Daily Archives: December 18, 2012

John S. Dickerson at the NY Times: I believe the cultural backlash against evangelical Christianity has less to do with our views — many observant Muslims and Jews, for example, also view homosexual sex as wrong, while Catholics have been at the vanguard of the movement to protect the lives of the unborn — and more to do with our posture. The Scripture calls us “aliens and exiles” (1 Peter 2:11), but American evangelicals have not acted with the humility and homesickness of aliens. The proper response to our sexualized and hedonistic culture is not to chastise, but to “conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that, though they malign you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God” (1 Peter 2:12).

Christian Post: Christian voters were not permitted to cast ballots in some polling places during the December 15 constitutional referendum, the Associated Press and BBC reported.

Irish Independent (includes video): NEW laws to reform the limited ban on abortion will only allow a pregnancy to be terminated if there is a real and substantial risk to a woman’s life – including the threat of suicide, it has been confirmed. The Government will introduce a combination of legislation and regulation in the new year to legalise the procedure as a last resort to save a pregnant woman’s life.

Toledo Blade: The latest Ohio poll suggested 45 percent of registered voters support gay marriage and 47 percent oppose it. The results, however, suggest a softening of Ohioans’ position on the issue.

Toledo Blade: Toledo Council President Joe McNamara today threw his support behind a statewide drive to allow same-sex marriage in Ohio.

Andy Norman at Bell Towers: Most scholars, jurists, and those who love God recognize that preserving our religious freedoms in the United States today is inseparably linked with promoting religious diversity. When the new, the small, the controversial, and the unpopular are able to express their beliefs freely, we all benefit. That freedom, however, comes under attack every Christmastime. . . . In support of an accurate reading of the Establishment Clause numerous groups have joined the battle in recent years. These include the Alliance Defending Freedom, the Christian Legal Society, TMLC, Liberty Council and many others. Thanks to these organizations and the private law firms and attorneys willing to take these cases, the tide may be turning.

National Review Bench memos reports.

David Limbaugh at Human Events: With absolutely no intention of offending adherents of any other faiths, I firmly believe that no other worldview or religion comes close to describing and providing an answer for the human condition and for the evil, pain and suffering in the world. As loving beings, we will never be able to process fully and bear such indescribable pain as the Sandy Hook parents are now experiencing. But the God of the Cross provides us authentic hope and refuge, because unlike any other gods ever contemplated by the mind of man, the God of the Bible suffers right along with us and, because of His superior capacity for love, to a degree immeasurably greater than even we experience.

Telegraph: Muslim leaders have demanded the same legal exemptions as the Church of England in legislation to introduce gay marriages. The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), with more than 500 affiliated mosques, charities and schools, said it was “appalled” by “utterly discriminatory” legislation on gay marriage set out by the Government.

Telegraph: David Cameron’s stance on same-sex marriage calls into question whether he can personally be trusted, the former leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales has suggested.

The Christian Institute: Conservative backbencher Stewart Jackson said MPs are “puzzled” about why the Government is ploughing ahead with redefining marriage at this time.

Missoulian: A group of parents at Chief Charlo Elementary School are so upset over the selection of songs for the school’s holiday music program they are considering legal counsel.

PR Newswire: he Assembly also voted to support the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act pending in the Illinois state Legislature. The bill provides same-sex and different-sex couples and their children equal access to the status, benefits, protections, rights, and responsibilities of civil marriage.

WPRI.com: The state Senate president said Monday she anticipates a committee vote on same-sex marriage in the coming legislative session, despite her opposition to it, if the House of Representatives endorses it.

Reuters: Opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi staged protests in Cairo on Tuesday against an Islamist-backed draft constitution that has divided Egypt but looks set to be approved in the second half of a referendum this weekend.

LifeNews: At one time, New Orleans had seven fully-operating abortion clinics, but the Louisiana city is down to just one with the expected closure of one of the abortion facilities.

Catholic News Service: Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett announced Dec. 12 that the state would not set up its own health insurance exchange and instead join the federal exchange, which will cover elective abortions.

Inside Higher Ed: The six-month lifespan of Queer at Patrick Henry College, a blog focusing on the struggles of gay students at the evangelical Christian college in Virginia, has been turbulent, to say the least.

Reuters: Britain’s anti-European Union party has scooped up support from voters traditionally loyal to Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservatives after the government announced plans to allow gay couples to marry, three polls showed on Sunday.

Miami Herald: In other business, commissioners will take up a measure regarding the governing board of Jackson Health System and decide on their federal and state priorities for 2013.

