Politics
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Tuesday February 10, 2004
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Print- Minister who Performed Homosexual 'Marriage' Awarded Order of Canada
- Malaysians Protest United Nations Attempt to Force Acceptance of Homosexuality
- UK Mother Seeks to Change Law after Daughter Traumatized by Secret Abortion
- Boston Archbishop Warns Teens TV can be a 'Poisonous', 'Brainwashing' 'Glass Idol'
- Study Finds Death of Parent Less Harmful Than Divorce
- Argentine President Proposes Self-Described "Militant Atheist" for Supreme Court
- Washington State Introduces Population Control Measure
- Romania: Abortions Continue to Exceed Live Births
- After 'Wedding', Britney Spears Makes Altar Call in California Church
- Honduran Bishops Warn "Morning After" Pill is Grounds For Excommunication
- LifeSite NewsBytes
Minister who Performed Homosexual 'Marriage' Awarded Order of Canada
TODAY'S HEADLINES
OTTAWA, February 10, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A homosexual activist United Church minister who performed a homosexual 'marriage' in New Brunswick where homosexual marriage remains against the law, has been awarded the Order of Canada. Adrienne Clarkson, Governor General of Canada - an advocate of homosexuality herself - announced the award to Eldon Hay January 27.
In announcing his award, the Governor General said "With intelligence, integrity and compassion, this human rights activist has championed a more tolerant, inclusive society." Hay, Professor Emeritus of religion at Mount Allison University and a United Church minister, was the first president of the activist group Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG).
Hay will be featured as a commentator on the CBC News Sunday live broadcast of a homosexual 'wedding' this Sunday, February 15. Of note, CBC - the country's publicly funded national broadcaster -will be airing the live 'wedding' on a day marked by Christian groups across the country as a special day to promote traditional marriage.
The week of February 8-15 and February 15 specifically has been designated by a partnership between the Ontario Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, among other groups, to proclaim the sanctity of marriage - as God designed it - between one man and one woman.
See more on the "Marriage on the Rock" week:
http://www.christianity.ca/family/marriage/ontherock
See the Governor General's announcement of recipients of the Order of Canada:
http://www.gg.ca/media/doc.asp?lang=e&DocID=4110
To express concerns to CBC or the Governor General:
Back to TopMalaysians Protest United Nations Attempt to Force Acceptance of Homosexuality
KUALA LUMPUR, February 10, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Malaysian government leaders and citizens protested this week the upcoming United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) resolution seeking to add "sexual orientation" to the list of prohibited grounds for discrimination. Professor Amina Salim of the University in Penang told an Islamic news service yesterday, "The new resolution that would force Malaysia and Muslim countries to accept and legalize gays and lesbians is an offence to Islam and to Muslims."
As LifeSiteNews.com reported last week, the resolution will be presented at the 60th session of the UNHRC which runs March 15-April 25 in Geneva Switzerland. The motion, which was sponsored by Brazil and co-sponsored by Canada, was postponed last year by a narrow vote at the UNHRC.
Representing the government's opposition to the motion, Dr Rais Yatim, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department said "The municipal or domestic laws of a nation should not be dictated by the U.N.'s mechanism of laws, unless the former wants to comply."
Islam online reports that at the 2003 UNHRC session, Pakistan distributed a memo to commission members on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference which stated the "resolution directly contradicts the tenets of Islam and other religions," and its approval would be "a direct insult to the 1.2 billion Muslims around the world".
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Homosexual Activists Move to Force Anti-Family Policy via United Nations
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/feb/04020302.html
See local coverage:
http://www.islam-online.net/English/News/2004-02/09/article06.shtml
UK Mother Seeks to Change Law after Daughter Traumatized by Secret Abortion
United Nations Promotes Keeping Parents Unaware of Teen Abortions
MANCHESTER, UK, February 10, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The mother of a 15-year-old Manchester girl is reeling after learning that her daughter had an abortion without her prior knowledge or consent. The mother discovered the information from reading the girl's diary; the diary entry read "I had my termination (killed my baby)."
The girl's mother told reporters that "I asked her if she wanted to get rid of it - and she said she was just too afraid of telling me…Now she says she didn't really want to get rid of it. We are an open family and I would have supported her all the way." Her mother said that "When she had her tonsils out I had to be there - but not for this. The clinic just told me it was confidential."
The girl assumed the hospital would inform her mother of her intention to have an abortion. She told reporters that "I said I didn't want to tell my mum so the woman phoned for an appointment at the hospital. I was in there about 15 minutes."
When hospital officials were asked about the policy on abortion, they said that "patient confidentiality rules prevent them from informing parents." UK law allows girls less than 16 years of age to procure an abortion without parental consent provided they are "Deemed mature enough to decide themselves."
