Comparing holocausts

The fury of the Haitian earthquake, which has taken more than 200,000 lives, teaches us how cruel nature can be to man. The Holocaust, which destroyed a people, teaches us that nature, even in its cruelest moments, is benign in comparison with man when he loses his moral compass and his reason.

After so much death, a groundswell of compassion and solidarity for victims — all victims, whether from natural disasters, racial hatred, religious intolerance or terrorism — occasionally manifests itself, as it has in recent days.

These actions stand in contrast to those moments when we have failed to act; they remind us, on this dark anniversary, of how often we remain divided and confused, how in the face of horror we hesitate, vacillate, like sleepwalkers at the edge of the abyss. NY Times

Question: Is It Offensive to Compare Abortion to the Holocaust?

Last fall, the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform (CBR) traveled to the Upper Midwest as part of their campus outreach and training program. On each campus, they conducted an open microphone session which permits students to ask questions of staff members.

YouTube

New angle on the abortion/slavery connection

The Washington Times ran a story yesterday that has become, at long last, more prominent in mainstream media over the last year: the connection between abortion and human slavery. Specifically, evidence is mounting that sex selective abortion in China has a direct causal effect on increased human trafficking of women and girls. C-Fam

One-issue voting

I can't think of another issue in which the left has invested more political capital than abortion. For many, it is the only issue with respect to choosing who will represent them in government. Countless times I've heard someone say they could never vote for a pro-life politician, because they want to make sure their daughter has access to abortion. JWR

Humanity: An endangered species

Richard Land writes: "We’ve been brutalized, desensitized, and paganized by an ever-rising tide of the blood of the unborn as our nation aborts over 3,300 babies a day. America is practicing child sacrifice through abortion and the abuse and neglect of our young children because we have forgotten God and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator." ERLC

Is Your Church Adoption-Friendly?

Your church can put pro-life principles into action by helping families adopt or care for a foster child. ERLC

As federal abstinence funds dry up, faith groups take the lead

The "purity ball" sponsored by the Seventh-day Adventist Church will feature a vow to abstain from sex until marriage and offer tips on "appropriate" touching between the sexes. Expect to see more events like this now that abstinence-only sex education programs have lost their federal government support and churches and other religious groups step in to keep the message alive.

There's a measure in the U.S. Senate to restore about $50 million to abstinence education, but its passage is uncertain and it would restore funding to less than half of what it had been under the Bush administration. One advantage of not using federal funds is more freedom and creativity. Private money could actually benefit the abstinence message. USA Today

CBS urged to scrap Tebow ad

A national coalition of women's groups called on CBS on Monday to scrap its plan to broadcast an ad during the Super Bowl featuring college football star Tim Tebow and his mother. The ad -- paid for by Focus on the Family -- is expected to recount the story of Pam Tebow's pregnancy in 1987. After getting sick during a mission trip to the Philippines, she ignored a recommendation by doctors to abort her fifth child and gave birth to Tim, who went on to win the 2007 Heisman Trophy while helping his Florida team to two BCS championships. CBS officials found no basis for rejecting the ad. Here's what pro-aborts and others are saying about it:

• "An ad that uses sports to divide rather than to unite has no place in the biggest national sports event of the year -- an event designed to bring Americans together," said Jemhu Greene, president of the New York-based Women's Media Center.
• Terry O'Neill, the president of the National Organization for Women, said she had respect for the private choices made by women such as Pam Tebow but condemned the planned ad as "extraordinarily offensive and demeaning. That's not being respectful of other people's lives. It is offensive to hold one way out as being a superior way over everybody else's."
• National columnist Gregg Doyel also objected to the ad, specifically because it would air on Super Sunday. "If you're a sports fan, and I am, that's the holiest day of the year. It's not a day to discuss abortion. For it, against it, I don't care what you are. On Super Sunday, I don't care what I am. Feb. 7 is simply not the day to have that discussion." ESPN

