Current Events and Links

See also:
Abortion
Homosexuality
Cloning and Genetic Modification

Anti-Religious Entertainment Agenda for 2006?

Jan. 6, 2006 - Michael Medved contrasts the public appetite for inspiring movies like "The Passion of the Christ," and "Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," with Hollywood's determination to push high-profile projects that will offend people of faith.

In Newsweek, makers of the forthcoming “The DaVinci Code” proudly declare that they will do nothing to soften the controversial message of their project—that Jesus married and fathered a daughter, and that the Gospels and early Christians deliberately lied.

Medved also cites "The Book of Daniel," a series about a troubled Episcopal priest with a very disturbed family.

Source:BeyondTheNews (Story no longer online)

The Real Book of Daniel - CBN

Canon Blasts Bishop's Illegal Seizure of Dissenter Church

July 29 - Episcopal Bishop Andrew Smith may have broken state and federal laws by making an unannounced visit to St. John's Episcopal Church in Bristol, Connecticut, and suspending Rector Mark Hansen from his priestly responsibilities. The action was taken because Hansen opposes to same-sex "marriage" and the ordination of practicing homosexual clergy.

With the help of 12 assistants, the bishop dismantled the church's website, hacked into its computers, and gained access to financial records. Smith then proceeded to install a homosexual-affirming female priest as pastor of the parish.

Canon David Anderson of the Anglican Council is urging St. John's Church to take legal action against Bishop Smith.

Source:Crosswalk

Denomination debates declaration of Jesus' divinity

June 15, 2005 - A vote is slated for next month for the United Church of Christ denomination that would require their clergy to believe in the divinity of Christ, a foundational tenent of Christianty. Many people in the 1.3-million-member denomination believe the resolution will fail.

Source:North Jersey Media Group

Schiavo Receives Last Rites

Mar. 28, 2005 - After nine days without food or water, Terri Schiavo was allowed by her husband to receive last rites. One drop of wine was put on her tongue, and she was anointed with holy oil by a priest.

Source:Fox

Terri Schiavo Dies - Fox

Schiavo's Parents Turn to Supreme Court

Mar. 24, 2005 - Terri Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, have registered an emergency filing asking the Supreme Court to intervene. They cite constitutional violations of due process and religious freedom. The Supreme Court may not be willing to hear the evidence, and has already declined to do so recently.

Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush continued his own efforts to keep Terri alive, seeking court approval to take custody of the woman and presumably reinsert the feeding tube.

Source:Fox

Insight on the Terri Schiavo Case

Mar. 23, 2005 - Craig von Buseck, CBN.com Ministries Director, asks "Is America Still Good?" He sites Alexis de Tocqueville's famous saying that "America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great." He then compares recent news about a massacre in a Minnesota school by a student there, horrific stories about child molesters, and the Terri Schavio situation, where she is slowly dying for lack of food and water. He points out the fact that she is not on "life support." All she needs is to be fed. The Supreme Court will consider the case now. Will they show concern for individual life?

We will know the answer soon -- and it will be another in a series of wake up calls for the people in America to let them know the true 'state of the union.'

Source:CBN

Presbyterian Church defames Christianity

July 20, 2004 - Dennis Prager argues that the greatest sin is committing evil in God's name. The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA)is now guilty of this sin because they have equated the Jewish state with South Africa during apartheid and called for a universal divestment from it.

It takes a particularly virulent strain of moral idiocy and meanness to single out Israel, not Arafat's Palestinian Authority, or terror-supporting, death-fatwa-issuing Iran, or women-subjugating Saudi Arabia, for condemnation and economic ruin.

Source:Jewish World Review

Pastor gets prison for sermon

July 8, 2004 - Ake Green, a Pentecostal pastor has been sentenced by a Swedish court to one month in prison. He was found guilty of incitement because of a sermon that offended homosexuals.

Green had described homosexuality as "abnormal, a horrible cancerous tumor in the body of society" in a 2003 sermon.

Source:WorldNetDaily

New Bible translation promotes fornication

June 24, 2004 - "As Good As New," the new Bible translation for the "One" organization fails to condemn "fornicators, adulterers and 'abusers of themselves with mankind."

... the new version of his first letter to Corinth has St. Paul advising Christians not to go without sex for too long in case they get 'frustrated.'

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams – leader of the Church of England – recommends it as a book of "extraordinary power."

