By Michael Hichborn
The ongoing effort to save preborn babies from the culture of death is akin to the epic battle between David and Goliath. While the pro-life movement struggles just to maintain its grassroots support base, the massive and powerful culture of death has access to all of the money, political power and propaganda it could ever want.
At least David had the nerve to show up for the fight. Right now, in Colorado, a 20-year-old law student has taken up David's sling and is prepared to throw the deadly stone while some self-professed pro-life leaders, politicians and clergymen cower because they believe that "now is not the right time."
In November 2007, Kristi Burton, founder of Colorado for Equal Rights, won an important victory in the state supreme court allowing her to move forward with Proposed Initiative 36. The initiative simply states that "the terms 'person' or 'persons' shall include any human being from the moment of fertilization." This initiative is the lynchpin for restoring the right to life for all preborn babies, because in the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision, Justice Harry Blackmun wrote, "If this suggestion of personhood is established, the appellant's case, of course, collapses, for the fetus' right to life would then be guaranteed specifically by the [14th] Amendment."
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Posted by Walt as Family Values, Pro Life at 11:21 PM EST
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ADF attorneys filed friend-of-the-court briefs in August explaining to R.I. high court that divorce is not legally possible for non-marital relationshipsPROVIDENCE, R.I. — In a case involving two women seeking to “divorce” one another, the Supreme Court of Rhode Island ruled Friday that the term “marriage,” according to state law, means a union between one man and one woman. Therefore, the lower state court did not have the authority to consider a petition for a same-sex “divorce.”
“Marriage has always been one man and one woman in Rhode Island. Everything else is counterfeit. The Supreme Court of Rhode Island ruled correctly,” said Alliance Defense Fund Senior Legal Counsel Austin R. Nimocks. In August, ADF attorneys filed three friend-of-the-court briefs explaining that divorce is not legally possible for non-marital relationships (www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4197).
The two women in the case, Margaret Chambers and Cassandra Ormiston, both residents of Rhode Island, traveled across the state to Massachusetts in May 2004 and obtained a “marriage” license there. The couple subsequently petitioned the Rhode Island courts for a “divorce.”
The Supreme Court of Rhode Island expressed in its ruling, “The role of the judicial branch is not to make policy, but simply to determine the legislative intent as expressed in the statues enacted by the General Assembly.”
“Not only is today’s ruling a victory for marriage, it’s also a tremendous step forward against judicial activism,” said Nimocks. “Rhode Island’s highest court acknowledged that it is the role of the legislature, and not the judiciary, to establish public policy.”
A full copy of the ruling issued by the Supreme Court of Rhode Island in the case Chambers v. Ormiston can be read at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/ChambersRuling.pdf.
ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
www.telladf.org www.domawatch.org
Posted by Walt as Family Values, News Events, Social Issues at 10:55 PM EST
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by Robert E. Meyer
Perhaps you are one of those people who often wonder how come there are so many professing Christians in America, yet the culture is deteriorating like a timber foundation infested with termites and dry rot.
My own recent experience is a nut shell illustration of the principle problem.
Last fall, my state was one of several to offer a binding voter referendum defining the parameters of legal marriage. Our local Unitarian Universalist fellowship placed up a large banner under the sign identifying the location of their organization. The banner encouraged passers-by to vote no on the amendment.
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Posted by Walt as Church, Family Values at 10:35 PM EDT
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by Thomas E. Brewton
Why is preservation of traditional marriage, between a man and a woman, vital to preservation of a good political society?
Malachi, a prophet who probably ministered in the 60 years after the first groups of Israelites returned to Jerusalem from Babylon, gives us God's Word on the subject.
Having endured the Babylonian captivity for 70 sears, few of the returning Israelites had ever experienced the proper religious life of the pre-captivity period. Moreover, the Jerusalem to which they returned was a desolate ruin that had been destroyed and plundered by Judah's enemies.
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Posted by Walt as Family Values, Social Issues at 1:25 AM EST
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by Carey Roberts
I wish I had a dime in my pocket for every time I heard a Republican politician stand up and proclaim his support for "family values."
When we survey the current state of the family, we see that Americans are half as likely to wed compared to a generation ago, mostly due to a growing shortage of marriage-minded men. [www.therealitycheck.org/StaffWriter/croberts112906.htm]
How did all this happen?
Over the past 40 years, the Sisters of Spinsterhood have cranked out the message that men are not needed or wanted. That message was eventually translated into a broad range of anti-family laws and policies.
First, Great Society programs forced poor women to choose between a husband and a handout. Then divorce courts routinely took children away from their fathers. No-fault divorce laws meant mom could dispose of dad and claim the kids as ransom money.
Next came the 1994 Violence Against Women Act that became a nightmare of false allegations and household evictions. The final blow was draconian enforcement by child support programs that began to stick low-income fathers in debtor’s prisons if they couldn’t pay.
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Posted by Walt as Family Values, Social Issues at 9:13 PM EST
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Representatives Ron Paul (R.-Texas), Scott Garrett (R.-N.J.), and Roscoe Bartlett (R.-Md.) have introduced H.R. 776, the “Sanctity of Life Act of 2005,” “to provide that human life shall be deemed to exist from conception.” H.R. 776 would have Congress declare: “(1) (A) human life shall be deemed to exist from conception, without regard to race, sex, age, health, defect, or condition of dependency; and (B) the term ‘person’ shall include all human life as defined in subparagraph (A); and (2) the Congress recognizes that each State has the authority to protect lives of unborn children residing in the jurisdiction of that State.” The bill has only five cosponsors, so much work is needed to advance it.
Contact you Representative and voice your stance.
