This month in 1950, Alger Hiss, an American lawyer and government official, and a Soviet spy, was convicted of perjury and sentenced to five years in prison. He was tried and convicted thanks to the efforts of Whittaker Chambers. A former communist himself, Chambers turned from what he later called “the vision of Man without God” and brought Hiss’ true political affiliations and allegiance to light. Chambers was one of our nation’s greatest anti-communists, and, as the author of “Witness,” has left a lasting mark on both conservatism and U.S. history.

Journalist and author Mark Judge is now teaming up with director Paul Moon to make a documentary about Chambers’ compelling and historic life.

“It’s a film that needs to be made for the same reasons that the works of Dante, St. Augustine and William F. Buckley (a friend of Chambers) need to be preserved,” Judge said. “America’s public schools and academia are certainly not interested in remembering the man who revealed Soviet espionage in the United States government.”

Judge and Moon’s project, “The Story of Whittaker Chambers,” is currently competing for recognition and support at Indiewire.com. Each day Indiewire picks a “Project of the Day” to feature, and every week readers vote for one project to consult with an independent film website like SnagFilms or IndieGoGo. These “Project of the Week” winners compete to be the “Project of the Month,” and the winner gets to consult with the Sundance Institute, which runs the esteemed Sundance Film Festival. Voting is today, and it’s free. To support “The Story of Whittaker Chambers,” visit http://apps.facebook.com/my-polls/pomzh4m to vote.

And here’s a poignant and applicable quote from Chambers that should resonate today: “Economics is not the central problem of this century. It is a relative problem which can be solved in relative ways. Faith is the central problem of this age.”

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The Media Research Center’s Culture and Media Institute (CMI) recently posted an article about the war on Christmas, documenting how some in the media ignore or demean attacks on Christmas as “phony” and “fake.” One of the attacks on Christmas that they list comes from JP Duffy’s experience at a U.S. Post Office in Silver Spring, MD.

CMI fellow Erin Brown writes, “Even our ‘tolerant’ Federal government is playing the Grinch card this year. According to FoxNews.com, ‘A group of Christmas carolers was thrown out of a U.S. Post Office in Silver Spring, MD, after the post office manager told them they were not allowed to sing Christmas carols on government property.’”

Brown documents a long series of attacks over the last couple of years, as well as the reactions of numerous liberal media types that ignore or mock the war on Christmas.

“These days, the war on Christmas is fought by the Christian right … [Catholic League President] William Donahue and Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post, traditional combatants in the war on Christmas, have trained their Yuletide guns on someone, not for railing out put the Christ back in Christmas, but for failing to worship Santa Claus,” Keith Olbermann accused on his old MSNBC show “Countdown” in November of last year.

If you’re not convinced that there’s a war on Christmas, check out the page, and a few of the attacks it documents:

“In upstate New York, one school district has declared that ‘Christmas and Hanukkah will no longer be celebrated in classrooms.’ According to FOX/WROC, The Batavia City School District will no longer allow decorations for either holiday to appear in classrooms as well as teachers are discouraged from writing or saying ‘Merry Christmas.’ In Fairfax County, Va., grade-schoolers are treated to ‘winter celebration.’ In Texas, another school district has declared war on Christmas – this time, classrooms are not allowed to celebrate Santa Claus or exchange gifts.”

Some attacks on Christmas are downright weird. The Huffington Post has the Skeleton Santa story, which Brown also documents in her article.

Thankfully, this hopeful time of year isn’t built on the backs of Christmas displays shimmering on lawns and in storefronts. It’s founded on the birth of hope: Christ Jesus our Lord.

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November is National Adoption Month, which is why FRC today was proud to host Ryan Bomberger for his lecture, “Adoption: Be the Hope.” Ryan was himself adopted and, with his wife, has adopted two children. You can watch his moving presentation here. To learn about the pro-life, pro-adoption ministry of Ryan’s Radiance Foundation, go to www.theradiancefoundation.org.

One of the most daunting obstacles to adoption is its up-front cost, which can be as much as $40,000 per child. Although the federal adoption tax credit is very helpful, it does not cover what can be, for families of ordinary means, a great financial challenge.

