May 17, 2013
A Washington state florist sued by the state’s attorney general over her refusal to provide flowers for a same-sex wedding has filed a countersuit alleging religious discrimination.
Barronelle Stutzman claims the state’s lawsuit violates its own constitution, which guarantees “freedom of conscience in all matters of religious sentiment, belief, and worship” and guarantees that “no one shall be molested or disturbed in person or property on account of religion.” Local attorney J.D. Bristol and lawyers from Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) are representing the 68-year-old owner of Arlene’s Flowers.
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- Author: Leigh Jones
- Source: WORLD Magazine
May 17, 2013
It has been a few years since cloning controversies dominated the news, but that may change now that scientists at Oregon Health & Science University claim to have overcome previous barriers, creating human embryonic stem cells (hESC) using the technique that leads to reproductive cloning.
In somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), a donor cell is transferred to an egg cell whose nucleus has been removed, creating a human embryo. "Our finding offers new ways of generating stem cells for patients with dysfunctional or damaged tissues and organs," developmental and stem cell biologist Shoukhrat Mitalipov is quoted as saying in a press release that accompanied publication of the paper today in the journal Cell. "Such stem cells can regenerate and replace those damaged cells and tissues and alleviate diseases that affect millions of people," Mitalipov said.
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- Author: Christine A. Scheller
- Source: Christianity Today
May 13, 2013
Late-term abortionist Kermit Gosnell has been convicted of first degree murder for killing babies after delivering them alive.
The trial now moves into the penalty phase, and we wait to hear whether prosecutors will seek the death penalty. But Dr. Gosnell is only the front man; and the real trial has only just begun. The defendant is the abortion license in America. The Gosnell episode highlights the irrationality of the regime of law put into place by the Supreme Court in 1973 and fiercely protected by Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and the polticians they and other “pro-choice” advocacy groups help send to Washington and the state capitols.
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- Author: Robert P. George
- Source: First Things
May 13, 2013
The jury in the murder trial of abortion practitioner Kermit Gosnell returned a verdict and found him guilty on three of the four first-degree murder charges he faced.
Gosnell was found guilty of killing Baby A, Baby C and Baby D and found not guilty of killing Baby E. He was also convicted on hundreds of lesser charges ranging from infanticide to running a corrupt organization.
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- Author: Steven Ertelt
- Source: Lifenews.com
May 07, 2013
When Peter Sprigg speaks publicly about his opposition to homosexuality, something odd often happens.
During his speeches, people raise their hands to challenge his assertions that the Bible condemns homosexuality, but no Christians speak out to defend him.
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- Author: John Blake
- Source: CNN Belief Blog
May 01, 2013
The Situation: According to the Associated Press, a group called the Military Religious Freedom Foundation is urging the Pentagon to court martial officers whose subordinates feel they're being proselytized. MRFF founder Mikey Weinstein says even a Christian bumper sticker on an officer's car or a Bible on an officer's desk can amount to "pushing this fundamentalist version of Christianity on helpless subordinates." Weinstein and other leaders of his foundation met with top officials at the Pentagon last week.
The Backstory: Weinstein and his group met privately with Pentagon officials on April 23. He told Fox News that U.S. troops who proselytize are guilty of sedition and treason and should be punished to stave off what he called a "tidal wave of fundamentalists." "Someone needs to be punished for this," Weinstein told Fox News. "Until the Air Force or Army or Navy or Marine Corps punishes a member of the military for unconstitutional religious proselytizing and oppression, we will never have the ability to stop this horrible, horrendous, dehumanizing behavior."
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- Author: Joe Carter
- Source: The Gospel Coalition
May 01, 2013
The Pentagon has released a statement confirming that soldiers could be prosecuted for promoting their faith: "Religious proselytization is not permitted within the Department of Defense...Court martials and non-judicial punishments are decided on a case-by-case basis...?.
The statement, released to Fox News, follows a Breitbart News report on Obama administration Pentagon appointees meeting with anti-Christian extremist Mikey Weinstein to develop court-martial procedures to punish Christians in the military who express or share their faith.
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- Author: KEN KLUKOWSKI
- Source: Breitbart
April 26, 2013
Today, President Obama will give a speech at Planned Parenthood Federation of America's 75th anniversary gala, making him the first sitting president to address the group. Here are nine things you should know about the nation's largest abortion provider.
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- Author: Joe Carter
- Source: The Gospel Coalition
April 17, 2013
Here is incontrovertible proof that Kirsten Powers and Conor Friedersdorf are correct in arguing that the murder trial of Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell has received insufficient media coverage: On Friday, Snopes.com was compelled to publish a page confirming that the story is real, not merely an urban legend.
Gosnell, as we noted in January 2011, is charged with eight counts of murder. One of his alleged victims, Karnamaya Mongar, was a 41-year-old woman. The other seven did not live long enough to acquire names. They were infants who were born when Gosnell induced labor in their mothers. According to the Philadelphia grand jury report, he or his employees then killed them by using scissors to sever the neck and spinal cord:
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- Author: James Taranto
- Source: Wall Street Journal
April 11, 2013
Infant beheadings. Severed baby feet in jars. A child screaming after it was delivered alive during an abortion procedure. Haven't heard about these sickening accusations?
It's not your fault. Since the murder trial of Pennsylvania abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell began March 18, there has been precious little coverage of the case that should be on every news show and front page. The revolting revelations of Gosnell's former staff, who have been testifying to what they witnessed and did during late-term abortions, should shock anyone with a heart.
