Presbyterians Week Headlines
[1] F.B.I. Estimates 200 of 2000 Mosques in U.S. Preach Jihad (Holy War) and Extremism
[2] Federal Judge Orders South Carolina Not to Issue Christian License Plate
[3] Maine Churches Threatened with Loss of Tax Exemption for Supporting 3 November 2009 Vote to Overturn Legislative Marriage Redefinition
[4] U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Review Denial of First Amendment Rights to High School Valedictorian
[5] Hungary’s Foreign Ministry Summonses Ukraine Ambassador after Ukraine’s Education Ministry Orders No Hungarian Language Textbooks for 10th Graders in 100 Ethnic Hungarian Schools in Western Ukraine
[6] Roman Pontiff Scheduled to Meet with Queen Elizabeth II in Scotland during September 2009 Visit
[7] National Library of Scotland Displays 1692 Order from Major Robert Duncanson to Robert Campbell to Kill McDonald Clan at Glencoe
[8] Church of Scotland Minister Faces Expulsion for Not Living in Manse
[9] 2009 Medical Studies Link Abortion Link Abortion and Breast Cancer
[10] PCUSA San Francisco Presbytery Approves Ordination of Openly Homosexual Minister
[11] Ten Percent of U.S. Protestant Churches Pastored by Women
[12] Christ's First Presbyterian Church of Hempstead, New York, Celebrates 365th Anniversary
[13] PCUSA Investment Committee Recommends Strong Denouncement of Caterpillar Corporation for Sales to Israel
[14] November 2009 byFaith Magazine Article “An Anniversary to Mourn: Assessing 40 Years of No-Fault Divorce” is Published
[1] F.B.I. Estimates 200 of 2000 Mosques in U.S. Preach Jihad (Holy War) and Extremism
Newsmax columnist Ronald Kessler reports in a 10 November 2009 article that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) estimates that 200 out of the 2000 Islamic mosques in the U.S. preach Jihad, or Holy War against non-Muslims, and Islamic extremism.
Referring to the Fort Hood Jihad massacre of fourteen persons (including one unborn child whose mother was killed) by U.S. Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, M.D., Kessler writes: “Given his association with a pro-al-Qaida imam in northern Virginia and his preoccupation with radical Islamic Web sites, it’s clear that the radical element of Islam influenced Hasan,” and then adds:
“…[T]hose who condemn Muslims in general because of the actions of Hasan and others like him are engaging in prejudice that has no place in America. Indeed, such stereotyping sets back the war on terror, because we need moderate Muslims on our side. The problem is not the Quran, which is no more incendiary than some passages in the Bible….The problem is the radical element that uses the Quran as an excuse to engage in terrorism and the failure of many moderate Muslims to condemn the extremists.”
Kessler’s assessment displays ignorance of both the Bible and of passages in the Quran such as:
Surah 8:60: “Prepare for them whatever force and cavalry ye are able of gathering to strike terror into the hearts of the enemies, of Allah, and your enemies;”
Surah 4:56: “Those who have disbelieved our signs, we shall roast them in fire. Whenever their skins are cooked to a turn, we shall substitute new skins for them that they may feel the punishment. Verily, Allah is sublime and wise;”
Surah 47:4: “Therefore, when ye meet the unbelievers, smite at their necks and when ye have caused a bloodbath among them, bind a bond firmly on them;”
Surah 4:89: “They but wish ye should reject faith, as they do and thus be on the same footing as they, so take not friends from their ranks until they flee in the way of Allah. But if they turn renegades, seize them and kill them wherever ye find them and take no friends or helpers from their ranks;” and,
Surah 8:39: “Fight them until there is no dissension and the religion is entirely Allah’s.”
+ Newsmax, Post Office Box 20989, West Palm Beach, Florida 33416, 561-686-1165, Fax: 561-686-3350
+ Federal Bureau of Investigation, J. Edgar Hoover Building, 935 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington DC 20535, 202-324-3000
+ Geert Wilders, Partig Vor De Vrigheid, Contact Form
+ University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, 213-740-2311, Contact Page
[2] Federal Judge Orders South Carolina Not to Issue Christian License Plate
Federal District Court for the District of South Carolina Judge Cameron Currie has ordered the state of South Carolina Not to issue a Christian-themed license plate featuring a cross with a stained glass window in the background with “I Believe” written across the top. Currie ruled that the plate violated the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, which the judge says enshrines the separation of church and state.
Currie additionally condemned South Carolina Lt. Governor Andre Bauer for helping to pass legislation creating the license plate, for defending implementation of the license plate in the lawsuit brought against South Carolina by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and thus “…embroil[ing] the state in unnecessary (and expensive) litigation."