It’s for that reason that the adoption ministry Lifesong (a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability) has set-up a program to help churches develop adoption funds. An adoption fund is a designated line-item in a church’s budget that helps church members pay for their adoption costs, either through a direct financial gift or low-or no-interest loan. As the beneficiaries of one such fund, my wife and I are eternally grateful for the generosity and selflessness of God’s people in helping us adopt our three children.

This creative ministry is designed to fulfill one of the greatest elements of the Gospel — to love those in need for the sake of, and in the power of, Jesus Christ. No one better fits that description than orphaned children who need a loving Christian home. Lifesong provides a great way of meeting a great need.

To learn more about adoption and related ministries, go to FRC’s www.RealCompassion.org, through which you can link to many organizations helping children at home and abroad.

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Christianity asserts that Jesus of Nazareth was a historical person who lived in the space-time continuum.  He had a physical body, felt hunger, had full use of His senses, and worked for years as a skilled laborer.

The New Testament also claims that He was eternal God in the flesh, the Savior of the world Whose atoning death and justifying resurrection are the basis of the redemption of all who will trust in Him for forgiveness.

These propositions are striking enough without the other claims being made about Jesus in the political world, which are many.  Consider some recent headlines:

“Occupy London are true followers of Jesus, even if they despise religion”

“What Would Jesus Drive?”
“Best-selling socialist publication of all time remains the Bible”

“Jesus was a Communist” – new movie by Matthew Modine,

“From Jesus’ Socialism to Capitalist Christianity,”

“Marx, Capitalism, and Jesus”

“What Would Jesus Hack?”

“Was Jesus an Early Applied Economist?”

For the record: Jesus affirmed the right to own property and encouraged honest labor.  Several of the disciples were in a fishing business that included ownership of several boats, indicating that they were appropriately ambitious and hard-working (Luke 5:11).

Also, it is a tribute to Jesus’ enduring, penetrating, and inescapable power that political philosophers, economists, and even entertainers are so eager to nab Him for their agendas.

However, my point is not to get into a discussion about Jesus and His teachings concerning business, taxes, or economics generally.  Rather, it is this: Should we not summon the moral courage to deal with His overt and profound claims before we wander off into asking if He would drive a Prius, or if He would support budget reductions?  At what point do such musings become trivial, even irreverent?

It is wholly honorable to consider the implications of living a Christ-filled life in contemporary times.  Yet the effort to claim Jesus for an ideological agenda or to capture Him as some kind of pre-Marxian redistributionist is ludicrous in itself, and also keeps us from the main issue: Was He the God-Man, the Lord of all, filled with grace and truth, or, as one writer has put it, “just a carpenter gone bad?”

Shouldn’t we be asking the main questions first?  Remember, Jesus never said, “Follow Me, and become a socialist.”  Rather, His question was, “Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15).

What’s your answer?

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A recent Relevant magazine piece entitled “(Almost) Everyone’s Doing it” reveals that young adults ages 18-29 are having pre-marital sex more often than not. According to a 2009 survey by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 88% of all young adults have had sex before marriage. What should be shocking is that 80% of all self-identified Evangelical young adults have done the same.

Don’t Christians understand the Bible on this issue? According to a Gallup poll quoted by Relevant, 76% of Evangelicals have a clear Biblical understanding on this issue. Or, to reverse the data, 24% of Evangelicals are alright with premarital sex.

Is the data really shocking though? In a world where nothing is sacred, and where what used to be considered sacred is now fodder for ridicule via every form of entertainment and media, why should the sanctity of marriage be considered any different? Young adults have grown up in an “MTV” world, where sexuality is glorified in television shows like “Skins” and where one cannot buy groceries without being confronted by magazine covers taunting chastity.

One professor quoted by Relevant says that a major sociological difference that contributes to (but does not excuse) the growing statistic of pre-marital sex is the average age of marriage. He compares Biblical arranged marriages of early adolescents to the current average ages of 28.1 for men and 26.1 for women. I posit that this temptation is not a modern one: Paul addresses it in 1 Cor. 7:8-9. Instead, it can be argued that adults ages 18-29 have grown up in an “instant gratification” society, where patience is no longer a virtue. This is even understood and glorified by secular society, as exemplified by the Black Eyed Peas song “Now Generation” with lyrics like “I just can’t wait, I need it immediately.”

