A Philippines court recently sentenced a pro-contraceptives activist who demonstrated in a national cathedral in 2010 up to 13 months' imprisonment for "offending religious beliefs."

Carlos Celdran, a 40-year-old tour guide and activist, was found guilty of "offending religious beliefs" according to Article 133, a Revised Penal Code which has been in effect since 1930 and states that no one "in a place of worship or during the celebration of any religious ceremony, shall perform acts notoriously offensive to the feelings of the faithful."

Celdran's sentencing will include anywhere from two months to one year in jail. more >>

The Southern Baptist Convention expressed extreme disappointment Monday to news that the Boy Scouts of America will likely approve admission of professed homosexuals as scout leaders, with officials close to the SBC predicting a mass exodus out of Scouting by Baptist churches.

A vote on the matter by BSA is planned during an executive meeting in Irving, Texas, the first week of February.

"This is a catastrophic decision for the Boy Scouts of America. In order to placate their East and West Coast appendages, they are tearing out the heart of their Midwest and Southern support. This decision will lead to a mass exodus of traditional, orthodox Christianity from the Boy Scouts, including thousands of Catholic, Baptist and other traditional faith congregations," Dr. Richard Land, speaking in his role as head of SBC's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, told The Christian Post. more >>

To help celebrate the placement by faith-based Harvest of Hope's 1,000th child into a foster family home, a prominent church in New Jersey is giving special recognition during worship services today as part of Martin Luther King's Commemoration Weekend.

"I want to commend Harvest of Hope for their outstanding achievement in providing loving, safe and nurturing homes for 1,000 foster children who are the most at-risk youth in our state. This organization has literally saved a thousand lives and it has saved the state of New Jersey millions of dollars by significantly reducing the number of children in the foster care system," said the Rev. Dr. DeForest B. Soaries, Jr., senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens.

Since 1996, Harvest of Hope Family Services Network, Inc., based in Somerset County, has recruited and trained 435 families to become licensed foster families. The significant milestone for Harvest of Hope was accomplished during last December. Of the 1,000 foster children, 250 were adopted by Harvest of Hope resource families, providing a permanent solution for their need of a loving family, the organization said. more >>

Participants in this year's March for Life, marking the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, seemed less bothered by the mainstream media's lack of coverage of the estimated half-million people descending on Washington, D.C. to demonstrate against abortion on Friday. That's because they relied heavily on social media to help shine the spotlight on the movement.

Outside the march, supporters of the pro-life movement were not deterred either. Pope Benedict XVI gave a shout-out on Twitter in nine languages. "I join all those marching for life from afar, and pray that political leaders will protect the unborn and promote a culture of life," Benedict tweeted. The Pope has 2.5 million followers on Twitter in just six-week time since he began using the social media heavyweight.

"We have the biggest social media movement online for the pro-life movement educating almost a million people a week with the truth about human life and abortion," Lila Rose of Action Network, a pro-life investigative journalism group, told Fox News. "Our Facebook at over 430,000 is bigger than Planned Parenthood's Facebook and they're a billion dollar abortion chain." more >>

Actress Jenn Gotzon, who made her Hollywood breakthrough in the film "Frost/Nixon" portraying the president's daughter, Tricia Nixon, is in Washington, D.C., this week to help present two screenings of the movie "Doonby." The screenings of the mystery film with an underlying message about life's choices are intentionally timed to coincide with the March for Life and the 40th anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade case.

Gotzon spoke to The Christian Post on Wednesday about "Doonby" and the subject of abortion from her perspective as a Christian and an actress with a leading role in the movie.

Both free film showings, at the Landmark E Street Cinema Thursday at 7 p.m. ET, and at (Marriott) Residence Inn Friday at 4 p.m. ET, are sponsored by NET TV, a new television station broadcasting "uplifting movies" through Verizon Fios Video on Demand in over 18 cities nationwide. "Doonby" is planned for wide release in April. more >>

Attorneys petitioned the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday to review a case which will determine whether or not the state's domestic partnership registry is permissible under its constitution.

"The lifelong, faithful union of a man and a woman is the foundation of every healthy, stable society. The people of Wisconsin recognize this, and that is why they approved a constitutional amendment that specifically protects marriage from all imitators," said Austin R. Nimocks, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, in a statement.

Wisconsin voters approved the amendment, which recognizes marriage as being between one man and one woman, in 2006. The amendment also says the state cannot validate unions that are "identical or substantially similar to marriage." more >>