+ BBC, 201 Wood Lane, London W12 7TS, England, Fax: 020-8008-2398
+ Americans United for Separation of Church and State, 518 C Street Northeast, Washington DC 20002, 202-466-3234, Fax: 202-466-2587, americansunited@au.org
[3] Maine Churches Threatened with Loss of Tax Exemption for Supporting 3 November 2009 Vote to Overturn Legislative Marriage Redefinition
Churches in Maine that supported efforts resulting in voters on 3 November 2009 overturning the state law passed earlier in 2009 that redefined marriage are now targets of an active campaign by those in favor of sustaining the new law to report the churches to the Internal Revenue Service for supposed violations of the churches’ tax exempt status.
The Alliance Defense Fund is offering free legal assistance to any churches that become IRS targets as a result of what the ADF calls “baseless scare tactics.”
+ Alliance Defense Fund, 15100 North 90th Street, Scottsdale, Arizona 85260, 800-835-5233, Fax: 480-444-0025
+ Internal Revenue Service, 1111 Constitution Avenue Northwest, Washington DC 20224, 202-622-5164, Fax: 202-622-8653
[4] U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Review Denial of First Amendment Rights to High School Valedictorian
The Supreme Court of the United States on 16 November 2009 refused without further explanation to hear the appeal of 2006 Foothill High School, Henderson, Nevada, valedictorian Brittany McComb, whose microphone was cut off when she began to discuss her Christian faith during her valedictory speech.
McComb subsequently filed a First Amendment suit against the school with the U.S. District Court for Nevada, which refused to dismiss the charges after a motion by the school district, ruling that the lawsuit raised substantial claims of infringement of McComb's right of free speech. The school district appealed the U.S. District Court of Nevada ruling to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco, California, which overturned the previous ruling, dismissed the case, and held that McComb had no right to give her speech, which it deemed to be "proselytizing." The same federal appeals court ruled several years ago that the words “under God” in the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance were unconstitutional.
John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute, which represents McComb commented: "This is a sad day for the cause of freedom. When the Supreme Court cannot clear their calendar to hear a case of this magnitude, then our freedoms are in jeopardy. Such censorship and discrimination should not be permitted in America."
+ The Rutherford Institute, Post Office Box 7482, Charlottesville, Virginia 22906, 434-978-3888, Fax: 434-978-1789, staff@rutherford.org
+ Supreme Court of the United States, One First Street Northeast, Washington DC 20543, 202-479-3000
[5] Hungary’s Foreign Ministry Summonses Ukraine Ambassador after Ukraine’s Education Ministry Orders No Hungarian Language Textbooks for 10th Graders in 100 Ethnic Hungarian Schools in Western Ukraine
The Foreign Ministry of Hungary on 14 November 2009 summoned Ukraine’s Ambassador to Hungary to explain why no textbooks in the Hungarian language had been ordered for 10th grade students in 100 ethnic Hungarian schools in the western Ukraine.
The European Parliament states that Ukraine Ministerial Decrees Number 461 (2008) and 1033 (2009) reinforce the use of the Ukrainian language in schools and decree that graduation exams must be taken only in the Ukrainian language, thus endangering the existing Hungarian language educational system in the western Ukraine that serves 150,000 ethnic Hungarian residents.
+ Politics.hu, 36-30-370-3561, editors@politics.hu
+ European Parliament, 2, rue Mercier, L-2985 Luxembourg,
352-4300-24031, Fax : 352-43-55-78, idea@europarl.europa.eu
[6] Roman Pontiff Scheduled to Meet with Queen Elizabeth II in Scotland during September 2009 Visit
The Daily Record for 15 November 2009 reports that Roman pontiff Pope Benedict XVI in September 2010 will visit England for three days followed by one day in Scotland, where the pontiff is scheduled to meet the then-on-holiday Queen Elizabeth II and will conduct an outdoor Roman mass, possibly at Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland.
Scots Secretary Jim Murphy commented on 14 November 2009: "This is a fantastic honour and an enormous responsibility. A papal visit would be a historic event and I am delighted that [U.K. Prime Minister] Gordon Brown has asked me to work on this. We have already been inundated with invites for places for the Pope to visit and people to meet. I know that across Britain, people of all faiths would give the Pope a wonderful welcome. It is for the Vatican to announce any details but it would be a visit to remember for a very long time."
+ The Daily Record, 67 Hope Street, Glasgow, Scotland, 0141-309-3251, reporters@dailyrecord.co.uk
+ The Vatican
[7] National Library of Scotland Displays 1692 Order from Major Robert Duncanson to Robert Campbell to Kill McDonald Clan at Glencoe
The National Library of Scotland has opened a new display of literary and historical artifacts including the handwritten order of Major Robert Duncanson to Robert Campbell telling Campbell, “"…to fall upon the rebels...and put all to the sword under seventy," triggering the murder of thirty-eight members of the McDonald Clan at Glencoe, Scotland, and the subsequent death from exposure of forty of the McDonald family members burned out of their homes during the murders.
