Hookup culture debases women

Hookup culture debases women - CNN.com: Today's onslaught of pornography and easy sex has desensitized men to the point where they view women, to recall the words of an earlier day, only as objects. Even the act of sex itself is boring to some men unless it is ratcheted up in some strange, deviant fashion -- all at the expense of the thoroughly humiliated and debased woman. In the act of degrading women, men are also degrading themselves.

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Evangelical Church Must Repent First to Stop Abortion, Says Fla. Minister

Evangelical Church Must Repent First to Stop Abortion, Says Fla. Minister: Rev. Jim McGarvey began his Church for Life ministry several years ago under the conviction that abortion is a "satanic enterprise," and uses John 8:44 as evidence, which states:

"You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies."

Because of his conclusion based on the Bible, McGarvey said it follows that "the Church is the only institution spiritually equipped to engage the spiritual forces behind abortion. Therefore, the Church must take the lead in the effort to end abortion."

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More than 700 babies saved in 40 Days

LIFE DIGEST: More than 700 babies saved in 40 Days: As of April 3, 40 Days leaders had received reports of 718 babies rescued in the latest event. The reported number of babies saved likely will increase as more reports come in. The effort, which began in Texas in 2004 and went national in 2007, has received reports of more than 5,700 unborn lives saved as a result of its campaigns.

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What The Hunger Games Trilogy Knows About the Pro-Life Movement

What The Hunger Games Trilogy Knows About the Pro-Life Movement: "Maybe it’s time readers ask themselves why the Hunger Games is so stomach turning, yet the idea of abortion is run-of-the-mill. Are they not both government sanctioned genocides?"

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LifeMatters: After-birth abortion?

In February, two bioethicists set of a firestorm when they made a case for killing newborns shortly after birth. They offered the same arguments that people use for abortion. After all, what's the difference between a fetus and a newborn?

BFL's latest LifeMatters printable bulletin insert takes a look at that question and others raised by  Guibilini and Minerva. There's also a related page on our website that delves further into biblical and historical insights.

Download the insert today and share it with your church family.

Romanian doctor darts around Europe to save babies caught in web of corruption back home

Romanian doctor darts around Europe to save babies caught in web of corruption back home - The Washington Post: Dr. Catalin Cirstoveanu runs a cardio unit with state-of-the-art equipment at a Bucharest children’s hospital. But not a single child has been treated in the year-and-a-half since it opened.

The reason? Medical staff he needs to bring in to run the machinery would have expected bribes.

So Cirstoveanu has launched a lonely crusade to save babies who come to him for care: He flies them to western Europe on budget flights so they can be treated by doctors who don’t demand kickbacks.

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Listening Beyond Life and Choice

"Sacred Conversations" by David P. Gushee | Listening Beyond Life and Choice | Civil Conversations Project [On Being]: "At the heart of my Christian faith is the belief that each and every person I encounter is absolutely cherished by God, who is their Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer. I believe every human being is ineffably sacred in God's sight. This implies a moral responsibility on my part to do my very best to treat them accordingly. If God loves each person, followers of God's way must love each person too.

"This is a mystical vision. It is a mountaintop perspective. It is very hard to sustain it, especially in the vicious street fights of politics. And it is often very hard to see any evidence for it. But this belief is not really evidence-based. It is faith-based."

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Dr. David P. Gushee: The Bible Speaks For Itself

Dr. David P. Gushee: Glenn Beck Vs. God: The Bible Speaks For Itself: "By our count in Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context (Intervarsity Press, 2003), fellow ethicist Glen Stassen and I find in the Bible 1,060 uses of the two Hebrew and two Greek words for justice. In contrast, the main words for sexual sin appear 90 times. There really is no theme more central to biblical faith than the matter of justice. This is very widely recognized to be true for what Christians call the Old Testament, but in our book we show that it is just as true for the New Testament."

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The Sanctity of Life: David Gushee

The Sanctity of Life | The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity: "I am concerned that for many Christians “the sanctity of life” is little more than a culture wars slogan rather than the product of serious reflection. As a slogan it then evokes equally unthinking resistance from those who react negatively to anything that reminds them of (conservative) Christianity. And despite the thousands of uses of the term “sanctity of life” that can be found in any Google search, the phrase actually seems to be fading a bit from our consciousness. It feels a bit musty, a relic of the 1980s. This is most unfortunate."

