church and its partners are responding to Thailand’s worst floods in decades in and around its capital, Bangkok, and asking for support for relief aid to the victims.

“Please remember the flood victims in Thailand and the work of the Church of Christ in Thailand (CCT) in your daily prayers,” said Prawate Khid-arn, acting manager of the Office of CCT Policy Management in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The CCT is a partner of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Reuters news agency reported on Oct. 25 that at least 366 people have been killed since heavy monsoon rains started in July. Flooding has affected 2.5 million people and could swamp more of densely populated Bangkok, if water flowing from the north and heavy rain causes canals to burst their banks.

Khid-arn reported that CCT teams have distributed 1,200 relief bags that include rice, water, dry food and some medicines, to victims in central Thailand and there are plans to return to the affected areas this week.

For long-term rehabilitation, he said, ecumenical organizations such as Church World Service, Norwegian Church Aid, and the Christian Conference of Asia met with the CCT in Chiang Mai on Oct. 14. Khid-arn then reported that the CCT had approved an additional 200,000 Baht, or about $6,000, for humanitarian assistance.

“What makes us happy is that various people ― office workers, students, artists, singers, teachers, medical doctors, nurses and volunteers ― express sympathy and do the best in solidarity with the victims,” Khid-arn said.

Tearfund reported that CCT has been distributing water and more than 1,000 cooked lunches and dinners to 500 people each day. At one house, food was delivered to the second floor, where as many as 23 people had taken refuge.

Church World Service, a U.S.-based Christian relief organization which is responding as a member of the ACT Alliance, said, that CWS-supported members of CCT’s team are also distributing food in Bangkok.

The PC(USA) is a member of both CWS and the ACT Alliance.

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After a few months’ break, Belarusian authorities have resumed punishing leaders of the Baptist Council of Churches, whose congregations refuse on principle to gain the state registration which officials insist is compulsory.

In the third court case in 2011, Pastor Aleksei Abramovich, who leads their congregation in Zhodino in Minsk Region, was fined several weeks’ average local wages in late September, Council of Churches Baptists
told Forum 18 News Service.

Trouble began for the Zhodino Baptist congregation on Aug. 14, when police raided their Sunday worship service, Baptists complained to Forum 18.

The raid was led by Lieutenant-Colonel Sergei Sevets, deputy head of Zhodino police. Accompanying the police was the head of the Ideology Department of Zhodino Executive Committee, Yelena Goretskaya.

Officers photographed, filmed and sealed the room where the church meets. They confiscated religious literature without drawing up an official record and a case was prepared against Pastor Abramovich, Baptists added.

On 20 September, Judge Tatyana Trotsyuk of Zhodino Court found Abramovich guilty of violating Article 23.34, Part 2 of the Code of Administrative Offences (“violation of the procedure for organising or conducting a mass event or demonstration”). The Judge fined him 700,000 Belarusian Rubles (690 Norwegian Kroner, 89 Euros or 122 US Dollars at the inflated official exchange rate), the equivalent of several weeks’ wages locally.

Abramovich rejects all the accusations, as he explained in a letter to President Aleksandr Lukashenko. “We don’t interfere with state policy. Our worship meetings are purely religious. It’s not a crime if believers worship in my house,” he told the president. Abramovich has chosen not to appeal against the court’s decision and has not paid the fine, Baptists told Forum 18.

Judge Trotsyuk refused to discuss why she fined Abramovich for leading religious worship. “Court decisions and fines are discussed only with the authorized institutions or people whom it may concern,” she told Forum 18 from Zhodino on Oct. 14.

Goretskaya of the Ideology Department admitted to Forum 18 on Oct. 14 that the church was raided, but claimed that church members had broken the law. She refused to answer any further questions as to why she had participated in the raid on a religious service.

This is the third case in 2011 when officials have raided worship services of Council of Churches’ congregations. Its Gomel [Homyel] congregation was raided during Sunday worship in February.

