LifeSite Daily News for Wednesday December 12, 2007

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Golden Compass Coverage Explained

Dear Readers,

Some might be questioning why LifeSiteNews has given so much coverage to The Golden Compass controversy. Let us explain.

The $180 million movie marks the latest ramping up of secularists’ open attack not just on religion, but also on all the moral and social (family life) principles promoted and upheld by faithful Christian believers. The existence of these moral standards appear to be the main factor driving the vehement opposition to, and indeed hatred of Christianity and all religions that include similar principles.

It is no surprise then to find liberal, barely believing “Christians” also praising or at least seeing no objection to the Golden Compass and Philip Pullman’s other two children’s novels in the “His Dark Materials” trilogy. They love his rejection of authority and affirmation of personal autonomy to do whatever feels good.

A few others, who are faithful Christians, have also downplayed the dangers of the Pullman series. We concur with Denver Archbishop Chaput that such is just poor judgment. Chaput commented “The idea that any Christian film critics could overlook or downplay these negative elements, as some have seemed to do, is simply baffling.”

If the next two, even more aggressively anti-God Pullman books, are also made into movies there is certain to be some serious damage done by muddying the minds of vulnerable, poorly informed children and adults. Many of these easily influenced persons, bereft of brave and faithful religious shepherds and already influenced by our sensual death culture, will go on to also be influenced by the more insidious Pullman novels.

The Pullman books are only one manifestation of a general and dangerous current trend, but they are a prominent one.

We ignore or downplay these developments at our peril.

As we continue to ignore or shrug off such affronts to faith and morals, worse is certain to follow.

Those bent on pushing faith to the outskirts of society or even eliminating it, see in apathy an opportunity to advance their agenda ever more.

As history has shown, it inevitably will lead to open and eventually violent religious persecution – if we let it.

The triumphs of the modern de-populationists, natural family destroyers and Christianity haters are not really their achievements. Such so-called ‘progress’ takes place only because people of faith and religious leaders have been so very, very weak.

Evil gladly fills with its own influences a vacuum bereft of faith, goodness and determination. There is nothing at all new in this.

Abortion, euthanasia, the breakdown of sexual morality and more are all occurring because of a great decline in religious belief and practice in recent decades. And it will continue to grow until all those of good will finally wake up.

That’s why we have been reporting on this controversy.

If you have not yet sent in a donation in response to our fundraising campaign, please consider doing so.

LifeSiteNews URGENTLY needs those funds to continue to do this work. We are still far short of our goal. A large majority of readers have not yet responded.

See how to donate at https://www.lifesitenews.com/contribute/

Steve Jalsevac
Managing Director
LifeSiteNews.com

John-Henry Westen
Editor
LifeSiteNews.com

U.S. House Votes 372-9 to Pass Resolution Supporting Christmas and Christianity

WASHINGTON, December 12, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Yesterday, the U.S. House passed a resolution recognizing the importance of Christmas and the Christian faith by a vote of 372 to 9. Nine members voted against the resolution, ten refused to support it by voting “present,” and 40 others members did not vote.

All but two of the representatives voting “present” or against the Christmas Resolution voted in favor of a resolution recognizing Ramadan, which passed by a 376-0 vote in October. The Ramadan Resolution stated that the House “recognizes the Islamic faith as one of the great religions of the world…expresses friendship and support for Muslims…acknowledges the onset of Ramadan…and conveys its respect to Muslims…rejects hatred, bigotry, and violence directed against Muslims…commends Muslims… who have privately and publicly rejected interpretations and movements of Islam that justify and encourage hatred, violence, and terror”.

The Christmas Resolution uses similar language, stating that the House recognizes “the Christian faith as one of the great religions of the world…expresses continued support for Christians…acknowledges the international religious and historical importance of Christmas and the Christian faith…acknowledges and supports the role played by Christians and Christianity in the founding of the United States and in the formation of the western civilization…rejects bigotry and persecution directed against Christians…and expresses its deepest respect to American Christians and Christians throughout the world”.

