President Bush said Wednesday, "We hope and pray that Hurricane Rita will not be a devastating storm but we have got to be ready for the worst."  You can help the Gulf region prepare by praying. 

First to Faithful prayer warriors and Christian patriots, I would like to say: God bless you and where would we be without you?

I would like to encourage everyone to please pray for the people of the Gulf Coast region in the advance and wake of Hurricane Rita, please pray for Texas and America! These major water born disasters, we are witnessing; will have an impact on this country that only God can fully understand at this point.

It’s not my intention to attach blame or label these national disasters as "God’s wrath" even though they may be. My intention is that of a watchman, to sound the alarm! To call to prayer and action!

Most Christians understand that a people must be moral to be blessable, to be in God’s will and under His protection mandate our worship, obedience and diligence. We are the earthly stewards of Christianity.

Christians and non-believers alike feel God’s chastisement on a nation when His wrath is kindled, so why don’t all Christians have more to say about the moral direction this nation takes as it speeds toward Idolatry and Godlessness, one abomination after another?

Why won’t all of God’s people fight for there birthright?

Why don’t all Christians demand a Godly national inheritance for our children?

Why can’t all Christians share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the lost freely in a free country?

We are not fettered by the steel chains of anti-Christian law yet, our paralysis is only imaginary, so if you feel that our Christian heritage and the last Christian country in the world are worth saving; act now! We must ALL act now! The spiritual demise of all other once Christian Nations bare witness to a stark reality that Christian America has no remaining time to be squandered.

Unlike the millions of American patriots who gave their lives for our freedoms, our fight for freedom is with our voice, our vote, our prayer and our pens, we will live to see our hard won Christian freedoms continue and to flourish or we will stand by and watch them wither and die…

Eph 5:9 For the fruit of the Spirit [is] in all goodness and righteousness and truth;

Eph 5:10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.

Eph 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove [them].

Eph 5:12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.

Eph 5:13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.

Eph 5:14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

The plaintiff in the case — the now notorious Michael Newdow — is a self-serving atheist who attempted to oust the phrase from the Pledge two years ago.  The problem then was that he alleged that he was representing his daughter’s desire to cast "under God" out of the Pledge.  We found that the opposite was true; the little girl — who was living with her mother, a Christian — actually enjoyed reciting the Pledge in her school.

That case was thrown out when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Mr. Newdow had no standing to bring suit on behalf of his daughter because he had no parental authority to do so, following his divorce.

However, the District Court has ruled that it is bound to follow the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (often called the nation’s most liberal appeals court), which struck down the Pledge in 2003.  After that ruling was set aside by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2004, Mr. Newdow filed the current suit.

"The court concludes that it is bound by the Ninth Circuit’s previous determination that the school district’s policy with regard to the pledge is an unconstitutional violation of the children’s right to be free from a coercive requirement to affirm God," Judge Lawrence Karlton wrote.  (Karlton was appointed by President Jimmy Carter.)

This is an amazing presumption — that children repeating two words are being compelled to affirm a religion.  I wonder, Judge Karlton, are religious children similarly being compelled to forfeit their religious beliefs in classrooms that teach evolution as fact?

This ruling will be now be appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.  If the phrase "under God" is ruled an unconstitutional establishment of religion in that court, the Supreme Court will likely again be faced with determining the fate of the Pledge.

This time, the Court will have to address the merits of this very important case.

Mathew D. Staver, president and general counsel of Liberty Counsel, one of our nation’s leading religious freedom experts, says history is on the side of the Pledge.

"In the current judicial climate, today’s ruling is not surprising but it is dismaying.  The history of the Pledge of Allegiance illustrates that the phrase ‘under God’ is a permissible acknowledgement rather than an establishment of religion."

He noted that if the Pledge established or tended to establish a religion, then that would have happened during the past 50 years of its existence.

"Day after day we have recited the Pledge from the classroom to the stateroom, from private meetings to public events, and not once has it tended to establish a religion.  The San Francisco District Court ruling illustrates why we need judges who are umpires applying settled law rather than activists intent on imposing their own ideology."

Liberty Counsel, which filed a brief in the Newdow case when it was before the U.S. Supreme Court, supporting the Pledge, will now file a brief in this most recent case before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

No matter the outcome of this case, the fact remains that our nation is being stripped of its prominent religious heritage — a heritage embraced by our Founders and by many generations.

If the militant secularists want to redefine this nation in their own Godless imagine, they should at least be honest with the American people and admit that they are contradicting our nation’s extensive history of government-endorsed public religious expression, including National Days of Prayer, "In God We Trust" on our coinage, acknowledgment of the Creator in our Constitution and in countless other areas.

These religious references indicate the true chronicle of our nation.  Those of us who love and respect this history better get serious about protecting it, because the enemies of our religious heritage are hell-bent on wiping out our history and instigating a new era — one of utter religious suppression.

