go against his Old Testament-based religious beliefs, a federal appeals panel ruled this week.

Michael Fegans sued over the Arkansas Department of Correction’s policy that says male prisoners must keep their hair trimmed above their ears and keep their facial hair trimmed. Fegans, a follower of the Assemblies of Yahweh, was at times placed in administrative segregation, with occasional stays in punitive isolation or solitary confinement. He claims the punishments prevented him from earning good time, which would have reduced his sentence.

the prison’s grooming policy was “reasonably related” to the state’s safety and security interests. Long hair or shaggy beards can allow inmates to hide contraband or disguise their appearance, presenting safety issues, the court noted.

Tags: religion, belief, prison, rights, bible

When government prays, religion loses

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 02:40:31 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.firstamendmentcenter.org

Not surprisingly, Rev. Turner wants to pray in the name of Jesus Christ — including when it’s his turn to offer the opening prayer at council sessions.

But on July 23, Turner lost the latest round in his battle to invoke Jesus when the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Fredericksburg City Council’s policy requiring that prayers at meetings be nondenominational.

In an opinion written by retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (asked to take part in the case as a visiting judge), the court ruled that the prayers at issue are “government speech” and therefore the prayer policy does not violate Turner’s free speech or free exercise of religion.

If we must have an invocation at government functions, then let’s do it in silence. That way the Rev. Turners in the room can pray freely in the name of Jesus — and everyone else can pray (or not) according to the dictates of conscience.

Tags: government, religion, free speech

Bush: No One Should Fear Religious Freedom

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 04:31:27 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan
clipper's remarks: I'm sorry, I could barely get through this without choking on the hypocrisy.

Clip Source: www.cbsnews.com

U.S. President George W. Bush said Sunday that no country should "fear the influence" of religious freedom, in a clear reference to China's tight control of churches.

His comments came with added punch as he delivered them in the heart of the Chinese capital during Beijing's Olympic moment.

China allows worship only in officially approved churches such as the one Bush visited Sunday with his wife, so millions of people pray privately in house churches to avoid detection.

"It just goes to show that God is universal," Bush said. "No state, man or woman should fear the influence of loving religion."

Tags: religion, freedom, united states, china

An Antichrist Obama in McCain Ad?

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 02:39:10 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.time.com

It's not easy to make the infamous Willie Horton ad from the 1988 presidential campaign seem benign. But suggesting that Barack Obama is the Antichrist might just do it.

That's just what some outraged Christian supporters of the Democratic nominee are claiming John McCain's campaign did in an ad called "The One" that was recently released online. The Republican nominee's advisers brush off the charges, arguing that the spot was meant to be a "creative" and "humorous" way of poking fun at Obama's popularity by painting him as a self-appointed messiah. But even this innocuous interpretation of the ad — which includes images of Charlton Heston as Moses and culled clips that make Obama sound truly egomaniacal — taps into a conversation that has been gaining urgency on Christian radio and political blogs and in widely circulated e-mail messages that accuse Obama of being the Antichrist.

"The language in there is so similar to the language in the Left Behind books,"

Tags: religion, advertising, politics, obama, mccain

Woman injured by sword in Wiccan ceremony

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:47:23 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.jconline.com

A woman accidentally stabbed herself in the foot with a 3-foot-long sword while performing a Wiccan good luck ritual at a central Indiana cemetery.

Katherine Gunther, 36, of Lebanon, pierced her left foot with the sword while performing the rite at Oak Hill Cemetery, police said.

Gunther said she was performing the ceremony to give thanks for a recent run of good luck. The ceremony involves the use of candles, incense and driving swords into the ground during the full moon.

Gunther said was aiming to put the sword in the ground, but hit her foot instead.

"It wasn't the first time I performed the ritual, but it was the first time I put a sword through my foot," she said.

No charges were filed, police said. The Wiccans were warned that being in the cemetery in the city about 20 miles northwest of Indianapolis after posted visiting hours constitutes trespassing.

Tags: religion, wicca, pagan, humor, ceremony, ritual