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Scientists Acknowledge AIDS Crisis is Distorted and Overblown - Part II

Disease has become a "Billion Dollar Industry" that stands to profit from misinformation

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman

See Part I at http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/nov/07110101.html

November 2, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com)  - Dr. James Chin has recently published a book detailing his struggles with the UNAIDS establishment. Titled "The AIDS Pandemic: The Collision of Epidemiology with Political Correctness", the book's thesis is that "the story of HIV has been distorted by UNAIDS and AIDS activists in order to support the myth of the high potential risk of HIV epidemics spreading into the general population" according to the publisher.

Chin's criticisms are echoed by two other eminent scientists at Harvard's Center on Population and Development, Dr. Edward Green and Dr. Daniel Halperin, whose research continues to be ignored by the AIDS establishment. Dr. Green has served as team leader on numerous USAID project designs and evaluations. Dr. Halperin is a former Technical Adviser for Prevention/Behaviour Change, USAID Southern Africa Regional HIV/AIDS Program.

The two Harvard scientists have noted that, while abstinence programs in countries like Uganda have proven their effectiveness, AIDS policymakers continue to promote condom use, and ignore the differences in AIDS rates among African nations.

Halperin points out that the most serious cases of high-frequency infection are confined to only 10 Sub-Saharan African nations, less than 25% of the countries of the region. "There are about 10 nations, all of them in southern Africa, that have very bad epidemics," Halperin told Cybercast News Service. "Outside of those countries, for the most part, the rest of the world is not nearly as affected, although there are certain risk groups within some countries which have extremely high rates of HIV."

Green has written a book on Uganda's "ABC" approach to HIV transmission: first Abstinence, then Be Faithful, then if the first two fail, use a Condom. Uganda's immediate response to the AIDS threat in the early 1980s reduced the incidence of HIV infection from 15% to less than 4% in the space of a few years. Green's book examines the strange disconnect between the demonstrated effectiveness of abstinence and marital fidelity campaigns and the prevention strategies of international aid agencies.

In an article for the journal The Responsive Community, Green points out the utter failure of the condom-pushing approach of UNAIDS.  "How has the Western risk-reduction model fared in Africa? There is no evidence that mass promotion of condoms has paid off with a decline of HIV infection rates at the population level in Africa, according to a new UNAIDS assessment of condom effectiveness. In fact, countries with the highest levels of condom availability (Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa, Kenya) also have some of the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world," he writes.

Green notes that the insistence on promoting failed policies can be explained in part by a cultural bias in favor of sexual promiscuity and permissiveness, but adds that an important factor may also be the economic interests of the global AIDS establishment. "Apart from Western values and biases, there are economic factors to consider. AIDS prevention has become a billion dollar industry" he writes. "Under President Bush's global AIDS initiative, the US will spend $15 billion, partially on prevention. It would be politically naive to expect that those who profit from the lucrative AIDS-prevention industry would not be inclined to protect their interests."

"Those who work in condom promotion and STD treatment, as well as the industries that supply these devices and drugs, do not want to lose market share, so to speak, to those few who have begun to talk about behavior. Put crudely, who makes a buck if Africans simply start being monogamous?"

Green's statement about organizations "protecting their interests" has proven to be prophetic. Since the initiation of the US program, which promotes abstinence as part of its approach to prevention, it has suffered continuous attacks by the global AIDS establishment, which is rigidly opposed to any serious discussion of the benefits of abstinence and marital fidelity. And despite their impeccable establishment credentials as research scientists affiliated with major universities, scientists like Green are accused of "AIDS denialism".

When Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, merely mentioned abstinence and marital fidelity as part of the solution to the problem at an AIDS conference in Toronto last year, he was roundly booed by the audience.  However, when he played down such "politically incorrect" solutions and began to speak of condom distribution, he was met with enthusiastic cheering (see LifeSiteNews coverage at http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/aug/06081403.html).

Despite the increasingly well-known facts about HIV transmission and prevention, certain proposals simply remain socially unacceptable among the apparatchiks of the international AIDS bureaucracy.  With billions of dollars of government aid money on the line, the status quo is likely to continue with saving lives kept to a low priority.

