Our Facebook Youth & Abortion

"Im still thinkin if I shuld abort dis or not"

I am utterly speechless...

Parents Killing Children

A woman who said she strangled her 18-year-old daughter because she "pushed my last button" pleaded guilty Tuesday to first-degree manslaughter.

Her husband, who discovered the body, wept during the court session.

You can read the rest here.

Are our children really so defiant as to deserve death? That is the question that I first thought of when I read this article. I then quickly concluded that our children are only as defiant as we allow them to be. I would be curious to know how this girl was raised. Was she allowed to backtalk? Was she allowed to disobey without consequence? Did she only have to obey when the parents where so frustrated that they disciplined her in anger? Of course, I don't know the answers to those questions and it would benefit her not on this side of the situation. However, it should cause us to think about how we raise our children and the laxity of our current society's emphasis on discipline and the lack of weight given to any one set of morals and values. If you choose to teach your child that something is of value that isn't materialistic, you run the risk of being labeled extremist or intolerant. If you choose not to instill within your children any set of values or morals you run the risk of destroying your family either by the situation that played out in this article or some lesser form thereof, or by abdication and apathy corrupting the family bonds, but I digress...

My condolences to the father who now must endure the loss of a child and a wife.

Here are some questions:
-Is the state of our youth in the hands of their parents?
-Should the state enact legislation to help stressed mothers cope with undisciplined youths as a state funded service (similar to how Memphis responded to this situation)?
-How do we, as parents and citizens, remedy this epidemic of unruly teens or is it too late?

Too Little & Too Much To Know?

So while there are plenty of good books by scientist-atheists, they sometimes under-emphasise the main lesson from science: that our knowledge is vastly outstripped by our ignorance. For me, a life in science prompts awe and exploration over dogmatism.

Given these considerations, I do not call myself an atheist. I don't feel that I have enough data to firmly rule out other interesting possibilities. On the other hand, I do not subscribe to any religion. Traditional religious stories can be beautiful and often crystallise hard-won wisdom - but it is hardly a challenge to poke holes in them. Religious structures are built by humans and brim with all manner of strange human claims - they often reflect cults of personality, xenophobia or mental illness. The holy books of these religions were written millennia ago by people who never had the opportunity to know about DNA, other galaxies, information theory, electricity, the big bang, the big crunch, or even other cultures, literatures or landscapes.

So it seems we know too little to commit to strict atheism, and too much to commit to any religion.

You can read more here.

Thoughts?

Preacher Jailed For Calling Homosexuality A Sin

Dale McAlpine was charged with causing “harassment, alarm or distress” after a homosexual police community support officer (PCSO) overheard him reciting a number of “sins” referred to in the Bible, including blasphemy, drunkenness and same sex relationships.
The 42-year-old Baptist, who has preached Christianity in Wokington, Cumbria for years, said he did not mention homosexuality while delivering a sermon from the top of a stepladder, but admitted telling a passing shopper that he believed it went against the word of God.
Police officers are alleging that he made the remark in a voice loud enough to be overheard by others and have charged him with using abusive or insulting language, contrary to the Public Order Act.

You can read the rest here.

Some questions:
-Should people be arrested for saying homosexuality is a sin?
-Who determines what is okay to say and what isn't?
-Should this section of the Public Order Act pertain to those who preach scripture?
-Should pastors/preachers be more careful with the things they say so as not to offend anyone?

God Loves The Poor More Than The Rich?

Father Tim Jones, 41, broke off from his traditional annual sermon yesterday to tell his flock that stealing from large chains is sometimes the best option for vulnerable people.

It is far better for people desperate during the recession to shoplift than turn to 'prostitution, mugging or burglary', he said.

The married father-of-two insisted his unusual advice did not break the Bible commandment 'Thou shalt not steal' - because God's love for the poor outweighs his love for the rich.

You can read the rest here.

Some questions:
-Biblically does his advice have any foothold?
-Biblically is it ever okay to steal?
-How should this shepherd lead his people in regards to handling hard times? Perhaps this? Or this? Maybe even this?
-Is his argument even a logical argument for not breaking the commandment?
-Does God love the poor more? If so, why?

US Senator Boxer On Abortion & The Health Care Bill

"Why are women being singled out here? It's so unfair," Boxer said on the Senate floor Tuesday. "We don't tell men that if they want to ... buy insurance coverage through their pharmaceutical plan for Viagra that they can't do it."
Boxer was weighing in against an amendment offered by Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., that would greatly restrict abortion services for women buying individual insurance through a new health care insurance exchange. Although the amendment was rejected in a 54-45 vote, it was not the last word on the issue.

