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The first openly gay man in a major American team sport may turn out to be former Middle Tennessee State kicker Alan Gendreau, who hopes to get a shot at the NFL this year. And, if he’s successful, that could translate into millions of dollars in endorsements and speaking engagements, experts say. Whether it’s the Sun Belt Conference’s leading scorer or someone else, the athlete who makes sports history by coming out will likely be sought after by companies that want to appeal to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender population, whose annual buying power last year was estimated at...

Carla Hale, a teacher in Clintonville, Ohio, was fired just days after an anonymous parent informed the school that her partner's name had appeared in her mother's obituary. Update- April 24, Hale's grievance has been denied.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis has reaffirmed the Vatican's criticism of a body that represents U.S. nuns which the Church said was tainted by "radical" feminism, dashing hopes he might take a softer stand with the sisters. Francis's predecessor, Benedict, decreed that the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), a group that represents more than 80 percent of the 57,000 Catholic nuns in the United States, must change its ways, a ruling which the Vatican said on Monday still applied. Last year, a Vatican report said the LCWR had "serious doctrinal problems" and promoted "radical feminist themes incompatible with...

Citing the recent controversy over his comments on same-sex marriage, neurosurgeon and rising conservative star Dr. Benjamin Carson has voluntarily stepped down as commencement speaker at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. The Baltimore Sun reported that Carson, who heads the department of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital, informed medical school Dean Paul B. Rothman in a letter that he didn't want to "distract from the celebratory nature of the day." "Given all the national media surrounding my statements as to my belief in traditional marriage, I believe it would be in the best interest of the students for...

Dr. Ben Carson on Friday apologized to Johns Hopkins University for “poorly chosen” comments he made last week in which he seemed to compare gay relationships to pedophilia and bestiality. The pediatric neurosurgeon’s message to the Hopkins community came after a top university official issued a statement calling Carson’s words “offensive” and saying he would meet with students who want Carson removed as commencement speaker.

Neurosurgeon Ben Carson apologized Friday for comments he made about gay marriage on Sean Hannity’s TV show earlier this week. “I think in terms of what was said on Sean Hannity’s show, that was taken completely out of context and completely misunderstood in terms of what I was trying to say,” Carson told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell. “As a Christian, I have a duty to love all people and that includes people who have other sexual orientations, and I certainly do, and never had any intention of offending anyone… If anyone was offended, I apologize to you.” The John Hopkins doctor...

One student recently decried the fact that universities are participating in the degradation of their students with the continued focus on sex.Now, it being reported that a church in now helping fund the sexual scholarship at one school: The University of Tennessee’s controversial and explicit sex week plans were in jeopardy after campus leaders recently announced they were pulling about $11,000 in funding for the event, so a church near the campus has decided to raise money for the cause.WATE reports: Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church is located just down the street from UT’s campus, and during their services Sunday...

With that said and meant, this shift is altogether unsurprising. The new mark of being culturally acceptable is affirming homosexuality as virtuous (not merely okay, but virtuous, even exemplary). This is the litmus test. I don’t think many of us expected that it would so quickly fill this role, but it has. The mark of being a progressive, kind, socially courageous person today is simply this: affirming same-sex marriage. There are other cardinal virtues of a contemporary au courant identity, but this is the lodestar, the one that hangs one’s personal moon. This shows us that the cultural middle is...

'Love Wins' Author Rob Bell Supports Gay Marriage CBNNews.com Tuesday, March 19, 2013 Rob Bell, the former "rock star" pastor of Michigan's Mars Hill Bible Church, has come out in support of same-sex marriage. Speaking during a forum at San Francisco's Grace Cathedral Monday, Bell said the ship of traditional marriage "has sailed." "Yes, I am for marriage. I am for fidelity. I am for love, whether it's a man and woman, a woman and a woman, a man and a man," he said. "I think this is the world we are living in and we need to affirm people...

