NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–It’s not just the release of a fourth Harry Potter book that increasingly will force Christians to deal with the overarching occult themes in the series about a fictional teenager who attends a school for witchcraft and wizardry.
“I was eager to get to Hogwarts first because I like what they learned there and I want to be a witch.” Gioia Bishop, age 10.[1]
WASHINGTON (ABP) — In light of newly released statistics reporting a rise in hate crimes, leaders of the Interfaith Alliance have sent a letter to U.S. senators asking for passage of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
Guided by your rented driver, your Caddy glides through a new and elegant part of the city, doing its quiet big-tires flip-flop sound over the asphalt road-joints. Beyond the deep grass borders of the boulevard, a line of low white-columned buildings glisten in the street lights. Above, each has the neon sign of a goddess -“Venus”, “Ishtar”, “Kali”, with bright letters and a flashing, moving logo or figure to beckon customers. You see those customers come and go from their sedans. You haven’t been around for a year or two.
The re-released and slightly extended version of the movie “The Exorcist” should serve to remind Christians that the world has a hunger for things supernatural — although they’re looking in all the wrong places. However, while demon possession is a subject that attracts many non- Christians to the big screen, it is also an issue that seems to repel many believers, who prefer a more sanitized and psychologized version of their faith.
JACKSON, Miss. (BP)–Gov. Ronnie Musgrove signed a law March 23 mandating that public schools display “In God We Trust” in classrooms, cafeterias and auditoriums.
WASHINGTON (BP)–The U.S. House of Representatives adopted a resolution July 24 encouraging the display of “In God We Trust,” the national motto, in public buildings.
Indigenous ministries in India, helped by donations given through Christian Aid, are hard at work assisting the survivors of January’s deadly earthquake. The Indian government recently approved one ministry’s request to “adopt” a village.
While the Palestinian uprising has not been as intense over the holidays of Christmas, Hanukkah and the end of Ramadan, there were still plenty of violent incidents, even as renewed negotiations were being conducted.
If all those lopsided opinion polls are reliable, Israeli voters will install Ariel Sharon as their next prime minister on Tuesday, completing a most remarkable comeback for this native-born farmer whose long military and political record engenders considerable doses of both respect and scorn.
“. . . change will probably be radical, if not total. Those whose lives are dedicated to serving the Church of the past will resist these suggestions with a vehemence that always emerges from threatened hierarchies and dying institutions…. But the seeds of resurrection are present in the exile, and in time those seeds will sprout and bloom. When they do, we will once again be able to see continuity between the Church of the past and the purged and opened church of the future.â€
Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong,
Why Christianity Must Change or Die[1]
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–A national poll released by People for the American Way shows a majority of Americans believe creationism has a place in public schools along with Darwin’s theory of evolution — at least that’s how The New York Times, the Associated Press and other national media interpreted the data.
Midway through Mission Impossible 2 Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) injects a biometric chip into the foot of love interest Thandie Newton. The action is perceived as necessary and ultimately saves the damsel in distress. This is due to the “wonderful” Global Positioning Satellite technologies and the latest in Digital Angel transponder chips designed to “enhance and preserve” the human experience.
Wouldn’t life be grand if you didn’t have to worry about being robbed? What if you didn’t have to worry about losing your money? Or that there would be no more fraud which in turn would cause the things you buy to be cheaper? What about the drug trade, if it could be absolutely regulated with an absence of cash but at the same time be controlled?
(AgapePress) – The Democratic Party has been involved in a flap surrounding the fundraiser that was scheduled at the Playboy Mansion during the party’s national convention in Los Angeles this week. The fundraiser has since been moved to another location, but now a prominent newscaster is calling morality a “frightening” thing.
“The emergence of a civilization in which knowledge moves freely and almost instantaneously throughout the world… has spurred a renewed investigation of the wisdom distilled by all faiths. This panreligious perspective may prove especially important where our global civilization’s responsibility for the earth is concerned. Native American religions, for instance, offer a rich tapestry of ideas about our relationship to the earth.â€[1] Al Gore, Earth in the Balance
KAMPALA, UGANDA (November 1, 2000) — Former Canadian grid iron and nightclub singing star Peter Simon Turko, who is now a pastor in Kampala, Uganda, ministering to homeless children and those infected with the AIDS virus, has written an update from the mission field concerning the recent outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus now claiming lives in Africa.
BELLFLOWER, CA (ANS) — Josh McDowell, Franklin Graham, Dr. D. James Kennedy, as well as a number of other well-known Christian leaders, have put their names to a unique new Bible — one that has been designed to counterattack the unprecedented rise in godless skepticism in the contemporary secular world.
DALLAS (ABP) — Social-service programs that seek to evangelize their clients will not qualify for direct federal grants, the head of President Bush’s White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives told a gathering of conservative Christian leaders.
“A politics of community can be strengthened when we are not afraid to make the connections between spirituality and politics.”[2] Al Gore who also touted faith-based partnerships. Senator again urges expanded role for religion in social service programs
“Bush and his aides moved to downplay the religious component, emphasizing the proposal’s overall purpose: boosting communities and civil society.”[3] Bush Unveils ‘Faith-Based’ Initiative