Millennial Generation challenges religion in America

Millennial Generation challenges religion in America - CSMonitor.com: The Millennial Generation believes in God, but is even less interested in organized religion than were baby boomers or Generation X in their youth. Religions in America may be able to attract Millennials by appealing to their values, especially volunteering and service.

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What percent of the population is gay?

The Mouse that Roars: Back in May, a venerable Gallup poll revealed that most Americans think that over 20 percent of the population is homosexual. Only four percent believe-correctly--that homosexuals are less than five percent of the population (a leading homosexual researcher puts the figure at 1.7% homosexual and 1.8% bisexual). The percentage of those who are in long-term partnerships is even lower.

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Major study: changing sexual orientation is possible

Major study: changing sexual orientation is possible | LifeSiteNews.com: Therapists who favor normalizing homosexuality say that it is impossible to change sexual orientation, and that the attempt to change is inherently harmful. However, the final results of a long-term study published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy has joined hundreds of other studies in concluding that such therapy is both possible and potentially well-indicated for many individuals.

Psychologists Stanton L. Jones of Wheaton College and Mark A. Yarhouse of Regent University are the authors of the longitudinal study, which tracked individuals who sought sexual orientation change through involvement in a variety of Christian ministries affiliated with Exodus International. The authors note that the study overcomes a primary criticism of same-sex attraction therapy data - that the results are not adequately documented over a period of time - by assessing its 98 candidates over a period of six to seven years after therapy concluded.

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Camelot or Eden?

In all of the discussion about whether Jackie Kennedy's marriage was antiquated and unrealistic for today's society, something profound is missing: the gospel. When Paul tells Titus to have the older women train the younger women in how to conduct themselves in the family, it was not so they could have a perfect, well-mannered, orderly home. It wasn't so people would look in and praise them for their devotion to their husbands. It wasn't so the outlying community would marvel at how submissive they were. Instead, Paul tells Titus it is so God will get the glory, and people will see Him as infinitely valuable (Titus 2:5). CBMW

The Embryonic Miracle of Christmas

CedarEthics » Blog Archive » The Embryonic Miracle of Christmas (23): Does Scripture teach the value of human life in the womb? If so, how far back does this extend? Can we “prove” the idea that human beings are valuable and protectable at the earliest stage, namely an embryo? Cedarville University Center for Bioethics director Dr. Dennis Sullivan digs deeply into Luke Chapter 1 to find the surprising answers to these questions.

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Life: Defining the beginning by the end

Article | First Things: "The range of dissent and disagreement on the question of when human life begins has led many to believe it cannot be reasonably resolved in a pluralistic society. . . . While reluctance to impose a personal view on others is deeply ingrained in American society, one must question the legitimacy of such reluctance when the topic of our “imposition” is a matter (quite literally) of life and death."

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Parents, Tell Your Kids About Abortion

Parents, Tell Your Kids About Abortion; The Baby is Broken | LifeNews.com: "I want [my 4-year-old daughter] to be active in this movement. I want her to know that she can make a difference…that she is ALREADY making a difference…no matter her age. I want her to see her mom and dad leading by example. I want her to know that we are not people who just say we are pro-life; we are people who live out our pro-life beliefs."

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Radical Environmentalism: “Ecocide” Mock Trial Aims to Create Earth “Right to Life”

Radical Environmentalism: “Ecocide” Mock Trial Aims to Create Earth “Right to Life” » Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog: By making “ecocide” an international crime akin to genocide cleansing, the radical environmentalists aim to stifle most development of resources by making it a crime to engage in wealth producing activities such as mining, oil and gas drilling, timber harvesting, perhaps even suburbanization.

Moreover, the movement is profoundly anti human exceptionalist because it uses the term “displaced individuals” in the definition of the crime to include flora and fauna, which are deemed as important as people.

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What does the Bible say about capital punishment?

[In the Bible,] the death penalty was never employed arbitrarily or frivolously. In fact, observing the use of capital punishment in the Old Testament actually shows us how precious human life is to God. Because human beings are image-bearers of God, murder was such a serious affront to both God and man that it had to be answered with the blood of the murderer. Genesis 9:6 suggests that this sense of justice is woven into the moral fabric of Creation: "Whoever sheds man’s blood, his blood will be shed by man, for God made man in His image."

. . . The apostle Paul acknowledges that wielding “the sword” is a legitimate exercise of government authority—presumably he is referring to its duty to punish criminals, with violence if necessary. On the other hand, many of Jesus’ actions and words, such as his foiling of the execution of the adulterous woman, suggest that mercy and humility should stay society’s killing hand.

 . . . An over-arching theme of the New Testament is the undeserved forgiveness extended to us by a merciful God. As recipients of God’s grace, we are called to extend grace to others as well. How do we reconcile the need for justice with the importance of mercy and forgiveness? Do the requirements of justice trump the opportunity for mercy, or vice versa? Bible Gateway

One-child law: new cases of abortions, forced sterilizations and imprisonment

CHINA - U.S. One-child law: new cases of abortions, forced sterilizations and imprisonment - Asia News: A woman was subjected to a forced abortion in the eighth month of pregnancy because her child was conceived outside the quota established by the state; another was forced to abort at eight and a half months, she was pregnant with twins, while other mothers were forced to undergo sterilization, and even more to undergo the insertion of intrauterine contraceptive tools; for entire families, guilty of having more than one child, there are huge fines, the demolition of their homes, prison, torture.

This is the bleak picture of the fruits of one-child law, implemented with violence in China in since the late '70s. The Chinese leadership exalts it as the path – by terminating the lives of over 400 million unborn – that has allowed the current economic development of the country.

Related stories:

• 31st anniversary of China's One-Child policy
• Abortion’s Death Toll: 53 Million U.S., 400 Million in China
• Bill bans China's population controllers from US entry

Editor: China had promised to lift the policy after 30 years.

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IVF babies up to 10 times more likely to suffer rare genetic disorders

IVF babies up to 10 times more likely to suffer rare genetic disorders: geneticist | LifeSiteNews.com: In an address to the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society, University of Toronto geneticist Dr. Rosanna Weksberg called for more study of a link between fertility treatment and certain rare genetic disorders. “We are seeing a significant increase in risk,” she said, according to the Financial Post. “The most important message is ... we need follow-up study.”

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Unborn, Handicapped, Elderly: Life Unworthy of Life?

Unborn, Handicapped, Elderly: Life Unworthy of Life?, Christian News: "Today, the idea of Lebensunwertes Leben (life unworthy of life) is not dressed in the language of German racism or creating a master race or improving the gene pool; it comes in a different garb," said Dr. Robert George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University. "The new language that dresses up eugenics is a language of choice, autonomy, liberty, personal fulfillment, controlling my own body."

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Youthful India may reap age dividend

Youthful India may reap age dividend: China and India are sometimes cast in a long-term contest for global economic ascendancy. At the moment it looks like a mismatch - China's economy, the world's second biggest, is four times the size of India's and its gross domestic product per capita is three times higher (at market exchange rates). But there is one big factor in India's favour: its age profile.

