Seth Elliott of IHS has a word for delusional culture warriors lacking credibility:
The culture war is lost unless people begin to trust Christians more than secularists, atheists, communists, and radical liberals. To gain this social trust, I propose that Christians everywhere submit themselves to the Christian Credibility Creed.
Read the Credibility Creed here. Do you agree?
Saturday, July 19, 2008
An article on the state of Aglicanism with lessons for us all, fro tne fine folks at Touchstone's MereComments:
In the Early Church, in the Medieval Church, in the Churches of the Protestant Reformation and in the Christian tradition to the 1920s (e.g., see the Marriage Service in The BCP 1662), any form of artificial birth control in order to make the sexual act sterile was regarded as a serious sin against God’s holy law. In 1930 the Anglican Council of Bishops, for what seemed to be good pastoral reasons, suggested ways for Christian couples in certain circumstances to reject this law.
By this Resolution, which went around the world like wild-fire, the Anglican Way was changed permanently. No attempt has been made in any Lambeth Conference since 1930 to reverse it, and no national or regional synod of the Anglican Communion has officially rejected it. Thus it stands as part of the modern, Anglican teaching on sexual relations within marriage.
To quote from First Things again: “By giving benediction in 1930 to married heterosexual members purposely seeking sterile sex, the Anglican Church lost, bit by bit, any authority to tell other members — married or unmarried, homosexual or heterosexual — not to do the same. To put the point another way, once heterosexuals start claiming the right to act as homosexuals, it would not be long before homosexuals start claiming the rights of heterosexuals” (more)
In the Early Church, in the Medieval Church, in the Churches of the Protestant Reformation and in the Christian tradition to the 1920s (e.g., see the Marriage Service in The BCP 1662), any form of artificial birth control in order to make the sexual act sterile was regarded as a serious sin against God’s holy law. In 1930 the Anglican Council of Bishops, for what seemed to be good pastoral reasons, suggested ways for Christian couples in certain circumstances to reject this law.
By this Resolution, which went around the world like wild-fire, the Anglican Way was changed permanently. No attempt has been made in any Lambeth Conference since 1930 to reverse it, and no national or regional synod of the Anglican Communion has officially rejected it. Thus it stands as part of the modern, Anglican teaching on sexual relations within marriage.
To quote from First Things again: “By giving benediction in 1930 to married heterosexual members purposely seeking sterile sex, the Anglican Church lost, bit by bit, any authority to tell other members — married or unmarried, homosexual or heterosexual — not to do the same. To put the point another way, once heterosexuals start claiming the right to act as homosexuals, it would not be long before homosexuals start claiming the rights of heterosexuals” (more)
Friday, July 18, 2008
Europe Has an Economics Lesson for Obama
From the WSJ:
The cutting of corporate income- tax rates is an excellent example of European market-friendly bipartisanship. Germany's right-left coalition of Christian and Social Democrats implemented a large rate cut earlier this year, reducing the top marginal corporate rate to about 30% from 39%. Spain's Socialist and Britain's Labor governments have followed suit, reducing their countries' top corporate rates.
These traditionally left-of-center parties understand that in a globalized economy, wealth and investment are mobile, flowing to those countries that provide hospitable investment climates. As part of a European Union where center-right governments in Greece, Denmark, Ireland and Eastern Europe have dramatically reduced corporate tax rates, they understand that they cannot help workers if they drive away the capital that employs and pays them. (more)
The cutting of corporate income- tax rates is an excellent example of European market-friendly bipartisanship. Germany's right-left coalition of Christian and Social Democrats implemented a large rate cut earlier this year, reducing the top marginal corporate rate to about 30% from 39%. Spain's Socialist and Britain's Labor governments have followed suit, reducing their countries' top corporate rates.
These traditionally left-of-center parties understand that in a globalized economy, wealth and investment are mobile, flowing to those countries that provide hospitable investment climates. As part of a European Union where center-right governments in Greece, Denmark, Ireland and Eastern Europe have dramatically reduced corporate tax rates, they understand that they cannot help workers if they drive away the capital that employs and pays them. (more)
Euthanasia petitioner beats death, hugs life
We are so sure, aren't we, that we will know what we want, that even now we know ourselves enough to make decisions for situations we cannot imagine. We seek in the end, as we have throughout our lives, to be in control, to be our own god. To make decisions of life and death. To create and destroy. We know, that we would never want to live like Christopher Reeves, that a crippled life would not be worth living, we just KNOW. But the real issue here as in most parts of our lives is one of fear and faith. Those end of life directives, those pleas for the hemlock, at first glance they seem so modern, so level headed, so open minded. But made without reference to Truth they end in tragedy which mangages at times to stretch beyond the mere prospect of death. Even believers fear being less than whole; fear the prospect of suffering, fear what we do not know. We forget that we worship a God who has suffered with us and for us, who understands our suffering and our fear and bids us do not be afraid, to trust in Him and not ourselves and our limited ability to see. This article from the India Times:
CHANDIGARH: Two years back Seema Sood longed for death and had even petitioned the President of India for euthanasia. But hope triumphed over despair and today, walking with difficulty, but walking nonetheless, after a total knee replacement surgery, the Bits Pilani gold medallist is ready to take on life once again. The turnaround has been both spectacular and miraculous for the 37-year-old who lost all movement of her limbs for 15 harrowing years after a crippling attack of rheumatoid arthritis. The disillusionment was so intense that she wanted permission for mercy killing. But that was then. "I regret the letter to the President," she said, still frail and moving in tiny steps with the help of a walker. "Everything was so dark for me earlier, but I am excited about my mobility now and I am confident I will improve." (more)
There is some good comment here:, excerpted below:
But euthanasia allows for no changes of mind. It is the philosophy of despair. What sick and disabled people who want to die really need is the sort of help and support which Mrs. Sood received both from politicians and her friends. Note well, politicians. Your actions could save a life like Mrs. Sood's rather than condemning her and others to death."