Source:WorldNetDaily

Sea of Faith Network - Radical Theology

Porn 3X more popular than searches

June 4, 2004 - Hitwise, Inc, a company that tracks Internet usage, reports that Web sites categorized as "adult" were the top destination of Internet users, accounting for about 18.8 percent of all U.S. Internet visits in the week ending May 29.

Source:CNN (Story no longer online)

Christian churches running on empty?

May 6, 2004 - A new poll from Barna Research indicates that the number of Americans who don't attend services has nearly doubled since 1991. The number of unchurched has risen from 39 million (21 % of the population) in 1991 to to 75 million (34% of the population) today. Surprisingly, about one-sixth of the unchurched people say that they have accepted Jesus as their savior.

Source: WorldNetDaily

Pornography: A Woman's Struggle, Too

Mar. 9, 2004 - Recent studies show that one woman in three struggles with pornography, and one third of the visitors to pornographic sites are women.

Organizations and ministries such as Pure Life Ministries, based in Dry Ridge, Kentucky, have been seeing a dramatic increase in the number of women seeking help in breaking free from sexual sin.

Source:Agape Press (Story no longer online)

Christian Broadcaster: Cable, Sat Channels Filled with Filth

Mar. 1, 2004 PAX-TV chairman Lowell Paxon addressed a House subcommittee about the glut of filth on cable and satellite television.

The head of PAX-TV told the House subcommittee that on a given day right there in Washington, DC, cable and satellite providers carried "a total of 675 hours of filth in one 24-hour period and at all hours of the day."

Many providers claim they don't have room for family-friendly program like that provided by PAX-TV.

Source:Crosswalk

Billboards urge Christians to quit perusing porn

Feb. 12, 2004 -

"Her gift for Valentine's? Stop looking at porn," proclaim billboard messages posted by NetAccountability, a nonprofit software company that aims to help Christians confront the "secret sin" of pornography.

These billboards target Christians caught in the trap of Internet pornography. A 2000 survey by Focus on the Family showed that nearly 18 percent of "born-again" Christians admitted viewing pornography on the Internet.

Software is available to help Christians develop accountability with a partner to monitor their Internet usage.

Source:Houston Chronicle (Story no longer online)

Exposing Porn: Science, Religion, and the New Addiction

Jan. 29, 2003 - 40 million Americans are said to be sexually involved with the Internet. Mark Kastleman, author of The Drug of the New Millennium, says you can blame it on "the three A's."

"It's accessible. In other words, you hit a button and you're instantly there. It's affordable. Much of it's low-cost or no cost at all. And it's anonymous... the real key, especially with religious people.

The problem also affects Christians, and is threatening to become an epidemic. Viewing pornography releases powerful chemicals that make it just as addictive as external drugs or alcohol.

Source:CBN (Story no longer online)

Survey: Only Half of Pastors Have 'Biblical' Worldview

Jan. 14, 2004 - On the heels of a Barna Research Group study that indicated only 9% of Christians have a true "Biblical worldview," their latest poll reveals that only 51% of pastors have such a view themselves! The group defines a Biblical worldview as belief in:

Absolute moral truth as defined by scripture

the accuracy of biblical teaching

the sinless nature of Jesus

the literal existence of Satan

the omnipotence and omniscience of God

salvation by grace alone

the personal responsibility to evangelize

Beliefs vary from denomination to denomination. Southern Baptists scored the highest with 71% while United Methodists were lowest with just 27%.

Source:Crosswalk

Top 10 News Stories, 2003

Jan. 6, 2004 - News developments in 2003 were mostly bad news for the evangelical church. Some of these issues are:

Legal recognition of homosexual unions

War, resulting in destabilizing Christian/ Muslim relations

Anglicans divided over homosexual bishop

Persecution in India

Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore loses his job over the 10 Commandments monument

Source:Christianity Today

The Postmodern Crackup

Dec. 10, 2003 - Chuck Colson shows that Postmodernism is in decline. Postmodernism is the belief that there are no absolutes: no such thing as moral truth; no such thing as good and evil. September 11 made people realize that this philosopy does not make sense. By contrast, Christianity offers a belief system that is true and reasonable. Colson says:

I can't think of a more critical time for pastors, scholars, and laypeople to be grounded in a biblical worldview and to defend it clearly to those hungering for truth.

He also cites Barna's latest disturbing poll of Christians , and warns that the Church is in danger of drifting into this Postmodern thinking "just when the broader culture has figured out it's a dead end."

