Eeyores news and view

An Agnostic is Converted
By Arthur T. Pierson
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This short story is taken from the biography of Arthur T. Pierson, who was pastoring in Detroit, Michigan at the time this encounter takes place in 1876:
"At the close of a sermon on 'Abiding in Christ,' according to my custom, I invited any person present who was impressed with his need of Christ to meet me in the inquirer's room.
"One young man of about thirty responded. He was tall, stalwart of frame, intelligent, and would have been fine looking but for a cloud that seemed to abide upon his countenance. In fact, his face seemed scarred and furrowed, as though his life had been a battle with sin and care, and be had been terribly worsted in the contest. I said to him:
"'I take it, sir, that you are here to talk with me about your spiritual interests. Will you let me into the very heart of your trouble or difficulty?'
"'Well, Sir,' said he, 'I suppose you would consider my case a desperate one. I am a follower of Robert Ingersoll [a famous agnostic/infidel in the 1800's). I am an unbeliever, a disbeliever, an infidel.'
"'But I suppose there are some things you believe. You believe the Bible to be the Book of God?'
'No, Sir.'
' You believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God?'
"'No, Sir.'
"'Well , at least you believe in a God?'
"'There may be a God; I cannot say that I believe there is, but there may be; I do not know.'
"'Then why are you here? I do not see what you want of me, if you do not believe in the Bible nor in Christ, and are not even sure there is any God.'
"'I heard you preach tonight, and it seems to me that you must believe something and that it gives you peace and comfort.'
"'You are quite right.'
"'Well, I don't believe anything, and am perfectly wretched; if you can show me the way to believe anything and to get happiness in believing, I wish you would. If you can help me, do it quickly, for I have been carrying this burden as long as I can. I am a law student, but I am so wretched I cannot study nor sit still. I wandered over here tonight, and heard the organ playing in your church, and went in expecting to hear some fine music. I heard nothing but simple congregational singing, but curiosity led me to remain and hear what you had to say, and one thing impressed me, -that you have faith in somebody or something, and you are happy in believing. My envy of you brings me in here.'
"I lifted my heart to God for special guidance, and drew my chair up close to this unhappy man and in voluntarily put my arm around him.
"'Tell me something to read,' he said.
"'I would have you read nothing but the Bible. You have been reading too much; that is partly what is the matter with you. You are full of the misleading, plausible sophistries of the skeptics. Read the Word of God.'
"'But what is the use -when I do not believe it to be the Word of God?'
"Opening my Bible, I turned to John 5:39, and with my finger on the verse slowly read: 'Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life and they are they which testify of Me and ye will not come unto Me that ye may have life.' 'Now,' said I, 'it is God's testimony and my experience that he who diligently searches the Scriptures will find that they contain the witness to their own divine origin and inspiration, and to the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ.'
"'Well' said he, 'I'll read the Bible, but what beside?'
"Turning to Matthew 6:6, I pointed to the words: 'Enter into thy closet, and when. thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret Himself shall reward thee.' 'If that means anything, it means that if you sincerely pray to God He will reveal Himself to you.'
"'But of what use to pray to God if you don't believe there is a God?'
"For an instant I was perplexed. But a thought flashed across me, and although I never had given such counsel to any man before, I gave utterance to it, for I felt guided.
"'It makes no difference,' I replied, 'provided you are sincere. God will not disregard any genuine effort to draw near to Him. Go and pray, if only like the famous Thistlewood conspirator: "Oh, God, if there be a God, save my soul, if I have a soul."'
"'Anything more?' said he.
"'Yes,' and I opened to John 7:17, and read: If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine."That means that if you act up to whatever light you have, you shall have more light. In God's school, we never are taught a second lesson till -we practice the first. "Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord."
"'I have given you three texts already to ponder and study. I wish to add one more: Matt. 11:28, 29, 30, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." That means that if you come directly to Jesus Christ, He will give you rest. Now notice these four texts. One bids you to search the Scriptures; one, to pray in secret ; one, to put in practice whatever you know ; and the last, to come to Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour.'
"'Is that all?' he inquired.
"'That is all. Will you promise me to go and follow this simple prescription?'
"'I will.'
"After kneeling in prayer together, this Ingersollite left me. Two weeks later, at the close of service, I gave a similar invitation to inquirers. The congregation was scarcely half out of the house, when this same man came towards me, with both hands extended and his face beaming. 'I have found God and Christ, and I am a happy man!'
"He sat beside me and told me the fascinating story. He had gone home that Sunday night, taken out from his trunk the Bible his mother had put there when he left home; had opened it and knelt before the unseen God. He simply, sincerely asked that if there were a God at all, and if the Bible were the Word of God, and Jesus Christ His Son and the Saviour of man, it might be shown him plainly. As he read and prayed and sought for light, light was given; he humbly tried to follow every ray and to walk in the light, and the path became clearer and plainer and the light fuller and brighter, until his eyes rested in faith upon Jesus."
http://www.biblebelievers.com/pierson1.html

Okla. lawmaker Kern heckled as she launches 'morality proclamation'
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A state lawmaker who made national headlines by claiming homosexuality is a greater threat to the United States than terrorism was heckled by protesters as she launched a campaign for a morality proclamation that opponents said promotes an atmosphere of hate.
Rep. Sally Kern said the U.S. is drifting from traditional Christian values as she sought signatures for her petition at a state Capitol rally attended by about 250 people including ministers and their followers, four other state lawmakers, and protesters who shouted "shame on you" and "hypocrite."
"You are seeing a wonderful demonstration of intolerance," the conservative Republican from Oklahoma City said of the hecklers.
Among other things, the proclamation says, "This nation has become a world leader in promoting abortion, pornography, same-sex marriage, sex trafficking, divorce, illegitimate births, child abuse and many other forms of debauchery."
The proclamation declares the federal government "is forsaking the rich Christian heritage upon which this nation was built."
Last year, gay and lesbian groups demanded Kern apologize after she told a political group that "the homosexual agenda is just destroying this nation" and poses a bigger threat to the United States than terrorism.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-07-09-kern-gay_N.htm

Pope calls for 'God-centered' global economy
Pope Benedict XVI today called for reforming the United Nations and establishing a "true world political authority" with "real teeth" to manage the global economy with God-centered ethics.
In his third encyclical, a major teaching, released as the G-8 summit begins in Italy, the pope says such an authority is urgently needed to end the current worldwide financial crisis. It should "revive" damaged economies, reach toward "disarmament, food security and peace," protect the environment and "regulate migration."
Benedict writes, "The market is not, and must not become, the place where the strong subdue the weak."
The encyclical, Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth) is a theologically dense explication of Catholic social teaching that draws heavily from earlier popes, particularly PaulVI's critique of capitalism 42 years ago. And echoing his predecessor John Paul II, Benedict says, "every economic decision has a moral consequence."
Issued days before his Friday meeting with President Obama, the pope's views here are "to the left of Obama in terms of economic policy," particularly in calls for redistribution of wealth, says political scientist Thomas Reese, a Jesuit priest and senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
The encyclical also echoes Benedict's many speeches, saying that to reach sound a global economy every responsibility and commitment must be rooted in the values of Christian truth.
Without that, he says, "there is no social conscience and responsibility." Neither, he says, are mere "good sentiments" enough. Human progress requires God, and today's choices concern "nothing less than the destiny of man."
Although Benedict says the church has no "technical solutions to offer," he asserts that religion has a role in the public square. His very specific suggestions on the economy, ecology and justice are addressed not just to Catholics, but to everyone, from heads of state to household shoppers.
According to the encyclical:
•Labor must be safeguarded after years of rampant market forces leaving citizens powerless in the face of "new and old risks" and without effective trade union protections.
•Elimination of world hunger is essential for "safeguarding the peace and stability of the planet," and the problem is not resources but their inequitable distribution.
"Demographic control" through an "anti-birth mentality" that promotes abortion and birth control "cannot lead to morally sound development." He blasts those who support abortion "as if it were a form of cultural progress."
•The environment is "God's gift to everyone" and we have a "grave duty to hand the earth on to future generations" in good condition, says Benedict. He laments, "how many natural resources are squandered by wars!"
•"Financiers must rediscover" ethics and not use "sophisticated instruments" to "betray the interests of savers."
•Consumers, must "realize that purchasing is always a moral — and not simple economic — act." In this context, the ecological crisis is seen as a crisis in human ecology.
"The pope is saying you need just structures and people who act justly," says Steve Colecchi, director of the office of international justice and peace for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. "He's calling on every level of society to be rooted in an ethical vision of the human person."
The "true world political authority" that Benedict calls for should keep solutions as simple and local as possible but still create solidarity for the common good.
Reese notes the "strong language here on the redistribution of wealth — not something people like to talk about in the USA. If the Catholic right is against the redistribution of wealth, they're against the pope. He doesn't believe an unregulated marketplace is going to solve all the problems of economy and poverty."
Kirk Hanson, executive director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara (Calif.) University, praised Benedict for including an emphasis on "life ethics" as "essential" to a healthy social and economic order.
Lew Daly, senior fellow at Demos, a New York City-based public policy organization and author of God's Economy: Faith-Based Initiatives and the Caring State, praised the text as "a turning point for the church and particularly for the American church, because our nation and our society is both the epicenter of wealth and the epicenter of inequality.
"Nearly half of the world's population lives on less than $2.50 a day and nearly 80% live on less than $10 a day. In the meantime a relative handful of corporations and wealthy families have grown rich far beyond the greatest emperors and kings of the past.
"There may be growth, but a faithful Catholic does not call this progress, the pope argues, until the growth is more equitably shared according to the design of the Creator," says Daly.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-07-07-pope-encyclical_N.htm

Ginsburg: I thought Roe was to rid undesirables
Justice discusses 'growth in populations that we don't want to have too many of'
In an astonishing admission, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says she was under the impression that legalizing abortion with the 1973 Roe. v. Wade case would eliminate undesirable members of the populace, or as she put it "populations that we don't want to have too many of."
Her remarks, set to be published in the New York Times Magazine this Sunday but viewable online now, came in an in-depth interview with Emily Bazelon titled, "The Place of Women on the Court."
The 16-year veteran of the high court was asked if she were a lawyer again, what would she "want to accomplish as a future feminist legal agenda."
Ginsburg responded:
Reproductive choice has to be straightened out. There will never be a woman of means without choice anymore. That just seems to me so obvious. The states that had changed their abortion laws before Roe [to make abortion legal] are not going to change back. So we have a policy that affects only poor women, and it can never be otherwise, and I don't know why this hasn't been said more often.
Question: Are you talking about the distances women have to travel because in parts of the country, abortion is essentially unavailable, because there are so few doctors and clinics that do the procedure? And also, the lack of Medicaid for abortions for poor women?
Ginsburg: Yes, the ruling about that surprised me. [Harris v. McRae – in 1980 the court upheld the Hyde Amendment, which forbids the use of Medicaid for abortions.] Frankly I had thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don't want to have too many of. So that Roe was going to be then set up for Medicaid funding for abortion. Which some people felt would risk coercing women into having abortions when they didn't really want them. But when the court decided McRae, the case came out the other way. And then I realized that my perception of it had been altogether wrong.
When pressed to explain what she meant by reproductive rights needing to be straightened out, Ginsburg said, "The basic thing is that the government has no business making that choice for a woman."

Asked if that meant getting rid of the test the court imposed, in which it allows states to impose restrictions on abortion such as a waiting period, the justice said she was "not a big fan of these tests."

I think the court uses them as a label that accommodates the result it wants to reach. It will be, it should be, that this is a woman's decision. It's entirely appropriate to say it has to be an informed decision, but that doesn't mean you can keep a woman overnight who has traveled a great distance to get to the clinic, so that she has to go to some motel and think it over for 24 hours or 48 hours.
I still think, although I was much too optimistic in the early days, that the possibility of stopping a pregnancy very early is significant. The morning-after pill will become more accessible and easier to take. So I think the side that wants to take the choice away from women and give it to the state, they're fighting a losing battle. Time is on the side of change.
Three years ago, Ginsburg received some embarrassing national attention when she napped on the bench during a court hearing.
"Justices David Souter and Samuel Alito, who flank the 72-year-old, looked at her but did not give her a nudge," reported Gina Holland of the Associated Press.
The incident caught the attention of Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank, who said:
"At first, she appeared to be reading something in her lap. But after a while, it became clear: Ginsburg was napping on the bench. By Bloomberg News's reckoning – not denied by a court spokeswoman – Ginsburg's snooze lasted a quarter of an hour.
"It's lucky for Ginsburg that the Supreme Court has so far refused to allow television in the courtroom, for her visit to the land of nod would have found its way onto late-night shows."
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=103457

Eeyores news and view

Sign of the times, in which we are living in

Government Land-Grab Moves Forward
The nation took a step closer to the largest federal land grab in the nation’s history last week, according to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA).
That’s thanks to passage of the Clean Water Restoration Act (CWRA) by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
In basic terms the CRWA (S. 787) would grant the federal government authority of all water – both navigable, which it now presides over, as well as non-navigable.
Without defining and confining federal authority to navigable waters, an NCBA spokesman said, “…the CWRA would expand federal regulatory control to unprecedented levels – essentially putting stock tanks, drainage ditches, any puddle or water feature found on family farms and ranches – potentially even ground water – under the regulatory strong-arm of the federal government.”
Though the bill was amended last week, NCBA officials explain, “The amendment is a smoke screen that allegedly takes care of agricultural concerns by exempting prior-converted croplands from federal jurisdiction. Cattle are generally not grazed on prior-converted croplands, so this amendment does nothing to mitigate the potential damage to livestock production from this legislation. The amendment is a diversion from the real issue, which is the removal of the word ‘navigable’ from the definition of waters.”
NCBA and Public Lands Council oppose the legislation because it obviously infringes on private property rights, but also because it limits the state partnerships and flexibility that have made the current Clean Water Act successful.
http://beefmagazine.com/beefstockertrends/0623-government-land-grab-moves-forward/

