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John Zachary created a Nativity scene for Claremont United Methodist Church that employs a figure of Trayvon Martin as a commentary on gun violence. Previous scenes have had Mary and Joseph as a homeless couple and as war refugees. “You try to put it in a context of how it would be today,” Zachary said.Nativity scenes have a few standard elements: a manger, swaddling clothes, happy parents, sheep, maybe the Three Wise Men. They don’t generally include Trayvon Martin. But there he is, wearing a hoodie, a stream of blood pouring from his chest onto the straw-covered floor of the...

Outside the Claremont United Methodist Church is a nativity scene with a bleeding Trayvon Martin. The California Church has turned their nativity scene "into a piece of art that comments on our times" for the last seven years. John Zachary, the artist, told me the acquittal in July of George Zimmerman, who fatally shot the 17-year-old African-American in 2012, struck him as a worthy subject for Christmas comment. For one thing, the backdrop to the Christmas story is the slaughter by King Herod of all infants in Bethlehem, a barbarous attempt to kill the Messiah.

Most have taken for granted Jesus' nativity story as commonly related - that when Joseph and Mary arrived in Bethlehem there was no room in an inn so Mary ended up giving birth to Jesus in a stable. But is this the true account in Scripture? See for yourself! A typical translation of Luke 2:7 says about Mary giving birth to Jesus, "And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn" (New King James Version). We've grown up hearing the...

After the wreath-laying, Obama walked up the stairs into the memorial building, and heard (what appeared to be HIS voice) "JEESUS!". I had to play it back a few times and was appalled. Anyone else make that observation?

The lawyer representing an atheist and another woman who sued to stop the practice of opening city hall meetings with sectarian prayers told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that devil worshipers might not be offended by prayers that include “the Almighty” if those worshipers believe that term applies to Satan. … Now the Supreme Court will issue a decision on whether prayers in legislative settings violate the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which says “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” …

The Department of Justice, on behalf of the National Security Administration (NSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has threatened to criminally prosecute a novelty store owner for selling mugs and t-shirts that say, among other things, “Department of Homeland Stupidity” and “The NSA: The only part of government that actually listens.” The novelty items are sold online at Zazzle.com, which is operated by merchant Dan McCall. The NSA and DHS sent “cease and desist” letters to Zazzle stating that the parody products violate statutes that protect their official seals from misuse. The NSA and DHS, through the Department...

The U.S. House of Representatives argued over Obamacare in a rare late-night session Saturday, and the late hour seemed to have a strange effect on at least one congresswoman. Politico reporter Ginger Gibson tweeted that a few members reeked of alcohol, but it would seem some of them don’t need any liquid courage to make questionable comments. U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., used a reference to the Bible to make her point against delaying Obamacare. But in paraphrasing Galatians 6:7, she deleted God from the scripture. “Mr. Speaker, be not deceived. The people are not mocked,” Moore said. “In 24,...

It was the Holy Spirit who directed Bill O’Reilly to write his latest book, “Killing Jesus,” he tells Norah O’Donnell in his first interview about the upcoming work. Though the book is not religious and its contradictions of biblical descriptions may upset some, the Fox News anchor and best-selling author believes that in writing it, he is using God’s gifts in a positive way. The interview with O’Reilly will be broadcast on the 46th season premiere of 60 Minutes on Sunday, Sept. 29 at 7 p.m. ET/PT. “All of the ideas come to me in the middle of the night...

He is said to move in mysterious ways and, at last, there may be an explanation why. For according to pensions minister Steve Webb, God is a Liberal Democrat. Although the party has been languishing in single figures in the polls, he argues that, in the long term, it has the support of the Almighty. Writing in a new book about the party’s relationship with Christianity, Mr. Webb says it is clear from the Bible that God shares the Lib Dems’ core beliefs. … Despite Mr. Webb’s eye-catching claims, the book is unlikely to feature on Nick Clegg’s reading list,...

Speaking at Lackawanna College in Scranton, Pa., on Friday, Vice President Joe Biden said there are “only three women that I know who are close to perfect”—his mother, Sen. Bob Casey’s (D.-Pa.) mother and God’s Mother (the Blessed Mother)—before he caught himself and said the Blessed Mother was, in fact, perfect. Biden made the remarks while introducing President Barack Obama. … Vice President Joe Biden, like President Barack Obama, argues that women have a right to abort a child—from the moment of conception. …

There's a certain page on Facebook people of faith do not “like.” Created in February, the “Virgin Mary Should’ve Aborted” Facebook page originally included this controversial description, presumably speaking from Mary’s perspective: I'm here to explain what really happened in biblical times, since the bible is full of lies. My rapist's offspring has destroyed the planet and brainwashed millions. Rage-quitting is for loose buttholes. Bible-believing Facebook users who are members of the group, “Catholics & Protestants Against FB Religious Discrimination” led the online fight to have the page taken down -- and succeeded. But, they didn’t have long to celebrate....

