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Pope's peace doves attacked by crow and seagull







26 January 2014 Last updated at 10:06 ET

Two white doves released by children standing alongside Pope Francis in Vatican City as a peace gesture have been attacked by other birds.

A seagull and a crow swept down on the doves after they were set free from the Apostolic Palace during the Pope's weekly Angelus prayer.

Tens of thousands of people watched as one dove struggled to break free.

But the crow pecked repeatedly at [i.e., ate] the other dove. It is not clear what happened to the dove that flew away.

BBC © 2014

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25905108 ; images from http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/2014/01/27/10/35/doves-attacked-after-being-freed-by-pope-francis


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The problem with releasing doves



The release of a white dove should symbolise all that is good and pure and peaceful. But when it goes wrong, it goes very wrong.

Ben Milne
27 January 2014 Last updated at 06:08 ET

Pope Francis, two children, a prayer for peace, and the symbolic release of white doves from a Vatican window. What could be the problem? Answer - a crow and a seagull [ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25905108 (just above)] which proceeded to maul the poor birds as soon as they left the Pope's care. It was symbolism, but not the kind the Curia intended. Avian tweets of anguish were followed by inevitable tweets of the digital variety, many along the lines of "I never knew Richard Dawkins trained birds".

So is it ever a good idea to release doves?

Unfortunately, the traits which make the gentle dove a poster child for peace - uncomplaining, non-aggressive, highly visible - make it an easy mark for the tough birds in the urban playground. "It's normally sparrowhawks that attack them," says Marnie Lawrence, who trains birds for release at weddings and christenings. "There's not an awful lot you can do about it - but there are certain areas where there are going to be more predators." A large Italian city, presumably.

Lawrence uses white rock doves - which are strictly speaking pigeons, not doves - at her Hertfordshire business. Using a pure-bred dove would be too risky, she says, because they have no homing instinct. "A pure-bred dove would not survive. It wouldn't make it home."

Not all trainers make the same choices. The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals recently highlighted a case in Athlone [ http://www.ispca.ie/rescue_cases/view/a_symbol_of_love ] where untrained doves had been released for a wedding and then left to wander off in the wild. But there are other dangers attached to releasing a dove, as the International Olympic Committee knows to its cost.

For many years the Olympic opening ceremony included the symbolic release of doves. But at Seoul in 1988, the doves were released shortly before the Olympic flame was lit. Unfortunately, several of the poor creatures were still milling around the area of the cauldron, with fatal results. The headlines were cruel if inevitable: "When doves fry."

BBC © 2014

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-25910398


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Biggest Texas Charter School Network Reportedly Teaching Creationism


In this July 21, 2011, file photo, Joe Zamecki protests out side a building where the Texas Board of Education held a meeting, in Austin, Texas. The Texas Board of Education attracted a fierce debate as it considered how the next round of science textbooks will address such issues as creationism and climate change. Science advocate Zack Kopplin recently alleged that a chain of charter schools in Texas has been pushing creationism in the classroom.
ASSOCIATED PRESS

By Rebecca Klein
Posted: 01/17/2014 5:25 pm EST | Updated: 01/21/2014 8:10 pm EST

According to science advocate Zack Kopplin, Texas students in more than 65 schools are not learning real science. Instead, he alleges, students enrolled in schools operated by the state’s largest charter school program are learning a curriculum that is riddled with factual errors, pushes creationism and undermines evolution.

Kopplin, 20, railed against the crooked standards at Responsive Education Solutions charter schools [ http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2014/01/creationism_in_texas_public_schools_undermining_the_charter_movement.html (at/see {linked in} http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=96037502 and following)] in an article published on Slate.com Thursday. He says he used an open records request to attain copies of the workbooks used to educate Responsive Ed students and found science lessons that call evolution a “dogma” and an “unproven theory.” He also said he saw history lessons with a misogynistic and religious agenda.

“What I found is that, really unquestionably, the Responsive Education Solutions program is teaching creationism,” Kopplin told The Huffington Post over the phone about the publicly funded, secular charter school network. “It highlights supernatural creationism as a legitimate alternative to evolution. It says that evolution is unproved dogma with no experimental basis.”

One Responsive Ed worksheet, according to scanned lessons Kopplin shared with The Huffington Post, describes the evolutionary theory of humans as being the subject of much “skepticism, debate, and change.” Another explains that some see creationism and evolution as being in conflict with each other, and that some scientists try to bridge this conflict through subscribing to the theory of intelligent design.

The “theory [of evolution] needs to be better supported by hard evidence,” reads another worksheets, encapsulating the overall message of these lessons.

When Kopplin spoke with Rosalinda Gonzalez, the vice president of academic affairs for Responsive Ed, she told him that their curriculum “teaches evolution, noting, but not exploring, the existence of competing theories," per the Slate article.

According to information provided to Kopplin from the Texas Education Agency, Responsive Ed is currently conducting an internal review of allegations that its schools are teaching creationism. The agency will also be conducting its own review of the material.

The Supreme Court ruled in 1987 that teaching creationism in schools violates the separation of church and state [ http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/search/display.html?terms=Edwards%20v.%20Aguillard&url=/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0482_0578_ZS.html ].

Texas science curriculum standards make no mention of creationism, but they do say that “students should analyze, evaluate and critique scientific explanations” while "examining all sides of scientific evidence of those scientific explanations, so as to encourage critical thinking [ http://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2011/aug/19/rick-perry/gov-rick-perry-says-texas-public-schools-teach-evo/ ]."

Kopplin thinks that Responsive Ed lessons outwardly challenge evolution in a way that is unconstitutional.

“They undermine evolution without saying straight-out evolution is wrong, but every time they present evolution they undercut it,” he told HuffPost.

Texas leaders have a history of pushing creationism in school. Every Republican candidate currently running for lieutenant governor recently said they support the teaching of creationism in schools [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/13/texas-lieutenant-governor-creationism_n_4441180.html ]. And at a political forum earlier this month, a candidate running for the Texas Board of Education said, "We know we didn't come from monkeys [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/10/lady-theresa-thombs-creationism_n_4578060.html ]."

Copyright © 2014 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/17/kopplin-texas-creationism-schools_n_4619521.html [with comments]


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These Texas Republicans Don't Give A !@#$ If You Know They Want Creationism In Schools

By Rebecca Klein
Posted: 01/28/2014 6:27 pm EST | Updated: 01/28/2014 7:59 pm EST

All the Republican candidates running for Texas lieutenant governor agree: Creationism needs to be taught in schools.

At a statewide televised debate Monday, the four Republican candidates said they would like to see the religious theory taught in the classroom [ http://tpr.org/post/recap-immigration-marijuana-lieutenant-governor-candidates-sound ], according to videos of the event.

The candidates spoke about their views on creationism after being asked by Norma Garcia of Texas outlets Telemundo 39 and KXTX-TV what specific aspect of creationism they would like to see included in textbooks and if they think this would undermine a previous Supreme Court decision that barred teaching the theory as a science.

While the candidates danced around the specifics of the question, they all stood firm in their commitment to having creationism taught in Texas classrooms.

State Sen. Dan Patrick and Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples indicated they think the absence of creationism in schools is an affront to Christianity.

“I don’t think we have to live in a state where we need to apologize for being a Christian. ... [Creationism] is something that most Texans believe in, and our children need to be exposed to this,” Staples said.

