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Biblical Sex Row Over Explicit Illustrated Book of Genesis A sexually explicit illustrated Book of Genesis by controversial artist Robert Crumb, which features Bible characters having intercourse, has been condemned by religious groups. Ben Leach 17 Oct 2009 The book, which is released this month, carries the warning "adult supervision recommended for minors", and is described as "scandalous satire" by its publishers. It includes graphic illustrations of Bible characters having sexual intercourse, and other scenes depicting naked men and women as well as "gratuitous" depictions of violence. Crumb, the book's author, is most famous for his creation Fritz the Cat,...

The changes did not make all men "people" or remove male references to God, but instead involved dropping gender-specific terms when translators judged that the original text didn't intend it. So in some verses, references to "sons of God" became "children of God," for example. Supporters say gender-inclusive changes are more accurate and make the Bible more accessible, but critics contend they twist meaning or smack of political correctness.

Lutherans at the ELCA convention reacting to the vote on sexuality Minneapolis, Minn., Aug 21, 2009 / 07:41 pm (CNA).- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) on Wednesday approved a new policy that no longer declares marriage as “the appropriate place” for sexual relations, but rather calls for “social trust” in associations that are “loving” and “committed.” One critic characterized the move as an embrace of moral relativism.The ELCA claims about 4.6 million members. Its numbers have declined by 1 million over the past forty years.The ELCA’s Churchwide Assembly, meeting from August 17 to 23 at the Minneapolis...

"The exhibit, Untitled 2009, was proposed by the Metropolitan Community Church, an international Christian group which describes itself as offering “inclusive Christian ministry to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered communities”. The £7,000 exhibition, which is funded by the Scottish Arts Council and is free of charge, has been created by the artists Anthony Schrag and David Malone in association with organisations representing gay Christians and Muslims. Mr Schrag, 34, told the newspaper: “Any offensive things that have been written are not the point of the work. It was an open gesture. Are those who say they are upset offended...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ― Gay marriage supporters are holding a prayer service on the eve of the California Supreme Court's expected ruling on the legality of a voter-approved ban on same-sex nuptials. The group Marriage Equality USA plans to hold the interfaith event Monday night at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. On Tuesday morning, the state's high court plans to rule on a series of lawsuits seeking to overturn Proposition 8. Opponents of the gay marriage ban argue that the issue was improperly put before voters; they say it revised the state constitution's equal protection clause to such a dramatic...

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon said Monday it no longer includes a Bible quote on the cover page of daily intelligence briefings it sends to the White House as was practice during the Bush administration. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said he did not know how long the Worldwide Intelligence Update cover sheets quoted from the Bible. Air Force Maj. Gen. Glen Shaffer, who was responsible for including them, retired in August 2003, according to his biography. For a period in 2003, at least, the daily reports prepared for President George W. Bush carried quotes from the books of Psalms and Ephesians...

John Gechter's story has been troubling me ever since I read it in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09128/968674-298.stm)on Friday, May 8th. Gechter was set to graduate from Grove City College, Grove City, Pennsylvania which is about 65 miles north of Pittsburgh. The college is situated in a rural area, and was founded in 1879 as a strict Christian institution, which it remains today. It prides itself as an authentic Christian institution. The college is also listed as one of the top ten conservative schools in the nation with very rigorous academics. Sex outside of marriage, heterosexual or gay is forbidden,...

President Obama is distancing himself from the National Day of Prayer by nixing a formal early morning service and not attending a large Catholic prayer breakfast the next morning. All Mr. Obama will do for the National Day of Prayer, which is Thursday, is sign a proclamation honoring the day, which originated in 1952 when Congress set aside the first Thursday in May for the observance. For the past eight years, President George W. Bush invited selected Christian and Jewish leaders to the White House East Room, where he typically would give a short speech and several leaders offered prayers....

A non-denominational Mississauga church known for its liberal religious practices has taken the unusual step of hiring an outspoken Muslim woman to run its youth programs. The Unitarian Congregation announced yesterday it has appointed Farzana Hassan as director of spiritual exploration. Hassan is a well-known author and poet and an outspoken activist who has butted heads with orthodox imams on issues such as hijab, polygamy and terrorism. The Mississauga resident is also a past president of the Muslim Canadian Congress. Hassan will be responsible for introducing and running children and youth programs for the church. This is not the first...

