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'University should have gotten a Christian to speak not someone who practices a cult' (CNN) Liberty University students and alumni are accusing the Christian school of violating its own teachings by asking Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, a member of the Church of...Mormons, to deliver its 2012 commencement address. By Friday morning, more than 700 comments had been posted on the school’s Facebook page about the Thursday announcement – a majority of them decidedly against the Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr.’s invitation, citing that the school had taught them Mormonism isn’t part of the Christian faith.

ROCKWALL — Cathy Samford, a volleyball coach and science teacher, was fired from Heritage Christian Academy for getting pregnant and not being married, the school acknowledged. "I looked it up and thought, 'They can't do this,'" said Samford, 29. For almost three years, she coached volleyball at the private school. Samford was named "Coach of the Year" and recently began teaching science. But when she got pregnant last fall, the school fired her because she was not married. "We all have different views and interpretations," Samford said. "It's not necessarily the Christian thing to do to throw somebody aside because...

PINEVILLE, La. (BP) -- A Baptist college has joined the list of schools and universities suing the federal government in opposition to the Obama administration's contraceptive/abortion mandate, making it clear the issue is not simply a Catholic one. Louisiana College -- affiliated with the Louisiana Baptist Convention -- filed suit Monday (Feb. 20) in federal court, saying the mandate violates the U.S. Constitution by, among other things, entangling the government in religious matters and forcing the college to violate its "sincerely held religious beliefs regarding abortion." The convention is part of the Southern Baptist Convention. "The time for silence is...

When Liberty University senior Craig Storrs returns from Christmas break, he plans to apply for permission to carry on campus his Bersa .380, a small handgun he owns for self-defense. If Storrs’ application is approved, he will join the first wave of students packing heat at Liberty. Since LU announced the new firearms policy in late November, 64 students, faculty and staff have applied for permission to carry guns on campus, according to university officials. Liberty officials would not disclose how many applications had been approved, but said they received requests from 26 students and 38 faculty and staff members...

It's not enough for President Obama's National Labor Relations Board to target the Boeing plant in South Carolina. Now the NLRB thinks it can tell a church school when it's not religious enough. Most people have heard by now of NLRB's unprecedented decree that Boeing Co. cannot build a new airline production facility in South Carolina. But Obama's NLRB is also claiming the authority to dictate labor policies and order union elections at Catholic universities if they are not religious enough.

Iranian-backed TV broadcasts US Koran desecrations, inflames deadly Kashmir riots; 15 dead The Iranians seized on reports of Koran burnings near Ground Zero and elsewhere in the U.S. to fan deadly riots Monday in mostly-Muslim Kashmir. Indian forces killed more than a dozen people and wounded scores more rampaging rioters, who chanted "Down with Koran desecrators" as they attacked a Christian school in one town and government buildings in other cities. They also chanted "Down with America" and "Down with Israel," cries rarely heard in Kashmir where Muslim rebels have long waged a bloody rebellion against Indian rule. U.S. Ambassador...

"The Christian Democrats are pointing out that continuing encroachment by government into school admissions is an unwelcome move that approaches nationalization. The party says that if pursued, it would be a grave violation of parental rights as primary educators of their children." Our president is so enamored of the British health care system, could this move be tried in the U.S. soon, too??

A group of students at Trinity University in Texas wants the Christian-rooted school to remove the words "Our Lord" from their diplomas, the Houston Chronicle reported. "A diploma is a very personal item, and people want to proudly display it in their offices and homes,” Sidra Qureshi, president of Trinity Diversity Connection, told the Chronicle. “By having the phrase ‘In the Year of Our Lord,' it is directly referencing Jesus Christ, and not everyone believes in Jesus Christ." Qureshi, a Muslim student at the school, is leading the campaign to remove the words. The Board of Trustees is expected to...

A group of students at Trinity University is lobbying trustees to drop a reference to “Our Lord” on their diplomas, arguing it does not respect the diversity of religions on campus. “A diploma is a very personal item, and people want to proudly display it in their offices and homes,” said Sidra Qureshi, president of Trinity Diversity Connection. “By having the phrase ‘In the Year of Our Lord,' it is directly referencing Jesus Christ, and not everyone believes in Jesus Christ.” Qureshi, who is Muslim, has led the charge to tweak the wording, winning support from student government and a...

Liberty University sued the federal government Tuesday, saying Congress lacks authority for the “power grab” it makes with the health care bill. “We are greatly impacted by this law,” said LU Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. “We think it is a travesty, a miscarriage of justice, and we want to challenge it. “We are honored to take the lead on this,” Falwell said. Joining LU as plaintiffs in the lawsuit were Del. Kathy Byron, R-Campbell County, Lynchburg City Councilman Jeff Helgeson, whose ward includes LU, and a woman who would be forced to buy insurance under the bill, said Mat Staver,...

