Articles for Month: October 2003

SALEM, MA., October 21, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A witchcraft ceremony called “Death and Rebirth: Ritual Transformation” is to take place at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Salem Massachusetts.  The ceremony, part of the “Festival of the Dead”, is set for 8:30 pm, Saturday, November 1.  An advertisement for the event on the official Festival of the Dead website says: “Draw on the magick of Salem, the power of Witchcraft, the strength in numbers, and take action to create the life you have dreamed of having.”  It adds, “It is not necessary to be a Witch to participate.”  LifeSite was […]

WASHINGTON, October 21, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An upcoming CBS film made for television presents former President Ronald Reagan as cold-hearted and ruthless.  Drudge report revealed in a shocker today that in one scene former First Lady Nancy Reagan is portrayed pleading with the President to help people battling AIDS. The film character playing Reagan says resolutely, “They that live in sin shall die in sin” and refuses to discuss the issue further. The show’s writer’s admit the dialogue never happened.  Drudge also reveals that the film’s producers, Zadan and Meron, acknowledge their liberal politics, as do the stars of the […]

CALGARY, October 21, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Under the pretence of not “endorsing any one religion over another”, the Calgary Health Region (CHR) is mulling a policy that would see the Gideon Bibles found in most bedside tables of hospitals in North America, banned.  Toni MacDonald, the CHR’s director of spiritual care said, “There’s no interest in restricting access. It’s just that we want it to be non-discriminatory.  We thought we needed to do a more careful review of what our current practice is to ensure we are being considerate of all religious faiths.”  However, religious leaders of diverse faiths vehemently […]

WASHINGTON, October 21, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The U.S. Senate gave final approval to the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act (S. 3) Tuesday afternoon on a vote of 64-34, clearing the measure for President Bush’s signature.  “In 2000, five Supreme Court justices said that Roe v. Wade guaranteed the right of abortionists to perform partial-birth abortions whenever they see fit— but Congress is now inviting the Supreme Court to re-examine that extreme and inhumane decision,” said Douglas Johnson, legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC).  In the case of Stenberg v. Carhart in 2000, by a 5-4 vote, the […]

STAFFORD, Virginia, October 21, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – American Life League president Judi Brown has taken the Florida Catholic bishops to task for their poor efforts on the Terri Shiavo saga. In a press release earlier today, the AFL says Brown “notes a serious void in leadership within the Florida Catholic Conference of Bishops. ‘Most stunning throughout this lengthy, three-year battle to save Terri Schiavo’s life has been the lack of consistent action by Florida’s Catholic bishops, especially Bishop Robert Lynch of St. Petersburg.  It is inexcusable that these shepherds find it acceptable to sit by virtually silent while one of […]

TALLAHASSEE, October 21, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Florida House voted Monday night, shortly after 10 PM, 68-23 to give Governor Jeb Bush the authority to rescue Terri Schindler-Schiavo from the court ordered starvation she has undergone since Wednesday, October 15. Today, the Senate passed the bill 23-15, sending it to Bush for his signature.  Governor Bush, who arranged for the extension of the special session to allow for the bill, signed the legislation immediately. He issued an executive order just over an hour after the bill’s passage, halting the starvation death.  The bill allows for a stay in cases of […]

Canadian Immigration Minister Dennis Coderre has refused a request to grant asylum

OTTAWA, October 20, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Canadian media is rife today with stories on the fact that destructive research on human embryos is already being done in Canada. And 'experts' in the field are thus questioning the motivation of pro-life MPs who are objecting to the legislation which, they say, seeks to regulate the research. A proponent of the current bill, Francoise Baylis, an ethicist at Dalhousie University, has claimed pro-life MPs are being inconsistent in opposing the bill. The Canadian Press reports that Baylis said, while embryonic stem cell research is not currently going on, destructive research on […]

NEW HAMPSHIRE, October 20, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) –  Gene Robinson, the practicing homosexual Episcopal Minister who is to be consecrated a bishop November 2, has refused to step down from his appointment and has gone even further saying that “it is God’s will” that he become a bishop.  Anglicans the world over including the Archbishop of Canterbury have acknowledged the move will cause a massive split in the Church but Robinson remains determined to go ahead.  However, even within the diocese there is much unrest.  Donations to the diocese are down due to protests by some parishes. See local coverage:  https://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=61204&ran=195906

LOS ANGELES, October 20, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) –  A study published in the current edition of the journal Molecular Brain Research has found (to no one’s surprise) that being male and being female are distinctly different genetically.  Dr. Eric Vilain, the lead researcher of the study and a professor at the University of California, said the study shows “Sexual identity is rooted in every person’s biology before birth and springs from a variation in our individual genome.”  The researchers found that in mice over 50 genes lead to brain differences between males and females.  Thus the research suggests that the widely […]