An atheist parolee in Colorado jailed for refusing to follow a court order requiring him to take part in a Christian mission's worship services has won a $100,000 settlement.

In a settlement agreement with the Colorado Department of Corrections filed in court last week, Mark Janny was awarded $100,000 in monetary damages. Janny was on parole in 2015 and was required to live at a Christian homeless mission and participate in Bible study, church services and religious counseling.

He was incarcerated for five months when he refused to do so.


Janny was represented by the secular legal groups the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State, as well as DLA Piper LLP.

"This is a victory for Mark Janny and for religious freedom," said Americans United President Rachel Laser in a statement.

"Our country's fundamental principle of church-state separation guarantees that everyone has the right to believe as they choose, so long as they don't harm others. Jailing someone for refusing to attend worship services and to engage in Bible study is not religious freedom — it's religious coercion."

Continued below.

This site came up as related to an MSN home-page when I logged in today -

20 Catholic Beliefs That Aren’t In The Bible | Wealthy Boomers


MSN 20 Catholic Beliefs that aren't in the Bible


It asks some questions - most of which I would consider to be "reasonable questions" that a non-Catholic might be asking.

No doubt many of you have met someone asking at least one of these questions.

Of course the phrase "beliefs that aren't in the Bible" explains a lot of it since many Catholics don't claim that their beliefs necessarily need to be in the Bible to be acceptable to them.

But for many non-Catholics (including the Catholic protestors that were protesting certain practices in the church) - relying on doctrine that is not in the Bible has been a barrier.

It seems like a bit of a circular argument to say something that is not in the Bible must be so merely because "we say it is so". Under those standards - what sort of belief could not be ruled out?

==================================

To those who may wish to derail the topic - please take a look at the MSN link and comment on what is actually in the topic.

Christian apologist Ken Ham says clickbait headlines surrounding a 1,600-year-old book purportedly about Jesus’ childhood should not cause alarm among believers. The headlines about the so-called Infancy Gospel of Thomas have generated significant buzz worldwide. The New York Post proclaimed in a headline: “Newly deciphered manuscript is the oldest written record of Jesus’ childhood: ‘Extraordinary,’” while the Times of Israel alleged in its headline that the “1600-year-old papyrus fragment contains the earliest account of Jesus’ childhood.”

In truth, debate about the Infancy Gospel of Thomas is not new, even if the newly discovered fragment may be the oldest surviving copy.

The Infancy Gospel of Thomas was rejected by early Christians as not inspired and was not included in the canon of Scripture. (It is not to be confused with the Gospel of Thomas, another rejected book.)
“How should Christians think about this find? This text is not biblical -- it was written several decades after the canon of Scripture was closed,” said Ham, the CEO and founder of Answers in Genesis, in a new blog on his website. “And don’t be alarmed when you read statements such as ‘[this is from] the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, a book detailing Jesus of Nazareth’s youth that was ultimately excluded from the Bible.’
“The Infancy Gospel of Thomas was never considered to be authentic by Christians, nor did it vie for inclusion in the Bible before being ‘ultimately excluded’ -- Christians knew it wasn’t inspired Scripture!”
Tim Chaffey, the content manager for the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum operated by Answers in Genesis, said the Infancy Gospel of Thomas contains fictional stories about Jesus that conflict with the character of Christ in Scripture.

Continued below.

Why were there so few instances of demon possession in the OT?

Demon oppression is a demon influencing a human mind (soul) and body. King Saul was oppressed.

Demon possession is a demon occupying a human's spirit. I don't think there were any such cases in the OT because a demon couldn't get into a human's spirit at that time.

Why were there so many instances of demon possession in Judea around the time of Jesus?

Some Pharisees engaged in exorcism (Matt 12:27). Josephus described how a Jewish exorcist expelled a demon in the presence of Vespasian.

Spiritual warfare intensified at the coming of the Messiah. It was a pivotal moment in the history of the universe. Around that time, the human spirit was loosening up to receive the Holy Spirit or evil spirits. Demons took this opening-up opportunity to possess people. God used this opportunity to demonstrate the power of Jesus in delivering them from demon possessions. Jesus triumphed over demons and Satan. Today, we can read about it in the gospels.

