Wish I Didn't Know

An Italian man tore both of his eyes out in the middle of the priest’s homily at a church near Pisa, according to reports.

(NBC New York By Greg Wilson) — Fellow parishioners watched in horror as Aldo Bianchini, 46, used his bare hands to pull out both eyeballs. Bianchini later told surgeons, who were unable to save his vision, he heard voices that told him to do it.

“He was in a great deal of agony and he was covered in blood,” Dr. Gino Barbacci told the Daily Mail. “He said that he had used his bare hands to gouge out his eye balls after hearing voices telling him to do so - to do something like that requires super human strength.”

Father Lorenzo Tanganelli said he had just launched into his sermon when he saw a commotion in the back of the church, according to the Italian paper Corriere Fiorentino.

“This man at the back of the knave started tearing at his face and I realized he was gouging out his eyes,” Tanganelli told the paper. “I called for assistance and the paramedics were quickly at the scene and he was taken away and then I carried on celebrating Mass but a lot of people had left because they were so shocked by what they had seen.”

The Bible’s Gospel of St. Matthew quotes Jesus telling his disciples: ‘If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.”

Original Article

The common practice of saying “God bless you” after someone sneezes is a part of American culture.

But it sparked a controversy at a Bay Area high school this week.

Posted to WIDK by Emily Moore

(Lori Preuitt, NBC) — Teacher Steve Cuckovich docked his students’ scores after they said “bless you” in the middle of class. He says talking of any kind is disruptive and takes time away from class.

Cuckovich teaches health at William C. Wood High School in Vacaville.

“The blessing doesn’t make any sense anymore,” Cuckovich told the Fox affiliate in Sacramento. “When you sneezed in the old days, they thought you were dispelling evil spirits out of your body. So they were saying, ‘God bless you,’ for getting rid of evil spirits. But today, what you’re doing doesn’t really make any sense.”

Some parents were furious with the teacher, claiming his rule was anti-religious.

Cuckovich apparently listened to the parents. He says he will no longer deduct points from assignments for the disruption, but he added he will continue to control his classroom.

On Thursday, the district made it first comments on the issue. Superintendent John Niederkorn said that Cuckovich thought the students were sneezing in dramatic fashion with the intent of disrupting class.

“It was brought to the District’s attention a few days ago that students were disciplined for being disruptive in class. The teacher believed that students were dramatically sneezing and responding in repetitive fashion “Bless You”. One of the concerns is the social convention of saying “Gesundheit”, “God Bless You”, or “Bless You” after someone sneezes. Of question is whether a series of these repeated remarks by several students constitutes freedom of speech or a classroom disruption and merits student discipline. Vacaville Unified’s Administration is continuing its investigation of this reported classroom disruption. We are reviewing the impact of this disruption and the student grading policy. Certainly a blessing by one individual to another after a sneeze is a welcomed acknowledgement of a social norm. Hopefully it is not abused as a disruption of classroom instructional activities.” Dr. John Niederkorn, Superintendent.

Neiderkorn’s final word on the matter is still to be determined.

Original Article

Want An Oil Change?  You Must Quote Verse in BIBLE (WIDK)

PLANO (CBSDFW.COM) – A Collin County business offering customers a break on the price of an oil change is requiring a little more than just bringing in a coupon.

Customers are being asked to quote a Bible verse, and some of them are finding out that if they won’t it will cost them.

Resident Marshall Wei, who had been to the Kwik Kar on Custer Road in Plano before, was happy to find the coupon hanging on his door last week.

Above the promised $19.99 price though, the coupon says customers must quote the New Testament verse John 3:16 to get the deal.

“I think maybe I forgot exactly what it is, and I needed to go look it up online,” Wei said

With the verse in hand, Wei drove to the store and pulled into the garage, but as he waited he started having second thoughts about the offer.

“Why should I be compelled to quote something I do not feel comfortable to quote?” he asked.

After a short discussion with a store manager about the verse, he declined to recite it, and ended up paying more than $46 for the service, more than twice what he expected.

“I’m paying you,” Wei said. “Why can’t you treat me like others?”

Store owner Charlie Whittington is standing by what he asking customers to do for a deal.  “If I’m standing for what I believe, so be it,” he said. “Bring it on.”

The verse is popular for containing the central beliefs of traditional Christianity:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (NIV)

Whittington said he did it as a conversation starter in an effort to talk to people about what he believes.

