Sanctifying Life in the Early Church

Evidence from both Christian and pagan sources reveals that the pre-Constantinian Christian churches practiced a broad and holistic sanctity-of-life ethic. A review of the documents can only deepen our confidence that a sanctity-of-life ethic is neither a modern nor merely a political innovation but instead goes back to the very origins of our tradition. . . . Christians are instructed repeatedly by numerous key leaders that all killing is forbidden to followers of Christ, and these instructions had their effect. Christian nonparticipation in the Roman military and resistance to the evils of war was one result. . . . Loyalty to Jesus requires abstaining not only from war but also from abortion, abandonment of infants (“exposure”), and direct infanticide. These were quite common practices in the Greco-Roman world, and had especially devastating effects on women and female children. Under Roman law, the father was granted the power to kill, abandon, or sell his child or to order any female in his household to abort, which involved primitive methods that often ended women’s lives or ruined their health. But for Christians, the child’s life too, was sacred, even in the womb and in infancy, as was the life of the woman carrying the child. For both Jews and Christians, abortion and infanticide were absolutely banned. CBHD

Where DON'T babies come from?

If the next generation of abortion proponents is mysteriously missing, it may be because their mothers availed themselves of the right to have an abortion and thus did not become mothers. WSJ, The Roe Effect

Leaders’ goal: make health care pro-life

Richard Land and more than 50 other pro-life leaders have told the members of the House of Representatives they will work to restore pro-life policies undermined by the new health-care law and the subsequent executive order from President Obama. Meanwhile, a pro-life congressman has introduced legislation to amend the health-care measure to bar money for abortions in any program funded through the new law. ERLC

Is abortion justified to save the life of the mother?

Help give birth to Matt Ryan

Discover a possible untold story. Discover Matt Ryan. There are voices that are screaming to be heard but that have been silenced by one question.

Oklahoma Passes Abortion Restrictions

The Oklahoma Legislature voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to override vetoes of two highly restrictive abortion measures, one making it a law that women undergo an ultrasound and listen to a detailed description of the fetus before having an abortion. Oklahoma’s law requires a doctor or technician to set up the monitor where the woman can see it and describe the heart, limbs and organs of the fetus. No exceptions are made for rape and incest victims. The second measure protects doctors from malpractice suits if they decide not to inform the parents of a unborn baby that the fetus has birth defects. The intent of the bill is to prevent parents from later suing doctors who withhold information to try to influence them against having an abortion. NYTimes

Candidate blasts pro-life leaders at Tea Party event

Indiana Right to Life has withdrawn its endorsement of Republican U.S. Senate candidate Richard Behney after he attacked pro-life advocates at a tea party rally. Behney made the wild accusation that top pro-life leaders are more concerned about themselves than stopping abortions. "One of the things I'm most disappointed about in running for the United States Senate - I've met many people here - I've met many of these leaders - pro-life leaders - here in our state," Behney said. "And I'm convinced as sure as I'm standing here that they are more concerned with their egos and with their jobs than with saving lives." He didn't offer any examples to back up his accusations. LifeNews

A tale of two twins

Meredith and Mason were born in October 2009, about one year after being adopted. StemCellResearchCures

Is there intelligent life in outer space?

From an evolutionary perspective, it would make sense to suggest such a possibility. People who believe this possibility contend that, if life evolved on earth by natural processes, intelligent life must exist somewhere else in the far reaches of space, given the size of the universe and the millions of possible planets. One can postulate endlessly about possibilities of intelligent life in outer space, but Ken Ham believes a Christian worldview, built on the Bible, rejects such a possibility. AiG

Editor: It's ironic that those who endlessly search to validate life on other planets won't even acknowledge life in the womb.

Children of divorce still say 'I do' to marriage

A massive 80 per cent of women whose parents divorced still want to get married, according to a survey for a women’s magazine. Asking 2,000 women in their mid-twenties, the Marriage and Wedding Survey for More magazine showed 78 per cent see marriage as the “ultimate commitment.” And most young women believe marriage is the best foundation for children.

