Pat Robertson got Sue

A law student was sueing Pat Robertson, the famous televangelist. He claimed that Robertson violated his rights of freedom of religion and freedom of speech. Adam Key is his name and he is suspended by his school for posting a picture of Pat Robertson on the Facebook Web page. Robertson is also the president of a private Christian school in Virginia called Regent University. The photo depicted a obscene photo of Robertson scratching his face with his middle finger. He said it was a funny photo. He also said that he didn't manipulate the photo; he took it off of YouTube and it was like that from there to Facebook. He said he just copy the picture from YouTube to his Facebook webpage and he didn't to anything to the picture. The picture is real.

Key thought Robertsons' photo was funny since he got caught making obscene gestures. He was told to take down the photo after a bunch of people found out about his displays. Key's argument was that there was a violation of his freedom of religion and speech since he had to take down the picture because some people didn't like it. Key was not happy abour his one-year suspension from the school. He said that he got into all kinds of trouble all because he criticized Pat Robertson. The school said Key violated its obscenity policy rule and its not because of Pat Robertson. Key want to transfer to another law school, but he can't because he is suspended. Key's lawyer siad that the University doesn't have to right to make Key take down the photo. Now, Key is suing Regent University and Pat Robertson for various damages.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1bluMXnp9A

Teddy Bear Jail

A teacher who was arrested for naming a teddy bear by the name of Mohammed, was found guilty by a Sudanese court and was sentenced to prison for fifteen days. She was found guilty of insulting religion, a charge under Article 125 of the Sudan's constitution. The teacher named Gillian Gibbons also could be deported out of the country by the Sudanese after she have served her sentencing. There was two other charges brought against her two. One of the charges was inciting hatred and the second one was contempt for religious beliefs. Her lawyer said she will try to appeal the decisions make by the Sudanese court. Muslims found this issue to be highly offensive and a punishment is suitable for this incident.

Gibbons had a closing hearing at a courthouse in Khartoum, where a British Embassy staff member and defense lawyers came to show their support for her. Police was all over the place, guarding the courthouse, making sure there was no trouble going on. They kept journalists out of the way, so no one could disturbing the trial procedures. There was a dozen of policeman wo linked their arms in the front of the courthouse. When things got out of hand, the police did some police work which they called "tough justice." Some of the journalists got detained and a camera was taken away. Also, there was four vans fill with police officers, parked outside the courthouse to see if there would be protest or public disturbances. Thankfully, there was no need for the vans.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwShmHQpH6Q

Lebanon's Views on Christians

The state of Lebanon is in a state of content, especially Christians. The office for the President's position have not been filled yet and time is ticking. The postion have been empty for the pass five days. Emile Lahoud who was the former President and his term ended at November 23, 2007. There have been power struggles between the Sunni and the Shi'ite Muslim group. Without a President to control the incident, chaos might erupt through the country in due time. Politicals call this event without a president to be known as a vacuum in the presidency. Former President Amin Gemayei said that "when there is a vacuum in the presidency of the republic, it directly translates into the absence of Christians from the constitutional structure and the increased marginalisation of their role."

Christians are worry about not having a president. Wars might take place without a leader governing over its nation. The United States wants a election to take place, to election a new president immediately. They don't want anything bad to happen to Lebanon and its citizens. Yacoub Sarrah, a former minister said that Christians doesn't have anyone to back them up when they are in trouble. The Sunnis have the support of Saudi Arabia and the Shi'ites have the support of the Iranian sponsorship. Sarrah called the support as a foreign backer; a foreign backer is when the Christians needed. Their existence as a Christians position is in a state of endangerment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZODk-oW5ys

Monkey Meat

Mamie Manneh, a meat eater was in trouble by eating monkey meat. Even since, her baptism in Liberia, she had eaten monkey meat. Now that she is in America, mainly in New York, she have to obey the laws and regulation that the government holds true to. The New York courts are charging her with meat smuggling of monkey meats. Her custom ways are getting in the way of a tribal customs that she practiced in her native homeland. Her case appeared to be an unusual case since it deals with religious values and cultural clash. Manneh was caught when some cardboard boxes was shipped to her from Guinea. The boxes was said to contain African dresses and smoked fish, but instead they had bushmeat.