CHANDIGARH: Two years back Seema Sood longed for death and had even petitioned the President of India for euthanasia. But hope triumphed over despair and today, walking with difficulty, but walking nonetheless, after a total knee replacement surgery, the Bits Pilani gold medallist is ready to take on life once again. The turnaround has been both spectacular and miraculous for the 37-year-old who lost all movement of her limbs for 15 harrowing years after a crippling attack of rheumatoid arthritis. The disillusionment was so intense that she wanted permission for mercy killing. But that was then. "I regret the letter to the President," she said, still frail and moving in tiny steps with the help of a walker. "Everything was so dark for me earlier, but I am excited about my mobility now and I am confident I will improve." (more)
There is some good comment here:, excerpted below:
But euthanasia allows for no changes of mind. It is the philosophy of despair. What sick and disabled people who want to die really need is the sort of help and support which Mrs. Sood received both from politicians and her friends. Note well, politicians. Your actions could save a life like Mrs. Sood's rather than condemning her and others to death."
Homosexual High School Clubs Increase Risk of Suicide says Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays
WASHINGTON, D.C., July 18, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Quoting a recent study, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX) is warning of the increased risk of suicide that is linked with young people who identify themselves as homosexuals before achieving full maturity - a process encouraged by many homosexual high school clubs.
The Washington Post recently ran a sympathetic article about a 15-year-old boy named Saro who described his homosexual feelings and how Gay Straight Alliance student clubs help such gay teens to deal with discrimination and bullying in high school and middle school.
"What the article failed to describe," said PFOX Executive Director Regina Griggs, "is the danger of young sexually confused teens self-identifying as gays at an early age. Research has shown that the risk of suicide decreases by 20% each year that a person delays homosexual or bisexual self-labeling. Early self-identification is dangerous to kids. (more)
The Washington Post recently ran a sympathetic article about a 15-year-old boy named Saro who described his homosexual feelings and how Gay Straight Alliance student clubs help such gay teens to deal with discrimination and bullying in high school and middle school.
"What the article failed to describe," said PFOX Executive Director Regina Griggs, "is the danger of young sexually confused teens self-identifying as gays at an early age. Research has shown that the risk of suicide decreases by 20% each year that a person delays homosexual or bisexual self-labeling. Early self-identification is dangerous to kids. (more)
American Physical Society Opens Debate on Global Warming
From NewsBusters...Of course, it was always up for debate, it's just that some people had forgotten what science is all about...
A rather shocking event happened Wednesday: the American Physical Society, an organization representing nearly 50,000 physicists, opened for debate "the IPCC conclusion that anthropogenic CO2 emissions are very probably likely to be primarily responsible for the global warming that has occurred since the Industrial Revolution."...
From the APS...There is a considerable presence within the scientific community of people who do not agree with the IPCC conclusion that anthropogenic CO2 emissions are very probably likely to be primarily responsible for the global warming that has occurred since the Industrial Revolution. Since the correctness or fallacy of that conclusion has immense implications for public policy and for the future of the biosphere, we thought it appropriate to present a debate within the pages of P&S concerning that conclusion. (more)
A rather shocking event happened Wednesday: the American Physical Society, an organization representing nearly 50,000 physicists, opened for debate "the IPCC conclusion that anthropogenic CO2 emissions are very probably likely to be primarily responsible for the global warming that has occurred since the Industrial Revolution."...
From the APS...There is a considerable presence within the scientific community of people who do not agree with the IPCC conclusion that anthropogenic CO2 emissions are very probably likely to be primarily responsible for the global warming that has occurred since the Industrial Revolution. Since the correctness or fallacy of that conclusion has immense implications for public policy and for the future of the biosphere, we thought it appropriate to present a debate within the pages of P&S concerning that conclusion. (more)
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Major U.S. city officially condemns Catholic Church
From WorldNetDailey:
A San Francisco city and county board resolution that officially labeled the Catholic church's moral teachings on homosexuality as "insulting to all San Franciscans," "hateful," "defamatory," "insensitive" and "ignorant" will be challenged tomorrow in court for violating the Constitution's prohibition of government hostility toward religion.
Resolution 168-08, passed unanimously by the City and County of San Francisco Board of Supervisors two years ago, also accused the Vatican of being a "foreign country" meddling with and attempting to "negatively influence (San Francisco's) existing and established customs." (more)
A San Francisco city and county board resolution that officially labeled the Catholic church's moral teachings on homosexuality as "insulting to all San Franciscans," "hateful," "defamatory," "insensitive" and "ignorant" will be challenged tomorrow in court for violating the Constitution's prohibition of government hostility toward religion.