It’s a frightening prospect, but one that I believe is very real.

TAKE ACTION
Please contact your senators and ask them to oppose so-called hate crimes legislation. For help in contacting your lawmakers, please see the CitizenLink Action Center.

A conservative Catholic watchdog group is urging California teachers to disobey an anticipated ban on public school recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.

Judge Lawrence K. Karlton of the U.S. District Court in Sacramento ruled Wednesday (Sept. 14) that he was bound by a 2002 appeals court ruling that "the pledge is an unconstitutional violation and declared that he would issue a restraining order for four California school districts to prevent them from reciting the pledge after he receives appropriate legal documents.

"The time has come for patriotic teachers in those schools to practice civil disobedience," said William Donohue, president of the New York-based Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.

"They need to lead their students in the pledge, bellowing the dreaded words 'under God.' "

In June 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a similar case brought by atheist Michael Newdow, saying that he did not have proper parental standing. Newdow refilled the case with other atheist parents.

Additional conservative Christian groups joined the Catholic League in criticizing the Sacramento judge's decision. The American Family Association said it was "simply wrong" and Traditional Values Coalition Chairman Louis Sheldon described it as the "latest outrage."

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said: "If the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional, then so is the recitation or study of the Declaration of Independence and every other historical document or inscription that recognizes the fact that this country was founded upon religious principles."

QUOTEWORTHY: ---------"It is a very dangerous doctrine to consider the judges as the ultimate arbiter of all constitutional questions. It is one which would place us under the despotism of an oligarchy." -- Thomas Jefferson, Letter to W.C. Jarvis, 1820

Attorney General Gonzales And The Senate Condemn Pledge Ruling

(Wendy Cloyd, Sept.16, 2005 Citizen Link)

Following a federal district court decision that once again declared the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional in public schools, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales vowed on Thursday to fight to overturn the ruling and the U.S. Senate passed a resolution condemning the decision, The Associated Press reported.

Sen. Jim Talent, R-Mo., sponsored the Senate resolution.

"The Senate today is expressing its resolve that the Pledge of Allegiance is constitutional," Talent said. "It's unfortunate that the Senate is once again compelled to defend the Pledge of Allegiance because of the actions of a federal court.

"For more than 50 years, the Pledge has been an affirmation that our country was established as a union, 'under God.' No person should ever be forced to say 'under God' when reciting the Pledge, but the Senate believes the Pledge of Allegiance is a fully constitutional expression of patriotism."

Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., who co-sponsored the resolution, commended his colleagues for passing it by unanimous consent.

"This is another case of the courts interfering with the will of the people," he said. "There is nothing more American that the Pledge of Allegiance and an acknowledgment of God is at the heart of our founding principles and is our nation's motto.

"The district court ruling seriously undermines our ability as a nation to encourage civic pride, respect for our heritage, and much-needed patriotism in our public square," he added.

Gonzales said the pledge is an expression of national identity and patriotism. Though it mentions God, is does not violate the Constitution's ban on state-sponsored religion.

"(The high court) has affirmed time and time again that such official acknowledgments of our nation's religious heritage, foundation and character are constitutional," he said.

If a baby cries in the womb and no one hears it, is it still a baby? That is the question a report in the Archives of Disease in Childhood raises. The journal reports how researchers used video ultrasound to measure a fetus' reaction to sudden noise. The scientists concluded that the reactions they observed in fetuses as young as 28 weeks amounted to "crying behavior" such as opening their mouths, depressing their tongues, and taking several irregular breaths before exhaling and settling back down again. The researchers say the results show that crying may represent a fifth, previously unknown behavioral state for human fetuses. Previously recognized behaviors in unborn fetuses include quiet sleep, active state, quiet awake, and active awake.

Increasingly pre-natal technology is working on the sides of the angels and revealing that life begins well before leaving the mother's womb.

In Congress, Representative Cliff Stearns (R-FL) has introduced the Informed Choice Act (H.R. 216), which would allow grants to place 4-D ultrasound equipment in pregnancy resource centers. In the private sector, Focus on the Family has a similar program you can read about on their website.

The victims of this misuse of eminent domain now have to deal with the added audacity of the town demanding as much as $300,000 in "use and occupancy" fees - on homes some of the occupants have lived in for decades! One of the defendants, Wilhelmina Dery, was born in her house in 1918 and lives there currently with her husband. Hopefully still fresh in the Senate Judiciary members' minds is the testimony they heard last week from Supreme Court nominee John Roberts. Judge Roberts reminded Congress that they have the power to challenge Supreme Court rulings with which they disagree. Such advice needs to be taken seriously.