According to a book released in the UK in the same month, parents who want to raise happy, successful children need to prioritise their marriages not their children. To Raise Happy Kids Put Your Marriage First’s author David Code said: “Today’s number one myth about parenting is that the more attention we give our kids, the better they’ll turn out. But we parents have gone too far: our over-focus on our children is doing them more harm than good.”

In 2008 children under ten said divorce would be the first thing they would get rid of if they ruled the world. Christian Institute

Prayer in America

A federal district court in Wisconsin recently ruled that the annual declaration of a National Day of Prayer, established by Congress in 1952, is unconstitutional. The decision is being appealed, and the judge has stayed the ruling, saying it should not be applied until the appeals process is complete. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama has stated that he will go forward with his plans to officially proclaim May 6 as the National Day of Prayer for 2010.

The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, conducted in 2007 by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life, shows that prayer is a common religious practice in America, with nearly six-in-ten adults in the U.S. saying they pray at least once a day. However, frequency of prayer differs significantly by religious tradition, age, gender and income.

Environmentalism as Religion

Many observers have made the point that environmentalism is eerily close to a religious belief system, since it includes creation stories and ideas of original sin. But there is another sense in which environmentalism is becoming more and more like a religion: It provides its adherents with an identity. WSJ (subscription required)

Get to Know: The Population Research Institute

The Population Research Institute is a non-profit research group whose goals are to expose the myth of overpopulation, to expose human rights abuses committed in population control programs, and to make the case that people are the world’s greatest resource. "Our growing, global network of pro-life groups spans over 30 countries."

Obama Betrays His Claim to Have No Abortion Litmus Test

President Obama responded to a reporter's question and put forward the no litmus test pledge but immediately contradicted himself. “I don't have litmus tests around any of these issues, but I will say that I want somebody who is going to be interpreting our Constitution in a way that takes into account individual rights and that includes women’s rights and that is going to be something that is very important to me," Obama said, essentially putting a litmus test into place. He said he believes the Constitution guarantees the right to privacy and "bodily integrity," though he made no mention of the bodily rights of unborn children. LifeNews

Related: Gibbs Stumbles over Questions about Obama’s Non-Litmus Test Litmus Test for Supreme Court

Editor: What's so awful about (both sides) admitting we have a 'litmus test'? Abortion is important enough to be a litmus test, and when a side wins the presidency they're views on abortion hold sway in nomination situations. Let's quit kidding ourselves!

View photos of recent BFL trips

Foreign Trip Photo Gallery

Get to Know: Justice for All

The mission of Justice For All is to train thousands to make abortion unthinkable for millions, one person at a time. This is accomplished through training a leadership core who are equipped to engage students using Justice For All photo exhibits that are placed upon U.S. college and university campuses.

China tries to sterilise 10,000 parents over one-child rule

Doctors in southern China are working around the clock to fulfil a government goal to sterilise — by force if necessary — almost 10,000 men and women who have violated birth control policies. Family planning authorities are so determined to stop couples from producing more children than the regulations allow that they are detaining the relatives of those who resist.

About 1,300 people are being held in cramped conditions in towns across Puning county, in Guangdong Province, as officials try to put pressure on couples who have illegal children to come forward for sterilisation. The 20-day campaign, which was launched on April 7, aims to complete 9,559 sterilisations in Puning, which, with a population of 2.24 million, is the most populous county in the province.

In Puning county couples with illegal children and their relatives who apply for permits to build a house are rejected. Illegal children are refused residency registration, a penalty that denies them access to healthcare and education. Authorities have discovered, however, that those methods have less success than rounding up relatives. TimesOnline

Why America's new baby boom bodes well for our future

By 2050, about 100 million more people will inhabit this vast country, bringing the total U.S. population to more than 400 million. With a fertility rate 50 percent higher than Russia, Germany, or Japan, and well above that of China, Italy, Singapore, South Korea, and virtually all of Eastern Europe, the United States has become an outlier among its traditional competitors, all of whose populations are stagnant and seem destined to eventually decline. . . . With the mobilization of our entrepreneurs and supportive government policies, the United States should be able to exploit its vibrant demography to assure its preeminence over the next four decades. Newsweek

A wedding sermon from a prison cell

Marriage is more than your love for each other. . . . In your love you see only the heaven of your own happiness, but in marriage you are placed at a post of responsibility towards the world and mankind. Your love is your own private possession, but marriage is more [than] something personal – it is a status, an office. . . . [L]ove comes from you, but marriage from above, from God. As high as God is above man, so high are the sanctity, the rights, and the promise of marriage above the sanctity, the rights, and the promise of love. It is not your love that sustains the marriage, but from now on, the marriage that sustains your love. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1943

Who are the real creators of a living being?