Resolution 168-08, passed unanimously by the City and County of San Francisco Board of Supervisors two years ago, also accused the Vatican of being a "foreign country" meddling with and attempting to "negatively influence (San Francisco's) existing and established customs." (more)
California Supreme Court Upholds the People's Right to Vote on Marriage in Upcoming Election
Those who push for same-sex marriage are willing to destroy both marriage and democracy to achieve a selfish result.
SAN FRANCISO, CA, July 16, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Today the California Supreme Court rejected the case brought by same-sex "marriage" advocates, who intended to prevent California voters from voting on the California Marriage Protection Act ("Amendment") in November. The court's decision means the Amendment will stay on the ballot. It also allows the Secretary of State to print voter information pamphlets on the issue.(more)
SAN FRANCISO, CA, July 16, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Today the California Supreme Court rejected the case brought by same-sex "marriage" advocates, who intended to prevent California voters from voting on the California Marriage Protection Act ("Amendment") in November. The court's decision means the Amendment will stay on the ballot. It also allows the Secretary of State to print voter information pamphlets on the issue.(more)
The War with Iran
From FrontPage:
Last week’s Iranian missile tests prompted another round of fevered speculation that war might erupt between Iran and the United States. Largely lost in the frenzy is an unhappy fact: The Iranian mullahocracy has been at war with this country since it came to power in 1979.
The problem is that the weapons available to Tehran for prosecuting its jihad against “the Great Satan” are no longer simply truck bombs and suicide vests. Its proxy army, Hezbollah, has taken over Lebanon and operates terror cells from Iraq to Latin America and even inside the United States. With help from Communist China and Russia, its Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps wields an array of anti-ship missiles, mines and go-fast boats capable of discouraging oil traffic from transiting the Straits of Hormuz – if not actually sealing that vital waterway for protracted periods.
Not least, Iran is now armed with ballistic missiles of ever-longer range. Those missiles have been developed with help from North Korea for the purpose of delivering the nuclear weapons the mullahs have been developing covertly for over 20 years. Once such weapons are in hand – perhaps just a matter of months now – Tehran will be in a position to execute its threat to wipe Israel (a.k.a. “the Little Satan”) off the map.
As a blue-ribbon commission told the House Armed Services Committee last Thursday, moreover, by launching its nuclear-armed ballistic missiles off a ship, the Iranian regime could soon be able to make good on another of its oft-stated pledges: To bring about “a world without America.”...(more)
Last week’s Iranian missile tests prompted another round of fevered speculation that war might erupt between Iran and the United States. Largely lost in the frenzy is an unhappy fact: The Iranian mullahocracy has been at war with this country since it came to power in 1979.
The problem is that the weapons available to Tehran for prosecuting its jihad against “the Great Satan” are no longer simply truck bombs and suicide vests. Its proxy army, Hezbollah, has taken over Lebanon and operates terror cells from Iraq to Latin America and even inside the United States. With help from Communist China and Russia, its Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps wields an array of anti-ship missiles, mines and go-fast boats capable of discouraging oil traffic from transiting the Straits of Hormuz – if not actually sealing that vital waterway for protracted periods.
Not least, Iran is now armed with ballistic missiles of ever-longer range. Those missiles have been developed with help from North Korea for the purpose of delivering the nuclear weapons the mullahs have been developing covertly for over 20 years. Once such weapons are in hand – perhaps just a matter of months now – Tehran will be in a position to execute its threat to wipe Israel (a.k.a. “the Little Satan”) off the map.
As a blue-ribbon commission told the House Armed Services Committee last Thursday, moreover, by launching its nuclear-armed ballistic missiles off a ship, the Iranian regime could soon be able to make good on another of its oft-stated pledges: To bring about “a world without America.”...(more)
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
False Equation: Opposing Same-Sex Marriage and Opposing Interracial Marriage
Spot on arguement from Townhall:
The most effective of all morality-based arguments for same-sex marriage, the one that persuades more people than any other argument, is the one that equates opposition to same-sex marriage with the old opposition to interracial marriage.
The argument, repeated so often that it sounds incontestable, is this: Just as parts of American society once had immoral laws that forbade whites and blacks from marrying, so, today, society continues to have immoral laws forbidding men from marrying men and women from marrying women. And just as decent people overthrew the former, decent people must overthrow the latter.
Thanks in large part to widespread higher education -- the higher the educational level, the more one is likely to hold this view -- vast numbers of Americans believe in this equation of sex (gender) and race.
But the equation is false. (read why here)
The most effective of all morality-based arguments for same-sex marriage, the one that persuades more people than any other argument, is the one that equates opposition to same-sex marriage with the old opposition to interracial marriage.
The argument, repeated so often that it sounds incontestable, is this: Just as parts of American society once had immoral laws that forbade whites and blacks from marrying, so, today, society continues to have immoral laws forbidding men from marrying men and women from marrying women. And just as decent people overthrew the former, decent people must overthrow the latter.
Thanks in large part to widespread higher education -- the higher the educational level, the more one is likely to hold this view -- vast numbers of Americans believe in this equation of sex (gender) and race.
But the equation is false. (read why here)
University Attacks Student for Reading this Book
From Students for Academic Freedom a frightening and unbelievable story of how the thought police aren't just in Canada...
A student at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis who first faced discipline when officials caught him reading a history book that was available in the school library during a break at work was cleared of those charges, but now officials say he is guilty of something but they won’t say what.
