Two Hundred Million Expected To Join Global Day Of Prayer Today! (Praytx.com)

Last week on Thursday, May 5, the National Day of Prayer was celebrated on the Day of Ascension all over our nation. Thousands came together to pray for our America and for revival in our world.

Today Sunday, May 15, is the Day of Pentecost, and on this the first Global Day of Prayer, the nations are called together to ask God for a "greater Pentecost."

While the National Day of Prayer and Global Day of Prayer are two separate observances, both are projects of America's National Prayer Committee, with the global event in cooperation with the International Prayer Council and Transformation Africa organizers.

Global Day of Prayer, May 15, 2005 has been planned for five years by the International Prayer Council. More than 170 nations will be participating with 200 million people expected to be praying.

“All across America, I see a growing awareness among evangelical conservatives to … move beyond their comfort zone and actually commit to the culture a message and a mission of love,” Graham, a former Southern Baptist Convention president, told the AP.

Nebraska Marriage Amendment Struck Down In Court (Free Market Foundation)

What Does Montana Have Against Abstinence? (Family Research Council)

Qouteworthy:---- "If men are so wicked [with] religion, what would they be if without it?" --Benjamin Franklin

Patriot Academy Set For June 15-18 At The Texas State Capitol (Free Market Foundation)

An associate professor of pathology and neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University is making tremendous strides in ethical adult stem cell research, as reported by the DC Examiner newspaper last week Dr. Lee Martin, alongside research associate Zhipping Liu, discovered adult stem cells in the nose region, and their discovery is showing success in various animal models of degenerative nervous systems disorders. Martin and Liu have shown promise in curing, or at least staving off, symptoms of spinal muscular atrophy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS.) While these advancements have only been conducted on mice, they show great promise for human patients.

Attorney General Launches Major Effort Against Pornographers (Family Research Council)

It is now clear that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is going full guns after distributors of obscenity, fulfilling his promise to make obscenity crimes a major priority at the Department of Justice. Yesterday the Department announced the creation of the Obscenity Prosecution Task Force, "exclusively dedicated to the investigation and prosecution of obscenity cases." This follows a directive last week by the Attorney General to all United States Attorneys to report to him by July on effective ways to crack down on obscenity in their districts.

For quite some time the Family Research Council has been critical of the Department of Justice for its half-hearted obscenity prosecution effort and urged in our March 1 Update that Attorney General Gonzales change his obscenity prosecution team. We will watch closely, though with a growing sense of confidence in our new Attorney General, to see who is appointed to direct the effort.

The Department's press release announcing the creation of the task force notes that the director, once hired, will work closely with Bruce Taylor, a Criminal Division senior counsel. Mr. Taylor is the nation's most experienced and successful obscenity prosecutor, his involvement will guarantee that this is a serious and dynamic prosecution effort.

Even while they are proven to reduce consumption, cigarette taxes always increase a state's revenue. This revenue can be used to fund important programs, like Texas' tobacco prevention program. Just 5 cents of a one dollar cigarette tax increase could be used to fund tobacco prevention programs for the entire state.

But when Wesley chose the Bible as his preferred book, his mother was barred from reading a passage from Psalm 118 because of its religious content. Principal Thomas Cook told Mrs. Busch that reading the Bible in class is against the law because it violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment -- that is, the so-called "separation of church and state."

According to Busch's attorney, John Whitehead with the Rutherford Institute, the Christian mom was then offered the option of reading from another book instead -- one about witches, witchcraft, and Halloween. However, she declined.

Whitehead says the incident might have passed over without further incident had it not been for something that occurred about a week later. He says, "Wesley, the kindergartener, came home and told his mother it was bad to read the Bible. She said, 'Where'd you hear that from?' And he said, 'My teacher told me.' "

The Pennsylvania woman felt it was important, not only for herself but particularly for Wesley's sake, to take action and to stand up to the school officials she believed had unfairly abridged their religious liberty. She contacted The Rutherford Institute, which has since filed a lawsuit against the school, alleging that the mother and son's free-speech and equal-protection rights were violated.

