[Massachusetts] Newton South High School officials dropped a requirement to read excerpts from the Bible for one student last month, after he refused to read the Biblical passages as a literature assignment because he is an atheist.
Yet, when parents protest homosexual indoctrination in this state, the court mandates no opt-out nor advance notification.
-- From "Student Refuses To Study Bible As Literature" WCVB ABC TV5 Boston 12/16/09
Officials said the school doesn't read from actual Bibles and instead distributes handouts with the Biblical passages. After [one student] refused to read the passages and failed quizzes on the subject, his mother went to school officials with concerns, the newspaper reported.
The school said it would drop the failing quizzes and allow [the student] to complete a project that doesn't use the Bible.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Newton South officials give in to student's refusal to study Bible as literature" by John Hilliard, The Daily News Tribune 12/16/09
Jack Summers, a 15-year-old sophomore, said he objected to reading the religious text as part of an honors English class that also includes writings by William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens, among others.
“This is the word of God. People take this literally ... I don’t want to read about what they believe to be true,” said Summers, who described himself as an atheist.
South Principal Joel Stembridge wouldn’t comment on Summers’ case, but said the school uses the Bible to introduce students to the cultural traditions and allusions found in much of Western literature.
“The greatest difficulty I have with someone is when they say, ‘I don’t even want to read a subject matter,’ [and] lose the opportunity to understand others,” said Stembridge.
All sophomores study parts of the Bible as literature as part of 10th-grade English classes, along with Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities,” “Antigone” and works by Shakespeare.
South’s freshman curriculum lists the Book of Genesis from the Bible as a required academic subject in ninth-grade English courses, alongside “Lord of the Flies,” “Catcher in the Rye” and “House on Mango Street,” plus passages from “Romeo and Juliet.”
In the 1963 United States Supreme Court case School District of Abington Township v. Schempp, the court ruled that schools can use the Bible and other religious works for studying literature and culture, so long as it’s not used to proselytize.
But Jack’s mother, Marjorie Summers, said her son told his teacher about his concerns about studying the Bible. After her son refused to read Biblical texts, and failed two quizzes on the subject, she went to South officials to discuss her son’s position.
. . . Jack Summers said he would not take a class on world religions in school, either. He said he isn’t opposed to learning about religion, but would rather get his information on religions from media sources such as the BBC and NPR, plus a friend who practices Islam.
He compared reading a religious text in a classroom setting to reading a Bible in a church.
Sarah Wunsch, staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, said Newton schools haven’t violated Summers’ rights, though their decision to accommodate him was “a good idea.”
“In general, the Bible can be taught as part of a literature class,” said Wunsch, who also noted that “mere exposure of a child to ideas that are offensive is not a constitutional violation.”
She pointed to a January 2008 federal appeals court decision in favor of Lexington public schools for using books in the classroom that included references to homosexuality.
In that case, two families had filed suit against that district because of their opposition to discussion of homosexuality in the classroom. But the court decided that schools didn’t need parental consent before referring to homosexuality in classroom discussions.
“Kids need to learn to grapple with things like that,” said Wunsch.
JC Considine, a spokesman for the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, said the state has a suggested book list that includes religious texts such as the Bible, the Koran and Buddhist scriptures, but local districts decide which books to use in classrooms.
However, religious texts are “not something that we’re mandating” in classrooms, said Considine.
No, only homosexual indoctrination is mandatory, per the highest court in the state.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Principal Apologizes for Teacher Banning Bible
A third-grade New Jersey girl is once again allowed to read her Bible during classroom "quiet time" after her teacher ordered her to stop reading the Good Book.
Video from FOX TV New York
-- From "New Jersey teacher told student to put Bible away" Associated Press 12/16/09
Her parents say a New Jersey elementary school teacher told a third-grader the Bible was inappropriate reading material for quiet time.
The principal at Madison Park Elementary School in Old Bridge apologized and said the teacher made a mistake. The principal says school policy allows children to read the Bible or any other religious book during quiet time.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Teacher orders 3rd-grader: Put Bible away!" © 2009 WorldNetDaily 12/16/09
A dispute developed after Michelle Jordat learned her daughter, Mariah, was told to put the Bible completely out of sight at Madison Park Elementary School in Old Bridge, N.J.
"Her teacher told her to put it away, and she put it in her desk. And then the teacher told her, 'No, put that in your backpack. I told you to put it away.' And it hurt her feelings and confused her. Why would my teacher say that I can't read the Bible when I'm not bothering anybody else?"
Although Jordat accepted the principal's apology, she is looking for something in writing confirming that reading the Bible is permissible during personal reading time. She also indicated she'll be seeking legal counsel.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Video from FOX TV New York
-- From "New Jersey teacher told student to put Bible away" Associated Press 12/16/09
Her parents say a New Jersey elementary school teacher told a third-grader the Bible was inappropriate reading material for quiet time.
The principal at Madison Park Elementary School in Old Bridge apologized and said the teacher made a mistake. The principal says school policy allows children to read the Bible or any other religious book during quiet time.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Teacher orders 3rd-grader: Put Bible away!" © 2009 WorldNetDaily 12/16/09
A dispute developed after Michelle Jordat learned her daughter, Mariah, was told to put the Bible completely out of sight at Madison Park Elementary School in Old Bridge, N.J.
"Her teacher told her to put it away, and she put it in her desk. And then the teacher told her, 'No, put that in your backpack. I told you to put it away.' And it hurt her feelings and confused her. Why would my teacher say that I can't read the Bible when I'm not bothering anybody else?"
Although Jordat accepted the principal's apology, she is looking for something in writing confirming that reading the Bible is permissible during personal reading time. She also indicated she'll be seeking legal counsel.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Chicago Cop Pulls Gun on Pro-Life Sidewalk Counselor
A Chicago police officer was cited in a report for intimidating a pro-life advocate helping counsel women outside a Planned Parenthood abortion business in Aurora. The officer was written up for disorderly conduct after flashing his badge at the pro-life sidewalk counselor, who says he also brandished his gun.-- From "Off-duty Chicago cop cited for flashing badge at Aurora abortion clinic" Chicago Sun-Times Media Wire 12/16/09
The incident happened about 9:15 a.m. Wednesday, according to a release from Aurora police.
The off-duty officer and a 30-year-old woman were approached by a 31-year-old woman as they sat in a car in a parking lot adjacent to the clinic in the 3000 block of East New York Street in Aurora. The woman outside the car apparently intended to hand the couple some pieces of literature, when, according to the officer, he displayed his police badge and the woman backed off, the release said.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Cop Cited for Intimidating Pro-Life Advocate at Chicago-Area Planned Parenthood" by Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com Editor 12/16/09
Rachelle Crile, a 31-year-old Naperville woman had been outside the abortion center for about an hour when saw a car with two people that appeared to be heading to the facility.
Crile told the Fox Valley Sun newspaper that she approached the car with pro-life literature and that the man driving the car threatened her with a handgun.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Student Reportedly Suspended for Associating Christmas with Jesus
The Massachusetts school sent home the second-grade boy, who drew Jesus Christ for the assignment to draw a Christmas picture, and mandated a psychiatric exam as a precondition for readmittance. The Boston liberal media has now scurried to the defense of the school.
Video from FOX TV Boston
-- From "Mayor requests schools superintendent apologize for Jesus-drawing incident" by Dino F. Ciliberti, GateHouse News Service, Taunton Massachusetts Daily Gazette 12/15/09
Taunton Mayor Charles Crowley has asked School Superintendent Dr. Julie Hackett to apologize to the family and to issue a public apology and to develop a school-wide policy to prevent this from happening again.
He has also ordered the schools to pay for the psychiatric exam the child had to undergo as a condition of returning to school.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Editorial: Student didn’t deserve punishment for Jesus drawing" GateHouse News Service, Taunton Massachusetts Daily Gazette 12/15/09
The picture was supposed to be something that reminded children of Christmas, according to the assignment given by the teacher.
So this 8-year-old second-grader at the Maxham Elementary School in Taunton, Mass., did what he was supposed to do.
He drew a picture, a picture that wound up getting him into trouble for no reason at all.
The student and his family recently had visited the Christmas display at the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette, a Christian retreat center.
So the student drew a picture of Jesus on a cross.
. . . school officials took offense, dragged the student into the principal’s office, had him undergo a psychiatric evaluation and then suspended him.
Now the poor child is traumatized and doesn’t want to return to school.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Taunton officials dispute reports on Jesus sketch" by David Abel, Boston Globe Staff 12/15/09
City officials sharply disputed yesterday widely distributed reports that a local elementary school suspended a second-grader and required the boy to undergo a psychological evaluation for drawing a picture of Jesus on the cross.
The story, initially reported by the local newspaper, raised questions of religious bias days before Christmas and was broadcast by local television stations and other news media.
But school officials say that the account in yesterday’s Taunton Daily Gazette was rife with errors and that the father’s description of what happened is untrue.
[Julie Hackett, superintendent of the Taunton public schools] said the student, age 9, was never suspended and that neither he nor other students at the Maxham Elementary School were asked by the teacher to sketch something that reminded them of Christmas or any religious holiday, as the Gazette and other media reported and the father suggested, although his story changed as he explained it.
She said it was unclear whether the boy, who put his name above a stick figure portrait of Christ on the cross, had drawn the picture in school, which his teacher discovered Dec. 2.
She said the drawing was seen as a potential cry for help when the student identified himself, rather than Jesus, on the cross, which prompted the teacher to alert the school’s principal and staff psychologist. As a result, the boy underwent a psychological evaluation.
She declined to comment on the results of the evaluation or whether the teacher had reason to believe that the student was crying out for help. The boy’s father showed reporters a report indicating his son was not a threat to himself or others and could return to school.
"In this case, as in any other case involving the well-being of a student, the administration acted in accordance with the School Department’s well-established protocol," she said in a statement. "This protocol is centered upon the student’s care, well-being, and educational success. The protocol includes a review of the student’s records."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Video from FOX TV Boston
-- From "Mayor requests schools superintendent apologize for Jesus-drawing incident" by Dino F. Ciliberti, GateHouse News Service, Taunton Massachusetts Daily Gazette 12/15/09
Taunton Mayor Charles Crowley has asked School Superintendent Dr. Julie Hackett to apologize to the family and to issue a public apology and to develop a school-wide policy to prevent this from happening again.
He has also ordered the schools to pay for the psychiatric exam the child had to undergo as a condition of returning to school.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Editorial: Student didn’t deserve punishment for Jesus drawing" GateHouse News Service, Taunton Massachusetts Daily Gazette 12/15/09
The picture was supposed to be something that reminded children of Christmas, according to the assignment given by the teacher.
So this 8-year-old second-grader at the Maxham Elementary School in Taunton, Mass., did what he was supposed to do.
He drew a picture, a picture that wound up getting him into trouble for no reason at all.
The student and his family recently had visited the Christmas display at the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette, a Christian retreat center.
So the student drew a picture of Jesus on a cross.
. . . school officials took offense, dragged the student into the principal’s office, had him undergo a psychiatric evaluation and then suspended him.
Now the poor child is traumatized and doesn’t want to return to school.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Taunton officials dispute reports on Jesus sketch" by David Abel, Boston Globe Staff 12/15/09
City officials sharply disputed yesterday widely distributed reports that a local elementary school suspended a second-grader and required the boy to undergo a psychological evaluation for drawing a picture of Jesus on the cross.
The story, initially reported by the local newspaper, raised questions of religious bias days before Christmas and was broadcast by local television stations and other news media.
But school officials say that the account in yesterday’s Taunton Daily Gazette was rife with errors and that the father’s description of what happened is untrue.
[Julie Hackett, superintendent of the Taunton public schools] said the student, age 9, was never suspended and that neither he nor other students at the Maxham Elementary School were asked by the teacher to sketch something that reminded them of Christmas or any religious holiday, as the Gazette and other media reported and the father suggested, although his story changed as he explained it.
She said it was unclear whether the boy, who put his name above a stick figure portrait of Christ on the cross, had drawn the picture in school, which his teacher discovered Dec. 2.
She said the drawing was seen as a potential cry for help when the student identified himself, rather than Jesus, on the cross, which prompted the teacher to alert the school’s principal and staff psychologist. As a result, the boy underwent a psychological evaluation.
She declined to comment on the results of the evaluation or whether the teacher had reason to believe that the student was crying out for help. The boy’s father showed reporters a report indicating his son was not a threat to himself or others and could return to school.
"In this case, as in any other case involving the well-being of a student, the administration acted in accordance with the School Department’s well-established protocol," she said in a statement. "This protocol is centered upon the student’s care, well-being, and educational success. The protocol includes a review of the student’s records."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Obama Education Adviser Recommends Pornography to Children
President Obama's "Safe Schools Czar" [Kevin Jennings], already a target of social conservatives for his past drug abuse and what they say is his promotion of homosexuality in schools, is under fresh attack after it was revealed that the pro-gay group he formerly headed recommends books his critics say are pornographic.
-- From "Obama's Safe Schools Czar Tied to Lewd Readings for 7th Graders" by Maxim Lott, FOXNews.com 12/14/09
The group under fire is the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), which Kevin Jennings, now the assistant deputy secretary for safe and drug-free schools in the Department of Education, founded and ran from 1990 to 2008.
GLSEN says it works to create a welcoming atmosphere for homosexual students in schools, and that effort includes recommending books for students of all ages.
