Successful Tea Party Movement Must Not Exclude Pro-Life Issues

Successful Tea Party Movement Must Include Pro-Life Issues, Not Just Economy: The Tea Party movement, for the most part, centers its protest on economic issues and concern about the loss of freedom that an ever-growing federal government brings. These concerns are valid and appropriate. Most leaders of this movement also believe in the sanctity of life and the need to halt the wholesale destruction of innocent human life through abortion and other life related issues such as embryonic stem cell research. However, many in the Tea Party movement have made it clear that while they are sympathetic with the pro-life cause, the abortion issue is not formally part of the Tea Party agenda.

In a recent interview with Sean Hannity of Fox News. Gov. Sarah Palin, a committed pro-life leader, was asked to name the top five issues facing the country today. The deaths of 1.25 million unborn annually from abortion was not on her list. If, indeed, this is the approach a new Congress takes after the November mid-term elections, then the agenda of the Tea Party movement will fail.

Glenn Beck may be unlikely leader for conservative Christians

Glenn Beck may be unlikely leader for conservative Christians: In a matter of hours, Beck went from a hugely popular media figure - a Gallup poll last year listed him as the fourth-most-admired living man in the country - to a spiritual player, embracing a new and overtly religious rhetoric that made him sound like an evangelist. Yet the Mormon convert seems an unlikely leader for conservative Christians, many of whom don't regard Mormonism as part of their faith.

Beck was interviewed after the rally characterizing Obama's faith as being dominated by an "oppressor-victim" paradigm. "People aren't recognizing his version of Christianity," Beck said on Fox News Sunday. [Editor: Is Beck's version of Christianity recognizable either?]

To some, Beck's show of his faith was a calculated political effort to unite religious and social conservatives as the midterm elections approach. "No Republican is going to win the White House if those two aren't united," said D. Michael Lindsay, a Rice University sociologist who studies evangelical Protestant leaders. "Here's a chance to infuse the tea party with religious rhetoric, and extend an olive branch to those not as engaged with financial issues."

Editor: For the record, Glenn Beck is not my leader. I'm spooked by Beck's references to God speaking to him. He used a lot of religious lingo, but not with coherency. For more on this, see Should we join Glenn Beck in prayer?

Human tests set for stem cells

Human tests set for stem cells: Scientists are poised to inject cells created from embryonic stem cells into some patients with a progressive form of blindness and others with devastating spinal cord injuries. That's a welcome step for researchers eager to move from the laboratory to the clinic and for patients hoping for cures. But beyond being loathsome to those with moral objections to any research using cells from human embryos, the tests are worrying many proponents: Some argue that the experiments are premature, others question whether they are ethical, and many fear that the trials risk disaster for the field if anything goes awry.

At rally, Beck positions himself as new leader for Christian conservatives

At rally, Beck positions himself as new leader for Christian conservatives – CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs: Beck's emerging role as a national leader for Christian conservatives is surprising not only because he has until recently stressed a libertarian ideology that is sometimes at odds with so-called family values conservatism, but also because Beck is a Mormon. Beck's religious rhetoric appears to counter the prevailing conventional wisdom that the power of religious conservatives has been eclipsed by the Tea Party movement's small-government conservatives.

Birth And Divorce Rates Decline In A Sour Economy

Birth And Divorce Rates Decline In A Sour Economy : Shots - Health News Blog : NPR: Falling stocks are a big reason birth rates and divorces are falling too. For every thousand people in the United States, there were 13.5 live births in 2009, says a report just out from the nation's keeper of vital statistics. That's down from 13.9 in 2008, and 14.3 in the boomlet of 2007, just before the recession officially began. Not only is that the lowest birth rate in a century, it's the second year in a row that birth rates have gone down.

As for divorce, the rate was 3.4 percent last year, according to the report — slightly less than in 2008 and in 2007. Divorce rates have been declining for fifteen to twenty years.

8 children with 6 moms? NFL star is shameful

Mitch Albom: Fathering kids as if you're watering plants is a growing problem in the sports world, particularly in African-American circles. No, African Americans aren't the only ones having kids out of wedlock. But, yes, the news is worst in that community, where, in recent data from the National Center for Health Statistics, 72 percent of new babies were born out of wedlock, versus 28 percent among whites and 17 percent among Asians. This is not in the skin. It is not about color. It's about culture. And if the culture doesn't change, neither will the pattern.

Related: Daunting divides in achievement and family life

When Does Life Begin?

Chapter 29: When Does Life Begin? - Answers in Genesis: Even though the names arbitrarily change throughout this process and certain milestones in development are evident, the process set in motion at the moment of conception is a continuous chain of events. In this sequence, groups of cells multiply and develop into specific body parts with amazing precision and a remarkably low rate of error, considering the complexity of changes that must occur. However, at no time in this process is there a scientific point at which the developing individual clearly “becomes a person,” any more than a baby becomes more human when it walks, talks, or is weaned. These milestones in zygote, blastocyst, embryonic, and fetal development are simply descriptions of anatomy, not hurdles met in the test of humanness. From a scientific point of view, the words are arbitrary and purely descriptive.

