South Carolina

The head of a national chapter of the Ku Klux Klan is siding with the law in a property battle between an African-American church and a white nationalist shop in South Carolina.

As previously reported by The Christian Post, a circuit judge in Laurens, N.C. ruled earlier this month that New Beginnings Missionary Baptist Church is the rightful owner of a building that also houses The Redneck Shop, an infamous white power shop and KKK museum.

The white supremacist store began in 1996, only for one of the klansmen behind it to sell the property deed to the Rev. David Kennedy's church after a dispute with another KKK member a year later. The decision continues courting controversy given the awkward living arrangements between the black church and the white shop at the historic Echo Theater. more >>

The Body of Christ needs to stop using prayer as an excuse for laziness, a megapastor in South Carolina proclaimed, sharing the same sentiments as a few atheists who criticized believers in this manner.

All too often, Christians hide inactivity behind prayer, hoping things would get better without taking any action themselves, Perry Noble, senior pastor of NewSpring Church revealed.

“Prayer is a powerful weapon which we should make more use of in the church,” he stated on his blog, “However, God did not call us to pray about His will but also to participate in it.” more >>

Unless a fellow contender drops out of the race or is involved in a major scandal, one political expert believes Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry’s chances at a South Carolina win may already be over.

Laura Olson, a professor of religion and politics at Clemson University, said Perry’s repeated mistakes and painful debates have pretty much blown his chances at wooing voters in the social conservative state. As a result, Olson said there is very little he can do or say personally to regain his past momentum and win the South Carolina primary.

“He does not control his own destiny in this race anymore,” she said. more >>

Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry is making efforts to salvage his campaign as he seeks to strike a chord with evangelicals in South Carolina after a disappointing fifth place finish in the Iowa caucuses.

“When you find that peace from God, you stop worrying about what the critics say,” Texas Gov. Perry told a gathering at the landmark Beacon Drive-In in Spartenburg, S.C., Sunday. “I got all the people that love me that I need – her, Jesus and my family,” he added, referring to his wife, Anita.

More than 60 percent of the Republicans in South Carolina are evangelicals, and Perry hopes to gain from it. “My family didn’t look to the government to have all of the answers,” Los Angeles Times quoted him as saying. “We prayed to our creator, and we looked to one another.” more >>

Mitt Romney, a Mormon, is portraying himself as a “man of deep and abiding faith” in a new mailer in the evangelical-heavy state of South Carolina, which holds its primary on Jan. 21.

“A man of deep and abiding faith, Mitt has been in the same church his entire life,” reads the mailer landing in South Carolina mailboxes.

“He has a sense of purpose, a belief that integrity and honesty matter, and a drive to serve others and make a difference,” says the mailer being sent by former Massachusetts Gov. Romney’s campaign in an attempt to win over 60 percent of the state’s Republicans that are evangelical or “born again” Christians. more >>

A South Carolina woman had a bowling ball thrown at her head for refusing to allow a suitor to buy her drinks at a local bowling alley, police say.

The incident occurred on Dec. 18, when Omar Sheree Stevenson from Chester, S.C. went berserk at the Strikers Family Sports Center in Rock Hill after a 28-year-old woman refused his offer to buy her a drink.

Stevenson, 31, threw a 12-pound bowling ball at the woman’s head following her refusal and left her at the bowling lanes bleeding from the head. more >>