OUR COLUMNISTS Happy Holidays ... Or, Why Christmas Is Fading ... Commentary by Matt Friedeman Let's face it -- Labafana, "Happy Holidays", and Santa replacing Jesus have been going on for years. We can blame the rabid secularists and the liberal behind every bush -- but this is really the fault of evangelicalism. Natural Child Birth Commentary by Jane Jimenez This is the perfect season to contemplate the "progress" of science in the past 40 years toward creating the perfect baby. Trust Me Commentary by Brad Locke I'm not convinced that poor discipline is the bane of many sports teams today. I think the main cause of discord is a lack of trust. Here's Wishing You a Merry *****mas! Commentary by David Sisler It's for certain -- the retailing world doesn't ignore the birth of the Savior anymore. Instead, they have obliterated it. The powers of political correctness have decreed that this is the "Holiday Season." Hawaii Supreme Court: The Unborn Are 'Not Human Beings' Commentary by Mark Creech The ruling in the case and Hawaii's penal code clearly define personhood on the basis of functionalism. The Holy Scriptures, however, define one's personhood not by what one does but by what one is.

...The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe has helped resurrect a film industry whose slumping box office this year may have felt like "always winter, but never Christmas." The film based on the C.S. Lewis children's classic sold an estimated $67 million worth of tickets on its opening weekend, more than the next nine most popular films combined. Children, teen-agers and adults have praised the movie's quality, excitement and faithfulness to Lewis's Christian message. Actor William Moseley says that like his character Peter in the film, he wants to be honorable, responsible and "to do what's morally right." [AP]

...The senior minister at central Kentucky's largest church is defending his church's decision to close rather than hold worship services on Christmas Sunday. Last week Associated Press reported that some of America's largest churches will be closed on Christmas Day, which this year falls on a Sunday. The report said those churches are planning Christmas Eve services on Saturday, but are canceling their usual Sunday worship schedule. Officials at those churches say the schedule change is meant to be "family friendly." But closing the doors of the church on the Lord's Day, said critics, is unthinkable. Critics include Fuller Theological Seminary professor Robert Johnson, who objects to redefining Christmas as a family celebration rather than as Christians celebrating the birth of the Savior. Among the megachurches AP reports will be closed on Christmas are the Chicago-area's Willow Creek Community Church (senior pastor Bill Hybels); Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, Michigan (founding pastor Rob Bell); North Point Community Church (founding pastor Andy Stanley) in Alpharetta, Georgia; and Fellowship Church near Dallas (pastor Ed Young). Rev. Jon Weese of Southland Christian Church in Lexington, Kentucky -- also among those closing on Christmas Day -- says it is a matter of putting families first. Responding to Christians nationwide who have protested the cancellation of services by Southland and other megachurches on a Sunday, Weese noted that Jesus also was criticized by people who "emphasized religion over relationship." But Rev. D. James Kennedy of Coral Ridge Ministries told the Miami Herald, "We need to think carefully before we abandon our services on that day, especially when many churches are rightly blaming retailers and businesses for ignoring Christmas." [AP]

...A Canadian pro-family activist says voter turnout will probably be the key if the Conservatives hope to finally wrestle power away from the Liberals next month. Not long after the Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin fell last month, Conservative leader Stephen Harper pledged he would work to reinstate the traditional definition of marriage, if elected prime minister. Brian Rushfeldt of the Canada Family Action Coalition says the Tories must pick up about 55 seats if they hope to form a conservative government. He says fortunately, many Liberals are disgruntled. "Some, I believe, will go to the Conservative Party," he conjectures. "Some will certainly move to the [New Democratic Party]; but a lot of the disaffected Liberals are saying [they are] going to stay home" and not even vote because they prefer not to support what Rushfeldt describes as a "corrupt party." He is hopeful that more conservatives will get out to the polls this time. "We are convinced that it can be done if we can get those conservative people out to vote," he explains. "The dynamic is actually very, very positive -- if the liberals stay home and the conservatives go out, we couldn't hope for a better scenario." Rushfeldt notes that in the last election some 18 months ago, voter turnout was only 60 percent. Whereas in the last Conservative victory four elections ago, it was 75 percent. [Chad Groening]

...A former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations says a document found by Israeli military forces reveals that a U.N. agency has actually provided financial support to the terrorist group Hamas. Dore Gold has recently released the paperback version of this book Tower of Babel: How the United Nations Has Fueled Global Chaos. The former U.N. ambassador says he has included evidence that the United Nations has been financing several Hamas front groups. "I think the most devastating document that I put in the paperback version of Tower of Babel is a document that was found by the Israeli Army in a Hamas headquarters in the West Bank," the author explains. "It's a bank transfer from the Arab Bank in Jordan of several thousand dinars from the United Nations Development Program to Hamas, an international terrorist organization." Gold says giving money to Hamas is a violation of the U.N.'s own resolution. [Chad Groening]

...Concerned Women for America is wondering if families really want television cable companies to determine what constitutes "family-friendly" fare if groupings of such programming come to pass. A spokesperson for CWA says putting control of family-friendly "tiers" available to cable subscribers in the hands of cable companies is a "sell-out." Lanier Swann says companies that broadcast "some of the most graphically immoral material in television history" cannot be trusted to create family-friendly grouping of programs. Swann says parents should be the ones who decide what is appropriate for their children to watch on TV. "Cable choice is a far better option for empowering parents to keep filth away from our children and restore rightful authority to all consumers," Swann adds. "We cannot let cable companies decide what constitutes a 'family-friendly' program." [Jody Brown]

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