The girl who was allegedly raped and impregnated by her own father dreams of going back to school and would like to see her daddy punished. Lucia (real name withheld), 17, says she was raped by her father, Herbert Bugembe of Mutungo, in Kenya last year. She delivered a baby boy on June 17 but her father has reneged on his written commitment to provide for both children. (See, ' Pastor rapes, impregnates his daughter '; The Weekly Observer, December 20-26). In an interview last week, Bugembe denied the accusations. He charged that her daughter was being used by rival pastors happy to bring him down. But The Weekly Observer has seen documents Bugembe signed admitting to being the father of her daughter's child. The matter was reported to CID headquarters in Kampala but the Police had taken no action by press time. Speaking from her mother's home in Kayunga , Lucia said she was still struggling to reconcile with the man she first met as a father and the man who she says,...

A retired pastor from Canada was sentenced to three years in prison today after telling a McHenry County judge he was sexually harassed by the 4-year-old Lake in the Hills girl he pleaded guilty to molesting. Kenneth R. Cooke, 73, appeared to have reasonable chance at a probation sentence given his age, health problems and lack of criminal history heading into his sentencing hearing this afternoon. But the Calgary man who once headed his own ministry likely blew his chance of avoiding prison when he took the witness stand and painted his pre-school age victim as a sexual aggressor. "On a couple of occasions I felt I was sexually harassed," Cooke said. "I think there is psychological evidence that children even in their younger years can become interested in sex." He later said he did nothing inappropriate to the girl, but pleaded guilty two months ago to avoid putting his family through a trial. Judge Joseph Condon responded harshly, telling Cooke his statements ...

Simpson A Keller miniature train enthusiast and Church of Christ pastor accused of sexually abusing young children during parties at his home was indicted this week on 12 charges, authorities said. Clinton Don Simpson, 65, has been free on bail since Dec. 19, after a judge reduced his total bail from $1.65 million to $305,000, said Alana Minton, chief prosecutor for the Tarrant County district attorney's office crimes against children unit. As a condition of his bail, Simpson must wear an ankle monitor and is confined to his home except for approved outings, Minton said. He is also restricted from being around children, Minton said. The charges Simpson faces nine charges of aggravated sexual assault of a child by threat and three charges of indecency with a child by fondling, according to court records. Aggravated sexual assault of a child is a first-degree felony punishable by up to life in prison and a $10,000 fine. Indecency with a child is a second-...

The music minister at the Heritage Christian Center was arrested Thursday after a 15-year-old relative accused him of sexually assaulting her, the Arapahoe County sheriff said. James Howard Brown, 38, was arrested for investigation of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust, displaying a pattern of sexual assault on a child and aggravated incest. He was being held under $50,000 bail. It was not immediately known if he had an attorney. Sheriff J. Grayson Robinson said there was a disturbance at Brown’s home Thursday morning after the girl told relatives Brown had assaulted her, prompting Brown’s wife to call authorities. "It doesn’t appear that there are other victims at this time, though we are still investigating," Robinson said. Garret Leonard, executive pastor at Heritage Christian Center (and second son of the church's pastor, Bishop Dennis Leonard), said Brown has been relieved of his duties. “We will assess the situation as more details become...

Atheist Fernando Aguilar of Walla Walla reads extensively to learn about the world around him and believes it's possible to live a moral life without religion. "Live your life the way you want other people to live. Enjoy family. Do something in the community that helps others. It's the community and family, to me, that are most important," he said. When mortar shells were exploding near Fernando Aguilar in Iraq, he didn't pray to God for help. He doesn't believe God exists. And his long-held conviction didn't change when he traveled to a war zone. Aguilar, 55, of Walla Walla, is a civil engineer and his work has taken him to some of the most dangerous places in the world. He's been to Iraq twice and Afghanistan once since 2003, helping to build water systems, hospitals and schools. He's also done relief work in Southeast Asia and volunteered in Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina. Using the skills he has to benefit others is part of t...

A pastor at a Cold Spring church was arrested on two counts of carrying a concealed weapon on Christmas Eve. According to the Cold Spring Police Department, Johnny R. Coleman (Randy) , 1069 Parkside Drive, Alexandria, the pastor of Christ Baptist Church in Cold Spring, was arrested after police found him at 12:30 p.m. with a loaded Glock 9mm handgun and a loaded .25 caliber handgun, in a briefcase at the Mr. Spotless Car Wash in Cold Spring. Cold Spring Police Chief Ed Burk III confirmed Coleman is a pastor at the church. According to the police report, Coleman told an officer he was in line for a car wash when he was cut off by another person. According the report, "Mr. Coleman stated he told the victim someone could get shot over this." The person who allegedly cut Coleman off told police he believed he saw Coleman loading the hand gun, according to the police report Coleman was arrested and taken to the Campbell County Detention Center and released the same day on his ow...