But critics say many of the books, particularly some that are targeted for children between Grades 7 to 12, are inappropriately explicit. A full list is available at the blog Gateway Pundit, which has published dozens of controversial passages from the books.
"Reflections of a Rock Lobster" was recommended in 1995, the year Jennings became GLSEN's first executive director; "Passages of Pride" made the list in 1997 and "Queer 13" in 1999. Those are just three out of over 100 books that GLSEN has recommended for students in grades 7-12 since 1990, and all three remain on GLSEN's recommended reading list.
. . . guidelines, listed on each book recommendation page, read: "All BookLink items are reviewed by GLSEN staff for quality and appropriateness of content. However, some titles for adolescent readers contain mature themes. We recommend that adults selecting books for youth review content for suitability."
But critics say the guidelines themselves are damning, because they confirm that GLSEN staff have checked the books for appropriateness. And Jennings, they point out, was in charge at the time.
Department of Education spokesman Justin Hamilton declined to comment about Jennings' role in recommending the books.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
-- From "Obama's Safe Schools Czar Tied to Lewd Readings for 7th Graders" by Maxim Lott, FOXNews.com 12/14/09
The group under fire is the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), which Kevin Jennings, now the assistant deputy secretary for safe and drug-free schools in the Department of Education, founded and ran from 1990 to 2008.
GLSEN says it works to create a welcoming atmosphere for homosexual students in schools, and that effort includes recommending books for students of all ages.
But critics say many of the books, particularly some that are targeted for children between Grades 7 to 12, are inappropriately explicit. A full list is available at the blog Gateway Pundit, which has published dozens of controversial passages from the books.
"Reflections of a Rock Lobster" was recommended in 1995, the year Jennings became GLSEN's first executive director; "Passages of Pride" made the list in 1997 and "Queer 13" in 1999. Those are just three out of over 100 books that GLSEN has recommended for students in grades 7-12 since 1990, and all three remain on GLSEN's recommended reading list.
. . . guidelines, listed on each book recommendation page, read: "All BookLink items are reviewed by GLSEN staff for quality and appropriateness of content. However, some titles for adolescent readers contain mature themes. We recommend that adults selecting books for youth review content for suitability."
But critics say the guidelines themselves are damning, because they confirm that GLSEN staff have checked the books for appropriateness. And Jennings, they point out, was in charge at the time.
Department of Education spokesman Justin Hamilton declined to comment about Jennings' role in recommending the books.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
School Retracts Christmas Program of Religious Pluralism Indoctrination
A battle over religion is brewing in central Indiana after a public school wanted second graders to sing a song declaring, “Allah is God.” The phrase was removed just before the performance after a national conservative group launched a protest.
-- From "Fishers school adjusts holiday program after conservative group protests" by Chris Sikich and Vic Ryckaert, IndyStar.com 12/12/09
A Hamilton Southeastern elementary removed a mention of Allah in its holiday show after it drew the anger of a national conservative Christian group.
Lantern Road Elementary Principal Danielle Thompson said school leaders sought to teach inclusiveness through the second-grade program, which included pieces about Christmas, Hanukkah, Ramadan, Las Posadas and Kwanzaa.
School officials removed a phrase saying "Allah is God" after the American Family Association launched a protest of the program on its electronic newsletter.
The change was made, Thompson said, because no other deities were directly named in the program.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Second Graders Sing About Allah? " by Todd Starnes, FOX News Radio 12/14/09
. . . David Hogan['s]. . . daughter came home with a copy of the lyrics just days before the production. Hogan, a Christian, told the American Family Association, a conservative advocacy group, that he was deeply concerned to learn that his daughter had been singing, “Allah is God.”
Here’s what the children were assigned to sing:
But when it came time to perform the “Christian” part of Christmas, children were assigned to say:
Micah Clark, executive director of the Indiana AFA, launched an Internet protest once he heard about the allegations. “What surprised me here is that we’ve had a secular scrubbing of Christmas for so long and the school apparently didn’t see the problem with kids singing to Allah,” he told FOX News Radio. “You won’t even mention Jesus and you’re going to force my child to sing about Allah?”
In email correspondence the school initially defended the reference as a way to be inclusive of all religions. However, once complaints starting rolling in, school leaders decided to eliminate the Allah reference.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
-- From "Fishers school adjusts holiday program after conservative group protests" by Chris Sikich and Vic Ryckaert, IndyStar.com 12/12/09
A Hamilton Southeastern elementary removed a mention of Allah in its holiday show after it drew the anger of a national conservative Christian group.
Lantern Road Elementary Principal Danielle Thompson said school leaders sought to teach inclusiveness through the second-grade program, which included pieces about Christmas, Hanukkah, Ramadan, Las Posadas and Kwanzaa.
School officials removed a phrase saying "Allah is God" after the American Family Association launched a protest of the program on its electronic newsletter.
The change was made, Thompson said, because no other deities were directly named in the program.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Second Graders Sing About Allah? " by Todd Starnes, FOX News Radio 12/14/09
. . . David Hogan['s]. . . daughter came home with a copy of the lyrics just days before the production. Hogan, a Christian, told the American Family Association, a conservative advocacy group, that he was deeply concerned to learn that his daughter had been singing, “Allah is God.”
Here’s what the children were assigned to sing:
“Allah is God, we recall at dawn,
Praying ‘til night during Ramadan
At this joyful time we pray happiness for you,
Allah be with you all your life through.”
But when it came time to perform the “Christian” part of Christmas, children were assigned to say:
“I didn’t know there was a little boy at the manger. What child is this?
I’m not sure if there was a little boy or not.
Then why did you paint one on your nativity window?
I just thought if there was a little boy, I’d like to know exactly what he (sic) say.”
Micah Clark, executive director of the Indiana AFA, launched an Internet protest once he heard about the allegations. “What surprised me here is that we’ve had a secular scrubbing of Christmas for so long and the school apparently didn’t see the problem with kids singing to Allah,” he told FOX News Radio. “You won’t even mention Jesus and you’re going to force my child to sing about Allah?”
In email correspondence the school initially defended the reference as a way to be inclusive of all religions. However, once complaints starting rolling in, school leaders decided to eliminate the Allah reference.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Near-death Abortion Settled for $1.9 Million
New Jersey officials temporarily closed an abortion clinic because of ‘dirt and debris’ but only after an abortion victim was hospitalized and required a hysterectomy, after being sent home by the abortionist.
-- From "$1.9M settlement in botched abortion" by James M. O'Neill, staff writer, The Record - North Jersey Media Group 12/13/09
Metropolitan Medical Associates in Englewood, among the state’s largest abortion clinics, reached a $1.9 million settlement with a woman who suffered massive hemorrhaging, a coma, a stroke and a hysterectomy after she had an abortion at the facility in 2007.
The incident led to an inspection by the state, which shut the facility down for more than a month until improvements were made.
The settlement includes $1 million from the facility, $575,000 from one of the doctors involved in the case and $325,000 from another doctor who had assisted. The settlement was first reported in the New Jersey Law Journal.
Rasheedah Dinkins filed the suit in 2007 against the facility and two doctors, Keith Gresham, who was Dinkins’ attending physician, and Nicholas Kotopoulos, who assisted after Dinkins started to bleed excessively.
The suit also named the National Abortion Federation, a group that Metropolitan Medical Associates belongs to.
Dinkins, then 20, visited the clinic in January of that year for a second-trimester abortion. The Englewood clinic is one of only a few in the state to perform second-trimester abortions.
Hours after the procedure, Dinkins, back at home in Newark, became sluggish, then was unable to walk or talk. Her mother called for an ambulance, and, by the time it arrived, Dinkins had passed out.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Woman Comatose Month After Botched Abortion Gets $1.9 Million Settlement" by Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com Editor 12/13/09
Dinkins, who is now 22, became severely ill following the abortion and was transferred to Newark Beth Israel Medical Center where she needed blood transfusions and had her uterus removed. She also suffered a stroke due to the serious blood loss and had one of her lungs collapse.
Dinkins said her mother and hospital officials told her she died en route to the medical facility from the abortion center but medical personnel were able to revive her. She told AP she regards her decision to have an abortion as a bad one, saying "I probably wouldn't have made this choice."
. . . the botched abortion caused so many medical complications that Newark Beth Israel Medical Center filed a complaint with state officials.
The Department of Health and Senior Services investigated the abortion facility and found dirty forceps, rusty crochet hooks used to remove IUDs, and a quarter-inch of dirt and debris under an examining table.
In ordering the abortion business to close, the Department said the abortion facility had poor infection control, and did not properly sterilize instruments and equipment.
Health inspectors said the violations at the abortion business pose "immediate and serious risk of harm to patients."
It was only the second time state health officials ordered one of the state's 650 ambulatory health centers closed.
Dinkins isn't the only woman who had an abortion at MMA and experienced problems.
Metropolitan Medical Associates is one of the biggest abortion facilities in the nation, having done 10,000 abortions last year alone. It was also closed down in 1993 for health and safety issues.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
-- From "$1.9M settlement in botched abortion" by James M. O'Neill, staff writer, The Record - North Jersey Media Group 12/13/09
Metropolitan Medical Associates in Englewood, among the state’s largest abortion clinics, reached a $1.9 million settlement with a woman who suffered massive hemorrhaging, a coma, a stroke and a hysterectomy after she had an abortion at the facility in 2007.
The incident led to an inspection by the state, which shut the facility down for more than a month until improvements were made.
The settlement includes $1 million from the facility, $575,000 from one of the doctors involved in the case and $325,000 from another doctor who had assisted. The settlement was first reported in the New Jersey Law Journal.
Rasheedah Dinkins filed the suit in 2007 against the facility and two doctors, Keith Gresham, who was Dinkins’ attending physician, and Nicholas Kotopoulos, who assisted after Dinkins started to bleed excessively.
The suit also named the National Abortion Federation, a group that Metropolitan Medical Associates belongs to.
Dinkins, then 20, visited the clinic in January of that year for a second-trimester abortion. The Englewood clinic is one of only a few in the state to perform second-trimester abortions.
Hours after the procedure, Dinkins, back at home in Newark, became sluggish, then was unable to walk or talk. Her mother called for an ambulance, and, by the time it arrived, Dinkins had passed out.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Woman Comatose Month After Botched Abortion Gets $1.9 Million Settlement" by Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com Editor 12/13/09
Dinkins, who is now 22, became severely ill following the abortion and was transferred to Newark Beth Israel Medical Center where she needed blood transfusions and had her uterus removed. She also suffered a stroke due to the serious blood loss and had one of her lungs collapse.
Dinkins said her mother and hospital officials told her she died en route to the medical facility from the abortion center but medical personnel were able to revive her. She told AP she regards her decision to have an abortion as a bad one, saying "I probably wouldn't have made this choice."
. . . the botched abortion caused so many medical complications that Newark Beth Israel Medical Center filed a complaint with state officials.
The Department of Health and Senior Services investigated the abortion facility and found dirty forceps, rusty crochet hooks used to remove IUDs, and a quarter-inch of dirt and debris under an examining table.
In ordering the abortion business to close, the Department said the abortion facility had poor infection control, and did not properly sterilize instruments and equipment.
Health inspectors said the violations at the abortion business pose "immediate and serious risk of harm to patients."
It was only the second time state health officials ordered one of the state's 650 ambulatory health centers closed.
Dinkins isn't the only woman who had an abortion at MMA and experienced problems.
Metropolitan Medical Associates is one of the biggest abortion facilities in the nation, having done 10,000 abortions last year alone. It was also closed down in 1993 for health and safety issues.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Legislators Want Freedom to Commit Adultery
Seven months after [New Hampshire] approved gay marriage, lawmakers will consider easing government further from the bedroom with a bill to repeal the adultery law.
-- From "Adultery still crime in NH after 200 years" by Norma Love, Associated Press 12/13/09
The original punishments — including standing on the gallows for an hour with a noose around the neck — have been softened to a $1,200 fine, yet some lawmakers think it's time for the 200-year-old crime of adultery to come off New Hampshire's books.
Horrigan, D-Durham, and state Rep. Carol McGuire, R-Epsom, have teamed up on legislation to repeal the law.
Law Professor Jeff Atkinson of DePaul University College of Law in Chicago says states rarely — if ever — enforce criminal adultery laws. Atkinson, author of the American Bar Association's Guide to Marriage, Divorce & Families, attributed that to a 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Lawrence v. Texas. In its decision, the high court found that the state had no legitimate interest justifying its intrusion into the personal and private lives of two gay men arrested in their bedroom during a police investigation in a weapons case. The men had been charged with sodomy.
Atkinson said the case applies to adultery because both involve private sexual conduct.
Kevin Smith, executive director of the conservative Cornerstone Policy Research, [said,] "Even though this criminal law probably is not enforced right now and probably has not been enforced for some time, I think it's important to have a public policy statement that says generally or in all situations adultery is not a good thing. And I think, by repealing that statute, you're essentially diminishing the harmful effects of adultery."
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
-- From "Adultery still crime in NH after 200 years" by Norma Love, Associated Press 12/13/09
The original punishments — including standing on the gallows for an hour with a noose around the neck — have been softened to a $1,200 fine, yet some lawmakers think it's time for the 200-year-old crime of adultery to come off New Hampshire's books.
Horrigan, D-Durham, and state Rep. Carol McGuire, R-Epsom, have teamed up on legislation to repeal the law.