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Must see: "180" movie

Interview with Ray Comfort, man behind the film

Where Abortion "Rights" Are Disappearing

Where Abortion Rights Are Disappearing - NYTimes.com: "[A] newly intensified drive by anti-abortion forces who refuse to accept the law of the land has seriously imperiled women’s ability to exercise that right. Opponents of abortion rights know they cannot achieve their ultimate goal of an outright ban, at least in the near future. So they are concentrating on enacting laws and regulations narrowing the legal right and making abortion more difficult to obtain."

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Does government do too much? That could depend on your view of the Divine

Does government do too much? That could depend on your view of the Divine: People who strongly believe in an engaged G0d who "has a plan for me," were much more likely to agree that "the government does too much" and "able-bodied people who are out of work shouldn't receive unemployment checks," according to a just-released Baylor University survey. By contrast, those who believe that G0d is more removed from day-to-day affairs — or who don't believe in G0d at all — are more likely to reject small government and economic conservatism.

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Betrayal trauma, part 4

Conflict Of Interest: "The Number Three Reason Black leadership rejects the Pro-Life movement is that he or she is: Compromised. Abortion is the #1 issue in America. Abortion, much like slavery, is an issue, that threatens to shut down our entire government. In the Black Church, abortion is no less of a threat to church government."

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Secrets of the sperm bank

Secrets of the sperm bank - Pregnancy - Salon.com: Since the recession began, the number of aspiring sperm and egg donors has surged dramatically in the United States. At a time when other industries are collapsing, the sex cell business seems to be doing well for itself. But what is it actually selling? "Sex Cells," a new book by Rene Almeling, an assistant professor of sociology at Yale University, pulls back the curtain on the egg and sperm market.

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Parents of quadruplets sue fertility clinic

Courthouse News Service: Felishia and Patrick Burchard, who had one child but had difficulty conceiving another, say they "clearly explained" to doctors at Northwest Center for Reproductive Sciences that they wanted only one baby and did not want to implant multiple embryos. The quadruplets, born prematurely, all survived.

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Supreme Court Takes Up Church Employment Disputes and the “Ministerial Exception”

In Brief: The Supreme Court Takes Up Church Employment Disputes and the “Ministerial Exception” - Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life: On Oct. 5, 2011, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case that could help determine how much latitude religious organizations have in making employment decisions about clergy and others who perform religious duties. The case centers on a legal doctrine known as the “ministerial exception.” The Supreme Court has never expressly ruled on the doctrine, but judges in lower federal courts have used it to exempt religious organizations from anti-discrimination laws and other statutes that regulate how employers treat their workers.

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How Religion Shapes Views on the Death Penalty

Few Say Religion Shapes Immigration, Environment Views - Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life: About one-in-five Americans with an opinion about the death penalty (19%) say that religion is the most important influence on their thinking about the issue. A comparable number (22%) cite their education as most important.

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Louise dismissed marriage as 'just a piece of paper'

Like many co-habitees, Louise dismissed marriage as 'just a piece of paper'. Now she admits it would've kept her family from falling apart | Mail Online: Now she admits it would've kept her family from falling apart. "Before I had our first child, ten years ago, my partner David got down on one knee in the restaurant . . . and asked me to marry him. And I said I would. I was so happy, I announced it to all the other guests and we got ridiculously drunk. I was going to get married! But then, somehow, it didn’t happen."

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Is Rick Perry completely pro-life?

Is Rick Perry completely pro-life? Debate swirls around rape, incest exception | LifeSiteNews.com: Katherine Cesinger, the State Press Director for RickPerry.org, told Maryland pro-life leader John Lofton in a recent email that “Gov. Perry is pro-life, with exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother.”

Related: Rick Perry has unmatched pro-life view
Pres debate: little pro-life focus, Perry stumbles

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New Report on One Child Policy

New Report on One Child Policy – Congressional Hearing | Dallas | Fort Worth | Catholic News | Mass Times | Business Directory: Reggie Littlejohn (President of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers) has thirteen new documented cases of coercion: forced abortion (including one woman at eight months and another carrying twins at 8 ½ months), forced sterilization, forced contraception, the use of quotas, Family Planning Police, Family Planning jail cells, the demolition of homes (even by relatives, for missing a pregnancy check), the use of “implication” (detention, torture and fining of relatives of “violators”), a couple brutally tortured for missing a pregnancy check by one day, a man whose head was smashed and who is now permanently disabled because his wife had a second child; Family Planning Officials beat fifty-year-old father in Pizhou – these cases are heartbreaking.

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UN Official Says Abortion is a Human Right

Friday Fax: UN Official Says Abortion is a Human Right, Secretary General Endorses Report: While world attention may be focused on the UN General Assembly as it grapples with Palestinian statehood, the methodical drive by United Nations officials to promote legal abortion internationally goes on largely unnoticed. The UN Secretariat released a report from the UN Human Rights Council calling on all nations to accept that women and girls must be granted access to legal abortion in order for them to fully enjoy their human rights. The report, written by UN Special Rapporteur Anand Grover, links abortion on demand with the fundamental right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.

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Abstinence is obedience, not a lucky charm

How much success are we going to have if we say, "Kids, abstain from sex, maybe for the rest of your lives"? It sounds so much better to say, "Wait until God sends you your AWESOME partner!" that it's no wonder we succumb to the temptation.

But we shouldn't. Because it's not necessarily true. . . . [T]he "obedience will get you what you want" philosophy has a dark side. First, it puts the focus on us ("doing this will lead directly to a reward"), not on God ("this is what God wants me to do, so I'll do it"). And second, when obediencedoesn't get you what you want . . . it can lead to disillusionment and resentment.Perhaps if we were more focused on God's grace to begin with, instead of falling into a pattern of works-based thinking, envy wouldn't be such a problem. That is, we wouldn't be dealing with this fallacious notion of "Why isn't God giving me what I deserve? I did what he told me to do!"

If too many single Christians are compromising their principles and falling into sexual disobedience—and the evidence shows that this is the case—perhaps it's because so many of us were taught a lie in the first place. It was taught to us with the very best of intentions, and with the highest hopes for us … but it was a lie all the same.

What we—both teens and single adults—need from the church is better theology, a healthy dose of realism, and a little more understanding of where we are in our lives. Christianity Today

Read this article and see which pattern its advice falls into: Saved Sex


Abstinence educator Scott Phelp's talks about his program: "Our Excel program for churches & Christian schools follows the life of Joseph, and shows that by avoiding sexual temptation (Potiphar's wife) we can go on to accomplish all that God has planned for us to accomplish for him. It ends with a challenge to live with an eternal perspective, and to make your days on this earth count for eternity. It's much more than just an "abstinence" program, as it would be in a public school."

Let’s Talk about Abortion: A Response to Dennis O’Brien

Let’s Talk about Abortion: A Response to Dennis O’Brien « Public Discourse: In a recent discussion, “Can We Talk about Abortion?,” published by Commonweal Magazine, Dennis O’Brien argues that there is a problem of consistency between the ethical principles articulated by those who hold that abortion is killing an innocent human being and the legal penalties that they wish imposed, should abortion ever be criminalized.

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Assisted Suicide: The Forgotten Front in the Fight for Life

Assisted Suicide: The Forgotten Front in the Fight for Life « Public Discourse: "As the proponents of assisted suicide strive to legalize it in Massachusetts, we should take another look at their arguments and the deceptions therein."