Cal Thomas on Personhood

Among the interesting arguments in last week's 5-4 Supreme Court decision granting corporations First Amendment protections when making campaign contributions was the majority's decision to effectively treat corporations as persons. . . . The ruling came the week of the annual March for Life, which draws thousands to Washington to mark that same court's 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling. . . . What makes the ruling and the march ironic is that the 1973 court, in essence, downgraded a human fetus to the level of nonperson, while the modern court has invested "personhood" in corporations. Does anyone else see a contradiction or at least a moral inconsistency in these two rulings? JWR

Clinics destroying embryos with minor genetic conditions

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, the HFEA, has drawn up a list of more than 100 inherited conditions that fertility clinics can screen out without the need for special permission. It takes into account the age of onset and the variability of the symptoms, if there is existing treatment, and if so, how invasive is it. While some of the conditions on the list can result in deformity, severe pain, and even premature death, it also includes minor illnesses such as the blood disorder thalassaemia, and Marfan syndrome, a genetic condition that can lead to abnormal growth.

The genetic conditions are currently targeted by pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), a technique that allows people with a specific inherited condition in their family to avoid passing it on to their children. Cells are removed from an eightcell embryo three days after fertilisation. The cells are put through PGD and embryos found to be carrying the defects are discarded while healthy ones are kept.

The process however has triggered criticism from pressure groups; David King, director of Human Genetics Alert, said: “It contributes to a social climate in which even minor deviations from ‘normality’ are seen as unacceptable.” Telegraph

Follow-up: Inaccurate media portrayal of PGD for 'minor' genetic disorders

Free book!

The stellar book “Why Pro-Life?” (by Randy Alcorn) is being offered as a free download. This simple book will help give you the rational arguments to defend human life from anti-life forces who would attempt to deny preborn children human rights. The book also gives instruction on how to help unborn children and their mothers.

Pro-life outreach in Russia

A pastor in Russia wrote to tell us about their efforts to stop women from going into their local abortion clinic. They outfitted a car with a graphic sign on it saying "God will judge for abortion." Here's how he describes it: "Parishioners of our church started to park the car daily with the message against abortions on a platform directly ahead of one of the abortions of places most popular in a city of Togliatti. . . . The majority of women which go to this centre, and also men accompanying them, are compelled to pass by the car with inscriptions against abortions. The car’s onboard inscriptions have bright colors and this draws attention involuntarily and people automatically look through that message." Read more

Choosing life despite the fear

Monica Rafie established the Web site Benotafraid.net. If you are a scared parent who has just returned from hearing a doctor's bad news about your unborn child, Rafie wants you to have alternatives. She wants you to know that other parents have been at the same point as you, and that if your doctor won't support you, she'll help you find a new one. Rafie has been there herself. JWR

Tragedy in a Godless Universe

Evolution requires death. At its core, Darwin’s postulate appeals to the power of death to remove those less able to survive so that the “more fit” can take their place. . . . Evolution, in an atheistic worldview, is morally neutral. When tragedies strike, evolution cannot tell us something is detrimental. Death, after all, can neither be untimely or tragic, since death is the means by which “progress” is made. . . . But what then are we to make of compassion? If evolution requires death in order to operate, why should humans suffer feelings of loss when others die? AiG

28 Days on The Pill

A Christian worker, his family, and a nurse friend investigate throughout North America to uncover the truth about the birth control pill. The debate has been raging for a decade and yet so few people know about it. Dr. Albert Mohler, President Southern Baptist Seminary, says, "For many evangelical Christians, birth control has been an issue of concern only for Catholics... THAT IS ALL CHANGING." Order video, watch trailor.

Mugged by Ultrasound

Abortion rights activists have long preferred to hold themselves at some remove from the practice they promote; rather than naming it, they speak of “choice” and “reproductive freedom.” But those who perform abortions have no such luxury. Instead, advances in ultrasound imaging and abortion procedures have forced providers ever closer to the nub of their work. Weekly Standard

Who will mention it?