The church-affiliated Texas Christian University has announced plans to allocate apartment housing on its Fort Worth campus for homosexual students and their supporters. According to a report in the city's Star-Telegram newspaper, the school plans to open a section of the Tom Brown-Pete Wright apartments for "lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender students and allies." The school also will have two living groups that are designated "Christian-based" and others for fine arts and other themes, the report said. (Story continues below) "It's a change for students to be part of a unique experience," David Cooper, associate chief of residential life, told the...

WASHINGTON -- The White House is allocating tickets for the upcoming Easter Egg Roll to gay and lesbian families as part of the Obama administration's outreach to diverse communities. Families say the gesture shows that the new Democratic administration values them as equal to other families.

The Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge has unanimously elected a new dean, Dr. Katherine Ragsdale. Chris Johnson at the Midwest Conservative Journal posts: How radically pro-abortion is Katie Rags? This radically pro-abortion: "And when a woman becomes pregnant within a loving, supportive, respectful relationship; has every option open to her; decides she does not wish to bear a child; and has access to a safe, affordable abortion - there is not a tragedy in sight -- only blessing. The ability to enjoy God's good gift of sexuality without compromising one's education, life's work, or ability to put to use God's...

United Church of Christ committee recommends condom distribution at churches Washington D.C., Mar 26, 2009 / 09:06 pm (CNA).- The HIV and AIDS Network of the United Church of Christ (UCC) is advocating that condoms should be distributed at places of worship and faith-based educational settings. The network called for condom distribution in its March 19 statement issued at a presentation to the UCC Wider Church Ministries Board, the Institute on Religion and Democracy reports. UCC executive Michael Shuenemeyer argued: “The practice of safer sex is a matter of life and death. People of faith make condoms available because we...

As we saw during primary season, our president-elect is not free of his own brand of hubris and arrogance, and sometimes it comes before a fall: “You’re likable enough, Hillary” was the prelude to his defeat in New Hampshire. He has hit this same note again by assigning the invocation at his inauguration to the Rev. Rick Warren, the Orange County, Calif., megachurch preacher who has likened committed gay relationships to incest, polygamy and “an older guy marrying a child.” Bestowing this honor on Warren was a conscious — and glib — decision by Obama to spend political capital. It...

Free at last-- The radical racist Obama supporters were back at the pulpit this weekend:

Are evangelicals swerving to the left in American politics? Throughout the primary season, the mainstream media loudly trumpeted the idea that younger evangelicals' attention to the environment and "social justice" issues signals a departure from traditional concerns such as abortion and marriage. Rumblings of this shift within the conservative coalition heightens interest in a remarkable event Saturday: The Rev. Rick Warren, one of America's most influential evangelicals, is set to question presidential hopefuls John McCain and Barack Obama during their back-to-back appearances at his 22,000-member Saddleback Church in Orange County, Calif. Warren, whose 2002 bestseller The Purpose Driven Life...

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...

From the Sister Paula Website: Paula Nielsen is a true pioneer. She has lived as a transgendered woman since 1963, in the days when she had to carry around a letter from a prominent physician to avoid arrest. She worked as church secretary in the early years of Portland Metropolitan Community Church. She wrote for some of Portland’s first gay newspapers in the 1970’s. During the ‘80’s and much of the ‘90’s she had a regular nightclub act at the legendary Portland venue Darcelle XV. In 1987 Paula began broadcasting her public access cable show. She has since made appearances...

Members of the controversial Westboro Baptist Church are threatening to picket the funeral of Tim McLean, the young man decapitated on a Greyhound bus last week. The Kansas-based church - a small fundamentalist sect led by Fred Phelps - is reviled in the United States for protesting the funerals of hundreds of soldiers killed in the Iraq war. The sect gained notoriety in the 1990s by picketing the funeral of Matthew Shepard, a young gay man beaten to death in Wyoming. Seven members of the church originally planned to picket theatre performances in Toronto and Red Deer, Alta., later this...

Mara Vanderslice is a frenetic far-Leftist who worked for the Kerry campaign in 2004 — also then trying to con Christians into voting Democrat. Background on her here A new political group that claims to be a Christian organization has endorsed pro-abortion presidential candidate Barack Obama. The Matthew 25 Network plans to run ads for Obama on Christian radio stations and in newspapers and magazines that appeal to Christians. The object is to try to pry away evangelical voters from supporting John McCain, who has already received the endorsement of a number of evangelical and Catholic groups and leaders.Mara Vanderslice,...

