Archbishop Peter Jensen: The Jerusalem Declaration – why it matters

July 6th, 2009

Presentation at Be Faithful July 6th

Ominous and foreboding words are being said about the FCA by those who wish it ill – they say it is schismatic, it will divide the church, it is a power play.

These changes are at best misunderstandings or at worst political posturing.

Let me say this as clesrly [sp.] as possible.

The FCA exists to keep Anglicanism united, to enable those whose spiritual existence as Anglicans is threatened to remain Anglicans with integrity.

It exists to keep orthodox, biblical Anglicanism inside the fold at the highest level possible; to gather up the fragments, to unite them. It exists so that evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics and mere Anglicans can continue to be Anglicans without compromising Biblical truth. The question for you is: will you join us, will you help us keep our Communion one, holy, catholic and apostolic.

Jim Packer is one of the giants of the real world-Anglicanism. Amongst the wise of this world he is disdained, but his praises are sung in all the churches. Astonishingly, in the eyes of his institutional church he is no longer one of us. He has chosen to separate himself from what he has called the sanctification of sin.

Is he still an Anglican? the rest

Prayer for GC 2009

I have been a bit late in getting this posted, but I want to encourage readers of this blog, especially the prayer warriors, to go over to Fr. Eaton's website: GC 09 Intercessors . There is much that can be wrought by intercessory prayer and no matter where you are in regards to the Anglican/Episcopal issues, those who are sincere in seeking the Lord can see great things happen!

Besides the GC 09 website, this posting from:
Lent and Beyond will help direct your prayers and help everyone focus on the specific needs. I will update as I can.
-Pat Dague

General Convention menu

The 76th General Convention of the Episcopal Church will be held at the Anaheim Convention Center in the environs of Los Angeles, California, from July 8-17, 2009. Father Rob Eaton is recruiting intercessors and posting updates at GC 09 Intercessors.

Resources
Deputation listing
General Convention schedule
Fr Rob Eaton’s essay on how to pray for General Convention.
Fr Timothy Fountain’s reflection on praying for General Convention.
The Anglican Ecumenical Society has a chat room prayer session on Wed, Thur, and Fri at 1 p.m. Pacific time. Also, they offer bulletin inserts.
Anglicans in the Wilderness is offering a skype-based group prayer.
Twitter users: #pray4TEC

Prayers
Lord of the breakthrough
Ruled by the peace of Christ
Plant in tears
Perez
Priests clothed in righteousness
Ask
Crown of pride
The road to Damascus
Keep Your children faithful
Deliver us from intellectualism
Forgive us for profaning our bodies
The presence of the Lord
Between the narrow places

This was especially helpful: HOW TO PRAY for GC 09: Focus
image by House of Sims

A.S. Haley: Ten Theses contra General Convention

Sunday, July 5, 2009

It is time, as General Convention approaches its rendezvous with fate and the Holy Spirit (how is that for high drama?), to lay down a few markers. In doing so, although I cannot presume to claim the calling of a prophet, I have been moved to declare a firm position by this passage from today's Old Testament reading (our priest for the service, who has been in the Church for more than fifty years, observed wryly that it is "almost every minister's favorite sermon text"), from Ezekiel:

2:3 He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the house of Israel, to rebellious nations who have rebelled against me; both they and their fathers have revolted against me to this very day. 2:4 The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and hard-hearted, and you must say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says.’ 2:5 And as for them, whether they listen or not – for they are a rebellious house – they will know that a prophet has been among them. . . ."

In addition to Ezekiel, I take as my model Martin Luther, who tacked his 95 Theses on the doors of the Castle Church in Wittenberg 492 years ago. He did so in response to the actions of the Catholic Church in sending into Germany a papal commissioner who offered indulgences to all baptized sinners that would let them, in exchange for money to be used to rebuild the edifice of St. Peter's in Rome, buy themselves (or any other baptized Christian) out of any unpleasant or inconvenient aspect of the afterlife. Well, as you read this, ECUSA is assembling its General Convention in my home State, and I feel similarly moved to put up my own "Ten Theses" in order to oppose what is a foregone conclusion will take place there. the rest

Queen sends 'supportive' letters to leaders of FCA

The Queen has sent "supportive" letters to the leaders of a controversial church movement that has angered homosexuality campaigners.
By Martin Beckford and Jonathan Wynne-Jones
06 Jul 2009

She told the heads of the traditionalist group, formed in response to the liberal direction of some parts of the Anglican Communion, that she “understood their concerns” about the future of the 80 million-strong global church.

The Queen, who is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, has also wished them well with today’s launch in London of a new alliance of evangelical and Anglo-Catholic parishes in Britain and Ireland.

One leading evangelical said: “We found the letters very supportive.” the rest

AnglicanTV in London: Be Faithful! Conference

See Anglican Mainstream for more information and schedule of events.

Venables rejects ‘un-Anglican’ claim

Monday, 6th July 2009
By George Conger

The Presiding Bishop of the Southern Cone has rejected assertions made by lawyers representing the Episcopal Church that the clergy of the Anglican Church in North America are un-Anglican.

In a June 30 letter to the clergy of the Diocese of Fort Worth, Bishop Gregory Venables reminded them that the Alexandria Primates’ Meeting had affirmed the Anglican bona fides of the American breakaway dioceses and clergy.

While it would “take some time before the institutional structures catch up to the realities of the present day situation in the Communion,” the Diocese of Fort Worth and clergy of Fort Worth remained in “good standing and favour with me” and the Southern Cone. Your “orders and ministries are secure in the Lord and as Anglicans,” he said. the rest

Anglican traditionalists warned about Muslim talks

Monday, 6th July 2009
By George Conger

Delegates to the 2009 ACNA convocation in Bedford, Texas, last week were warned not to be lulled into complacency by the siren song dialogue with “moderate Islam.”

