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| | | | Judge OKs Bible Distribution on Sidewalk Outside School
A Florida federal judge upheld the constitutional rights of a member of Gideons International Wednesday, allowing him to resume passing out Bibles on a public sidewalk outside a school until his case is resolved.
Christian legal group Alliance Defense Fund filed a suit in April on behalf of Thomas Gray, who was threatened with arrest by sheriffs alleging that he had “no right” to distribute Bibles within 500 feet of the school. In the suit, Gray is challenging the constitutionality of the Florida statute.
The district court on Wednesday granted a motion for preliminary injunction on the disputed statute, thereby prohibiting the state from enforcing it.
“It is in the public interest to protect to constitutional freedoms,” wrote U.S. District Court judge K. Michael Moore in the written ruling.
Gray and other members of Gideons Key Largo Camp never stepped on school grounds when they passed out Bibles during their evangelistic activity on Jan. 19. The group even notified the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office of their plans ahead of time and school officials on the day of the distribution. Both had agreed to allow the activity.
But Monroe County sheriffs later arrested two Gideon members for being within the school’s safety zone.
Attorneys with ADF contend Gray and other Christians have a constitutional right to express their faith on public property.
“Christians are not second-class citizens under the Constitution when it comes to free speech,” said ADF senior legal counsel David Cortman Thursday.
“We are pleased that Mr. Gray will have the opportunity to continue his activities without fear of harassment or arrest while the lawsuit moves forward.”
princess
♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥
"I, with a deeper instinct, choose a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not doubt my courage or my toughness, who does not believe me naive or innocent, who has the courage to treat me like a woman." ~Anais Nin |
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| | | | U.N. Committee OKs Call to End Death Penalty; Rejects Anti-Abortion Provisions
A U.N. general assembly committee passed a resolution Thursday calling for a halt on executions — with the objective of abolishing the death penalty — but struck down provisions that protected the right to life of unborn children.
The human rights committee voted 99-52 to approve the draft resolution on the divisive death penalty issue after two days of acrimonious debate. A total of 33 countries abstained.
Supporters say they expect the full 192-General Assembly to also pass the resolution in mid-December because countries voting in favor of ending the death penalty are unlikely to change their positions. The assembly had turned down a proposed death penalty moratorium in 1994.
Although the vote is not legally binding, it would indicate where the international body stands in regards to capital punishment and carry moral and political weight, said human rights groups.
The resolution, co-sponsored by European Union states and 60 other countries, states that the death penalty "undermines human dignity.” It calls on countries that still allow capital punishment “to establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty” and those that have abolished the punishment not to reintroduce it.
It also urges countries with the practice “to restrict its use and reduce the number of offenses for which the death penalty may be imposed" and to respect international standards that provide safeguards guaranteeing the protection of those facing execution.
Human rights group Amnesty International called the resolution’s passage a “major step towards the abolition of the death penalty worldwide.”
"Establishing a moratorium on executions is an important tool to convince states still using the death penalty to engage in a nationwide debate and to review their laws on capital punishment," said Irene Khan, Amnesty International’s secretary general, in a statement.
Voting against the resolution were the United States, China, Syria, Iran, and many developing countries, notably those of the Islamic community.
Dissenting voters, including Singapore and Barbados, accused co-sponsoring countries for imposing their values on others and pressuring them to comply. Barbados said it had even been threatened with the withdrawal of aid if it opposed the moratorium.
According to Amnesty, 91 percent of all known executions last year took place in China, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Sudan and the United States. The London-based group also noted that the number of total executions has declined from 2005 and over 130 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice.
Over 15 proposed amendments were turned down earlier Thursday, two of which addressed abortion.
The U.S. joined Syria, Saudi Arabia, Zimbabwe, among others, in voting in favor of the first amendment, which argued for the right to life of unborn children and would have urged all countries "to take all necessary measures to protect the lives of unborn children."
"We are in agreement with the view expressed in this amendment that the lives of the unborn deserve the strongest protection, and we agree that countries that advocate for the abolition of the death penalty should be at least equally scrupulous in showing concern for innocent life," U.S. delegate Joseph Rees told the committee.