The nine members who voted against the Christmas Resolution were all Democrats: Ackerman (NY), Clarke (NY), DeGette (CO), Hastings (FL), Lee (CA), McDermott (WA), Scott (VA), Stark (CA) and Woolsey (CA). The 10 who answered “present” without entering a vote were also Democrats except one: Conyers (MI), Frank (MA), Holt (NJ), Payne (NJ), Pence (Republican from IN), Schakowsky (PA), Schwartz (PA), Wasserman-Schultz (FL), Welch (VT) and Yarmuth (KY).

3 Archbishops and 2 Bishops: Growing List of Hierarchy Condemning Golden Compass

Baltimore Archbishop “grateful” USCCB withdrew positive movie review because “it caused much confusion in the Catholic Community”

By John-Henry Westen

NEW ORLEANS, December 12, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Archbishops of Baltimore and New Orleans can be added to the growing number of US Catholic bishops expressing public opposition to the anti-Christian, anti-religion film ‘The Golden Compass’. Late Monday the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) withdrew a positive review that was published on the film by the USCCB Office of Film and Broadcasting. (see coverage: https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/dec/07121102.html )

In his November 24 column in the Clarion Herald, New Orleans Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes warned that the film is based on the “His Dark Materials” books by Philip Pullman, books which the archbishop said, “surreptitiously lead children to atheism and pose a special threat to Christianity.”

Archbishop Hughes warns moreover that the subtlety with which the books and film promote anti-Christianity may be a greater danger than a more frontal attack. “The kingdom of Satan is at war with the Kingdom of God,” he said. “His weapons are violence and deceit. In some ways, violence is easier to fight against. It is more obvious and more abhorrent, even though we have a great deal of difficulty in containing it today. Deceit, however, is subtler and more subversive. It fosters rebellion through half-truths.” (see the full column here: https://www.arch-no.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&… )

In comments sent by email to the Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien remarked on the USCCB withdrawal of the positive review for the film. “The Archdiocese of Baltimore is grateful that the Conference withdrew the review because it caused much confusion in the Catholic Community,” he said. “From all reports, the review failed to adequately warn parents about the movie’s widely recognized dark themes and anti-Catholic imagery.” (see coverage: https://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/bal-to.compass12de… )

LifeSiteNews.com reported yesterday that Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput panned the film as having an unmistakable “aggressively anti-religious, anti-Christian undercurrent.” In a thinly veiled criticism of the just pulled positive review by the USCCB office for film, he added that “The idea that any Christian film critics could overlook or downplay these negative elements, as some have seemed to do, is simply baffling.” (see: https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/dec/07121105.html )

LifeSiteNews.com reported last week that La Crosse Bishop Jerome Listecki instructed the priests of his diocese to warn the faithful against the film. (see: https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/dec/07120403.html )

In a November 9 statement on ‘The Golden Compass’, Austin Texas Bishop Gregory M. Aymond said: “The upcoming movie version of “The Golden Compass” has led to questions about the trilogy of books by Philip Pullman. Catholic schools and religious education programs should not encourage children to read any of these books and they should not be held in their libraries. “The Golden Compass” attempts to devalue religion, especially Christianity. Our children deserve better education than what is in these books and movie.” See it online here: (https://www.austindiocese.org/newsletter_issue_view.php?id=13… )

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Call for US Bishops to Fire Chief Movie Reviewer Renewed as Compass Review Pulled
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/dec/07121106.html

Thousands of U.S. Doctors Ask Ob/Gyn College to Stop Forcing Physicians to Refer for Abortion

WASHINGTON, DC, December 12, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The United States’ largest faith-based association of physicians, the 15,000-member Christian Medical Association (https://www.cmda.org), joined other leading national organizations yesterday in challenging The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) to stop its attack on the conscience rights of pro-life physicians.

A letter, drafted by the CMA and signed by other national organizations, blasted ACOG’s Committee on Ethics position statement, “The Limits of Conscientious Refusal in Reproductive Medicine.” CMA’s letter noted that the statement “suggests a profound misunderstanding of the nature and exercise of conscience, an underlying bias against persons of faith and an apparent attempt to disenfranchise physicians who oppose ACOG’s political activism on abortion.”

CMA CEO David Stevens, MD said, “ACOG is not only out of touch with conscience-driven physicians, but also with our long-standing American tradition to protect the rights of citizens to not participate in conscience-violating actions-especially when those actions would take a human life. That American tradition rests on constitutional principles of religious freedom and speech.”