What about today?

Today, we have a better understanding of mental illnesses. People do not so readily believe in demon possession. Doctors can prescribe medications. Still, there are cases of demonic oppression and possession. They are now more subtle and not as overt as the displays in the NT.

In the OT, demons could not possess people's spirit/volition. At the time of Jesus, demon possession was particularly rampant because of the spiritual warfare between the Messiah and Satan on earth. Now, overt demon possessions happen more frequently in less developed regions. In the future, it may become rampant again (Rev. 18:2).

There is so much to unpack here so I'll include the basics/essentials in the first paragraph and more details below it.

The basics: I feel like I am pulling more weight than my husband and that he does not do his fair share of the work around the house. He works from home 1 day a week, in office 4 days and my schedule is opposite so I have more time at home (however I single handedly run my business so I work more than he does). I am responsible for keeping the entire home clean - bathrooms, bedrooms, laundry, floors, etc plus I spend hours on Fridays getting the entire house cleaned and all chores done in preparation for sabbath. I also typically spend 3-5 hours meal prepping food for our dogs. He is responsible for taking out the trash, meal planning/ordering groceries, cooking our meals and doing the dishes. I almost never need his help with my tasks, however he will frequently ask me to help him with the dishes even when I've already spent hours during my work day cleaning. He will let dishes pile up for 2 days and just says it's because we're using a lot of them and he can't keep up. So I spent my lunch break emptying the dishwasher and reloading/starting it so that we could catch up. He got home from work and instead of unloading the dishwasher and reloading it, he chose to sit on the couch and relax, letting the dishes pile up yet again after dinner. I confronted him because this was becoming a pattern and was met with defensiveness - that he tries SO HARD and does SO MUCH and I'm wrong and should give him grace because he is "trying". I work way more than him and have more responsibilities yet I still get my tasks done because I assess what needs to be done and decide to use the free time I have to do them instead of sitting on the couch watching TV. I am getting sick and tired of him not taking initiative or responsibility, and acting like he does this incredible job when actually I have to end up taking over his responsibilities as if I'm his mother.

More info if you feel like reading:

Another example: One morning we were out of eggs so we couldn’t have a proper breakfast that morning (it's his chore to keep tabs on groceries and keep us stocked). That night he spent from 730-10pm doing his own thing on social media and his computer. Dishes were left in the dishwasher and sink, poop in the cat boxes (he scoops them). I had to run the dishwasher because he didn’t do it. And we didn’t get to have any time for intimacy. I went to bed alone. Then he got out of the shower and was being super loud and woke me up. I am able to juggle so much and keep up with it but he couldn't even think to go get more eggs when we ran out or to take care of the dishes before we went off and did his own thing for over 2 hours.

Another example: I worked a 50-60 hour work week, then we served almost all day for our church and then spent several hours with his parents for dinner. 7pm rolls around and the dogs have no food because I was so swamped with work during the week. So I had to spend that evening cooking despite complete exhaustion (I was also on my period and in a lot of pain and was so lethargic). At first he was like "do you mind if I go have some alone time while you do this" and I was like you're really going to leave me to do this alone and aren't even going to help me?! He realized his selfishness and ended up helping me but I have to ask or point out how he's being selfish. He has never once helped me with a chore UNPROMPTED, yet I frequently help with his without him asking. Sometimes he doesn't even acknowledge it or give me any thanks whatsoever.

When I brought up these things, it escalated into a huge argument about how he tries SO HARD and does SO MUCH for me and ALWAYS puts me first. He said that he wants to come home to a positive wife and that he feels more supported at work than by me. That I should just be nice to him and appreciate the work he puts in to cook for us. He said that the meal plan I made didn’t work out because he spent 1.5 hours prepping food that only lasted 2 days and that he was still going to end up having to cook for 8 hours total throughout the week. When I told him I spend that much time cleaning (probably more) he said "it doesn't look like it". It continues escalating to him saying that I'm fake, how I'm nice to everyone but then come home and am mean to him.

