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RELIGIOUS NEWS
U.S. Army Forced to Remove “God and Country” Sign By S.Deepthi The U.S Army has ordered Arizona Recruiting Center in Phoenix to take down a sandwich board outside its office saying “on a mission for both God and Country” after receiving complaints from a liberal organization, citing a breach of protocol. The sign has been posted outside the recruiting office since last October was removed after receiving complaints. A photo of the sandwich board had gone viral online, drawing fury from atheists and church state separation advocates. The person who voiced most against the sign was Mikey Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. An article by Weinstein was published in The Daily Kos; the article decried the sign as being a “painfully pathetic poster”, “poster of shame” and a “stunning unconstitutional disgrace.” Weinstein wrote “The poster at the Phoenix armed forces recruitment hub is an abominable slap in everybody’s face who took time to digest, understand and swear the ser-
vice member’s sacred oath to protect and defend the United States Constitution, let alone those who made the sacrifice for rights and values.” Weinstein stated that he is on an aggressive fight against fundamentalist Christian extremism. It is believed that he was very influential in the removal of the sign, although the Army Times said that the sandwich board was removed after a few hours after it called superiors to ask about the display. Brian Lepley, Army Recruiting Command’s spokesperson told the Army Times that the local recruiting office made and put up the sign without being approved. Although the sign was used as a permissible image of special forces patch for the background, the text raised a problem. He said if the process had been followed, the copy shown would not have received an approval. The army is investigating who is responsible for ordering the customized sandwich board, which originally would have had a slogan, “we do not call for reinforcements. We make them.” Weinstein told the reporters that whoever in
any shape or form, allowed the design of the poster, prepared and displayed will be investigated progressively and be punished. Some were concerned about the sign display, others are even more concerned about its removal. Writer Terresa Monroe-Hamilton asserted that there is nothing unconstitutional about the sign. She also said that the sign has been around forever and during battle, the military has turned to God for guidance and comfort. She continued that “now American military and Obama’s administration have turned from God in a stark manner and God is likely to do the same in return. May God have mercy on our country” According to reports, after Navy Seals carried their mission of Osama Bin Laden execution 4 years ago, they radioed the code, “ For God and country- Geronimo, Geronimo, Geronimo, Geronimo.” President Obama was also gifted with a signed flag following the return of men, which read, “ from the Joint Task Force Operation Neptune’s Spear, , 01 May 2011: For God and country. Geronimo.”
Divorced atheist Dad objects to court judgment on taking his children to church By U.Mirna A British Judge is capturing attention for mandating that a noncatholic father must take his children to Mass at Christmas time every year. A divorced father risks jail sentence if he fails to take his children to catholic mass at Christmas. Judge James Orrell in Midlands has ordered a father to take his children to Roman Catholic mass as a part of his divorce settlement, even though he is an atheist. The divorced dad, who is identified as only “Steve” because of reporting restriction on the cases, faced this contempt of court and a jail sentence if he fails to go to church when he gets the custody of children on Christmas.