The announcement last week that scientists have developed a new procedure that could eventually help women with dysfunctional mitochondria made headline news across the world. The new procedure consisted in removing the two pronuclei (containing the nuclear DNA from the sperm and egg) from a one cell embryo (just after fertilisation) affected by dysfunctional mitochondria, and then transferring this material into a second embryo, with healthy mitochondria, which had been emptied of its own nuclear material.

But, as with most new developments relating to embryology, a number of important ethical issues arise with this procedure which need to be examined before it is ever contemplated in clinical treatment. These include a number of biomedical challenges that must be addressed relating to the safety and efficacy of the procedure. Secondly, a significant ethical question would arise if any human embryos are destroyed during this procedure. But perhaps one of the most fundamental questions which arises through this new procedure is the fact that more than two individuals are participating in the creation of human life.

A broad societal discussion concerning the relationship between being a creator and parenthood while trying to understand these parent-child bonds is, therefore, necessary when the creation of human life by novel means is contemplated. After all, it is because these creator-creature bonds are seen as extremely important by many couples that they are seeking fertility treatment and making sure that they have a child 'of their own.' BioNews

Reflection from Lori Smith: Lavish love

It is so easy as Christians to get lulled into living a life of complacency knowing we have our salvation guaranteed like a ticket to heaven securely tucked into our front pocket. How easy it is to just sit back and just enjoy the "ride" of life. Saying "yes" to Christ however should be the start of an adventure of surprising joy and challenges. We have the opportunity to pattern our lives after Christ's passionate life emulating His goal . . . lavish love for others.

To us, accepting Christ is kind of like parenthood. Yes, there is great celebration and joy over that birth, but parenting is a 24/7 , day in day out, long haul of being "on call," denying our own desires and rights all for the amazing love we have for our kids for a lifetime. That lavish love drives us. We would do ANYTHING for our kids. No sacrifice is too much! Bill & Lori Smith blog

Human medical experimentation in the United States: The shocking true history of modern medicine and psychiatry

The United States claims to be the world leader in medicine. But there's a dark side to western medicine that few want to acknowledge: The horrifying medical experiments performed on impoverished people and their children all in the name of scientific progress. Many of these medical experiments were conducted on people without their knowledge, and most were conducted as part of an effort to seek profits from newly approved drugs or medical technologies. Today, the medical experiments continue on the U.S. population and its children. Natural News

Medical Ethics and the Faith Factor: A Handbook for Clergy and Health-Care Professionals

In Medical Ethics and the Faith Factor, Robert Orr provides the overall rationale for ethical decision-making as well as for certain discrete medical issues: failure of the cardiac, pulmonary, renal, and neurologic systems; pregnancy; reproductive disorders; failure to eat, drink, or both; organ transplantation; and cognitive diminution. He also discusses ethical issues in the neonatal and pediatric age groups, as well as in certain cultural or religious beliefs. Read the entire book online, courtesy of Google Books

A Colossal Fraud

The worst part of the [health-and-wealth gospel] scandal is that it's not really a scandal at all in the eyes of most evangelical Christians. Those who should be most earnest in defense of the truth have taken a shockingly tolerant attitude toward the prosperity preachers' blatant misrepresentation of the gospel and their wanton exploitation of needy people. . . .

How many manifestos and written declarations of solidarity have evangelicals issued condemning abortion, euthanasia, same-sex marriage, and other social evils? It's fine, and fairly easy, to oppose wickedness and injustice in secular society, but where is the corresponding moral outrage against these religious mountebanks who openly, brashly pervert the gospel for profit 24 hours a day, seven days a week on international television?