ACOG’s position paper targets pro-life physicians, insisting that abortion-objecting physicians refer patients to get abortions and declaring that physicians who will not participate in conscience-violating procedures and prescriptions must actually move close to doctors who will.

Dr. Stevens added, “Many physicians had been realizing that because of their aggressive abortion lobbying, ACOG officials do not represent the values of most physicians and mainstream medicine. This statement goes a step beyond not representing our life-affirming values to actually advocating policies to prevent us from exercising those values. ACOG’s attitude seems to be, ‘If you don’t toe the ACOG line on abortion, the ‘morning-after pill,’ and the application of reproductive technology, then you shouldn’t be practicing obstetrics–and if you do, we’re going to do everything in our power to force you to accommodate our abortion agenda.”

CMA Executive Vice President Gene Rudd, MD, an obstetrician and gynecologist, noted, “I have withdrawn my ACOG membership of over 25 years. My conscience can no longer support their lack of conscience. ACOG’s strategy seeks to marginalize dissenting opinions. I as an obstetrician have a moral obligation not only to act in my patient’s best interest, but also in the best interest of the developing baby, and of society as a whole.”

See the CMA letter:
https://www.cmda.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Right_of_Conscie…

See the ACOG position statement:
https://www.acog.org/from_home/publications/ethics/co385.pdf

Canadian Hospital Wants to Withdraw Patient’s Feeding Tube but Jewish Family Says No in Court

Patient’s body is not shutting down and he is benefitting from the provision of fluid and food

By John-Henry Westen

WINNIPEG, December 12, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench reserved its decision yesterday in the case of a 84-year-old Orthodox Jewish man in hospital from whom doctors want to withdraw food and fluids and a ventilator.

After a fall in 2003, Golubchuk suffered a brain injury but was still able to communicate. He was sent to Grace Hospital in Winnipeg in October after contracting pneumonia. Doctors have determined that he is not responding to their treatment and thus have decided to pull the feeding tube and ventilator even though he is still benefiting from them.

The Winnipeg Free Press reports that when the family objected and threatened legal action the hospital actually moved the date of removal of the feeding tube from December 1 up to November 30. “The doctors and hospital deny that, but Kravetsky said he had to argue with one of the doctors — and had to pass his cellphone over to a court registrar — to persuade them not to pull the life support while he was in court seeking an injunction on Nov. 30. Justice Perry Schulman granted that injunction a few minutes later,” reports the paper.

In an affidavit, local Rabbi Y. Charytan, said Orthodox Jews believe “life must be extended as long as possible and we are not allowed to hasten death.”Charytan said he told hospital officials that if they remove life support from Golubchuk it “is a sin and not acceptable.”

Neil Kravetsky, the family’s lawyer, said of the family that, “Their view is you don’t hasten death, period. Where there is life there is life.” He added: “To pull you physically off these machines, takes the patient’s consent. To do otherwise, is murder. I really believe this. I don’t see the difference if (a doctor) came in and put a pillow over his face.”

Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is concerned that cost-containment is behind the decision to remove the ventilator and the feeding tube in this case. “Whether he will fully recover or not, the family hopes that he will survive and their religious belief opposes any act that might cause his death,” Schadenberg told LifeSiteNews.com.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition agrees with the family position in relation to the feeding tube. If fluids and food are not provided he will die of dehydration and not his underlying medical condition. Schadenberg stated: “We consider fluids and food to be basic care and not medical treatment and therefore obligatory until the provision of fluid and food stops providing any benefit.” In this case it appears that his body is not shutting down and he is benefitting from the provision of fluid and food.

UK Catholic Bishop to Schools: Lessons on Sex, Contraception Etc May Not be Presented as “Neutral Info”

Mandates greater focus on the basics of Catholic teaching; “concerned” about mixed messages on sexual activity

By Hilary White

LANCASTER, UK, December 12, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Catholic bishop of Lancaster in the north west of England, has issued a set of instructions to the schools in his diocese to say they must become more focussed on the Catholic faith, including on key life and family issues, “at a time when Catholic education is being challenged by some.”

Catholic schools must become more Catholic, wrote Patrick O’Donoghue in the instructions, titled “Fit for Mission,” that were issued last week and described as “radical” in the Catholic press.