Source:Christianity Today

Unbelieving 'born-agains'

Dec. 6, 2003 - Statistics published by George Barna indicate that Christian conservatives are no threat to the growth of secularism, liberalism, or Muslims because they aren't really interested in converting other people. Many of them have bought into the new definitions of tolerance and inclusion. According to Barna,

26 percent of born-agains believe all religions are essentially the same and ... 50 percent believe that a life of good works will enable a person to get to heaven.

He also discovered that 35 percent of so-called born-again Christians don't even believe that Jesus rose physically from the dead.

Source:World Magazine

Survey shows only 9% of Christians have biblical worldview - WorldNetDaily

Say Goodbye to the Traditional Family

Nov. 10, 2003 - Cal Thomas comments on a cover story in last month's Business Week, titled “Unmarried America.”

It noted that nearly half of all households are now headed by people who aren’t married. The new demographics will change business, politics and society.

Thomas concludes, "This is what happens when people forget God.

Source:Crosswalk

Why is the Church Abandoning Marriage?

Nov. 6, 2003 - In 1973, the same year as the Roe v Wade decision, another tragic law was enacted. A "model law" called the Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act was created for eventual enactment by various states. This "law" established no-fault divorce, which has had the effect of enabling anyone who wants a divorce to get it, totally ignoring the wedding vows that were made.

While the church loudly protests the abortion issue, it is virtually silent on the equally devastating divorce issue.

Source:Catholic Exchange (Story no longer online)

New Wave of Immorality

Sept-Oct. 2003 -

Sex Viruses Timebomb Is Set To Go Off - Mirror, UK -Youth epidemic of STDs in London (Story no longer online)

NBC expects outrage over 'Coupling' - Tri-City Herald - NBC knows older people will be upset with the overt sexuality of the new show, but they don't care, since they are targeting people between ages 18 and 34 who want to see racy TV. (Story no longer online)

The New Sexual Temptation - Christianity Today - Tremendous temptations for singles

The Sex Lives of Christian Teens - Christianity Today - Some good news, but an ongoing problem

No Methodist Reaction to Minister's 'Gay Jesus' Claim - Crosswalk

European condom ads coming to America - WorldNetDaily - Test run on TV urges parents to make sure their kids are supplied

Cartoon sex-guide published for school kids - News Telegraph UK

'Dogging' craze sex disease risk - BBC - London: Sex with strangers in public parks

Students get sex-ed without parents OK

Sept. 11, 2003 - The California state Assembly approved a bill yesterday that will allow public schools to teach and survey students on sexual topics without written parental permission. The measure allows parents to sign a form at the beginning of the year to "opt-out" of objectionable activities.

But Republican opponents charge the bill is a ploy by Democrats to erode the rights of parents, who should be asked for permission to "opt in" as the current law stipulates.

Randy Thommason of Campaign for California Families asks why parents must still give written permission before their child can go on a field trip, but will not have to give apprival to "sexual mind trips about losing their virginity, masturbation, homosexuality and cross-dressing?"

Revisions to the bill must still be approved by the Senate, and then signed by the Governor before becoming law.

Source:WorldNetDaily

The All-Out Assault on the American Family

Sept. 10, 2003 - While America became world's leading superpower, it lost its distinction as a leading moral power.

America was rocked by the attacks of September 11th, but another kind of assault on America has been going on for years — an assault that threatens to tear our country apart from within. And the main target of that assault is the American family.

This cultural war is waged with many weapons against the family: homosexuality, abortion, divorce, teen pregnancy and rampant sexually transmitted diseases. It has also made devastating progress against America's moral heritage. A concerted attack threatens to rewrite American history and remove all vestiges of God and morality.

Source:CNN - By Andrea Garrett, CBN News Sr. Producer (Story no longer online)

Methodist, So. Baptist Leaders Differ on Scriptural Authority

Aug. 14, 2003 - While a spokesmen for the United Methodist Church claims that the Episcopal Church's action in appointing an openly homosexual bishop is acceptable, a Southern Baptist official says that Episcopal leaders have chosen to ignore God's Holy Word.

Pastor Bruce Robbins, general secretary of the General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns of the United Methodist Church, says approving the election of Robinson was a "graceful step" for the Episcopal Church.

On the other side of the issue, Dr. Bill Merrell, a vice president on the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, says that the action will probably lead to a split in the Episcopal Church.

