Beauty Queen Quotes Bible

Another California beauty queen has sparked protests for quoting a Biblical injunction against homosexuality to explain her view against gay "marriage." Lauren Ashley - the "Miss Beverly Hills" contestant seeking the title of Miss California USA - told FOXnews that she based her stance against same-sex "marriage" in the words of the Bible. "The Bible says that marriage is between a man and a woman," said Ashley. "In Leviticus it says, 'If man lies with mankind as he would lie with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death and their blood shall be upon them.' The Bible is pretty black and white. I feel like God himself created mankind and he loves everyone, and he has the best for everyone ... If he says that having sex with someone of your same gender is going to bring death upon you, that's a pretty stern warning, and he knows more than we do about life." LifeSiteNews

The Millennials: Confident. Connected. Open to Change.

A new study from the Pew Research Center finds that young people today are confident, self-expressive, liberal, upbeat and receptive to new ideas and ways of living. It is part of a series of reports - including the Pew Forum's recent report on religion among the Millennials - that explores the behaviors, values and opinions of American teens and twenty-somethings. Quiz: How Millenial are you?

Weighing Risks for In Vitro Babies

Children born from assisted reproductive technologies like in vitro fertilization are generally as healthy as naturally conceived children but tend to be lower in birth weight and have slightly more genetic differences, according to researchers. But there may be unknown long-term health consequences of lower birth weight for children born from assisted techniques, even if they are single births. Other research has indicated an increased risk of obesity, hypertension and diabetes for low birth weight babies. WSJ

Official definition of human embryonic stem cells widened in US

The official definition of human embryonic stem cells in US National Institutes of Health guidelines is to be broadened from those ‘derived from the inner cell mass of blastocyst stage human embryo’ (ie. from embryos that have reached the blastocyst stage at four or five days old, 70-100 cells), to include also those derived from earlier stage embryos. This changes none of the ethical requirements in the guidelines" but was prompted by an application from a commercial source to list cell lines derived from eight-cell stage embryos, and will make some commercial and academic research programmes potentially eligible for government funding. PHG Foundation

Mother gets dead son's sperm, wants to give birth to his baby

Returning from a night of drinking, Nikolas Evansand a friend were attacked on their way to catch a bus ride home. Nikolas, initially left in the middle of the road, died 10 days later of a subdural hematoma. But now his mother is hoping for a legacy -- a grandchild culled from her son's sperm after his death on April 5, 2009. She has heard from hundreds of women who have offered to be egg donors or surrogate mothers for her future grandchild. WHAS

US scientists warn of fraud of stem cell 'banks'

Clinics that offer to "bank" stem cells from the umbilical cords of newborns for use later in life when illness strikes are fraudsters, a top US scientist said here Saturday. Clinics in many countries allow parents to deposit stem cells from their neonate's umbilical cord with a view to using the cells to cure major illnesses that could occur later in life. Irving Weissman, director of the Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at Stanford University in California, said the well-meaning parents were being fleeced by the stem cell bankers. . . . Weissman said these "unproven stem cell therapeutic clinicians" tend to set up shop in countries with poor medical regulations. PhysOrg

Fertility Centre to Dispose of Frozen Embryos

The Dubai Gynaecology and Fertility Centre that stores an estimated 5,000 eggs fertilised through invitro fertilisation will start the disposal procedure next week, according to a notice issued by the Dubai Health Authority. Another 5,000 frozen embryos are believed to be stored at the Al Tawam Hospital in Al Ain. The law that was passed by the Federal National Council two years ago rejected the medical procedure on religious grounds, fearing mixing in the lineage. Khaleej Times

Down syndrome - books for parents

When Jonny was born 17 years ago, there were only a couple books available on Down syndrome. It's so ironic that our culture has evolved in compassion and caring towards individuals with Down syndrome even as 90% of babies diagnose prenatally are aborted. In actuality, it couldn't be a better time to have a child with Down syndrome. And believe me, as a mother I will tell you that having one isn't about us helping them reach their potential as much as it's about them helping us reach ours. Mommy Life blog; see also her list of books on disability

Are Embryos Constructed or Do They Develop?

Why do many Americans find this basic pro-life case hard to accept? They view the human embryo as something that is constructed rather than something that develops. Life Training Institute

Words and deeds

An adoption ministry Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hailed as a home she helped open with Mother Teresa no longer handles adoptions and its phone line has been disconnected, though at the 2010 National Prayer Breakfast Clinton spent five minutes of her 30-minute speech relating the story of its opening. World magazine, LifeNews

Risk of Stillbirth 4 Times Higher After IVF

Women who become pregnant with a single fetus after in vitro fertilization (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) have an increased risk of a stillbirth, according to new research out today. The risk of stillbirth in women who conceived after IVF/ICSI was 16.2 per thousand; in women who conceived after non-IVF fertility treatment it was 2.3 per thousand; in fertile and sub-fertile women, the risk was 3.7 per thousand and 5.4 per thousand respectively. LifeSiteNews

Utah Lawmakers Approve Bill Prosecuting Women Seeking Illegal Abortions

The Utah House and Senate have approved a bill that would bring charges of homicide against pregnant women who arrange to have their unborn child killed through illegal methods. HB 12 was advanced in response to a local case last May, in which a pregnant teenager allegedly paid a man to kill her unborn child at seven months' gestation by punching her stomach.
The teen was charged with attempted murder but released after a judge concluded her efforts were simply an abortion attempt, despite the illegally late gestational age.

