A former National Football League player has received an apology from a Wisconsin church that allegedly canceled a speaking engagement after the player praised NBA star Jason Collins on Twitter.

LeRoy Butler, formerly of the Green Bay Packers, stated that he was disinvited from a speaking event at an unnamed church for posting a tweet that commended Collins of the NBA for coming out as gay.

The church, which Butler has refused to identify, proceeded to apologize to him for the incident and thanked him for not mentioning their name to the public. more >>

Faithful America refused on Thursday to verify a claim that it had collected signatures from more than 20,000 Christians petitioning ESPN to suspend sports analyst Chris Broussard for what they feel are "hateful" comments towards NBA player Jason Collins who recently revealed he is gay.

Collins announced in a Sports Illustrated article on Monday that he was a gay man who took his faith in Jesus Christ seriously.

In a later interview on ESPN's "Outside the Lines"show, however, Broussard – who is a practicing Christian – said Collins' position was inconsistent with biblical teachings. more >>

Televangelist and CBN host Pat Robertson said in an interview that there is nothing bigoted about Christians labeling homosexuality a sin, in light of controversy stirred over the recent coming out of NBA player Jason Collins.

"It's what Christianity says, ladies and gentlemen! Christianity says fornication is a sin. Somehow we've said if it's heterosexual fornication, it's bad; if it's homosexual fornication, that used to be called an abomination in the Bible, now it's a protected civil right. And so somebody that says that that kind of conduct is sinful is now being pilloried in the press," Robertson said on CBN.

When Collins spoke about his homosexuality in an article for Sports Illustrated, several prominent figures, including President Barack Obama, congratulated him for becoming the first player from a major American sports league to come out. Others, however, such as ESPN analyst Chris Broussard, pointed out that according to the Christian faith, living a homosexual lifestyle is sinful. more >>

A group of Republican donors have launched an effort to get Republicans to support redefining marriage to include same-sex couples.

American Unity Fund was recently formed from the American Unity PAC, which spent money on pro-gay marriage advocacy in the 2012 election. American Unity Fund has already spent more than $250,000 to lobby Republicans in the Minnesota legislature, according to The Associated Press. The legislature may vote soon on whether to redefine marriage in that state to include same-sex couples.

"They have money, but they're small in number," Family Research Council President Tony Perkins told The New York Times. more >>

The Roman Catholic Church has excommunicated the popular Brazilian priest Father Roberto Francisco Daniel for teaching that same-sex marriage is OK.

Reuters reported that the church decided to impose on Daniel the rare punishment because he has "injured the Church with grave statements counter to the dogma of Catholic faith and morality."

Excommunication, or expulsion from the church, bars a believer from participating in the liturgy in a ministerial capacity, but encourages the guilty party to work toward restoring their relationship with the church. more >>

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 >>