Subsequently Pastor Nikolai Varushin was fined 1,050,000 Belarusian Rubles (1,040 Norwegian Kroner, 235 Euros, or 335 US Dollars at the inflated official exchange rate) for leading unauthorized worship. The fine was upheld on appeal and confiscated religious literature was not returned.

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Three years ago a Christian missionary from Colorado met personally with Muammar Gaddafi and told him that she is praying for him. Today, she says that it is time for him to step down.

Lisa Gibson, an attorney in Colorado Springs, and founder and executive director of the Peace and Prosperity Alliance, met personally with Gaddafi when he visited the U.S.in 2009 In that meeting at the Libyan Mission, she told him of the love of Christ.

Of the meeting Gibson told ASSIST News Service, “[The] Libyan Ambassador … invited me … to meet the leader. So, myself and another young man who lost his father on the Lockerbie plane were invited to a one-on-one meeting with Muammar Gaddafi.”

She recalled to ANS telling Gaddafi that she had “been to Libya three times, and have truly fallen in love with the Libyan people. I also talked about the projects we are engaged in there. He was grateful. I also gave him a gift. A ‘Cross’ brand pen and a card. In the card I shared that I have been praying for him since my first trip to Libya in 2005, wished him the best for himself and the people of his country, and blessed him.”

Lockerbie bombing

Her journey to that incident, and her current message to the bereaved dictator from Libya, came about after her brother, Ken Gibson, died when he was just 20 years old, one of 270 victims in the 1988 Lockerbie Pan Am terrorist bombing, which the International Court ruled recently that Gaddafi is responsible for.

Gibson’s brother, ironically, was on the plane by accident. He had been bumped off from an earlier flight. He had just spent two years in military service overseas, and was on his way home for Christmas.

Fight terrorism with love

Gibson told 7News that after her brother’s death she asked herself, “Is there any way I can see my brother’s death not be in vain?” She adds, “The most effective weapon in the war on terror is love. Because at the heart of terrorism is hate. And the only way to fight that battle is to walk in the opposite spirit with love.”

Gibson did this by traveling back and forth to Libya to do missions work. She told ANS, “It is the most tangible way I have known how to overcome the act of terror that my brother was killed in for good. It is the essence of the gospel, which calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves and to love our enemies.”

When the International Court ruled last June that Gaddafi is personally guilty for Lockerbie and ordered his arrest, Gibson was addressing a huge crowd in Freedom Square in Benghazi.

Today, she feels that the Libyan people have at last found their own voice. She told 7News, “Ultimately we always thought we would see justice in some way, and whether we got a conviction or not to me wasn’t important. I knew at some point he would come to justice. For me, it’s encouraging.”

As of this writing, Gaddafi opponents have taken over the majority of Tripoli. It is not known yet where the Libyan dictator is, and two of his sons, who were detained by the opposition, have escaped. But plans are already afoot on a post-Gaddafi Libya.

In an open letter to the dictator published on ANS, Gibson urged Gaddafi to step down for the sake of the Libyan people and said, “I met with leaders of the National Transitional Council and they have already begun to focus on the future and rebuilding from the ground up. Just this week I have been dialoguing with one such leader who has asked us to bring in leaders in organizational management, administration, leadership, and ethics to train the Libyan leaders. We are responding to this request by finding qualified people to help.”

Looking back to the day that she met Gaddafi three years before, she told ANS that as she walked out of the Libyan Mission, “I felt God’s peace. I had fulfilled that particular mission. While the rest of the world was spewing hate and rhetoric against him, one simple woman welcomed him to America and shared the love of Christ with him in the simplest ways I knew how. I pray that it will in some way make a difference.”

To see Gibson’s full letter to Gaddafi, go to http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2011/s11080111.htm.

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Hundreds of Christian writers will congregate at Langhorne, Penn to attend the Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers Conference from Wednesday to Saturday  to learn from the experts about Christian writing.

The conference will cover a wide range of aspects of Christian writing, from faith and the writer to writing that can spell a real difference in the world, including writing about the persecuted church.