On Nixon Tapes, Ambivalence Over Abortion, Not Watergate
WASHINGTON — On Jan. 23, 1973, when the Supreme Court struck down laws criminalizing abortion in Roe v. Wade, President Richard M. Nixon made no public statement. But privately, newly released tapes reveal, he expressed ambivalence.
The Caucus
The latest on President Obama, the new administration and other news from Washington and around the nation. Join the discussion.
Nixon worried that greater access to abortions would foster “permissiveness,” and said that “it breaks the family.” But he also saw a need for abortion in some cases — like interracial pregnancies, he said.
“There are times when an abortion is necessary. I know that. When you have a black and a white,” he told an aide, before adding, “Or a rape.”
Nine months later, Nixon forced the firing of the special prosecutor looking into the Watergate affair, Archibald Cox, and prompted the resignations of Attorney General Elliot L. Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William D. Ruckelshaus. The next day, Ronald Reagan, who was then governor of California and would later be president, told the White House that he approved. Reagan said the action, which would become known as the “Saturday Night Massacre,” was “probably the best thing that ever happened — none of them belong where they were,” according to a Nixon aide’s notes of the private conversation.
Those disclosures were among the revelations in more than 150 hours of tape and 30,000 pages of documents made public on Tuesday by the Nixon Presidential Library, a part of the National Archives. The audio files were posted online, as were a sampling of the documents.
The tapes were recorded by the secret microphones in the Oval Office from January and February 1973. They shed new light on an intense moment in American history, including Nixon’s second inauguration, the Vietnam War cease-fire, and the trial of seven men over the break-in at the Democrats’ headquarters at the Watergate complex amid mounting revelations about their ties to the White House.
The tapes also capture more mundane details of life in the White House — conversations about what to pack for a trip, when to schedule a trip to the barber, whether the president’s wife would enjoy going to Trader Vic’s for dinner.
Most segments of the tapes relating to the Watergate scandal, which would lead to Nixon’s resignation 20 months later, have already been released. But there are some new materials that were previously held back because the audio quality was so poor that archives officials could not be certain whether they contained discussion of any classified topics. Improvements in audio technology have allowed archives staff to clear additional ones.
They include a Jan. 5, 1973, conversation between Nixon and his aide Charles W. Colson in which they discussed the possibility of granting clemency to E. Howard Hunt Jr., one of the Watergate conspirators, according to a log compiled by archives staff. Scholars say the same topic was addressed in several other tapes that were previously made public.
The documents also include nine pages of handwritten notes by a domestic policy aide about plans for what the White House would say about the dismissal of the Watergate special prosecutor, Mr. Cox.
The tapes also provide new material about the circumstances surrounding the Paris treaty to end the United States’ military involvement in Vietnam.
A call between Nixon and Mr. Colson just after midnight on Jan. 20 showed that Nixon anticipated, when the treaty was announced, that he would be vindicated for continuing to bomb North Vietnam. He especially relished the hit that he believed members of Congress who opposed the war — whose public statements he pronounced “treasonable” — would suffer.
Several conversations center on the pressure Nixon placed on South Vietnam’s president, Nguyen Van Thieu, to accept the cease-fire agreement. Ken Hughes, a Nixon scholar and research fellow at the Presidential Recordings Project at the University of Virginia, said he was struck by listening on one of the new tapes to Nixon’s telling his national security adviser, Henry A. Kissinger, that to get Thieu to sign the treaty, he would “cut off his head if necessary.”
Mr. Hughes said the conversation bolstered his view that Nixon, Thieu and Mr. Kissinger knew at the time that the cease-fire could not endure, and that it was not “peace with honor,” as Nixon described it, so much as a face-saving way for the United States to get out of the war. In 1975, North Vietnam would violate the cease-fire and conquer South Vietnam.
The tapes also include a phone call from February 1973 between Nixon and the evangelist Billy Graham, during which Mr. Graham complained that Jewish-American leaders were opposing efforts to promote evangelical Christianity, like Campus Crusade. The two men agreed that the Jewish leaders risked setting off anti-Semitic sentiment.
“What I really think is deep down in this country, there is a lot of anti-Semitism, and all this is going to do is stir it up,” Nixon said.
At another point he said: “It may be they have a death wish. You know that’s been the problem with our Jewish friends for centuries.”
The documents also include three newly declassified pages from a National Security Council brief discussing secret Israeli efforts to build a nuclear weapon.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/us/politics/24nixon.html?_r=1

Md. officials announce swine flu-related death
June 23, 2009 - 2:30pm
BALTIMORE - Maryland health officials are announcing the state's first confirmed swine-flu related death.
The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said Tuesday that an elderly Baltimore-area resident with a swine flu infection and serious underlying medical conditions has died.
Health officials say that swine flu was a contributing factor in the death, but they will not release personal details about the case, including specific underlying health conditions.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 87 people who contracted swine flu have died.
Maryland officials have confirmed 370 swine flu cases, but say it is likely a fraction of the total cases statewide as many people are not tested and recover within a week.
http://wtop.com/?nid=25&sid=1702853

NKorea threatens US; world anticipates missile
SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea threatened Wednesday to wipe the United States off the map as Washington and its allies watched for signs the regime will launch a series of missiles in the coming days.
Off China's coast, a U.S. destroyer was tailing a North Korean ship suspected of transporting illicit weapons to Myanmar in what could be the first test of U.N. sanctions passed to punish the nation for an underground nuclear test last month.
The Kang Nam left the North Korean port of Nampo a week ago with the USS John S. McCain close behind. The ship, accused of transporting banned goods in the past, is believed bound for Myanmar, according to South Korean and U.S. officials.
The new U.N. Security Council resolution requires member states to seek permission to inspect suspicious cargo. North Korea has said it would consider interception a declaration of war and on Wednesday accused the U.S. of seeking to provoke another Korean War.
"If the U.S. imperialists start another war, the army and people of Korea will ... wipe out the aggressors on the globe once and for all," the official Korean Central News Agency said.
The warning came on the eve of the 59th anniversary of the start of the three-year Korean War, which ended in a truce in 1953, not a peace treaty, leaving the peninsula in state of war.
The U.S. has 28,500 troops in South Korea to protect against an outbreak of hostilities.
Tensions have been high since North Korea launched a long-range rocket in April and then conducted its second underground atomic test on May 25.
Reacting to U.N. condemnation of that test, North Korea walked away from nuclear disarmament talks and warned it would fire a long-range missile.
North Korea has banned ships from the waters off its east coast starting Thursday through July 10 for military exercises, Japan's Coast Guard said.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported Wednesday that the North may fire a Scud missile with a range of up to 310 miles (500 kilometers) or a short-range ground-to-ship missile with a range of 100 miles (160 kilometers) during the no-sail period.
A senior South Korean government official said the no-sail ban is believed connected to North Korean plans to fire short- or mid-range missiles. He spoke on condition of anonymity, citing department policy.
U.S. defense and counterproliferation officials in Washington said they also expected the North to launch short- to medium-range missiles. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence.
South Korea will expedite the introduction of high-tech unmanned aerial surveillance systems and "bunker-buster" bombs in response to North Korea's provocations, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper said, citing unidentified ruling party members.
Meanwhile, a flurry of diplomatic efforts were under way to try getting North Korea to return to disarmament talks.
Russia's top nuclear envoy, Alexei Borodavkin, said after meeting with his South Korean counterpart that Moscow is open to other formats for discussion since Pyongyang has pulled out of formal six-nation negotiations.
In Beijing, top U.S. and Chinese defense officials also discussed North Korea. U.S. Defense Undersecretary Michele Flournoy was heading next to Tokyo and Seoul for talks.
South Korea has proposed high-level "consultations" to discuss North Korea with the U.S., Russia, China and Japan.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090624/ap_on_re_as/as_koreas_nuclear_91

Eeyores news and view

Exclusive Interview with Future Prediction Expert Gerald Celente
It’s the end of the world as the Greater Depression hits after 2010’s failed “W-recovery”
Human Events had the opportunity to interview forecaster extraordinaire Gerald Celente, President of Trends Research Institute, several days ago -- and the future he predicts looks bleak indeed. In fact, as Mr. Celente sees it, the Great Depression will seem like a mild recession as what waits for us in 2011 hits with the force of a Katrina financial hurricane.
In case you’re wondering who Mr. Celente is (if this is still possible), he’s appeared -- along with his predictions -- on Oprah, CNBC, Reuters, NBC, PBS, BBC, the Glenn Beck Show -- the list goes on an on. His Trends Report has been successfully predicting the major future trends impacting our lives for 3 decades, including calling the dot com crash back in the 1990's.
Mr. Celente's forecast on our impending future is based on his study of history. He says we are bent on destroying our currency, bankrupting our government, and unleashing a violent citizen-against-citizen eruption as the economy collapses into chaos and martial law fascism.
Quite a claim. And God help us if he is right -- again.
“We’re sounding the alarm about the ongoing downward economic cycle”, Gerald told Human Events. “In 2002, we predicted that the collapse of the American empire would fall like the World Trade Center in a thunderous crash -- in slow motion before our eyes. And now it’s happening.”
Mr. Celente follows over 300 trends: family, crime, war, education, consumer & business patterns which TRI synthesizes to predict the future.
“The US is becoming a shadow of what it used to be. Take education for example. The OECD group of developed countries ranks quality of life, education, health care of its member nations. The US is now falling down the table as one piece of data after another shows America is in decline. We’re no longer Win, Place or Show in quality of life, education, longevity… all the essentials where we used to be #1. And our economic underpinnings are failing.”
Mr. Celente puts part of the blame squarely on the federal government, and especially FED Chairman Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Geithner, and warns us not to believe a word they say “They’re the same people who didn't see it coming - are now telling us the worst is over, that ‘green shoots are spouting upwards’. But they were wrong before. They’re wrong on this too”.
“When you pump out tons of money manure into this system based on nothing – printing press paper, it’s like giving a patient with a chronic disease a pain killer -- it won’t cure the patient.”
“But let’s go beyond the economics. Our whole Constitution has been abrogated. The president simply writes an Executive Order to do whatever he wants. Nationalize the banks, take over the insurance industry, automobile industry, health care industry…
None of it is constitutional.”
When did the problem begin?
“After Dwight Eisenhower -- our last great president -- the Allied Supreme Commander in WWII – who warned us of the dangers of the military-industrial complex. We've become completely corrupted.”
“We became enmeshed in foreign entanglements. We forgot the lesson of England - and how their global imperial overreach destroyed their empire.”
Of course, the average American doesn’t think that we’re an empire. We’re not like the classical empires of old - raping, pillaging and stealing the wealth of invaded peoples. What does Mr. Celente have to say about this?
“What we’re doing is squandering our wealth, our resources, the genius of our scientists and the future of our children. We’re over-consuming in every way -- but under consuming our education and focusing on the quantity, not the quality, of what we’ve built. So much of today’s culture is counter-productive to what American built it’s foundation on -- a high-quality producing nation building things, not pushing paper.
"And we’ve become not only a consumer society but a low-quality consumer, as well as the most obese society in the world, eating low-quality high-carb, high-fat processed foods.”
“We’re now focused on the lowest cost, the lowest common denominator. Not the best and highest quality. We advertise buying cheapest as the most important thing.”
Mr. Celente argues that we’ve socially destroyed our productivity and have abandoned it to other countries.
“And we have fallen into a moral vacuum. Look at how people used to dress. Smartly. Not like the cheap hoods of today. Fashion now copies the lowest common denominator. Our children wear clothes without belts, and shoes without shoelaces, to copy the styles of the violent criminals -- who have these items removed by the police in prison so they can’t be used as weapons. That’s become the fashion statement of today’s youth. Like rap music from the ghetto. We’ve become an underdeveloped nation.”
Mr. Celente observes that "people used to think of America as that shining beacon on the hill with 'liberty and justice for all…' ." So what happened?
"Morality is missing from our American public consciousness. Start with Wall Street. It’s run by a criminal gang. The only question is ‘how much can you make, how much can you steal?’ At the bottom, the welfare recipient says ‘how much can I take?’ And the government is in on the take."
“Morality is absolutely the issue. We had a government where we were taught all our lives that we are a free enterprise system -- so we depend on our own strength, our entrepreneurial ideas. The world used to look to us for our innovative spirit.”
“This is being destroyed before our eyes. And our government has become more interventionist than any of the old empires could imagine.”
"Our society is now based on consumption -- 70% of the GDP. This is more than we produce. So to pay our bills, we use funny money invented in 1913 with the creation of the Federal Reserve and the fiat dollar based on credit (debt) -- the fractional reserve system. In 1930's you bought what you could afford. You saved up to buy your home. The easy credit of the 90's has destroyed the country. Now you borrow what you can’t afford - and the nation’s done the same."
Mr. Celente predicts the use of printing press money will cause the "greater depression".
"I predict continuing deflation of real estate, followed by extreme currency inflation -- ultimately becoming worthless. This is why gold is the only honest money -- the government can't counterfeit it. Look for it to top at least $2000 an ounce"
"Our unemployment numbers are also bogus. For example, the construction industry is really above 20% , and the government is creating low-level jobs, not real jobs. The US total real unemployment is more like 16%. Before the crisis is over, it will reach 25% - great depression numbers."
"When people have lost everything they have nothing to lose. Violence and crime will explode. Look at the OECD figures. The number of people not graduating from high school is exploding -- they're wacked out on drugs. New York City will look like Mexico City in a few years. The collapse of morality from top down -- and especially in the government -- makes it inevitable."
"What can we expect in the coming future", we asked.
"Washington has declared 'Economic Martial Law'. Wall Street is putting Main Street out of business. The key to watch is Christmas sales. They’ll fail. Christmas will be when reality sets in."
"Another trend we wrote about over 2 years ago was the tax revolt. What’s happened? Tax revenues have collapsed by 33%. And the wealthy people are leaving."
"We predict state secessionist movements will rival the breakup of the Soviet Union."
"The only way we can ever recover is to return to individual community, personal responsibility, local government. Next, average will disappear, Quality will return. Look at GM. Junk cars financed by junk bonds. Now owned by a junk government. As a consumer, don’t consume quantity -- consume quality."
"How will it all end?", we queried. Will the dollar survive?
"The dot com bubble should have burst and gone away in a short sharp recession. But the boys at the Fed re-inflated the economy by lowering interest rates to a 46 year low -- and in turn created the real estate bubble -- much bigger than the dot com bubble. "
"Now they’re creating the bailout bubble -- which will ultimately dwarf the real estate bubble. It will cause the implosion of the global economy world wide -- which will not be able to be repaired by creating yet another bubble. Every time the government fails, it tells a bigger lie and then a still bigger lie."
"These previous bubbles were not allowed to pop -- but they didn’t destroy the infrastructure of the country. This bailout bubble will."
"But this bubble will be the last one. After the final blowout of the bailout bubble, we are concerned that the government will take the nation into war. This is a historical precedent that’s been done over and over again."
"So, it’s not that the dollar that will survive. We may not even survive. Look at the German mess after WWI. It gave rise to Fascism and WWII. The next war will be fought with weapons of mass destruction."
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=32152

