Culture

Most certainly not the only drive-thru funeral parlor in the U.S., the Robert L. Adams Funeral Home in Compton, Calif., does stake claim to being the only business of its kind in the state that offers viewings for those who may want to honor the dead from the comfort of their vehicles. 

The Robert L. Adams Funeral Mortuary, opened in 1974, did not arrive at the drive-thru concept purely to cater to those who may be pressed for time and find a drive-by departing to be most convenient. 

According to the funeral home's office manager, the drive-thru service is primarily intended for elderly visitors who may find it difficult to move or for those who are physically impaired. more >>

The first homosexual couple to be married in Southern California announced their plans to divorce recently, with the news coming as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has found the state's ban on gay marriage unconstitutional.

Robin Tyler filed for divorce from Diane Olson on Jan 25, after years of challenging California's same-sex marriage ban. The pair were lead plaintiffs in a lawsuit that resulted in the state Supreme Court reversing California's ban on same-sex marriage in 2007.

The former couple visited the Beverly Hills Courthouse every year for seven years to apply for a marriage license and oppose Proposition 8, which maintained the traditional definition of marriage as a union between one man and one woman. After years of being denied, Tyler and Olson became the first lesbian couple to be married in Southern California when they exchanged vows in 2008. more >>

True Love Waits, a Christian abstinence initiative, is promoting purity this month. As the movement marks its 19th year as a division of LifeWay Christian Resources, it's still working hard to make "saying no" sexy during the month of love.

February is traditionally a strong month for TLW because there is a natural tie-in with Valentine's Day, Bob Bunn, content editor with LifeWay's Student Ministry Publishing, told The Christian Post.

He said many youth in the church are already thinking about love and sex, so youth leaders see it as a good time to look at those issues from a biblical perspective. Plus, the culture is "certainly sharing its message" so it's important for the church to share its own, he said. more >>

The Mississippi State Legislature is considering a bill that could see parents who "spank" their children face either 10 years in jail or life imprisonment depending on the intention and bodily harm caused to the child, but critics of the bill say its intentions are not clearly defined. 

Senate Bill 2180, an act to amend a section of the Mississippi Code of 1972, aims to revise the "offense of felonious abuse or battery of a child; and for related purposes." The bill is sponsored by Senator Brice Wiggins of District 52.

Dewitt Black, Senior Counsel for the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), believes that there are problems with the bill's language. Black told The Christian Post that the words "bodily harm" and "reasonable discipline" are not properly defined. more >>

An evangelical financial services organization has announced that it opposes President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act, dubbed Obamacare, and the contraception mandate recently issued by the Department of Health and Human Services.

GuideStone Financial Resources, the Dallas-based organization that serves as the benefits board for the Southern Baptist Convention, released a statement on Monday declaring its opposition to what it calls "any governmental intrusion on the ability of church health plans to reflect fundamental and long held religious convictions."

"This encroachment on religious freedom is blatant and outrageous and should be taken seriously by those of us who are part of the body of believers, as well as by others who respect and regard this nation's history and constitutional foundation," said GuideStone President O.S. Hawkins in the statement. more >>

Atheist groups are targeting African-American communities by asking them to think about leaving their church during Black History Month – but a number of pastors and scholars are saying that is not going to happen any time soon. 

National ad campaigns launched by atheist organizations have been growing in regularity in the U.S., but a new initiative by African-Americans for Humanism (AAH) is targeting black Americans in particular who have historically been strongly linked with religion.

"A lot of people think there's one black experience. A lot of people think that if someone's black it means that they're religious. So we want to be able to show people that that's not true, that there are non-religious people out there," said Debbie Goddard, director of AAH, referring to the billboards asking "Doubts about religion? You're one of many." The billboards feature images of famous historical black freethinkers alongside photos of a contemporary black atheist leader. more >>