To be very honest, I feel like I'm dating a little boy, not a man. I always thought a man who leads would be a man who takes initiative, doesn't have to be told to do his chores, takes responsibility and owns up. Who does things even though he is tired because it's in the best interest of the family. That's clearly not who I married and I'm really worrying that I made a mistake because I doubt that I can ever change him. So I'm left feeling like I have to just take on all the responsibility and just do everything around the house to make sure it all gets done. This is breeding resentment and frustration. I am so depressed today I just keep crying. I don't know what to do because he isn't listen ing to my feelings, he is taking everything as an attack.

Hello, my name is Ana-Maria and I’m an 18-year-old (my 19th birthday is in a few days: 29 June) housewife from Tulcea county, Romania. I have a 2 month old son. I’m an Eastern Orthodox Christian. I spend my time serving God, my husband, in-laws and taking care of my son. Some fun facts about me: I fast every Monday, Wednesday and Friday (besides the big fasts of the year such as Great Lent and Nativity Fast). I wear a headscarf most of the day and at all times in public (known here as “batic”). I never worn pants. I go to church as often as possible (always on Sunday). I abstain from voting. I only went to school up to 8th grade; I was taught at home / church & self-taught after that. My hobbies include baking, knitting, sewing, reading, cooking, gardening, listening to music and painting (especially icons, I’m not sure that’s the exact translation in English but here they’re called “icoane” and are Christian paintings basically). I also volunteer with the church whenever I have time. This area where I live in (Dobruja) is very special for Christianity, for example the Saint Andrew’s Cave (a cave where Andrew the Apostle supposedly preached) is here, the first Christian church in Romania. Saint Andrew is also the patron saint of Romania and the Romanian Orthodox Church. Nice to meet you, all!

I’m too tired to go into detail at this moment but it’s been an exhausting day. In the meantime, could you pray? She is definitely in a very dangerous place. I’ll explain more as we are traveling tomorrow to explain the situation further. In the meantime, prayers are deeply appreciated.

Former defense minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff of the Russian armed forces, were named in the warrants for multiple attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, in actions that the court alleged amounted to Russian state policy.
The court — to which Russia is not a signatory — last year issued indictments against President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, his commissioner for children’s rights, over the removal of Ukrainian children to Russia, a war crime.

Shoigu was defense minister until Putin removed him last month and appointed Andrei Belousov in his place. Shoigu, a Putin loyalist, was instead appointed as head of Russia’s Security Council.

According to the indictment, Shoigu and Gerasimov were responsible for the war crimes of directing attacks at civilian objects and “causing excessive incidental harm to civilians or damage to civilian objects … and the crime against humanity of inhumane acts.”

The ICC indictment also cites alleged crimes from at least Oct. 10, 2022, until at least March 9, 2023, when Russia carried out a large number of strikes against Ukraine’s electrical infrastructure.

In May, the ICC’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, announced he had applied to the court for arrest warrants to be issued against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as three Hamas leaders, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Israel and Gaza during and after the attack on Oct. 7, 2023.

See also:

US Formally Accuses Russian Armed Forces of War Crimes in Ukraine​

essentialsaltes said:

ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrants for Hamas and Israeli government officials​

Click to expand...

Supreme Court will decide if states may prohibit hormones for transgender teens​

The justices have not ruled on whether discrimination based on gender identity is unconstitutional.

In the last three years, however, many Republican-led states have enacted laws that forbid medical treatments intended to help youths under 18 transition to what the measures describe as a “purported identity inconsistent with the minor’s sex.”

The Biden administration, the ACLU and Lambda Legal urged the court to hear casesfrom Tennessee and Kentucky and to rule discrimination against transgender youth violates the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection of the laws.

The court said it would hear arguments in the fall in the Tennessee case.

Parents played a lead role in the legal challenges. Samantha Williams and her husband, Brian, had sued in Nashville on behalf of their transgender daughter, who was identified as L.W.

“Before coming out and starting to receive this medical care she struggled to make friends, keep her grades up, or even accept hugs from her family. Now, we have a confident, happy daughter who is free to be herself. I want the Justices to see and understand my daughter and recognize her rights under the Constitution like any other person, and to see that if parents like me don’t have the right to determine what’s best for our children, then no parent does,” she said.