On January 24, we have an opportunity to speak out for the Sanctity of Human Life. I believe God wants us to speak the truth. The truth can be spoken with compassion and conviction. Jesus did, with the woman at the well. On Sunday, some churches will do all they can to bring awareness of how abortion has and is affecting us, while others will skim the surface hoping not to bring too much attention to a very controversial issue and I’m sad to say, there will even be churches that won’t mention “it” at all. Cypress Times

Marriage does matter

Only three per cent of couples that stay together until their child is 15 are unmarried and most cohabiting couples either get married or split up, a new report reveals. The findings dispel the myth of stable long-term cohabitation and suggest that the “trend away from marriage is responsible for the rise in family breakdown.” Christian Institute

Articles in the latest World magazine

• 'Look after orphans' Twenty ways to become an adoption-friendly church
• 'It all clicked together' How one Christian volunteer found herself in the right place at the right time at a crisis pregnancy center in Texas
• More

52 Million Abortions Since Roe

Read any commentary on the contentious abortion debate and you'll likely find a wide variety of numbers attempting to estimate the number of abortions that have taken place since the Supreme Court's infamous Roe v. Wade abortion decision since 1973. Now, a new analysis from the National Right to Life Committee based on hard data and estimates for the most recent years finds 52 million unborn children have been killed in abortion since the Roe decision. LifeNews

January 22: A day of infamy

Tomorrow we remember and mourn for the 50 million children aborted since 1973. In all the wars in American history combined, from the Revolution to the War on Terror, we have lost approximately 910,000 people. However, in 37 years we have lost about 50 million children to abortion. We lose more children to abortion each day than we lost in all the tragedies on September 11, 2001. About 98 percent of abortions are done for convenience unrelated to health. Less than 2 percent of abortions are done for serious health reasons, rape or incest. Liberty Counsel

Researcher: Abortion is $38.5 Trillion Drag on the Economy

In its latest estimate on the economic impact of abortion, the Movement for a Better America is reporting that the abortion toll is projected to climb to a new high of 52,333,000 as of January 22, 2010, the 37th anniversary of Roe V. Wade. The group also estimated that the economic impact has risen to $38.5 trillion in lost U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) since 1970. LifeSiteNews

Get to Know: On the Issues

On the Issues claims to follow every political leader on every issue. If so, this is an incredibly handy site. For instance, here's what it has on the newly elected Senator for MA: Scott Brown.

'No Pressure': Mother killed by truck inspires pastor's sermon

When Colonial Baptist Pastor Terry Chapman preached against abortion Sunday, he did it at Terri Otto’s urging, even though Otto was not there to hear it. Three days before Christmas, the 37-year-old mother of three had reminded Chapman in a Facebook message that Roe v. Wade had forever changed America’s morals but that God’s truth about the sanctity of life was rarely proclaimed from the pulpit. “No pressure,” she kidded Chapman in her post as she reminded him that January is National Sanctity of Human Life Month. Otto was killed before dawn Saturday when she was hit by a truck while jogging in the rain on Fairway Boulevard. TimesRecordNews

BFL Resources

I was just alerted that some of the links under 'BFL Resources' in the sidebar don't work. That's because our web site was recently updated. I'll be making those changes today. If you've clicked those links and been frustrated, please bear with us and check back again! --Editor

Later: Those changes have been made. Thanks, Pastor John, for alerting me!

AFA Tackles Church Dropouts

The latest studies show that 75% of Christian teens leave the church after high school, creating a generational gap that could have devastating consequences for the future of faith in America. The American Family Association is hosting an important webcast called, "Church Dropout: Overcoming the Youth Exodus" with Josh McDowell, Dr. Frank Turek, Dr. William Lane Craig, Dr. Bill Dembski, and Dr. Mike Adams. Keep your families grounded in the truth. Don't miss this simulcast on Tuesday, January 19 from 6:30-10:00 p.m. (Central Time). For a listing of the 200 radio stations carrying the program, click here. Or for the live webcast, visit AFA's website.