The instructions are based on “four pillars” based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church, given by the bishop as the foundation of Catholic education. “The Profession of Faith” of the Apostles’ Creed, the sacraments, the Catholic teaching on the moral life and prayer.

The instruction specifically admonishes schools to “always teach sex within the sacrament of marriage.” With sex education being made compulsory by government, the bishop writes that he is “concerned” that students are being given mixed messages about sexual activity. He writes that it “paramount” to teach about sex only within the context of “the Church’s teaching on sexuality and the sacrament of marriage”.

“The secular view on sex outside of marriage, artificial contraception, sexually transmitted disease, including HIV and AIDs, and abortion may not be presented as neutral information.” Schools in his diocese must follow principles set out by Church documents. The instruction says, “No material of an erotic nature must be presented either individually or in a group and sexual instruction must respect modesty and pupils own sensitivity or sense of privacy.”

On bringing pro-abortion and other anti-life speakers into schools, the bishop’s language is even stronger, saying that “under no circumstances” can outside speakers be brought into the schools who are “not fully qualified to speak on behalf of the Catholic Church… on sexual or any other matter involving faith and morals.” The bishop unambiguously prohibited his schools from promoting charities that support “anti-life policies” such as Red Nose Day and Amnesty International.

He writes that schools “have an important part to play” in teaching students how to judge “issues of justice and peace…such as the emerging ‘culture of death’, [and] the promotion of a so called ‘human rights’ culture that infringes religious liberty”.

Under the last section, parents who had been urging Catholic schools to refocus on the basics, will be encouraged to see the bishop has relied on traditional elements such as adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the Rosary, the lives of saints and mediation on scripture.

Daphne McLeod, Chairman of the Catholic lay organisation, Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, said that the bishop’s initiative is “very promising.” The group works to encourage greater adherence to doctrine in Catholic institutions. Mcleod told LifeSiteNews.com, “We’re very pleased about it. He is admitting that there is room for improvement and is doing something about it.” McLeod said the failings of religious instruction in the Catholic schools in Britain have been noted for years by parents who are increasingly choosing to join the small but growing ranks of homeschoolers.

“It’s the same in all the dioceses,” she said, because of two texts for religious instruction, approved by the bishops for use in all Catholic schools, “Here I Am” for primary children and “Icons” for secondary students. McLeod called these “inadequate” not for what was included but for what is left out.

“The term ‘sanctifying grace’ has been banned in Catholics schools for years and Bishop O’Donoghue is specifically instructing that it be taught,” she said. “I know a teacher who was sacked for teaching the Rosary and he wants to teach the Rosary. It’s very encouraging.”

VIDEO: Abortionist Tells Medical Students to Lie to Patients

“Several women have died while getting abortions” from him and yet Michigan board of health has never investigated him

ARLINGTON, VA , December 12,2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Last month, Dr. Alberto Hodari spoke to students at Wayne State in Detroit about his career performing abortions. In his speech, Hodari told students that doctors have a license to lie to their patients (34:05).

The video of the entire speech with captions has now been released on Google Video.(https://tinyurl.com/2fo7ef) The speech took place on November 9, 2007.

Also in the speech, Hodari talks about going to Mexico to do experiments on pregnant women that were outlawed in the United States (38:57). He invited students to come watch an abortion he performed (11:57) and he also spoke about how little he washed between abortions because it chafed his hands (12:13).

“To hear Hodari speak, one wonders if Michigan is the third world,” Students for Life of America (SFLA) Executive Director Kristan Hawkins said. “Planned Parenthood complains about ‘back-alley’ abortions, even though Hodari is running a business where he’s barely washing his hands between abortions.”

SFLA Student President Ashley Tyndall said, “Several women have died while getting abortions with Hodari, and yet the Michigan board of health has never investigated him. How many women have to die before the bureaucrats start telling Hodari to wash his hands and tell patients the truth.”

For more information visit: https://www.studentsforlife.org/

VIDEO: Chicago-Area Police Threaten to Arrest Man for Simply Praying While Pushing Baby Stroller on Public Street

Police chief responds, “he can pray at home or anywhere”, except near abortion center

By John Connolly

AURORA, Illinois, December 12, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A YouTube video shows police monitoring a peaceful protest in a Chicago suburb who threatened to arrest a man that was not part of the protest because he was praying while walking his baby in a stroller on the sidewalk near a huge Planned Parenthood abortion facility.

