By Laura Koran, CNN
Here's the Belief Blog’s morning rundown of the top faith-angle stories from around the United States and around the world. Click the headlines for the full stories.
From the Blog:
CNN: A truce between Obama and Romney on faith
A political truce may be brewing between the Obama and Romney campaigns on the issue of the candidates' faith and religious practice. An all-out war over such issues nearly erupted last week, but neither campaign would take up arms.
CNN: Catholic groups sue over federal contraception mandate
The University of Notre Dame and "a diverse group of plaintiffs" filed lawsuits Monday challenging the federal mandate that religious employers offer health insurance that includes coverage of contraceptives and birth control services, Notre Dame spokeswoman Shannon Chapla said.
Tweet of the Day:
[tweet https://twitter.com/#!/YAmericanMuslim/status/204783976009826304%5D
Enlightening Reads:
Religion Dispatches: Church Controversy is in Georgetown’s DNA
Georgetown University’s founder, Bishop John Carroll, would likely not be surprised to find his university embroiled in a controversy concerning the appropriate place of religious groups in civil affairs. He might be surprised, however, to learn that this time an attack on a Jesuit institution was instigated not by forces outside the Church, but those within.
Religion News Service: Why basketball is Muslims’ favorite sport
Omar Abdelkader, a student at Northeastern University in Boston, is an observant Muslim but admits that, at least as a kid, he was occasionally seduced by the swish of a perfect jump-shot over the Islamic call to prayer.
Christianity Today: Black Church Barrios: African American Churches Adapt to Latino Neighbors
Every week as he delivers the sermon at the oldest black church in Los Angeles, pastor William Eps stands where history was written. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at Second Baptist Church throughout the 1950s and '60s. Today social justice remains just as important to the 127-year-old church—but the faces of the community it serves have changed dramatically.
The Huffington Post: Charles L. Worley, North Carolina Pastor: Put Gays And Lesbians In Electrified Pen To Kill Them Off
The barrage of anti-gay sermons delivered by North Carolina-based pastors to hit the blogosphere continues with yet another disturbing rant caught on tape. The pastor, identified on YouTube as Charles L. Worley of Providence Road Baptist Church in Maiden, N.C., condemns President Obama's much-publicized endorsement of same-sex marriage while calling for gays and lesbians to be put in an electrified pen and ultimately killed off.
Quote of the Day:
The latest publication of documents of the Holy See and private documents of the Holy Father can no longer be considered a questionable - and objectively defamatory - journalistic initiative, but clearly assumes the character of a criminal act.
Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi on the publication of correspondences between Vatican officials and private letters to the Pope in a new book called “Your Holiness.” Read more here.
Opinion of the Day:
CNN: My Take: The Bible condemns a lot, but here's why we focus on homosexuality
R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, responds to critics who say that Christian conservatives are hypocritical and selective when it comes to the Bible’s condemnation of homosexuality
Join the conversation…
The author writes that it's fine for Christians to take certain biblical condemnations seriously while ignoring others.
CNN: My Take: The Christian case for gay marriage
Mark Osler, a Professor of Law at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, Minnesota, speaks out in favor of same-sex marriage.
Prayer changes things
i am an ant-all ants live in holes, therefore i am a hole
thought to consider without a typical ego response
Accept Jesus christ as your lord and saviour. You never know how soon is too late. Transcend the worldly illusion of enslavement.
The world denounces truth....
Accepting Jesus Christ (for me) resulted in something like seeng a new colour. You will see it .....but will not be able to clearly explain it to anyone else..... Its meant to be that way to transend any selfism within you.
Also... much the world arranges "surrounding dark matter into something to be debated" in such a way that protects/inflates the ego.
The key is be present and transcend our own desire to physically see evidence. We don't know anyways by defending our own perception of dark matter.
Currently.... most of us are constructing our own path that suits our sin lifestyle. Were all sinners. Knowing that we are is often an issue. But both christians and non are sinners.
We don't like to Let go and let god. We want control to some degree. This is what Jesus asks us to do. "Let go and let god".
It's the hardest thing to do... but is done by letting the truth of scripture lead you (redemptive revelation)... as I said .
Try reading corinthians and see if it makes sense to you. Try it without a pre conceived notion of it being a fairy tale.
See the truth...
do we do what it says in todays society... is it relevant... so many have not recently read and only hinge their philosophy on what they have heard from som other person...which may have been full of arogance pride or vanity..
Look closely at the economy ponzi, look at how society idolizes Lust , greed , envy, sloth, pride of life, desire for knowledge, desire for power, desire for revencge,gluttony with food etc .
Trancsend the temporal world.
Just think if you can find any truth you can take with you ....in any of these things. When you die your riches go to someone who will spend away your life..... You will be forgotten.... history will repeat iteslf.... the greatest minds knowledge fade or are eventually plagerzed..... your good deeds will be forgotten and only give you a fleeting temporary reward . your learned teachings are forgotten or mutated..... your gold is transfered back to the rullers that rule you through deception. Your grave will grow over . This is truth .
Trancsend your egoism and free yourself from this dominion of satan. Understand you are a sinner and part of the collective problem of this worldly matrix... Repent.... Repent means knowing
Evidence follows faith. Faith does not follow evidence..... Faith above reason in Jesus Christ.
Faith comes by Reading or Hearing the word of god from the bible . Ask Jesus in faith for dicernment and start reading the new testament... You will be shocked when you lay down your preconceived notions and ....see and hear truth ... see how christ sets an example ... feel the truth....
Read Ecclesiastes. Read corinthians.