Bushmeat is a word that West Africans referred to as "skulls, limbs and torsos of non-human primate species." Also, in the boxes was the leg of an antelope. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agents was on the case and went to talk to Manneh. Manneh gave them permission to conduct a search at her home. While searching through her garage, they found a small hairy arm which belongs to a monkey. Manneh said that the monkey was a gift to her from God. Manneh was being charge with violating importing procedures. Also, they were concern that these meat that was sent to her could contain diseases such as HIV and SARS. Now, she is awaiting trial. This is her second case against her. The first one was about Manneh trying to run a woman over with her car. She got a two-year sentence for that which she is serving. Now, with this case, she might have to serve more years in prison.

Sex scandal in Alaska

Archbishop Earl Paulk is in trouble for sleeping with his brother's wife and getting her pregancy with his child. Paulk is the leader of a Atlanta megachurch in Georgia. In the past, his family revealed his sex scandal to the members of Cathedral of the Holy Spirit at Chapel Hill Harvester Church. An paternity test ordered by the court revealed that indeed Paulk have fathered a child with his brother's wife. Paulk was surprised by the news because he said he didn't know that he fathered a child with his brother's wife. The district attorney is trying to file a case with an investigation against him. This is not the only trouble that Paulk is in. A lawsuit have been filed against him too. This lawsuit was from Mona Brewer, a former church employee who is suing Paulk and the church about an affair they had by manipulating her with the lord's name. She said that Paulk told she that being with him is the path to salvation for her.

Paulk acknowledged that the event that happened between them. He told his church all about it last year. Paulk blamed the church because it put too much strain into him. As for the church, it became very popular to this day. The church started in 1960 and now is on a hundred acre land. Also, during the 1960s the church opened its doors to black people, women and gays. As times goes by, its member grew and grew. During the 1990s, "the church was able to build a Bible college, two schools, a worldwide TV ministry and a $12 million sanctuary the size of a fortress." Nowadays, the church is estimated to have one thousand and five hundred members and eighteen pastors. The bible college and the TV ministry are doing very poorly because of the sex scandals that have contributed throughout the years. Things are going bad for everyone. Now, Paulk only gives about ten minute speeches every Sunday meeting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3GsiincDCg

The Embassy of the Blessed Kingdom of God for All Nations

The Embassy of the Blessed Kingdom of God for All Nations is a megachurch that was founded by a Nigerian immigrant named Sunday Adelaja, thirteen years ago. The church have over thirty thousand members. Adelaja want to expand the church, to be viewed worldwide. He want to reach out to the United States so he traveled to the United States to convince people to join his cause because he believe that the United States is a good mission ground to spread the word of God. Adelaja want to put the passion of God back into people's heart and he hope to do that by building more churches and getting more members. He spoke about the values of Americans and how this country have the largest number of abortions, school shooting, etc. He doesn't want the Christian values go down the drain.

Back in Ukraine, where he lived, Adelaja have trained missionaries to go around the world to start churches. Overall, Adelaja said that there are more than six hundred churches that they started in a dozens of nations around the world and he is not going to stop there. He doesn't have big influences in the United States to build any big churches, but he might in the future. Right now, he is trying to gather a lot of people and he can get a network going, although studies show that Adelaja started a bible school i nnew Jersey called the History Makers Bible School that held classes for pastors around the world during its weekend classes. Next year, Adelaja said he is going to Atlanta to see how the leaderships are going in these churches and see how they can be improve for the better. Also, he plan to write a book called "Church Shift" that tells the pastors in the United States how to reach out to people who don't believe in God.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=602FWgRSIZk

Polygamist Goes to Jail

A polygamist leader was sentenced to prison by a judge in Utah. The polygamist leader received a term of five years to life, served consecutively in prison for marrying his underage cousins. This polygamist leader is formally known in Utah as Warren Jeffs. Jeffs was convicted for his marriage to his two cousins. One of his cousin was ninteen years old and the other was fourteen years old. The Utah parole board is still determining his length of sentencing. Bugden who was Jeffs' attorney said that this whole case was based on religion. Religion got Jeffs in trouble. Jeffs is the leader of a group called the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It's member tend to engage in polygamy with younger girls and older men in arranged marriages. Also, this group tend to reside in Utah, Arizona, etc.