The Bully Pulpit (American Value Sept.16, 2005 By Gary Bauer)

Wednesday evening, President Bush addressed the audience at a Washington, D.C. dinner celebrating 350 years of Jewish life in America. His speech was outstanding, and I want to include some excerpts for you here. I was especially pleased to see that the recent atrocities in the Gaza Strip did not go unnoticed by President Bush; and that he used the opportunity to condemn the torching of the Gaza synagogues. Here are some of the president's remarks:

"The story of the Jewish people in America is a story of America, itself. The pilgrims considered this nation a new Israel, a refuge from persecution in Europe. Early Americans named many of their cities after places in Hebrew Scripture: Bethel and New Canaan, Shiloh and Salem. And when the first Jews arrived here, the children of Israel saw America as the land of promise, a golden land where they could practice their faith in freedom and live in liberty….

"…Freedom to worship is why Jews came to America three-and-a-half centuries ago; it's why the Jews settled in Israel over five decades ago.

"Our two nations have a lot in common, when you think about it. We were both founded by immigrants escaping religious persecution in other lands. We both have built vibrant democracies. Both our countries are founded on certain basic beliefs, that there is an Almighty God who watches over the affairs of men and values every life. These ties have made us natural allies, and these ties will never be broken. …

"Religious freedom is more than the freedom to practice one's faith. It is also the obligation to respect the faith of others. So to stand for religious freedom, we must expose and confront the ancient hatred of anti-Semitism, wherever it is found. When we find anti-Semitism at home, we will confront it. When we find anti-Semitism abroad, we will condemn it. And we condemn the desecration of synagogues in Gaza that followed Israel's withdrawal.

"Under America's system of religious freedom, church and state are separate. Still, we have learned that faith is not solely a private matter. Men and women throughout our history have acted on the words of Scripture and they have made America a better, more hopeful place. When Rabbi Abraham Heschel marched with Martin Luther King, we saw modern-day prophets calling on America to honor its promises. We must allow people of faith to act on their convictions without facing discrimination….

"At this moment, volunteers from all walks of life, across our great land, are helping the good folks of Alabama and Mississippi and Louisiana recover from one of the worst natural disasters in our nation's history. The outpouring of compassion is phenomenal. American Jewish organizations have already raised over $10 million, plus the $50,000 tonight, for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. …

"These are the good works of good people relying on the wisdom of the Good Book, a book that tells us how God rescued life from the flood waters. And like Noah and his family, we have faith that as the waters recede, we will see life begin again…."

By now everyone knows that a California judge has ruled the pledge of allegiance unconstitutional. Specifically, Senior District Court Judge Lawrence Karlton has ruled that the pledge’s reference to one nation "under God" violates the right of school children to be "free from a coercive requirement to affirm God." Karlton was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, a devout Christian.

In a perverse way, the ruling is unjustly fitting: God has been booted from public schools for years.

What is surprising, however, is this: two heroes of the left are in lock step with two heroes of the right in their defense of God in public schools.

In her book It Takes A Village, Hillary Rodham Clinton insisted that "nothing in the First Amendment converts our public schools into religion-free zones, or requires all religious expression to be left behind at the schoolhouse door." Those words are actually her husband’s, as are these, which she also quoted approvingly: "[R]eligion is too important in our history and our heritage for us to keep it out of our schools."

Senator Clinton’s statement must surely infuriate many liberals. The New York Times must be bewildered by such an unsophisticated, red-stated statement.

Obviously, George W. Bush endorses this view. On occasion, Bush has had the effrontery to ask public-school audiences to join him in a moment of silence. One such episode took place in Sarasota, Florida at 9:30 AM on the morning of September 11, 2001, roughly 25 minutes after United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into World Trade Center South and 45 minutes after American Airlines Flight 11 smashed into World Trade Center North.

Also from the right, Ronald Reagan had some things to say on the subject. Beginning in the 1960s in Sacramento—ironically, the city where Michael Newdow (aided by Judge Karlton) has led his crusade to remove religion from public education—Reagan quipped that "God isn’t dead. We just can’t talk to Him in the classroom anymore." Reagan posed a very good question: "Can it really be true that the First Amendment can permit Nazis and Ku Klux Klansmen to march on public property, advocate the extermination of people of the Jewish faith and the subjugation of blacks, while the same amendment forbids our children from saying a prayer in school?" Amazingly enough, according to the ACLU, the answer to that question is yes.

Reagan lamented the repercussions of this religious purge. In a letter he sent to a friend from the Oval Office in March 1987, he complained of the secularized manner in which sex education was taught in public schools. "Well-intentioned though it may have been," he began, "it is taught in a framework of only being a physical act—like eating a ham sandwich. The educators are fearful that any references to sin or morality will be viewed as violating the church and state separation." That’s the Brave New World that the left has courageously embraced. Sex talk is good, sin talk is bad.

