There's nothing Sue Arellano loved more than her church -- Faith 3 Ministries on First Colonial Road in Virginia Beach . "The moment I set foot in the church, I could feel the presence of God here and I knew this was my home," she said. Arellano worked as church treasurer as her way to give back. But by taking on that job, she took on something she says she never imagined. "I thought I could trust him. I had all the faith in him, I really did," she said. Arellano is suing her pastor. According to the suit she filed with other church members, Pastor Ken Montgomery repeatedly approached her looking for money. Watch the report "He would come to my house most of the time and say 'I need a check. I need to buy something. I don't know where I'm going. I don't know how much it is,'" she said. It's all alleged in the suit. Arellano says she would give him blank checks from the church's account and the pastor would never come back wi...

He is supposed to be the leader of the faithful - instead, he is facing charges for allegedly downloading child porn on his computer. Father Raymond Ethier , a priest in the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese , remains in police custody after being arraigned in Federal Court Wednesday afternoon. Ethier was arrested by Homeland Security agents on Tuesday and held at the Albany County Jail overnight. Federal papers show this was a quick investigation run by the feds. It started after a man told another over the Internet he was abusing his step-children. Investigators say they tracked down a person using the screen name "nudistdude23" to Ethier. But it was what they allegedly found on his computer that is at the core of the charges. As NEWS10's Latricia Thomas reports, the investigation began after the priest allegedly went too far online. Reverend Raymond Ethier has served as the leader of St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Columbia County since its inception two years ...

PETERSBURG, Ky. -- Amid protesters and television cameras, several thousand visitors lined up yesterday for the opening of the Creation Museum, a $27 million attraction purporting that the Bible's creation story is literal fact supported by science. Visitors watched high-tech animatronic dinosaurs wag their tails next to playing children in a diorama. They examined fossils and skulls, walked through a lush Garden of Eden and watched robotic men hammer on Noah's Ark in advance of God's retribution. Through a mix of exhibits and displays, they were told that the Grand Canyon was created in the biblical flood; that Noah's animals repopulated continents by floating across oceans on uprooted trees; that the earth is 6,000 years old, not billions; and that poison dart frogs were harmless before Adam's sin. Some visitors said the 60,000-square-foot museum -- a cross between a natural history museum and a biblical theme park -- reinforced their views that evolution and the ...

by Daphne Caruana Galizia In the hoopla surrounding the canonisation of the late Fr Gorg Preca , there appears to be no room for the minority – a minority that I suspect is much larger than it seems – who have no truck with saints and miracles. Though I know that it might severely prejudice my relationship with St Anthony , who often finds my keys in return for a small consideration, I will try to give voice to the views of that minority, before they are squashed in the stampede of pilgrims (wearing matching caps and ponchos) of the crowd to Rome. When an older woman relative who wishes to remain unnamed tried to persuade me from writing about this subject lest I offend people’s sentiments, I told her cheerfully that if I had wanted to live in a place where rational discussion of religious manifestations and mania was off the agenda, then I would become a columnist in Saudi Arabia. So gird your loins and hop aboard for the ride. The reasoning that goes “we do not have a scientific exp...

After 10 hours of deliberation, a nearly deadlocked jury found a Jacksonville youth pastor guilty Friday on two counts of possessing child pornography on his computer. The jury came to its decision around 6 p.m., but just hours earlier, at 3:30 p.m., a jury foreman told U.S. District Judge Henry Adams that the jury was split and unable to come to a decision in the case against Richard Steven Sweat, former youth pastor at Lake Shore Baptist Church on Blanding Boulevard. Adams urged the jury to come to a consensus and asked those in the minority, regardless of the side, to reconsider. According to court documents filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Henry, Sweat's wife found pornographic files on the computer of their Orange Park home in September 2005. Her father, the senior pastor at Lake Shore, brought in a computer expert to extract the materials, and eventually the FBI was contacted. Sweat's attorney, Mitchell Stone, argued that his client was framed by his wife and fath...

MOUNT CARMEL, Pa . — A Baptist minister was accused of using the identity of his church's secretary-treasurer to charge up to $28,000 on two credit cards. The Rev. Raymond Lee Clayton Sr., pastor of Grace Fellowship Baptist Church, was charged with falsely acquiring and using a credit card, forgery and related offenses. Clayton, 43, charged $25,000 to a U.S. Bancorp credit card issued in his name and the name of Patricia Tomedi, the church's secretary-treasurer, and $3,334 to a Staples credit card issued in Tomedi's name — using her Social Security number, police said. Tomedi, 82, told police she initially confronted Clayton about the Staples credit card and he told her he was responsible for the charges, police said. Earlier this month, Tomedi said she received a call from a U.S. Bank representative informing her that $25,000 in charges were past due, and that a Discover representative also called to ask her if she had applied for a credit card in her name and Clayton'...

