Religion and Faith in the News

Catholic Church bids for Crystal Cathedral
Looks like the Vatican likes looking through the glass in Garden Grove. It seems the Catholic Diocese has offered $50 million for the bankrupt Crystal Cathedral. Their bid is $4 million higher than a Newport Beach business and Chapman University. They seem to be serious since this is an all cash bid! Buying this property would save them some $100 million if they had to build a new "Catholic Cathedral" in Santa Anna.

Religious Identity Clarifying or Clouding the Election

It seems from various polls that the American people want their president to be religious. It also seems Americans are having a hard time trying to figure out what religion President Obama, and the two leading Republican contenders, Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann are. This bit of news is from a new poll conducted on July 25th, 2011. 
56% of Americans state that it is important for a presidential canidate to have strong religlous beliefs according to Public Religion Research Insitute. 
73% of white evangelicals and 74% of minority evangelicals belief that canidates can have differing views than them but most Americans don't know what religion various candidates really are. Only 44% of white evangelicals know Romney is Mormon while 8 out of 10 believe Mormonism is different than their own religion. Only 21% of minority Christians knew Romney was Mormon. 1 out of 3 Americans guessed Obama's religion as Christian while 18% guessed he was Muslim.

Prayer of the Week?

Pakistani persecution targets Christians

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom wants the State Department to focus more on Pakistan and its treatment of religious minorities -- including Christians.  In the past year there has been "a real and significant decline in the status for religious freedom in Pakistan," according to Commission spokesman Knox Thames, who adds that it started in November 2010 when a court sentenced Christian Asia Bibi to death on a charge of blaspheming Islam.

Prayer and Protest: Denouncing Same Sex Marriage

Many New Yorkers are upset at the legalization of same-sex marraiges in New York State. Protesters gathered at the State Capitol on Sunday afternoon to pray for and push for a repeal of the new law. Rev. Norman Macklin of Empire Baptist Church Convention of New York says, "The fight for traditional marriage is not over!"  "It has only just begun!" Deborah Johnson of Albany says, "When God created man, He created woman and, in order for our families to grow and to flourish, it has to happen that way and that's the only way it could happen is through a male and female." The protesters chanted, "Let the people vote!"

These New Yorkers are upset about the State Senate's June 24th vote to pass the Marriage Equality Act. "They didn't vote for us," says Brenda Embry of Stuyvesant. "They voted in place of us."

Campus Crusade for Christ is dropping "Christ" from its name

We were not trying to eliminate the word Christ from our name. We were looking for a name that would most effectively serve our mission and help us take the gospel to the world. Our mission has not changed. Cru enables us to have discussions about Christ with people who might initially be turned off by a more overtly Christian name. We believe that our interaction and our communication with the world will be what ultimately honors and glorifies Christ.The global evangelical para-church Campus Crusade for Christ is changing it's name to 'Cru." Christianity Today spoke to the leader of the re-branding, Steve Sellers, the CCCI vice president and U.S. national director, who explained that Crusade"...has become a flash word for a lot of people. It harkens back to other periods of time and has a negative connotation for lots of people across the world, especially in the Middle East.The main idea -- according to a look at the change atChristianity Today -- is to evade the problematic word "crusade" and the passe term "campus" (which the massive group known for the Jesus Film, books, tracts and more has long outgrown) and face up to the fact that many of its branches already use different names.

Jerry Brown signs new law demanding Homosexual history be taught

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill making California the first state in the nation to add lessons about homosexuals and lesbians to social studies classes in public schools.

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  By Rich Pedroncelli, AP
  Assembly Speaker John Perez, D-Los Angeles, the first openly gay Speaker of the California State Assembly, urges lawmakers to approve a measure requiring public schools to teach the historical contributions of gay Americans.

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Assembly Speaker John Perez, D-Los Angeles, the first openly gay Speaker of the California State Assembly, urges lawmakers to approve a measure requiring public schools to teach the historical contributions of gay Americans.

Brown, a Democrat, signed the landmark bill requiring public schools to include the contributions of people who are homosexual, lesbian, bisexual and transgender in social studies curriculum. The Democratic-majority Legislature had passed the bill last week on a largely party-line vote.

"History should be honest," the governor said in a statement Thursday. "This bill revises existing laws that prohibit discrimination in education and ensures that the important contributions of Americans from all backgrounds and walks of life are included in our history books."