“Christians have yielded to the secular left,” Patrick said of the lack of creationism in schools, bragging that he co-sponsored the state's 2013 “Merry Christmas Law,” which ensures that students and teachers can say “Merry Christmas [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/09/texas-christmas-law_n_4414744.html ]" and sing Christmas songs without fear of punishment.

Incumbent Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson recommended that creationism be taught in schools alongside intelligent design and evolution.

“I happen to believe as a Christian in creationism, but I understand that it alone cannot be taught,” said Dewhurst.

The candidates made similar statements at a debate back in December [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/13/texas-lieutenant-governor-creationism_n_4441180.html ].

Texas curriculum standards currently say that students should examine all sides of scientific theories [ http://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2011/aug/19/rick-perry/gov-rick-perry-says-texas-public-schools-teach-evo/ ], but do not direct educators to teach creationism.

Earlier this month, science advocate Zack Kopplin accused the largest charter school network in Texas of teaching creationism [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/17/kopplin-texas-creationism-schools_n_4619521.html (just above)]. The Texas Education Agency is currently reviewing the situation.

Copyright © 2014 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. (emphasis added)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/28/creationism-texas-governor-debate_n_4682993.html [the YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C56NgKo2k94 (with comments), as embedded; with comments] [the complete debate next below]


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The Texas Debates: Race for Lieutenant Governor

Published on Jan 28, 2014 by KERAPublicMedia [ http://www.youtube.com/user/KERAPublicMedia ]

The four candidates in the Republican Primary for Texas Lieutenant Governor squared off in The Texas Debates: Race for Lieutenant Governor on Monday, January 27, 2014, at 8:00 p.m. CT. The one-hour live debate from the KERA Studios in Dallas, Texas featured Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst, State Senator Dan Patrick, Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson and Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples. The debate was moderated by KERA's Shelley Kofler, and featured questions from panelists Norma Garcia of KXTX-TV, Peggy Fikac of the Houston Chronicle and Ross Ramsey of the Texas Tribune.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yutPMXZN1uU [no comments yet]


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Dr. Francis Collins: 'There Is An Uneasiness' About Evolution
01/25/2014
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/25/francis-collins-davos_n_4635338.html [with embedded video, and comments]


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Buddhist student harrassed, ridiculed, told to accept it, leave school or convert


Negreet High's version of separation of church and state

Posted by Rachel at 10:28 AM
Sunday, January 26, 2014

So here's a fascinating -- and by fascinating, I mean appalling -- case that the ACLU is filing [ https://www.aclu.org/religion-belief/lane-v-sabine-parish-school-board-memorandum-support-preliminary-injunction ] on behalf of a local family, against a Louisiana school district and several officials/teachers. The family suffered a tremendous litany of unconstitutional behaviors directed against them, but they are perhaps best represented by the words of plaintiff Scott Lane, husband of plaintiff Sharon Lane, father of plaintiffs S.L and M.L, and stepfather of plaintiff C.C [ https://www.aclu.org/blog/religion-belief/if-you-want-fit-public-school-just-become-christian ]. He gives examples of some of the issues his Buddhist stepson encountered, and the disregard for constitutional separation of church and state is simply staggering:

On a science test, their teacher had included a fill-in-the-blank question: "ISN'T IT AMAZING WHAT THE _____________ HAS MADE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" When my stepson didn't know the answer ("Lord"), she belittled him in front of the entire class. When he wrote in "Lord Buddha" on another exam, she marked it wrong. As she was returning that exam to students, one student proclaimed aloud that "people are stupid if they think God is not real." In response, my stepson's teacher agreed, telling the class, "Yes! That is right! I had a student miss that on his test." The entire class broke out in laughter at my stepson.

The same teacher also told our children that the Bible is "100 percent true," that the Earth was created by God 6,000 years ago, and that evolution is "impossible" and a "stupid theory made up by stupid people who don't want to believe in God." She's also told the class that Buddhism is "stupid." (emphasis added)

While this particular teacher, Rita Roark, was especially problematic, Lane gives a number of other examples of the general atmosphere of the school, including that of defendant and school superintendent Sara Ebarb:

• When we went to the school to meet with the principal, we saw a large picture of Jesus over the school's main doors, a Bible verse on the school's electronic marquee, and numerous religious posters and pictures on the walls. Religious images and messages are displayed throughout the school, in fact.

• We learned from our children that official prayers, typically led by the principal or teachers, are routinely incorporated into class and school events like assemblies, and sporting events. The school even requires students to attend "See You at the Pole" each year, where they must take part in prayer and worship.

• We discovered that school officials were distributing religious literature to students. For example, one of our other son's teachers passed out copies of a book from the "Truth For Youth" program, a revivalist ministry. The book included the entire New Testament of the Bible as well as cartoons that denounce evolution and trumpet the evils of birth control, premarital sex, rock music, alcohol, pornography, homosexuality, sorcery, and witchcraft. (emphasis added)

Supporting evidence is provided [ https://www.aclu.org/religion-belief/lane-v-sabine-parish-school-board ]. But the embrace of religiosity and disregard for constitutional protections goes much higher than teachers and event coordinators. When the Lanes took their complaints to the school superintendent, she told them [ https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/assets/complaint_-_final_0.pdf ]

that “[t]his is the Bible Belt” and that they would simply have to accept that teachers would proselytize students. She also asked whether C.C. had to be raised as a Buddhist and whether he could “change” his faith, and she suggested that C.C. transfer to another district school – more than 25 miles away where, in her words, “there are more Asians.” The day after meeting with the Lanes, the Superintendent sent a letter to Negreet Principal Gene Wright stating that she approved of Negreet’s official religious practices. Wright read the letter to the entire Negreet student body over the school’s public address system. (emphasis mine)

The superintendent's complete lack of comprehension of religious freedom is made more clear in the complaint, which details how she told the Lanes

that “[t]eachers have religious freedom.” She further stated that “if they were in a different country,” Plaintiffs would see “that country’s religion everywhere,” and that, therefore, they “shouldn’t be offended” to “see God here.” Purporting to illustrate her point further, she noted that, because she did not find it offensive that “the lady who cuts [her] toenails has a statue of Buddha,” Plaintiffs should not be bothered by Roark’s in-class proselytization.

In her mind, "freedom" is not a freedom to hold a belief, but a freedom to force others to hold that belief. The illogicality of such a position is made apparent when one considers what happens when you have people who hold different beliefs exercising this "freedom". Furthermore, Ebarb's response to the family -- that C.C. should go elsewhere, because he was in the Bible belt -- illustrates that her view of religious freedom is entirely one sided. It is not freedom, and it extends only to Christians.

It is worth noting that, while C.C. did transfer, he is still subject to much of the same religious harassment. Even if that were not the case, it should go without saying that no child, and no family, should have to go half an hour out of their way each morning simply to avoid being harassed and intimidated -- much less by authority figures -- for praying to Lord Buddha (or not praying at all) rather than Lord Jesus.

And while C.C.'s troubles are not over, neither are those of his siblings (one of whom is a Christian):

Plaintiffs S.L. and M.L. are minor children and brothers to C.C. They are both enrolled at Negreet High School, where they are subject to the customs, policies, and practices of Defendants Sabine Parish School Board, Superintendent Ebarb, and Principal Wright. Although M.L. attends church, he believes that faith is a personal matter. He believes that he should be able to decide, with the guidance of his parents and religious leaders, which beliefs he will follow and when, as well as how to express those beliefs, without pressure from his teachers and school officials. S.L. is a non-believer who does not subscribe to the religious beliefs promoted by schools officials.

