Cow Round-up

More Young Adults Are Poor, Live With Their Parents

By Brad Tuttle
September 14, 2011

It’s not your imagination: It really is more crowded at mom and dad’s place. The Census Bureau made headlines yesterday with news that the nation’s official poverty rate hit 15.1%, the highest since 1993. Tough times have also translated into a rise in adult children moving back into (or never leaving) their parent’s homes. In the spring of 2011, 5.9 million young adults aged 25 to 34 lived with their parents, up from 4.7 million before the recession. And these adult kids still at mom and dad’s make very little money: Over 45% have incomes that’d put them below the poverty threshold.

The U.S. Census Bureau puts these adult children living with their parents in the category of “doubled-up households”—when at least one extra adult resides in the home who is not in school and/or is outside the typical family unit. As of last spring, doubled-up households represented 18.3% of American residences (21.8 million total), up from 17% four years ago, when there were 19.7 doubled-up households.

In addition to adult kids sticking around longer, in recent years there has also been a rise in multi-generational homes where extended families of kids, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and/or cousins live under the same roof. A 2010 survey had it that 16.1% of Americans lived in multi-generational households, compared to 12.1% of the population in 1980. (For that matter, last year also witnessed an increase (8% more) of children living with their grandparents.) the rest

More Americans designing a make-your-own religion

By Cathy Lynn Grossman
September 15

If World War II-era warbler Kate Smith sang today, her anthem could be “Gods Bless America.”

That’s one of the key findings in newly released research that reveals America’s drift from clearly defined religious denominations to faiths cut to fit personal preferences.

The folks who make up God as they go are side by side with self-proclaimed believers who claim the Christian label but shed their ties to traditional beliefs and practices. Religion statistics expert George Barna says, with a wry hint of exaggeration, America is headed for “310 million people with 310 million religions.”

“We are a designer society. We want everything customized to our personal needs — our clothing, our food, our education,” he said. Now it’s our religion. the rest

A.S. Haley: Good News: ECUSA Did Not Mortgage 815...

...Bad News: It Pledged its Endowment Instead
Sept. 15, 2011

When I reported in October of last year about the (then) latest meeting of the Executive Council of ECUSA in Salt Lake City, I had only the story posted by ENS about the meeting to go on. That story contained the following description of a Resolution passed by the Executive Council:

By way of a related resolution proposed by [the Finances for Mission Committee], the council approved borrowing of up to $60 million to refinance $46.1 million in debt that comes due at the end of this year. The $37 million renovation loan [to upgrade the headquarters at 815 Second Avenue] makes up the bulk of that amount. In addition, close to $10 million was spent on property in Austin, Texas, as a potential site for relocating the Archives of the Episcopal Church. The resolution said that the borrowing authority is also meant "to provide continuing working capital and liquidity."

The resolution requires that any refinancing agreements include a mandatory repayment schedule for the $37 million at a fixed interest rate. FFM chair Del Glover told his committee earlier in the meeting that because of past budget decisions, only about $500,000 of the principal has been paid off.

"To the extent that we are not paying debt, we are borrowing money to do the ministry of the church," he said.

the rest

To read between the lines here: the Treasurer of the Church, like all of the staff at 815, works for the Presiding Bishop, not for the Executive Council. When she tells him to "find money for litigation", his job is not to ask "Where?", but rather: "How much do you need?" And in exchange for such due obedience, she protects him from all incursions into his territory by the likes of the Executive Council -- who only imagine that they run the show when General Convention is not in session.

Homosexual activists seek to cut off PayPal accounts of pro-family organizations

by Matthew Cullinan Hoffman
Thu Sep 15, 2011

To sign a petition urging Paypal to keep the accounts of the pro-family groups, click here.

 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Homosexual activists are pressuring PayPal to cut off the accounts of pro-family Christian organizations that oppose the homosexual political agenda and uphold sexual morality, and PayPal is showing signs that it may capitulate to their demands.

The homosexual organization behind the effort, All Out, claims that such organizations as Tradition, Family, and Property, and Americans for Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH), as well as pro-family Christian activist Julio Severo, promote “hate, violence, and intolerance” and are “extremist.”