Posted by Walt as Family Values, Social Issues at 10:25 AM EDT
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In a 3-0 decision, the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals July 14, ruled that Nebraska’s constitutional amendment banning gay marriage did not violate the United States Constitution. The ruling reversed a lower federal court decision that found the ban violated a host of constitutional guarantees.
Today’s decision concludes a string of disappointing decisions for same-sex marriage advocates. Decisions within the past week from courts in New York, Georgia and Connecticut all ruled decisively in favor of traditional marriage.
The American Family Association Center for Law & Policy (CLP) authored an amicus curiae brief in the case. Steve Crampton, Chief Counsel for the CLP, was pleased with the ruling, Crampton commented: “The Eighth Circuit has resoundingly affirmed the will of the people of the State of Nebraska,” whose large voting majority on the constitutional amendment protecting marriage was noted by the court. Crampton said that “the preservation of the institution of marriage is fundamental to the well-being of our society, and while we are encouraged by this decision we continue to urge passage of a federal marriage amendment to remove the question once and for all from the reach of activist courts.”
Brian Fahling, Senior Trial Attorney for the CLP, said “the early success of homosexuals using the courts to force their radical agenda on an unwilling nation appears to be turning on them. Government by the people is always preferable to government by the judiciary.”
Seventy percent of the people of Nebraska voted for the ban on gay marriage.
Posted by Walt as Family Values, Social Issues at 12:19 AM EDT
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Sharon Hughes
The Center for Changing Worldviews
Every time Memorial Day and Veterans Day comes around my minds goes to the many times I've attended parades and special observances put on by the cities in our area and the various veterans organizations. Several of those times my husband, Duane, participated in the events as a candidate for State Assembly and U.S. Congress. As a decorated Vietnam Vet he always received a warm welcome. Well, except for a couple of the very left-coast towns.
When our sons were growing up we would get out the picture albums of Duane's time in the Army, read together about why we observed these holidays in America out of the encyclopedia, and after dinner, which was usually a bar-be-que, we'd sit down and watch a movie or documentary on one of the wars our Armed Forces have fought in.
Some will think what we did was to indoctrinate our sons in a pro-war mindset. But, actually we were educating them in the realities of war. We wanted to instill in them an appreciation for those who laid their lives on the line to protect the rest of us, and the freedoms we enjoy, during times of war. We also wanted to make sure they had no romantic ideas about war as boys can have. If the time ever came for them to go to war it would be with their eyes wide open and the cost counted.
There is no glamour in war. War is hell. But, even the Bible states there is a time for peace and a time for war. This is, unfortunately, part of life on planet earth. While we debate and work and pray for peace, wars still rage. And while I understand the reasons some chose a passivist position, passivity never brings peace, only the rule of aggressive, totalitarian governments and leaders.
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Posted by Walt as Family Values, General at 6:35 AM EDT
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by Alan D Campbell
Jesus Christ will marry the church when he returns to set up the Kingdom of God. He loved the church and gave himself for it as recorded in Ephesians 5:25-27:
25Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." (KJV)
Yes, Jesus Christ wants his church to be a glorious church without any spots, wrinkles, or blemishes. He will marry the church. He wants his bride the Church of God to be holy.
Spots
What are spots? Spots are our sins. Sin is the transgression of the law of God (I John 3:4). We must ask God to remove our spots and do our part to prevent any future spots.
Linen does not come with spots. However, sin easily besets us. We must strive with God’s help to become blameless and without spot.
Wrinkles
What do wrinkles represent? Wrinkles represent our character flaws. The wrinkles must be removed from our garment if we are to attend the marriage supper of the Lamb.
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Posted by Walt as Family Values, The Bible at 10:08 AM EDT
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New Jersey appeals court sends informed consent of abortion case to trial.
TRENTON, N.J. — A three-judge New Jersey appeals court panel agreed unanimously Friday 
that doctors must inform a pregnant woman of all relevant information regarding her unborn child when she contemplates getting an abortion. The question arose after a New Jersey abortionist told Rosa Acuna that her first-trimester fetus was not a human being. The child was subsequently aborted, and Acuna filed suit with funding support from ADF.
“Doctors are required to provide their patients with the facts,” said ADF Senior Counsel Gary McCaleb. “Also, if you’ve ever looked at a picture of a first-trimester baby, you know you don’t need some expert to tell you it’s a human being. Sidestepping the truth as this abortionist did–calling the baby “just some blood”–led to the death of an innocent unborn child. We are pleased Mrs. Acuna will have a chance to seek justice for herself and her baby before a jury.”
In 2001, Acuna agreed to an abortion at the recommendation of her regular gynecologist, whom she visited for abdominal pain. According to Acuna, who was in her first trimester, her inquiry about whether a baby “was there yet” was met with, “Don’t be stupid, it is just some blood.” The doctor, Sheldon Turkish, acknowledged he would have told her it was nothing more than the removal of “tissue.”
Three weeks later Acuna was rushed to a hospital after experiencing severe hemorrhaging, at which time she was told by a nurse that Turkish “left part of your baby in you.”
“This case confirms the importance of telling women the truth about their unborn babies,” said McCaleb. “That is why state laws–like Florida’s ‘Woman’s Right to Know Act’ that was upheld by the state supreme court yesterday–are so vital.”
ADF-allied attorney Harold J. Cassidy is Acuna’s attorney. The opinion issued by the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, in the case Acuna v. Turkish may be viewed at www.telladf.org/UserDocs/acuna.pdf. The decision upholding the Florida right-to-know law may be viewed at www.floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/2006/sc04-2186.pdf.
ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
Posted by Walt as Family Values, Social Issues at 6:25 AM EDT
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