Included, too, will be a one-on-one opportunity for all fully registered participants to pitch their work to agents, editors and representatives of publishers.

Many of the sessions in the conference, which is themed Write His Answer (culled from Habakkuk 2:2), will also be open, free of charge, to the general public.

“We live in a time when we need to be both encouraged and challenged,” Marlene Bagnull, conference director, told ASSIST News Service. “The sessions open to the public address issues of transforming our culture for the better, reaching out to impact the world for the better, and sobering reports of Christian persecution worldwide.”

Over 65 professional agents, editors and authors will be participating at GPCWC 2011. The conference will strengthen the writing and marketing abilities of participants, provide a means for them to get constructive feedback on their writing, enable them to talk individually about their work with professionals in the industry, and deepen their faith walk.

Speakers in the conference include MOVIEGUIDE magazine publisher Dr. Ted Baehr, who will give the keynote address, You Can Help Transform the Culture, on its opening day.

Other speakers are Liz Babbs of the U.K., who will discuss new ways to impact one’s culture through writing; Cec Murphey, bestselling author of some 100 books including 90 Minutes in Heaven; and Dan Wooding, ASSIST News Service founder, who will talk about Christian persecution and writing.

Steven Lawson, senior editor, Regal Publishing Group, will lead the seminar Who Is My Neighbor?, which will deal with issues such as abortion, human trafficking, orphans, racism, the poor, the learning impaired, the hungry and the handicapped.

Rick Marschall, author/editor of some 60 books and ANS columnist will give a seminar entitled Help Save Our Nation which will challenge and equip participants to defend the country’s spiritual and cultural heritage.

There will also be an interview by Wooding of C. Hope Flinchbaugh for Front Page Radio on the subject of North Korea, the country that ranks No. 1 in Christian persecution by Open Doors in its World Watch List.

GPCWC has, for 28 years, been giving intensive Christian writers workshops. This year, attendees will have choices on various aspects of Christian writing including skills building, getting published, marketing, fiction writing and nonfiction for children and adults.

There are also Earlybird Workshops on how to create a website (attendees will leave the session with a ready-to-use website of their own), earning through blogging, ethics in writing nonfiction, E-publishing and tips on how to maximize on a meeting with editors and publishers in the conference.

For full details, go to www.writehisanswer.com/Philadelphia.

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A man is suing the U.S. Postal Service on the grounds that he was unconstitutionally arrested while distributing Christian literature on the sidewalk near the front of the Oakland, Tenn. Post Office.

Michael Choate, who is being represented by the Alliance Defense Fund, was arrested last year while passing out Christian tracts 40 feet from the entrance to the Oakland, Tenn. Post office.

In his complaint, Choate said the arrest is unconstitutional and violates his First Amendment right to free speech, his right to due process of law and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Last year, on July 2010, Choate distributed tracts beside a flagpole that stands some 40 ft. from the Post Office entrance. The location does not block people going inside or outside of the Post Office.

Choate’s complaint noted that he never tried to enter the Post Office, nor to distribute leaflets inside the premises nor leave any tracts on any property of the Post Office. Neither did he disturb, nor bother the Postal Service, its customers, nor the operations of the Post Office.

Choate distributed the tracts for two weeks in July last year. Then on Aug. 6, 2010, he returned to this same spot near the flagpole at 11:00 a.m. to quietly distribute more tracts.

After an hour, Postmaster Terrena Moore walked up to Choate and told him that he had to leave, or he would be arrested. According to his complaint, “Choate tried to calm Postmaster Moore down, and explained that he would wait for the police.”

Within minutes, two policemen arrived and told Choate he had to leave because he was trespassing. Choate, pointing out that he was standing on a public sidewalk, questioned how he was trespassing. The policemen said, “[If] the Postmaster says you are trespassing on postal property, you are trespassing, and must leave,” the complaint said.

Because Choate believed he was within his rights to express his opinions on public property, he stood fast. The police arrested him, but later the criminal charges of trespassing were dropped, and he was not asked to pay a fine nor serve time in jail.

