Yet Another Successful Missile Defense Test

Yet another successful test of our missile defense system occurred yesterday.

From Reuters:

The U.S. military conducted a successful test of its system built to knock out long-range missiles that could be fired by North Korea or Iran, the Pentagon said on Friday.

The target missile for the test over the Pacific was launched from Kodiak, Alaska and an interceptor was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, officials said. The intercept took place at 3:29 p.m. EST.

This is the much-maligned (by the Left) "Star Wars" missile defense system that President Ronald Reagan put in motion...and helped bring down the Soviet Union because they could not keep up with us militarily or technologically. The Soviets finally came realistically to the negotiating table in the 1980s and desperately wanted us to give up Strategic Missile Defense (SDI), but Reagan refused.

President Bill Clinton essentially mothballed the program during his presidency like a good flower child, but President George W. Bush revived the program and has successfully brought segments of the system online.

This missile defense system, which could protect the United States from missile attacks from belligerent nations such as North Korea, China or Iran, is the one president-elect Barack Obama is on record stating he intends to slash.

He wants to gut a weapons system which could save millions of American lives, when it only costs a fraction of the more than $1 trillion dollars spent on unconstitutional social spending every year.

Liberals would rather leave our nation vulnerable in order to spend even more money to hire government to do things that people should be doing for themselves.

What in the world is wrong with the Left's priorities?!

24: Jack is Back

If you're a fan of the high-energy, bad-guy-blasting 24, you might enjoy this interview from Sky News with Kiefer Sutherland who plays chief bad-guy slayer Jack Bauer.

24 has been running for seven seasons now (doesn't seem that long), with Jack Bauer stopping terrorists from destroying America at every turn. A couple of weeks ago Fox showed a 2-hour "24" TV movie in preparation as a lead-in for the new season of 24 coming in January.

24:Redemption had Jack hiding in Africa from some of the bad guys in our government, but trouble found him there as well. Sounds like he'll be going back to the States in January to fight bad guys once more.

The History Behind Saint Nick

American Minute from William J. Federer

Greek Orthodox history tells of Nicholas being born to a wealthy, elderly couple in what is now Turkey in the year 280 AD.

When his parents died, he generously gave to the poor. Upon hearing that a merchant went bankrupt and that creditors were planning on taking the merchant's daughters, Nicholas threw some money in the window at night to provide a dowry for the daughters to get married, thus saving them from a life of forced prostitution.

When the father discovered who gave the money, Nicholas made him promise not to tell, thus inspiring the tradition of secret gift-giving on the anniversary of Nicholas' death, which was DECEMBER 6, 343 AD.

Nicholas became the Bishop of Myra, was imprisoned during Emperor Diocletian's persecution of Christians, and was freed by Constantine.

He attended the Council of Nicaea, helped write the Nicene Creed and preached against the worship of the fertility goddess "Diana" at Ephesus, resulting in her temple being torn down.

In the 12th century, when Muslims Seljuks invaders killed Christians and turned churches into mosques, the bones of Nicholas were shipped to Italy, thus introducing the traditions of Saint Nicholas to Western Europe and eventually America.

William J. Federer is a nationally recognized author, speaker, and president of Amerisearch, Inc, which is dedicated to researching our American heritage. The American Minute radio feature looks back at events in American history on the dates they occurred, is broadcast daily across the country and read by thousand on the internet.

Brown-Rendell harkens back to Hill-Thomas

BY STAR PARKER
FOUNDER & PRESIDENT
COALITION ON URBAN RENEWAL & EDUCATION

Wonder why, in a survey reported by the Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism, only 28 percent said they "believed all or most" of what they see on CNN?

CNN's Campbell Brown took three minutes of prime evening news time the other night to berate Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell for remarks, unwittingly made next to a live microphone, that in Brown's view were sexist.

Speaking, in what he thought was a private conversation, Rendell called the selection of Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano to head the Department of Homeland Security perfect "Because for that job, you have to have no life. Janet has no family. Perfect. She can devote 19, 20 hours a day to it."

Oh my lord. Brown ticked down her list of outrages. Would Rendell have said this if she were a man? How many women don't get hired because they have families? Do single woman get disproportionately stuck with the more "burdensome shifts"? etc., etc.

Unless you're looking for something, it's pretty hard to see anything derogatory or malicious in Rendell's remarks and, as his press secretary noted, he could have just as easily been talking about a man.

If Brown was actually interested in facts, she could have reported that Napolitano described herself, in a story in the Arizona Republic a couple years ago, as "just a straight, single, workaholic."

Ms Brown's journalism, of course, is really an agenda looking for a news hook.

She concluded her three minute lecture, putting fellow liberal Rendell on notice that "Your comments perpetuate stereotypes."

Now if we think back to the fall of 1991, we, and Campbell Brown, might recall some real character assassination and exploitation of stereotypes, in which Janet Napolitano played a lead role. That was when she was Anita Hill's attorney in the campaign to slander Clarence Thomas with sexual harassment allegations and derail his nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.

I recall that fall 17 years ago well, as I worked, as a young conservative activist, to bring black pastors from around the country to Washington in a show of support for the besieged nominee Thomas.

The campaign was defined by sleaze, and Janet Napolitano was certainly one of the quarterbacks.

Central to this campaign was a strategy to build off and exploit the worst stereotypes of black men as sexual predators.

The irregularities that made the circus possible are a national embarrassment. It is doubtful that it would even have seen the light of day had Anita Hill's supposedly confidential statement not been illegally leaked from someone on the Senate Judiciary committee to the press.

Several years later, Napolitano was confirmed as a US Attorney because the Senate confirmation committee was more deferential to her private conversations than Campbell Brown was to Ed Rendell's.

In those confirmation proceedings, Napolitano was questioned, and then left off the hook, regarding her off the record conversation, during the Anita Hill hearings, which caused witness and supposed Hill corroborator Susan Hoerchner to alter her testimony.

Hoerchner initially testified that she heard from Hill that she was being harassed by Thomas at a time before Hill was even working for him. Napolitano took Hoerchner aside, who then returned and said she couldn't remember when she heard Anita Hill's claim.

Fortunately, Clarence Thomas survived the brutal attack on his character and the country has had the benefit of a stalwart defender of our constitution on the Supreme Court. And, with the help of his important vote, it is no longer legal in our country to murder children through partial birth abortion.

However, thanks to Anita Hill and Janet Napolitano, a man's reputation is forever besmirched and grotesque stereotypes of black men perpetuated.

Despite CNN's stalwart efforts to spin the news to the left, Ed Rendell's benign remarks caused no similar damage to Janet Napolitano and she is spared the pain she has caused to others.

Star Parker is president of the Coalition on Urban Renewal & Education and author of the new book White Ghetto: How Middle Class America Reflects Inner City Decay.

Prior to her involvement in social activism, Star Parker was a single welfare mother in Los Angeles, California. After receiving Christ, Star returned to college, received a BS degree in marketing and launched an urban Christian magazine. The 1992 Los Angeles riots destroyed her business, yet served as a springboard for her focus on faith and market-based alternatives to empower the lives of the poor.

Unfair and Unbalanced: The Fairness Doctrine

The latest video from CitizenLink examines the oppressive idea of the Fairness Doctrine, and liberals' hopes of returning this plague to our broadcast land.

The so-called Fairness Doctrine began in 1949 and gained prominence in the late 1960s. It was an FCC regulation requiring that if one viewpoint was expressed in broadcast, the opposing view had to also be broadcast.

Such lunacy only sounds fair in the liberal mind, where such nutty ideas are thought up that liberals feel the need to force normal people to give them an audience.

President Ronald Reagan did away with the Fairness Doctrine in 1987, and liberals have been trying to bring this socialist fossil back since then, but especially since the ascendancy of talk radio, which is almost entirely conservative.