Related related articles:
Culture Clash and AIDS Prevention, by Edward Green, PhD.
http://www.aidsuganda.org/pdf/Comments_on_ABC1.pdf

California Homosexual Organization Admits HIV/AIDS is "Gay Disease"
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/oct/06100404.html

Read related LifeSiteNews.com articles:

AIDS a Glamorous Multi-Billion Dollar Industry - Sufferers Forgotten
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/aug/06081704.html

Medical Journalist Says Reliance on Condoms Spreads HIV/AIDS
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jun/06062304.html

Kenya First Lady: Condom "is causing the spread of AIDS in this country."
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/may/06052307.html

AIDS Specialist and Former Condom Advocate Speaks on Switch to Abstinence
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/dec/05120804.html

Uganda AIDS Prevention Success Being Undermined by Infuriated UN Condom-Pushers
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/feb/05020408.html

Ugandan Abstinence AIDS Prevention Program Equivalent to a Highly Effective Vaccine, Researchers Find
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/apr/04043004.html

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Argentine Appeals Court Rules Against "Gay Marriage"

States that the law rightly favors "Unions that tend to continue the species"

By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman 

BUENOS AIRES, November 2, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A civil appeals court in Argentina has ruled against a homosexual couple asserting a "right" to marry each other, stating that "the standard that establishes that matrimony should be celebrated between people of different sexes has an absolutely objective and reasonable justification, which consists in the interest of the government in granting a privilege to unions that tend to continue the species."

The ruling, which was announced on October 31st, represents the second appeal struck down in an ongoing suit by the Argentine Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, and Transsexuals (FALGBT) on behalf of two homosexual couples, one of which consists of the artist Alejandro Vanelli and actor Ernesto Larrese. They are the first such cases in Argentine history.

The plaintiffs argue that Argentina's civil code, in particular articles 172 and 188, is "unconstitutional" because it is "discriminatory" and violates "equality under the law". Article 172 states that "The full and free consent expressed personally by a man and woman before the competent authority to celebrate it, is indispensable for the existence of marriage. The act that lacks any of these requirements will not produce civil effects..."  Article 188 requires the couple to register as "husband and wife".

The plaintiffs also claim that Argentina is bound by international treaties to respect their "right of equality", which they argue translates to the "right" to "marry" someone of the same sex.

But Argentina's judiciary has consistently disagreed, basing itself on the very nature of human sexuality as a procreative act. They repeated this reasoning in their latest ruling. "Stable homosexual cohabitation corresponds, as a personal decision for each one, to an option that is carried out in the sphere of intimacy," wrote the judges of the Civil Chamber Court F. "But marriage transcends the sphere of intimacy. The refusal to consider unions between people of the same sex as matrimony exceeds an exclusively sexual perspective."

Civil court judge María Bacigalupo's initial ruling in one of the cases was even more scathing. "To affirm that the union of two homosexual persons should be considered matrimony, is to completely devalue the concept of the institution," she wrote. "Matrimony is and has been the institution that protects the heterosexual union from which will be born new members, children, so that society is not extinguished and so continues the course of life."

In the face of their latest defeat, FALGBT president Maria Rachid promised to continue the appeals process to the nation's Supreme Court. "We were expecting this to happen," she said. "There are very conservative judges, some of them have participated in the dictatorship (of the 1970s), and their thinking is very homophobic.  But we trust in the Supreme Court, where we will elevate this petition for matrimony, because it is a right that the government owes us."