Advocates of abortion and euthanasia don't usually try to pass their message off as biblical. The people who say we need to redefine marriage haven't portrayed themselves as an arm of the church. But the prosperity preachers deceive people in Jesus' name, claiming to speak for God — while stealing both the souls and the sustenance of hurting people. That is a far greater abomination than any of the social evils Christians typically protest.

After all, what the prosperity preachers do is not only a sin against poor, sick, and vulnerable people; it also blasphemes God, corrupts the gospel, and profanes the reputation of Christ before a watching world. It not only tears at the fabric of our society; it also befouls the purity of the visible church and abates the influence of the true gospel. It is surely among the grossest of all the evils currently rampant in our culture. Grace to You

Editor: Amen, but can't we speak out against both social and theological evils?

Does the Big Bang fit the Bible?

The big bang story of origins is entirely fiction. But sadly, many people claim to believe the big-bang model. It is particularly distressing that many professing Christians have been taken in by the big bang, perhaps without realizing its atheistic underpinnings. They have chosen to reinterpret the plain teachings of Scripture in an attempt to make it mesh with secular beliefs about origins. AiG

Should we support March of Dimes?

During April, you may see a fundraising push for March of Dimes. While the foundational goals of March of Dimes seem noble, they support pro-abortion, eugenics-based, Planned Parenthood-funding and destructive, embryonic stem-cell research. Rock for Life

The DC shift

Kurt Dillinger of LIFE International recommends a shift 'from DC to JC': "Honestly, I do not have the same expectations for DC that I have for JC. I would never equate these two so why not reflect that in my life? I have limited optimism that originates from DC. On the other hand, I have every reason to be optimistic because of JC. Bottom line, when it really matters, it does not matter who rules in the White House but rather it is eternally significant who reigns in my house!"

The Mosque Exposed

Yesterday a select group of policymakers, government officials, attorneys, and prayer leaders came to FRC to hear Dr. Sam Solomon, a former professor of Islamic Shari'ah law, give a stirring presentation on the threat imposed by Shari'ah on American public life and our Constitution itself. Dr. Solomon outlined the key components of Islamic law and described how Islamists are working to establish the supremacy of Islam in socio-economic-political system they encounter. FRC audio

Aborting the “Wrong” Baby?

The news out of Florida [about a doctor's license suspended after he aborted the healthy twin rather than the one with Down syndrome] is a warning to the entire nation. What's the real scandal here — that this doctor was ready to kill a baby with Down syndrome, or merely that he aborted “the wrong baby?” The answer to that question tells us all we need to know about the conscience of the age. Albert Mohler

Mourning man’s inhumanity toward man

It was 65 years ago, as World War II shuddered to an end in the European theatre, that the Allies began liberating the Nazi death camps. In recognition of that particularly shameful period in world history, Congress established the Days of Remembrance as the nation’s annual commemoration of the Holocaust in the United States, beginning in 1982.
This year, Holocaust Remembrance Days began Sunday, April 11 [and continue through the 18th]. . . .

[I]ts explanation lies not in some flaw in the German character but in the human character in its fallen, sinful state. That such sickening barbarism broke out in Germany magnifies the fact that culture, education and scientific expertise do not inoculate societies against mind-numbing evil.

Germany was the most scientifically, technologically, educationally and culturally advanced culture in the world — and all that did was make their barbarism more heinous and more efficient once they severed themselves from Judeo-Christian absolutes and descended into Nazi tyranny. Education and scientific expertise are no inoculation against the darkness of the human heart. . . .

The dark tragedy of German Christianity under Hitler underscores dramatically what can happen when Christians allow their religious faith to be eviscerated by liberal theology or elevate their nationalism to the level of idolatry.

Unfettered by an orthodox and genuine faith in Christ, human beings are capable of horrific, if not unimaginable, deeds of evil against other men, evidence of the corruption of human nature (Ephesians 4:18-19). . . .