Why is it almost entirely conservative? Is it because the evil media moguls will only allow the conservative viewpoint on talk radio...or is it because nobody wants to hear that drivel on the radio?

The abysmal failure and subsequent bankruptcy of the liberal attempt at talk radio, Air America, provides perhaps the best answer to that obvious question.

But with liberals back in charge of Congress, and now the White House, many liberals are drooling pools of spittle at the thought of once again being able to mandate the broadcast of their un-American ideas back-to-back with conservative radio programs.

And you can bet the same oppressive standard would be applied to Christian radio.

Homosexual activists and apologists are already working hard to silence Christians from speaking out about the immorality of homosexual behavior. Colorado passed a law a few months ago that only allows men to use women's restrooms if they "feel like a woman," but also prohibits the publication of "discriminative" material that is critical of homosexuality.

It's a sure bet that if liberals succeed in getting the Orwellian Fairness Doctrine re-established, they'll ensure that the pro-homosexual, pro-abortion, anti-Christian message goes out on what will have once-been Christian radio.

In his Stoplight® video commentary, Stuart Shepard explains how the efforts by Democratic leaders in Congress to force the so-called Fairness Doctrine on talk radio are like a pesky salesman who keeps trying to sell you something you don't want.

The Stench of Big Government Out-Smells Tourist Stench

Senator Harry Reid may not like the stench of tourists in the U.S. Capitol, but the smell of unwashed taxpayers is nothing to the putrid odor of bloated, decaying government.

You know what they say about people living in glass houses, right? I think the same goes for people who live in houses of corruption and decay.


From our friends at Americans for Limited Government.

Giving the Gift of Death at Christmas

These barbarians at Planned Parenthood really are over the top, aren't they?

A few years ago, the nation's largest purveyor of death via abortion came out with Christmas cards that mocked the Christian "Peace on Earth" phrase with "Choice on Earth." At a time when we celebrate the birth of Christ, Planned Parenthood celebrates the death of millions of babies like Christ once was.

Now Planned Butchery has come out with gift certificates for Christmas. Yes, you can give the gift of death to someone. Maybe you could sign the card for your friend, "Thinking of you and the death of your little one during this Christmas season."

I imagine this kind of cold-hearted filth from Planned Parenthood stems from one of two things: (1) either their consciences are so seared that they don't see anything whatsoever wrong with this kind of garbage, or (2) their consciences are so seared that they just enjoy mocking life, Christianity and anything decent.

What's next: Christmas cards that, instead of saying "Merry Christmas" read "Deadly Christmas"?

These people (and I use the term loosely) are beyond pathetic.

And yes, they get taxpayer funding. Our government takes money out of your pocket and gives it to these savages. Something nice to think of at Christmas...

Fox News: A number of Planned Parenthood clinics in Indiana and Illinois are offering gift certificates for their services this Christmas. Officials say the vouchers enable people to give their loved ones "the gift of life" — that would help pay for annual checkups and birth control — but also can be used for abortions.

A Witness to So Much History

American Minute from William J. Federer

A signer of the Constitution licensed to preach. This was Hugh Williamson, delegate from North Carolina, born DECEMBER 5, 1735.

At age 24 he studied theology in Connecticut, was admitted to the Presbytery of Philadelphia and preached two years, visiting and praying for the sick, till a chronic chest weakness caused him to seek another career.

He traveled to London to study medicine, but not before seeing the Boston Tea Party, of which he testified before a Privy Counsel that if Britain did not change its policy, the Colonies would rebel.

Dr. Hugh Williamson was a Surgeon General, caring for wounded North Carolina troops during the Revolution.

He helped Ben Franklin conduct electrical experiments.

In 1784, during the Congress of the Confederation, Williamson helped write the Northwest Territory laws, forbidding slavery and "reserving the central section of every township for the maintenance of public schools and the section immediately to the northward for the support of religion."

In 1811, Hugh Williamson wrote "Observations of the Climate in Different Parts of America," giving scientific explanation for Noah's flood and the events of Moses' exodus.

He was buried at Trinity Church.

William J. Federer is a nationally recognized author, speaker, and president of Amerisearch, Inc, which is dedicated to researching our American heritage. The American Minute radio feature looks back at events in American history on the dates they occurred, is broadcast daily across the country and read by thousand on the internet.

Chambliss Credits Palin for Help in Senate Win

Yet another example of why the "mainstream" media has such visceral hatred for Alaska Governor Sarah Palin: she gets conservatives excited!

As I stated Tuesday night, Governor Palin helped put Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss over the top in the Georgia runoff--the runoff that thwarted Democrat hopes of a filibuster-proof majority in the U.S. Senate.

While the media and other liberals continue to pooh-pooh, malign and paint her as dumb as a moose, Palin continues to show that she is the beating heart of an otherwise disappointed conservative community.

And apparently Senator Chambliss thinks she's a big plus for the Republican Party, too!

From The Hill:

"We packed the houses everywhere we want. And it really did allow us to peak and get our base fired up."

Chambliss, who defeated Democrat Jim Martin 57 percent to 43 percent, said that he thought that popularity of the former GOP vice presidential nominee would endure.

"I mean, I can't overstate the impact she had down here," he said. "All these folks did a great job coming in. They all allow you did us to add momentum to where we were in the campaign. But when she walks in a room, folks just explode.

Chambliss called her "a dynamic lady" and said that she had a "great future" in the party.

Indeed she does!

While it's hard to tell...

READ MORE...

Homosexual Legislators Introduce Resolutions Opposing Prop. 8

Reprinted by permission of The Christian Post

By Lawrence Jones
Christian Post Reporter
Thu, Dec. 04 2008 08:19 AM EST

Two California lawmakers and openly gay members of the Legislature have introduced measures supporting the repeal of Proposition 8.

On Tuesday, state Sen. Mark Leno and state Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, both Democratic lawmakers from San Francisco, introduced concurrent resolutions that seek to put the California Legislature on record opposing Proposition 8, the state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage approved by 52 percent of voters last month.

The bills argue that the measure, which amended the California Constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman, was an illegal "constitutional revision" that should have been passed by two-thirds vote by both houses of the legislature before being submitted before voters.

But backers of the controversial measure contend it was an amendment that was legally enacted through the state's initiative process.

The non-binding resolution would put the state's lawmakers on record in support of arguments made in the lawsuits challenging Proposition 8.

Legal experts have said the resolution will unlikely affect the ruling by the California Supreme Court, which has agreed to hear the case in Spring 2009.

"This is the court's decision, not the Legislature's, just as whether you balance the budget is the Legislature's decision and not the court's," said Jesse Choper, the Earl Warren Professor of Public Law at UC Berkeley's School of Law, according to The San Francisco Chronicle.

Supporters of Proposition 8 accused the lawmakers of “grandstanding for the cameras.”

“You’d think that these legislators would be focused on resolving the budget deficit or improving the economy," said Ron Prentice, chairman of ProtectMarriage.com, which headed the Yes on 8 campaign. "Instead, they seem more interested in grandstanding for the cameras and thumbing their noses at voters who enacted Proposition 8 by a nearly 600,000 vote margin."

A new poll by the Public Policy Institute of California found that the measure received its strongest support from evangelical Christians (85 percent) and Republicans (77 percent).

Andrew Pugno, general counsel of ProtectMarriage.com, said he was confident Proposition 8 will be upheld.

"The Court is not swayed by meaningless legislative resolutions that have no bearing on the outcome of the court challenges," said Pugno. “This resolution adds nothing to the debate about the validity of Proposition 8."

The bills introducing the resolutions were supported by the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) Legislative Caucus and several gay rights groups including Equality California, which is behind one of the three lawsuits challenging the measure.

Forty-four state lawmakers have filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of lawsuits seeking to overturn Proposition 8. The three individual cases are Strauss v. Horton, Tyler v. Horton, and San Francisco v. Horton.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown and lawyers for the Yes on 8 campaign have until December 19 to submit arguments to the state Supreme Court explaining why the measure should be upheld.