Editor: I don't know how "forgotten" it is, but . . . for what it's worth.

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Capital Punishment, Sanctity of Life, and Human Dignity

Capital Punishment, Sanctity of Life, and Human Dignity « Public Discourse: "Perhaps some human beings do deserve death; that need not be enough to warrant the permissibility for anyone of killing that human being. It could well be that no human being has the authority to warrant intentional killing, even of the guilty."

Editor: "It could well be," but he doesn't take the ordination by God of human governments into consideration.

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The Science of Shacking Up

The Science of Shacking Up | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction: Why cohabitating couples are putting their future at risk. An interview with Glenn Stanton on The Ring Makes All the Difference.

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Face transplants starting to gain acceptance

amednews: Face transplants starting to gain acceptance :: Sept. 19, 2011 ... American Medical News: Facial transplantation remains an experimental surgery of last resort for patients with severely disfigured faces who often have lost critical functions such as the ability to speak, smell, eat or drink normally. But experts say that where facial transplants once drew categorical objections, they are now the focus of ethical scrutiny about concerns that can be addressed, such as ensuring robust informed-consent processes. As with other controversial innovations, such as in vitro fertilization, time and experience are the best allies in assuaging ethical concerns.

Editor: Time + urgency = the state of bioethics. I'm not saying facial transplants are unethical, but just that I notice that what passes for bioethics so often is really just the "yuck factor" given time to melt away, whereas with IVF there still is and always will be a problem with the sanctity of human life.

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Adult Stem Cells Tested to Treat ALS

Adult Stem Cells Tested to Treat ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) | LifeNews.com: An Israeli company is conducting a clinical trial using a patient’s own adult stem cells to treat ALS. The method using adult stem cells was developed by professors at Tel Aviv University. Cells are taken from a patient’s own bone marrow and differentiated in the lab into astrocytes, cells responsible for nurturing neurons in the brain. By releasing neurotrophic factors, which are proteins that can protect brain cells, the former bone marrow adult stem cells can protect and preserve brain cell function.

Related: 
Why Do Peyton Manning, Other Americans Leave U.S. for Stem Cell Treatment?
Researcher discovers new type of stem cell

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Social media sites ‘actively’ censor Christian content

Facebook, Google, social media sites ‘actively’ censor Christian content: study | LifeSiteNews.com: A study found that some of the new media technology companies have outright banned Christian content, and that all social media sites, except Twitter, have speech policies more restrictive than the free speech rights guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution.

According to the study, seven of the major social media sites have banned “hate speech,” a term that the study authors point out “is often applied in the culture to stifle Christian communicators.” The study authors also found that some of the media companies have been responsive to demands by pressure groups calling for censorship of conservative or Christian viewpoints.

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Get to Know: 1Heart2Souls

1Heart2Souls — Non-Profit Organization supporting expectant parents with poor prenatal prognosis for birth disabilities and infant loss: 1heart2souls is an organization formed to support expectant parents who will experience infant loss or the birth of an infant with disabilities. Over 98% of babies with a poor prenatal prognosis are aborted. 1heart2souls seeks to get information to genetic counselors, ob/gyns, and clinics where parents will likely get the negative prognosis.

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Evangelicals: Mercury Pollution Merits the Concern of Pro-life Republicans, Christian News

Evangelicals: Mercury Pollution Merits the Concern of Pro-life Republicans, Christian News: The latest twist in the Evangelical Environmental Network’s (EEN) campaign in support of proposed EPA regulations to reduce power-plant mercury emissions is a radio blitz trying to get pro-life Congressmen to support the regulations because they’re “pro-life.” But EEN’s statistics are grossly exaggerated, as the Cornwall Alliance showed here and in the WashingtonTimes months ago, and as Anne Smith demonstrated exhaustively. The Alliance also commends Stephanie Samuel of Christian Post for her balanced report on EEN’s campaign.

Related:

• Nature, not human activity, rules the climate
• Welcome to the carbon cult
• Sea level continues historic decline
• Innovation and prosperity as environmental principles
• Beisner and Wallis on climate science and presidential debate

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Immorality of surrogacy arrangement leads to clarity on abortion

A former abortion clinic worker shares how a surrogacy arrangement gone wrong affected her. A woman in a friend's surrogacy support group underwent prenatal genetic testing on the child she carried for another woman. Result? Down syndrome. "I followed the daily posts with increasing horror as she related the story of this surrogate mother who accepted 'payment of her contract in full' to abort rather than to carry this baby to term and give birth. . . . This was my Ah-HA moment: This woman was paid to kill the child. And she did. This is murder. Abortion is murder. I cried. I cried for that (now dead) baby. Then I cried for all of the little cold souls in the IVF freezers around the world. Then, only then, could I cry for all of the babies murdered at the clinic where I worked for so long." LifeSiteNews

Amendment banning human embryo patents becomes law

Amendment banning human embryo patents becomes permanent U.S. law | LifeSiteNews.com: The United States Congress has made permanent a ban on human embryo patents that previously had to be renewed every year. The pro-life “Weldon Patent Ban” was enacted as part of the “America Invents Act,” which was signed into law Monday by President Barack Obama.

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China: 400 Million Fewer People Because of One-Child

China: 400 Million Fewer People Because of One-Child Policy | LifeNews.com: During a members-only meeting today with members of Congress at the Capital, a former health secretary in the Chinese government admitted the one-child policy has cost the nation as many as 400 million people.

That figure includes not only people who were likely not born because of the promotion of birth control and contraception, but the deaths of unborn children in abortions, forced abortions and infanticides. China sees as many as 37,000 abortions a day under the population control policy.

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Direct Conversion Challenges Embryonic Stem Cell Research

Direct Conversion Challenges Embryonic Stem Cell Research | LifeNews.com: Why are researchers “skipping pluripotency?” Because the undifferentiated nature of pluripotent stem cells makes them unpredictable and prone to causing tumors. To use pluripotent stem cells to treat patients, researchers would have to take pluripotent cells and differentiate them into the cells needed. But if any of these cells retain their pluripotency, they may develop into tumors. This is exactly the reason embryonic stem cells are known to cause tumors in animal models. Skipping pluripotency reduces the risk of tumor formation which means these kinds of cells made by direct conversion are not only easier to make but also may be safer for use in patients.

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Understanding The Mysterious Teenage Brain

Understanding The Mysterious Teenage Brain : NPR: It's an age-old question: why do teenagers behave as they do? Why the angst, anger and risk-taking? Some researchers say science and evolution provide some answers. And in some cases, the very behaviors that drive parents crazy may be the traits that prove the keys to success as an adult.

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What secularism does to moral standards

If moral standards are not rooted in God, they do not objectively exist. Good and evil are no more real than "yummy" and "yucky." They are simply a matter of personal preference. Dennis Prager

Glory of Man or Glory of God?

Glory of Man or Glory of God? | Dr. Georgia Purdom's Blog: "The things they want to measure, he can’t do. His scores on reading, reading comprehension, math, math concepts and the like were as low as you can score and still be breathing. The things they can’t measure – like his inherent, God-created dignity as a human being – he excels at."

