Articles for Month: November 2009

OTTAWA, November 25, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A new study released today by the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada reveals that full-day kindergarten in Ontario will cost $1.8 billion annually, about double initial estimates. If the proposed vision for early learning in Ontario is fully implemented, encompassing “the prenatal period through to adolescence,” the costs would easily rise to $6.1 billion annually. This is nearly half the current Ministry of Education budget.  Were the money given to parents instead of being spent on institutional care, parents could receive a minimum of $9,199 dollars per child, annually.  The study conservatively estimates […]

ANN ARBOR, MI, November 25, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday upheld the Maple-South Orange school district's ban on all religious Christmas music including instrumentals, which had been part of the school district Christmas program for years – until one parent complained.  In yesterday's ruling the Third Circuit approved the school policy that prohibits Christmas selections such as “Silent Night,” “Joy to the World,” “Oh, Come All Ye Faithful,” and “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.”  However, the Third Circuit approved concert selections of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Frosty the Snowman.” The Thomas More Law […]

By John-Henry Westen LONDON, November 24, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Speaking at the Annual Theos Lecture in London on November 4, Britain's Chief Rabbi Johnathan Sacks, warned that Europe was bound to meet the same fate as ancient Greece due to its abysmal failure to inspire larger families. “Parenthood involves massive sacrifice: of money, attention, time and emotional energy,” he said.  “Where today, in European culture with its consumerism and its instant gratification 'because you're worth it,' in that culture, where will you find space for the concept of sacrifice for the sake of generations not yet born?” He observed that […]

By Patrick B. Craine ST. AUGUSTINE, Florida, November 25, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Bishop Victor Galeone of St. Augustine, Florida also decided to discontinue the CCHD collection, LifeSiteNews.com has confirmed, bringing the list of bishops who decided against holding this year's collection to five. In a November article for his diocesan magazine, Bishop Galeone explains that he had made this decision in May – many months prior to the controversy that erupted this fall over reports that the CCHD is funding groups that support abortion, contraception, and same-sex “marriage.” The bishop lists three reasons for his decision. First, he says, “over the […]

ABC shuns Lambert for scheduled 'Good Morning America' appearance

Quebec's "low religiosity" related to lower marital happiness and a higher propensity to divorce"

Commentary by Alex Schadenberg, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition November 25, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC) has just learned that Francine Lalonde has once again traded-back to delay the second hour of debate on Bill C-384, the bill that would legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada. The new scheduled date for the debate on C-384 is Tuesday, February 2, 2010 with the vote taking place on February 3. This is the third time Lalonde has traded-back the date for the second hour of debate. Originally C-384 was scheduled for its second hour of debate on November 16, 2009 with […]

By Hilary White BIRMINGHAM, November 25, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Catholics and other “traditional” Christians in Britain have effectively “been disenfranchised” by a government and political class that is determined to hold on to its anti-life and anti-family dogmas, a retired UK Catholic bishop has said. Bishop Patrick O'Donoghue issued what he called a “personal manifesto” for Catholics in the UK at a lecture to students at the Catholic chaplaincy of Birmingham University on Sunday. “Until recently,” he said, he would have encouraged young Catholics to become involved in the political process, “but realistically how welcome is the Catholic voice in […]

By James Tillman November 25, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com)—”It's light years beyond ultrasound and will make you practically fall off your chair when you see it.” So says Father Frank Pavone about the breakthrough video Priests for Life is now distributing and promoting, called The Biology of Prenatal Development. By using embryoscopy, a rare technique involving a tiny camera the size of a pen tip, scientists were able to get breathtaking, real footage of the unborn, which shows how preborn babies have a heartbeat at three weeks, make spontaneous movements at six weeks, and have 90% of the anatomical structures found in adults at […]

By Peter J. Smith CONCORD, New Hampshire, November 25, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The New Hampshire Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case of a ten-year-old home-schooled girl who was ordered into a public school by a family court judge, who decided that the girl, who is Christian, had not been exposed to enough alternative viewpoints. The daughter of parents who divorced in her infancy, Amanda Kurowski had been ordered into public school by family court Judge Lucinda V. Sadler on the recommendation of Marital Master Michael Garner and the testimony of the girl's court-appointed counselor, the Guardian ad Litem […]