Religion Today Daily Headlines - June 29, 2012

Religion Today Daily Headlines - June 29, 2012

Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.

In today's edition:

  • Supreme Court Upholds Obamacare
  • Muslim Brotherhood's Egypt Win Boosts Islamic Global Agenda
  • Christian Family Murdered in Nigeria
  • Lesbian Couple Sues Catholic Hospital for Marriage Benefits

 

Supreme Court Upholds Obamacare

In a landmark ruling Thursday the United States Supreme Court upheld "Obamacare," the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010), including the highly controversial "individual mandate" provision. "Today's decision was a victory for people all over this country whose lives are more secure because of this law," President Barack Obama said in a televised White House statement. Many Christian leaders across the nation warn, however, that the ruling puts American families at risk. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins told the Christian Post that "Not only is the individual mandate a profound attack on our liberties, but it is only one section among hundreds of provisions in the law that will force taxpayers to fund abortions, violate their conscience rights, and impose a massive tax and debt burden on American families." Christianity Today reports that according to a Pew Research Center poll, most evangelical Christians would like to see health care law scrapped.

Muslim Brotherhood's Egypt Win Boosts Islamic Global Agenda

According to Dori Gold, Israel's former ambassador to the U.N., the victory of Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi in Egypt will be felt far beyond the country, CBN News reports. "[It] is really a regional earthquake in the Middle East," Gold said. "The Muslim Brotherhood is going to give a shot of adrenaline to radical Islamic groups across the world, particularly in the Middle East but also in Europe. ... The Muslim Brotherhood to the untrained ear sounds like a fraternity in Vermont. It isn't. It's an organization that was founded in 1928 to restore the centrality of Islam in Egyptian life." Today, the Brotherhood is global and behind terror groups like Hamas, the Palestinian faction controlling the Gaza Strip. "The ultimate agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood is pretty clear," Gold said. "They speak about it, although not on American network television. The actual goal of the Muslim Brotherhood is to re-establish the caliphate -- a global caliphate." While the Muslim Brotherhood still faces some resistance in Egypt, former Israeli ambassador to Egypt Zvi Mazel fears the group only used the election as a tool to take power. "The agenda is to impose Islam on Egypt," he said.

Christian Family Murdered in Nigeria

On June 23, some 30 ethnic Fulani Muslim herdsmen armed with guns and machetes stormed into Tidiu Village in Mangu Local Government Area of Nigeria's Plateau State around 3:30 a.m., slaughtering six members of the Dakibang family in their sleep, the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin reports. Two other family members were wounded as they fled, and four villagers were injured as the killers made their getaway. The victims, aged between six months and 70 years, had reportedly been living peaceably among their Fulani neighbors. One local resident commented that "the killing was professionally carried out with military precision."

Lesbian Couple Sues Catholic Hospital for Marriage Benefits

A lesbian couple has filed a lawsuit that could impact religious liberty in at least six states, WORLD News Service reports. The lawsuit, filed June 19 in New York, targets St. Joseph's Medical Canter -- a Catholic hospital in Westchester -- and Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, the private company that insures it. The two women, named as Jane Doe and Jane Roe in the lawsuit, were legally married after the New York legislature created same-sex marriage last year, and now they want family health insurance coverage. "I remember almost a year ago when this bill was signed into law, we were told that it would have no impact on religious freedoms," said Rev. Jason McGuire, executive director of New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms. "Less than a year later it's very clear that gay marriage is indeed having an impact on religious freedom here in the Empire State." The attorney for the lesbian women, Jeffrey Norton, said of the case: "Our clients have a right to enjoy the full benefits of marriage afforded to other married couples in New York, and we are determined to achieve that right for them."

Publication date: June 29, 2012

Religion Today Daily Headlines - June 29, 2012