There is one more line of wisdom from Reagan that bears directly on the issue of "under God" in the pledge. Reagan believed that it was important for young people to hear and internalize phrases like "one nation under God." The reason why it gets to the crux of this debate:

Acknowledging that we are a nation under God means that we possess unalienable rights derived not from some benevolent government but from an Almighty Creator. If such rights came from a ruling council, that same council could easily take them away. On the other hand, if those rights derive from God, then no government has the right to remove them. That is what has made America different from every totalitarian tyranny from Moscow to Berlin to Havana. One can draw a straight line from Founders like Thomas Jefferson directly to recent presidents like Ronald Reagan.

Today, certain public officials are trying to erase that line, leaving us with a scary blank to fill in: If not a nation "under God," then a nation under what?

Some threaten violence, according to homosexual activist web site

SAN FRANCISCO, (Sept.16, 2005 LifeSiteNews.com) Homosexual activists are planning to turn up the heat on California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, to convince him to reverse his decision to veto a same-sex "marriage" bill that passed the House and Senate there.

According to a report from a homosexual activist news site, some homosexual groups are even calling for violence. Gaycitynews.com reported that one homosexual called on Equality California leader Geoff Kors to use "direct action tactics" to convince Schwarzenegger he is making a the wrong move.

Same-sex "marriage" campaigners have scheduled a meeting with the governor for September 21, two days before Schwarzenegger receives the bill. Homosexual activist, San Francisco Supervisor Tom Ammiano, made the statement that the governor’s siding with US President George W. Bush on the issue was a "tango of death with the Bush administration."

Paul McGuire Disappointed with Calif. Pastors' Silence on Same-Sex 'Marriage' Bill

(James L. Lambert Sept.16, 2005 Agape Press) - The California State Legislature, controlled primarily by liberal Democrats, recently passed AB 849, a measure that would have essentially legalized same-sex "marriage" in America's most populated state. If it were not for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's pledge to veto the bill, homosexual marriage would have become law.

Paul McGuire hosts a three-hour drive-time talk show every weekday on radio station KBRT in Southern California. His listening audience extends from the Mexican border to north of Santa Barbara -- and he often uses his program to address social and political issues in the Golden State and to urge listeners to take action by contacting their elected representatives in Sacramento. AB 849 was just such a topic of conversation recently. Speaking to his listeners -- a large majority of whom are Christians -- he said he cannot understand why so many pastors were mute regarding this important bill.

"I recently interviewed Dr. James Dobson [of Focus on the Family] and Dr. James Kennedy [of Coral Ridge Ministries] on my program," McGuire stated this week. "They both agreed that one of the major reasons that homosexual marriage bills like AB 849 are being passed in California is that the pastors of California are not involved in these issues and are not alerting their people."

The talk-show host continued, offering his opinion that "the number-one reason California keeps seeing gay marriage bills and other anti-family bills passing is that the pastors of California refuse to talk from the pulpit about the serious issues facing California families."

It is obvious, McGuire says, that those pastors' flocks would like the preachers to take on the tough issues. "The problem is not so much the individual Christians," he says. "The problem is the pastors."

He explains: "I know what the pastors of the mega-churches are preaching," he says, "because I have several thousand regular listeners in any given mega-church .... I am bombarded with e-mails from the members of these churches who are furious that their pastors are afraid to deal with issues like AB 849. They e-mail me or call me on the air because they do not feel that their pastor is approachable or willing to listen."

The radio host claims he could -- but chooses not to -- identify more than two dozen mega-churches in his state where the pastors "never talk about things like standing up for marriage from the pulpit. Yet, in every single one of those churches," he continues, "I have about 3,000 of their members listening to my show per day -- and they are angry that their pastors are silent."

McGuire says he is convinced the Church today suffers from "very serious spiritual deception among evangelical pastors who falsely believe ... they are being faithful to Christ [while] at the same time remain completely silent on the major spiritual and moral issues of the day like homosexual marriage."

McGuire doubts that Christians today would consider as faithful pastors who remained silent about slavery or stood by silently as Adolf Hitler came to power and began murdering Jews. "Then why would you consider the pastors faithful who are silent about God's institution of marriage?" he asks.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to render its vote Friday of this week on the nomination of John G. Roberts for the position of chief justice of the Supreme Court. The committee, with 10 Republicans and eight Democrats, is expected to approve his nomination and send it to the full Senate for a vote, which is expected on September 29. The next session of the high court convenes on October 3.

Rob Schenck of the National Clergy Council says that while he believes Roberts has convinced most observers that he is a conservative and has a conservative judicial philosophy, he admits he was not comfortable with that response. "I am very bothered by the statement that Judge Roberts made when he said that the Bible and his faith do not factor into his judgments on the court," Schenck says.

The National Clergy Council spokesman acknowledges that Roberts may have been saying what he needed to in order to be confirmed -- but the nominee was under oath, and Schenck finds that worrisome. "He could have said that very differently," Schenck suggests. "I think we're disappointed with a process that discourages [frankness and candor]; that, in fact, is hostile to that."

