Mojave Cross Stolen

Last weekend, thieves stole away the renowned 7-foot metal cross in the Mojave Desert, which was first erected in 1934 as a World War I memorial. The Mojave Cross is recognizable across the world as a famed landmark, but recently has been the centre of controversy. A legal protest was filed to remove the cross because it was beleived to be religiously exclusive and therefore did not properly represent the many Jewish (or those of other faiths) Americans who lost their lives during World War I.

A local court ordered its removal, but last month the Supreme Court overruled this ruling, and scolded the lower court for concentrating "solely on the religious aspects of the cross, divorced from its background and context."

This particular "cross in the desert evokes far more than religion. It evokes thousands of small crosses in foreign fields marking the graves of Americans who fell in battles, battles whose tragedies are compounded if the fallen are forgotten," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the 5-4 decision.

The group in charge of the cross, the Veterans of Foreign Wars have vowed to find or replace the war memorial, says the Washington Post.

(To read the full story, please go to http://washingtonpost/onfaith/com)

Rick Warren and Saddleback Promote the Cause of Orphans and Adoption

This last Monday, the world renowned church Saddleback founded by Rick Warren (author of The Purpose Driven Life,”) hosted the Saddleback Civil Forum on Orphans and Adoption. A team of expert speakers was assembled to speak at the event which aimed to sensitive Americans to the possibilities of trans-national adoptions as a way of easing the suffering experienced by so many children.

Thousands of people attended this event in person and online through a live webcast as they sought more information about the global orphan crisis and ways they can help.

"Orphans and vulnerable children are not a cause," Saddleback Pastor Rick Warren emphasised. "They are a biblical mandate and they are a social mandate that we cannot ignore.

"Imagine a country half the size of the United States; that's how many orphans there are in the world. We're not talking about a small problem here."

Dr. Susan Hillis, senior HIV scientist at the Center for Disease Control, informed the audience that currently there are 163 million orphans in the world. Only six nations in the world have populations that exceed that number.

While the number alone may seem overwhelming, Hillis has been encouraged by the tremendous response of churches to the orphan crisis.

In Ukraine, churches have helped reduce the number of children who are in institutions or on the streets from 300,000 to 30,000, Hillis highlighted. The mother of eight adopted children has seen a fire ignited in the hearts of pastors in the east European country and churches really making a dent in the problem.

"What I'm seeing is a movement of God through the church," she said Monday, adding that she's sensing the movement around the world, says the Christian Post.

(To read the full article, please go to http://christianpost.com)

Church of England Faces Further Controversy over Women Bishops

The Church of England on Saturday released draft legislation that would open up the way for women to become bishops. It is expected that these new proposals would create great controversy and possibly even division, as most of the provisions accommodating opponents to female bishops were disregarded.

In a 142-page report, the revision committee acknowledged "the fact" that they "have not been able to come up with a set or proposals that everyone now says that they can live with." But the committee went on to state that the conclusions they reached reflect what the majority of them believe to be "both principled and pragmatic."
"The status quo, with women able to minister as priests but not as bishops, no longer accords with the wish of the majority of the Synod," the report states. "But the journey to a new destination remains contested and challenging."

The new draft will be debated at the General Synod in July.

Opponents of female bishops, including some in the review committee, have indicated that if such legislation is approved and adopted, they "will seriously have to consider whether they can continue to hold office within the Church of England, or continue as members of it," says the Christian Post.

(For the full story, please go to http://christianpost.com)

Obama Death Prayer Page on Facebook

In just a few weeks, well over a million people have signed up as ‘fans’ of a Ohio-based Facebook page that seemingly prays for Barack Obama’s death.

The page's title is, "Dear Lord, this year you took my favorite actor, Patrick Swayze. You took my favorite actress, Farah Fawcett. You took my favorite singer, Michael Jackson. I just wanted to let you know, my favorite President is Barack Obama. Amen."

The page’s owner has chose to remain anonymous but is reported to have posted that the page should be taken lightly. Other fans of the page agree with one writing on the wall, "Chill out. It was just a joke (and a funny one at that.)"

Others have strongly disagreed, with someone else posting: "Since when is it OK to pray that the father of two young girls should die, just because you disagree with his politics?" Another poster wrote. "Oh, it’s just a joke? Then not funny."

The page has attracted attention from the secret service. The U.S. attorney's office stated that incidents such as this are about determining what free speech is, and what constitutes a clear threat.

Facebook said while the company is sensitive to content that includes hate speech and threats of violence, this particular page is not in violation of company policies and thus there are no plans to remove it.

(To read the full article, please go to http://www.10tv.com).

Muslim Leader Condemns NY Attack

The following is a transcript of comments recently made at the National Press Club by Naseem Mahdi, national vice president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in the U.S.:
"We live in an expanding universe but the world is shrinking daily and it is so highly important for us all to discover and follow the paths that lead to peace.

"I am going to make a few brief comments prompted by the recent attempted bombing in New York, but necessitated by much broader considerations.

"Islam condemns terrorism unreservedly and totally.

