OUR COLUMNISTS Arlen Specter -- Poster Child Commentary by Matt Friedeman Senator Specter apparently wants a place on your wall. Here's why he shouldn't get the chance. The Power of a Good Mind Commentary by Jane Jimenez What can fighter pilots teach us about teaching? The power of a good mind ... and vision. Dysfunctional Accountability Commentary by Brad Locke For all the qualities lacking among our big-time athletes, the most striking absence seems to be that of accountability. When you make so much money, and so much is expected of you, you can't afford to fail. And if you do, you'd better find a scapegoat quick. Amnesia Commentary by David Sisler What would it be like to wake up and not remember the evil that you had done, the people you had hurt, the sins you had committed? What would you pay for a little selective amnesia? 'Let us Vote! Let Us Vote! Let Us Vote!' Commentary by Mark Creech That was the cry heard outside the North Carolina State Legislature recently during a rally in favor of a State Constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage in the Tar Heel State.

...Despite the American Psychiatric Association's ongoing support for homosexual adoption and its May 22 approval of an official statement in support of legalizing same-sex "marriage," at least one pro-family leader is optimistic such endorsements will have little effect. The APA's recent move is the latest effort to circumvent the wishes of more than 70 percent of the U.S. population who want traditional marriage protected and homosexual marriage banned. But Bob Knight of the Culture and Family Institute believes there are some indications that many same-sex marriage supporters are seeing the light. "I think it's dawning on a lot of liberal activists that this has blown up in their faces," he says. "They expected the nation to cave in after Massachusetts legalized [homosexual] marriage. But instead the nation rallied, and people all over the country are putting marriage amendments on the books." Eighteen such state marriage amendments banning same-sex marriage have been passed so far, 14 of them this past year. Knight expects to see four to six more states follow suit in the next year as their citizens have opportunity to weigh in on the homosexual marriage issue. [Bill Fancher]

...A priest who helps people overcome same-sex attractions says high schools should not encourage students to declare themselves as homosexual. Rev. Paul Scalia -- son of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia -- says adolescents who self-identify as homosexual through "gay-lesbian" student clubs may find it is "a label that's very hard to get rid of." He believes many teens who might otherwise outgrow such attractions may be led into behaviors that impede realization of what he calls "their true identity as a child of God." Scalia heads the Arlington, Virginia, chapter of "Courage" -- a Roman Catholic ministry whose goal is "to help persons with same-sex attractions develop an interior life of chastity and move beyond the confines of the homosexual identity to a more complete identity in Christ." [AP]

...The U.S. House of Representatives approved two bills on stem cell research Tuesday: one of those pieces of legislation is HR 810, which if enacted will expand embryonic stem-cell research programs and force U.S. taxpayers to fund the destruction of human embryos. The other, HR 2520, will increase access to life-saving treatments by establishing a nationwide public bank for stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood. While many of the nation's sanctity of life advocates are decrying Congress' passage of HR 810 and the perceived betrayal of those House Republicans who voted to approve it, one Catholic pro-lifer sees yesterday's events on Capitol Hill as an important victory. "This was a David and Goliath story," declares Richard Doerflinger, deputy director of the U.S. College of Catholic Bishops Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities. He says the pro-life movement took on "the combined resources of Hollywood celebrities, the research establishment, and a wealthy for-profit biotechnology industry, and fought them to a standstill." Doerflinger is convinced the bill promoting the killing of human embryos will not become law, largely because President Bush has promised to veto it. Still, he says the debate on the House floor showed "an appalling degree of ignorance and confusion" among supporters of HR 810. But the good news, the USCCB Secretariat spokesman notes, is that the House "voted nearly unanimously to encourage the broader use of cord blood stem cells in research and treatment, an ethical and exceptionally promising field." That bill also has strong bipartisan support in the Senate and Bush's strong endorsement. Doerflinger says the cord blood stem cell legislation should be enacted into law without delay. [Jenni Parker]

...Commenting on Tuesday's passage of HR 810, Catholic League president William Donohue observes that debate over the pro-embryonic stem-cell research (ESCR) measure has been skirting the "real" issue. He says lawmakers who voted for the bill sponsored by Representatives Mike Castle and Diana DeGette are quick to emphasize how tightly the legislation is drawn. Some point out that it only affects unused embryos left over after in vitro fertilization attempts -- embryos that would have been discarded. Others favoring the bill say the research will be justified by benefits to the ill and injured when ESCR starts yielding cures for disease. But Donohue says these arguments avoid "the only issue that really matters -- the moral status of the human embryo." If an embryo is nascent life, he contends, "then it is morally outrageous for anyone to kill it." If this were not true, the Catholic League spokesman believes the lawmakers supporting the Castle-DeGette bill would not be touting its tightly written restrictions. "In short," he asks, "what is the source of their caution, if human life is not at stake?" Donohue says the nation has been down this road before with Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, who said it is not the high court's job to decide when life begins. That is why Donohue feels federal lawmakers must state their precise understanding on that point. And until they do, he asserts, all ESCR bills should be tabled. [Jenni Parker]

...A 13-year-old Christian home-schooler from Minnesota has won the 2005 National Geographic Bee in Washington, DC. Nathaniel Cornelius topped young people from across the nation to win a $25,000 college scholarship. It was Cornelius' third straight trip to the national event. He also represented Minnesota in the 2003 and 2004 National Geographic Bees. Cornelius and his family belong to the Marshall Area Christian Home Educators Association. Besides being an expert in geography, Cornelius plays piano and classical guitar and enjoys photography. [AP]

...A major publisher's first new Bible translation in more than 25 years is finding widespread success. The Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB) was released in April 2004; since then it has hit number five on the General Versions and Translations best-seller chart, according to sales data from Christian retail stores. David Shepherd, a senior vice president for Broadman & Holman, says the goal in producing the Holman CSB was to have a modern English translation that Christian readers and serious students of scripture would find useful. "Timing was right for a fresh translation that's on the more literal end of the spectrum, versus something that would be more like a paraphrase," Shepherd says. "In recent years the trend in Bible translation had been in an easy-to-read format. We went the other direction, feeling that people would appreciate having a fresh, modern English translation that would be good for Bible study. That's what we concentrated on, and that's what we delivered." There are approximately 1.5 million full Holman CSB Bibles in print. [Allie Martin]

...Tom Tancredo, a Republican Congressman who has led the charge for immigration reform on Capitol Hill, says Americans need to understand that President George W. Bush is a globalist; therefore, the conservative lawmaker asserts, no one should be surprised that Bush continually opposes efforts to secure U.S. borders. Tancredo recently blasted a bill proposed by Senators John McCain and Ted Kennedy that called for granting legal status to millions of illegal aliens in the U.S. The Colorado Republican says President Bush supports these kinds of amnesty proposals because he truly believes in a future unified "new world order." But Tancredo believes the vast majority of Americans do not agree with the president. "George Bush is an internationalist," the congressman contends. "People have to understand that. It's not like he's doing it just to get the Hispanic vote. He believes in the elimination of borders. He believes that the country will one day become just a place on the continent." But, according to Tancredo, President Bush regards those who demand secure borders as obstructionists and dinosaurs, destined eventually to die out. "We have to make him understand that the whole concept of a nation-state is still relevant, and that there is no desire on the part of the people in this country to move in his direction," Tancredo says. [Chad Groening]

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