U.S. Solicitor Gen. Elizabeth Prelogar had urged the court to take up the issue. She said the state laws impose “a categorical ban on evidence-based treatments supported by the overwhelming consensus of the medical community.”

[24 states have similar laws; many are already temporarily blocked by judges. Should SCOTUS rules in TN's favor, the laws would likely take effect.]

The previous board was all volunteer.

Ancient / Contemporary WOF-SOS Compatibility of it’s Adherents. Context's potential upon precept.

Whether by layman or cleric, I’m a firm believer in the accuracy of the corporate church (1Cor14:29-precept). On aspects of the study of the “word of faith” (WOF) or the living “sword of the Spirit” (SOS), the same applies which brings me to my concern, for I feel there continues an embattlement for truth.

Is the healthiest use of exegesis insidious to 2Tim 2:15’s “rightly dividing”? Judge for yourself, for myself, I know an over-zealous critique of context can work to rob some precepts, i.e., “living word of God” vs era of the manuscript handed down, or the culture when it was written for example. The epistles of Corinthians are popular victims of this among several others.

If citations are your first thirsty need, I would like to refrain if you don’t mind. This post will be much better off as a tool of oversight to set a marker to guard against both the positive or negative excess. Thank you!

According to paleontologists, dinosaurs (except birds) went extinct about 65 million years ago (at the end of the Cretaceous Period) after living on Earth for about 165 million years. As a technical term, dinosaur is not written in the Bible. Nevertheless, God could have created the earth with embedded records of dinosaur fossils. These are not fake records but summary records of events in space-time history.

Did they walk on the earth during those million years?

I'd treat it like they did because those are the real scientific records. However, the Bible focuses on redemption, saving people for eternal life. Dinosaurs were amoral creatures. They were not targets of the redemption story.

Is Behemoth a dinosaur?

Job 40:

15 “Look at Behemoth, which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox.

Click to expand...

Behemoth was not a dinosaur in the scientific sense. Even if it was, its existence should not affect the redemption story or our walk with God.

=======================================================================

Appendix: Scientific definition of dinosaur

The next section is from UC Museum of Palenenlogy:

Archosaurs are a group of specialized reptiles which ruled the Earth during the Age of Dinosaurs. The only archosaurs that survive today are crocodiles and birds. Birds are the only group of dinosaurs that survived the extinction at the end of the Cretaceous period, 65 million years ago. Your holiday turkey is a saurischian dinosaur, like Apatosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, and Velociraptor.


The Dinosaur Family Tree

The next section is from Thought.Co:

While most people intuitively describe dinosaurs as "big, scaly, dangerous lizards that went extinct millions of years ago," experts take a much narrower view.

In evolutionary terms, dinosaurs were the land-dwelling descendants of the archosaurs, egg-laying reptiles that survived the Permian-Triassic extinction event 250 million years ago. Technically, dinosaurs can be distinguished from the other animals descended from archosaurs (pterosaurs and crocodiles) by a handful of anatomical quirks. Chief among these is posture: Dinosaurs had either an upright, bipedal gait (like that of modern birds), or if they were quadrupeds, they had a stiff, straight-legged style of walking on all fours (unlike modern lizards, turtles, and crocodiles, whose limbs splay beneath them when they walk).

You may have noticed that the definition of dinosaurs provided at the start of this article refers only to land-dwelling reptiles, which technically excludes marine reptiles like Kronosaurus and flying reptiles like Pterodactylus from the dinosaur umbrella (the first is technically a pliosaur, the second a pterosaur). Also occasionally mistaken for true dinosaurs are the large therapsids and pelycosaurs of the Permian period, such as Dimetrodon and Moschops. While some of these ancient reptiles would have given your average Deinonychus a run for its money, rest assured they weren't allowed to wear "dinosaur" name tags during the school dances of the Jurassic period.

On Sunday, the Navajo County GOP issued a letter accusing Slaton of providing an “altered DD-214 claiming combat veteran status and showing qualifications and awards which you have not earned.”