Related LifeSiteNews.com Coverage:

President-Elect of Argentina Defends Pro-Abortion Position and "Sexual Choice"
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/oct/07103001.html

Homosexual Activists Desecrate Catholic Church in Argentina
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2003/nov/03110605.html

ARGENTINA REGIONS RECOGNIZE HOMOSEXUAL UNIONS. BUENOS AIRES, March 18,
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2003/mar/03031808.html

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Catholic School Board Committee Approves Pro-Gay Manual, Does Not Teach Homosexual Acts Sinful

Director of the Board says, "differences of opinion in areas like theology, faith, and morals" is "natural and healthy for a living, dynamic Church"

By John-Henry Westen

WATERLOO, Ontario, November 2, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Family Life Advisory Committee (FLAC) of the Waterloo Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) met last night to consider objections to a pro-homosexual teacher resource manual which were raised by the local group Defend Traditional Marriage and Family (DTMF).  Despite a petition signed by nearly 500 Catholic parents opposing the book, FLAC decided to retain "Open Minds to Equality" in an 11-5 vote.
Page 16 of the book states: "The heterosexism in our society fosters homophobia, the fear and hatred of homosexuality which is grounded in prejudice and stereotyping." The book provides role play and group activities which train children into viewing the homosexual lifestyle as normal and natural.

Of note, at the meeting one of the members, asked if students in the Catholic schools of the board are taught "that homosexual acts" are sinful.  The response from the board committee was "no."

DTMF communications director Jack Fonseca told LifeSiteNews.com he was disappointed with the decision. "In our view, this decision is a betrayal of Catholic parents," he said. "They sent their kids to a Christian school for the express purpose of helping them form an authentic Catholic faith. And that faith includes the Church's teaching on sexual morality."

Fonseca explained, "Allowing the continuation of a resource that may have the effect of normalizing homosexual behaviour is an astonishingly un-Catholic decision. It's disrespectful to the founder of the Catholic Church."

The committee's recommendation now goes to the Director of the Board of Education Roger Lawler for his decision on the matter which will be presented to the Board on November 26.

Lawler told LifeSiteNews.com that he has not yet decided on the matter and will make his decision in the following weeks.

Asked if he knew about the teaching in schools regarding homosexual acts being sinful Lawler replied, "I'm not going to comment on that because I wasn't there for the context of the question."

In a procedures memorandum to another board committee, Lawler spoke of legitimate differences of opinion on matters of "faith and morals".  "Faith and one's understanding of faith is not static. As we learned and have been taught as a Post-Vatican II people, we are a Church with rich diversity," he wrote.  Adding: "Diversity also can bring about differences of opinion in areas like theology, faith, and morals. This is natural and healthy for a living, dynamic Church."(see the memo here: http://www.wcdsb.ca/ap_memos/PDF/APO018.pdf )

Asked if he felt that diversity could apply to the Church's teachings on sexual morality, he replied that the appropriate guidelines to follow in this case were those of the Ontario Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The representative of the local bishop, Bishop Anthony Tonnos of Hamilton Diocese, on the board is Teresa Hartnett.  Hartnett told LifeSiteNews.com that she has read through the resource book and while she admits there are some 14 pages of objectionable material in the teacher resource, "the majority of the stuff in there is absolutely wonderful stuff."

"We should be able to trust that a teacher will say (of the objectionable portions) that's not for us here," said Hartnett.  She stressed that students did not have access to the books and that "Much of the book has excellent teachings, about diversity, very little deals with sexuality at all."

Hartnett suggested that if there were books and resources more clearly objectionable that the board would "absolutely" remove them.  "I can tell you that this school board has in fact been very good when we have asked for specific things to be removed, and they would do it."

According to Fonseca, however, the group has brought up numerous objectionable materials the Catholic school board has permitted.  However, the board agreed only to discuss the teacher resource manual.

The group has also discovered other homosexuality promoting materials in various Catholic schools in the board.  "Out: stories of lesbian and gay youth" a pro-gay video directed by David Adkin is available at some Catholic schools in the board, as is "Rainbow boys" a fictional novel by Alex Sanchez about "coming out".

Minutes of meetings of the FLAC from January 25 note the approval of students being referred to an active homosexual therapist for "LGBTTTSIQ sensitivity training/counselling". (see the minutes here: http://www.wcdsb.ca/ps/family-life/pdf/Minutes/06-07/Min-Jan-25-06.pdf )

The gay therapist, David Vervoot, is an active homosexual who has raised a son with his male partner.

