Even as evangelical Christian Rep. Mark Souder, R-Indiana submitted his resignation letters already, his 19 staff members will continue to work as normal.

Mark_Souder

According to FOX news, Souder submitted his resignation letters to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, and Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels  on Thursday.

An evangelical Christian, Souder resigned over an extramarital affair he had with a staffer with whom he made a video touting the benefits of abstinence education.

However, even in his absence his 19 staffers will continue to work as they normally do. They will be supervised by the clerk of the House until a replacement is selected in a special election this year, according to FortWayne.com.  Read more... (469 words, 2 images, estimated 1:53 mins reading time)

Animated depiction of Jesus in Comedy Central's "South Park." Photo copyright: Comedy Central & Braniff Productions.

A new animated series currently under development for Comedy Central’s 2010-2011 production slate will feature the adventures of a cartoon Jesus Christ as he tries to escape the shadow of his “powerful but apathetic father,” according to “The Washington Post.”

After stirring controversy earlier this year with their depiction of the prophet Muhammad, Comedy Central writers are describing “JC” as, “a playful take on religion and society with a sprinkle of dumb.”  Read more... (410 words, 2 images, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

The Catholic League aligned recently with several Jewish organizations against a bill which would allow the government a stronger hand on what to do with human organs after a person has died.

Catholics, Jews decry bill to ‘harvest’ human organs

The bill, which is sponsored by Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, would in effect disable the next of kin from challenging decisions of their dead or dying relatives regarding the donation of their organs, the New York Times said.

This becomes contentious when the government has the right to presume that a person is willing to donate their organs unless they specifically state “no” in official documents, most commonly their driver’s license.  Read more... (433 words, 2 images, estimated 1:44 mins reading time)

Two bombs were set off within minutes of each other in a Christian populated area in Iraq recently, killing one and injuring 80 others, the Associated Press reported.

The explosions took place in the northern city of Mosul, where a large Christian community resides.

There have been attacks by Sunni Muslim insurgents against the Christian minority in Iraq, especially in Mosul.

Some extremist Sunnis view Christians as nonbelievers and believe that Christians support the Shiite-led government, which they oppose.  Read more... (198 words, 1 image, estimated 48 secs reading time)

Church leaders complained about Arizona’s newest immigration law recently, which grants greater power to local police to question and arrest suspected illegal immigrants, saying it is ineffective and will promote discrimination.

Because of the passage of Arizona's new "immigration" policy, people who look Hispanic may be subject to racial profiling/Credit: Garrison Photography

Rev. James Flaaten, executive director of Arizona Ecumenical council, issued a statement saying, this law “will demonize anyone who looks suspiciously like an undocumented person, leading to inevitable racial profiling,” according to The Christian Post.  Read more... (726 words, 2 images, estimated 2:54 mins reading time)

The producers of “South Park” complained recently that Comedy Central censored a portion of their popular cartoon after they had received threats from a radical Muslim group.

Producers Trey Parker and Matt Stone expressed disapproval after their bosses bleeped out a portion of the usual wrap-up speech of South Park character Kyle.  The speech didn’t mention Muhammad.

The censorship was done in response to threats from Revolution Muslim, a fringe group which complained that `South Park’ insulted their prophet by depicting him in a bear costume in last week’s episode.

Many Muslims believe that Islamic teachings forbid showing images of Muhammad.  Read more... (424 words, 2 images, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

More public schools are abandoning Christmas…and now they’re throwing out Santa Claus, too.

After all, the concept of Santa is based on a real Christian do-gooder named Nicholas.

Ironically, our “tolerant” society simply can’t tolerate this in the name of diversity.

In continued efforts not to offend anyone, numerous public school officials have crossed a new bridge this year.

They’ve decided that not only the religious aspects of Christmas, but anything that may be associated with Christmas, must go.

So Santa is “getting the boot” along with candy canes and red and green wrapping paper.  Read more... (681 words, 1 image, estimated 2:43 mins reading time)