More teens becoming 'fake' Christians

Author: More teens becoming 'fake' Christians - CNN.com: Kenda Creasy Dean says more American teenagers are embracing what she calls 'moralistic therapeutic deism.' Translation: It's a watered-down faith that portrays God as a 'divine therapist' whose chief goal is to boost people's self-esteem.

Appeals Court Overturns Pro-Life Pastor's Conviction

Appeals Court Overturns Pro-Life Pastor's Conviction for Counseling on Abortion: A federal appeals court has overturned the criminal conviction against pro-life African-American pastor Walter Hoye. Oakland officials had targeted him because he engages in sidewalk counseling outside abortion clinics to help women find alternatives.

Hoye is heartened by this turn of events. "It is my hope that this victory will encourage pastors to both take a public stand against abortion in the pulpit and to minister the love of Christ to the men, women and children going into an abortion clinic from the public square. It's time for men of God to come together and end the incontestable evil of abortion, anywhere and everywhere it exists."

Stem cell tidbits

• Scientists create liver cells from skin Financial Times
• DeGette wants to reintroduce embryonic stem cell bill 9News
• Stem cells, life, and the law National Review

The Genesis Code

Story: Could it be that what science teaches us about creation and the story as told in Genesis are both true and in perfect accord?

Obama report details conditions of human rights in America

The report references Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which declares that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” and that they are “endowed with reason and conscience.” . . . And goes on to observe: "People should be treated with dignity. Governments have an obligation to protect the security of the person and to respect human dignity."

Concerning people with disabilities: "Although we recognize that discrimination and access problems persist, which we are actively striving to address, the substantive equality of persons with disabilities in the United States has improved enormously in the past few decades."

Chaos and Ideology Reign at UN Conference

Chaos and Ideology Reign at UN Conference on Youth in Mexico � Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute: Early reports from participants at the World Youth Conference that commenced this week in Leon, Mexico, are that the conference is the scene of ideological rigidity and yet almost total chaos.

Editor: Tower of Babel, anyone?

The report continues: 'The governmental meeting is supposed to produce an outcome document. Yesterday a document was distributed that, according to pro-life sources in the room, was quite good but that turned out was quite unofficial. According to C-FAM’s UN Blog, “The unofficial document included a call for the promotion of sexual abstinence” and “the promotion of values in the family.” This so enraged organizers that one of them grabbed the microphone and made an urgent denunciation of the “phony” declaration. A representative from International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) then took the microphone and demanded that organizers take control of the conference and prevent “infiltration.”'

Snyder's running mate pick of Calley thrills, puzzles backers

Snyder's running mate pick of Calley thrills, puzzles backers | detnews.com | The Detroit News: Brian Calley, a two-term state House representative and former banker, is a husband and father of three who plays the piano and leads songs at his Baptist church.

Calley's credentials are impeccable, said Larry Galmish, political action committee director for Right to Life of Michigan. The group is not satisfied with the position taken by Snyder, who opposes abortion except in cases of rape and to save the life of the mother and who also favors embryonic stem cell research. The addition of Calley, who is against abortion, does not make Snyder endorsable, Galmish said. "If we get a chance to talk to him, he may be a new convert."

Pro-Abortion Attack on Heir to King Legacy

Pro-Abortion Blacks Attack Heir to King Legacy: Alveda King Calls for Boycott - Christian Newswire: Dr. Alveda King responds to the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Rights.

'It is absolutely ludicrous that abortion supporters would accuse a blood relative of Dr. King of hijacking the King legacy. Uncle Martin and my father, Rev. A. D. King were blood brothers. How can I hijack something that belongs to me? I am an heir to the King Family legacy,' she said. 'I have a right to stand at the Lincoln Memorial on the 47th Anniversary of my Uncle's 'I Have A Dream' speech. The Dream has yet to be realized. That Dream is in my genes and I carry forward in the fight for equality and justice for all blacks, including those in the womb.'

Next 40 Days for Life Largest Yet

Next 40 Days for Life Prayer, Fasting Campaign Against Abortion Largest Yet: 40 Days for Life is preparing for its largest campaign to date with 238 sites in six countries participating in simultaneous campaigns from September 22 through October 31.

The New Answers DVD Video Download - Answers Bookstore

The New Answers DVD 1 - Video Download - Answers Bookstore: We live in a culture with more questions than ever—questions that affect one’s acceptance of the Bible as authoritative and trustworthy. This video features easy-to-understand answers to some of the most-important apologetics quandaries of today: Is There Really a God? Cain’s Wife—Who Was She? Does Distant Starlight Prove the Universe Is Old? Doesn’t Carbon-14 Dating Disprove the Bible? Why Shouldn’t Christians Accept Millions of Years? Genesis: Today’s Answer to Racism; Was There Really a Flood?

A test: Is your church really pro-life?