“It’s one thing about America,” he said. “You can go and do what you want. I’m not making you do anything and I’m tired of people making me do something.”

Whittington may be right that he can make the offer if he wants to.  The state attorney general had no comment on the issue and couldn’t point out any laws the coupon is breaking.

Dallas attorney Andy Siegel, who has handled discrimination and denial of service cases before, said with no connection to federal funds, or federal highways, the discount appears to be within the law, though he said the conversation could have been started a different way.

“The study of the Bible has many rewards. I’m not sure that God intended a lube discount to be among its many riches.”

Original Article

Hold Onto Your Hats Scientologists - Meet John Travolta Circa 1860 (WIDK)

Posted to WIDK by Emily Moore

(John Stevens and Mark Duell, Daily Mail) — He is a member of the Church of Scientology, which believes in reincarnation and asks some members to sign one billion year contracts of service.

And one photograph collector in Ontario, Canada, claims he has found a picture of John Travolta from a previous incarnation in 1860.

The 150-year-old photo of a man who looks remarkably like Travolta has been put up for sale on eBay.

‘I’ve had this interesting photograph for years and I’ve been unable to part with it,’ the seller said on the auction site.

‘When you look at it and into the eyes of the sitter you will see what I mean!

‘I believe this is the photograph of a very young John Travolta taken around 1860… This is a ruby glass ambrotype photograph and it is one of a kind.

‘It hasn’t been changed, tampered with or altered in anyway. It is clear and is as nice as the day it was taken roughly 151 years ago.

The photo is listed at $50,000 or nearest offer, and while it has a large price tag comes with free shipping and gift wrapping.

The listings comes after another antique dealer joked that he has a photo that is proof Nicolas Cage is more than just an a-list actor - he’s also a vampire who lived during the American Civil War.

The eBay seller claims to have a 4” by 2.5” carte de visite photo from around 1870 of a man who looks exactly like the 47-year-old star of Con Air, Ghost Rider and The Rock.

The seller, who has put the starting price at $1million, says the photo is 100 per cent genuine and was taken of a man who lived in Bristol, Tennessee, around the time of the Civil War.

The man who put the photo on eBay is Jack Mörd, of Seattle, Washington, whose Facebook page says he is originally from Los Angeles, California, and owns ‘The Thanatos Archive’.

‘My theory is that he allows himself to age to a certain point, maybe 70, 80 or so, then the actor “Nicolas Cage” will “die”,’ Mr Mörd joked.

‘But in reality, the undead vampire “Nicolas Cage” will have rejuvenated himself and appeared in some other part of the world, young again, and ready to start all over.’

The picture was found in the back of an album that contained many unusual death portraits from the Civil War era - but the Nicolas Cage lookalike was not identified by name, Mr Mörd said.

He has a 100 per cent positive feedback rating on eBay and his profile says he is interested in collecting and selling Victorian Era post-mortem photography, as well as other vintage pictures.

The eBay product description for ‘Nicolas Cage is a Vampire / Photo from 1870 / Tennessee’ says: ‘Original c.1870 carte de visit showing a man who looks exactly like Nick Cage.

‘This is not a trick photo of any kind and has not been manipulated in Photoshop or any other graphics program.

‘It’s an original photo of a man who lived in Bristol, TN, sometime around the Civil War.’

It is believed the photo was taken by a confederate Civil War prisoner of war photographer called Professor G.B. Smith.

Mr Mörd joked that Nicolas Cage could be a walking undead man who reinvents himself once every 75 years - and might be looking at going into politics or talk show hosting next.

Original Article

Inside Scientology’s Super Power Building - Where Worshippers Are Told They Can Become Superhuman (WIDK)

Posted to WIDK by Emily Moore

(Daniel Miller, Daily Mail) — These space-age images show the inside of the Church of Scientology’s new $90m training center where devotees of the controversial religion will be told they can develop superhuman abilities.

The Super Power Building in Clearwater, Florida, is due to finally open later this year after being beset by a long series of delays, which saw construction halt and costs spiral.

The imposing structure, a bizarre cross between a Mediterranean-style hotel and the Starship Enterprise, boasts 889 rooms, an indoor running track and Nasa-style training equipment to help worshippers boost their ‘theta’ power.

The Super Power course was developed by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard and  promises to boost a person’s perceptions or senses through a series of mental and physical tasks.

Scientologists believe that in addition to the five senses of hearing, sight, touch, taste and smell we have 57 additional abilities known as ‘perceptics’.