Law Professor Jeff Atkinson of DePaul University College of Law in Chicago says states rarely — if ever — enforce criminal adultery laws. Atkinson, author of the American Bar Association's Guide to Marriage, Divorce & Families, attributed that to a 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Lawrence v. Texas. In its decision, the high court found that the state had no legitimate interest justifying its intrusion into the personal and private lives of two gay men arrested in their bedroom during a police investigation in a weapons case. The men had been charged with sodomy.
Atkinson said the case applies to adultery because both involve private sexual conduct.
Kevin Smith, executive director of the conservative Cornerstone Policy Research, [said,] "Even though this criminal law probably is not enforced right now and probably has not been enforced for some time, I think it's important to have a public policy statement that says generally or in all situations adultery is not a good thing. And I think, by repealing that statute, you're essentially diminishing the harmful effects of adultery."
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Congress Mandates Taxpayer-funded Abortions in D.C.
The Senate approved an omnibus spending bill on Sunday that would lift the 13-year-long ban on directly paying for abortions in the nation's capital. The legislation, which President Barack Obama is expected to sign, also contains funding for Planned Parenthood and the UNFPA.
-- From "Senate Approves Omnibus Bill Funding Abortions in Nation's Capital, Obama to Sign" by Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com Editor 12/13/09
The Senate passed the bill, which funds several federal government departments, by a 57-35 vote, with Democrats backing the measure and most Republicans opposing it.
Passage of the measure today was no surprise given that Democrats won a filibuster battle on a narrow 60-34 vote that saw Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Thad Cochran of Mississippi and Richard Shelby of Alabama side with Democrats to move ahead to a vote on the bill.
Those same three Republicans voted for the bill and three Democrats, pro-abortion Sens. Evan Bayh of Indiana, Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, all voted against it for other reasons.
Shelby voted for the bill even though he signed a letter along with 35 other Republicans saying they would filibuster it because of the abortion funding. Collins and Cochran did not sign the letter.
The bill also appropriates $648.5 million for international family planning funding, an increase of $103 million from Fiscal Year 2009, without the constraints of the Mexico City Policy to prevent these dollars from being provided to organizations that promote and perform abortions.
The bill also increases funding for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which has an admittedly pro-abortion agenda and has been criticized for working hand-in-hand with Chinese population control officials, to $55 million, a $5 million increase from FY09.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
-- From "Senate Approves Omnibus Bill Funding Abortions in Nation's Capital, Obama to Sign" by Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com Editor 12/13/09
The Senate passed the bill, which funds several federal government departments, by a 57-35 vote, with Democrats backing the measure and most Republicans opposing it.
Passage of the measure today was no surprise given that Democrats won a filibuster battle on a narrow 60-34 vote that saw Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Thad Cochran of Mississippi and Richard Shelby of Alabama side with Democrats to move ahead to a vote on the bill.
Those same three Republicans voted for the bill and three Democrats, pro-abortion Sens. Evan Bayh of Indiana, Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, all voted against it for other reasons.
Shelby voted for the bill even though he signed a letter along with 35 other Republicans saying they would filibuster it because of the abortion funding. Collins and Cochran did not sign the letter.
The bill also appropriates $648.5 million for international family planning funding, an increase of $103 million from Fiscal Year 2009, without the constraints of the Mexico City Policy to prevent these dollars from being provided to organizations that promote and perform abortions.
The bill also increases funding for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which has an admittedly pro-abortion agenda and has been criticized for working hand-in-hand with Chinese population control officials, to $55 million, a $5 million increase from FY09.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
Houston Elects Homosexual Mayor
Homosexualists turned the election into a validation of the mayor-elect's sexual deviancy. The REAL winner was apathy -- less than 10% of voters cast a ballot for the victor.
UPDATE 1/4/10: Lesbian Sworn into Office on Bible
UPDATE 2/16/14: America Going to Hell; Christians Lose Convictions
-- From "Houston Voters Elect First Openly Gay Mayor" by Associated Press 12/13/09
Houston became the largest U.S. city to elect an openly gay mayor, with voters handing a solid victory to City Controller Annise Parker after a hotly contested runoff.
Parker defeated former city attorney Gene Locke [both Democrats] with 53.6 percent of the vote Saturday in a race that had a turnout of only 16.5 percent.
"This election has changed the world for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community," [said Parker.]
. . . gay and lesbian political organizations nationwide rallied to support Parker by raising money for her campaign and making calls urging people to vote.
Several other U.S. cities, including Portland, Ore., Providence, R.I., and Cambridge, Mass., have openly gay mayors, but none as large as Houston.
Houston is predominantly Democratic and about 25 percent black and one-third Hispanic. About 60,000 of its residents identify themselves as gay or lesbian.
A little more than 152,000 residents turned out to cast ballots . . .
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
UPDATE 1/4/10: Lesbian Sworn into Office on Bible
UPDATE 2/16/14: America Going to Hell; Christians Lose Convictions
-- From "Houston Voters Elect First Openly Gay Mayor" by Associated Press 12/13/09
Houston became the largest U.S. city to elect an openly gay mayor, with voters handing a solid victory to City Controller Annise Parker after a hotly contested runoff.
Parker defeated former city attorney Gene Locke [both Democrats] with 53.6 percent of the vote Saturday in a race that had a turnout of only 16.5 percent.
"This election has changed the world for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community," [said Parker.]
. . . gay and lesbian political organizations nationwide rallied to support Parker by raising money for her campaign and making calls urging people to vote.
Several other U.S. cities, including Portland, Ore., Providence, R.I., and Cambridge, Mass., have openly gay mayors, but none as large as Houston.
Houston is predominantly Democratic and about 25 percent black and one-third Hispanic. About 60,000 of its residents identify themselves as gay or lesbian.
A little more than 152,000 residents turned out to cast ballots . . .
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Christians Jailed over Kids' Sex Education
On the heels of today's news about Britain's Parliament considering a bill that would greatly restrict parental rights in the homeschool arena, comes news out of Germany that eight fathers have been sentenced to prison because they refused to send the elementary aged children to mandatory sex education class.
-- From "Parental rights take another hit as eight fathers are jailed for opting their children out of sex-ed" Littleton Homeschooling Examiner, Lynda Ackert 12/11/09
In addition to refusing to allow their children to attend sex-ed classes, the families also resisted having their children enlisted in a theatre production of "Mein Körper gehört mir" or "My Body Belongs to Me," which informs young children in how to engage in sexual activity.
Germany has also been in the news recently for their persecution of homeschooling families. Joel Thornton, President of the International Human Rights Group, states that unlike much of the American education system, German officials "view the children as belonging to the State, particularly during the time they are in school" and for that reason parents' beliefs and authority over their children takes second place to the interests and mandates of the State.
So, why should such news from Britain and Germany be of interest to homeschool families here in the U.S.? Both Britain and Germany have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. A treaty that literally threatens parental rights. Under the UNCRC, the "best interest of the child principle" would give the government the ability to override every decision made by every parent if a government worker disagreed with the parent’s decision. That is exactly what is occurring now in Germany, and what Britain is banking on to pass the current bill before Parliament.
From "Christian fathers put in jail for shunning explicit sex ed" by Bob Unruh © 2009 WorldNetDaily 12/11/09
An international human rights organization today announced it will pursue a civil lawsuit on behalf of parents who want to control their children's education and withhold them from explicit sex education and play-acting classes required by the German government.
Joel Thornton of the International Human Rights Group told WND the government in Salzkotten, Germany, is sending the fathers of the children to jail for terms of one week because they have refused to turn their children over to school officials for mandated sex classes.
According to a report from Richard Guenther, European director for the IHRG, eight families of Christians have decided to withhold their children from required sex education classes in Salzkotten.
Sex education classes in Germany are explicit, and the issue is one of the major reasons why families – and not just Christian families – choose to homeschool their children even though the government has maintained its illegality since the days of Hitler.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
-- From "Parental rights take another hit as eight fathers are jailed for opting their children out of sex-ed" Littleton Homeschooling Examiner, Lynda Ackert 12/11/09
In addition to refusing to allow their children to attend sex-ed classes, the families also resisted having their children enlisted in a theatre production of "Mein Körper gehört mir" or "My Body Belongs to Me," which informs young children in how to engage in sexual activity.
Germany has also been in the news recently for their persecution of homeschooling families. Joel Thornton, President of the International Human Rights Group, states that unlike much of the American education system, German officials "view the children as belonging to the State, particularly during the time they are in school" and for that reason parents' beliefs and authority over their children takes second place to the interests and mandates of the State.
So, why should such news from Britain and Germany be of interest to homeschool families here in the U.S.? Both Britain and Germany have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. A treaty that literally threatens parental rights. Under the UNCRC, the "best interest of the child principle" would give the government the ability to override every decision made by every parent if a government worker disagreed with the parent’s decision. That is exactly what is occurring now in Germany, and what Britain is banking on to pass the current bill before Parliament.
From "Christian fathers put in jail for shunning explicit sex ed" by Bob Unruh © 2009 WorldNetDaily 12/11/09
An international human rights organization today announced it will pursue a civil lawsuit on behalf of parents who want to control their children's education and withhold them from explicit sex education and play-acting classes required by the German government.
Joel Thornton of the International Human Rights Group told WND the government in Salzkotten, Germany, is sending the fathers of the children to jail for terms of one week because they have refused to turn their children over to school officials for mandated sex classes.
According to a report from Richard Guenther, European director for the IHRG, eight families of Christians have decided to withhold their children from required sex education classes in Salzkotten.
Sex education classes in Germany are explicit, and the issue is one of the major reasons why families – and not just Christian families – choose to homeschool their children even though the government has maintained its illegality since the days of Hitler.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
George Tiller's Partial-birth Abortion Legacy
The national battle over abortion, for decades firmly planted outside the Kansas clinic of Dr. George R. Tiller, has erupted here in suburban Omaha, where a longtime colleague has taken up the cause of late-term abortions.
-- From "Abortion Battle Shifts to Clinic in Nebraska" by Monica Davey, The New York Times 12/3/09
Since Dr. Tiller was shot to death in May, his colleague, Dr. LeRoy H. Carhart, has hired two people who worked at Dr. Tiller’s clinic and has trained his own staff members in the technical intricacies of performing late-term abortions.
Dr. Carhart has also begun performing some abortions “past 24 weeks,” he said in an interview, and is prepared to perform them still later if they meet legal requirements and if he considers them medically necessary.
The late-term abortions, coming after the earliest point when a fetus might survive outside the womb, are the most controversial, even among some who favor abortion rights. A few of Dr. Carhart’s employees quit when he told them of his plans to expand the clinic’s work.
State law in Nebraska bans abortions in cases when a fetus clearly appears to have reached viability, except to “preserve the life or health of the mother.”
Dr. Carhart declined to provide specifics on how late in a pregnancy he would be willing to perform an abortion. Dr. Tiller performed them, in some cases, as late as in the third trimester of pregnancy. Dr. Carhart’s fee schedule lists prices for abortions up to 22 weeks and 6 days (at that point, $2,100 in cash or $2,163 on a credit card), but notes that abortions after 23 weeks are available “after consultation with our doctor,” and that abortions after the 27th week may take four days.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
-- From "Abortion Battle Shifts to Clinic in Nebraska" by Monica Davey, The New York Times 12/3/09
Since Dr. Tiller was shot to death in May, his colleague, Dr. LeRoy H. Carhart, has hired two people who worked at Dr. Tiller’s clinic and has trained his own staff members in the technical intricacies of performing late-term abortions.
Dr. Carhart has also begun performing some abortions “past 24 weeks,” he said in an interview, and is prepared to perform them still later if they meet legal requirements and if he considers them medically necessary.
The late-term abortions, coming after the earliest point when a fetus might survive outside the womb, are the most controversial, even among some who favor abortion rights. A few of Dr. Carhart’s employees quit when he told them of his plans to expand the clinic’s work.
State law in Nebraska bans abortions in cases when a fetus clearly appears to have reached viability, except to “preserve the life or health of the mother.”
Dr. Carhart declined to provide specifics on how late in a pregnancy he would be willing to perform an abortion. Dr. Tiller performed them, in some cases, as late as in the third trimester of pregnancy. Dr. Carhart’s fee schedule lists prices for abortions up to 22 weeks and 6 days (at that point, $2,100 in cash or $2,163 on a credit card), but notes that abortions after 23 weeks are available “after consultation with our doctor,” and that abortions after the 27th week may take four days.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Media Claim Americans, as Individuals, are Pluralistic in Faith
Many Americans attend services outside of their own religion, and blend Christianity with Eastern and New Age beliefs, the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life said.
Surveys, such as this, are intended to convince the reader that "normal" Americans do NOT hold to the exclusivity of Christ.
-- From "More Americans 'mix and match' religious beliefs, poll finds" by Nicole Santa Cruz, Los Angeles Times 12/10/09
The nationwide poll of 4,013 adults found that a third regularly or occasionally attended religious services at more than one location -- and 24% of the public overall worshiped outside their faith.
Three in 10 Protestants surveyed said they sometimes attended services representing other faiths, as did about 20% of Roman Catholics.
About a quarter of those surveyed expressed beliefs in New Age or Eastern religious principles such as reincarnation and the presence of spiritual energy in physical objects.
