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POPSThe Dietrich Bonhoeffer of Our Day The spiritual sickness that Paul confronted in the Corinthian church is running rampant in America today. "You have such admirable tolerance for impostors who rob your freedom, rip you off, steal you blind, put you down — even slap your face!” Listen, and listen good. DON'T BE LED AROUND BY "SERVANTS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS" DISGUISED AS “ANGELS OF LIGHT” WHO INTENTIONALLY DECEIVE YOU FOR THEIR OWN GAIN. ~ The Apostle Paul to the so called Christians at Corinth - 2 Cor 11:15-21 Proverbs 1 condemns the simple minded man who cannot investigate a matter to find the truth. Proverbs 2 praises the man who works hard at finding the truth to a matter. If you are one of the 8 out of 10 Americans who call themselves Christian, act like one or stop making the claim for yourself. Remember your Lord who stood before Pilate. He was asked, "Who are you?" Do you remember what He said? See John 18:37 1 John 2:6
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POPSNew And Not Improved! New York Times the death penalty and gun control. Mr. Obama endorsed the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the District of Columbia’s gun-control law. We knew he ascribed to the anti-gun-control groups’ misreading of the Constitution as implying an individual right to bear arms. But it was distressing to see him declare that the court provided a guide to “reasonable regulations enacted by local communities to keep their streets safe.” We were equally distressed by Mr. Obama’s criticism of the Supreme Court’s barring the death penalty for crimes that do not involve murder. Mr. Obama’s shifts are striking because he was the candidate who proposed to change the face of politics. We don’t want any “redefining” on these big questions. This country needs change it can believe in.
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POPSIt's Not Yours, It's God's "It's not yours, it's God's, and you're not going to get it," Copeland says of his financial records. He has launched a website to publicize his crusade and has received support from several leading conservatives, including Paul Weyrich and Kenneth Blackwell. Incredible! And tax free!
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POPSGathering of the Loonies And remember, you're promised a "dazzling array of world class speakers"!!! Such as Ken Ham, the creator of the Creationist Museum in Kentucky. I suggest anyone within a 100 mile radius of this event stock up on flashlights and candles as you witness the advent of the Dark Ages.
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POPSWill their be a doctrinal test for faith based programs? It has been my experience with some faith based community resource groups that the substance of their involvement is one of honest help to those in need as opposed a proselytizing and submission to the doctrinal overlay. This kind of "test free" model has worked in the past. I refer you to the history of "settlement houses".
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POPSObama - Faith Based Initiative I've never been comphortable with Bush running this program and I'm not happy to see Obama embrace it. Even if he runs it better than Bush it leaves the door wide open for the next conservative government to expand and distort the program.
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POPSHere We Go Again This somewhat disappointing position by Obama may be simple politics or it may be a sign of increasing involvement by religious organizations in government. Already we've seen the problems this can cause, mainly in the realm of churches to discriminate according to religion. If the rumors are true, churches will be able to discriminate in hiring if "certain conditions are met". I can't help but wonder if this is a ploy to garner the "evangelical" vote. Of course this still doesn't make McCain any more disirrable as a candidate.
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POPSThe church was hijacked by Christianist Cultist. My personal orientation in such matters is that the original teacher of what became Christianity would laugh derisively at expressions of Temple worship and personalization that pass for expressions of piety. My evangelical friends who had previously scoffed at my views have now come into congruency with my non-theistic beatitude oriented view.
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POPSPassion Fest 2008, Pottstown, PA (July 19) I'm seriously thinking about going to this. Out of curiousity, really. My understanding is that it has a heavily evangelical, proselytizing flavor, but that isn't really indicated by the website.
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POPSWhy Abstinance-Only? Studies show that Abstinance-Only sex ed works no better than nothing. So why the literal evangelical fervor for shoving it down our children's throats? To "save them from hell" - and of course, those who are NOT saved don't matter.
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POPSIsn't that Ironic?
Wow, how funny that a conservative Christian leader is chastising Obama saying he's distorting and mis-interpreting the bible. Isn't that what these conservative, radical Christian leaders do everyday? They treat some passages in the bible as law directly from god, and others as not being applicable in today's world. They also translate the original language of the bible differently to represent the views they want to present in the time. Translating some words to mean one thing, even though historically they may have meant something else. Again, it's fine if you want to believe your religious views - no problem with that. But when you start trying to use the law to enforce your rules on people who don't hold your same beliefs, that's where I have issues. I think Obama made a great point with his statements. And by the way for Mr Dobson - Jesus didn't discourage slavery in the New Testament, and actually referenced it several times. Or is that one of those passages you s
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POPSReligion in the US: Abortion and Evolutuion Pro-choice and pro-evolution persons hold a slim majority in the US, which probably is no surprise to keen observers of US culture. They have long known that pro-lifers aren't much for evolving as well.
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POPSReligious beliefs significantly tied to political participation In contrast, if one believes that God is more inactive, as is common with Jews and mainline Protestants, then one would need to take action and more likely be politically engaged. "Our results have wide-ranging implications for both the study of political participation and the field of religion," the authors conclude. "It is focused types of religious beliefs, more than broad religious traditions, which impact political participation."
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POPSDobson accuses Obama of 'distorting' Bible "Even if we did have only Christians in our midst, if we expelled every non-Christian from the United States of America, whose Christianity would we teach in the schools?" Obama said. "Would we go with James Dobson's or Al Sharpton's?" referring to the civil rights leader. Dobson took aim at examples Obama cited in asking which Biblical passages should guide public policy — chapters like Leviticus, which Obama said suggests slavery is OK and eating shellfish is an abomination, or Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, "a passage that is so radical that it's doubtful that our own Defense Department would survive its application."
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POPSFood for Thought One statistic that stood out to me was the strange 1 in 5 self professed atheists that claim to believe in God. Atheism is conventionally defined as holding no belief in a god or gods.
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POPSNirman It was the beginning in obedience to the lord’s call; it is christened and sacrificed to reach to the un-reached for Christ in this interior part of Orissa.
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POPSWorse Than Fascists: Christian Political Group 'The Family' Openly Reveres Hitler
Jeff Sharlet: It's an international network of evangelical activists in government, military and business. The Family is dedicated to this idea that Christianity has gotten it all wrong for two thousand years by focusing on the poor, the suffering and the weak. The Family says that instead, what Christians should do is minister to the up-and-out -- as opposed to the down-and-out -- to those that are already powerful. Because if they can win those people for Christ, they win the whole deal. That's what this network is dedicated to. It includes nonprofit organizations, it includes think tanks, it includes various ministries. The roster of current and former Family members includes senators, congressmen, Fortune 500 CEOs, generals and at least one Supreme Court justice. The Family does not publish membership lists, and its members are sworn to secrecy, so a full accounting is impossible. Sen. Hillary Clinton has been involved with the Family since 1993 when, as first lady, she join
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POPSEducation Levels and Religious Denomination
"But I don't believe that most high IQ individuals pay inordinate close attention to the Bible, nor do I believe that low IQ denominations are necessarily steeped in scripture study (there is a wide variance among "conservative" groups which adhere to Biblical literalism in regards to the emphasis they put on scripture reading and analysis, from a general neglect among Pentecostals to a marinade among some Calvinist churches). What I think is going on is simply what we might term the Wisdom of the Crowds; people conform to the social and religious group which they identify with. Biblical literalism flourishes because most people trust pastors and parents who preach it." "Mainline Protestant denominations and Roman Catholicism has relatively high educational standards for its clergy and theological professionals. At the other end of the spectrum many evangelical Protestant sects have no such requirement. The Assemblies of God is a good example of this phenomenon, in this sect higher