“That unfortunately has cast a shadow of dishonesty on your campaign, and by extension, on the Republican Party organizations in [Legislative District 7],” the group wrote. “For these reasons, we respectfully request, for the good of the Republican Party, the conservative movement in general, military service members, and veterans that you withdraw from the Republican Primary race for Representative of Legislative District 7.”



Slaton, the founder and owner of a Trump merchandise store in Show Low, Arizona, had previously claimed to be a combat veteran who had flown a helicopter during the Vietnam War. “I was a combat veteran in Vietnam for four months in support of the missions of the South Vietnamese and patrolled along the DMZ,” Slaton told an Arizona radio station KMOG in April. His campaign website claims he “served overseas in Vietnam and Korea with the 128th Aviation Company, 8th U.S. Army I Corps.” [Slaton provided a DD-214 with all that and more.]

However, an official copy of Slaton’s DD214 obtained by Guardians of the Green Beret (GOTGB) — an online group of “former and current Green Berets who find and investigate those who falsely claim to be a Green Beret” — paints a very different story. [helicopter repairman in Korea.]

“Congress never gave Biden the authority to saddle working Americans with half-a-trillion dollars in other people’s debt. A huge win for the Constitution.”
We need to fix a president defying Supreme Court decisions, for this president and future presidents.

From the mid-Atlantic to Maine, across the Great Lakes region, and throughout the West to California, public officials cautioned residents about the dangers of excessive heat and humidity. In Oklahoma, the heat index — what the temperature feels like to the human body — was expected to reach 107 degrees (41 degrees Celsius) on Sunday.

In the Midwest where South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota meet, floodwaters rose through the weekend. In northwest Iowa, 13 rivers flooded the area, said Eric Tigges of Clay County emergency management. Entire neighborhoods — and at least one entire town — were evacuated, and the town of Spencer imposed a curfew Sunday for the second night in a row after flooding that surpassed the record set in 1953.

“When the flood gauge is underwater, it’s really high,” Tigges said in a news conference organized by Spencer officials.

Gov. Kim Reynolds declared a disaster for 21 counties in northern Iowa, including Sioux County. In drone video posted by the local sheriff, no streets were visible, just roofs and treetops poking above the water.

In South Dakota, Gov. Kristi Noem declared an emergency after severe flooding in the southeastern part. Several highways were closed.

Areas south of Sioux Falls, the state’s largest city, had an estimated 10 to 15 inches (25 to 38 centimeters) of rain over three days, National Weather Service hydrologist Kevin Low said.

Rapidan Dam breached by flood waters in southern Minnesota; nearby residents warned to potentially evacuate​

Le Sueur County residents in low-lying areas of the Minnesota River Valley are advised to closely monitor the situation and potentially evacuate, according to the county's emergency management office. The agency initially said the dam had failed, but later updated that the dam had been breached.

The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood warning for areas downstream until 4:30 p.m.

The Blue Earth County Sheriff's Office says debris started accumulating on Sunday at the 114-year-old dam, located about 10 miles southwest of Mankato, placing it "in imminent failure condition."

If that news is true then this could get very interesting.
In the past I had heard that Julian Assange was a part of the white hat operation to help take down the deep state and help assist Donald Trump become President in 2016 , ya'll remember Clintons emails etc.

So if he is now free and at a time when another election is due , then I can't help but wonder what part he might play in this next election , time will tell I guess.
Anyway as we go along , if I hear any good info , what you probably would call conspiracy , I will place it here.

And if you have any , then please feel free to join me....

According to the Masoretic text that modern bibles are based on, we are told that many believe that Goliath was 9 feet, nine inches tall based on the cubit measurements given. Og King of Bashan's bed is noted as being 13.5 feet long.

This seems to fit with the controversial book of Enoch and the mention of the Nephilim in Genesis 6, Raphaim etc and the narrative of fallen angels who cross bred with human women.
Professor of Theology Micheal Heiser points out that several early church fathers believed that Enoch was true and inspired scripture but they apparently didn't want to take a stand on it. Either that or it was gradually forgotten and the later Church fathers (Augustine and Jerome) took a different view and were more focused on other heresies. Enoch is considered canonical by the Ethiopian church

One would have to live in a cave, within America, to deny that Christianity has been politicized.​

The politicization of many moral matters has now forced Christianity into a deep schism where scripture is far from central to either side's discussion.

