Gary Gore's blog

Sometimes it's interesting to get a perspective from the outside-in, with regards to the many issues our nation faces on the international front.

That is exactly what is presented in today's UK Daily Mail Online as it pertains to President-elect Obama's tough job ahead in terms of American foreign policy.

With barely time to savour his triumph, Barack Obama has been confronted with various international crises to test his mettle.

The U.S. President-elect faces threats from Russia, Israel and Afghanistan as it emerged his election team's computers were hacked by a 'foreign entity' during the election.

Officials at the FBI and the White House believe the hackers sought to gather information on the evolution of both his and Senator John McCain's policy positions with the idea of using that information in negotiations with the next administration.

Obama technical experts later speculated the hackers were Russian or Chinese, and security ended the intrusion, Newsweek reported.

If there is one thing that is becoming abundantly clear, it is that the foes of America throughout this world are going to waste little to no time in testing the new President-elect Obama.

OneNewsNow.com reports that a bible-based afterschool club has been banned from meeting within the Minnesota School District 28.

Another Bible-based Good News Club has been banned from a school campus, this time in Minnesota.

Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel is taking Elk Area School District #28 to task. He argues that school officials are saying, in effect, that matters of faith have no place in schools. But Staver says the children are just asking for a level playing field.

"Equal access is the law, and equal access means equal treatment in every respect. I don't know why it's so hard to get this concept," Staver laments. "Equal access means equal, and schools must understand that the First Amendment protects Christian viewpoints."

He points out that schools will permit organizations such as the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts -- but not a Good News Club. "The only distinction between the Good News Club and many of the other after-school opportunities is Good News Clubs are Christian," Staver contends. "And these schools, for whatever reason, think that they are required to discriminate [against the clubs] because they are Christian, when in fact the First Amendment prohibits this kind of discrimination."

We've all heard about the possibility of the federal government getting involved in controlling the airwaves and dictating exactly what kind of speech can be broadcast and to exactly what degree, by way of the Fairness Doctrine. To the greatest degree, most of the press has been given to this movement's efforts to regulate the airwaves on television and the radio to ensure that 'equal time' is given to 'both sides' of every issue.

But, as is pointed out by Jeff Poor of The Business & Media Institute, those efforts to dictate content could even go so far as controlling the messages embodied within websites of various causes, as well!

There’s a huge concern among conservative talk radio hosts that reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine would all-but destroy the industry due to equal time constraints. But speech limits might not stop at radio. They could even be extended to include the Internet and “government dictating content policy.”

FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell raised that as a possibility after talking with bloggers at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. McDowell spoke about a recent FCC vote to bar Comcast from engaging in certain Internet practices – expanding the federal agency’s oversight of Internet networks.

A school district in Hudson, New Hampshire is under the threat of a federal lawsuit for refusing to allow the distribution of a church's Vacation Bible School flyer to one of the schools in the district.

According to a report in OneNewsNow, church member Patricia Regan is taking action against the district, considering that she has been aware that the school has always allowed organizations in the community to distribute literature to promote events to the school's students. But, now they are refusing to allow her church's event information to be distributed to these children, as well.

From CyberCast News Service, we find this report that tells us about the ongoing work to ensure the next president of the United States maintains a focus on broadening religious freedoms for Christians throughout the world.

Angela C. Wu, International Law Director for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, states that,

“Freedom of religion and the freedom to speak openly about ideas and beliefs here and abroad should be a high priority for the next president of the United States."

A poll that was cited should be quite telling to either of the two main presidential candidates as to the importance of this issue to the voting public.

From Chesapeake, Virginia we have this story from OneNewsNow, detailing the facts regarding this denial of religious freedom and our rights to free speech.

Take note of those quotes attributed to the city officials about the cross; that it is "offensive", "way out there", and "blatantly Christian"? How do Christians even try get an understanding of that mentality to debate this mindset?

The American Civil Liberties Union is at it again. In what amounts to nothing less than the restriction of free speech, the ultra-liberal organization is trying to end the Naval Academy practice of cadets engaging in a pre-lunch - completely voluntary - prayer at noon.

In think it's pretty disingenuous that - according to the story in OneNewsNow - the ACLU cites social pressure for those who may not wish to participate, as the reason to ask for the practice to end.

From OneNewsNow, we learn of a new battle being waged for our ability to engage in public invocations.

It looks like the battlegrounds this time are going to be Ohio and Wisconsin.

And just who are the culprits trying to bring a halt to the invocations at public meetings in these states? You guessed it... The ACLU.

Christian legal experts are responding to efforts by "secularist" groups to stop invocations at public meetings in both Ohio and Wisconsin.

From OneNewsNow, we have this report from the weekend where a church leader was fined and placed on one year's criminal probation for expressing his religious views on public grounds.

Ironic, this was done on the grounds near the Liberty Bell, huh?

The leader of a Christian evangelical group who expressed his religious views to tourists near the Liberty Bell was placed on one year's probation for refusing to move from a sidewalk where demonstrations are banned.

If there's ever been any question to as to whether or not our religious rights in our nation are becoming increasingly more under attack, this outrageous violation of our freedoms to practice our religion - as reported by Cybercast News - should settle the question once and for all.

(CNSNews.com) - A Michigan church filed a federal lawsuit after police officers, led by a local prosecutor, entered the sanctuary at least twice without a warrant, alleging the church's music was too loud. In one instance, they threatened to arrest church musicians for disorderly conduct.