Posted on 12/26/2010 2:54:01 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
In 2007, C. Martin Gaskell, an astronomer at the University of Nebraska, was a leading candidate for a job running an observatory at the University of Kentucky. But then somebody did what one does nowadays: an Internet search.
That search turned up evidence of Dr. Gaskell’s evangelical Christian faith.
The University of Kentucky hired someone else. And Dr. Gaskell sued the institution.
Whether his faith cost him the job and whether certain religious beliefs may legally render people unfit for certain jobs are among the questions raised by the case, Gaskell v. University of Kentucky.
In late November, a federal judge in Kentucky ruled that the case could go forward, and a trial is scheduled for February. The case represents a rare example, experts say, of a lawsuit by a scientist who alleges academic persecution for his religious faith.
Both sides agree that Dr. Gaskell, 57, was invited to the university, in Lexington, for a job interview. In his lawsuit, he says that at the end of the interview, Michael Cavagnero, the chairman of the physics and astronomy department, asked about his religious beliefs.
“Cavagnero stated that he had personally researched Gaskell’s religious beliefs,” the lawsuit says. According to Dr. Gaskell, the chairman said Dr. Gaskell’s religious beliefs and his “expression of them would be a matter of concern” to the dean.
Federal law prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion, so interviewers typically do not ask about an applicant’s faith. Depositions and e-mails submitted as evidence suggest why Dr. Cavagnero may have raised the issue with Dr. Gaskell.
For the plaintiff, the smoking gun is an e-mail dated Sept. 21, 2007, from a department staff member, Sally A. Shafer, to Dr. Cavagnero and another colleague....
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I wonder if this scientist was a bomb-making Muslim...he would have been hired....
UK is in trouble, especially if the judge has allowed this to go to trial. With the liberal federal court judges.....this scientitst case is quite strong. If the UK attorneys are not advising the school to settle....UK, I mean, Kentucky taxpayers are going to foot a bigger bill
NPR’s Totenberg Laments ‘Christmas’ Comment
NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg took political correctness to new heights when she actually apologized on-air for using the word “Christmas.”
During an appearance on the Dec. 19 edition of the TV news show “Inside Washington,” Totenberg said: “We just passed this huge tax cut in part because business said, you know, we have to plan, we have to know what kind of tax cuts we have. Well, these agencies, including the Defense Department, don’t know how much money they’ve got and for what. And I was at forgive the expression a Christmas party at the Department of Justice and people actually were really worried about this.”
The Mediaite website observed: “Maybe in the wake of Juan Williams’ firing, [do] NPR employees, just to be safe, apologize for anything in advance?”
NPR fired Williams after he made what was viewed as a politically incorrect statement about Muslims, saying he gets “nervous” when he sees people in “Muslim garb” on an airplane.
The NewsBusters website observed that Totenberg was “seemingly embarrassed to invoke any religious terminology for Christmas. She didn’t say what she’d prefer parties this time of year to be named. Winter solstice party?”
Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly has been an outspoken opponent of what he calls the “war” on Christmas, saying in 2005 that “it’s all part of the secular progressive agenda . . . to get Christianity and spirituality and Judaism out of the public square.”
He also said: “I don’t believe most people who aren’t Christian are offended by the words ‘Merry Christmas.’ I think those people are nuts.”
As America Celebrates Christmas, Rev. Franklin Graham Says Secular ‘War’ Rages Against Christians
Friday, 24 Dec 2010 03:58 PM Article Font Size
By David A. Patten and Kathleen Walter
As Americans gather with their families to celebrate Christmas, the Rev. Franklin Graham decries the continuing cultural “war” against Christ and his believers.
The campaign against Christianity rages “not just in America, but in many countries around the world,” the noted evangelist and son of world-renowned preacher Billy Graham declares during an exclusive interview with Newsmax.TV.
Also during his Christmas message to America via Newsmax, Graham reveals that his inspirational father fully intends to return to the pulpit. The last time the elder Graham preached was in July 2006, during a revival at Baltimore’s Camden Yards. But Franklin says his father’s joy during the Christmas season remains undiminished.
“My father loves Christmas because we’re celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, and my father, his entire life has been about sharing this wonderful message of God’s love for the world,” he says.
Story continues below.
That love is lost on much of the world, Franklin says. “Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ,” he says. “And Christians around the world want to celebrate that. And yet the secularists are wanting to take Christ out of our society, take him out of any public event.”
Graham also strongly chastised the U.S. military, which has restricted Christians displays of faith.
“Chaplains in the United States military are not allowed to pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Isn’t that a shame that a chaplain in the Christian faith is not allowed to pray in the name of Christ? So yes, there is a war, no question about it.”
Franklin Graham himself has felt the sting of the hostility, when Pentagon officials excluded him from participation in this year’s National Day of Prayer event, citing his controversial comments about the dangers of radical Islam.
Graham, president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, also heads Samaritan’s Purse, an international Christian relief organization that distributes Christmas presents to 8 million children in 110 countries.
“Christmas is about God’s son, Jesus Christ, coming to this earth,” he says. “The Bible says that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosover believeth on him shouldn’t perish, but have eternal life. Christmas is about God’s love. And that hasn’t changed.”