Source:Agape Press

Gay bishop's election paves way for split

July 6, 2003 - After a brief consideration of allegations against Rev. V. Gene Robinson, The Episcopal church confirmed him as bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire, making him the first openly homosexual bishop in the denomination, and threatening the body with division.

Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh, a conservative who had campaigned against Robinson, said that the decision caused many in the denomination to be "filled with sorrow."

He said the church has "divided itself from millions of Anglicans throughout the world."

"This body willfully confirming the election of a person sexually active outside of holy matrimony has departed from the historic faith and order of Jesus Christ," he said.

Source:Houston Chronicle (Story no longer online)

Anglicans warned over gay bishop - BBC

Episcopalians Delay Vote on Gay Bishop

Aug. 5, 2003 - Episcopalian leaders have convened to vote on whether or not to confirm Rev. V. Gene Robinson as New Hampshire's bishop,the first openly homosexual bishop ever. However, they have delayed the vote because of charges that he inappropriately touched a man and was affiliated with a youth Web site that had a link to pornography.

The American Anglican Council, which represents conservative bishops and parishes, plans a meeting in October to decide whether to break away from the church or take some other action if Robinson is seated.

Source:Yahoo (Story no longer online)

Fears Grow Over Academic Efforts to Normalize Pedophilia

July 11, 2003 - There is concern that the recent Supreme Court decision allowing private homosexual behavior will open the door to legalizing pedophilia. There are many advocates for lowering the age of consent already among academia and psychologists. At least one Supreme Court Justice also holds this view.

"When U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was an attorney for the ACLU, she co-authored a report recommending that the age of consent for sexual acts be lowered to 12 years of age."

Source:CSN News

Psychiatric Association Debates Lifting Pedophilia Taboo

June 11, 2003 - During a recent symposium sponsored by the American Psychiatric Association (APA), participants discussed removal of pedophilia and several other categories of "paraphilias" from the next edition of the psychiatric manual of mental disorders. The other categories are: exhibitionism, fetishism, transvestism, voyeurism and sadomasochism. A representative of NARTH (National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality)criticized the discussion.

"Normalizing" pedophilia would have enormous implications, especially since civil laws closely follow the scientific community on social-moral matters, said Linda Ames Nicolosi, NARTH publications director.

Source:CNS News

Arab archbishop praises suicide bombers

Jan. 14, 2003 - Greek Orthodox Archbishop Attallah Hanna advocates the creation of an Islamic-Christian union that would foil the "American offensive" against Iraq and "release Palestine from the river to the sea." He also praised suicide bombers as heroes.

According to ArabicNews.com, the Greek Patriarch of Jerusalem, Arinous 1st, criticized Hanna and fired him as an official Orthodox spokesman because of "supporting Palestinian terrorism."

Source:WorldNetDaily

Bishops Find Carlton Pearson 'Heretical'

Nov. 19, 2002 - Carlton Pearson, a Tulsa, Okla., pastor,teaches universal reconciliation or "gospel of inclusion." According to this doctrine, no confession in Jesus as Savior is needed to go to heaven. The World Bishops Council (WBC) has decided that the teaching is heretical.

Source:Absolute News (Story no longer online)

Confused Christians

Oct. 15, 2002 - In their article, 'Cultural Theology' in a Mad Dash Across America, Fred Jackson and Jody Brown report the latest findings from pollster George Barna, showing that most Americans still agree with biblical teachings such as the Trinity and that they have an eternal soul, but many of them believe in a works-based salvation, reject the concept of original sin, and believe that Satan is a symbol of evil rather than a real person. Barna says, "Christians have increasingly been adopting spiritual views that come from Islam, Wicca, secular humanism, the eastern religions and other sources."

Source:Agape Press (Story no longer online)

Gay Clerics Battle N.J. For Right To Be Married

Aug. 26, 2002 - A suit has been brought against New Jersey by seven homosexual couples, including Episcopalian priests Mark Lewis and Dennis Winslow. They want the right to be legally married.

Bishops in the Episcopal Church are deeply divided over the couple's decision to join forces with six other couples suing the state of New Jersey for refusing them marriage licenses.

Source: N Y Post (Story no longer online)

Religious Left says the Religious Right is wrong

Aug. 26, 2002 - The Fundamentalism Education Project, sponsored by The Texas Freedom Network, is built around the idea that fundamentalism is a dangerous extreme, whether in Judiasm, Islam, or Christianity. It calls for a way to do interfaith work without denying the particular claims of each faith. It also hopes to find ways to counter a "growing social and political influence of religious political extremists."