According to his website "Rainbow Therapist", Vervoot has offered anti-homophobia workshops in high schools and presented on topics such as "Building LGBT Community Supports in Rural Cities" and "Creating Accessible Health Care Services For Queer Communities". He has been on the committees of Guelph Pride, Guelph's LGBT Lending Library, and co-founded the Waterloo Wellington Gay & Bi fathers peer support group.  (See Vervoot's website here: http://www.rainbowtherapist.com/bio.html )

To respectfully voice concerns:

His Excellence Bishop Anthony Tonnos
700 King St. W.
Hamilton, ON L8P 1C7
Phone: (905) 528-7988
Fax: (905) 528-1088
Email:

Auxiliary Bishop Gerard Bergie
Phone: (905) 528-7988
Fax: (905) 528-1088
Email:

Related LifeSiteNew.com articles:

Catholic School Libraries Stock Gay Promoting Books and Videos http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/apr/07041005.html

Ontario Catholic School Board Approves Referrals to Gay-Activist Therapist, Censors Right to Life Material
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/aug/07080907.html

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Former Atheist Darwinian Philosopher Explains his ‘Conversion’ in a New Book

Antony Flew “followed the evidence”, "empirical evidence,” to belief in “a god”

By Hilary White
 
LONDON, November 2, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Former Darwinian atheist philosopher Antony Flew has published a new book, “There Is a God: How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind,” to explain his move from being one of the world’s leading exponents of the pure materialist Darwinian philosophy to belief in the existence of a personal deity who created the universe.
 
Flew, an Oxford educated philosopher described by some as “legendary”, first announced his discovery of “a god” in 2004. Flew had been one of the 20th century’s leading proponents of the pure atheistic Darwinian doctrines that categorically reject any possibility of a creative divine being. His ideas paved the way for thinkers such as Richard Dawkins, the UK’s most virulent opponent of religious belief.

The Darwinian view is embraced by most of the scientific and philosophical community and was recently declared the only acceptable viewpoint for Europeans by the European Council.
 
Flew has emphasized that his “discovery” of a god who created life was a result of relentlessly “following the evidence”. “It was empirical evidence,” he told an interviewer, “the evidence uncovered by the sciences. But it was a philosophical inference drawn from the evidence.” 
 
Flew told Dr. Benjamin Wiker that two factors in particular “were decisive”. “One was my growing empathy,” he said, “with the insight of Einstein and other noted scientists that there had to be an Intelligence behind the integrated complexity of the physical Universe. The second was my own insight that the integrated complexity of life itself – which is far more complex than the physical Universe – can only be explained in terms of an Intelligent Source.”

More akin to the “watchmaker” god of the 18th century Deist philosophy, Flew’s god is not the God of Abraham, Isaac and St. Thomas Aquinas. Flew described the deity he believes exists as “the god of Aristotle.” He has inched further towards belief in the personal God of Christianity and Judaism, however, describing his god as “a person but not the sort of person with whom you can have a talk. It is the ultimate being, the Creator of the Universe.”
 
He told Wiker, “I believe that the origin of life and reproduction simply cannot be explained from a biological standpoint despite numerous efforts to do so. With every passing year, the more that was discovered about the richness and inherent intelligence of life, the less it seemed likely that a chemical soup could magically generate the genetic code.”

Flew answered Richard Dawkins’ argument that “the origin of life can be attributed to a ‘lucky chance.’” He said, “If that's the best argument you have, then the game is over.” Flew said, “I would add that Dawkins is selective to the point of dishonesty when he cites the views of scientists on the philosophical implications of the scientific data.”
 
Emphasizng that he remains a Deist, not a Christian, he told Wiker that he does not “accept any claim of divine revelation” but is continuing to study them, particularly those of Christianity.
 
Flew’s journey into belief from pure atheism, follows a pattern set by other prominent British intellectual former atheists, C.S. Lewis and Malcolm Muggeridge whose relentless intellectual rigour also prompted them to follow the evidence.
 
Lewis, after having abandoned his childhood faith, used his considerable intellectual gifts and classical education to examine the rational proofs for the existence of God which he found inescapable. With the encouragement of his friend J. R. R. Tolkien, he converted at the age of 31, later describing himself “the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England.”