These include an ability to sense blood circulation, balance, compass direction, temperature, gravity as well as an ‘awareness of importance, unimportance.’

In his writings Hubbard described the course as: ‘A superfantastic, but confidential series of rundowns that can be done on anyone whether Dianetic clear or not that puts the person into fantastic shape unleashing the super power of a thetan.

‘This is the means that puts Scientologists into a new realm of ability enabling them to create the new world. It puts world clearing within reach in the future.

‘It consists of 12 separate high-power rundowns which are brand-new and enter realms of the tech never before approached.’

Hubbard had originally wanted to offer the course in 1978 but many of his staff who had been through the instructor training left the church on completion of the course.

In a written statement, church spokesman Ben Shaw said: ‘Super Power is a series of spiritual counseling processes designed to give a person back his own viewpoint, increase his perception, exercise his power of choice, and greatly enhance other spiritual abilities.’

The building contains specially-developed equipment, which the church claims,’expands on the technology developed by Nasa to train astronauts’.

Among the most bizarre contraptions is the antigravity simulator - a gyroscope that spins a person around while blindfolded to improve their perception of compass direction.

Trainees will also be instructed to watch a special video screen that moves back and forth while flashing images to hone their abilities to identify subliminal messages.

It is not yet known how much super power training will cost. Some higher-level Scientology training courses are priced in tens of thousands of dollars.

The images, which were leaked on to the web, are believed to show artists’ impressions of what the building will look like.

The project, which had an original budget of $24m (£15m), was stopped in 2003 after costs more than doubled because of rises in the price of steel and labour.

But after a major appeal to their members, which include celebrities Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Kirstie Alley, it was back on track and is due to be competed this year.

Actress Alley is described as a ‘founding member’ of the project and is reported to have made a donation of around $250,000 (£160,000).

But the delays prompted Clearwater Mayor Frank Hibbard to describe the building as ‘an eyesore, surrounded by dirt and chain-link fence’.

The city’s code enforcement board ordered the exterior, including landscaping and sidewalks had to be completed by early summer 2006.

But the work wasn’t finished meaning the Scientologists were slapped with a series of $250 dollar fines, which by the end of 2006 had totaled more than $40,000 (£25,000).

The church had announced the building would be ready for occupancy by late 2010, but no additional work took place.

Then, in June this year, it was reported that it had passed inspection and a Certificate of Occupancy had been obtained.

Visitors will be greeted by an imposing main lobby lined with austere bronze sculptures depicting various aspects of Scientology.

There are two museums: one in honour of the Scientologists’ Sea Org association and another dedicated to the religion’s founder, L. Ron Hubbard.

The sixth floor houses a full-size indoor running track and the complex also features dozens of audit rooms where Scientologists can test their abilities.

There is even a special VIP audit room reserved for rich donors and the religion’s highly-prized celebrity devotees.

The building, which has been described as  ‘Mediterranean revival-style’, also boasts a bookstore and a library as well as hundreds of course and study rooms.

It has a total of 447 windows and 42 bathrooms, plus a 1,140-seat dining room and two kitchens.

There is a bridge conveniently connecting the building to the Scientology-owned Fort Harrison Hotel on the other side of the street.

Original Article

Iranian Pastor Faces EXECUTION for Refusing to Recant Christian Faith (WIDK)

(Fox News By Joshua Rhett Miller) — An Iranian pastor who has refused to renounce his Christian faith faces execution as early as Wednesday after his sentence was upheld by an Iranian court.

Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who maintains he has never been a Muslim as an adult, has Islamic ancestry and therefore must recant his faith in Jesus Christ, the 11th branch of Iran’s Gilan Provincial Court ruled. Iran’s Supreme Court had ordered the trial court to determine whether Nadarkhani had been a Muslim prior to converting to Christianity.

The judges, according to the American Center for Law & Justice, demanded that Nadarkhani, 34, recant his Christian faith before submission of evidence. Though the judgment runs against current Iranian and international laws and is not codified in Iranian penal code, the judge stated that the court must uphold the decision of the 27th Branch of the Supreme Court in Qom.

When asked to repent, Nadarkhani stated: “Repent means to return. What should I return to? To the blasphemy that I had before my faith in Christ?”

“To the religion of your ancestors, Islam,” the judge replied, according to the American Center for Law & Justice.

“I cannot,” Nadarkhani said.