Reuters: It showed Christianity is the most evenly spread religion, present in all regions of the world, while Hinduism is the least global with 94 percent of its population in one country, India.

Wesley Smith at National Review: A report out of Denmark says that 1 in 6 aborted late term babies there show signs of life after temporarily escaping death and being born.

LifeNews: National and state abortion reporting laws and policies in the United States are a patchwork that falls far short of fulfilling the potential of this information to inform and guide public policy.

First Things: Ireland’s cabinet offered a proposal today that would legalize abortion in cases where the mother’s life is at risk, including from suicide. Irish Prime Minister Edna Kenny says they system will not lead to “abortion on demand” . . .

LifeNews: The 2012 elections brought focus on banning abortions for the “hard cases” of rape, incest and where the mother’s life is at stake. One pro-life advocate says there is too much focus on abortion for women in such cases, rather than providing them help.

National Review: In Mississippi, there’s only one abortion clinic remaining — and because of a law passed earlier this year that is designed to protect women’s health, it may soon close.

WorldNetDaily: A new Army manual that warns American soldiers in Afghanistan to avoid talking about certain topics has unwittingly acknowledged that Western taboos such as pedophilia are an inherent part of Islamic culture.

Gatestone Institute: The census data shows that the number of Christians in England and Wales declined by 11% (4.1 million) during the past decade, from 37.3 million in 2001 to 33.2 million in 2011. During the same period, the Muslim population in England and Wales increased by 80% (1.2 million), from 1.5 million in 2001 to 2.7 million in 2011, making it the second-largest religion in Britain.

Christian Post: Christian radio talk show host Frank Pastore, who was described by his colleagues and friends as “larger than life,” died Monday, one month after a motorcycle accident on a Southern California freeway left him in a coma. He was 55. In perhaps prophetic words on the same night as the accident, the former Major League Baseball pitcher had talked about a strikingly similar scenario in which he said his soul would leave his body.

CNSNews: Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-Pa.) said Tuesday, “I do think the respect for life is something that we were built on certainly in our country and that means – obviously different things to different people.”

LifeSiteNews: Organizers of the first nationwide demonstration against same-sex “marriage” in Paris on January 13th say they hope to bring together over 350,000 people. If they succeed, it would make the event one of the most important rallies in the French capital since a giant march in favor of freedom of education in 1984 mobilized over a million people.

LifeNews: Since a Dec. 15, 1995, Minnesota Supreme Court ruling required taxpayers to fund abortions, more than 58,000 unborn babies have been killed in Minnesota with taxpayer funds, according to the Minnesota Department of Human Services (MDHS). The Doe v. Gomez ruling established the most extreme abortion-on-demand policy in the nation.

Ryan T. Anderson at Public Discourse: How successful can a “new conversation on marriage” be when its leaders can’t even say what marriage is?

Volokh Conspiracy:  There’s a petition so urging (with 30,000 signatures); there’s another petition asking that the church be “[l]egally recognize[d] … as a hate group” and subject to “some form of imposed regulation.” Is such stripping of a tax exemption based on the group’s “hate” viewpoint, or other similar “regulation,” constitutional?

“Society should protect and strengthen marriage, not undermine it. This lawsuit sought to undermine Montana’s legal definition of marriage as a man and a woman by eliminating the state’s ability to distinguish between married and unmarried couples for the purpose of benefits. Marriage expresses the truth that men and women bring distinct, irreplaceable gifts to family life. The state is on firm ground to recognize and promote that ideal for the good of society.”

Joe Infranco on the Janet Mefferd Show to discuss the litigation. | MP3 audio 11:28 mins

Kevin Theriot appeared on the Zeb Bell Show to discuss the Julia Ward case. | MP3 audio 14:38 mins

AP: A Central Texas school board is banning the Confederate battle flag from district property and district-sponsored events.

AP: Russia’s foreign minister on Tuesday strongly criticized a proposal in the country’s parliament that would ban Americans from adopting Russian children.

Lyle Denniston reports at the SCOTUS Blog.

Telegraph: Parents who lose children in accidents may be able to clone “copies” to replace them within 50 years, a British scientist who won this year’s Nobel prize for medicine has predicted.

Garrett Epps at the Atlantic: Maza quotes a statement from Shannon Minter of the National Center for Lesbian Rights: “A doctor can’t tell you that it would be good for your health to smoke a couple of packs of cigarettes a day. But if Judge Shubb’s analysis were right, a doctor could not be disciplined by a medical board or sued for malpractice for voicing his or her ‘opinion.’ ”