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If I were the devil
May 16th, 2012 Posted in Culture |
Do you remember the famous ABC radio news commentator Paul Harvey?
Millions of Americans listened to his programs which were broadcast over thousands of radio stations nationwide. The following commentary was broadcast 47 years ago. April 3, 1965.. It's short.less than 3 minutes BUT…….frighteningly similar to what is happening today.
Advertising regulator mocked for C4M probe
May 16th, 2012 Posted in Marriage |
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From The Christian Institute
The advertising regulator has been ridiculed for launching an astonishing investigation into ads which simply support the current law on marriage.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) says it has received ten complaints that ads for the Coalition for Marriage are “offensive”.
The ASA claimed that one of the complaints was from the Jewish Gay & Lesbian Group.
But the group says it never submitted a complaint, and that one of its members did so independently. The group has distanced itself from the matter.
Even supporters of gay marriage have scoffed at the ASA for its overreaction.
The National Secular Society, which backs gay marriage, said the ASA’s “bullying tone” should be resisted for the sake of free speech.
Health risks of the homosexual lifestyle
May 16th, 2012 Posted in Homosexuality |
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By Susan Brinkmann, Catholic Education Resource Center
This statement was made by Greg Quinlan, a former member of the homosexual community, who testified before the Ohio Defense of Marriage Act in November, 2003. Quinlan claimed that the physical and mental devastation caused by homosexual behavior, and the cumulative effect of that behavior "is incalculable."
The American public has been left largely in the dark about the extent of the medical problems associated with homosexual activity because of the influence of pro-homosexual political agendas. Some even believe they are being "compassionate" by not disclosing vital health information for fear of offending homosexuals.
For those health professionals like Greg Quinlan who minister to the dying, compassion is the last word they would use to describe the deliberate withholding of potentially life-saving information from active homosexuals.
The following is a brief review of what is currently known to medical science about the health risks associated with homosexual activity.
HIV/AIDS
Homosexual activity remains a major source of transmission of the HIV/AIDS virus.
A 1997 New York Times article reported that a young male homosexual has about a 50 percent chance of getting HIV by middle age. (Sheryl Gay Stolberg, "Gay Culture Weighs Sense and Sexuality," New York Times (Late edition, east coast), November 23, 1997, section 4, p.1)
As of 1998, 54 percent of all AIDS cases in America were homosexual men and according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) nearly 90 percent of these men acquired HIV through sexual activity with other men. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1998, June, HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report 10 (1)).
Part 1 of this series: The Phantom Gene
Part 2: Known causes of same-sex attraction
UK parliamentarians hear plight of Christian women
May 16th, 2012 Posted in Persecuted church |
From Christian Today
Revelations about the scale of hate crimes against Christian women in Pakistan and Egypt are to be the subject of a meeting in parliament today.
At the briefing in the House of Commons, MPs and peers will hear how Christian women in countries marked by religious persecution experience kidnapping, violence, rape, and even have basics like water denied them.
Evidence of widespread discrimination against Christian women is highlighted in a number of new reports.
These include the Life on the Margins report by the Pakistani Catholic Church’s National Commission for Justice and Peace, and Catholic charity Aid to the Need (UK)’s new book, Christians and the Struggle for Religious Freedom, which will be launched at the event in parliament.
According to research, women are more likely to experience sexual harassment or rape because of their lower social status – which is due to both their religion and their gender.
Self-control is the only magic bullet
May 16th, 2012 Posted in AIDS |
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By Carolyn Moynihan, MercatorNet
This is not exactly family fare but it seems significant that the American Psychological Association is calling attention to the need for “behavioural approaches” along with medical interventions to prevent HIV infection.
The APA’s statement was prompted by the news last week of a new drug, Truvada, that might do the trick. The professional body — not known for conservative positions — warns that the drug is “not a magic bullet”:
“Exclusive reliance on a drug to prevent HIV or any sexually transmitted disease could actually result in a worse outcome if those at risk don’t understand how their own behavior affects treatment,” said Perry N. Halkitis, PhD, chair of APA’s Committee on Psychology and AIDS. “We know that medical intervention depends on human behavior. The fact that only 28 percent of HIV-positive Americans in care achieve full viral suppression suggests very clearly that any medical intervention depends fully on behavioral as well as social and political factors.”
