We have added generic images to the right margin of some stories to help you scan topics of interest quickly (Relating to: Environment, Marriage, Domestic Violence, Drug Use, Pro-Life, Euthenasia, Stem Cell Research, Creation/Evolution, Terrorism, Sexuality, Islam, Freedom of Religion, Speech)
Please Pray for the Reformation of the Nations
as well as for Australia.
VIDEO: David D'Or & Dudu Fisher Sing for the Pope
May 2009 | An absolutely beautiful musical presentation
- David D'Or and Dudu Fisher sang for the Pope at the home of Shimon Peres in Jerusalem recently
USA: Obama's First 100 Days: The anti-life plan is now established
LifeSiteNews.com | On the most important cultural issue of all, the equality and dignity of all human beings before God, President Obama represents the greatest threat today. His leadership is being hailed as a sign of hope across the world and welcomed with open arms. He has a 100 per cent approval rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America, the U.S.'s leading pro-abortion organization. That rating is based on a record of consistently voting against the unborn.
Obama has told Planned Parenthood he regards so-called choice as "a fundamental issue" on which he will not yield. He voted against an Induced Infant Liability Act in the Illinois legislature in 2002; this would have given legal protection and medical assistance to babies born from botched abortions. He also voted against banning partial-birth abortion in the Senate in October 2007.
On another key issue, the integrity of the traditional family, in 2004 Obama called the Defence of Marriage Act an "abhorrent law" and added: "The repeal of DOMA is essential ... For the record, I opposed DOMA in 1996. It should be repealed and I will vote for its repeal on the Senate floor. I will also oppose any proposal to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban gays and lesbians from 'marrying.'"
"We must be careful to keep our eyes on the prize - equal rights for every American," he has told homosexual activists. "We must continue to fight for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). We must vigorously expand hate-crime legislation and be vigilant about how these laws are enforced. We must continue to expand adoption rights to make them consistent and seamless throughout all 50 states and we must repeal the 'don't ask, don't tell' military policy."
UK: Bishop of Rochester 'doing the BNP's work'
29/05 Telegraph.co.uk| The Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, this week issued a powerful critique of modern society which he said had begun with the liberal reforms of the 1960s.
He claimed the influence of Christianity had been practically wiped out in recent decades, destroying Britishness and leading to the breakdown in family life and an increase in drunkenness and violence.
The bishop, a leading conservative who believes the Church of England should be doing more to convert Muslims, then warned that radical Islam is starting to fill the "moral vacuum" left by the decline in Christianity, which could lead to different values taking hold.
But his words have been condemned by some groups who have accused him of spreading fear and intolerance, and of putting across a similar message to the far-right British National Party.
Global Day of Prayer - 31st May 2009
Following the example of the first believers who "joined together constantly" in prayer (Acts 1:14) until the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the Global Day of Prayer is calling Christians from all nations to unite in prayer.
Visit the GDOP website for more information
Terrorists bomb Pakistan spy agency
27/05 The Australian | TERRORISTS bombed a police complex housing Pakistan's spy service in Lahore yesterday, killing at least 23 people and injuring more than 200.
The car bomb sheared the walls off buildings at the Capital City Police Office in Lahore's Mall Road, 500m from the High Court, and destroyed surrounding cars and buildings over a wide perimeter. Police and rescue workers were pulling bodies out of the rubble last night as troops locked down the centre of the city.
MPs' prestige at low ebb - Carey
Parliament's moral authority has slumped to its "lowest ebb in living memory", former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey has said.
Lord Carey told the News of the World that recent leaked reports about MPs' expenses had shaken trust in politics. He said the revelations had exposed the "clawing greed" at the heart of Westminster's "culture of abuse". Some MPs who were the subject of Daily Telegraph articles about expenses have insisted the stories were inaccurate.
UK: Cranmer Blog - Churches will be forced to employ homosexual youth workers
22/05 Cranmer Blog - That is the alarmist claim in The Daily Telegraph. No high-profile mention of synagogues, mosques, gurdwaras, mandirs or viharas. Not that the viharas would mind much.
But the focus of the effects of Labour’s Equality Bill is very much on its incompatibility with Christian orthodoxy and Church tradition. One wonders why, when the headline ‘Mosques will be forced to employ homosexual youth workers’ would have clarified the absurdity of the Government’s agenda, and doubtless sold more copy.