The divorced atheist father has been ordered by the judge to take his children to Roman Catholic mass for Christmas when he gets the custody of children, even though he says that his ex-wife did not request the ruling at the time of their divorce. Steve, a contributor to an atheist website and an atheist himself said that the judgment is very bizarre. He told that the judge decided that he would commit to taking his children to mass and put it in the court order. He said what is really concerning him is that it did not allow him or his children any freedom of religion. He told the tabloids that he is not catholic and the last time he went to church was long ago. Steve mentioned that
his oldest son, 10, has expresses a clear lack of belief but legally he was required to take him to Roman Catholic mass at Christmas. He said that because of the contact arrangements he now gets his children on some weekends, and now he is concerned that he has to also take them to mass on Sundays when they are with him, even though it is not part of the original court order. Steve is a 51 year old psychologist, who contributes to the atheist Sketpticule podcast. The telegraph said that it has seen the court transcripts which showed that Judge Orrell discussed his catholic faith during the course of hearing into contract arrangements for Steve’s two sons. The court order reads as “if the children
Catholics from Eritrea are to get their own Church By S. Ratko New Eastern Catholic Church of Eritrea has been established by Pope Francis in efforts to ease the position of Eritrean Catholics. There are four officially tolerated religions in Eritrea - Islam, the Evangelical Lutheran church, the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Roman Catholicism. All four Eritrean ‘eparchies’ were part of the Ethiopian Catholic Church until now. However, in recent announcement from Vatican, it was said that these ‘eparchies’ will now be under the authority of an Eritrean metropolitan archbishop. Menghesteab Tesfa-
mariam, the present Bishop of Asmara, will be the future archbishop of Eritrea. Founding of the Eritrean Catholic Church may be a calculated move which should improve church reputation in the eyes of the Eritrean government. The reason for this lies in numerous bloody wars between Eritrea and Ethiopia, including a long war for independence. The government of Eritrea has been accused for abuse of human rights by Human Rights Watch.”Indefinite military service, torture, arbitrary detention, and severe restrictions on freedoms of expression, association and religion,” is how they
characterized one of the most closed countries in the world. Estimation of The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said that over 305.000 Eritreans, which is more than 5 percent of the population, left the country during the last decade. In the Lampedusa tragedy, where 360 people drowned when their ship sank, most of the passengers were fleeing from Eritrea. Estimation says that there are around 155.000 Catholics in Eritrea. All other religions (except the main four) are being persecuted. Especially Protestants and faiths like Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Irish Priest Receives Standing Ovation after Announcing He Is Gay By S.Deepthi An Irish Catholic priest made an unexpected move during a mass by coming out to his congregation, announcing he is a gay and declaring his support for same sex marriage. Father Martin Dolan of St Nicholas Church of Myra in Dublin’s Francis Street announced that he is a gay himself while he asked his congregation to support gay marriage in the upcoming Irish referendum. He was a cleric who served in the parish for 15 years; he admitted his homosexuality in a liturgy. Father Dolan is the parish’s only priest. After he announced his support for same sex marriage ahead of the Irish referendum to be held this May, Dolan told his parishioners that he is a gay himself. To this announcement the congregation rose to their feet in applause. A community youth worker Liz O’Connor told the Irish Sun that all the St. Nicholas Church go-
ers are very proud of Father Martin. He also added that father Dolan’s admittance to being gay does not change the person he was before. The Guardian reported that gay quality groups in Ireland has also applauded Dolan’s decision for coming out and taking a stand on homosexuality and same sex marriage. However, Dolan’s support of gay marriages is not echoed by the Catholic Church as it remains opposed to the same sex union. Former Pope Benedict XVI said “gay marriage denies God and devalues human dignity.” The current head of Roman Catholic Church Pope Francis, though called the
clergy and the faithful to help parents with gay children to stand by their children, maintains that homosexual marriage is still something which “has not crossed out minds”. In December 2014, Bishop Liam MacDald said during a news conference that “putting any other view of unions on the same level as Christian marriage would be disservice to the society rather than a service”. He also added that “in a same sex union, children would be deprived of what a man and woman can give to children in a stable marriage.” The Irish referendum on same sex union is scheduled at the end of this coming May. A recent poll showed that 20% of the Ireland’s population is opposed to gay marriage and 67% are for it. Ireland’s Prime Minister, Enda Kenny is one among those who have voiced their support for the same sex union. The Catholic Church stands against same sex union in Ireland and said that it is a grave injustice.
are with their father at Christmas he will undertake that they will attend the Christmas mass.” The ruling was first made in 2009 and has been contested at different levels. Steve argued that the order breaches his human rights. Judge Orell faced criticism in
2011 when he passed a ruling to remove the children from their parents care after a fifteen minute hearing was overturned. The appeals Judge Lord Justice Thorpe said he was aghast at how Judge Orrell had dealt with the case. Steve had applied
to the Court of Appeal on the grounds that the order is a breach of his human rights, the freedom of religious expression. However, the appeal judges and judicial review in the High Court both failed supporting him, as did the Judicial Conduct Investigations office.
VOLUME 10 • ISSUE 1 • JANUARY 2015
Father Martin Dolan