Embryo mix-up report released

The UK's Human Fertilisation Authority has for the first time released internal reports from an investigation. The documents reveal the fertility watchdog's findings about three IVF mix-ups at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Trust. Embryos belonging to three couples had to be destroyed because they were created with the wrong man's sperm. The report found that, due to positive actions the centre had taken to resolve major concerns, there was no need to retract or restrict the centre's licence to practice. BioNews

National Leaders Rally Against Prenatal Racial Genocide on Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Today, in honor of civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr., national spiritual and political leaders joined with thousands of African American, Latino and other minority voices to rally against prenatal racial genocide perpetrated by Planned Parenthood. Liberty Counsel

The rally will be broadcast live beginning at 9:30 a.m. CT on http://www.ustream.tv/anitastaver.

Surrogacy Battles Expose Uneven Legal Landscape

The debate over surrogacy touches on what can be deeply held views about the rights of mothers, children and couples who might be unable or unwilling to use more traditional methods of procreation, say attorneys and reproductive-rights experts. Critics say surrogacy often exploits impoverished and relatively unsophisticated women, who are enticed by hefty fees into relinquishing their parental rights. Proponents counter that surrogacy agreements usually are struck by consenting, informed adults, who are in a better position than courts or legislators to determine the best interests of a child. WSJ

California's Proposition 71 Failure

Five years after a budget-busting $3 billion was allocated to embryonic stem cell research, there have been no cures, no therapies and little progress. So supporters are embracing research they once opposed. The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine is diverting funds from ESCR to research that has produced actual therapies and treatments: adult stem cell research. It not only has treated real people with real results; it also does not come with the moral baggage ESCR does. Investor's Business Daily

On Trial’s Sidelines, Abortion Foes Divided

National groups like Operation Rescue have publicly denounced Scott Roeder, an abortion opponent accused of shooting of abortionist Dr. George R. Tiller. “This trial isn’t meaningful for the movement,” Mr. Newman said last week. “What happened is antithetical to the Christian cause and to the stated foundation principles of pro-life.” But for a miniscule contingent of abortion opponents — those who argue that the killing of an abortion doctor can be considered justified by the abortions it prevents — Mr. Roeder’s case has become a rallying point. NY Times

Related:
BFL's position on violence against abortion providers
Should we use violence to fight abortion?
Nashville Declaration of Conscience

Pastors Commit Sanctity of Human Life Sunday to Petitioning for Preborn Lives

Pastors across the nation have committed to using January 24 - traditionally celebrated as Sanctity of Human Life Sunday - as an opportunity to put their faith in action and gather signatures for the Personhood movement. "At First Baptist Jackson, we are thrilled to give our people the opportunity to sign a petition to put the Personhood Initiative on the ballot," stated Pastor Stan Buckley, Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Jackson, MS. "Abortion - the taking of innocent human life - is one of the most important issues facing our state and our nation. We encourage more Christians and more churches to get involved in the fight for life. Getting the Personhood initiative on the ballot is a huge step because we believe the people of Mississippi, if given the opportunity, will choose life!" More information about Petition for Life Sunday is available at www.PersonhoodUSA.com. LifeSiteNews

Roeder trial delayed as judge’s decision debated

Prosecutors have challenged a judge’s decision to allow the man charged with killing Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller to present a case for a voluntary-manslaughter conviction. As a result, the trial of Scott Roeder, which was to have begun Monday, has been delayed until Wednesday. In a surprise move Friday, Wilbert said he would allow the defense to present testimony that Roeder sincerely believed that killing Tiller was necessary to save lives. That meant jurors could have the option of finding Roeder guilty of voluntary manslaughter, which carries a much lighter sentence than first-degree murder.