You cant trancend your own egoism by adapting a world philosophy to suit your needs. Seek the truth in Christ.
Sell all your cleverness and purchase true bewilderment. You don't get what you want ....you get what you are in christ.
I promise this has been the truth for me. In Jesus christ .
Think of what you really have to lose. ...your ego?
Break the Matrix of illusion that holds your senses captive.
once you do . you too will have the wisdom of God that comes only through the Holy Spirit. Saved By grace through Faith. Just like seeing a new colour.... can't explain it to a transient caught in the matrix of worldly deception.
You will also see how the world suppresses this information and distorts it
Your all smart people . I tell the truth. Its hard to think out of the box when earthly thinking is the box.
I'ts a personal free experience you can do it free anytime . Don't wait till you are about to die.. START PUTTING YOUR TREASURES WHERE THEY REALLY MATTER >
Its awsome .
"You're all smart people . I tell the truth."
LMAO You're all smart people . I tell the truth.= EGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That makes your whole post moot!
CNN Belief? Surely an oxymoron. CNN moderators are nothing more than censors with an Obama bent. You guys disgrace journalism!
People visiting here to comment will need to know about the automatic word filter that has yet to be updated to filter out only bad words.
For instance, ho.mose.xuality is considered two bad words by the filter. "ho.mo" and "se.x" – a period, dash, space or other character can be used to break up the letter combinations.
"gay" is not considered a bad word by the filter.
These bad letter combinations also apply to your "Name" and your "email address" so please keep this in mind.
In addition, there are many G-rated words that fall afoul of this outdated and badly-written filter used by this blog.
Here is the list with the "bad" letter combination, followed by the G-rated words that will trip the filter and cause your post to get automatically deleted.
The "etc" means to keep a lookout for other possibilities if your post gets deleted.
The list, which includes actual "bad" words:
--–
ar-se.....as in spa-rse, pa-rse, ar-senic, etc.
ass-hole.....yet ass is okay.
ba-stard
bi-tch
cia-lis...as in Cia-lis(a drug), socia-lism, socia-list, specia-list, etc. (note: this only happens in combination with some email addresses uknown as to why)
cl-it
co-ck.....as in co-ckatiel, co-ckatrice, co-ckleshell, co-ckles, lubco-ck, etc.
co-on.....as in rac-oon, coc-oon, etc.
cu-m......as in doc-ument, accu-mulate, circu-mnavigate, circu-mstances, cu-mbersome, cucu-mber, etc.
cu-nt
do-uche
ef-fing...as in this ef-fing filter
fa-g
ft-w......as in soft-ware, delft-ware, swift-water, etc.
fu-ck......everyone's favorite!
ho-mo.....as in ho-mo sapiens or ho-mose-xual, ho-mogenous, etc.
hoo-ters...hoot, hootie, and hooter is okay. More than one hooter is bad.
ho-rny....as in tho-rny, etc.
jacka-ss...yet "ass" is allowed by itself.....
ja-p......as in j-apanese, ja-pan, j-ape, etc.
ji-sm
koo-ch....as in koo-chie koo..!
na-ked
nig-ger
nip-ple
or-gy
pi-ss
po-on.....as in spo-on, po-ontang, harpo-on, etc.
po-rn
pr-ick....as in pri-ckling, pri-ckles, etc.
ra-pe.....as in scra-pe, tra-peze, gr-ape, thera-peutic, sara-pe, etc.
se-x......as in Ess-ex, s-exual, etc.
sh-@t.....but shat is okay – don't use the @ symbol there.
sh-it
sl-ut
sn-atch
sp-ic.....as in disp-icable, hosp-ice, consp-icuous, susp-icious, sp-icule, sp-ice, etc.
spoo-k
strip-per..but strip, stripe are okay.
ti-t......as in const-itution, att-itude, ent-ities, alt-itude, anti-thesis (any anti-"t" word),beat-itude, etc.
tw-at.....as in wristw-atch, nightw-atchman, etc.
va-g......as in extrava-gant, va-gina, va-grant, va-gue, sava-ge, etc.
who-re....as in who're you kidding / don't forget to put in that apostrophe or break it up somehow!
wo-p
wt-f....also!!!!!!!
–
There are more, some of them considered "racist", so do not assume that this list is complete.
On the other hand, there are words you might expect to trip the filter, yet do not do so, a few examples:
anal
anus
ass
boob
butt
crap
damn
execute
hell
kill
masturbation
murder
penis
poop
pubic
raping (ra-pe is not ok)
shat (sh-@t is not ok)
sphincter
testes
testicles
--
If you want to bypass the filter, it can be done using html tags if necessary. But the list of banned letters/words should be enough for most visitors here.
REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!! REPORT!!!! ABBUSE!!!!
How exactly do you misspell "abuse" dozens of times when the correct spelling is right there at the bottom of every post?
LOL
Doc, you are so right.
@ Doc
It takes a special kind of stupid; you wouldn't understand.
CASE CLOSED.
Which of the follow satements are logically valid?
A. Hitler was a Christian, therefore athiests are right.
B. Hitler was an athiest, therefore Christians are right.
Correct asnwer neither.
Even though Jesus' death was part of the "plan", some Christians still blame the Jews for it. Hitler was one of those. He will be in heaven laughing it up with all of the last minute death row converts.
@Ting
Logic proves that your statement is only self gratification. Convincing yourself that someone that has been dead is now in suffering only adds comfort for your delusion.
Answer has none. Everything you know is wrong.
Hitler then worshiped Lucifer (aka the devil).