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WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP) - As a Catholic, Vince Haley often went to Mass at the College of William and Mary's historic Wren Chapel when he was an undergraduate in the 1980s. Also a Catholic, school President Gene R. Nichol often goes to the 120-seat chapel alone at night to think in the quiet. Both agree the chapel is a sacred space meaningful to students, alumni, faculty and staff of the public school who use it for religious services and secular events. They clash, though, over what to do with an unadorned, 18-inch brass cross that had been displayed on the...

Wednesday, August 11, 2004 NPR: Human Plant Life Is Sacred Here's a fitting juxtaposition of two stories NPR has run (so far) this week on "Morning Edition". The first, which ran on Monday, about "stem cell research", trumpeted science the technology industry's latest triumph: feeding embryonic stem cells with human placenta cells (instead of the industry standard of mouse skin cells). From such grisly irony new lines of stem cells have been produced, but, alas, these new lines will never receive federal funding (until Kerry is elected) because Bush decided on his own that killing human beings for personal...

There is a new Paganism taking root around the world and it manifests itself as environmentalism or more explicitly, Pantheism, a doctrine identifying the Deity with the universe and its phenomena, Fundamentalist Environmentalism, if you will. Pantheism is a metaphysical and religious position, it is the view that "God is everything and everything is God, the world is either identical with God or in some way a self-expression of his nature” Similarly, it is the view that everything that exists constitutes a "unity" and this all-inclusive unity is in some sense divine. Anthropologists have observed in cultures the world over...

VATICAN CITY, MARCH 11, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Indifference or hostility to religion is a well-established phenomenon in many Western countries. Recent events such as the Mohammed cartoon controversy point to the serious consequences that follow when secular society is unable to appreciate religious sensibilities, giving rise to needless offense. In this context a document made available a short while ago on the Vatican's Web site merits a closer look. "The Christian Faith at the Dawn of the New Millennium and the Challenge of Unbelief and Religious Indifference" contains the conclusions of the March 2004 plenary assembly of the Pontifical Council for...

Wicca, the pagan temptation for youth increases followers By ALAN BRANCH Baptist Press Published September 8, 2005 I recently had the opportunity to meet with several youth ministers from Southern Baptist churches here in Missouri. Each impressed me as having a deep commitment to biblical authority and personal passion for Jesus Christ. As we discussed the challenges facing current youth ministers, a concern all shared was the fact that many youth, including youth in evangelical churches, are dabbling in Wicca. So, what is Wicca? The word “wicca” was an old English word which meant “shaman.” The word was reintroduced into...

Battle lines have been drawn in the Fallbrook parish of Saint Peter. A group of more than fifty families are accusing Saint Peter's pastor Father Edward "Bud" Kaicher and retired associate Father Bernard Rapp of misleading the parish. One incident in particular has prompted cries of, "Enough is enough!" from parishioners — Fathers Bud and Bernie's sudden dismissal of Father Ian Taylor, a charismatic missionary priest from Trinidad who has been serving in the parish while on a year's sabbatical. Father Ian is a diocesan priest from the twin-island republic of Trinidad and Tobago who was ordained in 1988. In...

Priests get lesson in exorcism Lack of qualified clergy prompts Vatican class ROME – The Roman Catholic Church is facing a shortage that you might not have heard about: qualified exorcists. Thursday, about 100 priests rose in prayer, asked St. Mary for protection, then sat down to an eight-week study of exorcism and how to distinguish and fight true demonic possession. The course at Rome’s Regina Apostolorum, a prestigious pontifical university, represents the first time a Vatican-sanctioned study at this level has been dedicated to exorcism. In Italy, the number of official exorcists has soared in the past 20 years...

Tucson's Center for Biological Diversity must pay rancher and banker Jim Chilton $600,000 because the environmental group defamed him with a press release and photos posted on its Web site, a jury decided Friday. In a 9-1 verdict, jurors in Pima County Superior Court awarded Chilton $100,000 for the harm done to his reputation and Arivaca cattle company. The jury tacked on an additional $500,000 in punitive damages meant to punish the center and deter others from committing libel. Chilton, whose wife, Sue, is chairwoman of the Arizona Game and Fish Commission, sued the center over material that alleged he...

Radical environmental group says Auburn, Lincoln attacks a prelude to further sabotage Auburn Police Department Detective Sgt. Chris Reams snaps photographs of one of five firebombs found at an Auburn construction site last week. Photo by Ben Furtado/Auburn Journal In a letter received at the Auburn Journal on Tuesday, the Earth Liberation Front claimed responsibility for five firebombs planted in a newly constructed Auburn building last week and a similar bomb planting in Lincoln discovered Dec. 27. The letter said it was sent to the Journal from the Earth Liberation Front, an eco-terrorist group claiming to be non-violent. Officials are...

Washington (CNSNews.com) - An MIT meteorologist Wednesday dismissed alarmist fears about human induced global warming as nothing more than 'religious beliefs.' "Do you believe in global warming? That is a religious question. So is the second part: Are you a skeptic or a believer?" said Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Richard Lindzen, in a speech to about 100 people at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. "Essentially if whatever you are told is alleged to be supported by 'all scientists,' you don't have to understand [the issue] anymore. You simply go back to treating it as a matter of...

From Sunday, July 18 to Friday, July 23, 2004, the 89th International New Thought Alliance (INTA) Congress will be held at Sheraton Premiere Tysons Corner, Vienna, VA. This year's theme is "The Power of One: Coming Together as Love." INTA Congress programs on prosperity, healing and interfaith will include individuals from all New Thought movements coming together for dialogue, support and growth. Highlights include spiritual leaders Mary Tumpkin, Walter Starcke, and best-selling author Iyanla VanZant among many others, along with outstanding local and national musicians and an interfaith service. Highlights include an Interfaith Service on Sunday July 18th and a...