Pro-abortion critics lambasted the measure, claiming that the bill "criminalizes miscarriage." A sponsor of the bill pointed out, however that the legislation addresses the specific instance of women directly procuring the death of their child, outside the legal abortion limits. LifeSiteNews

Editor: I still question the advisability of bills like this, that do just what the pro-aborts always accuse of -- wanting to send women to jail. Let's criminalize abortion first, or at least put in place protections of the unborn. What do you think?

Prenatal Genetic Testing Can Lead to More Abortions

Kristan Hawkins, executive director of Students for Life of America, writes about the emotional rollercoaster that their son's diagnosis of cystic fibrosis put her and her husband on. "On March 17, 2010, it will be exactly one year that my husband and I first learned that our infant son, Gunner, had . . . a life-threatening genetic disorder. There are so many unknowns still as to how severe Gunner’s disease will be, how he will respond to treatments and if he will need that feeding tube in a couple months, and how my marriage will endure. However, one thing is absolutely certain, I have the most beautiful, loving, and wondrous child." LifeNews; read more at HealthcareForGunner.com, a website devoted to raising awareness of rationing for children with special needs in the healthcare legislation.

SBC comes out against patenting of human genetic material

The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention is on record in support of genetic research aimed at the treatment and cure of the approximately 4,000 genetically linked diseases which afflict humankind. But while we have been generally supportive of the advance of genetic science, lauding its potential for good, we are equally concerned about the potential for abuses. We view the patenting of human genes as a particularly egregious abuse of genetic technology. ERLC statement; additional commentary

Government, Yes! The Divine and Parents, No!

One of the major differences between the right and the left concerns the question of authority: To whom do we owe obedience and who is the ultimate moral authority? For the right, the primary moral authority is God (or, for secular conservatives, Judeo-Christian values), followed by parents. Of course, government must also play a role, but it is ultimately accountable to God and it should do nothing to undermine parental authority. For the left, the state and its government are the supreme authorities, while parental and divine authority are seen as impediments to state authority. JWR

God Said Multiply, and Did She Ever

When Yitta Schwartz died last month at 93, she left behind 15 children, more than 200 grandchildren and so many great- and great-great-grandchildren that, by her family’s count, she could claim perhaps 2,000 living descendants. Mrs. Schwartz was a member of the Satmar Hasidic sect, whose couples have nine children on average and whose ranks of descendants can multiply exponentially. . . . A round-faced woman with a high-voltage smile, she may have generated one of the largest clans of any survivor of the Holocaust — a thumb in the eye of the Nazis. . . . Like many Hasidim, Mrs. Schwartz considered bearing children as her tribute to God. A son-in-law, Rabbi Menashe Mayer, a lushly bearded scholar, said she took literally the scriptural command that “You should not forget what you saw and heard at Mount Sinai and tell it to your grandchildren. And she wanted to do that,” he said, without needing to add her belief that the more grandchildren, the more the commandment is fulfilled. NY Times

NIH Stem Cell Guidelines Should Be Modified

Under current practice in the United States, gamete donors sign a form giving the IVF patient unrestricted legal authority to determine how to dispose of any embryos that may be leftover following fertility treatments. Donor banks and IVF clinics are not required to brief gamete donors about the various options for disposition, which include donating the embryos for stem cell research, thereby enabling scientists to derive new human embryonic stem cell lines; discarding the embryos, or donating them to other IVF patients. PRWeb

Young mothers reject fulltime work in favour of kids

Young mothers are increasingly turning their backs on high profile careers and looking to men as the main breadwinners, according to a leading UK sociologist. “Having tried full-time working themselves they have found the home much more interesting and want to be enabled to have that.” Christian Institute

British leader speaks outagainst child sexualisation

David Cameron laid out Tory plans to penalise companies who market their products inappropriately to children. Writing in the Daily Mail he said: “More and more today, sexual-provocative images are invading public space – space shared by children. In the Tube station, at the bus stop, on the billboard – there’s the creeping sense that we’re sleepwalking to a place where ‘porn is the norm’.” Christian Institute

