Tag: religion

Mormon church now owns $2BILLION of US farmland, with more acreage than Bill Gates and China combined: Huge land grabs in Nebraska and Florida spark backlash from local farmers

The Mormon church has sparked a fierce backlash from local farmers after snapping up around 370,000 acres of prime ranch land in Nebraska, with the Utah-based religion now owning at least $2billion of agricultural terrain across the country, DailyMail.com can reveal.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), commonly known as the Mormon church, has bought more land than anyone else in the state over the past five years, according to The Flatwater Free Press.

It now owns an estimated $134million worth of agricultural land in Nebraska and is on track to surpass CNN founder Ted Turner as the single largest landowner in the state if it continues its spree at the current rate.

But the church has provoked the ire of the Nebraska Farmers Union, whose president John Hansen told DailyMail.com that its land grab was driving up prices and forcing out local farmers.

‘It’s not fair competition when folks bring in that much outside money and bid against local farmers and ranchers,’ he said.

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New York lawmakers introduce bill to force Chick-Fil-A restaurants along highway to stay open on Sundays

Yes, New York apparently cares more about travelers and their munchies than they do about religious freedom — or freedom at all, for that matter. Chick-Fil-A closes on the Lord’s Day to give employees a holy day of rest, but it looks like they could be faced with a big-time decision in their New York State rest stop locations — whether to stay and remain open on Sunday, or to simply move out.

It’s the holiday season, meaning thousands of drivers will be on the road, and now a group of New York State Assembly officials want to ensure all travelers can access all restaurants…seven days a week. News10 spoke with one of the sponsors of the Rest Stop Restaurant Act, Assemblyman Tony Simone …

The bill will require companies contracted to provide food and beverage services along the Thruway and at the Port Authority in New York and New Jersey to remain open seven days a week.

That means Chick-Fil-A, in locations at rest stops along this highway system, would be forced to stay open on Sundays.

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Zombies and Voodoo: The Living Dead Religion of Modern Haiti

On the list of the most well-known monsters from Hollywood movies, zombies clearly occupy one of the top positions. In their cinematographic version, they consume human flesh and brains with the explanation that this fact diminishes their pain of being dead, while humans bitten or hurt by zombies end up becoming zombies as well. In Haiti, zombies not only exist in movies, but as a day-to-day reality that is steeped in Voodoo, which revolves around spirits known as lwa. In Haitian Voodoo (or Haitian Vodou) the Iwa spirits get their names and attributes from traditional West and Central African divinities, and they are also equated with certain Roman Catholic saints.

Haiti, the first black republic, is distinguished by colonialism, poverty, zombies, and Voodoo. Situated in the Caribbean and with its capital at Port-Au-Prince, this country continues to be dominated by the existence of gangs and corruption, and the silence of the night is often interrupted by gunshots and by violent thunderstorms. The harsh living conditions in this island nation have reduced the medium life expectancy to just 43 years. Even though life goes on, just like business, each morning brings forth the necessity to clean the streets after the confrontations of the night.

The Spanish arrived in Haiti in the year 1492 and they exterminated the local indigenous population in less than ten years. Taking into consideration the fact that the Industrial Revolution had not occurred yet, slaves continued to be in high demand and colonial Haiti quickly got involved in this horrible industry. In roughly 1503, the Catholic priest Bartholomeo de las Casas came up with the idea of bringing slaves to Haiti from Africa. After this, the French rulers of Haiti, in turn, followed the Spanish model and they continued to bring slaves from Africa to Haiti with the purpose of making them work on plantations.

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Mississippi politician Michael Cassidy, 35, is charged with criminal mischief after ‘BEHEADING’ Satanic altar statue inside Iowa State Capitol

A former US Navy pilot and unsuccessful congressional candidate has been charged with criminal mischief after allegedly destroying a controversial Satanic Temple’s display inside the Iowa State Capitol.