The U.S abstained from the second amendment that would add a reference to abortion, allowing it only "in necessary cases, in particular, where life of mother and/or the child is at serious risk.”
princess
♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥
"I, with a deeper instinct, choose a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not doubt my courage or my toughness, who does not believe me naive or innocent, who has the courage to treat me like a woman." ~Anais Nin |
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| | | | Tutu Slams Sexuality 'Obsessed' Church
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu has strongly criticized the Anglican Communion for its stance on homosexuals.
In an interview with BBC Radio 4, the 76-year-old archbishop accused the worldwide church body of being “obsessed” with the issue of gay priests, while ignoring pressing global needs such as poverty and HIV.
"Our world is facing problems – poverty, HIV and AIDS – a devastating pandemic, and conflict," said Tutu.
"God must be weeping looking at some of the atrocities that we commit against one another,” he added.
"In the face of all of that, our Church, especially the Anglican Church, at this time is almost obsessed with questions of human sexuality."
Tutu went on to criticize the spiritual leader of the 70-million member Anglican Communion, Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams, for overlooking God’s “welcoming” nature.
"Why doesn't he demonstrate a particular attribute of God's which is that God is a welcoming God?” he posed to the BBC.
The Anglican Communion has been in turmoil over homosexuality since The Episcopal Church in the United States elected the openly gay Gene Robinson to serve as the bishop of New Hampshire in 2003.
According to the BBC, Tutu said he had felt “saddened” and “ashamed” of his church body at the time of Robinson’s consecration and that the Anglican Communion had responded in an “extraordinarily homophobic” manner.
When asked during the interview if he still felt ashamed, he replied: “If we are going to not welcome or invite people because of sexual orientation, yes.”
"If God, as they say, is homophobic, I wouldn't worship that God," he added.
In North America, particularly, conservative Anglicans are taking measures to separate themselves from more liberal churches and to find new approaches that would allow them to live according to Scripture.
Last month, an orthodox group in Ottawa, Canada, proposed the formation of a new branch of the Anglican Church of Canada that is more “biblically faithful” than the current national church body after the Ottawa and Montreal dioceses approved resolutions in October urging their respective bishops to allow clergy to bless same-sex unions.
The outspoken Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola and prominent traditionalist Gregory Venables in Argentina meanwhile have said they will continue to offer a home for parishes and dioceses who want to leave the liberal-leaning U.S. Episcopal Church.
princess
♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥
"I, with a deeper instinct, choose a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not doubt my courage or my toughness, who does not believe me naive or innocent, who has the courage to treat me like a woman." ~Anais Nin |
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| | | | Lesbian Ordained in Lutheran Church, Refuses Celibacy Vow
A lesbian became the first homosexual minister to be ordained since the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America gave leeway to churches in disciplining pastors who violate a celibacy vow requirement.
Jen Rude, 27, was ordained on Saturday at Resurrection Lutheran Church in Chicago despite her refusal to take a vow of celibacy. She was installed on Sunday.
Under church policy, homosexual – and not heterosexual – ministers are required to make a vow of celibacy before they can be ordained. Although not currently in a relationship, Rude called the policy discriminatory.
Rude is the first homosexual pastor to test a resolution that urges ELCA bishops to refrain from disciplining pastors who are in "faithful committed same-gender relationships." The resolution was passed at a national assembly in August when members also rejected measures that would have allowed the ordination of non-celibate homosexual clergy.
More than 100 congregants witnessed Rude’s ordination and showed support for the lesbian pastor, whose father and grandfather are both Lutheran ministers.
"This is who we are and this is what we do," said Kathy Young, a member of Resurrection Lutheran Church, as reported by The Chicago Tribune. The congregation welcomes people of all sexual orientations and gender identities, according to its website.
"It's meaningful to me in the sense that my call is being affirmed not only by God but the people of God," Rude said.
Chicago bishop Wayne Miller did not try to block Rude's ordination but also did not attend the weekend ceremony. He met with the congregation last month to inform of the potential consequences of the ordination, such as expulsion, should the denomination choose to enforce the policy in the future, according to The Chicago Tribune.
"This does not imply any bitterness or any hostility. It's simply where we are right now," Miller told the local Tribune. "My goal is to keep people in the conversation, and I do not see this as an issue that should be dividing the church. I think it's one of the many places where difference of opinion can make the church stronger and healthier, as long as people stay at the table and keep talking."
Miller said he believes the celibacy policy should be lifted but also believes bishops should follow the church rule.