Merge the two contributing factors of an over-sexualized society, along with a generation craving instant gratification, and it is no surprise that young adults are engaging in pre-marital sex more than ever. What we need is an Evangelical culture that not only volitionally is against pre-marital sex, but practices what is preached. The church needs to restore that which is sacred, encourage young adults to stay pure, and exemplify purity to the secular world. Eighty percent of young Evangelicals is eighty percent too much.

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Here is an interesting piece from Saturday’s Wall Street Journal.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks posits that it is the breakdown of the family and, even more fundamentally, a turning away from its Judeo-Christian faith, that has created a moral crisis in the West of which the London riots are a symptom.

I do not agree with everything he says (when he calls the rioters “victims” and says it’s “not their fault,” that is a bridge too far for me), but his broader argument for the moral reinvigoration that a return to religion can bring to society, and its necessity in bringing about a common good, is persuasive.

An interesting quote from the end of the piece:

One of our great British exports to America, Harvard historian Niall Ferguson, has a fascinating passage in his recent book “Civilization,” in which he asks whether the West can maintain its primacy on the world stage or if it is a civilization in decline.

He quotes a member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, tasked with finding out what gave the West its dominance. He said: At first we thought it was your guns. Then we thought it was your political system, democracy. Then we said it was your economic system, capitalism. But for the last 20 years, we have known that it was your religion.

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Economists of the twentieth century looked upon the depravity surrounding them and pinpointed the source of this sin: material shortages. By promoting the development of financially profitable natural resources, progressive economists believed this sin could be erased. A century later, however, this economic religion is suffering and as Robert Nelson’s The New Holy Wars: Economic Religion vs. Environmental Religion argues, it may well be on its way out. As environmentalist values continue to permeate public policy, economic arguments are forced to reckon with a whole new ethical framework. Nelson’s new book offers a fascinating interpretation of this dilemma. By examining the fundamental tenets of both economics and environmentalism The New Holy Wars provides a fresh perspective on one of the most debated issues of our time.

The New Holy Wars proposes that at their cores, both environmentalism and Western economic theory are informed by Judeo-Christian beliefs. However, the theological underpinnings of these disciplines have been “remapped” to form secular versions of Christianity. Taking this a step further, Nelson argues that the clash of these two competing secular religions represents the “most important religious controversy” in America today. It is a startling proposition for which Nelson presents a convincing case. By framing the environmental debate in spiritual terms he makes sense of the intensity with which both sides promote their worldviews. At the same time The New Holy Wars digs beyond the rhetoric to unearth those presuppositions which are essential to understanding both sides of the debate.

Perhaps most intriguing is Nelson’s treatment of environmentalism. Nelson argues what few practitioners are willing to admit—the environmentalist worldview is very much a religious one.   With clarity and perception he explores the Protestant (specifically Calvinist) underpinnings of the movement. Pointing back to the writings of John Calvin, Martin Luther, and Jonathan Edwards, The New Holy Wars shows how key components of Calvinism have been transformed under the guise of environmentalism. Nelson illustrates how the movement’s jargon speaks volumes about its philosophical commitments. Steeped in the language of moral urgency, human depravity, individualism, and asceticism that marked much of the early reformed tradition, environmentalism is not unlike its more traditional religious counterparts. But Nelson is careful not to take the association too far. When Jonathan Edwards looked upon the Book of Nature he was awed by God’s glorious and omnipotent hand in creation. In marked contrasted, John Muir responded to the same beauty with transcendentalist adoration that bordered on pantheism. For Muir and the descendents of his preservationist movement, Nature became the ultimate recipient of their worship. And herein lies what Nelson recognizes to be a serious flaw in environmental theology: its failure to offer an adequate substitute for the “loving and redeeming Christian God” who had been lost.

