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| American Airlines Flight Collides with Helicopter in Washington | | View on Our YouTube Channel |  | Washington, DC Jan. 29, 2025 - Added at press time, we have the collision of a U.S. Army Sikorsky H-60 helicopter with American Eagle Flight No. 5342 carrying 50 passengers and four crew members on a flight from Wichita, Kansas. Read more... |
| Deadly Los Angeles Fire
Toll Rises to 29 | | View on Our YouTube Channel |  | Los Angeles, CA. Jan. 27, 2025 - At least 29 people died as a result of wild fires that were fueled by severe drought and strong winds. Thousands of firefighters fought the infernal across 45 square miles of densely populated Los Angeles County. Read more... |
| Thousands Return to Northern Gaza as Part of Ceasefire | | View on Our YouTube Channel |  | Deir Al-Balah, Gaza Strip Jan. 24, 2025 - There is a cease-fire deal which has concluded with the return of Gaza residents to the north for the first time since the beginning of the 15-month war between Israel and Hamas. Read more... |
| Tik-Tok Saved by Trump One
Day after Going Dark | | View on Our YouTube Channel |  | Washington, DC Jan. 20, 2025 - Trump gave a reprieve by executive order to TikTok after it was already shut down. He gave it 75 more days to sell the app to an American company. Read more... |
| Trump Is Back | | View on Our YouTube Channel |  | Washington, D.C. Jan. 20, 2025 - On this date, Donald Trump returned to power as the 47th president of the United States. In his inaugural address he promised that, “the golden age of America begins right now.” and “From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world.” Read more... |
| Deadly Attacks in
New Orleans and Las Vegas | | View on Our YouTube Channel |  | New Orleans, LA. Jan. 01, 2025 - On January 1st , Shamsud-Din Jabbar, an American=born resident of Houston Texas, drove a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street, in New Orleans. Fifteen people were killed, including the perpetrator. Fortunately, Police shot the attacker and prevented further deaths. Read more... |
| The House Passes a Stop-gap Budget Bill on the Evening of the Last Day | | View on Our YouTube Channel |  | Washington, D.C. Dec. 20, 2024 - The House of Representatives passed a last ditch budget bill and sent it to the senate this evening which should pass in the senate without problems. The newest House proposal is a 118-page bill that contains most of the provisions that were put in place in the bipartisan bill that was agreed to on Wednesday. The bill includes $100 billion for disaster aid, $30 billion for farmers and a one-year extension of the farm bill, provisions that were under heavy debate prior to this week's votes. Read more... |
| Rebels Take Syria as Fifty-Three Year Assad Family Reign Ends | | View on Our YouTube Channel |  | Damascus, Syria Dec. 08, 2024 - Early this morning rebels took over Damascus and had the government turned over to them peacefully with Assad apparently nowhere to be found. It was reported that Assad's family had fled earlier to Russia and Russian state media reported that Assad himself landed in Moscow after having fled. This is a historic moment as the collapse of more than 53 years of al-Assad family rule has finally ended. Read more... |
| Texas State Board of Education Approves Bible Curriculum for K- 5 | | View on Our YouTube Channel |  Austin, TX. Nov. 23, 2024 - CNN reports that public schools in Texas now have the option to teach a Christian biblical view as part of their K-5th grade curriculum. It is a part of the state developed curriculum called Bluebonnet Learning. School districts in Texas are autonomous in choosing their curriculum, however, the state offered $60 per student to accept this curriculum will be hard for most to turn down.
Critics of the curriculum argue that it heavily favors Christianity over other faiths. Some suggest that it violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment, which states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of a religion." On Saturday, Rachael Laser, CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State told CNN that, "Parents and families, not politicians or government officials, shoul get to decide if, when and how their children engage with religion."
An opponent to the Bluebonnet curriculum, Sharyn Vane, emphasized that it was the job of parents to teach their children about religion - not public schools. She told CNN, "As a Jewish parent, of course, we taught our child our faith at home, and I think no matter your faith, the parents are the ones who need to be teaching those lessons."
For similar reasons, seven of the 15-member board voted against the measure, narrowly passing by one vote. The tally was four Democrats and three Republicans who opposed this measure, including Pam Little, the Republican vice chair of the board., whose additional argument was that materials are too rigorous for young students.