Michael Cassidy, 35, was arrested for tearing down the Iowa Satanic Temple’s Baphomet display on Thursday morning, Iowa State Police confirmed to DailyMail.com. 

The display featured a statue of Baphomet – a goat-headed figure used to represent Satan along with the seven tenets of Satanism, Satanic symbols and candles. 

Cassidy was charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief after he allegedly ripped the head off Baphomet.

The passionate Christian confirmed his act of destruction in a text to Fox News, saying he tore down the statue because ‘it was extremely anti-Christian.’

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Unhinged teacher threatens to behead girl who asked about his Israeli flag: witnesses

A Georgia teacher allegedly threatened to behead a middle-school student for commenting on his Israeli flag.

Benjamin Reese, a seventh-grade social studies teacher at Warner Robins Middle School, allegedly became angry Dec. 7 when the girl asked about the flag as students were leaving after class and said she found it offensive.

He followed her into the hallway and told the student he was Jewish and had family members who live in Israel, reported WMAZ-TV.

“You don’t make an antisemitic comment like that to a Jew,” Reese said, according to another faculty member.

The girl responded negatively but did not raise her voice, the faculty member said, and Reese allegedly threatened to drag the student outside and brutally murder her.

“You mother—–ng piece of s–t, I’ll kick your a–,” Reese said, according to multiple witnesses. “I should cut your mother—–ng head off.”

Witnesses said Reese returned to his classroom cursing and yelling that she should not speak that way to a Jew, and he allegedly continued making violent threats.

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New York can’t stop churchgoers from bringing guns to worship: appeals court

An appeals court panel has ruled against a New York law that prohibits the carrying of firearms into houses of worship, upholding a lower court decision that blocked the law from taking effect.

On Friday, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit released a 261-page opinion regarding four cases centered on multiple challenges to New York’s Concealed Carry Improvement Act.

Regarding the Act’s provision banning concealed carry in places of worship, the panel ruled that “Plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged that the CCIA burdens their sincerely held religious practice.”

“CCIA is not neutral because it allows the owners of many forms of private property, including many types of retail businesses open to the public, to decide for themselves whether to allow firearms on the premises while denying the same autonomy to places of worship,” stated the ruling.

“By adopting a law that applies differently as to places of worship (alongside the other enumerated sensitive places) than to most other privately owned businesses and properties, the CCIA is, on its face, neither neutral nor generally applicable.”

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‘Tell you a secret’: Speaker compares himself to Moses at event he thought was media free

Mike Johnson’s calling to serve as House Speaker reportedly came from the heavens.

Appearing as the keynote speaker during Tuesday night’s award fete for the National Association of Christian Lawmakers (NACL) at the Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C., the newly appointed speaker from Louisiana opened up about his direct channel to God and how he was directed to become the next speaker after Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was unceremoniously sacked.

“Look, I’m a Southern Baptist, I don’t wanna get too spooky on you,” he told attendees who apparently chuckled, according to Rolling Stone. “But, you know, the Lord speaks to your heart.”

Johnson explained how he was readying to prepare for his “Red Sea moment”.

Apparently he assumed that he was talking in an intimate, media-free setting at the NACL, an organization said to be aiming to push for right-wing fundamentalism to be adopted into law.

As Rolling Stone’s Tim Dickinson points out, he may have been oblivious that his speech was being recorded and streamed on the NACL Facebook page.

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Wieambilla shooting: Arizona man arrested in the United States over ambush that killed two cops and a neighbour is identified as religious conspiracy theorist

A religious conspiracy theorist has been arrested in the US in relation to the tragic shooting a year ago of two Queensland police officers and a Good Samaritan neighbour.

The man has been identified as Donald Day, of Arizona, who had connected online with the ‘doomsday’ trio who planned the chilling pre-mediated attack at Wieambilla in western Queensland last December 12.

He is mentioned by name in a creepy final video talking about ‘devils’ and demons’ made by Nathaniel, Gareth and Stacey Train. 