Canon Julian Dobbs, the canon missioner for the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA) told the June 22-25 meeting that “so-called moderate Islam” was a myth.

The American variety of “moderate Islam” was “no more moderate than the militant Islam of Saudi Arabia or Indonesia,” Canon Dobbs said. Quoting the founder of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), he explained that "Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant.

“Don't be misled or misguided, the peace Islam offers is not the peace of sitting around the camp fire singing [songs]. Islam's peace is the implementation of Sharia Law and the global submission to Islamic ideology,” he argued. the rest

Albert Mohler: A Christian Vision of Marriage and Family

Monday, July 06, 2009

"For the first time in its history, Western civilization is confronted with the need to define the meaning of the terms 'marriage' and 'family.'" So states author Andreas J. Kostenberger who, with the assistance of David W. Jones has written God, Marriage, and Family: Rebuilding the Biblical Foundation.

This sense of crisis and the need for definition sets the stage for this book and its central thesis--that the only way out of our present cultural confusion is a return to a biblical vision of marriage and family.

As Kostenberger observes, "What until now has been considered a 'normal' family, made up of a father, a mother, and a number of children, has in recent years increasingly begun to be viewed as one among several options, which can no longer claim to be the only or even superior form of ordering human relationships. The Judeo-Christian view of marriage and the family with its roots in the Hebrew Scriptures has to a certain extent been replaced with a set of values that prizes human rights, self-fulfillment, and pragmatic utility on an individual and societal level. It can rightly be said that marriage and the family are institutions under seize in our world today, and that with marriage and the family, our very civilization is in crisis." the rest

After Tiller: two ex-abortion doctors speak out

By Sherry Tyree
Special to the Post-Dispatch
07.03.2009

After Dr. George Tiller’s murder on Pentecost Sunday, much has been written about late-term abortion. Among the many comments are two you might not have run across, both from former abortion doctors, Bernard Nathanson and Mary L. Davenport.

Bernard Nathanson has previously been interviewed by Julia Duin, religion writer for the Washington Times, so in the wake of Dr. Tiller’s murder, she decided to re-interview Dr. Nathanson, a former abortionist who was at the heart of the pro-choice movement in the sixties and seventies:

Soon after late-term abortion doctor George Tiller was killed, I called one of his mentors, Bernard Nathanson. The former Jewish atheist who presided over 75,000 abortions - including that of his own child - in the 1960s and 1970s left the abortion industry upon the advent of ultrasound technology.

His now-classic video “The Silent Scream” shows an unborn child recoiling from a vacuum abortion device before being sucked to its death. He was baptized a Roman Catholic in late 1996, and in an interview with me then, he said he converted because he feared going to hell.

“I have such heavy moral baggage to drag into the next world,” he explained….. the rest

World's oldest Christian Bible digitized

Posted July 6, 2009

LONDON (AP) — The British Library says the surviving pages of the world's oldest Christian Bible have been reunited — digitally.

The library says the early work known as the Codex Sinaiticus had been housed in four separate locations across the world for more than 150 years. It became available Monday for perusal on the Web at http://www.codexsinaiticus.org/ so scholars and others can get a closer look.

The library says the work will allow scholars to further study the "unique treasure." the rest image

China's elderly will overwhelm the nation

The one-child rule imposed 30 years ago has created too few young people to support the quickly expanding aging population.
By David Pierson
July 6, 2009

Reporting from Shanghai -- For three decades China's one-child policy helped power this nation's economic rise. With fewer mouths to feed, families saved. Poverty fell. Living standards improved.

But a social experiment that worked well in some respects is now threatening the country's hard-won gains. China's working-age population -- the engine behind its prolific growth -- will start shrinking within a few years.

Meanwhile, the ranks of elderly are projected to soar. By the middle of this century, fully a third of China's population will be age 60 or older, compared with 26% in the United States. China's projected 438 million senior citizens will outnumber the entire U.S. population. the rest

California’s Nightmare Will Kill Obamanomics

Commentary by Kevin Hassett
July 6, 2009

(Bloomberg)--Last week, we discovered that the state of California will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.

With California mired in a budget crisis, largely the result of a political impasse that makes spending cuts and tax increases impossible, Controller John Chiang said the state planned to issue $3.3 billion in IOU’s in July alone. Instead of cash, those who do business with California will get slips of paper.

The California morass has Democrats in Washington trembling. The reason is simple. If Obama’s health-care plan passes, then we may well end up paying for it with federal slips of paper worth less than California’s. Obama has bet everything on passing health care this year. The publicity surrounding the California debt fiasco almost assures his resounding defeat. the rest

Coffee 'may reverse Alzheimer's'

Drinking five cups of coffee a day could reverse memory problems seen in Alzheimer's disease, US scientists say.
Sunday, 5 July 2009

The Florida research, carried out on mice, also suggested caffeine hampered the production of the protein plaques which are the hallmark of the disease.

Previous research has also suggested a protective effect from caffeine.

But British experts said the Journal of Alzheimer's disease study did not mean that dementia patients should start using caffeine supplements.

The results are particularly exciting in that a reversal of pre-existing memory impairment is more difficult to achieve. the rest

Men, women share U. of C. rooms

Male, female undergraduates can now share dorm, no questions asked
July 6, 2009
BY DAVE NEWBART Staff Reporter

Charlie Barlow plans to room with one of his best friends next semester at the University of Chicago: Lauren "Lulu'' Danzig.