While The New Holy Wars does not offer a solution to the economic-environmental debate, it does provide significant insight into the issue. Nelson’s stimulating case for the role religion plays in the economic and environmental philosophies dominating current public policy is bound to challenge his readers. Those seeking to equip themselves for today’s challenges should pay heed to Robert Nelson’s work.

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A recent Pew Internet Project Survey focused on the online activities which each generation participates in and the changes that have occurred over time.  This survey is particularly interesting, especially in the areas of using the internet to obtain religious information and donating to charity.

According to the survey, the “G.I. Generation,” those ages 74 and older are more than 50% likely to go online to look up religious information among other things, like email or social networking.  Compared to the “G.I. Generation,” the other groups surveyed were less than 50% likely to go online for the same information.  This demographic did not change over time either.

On the other hand, donations to charity remain at less than 50% likelihood across the generations.  The statistics on giving were constant without any noticeable increases, and this can be attributed to the current economic climate.

Overall, the results from this survey are not surprising, since there is a generational shift towards social networking.

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The ACLU is at it again. This time, they are demanding an apology from a Montgomery County, Maryland, public school teacher. Behind this demand is, as always with this federally-funded outfit, the bludgeon-like threat of a huge lawsuit.

What was the teacher’s offense? Apparently, the teacher threatened a student with detention if she refused—as she repeatedly did—to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. The teacher sent the student to the counselor’s office for her refusal to stand.

The ACLU immediately invoked the Supreme Court’s ruling in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943). That case is often cited as a hallmark of American civil liberties, especially remarkable because it was handed down while the United States was engaged in a world war to defend democracy.

But the Court in 1943 said that students cannot be required to salute the flag or recite the Pledge. That was quite right.

Continue reading »

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Here’s some articles of interest for today.

• “High Court Takes Up Case of Cross on Public Land,” Associated Press
• “Texas Battle on Gay Marriage Looms,” James C. McKinley, Jr., The New York Times
• “Gays and lesbians set to march on D.C. after months of Obama disappointment,” Lee-Anne Goodman, The Canadian Press
• “Md. university system devising policy on student displays of porn films,” Childs Walker, The Baltimore Sun
• “Pro-lifers want Calif. abortion mill investigated,” Charlie Butts, OneNewsNow
• “Campaign Launched to Protect Christians from U.N. Resolution,” Ethan Cole, The Christian Post
• “Russia Court Throws Out Lesbian Couple Marriage Request,” Reuters
• “Capitol Christmas tree controversy,” Marcia Segelstein, WORLD Magazine

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Some people believe that religious dogma is the only reason why anyone opposes same-sex marriage. Those who believe the human race began with Adam and Eve, and that their relationship was God’s model for marriage, believe marriage should be between a man and a woman. But those who don’t believe in the Bible, who think Adam and Eve are a myth, and who don’t accept a Christian view of the human person, have no reason to believe marriage is an opposite-sex union. Right?

Wrong. They should take a look at a front-page article in the Washington Post about the newest claim by evolutionary scientists. The scientists believe that a primate skeleton found in Ethiopia is that of a human ancestor—one that lived 4.4 million years ago. Almost at the end of this long piece, the article describes what C. Owen Lovejoy, an anthropologist at Kent State University, says about the social organization of this species:

The males, he argues, pair-bonded with females. Lovejoy sees male parental investment in the survival of offspring as a hallmark of the human lineage.

So, how long has marriage (i.e., “pair-bonding”) been a male-female union? About four million, four hundred thousand years, if this secular scientist is to be believed. And what was its purpose? To insure “male parental investment in the survival of offspring”—something which the advocates of same-sex “marriage” contend is now no longer necessary.

And what will we be discarding, if we change the definition of marriage from being a union of a man and a woman? Only “a hallmark of the human lineage.”

Marriage is not merely a religious institution, nor merely a civil institution. It is, rather, a natural institution, whose definition as the union of male and female is rooted in the order of nature itself. And it doesn’t take a Bible to prove it. In this case, evolutionary theory points to the exact same conclusion.