Returning to Earth Worship, Part 1 By Dr. Michael S. Coffman Ph. D. NewsWithViews.com September 29, 2003 Though few Christians are aware of it, the cry to "save the earth," "be sustainable" and "live in harmony with nature" is rooted in the ancient pantheistic religions that dominated the Egyptian, Babylonian, Grecian and Roman Empires. Former Vice President Gore even promotes them in his book Earth in the Balance, "...the prevailing ideology of belief in prehistoric Europe and much of the world was based on the worship of a single earth goddess, who was assumed to be the fount of all...

Hello, First time posting to this forum. I been checking this forum for a while now and all posts seem to deal only with xtianity, judaism (rarely), and islam (occasionally). I realize that those are the majority religions in the U.S.A. but there's got to be other non-monotheists who visit this forum. Any pantheists out there? Amoung pantheists I'm an oddity (I've found only one other libertarian minded pantheist, but he's still way left of where I'm at). Just so it's clear where I'm coming from, on the 'World's Smallest Political Test' I score 100 on Economic Liberty and 85...

<p>BEING pro-environment, kind of like being pro-family, is a good way to score political points. Who can possibly be against environmental protection? Everyone wants to breathe clean air and drink clean water, and few of us would like to see every acre of wilderness paved over to make way for shopping malls and condominiums. The Republicans are perpetually vulnerable to charges of being antienvironment when they propose, for instance, to open a part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil and gas drilling. But is some environmentalism a radical ideology or even a form of religious fundamentalism in moderate clothing? This is a charge made by writer and journalist Robert Bidinotto on his new website with the provocative title ecoNOT.com and the equally provocative slogan "Individualism -- not environmentalism." Explains Bidinotto, "Most people think of themselves as `environmentalists.' But by that term, they mean something far different -- and far more innocent -- than do the most prominent philosophers, founders, and leaders of the modern environmentalist movement." What those environmentalists want, he asserts, is not just an environment beneficial to humans but an environment untouched by humans, whose activity is seen as destructive to "wildness." He quotes an eyebrow-raising comment from John Muir, co-founder of the Sierra Club: "I have precious little sympathy for the selfish propriety of civilized man, and if a war of races should occur between the wild beasts and Lord Man, I would be tempted to sympathize with the bears." Some modern environmentalists have gone even further, calling humanity a "cancer" on the earth.</p>

Answering the Big Questions of Life Sue Bohlin Sue Bohlin is an associate speaker with Probe Ministries. She attended the University of Illinois, and has been a Bible teacher and conference speaker for over 25 years. She serves as a Mentoring Mom for MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers), and on the board of Living Hope Ministries, a Christ-centered outreach to those wanting to leave homosexuality. She is also a professional calligrapher and the webservant for Probe Ministries; but most importantly, she is the wife of Dr. Ray Bohlin and the mother of their two college-age sons. One of the most important...

The New World Religionby William F. JasperPresented to the world as a mystical revelation, the UN Earth Charter is actually a diabolical blueprint for global government. My hope is that this charter will be a kind of Ten Commandments, a "Sermon on the Mount," that provides a guide for human behavior toward the environment in the next century and beyond.— Mikhail Gorbachev Millions of Americans were justifiably shocked and outraged over the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ notorious ruling on the Pledge of Allegiance. "Can our courts really have sunk this low?" people asked. "How can little Johnny and...

FOREWORD The present study is concerned with the complex phenomenon of “New Age” which is influencing many aspects of contemporary culture. The study is a provisional report. It is the fruit of the common reflection of the Working Group on New Religious Movements, composed of staff members of different dicasteries of the Holy See: the Pontifical Councils for Culture and for Interreligious Dialogue (which are the principal redactors for this project), the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. These reflections are offered primarily to those engaged in pastoral work so that they...

SANDPOINT, Idaho - Parents of a Sandpoint Charter School student are bringing a lawsuit against the school and the Lake Pend Oreille School District for promoting pantheism and violating state and federal law. Jeff and Gail Bradley say their son was forced to read the book "Mutant Message Down Under," which they claim promotes the worship of multiple gods. The Bradleys also claim teachers discriminated against their child and encouraged him to challenge their views. The school district denies any responsibility or control over the charter school. The Bradleys and the school refused to comment.

Angie answered I do, excitedly. And after the two kissed, and no one voicing an objection, pictures were taken and they departed the ceremony. She flashed a beautifully designed wedding ring and Pierre a matching collar. Angie had hired all of the escorts and paid all of the wedding expenses herself. She had long waited this special day on which she would marry her loving and faithful companion Pierre. Pierre is a five year old French Poodle. Disgustingly bizarre and ridiculous you say! "This will never happen" you exclaim! WELL NOT SO FAST. Less than fifty years ago men marrying...

Unless Congress regains a modicum of sanity, the United States of America is about to rejoin an organization dedicated to the destruction of the last vestiges of Judeo-Christian civilization. For reasons inexplicable to most sensible Americans, in September 2002, an otherwise sensible President George W. Bush told the United Nations that the U.S. will rejoin the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), a wild-eyed bunch President Reagan abandoned in 1984, noting that it was utterly corrupt and the U.S. had no business being a member of such a group. Most Americans are blissfully ignorant of the insidious nature...