An amazing political event in Canada proves prayer for government works, but Christians may need God’s secret weapon

Assist News | Canada is run by a minority government. The ruling Conservative party holds 144 of the 308 seats in the House of Commons and must rely on support from at least one opposition party (Liberal, Bloc or NDP) to govern. Since the combined opposition holds the balance of power they can, if agreed, pass motions forcing the government to take certain actions

This June (2010), Canada is hosting the G8 summit -– representing the eight wealthiest nations. As host, Prime Minister Stephen Harper plans to encourage G8 nations to provide financial support to women and children in impoverished nations.

When Harper -– an openly evangelical Christian -- announced abortion funding was not included in this initiative, the Liberals took action. They initiated a motion requiring Harper to include a “full range of family planning, sexual and reproductive health options” in his proposal. Though, it purposefully avoided mentioning abortion, it was clearly the underlining message.

The Right of Conscience in the Age of Obama

The American Spectator | Conscience violations have become common. Freedom2Care, a coalition of 46 groups organized by the Christian Medical Association (CMA), lists on its website more than 50 instances of discrimination against secretaries, physicians, pharmacists, and hospitals. The number is likely much higher as many medical professionals do not know conscience protections exist, and pressure prevents others from coming forward.

In an online survey conducted on behalf of the CMA, 32 percent of faith-based health care professionals reported having "been pressured to refer a patient for a procedure to which [they] had moral, ethical or religious objections," and 20 percent of faith-based medical students polled said they are "not pursuing a career in obstetrics or gynecology because of perceived discrimination and coercion in that field."

IN RESPONSE TO MOUNTING HOSTILITY to conscience rights, last December 19 President George W. Bush, through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), issued the Provider Conscience Regulation, which went into effect on January 20. It enforced existing federal conscience laws by requiring fund recipients to certify compliance and specifies a mechanism for investigating complaints

.... President Obama insists he is a "believer in conscience clauses." Speaking to Notre Dame graduates last May, he said, "Let's honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion." But he qualified his statement, saying he wanted to "draft a sensible conscience clause, and make sure that all of our health care policies are grounded in clear ethics and sound science, as well as respect for the equality of women."

What is Obama's definition of "sensible"? We asked Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA) about what an Obama conscience clause would look like. Pitts, a leading pro-life critic of President Obama, said "anything that Obama produces is going to be suspect. He doesn't speak the whole truth. He's liable to come back with a clause full of loopholes." (For full article)

Child abuse is a gay problem, says Vatican

SMH.com.au | The Vatican's Secretary of State - No. 2 to the Pope himself - has suggested the paedophilia crisis engulfing the Catholic Church is linked to homosexuality, not priests' celibacy.

During a press conference in Chile, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone also insisted that the church has never stymied investigation of priests accused of paedophilia.

''Many psychologists and psychiatrists have demonstrated that there is no relation between celibacy and paedophilia,'' the cardinal said. ''But many others have demonstrated, I have been told recently, that there is a relation between homosexuality and pedophilia. That is true. That is the problem.''

The cardinal's remarks have sparked a storm of controversy in Italy as well as Chile, where they were strongly criticised by politicians and medical experts, who accused the Secretary of State of ''vast generalisations''

Seven questions the media didn’t ask before smearing the Pope

Andrew Bolt | In fact, the Pope is innocent:

This was not a case in which a bishop wanted to discipline his priest and the Vatican official demurred. This was not a case in which a priest remained active in ministry, and the Vatican did nothing to protect the children under his pastoral care. This was not a case in which the Vatican covered up evidence of a priest’s misconduct. This was a case in which a priest asked to be released from his vows, and the Vatican-- which had been flooded by such requests throughout the 1970s—wanted to consider all such cases carefully. In short, if you’re looking for evidence of a sex-abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, this case is irrelevant

Phil Lawler identifies the seven questions editors failed to ask before passing on the smear:

• Was Cardinal Ratzinger responding to the complaints of priestly pedophilia? No. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which the future Pontiff headed, did not have jurisdiction for pedophile priests until 2001. The cardinal was weighing a request for laicization of Kiesle.

• Had Oakland’s Bishop John Cummins sought to laicize Kiesle as punishment for his misconduct? No. Kiesle himself asked to be released from the priesthood. The bishop supported the wayward priest’s application.

• Was the request for laicization denied? No. Eventually, in 1987, the Vatican approved Kiesle’s dismissal from the priesthood.

• Did Kiesle abuse children again before he was laicized? To the best of our knowledge, No. The next complaints against him arose in 2002: 15 years after he was dismissed from the priesthood.

• Did Cardinal Ratzinger’s reluctance to make a quick decision mean that Kiesle remained in active ministry? No. Bishop Cummins had the authority to suspend the predator-priest, and in fact he had placed him on an extended leave of absence long before the application for laicization was entered

Why do atheists get upset about moral evil ...