Report points to prison security failures
WASHINGTON — A government inquiry into the most recent fatal assault of a federal correctional officer details multiple security breakdowns and underscores a fear among federal officials who say inmates have grown increasingly violent in their dealings with prison staff.
Jose Rivera's June 20 killing, captured by surveillance cameras inside the high security U.S. Penitentiary Atwater in California, provides a chilling view into the U.S. prison system where weapons are plentiful and some violent inmates are allowed to "sleep off" bouts of drunkenness fueled by homemade cocktails, according to a Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) report obtained by USA TODAY.
During the attack, Rivera, a 22-year-old Iraq war veteran, struggled for his life while a locked door blocked several of his colleagues from responding.
"It was like Rivera was caught in a bear trap," said Mark Peacock, the officer's attorney. "If the staff was able to respond with adequate force, Rivera might have survived the attack."
Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman Traci Billingsley, who declined to comment on the Rivera report, says there is "a sense that assaults (on staff) are more severe." Following the Rivera killing, authorities recovered 175 weapons in the facility, the report states.
Bryan Lowry, president of the federal prison employees association, says overcrowding is endangering prison officers and staffers. According to BOP records, the system is 36% over capacity and 48% over capacity in high security units.
In the federal system, which manages 204,327 inmates, serious assaults to staffers increased slightly in 2008, from 72 to 82, according to BOP records. Less serious attacks (pushing, shoving) increased, from 1,281 in 2007 to 1,522 in 2008. Inmate slayings were up, from 12 in 2007 to 15 in 2008.
At the time of the Rivera attack, according to the report, he was assigned to lockdown a high security unit for the afternoon inmate count when he was allegedly slashed in the torso by convicted murderer Jose Sablan. The officer was wounded before he could secure Sablan and James Guerrero, a convicted armed robber, in their cell. Both inmates, according to the report, appeared to be intoxicated.
As surveillance cameras rolled, Rivera attempted to escape and activated his electronic body alarm to summon help. He was allegedly tackled by Guerrero, who pinned the officer down while Sablan continued to stab Rivera with a makeshift ice pick. Rivera was stabbed at least 17 times before an officer arrived with a key to the door.
"This delay to get responding staff into the unit could have been reduced," the report concluded.
The day before the attack, one prison guard raised questions about whether Guerrero, known as a "disruptive," could be housed safely in the same unit with Sablan, according to the FBI's report of its interview with the guard.
"Going to put him (Guerrero) with another killer," the guard told a colleague. "Okay if that's what you are going to do. We'll be lucky if he doesn't kill somebody before the night is out."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-06-07-prisonmurder_N.htm

Gender test spurs abortion fears
4:00AM Monday Jun 08, 2009 By Briony Sowden and Martin Johnston
The gender test is expected to sell for about $125. A new test to reveal the gender of a fetus in early pregnancy has sparked a row over whether it will lead to sex-selection abortions.
The American-designed IntelliGender test kit, which can be used from eight weeks after conception, went on sale in Australia last month. Its Australian distributor hopes to launch it in New Zealand within a fortnight.
David Portnoy, managing director of Melbourne-based Early Image, said yesterday that he was negotiating with health products companies Douglas Pharmaceuticals and API to supply the kits to New Zealand pharmacies.
He expected they would sell for about $125.
They do not test pregnancy, so do not require state approval under the Medicines Act, unlike pregnancy tests. To use the new test, a pregnant woman mixes her urine with the kit's chemicals in the supplied container. If it turns green or black, the fetus is a boy; orange or yellow indicate a girl.
The kits are claimed to be 90 per cent accurate, but because patents have not yet been issued, the maker will not reveal the supporting data or the science of how they work.
"The concern we would have is that people would then terminate pregnancies on the grounds of sex selection," said college president Dr Ted Weaver.
Anti-abortion group Voice for Life echoes this concern. Spokesman Bernard Moran said abortions for sex selection were a problem overseas and the test would facilitate this in New Zealand. "Certain ethnic minorities here might be more prone to use it."
Mr Moran was concerned to learn that the approval of the Health Ministry's Medsafe unit was not required. He said that although abortions were not permitted for sex selection, they were permitted on grounds of the mental health of the woman, and the Abortion Supervisory Committee had acknowledged that the way this was applied meant New Zealand, in effect, had abortion on demand.
Mr Portnoy, responding to the concerns about sex-selection abortions based on the test, said, "I would be amazed if anybody was to do anything so drastic based on a urine test that has a 90 per cent accuracy rate."
If a woman was intent on that course, she could, for a few hundred dollars, have a much more accurate test, such as amniocentesis.
Women can also have a state-funded ultrasound scan at 18 to 20 weeks after conception, or earlier in some cases, and these can mostly determine the sex of the fetus.
Medsafe group manager Stewart Jessamine said that until the maker of IntelliGender stated how it worked, "none of us know much about it as to whether it's anything better than a guess".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10577091

Trapped?? Victim??
Americans trapped in terror cell
June 9, 2009 - 7:25am
WASHINGTON - Six months ago, a startling development shook the Minneapolis-St. Paul area to the core.
It was the story of Burhan Hassan.
The 17-year-old slipped out of his house one night and flew to Somalia to fight alongside the al-Qaida-linked terrorist group al Shababb in their war against the Somali government.
He survived the war, and in recent days, realized he made a mistake and wanted to come home.
He almost made it.
"Friday at noon, a phone call was received from Mogadishu City, from one of the Somali kids who left Minneapolis with Hassan," said Omar Jamal, executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in Minneapolis.
Jamal said Hassan's mother was told her that her son "had been shot [in the head] at point-blank range and killed and he had been buried."
Hassan's killing came just days before he was about to make his escape.
"He called his mother a week and a half ago from Mogadishu City. At the time, he was sick and suffering from malaria. His voice was weak and that was the last time we heard from him," Jamal said during a telephone conversation with WTOP.
Hassan, a straight-A student at Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis, had been convinced to leave the al Shababb organization, Jamal said.
"He was a victim. He was misled, indoctrinated, and a very vulnerable kid. He was put in harm's way, and when he made a choice to go back home, they killed him."
Hassan was going to leave for Kenya on Monday morning, June 8, to meet his mother at this U.S. Consulate in Nairobi "so that he could come back to Minnesota," Jamal said.
Hassan's bizarre story was a wake-up call for U.S. authorities.
"The FBI has had reports that some young men have left America to travel back to Somalia to fight in a cause that they've have chosen to fight in," FBI spokesman Rich Kolko said.
On election night in November 2008, while the world watched one man with African roots make history and headlines in the United States, Hassan and several of his friends were about to make news as well.
He and a few other boys sneaked away from their homes that night and boarded an airplane bound for Kenya. Their final destination was Somalia. Their plan was to fight alongside al-Qaida-inspired militants against what is left of the Somali government.
Aside from the threat these young radicals pose to U.S. national security, another is lurking right here in American communities - terrorist recruiters.
A Minneapolis journalist who spoke to WTOP on the condition of anonymity because of concerns for his safety made a very bold statement.
"The mosque brainwashed those kids," he said, suggesting the recruiters are working inside mosques in Minneapolis and other locations throughout the U.S.
Jamal believes recruiters in Hassan's hometown may be the ones who orchestrated his murder.
"There is this idea, that since he was coming back, individuals connected to al Shababb killed him for fear that if he came back, he might have some potential information that might endanger individuals living in the United States," Jamal said.
"It sends a very loud and clear message," Jamal said. "If you join al Shababb, you join at your own risk. It's like joining the mafia. You cannot disjoin. You cannot cancel the membership. If you join, you're in for good, otherwise they will kill you."
The FBI is working with the Somali-American community to help them reach out to the boys that may be vulnerable to the recruiters, Kolko said.
"The FBI is aware of this issue and we are certainly concerned about it and we know that the Somali-American community is equally concerned."
Kolko reiterated that going back to fight is "not a good cause of action," and trouble awaits them in the U.S. should they try to return.
"If someone comes back from anywhere in the world that has had terrorism training, the FBI would do the things that are necessary to help protect America."
Now, a mother is grieving for her murdered son.
Hassan's death also points out grave concerns for the other young recruits who left with Hassan to fight for their new-found ideals and now realize they've been duped and are trapped.
Minneapolis FBI Field Office spokesman Special Agent E.K. Wilson said the FBI is aware of the information, but could not comment because of an ongoing investigation into the circumstances surrounding how Hassan and the other boys' left the U.S.
http://wtop.com/?nid=778&sid=1692072

Eeyores News and View

Why Magnify Christ?
By Pastor Rick Williams (1993)
Sterling Baptist Church, 7071 New Jessup Highway, Brunswick, GA 31525, (915) 265-2928
Introduction:
Psalms 40:16 Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified.
Psalms 70:4 Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified.
I. Psalms 34:3 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.
II. Exodus 39:3 And they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in the blue, and in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, with cunning work.
Jesus is the Golden Thread throughout the Word of God.
Gold represents Deity.
III. Matthew 1:18-25 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.
JESUS!!! -- The Center, the Focal Point of Scripture!
IV. IN THE WORD OF GOD
A. In the Law: Jesus, the Christ
He is the Sacrifice
He is the Fulfillment of the Law
He is Holiness
- Righteousness
- Purity
- Spotlessness
B. In the Historical Books of God's Holy Word:
He is the PERFECT KING!!!!
C. In the Psalms - JESUS is the One Worthy to be Praised.
Psalm 22 -- He is the SUFFERING SAVIOUR!!!!
Psalm 23 -- He is the Loving Caring SHEPHERD!!!!
Psalm 24 -- He is the KING of GLORY!!!!
Psalm 37 -- He is the GOOD MAN, the PERFECT MAN!
D. In the Proverbs - Jesus, the Christ:
He is the Dark Sayings
Psalms 145:3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.
He is Wisdom
Discretion
Knowledge
Understanding
Prudence
Discernment!
E. In Ecclesiastes:
Jesus is the ETERNAL PURPOSE of LIFE!!
F. In the Song of Solomon:
He is the BELOVED
The One the Church LONGS for and LOOKS for!!!!
G. In the Prophetical Books - Jesus, the Christ
He is the Lord of Glory
The One that IS and IS TO COME
The HOPE of ALL the NATIONS!!!!
Isaiah 9:6-7 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
H. In the Gospels - Jesus:
The Babe in Bethlehem's Manger
This Babe is the FULFILLMENT of all ETERNITY!!!
The FOCAL POINT of the Scriptures!!
In Matthew - The SAVIOUR KING - KING OF KINGS
In Mark - The SERVANT KING - of GOD and MAN
In Luke - The SAVIOUR Son of Man
In John - The SAVIOUR Son of God
I. In John (by chapter)
1. The SON of GOD
2. The SON of MAN
3. The Divine Teacher
4. The Soul-Winner
5. The GREAT Physician
6. The Bread of Life
7. The Water of Life
8. The Defender of The Weak
9. The LIGHT of the World
10. The GOOD Shepherd
11. The Prince of Life
12. The KING
13. The HUMBLE Servant
14. The COUNSELOR
15. The TRUE VINE
16. The GIVER of the Holy Spirit
17. The GREAT INTERCESSOR
18. The SUFFERING SAVIOUR
19. The UPLIFTED SAVIOUR
20. The CONQUEROR of Death
The RISEN SAVIOUR and LORD
21. The RESTORER of the Penitent.
THIS IS THE ONE TO BE MAGNIFIED!!!!!
J. In the Epistles and Acts
He Is: The One to be Preached
The One to be Taught
The One to Live for
The One to Testify of
The BISHOP AND SHEPHERD of our souls
The Head of the Church
The Foundation of the Church
The One to Look for
Our Hope of Glory
Our Example - The Perfect Model
The Great High Priest
The SAVIOUR
The RESURRECTION
The PERFECT PASTOR
The BETTER Way
The ONLY Way
The TRUTH
The LIFE
He is SALVATION
Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
K. In Revelation:
Jesus Christ the Risen Lord
The Alpha and Omega
The Eternal Ruler
The Eternal Judge
The Pleaser of God
V. Why Magnify CHRIST?
HE IS WORTHY!!!!
My question should be: Why don't we magnify HIM more than we do?!?!
Psalms 145:17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.
1 Corinthians 2:1-5 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
I LOVE YOU LORD!!!!
THANK YOU LORD!!!!
Isaiah 6:1-4 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
God
Lord God
Almighty
Heavenly Father
I AM
HOLY ONE
SAVIOUR
Redeemer
Judge
King of Kings
Lord of Lords
The Mighty One
Prince of Peace
Counselor
Good Shepherd
Chief Shepherd
Christ
Messiah
The Lamb
The Door
The Truth
The Way
The Word
Bread of Life
Shepherd and Bishop of your souls
Springs of Living Water
Lion of the Tribe of Judah
Lord Jesus
Lord Jesus Christ
The High Priest
Perfect Sacrifice
Captain of our Salvation
The Word of God
Faithful and True
God the Father
God the Son
God the Holy Spirit
Alpha & Omega
The first and the last
Jesus
Jesus Christ
Son of God
Son of Man
Comforter
Defender
Light
Life
Father of Lights
Sustainer
The Blessed and Only Potentate
The Lord thy God
Christ Jesus
God
God our Father
Spirit
Holy Ghost
Jehovah
Beloved
The Amen
The APOSTLE
Hebrews 3:1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
Creator
SALVATION
God of our Salvation
Bridegroom
Chief Cornerstone
God of gods
God of Heaven
God of all Creation
God of Abraham
God of Isaac
God of Jacob
God of David
God of Daniel
God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
FOURTH MAN in the Fiery Furnace
This God is Our God
Psalms 48:14 For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.
Mighty God
The Lord God Omnipotent
Master
God of PEACE!!!!
HALLELUJAH !!!! GLORY !!!! AMEN !!!!
HOLY
RIGHTEOUS
LOVELY
PURE
EQUITY
JUST
GRACE
GOOD
LONGSUFFERING
GENTLE
MEEK
LOWLY
POWERFUL
BRIGHTNESS
MERCIFUL
RIGHT
VENGEANCE
Romans 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
Hebrews 10:30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.
Romans 3:5 But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man)
My High Tower
Defence
Strength
ROCK
Deliverer
Buckler
Hiding Place
HE IS SINLESS
Without Iniquity
Steadfast
Center
Maintainer of Life
All Knowing
All Present
All Powerful
Gracious
Wonderful
The Matchless One
Caring One
Concerned
Honest
Good Report
Provider
The Lifter UP of Men
The Putter DOWN of the Same
EXALTED ONE
EXALTER of the humble
Lover of my soul
Keeper of my Life
HE IS MY LIFE!!!!
Fruit of the Spirit
Armour of God
Girdle of Truth
Breastplate of Righteousness
SHOES of the Gospel of Peace
HE IS PEACE!!!!
Peace of God
Shield of Faith
HE IS FAITH!!!!
Helmet of Salvation
Sword of the Spirit
The Living Word
JOY
Mediator
KIND
Gift of God
SINCERITY
ETERNAL
Everlasting
Ancient of Days
Morning Star
Day Star
The STAR
Satisfaction
He is the Great and Terrible God
The Motivator of my Soul!!!!
Prayer
Worship
Thanksgiving
Supplication
He is the Preserver
Contentment
Teacher
Trainer
Example
Discipliner
Authority
Ruler
Healer
Great Physician
Deity
Divine
The ONLY Source
Unsearchable
Revealer of Truth
HE IS TRUTH!!!
Awesome
Perseverance
The Source
The MAGNIFICENCE of my Soul!!!!
Glory
The Hallelujah
Praise
Rejoicing
The Song
Lovingkindness
Secret Place
Shadow of the Almighty
The Mystery
Hope
The Hope of Glory
He is my Glory
The Example
Suffering
Perfect
Perfection
My Perfection
HOLY OF HOLIES !!!!
The Face from which Heaven and Earth shall Flee Away!!!!
The final Voice
The Final Word
The Keeper of the Books of Heaven
The Final Authority
The INVITATION
The PERSUADER of my soul
The Guest at the Door of your Heart
The Voice of one crying in the Wilderness!!
The Head
The Church
The Body
The Foundation
Tree of Life
The True Vine
The KEY
The Keeper of the Keys
Undefiled
Unblemished
Unreproachable
Understanding
The Ark
The Tabernacle
The Temple
He is the DIFFERENCE
He is the Root and Offspring of David
The One Who Sits on the GREAT WHITE THRONE
The One Who Sits on the JUDGMENT SEAT
The Atonement
The Sacrifice
The Searcher of my Heart
He is Everything
The Mercyseat
The Blood on the Mercyseat
The Promised Seed
The Fullness of Time
The BABE
The Firstborn from the dead
The Resurrection
The Friend
HIM with WHOM we have to do!!
He Openeth and no man shutteth
He Shutteth and no man openeth
Come Before HIM with: Worship
Praise
Song
Prayer
Supplication
Thanksgiving
Humility
Submission
Yieldness
-out Resistance
Reverence
Awe
Silence
Respect
Honour
Freewill Offerings
Tithes
Need
Single-mindedness
Whole-heartedness
Perfect Heart
Open Heart
Receptive Heart
We must: Walk in HIM
Live In HIM and HIM in You
Abide in HIM
Be Led by HIM
Be filled with HIM
Talk with HIM
Listen to HIM
Obey HIM
Serve HIM
Keep your eyes on HIM
Speak of HIM
Testify of HIM
Watch for HIM
Wait for HIM
Be Faithful to HIM
Love HIM -- "Because HE First Loved You!!!"
Be Lost in HIM
Be found in HIM
Proclaim HIS Name
Proclaim HIS Glory
Proclaim HIS Salvation
Proclaim THAT HE IS GOD!!!
Psalms 48:14 For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.
"THAT'S MY KING!"
Dr. S. M. Lockridge
(an excerpt from a message entitled "Powerful Praise," available for $3 from :
Institute in Basic Life Principles Box 1 Oak Brook, IL 60522-3301 (708) 323-9800.)
THE BIBLE SAYS...
My King is a seven-way king. He's a king of the Jews, that's a racial king; He's a king of Israel, that's a national king; He's a king of righteousness; He's a king of the ages; He's a king of Heaven; He's a king of Glory; He's a king of kings; and Lord of Lords; That's my King!
DO YOU KNOW HIM?
He's the greatest phenomenon that has ever crossed the horizon of this world; He's God's Son; He's the sinner's Savior; He's the centerpiece of civilization; He stands in the solitude of Himself; He's august and He's unique; He's unparalleled; He's unprecedented. He is the loftiest Idea in literature; He's the highest personality in philosophy; He is the supreme problem in higher criticism; He's the fundamental doctrine of true theology; He is the core, the necessity fro spiritual religion; He's the miracle of the age; He is the superlative of everything good that you choose to call Him; He's the only one qualified to be an all-sufficient Savior!
I WONDER IF YOU KNOW HIM TODAY?
He supplies strength for the weak; He's available for the tempted and the tried; He sympathizes and He saves; He strengthens and sustains; He guards and He guides; He heals the sick; He cleansed the lepers; He forgives sinners; He discharges debtors; He delivers the captives; He defends the feeble; He blesses the young; He serves the unfortunate; He regards the aged; He rewards the diligent and He purifies the meek.
I WONDER IF YOU KNOW HIM?
Well, my King, He is a key to knowledge; He's a wellspring of wisdom; He's a doorway of deliverance; He's a pathway of peace; He's a roadway of righteousness; He's a highway of holiness; He's a gateway of glory.
DO YOU KNOW HIM?
Well, His office is manifold; His promise is sure; His light is matchless; His goodness is limitless; His mercy is everlasting; His love never changes; His Word is enough; His grace is sufficient; His reign is righteousness and His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
I wish I could describe Him to you! But He's indescribable! He's God. He's incomprehensible; He's invincible; He's irresistible; Well, you can't get Him out of your mind; you can't get Him off your hand; you can't outlive Him and you can't live without Him; the Pharisees couldn't stand Him; but they found they couldn't stop Him; Pilate couldn't find any fault in Him; the witnesses couldn't get their testimonies to agree; Herod couldn't kill Him; death couldn't handle Him and the grave couldn't hold Him!
YES, THAT'S MY KING! THAT'S MY KING!
And thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever and ever and ever (How long is that?) and ever and ever, and when you get through with all the forevers, then AMEN, AMEN, AMEN!!!