The prosecutor said that Jeffs told Elissa Wall, his fourteen year old cousin that God said they have to get marry and if they don't then his cousins' salvation will suffer. Now, Wall is all grown up and is testifying against Jeffs for their marriage. Wall got restitution from Jeffs from the state fund and now she can get restitution from Jeffs, but Wall said she doesn't need restitution, she just want justice. The closest day for Jeffs' case to be review is in 2010, but it might be later depending on how the courts handle the situation. Previous documents from the judge reviewed that Jeffs have attempted suicide. Apparently, he tried to hang himself in jail. Also, Jeffs have made conversations with his followers. He said that the lord have punished him for his demented act. In later news, Jeffs faced similar charges in the state of Arizona.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4jfnozNUT0

BWO (Bahai World Order)?

In Israel, there lies the Bahai faith which is categorize as one of the fastest growing religion in the world. Their main goal is to preach global inity and world peace. The Bahai faith was founded about one hundred and seventy years ago and now with millions of members around the world. The Bahais focuses on a Persian-born prophet named Bahuallah who preaches to the people of Israel about "unity, equality and world federation to save mankind from the plagues of the modern world." Bahuallah died in Israel, but his message continue to spread across the world. A shrine was builted in Haifa, Israel to commemorate Bahuallah. It's actual locations is at the Bahai World Centre where Bahai gardens grace the plain fields. Many people came to the Bahai World Centre from around the world to witness the phenomenon and some of them volunteered their services to tend to its wonderful gardens.

Its believers were amazed at how things have turned out. People give out brochures to non-believers hoping that they would join their cause too. One brochure quoted that "the central theme of Babaullah's social teachings is that humanity is one single race and the day has come for its unification into one global society" which explains it all too well. One of their beliefs that they hold truely are the solutions to important issues like global warming and racism that utimately can solved by eliminating prejudice and poverty, etc. They want people to have an universal educational system and a sexual equality. As for the gardens which are care for by about eighty paid volunteers to keep it in good condition. The gardens are made up of twenty-one terraces and took about ten years to created and opened it doors to the public in 2000. The estimated cost for this creation was about two hundred and fifty million dollars.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz0wGX1DZ_M

Iraq Schools Teach Religion

Iraqi Kurdistan schools have benn approved to teach religions in schools. People in Kurdistan tend to believe in the Quran as a religious guide in life. Quran is referred to the people of Islam as the holy book, but now other people are having second thoughts as believing in only one religion. They want a freedom to express an interest in other religion too. The Kurdish Regional Government's Ministry of Religious Affairs approved ninteen campuses around the country to include subjects that depicts other religions such as Christianity, Judaism, etc. One teacher by the name of Mahmond who believe this is a good thing, said that he is trying to find similar themes between all the religions around the world. This new theme on teaching other religions in schools will be a new breakthrough in understanding religions.

In the past, their government forbide them to teach religions in school other than Islam. Even mosques were prohibit to perform other religions without extensive consequences. Mohamed, the regions's minister of religious affairs said that these religion classes would raise awareness of different religions that were practiced by about three percent of the population. One concern person by the name of Araz Najmaddin Abdulla said that there will be risks for teaching religions in schools other than Islam. Muslim students would have a problem with learning about Jews. Abdulla is commonly known as the general director of curriculum for the regional Ministry of Education. Also, he said that there is a committee that is having a debate on the issue of teaching other religions in school. Most people would probably not approve the issue because the country is still a Muslim territory.

South Carolina Voters on Religion

A recent poll on religion in South Carolina showed that religion makes a differences for the voters and voters are very important to the 2008 Presidential Candidates. All of the Presidential Candidates tend to rely on their faith to reach other to voters and having a religious views on things could make a big differences to their campaign. The poll showed that ninety percent of voters in South Carolina said that religion is very important to them. Presidential candidates such as Sentor John McCain and Mike Huckabee have showed that their religion is Baptist and Rudy Giuliani have identified himseld as a Roman Catholic. All these Presidential Candidates seem to share their faith and religious views with Americans hoping to grasp their concept that we have the same religion, therefore, we understand where you are coming from.

