Scrolling around...July 9, 2013

Book review: Love Into Light
...The book has several notable strengths that make it a valuable and important contribution to this discussion. One strength is in Hubbard’s approach to homosexuality through a biblical lens. He attempts to diagnosis it accurately using biblical categories and as he does so, he helps show what it is and, perhaps especially helpfully, shows what it is not. He eschews easy labels and easy solutions. Another strength is Hubbard’s pastoral tone and his love for the people he writes for and writes to. It is always clear when a writer knows and loves people who find themselves struggling with same sex attraction and people who are unapologetically homosexual; it is equally clear when a person is writing about a caricature, about people has never met and never loved. A third strength is that the book is anchored in the gospel; from beginning to end, the gospel pervades it all...

Study: People With a Lot of Self-Control Are Happier
...The more self-control people reported having, the more satisfied they reported being with their lives. And contrary to what the researchers were expecting, people with more self-control were also more likely to be happy in the short-term. In fact, when they further analyzed the data, they found that such people's increased happiness to a large extent accounted for the increased life satisfaction...

The IRS Mistakenly Exposed Thousands of Social Security Numbers  Another day, another slipup by the Internal Revenue Service.
The incident involves the unwitting exposure of "tens of thousands" of Social Security numbers, according to a recent audit by the independent transparency and public-domain group Public.Resource.org. The identifying numbers were on the Internet for less than 24 hours after being discovered, but the damage was done. And unfortunately, the data-breach concerns some of the most sensitive types of transactions: Those made by nonprofit political groups known as 527s...

IRS Paying Over 200 Employees to Work Full-Time For Labor Union  The Internal Revenue Service pays over 200 full-time employees not to conduct audits or process tax returns but to work for a federal employees’ union, according to documents released by the agency in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by the advocacy group Americans for Limited Government. Forty-three of those employees are earning six-figure salaries, the documents show...

YouVersion Bible App Tops 100 Million Downloads; Releases Series of Infographics
...The free Bible App was among the first 200 apps available on iTunes. Today, there are over 900,000 available on iTunes, which celebrates its five-year anniversary on Wednesday. For three consecutive years, Apple has ranked the Bible App among the top 100 free apps...

America’s Change of Mind on Same-Sex Marriage and LGBTQ Rights   ...But until recently, there had been relatively little research on the responses of religious communities. New studies by researchers such as Andrew Whitehead, reported in the latest issue of the Review of Religious Research, and Gary Adler, who shared his findings in the journal Social Problems, are providing insights into which congregations are more likely to be welcoming to gays and lesbians, and what this means for the future. The studies analyze data from the 2006-2007 National Congregations Study, which asked a series of questions about how welcoming communities are to gays and lesbians in committed relationships.
Some key indicators of congregational attitudes emerged...

California university president apologizes after student ordered to remove cross necklace

University at Buffalo Suppresses Pro-Life Speech
...Earlier this year, UB Students for Life sponsored a debate on the morality of abortion.  UB administrators deemed the event “controversial” and required the group to have UB Police at the event.  When it was all said and done, UB charged the group nearly $650 in security fees.

As is usually the case with university policies regulating “controversial” speech, UB has no guidelines for such a designation and leaves it to the whim of officials, a practice that the U.S. Supreme Court has found to be unconstitutional in other cases. In fact, UB did not assess such fees to another campus group holding a debate between a Christian and atheist in the same building at the same time...

20+ Week Fetuses Aborted at Rate of 30 Per Day; Saves Money for Government-Run Health Care
Unborn babies who have reached at least 20 weeks of age in utero are aborted at a rate of about 30 per day in the United States, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

 The CBO has also concluded that aborting babies at 20 weeks or later in pregnancy saves money for the government-run federal-state Medicaid system.

The CBO made these determinations when doing its official “Cost Estimate” of a federal bill that would prohibit abortions at 20 weeks or later into pregnancy (except in cases of reported rape, incest against a minor or to save the life of the mother)...

2 Girls Killed in Plane Crash Planned to Attend Church Camp
Two girls with plans to attend a church camp, died in the Saturday crash of an Asiana Airlines jet at San Francisco International Airport. According to the Los Angeles Times, "The two victims, Wang Lin Jia and Ye Meng Yuan, were among 35 teenagers who had been scheduled to arrive at the West Valley Christian Church's school Monday."...

New Yorker Cover: Bert and Ernie Snuggle While Watching Supreme Court   ...All these magazines have been reduced to carnival barkers. That's all they are. But instead of pointing out each oddity as an oddity they constantly feature each oddity as the new mainstream. And the New Yorker in and of itself has very little power to influence the culture but as part of the borg-like mentality of the msm, it has a profound effect on the culture. And by profound I mean calamitous...

No Surprise Abortion Activists are Nasty: They’re Defending Unlimited Abortions
...Even after their so-called “victory,” the vitriol, hatred, and mind-boggling words of the abortion supporters were not stifled. They are still out in full force in Austin, and here is a sampling of their tolerance:
•Some of the “lovely Southern ladies” who are part of the mob unwilling to gracefully accept the vote of the legislators sent messages via Facebook and e-mail to state Sen. Donna Campbell (R) and her daughter that read, “I hope you’re raped,” and “I hope your daughter’s raped.” (I wonder how many of these people supported the Violence Against Women’s Act?)
•While pro-life supporters gathered in the Texas State Capitol building and sang “Amazing Grace,” the pro-abortion supporters chanted “Hail, Satan!” I guess they should get credit for admitting who is directing their actions.
•Pro-abortion supporters brought their children to the protest and had them hold up signs with wire coat hangers on them. By the way, these children looked to be about four or five years old, but they probably understood the meaning of the signs, right?
•Not to be outdone by the exploitation of children used in a protest supporting the death of children, another woman had toddlers and elementary school age children carrying signs that said, “Every child a wanted child” and “If I wanted the government in my womb I would f*** a senator!” None seemed to notice the irony that those exploited children were, of course, only the wanted children.
•Two young women authored these ditties: “hoes before embryos” and “republicans cannot defetus!” Where did those young women learn such attitudes and tactics? Planned Parenthood’s comprehensive sex education? “Civility” classes at the local community outreach center?