Author: Gospel Order

The U.S. Has Started Tracking Religious Discrimination In Schools

School classroom with school desks and blackboard in Japanese high school
School classroom with school desks and blackboard in Japanese high school

The United States government is taking a big step to curb religious discrimination in schools.

The U.S. Department of Education announced a series of initiatives this summer to address religious discrimination in public schools, including a new website with legal information regarding students’ religious rights.

For the first time ever, the agency’s Office for Civil Rights will require schools to report the number of incidents involving religious-based bullying and harassment using an online data collection platform. The office also updated its online complaint form to clarify to schools the kinds of incidents that will fall into this category.

The department’s move comes at a crucial time, as the country grapples with disconcerting levels of anti-Muslim sentiment.    Continue reading →

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VIDEO: US Muslim woman inaugurated as officer

13907064_10154118177517935_5220988672774098083_n“A US Muslim woman from Dearborn, Michigan has been inaugurated as a law enforcement officer in the city. She says her religious and cultural background will allow for better community policing in the city that has the highest percentage of Muslim Americans in the US. Elian el-Khamissi reports from Chicago. “-Source

Our sinful elected leaders have normalized everything from homosexual marriage to abortion and now they seek the normalization of Islamic theology and law step by step. That being said, how long do you think it will be before many Muslim men who follow Sharia Law religiously become United States police officers? It’s no mistake they had a very small Muslim woman join the police force wearing a hijab first. To have a man do it first would be a show of force and many ‘might’ protest. I say ‘might’ because as we have already witnessed the last few decades, the herd mentality of this nation is playing right into the hands of Rome. Still, a small woman with a pretty face and a well scripted profile wherein she supposedly joined to be there for her community when her Koran says her job is the duty of men alone speaks volumes as to the deceptive manner in which they did this.   Continue reading →

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Ecumenical autumn: Pope’s calendar filled with dialogue opportunities

Pope Francis greets Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury, England, spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion, during a private meeting at the Vatican in this June 16, 2014, file photo. The pope will meet Archbishop Welby in Assisi during an interfaith peace meeting this month and in Rome in October. (CNS photo/L'Osservatore Romano) See VATICAN-LETTER-POPE-ECUMENISM Sept. 1, 2016.
Pope Francis greets Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury, England, spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion, during a private meeting at the Vatican in this June 16, 2014, file photo. The pope will meet Archbishop Welby in Assisi during an interfaith peace meeting this month and in Rome in October. (CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano) See VATICAN-LETTER-POPE-ECUMENISM Sept. 1, 2016.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Hopes for Christian unity may not be spring fresh, but Pope Francis’ fall calendar is filled with ecumenical appointments.

Even as developments within Christian denominations seem to be solidifying differences that would make full unity difficult, there is no sign that the desire to meet and dialogue is waning. And, in fact, divided Christians are finding more opportunities to pray together and engage in joint work to help the poor and needy.

Pope Francis will open his season of ecumenical engagements Sept. 20 when he joins other Christian leaders and representatives of other religions in Assisi to commemorate the 30th anniversary of St. John Paul II’s interreligious peace gathering. Ten days later, Pope Francis flies to Georgia, a predominantly Orthodox nation. In October, he will meet and pray with Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury and, at the end of the month, he will fly to Sweden to take part in ecumenical events launching commemorations of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.   Continue reading →

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Norway state church sees exodus after allowing online exit

685636d517258a2da30f6a7067003a2bSTOCKHOLM (AP) — Norway’s state church has seen a record fall in membership after making it possible to join and leave the church electronically.

The Church of Norway says almost 25,000 members left in August by using a new function on the church’s website. Meanwhile, about 1,200 new members joined online.