Couple: County Trying To Stop Home Bible Studies
SAN DIEGO -- A local pastor and his wife claim they were interrogated by a San Diego County official, who then threatened them with escalating fines if they continued to hold bible studies in their home, 10News reported.
Attorney Dean Broyles of The Western Center For Law & Policy was shocked with what happened to the pastor and his wife.
Broyles said, "The county asked, 'Do you have a regular meeting in your home?' She said, 'Yes.' 'Do you say amen?' 'Yes.' 'Do you pray?' 'Yes.' 'Do you say praise the Lord?' 'Yes.'"
The county employee notified the couple that the small bible study, with an average of 15 people attending, was in violation of county regulations, according to Broyles.
Broyles said a few days later the couple received a written warning that listed "unlawful use of land" and told them to "stop religious assembly or apply for a major use permit" -- a process that could cost tens of thousands of dollars.
"For churches and religious assemblies there's big parking concerns, there's environmental impact concerns when you have hundreds or thousands of people gathering. But this is a different situation, and we believe that the application of the religious assembly principles to this bible study is certainly misplaced," said Broyles.
News of the case has rapidly spread across Internet blogs and has spurred various reactions.
Broyles said his clients have asked to stay anonymous until they give the county a demand letter that states by enforcing this regulation the county is violating their First Amendment right to freely exercise their religion.
Broyles also said this case has broader implications.
"If the county thinks they can shut down groups of 10 or 15 Christians meeting in a home, what about people who meet regularly at home for poker night? What about people who meet for Tupperware parties? What about people who are meeting to watch baseball games on a regular basis and support the Chargers?" said Broyles.
Broyles and his clients plant to give the county their demand letter this week.
If the county refuses to release the pastor and his wife from obtaining the permit, they will consider a lawsuit in federal court.
http://www.10news.com/news/19562217/detail.html
Additional info can be found at
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=99455

Poll: Majority of Americans say they're 'pro-life'
For the first time since pollsters posed the question in 1995, a slim majority of Americans consider themselves "pro-life," a new Gallup poll shows.
Fifty-one percent of respondents describe themselves as "pro-life," while 42% said they are "pro-choice."
The findings were based on answers to Gallup's annual Values and Beliefs survey, which was conducted in early May.
Last year, 50% of respondents described themselves as "pro-choice" and 44% as "pro-life." The previous high-water mark for the "pro-life" category was 46%, reached in 2001 and 2002.
Richard Land, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, hailed the findings and said younger members of the anti-abortion movement contribute to the shift.
"One cannot attend the pro-life rallies that I attend across the country and fail to notice the youth, the energy and the commitment of the men and women, boys and girls in attendance," he said.
Pollsters found comparable shifts in views about abortion's legal status. Almost the same percentage of Americans say the procedure should always be illegal (23%) as say it should always be legal (22%). In the previous four years, more Americans favored unrestricted abortion.
The abortion shift reflects a change among Republicans surveyed. The percentage of Republicans who called themselves "pro-life" rose from 60 to 70% in a year. There was basically no change in the views of Democrats.
The change in "pro-life" identification occurred across Christian affiliations, with a seven-point increase among Catholics and an eight-point increase among Protestants.
The survey is based on telephone interviews of 1,015 adults between May 7 and 10 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-05-18-abortion_N.htm

Mandatory 'gay' day for K-5 students
Board imposes homosexual curriculum on classes
A California school district has approved a mandatory homosexual curriculum for children as young as 5 – and parents will not be allowed to remove their children from the lessons.
The mandatory program, officially titled "LGBT Lesson #9," was approved May 26 by the Alameda County Board of Education by a vote of 3-2. Students from kindergarten through fifth grade will learn about "tolerance" for the homosexual lifestyle beginning next year.
The curriculum is in addition to the school's current anti-bullying program and is estimated to cost $8,000 for curriculum and training.
Parents will not be given an opportunity to opt-out of lessons that go against their religious beliefs. Some parents are threatening to sue the school board and mount a recall. Opponents presented a petition with 468 signatures from people who don't want the homosexual lessons in the curriculum.
At the board meeting, parent Julie Kim said, "The topics covered in this curriculum for all the grades should be left up to the parent to discuss with their children."
The district's legal counsel recommended against giving parents an opportunity to opt out of the lessons, claiming only health or sex education topics require opt-out provisions:
[T]he most prudent course of action for Alameda Unified School District's Board of Education in regards to the proposed lesson is to recommend providing notice to parents, not to allow an opt out of the instruction.
The school district claims it will re-assess the curriculum, but only after it has been in place for a full year.
According to the Island of Alameda, trustee Tracy Jensen addressed a crowd at City Hall following the vote.
"We are not telling anyone what to think," Jensen said. "We are letting children know that gay people exist and they deserve to be treated with respect, regardless of whether or not you believe that homosexuality is acceptable."
But Capitol Resource Institute's Karen England explored the curriculum and released a statement condemning the program before the board's vote.
"This curriculum ignores the fact that every child has a mom and a dad, to redefine ideas like 'family.' School absolutely should be a safe place, but this isn't just about safety. Students have to embrace highly controversial social values or risk being labeled as bigots," she warned. "Five year old kids aren't ready to think on their own about sexuality – and their families' values will be dismissed. That's not an education in critical thinking. It's social activism."
In kindergarten, children will be introduced to "The New Girl … And Me" by Jacqui Robins. The book is about a young girl who is new at a school and strikes up a friendship with another girl after a popular boy refuses to play with her.
In first grade, students will read "Who is in a Family?" By Robert Skutch. It explores different types of families. One page states, " … Robin's family is made up of her dad, Clifford, her dad's partner, Henry, and Robin's cat, Sassy."
Curriculum for 1st grade students includes 'Who's in a Family?'
Teachers will ask children to "identify and describe a variety of families" and "to understand that families have some similarities and some differences."
"If a student responds that one family in the book is made up of a mother, a father and two children and a cat, you may acknowledge that some families look like this," the curriculum states, "but also ask students for other examples of what a family can look like."
Teachers are told to reflect and "reinforce to students that in our school and our community there are many different types of families that provide love and care to each other. Remind the students that all family structures are equally important."
Second grade students will read about two homosexual penguins that raise a young chick in the book "And Tango Makes Three" by J. Richardson and P. Parnell.
The two male penguins, Roy and Silo, are described as being "a little bit different."
"They didn't spend much time with the girl penguins, and the girl penguins didn't spend much time with them," the text states.
When the male penguins nurture an egg, it soon hatches. "We'll call her Tango," it states, "because it takes two to make a Tango."
The book declares, "Tango was the very first penguin in the zoo to have two daddies."
3rd grade students will watch 'That's a Family' film
In the third grade, students will watch a film called "That's a Family," featuring some homosexual couples in addition to traditional families.
According to the lesson plan, it aims to "assist students in developing sensitivity to gay and lesbian family structures" and teach "respect and tolerance for every type of family."
Fourth graders will be required to read an essay titled, "My School is Accepting – but Things Could be Better" by Robert, an 11-year-old who has two lesbian mothers.
They are introduced to terms such as "ally," "gay," "lesbian" and "LGBT."
Teachers are instructed to ask, "How do you think Robert feels when he hears people say things like, 'this is gay' or 'You're so gay'?"
By fifth grade, students learn to "identify stereotypes about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people." They are told that "LGBT people have made important contributions within the United States and beyond."
Teachers are asked to write the acronym LGBT and ask students the meaning of each letter. Students discuss why stereotypes are "incorrect and hurtful" to LGBT people and people with LGBT family members.
The children are provided with a list of famous LGBT people, including novelist James Baldwin, singer Elton John, comedian Ellen Degeneres, pop singer Christina Aguilera, Rep. Tammy Baldwin, poet Walt Whitman, singer Lance Bass, figure skater Rudy Galindo, homosexual politician Harvey Milk, Army veteran Jose Zuniga and basketball player Sheryl Swoopes.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=99442

Eeyores News and View

Blessing of Quietness
Quietness. It is a blessing to be desired above riches, friends, parties, and gatherings.

Isaiah 32:17-18 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;

1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.

2 Thessalonians 3:10-12 For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.
Proverbs 17:1 Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife. (A house full of sacrifices is a house full of feasts of meat, as a portion of meat offerings were given to the priests. See Leviticus 2:3 and 7:31.)