A Kansas church well-known for its protests at the funerals of fallen American soldiers plans to picket at this week's funeral of former Press Secretary Tony Snow, declaring that Snow is "a very bad monkey" who is "now burning in hell." "He had a platform, he was given some small talent by his Creator. He was an unfaithful steward, and is now residing in hell," says a schedule on the website of the Westboro Baptist Church. "Each opportunity he had to faithfully report what the servants at WBC had to tell this country/world, Tony Snow besmirched and vilified the words...

Last week, controversy erupted when Archbishop John Nienstedt informed St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in Minneapolis that it could not hold a gay pride prayer service in its sanctuary. The service -- held for several years in conjunction with the annual Twin Cities Gay Pride festival -- celebrates the gay identity. In response, organizers moved the celebration outside the church. One gay activist attended in what must have struck him as a clown's outfit, given the occasion -- the robes of an archbishop, miter and all. David McCaffrey of the Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities (CPCSM) condemned what...

In his new book, Anglican priest and psychoanalyst Jeremy Young reveals how the “abusive” God of the Bible, who was like a wife-beating husband to His Jewish and Christian followers, is the sordid inspiration for the endless U.S. War on Terror. Called “The Violence of God and the War on Terror,” Young’s revelation understandably is getting appreciative reviews from the Religious Left on both sides of the Atlantic.

This Father’s Day, one of most popular pastors in America will open his megachurch to homosexual dads, an event that would usually signal an extreme weather alert from old guard Republican evangelical leaders. Rick Warren. (Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images for Meet the Press)But by welcoming gay fathers into his Southern California flock, Rick Warren, author of the “The Purpose Driven Life,” is not just living up to the highest standards of Christian fellowship, he’s turning the page on a particularly embarrassing part of our politics. Just to refresh: it was televangelist Pat Robertson who predicted “earthquakes, tornadoes and possibly even...

CONCORD – V. Gene Robinson, New Hampshire's Episcopal bishop, entered into a civil union yesterday with his partner of 20 years, Mark Andrew, according to WMUR-TV. The ceremony, held at St. Paul Church, coincided with the fifth anniversary of Robinson's election as the nation's first openly gay Episcopal bishop. The state Legislature passed a law last year allowing gay couples to enter civil unions; the law took effect Jan. 1. In an interview last month on NBC's "The Today Show," Robinson said the decision to enter into a civil union came after he received death threats about his decision to...

Gene Robinson, New Hampshire's Episcopal bishop, entered into a civil union yesterday with his partner of 20 years, Mark Andrew, according to WMUR-TV. The ceremony, held at St. Paul Church, coincided with the fifth anniversary of Robinson's election as the nation's first openly gay Episcopal bishop. The state Legislature passed a law last year allowing gay couples to enter civil unions; the law took effect Jan. 1. In an interview last month on NBC's "The Today Show," Robinson said the decision to enter into a civil union came after he received death threats about his decision to attend the Lambeth...

John McCain just repudiated the endorsement of the Rev. John Hagee, after reports of more controversial remarks.. The Huffington Post and others are reporting that during a late 1990s sermon, Hagee said that “the Nazis had operated on God's behalf to chase the Jews from Europe and shepherd them to Palestine.” McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, distanced himself from Hagee over anti-Catholic remarks that Hagee apologized for earlier this month.

“I am a part of all that I have met.” Ulysses by Tennyson The Obama-lovin’ media wants you to believe that the Reverend Wright earthquake has passed. Some would have you believe that Obama turned a negative into a positive with his embarrassing public contortionism defending Wright and giving us a history lesson on American racism from Plymouth Rock to the Freedom Riders, as if Reverend Wright’s inexcusable hate needs a context. Nothing is further from the truth. There is much to be told about Reverend Wright, Obama’s mentorship with this hate-monger, and the larger implication this relationship has for...