A test: Is your church really pro-life? Jesus said the gates of Hell would not prevail against the Church (Matthew 16:18), but can we really apply that verse when the Church does nothing?

Human beings: Not that special?

Human Beings: Not That Special? - Margaret Somerville — THE MARK: People who believe that the kind and degree of respect owed to an entity depends on its intelligence would argue that some super-intelligent robots will deserve more respect than humans. They define intelligence narrowly, as logical, cognitive mentation, and for them, these robots are more 'intelligent' than any humans. This approach has far-reaching and serious implications, well beyond the degree of respect that should be shown to an individual human, as compared with an individual robot.

Postscript: After writing this article, the author was curious to know what some of her friends and colleagues would consider the world's most dangerous idea at present. A large majority answered, without hesitation, "religion." That caused her to ponder how their choice correlated with her choice.

FDA challenges stem-cell clinic

FDA challenges stem-cell clinic : Nature News: How should clinics that treat patients with injections of their own stem cells be regulated? That question is about to test the jurisdiction of the US Food and Drug Administration in a landmark legal battle — and is fuelling a war of words between doctors marketing such therapies and academics who urge caution.

Obama administration to appeal stem cell injunction

Obama administration to appeal stem cell injunction | Reuters: The Obama administration will appeal a judge's ruling that temporarily barred federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, the U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday. Justice Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters the administration will ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to lift the preliminary injunction issued on Monday.

Evangelical Left Icon Jim Wallis Finally Admits to Dollars from Billionaire Leftist George Soros - Christian Newswire

Evangelical Left Icon Jim Wallis Finally Admits to Dollars from Billionaire Leftist George Soros - Christian Newswire: According to WORLD magazine, Soros, an atheist billionaire who has financed groups promoting abortion, atheism, and same-sex marriage, bankrolled Sojourners with a $200,000 grant in 2004. Since then Sojourners has received at least two more grants from Soros organizations altogether totaling $325,000, the most recent in 2007. Sojourners revenues have more than tripled -- from $1,601,171 in 2001-2002 to $5,283,650 in 2008-2009.

The wrong marriage debate

Mona Charen: Though we had a vigorous national discussion about unwed childbearing back in the 1990s — 'Murphy Brown' followed by 'Dan Quayle Was Right' by Barbara Dafoe Whitehead in the Atlantic magazine a few years later — our current preoccupation with gay marriage has distracted us. The issue of greater importance is the degree to which heterosexual men and women are choosing to become parents while unmarried. 'If you see 10 babies in the room,' Stephanie Ventura of the NCHS told the Washington Post, 'four of them were born to women who are not married.'

Pro-Life Group Seeks Investigation of Forcing Students to Pay for Abortions

Pro-Life Group Seeks Investigation of Forcing Students to Pay for Abortions: Students for Life of America is seeking a federal or state investigation into how students who attend public universities in North Carolina may have been forced to pay for abortions under the required health insurance plan.

U.S. Court Halts Obama Admin Stem-Cell Research Guidelines

U.S. Court Halts Obama Admin Stem-Cell Research Guidelines: A U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Columbia has intervened to block regulations issued by the Obama administration expanding embryo-destructive research. Pro-life researchers and Nightlight Christian Adoptions, a group that encourages adoption of frozen embryonic children, filed the suit last year. Judge Royce Lamberth had ruled in June that the group has standing to sue over the guidelines that the National Institutes of Health developed for taxpayer-funded research that would involve the destruction of living human embryos.

NPR: Steven Aden of the Alliance Defense Fund represented a pair of researchers who study adult stem cells. The researchers argued that any money the government spends studying embryonic stem cells could come at the expense of their own, more established work.

Answers in Genesis in Plainwell, MI, September 12

Bob Gillespie, a dynamic and passionate speaker, will be in Plainwell, Michigan, at Orangeville Baptist Church on Sunday, September 12, 2010. He'll be presenting The Seven C’s of History, The Relevance of Genesis, and Creation Evangelism. This event will be free. Event details

Speaking of Social Justice

Speaking of Social Justice | The Heritage Foundation: We can think differently about where responsibility for justice lies, not limiting it primarily to government. The state is responsible for maintaining conditions for justice (such as freedom, peace, law and order). But it can't cultivate all the relationships necessary for human beings to thrive. We need the institutions of civil society for that. Understanding social responsibility in this way requires a robust imagination about what families, neighbourhoods and churches can do and achieve.

Stand to Reason: Truth, Contemporary Philosophy, and the Postmodern Turn

Stand to Reason: Truth, Contemporary Philosophy, and the Postmodern Turn: These are postmodern times, or so we are often told, and the classic model, once ensconced deeply in the Western psyche, must now be replaced by a neo-pragmatist or some other anti-realist model of truth, at least for those concerned with the rampant victimization raging all around us. Thus, 'We hold these truths to be self evident' now reads 'Our socially constructed selves arbitrarily agree that certain chunks of language are to be esteemed in our linguistic community.' Something has gone wrong here, and paraphrasing the words of Mad magazine’s Alfred E. Newman, 'We came, we saw, and we conked out!'