In May, the California Supreme Court overturned a 2000 state law banning same-sex marriage. The passage of Proposition 8 reversed the court's ruling.

In addition to determining the validity of Proposition 8, the court is also expected to decide the fate of some 18,000 same-sex marriages that took place in the state.

Copyright 2008 The Christian Post. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Planned Parenthood Nurse Apparently Condones Rape of 13 Y.O.

Herald-Times(Bloomington, IN)

Planned Parenthood suspends employee after video on abortion counseling

A local Planned Parenthood employee has been suspended after the release of a video surreptitiously shot at a clinic which shows a woman who identifies herself as a 13-year-old being given advice that is a violation of the organization’s policies.
[…]
A press release, sent by e-mail today from liveactionfilms.org, identifies the video as being shot on June 24 by UCLA student Lila Rose. It shows a blond haired female and a nurse, identified as “Diana.” The nurse’s face is blurred during the interaction.

In the video, the “patient,” who is accompanied by another female identified as a friend, states that her name is Brianna. She tells the nurse she is 13 years old and has missed her monthly period. The nurse responds that anyone under the age of 13 needs parental consent to get an abortion in Indiana. “Brianna” further reveals that she doesn’t want to explain who the father is because he could get in trouble. She later says that the father is 31 years old.

In the video, which has breaks and cuts, the nurse advises how to lie about the father’s age. The “patient” is then shown a piece of paper which Rose alleges showed her that she could get an abortion in Illinois without parental consent.

Rose, who has done previous videos at Planned Parenthoods in Los Angeles, where she posed as a pregnant teenager under 18, is a 20-year-old history major. She said Wednesday that Indiana is just one of many states chosen by liveactionfilms.org for “audits.” She called Bloomington a “major” clinic in the state, explaining why it was chosen. She said she expects videos of other clinics will be released that show similar scenarios.

“In the vast majority of cases, you’re going to find sexual abuse cover-up,” Rose said in a telephone interview.

Rose said the scenarios are similar, in which a “young girl” purports to abort a pregnancy by a much older man. She said Indiana’s case is one of the more “severe” cases because of the extreme age differences.
[…]
Rose said one of the concerns she had was that the clinic advice directed the teen to avoid reporting the abuse, which put her back in the hands of her abuser.

This is not the first time that Planned Parenthood has been embarrassed by illegal and/or immoral behavior by employed staff. Why do they continue to get government funding when they have been shown to have utter disregard for not only the law, but for women in general?

Video at Metacafe.

Missionary Travels in the New World

American Minute from William J. Federer

Father Jacques Marquette arrived in Quebec from France to be a missionary among the Indians.

Governor Frontenac commissioned him to explore the unknown Mississippi River. He traveled by canoe from Lake Michigan, across Green Bay, up Fox River to the Wisconsin River and down to the Mississippi, where they floated as far as the Arkansas River, deciding not to go further for fear of Spaniards.

On their return trip up the Illinois River, Father Marquette founded a mission among the Illinois Indians.

Caught by the winter weather on DECEMBER 4, 1674, Father Marquette and two companions erected a rough log cabin near the shore of Lake Michigan. The settlement would afterwards grow into the city of Chicago.

In an account written by Father Dablon of the Society of Jesus, 1678, Marquette met with over 500 chiefs and "explained to them the principal mysteries of our religion, and the end for which he had come to their country; and especially he preached to them Christ crucified, for it was the very eve of the great day on which he died on the cross for them."

In 1895, the State of Wisconsin placed a statue of Father Jacques Marquette in the U.S. Capitol Statuary Hall.

William J. Federer is a nationally recognized author, speaker, and president of Amerisearch, Inc, which is dedicated to researching our American heritage. The American Minute radio feature looks back at events in American history on the dates they occurred, is broadcast daily across the country and read by thousand on the internet.

Mass. Govt Acknowledges Increased Homosexual Health Risks

My fellow Red County blogger Dr. Richard Swier brings our attention to fresh evidence of one of the best-kept secrets in health research: the increased health risks in the homosexual community.

I say "best kept secret" because if the same health risks associated with homosexual behavior were even hinted at for, say, drinking Diet Coke, or perhaps attending church more than once a week, the "mainstream" media would be shouting about it with megaphones from every available highest rooftop nonstop.

But since these health risks are linked to homosexual behavior--at protected, politically-correct behavior--there is, of course, a near-total media blackout concerning them.

Does the "mainstream" media really hate homosexuals, and just wants them to remain ignorant about the health risks associated with their behavior? One has to wonder...

Dr. Swier's post points to a report released last month by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health entitled "A Health Profile of Massachusetts Adults by Sexual Orientation Identity: Results from the 2001-2006 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Surveys."

Highlights of the report from the Department of Public Health include:

- The odds of being a current smoker were 2.5 times greater for gays and lesbians compared to heterosexuals.

- Bisexuals were 3.1 times more likely than heterosexuals to report feeling tense or worried.

- Lesbians were 2.2 times more likely than heterosexual women to be obese.

- Bisexuals were 4.4 times and gays/lesbians 1.5 times more likely than heterosexuals to report their health as "poor" or "fair."

Researchers found that in many cases the disparities were even greater for bisexuals than for gay/lesbians when compared with their heterosexual counterparts.

The report also says that bisexuals also face increased problems concerning "mental health and violence victimization."

For a state as liberal as Massachusetts to actually go to the trouble of investigating this health threat, and what's more, publishing a public report on it, surely indicates the extreme nature of the problem.

Another interesting aspect of the issue is that with Massachusetts' highly socialized health care system, these increased health risks caused by homosexual behavior are costing the taxpayers additional money. In other words, the taxpayers of Mass. are paying for the health consequences of homosexual behavior, whether they're engaging in the behavior or not.

As Dr. Swier points out, the report says the disparity between the health of homosexuals and heterosexuals needs to be reduced or eliminated. Yet there doesn't seem to be any sort of suggestion about reducing or eliminating the behavior which is causing the increased health problems.

Can you imagine such a response to smoking related illnesses? Just smoke a lower-tar cigarette! Use a better filter! That lung cancer and emphysema have nothing to do with the pack you smoked every day! It's only Right-wing Christian propaganda! Just practice safe smoking! Give them more access to health care! They have a right to smoke! God created them to be smokers! After all, they can't quit...and suggesting they can quit is just bigoted "hate speech," right?

The hypocrisy is amazing and the silence from media and government officials is deafening!

When I frequently try to point out the increased health risks associated with homosexual behavior (such as AIDS, several other STDs, hepatitis, anal cancer, depression, substance abuse, suicide and domestic violence), homosexual activists almost invariably try to disregard them under the claim that such statistics come from some "right wing" or "Christian" source that is "biased." When I point out that much of the information I cite about homosexual behavior comes from sources such as the New England Journal of Medicine, The Gay Report, the Department of Justice, the Handbook of Family Development and Intervention, the American Sociological Review, the Archives of General Psychology, the Handbook of Family Diversity, the Washington Blade, the Journal of Sex Research and other non-religious and non-conservative sources, silence invariably follows...or a different angle of attack on the truth about an obviously immoral, unnatural and unhealthy sexual practice. Some would rather risk their health and life than alter their behavior.

What spin will homosexual activists and apologists contrive to avoid the unpleasant truth contained in this government report?

How long will the "mainstream" "objective" media ignore its duty to report fully and truthfully on such issues of public health and safety?

How long will homosexual activists pretend the emperor's clothes are just wonderful...as homosexuals caught up in this behavior continue to suffer and die premature deaths?

Capitol Visitor Center Mangles Constitution, Historical Perspective

CitizenLink's latest Turn Signal video highlights the new U.S. Capitol Visitor Center (the one which will save Senator Harry Reid's delicate nostrils) and some important areas in which the $621 million taxpayer-funded facility is deficient.