Nadarkhani is the latest Christian cleric to be imprisoned in Iran for his religious beliefs. According to Elam Ministries, a United Kingdom-based organization that serves Christian churches in Iran, there was a significant increase in the number of Christians arrested solely for practicing their faith between June 2010 and January 2011. A total of 202 arrests occurred during that six-month period, including 33 people who remained in prison as of January, Elam reported.

An Assyrian evangelical pastor, Rev. Wilson Issavi, was imprisoned for 54 days for allegedly converting Muslims prior to his release in March 2010, Elam officials told FoxNews.com.

Nadarkhani, a pastor in the 400-member Church of Iran, has been held in that country’s Gilan Province since October 2009, after he protested to local education authorities that his son was forced to read from the Koran at school. His wife, Fatemeh Pasandideh, was also arrested in June 2010 in an apparent attempt to pressure him to renounce his faith. She was released in October 2010, according to Amnesty International.

Nadarkhani was sentenced to death for apostasy last September based on religious writings by Iranian clerics, including Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, despite the fact that there is no offense of “apostasy” in the nation’s penal code, Amnesty International reports.

In June, the Supreme Court of Iran ruled that a lower court should re-examine procedural flaws in the case, giving local judges the power to decide whether to release, execute or retry Nadarkhani. The verdict, according to Amnesty International, includes a provision for the sentence to be overturned should Nadarkhani renounce his faith.

Elise Auerbach, an Iranian analyst for Amnesty International USA, told FoxNews.com that an execution for apostasy has not been carried out in Iran since 1990. Nadarkhani’s sentence is a “clear violation of international law,” she said.

“The key is to keep up the pressure and to publicize the story because it obviously outrages most people,” Auerbach said. “It’s part of the pattern of persecution based on religion in Iran.”

Kiri Kankhwende, a spokeswoman for Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a human rights organization that specializes in religious freedom, told FoxNews.com that Nadarkhani was asked for the fourth time to renounce his faith during a hearing early Wednesday and he denied that request.

“We’re waiting to hear the final outcome,” she told FoxNews.com. We’re still waiting to hear what they’ve decided.”

Kankhwende said Nadarkhani could be executed Wednesday or Thursday.

“Iran is unpredictable,” she said. “We can’t say when it might happen. It’s a very real threat, but we can’t say when exactly.”

Officials at the U.S. State Department declined to comment when reached on Wednesday.Attempts to reach his attorney, Mohammed Ali Dadkhah, were not successful.

House Speaker John Boehner said Nadarkhani’s case is “distressing for people of every country and creed,” according to a statement released on Wednesday.

“While Iran’s government claims to promote tolerance, it continues to imprison many of its people because of their faith,” the statement read. “This goes beyond the law to an issue of fundamental respect for human dignity. I urge Iran’s leaders to abandon this dark path, spare [Nadarkhani’s] life, and grant him a full and unconditional release.”

Father Jonathan Morris, a Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of New York and an analyst for Fox News Channel, said Nadarkhani’s case is “unmistakable evidence” that Iran is executing Christians simply because they refuse to become Muslims.

Morris continued: “Will President Obama, and the free world, allow the United Nations to continue in its cowardly silence on this matter?”

Original Article

(WIDK) - Sundown tonight marks Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

To mark that occasion, here’s a breakdance celebration video.

Original Article

Christian Farmer to Rihanna – Put Your Clothes Back On! (WIDK)

(The Telegraph) — Pop star Rihanna got her marching orders after a farmer objected to her peeling off her clothes while filming a new video on his land.

Alan Graham, 61, pulled up in his tractor and told the sexy singer to cover up and later claimed: “Her behavior was inappropriate.”

Rihanna was recording a video for We Found Love with Scottish DJ Calvin Harris in a muddy barley field near Bangor, Co Down - ahead of three sell-out shows at Belfast’s Odyssey Arena this weekend.

The filming was taking place close to a busy dual carriageway when she stripped to a bikini after removing a long checked dress. But the sight became too much for Mr Graham’s Christian beliefs and he politely asked the filming to stop.

The father of four, a member the Democratic Unionist Party on North Down Borough council, said today: “She understood where I was coming from. We shook hands and parted company on good terms.”

Mr Graham had agreed that one of his fields could be used for yesterday’s recording but was not aware what the production team had in mind for the pop superstar when they moved to an adjoining piece of land. Earlier he had used his tractor to help pull free some recording equipment which got stuck in mud. He also helped fill in a hole with some of his straw.