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Thrown over the fence - infanticide, Canadian style

Thrown over the fence - infanticide, Canadian style | LifeSiteNews.com: As far back as 1993, ethicist Peter Singer was arguing openly that babies “are not born self-aware, or capable of grasping that they exist over time. They are not persons.” He went on to argue that “the life of a newborn is of less value than the life of a pig, a dog, or a chimpanzee.” Singer, to our shame, now holds an honored chair in ethics at Princeton University.

Other ethical philosophers, such as Michael Tooley and Jeffrey Reiman, had argued similarly. Tooley asserted that human infants do not qualify for personhood and Reiman argued that infants do not “possess in their own right a property that makes it wrong to kill them.”

Enter, Judge Veit. The philosophical foundations for the acceptance of infanticide were laid long ago. Now, an appeals court in Canada has applied them to law.

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Congressional Hearing Marks 35 Years of China's One-Child Policy

Congressional Hearing Marks 35 Years of China's One-Child Policy | LifeNews.com: Members of Congress will hold a hearing tomorrow on the one-child family planning policy China instituted — and it comes just days before the forced abortion-supported policy marks its 35th anniversary. Congressman Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican who is the pro-life leader in the House of Representatives and the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights, while chair the Thursday hearing. The hearing is titled, “China’s One-Child Policy: The Government’s Massive Crime Against Women and Unborn Babies.”

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Tea Party Activist Misstates Boehner’s Pro-Life Record

Tea Party activist David Lewis has announced he will challenge pro-life Speaker John Boehner next year in the Republican primary for his Ohio congressional seat. Lewis says he is running because of one issue — pro-life — yet he misstates and misrepresent’s Boehner’s pro-life record on abortion. According to the National Right to Life Committee, in 90 votes Boehner has cast on pro-life issues — ranging from abortion and abortion funding, to de-funding Planned Parenthood, to keep abortion out of Obamacare, and on bioethics issues — Boehner has never cast a single pro-abortion vote. LifeNews

The Lost Girls

The Lost Girls | The Weekly Standard: China's one-child policy is an epic disaster. People who claim to admire it simply don’t know very much about it. Like where it came from. Or how it actually works. Or what it has really done to China’s demographics. Why does it have so many cheerleaders?

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Right to life vs right to found a family

"A right to 'found[ing] a family' is clearly stated in Article 17 of the American Convention and in Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Several other countries in the Americas, such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico that have laws reflecting 'right to life' beliefs allow IVF and therefore their citizens are able to make their own decisions on use of IVF and related technologies.

"During debates in Costa Rica, some opponents have actively advertised on radio and targeted couples who may be seeking IVF across borders. One advertisement used a young girl's voice: 'Hi. I'm Sofie, the third of three brothers and sisters. Though my parents love me with all of their hearts, I know that for me to enter the world, seven of my siblings died in a laboratory.'

"Giving existence to the unborn by redefining embryos as family members could be argued as a form of scaremongering that uses fear and guilt to strengthen the position of those opposing IVF. These tactics target a highly stigmatised, vulnerable and disabled group (infertility is internationally recognized as a disability). It was heartening to see that the Costa Rican Government had these advertisements removed." BioNews

Aborting My Child Made Me A Better Mother

Mother: Aborting My Child Made Me A Better Mother: "Ann has an interesting, and all too prevalent, idea of truth, rights and freedoms. But is choosing abortion really freedom?"

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If It Feels Right . . .

If It Feels Right - NYTimes.com: The rise of moral individualism has produced a generation unable to speak intelligibly about the virtuous life. Young people "have not been given the resources — by schools, institutions and families — to cultivate their moral intuitions, to think more broadly about moral obligations, to check behaviors that may be degrading. In this way, the study says more about adult America than youthful America."

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EGYPT: Secret abortions help women circumvent honor violence

EGYPT: Secret abortions help women circumvent honor violence | Women News Network: So-called honor killings area social and cultural agency by families “to wash away their disgrace.” The families murder the woman who as “sinned” as a means of reclaiming the family’s honor and pride in society. Hundreds of cases go unreported and undocumented, the few ones that do get little attention from the media or judicial authorities. Men are seldom punished harshly for the murder they have committed. A lot of the time families do not need or wait for any physical proof of the woman’s indiscretions, rumors alone are sometimes sufficient to cause an honor killing.

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Making laws about making babies

The Lack of Regulation Has Been a Boon - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com: In America, one sperm donor can have 150 or more offspring. Other nations would not allow this. Should the U.S. emulate their stricter laws?

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Adam and Eve: Clarifying Again What Is at Stake

AlbertMohler.com – Adam and Eve: Clarifying Again What Is at Stake: "Those who try to deny that Genesis requires the affirmation of a historic Adam as a real and singular human individual . . . must face the fact that the Genesis narrative clearly presents Adam as a singular individual who acts, speaks, marries, reproduces, and is listed even in the genealogy of Jesus. Hebrew vocabulary offers no escape hatch from historicity."

Related: Detailed analysis of Australopithecus sediba presents problems for evolution

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Betrayal Trauma (3 of 7)

Betrayal Trauma (3 of 7): Over 15,000,000 Black Babies have been killed since 1973. That’s more than the entire populations of Los Angeles, Detroit, Atlanta, Boston, Oakland, Dallas, D.C., Chicago, Miami and Baltimore combined. . . . When Black leaders embrace Black leaders that embrace abortion as a necessary “social policy” or “social utility” to guarantee life, Black leaders are ultimately embracing Black genocide, a racist and eugenic strategy designed to end Black life. We were the oppressed. Now we are our own oppressor.

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Robertson McQuilkin repudiates Pat Robertson

See Pat Robertson repudiates the Gospel

Lapses by Leaders Seen in 1940s Syphilis Tests on Prisoners

Lapses by Leaders Seen in 1940s Syphilis Tests on Prisoners - NYTimes.com: The highest medical and legal officials of the American government and experts at Harvard and other top medical schools approved venereal disease experiments on people in the 1940s, which led to the deliberate infection of Guatemalan prisoners and mental patients with syphilis to test penicillin, a White House bioethics panel reported Tuesday.

The experiments were “gross violations of ethics” not just by today’s standards but by those of the time, said the report from the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues. It called the experiments “especially egregious moral wrongs because many of the individuals involved held positions of public institutional responsibility.”

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Pat Robertson Repudiates the Gospel (one more time)

This week on his television show Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson said a man would be morally justified to divorce his wife with Alzheimer's disease in order to marry another woman. The dementia-riddled wife is, Robertson said, "not there" anymore. This is more than an embarrassment. This is more than cruelty. This is a repudiation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

. . . Marriage, the Scripture tells us, is an icon of something deeper, more ancient, more mysterious. The marriage union is a sign, the Apostle Paul announces, of the mystery of Christ and his church (Eph. 5). The husband, then, is to love his wife "as Christ loved the church" (Eph. 5:25). This love is defined not as the hormonal surge of romance but as a self-sacrificial crucifixion of self. The husband pictures Christ when he loves his wife by giving himself up for her.

. . . A woman or a man with Alzheimer's can't do anything for you. There's no romance, no sex, no partnership, not even companionship. That's just the point. Because marriage is a Christ/church icon, a man loves his wife as his own flesh. He cannot sever her off from him simply because she isn't "useful" anymore.