Lewis was later to use those gifts to become the most popular Christian apologist of modern times and his books, using logic and rational argument to defend Christian doctrines, have never been out of print and have sold millions of copies around the world.
 
Muggeridge took a longer route and came to Christian belief, and eventually Catholicism, equally reluctantly in later life. This was partly in response to his association with Mother Theresa, but even more through his years of consideration of the evidence which he was eventually to find irrefutable.

As a result of his conversion, the formerly dashing and sanguine journalist, the darling of Britain’s secular media establishment, found his former friends and admirers drawing away. Muggeridge later followed the evidence to become one of the world’s leading developers and proponents of a comprehensive pro-life philosophy.
 
Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Prominent Atheist "Discovers" Aquinas' Proof for the Existence of "a god"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/dec/04121308.html
 
Read the full interview:
http://www.tothesource.org/10_30_2007/10_30_2007.htm ;

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“Cancel Christmas” says “Favourite” British Labour Think Tank

Says Christmas “should be downgraded to help race relations”

By Hilary White
 
LONDON, November 2, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Like the wicked Sherriff of Nottingham in the 1991 film “Robin Hood Prince of Thieves”, a Labour party think tank wants to cancel Christmas on the grounds that it is a “white” holiday which offends Britain’s immigrants. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), described as the ruling party’s “favourite” policy office that has shaped many Labour policies, says Christmas “should be downgraded to help race relations.”
 
The IPPR also proposes secularized “birth ceremonies” in which the state and parents agree on the best way to rear children; the abolition of sitting Anglican bishops in the House of Lords; an end to “sectarian” religious education and flying flags other than the Union flag.
 
The report says that the state should “recast the civic oaths and national ceremonies” such as the coronation of the monarch and the ceremonies surrounding the opening of Parliament, “in a more “multi-religious or secular form and make religious education less sectarian.”
 
“Even-handedness dictates that we provide public recognitions to minority cultures and traditions. If we are going to continue as a nation to mark Christmas – and it would be very hard to expunge it from our national life even if we wanted to – then public organizations should mark other religious festivals too.”
 
Much editorial ink has been employed in recent years in the British press examining Britain’s “identity crisis” that, it is said, has crept into the national consciousness since the social revolution of the 1960’s swept away the old social and religious certainties.
 
The report, that was commissioned to study “identity, citizenship and community cohesion,” says, “We can no longer define ourselves as a Christian nation, nor an especially religious one in any sense. The empire is gone, church attendance is at historically low levels, and the Second World War is inexorably slipping from memory.”
 
Britain, however, despite rapidly declining church attendance, remains one of the few countries in the developed world that officially retains Christianity, in the form of the Church of England, as its established state religion.
 
Sayeeda Warsi, the opposition Conservative party spokesman, said the proposals are more likely to damage cohesion. “You don’t build community cohesion by throwing out your history and denying the fundamental contribution Christianity has played and does play to our nation.”
 
In an editorial in today’s Daily Telegraph, Rowan Pelling wrote that the IPPR is proposing to destroy Britain’s Christian heritage by “stealthy and incremental corrosion.”
 
“Who exactly are we offending by stating this country is a Christian nation? After all 72 per cent of citizens in England and Wales ...were happy to describe themselves as Christians at the last census in 2001. Yet somehow the majority of Brits seem to conspire in agreeing that any open admission of Christian belief is so downright embarrassing that it is easiest just to let the secular mob destroy our traditional jollies.”
 
Pelling says that as a mother, “I’d love to make angel wings from coat hangers and tinsel and sing ‘Away in a Manger’ but my culture is increasingly sidelined.”
 
While the IPPR claims a need to change Britain’s ancient institutions to favour recent immigrants, the actual make-up of Britain’s population remains overwhelmingly white and Christian. According to the 2001 census, the population is 92.1 per cent white. 71.6 per cent of Britain’s population, of all races, claim membership in some Christian denomination. Muslims, Hindus and “other” makes up 5.3 per cent. “Unspecified or none” accounts for the religious beliefs of the remaining 23.1 per cent. 