'Pornography Harms' Website Launched

"Pornography Harms is a one-stop location for sound research, news articles and opinion pieces demonstrating the harm from pornography," said Patrick Trueman, creator of the site. Trueman, the former chief of the U.S. Department of Justice Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, expressed strong concern for the direction of America due to the prominence of pornography. "Since the advent of the internet, pornography has flooded homes, businesses, public libraries, and even schools. The results have been devastating to the social and family fabric of America." LifeSiteNews

Pro-Life Groups Launch Church Voter Registration Campaign for 2010 Election

The Vote Pro-life Coalition announced a series of “Voter Registration Sundays” for 2010 urging pastors of all denominations, as well as leaders of other organizations, to provide an opportunity to register to vote at church services and other gatherings. The designated weekends are March 14, May 23, July 4, and September 12. LifeNews

The Genius Factory, by David Plotz

In this book exposing the motivations, inner workings, and outcome of the "Nobel Prize Sperm Bank," David Plotz says it without saying it: artificial insemination by donor (AID) is bad for marriages and families. He probably wouldn't want to be taken as being so moralistic, but nevertheless that assessment comes through loud and clear. At least, there isn't much here to recommend the practice.

Plotz diligently and with humor handles the history of the bank, which operated in the 1980s and 90s. He explores its eugenic and paternalistic roots, and its sometimes ridiculous recruitment practices. And he discusses differences between early practices of AID and its current form. One thing hasn't changed. Then, as now, AID is largely unregulated.

The author is sensitive to the human dramas that unfold as families grapple with the implications of AID: Do we tell a child his dad isn't really his father? When? How? Beyond his genetic contribution, what is the donor's role in the family? What should it be? What is a father?

Most profound are questions concerning how much of a child's makeup and destiny is accounted for from "nature," and how much nurture? What unspoken and yet heavily felt pressures are placed on a child who's "father" was chosen out of a catalog listing height, weight, hair color, eye color, IQ, and accomplishments?

This book was not written with Christian sensibilities in mind. Some content is "mature," and yet it can reinforce our values. Plotz doesn't examine why artificial insemination can work well and be appropriate in animal husbandry but not in human culture. Although he refers to his Jewish upbringing, its sanctity of human life ethic didn't sink in for him.

What can be said about AID in relation to biblical teaching? Here are a few thoughts:

Some look to animals for clues about human sexuality. They believe "what works for them can work for us," forgetting we're not animals. Human beings are made in God's image, a basic distinction. What are the implications?

• Animal species may mate with multiple partners. Some reproduce asexually. Some switch genders in the course of development. Some attempt to mate with the same sex. Do we take that as a cue? Are any of these behaviors a pattern for us? No, in light of numerous passages throughout the Bible: Genesis 2:22-24; 19; Exodus 20:14; Leviticus 18:6-24, 20:10-21; Numbers 25:1-9; Deuteronomy 22:13-30; 1 Kings 22:46; Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13, 6:9-20, 10:8; Galatians 5:19-21; Ephesians 5:3-5; 2 Thessalonians 4:1-7; 1 Timothy 1:9-10; Hebrews 13:4; Jude 7; Revelation 21:8.


• Animals reproduce; we procreate. What's the difference? Procreation recognizes God's involvement in human generation.


• When God created animals, he did not specify they would be male and female, just that they would reproduce "after their kind." Humans procreate after God's kind.


• Animals are amoral, and their behaviors are instinctual. We have choices, and the Bible defines our choices as moral or immoral, good or evil. See scripture references above.


• Patterning our lives after animals is dangerous. It's an idea that flows from an evolutionary mindset.

We can conclude that whatever way animals reproduce -- including through AI -- is not necessarily for us.

We have plenty of information about marriage, sex, and family life in God's word to guide us into truth. Now, thanks to David Plotz, we have the wisdom of experience and history as well. --Michele Shoun

Millie, the baby who wasn't expected to survive

Millie Carey was diagnosed with a rare chromosomal disorder called Edwards 18 Syndrome when she was still in mother Tina-Maria’s womb. "We were told it wasn’t good news at all. I was advised to have a termination,” recalled Mrs Carey, 39. “We were told we would be very lucky if the baby was alive when it was born, and if it did live, we could only be looking at minutes or hours. At 36 weeks, they wanted to put a needle through to her heart so I would give birth to a dead baby. It’s not something you expect to hear.” Daily Echo

Young adults 'less religious,' not necessarily 'more secular'

Members of today's Millennial generation, ages 18 to 29, are as likely to pray and believe in God as their elders were when they were young, says the report from Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. USA Today

State of the Nation 2 with Ken Ham - Video, Download

In Ken Ham’s 2nd annual “State of the Nation” presentation, he highlights how far the U.S. has wandered from its Bible-based foundations, and references recent events in American politics and culture to call Christians back to their biblical roots.