In Sept. 2010, Choate approached Moore and asked her why he was considered by her to be a trespasser. She referred him to 39 C.F.R. 232.1(e), which is a “disturbance provision.” Moore told Choate that his activities “annoyed” some customers.

In November 2010, the ADF sent a letter to USPS noting that Choate was constitutionally protected and had a right to pass out tracts on public property in front of the Post Office.

The USPS responded the following month with a letter that said if he “tends to impede or disturb Postal Service employees or customers,” he cannot distribute the tracts, Choate’s complaint noted.

Choate has charged that his First Amendment rights were violated and the Postal Service regulations are vague and not narrowly tailored, leaving interpretation largely to the discretion of its officials, which opens the door to unbridled discretion.

Finally, Choate said in his complaint that the enforcement of 39 CFR 232.1(e) inhibited his ability to exercise the rights due him under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

“Christians shouldn’t be arrested and silenced for peacefully sharing their beliefs on public property,” ADF’s Nate Kellum, one of Choate’s attorneys, said in a statement.

“The post office isn’t above the law and cannot take away citizens’ constitutionally-protected rights just because it or its customers might not agree with the content of someone’s speech or literature. Our client isn’t harassing anyone; he’s simply desiring to quietly share his faith in a completely public forum,” Kellum said.

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The Episcopal Church expressed recently its support for a measure that will facilitate access to higher education to undocumented youths in the U.S.

Bishop David C. Jones of Virginia represented the Episcopal Church at a press conference on July 12 on Capitol Hill to express support for the DREAM Act.

The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors seeks to allow “conditional permanent resident” status to undocumented youth “with good moral character who have lived in the U.S. for at least five years and graduated from high school. Permanent resident status would be available upon completion of two years of higher education or military service,” Episcopal News Service reported.

Jones, in a statement to ENS said, “The DREAM Act points to a moral good — access to education. Young people, having graduated from high school and having done no wrong, should not be barred from access to college loans, grants and scholarships simply because of the actions of their parents.”

“They are, like their classmates, inheritors of the American Dream. They should not be denied opportunity. The DREAM Act opens the door to that opportunity,” Jones said, according to ENS.

Other Christian churches and organizations that support the DREAM Act include  the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Synod, and the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference.

Other faith organizations and groups also in support of the DREAM Act are the Islamic Society of North America, the American Jewish Committee, and The United Sikhs, among others.

The Interfaith Immigration Coalition is also enlisting various churches to participate in The Dream Sabbath, to be held from Sept. 16-Oct. 19. Under Dream Sabbath, churches may request that a student from DREAM Act attend their worship service and share their story.

The Episcopal Church decided to support the DREAM Act during its General Convention 2009 through Resolution B006. Alex Baumgarten, who is director of the church’s Office of Government Relations said in a statement, “The DREAM Act would help thousands of youth who came to our country as undocumented to receive legal status, thereby granting untold opportunities on their way to becoming United States citizens.”

Some 65,000 undocumented students graduate from U.S. high schools annually.

“Withholding legal status from these children not only hurts them, but it deprives America of future generations of dedicated citizens, innovators, entrepreneurs and public servants,” Ana White, the Episcopal Church’s immigration and refugee policy analyst, said in a statement.

The DREAM Act is an initiative of assistant senate majority leader Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) and Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nevada) in the Senate; and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Florida), Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-California) and Howard Berman (D-California) in the House of Representatives.

Sources:

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79425_129034_ENG_HTM.htm

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/newsline_128976_ENG_HTM.htm

http://www.interfaithimmigration.org/

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Amid the devastation that was wreaked by twisters that traversed towns in the south, flattening communities and bringing down churches, people gathered together before the remaining wreckage of their neighborhood churches to pray.

Last Sunday, parishioners took time from their woes to hear the word of God. Deacon Calvin Thomas, of Victory Baptist Church in Rainsville, Ala. stood amid the heavy damage of the church’s remains and told the faithful, “One way or another, we’re going to keep going forward,” Assist News Service reported.

