Hamas To U.S.: Holy city Is Ours
(Prophecy News Watch) Hamas warned last week against any American attempt to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, saying such a move, currently being debated by the U.S. Congress, would spark immediate violence throughout the Middle East.Any U.S. resolution recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel will explode the region into violence and end the current "calm" in the Palestinian territories, said Hamas spokesman Mushir Al-Masri.
Parental Consent Act In Danger- Immediate Action Needed
(Free Market Foundation)The legislative session is almost over, and filed bills only have one week left to clear the House. Due to those time limitations, the Parental Consent Act is at risk of dying before ever reaching the House floor. H.B. 1212 must clear the House by midnight on May 12, and the House Calendars Committee, which must schedule all bills for debate on the House floor, has failed to schedule the Parental Consent Act.
If this bill, which requires parental consent before minor's can have an abortion, does not pass through the House, all of the pro-life bills will have failed this session. We will have to wait another two years until the next Texas legislative session to fight adolescent abortions.
For contact information on the Texas members of the House Calendars Committee go to
http://www.house.state.tx.us/committees/050.htm and urge them to schedule H.B. 1212 for floor debate. The committee needs to do the right thing by progressing this bill.Texas--Calls Needed To Support Marriage
(HSLDA)Now is your opportunity to support traditional marriage. The Texas House has already passed House Joint Resolution 6, it is now in the Senate State Affairs Committee. [IF] HRJ 6 is passes the Senate, "this proposed constitutional amendment shall be submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 8, 2005.
A Texas Town's Bible Reading Marathon Gets National Attention
(Howard Wilson) Witness park prayer tower in down town Pittsburg was the setting for the Bible to be read aloud (non-stop) from cover-to-cover this week. Fellowship Missionary Baptist (a BMAT Church) joined other local volunteers in Pittsburg, Texas, east of Dallas, to read the scriptures in many languages, including Hebrew, German, Spanish and Japanese. The non-stop Bible reading marathon concluded Thursday, ‘The National Day Of Prayer.’ Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) carried the story on their national television program and on their website.Terror In Africa: Radical Islam In Nigeria
(George Thomas-CBN News Senior Reporter)YELWA, NIGERIA – In a corner of Africa's most populated country, radical Muslims are trying to create the first Taliban-style nation on the continent. A group calling themselves al-Sunnah Wal Jama'ah, an Arabic name meaning "Followers of Mohammed's Teachings", have carried out a series of deadly attacks in the Nigerian states of Yobe and Borno in the last 12 months.
Africa watchers say the U.S. cannot afford to confront a Taliban-type movement in Nigeria. Nigeria is Africa's leading oil producer. It is also one of the top sources for oil for the United States. But for Islamists, gaining control of this key U.S. ally in Africa has become a top objective.
Jews To Defend Christians Against Anti-Christian Bias In Media And Politics. (lifesitenews.com)
Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation (JAACD), led by president Don Feder, author and 19-year veteran Boston Herald columnist. "What I consider an epidemic of anti-Christian bigotry and persecution is something that has concerned me for a long time," Feder said. "By maintaining their loyalty to the eternal values revealed at Sinai, Christians have become pariahs in the eyes of the establishment, but heroes in our eyes."
"Christian morality comes from the Jewish Bible, hence the expression 'Judeo-Christian ethic’," explained Feder. JAACD, "Particularly pernicious is the leftist idea that it's legitimate to base your politics on anything except religion," Feder said. "You can say that my politics are based on the views of Karl Marx or Ayn Rand or Jane Fonda … and that's OK, but as soon as you say your worldview is based on the Bible, that's considered an illegitimate basis for embracing political views."
He reasoned that, as Jews, "no one can accuse us of self-interest, because we're not Christians; we're Jews.""The fate of America hinges on whether or not Christians -- I mean authentic Christians -- succeed in the political arena," Feder emphasized.
Gambling Bills Are Risky Business For Texans
(Free Market Foundation)Currently, there are 29 gambling bills waiting to get through committee before the end of this session, May 30. Of those bills, 27 aim at expanding gambling in the state to include everything from video lottery terminals (V.T.L.) to full-fledged casinos.
Due to time constraints, gambling activists are expected to begin aggressive measures to push these bills through as quickly as possible. As of today, 28 percent of the bills are pending in committee.
Judge Decides 13-year-old Has A 'Right To Abortion
(Family Research Council)Palm Beach County Circuit Court Judge Ronald Alvarez declared Monday that 13-year-olds have a constitutional right to abortion, despite the fact the young girl's legal guardian fought in court to stop the procedure.
Judge Alvarez also ordered either the young girl's custodians or attorneys (one of her lawyers is the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida) to actually drive her to get the abortion. The ACLU and Judge Alvarez seem to believe children know best.
Politically Correct Scholars Take Christ Out Of B.C.
