PA Uses Archaeology ‘To Rewrite History of Palestine’

The Palestinian Authority is renewing an archaeology dig in Shechem, which the Bible records was bought by Jacob (Yaakov). The director of the PA's Department of Antiquities, Hamdan Taha, says the dig will help in “writing or rewriting the history of Palestine.”

Muslim clerics often have rewritten the Bible, claiming that the “binding of Isaac (Yitzchak)" actually refers to Ishmael. Clerics in the Palestinian Authority and the entire Muslim world also have frequently argued that the Holy Temples never existed and that Rachel's Tomb at Bethlehem actually is an ancient Muslim holy site.

Shechem appears to be next in line. Taha told the Associated Press that the history of the area, including the Biblical period, is part of “Palestinian history.”

He added that the renewed dig of the Shechem site will “give Palestinians the opportunity to participate in writing or rewriting the history of Palestine from its primary sources."

More: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/146058

IRANIAN PASTOR MAY BE EXECUTED

Christian Solidarity World says Iranian-born Yousef Nadarkhani, who was arrested in 2009 and given the death sentence late last year, could have his sentence suspended on the grounds that he renounce his faith.

Those who know him say he is not likely to do that, for if he were disposed to giving it up, he would have done it long ago.



Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/07/14/evangelical-pastor-in-iran-may-face-death-if-doesnt-recant/#ixzz1SAynHjpo

NY Mayor Bloomberg to Officiate Same-Sex Marriage

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will controversially preside over one of the first gay marriages in New York at Gracie Mansion on Sunday July 24 for the consummation of two top staffers in his administration.

John Feinblatt, Bloomberg’s chief policy advisor and Department of Consumer Affairs Commissioner Jonathan Mintz will wed after being together for 14 years and having two young daughters. The wedding nuptials were first reported in the New York Times.

The Mayor has only married two other couples since taking office; his eldest daughter, Emma, and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Bloomberg said Thursday that he's "honored to be part of it."

Read more: http://newyork.christianpost.com/news/ny-mayor-bloomberg-to-officiate-same-sex-marriage-52025/

Ban Against Openly Gay Clergy Officially Lifted in PCUSA

The Presbyterian Church U.S.A. has officially cleared the way for openly gay men and women in same-sex relationships to be ordained as clergy.
The new policy goes into effect today after the church's assembly and 97 of the denomination's 173 presbyteries approved the change within the church’s constitution. The move represents a major change in the history of the 2.8 million-member Presbyterian denomination.

“The new policy for the Presbyterian Church becomes official on Sunday and a number of churches will mark the moment with prayer and rejoicing in their Sunday services,” according to a press release from the members of the More Light Presbyterians.

During the past several years, the debate has rambled on with a majority of church members previously rejecting changes that would allow noncelibate gays and lesbians to be ordained.

More:
http://www.christianpost.com/news/ban-against-openly-gay-clergy-officially-lifted-in-pcusa-52110/

CISCO EMPLOYEE FIRED FOR AUTHORING BOOK FAVORING TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE

Are you supposed to have sex at work? I guess it depends on your profession, but for most of us the answer is “no.” Why then is corporate America obsessed with training about sex?

As described in several recent columns by Mike Adams, I was fired as a vendor by Cisco for my conservative beliefs about sex and marriage even though my beliefs were never expressed on the job. When a homosexual manager found out on the Internet that I had authored a book giving evidence that maintaining our current marriage laws would be best for society, he couldn’t tolerate me and requested I be fired. An HR executive canned me within hours without ever speaking to me. This happened despite the fact that the leadership and teambuilding programs I led always received high marks (even from the homosexual manager!).

How could an experienced HR professional commit such a blatant act of discrimination unless the Cisco culture was decidedly tilted left? Why didn’t Cisco’s relentless emphasis and training on “inclusion and diversity” serve to prevent this? Maybe it’s because “inclusion and diversity” means something different to corporate elites than to normal Americans. That’s why their training didn’t prevent the problem but actually created an environment of intolerance that led to the problem.


More: http://townhall.com/columnists/frankturek/2011/06/28/sex_at_work/page/full/

New York archbishop: ‘believers will soon be hauled into court’ for questioning gay ‘marriage’

NEW YORK, July 8, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - American Christians may one day find themselves facing legal penalties simply for believing marriage can only exist between a man and a woman, a fate already suffered by believers in other countries, said the leader of America’s most influential Catholic pulpit this week.

Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York reflected on his blog Thursday on the recent legalization of gay “marriage” in New York, and what repercussions true marriage supporters can expect in the future.

He called it “haunting” that the marriage bill became law on the day Catholics celebrate the feast of the Birth of John the Baptist, “whom King Herod would behead because the saint dared to defend the God-given truth about marriage.”

“If the experience of those few other states and countries where this is already law is any indication, the churches, and believers, will soon be harassed, threatened, and hauled into court for their conviction that marriage is between one man, one woman, forever, bringing children into the world,” wrote the archbishop.

More: http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/new-york-archbishop-believers-will-soon-be-hauled-into-court-for-questionin

NETANYAHU REJECTS OBAMA'S CALL FOR A RETURN TO 1967 BORDERS

Prime minister reacts to Obama's Middle East speech, saying Palestinian state cannot come at Israel’s expense.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Thursday issued a quick response to US President Barack Obama's Middle East speech that was noticeably negative in tone.

While thanking Obama for his commitment to peace, the statement put out by the PMO said that the establishment of a Palestinian state cannot come at Israel’s expense.

More:

http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=221397

CONGRESSMAN ALLEN WEST GETS IT RIGHT ON ISRAEL

(WASHINGTON) --- Congressman Allen West (FL-22) released this statement today:


"Today's endorsement by President Barack Obama of the creation of a Hamas-led Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 borders, signals the most egregious foreign policy decision his administration has made to date, and could be the beginning of the end as we know it for the Jewish state.