Similar sentiments were expressed by Pastor T.L. Lewis of Bethel Baptist Church in Pratt City, Ala. As some 5,000 stood amid the rubble, Lewis said, “This service is our response to tragedy. It shows that we are not victims. We are victors. We are visible victors,” according to ANS.

The series of twisters last week left some 328 people dead in seven states, and is considered to be the deadliest in the nation since the Depression, leaving hundreds of businesses destroyed and thousands jobless, according to the Associated Press.

Alabama got the brunt of it, with over two-thirds of the dead coming from there. Damage alone may reach up to one billion, although the numbers are still not available, the AP said.

The state was visited by Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. secretary of state, who grew up in Birmingham. While deeply affected by the damage, she expressed confidence that Alabamans are strong and hardy people who will forge through, the AP reported.

One couple in Birmingham lost everything but survived the twister when Rapley carried his wife, Adrienne (who has a brain injury), into a storage room of their home. They prayed, “The Lord is my shepherd,” the AP said.

In Smithville, Miss., the leaders of Smithville Baptist Church set up a tent in a parking lot and led prayers in front of one of the remaining parts of the church, a stain glass window of Jesus with outstretched arms. They told parishioners to mark the day “Resurrection Sunday,” ANS reported.

The storms damaged the three facilities of Smithville’s biggest employer, Townhouse Home Furnishings. The company, with 150 employees, has relocated to a site 30 minutes away by car, the AP said.

CFO Tony Watson told the AP, “We’re trying to keep our people working so they can get a paycheck. It could be six months or a year before we reopen in Smithville and they have to keep up with orders or we’ll lose out accounts.”

Joseph Ammerman of the Mississippi Department of Insurance told WTVA that they are temporarily setting up shop in Smithville. “A lot of people have lost everything, a lot of them can’t even remember what the name of their insurance company was.”

In Greenville, Tenn., the roof of Unity Chapel Church was ripped off, but churchgoers still came to worship last Sunday and looked to the sky as they prayed, ANS said.

Last week the American Red Cross set up two shelters in Greene County, east Tennessee, where some 300 people whose homes were wrecked by the twisters could stay dry amid heavy rain, 10 WBIR said.

Some 342 people died in seven states that were hit by the brutal series of twisters last Wednesday, and hundreds of communities are still searching for missing people, ANS said.

The areas were visited last Friday by President Barack Obama , First Lady Michelle Obama and their children. Obama said the extensive damage was heartbreaking and promised federal aid, the Los Angeles Times said.

The tornado-damaged region was also visited by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Craig Fugate, ANS said.

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Christians in Pakistan are extremely vulnerable for immediate acts of revenge from Muslim extremists for the death of  leader Osama bin Laden.

This was stated in a warning issued by a former head of the Catholic Church in Pakistan recently. However, the statement added that in the long term bin Laden’s death may reap positive results for Christians in that country, The Telegraph said.

Archbishop Emeritus Lawrence Saldanha of Lahore said in a statement, “We are a soft target as they cannot attack America. We demand security; the government should control any retaliation,” The Telegraph reported.

Christian schools, institutions closed

Saldanha is echoing a common sentiment in Pakistan, where Christian churches and schools have been closed, and Christian communities are being placed under heavy guard, Fides News Service said.

Strong security measures have been set in place in Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Multan and other cities, Fides News Service reported. Christians are viewed in Taliban propaganda as viable targets along with Westerners and Americans, The Telegraph said.

Bin Laden was killed by American soldiers in a raid on his safe house in Abbottabad, some 60 km from the capital city Islamabad, Fides News Service said.

Paul Bhatti, special adviser to the Pakistani government for religious minorities told Fides News Service, “The situation is tense. There are, in fact, strong reactions of fear, unreasonable, against Christian minorities. The government is paying close attention to preventive measures.”