About 65% of those surveyed also expressed belief in or report having an experience with a variety of supernatural phenomena, such as believing in astrology, being in touch with the dead or consulting a psychic.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "More U.S. Christians mix in 'Eastern,' New Age beliefs" by Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA Today 12/10/09
Of the 72% of Americans who attend religious services at least once a year (excluding holidays, weddings and funerals), 35% say they attend in multiple places, often hop-scotching across denominations.
They are like President Obama, who currently has no home church. He has worshiped at a Baptist church, an Episcopal one, and the non-denominational chapel at Camp David.
Scott Thumma, a professor at the Hartford Institute for Religion Research in Hartford, Conn. [said,] "Today, the individual rarely finds all their spiritual needs met in one congregation or one religion."
[Albert Mohler,] president of the seminary and a leading voice for Baptist orthodoxy . . . sees a "rampant confusion" about faith revealed in the Pew findings.
"This is a failure of the pulpit as much as of the pew to be clear about what is and is not compatible with Christianity and belief in salvation only through Christ," Mohler says.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Surveys, such as this, are intended to convince the reader that "normal" Americans do NOT hold to the exclusivity of Christ.
-- From "More Americans 'mix and match' religious beliefs, poll finds" by Nicole Santa Cruz, Los Angeles Times 12/10/09
The nationwide poll of 4,013 adults found that a third regularly or occasionally attended religious services at more than one location -- and 24% of the public overall worshiped outside their faith.
Three in 10 Protestants surveyed said they sometimes attended services representing other faiths, as did about 20% of Roman Catholics.
About a quarter of those surveyed expressed beliefs in New Age or Eastern religious principles such as reincarnation and the presence of spiritual energy in physical objects.
About 65% of those surveyed also expressed belief in or report having an experience with a variety of supernatural phenomena, such as believing in astrology, being in touch with the dead or consulting a psychic.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "More U.S. Christians mix in 'Eastern,' New Age beliefs" by Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA Today 12/10/09
Of the 72% of Americans who attend religious services at least once a year (excluding holidays, weddings and funerals), 35% say they attend in multiple places, often hop-scotching across denominations.
They are like President Obama, who currently has no home church. He has worshiped at a Baptist church, an Episcopal one, and the non-denominational chapel at Camp David.
Scott Thumma, a professor at the Hartford Institute for Religion Research in Hartford, Conn. [said,] "Today, the individual rarely finds all their spiritual needs met in one congregation or one religion."
[Albert Mohler,] president of the seminary and a leading voice for Baptist orthodoxy . . . sees a "rampant confusion" about faith revealed in the Pew findings.
"This is a failure of the pulpit as much as of the pew to be clear about what is and is not compatible with Christianity and belief in salvation only through Christ," Mohler says.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Copenhagen Hears Birth Control Solution to Climate Change
A senior official of the Chinese ministry responsible for the country’s coercive population-control program is citing the controversial “one-child” policy as a successful way to reduce emissions of the gases blamed for global warming.
[Chinese] women still complain of forced abortions, sterilizations, and invasive bureaucratic oversight.
-- From "China says population controls help fight climate change" Reuters 12/11/09
China's efforts at population control have helped mitigate the human impact on climate, a family planning official said, underlining Beijing's sense its achievements are being overlooked at the Copenhagen summit.
China's "one-child" policy has created heart-ache for millions of Chinese couples but has also allowed the country to grow economically without having to deal with the exploding population numbers faced by many developing countries.
According to Chinese calculations, the one-child policy has resulted in 400 million fewer people than would otherwise have been born.
"Such a decline in population growth leads to a reduction of 1.83 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions in China per annum at present," the Xinhua news agency quoted Zhao Baige, vice minister of China's National Population and Family Planning Commission, as saying on Friday.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Chinese Minister Links ‘One-Child’ Policy to Emissions Reduction at Climate Conference" by Patrick Goodenough, CNSNews.com International Editor 12/11/09
A report on Zhao’s comments in the state-run China Daily said she acknowledged that the one-child policy was not without “consequences” – but the only ones she mentioned were the skewed gender balance and a rapidly ageing society.
Critics of the policy say it not only deprives individuals the right to choose how many children they want, but also gives rise to an array of human rights abuses including forced abortion and sterilization, infanticide, sex-selective abortions and the levying of punitive fines or loss of jobs for policy violators.
Arguments about links between global warming and population have circulated in population-control circles for years, but climate change negotiators have generally sidestepped them because of the sensitivities surrounding population-limiting policies.
The Sierra Club in a 2007 position paper called for “greater effort to explain how population pressure is affecting the environment and stronger support for the program – family planning, health care, and education and opportunity for women – that most effectively encourages smaller families.”
During a visit to India over the summer, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took part in a roundtable discussion on environmental issues [including population effects and family planning].
In its most recent annual report on the state of world population, released on the eve of the Copenhagen conference, the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) broached the subject.
Earlier this week, Canada’s Financial Post said that humans are overpopulating the world and that a global law “such as China’s one-child policy, is the only way to reverse the disastrous global birthrate…”
According to the newspaper, despite its polluting coal plants, China “is the world's leader in terms of fashioning policy to combat environmental degradation, thanks to its one-child-only edict.”
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Click on headlines below to read previous posts:
World Health Organization: Earth's Enemy is Too Many Babies
Obama Science Czar Holdren Called for Forced Abortions
White House Advises 'Green' Abortions
Getting Hot? Condoms will Cool the Earth, says U.N.
New York Times Reporter: Cap-And-Trade For Babies?
[Chinese] women still complain of forced abortions, sterilizations, and invasive bureaucratic oversight.
-- From "China says population controls help fight climate change" Reuters 12/11/09
China's efforts at population control have helped mitigate the human impact on climate, a family planning official said, underlining Beijing's sense its achievements are being overlooked at the Copenhagen summit.
China's "one-child" policy has created heart-ache for millions of Chinese couples but has also allowed the country to grow economically without having to deal with the exploding population numbers faced by many developing countries.
According to Chinese calculations, the one-child policy has resulted in 400 million fewer people than would otherwise have been born.
"Such a decline in population growth leads to a reduction of 1.83 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions in China per annum at present," the Xinhua news agency quoted Zhao Baige, vice minister of China's National Population and Family Planning Commission, as saying on Friday.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Chinese Minister Links ‘One-Child’ Policy to Emissions Reduction at Climate Conference" by Patrick Goodenough, CNSNews.com International Editor 12/11/09
A report on Zhao’s comments in the state-run China Daily said she acknowledged that the one-child policy was not without “consequences” – but the only ones she mentioned were the skewed gender balance and a rapidly ageing society.
Critics of the policy say it not only deprives individuals the right to choose how many children they want, but also gives rise to an array of human rights abuses including forced abortion and sterilization, infanticide, sex-selective abortions and the levying of punitive fines or loss of jobs for policy violators.
Arguments about links between global warming and population have circulated in population-control circles for years, but climate change negotiators have generally sidestepped them because of the sensitivities surrounding population-limiting policies.
The Sierra Club in a 2007 position paper called for “greater effort to explain how population pressure is affecting the environment and stronger support for the program – family planning, health care, and education and opportunity for women – that most effectively encourages smaller families.”
During a visit to India over the summer, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took part in a roundtable discussion on environmental issues [including population effects and family planning].
In its most recent annual report on the state of world population, released on the eve of the Copenhagen conference, the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) broached the subject.
Earlier this week, Canada’s Financial Post said that humans are overpopulating the world and that a global law “such as China’s one-child policy, is the only way to reverse the disastrous global birthrate…”
According to the newspaper, despite its polluting coal plants, China “is the world's leader in terms of fashioning policy to combat environmental degradation, thanks to its one-child-only edict.”
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Click on headlines below to read previous posts:
World Health Organization: Earth's Enemy is Too Many Babies
Obama Science Czar Holdren Called for Forced Abortions
White House Advises 'Green' Abortions
Getting Hot? Condoms will Cool the Earth, says U.N.
New York Times Reporter: Cap-And-Trade For Babies?
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Famous Canadian Hate Speech Ruling Reversed
As the Obama administration advances the Gay Agenda, are Canadians reconsidering their pro-homosexual laws?
UPDATE 10/20/12: Alberta appeals court gives ultimate victory to Pastor Boissoin
-- From "'Hate speech' penalties tossed by appeals court" by Bob Unruh © 2009 WorldNetDaily 12/8/09
A Canadian administrative judge's demand for a $5,000 penalty and a written apology from a man who criticized homosexuality in a letter to his local newspaper has been overturned on appeal, but experts on such "hate speech" disputes say the case is not a complete victory for free speech.
The judgment was announced this week by the Alliance Defense Fund in the case of [Christian pastor] Stephen Boissoin and the Concerned Christian Coalition, which had been determined by the Alberta, Canada, Human Rights Commission to have violated a "hate speech" law.
Boissoin wrote the letter to the "Red Deer Advocate" in central Alberta criticizing those who "in any way support[s] the homosexual machine that has been mercilessly gaining ground in our society since the 1960s." [Click here to read the entire letter.]
A University of Calgary professor, Darren Lund, reported Boissoin to the Alberta Human Rights Commission, accusing him of breaking the national human rights law. The commission ruled in Lund's favor, ordering the $5,000 payment and written apology from Boissoin, as well as instructions to Boissoin not to express his beliefs further.
On appeal, Justice E.C. Wilson said the commission didn't acknowledge the actual law, which states, "Nothing in this section shall be deemed to interfere with the free expression of opinion on any subject." Wilson said the commission went too far, basing its decision on assumptions and granting relief to Lund that it did not have the authority to provide.
"The remedies … are without legal foundation or beyond the authority granted," Wilson wrote, citing the commission's orders that Boissoin "cease and desist" his statements, issue the apology and pay Lund.
Bull told WND the reversal is important in that homosexual activists will not be able to cite it as a precedent for damages when someone expresses an opinion opposing homosexuality, but the case is not a complete victory.
"Stephen Boissoin was in litigation for four years," he said. "If anyone is tempted to write a letter to the editor, that right is now chilled.
"Homosexuals got exactly what they wanted. In the marketplace of ideas, one side has now been censored," he said.
"This [situation] is exactly what homosexual activists have in mind," he said.
The appeals court ruling did not strike down the "hate speech" law, but it sets limits for its use. The Alberta ruling means "hate speech" laws cannot be used to silence religious expression or public debate simply because someone takes offense. Such a provision would, in fact, violate the Canadian Charter of Human Rights, the ADF said.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
UPDATE 10/20/12: Alberta appeals court gives ultimate victory to Pastor Boissoin
-- From "'Hate speech' penalties tossed by appeals court" by Bob Unruh © 2009 WorldNetDaily 12/8/09
A Canadian administrative judge's demand for a $5,000 penalty and a written apology from a man who criticized homosexuality in a letter to his local newspaper has been overturned on appeal, but experts on such "hate speech" disputes say the case is not a complete victory for free speech.
The judgment was announced this week by the Alliance Defense Fund in the case of [Christian pastor] Stephen Boissoin and the Concerned Christian Coalition, which had been determined by the Alberta, Canada, Human Rights Commission to have violated a "hate speech" law.
Boissoin wrote the letter to the "Red Deer Advocate" in central Alberta criticizing those who "in any way support[s] the homosexual machine that has been mercilessly gaining ground in our society since the 1960s." [Click here to read the entire letter.]
A University of Calgary professor, Darren Lund, reported Boissoin to the Alberta Human Rights Commission, accusing him of breaking the national human rights law. The commission ruled in Lund's favor, ordering the $5,000 payment and written apology from Boissoin, as well as instructions to Boissoin not to express his beliefs further.
On appeal, Justice E.C. Wilson said the commission didn't acknowledge the actual law, which states, "Nothing in this section shall be deemed to interfere with the free expression of opinion on any subject." Wilson said the commission went too far, basing its decision on assumptions and granting relief to Lund that it did not have the authority to provide.
"The remedies … are without legal foundation or beyond the authority granted," Wilson wrote, citing the commission's orders that Boissoin "cease and desist" his statements, issue the apology and pay Lund.
Bull told WND the reversal is important in that homosexual activists will not be able to cite it as a precedent for damages when someone expresses an opinion opposing homosexuality, but the case is not a complete victory.
"Stephen Boissoin was in litigation for four years," he said. "If anyone is tempted to write a letter to the editor, that right is now chilled.
"Homosexuals got exactly what they wanted. In the marketplace of ideas, one side has now been censored," he said.
"This [situation] is exactly what homosexual activists have in mind," he said.
The appeals court ruling did not strike down the "hate speech" law, but it sets limits for its use. The Alberta ruling means "hate speech" laws cannot be used to silence religious expression or public debate simply because someone takes offense. Such a provision would, in fact, violate the Canadian Charter of Human Rights, the ADF said.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
Same-sex 'Marriage' Defeated in New Jersey
State Senate Democrats declined to vote on the 'gay marriage' bill as failure became apparent.
UPDATE 1/7/10: Senate votes down homosexual 'marriage' bill; homosexualists to file lawsuit giving NJ Supreme Court chance to negate will of voters
-- From "New Jersey Marriage Vote Canceled" by David Kocieniewski, New York Times 12/10/09
The sponsors, Senators Raymond J. Lesniak and Loretta Weinberg, both Democrats, withdrew the bill from the agenda in the Senate session, saying they wanted to first allow a hearing in the General Assembly, where support for same-sex marriage is believed to be stronger.