Kansas law defines voluntary manslaughter as intentional killing committed “upon an unreasonable but honest belief that circumstances existed that justified deadly force.” The judge’s action also opened the door for the defense to offer testimony about abortion. Kansas City Star

Embryo genetic screening controversial - and successful

Once at the center of a science controversy, Molly Nash, 15, represents the human answer to the debate over a genetic screening technique, " pre-implantation genetic diagnosis," (PGD) that made headlines a decade ago.
In Molly's case, her mother and father turned to PGD to pick out the embryo implanted to give birth to her brother, Adam, in an effort to save Molly's life. A bone marrow transplant in 2000 cured Molly of Fanconi's Anemia, a rare illness that kills many of its victims before the age of 7. The cord blood cells transplanted into Molly came from her then newborn brother, Adam.

Now 9, Adam was the first reported case of baby selected as an embryo in a fertility lab for birth because his immune system characteristics made him an ideal transplant candidate for his sister. For the Nashes, giving birth to another child with those matching characteristics offered the only chance to save their daughter. "Adam knows he helped his sister, that's all. They're normal kids," says Lisa Nash. USA Today

Editor: Forgotten are the brothers and sisters of Adam and Molly (embryos created through IVF) who were rejected because they were not good matches for this procedure and were subsequently discarded.

Why the Health-Care Bills Are Unconstitutional

The Constitution doesn't give Congress the power to mandate that Americans purchase health insurance. Secondly, the Senate version includes several deals to secure the votes of some undecided senators. This kind of selective spending, which targets certain states, runs afoul of the general welfare clause. Lastly, the legislation cannot order that the states establish things like benefit exchanges. Otherwise, Congress is rendering states as nothing more than subdivisions of the federal government. WSJ

IVF babies 'more likely to be diabetic or obese'

IVF babies are more likely to develop diseases such as diabetes and become obese in later life, according to scientists who have found that their DNA differs from other children. The research could also explain why IVF children are prone to low birth weight, defects and rare metabolic disorders. The changes are not in the genes themselves but in the mechanism that switches them on and off, the study of which is known as epigenetics. Telegraph

Heaven and Nature

James Cameron’s “Avatar” is a crass embodiment of capitalistic excess wrapped around a deeply felt religious message. It’s at once the blockbuster to end all blockbusters, and the Gospel According to James. But not the Christian Gospel. Instead, “Avatar” is Cameron’s long apologia for pantheism — a faith that equates God with Nature, and calls humanity into religious communion with the natural world. NY Times

BFL of Wisconsin annual report

Dr. Gene Green, executive director of Baptists for Life of Wisconsin, reports that their four centers saw 853 clients in 2008. There were 76 professions of faith among them, and 30 women changed their minds about abortion; four are now attending Baptist churches. 247 participated in Learn and Earn programs, including four men.

The four Wisconsin centers are:

• Alpha Women's Center in Milwaukee
• Access Women's Center in Madison
• Agape Pregnancy Resource Center in La Crosse
• Assurance Women's Center in Appleton

All are strategically located and staffed with members of fundamental Baptist churches. Gene asks us to pray with them about opening a fifth center in northwest Wisconsin.

Potter Critic Takes on the Vampires of Twilight

Author, artist and speaker Michael O'Brien argues convincingly that the latest vampire novel series dangerously twists evil into good and may even be demonically influenced. O'Brien suggests the series' popularity is driven by romantic fantasy charged with powerful stimulation of the senses.

He sees a moral danger in the books as well. "The sexual attraction and the appeal to romantic feelings, combined with the allure of mystery," he says, "all obscure the real horror of the tale, which is the degradation of the image and likeness of God in man, and the false proposal that consuming the lifeblood of another human being bestows life all around." Vampirism is the anti-thesis of Christianity, "Both Christ and Dracula deal with blood and eternal life. . . Whereas Christ shed his blood so that his followers could have eternal life, Dracula shed his followers' blood so that he could have eternal life."