Recalling ‘Green Book,’ Guide for Black Travelers

Recalling ‘Green Book,’ Guide for Black Travelers - NYTimes.com: For a large swath of the nation’s history “the American democratic idea of getting out on the open road, finding yourself, heading for distant horizons was only a privilege for white people,” said Cotton Seiler, the author of Republic of Drivers: A Cultural History of Automobility in America, who devoted a chapter of his book to the experience of black travelers. The 'Green Book' was a guidebook that told you not where the best places were to eat, but where there was any place.

Historians of travel have recognized that the great American road trip — seen as an ultimate sign of freedom — was not that free for many Americans, including those who had to worry about “sunset laws” in towns where black visitors had to be out by day’s end.

Marriage Reduces Stress-related Hormone Production

New Study: Marriage Reduces Stress-related Hormone Production: The evidence for the health benefits of marriage has received a new boost by a study which showed that levels of the stress hormone cortisol were lower in married individuals than in single and unpaired individuals.

Red blood cells made from IVF embryos

BioNews - Red blood cells made from IVF embryos: Scottish researchers have taken a major step towards the 'holy grail' of haematology - the ability to produce a limitless supply of artificial blood cells. The team successfully produced significant amounts of red blood cells from stem cells harvested from spare IVF embryos. Traditional blood donation is currently the mainstay of medicine, but there is a constant threat of shortages and the risk of infections being passed between donor and recipient. Synthetic blood is guaranteed free of disease.

Editor: The depth of depravity is stunning. And they use a religious allusion to justify it.

Is Social Justice In The Bible? Should We Be Hostile To It? � Michigan Conservatives Network

Is Social Justice In The Bible? Should We Be Hostile To It? � Michigan Conservatives Network: I’ve noticed hostility from conservatives toward the concept of ‘social justice’ and its linking with Christianity. Is this hostility justified? Is social justice even taught in the Bible? What is social justice?

Editor: Interesting questions, but I don't think he got his answers quite right. The article goes wrong when it says social justice is not within the scope of government. Justice most certainly is! Moses appointed judges and taught them the law and they were to dispense judgments between disputing parties. They were to be impartial, not favoring the rich or the poor.

Later, when Israel got kings to rule over them, they were to know the law and render judgments impartially. The admonitions in Proverbs 31 passage are targeted specifically at kings: "It is not for kings to drink wine . . . lest they drink and forget the law and pervert the justice of all the afflicted." It is the king's job to open their mouths for the speechless and plead the cause of the poor and needy. A king is surrounded by rich, influential people all day. He hears their voices, he knows their causes. This is a needed reminder that there will be people forgotten in the halls of power unless the most powerful speak up for them.

FDA challenges stem-cell clinic

FDA challenges stem-cell clinic : Nature News: How should clinics that treat patients with injections of their own stem cells be regulated? That question is about to test the jurisdiction of the US Food and Drug Administration in a landmark legal battle — and is fuelling a war of words between doctors marketing such therapies and academics who urge caution.

It’s Not Just Black & White

According to the Bible’s history, all humans are descendants of Adam and Eve — thus only one biological race exists. All humans in the world today are classified as Homo sapiens sapiens (same genus, species, and subspecies). When the Human Genome Project published a draft of their findings in 2000, the New York Times reported that “the researchers had unanimously declared there is only one race — the human race.” To form different people groups with distinguishing characteristics, one would need to split up the human population and isolate groups from each other. The Tower of Babel, as recorded in Genesis 11, provides the historical basis for the formation of such people groups. AiG

Civil partnerships plummet as dissolutions double | News | The Christian Institute

Civil partnerships plummet as dissolutions double | News | The Christian Institute: The number of civil partnerships being registered annually in the UK has fallen and dissolutions have almost doubled. Newly released figures from the Office for National Statistics show that during 2009 6,281 civil partnerships were formed in the UK, a 12 per cent reduction from 2008 when there were 7,169.

The figures demonstrate the continuing decline of the controversial unions since they were introduced in December 2005. And they suggest that the Government’s original prediction of 62,000 civil partnerships being formed in the first five years was wildly exaggerated.

'Meant For Each Other': A Journey Through Adoption

'Meant For Each Other': A Journey Through Adoption : NPR: In his new book, Baby, We Were Meant for Each Other, Scott Simon shares the journey — from struggling to conceive, to deciding to adopt, to traveling half-way around the world — that ended with him and his wife, Caroline, adopting two little girls from China.

From the online excerpt: "Adoption is a miracle. I don't mean just that it's amazing, terrific, and a wonderful thing to do. I mean that it is, as the dictionary says, 'a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of divine agency.'"

To Serve Is to Suffer

To Serve Is to Suffer | The Global Conversation: When Christians, especially in the West, have shown concern for the persecution of majority-world believers, they have often approached it through the lens of human rights. In this installment of the Global Conversation, Sri Lankan pastor and evangelist Ajith Fernando helps us focus on suffering as an essential part of Christian discipleship, but especially for those called to be church leaders.

