OUR COLUMNISTS Moral Equivalency Justified by Major News Groups Guest Commentary by James L. Lambert The American mainstream media has given short shrift to the brutal, ritualistic murder of U.S. citizen Nick Berg by Islamic extremists. Yet within the media's news pages and websites, the Iraqi prison scandal has been highlighted in such a way as to seriously detract from Berg's tragic beheading. EXTREME CAUTION: CONTAINS LINKS TO VERY GRAPHIC IMAGES Charitable Hearts Commentary by Brad Locke Professional athletes who give quietly and for unselfish motives are to be applauded and emulated by the rest of us. However, there is a dangerous, often subtle paradigm established by those who can write the check but can't cash it. I'm Not a Smart Man Commentary by David Sisler I think I've said it before, but just for the record, Forrest Gump and I are honest men. We know that we don't know. Sometimes we even know what we don't know. Reading the daily newspapers this weekend I am convinced that we are not alone. Simply Rearing Pagans Commentary by Mark Creech Between 12 and 15 million evangelical Christian children attend public schools. If the mass majority of these students were to leave public education, it would cripple the one system that is doing more harm to our nation than any single thing except perhaps the popular media.

...Evangelical leaders say the American family will crumble unless Christians phone Congress to demand passage of a constitutional ban on homosexual marriage. The president of the National Association of Evangelicals, Rev. Ted Haggard, hosted a rally in Colorado that was broadcast via satellite to churches nationwide. He was joined by Focus on the Family founder James Dobson and other Christian leaders. Dobson said the Federal Marriage Amendment is currently supported by just 30 of the 67 senators it needs for passage. Unless that changes, he predicts that legalization of same-sex marriage will deprive children of the mother and father they need for role models. A black church leader, Bishop Wellington Boone, said homosexual marriage is not a civil rights issue, because he cannot "become white," but many people have left the homosexual lifestyle. [AP]

...The four justices of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court who decided homosexual marriage should be legalized are coming under some sharp criticism, along with other judges around the U.S. who seem to be overstepping their constitutionally defined powers. Montana state legislator Jeff Laszloffy was one of many state lawmakers who came to the nation's capital last week to voice their concern over judicial activism. "I'm frankly appalled as a state legislator," he says, "that we have judges in many states who are not only making laws but setting public policy. That is a role constitutionally reserved to legislators. The actions of a few rogue courts have thrown the institution of marriage into chaos and turmoil." The Montana lawmaker says people in blue jeans should be determining public policy -- not people in black robes. In light of the legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, he wonders, "Do four members of a state supreme court have the authority to make such a far-reaching change in public policy? I would submit that they do not. Public policy should be set by the people either directly through the initiative process where possible, or indirectly through their elected representatives -- but not by the courts." [Bill Fancher]

...A pro-family group is hailing the introduction of a new bill in the U.S. legislature requiring that women seeking an abortion be informed about the pain their unborn child experiences during the lethal procedure. Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council joined Republican senators Sam Brownback and Jim Talent as well as Republican congressmen Christopher Smith, Joe Pitts (R-PA), Phil Crane, and Jo Ann Davis for the May 20 introduction of the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act. The proposed law says that a woman who seeks to terminate the life of her unborn child 20 weeks or more after fertilization must be notified of the medical evidence that the child will experience pain, and the abortionist would be required to offer the mother anesthesia for the child. Recently, during the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban trial, pediatrician Dr. Kanwaljeet Anand testified that the procedure causes "severe and excruciating pain" to fetuses at this stage of development and beyond. Commenting on the bill, Senator Brownback noted, "We don't treat a dog or an animal that's slaughtered as inhumanely as we do a child that's being aborted that's over 20 weeks of age. So I'm really hopeful that we can get broad support for this." Perkins says the legislation, which falls into the "right to know" category, would send an important message, telling the unborn "... we see your pain and we will do what we would do for any American -- we will help." [Jenni Parker]

...Residents in a Michigan town have blocked an attempt by their city council to allow Muslim calls for prayer to be broadcast over loudspeakers. The noise ordinance change was to have taken effect on Wednesday, May 19, but Hamtramck residents secured more than enough petition signatures to put the measure into abeyance until August, when voters will decide the issue. Bob Golen, a local resident who helped with the petition drive, doubts the city council will rescind the ordinance. "The council, with that 5-0 vote, hasn't changed their mind [sic]," Golen maintains. "They're just going to 'Well, okay, it has to be held for the election.' They won't rescind it voluntarily, I guarantee you that." In fact, Golen says one council member has already played the race card. "We've got a councilman who consistently says that anyone who signs this petition is a hate-monger, belongs to white supremacist groups, and [is] just trying to divide the community. It's turned into a circus," he says. According to Golen, Hamtramck residents still have a legal option if they need it. But for now, he says, they must get out the vote. [Chad Groening]

...The United Nations has dubbed 2004 as the "Year of the Family." But critics say that based on the U.N.'s actions and edicts, it's anything but that. Ellen Sauerbrey is the U.S. Representative to the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women, with the rank of ambassador. She says the international organization may be promoting the Year of the Family, but it certainly is not doing so by its actions. "The U.N., more and more, has been seeing the conferences and the declarations coming out of the United Nations attacking rather than building family values," she observes. Ambassador Sauerbrey says the U.N. is forming what is being called "customary international law" based on its edicts and conferences. She says "attacks on motherhood or promotion of sexual rights for young people" are being embraced, promoted, and given preeminence over the U.S. Constitution by members of America's judicial system, some of whom are on the Supreme Court. She describes the situation as "very dangerous." [Bill Fancher]

...A Christian attorney says American believers need to put on the full armor of Christ when debating their faith in the public square. And Dee Wampler says those Christians must be prepared to be called names by those from the left. "Antonin Scalia, who is on the U.S. Supreme Court, said a few years ago that we are fools for Christ's sake -- and Christians must pray for courage to endure the scorn of the sophisticated world," Wampler says. "And so whenever I debate the ACLU, some people will come up and argue that I'm a fool, I'm an idiot, and I'm uneducated. We've got to put on the full armor of God, take the position and stand still. and see the deliverance of the Lord [described in] II Chronicles 20." The constitutional scholar adds that Christians need to be as diligent as the other side when fighting for pro-family values. A few radicals, he says, want to destroy the very foundation upon which America was built. "Christians will tend to fight a battle and then they'll go home -- whether they win or lose or whatever, they'll go home," he says. "The left goes back to the drawing board. We've seen it with the homosexuality movement; they'll lose a battle here and they'll lose one there and people are saying bad things about them. And they just keep coming back and coming back and coming back, and they'll go to one judge and then another, one state and then another -- it's always in your face." Wampler recently published a book called The Myth Between Church and State, in which he debunks those radicals who are trying to destroy religious freedoms in America. [Chad Groening]

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