The two organizations are mainstream pro-family, Christian groups that reject hatred of homosexuals but uphold traditional sexual morality and oppose legal privileges for homosexuals. Julio Severo, who is also a LifeSiteNews.com translator, is recognized widely in Brazil as one of the country’s most prominent pro-life and pro-family activists; he teaches love of homosexuals while opposing the gay political agenda. the rest

Communiqué of the Global South Primates during their visit to China in September 2011

14 September 2011

1. At the kind invitation of His Excellency Mr. Wang Zuoan, Minister for the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA) of the People’s Republic of China, following his visit to some African provinces earlier this year, we, the Primates of the Global South of the Anglican Communion, visited China from 30 August to 10 September 2011. It is with regret that a few other Primates were unable to be with us due to urgent matters that require their attention.

2. We wish to express our deep appreciation for the cordial hospitality extended to us by Mr. Wang, the staff of SARA and the religious affairs authorities of Jiangsu Province and the cities of Beijing, Chongqing, Nanjing, Suzhou and Shanghai. This visit is opening the way for greater cooperation between China and the countries we represent, especially in the areas of church development, social services and commercial activity.

3. Our hearts are greatly warmed by the fellowship we enjoyed with the senior pastors and church leaders in the various cities. We are particularly grateful for the brotherly hospitality of Elder Fu Xianwei, Chairman of the National Committee of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement of the Protestant Churches in China (TSPM), and the Rev Gao Feng, President of the China Christian Council (CCC).

4. Most of all, we are grateful to God for this historic opportunity for deeper fellowship, prayer and reflection among ourselves as Primates of the Global South. the rest

Devotional: We must ask that we may receive...

Hunger may drive the runaway child home, and he may or may not be fed at home; but he needs his mother more than his dinner. Communion with God is the one need of the soul beyond all other need: prayer is the beginning of that communion, and some need is the motive of that prayer...So begins a communion, a talking with God, a coming-to-one with Him, which is the sole end of prayer, yea, of existence itself in its infinite phases. We must ask that we may receive; but that we should receive what we ask in respect of our lower needs, is not God's end in making us pray, for He could give us everything without that: to bring His child to His knee, God withholds that man may ask. ...George Macdonald image

Couple Gets $4.5M Because Doctor Didn’t Suggest Abortion

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com
9/15/11

A Florida couple will receive $4.5 million after winning a wrongful birth lawsuit claiming their son, born with no arms and one leg, should have become a victim of abortion. They complained the doctor in the case should have detected the physical disabilities before birth and suggested an abortion.

Ana Mejia and Rodolfo Santana filed suit in regards to the birth of their son Bryan, who is now a happy three-year-old boy. They asked a Palm Beach County Circuit Court jury for the money to be able to raise their son by requiring a Palm Beach Gardens obstetrician and the medical company she works for to pay $9 million towards the costs of his upbringing and damages for their pain and suffering.

Dr. Marie Morel and OB/GYN Specialists of the Palm Beaches were found to have failed to diagnose the disability and the jury awarded the couple $4.5 million. They determined that Morel was 85 percent responsible and the ultrasound tech 15 percent responsible for not informing the parents of the problems during the pregnancy. the rest

Jury Gives Parents $4.5 Million Because They Missed Chance to Abort Disabled Son

Obama admin skirts New Hampshire’s elected officials...

...awards $1 million to Planned Parenthood
by Kathleen Gilbert
Wed Sep 14, 2011


(LifeSiteNews.com) - The Obama administration announced Tuesday that it is bypassing state authorities in New Hampshire to restore Planned Parenthood’s funding directly.

Earlier this summer the state’s Executive Council voted to redirect Planned Parenthood’s $1.8 million share of Medicaid funding to clinics that do not perform abortions. Immediately after, however, the Obama administration threatened to deprive all of New Hampshire’s Medicaid facilities of federal funding unless the Executive Council reversed its decision.

Kansas and Indiana have received similar threats this year.

Now the Obama administration says it has bypassed the Executive Council and awarded a $1 million contract to Planned Parenthood in the state. the rest

"Vicar of Baghdad": Loving Muslims One at a Time

The 'Vicar of Baghdad' says the key to Muslim-Christian relations is very personal.
Interview by Mark Galli
9/09/2011

Andrew White was in the thick of matters in Iraq long before September 11. In 1998, at age 33, he was appointed a canon at Coventry Cathedral, England, as director of international ministry and head of the International Centre for Reconciliation. The center promotes reconciliation (mainly religious) across the globe, and White concentrated his efforts on the Middle East, mediating many kidnapping and hostage disputes, and helping Shia and Sunni leaders trust one another.