But opponents were outraged by the last-minute switch and accused Democrats of abusing their leadership positions to force a controversial issue through the Legislature during the waning days of the session. The bill was passed narrowly on Monday by a Senate committee.
Ms. Weinberg, of Bergen County, brushed aside accusations that the postponement was a tactical maneuver to avert defeat in the Senate, saying that the issue had generated so much public interest that residents deserved more time to give it thorough consideration.
The Assembly speaker, Joseph J. Roberts Jr., a Democrat from Camden, welcomed the chance to debate the bill, but said he was not certain when a hearing would be scheduled.
Gay rights activists are pressing to win legislative approval before Jan. 19 — when Gov. Jon S. Corzine, a Democrat who staunchly supports same-sex marriage, is replaced by Governor-elect Christopher J. Christie, a Republican who opposes the measure.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Same-sex marriage advocates delay N.J. Senate vote" by Adrienne Lu and Jonathan Tamari, Philadelphia Inquirer Trenton Bureau 12/10/09
. . . several Democrats have come out in opposition to the measure, and others have remained publicly ambivalent, raising questions about its fate. Some gay-rights advocates are wary of a failed public vote, especially in the wake of recent same-sex marriage defeats in Maine and New York.
Assembly committees are not due back in Trenton until Jan. 7. Whether the measure begins to move then is up to Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts Jr. (D., Camden).
Politically, Assembly lawmakers would be loath to tackle a potentially controversial issue only to see it fail in the Senate - thus so much focus in recent weeks on that chamber.
Democrats in New Jersey, a traditionally liberal state, have wavered on same-sex marriage since losing the governor's race in November.
If the bill is released by the Assembly Judiciary Committee, both the Assembly and the Senate could then vote on the bill. The Senate Judiciary Committee cleared the bill in a 7-6 vote after nearly eight hours of testimony and debate.
New Jersey has allowed civil unions for gay couples for nearly three years, but critics say the unions have failed to give gay couples the same protections offered by marriages, as required by a court ruling.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
UPDATE 1/7/10: Senate votes down homosexual 'marriage' bill; homosexualists to file lawsuit giving NJ Supreme Court chance to negate will of voters
-- From "New Jersey Marriage Vote Canceled" by David Kocieniewski, New York Times 12/10/09
The sponsors, Senators Raymond J. Lesniak and Loretta Weinberg, both Democrats, withdrew the bill from the agenda in the Senate session, saying they wanted to first allow a hearing in the General Assembly, where support for same-sex marriage is believed to be stronger.
But opponents were outraged by the last-minute switch and accused Democrats of abusing their leadership positions to force a controversial issue through the Legislature during the waning days of the session. The bill was passed narrowly on Monday by a Senate committee.
Ms. Weinberg, of Bergen County, brushed aside accusations that the postponement was a tactical maneuver to avert defeat in the Senate, saying that the issue had generated so much public interest that residents deserved more time to give it thorough consideration.
The Assembly speaker, Joseph J. Roberts Jr., a Democrat from Camden, welcomed the chance to debate the bill, but said he was not certain when a hearing would be scheduled.
Gay rights activists are pressing to win legislative approval before Jan. 19 — when Gov. Jon S. Corzine, a Democrat who staunchly supports same-sex marriage, is replaced by Governor-elect Christopher J. Christie, a Republican who opposes the measure.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Same-sex marriage advocates delay N.J. Senate vote" by Adrienne Lu and Jonathan Tamari, Philadelphia Inquirer Trenton Bureau 12/10/09
. . . several Democrats have come out in opposition to the measure, and others have remained publicly ambivalent, raising questions about its fate. Some gay-rights advocates are wary of a failed public vote, especially in the wake of recent same-sex marriage defeats in Maine and New York.
Assembly committees are not due back in Trenton until Jan. 7. Whether the measure begins to move then is up to Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts Jr. (D., Camden).
Politically, Assembly lawmakers would be loath to tackle a potentially controversial issue only to see it fail in the Senate - thus so much focus in recent weeks on that chamber.
Democrats in New Jersey, a traditionally liberal state, have wavered on same-sex marriage since losing the governor's race in November.
If the bill is released by the Assembly Judiciary Committee, both the Assembly and the Senate could then vote on the bill. The Senate Judiciary Committee cleared the bill in a 7-6 vote after nearly eight hours of testimony and debate.
New Jersey has allowed civil unions for gay couples for nearly three years, but critics say the unions have failed to give gay couples the same protections offered by marriages, as required by a court ruling.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Same-sex 'Marriage' Across America NOT Inevitable
“The events of the last few months have put a serious dent in the idea that gay marriage is inevitable.”
-- From "Gay marriage's 'inevitability' in doubt" by Ben Smith, Politico 12/9/09
A Maine referendum that was seen as the best chance for popular approval of same-sex marriage instead was soundly defeated. The state senate in liberal New York voted down a marriage bill by a margin - 38 to 24 - that stunned advocates and the state’s governor, who had predicted victory. And a same-sex marriage measure limped to the floor of the New Jersey state senate Thursday after squeaking out of committee over the opposition of prominent Democrats.
[But,] a review of recent polling and conversations with political operatives and pollsters on both sides of the issue suggest that same-sex marriage still benefits from deep support from younger voters.
A Gallup poll from May, for instance, found that 18 to 29 year olds favor same-sex marriage by a margin of 59% to 37%, while people 65 and over oppose it by an even wider margin. And other studies have suggested the support among young voters is broad, and stretches across regions. One recent Columbia University study reported that more than 50% of 18-29 year olds in 38 states support same-sex marriage.
Same-sex marriage, critics note, has never won a popular vote. And the Republican pollster Kellyann Conway suggested that wide support among young voters – the bedrock of claims of inevitability – could conceal a lack of “intensity” among supporters of same-sex marriage.
Others argue that those young voters may change their views as they start families.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
Click here for extensive background on the effects of same-sex marriage.
-- From "Gay marriage's 'inevitability' in doubt" by Ben Smith, Politico 12/9/09
A Maine referendum that was seen as the best chance for popular approval of same-sex marriage instead was soundly defeated. The state senate in liberal New York voted down a marriage bill by a margin - 38 to 24 - that stunned advocates and the state’s governor, who had predicted victory. And a same-sex marriage measure limped to the floor of the New Jersey state senate Thursday after squeaking out of committee over the opposition of prominent Democrats.
[But,] a review of recent polling and conversations with political operatives and pollsters on both sides of the issue suggest that same-sex marriage still benefits from deep support from younger voters.
A Gallup poll from May, for instance, found that 18 to 29 year olds favor same-sex marriage by a margin of 59% to 37%, while people 65 and over oppose it by an even wider margin. And other studies have suggested the support among young voters is broad, and stretches across regions. One recent Columbia University study reported that more than 50% of 18-29 year olds in 38 states support same-sex marriage.
Same-sex marriage, critics note, has never won a popular vote. And the Republican pollster Kellyann Conway suggested that wide support among young voters – the bedrock of claims of inevitability – could conceal a lack of “intensity” among supporters of same-sex marriage.
Others argue that those young voters may change their views as they start families.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
Click here for extensive background on the effects of same-sex marriage.
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Senate Debate: Health Care for Humans Only (not all babies)
Senators who question the humanity of newborns lack respect for taxpayers as well. Abortion supporters see federal funding of abortion as "small potatoes" within the billions of tax money.
-- From "Separate But Equal? Insurance, Abortion, And Politics" by Al Lewis, Newsweek Web Exclusive 12/9/09
Though the Nelson amendment, which attempted to restrict federal insurance funds for abortion, failed in the Senate Tuesday, the issue of abortion's role in health care is far from settled. While the Senate version, if passed as now written, would allow federal funding, the House version, thanks to the Stupak amendment, does not even allow private purchase of a rider. Democrats are still divided on this issue, and without Democratic unity, health reform fails. Fortunately, the point of contention is not the thornier one of whether abortions should be legal, but rather how to accommodate both those who want to provide federal coverage and those who refuse to vote to earmark government funds to do so.
One of the many frustrating things about the debate over federal insurance funds going to abortion is that the funds in question are so small: abortion spending represents less than one 10th of 1 percent of total health-care spending. Among every 1,000 women and teenaged girls who do not qualify for Medicaid, and therefore would potentially be eligible for the new plan, there are 10 to 15 abortions. The cost of a first-trimester abortion averages $413, or roughly $6 per non-Medicaid-eligible female per year.
Mathematically speaking, abortion coverage offsets about the same dollar amount of avoided birth-event claims, so covering it costs taxpayers nothing, even in federally subsidized health care. But that doesn't by itself address the pro-life objection that the tax dollars spent on federally subsidized health plans should not go toward abortions, period.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Inhofe: Some Senators Share Holdren’s View That Born Babies Are Not ‘Human Beings’" CNSNews.com 12/8/09
Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, ranking Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, says he believes some of his Senate colleagues share the view expressed by White House science adviser John P. Holdren in a 1973 book that human fetuses do not become “human beings” until sometime after they are born.
Holdren co-authored Human Ecology: Problems and Solutions with Paul R. Ehrlich and Anne H. Ehrlich in 1973. The book calls for a “massive campaign” to “de-develop the United States” and concludes that redistribution of wealth “both within and among nations is absolutely essential.”
On page 235 of the book, in a chapter titled “Population Limitation,” Holdren and his co-authors wrote: “The fetus, given the opportunity to develop properly before birth, and given the essential early socializing experiences and sufficient nourishing food during the crucial early years after birth, will ultimately develop into a human being. Where any of these essential elements is lacking, the resultant individual will be deficient in some respect.”
“There are members of the Senate who would probably agree with that,” said Inhofe. “I mean, those of us who believe—and, scripturally, we, obviously, we are on solid ground—that life begins at conception. Many members of the Senate don’t believe that. And that’s why you are getting into the big abortion argument.”
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
-- From "Separate But Equal? Insurance, Abortion, And Politics" by Al Lewis, Newsweek Web Exclusive 12/9/09
Though the Nelson amendment, which attempted to restrict federal insurance funds for abortion, failed in the Senate Tuesday, the issue of abortion's role in health care is far from settled. While the Senate version, if passed as now written, would allow federal funding, the House version, thanks to the Stupak amendment, does not even allow private purchase of a rider. Democrats are still divided on this issue, and without Democratic unity, health reform fails. Fortunately, the point of contention is not the thornier one of whether abortions should be legal, but rather how to accommodate both those who want to provide federal coverage and those who refuse to vote to earmark government funds to do so.
One of the many frustrating things about the debate over federal insurance funds going to abortion is that the funds in question are so small: abortion spending represents less than one 10th of 1 percent of total health-care spending. Among every 1,000 women and teenaged girls who do not qualify for Medicaid, and therefore would potentially be eligible for the new plan, there are 10 to 15 abortions. The cost of a first-trimester abortion averages $413, or roughly $6 per non-Medicaid-eligible female per year.
Mathematically speaking, abortion coverage offsets about the same dollar amount of avoided birth-event claims, so covering it costs taxpayers nothing, even in federally subsidized health care. But that doesn't by itself address the pro-life objection that the tax dollars spent on federally subsidized health plans should not go toward abortions, period.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Inhofe: Some Senators Share Holdren’s View That Born Babies Are Not ‘Human Beings’" CNSNews.com 12/8/09
Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, ranking Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, says he believes some of his Senate colleagues share the view expressed by White House science adviser John P. Holdren in a 1973 book that human fetuses do not become “human beings” until sometime after they are born.
Holdren co-authored Human Ecology: Problems and Solutions with Paul R. Ehrlich and Anne H. Ehrlich in 1973. The book calls for a “massive campaign” to “de-develop the United States” and concludes that redistribution of wealth “both within and among nations is absolutely essential.”
On page 235 of the book, in a chapter titled “Population Limitation,” Holdren and his co-authors wrote: “The fetus, given the opportunity to develop properly before birth, and given the essential early socializing experiences and sufficient nourishing food during the crucial early years after birth, will ultimately develop into a human being. Where any of these essential elements is lacking, the resultant individual will be deficient in some respect.”
“There are members of the Senate who would probably agree with that,” said Inhofe. “I mean, those of us who believe—and, scripturally, we, obviously, we are on solid ground—that life begins at conception. Many members of the Senate don’t believe that. And that’s why you are getting into the big abortion argument.”
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Congressmen Promise 2010 Gay Agenda to Homosexualists
Reminiscent of the stealth passage of the Gay Agenda 'hate crimes' bill hidden in the recent defense appropriation legislation, homosexual congressmen plan a repeat next year to inject sexual deviancy into the military -- a.k.a. repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell.'
-- From "Gay House members say gay-friendly bills are near" by Lisa Leff, Associated Press 12/5/09
Two of Congress's three openly gay members said Saturday that the U.S. House is poised to pass bills to provide health coverage for the same-sex partners of gay federal workers and to protect all gay and transgender employees from job discrimination [ENDA].
Speaking to an international conference of gay politicians in San Francisco, U.S. Reps. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Jared Polis, D-Colo., said they expect a domestic partner benefits bill to come up for a vote by the end of the year and the employment bill to reach the floor early in 2010.
The lawmakers said they are also confident that the House will include in the annual military spending bill next year a provision to repeal the law that bans gays from serving in the U.S. military. All the measures face a harder time in the Senate following the death of longtime ally Sen. Edward Kennedy, but Baldwin and Polis said they remained optimistic.