You can read the rest here.

Some questions:
-Is this a legitimate argument?
-Is abortion really a woman's right?

-Does the child/embroyo/fetus have rights? If so, who is to defend them?
-How do you define abortion?
-Is this an abortion, or is this? ***GRAPHIC WARNING***

-Why do you think she changed her position after years on the other side?

Pro Choice Turned Pro Life

The director of a Planned Parenthood clinic in southeast Texas quit her job and is supporting a pro-life organization after watching an ultrasound of an abortion.

Abby Johnson, 29, worked at the abortion clinic for eight years and told FoxNews.com she had been "extremely pro-choice" during that time. That all changed in September when she watched an ultrasound of an unborn baby being vacuumed out of a woman's uterus. She quit in early October.

You can read the rest here.

Some questions:
-What would it take to change your stance on abortion (either way)?
-If you are pro choice, how is abortion justifiable in your mind?
-Do you think protesting outside abortion clinics is an effective means to stop abortions?

Right To Life Denied Under State Run Health Care

She said: 'When he was born, he put out his arms and legs and pushed himself over.
A midwife said he was breathing and had a strong heartbeat, and described him as a "little fighter".
I kept asking for the doctors but the midwife said, "They won't come and help, sweetie. Make the best of the time you have with him".'
She cuddled her child and took precious photos of him, but he died in her arms less than two hours after his birth.
Miss Capewell, who has a five-year-old daughter Jodie, went into labour in October last year at 21 weeks and four days after suffering problems during her pregnancy.
She said she was told that because she had not reached 22 weeks, she was not allowed injections to try to stop the labour, or a steroid injection to help to strengthen her baby's lungs.
Instead, doctors told her to treat the labour as a miscarriage, not a birth, and to expect her baby to be born with serious deformities or even to be still-born.
She told how she begged one paediatrician, 'You have got to help', only for the man to respond: 'No we don't.'
As her contractions continued, a chaplain arrived at her bedside to discuss bereavement and planning a funeral, she claims.
She said: 'I was sitting there, reading this leaflet about planning a funeral and thinking, this is my baby, he isn't even born yet, let alone dead.'
After his death she even had to argue with hospital officials for her right to receive birth and death certificates, which meant she could give her son a proper funeral.

You can read more here.

You can read Jayden's story here.

Some questions:
-Should an arbitrary date be the determiner of who is treated and who is not?
-Do you agree with the decision made here?
-How should one determine who should get treatment and who should not? Or should the default be that everyone get treatment?
-Thoughts?

Michael Jackson Tribute During Church Service

Some questions:
-What is a church service for?
-What should take place in a church service- biblically?
-Does this have a place in Church?
-Would this be okay in your church? Should it?

A Dollar A Day Keeps The Babies Away?

A buck-a-day -- that's the incentive being offered to young girls to keep them from getting pregnant.
The group College-Bound Sisters was founded at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro by Hazel Brown, a maternity nurse who thought too many teens were having babies.
Brown said she hopes the program, which pays $1 each day to 12-to-18-year-old girls, will keep them from getting pregnant. In addition to remaining pregnancy-free, the girls must also attend weekly meetings.
The program is funded by a four-year grant from the state.

You can read the rest here.

Some questions:
-Money talks yes?
-Would you allow your daughter to participate in this tax-payer funded program?
-How do you feel about giving money to other people's daughters?
-Should men be offered the same incentive for not impregnating a girl/woman to ensure there is no discrimination?

A thought:
It would seem that the logic breaks down. Young boys and girls are being promiscuous. We don't want them to have children. We, as tax payers, will pay them a dollar a day to ensure they do not carry a child full term.

The logic should be: Young boys and girls are being promiscuous. We don't want them to have children. We, as parents, instill within them values that promote respectable behavior. Throwing money at the situation is not the answer. Parents being parents is.

Relativism's True End

A Las Vegas man (Jonathan Weaver) tied up and abandoned his girlfriend's two children so he could watch the NBA Finals at a nearby bar, police said.

The children are 1 and 2 years old.

Police said Weaver didn’t think leaving the children was a big deal “because they have had campouts inside” the garage.

You can read the rest here.

Some questions:
-Why? Why would anyone think this is okay? Really, why? Even if one tried to convince themselves that there is no ultimate truth to which we are subjected, surely something within that person would have to tell them this is "wrong" yes?
-If you are the pregnant girlfriend Amy, what is your next move in this situation?
-What should his punishment be?
-Why do some elevate sports watching to such a level that things like riots happen and people tie up and gag children in their garage?
-If you had 15 minutes with this guy, what would you tell him?