Mr Graham, who owns 60 acres at Clandeboye outside Bangor was just about to head for home when he saw Rihanna in her red patterned bikini.

He said today: “I realized things had got to a stage which was not acceptable to me, things became inappropriate and I asked the film crew to stop.

“I never heard of Rihanna until someone called me requesting the use of my land. I knew on Monday who she was. Someone explained she was as big as it gets as far as pop stars were concerned. I am a bit illiterate about those issues.

“If someone wants to borrow my field and things become inappropriate, then I say: ‘Enough is enough. You are not entitled to do that’.

“There was no firm arrangement about borrowing the field. Everybody was done on an ad hoc basis. My expectations were not made clear to him (the man who requested use of the field), and everything that was going to take place was not made clear to me. To be fair to the people involved in asking for the field, I don’t think they were aware either of what would take place.

“There was no agreement as such beforehand. I have not received any payment at this moment in time and I don’t know if I will be paid. I don’t want to say what I said to Rihanna or what she said to me. We had a conversation. We shook hands and parted company on good terms.”

Meanwhile, as the singer continued filming in Belfast today, the Rihanna-gate affair was even raised at the Northern Ireland Assembly where Ulster Unionist Mike Nesbitt launched a tongue-in-cheek attack on First Minister Peter Robinson, the leader of Mr Graham’s political party.

Mr Robinson was briefing Assembly members on a recent trade mission to the United States where he and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness asked the entertainment industry to base projects in Northern Ireland.

But his Ulster Unionist rival asked if potential investors might be deterred given that the pop star had been forced from a field for nothing more than “wearing red, white and blue”.

Mr Robinson said that as he understood it “there was no problem with the colours involved”.

He asked if Mr Nesbitt, an MLA for Strangford, Co Down, might be able to make a field on his own land available to the singer.

Original Article

Disgraced Pastor Ted Haggard To Appear On ‘Celebrity Wife Swap’ (WIDK)

Posted to WIDK by Bianca Coombs

(Anna Chan, The Clicker) - Reality TV is about to get very … interesting.

Pastor Ted Haggard, the former president of the National Evangelical Association, is set to appear on the spin-off series “Celebrity Wife Swap” with his wife, Gayle, ABC confirmed to People today. Haggard admitted in 2006 that he was “guilty of sexual immorality”after a man claimed to have engaged in drug-fueled homosexual activities with him. Haggard also admitted to paying a man in Denver for a massage and meth, but claimed he neither had sex with the man or used the drug.

According to the Colorado Springs Gazette, Haggard will be swapping wives with actor Gary Busey. Sources told the paper that the show is set to begin filming tomorrow at the GLBT Pride Center in Colorado.

Busey, who is twice divorced, isn’t currently married, but has a young child with girlfriend Steffanie Sampson. The producers of “Celebrity Wife Swap” did not tell People if Sampson would be the one participating.

In the original “Wife Swap,” two families — often with opposite lifestyles and beliefs — will swap wives for two weeks. For the first week, the wives — in their new homes — will follow the rules of the household as set forth by the resident wife. The following week, the visiting wife shakes things up by doing things her way, and the family she is staying with must follow her rules. The women stay in the homes as guests and do not share the beds of the husbands.

Original Article

Couple ‘Allowed Their 12-Year-Old To Be Raped By A Preacher Living In Their Home’ (WIDK)

Posted to WIDK by Emily Moore

(Paul Thompson, Daily Mail) — A couple have been accused of allowing their 12-year-old daughter to be raped by a veteran preacher they invited into their home.

They are also alleged to have allowed an incestuous relationship between two of their children in what authorities have called a ‘tragic abuse of children’.

Investigators believe Jerry and Christina Ham’s religious beliefs may have played a part in allowing the alleged sexual abuse.

They were arrested following a six month investigation after preacher Larry Gene Martin was held on rape charges.

The 68-year-old is accused of raping the Hams’ 12-year-old after moving into their home in Palestine, Texas.

After his arrest he told investigators he was in love with the girl and wanted to marry her.

Shocked police believe further allegations of abuse involving the family’s two other children, boys aged eight and 12, will be uncovered.

Investigators believe the parents may have also allowed their oldest boy, now 12, to participate in sexual acts with his sister.

‘It is a very sick, twisted thing,’ said Anderson County Sheriff Greg Taylor.