Greek Orthodox and Armenian priests attacked each other with brooms and stones inside the Church of the Nativity as long-standing rivalries erupted in violence during holiday cleaning on Thursday. The basilica, built over the grotto in Bethlehem where Christians believe Jesus was born, is administered jointly by Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic authorities. Any perceived encroachment on one group's turf can touch off vicious feuds. On Thursday, dozens of priests and cleaners were scrubbing the church ahead of the Armenian and Orthodox Christmas, celebrated in early January. Thousands of tourists visited the church this week for Christmas celebrations. But the clean-up turned ugly after some of the Orthodox faithful stepped inside the Armenian church's section, touching off a scuffle between about 50 Greek Orthodox and 30 Armenians. For a quarter of an hour bearded and robed priests laid into each other with fists, brooms and iron rods while the photographe...

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- It's a sensitive situation over at Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church . Some members are standing by their pastor regardless of the allegations brought forth. Others want to know the facts and say they want all the answers before making a decision. Broadcast live on television and the internet, Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church Pastor Darrell Gilyard has a large following. After recent allegations of sexual assault against a minor, church members want light shed on whatever the truth may be. "I was shocked. I was shocked because he is someone that I really respect," says a church member. This member did not want their identity shown but says the news is startling. "He is this person people really respect in the church and we just really want to know what's going on, the truth. Everybody is really supporting him," says the church member. Allegations surfaced in a police report after the mother of a minor came forward saying her daughter...

Michael is a recently lapsed Jehovah’s Witness living in my block of flats at the end of the corridor. Since he split from his wife of five years, he’s been dabbling in Anglicanism which, from his description, sounds less like a faith than a hobby. He tried Catholicism first, but found the hymns grim and the sermons hard on his knees. Now, as before, Michael is an affable guy, though he is still affable a little too frequently. So, there’s the knock at my door on a Saturday afternoon. Luckily, Anglicanism isn’t the only new thing Michael is trying; he has, in each hand, a cold beer. The kind of cold that sticks to the palms of your hands. If only he’d thought of this technique when he was trying to covertly slip Watchtower magazines on to my coffee table. In fold-out chairs, our feet up on the balcony rail, I feel the deep, dull satisfaction of heterosexual male bonding. Tedious, yes. But comforting too. Somehow we land on that old conversation about the commercialisation of Christmas....

Raise up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old... DENVER -- Among the items taken from a search of gunman Matthew Murray's home was a picture of former New Life pastor Ted Haggard , according to police documents released Wednesday. Murray lived in the Englewood home in with his father, mother and brother. The family was very devout and the parents had home-schooled both children, neighbors said. According to the police documents, officers confiscated a Beretta, ammunition, a pamphlet entitled "Fall of America," literature on Youth With A Mission, a Bible, a journal, a pistol, a homicide investigation manual, prescription pills, several hard drives, gun cases and boxes of ammunition. In several online writings, posted weeks before the two deadly church shootings, Murray expressed his rage at organized religion and at Youth With A Mission , which had kicked him out of a missionary program for unspecified "health reasons." Murray wrote that he would...

A controversial Christmas card reading “O come all ye faithless” has been strongly criticized by Christians as an “ill judged and insensitive joke.” Borders book stores began giving away the card free with every copy of Richard Dawkins’ well known atheist work, The God Delusion, this Christmas. The Rev. Jonathan Edwards, general secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain. said the idea was “crass.” “I am quite sure that Borders intended their Christmas card as a joke. However, I personally find it an ill-judged and insensitive joke,” he said, as reported by Baptist Times. He continued, “Christians have always been used to being punch bags but I would have hoped that, in a society in which we are seeking to show respect to all people and beliefs, we might have grown out of this kind of nonsense.” He was supported by Justin Thacker, head of theology at the Evangelical Alliance, who said, “It won't surprise me if this spectacularly fails. Christmas still holds a high place in peo...

WASHINGTON: At an hour when most people here are sleeping or sinning, the worshipers of the Spiritual Warfare ministry gather in the cold sanctuary of a neighborhood church to battle evil. The students, taxicab drivers, homemakers and entrepreneurs, all Christians, mostly from French-speaking Africa, attend a midnight service four nights a week to seek deliverance from lust, anger, fear and sadness. They sing. They pray fervently. Finally, they kick and shadowbox with what they contend is the real force behind life's problems: the witches and devils whose curses they believe have ground down their families, towns, entire nations in Africa, and that have pursued them to a new country, making it hard to find work, be healthy and survive. "Some situations you need to address at night, because in the ministry of spiritual warfare, demons, the spirits bewitching people, choose this time to work," said Nicole Sangamay, 40, who came from Congo in 1998 to study and is a co-pastor...

