Christians aren‘t taking New York City’s ban on churches meeting in public schools lightly. On Sunday, hundreds of religious leaders, politicians and individuals who stand firmly opposed to the now-infamous church crackdown joined together to march across the Brooklyn Bridge.
This was the largest show of support against the law that will take effect unless Mayor Michael Bloomberg or state officials intervene before Feb. 12. If the regulation isn’t overturned, at least 60 churches will be homeless as of next month. A previous protest earlier in January on the steps of Manhattan’s Tweed Courthouse featured strong-worded rhetoric. In previous events held against the ban, pastors were arrested.
As they marched across the bridge in their latest attempt to see the law banished, the group chanted, “Freedom to worship, that’s what we want!” CBS News has more regarding what participants and speakers had to say at the event:
“We are here to tell Mayor Bloomberg, I mean we are going to have 60 churches homeless and that’s not Christ-like,” said Bronx Pastor Sal Sabino of the Heavenly Region Christian Center.
“The church has been notoriously persecuted since its inception so I’m not surprised but we’re not going to stay quiet we’re going to speak out and say this is what the foundation of America is built upon,” said Roseann Kytka of Ascencion Presbyterian Church, which meets at P.S. 101 in Forest Hills.
Watch more footage from the march, courtesy of WNYW-TV, below:
As we’ve reported, Bronx Councilman and pastor Fernando Cabrera has some legislative plans up his sleeve. The councilman is leading the charge to champion Resolution #1155, which would call upon the New York State legislature to pass legislation what would amend education law to allow churches access to school property. In the New York Assembly, the related bill is #A8800 and in the State Senate it is #S6047.
The timing of the march was important, as the state may take up the issue this week. There were no arrests during the march.
Posted on January 31, 2012 at 1:26am by Becket Adams
Rep. Allen West (R-FL) has made headlines for criticizing Democratic leaders including President Barack Obama, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
“This is a battlefield that we must stand upon. And we need to let President Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and my dear friend, chairman of the Democrat National Committee, we need to let them know that Florida ain’t on the table,” West said last Saturday at a Lincoln Day Dinner in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Rep. West went on to say that Democratic leaders should take their message of “economic dependency” and “get the hell out of the United States of America.”
Apparently, his comments proved too much for The Five’s co-host Bob Beckel.
“I’m going to try to be as calm here as I possibly can here in deference to my friends here at this table,” Beckel said.
“In my 30 years of politics, I have never heard anything more disgraceful in my life. I think that Allen West owes an apology to a lot of people. He’s lucky to have that seat in the first place. I’ll tell you this, Mr. West; When you start shooting your mouth off like that – and I admire the fact that you were in the military and you served your country. I understand that,” Beckel said.
“But before you start saying that, at the end of it, you said ‘Get the hell out of the United States,’ then you didn’t say the policies. Now, there’s 20 percent of us or 22 percent of us that happen to be Progressives, who believe in what Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi say. You go on to say 100 percent of America. We’re 20 percent of America and we’re not going anywhere whether you like it or not,” Beckel added.
“And you better be careful, my friend, because you’re getting on the edge there and you’re taking that Tea Party crowd with you,” Beckel added, wagging his finger at an imaginary Rep. West (isn’tthat supposed to be the “ultimate insult”?).
Watch The Five’s heated exchange over Rep. West’s “get the hell out” remarks:
Co-host Greg Gutfeld argued that Beckel’s righteous indignation was misplaced.
“During the break, I made a list of outspoken black liberals,” Greg Gutfeld said, “Al Sharpton, Louis Farrakhan, Black Panthers. . .Jesse Jackson, Angela Davis, Cornel West, Public Enemy, Eric Dyson!”
“In our culture,” Gutfeld continued, “We celebrate outspoken black leftists. So, now you have one, provocative, American, black conservative, and you liberals whine? I wanna’ see more Allen West. He’s not the first one, but he’s the beginning. And it’s refreshing–”
“You wanna’ see more of that hatred? You wanna’ see that kind of hatred in America?” Beckelinterrupted.
“That’s not hatred,” Gutfeld shot back.
“It’s is hatred,” Beckel interrupted again, “It’s the worst most disgraceful, despicable, disgusting—“
“I just listed for you a dozen, black liberals who spoke in very extreme language in the last 20, 30 years,” Gutfeld said, putting an abrupt end to Beckel’s brief experiment with alliteration.
