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AFA/ACTIVISM
The
head of the AFA affiliate in Michigan celebrated the results of
a drive to put a ballot initiative about traditional marriage before
voters in November.
Gary Glenn, AFA-Michigan president, was ecstatic to get a constitutional
amendment on the ballot, which would define marriage in that state
as being between one man and one woman. To place the issue before
voters, the proposed amendment needed 317,000 valid signatures.
Supporters of a coalition called Citizens for the Protection of
Marriage collected far more than that.
It was nothing less than a miracle, Glenn said. "One week
before the deadline, we were 150,000 signatures short of our goal
with little reason to believe it was possible, but we continued
to walk on faith, pray hard, and work hard," he said. "We
give God the credit for the absolute miracle of exceeding the number
needed."
National motto on the move
In North Carolina, the national motto, "In God We Trust,"
is literally on the move from the classrooms to the highways, after
the state’s House of Representatives recently passed a bill
allowing the motto to be placed on a new special license plate.
The license plate will not only display the national motto, but
it will also depict a yellow ribbon and the phrase, "Support
Our Troops." Just like other specialty plates, it will cost
an extra $30 added to the regular $20 license plate fee. Revenues
garnered from the plates will aid "families of deployed North
Carolina National Guard troops."
The bill, co-authored by Representatives Connie Wilson of Mecklenburg
County and Tim Moore of Cleveland County, is awaiting a signature
from Governor Mike Easley after its passage by the House in a 110-4
vote, thanks to the leadership of Shelby resident Tony Izzi.
"I was thrilled that it passed," Izzi said. "We
had been keeping our fingers crossed so when we got the news that
it passed, I was real pleased."
Izzi is an active member of AFA, and he enthusiastically supported
AFA’s initiative, begun three years ago, to push for legislation
requiring the posting of "In God We Trust" in the nation’s
1.5 million classrooms.
Izzi began his efforts by targeting various counties in North Carolina,
where he soon found approval in posting the motto. Izzi continues
his efforts as he vies for the passage of a law mandating the posting
of the motto at a state level similar to the initial law passed
in Mississippi.
The Star (Shelby, NC) 7/11/04
Coalition calls for
election prayer
The Presidential Prayer Team (PPT), a nationwide coalition,continues
to encourage Christians to pray for participants in the political
process.
The PPT, which now numbers more than 2.8 million
participants, was created to provide prayer support for the current
and all future presidential administrations.
The Web site (www.presidentialprayerteam.org)
has also launched a new effort called "Pray the Vote,"
which encourages Americans to pray for the upcoming elections. Pray
the Vote features online resources on the history of voting, offers
ideas on how a community can be engaged in prayer for the election,
and explains how groups can participate in "virtual prayer
rallies" on October 5 and November 1.
Gibson’s The Passion
continues to impact
For months before it debuted in theaters,
people were talking about producer Mel Gibson’s film The
Passion of the Christ. But six months after the fact, are people
still impacted by it?
That is what a recent survey tried to measure.
The Barna Group, a polling firm which specializes in religious and
moral trends in America, interviewed more than 1,600 people.
In terms of domestic box office revenue, The
Passion became the eighth highest grossing film of all time.
The Barna poll found that almost a third (31%) of adults in the
U.S. said they had seen the movie — a figure that the firm’s
founder, George Barna, expected to rise when the DVD and video came
out in late August.
What was the spiritual impact of The Passion?
The survey noted that 16% of respondents said the film had affected
their religious beliefs in a positive manner, while 18% said their
religious practices had been impacted.
"Overall, one out of every 10 viewers of
The Passion indicated that they had changed some aspect of
both their religious beliefs and practices in response to the movie,"
the report said.
However, while The Passion was predicted
to be the "greatest evangelistic tool" of our era, the
poll found that less than .001% had come to Christ as a result of
seeing the film.
"That does not negate the power of the
movie or the value of the message it sent," Barna said, "but
it does remind us that a single effort that is not adequately reinforced
is not likely to make a lasting impression."
www.barna.org,
7/10/04
HOMOSEXUALITY
APA endorses
same-sex marriage
The American Psychological Association
(APA) officially endorsed same-sex marriage at its annual convention
in late July, and called for "the repeal of all discriminatory
legislation against lesbians and gay men."
The APA, the nation’s largest professional
association of psychologists, issued a formal resolution claiming
that "discrimination and prejudice" is at the root of
the "exclusively heterosexual institution" of marriage.