The two are among 50 students who will take advantage of a new policy allowing male and female undergraduates to room together -- something that was forbidden throughout the 117-year history of the Hyde Park school.

For 19-year-olds Danzig and Barlow, it's not a romantic thing: She already has a boyfriend on campus. She says she simply prefers to live with men, and Barlow is a very close friend.

"I tend to get along better with guys,'' she said. Still, she said, she couldn't imagine sharing a dorm room with her boyfriend. the rest

New reality show pits religions against each other

July 6, 2009
By RACHEL GEIZHALS

Have you heard the one about a rabbi, an imam, a priest and a Buddhist monk?

It's no joke, but rather Turkey's latest reality show, which brings together leaders from four religions who attempt to convert non-believers to their respective faiths.

Penitents Compete features select religious authorities seeking to make believers out of 10 atheists - on camera.

Istanbul-based television station Kanal T plans to launch the show in September.

The prize for the converts? A trip to a holy site of the winner's newfound religion: Muslims will go to Mecca, Christians to the Vatican, Jews to Jerusalem and Buddhists to Tibet. the rest

Bishop Nazir-Ali attacks ‘lurid’ headlines

Monday, 6th July 2009
By Judy West

The Bishop of Rochester has issued a statement deploring ‘lurid’ headlines concerning his views on homosexuality.

The Bishop, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, had given an interview to the Sunday Telegraph ahead of today’s launch of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans in London.

In the interview he was reported as calling for gay people to repent and change, and his comments provoked a strong backlash from gay groups, liberal Christians and from the media.

However, today the Bishop said: “The Be Faithful Press Release says that I would be calling on churches and Christians to repent of capitulating to cultures around them and to refocus on the faith of the Church from down the ages and an authentic mission to the nations. This is what I said to the reporter from the Telegraph. I said that we all needed to repent for straying from God’s purpose for us.

“On being pressed as to whether this included homosexuals, I said something to the effect that yes, we all need to repent when we fall short of God’s will and be transformed. I went on to say a little about how Christians should understand marriage and family and the proper expression of our sexual nature. the rest

Devotional: Here lies the tremendous mystery..

Here lies the tremendous mystery-that God should be all-powerful, yet refuse to coerce. He summons us to cooperation. We are honoured in being given the opportunity to participate in his good deeds. Remember how He asked for help in performing his miracles : Fill the waterpots, stretch out your hand, distribute the loaves. ...Elisabeth Elliot image

Dissident Anglicans launch protest movement against CofE liberalism

• Coalition against same-sex unions and gay priests
• Critics say move will lead to Church of England split

Riazat Butt, religious affairs correspondent
guardian.co.uk
Sunday 5 July 2009

Thousands of Anglicans will gather in London tomorrow to support the launch of a UK movement opposing liberalism in the Church of England, with critics claiming it will undermine the church and the authority of the archbishop of Canterbury.

The Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA), which counts five homegrown bishops among its backers, is aimed at congregations and clergy unhappy with the Church of England's position on the blessing of same-sex unions, the ordination of women and homosexuals as priests.

One of the English churchmen supporting the FCA is Michael Nazir-Ali, bishop of Rochester, who continues to draw criticism for his views on homosexuality. the rest

A.S. Haley: A New Declaration of Independence

Saturday, July 4, 2009

The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) has now organized, and nine of the 38 Provinces in the Anglican Communion have given it recognition, without waiting for the Anglican Consultative Council to act. (The Episcoleft still pats its collective back with the fact that the number of Provinces so recognizing ACNA is in a numerical minority, because they know that they control --- for the time being, at any rate --- the majority of Provinces in the ACC. The fact that those Provinces which have thus far recognized ACNA constitute nearly half of the world's Anglicans carries no weight whatsoever with them, because in their elitist liberal eyes, the people who make up those Provinces are "people who never were English, [and who] don't speak English as their native tongue", to quote one prominent member of ECUSA's Executive Council.)

Almost a year ago, when it appeared that everything was falling into place for the creation of what has since become ACNA, I put up a post in which I took the text of Mr. Jefferson's immortal Declaration of Independence and modified it ever so slightly to make it into a Declaration of Religious Independence. Using his descriptions of the tyrannical acts committed with respect to the Thirteen Colonies by the British sovereign, I provided links to descriptions of equivalent acts by ECUSA and its leadership. Just as His Excellency George III would not allow any dialogue or tolerate negotiations with the colonials, so has the Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori refused to negotiate with those she regards as thieves and apostates who presume to cart off the parish silver at the same time as they refuse to recognize her authority. As is inevitable with the Internet, many of the links in that earlier post no longer work, and need updating.

Accordingly, now that ACNA has just finished its initial organizing convocation at Bedford Texas, and we are celebrating a real Fourth of July, it is timely to provide an update of that earlier post. I therefore dedicate the following remake of my earlier post to those who throughout the Anglican world, whether "in communion" with Canterbury or not, are steadfast in their resistance of the divisive and ruinous campaign in ECUSA and in ACoC to force the Anglican Communion to recognize and acquiesce in the tenet that all lifestyles are created equal, while all men and women are not. (Those who disagree are definitely homophobic and inferior, both mentally and culturally, and must therefore be hounded, derided, vilified and ultimately excluded from true Anglican society --see elitist remarks quoted above.) We are now at a watershed in the history of the Anglican Communion --- a time when the forces resisting the heterodoxy rampant within the Episcopal Church (USA) and the Anglican Church of Canada can no longer be confined to the one-way mazes erected and maintained by those who demand from the Church a form of secular justice that is not its own to dispense. (As I so often have to remind those who come here, there are no civil rights which one can demand from God, who owes us sinners nothing.) the rest

Orthodox leaders give message of unity in Istanbul

Sat Jul 4, 2009
By Ayla Jean Yackley

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians and the head of the Russian Orthodox Church put on a united front on Saturday when they met for talks in Istanbul.

