A video advertisement posted to social media by Sprite Argentina celebrates “pride,” depicting — among other things — mothers taking pride in their teenage children by helping them present themselves as “transgender.” The video, which has received more than 3 million views as of press time, was posted to Twitter on Nov. 1 with the […]
HOUSTON, Texas — Lakewood Church says that a report circulating online that claims that megachurch leader Joel Osteen is paying rapper-turned-gospel artist Kanye West $300K to perform with his choir this Sunday is false, as West called Osteen to advise that he would be in town and initiated the visit himself. “There’s no money whatsoever […]
HOUSTON, Texas — Rapper-turned-gospel artist Kanye West is scheduled to take the stage at Joel Osteen‘s Lakewood Church this Sunday, speaking and performing at the Texas megachurch known for its self-help motivational messages. West and Osteen are friends, and West had been “wanting to come out for some time.” The Houston Chronicle reports that West […]
WASHINGTON — The National Abortion Federation (NAF) has announced that its board has appointed Katherine Hancock Ragsdale, a lesbian Episcopal priest, to serve as its president and CEO. “Abortion providers are some of my personal heroes and modern-day saints,” she said in a statement. “It is an honor to be able to serve and support […]
HANFORD, Calif. — A California mother has been charged with first-degree murder after her baby boy was born stillborn and medical examiners found high levels of methamphetamine in the child’s system. Chelsea Becker, 25, had already lost custody of three other children who were born with a meth addiction, two of whom live with Becker’s […]
MANHATTAN — A federal judge nominated to the bench by then-President Barack Obama has struck down a rule recently issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that sought to protect the conscience rights of medical professionals and others who have objections to abortion or physician-assisted suicide. Judge Paul Engelmayer of the Southern District […]
ALBANY, N.Y. — The Democratic governor of New York has signed a bill that codifies into state law already-existing federal rules prohibiting churches and nonprofit organizations from endorsing or opposing political candidates. Senate Bill 4347 states that “any corporation, association, trust, or community chest, fund, foundation, or limited liability company, organized and operated exclusively for religious, […]
HELSINKI — A lawmaker and pastor’s wife in Finland who was already being probed by police over a social media post in which she questioned the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland’s partnership with a Helsinki Pride event is now also facing a preliminary “incitement” investigation over a booklet that she wrote 15 years ago entitled “Male […]
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Second Circuit Court of Appeals will soon hear the case of a New York foster and adoption agency that is facing an ultimatum from the State to either allow placement in homes where there is not both a mother and a father or discontinue its child placement services altogether. The court […]
WASHINGTON — The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has proposed a rule that would provide protections for faith-based foster and adoption agencies that otherwise might lose federal grant funds for operating in accordance with their religious convictions — namely in declining to place children in households where there is not both a mother […]