Before Cranmer continues, he seeks the advice of his communicants: may one use the word ‘homosexual’ any longer? Or is it, like the term ‘Roman Catholic’, considered by some practitioners to be derogatory or pejorative? Is ‘gay’ more gay-friendly?
Maria Eagle is the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Government Equalities Office. She is the twin sister of Angela Eagle, who holds the distinction of being Parliament's first, and thus far only, openly lesbian member. Nothing whatsoever wrong with that: where Ms Eagle soars in her own time, and whither she ducks and dives in the privacy of her own home, is absolutely nothing to do with the State.
Unless, perhaps, Maria Eagle’s equalities agenda be influenced my sensitivities to familial loyalties.
The Equalities Bill does not go as far as forcing churches to employ homosexual priests, vicars or pastors: the State will graciously continue to permit those who preach the Word to live it. But churches may no longer discriminate against homosexuals youth workers, secretaries and other staff, even if their tradition holds same-sex relationships to be sinful.
It has been observed in recent years that that Christians are being disproportionately affected and unfairly targeted by discrimination laws. Christian leaders had hoped that churches would be exempt from the provisions of the Equality Bill, but Maria Eagle has stated that it will cover almost all church employees. She addressed delegates at a London conference for ‘Faith, Homophobia, Transphobia (that’s a new one) and Human Rights’, and told them:
The circumstances in which religious institutions can practise anything less than full equality are few and far between. While the state would not intervene in narrowly ritual or doctrinal matters within faith groups, these communities cannot claim that everything they run is outside the scope of anti-discrimination law. Members of faith groups have a role in making the argument in their own communities for greater LGBT acceptance, but in the meantime the state has a duty to protect people from unfair treatment.’
What about protecting Christians from ‘unfair treatment’? Or is it ‘fair’ that church adoption agencies may be forced to prefer homosexual adoptive parents; or Christian unions may be led by non-believers; or Christians lose their jobs for merely offering to pray with someone, or suspended for daring to oppose ‘gay marriage’? ....
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3D porn to revolutionise industry
LiveNews.com..au | Hong Kong film makers are preparing to leave filmgoers goggle-eyed by releasing the world's first pornographic movie in 3D, a news report said on Sunday.
Shooting on the Chinese-language film 3D Sex And Zen, budgeted at 4 million US dollars, is scheduled for April with producers promising some of the most realistic close-up sex scenes ever.
Christians Pressed as Pakistani Military Battles Taliban
Assist News |
Pakistani Christians in Swat Valley are caught between the Taliban and Pakistan’s military as it assaults the stronghold where sharia (Islamic law) rules.
Compass Direct News reported in a recent story that almost 15,000 troops have been deployed in the picturesque Swat Valley in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and neighboring Afghanistan. Troops came after months of peace negotiations collapsed between the Taliban Islamist insurgents who have imposed sharia in the valley and the central government last month. Hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis have fled the war-ravaged area for fear of a full military assault.
Human Rights Group Calls on UN and ASEAN to Send Envoys to Burma in the Case of Myanmar Noble Peace Laureate Charged with Violating Terms of House Arrest
Assist News | Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was charged Thursday with violating the terms of her house arrest after an American man swam across a lake to sneak into her home, her lawyer said
According to www.MSNBC.com news sources, Suu Kyi, 63, whose latest detention period was set to end May 27, could face a prison term of up to five years if convicted, said lawyer Hla Myo Myint. The trial is scheduled to start Monday at a special court at Yangon's notorious Insein Prison, where she was arraigned Thursday.
UK: Douglas Carswell for Speaker
22/05 Cranmer Blog | The name Douglas Carswell will go down in history as the man who changed the course of British democracy by initiating the Great Reform of Parliament in 2009. By nailing his 95 theses to the door posting his motion upon his blog, he confronted Parliament’s indulgences and disputed the erroneous claim of MPs that freedom from punishment by the gods of the electorate could be purchased with patio sets, bathplugs, plasma televisions or mock-Tudor beams.
It is only because of his dogged determination, his noble tenacity, his self-sacrificial campaign for accountability and his desire to restore honour and integrity to Parliament that we have witnessed the ejection of only the second Speaker of the House of Commons in Parliament’s long history. Any who reflect upon the first occasion in 1695 will hear the name of Speaker Trevor, but those who exposed and deposed him are long-forgotten; shrouded in the remoteness of yesteryear. But Douglas Carswell will long be remembered as a true Whig who sought to restore the sovereignty of Parliament; a noble Roundhead who confronted the courtly fashions of a cavalier rump of self-serving politicians; and a radical reformer with the virtue and zeal of Josiah.