Ecclesiastes 4:6 Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.
http://www.believingstudy.com/

Obama budget cuts funds for abstinence-only sex education
President Obama's new budget would eliminate most money for abstinence-only sex education and shift it to teen pregnancy prevention — a U-turn in what has been more than a decade of sex education policy in the USA.
The proposed budget, sent to Congress last Thursday, "reflects the research," says Melody Barnes, director of the team that coordinates White House domestic policy.
"In any area where Americans want to confront a problem, they want solutions they know will work, as opposed to programming they know hasn't proven to be successful. Given where we've been in recent years, I think this is a very important moment," she says.
Abstinence-only sex education programs, which emphasize a no-sex-until-marriage message, received almost $1.3 billion in federal dollars from fiscal years 2001-2009, according to the Office of Management and Budget. At the same time, studies of abstinence-only programs have shown little success; the most often-cited study, released in 2007, was congressionally mandated and federally funded and found that abstinence-only programs don't prevent or delay teen sex.
Valerie Huber of the National Abstinence Education Association says that 2007 study was "an early study about early programs. Things have changed."
Two weeks ago, she says her organization briefed congressional aides about an analysis of studies that she says refutes arguments that abstinence education doesn't affect sexual behavior.
Barnes says the budget leaves open a possibility that an abstinence-only program could be funded, if there is evidence of its effectiveness.
Obama's budget proposes almost $178 million for teen pregnancy prevention, including $110 million for community-based programs. About 75% of that is for programs proven to have delayed sex and increased contraceptive use or reduced teen pregnancy. The other 25% could be for "innovative" programs.
Obama "is open to innovation, and that could include abstinence-only if there is some indication it would work," Barnes says.
Huber says her organization must work harder to convince Congress to continue funding abstinence education.
"We're encouraging abstinence programs around the country to let Congress know what research they have and share what an abstinence program truly is," Huber says.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-05-11-abstinence-only_N.htm

Children's charity drops 'Christian' moniker
Marty Cooper - OneNewsNow - 5/11/2009 10:20:00 AM
Last month the Christian Children's Fund announced it is adopting a new strategy to continue its work in aiding the world's impoverished children. Along with the new strategy comes a name change -- specifically, removal of the word "Christian" from its title.
The new name, ChildFund International, was approved at the Christian Children's Fund (CCF) Board of Director's meeting on April 21 and will take effect July 1. As AlertNet.org reports, CCF hopes to continue easing the "burden of poverty for children and their families" under the new, "globally unified" branding.
CEO Anne Lynam Goddard, who became president of CCF in 2006, says the board examined the traditions of the ministry over the past 70 years and wanted to revamp the image to continue serving others over the next 70 years, since an estimated 53 million additional people will be forced into poverty because of the current economic crisis.
CCF boasts helping more than 15.2 million children and families in 31 countries since its inception. It has provided nearly $3 billion in aid to poor families, mainly through monthly child sponsorships. Goddard notes the philanthropy's goals of helping ensure a child's health and growth from birth to young adulthood will continue so that the children will one day become world-changers themselves.
However, the adoption of the new name ChildFund International is not the first rebranding the ministry has undergone. CCF, founded in 1938, was first christened China Children's Fund but changed to Christian Children's Fund after its work expanded outside of China.
In recent years, CCF has received criticism as many ask whether the group has actually lived up to its "Christian" name. The name change likely comes as no surprise to the people at MinistryWatch, a group that "profile[s] public charities, church and parachurch ministries." In 2004, MinistryWatch questioned whether having the title Christian Children's Fund was misleading to Christian donors. and prompted an investigation of the philanthropy.
According to a May 2004 Donor Alert, their research concluded that CCF calls itself a "non-sectarian" group and does not have a statement of faith, nor is it a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. CCF admits they are "not an evangelical organization in that [they] do not teach religion as part of [their] program activity and [they] do not try to convert beneficiaries as part of [their] program efforts."
However, after denying the Christian label, CCF then argued it was indeed a Christian group because of the "good works" it does for children. However, MinistryWatch believes CCF's work is closer to "community development" than ministry because donated funds are spent on an entire community instead of going directly to help the child being sponsored.
MinistryWatch also concluded Christians may be bothered that CCF partners with "traditional healers" in Third World nations, which MinistryWatch believes can be construed as "occult practices." Additionally, CCF employees are not required to be professing Christians.
MinistryWatch released the alert nearly five years ago, urging CCF supporters and donors to reconsider donating to other ministries that have clear Christian messages, claiming that a true Christian ministry hopes to "bring those that they serve into a relationship with their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ."
Goddard, however, asserts the most significant change comes from within a community. "As we change a childhood, we change the world," she says. http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=525028

Dobson: 'There's utter evil coming out of Congress'Focus on the Family ministry founder condemns 'Pedophile Protection Act'
James Dobson, the founder of the Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family Christian ministry, warned today that there is "utter evil" coming out of Washington, D.C., these days.
"I want to tell our listeners something has come up that is so shocking and so outrageous, we must make our friends out there aware of it," he said on his daily radio program.
"I'm going to speak very bluntly today because there's no other word for it: the utter evil that's coming out of Congress," he said. "I've been on the air 32 years and I've never seen a time quite like this.
"The radical left controls the executive branch through the president, and the Congress where the Democrats have control of both the House and the Senate," he said, adding the courts are expected to move even further to the left.
The target of his worry is the so-called "Hate Crimes" already approved in the U.S. House and now pending in the Senate.
A hearing on the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, already approved by the U.S. House as H.R. 1913 and pending in the Senate as S. 909, is expected in the Senate Judiciary Committee soon. It's been described by Shawn D. Akers, policy analyst with Liberty Counsel, as a bill to create penalties against "victims" who were chosen based on an "actual or perceived ... sexual orientation, gender identity."
First, he said, comes the so-called "hate crimes" law. Then will come the employment non-discrimination concept that says "thou shalt hire people of these proclivities." Finally, there would come the imposition of nation-wide same-sex marriage combined with speech limits banning any criticism of that, restrictions that already are in place in Canada..
Gohmert pointed out that Christians and their pastors need especially to be worried because of the bull's-eye being painted on them by homosexuals.
He said while the "hate crimes" bill says its provisions shouldn't be used against religious statements, there's an important word that follows that provision: "Unless."
That's unless "the evidence relates to that offense," he said.
And under existing federal law, someone who "induces" a crime can be tried, convicted and sentenced as the principal. He said that leaves open pastors and Christians to be prosecuted should someone who commits a crime claim to have heard them speaking against homosexuality.
Dobson said such threats to free speech and religious rights "keeps me awake at night."
He said the Christian community's response should be a massive prayer campaign.
Gohmert said he sees a future for the United States, iIf we have another awakening. If we don't, I'm not sure what's left."
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=98105