Twilight's embedded spiritual narrative, O'Brien concludes is this: "You shall be as gods. You will overcome death on your own terms. You will be master over death. . . . And all of this is subsumed in the ultimate message: The image and likeness of God in you can be the image and likeness of a god whose characteristics are satanic, as long as you are a 'basically good person.'" LifeSiteNews

Being a Person: The Insufficiency of Personhood

While recognition of personhood is necessary for a human to be granted certain positive rights,it is not required for a basic negative right — the right not to be deprived of life without due process of the law. In other words, people don’t have a right to kill you simply because they don’t want to concede that you are a person. First Things

Top 10 bioethics stories for the decade

This isn’t an idle exercise. Bioethics matters. The field exerts tremendous influence over the most important questions of public policy and moral values: How should we treat the most vulnerable and dependent among us? What makes us human? Indeed, is it even morally relevant that one is human? Trends in bioethics, thus, illuminate where we are as a society and the nature of the culture we are creating for our progeny. Wesley Smith

Man walks again after MS stem cell treatment

Ben Leahy, 20, was diagnosed with the disease in 2008 and ended up in intensive care at one point with respiratory failure after his condition deteriorated rapidly. He was in a wheelchair and also had sight problems when he underwent the procedure earlier this year but today he is walking and recovering well. Australian doctors removed stem cells from Ben's bone marrow, then used chemicals to destroy all the existing immune cells in the body before re-injecting his stem cells. The positive results in Ben have surprised doctors. ABC News

More headlines:

• British researchers treat eye disease with adult stem cells
• Michigan native saves life with adult stem cells
• Adult stem cells save injured climber's leg

The Death of a Feminist

Radical theologian Mary Daly died Sunday at age 81, ending one of the most interesting and tragic careers in contemporary theology. Known for her exaggerated outspokenness, Daly took theological feminism to what she believed was its rightful and logical conclusion -- to the absolute rejection of Christianity and all theistic conceptions of God. Albert Mohler goes on to write: "In the end, Mary Daly will be remembered for the radical lesbian feminist that she was. She must be given credit for her honesty in accusing theological liberals of lacking the courage of their convictions. As she saw it, they were clinging to the furniture of Christianity long after rejecting its central beliefs. She saw the entire structure as hopelessly patriarchal and called for a complete break with Christianity and theism."

Abortion: A Key Economic Factor

To hear abortion proponents talk about it, infanticide is an economic boon. In 1998, a U.S. News and World Report article called a child "a high-priced consumer item with no warranty." Less children supposedly means less welfare spending, less unemployment and generally more money to spread around. Actually, the opposite is more likely to be true. Project 21

Pro-life ministry progress report

According to Caring Together Online:

• Last year, Option Line contacts increased 17%. A total of 236,501 contacts — more than 4,500 women per week — received positive, life-affirming answers to pregnancy-related questions. Many were connected to local pregnancy centers.
• Care Net pregnancy centers ministered to 372,267 women. More than 31,600 volunteers provided peer counseling, ultrasounds, maternity necessities, and more. By God’s grace, 95% of the pregnant women served chose life!
• 15,270 made decisions to follow or rededicate their lives to Christ.
• The national abortion rate tumbled 25% to a post-Roe low — a trend even TIME magazine credits in part to pregnancy centers.
• Care Net’s network of pregnancy centers grew to 1,180, outnumbering Planned Parenthood abortion clinics.

See also Care Net's strategic goals for 2010 and Keep the Dream of Life Going for more statistics.

Birth control pill and abortion

Everything you wanted to know about birth control -- does it cause abortion or not? -- right at your fingertips in this handy index from Eternal Perspectives Ministries.

