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TULSA, Oklahoma - A federal judge has ruled against Tulsa Police Captain Paul Fields and his law suit against the City of Tulsa. He had sued the city after being disciplined for refusing to attend or order his officers to attend a law enforcement appreciation day event at a mosque. Fields said following that order violated his religious rights. The judge said Fields did not have to attend, but had the option to send others, so his religious rights were not violated. The judge added, even if Fields had been ordered to go, he did not have to partake of...

A multidisciplinary project seeks to understand the Eastern Baltic Crusades through the lens of ecology. Horses, for example, aided the Christians in battle, while the castles the Crusaders built decimated forests. Stanford researchers have discovered that pagan villages plundered by medieval knights during the little-known Baltic Crusades had some problems in common with the modern-day global village. Among them: deforestation, asymmetric warfare and species extinction. According to a research paper published in Science, a project investigating the Baltic Crusades' profound environmental legacy could yield valuable insight into colonialism, cultural changes and ecological exploitation – relevant issues not only throughout history,...

Today's Census figures show that 176,632 people in England and Wales identify themselves as Jedi Knights, making it the most popular faith in the "Other Religions" category on the Census and the seventh most popular faith overall. The new figures reveal that the lightsabre-wielding disciples are only behind Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Judaism and Buddhism in the popularity stakes, excluding non-religious people and people who did not answer. Following a nationwide campaign, Jedi made it onto the 2001 census, with 390,127 people identifying themselves a decade ago as followers of the fictional Star Wars creed. Although the number of Jedis...

Last week, a cadet publicly quit the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, citing forced prayer and churchgoing. Republican strategist Shirley Husar, in a debate on HuffPost Live, asserted that West Point is “a religious institute.” Merry Christmas, Shirley, but West Point is not a religious institute—though that’s not for want of trying on the Christian right’s part. The cadet in question is 24-year-old Blake Page, who described being “severely punished” for not going to church while in basic training. “You scrubbed floors for four hours or went on rock flipping detail so the rocks could get an even tan...

Democratic state Senate President John Cullerton on Sunday continued his push for legislation that would give a special driver's license to illegal immigrants. Cullerton told congregants at a packed Spanish-language service at St. Pius V Church in Pilsen that though the bill sailed through the Senate, he would need their help to get it through the House. "The reason why we need to pass this legislation is not just so that illegal immigrants can drive, but also so that everyone will be safe," said Cullerton, whose talk was translated into Spanish. "I hope you can continue to encourage your legislators...

In the final debate before General Convention approved a provisional church liturgy to bless the lifelong relationships of same-gender couples, Episcopal Diocese of Chicago Deputy Ian Hallas, 22, spoke about his sister, Louisa, and her civil union. “The love that she shares with her partner is unconditional and speaks to the ideal relationships all of us should strive to have,” he told the House of Deputies on July 10 in Indianapolis. “I often get asked by churchgoers and nonchurchgoers why I am a part of this body. The reason I return is for my sister. I seek to assure that...

...as we close the book on the election, it bears noting that another less obvious bloc of key swing state voters helped the president win a second term. They're the "nones" — that's the Pew Research Center's shorthand for the growing number of American voters who don't have a specific religious affiliation. Some are agnostic, some atheist, but more than half define themselves as either "religious" or "spiritual but not religious," Pew found in a recent survey. They are typically younger, more socially liberal than their forebears, vote Democratic, and now make up nearly 20 percent of the country's population....

The connection between mother and child is ever deeper than thought Scientists Discover Children’s Cells Living in Mothers’ Brains The connection between mother and child is ever deeper than thought By Robert Martone | Tuesday, December 4, 2012 | 37 A living connection Image: ock / Анастасия Попова ADVERTISEMENT The link between a mother and child is profound, and new research suggests a physical connection even deeper than anyone thought. The profound psychological and physical bonds shared by the mother and her child begin during gestation when the mother is everything for the developing fetus, supplying warmth and sustenance, while...

The Big Atheist Lie As we drift further and further into 'the abyss of the immoral‘… hostilities against Christmas have reached a new level of absurd intolerance. Now ‘cartoon characters’ Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus and the gang are named in the latest version of what has become known as “The Annual Atheist Yuletide Lawsuit.” It’s no longer even news that Christmas Trees are being banned at Senior Citizen homes….again.  And you can always count on atheists to go into a public meltdown over Nativity Scenes because they are offended.  Well, I’m offended by them. Contrary to popular belief, this is NOT...

Exclusive: Joel Richardson sees prophets declaring 'utter devastation' on PA territories On Nov. 29, 2012, 138 nations passed U.N. Resolution 67/19 on “The Question of Palestine.” The resolution expresses support for the right of “the Palestinian people … to their independent State of Palestine.” In light of this deeply profound and historical event, and in light of the overwhelming and global bias against the nation of Israel, it is essential that all students of the Bible stop to consider what the Bible says about the future of both the nation of Israel and “Palestine.” When one surveys the many biblical...