However, Wendy Wright of Concerned Woman for America sees Roberts' response in a little different light. "The Bible influenced how [our founding fathers] set up our form of government," Wright says. "And so if someone were being faithful to the Constitution, they would -- by inference -- be following some of the principles that were laid out in the Bible."

Still, Schenck -- who was initially a strong supporter of Judge Roberts -- says some of the nominee's responses have left room to worry about what kind of justice he will be.

Speaking Of Fighting (American Values By Gary Bauer)

There is a very disturbing story in today's New York Times by veteran reporter David Kirkpatrick about the strategy the White House is using to determine its next nominee for the Supreme Court. Assuming that Roberts is in fact a conservative, his appointment does nothing to change the balance on the Court since he is now replacing a conservative, the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist. That fact will probably help Roberts gain the votes of some Senate Democrats. So, once again, the real battle is focused on the successor to Sandra Day O'Connor.

According to the Times article, the White House is now operating on the assumption that Senate liberals and their radical left-wing allies will take out their frustrations with Roberts on the next nominee, who could actually shift the Court to the right on a range of values issues. As a result, some in the White House are even more determined than ever to nominate another "stealth candidate." And what is the practical impact of this strategy? a significantly greater chance that we will not get another Scalia or Thomas on the high court. Just consider this one quote from the Kirkpatrick report, "Republican strategists close to the White House worry that Judge [Janice Rogers] Brown, an African-American known for her fiery speeches to conservative crowds, might try to fight back against vigorous questioning." Some of the "professionals" advising the president are terrified that a nominee might actually defend conservative values.

As far as I am concerned, this debate ended on November 2, 2004, when the American people reelected George W. Bush and gave him an expanded Senate majority. He said he would nominate conservative judges and we expect him to do so. I don't expect Ted Kennedy to support the president's nominees. (I'd be worried if he did!) But whenever we try to fool our opponents, more often than not, we end up fooling ourselves. This time, I hope the president will choose to fight. Send up another Scalia or Thomas; nominate a Janice Rogers Brown and force the liberals to filibuster. Force Kennedy, Schumer, and Clinton to tell the American people why they want the Supreme Court to legalize same-sex "marriage." This is a battle we should welcome. This is a battle we can win - but only if we are willing to fight it.

If there is one thing that Hurricane Katrina has taught us it is that, when all else fails, you always have faith. Religious organizations shined in giving aid and comfort to those displaced by the devastating storm. Recognizing the power of institutions outside of government President Bush has proposed a school voucher plan to allow children displaced by Hurricane Katrina to be enrolled at a private or religious school this year. Public schools accepting student victims are already overwhelmed and the President's plan makes perfect sense, allowing private and religious schools to share in the burden. To no one's surprise public education unions, putting their own petty power concerns above the education of the children, are adamantly opposed to the President's plan.

Many faith-based groups are reluctant to pair up with government for fear of similar hostility, which may force them to choose between their faith and government funding. To this end there are a number of different laws, orders and regulations that seek to protect faith-based groups - recognizing that faith is the factor that allows many of these groups to succeed.

This Thursday the House of Representatives will vote on the School Readiness Act of 2005 (H.R. 2123), which includes a provision ensuring that faith-based organizations participating in the Head Start program will retain their religious staffing freedom as they do in many other government-funded programs. Please call your Congressman today to support the Boustany Amendment to H.R. 2123 to protect religious freedom for Head Start organizations.

Experts say religious groups have a right to hire people who agree with them.

Steve Burger, executive director of the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions, said religious organizations have a right to hire employees who agree with their religious beliefs. But he added if a suit is filed in the Pittsburgh case, it would create many problems.

"Personally, I am concerned whenever an organization that's been founded to preach the Gospel is put in a position that they can't do what God has called them to do," he told Family News in Focus.

Lower courts have often ruled against ministries, but higher courts have tended to be more sympathetic. Burger hopes to show that rescue missions are vital in the public square.

"The president certainly understands that," he said. "Now we've got to make sure others do."

Burger said forcing Christian rescue missions to hire non-Christians would make them just another social service agency.

Lori Lipman Brown a lawyer and teacher, Brown is used to controversy. As a Nevada state senator from 1992 to 1994, she fought for gun control, gay rights and abortion rights.

Brown started Monday as executive director of the Secular Coalition for America. Her two goals: keep religion out of government and win respect for a stigmatized minority.

Christian conservatives wield enormous clout here through a network of advocacy groups and relationships with politicians from President Bush on down. Atheists, humanists and freethinkers, as Brown's constituents call themselves, are usually ignored.

In a recent Pew Research Center poll, 11% said they do not believe in God but do believe in a "universal spirit" or "higher power"; 3% said they do not believe in God or a spirit or power. In a separate question, 1% said they are atheists (those who believe there is no God), 2% said they are agnostics (those unsure whether there is a God), and 11% said they have no religious preference.

