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A troubling development is coming to light regarding religious freedom in our nation's prisons. It has been reported that religious books (including Christian texts) are being removed in mass from prison libraries across the country. While we acknowledge that convicted criminals are not entitled to the same privileges as ordinary citizens, and we understand the advisability of restricting inflammatory religious material which advocates violence, this sweeping book removal is very disconcerting for the precedent it sets for religious freedom.
Massachusetts has continually been in the forefront of the marriage debate. This Thursday a constitutional convention will be held in Massachusetts to determine if a proposed constitutional amendment to protect the traditional definition of marriage will be placed on the 2008 ballot. If 50 members of the state legislature vote in support of the amendment, the people of Massachusetts will decide what constitutes marriage in their state. Let’s hope Massachusetts will soon start taking a positive leadership role in the marriage debate.
For more information on protecting marriage check the AdvanceUSA marriage page.
The Mexico City Policy keeps taxpayer dollars from supporting overseas organizations that provide or promote abortions. Legislation in the House Appropriations Committee could render this provision worthless and allow our tax dollars to support pro-abortion groups around the world. The Mexico City Policy was originally instituted by President Reagan, discarded by President Clinton, and then reinstituted by President Bush.
For more information on these important pro-life riders check the AdvacneUSA home page.
UPDATE:
The bill proposed by Rep.
Nina Lowey (D-NY) has emerged from the House Appropriations Committee still posing a threat to important
pro-life measures. This bill should be amended to protect the Mexico
City Policy, or it will be strongly opposed by pro-life groups and concerned
citizens.
President Bush’s nominee for Surgeon General, James Holsinger, continues to undergo withering attack from radical gay groups because he once prepared a paper for the Methodist church explaining why homosexual behavior can cause serious health risks and problems. So for professionally and medically stating what is common knowledge to most, James Holsinger risks having his good name dragged through the mud by radical homosexual activists.
Equally as troubling is the homosexual lobby’s opposition to Dr. Holsinger’s religious activities with the Methodist church. As a governing member of the denomination, he upheld the biblical view of human sexuality multiple times, and the church in Kentucky he helped start helps homosexuals who wish to leave the lifestyle. According to the Constitution, there is to be no religious test for any public office.
Information on these stories was featured on the Wall Street Journal’s Best of the Web for two straight days.
Dr. Holsinger’s findings can be read here (Warning: contents are clinical and very explicit).
UPDATE:
The Family Research Council has posted this resource on the health risks of homosexuality which verifies Dr. Holsinger's findings.
South Korean cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk has said he intends to continue his unethical research abroad. Hwang had been famous for advocating embryo research and cloning by promising “miracle cures” to desperate patients. Last year Hwang was embroiled in controversy when it became clear his research team had blatantly falsified data showing they had successfully cloned a human embryo. He was subsequently fired in disgrace.
For more information on the history of the Hwang scandal and how it reflects on the overall ethics problems of human cloning research check the stem cell page.
There is encouraging news that conservative members of the Senate are willing to take a courageous stand to ensure that President Bush’s judicial nominees get a fair hearing. Let’s hope they get a fair up-or-down vote as well. With the courts as powerful as they are today, the importance of nominating and confirming qualified, originalist judges can hardly be overstated.
During the recent debate over S. 5 in the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi tried to appeal to religious sentiment by calling embryonic stem cells “a gift from God.” Somehow the deliberate destruction of innocent human life does not strike us as something God desires.
Here’s a troubling update on religious liberty in Malaysia, or the lack thereof. With the sounds of Islamic protestors outside shouting “Alah is great,” a Muslim lady was forbidden by a Malaysian court from officially registering her religion as “Christian.” This is another reminder of how we should cherish the religious liberty we still have in the United States.
The House has begun working on yearly appropriations provisions which provide liberals in Congress opportunities to assault existing pro-life federal law. One bill under consideration would overturn current pro-life provisions that require all organizations receiving federal money to promise not to promote abortion.
For more information on the important pro-life “riders” in appropriations legislation click here.