A female CofE vicar yesterday insisted she has not sinned against God by putting an obscene bumper sticker reading 'WTFWJD' on the back of her car. The Reverend Alice Goodman stuck the sticker, standing for ‘What The F*** Would Jesus Do?', on the back of her red Subaru Legacy - sparking outrage from members of her parish. But the Reverend insists the sticker is harmless and even the former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams was happy to accept a lift in her car in the past. The sign - a play on the Christian motto ‘What Would Jesus Do?’...

Religion associate professor and MSNBC commentator, Anthea Butler said she blames God for the outcome of the Zimmerman trial, and adds that God is “a White Racist.” Known for attacking evangelical leaders, charter schools, and Ayn Rand, Butler has now attacked God in her capacity as a religion teacher.  In Religion and Dispatches, she wrote that “God ain’t good all the time. In fact," she continued, “sometimes God is not for us. As a black woman in an [sic] nation that has taken too many pains to remind me that I am not a white man, and am not capable of...

Lahore - A Christian man in Pakistan's Punjab province has been sentenced to life imprisonment for sending blasphemous mobile phone text messages to some Muslim clerics. Additional District and Sessions Judge Mian Shahzad Raza of Toba Tek Singh district slapped the sentence and a Rs 2 lakh fine on Sajjad Masih yesterday. Masih, a resident of Pak pattan district, was arrested in December 2011 for allegedly sending blasphemous mobile phone messages to Muslim clerics of Gojra in Toba Tek Singh, some 200 kilometres from Lahore. The judge heard the case in the district jail and handed down the sentence to...

I’m not a rap fan. But I know who Jay-Z is. He’s sold 50 million CDs. He’s won 17 Grammy Awards. He has a net worth of $500 million, according to Forbes magazine. And, oh yes, he’s married to Beyoncé, Billboard’s top female artist of the 2000s. So, Jay Z just “dropped” his latest CD, “Magna Carta…Holy Grail.” Magna Carta is a play on the rapper’s real name, Shawn Carter. Holy Grail? Well, that’s where Jay Z offends this Christ follower’s sensibilities. A review of the rap star’s 12th studio album appears in the latest issue of Rolling Stone. I...

A severe blow for the freedom of speech, and victory for the advance of Sharia blasphemy laws here. "Michigan Federal Judge Allows Muslim Violence to Suppress Christian Speech; Immediate Appeal Filed," from the American Freedom Law Center, May 14: A Michigan federal judge today dismissed a civil rights lawsuit brought by several Christian evangelists who were violently assaulted by a hostile Muslim mob while preaching at an Arab festival last year in Dearborn, Michigan, which has the largest Muslim population in the United States. Video of the Muslim assault went viral on YouTube. The American Freedom Law Center (AFLC) filed...

DHAKA, Bangladesh — Police in Bangladesh's capital fired rubber bullets to disperse stone-throwing Islamic activists Sunday during a protest to demand that the government enact an anti-blasphemy law. The activists were among thousands demonstrating around Dhaka, blocking roads and cutting off the city from the rest of the country. ... Thousands of activists from Hefatjat-e-Islam, a newly formed group, gathered in Dhaka's Motijheel commercial district to press for their demands. The group says some Internet users have recently used their blogs to spread atheism and lies about Islam. The government in this Muslim-majority nation has rejected the groups' demands, saying...

ISTANBUL – Earlier this month, a Turkish court sentenced world-famous pianist Fazil Say to a ten-month suspended jail sentence for “insulting religious values.”Say, 43, had tweeted the following verse from 11th century poet Omar Khayyam: “You say that the rivers flow with wine, is Heaven a tavern? You say that you will give every believer two very beautiful women, is Heaven a brothel?”He also retweeted a missive posted by someone else:  “I am not sure if you have noticed, but where there is a louse, a non-entity, a lowlife, thief or idiot, they are all pro-Allah. Is this a paradox?”In...

The Muslim Brotherhood denounced the U.S. State Department for expressing concern over legal action taken against an Egyptian satirist accused of insulting Islam and President Mohamed Morsi, stating that denigration of the Muslim religion is a “serious breach of law.” “The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) has strongly criticized remarks made by U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland on legal complaints accusing Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef of contempt of religions,” said the Muslim Brotherhood in a statement on its official English website “Ikhwan Web.” … Known as Egypt’s Jon Stewart, Bassem Youssef was accused of insulting Islam and Morsi on...

There is an intensifying global campaign to impose Islamic blasphemy law on non-Muslims, including those living outside Islamdom, in non-Muslim societies. What follows are ten key points on the doctrinal origins and practical implications of this global campaign: 1) According to the Sunna (the traditions of Muhammad and the early Muslim community), by using foul language against the Muslim prophet Muhammad, Allah, or Islam, the non-Muslim transgressors put themselves on a war footing against Muslims, and their lives became licit (such as the poet Kaab b. al-Ashraf, who composed poems denigrating Muhammad, and was assassinated). [see 1.1, 1.2, 1.3] 2)...