Appearing on Monday's NBC Today as part of the Today's Professionals panel discussion, the network's chief medical editor Nancy Snyderman urged the Catholic Church to abandon its opposition to contraception: "Here's one thing I really would implore the Catholic Church to do on a global issue.... poverty without birth control begets more poverty....So this is a chance to take the humility and the poverty and say now we're really going to talk about this in a civilized way and move it forward." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump] Advertising executive Donny Deutsch chimed in: "Well...

Many times in my ministry, a conversation with abortion clinic staffers that began with talking about the spiritual needs of patients ends on a far more personal note…. An office manager told a colleague of mine that she braces herself every time she checks the mail, wondering how many hate letters she’ll come across, and wants a sacred community to turn to for support. One clinic counselor said she misses the rituals and music of her faith community, and often thinks about trying to find a church, but worries about being judged or shunned when small talk leads to questions...

NEW ORLEANS -- San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver created quite the ruckus this week when he intimated that anyone with a homosexual predilection would not be welcome on his team. Now, he's doing everything he can to get past that. According to his publicist, Theodore Palmer, Culliver will be working with "The Trevor Project," an organization that provides crisis and suicide intervention to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth. "He's so passionate about youth and people being comfortable with who they are and accepted by all," Palmer said in a phone interview with the Associated Press on Saturday. "He's...

(CNSNews.com) - The Department of Health and Human Services on Friday set the stage for a massive showdown between the federal government of the United States and American Christians who believe the government has no right to force them to act against their faith by mandating that they buy, provide or facilitate health-care coverage that includes sterilizations, contraception, or abortion-inducing drugs. HHS released a new proposed regulation under the Obamacare law that the department presented as an accommodation to religious “organizations” that object to providing sterilizations, contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs in their health care plans. However, the proposal does not...

WASHINGTON — When Mark Takano ran unsuccessfully for Congress twice in the early 1990s, his opponents tried to smear him as a “homosexual liberal” and a “nutzoid.” One of them even had pink fliers printed that asked, “A Congressman for Riverside ... Or San Francisco?” When he ran again last year, he won by almost 20 points. “Flash forward 18 years,” Mr. Takano said recently, “and the very macho building tradesmen are behind me. I’m getting pictures with them in their hard hats.” For decades, the words “gay” and “Congress” were usually seen together only in stories of scandal and...

President Obama began his Inauguration Day by attending worship services at St. John’s Episcopal Church in the Nation’s Capital along with his wife Michelle and their daughters Sasha and Malia. It was a rare church appearance for the First Family. During, during their first four years residing in the White House, they found time for the Lord not even half as many times as they managed to get away for family vacays. After services yesterday at St. Johns, during which the president stood to receive a blessing from Bishop Vashti McKenzie, the First Family’s next stop was the U.S. Capitol,...

Tim and I met a few years ago at a 24 watch party. His natural intelligence, unabashed geekiness, and “Snaps” skills made us quick friends. Plus, he managed a Starbucks so there was free coffee in it for me. Before long, I needed a new place to live and so did he. With a third friend, we rented a house together. Our friendship grew. Soon, I discovered that Tim is a serious Christian whose poignant reflections on faith and life set him apart from the pack. He was an usher in my wedding. One day, Tim told me that he...

The Prime Minister’s plans for gay marriage could leave churches facing legal action unless they agree to same-sex unions, it emerged today.Legal advice reportedly sent to David Cameron warns that church could be sued under human rights legislation if they refuse to allow the services to proceed. Exemption granted to the Church of England by the Coalition Bill to prevent it having to conduct gay marriages is “eminently challenge-able” in the European Court of Human Rights. It also warns that the Government's insistence that protections put in place for other religious groups who don't want to marry homosexuals could be...

Following Pope Benedict XVI's repeated messages denouncing same-sex marriage, more Dutch Catholics are seeking ways to leave the Catholic Church. And one website is helping people to "de-baptize" themselves. According to Reuters, the website ontdopen.nl ("de-baptize.nl") has gained significant traffic this month after the pope took the time in his Christmas speech to the Vatican bureaucracy to condemn gay marriage. "They deny their nature and decide that it is not something previously given to them, but that they make it for themselves," he said. "The manipulation of nature, which we deplore today where our environment is concerned, now becomes man's...