Saturday, April 26, 2008 Jim Geraghty Reporting BARACK OBAMA Jeremiah Wright: ‘We cannot see that what we are doing is the same as al-Qaeda, under a different color flag.' Hugh Hewitt offers new audio of two sermons of Jeremiah Wright, one from September 2001 and one from April 2003. Permit me to propose a new rule: If your mentor of 20 years has ever declared the United States to be ‘the same as al-Qaeda, under a different color flag, calling on the name a different God to sanction and approve our murder and our mayhem!’ you are ineligible for the...

Spokesman Tommy Vietor emails: "Rev. Wright is no longer serving on the African American Religious Leadership Committee." That cuts Wright's only formal tie to Obama, and answers what was sure to be a question in Obama's interviews tonight: If Geraldine Ferraro had to leave the Clinton campaign, why is Wright different.

CBNNews.com - Virginia Beach, Va - Before the celebrating came the turning of tassels and accepting this charge: "I want you to strive for greatness through service," said CBN founder Pat Robertson. The largest class in Regent's history sang a hymn bowed their heads in prayer. "Father," prayed Pastor Jack Hayford. "We come with hearts of gratitude for each of these graduates." {snip} Some say they were initially skeptical about having a Mormon address a Christian audience. "There were some people who were alarmed," said Regent graduate Cassy McLauchlin. "I was surprised because I just didn't think he was the...

McGreevey mulling Episcopal priesthood Posted by The Star-Ledger May 02, 2007 12:08PM Categories: News Patti Sapone/The Star-Ledger Former Gov. James E. McGreevey appears during custody proceedings in the Union County Courthouse last week.Former Gov. James E. McGreevey has started the process to become a priest in his newly adopted Episcopal faith and hopes to begin a three-year seminary program in the fall. McGreevey, who often described himself as a devout Catholic while in public office, was officially received into the Episcopal religion on Sunday, at St. Bartholomew's Church in Manhattan, and is now part of the church's "discernment" phase that...

DALLAS -- The United Church of Christ has accepted a predominantly gay Dallas megachurch into its fold. That means about a quarter of the mainline denomination's members in Texas and Louisiana attend the same church. The North Texas Association of the Cleveland, Ohio-based UCC voted 32-9 last month to admit the 4,300-member Cathedral of Hope after a year-long courtship. The cathedral bills itself as “the world's largest liberal Christian church with a primary outreach to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.'' The cathedral becomes the fourth largest church in the denomination. It decided to affiliate with the UCC after the...

ECUSA's Incoming Leader: Homosexuality Not a Choice, Jesus Not the Only WayComments by Jefferts-Schori During Interview Appear to Contradict ScriptureBy Jody Brown and Allie Martin November 2, 2006 (AgapePress) - She says she doesn't consider Jesus Christ to be the only way to God. She says she believes God makes some people "gay." And she's soon to be the leader of a mainline Protestant denomination in America. In his letter to the Colossians, the Apostle Paul writes that "in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form" (Col. 2:9, NIV). But in an interview this week with...

Woman Believes People Are Created Gay NEW YORK -- The Presiding Bishop-elect of the Episcopal Church said she doesn't believe that the Bible condemns "committed" gay and lesbian relationships. Bishop Katharine Jefferts-Schori, who'll be installed Saturday at Washington National Cathedral, supports ordaining gays and allowing blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples. In 2003, she voted to confirm the denomination's first openly gay bishop. For that reason and others, seven conservative Episcopal dioceses have rejected her leadership. In an Associated Press interview, Jefferts-Schori said she believes homosexuality is "how one is created," so the church should offer what she calls "a sacramental...

Delaware, Ohio--A central Ohio Episcopal priest has resigned his ordination to protest what he calls “pervasive homophobia” coming mostly from the church leadership in the third world. Former Rev. Paul Nicely issued a written statement July 25 saying, “I no longer in conscience can honor my vow as a priest to be subject to the authority of a church which persists in sanctioning bigotry and exclusion.” “There’s not much an individual can do,” Nicely said in a later interview. “There’s not much political influence for an individual, but I wanted to be expressive in my views on this.” Nicely, 80,...

COLUMBUS, OH: Bishop Katherine celebrates transgender Jesus By Hans Zeiger VirtueOnline Correspondent www.virtueonline.org COLUMBUS, OHIO (6/21/06)-While addressing a morning Eucharist at the 75th General Convention of the Episcopal Church, Presiding Bishop-elect Katherine Jefferts Schori declared, "Our mother Jesus gives birth to a new creation. And you and I are His children." With Jefferts Schori as the leader-to-be of the Episcopal Chuch, it seems that the church will move beyond gender-inclusive language to transgender-inclusive language. Yesterday however, the Episcopal Church's House of Bishops refused to even consider a resolution that would affirm the exclusive Lordship of Jesus Christ as "the only...