From the moment the modern day state of Israel declared statehood in 1948, to the end of the 1967 Six Day War, Jews were forbidden access to their holiest site, the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City, controlled by Jordan's Arab army.


The pre-1967 borders endorsed by President Obama would deny millions of the world's Jews access to their holiest site and force Israel to return the strategically important Golan Heights to Syria, a known state-sponsor of terrorism.


Resorting to the pre-1967 borders would mean a full withdrawal by the Israelis from the West Bank and the Jewish neighborhoods of East Jerusalem. Make no mistake, there has always been a Nation of Israel and Jerusalem has been and must always be recognized as its rightful capital.


In short, the Hamas-run Palestinian state envisioned by President Obama would be devastating to Israel and the world's 13.3 million Jews. It would be a Pavlovian style reward to a declared Islamic terrorist organization, and an unacceptable policy initiative.


America should never negotiate with the Palestinian Authority- which has aligned itself with Hamas. Palestine is a region, not a people or a modern state. Based upon Roman Emperor Hadrian's declaration in 73 AD, the original Palestinian people are the Jewish people.


It's time for the American people to stand by our strongest ally, the Jewish State of Israel, and reject this foreign policy blunder of epic proportions.


While the winds of democracy may blow strong in the Middle East, history has demonstrated that gaps in leadership can lead to despotic regimes. I have questions for President Obama: 'Who will now lead in Egypt?' and 'Why should American taxpayers provide foreign aid to a nation where the next chapter in their history may be the emergence of another radical Islamic state?'


President Obama has not stood for Israel or the Jewish people and has made it clear where the United States will stand when Palestine attempts to gain recognition of statehood by the United Nations. The President should focus on the real obstacle to security- the Palestinian leadership and its ultimate goal to eliminate Israel and the Jewish people."

PCUSA Votes to Allow Openly Gay Clergy

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has become the fourth Protestant denomination in the U.S. to allow the ordination of gay and lesbian clergy.
It follows a majority vote by the 173 presbyteries (district governing bodies) on Tuesday to change the body’s constitution in order to allow openly gay people in same-sex relationships to be ordained as ministers, elders and deacons.

The move does away with the constitutional requirement for clergy to live “in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness.”

It also ends 33 years of wrangling between supporters and opponents of the move and reverses the outcome of a key vote two years ago, when the majority of presbyteries blocked the proposal.

Last year, the PC(USA)'s highest legislative body voted to remove the ban against noncelibate homosexual clergy. It was the fourth time since 1997 that the General Assembly passed such a resolution. Previously, the measure was rejected each time by the denomination's presbyteries. A majority vote from the presbyteries is required to ratify the overture.
More: http://www.christianpost.com/news/pcusa-votes-to-allow-openly-gay-clergy-50176/

Wiccans, Druids, & ‘Earth-Centered Groups’ Get Outdoor Chapel at Air Force Academy

Colorado Springs, CO is seen by many as the center of the Christian evangelical community in the American West. So it is more than ironic that the United States Air Force Academy, also based in Colorado Springs, has just opened a prayer circle and Stonehenge-like area so that its Wiccans, Druids, and “earth-centered groups” have a place to worship.

“This outdoor worship space is something we have created to help people of all religions,” Lt. Gen. Michael Gould, the academy’s superintendent, told The Gazette before a ribbon-cutting on the site.

So how many people will this benefit? The Gazette says there are 10 cadets who regularly attend “earth-centered” worship services, which encompasses New Age religion, paganism, Druids, ancient Norse beliefs, and Wicca.

More:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/wiccans-druids-earth-centered-groups-get-outdoor-chapel-at-air-force-academy/

Rev. David Wilkerson Killed in TX Car Crash

Rev. David Wilkerson, founding pastor of Times Square Church in New York City and author of the well-known book The Cross and the Switchblade, was killed Wednesday in a head-on collision in Texas. He was 79.

"It is with deepest of sadness that we have to inform you of the sudden passing of Reverend David Wilkerson, our founding pastor," Times Square Church Senior Pastor Carter Conlon said in a statement on the church website.

Conlon added that details of the family's wishes and a memorial service would be provided as information became available.

Wilkerson was driving east on U.S. 175 in Texas Wednesday afternoon, and moved into the opposite lane where a tractor trailer was driving westbound. The truck driver saw the car and tried to move out of the way, but still collided with the pastor's car head on, according to Public Safety Trooper Eric Long.

It's unclear what caused Wilkerson to veer into the other lane. His wife Gwen was also involved in the crash and rushed to the hospital, along with the truck driver.

Wilkerson was pronounced dead on the scene.

More: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2011/April/Rev-David-Wilkerson-Killed-in-TX-Car-Crash/

Many Born-Again Christians Hold Universalist Views, Barna Finds

One in four born-again Christians hold universalist thoughts when it comes to salvation, according to a new Barna analysis of trend data.

Twenty-five percent of born-again Christians said all people are eventually saved or accepted by God. A similar proportion, 26 percent, said a person’s religion does not matter because all faiths teach the same lessons.

And an even higher proportion, 40 percent, of born-again Christians said they believe Christians and Muslims worship the same God.

Barna defined universalism as the belief that all human beings will eventually be saved after death. The California-based research and polling firm defines born-again Christians as people who have made “a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today, and who believe they will go to heaven after death because they confessed their sins and accepted Jesus Christ as their savior.

According to the Barna analysis, 43 percent of Americans in general agreed with the statement “It doesn’t matter what religious faith you follow because they all teach the same lessons,” while 54 percent disagreed.

More: http://www.christianpost.com/news/many-born-again-christians-hold-universalist-views-barna-finds-49883/