Judge rules that couple can't name their baby "Friday"

Normally, I'm against giving a baby a weird name because school is hard enough, why give them a name that will be snickered at during attendance? In this case I think the name is not as outrageous as it could have been (such as "@") and I think the court overstep its bounds by forcing the couple to name the kid Gregorio:

What's in a name? If the name is Friday, shame and ridicule, according to Italian judges who forbade a couple from naming their child like the character in "Robinson Crusoe."

"They thought that it recalled the figure of a savage, thus creating a sense of inferiority and failing to guarantee the boy the necessary decorum," the couple's lawyer, Paola Rossi, said Wednesday.

[...]

"They wanted an unusual name, something original, and it did not seem like a shameful name," Rossi said in a telephone interview. "We think it calls to mind the day of the week rather than the novel's character."

Since city hall officials are obliged by law to report odd names, the matter ended up before judges in Genoa, the northern Italian city where the couple live.

[...]
Rossi said the court, which upheld a previous ruling made in June, also ordered the boy to be named Gregorio after the saint on whose day he was born.

What right does a court have to force a name upon their child? Sheesh! Naming a child is the prerogative of the parents. I wonder if they have to do it? What if they were Protestant or atheists?

Iranian hanged after verdict stay

Wow! Great justice system they have there in Iran. You get a stay but are executed anyway:

An Iranian man has been hanged for rape despite his alleged victims withdrawing their accusations and a judicial review being ordered into the sentence.

Makwan Mouloudzadeh, 20, had been found guilty of raping three teenage boys when he was 13 years old.

The hanging took place on Wednesday morning at a prison in Kermanshah province in western Iran.

Human rights groups say international law strictly forbids execution of child offenders, even after they become 18.

"On 11 November the head of the justice administration of Kermanshah received an order from the judiciary head, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, to stop the verdict being carried out," the lawyer, Saeed Eqbali, was quoted as saying.

"But the case, which was supposed to be reviewed in Tehran, was sent back from there to Kermanshah, and the execution was carried out quickly," the lawyer said.

[...]

During court proceedings, Mr Mouloudzadeh withdrew a confession he had made earlier, saying it had been the result of coercion by the police, the US-based group says.

You know, for a country that supposed to be living under God's law they are awfully unjust. It certainly doesn't sound like this:

Deuteronomy 16:19 You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous.

Deuteronomy 32:4 "The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.

Hanging an innocent child when he's been given a reprieve? Really doesn't sound like what the God of Scriptures would do.

This is what man thinks is righteousness.

Bong Hits for Jesus coming to a movie theater near you

MTV films and Paramount Pictures are making a movie about the kid who put up a banner that read "Bong Hits for Jesus" and was suspended for it. He sued, taking the case all the way to the Supreme Court where he lost on a split decision. His dad lost his job over the case:

Frederick already had a contentious relationship with the school principal when he got suspended for 10 days for displaying a "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" message on a 14-foot sign outside the school. The principal felt the banner promoted drug use. The case made national headlines, and Frederick became a poster boy for the First Amendment, but in a split decision, the Supreme Court upheld the principal's right to suspend the student.

"The heart of this story is the relationship between a father and son," Shamberg said. "Frank Frederick was an insurance adjuster facing the loss of his job if his son didn't back down."

Frederick, who'd often discussed the importance of First Amendment rights with his son at the dinner table, would not force his son to drop the case, and he was fired from his job. Father and son now teach English in China.

This could be an interesting movie to take my kids to see if they do a good job with the material. I think it's good for my kids to see other kids standing up for what they believe.

Sproul on the Justice of God

Sproul doing the justice of God:

Sproul is at his best when he's doing the doctrine of God. If you haven't read The Holiness of God, go order it now and read it. It's really good.

And a commercial for The Reformation Study Bible:

(via)