LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY rev_erock)

This is flesh-crawlingly creepy. I get these updates in the e-mail from the verichip company regularly.... Get your tinfoil hats ready!

Hi Eric,

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything,
with prayer and supplication, present your
requests to God, and the peace of God, which
transends all understanding, will guard your
heart and mind in Christ Jesus."

That's from a book in the bible called Phililpians.
I wish that everytime I got worried, stressed
or uptight I remembered those verses. Unfortunately
I don't always remember them.
Philiplians is a book in the New Testament. It's
located right after Ephesians and before Galatians.

Philipians is one of my favorite books. It contains
so many uplifting and calming passages.

Chapter 1 verse 6 comes to mind along with Chapter
3 verses 13 thru 15.
Many people are concerned and worried about the
Verichip and how fast it's becoming a part of society.
Many wonder if someday they'll get forced to put a chip
of some sort in their arm, forehead, or hand.
If that's you, know that God promises us that we don't
have to worry. He wants us to trust and reach out to
Him during these times. Keeping scripture in our mind
is one way of doing that.( Read more... )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY thedemonprist)

This article from Salon (day pass required) sums up the filibuster showdown and what it means. ( Read more... )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

This Christianity Today article talks about Christian outrage at Wal-Mart's business practices:

Deliver Us from Wal-Mart?

Christians are among those sounding the alarm about the ethics of this retail giant. Are the worries justified?

by Jeff M. Sellers | posted 04/22/2005 09:30 a.m.

The cavernous hallway outside Chicago City Council chambers is echoing with the sound of 150 people chanting, "We're fed up, we won't take it no mo'!"

The lady with the megaphone is leading a mix of union workers and community reform activists shouting slogans against the world's largest retailer. One of the protesters, Ella Hereth of the advocacy group Jobs with Justice, tells CT that Wal-Mart is the "poster boy for corporate exploitation."

She ticks off the complaints: low pay, scant benefits, race and sex discrimination, and profiting from mistreated workers in foreign "sweatshops." Before the Chicago City Council votes to block one store but allow another, aldermen label Wal-Mart "the worst company in America" and an "evildoer."

As it has grown into a powerhouse with sales of $256.3 billion—more than the sales of Microsoft and retail competitors Home Depot, Kroger, Target, and Costco combined—Wal-Mart has become a lightning rod nationwide in local tempests of moral outrage. Church leaders (primarily mainline, liberal, and Roman Catholic) have joined grassroots activists fearful that mindless global market factors will steamroll human dignity.( Read more... )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY britzkrieg)

This article in an Indiana publication features interviews with three women victimized by so-called "conscience clauses." They include:

* A woman who became pregnant with her fourth child after being denied coverage for a tubal ligation
* A rape victim denied emergency contraception by fifteen pharmacies
* A virgin college student who can't get her birth control pills locally, even though she needs them to control her horrendous periods

The medical "professionals" involved with these cases should be ashamed of themselves. What they're doing amounts to malpractice -- or at least, it should.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

I want to know how many of you have encountered overt Christian evangelicism in your branch of the military. By 'overt', I mean stuff that goes above and beyond your standard chaplain's visit and general prayers, like gatherings that are sponsored by churches that are 'mandantory', any kind of problems if you do not attend services, prosetylization and/or pressure to convert or conform to a particular faith group, prayer and Bible Studies during duty hours, disrespect for your own faith if it is not mainstream (I know that I'll hear from my Pagan friends)...You get the picture.

I am developing an idea for an article/essay/ whatever the heck you want to call it- that brings attention to this problem beyond what has been reported about the USAF Academy and "Force Ministries" in the Army. First person stories would fit this very well. It does not matter if you are active duty or a veteran- I want to hear your story. You can email me at philosopher-geek at comcast dot net or through my Livejournal email if you don't want to share it here. Mark it 'military evangelicism' for my filters.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

This New York Times Op-ed piece talks about religion in the military.

Separation of Church and Air Force

Whatever is ailing the Air Force Academy, and the academy has had its share of ailments over the years, campus pressure on cadets to adopt a particular set of religious beliefs will not cure it. Last year, academy officials promised to do something about widespread complaints of unconstitutional proselytizing of academy students by evangelists whose efforts were blessed by authority figures in the chain of command. An authorized investigation by the Yale Divinity School and local news reports documented numerous instances of pressure on cadets to adopt Christian beliefs and practices. Such pressure came from dozens of faculty members and chaplains, and even the football coach, with his "Team Jesus Christ" banner.( Read more... )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

This Daily Kos diary by Fredrick Clarkson talks about the growing attention to the convergence of Church and State:

What happens when church merges with state? What happens when government agencies promote one religious view over another? What happens when one version of Christianity is promoted over another by government agents?

Look no further than the United States Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs, Colorado where conservative evangelical Christianity is aggressively promoted, conflated with the mission of the Air Force, cadets of other faiths are frequently insulted and forced to choose between mandatory academy functions and their religious holidays, and now a Lutheran chaplain has been fired for daring to criticize the culture of religious bigotry, and religious supremacism protected and enforced on campus.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State has been on the case for months, and so now are major newspapers in the nation. ( Read more... )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY gothic_oreo)

Ohio Bill proposes making Porm, tampons, accidentally bumping into someone's ass officially obscene