It's simply mind boggling that adults would think that doing this to children was in any way appropriate, much less legal.

Copyright 2014 Rachel's Hobbit Hole

http://rachelshobbithole.blogspot.com/2014/01/buddhist-student-harrassed-ridiculed.html [with comments] [also at http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/01/26/1272634/-Buddhist-student-harrassed-ridiculed-told-to-accept-it-leave-school-or-convert (with comments)]


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As a Reformed Creationist, I Hope Bill Nye Doesn't Underestimate Ken Ham

By David MacMillan [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-macmillan/ ]
Posted: 01/23/2014 9:57 am

It's rare to see a prominent scientist agree to a public debate with someone from the creation science movement. Giving equal time to both sides might be a foundational principle of American dialogue, but it paints the issue as more of a controversy than it actually is. That's why it surprised a lot of people when Bill Nye, scientist and TV personality, agreed to debate [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/22/bill-nye-joining-debate-creationism-video_n_4645263.html ] the president of Cincinnati's Creation Museum, Ken Ham.

Even so, it's not hard to see why Nye has chosen to engage creationism directly. The most recent polling shows one in three Americans [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/30/evolution-survey_n_4519441.html ] still won't accept that all living things evolved from a common ancestor. Creationism may be pseudoscience, but its grip on the American public is hard for a science educator like Nye to ignore.

This debate is more than academic for me. I grew up steeped in creationism. I was homeschooled with creationist curriculum, my family took us to creationist conferences, and I was deeply proud that I knew the real story about evolution and the age of the earth. I was taught there was absolutely no way the universe could be explained without creationism. Evolution was a fairy tale based on faith; creation was good science. I was taught that Christianity wasn't consistent without creationism... that all "Bible-believing Christians" rejected evolution and long ages in favor of a six-day creation and a global flood.

My proudest teenage achievement was mowing lawns to earn $1,000 so I could help build the Creation Museum. My donation earned me lifetime free admission, a polo shirt, and my name engraved in the lobby. I wrote back and forth with many prominent creationists and hotly debated origins with anyone who dared argue in favor of evolution. On two occasions I even wrote featured articles for the Answers In Genesis website... a high honor for Teenage Me.

I'm writing all this because I don't know many people who were as far into the creation science movement as I was and came out of it. After graduating high school, I went on to college and got my Bachelor's degree in physics; I now work in energy regulation. Despite four years of physics, it still took me a long time before I actually came to understand evolution, geology, and cosmology. Now, I'm always learning, always finding out new information, always excited.

Because so much of what I'd been taught was flatly false, I had to re-learn practically everything about biology, geology, and the history of science. I'm amazed by the amount of evidence I systematically ignored or explained away, just because it didn't match creation science.

Bill Nye may not understand just how difficult it is for people who were raised like me to abandon creationism. Creationism isn't just one belief; it's a system of beliefs and theories that all support each other. We believed that unless we could maintain confidence in special creation, a young planet, a global flood, and the Tower of Babel, we'd be left without any basis for maintaining our faith.

This false dichotomy makes creationism strong. As long as people think the foundation of their religious faith depends on denial of science, it takes incredible energy to make them question the simple explanations given by the creationist movement. Ken Ham claims creation science keeps people from abandoning Christianity, but it usually works in the opposite direction.

Learning the history of creationism freed me to examine the evidence for evolution. I wouldn't claim to know everything about the Bible, but I do know Ken Ham's insistence on "biblical origins" is as phony as the rest of creation science. I had never known creationism was only invented a scant 50 years ago (six-day-young-earth creationism was never a fundamentalist dogma until the 1960s). I had never known that most Christians accepted the Bible's creation account as deliberate allegory many centuries before scientists even knew the earth revolved around the sun.

I hope Bill Nye doesn't underestimate creationists. Between their strident religious confidence and the way they painstakingly dumb-down and oversimplify evidence to fit into 6,000 years, people like Ken Ham can be tough nuts to crack. We were raised with false ideas about biology, geology, and history itself. Relearning all these things from the ground up is a tall order to begin with; the influence of religious dogma only make it that much more difficult. In a debate like this one, demonstrating even the most elementary facts about evolution and the age of the universe would be a great success.

Creationism has spread an incredible amount of misinformation over the past half-century. I hope Nye can cut through the accumulated falsehoods and teach about the actual evidence. I want people to be free to learn, free to understand, free to explore the fantastic mysteries of the universe without being tied down to phony dogma that wasn't even part of Christianity until the last fifty years. I want children to learn how to trust the scientific method... and, even more importantly, how to use the scientific method so their creativity and imagination won't be wasted trying to defend pseudoscience. The universe has so much more to offer than could ever fit into a few thousand years.

Copyright © 2014 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-macmillan/bill-nye-ken-ham-debate_b_4651407.html [with comments]


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Why I'm debating the 'Science Guy' about creationism


Bill Nye and Ken Ham will debate the origins of life Tuesday at the Creation Museum.

Editors note: Ken Ham will debate Bill Nye on February 4 [ http://debatelive.org/ ; http://www.answersingenesis.org/outreach/event/Nye-Ham-Debate/ ] at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, with CNN's Tom Foreman moderating. The Belief Blog asked Nye to write a piece matching Ham's, below, but his office declined, citing scheduling limitations. The Belief Blog covered Nye's views on creationism in this piece [ http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/27/bill-nye-slams-creationism/ ].

Opinion by Ken Ham, special to CNN
February 3rd, 2014 01:15 PM ET

(CNN) - Public debates on evolution and creation have become increasingly rare. Several hundred well-attended debates were held in the 1970s and 1980s, but they have largely dried up in recent decades.

So I look forward to a spirited yet cordial debate on Tuesday with Bill Nye, the "Science Guy" of television fame.

I also look forward to the opportunity to help counter the general censorship against creationists' view of origins. While we are not in favor of mandating that creation be taught in public school science classes, we believe that, at the very least, instructors should have the academic freedom to bring up the problems with evolution.

Even though the two of us are not Ph.D. scientists, Mr. Nye and I clearly love science.

As a former science instructor, I have appreciated the useful television programs that he hosted and produced, especially when he practiced operational science in front of his audience.

He and I both recognize the wonderful benefits that observational, operational science has brought us, from cell phones to space shuttles. But operational science, which builds today’s technology, is not the same as presenting beliefs about the past, which cannot be tested in the laboratory.

For students, the evolution-creation discussion can be a useful exercise, for it can help develop their critical thinking skills.

Most students are presented only with the evolutionary belief system in their schools, and they are censored from hearing challenges to it. Let our young people understand science correctly and hear both sides of the origins issue and then evaluate them.

Our public schools arbitrarily define science as explaining the world by natural processes alone. In essence, a religion of naturalism is being imposed on millions of students. They need to be taught the real nature of science, including its limitations.

Nye, the host of a popular TV program for children, should welcome a scrutiny of evolution in the classrooms.

As evolution-creation issues continue to be in the news – whether it relates to textbook controversies or our debate – there is an increasingly bright spotlight on the research activities of thousands of scientists and engineers worldwide who have earned doctorates and are creationists.

On our full-time staff at Answers in Genesis [ http://www.answersingenesis.org/ ], we have Ph.D.s in astronomy, geology, biology, molecular genetics, the history of science, and medicine. Yes, creationists are still a small minority in the scientific community, but they hold impressive credentials and have made valuable contributions in science and engineering.