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Editorial - The Dalai Lama, Like the Pope, Says Gay Sex is "Sexual Misconduct"

But there is a notable difference between the two on this issue

By John-Henry Westen
 
November 2, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - While it is little known and seldom heard, Buddhism, like Catholicism opposes homosexual acts as "sexual misconduct".
 
With all the North American media giving attention to the Dalai Lama during his current visit and his upcoming visit with Pope Benedict XVI, it is a good time to draw attention to his views on homosexual relations.  The media harp on the Pope’s views on homosexuality, yet have remained relatively silent on a very similar position held by the leader of the world’s Buddhists.
 
In an interview with the Vancouver Sun in 2004, the Buddhist leader was questioned about homosexuality to which he replied, "For a Buddhist, the same sex, that is sexual misconduct."
 
The Dalai Lama elaborated, "they use the mouth and the anus, this is sexual misconduct in Buddhism."  He also noted that the restrictions on sexual activity applied even outside the homosexual context to heterosexual and even married couples.  "Even as (sic) a heterosexual context. Even if one uses one's own hand this is sexual misconduct. So if you are a genuine believer, then you must avoid this," he said.
 
The stance is very similar to that of the Catholic Church which similarly forbids homosexual sex, and even within heterosexual marriage insists that sexual acts remain open to life thus forbidding anal and oral sex and masturbation where ejaculation occurs outside the vagina.
 
There is a key difference however in the approach of the two religions regarding sexuality.
 
Buddhism, according to the Dalai Lama, has one set of beliefs for its members and a totally different set of beliefs for non-members.
 
"I have two letters, one letter is as a religious believer, I think that we should follow according to one's holy teachings," explained the Buddhist leader. 
 
"If you are a non-believer," he continued, "then two persons male or female, they get maximum joy through this technique, they do not create violence, (laughs). One thing I would like to express, sometimes due to that kind of behaviour there is discrimination in jobs, or within the family this creates some problem purely based on that sexual reason, - if people discriminate based on sexual orientation, that is extreme and it is wrong. Whether same sex marriage is OK or not is dependent upon each country's law."
 
Questioned by Sun reporter Douglas Todd on whether same sex 'marriage' was a big deal, the Dalai Lama replied, "Even the whole concept of marriage is particular to a particular society and their unity, so whether or not homosexual couples should be accorded a marriage status, should really be dealt within that particular community and country."
 
Therein lies a stark difference with Catholicism as successive Popes (and other Christian leaders who teach traditional Christian moral principles) have not spoken of sexual teachings as restricted to Catholics or other Christians, but for the good of all humanity.
 
The Popes thus propose God's plan for human sexuality as a reality stamped in the human heart, the human psyche and the human soul regardless of religious belief or non-belief.
 
The Catholic Church teaches the fact that the sexual act is a beautiful, healthy and even holy thing when it is carried out within marriage between a man and a woman who give themselves to each other freely, totally, faithfully and are open to the gift of new life.
 
The heartbreak of broken relationships, adultery, and divorce; the addiction to pornography, masturbation and other aberrant sexual practices; the pain of sexually transmitted diseases; and the horror of rape and sexual abuse all point to the disastrous consequences of thwarting God's plan for human sexuality.
 
Why Buddhists do not extend their teachings on sexuality to non-believers is a puzzle.  It begs one to question whether the Dalai Lama considers Buddhism's teachings to be the healthiest road for human sexuality.

If yes, the teachings should be proposed to the world as such.  If not, then why would Buddhists be asked to practice them?

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Christian Couple no Longer Required to Promote Homosexuality in Fostering Children

Couple thanks media for making their situation known to public

By Hilary White
 
CHARD, Somerset UK, November 2, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Vincent and Pauline Matherick are the Christian couple in Somerset who chose to retire from fostering needy children rather than bow to the Somerset county council’s demand that they promote the homosexual lifestyle. After the media generated international uproar over their situation, they have been invited back by the council and have had their religious objections recognised.
 