We must commit afresh to raise our voices against anti-Semitism wherever and whenever it occurs. . . . In God’s sight there is neither Jew nor Gentile, enslaved or free, male or female, for we are “all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). . . . Indeed, anti-Semitism is perhaps the most irrational of prejudices for followers of Jesus, Himself a Jew. ERLC

3-parent embryos hoped to free babies of mutant mitochondria

Researchers have successfully transplanted the genetic material in the nucleus of a fertilized human egg into another fertilized egg, without carrying over mitochondria, the energy-producing structures of the cell. The technique could be used to prevent babies from inheriting diseases caused by mutations in the DNA of mitochondria, which are present in the cytoplasm of the egg. Nature

Family Research Council comments:

"Despite the standard hype about curing disease using these cloning techniques, significant ethical concerns exist. First, the technique sacrifices two embryos - the smallest, most vulnerable humans - to create a third, recombined embryo, with two mothers and one father. It is not a possible cure, but germline genetic engineering and even eugenics, in that embryo
manipulation moves us further down the slope not ju st of selecting children, but manufacturing them.

"In this human cloning experiment, the scientists used one-cell embryos as both the DNA donor and recipient. After fertilization, the scientists transferred nuclear material out of one embryo, placing the nuclear material into a second embryo, thus destroying both embryos to create a third, combined embryo. The scientists let the recombined embryos develop for up to eight days before they were destroyed. As with all cloning
experiments, few of the embryos developed. In this case only 18 out of 80 showed any development or divided at all, and only three of the recombined embryos made it to blastocyst stage. This was only half as good as the control 'abnormal' embryos, which also develop poorly when compared to normal IVF embryos, again indicating that cloning and manipulation of embryos introduces problems."

Africa goes to church, the mosque and the witch doctor

The Pew Forum interviewed more than 25,000 people in 19 sub-Saharan countries about all aspects of faith and belief. The results show that the overwhelming majority of Africans in those countries are committed followers of either Islam or Christianity. But alongside regular visits to church or mosque, they will also visit traditional healers, who offer a connection with the ancient beliefs that pre-date Christianity and Islam in Africa. The survey underlines that in most countries, Christians and Muslims live peacefully side by side. BBC

Two Abortion Laws Signed in Nebraska

Two landmark measures putting new restrictions on abortion became law in Nebraska on Tuesday, including one that critics say breaks with court precedent by changing the legal rationale for a ban on later-term abortions. Republican Gov. Dave Heineman signed both bills, one barring abortions at and after 20 weeks of pregnancy and the other requiring women to be screened before having abortions for mental health and other problems. Both sides of the abortion debate say the laws are firsts of their kind in the U.S. NY Times

Related:

• New Abortion Screening Law Caps 25 Year Effort to Change Abortion Malpractice Laws
• Late-Term Abortion Practitioner LeRoy Carhart Hampered by New Nebraska Pro-Life Laws

Expert Debunks Claim that Anti-Contraceptive Conservatism Advances Abortion

A recent attempt by law professor Andrew Koppelman to blame abortion rates on the conservative movement itself fails in all three of its arguments, according to Michael New, a University of Alabama political science professor and pro-life statistics expert. LifeSiteNews

No money and Jacob, my deformed son, in the womb

I've undergone some extremely painful physical things in my life. . . . I've suffered pain that brought me near convulsions, caused me to pass out repeatedly, and sent me into shock. But if someone were to ask me what was the most painful thing I've ever experienced, I'd have to say it was when I had to arrange for my son's funeral -- two days before he was born. CARM

Abortion and Homosexuality Movements Linked

The issues of defending life and sexual morality are joined at the hip: each of the evil movements they oppose — the abortion and homosexuality lobbies — elevates mankind’s selfish desires over God’s will. Is it any wonder that the two greatest sin lobbies of today have as their sworn enemies the preservation of life and natural marriage and the God-ordained family? Americans for Truth about Homosexuality

Prayer request from Nairobi, Kenya

In addition to praying for the defeat of abortion language in the country's new constitution, pray for ABWE missionary Mary Huff, stationed in Nairobi with her husband Russ. Mary recently learned she needs a skin graft as a complication an Achilles heel problem. Pray for the wound to heal and for Russ as he cares for Mary. Pray that she'll soon be on her feet, able to pursue opening a pregnancy care center.