I remember the time I spoke at a lunchtime Bible study at the Goddard Space Flight Center near Washington. I was thrilled to meet several scientists and engineers who accept the book of Genesis as historical and reject Darwinian evolution. They shared with me that a belief in evolution had nothing to do with their work on the Hubble Space Telescope. Why should our perspective about origins be censored?

Our young people — and adults — should be aware that considerable dissent exists in the scientific world regarding the validity of molecules-to-man evolution.

It’s an important debate, for what you think about your origins will largely form your worldview. If you believe in a universe that was created by accident, then there is ultimately no meaning and purpose in life, and you can establish any belief system you want with no regard to an absolute authority.

Ultimately, I have decided to accept an authority — our infallible creator and his word, the Bible — over the words of fallible humans.

Ken Ham is founder and CEO of Answers in Genesis (USA) and founder of the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky. The views expressed in this column belong to Ham.

© 2014 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2014/02/03/why-im-debating-the-science-guy-about-creationism/comment-page-9/ [with comments]


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Paula Osuna Sees Jesus In Toe Bruise


A Silver City couple is calling it a “Chimayo miracle” after a bad injury.

Posted: 01/29/2014 5:44 pm EST | Updated: 01/29/2014 5:59 pm EST

She believes in the Father, Son and the Holy Toes.

Paula Osuna, of Silver City, N.M. [ http://krqe.com/2014/01/27/woman-claims-to-see-jesus-on-toe/ ], claims that the image of Jesus appeared to her in a bruise on her toe, KRQE reports.

Osuna's foot was thoroughly bruised [ http://www.christianpost.com/buzzvine/woman-sees-jesus-in-bruise-on-toe-can-you-see-him-video-113496/ ] last weekend, when she fell down the stairs, according to the Christian Post. A few days later, she asked her fiance to rub some holy dirt [ http://www.elsantuariodechimayo.us/Santuario/HolyDirt.html ] -- which he had saved from a pilgrimage to the Catholic shrine in Chimayo [ http://www.elsantuariodechimayo.us/index.html ] -- on her foot.

She bandaged the foot over the dirt, and the next day, when she took the bandages off, her family members pointed out that one of her bruises had taken on the shape of Jesus Christ.

Copyright © 2014 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/29/paula-osuna-jesus-toe-bruise_n_4690623.html [the YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzeuwIbtgTw (with comments), as embedded; with comments]


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The exorcisms of Latoya Ammons


January 28, 2014
http://www.indystar.com/story/news/2014/01/25/the-disposession-of-latoya-ammons/4892553/%20http:/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2546850/Children-possessed-200-demons-levitated-walked-backwards-walls-hospital-staff.html [with embedded video report, and comments]


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Illinois bishop: ‘Punish’ LGBT people like children if they get married



By David Edwards
Tuesday, January 28, 2014 13:54 EST

A Catholic bishop who performed an exorcism after the state of Illinois legalized same-sex marriage said last week that he did it because he loved LGBT people and they needed to be punished like children.

Just minutes after Gov. Pat Quinn (D) signed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage last November, Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas John Paprocki performed an exorcism [ http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/11/21/catholic-bishop-performs-exorcism-with-armed-officers-over-illinois-same-sex-marriage/ ] on the entire state of Illinois.

Paprocki told Life Site News [ http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/us-bishop-we-fight-same-sex-marriage-out-of-love-for-homosexuals-video ] during last week’s March for Life in Washington D.C. that he went through with the exorcism because the church was “under persecution.”

“Certainly the redefinition of marriage is an opposition to God’s plan for married life,” he explained. “So I thought that would be a fitting time to have that prayer, really for praying for God and his power to drive out the Devil from his influence that seems to be pervading our culture.”

“To be opposed to the redefinition of marriage and to be opposed to things that are sinful, that’s actually a very loving thing,” Paprocki continued. “Perhaps it’s the permissiveness of our society that people think that if you don’t get what you want that you’re somehow being hateful, if you don’t give them what they want. But sometimes, like any good parent will tell you, that sometimes you have to discipline your child, sometimes you have to say no. And sometimes, you even have to punish.”

“And when a parent does those things towards their children, they’re actually being very loving by correcting them and showing them the right way to do things.”

Paprocki reminded Life Site News that the “redefinition of marriage” came from the “father of lies,” and that the media had lied by claiming that children could be nurtured in LGBT homes.

“We are facing a lot of untruths out there,” he warned. “We just have to be persistent and courageous and stand up for the truth.”

Watch this video from Life Site News, broadcast Jan. 26, 2014.

[video embedded]

Copyright © 2014 Raw Story Media, Inc.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/28/illinois-bishop-punish-lgbt-people-like-children-if-they-get-married/ [with comments]


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Police: Mom charged in kids’ death feared devil


This photo released shows Zakieya Latrice Avery, 28. Montgomery County Police charged 21-year-old Monifa Denise Sanford and Avery with murder in the deaths of two of Avery's children, a 1-year-old and a 2-year-old.
Montgomery County Police Dept.
[ http://www.freep.com/article/20140119/NEWS07/301190101/Maryland-mother-kills-2-kids-performing-exorcism ]


An undated photo released by the Montgomery County, Md., police department shows Monifa Denise Sanford. Sanford and Zakieya Latrice Avery are accused of killing two children. Police say the women thought they were performing an exorcism.
Montgomery County Police/AP Photo
[ http://www.abc2news.com/dpp/news/state/2-women-charged-with-murder-of-2-children-in-md ; caption from http://www.kansas.com/2014/01/21/3241243/psych-screening-for-md-women-held.html ]

January 19, 2014

GERMANTOWN, Md. — A Maryland woman charged with killing two of her children has told investigators that she thought an exorcism was necessary to remove the presence of the devil and evil spirits, a police captain said Sunday.

Zakieya Latrice Avery, 28, of Germantown, is charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing deaths of the children, ages 1 and 2.

Montgomery County police responded to Avery’s home Friday morning following a neighbor’s 911 call. Police said they found the two children dead and two other siblings, ages 5 and 8, injured with stabbing wounds.

“She thought the devil was in the kids, and that’s sort of the thing she centered it around as to why she had to conduct an exorcism,” said Capt. Marcus Jones, director of the police department’s major crimes division. “She just thought that there were evil spirits within the kids.”

Another woman charged in the killings, Monifa Denise Sanford, 21, made similar statements during questioning, police said.

Sanford was arrested Saturday. The two women had been living together at the house in recent months.

Jones said the father of the children does not live in the area and is separated from Avery, but was returning to be with the surviving children, who remained hospitalized Sunday.

Both women were being held without bond on charges of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder and are not expected to appear in court until Tuesday afternoon. Court records do not list lawyers for the women.

Police said officers went to Avery’s row house community north of Washington, D.C., early Friday when a neighbor called 911 after noticing a car with the door open and a knife lying outside of the vehicle.

Officers recovered two knives from the home. The children died from multiple stab wounds, Jones said.

Jones said the women are believed to have met each other at a church, which he identified as Exousia Ministries in Germantown.

The pastor of that congregation, Darryl Jones, declined to discuss the case after services at an elementary school Sunday or even confirm that the women worshipped there.

“This is a tragic situation. We’re keeping the family in (our) prayers and we are respecting the privacy of the family,” he said.

Avery’s stepgrandmother, Sylvia Wade, told The Washington Post that Avery was “humble and meek” and said she loved her children.