Pat Robertson's cruel marriage statement is no anomaly. He and his cohorts have given us for years a prosperity gospel with more in common with an Asherah pole than a cross. They have given us a politicized Christianity that uses churches to "mobilize" voters rather than to stand prophetically outside the power structures as a witness for the gospel.

But Jesus didn't die for a Christian Coalition; he died for a church. And the church, across the ages, isn't significant because of her size or influence. She is weak, helpless, and spattered in blood. He is faithful to us anyway. Russell D. Moore, Christianity Today

Editor: See 700 Club footage here. He's right about one thing: He's no ethicist, and no theologian either. I hope this upsets Christians more than anything President Obama does.

In contrast, here's an exquisite example of caring: Robertson McQuilkin faced a similar situation two decades ago. He decided to step down and end his 22 year tenure as president of Columbia Bible College and Seminary. Instead, he helped care full-time for his wife Muriel. She died in 2003 after suffering for 25 years with the disease. During the last decade, Muriel could not recognize her husband caregiver. CT blog

Related:

• McQuilkin's own testimony from the CT archives, called "Living by Vows"
• "Love them to the last breath" - Life Matters issue relating to an AIDS hospice in South Africa. Christian love (let alone marital love) requires a lasting commitment.
• "Should Alzheimer's Be a Reason to Ditch Marriage Vows?" This is by a guy (Mitch Albom) who traveled weekly from Michigan to Massachusetts to be with a friend who had ALS.

CNN Poll: 62% Want All or Most Abortions Made Illegal

CNN Poll: 62% Want All or Most Abortions Made Illegal | LifeNews.com: A new poll shows 62% of Americans want all or most abortions made illegal. CNN asked, “Do you think abortion should be legal under any circumstances, legal under only certain circumstances, or illegal in all circumstances?” 25 percent of Americans want all abortions legal while 21 percent want all abortions illegal, and it had a large group of 53 percent of Americans saying abortions should be legal only under certain circumstances.

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Evangelical pastors jump into the 2012 political fray

Evangelical pastors jump into the 2012 political fray - Los Angeles Times: A growing movement of evangelical pastors are jumping into the electoral fray as never before, preaching political engagement from the pulpit as they mobilize for the 2012 election.

This new activism has substantial muscle behind it: a cadre of experienced Christian organizers and some of the conservative movement's most generous donors, who are setting up technologically sophisticated operations to reach pastors and their congregations in battleground states.

The passion for politics stems from a collision of historic forces, including heightened local organizing around the issues of abortion and gay marriage and a view of the country's debt as a moral crisis that violates biblical instruction.

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Pro-Life Protection Within 'America Invents Act'

FRC Praises Passage of Pro-Life Protection Within 'America Invents Act': Family Research Council today praised the passage of the "Weldon Patent Ban" as part of the "America Invents Act" (formerly called the Patent Reform Act) to prevent patenting of human embryos. Tomorrow, President Obama will sign the legislation into law.

This new law will make permanent the ban authored by former Congressman Dave Weldon (R-FL) that has been renewed each year since 2004 on the Commerce, Justice and State Appropriations bill to prevent the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office from issuing patents on "human organisms." The House of Representatives, led by Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Lamar Smith, added the Weldon language into the bill to make this ban permanent.

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180 movie: Pass it on!

Help everyone in America get a free viewing!

Study finds prayer can help handle harmful emotions

Study finds prayer can help handle harmful emotions | e! Science News: Through in-depth interviews with dozens of victims of violent relationships with intimate partners, Shane Sharp, a graduate student studying sociology at UW-Madison, gathered an array of ways prayer helped them deal with their situation and emotions through coping mechanisms such as venting.

Those who were boiling with anger said they found "a readily available listening ear," says Sharp, who explores how prayer helps manage emotional pain in the current issue of the journal Social Psychology Quarterly.

"If they vented their anger to that abusive partner, the result was likely to be more violence," Sharp says. "But they could be angry at God while praying without fear of reprisal."

During any interpersonal interaction, the participants are considering how they look through the other's eyes. In the case of people who pray, they are considering God's view.

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Sexism is Alive and Well in the 21st Century

Sexism is Alive and Well in the 21st Century | Dr. Georgia Purdom's Blog: The Bible is the great equalizer when it comes to men and women. Both men and women are created in the image of God.

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Recapturing Biblical Stewardship in the Church

Becky Norton Dunlop: Recaupturing Biblical Stewardship in the Church - YouTube: Becky Norton Dunlop discusses the importance of including climate change ideas into the Christian worldview. Ignorance of the worldview behind environmentalism, and cultural separation of the issue makes Christians, and the whole world, vulnerable to attack by an anti-biblical movement. Christians need to demonstrate we are not only good stewards, but better stewards of the environment.

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Adoption referrals at Planned Parenthood plummet as abortions rise

Adoption referrals at Planned Parenthood plummet as abortions rise | LifeSiteNews.com: The national abortion giant revealed that it had performed 332,278 abortions in 2009 and referred for 977 adoptions, for a ratio of one adoption referral to every 340 abortions.

These figures represent a 59% decrease in adoption referrals and a 2% increase in abortions since 2008, when the numbers came in at 2,405 adoptions and 324,008 abortions.

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A personal testimony regarding China’s practice of forced abortion

A personal testimony regarding China’s practice of forced abortion |: Read an except from a statement by a Chinese woman, Wujian (an alias), before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the U.S. House of Representatives on Nov. 10, 2009. It is vitally important never to lose sight of the barbarism of China’s policy of forced abortion.

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Prolife Action Needed in Michigan

Prolife Action Needed: Identical versions of a two-bill package banning partial birth abortion are resting on the Michigan House Floor and Senate Floor. Legislative leaders in both chambers have targeted the final two weeks of September to take the necessary votes to send the package to the governor's desk. Your help is needed.

Action Items:
Call your Michigan Senator in Lansing and let him or her know you support the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act, S.B. 160 and S.B. 161.

Call your Michigan House Representative in Lansing and let him or her know you support the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act, H.B. 4109 and H.B. 4110.

Key Message: Now is the time for Michigan to place a partial birth abortion ban on its law books.

Michigan citizens and Right to Life of Michigan have labored more than 15 years to enact a ban on partial birth abortions in our state.

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Does Biology Make Sense Without Darwin? - Free Video Download

Does Biology Make Sense Without Darwin? - Video Download - Answers Bookstore: It is often claimed that nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution, but this is simply not the case. Examining evolutionist claims about the eye, the origin of feathers, and human hair, Dr. Menton shows that the answer to the question is an emphatic YES!

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Anti-abortion activists aim to give embryos same rights as living people

Anti-abortion activists aim to give embryos same rights as living people - Telegraph: Campaigners want all references to "person" or "persons" in state constitutions to apply to "every human being from the moment of fertilisation", to ensure a foetus has the same right to life as an adult.

Editor: Um, embryos are "living people."

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Pro-Abortionists’ Great Expectations Collapse in the Wake of Two Pro-Life Wins

Pro-Abortionists’ Great Expectations Collapse in the Wake of Two Pro-Life Wins |: Two special elections held September 13, stunned pro-abortion Democrats.