Later in the segment, as Beckel was trying to explain that Rep. West represents an extreme element in the Republican party, it was co-host Eric Bolling’s turn to interrupt.
“Let me just point something out,” Bolling said, “You’re calling him ‘Allen West.’ Either call himRepresentative West—“
“I’m not going to call him Representative anything!” Beckel responded indignantly, demonstrating that it’s perfectly acceptable for a TV personality to disregard “civility” when criticizing an elected official and war veteran, but that it is wholly unacceptable – indeed, “disgusting” and “despicable” — if that elected official and war veteran is not “civil” enough when criticizing Democratic leadership.
“–or call him Lieutenant Colonel West,” Bolling added.
“I’m not going to call him that either,” Beckel said, almost surprised that Bolling would suggest such a thing.
Despite repeated attempts to convince Beckel that Rep. West was not indeed a “hater,” as Beckelso eloquently put it, their efforts went unrewarded and the segment ended on this note:
And for those that missed Rep. West’s original remarks:
Bob Beckel is a whinner, everything the left says is fine with him, but let a conservative speak out and it's hateful. I remember not long ago a woman named, Maxine Waters I think, said that the Tea Party could go straight to hell, now that is hateful or could be that she is exercising her first amendment rights. That is what Rep. Allen West was doing, exercising his rights to speak what was on his mind. If you listen to the news all the hate is coming from the left, that is what they know to do. Liberals, your not going to shut the mouths of the conservatives.
Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) said Saturday President Barack Obama and other liberals should "get the hell out of the United States of America." (AP)
Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) had a strong message Saturday for President Barack Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz: “Get the hell out.”
West made the comments during a speech at a Palm Beach County GOP event in West Palm Beach.
“This is a battlefield that we must stand upon. And we need to let President Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and my dear friend, chairman of the Democrat National Committee, we need to let them know that Florida ain’t on the table,” West said.
The audience was booing by the time West got to Pelosi’s name.
“Take your message of equality of achievement, take your message of economic dependency, take your message of enslaving the entrepreneurial will and spirit of the American people somewhere else,” he continued. “You can take it to Europe, you can take it to the bottom of the sea, you can take it to the North Pole, but get the hell out of the United States of America.”
As the audience cheered and many rose to their feet, West added, “Yeah I said ‘hell.’”
“This is not about 1 percent or 99 percent. This is about 100 percent. It’s about 100 percent America. And I will not stand back and watch anyone defame, degrade or destroy that which my father fought for, my older brother, my father-in-law, myself, my nephew and all my friend still in uniform,” he said.
“I will not allow President Obama to take the United States of America and destroy it. If that means I’m the No. 1 target for the Democrat Party, all I got to say is one thing: Bring it on, baby.”
It is to bad that this man isn't running for president because I would vote for him. I like the way he thinks. Rep. West is not afraid to say what is on his mind.
Posted on January 30, 2012 at 10:00pm by Becket Adams
“Just seven months after California-based solar power company Amonix Inc. opened its largest manufacturing plant, in North Las Vegas, the company’s contractor has laid off nearly two-thirds of its workforce,” reports the Las Vegas Sun.
“Flextronics Industrial, the Singapore solar panel manufacturer that partnered with Amonix to staff the new $18 million, 214,000-square-foot plant, laid off about 200 of its 300-plus employees Tuesday,” according to the report.
Eric Culberson, Amonix’s director of manufacturing operations, claims that the mass firings are a necessary part of “retooling” the factory so that the company can “roll out its next-generation product.”
“The new 8700 utility-scale CPV solar power system is a higher efficiency and lower cost,” Culberson said. “Once it is ready, we will ramp back up to meet the demands of the industry.”
Culberson says the job cuts are “temporary and expects to begin hiring more people in the second half of the year to meet demand.”
However, given that layoffs were made at all levels of the company — from entry-level assemblers, process engineers, production supervisors and quality-control techs, according to one employee — and that the company was hiring as recently as three months ago, the firings seem very odd.
They were hiring “production supervisors” and “process engineers” and then promptly fired them?
Many critics contend that no normal, long-lasting business would operate in this manner. Indeed, the time and money it would cost to hire and train new employees (once that market “demand” goes up) would far outweigh the cost of, say, scaling back current employee’s hours.
Unless, of course, the company has no intention of ever hiring new staff and the “we’ll rehire soon enough” promise is far from factual, the firings, from a financial point of view, make very little sense.
One employee, Theodore Lewis, was working at the plant for six months before he and several other employees were called into a “mandatory meeting” Tuesday.