“Many Christians have been duped into accepting a false idea: that there is a ‘neutral’ position they can take in regard to social issues,” Ham said. “Some Christians even accept the myth that the U.S. Constitution declares that there should be a separation of church and state. They are hesitant to inject Christian beliefs into politics. God’s Word, however, makes it clear that there is no neutral position, God’s people need to unashamedly and uncompromisingly stand on the Bible and its absolute standards. We need to proclaim a Christian worldview and the Gospel, all the while giving answers for the hope we have.” AIG

Video Debunks Overpopulation "Myth" with Simple Math

Armed with basic math and a wry sense of humor, the Population Research Institute (PRI) has released the second in a series of YouTube cartoons designed to refute the "myth" of overpopulation.

What's to like about the Mount Vernon Statment?

Remarks by pro-life blogger Jill Stanek.

LGBT team up with polygamist community

As a lawyer working for the Center for Reproductive Rights, Jaime Todd-Gher's primary concern is the promotion of abortion. But besides that, she also is lesbian and has 'married' Amy Todd during the brief period in which same-sex 'marriage' was legal in California. In a paper she has written, Ms. Gher takes on the charge of promoting the just cause of yet another oppressed sexual minority: polygamists. C-Fam

The abortion clinic and other novel ideas of Adolph Hitler

You sometimes hear that Hitler was "pro-life" because he outlawed abortion for Aryans. According to Jill Stanek, "Under Hitler's guidance, the Berlin Chamber of Physicians loosened the Nazis' abortion policy in 1933 so as to use abortion as a tool to exterminate nondesirables. It determined 'the health of the mother' - considered from all angles - is the decisive factor" for abortions." WND

Consensus or Con? Global warmists are the real deniers

As we've written on various occasions, we didn't know enough about the substance of the underlying science to make a judgment about [climate change]. But we know enough about science itself to recognize that the popular rendition of global warmism -- dogmatic, doctrinaire and scornful of skepticism -- is not the least bit scientific. The revelations in the Climategate emails show that these attitudes were common among actual scientists, not just the popularizers of their work. WSJ

Test Reveals Baby's Gender Through Mother's Blood

Sequenom launched a test for determining the sex of a fetus by analyzing the mother's blood. The early-detection test could help expectant mothers learn the sex of their fetus in the first trimester, according weeks before an ultrasound would reveal sexual characteristics. Called SensiGene Fetal (XY), the fetal gender test works by detecting free circulating fetal DNA in the mother's bloodstream.

Sequenom hopes the test will be popular. A survey of about 400 expectant mothers suggests that around 80 percent would like to learn the sex of their unborn children if it were safe, affordable and convenient. Of course, there could be darker reasons. But Sequenom, which says it supports the American Congress of Gynecologists and Obstetricians' 2007 statement opposing sex-selective abortions, has made the testing available only through a physician's order, in the hopes of preventing such a practice.

Because it is not believed to address a medical need, the test would not be covered by insurance and expectant mothers would have to pay out of pocket -- $395 in the U.S. -- to have the blood sample sent to Sequenom's lab for analysis. But Wall Street seems to agree women want it. Sequenom's stock jumped 16.4 percent. DOTmed

Related: Shakeup At Sequenom After Investigation of Down Syndrome Test

Symphony of Science

Despite what you might think of Carl "Billions & Billions of Years" Sagan, this unique music video project is fascinating for its depiction of the religion of science.

Ethical minefield of bringing back the dead

Having seen cardiac arrests in action - chest compressions, defibrillation, intubation - most friends and colleagues in acute health care would choose not to be resuscitated, unless the chances of coming out alive, cognitively and physically intact, far outweighed the discomfort and risk. Yet we increasingly subject our patients to futile care, painful and expensive tests, which will not change outcomes and treatments that prolong, but do not improve, life. Sidney Morning Herald

Brave new world: Embryo adoption plants a complex family tree

Embryo donation sometimes is an anonymous process, with donors and recipients engaging in a cloaked transaction through fertility labs that severs the likelihood of a future child's linking to a genetic past. But two couples insist on an open process so the genetically related children — even the children who still may be born from the two remaining frozen embryos — would stay connected. They felt their children had a right to know their genetic heritage, no matter if their full and half siblings are raised by different parents in different circumstances and most did not come from the same womb.

And the children's history is even more complicated, because their embryos were created using eggs from yet another donor. The egg donor, too, has her own two children, linking the children born from the embryos to even more half siblings. The branches of this high-tech family tree, germinated under a microscope, could potentially bear nine genetic full and half siblings living in two states, if not more, 2,000 miles apart. If this all sounds like untested waters in family dynamics, it is. stltoday.com

Taking care of people, not problems

Thanks to a new study, we now know that our idea of what it means to be in a persistent vegetative state may be radically inaccurate. It’s entirely possible that the “professionals” that passed judgment upon Terri were wrong in their assessment of her level of awareness. But even if they weren't -- even if Terri lacked conscious awareness -- her handicap should not have resulted in the revocation of her membership in the human family.