In 2005, White became the vicar of St. George's Church just outside the Green Zone in Baghdad. He has been dubbed the Vicar of Baghdad, because St. George's is the only Anglican church left in Iraq. White has received a number of humanitarian awards, the latest being the 2011 International First Freedom Award, which has also been awarded to such people as Tony Blair.

CT senior managing editor Mark Galli recently spoke with White via Skype. Interview

If It Feels Right ...

By DAVID BROOKS
September 12, 2011

During the summer of 2008, the eminent Notre Dame sociologist Christian Smith led a research team that conducted in-depth interviews with 230 young adults from across America. The interviews were part of a larger study that Smith, Kari Christoffersen, Hilary Davidson, Patricia Snell Herzog and others have been conducting on the state of America’s youth.

Smith and company asked about the young people’s moral lives, and the results are depressing.

It’s not so much that these young Americans are living lives of sin and debauchery, at least no more than you’d expect from 18- to 23-year-olds. What’s disheartening is how bad they are at thinking and talking about moral issues. the rest

Many were quick to talk about their moral feelings but hesitant to link these feelings to any broader thinking about a shared moral framework or obligation. As one put it, “I mean, I guess what makes something right is how I feel about it. But different people feel different ways, so I couldn’t speak on behalf of anyone else as to what’s right and wrong.”

‘Anti-bullying’ as a pro-gay wedge

Rod Dreher
September 13th, 2011

For many years now, the gay movement has been using school bullying as a wedge to work pro-gay teaching into curricula and into the life of public schools, and to marginalize religious students and others who hold a traditional view of the morality of homosexuality. It goes under the mantra of making schools “safe.” If you don’t affirm homosexuality explicitly, the argument goes, then you are making your schools unsafe for gay kids. You can well imagine how lawsuit-fearing school administrators hate to hear that.

It’s nonsense, of course. There is no reason at all why pro-gay instruction, either in classrooms or extracurricular, has to happen for bullying to be opposed effectively. What’s wrong with a school administration saying that bullying will not be tolerated, and making good on that policy by coming down like a ton of bricks on bullies, no matter their target? That would be the most value-neutral way to handle it.

Not a single gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender sparrow can fall to the ground without The New York Times knowing it, and bullied gay kids in suburbia are no exception. Today’s paper contained a story about a suburban Minneapolis school system in the crosshairs of activists demanding that the school system abandon its policy of neutrality on homosexuality, and instead teach affirmatively about it. the rest

So let me get this right: if the public schools are seen as endorsing any particular form of religion, they’re being unconstitutional and oppressive. But if they refuse to endorse a particular and controversial view of homosexuality, they are being unconstitutional and oppressive. Got it.

Behind Turner’s Win: Jewish Voters Opposed to Gay Marriage

By Alison Fox, Pervaiz Shallwani and Aaron Rutkoff
WSJ
September 14, 2011

Many Jewish voters turned out to support Bob Turner in Tuesday’s election, bucking the historical pattern in their Democratic-leaning neighborhoods and helping seal an upset victory for the Republican congressional candidate.

Voters interviewed Wednesday pointed to their opposition to same-sex marriage and Turner’s pro-Israel politics as factors that swayed them to pick a Republican. It was the first time in nearly a century that the GOP has won the Ninth Congressional District, which includes parts of Brooklyn and Queens. the rest

Tzirel Zlotnick, a teacher and self-described Orthodox Jew and Republican voter in Kew Gardens, Queens, said she didn’t think much of former Rep. Anthony Weiner, the Democratic lawmaker who resigned from the seat following a scandal over sexually charged online messages. But she would have voted for Weprin, who also identifies as an Orthodox Jew, if not for same-sex marriage.

“How can he call himself an Orthodox Jew and vote for gay marriage?” Zlotnick said. “If not for that, I probably would have voted for him.”

Obama’s Israel policy seen as factor that cost him NY House seat

The Ten Happiest Jobs

9/12/2011
Steve Denning

Excerpt:
1. Clergy: The least worldly are reported to be the happiest of all

2. Firefighters: Eighty percent of firefighters are “very satisfied” with their jobs, which involve helping people.

3. Physical therapists: Social interaction and helping people apparently make this job one of the happiest.

4. Authors: For most authors, the pay is ridiculously low or non-existent, but the autonomy of writing down the contents of your own mind apparently leads to happiness.

5. Special education teachers: If you don’t care about money, a job as special education teacher might be a happy profession. The annual salary averages just under $50,000.

