A New Perspective on Constantine

(Worthy News) – Very soon, the Supreme Court could announce its decision to hear an appeal over whether the 40-foot “Peace Cross” — as it is known by locals in Bladensburg, Md. — is too tall and too Christian for a government to own and maintain in accordance with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

This is the latest step in a campaign by the American Humanist Association to eradicate this memorial honoring our World War I veterans. The humanist group won that battle at the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals when two judges decided that the cross was somehow too much for the Constitution to bear.

The specific questions before the Court include whether the memorial is unconstitutional simply because it is shaped like a cross, and whether the government’s routine upkeep and maintenance of the memorial violates the Constitution. To some, such questions may seem silly. To others, including veterans who have fought for and sacrificed much, they are insulting. Our own executive vice president, retired Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin, for one, signed onto a brief submitted to the Court arguing that the Peace Cross should stay. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Very soon, the Supreme Court could announce its decision to hear an appeal over whether the 40-foot “Peace Cross” — as it is known by locals in Bladensburg, Md. — is too tall and too Christian for a government to own and maintain in accordance with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

This is the latest step in a campaign by the American Humanist Association to eradicate this memorial honoring our World War I veterans. The humanist group won that battle at the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals when two judges decided that the cross was somehow too much for the Constitution to bear.

The specific questions before the Court include whether the memorial is unconstitutional simply because it is shaped like a cross, and whether the government’s routine upkeep and maintenance of the memorial violates the Constitution. To some, such questions may seem silly. To others, including veterans who have fought for and sacrificed much, they are insulting. Our own executive vice president, retired Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin, for one, signed onto a brief submitted to the Court arguing that the Peace Cross should stay. [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – The outside counsel appointed by Senate Judiciary Republicans to ask questions during a hearing Thursday regarding the sexual assault allegation that California professor Christine Blasey Ford has pinned on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, says no “reasonable prosecutor” would bring criminal charges against the judge.

In a five-page memo, which stresses that this was not a trial but rather a job interview, sent to Senate Republicans and obtained by the Washington Examiner, Arizona county sex crimes prosecutor Rachel Mitchell said, “A ‘he said, she said’ case is incredibly difficult to prove. But this case is even weaker than that.”

“Dr. Ford identified other witnesses to the event, and those witnesses either refuted her allegations or failed to corroborate them,” she said of Ford’s testimony. “For the reasons discussed below, I do not think that a reasonable prosecutor would bring this case based on the evidence before the Committee. Nor do I believe that this evidence is sufficient to satisfy the preponderance-of-the-evidence standard.” [ Source: Washington Examiner (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Republican Sen. Jeff Flake voted with his GOP colleagues Friday on the Senate Judiciary Committee to advance the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh but also joined with a bloc of senators from both sides of the aisle in pushing for an FBI investigation of the sexual assault allegations that would be limited to one week.

Earlier in the day, Flake released a statement saying he would vote to confirm Kavanaugh to the nation’s highest court. But in comments during the committee vote, Flake said his support would be contingent on the FBI investigation of the allegations against Kavanaugh by Christine Blasey Ford. Following the committee vote, GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) said she supported Flake’s push for an FBI investigation. Without their support, GOP leaders would be forced to call for an investigation.

Republicans hold a slim 51-49 seat majority in the chamber and can withstand only one defection, assuming the Democratic caucus sticks together.

The committee cleared Kavanaugh’s nomination on a party-line 11-10 vote. If the FBI investigation takes only one week, a full Senate vote would take place next week. [ Source: Christian Headlines (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – The International Court of Justice on Friday said it has received a complaint from the “State of Palestine” against the United States, arguing that the US government’s placement of its Israeli embassy in Jerusalem violates an international treaty and it should be removed.

The ICJ, known as the World Court, said in a statement “Palestine” argues the 1961 Vienna Convention of Diplomatic Relations requires a country to locate its embassy on the territory of a host state. While Israel controls Jerusalem militarily, its ownership is disputed.

In December, US President Donald Trump ordered the American embassy in Israel relocated from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and the new embassy opened in May. [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid Muallem addressed the UN General Assembly on Saturday with a focus on what the regime intends to do about the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. He declared that Damascus aims to recapture the territory from Israel after Syrian regime forces have retaken areas opposite the Israeli border during a recent Russian-backed offensive.

In recent months, the regime has recaptured most of the country after a bloody seven-year war that pitted pro-regime forces, including the regime’s army, Russia, and Iran-backed groups like Hezbollah, against anti-regime Sunni rebel fighters. The conflict has left more than 350,000 people dead—although estimates vary widely; the number could be closer to 500,000—and displaced millions.

Aside from declaring Syria victorious in the war and praising the “defiance” of the Syrian people and army, the foreign minister also accused Israel of assisting “terrorist organizations” fighting the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad. One common tactic of the regime is to refer to Israeli airstrikes in Syria or Jerusalem’s support of rebel fighters as acts of “terrorism.” It reserves the same rhetoric for rebel groups, lumping them together with Islamic State or al-Qaida fighters who sided with the rebels during the war. [ Source: Jerusalem Post (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Key witnesses have renewed their definitive statements that they did not see any of the sexual misconduct that a few women have said they suffered at the hands of Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh, bolstering his case as the FBI gets into the heart of its investigation.

President Trump made clear over the weekend that he remains firmly behind Judge Kavanaugh and urged voters to cast Republican ballots in key Senate races this year to protest the “angry and mean and nasty and untruthful” approach Democrats have taken toward the nomination.

Republicans on Sunday said absent any major new revelations, senators on the fence are likely to vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh. [ Source: Washington Times (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said Monday it launched ballistic missiles into eastern Syria targeting terrorists it blamed for a recent attack on a military parade.

State television and the state-run IRNA news agency said the attacks “killed and wounded” terrorists in Syria.

A prominent Syrian war monitor said the missiles struck a town held by the Islamic State terrorist group, one of the few remaining pockets of land in Syria still in IS hands. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – The International Court of Justice will hand down an eagerly awaited decision this week on Iran’s demand for the suspension of debilitating nuclear-related sanctions imposed by the United States.

Accusing Washington of “strangling” its economy, Tehran has asked the court in The Hague to order Washington to lift the measures, reimposed after US President Donald Trump pulled out of a multilateral 2015 accord.

Despite its long enmity with the United States, Iran brought the case under a 1955 “friendship treaty” that predates the country’s Islamic Revolution. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

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(Worthy News) – Palestinians in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem walked out Monday on a general strike in solidarity with Arab Israelis protesting Israel’s controversial nation-state law.

The action is also to protest steps taken by the Trump administration vis-a-vis the Palestinians, including the moving of the US embassy to Jerusalem and the cutting of funding to the UNRWA relief agency.

The marches mark the anniversary of the deadly October 2000 riots in which 13 Israeli Arabs were killed in clashes with Israeli police at the start of the second intifada. [ Source: Times of Israel (Read More…) ]

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