Eeyore's News and view

What God Says About: Abortion Verses Pro-life
INTRODUCTION
In this booklet I intend to prove that abortion is murder. I intend to show this from two different aspects, 1) Biblically and 2) Scientifically. This will not be hard because both agree on the subject. There is no reputable scientist who is conversant in biology who would not agree that life begins at conception in mammals. NO student of the Bible can show that an unborn child is any less a human being or without complete body, soul, and spirit than a man or woman outside a womb.
Also the moral arguments will be given pro and con and answered from the Bible or biologically or from just plain old common sense. (Which is not so common nowadays.)
And, finally, I will conclude, showing to any unbiased reader that abortion is murder and should be apposed by all.
(All references to the Bible will be from the King James Bible).
CHAPTER ONE
BIBLICAL FACTS
The Biblical facts are too numerous for a paper of this size. What will be given is a few of the more obvious passages. Then I will list some of the others and make a few brief comments on them for your own personal study.
The first passage to be sited is Job 10:18, "Wherefore then hast thou brought me f orth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me. " This passage shows without a doubt that Job believed he had a spirit inside the womb. This proves that the unborn child is alive. Since "the body without the spirit is dead, "' then the spirit is essential to life. The unborn child has a spirit so he has life. What kind of life? Human life, that's easy. If it was a dog, it would be dog's life, since it is a human we are discussing, it would be human life.
This also refutes the idea that a person has to breath air before he can have his spirit given to him. Those examples which seem to indicate this are from Genesis 2 and Ezekiel 37, there are also some in Psalms but these are the main two. In all of these cases, it is talking about a grown man or animal. Never is the breath of life spoken of when speaking of the birth of a baby. The argument may be given, that Job was in distress and was just running off at the mouth," this is unjustified, especially when other passages are used by him as the truth. Job 10:18 is irrefutable proof that an unborn child has a spirit.
The next passage to be examined will be Judges 13:1-7. In essence we see that Manoah's wife is told not to drink wine or strong drink because the child she was carrying in her womb was a Nazarite. The law applied to the unborn child in this case. The unborn child obviously is alive or it would not be required to keep the law.
The next passage is in the New Testament, Luke 1:44, "For lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy." This is Elizabeth speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost' and gives a human attribute to the child in her womb, John the Baptist. Some may say that he is an unusual case, however he is at least borni That's at least a great deal better than the full grown man in Genesis 2 or Ezekiel 37, isn't it?
The next passage is in Acts 20:28, which shows that Jesus' blood is God's blood. Since the life of the flesh is in the blood, then Jesus was alive when He had God's blood in Him. When was this? As we will see when we study the chapter on biology, it is while He was still in the womb of Mary. Jesus was alive in His physical body before He was actually born. He received that blood at conception.
The next passage is in Genesis 35:16-26. This passage deals with Jacob and his wives going to Ephrath from Bethel after they had left Padanaram. The statement in verse 26 says they were all born in Padanaram. But if you will notice one of them was obviously born after they left and were between Ephrath and Bethel, that one was- Benjamin. Why would the writer of Genesis make such an obvious "mistake"? If the time element is looked into, you can see that Benjamin was conceived in Padanaram but literally born in the promised land. This shows what God thinks of the place to start counting a life. (It is also interesting to note, when I was in Korea, they started a child out at one year old when he was borni) So, again we can see that God considered the boy, Benjamin, to be alive while still in the womb of his mother.
Now, concerning the idea that someone is not alive till they breath air, let's look at a few examples of the "breath of life" being used.
The first example is in Genesis 2:7, "And the LORD God formed man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." The first thing to be aware of is the fact that Adam was not born So anyone who brings this argument up is really stretching it.
The next thing about this is the fact that Adam was a full grown man, (presumably laying on the ground) when the LORD breathed on him.
The next thing to note about this event is that when Adam became a living soul, he was spiritually alive as well, in fellowship with God. 'When Adam sinned and died spiritually, he did not quit breathing Even though dead spiritually, the air was still in his nostrils. This argument may seem ludicrous until you read John 20:22, where we read, "And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost." Now His breathing on them did not give them "physical" life, which is obvious to anyone because they were standing right there talking with Him. So, when Adam was breathed on by God, he received spiritual life evidenced by the phrase, "and man became a LIVING soul." Not only physically but spiritually. This shows that the breathing of air on someone does not mean that physical life is given to them necessarily. It is true that if you are deprived of air for a certain length of time, you will die. But a f ish can live, as well as insects without having the "breath of life" in their nostrils. The oxygen is transferred by the gills in a fish and through various means in insects. This shows that an unborn child can be alive and fully human without breathing air through his nostrils. The oxygen is in the blood, if there is any validity to the "air" business it is IN THE BLOOD, exactly as Leviticus 17:11 says, "the life of the flesh is IN the blood.", The blood is the means by which the oxygen is carried around in the body. An unborn child has his OWN blood, hence, he has his own life, with a body, soul, AND spirit. Now I will run down a list of verses which show that God speaks of the unborn child as completely human. I will also give a short comment on each.
Genesis 25:22-26 and Hosea 12:3. These verses show that the struggling in the womb was not just two "appendages" bumping into each other.
Second Samuel 11:5. This verse, along with countless others, Says she was "with child" not with "appendage." The argument may be given that it is just a "saying" but where did the saying come from? And isn't the Bible accurate even in the smallest details? I believe that it is.
Psalms 139:13. This verse points out that, God had covered HIM in his mother's womb. Not my body or the flesh will I inhabit. Clearly showing the writer believed HE was present in the womb; ALL of him.
In Zechariah 12:1, we see that God formed the spirit of man in him, not breathed it into him.
Job 3: 11 shows that Job had to have the spirit in the womb in order for him to give it up. This is in total agreement with Job 10.
In Ecclesiastes 3:19-21, we can see that the breath in man and animals are the same but their spirits are different. Now this should be obvious to anyone who can read first grade English, spirit is spelled s-p-i-r-i-t, and breath is spelled b-r-e-a-t-h. Things that are different are not the same!
The only place where an abortion could seem to be legitimized by the jaded Bible reader is found in Exodus 21:22-25. There are several reasons why this passage-is of no value to the person trying to say that abortion is not murder.
1. The context: The passage is stuck right in the middle of two passages where people are not held accountable for killing another human being. In verses 20-21, a man kills his servant and is not given the death penalty, and not even punished, if the guy continues to live a few days. On the other side of the passage in question is found a man who would ordinarily get the death penalty, but is spared if he gives enough money (verses 29-30).
2. The passage is not dealing with a woman going to a man to kill her unborn baby but is the result of indirect action, what we today would call manslaughter.
3. The phrase "if any mischief follow" is a reference to someone dying, but it doesn't say WHO!!! This has led the inept Bible student to say it is automatically the woman who dies. Any reference to the Hebrew is just a dive because you can't get it to say it in plain old English. As anyone knows, a premature baby can live, even without "modern medicine. So in the passage if either one dies the man is given the death penalty. At the very least, this verse has nothing to do with abortion as we know it today.
It should be apparent to any honest Bible student that there are overwhelming evidences that the Bible and God are not in favor of abortion and that God considers it to be the same as murder, which it is. The only way a man could continue to believe that abortion is not murder is to either be blind, deaf, and dumb or to have a prideful prejudice not to go ahead and say the Bible is right.
In the next chapter, we will see that not only does the Bible state that life begins at conception but Biology does, too. This is only important because it does agree with the Bible. If all of science said abortion was OK and the Bible declares it to be murder, then science is wrong. But in this cases there is no doubt that Biblically, Biologically, and even Morally, abortion is murder.
CHAPTER TWO
BIOLOGICAL FACTS
As we begin this chapter, we will look at the biological aspect of the blood, and how it is the life of the flesh, as the Bible states in Leviticus 17: 11, and that according to medical doctors, it is transmitted by the male. In the booklet, "The Gospel According to Hematology," Dr. Lubrett Hargrove states,
If ... the life of all f lesh is in the blood ... then Adam's blood, at that moment, was changed from being incorruptible to corruptible (First Corinthians 15:53). Adam's life (or blood) was now sinful. Therefore, the Bible tells us that the sin principle became associated with Adam's blood. If this is true, then this same sin principle now resides in our blood, as well, since we are all Adam's sons (II Corinthians 15:22). If we die without a restored fellowship with God, then we, too, are "damned," "lost," and will wind up in the infernal regions.
Also, in the same booklet we find,
"Adam's sin, committed with full awareness of the consequence of what he was doing, was far greater than Eve's transgression under Satanic deception" (I Timothy 2:14).
Therefore, it seems a biblical axiom that it isthe male who is the carrier of the sin nature (I Corinthians 15:22).'
This indicates that the time life starts is at the time of fertilization, when the seed of the man is joined with the egg of the-woman. A human life has begun at this time even though you couldn't see it.
I will now quote from a work entitled, "When You Were Formed In Secret,"
"As the nuclei of the ovum and sperm unite during the first hours of fertilization, they bring together twenty-three chromosomet from the mother and twenty-three chromosomes from the father. These chromosome sets carry some 15,000 genes from each parent cell.
"In these first quiet hours of human conception, the genes, like letters of a divine alphabet, spell out the unique characteristics of the new individual. The color of the eyes, hair and, skin, facial features, body type and certain qualities of personality and intelligence are all determined by this genetic coding. Whether the baby just begun will be a boy or a girl is determined by an X (boy) or Y (girl) chromosome carried in the father's sperm cell.
"This quiet, yet sacred, act of conception -has produced not a 'potential human being,' but rather a human being with vast potential. A new human life has begun and will continue until natural or violent death."
As we can see from the above description, all the genetic factors are complete at the completion of conception. All that remains is growth.
"Your heart began beating at three weeks and has set the 'rhythm of life' for all your days. Your brain began to form and soon would send out impulses throughout your body. In a mere four weeks you looked every bit like a tiny baby and even began to react and respond like one."
"This unborn child has been able to experience pain from the sixth week and can even be taught conditioned responses... The fetus now sleeps and wakes, "breathes" amnionic fluid regularly to exercise and develop the respiratory system, and also drinks, digests and excretes portions of the fluid. He will drink more fetal fluids if sweetened and less if they are made bitter or sour."
In the same book, at four months,
"The Baby now begins to seek comfortable positions when preparing to sleep ... Bone marrow is now forming and is beginning to produce supplement the red blood cells which up till now have been made by the liver and spleen. The heart can now be plainly heard and is pumping up to 25 quarts of blood a day."
We see that, again, it is commonly known that the baby has its own blood in its own system, completely apart f rom the mother. Therefore, he has his own life.
"On the day of birth the child, already a living and active person as we have seen, makes a change in his place of residence, in his external life support system, and his eating habits. As he has already gone through many progressive, overlapping stages of growth and development, so, will he, from birth, continue the life begun nine months ago moving through childhood, adolescence, maturity, old age and death. Once again, all that is needed is nourishment, loving care and time to grow. "
These statements are obvious to anyone who will take a clear look at these facts. The idea that a baby must be able to sustain himself is preposterous, before or after birth. Put a one-year-old baby in a room, shut the door and come back in two weeks and see how he is doing!! The unborn and the one year-old needs support.
Again, at birth something happens,
"The jelly in the umbilical cord begins to swell immediately upon contact with air, restricting flow to the placenta and forcing the infant's blood to its own lungs for oxygen. As the baby gasps and air sweeps into the lungs and fills the thousands of tiny air sacs, a first cry is vocalized."
From these statements we can see that oxygen is already in the, blood, the life is in the blood, the unborn baby is alive BEFORE he is born, Abortion is murder!! Curtis Young quotes from a U.S. Subcommittee report to show they really are not concerned about when life begins. Life begins at conception, this is taken for granted, they are interested in "intrinsic worth," what ever that is? I quote,
"Not only must government answer the biological, factual question of when the life of each human being begins: it must also address the question of whether to accord intristic worth and equal value to all human life, whether before or after birth."
Now did you get that? In English, you can be "terminated" even after birth if you don't have "intrinsic worth" or equal value !!! wonder if us Bible believers will have "intristic worth" to the subcommittee?? They further state,
"No witness raised any evidence to refute the biological fact that from the moment of conception there exists a distinct individual being who is alive and is of the human species. No witness challenged the scientific consensus that unborn children are "human beings" insofar as the term is used to mean living beings of the human species. Instead, these witnesses invoked their value preferences to redefine the term "human being..."
There you have it, like Dr. Ruckman puts it ... like a dead fish on the beach. They admit that science and biology agree that life has begun at conception, but want to REDEFINE what a human being is according to THEIR VALUE PREFERENCES!!! The U.S. Government knows that an unborn baby is just as much alive as you and me, but they don't believe that is the major issue. They believe it is some screw-ball idea of "intristic worth" determined by their own "value preferences". So much for the facts, Never get FACTS in the way of what you want to do!
To continue further on the biological aspects we will look at what a Biologist Margaret Gilbert has to say. She writes,
"Not until the nineteenth century did men finally realize that the union of the sperm with the egg creates a new human being. This modern belief states that each living creature is created anew at the moment when the sperm of the father fuses with the egg of the mother, in a process called fertilization."
Again we can readily see that scientist after scientist and biologist after biologist confirms the biblical fact that the unborn baby is alive and a complete human being. She goes on to explain further,
"Life begins for each of us at an unfelt, unknown, unhonored instant when a minute, wriggling sperm plunges headlong into a mature egg... It is at this moment of fusion of the sperm and egg in fertilization there has been determined not only the existence of this human being, but also his unique individuality."
The consensus is staggering, every biologist, pro- or anti-abortion, will say the same thing, "life begins at conception". The pro-abortionists just say that it's ok though because the baby is not of "intrinsic worth" in the mother's or her gynecologist's estimation. In other words, "I don't want to go through the trouble of having a baby, it's not worth it to ME!"
Dr. Kieth L. Moore, Ph.D., Head of the department of anatomy at the University of Manitoba states,
"Development begins at fertilization when a sperm fuses with an ovum of egg to form a zygote; the first cell of a new human being. The zygote undergoes cell division and many complex changes occur before the developing human is able to live independently."
These statements point out Dr. Moore's attitude that an unborn child cannot live independently, but as we will see in the next paragraph, that is not a consideration to be applied as to whether or not the baby is fully human.
Dr. Scott Gilbert in his text book on "Developmental Biology" states,
"The study of animal development has traditionally been called embryology, referring to the fact that between the stages of the fertilized egg and birth, the developing organism is known as an embryo. However, development does not stop at birth or even adulthood. Most organisms never cease developing."
Life does not begin when the baby is fully developed, or he would never be a human being because he never quits developing! If one would state that the unborn baby is not human because he cannot support himself fully, then who "pray tell" could claim "true humanness??" NOBODY, that's who!
To show 'the flip side I will quote from a supposed "Christian" gynecologist, R.F. Gardner. He Is quoting a psychiatrist to whom he gives his hearty agreement,
"We must never forget that (the gynecologists) are the final arbiters and must have the last word."
Well now, talk about dogmaticism and humility! The baby doctors are the final arbitrators, are they?? It kind of sounds like someone is trying to play God, doesn't it? What about Mommy and Daddy? Are they not to be consulted? Is God's word not consulted? These same doctors will tell you that life begins at conception, but if "WE" decide that YOU need a abortion then WE should have the RIGHT to tell you what to do with your unborn child. This shows positively that these doctors and the pro-abortionists are not interested in the facts even though you pile the facts of beginning of life up to the moon the question with them is, "WHAT DO I WANT?" The facts are ALWAYS ignored in favor of "situation ethics."
This should answer the question of what to do if a Mongolian sheepdog raped a gorilla. Answer: Kill the doctor! This comical example seems absurd, but that is the way it sounds to us, when I hear of the situation ethics being applied to overthrow a rule. The question to determine if you are killing an unborn human being is not the situation but rather, the question is, is the baby alive or not? If the Bible says the baby is alive, if biology and embryology confess that the unborn baby is alive, then it is murder to willingly take the life of another human being, except to save the life of the mother because without her both will die. That being the only exception.
Finally I will close out this chapter on Biological Facts with undisputed evidence from two sources and the lame refutation by an atheist.
Dr. Landrum Shettles holds Ph.D. and M.D. degrees from Johns Hopkins University. For twenty-seven years he was attending Obstetrician-Gynecologist at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical center in New York City. He specialized in research in fertility, sterility, and disease of new born infants ... he continues to pioneer research in vitro fertilization. David Rorvick is a former science and medical reporter for the Time magazine. In their viewpoint, the authors argue that there is one fact that no one can deny: the life of a biological human being begins at conception. They say,
"The genotype-the inherited characteristics of a unique human being is established in the conception process and will remain in force for the entire life of that individual. No other event in biological life is so decisive as this one; "
From their book it is evident that this highly qualified gynecologist and embryonic research scientist is absolutely certain that the unborn child is completely alive at conception.
He goes on to say about the idea of the baby being a part of the mother by quoting from a pro abortionist,
"Even some who oppose restrictions on abortion would readily agree. For example Daniel Callahan - director of the Institute of Society, Ethics and Life Sciences, has stated, " Genetically, hormonally and in all organic respects save for the source of its nourishment, a fetus and even an embryo is separate from the woman.... !!"
As I read several arguments pro and con, one issue was brought up by pro-abortionists: An egg is "alive" and a sperm is "alive," so what's the difference, in killing an egg a sperm or an embryo? Dr. Shettles answers this by stating,
"there may be some arguing in this fashion who earnestly believed that they have precieved a chinck in the anti-abortion position, but most, I am convinced, are being disingenuous .-The individual sex cells, sperm and egg on the other hand contain only half that number twenty three chromosomes each. It is only through combination, through merger, that the sex cells attain the full compliment of hereditary units that defines a human being..."
In other words, an egg may be alive but it isn't human life, a sperm cell may be alive but it isn't human life, either; but when they come together, you have human life. One-not two lives.
Frank Zindler is a member of the American Association for the advancement of Science, also co-chairperson of the committee. of -Correspondence on Evolution. Education and Director of the Central Ohio Chapter of American Atheists. Mr. Zindler argues,
"That in order to be human, a fetus must have a personality, its rights should in no way supersede those of a pregnant woman."
He goes on to say, concerning the Supreme Court decision Roe vs. Wade,
"Clearly, the question does not, concern the beginning of life."
Their efforts as can be seen from his last assinine statement, is to keep at all cost the issue of "when does life begin off the arguing table. It is obvious to us why, "they ain't got a leg to stand on," that's why!! His lack of biological data is even more.obvious since he is affiliated with AAAS (good acronym).
He is answered on his argument of "personhood" by a real Doctor who knows his stuff. Dr. Thomas Verny M. D. in his book on The Secret of the Unborn Child. Speaking of personhood of the unborn, he states,
"... It is based on the discovery that the unborn child is a feeling, remembering, aware being, and because he is, what happens to him ... This realization and the remarkable body of research it springs from take us well beyond what we know-or think we know- about the emotional development of the unborn child. And while, scientif ically, that is enormously exciting (among other things, it forever displaces the old Freudian notion that personality does not begin forming until the second or third year."
He goes on to say,
"He can sense and react not only to large, undifferentiated emotions such as love and hate, but also to more shaded complex f eeling states like ambivalence and ambiguity."
All of these together shows me one clear message: The pro-abortionist is not concerned with facts at all, he is just concerned with his or her own hedonistic desires, even to the point of MURDER. Their arguments are mute, because they don't care if they are killing another human being. And as we will see in the next chapter on Morals, the reason of saving the mother's life is so rare, as to not even constitute an argument.
So what do you do with the doctor who aborts a baby? Simple, charge him with murder!! What about the woman? She is either an accessory to murder or guilty of involuntary manslaughter, depending on her knowledge of what she was doing. In court, if she can be shown to know the baby is alive and that the abortion was intended to kill it, then she is guilty of murder, too. Those are the facts. Too bad if someone doesn't like it, they can just lump it. As with many of the murder cases today, the camera is always on the "poor criminal," what about the tortured and dismembered VICTIM?
Now for the next chapter on Morals, this is the "situation ethnics" chapter for the pro-abortionist, this is their favorite stomping ground. Having seen that the Bible condemns abortion, modern medicine and science make it clear that the unborn baby is alive, they have no recourse but to make up horror stories of rape, retardation, incest, and a host of other "problems" to justify.killing one and a half million healthy innocent babies PER YEAR!!
Chapter Three
Morals
Morality apart from the Bible is really a misnomer. As is seen by studying philosophy, there is no real reason for morality of any sort without there being a God and being accountable to Him. So any attempt at speaking about the morality (or immorality) of abortion is vain, apart from the Bible.
As will be seen so many times in this chapter, the pro-abortionist or at least the man or woman who claims neutrality on the abortion issue, will claim that the mothers RIGHTS are violated by making the poor darling go through with an "unwanted" pregnancy. This is their focal point, the desires of the mother. Hedonism is so rampant today that, as the Bible correctly states, they are "without natural affection ... and lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God."' In what age would it be thought by God's people that to kill the unborn child is anything less than murder? We have lived to see the day that so-called Christian leaders and godly "Christians" are saying that abortion (murder) is justifiable and no more than an appendectomy. Abe Lincoln once asked a man, "How many legs would a sheep have if you called his tail a leg?" The man replied, "Five." Lincoln said, "No, the sheep would still have only four legs because no matter how often you call a tail a leg it never becomes one." This is the tactic of the pro-abortionist, to call a baby a fetus, embryo, blob, and other things.
In his book Abortion the American Holocaust, Kent Kelly gives the attitude of the Supreme Court, in its decision in Roe vs. Wade., He states,
"The court refused to touch the question of when life begins, but clearly approved the undeniably religious belief that life does not begin at conception. Such a conclusion is drawn from faith in the evolutionary process, as well as a decidedly antagonistic view toward the Biblical concept of life."
He quotes another new version of the Declaration of Independence,
"We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal in the third trimester. That they are endowed by the evolutionary process with certain inalienable rights depending on their viability as a human being. That among these are the right to death so long as it occurs before the deadline; liberty, if the mother and physician agree; and the pursuit of happiness should they not be one of the 'Victims of Abortion - The American Holocaust."
So in this the third chapter, dealing with the moral issues surrounding abortion",we will not revert, as the proabortionist does, to semantic arguments, about the "viability of the fetus" or the "personhood of the embryo," but will use Bible terms such as "child" or "babe" or derivatives of those.
THE UNWANTED CHILD
The first of the real bad boogy bears we will tackle is the "UNWANTED CHILD." Let me say this from my own experience as an adoptive parent, who has researched thoroughly the adoption process, THERE ARE NO UNWANTED CHILDREN. Someone wants them, as is evident from the seven-year waiting lists at most adoption agencies. You say, "'What about the crippled or retarded?"
We'll get to those, but right now we will be dealing with the largest group, by far, of the aborted babies, therapeutic abortions. Which translates into, "I just don't want to be pregnant right now."
We quote again,
"An unwanted pregnancy is the early months does not necessarily mean an unwanted baby after delivery. Dr. Edward Lenoski of the University of California has conclusively shown that 90% of battered children were planned pregnancies."
Now who is kidding whom? The 'argument is really preposterous. Some of these planned children who are so egotistical that they actually think they can control their own environment. When the baby comes, they f ind out how wrong they really are. The baby is not always logical or reasonable!! They're unwanted because of their poor condition is really absurd, especially in America, the socialist state! And are you really thinking of the little darling? If so, why kill him?
Kelly again states it well that when he says-,
"If it is a greater tragedy to be poor and unwanted than to be dead, we have much work to do on the present population. A child in the womb is not conscious of being poor or unwanted. Hundreds of thousands of children living outside the womb are feeling the effects of these conditions every day. Surely, the reasonable course of action would be to begin with actual suffering instead of potential suffering. Of course, it is true that these suffering children have lived outside the womb for a while, but what possible difference could a few months make if the true tragedy is to be poor or unwanted? It should make no difference to those whose reasoning is on the brink of insanity."
Amen and Amen!!
Pro-abortionist Martha Willing states the opposing view,
In South Korea, which has always accepted infanticide, abortion and sale of children, American aid attempts to forbid these natural responses to poverty ... "
What a puddin' head "NATURAL RESPONSES!!??" When is selling or killing your child a natural response? Have you done that when the electric bill is too high?? I can speak with somewhat of an authoritarian view concerning her statement on Korea. I lived there for about one year I'll bet that's longer than her, and I did see the sale of babies, the deforming of children by their own parents in order to make them better beggars. I've seen young girls sold to Momma Sans to be brought up to be her prostitutes. So what does that have to do with killing babies? If they do it, that means we can too? Is that what you're getting at, woman (I would say lady but can't get myself to insult the few real ladies there are left in this country)?
Now Ms? Willing(?) goes on to say,
"So long as medicines and vaccines and techniques save life, we praise ourselves and play God by interfering with natural events ... We refuse to decide whom to let die quietly and whom to prevent from being born."
Now there is a good piece of lunacy!! We are playing God by trying to save lives but she is not by killing them?? Yeah, woman, sure, we believe you!! Your preventing people from being born is not like us "old Bible totin' Funnymentalists," is it? If you noticed in her statements she is not averse to infanticide or euthanasia, which means you old geezers better look out!
This woman is not alone in her stupidy; in Denmark in 1956 under the Pregnancy Act,
"Abortion where the woman was judged unfit to take proper care of her child. Of the latter indication, Skalts and Norgaard say that " it is a social indication, it being the interests of the child, not the woman herself, that are safeguarded:
Now, there you have it, "kiddo" we are killing you for your own good, your mom can't buy you everything you want and you won't have Van Hausen or Jordache shirts to wear so you'd be better off DEADII If you think I have strained the point then you haven't read much. The mentality, (or should I say, lack of mentality) of these yoyo's is the norm and not the exception. After all, if there is no God, according to most of them, and you are just a product of evolution, then what's all the fuss about? If you're just an animal anyway, then let's do whatever makes us feel good!!
If that wasn't enough, here we go again, in Hungary in a 1956 law...
"Provides that requests for abortion be directed to a three member committee whose chairman is a doctor. The committee, however, can function only as a rubber stamp, for it must approve the abortion, 'if the applicant insists.'"
Let's have a committee to make sure we don't kill any babies, huh?? America isn't the only knot-head country around, is it?
Next we will look at the terrible menace to society, the (oh heaven!!) the retarded child!"
THE RETARDED CHILDREN
Surely now, if the kid is not going to be perfectly normal, let's say with at least an IQ of 190 then he would be better off dead, wouldn't YOU!!? We quote again from someone who works in this field,
"Though it may be common and fashionable to believe that the malformed enjoys life less than the normal, this appears to lack both empirical and theoretical support."
That was from a Psychiatrist, now let's see what a mother of Down's Syndrome child has to say,
"A mother of a Down's Syndrome child Ms. Delahoyde devotes herself to fighting against infant euthanasia and abortion. She explains her belief that in modern society, everything is geared toward perfection. Some think that death might be the best option for some handicapped children because they think real people are 'normal' people. "
The crux of the matter is as the woman earlier put it, "they are trying to play God." They want to decide what is "quality life" and "who should live or die.', Undeniably there are times when terrible decisions have to be made, but these are the exceptions by far in the abortion issue.
These few exceptions are brought to the fore by the pro abortionist to agitate the feelings of the general public into agreeing with them to let several million normal babies be murdered at the whim of (for the most part)- fornicating whores. The same ones who are advocating the murder of infants on the ground that they are unwanted and will be a drain on society, are against executing convicted murderers and rapists who cost the American taxpayer millions of dollars a year to house and entertain them. As Bro. Roloff said, "America is an insane asylum run by the inmates."
THE RAPE AND RESULTANT PREGNANCY
The next "pig in the poke,' is the incidence of rape and resultant pregnancy. This is used as a good scare tactic, it goes something like this, "Yeah, you say your against abortion, but wait till your wife or little girl gets raped and gets pregnant, then we'll see how you feel?" Then I am supposed to say, "Oh my, yes, by all means deary, go ahead and kill 1,500,000 kids-that will fix everything !"
Even in the unlikely event that someone does rape your wife or girl, and in the even unlikelier event that they become pregnant, why do you think killing an unborn baby will cure everything? Yes, rape is a terrible thing, a lot of people go through terrible things every day, unfair things. But as I said before, what has that got to do with murdering an unborn child? If it is established that the unborn is a human being, and it has, Biblically and Biologically, then why kill an innocent third party?
But let's read a few facts, shall we? F.D. Mecklenburg, M.D. states,
"Although frequently cited by pro-abortionists, pregnancies resulting from rape are so rare as to be virtually non-existent. There are several contributing factors to this. In addition to the pure mathematical odds against pregnancy resulting f rom a single random act, medical research indicates that an extremely high percentage of woman exposed to severe emotional trauma will not ovulate. The rape itself, therefore acts as a psychological 'birth control.'"
And add to this the statistics of births due to rape, and you will find that statutory rape is usually included. Statutory rape is usually not forcible rape. Any girl seventeen or younger who has had intercourse can be classified as having been raped. The idea being, she was too young to give legitimate consent. A study done by J. Kuchera for the Journal of the American Medical Association states,
"A scientific study of 1,000 cases of rape treated medically right after the rape results in zero cases of pregnancy."
There you have it, like a dead dog in your front yard, facts are facts. Rape is not an issue, nor should it be an issue of much importance when discussing the abortion question.
THE OTHER ARGUMENT FROM HYSTERIA
Let's go on to some of the other arguments from hysteria. We will be quoting from Dr. Bernard Nathanson, whom we've already quoted from. He is an atheist and a Jew. He had performed or had performed under his supervision at least 75,000 abortions. He is now a pro-life Advocate. He covers several topics in this particular quote, it will be left in tact so that the reader can get a clearer perspective of what he is saying, we now quote from Dr. Nathanson,
"Those who classify a fetus as 'mere tissue' are using a line of argumentation which is 'biological nonsense,' unworthy of the people who have advocated it."
Concerning the "woman and her doctor theory"-the view that they alone should decide on abortion. He quotes another author who says,
"Abortion is no more a medical issue because doctors do it then is capital punishment a matter of electrical engineering because an electric chair is used."
He speaks of the "unwanted child" syndrome,
"If anything, the statistical reports would lead one to conclude that liberal abortion laws, not strict ones, foster child abuse... Child abuse has risen noticeably since abortion was legalized, and so have illegitimate births, despite the availability of abortion as an alternative ... If a fetus is carried to term it will be "unwanted" only for the nine months between conception and birth. It need never be 'unwanted' because of the hopeless shortage of babies available for the long list of childless couples who earnestly want to adopt them."
Of the "coat hanger" argument. He admits that back-alley abortion was one of his early motivations in the pro-abortion cause.
Now pay attention to his comments here:
"In the moment we generally emphasized the drama of the individual case, not the mass statistics; but when we spoke of the latter, it was always 5,000 to 10,000 deaths a year. I confess I knew the figures were totally false, and I suppose the others did too if they stopped to think of it. But in the 'morality' of our revolution, it was a useful figure, widely accepted, so why go out of our way to correct it with honest statistics?"
He goes on to give the correct figures,
"... In 1967 before abortion was legalized, the federal government listed only 160 deaths from illegal abortion. In 1972, the last year before the U.S. Supreme decision opened the abortion door, there was a total of 39 deaths f rom illegal abortions. Certainly, even 39 women are important among the tens of millions in America. But it is absolute insanity even for the guardians of our "human resources"-to shout for the lives of 39 women in 1972 and say nothing of the lives of 1,500,000 babies murdered in 1980. There are more than that who die from "legal" abortions now!"
Dr. Nathanson speaks to the issue of "cost benefit." He ref ers to the view championed by Washington that it is cheaper for society to destroy babies at $100 apiece by abortion than to take responsibility for aiding poor woman and children. He says,
"Are we supposed to consider such pragmatism of fetus elimination to be liberal and humanitarian? ... This may be good politics but it is hardly exemplar social morality. It reeks of the Pentagon's 'body count' thinking of the Viet Nam era. Certain human issues are too grave to be handled in this way and must be shielded from a cost-effectiveness theory. Abortion is one of them."
Those are the views of Dr. Bernard Nathanson, M.D., former director of the world's largest abortion clinic, founder of the most effective pro-abortion movement in America, supervisor of the deaths of 75,000 human beings. He ought to know what he is talking about, shouldn't he?
WOMANS RIGHT TO CHOOSE
Another argument for killings kids is that it represents the "Womans Right to Choose." I believe in freedom alright, but not when it causes the needless death of another. Some women want their own way so much that they will kill to get it.
Mr. Kent Kelly states concerning this,
"In many circles, feminists rally to the Pro-abortion cause as another expression of women's rights."
This, again, is an argument from the brink of insanity. If the true cause is the glory of womanhood, why is it selective women's rights instead of protecting all women equally? Since the Supreme Court abortion decision of 1973, an average of 80,000 women in each of the 50 states will never have the right to choose anything. That many female babies have been murdered in their mothers, wombs. Eighty thousand militant feminists in each state in the Union could rock the political world on any subject. However, the truth of the matter is that if all those little ladies could be brought back to life, they would not support abortion as representing a woman's right to choose."
THE MAJORITY OF AMERICANS FOR ABORTION
Another argument given is that a majority of Americans favor abortion. That is debateable. But even if it is true, so what?? Do we hinge our right to live on the vote of the America public??
Kent Kelly states,
"If the right to life may be eliminated on the basis of public sentiment, then any other right may be taken away by majority decision. No right is more basic. No right is more obvious. Only someone on the brink of insanity would want his right to live put to a vote of the majority."
POPULATION EXPLOSION MYTH
Another argument is the "Population Explosion Myth., Dr. Dennis L. Cuddy, Ph.D. states,
"Today we constantly hear about the suffering people of an overly crowded India.. While there is little doubt that many people in India do suffer from a lack of food, this is not necessarily because of the number of people inhabiting that vast land. India had less people per square mile than England, West Germany or Taiwan ... There is actually not a 'population problem' as such today, as all the people of the world could fit side-by-side into Greater Jacksonville, Florida. What we do have is a problem of food distribution and the availability of natural resources."
Nick Eberstadt of Harvard's Center for Population Studies found that...
"The world's population growth peaked at 1.9 per cent around 1970 and is now down to 1.7 per cent. In Western Europe the growth rate has dropped 50%, in North America 30%, in China 30%, and in India 10% Interestingly, demographer Donald Bogue in a Population Reference Bureau paper estimated that only 4.7% of the decline in the world fertility rate could be attributed to family planning efforts. Currently, the U.S. fertility rate is 1.7 (a rate of 2.1 is necessary merely to maintain a population replacement level) . And the decline in fertility in this country is most pronounced among blacks, American Indians and Mexican-Americans (25% of native American women have been sterilized with monies earmarked by treaty agreements for medical needs, and 35% of all Puerto Rican women have been sterilized).
What this dramatic decline in the fertility rate means is that in the not too distant future, there will be a disproportionate number of elderly compared to the number of youth. Because this will place a tremendous economic burden upon the non-elderly to care for our older citizens, there will be a growing advocacy for euthanasia."
SAVE THE MOTHER ARGUMENT
The next argument is the call to "Save the Mother!" This argument is used as a call for abortion, when it really is a matter of survival of any. The logic (or illogic) of the baby killers goes something like this,
"If the issue is right-to-life, who has a right to live? Why is the mother more important? If God determines destiny and He chooses to have the child live and the mother die, who are you to intervene? "
The argument is one of sarcasm. The real way it is put is, "Surely you Bible-toters accept abortion when the woman's life is in danger."
Note the way they put it, in danger. We quote again from someone who deals with this on a regular basis. Dr. Joseph P. Donnelly was former medical director of Margaret Hague Hospital in New Jersey. From 1947 to 1961, there were 115,000 deliveries at his maternity hospital with no abortions. Dr. Donnelly says:
"Abortion is never necessary to save the life of the mother's."
All of these physicians work daily with delivery of babies, they have "hands on" experience. They know more of what they are talking about than a bunch of quacks who make a living off of killing babies! The "Save the Mother" syndrome has been used by pro-abortionist as a tool to generate sentiment in favor of lax abortion laws. There may be a one in a million case, in which case the thing to do is to try and save both. If it is impossible, then do all you can to save the mother Why? As I said before, if the mother dies, they both die!!
THE DISEASE REDUCTION ARGUMENT
Another nonsensical platitude given by the baby killers is that it reduces diseases The little darling might be prone to cancer, heart disease, or some other diseases So let's rub him out! These types of arguments border on complete stupidity. If we aborted every baby that "might" come up with a disease, who would be left?
Dr. Hymie Gorden, Chairman of the Dept. of Medical Genetics Mayo Clinic, Minnesota says,
"Talk about breeding out genetic diseases is a lot of nonsense. Seriously affected persons are unlikely to marry and have children; the genes are passed along by carriers. For instance, there are 40 carriers for every person with sickle cell anemia ... if every victim of this disease were eliminated, it would require 750 years just to cut the incidence in half; to stamp it out altogether would require 200,000 abortions for every 500,000 couples. Because each 'normal'person is the carrier of three of four bad genes, the only way to eliminate genetic diseases would be to sterilize or abort everybody."
It is absurd to see what extent these hedonists will go to get what they want. It is reminiscent of dealing with politicians. If they can't dazzle you with wit, they baffle you with bull.
Let's continue with more of the latter from the looney bin. They say it is just a good method of birth control. Why, no fake Jake? Ain't you the brilliant one? If you kill people off, you'll have less people! Now, there are many reasons given for controlling the population: not enough food, can't afford them, don't want them, and so on. Dr. Lewis L. Bock, Chief of the Personal Health Section State Division of Health Services, Releigh, N.C., says,
"Our abortion statistics show that people are choosing this as a major form of birth control. That to me, as a physician and a person, is barbaric. The major tragedy is that it is the affluent and middle class people who are looking to abortion as a birth control method."
This is enlightening, is it not? Those "poor ole black folk" shouldn't have to raise all them kids, So let's kill em off ! But, the truth is, it is the ones who CAN afford the kids who are having these kids killed just to keep from having them. COSMETIC ABORTION. "It might change my hormones and give me acne!!" How dreadfull!
To underscore it even further, Dr. C. Everett Koop. M.D., Surgeon General of the United States, and former Surgeon-in-Chief of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia says,
"When doctors are willing to become social executioners for millions of babies, we must examine what motives are used to justify their actions. Usually, reasons given include preserving the life of the mother, the expectation of a defective child, rape, and incest. Even if these were valid reasons, they would account for only 3% of all abortions. A full 97% of abortions occur for matters of convenience and economy."
Then what is the real reason for abortion? It's spelled M-0-N-E-Y. One of Dr. Nathanson's medical acquaintances earned $185,000 in eighteen months working ONLY ON THE WEEKENDS!! That was in 1979, you can imagine what it is now. In the yellow pages of Dallas, TX, abortion clinics are listed under "Birth Control. An investigation by the Chicago Tribune in 1978...
"Found many clinics in that city operating with 'doctors' who had no license to practice medicine. These people, in countless instances, were performing abortions on women who were not pregnant. This, of course, is not an example of 'murder for prof it, but the profit motive is much in evidence."
Now isn't that a new leaf to turn over. What they did was to give the young girl a pregnancy test, then tell them it is positive when it wasn't, then give them a fake "abortion" and charge them a bundle of dough !! Only in America! Barnum was right, "A sucker born every minute," they seem to be coming every second or so now days.
"Under United States law, unborn children have sued and been awarded damages for injuries from accidents (Torrigan v. Watertown News Co., 352 Mass. 446). Unborn children have inherited property, qualified for social security payments, and won damages after dying in the womb by means of suites filed in their behalf ("Abortion, the Practice of Medicine, and the Due Process of Law," UCLA Law Review 233, 1969). "Murder for fun" has no legal, logical, or moral leg to stand on."
Here's a good example of morality if you ever saw it.
" Perhaps the leading force in population control, however, is Planned Parenthood. Its Margaret Sanger advocated situational ethics and birth control 'to create a race of thoroughbreds' (BIRTH CONTROL REVIEW, November 1921). This forerunner of Hilter's eugenics movement also proclaimed that the most merciful thing that the large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it. (WOMEN AND THE NEW RACE). Today, Planned Parenthood does not use such forceful language, but rather more subtle terms, like advocating the need for "genetic counseling."
Planned Parenthood put out a supplement to FAMILY PLANNING PERSPECTIVES entitled, "Examples of Proposed Measures to Reduce U.S. Fertility, by Universality or Selectivity of Impact:
1. Universal Impact-restructure family, encourage increased homosexuality, educate for family limitation, fertility control agents in the water supply, encourage women to work.
2. Economic Impact-tax policies: marriage tax, child tax, additional on parents with more than one or two children in school.
3. Social Impact-compulsory sterilization of all who have two children except for a few who would be allowed three, confine childbearing to A limited number of adults, stock certificate type permits f or children, discouragement of private home ownership, stop awarding public housing on the basis of family size.
4. Measures Predicted on Existing Motivations-payment to encourage sterilization, abortion and contraception, along with allowing certain contraceptives to be distributed non-medically."
That is what a mess of your and my tax money is going for right now. The Planned Parenthood Federation gets grants and subsidies from the government to carry out these and other programs. Such as the school based health.clinics, where a girl can go and get transportation to an abortion clinic, without parental knowledge or consent, having the abortion and return in the same day with no one knowing but a few of the school officials.
I will close this chapter by quoting a well known lecturer in medical schools. He "asked one of his classes what they would recommend in the following case:
"The father had syphillus.
"The mother had TB.
"They had four children already.
"One was blind.
"One was born dead.
"One was a deaf mute.
"One had TB.
"The mother was pregnant with her fifth child.
"Almost without exception, the medical students indicated that they would recommend abortion.
"The lecturer then stated, 'Congratulations! You have just killed BEETHOVEN!'"
Abortion is murder, pure and simple to all but the amoral. To all who have honestly looked at the facts, there is but one Biblical, Biological or Moral conclusion, and that is abortion is murder.
For those of you who are still skeptical, you should at least take the honest position of President Ronald Reagan, when he advocated, if you are not 100% sure that the baby in the womb is not a living human being, you are bound to be anti-abortion. The logic is simple, if it is not human, what have you done? If it is a human being and you abort him, what have you done? Amen.
"If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death -and those that are ready to be slain: if thou sayest, behold, we knew it not doth not He that ponddreth that heart consider it?"
There is no neutral ground.
Conclusion
We have seen Biblically that abortion is murder. The verse used by many in Exodus 21:22 is even more significant. If you look at the Hebrew word, yeled, that is the root word and ALWAYS means a birth, or of a young child which is alive: not of a miscarriage. This is interesting because of the garbage being spewed out about the Greek and the Hebrew being superior to the English. Such terms as "pneuma" and "ruach" are not to be considered when speaking intelligent Bible believers. The argument spun off from these words and their similarities is really futile indeed., Wind and air are not the same as spirit. How do I know? Easy, one is spelled a-i-r and the other is s-p-i-r-i-t, things that are different are not the same. The argument from 'air' is just that, out of thin air. In every case where life is associated with air, the Bible is speaking of a grown man or animal.
We have also seen where life is not always given for life in Exodus 21 and the other verses make it abundantly clear that the unborn "child," as the Bible calls him, is completely alive.
We have seen from science and biology that the unborn baby is completely alive.
Curtis Young states,
"Through the 1960's, the American Medical Association's strong opposition to abortion was transformed into equally strong support for the procedure."
It kind of reminds me of Dr. Jerry Falwell's strong militant stand on racial segregation and staying out of politics in his early years and his about face on these issues, not because of the changing of the Bible but due to popular feelings. Many who now favor abortions are not in favor because of Biblical facts or because of biological facts but rather because of situation ethics. "What if it happened to your daughter?? Biology, as we have seen over and over substantiates the facts that life begins At conception. There are no other alternatives.
Morally we have seen the positions of so many who are not interested in whether the baby is alive or not. And most will even admit this. Their interest is in themselves. Betty Friedman of NOW (National Organization for Women) states,
"Women are not equal to men unless they are rid of child bearing responsibilities."
Along with this nut is another psychiatrist R. F. Gardner who says,
"Among the rights of the unborn child must be included the right of being wellborn."
What a loony!! The unborn have RIGHTS??? To be killed is their RIGHT??
Wish he had that right applied to him, don't you? These are examples of the kind of mentality we are dealing with.
The Center for Disease Control reports,
"Since 1969 there were 22,670, in 1980 1,297,606, according to the Center for Disease Control ... the recent figures are probably low due to underreporting."
"For every 1,000 babies born 359 are aborted."
That is about 1/3 of them! Among unmarried women in the US abortions now exceed live births by a ratio of 3:2.
Here is a breakdown in percentages of abortions on different groups:
White: 66.2 Black and others: 28.5
Married: 21.7 Unmarried: 72.4
Under 25: 63.8 25 or older: 34.7
Previous abortions: 30.9
No previous abortion: 64.4
Now just look at those statistics, they show you something. They show that the one most likely to have an abortion is a white girl under 25 and single. Talk about genocide The present life-styles for these young girls is put out on TV over and over again to be thin, sexy, and by all means NOT PREGNANT. They have been taught that whatever makes YOU happy is right. Regardless of the consequences. They have become irrational, since science and the Bible show definitely that abortion is murder, they will go ahead with it, anyway, just to fulfill their hedonistic desires. And since "we came from animals anyway," what difference does it make?
The actions of these young girls and women is only outdone in barbarism by the filthy greed of so called Doctors. They will kill for money. And not only kill, but torture while they are at it. Dr. Warren Hern and Bille Corrigan operate the busiest abortion practice in the Rocky Mt. states, the Boulder Abortion Clinic. They state themselves,
"We have reached a point in this particular technology where there is no possibility of denial of an act of destruction by the operator... The sensations of dismemberment flow through the forceps like an electric current. It is the crucible of a raging controversy."
The depravity and sadism of these "humans" is seen again in an account given by Mr. Young of a "Doctor" who was present at the abortion of a baby boy, "the boy was admittedly alive by the doctor-but taken to another operating room and dissected.
Again,
"One operation and experiment involved hooking up aborted infants to artificial placentas. Eight fetus', obtained by Caesarean section were placed in saline solution, tubes were inserted in the umbilical arteries. When the pumping in of oxygenated blood was terminated, the gasping increased, the heart slowed and eventually stopped."
These multiple murders won these "Doctors" the Foundation Prize Award from the American Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. They would be hung if they did that to a baby seal!
In a movie video called The Silent Scream which I have personally viewed, the baby tries to avoid forceps, little by little he is cut to pieces-head crushed extracted and reassembled on the outside to make sure they got all of the baby out. Commenting on the movie, Jim Edwards states,
"The film clearly depicts a frightened, tiny, human being struggling to escape the abortionists tools:"
Dr. Bernard Nathanson was narrator for the film, he was the founder of the National Abortion Rights Action League and had performed over 60,000 abortions himself.
"Dr. Nathanson owes his conversion in part to the wonders of ultrasound, which enables physicians to witness with the naked eye the death agonies of the infants whose lives were being ended by the healer's tool: The killer of the infant whose deaths described in the opening of this column served his internship under Dr. Nathanson's guidance, and the two physicians went on to become firm friends and colleagues. After Dr. Nathanson's conversion, his colleague continued to perform abortions, until witnessing the ultrasound film. One viewing of the footage was enough. Like the ultrasound technician, the doctor who had performed the abortion became so nauseated by what he had witnessed on the screen that he was forced to turn away in order to compose . himself. He has never performed another abortion."
This was not some distraught woman who was nauseated-it was a seasoned surgeon who had performed thousands of abortions-he knew 'what he just did-and quit!
And here we will finish the matter of this paper. It is not a complete treatment of the subject, by any means. It is enough, though, to give to the one who is seeking, not an easy way out, but the truth concerning many of the arguments pro and con concerning the issue of abortion. We have dealt with facts not just "situation" ethics. I hope the reader will take these to heart and give these facts and arguments a fair hearing. We sometimes are not sensitive to things that do not directly affect us. This is a plea to all who read, STOP AND THINK ABOUT WHAT IS GOING ON EVERY YEAR, ONE AND A HALF MILLION INNOCENT CHILDREN HAVE BEEN TORTURED, BUTCHERED AND THROWN IN THE GARBAGE THIS YEAR. IS IT NOTHING TO YOU? IS THERE NOT A CAUSE?
http://www.biblebelievers.com/Stocker1.html