President George W. Bush have used his religious views throughout his campaign election to seek voters and tell them about his religious faith and how it will help him as a president. It will guide him to a right path as a good president. That helped him to get his election and re-election as president. Even Hilary Clinton said that talking about religion will help the Democrats to get a better view with its voters and its members. She said that we should use religion such as the bible to win debates just like the Republicans do when discussing about controversial issues. As for the citizens of South Carolina, speaking about faith could be a good move for the Presidential candidates epecially, if they want to get African American voters on their side. Studies have shown that half of the voters in the Democratic voting period might be African Americans since they accumulate a large portion of the population in South Carolina.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePacNYilwcc

Teddy Bear Name

A British teacher named Gillian Gibbons was arrested by Sudanese authorities for insulting a religion. The case was that she was teaching students in a school and they have to do a class project. Apparently, she let one of her student called her teddy bear by the name of Muhammad. It all started with a lesson plan on learning about animals. Gibbons ask her students to name names that the teddy bear should be called by. The students came up with three names: Abdullah, Hassan and Muhammad. Then she have the students vote for only one name and the majority voted to call the teddy bear Muhammad. The whole point of this project was to write a diary about what them and the teddy bear. Each students was suppose to take a teddy bear home for the weekends and write a diary about what they did with the teddy bear. Then the diaries were put into a book with a picture of the teddy bear in front.

Gibbon's defenders said it was just a misunderstanding that intended to degrade the name Muhammad. Robert Boulos, the school's director said this was a misake and that Gibbons had not met to insult anyone. Also, several newspaper articles was on the incident and reported that the school made an official apology to the Muslim community about this incident. She have been relieve from the school. Now, Gibbons is being heold in a Khartoum prison, waiting for trial. If she is found guilty of a crime, she could get jail time, forty lashes or fines the courts. The problem was that by naming the teddy bear Muhammad, it could be an insult to their religion since Islam's prophet and founder was Muhammad. The Muslims could this insulting by naming an animal Muhammad, even though it is a common name used by Muslim men. A trail is waiting to see if the courts want to press charges against Gibbons. This issue have outraged the Muslim community around the Islamic world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lOFUstX88U

Larry Craig Sudden Change

Larry Craig, Idaho Senator was in big trouble. Craig have been arrested for lewd conduct, pleaded a lesser charge, now had said that he was going to resign as Idaho Senator if things kept going bad for him, meaning that if the courts don't overturned their decisions on his situation. Apparently, it did. His attorney filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea was investigating. Two of Craig's attorney argued that his actions are considered disorderly conduct if you look at the facts and the other point was that the plea agreement that he signed and mailed in was what they called "defective," in other words, there was no judge's signature on it. Craig said that he would remain in office if the court doesn't rule in his favor to withdraw his guilty plea.

Judge Charles A. Porter, Jr. who was the judge looking at Craig's case, denied Craig's motion to withdraw his guilty plea agreement on October fourth, 2007. He ruled that Craig have a clear decision when he sign the guilty plea agreement. There was enough evidence to state that Craig signed the decision. Craig was not happy about Porter's decision. He said that he will continue to serve out his Senate term, even though he said he was going to resign. Craig want to clear his name up with the Senate Ethics Committee which he might not get to do if he wasn't a Senator so he said he would remain a Senator in order to clear his name up. A couple of weeks later, Craig said he will try to appeal to the court's decision. Larry Craig had gotten into a jam, he cannot get out off. Pretty soon, he would have to fend for himself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXdrcEBDjpk

Larry Craig Going Down

Larry Craig announced his that he is going to resign from being the Senator of Idaho at a news conference. On the first of September, Craig was all sad about resigning as the Senator. Craig was in all kinds of trouble after the was caught in a Mens restroom by an undercover officer for lewd conduct. He pleaded guilty to misorderly conduct charges. As time goes by, Craig was in all kinds of trouble, he have to defend himself on these allegations, his 'I am not Gay" speeches and his positions in government. His family was facing all these crisis from reporters questioning about his delimmas. Craigs' downfall have begun rapidly. There was a lot of headline news about Craig's positions. He have to step down from a few of them, but the most important one was the Senator which he said he was going to resign if things kept going badly the way it is.

About a week later, after Craig had made his decision to resign, his attorneys filed a motion about his guilty plea. They want to withdraw his guilty plea because it violated his consitutional rights. Also, his lawyer said that Craig was under the assumptions that if he made a guilty plea agreement that these allegations would not go public. Apparently, it went public and got the worse of him. He was under distress by the media. The media have made a mockery out of his sexuality.The American Civil Liberties Union was defending Craig's rights. They filed an amicus curiae brief, which is a written legal document to the courts, arguing about their positions on these matters. They said that the police carefully plan out the operation and things didn't go smoothly, and some of the information got tainted; therefore, the courts should withdraw Craig's plea agreement and the states should charge him in any way. The trials continues on this issue.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHC1gf99sq0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u_NlVvpRYA

End of Senator Larry Craig?