If that sounds complicated, you’re in company with Keith John Sampson, who first was convicted of racial harassment for reading a history book about the defeat of the Ku Klux Klan in a 1924 street brawl. And you’d be in company with officials with the Foundation for Individual Responsibility in Education, who are arguing on behalf of Sampson. (more)
Doublespeak anyone?
A student at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis who first faced discipline when officials caught him reading a history book that was available in the school library during a break at work was cleared of those charges, but now officials say he is guilty of something but they won’t say what.
If that sounds complicated, you’re in company with Keith John Sampson, who first was convicted of racial harassment for reading a history book about the defeat of the Ku Klux Klan in a 1924 street brawl. And you’d be in company with officials with the Foundation for Individual Responsibility in Education, who are arguing on behalf of Sampson. (more)
Doublespeak anyone?
Will Washington Betray Anti-Regime Iranians?
From FrontPage:
...They are members of the Mujahedeen-e Khalq (MEK; it is also called the People's Mojahedin of Iran, or PMOI), the leading Iranian opposition group. Based at Camp Ashraf in central Iraq where they are recognized as "protected persons" under the Fourth Geneva Convention, they have since 2004 been under the protection of U.S. military forces. According to the Convention Against Torture of 1984, to which the U.S. government is a party, expiration of the UN mandate does not end the American obligation to continue to protect MEK members in Iraq.
Further, the MEK's network of supporters inside Iran have provided invaluable intelligence. For example, it exposed Tehran's nuclear ambitions and its shipments of roadside bombs to Iraq. Recognizing this assistance, a "Memorandum for the Record" by Lt. Col. Julie S. Norman dated August 24, 2006, noted that "The PMOI has always warned against the Iranian regime's meddling and played a positive role in exposing the threats and dangers of such interventions; their intelligence has been very helpful in this regard and in some circumstances has helped save the lives of [U.S.] soldiers."...(more)
...They are members of the Mujahedeen-e Khalq (MEK; it is also called the People's Mojahedin of Iran, or PMOI), the leading Iranian opposition group. Based at Camp Ashraf in central Iraq where they are recognized as "protected persons" under the Fourth Geneva Convention, they have since 2004 been under the protection of U.S. military forces. According to the Convention Against Torture of 1984, to which the U.S. government is a party, expiration of the UN mandate does not end the American obligation to continue to protect MEK members in Iraq.
Further, the MEK's network of supporters inside Iran have provided invaluable intelligence. For example, it exposed Tehran's nuclear ambitions and its shipments of roadside bombs to Iraq. Recognizing this assistance, a "Memorandum for the Record" by Lt. Col. Julie S. Norman dated August 24, 2006, noted that "The PMOI has always warned against the Iranian regime's meddling and played a positive role in exposing the threats and dangers of such interventions; their intelligence has been very helpful in this regard and in some circumstances has helped save the lives of [U.S.] soldiers."...(more)
Lieberman Rips Obama: His Lack Of Conviction Puts Nation In Peril
From the Huffington Post:
"...And I wish he would just say that the surge has worked. He doesn't have to give credit to John McCain or anyone else. He can give credit to General Petraeus and the troops who have carried it out. I wish he would acknowledge the surge is working, rather than changing his position on how and when we should exit Iraq, without acknowledging that these are changes of positions that are understandably based on conditions on the ground. A president's credibility is based on the courage of his or her convictions, his or her acceptance of reality, and consistency of views are critical elements of national leadership. A president who squanders those does so at our nation's peril...." (more here)
"...And I wish he would just say that the surge has worked. He doesn't have to give credit to John McCain or anyone else. He can give credit to General Petraeus and the troops who have carried it out. I wish he would acknowledge the surge is working, rather than changing his position on how and when we should exit Iraq, without acknowledging that these are changes of positions that are understandably based on conditions on the ground. A president's credibility is based on the courage of his or her convictions, his or her acceptance of reality, and consistency of views are critical elements of national leadership. A president who squanders those does so at our nation's peril...." (more here)
Monday, July 14, 2008
Apologies Again
Once again I must apologize for my absence from these pages over the last couple weeks. My wife went to Haiti on a mission trip and I had to look after the kids on my own. I don't know how she did it on my deployments. Women are the fairer sex but also in so many ways, the stronger...
Losing God the Father
Good stuff from Touchstone:
...A homely example: I am asked by high church Lutheran about the arrangement of the platform (chancel) furniture in an Evangelical church. The pulpit is elevated above the communion table, and in the center. He doesn’t like this, but understands the reason. But what of those flags? What is the meaning of their arrangement? The American flag is given the place the Flag Code demands for it in all such display situations: in the place of honor on the speaker’s right. But what is that other flag over there on the speaker’s left? Ah--that is a fairly recent invention called the “Christian Flag.” The kids learn, or at least used to learn, a pledge to it which indicates that it stands for the Savior’s Kingdom. But why, then, if that is the case, is it given a place on the podium inferior to that of a national emblem--any national emblem? This is a clear symbolic statement that the Kingdom of God is being treated--in a church, forsooth!--as in some sense inferior or subordinate to the United States of America,...
