Former Arkansas Governor and talk show host Mike Huckabee told a crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference that America needs to repent.
“These are the things that I know,” Huckabee said. “I know there is a God, and I know this nation would not exist had he not been the midwife of its birth. And I know that this nation exists by the providence of his hand, and if this nation forgets our God, then God will have every right to forget us.”
“I hope that we repent before we ever have to receive his fiery judgment,” Huckabee continued.
Huckabee said that it was time for people of faith to rise up when the government attempts to silence them on issues that matter such as abortion. He said that it’s time for the government to be scaled back, not the impact of people of faith.
Huckabee was particularly pointed on the issue of abortion.
“A society that sacrifices its own children is no better than the ancient Philistines,” Huckabee said.
A group of atheists is trying to force the 9/11 Museum to remove the “Miracle Cross” because they say its existence in the museum violates the Constitution.
The “Miracle Cross” is a 17-foot cross-shaped beam that was found in the rubble of 9/11. The cross was displayed at Ground Zero and many workers on the site considered it a source of comfort and hope in the midst of the death and destruction.
The anti-Christian group American Atheists says the cross is part of religious history, not American history, and says that its existence in the 9/11 Museum that opens in May violates the separation of church and state.
The Museum is on land owned by the Port Authority and financed by taxpayers.
The atheist group says that if the cross is displayed, that his group wants a similar item such as a plaque that reads, “atheists died here too.”
Federal Judge Reena Raggi appeared to be skeptical of the claims by the atheists.
“There are countless cases of museums including religious artifacts in their exhibits and it’s going to be described in a way that talks about the history of the object,” Judge Raggi said. “What is the problem here? An argument has been made that you’re trying to censor history.”
A ruling is expected in several months.
Millions of Americans drink excess amounts of coffee every day and many others drink energy drinks and energy shots.
Now, a study is showing that excessive use is creating addictions that lead to a dependence so strong it causes emotional problems. The problem has become so prevalent that there is now an official diagnosis for it: caffeine use disorder.
“We have people who say caffeine is interfering with their life. They keep saying they’re going to stop, but they can’t,” American University professor Laura Juliano said. “I’ve seen people who have gone to great lengths to get caffeine when it was unavailable. I knew one woman who pretty much ruined her husband’s tropical vacation because she spent half the day looking for caffeine.”
Some studies are suggesting that up to 90 percent of Americans consume caffeine on a regular basis.
Juliano said that despite the widespread use of the drug, there is very little research into the depth of the addiction problem. She speculated that because most people don’t see caffeine as a dangerous drug, it’s not a priority among researchers.
Federal experts are putting a positive spin on the record cold and ice that is covering the Great Lakes will help replenish levels hurt by low rain levels. The lakes hit a low in January 2013 and the increased rainfall will help the shipping industry who has been fighting low water levels.
However, the same officials had to admit that it was possible some areas could see flooding because of the high levels of ice and snow surrounding the lake and rivers that feed into it.
The Lakes are now over 91 percent covered, the highest total since 95 percent coverage in 1979. Ice coverage in surrounding rivers and streams could also cause flooding issues if they create ice dams as the ice pack starts to melt.
“Any additional rainfall on top of that snowpack would add to that flood threat,” said Keith Kompoltowicz, hydrology branch chief with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers told the AP. “We’re certainly paying very close attention to the weather in the next few weeks.”
The forecast from the Army Corps of Engineers says that Lake Superior will be more than a foot higher than last year. Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are also expected to be over a foot higher.
The Department of Homeland Security has stepped in and saved a Christian family from being deported to Germany where they likely would have lost custody of their children.
A spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told Fox News that they were going to allow the Romeike family to remain in the United States despite efforts by the Obama administration to have them deported.
Just days after a federal judge ruled the administration could deny the family’s request for asylum based on the grounds they were being discriminated against in Germany because of their Christian beliefs, DHS said that they would use “prosecutorial discretion” and officially drop any actions to deport the family.
Germany forced all children to attend state-approved schools and prohibits the homeschooling of children in an attempt to keep religious groups from being able to teach their faith to their children.
The family had initially been given asylum in 2010 on religious grounds but the Obama administration appealed that decision and won when the Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal on Monday.
