ModernGnosis.org

From: http://www.independentmail.com/news/2008/jul/18/anderson-man-batters-gay-son-home/

ANDERSON COUNTY — Violence broke out Sunday in Anderson when an 18-year-old man returned home from a gay pride parade and was assaulted by his father.

According to the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office, the battering took place about 1 p.m. Sunday on P Street.

During the assault, the teen’s 49-year-old father yelled, cursed, swung a baseball bat, prayed and tried to “cast the demon of homosexuality out of him,” according to the teen’s version of events to Deputy S.C. Weymouth, the incident report states.

About 2 p.m. Wednesday, the teen said his father punched him when he returned to the house for clothes that he left on Sunday, the report states.

The teen told deputies that his father “has a problem with him being gay and that is why he hit him with the baseball bat Sunday,” Weymouth said in his report.

They’re finally understanding that separation of church and state doesn’t just protect the state, but the church as well….

From: http://www.wwrn.org/article.php?idd=28498&sec=20&cont=6

“Evangelicals say faith is now too political”

By Rachel Zoll and Eric Gorski (AP, May 3, 2008)

Washington, USA - Conservative Christian leaders who believe the word “evangelical” has lost its religious meaning plan to release a starkly self-critical document saying the movement has become too political and has diminished the Gospel through its approach to the culture wars.

The statement, called “An Evangelical Manifesto,” condemns Christians on the right and left for “using faith” to express political views without regard to the truth of the Bible, according to a draft of the document obtained Friday by The Associated Press.

“That way faith loses its independence, Christians become `useful idiots’ for one political party or another, and the Christian faith becomes an ideology,” according to the draft.
Continue reading ‘Separation of Church and State’ »

From: http://apnews1.iwon.com//article/20080509/D90ID8CG0.html

NECEDAH, Wis. (AP) - A sheriff’s deputy discovered the remains of a 90-year-old woman on a toilet in a house she apparently shared with a woman and two children.

Juneau County District Attorney Scott Southworth charged 35-year-old Tammy Lewis and 57-year-old Alan Bushey on Friday with two felony counts of being a party to causing mental harm to a child. Southworth also charged Lewis with obstructing an officer, a misdemeanor.

According to a criminal complaint filed Friday, Bernice Metz contacted the Juneau County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday and asked if a deputy could check on her 90-year-old sister, Magdeline Alvina Middlesworth. Metz said no one had heard from Middlesworth for some time.

When Deputy Leigh Neville-Neil arrived at the house in the town of Necedah, she encountered Lewis, also known as Sister Mary Bernadett, the complaint said. Lewis initially refused to allow the deputy to check on Middlesworth, telling her Middlesworth was on vacation but she didn’t know where or how long she would be gone.

The deputy told Lewis she needed to be sure Middlesworth was alive and well. Lewis began to tear up but told the deputy Middlesworth was fine.

When the deputy asked to come inside again, Lewis told her she had to go in and call her “superior.”

When Lewis returned, she seemed calmer, and she let the deputy inside.

The house smelled of incense and burnt wood, had religious materials everywhere and also had religious hymns playing on the stereo, according to the complaint.

Continue reading ‘Body of woman, 90, found on toilet in inhabited Wis. home’ »

From: http://www.tampabays10.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=79533

Land ‘O Lakes, Florida — The stories in the news about inappropriate relationships between teachers and students have been overwhelming.  There was even a substitute teacher in New Port Richey who got in trouble after investigators say she had a relationship with an underage student.

Well, another Pasco County substitute teacher’s job is on the line, but this time it’s because of a magic trick.

The charge from the school district — Wizardry!

Substitute teacher Jim Piculas does a 30-second magic trick where a toothpick disappears then reappears.

But after performing it in front of a classroom at Rushe Middle School in Land ‘O Lakes, Piculas said his job did a disappearing act of its own.

“I get a call the middle of the day from the supervisor of substitute teachers.  He says, ‘Jim, we have a huge issue.  You can’t take any more assignments.  You need to come in right away,’” he said.

When Piculas went in, he learned his little magic trick cast a spell that went much farther than he’d hoped.

“I said, ‘Well Pat, can you explain this to me?’  ‘You’ve been accused of wizardry,’ [he said]. Wizardry?” he asked.

Tampa Bay’s 10 talked to the assistant superintendent with the Pasco County School District who said it wasn’t just the wizardry and that Picular had other performance issues, including “not following lesson plans” and allowing students to play on unapproved computers.

Piculas said he knew nothing about the accusations.

“That… I think was embellished after the fact to try to cover what initially what they were saying to me,” he said.

After the magic trick, Rushe’s principal requested Piculas be dismissed.  Now, Piculas believes the incident may have bewitched his ability to get a job anywhere else.

“I still have no idea what my discipline involves because I’ve never received anything from the school district actually saying what it entails,” said Piculas.

As a substitute teacher, the Pasco County School District considers Piculas to be an “at will employee.” That means the district doesn’t need to have cause for not bringing him back at all.

By Jane O’Brien (BBC, April 26, 2008)

Washington, USA - US lawmakers are investigating whether to cut government funding for health education programmes that promote sexual abstinence until marriage.

The move follows a report earlier this year from America’s leading health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which revealed one in four teenage girls has a sexually transmitted disease.

Opponents of abstinence education say the approach ignores the fact that teenagers are sexually active and fails to give them accurate medical information or advice on safer sex.

“We get sex-ed classes in school and that should be where teens get the right information - but that isn’t happening,” says 15-year-old Mildred, from Arizona, who volunteers as a peer educator with the pro-choice organisation Planned Parenthood.

“They don’t touch on subjects like sexuality, STDs (sexually transmitted diseases), birth control - it’s not allowed because of abstinence-only education. It leaves you on a cliff-hanger - and a lot of teenagers become sexually active in their middle school years.”

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