6. Teachers: Teachers in general report being happy with their jobs, despite the current issues with education funding and classroom conditions. The profession continues to attract young idealists, although fifty percent of new teachers are gone within five years.

7. Artists: Sculptors and painters report high job satisfaction, despite the great difficulty in making a living from it.

8. Psychologists: Psychologists may or may not be able to solve other people’s problems, but it seems that they have managed to solve their own.

9. Financial services sales agents: Sixty-five percent of financial services sales agents are reported to be happy with their jobs. That could be because some of them are clearing more than $90,000 dollars a year on average for a 40-hour work week in a comfortable office environment.

10. Operating engineers: Playing with giant toys like bulldozers, front-end loaders, backhoes, scrapers, motor graders, shovels, derricks, large pumps, and air compressors can be fun. With more jobs for operating engineers than qualified applicants, operating engineers report being happy.
the rest image by Andrew Magill

Pat Robertson: Divorce OK over Alzheimer's

September 14, 2011

(AP) Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson told his "700 Club" viewers that divorcing a spouse with Alzheimer's is justifiable because the disease is "a kind of death."

During the portion of the show where the one-time Republican presidential candidate takes questions from viewers, Robertson was asked what advice a man should give to a friend who began seeing another woman after his wife started suffering from the incurable neurological disorder.

"I know it sounds cruel, but if he's going to do something, he should divorce her and start all over again, but make sure she has custodial care and somebody looking after her," Robertson said. the rest

US impose restrictions on eight countries for violation of religious liberties

South Asian News Agency
September 15, 2011

WASHINGTON: United States has put eight countries in black list which imposed religious sanctions including China, Iran, Saudi Arabia meanwhile Pakistan has been put in watch list.

According to the World Religious Freedom Report for 2010 by US States Department in the second biannual China, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar, Sudan, Eritrea, North Korea, Iran and Uzbekistan were put in black list, meanwhile Afghanistan , Egypt , Iraq , Nigeria, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, Vietnam and Pakistan were put in watch list. the rest

Devotional: May the cross of Christ be the glory of Christians...

Wonder not then, that all the true followers of Christ, the saints of every age, have so gloried in the cross of Christ, have imputed such great things to it, have desired nothing so much as to be partakers of it, to live in constant union with it. It is because His sufferings, His death and cross, were the fulness of His victory over all the works of the devil. Not an evil in flesh and blood, not a misery of life, not a chain of death, not a power of hell and darkness, but were all baffled, broken, and overcome by the process of a suffering and dying Christ. Well therefore may the cross of Christ be the glory of Christians. ...William Law
 image by Dave Ceasar Dela Cruz

Attack Watch becomes laughing stock of the Internet

Attack Watch, new Obama campaign site to ‘fight smears,’ becomes laughing stock of the Internet
09/14/2011

As the 2012 presidential campaign heats up, President Obama’s campaign team has set up a new Web site, AttackWatch.com, to challenge negative statements about the president made by Republican presidential candidates and conservatives.

Obama for America national field director Jeremy Bird told ABC News that the site’s goal is to offer “resources to fight back” against attacks. Mostly, that means fact checking statements from the likes of GOP presidential contenders Mitt Romney and Rick Perry and conservative commentator Glenn Beck and offering evidence to the contrary. The site is designed in bold red and black colors, and uses statements like “support the truth” and “fight the smears.”

The response to the site has been less than stellar.

On Twitter, where the Web site has an account to help Obama supporters submit evidence of “attacks” on the president using the hashtag #attackwatch, nearly every tweet about the site has ridiculed it. the rest

Attack Watch Commercial

Island nation of Mauritius gives way to UN pressure to legalize abortion

by Matthew Cullinan HoffmanTue Sep 13, 2011

 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The African island nation of Mauritius is on the verge of legalizing abortion in an apparent response to pressure from the United Nations, according to a local media source.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women has urged the Republic of Mauritius to depenalize the killing of the unborn because it signed the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1984. Mauritius lies off the coast of Africa about 600 miles east of Madagascar, and has a population of 1.3 million.

Although the treaty does not mention abortion, in recent years the CEDAW Committee has interpreted its mandate for “access to health care services, including those related to family planning,” as requiring the deadly procedure to be legalized. the rest

A 2009 World Health Organization report showed that Mauritius boasts the lowest maternal mortality in Africa, while also being one of the most protective of the unborn. The same WHO report showed that countries such as Ethiopia, which have been pressured to legalize abortion, have not been successful in reducing maternal death. In fact, Ethiopia’s rate is 48 times greater than that of Mauritius.