Office of Personnel Management director John Berry, the Obama administration's highest ranking gay appointee, told the conference that the president strongly supports the trio of gay rights measures.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
-- From "Gay House members say gay-friendly bills are near" by Lisa Leff, Associated Press 12/5/09
Two of Congress's three openly gay members said Saturday that the U.S. House is poised to pass bills to provide health coverage for the same-sex partners of gay federal workers and to protect all gay and transgender employees from job discrimination [ENDA].
Speaking to an international conference of gay politicians in San Francisco, U.S. Reps. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Jared Polis, D-Colo., said they expect a domestic partner benefits bill to come up for a vote by the end of the year and the employment bill to reach the floor early in 2010.
The lawmakers said they are also confident that the House will include in the annual military spending bill next year a provision to repeal the law that bans gays from serving in the U.S. military. All the measures face a harder time in the Senate following the death of longtime ally Sen. Edward Kennedy, but Baldwin and Polis said they remained optimistic.
Office of Personnel Management director John Berry, the Obama administration's highest ranking gay appointee, told the conference that the president strongly supports the trio of gay rights measures.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Obama Policy Delays Arrival of Savior: Ahmadinejad
Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he has documented evidence that the United States is doing what it can to prevent the coming of the Mahdi, the Imam that Muslims believe will be ultimate savior of mankind, press reports said Monday.
-- From "US wants to stop mankind's savior: Iran leader" from Al Arabiya 12/7/09
“We have documented proof that they [U.S.] believe that a descendant of the prophet of Islam will raise in these parts [Middle East] and he will dry the roots of all injustice in the world,” the hard-line president said, addressing an audience of families of those killed during the 1980’s war against Iraq.
“They have devised all these plans to prevent the coming of the Hidden Imam because they know that the Iranian nation is the one that will prepare the grounds for his coming and will be the supporters of his rule."
"In Afghanistan, they are caught like an animal in a quagmire. But instead of pulling their troops out to save themselves, they are deploying more soldiers. Even if they stay in Afghanistan for another 50 years they will be forced to leave with disgrace -- because this is a historical experience," [Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said.]
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
-- From "US wants to stop mankind's savior: Iran leader" from Al Arabiya 12/7/09
“We have documented proof that they [U.S.] believe that a descendant of the prophet of Islam will raise in these parts [Middle East] and he will dry the roots of all injustice in the world,” the hard-line president said, addressing an audience of families of those killed during the 1980’s war against Iraq.
“They have devised all these plans to prevent the coming of the Hidden Imam because they know that the Iranian nation is the one that will prepare the grounds for his coming and will be the supporters of his rule."
"In Afghanistan, they are caught like an animal in a quagmire. But instead of pulling their troops out to save themselves, they are deploying more soldiers. Even if they stay in Afghanistan for another 50 years they will be forced to leave with disgrace -- because this is a historical experience," [Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said.]
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
Baby Jesus Crashes White House After All
Obama's Social Secretary Desirée Rogers, who refuses to testify before Congress concerning the White House security breech, organized the Obama homosexual Easter celebration, and tried to ban the traditional Christmas nativity scene.
-- From "The Spotlight’s Bright Glare" by Sheryl Gay Stolberg, New York Times 12/6/09
Heads turned in the nation’s capital last January when a glamorous corporate executive from Chicago named Desirée Rogers arrived. Willowy and fashion-forward, with a chic pixie haircut, a designer wardrobe and a Harvard M.B.A., Ms. Rogers became the new White House social secretary — and promptly broke the dowdy mold for the job.
Now Ms. Rogers is in a different kind of nerve center: a Washington uproar over how a pair of aspiring reality television celebrities managed to get past the Secret Service to crash a state dinner for the prime minister of India. House Republicans demanded last week that she testify on Capitol Hill; the White House, citing “separation of powers,” refused. Suddenly, the social secretary has become the one thing no White House official ever wants to be: a distraction.
As social secretary, Ms. Rogers is responsible for every event that goes on in the White House residence, from the Easter egg roll to Christmas parties to visits from heads of state. . . . Gay families were included in the traditional Easter egg roll.
But Washington is a city that likes its traditions, and Ms. Rogers has raised a few eyebrows by trying to bend them. When former social secretaries gave a luncheon to welcome Ms. Rogers earlier this year, one participant said, she surprised them by suggesting the Obamas were planning a “non-religious Christmas” — hardly a surprising idea for an administration making a special effort to reach out to other faiths.
The lunch conversation inevitably turned to whether the White House would display its crèche, customarily placed in a prominent spot in the East Room. Ms. Rogers, this participant said, replied that the Obamas did not intend to put the manger scene on display — a remark that drew an audible gasp from the tight-knit social secretary sisterhood. (A White House official confirmed that there had been internal discussions about making Christmas more inclusive and whether to display the crèche.)
Yet in the end, tradition won out; the executive mansion is now decorated for the Christmas holiday, and the crèche is in its usual East Room spot.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Jesus Nearly Banned at White House Inn" by Eric Metaxas, FOXNews.com 12/7/09
. . . But the fact that it was going to happen reveals a level of political tone-deafness in the current administration that is staggering. To most average Americans -- who did not grow up in an Ivy-League, inside-the-Beltway hothouse governed by the rules of the French Revolution -- the idea of keeping Jesus out of "the people's house" at Christmas evokes disturbing images of the Holy Family being turned away from the Inn, or worse yet, images of Herod. But to a super-secular White House afraid to offend anyone -- except for average Americans -- it probably just seemed like another fab "progressive" innovation.
If President Obama wanted to fuel the fears of every serious Christian in America and actually prove that he is every bad thing they've ever heard about him on every crazy Web site, the idea of symbolically taking Jesus out of the White House at Christmas would be just the ticket!
Let's face it: "Brand Obama" dodged a bullet by not going forward with this terrible idea, but only barely dodged it. After all, the facts of the story are right there in The New York Times for all to see.
To read the entire column above, CLICK HERE.
-- From "The Spotlight’s Bright Glare" by Sheryl Gay Stolberg, New York Times 12/6/09
Heads turned in the nation’s capital last January when a glamorous corporate executive from Chicago named Desirée Rogers arrived. Willowy and fashion-forward, with a chic pixie haircut, a designer wardrobe and a Harvard M.B.A., Ms. Rogers became the new White House social secretary — and promptly broke the dowdy mold for the job.
Now Ms. Rogers is in a different kind of nerve center: a Washington uproar over how a pair of aspiring reality television celebrities managed to get past the Secret Service to crash a state dinner for the prime minister of India. House Republicans demanded last week that she testify on Capitol Hill; the White House, citing “separation of powers,” refused. Suddenly, the social secretary has become the one thing no White House official ever wants to be: a distraction.
As social secretary, Ms. Rogers is responsible for every event that goes on in the White House residence, from the Easter egg roll to Christmas parties to visits from heads of state. . . . Gay families were included in the traditional Easter egg roll.
But Washington is a city that likes its traditions, and Ms. Rogers has raised a few eyebrows by trying to bend them. When former social secretaries gave a luncheon to welcome Ms. Rogers earlier this year, one participant said, she surprised them by suggesting the Obamas were planning a “non-religious Christmas” — hardly a surprising idea for an administration making a special effort to reach out to other faiths.
The lunch conversation inevitably turned to whether the White House would display its crèche, customarily placed in a prominent spot in the East Room. Ms. Rogers, this participant said, replied that the Obamas did not intend to put the manger scene on display — a remark that drew an audible gasp from the tight-knit social secretary sisterhood. (A White House official confirmed that there had been internal discussions about making Christmas more inclusive and whether to display the crèche.)
Yet in the end, tradition won out; the executive mansion is now decorated for the Christmas holiday, and the crèche is in its usual East Room spot.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Jesus Nearly Banned at White House Inn" by Eric Metaxas, FOXNews.com 12/7/09
. . . But the fact that it was going to happen reveals a level of political tone-deafness in the current administration that is staggering. To most average Americans -- who did not grow up in an Ivy-League, inside-the-Beltway hothouse governed by the rules of the French Revolution -- the idea of keeping Jesus out of "the people's house" at Christmas evokes disturbing images of the Holy Family being turned away from the Inn, or worse yet, images of Herod. But to a super-secular White House afraid to offend anyone -- except for average Americans -- it probably just seemed like another fab "progressive" innovation.
If President Obama wanted to fuel the fears of every serious Christian in America and actually prove that he is every bad thing they've ever heard about him on every crazy Web site, the idea of symbolically taking Jesus out of the White House at Christmas would be just the ticket!
Let's face it: "Brand Obama" dodged a bullet by not going forward with this terrible idea, but only barely dodged it. After all, the facts of the story are right there in The New York Times for all to see.
To read the entire column above, CLICK HERE.
Monday, December 07, 2009
Environmentalist 'Christians' Say Man Controls Nature, Not God
The liberal National Council of Churches says about 100 religious representatives from the United States will attend the climate summit in Copenhagen this week to 'witness' to the necessity for mankind to change the climate trends of the earth (as designed by God) because Al Gore has convinced them.
UPDATE 12/10/09: Climate: The new god of left-wing Christianity
-- From "Religious groups active in climate debate" by Brian Winter, USA Today 12/7/09
. . . religious leaders in Copenhagen will include Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury and spiritual head of the Church of England and the worldwide Anglican Communion; Richard Cizik, a former vice president of the National Association of Evangelicals; Jim Ball, head of the Evangelical Environmental Network; South African cleric and Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu; and representatives from the National Council of Churches (NCC), which encompasses more than 100,000 Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical and other congregations with 45 million members across the USA.
There is a wide range of views among — and within — different faiths as to the fundamental questions in the environmental debate: to what extent climate change is occurring, whether human activity is responsible for it, and what, if anything, should be done as a result.
Some are actively pushing against Copenhagen's agenda.
E. Calvin Breisner, a founder of the Cornwall Alliance, a coalition of clergy, scientists and academics, says recent data show the human role in causing global warming is minimal or non-existent. Religious figures who say otherwise, without a full background in science and economics, "risk an abuse of their moral authority," Breisner says.
If anyone can help move the debate, it's faith-based leaders, says Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.
"This is a very religious country. God the Creator still does better in polls than any politician," says Lieberman, who backs legislation to mandate lower carbon emissions. He says he first began to embrace the environmental cause 20 years ago because of his own spiritual beliefs.
Ball's pet cause is a proposal for rich countries, including the USA, to send poorer countries money — at least $10 billion a year will be needed, the U.N.'s Ban says. The funds would help the countries overhaul their economies to pollute less, and cope with possible consequences of climate change such as lower agricultural yields, or rising seas that could devastate island nations.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
UPDATE 12/10/09: Climate: The new god of left-wing Christianity
-- From "Religious groups active in climate debate" by Brian Winter, USA Today 12/7/09
. . . religious leaders in Copenhagen will include Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury and spiritual head of the Church of England and the worldwide Anglican Communion; Richard Cizik, a former vice president of the National Association of Evangelicals; Jim Ball, head of the Evangelical Environmental Network; South African cleric and Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu; and representatives from the National Council of Churches (NCC), which encompasses more than 100,000 Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical and other congregations with 45 million members across the USA.
There is a wide range of views among — and within — different faiths as to the fundamental questions in the environmental debate: to what extent climate change is occurring, whether human activity is responsible for it, and what, if anything, should be done as a result.
Some are actively pushing against Copenhagen's agenda.
E. Calvin Breisner, a founder of the Cornwall Alliance, a coalition of clergy, scientists and academics, says recent data show the human role in causing global warming is minimal or non-existent. Religious figures who say otherwise, without a full background in science and economics, "risk an abuse of their moral authority," Breisner says.
If anyone can help move the debate, it's faith-based leaders, says Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.
"This is a very religious country. God the Creator still does better in polls than any politician," says Lieberman, who backs legislation to mandate lower carbon emissions. He says he first began to embrace the environmental cause 20 years ago because of his own spiritual beliefs.
Ball's pet cause is a proposal for rich countries, including the USA, to send poorer countries money — at least $10 billion a year will be needed, the U.N.'s Ban says. The funds would help the countries overhaul their economies to pollute less, and cope with possible consequences of climate change such as lower agricultural yields, or rising seas that could devastate island nations.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
Sunday, December 06, 2009
Vermont Judge Orders Child from Mother to Lesbian
The court ruling granted sole custody of a Christian girl to a lesbian ex-partner of the girl's mother.
UPDATE 8/17/12: Lesbian sues Thomas Road Baptist Church and Liberty University in custody debacle
UPDATE 8/12/12: Mennonite pastor on trial for helping mother & child escape lesbian's custody
UPDATE 4/24/11: Minister to testify in same-sex parent case
UPDATE 6/3/10: Mom and daughter flee U.S.
UPDATE 1/4/10: Lesbian Pursues Child Through Courts
UPDATE 1/2/10: Mother Defies Court Order
UPDATE 1/28/10: ABC News (Nightline) report
-- From "Judge grants nonbiological mom custody" by Anne D'Innocenzio, Associated Press Retail Writer 11/23/09
Family Court Judge William Cohen awarded custody of the 7-year-old to Janet Jenkins of Fair Haven . . . after finding the biological mother, Lisa Miller, in contempt of court earlier this year for denying Jenkins access to the girl.