The apostasy of a church rarely happens as the result of an epiphany; it is normally a slow process involving “certain currents of ideas” plunged into because they seem modern and successful, a drift, unresisted, unstudied (or only prejudicially studied), and prayed about dishonestly only after the current has been entered. After years of concentrating on the worship of Jesus (lex orandi), God becomes something subtly but significantly different in our minds than the Trinity of orthodox faith (lex credendi), just as after years of adjusting the scriptures to answer to our sect’s distinctive beliefs, elementally profound departures from the faith and practice of the universal church seem no more than reasonable concessions to the way people think these days, and what they enjoy (how else can we “evangelize” them?). These are now taken up into our doctrine and defended by the same kind of dodging we have always used to avoid the parts of the Bible that trouble us. (whole article here)
...A homely example: I am asked by high church Lutheran about the arrangement of the platform (chancel) furniture in an Evangelical church. The pulpit is elevated above the communion table, and in the center. He doesn’t like this, but understands the reason. But what of those flags? What is the meaning of their arrangement? The American flag is given the place the Flag Code demands for it in all such display situations: in the place of honor on the speaker’s right. But what is that other flag over there on the speaker’s left? Ah--that is a fairly recent invention called the “Christian Flag.” The kids learn, or at least used to learn, a pledge to it which indicates that it stands for the Savior’s Kingdom. But why, then, if that is the case, is it given a place on the podium inferior to that of a national emblem--any national emblem? This is a clear symbolic statement that the Kingdom of God is being treated--in a church, forsooth!--as in some sense inferior or subordinate to the United States of America,...
The apostasy of a church rarely happens as the result of an epiphany; it is normally a slow process involving “certain currents of ideas” plunged into because they seem modern and successful, a drift, unresisted, unstudied (or only prejudicially studied), and prayed about dishonestly only after the current has been entered. After years of concentrating on the worship of Jesus (lex orandi), God becomes something subtly but significantly different in our minds than the Trinity of orthodox faith (lex credendi), just as after years of adjusting the scriptures to answer to our sect’s distinctive beliefs, elementally profound departures from the faith and practice of the universal church seem no more than reasonable concessions to the way people think these days, and what they enjoy (how else can we “evangelize” them?). These are now taken up into our doctrine and defended by the same kind of dodging we have always used to avoid the parts of the Bible that trouble us. (whole article here)
Chinese priests, arrested in May, still in custody
Beijing, Jul. 14, 2008 (CWNews.com) - Two Chinese Catholic priests who were arrested in May are still being held in custody, the Cardinal Kung Foundation reports.
Father Zhang Jianlin and Father Zhangli, both priests of the "underground" Church, were taken into police custody after they set out to join in a pilgrimage to the Marian shrine of Our Lady of Sheshan. Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) had strongly encouraged the pilgrimage on May 24: the date that he had designated as a special day of prayer for the Church in China. (more)
Father Zhang Jianlin and Father Zhangli, both priests of the "underground" Church, were taken into police custody after they set out to join in a pilgrimage to the Marian shrine of Our Lady of Sheshan. Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) had strongly encouraged the pilgrimage on May 24: the date that he had designated as a special day of prayer for the Church in China. (more)
"Premature Sexualisation" Pushing Young Girls into Depression and Self-Harm: New Study
July 14, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - "When I was 11, I read a teenage magazine for the first time and that is when it kind of clicked, 'I should be like this'," says one young girl surveyed in a study by Girlguiding UK and the Mental Health Foundation, that has revealed three leading potential "triggers" for serious mental health problems in girls: premature sexualisation, commercialisation and alcohol misuse.
More generally, the report reveals a loss of childhood innocence and says girls today experience high levels of "stress, anxiety and unhappiness". The study found that premature sexualisation and pressure to grow up too quickly are two "key influences" in the anxiety felt by girls.
"Sexual advances from boys, pressure to wear clothes that make them look too old and magazines and websites directly targeting younger girls to lose weight or consider plastic surgery were identified as taking a particular toll," the report says.
Dr. Andrew McCulloch, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation which worked on the study, said, "Girls and young women are being forced to grow up at an unnatural pace in a society that we, as adults, have created and it's damaging their emotional well-being."
"We are forcing our young people to grow up too quickly and not giving them the spaces and experiences they require to be safe and confident. We are creating a generation under stress." (more)
More generally, the report reveals a loss of childhood innocence and says girls today experience high levels of "stress, anxiety and unhappiness". The study found that premature sexualisation and pressure to grow up too quickly are two "key influences" in the anxiety felt by girls.
"Sexual advances from boys, pressure to wear clothes that make them look too old and magazines and websites directly targeting younger girls to lose weight or consider plastic surgery were identified as taking a particular toll," the report says.
Dr. Andrew McCulloch, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation which worked on the study, said, "Girls and young women are being forced to grow up at an unnatural pace in a society that we, as adults, have created and it's damaging their emotional well-being."
"We are forcing our young people to grow up too quickly and not giving them the spaces and experiences they require to be safe and confident. We are creating a generation under stress." (more)
Congressional Oversight of Homeland Security in Dire Need of Overhaul
From Heritage:
Despite the 9/11 Commission's recommendation that Congress consolidate oversight of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) into a single, principal point of oversight, Congress has done little to implement this recommendation.
Congress's commitment to the status quo threatens the DHS's ability to identify and respond effectively to security threats. The current oversight system is impractical, constitutionally deficient, and simply poor management. Congress should immediately take steps to streamline oversight of the DHS. (more here)
Despite the 9/11 Commission's recommendation that Congress consolidate oversight of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) into a single, principal point of oversight, Congress has done little to implement this recommendation.
