NewsBriefs August 10-07

Wrong solution to wrong problem
Insightful article on the struggle in the Philippines to resist population [i.e. birth] control and abortion.

Girls Becoming More Complacent About Abortion
YLE News - Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland
Statistics for southern Karelia, which are also typical for the rest of Finland, show that around one percent of girls under 20 years of age had an abortion ...

Blogger Phil comments on the report from Finland. [caution: f-word used in this blog posting]
Abortions no big deal

Catholic Medical Weekly is running what appears to be a series of chapters from a pro-life novel—something entitled “The Sneakers.” Chapter 3 is up.
The Sneakers Chapter 3. Maze.
Then, without really thinking about it, she blurted out, "Marla, do you think I should have an abortion?" Why am I asking her this? She's a complete stranger. But then, maybe it's okay. She's a doctor, after all, or a nurse midwife. ...

And while you’re on the CMW blog, check out this posting:
CMW Essay On contraception.

Talk about a “pro-choice” propaganda piece! All the usual suspects.
Frank, Provocative Panel Speaks Out on Abortion
Martha's Vineyard Gazette - Edgartown,MA,USA
"We are about to lose this right. Let me predict for you, Roe will not live to see the 50th anniversary," said medical doctor Kenneth C. Edelin, who in 1974 was indicted on a charge of manslaughter by a secret grand jury for performing a legal abortion. The alleged victim was the aborted fetus.

Abortion Raises Crime Rates, Economist Says
CNSNews.com - Alexandria,VA,USA
The study seems to completely contradict the findings published in the New York Times bestseller, "Freakonomics," and has sparked a heated debate among academics, news reporters and commentators.

American Spectator carries a review.
More Freedom, Less Freakonomics

Pentecostal Head Warns Against 'Spineless' Christianity
"Many churches in America today [are] offering ... new religion that guarantees no hell, requires no holiness," Trask said Wednesday night in his farewell sermon at the Assemblies of God’s 52nd General Council in Indianapolis. "It is a limp, spineless Christianity that does not confront sin for fear of being judgmental. It is an impotent gospel that tells people everything is okay."

Assemblies of God website carries a report of this explosive speech, which exposed the danger of cultural accommodation, in which churches are distorting scriptures on issues ranging from abortion to social drinking.

Anti-abortion group to launch 40-day vigil in Aurora
Aurora Beacon News – Aurora,IL,USA
Anti-abortion demonstrators today will launch a 40-day vigil against a Planned Parenthood women’s health center opening next month on Aurora’s far East Side.

Christian Newswire reporting lots of support for this initiative.

Informative YouTube video on Abortifacients and the contraceptive pill. Birds of a feather.

Amnesty International gathers today in Mexico City for their big international event. I’ve blogged about this several times, most recently here. The Guardian carried a report yesterday.
Amnesty faces Catholic church boycott over abortion policy
There’ll be lots more news on this after today.

From the Right Reason Blog, a posting entitled Christian Political Participation.
It looks interesting.
“For now, I want to restrict myself to why I, as an evangelical Christian, should be motivated to play a role in the political process in a largely secularized society and what sort of role my Christian convictions should lead me to want to have.”

Catholic Schools Must Commit to the "New Evangelization", Australian Bishops Exhort
What I’d like to know is why Cardinal Pell backed down again from his position of requiring adherence to Catholic teaching by Catholics. Another disappointing show.

The president of the television watchdog group American Decency Association (ADA) is sharing another reason why Christians shouldn't be watching ABC's Desperate Housewives -- the addition of a homosexual couple to the cast this fall.
Christian activist bothered that believers find Desperate Housewives acceptable fare
I’d have to tell the President of ADA that this kind of corruption will only be dealt with when Catholic Bishops and other Christian leaders are prepared to preach the truth about sin, hell, conversion and the rest of the Christian faith.

Survey: Reasons Why Young Adults Quit Church
LifeWay Research released study results that showed that more than two-thirds of young adults who attend a Protestant church stopped attending church regularly (at least twice a month) for at least a year between the ages of 18 and 22.

More “free-thinking” and “pro-choice” rhetoric from Susan Jacoby. Make no mistake who she is targeting here.
Doctors Are Not Gods
On Faith - Washington,DC,USA
It is unconscionable -- and there are many documented cases of this in Roman Catholic hospitals and in hospitals in communities where the influence of the Protestant Christian right is strong -- for doctors to deprive patients of information they need to make an informed choice. Not telling a rape victim about the availability of the morning-after pill is another example of this type of ethical and medical malpractice.

Rudy Giuliani was in Iowa this week, pressing the flesh and kissing babies, and at one point was asked about his faith.
Rudy's faith: "I prefer to leave that to the priests"
By Deacon Greg Kandra(Deacon Greg Kandra)

Politicians like Rudy push the line on deceit. Giuliani campaigns as a Catholic, but he's on the outs with God, according to this comprehensive report, “No Wafer for Rudy.”

Knights of Columbus Head Says Group Will Continue Fighting Abortion
LifeNews.com - Helena,MT,USA
... such as abortion ... or public funding of embryonic stem-cell research, as leaders in the Catholic community, we must, and we do take a stand. ...

The news report on the K of C sounds good, but what about this report…
"Kick out Your Pro-Homosexual, Pro-Abortion Politician Members," Concerned Roman Catholics Will Urge Knights of Columbus.

“Judgment must begin at the house of God”… and within the walls of the K of C itself. But that will happen only when many Catholic Bishops themselves repent.

It may be somewhat dated news but I’ve noticed several Indian papers are running the story as well.
Ads said to promote sex-selection abortion
Today's Family News - Langley,BC,Canada
The real purpose of Punjabi community newspaper advertisements for an American ultrasound clinic is to promote sex-selection abortions to Indo-Canadian families, the head of a B.C.-based immigrant society has alleged.

Herman Trend Alert: Baby Bonuses and Other Solutions August 8, 2007
NewsReleaseWire.com (press release) - USA
And in spite of having the world's highest abortion rate, Russia, too, is paying people to have babies. But by far, the most interesting response to this ...

Church wants to start holiday to remember those unborn because of abortion ...
A Collier County church wants to make Babies Day a new holiday to recognize babies lost to abortion and celebrate those children whose mothers chose to give birth to them.

When you doubt the Holy Scriptures, you doubt the Word of God, and Christianity falls to pieces. Unborn children are simply one more expendable item on the way to paganism.
Presbyterians Flee Presbyterian Church (USA)
Virtue Online - West Chester,PA,USA
By 1983…more than 1,000 conservative southern churches, who opposed abortion supported by the PCUSA, created the Presbyterian Church in America. PCA churches, who also support the infallibility of Scripture, now have 350,000 members in 1,640 churches.

News from the trenches
Saturday, August 4, 2007 – Family Planning Associates, San Diego
He tried to give the brochure and Rosary to the woman in the back seat. He could only see her legs as her head was leaning on the passenger door near him. “It’s too late. I already killed my baby,” she snickered.

Three great reads on chastity. Christians must recover this virtue but Bishops and pastors must lead the way with preaching and teaching.

Girls Gone Wild, Boys Gone Mild

“Abstinence not a viable option; must fornicate.”

Rebelling against a culture of porn

Toxic Environment.
Or “The Truth about Campus Health Care” by Chuck Colson.
Heather’s story is told in an explosive new book titled Unprotected. It’s a memoir of misery by Miriam Grossman, a college psychiatrist who says the exaggerated place of sexuality on college campuses “is grotesque and destructive.” But far from warning young women of the dangers of such a toxic lifestyle, colleges go out of their way to glorify promiscuity.