A church-run kids group has been banished from a public library after being told that they were not allowed to sing songs that made reference to Biblical stories.

The volunteers at Noah’s Ark playgroup says it had been meeting at the Burgess Hill Library in the British county of West Sussex for eight years – they had never encountered any issues until now.

Despite the group serving the local community for free, library officials demanded that they move elsewhere after some parents complained that they were unhappy with the Christian message contained within the songs.

According to the Mid Sussex Times, in a statement, a spokesperson from the West Sussex County Council said: “Rhyme time sessions are held every week in all West Sussex libraries and are open to everyone including families of any faith or no faith. In Burgess Hill, a partnership was formed with a local faith group some years ago before rhyme time sessions were offered across all libraries.”

However, following “feedback from families,” the local authority had “decided to bring these sessions in line with the other rhyme times in our libraries which are led by staff.”

“Families can continue to access faith-based activities in community venues and library staff are very happy to help anyone looking for details of where they can join these,” the council added.

Many of the…

Although Christians have largely turned a wary eye away from climate change, several Christian groups have recently voiced their support for radical legislation in the Green New Deal. 

The Green New Deal, introduced by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey earlier this year, proposes sweeping changes to move the U.S. away from fossil fuels to renewable sources such as wind and solar power. According to Fox News, the deal also hopes to eliminate nearly all greenhouse gas emissions responsible for global warming by 2030. 

The controversial deal, however, has found support in Christians according to Relevant Magazine. In a statement posted to their website, the Young Evangelicals for Social Action acknowledged that “[a]s Christians, we recognize the biblical principles that are embedded in the Green New Deal’s many aspirations, including justice (Micah 6:8, Amos 5:24, Isaiah 1:17), neighbor-love (Matthew 22:34-40), and meaningful protection of the earth (Genesis 2:15).” 

A few days later, the United Church of Christ, a mainline Protestant denomination, stated that the Green New Deal was “what is needed to preserve and restore God’s great gift of creation.” 

The endorsements are rare amongst white evangelicals, where only 28 percent credit the warming of the earth to human action. According to research from the Center for…

The U.S. State Department is hosting the second Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom event, a summit being called the largest religious freedom event in history.

According to the Christian Post, the three-day event started Tuesday and some 1,000 civil society and political leaders from around the world are expected to attend.

“Much effort has been put into making this a very special week,” U.S. Ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback said during his introductory remarks.

“This is the largest human rights event ever hosted at the State Department and the largest religious freedom event ever done in the world. I hope you can sense and feel the importance of this moment in time. A global human rights movement centered on religious freedom is being launched from this meeting.”

As part of the summit, survivors of the Pittsburgh, Penn. shooting at a synagogue and survivors of the New Zealand mosque shooting delivered messages to attendees.

Dr. Farid Ahmad, who survived one of the mosque shootings in New Zealand, had previously said he forgave the shooter, and at the event, Ahmad said his faith was the reason he was able to forgive the man, who killed 51 people, including his wife.

“I had to respond and my response was that I offered my love and forgiveness for the killer,” Ahmad said.

“’Why did I do…

Planned Parenthood ousted its President/CEO, Dr. Leana Wen, after a dispute over the direction of the nation’s largest abortion provider.

The news broke Tuesday afternoon, when Wen tweeted, “I just learned that the @PPFA Board ended my employment at a secret meeting. We were engaged in good faith negotiations about my departure based on philosophical differences over the direction and future of Planned Parenthood. My statement to come shortly.” The move comes just eight months after Wen accepted the post.

I just learned that the @PPFA Board ended my employment at a secret meeting. We were engaged in good faith negotiations about my departure based on philosophical differences over the direction and future of Planned Parenthood. My statement to come shortly.

— Leana Wen, M.D. (@DrLeanaWen) July 16, 2019

She later released a statement in which she said that she was stepping down, again citing “philosophical differences over the direction and future of Planned Parenthood.” In the statement, she elaborated on those differences, saying, “I believe that the best way to protect abortion care is to be clear that it is not a political issue, but a health care one, and that we can expand support for reproductive rights by finding common ground with the large majority of Americans who understand reproductive health care as the fundamental health care that it…

A U.S. representative from Texas introduced articles of impeachment against President Trump Tuesday and said he plans to force the House of Representatives to vote on the issue. 

It is the third time Democratic Rep. Al Green has introduced impeachment articles, which are unlikely to gain traction but might require representatives to go on record stating where they stand on removing Trump from office.

The House could vote as early as Wednesday afternoon on a motion to consider impeachment immediately, Politico reported. 

“The President of the United States is a racist, a bigot, a misogynist, as well as an invidious prevaricator,” Green said in a statement. “To say that Donald John Trump is unfit for the Office of the President of the United States is an understatement. 

“He is unfit for public office, and if he displayed any of these behaviors in most private companies, he would be summarily terminated with haste,” he added. “How long will we stand idly by as he denigrates his constituents, decimates our democracy, and damages America’s global standing?”

Green introduced articles of impeachment against Trump in 2017 and 2018 when Republicans controlled the House. Both were easily defeated (354-58 and 355-66), but each time Green got a significant number of Democrats to join him. 

With Democrats now in control, Green may get even…