The no-preference category includes people "who may not be ready to declare themselves atheists or agnostics," Pew Director Andrew Kohut says.

Herb Silverman, president of the Secular Coalition for America, counts them as non--believers — part of "a 30-million-strong constituency that is informed about the issues and votes."

Brown plans to work for non-believers in three ways:

• As part of broad coalitions fighting policies rooted in religious beliefs, such as limits on stem cell research and access to emergency contraception.

• In alliances with groups opposed to policies they believe breach the wall between church and state, such as giving taxpayer money to "faith-based" service programs.

• On causes Brown concedes are hard for politicians and the public to swallow, such as eliminating references to God from the U.S. oath of citizenship. She plans to stay out of the Pledge of Allegiance controversy for now because "the courts are on our side." Last week, a federal judge reaffirmed an earlier ruling that teacher-led recitation of the Pledge's phrase "under God" in public schools is an unconstitutional government endorsement of religion.

Gary Bauer, a Christian conservative and former presidential candidate who now lobbies against gay marriage and for conservative values, says atheists' timing couldn't be worse, given Hurricane Katrina. "We're right in the middle of a horrible event when people are turning to God," he says. "They're going to find it very hard to get people to vote for the sort of things they're in favor of."

On Thursday, the province's highest court reserved its decision on a human rights case that has the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the Canadian Religious Freedom Alliance backing Regina resident Hugh Owens' fight to enter the political and controversial moral debate on gay rights by citing sacred scripture.

"For the Christian community this is definitely a freedom of religion issue,'' said Alliance lawyer Janet Epp Buckingham. The Bible is Censored, and "The Bible Considered Hate Literature, headlines generated by this case were of grave concern in the Christian community, she said.

Although Hollywood and the media portray Americans as sexually unfaithful and open to dangerous sexual practices, a new report shows that most spouses are monogamous and that most Americans are heterosexual. According to a National Center for Health Statistics study on sexual behavior among 15-44 year- olds, 93 percent of wives and 92 percent of husbands reported they were faithful to their spouse during 2002. In addition, 90 percent of both males and females identified themselves as heterosexual, while only 2.3 percent of men and 1.3 percent of women said they viewed themselves as homosexual.

However, the report did find some disconcerting news with regard to teen sexual behavior. The report found that among those age 15-19, 55 percent of males and 54 percent of females engaged in oral sex in 2002. This shows why more young people need to participate in abstinence education, which is very effective in encouraging teens to delay sexual behavior. Young people need to know that oral sex is not safe sex. Studies have shown that oral sex can transmit many sexually transmitted diseases, including syphilis, gonorrhea, HIV, and the human papillomavirus (HPV)--the fastest growing STD that is found in nearly all cases of cervical cancer. As William Mosher, the lead author of the report, says, "These are private behaviors, but they have public consequences."

U.N. Health Chief Delivers Grim Message On Bird Flu

Lee Jong-wook, a South Korean doctor, delivered his stark warning as the United States worked to rally states behind a new U.S. plan to fight the disease, which has already killed more than 60 people in Asia and spread to Russia and Europe.

"Human influenza is coming, we know that, and no government, no leaders can afford to be caught off-guard," Lee said.

"We must pounce on human pandemic outbreaks with all medicines at our disposal and at the earliest possible moment." He told a news conference in New York "When the pandemic starts, it is simply too late."

U.S. President George W. Bush unveiled a plan at the United Nations on Wednesday under which countries and international agencies would pool resources and expertise to fight bird flu.

His International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza reflects growing concern that avian flu could becomes a human pandemic, a threat Bush said the world must not allow.

Most of the people killed in Asia since 2003 caught the virus from infected birds. Health experts say the greatest worry is that the highly pathogenic strain of the disease known as H5N1 could mutate and become transmissible between people.

Lee said H5N1 "will acquire this capability -- it's just an issue of timing." Countries far from heavily hit Southeast Asian states would not be safe because the disease was spreading through migratory wildfowl, Lee added.

He urged states like Japan, Switzerland and France with stockpiles of anti-flu drugs to make medicines available for international emergencies.

Paula Dobriansky, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, said the United States would convene a senior officials meeting in Washington soon to coordinate policy. Canada will host a global health ministers in the coming weeks to support the U.S. initiative, she said.

Partner countries and agencies include Argentina, Australia, Britain, Canada, China, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Russia, as well as WHO, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization and UNICEF, Dobriansky said.

With fall quickly approaching it is also Appropriations season, which means pro-family legislation needs protecting.

First, in the good news department, President Bush and the State Department deserve thanks for once again denying U.S. taxpayer funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The UNFPA has again failed to meet the human rights conditions necessary for approval. Like most UN agencies, UNFPA portrays itself as an organization dedicated to the highest humanitarian principles. It says its mission is to save women's lives by promoting better reproductive health care and voluntary family planning.