New judge sought in youth leader sex case A hearing on a request for a new judge is set for Friday for a female former church youth group leader accused of having sex with a 15-year-old male group member. Angela Hurt, 32, who was a part-time youth leader at Cornerstone Church in Springfield , was charged in November in Greene County Circuit Court with second-degree statutory rape and second-degree statutory sodomy for allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with the boy from January to March 2005. A probable cause statement filed on Sept. 1, 2006, says police learned about the relationship after finding Hurt and the victim engaged in sexual activity in Maple Park Cemetery. The boy later said, according to the statement, that the two had been having sex since January or February 2005, often at Hurt's home in Springfield. Hurt's trial is scheduled for July, but could be delayed if she is granted a change of judge. Her motion for the change does not state a reason. The vic...

For people who accept evolution over superstition and myth . The Free Inquiry Group of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky (FIG) PRESENTS: Rally for Reason Join a range of rational speakers to stress the importance of teaching evolution in schools, including: Rev. Mendle Adams, Pastor St. Peter's UCC in Cincinnati Ohio. Helen Kagin Free Inquiry Group Board Member , Dr. Gene Kritsky, Professor of Biology at the College of Mount St. Joseph Arlene Marie, Michigan State Director of American Atheists Frank Zindler, Editor of the American Atheist Magazine All are encouraged to participate in discussion period to follow the panelists’ remarks. Sunday, May 27th at 7:00 pm Hilton Cincinnati Airport Hotel 7373 Turfway Road Florence, Kentucky This speak-out will be the evening before the Rally for Reason that is scheduled for outside of the gates of Answers in Genesis Creationism Museum, on Monday, Memorial Day, May 28th. Sponsored by The Free Inquiry Group of Northern Kentucky (FIG) For mor...

An avid anti-evolutionist is currently running unopposed in an election for the position of president-elect for the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE), alarming educators around the nation. Kansas native Kenneth Willard will gain the position on the board – which serves “to strengthen state leadership in educational policymaking” – this July when the elections begin for selecting officers. Several evolutionist proponents are now scrambling to try to fight his election, though it may be impossible. “We are in a nationwide struggle for the integrity of science education,” explained Kenneth Miller, a biology professor at Brown University, in the New York Times, “and any situation that provides an opportunity for the opponents of science education to advance their agenda is a matter of concern.” Willard has now seemed to solidify his run for the president elect since his opponent dropped out of the race over personal reasons after the nomination period ended. The Kan...

GALVESTON, Texas -- A woman blames the devil, and not her husband, for severely burning their infant daughter in a microwave, a Texas television station reported. Eva Marie Mauldin said Satan compelled her 19-year-old husband, Joshua Royce Mauldin, to microwave their daughter May 10 because the devil disapproved of Joshua's efforts to become a preacher. "Satan saw my husband as a threat," Eva Mauldin said. A grand jury indicted Joshua Mauldin last week on child injury charges after hearing evidence that he placed the two-month-old in a motel microwave for 10 to 20 seconds. The infant, Ana Marie, remains hospitalized. She suffered burns on the left side of her face and to her left hand, police said. Police said Joshua Mauldin told them he put Ana Marie in the microwave because he was under stress. Eva Maudlin denied it. "He would never do anything to hurt her. He loves her," she said. She is hoping to be reunited with her daughter, but Child Protective Services i...

From the 20/20 special, "Seeing and Believing." This clip is a segment on atheism with a brief appearance by Richard Dawkins . These Christians are intolerant of atheists unless the atheist is willing to go along.

Canadian Cartoonist, Michael DeAdder has gotten quite an angry reaction to his Jerry Falwell obituary cartoon showing Falwell in Hell. Michael writes: I had a three way discussion between cartoonists about what to do with Jerry Falwell. After much debate, mostly with myself, I decided I was going to put him arriving in hell instead of heaven. The irony was just too tempting. Falwell for all his preaching about love and forgiveness, he himself practiced hate and intolerance. He has hurt many people in his life, he has done more damage than good and he has done this under the guise of doing what's "moral." I really don't think Falwell will find himself in hell. The God Falwell preached about was far more forgiving than that. Some cartoonists have already made the point that Falwell's God was far more forgiving than Falwell himself. But, to me, ...

