Scrolling around...September 26, 2013

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2013 – winning pictures Stunning!

Why We Need Small Towns-And how they correct the supersized spirituality of evangelicals
...Of course, American Christians know something of the little way. The evangelical movement has always had its share of what novelist Wallace Stegner famously called "stickers." In the words of Wendell Berry, a student of Stegner's, stickers are people who "settle, and love the life they have made and the place they have made it in." America's first great theologian, Jonathan Edwards, spent much of his life serving in a single small parish. Presbyterian theologian B. B. Warfield spent nearly his entire adult life in Princeton, New Jersey, where he taught at the university and cared for his sick wife. The late Dallas Willard taught and ministered in the same philosophy department for nearly five decades. Just recently, my pastor interviewed a dozen fellow pastors who have served in Lincoln, Nebraska, for over a decade. All of them are committed to staying at their churches indefinitely...

Little Sisters of the Poor sue over Obamacare fines, contraception requirement
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius finalized a contraception mandate that ignores the fact groups like the Little Sisters of the Poor are religious organizations, according to a lawsuit filed to protect them against fines for refusing to comply with an Obamacare mandate.

"We cannot violate our vows by participating in the government's program to provide access to abortion-inducing drugs,” Sister Loraine Marie said of a class-action lawsuit filed against the mandate on behalf of multiple religious organizations that provide health benefits...

Catholic Business Loses Contraception Mandate Appeal
A federal court ruled Tuesday against a Catholic business in Michigan and in favor of the Obamacare contraception mandate.

The court ruled that Autocam Corporation, which is a family-owned business, must comply with the mandate requiring companies to pay for contraception and abortion procedures.

John Kennedy, one of Autocam's owners, said the mandate violates their convictions. But the judge disagreed, saying it neither violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act nor the family's convictions.

"We dismiss the claims of the individual plaintiffs on standing grounds," Judge Julia Smith Gibbons wrote. She added that the decision to comply with the mandate will be up to the company, not the Kennedys, who own it...

Frightening new assault on homeschooling
...The Obama administration has argued in court that parents essentially have no right to determine how and what their children are taught, leaving the authority with the government.

Farris said although the cases have been in Germany, others should be concerned.

“I want the American homeschool community and other friends of liberty to take note – this mindset isn’t limited to Germany. Many U.S. policymakers and academics agree. … They are even working to see them realized here. So far, thankfully, homeschooling isn’t a legitimate reason (anymore) for the government to kidnap your children if they don’t go to state approved schools,” Farris said.

Donnelly said there are “already too many voices in the United States that want to advance the idea that the state must control education for the safety of the state or other reasons.”...

11 things pro-choicers don’t get

Si Robertson: Duck Dynasty's favorite uncle talks faith in God, wife, and children
...He previously revealed in an interview with The Christian Post that he signs two Bible verses when people ask him for an autograph. "When I sign people's stuff I put down John 3:16 and 17. Most people can tell you what 16 says, OK. 'For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son.' But they don't know nothin' about 17. It says Jesus didn't come to condemn us. If anybody had a right to condemn someone, it would be the son of God. If he didn't do it, then hey, we definitely are not qualified to do it."...