Freezing Tiny Human Beings; Kidnapped Christian girls in Egypt; ISIS terror leader: 'I'll see you guys in New York'...more

Freezing Tiny Human Beings
...The most obvious offense to their human rights is that the process of freezing and thawing the embryos leads to the death of many. A recent study indicated that 46 percent will not survive the freezing and thawing process. The two primary causes of death? Formation of ice crystals (freezer burn) or cytotoxicity (poison) from the cryoprotectant. As the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority has summarized, “Not all embryos will survive freezing and eventual thawing when they come to be used.  Very occasionally no embryos will survive.” Many will lose one or two cells, with associated risks not fully understood. In short, the freezing and thawing process exposes them to serious risk of harm and death..

But even if the technology was perfected and no deaths would occur (an exceptionally unlikely scenario), these human beings are frozen against their will and not for their own good. Consent to such a procedure cannot be presumed because IVF and the freezing of embryos do not offer reasonable hope of success or great benefit for the embryo. They offer, rather, significant risks that are well above what might be reasonably considered normal. These risks are accepted because of a prior choice for IVF which is, itself, an irresponsible herculean intervention with overall embryo survival rates hovering around 5-20 percent...

Over 550 Christian girls kidnapped in Egypt since 2011 ...Since January, 2011 through March, 2014, over 550 Christian girls were kidnapped by Muslim men and forced to convert and marry their abductors, often after suffering violence at the hands of their kidnappers, according to the Association of Victims of Abduction and Forced Disappearance (AVAFD).

Often before these forced marriages, the traditional cross the Coptic minority tattooes on their wrists was erased with acid, according to Terrasanta, a Catholic news service...

ISIS terror leader: 'I'll see you guys in New York'
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is responding to news that the leader of the insurgent group currently advancing on major cities in Iraq made specific reference to New York City five years ago.

His name is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and he made the chilling remarks during his release of a U.S. detention camp in 2009. He wasn't considered much of a threat at the time, but now he is being called a true heir to Osama bin Laden...

Sudanese Christians plea for release of Meriam Ibrahim  The Sudanese Council of Churches has called for the immediate release of Meriam Yehya Ibrahim, the Christian woman sentenced to death last month for apostasy from Islam by a Khartoum court. In a 1 June 2014 statement given to the media, the SCC said the death sentence for apostasy and sentence of 100 lashes for adultery for having married a Christian is a “clear and direct persecution of Christians in Sudan”...


What the Democrats, including Harry Reid and Hillary Clinton, were saying on Iraq before the invasion

How Arguments (Do Not) Function
Thanks to Real Clear Religion, I was alerted to someone named Sarah Moon at Patheos, blogging in high dudgeon about the “bigotry” of N.T. Wright, the renowned Anglican theologian. What has Ms. Moon so exercised? Here is how she begins:

In case you haven’t heard, N.T. Wright—author of theology books such as Surprised By Hope and Simply Christian, and former Bishop of Durham—recently did an interview in which he compared people who support marriage equality to Nazis and Soviet Communists.

Nazis.

 

And Soviet Communists.

 

No. No, he didn’t. Not even close...

Homemakers are happier
...As recent research indicates, female homemakers tend to be happier than working mothers or wives. This is consistent with both the positive correlation we see between stay-at-home mothers and the stabilizing economy, as well as the negative correlation between stay-at-home fathers and the improved job market. If women really are happiest as homemakers, then we should expect that women will choose to stay at home when they are financially able to do so. Likewise, since men seem to largely be stay-at-home fathers not by choice, but due to economic pressures or related factors, we can speculate that, unlike mothers, fathers prefer to pursue employment outside of the home rather than being stay-at-home fathers when they are economically or financially able to do so...