Check...

Via HotAir

After a long day of supposed “accommodation” and discussion, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops took a close look at the supposed adjustment of the HHS mandate yesterday. Their conclusion? It represents no change at all, and the bishops will press for a “legislative solution” to Barack Obama’s mandate:

These changes require careful moral analysis, and moreover, appear subject to some measure of change. But we note at the outset that the lack of clear protection for key stakeholders—for self-insured religious employers; for religious and secular for-profit employers; for secular non-profit employers; for religious insurers; and for individuals—is unacceptable and must be corrected. And in the case where the employee and insurer agree to add the objectionable coverage, that coverage is still provided as a part of the objecting employer’s plan, financed in the same way as the rest of the coverage offered by the objecting employer. This, too, raises serious moral concerns.

We just received information about this proposal for the first time this morning; we were not consulted in advance. Some information we have is in writing and some is oral. We will, of course, continue to press for the greatest conscience protection we can secure from the Executive Branch. But stepping away from the particulars, we note that today’s proposal continues to involve needless government intrusion in the internal governance of religious institutions, and to threaten government coercion of religious people and groups to violate their most deeply held convictions. In a nation dedicated to religious liberty as its first and founding principle, we should not be limited to negotiating within these parameters. The only complete solution to this religious liberty problem is for HHS to rescind the mandate of these objectionable services.

We will therefore continue—with no less vigor, no less sense of urgency—our efforts to correct this problem through the other two branches of government. For example, we renew our call on Congress to pass, and the Administration to sign, the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act. And we renew our call to the Catholic faithful, and to all our fellow Americans, to join together in this effort to protect religious liberty and freedom of conscience for all.

The bishops note that the Obama administration never even bothered to contact them to discover what their true objections are, and what would satisfy them. The White House simply presumed to know church business better than the bishops and offered an “accommodation” that is anything but. In fact, that sounds a lot like the process that produced this mandate in the first place.

Lamestream Media.....ZERO

The Obama administration is waging war on Christianity. Somehow, the networks haven’t seen this as newsworthy.

On January 20, Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services announced its perverse attempt to force Catholic schools, hospitals, and other charitable agencies to finance sterilization, abortifacients and contraceptives in their insurance plans starting in 2013. Speaking for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Timothy Dolan roared like a lion in a press statement: “In effect, the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences.” He asserted "To force American citizens to choose between violating their consciences and forgoing their healthcare is literally unconscionable."

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Freedom To Choose. Or Not....

Via Rush Limbaugh

....Back on January 20th Kathleen Sebelius announced that the Department of Health and Human Services had ruled in August that all government-funded service providers provide free contraceptive services, including morning after pills and surgical sterilizations. When this thing first hit as part of Obamacare it barely caused a ripple outside the Catholic church. Now, in the same announcement back on January 20th she said she was gonna give the churches until August of 2013 to get right with the law, which is after the election. So what's happened here is that an uproar has taken place in a clear bid to please the base, and it's actually more than just pleasing the base. This whole decision by Obama as part of health care is who he is. The government telling everybody, including churches and church education institutions, schools, what they can and can't do. It is hideous, but it's right there in front of everybody's face for them to now see. Every day it seems, every week there are more and more examples of the totalitarian nature of this administration and what its true desires are.

RUSH: Way back in February of 2009, at the height of the health care reform bill, Obama leaked the idea of rolling back the so-called conscience clause that the Bush administration had put in place. That was a regulation "allowing health-care workers to refuse to provide services based on moral objections..." In other words, a health care worker could not be forced to perform an abortion. A health care worker, with the conscience clause, could not be forced to pass out the morning-after abortion pill, the RU-486. "The Provider Refusal Rule was proposed by the Bush White House in August and enacted on January 20, the day President Barack Obama took office."

But Obama backed down on that so as to get Obamacare through. Now he's going after it again. "A couple of weeks ago Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary Health and Human Services, announced that all health care providers that get money from the federal government must," would have to, "provide conception and other birth control treatments, such as the morning-after pill, free." It wasn't just that they had to provide it. They had to pay for it as well! It didn't matter what their moral objections. It didn't matter the conscience clause. It didn't matter what they wanted to do or not based on a religious belief. None of that mattered; the state was supreme. The state would triumph here....

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...And God Created The Heavens And The Earth

Ocean Sky from Alex Cherney on Vimeo.

