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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,...