Welcome the Exceptional

Many congregations are aware that their buildings are not as disabled-friendly as they could be. But when it comes to the estimated 54 million Americans with a disability, Ginny Thornburgh, director of the Interfaith Initiative at the American Association of People with Disabilities, has something more fundamental than the church building in mind: "The barriers of attitude are the most difficult to address." Christianity Today

When men shouldn't be in want of a wife

Whatever the reason, socially prescribed monogamy and its ultimate cultural expression, marriage, may have emerged because of the evolutionary benefits that both offer. By providing men with increased assurance that their wives' children are their true heirs and women with the confidence that their kids will benefit from a decent inheritance, monogamous marriage is a win-win situation. This view challenges theories of marriage that emphasise the role of religion and the societal benefits of keeping men from fighting over women. The emergence of social monogamy - where monogamyis socially enforced and polygamy is forbidden - is a mystery. New Scientist

Biblical Perspectives on Unborn Children

The Bible teaches human beings are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27; James 3:9). Not just Adam and Eve, but each individual since has been personally created by God (Malachi 2:10). Personhood is never measured by age, stage of development, or mental, physical, or social skills (Exodus 4:11). Eternal Perspectives Ministries

Time for a New Reformation?

Whether it’s liberalism, evolutionism, Gnosticism, Mormonism, Islam, New Age, moral issues (e.g., abortion and gay marriage), or the age of the earth, these are all ultimately battles over the same issue. Take one look around our world. A need for a new reformation is evident, both for our culture and for the church. We must return to the Bible as our absolute authority. AiG

Book suggestion: Neither beast nor god

Is dignity something we all share equally, and therefore the reason we all ought to be treated as equals? Or is it what distinguishes some greater and more admirable human beings from the rest? In Neither Beast Nor God, Gilbert Meilaender elaborates the philosophical, social, theological, and political implications of the question of dignity, and suggests a path through the thicket. This noted theologian and prominent voice in America’s bioethics debates, traces the ways in which notions of dignity shape societies, families, and individual lives, and incisively cuts through some common confusions that cloud our thinking on key moral and ethical questions. The dignity of humanity and the dignity of the person, he argues, are distinct but deeply connected—and only by grasping them both can we find our way to a meaningful understanding of the human condition.

Evangelicals: Abortion, Moral Relativism Top Moral Issues List

Evangelical leaders have identified the greatest moral issues facing America today and topping the list is abortion. "The moral scandal of abortion tops my list…not because murder is worse than other moral evils, but because of the massive numbers of this killing field and intentionality of so many to put self-gratification, greed and political advantage above life itself," said Jeff Farmer of the Open Bible Churches in Des Moines, Iowa. Abortion, moral relativism and mistreatment of others almost came in a three-way tie as the top concerns among America's evangelical leaders, according to the survey released Monday by the National Association of Evangelicals. Christian Post

Editor: It's ironic that some of the leaders cited here could themselves be accused of moral relativism. We could ask, Leaders, where art thou?

Prolife Christian Discussion Guide

This discussion guide is designed to be used on or around Sanctity of Human Life Sunday 2010 (January 24, 2010). It discusses how we know the unborn are living human beings, why we should should value human life, and why SoHLS takes place in January. Right to Life of Michigan

Additional resources from RTL: PowerPoint presentations (English & Spanish), luminaries, etc.

Lessons from a prolific sperm donor

Kirk Maxey happens to be one of the most prolific sperm donors in the country. Between 1980 and 1994, he donated at a Michigan clinic twice a week. He's looked at the records of his donations, multiplied by the number of individual vials each donation produced, and estimated the success of each vial resulting in a pregnancy. By his own calculations, he concluded that he is the biological father of nearly 400 children, spread across the state and possibly the country. Newsweek

Editor: Interesting that Newsweek has a blog section called 'The Human Condition' (see the sidebar on the web page), and it's illustrated by a symbol for evolution.