Texas is among several Republican-led states that have passed legislation that incorporates Christianity in public schools. A federal judge this month temporarily blocked a Louisiana law that would have required the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom by the new year. It is likely that other states will be similarly challenged on religious overstep in public schools when they favor one religion over another.
Commentary
I stated this previously and I will state it again: we are not a theocracy. The framers of the United States Constitution Bill of Rights realized that they needed to curtail some of the governmental abuses they had experienced in Great Britain and elsewhere in Europe and set out to right those grievances. When you permit one religion to dominate public schools over another, you risk the tide turning in decades or even centuries later. Globally, Christians make up only 31.5% of the people of all religions. We are globally in a minority. Could you imagine having the strict tenants of the Koran being enforced on American education as it is in numerous Middle East countries. We are not Muslims.
In fairness, as much as we as Christians would love to have young people exposed to the teachings of Jesus at a early age, it is not our government's responsibility to do so. It is our responsibility of us as Christian parents, much like the Jewish parent above stated. I can tell you from my own studies, we are falling down on the job considerably. According to one study, only 17 percent of Christians have any type of religious activity at home in the week that separates services in the church, to include bible study, prayer, and yes, teaching the little ones. As a result of this, our own children are not even being taught by their own parents a home. I suggest we clean up at home first, before we start trying to force our religious beliefs down the throats of other American children.
I was a Gideon, on and off in three camps Alabama. We distributed our little testaments to children in the fifth grade. Fortunately, the school districts allowed us to do this for the most part, though some in Alabama had begun stopping the practice. I found this practice acceptable, because, we were not their teacher and therefore were not forcing our religion on these children. We merely offered the testaments, then it was up to them, and later their parents, what to do with them.
When I was in the fifth grade, I remember clearly a bad feeling I had when I looked up from the daily morning prayer, allowed in 1960 in Alabama, and saw the look of discomfort on a Jewish girl's face as it ended, "In Jesus Name, Amen". Even at so young ad age and for a very religious boy who attended both services each Sunday at Centercrest Baptist Church, I still felt the wrongness of that and was ashamed. I stated this earlier as well, "Give unto Caesar..." You know the rest. When you threaten to put your own religion over another, be prepared down the line to have your own religious freedom challenged. If we just simply did our jobs as parents, grandparents and great-grandparents, in educating our youth about Jesus, we would make a huge impact on church attendance. We should not try to force the government to do our job, as parents and churches.
Commentary from Larry Joe McDowell, Editor, Christian Press.
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| Matt Gaetz Withdraws Nomination | | View on Our YouTube Channel |  | Washington, DC. Nov. 21, 2024 - ABC News announced today that former Rep. Matt Gaetz has withdrawn his name for consideration for Attorney General in President-elect Donald Trump's upcoming administration. "I had excellent meetings with Senators yesterday," Gaetz wrote in a post on X. "I appreciate their thoughtful feedback - and the incredible support of so many. Read more... |
| Mass Deportations Using the Military Confirmed by President-Elect Trump | | View on Our YouTube Channel |  | Washington, DC. Nov. 18, 2024 - According to ABC News, President-elect Donald Trump confirmed he would declare a national emergency in order to implement his campaign promise of mass deportations of illegal immigrants. Trump replied on social media that such reports of using military assets was indeed "TRUE!!!". Read more... |
| Trump Pick for Attorney General Will Be Challenged by Both Parties | | View on Our YouTube Channel |  | Washington, DC. Nov. 18, 2024 - President elect Trump's pick for attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., is seen as a surprisingly poor choice by members of both major political parties. He was under investigation for alleged sexual misconduct and possible illegal drug use, as well as other issues by the House Ethics Committee. Read more... |
| Trump Declared Winner of the 2024 Election | | View on Our YouTube Channel |  | Washington, DC. Nov. 06, 2024 - The Associated Press declared Donald Trump the winner in Wisconsin at 5:34 am EST the day after the election, wrapping up his chances for the White House when it was determined that the remaining votes would not be enough to turn the tide towards Vice President Kamala Harris to overtake Trump. Trump had already swept the other two must-have states of Pennsylvania and Michigan in the "blue-wall" and Wisconsin sealed the deal. Read more... |
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