Politics
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Wednesday February 28, 2007
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Print- Publisher/Founder of Popular Black Lesbian Magazine Leaves Gay Lifestyle to “Give Heart and Soul to God”
- Online Petition Calls for German Boycott to Gain Release of Girl Seized in Homeschool Crackdown
- Walter Cronkite endorses Campaign to Force Christianity out of U.S. Public Life
- New Jersey Health Department Shuts Down Notorious Late-Term Abortion Mill
- Named: 21 Catholic Colleges Still Performing Offensive Lesbian Play Vagina Monologues
- Former ACLU Leader Arrested On Child Porn Charges
- Catholic University Presents "Sex-Tac-Toe" in Addition to Job Offers at Planned Parenthood
- Suriname Health Minister Supports Abortion after United Nations Abortion Push
- LifeSiteNews.com NewsBytes
Publisher/Founder of Popular Black Lesbian Magazine Leaves Gay Lifestyle to “Give Heart and Soul to God”
Changes mission of magazine to help those who want to leave life of homosexuality
TODAY'S HEADLINES
By Meg Jalsevac
TRENTON, NJ., February 28, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Charlene Cothran, a prominent black lesbian in the forefront of the fight for equal rights for gays and lesbians and publisher of a successful magazine geared to black homosexuals was not looking to change anything in her life. Her entire life and all her earthly successes were firmly entrenched in the homosexual community. But, due to the inspiration of a pastor who counseled Cothran to use her gifts for Christ, Cothran has left her homosexual life and is making it her mission to offer help to other homosexuals who want to do the same.
Cothran said, “I must come out of the closet again. I have recently experienced the power of change that came over me once I completely surrendered to the teachings of Jesus Christ.”
In a front page article in her own VENUS magazine entitled “Redeemed! 10 Ways to Get Out of the Gay Life, If You Want Out.”, Cothran unabashedly explained the reasons behind her conversion and the peace that her decision has brought to her. “Although I have lived as a lesbian for my entire adult life, it is without a doubt my soul’s purpose to use my gifts to LOVINGLY share the truth about how we got here: how we came to be gay or lesbian, how we came to enjoy our ‘lifestyle’ and how we came to believe that this was OK with God.”
Cothran offered hope to her “gay and lesbian brothers and sisters who want real peace” saying, “It is simpler than you think to acquire [real peace] and there is no condemnation once you’ve entered it.” She continued, “Jesus will cleanse and forgive all confessed sin from a willing heart. Homosexuality is only one of them. It is no greater sin than any of the others, but it is sin.”
In her article, Cothran described her conversion and explained that she expected the Christian pastor to “drop the phone and anoint it with oil” as soon as she, Cothran, proudly admitted that she was a lesbian. On the contrary, the pastor, Vanessia M. Livingston, told her “one day you will come out of the world and bring many gay and lesbian souls out with you.”
Cothran is doing just that. Her conversion story was printed in VENUS magazine which has a circulation total of over 38,000 predominantly black homosexuals across the nation. Cothran says she has “given every gift I have back to God, including VENUS Magazine. The target audience will remain the same but the mission has been renewed. Our new mission is to encourage, educate and assist those in the life who want change but can’t find a way out. My brother, my sister, please follow me out of this.”
In the article, Cothran outlined 10 ways to facilitate one’s leaving of the homosexual lifestyle. Among other things, she encouraged her readers to “Seek the truth within the scriptures about homosexuality” and “Do not resist God’s call on your life.”
She also encouraged being public about a conversion cautioning that, “Keeping the good news of your personal salvation a secret is another trick the enemy uses to buy time as he tries to pull you back to your former life.”
The article advises those leaving the homosexual life to “Consult God first, then go ahead and live your life!” Cothran says that conversion is not about renouncing all enjoyment of life. On the contrary, she says that it is about enjoying “life to a new degree.”
Cothran says that her conversion story has been received, predictably, with mixed emotions in the homosexual community. "I completely understand many of the responses, as angry as they were. A year ago, I would have responded the exact same way."
Cothran has personally responded to many of the postings on the VENUS website herself in an effort to correct the misleading accounts of her conversion that have been posted on many pro-homosexual websites, accusing her of “gay-bashing”.
