Tag Archives: Government

White House Will Not Support Newly Proposed Iran Amendment

The White House has stated that they may veto a proposed amendment that would require Pastor Saeed Abedini and three other Americans held captive in Iran be released as part of any Iranian nuclear deal.

“That is simply unbelievable. Refusing to discuss the Americans being held hostage by Iran at the bargaining table and rejecting any congressional attempt to make any deal with Iran contingent on the release of the Americans is unacceptable. It’s quite frankly appalling,” the American Center for Law and Justice wrote in an update on Thursday.”

Naghmeh Abedini, Saeed’s wife, continues  to advocate for her husband’s release said,

“Our government must not forget that Saeed is not being held by the reformists with whom they negotiate, but by radical hardliners who oppose what he represents – a Christian convert and a U.S. citizen,” she said.  “We cannot leave my husband’s fate in the hands of these radicals. I implore our government to remember the urgency of bringing Saeed home to our family.”

The release was a response to a statement by White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest.

“Our first priority is to keep Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. “

“The President would certainly veto any amendment or any bill with an amendment that undermined the unanimous compromise that was reached in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee or that interfered with the ongoing negotiations,” Earnest said.

“Certainly a provision, an amendment, that made this nuclear deal contingent on Iran’s release of those three American citizens would fall, I think frankly, into both categories.”

California Bill Would Overturn Government Mandate Churches Pay For Abortions

A proposed bill in California is aiming to overturn an order of the California Department of Managed Health Care that requires all insurance companies in the state to cover abortions, effectively forcing all churches and religious groups to pay for abortions.

“Abortion is a basic health care service,” Director Michelle Rouillard wrote to the seven insurance companies that refused to offer coverage.“All health plans must treat maternity services and legal abortion neutrally.”

The action of the CDMHC was widely believed to be in response to two Roman Catholic/Jesuit universities to no longer pay for abortions.

California Assembly member Shannon Grove has presented a proposal that would overturn the mandate along with making it illegal for entities to be punished in any way for not providing abortion coverage.

“Notwithstanding any other law, a health care service plan is not required to include abortion as a covered benefit. The director shall not deny, suspend, or revoke the license of, or otherwise sanction or discriminate against, a licensee on the basis that the licensee excludes coverage for abortions pursuant to this section,” A.B. 1254 reads.

Casey Mattox of the Alliance Defending Freedom testified in support of the bill.

“Assembly Bill 1254 would simply restore the status quo ante and ensure California’s continued compliance with its obligations under the Weldon Amendment,” he stated. “It would not prohibit insurers from covering any legal health service, but religious employers would remain free, as before, to contract for insurance plans that did not require them to pay for abortions.”

“Churches and other religious employers should not be coerced by the government into violating their fundamental beliefs by being party to elective abortion,” Mattox continued. “When Congress enacted the Weldon Amendment, it sought to ensure that the government could never strong-arm pro-life employers into paying for abortion coverage. California is blatantly ignoring federal law and pushing its abortion ideology on citizens while still receiving taxpayer money.”

Committee Votes To Overturn Abortion “Non-Discrimination” Act

A bill to overturn a law that bans religious groups from being able to enforce their beliefs in their organization regarding abortion has advanced in a Congressional committee.

The D.C. City Council passed a bill in 2014 called the “Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Amendment Act” that amended a 1977 law to prohibit pro-life organizations from discriminating against any employee who has an abortion.

The bill means that faith-based groups that believe abortion is murder would not be able to fire an employee for violating the faith of the group in regards to abortion, sex outside of marriage or adultery even if the employee signed a document they agree to live by Biblical standards.

The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) swiftly condemned the measure.

“The Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Amendment Act of 2014 prevents religious institutions, other faith-based employers, and pro-life advocacy organizations from making employment decisions consistent with their sincerely held religious beliefs or their moral and ethical views about the sanctity of human life,” an ADF letter stated.

Senators Ted Cruz and James Langford introduced measures in the Senate to void the D.C. law and Rep. Diane Black presented one in the House.  The House measure passed the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee 20-16.

President Obama would have to sign the measure for it to void the D.C. law.

Canadian Supreme Court Rules With Atheist Against Christian Prayers

The Canadian Supreme Court has ruled that a Christian prayer taking place at a town meeting is a violation of the law because it shows a preference for one religion over another.

The court had ruled on the appeal of a lower court’s ruling that the major of Saguenay had not violated an atheist’s rights by opening public meetings with a prayer.

“The prayer recited by the municipal council in breach of the state’s duty of neutrality resulted in a distinction, exclusion and preference based on religion …. which, in combination with the circumstances in which the prayer was recited, turned the meetings into a preferential space for people with theistic beliefs,” wrote the court.

“Although non‑believers could also participate, the price for doing so was isolation, exclusion and stigmatization. This impaired [plaintiff’s] right to exercise his freedom of conscience and religion.”

Because the decision is nationally binding, other cities across Canada immediately began removing any references to God from their public hearings.

However, Bruce Clemenger of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada said the decision was not as sweeping as anti-Christian groups claim it is.

“The Supreme Court did not ban offering prayers at government events, but they did offer guidance about when a prayer may cross a line,” said Clemenger.

“It was the circumstances and context of the prayer that the court found violated the neutrality of the state and contravened the religious freedom of an atheist who challenged the prayer.”

California Governor Orders Mandatory Water Restrictions

For the first time, the governor of California has ordered mandatory water restrictions on all residents, businesses and farms.

All cities and towns are required to immediately cut their water consumption by 25 percent.

State officials say the cut of 25% will save 1.5 million acre-feet of water over nine months.