"The Holy Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, India, had declared over 120 years ago that there is no place or justification found in Islam for violence whatsoever.

"He said that Islam requires all Muslims to live in peace and harmony wherever they may be.

"It is thus the duty and responsibility of all Muslims living in the U.S. to be loyal to the flag and to be law-abiding citizens.

"It is clear from the events happening all around that a small, fanatic, extremist minority of Muslims has hijacked the faith and continues to mislead and misguide the Muslims and ruin their total life.

"In my considered opinion, such fanatics present a distorted view of Islam based on false and misguided interpretations.

"For example such people say that it is not necessary for a Muslim to follow any non-Islamic government...This is utterly false.

"If the vast majority of reasonable, peace-loving and law-abiding population of Muslims living in the US do not speak out and speak out loudly this will continue and ultimately ruin the lives, economic and social, of all Muslims and the community at large.

"I am calling today on ALL MUSLIMS IN THE U.S. to join me in condemning all actions of violence and terror caused or carried out by anyone whoever he or she may be.

"I call on all of them to boldly claim and express with their tongue and action that they are loyal and law-abiding and obedient citizens of the United States of America.
"This is fully in accord with the teachings of Muhammad, peace be on him, the Holy Founder of Islam, who said that hubbul watanay minal eeman..

"Love of one's homeland, one's place of residence, is a part of the Muslim's faith..
"It is high time that Muslims living in the U.S. wake up to their responsibilities and declare openly and repeatedly and loudly that they stand for peace and loyalty and are proud of it and that this is in fact what Islam itself requires of them.

"Let me end by being totally forthright.

"I say to those among Muslims living in the U.S. who are not loyal or who do not want to be loyal that they are benefiting and enjoying all that this open, free, country has to offer and yet they say that their loyalties are to another country or government.
"I want to say to such people that they are not only living a false and hypocritical life but that they are thus also ungrateful and my advice to them is to be bold and leave and go and live in the lands where their loyalties belong."

(For more in this topic, please go to http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith)

Serious Health Risks for Jordan River Baptisms

Gidon Bromberg, of Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME), recently spoke about the extreme healty dangers which are posed to participating in baptism ceremonies in the River Jordan.

"If you drink the water, you're likely to get diarrhea or stomach problems, and if you have a cut, you will probably get a rash," he told AOL News. "Israel bans people from being baptized here, and the Jordanians advise against it, but it's still hard to stop people."

What is more is that it seems the Jordan River, important to all three major monotheistic religions, is drying up. Since the 1930s, the amount of water flowing has dwindled from 1.3 billion cubic meters to just 20 million cubic meters. This is because Israel, Syria and Jordan consume up to 98 percent of the river water for their own uses. What is left behind is extremely polluted.

At Alumot Dam, just a few miles downriver from Yardenit, the official Israeli site for baptism, raw sewerage is allowed to pour into the river. The smell is so bad that it is difficult to stand beside the river for any length of time.

FoEME recently released two studies on the damage that has been done to the Jordan River, and on its possible rehabilitation.

"We have lost at least 50 percent of the biodiversity in and around the river due to the near total diversion of fresh water. Some 400 million cubic meters of water annually are urgently needed to bring the river back to life," said Munqeth Mehyar, the Jordanian director of FoEME.

While that sounds like a massive and expensive task, other studies how shown how Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank could together save over a billion cubic meters of water using better conservation, at prices cheaper than desalination.

"In the middle of the desert we continue to flush our toilets with fresh water rather than using gray water (water that has been used for washing dishes or showering), and we continue to grow tropical fruits for export," Bromberg told AOL. "We can do much better in reducing water loss, and we need to treat and reuse all of the sewage water that we produce."

Bromberg believes that rehabilitating the Jordan River would also help stabilize the Dead Sea, which is shrinking ever year.

(For the full story, please go to http://www.aolnews.com)

Bible Written By Drunks Says Pop Star

A hugely controversial Polish pop star is faced with the possibility of a hefty fine or even a jail sentence after she publicly commented that the Bible was authored by drunks and smokers of “herbal cigarettes”.

Dorota Rabczewska, is renowned for unashamedly flashing flesh, and also a string of popular hits, has now been charged by prosecutors in Warsaw for extremely insensitive comments she made in an interview of over a year ago.

Going by the stage name of Doda, the 26-year-old ruffled religious feathers in Catholic Poland by saying that she held more belief in dinosaurs than the Bible because "it is hard to believe in something written by people who drank too much wine and smoked herbal cigarettes." This prompted furious Catholic groups to lodge numerous complaints against her.

"It is clear that Doda thinks that the Bible was written by drunkards and junkies," said Ryszard Nowak, chairman of the Committee for the Defence Against Sects, an organisation dedicated to protecting Christian values. "I believe that she committed a crime and offended the religious feelings of both Christians and Jews."

If found guilty the pop star faces a two-year jail sentence or a hefty fine under Polish blasphemy laws, says the Telegraph.

(To read the full article, please go to http://www.telegraph.co.uk)