Even though the church has seen a steady decline in membership in recent decades, that’s by far the biggest monthly loss in recorded history. By comparison, the church lost 8,588 members in the first seven months of 2016, before the online option was introduced.   Continue reading →

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Pope declares Mother Teresa a Saint

maT-Buddha“VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Mother Teresa of Calcutta, known as the “saint of the gutters” during her life, was declared a saint of the Roman Catholic Church by Pope Francis on Sunday, fast-tracked to canonization just 19 years after her death. Tens of thousands of pilgrims packed St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican for a service to honor the tiny nun, who worked among the world’s neediest in the slums of the Indian city now called Kolkata and become one of the most recognizable faces of the 20th century.” –Source

There’s only one reason, well actually 100,000,000 reasons why the Pope declared Mother Teresa a saint. Her ministry brings in at least $100 million dollars a year into the Vatican coffers and so they must declare her a saint to keep the money flowing. But, there is a more sinister reason he is doing this. Mother Teresa was not a Christian. She even wanted to quit and leave the order because she said, and I quote, “Where is my faith? Even deep down… there is nothing but emptiness and darkness… If there be God, please forgive me.” She also said, “What do I labor for? If there be no God, there can be no soul. If there be no soul then, Jesus, You also are not true.” (-Source of these quotes and MUCH more)   Continue reading →

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Obama: Internet Cannot Be like Wild, Wild West

afp_4f17ce1684e7693ebf96599effc9110f459e26f0-640x426President Barack Obama called for a series of international agreements to regulate activity on the Internet, citing his preference not to start an arms race in cyberspace.

“What we cannot do is have a situation in which suddenly this becomes the Wild, Wild West,” President Obama said during a press conference in China on Monday after the G-20 Summit, referring to every country using the Internet as they wished, including using it to hack into other countries’ data.   Continue reading →

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Netanyahu tells Israeli students: Study the Bible

benjamin-netanyahu-bible-cbn-vid-600WASHINGTON – In America, public school students aren’t likely to hear about the Bible on the first day of classes.

But, in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with 200 students, along with Education Minister Naftali Bennett, and urged them to be serious about Bible study – in the public schools.

Reminiscing about his school days, Netanyahu told the students to learn and “be good children.” In his speech, he emphasized coexistence and, at the same time, the importance of learning Jewish history.  Continue reading →

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SUNDAY LAW: The one commandment that almost all Christians break, and why it matters

10-commandmentsIt had been a very busy time. I’d already been in Israel and Palestine for a month or so. In between volunteer shifts (I was there with the World Council of Churches) I had been taking every opportunity to meet people and see the sights.

Although there is a wonder about that place, there’s also a sadness. For every inspiring historical site, there’s another contemporary situation that breaks your heart.

So it was in a state of some tiredness that I came woke early in my apartment near Ramallah in Palestine, headed through the misery of the Qalandiya checkpoint and up into the north of Israel.

I was to be staying for the weekend at a Kibbutz near Nazareth. This was an unusual enough experience in itself but I was also going to be there throughout Sabbath, staying with an observant family.   Continue reading →

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‘Prophet’ Brings Dead Woman Back Through Facebook

rndr_670x377David E. Taylor, a self-proclaimed “prophet,” asserted on Aug. 25 that he brought a dead woman back to life through a message on Facebook.

“Raised from the Dead!” Taylor posted on his Joshua Media Ministries International Facebook page. “David E. Taylor Commands Her to Live Through Sending a Text Message Through Facebook – Releasing the Supernatural Resurrection Power of God! She Lives!”

To support his extraordinary declaration, Taylor included a picture of an elderly woman in a hospital bed and a “message from her daughter” that stated: “Thank you sooo much Dad (Apostle Taylor), the doctors were sooo amazed for my Mom’s speedy recovery. She was dead for 40 minutes but God resurrected her !!!”   Continue reading →

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Church demolitions in Cuba on the rise

Cuba (MNN) — Over the last few years, United States and Cuban relations have improved — to an extent. But it turns out what we see in the United States isn’t the whole picture.
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Patrick Klein of Vision Beyond Borders says while there’s an outside perception of growing freedom, there is actually growing religious persecution in Cuba.

“We’re given the impression by the media in America, the mainstream media, that Cuba’s opening up, and with the relationship with America that things are better.”

After the United States reopened the U.S. Embassy in Cuba about a year ago, John Kerry said the United States would keep pushing for democracy in Cuba.

Klein says this comment was not well received. The Cuban government has no intentions of leaving communism. With mounted pressure, Klein says they looked for someone to blame.

“The backlash actually came against the Church,” he says.   Continue reading →

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