“This historic drought demands unprecedented action,” Brown said at a press conference.  “We have to pull together and save water in every way we can.”

The state suffered its lowest snowpack ever over the winter.  Experts say that over 11 trillion gallons of water will be needed for California to recover from this drought emergency.

“It is such an unprecedented lack of snow, it is way, way below records,” said Frank Gehrke, chief of snow surveys for the California Department of Water Resources.

France To Step Up Monitoring of Terrorism Financing

French officials have announced they will increase monitoring of cash payments and small bank accounts in an attempt to stop the funding of homegrown terrorists.

Finance Minister Michel Sapin said that after the Islamic terrorist attacks that killed 17 people it was necessary to “fight against the use of cash and anonymity in the French economy.”

“It’s a terrorism that is low cost to carry out but has major impact,” Sapin told a news conference. “This low-cost terrorism feeds on fraud, money laundering and petty trafficking.”

The biggest change is that French account holders will not be allowed to make deposits of more than 1,000 euro in cash, down from 3,000 euro.  Foreign visitors had a higher cap of 15,000 euro but that will be cut to 10,000.  This is done for the benefit of tourism.

The government will also require anyone trying to exchange more than 1,000 euros in cash into other currencies to show an identity card.  And if more than 10,000 euros are transferred the government will be notified.

Pastors Thrown Out of Capital For “Appeal To Heaven”

A pastor’s group was thrown out of the U.S. Capital Visitor Center for their racial reconciliation event because the theme of the event included a reference to “an appeal to heaven.”

Bishop Harry Jackson, Jr. says the action against the High Impact Leadership Coalition is calling it a clear act of religious discrimination.

“They were aware of the original theme, but it seems as they looked into things that the question of God and heaven really caused them angst,” said Jackson.

“Unfortunately, we got pushed back and we felt it was discriminatory. And there is a tinge of religious prejudice in terms of our content, our theme, our focus. We felt that we needed to continue with the meeting anyway rather than get all tied up in a back-and-forth fight with the folks at the Capitol.”

Jackson said the representatives of the Capital told them they were being forced to leave because they were referring to God.

The Washington Hilton eagerly welcomed the group and their message.

“I think the real problem for me, personally, is that first a go ahead was given and the rules were followed as we had known them at that moment. Then questions come, content is questioned … and it seemed to me that there was some angst and concern that we were a biblically based, evangelical, black, Christian group,” Jackson told the Christian Post.

“Had we been more of another religious background or more interracial or there was a sense that there was more control over the event, it may have been different. But from where I sit, it seems like religious pushback, racial concern, about how this is going to look and what our intentions are going to be. However you envision it, it’s not the welcome we want based on using a public facility and following the rules,” he said.

The U.S. Capital Visitor Center would not answer questions from the Christian Post on the situation.

Obama Administration Admits Deceiving Israel; Issues Travel Warning

In what some observers are calling petty acts of revenge against Israel for Prime Minister Netanyahu’s planned speech to Congress, the Obama administration admitted they have been withholding information about negotiations with Iran from Israeli leaders.

Not only did the administration admit the withholding of information, they also attacked Israeli officials for what they called “cherry picking” of information for complaints about U.S. actions.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said “not everything you’re hearing from the Israeli government is an accurate depiction of the talks.”  Critics say, however, that if Israel’s descriptions are not accurate, why the administration is hiding the details of the negotiations.

Meanwhile, the State Department lashed out at Israel by issuing a travel warning to Americans advising them against travel to that nation.  The announcement puts Israel on the same level as Iran, Yemen and Nigeria in the eyes of the state department.

The report from the State Department even admits that while conditions in major cities are the same as metro areas around the world, they are still issuing a travel warning.

Satanists Put Up Display At Michigan Capitol

A group of Satanists have placed a display on the Michigan State Capitol grounds to mock the placement of nativity scenes in publicly available areas.

The Satanic Temple set up what they call the “Snaketivity Scene” that shows a snake wrapped around a book called “Revolt of the Angels.”  The whole thing is wrapped around the Satanic cross.

Satanic Temple spokeswoman Jex Blackmore said her group really doesn’t worship Satan despite the fact they’re called the Satanic Temple.

“Having our government endorse one singular viewpoint or method of celebrating the season is problematic when we have a diverse community of people in Michigan,” she said.

Senator Rick Jones, who was sponsoring the nativity scene on the Capitol grounds, said he representa “the light and not the darkness.”

“They could have put theirs up in July or April or sometime. They didn’t need to put it up in the Christmas season,” Jones said. “That’s OK. We’re going to ignore them. I’m not afraid of the snake people. I’m sure that Jesus Christ is not afraid.”

Christian Aid Mission Calls For Prayers For Kenya

The Christian aid group Christian Aid Mission is calling on the world’s believers to pray for the Christians of Kenya after a crackdown by the government on charity groups within the nation.

Amie Cotton with CAM says that al-Shabaab sympathizers had been using charity and non-profit organizations as a way to funnel money to the terrorist organization.  As a result, the government has banned all groups in the country.

A result of the ban is that churches in the region are closing down as terrorist groups intimidate those in the communities and the churches have no funding to try and fight the groups.  However, Cotton says God’s work is still going forward.

“Despite all of this, we still have reports that ministry is ongoing in multiple cities,” says Cotton.  “They go out every day, on the edge, knowing that terrorists have infiltrated. But they’re willing to go for the cause of Christ.”

Cotton says that despite the ban of NGOs, the group is still going to work through relationships with residents of the country.

“We have been in existence for over 60 years, and we have relationships with grass-roots Christian ministries that are indigenous to their cities and to Kenya as a whole,” Cotton answers.