The couple met with council officials on Wednesday and today were told they could continue fostering and would not have to “promote homosexuality”. “It's good news and we're very pleased,” Mr Matherick said.
 
“This is a blessing and I must thank the media, and particularly the Daily Mail, for their help in highlighting the issue.”
 
Somerset council officials said in a statement that the couple “have no problem in signing Somerset's Equalities Promise, which includes an expectation not to discriminate unfairly for reasons of sex, marital status, caring responsibilities or sexual orientation.”

“We all agree that the welfare of children is paramount. It is absolutely vital that people come forward as foster carers.”

The council’s statement admitted that the incident “may have damaged the image of fostering at a time when vulnerable children need caring homes.”

A spokesman for the couple said the council had agreed to recognise their convictions and conscientious objections. “The Mathericks hope now to continue to foster children as before.”

Andrea Williams of Christian Concern For Our Nation said: “This is a significant step forward for Christian freedoms in that the Council has agreed not to force Mr. and Mrs. Matherick to act against their Christian beliefs. This should be of enormous encouragement to all Christians who want to take up the important role of caring for vulnerable children.”

The Mathericks are ministers in the non-conformist South Chard Christian Church and when their 11 year-old foster son David was removed from their home, he had asked to be allowed to continue attending their Sunday school.
 
The Mathericks had insisted that they had never “discriminated” against anyone for any reason, but that they could not agree to the council’s “equality statement” because it amounted to promotion of homosexuality, which would be a violation of their Christian beliefs and conscience. Mr Matherick said, “I cannot preach the benefits of homosexuality when I believe it is against the word of God.”
 
As a result of their decision, the council removed their 11 year-old foster son David and placed him in a council-owned facility. The Mathericks had cared for 28 children in their home since 2001 and were described as ideal foster carers.
 
The “equality” agreement had required them to tell their foster children that homosexuality was the equivalent to natural sexuality and to discuss “gay dating” practices with them. They had been told that they would be required to take children to homosexual support groups if the child “expressed an interest” in homosexuality.
 
The Somerset council refused to discuss the matter until the case became public in the national papers and internationally on LifeSiteNews.com.
 
Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
 
UK Christian Couple who Refuse to Promote Homosexuality Forced out of Child Foster Care
 http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/oct/07102906.html
 
UK Christians Retired from Fostering Over a “Misunderstanding” Says Council
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/oct/07102502.html

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Catholic School Nurse Settles Lawsuit Against Employer Over Sex-ed Order

Was re-assigned after refusing, for religious reasons, to teach sex-ed to grade 5, 6 students

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski

SANDUSKY, Ohio, November 2, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A lawsuit filed earlier this year by a school nurse presents the compelling question of the line between religious accommodation and retaliation against an employee because of her religious beliefs.

Maria T. Sulewski filed suit against the Erie County General Health District, health commissioner Peter Schade, and two supervisors, claiming that her change in job assignments was retaliation for her refusing to conduct a presentation "supporting birth control, safe sex or related matters" to fifth- and sixth-grade students because of her religious beliefs as a Catholic.

Schade said that Sulewski's job reassignment was an accommodation so she would not have to deal with making sex-education presentations and "really had nothing to do with discrimination on our part.''

Sulewski's job description includes "promoting public health, including diagnosis, counseling and education." It does not list sex education as a specific job duty.

One of Sulewski's lawyers, Patrick J. Perotti, contended that Sulewski received further punishment after she sued.

"In response to our filing a suit, they instructed her she was terminated as a school nurse and ordered her to report as a home health nurse," Perotti said in a report by the Sandusky Register.

Sulewski and Perotti asked for her to return to her prior work schedule, but the health officials declined to renew her previous assignment, according to the report.

In her suit, Sulewski asked for reinstatement to her former position with back wages, damages, attorney fees and a one-time training session on religious accommodation for district staff.

