Scrolling around...August 4th, 2012

"This is the president of the greatest country there is, and he's talking about the New York Jets football team and things."

U.S. Gold Medalist Gabby Douglas: ‘I Give All The Glory to God’
Gabrielle Douglas won the gold medal in the all-around women’s gymnastics event at the Olympics on Thursday and in a post-win interview said that “all the glory” for her win goes “to God.” She also tweeted her thanks to God, stressing “may I never forget the good things he does for me.”...

Anti-Chick-fil-A retaliation would put universities in constitutional pickle
...The letters go on to explain that “no matter whether Chick-fil-A has a permit to operate a restaurant on your university’s campus, is leasing space in the food court, or is considered an independent contractor providing food service on behalf of the university, the First Amendment protects the company from retaliation based on its protected speech…. Not only would discriminating against Chick-fil-A be a clear violation of the First Amendment and expose the University to legal liability, but it would undermine the very lessons of free speech and tolerance that the University seeks to teach to its student body.”

America edging toward confrontation on religious freedom, Archbishop Chaput warns
..."Sooner or later, a nation based on a degraded notion of liberty, on license rather than real freedom—in other words, a nation of abortion, disordered sexuality, consumer greed, and indifference to immigrants and the poor—will not be worthy of its founding ideals. And on that day, it will have no claim on virtuous hearts"... Full text of speech

UK: ‘Evangelicals are like totalitarian Muslims’, says Govt advisor
...“The trouble is, as always, when it’s taken to extremes, whether it’s evangelical Christians, totalitarian Muslims or segregationist Jews"...

Indian Christians tormented with music, then attacked by Hindu extremists
For months, a group of Hindu extremists in southern India had been blasting high-volume movie music at the prayer meetings of a local Christian ministry.
In early July, the harassment crossed the line to assault when the Hindus burst into the prayer meeting of End Time Ministries, knocked three worshippers unconscious and ripped the clothes off a widow, ministry officials say...

Obama: I “Wont Give Any Ground” Defending Unlimited Abortion
President Barack Obama made it clear, yet again, that he will not yield when it comes to promote and supporting abortion on demand for any reason throughout pregnancy...

Gay Marriage and the Test-Tube Tidal Wave: First Things
I am the daughter of a sperm donor. For a long time I didn’t understand how this had negatively impacted my life, until I read David Blankenhorn’s Fatherless America. It was like stepping into a series of scenes from my adolescence. Never before had someone so eloquently and acutely described my personal struggles. I now staunchly defy the pro donor-conception script I was expected to embrace. Two years ago I asked for David’s help in creating The Anonymous Us Project—an anonymous story collective for people involved with Artificial Reproductive Technologies (ART), and he obliged. Through the stories I’ve received on my site and the research I have read, I am convinced that I am not alone in my struggles being donor-conceived...

Humanist weddings now outnumber Catholic weddings in Scotland
More weddings in Scotland are now conducted by the Humanist Society than by the Catholic Church, according to newly released government statistics...

'Real' Unemployment Rate Shows Far More Jobless
While the national unemployment rate paints a grim picture, a look at individual states and their so-called real jobless rates becomes even more troubling...

Miami supt. backs down; church can meet
The superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools has backed down in his threats to evict a Southern Baptist church because of the pastor's views on homosexuality and now says the congregation has a constitutional right to express its beliefs...