Culture Watch | Richard Dawkins and fellow God-hater Christopher Hitchens say they will prosecute the Pope for crimes against humanity. They say his handling of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church warrants such action. They want the Pope arrested when he arrives in Britain in September

... If naturalism is true, and we are all simply the product of nature, of blind evolution, and of genetic determinism, then how do genuine moral concerns arise? If atheists think theists have a problem with evil, it seems that they at least have a problem with goodness.

Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day 2010

12 April 2010 | Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoah in Hebrew) is a national day of commemoration in Israel, on which the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust are memorialized. It is a solemn day, beginning at sunset on the 27th of the month of Nisan and ending the following evening, according to the traditional Jewish custom of marking a day.

Places of entertainment are closed and memorial ceremonies are held throughout the country.

Address by PM Netanyahu at the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day opening ceremony

11 April 2010 | The State of Israel was born out of the ruins and the ashes, and today it impresses the entire world with the force of its creativity and innovation, with its advanced research and knowledge, with the momentum of its economy and with its free and democratic society..

Dawkins goes after Pope

Resistance Thinking | "Atheist campaigner Richard Dawkins has vowed to arrest the Pope for crimes against humanity.

Professor Dawkins has hired a team of lawyers to see if Pope Benedict XVI can be charged over his handling of the sexual abuse scandal engulfing the Roman Catholic Church, according to The Sunday Times.

Professor Dawkins, who wrote The God Delusion, claims that the Pope has shielded paedophile priests from the authorities.

However, he and fellow writer Christopher Hitchens believe they can make a case for arresting the Pope during the Pope's planned visit to Britain in September.

The decorated soldier and the preacher with a painful past

Assist News | It was extraordinary to see retired war hero and a preacher with a painful past, working together to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Coachella Valley of California.

General William G. “Jerry” Boykin, a retired three-star General, shared his testimony on the opening night of the Festival of Life Coachella Valley and then Mike MacIntosh told a hushed audience of about 12,000 people about how drugs had wrecked his early life.

“I was involved with LSD and one night a group of men took me into a room, put a bag over my head, and then I remember a gunshot going off,” said MacIntosh, who has been running these unique festivals for many years. “When I came around, I thought part of my head was blown away.”

UK General Election 2010: David Cameron says abortion limit should be lowered

Telegraph.co.uk | David Cameron has pledged to review Britain’s abortion laws and stop assisted suicide in moves designed to place religious issues at the forefront of the Conservative election campaign.

The Conservative leader said that he would personally favour reducing the abortion limit from 24 weeks to 20 or 22 weeks.

Under a package of reforms backed by Mr Cameron, faith schools would also be able to teach sex education as they wished.

The Conservative leader has laid out his plans in an interview with The Catholic Herald, one of his first interviews of the election campaign. It is understood that Mr Cameron’s aides requested the interview.

Abortion and other “faith” issues dominate American election campaigns and Mr Cameron’s focus on the subject is the latest indication of the growing use of US-style campaigning by the Conservatives.

Is Ancient Siberian a New Human Species?

by Brian Thomas, M.S. | Explorers in 2008 found a human finger bone in a remote cave in the Altai Mountains of Siberia. At first, the find sparked no great interest. A recent analysis of DNA that was carefully extracted from it, however, has some scientists speculating that it may represent a unique species of Ice Age human.

In a study reported online in Nature, researchers were able to sequence mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from the finger.1 This type of DNA is widely used in forensic analysis instead of the much longer nuclear chromosomes because of its stability, longevity, availability, and ease of processing. After comparing the sequence with those of 54 modern people and six Neandertals, the researchers found that “although a Neanderthal mtDNA genome differs from that of Homo sapiens at 202 nucleotide positions on average, the Denisova Cave sample differed at an average of 385 positions.”

USA: Groups Blast Obama's Appointment of Gay Activist

The Christian Post | Conservative and Christian groups are increasingly voicing opposition to President Obama's recent recess appointment of a homosexual activist to his administration.

Chai Feldblum, a lesbian Georgetown University Law Center professor, was appointed over the weekend as commissioner on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

"She is way beyond what most Americans would consider mainstream," said Shari Rendall, director of Legislation and Public Policy at Concerned Women for America, in a statement Tuesday.

Feldblum, who was nominated by Obama in September, is the primary author of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act which would make it illegal for employers to make decisions on hiring, firing, promoting or paying an employee based on sexual orientation. Religious employers have argued that they themselves would be discriminated against under ENDA.

... "From her own account, Feldblum would have a difficult time ever deciding that religious liberties should trump homosexual rights," said Rendall.

Obama blasted for 'browbeating' Israeli PM

 Israel says it will continue building in east Jerusalem, despite pressure from the Obama administration to end construction in areas the Palestinians claim for their future state. A statement from Netanyahu's office on Friday said "the prime minister's position is that there is no change in Israeli policy on Jerusalem."

Various press reports described Obama's meeting with Netanyahu as a "dressing down" and humiliation of the prime minister during his recent visit to Washington, DC.

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