Miller, who lives in Virginia and renounced homosexuality after the couple broke up in 2003, plans to appeal.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Lesbian awarded custody of Christian's only child" by Bob Unruh © 2009 WorldNetDaily 12/5/09
Mathew Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, told WND the recent order from the Vermont judge that Lisa Miller turn over her young daughter, Isabella, to the lesbian ex-partner, Janet Jenkins, on New Year's Day is being appealed.
In the interim, a separate court hearing on the dispute is scheduled to be heard in a Virginia court during this coming week.
Ultimately, he said, the issue probably will have to be resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court, because the case is being moved along parallel tracks in both Vermont, where Jenkins lives, and Virginia, where the Millers live.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
UPDATE 8/17/12: Lesbian sues Thomas Road Baptist Church and Liberty University in custody debacle
UPDATE 8/12/12: Mennonite pastor on trial for helping mother & child escape lesbian's custody
UPDATE 4/24/11: Minister to testify in same-sex parent case
UPDATE 6/3/10: Mom and daughter flee U.S.
UPDATE 1/4/10: Lesbian Pursues Child Through Courts
UPDATE 1/2/10: Mother Defies Court Order
UPDATE 1/28/10: ABC News (Nightline) report
-- From "Judge grants nonbiological mom custody" by Anne D'Innocenzio, Associated Press Retail Writer 11/23/09
Family Court Judge William Cohen awarded custody of the 7-year-old to Janet Jenkins of Fair Haven . . . after finding the biological mother, Lisa Miller, in contempt of court earlier this year for denying Jenkins access to the girl.
Miller, who lives in Virginia and renounced homosexuality after the couple broke up in 2003, plans to appeal.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Lesbian awarded custody of Christian's only child" by Bob Unruh © 2009 WorldNetDaily 12/5/09
Mathew Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, told WND the recent order from the Vermont judge that Lisa Miller turn over her young daughter, Isabella, to the lesbian ex-partner, Janet Jenkins, on New Year's Day is being appealed.
In the interim, a separate court hearing on the dispute is scheduled to be heard in a Virginia court during this coming week.
Ultimately, he said, the issue probably will have to be resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court, because the case is being moved along parallel tracks in both Vermont, where Jenkins lives, and Virginia, where the Millers live.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
L.A. Episcopal Church Elects Lesbian as Bishop
Among a field of six candidates, ECUSA clergy and lay leaders of the Diocese of Los Angeles elevated a woman engaged in a 21-year sexually deviant lifestyle to its highest ordained ministry, as leader of 70,000 churchgoers.
UPDATE 12/7/09: Episcopal Church USA 'Thumbs Nose' at Anglican Communion
-- From "L.A. Episcopal Diocese elects openly gay bishop" by Larry B. Stammer and Paul Pringle, Los Angeles Times 12/6/09
[Mary D.] Glasspool's election to fill one of two openings for suffragan, or assistant, bishop followed the selection Friday of the Rev. Canon Diane M. Jardine Bruce, 53, the rector of a San Clemente church.
The two became the first women elected as bishops of the diocese in its 114-year history.
Glasspool is the first openly gay priest to be elected bishop since the Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire in 2003.
Robinson's election threw the church and the Anglican Communion into an uproar, prompting the members of dozens of conservative parishes and four dioceses to vote to leave the church. It also led to the moratorium on additional gay bishops.
The Rev. Kendall Harmon, canon theologian for the South Carolina diocese, said in a statement that Saturday's decision "represents an intransigent embrace of a pattern of life Christians throughout history and the world have rejected as against biblical teaching. . . . It will continue to do damage to the Anglican Communion and her relationship with our ecumenical partners."
Members of the four breakaway [ECUSA] dioceses and some of the dissident parishes aligned themselves with conservative Anglican bishops in Africa and South America.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
UPDATE 12/7/09: Episcopal Church USA 'Thumbs Nose' at Anglican Communion
-- From "L.A. Episcopal Diocese elects openly gay bishop" by Larry B. Stammer and Paul Pringle, Los Angeles Times 12/6/09
[Mary D.] Glasspool's election to fill one of two openings for suffragan, or assistant, bishop followed the selection Friday of the Rev. Canon Diane M. Jardine Bruce, 53, the rector of a San Clemente church.
The two became the first women elected as bishops of the diocese in its 114-year history.
Glasspool is the first openly gay priest to be elected bishop since the Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire in 2003.
Robinson's election threw the church and the Anglican Communion into an uproar, prompting the members of dozens of conservative parishes and four dioceses to vote to leave the church. It also led to the moratorium on additional gay bishops.
The Rev. Kendall Harmon, canon theologian for the South Carolina diocese, said in a statement that Saturday's decision "represents an intransigent embrace of a pattern of life Christians throughout history and the world have rejected as against biblical teaching. . . . It will continue to do damage to the Anglican Communion and her relationship with our ecumenical partners."
Members of the four breakaway [ECUSA] dioceses and some of the dissident parishes aligned themselves with conservative Anglican bishops in Africa and South America.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
Saturday, December 05, 2009
Calif. Judge Labels Christian Parents 'Bigots'
Parents simply want the right to be notified in advance of homosexual indoctrination at school, and to opt-out their children, at Alameda Unified School District
-- From "Judge Slams Parents as “Bigots” for Opposing Gay Curriculum" by Pacific Justice Institute, Defending Rights 12/2/09
[Pacific Justice Institute] Chief Counsel Kevin Snider argued in Alameda Superior Court today on behalf of parents seeking to enforce a provision of the California Education Code that gives parents the right to opt their kids out of health education. Alameda Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch lambasted the parents, repeatedly insinuating that they are bigots and insisting there can be no homosexual indoctrination because people are born that way. The judge equated a view contrary to his own with creationism and called both false.
The legal battle over Alameda's anti-bullying curriculum has intensified in recent weeks. Leading up to today's hearing, attorneys for the school district grilled parents in depositions about their religious beliefs. Parents were asked numerous questions about church attendance, sermons they had heard against homosexuality, and whether they were aware that the Bible had been used to defend racism and oppression.
PJI Chief Counsel Kevin Snider commented on today's hearing, "We believe that this ruling against parents is inconsistent with the Education Code, and we are looking forward to continuing this battle until opt-out rights are restored on appeal, or the curriculum is changed." Snider emphasized that the parents who filed suit support comprehensive anti-bullying instruction; however, they oppose the current elementary curriculum that focuses almost exclusively on homosexuality. School records released by Alameda Unified School District show that bullying based on race and gender is far more prevalent in AUSD than sexual orientation harassment.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
-- From "Judge Slams Parents as “Bigots” for Opposing Gay Curriculum" by Pacific Justice Institute, Defending Rights 12/2/09
[Pacific Justice Institute] Chief Counsel Kevin Snider argued in Alameda Superior Court today on behalf of parents seeking to enforce a provision of the California Education Code that gives parents the right to opt their kids out of health education. Alameda Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch lambasted the parents, repeatedly insinuating that they are bigots and insisting there can be no homosexual indoctrination because people are born that way. The judge equated a view contrary to his own with creationism and called both false.
The legal battle over Alameda's anti-bullying curriculum has intensified in recent weeks. Leading up to today's hearing, attorneys for the school district grilled parents in depositions about their religious beliefs. Parents were asked numerous questions about church attendance, sermons they had heard against homosexuality, and whether they were aware that the Bible had been used to defend racism and oppression.
PJI Chief Counsel Kevin Snider commented on today's hearing, "We believe that this ruling against parents is inconsistent with the Education Code, and we are looking forward to continuing this battle until opt-out rights are restored on appeal, or the curriculum is changed." Snider emphasized that the parents who filed suit support comprehensive anti-bullying instruction; however, they oppose the current elementary curriculum that focuses almost exclusively on homosexuality. School records released by Alameda Unified School District show that bullying based on race and gender is far more prevalent in AUSD than sexual orientation harassment.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
Palin's Special Child Threatens Abortionists
. . . her decision to carry to term her Down syndrome child established a special relationship with anti-abortion activists, and now . . . the leading figure of the anti-abortion movement.
-- From "Palin, anti-abortion star" by Ben Smith, Politico 12/4/09
. . . the most striking evidence of her son’s impact has been Palin’s book tour promoting her memoir, “Going Rogue.” As she descends from her tour bus or private jet to meet her fans, 19-month-old Trig has been a conspicuous presence — and generated a huge response. “There’s a lot of people who come through the line to see Trig instead of to see her,” says Jason Recher, a campaign aide who remained close to Palin and is now accompanying her on her book tour.
And those people, says Greg Mueller, a veteran anti-abortion political operative and former spokesman for Pat Buchanan, are getting a powerful message. “She’s going out there as a pro-life woman to say that there’s great joy in special-needs kids — and that we shouldn’t be aborting them.”
Though the anti-abortion movement remains strong and deeply rooted on the right, the recent conservative resurgence has been driven by anti-government sentiment — not by the abortion battle. Palin’s own ability to infuriate and delight often has more to do with her notions of patriotism and her views of the White House than with her place in the abortion wars. But Trig is part of what makes Palin so singular among conservative leaders.
Palin’s increased focus on abortion rights, an aide said, was driven by the passionate response to Trig during the final days of John McCain's presidential campaign.
[Abortionists'] antipathy to her is based on the belief that she should have had an abortion rather than bearing her son.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
-- From "Palin, anti-abortion star" by Ben Smith, Politico 12/4/09
. . . the most striking evidence of her son’s impact has been Palin’s book tour promoting her memoir, “Going Rogue.” As she descends from her tour bus or private jet to meet her fans, 19-month-old Trig has been a conspicuous presence — and generated a huge response. “There’s a lot of people who come through the line to see Trig instead of to see her,” says Jason Recher, a campaign aide who remained close to Palin and is now accompanying her on her book tour.
And those people, says Greg Mueller, a veteran anti-abortion political operative and former spokesman for Pat Buchanan, are getting a powerful message. “She’s going out there as a pro-life woman to say that there’s great joy in special-needs kids — and that we shouldn’t be aborting them.”
Though the anti-abortion movement remains strong and deeply rooted on the right, the recent conservative resurgence has been driven by anti-government sentiment — not by the abortion battle. Palin’s own ability to infuriate and delight often has more to do with her notions of patriotism and her views of the White House than with her place in the abortion wars. But Trig is part of what makes Palin so singular among conservative leaders.
Palin’s increased focus on abortion rights, an aide said, was driven by the passionate response to Trig during the final days of John McCain's presidential campaign.
[Abortionists'] antipathy to her is based on the belief that she should have had an abortion rather than bearing her son.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
Friday, December 04, 2009
Sarah Palin Witnesses Faith to America
Sarah Palin said the United States should rededicate itself to seeking God’s will, arguing that a humble spirit could help leaders get more answers on issues such as health care, energy and national security.
Click here to see more video from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
(Compare these Palin comments to the joint statement by America's Christian leaders.)
-- From "Sarah Palin meets with Billy Graham, calls for more Godly America" by News Services, St. Louis Post Dispatch 12/4/09
The video was released Friday by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, the 2008 Republican candidate for vice president said, “No one person has all the right answers. It takes a united nation, and it does take godly counsel, and it takes prayer and answers to prayer -- and a collective humble heart of a nation seeking God’s hand of protection and his blessings of prosperity. I think if we can get back to that, our country will be a safer, more prosperous and healthier nation.”
The former Alaska governor referred to an Abraham Lincoln proclamation that declared a day of national humiliation, fasting, and prayer.
She said the United States has been “touched by God” because the nation’s early leaders dedicated the country to God.
“If we could get back to that -- that humbleness, with that kind of contrite spirit -- I think that we would be able to be provided more of the answers to so many of the great challenges that we’re facing,” Palin said. “And these are huge challenges, whether we’re talking about health care, whether we’re talking about energy independence, whether we’re talking about national security measures.”
Billy Graham said . . . “I, like many people, have been impressed with her strong commitment to her faith, to family and love of country.”
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
Click here to see more video from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
(Compare these Palin comments to the joint statement by America's Christian leaders.)
-- From "Sarah Palin meets with Billy Graham, calls for more Godly America" by News Services, St. Louis Post Dispatch 12/4/09
The video was released Friday by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, the 2008 Republican candidate for vice president said, “No one person has all the right answers. It takes a united nation, and it does take godly counsel, and it takes prayer and answers to prayer -- and a collective humble heart of a nation seeking God’s hand of protection and his blessings of prosperity. I think if we can get back to that, our country will be a safer, more prosperous and healthier nation.”
The former Alaska governor referred to an Abraham Lincoln proclamation that declared a day of national humiliation, fasting, and prayer.
She said the United States has been “touched by God” because the nation’s early leaders dedicated the country to God.
“If we could get back to that -- that humbleness, with that kind of contrite spirit -- I think that we would be able to be provided more of the answers to so many of the great challenges that we’re facing,” Palin said. “And these are huge challenges, whether we’re talking about health care, whether we’re talking about energy independence, whether we’re talking about national security measures.”
Billy Graham said . . . “I, like many people, have been impressed with her strong commitment to her faith, to family and love of country.”
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
Calif. Principal Admits to Homosexual Indoctrination
When contacted by the media concerning parental complaints, the school administration re-grouped and stated that a teacher, inappropriately, arranged for a pro-gay organization to teach students, all without the knowledge of the principal.
-- From "California Junior High Principal Apologizes For Not Warning Parents About Pro-Homosexual Program for 8th Graders" by Penny Starr, CNSNews Senior Staff Writer 12/3/09
The principal and a teacher at Goleta Valley Junior High School in Santa Barbara County, California are apologizing to parents for not following school district policy relating to a pro-homosexual workshop given to 8th grade students in a leadership class at the school.