The incident traces its beginnings to the August 1691 offer of pardon by King William III to the Scots Highland Clans that had fought against the King or had raided their neighbors, with a deadline to sign the agreement by 1 January 1692 under pain of death. The McDonald Clan Chief who lived in Glencoe reluctantly agreed to sign the agreement, but mistakenly went to Inverlochy in Fort William, Scotland, instead of Inveraray near Oban, Scotland. The clan chief reached Inveraray on 6 January 1692, unaware that a force under Robert Campbell had been assembled to kill the McDonald Clan. The force arrived in Glencoe, and were quartered and entertained by the Campbells for ten days before the trap was sprung and the initial thirty-eight were killed.
+ The Scotsman, Barclay House, 108 Holyrood Road, Edinburgh EH8 8AS, Scotland, 131-620-8620
+ National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EW,
Scotland, 131-623-3700, Fax: 131-623-3701, enquiries@nls.uk
[8] Church of Scotland Minister Faces Expulsion for Not Living in Manse
Pastor John Munro and his wife Lillian lived in Edinburgh, Scotland’s, Fairmilehead Parish Church of Scotland (COS) manse for five years before using inherited money to buy a home 500 yards away from the manse, into which Mr. and Mrs. Munro moved while the pastor continued to work in the manse each day, using the manse as the church office. An assistant minister continues to live in the manse. Mrs. Munro did not like living in the manse, so the Munros bought the nearby house for their residence.
On 13 November 2009, the pastor was tried before the COS Commission of Assembly for refusing the order of the Edinburgh Presbytery to move back into the manse, and the presbytery’s position was upheld by a vote of sixty-four to five. The Edinburgh Presbytery is now expected to issue an ultimatum to the pastor to move back into the manse or face suspension and possible expulsion from the ministry.
Pastor Munro points out that the presbytery regulation in question requires that the minister “occupy” the manse, and Munro maintains that he meets the requirement, and that if the requirement was to “live” in the manse, that the word “live” should be used in the regulation in place of “occupy.”
The clerk of Edinburgh Presbytery, the Rev. George Whyte, commented: "We are pleased the commission upheld our stance and we look forward to taking the matter forward in a way that is caring to all parties."
+ The Scotsman, Barclay House, 108 Holyrood Road, Edinburgh EH8 8AS, Scotland, 131-620-8620
+ Church of Scotland, 121 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 4YN, Scotland, 0131-225-5722
+ Edinburgh Presbytery, 10/1 Palmerston Place, Edinburgh EH12 5AA, Scotland, 131 225 9137, Edinburgh@cofscotland.org.uk
+ The Lewis Carroll Society, 50 Lauderdale Mansions, Lauderdale Road, London W9 1NE, England, Contact Page
[9] 2009 Medical Studies Link Abortion Link Abortion and Breast Cancer
Two 2009 medical studies show statistically significant links between having an abortion and later developing breast cancer. Chinese Researcher Peng Xing and his colleagues in a northeast China study found a seventeen percent increased breast cancer risk for all subtypes combined among women that had induced abortions. A Turkish study earlier in 2009 showed a sixty-six percent increase in the risk of getting breast cancer for women that had abortions. Both studies show that, when honest research is conducted outside the control of the U.S. National Cancer Institute and other western governmental agencies or organizations tethered to abortion ideology and politics, the truth emerges that abortion raises the risk of contacting breast cancer.
Karen Malec, president of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer, comments: "The Chinese and the Turkish studies are relevant considering the debate over government-funded abortion through healthcare reform. Government-funded abortion means more dead American women from breast cancer."
+ Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer, Post Office Box 957133,
Hoffman Estates, Illinois 60195, 847-421-4000, response@abortionbreastcancer.com
+ National Cancer Institute, 6116 Executive Boulevard, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, 800-422-6237, cancergovstaff@mail.nih.gov
[10] PCUSA San Francisco Presbytery Approves Ordination of Openly Homosexual Minister
The Presbytery of San Francisco of the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), on 10 November 2009, and in defiance of the PCUSA's G-6.0106b ordination standard requiring church officers to practice "fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and woman or chastity in singleness," voted 156-138 to approve the openly homosexual Lisa Larges for ordination as a Minister of the Word and Sacrament, and voted 157-144 to approve Larges’ call to serve as the Minister Coordinator of the advocacy and ministry organization, That All May Freely Serve, an organization working for the ordination of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender candidates in the PCUSA.
