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The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. A California man was feared dead after he was swept out to sea during a beach baptism on Sunday, officials said. Benito Flores, 43, was helping his cousin — Pastor Maurigro Cervantes — perform the religious ceremony on a man at Guadalupe beach when a hellacious wave toppled the trio, KCOY-TV reported. “A big wave came and took Benito,” Cervantes, of Jesus Christ Light of the Sky, told the news station. “I tried to take him out. He was heavy and then another big wave came.” The current pulled Flores away from...

It may not quite approach the stature of building an ark to withstand an epochal flood, but the box office success of Noah this weekend — which opened with an estimated gross of $44 million — is still something of a remarkable feat. No other overtly Bible-themed feature film has opened anywhere close to that amount since 2004’s The Passion of the Christ, doubly remarkable considering that director Darren Aronofsky’s $125 million adaptation of the Old Testament story faced serious opposition from Christian groups that objected to perceived liberties the film takes with the biblical text. The film pulled in...

The pre-release advertising promoting the movie Noah made a point of stating that while the director took artistic license in the production it was still faithful to the biblical story. Early theater previews were carefully edited to appeal to people of faith, but this is the least biblical “biblical film” of all time! However, to be charitable, the bare outline of the Flood story is present, but after that artistic license has taken the film so far afield of anything resembling the Bible that it is offensive to people of faith. To say that the biblical story was watered down...

British writer Robert Miller's expose´of religion's founder L. Rob Hubbard finds US publisherA British book the Church of Scientology managed to block in America is finally on sale in the US 27 years after it was published elsewhere in the world. The book, Bare-Faced Messiah: The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard, written by Russell Miller, a British journalist, and originally published in 1987, appeared in print and tablet editions in the US earlier this month. The book exposes many of the boasts of Mr Hubbard, the late founder of Scientology, about his early life and achievements as outright lies....

Noah has topped the box office, but the opening weekend is about marketing dollars. At a production budget of over $125 million and poor audience responses, Paramount had to put some serious money into promotion.Reportedly that may be something in the $50 – $75 million range on marketing to get people to see Noah. That’s short of its weekend box office total which is likely to be under $50 million.But while you can get audiences to show up for the opening weekend, you can’t make them like it.Cinemascore’s rating for Noah is a C. That’s the worst movie they have...

Noah. don't bother, painful experience. major beef with the movie is just the twisted plot. crazy long, the two kids sitting behind me long about 2 hours in totally lost it. i didn't blame them. drags on and on. basically a bunch of time up front in the movie doing what exactly? not sure, Noah and family wander around eating moss and stuff, they don't eat meat, thats evil. those that eat meat will be destroyed by the Creator. ok fine, accept that in the movie and move on, but its weird. the meat eater theme continues throughout. as does...

When atheist director and co-writer Darren Aronofsky promised that his epic "Noah" would be "the least biblical film ever made," that was not hyperbole. "Noah" is a brilliant, compelling, beautifully-mounted, beautifully-acted piece of storytelling conceived for the sinister purpose of leading people to believe that Christianity and Judaism are something they are not. And I ask you, could anything make Satan happier than something that leads people to believe they are saved when they are not? I have absolutely no problem with a filmmaker taking a biblical story and adding or subtracting from it as a way to craft a...

"The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against bishops. The priests who venerate me will be scorned and opposed by their confreres…churches and altars sacked..... There was a time, not long ago, when Catholicism was synonymous with clear, unequivocal teaching. Like her or hate her, people knew where the Church stood on every important issue. The Baltimore Catechism, the precepts of the Church, Denzinger’s Sources of Catholic Dogma, the Code of Canon Law, the various papal teachings that upheld truth and condemned error in...

(Excerpt) Hollywood director Darren Aronofsky promised to create the least biblical, biblical movie ever made. And based on the early reviews of his film -- Mr. Aronofsky made good on his promise. He left the word "God" completely out of his movie and turned Noah into a crazed environmentalist with anger management issues who wants to slaughter his family. I also had some issues with the rock creatures portrayed in the film. Forefathers of "The Thing," perhaps?

One of the big problems in America today is that a lot of people simply do not seem to care about what they are doing anymore. The level of sloth, laziness and apathy that we are witnessing in this country is absolutely mind-numbing. Of course this is not true of everyone. There are still many Americans that are extremely hard working. But overall, it really appears that people are not taking as much pride in their work as they once did. Some of the examples that I am about to show you are quite funny. Others are more than just...