WM note: When I was a Christian, I heard time and time again how miracles were constantly happening in Africa and other undeveloped parts of the world. The reason? Because the people there were more filled with faith! In the West, science, education and a general prosperity encourages skepticism in regards to the supernatural. In contrast, the ignorance and poverty of the Third World reinforces magical thinking. And when magical thinking dominates a population... From The Observer : The rainy season is over and the Niger Delta is lush and humid. This southern edge of West Africa, where Nigeria's wealth pumps out of oil and gas fields to bypass millions of its poorest people, is a restless place. In the small delta state of Akwa Ibom, the tension and the poverty has delivered an opportunity for a new and terrible phenomenon that is leading to the abuse and the murder of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of children. And it is being done in the name of Christianity. ...

The following article expresses an Evangelical Christian viewpoint. From the Conservative Voice : It is almost obscene to think that there are people in Bible oriented churches every Sunday who sexually abuse children; however, it is true even in evangelical and fundamental churches! Yes, Virginia, we have sexual child abusers in our best churches! I had read in mainline media that at least 30% of adult women had been molested in their younger days, but I did not believe it was a valid number. Surely, that was propaganda from the screaming feminists. I discovered that I was wrong. It is a fact that one-third of all children are sexually abused before age 18: About 40% of all females and 30% of males! That number seemed to be impossibly high; however, my wife and I did a national two-year survey during our Christian Couples’ Conferences in Bible teaching churches, and discovered that the number is right on target. In the last year or so, I have been outraged by the “soft” approach many ...

A radical Christian group with the ear of prominent politicians has blamed “sinful” Australians for the nation’s record drought. Catch the Fires Ministries , which has links to several prominent politicians including Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, has hired Festival Hall so 5000 of its followers can pray for rain on Australia Day. Leader Danny Nalliah said moral decline, not climate change, was responsible for the drought. “Australia has turned away from Almighty God … the sinful condition of mankind has contributed to the stem of rainfall,” he said. But Mr Nalliah, who was one of two pastors sued for vilifying Muslims , said prayer was breaking the drought. The group has a national database of 10,000 names. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd sent a video address to one of the ministry’s events. And Mr Nalliah, who has addressed the anti-Semitic League of Rights, has had meetings with John Howard and Peter Costello. “When John Howard called the nation to pray for rain, and the church enthusiastica...

Hollywood spent a mind-boggling $180 million to bring author Philip Pullman's celebrated anti-religious novel, The Golden Compass , to the silver screen, but essentially stripped the work of its devastating attack on organized religion. On the eve of the film's release, WIRED asked America's most famous atheist, Dr. Michael Newdow, how he feels about this. Dr. Newdow is a Cal...

The new co-host of " The View ," Sherri Shepherd , yesterday insisted Christianity was older than ancient Greece, and even Judaism. Shepherd - who said earlier this year that she didn't know if the world was flat or round - said during a short-lived discussion of Greek philosophy on yesterday's show that she was pretty sure nothing "predated Christians." The verbal jousting began when Joy Behar mentioned watching a History Channel show on the Greek philosopher Epicurus and his definition of happiness. "Keep in mind that probably when [ Epicurus ] was around, there was no Jesus Christ stuff going on," said co-host Whoopi Goldberg said. "They still had Christians back then," Shepherd interrupted. "They had gods," Goldberg said. "They had Christians," Shepherd insisted. "And they threw 'em to the lions." "I think this might predate that," Goldberg said. "I don't think anything predated C...

At Mikey Weinstein's home in the suburbs of Albuquerque, the picture window in the living room has been twice shot out. Sometimes Weinstein opens his front door to find dead animals on his porch, feces smeared on his walls, or slashes in his tires. Men have called to threaten his daughter, women to chant rhymes about shooting him in the head, small children to inform him that he will burn in hell. To his critics, he says, "Take a number, pack a picnic lunch, and stand in line." He's not going anywhere, and neither is his 5'6" ex-Marine security guard, Shorty. Weinstein is the middle rung in three generations of soldiers. A former Air Force JAG and White House attorney for Ronald Reagan, he has adopted a shock-and-awe approach to battling efforts by the military to impress Christianity upon American soldiers. "We have the Christian Taliban and the Christian Al Qaeda inside our military," says Weinstein, the founder of the Military Religious Freedom...