The Blaze

From God's Lips...

In April 2008, two weeks before Trig was born with Down's Syndrome, Mrs Palin sent the email to her friends and family from her official government account.

In the touching message, Mrs Palin writes from the voice of God, as 'Trig's creator, your heavenly father'.

To the Sisters, Brother, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and Friends of Trig Paxson Van Palin (or whatever you end up naming him!):

I am blessing you with this surprise baby because I only want the best for you. I’ve
heard your prayers that this baby will be happy and healthy, and I’ve answered them because I only want the best for you!

I heard your heart when you hinted that another boy would fit best in the Palin family, to round it out and complete that starting five line-up. Though another girl would be so nice, you didn’t think you could ask for what you REALLY wanted, but I knew, so I gave you a boy because I only want the best for you!

Then, I put the idea in your hearts that his name should be “Trig”, because it’s so fitting, with two Norse meanings: “True” and “Brave Victory”. You also have a Bristol Bay relative with that name, so I knew it would be best for you!

Then, I let Trig’s mom have an exceptionally comfortable pregnancy so she could enjoy every minute of it, and I even seemed to rush it along so she could wait until near the end to surprise you with the news – that way Piper wouldn’t have so long to wait and count down so many days – just like Christmastime when you have to wait, impatiently, for that special day to finally open your gift? (Or the way the Palins look forward to birthday celebrations that go on for three, four days… you all really like cake .) I know you, I knew you’d be better off with just a short time to wait!

Then, finally, I let Trig’s mom and dad find out before he was born that this little boy will truly be a GIFT. They were told in early tests that Trig may provide more challenges, and more joy, than what they ever may have imagined or ever asked for. At first the news seemed unreal and sad and confusing . But I gave Trig’ s mom and dad lots of time to think about it because they needed lots of time to understand that everything will be OK, in fact, everything will be great, because I only want the best for you!

I’ve given Trig’s mom and dad peace and joy as they wait to meet their new son. I gave
them a happy anticipation because they asked me for that. I’ll give all of you the same happy anticipation and strength to deal with Trig’s challenges, but I won’t impose on you…

I just need to know you want to receive my offer to be with all of you and help you everyday to make Trig’s life a great one.

This new person in your life can help everyone put things in perspective and bind us together and get everyone focused on what really matters . The baby will expand your world and let you see and feel things you haven’t experienced yet. He’ll show you what “true, brave victory” really means as those who love him will think less about self and focus less on what the world tells you is “normal” or “perfect”. You will grow and be blessed with greater understanding that will be born along with Trig.

Trig will be his dad’s little buddy and he’ll wear Carhartts while he learns to tinker in the garage. He’ll love to be read to, he’ll want to play goalie, and he’ll steal his mom’s heart just like Track, Bristol, Willow and Piper did. And Trig will be the cuddly, innocent, mischievous, dependent little brother that his siblings have been waiting for in fact Trig will – in some diagnostic ways – always be a mischievous, dependent little brother, because I created him a bit different than a lot of babies born into this world today.

Every child is created special, with awesome purpose and amazing potential. Children are the most precious and promising ingredient in this mixed up world you live in down there on earth. Trig is no different, except he has one extra chromosome. Doctors call it “Down’s Syndrome”, and Downs kids have challenges, but can bring you much delight and more love than you can ever imagine! Just wait and see, let me prove this, because I only want the best for you!

Some of the rest of the world may not want him, but take comfort in that because the world will not compete for him. Take care of him and he will always be yours!

Trig’s mom and dad don’t want people to focus on the baby’s extra chromosome. They’re human, so they haven’t known how to explain this to people who are so caring and are interested in this new little Alaskan. Sarah and Todd want people to share in the joy of this gift I’m giving to the Palin family, and the greater Alaska family. Many people won’t understand… and I understand that. Some will think Trig should not be allowed to be born because they fear a Downs child won’t be considered “perfect” in your world. (But tell me, what do you earthlings consider “perfect” or even “normal” anyway? Have you peeked down any grocery store isle, or school hallway, or into your office lunchroom lately? Or considered the odd celebrities you celebrate as “perfect” on t.v.? Have you noticed I make `em all shapes and sizes? Believe me ,, there is no “perfect”!)

Many people will express sympathy, but you don’t want or need that, because Trig will be a joy. You will have to trust me on this.