“There was no excuse,” said Lewis, who was never told his job was temporary. “They just said our job was done.”
Lewis said he and other staff members were “confused and disappointed” when they heard the news and were told by human resources to “look for other local jobs in retail,” according to the report.
The firings and mass layoffs are contradictory to what was promised when the plant first opened its doors, namely, to bring hundreds of clean energy jobs and boost the local economy.
In fact, the plant was praised as a success earlier this month by Mayor Shari Buck in her state of the city address. But despite the recent layoffs, Buck said she has “faith the company will bring back the jobs.”
“They were temporary employees brought in to handle a major project,” she said.
Wait. Two-thirds of the company’s workforce was “temporary”?
“Amonix is taking the opportunity to automate their system better and get ready for the next big project. I expect Amonix to continue to be successful and have a great future in their solar production,” Buck said.
Her words are reminiscent of the warm praise President Obama had for the company in 2010.
“A solar panel company — a solar power company called Amonix received a roughly $6 million tax credit for a new facility they’re building in the Las Vegas area, a tax credit they were able to match with roughly $12 million in private capital,” Obama said, while touting his policy of subsidizing green-tech companies, according to the Daily Caller.
“The only problem we have is these credits were working so well, there aren’t enough tax credits to go around,” Obama said. “When we announced the program last year, it was such a success we received 500 applications requesting over $8 billion in tax credits, but we only had $2.3 billion to invest.”
Yes, it’s true: Amonix was given a $5.9 million investment tax credit through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) in 2010, and another $12 million in private capital helped finance the plant.
Therefore, much like Solyndra and Willard & Kelsey Solar Group LLC, Amonix appears to be the latest on a growing list of “green energy” initiatives that have failed to make good on the promise of creating jobs — despite having received generous financial support and the White House’s blessing.
We’ve covered the Catholic Church’s ongoing battle with the Obama administration over contraception health care mandates for quite some time. Over the weekend, though, the stand-off took an unusual turn, as Catholic churches across America read a letter to congregants that perfectly encapsulated the church’s stance against the impending federal requirements.
The Church’s vocal arguments against the Obama administration are centered upon a Health and Human Services Department requirement that employers must include contraception and abortion-inducing drugs in health-care coverage. While this requirement doesn’t apply to houses of worship, it will force Catholic colleges, hospitals and other Christian groups to provide these drugs despite their faith-based opposition to them.
Many of these organizations, despite not being, themselves, churches, are intrinsically rooted in religious belief systems that stand firmly opposed to medications and procedures that would terminate the life of an unborn child. These deeply-rooted moral codes, which drive the groups’ work, will be impeded, Catholic leaders say, should the Obama administration continue with its planned mandate.
Recently, the federal government made one small concession surrounding the requirement, as officials decided to give church-affiliated hospitals and organizations another year before they will be forced to comply with the coverage restrictions.
“In effect, the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences,” Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan, archbishop of New York and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, recently said.
Over the weekend, the Catholic Church’s letter went beyond simply issuing oppositional rhetoric to media. Instead, priests read an open note to congregations across the country, dubbing the administration‘s take on women’s health and religious violations as an attack on their faith. In the letter, Bishops highlighted what they called “an alarming and serious matter,“ as their words contended that the federal government has ”dealt a heavy blow” to the Catholic population.
In it, Catholic leaders went on to say that the Church “cannot—we will not—comply with this unjust law,” as it violates the Catholic conscience. Additionally, the church says that it is faced with a difficult decision — either comply and violate its faith or drop coverage for employees and suffer the consequences. The letter urges congregants to take action and to call Congress in an attempt to overturn the regulation.
I write to you concerning an alarming and serious matter that negatively impacts the Church in the United States directly, and that strikes at the fundamental right to religious liberty for all citizens of any faith. The federal government, which claims to be “of, by, and for the people,” has just been dealt a heavy blow to almost a quarter of those people — the Catholic population — and to the millions more who are served by the Catholic faithful.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced last week that almost all employers,
including Catholic employers, will be forced to offer their employees’ health coverage that includes sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs, and contraception. Almost all health insurers will be forced to include those “services” in the health policies they write. And almost all individuals will be forced to buy that coverage as a part of their policies.
In so ruling, the Obama Administration has cast aside the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, denying to Catholics our Nation’s first and most fundamental freedom, that of religious liberty. And as a result, unless the rule is overturned, we Catholics will be compelled to either violate our consciences, or to drop health coverage for our employees (and suffer the penalties for doing so). The Obama Administration’s sole concession was to give our institutions one year to comply.