The VENUS website reflects Cothran’s conversion with the new mission statement saying, “The new mission of Venus Magazine is to encourage, educate and assist those who desire to leave a life of homosexuality. Our ultimate mission is to win souls for Christ, and to do so by showing love to all God’s people. We believe that homosexuality is outside of the will of God. We know that many new and longtime VENUS readers have been instilled with a belief system that is in line with this teaching but are still living ‘in the life’. Many desire change and wonder if they can be accepted into the family of God ‘just as they are’. The answer is YES! These readers will find the new Venus an anointed and refreshing tool for kingdom work.”
Cothran intends to continue her efforts to encourage and influence other members of the homosexual community who are trying to free themselves of the binds of the homosexual lifestyle. She says, “I intend to be just as ‘out’ about my transformation as I was about my lesbian life.”
Read Cothran’s complete testimony:
http://www.venusmagazine.org/cover_story.html
Back to TopOnline Petition Calls for German Boycott to Gain Release of Girl Seized in Homeschool Crackdown
Parents of the world group calls German gov't actions "an attack on all parents of the world and all religions"
By Gudrun Schultz
NUREMBERG, Germany, February 28, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A group of parents, alarmed by German authorities’ decision to seize a girl from her family home in a battle over home schooling, has launched an online petition calling for an international boycott of German goods in protest of the situation.
Parents of the World is calling for the immediate restoration of 15-year-old Melissa to her family, after she was taken away from her parents by police and placed in foster care. The girl had been receiving educational instruction at home after a dispute with her school over home-tutoring which led to her expulsion.
Home schooling is illegal in Germany, under a law instituted by Adolf Hitler, and officials have recently increased the pressure on families attempting to educate their children themselves.
“Parents of the World call for a boycott of all German goods until Melissa Busekros is returned without threat or condition to her family from the German authorities that removed her from her home,” the online petition states.
“This is an attack on all parents of the world and all religions…Parents around the world demand the immediate return of Melissa Busekros to her parents & family without threat or condition….we the parents of the world, call on all the world to support us in this boycott of Germany by vowing not to buy goods, travel to or support any commerce with Germany. And do so until the people of Germany rise up and demand accountability from their government. Let the German politician hear you loud and clear.”
The organization is encouraging supporters to contact German businesses and inform them of the reasons for the boycott--the website includes links to more than 200 German-based businesses and corporations.
“This is just as much a threat to you as it is to the Busekros family and your dollars will speak louder than all the courts and government regulations combined. You can make a difference--let Germany and the world know this is unacceptable government intrusion in to the family.”
See website:
http://melissabusekro.theicelady.com/
Contact information:
Youth Welfare Office
Director: Edeltraud Höllerer
Rathaus
Rathausplatz 1
91052 Erlangen
Tel. +49 9131 86-2844
Fax +49 9131 86-2438
Mail:
Or
Responsible Official
Monika Muzenhardt
Mail:
Local Court Erlangen
Family court
Richterin Frank-Daupin
Mozartstraße 23
91052 Erlangen
Tel. +49 9131-782 01
Minister of Justice in Bavaria
Beate Merk
Prielmayerstr. 7
80335 München
Tel. +49 89 5597 1799
Email:
See previous LifeSiteNews coverage:
Authorities Ask German Homeschooling Family to Give up Custody of Other 5 Children
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/feb/07022602.html
German Homeschool Student Placed in Foster Care, Parents Not told Location
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/feb/07022002.html
POLICE CRACKDOWN ON HOME-SCHOOLING IN GERMANY
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2000/jul/00072604.html
Action Call as German Homeschooled 15-year-old Sentenced to Child Psychiatry Unit
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/feb/07020502.html
German School Official Declares "Homeschooling Illegal"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/jan/05011203.html ;
Walter Cronkite endorses Campaign to Force Christianity out of U.S. Public Life
US “First Amendment First” Campaign Targets Churches, Religious Groups
By Gudrun Schultz
SAN JOSE, California, February 28, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A new campaign to force Christian influence out of the public sphere was launched last week in San Jose, California, in response to what is seen as a returning strength of religious organizations in American society.
Led by members of the Interfaith Alliance, an organization dedicated to countering the influence of the conservative Christian Coalition on federal politics, the new campaign is designed to promote policies that would silence the political voice of the “religious right.”
Called ‘First Amendment First’, the campaign has been billed as a defense of the separation of church and state, which organizers claim is threatened by religious organizations’ involvement in political lobbying and endorsement of candidates.