<p>FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - Former President George W. Bush says he turned to his faith during tough times in his eight years in office.</p> <p>He told more than 1,100 people at a banquet Saturday night for Fort Worth Christian School that he didn't see how he could be president without prayer.</p>

LONDON, February 23, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Britain’s Labour government clarified this week that an amendment to the Children, Schools and Families bill, that says faith schools may teach the mandatory Personal Social and Health Education (PSHE) program “in a way that reflects the school’s religious character,” does not, in fact, give the schools freedom to oppose abortion, contraception and homosexual activity on moral grounds. The clarification has been hailed by a local pro-life and pro-family group as evidence that the spectre of "totalitarianism" has reappeared in Britain.A recent statement from the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), made in response...

Atheist David Miliband Sends Son To Faith School David Miliband has been accused of hypocrisy for sending his son to a Church of England school even though he himself is an atheist. By Alastair Jamieson 24 Jan 2010 The foreign secretary and his wife, Louise, have sent the eldest of their two adopted sons to a faith school more than one mile from their north London home despite living close to a secular primary. The headteacher of their chosen school is an outspoken critic of government education policy and does not support controversial tests for 10 and 11-year-olds. Children should...

CHICO — Changes in the curriculum at Crosspoint Academy have some parents, including prominent radio host Delilah Rene Luke, concerned the private Christian school in Chico is straying from its biblical focus. But school leaders defend the changes, saying the new materials will grow the school’s 290 students into the next generation of Christian leaders. “The idea that Crosspoint is still fundamentally rooted in strong Christian values and delivers a curriculum with a Christian perspective in mind has not changed and that has never changed in this process,” said Eric Rasmussen, superintendent of schools for Crista, the Christian ministry organization...

Students at these schools don’t venture far off the path that leads to the right. Religion plays a big role in the campus activities, generally, as do morals and character profiles that would make any parent proud. The Princeton Review's survey of 122,000 college students for the 2010 edition of the "Best 371 Colleges" book revealed the top 10 colleges that have conservative campus cultures, especially regarding political persuasion, the use of drugs and alcohol and the level of acceptance of the gay community on campus.

Last month, Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, revoked its official recognition of the student Democratic group on campus, saying that the Democratic Party platform conflicted with the university's Christian principles. Following purported complaints from trustees, parents, and (perhaps most significantly) donors, Student Affairs Vice President Mark Hine sent an e-mail to Brian Diaz, president of the College Democrats, saying that the university was "unable to lend support to a club whose parent organization stands against the moral principles held by Liberty University." "By using Liberty University and Democrat in the name," Hine wrote, "the two are associated and the goals...

After a month of back-and-forth negotiations, the controversy between Liberty University and the college Democrat club reached a resolution Monday. A proposed change in university policy, announced by Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. over the weekend, in effect puts the student club on equal footing with the school’s College Republicans. Both groups, along with any other political clubs on campus, now are recognized under the new policy as unofficial clubs. The move was embraced by a student leader of the Democratic club on Monday. “We decided to go ahead and implement (the policy) as of today,” Falwell said Monday. “The (College)...

Liberty University’s student Democratic club has reached an agreement with the school on its status. Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. said today that a change in university policy will allow the Liberty University College Democrats to exist as an unofficial club. The policy change, which took effect yesterday, also changed the College Republicans from an officially recognized campus group to the new unofficial status. Liberty withdrew official recognition of the Lynchburg school’s club last month because it supported the Democratic Party’s platforms and candidates. Under the new policy, the unofficial organizations won’t receive school funding but may use the Liberty name...

Taking a semester off to travel and focus on writing isn't that unusual for a student at Brown University. But instead of studying comparative literature in Europe, Kevin Roose decided to go to Lynchburg, Va., and enroll at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University. Roose passed himself off as an evangelical Christian to blend in with students at the school founded by the late Moral Majority leader. The experience led to a book, The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University.

Liberty University officials met with three members of the College Democrats and its staff sponsor on Wednesday to review actions taken in the controversy that has garnered national media attention in the last week. At the crux of the discussion were statements made to the press by the club’s staff sponsor — statements the administration says did not explain the situation in enough context for the media to report accurately on the action taken by LU officials to drop endorsement of the group as a Liberty University club. At the meeting, LU officials urged the sponsor to issue a public...