<p>More than 250 Illinois clergy — most of them in the Chicago area — have endorsed a gay marriage bill that could come up for a vote in Springfield before Jan. 9.</p> <p>On Sunday, rabbis and pastors from denominations that support gay rights in varying degrees unveiled a declaration supporting equality for same-sex couples. Fostering faith, justice and compassion is a key component of their jobs, they said.</p>

I don’t believe Timothy Kurek. He’s the alleged Christian, alleged heterosexual who told ABC News he spent a year “pretending” to be gay. Why did the 26-year-old Nashville man, a graduate of Liberty University (the so-called evangelical “West Point”) decide to go undercover? Because, he said, he wanted to “walk in the shoes” of a homosexual. So Kurek went all in. He “came out” as gay to all his family and friends. He got a job in a gay café. He hung out at a gay bar. He joined a gay softball league. He even got a gay bud of...

According to a recently released survey, support for same-sex marriage among Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) members and pastors has considerably increased since 2005. In research conducted by Presbyterian Research Services and published in October, the number of PC(USA) members and pastors supporting the denomination redefining marriage grew. In 2005, 23 percent of PC(USA) members supported same-sex marriage; in 2012, the number had increased to 34 percent. Among pastors, support for same-sex marriage in 2005 was at 35 percent; in 2012, it is at 49 percent. Jack Marcum, coordinator of Research Services at Presbyterian Mission Agency and author of the published findings,...

One year after the military began allowing gay, lesbian and bisexual service members to openly proclaim their sexuality, some conservative groups continue to call for an end to the change in policy. But their pleas are falling largely on deaf ears on Capitol Hill, where most lawmakers seem content to focus on other issues. The Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty (CARL), which represents more than 2,000 chaplains serving the armed forces, said it is cataloging examples of negative consequences that have resulted from the repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. After Congress voted in December 2010 for...

San Francisco’s New Archbishop Worries Gay Catholics By NORIMITSU ONISHI September 29, 2012 SAN FRANCISCO — At Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in the Castro, this city’s largest gay district, about 20 of the faithful gathered for 8 a.m. Mass recently, clustering in the middle pews. Led by a visiting priest from nearby Oakland, the parishioners joined in celebrating the 30th anniversary of a gay couple. St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco, where Bishop Salvatore Cordileone is to be installed as the new archbishop. His work against gay marriage worries some parishioners. Bishop Salvatore Cordileone is a rising conservative who...

Rev. Derrick Harkins is a hypocrite. He’s the pastor of Nineteenth Street Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., which the Washington Post describes as “theologically conservative.” And he serves on the board of the National Association of Evangelicals. But the Baptist preacher also is the National Director of Faith Outreach for the Democratic National Committee, which supports public policies that are an affront to the Almighty. Indeed, today Harkins presides over a meeting of the party’s so-called Faith Caucus at the Democratic convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. Its task is to devise a strategy to somehow persuade Christian voters that the...

Washington state regulators have warned a Roman Catholic bishop that his diocese risks running afoul of state campaign finance laws if he follows through with a planned fund-raising effort opposing same-sex marriage on the November ballot. State law prohibits organizations, including churches, from raising money from individuals to give to political campaigns, said Lori Anderson, a spokeswoman for the state's Public Disclosure Commission. "It's not because it's a church. It's because it's not a stand-alone individual," Anderson said on Thursday. The commission was calling into question a recent letter from Bishop Joseph Tyson to Yakima-area pastors urging them to distribute...