Judge: Teacher violated kids' rights by calling creationism 'nonsense'
SANTA ANA, Calif. — A federal judge ruled that a public high school history teacher violated the First Amendment when he called creationism "superstitious nonsense" during a classroom lecture.
U.S. District Judge James Selna ruled Friday in a lawsuit student Chad Farnan filed in 2007, alleging that teacher James Corbett violated the establishment clause of the First Amendment by making repeated comments in class that were hostile to Christian beliefs.
The lawsuit cited more than 20 statements made by Corbett during one day of class, which Farnan recorded, to support allegations of a broader teaching method that "favors irreligion over religion" and made Christian students feel uncomfortable.
During the course of the litigation, the judge found that most of the statements cited in the court papers did not violate the First Amendment because they did not refer directly to religion or were appropriate in the context of the classroom lecture.
But Selna ruled Friday that one comment, where Corbett referred to creationism as "religious, superstitious nonsense," did violate Farnan's constitutional rights.
Selna wrote in his ruling that he tried to balance Farnan's and Corbett's rights.
"The court's ruling today reflects the constitutionally permissible need for expansive discussion even if a given topic may be offensive to a particular religion," the judge wrote.
"The decision also reflects that there are boundaries. ... The ruling today protects Farnan, but also protects teachers like Corbett in carrying out their teaching duties."
Corbett, a 20-year teaching veteran, remains at Capistrano Valley High School.
Farnan is now a junior at the school, but quit Corbett's Advanced Placement European history class after his teacher made the comments.
Farnan is not interested in monetary damages, said his attorney, Jennifer Monk of the Murrieta-based Christian legal group Advocates for Faith & Freedom.
Instead, he plans to ask the court to prohibit Corbett from making similar comments in the future. Farnan's family would also like to see the school district offer teacher training and monitor Corbett's classroom for future violations, Monk said.
There are no plans to appeal the judge's rulings on the other statements listed in the litigation, she said.
"They lost, he violated the establishment clause," she told The Associated Press in a phone interview. "From our perspective, whether he violated it with one statement or with 19 statements is irrelevant."
The establishment clause of the First Amendment prohibits the government from making any law establishing religion. The clause has been interpreted by U.S. courts to also prohibit government employees from displaying religious hostility.
Selna said that although Corbett was only found to have violated the establishment clause in a single instance, he could not excuse or overlook the behavior.
In a ruling last month, the judge dismissed all but two of the statements Farnan complained about, including Corbett's comment that "when you put on your Jesus glasses, you can't see the truth."
On Friday, Selna also dismissed one of the two remaining statements, saying that Corbett may have been attempting to quote Mark Twain when he said religion was "invented when the first con man met the first fool."
Corbett has declined to comment throughout the litigation. His attorney, Dan Spradlin, did not immediately return a message left Monday by The Associated Press.
Spradlin has said, however, that Corbett made the remark about creationism during a classroom discussion about a 1993 case in which a former Capistrano Valley High science teacher sued the school district because it required instruction in evolution.
Spradlin has said Corbett was simply expressing his own opinion that the former teacher shouldn't have presented his religious views to students.
Farnan's family released a statement Friday calling the judge's ruling a vindication of the teen's constitutional rights.
The Capistrano Unified School District, which paid for Corbett's attorney, was found not liable for Corbett's classroom conduct.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-05-06-creationism-teacher_N.htm