The county's health board approved a $12,500 settlement on Tuesday. Sulewski received $5,000, with $7,500 going for her legal expenses, and was given her school nurse job back. In return, Sulewski dismissed her lawsuit and promised not to pursue any other claims against the health department, who maintain there was no wrong-doing and that the payment was not an admission of liability, but "solely  paid to preclude additional litigation expenses."

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Good Deed at a Busy Life Chain

Strong support from the pulpit got lots of people out to this one

Commentary by Frank Kennedy

NORTH YORK, Ontario, Nov. 2, 2007 (theinterim.com)  - We had a pro-life guest for dinner from out of town recently. She had been doing pro-life work for ages and was discouraged. She started to list our defeats and setbacks and hers would have filled a phone book if I hadn't interrupted her.

"Wait a minute!" I cried excitedly. "I know a guy who helped organize a Life Chain this year that created a horrendous traffic jam at Bayview and Finch, which is a very busy intersection in Toronto. He had over 300 people at a Life Chain!" (There were many intersections with Life Chains throughout Toronto that day.)

"What?" she queried. "Over 300 people at a LifeChain? Did the media know about this?"

"No and if they did," I said, "they would probably say there was only 150 people there. You know, the media are famous for shrinking pro-life crowd numbers. They're also famous for grotesquely multiplying crowd numbers at a gay parade - like the one in Toronto. They have half of Toronto leaning out of windows on Yonge Street, joyfully screaming obscenities."

The Life Chain organizer said it was so crowded at a bus stop at the intersection, with people lined up so thickly, that an elderly deaf gentleman with his young interpreter were unable to get through the crowd to board a bus. The bus came along, stopped and not seeing them, kept on going. They were both greatly upset.

A gentleman saw what had happened and asked the interpreter where they were going. The interpreter said to the local "Y" nearby. This gentleman felt sorry for what had happened and volunteered to drive them both there. They were delighted to accept the offer and the volunteer got his car from the adjacent Lutheran church parking lot, drove them there and returned shortly afterwards.

The organizer thanked him profusely after seeing this good deed and the gentleman said: "Well, we don't want them to think badly of Life Chain."

It was impossible, the organizer said, to sign up and give signs out for the LifeChain hour. He had four clipboards in service, but they couldn't process the people at LifeChain fast enough and many didn't sign up but elected to stand silently and prayerfully beside someone who had a sign.

The associate pastor at Blessed Trinity Church, Father Hansoo Park, stood on Bayview Avenue and turned his sign, "Abortion kills children," around and printed in large letters: "Honk if you're pro-life!" Thank goodness, the organizer said, there were more thumbs up than horn honking and just three or four thumbs down.

Msgr. Ambrose Sheehy, the pastor of Blessed Trinity, was also there and appeared so delighted with the turnout, you'd swear he had been just named a Cardinal.

What brought out such a large crowd for LifeChain? The organizer said that just five years ago, the Di Fonzo family with their seven boys were a third of the participants. Remember the old line about the baseball stadium: "If you build it, they will come?" It was the leadership of Msgr. Sheehy and Father Hansoo that brought about the amazing numbers. They built the stadium and the people came.

Strong support from the pulpit works. Weeks before, sermons on pro-life activities were given, often daily at the morning Masses. Posters in the foyer and solid plugs in the church bulletins over the weeks before also helped. Their active participation in LifeChain on the Big Day made it the place to be. People you would have never thought would be there were there.

Thousands of cars drove by and it's hard to ignore that big a crowd. Father Hansoo gave a brief talk and led a prayer afterwards. He said: "Who knows how many people have been influenced by what they have seen here today?"

Due to time restraints, it was only possible to take up a collection to cover costs from half the people there. However, those that were approached gave generously. There was a sea of $20 bills. One U.S. visitor gave us a U.S. $20 bill, which the organizer announced we would accept at par.

One new participant told the organizer that maybe on Judgement Day, St. Peter might ask him: "What did you do to save the unborn?" "I'll be able to say: 'I was at a LifeChain at Bayview and Finch.'" With hundreds others.

Frank Kennedy is a long time columnist with The Interim newspaper (Canada's life and family Newspaper)This article appears in the November 2007 Interim (http://www.theinterim.com). 

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