The city of Houston has issued subpoenas demanding a group of pastors turn over any sermons dealing with homosexuality, gender identity or Annise Parker, the city’s first openly lesbian mayor. And those ministers who fail to comply could be held in contempt of court. MORE
The numbers say it all. In 1966 there were 181,421 Catholic sisters in this country. Today? Less than 50,000. That’s a nearly 73 percent decline. The stats and the math, courtesy of the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, also debunks the common claim that more traditional orders — those more likely to wear the full habit — are drawing more members than the more liberal, socially active orders. David Gibson has the story. RNS 10-14-14
The Supreme Court seems determined to bring marriage equality to the United States as slowly as possible. If they move too slowly, however, the forces of discrimination may be smiling in a few years. MORE
English-language digital publication of jihadist group says raping and sexual enslaving non-Muslim women is simply part of Islam.
“One should remember that enslaving the families of the kuffar – the infidels – and taking their women as concubines is a firmly established aspect of the Shariah, or Islamic law,” wrote ISIS in the article, reports CNN. MORE
To hell with psychiatric assessment. What these people need is exorcism and punishment. Satanism needs to be outlawed along with Islam and all of the other dangerous cults. Satan is real, and he wants your children and your entire family. His wiles and deceptions must be uprooted, as Josiah destroyed paganism in Israel, not tolerated. MORE
Ben Affleck seems so amiable in his movies. However, on the set of Bill Maher’s liberal TV show (I don’t even know the name), he was seething. Yes, seething mad that someone might think, just because Muslims are chopping off heads, raping young girls and committing honor killings, there might be a problem within the doctrines of Islam. MORE
TradCatKnight: (Resistance) “The Remnant” Strikes Again!
Original Title was “Is Justice Being Assassinated in America.”
Dailybreeze.com
Will due process survive videos, social media?: Letters
Welcome to the Central Valley, ground zero of the water war. Outsiders, take heed, for this is a troubled land. MORE
While defending the traditional teachings that reject divorce and gay marriage, the synod said the modern church must focus more on the “positive elements” in such relationships, rather than their shortcomings, and open a patient and merciful dialogue with the people involved. The ultimate aim, it said, is to use these “seeds” of goodness to bring people more fully into the church. MORE
Neapolitan archbishop: “God as the giver of life is offended” (I hope this is not retroactive!)
Rome (kath.net/KAP) Catholics who throw away food, must not receive Communion according to Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe (photo). Whoever wastes food in the face of millions of hungry people, puts themselves outside of the human family, said the Archbishop of Naples in the context of an environmental conference, according to the Italian Catholic news agency SIR (Friday). This type of waste is insulting to the needy and to “God as the giver of life”. MORE
Inadequate protection against Ebola: The newest case of Ebola to reach the United States raises questions about the effectiveness of the protective gear health care workers wear when treating patients. A hospital worker in Dallas tested positive for the disease Sunday. The nurse treated Thomas Eric Duncan, the first Ebola patient to die in this country. MORE
A former RAF navigator has become the oldest person in Britain to have sex change surgery – at the age of 81.
The NHS op for Ruth Rose, once a man named James, drew criticism because of her age. But she said: “I always knew I was in the wrong body.” MORE
This year has seen a significant rise in Catholic Church employees who have been punished in some way for LGBT related employment disputes. Basically, this means they have been fired, resigned, refused to renew restrictive contracts or had job offers rescinded because it was discovered that they were homosexuals living in an open relationship with a “partner” of the same sex. Reported cases since 2008 total around 40; of these, 17 were reported this year. MORE
A Massachusetts startup is launching a new device that transforms almost any bicycle into an electric-hybrid vehicle using an app on a smartphone.
The device, called the Copenhagen Wheel, is installed as part of a rear hub of a bike wheel and is packed with a proprietary computer, batteries and sensors that monitor how hard a rider is pedaling and activate an onboard motor whenever support is needed. MORE