A California megachurch pastor involved in the National Day of Prayer who has recently come under fire for his views on homosexuality has declared that he will not be intimidated.

At a prayer event held Wednesday morning at the Washington, D.C., office of the Family Research Council, Pastor Greg Laurie told those gathered, "I won't back down."

"They do not want me to pray. They describe me as 'homophobic' and so forth. How can you deal with such a situation? We're in a time in our country now where I'm attacked because I believe what the Bible teaches," said Laurie, ahead of Thursday's National Day of Prayer. more >>

The University of Arizona is defending its decision to allow a student preacher to protest a sexual assault awareness event last week on campus with signs reading "You Deserve Rape."

"I think that girls that dress and act like it," said Dean Saxton, a junior studying classics and religious studies at UA, "they should realize that they do have partial responsibility, because I believe that they're pretty much asking for it." He added that the signs preach the message that "if you dress like a whore, act like a whore, you're probably going to get raped."

The Daily Wildcat reported that Saxton drew a lot of attention last week when he and supporters held the controversial signs on the same day that a sexual assault awareness event was going on. A number of students who were offended reported him to the Dean of Students Office, but no action was taken. more >>

Following the Boston Marathon bombing on April 15, reports have come out revealing that clerics who rushed on site to minister to the injured and dying were held back by authorities due to security risks.

The Rev. Tom Carzon, rector of Our Lady of Grace Seminary, who was one of the clergy who rushed to the scene of the bombing, revealed last week: "Once it was clear we couldn't get inside, we came back here to St. Clement's, set up a table with water and oranges and bananas to serve people, and helped people however we could," as reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Some commentators questioned why clergy are no longer considered first respondents, when in the past spiritual assistance in times of tragedy was vital. more >>

President Obama's new "religious tolerance" consultant to the Pentagon, Mikey Weinstein, wants Christian military service members who openly talk about their faith in uniform to be charged with treason, which is a crime punishable by death according to military law.

By employing his consulting services, and as Commander-in-Chief, President Obama is effectively endorsing Weinstein's recently voiced and written views such as: "Today, we face incredibly well-funded gangs of fundamentalist Christian monsters who terrorize their fellow Americans by forcing their weaponized [sic] and twisted version of Christianity upon their helpless subordinates in our nation's armed forces."

Weinstein's inflamed word picture helps the rest of us understand what the world looks like to those who live with their eyes wide shut and sort of sounds like that old cereal commercial… except this time Mikey doesn't like it – Christianity, that is, so no one else should. And Mikey's giving the rest of us an object lesson in intolerance by showing us what liberal secularists are about: "It's our way, or we shut you down." In this case, Obama's anti-Christian hit man, Weinstein, proposes that honorable men and women in the military who speak about their faith should be charged with a crime worthy of capital punishment. Smells like bull to me. more >>

Religious liberty groups have grave concerns after they learned the Pentagon is vetting its guide on religious tolerance with a group that compared Christian evangelism to "rape" and advocated that military personnel who proselytize should be court martialed.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation is calling on the Air Force to enforce a regulation that they believe calls for the court martial of any service member caught proselytizing.

President Mikey Weinstein and others from his organization met privately with Pentagon officials on April 23. He said U.S. troops who proselytize are guilty of sedition and treason and should be punished – by the hundreds if necessary – to stave off what he called a "tidal wave of fundamentalists." more >>

As cultural debates continue to roll regarding the sanctity of human life, validity of same-sex marriage, the acceptance of infanticide, genetic modification and--coming to a theater near you--whatever is next, it is crystal clear that many self-identified Christians are ill equipped for public debate. This is not to say they should be forbidden from the arena; this is America. You do not need a reason for your opinion, good, bad or ugly. We are constitutionally protected to hold almost any position for almost any reason or no reason at all.

Having an opinion, however, is not the same as convincing others of its truth or value. Christians are really adept at the first. On the second? The phrase "clanging symbol" does spring to mind at times.

Innumerable online conversations degenerate into shriek-fests with political or moral opponents calling each other names, casting aspersions on motives, questioning an opponent's heritage, doubting their IQ or missing the point. Slightly fewer start there. Sadly, Christians are not always leaders in the way forward. more >>