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Today’s Buzz: Westboro Baptist’s $11M Problem; Transgender Pastor, & “It Made My Head Hurt!”
In today's buzz, read about how the United Methodist's supreme court ruled on their transgender pastor case; find out why Westboro Baptist needs to pay up... in the amount of $11 million; Why some Christians are embracing Scientology; YouVersion Beta 3 is out today; and a man hits his wife in the head with an onion. Go figure.
YouVersion Beta Release 3 is Out
YouVersion Beta R3 is now active. R3 includes many bug fixes and some new features. Some of the noticeable fixes and new features include: Link it- with Link it you have the ability to select multiple verses and get direct links to each of them. Remember Translation- when you leave YouVersion and come back we now remember your previous translation. Rate it- When you rate a piece of content the stars now display correctly. Journal dates- Journal date fixes. Check them out today at YouVersion.
Westboro Baptist Need to Cough up $11 Million
A federal jury has ruled that a fundamentalist Kansas church was wrong to picket the funeral of a fallen Marine in Maryland. The jury awarded $2.9 million in compensatory damages and $8 million in punitive damages to the family of Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder, who was killed in Iraq. It found that the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka invaded the family’s privacy and intentionally inflicted emotional distress when it demonstrated at Snyder’s funeral last year. The protesters carried signs with messages like “God hates fags” and “Thank God for dead soldiers.” The jury will now consider punitive damages. But the judge has already pointed out that the compensatory damage award is far more money than the defendants have. Read more here...
United Methodists Rule Transgender Pastor Can Keep His/Her Job
The United Methodist Church’s supreme court has upheld a bishop’s decision that a pastor who changed gender from female to male remains eligible to serve the church. In combining two separate docket items related to the Rev. Drew Phoenix, pastor at St. John’s United Methodist Church in Baltimore, the Judicial Council stated that it was not ruling on whether changing gender is a chargeable offense or violates minimum standards set by the church’s legislative body, the General Conference. Rather, the court said “a clergyperson’s standing cannot be terminated without administrative or juridical action having occurred and all fair process being accorded. “Because Phoenix is a clergy member in good standing, the ruling means Phoenix will continue to serve his church. But the subject of whether transgender clergy are eligible for appointment is likely to be among issues debated when the church’s General Conference convenes next April in Fort Worth, Texas. The United Methodist Church bars practicing homosexuals from being ordained but has nothing in its polity about transgender persons. More here...
Some Christian Pastors Embracing… Scientology?
Some Christian congregations, particularly in lower income, urban areas, are turning to an unlikely source for help—the Church of Scientology. Scientologists do not worship God, much less Jesus Christ. The church has seen plenty of controversy and critics consider it a cult. So why are observant Christians embracing some of its teachings? Two pastors who spoke recently with CNN explained that when it comes to religion, they still preach the core beliefs of Christianity. But when it comes to practicing what they preach in a modern world, borrowing from Scientology helps. How so? Read here...
Man Hits Wife In Head With Onion
Don’t know why… but this caught my eye: A man was arrested after he hit his wife in the back of the head with an onion. James Izzolena, 54, of Des Moines, had been drinking, became upset with his wife, Nicole Izzolena, 27, and threw an onion at her during an argument on Wednesday, police said. Police said James Izzolena admitted throwing the onion at his wife but said he didn’t mean to hit her. His wife told police it made her head hurt. Source.
Have a great day!
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This post has been viewed 588 times and was added on November 01, 2007 by Todd Rhoades. Filed under: Miscellaneous Personal Items from Todd Share this post with a friend right now! View reactions to this post at other blogs... You can really help us out by subscribing to our free RSS feed with your favorite feed reader, or here at Bloglines. Also, you can add us to your favorites at Technorati.
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I'm Todd Rhoades... the MMI guy. I'm also on the team at Leadership Network (although that doesn't mean that they endorse everything I write here). In my past life, I was the founder and developer of a website named ChurchStaffing.com.
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Posted by Andy McAdams
Thursday, November 01, 2007 at 12:47 PM
Post Your Comments:The last two buzz stories caught my attention and somehow I wish they could be connected. Actually I think that someone should hit those undiscerning pastors that have anything to do with L. Ron Hubbard and the so-called Church of Scientology in the head with an onion…for crying out loud.
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