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- Author: Kirsten Powers
- Source: USA TODAY
April 09, 2013
Almost all Christians, young and old, prefer peace to war. In particular, most of us don’t like fighting a culture war—but sometimes, if we are to be faithful to biblical teaching, we have no choice. We do have a choice of tactics, and at times Christians have chosen poorly, but we still should not cry “peace, peace, when there is no peace.? That’s why it’s important to have teachers who remind us of what the Bible says, even when we’d prefer to skip pages.
We occasionally plan to run articles as reminders in areas where some Christians are weakening. Below is Wayne Grudem’s article about homosexuality from the ESV Study Bible, used by permission from Crossway.
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- Author: Wayne Grudem
- Source: WORLD Magazine
April 05, 2013
A federal judge on Friday reversed a contentious Food and Drug Administration ruling and ordered the agency to make the so-called "morning-after pill" available without a prescription to all girls of reproductive age, including those younger than 17.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Edward Korman in Brooklyn, New York, comes in a lawsuit brought by reproductive-rights groups that had sought to remove age and other restrictions on emergency contraception, as Reuters first reported.
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- Author: JoNel Aleccia
- Source: NBC News
April 05, 2013
WASHINGTON—Called to speak at the March 26 marriage rally in Washington, D.C., Alison Howard ran to the stage’s microphone in an adrenaline-fueled burst. The 24-year-old graduate of Liberty University said she wanted to “talk to the grown-ups? supporting traditional marriage at the event on the National Mall. 4 “Do not give up on us young people,? said the communications director for Concerned Women for America. “The media will tell you that I don’t exist. Well, I’ll be the unicorn. I do exist, and I believe in the marriage between a man and a woman.?
It would be easy to dismiss Howard’s plea as a voice crying in the wilderness. A recent Pew survey found that 70 percent of those in the millennial generation (ages 18 to 33) favor same-sex marriage. But the same poll shows that 65 percent of young evangelicals oppose same-sex marriage. And a number of them, like Howard, are willing to face scorn by taking very public stands against the redefinition of society’s most basic institution.
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- Author: Edward Lee Pitts
- Source: WORLD Magazine
April 03, 2013
The gay son of an Arizona congressman who opposes marriage equality defended his father's position in an interview with the Washington Blade Tuesday.
"Whether I can legally marry in Arizona or not, it’s not going to change that fact, and my father knows that and he accepts my desire to be with the man that I love," said Matt R. Salmon. "As far as it goes with marriage, for him it’s a matter of what marriage means to him -- to him marriage is defined as between a man and a woman."
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- Author: Will Wrigley
- Source: Huffington Post
March 28, 2013
The first day of oral arguments before the Supreme Court on same-sex marriage were watched very carefully by many Americans. Up to this point, one would be hard-pressed to find any instance of any notable personage who is not known as a traditional marriage proponent asking any tough questions about the larger social and familial impact of the effort to redefine marriage. Most assume there are no good questions.
But we saw something very different yesterday. The justices—and not just the conservative ones—were the first notable culture leaders who asked sound, tough questions. A few examples:
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- Author: Glenn Stanton
- Source: First Things
March 26, 2013
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Gov. Jack Dalrymple signed legislation Tuesday that that would make North Dakota the nation's most restrictive state on abortion rights, banning the procedure if a fetal heartbeat can be detected — something that can happen as early as six weeks into a pregnancy.
The Republican governor also signed into law another measure that would makes North Dakota the first to ban abortions based on genetic defects such as Down syndrome.
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- Author: JAMES MacPHERSON
- Source: Associated Press
March 26, 2013
This week, the Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of two laws: Proposition 8, passed by the citizens of California in 2008; and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), passed by the House (342-67) and Senate (85-14) and signed by President Clinton in 1996. The court has an opportunity to affirm the meaning and purpose of marriage and the American democratic process.
Marriage is the first institution of society. It brings together one man and one woman as husband and wife to be father and mother to their children. Just as it takes one man and one woman to create a child, the unique contributions of mother and father provide the ideal environment to raise a child.
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- Author: Eric Teetsel
- Source: USA TODAY
March 25, 2013
With an overwhelming majority of state laws pointing one way and public opinion trending rapidly in the other, the Supreme Court may enter this week’s historic arguments over same-sex marriage with a preference for caution over boldness.
Two cases — Tuesday’s involves California’s ban on such unions, Wednesday’s concerns Congress’s decision to withhold federal recognition of legally married same-sex couples — offer the justices an unusually wide range of options. A broad constitutional ruling is one possibility, but so is a finding that the cases are not ripe for decision.
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- Author: Robert Barnes
- Source: Washington Post
March 25, 2013
The U.S. Supreme Court hears two important cases this week on the on same-sex marriage, an issue that a new poll says young Americans support in ever larger numbers.
Some of that shift in national polling is due to the increasing impact 18 to 32 year olds, known as the millennial generation, have on American politics. Among that age group, support for same-sex marriage is at an all-time high of 70 percent, according to the latest Pew Research poll.
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- Author: NPR Staff
- Source: NPR
March 21, 2013
Calling it “The Great Crossover,? a report by academics and social activists shows that for the first time in history the median age of American women having babies is lower than the median age of marriage – 25.7 and 26.5, respectively.
These “dramatic changes in childbearing,? the report states, results in dramatic statistics about American children. Among them, 48 percent of first births are by unwed mothers, and by age 30 two-thirds of American women have had a child, typically out of wedlock.
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- Author: Penny Starr
- Source: CNS
