barrykind
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News Briefs
Friday, July 5, 2002
...The announcement that both the House and Senate will try again to pass a bill banning the abortion procedure known as “partial-birth abortion” is being hailed by pro-life activists. Gary Bauer, director of American Values, says it is about time Congress took some action. He is heartened to see, after several years of delay, a vote on the partial-birth abortion issue. But he says this is just a first step. He points out that millions of pro-life and pro-family constituents carried the current administration to victory in the last election -- and yet, Bush has done very little to address their concerns. Bauer says he, too, had expected a lot more from the Bush Administration on the pro-life agenda, and that Bush needs to work harder to bolster his religious constituency as the mid-term elections approach. If he fails to do that, Bauer expects the GOP could see its influence wane even more than it has recently.
...Pro-cloning advocates have taken on a new tact in their efforts to win approval of human embryonic cloning for research: they are pushing a “new definition” for the beginning of life. Some pro-cloning advocates are claiming life begins at implantation of the human egg to the wall of the womb, while pro-life advocates claim it begins at egg fertilization. Judie Brown of the American Life League says human life begins at that moment of conception. She says in the case of human cloning, the claim is there is no “fertilization." The cloning process uses an asexual cell-transfer process whereby a human being can be created. Brown says these new definitions are an effort to further dehumanize the status of the human embryo in an effort to gain acceptance of the practice.
...A pro-family advocate says he supports President Bush’s steadfast refusal for the U.S. to take part in and recognize the new International Criminal Court of the United Nations. The new ICC officially came into being on July 1, and many member nations -- including some U.S. allies -- again pressured the president to reconsider his decision to renounce the treaty which had been signed by the previous administration. Though it was never ratified by the Senate, Bob Maginnis of the Family Research Council says the court is not good for the U.S. anyway. He says it puts American soldiers and government workers overseas in serious jeopardy. Maginnis says the ICC could politicize any incident and put American service members or citizens on trial for war crimes. That is why he believes the U.S. should not have anything to do with the ICC. He adds that there is real danger for U.S. citizens abroad in that the new U.N. court is not accountable to anyone and has prosecutors who have universal jurisdiction over anyone in the world, regardless if their country signed the treaty.
...A leader in the Southern Baptist Convention says Christian families can be empowered to overcome spiritual and emotional attacks faced everyday from a secular society. In his new book, For Faith and Family, Dr. Richard Land, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the SBC, believes while Christian families are under attack like never before, there is hope. “With the Lord‘s help, “ he says, “we can make a difference starting with ourselves and our families.” In his new book, Land talks about the damage that pornography and violence in the media can do and how Christians can counteract and insulate themselves from exposure to “this kind of spiritual and emotional toxic waste.” But, he says, Christians cannot just “hunker in the bunker“ and decide not to be involved and ignore the plight of culture. He says culture will not allow that -- and the only effective thing Christians can do is be obedient to the Lord and go out into the world and make a lasting difference.
...The problems experienced by the Catholic Church in its most recent scandal involving homosexual priests has not only impacted that body of believers, it has reached out to Protestant churches as well. Diane Knippers of the Institute on Religion and Democracy says other denominations are looking at their own policies regarding standards of clergy behavior with children because their insurance companies are making them do it. Knippers says the Catholic Church’s continued tolerance of homosexual priests has caused some concern among Evangelical denominations which have been working closely with Catholics on social issues such as the family. They are adopting a “wait and see” policy as the Catholic Church begins its clean up of the scandal.
...A report says the ongoing sex scandal in the Catholic Church is prompting a growing number of states to add clergy to their sexual abuse laws. USA Today reports that since January 2002, four states -- including Illinois and Missouri -- have changed their laws to make it a crime when church officials do not report allegations of sexual abuse of minors. Eleven other states already had clergy included in their laws, and several others are moving in that direction. Rosemary Mulligan is a state representative in Illinois who helped sponsor legislation. She says the scandal is so far-reaching that it was important to take a stand to protect the welfare of children. Since the beginning of the year, an estimated 250 Roman Catholic priests nationwide have resigned or have been suspended. Because many of the allegations against priests and bishops go back many years, some states are also changing their laws to roll-back statutes of limitation.
...The Federal Trade Commission reports that one-in-five Internet gambling sites do not have adequate safeguards to keep children or teens from placing illegal online bets. The FTC survey finds that offending sites have no visible warnings to minors, and most had disclaimers that were hard to find. Dr. Ken Martz of the Compulsive Gambling Treatment Center says that most people do not realize that gambling is a serious problem for children. He notes on average, the first online bet for many young compulsive gamblers occurs at age 12. Very often, he says, it is starting even younger than that. And children who become addicted often do not understand what has happened to them, Martz says -- and most adults do not understand that it is an addictive problem at that young of an age, and erroneously assume it is just something they are playing like they play video games. Gambling -- Internet, or otherwise -- is illegal for minors in every state, but many Internet gambling sites are based outside the United States, making them more difficult to prosecute. [See Related Article]
... Leaders of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship have encouraged members to question the omniscience of God. In an “Open Theism” workshop at the CBF’s national meeting, liberal theologian Fisher Humphreys of Samford University and Pastor Phil Wise of First Baptist Church of Dothan, Alabama, ridiculed conservative Southern Baptist leaders who believe in the complete foreknowledge of Christ. According to Baptist Press, Humphreys said churches and schools should seriously consider the notion that God is “ignorant of the future.” Citing homosexual Anglican theologian Rowan Williams, Wise said, “Open theism may be the ‘least-worst way’ to understand God’s knowledge." Baptist Press reports most workshop participants seemed willing to embrace the open theist viewpoint during the question-and-answer time.
...Psychiatric hospitals in Maryland are not required to report some priest sex abuse. According to a report in The Washington Times, the Maryland attorney general’s office had previously said psychiatric hospitals had to report all cases of priest sex abuse. But in a letter last week, Deputy Attorney General Carmen Shepard said Maryland health-care practitioners are not obligated to tell law enforcement agencies about suspected abuse that occurred outside the State of Maryland. The mandate is significant for St. Luke Institute in Adelphia because most of the priests it treats are from outside of Maryland. However, legal and child-abuse experts said no other state in the U.S. considers the victim’s location in applying reporting obligations.
...President Bush mixed faith and patriotism in celebrating the nation's 226th birthday. Bush spoke to a standing-room-only crowd in the small West Virginia town of Ripley. He said Americans are thankful for "the freedom declared by our founding fathers, defended by many generations and granted to each one of us by Almighty God." Speaking on the steps of the local courthouse, the president said no authority can prevent Americans from pledging allegiance to their country, "under God."
...The son of a black man dragged to death in 1998 by a white supremacist has led a fast and prayer vigil to fight for the life of his father's killer. James Byrd, Jr., was tied to the back of a pickup with a logging chain, dragged, and dismembered along a bumpy country road in Jasper, Texas. But Ross Byrd said he now believes the death penalty is wrong in all cases. He said the execution of white supremacist John King will not help him heal.
© 2002 AgapePress all rights reserved
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The HEART of the issue is truly the issue of the HEART!
John 3:3;Mark 8:34-38;James 1:27
Posts: 3529 | From: Orange, Texas | Registered: Jun 2002
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