GOP 2016-PLANNED PARENTHOOD
GOP hopeful Dr. Ben Carson blasts Planned Parenthood
WASHINGTON (AP) — Dr. Ben Carson has urged people of faith to stand up against what he calls the “blatant evil” of Planned Parenthood.
The Republican presidential hopeful addressed a rally outside the U.S. Capitol yesterday as an anti-abortion group released a third undercover video of Planned Parenthood officials discussing the provision of organs from aborted fetuses for research. The organization says the videos are heavily edited.
Carson told abortion opponents he had spent many nights as a surgeon “toiling so hard to save one of those lives.”
Senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, who also are seeking the GOP nomination, said Congress should cut off the hundreds of millions of dollars it gives Planned Parenthood.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office says he’s working “to address this horrific issue with the goal of taking a vote” before Congress’s August recess.
235-a-09-(Dr. Ben Carson, GOP presidential candidate, addressing rally outside U.S. Capitol)-“a human baby”-Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson says environmentalists campaign to save endangered species. (28 Jul 2015)
< 234-a-17-(Dr. Ben Carson, GOP presidential candidate, addressing rally outside U.S. Capitol)-“and be counted”-Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson says Planned Parenthood is part of a culture of death. ((note length of cut)) (28 Jul 2015) < 236-a-12-(Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, GOP presidential candidate, addressing rally outside U.S. Capitol)-“defund Planned Parenthood (applause fades)”-Texas Senator Ted Cruz says Planned Parenthood should stop receiving hundreds of millions of tax dollars. ((longer version of cut used in wrap)) (28 Jul 2015) < 233-w-31-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor, with GOP presidential candidates Dr. Ben Carson and Texas Senator Ted Cruz)–Dr. Ben Carson has urged people of faith to stand up against what he calls the “blatant evil” of Planned Parenthood. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (28 Jul 2015) < BOY SCOUTS-GAYS-CHURCHES Mormons reevaluate Boy Scout links after OK for gay adults SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The lifting of the Boy Scouts of America’s ban on gay adult leaders has drawn a sharp response from the largest sponsor of Scout units. The Mormon church, which serves more than 427,000 boys in nearly 38,000 scout units, says the admission of openly gay leaders is “inconsistent with the doctrines of the Church.” One possibility, church officials suggest, would be for the Mormons to form their own worldwide scouting movement. After the Mormons, the next largest sponsors of U.S. Scout units are the United Methodist Church and the Roman Catholic Church. The Methodists’ General Commission on United Methodist Men said decisions on whether or not to accept gay adult leaders would rest with individual churches. Catholic Bishop Robert Guglielmone (goo-yel-MOH’-nee) of Charleston, South Carolina, who helps oversee Catholic scouting programs, said he and his colleagues are “cautiously optimistic” that they’ll be able to continue choosing scout leaders that meet their standards. 252-v-33-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor)–The lifting of the Boy Scouts of America’s ban on gay adult leaders has drawn a sharp response from the largest sponsor of Scout units. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (28 Jul 2015) < 044-w-32-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor, with John Stemberger, founder and chairman of Trail Life USA)–The Boy Scouts of America’s top policy-making board has voted to end its ban on gay adult leaders while allowing church-sponsored Scout units to maintain the exclusion if that accords with their faith. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (28 Jul 2015) < FATAL CHURCH STABBING Christian retreat official ‘heartbroken’ over stabbings ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) — A board member of the rural Maryland religious retreat where a man was killed in a double stabbing on Sunday says its operators are “heartbroken” over the incident. Peter Chang said yesterday he’d like the board of Anna Prayer Counseling to be more cautious about welcoming people with possible mental health issues to the center about 40 miles from Washington. But he says that as a Christian counseling center, “that’s what we’re here for.” Sixty-two-year-old Chung Hwan Park of South Korea was killed Sunday evening. His 57-year-old wife is recovering from stab wounds. Authorities have charged a homeless man, 30-year-old Song Su Kim, with first-degree murder in the attack. Police say Kim was dropped off at the center by his mother five days earlier. PRAYER LAWSUIT Rowan County commissioners appeal ruling in prayer case SALISBURY, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s Rowan County commissioners are appealing a federal court ruling which said their practice of opening meetings with Christian prayers violated the First Amendment. Local media outlets report that the nonprofit Liberty Institute filed the 44-page brief on behalf of the commissioners on Monday. Commissioners voted last month to file an appeal to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeal cites a New York state case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that town boards can start meetings with sectarian prayers delivered by clergy and others of various faiths. In May, U.S. District Judge James Beaty held that the commissioners violated the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause, which bans government establishment of religion. Beaty said the commissioners’ actions fell outside of the New York decision. SNAKE HANDLING DEATH Sheriff’s office: Man dies from snake bite at church service LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky sheriff’s office says a man has died from a snake bite he suffered during a church service. The Bell County sheriff’s office said Monday that 60-year-old John David Brock of Stoney Fork was handling the snake during a Sunday service at a Pentecostal church in Jenson. Authorities say Brock was bitten on his left arm and refused medical treatment. The