Materialism harming family life in Britain

September 14, 2011

Children are happier when they are spending time with their families and doing things, as opposed to being given more things, a new report from Unicef has found.

The UN’s children agency warns of the detrimental effect that materialism is having on family life in Britain as parents admit to feeling pressured into buying the latest gadgets and brands for their kids.

The report looked at the wellbeing of children in Britain, Spain and Sweden and found in all three countries that children related happiness to time spent with their families and friends. the rest

Pa. federal judge rules against insurance mandate

Tue, Sep. 13, 2011
By Chris Mondics

President Obama's plan to require individual Americans to purchase health insurance or pay a penalty exceeds the powers granted both the president and Congress by the Constitution, a federal district court judge ruled Tuesday in Harrisburg

Federal District Judge Christopher C. Connor said the federal government's power to regulate interstate commerce does not give it the power to compel individual citizens to purchase products against their will.

"The nation undoubtably faces a health-care crisis," Conner said. "Scores of individuals are uninsured and the costs to all citizens are measurable and significant.

“The federal government, however, is one of limited enumerated powers,” Conner continued, “and Congress' efforts to remedy the ailing health care and health insurance markets must fit squarely within the boundaries of those powers." the rest

Amazing rescue: Bystanders lift burning car off injured motorcyclist

By Katie Kindelan

Sep 13, 2011

A 21-year-old Utah man pulled from beneath a burning car by bystanders is out of surgery and expected to fully recover, his family confirmed to ABC News.

Brandon Wright was driving his motorcycle just outside the Utah State University campus in Logan, Utah, around noon on Monday when a black BMW pulled out in front of him, forcing him to lay down his bike to avoid a crash, Logan police told Salt Lake City’s ABC 4.  the rest

Gunmen kill five children in attack on Pakistan bus

13 September 2011

Gunmen have ambushed a school bus on the outskirts of the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar, killing at least five children, police say.

The driver was also killed and 19 other children were wounded in the attack in Matani about 20km (12 miles) south of the city centre, police said.

The area is close to Pakistan's volatile tribal areas where Taliban militants are active. the rest

Infanticide just a late, late abortion?

by Jonathon Van Maren
Mon Sep 12, 2011

On April 13, 2005, 19 year old Katrina Effert secretly gave birth to a baby boy in her parent’s home. She then strangled the child with her underwear, and tossed the corpse over the fence into the yard of one of the neighbours.

On September 9, 2011, CBC reported that Ms. Effert’s conviction for this murder had been ‘downgraded’ by an Edmonton Court of Queen’s Bench judge to infanticide, and in lieu of jail time she will merely serve a suspended sentence.

In her argument, the judge stated that “while many Canadians undoubtedly view abortion as a less than ideal solution to unprotected sex and unwanted pregnancy, they generally understand, accept, and sympathize with the onerous demands pregnancy and childbirth exact from mothers, especially mothers without support.” the rest

This tragic event should be seen as a warning to Canadians. When a judge literally uses abortion as an excuse for infanticide in a court statement, and compares the two as pretty much the same thing, we should recognize that this worldview is not inconsistent with the one of “choice”. This is not even the first time infanticide has been excused - Harvard ‘ethicist’ Peter Singer even endorses it. However, if children are not valuable simply because they are children, their value will be based on other criteria. When the value of one class of human beings is downgraded, we should all take note. It is up to each of us to decide. Should humans have the “choice” to kill others?

BBC: More Chinese at church on a Sunday than in the whole of Europe.

Christians in China: Is the country in spiritual crisis?
11 September 2011
By Tim Gardam

Many of China's churches are overflowing, as the number of Christians in the country multiplies. In the past, repression drove people to convert - is the cause now rampant capitalism?

It is impossible to say how many Christians there are in China today, but no-one denies the numbers are exploding.

The government says 25 million, 18 million Protestants and six million Catholics. Independent estimates all agree this is a vast underestimate. A conservative figure is 60 million. There are already more Chinese at church on a Sunday than in the whole of Europe.

The new converts can be found from peasants in the remote rural villages to the sophisticated young middle class in the booming cities. the rest

China: Five House-Church Leaders Leave Labor Camps

September 12, 2011

(MNN) ― After two years of grueling labor, five house-church leaders were released last week from labor camps in China, reports Voice of the Martyrs.