Forget the obvious nature of the current polarizing effect of dropping either of 2024's presidential candidates names. The exalted two parties that dominate American politics have branded themselves so strongly that in final summation Democrat and Republican have as staunch a meaning as Catholic or Protestant.

There are over 39,000 Christian denominations that all claim to have the correct reading of scripture, which is just a way of life, now. However, the schism that having only two Political parties is causing within the lives, souls and mental well being of Americas seems to be far more indicative of how Americans now view one another. The most painful aspect to all of this is that Political Special Interest on both sides of the isle has taken on the effort to appeal to the "Moral" compass of target groups. What one party is guilty of, so there the other party is now guilty of. All of the political vying for power and majority rule has seeped into the fabric of individual Americans.

If Party x gains control of the Supreme Court.
If Party y gains control of the House.
If Party x gains control over the Senate.
If Party y gains control over the Presidency.
If Party x gains a Governors seat.
If Party y gains control over an entire state.

These matters seem to be genuine focuses of Americans, these days. I understand being involved in Civic matters and such forth, but we are no different that OT Israel on this point. Do we have faith in mankind or God? Some people believe that this is the established Kingdom of God on earth, but I'm not referring to those folks. I'm referring to those folks that believe that we are Heaven bound and this experience is temporal. Factions are defined as utterly bad by the Apostle Paul. The more that I involved myself in politics, the more that I felt a growing disdain for one party or the other, as politics are now defined. I wouldn't say that this is anything new, but it just seems like these matters have become far more viewed as the answer to everything in many peoples minds. In the OT, we can visibly see the impact of Governments rising to the level of proclaiming to be a god. Am I the only one in America with this dumb idea, or do Blue and Red alike seem to be rising to the status of passively declared gods of our present and future? Is this only in America or is it a growing thing that is global? Why is mankind placing more and more faith in mankind? Why is division growing so massive in relation to political matters that churches can't simply operate under gospel narrative but feel obligated to infuse themselves into political matters?

This is more of a ponderance dump.

We see the present US administration adopting 'inclusiveness' as a policy.

This position is exemplified by the promotion of Tyler Cherry to the Whitehouse.


Forward clip to 1.25 minutes...

Inclusiveness is not a Christian principle - it originated from Pagan thought and is associated with the concept of Amorality. It is particularly strong in Hinduism and Buddhism.

The UN promotes this principle and is intent of forcing it on societies world wide.

The UN is not the friend of Christianity and has no regard for the Biblical Truth and Morality.

We are increasingly like Lot who was in anguish day and night.

Come Lord Jesus...

Despite early pledges from Texas DPS Director Steve McCraw to publicly release evidence from the Uvalde massacre, his legal team has quietly worked for more than a year to keep it a state secret.

[In addition to the families] 18 local and national news outlets – from CNN to Sinclair – ... have sued to get the public records in the case.

In court, Texas DPS insists that the records cannot be made public because it remains an open investigation. But Texas law enforcement agencies use discretion every day to publicly release evidence in open cases.

Plus, in the Uvalde situation, the shooter is dead. DPS Director Steve McCraw even admitted the physical evidence is not changing.

Last fall, a Travis County judge ordered DPS to make the data public. DPS appealed, delaying again.

LINK

Julian Assange, the founder of the anti-secrecy site WikiLeaks, has reached a tentative deal to plead guilty on Monday to one count of violating the Espionage Act for his role in obtaining and publishing classified military and diplomatic documents in 2010, according to a court filing Monday evening.

A criminal information filed Monday evening in federal court says Assange “knowingly and unlawfully conspired” to “receive and obtain documents ... connected with the national defense” and “communicate” that information to persons not entitled to receive them.” A criminal information like the one filed Monday often signals a defendant has agreed to plead guilty. Assange will appear in court in the Northern Mariana Islands, according to the filing.