Source:Dallas News (Story no longer online)

Church of England: One third of clergy do not believe in the Resurrection

July 31, 2002 - In a survey of nearly 2000 Church of England Clergy, it was found that a third of them did not believe in the literal resurrection of Christ, and half did not believe in the virgin birth.

The poll of nearly 2,000 of the Church's 10,000 clergy also found that only half believe that faith in Christ is the only route to salvation.

Source:News Telegraph

Liberal Bishop Chosen As Next Anglican Leader

July 24, 2002 - Rowan Williams, a controversial liberal, will be the next Archbishop of Canterbury. He backs gay rights, has socialist leanings, and has also voiced support for women priests.

Source:Religion News (Story no longer online)

Poll Discovers Low Trust in Religion

July 19, 2002 - Americans' confidence in religious institutions is at a 30-year low. According to an annual Gallup Poll. There is actually a rise in interest in spiritual matters, because of the Sept. 11 attacks, but the Catholic sex-abuse scandal caused confidence in the Catholic Church to drop to 42 percent. The Protestant confidence rate of 59 percent is about the same as a year ago. The average for all of organized religion was just 45 percent.

In their survey of 16 kinds of institutions, religion ranked sixth, and the military ranked first.

Source:Absolute News (Story no longer online)

Pedophilia to be next result of sexual permissiveness, prof says

July 15, 2002 - Carson Holloway, a political science professor at the University of Nebraska says that there is a trend toward normalizing pedophilia. It is the latest manifestation of a dangerous understanding of human sexuality that has become more prevalent over the last 30 years. Child pornography on the Internet is a contributing factor to this disturbing trend.

Source:ChristiansUnite (Story no longer online)

Bishops Acknowledge Role in Crisis

June 14, 2002 - Meeting in Dallas, American Roman Catholic Bishops have convened a session to discuss the clerical sex abuse scandal, and how to deal with offending priests. The conference allowed a number of victims to speak out on the issue. Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, admitted that church leadership was partly to blame.

"The crisis, in truth, is about a profound loss of confidence by the faithful in our leadership," he said. That's "because of our failures in addressing the crime of the sexual abuse of children and young people by priests and church personnel."

Source:Yahoo (Story no longer on line.)

DA Issues Warning to LA 's Cardinal Mahony

May 17, 2002 - District Attorney Steve Cooley warned Cardinal Mahony to turn over all church documents relating to sexual miconduct of priests, or he will use the power of a Grand Jury to obtain the information.

Source:NewsMax

Boston priest to be charged

May 7, 2002 - Paul Shanley, a Roman Catholic priest who was arrested last week in San Diego, appears today in a Boston court to face charges of raping a young boy many years ago.

These are the first criminal charges to be filed against the retired priest, who faces a possible life sentence if convicted

Source:BBC

Pope condemns US church sex abuse

Apr. 23, 2002 - In an unprecedented convocation of American cardinals, the Pope said that there was no place in the Roman Catholic Church for priests who sexually abused children.

"The abuse which has caused this crisis is by every standard wrong and rightly considered a crime by society; it is also an appalling sin in the eyes of God."

Source:BBC

'Gay' culture in Catholic Church grows

Mar. 25, 2002 - See the article in our hosexuality section.

The Starter Marriages of Generation X

Mar. 23, 2002 - Many young adults are setting themselves up for failure by having "starter marriages." The participants are fearful about marriage, so they are saying "I do for now." One third of them came from homes where their parents divorced before the children were 1 years old.

Journalist Pamela Paul has written a book called The Starter Marriage and the Future of Matrimony that takes an in-depth look at the starter marriage phenomenon.

Source:CBN (Story no longer on line.)

Truth Crisis Threatens Churches' Future, Report Warns

Feb. 12, 2002 - The latest report from pollster George Barna shows that belief in moral absolutes is in rapid decline, even among people who say they are born again. In the general population, only 22 percent claim to believe in moral absolutes, while 64 percent think truth is always relative to their situation. Among teens it was even worse, with only 6 percent accepting moral absolutes (9 percent among born again teens).

Barna said that the "alarmingly fast decline" of moral foundations among young people had culminated in "a one-word worldview: 'whatever.' The result is a mentality that esteems pluralism, relativism, tolerance and diversity without critical reflection of the implications of particular views and actions."

Source:Charisma (Story no longer online)

The First Church of Who Cares?