Since September 13, 2009, Fao Fuqin, Zhao Guoai, Yang Caizhen, Yang Hongzhen and Li Shuangpin have experienced physical and psychological torment in a Chinese labor camp. All five men are leaders in the 50,000 member Linfen church, a house church movement in China.

The men were arrested in the aftermath of an attack on Linfen, when over 400 local police, government officials, and hired men attacked one of the church branches. In the attack, they demolished a church building and clashed with several hundred members of the church, sending 30 to the hospital.

Five church leaders were detained and sentenced to prison terms of up to seven years during a one-day show trial, and five were sentenced to two years of re-education through labor.

Police still occupy the site where the main Linfen church building stands. The church's members are scattered, but they continue to meet and worship in private homes. the rest

Incredible 9/11 Commercial Promotes Pro-Life Message

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com
9/12/11

A multimedia company that uses powerful videos to share the pro-life message has crafted a new video that coincides with the 10th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks to promote respect for all human life.

Virtue Media released the new video “Humane Humanity” to commemorate the tenth anniversary of 9/11 and to help Americans take a moment to “rededicate ourselves to upholding the sanctity of all human life.”

“Over the years humanity has made terrible mistakes. People were treated as less than human, even killed … because they were a different skin color, because they were a different faith…because they were unplanned, unknown and helpless,’ the video says. “But over time we are slowly learning that we are all God’s children, created in His image. And to disregard the value of human life whether through hate or indifference, is wrong.”  the rest

Amazon Testing 'Book Buffet' Program Ahead of Tablet Launch

By Shibani JoshiSeptember 12, 2011

– Call it "Netflix for books."

In another walk-up to the release of its hotly anticipated tablet device, Amazon is in talks with book publishers to launch a digital library for customers, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The service could allow users to gain unlimited access to older digital book content for a single, annual price tag. Putting older books into this program versus newer ones would prevent cannibalization of its highly popular digital books business. This would also more likely appease book publishers who are reluctant to sign onto any “all you can eat” pricing model for content. the rest

Walter Righter dies at 87; controversial Episcopal bishop

Walter C. Righter, retired Episcopal bishop, was absolved of heresy charges after ordaining a non-celibate gay man as a deacon in 1990.
By Elaine Woo, Los Angeles Times
September 13, 2011

Walter C. Righter, a retired Episcopal bishop of Iowa who was absolved of heresy charges after ordaining a non-celibate gay man as a deacon in 1990, died Sunday at his home outside Pittsburgh after a long illness. He was 87.

His death was confirmed by Rich Creehan, a spokesman for the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, where Righter was ordained 60 years ago.

Righter became a lightning rod for dissent over the ordination of gays in the Episcopal Church when he was an assistant bishop in Newark, N.J., under Bishop John Spong, an outspoken supporter of ordaining lesbians and gays.

In 1990, with Spong's approval, Righter ordained Barry Stopfel, whom he knew to be gay, as a deacon, a rank below that of priest. The next year Spong ordained Stopfel as a priest. the rest

In a statement Monday on Righter's death, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said: "The Episcopal Church can give thanks for the life of a faithful and prophetic servant.... His ministry will be remembered for his pastoral heart and his steadfast willingness to help the church move beyond old prejudices into new possibilities."

No jail time for woman who strangled newborn because Canada accepts abortion, says judge

 by Patrick B. Craine
September 12, 2011

 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An Alberta judge has let a woman who strangled her newborn son walk free by arguing that Canada’s absence of a law on abortion signals that Canadians “sympathize” with the mother.

“We live in a country where there is no protection for children in the womb right up until birth and now this judge has extended the protection for the perpetrator rather than the victim, even though the child is born and as such should be protected by the court,” said Jim Hughes, national president of Campaign Life Coalition.

Katrina Effert of Wetaskiwin, Alberta gave birth secretly in her parents’ downstairs bathroom on April 13, 2005, and then later strangled the newborn and threw his body over a fence. She was 19 at the time.

She has been found guilty of second-degree murder by two juries, but both times the judgment was thrown out by the appeals court. In May, the Alberta Court of Appeal overturned her 2009 murder conviction and replaced it with the lesser charge of infanticide. the rest

Tick-Borne Infections Infiltrate U.S. Blood Supply

By Maryn McKenna
September 6, 2011

Excerpt:
In a paper released ahead-of-print by the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rhode Island and New York State report that 159 cases of babesiosis were caused by transfusions in the past 30 years and “the risk may be increasing.” Twenty-seven of the patients died..