Not surprisingly, Governor Patrick has indicated that he would consider postponing the vote in the Massachusetts constitutional convention on the state’s marriage amendment in order to scrounge up enough votes to kill it. If the bill receives at least 50 votes from Massachusetts’ legislators the people of Massachusetts will be able to vote on the amendment (which would preserve the traditional definition of marriage, one man and one woman) in 2008.
Embryonic stem cell
research should be abandoned for both ethical and practical reasons. But
those determined to proceed with the research must now admit that embryonic-like
stem cells can be produced without creating or destroying
human embryos. Recent research shows that ordinary adult cells can be
coaxed into forming embryonic-like stem cells. This is exciting new
research and yet more evidence that embryo-destroying research is totally
unnecessary.
For more news and information on stem cells click here.
If passed, this would be the first same-sex marriage bill passed by a state legislature without having had a court order them to do so.
More evidence today that
radical liberal groups will stop at nothing to prevent decent judges from
reaching the federal bench. When President Bush nominated Judge Leslie
Southwick most observers thought there would be little controversy. But
radical liberal groups have found some supposed violations of political
correctness in his past and are determined to torpedo the nomination. The
Wall Street Journal accurately puts
the issue in perspective while the New York Times predictably
regurgitates left-wing talking points.
Ken Blackwell offers
his insightful perspective on the hate crimes bill recently passed by the
House. The Senate is now faced with the bill and is expected to consider it this year, perhaps within the next month or two.
Our friend Randy Thomas shares about his victory over homosexuality and offers a unique perspective on the controversial “gender identity” debate. He exposes the hypocrisy of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) activists who claim that “sexual orientation” is not changeable but “gender identity” somehow is. Randy works for the great organization Exodus International.
Here’s a helpful reminder of the proposed marriage amendment in Massachusetts that would protect traditional marriage in that state from being redefined by the courts. The citizens of Massachusetts should be allowed to vote on this issue!
On
June 6, 1944, Allied forces under the command of General Dwight Eisenhower began
the invasion and liberation of Europe from the
Nazis. Today is great time to remind ourselves of the high price of liberty.
The AFA has produced a moving tribute to D-Day that highlights President
Roosevelt's solemn prayer for God's help.
The Second District Court of Appeals has dealt a setback to good efforts of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to protect children by combating broadcast indecency on the publicly-owned airwaves. AdvanceUSA is happy to report that friends at the FCC have given assurances that the fight must and will go on.
The U.S. House of Representatives will likely vote Wednesday on a bill that claims to “ban” human cloning but would, in reality, protect the cloning of human embryos, as long as they are killed for their stem cells. In essence, the phony "ban" would allow "therapeutic" cloning while prohibiting "reproductive" cloning. Advocates of unethical research have often used this strategy of proposing “phony cloning bans” to deceive people into supporting unethical research (particularly in Missouri in 2006).
For more important information on the dangers of human cloning click here (helpful diagrams and educational resources are near the bottom of the page).
While the recent Supreme Court partial birth abortion ruling was not a total reversal of Roe vs. Wade, it was an important step in the right direction for the pro-life cause. This LifeNews column seeks to defend the ruling from pro-lifers upset with its limits.
Radical gay groups are trying to equate opposition to homosexual marriage with opposition to racially mixed marriages. The left has no shame.
UPDATE: To see the groups' advertisement, which uses a picture Jeb Bush and his wife (a racially mixed marriage), click here.
John Piper has asks an intriguing question about partial birth abortion and legalised abortion. WARNING: He describes explicit abortion procedures.
New research by British doctors confirms what pro-lifers have long suspected: undergoing abortions can be extremely traumatic for women. Of course, let’s not think about how traumatic it is for the unborn child.
The Miami Herald reports on the “religious left” movement to woo Christians away from conservatism with a new focus on poverty, privacy, and environmentalism. Will conservative Christians trade the crucial life and family issues for fluffy liberalism? Only time will tell.