Yet in many countries, especially in China, UNFPA has been complicit in forced abortion and sterilization campaigns. These atrocities are designed to enforce the People's Republic of China's one-child policy and have been too widely reported to be ignored.

Meanwhile on the Agriculture Appropriations bill, which also authorizes funds for the FDA, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) is introducing up to 14 different amendments in angered response to the FDA's decision to hold-off on making the "morning-after" abortifacient available over-the-counter. Please urge your Senators to oppose any amendments from Senator Murray.

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The Mourning After

Thank you, Bozeman, Montana! (American Values By Gary Bauer)

In a move reminiscent of the way America used to be, the citizens of Bozeman, Montana, got together and decided to do what was best for the entire country. They petitioned the city council to give the federal government back $4 million the city received for a new parking garage. The money was part of the massive highway bill Congress just passed, and the Bozeman garage was just one of six thousand such projects with an estimated cost of $25 billion.

Other projects in the bill include $2 million for a bike path in New Jersey, $3 million for a hiking trail in Indiana, and a whopping $454 million for two bridges that, according to the Wall Street Journal, "will serve a town of 50 people" in Alaska. But as Jane Shaw of Bozeman put it, "We figure New Orleans needs the money right now a lot more than we need extra downtown parking space." If I were President Bush, I would take a moment out of the day to call the good folks in Bozeman to say "Thank you," and hold this example up to the rest of the country!

Remember when the Grand Old Party was the party of fiscal responsibility, and preferred local and state solutions to bigger federal bureaucracies? Maybe Bozeman will inspire the Republican Party to get back to basics!

Coupled with the erosion of the value of life from abortion and the rise of euthanasia, assisted suicide and related "end of life" issues, medical ethics is moving more and more into a dangerous grey area. From less-developed countries, it is becoming more common to hear news reports, horror stories, of patients having their organs taken without permission and of poor and marginalized persons being killed for their organs.

Now Canada, always keeping in the forefront of such "developments" in post-modern medical ethics, is considering changing the rules for organ donation to allow organs to be removed after cardiac arrest after life support has been withdrawn. This has some concerned that terminal patients and non-terminal disabled will be prematurely ‘unhooked’ in order to procure organs for transplant. Walter Glannon, a clinical ethicist at the Children’s and Women’s Health Centre in Vancouver said, "The concern is that the removal of organs for transplant will take precedence over the (donor) patient." "Life support," he said, "may be removed prematurely, without going through the medical and ethical protocol."

The recommendation, by the Canadian Council for Donation and Transplantation, would have Canada join other countries that are expanding the limits of "ethics" in organ transplants. Dr. Michael DeVita, a critical care physician at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh, quoted in today’s National Post, says, "It gets worse when you’re going to withdraw life support and then procure organs. People get more and more concerned that you’re going to be caring for people who are dying inappropriately just to get at their organs."

The problem is compounded when the definition of "life support" includes food and water, as was the case with Terri Schiavo. In Canada, the medical community considers nutrition and hydration taken by some means other than by mouth, through an abdominal tube for example, to be "extraordinary" means of life support. The practice of passive euthanasia by starvation and dehydration is not uncommon in Canada and the US but it is nearly impossible to obtain reliable statistics.

TAMPA, Florida, (Sept. 20, 2005 LifeSiteNews.com) – Thirty major companies stopped advertising on the new Entertainment (E!) Channel’s Playboy’s Girls Next Door Show after receiving emails from concerned citizens and faxes from a pro-family lobby group.

The Florida Family Association (FFA) explained that "Playboy started the porn industry with their first magazines being less explicit than a Cosmopolitan. However, once Playboy got a foothold into the market with magazines in many stores the publications slowly turned more explicit and other publishers joined them. Playboy’s new unrestricted, advertiser supported television show must be opposed now before it is accepted in the market place, allowed to become more explicit and copied by other porn companies," the FFA warned.

"This program, which supports the world's largest porn company and the related hedonistic lifestyle, gets its life from the companies that advertise on the show," the FFA continued. In response to an e-mail and fax letter campaign, initiated August 7th, the Association reported the following companies stopped advertising on the sexually explicit program: The Coca-Cola Company, Progressive Insurance, Geico, Hewlett-Packard, Amerifit, Loreal, Cingular, Mars, DSW Shoes, American Honda Motors, Best Buy, Bell South, GlaxoSmithKline, Conagra, Dyson vacuums, Schering-Plough Corporation, eHarmony, Priceline.com, TJ Maxx, IHOP, Dairy Queen, The Hershey Company, Rustoleum, SC Johnson, American Suzuki Corporation, Nestle, Fruit of the Loom, Regis Corporation, WhiteWave and Children's Place Retail Stores.

