Scrolling around...February 20, 2013

 GAO Report: Obama's Policies 'Not Sustainable'
For two months, reporters and lawmakers have ignored a devastating report from the federal government itself, which warns that the nation's current fiscal policy will lead to economic collapse.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO)—the personal auditor of President Obama and the federal government—released its assessment of the federal government on January 17, 2013. The report's findings illuminate just how dire America's spending problem is and, therefore, how little the current cuts debated by Congress do to fix it...

The Legacy of Benedict XVI
At his election in 2005, some thought of him as a papal place-keeper: a man who would keep the Chair of Peter warm for a few years until a younger papal candidate emerged. In many other ways, and most recently by his remarkably self-effacing decision to abdicate, Joseph Ratzinger proved himself a man of surprises. What did he accomplish, and what was left undone, over a pontificate of almost eight years?...

Iceland considers pornography ban

The government is considering introducing internet filters, such as those used to block China off form the worldwide web, in order to stop Icelanders downloading or viewing pornography on the internet.

The unprecedented censorship is justified by fears about damaging effects of the internet on children and women...

200,000 UK Abortions, 98%, Done on Mental Health Grounds
...So in other words if the mother thinks that continuing with the pregnancy poses a greater risk to her mental health than having an abortion then she is right, regardless of what the medical evidence actually shows...

Wiccan inmates can sue to gain chaplain

Christian women's group fires back at SNL's 'DJesus Uncrossed' parody
A conservative Christian women's group said Tuesday that "Saturday Night Live" intended to "degrade and taunt" with a video short that appeared on last weekend's show called "DJesus Uncrossed" — a faux Quentin Tarantino revenge film starring a resurrected Jesus Christ.
The group said the late-night show wouldn't dare be that irreverent with Islam.
What Do We Do When Jesus Is Mocked?
...Rather than take the time and effort to show how offended we are at the portrayal of Jesus as revenge-seeking murderer, why not take the moment of airtime to affirm what makes this skit humorous. This is an opportunity to say, “Yes, the reason this is funny is because Jesus would not do something like this. In fact his words to those who were crucifying them was, ‘Father, forgive them for they no not what they are doing.’” This is who Jesus is and that’s the Jesus people need to know...

That Tail Ain't a Leg
...Lincoln asked, “If I call a tail a leg, how many legs does a sheep have? Five? No, just four. Calling the tail a leg doesn’t make it so.” In the same, way, calling a human a slave doesn’t make him less human, even if he is treated less humanely.

Lincoln used this illustration to make the point that unilaterally and arbitrarily redefining words doesn’t change reality. You might succeed at fooling a few for awhile, but eventually someone is going catch on and call out the deception.

Today, homosexual activists have tried to co-opt the allusion to slavery to advance their demand to redefine marriage to include same-sex couples. Nice try, but if Lincoln were chiming in, he would undoubtedly bring up Euclid. A union of two men or two women is not the same as the union of one man and one woman, and all the rhetorical sleights of hand can’t change that biological and social reality...

Doctor: Why I Quit Doing Abortions at Planned Parenthood
...“I just wanted to let you know, you’ve touched my heart. For years…too many years to count, I murdered countless children..up until 3 months ago that is. I believed I was doing what was best at the time. I worked for Planned Parenthood.

I became hardened and cold to the fact, I was killing children. How I, a physician who had taken an oath to preserve life can perform abortions — can actually kill defenseless unborn babies — literally ripped out, many times in pieces, from the mother’s womb, is beyond me..but I see it now. Partial-birth abortions was my living. :’(

Finally one day, something hit me…and my hard-heart began to soften. After receiving a pro-life tract, and having read it; I got angry, but I didn’t throw it away. And then for some reason, I couldn’t perform abortions anymore.

I broke down that day and felt like I had died on the inside. Millions of emotions came at me and I had a weight of guilt, on my shoulders so heavy. So heavy, worse than any depression I’ve ever felt.

I felt like, for every baby I had taken from this world, a part of me died as well. I cry as I write this. I cry for the mothers, the fathers..who decided because of “choice” they would kill their children. I cry for the babies, who were brutally murdered at my hand. It takes a lot to admit that. ALOT.

Where is the churches? The outreach groups? Get out there! Do something. Please! Don’t say, “it isn’t my field” Shouldn’t it be every moral person’s responsibility, to defend the defenseless? And don’t tell me pro-life outreach doesn’t work, or tracts don’t help. It certainly did for me..."

Guardian wins week one of 2013 All-England pope-bashing contest
It’s a wonderful life. My heart has been singing songs of joy every morning as I take up my newspapers and survey the latest news on the abdication of Pope Benedict XVI. For a critic of religion reporting these are the good times — no slogging through continental newspapers to find a story to review for this blog. I am spoiled for choice just by reading the British press. Some of the stories have been so silly and wrong-headed as to be bizarre...

The Explosive Growth of U.S. Megachurches, Even While Many Say Their Day is Done
...The fact is that many practices found in smaller churches trickle down from larger ones, but also because we are a numbers-oriented culture-- we want our church to grow, so we try to copy what the growing churches are doing.

While imitation is often the greatest form of flattery and many copy their methods, their terminology, and their programs, megachurches tend to face scrutiny-- some fair and some unfair. In the process, several unhelpful things are said about them either out of jealousy or ignorance. One piece of misinformation spread about megachurches is that they are a dying breed.

I have heard this over and over again-- that the megachurch is dying out. That people are wising up and getting into organic churches. That the mindless robots who blindly follow a the charlatan megachurch pastor have seen the light. The day of the megachurch is done.

One problem: the claims are just not true (and some of it is quite insulting to many passionate believers who attend megachurches who actually have higher levels of involvement and service according to the best research)...