It furthermore stated that such discrimination "detrimentally
affects [the] psychological, physical, social, and economic well-being"
of homosexuals.
The organization also adopted a resolution that
defended homosexual parenting, asserting that there "is no
scientific evidence that parenting effectiveness is related to parental
sexual orientation." The APA resolution called for the elimination
of "all discrimination based on sexual orientation in matters
of adoption, child custody and visitation, foster care, and reproductive
health services."
APA President Diane Halpern said, "We’re
going out on a limb, but we’re doing what we should be doing."
But David Blankenhorn, who heads up the Institute
for American Values, which supports traditional marriage, said the
scientific evidence clearly indicates that children do best with
their biological parents — both a mom and a dad.
"The whole social fabric depends on stable
marriages; how the next generation is raised depends on it,"
he said.
www.apa.org, 7/28/04;
USA Today, 7/28/04
Federal court upholds
‘gay’ adoption ban
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
split 6-6 and thus declined an appeal to rehear a challenge to Florida’s
ban on homosexual adoptions.
In January a three-member panel of the 11th
Circuit upheld Florida’s ban — the fourth time it has
been tested in court. The full court was asked to reconsider the
earlier decision.
"The law was enacted merely out of impermissible
hostility to gays and lesbians, and that kind of law violates the
Constitution," said Howard Simon, executive director of the
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida, which brought
the case on behalf of four homosexual men.
The ACLU said it may consider appealing the
decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
www.planetout.com,
7/22/04
Ex-homosexual NEA caucus
draws fire
Former homosexuals who attended the
annual convention of the National Education Association (NEA) were
denounced in strong terms by some of the delegates at the July gathering.
The Ex-Gay Educators Caucus, which is officially
recognized by the NEA, had an exhibit at the convention like other
organizations. According to The Washington Times, they distributed
literature that explained that scientific research has proven that
homosexuality is not "a fixed, inborn trait."
Homosexuals and those sympathetic to their agenda
condemned the Ex-Gay delegates. "I’m really offended that
you’re even here," said one delegate, who was a supporter
of the NEA’s Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Caucus.
Another delegate told the former homosexuals
that there was "a special place in hell" for them, and
yet another delegate said, "You might as well set up a Ku Klux
Klan booth right next to you."
Kevin Jennings, who founded the Gay Lesbian
Straight Education Network as a vehicle for getting a pro-homosexual
message into schools, was vehement in his opposition to the Ex-Gay
Caucus. "Ex-gay messages have no place in our nation’s
public schools," he said. "A line has been drawn. There
is no ‘other side’ when you’re talking about lesbian,
gay and bisexual students."
The
Washington Times, 7/27/04
PRO-LIFE
Substance abuse
linked to abortion
Substance abuse is a likely characteristic
of women who abort their first unintended pregnancy as revealed
in a report recently published by the American Journal of Drug
and Alcohol Abuse.
The report’s claims are based on data gathered
from 1,893 women over a nine-year period (1979-1988) through the
National Longitude Survey of Youth. The study examined the alcohol
and drug use of women following their first unintended pregnancy
— some of whom had an abotion and some of whom did not.
None of the women had a prior history of substance abuse.
The study revealed that the women who opted
to end their pregnancies through abortion are more likely to use
drugs and alcohol than those who carried their babies to term.
"The rate of substance abuse tends to be
related to how the unintended pregnancy is dealt with," said
Dr. James Reardon, who co-authored the report with James Cougle.
Cougle explained to The Washington Times about
the seriousness of psychological damage resulting from abortion
and said he believes women should be well-informed of such consequences
prior to terminating their pregnancies.
The damages and links between substance abuse
and abortion are reflected in the following findings:
Citizenlink,
6/24/04; www.washingtontimes.com, 6/24/04
Abortion, cancer linked
A new British study, published by
the British Journal of Cancer, is reinforcing what some in
the medical community already know: there is an indisputable abortion-breast
cancer (ABC) link.
The study yields an irrefutable link between
breast cancer and induced abortions. According to the Coalition
on Abortion/Breast Cancer, the findings of the study reveal "that
legally induced abortion is the best predictor of British breast
cancer trends."
Patrick Carroll, author of the study and research
director of the London-based Pension and Population Research Institute,
explained that nulliparous abortion is the best individual factor
for predicting breast cancer trends due to the procedure being "highly
carcinogenic."