Aurora resident Roger Earl was walking his baby and praying from a prayer book on November 17 when police confronted him and told him he couldn’t be there.

“I wasn’t planning to be part of the protest today,” said Earl. “I didn’t realize that I was breaking any law by walking along the sidewalk praying.”

A pro-life worker has put a video on YouTube of Roger Earl talking with reporters after his confrontation with police officials.

Earl was near the protest because his wife was sidewalk counseling, and he was watching their infant. Police approached him and warned him twice and then threatened to arrest him even after he denied being part of the protest.

Earl was praying and wearing an insignia indicating he opposed abortion, according to Police spokesman Dan Ferrelli. Aurora Police Chief William Powell callously dismissed the excessive police enforcement, linking prayer near an abortion center to a legal protest.

“If he’s praying here, he’s here because of the building,” Powell said. “He can pray at home or anywhere.”

Jason Craddock, one of the attorneys for Fox Valley Families Against Planned Parenthood and the Pro-Life Action League, said the incident was a blatant example of anti-picketing enforcement.

See interview with Roger Earl over his arrest threat:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTRkpKaJZ3k.

See previous LifeSiteNews coverage:

Assaulted Sidewalk Counselor Speaks Out about Abortion and Miscarriage of Justice
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/feb/07021206.html

Abortion Clinic and Security Face Lawsuit after Christendom College Student Injured
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/may/05050404.html

Pro-Lifers Counseling outside Dallas Abortion Center Assaulted
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/aug/04081003.html

Woman Abducted by Parents for Abortion Angry Over Dropping of Felony Charges

By Hilary White

December 12, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Katelyn Kampf has said she is angry her parents, who tried to kidnap her to force her to abort her son, have been given a “slap on the wrist” by courts. Kampf, holding her son, Diandre, spoke on the national ABC television programme “Good Morning America”. Her parents, well-known businesspeople in their town, were not sentenced to any jail time and felony charges have been dropped.

She said, “I feel like my parents should have been looked at as just any other individual. It shouldn’t have been made into a family matter because it was still a crime.”

In September 2006, when Katelyn was 19 and a student at Boston College, she was six months pregnant and suffered a nightmare when her parents physically subdued her, tying her hands and feet and forcing her into their car to drive to a New York abortion facility.

She said her parents were not happy about her relationship with her boyfriend Reme Johnson, a black South African with whom she lived, but that she had no idea they would react the way they did. Katelyn told “Good Morning America” that her parents “were a little bit racist”.

“I tried to leave the house and that’s pretty much where the physical part started,” she said. “And they tried to pull me back into the house and keep me from leaving. My dad restrained me on the floor and my mom walking in from the kitchen holding a rope.”

Her parents forced her into their car and drove from their home in Maine, heading for a New York abortion facility. She escaped when the car stopped at a Kmart in New Hampshire where Katelyn called police.

“Good Morning America” quotes a New Hampshire police officer who said, “There were ligature marks on her hand, some redness around her face and neck, real probability she was bound and gagged like she said.” Katelyn told the court her parents had threatened to kill her and police found a .22-caliber rifle, as well as duct tape and rope in the Kampfs’ Lexus.

She said about her son, “It hurts a lot to look at him and just think that somebody wouldn’t want him here.”

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Parents Kidnap Daughter, Attempt Forced Abortion, Police Charge
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/sep/06092001.html

Special Report Exposes America’s Forced Abortion Epidemic
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/sep/06092902.html

Labour Backbenchers Rebel on Embryo Bill After Meeting with Cardinal

By Hilary White

LONDON, December 12, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The UK’s Observer reports that a group of Labour MP’s is preparing to defy party whips and oppose the government’s proposed Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. 40 backbenchers, led by MP Jim Dobbin, will tell party whips and the Prime Minister of their objections to the bill.

The Labour government announced earlier that all MP’s will be whipped to vote with the government on the bill, despite it being considered a “conscience” matter, an unusual move in British politics but now common in other countries such as Canada. In November the Daily Telegraph reported on “growing backbench unease” with some of the provisions of the bill that prompted a Labour party crack-down.