Congress's commitment to the status quo threatens the DHS's ability to identify and respond effectively to security threats. The current oversight system is impractical, constitutionally deficient, and simply poor management. Congress should immediately take steps to streamline oversight of the DHS. (more here)
Agnostic Australian blasts "sneering secularists," defends Catholic Church
From Insight Scoop:
The sneering secularists in our midst oppose all the Judeo-Christian beliefs. However, Catholicism cops much of the ridicule because it is universal and the strongest of the Christian faiths. In Australia the sneering secularists - a combination of proselytising atheists and Green Left Weekly reading leftists - have indicated their opposition to the Pope on the occasion of his visit to Australia for World Youth Day. Hence the formation of the NoToPope Coalition.....
Although a professing agnostic, I was brought up a Catholic and attended a Catholic school where I received a fine education. Like all organisations, it had its strengths and weaknesses. Yet I retain admiration for the priests involved in my upbringing. Most were fine, intelligent men who gave up material pleasures - including sex and family life - for the God in which they believed. I readily acknowledge that some of the cleverest men and women I have met, or read about, were believers in one of the great religions. They do not warrant mockery. (more here)
The sneering secularists in our midst oppose all the Judeo-Christian beliefs. However, Catholicism cops much of the ridicule because it is universal and the strongest of the Christian faiths. In Australia the sneering secularists - a combination of proselytising atheists and Green Left Weekly reading leftists - have indicated their opposition to the Pope on the occasion of his visit to Australia for World Youth Day. Hence the formation of the NoToPope Coalition.....
Although a professing agnostic, I was brought up a Catholic and attended a Catholic school where I received a fine education. Like all organisations, it had its strengths and weaknesses. Yet I retain admiration for the priests involved in my upbringing. Most were fine, intelligent men who gave up material pleasures - including sex and family life - for the God in which they believed. I readily acknowledge that some of the cleverest men and women I have met, or read about, were believers in one of the great religions. They do not warrant mockery. (more here)
Sunday, July 13, 2008
The Cost Cutters Called Suffering and Death
From Touchstone an idea of what nationalized healthcare looks like...
...Price controls have driven many doctors to the States; and the generally lousy schools have done a poor job preparing young people (young men in particular) for careers in science. Most of the doctors I've met are not Canadian, and with that comes all the problems of transience, and sometimes uncertainty about the adequacy of their preparation. But even assuming that they have all been well-trained, there aren't enough of them, not by a long shot. The shortage shows up in personnel, and then it shows up in machines, available tests, even beds in hospitals. Let's say you live where we do in the summer, and you need a hysterectomy, or a gall bladder removed, or something that is not absolutely urgent, but that will cause you a good deal of pain. You wait. You may wait as long as a year; I've seen this happen. You wait for a bed to open up, sometimes in Halifax, 200 miles away. But you need to be ready on the day when the bed is available. So people are told when their number is about to come up, and if they're not there when it does, the bed goes to the next person in line. That means that people stay in motels in Halifax for a week or two when the date draws near. Folks around here will hold raffles or other fund raisers to help a neighbor defray the costs; it is a regular occurrence.
But then, you can't keep the bed, either, as long as you should. My sister, an infectious disease specialist in Pennsylvania, tells me that the argument in the States is over how long you should be without fever before you are discharged from the hospital for treatment for infection. My neighbor up here was discharged with a fever, and with intense pain in her surgical incisions (she was back in the hospital two weeks later; this woman waited nine months for her three operations, nine months of pain). ...(more)
...Price controls have driven many doctors to the States; and the generally lousy schools have done a poor job preparing young people (young men in particular) for careers in science. Most of the doctors I've met are not Canadian, and with that comes all the problems of transience, and sometimes uncertainty about the adequacy of their preparation. But even assuming that they have all been well-trained, there aren't enough of them, not by a long shot. The shortage shows up in personnel, and then it shows up in machines, available tests, even beds in hospitals. Let's say you live where we do in the summer, and you need a hysterectomy, or a gall bladder removed, or something that is not absolutely urgent, but that will cause you a good deal of pain. You wait. You may wait as long as a year; I've seen this happen. You wait for a bed to open up, sometimes in Halifax, 200 miles away. But you need to be ready on the day when the bed is available. So people are told when their number is about to come up, and if they're not there when it does, the bed goes to the next person in line. That means that people stay in motels in Halifax for a week or two when the date draws near. Folks around here will hold raffles or other fund raisers to help a neighbor defray the costs; it is a regular occurrence.
But then, you can't keep the bed, either, as long as you should. My sister, an infectious disease specialist in Pennsylvania, tells me that the argument in the States is over how long you should be without fever before you are discharged from the hospital for treatment for infection. My neighbor up here was discharged with a fever, and with intense pain in her surgical incisions (she was back in the hospital two weeks later; this woman waited nine months for her three operations, nine months of pain). ...(more)
Love & Eternal Things
From STR on the 12th of June:
A very good man, Tony Snow, died this morning. He was vocal about his trust in God and the courage and meaning it brought to his life and relationships. He spoke about how his illness focused those values, to live them each day, more than before. Tony always expressed thankfulness and optimism when facing his illness, never self-pity. His gratitude grew when diagnosed with colon cancer. His focus was on how he was blessed, not what he might lose. It's sad moments like this that hopefully inspires and disciplines us to apply these values in our own lives without the immediacy of illness.