By “behavioural” factors the APA means practising “safe sex” and adhering to medical regimes. In other words, people at risk of HIV have to use a condom every time they have sex and take their medication every day.
Nursing must rediscover its Christian roots if compassion is to be revived
May 16th, 2012 Posted in Medical Ethics |
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By Peter Saunders, CMF
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Conference is to be told today that new nurses should be judged on their compassion not just their skills.
Sir Keith Pearson, the NHS Confederation chairman, is due to address the Royal College of Nursing's (RCN) annual conference in Harrogate.
He is one of the authors of a critical report into standards of care for older people and is expected to call for big changes in the way staff are recruited.
‘The Commission on Improving Dignity In Care for Older People’ has already made a series of recommendations to improve standards in hospitals and care homes in England.
It was set up following a series of critical reports into elderly care that highlighted some cases where care by front-line staff – including nurses – had failed.
The call for a culture change in nursing is most welcome. This fresh emphasis on rediscovering compassion in nursing is essential but nursing also needs to rediscover the spiritual roots that gave it compassion in the first place.
Does the ASA’s remit cover the Coalition for Marriage advertisement?
May 16th, 2012 Posted in Gay Activism, Marriage |
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By John Richardson
Followers of this blog may be aware that the Advertising Standards Authority has taken up a complaint against an advertisement being carried by the 'Cranmer' blog. You can see the advert and follow the initial reaction here. Read further on the blog for the story so far.
However, in doing a bit of digging around myself, I found this statement on the ASA's own website regarding online advertising:
From March 1st 2011, the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing (the CAP Code) has applied in full to marketing messages online, including the rules relating to misleading advertising, social responsibility and the protection of children. Journalistic and editorial content and material related to causes and ideas – except those that are direct solicitations of donations for fund-raising – are excluded from the remit.
Now forgive me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the C4M advert come into the category of 'material related to causes and ideas'? If so, then it is outside the ASA remit unless it is soliciting funds, which, as an advert, it is not.
We need to fix Britain’s character flaws
May 16th, 2012 Posted in Culture |
By Anthony Seldon, Telegraph
The cult of personality has run rampant. It is time to return to more old-fashioned values.
Character, and specifically its neglect, is the number one issue of our age. A society that is not grounded in deep values, that doesn’t know who its heroes are and that lacks a commitment to the common good, is one that is failing. Such we have become.
Today sees the launch at the House of Lords of the Jubilee Centre of Character and Values, to be based at the University of Birmingham. The multi-million-pound investment over 10 years comes from the John Templeton Foundation, set up by the American-born philanthropist. The aim of the centre is to promote and strengthen “character” within schools, families, communities and companies. It argues that character strengths can be taught, are critical to a life well led, and will benefit all aspects of the country if they are more widely in evidence.
The development of a sense of gratitude among people in Britain will be at the heart of the work. The character strengths it will advocate are self-restraint, hard work, resilience, optimism, courage, generosity, modesty, empathy, kindness and good manners. Old-fashioned values, maybe. Some will sneer, and ridicule them as middle class or “public school”. But these are eternal values, as advocated by Aristotle and countless thinkers since.
Harriet Harman’s public sector equality laws to be scrapped
May 16th, 2012 Posted in Equality, Political Correctness |
By Rowena Mason and John Bingham, Telegraph
Anti-race and sex discrimination laws brought in under Labour are set to be scrapped because the “unnecessary” rules are damaging businesses, Theresa May has said.
The Home Secretary is planning to get rid of powers that allow companies to be sued if their staff are harassed by customers or clients.
This currently leaves businesses open to lawsuits if they have not stopped members of the public making racist, sexist or “ageist” remarks to their employees.
Mrs May is also hoping to scrap rules that allow people who win discrimination cases to force their employers to change their practices.
The measures were brought in during the last days of the previous Labour government under the Equality Act championed by Harriet Harman, the former minister and deputy leader.
Yesterday, Mrs May also said she would speed up a review of whether public bodies should be forced to promote diversity as a legal requirement.
She revealed in November 2010 that the Home Office would seek to remove this “ridiculous” burden.
Dominic Raab, the Conservative MP for Esher and Walton, who has been critical of aspects of the equality agenda, said the Government is “right to take a second look at these ludicrous measures”.
"They add costs to business, and far from promoting equality they are socially divisive,” he said.