Israeli Pro-Life Group Helps Women Cope

An estimated 50,000 babies are aborted each year in Israel. Be'ad Chaim, an Israeli pro-life group, has a unique project to help women cope with post-abortion grief and honor the babies they have lost. Tony Sperandeo, one of the founders of Be'ad Chaim, says, "We want to remember that the shedding of innocent blood brings a curse and Jesus came – Yeshua came – to bring a blessing."

Abortion is widely accepted, but little understood, in Israel. Some rabbis believe life begins at conception, while others say it takes 40 days for life to begin – when, they say, the soul enters the baby. Some doctors even say the unborn child is not a baby until birth. While the Israel Defense Forces is known for protecting Israel, it is also an indirect promoter of abortion. During a woman's two-year mandatory service she is allotted at least two free abortions. CBN

New "test tube" technique offers pregnancy hopes

A British team has for the first time successfully used a new "test tube" fertilization technique that better predicts which of a woman's eggs will most likely result in pregnancy. The treatment combines currently used prenatal screening with a new computer program that can scan the eggs for flaws in chromosomes that may lead to miscarriage.

The technique involves surgically removing eggs from a woman's ovaries and combining them with sperm in the lab. Doctors then pick the best embryos -- typically one or two -- and implant them in the woman's uterus.
The challenge is choosing the best embryo. Currently, doctors often use a microscope to pick the best shaped embryos, instead of checking the DNA, Fishel said. "We can now look at all the chromosomes in an embryo in real time so we can put forward a fresh embryo after looking at its chromosomes," he said. Montreal Gazette

Editor: This article confuses eggs with embryos and prenatal testing with pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD).

Eye on the prize: Argument in favor of a personhood amendment

Every pro-lifer needs to appreciate the fact that there are a lot of good people in our movement doing a lot of good work on behalf of the unborn. But we must never lose sight of the fact that our ultimate mission is not to regulate abortion, restrict abortion, reduce the numbers of abortions or hammer out some sort of accommodation with the death lobby. Nor should we ever allow that to become our mission. . . . [U]ntil America has a constitutional amendment that affirms the personhood of the unborn from the moment of fertilization, this battle cannot end; it can only ebb and flow. And regardless of its success or lack of success, the Personhood Movement is reminding us of that. Mark Crutcher

Couple fights for frozen embryos

The first two embryos were transferred in May 2009 and McLaughlin gave birth to Sarah and Anna in January. She said Thursday that she has every intention of trying to give birth to the two other embryos donated by a California couple. McLaughlin filed suit Thursday naming the California couple and a San Francisco fertility clinic seeking to prevent them using two frozen embryos. Globe-Democrat

Editor: There's no easy way to summarize this dilemma. You just have to read it yourself. . . . Later, found a better explanation in the San Francisco Chronicle:

Two frozen embryos and two gut-wrenching lawsuits have added up to a national controversy pitting a Pleasanton, CA, family against a suburban St. Louis family over control of what both call their "pre-born children." Edward and Kerry Lambert of Pleasanton filed suit seeking to regain power over two frozen embryos they donated - or, as both religious families put it, gave up for adoption - to Patrick and Jennifer McLaughlin. Jennifer McLaughlin also filed suit in Missouri to maintain legal custody of the embryos.

Paige Cunningham, executive director of the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity in Chicago, said there have been legal battles over frozen embryos before, but usually between divorcing spouses. "This is part of the wild, wild West mentality of assisted reproduction," she said. "We just don't have many guidelines in this area, especially when the relationship goes bad." Cunningham said there are probably 500,000 frozen embryos being stored nationwide, the remains of in vitro fertilization procedures. Embryo donation began less than a decade ago and results in just a few hundred births each year, she said. "This is part of a massive social experimentation, and we really don't know what the outcome will be."