Here are the details of their analysis. Between 1979 and 2009:

•There were 159 known cases of babesiosis caused by transfusions (and 3 more caused by a related organism, for 162 total)
•Infected donors were tracked down for 136 of those cases
•30 of the cases were caused by 12 donors, because donated blood is split into multiple products
•All but 4 of the cases were linked to receiving red blood cells (the remaining 4 involved platelets)
•77 percent of the cases occurred in the last 10 years, suggesting the risk is increasing
•Cases occurred in all 4 seasons of the year, though tick bites are seasonal
•Cases occurred in 19 states, but 87 percent of them were in the 7 states where Babesia is considered to be endemic — which the authors say may represent higher risk, or perhaps just greater awareness. the rest

HHS Blocks Abstinence Education As 'Unallowable'

Advocates of the 'risk-avoidance' approach of abstinence education defend its effectiveness.
by Mary Frances Boyle
09/12/2011

WASHINGTON — The Department of Health and Human Services released a new Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for initiatives that promote healthy marriages — as long as those projects don’t include abstinence-education programs.

FOA applicants are required to include a written statement pledging that abstinence education is not a part of their programs. In fact, teaching abstinence is defined as an “unallowable activity.”

Groups are asked to make a “commitment to not use funds for unauthorized activities, including, but not limited to, an abstinence-education program.” the rest image

Christianity meets high street consumerism in Christmas ad

Monday, September 12, 2011

A trendy nativity scene will be used in a poster aimed at reminding Brits that Jesus is the true meaning of Christmas.

Christian charity Church-Ads.net launched the poster for its Christmas advertising campaign last week week.

It shows the nativity scene with “trendy twenty-somethings, designer fashion and luxury gifts”, as part of its “Christmas starts with Christ” promotion, which is now in its third year.

In the poster, the shepherds are represented by a cycle courier and plasterer. The wise men are shown as three successful entrepreneurs and their gifts are iconic ‘treasures’ of modern culture: a Swarovski crystal perfume bottle, a Fabergé egg and a replica Damien Hirst skull. All are ‘sharply dressed’. the rest

The cohabitation revolution: kids pay the price

by Chuck Colson
Mon Sep 12, 2011

Excerpt:
...That means nearly half of all American children have lived in a home where the adults are merely living together rather than married.

Today’s advocates of “modern family structure” will tell you that this is no big deal, that having a wedding ring is overrated. The kids, they say, will do fine either way. Well, the fact is, an intact marriage puts children way ahead of children in other types of households. National Review editor Rich Lowry, who labels the current trend a “cohabitation revolution,” notes, “Children in cohabiting households tend to lag children in intact married families on key social indicators and are not much better off than children in single-parent families.”

Those who are part of cohabiting households, according to the study, report “more conflict, more violence, and lower levels of satisfaction and commitment.” Children in such situations face real emotional and physical risks.

Jennifer Roback Morse of the National Organization for Marriage reports that children living with their mother and a live-in boyfriend are 33 times more likely to be abused than those living with their biological married parents. Also, children in households with unrelated adults are 50 times more likely to die from inflicted injuries, compared with children living with both biological parents. the rest image

Book: The Ring Makes All the Difference
The Hidden Consequences of Cohabitation and the Strong Benefits of Marriage

9/11 Memorial Officially Open Today to Families on 10th Anniversary of WTC Attacks

By OLIVIA KATRANDJIAN
Sept. 11, 2011

Water flowed into the footprints of the fallen World Trade Center towers, now twin reflecting pools, as the completed National September 11 Memorial opened for the first time today to family members on the 10th anniversary of the attacks.

The pools, nearly an acre each in size, are lined with bronze panels inscribed with the 2,983 names of those who died in the terror attacks Sept. 11, 2001, and the six people who died in the 1993 WTC bombing.

The memorial incorporated nearly 1,200 requests from victims' families to place the names near those of loved ones, co-workers and friends. It covers half of the 16-acre site, and contains 150 trees. the rest

Clergyman's long road to resolution

Christopher Pearson From:The Australian
September 10, 2011


ON Tuesday, May 13, 2008, I went to a meeting with Archbishop John Hepworth, the global primate of the 400,000 strong Traditional Anglican Communion. He was in the middle of what were to prove successful negotiations with the Holy See for his flock to be corporately reunited with the Catholic Church.