A UNESCO document (UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) document, entitled "Unwanted Pregnancy and Unsafe Abortion," published late last year calls for sweeping government reform to make abortion available to all women and adolescent girls without restriction, going as far as to suggest that governments should subsidize abortions and offer "redress" to women who have been "denied" access to abortions "that should be made available to them."
The document goes on to reveal the UN plot to mandate access to abortion by a girl of any age without parental consent. The document reads "Wherever the law allows, Governments should guarantee the privacy of those seeking abortion services, especially adolescent women."
Read local coverage at:
http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/news/stories/Detail_LinkStory=80726.html
Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage,
'UNESCO Calls Abortion on Demand "Proper" Medical Procedure for Girls', at:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2003/oct/03103103.html
Boston Archbishop Warns Teens TV can be a 'Poisonous', 'Brainwashing' 'Glass Idol'
BOSTON, February 10, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Speaking to 1,300 teens gathered at a youth rally Saturday, Boston Archbishop Sean O'Malley warned against the corrupt influence the "glass idol" of television can have in peoples lives. "The great spiritual sicknesses of our age and our culture come in great part from the extreme individualism and materialism of our age. Television is the pulpit of those influences," he said.
He cautioned the youth particularly about a popular music video station "MTV" which he said packages negative trends "in an attractive way" adding, "but it's poisonous." Archbishop O'Malley also warned the young people to "be aware that there are people out there who want to brainwash you. Don't let yourself be brainwashed."
See local coverage of the event:
http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/02082004/south_of/75033.htm
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/localRegional.bg?articleid=1802
Study Finds Death of Parent Less Harmful Than Divorce
DUBLIN, Ireland, February 10, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A new study from University College Dublin has revealed that the effects of divorce are even more damaging than the death of a parent.
The new research reveals that children of divorced or separated parents are more likely to develop depression, do worse in school, and have poor social skills compared to other children. The study also revealed that the sense of loss experienced as a result of divorce is greater than that experienced when a parent dies.
In an interview with the Irish Examiner, the writer of the research paper, Professor Patricia Casey, said that "Children are damaged by separation and divorce." Professor Casey told the Examiner that she seeks to correct misinformation such as the claim that separation is better than couples remaining in a 'bad' marriage. In fact "The research shows that is not the case," she said.
"Nobody should delude themselves that divorce is easy," she continues, "Keeping a bad marriage together is difficult, but protecting children after a divorce can be even more difficult. Couples need to realise this."
She says that during the 1995 Irish divorce referendum one bishop said that separated children experience loss more profoundly than if the parent had died. "There was a massive brouhaha at the time, but he was actually right. The research has found that."
Casey also refers to corroborative studies like the one by Judith Wallerstein of the University of California at Berkeley which revealed that "Children from divorced families do less well academically, have less social skills and are at greater risk of depression."
Also read The Heritage Foundation report, "The Effects of Divorce on America," which reveals that the children of divorce are increasingly the victims of abuse, exhibit more problems (health, behavioral and emotional), and are more frequently involved in crime and drug abuse. Read the report at: http://www.heritage.org/Research/Family/BG1373.cfm
Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage which reveals that divorce is not really good for anyone at: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/feb/02021204.html
Argentine President Proposes Self-Described "Militant Atheist" for Supreme Court
BUENOS AIRES, February 8, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Argentine President Néstor Kirchner has proposed Carmen Argibay to be a member of the Supreme Court of Justice. Argibay has called herself a "militant atheist" and has said she is in favour of abortion.
The Argentine Constitution recognizes human life from the moment of conception and mandates its protection. Consequently, abortion is not legal in overwhelmingly Catholic Argentina. The appointment of pro-abortion, feminist and militant atheist justices has been the biggest obstacle to the protection of human life around the world.
Bishop Jorge Luis Lona of San Luis said in a statement that abortion is "expressly excluded from the national Constitution," and manifested his rejection of Argibay's pro-abortion position. He accused the President of proposing her for the post in order "to modify the letter or the meaning of the Constitution, making possible the legalization of abortion in Argentina."
See related Zenit coverage:
http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=48686
Washington State Introduces Population Control Measure
OLYMPIA, February 10, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In spite of global alarm over disastrous population decline in the developed world, Rep. Maralyn Chase has introduced a bill to the Washington State House that would require State health authorities to issue a pamphlet to 'encourage' families to limit the number of children to two or fewer.
House Bill 3111 is called "An Act Relating to Population Sustainability" and reflects the now widely discredited cliché popularized in the 1970's that overpopulation would cause massive food shortages and environmental disintegration. The bill concerns itself largely with routine activities of public health until the last clause which calls upon public health authorities to, "develop and distribute a pamphlet or other educational material that emphasizes the benefits and importance of couples limiting themselves to two or fewer children to promote population sustainability."