They were expected to discuss the sensitive issue of the churches in Ukraine and Estonia during the three-day visit to Turkey of Patriarch Kirill, enthroned in February to lead the Russian Orthodox Church.

Priests kissed Kirill's hands and children gave him flowers when he arrived to the sound of bells ringing at the Patriarchal Church of Saint George, where he blessed parishioners and prayed at icons. the rest

Devotional: He comes to us as One unknown...

He comes to us as One unknown, without a name, as of old, by the lakeside, He came to those who knew Him not. He speaks to us the same word: "Follow thou me!" and sets us to the tasks which He has to fulfill for our time. He commands, and to those who obey Him, whether they be wise or simple, He will reveal Himself in the toil, the conflicts, the sufferings which they shall pass through in His fellowship, and as an ineffable mystery, they shall learn in their own experience Who He is.
...Frederick Buechner image

UK: Gay row 'may cause Church split'

5 July 2009

A traditionalist Anglican group has warned the issue of homosexuality could split the Church of England the way the Episcopal Church has done in the US.

The Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans will be launched in the UK on Monday.

The group has campaigned against active homosexuality in the Anglican Communion after being established last year. the rest

Dr Michael Nazir-Ali: Change and repent, bishop tells gays

By Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent
04 Jul 2009

The Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, has defended traditional biblical teachings on homosexuality and said the Church should not be "rolled over by culture".

Dr Nazir-Ali spoke as tens of thousands of people, including Sarah Brown, the Prime Minister’s wife, joined the annual Pride London march to celebrate homosexual culture. A war of words broke out between Labour and the Conservatives over the issue of homosexuality last week after a minister accused the Tories of having a "deep strain of homophobia" running through the party.

The bishop’s controversial comments will reignite the battle over homosexuality in the Church of England ahead of what promises to be a divisive week for Anglicanism. the rest

National Anthem

Story: Musician Plays Instrument Crafted From Baseball Bat

Johnny Cash: Song of the Patriot

The American Creed

'We Hold These Truths...'
Chuck Colson
7/3/2009

The great British intellectual G. K. Chesterton wrote that “America is the only nation in the world that is founded on [a] creed.”

Think about that for a moment. Other nations were founded on the basis of race, or by the power of kings or emperors who accumulated lands and the peasants who inhabited those lands.

But America was—and is to this day—different. It was founded on a shared belief. Or, as Chesterton said, on a creed.

And what is that creed that sets us apart? It is the eloquent, profound, and simple statement penned by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
the rest image

Pope Signs New Globalization Encyclical

Pope Signs New Globalization Encyclical; Tells New Archbishops To Protect Their Flocks
VATICAN CITY
July 4, 2009

(AP) Pope Benedict XVI signed his latest encyclical Monday, a text on ways to make globalization more attentive to meeting the needs of the poor amid the worldwide financial crisis.

The document, entitled "Charity in Truth," is expected to be published soon.

The pope has said his third encyclical will outline the goals and values that the faithful must defend to ensure solidarity among all peoples.

Benedict has frequently spoken out on the financial crisis, urging leaders to ensure the world's poor don't end up bearing the brunt of the downturn even though they are not responsible for it. He has said the downturn shows the need to rethink the whole global financial system. the rest

Making History

In appreciation of our country's founders and its greatest living historian
Peggy Noonan
July 3, 2009

Monday, July 1, was heavy and hot, and a full-scale summer storm passed through the city late in the morning. John Dickinson of Pennsylvania rose to speak. He knew he was endangering the respect in which he was broadly held, his "popularity," but he once again counseled caution: Slow down, separation from Britain is "premature," to declare independence now would be "to brave the storm in a skiff made of paper." When he sat down, "all was silent except for the rain that had begun spattering against the windows.

Then John Adams rose. He wished he had the power of the ancient orators of Greece and Rome, he said; surely they had never faced a question of greater human import.

He made, again, the case for independence. Now is the time, the facts are inescapable, the people are for it, we are not so much declaring as acknowledging reality. "Looking into the future [he] saw a new nation, a new time, all much in the spirit of lines he had written in a recent letter to a friend: '. . . We are in the very midst of revolution, the most complete, unexpected, and remarkable of any in the history of the world.' " Outside the wind picked up and the storm struck hard with thunder and lightning. Storms had in the past unnerved Adams, but he spoke steadily, logically and compellingly for two hours.

After nine hours of debate, the voting commenced. The yeses were in the majority, but there were more noes than expected. Someone moved a final vote be taken the next morning. Adams and the rest hastily agreed. the rest image-John Adams

Sarah Palin resigning as Alaska governor on July 26

Jul 3, 2009
By RACHEL D'ORO
Associated Press Writer

WASILLA, Alaska (AP) - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin made a surprise announcement Friday that she is resigning from office at the end of the month without explaining why she plans to step down, raising speculation that she would focus on a run for the White House in the 2012 race.

The former Republican vice presidential candidate hastily called a news conference Friday morning at her home in suburban Wasilla, giving such short notice that only a few reporters actually made it to the announcement. State troopers blocked late-arriving media outside her home, and her spokesman, Dave Murrow, finally emerged to confirm that Palin will step down July 26. He refused to give details about the governor's future plans. the rest

The Anchoress: Palin’s announcement w/ Updates!