For instance, builders got the national motto wrong. They engraved "E Pluribus Unum" in marble, when it should have been "In God We Trust."

The Pledge of Allegiance was also given the cold shoulder (too--gasp!--Christian for some?).

The center also refers to the "delegated powers" in the Constitution as "aspirations." This liberal distortion of the Constitution implies that rather than a document of enumerated powers and limited government, it is one where congress seeks to empower government to the fullest extent possible--limited only by our "aspirations."

Taxpayer-funded historical revisionism at it's liberal best!

The multimillion-dollar center has opened -- with glaring omissions and an interpretation of the Constitution many find troubling.

2007 South Dakota Abortion Statistics Released

The South Dakota Department of Health has now released the abortion statistics for 2007.

Abortionists are required by state law to record and report statistics on abortions performed in South Dakota.

The latest report showed some changes but no major ones.

The number of abortions performed in 2007 dropped by 7% to 707 from the previous year; that's 41 less lives taken in 2007 than in the previous year.

The reasons women gave for obtaining an abortion changed some, but not by any major factors.

As has been the case as long as statistics have been kept, the #1 reason for abortion in South Dakota is "The mother did not desire to have the child" at 83.2%. In 2006 it was 84.6%.

In South Dakota's latest abortion ban which was voted down last month, exceptions were provided for the life of the mother, the health of the mother, rape and incest. In 2007, only 1.7% were done for the reason "The mother would suffer substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function if the pregnancy continued;" requirements to demonstrate this risk are not currently clearly defined as they were in the 2008 bill. Rape and incest abortions made up 1.7% of the total; in 2006 the number was 0.4%.

The statistics indicated that in 2007 "fetal abnormalities" were present in 1.3% of the abortions. The report does not elaborate on the nature and severity of these abnormalities.

Most of the abortions (225) were done at 8 weeks gestation. At this stage of development, the unborn child has a beating heart, blood is flowing through their veins, and the eyes and lungs and arms and legs and fingers and toes are starting to form. Evidence is growing that unborn children may feel pain at as little as 7 weeks development. A little more than 1% of the abortions in 2007 were done at 14 weeks or more.

Many of the abortions done in 2007 were repeat abortions, with 21.1% having had one previous abortion and 8.3% having had more than one previous abortion.

Some 309, or 44%, of abortions in 2007 were performed on women with no living children, and 5% done on women with four or more living children.

Clearly the overwhelming majority of abortions in South Dakota are still being done as retroactive birth control. Obviously more needs to be done to save the lives of over 700 children a year being sacrificed on the altar of convenience.

Bible-Believing Episcopalians Split, Form New Denomination

The Episcopalian denomination, like many Protestant denominations, has been in the throes of a battle with liberal elements who prize politically correct pop-culture doctrine over God's word. And as has happened in some other denominations, the liberals have gained control of the Episcopal denomination.

One of the most egregious abandonments of truth in the Episcopal Church has been the embrace of homosexuality. The Bible is very clear in both Old and New Testaments that God's design for the expression of human sexuality is between a man and a woman in marriage. The Bible is equally clear that God does not approve of homosexual behavior, as it is clearly a violation of that design.

Yet the Episcopal denomination has gone so far as to appoint the openly and militantly homosexual V. Gene Robinson as the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire.

The Episcopal Church is the American branch of the Anglican Church, with its roots in the Church of England. The worldwide body of Anglicans has for the last year or so struggled to maintain its allegiance to Biblical truth while avoiding a total split with the apostate American branch.

But now a split has happened. Those in the Episcopal Church who have more loyalty to the Bible than political correctness have announced the formation of a new denomination of conservative Episcopalians called the Anglican Church in North America.

The new denomination will include four Episcopal dioceses that recently split from the U.S. church, along with breakaway Anglican parishes from Canada.

From Fox News:

The announcement Wednesday in Wheaton, Ill., comes after decades of debate over what Episcopalians should believe about issues ranging from salvation to sexuality. Tensions erupted in 2003 when Episcopalians consecrated the first openly gay bishop.

It's sad that Bible-believing Episcopalians weren't able to regain control over the denomination. But at least honor has been restored to a segment of the Anglican presence in North America.

The apostate Episcopalians would do well to take a long, hard look at what their embrace of sin has wrought. Maybe if they take an honest look at their loyalties and repent soon, the Episcopalian denomination could be brought back together before too much time has passed.

But when such an advanced state of apostasy has transpired, repentance is against the odds, so I won't hold my breath.

Kudos, though, to the Episcopalians who have clearly declared where their loyalty lies: with God.

Chambliss: Governor Palin 'Allowed Us to Peak'

Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss giving credit where credit is due.

Evolution Disciples Force Break in Cooperation Between Zoo, Creation Museum

Reprinted by permission of The Christian Post

By Eric Young
Christian Post Reporter
Wed, Dec. 03 2008 09:24 AM EST

A high volume of complaints have forced the Cincinnati Zoo to pull out of a special business partnership with the Creation Museum in nearby Petersburg, Ky., after running for less than three days.

The two institutions had come together to offer a special ticket package that gave visitors the opportunity to drop in on both at a discounted rate while promoting one another at the same time.

According to the Creation Museum’s founder, Ken Ham, however, the zoo received hundreds of complaints, many of which were opposed to the faith and ideas that the museum presents.

“It’s a pity that intolerant people have pushed for our expulsion simply because of our Christian faith,” Ham said, expressing disappointment in the zoo’s decision but also understanding of its perspective.

“Some of their comments on blogs reveal great intolerance for anything having to do with Christianity,” he added.

The Creation Museum, which cost $27 million to build, is a 60,000-square foot facility that opened last year in May and revived the creation/evolution debate among Young Earth creationists, Old Earth creationists, anti-creationism evolutionists, and theistic evolutionists.

Packed with high-tech exhibits that include animatronic dinosaurs and a huge wooden ark, the museum attempts to align the Bible’s literal account of creation with natural history. The museum’s founder, like many other Young Earth creationists, believes dinosaurs appeared on the same day God created other land animals.

Critics, however, both non-Christians and Christians who are against a literal interpretation of the Bible on life origins, have protested and spoke out against the anti-evolution display, worried that their children will be affected. The controversy garnered the new exhibit a large amount of media coverage.

“Frankly, we are used to this kind of criticism from our opponents,” Ham said regarding the latest controversy, “and so being ‘expelled’ like this is not a huge surprise.”

Despite the zoo’s decision, Ham said his museum would continue promoting the “excellent zoo” on its website and in printed material that is passed out inside of the museum.

“We are committed to promoting regional tourism,” he explained.

Furthermore, the museum will still provide $9 off of the ticket prices (the amount of the discount under the original agreement) from Dec. 2 to Dec. 11, with the exception of Saturday, Dec. 6. "Get the Museum/Zoo Discount Anyway," the museum website says.

Beginning on Dec. 12, the museum will have up its special Christmas display, which includes a live outdoor nativity scene and a special lighted “Road to Bethlehem” trail. Visitors to the museum grounds will also be met with hayrides, seasonal lights and decorations, holiday food, and events and activities for children. Inside the museum, there will be special Christmas exhibits including the Planetarium presentation “The Bethlehem Star.”

“We find the two – Creation and Christmas – go very well together,” says Creation Museum co-founder and spokesperson Mark Looy, “and we invite our guests to experience each in light of the other at our special ‘Bethlehem’s Blessings – A Christmas Celebration’ this December.”

Located near the Cincinnati Airport, the Creation Museum is a ministry of Answers in Genesis, a nonprofit Christian organization dedicated to confirming the validity of the Bible from the very first verse.

Since its opening in May 2007, the museum has seen over 600,000 visitors.

On the Web: http://www.creationmuseum.org/

Copyright 2008 The Christian Post. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas, Slackers!