The term "sustainability" is a common buzzword among population control advocates at the United Nations and affiliated organizations for whom coercive abortion and sterilization programs are common practice. It has been the complaint of representatives of developing nations at the UN that UNICEF, the UNFPA and other groups threaten to withhold medical and food aid as a form of blackmail to reduce populations.
"Sustainability" is a commonly used as justification for the brutally enforced one-child policy in China which has been condemned by US authorities. The Washington bill has been referred to the Committee on Health Care.
For the text of the bill:
http://www.leg.wa.gov/pub/billinfo/2003-04/House/3100-3124/3111_01282004.txt
Romania: Abortions Continue to Exceed Live Births
BUCHAREST, February 10, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Romania has released its abortion statistics for 2003 which reveals that abortions still exceed live births. In the first nine months of 2003 alone, 170,000 abortions were committed - 8000 more children were aborted than were born alive in the same period.
Romania, a Russian - controlled dictatorship until 1989, saw more than three abortions recorded for each birth in 1990. Romania leads the world, second only to Russia, in its abortion rate.
A 2000 report from the World Health Organization revealed that "Russia and Central-Eastern Europe, with roughly 10 percent of the global population, accounts for up to a third of the 30 million to 40 million abortions registered annually around the world."
The abortion rate is horrific in Russia where six out of 10 pregnancies end in abortion. Russian officials have said that the high abortion rate accounts for about 6 million women being infertile (out of 38 million females who are of child-bearing age). Medical authorities consider abortion to be a "major cause" of infertility.
Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage from last year which revealed that
"Romania Has 70% Abortion Rate" at:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2003/feb/03021005.html
and the LifeSite coverage of the Russian abortion rate:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/oct/02102206.html
After 'Wedding', Britney Spears Makes Altar Call in California Church
INGLEWOOD, February 10, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The latest installment of the Britney Spears self-promotion saga involves a religious "experience" at a Christian church. Immediately following her 55 hour "marriage", Spears has followed with another mockery of Christianity. Spears and her mother, attended a service at the Faithful Central Bible Church in Inglewood, California at which they made an "altar call".
The altar call is a common practice in some Protestant congregational churches where, after a sermon, a person is called upon to make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ. The British newspaper the Daily Record reports that Spears and her mother were "moved" at the sermon and came forward hand in hand to make a public profession of Christian faith. Onlookers described the service as very emotional.
It remains to be seen if the pop singer's "experience" amounts to a conversion or if it is another crass publicity stunt or the workings of a deeply confused mind. A similar incident with actress Jane Fonda which took place a few years ago has not resulted in the actress altering her strident pro-abortion stand.
Honduran Bishops Warn "Morning After" Pill is Grounds For Excommunication
Tegulcigalpa, Feb. 10 (CWNews.com/LifeSiteNews.com) - The Catholic bishops of Honduras have denounced a campaign to distribute the "morning-after" pill in their country, and warned the faithful that complicity in abortion is grounds for excommunication.
In a joint public statements, the Honduran bishops said that the morning-after pill "is abortifacient, since it deliberately and directly ends the life of a human being immediately after conception." The bishops add that "abortion is an abominable crime."
In the statement on church moral teaching, that could be applied to Catholics anywhere in the world, the bishops state, "It is not possible to be living members of the Body of Christ, the Church, and also to be accomplices in abortion. Those who are involved are offending the God of life, and cutting themselves off from communion with the Body of Christ."
LifeSite NewsBytes
By a 2 to 1 margin - 60 percent to 31 percent Americans Oppose Homosexual Marriage
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20040209-115420-5105r.htm
Future of Democracy Hinges on the Family, Vatican Says at U.N.
http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=48759
BBC cartoon mocking Pope may never be aired thanks to massive complaints
http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,7493,1144421,00.html
Virginia Senate Passes Foetal Homicide Bill
http://www.wavy.com/Global/story.asp?S=1637099&nav=23iiKi8T
Guidelines Urged for Taking Organs From the Comatose
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/2/10/162134.shtml
Hollywood Heavies Funding Lobby to Make California Centre for Human Embryo Research
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/02/09/news/state/2_8_0421_21_25.txt
Theatres Showing The Passion of the Christ in Canada
http://www.equinoxefilms.com/default.asp
New York City Pharmacies Not Carrying Abortifacient Forced to Put up Sign
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/17504.htm
Adult day-care center to open in Fort Lauderdale for gay, lesbian seniors
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-cmcartor10feb10,0,1746810.sto...
This election will be a referendum on gay marriage
http://www.nationalreview.com/kurtz/kurtz200402100850.asp
CWA Asks Laura Bush - Will You Help Keep Libraries Safe for our Children?
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/5224/MEDIA/pornography/index.htm
Microsoft Warns of 'Critical' Security Flaws in Windows
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/2/10/152108.shtml
U.S. anti-spam law failing, study says
http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040210.gtspam0210/BNStory/T...
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