-THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES
-Abiding Word Ministries
-David Barnhart/ Editor
(News updates: Winter 2011) ~
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--News in Brief ~

-THE GIRL SCOUTS OF COLORADO

The Girl Scouts of Colorado flip-flopped on a decision not to let a 7-year-old boy join their organization, now saying he is welcome even though he's not a girl, according to Fox News. The Girl Scouts issued a statement to the local Fox affiliate saying they are an inclusive organization and will
accept "Bobby."

The leader who turned him away made a mistake, they said, and the situation is being rectified. "If a child identifies as a girl and the child's family presents 'her' as a girl, Girl Scouts of Colorado welcomes her as a Girl Scout," the statement said. ~~(AFA News)
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SOME OF THE NATION'S TOP CORPORATIONS have joined forces in filing a legal brief asking the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold a 2010 lower court ruling that would force the federal government to recognize gay "marriage," and strike down the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. Signers of the November 3 brief included CBS, Starbucks, Nike, Aetna, Levi, Microsoft, Time Warner and Xerox. -(Baptist Press)
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A STATE APPEALS COURT IN FLORIDA RULES THE USE OF ISLAMIC LAW IS OK IN A CIVIL CASE between a mosque and its former trustees. The decision by the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Lakeland to decline the appeal of the Islamic Education Center of Tampa sends the case back to Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Richard A. Nielsen. Nielsen's decision in March to allow the case to proceed under "ecclesiastical Islamic law" drew national attention when the ruling was criticized by conservative bloggers.~
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ELCA BISHOP ASKS OBAMA TO TAKE A STRONGER STANCE AGAINST ISRAELI HOUSING EXPANSIONS.
According to a news release from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Bishop Mark Hanson attended a meeting at the White House November 8 with a group of religious leaders who voiced their opposition to Israel building more houses in Jerusalem and the West Bank, saying the construction threatens the viability of a future Palestiain state. Nothing was said about rockets being fired from Gaza into Israel. ~~
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