“I don’t know what triggered it. She wasn’t herself. When a person is not of themselves, they are not responsible for what they are doing. They are in another zone.”

© 2014 Associated Press

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/police-mom-charged-in-kids-death-feared-devil/2014/01/19/eeb6fc18-814d-11e3-a273-6ffd9cf9f4ba_story.html [no comments yet]


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Zakieya Latrice Avery, Monifa Sanford Exorcism Murder 911 Recordings Released
01/20/14
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/20/911-recordings-released-i_0_n_4633818.html [with embedded video report, and comments]


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Psychic Found Guilty of Stealing $138,000 From Clients

Sylvia Mitchell
October 11, 2013
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/12/nyregion/greenwich-village-psychic-found-guilty-of-stealing-thousands-from-clients.html


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Recent psychic fraud trials in NY, Florida expose line between fortunetelling and the law

In this Oct. 28, 2013 photo, psychic Jesse Bravo talks during an interview in New York. Bravo decries seers who make what he sees as impossible promises or who press clients to consult, and pay, them frequently. "There are a lot of predators out there," he says.
November 04, 2013
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/11/04/recent-psychic-fraud-trials-in-ny-florida-expose-line-between-fortunetelling/


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South Florida and NY psychic going to prison, must repay $2.2 million to victims

Nancy Marks, 44, of Fort Lauderdale, was sentenced to three years and nine months in federal prison for her $2.2 million role in a psychic fraud conspiracy.
January 13, 2014
Marks was one of nine family members arrested in August 2011 on allegations they operated a conspiracy that fleeced clients who came into their psychic stores in Fort Lauderdale and beside the famed Plaza Hotel near Manhattan's Central Park.
Marks, who often used the name Joyce Michael or Michaels, admitted she told clients she contacted spirit guides and channeled God-given advice, promising to return victims' cash when her "work" was done — then refusing to give it back.
Prosecutors said Marks was more culpable than most other members of the conspiracy, which included her daughter Vivian, 24, who is to be released from prison Sunday after serving four months.
But Nancy Marks was less responsible than her 62-year-old mother-in-law Rose, also of Fort Lauderdale, who faces a much harsher punishment when she is sentenced in March.
[...]
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/crime/fl-psychic-nancy-marks-20140113,0,7111335.story [with embedded video report, and comments]


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ESP Is Put to the Test—Can You Foretell the Results?

Dr. Joseph Banks Rhine conducted experiments at Duke University and the Institute of Parapsychology that convinced millions of people that ESP existed.
It's just hokum, say researchers, who offer a new experiment as proof.
January 21, 2014
[...]
Researchers will continue to attempt to use scientific methods to prove or disprove reincarnation, crop circles, or whether anyone can predict the future. A 2005 Gallup poll found that about three out of four Americans subscribe to at least one paranormal belief, such as ESP, haunted houses, or telepathy.
It seems that when it comes to a sixth sense, what we know for sure is that people will believe exactly what they want to believe.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/01/140121-esp-clairvoyance-sixth-sense-science-telepathy/ [with comments; the study at http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0084490 ]


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No Sixth Sense? ESP Debunked In New Psychology Study
01/22/2014
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/15/sixth-sense-esp-psychology_n_4597715.html [with embedded video report, and comments]


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No, You Don't Have A 6th Sense

Published on Jan 23, 2014 by DNews [ http://www.youtube.com/user/DNewsChannel ]

Crush all your mind reading dreams, because ESP isn't real. People who claim to have ESP are in fact picking up on something, but it's not brain waves. It's their own brain putting pieces together, many times, subconsciously. Tune in and watch Laci and Anthony discuss how your super-sleuth brain can pick up on a lot of subtle nuances , maybe even one that could help you solve a murder!

Read More:

Detecting Unidentified Changes [the study]
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0084490
"Does becoming aware of a change to a purely visual stimulus necessarily cause the observer to be able to identify or localise the change or can change detection occur in the absence of identification or localisation?"

Is 'Numerosity' Humans' Sixth Sense?
http://www.livescience.com/39441-is-numerosity-humans-sixth-sense.html
"Whether it's determining the number of ships on the horizon or the number of cookies in a jar, the human brain has a 'map' for perceiving numbers, new research show."

Sixth Sense Can Be Explained by Science
http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/research-innovations/stories/sixth-sense-can-be-explained-by-science#
"The brain picks up on subtle (and not so subtle) changes, but we sometimes fail to articulate these changes."

Americans' Beliefs in Paranormal Phenomena (Infographic)
http://www.livescience.com/16748-americans-beliefs-paranormal-infographic.html
"Belief in the paranormal is common in the United States as trends in movies and television programming reflect the widespread interest in the mystical and supernatural. A look at paranormal beliefs in America."

Watch More:

Is Telekinesis Real?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhpoXLEw3r8

TestTube Wild Card
http://testtube.com/dnews/dnews-333-why-are-we-ticklish

What Makes Ouija Boards Move?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=221lInw7Wj0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDFeBMGMyTs [with comments]


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Former pastor Barry Minkow admits embezzling, defrauding local church out of more than $3 million


(Photo courtesy: Photo: 10News)

Posted: 01/22/2014

SAN DIEGO - A convicted felon who masterminded a massive Ponzi scheme nearly three decades ago, then became a fraud investigator and pastor after getting out of prison, pleaded guilty Wednesday to defrauding San Diego Community Bible Church and its congregation out of more than $3 million.

Barry Minkow, who is currently in custody after his conviction on unrelated securities fraud charges, admitted his guilt in the embezzlement case in a hearing before Magistrate William Gallo.

Minkow, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and bank fraud, faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced April 7.

"Barry Minkow pled guilty today to embezzling more than $3 million in money intended as church donations (while employed as a pastor) and concealing it all from the IRS," said Joel P. Garland, Acting Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigations for the Los Angeles Field Office.

"Barry Minkow has admitted not only his fraud, but his omission of over $890,000 in unreported income and over $250,000 in tax," Garland said.

Minkow, 46, admitted to a litany of improper conduct that continued for more than a decade, including opening unauthorized bank accounts on behalf of the San Diego church, forging signatures on church checks, using funds drawn on legitimate church accounts for his personal benefit, and charging unauthorized personal expenses on church credit cards.

In addition, Minkow confessed to diverting SDCBC member donations for his own benefit and embezzling money intended as church donations.

The former Reseda business whiz was convicted in December 1988 of swindling investors out of more than $26 million through ZZZZ Best Co., a carpet-cleaning enterprise he started when he was 16.

The fast-talking, charismatic young salesman convinced investors -- and many in the mainstream media -- that ZZZZ Best was making $43 million a year restoring buildings that had been damaged by fire or flood.

Before its collapse in 1987, the company's stock value soared to $200 million and Minkow was hailed as a business genius. He began sending money to Israel, buying fast cars and living the high life that was soon to come to an end.

In prison, Minkow became a born-again Christian and began evangelizing. He also cooperated in a class-action lawsuit in which ZZZZ Best shareholders recovered about 95 percent of their losses,

He was paroled in late 1994, after serving less than a third of a 25-year sentence in which he was also ordered to pay nearly $26 million in restitution, and went to work at a church in Chatsworth.

In 1997, Minkow became the pastor at SDCBC and founded the Fraud Discovery Institute, a for-profit entity which was billed as being aimed at the detection and prevention of fraudulent business practices.