Obama Promises Conscience Protection

by Tim Drake
Thursday, July 02, 2009

In a 47-minute meeting in the White House’s Roosevelt Room, eight members of the press, most of whom represented Catholic publications, met with President Obama this morning.

In addition to Father Owen Kearns, editor in chief and publisher of the Register, those attending were representatives from America, Avvenire/Vatican Radio, Catholic News Service, Catholic Digest, Commonweal, National Catholic Reporter and The Washington Post.

Obama began with brief remarks and then gave each representative the opportunity to ask one question.

In his remarks, the president said that he had a wonderful conversation with Pope Benedict XVI right after his election. He said that he sees his visit with the Holy See in some ways like any other government in that there will be areas of agreement and disagreement. He also said that he sees the Holy See as more than a government because of the Church’s influence on this country and the world. He said that it would be a great honor to meet the Pope and was looking forward to talking about the Middle East, climate change and immigration. the rest

Pedophilia in the Homosexual World

By Bob Ellis
June 30th, 2009

It’s slowly starting to make the news, now. To be sure, the “mainstream” media is doing as little as possible to cover this heinous crime, but the new media is starting to make it know despite their efforts to promote their “objective bias.”

I’m talking about Frank Lombard, Associate director of Duke University’s Center for Health Policy, and his despicable molestation of a 5-year old boy he adopted.

According to RPV Network, Lombard

was recently arrested by the FBI and charged with offering up his adopted 5-year-old African American son for sex to an undercover cop. Lombard admitted to molesting his own adopted son to the undercover officer in an online chat room under the user name “Perv Dad for Fun”. He invited the under cover officer to travel to North Carolina to rape his already-molested adopted son. Lombard faces 20 years in prison if convicted but is not eligible for the death penalty. the rest image

India: Citizens oppose legalising gay sex

3 Jul 2009 IST,
Suhas Vyas, TNN

AKOLA: Citizens from various walks of life have expressed opposition to Thursday's Delhi High Court order decriminalising homosexual sex, by holding

that section 377 of Indian Penal Code violates the Constitution. Various Central ministers have expressed differing opinions on the issue in the recent past. In Akola, BJP MP Sanjay Dhotre said he was staunchly against the decision as it would totally destroy Indian culture and put an end to social ethics and values. He said he would fight tooth and nail in Parliament and outside if the Union government moves to scrap section 377 of IPC.

Noted psychiatrist Dr Deepak Kelkar also condemned the move. He said killer diseases like HIV, AIDS and venereal diseases would spread like wild fire if such a move is made legal. the rest

Eric Holder: 'Gays' protected, ministers not

Attorney general's testimony on 'hate crimes'
July 03, 2009
By Bob Unruh
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder says a homosexual activist who is attacked following a Christian minister's sermon about homosexuality would be protected by a proposed new federal law, but a minister attacked by a homosexual wouldn't be.

The revelations come from Holder's recent testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which was taking comments on the so-called "hate crimes" proposal. It also was the subject of discussion on talk radio icon Rush Limbaugh's show today.

"This is the question," Limbaugh said. "[Sen.] Jeff Sessions [R-Ala.] presents a hypothetical where a minister gives a sermon, quotes the Bible about homosexuality and is thereafter attacked … by a gay activist because of what the minister said about his religious beliefs and what Scripture says about homosexuality. Is the minister protected?"

No, said Holder. the rest

Obama Administration Calls for Universal Access to Abortion at U.N. Meeting

Thursday, July 2, 2009
By Samantha Singson, C-Fam

At United Nations headquarters this week, the Obama administration continued its push for ever increasing access to legal abortion around the world. The Obama team has introduced language that has thrown a high level negotiation into a roil. The US proposal calls for “universal access” to “sexual and reproductive health services including universal access to family planning.” The document under consideration will culminate in the 2009 Annual Ministerial Review, which convenes next week in Geneva.

The sticking point for many delegations and what has driven apart the usual solid European bloc is the use of the word “services” in the context of “reproductive health.” Way back in 2001 during negotiations related to the ten year review of the Child Convention, a Canadian delegate blurted out “of course everyone knows ‘services’ means abortion.” Ever since, the word “services” has been a topic of hot debate.

So controversial is the topic of “services” in the context of “reproductive health” that the usually impenetrable negotiating bloc of the 27 member European Union has imploded with Malta, Poland and Ireland splitting from their allies and joining the Holy See in opposing the measure.
the rest

U.N. Population Agency Receives $50 Million in Taxpayer Money

Private schools in the recession: Staying On Board

In both America and Britain recession has so far done little to dent the demand for private education
Jul 2nd 2009
LONDON/NEW YORK
The Economist

Excerpt:
Past experience bears out the resilience of private schools in hard times. It has taken several years for previous recessions to affect demand. Eventually, some whose confidence has been bruised by recession decide not to buy in at all. Some, but not many. Britain’s most recent recession, in 1991-92, dented total enrolments in ISC schools by only 2.4%. The trough did not come until 1996, by which time the recession was a distant memory, and numbers recovered soon after. The most famous and expensive institutions rode out the bad times best. The 250 confusingly named “public” schools in the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference saw rolls fall only in one year, and by a mere 0.5%.

Palaces of learning
No one knows how many children are privately educated worldwide: many private schools are invisible to officialdom; some are in slums. James Tooley, a professor of education at Newcastle University, has found many children at fee-charging schools in Africa, China and Latin America. The elite institutions of popular imagination are far from representative of private education more generally.