As of last Friday, Lynchburg, Virginia’s Liberty University said “no” to Democrats. It was reported that the leadership of the largest, fastest -growing evangelical campus ordered the college Democrats club to cease, because it stands against the conservative Christian school’s moral principles. The group may still meet on campus, but will not be an officially recognized club of the university and may not use Liberty’s name or funds. Falwell writes, “Parents and students support the university because they believe in its distinctly Christian identity and mission. Liberty University is pro-life and believes that marriage between one man and one woman...

""From: "Lauren Wolfe, CDAAA" Friends, "The Democratic Party platform is contrary to the mission of [the] university and to Christian doctrine." Can you imagine if your university said that to you when you were a College Democrat? If they used those hateful words to banish you from campus? Well, on Friday, Liberty University -- the largest Christian Evangelical university in the world -- said exactly that as they kicked out the school's College Democrats chapter. Now, it's time to fight back. Tell Liberty University to allow the College Democrats back on campus. According to Mark Hine, a university vice president,...

**My Comment: Timothy M. Kaine and gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe are "changeing" the facts to make it a story they can run with* Liberty University officials insisted Friday that they revoked recognition of the College Democrats club for religious reasons and not political ones, and they weren’t trying to stifle free speech. Politicians, including Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, urged the private school to reconsider. Using the letterhead of the Democratic National Committee, of which Kaine is chairman, he asked the school “to reverse this attack on the liberty of its students.” LU chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. said the political club’s...

"What would Jesus do?" is a question many Christians ask themselves when buying a car, choosing a charity to support or invading another country. When it comes to campus poliical clubs, Liberty University in Lynchburg Virginia, thinks Jesus would limit certain First Amendment rights like freedom of speech and the right of assembly... at least as far as Democrats are concerned. In an email dated May 15, Mark Hine, the university's Vice President for Student Affairs, revoked recognition of the campus Democrats Club. In part, the email reads... "I must inform you that the College democrats club is no longer...

Tell me President Obama, how many babies would Jesus kill? Liberty University, a Christian college situated near Lynchburg, Virginia and founded in 1971 by Jerry Falwell, has this week decertified its college Democratic Party club over the singular fact that the National Democratic Party is a supporter of abortion. After the debacle of allowing a president that is a supporter of infanticide being invited to speak at the leading Catholic University in the nation, I can only say that Liberty University should be congratulated for standing up for its principles. At least these Baptists actually believe in something unlike the...

Liberty University has ordered its fledgling College Democrats club to shut down, saying the group stands against the conservative Christian school's moral principles. Club president Brian Diaz said he was shocked to be notified by e-mail last week that the club was being banned by the private university in Lynchburg founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell. The university first recognized it in the fall. "We were shocked, as well, that (the club) even got accepted. It was huge, and we were glad that Liberty did that," Diaz said in a telephone interview from Orlando, Fla. The club is barred...

Liberty University will no longer recognize its campus Democratic Party club because its parent organization stands against the conservative Christian school's moral principles. The club, which has about 30 members, will no longer be able to use Liberty's name, hold on-campus meetings or be eligible for student activities money. "I think it does the university a great disservice to stifle one side of the discussion simply because we are Democrats,'' said Maria Childress, the club's adviser and an administrative assistant at the school. Brian Diaz, president of Liberty's Democratic club said he was informed of the school's decision in a...

Tyler Frost, 17, a senior at Heritage Christian School in Findlay, Ohio has been suspended for attending a prom with his girlfriend because the Findlay High School’s prom allowed dancing and music. This Taliban-like ruling is based on the Christian school’s policy that forbids dancing, rock music, hand holding and kissing. Principal Tim England says that Frost was supposed to receive his diploma on May 24 but will now receive an “incomplete” on his remaining assignments. He absence will be hard to miss: he is in a class of four students. England further threatens that, if he learns that Frost...

A student at a fundamentalist Baptist school that forbids dancing, rock music, hand-holding and kissing will be suspended if he takes his girlfriend to her public high school prom, his principal said. Despite the warning, 17-year-old Tyler Frost, who has never been to a dance before, said he plans to attend Findlay High School's prom Saturday. Frost, a senior at Heritage Christian School in northwest Ohio, agreed to the school's rules when he signed a statement of cooperation at the beginning of the year, principal Tim England said.

The California Supreme Court is letting stand a lower court ruling that allowed a private religious school to expel two girls for an alleged lesbian relationship. The state's highest court this week declined a request from the girls' attorney to review the case. The 4th District Court of Appeal in Riverside in January had upheld California Lutheran High School's right as a private, religious organization to exclude students based on their sexual orientation. The teens initially sued the Riverside County school in 2005 based on a state anti-discrimination law. Advocates for religious freedom called it the right decision but the...

