HR 1388 National Service Program – Youth Will Not Be Allowed to Express Religious Beliefs?

HR 1388.  The House passed the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act on Monday. The bill includes language indicating young people will be forced to participate in mandatory national service programs. The bill also states that “service learning” will be a mandatory part of the youth curriculum.

However what is really interesting about this bill is that the mandatory youth plan also forbids members from attending religious services and forbids youth from witnessing their religious beliefs. How this will be interpreted remains to be seen but here’s a copy of the bill so you can read it for yourself.

EC. 1304. PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES AND INELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS.

Section 125 (42 U.S.C. 12575) is amended to read as follows:

‘SEC. 125. PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES AND INELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS.

‘(a) Prohibited Activities- A participant in an approved national service position under this subtitle may not engage in the following activities:

‘(1) Attempting to influence legislation.

‘(2) Organizing or engaging in protests, petitions, boycotts, or strikes.

‘(3) Assisting, promoting, or deterring union organizing.

‘(4) Impairing existing contracts for services or collective bargaining agreements.

‘(5) Engaging in partisan political activities, or other activities designed to influence the outcome of an election to any public office.

‘(6) Participating in, or endorsing, events or activities that are likely to include advocacy for or against political parties, political platforms, political candidates, proposed legislation, or elected officials.

‘(7) Engaging in religious instruction, conducting worship services, providing instruction as part of a program that includes mandatory religious instruction or worship, constructing or operating facilities devoted to religious instruction or worship, maintaining facilities primarily or inherently devoted to religious instruction or worship, or engaging in any form of religious proselytization.

‘(8) Providing a direct benefit to–

‘(A) a business organized for profit;

‘(B) a labor organization;

‘(C) a partisan political organization;

‘(D) a nonprofit organization that fails to comply with the restrictions contained in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 except that nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent participants from engaging in advocacy activities undertaken at their own initiative; and

‘(E) an organization engaged in the religious activities described in paragraph (7), unless Corporation assistance is not used to support those religious activities.

‘(9) Conducting a voter registration drive or using Corporation funds to conduct a voter registration drive.

‘(10) Such other activities as the Corporation may prohibit.

‘(b) Ineligible Organizations- No assistance provided under this subtitle may be provided to the following types of organizations (including the participation of a participant in an approved national service position under this subtitle in activities conducted by such organizations) or to organizations that are co-located on the same premises as the following organizations:

‘(1) Organizations that provide or promote abortion services, including referral for such services.

‘(2) For-profit organizations, political parties, labor organizations, or organizations engaged in political or legislative advocacy.

‘(3) Organizations that have been indicted for voter fraud.

‘(c) Nondisplacement of Employed Workers or Other Volunteers- A participant in an approved national service position under this subtitle may not perform any services or duties or engage in activities which–

‘(1) would otherwise be performed by an employed worker as part of his or her assigned duties as an employee or by another volunteer who is not a participant in an approved national service position; or

‘(2) will supplant the hiring of employed workers or work of such other volunteers.’.

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown Says World Is Already In A Depression

Gordon Brown described the global economic downturn as a depression for the first time yesterday during a furious Commons clash with David Cameron.

The Prime Minister’s remark came as he told MPs that countries “should agree as a world on a monetary and fiscal stimulus that will take the world out of depression”.

His use of the D word was not picked up at the time by Mr Cameron, who was using a series of questions to embarrass Mr Brown over his “British jobs for British workers” slogan that has been used by strikers in the foreign labour dispute.

Downing Street officials later moved swiftly to say that he had not intended to refer to the word depression but had slipped up. They suggested that he meant “recession”.

Source

Is Obama the Most Famous Living Person Ever?

No. That honor goes to  Jesus Christ.

Barack Obama is the most famous living person in the history of the world.

I’m not trying to induce an acid flashback to John Lennon’s infamous 1966 comment, “The Beatles are more popular than Jesus.” But whether you measure fame in terms of saturation or sheer numbers, it seems indisputable to me that more people know at least something about the new American president than anyone alive, at this point—or any—in the planet’s existence.

Who else could it be? One friend suggest Muhammad Ali, another Princess Diana, and a third said Bill Clinton. Surely all are global brands with enormous reach and broad appeal. But all fall short of the man-meets-the-moment frenzy unleashed by Obama.

To be sure, the digital revolution has made this feat of fame possible. Not only has it helped the son of an erstwhile Kenyan goatherd to become president, it has allowed a current Kenyan goatherd to follow the former’s journey. And he is not alone. Exponential growth in access to the Internet, satellite television and radio, cell phones, and P.D.A.’s means that breaking news now reaches virtually every corner of the globe. At the same time, population continues to grow; there are now some 6.7 billion men, women, and children on earth, an historic high.

Read Full Article – Vanity Fair.

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• The post-election Obama euphoria will fade soon enough, but let’s enjoy it while it lasts. (slate.com)

Uncertain Times for US Religious Right

As the dust settles on Washington following the Barack Obama earthquake, one group more than any other is expecting to be out in the cold.

For the past eight years, the so-called Religious Right has enjoyed a warm reception at the centre of White House policy-making, and with the Republican coalition on Capitol Hill.

Mainly white, “born again” evangelical Protestants, who adhere to a literal interpretation of the Bible – and oppose abortion rights above all – the Religious Right comprise around 40% of the Republican Party’s support.

“The Republican Party as it exists today could not exist without the Christian evangelical vote and the conservative Catholic vote,” said Allen Hertzke, visiting senior fellow at the influential Pew Forum on Religion and Politics.

“Now the Republican Party can’t win with them alone – as we’ve learned.”

Although there is always a tension between the narrow social agenda of Christian conservatives and the broader, more pragmatic “low tax” wing of the party, the strong US economy kept that argument at bay – until this year’s financial crisis.

Source

69 Year Old Woman Carrying Cross Assaulted During Gay Marriage Protest

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The woman at the center of a disturbance that erupted at a protest against the gay marriage ban on Friday will be pressing charges, The Desert Sun has learned.

Phyllis Burgess alleges that she was assaulted as she carried a Styrofoam cross through the crowd at a No on Proposition 8 rally. The 69-year-old Palm Springs resident originally declined to press charges when asked by police and joked she felt lucky, at least she didn’t lose her wig in the tussle like Cloris Leachman did on Dancing with the Stars.

“I guess I didn’t see the gravity of the whole thing and how it was being portrayed to the public,” Burgess said. “People are incensed. They seem to want some kind of justice.”

What was planned as a peaceful candlelight service in front of City Hall took a hostile turn when the crowd began pushing and a cross was torn from Burgess’ arms. The cross ended up in pieces on the ground.

The crowd chanted, “Go home!” “Nazi!” and “shame on you!” as organizers pleaded with the crowd to ignore the woman. About 500 protesters attended the event, the largest in the county since 52 percent of voters approved Proposition 8, an amendment that banned same-sex marriage.

Palm Springs Police made no arrests, but say they spent about 40 minutes on Saturday trying to convince Burgess to press charges.

Full Article