Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Muslims must stop the self-deception which claims that Islam is 100% peace. They must with honesty recognise the violence that has existed in their history in the same way as Christians have had to do, says Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, Director of the Institute for the Study of Islam and Christianity. This piece is an extensive analysis of what lies behind the current bombing campaigns in Britain.
Evangelical Protestants and Roman Catholics — the nation's two largest religious blocs — have a relationship that's been marked in the past by hostility and tension. But now, almost 500 years after Martin Luther, one of the top US evangelical thinkers has co-authored a book that finds an increasingly warm relationship between Catholics and evangelicals. "Is the Reformation Over? An Evangelical Assessment of Contemporary Roman Catholicism" by Mark A. Noll and Carolyn Nystrom argues that not only on contemporary political issues such as abortion but also on matters of spirituality Catholics and the Protestant conservatives have ever more in common. Summarizing the situation, Noll — a historian at Wheaton College in Illinois — said in an interview that he sees "quite serious differences, but not differences of life and death as they were regarded for at least four centuries."
Young gay men are five times more likely to suffer mental health problems than straight men, a long-running Christchurch study shows. The 27-year-long Christchurch Health and Development Study found homosexual activity and orientation was linked to higher rates of depression, anxiety, illegal drug use and suicidal thoughts. The rate of mental health problems in young lesbians is double that of exclusively heterosexual women. Study director professor David Fergusson, of the Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences, said the findings added to a growing body of research supporting the link. Reasons for the increased risk had not been determined, he said. "The gay, lesbian and bisexual populations are fairly insistent that it's due to homophobia, because of all the pressures, adversities and discrimination they experience," he said. The fact gay men were most at risk and also faced more discrimination supported that view, Fergusson said. It was also possible, however, that other lifestyle factors contributed. [While homosexuals have been subject to intimidation in NZ in the past, that is barely true today. And in parts of America where homosexuals have been accepted for decades - such as San Francisco - the rate of mental illness is still higher among that community. But homosexuals don't want to accept that their risky lifestyle has emotional consequences.]
The US abortion rate is at its lowest since 1974, the year following Roe v. Wade. But still, nearly half of all US pregnancies are "unwanted" according to the pro-abortion Alan Guttmacher Institute. The decrease in abortions is due to many factors, but two of them, according to Julie Parton, director of the Pregnancy Resource Ministry at Focus on the Family, are technology and people's stories. "Advances in technology like ultrasound and 4D ultrasound make it clear that life begins at conception," she said. "That gives people pause when they see a 10-week-old baby on the monitor and can recognize who it looks like. Also, there is an increase in the numbers of post-abortive
individuals -- both men and women. Their stories have told this generation what it's like to have gone through an abortion. The post-modern generation relates to stories." Half the women who visit a pregnancy resource center choose not to abort after receiving counseling. When they see an ultrasound image of their baby, that number jumps to 80 percent or more. The Guttmacher Web site cites three reasons for an abortion: "Three-quarters say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or other responsibilities; about two-thirds say they cannot afford a child; and half say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner." [This is true of NZ as well, except that we pretend that an abortion is protecting the health of the mother - rubbish; it's all about selfish choice.]
There has been much media discussion over Jane, the wife of US Supreme Court nominee John Roberts. In particular, it has focused on her involvement with the group Feminists for Life. So who are they? Feminists for Life goes beyond mainstream pro-life groups on issues like welfare reform that don't directly involve abortion, says Wendy Wright, senior policy director for Concerned Women for America. "They join with more modern feminists groups on other issues like violence against women and child support and some of these issues that the pro-life movement doesn't get involved in," says Cathy Cleaver Ruse, senior fellow for legal studies at the Family Research Council.
Is this what today's technologically equipped man looks like? Is he controlling his life, or are his gadgets controlling him?
Evangelical Protestants and Roman Catholics — the nation's two largest religious blocs — have a relationship that's been marked in the past by hostility and tension. But now, almost 500 years after Martin Luther, one of the top US evangelical thinkers has co-authored a book that finds an increasingly warm relationship between Catholics and evangelicals. "Is the Reformation Over? An Evangelical Assessment of Contemporary Roman Catholicism" by Mark A. Noll and Carolyn Nystrom argues that not only on contemporary political issues such as abortion but also on matters of spirituality Catholics and the Protestant conservatives have ever more in common. Summarizing the situation, Noll — a historian at Wheaton College in Illinois — said in an interview that he sees "quite serious differences, but not differences of life and death as they were regarded for at least four centuries."
Young gay men are five times more likely to suffer mental health problems than straight men, a long-running Christchurch study shows. The 27-year-long Christchurch Health and Development Study found homosexual activity and orientation was linked to higher rates of depression, anxiety, illegal drug use and suicidal thoughts. The rate of mental health problems in young lesbians is double that of exclusively heterosexual women. Study director professor David Fergusson, of the Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences, said the findings added to a growing body of research supporting the link. Reasons for the increased risk had not been determined, he said. "The gay, lesbian and bisexual populations are fairly insistent that it's due to homophobia, because of all the pressures, adversities and discrimination they experience," he said. The fact gay men were most at risk and also faced more discrimination supported that view, Fergusson said. It was also possible, however, that other lifestyle factors contributed. [While homosexuals have been subject to intimidation in NZ in the past, that is barely true today. And in parts of America where homosexuals have been accepted for decades - such as San Francisco - the rate of mental illness is still higher among that community. But homosexuals don't want to accept that their risky lifestyle has emotional consequences.]
The US abortion rate is at its lowest since 1974, the year following Roe v. Wade. But still, nearly half of all US pregnancies are "unwanted" according to the pro-abortion Alan Guttmacher Institute. The decrease in abortions is due to many factors, but two of them, according to Julie Parton, director of the Pregnancy Resource Ministry at Focus on the Family, are technology and people's stories. "Advances in technology like ultrasound and 4D ultrasound make it clear that life begins at conception," she said. "That gives people pause when they see a 10-week-old baby on the monitor and can recognize who it looks like. Also, there is an increase in the numbers of post-abortive
individuals -- both men and women. Their stories have told this generation what it's like to have gone through an abortion. The post-modern generation relates to stories." Half the women who visit a pregnancy resource center choose not to abort after receiving counseling. When they see an ultrasound image of their baby, that number jumps to 80 percent or more. The Guttmacher Web site cites three reasons for an abortion: "Three-quarters say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or other responsibilities; about two-thirds say they cannot afford a child; and half say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner." [This is true of NZ as well, except that we pretend that an abortion is protecting the health of the mother - rubbish; it's all about selfish choice.]
There has been much media discussion over Jane, the wife of US Supreme Court nominee John Roberts. In particular, it has focused on her involvement with the group Feminists for Life. So who are they? Feminists for Life goes beyond mainstream pro-life groups on issues like welfare reform that don't directly involve abortion, says Wendy Wright, senior policy director for Concerned Women for America. "They join with more modern feminists groups on other issues like violence against women and child support and some of these issues that the pro-life movement doesn't get involved in," says Cathy Cleaver Ruse, senior fellow for legal studies at the Family Research Council.
Is this what today's technologically equipped man looks like? Is he controlling his life, or are his gadgets controlling him?