Industry slackers are praying the government-god or Santa Claus will bring big taxpayer-funded gifts this Christmas season.

Exercising fiscal irresponsibility and then expecting the taxpayers to rescue you isn't capitalism, guys.


From our friends at Americans for Limited Government.

New Poll: McCain Voters Knew More About Candidates Than Obama Voters

You might remember that a few weeks ago a video put together by John Zielger at HowObamaGotElected.com came out which set the liberals howling with rage.

The video showed interviews with 12 people who were existing the polls after having voted for Barack Obama. In the video, we sadly see that the Obama voters knew all the media spin on Sarah Palin (none of which was accurate), but new none of the very real detractors about Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

The point Zielger was illustrating wasn't so much the ignorance of the average Obama voter, but that the "mainstream" media had fed Americans a truck-load of propaganda making the McCain-Palin ticket look bad while sanitizing coverage of Obama and Biden of anything negative.

The polling firm Zogby International also released a poll commissioned by Ziegler which found similar results.

Now, as you see in the video below, Ziegler has done what many wounded liberals howled that he should do: check out the McCain voters.

While the knowledge of the average McCain voter was woefully inadequate also...it was still far better than the Obama voters.

Some of the results posted at HowObamaGotElected.com:

Wilson Research Poll

The 12 "Zogby" questions were duplicated, one on the Keating scandal was added for extra balance. The results from Obama voters were virtually IDENTICAL in both polls.

Here are the highlights:

35 % of McCain voters got 10 or more of 13 questions correct.

18% of Obama voters got 10 or more of 13 questions correct.

McCain voters knew which party controls congress by a 63-27 margin.

Obama voters got the “congressional control” question wrong by 43-41.

Those that got "congressional control" correct voted 56-43 for McCain.

Those that got "congressional control" wrong voted 65-35 for Obama.

The results also show more information about the knowledge level of the voters based on what news sources they relied on for information during the election.

Our right to vote is of profound importance and should be exercised with the greatest of responsibility. That means each voter should take the time to learn about the candidates and the issues on both sides in order to cast their vote responsibly.

In aggregate, our vote affects the whole country, along with our safety, welfare, and the moral fiber of our nation. Voting should never be done lightly, casually, or ignorantly. Too much is riding on it.

We'll soon begin finding out what a vote based on profound ignorance has wrought the people of the United States.

U.S. Government Promoting Christianity

American Minute from William J. Federer

President Thomas Jefferson, author of the phrase "Separation of Church and State," asked Congress to ratify a treaty with the Kaskaskia Indians, which they did DECEMBER 3, 1803.

Negotiated shortly after the Louisiana Purchase by future President William Henry Harrison, the Kaskaskia Indian Treaty stated: "And whereas the greater part of the said tribe have been baptized and received into the Catholic Church, to which they are much attached, the United States will give annually, for seven years, one hundred dollars toward the support of a priest of that religion, who will engage to perform for said tribe the duties of his office, and also to instruct as many of their children as possible, in the rudiments of literature, and the United States will further give the sum of three hundred dollars, to assist the said tribe in the erection of a church."

Later in 1806 and 1807, two similar treaties were made with the Wyandotte and Cherokee tribes.

On April 26, 1802, Thomas Jefferson extended a 1787 act of Congress in which special lands were designated: "For the sole use of Christian Indians and the Moravian Brethren missionaries for civilizing the Indians and promoting Christianity."

William J. Federer is a nationally recognized author, speaker, and president of Amerisearch, Inc, which is dedicated to researching our American heritage. The American Minute radio feature looks back at events in American history on the dates they occurred, is broadcast daily across the country and read by thousand on the internet.

Proposition 8 Melee: Who's Being Intolerant?

This is the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) video put together of some of the outrageous behavior from homosexual activists after Californians voted for Proposition 8 to return marriage to the normal, natural definition: between a man and a woman.

Notice the "tolerance" from these homosexual activists as they rip a cross from an old woman's hands and stomp on it. Notice how they shout at her and prevent even the news reporter from interviewing her.

Notice too, the venom displayed by the homosexual activists in San Francisco toward a group of praying Christians they ran off the street. The Christians had to be escorted from the area by police for their safety. The police even had to push back homosexual activists on at least one occasion with their night sticks when they tried to get at the Christians.

This is what tolerance looks like? Somehow I doubt homosexual activists would like a dose of the "tolerance" they so often demand from others.

America, don't be intimidated by this hate and venom, and don't be seduced by the smarmy, hypocritical talk of "tolerance" (which really means, "Do things my way or we'll demonize you").

Marriage and family are too important to surrender on the altar of political correctness and intimidation.

After the passage of proposition 8 in California, advocates of homosexual behavior went on the offensive demanding that their agenda be imposed on everyone.

Video Reveals the Intolerance of the Tolerant

CitizenLink has put together a video examining a few of the examples of intolerance from the primary source of the gospel of tolerance: the homosexual community.

The homosexual community, especially in California, was beyond outraged when the voters of that state exercised their right to vote and chose to retain the definition of marriage humans have known for thousands of years, really the only definition for marriage: a man and a woman.

Homosexual activists have worked hard for nearly 20 years to put their best face forward and hide the unpleasant truths about themselves and their agenda. But when the people of California rose up and retook their government from the black-robed oligarchs who decreed the concept of homosexual "marriage" in May 2008, the mask came off.

Take a good look before they regain their composure and put the mask back on, America. This is what we're up against: a militant, hateful agenda that cares nothing about our republican form of government, about democracy, about the welfare of our society, or about the institutions of marriage and family that would be undermined by the counterfeiting of marriage.

The Alliance Defense Fund has put together a video showing some of the worst moments from the uprising against Prop. 8 in California.

Senator Saxby Chambliss Wins Runoff in Georgia

The media is now reporting that Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss has won the runoff election in Georgia against Democrat Jim Martin, putting a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate for Democrats out of reach.

With more than 70% of precincts reporting, the vote is 60%-40% in the incumbent Chambliss' favor.

The runoff became necessary when the three-way race on Nov. 4 between Republican Chambliss, Democrat Martin and Libertarian candidate Allen Buckley resulted in none of them getting at least 50% of the vote.

One other race remains undecided: in Minnesota, comedian Al Franken and incumbent Republican Norm Coleman are undergoing a recount to decide their race.

Alaska Governor and former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin came to Georgia to campaign for Chambliss, and many believe she made a difference for Chambliss. While the "mainstream" media continues to malign and disparage Palin, conservatives continue be excited about Palin and are already at work laying the ground for a 2012 run for president for Palin.

Palin continues to captivate conservatives in the Republican Party, and by helping Chambliss win and prevent a filibuster-proof senate majority, she has helped weaken the hopes for unimpaired passage of president-elect Barack Obama's radical liberal agenda.

It will be interesting to see what the next four years hold in wait for us.

Senator Reid's Delicate Nostrils Saved by Visitor Center

The Most High Senator Harry Reid of the United States Senate says he welcomes the new $621 million U.S. Capitol Visitor's Center.

Apparently his sensitive olfactory organ has been suffering from being in close proximity to stench of the unwashed masses who come to defile the holy sanctum of the Capitol.

It seems the unwashed masses are good enough to pay for a massively-over-budget and years-late facility at the U.S. Capitol (one that also seems to ignore the faith heritage of our country...but then, can't have competing religions at the temple where the government-god is worshipped, can we?) but not good enough to set foot in the Holy of Holies. Only high priests of the government-god such as Reid should be able to do that.

Thank the government-god that we now have an appropriate distance between the unclean and the truly worthy. No longer will our capitol building be defiled by filthy commoners.

"My staff tells me not to say this, but I'm going to say it anyway. In the summer because of the heat and high humidity, you could literally smell the tourists coming into the Capitol. It may be descriptive but it's true."