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Judge Rules Individual Mandate in Obamacare Unconstitutional

Judge Rules Individual Mandate in Obamacare Unconstitutional | LifeNews.com: Judge Christopher Conner in Harrisburg issued the ruling today, and he said the individual mandate is an unconstitutional extension of the authority the Commerce Clause grants the federal government. This suit was filed by a Pennsylvania couple who does not want to be forced to purchase health care insurance and pay the penalties for not doing so under the Obamacare provisions.

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Fatherhood Begins in the Womb

Fatherhood Begins in the Womb | TooManyAborted.com: Where are the men? Fatherhood begins in the womb and doesn’t end until you enter the tomb. There is no excuse for men who’ve chosen to have sex, to then choose to avoid any and all responsibility, when the natural result of sexual activity brings forth life.

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Infanticide just a very late abortion?

Infanticide just a late, late abortion?: According to one Canadian judge, pretty much | LifeSiteNews.com: When Katrina Effert secretly gave birth to a baby boy in her parents' home, strangled him with her underwear, and tossed his body over a fence into her neighbor's yard, she simply engaged in a really, really late-term abortion. Given that we don’t, under Canadian law, value human life a few minutes before birth, why a few minutes after?

Indeed, the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada posted the CBC article on their Facebook page with the heading: “A tragic situation, but yes, there are compelling reasons for infanticide being a lesser crime than murder.”

While Ms. Effert will not spend any time in jail for strangling her newborn son, she may have to spend 16 days behind bars for disposing of his corpse improperly.

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In search for life, more planet 'candidates' are found. Are any just right?

In search for life, more planet 'candidates' are found. Are any just right?: For a planet to support life, it faces long odds: It has to be the right size, right composition, and right distance from its star. On Monday astronomers announced a trove of new planet 'candidates.'

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When does human life begin? A scientific perspective

It is really far past time to clear the air of the smog that obscures and confuses debates about abortion, embryonic research, cloning, and related issues. Among the chief obfuscations and confusions is the claim that we do not know when human life begins. This frequently takes the form of claiming that the question is a matter of faith or religious belief. Nothing could be farther from the truth, as is lucidly and convincingly demonstrated in this White Paper. When a human life begins is a question of science. Westchester Institute

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Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Akin to Embryonic Stem Cells

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Akin to Embryonic Stem Cells » Secondhand Smoke | A First Things Blog: "My view as a layman who pays close attention to this field, is that IPSCs will be best used in drug testing and cell line experimentation on diseased tissues that were tailor made from specific patients–what we were once told would require human cloning to achieve. I also think adult stem cells will provide most of the clinical benefits for this field. I could be wrong. But unless they find a cure for the tumor threat, IPSCs will be constrained in medical uses just as embryonic stem cells have proven to be.

"Yes, there are potential ethical problems with IPSC–not because of what they are, but how they could be used. For example, they could be used in a form of cloning. They could also be used to make viable gametes, that could be used in an inappropriate matter."

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Obama Admin Targets Down Syndrome Babies Under Obamacare

Obama Admin Targets Down Syndrome Babies Under Obamacare | LifeNews.com: Discussions of HHS’s new regulation have focused on the required availability of free contraceptive services under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The regulation is the result of HHS’s adopting, in its entirety, the Institute of Medicine’s report on Clinical Preventive Services for Women. Buried in the IOM report is the recommendation for no-cost well-woman visits; these visits include prenatal care–and thus prenatal testing for “genetic or developmental conditions.” The regulation was issued as part of the PPACA’s coverage of preventive services. This prompts the question, how does prenatal testing prevent Down syndrome?

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Thoughts on 9/11

Sheets of paper survived while steel and concrete did not.
http://www.drjudywood.com/articles/DEW/StarWarsBeam3.html;
photo credit: Terry Schmidt

This weekend, watching reruns of the dust-filled streets of lower Manhattan, I realized, "THAT is the essence of the two beautiful fallen towers." They were always only dust and ashes, albeit temporarily held together by physical properties I can't explain. It's always only a matter of time before something -- everything -- reduces to dust.

The new tower being erected in their place seems to be a denial of that reality. It must be hubris to say it will be the safest building in the world . . . something akin to what they said about the tower in Genesis 11: "Let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly" -- like the super-strong cement they're using in the "Freedom Tower." (A news feature showed the dry ingredients that go into that cement -- so much like the residue seen above.)  "Let's build a tower whose top is in the heavens" -- at 1776 feet in the air, the builders of 1 World Trade Center have no illusions of reaching God, but they want their tower to achieve the distinction of tallest, if only of the Western hemisphere. (And don't miss the irony of the address -- "one world" -- as in, "Let's not be scattered over the face of the earth.")

Well, maybe it's true this building will be the safest in the world, but that also might not be saying much. No building can protect you from the wrath of God. The best of what man can do is still only dust and ashes. And when that day comes, men will beg for rocks to fall on them (Rev. 6:16-17).

And while the memorial committee succeeded by recognizing the loss of babies still in the wombs of 11 mothers who died on 9/11, our nation has not, in its paroxysm of grief, seen fit to repent the slaughter of countless unborn children in abortion. That was the lesson of the fallen tower of Siloam (Luke 13:1-5).

Reflections on the ethical debate surrounding non-invasive prenatal genetic diagnosis

BioNews - Reflections on the ethical debate surrounding non-invasive prenatal genetic diagnosis: Regulating early abortion isn't the appropriate way to address these ethical and social concerns. First-trimester abortion is - and should remain - a woman's prerogative. Her freedom to choose it should not be called into question.

Rather, these concerns should be seen as an opportunity to promote a social debate emphasising values like human dignity, equality and solidarity in our reproductive decision-making. Prospective parents should be encouraged to consider why they're choosing to terminate an otherwise wanted pregnancy and the implications of their choices for themselves, for their potential future child, and for society.

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'Win A Baby' competition on Canadian radio station condemned

BioNews - 'Win A Baby' competition on Canadian radio station condemned: A Canadian radio station has caused shock by announcing a competition in which contestants will compete for the chance to win a baby. The winner of Hot 89.9's competition will receive three rounds of IVF treatment free of charge. Hot 89.9 claims that the retail value of the 'prize' is approximately $35,000 CAD. To win, the contestants must write a short, 100-word paragraph explaining why they want a child, and a panel of judges will decide which is the most convincing.

Related: Can you trust your surrogate lawyer?

Editor: What is it about fertility technology that brings out the worst in people?

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The case for early marriage

Betsy Hart: "I know parents who know their teens are in an intense dating relationship and assume (often rightly) that they are having sex in some form. But I also see parents, particularly in my evangelical world, who focus on helping teens have chaste romantic relationships for long periods, since the young people are in no position to marry. And so there is a lot of focus in this world on 'chastity balls' and 'purity rings.' In contrast, I think long-term chaste romantic relationships -- teen or otherwise -- are, well, unnatural."

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The young pro-life nurse who took on a pro-abortion university … and won | LifeSiteNews.com

The young pro-life nurse who took on a pro-abortion university … and won | LifeSiteNews.com: To follow her dream, Anne Marie Dust applied to the Nurse Residency Program at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Her goal was to pursue a career providing care to pregnant women and their pre-born children. But as she pored over the application, she was shocked to discover that Vanderbilt required her to certify in writing that she would agree to participate in abortions.

