‘Police are investigating a city councilwoman and her husband are under investigation for performing an exorcism on their 18 year old daughter.
Police have recommended the State Attorney’s Office file charges of battery and false imprisonment against Edgewater city councilwoman Debra Rogers and her husband, Daniel Rogers.
Investigators said the couple admitted they tried to exorcise the demons out of their daughter by pouring olive oil on her while they held her hands behind her back on June 27. [..]
Detective Brady said police believe this wasn’t the first time this happened. “This is bizarre, but this apparently was a normal occurrence.”
This time police found the teen’s clothes torn off in the struggle and she had bruises on her arm and knees.’
‘A man making a trip from Puerto Rico to South Florida to raise money for his religious education remains hospitalized Monday after he was struck down by a bolt of lightning which flew from clear blue sky on Sunday. He was selling religious materials when he was hit.
Hailu Kidane Marian was working with members of his religious group, selling religious materials door-to-door in a Northwest Miami-Dade neighborhood, when the bolt from the blue struck him down.
“I heard a boom, and I looked and the guy jumped back, and he just laid there, stiff,” said witness Maria Martinez. [..]
“He’s unconscious, he’s in a coma,” said Francisco Perez, leader of the Puerto Rico-based group. “It’s difficult what happened, you know, but what can we do? Things happen in life, but we still believe in God.”‘
‘In response to a minister’s complaint, a judge on Monday temporarily barred bare buttocks billboards that a bidet company had planned to put up in Broadway’s theater district on a building that houses a church.
State Supreme Court Justice Marcy Friedman ordered the temporary restraining order against raising the billboards at the request of the Rev. Neil Rhodes, pastor of the interdenominational Times Square Church.
The billboard ads, featuring naked buttocks with smiley faces, were to promote the Washlet, a bidet-toilet seat that uses warm water and air. They were to go up for 30 days beginning July 1 on two sides of the building at 51st Street and Broadway that houses the Times Square Church, which claims 8,000 members, and its Bible school and day care center.’
Followup to NYC Pastor Objects to Naked Display.
‘A female Muslim juror has been arrested in Britain after allegedly listening to an MP3 player under her hijab headscarf during a murder trial, police said Monday.
The woman in her early 20s was spotted by a fellow juror listening to music as she was meant to be helping try the case of a pensioner accused of bludgeoning his wife to death after 50 years of marriage.
She could now be charged with contempt of court and, if convicted, may be punished with an indefinite jail sentence and an unlimited fine.’
‘The Pope arrives in heaven, where St. Peter awaites him. St. Peter asks the Pope who he is.
The Pope : I am the Pope.
St. Peter: Who? There’s no such name in my book.
The Pope : I’m the representative of God on Earth.
St. Peter: Does God have a representative? He didn’t tell me…
The Pope : But I am the leader of the Catholic Church…
St. Peter: The Catholic church… Never heard of it… Wait, I’ll check with the boss. [..]’
‘Science can finally prove what Buddhists have sworn by for centuries – meditation really does sharpen and clear the brain.
Tests by Adelaide researchers have revealed that as people go further into a deep meditative state, their brain rhythms shift into a pattern of focus.
This supports long-standing beliefs that the practice can improve concentration levels and alertness in daily activities.
Alpha brainwaves, which are associated with focus and attention, initially increased and delta brainwaves, linked to drowsiness, decreased.
As participants went further into mediation the alpha brainwaves, too, started to decrease, as the brain no longer needed to make an effort to be alert.’
‘An Australian Catholic school is at the centre of an unholy row over claims it refused entry to a five-year-old boy with the surname Hell.
Alex Hell said St Peter the Apostle School, Melbourne, had welcomed his son Max when enrolled under his mother’s maiden name, Wembridge.
But they baulked when the family had a change of heart over the surname.
School officials now say Max has a place, but Mr Hell claims they changed their minds because of media attention.
He said he would not now be taking up the school’s offer.’
‘A Sydney woman charged with murdering her father and sister and seriously injuring her mother was apparently denied psychiatric treatment because of her parents’ alleged Scientology beliefs, a court has been told.
The 25-year-old woman, who cannot be named, appeared briefly in Bankstown Local Court today charged over the stabbing attacks at her family home in Revesby in Sydney’s south-west last Thursday.
She made no application for bail because she was unfit to be interviewed, her legal aid lawyer Wade Bloomfield told the court.
In a report tendered to the court, Dr Mark Cross, consultant psychiatrist and clinical director of Liverpool and Fairfield Mental Health Services said the woman was diagnosed with a psychotic illness at Bankstown Hospital in late 2006.
But her parents had refused her appropriate follow-up treatment.’
‘A bidet company’s advertising plans in Times Square are too cheeky for the pastor of a nearby church.
Rev. Neil Rhodes, pastor of the interdenominational Times Square Church, is asking a state court to block a billboard company from posting huge ads that feature naked buttocks with smiley faces on them. The display is to go up on two sides of the Broadway building that houses Rhodes’ church, its Bible school and day-care center.