I know it will take time to grasp this and come to accept that I only want the best for
you, and I only give my best. Remember though: “My ways are not your ways, my thoughts are not your thoughts… for as the heavens are higher than the earth, my ways are higher than yours!

I wrote that all down for you in the Good Book ! Look it up! You claim that you believe me – now it’s time to live out that belief!

Please look to me as this new challenge and chapter of life unfolds in front of you. I promise to equip you. I won’t give you anything you can’t handle. I am answering your prayers. Trig can’t wait to meet you. I’m giving you ONLY THE BEST!

Love,

Trig’s Creator , Your Heavenly Father

If anyone can understand the true meaning of unconditional love, you may find a parent with a child who may be disabled. The depth of love that is unconditional, is when you tell your child how much you love them but she is unable to say it back to you because she can't speak. So you look into her eyes and you take it for granted that she loves you as much as you do her. A love that is unconditional is when you love your child who at 23 years old, remains at the level of a one year old. And with all that said...there is such joy to be found in a child with disabilities. They truly are a Gift. There are lessons to be learned from our children. "The greatest of these is Love."

H/T to The Rightscoop

Sympathy For The Devil

A belief that heaven or an afterlife awaits us is a "fairy story" for people afraid of death, Stephen Hawking has said.

..."I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark," he added.

Bible Scholar Claims Half of New Testatment is "Forged"

Via The Blaze

Did you know:

*At least 11 of the 27 New Testament books are forgeries.
*The New Testament books attributed to Jesus’ disciples could not have been written by them because they were illiterate.
*Many of the New Testament’s forgeries were manufactured by early Christian leaders trying to settle theological feuds.

Those are the claims coming from one biblical scholar in a new book, “Forged.” The author is Bart D. Ehrman, a Wheaton College graduate and current professor at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.

Confucius say: Man with head up ass, can't see for shit.

Moral Relativism

According to the man ABC News relies on for religious analysis, it's impossible to say whether Osama bin Laden was "evil." Father Edward Beck, the network's religion correspondent, appeared with Bill O'Reilly on Tuesday and offered moral equivalence on the subject of the terrorist's death.

When the O'Reilly Factor anchor pressed Beck on whether bin Laden truly represented malevolence, Beck replied, "That's not for me to judge. His actions were certainly were evil."

...O'REILLY: Not for you to judge?

BECK: His actions certainly were evil and they caused a lot of harm and disruption.

O'REILLY: So you can't as a human being make a determination on good and evil? You cannot do that?

BECK: No, I think that's up God to ultimately decide who's evil.

O'REILLY: See? I can and I'm -- I'll probably be punished for it by the deity but --

BECK: I see a man's actions. I don't know a man's heart ever, totally.

O'REILLY: Well, I think I know bin Laden's heart.

BECK: I can say the actions were wrong and despicable and needed to be punished.

Yeah, what-evah.
God gave man the freedom to choose. We choose to go on the side of good, or we choose to go on the side of evil. It's really quite simple. Bin Laden chose evil.

8 Year Old Kevin Denied First Communion Because of Cerebral Palsy

It was a religious milestone Irma Castro spent months preparing her grandson Kevin for, but when it came time for his first communion, he was denied.

"It hurts and I think it's a form of discrimination," Castro said.

Castro was told by Pastor, Father Phil Henning, with the Sacred Heart Catholic Church of Floresville, that because Kevin had cerebral palsy and has the mental capacity of a 6-month-old, he didn't qualify to receive his first communion.

~click for video~

WTF. It's because of these kind of people that causes me to be remain skeptical of organized religion. This little boy probably has more Angels of God surrounding him than this Catholic church could ever understand.
What an embarrassment.
H/T to The Blaze

In A Nutshell...

A day of Faith, Hope and God. Restoring Honor Rally...

~click~

It's about the content of Character. Not the color of your skin.

h/t to Rightscoop

"He Is Not And Never Has Been A Muslim"

Americans think Obama is Islamic for a reason.

...But in a February 2008 interview with the New York Times, Mr. Obama said the Adhan, the Muslim call to prayer, is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset." He then recited it, "with a first-class [Arabic] accent." The opening of the Adhan contains the Shahada, the Muslim profession of faith, proclaiming, "There is no god but God and Muhammad is the prophet of God." Stating this before two Muslims is the traditional requirement for joining the Islamic faith.