Matters were at a delicate stage and his own position vis-a-vis Rome needed to be urgently regularised. He'd been originally ordained a Catholic priest for the archdiocese of Adelaide but had gone to England, married, become an Anglican cleric and in due course been made a bishop.

He took me into his confidence on the years of violent sexual predation and blackmail he had endured as a seminarian and a young priest, which finally drove him to flee Adelaide. Tess Livingstone has chronicled these events elsewhere in today's paper.

Hepworth told me there were two reasons he was talking to me about these matters. The first was that I was a columnist with The Weekend Australian and a Catholic convert who would not lightly write anything that might cast the church in a bad light. Even so, I could act as a form of insurance if he were to meet with procedural obstacles in his dealings with the archdiocese. the rest

Nazir-Ali: The end of Islamic extremism is far from nigh

It is often described as the day that changed the world but, in fact, 9/11 only brought home to the West what had been simmering, and sometimes breaking out violently, in different parts of the world for nearly half a century.
By Michael Nazir-Ali, former Bishop of Rochester
11 Sep 2011

The effects on America and Europe were nothing short of traumatic. There was an immediate questioning of a growing “globalism” and the emergence of a siege mentality. Heightened security has eased people’s minds, but there still lurks a basic anxiety about when, and where, the next attack will be.

Siren voices sometimes ask us to believe that 9/11 was caused by the pathological actions of a few, and that all Muslims should not be blamed for acts of terror. It is true that there are many moderate Muslims who condemn unequivocally what has been done in the name of their religion and assert that Islam had nothing to do with it. But we still need to ask how terrorism on such a vast scale was possible.

Apologists, both Western and Muslim, claim that Islamist extremism and terrorism have been bred by resentment of Western power. The military dominance of Israel, the roots of the Kashmir dispute, the megalomania of the Shah of Iran, and Suez are all seen to be examples of Western hubris and ill-will towards the Muslim world. the rest

So what should be done about the rise of this kind of Islamism? In the Muslim world, the answer is clear. Democracy is not enough in itself or it could simply become a tyranny of the radicalised. It must be accompanied by internationally backed guarantees of liberties for women, non-Muslims and even moderate Muslim opinion. There must be one law for all and the equality of all before the law. A common view of citizenship will prevent the re-appearance of the dhimma for non-Muslims, under which they are little better than subject peoples without equal rights.

Devotional: Ponder the achievement of God...

Ponder the achievement of God. He doesn't condone our sin, nor does He compromise His standard. He doesn't ignore our rebellion, nor does He relax His demands. Rather than dismiss our sin, He assumes our sin and, incredibly, sentences Himself. God's holiness is honoured. Our sin is punished...and we are redeemed. God does what we cannot do so we can be what we dare not dream; perfect before God. ...Max Lucado  image

Jazz for Cows

Anglican Unscripted for September 9th, 2011

FAIRFAX, VA: 700 Including 16 Bishops Pack Truro Church for Installation of New Bishop

John Guernsey becomes first bishop in largest ACNA Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic
By David W. Virtue in Virginia
September 11, 2011

Declaring that he would be obedient to the Word of God and drive out all erroneous teaching, Bishop John Guernsey was installed as the first Bishop in the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) at an investiture that included 16 bishops from the US and Canada. Canadian Moderator Bishop of the Anglican Network in Canada (ANiC) Don Harvey as well the Presiding Bishop of the Reformed Episcopal Church Leonard Riches and some 50 clergy were also in attendance.

It was not without significance that The NT reading (Acts 20: 17 - 35) included words about those who would come among them "speaking twisted things to draw away the disciples after them".

Charging Bishop John Guernsey, ACNA Archbishop Robert Duncan proclaimed this is an historic moment in an historic place. "We all recall that Anglicanism was brought permanently to these shores not so very far from here, in 1607 and now 200 years later Anglicanism in the form of the this new diocese of the mid Atlantic it has been reorganized and it is happening in this place. God is doing something very great. He is making all things news. He is forever lifting up the lonely and casting the might from their thrones. This is an historic moment for Anglicanism in North but an historic moment for Anglicanism throughout the globe. This is an amazing personal moment. It is the fulfillment of God's plan for three leaders - myself, Martyn Minns and John Guernsey." the rest