Feb. 2, 2002 - Joel Miller comments on an article in Great Britain's The Spectator that advocates the abolition of the Church of England. The writer, Theo Hobson, is ashamed of the apparent loss of belief within the church.

"It has become unthinkable for a Church leader, or any public figure who is a Christian, to speak as if the gospel of Jesus Christ is superior to other creeds..."

Especially since the Sept. 11 attacks, he says that a visitor from Mars would assume that Islam is the state religion because it is the only one about which anyone says nice things in public.

Source: WorldNetDaily

Net porn seen by nine out of ten children

Nov. 25, 2001 - In research conducted by the London School of Economics, it was found that nine out of ten children between eight and 16 have viewed pornography on the internet. Most of the time the porn sites were accidently accessed while students were doing searches for their school projects.

The research, by academics at the , also found that about half of those in the age group had been approached by strangers in "chatrooms", sometimes with a view to an under-age relationship.

Source:News.Telegraph

Cowardly Pulpits

Nov. 3, 2001 - Dr. Chuck Baldwin fears that the real problem with pastors is not going to be solved by passing a bill to give them more freedom of speech.

"'The Houses of Worship Political Speech Protection Act,' HR 2357, would remove from the Internal Revenue Code a 47-year-old law that has prompted some churches to avoid distributing voter guides or even taking positions on moral issues, such as abortion, that may be debated in political campaigns."

Too many pastors don't have the courage to preach the Bible and stand up for moral truth in general. Such clerics will not take advantage of their expanded freedoms.

Source:WorldNetDaily

Shock over US child sex trade

Sept. 10, 2001 - See the article in our Youth section.

Networks Plan on Blaspheming God – Most Shocking TV Season Ever

Sept. 4, 2001 - Claiming that competition from cable movie channels are hurting their ratings, major networks will loosen their standards on profanity.

ABC, CBS and NBC are considering dropping many of the few remaining standards on network prime-time TV programs – and will likely allow expletives and four-letter words never spoken before on broadcast TV.

Source: News Max

Invasion From The Dark Side

Sept. 3, 2001 - The annual "Burning Man" festival at Black Rock, Nevada, takes place on Labor Day weekend, with unbelievable Satanic, demonic, and neo-pagan activities, where thousands of participants ask Satan to take them to Hell.

Yet every Labor Day weekend since the mid-1980s, spiritual nomads from every U.S. state -- especially from the psychedelic vortex of San Francisco -- and from Canada, Germany, Brazil, Korea and at least 20 other countries visit Black Rock for a techno-pagan freakfest known as "The Burning Man." The participants' sole agenda is to transform the vast alkali flatland into what one reveler calls "a temporary autonomous zone at the edge of eternity."

Source: CBN - Article by George Otis Jr. (Story no longer online)

Correctional population reaches new high

Aug. 26 2001 - One out of every 32 people in America are either in prison, on probation, or released on parole.

Source: Virtual New York (Story no longer online)

Biblical Illiteracy

July 20, 2001 - Americans are guiding their lives, not by Scripture, but by psychology and popular culture. According to Dr. Vinson Synan, Dean of Regent University's School of Divinity, Biblical illiteracy is the "ultimate disaster" for a nation, even greater than AIDS or atomic war.

Dr. Vinson Synan says: "You can see the results everywhere, the breakdown of homes, divorces, the permissiveness of sex, homosexuality, AIDS, all of these things are consequences of not knowing the word of God."

Source: CBN (Story no longer online)

<-news.crosswalk.com/religion/item/0,1875,358580,00.htm>Pornography Addiction: A Stronghold Inside Church Walls Too

July 20, 2001 - One-third of the men who attended Promise Keepers rallies in 1996 addmited that they had a personal struggle with pornography. According to Focus on the Family, one out of seven pastors who call its toll-free help line say they are addicted to pornography.

Ted Roberts is senior pastor of East Hill Foursquare Church in Gresham, Ore. He has become a leader in pioneering sexual recovery ministries, and recently trained more than 200 pastors and lay leaders to set up ministries like the "Pure Desire" program he launched eight years ago.

In both the program and the book by the same name, Roberts provides a biblical answer to overcoming sexual sin and addiction.