The Rt Hon David Davis MP on the Reform Section 5 campaign
May 16th, 2012 Posted in Freedom Of Speech |
Reform Section 5 Campaign launch
Read also: Christians and Secularists cobelligerent in fight to Reform Section 5 of the Public Order Act from eChurch
Explaining Obama’s Evolution
May 16th, 2012 Posted in Gay Marriage, Politics |
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By Thomas Haine, Witherspoon Institute
The electorate will often forgive—and can even embrace—a clean conversion story, where a politician honestly changes his mind and admits to it. But on marriage, such a story should not be available for the President, who was either alarmingly befuddled for several years or merely lying.
After his big announcement on May 9, President Obama now has some serious questions to answer about his position, the first of which is simply, what is marriage? But we should not start this substantive discussion just yet. The president probably believes he can successfully present himself as a sincere new convert to marriage equality who just changed his mind. He was a reluctant bigot, his supporters could even say, but now he has sincerely seen the light (and so, he seems to imply, should we). But if we focus on the timeline of the last few years, any nice conversion story becomes patently absurd.
In 1996, Obama affirmed “I favor legalizing same-sex marriages, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages.” (In another document that year he promised his support for a gay marriage resolution in Illinois.) But only two years later, on another questionnaire, he was just “undecided.” Then in 2004, he stated, “I am not a supporter of gay marriage as it has been thrown about, primarily as a strategic issue.” In 2006 he wrote “it is my obligation … to remain open to the possibility that my unwillingness to support gay marriage is misguided.” In 2008 at Saddleback Church, he said “I believe that marriage is the union between a man and a woman.” Again that same year to MTV, “I believe that marriage is the union between a man and a woman. I am not in favor of gay marriage.”
Trevor Phillips is right: Ridiculous PC rules on adoption have ruined countless lives
May 16th, 2012 Posted in Children/Family, Freedom Of Speech, Marriage, Political Correctness |
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By Steve Doughty, Mailonline
For a supposedly free country, we have a lot of words which are for all practical purposes banned from use in polite society.
I don’t mean the kind of thing we get from Russell Brand, who can say anything and does, with the result of boredom for the many and humiliation for some. The Brand brand of free speech gets him invitations from Westminster to talk down to MPs about drugs.
I don’t mean swearing, because there is only one word which remains taboo, and you still hear it regularly on TV, and it can’t be too long before some wannabe Brand makes his or her name by blurting it out on a breakfast show.
The words which really are unwelcome on the television, or in political discussion, or in academic debate, are those which express ideas which the majority of those in positions of influence or power would prefer were not discussed.
Some examples, then. How about the M-word?
You will have heard a certain amount of very self-important talk in recent days about parenting classes. The Government is going to hand out vouchers for them, and so forth. Lots of quangocrats think parenting classes are a very good thing, and that every parent should be made to go to compulsory parenting classes in the same way children must go to school.
Why is this necessary? Well, it’s not, for the majority of families. It’s an attempt to do something about troubled children, who, like it or not, mainly come from single parent families. Very rarely do they come from married families. But no politician or broadcast reporter is going to mention this, because of prejudice against single parents and all that.
The perceived need not to discriminate against single parents has led to overwhelming and ever-present discrimination against marriage, to the point where the word marriage has been purged from state forms and documents.
Free speech ’strangled by law that bans insults’ and is abused by over-zealous police and prosecutors
May 16th, 2012 Posted in Civil Liberty, Freedom Of Speech, Legislation |
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By James Chapman, Mailonline
Theresa May is being urged to reform a controversial law which bans ‘insulting words or behaviour’ amid mounting evidence that it is strangling free speech.
Campaigners say the Public Order Act is being abused by over-zealous police and prosecutors to arrest Christian street preachers, critics of Scientology, gay rights campaigners and even students making jokes.
Currently, Section 5 of the 1986 Act outlaws ‘insulting words or behaviour’, but what constitutes ‘insulting’ is unclear and has resulted in a string of controversial arrests.
Human rights campaigners, MPs, faith groups and secular organisations have joined forces to have the ‘insulting words or behaviour’ phrase removed from the legislation, arguing that it restricts freedom of speech and penalises campaigners, protesters and even preachers.
Former shadow home secretary David Davis, a leading campaigner for civil liberties, said reform was ‘vital to protecting freedom of expression in Britain today’.