As creatures created in God’s image our “humanity” is unalterable, even though we are subject to change. Our humanity is not contingent upon our mental or physical fitnes -- at least, it shouldn't be. We have worth, value and dignity -- not because of our capacities or achievements -- but because the Creator made us and gave Himself for us. LifeNews

Anglican Ministers Refuse to Recant Pamphlet and Sermon

Two ministers in the Church of England are refusing to backpedal from their reiteration of the biblical teaching that wives should “submit” to their husbands. The Rev. Angus MacLeay, and his assistant priest, Mark Oden, have come under fire in the media after they recently issued a pamphlet and sermon, respectively, that quoted St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians (5:22-33) and said that old fashioned values would save marriage. LifeSiteNews

Colorado Does it Again

Personhood Colorado submitted signatures to the Secretary of State's office Friday for the Colorado Personhood Amendment. The signatures submitted totaled 79,817, although only 76,047 were required. All signatures are pending validation by the Colorado Secretary of State's office. LifeSiteNews

Abortion Cartel Continues to Implode

New research shows the number of abortion facilities in America continues to decline. That trend is evident in data collected in the past two months since Operation Rescue released a report that showed that over two-thirds of the nation's abortion clinics have closed in the past 18 years. During the past two months, five more abortion clinics have closed. LifeSiteNews

Related: As Independent Abortion Centers Close, Planned Parenthood Biz Expands

Largest-Ever Spring 40 Days for Life Set to Start Wednesday

The largest-ever 40 Days for Life spring campaign is set to begin in 165 cities across the globe Wednesday. This campaign will be conducted not only in the United States, but also in Canada, Northern Ireland, and Australia. LifeSiteNews

Stem cell alternatives show early aging abnormalities

A first head-to-head comparison of human embryonic stem cells with ones grown from skin cells, reported Thursday by biologists, revealed early aging and other abnormalities in the less-controversial alternatives. USA Today, Newsweek

What happens when surrogacy goes wrong

A northern Indiana couple are the latest in a series of people to become embroiled in a legal battle in the US following the birth of a child conceived through surrogacy. They follow in the footsteps of a recent series of high profile and hard fought US legal parentage battles involving surrogate-born babies. As demand for surrogacy grows worldwide and its practice remains largely unregulated, surrogacy continues to raise difficult legal, ethical and emotional questions which are challenging legal systems and society to the limits. BioNews

Witchcraft tried by 100,000 aspiring mums, survey finds

A quarter of women trying for a baby have used a fertility spell and 15 per cent thought it worked, according to a Netmums survey. Around eight per cent of the women who tried the spells felt 'taken advantage of at a vulnerable time'. BioNews

Kids and abortion: Start young

Elizabeth Trisler made national news after she was denied the chance to receive a legislative honor by the pro-abortion Ohio House Speaker. In an interview Friday, the teen said she was involved in the pro-life cause "before I was born." Then, her mother sat her down at a very young age to explain what abortion was. She had just been shooed out of the room after the topic came up on a Focus on the Family program.

"When I was really little, my mom told me about abortion ... that abortion was when they kill babies before they're born. And I said, 'That is wrong! I'm gonna stop that,'" said Trisler. "And you can picture: a little kid, they can stop anything! I made a list of people to call, you know - I figured if people knew, then how would they possibly let babies be killed?" she continued. "I made a list of phone numbers, I made this little trumpet thing, because I was going to announce it to the world." LifeSiteNews

Center offers hope to women

Nearly two decades ago, the ministers of Sherwood Baptist Church recognized that women in the community facing pregnancy needed a place to go. Until that point, that need had gone unfulfilled. The Alpha Pregnancy Resource Center, based across the street from the church on Whispering Pines Road, now sees hundreds of girls each year. The Alpha Pregnancy Resource Center has been in Albany since 1991. Clothing and food items are among the dozens of items sold at the Alpha Pregnancy Resource Center’s “mommy and baby store” to assist women in the area facing motherhood. Albany Herald

How Did the Early Christians of Rome Defeat Pagan Sexuality?

Over the past century Western Civilization, including the United States, has experienced profound social, culture, and sexual changes. Many of these changes run counter to deeply-held Christian moral teaching. Those supporting the change seem impervious to arguments in favor of traditional morality. With that said, we tend to forget that the early Roman Church lived in a pagan world dominated by its sexual ethos. Yet, the Christian Church's sexual ethic emerged victorious, and that fact prompts us to ask, "How Did the Early Christians of Rome Defeat Pagan Sexuality?" Dr. Peter Jones will address this profound question. Other lectures from FRC

Liberals and scientific method

Those who now protest that any particular weather pattern should not be confused with global climate have short memories. Only yesterday, they were attributing every forest fire, drought, hurricane, and toad disease to global warming. JWR

My big fat geek wedding: Tears, joy and oxytocin

Interesting study on oxytocin -- the "empathy, jealousy, and bonding" chemical? NewScientist

Faith Office Director: White House Still Working on Plan to Reduce Abortions

In a new interview, the director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships contends the Obama administration sis still working on a plan to reduce abortions. In the 13 months since Barack Obama became president, he's promoted abortion and the office has produced nothing.