Yet in a few places such schools exert an influence out of all proportion to their share of pupils. In Britain only 7% of children are educated privately at any one time. Yet according to the Sutton Trust, an education charity, two-thirds of leading judges and barristers, half of well-known journalists, the chief executives of half the companies in the FTSE 100 index and a third of MPs attended private schools. the rest image

Pope Benedict Recognizes Miracle: Cardinal Newman to be Beatified

The Pope’s decision means that the Beatification of John Henry Cardinal Newman is now certain.
7/3/2009
Catholic Online

BIRMINGHAM (Catholic Online) - Pope Benedict XVI today recognised the healing of Deacon Jack Sullivan in 2001 as a miracle resulting from the intercession of the Venerable Servant of God John Henry Newman.

The miraculous healing from serious debility of the spine occurred in Boston in the United States of America following prayers for Cardinal Newman’s intercession.

Newman, a major theologian and convert to Catholicism, died in 1890. The Pope’s decision means that his Beatification is now certain.
the rest image

Puppy Cam

Watertown puppies star on their own Internet channel
by Matt Michael / The Post-Standard
Monday June 29, 2009

Chris and Katie Flannagan have found the perfect formula for a hit reality show: cute puppies ... and more cute puppies.

The Flannagans' "Puppy Cam," featuring five 3½-week-old Jack Russell Terrier puppies, is a big hit on ustream.tv, a live video community where anyone with a computer, Internet connection and a Web cam can set up their own channel and broadcast live. story

Devotional: Have you been holding back...

Have you been holding back from a risky, costly course to which you know in your heart God has called you? Hold back no longer. Your God is faithful to you, and adequate for you. You will never need more than He can supply, and what He supplies, both materially and spiritually, will always be enough for the present. ...J.I. Packer photograph by D'Arcy Norman

Vietnam sees alarming rise in boy births vs girls

July 2, 2009

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) -- For every 100 girls born to Vietnamese families, there are 112 boys born, a disparity in the sex ratio that has been rapidly increasing in recent years, an official said Thursday.

Duong Quoc Trong, deputy director general of the General Office for Population and Family Planning, blamed the rising imbalance on a cultural preference for boys who can "continue the bloodline." He added that the belief that boys can better care for parents as they age has exacerbated the use of abortions to select for sex.

In an effort to stop the practice, Vietnamese law has prohibited doctors from revealing a fetus's sex since 2003. But doctors commonly ignore the law. the rest

Helen Thomas: Not Even Nixon Tried to Control the Media Like Obama

Wednesday, July 01, 2009
By Penny Starr and Fred Lucas

(CNSNews.com) - Following a testy exchange during Wednesday’s briefing with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas told CNSNews.com that not even Richard Nixon tried to control the press the way President Obama is trying to control the press.

“Nixon didn’t try to do that,” Thomas said. “They couldn’t control (the media). They didn’t try.

“What the hell do they think we are, puppets?” Thomas said. “They’re supposed to stay out of our business. They are our public servants. We pay them.” the rest

Episcopal Leaders Prepare for Homosexuality Debates

By Lillian Kwon
Christian Post Reporter
Thu, Jul. 02 2009

Episcopal Church leaders are scheduled to meet in a private session next week with the spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion.

Members of the Episcopal House of Deputies are expected to address homosexuality issues and how LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) members are involved in The Episcopal Church during the meeting with Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams, according to the Episcopal News Service.

The Rev. Canon Michael Barlowe of the Diocese of California told the denomination's news service that the meeting will be set in the context of the "Listening Process," in which Anglicans worldwide are encouraged to listen to gay and lesbian persons and all sides of the homosexuality debate.

The meeting is taking place the same week of the 76th General Convention, The Episcopal Church's triennial legislative meeting.
the rest

Special Discussions will Focus on B033

Documents Show Sonia Sotomayor's Group Opposed Pro-Life Judge Robert Bork

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
July 2, 2009

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is facing new criticism from pro-life advocates now that a group she served as a board member for has provided new documents to the Senate. A Hispanic organization that she set policy for took a strong stance against pro-life Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork.

The Senate went on to reject President Ronald Reagan's high court pick in 1987 after abortion advocates subjected him to intense criticism.

Sotomayor was on the board of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, now known as Latino Justice, at the time of the nomination. the rest

Bishop Schofield Interview

Of litigation, vision, and angels. The Rt. Rev. John-David Schofield, Bishop of the Diocese of San Joaquin, speaks candidly about what's happening in and around his diocese, as well as events leading up to the formation of the ACNA. Bishop Schofield makes it clear that the ACNA is not a fringe group, and he comments on the importance of Metropolitan Jonah's willingness to dialogue. AngicanTV

Not Very Stimulating: Payrolls Fall, Unemployment Rises

By Shobhana Chandra

July 2 (Bloomberg) -- Employers in the U.S. cut 467,000 jobs in June, the unemployment rate rose and hourly earnings stagnated, offering little evidence the Obama administration’s stimulus package is shoring up the labor market.

The payroll decline was more than forecast and followed a 322,000 drop in May, according to Labor Department figures released today in Washington. The jobless rate jumped to 9.5 percent, the highest since August 1983, from 9.4 percent.

Unemployment is projected to keep rising for the rest of the year just as the income boost from the stimulus package fades, undermining prospects for a sustained rebound in household purchases, analysts said. As companies from General Motors Corp. to Kimberly-Clark Corp. cut costs, the lack of jobs will restrain growth. the rest

New Anglican group forms in Britain

Thursday, 2nd July 2009
By Bishop Wallace Benn

The title for the launch of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans in Westminster Central Hall, London, at 10.30 on July 6 says it all: Be faithful. That is our calling as Anglican Christians today. The Scriptures exhort us to remain faithful to the faith ‘once for all delivered to the saints’, to the Lordship of Christ and hence to Apostolic teaching and practice.