On 11 November 2009, the Rev. Mary Holder Naegeli announced that enough signatures were collected on 10 November 2009 to request a Stay of Enforcement while a remedial complaint is filed with the Synod of the Pacific Permanent Judicial Commission.
+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005
+ Synod of the Pacific, 200 Kentucky Street, Suite B, Petaluma, California 94952, 800-754-0669, Fax: 707-765-4467, rob@synodpacific.org
+ Presbytery of San Francisco, 2024 Durant Avenue, Berkeley, California 94704, 510-849-4393, Fax: 510-849-4398, krunyeon@sfpby.org
[11] Ten Percent of U.S. Protestant Churches Pastored by Women
Writing in a 15 November 2009 article in The Birmingham (Alabama) News titled “More Protestant Flocks are Led by Female Pastors,” Greg Garrison reports that in 1999, women were senior pastors in five percent of U.S. Protestant churches, and that in 2009, ten percent of U.S. Protestant churches have women for senior pastors, fifty-eight percent of these in mainline denominations.
Gardendale (Alabama) Presbyterian Church (Presbyterian Church (PCUSA)) pastor Elizabeth Goodrich, who expects to give birth around 6 January 2009, comments: “I feel profoundly called to this work. "I discovered in seminary I love to preach."
Overcometh House of Praise Baptist Church (Birmingham, Alabama) pastor the Rev. Patricia A. Collins explains: "For a long time it was taught to us that women couldn't be pastors. Some of the teaching of the Bible was misquoted. With a better understanding of the Scriptures, people are understanding God is no respecter of persons….God chooses whom he wants to get his work done. People are becoming more open."
+ The Birmingham News, 2201 Fourth Avenue North, Birmingham, Alabama 35203, 205-325-4444
+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005
[12] Christ's First Presbyterian Church of Hempstead, New York, Celebrates 365th Anniversary
Christ's First Presbyterian Church (CFPC) (Presbyterian Church (PCUSA)) of Hempstead, New York, celebrated its 365th anniversary with a gala held 15 November 2009.
CFPC began as a twenty square feet sanctuary that was barricaded to protect against attacks from Native Americans. CFPC currently has about sixty-five members, more than half from Latin America, and the rest from Africa, Asia, and the U.S.
+ Newsday, 235 Pinelawn Road, Melville, New York 11747, 631-843-3783, publisher@newsday.com
+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005
[13] PCUSA Investment Committee Recommends Strong Denouncement of Caterpillar Corporation for Sales to Israel
The Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) Committee on Mission Responsibility Through Investment has issued a draft statement with a strong denouncement of Caterpillar Corporation (CC) because CC equipment sold to Israel has been “…used…for clearly non-peaceful purposes.” The statement denounces CC for their “continued profit-making from non-peaceful uses of a number of its products” and call upon the company to “take affirmative steps to end its complicity in the violation of human rights,” the committee says have occurred during the Gaza and Lebanon wars, and in the bulldozing of Palestinian homes during the building of houses, roads, and barriers in Palestinian lands.
A spokesman for CC said the corporation has “compassion for all persons affected by the political strife in the Middle East” and supports a peaceful resolution. “The vast majority of the three million Caterpillar products in operation around the world are playing a positive role in advancing global economic development and standards of living. Understandably, Caterpillar cannot monitor the use of every piece of its equipment around the world. However, …we do not condone the illegal or immoral use of any Caterpillar equipment.”
+ The Courier-Journal, 525 West Broadway, Post Office Box 740031, Louisville, Kentucky, 40201-7431, 502-582-4011, publisher@courier-journal.com
+ Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, 888-728-7228, Fax: 502-569-8005
+ Caterpillar Incorporated, 100 North East Adams Street, Peoria, Illinois 61629, 309-675-1000, Contact Page
[14] November 2009 byFaith Magazine Article “An Anniversary to Mourn: Assessing 40 Years of No-Fault Divorce” is Published
The November 2009 edition of byFaith Magazine includes an article by former president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy and ordained Presbyterian Church in America minister Jim Tonkowich titled “An Anniversary to Mourn: Assessing 40 Years of No-Fault Divorce,” which reviews the effects of forty years of no-fault divorce laws; the first of which signed into law by then-Governor Ronald Reagan of California in September 1969.
+ Presbyterian Church in America, 1700 North Brown Road, Suite 105, Lawrenceville, Georgia 30043, 678-825-1000, Fax: 678-825-1001, ac@pcanet.org
+ Institute on Religion and Democracy, 1023 15th Street Northwest, Suite 601, Washington DC 20005-2601, 202-682-4131, Fax: 202-682-4136, info@theird.org
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
18 November 2009