Amazing clip from one of Robert Duvall's best performances.

Just this week Students for Life of America was on the University of Michigan campus with our “What Has Roe Done For Us?” display, educating and dialoging with students about how abortion exploits and harms women, only to find out that the university is apparently endorsing a different message to their students. The University is currently sponsoring a pro-abortion display,“4000 Years of Choice”, which declares “Abortion as a Blessing” and a “gift from God,” directly countering to the truth put forth in SFLA’s Roe display which tells the stories of women like Jennifer Morbelli, Karnamaya Mongar, Tonya Reaves, and Marla...

W. C. Harris is a radical gay activist and Professor of Queer Studies and Early American Literature. He says that homosexuals are still cruelly oppressed in America, even though some of them may end up with very comfortable jobs as university professors.... He is particularly angry with the Christian right for oppressing him.... So he would like to abolish Christianity altogether....and replace it with that he wittily calls “Gaytheism,” i.e., homosexual atheism. Unlike beastly old Christianity, this new religion will meet our spiritual needs with “new forms of community that do not harass and malign gay and lesbian Americans or...

U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that the First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA)—which Congress enacted to guide the Executive Branch and courts in defending that right—would not directly protect kosher or halal meat-processing corporations from a hypothetical federal rule that by generally banning certain meat-processing practices effectively banned kosher and halal meat processing by incorporated businesses. Verrilli told the court that the customers of a kosher or halal meat-processing company—not the company itself—would have cause to sue in such a situation. …

I don’t get all the claims of radical environmentalism in Noah. I saw it last night. I did not draw out of it the environmentalism. In the movie, Noah took the position that all mankind had corrupted the earth with sin and God intended to wipe them all out. Noah presumed God would wipe him and his family out too once all the animals were saved. Sure, Noah was a vegetarian and the bad guys are meat eaters who do to the earth what Saruman did, but I don’t really see the whacked out radical environmentalism. It’s more thematic of...

Whenever Hollywood makes a movie from a well-loved story or saga — Batman, Tolkien, "50 Shades of Grey" — there's usually a period of ... well ... let's call it adjustment, along with a "spirited" give-and-take among fans over such things as casting, content and approach. Usually, though, the material's devotees don't believe the filmmakers will burn in hell if their ideas are ignored. (OK ... maybe the Dark Knight crowd does. We all know they can get a little intense.) But that's precisely the belief with "Noah," Darren Aronofsky's $130-million retelling of the Old Testament account of apocalyptic deluge...

It is said by many, including Cardinal Wuerl, that Communion should not be used as a political weapon. Absolutely true. And the reception of Communion is being used as a political weapon—by pro-abortion politicians. As long as they are permitted to receive Communion, the bishop (e.g., Cardinal Wuerl) endorses their claim to be “ardent Catholics” whose promotion of abortion is NO SIN.

Good morning, AdLand. Here's what you need to know today: Sarah Silverman stars in a very funny (SO NOT) new ad for Orbit gum. Made by Energy BBDO, the ad shows Silverman pitching television execs while being interrupted by an anthropomorphic coffee cup bearing her lipstick. Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/sarah-silver-stars-in-new-orbit-ad-the-brief-2014-3#ixzz2xDYWPQGf

VATICAN CITY ― There were gaffes and there were laughs, but U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Rome clearly served its purpose, if the hope was to bask in the glow of the popular Pope Francis. The day began with a stiff handshake between Obama and the pope, but the mood quickly lightened when the president quipped, “His Holiness is probably the only person who has to undergo more protocol than me,” after observing the whimsically dressed Swiss Guards and row of tuxedoed papal attendants when he was on his way to the pontifical library. They shared a giggle when...

World Vision, in one of the most abrupt turnarounds in modern history, has done a complete about-face on its embrace of sodomy-based marriage. Less than 48 hours after saying the organization was just fine hiring couples who were in same-sex "marriages," the organization has repudiated that stance, acknowledging that the board "made a mistake," and admitting they had failed "to be consistent with World Vision U.S.'s commitment to the traditional understanding of Biblical marriage." Says its president and board chairman, "We...humbly ask your forgiveness."