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The New Testament and the Sanctity of Life

The New Testament and the Sanctity of Life | The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity: "The sanctity of life is the conviction that all human beings, at any and every stage of life, in any and every state of consciousness or self-awareness, of any and every race, color, ethnicity, level of intelligence, religion, language, nationality, gender, character, behavior, physical ability/disability, potential, class, social status, etc., of any and every particular quality of relationship to the viewing subject, are to be perceived as sacred, as persons of equal and immeasurable worth and of inviolable dignity. Therefore they must be treated with the reverence and respect commensurate with this elevated moral status, beginning with a commitment to the preservation, protection, and flourishing of their lives."

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Abortion, Bioethics, and Personhood: A Philosophical Reflection

Abortion, Bioethics, and Personhood: A Philosophical Reflection | The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity: Some bioethicists have attempted to deal with the issue of human personhood by either sidestepping it or making a distinction between human beings and human persons, putting the fetus in the former category but not the latter. In this paper Francis Beckwith addresses both attempts.

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A Complementarian Vision of Creation

Listen to Sermons - First Baptist Church of Lapeer, Michigan: A Complementarian Vision of Creation - Genesis 1-3 - April 1, 2012 AM, Dr. Bruce Ware.

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Nuclear Strength Apologetics Audio Download

Nuclear Strength Apologetics Part 1 - Audio Download - Answers Bookstore: Are there inconsistencies in secular worldviews? Dr. Jason Lisle presents a presuppositional approach to apologetics, and explains why it is the best method for defending the faith. Giving numerous examples of real-world discussions, Dr. Lisle demonstrates how to expose the inconsistencies and arbitrariness in secular worldviews, while demonstrating the logic and consistency of the biblical worldview.

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Care or cure?

World magazine: “There are three kinds of prevention. Primary prevention can be accomplished by modifying unhealthy behaviors (e.g., smoking, physical inactivity), which cause many diseases and account for 38 percent of all deaths in the United States, administering immunizations to prevent infectious diseases, and reducing exposure to harmful environmental factors. Secondary prevention can reduce the severity of diseases, such as cancer and heart disease, through screening programs that detect the diseases or their risk factors at early stages, before they become symptomatic or disabling. Tertiary prevention—the effort to avoid or defer the complications of diseases after they have developed—is the current focus of medical care.” That focus on tertiary prevention is the driving force behind rising healthcare costs.

I Hate Abortion: Saying Otherwise Would Imply It’s Acceptable

I Hate Abortion: Saying Otherwise Would Imply It’s Acceptable: I hate abortion. I hate the word. I hate the “procedure.” Obviously, I hate that it’s legal. It’s heartbreaking and distressing that both people and the courts deny the unborn their personhood. The pro-aborts have so much innocent blood on their hands that it must be oozing from their pores. Yet those who call themselves pro-life but think abortion should be legal in cases of rape or when there’s a fetal abnormality or threat to the mother’s health are just as culpable. Let me be clear: there isn’t a single acceptable reason why abortion should be legal.

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Guttmacher Analysis Reveals Pro-Life Progress

National Review: This month, the Guttmacher Institute released an interesting analysis of trends in state level pro-life legislation. It shows that much of the recent success that pro-lifers have had in passing state-level pro-life laws has been concentrated in conservative states in the South and Midwest. These states have been more likely to enact a variety of pro-life laws including waiting periods, parental-involvement laws, and informed-consent provisions. Not surprisingly, the Guttmacher analysts find this alarming. They have promoted their report by stating that more than half of all reproductive-age women live in states that are “hostile” to abortion rights.

As Republican officeholders have become more consistently pro-life, Democratic elected officials have become more consistently supportive of legal abortion. This means that pro-life legislative initiatives face long odds in blue states – even when these initiatives enjoy broad public support. Interestingly, it was not always this way. The pro-life movement used to be more bi-partisan

Newsweek dresses up Jesus as a hipster

Newsweek dresses up Jesus as a hipster - msnNOW: Newsweek is putting an image of Jesus wearing hipster-style clothes on its next cover. The image has already gone viral.