Article excerpts:
''They will completely lack credibility if they turn a blind eye to the sanctity of life and marriage,'' he [John Stemberger] said. ``They can have their little conference in Washington, but they're never going to attract serious-minded Christians.' "
''They're really ramping it up because they've seen what value voters accomplished in the last race,'' said Stemberger, whose group recently hosted 600 people at an Orlando fundraiser. ``I don't think it's sincere . . . You can't hire consultants to learn how to talk to Christians.''
UPDATE:
Frank Pastore provides a helpful critique of the recent discussion about liberalism and religion at TownHall.
CitizenLink reports on this shining example of liberal “tolerance.”
UPDATE:
Exodus International is defending statements by President Bush’s nominee for Surgeon General on the medical dangers of homosexual activity and in support of the rights of self-determination for ex-gays. The whole fiasco bares witness to the rampant “intolerance” and outright bigotry of many in the radical homosexual movement. A PFOX press release on the issue can be read on NewsWire. An informative email exchange between a Human Rights Campaign employee and an ex-gay usefully illustrates the harassment and bigotry faced by those who have walked away from homosexuality.
The U.S. House of Representatives will likely vote on an embryonic stem cell research bill (S. 5) this Thursday. Earlier this spring, on April 11, the U.S. Senate voted 63-34 to pass S. 5, which calls for increased public funding of research that destroys human embryos (read text here). Embryonic stem cell research is both immoral and unnecessary. Unfortunately many in Congress want to spend your tax dollars on it anyway. To see how your senator voted check the Vote Watch page. Call your representative today and urge him or her to vote “No” on S. 5, and keep your tax dollars from supporting unethical research! In January the House passed a similar bill seeking to overturn President Bush's ethical guidelines for embryonic stem cell research funds. Proponents of the measure frequently exaggerate claims about the necessity and usefulness of embryonic stem cells, but in addition to its highly questionable usefulness the fundamental problem is that such research destroys human lives. For important information on stem cell research and other bioethics issues visit the stem cell page and adult stem cell page. To see how your representative voted on the House version of this bill check the Vote Watch page.
Because of minor alterations to the bill made by the Senate, S. 5 will be voted on by the House after which the President has promised to veto the legislation. The bill would then go first to the Senate and then to the House (if necessary) for a veto override vote. Pray that this bill never becomes law and that liberals in Congress will not try to sneak this type of unethical stem cell language into other legislation.
When junior high students in Oswego, Illinois were given the opportunity to create puzzle pieces that would be pieced together to form a school mural, Melissa Yates decided to paint a cross. Her puzzle piece was immediately erased out of the misguided belief that the cross somehow violated the “separation of church and state.” Fortunately, the Alliance Defense Fund contacted the school on Melissa’s behalf advocating for her rights of free speech and religious expression, and the cross was once again allowed in the school mural.
Though it may seem like a small victory, little steps like these help combat the anti-religious freedom sentiment that has gradually crept into our culture.
To see a picture of Melissa’s cross click here.
According to this exclusive ABC news report, it appears President Bush would pick a strong “judicial conservative” if a vacancy opens up on the Supreme Court this summer. This is great news since, with the increased influence of the Courts and the length of judicial terms (for life), Supreme Court appointments are some of the most important decisions U.S. presidents make.
Shannon Spaulding's graduation speech in Jacksonville, Florida, in which she spoke at length about her faith in Jesus Christ, received broad support from the audience at the time, but now a fire storm is erupting over her comments about sin, hell, and Jesus Christ. ABC News reports here.
Wesley J. Smith has a great article in the National Review today that exposes the depraved agenda of Dr. Jack Kevorkian. "Dr. Death" was released from prison today and despite likely media attempts to lionize him, the facts of what this man stands for must be known.
Expect "assisted suicide" and other aspects of the "culture of death" to become prominent issues in the near future.
Recent scientific research has shown that adult stem cells (in this case from umbilical cord blood) can be used to produce insulin. This is great news for diabetics. Adult stem cell research does not involve destroying human embryos so no ethical concerns are raised. Despite all the claims of the media, liberal activists, and selective scientists, adult stem cells continue to show much more promise at treating diseases and injuries than the more ethically suspect stem cells taken from human embryos.
For more information check the AdvanceUSA stem cell page or adult stem cell page.
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