A former youth minister was charged with numerous sex crimes yesterday involving two underage boys who were members of his youth group. David Baird, 45, of Penn Hills, was charged with statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviant intercourse, sexual assault, two counts of indecent assault, indecent exposure, endangering the welfare of children, corruption of minors and unlawful contact with a minor. Police said Mr. Baird had a variety of sexual encounters with two boys, aged 10 and 14, at his home while he worked as youth pastor for a Covenant Church of Pittsburgh in Wilkinsburg. Mr. Baird worked for the church from January 1994 to 2004 as both a youth pastor and evangelical pastor. During that time, Mr. Baird would invite children to his home on Orchard Drive, where the alleged sexual assaults occurred in 1999 and 2000. Mr. Baird was released on bond yesterday. LINK To monitor comments posted to this topic, use .

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO Twelve-year-old Benjamin Pace is clearly enjoying himself as he steers the family riding mower in lazy arcs around the lawn under a hot Texas sun. His mother, Alexa, sweeps clippings from the nearby sidewalk. Family friend Ophelia Santoyo waters rose bushes alongside the yard. The scent of the grass and the drone of the mower complete a scene of domestic tranquility repeated thousands of times a day in towns and suburbs across America. But this is no ordinary American home. One of Benjamin's favorite pastimes is digging up spent shell casings in the yard, remnants of a ferocious gun battle 14 years ago. Revitalizing Their Faith Charred timbers, buried in weeds, can be found nearby. The Pace family lives at Mount Carmel, the infamous land outside Waco, Texas, where David Koresh and his Branch Davidian followers went down in flames in 1993 after a 51-day standoff with the federal government. Charles Pace brought his wife and three children to this bloods...

Outspoken Anti-theist and author of " God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything " Christopher Hitchens offers a eulogy for Jerry Falwell on CNN: "The empty life of this ugly little charlatan proves only one thing, that you can get away with the most extraordinary offenses to morality and to truth in this country if you will just get yourself called reverend. Who would, even at your network, have invited on such a little toad to tell us that the attacks of September the 11th were the result of our sinfulness and were God's punishment if they hadn't got some kind of clerical qualification?" To monitor comments posted to this topic, use .

A big thanks to Tom for finding this: HONG KONG - More than 800 Hong Kong residents have called on authorities to reclassify the Bible as "indecent" due to its sexual and violent content, following an uproar over a sex column in a university student journal. A spokesperson for Hong Kong's Television and Entertainment Licensing authority (TELA) said it had received 838 complaints about the Bible by noon on Wednesday. The complaints follow the launch of an anonymous Web site -- www.truthbible.net -- which said the holy book "made one tremble" given its sexual and violent content, including rape and incest. The Web site said the Bible's sexual content "far exceeds" that of a recent sex column published in the Chinese University's "Student Press" magazine, which had asked readers whether they'd ever fantasized about incest or bestiality. That column was later deemed "indecent" by the Obscene Articles Tribunal, sparking a s...

Lynchburg, Va. -- The Rev. Jerry Falwell, who founded the Moral Majority and built the religious right into a political force, died Tuesday shortly after being found unconscious in his office at Liberty University, a school executive said. He was 73. Ron Godwin, the university's executive vice president, said Falwell, 73, was found unresponsive around 10:45 a.m. and taken to Lynchburg General Hospital. "CPR efforts were unsuccessful," he said. Godwin said he was not sure what caused the collapse, but he said Falwell "has a history of heart challenges." "I had breakfast with him, and he was fine at breakfast," Godwin said. "He went to his office, I went to mine, and they found him unresponsive." Falwell survived two serious health scares in early 2005. He was hospitalized for two weeks with what was described as a viral infection, then was hospitalized again a few weeks later after going into respiratory arrest. Later that year, doctors found ...

NEWARK, Ohio -- A former Hebron minister, who is spending seven years in prison on sex-abuse convictions, is being sued by the two teenage sisters he victimized. The lawsuit, filed last week in Licking County Common Pleas Court, seeks more than $3 million in damages from Lonnie Aleshire Jr., the Licking Baptist Church , the American Baptist Churches of Ohio and its national church and various church officials. The suit alleges, among other things, that Aleshire and other defendants defamed and ostracized the sisters, who are former members of Licking Baptist Church, after they came forward in 2005 accusing him of sexual abuse. Aleshire, 36, was the church's associate pastor and was in charge of the youth ministry. He pleaded guilty in November 2005 to 10 charges, including one count of rape and six of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. He molested the girls between 2002 and 2004, authorities said. Judge Jon Spahr sentenced him to a mandatory seven years in prison. Aleshire is ...