Reid
by burghnews

Fred Thompson: Ask What You Can Spend for Your Country

Fred Thompson tells us the government's plan to fix the economy: spend our way to success.

While the economy does need us to continue spending on the necessities we usually purchase, we don't need to make any special efforts to "spend our way to prosperity."

We also don't need the government to waste more of our money for us.

"My favorite stimulus idea is to give everybody who needs a job a shovel. We put half the people to work digging holes. We’ll get the other half to fill 'em up. Everybody gets a check and the unemployment problem is solved. And there’s no limit to the number of holes we can get Americans to dig and fill."

Americans Dismally Fail Civic Knowledge Test

Elected officials score worse than citizens

A couple of weeks ago the Intercollegiate Studies Institute released a disturbing report which found that more than twice as many Americans knew facts about "American Idol" as knew facts about the Gettysburg Address.

According to CNS News,

More than 2,000 people were administered a 33-question test this Spring on American history and our political and economic institutions. Of them, 71 percent -- college and non-college educated alike – got a failing mark, ISI’s Josiah Bunting III said, presenting the study at a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Thursday.

The CNS News article also says

Less than half of Americans can name all three branches of government. -- Only 27 percent of Americans know that the Bill of Rights prohibits the government from establishing an official religion in the U.S.-- 54 percent do not know that the Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war, not the president.

As bad as the average person did, sadly politicians scored lower than the general public.

Seventy-nine (79) percent of elected officeholders did not know that the Bill of Rights expressly forbids the government establishment of an official religion.-- A large number (43 percent) of politicians did not know what the Electoral College does.

The results of this survey go a long way in explaining not only the mind-boggling ignorance seen every day on the internet, but help explain how our nation's government has gotten so far off its Constitutional track and into a wilderness that by design it never should have gone.

Darryl DeMarzio, an assistant professor in the education department at the University of Scranton says a philosophy called "constructivism" bears much of the blame for this sad state of civic ignorance.

"That’s the idea that knowledge is not something that teachers possess and give to students or teach students," DeMarzio told CNSNews.com. "Rather, knowledge is a process in which students construct meaning for themselves. "So a historical question in a history class today is not, ‘Who were the major political participants of World War II?’ But it’s ‘What do you think of World War II?’ or ‘What might we learn from World War II?’ Think for yourself. Construct your own knowledge, your own meaning out of this."

He also blames political correctness in education which supersedes fact.

The overall score of the over 2,000 people who took the 33-question test was 49%, a failing grade in any school. While none of the demographic groups listed in the major findings achieved a passing score, some groups did notably better than others.

For instance, in the income demographic, those making $75K-$100K and $100K+ scored 55, with the score dropping with each successive income group, to a low of 40% for the <$30K group.

By party, Republicans and Independents scored highest at 52%, with Democrats the lowest at 45%.

Interestingly, by ideology, "moderates" did the best at 51%, with liberals next at 49% and conservatives at 48%.

Those with military service out-scored those who had never served 51-48%.

Scored by church attendance, the "seldom" attenders scored best at 51%, followed by "never" at 50%, with the "once a week" and "more than once a week" bringing up the rear at 48%.

Comparisons between citizens and elected officials in specific areas of knowledge also yielded interesting contrasts.

Citizens scored 83% on the Declaration of Independence while officials scored 69.78%.

For the definition of free enterprise, citizens were again the highest 41-32%.

Citizens understood the electoral college better than elected officials 66-57%.

The Scopes Monkey Trial, dealing with evolution, was understood better by citizens (67.76%) than by elected officials (59.21%).

Abortion was also understood better by citizens (50.77%) than elected officials (43.94%).

Some other areas, with citizen scores first and then elected official scores:

- First Amendment Freedoms 79.58 73.32

- FDR and the Supreme Court 25.07 19.24

- Taxes and Government Spending 27.7 22.12

- Free Markets vs. Centralized Planning 16.25 10.71

- Action Prohibited by the Bill of Rights 26.41 21.24

- Source of phrase "a wall of separation" 18.92 15.07

- Powers of the Federal Government 75.01 72.69

- Definition of a Progressive Tax 51.26 49.97


Elected officials out-scored citizens in only four of the 33 areas:

- Definition of a Public Good 27.6 28.03

- Gettysburg Address 21.06 22.95

- Fiscal Policy for Economic Stimulus 36.07 39.93

- Lincoln–Douglas Debates 19.06 23.62

But again: notice that all these areas, no matter which group scored the best, all yielded pathetic results.

Of the 2,508 tested, only 272 achieved a passing grade. Only 11% passed the test. When we see how profoundly ignorant are both our elected officials and the people who elect them, it is no wonder that our government only resembles the U.S. Constitution in a few areas.

Those who settled and founded America understood the vital importance of a good education--not just holding a degree, but an education. They established fine institutions of learning such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton and others...which have today degenerated into liberal institutions which dispense politically correct propaganda at the expense of genuine knowledge, and provide a degree in snobbery rather than equipping America's leaders to maintain a free republic.

You can take the test yourself here. Hopefully you do well. But if you do not, for the sake of our republic, educate yourself in the areas of your deficiency. In this day and age of public libraries, cheap books and the internet, there is no reason why a person cannot see to their own education, at least to a level which would make them a responsible citizen.

As for our country, we need to take this liberal preoccupation with politically correct pap and throw it in the trash can. We need to get back to basics and back to facts. We need to get back to teaching our American heritage instead of maligning it.

And as a society, we need to adjust our focus away from sports and American Idol and Britney Spears, to our freedom, our civic duty, lauding a good education over our pop-culture quotient.

Parents must take a more active interest in their children's education. They must also assume more responsibility to ensure that education is actually happening, and not blindly trust that the public education system is getting the job done. Parents need to take the time to teach their own children, talk with them about current events, tell them about how the world works, and quiz their children on a regular basis even while driving to appointments and such.

Karl Marx, the enemy of all that makes America great, once said "A people without a heritage are easily persuaded" (the implication here being that they are easily led astray). He understood better than we Americans do how important it is that we maintain a working knowledge of our heritage.

If we want to remain strong enough to protect ourselves and maintain the level of affluence we enjoy as Americans, we must take the time to understand our history, our heritage, and how our republic is supposed to work.

If we want to remain a free people, we must study our heritage and embrace it.

A Call to Repent for Obama Vote by Another Catholic Priest

A Catholic priest in Modesto, CA, Rev. Joseph Illo, sent his parishioners at St. Joseph's Catholic Church a letter telling them they should confess if they voted for Barack Obama because Obama supports abortion.

This is the second priest we've heard about recently who has said something like this.

It is heartening to see many leaders in the Catholic Church starting to take a strong stand in holding elected officials who claim to be Catholic accountable for their public policy stances. And now we're seeing Catholic leaders starting to hold average parishioners accountable for how they exercise their vote.

It's too bad it's taken this long, but it's great to see those who confess Christ taking a stand of accountability to Christ's teachings. While some in the Protestant world are doing this, many more should follow the example of courageous leaders like Rev. Illo.

Abortion not only destroys human life created in the image of God, it destroys human life, period. The unborn child has from the moment of conception human DNA. That human DNA is unique from all other people on earth, making the child not a part of its mother's body she is free to discard, but a separate and unique human being.

The only scientific difference between the unborn child and the child outside the womb is a matter of development. If the lesser-developed child inside the womb has less innate value than the one outside the womb, then it should follow that the toddler has less value--and less human dignity--than the fully-developed adult. Do we accept this contention?

The reporter in the video below has a lot of gall, asking "if it's morally wrong to use the pulpit to preach politics."

When the pastor is addressing clear moral issues, this is akin to asking, "Is it morally wrong to speak against immoral issues from the pulpit?" Think about that for a second...

READ MORE...