According to the Coalition on Abortion/Breast
Cancer, Carroll’s claims are supported through the fact that
"Researchers have found that only one mechanism matures breast
tissue into cancer-resistant tissue — a third trimester process
in pregnancy called ‘differentiation.’"
When an abortion is induced, the full third
trimester is forfeited, thus hindering the breast tissue from reaching
a cancer-resistant state.
Although these findings are not a surprise to
some in the medical community, Karen Malec, president of the Coalition
on Abortion/Breast Cancer, said the National Cancer Institute continues
to ignore the ABC link. However, Malec describes the results of
the British study as being very powerful.
"We’re seeing a repetition; this is
just like the tobacco/cancer link," Malec said. "But this
study is important because we are seeing similar trends here in
the United States. We’re seeing trends where it’s the
youngest of three generations that is suffering the increasing incidence
of breast cancer."
In addition, Malec pointed out how the increase
in cancer in the youngest generation closely parallels the 1973
legalization of abortion.
"Women are dying because scientists have
covered up evidence of an abortion-breast cancer link for 47 years,"
Malec said. "It’s time to tell women the truth."
Coalition on Abortion/Breast
Cancer, 7/2/04; AgapePress, 7/9/04
Workers leave abortion
mill
Operation Rescue West (ORW) reports
that a Kansas late-term abortion nurse, fed up with the child-killing
business, has walked away from her job in the employ of notorious
abortionist George Tiller.
Yolanda Yoho had a significant role in the abortion
procedures performed at Women’s Health Care Services, Tiller's
clinic in Wichita. Among her usual duties was the particularly gruesome
task of post-abortion reconstruction of nearly full-term babies
dismembered by Tiller.
Reconstruction is done to make sure all of the
aborted baby’s remains have been removed from the woman’s
body, lest she develop a potentially lethal infection.
A source told ORW that Yoho found her work "disgusting"
and also that her decision to walk away from the abortion mill was
influenced by six months of pro-life prayer vigils that had been
held in her neighborhood.
And apparently Yolanda is not alone in her disgust.
Two of Tiller’s clinic managers have left the child-killing
business since ORW launched its "Year of the Rebuke" campaign
in January, and according to Cheryl Sullenger, the pro-life organization’s
outreach coordinator, the late-term abortionist has conducted fruitless
nationwide hunts for new recruits to replace his departing workers.
However, Sullenger says, "It seems few
are willing to become accomplices to the murder of innocent boys
and girls through abortion."
AgapePress, 7/15/04
RELIGION
UMC bishop
election shows church split
As the United Methodist Church (UMC)
elected 21 new bishops this year, there was good news and bad, according
to Mark Tooley of the Institute on Religion and Democracy.
Tooley said the good news was that, in the Southeast
region of the UMC, four of the six new bishops chosen are considered
theologically orthodox. A similarly good report came from the South
Central jurisdiction, in which three of four new bishops were orthodox.
"There are a lot of liberal United Methodist
clergy in the South and we do have liberal bishops," Tooley
said. "But by and large, those who were elected this time around
tended to be theologically orthodox."
However, in the Western, North Central and Northeastern
jurisdictions, Tooley said mostly liberal bishops were elected,
reflecting the "increased polarization" within the UMC.
AgapePress, 7/21/04
Cross removed from county
seal
"Keep the cross" became
the general consensus of a crowd of more than 1,000 supporters who
recently gathered inside and outside the chamber of the Los Angeles
County Board of Supervisors.
The five-member board, composed of three Democrats
and two Republicans, were divided over a decision that ended with
a vote to remove a cross from the county seal as a means of appeasing
the American Civil Liberties Union. The three Democrats voted to
remove the cross while the two Republicans voted to keep it.
The Democrats stood firm in their decision even
after two-and-a-half hours of public testimony in which the majority
of the speakers were in favor of keeping the cross.
Randy Thomasson, executive director of Campaign
for California Families (CCF), told the Los Angeles Daily News,
"Those who don’t respect the Constitution are doing everything
in their power to remove Christian values in society."
Thomasson views the First Amendment establishment
clause as prohibiting the government from creating its own official
denomination, while the free exercise clause guarantees the uninhibited
flow of religious expression.
