Free Speech

A top Saudi Arabia official has suggested that using Twitter, which reportedly is growing in popularity in the western Asian country, is leading people to "lose their afterlife."

BBC News reported that Sheikh Abdul Latif Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, head of Saudi Arabia's religious police, warned that anyone using Twitter and other social media sites "has lost this world and his afterlife."

Saudi Arabia, a Muslim-dominated country, has been designated by persecution watchdog Open Doors USA as one of the most oppressive countries in the world where personal and religious freedoms are limited. BBC noted that platforms like Twitter have provided citizens with a mode of expression that was previously unavailable, and the conservative kingdom has seen a very fast increase of social media users in recent years. more >>

Public school students who've endured ridicule for their Christian beliefs created a newly released video, titled "The Thaw," in which they ask, "Why can't I pray in school? Why am I called names because I believe in marriage the way God designed it? Why can't Tim Tebow praise God after making a touchdown without causing a national uproar?"

These questions, and many others, are posed by Christian students who've experienced censorship from teachers and even bullying from classmates who ostracize them for their biblical worldview on marriage and the right to life.

Gary Brown, founder of Reach America, a national education organization based in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, told The Christian Post on Tuesday that one of the motivating factors that spurred the creation of the video happened last year, when a public school teacher asked students to write an essay, titled "I Believe," without using the names God or Jesus Christ in their papers. more >>

A South Carolina high school will be paying an $85,000 settlement to a former teacher who was removed from the classroom after stomping on a U.S. flag as part of a lesson on freedom.

"Prior to his resignation, attorneys for Mr. Compton informed district attorneys that he had prepared a complaint for filing in federal court," said Lexington-Richland District 5 spokesman Mark Bounds, according to The State.

Chapin High School teacher Scott Compton is also going to be receiving his salary through to June 7, and the school district will have to pay nearly $32,000 for attorney fees, The Associated Press reported. more >>

The decision by a central Kentucky public high school to have student-led prayer removed from its graduation ceremony has caused some students to protest, arguing that they wish to not break the years-long tradition of having a prayer at their graduation ceremony.

"If I want to pray, the school can't stop me," Jonathan Hardwick, senior class president of Lincoln County High School, located in Stanford, Ky., recently told the local WKYT.

Hardwick is one of the students at the local high school who would like his graduation ceremony to contain a student-led, Judeo-Christian prayer. more >>

Under fire for publicly declaring that practicing homosexuality isn't supported by biblical scripture, ESPN sports analyst Chris Broussard told a national group of Christian men on Thursday that God was being glorified in the firestorm.

"Even though I'm getting a lot of hate God is being glorified," said Broussard during a national prayer teleconference hosted by the K.I.N.G Movement. Broussard is the president of the organization that aims to uplift men through biblical teachings.

The group offered up prayers for Broussard who gay rights advocates are calling to be fired or suspended from his position with ESPN for saying NBA player Jason Collins' homosexual lifestyle was inconsistent with biblical scripture. ESPN, however, has not bowed to the pressure so far. more >>

The mainstream media and critics of historic Christianity are at it again-Christians who have done nothing but articulate what the Bible says about homosexuality are being vitrified.

Chris Broussard, an ESPN commentator who stated what he as a Christian believes about homosexuality, has received nothing but vitriol from critics. ESPN apologized for his comments, but Broussard has not. In fact, Broussard hoped that people would express tolerance for his beliefs. He said, " In talking to some people around the league, there's a lot [of] Christians in the NBA and just because they disagree with that lifestyle, they don't want to be called bigoted and intolerant and things like that. That's what LZ [Granderson] was getting at. Just like I may tolerate someone whose lifestyle I disagree with, he can tolerate my beliefs. He disagrees with my beliefs and my lifestyle but true tolerance and acceptance is being able to handle that as mature adults and not criticize each other and call each other names…" Unfortunately, his critics have not expressed any tolerance towards him.

Greg Laurie, the Senior Pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Calif., who led the May 2 National Day of Prayer, was also criticized for his position on homosexuality and found himself under pressure to step down. He didn't. He said, "We're in a time in our country now where I'm attacked because I believe what the Bible teaches." And he's not alone. more >>