Atheist Group Targets Marine Memorial to Fallen Comrades
by Dave Bohon - The New American
An atheist group has targeted a memorial erected by U.S. Marines in honor of comrades killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan. The memorial, consisting of two 13-foot crosses, was placed by seven Marines in a remote part of California's Camp Pendleton in 2003 to honor their fallen comrades.
But after a news story about the memorial went public in a human-interest story, a group calling itself the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers (MAAF) contacted Pendleton officials and demanded that the memorial be dismantled because of the religious symbols involved. "These Christian crosses need to go to a private Christian instillation [sic] and we need to stick to things that honor everyone equally and maintain neutrality towards government," declared MAAF president Jason Torpy.
Staff Sergeant Justin Rettenberger, who was part of the team that erected the replacement crosses, told the Los Angeles Times that they did it as a gesture to their fallen comrades, and not as a religious statement.
"The Constitution does not prohibit honoring fallen troops through the use of a historic symbol merely because that symbol also carries religious significance," Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice explained. "In fact, the Constitution forbids excluding religion from every aspect of public life - precisely the goal of the MAAF and other atheist groups."
Unwed Teacher Fired From Texas Christian School for Pregnancy
Dave Bohon - The New American
An unmarried female teacher who was fired from her position at a Christian school in Texas after she became pregnant said she intends to sue the school for violating her employment rights. Cathy Samford, who worked as a science teacher and volleyball coach at Heritage Christian Academy in Rockwall, Texas, was let go for violating the school's morality code, which requires staff members to abide by biblical principles in their lifestyle - including abstaining from sex outside of marriage.
Samford told ABC News that she and her fiancée were in a stable long-term relationship and planned to get married. But the school's headmaster, Dr. Ron Taylor, said Samford's contract included the understanding that teachers are considered Christian ministers and must be good biblical role models for the students at the school. Taylor noted that while a public school could not fire a teacher for a similar infraction, because his school is a private, religious institution where teachers are expected to model their Christian faith, Heritage Christian Academy (HCA) is immune under the ministerial exception rule.
Secularism with the Gloves Off:
Vanderbilt University's Assault on Religious Organizations
Albert Mohler
Like most of America's historic private universities, Vanderbilt University was founded by Christian believers for the purpose of inculcating Christian beliefs in its students. Within a remarkably short period of years, Vanderbilt had forfeited its conservative Methodist roots in order to identify with the emerging secular consensus in American higher education.
In more recent months, Vanderbilt's administration decided to push secularism to the extreme - launching a virtual vendetta against religious organizations on campus. Officials of the university informed religious groups that had been recognized student organizations that they would have to comply with an absolute non-discrimination policy. This means that religious organizations (primarily Christian) must now allow any Vanderbilt student to be a candidate for a leadership office, regardless of religious beliefs or sexual orientation.
The issue is not really tolerance. If so, the university would have to deal with the most intolerant and exclusivist organizations on campus -the recognized fraternities and sororities. What we see at Vanderbilt University is secularism with its gloves off. In the name of tolerance, it will not tolerate orthodox Christian conviction. Look carefully at Vanderbilt's intolerance. Be assured that it is coming soon to a campus near you.
Pakistani Persecution Update
Alex Newman - The New American
Asia Bibi is a mother of five children and a devout Christian. She is also on death row - for "blasphemy." And incredibly, she lives under a government that receives billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars every year: Pakistan, one of the top recipients of American foreign aid. Over the last 10 years, the Pakistani regime has raked in well over $20 billion from U.S. taxpayers.
Meanwhile, the government has been brutally persecuting and oppressing the sizeable Christian minority. Indeed, the Pakistani regime consistently ranks as among the worst in the world in terms of persecution. And according to senior U.S. officials, Pakistan's "intelligence" services have even been collaborating with terrorist groups to attack American targets.
Bibi was not the only victim. As her case attracted international attention, Salmaan Taseer, the Governor of Punjab, spoke out in defense of Bibi and against Pakistan's brutal blasphemy laws. He paid for his activism with his life. Two months after the assassination, Pakistani Minister of Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti - the only Christian Minister in the regime - was also murdered. His killers left leaflets at the crime scene indicating that they assassinated him for opposing the blasphemy law.
Just this March, another mother, 26 years old, was reportedly taken into custody on "blasphemy" charges. More than a few Christians have been executed by vigilantes after being charged.