Despite the ordination, Rude's name will not be listed on the official rolls of ELCA clergy.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is the largest Lutheran denomination, claiming 4.8 million members across the country.
princess
♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥
"I, with a deeper instinct, choose a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not doubt my courage or my toughness, who does not believe me naive or innocent, who has the courage to treat me like a woman." ~Anais Nin |
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| | | | Analysis: Why Muslims Follow Jesus
The number of new Christians in the world each year surpasses that of new Muslims, with the major growth for Protestants coming through conversion.
And the experience that most influenced Muslims was the lifestyle of Christians, according to a recently released survey that offers a glimpse into why Muslims are opening their hearts to the Gospel and Jesus Christ.
The survey, conducted by Fuller Theological Seminary’s School of Intercultural Studies between 1991 to 2007 among 750 Muslims that had decided to follow Christ, was able to track some influences that helped the converts make their decision. The respondents were from 30 countries and 50 ethnic groups – representing every major region of the Muslim world.
According to the survey, some participants said that they saw no discrepancy between what Christians preached and what they practiced in their lives.
An Egyptian said he recognized the contrast between the love of a Christian group at an American university and the unloving ways of Muslim students and faculty at a university in Medina, according to an article on the survey featured in Christianity Today magazine.
Others noted that Christians treat women as equals and Christians have loving marriages.
“Many Muslims who faced violence at the hands of other Muslims did not see it in the Christians they knew…,” wrote the survey’s authors – Dr. J. Dudley Woodberry, Russell G. Shubin, and G. Marks – in Christianity Today. “Muslim-on-Muslim violence has led to considerable disillusionment for many Muslims….”
The next most important influence was the power of God to answer prayers as well as healing. These revelations of God include supernatural intervention such as Christian prayers healing disabled people when Muslims could not and deliverance from demonic powers.
The third most popular influence listed by respondents was dissatisfaction with the Islam they have followed. The former Muslims said they were unhappy with the Qur’an, which they said emphasized God’s punishment more than His love and the use of violence to impose Islamic laws.
“This disillusionment is broad in the Muslim world. Many Iranians became interested in the gospel after the Khomeini revolution of 1979 brought in rule by clergy. Pakistanis became more receptive after President Zia ul-Haq (1977-1988) tried to implement Islamic law. And Afghans became more open after Islamist Taliban conquest and rule (1994-2001),” the authors noted.
It is also noteworthy that more than one in four respondents (27 percent) said dreams and visions were a factor in their decision to commit themselves to follow Christ. For 40 percent of respondents, visions or dreams occurred at the time of conversion, and for 45 percent they occurred after they committed to following Christ.
Moreover many converts were attracted to the assurance of salvation and forgiveness. In Islam, God forgives and punishes whoever He will so Muslims have no certainty of salvation. But in Christianity, a person can be sure of their salvation if they place their faith in Jesus Christ.
Muslims who read the Bible were also convinced that the Bible is the truth and were attracted to the unconditional love of God.
The survey noted that although the number of new Christians each year is greater than the number of new Muslims, the annual growth rate of Muslims (1.81 percent), however, is higher than for Christians (1.23 percent), according to the article.
The Islamic studies expert said the higher Muslim growth rate is “hardly surprising” because there is a larger Christian population so more people need to become Christians for the growth rate to increase.
princess
♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥
"I, with a deeper instinct, choose a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not doubt my courage or my toughness, who does not believe me naive or innocent, who has the courage to treat me like a woman." ~Anais Nin |
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| | | | U.S. Abortion Total Hits Lowest Mark Since Year After Roe v. Wade
The number of abortions nationwide has dropped to their lowest levels since the year following the Supreme Court’s landmark decision Roe v. Wade, according to the latest annual Abortion Surveillance report by the Center for Disease Control.
In the report on legally induced abortions carried out in the United States in 2004, the health agency counted 839,226 abortions – a 1.1 percent decrease from the 848,136 abortions reported in 2003.
The documented number is the lowest since 1974, the year following the Supreme Court ruling that gave women the right to have an abortion. In that year, the CDC reported the total number of abortions to be 763,476.
There were 238 abortions per 1,000 live births in 2004, a decrease from 241 the year before. The abortion ratio peaked at 364 per 1,000 in 1984, according to the report, and since then has demonstrated a generally steady decline.