There's more...
H/T to SondraK

Obama's Ramadan Message

Have to love LAT choice of pics

I look forward to hosting an Iftar dinner celebrating Ramadan here at the White House later this week, and wish you a blessed month.

...Like last year, Mr. Obama himself will not hold any official (National Day of Prayer) prayer day observance at the White House.

H/T to Weasel Zippers

Intellectual Midget

‘They Have Been Cursed’: Pat Robertson Says Haiti ‘Swore a Pact to the Devil’

Oral Roberts Dies At Age 91

This just in: "Dr. Oral Roberts, a legendary evangelist who rose from humble beginnings to become one of the most influential Christian leaders of the 20th century, died today in Newport Beach, Calif., due to complications from pneumonia," according to a press release sent out today. "His son, Richard, and daughter, Roberta, were at his side. The founder of Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association and Oral Roberts University was 91."

"“Oral Roberts was the greatest man of God I’ve ever known,” Richard Roberts said. “A modern-day apostle of the healing ministry, an author, educator, evangelist, prophet, and innovator, he was the only man of his generation to build a worldwide ministry, an accredited university, and a medical school.

Sunday Gospel Jam

Who woulda thunk it, they got soul..

Stairway to Heaven - or Not

This may be a good time to bring something up that had always puzzled me about death and hell. Up until recently that is.

Most traditional Christians believe that to enter into the Kingdom of God, one must acknowledge Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. And one has to accept Him in their lifetime. Otherwise they will burn in hellfire for all eternity. Although, according to Charles Blow's op-ed, most American's today believe everyone will go to heaven just by "being a good person." Even atheists could go to heaven — dragged there kicking and screaming, no doubt — and most thought that people with no religious faith also could go.

One very plausible explanation is that Americans just want good things to come to good people, regardless of their faith. As Alan Segal, a professor of religion at Barnard College told me: “We are a multicultural society, and people expect this American life to continue the same way in heaven.” He explained that in our society, we meet so many good people of different faiths that it’s hard for us to imagine God letting them go to hell. In fact, in the most recent survey, Pew asked people what they thought determined whether a person would achieve eternal life.

It does make sense to me that God would take into consideration people who are good. But with the belief that everyone will go to heaven without any pre-conditions....sounds to me like it would be just another planet Earth all over again. With everyone believing what they believe is confusion and chaos....hence, Earth. It may be a good idea. But I don't know that, that would work in God's Kingdom.

Also, many Christians apparently view their didactic text as flexible. According to Pew’s August survey, only 39 percent of Christians believe that the Bible is the literal word of God, and 18 percent think that it’s just a book written by men and not the word of God at all. In fact, on the question in the Pew survey about what it would take to achieve eternal life, only 1 percent of Christians said living life in accordance with the Bible.

Whether anyone believes the Bible is the Word of God or not, it is a book of instructions to live by, in an ethical, upstanding and incorruptible life. It doesn't give specifics to the end time. But the prophetic words in Revelations does describe the destruction of what we can expect. And it may be coming to pass in our lifetime now.

No one yet, has given me a logical answer about Hell. What is the meaning of hell? Is it a place where one will be in torment in hellfire for all eternity as most Christians believe? What kind of person will be going to this place of agonizing suffering? Do we really have to acknowledge Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior before we die? But how is it that God would be so merciless to allow good and honest, hard working people who have never known the first thing about Christ, to suffer in torment in hellfire for all eternity...to no fault of their own.

Or could it simply be the Greek definition of hell (Hades) meaning, the grave, the pit, world of the dead. Englishmen spoke of putting their potatoes in hell, a dark, cold, hole in the ground. How does that relate to torment? So if we're to believe we'll burn in hellfire in torment forever, I wonder why it is that God said the penalty of taking from the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is death (cessation of life) - not burning in eternity in hellfire and brimstone. Or what about, the wages of sin is...death.

I just find it puzzling that a merciful God would allow a person whom he considers His children...be tormented in fire for eternity. And his only wrongdoing is that he had no knowledge of Jesus Christ. I understand how important it is to accept Christ as our Savior. I have. But my grandfather was a Buddhist priest. He was a good and honest man, devoted to his religion. Some say that they may accept Christ in their last breath. But what if he hadn't? There's too many unanswered questions for me. I understand there are questions that can't be answered. Some things are not for us to know. But there are also questions that should have common sense answers. Hell and death shouldn't be a hard question to answer.