The End of the Idols

American Minute from William J. Federer

A thirty-three year old conquistador landed in Mexico with five hundred men. He was shocked to find the Aztecs taking prisoners of the weaker tribes, ripping their hearts out atop temples, and in a frenzy eating their bodies. The conquistador freed the prisoners, knocked down idols, and erected crosses. His name was Hernando Cortez, and he died DECEMBER 2, 1547.

His personal secretary, Francisco Lopez de Gomara, recorded how Cortez spoke to the Tabascan tribe through his interpreter, Jeronimo de Aguilar, a Catholic priest who had been shipwrecked on the Yucatan eight years earlier: "Cortez told them of their blindness and great vanity in worshiping many gods and making sacrifices of human blood to them, and in thinking that those images, being mute and soulless, made by the Indians with their own hands, were capable of doing good or harm. He then told them of a single God, Creator of Heaven and earth and men, whom the Christians worshiped and served, and whom all men should worship and serve."

Gomara's report on Cortez continued: "In short, after he had explained the Mysteries to them, and how the Son of God had suffered on the Cross, they accepted it and broke up their idols."

William J. Federer is a nationally recognized author, speaker, and president of Amerisearch, Inc, which is dedicated to researching our American heritage. The American Minute radio feature looks back at events in American history on the dates they occurred, is broadcast daily across the country and read by thousand on the internet.

Nun Claims God is Pro-Abortion

It's bad when Christians not only fail to live up to the teachings of the Bible, but give a testimony in opposition to that teaching. It's even worse when such decayed theology comes from a leader in the Christian community.

LifeSiteNews features a commentary by Judie Brown concerning a letter written by a nun to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

According to the article, God is apparently pro-abortion:

GOD IS PRO-CHOICE

"Even though Catholic bishops are already pressing President-elect Barack Obama on the issue of abortion, it is time they begin to realize that 54% of Catholics who voted for him do not agree with the bishops telling people how to vote.

"Obama may be pro-choice, but so is God. God gave everyone a free will and he does not pressure people into using that free will to do what is right. Obama promised to do what he can to prevent abortion. What more need he do when so many other pressures to make changes are upon him?

"Yes, abortion is the killing of an innocent life. So is war and violent killing on the street. I have often seen many starving babies in hospitals in Honduras and witnessed their pain. In these cases, abortion might have been the lesser of two evils, and even the most merciful alternative.

"I challenge our bishops to dwell more on unjust economic issues that both create and perpetuate the need for children to die of starvation, and for women to choose abortion. It would be better to aim at eliminating poverty rather than focus only on abortion. Poverty in our country and the world at large is a disgrace that cries to heaven for vengeance.

"Sr. Arlene Welding, SSSF; Campellsport, WI"

I have a few questions for Sister Welding:

1. You said: "Even though Catholic bishops are already pressing President-elect Barack Obama on the issue of abortion, it is time they begin to realize that 54% of Catholics who voted for him do not agree with the bishops telling people how to vote." When did the morality of an issue suddenly become determined by majority vote?

2. You said: "Obama may be pro-choice, but so is God. God gave everyone a free will and he does not pressure people into using that free will to do what is right." God does indeed graciously give us a choice of whether to choose right or wrong. However, where do you find ANYWHERE in the Bible that God (a) doesn't care which we choose, or (b) that making the choice for evil is free from negative consequence--ostensibly something everyone would want to avoid?

3. You said: "Yes, abortion is the killing of an innocent life. So is war and violent killing on the street." By this logic, if war and violent killing on the street make abortion morally acceptable, couldn't we just as easily take that logic to mean that, if we accept abortion to be morally acceptable, then violent killing on the street is also morally acceptable?

4. You said: "I have often seen many starving babies in hospitals in Honduras and witnessed their pain. In these cases, abortion might have been the lesser of two evils" Though forced starvation is morally reprehensible, how do you reason that starvation (where human life remains) is more less morally acceptable than murder (where human life does NOT remain)? Also, how do you reason that death (where there is no possible remedy) is superior to starvation (where there are possible remedies)?

5. You said: "It would be better to aim at eliminating poverty rather than focus only on abortion." This is a disingenuous statement, as both Catholic and Protestant forces are well known for fighting poverty and hunger around the world; they are not focusing only on abortion. Further, why do you assume one must be done at the expense of the other?

This nun is obviously possessed--at best--of a fundamental lack of common sense. She is also dangerously bereft of moral discernment. It's hard to imagine how she managed to get through her religious training to become a nun with such a severe lack of moral compass.

Perhaps the more likely explanation for her moral bankruptcy is one common to many Christians--even Christian leaders: rather than following Christ's admonition to be "in the world, but not of the world," she has allowed her thinking to become conformed to the dark and twisted wisdom of a fallen world.

Each of us will be held accountable for the things we laud and promote. But those in positions of authority where others look to them for guidance will be held to an even higher standard.

If this nun doesn't get right with her God before it's too late, it won't be pretty. Promotion of or even ambivalence toward the taking of innocent human life is no small matter.

Still Another Study Points to Link Between Abortion, Mental Health Problems

On the heels of a report last week published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research pointing to a link between abortion and mental health problems in women, this week LifeNews reports on a New Zealand report published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

The New Zealand study conducted by researchers at Otago University found a 30% increase in mental health problems among women who had abortions.

They surveyed 500 women who live in the city of Christchurch, located on the southern of the two New Zealand islands. It included 284 women who had a total of 686 pregnancies and 117 women who had a total of 153 abortions.

The women were asked whether the pregnancy was wanted or unwanted, and if this had caused them to be upset or distressed. They were also given a mental health assessment during each interview, to see if they met the diagnostic criteria for major depression, anxiety disorders, alcohol dependence and illicit drug dependence.

Ultimately, the New Zealand team concluded that abortion more adversely affects women's mental health while childbirth and miscarriages do not.

The American Psychological Association (APA) has shown itself to be a more-and-more politically motivated group, and issued a statement earlier this year which found no link between abortion and mental health problems.

This statement was roundly refuted by many other health professionals and the testimony of women who have had abortions, only to find themselves plagued by depression, anxiety, substance abuse and a host of other problems.

Dr. Rachel M. MacNair, an APA member, denounced the APA statement as politically motivated and based on very shallow research.

And now we see the results of two separate studies released within the last week refuting the APA statement.

Abortion not only ends a human life, but hurts the women who choose to take the life of their unborn child.

State of Calif. Investigating Mormon Church Support for Proposition 8

Reprinted by permission of The Christian Post

By Eric Young
Christian Post Reporter
Sun, Nov. 30 2008 06:13 PM EST

The government body that enforces political campaign, lobbying, and conflict of interest laws in the state of California will be conducting an investigation of the Mormon church and its role in the campaign to ban gay marriage in the state.

The California Fair Political Practices Commission said this past week that it would investigate whether the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints accurately described its role in the campaign to pass Proposition 8 in response to a complaint by a gay rights group.

Fred Karger, founder of Californians Against Hate, accuses the religious body of failing to report the value of work it did to support Proposition 8, the constitutional amendment passed earlier this month by California voters that defines marriage as between one man and one woman.

“We are very pleased that the FPPC has agreed to launch an investigation based on our complaint,” expressed Karger, who filed a four-page complaint on Nov. 13, in a statement. “We’re hopeful the Mormon Church will fully cooperate with the investigation, and that we will find out the full extent of their involvement in the Yes on 8 campaign.”

Since the passage of Prop. 8 by a 52-to-48 percent vote, the Mormon church has been among the largest targets of outraged activists who want same-sex unions to be recognized as marriages.

“The Mormons played a vital role in the Prop 8 battle, and traditional marriage would have lost had it not been for their support,” explained Donald E. Wildmon, founder and chairman of the American Family Association, in an e-mail alert to supporters last Wednesday.

“While other churches were also involved in the battle to protect marriage – including Catholics and evangelicals – the homosexuals have singled out the Mormons as their target of anger,” he added.

