Browsing Category:
Constitution, Coronavirus, Faith/The Divine, SCOTUS
-
SCOTUS Ruling in CA Case Allows Restricted Indoor Religious Services To Resume
by Tammy on February 6, 2021This is a partial victory, but it is a victory over idiotic, control-obsessed politicians. Americans must continue to use the legal system to put an end to these unconstitutional measures or the establishment will never stop. Via Fox News. The U.S. Supreme Court in a split decision Friday night ruled that houses of worship in California may hold indoor services at 25% capacity, giving a partial win to groups fighting the state’s coronavirus restrictions, according to reports. The high court issued the orders in two cases where plaintiffs had sued over restrictions meant to slow the spread of the virus. The state will be permitted to restrict singing and chanting during services, the court said. Justices Neil Gorsuch and Clarence...
-
Merry Christmas Everyone!
by Tammy on December 25, 2020Merry Christmas to everyone! Sending my prayers up for all to have a beautiful Christmas as we are reminded through our faith that while we have a job to do here, we are not alone as we work to become better people and to help as many as we can. Yes, 2020 has been difficult, but it’s not the fault of the year per se. Very specific things have happened as a result of the actions of human beings requiring all of us to call upon our better selves, to remain focused, and to remember that something larger than all of us, beyond humanity, is in charge. Today highlights the comfort of that very fact. Thank you for being part...
-
Christians Celebrating Easter Tackle Woman Waving a Gun in Church
by Tammy on April 22, 2019It’s horrible this happened, but thank goodness the congregation took care of business. This woman obviously needs help, maybe now she’ll get it. Via Reuters. Church-goers tackled a woman who held a 10-month-old baby, waved a gun and threatened to blow up the building at an Easter Sunday service in San Diego, leading to her arrest, police said. The baby and the 31-year-old woman’s 5-year-old daughter were taken into protective custody, police said. The handgun was not loaded, and a search conducted by a bomb-sniffing dog found no explosives, police said. “The female suspect will be booked into jail on the appropriate criminal charges which will include making criminal threats and displaying a handgun in a threatening manner,” San Diego...
-
Happy Easter Everyone!
by Tammy on April 21, 2019 -
On The Meaning Of Prayer In Difficult Times
by Shifra on March 15, 2019After the horrific New Zealand mosque massacres, Tammy retweeted this exchange: That's not how it works. Prayer isn't about uttering magic words in hopes of being kept "safe." It is a subversive and energetic practice/disclipline by which we make ourselves conduits for goodness and grace to move within a world we already KNOW is broken and "unsafe". https://t.co/0AAtJ6NlEB — Elizabeth Scalia (@TheAnchoress) March 15, 2019 While Elizabeth Scalia (@TheAnchoress) is a devout Catholic, the Jewish perspective on the importance of prayer parallels that of Scalia’s sentiment: Via Aish.com. Why do we pray? Doesn’t God already know what’s good for us? Doesn’t He already know what we need? Are we somehow trying to “convince” God of the justness of our cause?...
-
Happy Easter!
by Tammy on April 1, 2018Our political success so far highlights how the message of Easter is always important and never changes: Love is what matters, and working together makes all things are possible. We work hard so we can enjoy life, while knowing we are making the future a better place for those who come after us. It is the Easter message: All of us are important, but what we do for the future is most important of all. Here are some links for this 2018 Easter: In pictures: Christians celebrate Easter around the world Monday: President Trump and the First Lady Are Hosting the 2018 White House Easter Egg Roll. Watch It Live ‘End the carnage’: Pope delivers powerful Easter message to warring...
-
U.S. Navy Rejects Atheist’s Chaplain Application
by Shifra on March 21, 2018The Navy was considering his application, but it was stopped by pushback from lawmakers. Waiting for another lawsuit from this applicant…in 3-2-1… Via Washington Examiner. Sen. Roger Wicker said Wednesday that the Navy has finally denied the application of a man who sought to become a “secular humanist” chaplain for the service. The application of Jason Heap, who was backed by the Humanist Society, was first rejected by the Navy in 2014, but a Navy chaplain advisory board recently recommended approving it. Leadership has done the right thing,” said Wicker, R-Miss., who chairs the Senate Armed Services seapower subcommittee. “The appointment of an atheist to an undeniably religious position is fundamentally incompatible with atheism’s secularism. This decision preserves the distinct...
-
Man Saved By 9-Year-Old Boy After Car Falls On Top Of Him
by Shifra on March 13, 2018A man was working on his car when it slid off the blocks holding it, pinning him underneath for over an hour. Fearing death, due to severe difficulty breathing, he prayed that God should “send him an angel” to help. Nine year old Malachi heard his screams, and saved him. And the meaning of “Malachi” (a prophet in the Bible) in Hebrew: Messenger of God. Could there be a more *perfect* name for this amazing kid? Via Weasel Zippers. A 9-year-old Sumter boy is being called a hero after coming to the aid of his neighbor in his most dire time of need. Allen Clemmons was working on his Mustang convertible in his backyard on Saturday afternoon. As he attempted...