Through the work of FDI, Minkow garnered national media attention as a fraud detection expert, and his turn-around story was profiled by CBS' "60 Minutes" in 2006.

Related Headlines:

Ex-local pastor sentenced for $500M fraud
http://www.10news.com/news/ex-local-pastor-sentenced-for-500m-fraud

Pastor resigns after guilty plea connected to federal suit
http://www.10news.com/news/pastor-resigns-after-guilty-plea-connected-to-federal-suit

Parishioners claim ex-pastor betrayed their trust
http://www.10news.com/news/parishioners-claim-ex-pastor-betrayed-their-trust

Documents reveal pastor's link to golf course project
http://www.10news.com/news/documents-reveal-pastor-s-link-to-golf-course-project

Former pastor accused of securities fraud
http://www.10news.com/news/former-pastor-accused-of-securities-fraud

Pastor at church reporting $50K stolen has criminal past:
http://www.10news.com/news/pastor-at-church-reporting-50k-stolen-has-criminal-past

Copyright 2014 by City News Service

http://www.10news.com/news/investigations/former-pastor-barry-minkow-admits-embezzling-defrauding-local-church-out-of-more-than-3-million-01222014 [with comments]


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World-Class Sleaze Barry Minkow Guilty Again



By ROBERT KAHN
Wednesday, January 22, 2014Last Update: 9:57 AM PT

SAN DIEGO (CN) - Barry Minkow, carpet-cleaning fraudster turned convict turned pastor and "fraud investigator" pleaded guilty Thursday to defrauding a Baptist church and its congregation of more than $3 million, the U.S. attorney said.

Minkow pleaded guilty to "a litany of improper conduct, including opening unauthorized bank accounts on behalf of the SDCBC [San Diego Community Bible Church], forging signatures on SDCBC checks, using funds drawn on legitimate church accounts for his personal benefit, and charging unauthorized personal expenses on church credit cards," the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement announcing Minkow's guilty plea.

"In addition, Minkow confessed to diverting SDCBC member donations for his own benefit and embezzling money intended as church donations. In all, Minkow admitted purloining - and concealing from the IRS - at least $3 million from SDCBC's parishioners and lenders. As described in court documents, Minkow's conduct continued for over a decade."

Minkow embezzled the $3 million "intended as church donations, while employed as a pastor, and concealing it all from the IRS," the Internal Revenue Service in charge of the Los Angeles Field Office said in the statement.

Minkow faces up to 5 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine and restitution, at his April 7 sentencing.

He's already in prison.

Twenty-five years ago, he Minkow was convicted of defrauding banks and investors of millions of dollars in a Ponzi scheme he called ZZZZ Best carpet cleaning. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Had he served it all, he would be getting out of prison now. But in the slammer Minkow "became involved in the Christian ministry," the U.S. attorney said. He was cut loose in 1995 and went to work as a "pastor" in the Los Angeles area.

In 1997, he funded the "Fraud Discovery Institute" - a profit-seeking enterprise. His work as a "fraud detection expert" got him an admiring feature on "60 Minutes" in 2006.

In his status as an expert, Minkow issued a "report" accusing Lennar homebuilders of fraud in 2009. Lennar's share price dropped by 43 percent - from $11.57 t0 $6.55. But Minkow used his "report" as a tool to short the stock, and was charged with securities fraud. He pleaded guilty to conspiring to manipulate Lennar's share price and was sentenced to 5 years in prison and ordered to pay Lennar $585.5 million in restitution. He is serving that sentence in Lexington, Ky.

Copyright 2014 Courthouse News Service

http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/01/22/64753.htm


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Vatican Monsignor Nunzio Scarano Arrested For Money Laundering


An undated photo of Monsignor Nunzio Scarano in Salerno, Italy.
ASSOCIATED PRESS

By NICOLE WINFIELD
01/21/14 06:42 AM ET EST

VATICAN CITY (AP) — A Vatican monsignor already on trial for allegedly plotting to smuggle 20 million euros ($26 million) from Switzerland to Italy was arrested Tuesday in a separate case for allegedly using his Vatican bank accounts to launder money.

Financial police in the southern Italian city of Salerno said Monsignor Nunzio Scarano had transferred millions of euros in fictitious donations from offshore companies through his accounts at the Vatican's Institute for Religious Works. Police said millions have been seized and that other arrest warrants were also issued.

Scarano's lawyer, Silverio Sica, said his client merely took donations from people he thought were acting in good faith to fund a home for the terminally ill. He conceded, however, that Scarano used the money to pay off a mortgage.

"We continue to strongly maintain the good faith of Don Nunzio Scarano and his absolute certainty that the money came from legitimate donations," Sica told The Associated Press.

The Salerno investigation was already under way when Scarano, dubbed "Monsignor 500" for his purported favored banknotes, was arrested in June in Rome on the smuggling accusations.

Prosecutors say he, a financier and a carabinieri officer devised an elaborate plot to transport 20 million euros in a private jet from Switzerland to Italy avoid paying customs duties. The plot fell apart because the financier reneged at the last minute.

His lawyer has said Scarano in that case was merely acting as a middleman.

Prosecutors and the priest's lawyer say the money involved in both the Swiss smuggling case and the Salerno money-laundering case originated with one of Italy's most important shipping families, the d'Amicos. The family, from Scarano's hometown of Salerno, denied its involvement in a July 1 statement. They did not respond to an email seeking fresh comment Tuesday. No one in the family has been arrested in either case.

Scarano was fired from his job as an accountant in the Vatican's main financial office and his accounts at the Vatican bank were frozen by Vatican authorities after his arrest.

The Vatican's top prosecutor said last week that the Holy See had responded to two official requests from Italy for information about Scarano's accounts, while making its own request to Italian authorities for help in its own money-laundering investigation of him.

Scarano's arrest in June led to the resignations of the Vatican bank's top two managers and accelerated efforts to make the troubled institute conform to international anti-money-laundering norms.

Pope Francis has made reforming the bank a priority and has named a fact-finding commission to look into its activities and legal structure.

Scarano's initial arrest in the smuggling case was reduced to house arrest because of his ailing health. Sica said the prelate would serve the new arrest warrant also under house arrest.

© 2014 Associated Press

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/21/monsignor-monsignor-nunzio_n_4637162.html [with comments]


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Father Joe LeClair Pleads Guilty To Stealing $130,000 From Church
01/22/2014
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/21/joe-leclair-priest-steals-130000-from-church_n_4636719.html [with embedded video report, and comments]


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Gambling-addicted Ottawa priest pleads guilty to stealing parish funds


Fr. Joe LeClair, the popular parish priest of Blessed Sacrament parish in Ottawa’s Glebe neighbourhood, pleaded guilty Jan. 20 to charges of fraud and theft of about $130,000 in parish funds.
Register file photo

Written by Deborah Gyapong, Canadian Catholic News
Monday, 20 January 2014 15:43

OTTAWA - An Ottawa parish priest with an admitted gambling addiction pleaded guilty Jan. 20 to charges of fraud and theft of about $130,000 in parish funds.

Fr. Joe LeClair, the popular parish priest of Blessed Sacrament parish in Ottawa’s Glebe neighbourhood, had been charged following a professional audit revealed more than $400,000 in unaccounted for funds for the years 2006-2011.

The Crown and defense agreed to a statement of facts that led to LeClair’s pleading guilty to fraud and theft of the lower amount, because they established the priest often paid for legitimate parish expenses through his own personal account. Collections from Masses often sat uncounted in the parish office or in the priest’s bedroom instead of being locked in the parish safe, the court heard. Financial controls were lax or non-existent.