Powerful cultural forces, exerted through social pressure, the media and legislation are forcing Christians to conform to the way of the world in matters of marriage and sexuality. The Episcopal Church in North America and the Anglican Church of Canada have embraced these forces and, often without due process and against natural justice, are forcing out those Anglicans who seek to remain faithful to Biblical teaching and practice. In the church in the West generally there is a gradual slide in the same dangerous direction.

The gathering on July 6 will express the unity of Anglican Christians in their loyalty to the teachings and commands of Jesus. A major step towards that unity was taken a year ago at the Global Anglican Future Conference in Jerusalem. Many within and without the church were unsure about what Anglicans stood for. Gafcon issued the Jerusalem Statement, which has been widely received by Anglicans around the world as expressing the heart of Anglican faith and practice. the rest

Washington Post sells access to Obama administration officials for $25,000+

For $25,000 to $250,000, The Washington Post is offering lobbyists and association executives off-the-record, nonconfrontational access to "those powerful few" — Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and the paper’s own reporters and editors.

The astonishing offer is detailed in a flier circulated Wednesday to a health care lobbyist, who provided it to a reporter because the lobbyist said he feels it’s a conflict for the paper to charge for access to, as the flier says, its “health care reporting and editorial staff." the rest

Update:

Washington Post cancels lobbyist event amid uproar

NEA to consider full support of homosexual 'marriage'

Pete Chagnon
OneNewsNow
7/2/2009

The co-founder of the National Education Association (NEA) Conservative Educators Caucus says the NEA will consider adoption of a resolution supporting homosexual "marriage."

The NEA is currently holding its annual convention in San Diego, California. Educator and conservative activist Jeralee Smith called OneNewsNow from the convention to report that the executive council has approved language that will throw the full support of the NEA behind same-gender marriage, homosexual adoption, and other issues surrounding the homosexual agenda.

"They will help to overturn legislation that is discriminatory against same-sex couples," she notes. "And then there is one little bullet about [how] they will recognize that marriage has a religious connotation and it's not compatible with beliefs and values -- because of that they recognize that certain churches should not be forced to conduct same-sex marriage." the rest

Taliban buying children for suicide bombers

By Sara A. Carter
Thursday, July 2, 2009

BuzzPakistan's top Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, is buying children as young as 7 to serve as suicide bombers in the growing spate of attacks against Pakistani, Afghan and U.S. targets, U.S. Defense Department and Pakistani officials say.

A Pakistani official, who spoke on the condition that he not be named because of the sensitive nature of the topic, said the going price for child bombers was $7,000 to $14,000 - huge sums in Pakistan, where per-capita income is about $2,600 a year. the rest

Somali-Americans Accused of Al Qaeda Ties Indicted on Terror Charges, Sources Say

UK: Muslim NHS dentist 'tried to force patients to wear traditional Islamic dress'

U.S. Nuns Facing Vatican Scrutiny

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
: July 1, 2009

The Vatican is quietly conducting two sweeping investigations of American nuns, a development that has startled and dismayed nuns who fear they are the targets of a doctrinal inquisition.

Nuns were the often-unsung workers who helped build the Roman Catholic Church in this country, planting schools and hospitals and keeping parishes humming. But for the last three decades, their numbers have been declining — to 60,000 today from 180,000 in 1965.

While some nuns say they are grateful that the Vatican is finally paying attention to their dwindling communities, many fear that the real motivation is to reel in American nuns who have reinterpreted their calling for the modern world. the rest

Albert Mohler: A Governor, a King, and the Tragedy of Adultery

Thursday, July 02, 2009

The sad spectacle of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford continues to dominate the headlines as further revelations add one bizarre twist after another to the governor's tale of adultery, deceit, and the consequences of sin. With every passing day, pressure mounts for the governor to resign. As the revelations unfold, his leadership credibility is further destroyed. The people of South Carolina now look to their governor's mansion with a sense of dread and embarrassment.

Governor Sanford's admission of adultery came only after he was ambushed by the media after returning from a liaison in Argentina. In a rambling confession, the governor admitted to an ongoing relationship and an extramarital affair. While the media quickly turned to ask questions about money and the affairs of state, many others immediately thought of the governor's wife and four sons and the horrible pain and embarrassment they were now forced to bear. the rest

New Anglicans split on women

By Julia Duin
Thursday, July 2, 2009

Last week's birth of a new Anglican province in the dusty plains of north-central Texas left the question of women's ordination dangling in the air.

Of the 800 people attending the founding of the Anglican Church in North America, 368 were priests and deacons. Of that number, about 10 percent, or 36, of the clergy were female.

The new province is a mishmash of former Episcopalians, ranging from almost-crossing-the-Tiber Anglo-Catholics to low-church charismatics, and it's a mystery as to how they're all going to get along. Many are against ordaining women. Others are just as adamant that females be given access to the diaconate, priesthood and the episcopate. The Episcopal Church approved female priests in 1976 and elected its first female bishop in 1988. the rest

Bp. David Bena: Second Continental Congress 1776-First Provincial Assembly 2009

Some similarities
By Bishop Dave Bena

This weekend, we will all celebrate a magnificent event: the two hundred twenty-third anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. After struggling so long under an oppressive mother government, the Thirteen Colonies made a dramatic and risky decision. They would break with England and become an independent nation. It was risky for a number of reasons. They might lose the war; and even if they won the war, they might not be recognized by other nations. They might even win the war and then be thrust into such an economic depression that they would once again be enslaved by another nation. Declaring independence was risky, all right. But they had a taste for freedom…

As I participated in the First Provincial Assembly of the Anglican Church in North America last week in Texas, I realized that there were some profound similarities between what we were doing in Texas in 2009 and what our forebears did in Philadelphia in 1776. Profound similarities.