Abortion: Primary Hot-Button Issue

Abortion: Primary Hot-Button Issue - Election News Brief - Religion and Politics 2010 - Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life: Something we kind of already knew: Abortion has been a hot-button issue in the primaries this summer, fueling negative campaigning in several races.

The infertility dilemma

The infertility dilemma - The Boston Globe: Intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection revolutionized the treatment of male infertility by joining sperm and egg in an unprecedented manner. ICSI has become one of the most widespread fertility techniques, used in over half of the in vitro fertilization treatments done in the United States.

About one million babies worldwide have been born via ICSI. But as the first generation of ICSI children enters adolescence, one side effect of the technology has become clear: it enables the passing down of genetic defects from parent to child.

Abstinence Dating Website Offers Space for Purity | Christianpost.com

Abstinence Dating Website Offers Space for Purity | Christianpost.com: A new dating website is offering people who practice abstinence a space to find others who share the same value. Lety and Jose Colin, who said abstinence helped them have a successful marriage, founded www.youandiabstain.com to encourage and support people who made the decision to abstain from sex before marriage.

Talk About Abortion From A “Positive Angle”

A Christian Leader Recently Asked Me To Talk About Abortion From A “Positive Angle” – Here Is My Attempt � Social Justice Begins in the Womb – Daily Pro-life Updates from the BK Lounge: Abortion is positively an act of homicide. Abortion is positively dangerous. Abortion is positively not a human right. And so on.

Editor: While I appreciate the point Bryan's making, I know what the leader was saying. And we can speak from a positive angle -- about the wonders of life from conception, of the biblical pro-life ethic, of the sanctity of marriage and the benefits of sexual purity. That list of positive topics goes on and on, too.

The Human Edge

This NPR series touts the wonders of human evolution, but does it not reveal the wonders of creation?

Feds admit storing checkpoint body scan images

Feds admit storing checkpoint body scan images | Privacy Inc. - CNET News: For the last few years, federal agencies have defended body scanning by insisting that all images will be discarded as soon as they're viewed. The Transportation Security Administration claimed last summer, for instance, that 'scanned images cannot be stored or recorded.' Now it turns out that some police agencies are storing the controversial images after all.

Foundations in Creation Apologetics

Creation Education Center—Upholding a biblical worldview on creation, evolution, dinosaurs, age of the earth, humanism and science: This 12-week online class will give you a firm foundation in the fundamental ideas of creation apologetics, and help you understand the battle between the authority of Scripture and the authority of man in modern culture. Work at your own pace; earn course credits.

Women Have More Ribs Than Men

Women Have More Ribs Than Men - Answers in Genesis: Adam continued to have the genetic information for a complete set of ribs. This genetic information was passed on to his offspring, both male and female. Thus his offspring should have had complete sets of ribs.

Pop exec slams Britney and Gaga over raunchy videos

Pop exec slams Britney and Gaga over raunchy videos | News | The Christian Institute: Young children are being sexualised by provocative music videos which resemble soft pornography, according to a top music producer. “The music industry has gone too far. These days you can’t watch modern stars – like Britney Spears or Lady Gaga – with a two-year-old."

State benefits fuel ‘lifestyle choice’ of lone motherhood

State benefits fuel ‘lifestyle choice’ of lone motherhood | News | The Christian Institute: One in four mothers is now a lone parent, with many making a “lifestyle choice” to rely on state benefits instead of a male partner, according to a sociologist. Geoff Dench, who revealed his findings during a presentation on family policy, said: “It seems that lone motherhood is less a result of relationship breakdown, more a lifestyle choice. And the existence of state benefits as a source of economic security seems to be encouraging young mothers not to bother with male resident partners.”

Happy memories of dad makes sons more stable

Happy memories of dad makes sons more stable | News | The Christian Institute: Men who hold fond childhood memories of their father are better able to cope with the day-to-day stresses of life, according to a new study. “The message is that father-son relationships are incredibly powerful. When they’re healthy, it’s hugely protective for boys,” said Prof Melanie Mallers who led the research.

Intrapersonal Processes and Post-Abortion Relationship Challenges: A Review and Consolidation of Relevant Literature

ISPUB - Intrapersonal Processes and Post-Abortion Relationship Challenges: A Review and Consolidation of Relevant Literature: The prognosis for relationship problems post-abortion seems increasingly probable under certain conditions. Specifically, if one or both partners view abortion as the taking of a human life, would have preferred to avoid the abortion, developed an emotional connection to the fetus, experience negative emotions such as grief, guilt, and anger in association with the abortion, suffer from adverse mental health effects of the abortion, and/or possess an insecure attachment style, then the likelihood of relationship difficulties may increase.