His commencement address to Catholic University last year is well worth reading because he gives extraordinary advice about life, but especially shares the importance of his relationship with Jesus and how he tangibly drew strength from God.
Religion is not an opiate, just the opposite. It is the introduction to the ultimate extreme sport. There is nothing that you can imagine that God cannot trump. As Paul said “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” And once you realize that there is something greater than you out there, then you have to decide, “Do I acknowledge it and do I act upon it?” You have to at some point surrender yourself. And there is nothing worthwhile in your life that will not at some point require an act of submission. It’s true of faith and friendship. It is a practical passage [of the Bible], especially to marriage....(more)
A very good man, Tony Snow, died this morning. He was vocal about his trust in God and the courage and meaning it brought to his life and relationships. He spoke about how his illness focused those values, to live them each day, more than before. Tony always expressed thankfulness and optimism when facing his illness, never self-pity. His gratitude grew when diagnosed with colon cancer. His focus was on how he was blessed, not what he might lose. It's sad moments like this that hopefully inspires and disciplines us to apply these values in our own lives without the immediacy of illness.
His commencement address to Catholic University last year is well worth reading because he gives extraordinary advice about life, but especially shares the importance of his relationship with Jesus and how he tangibly drew strength from God.
Religion is not an opiate, just the opposite. It is the introduction to the ultimate extreme sport. There is nothing that you can imagine that God cannot trump. As Paul said “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” And once you realize that there is something greater than you out there, then you have to decide, “Do I acknowledge it and do I act upon it?” You have to at some point surrender yourself. And there is nothing worthwhile in your life that will not at some point require an act of submission. It’s true of faith and friendship. It is a practical passage [of the Bible], especially to marriage....(more)
Oral Contraceptives May Be Linked to Atherosclerosis
From LifeSite News:
"Can you imagine if a supplement was found to cause a 42% increase risk of plaque in the carotid arteries? There would be an immediate call for the removal of the supplement and congressional hearings would commence.""Oral contraceptives totally disrupt the normal hormonal cascade. When the hormonal system is disrupted, cardiovascular disease, cancer, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome and other serious illnesses will increase. My clinical experience has clearly shown that it is impossible to adequately treat these illnesses if there is an imbalanced hormonal system. I do not recommend the use of oral contraceptives for any reason." (more)
"Can you imagine if a supplement was found to cause a 42% increase risk of plaque in the carotid arteries? There would be an immediate call for the removal of the supplement and congressional hearings would commence.""Oral contraceptives totally disrupt the normal hormonal cascade. When the hormonal system is disrupted, cardiovascular disease, cancer, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome and other serious illnesses will increase. My clinical experience has clearly shown that it is impossible to adequately treat these illnesses if there is an imbalanced hormonal system. I do not recommend the use of oral contraceptives for any reason." (more)
PUMA Update
From the AmSpec Blog:
- Sunday, July 13, 2008 @ 4:38:19 AM
Andrea Shea King has an interview with Will Bower, co-founder of the dissident Democratic group PUMA/Just Say No Deal:
Nearly 18 million people voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2008 presidential primaries and many of them believe their candidate was cheated out of being the Democratic nominee for president.Now more than two million, based on donation and other records, are determined to protest the nominating process and push for an open convention in Denver this August. . . .
- Sunday, July 13, 2008 @ 4:38:19 AM
Andrea Shea King has an interview with Will Bower, co-founder of the dissident Democratic group PUMA/Just Say No Deal:
Nearly 18 million people voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2008 presidential primaries and many of them believe their candidate was cheated out of being the Democratic nominee for president.Now more than two million, based on donation and other records, are determined to protest the nominating process and push for an open convention in Denver this August. . . .
Cynthia McKinney Wins Green Party Nomination
From the AmSpec Blog:
Adding an extra dose of crazy to the presidential campaign:
The liberal environmentalist Green Party nominated former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney as its presidential candidate Saturday.McKinney, 53, held off three rivals to win the party's nomination during its convention in Chicago, Illinois. . . .First elected in 1992, she lost a primary challenge in 2002 after suggesting in a radio interview that members of the Bush administration stood to profit from the war that followed the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.In 2004 she ran again and won with a low-key campaign in which she largely avoided controversy. But voters ousted her again in 2006 after she was accused of a physical altercation with a U.S. Capitol Police officer who questioned her after failing to recognize her at a security checkpoint....
Adding an extra dose of crazy to the presidential campaign:
The liberal environmentalist Green Party nominated former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney as its presidential candidate Saturday.McKinney, 53, held off three rivals to win the party's nomination during its convention in Chicago, Illinois. . . .First elected in 1992, she lost a primary challenge in 2002 after suggesting in a radio interview that members of the Bush administration stood to profit from the war that followed the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.In 2004 she ran again and won with a low-key campaign in which she largely avoided controversy. But voters ousted her again in 2006 after she was accused of a physical altercation with a U.S. Capitol Police officer who questioned her after failing to recognize her at a security checkpoint....
Faith Under Trial
Pray for our brothers and sisters..
From Zenit...