Study links viewing adult-themed TV to earlier sex in teens
Teens who watched adult-themed movies and television shows as children become sexually active at a younger age than their peers, a Children's Hospital Boston study finds.
It included 754 participants who were monitored during childhood and again five years later when they were aged 12 to 18. The earlier in their life they were exposed to adult content, the earlier they became sexually active.
For every hour of adult-targeted television or movies watched over two sample days by children when they were 6 to 8 years old, there was a 33% increased risk of becoming sexually active in early adolescence.
"Television and movies are among the leading sources of information about sex and relationships for adolescents. Our research shows that their sexual attitudes and expectations are influenced much earlier in life," lead author Dr. Hernan Delgado, a fellow in the Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine, said in a Children's Hospital news release.
"Adult entertainment often deals with issues and challenges that adults face, including the complexities of sexual relationships," co-author David Bickham, staff scientist in the Center on Media and Child Health, said in the news release.
"Children have neither the life experience nor the brain development to fully differentiate between a reality they are moving toward and a fiction meant solely to entertain," Bickham explained. "Children learn from the media, and when they watch media with sexual references and innuendos, our research suggests they are more likely to engage in sexual activity earlier in life."
The study was presented Monday at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting, in Baltimore.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-05-07-teen-sex-tv-movies_N.htm

Did you like 'Fireproof,' 'Facing the Giants'?
Here's another independent Christian movie out on DVD

---

Posted: March 24, 2009
11:14 pm Eastern
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

With the smashing success of Kirk Cameron's "Fireproof" and other similar films, Sony Pictures has released another independent Christian video – "Come What May," a drama about one of the most controversial issues of the day, abortion.

In the movie, Caleb, a student at Patrick Henry College, is caught up in a moral tug-of-war involving his parents, his desire to win the national moot court championship and his deepest convictions.

"Come What May" represents the dramatic directorial debut of homeschooling father and filmmaker George Escobar, who relied on a cast and production crew largely made up of students from the college.

Escobar formerly served as vice president of product development for discovery and executive director for AOL/Time Warner. He got his inspiration from movies such as "Fireproof" and "Facing the Giants," independent pictures with Christian themes and messages