It’s become common practice for NFL players who profess Christian faith to score touchdowns and fall to their knees in prayer, and not draw a penalty (though such an action breaks NFL rules for going to your knees in celebration).
When Husain Abdullah of the Kansas City Chiefs scored, slid to the ground and prayed in his team’s 41-14 win over the New England Patriots, he followed his Muslim tradition of going to his knees and prostrating toward the Muslim holy land of Mecca.
A referee then gave him a 15-yard penalty, which the NFL said was an incorrect action. The league made its statement through a spokesman on Tuesday.
Abdullah should not have been penalized. Officiating mechanic is not to flag player who goes to ground for religious reasons.
( NFL: Chiefs player should not have been flagged for prayer following TD )
It produces a powerful trumpet-like sound and plays an important part in the Jewish High Holy Days.
The instrument is called a shofar and will be blown at local synagogues as part of the 10-day High Holy Days, which begin with the start of Rosh Hashanah at sundown today and conclude with Yom Kippur on Oct. 4.
The shofar is blown to wake up the soul and turn attention to the important tasks of self-reflection, prayer and atonement.
“It’s a call to action,” said Rabbi Aryeh Azriel of Omaha’s Temple Israel.
Blowing the shofar is a custom that goes back thousands of years. The instrument is often made from a polished ram’s horn, but can also be made from the horn of a sheep or goat. The ram’s horn is a reminder of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son, Isaac, to God, and God’s acceptance of a ram instead.
( More )
Was this week’s walkout staged by students at several Colorado high schools really in protest of a proposed history curriculum? Or were the Denver-area students being used by an unscrupulous teachers union?
Hundreds of Jefferson County students walked out of classrooms on Tuesday following a “sick-out” staged by teachers that shut down two high schools last week. The students claimed they did not want history education that promotes topics such as citizenship, patriotism, and respect for authority. One student protestor argued America’s foundation was built on civil protests, and several carried signs reading “There is nothing more patriotic than protest.”
Ben DeGrow of the Independence Institute in Denver says it’s inconceivable that that many students could have spontaneously reacted the way they did.
( More )
The results are in … and marriage wins.
Tallying up the results of a study beginning in 1997 covering some 3,000 children from ages three to 16, the British government recently divulged a report proving that youth growing up in a household with their married parents demonstrate markedly higher social skills than their peers from broken or unconventional homes.
Research published by the United Kingdom’s Department of Education found that the marital status of parents is a very accurate gauge for determining how well children adapt socially at school with their peers and teachers, as well as with the rest of society.
Included with marital status in the factors determining student social behavior were social class and family income, which also predicted student behavior to varying degrees. The research shows that regardless of the socioeconomic and social status of the married parents at home, kids are far better socially adapted when coming from this secure and nurturing environment.
“The marital status of parents in the early years, when children were first recruited to the study, was also a significant predictor of changes in self-regulation during secondary education and pro-social behavior,” researchers from the Effective Pre-school, Primary and Secondary Education (EPPSE) study pointed out.
( The rest of this story is right here. )
Conservative activists continue to welcome the news that Attorney General Eric Holder is resigning. One of them cites Holder’s propensity for backing the “unconstitutional agenda of a rogue president” over the rule of law.
After six contentious years as America’s “top cop,” Holder revealed Thursday that he is stepping down. White House officials say President Obama hasn’t made a final decision on a replacement for Holder – the nation’s first black attorney general – who was one of the most liberal voices in his Cabinet.
In a short speech Thursday formally announcing Holder’s resignation, Obama praised the AG for what he called his “deep commitment to ensuring all Americans receive equal justice under the law.” Holder, for his part, said he was proud of what the DOJ had accomplished, but said work remains to be done.
But not everyone shares the praise heaped on Holder by the president. Horace Cooper is co-chairman of Project 21 (The National Leadership Network of Black Conservatives). He says his group is glad to see Holder go.
“Because we were so disappointed that the first black attorney general of the United States set such a poor role model,” Cooper explains. “This is not the model of a person who understands the Constitution and believes that the role of attorney general is to represent all of America, not one political party and certainly not act as the White House counsel.”
( More )
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Billy David Dickson All Rights Reserved, 2014
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