Douglas Carswell has only been in Parliament since 2005. In just four years he has achieved more than the vast majority achieve in forty. His passion to restore honour and integrity to Parliament has not been pursued for selfish ends: indeed, David Cameron informed him that, as a consequence of his political beliefs on European Union, he would never serve on the Conservative Party’s front bench. And neither has Mr Carswell pursued his quests for party political purposes: he defies the party whip when he needs to, preferring to prioritise the interests of his constituents. In short, Douglas Carswell is an independently-minded democrat and a true servant of the people. He may be a ‘maverick’ or a whip’s nightmare, but he is a politician of conviction and Parliament needs more of them..... (Scroll down for full article)
UK: Is the Queen about to dissolve Parliament?
17/05 Cranmer Blog | Her Majesty has exercised little of her constitutional powers over Parliament during her 57 year reign. She has dutifully granted Royal Assent to thousands of Bills, some of which must have stretched her Christian conscience to the limits. She has performed the bidding of her ministers in dissolving Parliament, opening Parliament, and summoning party leaders to ask if they are able to form a government. But although much of her power has become theoretical, subsumed to procedural convention, she does retain the constitutional right to warn her prime minister on any matter she sees fit.
It appears that she is concerned that the corrosive revelations of the corrupt behaviour of MPs is doing for the reputation of Parliament what the response of the Royal Family to the death of Diana Princess of Wales almost did for the institution of Monarchy. Trust and confidence have evaporated. Parliament is paralysed, and its future is in jeopardy. Public outrage can easily be whipped up into revolutionary dissent, and drastic action must be taken to avert mass revolt and social disorder. We are not quite in the Paris of 1789, but we are long last past Downing Street of 1990 and fast approaching the Brixham of 1688. We only lack Seven Bishops or an ‘immortal seven’ politicians. Commoners have been known to get rid of lords and kings, and backbenchers have brought down prime ministers. It is time for another Glorious Revolution – for ‘religion, liberty, property and a free Parliament’.
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BBC names first Muslim head of religious programmes
12/05 | The BBC has appointed its first Muslim head of religious programming, in a move likely to further raise concerns within the Church of England that Christian views were being sidelined.
Aaqil Ahmed will join the state-funded broadcaster from privately run Channel 4 television and take up a new joint role of Head of Religion and Ethics and Commissioning Editor for Religion TV, the BBC announced Monday.
Ahmed commissioned programmes examining both Christianity and Islam for Channel 4, as well as the BAFTA-winning documentary "Saving Africa's Witch Children" about children in poor parts of Nigeria being blamed for witchcraft.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, the leader of the world's Anglicans, was reported last month to have told BBC Director-General Mark Thompson that he feared the "Christian voice" was being marginalised.
UK: Controversial pro-euthanasia activist holds his first DIY suicide workshop in UK
Christian Concern for the Nation CCFON |A controversial pro-euthanasia campaigner from Australia, dubbed Dr Death, brought the first of his suicide workshops to the UK. He is preparing to give talks on suicide methods at venues across the UK after being allowed into the country. He has a seven-day visa and with his partner Fiona Short intends to visit Brighton, Stroud and Glasgow to give his presentations.
Dr Philip Nitschke, 61, from Darwin, is the founder of 'right-to-die' organisation Exit International. He was questioned at Heathrow Airport earlier but was allowed to enter the country. His long standing campaign for euthanasia to be legalised has already helped four patients to kill themselves when the practice was legal in the North Territory in 1996, before the law was overturned nine months later in March 1997 by the Federal Government
‘Jim Wallace on American politics and the risks of party partisanship
The May 2009 ACL Monthly newsletter includes a column from ACL Managing Director Jim Wallace about American politics and the need for Australian Christians engaging in politics to avoid party partisanship and pursue issues on their merit. Below is Jim’s column:
“I recently spent a short time in the USA and visited some Christian and family advocacy groups.
The mood was sombre, to say the least, in the face of what many saw as Barack Obama’s rejection of the Christian faith he had used to obtain votes during the election.
The expansion of human embryo stem cell research, the removal of the ban on the use of aid money for abortions, and strong support for gay marriage, all added to this seemingly accurate perception.
At the same time, though, there was recognition that Christians had not achieved all they had hoped for out of the Republicans, despite a generally strong alignment that way in the engagement of the American Christians and politics.
