Posts tagged crime
American Christianity Under Assault: Discrimination, Decline Or A Cultural Shift?

(ANALYSIS) The question of whether Christianity is under attack, especially in the United States, is a complex and deeply polarizing one. Is it discrimination? Is it part of an overall decline? Is it a cultural shift? It could very well be a combination of all three.

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IHOPKC Leader Mike Bickle ‘Permanently Disqualified’ From Church Office

Mike Bickle, former leader of International House of Prayer in Kansas City (IHOPKC), has “disqualified himself permanently from holding any such high and honorable office anywhere in the Body of Christ in his lifetime,” according to a Pastoral Recommendation Team report. Bickle “failed to live in a manner commensurate with the Gospel message.”

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Clergy Protest ICE and National Guard Presence Near DC Churches

(ANALYSIS) In Washington, D.C., recent events have pushed some Christian leaders to become vocal against the Trump administration. As clergy argue that federal law enforcement agencies increasingly encroach upon church property and community spaces, the result has been a growing movement of men and women who argue that enough is enough.

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‘Beg The Lord For Protection’: Church Shooting That Killed 2 Children Reopens Wounds

(ANALYSIS) In what authorities called an “absolutely incomprehensible” act of violence, a gunman opened fire on a Catholic church during morning Mass on Wednesday — killing two children and injuring 17 others. The implications of this tragedy ripple far beyond Minneapolis. It is the latest — and among the most chilling — examples of how places once considered safe sanctuaries have become targets.

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New Lead Pastor At Gateway Church Pledges ‘New Chapter’ After 2024 Abuse Scandal

Daniel Floyd took the reins last Sunday at scandal-scarred Gateway Church, the multicampus congregation whose founder, Robert Morris, faces a criminal child sexual abuse trial next month. Floyd pledged a “new chapter” for Gateway, which reportedly lost members and tithe dollars after details of Morris’s alleged crimes became public.

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Missouri Enacts Trey’s Law, Voiding NDAs for Child Sex Abuse Victims

Nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) for child sex abuse victims are no longer allowed in Missouri, thanks to a piece of new legislation known as Trey’s Law. It is in memory of Trey Carlock, a victim of abuse at Kanakuk Kamps in southwest Missouri, who took his own life in 2019 at the age of 28.

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Texas Outlaws NDAs In Childhood Sex Abuse Settlements

Texas lawmakers banned nondisclosure clauses in sexual abuse settlement agreements May 26, following Missouri’s passage of similar legislation weeks earlier. The Texas legislature approved the final version of its bill on Memorial Day, first approving it in the House in April, before the Senate’s nod to a similar version of the bill May 15, with the House’s final approval.

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2 Israeli Embassy Staffers Killed In DC ‘Free Palestine’ Attack

Two Israeli embassy staffers were shot and killed outside an event in Washington, D.C., around 9 p.m. Wednesday, according to local and federal officials, by a suspect who appeared to target them in what many Jewish leaders are calling an antisemitic attack. The shooting took place following an American Jewish Committee event for young Jewish professionals and diplomats at the Capital Jewish Museum.

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‘I’ll Be On The Street’: Disgraced Televangelist Jim Bakker Begs For $1 Million

Disgraced televangelist Jim Bakker has pleaded for viewers to send him $1 million, saying his ministry will be shut down if he doesn’t get the funds. Bakker, who was at the heart of a notorious religious financial scandal in the 1980s, said he needs cash now to keep running Praise the Lord (PTL) Network, and his program, The Jim Bakker Show.”

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New Federal Law Criminalizes Deepfake And Nonconsensual Porn

Publishing or distributing sexually explicit material of a person without their consent is now a federal crime, and social media platforms and other websites must remove such images within 48 hours of notification.

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Apologist Michael Brown Engaged in ‘Sexually Abusive Misconduct,’ Report Says

Messianic apologist Michael Brown engaged in “sexually abusive misconduct” with one young woman and an “inappropriate relationship” with a second married woman in the early 2000s, a third-party investigative report by Firefly has found.

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‘Silence And Helplessness Remain’: Child Sex Abuse Survivors Call For Reform

Hoping to persuade Missouri lawmakers to end nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) and the statute of limitations for child sex abuse victims, multiple survivors of abuse at two evangelical ministries testified powerfully in a hearing last week.

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Former Southwestern Baptist Seminary Provost Sentenced In SBC Sex Abuse Probe

Former Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary interim provost Matt Queen received today a judgement of time served with one year of supervised release, six months of home confinement and a $2,000 fine related to a federal investigation of the Southern Baptist Convention regarding sexual abuse.

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John Symth’s Victims And Their Families In Zimbabwe Hope For Closure

For decades, the Nyachuru family has hoped for closure, which has proved to be elusive. When the scathing Makin Report released this past November — which ultimately resulted in the resignation of Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby — recommended that the Church of England also probe the atrocities committed by Smyth in Zimbabwe, the family was hopeful.

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NC Supreme Court Upholds ‘Look Back’ Window of SAFE Child Act

The North Carolina Supreme Court’s decision means that cases filled by other child sexual abuse survivors, like Stuart Griffin’s case involving Christ Covenant Presbyterian Church and Charlotte Christian School, during the look back window will continue.

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Trump Pushes Death Penalty For Undocumented Migrants In Capital Cases

President Donald Trump is calling for federal prosecutors to push for the death penalty in capital cases involving undocumented people. The move was one of dozens of executive orders the president signed on day one of his second term. The order encourages the Justice Department to pursue the death penalty and prioritizes two sets of cases: Those involving the murder of a law enforcement officer and those for crimes for which the death penalty is an option and the defendant is undocumented.

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