The number of abortions per 1,000 women, meanwhile, has remained unchanged, having been around 16 since 2000. The statistic was based on data collected from women aged 15-44 years in age.
The CDC indicates that the number of abortions has been steadily declining from 1996-2000. In 2002, the number of abortions slightly increased by 0.1 percent, but it declined by 0.7 percent in 2003 before further declining by 1.1 percent in 2004.
In 2004, the highest number of reported legal induced abortions occurred in Florida (91,710), New York (91,673), and Texas (74,801), said the report. The fewest total of abortions occurred in Wyoming (12), South Dakota (814), and Idaho (963).
While the annual abortion report points out certain trends in abortion levels, the CDC noted that the total numbers of actual abortions were probably higher than those voluntarily reported by central health agencies.
Most figures – including the overall number, ratio, and rate of abortions – are conservative estimates, said the CDC in the report.
One of the reasons is the fact that three states – California, New Hampshire, and West Virginia – did not report data for 2003-2004. Although the health agency has estimated data for non-reporting states in the past, it has not since 1998.
Before 1998, over 23 percent of abortions were estimated to have been performed in California. The absence of data from California in the 2004 Abortion Surveillance “largely explains the majority of the 28% decrease from the annual number of abortions reported for 1997 and part of the decrease in the total ratio and rate,” stated the report.
CDC estimates that about 12-20 percent of the abortions performed nationwide are not reflected in their annual figures.
In the latest report, the abortion rate for the United States was higher than rates reported for Canada and Western European countries and lower than rates reported for China, Cuba, the majority of Eastern European countries, and certain Newly Independent States of the former Soviet Union.
princess
♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥
"I, with a deeper instinct, choose a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not doubt my courage or my toughness, who does not believe me naive or innocent, who has the courage to treat me like a woman." ~Anais Nin |
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| | | | Christian Bookstores Refuse to Sell Gay Study Bible
Conservative Christian bookstores are refusing to sell copies of a new Bible study guide that challenges standard New Testament translations that teach gay sex is sin.
U.S. distributor God’s Word to Women has banned the Australian publication and withdrawn another Bible translation by the same publishing company, Smith and Stirling, for promoting a lifestyle contradictory to scriptures, according to the Australian newspaper The Age.
Moreover, Australia’s largest Christian retailer, Koorong, said it is unlikely to carry Ann Nyland’s Study New Testament for Gay, Lesbian, Bi, and Transgender if the version proves controversial.
In the study guide, Nyland contends that the word “arsenokoites” has been wrongly interpreted to mean homosexual. According to the classical Greek lexicographer, the word’s meaning is one who anally penetrates another and does not exclusively apply to males, according to The Age.
She further claims that most New Testament translations are based on a lack of understanding of Greek word meaning, context, and disregard for academic research.
Because of Nyland’s authorship of the gay study Bible, two American scholars have withdrawn their endorsements from her other works.
princess
♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥
"I, with a deeper instinct, choose a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not doubt my courage or my toughness, who does not believe me naive or innocent, who has the courage to treat me like a woman." ~Anais Nin |
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| | | | Jesus 101 Increases Appreciation for Christ
In a culture where Jesus has more fans than the Church or its followers, outreach ministries are finding simple and effective ways to get people answers to who Jesus is.
A recent survey by Global Media Outreach, an Internet ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ, found an overwhelming number of positive responses to the Jesus 101 course offered on JesusCentral.com. Among the 1,000 persons who completed the course, 93 percent said their appreciation of Jesus "increased much."
"We recognize that JesusCentral.com is a great starting point for people who want to learn about Jesus," said Mark Weimer, CEO of Global Media Outreach.
The survey also found that eighty-seven percent said they "increased much" in their knowledge of Jesus and 93 percent would recommend Jesus 101 to a friend.
Jesus 101 is an introductory course that surveys Jesus' life and teachings with an emphasis on Jesus' own quotations. The course is designed for those – including persons without personal faith – willing to study one hour per week for six weeks.
Survey results are released at a time when many non-Christians in their 20s and 30s have a positive attitude toward Jesus but are becoming increasingly skeptical and resistant toward Christianity and the church. Dan Kimball, author of They Like Jesus but Not the Church, conducted interviews on a so-called "pagan" college campus and found most students liked and admired Jesus. At the same time, many had a negative view of the church, saying that Christians and churches have "messed things up."