Senator Larry Craig is in all sorts of trouble after things getting out of hand for him. Craig was arrested by lewd misconduct. He pleaded guilty to those charges, but it was a lesser charge. He said he was trying to make everything go away so he pleaded guilty, but things didn't go away. It went around him, over his head and slap him right in the face. Craig have to defend himself on these allegations and his pleading to the guilty verdict. His family and friends were in trouble because of his whole ordeal. Craig removed himself from supporting for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. He was one of the two Senate that supported Romney. Romney said he was disappointed of Craig and Craig replied how Romney didn't handled the incident very well. He said that Romney hurt him all kinds of ways even through he supported them.

Craig was in trouble with the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washingston. They filed a complaint on whether Craig have violated the Senate Rules of Conduct which he was required to obey. The Senate Ethics Committee was investigation into these matters. Another thing is that Craig have held postions in the Republican offices. He was told to step down on these positions and he did. The positions were the Veterans Affairs Committee, Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, and the Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests. Craig did just that, but it was a temporary step down process. Also, the contributions that he made to people such as Senator John McCain and Senator Norm Coleman said they will donate the campaign contributions that they received from Craig to charity. Craig is going down in history and pretty soon he might have to step down from being as an Idaho Senator too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2b1N74bQUE

Senator Larry Craig Continues

Senator Larry Craig was arrested by an undercover officer for lewd misconduct in a Mens public restrooms. Craig pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct charges which he was fined for. Things got out to the public about his incident and Craig have to do something about it before he gets into more trouble. Craig did; he made an annoucment to the public for his inappropriate conduct which he said he was not responsible for. He also said he made a mistake by pleading guilty to the charges because he was trying to get it over with. Craig said he was not gay. He said he had made a poor decision in dealing with the situation and he just want to make the situation go away so he pleaded guilty to the lesser charges.

Senator Larry Craig apologized to the his family and friends and he said about the whole ordeal that have been dealt to him. Here is a speech about what Craig actually said: "I am not gay. I never have been gay.... In June, I overreacted and made a poor decision. I chose to plead guilty to a lesser charge in hopes of making it go away.... Please let me apologize to my family, friends and staff and fellow Idahoans for the cloud placed over Idaho. I did nothing wrong at the Minneapolis airport. I did nothing wrong, and I regret the decision to plead guilty and the sadness that decision has brought on my wife, on my family, friends, staff and fellow Idahoans." Things were not looking good for him because of all the trouble that got him into when he decided to engage in this sort of situation. Hopeful, Craig have deal with this situation before it deals with him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsDfOTLWj5k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL8xQ3UPYoA

Senator Larry Craig

Senator Larry Craig is in all kinds of trouble after an incident when he got arrested by an undercover police officer. Larry Craig, whose religion is Methodist was arrested at the St. Paul International Airport in Minneapolis on June eleventh. An undercover officer suspected him of engaging in lewd conduct when he was asking for sex. The undercover officer was doing some undercover operation on people engaging in sexual activity in the mens restroom. Craig came into the restroom and went into a stall next to the undercover officer. Then Craig tapped his foot at the undercover officer, which he solely noted. After a while, Craig moved his foot toward the undercover officer's foot and swing his hand under the stall as if he is offering a deal or some kind of signal.

The undercover officer then showed Craig his undercover photo that identify him as a police officer and told Craig to exit the restroom. At first, Craig said no, but after a while he exited the stall door. Craig was escorted to the airport police station for further instructions. An officer interviewed Craig about the incident in the restroom. Craig told his side of the story and the undercover officer told his side of the story. Craig disagreed with the officer's version of the story. The story about him and his restroom incident leaked to the public and Craig have to do something about it. Well, he did; he pleaded guilty to a disorderly conduct charge and have to paid some fees. It was a misdemeanor charge and he went on and signed a plea petition which he mailed to the courts. As time went by, Senator Larry Craig got into more trouble about this issue.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1kZWzLrm1o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95BjjG9VPUg

$50 Million in Alaska Case

The Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus have made a settlement to pay fifty million dollars to the victims of many sexual abuse cases that have been filed in Alaska. In Alaska, there have been cases alleging priests who have sexually abuse children. Most of the children in villages in Alaska have been rape and molested by priests that came to Alaska to preach the word of God. Now, with the children all grown, it is also impossible for them to forget what happen to them when they were little. Many of them still linger in the past and some of them have committed suicide because they can't forget about their childhood trauma. The outcome of these cases have been called as one of the largest payment ever made by a Roman Catholic group. These cases include one hundred and ten victims that lived in the native villages of Alaska.