“You walk into a church building, you have naked bodies before your eyes, how are you going to close your eyes and seek God?” Rhodes told the New York Post in an article published Sunday.’
‘A man said he failed the Massachusetts bar exam because he refused to answer a question about gay marriage, and claims in a federal lawsuit the test violated his rights and targeted his religious beliefs.
The suit also challenges the constitutionality of same-sex marriage, which was legalized in Massachusetts in 2003.
Stephen Dunne, who is representing himself in the case and seeks $9.75 million, said the bar exam was not the place for a “morally repugnant and patently offensive” question addressing the rights of two married lesbians, their children and their property. He said he refused to answer the question because he believed it legitimized same-sex marriage and same-sex parenting, which is contrary to his moral beliefs.’
‘A Polish court has issued eviction notices to a group of rebellious nuns who have defied Catholic Church orders to leave a convent they have occupied for two years.
The 64 nuns took over the building in 2005, rejecting the Vatican’s decision to replace their mother superior, who had taken decisions she said were based on religious visions and had upset other nuns.
The nuns and their superior in the southern city of Kazimierz Dolny have also ignored their expulsion from their order, the Sisters of the Family of Bethany. [..]
The building’s electricity was cut off in April, but sympathisers from the town have continued to provide food and water under cover of darkness. The nuns have on occasion thrown stones at journalists trying to speak to them.’
‘The floods that have devastated swathes of the country are God’s judgment on the immorality and greed of modern society, according to senior Church of England bishops.
One diocesan bishop has even claimed that laws that have undermined marriage, including the introduction of pro-gay legislation, have provoked God to act by sending the storms that have left thousands of people homeless.
While those who have been affected by the storms are innocent victims, the bishops argue controversially that the flooding is a result of Western civilisation’s decision to ignore biblical teaching.
The Rt Rev Graham Dow, Bishop of Carlisle, argued that the floods are not just a result of a lack of respect for the planet, but also a judgment on society’s moral decadence.’
‘A Mickey Mouse lookalike who preached Islamic domination on a Hamas-affiliated children’s television program was beaten to death in the show’s final episode Friday.
In the final skit, Farfour was killed by an actor posing as an Israeli official trying to buy Farfour’s land. At one point, the mouse called the Israeli a “terrorist.”
“Farfour was martyred while defending his land,” said Sara, the teen presenter. He was killed “by the killers of children,” she added.’
‘So truely devote Buddhist priests are not afraid of death; but they don’t normally seek it either, as this too would be an abnormal obsession with the physical world. The priests that chose to practice self-mummification were usually all older men, who knew they had limited time left to their lives anyway… and since the practice takes years to lead to a sucessful death and mummification, it cannot be characterized as an attempt to reach enlightenment quickly as a normal suicide might be. Rather, the intended purpose of this practice for these priests is to both push their ability to disregard their physical selves to the limit of their ability, and to try and leave an artifact of this struggle that will stand as a symbol of their beliefs to those that are priests after them.’
‘Germany has banned the makers of Tom Cruise’s new movie from filming at military sites in the country because the actor is a Scientologist.
The German defence ministry said Cruise has “publicly professed to being a member of the Scientology cult”.
Scientology masquerades as a religion to make money, Germany said, but leaders of the church reject this.
Cruise’s producing partner Paula Wagner said the star’s own convictions had no relation to the film’s content.’
‘Almost everything we think we know about the Bible and sex is wrong.
Instead of being a list of sexual shalt-nots, the Bible contains so much graphic eroticism that parents may want to keep the sacred text away from youth under age 18.
Indeed, that’s what 2,000 Hong Kong residents tried to do in May when they called on a Chinese decency commission to restrict the Bible to adults only because it contains passages that seem to give the okay to incest, rape, adultery and a father offering his daughters to strangers for sexual gratification.’
‘A Gary man claiming to be God wanted his slippers — right now.
Instead, he was arrested at a Merrillville Payless Shoes store.
Police filed two counts of attempted robbery, two counts of criminal confinement and intimidation charges against Richard Brewer Jr., Detective Jeff Rice said.
Brewer, 50, entered the store on Broadway about 1 p.m. Thursday, and asked two employees for socks and slippers. The employees gave Brewer the socks he was looking for, Rice said, and told him they didn’t have the slippers.
Rice said Brewer then moved closer to the employees and told them he was God.
“He said ‘When God speaks to you you’re supposed to give him everything,'” Rice said.’
‘Iran’s parliament on Wednesday voted in favor of a bill that could lead to the death penalty for persons convicted of working in the production of pornographic movies.
With a 148-5 vote in favor and four abstentions, lawmakers present at the Wednesday session of the 290-seat parliament approved that “producers of pornographic works and main elements in their production are considered corrupter of the world and could be sentenced to punishment as corrupter of the world.”
The term, “corrupter of the world” is taken from the Quran, the Muslims’ holy book, and ranks among the highest on the scale of an individual’s criminal offenses. Under Iran’s Islamic Penal Code, it carries a death penalty.
The “main elements” referred to in the draft include producers, directors, cameramen and actors involved in making a pornographic video.’