‘We believe there are some religious connotations. We really don’t know for sure.

‘There’s some strange beliefs in the family, to put it mildly.

‘There was certainly a permittance of this type of activity that’s not normal.’ The abuse came to light following the arrest of Martin, a preacher for the last 50 years.

Martin was pastor at Faith Bible Church in the Brushy Creek area where the Hams all attended at the time.

Sheriff Taylor said he believes the Hams not only had knowledge of the sexual assault of their daughter, but also consented to it at some level.

‘She (the couple’s daughter) was a victim of Martin,’ Taylor said.  ‘We believe they (the Hams) had knowledge of that and other sexual assaults against this child without reporting it…We’re not alleging at this time they participated in any sexual assault against this child.’

The sheriff also said investigators believe the Hams provided ‘some type of consent to some of these activities.’ Taylor said the couple has admitted to some of the accusations.

‘They have confessed to some of the allegations, to the knowledge of and consent of some of the allegations,’ Taylor said.

‘They’re semi-cooperative.’

Jerry Ham, 56, was charged with the felony offense of engaging in organized criminal activity and aggravated sexual assault of a child.

His 36-year-old wife faced the same charges.

Original Article

Nine Amish Men Jailed For Not Displaying Orange Safety Triangles On Their Buggies (WIDK)

Posted to WIDK by Emily Moore

(Leon Watson, Daily Mail) — They aren’t your typical mugshots - but eight bearded Amish men posed for police in Kentucky on an unwelcome break from their traditional, conservative lives.

America’s Amish community has taken on a state’s thoroughly modern road traffic law, and lost.

Nine Amish men in Kentucky were jailed after refusing to put go-slow safety signs on their carts - and there are dozens more facing a similar fate.

All but one has already been released.

Randy Haley, the Graves County jailer, told ABC News that ‘They were very nice. They did anything we asked them to do, we had no problems.’

The men, who belong to an ultra-conservative sect in western Kentucky, had objected to displaying the triangular stickers because they are bright orange and ‘violate’ their modesty code.

All nine were caught failing to comply with a state law requiring the safety emblems on slow-moving vehicles in a series of cases that date back more than three years.

Fines for the minor motoring offences were imposed, but a long-running legal battle followed after they said paying the fines would mean complying with a law that is against their religion.

Finally, at a court hearing in Graves County earlier this week each of the defendants were handed between three and 10 days behind bars.

The length of their sentences varied depending on the amount of their fines and court costs, which ranged from $148 to more than $600.

However, there was a problem - in jail they would be expected to wear orange jumpsuits, so dark-colored ones had to be specially ordered.

Not all Amish groups - including another community that lives nearby - refuse to comply with Kentucky state’s safety requirement.

But the Old Order Swartzentruber Amish do, saying they won’t wear bright colours or put trust in man-made symbols for their safety.

In June, the Kentucky Court of Appeals had denied the defendants’ appeal against their convictions.

Speaking before yesterday’s hearing, one of the men, father-of-seven Levi Zook, said: ‘I don’t think it’s right to put somebody in jail for practicing their religious beliefs … but that’s what we’ll do if that’s what it takes to abide by the biblical laws.’

The sect has appealed to the state Supreme Court, which has not decided whether to hear the cases.

Yet there are more on the way. Graves District Court is being swamped with similar cases in recent months after dozens more sect members were fined for the same offence.

Judge Deborah Hawkins Crooks said she had 44 other cases involving the same charge to deal with and the problem is bound to continue arising ‘as long as we have a large Amish community’.

Crooks noted that the defendants already had two chances, with appeals denied at the Graves Circuit Court level as well as the appellate court.

‘If I had my preference, these cases would not be in front of me,’ she said. ‘But I don’t get to pick and choose the cases I hear.’

She added there were trial dates to set for numerous other cases in the coming months involving Amish men.

The court of appeals has ruled that as long as a law is applied equally, the sect can’t argue they don’t have to comply because of their religious beliefs.

The Amish however claim the Kentucky constitution’s religious-freedom clause requires sincerely held beliefs to be accommodated.

The men have sought permission to use lanterns and gray reflective tape rather than orange, but the state and courts have said that wouldn’t be as effective in daytime.