Thomasson said, according to CNS
News.com, "This freedom includes the right of federal, state,
and local governments to respect and promote Christian symbols such
as the cross, or other religious values the people hold dear. It’s
the American way."
www.savecalifornia.com, 6/8/04;
www.cnsnews.com, 6/9/04
Schism still threatens
Anglican church
As liberal Anglicans continue to antagonize
Bible-believing members of their community, the shadow of schism
looms over the 77-million-member denomination.
Following last year’s consecration of openly
homosexual Rev. Gene Robinson as a bishop in the Episcopal Church
— the American branch of the Anglican denomination — England
now has added a second "gay" man to an important post.
Rev. Jeffrey John was installed as dean of St.
Alban’s Cathedral, a celebrated position in that country. John
was appointed as a bishop last year — prior to Robinson’s
consecration — but controversy over John’s appointment
led him to withdraw from consideration.
The issue of homosexuality was again pushed
to the forefront of the Episcopal Church in July, as North Carolina
bishop Michael Curry told churches in his diocese that they were
authorized to bless same-sex unions. Similar announcements were
made by Episcopal leaders in Nevada, Utah, California, Vermont and
Washington, D.C.
Dr. Kendall Harmon, a member of the conservative
American Anglican Council and canon theologian for the diocese of
South Carolina, said Curry’s move was discouraging to the many
Episcopalians in North Carolina who oppose homosexuality. "[I]t’s
going to further divide the diocese," he said.
Meanwhile, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams
caused more consternation among Anglicans by praising a new translation
of the Bible that encourages fornication, according to World Net
Daily. Williams said the new version, called Good as New, was a
book of "extraordinary power."
Good as New is filled with rather silly attempts
to make Scripture hip — such as calling Peter "Rocky"
and Mary Magdalene "Maggie." It translates passages in
ways that should only provoke ridicule, such as calling John the
Baptist, "John … ‘The Dipper,’" and changing
"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" to
"Take a running jump, Holy Joes, humbugs!"
However, it is when Good as New enters the realm
of doctrine that true Christians will be most disappointed.
In its translation of 1 Corinthians 7:1-2, for
example, where Paul commands believers to avoid fornication by entering
into marriage, the new translation has Paul saying: "My advice
is for everyone to have a regular partner." Several verses
later it says, "If you know you have strong [sexual] needs,
get yourself a partner. Better than being frustrated."
A review of Good as New in the London Times
said, "The new version, which Dr. Williams says he hopes will
spread ‘in epidemic profusion through religious and irreligious
alike,’ turns St. Paul’s strictures against fornication
on their head."
www.wnd.com,
6/24/04; AgapePress, 7/21/04; www.yahoo.com, 7/2/04
Small churches face same
problems as larger mainlines
Rev. Greg Williams, pastor of Clyde’s
Chapel Southern Methodist Church (SMC) in Batesburg, South Carolina,
is going into full-time evangelism because he sees the falling membership
and decreasing commitment in his denomination.
SMC’s situation reflects a parallel with
what is happening in many larger churches and mainline denominations.
The SMC has 110 churches and approximately 7,500 members scattered
across the Southeast, Maryland to Florida and South Carolina to
Texas.
"I will be the only evangelist in the whole
denomination," Williams said. "I really feel that God
wants me to go and help the churches that are struggling to regain
the vision and to preach the Gospel. I know that if we would challenge
people with the truth of the Gospel, people would respond. Unfortunately,
the church is not communicating that to people. It is the church’s
responsibility to lift up Christ."
Williams pastored in the United Methodist Church
before joining the SMC, where he has pastored for eight years. He
says he’s always had an evangelist’s heart. He cites 2
Timothy 4:5 where Paul admonishes the young pastor, "Preach
the word and do the work of an evangelist."
The SMC separated from the larger Methodist
denomination in 1940. Their Web site says the denomination seeks
to continue the doctrinal heritage of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
South and to spread the message of salvation and Biblical holiness
that John Wesley preached.
Integrated, effective
faith needs passion says banker/author
Businessman Roger Weldon says the
most powerful questions we can ask ourselves are: What am I passionate
about? What do I care deeply about? What is it that lights me on
fire and simply will not let me go?
Weldon is a bank city president, speaker and
author of Living the Abundant Life: Finding Passion and Purpose
in Faith, Family and Vocation. He writes of bringing faith,
family and work to an intersection that results in the abundant
life cited in John 10:10.