She decided to fight, filing a federal complaint to HSS in January 2011. Within 26 hours of filing, the university rescinded its policy, making it a victory for Anne Marie and students coming after her.

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Media Bias And Abortion Language

Media Bias And Abortion Language | Fox News: In a recent essay in the August 10 New York Times magazine titled, “Two-Minus-One Pregnancy,” author Ruth Padawar discusses cases where a pregnant woman chooses to “reduce twins to a singleton.” The expectant mother, after choosing not to endure the extra burden of raising twins, aborts one of the fetuses.

Except, technically, she does not abort the fetus. Instead, a doctor inserts a long needle into her abdomen. Then, using a sonogram, he directs the needle into the chest of one of the fetuses and injects it with potassium chloride, quickly killing it. The body of the dead fetus remains in the womb and shrivels during the remainder of the pregnancy. It is removed during the live birth of its twin.

Although the above description uses the word “kill,” the New York Times author does not. Instead, she uses euphemisms such as “extinguish,” “eliminate,” and “reduce to a singleton.”

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Exposing and Emphasizing

Seeking Him Radio: Exposing and Emphasizing: The Bible doesn’t give us a list of do’s and don’ts when it comes to modesty, but it does tell us, “Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another.” Here are some suggestions that I think could help us as women humbly dress in a way that helps the men in our lives.

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Betrayal trauma, part 2

Conflict Of Interest: It is not surprising to see leaders, many of whom are suffering from the effects of a past abortion, leave clearly biblical constructs and conclaves to embrace abortion industry policies, practices and politics.

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'When having a choice diminishes family solidarity'

MCCL Blog: 'When having a choice diminishes family solidarity': "Making life optional harms even those who choose and affirm it, for its very optionality means that someone's life is no longer a necessity that all must accept as a given, but rather a contingency that might have been avoided by the legally empowered chooser. The chooser is thus to blame for that life's burdens. The only logically possible way to undo this blame is to reconvert contingency into some form of necessity."

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Mississippi citizens allowed vote on personhood

Liberty Counsel: The Mississippi Supreme Court will allow the Personhood Amendment to appear on the ballot on November 8. The Court denied a challenge to the constitutionality of the Amendment brought by the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, and the Center for Reproductive Rights. Steve Crampton, General Counsel of Liberty Counsel, presented argument at the Mississippi Supreme Court on behalf of the Personhood Amendment. If passed, the law would amend the Mississippi Constitution to include an unborn child in Mississippi as a “person” and thus protected under the Constitution.

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U.S. Govt. Largest Population Control Promoter in Philippines

U.S. Govt. Largest Population Control Promoter in Philippines | LifeNews.com: A diplomatic cable recently published by the controversial website Wikileaks confirms the depth of support by the U.S. government for population control initiatives in the Philippines over the past 40 years, including support for the highly contested Reproductive Health Bill currently under consideration in the Philippine legislature.

Editor: It's obviously not just the Obama administration's doing.

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Made in the image of God

Made in the image of God: Before and after the fall, and renewed in Christ.

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Ideas have effects

The empirical functionalist sees it as ethical to treat different humans in different ways. We must respect and protect all the rights of those who are fully persons. No such obligation exists for those who are not persons.

In contrast, ontological personalism concludes that all humans should be treated as persons. Regardless of the possible benefits, some things should never be done to humans. Hence, abortion at any time takes the life of an innocent human person, and is not permissible. Research must not deliberately harm any humans, including embryos. All people are to be fed, hydrated and cared for, regardless of how little they are able to communicate with us. They must still be treated with the respect we give all others.

Christians should be aware of these changing views of what it means to be human. These are not just academic questions. These views directly impact how we view and treat all people. Xenos Christian Fellowship

Made in the image of God

Made in the image of God: The historical biblical account of the creation of Adam and Eve (Genesis 1:26-27) states that God made the first man and woman 'in His own image'. What does this mean? And why is it important?

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Are There Really Different Races?

Are There Really Different Races? - Answers in Genesis: Darwinian evolution was (and still is) inherently a racist philosophy, teaching that different groups or “races” of people evolved at different times and rates, so some groups are more like their apelike ancestors than others.

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Hillary's Abortion Revolution

Hillary's Abortion Revolution: "How, Madame Secretary, can you justify your ceaseless globetrotting to promote abortion worldwide if it results - as it has resulted - in the targeting of unborn children who are female? What is feminist about that?"

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Favoring abortionists in sex-slavery fight

LAIRD: Favoring abortionists in sex-slavery fight - Washington Times: Continuing its policy of forcing the “full range of legally permissible gynecological and obstetric care” into every federally funded program, the Obama administration has found yet another opportunity to exclude many faith-based agencies from competing for federal grants.

A recent request for grant proposals issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) states that “preference will be given to grantees that will offer all victims referral to medical providers who can provide or refer for family planning services and the full range of legally permissible gynecological and obstetric care.”

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The First Fourteen Days of Human Life

The New Atlantis » The First Fourteen Days of Human Life: Science has not solved every mystery of early human development. But human embryology has advanced sufficiently to enable us to dismiss certain fallacies about when a new human life comes to be.

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The political Bible, part 5: equality

We should not underestimate how counterintuitive and countercultural human equality is. Nor should we underestimate the extent to which our contemporary commitment to equality is drawn from biblical Christianity. Genesis 1.26-27 – "… So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them," – is perhaps the single most influential biblical text in the British political history.

. . . In reality, the imago dei was only one of the two main pillars for the Christian insistence on equality. The second was its New Testament counterpart: just as all are made in the image of God, all are saved – or, rather, are offered the gift of salvation – by the same God. Guardian

Parts 1-4

Disparity in abortion rate between cohabiting and married couples

Holy smoke: check out the disparity in abortion rate between cohabiting and married couples | LifeSiteNews.com: Fighting abortion also means fighting for marriage, and against the culture of “anything goes” sexual promiscuity that has lead to the deaths of millions of our children.

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Planned Parenthood has zero effect on unintended pregnancy

Guttmacher Report shows funding Planned Parenthood has zero effect on unintended pregnancy | LifeSiteNews.com: Increasing government funding of Planned Parenthood had zero effect on unintended pregnancy. Over the period covered in this study, Planned Parenthood’s funding from government grants and contracts increased from $240.9 million to $305.3 million. At the same time, unintended pregnancies rose from 48% to 49% of all pregnancies.

Related: Planned Parenthood Stimulus Failure

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Forgiving the Boomers for destroying the world

Forgiving the Boomers for destroying the world | LifeSiteNews.com: "The Boomers made the case that they should end their marriages and abort their children for the God Expediency. Their children, stripped of any attachment to a moral framework, will eye the old grey hairs, drooling and in diapers—but certainly still sneering—and consider expedient 'Death with Dignity' to be a sensible and pragmatic policy."

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The Rise Of Anti-Western Christianity

The Rise Of Anti-Western Christianity | The Brussels Journal: Christianity is fast becoming a non-Western religion. The heart of Christianity soon will be, if it is not already, Africa and Latin America. And the shift is not merely a demographic one, but an ideological one as well. Various African and Latin American expressions of Christianity are currently eclipsing the European version of Christianity.