sheriff’s office says Brock went to his brother’s home, where he later died. The local coroner pronounced Brock dead. Snake handling at religious services is most common in Southern Appalachian states. The basis for the practice is a disputed passage in the Gospel of Mark. POPE-PHILADELPHIA-ZOO Group of parishioners plan to stay at zoo during pope visit PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Visitors making the pilgrimage to Philadelphia to see Pope Francis in September are exploring all options to stay in the city, even those on the wild side. The Record newspaper reports that parishioners from Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Ridgewood, New Jersey, will be sleeping at the Philadelphia Zoo during the weekend of Sept. 26-27. Church officials set out to find inexpensive lodging for the weekend and nailed down plans to sleep inside two zoo buildings that contain insect and bird exhibits. They say at least 60 families from the church have signed up the trip. More than 1 million travelers are expected in Philadelphia, where the pope will attend a world meeting of Roman Catholic families and celebrate an outdoor Mass. INDIANA BUS CRASH Police: 1 killed when church bus crashes near Indianapolis GREENFIELD, Ind. (AP) — Indiana State Police say one person was killed when a church bus crashed along Interstate 70 near Indianapolis. Capt. David Bursten says some other people were injured in yesterday afternoon’s crash near Greenfield. Bursten says the bus was traveling from northwestern Indiana when it crashed about 20 miles east of Indianapolis. Greenfield Fire Chief James Roberts told WXIN-TV that one patient was airlifted to an Indianapolis hospital and four others were transported to a Greenfield hospital with non-life threatening injuries. After the crash, the bus could be seen off of the side of the interstate near a tree line. JAMESTOWN DISCOVERY Remains of 4 early colonial leaders discovered at Jamestown WASHINGTON (AP) — Archaeologists have uncovered human remains of four of the earliest leaders of the English colony that would become America, buried for more than 400 years near the altar of what was America’s first Protestant church in Jamestown, Virginia. Researchers say the burial sites were found in the floor of what’s left of Jamestown’s historic Anglican church from 1608. The site is the same church where Pocahontas famously married Englishman John Rolfe, leading to peace between the Powhatan Indians and colonists at the first permanent English settlement in America. The Jamestown Rediscovery archaeology team said the remains include those of the Rev. Robert Hunt, Jamestown’s first Anglican minister, and Capt. Gabriel Archer, a nemesis of one-time colony leader John Smith. Mysteriously, a small silver box resting atop Archer’s coffin turns out likely to be a Catholic reliquary containing bone fragments and a container for holy water. 244-w-29-(Tim Maguire, AP correspondent, with James Horn, president, Jamestown Rediscovery)–An archaeological dig discovers some of the earliest Jamestown colonists. AP correspondent Tim Maguire reports. (28 Jul 2015) < 220-a-14-(William Kelso, archeology director, Jamestown Rediscovery project, at news conference)-“church of England”-Jamestown’s director of archeology William Kelso says among the objects found was a small silver box resting on top of what is left of the coffin of Captain Gabriel Archer. (28 Jul 2015) < 219-a-10-(James Horn, historian and president, Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation, at news conference)-“the same church”-Historian James Horn says the church where the men were buried was also the scene of a famous marriage in Jamestown. (28 Jul 2015) < 216-a-07-(James Horn, historian and president, Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation, at news conference)-“of English America”-Historian James Horn says the discovery and identification of the remains is very significant. (28 Jul 2015) < 217-a-15-(James Horn, historian and president, Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation, at news conference)-“enterprise in America”-Historian James Horn says the four men buried on the grounds of the first Church of England in the colony played a critical role in the survival of Jamestown. (28 Jul 2015) < 218-a-17-(James Horn, historian and president, Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation, at news conference)-“attacks and disease”-Historian James Horn says the four men found buried at Jamestown faced a number of hardships at the colony. (28 Jul 2015) < BOOK OF MORMON-UTAH ‘The Book of Mormon’ satirical musical finally in Utah SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The satirical musical that mocks Mormons is starting a two-week run at a Salt Lake City theater two blocks from the church’s flagship temple. “The Book of Mormon” has been playing across the country since it opened in March 2011. But this will mark the first time the show’s gleefully naive missionaries come to Utah, where about two-thirds of the state’s residents are estimated to be Mormon. The Tony Award-winning show’s creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone of “South Park” fame, tell The Associated Press that bringing the show to Salt Lake City feels like validation, and also brings the creative process full circle. It is not expected to cause much of a stir or any protests. ISLAMIC STATE-GEORGIA MAN ‘I am an American’ says man who tried to join Islamic state AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia man who wrote that he was “ready for jihad” before booking a flight overseas to join the Islamic State group has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison. Despite menacing social media postings read by prosecutors in court yesterday, 38-year-old Leon Nathan Davis III of Augusta sobbed as he told the judge: “I love my country and I am an American.” Davis pleaded guilty in May to charges that he sought to join a known terrorist group. His attorney told the judge that Davis converted to Islam a decade ago while in prison for cocaine trafficking. Davis says he was later “brainwashed” by the propaganda of radical Muslims. Prosecutors say Davis wrote online that he wanted “to kill Zionists and bring down Israel and the United States of America.”