In recent years, the Catholic Church have made lump sums amount of money to settle abuse claims in the United States. All these settlements doesn't particularly mean that they admit what they did was wrong, it was just to made a settlement to get these cases over with. Other sexual abuse cases are still being made as of right now. Last year, the Los Angeles Archdiocese made a settlement of six hundred and sixty million dollars to five hundred and eight victims dated all the way back to the 1940s. Another settlement took place in San Diego, when the Catholic Diocese of San Diego reached a settlement of one hundred and ninety-eight million dollars to one hundred and forty-four victims. The Boston Archdiocese too have made a settlement of eighty-five million to five hundred and fifty victims in 2003. Other settlements across the country have been made too and there will be plenty more in the near future too.

Christians versus BBC

In London, a BBC executive is getting sue by a Christian activist over the issue of playing movie by Jerry Springer. Jerry Springer made a show called Jerry Springer-The Opera. It is a musical theme show and many Chrisitians doesn't like this movie. They found it offensive especially the Christian activist that want to prosecute the BBC executive. The Christian activist plan to use blasphemy laws to prosecute him. Blasphemy laws are used in the United Kingdom and was defined as "the legal notion that goes back centuries - as faith was seen as being the heart of society, to challenge or offend it was thought to threaten the fabric of society." Also, blasphemy is defined as the defamation of a religion.

Christians are angry at Jerry Springer because his show depicted "Jesus being referred to as "a little bit gay" and features Eve attempting to fondle his genitals." Also, Eve was mentioned as a pole dancer and Adam referred to as a member of the Ku Klux Klan. There were demonstrations too about this particular issue. An opponent of the issue said that these blasphemy laws shouldn't be used because its a long time ago, in 1922 which resulted in a man going to prison for disgracing Jesus Christ as a circus clown. Now, it is being use once again which is not right since it have to do with religion and not court laws. One spokeman said that the show is that of a satire of Islam, but if it was for Christianity, then it would never have been aired.

Tony Blair with Religion

Tony Blair was the former Prime Minister of Great Britain. He now said that his belief in God have been a great help to his career as the Prime Minister of Great Britain. Currently, Blair is working as a Middle East peace envoy. He said he didn't speak about his religious beliefs because he fear that it might hurt him as the Prime Minister. He planned to do a film documentary about his belief in God which he called "The Blair Years." Blair said that having a religious faith could be define as having something important in your life to look forward to as a human being. As for religion conviction, Blair believe that there is nothing wrong with religious conviction which he said he has. He think that religious conviction strengthens him as a person.

Blair said that if he talk about religion in anywhere in the world, like say for example, the United States, which is seem to be a country that people can just talk about their religious faith freely, but not in Great Britain. He said that if he said such thing in Britain, he would be judged as a nutter. So, Blair didn't say anything about his religion when he was in office. Now he said religion is good for him. Even Peter Mandelson, an European Union trade commissioner said that religion is very important to Blair. Mandelson used to be a cabinet minister when he was working for Blair. Also, Mandelson said that Blair is a bible person, that is a person who takes the bible everywhere with him; he read the bible all the time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMmaNHVc3RM

Evangelical Issue?

Gary Bauer, a Christian power-broker conservative sent his supporters some e-mail files. First in his email, he commented the issues on abortion and traditional marriage. Then he turned his attention to what he discribed as Islamofascism. He said that Islamofascism is a "value issue." Bauer doesn't want radical Islam to succeed because then Christianity would be no more. Rick Scarborough agreed with his views. Islamofascism makes the argument about embracing of the methods that happened during the Euorpean fascist movements, by Islamic radicals. This is an important issue to be discussed. Other evangelicals are alarmed by this issue too.

Pat Robertson, a televangelist said that "the overriding issue before the American people is the defense of our population from the bloodlust of Islamic terrorists." James Dobson made a dozen of commments to the Republican and Democrat parties on the concern of Islam during his Focus on the Family radio talk show. Charles Colson talked about the battle with Islamofacists when he attended the Southern Baptist Convention. Gary Bauer said that even Former President Ronald Reagan knew about the war between them and us about being right and wrong. The standpoint on the views of morality have set extreme tensions between Christianity and Islam throughout this day of age.

