Texas Polygamy Bust

  A court case from April 2008 convicted a Texas polygamist community of several accounts of sexual assault. According to Texas officials, the polygamist community groomed young girls for sexual abuse from their much older husbands, as well as encouraging young men within the community to engage in acts of sexual assault. As a result from the court case, several children were taken from their mothers and placed in the care of Child Protective Services.
  Gary Gates, the founder of the Texas Center for Family Rights, disagrees with the position of the court regarding the removal of small children from their families, despite the acts occurring within the Fundamental LDS community.
  This article posed an especially interesting topic in regards to my upcoming book report, detailing the violent acts of sexual abuse within the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Though my presentation on Thursday will provide better insight, the Texas polygamist case from 2008 presents a very similar situation to those of a small town in Nevada called Colorado City. Granted, Fundamentalist LDS groups are not as common, the issue still stands: Are FLDS members practicing their right to the First Amendment (freedom of religion)? Or are they committing felonies by impregnating young girls as early as 12 years old?

Here's the link!

Pop Culture Trends of the 2000s

  Beliefnet.com published an article detailing all of the religion affiliated (specifically Christian) influences of the 2000s.
  The writer makes great points and even highlights religious influences of the decade that initially didn't appear obvious or related to any sort of belief system. For instance, did you know that Napoleon Dynamite is Mormon?
Even the popular Twilight Saga contained elements commonly seen in religion -- Bella remained chaste despite her passionate love for a vampire.
  Pop culture experts suggest the Jonas Brothers were perhaps the most influential Christian stars of the 2000s. Their strong Christian tendencies and publicity surrounding their chastity before marriage encouraged their young audiences to seek a similar lifestyle. The brothers even publicly admitted their motto: "True Love Waits" -- engraved on their purity rings. 
  In regards to Christian holidays, the movie The Passion of the Christ drew in more than $76.2 million on its opening weekend, a much higher number than expected. In fact, the movie is the highest-grossing non-English movie of all time (despite the controversial content). 
http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/2009/12/Pop-Culture-Trends.aspx

Ancient Bath Too Advanced for the Times

  Archaeologists discovered an ancient bath hidden among ruins in Jerusalem's Kiryat Menachem quarter. The bath appears more than 2,000 years old, and archaeologists found evidence suggesting the bath was built with the intention of keeping the water pure and consistently flowing -- a necessity for religious rituals in Christian and Jewish cultures. Kashrut, a set of Jewish dietary laws, set the groundwork for many Christian dietary laws shortly after this time period. Kashrut requires that water be collected without human contact.
  The bath even had a sophisticated plaster coating to ensure the water would not seep into the ground. Researchers and archaeologists have been excavating the site even further after additional discoveries dating back 9,000 years were discovered in the surrounding region. After revealing the elements of the excavation, historians now have a better glimpse at the composition of religious rituals and their corresponding structures.

http://news.yahoo.com/2-000-old-ritual-bath-found-jerusalem-121302315.html

Marriage as an Institution

  Since marriage equality has been on the minds of so many recently, heated debate has strayed from marriage in Biblical terms, and has instead magnified marriage as a government institution. In an article posted on the New York Times website, the issue stands -- the "marriage penalty" hits couples on tax day.
  The marriage penalty discourages couples with two incomes from marrying, and encourages the union of couples with only one income. In addition to the issue regarding marriage in Biblical terms, marriage has been undermined by government taxation. So those who believe marriage is a Biblical institution now have an entirely new issue to combat -- is marriage defined in monetary terms?

Sister Wives

  Sister Wives is a very popular show on the TLC network. Not much appears 'typical' about this family, which includes four wives to one man (Kody Brown) and 14 children, three of whom came from a previous marriage of the youngest and newest wife, Robyn. The most interesting aspect of the Brown family is their stance on polygamy, and their bravery by entering the public forum under the scope of glaring, critical, societal views of polygamy.
  Legally speaking, Kody Brown technically only married his first wife, Meri. Though conflict frequently occurs amidst tensions of four women sharing one husband, the family continually preaches the teachings of John Smith, the originator of Mormon belief, who reportedly had more than 30 wives, including a young teenager. Fundamentalist Mormons believe polygamy is an essential part of attaining access to Heaven, despite complete dissociation from The Church of Latter-Day Saints, which hasn't paid attention to Fundamentalist views since the late 1800s.
  The Brown family attempts to show the prospect of polygamy from a positive perspective, but all members involved have faced large legal consequences.

OneRepublic

  OneRepublic, an alternative rock band, released their new album, Native, around the end of March. The band has international recognition, and produces some of the highest chart-topping hits to date on most popular radio stations.
  Shockingly, the band originated in Colorado Springs, when the original members posted their first hits on MySpace from their high school -- Colorado Springs Christian School. Their first hit, "Apologize", has the most song plays in one week out of any popular song (with the exception of Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love").
  OneRepublic is perhaps the most famous Christian-based band, and many of their songs contain elements of their faith. Many acclaim the musical group for promoting positive messages and abstaining from the use of profanities -- popular among Christian musical enthusiasts.

  For those who haven't experienced OneRepublic, I suggest listening to some of their songs, though I'm sure you can catch a song or two on the radio. I've attached "If I Lose Myself" from their most recent album.

Top 10 Most Laughable Christian Songs

  Though I appreciate the presence of traditional hymns in service, I wanted to look up some of the more ridiculous Christian songs in an effort to reach out to the 'young', 'hip' youth communities. The title of the video speaks for itself, and some songs include parodying musical gems from our past like "I Like Big Butts" and "Friday" (made famous by Rebecca Black). Hope you enjoy! I thought this was pretty funny.