While not completely frozen to the riverbed, Niagara Falls is putting on a display of winter beauty from the latest polar vortex.
The upper part of the waterfall has completely frozen in the bitter temperatures, creating the impression for the second time this winter that the legendary waterfall has completely frozen.
The water pressure keeps the falls from freezing to the riverbed meaning that under the stacks of ice the river continues to rage. However, none of the running water can be seen flowing over the falls as sheets of ice blanket the rocks and hills surrounding the falls.
Temperatures in the area have been hovering between zero and 9 degrees this week.
The cold freezing the falls is not the only record cold. In Iowa, Des Moines broke a low temperature record set in 1884. Atlantic City set a record not only for March 3rd but also for the entire month of March with 2 above zero, breaking a record dating back to 1874. Several towns around Washington DC also shattered records.
An anti-Christian group is seeking to have a memorial to men killed during World War I removed because it is in the shape of a cross in a public area.
The American Humanist Association sent a letter threatening a lawsuit if the 40-foot tall Bladensburg Cross is not immediately turn down. The anti-Christianists say that the location of the cross violates the First Amendment of the Constitution.
The 40-foot concrete memorial to 49 Prince George’s County men who were killed in combat during World War I was built by the American Legion in 1925. The monument was initially owned by the state but then deeded to the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission in 1960.
Steven Lowe, a man from Washington, claims in the complaint that he was “shocked” when he first saw the cross and gets “upset” every time he has to pass it because he is exposed to something that could possibly be Christian. Lowe is trying to perpetuate the myth that the existence of the cross in itself is the state promoting Christianity over other religions.
The town administrator said that the cross has historic and patriotic value and they will not remove it because of the anti-Christian group’s efforts.
The church isn’t violating any rules with the school that hosts their services. They have taken steps to try and accommodate neighbors of the school who are complaining about the traffic in the area on Sundays.
Still, the neighbors of City of God church meeting at Santa Monica elementary school continue to complain and harass the members and leadership of the church. They openly say they don’t want a Christian church in their neighborhood.
“I don’t want anything happening here on Sundays,” said Azin Ehsan, who moved into the neighborhood in 2001. “We have so much noise during the week, we just want it to be quiet. They should find a better venue.”
Azin Ehsan has rebuffed the church’s efforts to work with her and two other neighbors. They met with school officials to complain about the church’s being allowed in their neighborhood and use of the school.
Another neighbor thinks the reason of the people are complaining is that they have an issue with Christians.
“Nobody complains when John Adams [Middle School] has football games. I don’t hear about people writing letters about what a nuisance that is but suddenly, the church for an hour makes a different noise and the community is in an uproar?” Sidonie Smith asked. “We can’t have a double standard about noise in the community.”
It wasn’t that long ago that most of the winners in major award shows like the Academy Awards would thank God before anyone else. That has faded in recent years.
So it is not surprising that many major media outlets noted that when Matthew McConaughey won Best Actor for his role in “Dallas Buyers Club” Sunday night that they pointed out his strong thank you to God.
“First off I want to thank God, because that’s who I look up to. He’s graced my life with opportunities that I know are not of my hand or any other human hand,” McConaughey said in his speech. “He has shown me that it’s a scientific fact that gratitude reciprocates. In the words of the late Charlie Laughton, who said, ‘When you got God you got a friend and that friend is you.'”
He went on to thank his family with special thanks to his mother and his late father.
Critics immediately pounced on the actor for his speech, slamming his credit to God.
“Just stop the stupid God talk,” wrote one critic quoted by Fox News. “I thought we could get through the Oscars without someone thanking God but no he had to ruin it….”
Parts of the deep south found themselves coated in ice Monday morning while residents along the east coast are digging out from up to a foot of snow.
Airports from Kansas City, Missouri through Washington, DC saw the delay or cancellation of thousands of flights because of a band of snow that covered over half the nation. Parts of St. Louis and Indianapolis had area receive as much as a foot of snow while surrounding areas saw three to six inches.
The snowfall turned to sleet and ice further south. Parts of Arkansas, southern Tennessee and northern Mississippi faced power outages and impassable roads with some locations coated in more than an inch of ice.
Weather forecasters say the snow removal and ice removal will be harder than normal because of the weight of the ice and snow. Heavy moisture from the Gulf of Mexico helped fuel the storm.