Abortion a State Choice?

Mike Huckabee, a Republican presidential candidate does not like the idea of giving states the power to decide how whether or not a person could have an abortion. He thinks that life is a moral issue. Huckabee compared the issue of abortion to slavery. He said that if abortion is a moral issue then there would be one answer to the issue, right or wrong. If abortion is a political issue, then there would be a lot of answers of being right or wrong instead of just one answer, a moral answer. Huckabee commented on Fred Thompson's position on the right to life issue. The National Right to Life Committee used Thompson as one of their endorsement figures and Huckabee was concern about this situation.

Huckabee said that Thompson never fully support the right to life. Thompson doesn't even support the human life amendment as is. On the other hand, Thompson disagree with Huckabee's point of view. Thompson thinks that the Supreme Court should overturn their decision in the Roe versus Wade case, which allow abortion to be legal. Thompson thinks that the states should have the say to allow the use of abortion or not. Huckabee plan to use Chuck Norris to affirm his decision on abortion in his commercial campaign ad. Huckabee wants the citizens of America to know that Chuck Norris is on his side and so should everyone else. On the other hand, Thompson doesn't think it is a good idea, but then again he said he has two words too and that is "Chuck Norris."

Freedom of Religious

Michael Kirby is a High Court judge who is pushing for religious freedom. Kirby want Australia citizens to embrace religion as a subject he called "a basic human right." He spoken at the Griffith University and used many examples to made his point across. One of these examples are from Islam about a story of a Malaysian Muslim woman who tried to change her religion. She want to change her religion from Islam to Christianity. Unfortunately, she couldn't do it because the court rejected her case. Kirby said this example showed that there is a restriction on the freedom of religion in Malaysia. He commented on other cases other the world that have restrictions on religions and he hoped that it doesn't happen in Australia. Kirby quoted this sentence during his speeches: "In Australia, at least, we must be truly committed to the principle of mutual respect and acceptance that lies at the heart of the world-wide movement for the protection of fundamental, universal human rights." He want people to choose their religion instead of the religion that was imposed by the government and he hope that minorities would embrace their religions too.

Trouble Romney Calls

In New Hampshire, trouble phone calls have hurt Mitt Romney for his Presidential election. An attorney is investigating into these matters. The phone calls are suppose to ask the voters about their opinions on the 2008 Presidential Candidates, but in reality it was to say bad things about Mitt Romney and good things about John McCain, also a Presidential candidate. McCain said he doesn't know anything about these allegations and want the phone calls to stop. McCain was saying that the phone calls were a disgrace of the citizens od New Hampshire and it was also an outrageous act. McCain want his attorney to investigate into these matters too. He is also calling other Presidential candidates to support him on his investigation. One of McCain's campaign adviser said that the phone calls could be from other Presidential candidates too.

A Utah-based company by the name of Western Wats categorized these phone calls as "push polling" which is a method of using phone calls to plant negative messages to listeners. The phone calls only took place in New Hampshire before it could go anywhere else. More than seven people in New Hampshire recieved these phone calls. Their length time was estimated at twenty minutes. The phone calls pointed out negative things about Mormons such as Mormons doesn't accept black people and the Book of Mormon is better than the bible, etc. Romney said that this situation with the phone calls is what he referred to a term he called as "un-American." Romney's faith have been an issue even since he started his campaign for Presidency. There phone calls are no exception to his attacks on his religion.

Televangelist & Politics

Rudy Giuliani, a Republican presidential candidate seemed happy when televangelist Pat Robertson decided to endorsed in his primary campaign. Robertson is a well known televangelist and is also the founder of the Christian Coalition. He said that it was his pleasure to support Giuliani in his presidential election. Giuliani, as everyone knows, support the abortion and gay rights. Now with Robertson standing by his side, his goals might come a step close than he expect it to be. He is glad to have evangelicals to support him even though some of them support Senator John McCain too. McCain was surprised at Robertson's support for Giuliani. He said he was speechless about this whole ordeal.

Robertson said that Giuliani helped New York out when it was deteriorating after the Spetember 11th attacks, decreased the crime rate in New York, and lowered the taxes and a whole bunch of other good things that he did for New York. He made Giuliani sounded like a great Presidential candidate by saying these good things about him. Giuliani said that since his support from Robertson, they got to know each other better. He said he have a better understanding of where Robertson is coming from and how he is as a person. Giuliani said that even though sometimes they doesn't always agree with each other's point of view, they both see the world in the same way.