The truth is a hard thing to hear and even a more bitter pill to swallow. But until we face the truth, we are doomed to sink lower into the abyss as a society. The truth is that a godless nation is a nation doomed to fall. We as a nation have slowly accepted and pompously come to believe that wisdom begins and stems from us. Secularism is the view that all things religious should be excluded from daily public living, specifically pertaining to political and social concerns. Thanks to secularism, the mindset today is that God and religious opinion...

Turkey fines 'blasphemous' Simpsons for poking fun at God • God offers coffee to the devil in one of the cartoon's episodes (ANSAmed) - ANKARA - Just about everything that could be said and written about the super-popular cartoon 'The Simpsons' had been, except that it was blasphemous. Now even that ''milestone'' has been reached, thanks to the watchdogs of Turkey's television stations under the Islamic-leaning government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. According to the newspaper Hurriyet, Ankara's Council of Radio and Television (RTUK) has handed down a TRY 52,951 fine (about 23,000 euros) to the private broadcaster CNBC-E...

FBI will not prosecute bombing of government building bombing with IED as terrorism due to "political sensitivities" This is as bad as the actual bombing. Afraid of violating the sharia and offending the feelings of jihadists, the FBI will not be prosecuting the bombing of a government building with an IED as terror due to "political sensitivities." It just gets worse and worse. Muslim bombs government office in Arizona Iraqi refugee arrested for bombing Arizona Social Security office with IED PJ Media, Patrick Poole via Free Republic UPDATED (8:25p EDT): I just spoke again with my contact in the FBI...

Sadly today the sons of Israel are OBLIVIOUS to the promises made to Abraham and the world by Almighty G-d about the very One who would come in his line, his SEED (single)? G-d's promise to the whole world is found in Abraham , "In your SEED shall ALL nations be blessed" (Gen. 18:18, 22:18, 26:4, 28:14, Gal. 3:6-14)! That SEED is referring to the Lamb of G-d that TAKES AWAY the transgressions of the ENTIRE world (Isa. 9:6-7, 53, Dan. 9:26, Micah 5:2, Gal. 3:6-14). The Messiah of Israel IS Almighty G-d the Son (Ps. 110:1, Prov. 30:4, Isa....

Following the Seal Judgments of the Lamb of God come Almighty God's "Trumpet Judgments" upon the earth’s inhabitants, its vegetation, its water (fresh and salt) and the celestial lights in the first and second heavens (Rev. 8:1-13). As we shall see, the first four of the seven Trumpet Judgments shall strike the earth and its inhabitants with unparalleled EXPONENTIAL global cataclysmic destruction. Let us take a look! The First Trumpet Judgment destroys 1/3 of all trees and grass upon the face of the earth with fire! (Rev.8:7). That comes to roughly 133 billion trees. 7% of all land mass is...

The final draft of a constitution approved on November 29 by Egypt's 100-member constituent assembly protects some rights but undermines others, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). The constitution, approved in the midst of a political standoff between the president and the judiciary, provides for basic protections against arbitrary detention and torture and for some economic rights but fails to end military trials of civilians or to protect freedom of expression and religion, the New York-based human rights watchdog said in a new release on Friday. The constitution drafting process has been extremely contentious, and a number of assembly members...

Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ: Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance. The Sin and Doom of Godless Men Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They...

The new standard for teaching science in public schools should prohibit teaching religious beliefs like evolution as if they were the equivalent of scientific theories. Science should be defined as using experimentation and observation to discover information about physical reality. Explanations of what happened in the ancient past cannot be verified using experimentation and observation. ----------advertisement----------- Contrary to a popular myth pushed by those who want to make science a substitute for religion, science has yet to produce a new explanation for the development of life or the origin of the universe. The idea that the universe came out of...

There have been several supposedly “scientific” studies published this year that either disparaged people of faith or insidiously mocked religion. That includes a study, published in the journal Science, which asserted that people who believe in God are not analytical thinkers. There also was a study, published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, which claimed that “highly religious” folk are less compassionate toward the needy than atheists. Now comes yet another study, published this week in the Journal of Sex Research, which claims that adult film actresses are actually more religious than women who don’t get paid to...

On the morning after Thanksgiving, I was driving over to Frederick, Maryland with one of my nephews. On the car radio, he was listening to a talk radio program from WMAL in Washington. The host of the program was a man who described himself as a conservative Jew. He was talking of the increasing religious persecution within the United States. Several times throughout the program he pointed out that it was the Catholics who are more and more being singled out and discriminated against. The First Amendment on religious freedom seems almost a dead letter when it comes to...