We cannot—we will not—comply with this unjust law. People of faith cannot be made second class citizens. We are already joined by our brothers and sisters of all faiths and many others of good will in this important effort to regain our religious freedom. Our parents and grandparents did not come to these shores to help build America’s cities and towns, its infrastructure and institutions, its enterprise and culture,
only to have their posterity stripped of their God given rights. In generations past, the Church has always been able to count on the faithful to stand up and protect her sacred rights and duties. I hope and trust she can count on this generation of Catholics to do the same. Our children and grandchildren deserve nothing less.
And therefore, I would ask of you two things. First, as a community of faith we must commit ourselves to prayer and fasting that wisdom and justice may prevail, and religious liberty may be restored. Without God, we can do nothing; with God, nothing is impossible. Second, I would also recommend visiting www.usccb.org/conscience,to learn more about this severe assault on religious liberty, and how to contact Congress in support of legislation that would reverse the Obama Administration’s decision.
Sincerely yours in Christ, +Alexander K. Sample
Most Reverend Alexander K. Sample
Bishop of Marquette
This is the latest development in the spat between the federal government and the Catholic Church. While contraception is a major problem dividing the two parties, other developments have added to the relational deterioration. Among the developments, the Department of Health and Human Services decided to end funding to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops last year
Rather than continuing to allocate money to a special program the bishops group oversaw to assist victims of modern-day slavery (i.e. human trafficking), the administration, instead, chose to give the funds to three non-Catholic groups. The bishops conference had refused to refer trafficking victims to receive contraceptives or abortions, so the American Civil Liberties Union sued and HHS decided to provide funds to groups that would refer women for these services.
Then there’s gay marriage — another contentious issue. The administration’s stance of not defending traditional marriage also contradicts Catholic teaching.
As for the health care regulation — a tenet that abortion-rights groups heralded when it was introduced last summer — there’s no telling how the situation will end, as the Church seems adamant about its refusal to comply.
In September, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops called the regulation “an unprecedented attack on religious liberty.” In November, The Catholic Advocate PAC launched an attack campaign against the Obama administration as well. To these responses, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said late last year that the Church’s “conscience thing” puts woman at risk (yes, she’s a Catholic).
In the end, there will be dire results, it seems, should the administration proceed as planned
16)When God said, "Let us make man in our image", was He speaking to another person in the Godhead? No..(Genesis 1:26), (Isaiah 44:24), (Malachi 2:10)
Gen 1:26And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Isaiah 44:24Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;
Malachi 2:10Mal 2:10 Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?
17) How many of God's qualities were in Christ? All (Colossians 2:9)
For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
18) How may we see the God who sent Jesus into the world? By seeing Jesus. ( John 12:44-45; 14:9).
Joh 12:44 Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me.
Joh 12:45 And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me.
Joh 14:9 Jesus saith unto him,Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
19) Does the Bible say that Jesus is the Almighty? Yes. Revelation 1:8
Rev 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
20) Whom do some designate as the first person in the trinity? God the Father.
21) Whom do some designate as the last person in the trinity? The Holy Ghost. But Jesus said that He was the first and the last. ( Revelation 1:17-18)
Rev 1:17
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear
not; I am the first and the last:
Rev 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
22) How many persons did John see sitting on the throne in heaven? One. (Revelation 4:2)
Rev 4:2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.
23) If Jesus is the first and the last, why did God say in, (Isaiah 44:6) that He was the first and the last? Because Jesus is the God of the Old Testament incarnate.
Isa 44:6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
24) Did Jesus tell Satan that God alone should be worshipped? Yes. ( Matthew 4:10)
Mat 4:10 Then saith Jesus unto him,Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
25) Does the devil believe in more than one God? No. ( James 2:19)
Jas 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble
26) Does the Bible say that God, who is the Word, was made flesh? Yes. ( John 1:1, 14)
Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
27) For what purpose was God manifested in the flesh? To save sinners. (Hebrews 2:9,14)
Heb 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
28) Was Jesus God manifested in the flesh? Yes (1 Timothy 3:16)
1Ti 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
29) Could Jesus have been on earth and in heaven at the same time? Yes. (John 3:13)
Joh 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
30) Does the Bible say that there is but one Lord? Yes. (Isaiah 45:18 ; Ephesians 4:5)
Isa 45:18 For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.
Billy Hallowell 
