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.

...Churches and other faith-based relief agencies have mobilized to bring aid to disaster victims in the Philippines after the deadly February 17 landslide in that country, which engulfed hundreds of homes and left an estimated 1,800 people missing and feared dead. Officials say half a mountain came crashing down after two weeks of torrential rains, and hopes have faded quickly for finding survivors in the mud that is 30-feet deep in some places. The U.S. has sent two warships and a thousand marines to the Philippines to help in the aftermath of the massive landslide, assistance Filipino President Gloria Arroyo says is welcome. Nevertheless the international and local disaster responses are being coordinated cautiously, as there are fears that rescue workers could get trapped in the mud. The situation is so dangerous that a no-fly zone has been established over the disaster site due to fears that helicopter downdrafts could set off a fresh landslide. [Allie Martin]

...A group of 86 evangelical pastors, college presidents, and others has released a statement calling on Christians to address the controversial issue of human-caused global warming, noting that "millions could die in this century because of climate change." According to a Religion News Service report, the 86 Christian leaders have jointly endorsed "national legislation requiring sufficient economy-wide reductions in carbon emissions." Meanwhile, at the urging of other evangelical leaders, the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) has opted out of any such endorsement and has announced that it will not give its official support to any campaigns or legislation regarding global warming. Instead, the NAE's Executive Committee has adopted a motion "recognizing the ongoing debate regarding the causes and origins of global warming, and understanding the lack of consensus among the evangelical community on this issue." The motion goes on to state that the NAE will not go beyond the policy set in its 2004 Evangelical Call to Civil Responsibility, which speaks in general terms of a biblical "responsibility to care for God's earth." Commenting on the NAE's decision, the Institute on Religion and Democracy's Interim President, Alan Wisdom, said his group commends the NAE for "declining to take sides in the debates over global warming." While Christians "agree about our call to be good stewards of God's creation," he notes, "there is legitimate disagreement about the extent of, causes of, results of, and remedies for global warming. This is an issue on which individual Christians should form and express their own judgments, but not an issue on which the church should support a particular agenda." Wisdom went on to say that he welcomes debate among Christians on global warming and other important political issues, "so long as the Gospel and the Church are not unduly politicized." [Jenni Parker]

...A pro-life advocate says the Massachusetts Pharmacy Board is promoting the abortion lobby's agenda by forcing a major retailer to stock a dangerous abortion drug. The state regulatory board voted last week to require Wal-Mart to stock the "morning after pill," which evidence shows can cause abortions. Wal-Mart cited slow sales and low demand as its reasons for not carrying the drug. However, following a lawsuit by three women, the board is forcing Wal-Mart to stock a product for which the retailer says there is insufficient demand. Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America says abortion supporters want to force pharmacists to go along with their agenda, and the board's decision is based on a desire to help the abortion lobby. But the Massachusetts Pharmacy Board has no right to regulate Wal-Mart's business decisions, Wright asserts, much less any right to make decisions catering to the pro-abortion crowd. [Rusty Pugh]

...Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe says it is time to start treating extreme environmental rights and animal rights groups like they deserve to be treated -- as terrorists. Groups like the Animal Rights Liberation Front and the Earth Liberation Front are dangerous, he says. In fact, he contends, "A lot of people don't realize that these far left extremist environmentalists don't care anything about the environment -- that they are in fact terrorist groups." Eleven indictments have been handed down by grand juries in New York against these two groups and their activities, the senator notes. After participating in some revealing hearings on the subject, he notes, "We talked for quite a while about the eco-terrorism, the fact that these animal rights and environmentalist extremist groups are actually on the FBI's terrorist lists and have been destroying property and all that." Inhofe says many of these groups use advocacy issues as a smokescreen to hide their true terrorist agenda. [Bill Fancher]

...Retired U.S. Army officer and Pentagon advisor Lieutenant Colonel Bob Maginnis believes the United States currently lacks sufficient troops to engage in any ground action against Iran, should the need arise to take out that country's nuclear capability by force. He believes air strikes are America's only viable option at present. "We can drop five hundred 2000-ton bombs in a variety of locations," the military advisor says, "but all that is going to do is disturb their peace. It's not going to really destroy all of their nuclear capability. It is spread all over that very large country." Meanwhile, Maginnis believes the Iranians may be doing some nuclear "saber-rattling" in order to look good to the rest of the Muslim world and he suspects the Middle Eastern nation is actually hoping to draw some kind of military attack. "I think, in fact, they would even invite a strike by Israel or the United States to knock out parts of their system of nuclear research," the Pentagon advisor notes, which action "would only make them look better in the eyes of the Muslim world because they took on 'the Great Satan,' the U.S." Maginnis says Iran clearly wants "to be the world leader of Islam" and is basically trying to push its way past Saudi Arabia and Indonesia and other nations to get that position. [Chad Groening]

...The House Committee on resources has released the findings of its report on China's growing demand, and the economic and national security implications it has for America's own energy needs, and the report does not bode well for the United States. Committee Chairman Richard Pombo concludes that China is taking bold, aggressive steps to increase and diversify its domestic energy resources. Committee spokeswoman Jennifer Zuccarrelli says the Chinese are also pursuing energy deals with rogue regimes around the world. "They're in a similar situation with the United States in that they have to import a lot of their energy," she explains, "but, at the same time, I think a major difference ... is that not only is China importing its energy, but it's also taking full advantage of all of its domestic resources." And the Chinese are not hampered by the burdensome restrictions of radical environmentalists such as those that have continued to convince lawmakers not to drill in the Alaskan national wildlife reserve known as ANWR. "The United States, as we've seen over the last few decades, has enforced and written more and more policies that block off access to our domestic energy resources," Zuccarrelli insists, "and so that's going to play an important role in the future when China is able to tap its own resources, and the United States grows more and more dependent on foreign countries." [Chad Groening]

...Muslim nations are trying to stop the deadly riots over editorial cartoons depicting Muhammad. Pakistani security forces arrested hundreds of Islamic hard-liners, virtually sealed off the capital and used gunfire and tear gas Sunday to quell protests against the drawings. Pakistan had banned protests after riots killed five people in two cities last week. In Nigeria, troops patrolled the deserted streets of a town where thousands of Muslims attacked Christians and burned churches on Saturday, killing at least 15 people during a protest over the cartoons. Most of the victims were beaten to death by rioters. Also on Saturday, demonstrators with wooden staves and stones tried unsuccessfully to storm the U.S. Embassy in Indonesia. [AP]

...Three Saudi newspapers have published full-page apologies from the editor-in-chief of the Danish newspaper that first ran cartoons of Muhammad. The apologies, in Arabic, ran in Sunday ads paid for by the newspaper Jyllands-Posten in a bid to stem the wave of outrage in the Islamic world over the drawings. The Danish paper's editor says, quote: "We apologize for the great misunderstanding that occurred over the drawings that depicted the noble prophet Muhammad (prayers and peace be upon him)." The ad goes on to say that the drawings were meant to promote "dialogue on the freedom of expression" -- not to denigrate Muhammad. Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah said Sunday that when Islam is attacked, Muslims should respond with "tolerance, justice and moderation." [AP]

© 2006 AgapePress all rights reserved.

E-mail this page to a friend

Printer-Friendly Version

Read all of our current headlines