OUR COLUMNISTS So, Now the Church Is the New Whipping Boy for the GOP? Commentary by Matt Friedeman While acknowledging GOP Senator Tom Coburn has courage to "slap around" the Religious Right, columnist Matt Friedeman questions the lawmaker's accusation that the church has played a role in food stamp fraud. The Gift of Kindness Commentary by Jane Jimenez With the entire country engaged in finding the perfect Valentine's Day gift, could we imagine a year of endless days for Valentine gifts ... a day that never ends? A Cynic's Playground Commentary by Brad Locke The Olympics...NASCAR...spring training...March Madness.... Unfortunately, much of the current optimism will give way to the cynicism that has been infecting the sports world with alarming frequency the last few years. Comparing Islamic Fascists to Christian Conservatives Commentary by Mark Creech The media has often compared Christian conservatives in America to violent Islamic radicals. Such comparisons are common today by those on the left, but nothing less than asinine -- and recent events on the world stage prove it.

...A Christian school's firing of an unwed pregnant teacher has been upheld by a federal judge who ruled that the school is exempt from a federal pregnancy discrimination law. Federal Judge William Acker, Jr., said a jury correctly found that Tessana Lewis's pregnancy was a motivating factor in her firing by the Covenant Classical School of Trace Crossing, Alabama. Lawyers for Covenant argued that Lewis was fired not because she was pregnant but because she had sex outside marriage, violating the Bible-based values and principles taught there. Jurors had suggested awarding Lewis $600 in back pay and $15,000 for mental anguish, but Judge Acker ruled that the school was within its rights because it is a religious institution that can make hiring and firing decisions based on its belief system. [AP]

...A pro-family leader from Massachusetts is threatening legal action against the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Brian Camenker of the group Article 8 Alliance says the homosexual organization has falsely asserted his connection with an incident at a Bay State homosexual bar where a neo-Nazi violently attacked some of the patrons. The Task Forced named Camenker as one of the people who created the situation that led to the attacks, an allegation he strongly protests. "This is so odious and so ... just horrific, that they would take this low tactic," the Article 8 spokesman says. He notes that the neo-Nazi perpetrator attacked several people in the bar; however, he did not kill anyone until after he left the bar. "He injured people, which was bad enough," Camenker says, "but he murdered a policeman and some woman who was with him, and the gays don't seem to be angry about that." Homosexuals want to use intimidation to silence anyone who disagrees with them or their deadly lifestyle, the pro-family activist asserts. "They're strategy is -- and it's a cowardly, low, disgusting thing -- to try to suggest that I and other people in the pro-family movement are somehow connected with murderous acts." Camenker says he is contemplating taking the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force to court over its inference of his connection to the neo-Nazi attacker. [Bill Fancher]

...Focus on the Family's Dr. James Dobson is responding to conservative critics of his support for a Colorado measure that would extend legal protections to unmarried couples. On his radio broadcast Thursday, Dobson said he is being unfairly attacked by "conservatives who claim to follow the cause of Christ." The legislation would allow any two people who cannot marry -- everyone from same-sex couples to elderly sisters -- to sign up and get the right to visit one another in the hospital, transfer property and make medical decisions for each another. Paul Cameron of the Family Research Institute says Dobson has "come off the tracks" of the Christian movement in backing rights for homosexual couples. But Dobson says he believes in providing legal rights without redefining marriage. [AP]

...A pro-life senator has caused concern among his supporters by withdrawing his backing from a bill that would ban human cloning. Senator Jim Talent from Missouri said he has questions about the legislation and wants to withdraw his name as a co-sponsor. David Christensen, Family Research Council's director of congressional affairs, is worried about what the lawmaker's actions mean. "There's a lot of concern, legitimate concern that Senator Talent has been caving to the political pressures and some of the folks with a lot of money down in Missouri who really want to clone human embryos to kill them for research," Christensen says. "I think a lot of people want to reach out to Senator Tallant. He has been pro-life on some key issues, and I think that there's a hope that if he does have concerns about the bill, and this isn't simply a matter of politics, that those would be able to be addressed." The vote on the anti-cloning bill is very close, and supporters fear losing Talent's support could prove devastating to the bill's chances. The senator has voiced concerns that the bill would prevent cell cloning, which does not require the creation of a human embryo; however, the bill's creators claim that is not the case. [Bill Fancher]

...This year Oakseed Ministries International (OMI) is holding its international essay contest for youth on the topic, "Compassion and the Starving Child." The competition offers three prizes to entrants in three age categories -- ages 12 and under, ages 13-17, and ages 18-22 -- and will award $1,000 for first place, $500 for second place, and $250 for honorable mention in each category. OMI president Ed Bradley says the plight of starving children is one of the most serious crises facing humanity today. Around the globe, he notes, it is estimated that one child in every five dies from hunger-related causes. "By hosting the 'Compassion and the Starving Child' essay contest, Oakseed Ministries hopes to empower children here in the U.S. and abroad to think critically about the worldwide epidemic of child hunger and starvation," Bradley explains. "We value the wisdom of children regarding the needs of the poor and disenfranchised in our world." The 2005 OMI essay competition drew more than 1,800 submissions from across the U.S.; this year's contest marks the first time participation has been extended to youth across the globe. A press release from OMI notes that submitted essays should not be a "clinical assessment of child hunger," but should instead represent "a personal response to the crisis of the starving child." The essay contest is part of a year-long campaign to raise awareness of child hunger that will culminate in the Annual Day of Prayer for Children at Risk on June 4, 2006. [Jenni Parker]

...Several pro-family organizations are angry over the failure of the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee to allow a vote on the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act. Christian Coalition media director Michele Combs says she does not understand why Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska is delaying the bill. "It passed in the U.S. House of Representatives, overwhelmingly, last year by a margin of 389 to 38," she notes, "so we're very concerned that the Senate has not taken it on or decided to vote on it." Stevens has held several hearings on the legislation with entertainment industry executives but still has not let the bill out of committee for a vote. If the bill passed, Combs says it would "increase fines to $500,000 per violation, up from $32,000." Another group, Concerned Women for America, has been closely following the bill's progress and wants the same answers about why it seems to be stalled in committee. [Bill Fancher]

...Maryland Congressman Roscoe Bartlett, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, believes America's current energy crisis is not going to get any better in the face of increased demands by China and India for more of the world's oil supply. In light of this, Bartlett feels the U.S. would be wise to hold on to what reserves it has. In fact, the lawmaker feels President Bush's Advanced Energy Initiative is far too modest and overly focused on increasing domestic oil production to support increased consumption. "It was inevitable that, even without the big increase in demand from countries like China and India, the world was going to reach what's called 'peak oil' -- that is, our maximum capacity for producing oil on a daily basis. India, China, and the emerging world have just intensified this problem," he says. Still, the congressman contends, drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) is not the answer. "This is a problem which I think is going to do nothing but grow larger," he insists, "and I'm having a lot of trouble understanding how it's in our long-term national security interests to use up the little bit of oil we've got as quickly as we can." Bartlett says Americans need to practice conservation and efficiency in using energy, as well as the development of new energy sources. "This may be a rainy day," the Republican lawmaker says. "I think there's going to be a rainier day. I don't have any problem drilling in ANWR. What I have a problem with is pumping in ANWR, which will mask the real problem we have ... that we have got to move to alternatives." [Chad Groening]

© 2006 AgapePress all rights reserved.

E-mail this page to a friend

Printer-Friendly Version

Read all of our current headlines