In an exclusive interview with CBN News lead correspondent David Brody, Joshua DuBois, the director of the office, sought to reassure pro-life advocates that a plan is forthcoming. “It’s very much a priority of the President to find common ground on this difficult issue," DuBois told Brody. He said his office "met with a range of organizations are now pulling together a lot of information to present to the President so that he can eventually talk about where the administration will go in this important area so that’s still very much on the table." LifeNews

What's in the Bible?

Just saw a video from the creator of What's In The Bible?, a DVD series for kids. Phil Vischer is also the creator of Veggie Tales. Does anybody have a review of this? Opinions? Comments? Recommendations? Would love to hear them.

Planned Parenthood Pushes Intensive Sex Education for Kids as Young as 10

"Stand and Deliver," a new report by the International Planned Parenthood Federation, advocates that children as young as 10 be given extensive sex education. The report, "Stand and Deliver," charges that religious groups, specifically Catholics and Muslims, deny their young access to comprehensive sexual programs and education. Click here to read the report. The report demands that children 10 and older be given a "comprehensive sexuality education" by governments, aid organizations and other groups, and that young people should be seen as "sexual beings." FoxNews

Issues at a glance

Seeking biblical guidance and resources for your church or small group on cultural issues? Check out the growing roster of in-depth assistance on issues like adoption, life, hunger, Christian citizenship, and more at ERLC.com/Issues.

“Bogus Compassion” is Killing Children and Corrupting Society

The Catholic Church is suffering from one of the modern world’s most dangerous philosophical errors - that of false compassion, says Michel Schooyans, one of Europe’s leading philosophical minds. In a new essay, Schooyans writes that the corruption of compassion has created a climate in which it is anathema to condemn the killing of children by abortion and, more recently, by post-natal infanticide. It also has led, he says, to the abolition of the traditional definition of marriage; the spread of AIDS through the “safe sex” doctrine; and a resurgence of the deadly eugenics policies of the early 20th century.

“Pseudo-compassion,” Schooyans writes, “leads to heresy and division within the Church, because it incites the faithful to deviate from a non-negotiable element of the doctrine of the Church: the duty to respect innocent life. “Pseudo-compassion reinforces the movement towards the ‘tyranny of relativism’, observable in some pastors and/or theologians.” The news media, in accordance with the abortion industry’s propaganda, says Schooyans, invariably invoke compassion when they depict abortion as necessary for the woman, and even for the child. LifeSiteNews

Get to Know: Shepherds College

Shepherds College is the country’s leading three-year post secondary educational program for individuals with intellectual disabilities.

Test-tube boys may inherit fertility problems

Doctors have uncovered the first evidence that fathers of test-tube babies may be passing on their infertility to their sons. The results raise the prospect of a new and growing generation who may be less likely to have children of their own. Times Online

The Riddle of Consciousness

The assorted mystics, philosophers, theologians and, most recently, neuroscientists who have burned a candle searching for the essence of consciousness all started with a simple presumption: Consciousness must begin where unconsciousness ends. NYTimes

What Is a Life Worth?

Research on the cost-effectiveness of medical treatments pits our emotions against our pocketbooks. An analysis of genetic screening for an incurable, untreatable disease called spinal muscular atrophy shows that it would cost $4.7 million to catch and avert one case, compared with $260,000 to provide lifetime care for a child born with it. So here's the question: do we say, "[I]t is worth any price to spare a single child the misery of being unable to crawl, walk, swallow, or move his head and neck"—or do we, as a society, put on the green eyeshades and say, "No, sorry, we can't afford routine screening"? Newsweek

Technique enables scientists to easily make stem cells pluripotent

Tiny circles of DNA are the key to a new and easier way to transform stem cells from human fat into induced pluripotent stem cells for use in regenerative medicine, say scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Unlike other commonly used techniques, the method, which is based on standard molecular biology practices, does not use viruses to introduce genes into the cells or permanently alter a cell's genome. PhysOrg

Duggar Family Renting Former Home of Local Planned Parenthood Leader

Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, the reality TV parents who recently grabbed headlines following the birth of their nineteenth child, are now renting a house once owned by the eugenicist founder of Planned Parenthood in Little Rock, Arkansas. The Duggars are the stars of the reality television show "19 Kids and Counting" - formerly "18 Kids and Counting" and "17 Kids and Counting" - that follows the everyday life of the conservative Baptist family. The family moved to be closer to the University of Arkansas for Medical Science, where Josie, their daughter born at 25 weeks' gestation December 10, continues to be monitored. LifeSiteNews