[LeBarbara of AFTAH organizes counter-protest to Wed. Aug 8 GAY LIBERATION NETWORK'S Chick-Fil-A Protest, Chicago] No pro-family group or business, including Chick-fil-A, could match GLN’s hate Americans For Truth will be standing up for the lone, embattled Chick-fil-A restaurant in downtown Chicago this afternoon at 4:30 — to counter the Gay Liberation Network (GLN) protest at the same restaurant (located at 30 E. Chicago Ave). As longtime AFTAH followers know, GLN is one of the most extreme and hateful organizations in the world. In fact, these hard-core Marxists are so radical that they REFUSED to condemn the pro-homosexual brick attack...

On the Saturday Washington Post “On Faith” page, columnist and Newsweek religion editor Lisa Miller insisted it was not a news story that black ministers came to the National Press Club and insisted Obama’s support for gay marriage “might cost him the election.” It’s not a story, Miller insisted, because Rev William Owens is “enough to make a cynic blush...He’s a figurehead in what political operatives call an ‘Astroturf’ campaign...and his threat is not a threat.” Miller complained about the news sites that somehow found this “nearly empty” press conference newsworthy: CNN, Fox News, NBC, the New York Post, the...

NASHUA, NH (CBS) – A Nashua Chick-Fil-A restaurant will be sponsoring New Hampshire Pride Fest. Ryan Manseau, the senior director of Pride Fest, told WBZ-TV he was handing out fliers at the Pheasant Lane Mall recently to promote his event and noticed a man who appeared to be a Chick-Fil-A manager holding one. . . Manseau said he approached the man, bracing for a verbal confrontation. He turned out to be the franchise operator, Anthony Piccola, who agreed to help sponsor the event and to serve Chick-Fil-A sandwiches there.

The recent General Convention of the Episcopal Church has prompted a broader discussion of the fate of liberal Christianity. No surprise—the Episcopal Church has been one of the most aggressively liberal influences in American Christianity in the past few years, pushing hard against the traditions of the broader Anglican Communion. In The New York Times, Ross Douthat goes so far as to ask, "Can Liberal Christianity Be Saved?" But that question necessarily prompts two others: What is Liberal Christianity, and Should it be saved? Liberal Christianity is dying on the vine. Mainline denominations are taking big hits across the board....

The future of a “Catholic” group which ministers to gay and lesbian Catholics is unclear because its board members are reportedly refusing to sign an “oath of personal integrity” to Catholic teaching given to them by the local bishop. This is especially concerning to Cardinal Newman Society readers as two of the board members are affiliated with a Catholic college. Sheila Nelson, Ph.D. and Fr. Bob Pierson, OSB serve as President and Treasurer of the Catholic Association for Lesbian and Gay Ministry respectively. Both are also affiliated with The College of Saint Benedict/Saint John’s University in Minnesota. Nelson teaches in...

Coalition Calls on Black Christians to Withhold Support Until President Grants Meeting The Coalition of African American Pastors demanded on Monday that President Obama meet with the group to address his stance on same-sex marriage. So far, the White House has refused to acknowledge the group's request but leaders say they plan to "turn up the heat" by asking black Christians to sit on the sidelines for the time being. "We have requested a meeting with President Obama and until he meets with us, we are going to ask black Christians to withhold their support until he personally hears our...

(On June 23) Cleveland celebrated Pride Weekend. This event is held each June in celebration of the Stonewall Riots of 1969 which is often revered as the beginning of the LGBTQ civil rights movement. Amongst the celebration and awareness-raising was an unfortunate event which speaks directly to why such events are still necessary and full equality has not yet arrived. The AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland was abandoned by their float driver the morning of the parade when he learned he was participating in the Cleveland Pride Parade, forcing the organization to scramble on the day of a large-scale public...

What the hell are children that young doing at an event promoting disgusting forms of lethal disease-spreading depravity? Receiving indoctrination, of course. Original caption: "Alaina Guidice reads ‘Monday’s with Maxim’ to children during the 14th annual VCS Gay Pride Rockland celebration in Nyack June 10, 2012. The event featured speakers, music, dance, and games for children. ‘Monday’s with Maxim’ is part of ‘The Jessica Books,’ a series of seven books about the adventures of a young girl with two mothers." No doubt they are exposed to similar brainwashing on a regular basis in their moonbat-run public schools. Psychotherapists can look...