Original Article

RIPPING Out The ‘Immoral’ - Atheist Group Plans To Rip Out Bible Pages (WIDK)

Posted to WIDK by Emily Moore

(Jaimee Lynn Fletcher, OC Register) — Members of a grassroots atheist group say they will tear out pages of the Bible at the Huntington Beach pier Saturday to point out what they say is immorality in the book many Christians base their faith on.

Backyard Skeptics members plan to rip out pages with specific passages of the Bible that they say portray immoral biblical law, organizers say.

Bruce Gleason, founder of Backyard Skeptics, a group that preaches, for lack of a better word, Atheism leads a lecture and discussion on what Atheists believe and why they believe at Northwood High School in Irvine.

“We’re not there to burn the Bible or desecrate,” Bruce Gleason, director of Backyard Skeptics, said. “There are plenty verses in the Bible that if you did any of those things today, you’d be thrown in jail immediately.”

Group members will rip out verses in the Bible such as Deuteronomy 22: 14-31, which says if a man finds his wife not to be a virgin, the community can stone her; or a later verse in the same chapter the Backyard Skeptics say can be interpreted to say that virgins who are raped will be forced to marry their rapist.

Backyard Skeptics gained headlines and some community criticism in May when they posted a billboard in Westminster that read: “Don’t believe in God? You are not alone.”

The billboard is the one of a handful raised in Orange County, including one put up in August in Santa Ana, Gleason said. The group has plans to put up another one in Garden Grove off the 22 Freeway and one on Chapman Avenue in Orange on Sept. 29.

Ray Comfort, who often open-air preaches in Huntington Beach and has an evangelical ministry television show with actor Kirk Cameron, said he and Gleason are “friendly enemies” who often discuss religion.

“I would seriously like to supply them with a Koran and maybe something Hindu,” he said. “If he wants to make a statement about God, he should spread it around a little and not pick on Christians.”

Comfort added he believes Backyard Skeptics targets Christianity because Christians are taught to “love their enemies.”

Gleason says the demonstration is based loosely on Thomas Jefferson’s Bible – an 86-page book that omits huge chunks of the New Testament, according the Religion News Service.

Jefferson’s Bible, which the Smithsonian National Museum of American History is restoring, chronicles Jesus’ life but leaves out the Resurrection and all miracles the Bible says Jesus was a part of.

“We will have copies of the Jefferson Bible (on Saturday),” Gleason said. “Out of 1,100 pages he only kept (86) of them. This is one of our Founding Fathers.”

Gleason said the Backyard Atheists generally pass out pamphlets and information at different places in Orange County to try to reach residents interested in atheism, but Saturday’s event is more of a demonstration.

He said he doesn’t expect there to be any conflict at the event because it is more about delivering a message rather than being disrespectful or engaging in arguments.

“We want to make this a better world for secular and humanistic values,” Gleason said. “We don’t believe prayer works. We don’t believe religion adds anything except a sense of false hope.”

The group will meet at 2 p.m. at the Huntington Beach pier. Their demonstration will also be live streamed on UStream.com.

Original Article

Pat Robertson Says Alzheimer’s Makes Divorce OK (WIDK)

Posted to WIDK by Bianca Coombs

(Tom Breen, Associated Press) - Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson told his “700 Club” viewers that divorcing a spouse with Alzheimer’s is justifiable because the disease is “a kind of death.”

During the portion of the show where the one-time Republican presidential candidate takes questions from viewers, Robertson was asked what advice a man should give to a friend who began seeing another woman after his wife started suffering from the incurable neurological disorder.

“I know it sounds cruel, but if he’s going to do something, he should divorce her and start all over again, but make sure she has custodial care and somebody looking after her,” Robertson said.

The chairman of the Christian Broadcasting Network, which airs the “700 Club,” said he wouldn’t “put a guilt trip” on anyone who divorces a spouse who suffers from the illness, but added, “Get some ethicist besides me to give you the answer.”

Most Christian denominations at least discourage divorce, citing Jesus’ words in the Gospel of Mark that equate divorce and remarriage with adultery.

Terry Meeuwsen, Robertson’s co-host, asked him about couples’ marriage vows to take care of each other “for better or for worse” and “in sickness and in health.”

“If you respect that vow, you say ‘til death do us part,’” Robertson said during the Tuesday broadcast. “This is a kind of death.”

A network spokesman said Wednesday that Robertson had no further statement.

Divorce is uncommon among couples where one partner is suffering from Alzheimer’s, said Beth Kallmyer, director of constituent services for the Alzheimer’s Association, which provides resources to sufferers and their families.