Some companies, such as Conagra, replied to the letter. Conagra wrote, "Thank you for your note expressing concern about our advertising appearing on a new Entertainment Channel show, ‘Playboy’s Girls Next Door.’ This program was not part of our media buy, and the network placed our advertisements on this new television show without our knowledge.  We have no plans to advertise on this program again." Julie DeYoung, Corporate Affairs.

Several other mainstream companies have recently advertised on Playboy’s Girls Next Door, the FFA stated. These companies include: Burger King, Home Depot, Bridgestone-Firestone, Revlon, Hyundai Motor America, General Nutrition Corporation (GNC), Biolab (Greased Lightning), Coty (Rimmel), Plantronics, Berlex (Yasmin,) Klein-Becker USA, Anheuser Busch and Miller Brewing Company.

The Florida Family Association is asking concerned citizens to "Please send your emails to encourage these companies to stop supporting Playboy’s Girls Next Door with their advertising dollars."

The following link has been offered to send an e-mail to these companies:
http://www.rallysoft.com/ffa/TakeAction.asp?id=1228

Your Majesty, a few months ago, when I was privileged to pray for you on another occasion in this capital city, I asked Allah, the compassionate and merciful Lord of all the world, to bless you and to help you make your country a bridge across which all nations might walk in unity, fellowship and love. As I listened to your words today, I believe my prayer is being answered. 

Indeed, the Amman Message of November of last year is a blueprint and a challenge not only to the great world of Islam, but to the whole human race. Your thoughtful leadership is a stirring invitation to all of us, especially to the people of the Book, the family of Abraham, who share so much and who are called to be brothers and sisters in God's one human family.

Your Majesty's call and that of the Holy Father are in so many ways the same. May Allah, the merciful and compassionate, continue to guide your steps along this noble path; may He guide and protect you, your family and your beloved country and may peace and justice come to all lands and all peoples through your efforts, your vision and your courage. In the name of Allah, the merciful and compassionate God, we pray, Amen.

North Korea will have a nuclear arsenal of eight to 10 warheads by next year. 

- Iran will conduct nuclear tests in 2007. 

- Japan will withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and rapidly develop a nuclear deterrent of its own by 2007. 

- South Korea does the same a year later. 

- North Korea begins developing three to 12 nukes a year at the same time. 

- A Chinese-Japanese nuclear arms race begins by 2007. 

- By 2009, North Korea tests a long-range inter-continental ballistic missile capable of reliably and accurately hitting North America. 

- By 2009, North Korea has enough nukes stockpiled to begin selling to other nations – like Venezuela and Nigeria.

These are just a few of the projections nuclear expert Allison Graham, director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and former assistant secretary of defense, makes in the October issue of Atlantic Monthly. 

Graham is the author of the highly acclaimed "Nuclear Terrorism," who believes it is entirely possible that al-Qaida already has nuclear weapons hidden in U.S. cities. 

He writes in the upcoming issue of Atlantic Monthly that, unless something is done to prevent the production of nuclear weapons in countries like Iran and North Korea, shortly it will be impossible to keep them out of the hands of terrorists. 

In addition, he says proliferation will lead to many other nations – including Saudi Arabia and Egypt – going nuclear. 

As WorldNetDaily reported, Allison believes it is possible that al-Qaida is hiding nuclear bombs in one or several American cities today," he wrote in the Chicago Tribune last month. "So who can say that the trucks the FBI warned about might not contain weapons of mass destruction?" 

Allison explains that the highly enriched uranium needed to build a simple nuclear weapon is smaller than a football. 

"It could be smuggled through American borders and into the metropolis the way illegal drugs come into the city every day: in un-inspected cargo containers delivered by ships and trains, contraband smuggled over the Canadian-American border or innumerable other ways," he says. 

Allison reminds Americans that in May 2003, bin Laden obtained a fatwa from a Saudi cleric providing religious justification for al-Qaida'a use of nuclear weapons against the U.S. 

"Titled 'A Treatise on the Legal Status for Using Weapons of Mass Destruction Against Infidels,' it asserts that 'if a bomb that killed 10 million of them and burned as much of their land as they have burned Muslims' lands or dropped on them, it would be permissible,'" he explains. 

Bin Laden has repeatedly promised to trump Sept. 11 with a more spectacular terrorist attack on the U.S. 

"The ultimate terrorist spectacle would be an American city enveloped by a nuclear mushroom cloud," writes Allison. 

As WND has reported, for more than 10 years, bin Laden has planned to use nuclear weapons in a terrorist attack on the U.S. The plan is dubbed "American Hiroshima." In fact, as first reported in Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, captured al-Qaida operatives and documents suggest the weapons have already been smuggled into the country.

People from around the world are participating in this prayer effort, and we invite you to become a part of this global movement by remembering Jerusalem in your prayers on Sunday, October 2. It is expected that 100,000 churches around the world will take part in this event. Leadership teams are already working in more than 70 nations to mobilize participation.

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