SAN FRANCISCO -- The state Supreme Court left intact Wednesday a lower-court ruling that said a private religious high school wasn't covered by California civil rights law and could expel students it believed were lesbians. Over Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar's dissent, the court denied review of an appeal by parents of two girls who were expelled from a high school in Riverside County. A lawyer for the parents said the ruling, which is binding on trial courts statewide, would allow private schools to discriminate against students on any basis they chose, including sex and religion. The girls were juniors at...

The Roman Catholic Church has severely criticised a proposed new code of conduct for teachers which it says will force Christian schools to actively promote Islam and gay rights. The Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has warned the General Teaching Council, by the professional regulatory body, that many teachers will quit the profession because they will not be able to accept the revised code of conduct in good conscience. Their advisers say the code would also seriously undermine the religious character of church schools by imposing on them a hostile form of secular morality. The legally-binding code would discriminate...

Catholic Church slams new code of conduct forcing teachers to promote Islam and gay rights By SIMON CALDWELL 02nd March 2009 Oona Stannard: 'It would not be possible for a person of faith to promote another faith ¿ this is a matter of conscience' The Roman Catholic Church has severely criticised a proposed new code of conduct for teachers which it says will force Christian schools to actively promote Islam and gay rights. The Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has warned the General Teaching Council, by the professional regulatory body, that many teachers will quit the profession because they...

Kudos to Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, where it was recently announced that students will be allowed to use the university's off-campus firearm ranges to shoot. The two ranges, used primarily to train the university's police officers, will permit the use of rifles, shotguns, and handguns during designated shooting hours. "I am a firm believer in using all of the university's assets to benefit students and to enhance the student experience at LU," said Chancellor Jerry Falwell, Jr. "Recently, we have had students asking for a place to target shoot, so it made perfect sense to open the range to...

This just in from North Korea: Officials are concerned about two things – the health of Kim Jong Il and the 100-0 girls basketball game in Dallas. OK, dumb joke, but this is how crazy the story has become. As the dust finally settles (one hopes) around this story, there are vestiges of its singular strangeness that linger. ... ... But while the number 100 fanned the flames, the zero might have been the real fire starter. Covenant could have scored even more, but if Dallas Academy had been able to put up just a few buckets, there's no story....

A private religious high school can expel students it believes are lesbians because the school isn't covered by California civil rights laws, a state appeals court has ruled. Relying on a 1998 state Supreme Court ruling that allowed the Boy Scouts to exclude gays and atheists, the Fourth District Court of Appeal in San Bernardino said California Lutheran High School is a social organization entitled to follow its own principles, not a business subject to state anti-discrimination laws. "The whole purpose of sending one's child to a religious school is to ensure that he or she learns even secular subjects...

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- A California appeals court has ruled that a Christian high school can expel students because of an alleged lesbian relationship. The 4th District Court of Appeal in Riverside on Monday upheld California Lutheran High School's right as a private, religious organization to exclude students based on sexual orientation. Two girls sued claiming they were discriminated against after they were expelled from the Wildomar school in 2005. A lower court said the school isn't bound by the same anti-discrimination laws as a business establishment. John McKay, attorney for California Lutheran, says the school's goal is to educate based...

DALLAS (CBS) ― The coach of a Texas high school basketball team that beat another team 100-0 reportedly was fired Sunday, the same day he sent an e-mail to a newspaper stating he will not apologize "for a wide-margin victory when my girls played with honor and integrity" and posted a detailed explanation on a hoops Web site. The Covenant School girls basketball coach Coach Micah Grimes, along with girls from his team, released a statement on the website of the Flight Basketball Academy. Kyle Queal, the headmaster for Covenant School, said in The Dallas Morning News online edition that...

You've heard all about the disputes: "Silent Night" banned at the "holiday" program, artistic references to the Bible censored and faith-inclusive children's programs facing discrimination. Now some people are fed up with public school treatment of Christianity and have launched a campaign calling for a rescue of kids from government education programs – a "Call to Dunkirk."

Economy hitting small colleges hard, some to closeMonday, November 17, 2008 6:22 AM EST Associated Press For 15 years, Cascade College in Portland, Ore., struggled to find the fuels that any college needs: students to pay tuition and donors to help build an endowment. Then came the global economic meltdown, and suddenly that struggle became an impossibility. Late last month, the small Christian college with just 280 students and $4 million in debt announced it would have to shut down at the end of the current academic year. Colleges are remarkably resilient institutions. Princeton University’s Nassau Hall still bears the...