Every year he has been in office President Obama has made it a point to cozy up to America’s tiny homosexual activist minority by officially recognizing June as “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month.” This year, of course, was no exception. Having just come out officially in favor of legalizing same-sex “marriage,” the President followed up on June 1 by issuing this year’s proclamation setting aside the entire month to commemorate the valuable contributions that gays, lesbians, transvestites, and an odds-and-ends assortment of sexually- and gender-confused individuals have made to American society. “The lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)...

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK, June 7, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) –  The nation of Denmark has voted to force churches in the established Evangelical Lutheran Church to perform same-sex “marriage” ceremonies inside their sanctuaries, although one-third of all the denomination’s priests say they will not participate in such rituals. Danish parliament voted by an overwhelming 85-24 margin to compel churches to carry out unions for same-sex couples that are identical to heterosexual marriage celebrations. The law takes effect June 15. Since 1997, homosexuals have been able to get “married” in a blessing ceremony after the normal church service. Under the new law, priests may...

After making his "historic" remarks on same-sex unions last week, President Barack Obama led a conference call with black church pastors to explain his support for gay marriage, the New York Times reported that the call was held with "eight or so African-American ministers. "They were wrestling with their ability to get over his theological position," the Rev. Delman Coates, a Maryland pastor who was on the call, told the NY Times. The title of the article was "Obama calls pastors to explain gay marriage support; black churches ‘conflicted’ "Conflicted"? There really is no reason to be conflicted. They either...

Source link. Click at your own risk. You spoke too soon, Rand Paul. It sounds like the President's views on marriage just got even gayer. Somewhat buried in CNN's story on Barack Obama's fundraiser in New York is this little tidbit about his administration's plans for marriage equality— He also outlined goals he hopes to accomplish under a second term, including the repeal of the Defense Of Marriage Act, which the administration has already stopped defending. This is the first time Obama has said that he wil actively work to repeal the law. At the fundraiser, hosted by openly gay...

A proposed resolution to commend the Boy Scouts of America on its 102nd anniversary died today in an Assembly committee because the measure did not urge the group to accept gays and lesbians. Instead, the Assembly Judiciary Committee passed a separate resolution that applauded the Boy Scouts but said its policy against accepting homosexuals is harmful and discriminatory -- and should be reconsidered. The measure that passed, crafted by committee Chairman Mike Feuer, D-Los Angeles, encouraged the group to "accept for membership and leadership positions all qualified boys and men, without discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or religious...

AMPA, FLORIDA, May 7, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – Members of the nation’s largest mainline Protestant church voted to maintain the doctrine that homosexual actions were “incompatible with Christian teaching” on Thursday. The United Methodist Church voted down two proposals to water down its stance on homosexuality on Thursday. One proposal called homosexuals “people of sacred worth” and acknowledged differing viewpoints on the issue, while another said humans did not know enough about human sexuality to prefer one lifestyle over another.

WINSTON-SALEM - Billy Graham on Wednesday released a statement on the proposed marriage amendment in North Carolina. The 93-year-old Graham has a full-page advertisement scheduled to run in 14 state newspapers.

HUTCHINSON, KANSAS, April 24, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – A proposed ordinance in one of the nation’s most conservative states would force churches to rent their property out for same-sex “weddings” and receptions. It would also force any public venue to allow people to use showers, restrooms, and locker-rooms based on their “gender identity,” rather than their “sex at birth.” The city council of Hutchinson, Kansas, is considering enacting a new statute adding sexual orientation and sexual identity to the city’s non-discrimination policy in all public accommodations. The measure would specifically include churches that rent their property to the public. “If a...

A kiss got two men ejected from Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum’s visit to a Christian high school in Arlington Heights on Friday. Video footage from the campaign rally shows Santorum, a vocal opponent of gay marriage, interrupted by shouting from the audience as he addresses the crowd at Christian Liberty Academy in Arlington Heights. The video then shows the two men kissing before a security guard approaches. The crowd chants, “USA. USA. USA,” as the two men are escorted from the packed gymnasium. Media outlets have identified the two men as Timothy Tross, of Lombard and Benjamin Clifford, of...