Recommendations promoted by the campaign would see sweeping bans imposed on church activities affecting public policy, including a prohibition on church endorsement of political candidates. Research and health policies should not be founded on “religious doctrine”, the campaign states and a ban should be imposed on schools promoting a particular religion.
As well, campaign petitions include an end to state funding of any charitable organization that “discriminates in its hiring” or requires people hold a particular faith to receive services.
American news personality Walter Cronkite, a veteran of US media, endorsed the campaign, as did the Rev. Welton Gaddy, president of the Interfaith Alliance.
Cronkite, now 90, served as anchor for CBS Evening News from 1962 to 1981. He is the spokesman and honorary chairman of the Alliance, which includes multi-faith and atheistic members. In addition to opposing religious influence on politics, the organization is dedicated to promoting public acceptance of homosexuality, calling for an end to “discrimination based on sexual orientation.”
See related LifeSiteNews coverage:
PRO-HOMOSEXUALITY BOOKLET SENT TO ALL US PUBLIC SCHOOLS
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/1999/nov/99112404.html
New Jersey Health Department Shuts Down Notorious Late-Term Abortion Mill
By Hilary White
ENGLEWOOD, February 28, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Health officials in New Jersey have shut down one of the State’s largest late term abortion facilities due to health and safety violations that constituted “deficient care”. The Metropolitan Medical Associates Englewood facility was licensed to commit abortions up to 24 weeks gestation.
The violations posed an “immediate and serious risk of harm to patients.” The facility will be given the opportunity to dispute the health department’s findings before a complete list of violations is published.
The Record reports that the health order cited problems “including but not limited to infection control, instruments, equipment used for sterilization of patient care use items and the processing of equipment.”
Although the health department is not releasing details, it has ordered the facility to hire an infection control consultant who must submit weekly written reports.
The investigation was a result of a complaint by Newark Beth Israel Medical Center after its emergency room treated a woman for complications following an abortion.
Recent state records show that the facility kills more than 10,000 children a year. In 1997, the New York Times reported that the Englewood facility committed 1,500 late-term abortions a year.
The Englewood facility, which has been operating since the 1970’s, is the site of regular prayer vigils by local people with up to 200 attending. In 2002, Archbishop John Meyers led a thousand people in a march past the facility, praying for an end to the taking of innocent lives there. Meyers and the marchers prayed “for those who have…made some terrible choices in regard to life.”
The Record reported that although the health department did not say when or if the facility would be re-opened, the staff had assured callers that they would re-open next Tuesday.
Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Us Supreme Court Refuses Appeal Against Law Restricting Pro-Life Protest
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2001/apr/01041703.html
Named: 21 Catholic Colleges Still Performing Offensive Lesbian Play Vagina Monologues
MANASSAS, VA, February 28, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Catholic Campus performances of the morally offensive Vagina Monologues continued their steady decline this year, the result of a six-year campaign by the Cardinal Newman Society (CNS). The number of Catholic campus performances and readings of the play dropped to 21 this year, from a high of 32 in 2003.
Most significantly, at the University of Notre Dame a planned performance was pushed off campus because no academic department would support the event. For the past five years the Monologues has been performed at Notre Dame despite annual scolding from Bishop John D'Arcy and outcries from alumni and other Catholics.
Likewise, after a five-year run St. Louis University refused to support the play this year and forced students to move their performance off campus. And Providence College president Rev. Brian Shanley, courageously stood by his decision last year to ban the play despite a campus rally opposing the ban and a petition signed by 1,200 students, faculty, alumni and others.
"Once again we have reclaimed 'V-Day' for its true purpose," said CNS president Patrick Reilly. "The Cardinal Newman Society joins faithful Catholic students, alumni, parents and others in celebrating the more than 200 Catholic colleges that did not host this play, as well as the students and faculty who organized alternative programs to support women in a mature and loving way."
Each year since 2003, CNS has led a nationwide protest to rid Catholic campuses of the Monologues, arguing that there is no place in Catholic education for a sexually explicit and offensive play that favorably describes lesbian rape, group masturbation and the reduction of sexuality to selfish pleasure.
The 21 Catholic Colleges still permitting the grossly offensive play are: Bellarmine University, Boston College, College of the Holy Cross, College of Mount Saint Vincent, College of Saint Benedict, College of Saint Rose, College of Santa Fe, DePaul University, Fordham University, Georgetown University, John Carroll University, Loyola University of Chicago, Loyola University of New Orleans, Marquette University, Regis College, Saint Mary's College of California, Saint Norbert College, Saint Xavier University, Santa Clara University, University of Detroit Mercy, and University of San Francisco.