However, Graham acknowledges, Christmas has become increasingly commercialized.
“We spend a lot of time going to stores or shopping, giving gifts, exchanging gifts. But we do that because we are reminded of the greatest gift that has been given, and that is God giving his son to take our sins . . . He can come into each and every heart that invites him. And so Christmas is about God’s love for us.”
As for his world-renowned father, Graham says: “My father at 92 still has the desire to preach. And he’s hoping to preach one more time this next year. And we’re working to get him to hopefully get him enough strength where he can do that.”
Billy Graham still shares “God’s love with everyone who will listen,” Franklin says. But the elder Graham, whose sermons have been viewed in person by an estimated 215 million people, deeply misses his wife, Ruth, who died in June 2007.
“He misses my mother, and she was such a big part of his life,” the younger Graham tells Newsmax. “She passed away three years ago. And he knows that it won’t be long that he will join her in heaven in the presence of almighty God.”
Other highlights from Franklin Graham’s Newsmax interview:
He wonders whether President Barack Obama will reach out to evangelicals and mainstream Christians following the GOP’s midterm landslide. “He has reached out to those on the left,” Graham says. “But I’m not sure that he’s been reaching out to those of us in the evangelical community. I hope he would. We certainly want to support the president. The Bible tells us that we are to pray for those that are in over us. And I certainly think there are a lot of Christians that would work with him if he wanted that.”
Graham believes U.S. presidents, including Obama, have failed to address the problem of Iran properly for more than two decades. “Their whole goal is to defeat the West and impose Islamic Shariah law over the entire world. And I’m afraid that, when the Iranians do get nuclear weapons, they’re going to use them. So we better stop them while we can.”
Operation Christmas Child and SamaritansPurse.org continue to thrive in their mission of showing God’s love to disadvantaged youths worldwide. “We go to war areas, we go to famine areas, we go to areas of great poverty, like where I was this past week in Haiti giving out shoeboxes” filled with a variety of gifts for children, he tells Newsmax. “For many of these children, it’s the only gift, it’s the first gift, that they’ve ever gotten in their life. It’s a wonderful opportunity to let them know the world hasn’t forgotten them, God hasn’t forgotten them, and that he loves them.”
The sudden death of Afghanistan-Pakistan Ambassador Richard Holbrooke because of a torn aorta is a sobering reminder of the fleeting nature of life because “we don’t know if we’re going to live to the next moment,” Graham says, adding, “Are we prepared and are we ready to stand before a holy God? And I would encourage everyone, if they haven’t invited Christ into their heart, if they haven’t trusted God’s son, to do that by inviting Christ to come into their life. And they can have that hope of eternal life, and have that assurance that when we stand before God our sins are forgiven and he’ll receive us and accept us for eternity to be with him.”
Graham also offers a special message of hope this Christmas to all Americans suffering from the economic downturn: God “hasn’t turned his back on you. Jesus said, ‘I am the way.’ He said, ‘I am the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me.’ And this Christmas, if you’re willing to put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, God’s son, God will heal your heart, he’ll forgive your sins. And you can have that hope of eternal life.”
White House will not do Christmas!
Thought you might be interested in this information from the White House..
This isn’t a rumor; this is a fact.
A very talented artist for several years has painted ornaments to be hung
on the various White House Christmas trees. The WH sends out an
invitation to send an ornament and informs the artists of the theme for the year.
She got her letter from the WH recently. It said that they would not be
called Christmas trees this year. They will be called Holiday trees.. And, to
please not send any ornaments painted with a religious theme. She was
very upset at this development and sent back a reply telling them that she
painted the ornaments for Christmas trees and would not be sending any
for display that left Christ out of Christmas.
Just thought you should know what the new residents in the WH plan for
the future of America . If you missed his statement that “we do not consider
ourselves a Christian Nation” this should confirm that he plans to take
us away from our religious foundation as quickly as possible.
Just another step toward turning America away from Christianity!
We should shout to the highest hills that the White House is ours - not
the Obama’s, and 85% of Americans believe in Christ (Christmas)..
The day will come when buying & selling will be nearly impossible for those who are followers of Christ.
This is a Christian nation, or there never was one.
Crunch time for the Civil Right Act of 1964.
We're about to find out if the only people endowed with "civil rights" are black people.
Ms. Shafer wrote that she did an Internet search on Dr. Gaskell and found links to his notes for a lecture that explores, among other topics, how the Bible could relate to contemporary astronomy.
“Clearly this man is complex and likely fascinating to talk with,” Ms. Shafer wrote, “but potentially evangelical. If we hire him, we should expect similar content to be posted on or directly linked from the department Web site.”
That’s quite a smoking gun. A state funded institution practicing open religious discrimination. Just the thought that someone is “potentially evangelical” is a basis to deny employment.
The University campus has for all intents and purposes become the belly of the beast. A very hostile environment for Christians.
Please post a link to a source for this quote. Thank you.
Are you now, or have you ever been evangelical?
Which is why they are now regulating the growing of food even more these days. Can’t have anyone able to sustain themselves apart from the knowledge of Man of Lawlessness.
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