Apologetics site for young people

Stand to Reason launched a new website today designed to help Christian students form a confident Christian worldview and be able to explain it clearly and gracious to others. STR Place helps students "just think" about Christianity and has a variety of resources:

• Videos dealing with timely issues
• Articles providing clear, concise explanations
• A video blog answering questions
• Parent & teacher resources to support Christian students
• Online store with resources specifically for Christian students

Black America's future cut short

One out of two African-American pregnancies end in abortion. Does it matter? I was advised by a voice I respect that I'm walking into a minefield, that perhaps a white guy shouldn't be writing about black abortion. I drove to the Maple Street Missionary Baptist Church in Des Moines to ask Rev. Keith Ratliff about it.

Ratliff, who is African-American and serves on the national board of directors of the NAACP, said, "Any caring individual has a right to write about life." He characterized abortion as a "silent genocide" in the African-American community.

Blacks represent 12 percent of the population nationally, but account for 36 percent of all abortions. Ratliff told me abortion is the biggest killer in the African-American community, topping cancer, heart disease, AIDS and homicide.Why talk about black abortion today? Here's why: This is Black History Month. Des Moines Register

Russian Journalist Suggests Infanticide for Disabled Newborns

Aleksandr Nikonov wrote an article titled "Finish Them Off, So They Don't Suffer," which called "post-natal abortion" an act of mercy. Nikonov argues that the birth of a disabled child for many families would be an unbearable tragedy, “a hell”, and that “the killing of the newborn is in fact the same as an abortion." He says depriving infants, who will never be able to take care of themselves, of life is “true humanism" and calls to give parents of such children a right to euthanize their newborns in the same way the elderly are killed in euthanasia. Now, Radio Free Europe reports that Snezhana Mitina, the Russian mother of a child with a developmental disability wants to sue Nikonov. LifeNews

Pink Ouija Board Targets Girls

A boycott has been launched against toymaker giant Hasbro and Toys R Us for making and marketing a pink Ouija board targeting girls as young as eight years old. The board's Toys R Us webpage has evidently been recently removed, however a glow-in-the-dark Ouija board is still available and is marketed for ages 8 and older. The product description suggests: "[L]et the OUIJA Board satisfy your curiosity in virtually endless ways. OUIJA Board will answer. It's just a game - or is it?" LifeSiteNews

President Obama May Have Two Supreme Court Picks Soon

ABC News reported top Obama administration attorneys are preparing background information on several potential nominees because they are expecting not one, but two retirements between now and when Obama runs for re-election in 2012. Justices John Paul Stevens and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, both strongly pro-abortion, are considered the most likely to step down from the Supreme Court in the next year or two. LifeNews

Pro-life groups defend support for Brown

Massachusetts Citizens for Life defended its pro-Brown campaign on several fronts. Although Brown labels himself pro-choice, he has a more pro-life record than many self-avowed "pro-life" lawmakers from the state. "What we're used to is people saying to us, I am pro-life, and then voting pro-abortion - badly. So here we have a fellow who says I am pro-choice, but he votes pro-life. Just looking at it from a practical point of view, we would prefer to have someone who said he was pro-life and voted pro-life." Brown has shown consistent support for abortion restrictions. "He says [abortion] is between a woman and her doctor, but he's willing to go in and hamstring the doctor." The possible negative aspects of supporting a pro-choice candidate was something they considered, but the immense danger of the health care bill ultimately outweighed other concerns. "[The health care bill] would be . . . the end of the pro-life movement. We're probably fixated on it - but I think it would have caused as many deaths as Roe v. Wade, and much less easy to undo."

Concerned Women for America also disagreed their support amounted to an abandonment of pro-life principles. "[P]ro-lifers were quite up front regarding Scott Brown, realizing that he considered himself pro-choice, but also that he had promised to be the 41st vote against a health care bill that would mandate tax funding of abortion. CWA "certainly didn't anticipate that he's going to be a strong pro-life vote," nonetheless backing Brown was no sell-out of pro-life principles. "It goes beyond political suicide to oppose him and thereby allow a hardcore, pro-abortion radical feminist to get in that office. It's more than political suicide because it would have lead to the deaths of untold numbers of unborn children." LifeSiteNews

Brain Scan May Foster Communication With Vegetative Patients: Experts Say Study May Reinvigorate Right-to-Life Debate

For the brother of Terri Schiavo, Wednesday's news that a team of researchers in England were able to use a novel scanning technology to establish limited communication with a man in a persistent vegetative state was bittersweet. A low percentage of vegetative patients are more conscious than once thought. Bobby Schindler said that while the test using functional magnetic resonance imaging likely holds promise for the families of minimally conscious and persistently vegetative patients, he wishes his sister had been afforded this technology before a court ruling allowed her husband Michael Schiavo to remove her feeding tube in 2005 leading to her death. ABC News

A Call for Biblical Authority—Live Webcast from the Creation Museum!