See contact information for those 21 colleges here:
http://www.cardinalnewmansociety.org/cns/newsview/newsview/12
Former ACLU Leader Arrested On Child Porn Charges
by John-Henry Westen
ARLINGTON, VA, February 28, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The American Civil Liberties Union, which regularly defends pornographers in court cases, is coming under scrutiny after a former chapter president of the organization has been arrested on child porn charges.
Charles Rust-Tierney, 51, the former president of the Virginia chapter of the ACLU, was arrested late last week by federal authorities and charged with receipt and possession of child pornography in violation of federal law. The criminal complaint by the U.S. Attorney's Office indicates that, over a number of years, Rust-Tierney frequented a web site containing graphic child pornography.
Rust-Tierney's residence was searched pursuant to a warrant by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Arlington County Police Department, where they found he downloaded videos and photos from the web site. Rust-Tierney, who coaches youth sports teams in Virginia, had previously argued against internet filtering of web sites in public libraries and pushed for "maximum, unrestricted access to the valuable resources of the Internet."
WorldNetDaily reports that Rust-Tierney was a lawyer for the ACLU who argued against measures restricting access to porn on library computers. Enough is Enough, an organization working for greater protection for children on the internet issued a statement on Rust-Tierney's arrest.
"That Mr. Rust-Tierney, a leading proponent of unrestricted access to the Internet, has now been arrested for receiving and possessing graphic child pornography should serve as testimony to the injudicious and baleful outgrowth of the legal challenges launched by the ACLU questioning the constitutionality of important legislation that protects children from Internet exploitation and content harmful to minors," the organization said.
Catholic University Presents "Sex-Tac-Toe" in Addition to Job Offers at Planned Parenthood
By John-Henry Westen
DETROIT, February 28, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Catholic University of Detroit Mercy (UDM) held an event for student Monday called "Sexapalooza". The University which LifeSiteNews.com pointed out last week is directing its students to employment opportunities at the nation's largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, invited all students to join in "the 2nd annual Sexapalooza" billing it as "a free festival promoting abstinence and safe sex."
An advertisement for the event was posted prior to the event on the University website which read:
"Come with an open mind and ready to experience:
Sex trivia
STD/relationship/safe sex/abstinence information
GSA and Campus Ministry representatives
Safe sex games
Sex-Tac-Toe
Chances to win free prizes"
University spokesman Garry Lichtman did not return a call for comment by press time.
Patrick J. Reilly, President of the Cardinal Newman Society, an organization dedicated to the renewal of Catholic identity in Catholic higher education, told LifeSiteNews.com that by its actions, the university was promoting what is "vile". "Catholic families tend to expect certain things from a Catholic university and one of those would be an assumption of chastity," said Reilly. "No Catholic university should in any way endorse or host anything so vile as a sexapalooza event or links to radical pro-abortion organizations."
LifeSiteNews.com reported last week that the "Career Education Center" UDM website lists Planned Parenthood as a career opportunity for students. The local Planned Parenthood branch boasted in their Winter 2005 newsletter that it had just hired a UDM graduate.
In addition to links to Planned Parenthood, the Catholic university's website for its women's studies program links to the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), and the pro-abortion National Organization of Women.
LifeSiteNews.com reported two weeks ago that two UDM professors have boldly placed stickers on their offices doors indicating their support for abortion.
The Cardinal Newman Society notes that UDM is to present the pro-lesbian vulgar play the Vagina Monologues which is banned at most Catholic colleges.
To express concerns to the Catholic leadership in the diocese:
Cardinal Adam Maida
c/o Denise Parish
313-237-5816
Bishop John Quinn
c/o - 313-237-5783
To the University of Detroit Mercy:
Gerard L. Stockhausen, S.J., President
4001 W. McNichols Rd., P.O. Box 19900, Detroit, MI 48219
Phone: (313) 993-1455
E-Mail:
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Catholic University of Detroit Proposing Abortion Agencies as Career Opportunities for Students
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/feb/07022104.html
Catholic University in Detroit Boasts Pro-abortion Feminists on Staff
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/feb/07021501.html
Suriname Health Minister Supports Abortion after United Nations Abortion Push
Arguments called contradictory - should oppose abortion for same reason he opposes euthanasia
By Hilary White
PARAMARIBO, Suriname, February 28, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Less than a month after a UN committee insisted that Suriname repeal its law protecting the right to life of unborn children, the health minister of the small Caribbean country told Parliament that abortions should be allowed in cases in which the child was conceived by rape. Currently abortion is allowed only in cases where the mother's life is immediately threatened.