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China One Child Policy Results in High Female Suicide Rate

China One Child Policy Results in High Female Suicide Rate | LifeNews.com: According to the World Bank and the World Health Organization, there were approximately 500 female suicides per day in 2009. . . . Many observers believed that violence against women and girls, discrimination in education and employment, the traditional preference for male children, birth-limitation policies, and other societal factors contributed to the high female suicide rate. Women in rural areas, where the suicide rate for women was three to four times higher than for men, were especially vulnerable.

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Pro-life atheists invade the American Atheist Convention

Pro-life atheists invade the American Atheist Convention | LifeSiteNews.com: “The atheist community is a diverse community,” said a speaker at the American Atheist Convention in Washington, D.C., to a round of applause and cheers. “We’ve got people here from all genders, races, religious backgrounds, and sexual orientations.” But as Secular Pro-Life discovered after setting up an information table at the convention and mingling among the 25,000 participants of the Reason Rally the day before, for many atheists, the enthusiasm for diversity ends where the philosophical line on issues like abortion begins.

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Abortion Doc Turned Pro-Lifer Speaks to Hundreds of Med Students

Abortion Doc Turned Pro-Lifer Speaks to Hundreds of Med Students | LifeNews.com: At the University of Texas-Houston, we had over 100 medical students join us from both UT-Houston and Baylor Medical Schools. We had such a large turnout that there weren’t enough seats, and it was standing room only! But the best part was that at least 90% of those who came to hear Dr. Bruchalski were pro-choice.

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UN considers recognizing sexual rights for ten-year-old children

UN considers recognizing sexual rights for ten-year-old children | LifeSiteNews.com: The UN Commission on Population and Development is considering “sexual and reproductive health and rights” for children as young as ten. Even the Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon agrees. In a statement recently released he said, “Young people, as much as all people, share the human right to health, including sexual and reproductive health.”

Currently international law does not recognize a “right” to sexual and reproductive health and certainly does not recognize this right in the case of minors. But just last year, the UN Special Rapporteur for Health, Anand Grover, stirred up significant controversy when he not only claimed that a “right” of sexual and reproductive health existed but attempted to define that right as including access to abortion, contraception, and sexual education.

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Michelle Duggar: ‘We’re not anywhere near being overpopulated’

Michelle Duggar: ‘We’re not anywhere near being overpopulated’ | LifeSiteNews.com: Duggar said she prays for and raises her children to be a force for good in society. “They’re going to go out into the world and they’re going to be the ones making a difference,” she said. “And they’re probably going to be the ones that are going to be paying for the Social Security and helping others in the long run.” Ironically, experts say that underpopulation may be a more immediate threat to many nations, especially in Europe and the developed West.

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Cheap compassion

WORLDmag.com | Cheap compassion | Bill Newton: The media perpetuate the myth that liberals are the compassionate ones and conservatives are mean, stingy ogres. But researchers have found that liberals aren’t all that generous. In his 2006 book Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism, Arthur C. Brooks reported that religious conservatives, even though their incomes are less on average, give 30 percent more than liberals. Plus, conservatives tend to give more time and donate more blood. Hardly “mean, stingy ogres.”

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Human Nature: The Question behind the Culture Wars

Human Nature: The Question behind the Culture Wars | Acton Institute: Culture wars can produce nasty rhetoric. Political discourse quickly becomes emotionally charged and divisive. We are tempted to view those with whom we disagree as not only irrational but evil. The culture of demonization of our political opponents is what moral psychologist Dr. Jonathan Haidt seeks to dismantle with his new book, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion. Haidt, who serves as professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, believes that we demonize opponents because we do not recognize that everyone values fairness. Moreover, we justify our positions from antithetical moral foundations.

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A Bush-era victory in culture wars: faith-based initiatives

A Bush-era victory in culture wars: faith-based initiatives - CSMonitor.com: If faith-based contracting ever caught momentum, it didn't last long. Between 2003 and 2006, the number of grants awarded to faith-based organizations by five main cabinet agencies increased by 41 percent. But by 2007 the overall total of congregations that were providing social services and receiving government funding was no larger than in 1998. Most religious organizations – especially neighborhood churches who were supposed to be among those most encouraged by faith-based initiatives – have realized they lack the necessary capacity, or in some cases, the interest, to apply for grants and meet government standards.

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