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Adoption: After the Airport

Jen Hatmaker - After the Airport: You cannot just be into adoption to adopt; you have to be into parenting. And it is hard, hard, intentional, laborious work. Children who have been abused, abandoned, neglected, given away, given up, and left alone are shaken so deeply, so intrinsically, they absolutely require parents who are willing to wholly invest in their healing; through the screaming, the fits, the anger, the shame, the entitlement, the bed-wetting, the spitting, the rejection, the bone-chilling fear. Parents who are willing to become the safe place, the Forever these children hope for but are too terrified to believe in just yet.

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Betrayal trauma

Conflict Of Interest: Why is Black leadership so silent on abortion and so slow to support the Pro-Life movement? Well, for the next six weeks I will expose and explain the four reasons Black leadership struggles with the Pro-Life movement, what must be done to strengthen Black leadership's stand against abortion and why Personhood, the only Pro-Life strategy that does not embrace exceptions, is a winning strategy in communities of color. Brothers, we really need to talk.

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What Price Kindness?

What Price Kindness? | The Scientist: If evolution is a game of survival of the fittest, how to explain the persistence of traits which reduce individuals’ success at passing on their genes? Behold the stinging bee, the toilsome ant, the nurturing sterile mole rat. Consider the social amoeba, Dictyostelium discoideum, in which altruistic stalk cells give their lives so their brothers can climb them to the tip of the cooperative spire and be carried away to better fortunes by a felicitous wind. Darwin was mesmerized by the apparent paradox of altruism in a nature “red in tooth and claw,” and proclaimed that absent a solution, his entire theory was suspect. Ever since, field biologists, mathematicians, geneticists, game theorists, psychologists, and of course philosophers have been trying to crack the mystery of the origins of kindness.

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Giuliani's Abortion Position Prevents GOP Nomination

Giuliani Admits His Abortion Position Prevents GOP Nomination | LifeNews.com: The 2008 presidential campaign of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani went nowhere in large part because of his pro-abortion position . Now, the former mayor has admitted that his position on social issues keeps him from the nomination.

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Woman carrying conjoined twins leans on faith

Marengo woman carrying twins conjoined at torso leans on faith - Chicago Sun-Times: Facing adversity, criticism and an uncertain future for her conjoined twins, Amanda Schulten says she chose life. Despite the devastatingly low probability of survival, the single Marengo mother-to-be said that, for her, there was just no other option. Joined at the heart, her daughters — whom she’s already named Hope and Faith — should be given a chance to live, Amanda said, no matter how long those lives may be.

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Capturing the imagination of a confused world

Our culture is facing a crisis of content that under-girds all of our contexts and presuppositions across the board. . . . But what is the antidote to all of this? 

Certainly not boycotts and petitions. These political strategies may have the short-term effect of “cleansing the outside of the cup,” but they are powerless to change the heart, from whence issues the evil according to Jesus. Furthermore, political action can even be counterproductive, reinforcing the secular view that Christian faith is “irrelevant” and “unworthy of examination.”

Nor does the answer lie in a retreat to so-called “traditional American values.” Some look back with nostalgia on the decade of the 50’s, yearning for a return to national innocence and bliss. But mounting evidence of childhood abuse and other serious family dysfunctions among the yuppies suggests that a darker scenario was unfolding under the placid surface: a lot of Ozzie Nelson types must have doffed their cardigans to molest their daughters and what many fathers apparently knew best was suppressed rage and devouring denial.

What we need is a fresh work of God, a “new song,” radical revival from the roots up and the inside out. And I believe we also need a Christian renaissance in the arts to drive God’s truth home to the hungry heart of secular man. J.A.C. Redfords

Stroke Victim Brain Fetus Stem Cell Trials Moving Forward

The procedure involves injecting ReNeuron's neural stem cells into patients' brains in the hope they will repair areas damaged by stroke, thereby improving both mental and physical function. It uses stem cells derived from human fetuses rather than embryos, which were used in a stem cell trial to treat patients with spinal cord injuries by Geron Corp of the United States.

. . . [A]nti-abortionist groups . . . maintain that doctors change abortion procedures and harm living babies in order to obtain "perfect" cell samples. Not only are both these things illegal, but also it's more painful and dangerous for the patient. They also say that doctors encourage the sale of babies and baby body parts on the black market. Many sources claim that a single liver sells for between $125 and $150, a brain for between $150 and $999, and that you can buy a whole specimen, unprocessed for $70. Whether incidents like this actually take place or not, they are a sinister reminder of what money can entice people to do. Medical News Today

Neuroscience vs philosophy: Taking aim at free will

Neuroscience vs philosophy: Taking aim at free will : Nature News: As humans, we like to think that our decisions are under our conscious control — that we have free will. Philosophers have debated that concept for centuries, and now Haynes and other experimental neuroscientists are raising a new challenge. They argue that consciousness of a decision may be a mere biochemical afterthought, with no influence whatsoever on a person's actions. According to this logic, they say, free will is an illusion.

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Sperm Donor ‘Super Dads’

Sperm Donor ‘Super Dads’ — Why It’s Dangerous for One Donor to Sire Dozens - ABC News: A women who conceives a child through a sperm donor has to make her peace with a number of unknowns — what the donor looks like, what personality quirks he might have or whether big noses run in his family. But one thing she probably didn’t bargain for was the possibility that her child could have more than 100 half-siblings out there, likely living in the same state, or even in the same city or neighborhood.

Related: One sperm donor, 150 offspring

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33 years after the first 'test-tube' baby

BioNews - The great delay: 33 years after the first 'test-tube' baby: There is a brutal dishonesty in IVF today. It's considered almost routine. Because women - and men – don't talk frankly about their fertility struggles, we continue to get a skewed message about the ease and success of treatment. Presuming we can have a baby whenever we're ready, with the help of scientific technology - if needed, we wait.

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Prostituted children find refuge in survivor's 'tough love'

Prostituted children find refuge in survivor's 'tough love' - CNN.com: The 10-year-old was being charged with prostitution. She wore a detention jumpsuit. She had shackles binding her skinny ankles. It was an image that Lisa Williams couldn't comprehend.

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iPhones to be Used by Students in Against Abortion

iPhones to be Used by Students in Pro-Life Fight Against Abortion, Christian News: Created Equal trains the students to use their phones or other type of cameras to capture discussions and debates on the issue, attempting to expose the lies of abortion advocates.

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The states vs. Planned Parenthood

WORLDmag.com | The states vs. Planned Parenthood: Instead of complying with new state laws that place restrictions on abortions, Planned Parenthood has decided to stop offering abortion services in three Arizona cities. As of Aug. 19, women could no longer seek abortions through Planned Parenthood in Prescott Valley, Flagstaff, and Yuma.

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Sexual Anarchy

Sexual Anarchy | LifeSiteNews.com: "Make no mistake: Children are the target of what I call the 'sexual anarchy movement.' Whether it’s the movement’s pedophile wing that seeks to literally rape children, or its radical pro-abortion, homosexualist and feminist wings, which seek to rape the minds of children, the larger sexual anarchy movement has a shared goal: Attack, corrupt and destroy God’s design for human sexuality. Children are just collateral damage."

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