Caribbean Net News reports that health minister Celsius Waterberg said that abortion ought to be legalized in the 'hard cases' of rape. A moment before, he had denounced euthanasia, saying it was contradictory to his Christian beliefs.
After enduring decades of rule by socialist military dictatorships, Suriname, a former Dutch colony, seems in danger of caving to international abortion promoters putting pressure on small countries, especially in South America.
Suriname is a signatory to the UN's feminst charter, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). On January 25, at its meeting with the Suriname government representatives, the CEDAW committee complained that Suriname was too slow to implement the agreement and pushed for the legalization of abortion and the distribution of contraceptives.
In its concluding comments, the committee made the "recommendation" that the country's "dead letter laws" restricting abortion and the distribution of contraceptives "be repealed."
The committee also called on Suriname to implement measures to reduce "prevalence of teenage pregnancy". "Such measures should include making widely available, without any restriction, a comprehensive range of contraceptives."
Parliamentarian Sharmila Mangal-Mansaran responded to Waterberg's comments in Parliament, saying the health minister's arguments were contradictory and that Waterberg ought to oppose abortion for the same reason he opposes euthanasia. Mangal-Mansaran said that it is a proven fact that a foetus is "a human life".
Under Suriname's current criminal code provisions, a woman who causes the abortion of her unborn child is subject to up to three years' imprisonment and those who help her up to twelve years. Doctors, midwives and pharmacists, the penalties may be as much as one third longer. Two abortion facilities have been shut down under the criminal provisions and its staff imprisoned, according to the government representative at the CEDAW committee.
The website of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) complains of the country's "contraceptive prevalence rate of only 50%." Although the provision of contraceptives and contraceptive information is technically illegal, the government subsidizes their distribution.
International population control agencies and their affiliated non-governmental organizations have been exposed as using the "hard case" of rape as a wedge issue.
A former high-ranking official of the Colombian Justice Ministry, Rafael Nieto Loaiza, exposed the work of abortion activists who have used the courts and the media to create a more accepting public climate for abortion using cases of pregnancy from rape or when there are foetal abnormalities in order to prepare the ground for full legalization of abortion.
Suriname currently enjoys a replacement level birth-rate with 2.32 children born/woman, but the rate has fallen substantially in recent years and continues to drop.
See the UN recommendations to Suriname: (Adobe reader required)
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/cedaw37/concludingcommentsAU/Suriname.pdf
Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Colombian Radical Feminist Reveals Dis-Information Strategy to Legalize Abortion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/sep/05090101.html
Malta Stands Fast against UN Feminist Offensive
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/jul/04072202.html
LifeSiteNews.com NewsBytes
Pro-Life Billboard in Florida Vandalized
http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070226/NEWS0115/70226040
Euthanasia remains illegal in Czech Republic
http://www.praguemonitor.com/en/32/czech_national_news/2057/
New York Court says Girl, 7, can sue city over prenatal injuries
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/501161p-422561c.html
Federal Reserve Chair Warns on Aging Population (Should anyone be surprised?)
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=businessNews&storyid=200...
Miracle baby comes back from the dead
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/healthmain.html?in_article...
Whiffs of Christian Persecution Brewing
http://www.spiritdaily.com/whiffpersecution.htm
Cardinal Egan Locks up priests church
http://www.nypost.com/seven/02272007/news/regionalnews/cardinal_sin_regionalnews...
San Diego diocese declares bankruptcy
http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=49544
Former homosexual attributes healing to prayer
http://cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=49495
Utah case exemplifies judicial contempt for biological parents
http://www.standard.net/live/opinion/topofutahvoices/98717/
German Brother, Sister Who've Had 4 Children Together Fighting Incest Laws
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,254943,00.html
Global Warming a scientific fraud says Aussie author
http://www.canadafreepress.com/2007/cover022807.htm
Global tax scheme pushed to battle 'climate change'
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54477
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