Why Eve wasn't a clone of Adam

We know that Eve wasn’t a clone because she was female. She had different sex chromosomes (XX) as opposed to Adam’s XY. If she had the same DNA, they would have both been males. So, God stepped in and specially created Eve—as well as her DNA—to be just as unique as Adam’s. This means they were both special creations and both made in the image of God, since Eve came from Adam. AiG

Are there gaps in the geneologies?

Because so many Christians and Christian leaders have accepted the secular dates for the origin of man and the universe, they must work out ways that such dates can somehow be incorporated into the Bible’s historical account. . . . To fit the idea of billions of years into Scripture, many Christian leaders, since the early 19th century, have reinterpreted the days of creation to mean long ages. Biblical creationist literature has meticulously addressed this topic many times, showing clearly that the word day, as used in Genesis 1 for each of the six days of creation, means an ordinary, approximately 24-hour day.

A straightforward addition of the chronogenealogies yields a date for the beginning near 4000 B.C. Chronologists working from the Bible consistently get 2,000 years between Adam and Abraham. Few would dispute that Abraham lived around 2000 B.C. Many Christian leaders, though, claim there are gaps in the Genesis genealogies. AiG

Prayer request from Holly Friesen, ABWE missionary to Ukraine

On the 17th we hope to visit a pregnancy care center in Kharkov to learn what we can about how the ministry was started and functions there. God has already been stirring up interest in starting this type of ministry in Odessa and we need prayer for wisdom as we research need and resources and look to begin laying some ground work. You can be praying that if it is God’s will for us to begin this type of ministry in Odessa, that He will raise up Ukrainian partners to provide leadership for it. News from Holly

Hatred yields abortion in Cambodia

April 17th is the Day of Hate. It marks the day in 1975 when the Khmer Rouge completed their conquest of Cambodia. As a result, 3.1 million people died. . . . In Cambodia, human trafficking is rampant; prostitution is rampant; abortion is rampant; child abuse is rampant. Most of the girls are not even trafficked into prostitution, but choose the profession. . . . A lack of love is ingrained into the Cambodian culture. . . . Abortions are available almost everywhere. Cambodia is known to be one of the worst countries in the world for human trafficking. Many children who are trafficked are done so by their own parents.

If Christ is going to transform Cambodia, it is not going to be done on a weekend mission trip. . . . It is going to take generations of Cambodians and loving Christians from elsewhere all making an effort to show love to others to see the culture of Cambodia transformed. Jungle Adventures

Scared???? Of course

In August of 2004 I thought my world was crashing down on me. I found out I was pregnant. I didn't know how to tell me parents but I was always raised in church so abortion was never an option. . . . My mom and dad prayed like warriors everyday for me and my baby. . . . During my pregnancy, the Lord did a lot of work in my life. He changed me and prepared me to be the mother that I am today, to my almost 5 year old. God knew exactly what He was doing when He formed my daughter in my womb. She saved my life, she saved me from the agonizing addiction. Rock for Life

TWO STALEMATES IN THE PHILOSOPHICAL DEBATE ABOUT ABORTION

. . . AND WHY THEY CANNOT BE RESOLVED USING ANALOGICAL ARGUMENTS Philosophical debate about the ethics of abortion has reached stalemate on two key issues. First, the claim that foetuses have moral standing that entitles them to protections for their lives has been neither convincingly established nor refuted. Second, the question of a pregnant woman’s obligation to allow the gestating foetus the use of her body has not been resolved.

Both issues are deadlocked because philosophers addressing them invariably rely on intuitions and analogies, and such arguments have weaknesses that make them unfit for resolving the abortion issue. Analogical arguments work by building a kind of consensus, and such a consensus is virtually unimaginable because (1) intuitions are revisable, and in the abortion debate there is great motive to revise them, (2) one’s position on abortion influences judgments about other issues, making it difficult to leverage intuitions about other ethical questions into changing peoples’ minds about abortion, and (3) the extent of shared values in the abortion debate is overstated.