Fr. Mario Rodrigues, who heads the Pontifical Mission Societies in Pakistan, told Fides News Service, “[Pakistani government officials] have put us on alert, calling for the closure of our institutions and placing more police personnel in front of churches. Christians in Pakistan are innocent victims, even in this situation: any excuse is good to threaten or to attack.”

Rodrigues, however, told Fides News Service that in the long term the death of bin Laden may benefit Christians. “According to some people, in the coming months the persecution against Christians could decrease and the Taliban ideological struggle weaken. We will see. We observe, however, that intolerance and radical Islamic groups are flourishing in the country, and other extremist leaders could establish themselves and continue terrorist actions.”

Rodrigues’ statement was echoed by Archbishop Saldanha who told The Telegraph, “At last we have hope that things will get better gradually. Many looked on bin Laden as a hero of the Islamic revolution. But he was a role-model of extremism and a threat to world peace. His death will change the complexion and decentralize as well as demystify extremism.”

Christians have long been victims of extreme persecution by Muslim extremists in Pakistan. Oftentimes, the notorious blasphemy law has been wielded by Muslims against Christians and other religious minorities not for religious reasons, but to settle personal scores.

Many Christians in Pakistan feel that the West does not pay sufficient heed to their plight, and yet the country continues to benefit from foreign aid, particularly from the U.K., according to The Telegraph.

Hours before Obama broke the news about bin Laden’s death, local police in Gujranwala city had to intervene after a group of Muslims tried to attack and burn a church after hearing rumors that a copy of the Qur’an had been burned, The Telegraph said.

Rodrigues told Fides News Service, “Unfortunately in recent days there have been massive attacks in Christian neighborhoods in the city of Gujranwala. We urgently need a serious policy to combat Islamic extremism by the state at all levels: in culture, education, social level but also on a political and legislative level.”

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How much of an atheist was Mark Twain, aka Samuel Langhorne Clemens, really?

Atheist and agnostic websites have found a treasure trove of disparaging quotes against religion by Twain. This is the man who said, “There is one notable thing about our Christianity: bad, bloody, merciless, money-grabbing and predatory…ours is a terrible religion.” This same man mocks the Catholic church in his book, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. And in another book, The Mysterious Stranger, Twain strongly belittles conventional religion, Catholic News Service said.

But Catholic News Service also points out that he writes with reverence, some would say, gushes, about St. Joan of Arc in the biography that he wrote of the French maiden who liberated France from the British in the 15^th century. A website on St. Joan, called Maid of Heaven quotes Twain saying of his book on the saint, “Possibly the book may not sell, but that is nothing—it was written for love.”

The Catholic News Service also claims that there are many facets in Twain’s life that seem to indicate he had a religious side. For example, in his memoirs, Twain “makes frequent uncritical references in his memoirs to his Presbyterian upbringing; his funeral was in a Presbyterian church (the Brick Church in New York); and he counted several clergy among his close friends.”

His own words

Twain’s own words when he wrote about St. Joan of Arc, shows overwhelming admiration. An essay he wrote about the saint is found online at catholic-forum.com. Twain wrote, “There is no blemish in that rounded and beautiful character. She was deeply religious, and believed that she had daily speech with angels; that she saw them face to face, and that they counseled her, comforted and heartened her, and brought commands to her direct from God. She had a childlike faith in the heavenly origin of her apparitions and her Voices, and not any threat of any form of death was able to frighten it out of her loyal heart. She was a beautiful and simple and lovable character.”

The Washington Times said, “[In] the life of Joan of Arc, America’s most convinced cynic found a sunbeam of hope and encouragement amid an otherwise discouraging world.”

Anthony Pucci, English department head of the Elmira Notre Dame High School told Catholic News Service that Twain was not disengaged with the core teachings of Christianity. He did, however, take issue with the hypocrisy of those who didn’t walk their talk. He was most angry about people who used religion to justify oppression of the poor, violence and other social ills.

