[NY Times]

Bill Keller, an evangelist based in Florida, runs “Liveprayer.com,” an Internet call-in program. Because he receives a government tax exemption, he is prohibited by law from endorsing or opposing candidates for public office. But during the Republican primary battle, Mr. Keller proclaimed to his followers and the news media that “a vote for Mitt Romney is a vote for Satan.”

Now Mr. Keller says he is being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service for involvement in partisan politics. He asserts that his denunciations of Mr. Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts who is a Mormon, were religious and not political.

Mr. Keller regularly stated on his program his claim that Mr. Romney’s church did not represent “biblical Christianity.”

By making the investigation public, Mr. Keller says he is hoping to prompt a legal challenge to the I.R.S. prohibition. And he is not the only religious leader pursuing this strategy.

The Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative legal group, is recruiting 50 pastors to endorse candidates from the pulpit on Sept. 28, hoping to provoke a legal challenge to the I.R.S. code.

“We’re asking pastors to make specific recommendations based on Scripture as to how their congregations should vote,” said Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund.

Read about it here.

[From me]

To call Mr. Romney Satan is a stretch.  To say he is the brother of Satan is another story since the Mormons believe Lucifer and Jesus were brothers.  But I digress.  I’ve made my view on this pretty clear.  I don’t like the mix of politics and religion.  I don’t think it was wrong for Mr. Keller to point out the differences between Christianity and Mormonism.  I don’t have a problem with a pastor talking about the faith of candidates.  But I think there is enough baggage in both parties to point out evil either way.  

Why don’t we as a churches focus on ministering to people on both sides of the aisle and encourage our members to get involved in politics because it is their duty?  We got our tax exempt statuses to transform our communities through service not being Political Action Committees.  

What do you think?

[CBS11TV]

A passenger on a Fort Worth bus says the T. Bus Service discriminated against her religion. Christine Lutz says she was reading her Bible to her children when the bus driver asked her to stop or get off the bus. Lutz, a Seventh Day Adventist, and her children were on their way to church.

“She then said, ‘Well I don’t think this is the place or the time to do so.’ And I said, ‘Oh, but it’s the perfect time and the perfect place since it is our Sabbath and it is the time with the Lord and therefore I’m going to continue.’ And I continued,” she explained.

Then, a TRE supervisor came on board. Lutz also told him that she would not stop reading. She and her family were escorted off the bus.

“This was definitely a clear cut case of persecution,” she said.

Read about it here.

[From me]

I wasn’t there so who knows. If she was loud it may have been offensive not because it was the Bible but because she was loud.

What do you think?

[Channel 3000]

Some Janesville parents said that they’re concerned that in this incident, in which a student allegedly tore pages from a Bible, the balance between the two was tipped toward the First Amendment, WISC-TV reported.As many Parker High School students get ready for Christmas break, junior Elle Jacobson is at home and will not be returning like her friends.”I have never felt threatened like that in a classroom before,” said Jacobson.The 17-year-old is talking about an incident in her English class two weeks ago during a class presentation.”This boy got up and his visual aid was a Bible and a book. And he got up and started his speech by saying ‘Now, this piece of crap’ and pointed to the Bible.”Jacobson said that she quickly felt threatened.”He took the Bible and he said, ‘I’m going to do this because I can. I’m going to do something that your stupid, little minds aren’t going to be able to comprehend and he took the Bible and started ripping out pages.”School officials said that they know about the incident.”We take this extremely seriously,” said Dr. Karen Schulte, Janesville School District safety and security coordinator. Officials said that they will not confirm whether the boy was suspended.

Read about it here.

[From me]

Now I’m sure this incident is protected by the Constitution, but why do it? This was done to get a reaction from the other students. I wouldn’t rip up a Book of Mormon or Koran to anger those who find those books important. Why would someone do something like this. Is it free speech? Yes. Was it wise? No.

What do you think?

[From KSNT]

A jury in Baltimore is ordering Topeka’s Westboro Baptist Church to pay 11 million dollars to the father of a marine who was killed in Iraq.

“Matt and all of the military kept me going through all of this, “said Albert Snyder who sued the church after members demonstrated last year at the funeral of his son, Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder. He hopes Wednesdays ruling sets a precedent for the future.

“I hope it’s enough to deter them from doing this to other families and that was my goal the entire time,” said Snyder.

Wednesday the jury awarded 2.9 million dollars in compensatory damages, 6 million in punitive damages and another two million dollars for causing emotional distress.

The Phelps plan to appeal.

Read about it here.

[From me]

I’m grateful we have freedom of speech here in the US.  But a “minister” of the “Gospel” should be telling “Good News” not spewing hate.  I was able to meet Shirley Phelps-Roper of Westboro last summer.  You can watch my interview with her here.  It is sad.

Jesus told the woman caught in adultery to go and sin no more.  Many of these people whose funerals are being protested are not even involved in sinful lifestyles.  EVEN if they were, a funeral is NO TIME to be throwing stones.  I have participated in several funerals where the eternal condition of the person was in question.  Those were depressing services to say the least.  But the last thing in the world I would ever do is point out their sins after death.  Funerals are times to give comfort to people and give them hope.

Phelps and his crew should be pointing people to Jesus not scaring them away.

What do you think?

[From The Washington Times]

The words “natural family,” “marriage” and “union of a man and a woman” can be punished as “hate speech” in government workplaces, according to a lawsuit that is being appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Read about it here.

[From me]

Huh? What’s next? Are we not going to be able to introduce our spouses as “husband” or “wife?” Will children be arrested for calling their female parent mom, mommy or mother? Will cops beat down the door when children refer to their male parent as dad, daddy or father? What can we call our children? Will we be required to call them “offspring?”

Does this mean that men can’t call their wives “the old ball and chain?” Can the term “trophy wife” be used? How about a wife referring to a husband as “Sugar Daddy?” Will terms like “gold-digger,” “cradle robber,” “sugar snookums,” “old man,” or “old woman” be added to the crime list?

How dumb is this nation becoming?

What other names will be outlawed? What do you think?