Source: ReligionToday (Story no longer online)

Presbyterian leaders vote to overturn ban on homosexual ministers

June 18, 2001 - Conference delegates for The Presbyterian Church (USA), met in Louisville Kentucky last week, and by a 317-208 vote overturned a ban on ordaining homosexuals as ministers of the church. The action must now be ratified by a majority of the churches during the next year before it will take effect. If it is ratified, it will be up to the individual churches to decide whether or not to allow homosexual clergy.

The church's current position, approved in 1996 and ratified 97-74 by the regional governing bodies, requires church leaders to "live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness."

Source: CNN

Homosexuality is divinely ordered, says catechism

June 11, 2001 - A proposed new catechism for the Anglican Church has been written by Canon Edward Norman, canon and treasurer of York Minster, and approved by the Most Rev David Hope the second highest churchman in the Church of England. The catechism seeks to define Anglicanism for the first time since Thomas Cranmer wrote The Book of Common Prayer in 1662.

In the area of homosexuality, the book contradicts official teaching and the views of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey.

"Homosexuality," says the catechism, "may well not be a condition to be regretted but to have divinely ordered and positive qualities." It continues: "Homosexual Christian believers should be encouraged to find in their sexual preferences such elements of moral beauty as may enhance their general understanding of Christ's calling."

Source: Electronic Telegraph (Story no longer online)

U.N. Pushes For 'Child Rights'

June 9, 2001 - The U.N. is working toward a Special Session on Children, scheduled for Sept. 19. The issue is the need for all children to be protected from exploitation. There is great concern, however, that the world body will redefine rights for children in a way that destroys parental rights, and thus the ability of parents to protect their children from dangerous influences.

The United Nations seeks to create a universal and autonomous legal standing for children 0-18 years of age. Pro-family observers have voiced grave reservations about the document in progress. Is a child an autonomous bearer of rights or are his rights safeguarded within the context of the family until the child is of age?

... Such sweeping "rights" make children masters of their own lives and thus vulnerable to everything from pornographers to abortion providers to pedophiles, say concerned family-values groups.

Source: WorldNetDaily

Interview with George Barna, Part I

June, 2001- Good news, bad news, and advice about reaching this changing world.

Source:Crosswalk.com (Story no longer online)

Titanic loss of family values

June 5, 2001 - Paul Weyrich, the man who coined the expression "Moral Majority," admitted back in February 1999, that the culture war was over and "family values" had lost. At that time he said, " Simply put, the 1960s counterculture has triumphed. ...If there really were a moral majority out there, Bill Clinton would have been driven out of office months ago."

The truth of Mr. Weyrich´s declaration was reinforced by a recent Census Bureau report showing the continued decline of the traditional family. Married couples with children, who comprised 43 percent of American households in 1950, accounted for only 24 percent of American households in 2000. The number of "unmarried partner" households, meanwhile, increased by 72 percent in the past decade alone. That report came just days after the Census Bureau reported that 33 percent of all births in 2000 were to unmarried women an all-time high.

In 1960 the median age at first marriage for U.S. women was 20, and for men, it was 22. Today those ages are 25 for women, and 27 for men.

Yet researchers report that the average young American today first has sexual intercourse at age 17 or 18. Judging from these statistics, then, most young people in this country will be "sexually active" for 8 to 10 years before marrying.

Source: Weekend News Today - from Washington Times (Story no longer online)

Don't Let Yahoo Off The Hook

Apr. 18, 2001 - We have learned two things in the past few days. The first is that quick and vigorous protest by enough people can make a big difference. Yahoo quickly stepped back from its planned expansion of pornographic materials because of massive protests and threats of boycotts.(Yahoo drops porn expansion - BBC)

The other lesson is that we may be too quick to claim victory and fail to respond to the rest of the story. If Yahoo is sincere, it should also issue an appology for the special report, in its "Internet Life" magazine, and on the internet (shorter version). The report, entitled Sex and the Internet, takes the approach that pornography probably isn't that bad. Journalist Gary Webb doesn't think pornography warped his thinking, and says he is not too alarmed about his son's internet adventures in pornography.

I suspect that my eldest son, who knows far more about sex than I did at his age, will probably turn out much like me in this regard. And if viewing porn on the Internet makes him a more sexually adventurous person than I am, I'm not sure I see the harm in that.

Source: Internet Life Magazine, May 2001. We chose not to link their web site because of compromising pictures in the article.

Dutch set to legalise euthanasia

Apr. 10, 2001 - The Netherlands has practiced euthanasia for many years, not prosecuting offenders of exising law. But now the practice will likely be legalized. The lower house of their congress already passed the bill overwhelmingly last November, and now the Senate is expected to approve it today, making it the first country to do so.