Dobbin, Labour MP for Heywood and Middleton in the Midlands, is the chairman of the UK Parliamentary all-party Pro Life Group. When the Commons committee studying the 1967 Abortion Act recommended loosening the abortion requirements, Dobbin criticised the Committee’s position saying their report “reflected a clear pursuit of an ideological position that puts women’s health in danger.

“We believe there is clear a scientific case to be made to reduce the upper limit for social abortions from 24-weeks. This is an ill-advised and badly thought-through set of recommendations which does not reflect changing attitudes to abortion in the country.”

The proposed embryo legislation has been blasted by religious leaders and others for its proposals to allow human/animal hybrid cloning and the denial of a child’s need for a father in cases of conception by in vitro fertilisation.

The Observer says the move by the backbenchers follows a meeting with Cormac Cardinal Murphy O’Connor, the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, by MP’s from all parties who agreed to work more closely with church leaders on political issues.

At the same time, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has announced it will not prohibit multiple embryo IVF treatment. Some European legislators have called for a restriction similar to the law in Italy that mandates the number of embryos created by in vitro fertilisation must be implanted in a woman’s uterus.

The HFEA has instead announced a national strategy involving guidelines drawn up by professional groups in an attempt to reduce the rates of multiple births. Walter Merricks, the interim chairman of the HFEA, wrote to Health Minister Dawn Primarolo calling on the government to pay for more free cycles of treatment to help with the plan.

He said, “We always have in mind that still the greatest risk in the eyes of patients is the risk of not having a baby. Women with access to only one funded cycle of treatment are only acting rationally if they beg for a double embryo transfer in their single chance of becoming pregnant.”

Multiple pregnancy is often followed by a “selective reduction” where one or more children in the womb are “selected” and killed.

Merricks dismissed the problem saying, “The risk of a twin pregnancy seems nothing to the risk of no pregnancy.”

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Britain’s Labour Party to Force MP’s to Support Embryology Bill
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/nov/07112308.html

New York Times/CBS Poll Reveals More Americans Want Stricter Abortion Laws

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski

December 12, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A poll conducted from Dec. 5 to Dec. 9, 2007 by a telephone interview of 1,133 adults showed that Americans still largely support legalized abortion, but increasingly believe it should be harder to get and be regulated by stricter laws.

New York Times/CBS News conducts a bimonthly poll containing the question: “Which of these comes closest to your view? Abortion should be generally available to those who want it; Abortion should be available but under stricter limits than it is now; or Abortion should not be permitted.”

The results from the last three polls are as follows:

Jul. 2007 Sept. 2007 Dec. 2007
Generally available 41% 34% 36%
Stricter limits 34% 39% 43%
Not be permitted 22% 25% 18%
Not sure 2% 2% 3%

Another similar CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll was carried out in October, 2007.

When asked the question, “Do you think abortion should be legal under any circumstances, legal only under certain circumstances, or illegal in all circumstances?” 23% said Always Legal, 54% said Sometimes Legal, and 22% said Always Illegal.

But when asked, “Regardless of whether you think abortion should be allowed or not, do you personally believe having an abortion is wrong?” 60% said Yes, 36% said No, and 4% were unsure.

The latest results of both polls indicate the pro-life message has begun to influence more Americans in recent years.

Latvian Cardinal Asks Politicians to Keep Homosexuality from Invading Public Life

By John Connolly

RIGA, Latvia, December 12, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In what homosexual activists are complaining was an attempt to bar gays from political life, Cardinal Janis Pujats delivered a statement on homosexuality in public life on December 10, calling for all political leaders to support the Latvian people’s moral values.

As Latvia prepares to elect a new parliament, Cardinal Pujats called upon voters to block any individual unwilling to represent the people’s moral values from running for Prime Minister. The Cardinal asked candidates to affirm that they are “ready to defend the Latvian nation against the invasion of homosexuality in public life.”

“As a cardinal, I say this in the name of Latvia’s half-million Catholic believers,” said the statement. “They are citizens of their country and have rights to express their opinions on all issues of national importance. People are entitled to receive a public answer.”