Arguments by analogy rely on an assumption of the commensurability of moral worldviews. But the abortion debate is currently unfolding in a context of genuinely incommensurable moral worldviews. The article ends by arguing that the default position must be to permit abortion as a consequence of the freedom of conscience protected in liberal societies. Journal of the International Association of Bioethics (available by subscription only)

Population expert sees dangers as U.S. birthrate falls below replacement

The U.S. birthrate fell from 2007 to 2008 and is now below replacement rate. One population expert, noting that children are the “only future a country has,” warns that a scarcity of children condemns a country to stagnation, bankruptcy and eventually death. The U.S. National Vital Statistics Report for April 2010 shows that the U.S. birthrate fell two percent from 2007 to 2008. It is a drop below the replacement fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman to a rate of 2.08. CNA

Girls Gone Wise Video Book Blog

Hey Girls! Mary Kassian invites you to study the Girls Gone Wise book online with me on the Girls Gone Wise Video Book Blog. The Video Book Blog will start on May 18, 2010, on TrueWoman.com and on GirlsGoneWise.com. "We'll study the book chapter by chapter. Twice a week, I'll post a new video blog. You can watch the video blog, read the corresponding chapter in the book, answer some questions for personal reflection, and discuss the chapter online with others. It's a great way to learn." True Woman

Facts about Youth Starts with the Truth

A coalition of health professionals has responded by creating a resource with objective information on sexual orientation. A new website features valuable and factual information about sexual orientation and gender confusion for school administrators, teachers, parents, and anyone who works with youth. The project points out the danger to children and youth of encouraging them to self-identify as "gay" or "transgendered" at an early age. FRC

The Fruitless Search For Solar Systems Like Ours

Scientists have been looking for solar systems and planets like ours, but are getting to the point of admitting Earth is unique. NPR

Governors Declare April as Abortion Recovery/Awareness Month

Governor Rick Perry of Texas and Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota have declared April as Abortion Recovery/Awareness Month. "Ending a pregnancy through abortion interrupts the natural birth process and creates significant trauma and stress for those involved in the pregnancy. An abortion is a tragic ending, not only because of the loss of a life, but also because of the physical and psychological trauma caused by the procedure itself," said Governor Rick Perry of Texas. Christian Newswire

The Messages LIFT Sends

A new edition of Life Matters is out, focusing on LIFT. What is LIFT? And what messages does it send? If you don't know, you'll just have to read it and find out. Then copy it for your church's bulletins or tract rack.

The Danger of an Unbelieving Clergy

A recent study out of Tufts University, “Preachers who are not Believers,” paints a less-than-attractive picture of the church in the 21st century. The pulpits of a good number of churches may be filled with preachers who do not believe what they preach.

Every pastor agonizes over the reality that there members in his church who are faithful in every way but one–they lack a genuine faith in Jesus Christ. Yet it seems, there are congregations scattered across the U.S. who might also be concerned about the veracity of their pastor’s faith. ERLC

Babies' Bodies Found Dumped in Chinese River

The bodies of 21 infants were found floating or lodged in the mud of a river near the eastern Chinese city of Jining last weekend. The bodies—some in diapers, some in plastic bags marked "medical waste"—were found under a bridge over the Guangfu river. The grisly discovery has sparked outrage all over China, with Chinese-language news services and Internet websites denouncing the hospital and the morgue workers.

Reports suggest most of the dead babies were females who had been allowed to die or were aborted and dumped because parents wanted to keep the option open for a male child within China's coercive one-child system. According to the state-run Xinhua news agency, police have arrested two hospital morgue workers who had "privately struck oral agreements with the families of the deceased babies to dispose of their remains and had taken payments from them. They took the corpses to near the Guangfu River and disposed of them. They failed to bury them properly, so that they were exposed to view and discovered." Xinhua then blamed the incident on "local custom and a lack of regulation." LifeSiteNews

Dr. Norman Geisler in West Michigan

The author, apologist, and philosopher will be at two events in April:

Monday, April 19 at Baker Book House on E. Paris, at 7 pm - presenting "Logic: The Vaccine for PostModernism." Call (616) 967-3110 for details.

Tuesday, April 20 at North Hills Classical Academy banquet, Kent Country Club at 6 pm - presenting "Unmasking the Hijackers of Science." Call (616) 365-0525 for details.