Let’s go back to Philadelphia, back to June 6, 1776. The Second Continental Congress had convened in the summer heat and humidity to debate the question of independence. On June 7, Robert Henry Lee of Virginia proposed “that these united Colonies, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they be absolved from all allegiance from the British Crown, and that all political connection between America and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved…” Called the Resolution of Independence, it caused such a stir among the members of Congress that John Hancock decided everyone needed to cool their heels for awhile. All were definitely not on the same page. They all agreed that the Colonies were being stifled by the oppressive measures of England. But they were not of one mind as to the way forward. While most of Congress was ready to declare independence (outside strategy), members from New York and Pennsylvania still hoped that some reconciliation with England might be possible (inside strategy). Members from South Carolina were watching closely lest the formation of this new nation bring them into an oppressive AMERICAN highly centralized government. Some members favored a centralized government; some a loose federation of States. Debate continued through June. A committee was formed to write a declaration that the Congress might sign on to, a declaration that would communicate to the world just why the Colonies were being forced to declare their independence. So the committee, made up of Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, and Robert Livingston of New York, went to work drafting the document.

Finally, on July 1, Lee’s Resolution of Independence was brought before the Congress for a vote. Nine colonies voted yes, two vote no (Pennsylvania and South Carolina), and two abstained (New York and Delaware). President Hancock, sensing it was time for private discussions in the tavern after business hours, called it a day. On July 2, the Resolution of Independence came up again. By this time, some who had opposed it the day before had talked it through in the tavern with other members of Congress and decided that compromise was needed so that all could be at one on the decision. The Resolution of Independence passed, although a few individuals did not favor separating from mother England. With the passage of the Resolution of Independence, Congress was then able to take up Jefferson’s committee draft, the Declaration of Independence. More debating; more compromise; more attempts to word proof the document to death.

Late on the afternoon of July 4, the vote was in on the Declaration of Independence. It passed 12 to 1, New York’s delegates stating that their mandate did not allow them to vote for independence (Five days later, the New York Assembly passed the Declaration, making the vote unanimous by all thirteen colonies). The deed was done. The United States of America was born. Interestingly, on August 2, when it was time to actually sign the Declaration of Independence, two members refused to sign it, including one of the drafters, Robert Livingston, who felt that reconciliation with England was still possible.

So that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it! Now how is that similar to what we Anglicans did in Texas last week?

Well, the delegates who came to the First Provincial Assembly in 2009 had much in common with the members of the Second Continental Congress in 1776. We were a diverse lot – Anglo Catholics, Evangelicals, Charismatics – all watching each other and hoping we could forge a union which would allow everyone to breathe. Some jurisdictions wanted a church much like the one we had left; some wanted a church with a strong hierarchical government; some just wanted a loose federation of churches. And some still thought we could reconcile with an oppressive mother church. See the similarities? But we had tasted freedom in Christ, and we were willing to take some risks. It was possible that our Constitution and Canons would not be passed, that we would fragment into a number of independent colonies, er, I mean jurisdictions. There was also the risk that even if we put it together, no one would recognize us as being part of the Anglican Communion (as of now well over a majority of the membership of the Anglican Communion has recognized the Anglican Church in North America). But, as with the Continental Congress, we were bound together by a common objective – theirs was to be a free and independent nation; ours was freedom to be a “Great Commission Province.” We were bound together under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We were bound together under the biblical principles of classical Anglicanism. And so after praying, debating, discussing, and sweating under the hot Texas sun, we passed the Constitution and Canons of the Anglican Church in North America. And we were free! Praise the Lord. I think we must have felt the way those members of the Continental Congress felt on July 4, 1776. To quote another who worked for freedom, “Free at last; free at last. Lord God Almighty, we are free at last.”

Summed up by Archbishop Bob Duncan, “Working together, we have been able, by God’s grace, to reunite a significant portion of our Anglican Church family here in North America.”

Welcome to freedom in Christ, my dear brothers and sisters.

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Virtues are formed by prayer

Virtues are formed by prayer. Prayer preserves temperance. Prayer suppresses anger. Prayer prevents emotions of pride and envy. Prayer draws into the soul the Holy Spirit, and raises man to Heaven. ...Ephraem image

Bishop Iker: Memo to All Diocesan Clergy

June 30, 2009

In recent days I understand that all of you have received two threatening letters from representatives of the rump diocese. The first is a letter from The Rt. Rev. Edwin F. Gulick, Jr., the Bishop of Kentucky, in a capacity he claims as the “Provisional Bishop” of the rump diocese, threatening to inhibit and then depose you if you do not recognize his authority over you as your bishop. The second is a letter from Jonathan Nelson, legal counsel for the Gulick-led group, addressed to our vestries, treasurers, and finance committee members, as well as to all our vicars and rectors. It too is meant to intimidate and control us. It is the preliminary notification that will lead to additional lawsuits to be brought against us by The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America (PECUSA). Both of these letters are now in the hands of our attorneys, and they will be responding on our behalf. There is nothing you need to do at this point in time. We are no longer members of PECUSA and are not subject to their discipline. It is indeed regrettable that they find it necessary to engage in such harsh, uncharitable tactics, rather than enter into negotiation. the rest