-
DC Archdiocese Sues Metropolitan Transit Authority for Rejecting Christmas Ad
by Shifra on November 28, 2017Ok, Libs, I’ll say this v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y, so maybe this time you might understand: The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” means that the U.S. government cannot establish a state religion, as was in England at the time of the American Revolutionary War. Via Washington Examiner. The Archdiocese of Washington filed a federal lawsuit against Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s advertising guidelines after the WMATA rejected its proposed ad. WMATA’s legal counsel cited company guidelines while rejecting the ad, saying it “depicts a religious scene and thus seeks to promote religion.” The WMATA policy states, “Advertisements that promote or oppose any religion, religious practice,...
-
Happy 60th Birthday to “In God We Trust” on U.S. Paper Currency
by Shifra on October 1, 2017Despite all the lawsuits, these words endure. Via CBS News. ….October 1st, 1957, 60 years ago today … the day a familiar phrase gained currency. For that was the day the words “In God We Trust” first appeared on America’s paper money. First stamped on a two-cent coin during the Civil War, and on ALL U.S. coins starting in 1938, the phrase owes its debut on our bills to the Cold War. Representative Charles Bennett of Florida had campaigned hard for the words, seeing them as a bulwark against what he called “materialistic Communism.” Occasionally challenged on separation of church and state grounds, these official invocations of God have been upheld by the United States Supreme Court….
-
The Ninth of Av: Jewish Day of Mourning and Remembrance
by Shifra on August 1, 2017One day, when I was in the fifth grade, my teacher walked into class, holding a large book. Flipping through the pages, he said he wanted to show us a picture. “It’s called the Arch of Titus,” he told us. “It’s in Rome.” As the book was passed from student to student, my teacher asked us to look closely at the top of the Arch. He explained that the Arch was built to celebrate the destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of Emperor Titus.in 70 A.D. Carved onto the top of the Arch, Jews being taken into captivity are depicted. And the conquering Romans mocked the captured Jews by calling out: “Hierosolyma est perdita” (“Jerusalem is lost”). Then he asked...
-
Video: CNN Anchor *Shocked* by Image of Pastors Praying with POTUS
by Shifra on July 13, 2017Poor Erin. I do hope she soon recovers from the “horror” of seeing religious leaders pray with the President of the United States. Just wondering, though, was she shocked when Barack Hussein Obama declared that the United States is “not a Judeo-Christian nation” ? Via NewsBusters. ….Religion in politics is seemingly so far removed from the media’s idea of normalcy that a picture of the President praying left one CNN anchor struggling to find words, Wednesday…. Teasing the next report, Burnett began: “Something we don’t see everyday here. The image of Donald Trump praying in the Oval Office and…all of those…hands, on him,” she struggled to find words to describe what was happening in the picture. During another tease of...
-
Swedish Christian Preschoolers Banned From Saying ‘Amen,’ Talking About Bible
by Shifra on June 27, 2017The children are, however, allowed to give thanks to the sun and rain at mealtime, instead of saying grace. Just wondering: Would the Municipality have any objection if the kids gave thanks to…Allah? Via Breitbart. Children at a Christian preschool in Sweden are no longer allowed to say grace at mealtimes, “Amen”, or talk about the Bible, after a ruling by the Umeå municipality…. The municipality said it felt that children at the Salvation Army-run kindergarten were not given enough of an opportunity to opt out of saying grace at mealtimes. “The Education Act can be interpreted in different ways,” said the preschool’s manager Britt Marie Mårtensson. She told STV she did not think grace at kindergarten would come under...
-
Background: President Trump Slips Prayer Note into Western Wall in Jerusalem
by Shifra on May 23, 2017President Trump is the first sitting POTUS to visit the Western Wall in Jerusalem. The Western Wall (also called “The Kotel,” which is “wall” in Hebrew) is a section of one of four original retaining walls King Herod built in the first century B.C. to support the Temple Mount. It is also the only remaining portion of the Second Jewish Temple, which stood in Jerusalem until the Romans destroyed it in 70 A.D. as they put down a Jewish revolt. It is a very old tradition to put personal prayers in the crevices of the stones. (The notes are removed by a crew once a year, before Passover, and are buried in nearby Mt. of Olives. ) When Candidate Barack...
-
Happy Easter Everyone!
by Tammy on April 16, 20172017 Note: The following message is from Easter 2016. I’m posting it again as a reminder of how unsure things were in on this day last year, and how we did prevail working through everything with focus and discipline. Our political success last year highlights how the message of Easter is always important and never changes: Love is what matters, and working together all things are possible. We work hard so we can enjoy life, while knowing we are making the future a better place for those who come after us. It is the Easter message: All of us are important, but what we do for the future is most important of all. Here are some links for this 2017...