Does high school musical sitcom "Glee" go out of its way to be hostile to Christianity? Some may think so, given the matter-of-fact treatment in so many episodes of teen drinking, drug use, sex, pregnancy, and its acceptance of same-gendered relationships. As a progressive Christian and fan of the show, even I wonder at times if they are pushing the envelope a bit too far. I've often commented that I'm not sure younger teens should be watching the show. It is, after all, an exaggerated, satirical look at how adults view adolescence. I'd be a little worried if some middle-schooler...

Pastor Nancy Petty, the lesbian spiritual leader at Pullen Memorial Baptist church in Raleigh, N.C., has a message for her state: Legalize same-sex marriage — or else. Until gay unions are legislatively permitted, Petty plans to no longer sign marriage licenses — an action that will potentially have a profound impact on her congregation. In addressing same-sex marriage, Petty said the following to her congregation: “Do we, Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, want to continue to participate in offering religious ceremonies that carry with them civil and human rights that are not afforded to all people? Or will it be our...

NEW YORK, July 8, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - American Christians may one day find themselves facing legal penalties simply for believing marriage can only exist between a man and a woman, a fate already suffered by believers in other countries, said the leader of America’s most influential Catholic pulpit this week. Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York reflected on his blog Thursday on the recent legalization of gay “marriage” in New York, and what repercussions true marriage supporters can expect in the future. He called it “haunting� that the marriage bill became law on the day Catholics celebrate the feast of...

(Reuters) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates bluntly told Marines on Sunday that they won't be able to opt out of their enlistment just because they disagree with a government decision to end a ban on gays serving openly in the military. Gates, who is on a tour of Afghanistan to bid farewell to the troops before stepping down at the end of the month, was quizzed by a Marine sergeant about the controversial policy during a question and answer session at a base in southwestern Helmand Province.

Washington D.C., May 12, 2011 / 12:39 am (CNA).- The Presbyterian Church USA has voted to remove clergy requirements of marital fidelity or single chastity, thus allowing the ordination of ministers and lay leaders who are openly homosexual or living in unmarried relationships.“This is a lonely day for Presbyterians who believe what the Bible and the Church have consistently taught: that God’s will is that we be faithful in marriage or chaste in singleness. Now we belong to a denomination that is no longer sure it believes that teaching,” said Allan Wisdom, a director of Presbyterian Action at the...

If a Marine spots two men in his battalion kissing off-duty at a shopping mall, he should react as if he were seeing a man and woman. If he turns on the television news to see a fellow Marine dressed as a civilian and marching in a parade with a banner that reads, "Support Gays and Lesbians in the Military!" he should accept it as a free right of expression. Prescriptions for those possible scenarios are being played out at Marine bases as the military prepares to allow gays to openly serve, ending a 17-year-old policy commonly known as "don't...

Budweiser’s new ad seems to be the latest in controversial commercials. The company’s promotion features a soldier returning home to his… boyfriend? “Hey man, it’s me. I’m coming home,” the soldier anxiously reports to his phone pal. While the young soldier prepares for his return home, his friends and family prepare a surprise celebration, complete with Budweiser beer, obviously. When the soldier arrives, he immediately embraces his telephone pal. He then hugs a young woman before greeting his parents. LINK TO YOUTUBE OF AD So who is the man awaiting the soldier’s homecoming? Is it the soldier’s significant other? Is...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people would be added to the lengthy list of social and ethnic groups that public schools must include in social studies lessons under a landmark bill passed Thursday by the California Senate. If the bill is adopted by the state Assembly and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, California would become the first state to require the teaching of gay history. Supporters say the move is needed to counter anti-gay stereotypes and beliefs that make children in those groups vulnerable to bullying and suicide. Opponents counter that such instruction would further burden an...