Whitehead feels what happened at the elementary school was a case of blatant discrimination since the school officials, while silencing Busch, allowed other forms of religious expression to take place.

One senior adviser dismissed the development as "routine" and not founded in the specific status of any judge.
"Look, we had a possibility there would be two openings -- five years ago," the top insider explained.
But others around the president are said to believe that an opening -- or openings -- is now imminent.
The names of Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justice Sandra Day O'Connor have again surfaced -- in what has now become DC's favorite seasonal guessing game.

Terri Schiavo’s Killer Judge Greer To receive ‘Special Justice Award’ (Life Site News)

West Pasco Bar Association member Alan Scott Miller said that the Association decided to honor Pinellas County Circuit Court Judge George Greer’s achievements, noting that his “professionalism and integrity was punctuated by the way he handled the Schiavo case,” as reported by CNSNews. Miller added that the award is not just because of how he handled the Schiavo case, but “for all of his contributions on the bench . . . It's like a lifetime achievement award for an actor.”

Fr. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, responded to the announcement Tuesday in a release: “On the night before Terri Schiavo died, I said to the national media that Judge Greer was a murderer. I repeat that today. I use the word not in its legal meaning but in its moral meaning, that is, a deliberate action or series of actions that intentionally kill an innocent person. Terri was not dying until she stopped receiving food and water. Once deprived of that sustenance, she died. It does not require any legal or medical expertise to recognize that as murder. Nobody who has lost the basic capability to understand that should be honored.”

A bill gay lobbyists championed for 30 years failed to garner passage in the Washington Legislature. The involvement of evangelicals appears to have at least played a role in its most recent failure.

Robert Higley of Washington Evangelicals for Responsible Government said a bill which would have given minority status to "sexual orientation," died on a 24-25 vote. It appears to be dead until 2006 at the earliest.

Higley said the legislation passed the Washington House of Representatives with "a good majority," then went to the Senate, where it was sidetracked in committee. Pro-gay lawmakers, however, used a parliamentary procedure to bring it to the floor of the Senate.

Gay activist publications have been quick to attribute the defeat to Microsoft — one of Washington's largest employers — and to the fact that the giant software company withdrew its long-time corporate support for the bill after a Seattle-area pastor challenged the company on its position.

Higley said, indeed, some of the credit for the bill's demise this time should go to Dr. Ken Hutcherson, pastor of the Antioch Bible Church in Kirkland, Wash., who testified against the bill before the state Legislature in Olympia and then took on Microsoft.

On Friday, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer issued a statement saying the corporate giant had changed its mind and would now support the bill, but for the two weeks since the vote, the company has been under fire from gay activists over the fact it had "caved in" — and withdrawn its support.

QUOTEWORTHY: -----------------
"If all do not join now to save the good old ship of the Union this voyage, nobody will have a chance to pilot her on another voyage." -- Abraham Lincoln

California Legislature Wants Marriage To Get Lost! (Family Research Council)

Despite the fact that marriage defined as between one man and one woman is under fire by judges in California, both chambers of the California legislature Tuesday rejected attempts to put a constitutional amendment defining marriage on the ballot. This action by California's full-time legislature is an act of pompousness that shows complete disdain for California voters.

In 2000, the people of California, by a large margin, passed Proposition 22, which defines marriage as solely between a man and a woman. Since Proposition 22 passed, both elected officials and judges have been attempting to overturn it by means other than by popular support.

In 2003, the legislature created counterfeit marriage that granted most of the rights of marriage to domestic partnerships. This was followed in 2004 by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's issuance of illegal marriage licenses and the backing of statewide gay marriage licenses by Democratic lawmakers.

Earlier this year a San Francisco judge ruled that marriage between a man and a woman was "unconstitutional" and had "no rational basis under the state Constitution." With the Democratic-controlled legislature failing voters, family groups are supporting a state constitutional marriage amendment and seeking petition signatures supporting placement of such an amendment on the 2006 ballot

Remembering the Alamo - Correctly (Family Research Council)