GOP 2016-CRUZ-PASTORS
Cruz urges pastors to mobilize evangelical vote
WASHINGTON (AP) β Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz is urging pastors to help mobilize the evangelical vote.
The Texas senator is the only presidential hopeful scheduled to address the Family Research Council’s two-day Watchmen on the Wall conference, which has attracted hundreds of evangelical pastors from across the country to Washington.
Cruz said the pastors are patriotic “warriors spreading the truth” in a nation where half of evangelical Christians don’t vote.
He said Democrats’ “devotion to mandatory gay marriage in all 50 states trumps any allegiance to religious liberty under the First Amendment.”
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243-a-16-(Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, addressing an evangelical pastors conference)-“vote our values”-Texas Senator Ted Cruz says evangelical Christian voters can change the course of the nation. (21 May 2015)
< 240-w-30-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor, with Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas)–Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz is urging pastors to help mobilize the evangelical vote. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (21 May 2015) < 242-a-12-(Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, addressing an evangelical pastors conference)-“as this. Amen”-Texas Senator Ted Cruz says evangelical pastors can have a role like the Bible’s Queen Esther. (21 May 2015) < 241-a-08-(Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, addressing an evangelical pastors conference)-“spreading the truth”-Texas Senator Ted Cruz says the ministers need to mobilize their communities. (21 May 2015) < 244-a-10-(Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, addressing an evangelical pastors conference)-“the First Amendment”-Texas Senator Ted Cruz says today’s Democrats have become radical and extreme. ((cut used in wrap)) (21 May 2015) < BOY SCOUTS-GAYS Boy Scouts’ leader says ban on gay adults not sustainable ATLANTA (AP) β The president of the Boy Scouts of America, Robert Gates, says its sponsoring organizations should be allowed to decide whether or not to appoint openly gay adult leaders. Gates said that would allow churches, which sponsor about 70 percent of Scout units, to maintain leadership standards consistent with their faith. In a speech Thursday in Atlanta to the Scouts’ national annual meeting, Gates said the organization’s longstanding ban on participation by openly gay adults is no longer sustainable and should be changed to avert potentially destructive legal battles. He also expressed concern that an eventual court order might strike down the Boy Scouts’ policy of banning atheists. In 2013, after bitter internal debate, the BSA decided to allow openly gay youth as scouts, but not gay adults as leaders. The change took effect in January 2014. Sound: 276-a-05-(Robert Gates, president of the Boy Scouts of America, addressing the BSA’s annual meeting)-“a national movement”-BSA President Robert Gates says its policy should be changed so that churches and other sponsoring units can decide whether to allow gay adult scoutmasters. (21 May 2015) < 274-a-14-(Robert Gates, president of the Boy Scouts of America, addressing the BSA’s annual meeting)-“for adult leaders”-BSA President Robert Gates says its sponsoring organizations should be allowed to set their own standards for adult leaders. (21 May 2015) < 273-a-16-(Robert Gates, president of the Boy Scouts of America, addressing the BSA’s annual meeting)-“to do this”-BSA President Robert Gates says its sponsoring organizations should be allowed to decide whether or not to allow openly gay adult leaders. (21 May 2015) < 275-a-10-(Robert Gates, president of the Boy Scouts of America, addressing the BSA’s annual meeting)-“duty to God”-BSA President Robert Gates says policy changes for adult leaders should be made soon. (21 May 2015) < GAY MARRIAGE-ALABAMA Judge: Gay couples across Alabama have right to marry MONTGOMERY, Ala (AP) β A federal judge has ruled that gays and lesbians have the right to marry in all Alabama counties, but placed her decision on hold until the U.S. Supreme Court issues a ruling on same-sex marriage. U.S District Judge Callie Granade said Thursday that Alabama’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional and enjoined probate judges from enforcing it. However, she stayed enforcement of her order citing the expected decision this summer. Granade in January ruled that Alabama’s gay marriage ban was illegal. Gay couples married for three weeks until the state Supreme Court ordered probate judges to stop. In Washington Thursday, Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore defended his state court’s action. He told a conference of evangelical pastors that the “United States Supreme Court has no right to go in and redefine marriage defined by God.” Sound: 271-a-12-(Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, addressing a conference of evangelical pastors)-“constitution was bad (applause fades)”-Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore says his state Supreme Court was right to put a stop to gay marriages. (21 May 2015) < 270-a-09-(Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, addressing a conference of evangelical pastors)-“of our country”-Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore says gay marriage is not a constitutional right. (21 May 2015) < 272-a-12-(Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, addressing a conference of evangelical pastors)-“to