It's Funny To Torture Children

A Salem man was arrested Tuesday for putting an electric dog collar on each of his four children and shocking them.

Todd Marcum, 41, said he did it "because he thought it was funny," Salem Police Lt. Dave Okada said.

You can read the rest here.

Seriously? Because it was funny? I usually hold my opinion for discussion but... well... I will pray for him and his children.

Here are some great free resources on dealing with children that are indeed glorifying to God. (mp3 at the top right)

Session 1. God Centered Bible Teaching to the Glory of God.
Session 2. Raising Bible Saturated Children.
Session 3. Aiming for Application and Response in Teaching Children the Bible.

Marriage Between A Man & A Woman Only Sparks Outrage

Miss California, Carrie Prejean, said "We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite. And you know what, I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised."

"As co-director of the Miss California USA, I am personally saddened and hurt that Miss California believes marriage rights belong only to a man and a woman," said Lewis in a statement. "I believe all religions should be able to ordain what unions they see fit. I do not believe our government should be able to discriminate against anyone and religious beliefs have no politics in the Miss California family."

You can read more here.

Some questions:
-Why do you think that her opinion "saddened" Keith Lewis who runs the pageant?
-Does she have a right to express her opinion?
-What were the alternatives? Lie? Dodge the question like a politician?
-What should she have done when asked the question?
-Is marriage a construct of the state? Should it be?
-Do you think marriage should be broadened to include homosexuals? Why or why not?

PETA (People for Euthanizing Their Animals)

According to public records from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, PETA killed 2,124 pets last year and placed only seven in adoptive homes. Since 1998, a total of 21,339 dogs and cats have died at the hands of PETA workers.

Despite having a $32 million budget, PETA does not operate an adoption shelter. PETA employees make no discernible effort to find homes for the thousands of pets they kill every year. Last year, the Center for Consumer Freedom petitioned Virginia’s State Veterinarian to reclassify PETA as a slaughterhouse.

The truth hurts sometimes.

You can read the rest here.

Some questions:
-Does this change your view of PETA?
-How does this fit into their mission statement?
-Does this even matter?

You've Gotta Be Kidding Me!

The new politically correct, culturally sensitive definition of mother: One who throws all moral cautions to the wind and tries to find anyone to sleep with her son in a bid to help him lose his virginity so he can say he has lived a full life!

So, let's say he loses his virginity, then what? Next up he steals something (to add to his fullness of life) and then off to murder a random stranger so as to check another one off the list? Seriously, what makes her, the mother, think that this will help him to live a full life? Really think about it. If sex fulfilled us, then happiness would be rooted in sex. Statistics show that sex does not fulfill or else psych doctors would prescribe it.

'I don't have a problem with any of it,' she said. 'He's going to Las Vegas for a few days to promote himself as an actor so who knows, he might get lucky over there. When he gets back home I've lined up a few dating agencies for him to join. I always encourage him to go to nightclubs and other places where people pick up women.

You can read more here.

The Outrage! Going From Gay To Straight

The title of his song [Luke was gay], implying that some gays can change to heterosexuality, was sufficient to destabilize the Italian gay movement. Gay activists threatened to block the festival, and Europarlimentary member Vittorio Agnoletto asked for a European resolution to stop Povia from peforming the song. Povia, himself, received death threats. The gay association "Everyone" denounced Povia to the Procura of the Republic for alleged "homophobia." These efforts failing, gay activists then asked the Festival organizers to "counterbalance" Povia with a song by a gay singer, about "the perfection of homosexual love." That effort too, failed.

I find it a strange twist in irony when a group of people who long for acceptance, who wish so terribly to move past tolerance and into open acceptance, do the very thing they despise to another group of people as they are seen as a hindrance to their agenda.

Tolerance is a politically correct term; it gets used the same way politicians use our political system: for self gain. It has no usefulness other than it is a way for one group to "progress" to where other groups have already socially/culturally arrived or always been. However, when a group that is contrary to your stance rallies around the banner of tolerance, they are threatened and all that can be done to marginalize them will be done.

This goes to show the true nature of humanity. It goes to show that we are in need of something, someone outside ourselves that can help us to understand and know what true love really is. Once we learn to love, tolerance will no longer be a banner that some will carry. However, I fear that us learning to love will not occur on this side of death.

