Wisconsin

A 15-year-old Wisconsin student has been "censored and punished" for expressing his Christian beliefs – supporting the biblical family view – in a school newspaper op-ed article about homosexuality and same-sex parent adoption.

Brandon Wegner, a contributor for Shawano High student paper "The Hawk's Post," wrote the editorial column in support of children being raised in a home by a mother and a father.

He cited various authorities and sources, including Scripture, in defense of his opinions. Wegner argued that children raised in an environment in which the mother and father are present had the best chance for success and that homosexual adoption should be prohibited. His article was released in conjunction with an opposing viewpoint provided by another student, Maddie Marquardt, also "The Hawk's Post" copy editor. Marquardt countered in her argument that gay couples should be able to adopt because the foster system is broken and children need a two-parent home. more >>

In Green Bay, Wis., the local school district is making an effort to accommodate Muslim students' prayer schedules without interfering with classes or the Constitution. But what school officials consider a testament to religious freedom, others consider a form of special treatment that Christians do not enjoy.

An influx of nearly 200 refugees – many of them Muslim – from war-torn Somalia into the Green Bay area is what has led to the accommodations, which include allowing Muslim students to use empty classrooms or alcoves during recess to pray. Under federal law, public schools cannot deny the right to prayer to any student. Some Muslims pray five times a day at specific, designated times.

"The issue of students praying in school has come up a number of times this year, in part because we have an increasing number of students who practice the Islam faith, many of whom are Somali students," said Barbara Dorff, student services director, according to the Green Bay Press-Gazette. "It is our responsibility to find a private place for these students to pray and to allow them to pray." more >>

Presidential candidate Herman Cain struggled Monday to formulate a response to President Barack Obama’s handling of the Libyan uprising during an interview with a Wisconsin paper, possibly revealing a continuing serious disconnect in foreign policy matters.

When asked “so you agree with President Obama on Libya or not?” in a videotaped interview with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Cain responded with a painfully long pause during which he writhed in his chair and started to reply but then abruptly stopped, proclaiming “Nope, that’s a different one.”

He also asked the interviewer, “President Obama supported the uprising, correct? President Obama called for the removal of [Muammar] Gaddafi. Just wanted to make sure we're talking about the same thing before I say, 'Yes, I agreed. No, I didn't agree’.” more >>

The Wisconsin State Senate passed legislation Wednesday mandating that school districts, teachers and parents be given the freedom to choose sex education curriculum that highlights abstinence and marriage over a comprehensive approach that highlights contraception.

The bill, which passed along party lines 17-15, would amend a state bill passed last year. A Democratic majority had approved legislation requiring schools to mandate a comprehensive human growth and development (sex education) curriculum that discusses contraceptives as an equally effective option at preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases to abstinence for all sexual activity.

While the legislation allows parents to review their school district’s human growth and development curriculum and choose to opt their children out of the subject matter, such curriculum goes against the beliefs of many Christian parents. more >>

Skillet, Lecrae, The Afters and The Almost took their turns to fill Milwaukee’s Veterans Park with Gospel rock on Saturday evening while evangelist Franklin Graham touched the hearts of thousands gathered for the “Rock the Lakes” concert with God’s call for “homecoming.”

“I know … you can’t change yourself, but God can change you. But you got to come to Him through His Son Jesus Christ,” Graham told a crowd of 15,000, mostly youngsters, in one of his three Gospel messages during the concert in Milwaukee, Wis.

Graham also told the Milwaukeeans he loved Harleys and visited the Harley Davidson Museum in their city. But he was there to speak about God’s love, which he said was represented by the father in the story of the prodigal son found in Luke 15. more >>

It will not only be sounds of Christian music with Skillet, Charlie Daniels, Michael W. Smith and other bands performing live in Milwaukee this weekend, but also a life-changing message, says evangelist Franklin Graham as his team is set to “Rock the Lakes.”

The “Rock the Lakes” event at Veterans Park Saturday and Sunday is “gonnna be not only a time of fun, I’m gonna have a message,” Franklin Graham, the son of Billy Graham, says in a video produced by Fox 6 News. “A lot of music and a lot of fun, and it’s free…”

Judging by the size of the projection screen and other arrangements, the crowd is expected to be big, says the video, showing volunteers setting up the stage. It will be the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s first event in three decades in Milwaukee, Wis. Billy Graham, now 92, held a crusade at County Stadium in August 1979. more >>