‘There is a growing list of examples where the law against using “insulting” language has led to heavy-handed action by police and prosecutors. It is not only distressing for the individuals concerned, it constitutes a threat to Britain’s tradition of free speech,’ he said.
Read here
Swiss doctor censured after refusing to do abortion
May 16th, 2012 Posted in pro-life/abortion |
by Hilary White, LifeSite News
A general practitioner has been censured by the Swedish health authorities after saying no to an abortion, The Local, an English language Swedish newspaper reports.
In 2010, a woman went to the doctor, who with her patient is not named in the papers, asking for an abortion at her local gynecology clinic. The doctor reportedly began to have second thoughts after the woman’s husband asked the day before the scheduled abortion if there were any alternatives. The doctor reportedly cancelled the abortion appointment, saying the woman “didn’t seem to be mentally balanced and in a condition to make well-reasoned decisions.”
The National Board of Health and Welfare told the physician that her only task is to carry out the wishes of the patient, regardless of her estimation of the patient’s mental state. She was also criticised for having breached patient confidentiality by discussing the case with the woman’s husband.
The incident occurred one year after Swedish parliamentarians voted 271 to 20 against accepting a resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe supporting conscience rights for doctors across the European Union. Since a 1973 law, in fact, doctors can be jailed in Sweden for refusing to participate in abortion.
Orthodox leaders urge Ontario gvmt to scrap gay rights bill
May 16th, 2012 Posted in Gay Activism, Religious Liberty |
From LifeSite News
Leaders of Ontario’s 250,000 Orthodox Christians took aim at bullying in the province’s schools on Monday – starting with the government’s proposed Bill 13, the Accepting School Act.
A clergy delegation appeared as witnesses before the Standing Committee on Social Policy at Queen’s Park, charging that the government’s anti-bullying legislation virtually ignores most bullying victims in schools, while at the same time targeting traditional religious groups for censure.
“Statistics Canada data on bullying and violence indicates that bullying against religious groups is more than twice as common as bullying against self-identified gays and lesbians,” noted Father Geoffrey Korz, Orthodox Dean of Ontario and chief presented to the Queen’s Park committee. He was joined by Father William Makarenko, former Chancellor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada, and supported by Father John Koulouras of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Toronto, and Father Alexei Vassiouchkine of the Russian Orthodox Church.
“We must ask, why does Bill 13 make repeated, special mention of LGBT anti-bullying initiatives, when such incidents represent only a fraction of the reality of bullying in Ontario schools?”
ASA statement on Coalition for Marriage ads
May 16th, 2012 Posted in Marriage |
The ASA’s decision to investigate complaints about a series of ads by the Coalition for Marriage that are appearing in the press and online has prompted some comment in the media, the blogosphere and in other social media. We would like to clarify that the fact that we are investigating the complaints does not mean we will necessarily ‘uphold’ them, leading to the ad being banned. We are not at that decision-making stage yet and will, as always, take into account the responses we receive. The right of advertisers responsibly to express their views will undoubtedly be an important factor in our assessment of whether the ads are likely to cause serious or widespread offence. We are also looking at whether the ads are misleading.One of the bloggers on whose blog the ads appeared has raised concerns about us contacting him as part of our investigation. We have long found it useful to ask, in confidence, publishers of ads subject to ‘offence’ complaints for their views, because they can give us a valuable insight into whether or not their readers are likely to be offended. They are not the subject of our investigation, as we have made clear to them in this case, and they are not compelled to respond. Many of the adjudications published on our websites bear that out.
Read also: ASA's semantics and lies by Cranmer
Free speech row after watchdog asks Christian blogger to justify ‘offensive and homophobic’ anti-gay marriage advert
May 15th, 2012 Posted in Freedom Of Speech |
From Mailonline
Advertising watchdogs have demanded an explanation after a Christian blogger posted an allegedly 'offensive' advert on behalf of a petition against plans to legalise gay marriage.
The writer, known by the pen name Archbishop Cranmer, said the Advertising Standards Authority received 24 complaints and is asking that he respond to claims that the message – which asks viewers to 'Help us keep the true meaning of marriage' – is homophobic.
The Coalition for Marriage advert flickers between pictures of heterosexual couples on their wedding day, the phrase 'I do' and a message citing a market research poll that showed '70% of people say keep marriage as it is'.