About 20 supporters packed the courtroom in support of LeClair.

Though a preliminary hearing had been set to begin in this month and a trial by judge and jury set to begin Feb. 27, LeClair’s attorney Matthew Webber said the priest had admitted to the charges but not the $400,000 figure, for which “the paper trail is non-existent.”

During the sentencing hearing, scheduled to last several days, the court heard LeClair had built Blessed Sacrament “from the verge of extinction” to a thriving community “that just exploded,” made up of several thousand families with a volunteer contingent of more than 700 people serving on various committees and outreach ministries.

As the sole priest for the growing community, the court heard his job “increased in complexity.” LeClair also had a history of anxiety and depression and some alcohol abuse, his lawyer said. During this time, he also spent a great deal of energy counselling people during the “most trying aspects of their lives” in addition to his work as a parish priest celebrating Masses, weddings, funerals and baptisms. He also ran marriage preparation courses.

Webber said the forensic psychiatrist who examined LeClair after he was charged diagnosed him as “a pathological gambler, a psychiatric condition.” He also noted that after newspaper reports in an Ottawa paper, LeClair had admitted “to having a gambling problem” and apologized to his parishioners publicly, though he denied using public funds.

Among the volumes of evidence submitted to the judge was a volume of letters testifying to LeClair’s positive qualities as a priest. Several witnesses lined up to testify in his favour, including Hilliard Murdock, who offered the priest a room in his home when he was in the Ottawa area.

The Ottawa archbishop released a statement following the guilty plea, holding out hope for the priest’s future.

“Aware of his many talents and of his 25 years of effective pastoral ministry, we will work with Fr. LeClair in his desire to return to the exercise of his priestly ministry,” said Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, noting the archdiocese has supported the priest from the beginning in his recovery process.

“Despite this difficult decision affecting Fr. LeClair’s life, I know that he is relieved to have this painful moment behind him,” said the archbishop. “I share his desire, and that of the many people who supported him over the last two years, to move on and to look to the future.”

The archbishop addressed the strains in the Blessed Sacrament community that developed after the popular priest was criminally charged.

“Many people, with the best of intentions, had encouraged me, and those who assist me in my ministry, to deal with this matter outside of the criminal justice system,” Prendergast said. “For a number of reasons, including the need of our Catholic Church to be transparent about such matters and to resolve what had become a highly publicized matter, the decision was made to refer this issue to the police with the expectation that the case would be treated fairly and thoroughly.”

Copyright 2014 The Catholic Register

http://www.catholicregister.org/news/canada/item/17505-gambling-addicted-ottawa-priest-pleads-guilty-to-stealing-parish-funds [with comments]


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66-Year-Old Woman Scammed Out Of $300,000 On Christian Dating Site
01/22/2014
One 66-year-old divorcée turned to online dating to find love, but instead lost $300,000 to a scam artist from Nigeria pretending to be the perfect man.
The woman, who wished to remain anoynmous, recently told a local ABC affiliate in San Jose, Calif. [ http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/south_bay&id=9396097 ] that she met the crook on the dating website Christian Mingle [ http://www.christianmingle.com/ ]. ...
[...]
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/17/internet-dating-scam_n_4619758.html [with embedded video report, and comments]


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Nebraska’s Atheist State Senator Introduces Bill That Would Force Churches to Pay Property Taxes


[ http://imgur.com/h2h9LOT ; http://wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/files/2007/04/Chambers.jpg ]

By Hemant Mehta
January 23, 2014

Ernie Chambers [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernie_Chambers ] is arguably the highest-ranking openly-atheist politician in the country right now. The African-American Nebraska State Senator served for 38 years (beginning in 1970), making him the longest-serving senator in the state’s history, until he was term-limited out in 2008. When he was eligible to run again in 2012, he did so and won easily.

And now he has introduced a bill, LB675 [ http://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/Current/PDF/Intro/LB675.pdf ], that would eliminate a state property-tax exemption for religious organizations — essentially taxing churches.

The bill itself is a riot because all Chambers does is cross out the word [id.] “religious” from the current list of groups that are exempt from paying property taxes:



Chambers’ Statement of Intent for the legislation is also the best thing you’ll read all day [ http://nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/Current/PDF/SI/LB675.pdf ]:

The purpose of LB 675 is to help the State gain more revenue, rather than less, by taking away churches’ property tax exemptions.

The Governor and candidates for governor have said that “everything should be on the table.” If taxes were paid on the many churches and cathedrals and temples in every city in this State, perhaps the State’s assistance to local governments and schools would be diminished considerably — leaving more in State coffers for other purposes.

Religious people say they want to carry out the directives of Jesus who said, “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s,” when he was asked whether taxes should be paid to Caesar.

In short: “PAY YOUR TAXES.”

This bill simply carries out what Jesus wanted to see his followers do, and they certainly want to see the Scriptures fulfilled.

As quoted the Lincoln Journal Star January 9, 2014: “Every day that someone offers a prayer in the Legislature, it should [signal] another vote for LB 675.

“This should be one of the easiest bills to pass that I’ve offered in the Legislature.”

Jesus knew about, and understood, taxes because his disciple, Matthew, heeded Jesus’ call to leave his place at the tax-gatherer’s booth and follow him.

All things considered, I expect my legislative colleagues to say, regarding this bill: “Let Thy will be done.” To which I can intone: “Amen.”

I love this man. Have I told you how much I love this man? I love this man.

Of course, the bill has a snowball’s chance in hell [ http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Neb-bill-would-end-church-property-tax-exemptions-5170114.php ] of getting anywhere:

The measure is unlikely to advance out of committee. But Chambers says he may attach it as an amendment to other bills he opposes.

If enough politicians did this, it would have to pass somewhere, right…?

This isn’t Chambers’ first public battle against religion. In 2007, he famously sued God [ http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2007/09/17/who-is-gods-lawyer/ ] just to make a statement. Last year, during a filibuster, he remarked [ http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2013/02/22/non-theistic-state-senator-says-the-mafia-has-higher-standards-than-the-catholic-church/ ] that the Mafia has higher standards than the Catholic Church hierarchy because if their members were “raping children, they’d off them.” And last March, he expertly took down [ http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2013/03/16/non-theistic-nebraska-state-senator-questions-orientation-of-ex-gay-man/ ] an “ex-gay” man as well as a Christian psychologist making arguments against pro-LGBT legislation.

Copyright 2014, Patheos (emphasis in original)

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2014/01/23/nebraskas-atheist-state-senator-introduces-bill-that-would-force-churches-to-pay-property-taxes/ [with comments]


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Nebraska Senator Sues God to Stop Terror Threats


CC Photo: Soham Banerjee [ http://speebee.blogspot.com/ ]

By Ryan Singel
09.17.07 4:04 PM

Nebraska State Senator Ernie Chambers (D – Omaha) filed suit against God Friday, asking a court to order the Almighty and his followers to stop making terrorist threats.

The suit [ http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/threatlevel/files/chambersversusgod.pdf ] (.pdf), filed in a Nebraska district court, contends that God, along with his followers of all persuasions, "has made and continues to make terroristic threats of grave harm to innumerable persons." Those threats are credible given God’s history, Chambers’ complaint says.