It was a strong reinforcement for me that the Church in Australia must avoid party partisanship and pursue issues on their merit and with an expectation that parties will show their Christian credentials by supporting them.
It also reinforced that we cannot allow parties to force us into the false dichotomy of: left is for social justice and right is for righteousness. The reality is that Christians must pursue both and in equal measure, placing us squarely in the centre of even this false paradigm.
However parties must learn that there are electoral consequences for bad policies and actions. Concerning legislation passed recently in places such as Victoria simply cannot be accepted. The Church needs to unite in action to ensure governments are held to account.”
Jim Wallace AM
Managing Director
To read the full May 2009 ACL Monthly newsletter please click here -
PAKISTAN: Army: 55 militants killed in Pakistan fighting
03/05 AAP | Pakistani troops backed by attack helicopters stepped up an operation to push the Taliban farther away from the capital Friday, saying they killed at least 55 fighters. But the government was resisting Western pressure to expand the crackdown and abandon peace talks with militants who want to impose their brand of Islam across this nuclear-armed country.
The army launched the drive to retake Buner, a poor, hilly region just 60 miles from Islamabad, on Tuesday after Taliban from the neighboring Swat Valley overran it under cover of a controversial peace pact.
The Obama administration has welcomed the assault. It views the Swat deal, which calls for the imposition of Islamic law in the surrounding area of northwest Pakistan bordering Afghanistan, as a surrender to allies of al-Qaida. And it has expressed growing doubts about Pakistan's stability as the Taliban have edged closer to Islamabad.
Washington is particularly concerned because it considers stability in Pakistan — and rooting out its militant sanctuaries — critical to success in the Afghan war.
MALAYSIA: Malaysia opens door to foreign Islamic finance firms
01/05 ALB Legal News | Malaysia will permit up to five foreign law firms to set up local offices as part of a partial liberalisation of its formerly restricted legal industry. To promote the country as an Islamic finance hub, the Malaysian government has decided to allow up to five foreign law firms specialising in Islamic finance to set up local offices. However, the firms will not be allowed to branch out into other practice areas, restricted to advising only on Islamic finance transactions.
In a move similar to the Singapore government's recent QFLP licence grants, foreign firms' applications will be judged on their "credibility" and the business plan of their Malaysian office.
USA: Clinton to Iraqis: US not going to abandon you
AAP | U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton sought to assure Iraqis on Saturday that the Obama administration would not abandon their country even as it presses ahead with plans to withdraw American troops amid a recent surge in violence. Clinton said the drawdown would be handled in a "responsible and careful way" and would not affect efforts to improve Iraq's security forces, or complete reconstruction and development projects.
But Iraqis, and particularly their security forces, need to overcome sectarian and other differences if they are to build a united, secure nation, she said. "Let me assure you and repeat what President Obama said, we are committed to Iraq, we want to see a stable, sovereign, self-reliant Iraq," she told a nervous but receptive crowd at a town hall meeting at the U.S. Embassy in the capital.
Events:
AUSTRALIA: Training tomorrow's leaders
There is a great need in this nation to assist those students and recent graduates who demonstrate a high potential to become influential leaders for Christ across strategic areas of our nation including politics, law, media, science, education, arts and philosophy.
The Compass program, an eight-day course in Christian worldview, aims to address this need.
The inaugural program kicks off this Sunday with 40 students at the University of Queensland. For more information and to register interest for 2009, please go to www.compass.org.au .
Lyle Shelton
National Chief of Staff , Australian Christian Lobby
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USA: Obama's First 100 Days: The anti-life plan is now established
"We must be careful to keep our eyes on the prize - equal rights for every American," he has told homosexual activists. "We must continue to fight for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). We must vigorously expand hate-crime legislation and be vigilant about how these laws are enforced. We must continue to expand adoption rights to make them consistent and seamless throughout all 50 states and we must repeal the 'don't ask, don't tell' military policy."
29/05 Telegraph.co.uk
27/05 The Australian
22/05 Cranmer Blog
3D porn to revolutionise industry
Human Rights Group Calls on UN and ASEAN to Send Envoys to Burma in the Case of Myanmar Noble Peace Laureate Charged with Violating Terms of House Arrest
17/05 Cranmer Blog
BBC names first Muslim head of religious programmes
Christian Concern for the Nation CCFON |
The expansion of human embryo stem cell research, the removal of the ban on the use of aid money for abortions, and strong support for gay marriage, all added to this seemingly accurate perception.