Merry Christmas from David & Evelyn Stone

These ABWE missionaries (and BFL International Training Consultants) report, "The great commission is being carried out this Christmas in Lima, Peru." The focus of their ministry is church planting. "Currently we are establishing the Living Hope Baptist Church in San Isidro.
Praise God for the baptism of Doris last Sunday, December 13. Present were six visitors (a friend and five family members), all of whom hold strongly to religious traditions. Pray for God to use Doris' testimony and the gospel message that they heard to draw them to Himself. Doris shared a very clear testimony of her faith is Christ. She first heard the gospel five years ago at the New Life Prenatal Center. One year ago, Evelyn led her to the Lord at the Center." Praise God for this evidence of God working through pro-life ministry!

A time for disobedience

For some Christians leaders, extraordinary circumstances may soon be upon believers in our nation. Indeed, there are ominous signs that an increasingly unbridled state is threatening to impose its will over the God-ordained spheres of the family and church, causing us to need to draw the proverbial line in the sand. The “Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience” seeks to draw the line in the sand, putting the government on notice that there are certain matters on which the signers will not compromise, no matter the cost. Florida Baptist Witness

Three Victims of Abortion

Today we are facing the most significant struggle for life in all of history. We are confronted with a crisis at the beginning of life. By definition a crisis means “a critical moment, a crucial turning point.” We are entirely justified in using that term in connection with the sanctity of life issues in the United States. We must address the modern holocaust in our land. ERLC

Ethicists: No human rights for fetuses

While the unborn child could be considered a "patient," such a status should not be confused with having human rights - something the child would only gain later thanks to a more developed nervous system, insist the authors of a new report justifying the ethics of abortion. The article, entitled "An ethically justified practical approach to offering, recommending, performing, and referring for induced abortion and feticide," was published in the online American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology in September 2009. Its goal is to craft an ethical framework that allows for the killing of unborn children - and requires doctors to refer for the procedure - by making distinctions between "autonomy-based and beneficence-based obligations" and "professional conscience from individual conscience." "Because of the immaturity of the fetal central nervous system," the authors write, "the fetus lacks the capacity to generate a perspective on its interests." LifeSiteNews

Embryonic Stem Cell Researchers May Target Minorities

Two recent papers analyzed the genetic ethnic diversity of some of the existing human embryonic stem cell lines. Not surprisingly, they found that most of the hESC lines represent a limited genetic ethnic diversity, primarily from European and Middle Eastern, as well as some East Asian, descent. The University of Michigan group seems to think this is surprising, but in truth it is not surprising and has been noted for years. LifeNews

Chief rabbis wage war on abortions

Chief Rabbi of Israel Yona Metzger and Chief Sephardic Rabbi of Israel Shlomo Amar announced Tuesday that they plan to renew the struggle against abortions in hopes of preventing "the killing of fetuses in their mother's womb." In a letter sent out to rabbis throughout Israel, Metzger and Amar wrote: "The vast majority of abortions are unnecessary and forbidden by Halacha." Some 50,000 abortions are performed in Israel every year, 20,000 of which are legal. "Adding to the gravity of this transgression is the fact that it impedes the coming of redemption." Ynet

Niners righteous warrior

The doctors told Mike Singletary’s mother to have an abortion. She was too old to give birth, they said, and after several miscarriages the chances of this baby — Mike — being a normal child were slim. She put her faith in the Lord and gave birth to Mike, her 10th child. Press-Democrat

2009 Sanctity of Human Life Guide

We need to reestablish the Sanctity of Human Life ethic in our generation and we must begin with the church. Even as Christians, we fail to comprehend the value of every human life because we cease to look at each other in awe. Our view of one another should be as breathtaking creatures, embodying a touch of the Creator Himself. Churches must lead the way by teaching the truth about the value of life from a biblical worldview. Focus on the Family

Another challenge to ethical eating

Before we cede the entire moral penthouse to “committed vegetarians” and “strong ethical vegans,” we might consider that plants no more aspire to being stir-fried in a wok than a hog aspires to being peppercorn-studded in my Christmas clay pot. NY Times

Editor: Okay, this is weird, but the science does (once again) point up the fact we have a marvelous Creator.