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Nevada Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori became the first woman to lead any church in the global Anglican Communion when she was elected Sunday to be the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church. The choice of Jefferts Schori may worsen — and could even splinter — the already difficult relations between the American denomination and its fellow Anglicans. Episcopalians have been sparing with many in the other 37 Anglican provinces over homosexuality, but a female leader adds a new layer of complexity to the already troubled relationship. Only two other Anglican provinces — New Zealand and Canada —...

And if Christianity doesn't adapt, Bishop Spong says, it will die. "As people change, liturgy has to change. I don't know why that's so difficult to understand," he told more than 200 people at the Church of St. John the Evangelist on Elgin Street yesterday, the first of a two-day conference organized by the Canadian Centre for Progressive Christianity, with the theme Religionless Christianity. ...[snip]The Christian calendar is full of stories and observances that are drawn not from historical occurrences, but absorbed instead from Jewish traditions, Bishop Spong said. Palm Sunday can be traced to the lulav, a bundle of...

Living with Tares: Why I stay in a church that has seriously strayed from biblical teaching. Posted on Mon Mar 06 2006: by Bishop Edward S. Little II (Christianity Today) Whenever a priest or a deacon in the Episcopal Church is removed from ministry, the cleric's diocese sends official notification to every active bishop. In the years since the church's controversial General Convention of 2003—a convention that, among other things, consented to the ordination of a partnered gay bishop—most notices contain a disclaimer: "This action was taken for causes that do not affect moral character." This is code language. It...

Man, it's getting hard to keep up with all the developments at DePaul. From NPR last week: DePaul University in Chicago -- the largest Catholic university in the United States -- is launching a "queer studies" program that looks at issues of homosexuality. DePaul will be the first Catholic university to offer a minor in the topic, and could face the wrath of the Vatican. Jason DeRose of Chicago Public Radio reports. Will DePaul offer a minor in "conservative studies?" Or even "libertarian studies?"

--snip--Danforth draws no connections between the divisions bared in the Thomas debate and the polarization that bedevils Congress today. He recalls a more pleasant era of coalitions and compromises that gave way to ever fiercer partisanship starting in the early 1990s after Thomas was already on the bench. He dates the beginning of the downslide to the arrival in the Senate of sharp-tongued former House Republicans. --snip--That certainly dovetails with the argument of Baptist Sunday school teacher and certified Democrat Jimmy Carter, who pursues the theme in his hot-selling recent book, "Our Endangered Values," with 750,000 copies in print. He...

'I Am a Mystic' 'I never doubt,' says Bishop Spong. 'It's not that I'm getting older and cramming for finals. It's that God becomes more real.' Interview by Deborah Caldwell John Shelby Spong was the Episcopal Bishop of Newark, N.J., for 20 years before his retirement in 2000. Widely admired (and often scorned), Spong is a leader of the worldwide liberal Christianity movement. He has taught at Harvard, the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Calif., and has lectured in North America, Europe, Asia, and the South Pacific. He is the author of 15 books, including his latest, The Sins of...

The California Council of Churches has asked the governor to rescind his support of the Minuteman Project, which posted civilian volunteer, some armed, on the Arizona-Mexico border. "No responsible or moral public official would encourage citizens to take the law into their own hands, particularly on an issue that is already so laden with division and hatred," the statement said. "Playing on people's fears and divisions and dropping bombshells like those of last week represent demagoguery, not leadership," said the letter, signed by the Rev. John Walsh, a University of Redlands chaplain, and 149 other religious leaders. Gov. Schwarzenegger said...

A shooting star streaks across the sky during a meteor shower. Residents of the area near Madrid airport reported seeing a ball of fire explode and disintregrate in skies over the Spanish capital overnight, security services said.(AFP/NASA. Someone may want to link up to the Photo. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=1778&e=1&u=/050128/photos_od_afp/050128154706_51rancsg_photo0 The photo is clearly of a sword with a distinct hilt Though the artcle makes no mention other than it is an "Offbeat Photo." -- something strange