Ht: Stand to Reason

You can read more here.
You can watch the video here (the quicktime version has subtitles for the lyrics).
***Another interesting story can be read here that shows the irrational lengths that one homosexual person went to enjoy the benefits of a heterosexual marriage.***

Some questions:
-Why would the oppressed turn to oppression- does this not contradict all that they stand for?
-What is a Christian's role in all of this?
-Is homosexuality a sin? Biblically is it a sin?
-In regards to the article, why do you think the crowd hissed at the pro gay speaker after the song was completed?
-

Darwin The Disturber

I was doing some reading on Darwin and came across this article by Susan Jacoby. Of course, it is slanted and opinionated but what isn't? I wanted to pull some quotes from it and post them here for you. If you have time, feel free to read the whole article; it is linked at the bottom.

This lasting "disturber effect" is, I would argue, one of the most convincing proofs of Darwin's genius. People don't get all riled up, 150 years after the fact, by bland, small, discredited ideas.

This same logic could be applied to Christianity as well yes?

This logic [evolution is the mechanism by which God chose to set in motion the development of his creatures, ending in man]does not, of course, explain why a supreme being would choose such an inefficient process as evolution to arrive at the human species--or why he would choose to bind us to evolutionary forces--such as our desire to consume large amounts of animal fat--that were once useful for the survival of the species but no longer are. Another element of the religion-science compromise, articulated not only by religious thinkers but by scientists like the late Stephen Jay Gould, argues that science and religion are merely "different ways of knowing." I don't agree with this formulation. Science is not really a way of "knowing" but a method of inquiry seeking knowledge that is never final and always modfiiable by new discoveries. Religion is not a way of knowing but, ultimately, a matter of belief that, at some point--regardless of how much material evidence a particular faith is willing to incorporate--relies on non-evidence of a non-material existence.

There are a lot of presuppositions in the first part of this quote is there not?

...Darwin was a man who--without any of the tools of modern science and technology, without the support of the MacArthur Foundation or the National Institutes of Health, not only got the basic insight of modern science right but had the courage to face up to the philosophical and ethical implications of his own observations.

I didn't know the verdict was in on the evolutionary theory having been proven as fact... but I am also assuming that is what she is referring to by "basic insight of modern science". If that is not what she is referencing, please do offer up a better suggestion as that phrase is rather vague.

Mendelian genetics, the discovery of DNA, the mapping of the human genome: all tell us more about evolution than Darwin could have known, and all confirm the genius of his initial insights. Had Mendel's experiments contradicted the theory of natural selection, we would be having quite a different discussion about evolution today. That, of course, is the difference between scientific exploration and religion.

Does that go for climate change as well? Just curious.

Okay, I will stop there.

You can read the rest here.

If you want to read a shorter article concerning the pitfalls in the evolutionary theory- you can do so here. (It is a pdf that is linked to on Stand to Reason.

Marriage & Family Student Auctioning Off Virginity

A student who is auctioning her virginity to pay for a masters degree in Family and Marriage therapy has seen bidding hit £2.5million ($3.7m).

The student who has a degree in Women's Studies insisted she was not demeaning herself.

Miss Dylan, from San Diego, California, USA, said she was persuaded to offer herself to the highest bidder after her sister Avia, 23, paid for her own degree after working as a prostitute for three weeks.

Then she goes on to say: "It's shocking that men will pay so much for someone's virginity, which isn't even prized so highly anymore."

You can read more here.

Some questions:
-Do you find any irony in the last comment she made above concerning virginity?
-Do you find any irony in the fact that she is auctioning off her virginity to pay for her Marriage & Family masters degree?
-Do you think her parents are proud of her and her sister?
-Would you go to her for marriage or family counseling?
-If she came to you for counsel on this proposition, what would you say to her?

Facebook Entry Leads To Death

A husband who hacked his wife to death with a meat cleaver in fury over her Facebook entry was jailed for a minimum of 14 years at the Old Bailey today.
Wayne Forrester, 34, drank alcohol and took cocaine before driving 15 miles to the family home to attack wife Emma as she lay in bed.
The couple had separated four days before the murder in February and Forrester later told police he had been provoked by his wife changing her marital status to "single" on her Facebook entry, the court heard.

Priorities. This guy's priorities were not on working to keep his family together, but on what to find to make himself mad enough to kill his wife... who knew a facebook entry would be the straw that broke the camels back? Oh what a terrible sin pride is indeed.

You can read more here.

Inerrancy: Is It True?

If you don't believe that the scriptures contained in the Bible are inerrant, read a couple of the books from the link below then come back and we'll talk.  

You can read more here.

Some questions:

-Do you hold scripture as being without error?

-Should inerrancy matter?

-Where are the errors?  Who decides them and on what basis?