The controversial workshop was presented by “Just Communities Central Coast” in three, 45-minute sessions over three days. It included handouts defining homosexual terminology, including queer and transgender, and listed “heterosexism” as “oppression that ‘pushes down’ people who are LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender and questioning) and ‘pushes up’ people who are straight.”
The handout defines sexual orientation this way: “Refers to who we feel romantically and sexually attracted to and who we fall in love with.”
One page featuring cartoon-like figures and entitled “Gender & Sexuality Definitions: A Visual Map,” depicts a person's body with the heart area labeled as “sexual orientation” and the genital area labeled as “sex.”
A page entitled “Heterosexism” asks students to answer a three-part question: “How are LGBTQ people discriminated against or mistreated in the United States, in your local community and in your school?”
To read the entire extensive documentation of the indoctrination, including parents' comments, CLICK HERE.
-- From "California Junior High Principal Apologizes For Not Warning Parents About Pro-Homosexual Program for 8th Graders" by Penny Starr, CNSNews Senior Staff Writer 12/3/09
The principal and a teacher at Goleta Valley Junior High School in Santa Barbara County, California are apologizing to parents for not following school district policy relating to a pro-homosexual workshop given to 8th grade students in a leadership class at the school.
The controversial workshop was presented by “Just Communities Central Coast” in three, 45-minute sessions over three days. It included handouts defining homosexual terminology, including queer and transgender, and listed “heterosexism” as “oppression that ‘pushes down’ people who are LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender and questioning) and ‘pushes up’ people who are straight.”
The handout defines sexual orientation this way: “Refers to who we feel romantically and sexually attracted to and who we fall in love with.”
One page featuring cartoon-like figures and entitled “Gender & Sexuality Definitions: A Visual Map,” depicts a person's body with the heart area labeled as “sexual orientation” and the genital area labeled as “sex.”
A page entitled “Heterosexism” asks students to answer a three-part question: “How are LGBTQ people discriminated against or mistreated in the United States, in your local community and in your school?”
To read the entire extensive documentation of the indoctrination, including parents' comments, CLICK HERE.
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Senate Leader Harry Reid Suddenly Claims Pro-life Mantle
Pro-life senators are optimistic that the Senate health care bill will fully limit federal funding of abortion, given Reid's new statement (apparently he's noticed the latest polls showing most Americans are pro-life).
-- From "Harry Reid Responds to Critics of Abortion Funding in Senate Health Care Bill by Saying He Opposes Abortion" by Karen Schuberg, CNSNews.com 12/3/09
In an interview with CNSNews.com on Nov. 1, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said, “. . . I believe Harry Reid would be on our [pro-life] side on this.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), author of the Senate health-care bill that permits taxpayer dollars to go to insurance plans which cover abortion, responded to letters protesting the abortion funding in the bill with a letter of his own saying that he opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or when there is a threat to the life of the mother.
Reid’s health-care reform bill, which he released Nov. 18, allows the public option to include abortion coverage, permits federal subsidies to go to private insurance plans that cover abortion, and even mandates that the secretary of health and human services make certain that at least one insurance plan available in the insurance exchange where people will buy insurance with federal subsidies covers abortion. The abortion language in Reid's bill mirrors the abortion language that was in the House health care bill before it was superceded by an amendment sponsored by Rep. Bart Stupak (D.-Mich.) that prohibits any tax dollars from going to health insurance plans that cover abortion.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
-- From "Harry Reid Responds to Critics of Abortion Funding in Senate Health Care Bill by Saying He Opposes Abortion" by Karen Schuberg, CNSNews.com 12/3/09
In an interview with CNSNews.com on Nov. 1, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said, “. . . I believe Harry Reid would be on our [pro-life] side on this.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), author of the Senate health-care bill that permits taxpayer dollars to go to insurance plans which cover abortion, responded to letters protesting the abortion funding in the bill with a letter of his own saying that he opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or when there is a threat to the life of the mother.
Reid’s health-care reform bill, which he released Nov. 18, allows the public option to include abortion coverage, permits federal subsidies to go to private insurance plans that cover abortion, and even mandates that the secretary of health and human services make certain that at least one insurance plan available in the insurance exchange where people will buy insurance with federal subsidies covers abortion. The abortion language in Reid's bill mirrors the abortion language that was in the House health care bill before it was superceded by an amendment sponsored by Rep. Bart Stupak (D.-Mich.) that prohibits any tax dollars from going to health insurance plans that cover abortion.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
New York Senate Votes Down Same-sex Marriage Bill
Homosexual 'marriage' advocates were stunned today as the Democrat majority chose not to redefine marriage, despite receiving massive funding from the gay lobby.
-- From "New York State Senate Votes Down Gay Marriage Bill" by Jeremy W. Peters, The New York Times 12/2/09
The New York State Senate decisively rejected a bill on Wednesday that would have allowed gay couples to wed, providing a major victory for those who oppose same-sex marriage and underscoring the deep and passionate divisions surrounding the issue.
The 38-to-24 vote startled proponents of the bill and signaled that political momentum, at least right now, had shifted against same-sex marriage, even in heavily Democratic New York. It followed more than a year of lobbying by gay rights organizations, who steered close to $1 million into New York legislative races to boost support for the measure.
Senators who voted against the measure said the public was gripped by economic anxiety and remained uneasy about changing the state’s definition of marriage.
The defeat, which followed a stirring, tearful and at times very personal debate, all but ensures that the issue is dead in New York until at least 2011, when a new Legislature will be installed.
Senators who are considered politically vulnerable also voted almost uniformly against the bill, including four first-term Democrats. All but one of those whose districts border or lie within the 23rd Congressional District, where the marriage issue erupted in a recent special election, opposed it. In that race, a Republican who supported gay marriage withdrew after an uproar from conservatives in her district.
The state’s Roman Catholic bishops had consistently lobbied for its defeat, however, and after the vote released a statement applauding the move.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
-- From "New York State Senate Votes Down Gay Marriage Bill" by Jeremy W. Peters, The New York Times 12/2/09
The New York State Senate decisively rejected a bill on Wednesday that would have allowed gay couples to wed, providing a major victory for those who oppose same-sex marriage and underscoring the deep and passionate divisions surrounding the issue.
The 38-to-24 vote startled proponents of the bill and signaled that political momentum, at least right now, had shifted against same-sex marriage, even in heavily Democratic New York. It followed more than a year of lobbying by gay rights organizations, who steered close to $1 million into New York legislative races to boost support for the measure.
Senators who voted against the measure said the public was gripped by economic anxiety and remained uneasy about changing the state’s definition of marriage.
The defeat, which followed a stirring, tearful and at times very personal debate, all but ensures that the issue is dead in New York until at least 2011, when a new Legislature will be installed.
Senators who are considered politically vulnerable also voted almost uniformly against the bill, including four first-term Democrats. All but one of those whose districts border or lie within the 23rd Congressional District, where the marriage issue erupted in a recent special election, opposed it. In that race, a Republican who supported gay marriage withdrew after an uproar from conservatives in her district.
The state’s Roman Catholic bishops had consistently lobbied for its defeat, however, and after the vote released a statement applauding the move.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
Obama & Homosexualists Conspire to Defeat Marriage Nationwide
The Obama administration has repeatedly promised to the homosexualists that it would work to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), but its Justice Department is defending DOMA against a Massachusetts lawsuit, blaming Congress for DOMA.
Illinois residents: Click here to E-mail your own congressman to oppose the repeal of DOMA (takes less than 60 seconds).
-- From "Marriage battleground shifts to Massachusetts" by Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer 12/1/09
On one side are gay and lesbian couples who can't file joint tax returns, receive their partners' Social Security benefits or enjoy other rights that the government grants to opposite-sex spouses. They are joined by the state of Massachusetts, which says it is being forced by federal law to become an accomplice to discrimination.
On the other side is the Obama administration, which says the law it is defending is wrongheaded but constitutional.
The 1996 statute, the Defense of Marriage Act, prohibits the federal government from granting marital benefits to same-sex couples. Another provision, not challenged in the Massachusetts case, allows states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages legally performed in another state or nation.
The administration "believes that (the law) is discriminatory and supports its repeal," the Justice Department told the judge at U.S. District Court in Boston, where it will be decided if the case can proceed. But the Justice Department also said it will defend any federal law "as long as reasonable arguments can be made in support of its constitutionality." In this case, the department said, Congress was legally entitled "to provide benefits only to those who have historically been permitted to marry."
The Obama administration offered the same defense this year in answer to a California lawsuit that challenged the law, but that defense was never tested in court. Instead, a federal judge in Orange County dismissed the suit in August on the grounds that the plaintiffs, a gay couple, had previously filed suit in state court, which lacked jurisdiction.
The Massachusetts case is different. Assembled by Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, the group that won the 2003 case legalizing same-sex marriage in the state, and a battery of private lawyers, the suit features couples who have sought various federal spousal benefits - tax breaks, Social Security payments, employee health coverage - and have been turned down because of the Defense of Marriage Act.
Stanford law Professor Jane Schacter said both sides in the case have presented tightly focused arguments that steer the courts away from issues of gay rights and same-sex marriage, and toward state-federal relations and the scope of government authority.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
Read about bill (click here) in Congress to repeal Defense of Marriage Act.
Illinois residents: Click here to E-mail your own congressman to oppose the repeal of DOMA (takes less than 60 seconds).
-- From "Marriage battleground shifts to Massachusetts" by Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer 12/1/09
On one side are gay and lesbian couples who can't file joint tax returns, receive their partners' Social Security benefits or enjoy other rights that the government grants to opposite-sex spouses. They are joined by the state of Massachusetts, which says it is being forced by federal law to become an accomplice to discrimination.
On the other side is the Obama administration, which says the law it is defending is wrongheaded but constitutional.
The 1996 statute, the Defense of Marriage Act, prohibits the federal government from granting marital benefits to same-sex couples. Another provision, not challenged in the Massachusetts case, allows states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages legally performed in another state or nation.
The administration "believes that (the law) is discriminatory and supports its repeal," the Justice Department told the judge at U.S. District Court in Boston, where it will be decided if the case can proceed. But the Justice Department also said it will defend any federal law "as long as reasonable arguments can be made in support of its constitutionality." In this case, the department said, Congress was legally entitled "to provide benefits only to those who have historically been permitted to marry."
The Obama administration offered the same defense this year in answer to a California lawsuit that challenged the law, but that defense was never tested in court. Instead, a federal judge in Orange County dismissed the suit in August on the grounds that the plaintiffs, a gay couple, had previously filed suit in state court, which lacked jurisdiction.
The Massachusetts case is different. Assembled by Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, the group that won the 2003 case legalizing same-sex marriage in the state, and a battery of private lawyers, the suit features couples who have sought various federal spousal benefits - tax breaks, Social Security payments, employee health coverage - and have been turned down because of the Defense of Marriage Act.
Stanford law Professor Jane Schacter said both sides in the case have presented tightly focused arguments that steer the courts away from issues of gay rights and same-sex marriage, and toward state-federal relations and the scope of government authority.
To read the entire article, CLICK HERE.
Read about bill (click here) in Congress to repeal Defense of Marriage Act.
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Atheists Step-up Recruiting during "Holidays"
The American Humanist Association [AHA] is expanding its “Godless Holiday” advertising campaign to five major American cities this Christmas -- taking its message of a holiday season without religion nationwide for the first time.-- From "Let the publicity war begin: Atheists roll out new holiday ad" by John Kelly, Washington Post 11/24/09
. . . the American Humanist Association -- the atheistical folks who last year caused such a fuss when they plastered Metrobuses with ads that read: "Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness' sake."
This year's ads say: "No god? . . . No problem! Be good for goodness' sake." At the peak, 220 ads will run on Metro buses and 50 ads will run on Metro trains. With a $40,000 budget, the campaign has also bought ads on buses in New York, San Francisco, Chicago and Los Angeles -- plus a billboard in Idaho.
. . . The wording echoes a bumper sticker you might have seen: "No Jesus, No Peace. Know Jesus, Know Peace."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Atheist Group Takes ‘Godless Holiday’ Campaign Nationwide" by Matt Cover, CNSNews Staff Writer 12/01/09
AHA spokesman Karen Frantz told CNSNews.com . . . that while the campaign was not trying to do away with religion entirely, it was trying to break the “stranglehold” religious institutions have on public policy.
The ad campaign, which emphasizes that people can be morally good without being religious, aims at stopping religious people who “enforce” their views on others, she said. “Too often religion is used to enforce a narrow version of morality onto others who don't necessarily share it.”
A pro-Christian conservative group, meanwhile, told CNSNews.com that despite the AHA’s anti-holy day message, religious Americans shouldn’t be intimidated – and have every right to continue to celebrate Christmas proudly. But Christians also shouldn’t treat the atheist campaign with contempt.
“People of faith should view the Humanist displays at this special -- even holy -- time of year, with compassion,” said Kristi Hamrick, president of the Campaign for Working Families and spokeswoman for Gary Bauer’s American Values.
“Because of the blessings of liberty we enjoy as Americans, they certainly have the right to their strident displays of antagonism to faith. But at this time of year when so many of us are thanking God for our blessings, especially the blessing of his only Son come to earth for us, we need to pray for them.”
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
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