Chambers, in a fit of alliteration, also accuses God of causing "fearsome floods, egregious earthquakes, horrendous hurricanes, terrifying tornadoes, pestilential plagues, ferocious famines, devastating droughts, genocidal wars, birth defects, and the like."

Likewise the suit accuses God of having his chroniclers "disseminate in written form, said admissions, throughout the Earth in order to inspire fear, dread, anxiety, terror and uncertainty, in order to coerce obedience to Defendant’s will."

Chambers [ http://www.unicam.state.ne.us/web/public/senators/bios/chambers ], who has represented Omaha, Nebraska since 1970, asked the Douglas County district court [ http://www.dc4dc.com/index.php ] for summary judgment or to set a quick hearing date "if the Court deems such a hearing not to be a futile act."

The senator also wants the court to issue a permanent injunction prohibiting God from issuing plagues and terrorist threats. It’s unclear how this could work since God is usually understood to be all powerful.

Chambers does admit that God is omnipresent and omniscient, however. Since God is everywhere, the Nebraska court has jurisdiction, Chambers argues, and since God is all-knowing, Chambers need not serve him with a notice of the lawsuit.

The lawsuit indicates that Chambers attempted to make God appear in order to serve him by saying "Come out, come out, wherever you are," but the Almight declined, like many defendants, to make it easy for a plaintiff to serve him with court papers.

Chambers filed the suit to make a point that the state constitution allows lawsuits to be filed for any reason, according to WOWT [ http://www.wowt.com/news/headlines/9834121.html ].

Attempts to reach Chambers for comment were unsuccessful.

God did not immediately respond to a non-denominational prayer for comment by this reporter.

The suit is Chambers v. God.

WIRED.com © 2007 Condé Nast

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2007/09/nebraska-senato/ [with comments]


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Religious leaders, farmers seek divine help to end western U.S. drought


A visitor to Folsom Lake, Calif., walks his dog down a boat ramp that is now several hundred yards away from the waters' edge.
(Rich Pedroncelli, Associated Press)

By Martin Griffith
February 02, 2014 at 9:12 PM, updated February 02, 2014 at 9:20 PM

RENO, Nev. (AP) -- Religious leaders of multiple faiths and farmers in Nevada and Utah turned to prayer this weekend for help easing severe drought conditions gripping the West.

The plea to above comes weeks after the federal government declared parts of 11 parched Western and Central states natural disaster areas.

Faith leaders asked for divine intervention during a special multifaith service Saturday at a Mormon church in the Reno suburb of Sparks. And on Sunday, the Utah Farm Bureau Federation asked the public to join in prayer and fasting for snow and rain for livestock and crops as part of its Harvesting Faith event.

"We can't go to the Legislature to ask for help, (so) we decided to go to the guy upstairs," Ron Gibson, a dairy farmer in Weber County, Utah, told the Deseret News. "One thing you learn as a farmer is most of the things that happen in your life are totally out of your control."

Rajan Zed, who organized the Nevada service, said Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Baha'i and other faith leaders who participated are confident it'll bring positive results.

"When God sees (all these) leaders sitting together in unity and harmony and praying in diverse traditions and seeking common good for the entire community, God will be naturally moved to provide the devotees relief from drought so that it will not affect their quality of life, livelihood and health," Zed said.

The special events were held two weeks after the federal government designated portions of 11 drought-ridden Western and Central states as primary natural disaster areas, highlighting the financial strain the lack of snow and rain is likely to bring to farmers in those regions.

The announcement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture included counties in Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Kansas, Texas, Utah, Arkansas, Hawaii, Idaho, Oklahoma and California.

California officials announced Friday they won't send any water from the state's vast reservoir system to local agencies beginning this spring, an unprecedented move that affects drinking water supplies for 25 million people and irrigation for 1 million acres of farmland.

A snow survey on Thursday in the Sierra Nevada, one of the state's key water sources, found the water content in the snowpack is just 12 percent of normal.

Some Nevada farmers have said they're considering not irrigating fields after three years of below-normal rain and snow.

While Utah also is in dire need of moisture, the agricultural community remains optimistic after a day of prayer and fasting, said Leland Hogan, president of the Utah Farm Bureau Federation.

"We all believe in a greater good and in a higher being," he said. "Through that belief, we feel that there can be intervention into what we have, that if we can show forth faith ... that we could have more moisture than what we have today."

© 2014 Associated Press

http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2014/02/religious_leaders_farmers_seek.html [with comments] [also at http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/02/02/with-little-rain-california-farmers-brace-for-drought-unemployment-sending/ ]


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Religious Leaders Pray for Rain Like the Prophet Elijah

By: Cherese Jackson (Virginia)
February 2, 2014

Religious leaders from mixed faiths joined together to pray, as did the prophet Elijah in biblical times, asking God to send rain from heaven. The severe drought invading the West has farmers on edge because of their crops and livestock. This cry to heaven comes after the federal government declared 11 states natural disaster areas.

The states announced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture are New Mexico, Kansas, California, Utah, Hawaii, Colorado, Nevada, Texas, Idaho, California and Oklahoma. These states are on the top of the list in need of an intervention from God, if Mother Nature does not hurry up. California officials said beginning spring 2014 they will not send water to local agencies from the state’s vast reservoir system. This will affect irrigation for one million acres of farmland and drinking water supplies for 25 million people.

Religious leaders gathered on Saturday at a Mormon church located in Reno. On Sunday the Utah Farm Bureau Federation requested the public’s assistance in praying and fasting for rain and snow. A dairy farmer in Utah, Ron Gibson, said they can’t ask the government to help so they decided to try the man upstairs. Gibson said one thing farmers learn is most things that happen in life are totally out of their control.

The hope for these leaders is the same that many of them received from the Holy Scriptures when speaking of the prophet Elijah. In the book of First Kings Elijah prayed that rain would cease and it did for three years. Then Elijah later prayed for rain to fall again. Elijah prayed and prayed for rain to fall but nothing happened. He prayed from the top of the mountain and sent his servant down to see if he saw anything that appeared as if rain was coming. This went on seven times before the servant reported to Elijah that he saw a cloud the size of a man’s hand. Finally, Elijah knew his prayers were answered and he knew rain was on the way.

The prayer event in Nevada was organized by Rajan Zed who said the many faith leaders who participated were sure God would answer in their favor. There were many leaders who joined together from different religious backgrounds such as Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and Baha’I among others.

Zed said when God sees all these leaders come together in harmony and unity praying for one common goal he is confident that the results will be positive. He said these leaders prayed in diverse traditions, for the common good of the whole community. Zed believes God will naturally be moved to provide relief so that the livelihood, health and quality of life would not be affected for these devotees.

Religious leaders from mixed faiths gathered together in prayer for rain and snow. These leaders petitioned God as did the prophet Elijah during biblical days when Israel experienced a three-year drought. Elijah had to pray seven times before the heavens opened up but his prayer was finally answered.

Sources:

Seattle PI [ http://www.seattlepi.com/news/texas/article/Religious-leaders-farmers-pray-for-water-in-West-5198463.php ]
Cleveland News [ http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2014/02/religious_leaders_farmers_seek.html (just above)]
Bible Gateway [ http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Kings+17&version=NCV ]

This is neither the website of, nor affiliated in any way with, Guardian News and Media.

Copyright 2014 Guardian Liberty Voice

http://guardianlv.com/2014/02/religious-leaders-pray-for-rain-like-the-prophet-elijah/ [with comments]


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this is part 6 of a multi-part post -- continues with my next post, a reply to this one