GOP 2016-HUCKABEE
Huckabee compares being gay to using alcohol, profanity
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee says being gay is akin to choosing to drink alcohol or use profanity — lifestyle choices he says are appealing to some people but not to him.
Huckabee, who is weighing a second run for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, also said forcing people of faith to accept gay marriage is like telling Jews they must serve “bacon-wrapped shrimp” in a kosher deli.
The former Baptist pastor told CNN, “We’re so sensitive to make sure we don’t offend certain religions, but then we act like Christians can’t have the convictions that they have had for over 2,000 years.”
But Huckabee said he appreciates different viewpoints on gay marriage, adding that he has gay friends.
Sound:
192-v-31-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor)–Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee says being gay is akin to choosing to drink alcohol or use profanity – lifestyle choices that he says are appealing to some people, but not to him. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (1 Feb 2015)
< ALABAMA-GAY MARRIAGE Ala judges weighing whether to perform same-sex weddings BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Alabama probate judges are faced with a decision: Whether to continue performing weddings if same-sex marriages become a reality in the state. While judges could be required to issue wedding licenses to gay couples under the law, they have an option of whether to officiate at weddings. Geneva County Probate Judge Fred Hamic says he’s a Christian and will quit performing wedding ceremonies rather than wed a same-sex couple. In Calhoun County, Probate Judge Alice Martin says she will talk to her pastor and family before making a decision. The president of the state probate judge’s association says many judges are in the same situation. A federal judge has struck down Alabama’s legal ban on same-sex unions. Gay weddings are on hold while the decision is being appealed. OBAMA-DALAI LAMA Obama, Dalai Lama set to attend National Prayer Breakfast WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama will both be at the National Prayer Breakfast this Thursday in Washington. While Obama and the Tibetan Buddhist leader could have a chance encounter at the event, the White House is downplaying any official meeting between them. National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said the president will see many religious leaders at the event, but the White House had no specific meeting with the Dalai Lama to announce. The Dalai Lama does not have a speaking role at the prayer breakfast and will be seated with the audience. Obama, a speaker, will be at the head table. Meehan said Obama, as in previous appearances at the National Prayer Breakfast, will talk about the importance of upholding religious freedoms. Obama has met three times with the Dalai Lama. Their most recent meeting last February prompted objections from China, which accused the U.S. of meddling in its affairs. Sound: 193-v-30-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor)–President Obama and the Dalai Lama will both be at the National Prayer Breakfast this Thursday in Washington. AP Religion Editor Steve Coleman reports. (1 Feb 2015) < VATICAN-WOMEN Vatican hits sour note with women, but progress may come VATICAN CITY (AP) — A new Vatican outreach initiative to listen to women has hit a sour note, with the blonde actress on its Internet promo video coming under such ridicule that it was quickly taken down. But the program is going ahead, and an inaugural meeting this week will study women’s issues in ways that are utterly new for the Holy See. No, there is no talk of ordaining women priests. But the working paper for the Pontifical Council of Culture’s plenary assembly on “Women’s Cultures: Equality and Difference” speaks about opening the church’s doors to women so they can offer their skills “in full collaboration and integration” with men. Helen Alvare (AL’-vah-ray), a law professor at George Mason University and a consultant at the Vatican’s laity office, says the language in the draft paper mirrors findings from leading business consultancies that companies do better when men and women collaborate at every level. VATICAN-POPE-SARAJEVO Pope to visit Sarajevo to boost ‘brotherhood and peace’ VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis says he will visit Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina, in hopes of boosting efforts toward brotherhood in the country that was ravaged by war two decades ago. The 1992-95 Bosnian war left over 100,000 dead, and the prosecution of war crimes suspects is ongoing. Francis announced the June 6 trip as he addressed tens of thousands of faithful who gathered Sunday in St. Peter’s Square for his weekly blessing. He asked for prayers so his one-day visit would encourage Bosnia’s small Catholic population as well as “give rise to the development of good and contribute to the consolidation of brotherhood and peace.” Thousands of Muslim Bosnians and Catholic Croats (KROH’-ahts) were killed or taken to concentration camps during Serb efforts to drive out non-Serbs in 1992. Sound: 165-r-23-(Sound of Pope Francis speaking Italian, announcing his trip to Sarajevo, from his studio’s window overlooking Saint Peter’s Square)–Sound of Pope Francis announcing his trip to Sarajevo from his studio’s window overlooking Saint Peter’s Square. COURTESY: Vatican TV ((mandatory on-air credit)) (1 Feb 2015) < ROMANIA-ICE CHURCH Romanian mountain Ice Church draws all types of Christians BALEA LAC, Romania (AP) — High on a remote mountain in Romania, priests have blessed a church made entirely from ice, outstanding both for its architectural style as well as being a place for religious tolerance. Builders have once again created the Ice Church, which is only reachable by cable car at an altitude of 6,600 feet. Water from a lake 190 miles northwest of Bucharest is blessed by priests. Chunks of ice are then cut with a chain saw and cemented together with water and snow. The structure —20 feet tall, 46 feet long and 23 feet wide — is modeled after a church in Transylvania. Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant clerics held a service there last week. IRAQ-LIBRARIES IN DANGER Iraqi libraries ransacked by Islamic State group in Mosul BAGHDAD (AP) — Islamic State militants have removed and destroyed everything except Islamic texts from the Central Library of Mosul in Iraq. Since the Islamic State group seized a third of Iraq and neighboring Syria, they have sought to purge society of everything that doesn’t conform to their violent interpretation of Islam. They already have destroyed many archaeological relics, deeming them pagan, and even Islamic sites considered idolatrous. Increasingly books are in the firing line. Days after the Central Library’s ransacking, militants broke into University of Mosul’s library. They made a bonfire out of hundreds of books on science and culture, destroying them in front of students. A University of Mosul professor said the extremists started wrecking the collections of other libraries in December. He reported particularly heavy damage to the archives of a Sunni Muslim library, the library of the 265-year-old Latin Church and Monastery of the Dominican Fathers and the Mosul Museum Library with works dating back to 5000 BC. SAUDI-RIGHTS Saudi authorities delay flogging of blogger for third week DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A leading rights group says authorities in Saudi Arabia have delayed the planned flogging of a blogger convicted of insulting Islam for a third straight week in the face of growing international pressure against the punishment. Amnesty International spokeswoman Sara Hashash says the London-based rights group confirmed that Friday’s planned flogging of 31-year-old Raif Badawi did not take place, but it was unclear why. Amnesty has followed Badawi’s case closely and is campaigning for his release. Badawi’s public flogging Jan. 9 in Jiddah attracted international condemnation. He was scheduled to receive 50 lashes a week for 20 weeks, but his floggings have now been postponed for the past three weeks. Badawi’s wife, Ensaf Haidar, lives as a refugee in Quebec, Canada. She said Thursday her husband cannot endure another flogging. NIGERIA-VIOLENCE Extremists attack biggest city in northeast Nigeria MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerian troops say they repelled Islamic extremists who attacked Maiduguri (my-DOO’-guh-ree), a city of two million in northeast Nigeria, from four fronts on Sunday. A senior army officer said the Boko Haram militants were “everywhere,” attacking from all four roads leading into the city. Soldiers said hundreds of insurgents died, while witnesses said several civilians were killed by aerial bombs and grenades and mortar shells on the ground. Terrified residents fled homes shaking from hours of heavy artillery fire and streamed in from the outskirts of the besieged city. In August, Boko Haram declared an Islamic caliphate and now holds about 130 towns and villages. SYRIA Bomb on bus in central Damascus kills 7 DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian activists and Lebanese media say at least seven people were killed when a bomb exploded Sunday on a bus ferrying pilgrims around Shiite holy sites in Damascus. The bombing underscored the sectarian nature of Syria’s four-year war, and how neighboring Lebanon has become ensnared in the complex conflict. State-run media reported that the attack wounded at least another 20 people as it shattered the bus near the Damascus citadel and a centuries-old bazaar. Syria’s al-Qaida affiliate, the Nusra Front, claimed responsibility for the blast, and accused the bus passengers of being part of the militant Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah. The Nusra Front claim spotlighted why the pilgrims were likely targeted: as revenge for Hezbollah fighters defending Syrian President Bashar Assad. COMMUNE DEATH Self-styled ‘seer’ faces murder trial for death he foretold WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The leader of a Kansas commune that prosecutors say lived off life insurance payouts from its dead members faces trial this week in the 2003 drowning of a woman whose death he had allegedly foretold weeks earlier. Jury selection begins Monday in the trial of 55-year-old Daniel U. Perez for first-degree premeditated murder of Patricia Hughes at the group’s compound in the Wichita suburb of Valley Center. Witnesses have testified Perez called himself a seer and portrayed him as a domineering leader who kept a tight rein on his young, mostly female followers. Perez also faces multiple counts of lying on life insurance applications, rape, sodomy, criminal threat, making false statements on auto credit applications and sexual exploitation of a child. His defense attorney did not return a phone message.