Christians Suffering in Algeria and Egypt
By Father John Flynn, LCROME, JULY 13, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The small Christian community in Algeria has undergone a rough period in the last few months. Two converts to Christianity were recently convicted of promoting their faith and given suspended sentences and fines, the Associated Press reported July 2.Rachid Mohammed Seghir and Jammal Dahmani were sentenced for the crime of “distributing documents that aimed at weakening the faith of Muslims,” said their lawyer Khelloudja Khalfoun.The convicted are evangelical Protestants, prosecuted when extracts from the Bible and other Christian books were found in one of their cars in 2007.According to information published by the U.S. government, 99% of Algerians are Muslims.(more)
From Zenit...
Christians Suffering in Algeria and Egypt
By Father John Flynn, LCROME, JULY 13, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The small Christian community in Algeria has undergone a rough period in the last few months. Two converts to Christianity were recently convicted of promoting their faith and given suspended sentences and fines, the Associated Press reported July 2.Rachid Mohammed Seghir and Jammal Dahmani were sentenced for the crime of “distributing documents that aimed at weakening the faith of Muslims,” said their lawyer Khelloudja Khalfoun.The convicted are evangelical Protestants, prosecuted when extracts from the Bible and other Christian books were found in one of their cars in 2007.According to information published by the U.S. government, 99% of Algerians are Muslims.(more)
From the OttawaCitizen:
...The so-called modern educated Muslims play a more vicious role than these illiterate mullahs, because they never touch the real issue, but bring logic to such dastardly and senseless attacks on innocent human beings.
I am appalled to see that, in my opinion, the majority of Muslims are not concerned about this crisis in their faith which they follow with such strong conviction....(more)
...The so-called modern educated Muslims play a more vicious role than these illiterate mullahs, because they never touch the real issue, but bring logic to such dastardly and senseless attacks on innocent human beings.
I am appalled to see that, in my opinion, the majority of Muslims are not concerned about this crisis in their faith which they follow with such strong conviction....(more)
EGO-BAMA, SWALLOW SOME OF THAT PRIDE
Fromthe NY Post:
...Last July, Obama explained to reporters that he would eventually overtake Hillary Rodham Clinton in the polls because "to know me is to love me." Some months later, according to The Associated Press' Ron Fournier, he proclaimed, "Every place is Barack Obama country once Barack Obama's been there."
Of course, Obama and his surrogates would say he's just being lighthearted, he doesn't really take himself all that seriously.
One problem with that interpretation is that there's little evidence that he's interested in dispelling or rebutting the cult of personality he's developed. Obama himself talks of reversing the ocean's tides.
The overarching theme to his entire campaign - "We are the ones we've been waiting for," and all that - is that voting for Obama is proof of the cosmic superiority of ... Obama voters.
In a speech in Madison, Wis., Obama told his supporters that rallying to his cause was today's equivalent of the "greatest generation" rallying to defeat Hitler and Tojo. Oprah merely calls him, "The One," saying he will help us "evolve to a higher plane."
Someone get that man one of those "I'm Kind of a Big Deal" T-shirts. (more)
...Last July, Obama explained to reporters that he would eventually overtake Hillary Rodham Clinton in the polls because "to know me is to love me." Some months later, according to The Associated Press' Ron Fournier, he proclaimed, "Every place is Barack Obama country once Barack Obama's been there."
Of course, Obama and his surrogates would say he's just being lighthearted, he doesn't really take himself all that seriously.
One problem with that interpretation is that there's little evidence that he's interested in dispelling or rebutting the cult of personality he's developed. Obama himself talks of reversing the ocean's tides.
The overarching theme to his entire campaign - "We are the ones we've been waiting for," and all that - is that voting for Obama is proof of the cosmic superiority of ... Obama voters.
In a speech in Madison, Wis., Obama told his supporters that rallying to his cause was today's equivalent of the "greatest generation" rallying to defeat Hitler and Tojo. Oprah merely calls him, "The One," saying he will help us "evolve to a higher plane."
Someone get that man one of those "I'm Kind of a Big Deal" T-shirts. (more)
Question McDonald's
From the Pro-Existence blog:
That's what free-thinking Americans might want to do.WND reports that McDonald's is now saying "Christian Boycotters 'Hate' Homosexuals."First, McDonald's attacks family. Now, it attacks Christians. Big Mac is selling Big Bigotry in allowing itself to be coopted by an anti-family, anti-Christian agenda.And if you question the wisdom of this corporate empire's new scheme, why, you're a hater. In fact, how dare you question the establishment, the worldwide Pink System! (more)
That's what free-thinking Americans might want to do.WND reports that McDonald's is now saying "Christian Boycotters 'Hate' Homosexuals."First, McDonald's attacks family. Now, it attacks Christians. Big Mac is selling Big Bigotry in allowing itself to be coopted by an anti-family, anti-Christian agenda.And if you question the wisdom of this corporate empire's new scheme, why, you're a hater. In fact, how dare you question the establishment, the worldwide Pink System! (more)
McDonald's: Christian boycotters 'hate' homosexuals
From WND:
Those who oppose homosexuality for religious reasons are participating in "hate," according to an official for McDonald's, the worldwide purveyor of Big Macs and Happy Meals....(more here)
Those who oppose homosexuality for religious reasons are participating in "hate," according to an official for McDonald's, the worldwide purveyor of Big Macs and Happy Meals....(more here)
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