The campaigners behind the petition describe themselves as 'an umbrella group of individuals and organisations in the UK that support traditional marriage and oppose any plans to redefine it'.
The ASA has stressed that the adverts, rather than the blogger, are the subject of their probe – and insist he is not compelled to justify the campaign message.
However, Archbishop Cranmer – who takes his pseudonym from a sixteenth-century reformer – remained adamant that the ASA is trying to restrict his and the Coalition for Marriage's right to free speech.
A multifaith Songs of Praise? Not on my watch says BBC religion chief
May 15th, 2012 Posted in Christianity, Faith, Media |
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By John Bingham, Telegraph
Songs of Praise is to remain Christian despite calls for it to be turned it into a multifaith programme, the BBC’s first Muslim head of religion has pledged.
Aaqil Ahmed said that it was vital that religious programming promoted “diversity” but insisted that Songs of Praise would always remain Christian.
Mr Ahmed’s appointment three years ago attracted controversy in some quarters and even complaints to the corporation.
In an interview in 2010 he accused the Church of England of “living in the past” by complaining about a fall in the number of hours given to religious broadcasting.
But speaking to an audience invited by the Catholic Communications Network in London he said it was “childish” to think that religion was being cut back on the BBC.
Religious output on the BBC had risen under his tenure to 600 hours of radio a year and 170 hours on television, he said.
He said that diversity was “the future” but added that traditional offerings such as Songs of Praise were still “loved” in the corporation.
“So no multifaith Songs of Praise,” he said.
“It will, whilst I am in the job, remain a Christian programme.
Investigated, simply for carrying pro-marriage ads
May 15th, 2012 Posted in Gay Activism, Gay Marriage, Marriage |
From C4M
In a move that has attracted criticism from all sides, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is investigating some websites that carry C4M advertising.
Apparently, some people think it is “offensive” to advertise a campaign that simply wants to uphold the current law on marriage.
If supporting the current law is “offensive”, what would happen to supporters of traditional marriage if the law on marriage is changed?
[...] But on another level, it is a troubling sign of what may happen if marriage is redefined. Will the authorities pounce on every utterance in support of traditional marriage?
Will activists demand punitive action every time someone thoughtlessly uses the deeply offensive, heterosexist phrase “husband and wife”?
Yes, the ASA has lost all sense perspective. But a loss of perspective is what happens when ordinary people are ignored.
Ottawa’s award-winning way of killing off childhood
May 15th, 2012 Posted in Children/Family, Sexualisation |
AM Comment: If you wish to complain about this appalling sexualisation of children and young people (going to the site gives a good taste of what is on offer) please email Lfournier@technomuses.ca. or phone 1 613 991 3044.
By Michael Coren, MercatorNet
A tell-all exhibition in a national museum normalizes sexual experimentation for kids — with government funding.
I suppose there is something grotesquely timely about it all. The same week as the President of the United States, the most powerful politician in the world, allegedly decides fundamentally vital social policy after listening to advice from his two young daughters, the children of Canada are once again thrown into an adult swamp and used and abused by adults.
This time it’s about pictures at an exhibition so to speak, but old Mussorgsky would be spinning in his grave. In Ottawa, the capital of the first Anglo-Saxon, English-speaking country to introduce same-sex marriage, “Sex: A Tell-All Exhibition”, is on display at the publicly-funded Canada Science and Technology Museum. And just in case you can’t catch it right now, the thing runs until the beginning of 2013.
Which is in itself a little odd, in that most of these temporary exhibits have a very short run, and several museums devoted to the sacrifice and heroism of Canadian soldiers and airmen, for example, are currently struggling to even survive due to financial hardships.
In case you assume that the reference to same-sex marriage is gratuitous, it’s essential to any understanding of why and how cultures become obsessed with the public display of sex. The re-definition of marriage based merely on the demands of an intensely fashionable sexual preference rather than immutable natural law has allowed ancient social institutions to become victim to the whims of personal desire and lust. It wasn’t so much marriage that was re-defined, but the human person. We were now to be classified simply by our sexuality, and sex was promoted as the pre-eminent of human aspects. More than this, what has always been a child-centred institution was now perverted into an adult-one.
So it was inevitable that such a culture would want to sexualize children as young as possible. It’s the mantra of much of the Western world: claim to protect children, but determine to destroy childhood.