A recent Barna Group survey also revealed that negative perceptions toward the Christian faith outweigh the positive among today's young Americans.
But with thousands in search for God or answers to life's common questions online and some even making decisions for Christ in front of their computer screen, ministries are maximizing their opportunity on the Internet for outreach.
Global Media Outreach sponsors over 25 websites to reach different groups of people, mainly those in search for answers to such questions as "Who is Jesus?"
JesusCentral.com is a comprehensive site that Global Media Outreach recommends for students searching for simple, clear and credible information about Jesus.
"The survey results clearly demonstrate that JesusCentral.com is a productive and effective learning tool," said Vip Patel, president and founder of the website.
People from 194 different countries have contributed user-generated content on JesusCentral.com, which was founded in 2001.
princess
♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥
"I, with a deeper instinct, choose a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not doubt my courage or my toughness, who does not believe me naive or innocent, who has the courage to treat me like a woman." ~Anais Nin |
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| | | | Thousands of Students Fast to Prevent Rape in Darfur
Thousands of students around the world are fasting from a luxury food item Wednesday and donating the money they would have spent on the item to an anti-genocide network that will use the funds to help protect Darfurian women from rape.
The global effort involving students from more than 700 universities, high schools, middle schools and elementary schools will take place in 49 U.S. states and 23 countries around the world.
“The world has been slow to act to protect the people of Darfur, so students across the globe will be taking protection into their own hands,” said STAND student director Scott Warren, in a statement.
STAND is the student-led anti-genocide coalition that organized Wednesday’s DarfurFast.
Throughout the day, event participants are abstaining from luxury food items ranging from chocolate to coffee or even food for the day and donating the money to the Genocide Intervention Network’s civilian protection program. Just three dollars – less than the cost of a latte – can provide protection for one woman for one year.
The Genocide Intervention Network will work with Darfuri community leaders, displaced women and girls, the African Union and the United Nations to protect people in camps for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
As the situation in Darfur worsens, protection for women is especially needed because of the many humanitarian agencies which were recently forced to leave or scale back operations. Reports of rape, meanwhile, have increased as women and girls are forced to walk farther in the desert to search for firewood for cooking because all the nearby firewood has already been collected.
The increased time of wandering alone in the desert greatly exposes women and girls to rape and attacks from waiting militias.
In response, the civilian protection program offers safer cooking options by providing alternative fuel stoves, firewood peacekeeping patrols and income-generating projects for women so they can afford to buy firewood.
In the past two years, DarfurFast has raised more than $400,000 for civilian protection.
“Students recognize the urgency of ending genocide in a way no one else does,” said STAND director Warren, who is a junior at Brown University in Providence, R.I. “We will not stop fighting until genocide is a thing of the past, not a recurring pattern.”
Since 2003, more than 2.5 million people have been displaced and some 200,000 killed in Darfur. U.S. President George W. Bush, the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Congress in 2004 identified the situation in Darfur as a genocide – the first time such a declaration had been made.
Khartoum is widely held responsible for the violence by both Darfurians and the international community. It is accused of unleashing the pro-government janjaweed militia on Darfurians after rebels from ethnic African tribes in the region rose up against the central government.
In recent years, the Church and Christian leaders have joined activists at the forefront in the campaign to end the Darfur genocide. South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu joined former U.S. president Jimmy Carter in October to promote peace in Darfur.
Meanwhile, Christian leaders such as the Rev. Dr. Geoff Tunnicliffe of the World Evangelical Alliance and the Rev. Richard Cizik of the National Association of Evangelicals have urged and helped mobilize American evangelical churches to educate congregants on the crisis during the annual Global Days for Darfur.
“Every passing day, Khartoum gets closer to its goal which is the ethnic cleansing of Darfur … we cannot say that we didn’t know. And knowing, we have a moral imperative to act,” said Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission during an Evangelical on the Darfur crisis teleconference in October.
In addition to students, notable participants of DarfurFast include award-winning actors Danny Glover and Bradley Whitford, actress and activist Mia Farrow, Pulitzer Prize winner authors Nicholas Kristof and Samantha Power, Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Jody Williams and Mairead Corrigan Maguire.
princess
♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥
"I, with a deeper instinct, choose a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not doubt my courage or my toughness, who does not believe me naive or innocent, who has the courage to treat me like a woman." ~Anais Nin |
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