NPR.org, October 22, 2008 · The ferociously conservative Christian right may be an unfashionable bunch this political season, but when it comes to the notion of a need for change, there are no truer or more fervently motivated believers. In fact, the recently founded Patrick Henry College is churning out these family-values crusaders in force.Inspired by journalist Hanna Rosin's 2005 New Yorker article about Purcellville, Va.'s so-called "Harvard For Homeschoolers" (subsequently expanded in the book God's Harvard), photographer Jona Frank put aside her own lefty leanings and set out — with Right: Portraits from the Evangelical Ivy League — to...

A federal judge has ruled the University of California can deny course credit to Christian high school graduates who have been taught with textbooks that reject evolution and declare the Bible infallible, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.U.S. District Judge James Otero of Los Angeles ruled Friday that the school's review committees did not discriminate against Christians because of religious viewpoints when it denied credit to those taught with certain religious textbooks, but instead made a legitimate claim that the texts failed to teach critical thinking and omitted important science and history topics. Charles Robinson, the university's vice president for legal...

A federal judge says the University of California can deny course credit to applicants from Christian high schools whose textbooks declare the Bible infallible and reject evolution. Rejecting claims of religious discrimination and stifling of free expression, U.S. District Judge James Otero of Los Angeles said UC's review committees cited legitimate reasons for rejecting the texts - not because they contained religious viewpoints, but because they omitted important topics in science and history and failed to teach critical thinking.

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal judge says the University of California can deny course credit to applicants from Christian high schools whose textbooks declare the Bible infallible and reject evolution. Rejecting claims of religious discrimination and stifling of free expression, U.S. District Judge James Otero of Los Angeles said UC's review committees cited legitimate reasons for rejecting the texts - not because they contained religious viewpoints, but because they omitted important topics in science and history and failed to teach critical thinking. Otero's ruling Friday, which focused on specific courses and texts, followed his decision in March that found no...

A federal court has ordered the state of Colorado to stop discriminating against students of a Christian college, a facility that state officials determined provided too much religion. The state for years has provided grants to students of secular institutions as well as students at a Methodist university and a Roman Catholic university, according to yesterday's opinion from the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. However, students at Colorado Christian University, a non-denominational evangelical Protestant university, were banned from the grant program after state officials decided the school was too pervasively sectarian. "We find the exclusion unconstitutional for two reasons:...

Arguments were heard today in a federal district court case to determine whether a state university system can dictate that private Christian schools in the state teach their college prep courses from exclusively secular, Bible- and God-free textbooks. As WND reported earlier, the University of California system adopted a policy last year that basic science, history, and literature textbooks by major Christian book publishers wouldn't qualify for core admissions requirements because of the inclusion of Christian perspectives. Robert Tyler, who is representing Calvary Chapel Christian School and five students in the case against the University of California, told WND that...

(snip) The largest Protestant denomination in America, the Southern Baptists, is sending representatives from thousands of churches to convene in Indianapolis for the 151st session of the Southern Baptist Convention on June 10 and 11. The church is in crisis. Outgoing president Rev. Frank Page estimates that only half of Southern Baptist churches will still exist two decades from now. The decline appears to be particularly acute among young people in the church. In 2005 alone, 55 percent of Southern Baptist churches baptized no youths, according to Ed Stetzer with the North American Mission Board. "They are discovering, as other...

Confronting a series of “New Atheists” books that have topped bestseller lists in the last two years, Dr. David Aikman, Associate Professor of History at Patrick Henry College, presented the College’s sixth Faith and Reason lecture Tuesday, February 19. As with the previous, twice-yearly lectures, covering themes from philosophy to classical education, the campus community gathered together for a day-long schedule of discussion groups, Q&A, and panel discussions. Dr. Aikman's new book, Delusion of Disbelief, is due for release in April.

A young Iraqi girl holds her new Beanie Baby, donated by children of North Hills Christian School in Salisbury, N.C. Soldiers of Company D, 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, distributed the toys to children from the Oman and Nassir schools in al Buaytha, March 24. Photo by 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs. FOB KALSU — Iraqi school children in Al Buaytha received toys from children their age from halfway around the world, March 24. Soldiers of Company D, 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry...

** EXCERPT ** FORT WORTH, Texas — Controversy surrounding Barack Obama’s longtime minister is not deterring a Texas divinity school from honoring the Rev. Jeremiah Wright at a ceremony later this month. But Texas Christian University, the campus where Brite Divinity School is located, issued a statement Monday opposing that decision in light of video that shows Wright delivering racially tinged sermons and him railing against the United States. Wright is to be honored March 29 at the Black Church Summit and Awards Banquet, a $125-per-person banquet at the divinity school. Despite being on the TCU campus, Brite is a...