Religion on ID Cards

Human Rights Watch and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) said that the country of Egypt should all its citizens to put their religion on their identification cards. Human Rights Watch said that the Ministry of Interior officials prevents people from registering their religion on their identification cards. Also, they said that the citizens can't even list their religions on other documents such as their birth certificates. Human Rights Watch said that the Ministry of Interior officials are using their interpretation of the Islamic law to denial the identification of the use of religion.

All Egyptian citizens are required to get identification cards as soon as they reach the age of sixteen. This identication card is used throughout life such as getting a job, going to school, getting a driver license, etc. The Ministry of Interior officials said that people can choose between these three religions: Islam, Christianity, or Judaism. Human Rights Watch reviewed many cases involving this issue. Other people said that the Ministry of Interior officials bribed people about their religion. Now, Human Rights Watch wants justice for the citizens of Egypt. (This issue took place in Cairo on November 12, 2007).

Religion and Politics?

On Tuesday night, November 13, 2007 at LaFortune Student Center, two students and two professors debated on the issue of separation and church. To be exact, one student and one professor formed one team and the other student and professor formed another team so the total team would be two. One group argued that religion does not mix with politics while the other group said that religion can be useful in certain situations. The first group used the quote said by Former President John F. Kennedy: "Religion really has no place in politics." The other group said that the government should not impose laws to separate religion and politics and by taking religion out of politics, it is not humanly possible, in other words quoted by him as "an anti-human idea." The two groups argued back and forth about religion and politics. Either way, anyone look at it, it is one controversial issue and John F. Kennedy's quote take the front jab at why religion should be a separate thing from the political realm.

Grassley on Televangelists

Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, is investigating the alleged financial misconduct of six televangelists. He asked the ministries to turn over documents of their financial information. Senator Grassley begun this investigation five years ago and now he wants to close the leak down. He is probing on other non-profit organization too. It is hard to investigate on his organizations because there are issues with governance and transparency.
Senator Grassley said that "financial transparency is a must even if it's not legally required."

ECFA president Ken Behr said that there ministries that are being investigated are giving too much money to televangelists. He want to know if the ministries are paying too much money to these six people. Since these are large ministries, it is hard to probe into their organizations, since a great amount of money is being cycle throughout the system. Behr said that the ministries could survive this investigation if they are willing to cooporate with the investigation. He thinks that it is a good idea for them to be transparent so things would be easier for them to handle.

Mitt Romney's Speech

Mitt Romney's political advisers disagree with him about giving a speech on his Mormon faith. Voters want Romney to talk about his beliefs and how it would affect his position in government. Romney said he like the idea of talking about his beliefs to clarify the situation. On the other hand, his advisers said it is not a good idea to talk about his Mormon beliefs because it might hurt his Presidential Candidates Election. Romney's beliefs have been an issue for him even since he start running for President.

There was a lot of concerns and questions on his Mormon faith. People attacked his faith such as the mother of Senator John McCain, one of the Presidential Candidates. His mother said that Mormons started the problems during the 2002 Olympics that took place in Salt Lake City even though Romney helped to stop the crisis from continuing. Other people might have problems with Mormons too as they will try to question Romney's faith with every chance possible. Maybe that is why his political advisers warned him to not to say anything about his beliefs because they fear it might worsen his situation as it is.

Evangelicals

Rev. John Splinter,a pastor at Bethany Evangelical Free Church and the founder of Point of Grace Community Church in Holmen, described himself as not an evangelical person anymore because his opinions of an evangelical person have differ in times nowadays. His beliefs is not the same anymore as he now is against the evangelical movement, but being theologically conservative is still at the core of his beliefs and that hasn't change for him. Another thing that haven't change are the beliefs of being evangelical. What are the beliefs of being evangelical? The core beliefs of being evangelical are: "an evangelical is someone who understands the Bible as the authoritative word of God, an evangelical has had a born-again experience, accepts Christ as savior and speaks of a personal relationship with Jesus and an evangelical witnesses his or her faith through words or works, seeking to bring others to Christ." Evangelicals tackle five important issues dealing with poverty, homosexuality, enovironment, one party & two party systems, and war. Rev. John Splinter now wants to follow one path and one path only and that is the path of Jesus Christ.