He believes there are men and women sitting
in the pews on Sunday who really want to know how to take their
faith to work with them on Monday morning. "But they don’t
necessarily know how to do that," said Weldon. "Sadly,
I believe that issue has been unresolved for so long that some of
them have stopped looking for an answer of how you do it. They just
go through the motions. They log their time at work. Work and church
become separate entities."
His book offers some guidelines to help people
discover their passions and learn how to maximize them within the
context of their faith. He also offers, from a layman’s perspective,
practical pointers for identifying and using one’s gifts in
kingdom work.
"This book is written," he says, "to
help you live the abundant life — to help you find out why
you are here." Learn more about Weldon’s writing and speaking
ministry at www.rogerweldon.com.
Former student wins
bias suit
A Christian and former college student
at the University of Wisconsin has prevailed in an eight-year court
battle over the way in which the school handled student fees.
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided
with Scott Southworth in his bias suit against the school, awarding
attorney’s fees to those who represented him.
Southworth filed a lawsuit against the university
in 1996, challenging the constitutionality of its funding system
for student groups. He and his legal counsel contended that the
University of Wisconsin was perpetuating a fee system that allowed
student funds to be directed toward certain student groups, based
on the views expressed by those groups.
Southworth’s attorney, Joshua Carden, said
the university seemed particularly biased against campus religious
groups. "You couldn’t get funding unless you adhered to
their ideas of what a good little student group should be,"
Carden said. "So the Socialist Party would get funded, the
Green Party would get funded — all of the left-leaning clubs
would get all kinds of funding. And if you were a Christian group
you couldn’t get any."
The court ruled that religious groups must be
funded just like political ones, and the university’s policies
must be altered to ensure that viewpoint discrimination does not
resurface.
AgapePress, 8/2/04
Music teacher claims
pay cut result of her religious objections
A music specialist employed by the
Idaho Falls School District #91 is suing the district for refusing
to accept graduate credits and cutting her pay after she voiced
personal religious objections to teaching rap and rock music. Kay
Bannister, who recently began her 36th year as an educator, teaches
music to approximately 2,400 students in Idaho Falls each year.
However, problems between Bannister and the
district began to surface four years ago when she was transferred
from junior high band director to elementary music specialist. As
band director, she was allowed to choose the music she taught. As
music specialist, most of the music is chosen for her, specifically
in regards to the annual fifth-grade musical performed for thousands
of Idaho Falls residents.
In the past, there were different means of selecting
the musical program that may or may not have included input from
the music specialists. More recently, the music specialists take
turns researching and choosing a suitable program.
"Since there are three music specialists
in the district, each one of us will get to choose the program once
every three years in rotation," Bannister said. "While
only one person chooses the musical to be performed, we often need
two of the music specialists to conduct it for performance and all
three of us to teach it to all of our assigned fifth-grade classes
for the year."
During the 2001-2002 school year, as part of
the selected school musical based on an American history curriculum,
Bannister was instructed to teach "The Pledge of Allegiance"
set to rap music and a Negro spiritual titled, "Good News,"
set to a similar beat.
Because of her strong religious objections to
this type of music, she voiced her concerns to the administration.
As a result, "I was verbally reprimanded and told to teach
this music. I refused as kindly as I knew how. I received an official
letter commanding me to teach and conduct the music. I again refused
quietly and kindly."
Within a month of her complaint and refusal,
Bannister’s credits from Bob Jones University, a non-denominational
university lacking national accreditation, were called into question
and soon deemed as unacceptable credits for furthering her advancement
on the pay scale. The district also cut her pay at that time.
"The pay cut happened directly during their
struggle to get me to teach music I objected to," Bannister
said. "They had been paying me for every credit I had submitted
to them from BJU since the day I was hired in August of 1997."
Although Bannister believes the pay cut to be
a direct response to her religious objections, the school district
told her that "the state only reimburses the districts when
credits are from an accredited institution."
However, Bannister said the superintendent acknowledged
that there was not a published document informing employees that
credits for pay increases must come from an accredited university.
Despite the acknowledgment, the school district
made only a compromise to reinstall her previous pay while still
refusing to accept the credits. An attempt at mediation is forthcoming
before proceeding to court.
"I will need a total of 24 new credits
before I can receive the next pay increase. In effect, they have
frozen my pay for years to come. It took seven years and thousands
of dollars to gain the 36 credits and [master’s] degree I received
from BJU. This has a significant effect on my retirement pay.
"My stand is small, but I will be heard,"
Bannister said.
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