In the 41-second clip, Gareth Train says, ‘We’ll see you when we get home, Don’.

The three shot dead Constable Matthew Arnold, 26, and Constable Rachel McCrow, 29, shortly after the officers arrived at their Wieambilla property in the state’s Western Downs to inquire about Nathaniel’s whereabouts as part of a missing person’s report.

Neighbour Alan Dare was also killed in the siege before Nathan, Gareth and Stacey were all shot dead by police hours later.

In the video which sent a message to ‘Don’, Gareth Train says ‘they came to kill us, and we killed them. If you don’t defend yourself against these devils and demons, you’re a coward.’

A police investigation later found that the two slain constables were fatally ambushed by the Trains who had links to the sovereign citizen movement and subscribed to a Christian fundamentalist belief system known as premillennialism.

FBI agents on Wednesday arrested Day, 58, near Heber Overgaard, north-east of Phoenix in Arizona following an extensive investigation in partnership with Queensland Police.

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Recordings show how the Mormon church protects itself from child sex abuse claims

Paul Rytting listened as a woman, voice quavering, told him her story.

When she was a child, her father, a former bishop in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, had routinely slipped into bed with her while he was aroused, she said.

It was March 2017 and Rytting offered his sympathies as 31-year-old Chelsea Goodrich spoke. A Utah attorney and head of the church’s Risk Management Division, Rytting had spent about 15 years protecting the organization, widely known as the Mormon church, from costly claims, including sexual abuse lawsuits.

Rytting had flown into Hailey, Idaho, that morning from Salt Lake City, where the church is based, to meet in person with Chelsea and her mother, Lorraine.

After a quick prayer, he introduced himself and said he was there “to look into” Chelsea’s “tragic and horrendous” story.

Chelsea and Lorraine had come to the meeting with one clear request: Would the church allow a local Idaho bishop, which in the Mormon church is akin to a Catholic priest, to testify at John Goodrich’s trial? Bishop Michael Miller, who accompanied Rytting to the meeting, had heard a spiritual confession from Chelsea’s father shortly before John Goodrich was arrested on charges of sexually abusing her.

While the details of his confession remain private, the church swiftly excommunicated Goodrich.

Audio recordings of the meetings over the next four months, obtained by The Associated Press, show how Rytting, despite expressing concern for what he called John’s “significant sexual transgression,” would employ the risk management playbook that has helped the church keep child sexual abuse cases secret. In particular, the church would discourage Miller from testifying, citing a law that exempts clergy from having to divulge information about child sex abuse that is gleaned in a confession. Without Miller’s testimony, prosecutors dropped the charges, telling Lorraine that her impending divorce and the years that had passed since Chelsea’s alleged abuse might prejudice jurors.

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Oklahoma teen testifies how a former pastor referenced the Bible during abuse

A teen who says she was sexually abused testified for almost two hours on Tuesday. She told the court how a former pastor would dialogue with her about biblical issues while allegedly abusing her.

Fred Gammon, Jr, 42, of Miami, is charged with child sexual abuse.  His trial in Ottawa County began its second day on Wednesday (11//29) before a 7-woman, 5-man jury.

At the time of the alleged abuse, Gammon was serving as Wayside Assembly of God pastor. 

The jury listened to prosecutor Chris Garner methodically question the teen as she outlined the abusive behavior that began when she was 15 years old, allegedly at the hands of Gammon. Three witnesses, including the teen, testified for the state on Tuesday.

The accuser, now 19 years old, is studying to be a missionary at a faith-based college..

“He would come into my bedroom and make small talk about the Bible while touching me,” the teen testified.

The alleged sexual abuse began after Gammon saw photographs of the teen wearing a bikini, according to the accuser’s testimony.

She said they were photographs sent to her boyfriend.

“He treated me differently – he was more interested in me,” according to her testimony.

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