Teen murdered for refusing abortion (OneNewsNow.com)

Teen murdered for refusing abortion (OneNewsNow.com): Authorities in Fontana, California, last week found the body of a pregnant 17-year-old girl whose boyfriend admits killing her because she refused to have an abortion.

After a two-month search through a mountain of trash, 18-year-old boyfriend Jesus Avitia, Jr. was formally charged in the death of Anyssia Escamilla. The death was not premeditated, but it most likely took place because Avitia wanted to pursue a nursing career but was afraid a baby would interfere with those plans.

With the web, curiosity and luck, sperm donor siblings connect - CNN.com

With the web, curiosity and luck, sperm donor siblings connect - CNN.com: Fifteen years ago, sperm donation enabled two mothers to give birth to the children they always wanted. Now the internet age has allowed their twins to find each other. Their connection happened partly from persistence and partly from luck in 2007. The two families had joined the Donor Sibling Registry online, where they found their half siblings by searching for families with a matching donor identification number.

Who Needs Men when We Have IVF?

Jennifer Aniston: Who Needs Men when We Have IVF?: A reporter questioned Jennifer Aniston’s character in the movie Switch [and in real life], suggesting it was “selfish” to deprive a child of a father in order to fulfill a personal dream of parenthood.

Aniston replied, 'Women are realizing more and more that you don't have to settle, they don't have to fiddle with a man to have that child. They are realizing if it's that time in their life and they want this part, they can do it with or without that. The point of the movie is, what is that which defines family? It isn't necessarily the traditional mother, father, two children and a dog named Spot. Love is love and family is what is around you and who is in your immediate sphere.'

Bus Tour Opposing Abortion in Health Care Raises Ire of "Pro-Life" Democrats

Bus Tour Opposing Abortion in Health Care Raises Ire of "Pro-Life" Democrats: A bus tour sponsored by the Susan B. Anthony List to highlight the way in which some 'pro-life' Democrats voted for the pro-abortion health care bill is raising the ire of House members from Indiana and Ohio. They say the pro-life group isn't really pro-life.

Christians come under attack in China

Christians come under attack in China - thestar.com: The attack on the Gospel Shoes Factory was one of the more violent flare-ups in China’s ongoing campaign against Christians, a community that – according to researchers – exceeds 100 million and is growing rapidly. That growth has stoked concern and even alarm among some government officials, who see the spread of Christianity as a threat to their authority.

Protestant Christianity especially, they say, is experiencing “explosive” and even “exponential” growth in China, both in the countryside as well as in major cities: from Heilongjiang province in the north to Guangdong province in the south – from cities like Shanghai and Chengdu, to Beijing and beyond. When Mao Zedong first took control of the country in 1949, there were just 1 million Christians in China. Today, while it is difficult to calculate a precise number, many now estimate that number to have grown by a hundred-fold.

In Nov. 2009 – just weeks before a state visit to China by U.S. President Barack Obama – state police finally succeeded in threatening one church’s landlords to terminate its lease. The church then held its services outdoors in the snow, attracting wide public attention. Finally, with President Obama preparing to board Air Force One, Chinese government authorities – fearing a public relations disaster during the president’s visit – relented and allowed the church back indoors.

“The social contract in this country is broken,” one pastor says. “We are now in a period of moral nihilism, where people seem to care only about money and power. Christianity provides principles and morality. Both are sorely lacking in today’s China.”

Kenyan church leaders defend opposition to constitution

Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life: Kenyan church leaders have rejected calls for an apology after they campaigned against a new constitution that was overwhelmingly supported by voters in a referendum. 'There is no need to apologize. The voice of the church is the voice of prophecy and we did nothing wrong in taking a stand over this law,' said Anglican Bishop Julius Kalu of Mombasa.

Mainstreaming abortion on-base

RUSE: Mainstreaming abortion on-base - Washington Times: The U.S. military operates dozens of hospitals and hundreds of clinics here and abroad. If Planned Parenthood and Senate Democrats have their way, those taxpayer-funded facilities will become America's newest abortion centers.

UC Berkeley professors defend student genetic testing

UC Berkeley professors defend student genetic testing - Sacramento Politics - California Politics | Sacramento Bee: Two UC Berkeley professors Tuesday defended a controversial plan to perform genetic testing on incoming freshmen during a legislative hearing that also featured testimony from privacy experts and bioethicists blasting the plan.

God’s Word Is True Wall Chart

God’s Word Is True Wall Chart - Answers Bookstore: Download this information-packed wall chart that discusses the inerrancy of the Bible by giving specific examples in three areas where the Bible has prevailed—in prophecies, in science, and in history. Free!

Ethical Aspects of the Use of Stem Cell Derived Gametes for Reproduction

At present, it appears preferable to use non-embryonic stem cells for the derivation of gametes [sperm or eggs]. Adult stem cell derived gametes do not present any problems with regard to the moral status of the human embryo, bypass the safety risks linked to SCNT [cloning] and do not present any ambiguity or novel problems with regard to informed consent, psychological consequences for the child or genetic parenthood. A remaining ethical concern, however, regards the safety of the procedure in terms of the welfare of the resulting children. Care Analysis

Do we have anything to teach the young?