Cardinal Pujatis further iterated that it is the duty of the government to protect the ordinary citizens from militant homosexuality, a movement he has warned Latvia about before. The Cardinal refused to be tolerant of moral corruption and the harm to the populace and society that comes from it.

All three candidates for Latvian Prime Minister have attempted to distance themselves from the Cardinal’s statements, and leaders in the homosexual movement have denounced the statement on the grounds that it violates the laws of the European Union.

The Latvian parliamentary elections will take place Monday.

See previous LifeSiteNews coverage:

Latvian Cardinal Warns “Gay” Pride Parade a Foretaste of “True Military” Attack on Nation’s Values
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/may/07051105.html

Latvian Cardinal Warns Gay Militancy More Dangerous than Soviet Times
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/aug/05081609.html

Latvian Parliament Overwhelmingly Supports Constitutional Protection for Traditional Marriage
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/dec/05120204.html

Socialist Gays Seek Punishments for Brazilian Christian Congressman

Guest article by Julio Severo

BRAZIL, December 12, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – I A radical homosexual group inside the Brazilian Workers’ Party is requesting disciplinary action against Brazilian House Representative Henrique Afonso, a party member. According to the Setorial Nacional GLBT (a group of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transvestites and transsexuals within the Worker’s Party), Rep. Afonso, who is an evangelical, has allegedly been “offensive” to homosexuals, because he “has linked homosexuality to the destruction of the family environment”.

Afonso respects individuals living in homosexuality, but he believes that their behavior is immoral and opposed to God’s sexual plan for the human beings.

So homosexual activists from the Workers’ Party are requesting the party’s National Secretariat for Popular Movements take measures against Henrique Afonso. It believes that he has violated party statutes because he is opposed to abortion and homosexual behavior.

Gay and feminist militants within the party are offended because Afonso has been demonstrating firm biblical conviction on the subject of abortion and homosexuality. They complain that the evangelical congressman signed an official paper on March 2, 2007 that outlines the decisive factors contributing to the destruction of the family environment, and the challenges that should be confronted (for instance, abortion, homosexuality, child prostitution, drugs, high divorce rates, social exclusion, media influence), aiming at the recovery of the true role that the family has in the construction of a just, compassionate, and fraternal society.

Rep. Afonso is the founder of the National Evangelical Campaign in Defense of Life and Family[1], officially launched in the Brazilian Congress on September 18, which had the participation of several evangelical leaders. The purpose of the effort is to discuss infanticide, abortion, homosexuality, pedophilia, as well as to discuss those who are persecuted for attacking these problems. They are individuals such as Márcia Suzuki, the renowned Brazilian philosopher Olavo of Carvalho, the Rev. Ademir Kreutzfeld, Cardinal Dom Eugênio Sales, Rep. Henrique Afonso, Fr. Luiz Carlos Lodi of Cruz, Dr. Humberto L. Vieira, Dr. Rozangela Justino, Rev. Silas Malafaia and Julio Severo.

In the past, Afonso was a radical communist militant, but he is now increasingly a militant for Christ, despite his membership in the Worker’s Party. The Workers’ Party is the socialist party of President Lula, a friend of Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez, and it openly promotes pro-abortion and pro-homosexuality policies.

Under Lula and the Workers’ Party, sodomy has been endorsed though aggressive public policies, especially the pro-homosexual propaganda campaign “Brazil Without Homophobia”, and has been introduced in three successive pioneer resolutions in the United Nations, where the Brazilian diplomatic delegation defended homosexuality as an unalienable “human right”.

Congressman Henrique Afonso had a strong experience with the Holy Spirit some months ago, and now he is firmly opposing the homosexual and abortion bills and agenda of his own party. He is taking his National Evangelical Campaign in Defense of Life and Family to every Brazilian state to make Christian and concerned citizens conscious about the perils of pro-abortion and pro-homosexuality bills and laws.

Currently, he runs the risk of being expelled from PT and losing his congressional seat.

[1] https://www.henriqueafonso.com.br/julio_severo.htm

See previous LifeSiteNews report on Julio Severo:

Interview with Brazil’s “most discriminated against and persecuted” Pro-Life Activist
Julio Severo reveals details of lengthy struggle against attempts of UN and US organizations to corrupt Brazil society
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/aug/07082811.html

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