Northeast

An organization of atheists and agnostics filed a lawsuit against a Pennsylvania state House resolution that declares 2012 the "Year of the Bible," claiming the measure violates the U.S. Constitution and requesting the court to "declare that the government is not 'Judeo-Christian.'" The resolution's sponsors, however, tell The Christian Post the lawsuit is without merit, and that it would be difficult to deny the Bible's impact on the U.S.

"The Bible had a tremendous impact on our founding, as well as on all of our leaders and our history," state Rep. Rick Saccone (R-Allegheny), the resolution's author, told CP Wednesday, noting Bible passages and imagery inscribed on government buildings. "The Bible is part of our culture," he added. "You can't deny the impact the Bible had on this country."

Annie Laurie Gaylor, the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF)'s co-president, insists the Bible has no bearing on the document used to govern the nation. "We have a perfectly Godless and secular Constitution," she told CP. "There's no Bible, no Jesus, no Holy Scripture in our Constitution." more >>

Bullying is more prominent than ever before, according to one church pastor, who has established a project to fight the spreading problem and to work with youth to generate a greater awareness of the causes of bullying in today's society.

"Bullying is more prominent than ever because of the presence of social media," Reverend Kymberley Clemons (KC) Jones, pastor at Valley Stream Presbyterian Church and the founder of the W.A.N.T.E.D., Project told The Christian Post. "Bullying no longer only takes place in the schoolyard or in gym class but can also be perpetrated for the entire world to see because of our new technology."

Pastor Jones explained to CP: "In the W.A.N.T.E.D. Project, a mentoring program for males 12-18 years old, we have discussed the affects of bullying from the perspectives of both the victim and the bully. Understanding that the bullies more than likely have been bullied themselves, we have to attack the problem from both angles, especially for young men who are susceptible to peer pressure." more >>

New York City stores are finding themselves in a snag as changes within the NFL are making it difficult to keep Jets merchandise, especially jerseys with Tim Tebow's number 15, in supply amid fans hungry for Jets paraphernalia.

Due to a swap of apparel suppliers for the league, Tebow's fans might have to wait another month for an official jersey with the player's name and number.

Nike Inc. recently replaced Adidas AG's Reebok as the NFL's official apparel outfitter, a transition that has left many retailers without enough supply to match the sudden demand for Tebow-Jets gear. New York City's Modell's stores sold 1,000 units of the official Nike jerseys the first hour they were open on March 23, and now they have run out, reported Bloomberg Business News. more >>

NEW YORK - In his new documentary "Monumental," actor and devout Christian Kirk Cameron goes in search of the "secret recipe" that has made America the "richest, freest nation the world has ever seen," ultimately unveiling to viewers his belief that God was uniquely involved in the nation's founding and wants to be involved in its continued growth.

"I'm retracing the footsteps of our Founders from England to America in the hope of discovering our true 'national treasure.' I want to listen to them, to learn from them," Cameron wrote on his official website.

"Because I suspect our Forefathers knew we were a forgetful people, that someday we would lose our way as a nation. So they left us a map that would guide us back to the source of America's success," he added. more >>

A Pennsylvania high school is facing a legal battle to keep its monument of the Ten Commandments, which it has had for decades, after an atheist group threatened to sue the school district for violating the separation of church and state.

Administrators at Valley High School in New Kingston, Pa., received a letter last week from the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) asking them to take the down the six-foot-high monument that sits on the school grounds outside of the entrance to the gymnasium. The statue displays the Ten Commandments as found in the Old Testament of the Bible, and was given in 1957 as a gift to the school by the New Kensington Fraternal Order of Eagles, a nonprofit community group.

The atheist group, however, is not concerned with how long the statue has been in place, as it feels that it clearly violates the First Amendment and the separation of church and state. more >>

This book review is written in tandem with a review of the same book by Howard Teich, Esq.

"Please remember that Jesus is a Jew," I said to my Jewish colleagues at our Jewish-Evangelical Roundtable in late December 2011. Then, to the Christian participants, I said, "Please remember that without Hanukkah, there would have been no Christmas." For the next three weeks we Jews and Christians demonstrated together in front of the Iraqi UN Embassy — and met with the Ambassador twice—on behalf of Assyrian Christians and other religious minorities.

My colleague Howard Teich, a practicing attorney and noted Jewish leader, is an essential, catalytic leader in our Jewish-Evangelical meetings and activities together. We disagree and learn respectfully from each other, and that's the joy and adventure of our dialogue. In our paired essays we are taking our dialogue public. I maintain that we can kosher Jesus even more than either he or Rabbi Boteach do. more >>