Tag Archives: religion

USA Today reports: The Supreme Court refused Monday to consider whether churches and other religious institutions should be able to receive public taxpayer funds for historic preservation. The action stopped short of extending the justices’ 2017 ruling that churches can be eligible for purely secular grant programs such as playground renovations. New Jersey’s Supreme Court ruled unanimously last year that …

The Nashville Scene reports: It’s not the most ridiculous or embarrassing news from Capitol Hill this week, but Rep. James “Micah” Van Huss, Republican of Jonesborough, made headlines for renewing his effort to amend the state constitution to declare “Almighty God” as the source of liberties. Should it pass all the gauntlets in the House, including floor passage, the resolution …

Agence France-Presse reports: A top Catholic cardinal admitted Saturday that Church files on priests who sexually abused children were destroyed or never even drawn up, a move which allowed pedophiles to prey on others. “Files that could have documented the terrible deeds and named those responsible were destroyed, or not even created,” German Cardinal Reinhard Marx told a landmark Vatican …

ABC News reports: David and Louise Turpin, who are accused of starving, beating and inflicting other abuse on 12 of their 13 children at their Perris home, pleaded guilty to multiple charges in the case as part of a plea deal. The two appeared in court on Friday and each pleaded guilty to 14 counts in connection to the abuse …

The Christian Post reports: The first annual Christian witches convention is set to be hosted in Salem, Massachusetts, this April and will feature internationally recognized Prophet Calvin Witcher who agrees with the convention’s host that Jesus was a sorcerer and the Bible is really a “book of magic.” The Rev. Valerie Love, the force behind the event who describes herself …

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports: A state lawmaker who is a minister and dean of students at a southwest Missouri religious college wants public high school students to learn more about the Bible.  Rep. Ben Baker, R-Neosho, is sponsoring a proposal that would allow school boards in the state to offer a high school elective course on the Old Testament …

The Christian Post reports: Longtime leader of the Chicago-area megachurch Harvest Bible Chapel James MacDonald has been ousted as senior pastor in light of unsavory remarks he made on a hot mic that were aired on local media last Tuesday. MacDonald’s firing comes after the publication of a lengthy investigative piece by Julie Roys in World magazine. Her article, “Hard …

The Guardian reports: A former Roman Catholic archbishop and cardinal has been dismissed from the priesthood after the Vatican found him guilty of sexually abusing minors in a sign of an increasingly hardline stance taken by the church. Theodore McCarrick, 88, one of the prominent figures in the church, was defrocked just days before an unprecedented global summit of bishops …

Axios reports: An investigation commissioned by the Diocese of Covington and Covington Catholic High School found no evidence of “racist or offensive statements” by Covington Catholic students during their encounter with Native American activists at the Lincoln Memorial in January. Investigators were not able to interview either Native American elder Nathan Phillips or Nicholas Sandmann, the student at the center …

The Houston Chronicle reports: Hundreds of people who worked or volunteered in Southern Baptist churches have been charged with sex crimes, an investigation by the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News reveals. It’s not just a recent problem. In all, since 1998, roughly 380 Southern Baptist church leaders and volunteers have faced allegations of sexual misconduct, the newspapers found. …

Two Corinthians walk into a bar… USA Today reports: It’s the first Thursday in February, which means it’s time for the National Prayer Breakfast, an annual event drawing presidents, politicians, faith leaders and other dignitaries since 1953. It was originally called the Presidential Prayer Breakfast and started when President Dwight D. Eisenhower was invited to join an already-existing prayer circle. …

CBS News reports: Nuns have suffered and are still suffering sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic priests and bishops, and even being held as sexual slaves, Pope Francis confirmed on Tuesday. The abuse was so severe in one case that an entire congregation of nuns was dissolved by former Pope Benedict. The scope of the abuse of nuns by …

The Guardian reports: Like his son, Dr Patrick Chau is a graduate of Oral Roberts, an evangelical university in Oklahoma. I had thought he might want to defend evangelical doctrines against the unsympathetic media coverage sparked by his son’s death. In an email, however, he called religion “the opium of the mass[es]”. “If you have [anything] positive to say about …

Mediaite reports: President Donald Trump‘s former pastor seems skeptical of his public affection for bible study in recent years, calling it out as inauthentic. After the President lauded a Fox & Friends segment he saw about the option of ‘Bible Literacy classes’ being introduced to state schools, Pastor David Lewicki slammed his former churchgoer’s “hypocrisy” on Twitter earlier this week …

The Christian Post reports: A Christian missionary may be charged with “genocide” by Brazillian authorities after he illegally came in contact with a remote tribe. Steve Campbell of Greene Baptist Church in Maine is being investigated by officials from FUNAI, the Brazilian government’s Indigenous Affairs Department, after traveling deep into the southern Amazon jungle with the intention of sharing the …

Ben Winslow reports at Salt Lake City’s Fox affiliate: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said it will not oppose a bill that would expand Utah’s hate crimes law to include protections for LGBTQ people. “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been the recipients of hate crimes over the years. We understand that,” Marty Stephens, …

The New York Times reports: A seemingly offhand remark in a high school lunchroom set off an investigation that uncovered an arsenal of weapons and a plot to attack a Muslim enclave in upstate New York, law enforcement officials said. The comment was made by a 16-year-old student at Greece Odyssey Academy in Greece, N.Y. On Friday, he showed classmates …

Agence France-Presse reports: An Egyptian court on Sunday sentenced a television host to one year in prison for interviewing a gay man last year, a judicial source said. Mohamed al-Gheiti, who has expressed his stance against homosexuality on several occasions, was accused of promoting homosexuality and contempt of religion. The misdemeanors court in Giza also fined him 3,000 Egyptian pounds …

The Moscow Times reports: The leader of the Russian Orthodox Church has said that humans’ dependence on modern technology will result in the coming of the Antichrist. In an interview with Russian state media, Patriarch Kirill explained he does not entirely oppose gadgets, but warned against “falling into slavery” to smartphones. “Control from a single point is a harbinger of …

The Washington Post reports: The global Catholic community Opus Dei in 2005 paid $977,000 to settle a sexual misconduct suit against the Rev. C. John McCloskey, a priest well-known for preparing for conversion big-name conservatives — Newt Gingrich, Larry Kudlow and Sam Brownback, among others. The woman who filed the complaint is a D.C.-area Catholic who was among the many …