Traditional Christianity, I do believe, say that if we don't acknowledge Christ as our Savior in our lifetime, we will go to hell. And in hell we will burn in torment forever for all eternity. It's the Dante scare. I don't want to live in fear that my ancestors are in that place, to no fault of their own. Only because they didn't know any better. And the fact that they lived an honest and good life makes no difference at the point of their death.

I've gone back and forth several times with my Christian friends on doctrine from the Bible regarding death and hell. And in the end...we remain certain of what we believe, however different. And so...the confusion exists on our planet, worldwide. So to say everyone will go to Heaven...with no conditions, no instruction....That ain't gonna work.

A Mother's Miracle Marine

This is an amazing story of a Mother's faith and hope which lies in the Miracle of God and Prayer.

In June 2005, 19-year-old Marine Lance Corporal, John McClellan, was deployed to Kunar Province, Afghanistan. In October 2005, while on duty as a machine gunner, Lcpl McClellan earned his first two of three purple hearts when he was shot twice in the same arm -- in the same week!

The injuries he sustained were viewed as miraculously minor. The first, an enemy AK-47 bullet, ricocheted off the humvee turret on which he was the gunner. The bullet fragment embedded in his right wrist.

Within three days, Lcpl McClellan was back in the turret. Three days later, he was shot a second time. Again, an enemy AK-47 bullet penetrated the upper portion of his right arm. This time the bullet entered the front and exited out the back. But it didn't hit and it didn't hurt -- anything!

Within two weeks, he was again back in the turret!

On September 11, 2006, McClellan was deployed to Haditha, Iraq. Fifteen days later on September 26 while on patrol, he was shot in the head by an enemy sniper. The phone call received by his parents at midnight that night was every parent's worst nightmare. Immediately after receiving the devastating news from the hospital in Balad, Iraq, John's mother, Connie McClellan, sent an e-mail to her e-mail address book leading and asking for prayer. Her only child had been shot in the head and according to the doctor in Balad, "If he survives the brain swelling, he will never be the same and will probably be a vegetable."

That e-mail was the first of more than 150 e-mails that Connie McClellan sent to her prayer network during the 15 months following John's head injury. The journal created by the daily e-mails is a fascinating account of the 24 miracles that God performed on John, now referred to as "My Miracle Marine" by his parents, family, friends and community.

(Please see Photo Album page for complete pictorial account of John's miraculous recovery along with television newscasts which followed his progress.)

Photo Album w/ videos

True Hope

.

Divine Guidance...

Our daily lives can sometimes seem unbearable whether we're dealing with a kind of disability or not. Sometimes its almost impossible to pick yourself up from what seems to be a bottomless pit. Nick Vujicic is truly an inspiration. The phenomenal strength that he carries can only be found in a very deep faith in God.

I never thought to thank God, who gave my husband and I the peace of mind for our Hummingbird who has mutiple disabilities.

watch video

Divine guidance........I like that.

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

Ben Stein's, "Expelled" will open April 18, nationwide in theatres.
I may just have to fork out $10 bucks to see this in a theatre. It may be well worth it.

watch video

With our society being so void and empty of any faith today, perhaps this film can make a bit of a difference. If not that, at least an eye-opener.
We can only hope.

"Expelled" calls attention to the plight of highly credentialed scholars who have been forced out of prestigious academic positions because they proposed Intelligent Design as a possible alternative to Charles Darwin's 150-year-old theories about the origins of life.

Instead of entertaining a debate on the merits of competing theories, the scientific establishment has moved to suppress the ID movement in a "systematic and ruthless" way at odds with America's founding principles, the film asserts.

Read more...

Muslims more numerous than Catholics

Maybe there's something to be said about the movie Fitna.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Islam has overtaken Roman Catholicism as the biggest single religious denomination in the world, the Vatican said on Sunday.

Monsignor Vittorio Formenti, who compiled the Vatican's newly-released 2008 yearbook of statistics, said Muslims made up 19.2 percent of the world's population and Catholics 17.4 percent.

"For the first time in history we are no longer at the top: the Muslims have overtaken us," Formenti told Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano in an interview, saying the data referred to 2006.

Read more....