Mona Charen: The idea that gained currency in Western society over the past half-century that kids have a culture of their own and that adults needed to truckle to it and attempt not to seem 'uncool' by revealing unfamiliarity — well, that was rot. A culture that believes it has more to learn from the young than to teach them is dying.

The kids are not all right

Despite what Hollywood says, research confirms that same-sex families do not fair as well as those led by opposite-sex couples. Even research from within the pro-homosexual movement! Top 10 Myths about Homosexuality, FRC

A message to pastors

US pet owners paying for high-tech veterinary care

The Associated Press: US pet owners paying for high-tech veterinary care: Though many Americans don't get the kind of care their pets do, there are often no limits to what they'll do to save the animals — spending $12 billion last year paying veterinary bills, according to The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. That's about double what owners spent a decade earlier. 'In terms of priorities, some might find it unusual that we might spend thousands for animals and yet millions of Americans are uninsured,' said David Magnus, director of Stanford University's Center for Biomedical Ethics.

Professors Release Preliminary Data from Down Syndrome Study

Professors Release Preliminary Data from Down Syndrome Study: The tumultuous feelings parents have when they first learn their child will be born with Down syndrome give way to joy and resilience, according to preliminary data from a study by researchers at Kansas State University and Texas Tech University. Their study is called "My Kid Has More Chromosomes Than Yours! The Journey to Resilience and Hope in Parenting a Child with Down Syndrome." The survey is ongoing and is at https://surveys.ksu.edu/TS?offeringId=148766.

Persuasively communicating the pro-life message

When pro-life students are told their views are inherently religious and involve comprehensive doctrines that can’t be proven scientifically, we teach them to counterpunch with a question that levels the playing field: “Tell me, why does anything have value and a right to life?” Christians aren’t imposing their ideas; they’re proposing them in hopes their fellow citizens will vote them into law. That’s called democracy. Life Training Institute

The American Spectator : Obama's Abortion Imperialism

The American Spectator : Obama's Abortion Imperialism: The Obama administration has made abortion promotion a centerpiece of its diplomatic agenda.

Evidence of Atrocious Medical Care by Abortionists

FRC Blog � Evidence of Atrocious Medical Care by Abortionists: Over an extended period of time working with first-rate pro-life doctors I have often heard stories of the really poor medical care that women having abortions receive from abortion doctors and clinics. A repeated story involves the abortionists who encounter life-threatening complications during an abortion and then dump their patients on a local emergency room.

Disturbing Trends for Young Girls

FRC Blog � Disturbing Trends for Young Girls: The Sunday Times, a major publication of the UK, reported this weekend that the number of 11-year-olds taking contraceptive pills is soaring. According to the Times, the latest figures indicate that the number of 11- and 12-year old “tweens” on the pill has increased an astonishing five-fold in the past ten years.

In Vitro Sparks Fight Over Survivor Benefits

In Vitro Sparks Fight Over Survivor Benefits - WSJ.com: Every year, more babies are born stemming from sperm or embryos that have been stored for months or years. In some cases, one parent has already died, usually the father. Although the federal government generally must pay monthly benefits to children when parents die, the law is murky on whether it has to do the same for a child conceived after a parent's death.

A Strict Wall of Separation Between Morality and State

A Strict Wall of Separation Between Morality and State � Evangel | A First Things Blog: Where in the Constitution (or even in Jefferson’s letters) do you find that?

Be Fruitful and Multiply?

Be Fruitful and Multiply? | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction: Observers weigh in on whether Christians have a special responsibility to have children.

Religious Groups' Official Positions on Same-Sex Marriage

Religious Groups' Official Positions on Same-Sex Marriage - Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life: In recent years, same-sex marriage has been a contentious subject within many religious groups in the U.S. Here is an overview of where 16 religious groups stand on this issue.

Can There Be a Global Bioethics?

Can There Be a Global Bioethics? � Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog: Wesley Smith was sent an old article from 2001 that focused on personhood theory and the attempt to redefine death, which criticized bioethics for being unduly Western in its outlook. (A great deal of energy in bioethics these days, is dedicated to finding justifications for using some human beings instrumentally.) The author, points out how the Japanese, as one example, view things differently from the Western approach that focuses exclusively on cognitive capacities.

Mayo Study: Withdrawing LVAD Support Is Ethical

Mayo Study: Withdrawing LVAD Support Is Ethical - Health Blog - WSJ: High-tech medical devices can raise tricky ethical questions — just consider the left ventricular assist device (LVAD). The pricey device essentially takes over the function of the left ventricle, helping a heart to continue beating when it would otherwise fail. But what happens when patients become very, very sick and are essentially being kept alive by the LVAD? Is turning off the device more akin to euthanasia or taking someone off a ventilator?