(Prophecy Watch)In certain precincts of a world encouraged to embrace differences, Christ is out. Educators and historians say schools from North America to Australia have been changing the terms "Before Christ," or B.C., to "Before Common Era," or B.C.E., and "anno Domini" (Latin for "in the year of the Lord") to "Common Era." they're referred to as B.C.E. and C.E.
The life of Christ still divides the epochs, but the change has
stoked the ire of Christians and religious leaders who see it as an attack on a
social and political order [that] has been in place for centuries.
Although most calendars are based on an epoch or person, B.C. and A.D. have
always presented a particular problem for historians: There is no year zero;
there's a 33-year gap, reflecting the life of Christ, dividing the epochs.
"The use of B.C.E. and C.E. is not mere verbal tweaking; rather it is integral to the leftist language police -- a concerted attack on the religious foundation of our social and political order."
Military Seeks To Reclassify Sodomy Ban
(Terry Phillips, citizen-Link) The Supreme Court's Lawrence v. Texas decision, which essentially decriminalized sodomy, has prompted the U.S. military to make a move that is not altogether clear in its intent or effect.What the Pentagon has done is ask Congress to move the prohibition against homosexual behavior from one article of the Code of Military Justice to another.
In some quarters, the change has been interpreted as altering the policy against gays in the military -- even as a precursor to allowing open homosexuals to enlist.
California Law Allows Pricing Discrimination Against Churches
(Allie Martin-Agape Press)Conservative lawmakers in California are trying to amend a law that allows churches to pay higher rates than other charitable groups to rent public school facilities.
Some churches have seen rate increases for temporary use of school facilities exceed 100 percent. Many congregations feel the discrepant treatment of religious institutions, though currently legal, is patently unfair.
Parents' Sue To Block Radical Homosexual Sex-Ed Pilot Curriculum In Maryland
(Liberty Council)Montgomery County, MD - Today Citizens For Responsible Curriculum ("Citizens") and Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays ("PFOX") filed suit against the Montgomery County Public Schools ("Board") seeking to block implementation of a homosexual sex-ed curriculum [scheduled] to begin Thursday May 5, 2005, in six pilot schools in grades 8-10.
Some of the instruction states:
* "Fact: Most experts in the field have concluded that sexual orientation is not a choice;"
* "Fact: "Heterosexual parents are consistently not found to be more loving or caring than gay parents;"
* "Jesus said absolutely nothing at all about homosexuality;" "Religion has often been misused to justify hatred and oppression;"
* "One's sexual and emotional orientations are fixed at an early age -- certainly by age five;"
* "Human sexuality is a continuum;"
* "Many homophobic responses are born out of a fear that one's own sexual orientation may not be entirely heterosexual;"
* "Abstinence until marriage" is detrimental to "GLBT youth;" "It is perfectly natural to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, and/or transgender."
The curriculum states:
"We may question our definition of 'promiscuous.'"
It refers to "fundamentalists" and "evangelicals, stating: "these people may think they can overcome same-sex attraction, and thus the program encourages referral of these students to "sensitive clergy" [i.e. non-evangelicals] to "reconcile their religious beliefs."
The curriculum never refers to husband and wife. Family is defined as "two or more people who are joined together by emotional feelings or who are related to one another."
Breaking news!Federal Judge Grants Liberty Counsel's Request to Prohibit Implementation of Controversial Sex-Ed Curriculum in Montgomery County, Maryland
(Liberty Council)Montgomery County, MD -Today, United States District Court Judge Alexander Williams, Jr. issued a temporary restraining order against the Montgomery County Public Schools Board of Education, prohibiting it from implementing the recently adopted controversial health education curriculum.
Liberty Counsel had filed suit on Tuesday, May 3, 2005, on behalf of Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum and PFOX (Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays).
Inside Scoop: Expect the resignation of a Supreme Court justice in the next 10 to 30 days. The President’s first nominee to the Supreme Court will be soon!
Howard Wilson hwilson@texasmoralaction.org
A Texas Town's Bible Reading Marathon Gets National Attention
(Howard Wilson)Witness park prayer tower in down town Pittsburg was the setting for the Bible to be read aloud (non-stop) from cover-to-cover this week.
"It just shows about the community and the effort to come together and through the night when it was raining I was thinking about the people reading through scriptures, it was rewarding to see their dedication," said Hebrew reader Matsayah Schalom.
Scripture reading was conducted under a pavilion outside of the prayer tower.
Fellowship Missionary Baptist members (a BMAT Church) were among the 350 volunteers in Pittsburg, Texas, east of Dallas, to read the scriptures in twelve languages, including Hebrew, German, Spanish and Japanese. The non-stop reading and prayer concluded Thursday, ‘The National Day Of Prayer’ ending a five days (96 hours) Bible Reading marathon.
Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) carried the story on their national television program and on their website. Ch. 7 KLTV, and Ch. 11, Dallas, gave coverage. Also, live audio from an Oklahoma radio station . Even the Associated Press Wire Service out of Washington, D.C. carried a press release on the story. Many local television stations around the country carried this A.P. release.