Under the new law, euthanasia would be allowed under specific conditions:

* the patient must have an incurable illness

* he or she must be experiencing "unbearable suffering"

* the patient must be of sound mind and have given consent

* the termination of life must then be carried out in a medically appropriate manner.

Source: BBC

Update Apr. 11, 2001 - The Senate did approve the measure 46-28. there were some 10,000 protesters outside, many singing hymns. - CNN

The Web’s Dark Secret

Mar., 2001 - This article explores the dreadful extent and nature of child pornography and pedophilia on the Internet.

“Child pornography was pretty much eradicated in the 1980s,” says Kevin Delli-Colli, who runs the U.S. Customs Cyber-Smuggling Center, a unit that combats the import of child-sex photos and films. “With the advent of the Internet, it exploded.”

Source: Newsweek, Mar. 19 issue (Story no longer online)

Surgeon prepares for human cloning

Mar. 9, 2001 - Italian professor Severino Antinori, the director of a fertility clinic in Rome, said he will reveal plans of how he and his team intend to clone a human by the end of the year.

A Council of Europe convention prohibiting human cloning came into force this week. The convention, signed by 29 European countries, including Italy, incorporates the European Convention on Bio-Ethics of 1997 and updates it to forbid “the creation of beings which are genetically identical to one another”.

Source: The Times (UK) (Story no longer online)

"Virtual Porn" Battle: Children at Risk

Mar. 7, 2001 - Current laws about child pornography are direct and effective. Produce it or possess it and you go to prison. New laws are now needed to include prohibitions against the use of computer-generated images and computer-altered images in child pornography. Otherwise perpetrators may avoid prosecution because they claim that no actual child is being harmed.

Source: CBN (Story no longer online)

Jesse Jackson reveals affair, illegitimate daughter

Jan. 18, 2001 - Jesse Jackson, a Baptist minister, has admitted fathering a child, which is now 20 months old. At the time the child was conceived he was acting as one of President Clinton's spiritual advisors during the Monica Lewinski scandal.

Jackson said he would be taking an indefinite hiatus from his activist activities, which included opposing the confirmation of President-elect Bush's attorney general nominee John Ashcroft, to "revive my spirit and reconnect with my family."

Source: Nando Times - Sonya Ross, Associated Press (Story no longer online)

Television Morality Spirals Downward

Jan. 9, 2001 - FOX's new reality show, Temptation Island, continues a trend toward voyeurism and immorality. According to WND's article, Parents tempted on 'Island' show, one of the couples in the series, who are supposed to be tempting one another to unfaithfulness, turns out to be a married couple. They have been replaced, but the premise of the show is still unfortunate.

Other reality shows are scheduled this season, including Survivor II and The Mole.

Pupils as young as eleven to be given morning-after pill

Jan. 8, 2001 - See this story from Great Britain in the Abortion section.

More British Leaving The Church

Nov. 28, 2000 - The Anglican Church is in decline in England.

...Forty-four percent of the adults in the United Kingdom don't attend church, compared with 31 percent in 1983, a new study by the National Centre for Social Research found. Two-thirds of 18-24 year olds stay away from church, the BBC reported.

However, there are signs of revival among evangelicals and charismatics in the nation.

Source: Religion News Today (Story no longer online)

Dutch Parliament OKs Euthanasia

Nov. 28, 2000 - The Netherlands will become the first country to formally legalize euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. A bill enabling the practice was passed by the Dutch parliament Tuesday, is expected to receive the approval of the Senate, and go into into force next year.

Source: Prophezine - from Yahoo/ AP (Story no longer online)

Patent allows creation of man-animal hybrid

Nov. 26, 2000 - An Australian biotech company, Amrad, has obtained a Europe-wide patent on "chimeric" animals, developed from cells of various species, including humans, mice, sheep, pigs, cattle, goats or fish.

Church groups have already reacted with outrage, denouncing the patent as 'morally offensive'.

The patent has been sold to Chemicon International, a US company.

Source: Guardian Unlimited - Observer International

Sailing Noah's Ark into the present

Nov. 3, 2000 - Journalist Anthony LoBaido recently climbed Mt. Ararat in search of Noah's Ark, and compares the evil of Noah's world with our own. The article is a virtual catalog of the apostate behavior our generation accepts as normal.

Source: WorldNetDaily (Story no longer online)