Fired for preaching: Georgia dumps doctor over church sermons
Bi-vocational pastors be warned – what you say from the pulpit on Sunday could get you fired from your public sector job on Monday.
Dr. Eric Walsh, a renowned public health expert who also serves as a lay minister, has filed a federal lawsuit against the Georgia Department of Public Health alleging he was terminated for delivering sermons on issues ranging from homosexuality to evolution. Source
Wife of Chinese Church Leader Reportedly Buried Alive and Killed After Protesting Church’s Demolition.
Two members of a church demolition team in China’s central Henan province buried a house church leader and his wife alive Thursday when the pair tried to prevent the destruction of their church, according to local news sources. Though the church leader managed to escape, his wife suffocated to death before she could be freed.
The couple had petitioned the destruction of their church, China Aid reported Monday.
When the demolition crew showed up, Li Jiangong, the church leader, and his wife, Ding Cuimei, stepped in front of the bulldozers to protest the demolition.
“Bury them alive for me,” one of the workers said, according to China Aid. “I will be responsible for their lives.”
The couple was reportedly pushed into a pit with a bulldozer, which proceeded to cover their bodies with soil, suffocating Ding and nearly killing Li. Source
Catholic high school students chanted, “You killed Jesus” at a basketball game against a predominantly Jewish high school in a Boston suburb on Friday night.
During the playoff contest between Catholic Memorial School and the public Newton North High School, fans of the latter began shouting, “Sausage fest!” at the opposing team, an off-color reference to the fact that CMS is an all-boys institution.
In response, the Catholic fans repeated, “You killed Jesus, you killed Jesus,” spectators at the event said.
The Catholic fans’ cheer was a reference to Jewish deicide, the charge that Jews are responsible for the death of Jesus Christ. Source
An Indiana state trooper is off the force after offering people he pulled over tips on their faith.
Brian Hamilton, a 14-year veteran of the state’ police force, was fired Thursday after a second public complaint that he was preaching while on duty.
Hamilton asked a driver he pulled over if she had “been saved” and invited her to his church, even giving her directions.
The second infraction came in January, and the motorist filed suit with the American Civil Liberties Union Tuesday.
“Ms. Pyle was extremely uncomfortable with these questions,” the lawsuit says, adding the plaintiff felt intimidated by the religious interaction in a middle of a traffic stop, where she was given a warning for speeding.
“In order to hopefully end these inquiries Ms. Pyle indicated that she did attend a church and that she was saved.”
The lawsuit also claims Pyle was approached by someone from Hamilton’s congregation shortly afterwards, who told her the trooper had put her on a prayer list.
Hamilton’s behavior in January was an apparent violation of a 2014 order demanding he would not “question others regarding their religious beliefs nor provide religious pamphlets or similar advertisements” while on duty, according to The Herald Bulletin. Source
A Christian man was beaten and imprisoned in Mexico in what has been described as “the latest instance in a long trend of persecution”. Lauro Nunez, from Chachalacas in the Oaxaca region, was attacked by a mob on Easter Monday as he attempted to return to his village to visit his family. He had previously been expelled from his home for his evangelical Christian faith. Source