Ken Ham, president of Answers in Genesis, will soon offer his “State of the Nation” speech, highlighting how far the U.S. has wandered from its moral foundations, and calling Christians back to their biblical roots. “Many Christians have been duped into accepting a false idea: that there is a ‘neutral’ position they can take in regard to social issues. Some Christians even accept the myth that the U.S. Constitution declares that there should be a separation of church and state. They are hesitant to inject Christian beliefs into politics. God’s Word, however, makes it clear that there is no neutral position. God’s people need to unashamedly and uncompromisingly stand on the Bible and its absolute standards. We need to proclaim a Christian worldview and the Gospel, all the while giving answers for the hope we have.”

Ham’s webcast (his speech is not open to the public) will touch on social issues such as abortion, “gay” marriage, origins, and the role of religion in society. He will encourage Christians to know what the Bible says on these matters, and help them understand how to defend the biblical viewpoint in an increasingly hostile environment. AnswersLive

Writings and resources on race

Tragically much of our nation’s history is stained with the ugliness of racial discrimination and prejudice and, even more distressing, there was a day when many condoned these attitudes from church pulpits, twisting Scripture to justify their bigoted behavior and thought, rationalizing it was perfectly all right to own and/or abuse another human being. Yet racist thought and behavior denies the reality that each of us are created in the image of God. ERLC

Wiping out human variation

Two weeks after our daughter was born we saw a geneticist – a polite, well-manicured woman in a business suit who would confirm (or not) our paediatrician's suspicion that our child had achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism. Following the examination, she sat us down and began speaking in her best concerned-doctor tone of voice. "I want you to know," she said, "that there really wasn't anything you could have done about this."

What she meant – and what we instantly knew she meant – was that there would have been no way of, and no reason to, screen for achondroplasia ahead of time. No way to terminate the pregnancy and try again, and to hope for something that she believed, or that she assumed we believed, would be better. Guardian

Open secret about homosexual "marriages"

As the trial phase of the constitutional battle to overturn the Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage concludes in federal court, gay nuptials are portrayed by opponents as an effort to rewrite the traditional rules of matrimony. Quietly, outside of the news media and courtroom spotlight, many gay couples are doing just that, according to groundbreaking new research. A study to be released next month is offering a rare glimpse inside gay relationships and reveals that monogamy is not a central feature for many. NYTimes

Christian Doctors Group Says Abstinence Study Conforms to What Parents Want

A new study shows how abstinence education is more effective than either comprehensive sexual education or teaching only about contraception. The results coincide with polling data showing parents favor teaching their children abstinence. Dr. David Stevens, head of the Christian Medical Association, said he appreciated the new study, published in the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine. "Science has finally caught up with logic and what parents have known for centuries by empirically demonstrating that equipping teens to abstain from sexual activity is an effective way to prevent teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases," he said. LifeNews

Group exposes media malpractice

LifeSiteNews, YouTube

Hijacking the Brain

In Wired for Intimacy, William M. Struthers of Wheaton College offers keen and strategic insights from neurobiology and psychology. Struthers does not leave his argument to neuroscience, nor does he use the category of addiction to mitigate the sinfulness of viewing sexually explicit material. Sinners naturally look for fig leaves to hide sin, and biological causation is often cited as a means of avoiding moral responsibility. Struthers does not allow this, and his view of pornography is both biblical and theologically grounded. He lays responsibility for the sin at the feet of those who willingly consume explicit images. LifeSiteNews

Answers in Genesis Conference - Jackson, MI

Carl Kerby will speak Sunday and Monday -- February 21-22, 2010 in Jackson, MI, at Grace Church and Cascades Baptist Church. Details of the event.

Over 30 States Push to Establish Personhood for Unborn

Three additional states have taken up the "personhood" cause in a push to guarantee the constitutional rights of the preborn. Iowa, Virginia and Kansas are now among more than 30 states pursuing personhood amendments – a move pro-lifers view as their best chance of ending abortion in the U.S. ChristianPost

A Pro-Life Commitment

Today, I pledge to uphold the biblical pro-life message in word and deed. As I fulfill the Great Commission, I will also do my part to preserve the sanctity of human life. . . .

View the entire pledge from Baptists for Life here, and download a PDF file

Pro-life ministry on the foreign field

Evelyn Stone, ABWE missionary in Lima, Peru, and BFL International Training Consultant, reports this for 2009: "Six people were baptized this year in the Living Hope Baptist Church of San Isidro. Five of them were saved through the New Life Prenatal Center counseling ministry. One couple who was saved at the Center was married in the church in February and baptized the next week along with their son and the bride's mother."