In the months leading up to the Nov. 4 elections, the Mormon church had encouraged its members to work to pass California's Prop. 8 by volunteering their time and money for the campaign. Thousands of Mormons worked as grassroots volunteers and gave tens of millions of dollars to the campaign.

Following the passing of Prop. 8, protests erupted outside Mormon temples, Facebook groups formed telling people to boycott Mormon-affiliated companies, and Web sites such as mormonsstoleourrights.com began popping up, calling for an end to the religious group’s tax-exempt status.

Letters containing white powder - found later by the FBI to be nontoxic - were sent to the Salt Lake City headquarters of the religious group and to a temple in Los Angeles.

Utah's growing tourism industry and the star-studded Sundance Film Festival have also been targeted for a boycott by bloggers, gay rights activists and others seeking to punish the Mormon church for its aggressive promotion of California's ban on gay marriage.

"People of faith have been intimidated for simply exercising their democratic rights," Mormon church president Thomas S. Monson said in a statement.

"Attacks on churches and intimidation of people of faith have no place in civil discourse over controversial issues," he added. "People of faith have a democratic right to express their views in the public square without fear of reprisal. Efforts to force citizens out of public discussion should be deplored by people of goodwill everywhere."

Though Mormons and Christians often clash over theology, believers have been rallying together in support of the Mormon church, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which has offered "prayerful support and steadfast solidarity" to the Mormon church for its efforts on behalf of Prop. 8.

An online petition is circulating on the worldwide web to thank the Mormon church for its efforts and to “express ... outrage at the vile and indecent attacks directed specifically and uniquely at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members because of [their] courage in standing up for marriage.”

“It is deeply unfair, and contrary to the best American traditions, that any faith community, much less a minority one, should be singled out and attacked in this way by powerful, well-funded political forces determined to ‘make them pay’ for participating in the normal political processes of democracy,” reads the statement signed by over 4,600 individuals, including prominent evangelicals Chuck Colson of Prison Fellowship and Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

“We, the undersigned, utterly condemn and reject the ongoing unprecedented efforts to incite religious hatred and bigotry towards members of the LDS Church because, as American citizens, you have courageously exercised your core civil rights to speak, to vote, and to donate to protect marriage as the union of one man and one woman,” the statement added.

In the past, the Mormon church was regarded by evangelicals as a Christian cult over diverging beliefs and is still regarded as such among some circles. Many, however, have come to view Mormons as members of another religious group, similar to Judaism or Islam. Mormonism was formally listed under “cults and sects” by the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant body in America, but has since been categorized among “newly developed religions” on the North American Mission Board apologetics page.

Copyright 2008 The Christian Post. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Adrift From Our Past

By S. Michael Craven
Center for Christ & Culture

Last week my family and I spent Thanksgiving at my wife's ancestral farm, a beautiful spot located between Navasota and Brenham in historic Washington County, known as the birthplace of the Republic of Texas in 1836. The land, possessing rolling hills, tranquil ponds, and a plethora of bluebonnets (in the spring) has been in my wife's family since the mid-nineteenth century. It is a wonderful place, rich in beauty and nostalgia. I confess: it is one of our favorite places on earth.

It was during this trip that we occasioned to visit the museum in nearby Chappell Hill (population 553) where the region's–and much of my wife's family–history are on display. Housed in what used to be the Chappell Hill Female College (established in 1856), one felt immediately transported into another place and time. There were letters, photographs, and placards, all of which offered amazing insight into the lives and culture of this nearly forgotten community.

I was reminded that history is not merely some abstract record of facts and events, but rather the record of prior human beings made in God's image and their experiences dealing with the challenges and opportunities of life within a fallen and yet beautiful world. This form of history is what connects us to our own personal past, in the case of my wife and children, but also our collective cultural past as Americans. This connection, I would argue, is of profound importance—if for no other reason than it tends to arrest our tendency toward self-centered individualism, which not only disconnects us from our past but also from enjoying real "community" in the present.

In Scripture, God Himself continually reinforces the importance of the past as a valid means of knowledge that is helpful in guiding us into the future through His dealings with the nation of Israel. God was continually commanding the people of Israel to remember what He had done for them in prior generations, so that they would remain steadfast in their faith and obedience. In the New Testament, Jesus established the sacrament of the Lord's Supper as a sacred ceremony of remembrance so that every subsequent generation of believers would recall and reflect upon the Lord's ultimate act of grace and mercy.

Every human action, both past and present, is either in accord with or in contradiction to the truth as revealed in Scripture and confirmed in nature. History is the record of these acts, both great and small, that we can examine and, one hopes, discern from a biblical perspective so that we, too, may walk uprightly in our own day.

So what did I learn from my encounter with history in Chappell Hill, Texas? First and foremost, these–and, frankly, their generation–were a people with a strong sense of community. Much of their life and activity was invested in contributing to the establishment and maintenance of important civic and social institutions that enriched their community.

In this small rural hamlet, the citizenry established two institutions of higher learning: the Chappell Hill Female College mentioned earlier, and Soule University, a Methodist college for men with chairs in law, medicine, and biblical science. Community leaders in Chappell Hill established five churches, thriving industries, a Masonic Lodge, a railroad line, and numerous social organizations, such as the Mandolin Club, Racquet Club, and Study Club (whose subjects included the opera). These efforts and activities continued well into the twentieth century.

These "civic virtues" contrast dramatically with the determined individualism so prevalent in today's culture. In Robert Putnam's important book Bowling Alone, he points out, "For the first two-thirds of the twentieth century a powerful tide bore Americans into ever deeper engagement in the life of their communities, but a few decades ago–silently, without warning–that tide reversed and we were overtaken by a treacherous rip current. Without at first noticing, we have been pulled apart from one another and from our communities over the last third century" (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2000).

Letters collected from the women of that era revealed that they were active in the study of theology and philosophy, representing a generation that pursued education for education's sake and not merely as a means to an end. There were no college courses–or interest, for that matter–to study techniques helpful in selling nonessential consumer goods to people who have to borrow to buy what they cannot afford. Even in high school, as evidenced by a report card from 1887, the subjects were rooted in the humanities, logic, and elocution. I admit that I had to chuckle at the grading system of that day. Grades were based on a ten-point scale, with ten being perfect and five failing. However, they were anything but ambivalent about substandard work. The failing grade of five was described "5 = Very bad and a complete failure"—a stark contrast to today's educational philosophy that often exalts self-esteem above personal responsibility measured by absolute standards.

In addition to the aforementioned subjects, there was also on display a copy of A View of the Evidences of Christianity by William Paley, which was part of the core curriculum in the local public school. Published in 1794, Evidences is an extremely scholarly work in which Paley supplemented human reason with divine revelation as supporting foundations for the existence of God and miracles over and against the deistic thinkers of his time, addressing some his arguments specifically against the notable David Hume. This was not a superficial course in bible stories that merely satisfied cultural religiosity typical of "country folk." Here again, we see a society that was very intentional in its effort to transmit its faith from one generation to the next.

The loss of community and civic virtue, along with all of their deleterious effects; the inadequate transmission of values and beliefs from one generation to the next; the reduction of education to mere utilitarian purposes; and the idealization of a superficial existence are symptomatic of a culture adrift from its past. The solution to these issues lies within the realm of a renewed church that endeavors to recover historic Christianity and press these unchanging biblical values into contemporary public life and culture.

(This is a reprint of an article which first appeared April 17, 2006)

S. Michael Craven is the President of the Center for Christ & Culture. Michael is the author of Uncompromised Faith (Navpress).The Center for Christ & Culture is dedicated to renewal within the Church and works to equip Christians with an intelligent and thoroughly Christian approach to matters of culture in order to demonstrate the relevance of Christianity to all of life. For more information on the Center for Christ & Culture, the teaching ministry of S. Michael Craven, visit:
http://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/mCraven/www.battlefortruth.org