‘The Church of England today asked entertainment giant Sony to apologise and contribute a large donation for featuring a prominent British cathedral in a violent video game.
Church officials had earlier accused Sony of using the historic interior of Manchester Cathedral, where memorials for gun crime victims have been held, as the backdrop for parts of the new Playstation 3 game, Resistance: Fall of Man without permission.
David Marshall, the cathedral’s spokesman, said the church had received many emails supporting its stance and added that officials were set to meet tomorrow to discuss further action against Sony.’
‘With Islamist violence brewing in various parts of the world, the set of rules that seek to guide and justify the killing that militants do is growing more complex.
This jihad etiquette is not written down, and for good reason. It varies as much in interpretation and practice as extremist groups vary in their goals. But the rules have some general themes that underlie actions ranging from the recent rash of suicide bombings in Algeria and Somalia, to the surge in beheadings and bombings by separatist Muslims in Thailand.’
‘After checking in at the Mukti Bhawan hostel, guests have two weeks to die or else they are gently asked to leave.
The hostel — a short walk from the Ganges river in the northern Indian city of Varanasi — is a final stopover for elderly Hindus hoping they will shortly end up on one of the hundreds of funeral pyres lit on the riverbank each day.
“While the rest of the world celebrates a new life when a child is born, similarly we celebrate death,” said Bhairav Nath Shukla, the cheerful manager of Mukti Bhawan, one of several places offering shelter to outsiders wanting to die in the city.
Hindus believe that dying in Varanasi and having their remains scattered in the Ganges allows their soul to escape a cycle of death and rebirth, attaining “moksha” or salvation.’
‘A study in which teetotal Spanish nuns drank a regular half-liter of beer showed that beer may help reduce cholesterol levels, a group financed by the Spanish Beer Makers’ Association said on Thursday.
The study also showed that the beer did not need to contain alcohol or to be drunk in large quantities to be good for you.
The “magic” ingredient is hops.
“Hops, one of the basic components of beer, may provide benefits … in reducing levels of total cholesterol and triglycerides,” the Centre for Information on Beer and Health said in a statement.
The experiment did not appear to have won many new beer fans among the teetotal Cistercian nuns who took part, chosen on the basis of their steady lifestyle and balanced diet.’
‘Pope Benedict XVI is to become the first pontiff to harness solar power to provide energy for the Vatican, engineers say.
The deteriorating cement roof tiles of the Paul VI auditorium will be replaced next year with photovoltaic cells to convert sunlight into electricity.
The cells will generate enough power to light, heat or cool the hall, the Vatican engineers say.
Last year the Pope urged Christians not to squander the world’s resources.’
‘A Victorian Muslim schoolgirl had her headscarf airbrushed out of a class photograph in just one example of the discrimination Muslim students face, a parliamentary inquiry has heard.
While the majority of Victorian schools support students who wear hijab, some teachers needed more understanding of Islam, the Inquiry into Dress Codes and School Uniforms heard yesterday.
The Islamic Council of Victoria is urging the inquiry to support a “fundamental right” to freedom of religious observance as it applies to dress.’
‘Cardinal George Pell has warned Catholic politicians they face “consequences” in the life of the church should they vote for an “immoral” bill before the NSW Parliament to expand stem cell research.
In calling for a “no” vote, the Catholic Archbishop of Sydney said he wasn’t threatening excommunication.
However, he didn’t rule out that their vote would disqualify them as church members or “loosen” their bonds with the church, which has taken a strong pro-life position on therapeutic cloning.
Catholic MPs would need to seriously think about taking Holy Communion, the key sacrament, Dr Pell said, and “were certainly doing the wrong thing”.’
‘When thinking of technologically advanced societies pushing the envelope on alternative energy, the Amish of rural Middle America are about the last group that come to mind. Yet the conservative Christian religious sect known for their plain dress and abhorrence for modern conveniences such as automobiles and electricity is embracing solar power.
In Holmes County, Ohio, home to the world’s largest Amish community, an estimated 80% of Amish families now have photovoltaic panels. They use solar power for basic electrical needs like home lighting, powering sewing machines, and charging batteries for lights on horse-drawn buggies. The Amish have gone solar partly for safety concerns – gas lamps are a fire hazard – and partly out of legal requirements – transportation codes require electric lights on horse-drawn buggies. Another reason they are embracing solar power is to avoid connecting to the electric grid, something they feel would endanger their efforts to remain separated from the rest of American society.’
‘US officials said Saturday the suspects nabbed in a foiled Islamic terrorist plot to blow up New York’s main international airport courted support in South America and the Caribbean, including from Jamaat Al Muslimeen, which failed at a bold 1990 coup bid in Trinidad.
Four suspected Islamic extremists, including Abdul Kadir, a former member of Guyana’s parliament, were charged with conspiring to blow up jet-fuel supply tanks and pipelines at John F. Kennedy airport, the US Department of Justice said.
The plot had links to international terrorist cells in the Caribbean as well as South America, but was foiled well before it could be carried out, US Justice officials added.’