Catholic News Service said that Twain once wrote, “If Christ were here, there is one thing he would not be—a Christian.” In his novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Pucci noted that Huck rejects religion. Pucci says, “They [Christian families in the novel] come out of church but don’t act very Christian. That’s the basis of Huck’s repudiation of religion—you’re not a better Christian because of your religion.”

While Pucci admits that Twain didn’t believe that heaven and hell were real, and rejected the notion that the soul is immortal and that Jesus Christ is divine, Pucci told Catholic News Service that the Christian message is illustrated in other aspects, such as the way Huckleberry Finn protects a slave, even if, in Huck’s thinking, “he might be damned to hell.”

More critical of religion

Twain scholar Michael Kiskis told Catholic News Service that the pending volumes II and III of the Autobiography of Mark Twain will have even more critical remarks about religion. Kiskis observed, “The notion of compassion is one [Twain] wants to believe in, and the problem he has is sometimes the works of God are not entirely compassionate, not upfront—why do bad things happen to good people?”

The New York Times said of Twain, “The author was a cheerful promoter of himself.” When he retired, he liked to dress up all in white on Sundays and walk past Presbyterian and Episcopalian churches as people were leaving the church, so that heads would turn to look at him, and he could hear the crowd whisper his name.

Kiskis told Catholic News Service said that Twain probably kept his harshest remarks about religion secret so that it wouldn’t affect his sales. His autobiography was released last fall, exactly 100 years after his death. This was done at Twain’s personal request, and Kiskis says, the harsh, anti-religious remarks in Vol. I and the forthcoming Vols. II and III may be the reason why Twain didn’t want the books to be released in his lifetime.

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They don’t want to be considered as a religion, and they successfully helped render the National Day of Prayer unlawful. But if you are going to hold an inaugural prayer service, you had better invite the atheists, or they will be mad.

The Secular Coalition for America in Washington DC is outraged because they were not invited to attend Mayor-Elect Vincent Gray’s January inaugural prayer service, The Christian Post said.

The SCA asked D.C. residents to flood Gray’s office with emails saying that discrimination is unacceptable, after they were not included in Gray’s ecumenical service entitled One City…Praying Together slated for 8 a.m. on Jan. 2, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Politics Daily reported.

Politics Daily reported that atheist activists and other groups have posted comments threatening political revenge against Gray. Secular groups are also getting together to determine if they should protest the event, according to God Discussion.

The secular groups in D.C., God Discussion said, include Washington Ethical Society, Washington Area Secular Humanists, Capital Beltway Atheists, DC Atheists, the DC Center of Inquiry and the secular Jewish Machar group.

Amanda Knief, SCA Government Relations Manager said Gray’s team told them it was too late for their inclusion in the interfaith program. In a statement Knief said, “We find it overtly discriminatory when we request to be part of an ecumenical prayer service that is supposed to unite the entire city and are told there is no place for nontheists,” The Christian Post reported.

Gray was upset that no humanist celebrant was invited to participate in the interfaith program, even if they don’t believe in God. She explained that they have humanist celebrants (she is one) who are trained to preside over weddings and funerals, among others, The Christian Post said.

The humanist celebrant, according to the SCA, is “the nonreligious equivalent of a clergyperson,” Politics Daily reported, who can “offer words of encouragement and inspiration without involving a deity.”

God Discussion said that a number of secular groups have programs to train secular and humanist celebrants, such as the American Ethical Union, the Society for Humanistic Judaism and The Humanist Society.

Gray, a Roman Catholic, based his campaign on the twin themes of inclusion and unity. He promised to bring back the Office of Religious Affairs and to form a city prayer breakfast, The Christian Post said.

Humanist groups have long protested public prayer, including the National Day of Prayer this year, which the Freedom From Religion Foundation launched a lawsuit against, leading Federal District Judge Barbara Crabb to rule that it is unlawful. President Obama said he would appeal the decision, The Christian Post reported.

Knief told the God Discussion that it is regretful that a humanist celebrant was not included in the Jan. 2 prayer service saying, “Secular Americans have much to offer their communities if allowed to participate.”

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