“We don’t hear a lot of people saying ‘I’m going to get divorced,’” she told The Associated Press. “Families typically respond the way they do to any other fatal disease.”

The stress can be significant in marriages though, Kallmyer said, because it results in the gradual loss of a person’s mental faculties.

“The caregiving can be really stressful on a couple of levels,” she said. “There’s the physical level. There’s also the emotional level of feeling like you’re losing that person you love.”

As a result, she said, it’s important for couples to make decisions about care together in the early stages of the illness, when its effects aren’t as prominent.

Original Article

Picture This - Logo ‘Catholic Archdiocesan Youth Commission’ (WIDK)

(WIDK) — This is an actual logo designed in 1973 for the Catholic Church’s Archdiocesan Youth Commission. It even won an award from the Art Directors Club of Los Angeles.

Original Article

Need A Baby? How About A Wife? - WIN THEM On Canadian Radio (WIDK)

Submitted to WIDK by Jean Hoefer Ortiz - Posted by Emily Moore

(Annie U.) — Canadian radio stations must be desperate for publicity and listeners.

Two Canadian radio stations on opposite sides of the country are currently running high profile controversial contests. In Edmonton, on 100.3 The Bear, you can win a wife. In Ottawa, on Hot 89.9, you can win a baby. Seems almost unbelievable in a country where it is illegal to sell human sperm or eggs.

Win a Wife

In Edmonton, 100.3 The Bear’s contest page reads “You are cordially invited to…WIN A WIFE.” The prize includes a trip to Russia with 13 nights accommodation, return air fare, and $500 spending money to “meet the lucky lady,” all provided by American company A Volga Girl, which specializes in providing international match-making and marriage support services. The contest description goes on to explain that they won’t “give this opportunity to just anybody” so in order to “weed out the no-hopers and time wasters,” people who want to enter the contest have to complete an application form.  As of September 9, there are already 81 applicants, with the two top rated applicants currently both being lesbian women.

The Huffington Post notes that a radio station in New Zealand held an identical contest earlier this year that resulted in grievances being filed in New Zealand and Ukrainian feminists protesting the competition by marching naked in the street to protest the contest. Back in Canada, Alberta’s Immigration minister raised concerns about human trafficking and had all of their department’s advertisements pulled from the radio station. The radio station brand manager, Rob Vavrek, however, brushed aside concerns about the contest, telling the Huffington Post that the contest doesn’t degrade women, but that it simply provides them with “the opportunity to contact and meet each other in the hopes of developing a serious relationship.” He then likened the “win a wife” contest to reality TV shows like the Bachelor and Bachelorette.

Win a Baby

In Ottawa, Hot 89.9 is running a “Win a Baby” contest. On its contest page, the fine print reads that “there is one prize available to be won, consisting of up to three (3) fertility treatment procedures (the “Prize”) which must be completed within 12 months from the end of the Contest Period. The approximate total retail value of the Prize is $35,000 CAD.” Applicants who want to win the fertility treatments complete an application and a judging panel selects the finalists. The radio station will then announce and introduce the finalists and allow the listeners to vote online for the couple they think most deserves the prize.

An article in the Daily Mail highlighted some of the critical comments made about this competition, including that it is “in extremely poor taste” and that it is “the most unethical and insulting contest [they] have ever aired.” However, some people applauded the contest for giving one lucky couple the opportunity to have a baby they might otherwise never be able to afford. Hopefully Ontario (where this contest is being held) will soon catch up to the Province of Quebec and fund fertility treatments under the health care system so that couples are not forced to enter degrading competitions in order to have a family.

Are Contests Going too Far?

What happened to radio stations giving away concert tickets, new televisions or all-inclusive vacations? Is the competition for listeners so great these days that they need to move from material prizes to giving away human life? Everyone deserves the opportunity to have a rewarding relationship and to be able to build a family. But what does it say about our society when people are so desperate that they need to enter publicly humiliating competitions to achieve their life goals? What does it say about us that we will tune in, and vote, and revel in the opportunity to play God?

Those are all difficult questions to answer, perhaps.Ultimately, turning human beings, in particular women and children, into a “prize” in a contest is degrading and demeaning, both in these radio shows and in the American reality TV shows that so many people tune into. The difference here, however, is that the victims in these cases are not willingly signing up to be a prize and the women in particular who may end up going home with the prize winner may be doing so simply to escape a desperate financial situation.

Original Article