LVADs make some clinicians uncomfortable for several reasons, they write — the device seems almost like a replacement part than outside assistance, for example. Researchers write, though, that withdrawing LVAD support isn’t the same as assisted suicide or euthanasia because there’s no “new pathology” introduced to cause death. Death, when it comes (all 14 patients died within a day of turning off the device), is due to the underlying heart failure, they write. So assuming patients or their representative know the consequences of deactivating the device, clinicians should honor their wishes.

One Small Step for Embryonic Stem Cells

One Small Step for Embryonic Stem Cells: Last week the Food and Drug Administration gave its first approval for a clinical trial of an embryonic stem cell treatment. The FDA had put the application from biopharmaceuticals company Geron Corp, which produced the cells, on clinical hold after some mice given the treatment developed tiny spinal cysts. But another animal study found no cysts. The testing will involve patients with recent spinal cord injuries, who will receive infusions of embryonic stem cells that have been differentiated into cells that can produce myelin, the coating that conducts electrical impulses in the spine.

Paralyzed Iraqi War Veteran Will Be First to Receive Adult Stem Cells to Treat Spinal Cord Injuries at TCA Cellular Therapy

Paralyzed Iraqi War Veteran Will Be First to Receive Adult Stem Cells to Treat Spinal Cord Injuries at TCA Cellular Therapy: TCA Cellular Therapy, LLC has enrolled its first patient to participate in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration first adult stem cell clinical trial to treat spinal cord injuries. Enrollee and Marine Veteran, Matt Cole was paralyzed from the chest down in a 2005 insurgent attack in Iraq.

California Cryobank and designer babies - latimes.com

California Cryobank and designer babies - latimes.com: In a marriage of modern science and the culture of celebrity, a Los Angeles-based sperm bank is grouping donors according to which famous people they resemble.

Pro-Life Movement Must Change Public Opinion to Overcome Abortion

Pro-Life Movement Must Change Public Opinion to Overcome Roe, Abortion: Thomas Paine said, “[A] long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason.”

Paine was talking about the abuses that the American colonists suffered under the crown of England, and bemoaning the fact many colonists had become so accustomed to these abuses that over time they accepted their plight instead of rising up and overthrowing tyranny.

Perhaps Paine was prophetically observing twenty-first century America and the acquiescence of the public-at-large to the judicial tyranny that has imposed upon America abortion on demand.

Top IVF doctor defends offering help for parents to pick babies' sex

Top IVF doctor defends offering help for parents to pick babies' sex - The Daily Record: Dr Jeffrey Steinberg is a pioneer of preimplantation genetic diagnosis. He's sparked controversy by saying that couples will soon be able to choose everything about their baby, including the colour of their eyes and hair.

Dr Steinberg said: 'We don't look at designer babies the same way as designer outfits. We're not playing God. What we're doing is studying God's work, studying his creations and learning from it. We don't make boys or girls, the couples do that.'

Few satisfied by administration's limits on abortion coverage

Few satisfied by administration's limits on abortion coverage - The Hill's Healthwatch: The Obama administration’s restrictions on abortion coverage in the healthcare reform law's high-risk pools have infuriated abortion-rights supporters while failing to placate the procedure’s opponents. The regulation limits abortion coverage in the federally funded pools, which cover people with pre-existing conditions, to cases of rape, incest or when the mother’s life is in danger.

Planned Parenthood, a reliable Democratic ally, said it 'strongly opposes' the restrictions. The National Right to Life Committee cautions that the regulation raises concerns about the broader healthcare reform law.

The Moral Naturalists

Op-Ed Columnist - The Moral Naturalists - NYTimes.com: Where does our sense of right and wrong come from? Moral naturalists believe that we have moral sentiments that have emerged from a long history of relationships. To learn about morality, you don’t rely upon revelation or metaphysics; you observe people as they live.

Related: The New Science of Morality (conference)

How abortion upstaged jobs in MI governor's race

Brian Dickerson: How abortion upstaged jobs in governor's race | freep.com | Detroit Free Press: Remember way back in July, when everybody in both major parties agreed that Tuesday's gubernatorial primary was going to be all about jobs, jobs, jobs? Well, scratch that.

Michigan may be drowning in economic misery, but it's looking more and more as though abortion will be the key issue in both primary showdowns -- at least for the minority of registered voters who rouse themselves to participate.

Adult Stem Cell Research Far Ahead Of Embryonic

Adult Stem Cell Research Far Ahead Of Embryonic : NPR: For all the emotional debate that began about a decade ago on allowing the use of embryonic stem cells, it's adult stem cells that are in human testing today. An extensive review of stem cell projects and interviews with two dozen experts reveal a wide range of potential treatments.

Adult stem cells are being studied in people who suffer from multiple sclerosis, heart attacks and diabetes. Some early results suggest stem cells can help some patients avoid leg amputation. Recently, researchers reported that they restored vision to patients whose eyes were damaged by chemicals.

Apart from these efforts, transplants of adult stem cells have become a standard lifesaving therapy for perhaps hundreds of thousands of people with leukemia, lymphoma and other blood diseases.