acknowledge God”-Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore says Christians must take a stand on moral issues. (21 May 2015) < CATHOLIC MORALITY MANUAL Teachers in San Francisco rally against Catholic school ‘morality clauses’ SAN FRANCISCO (AP) β Teachers from four San Francisco Catholic high schools have rejected the archbishop’s latest revision of a teacher handbook. Dozens of teachers rallied in front of the chancery office Wednesday, calling for a rejection of Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone’s latest revision of the teacher handbook. It calls for teachers and staff to accept contract language against promoting homosexuality, same-sex marriage, abortion, contraceptives and artificial insemination. Protesters told KPIX-TV that the latest draft of the handbook is softer in tone, but the substance is essentially the same. Contract negotiations between the archdiocese and the union are ongoing. In a statement Wednesday the archdiocese said, “both sides are hopeful they are getting closer to resolving the few remaining bargaining issues on which there is disagreement.” LOUISIANA-RELIGIOUS OBJECTIONS Critics bash Jindal on ‘religious freedom’ executive order BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) β Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s effort to enact by executive order a proposal shot down by state lawmakers is raising questions about whether he is overreaching legally. Hours after lawmakers shelved a religious objections bill, Jindal issued an order aimed at doing the same thing. It prohibits state agencies from denying licenses, benefits, contracts or tax deductions in response to actions taken because of someone’s “religious belief that marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman.” State Rep. Walt Leger, the second-ranking House member, calls the order “more than likely unenforceable.” Other opponents of the bill have said Jindal’s order has little real impact. Jindal’s office dismisses such criticism, saying the order protects “religious liberty.” ALABAMA-RELIGIOUS OBJECTIONS Marsh: Religious freedom bills targeting gays likely dead MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) β The Republican leader of Alabama’s state Senate says he believes religious freedom bills that protect opponents of gay marriage are likely dead for the session. Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh said Thursday that he did not think the issues would get a floor vote. The bills would give legal protections to probate judges who refuse to marry gay couples and adoption agencies that turn away gay couples. Marsh says the bills would hurt Alabama’s image as it tries to attract businesses. Indiana drew a backlash over a bill that critics said would allow discrimination against gays. Marsh is sponsoring a bill that states Alabama does not discriminate against gays in state hiring practices. The bill would not affect private business. A committee refused to vote on Marsh’s bill. ISRAEL-DEFIANT DIPLOMAT Senior Israeli diplomat: ‘This land is ours’ JERUSALEM (AP) β Israel’s new deputy foreign minister says Israel owes no apologies for its policies in the Holy Land, which she says God gave to the Jewish people. Tzipi Hotovely, an Orthodox Jew, laced a speech to the nation’s diplomats Thursday with biblical commentaries in which God promised the Land of Israel to the Jews. Hotovely, 36, is among a generation of young hard-liners in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party who support West Bank settlement construction and oppose ceding captured land to the Palestinians. Since Netanyahu has a slim one-seat majority in parliament, these lawmakers could complicate any attempt to revive peace talks. With Netanyahu also serving as the acting foreign minister, Hotovely is currently the country’s top full-time diplomat. TEMPLE OF DRUGS Nebraska woman who testified home was drug temple convicted YORK, Neb. (AP) β A Nebraska woman who testified that her home was a temple for religious use of marijuana has been convicted of four drug charges. Online court records say 53-year-old Brenda Hines, of York, was found guilty Wednesday of three similar charges of possession for sale and one of maintaining a place for drug trafficking. She’s scheduled to be sentenced on July 13. Witnesses testified that Hines and her ex-husband, Richard McLellan, shared a house in York and that Hines had “disciples” who went there to buy and use drugs. Hines said her Temple of Zion reflected her religious beliefs and that God provided the marijuana she sold or gave to temple members, according to the York News-Times. McLellan said on the witness stand that his former wife “is the priestess of the temple.” Hines, the only defense witness, read several Bible verses that she said justified her actions. EAGLE FEATHER-GRADUATION CAP LAWSUIT Student loses bid to wear eagle feather on graduation cap TULSA, Okla. (AP) β A federal judge in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has ruled that an American Indian high school student can’t wear an eagle feather on her graduation cap. Chief U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell accepted a magistrate’s recommendation to deny senior Hayden Griffith’s request for a preliminary injunction that would allow her to wear the feather during her graduation ceremony. Frizzell said Griffith failed to demonstrate a violation of the state’s Religious Freedom Act or her rights to free speech and religion. Possession of eagle feathers is illegal. An exception is made for federally recognized tribe members, who can obtain a permit to possess one.