A pastor was arrested at the Sandy, Oregon Public Library on Friday morning and charged with theft and securities fraud. Detectives from the Oregon State Police and Oregon City Police Department as well as an inspector from the U.S. Postal Inspections Service took Corey Jerry Pritchett, 44, of Sandy into custody around 10:40 a.m. He is being held in Multnomah County jail on 18 counts, including two for aggravated theft, three for selling an unregistered security and three for securities fraud. Diane Childs, a spokeswoman for the Department of Consumer and Business Services, said she could not elaborate on the charges because “of the ongoing investigation.” But, she said, more charges are expected. Corey Pritchett and his wife, Vickie, are pastors of Northwest Deliverance Ministries, according to their website, www.northwestdeliverance.com . Childs said investigators are seeking more information about Corey Pritchett’s activities and ask anyone with information to call the Oregon State...

Christians and Atheists to Debate the Existence of God Why are Kirk Cameron, a preacher, and two self-proclaimed atheists coming together in a church this weekend? Because Cameron and preacher Ray Comfort claim that they "can prove the existence of God." They'll take on the atheists in the first "Nightline Face Off," a debate to be moderated by "Nightline" anchor Martin Bashir. Watch the Face Off Wednesday May 9 at 2 p.m. on ABC News Now , and on Nightline at 11:35 p.m. Following the Way of the Master As Mike Seaver, the oldest son in the smash hit sitcom "Growing Pains," actor Kirk Cameron could make audiences roll with laughter. But now he wants to bring them to the Lord. And he's deadly serious. In March 2006, "Nightline" profiled the Way of the Master, a Christian ministry headed by Cameron and itinerant preacher Ray Comfort. Operating as a charitable trust, its intention is to educate and equip the church to preach th...

SPOKANE WA -- One man has been arrested after a short pursuit that ended at Division and Indiana.Officers are investigating a possible kidnapping at Shari's at Indiana an Monroe. According to police, someone tried to stop the kidnapper, and that person was assaulted by the suspect. The suspect then fled to a nearby McDonalds. Police found his silver corvette in the parking lot. The suspect put his car in reverse striking two officers, then hit a police car. Police say the suspect also rammed a patrol car several times. A short pursuit followed. The man was arrested at a stop light at Indiana and Division. Police used a taser to subdue him. He was taken to the hospital for treatment and for a mental evaluation. UPDATE, 3:30pm Monday: Members of the Morning Star Baptist Church confirm 49-year-old Herman Lewis, arrested this morning after leading Spokane Police on a chase this morning, is their senior pastor. Lewis is charged with unlawful imprisonment and two counts of assault. He...

Chattanooga police arrested nine men Friday in a prostitution sting, including the pastor of Ringgold United Methodist Church . Officers arrested Rev. Steve Moore , 42, in the undercover operation. Moore is also the chaplain of Catoosa County Fire & Rescue . According to a Chattanooga Vice Department detective who asked to remain anonymous, two female police officers posed as street prostitutes on the 2800 block of Wautauga Street in downtown Chattanooga between 9:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. A takedown team waited for the “johns” to solicit sex for money before making the arrests. All of the arrests were audio and videotaped. Moore was arrested, taken into custody and issued a citation in lieu of arrest. He is charged with patronizing prostitution within a mile and a half of a school. According to police, Moore will have to go to the Hamilton County Jail sometime between May 23 and 25 to be photographed, fingerprinted and issued a court date. The detective confirmed that the takedown team f...

Conservative Christians are criticizing a plan by Public Broadcasting Service stations to begin showing later this week a three-part television documentary series on atheism, calling it "demagogic and propagandistic." "This series is about the disappearance of something: religious faith," British producer and narrator Jonathan Miller says at the start of "A Brief History of Disbelief," which was originally shown by the BBC in 2005. "It's the story of what is often referred to as atheism, the history of the growing conviction that God doesn't exist." During the first hour-long episode, Miller visits the site in New York City where the Twin Towers stood before terrorists destroyed them on 9/11. "The spectacle of September 11 is a forceful reminder of the potentially destructive power of the three great monotheistic religions [Christianity, Judaism and Islam] that have dominated the world one way or another for nearly 2,000 years,...