Washington Post:

‘Ardi’ May Rewrite the Story of Humans: 4.4 Million-Year-Old Primate Helps Bridge Evolutionary Gap (see third-to-last paragraph)

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Still stinging from a strong debate among ELCA pastors this summer, The Rev. Dr. Ralph W. Dunkin pushes to move his synod beyond the controversial topic and offer some reasons of support for the work of the ELCA.  He begins:

The major news coming from the 2009 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s biennial Churchwide Assembly has been the change in policy related to persons in gay and lesbian relationships. The policy change allows congregations to determine for themselves if they wish to offer blessings of same-gender relationships and if they are open to calling a pastor who is in a same-gender relationship.

But, he then moves quickly past the issue, noting the ELCA’s broad partnership of “full communion” with, “the Reformed Church, The UCC, the Presbyterian Church USA, the Moravians, The Episcopal Church and now the United Methodist Church.”  Interestingly, each of these denominations have taken similar measures as the ELCA did this summer.

The point, the Rev. Dr. Dunkin is trying to make is that, regardless of the controversy, the ELCA is still doing some incredible things and, implicitly, the vote to ordain practicing homosexuals not only doesn’t affect their overall ministry, but actually may improve their ability to link with others in an effort to do good deeds to this world.

Yet, the Rev. Dr. Dunkin fails to address a fundamental point vis-a-vis the recent ELCA vote: “What would LUTHER do?”

Continue Reading at The Family Council of West Virginia’s Engage Blog

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Here’s some articles of interest this morning.

• “Catania to introduce same-sex marriage bill,” Melissa Castro, Washington Business Journal
• “To heaven from Times Square,” Julia Duin, The Washington Times
• “Abortion and Health Care Reform,” Editorial, New York Times
• “Chicago City Council panel backs plan to limit anti-abortion activists,” Hal Dardick, Chicago Tribune
• “Senate committee restores $50 million in abstinence ed funding,” Catholic News Agency
• “When is a cross not a Christian symbol?,” Erwin Chemerinsky and Joseph Infranco, Los Angeles Times
• “‘Imagine No Religion’ Billboards Hit Detroit,” Jennifer Riley, The Christian Post
• “Spiritual spirit squad squelched,” Pete Chagnon, OneNewsNow.com
• “Planned Parenthood Says Pro-Lifers Winning, Misleads on Insurance, Abortion,” Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com
• “Personal Stories Reveal How Pregnancy Resource Centers Empower Women, Help Families,” Penny Starr, CNSNews.com
• “Most Stay-at-Home Moms Start That Way, Study Finds,” Donna St. George, The Washington Post

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Here’s some articles of interest.

• “Judge blocks key parts of new Arizona abortion law,” Paul Davenport, Associated Press
• “Pentagon airs criticism of ‘don’t ask’,” Bryan Bender, The Boston Globe
• “Should Government Have E-Record of Every Woman Who’s Had an Abortion?,” Terence P. Jeffrey, CNSNews.com
• “Parents’ Rights Amendment Reaches 120 Co-Sponsors,” Christian Newswire
• “Panel votes to restore abstinence education money,” Associated Press
• “Why are fewer Americans identifying with a religion?,” Wayne Slater, The Dallas Morning News
• “Worker misconduct cases rise at science foundation,” Associated Press

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Here are some articles of interest.

• “Same-sex marriage activists seek repeal of California’s Prop. 8,” Daniel B. Wood, Christian Science Monitor
• “Boston College Professor’s Appearance in Pro-Gay Marriage Ad Sparks Outrage,” Ana Lopez, Fox News **Note: This headline should reflect that the professor sparked outrage by being part of a ad in support of the Maine Marriage Initiative.
• “A new push to define ‘person,’ and to outlaw abortion in the process,” Robin Abcarian, Los Angeles Times
• “Spain unveils abortion law change,” Steve Kingstone, BBC News
• “In revolt against euthanasia,” Kathryn Jean Lopez, The Jamestown Sun
• “Coaxing stem cells to repair damaged tissue,” Frank D. Roylance, The Baltimore Sun
• “SD measure would ease stem cell research limits,” Associated Press
• “Christian Poverty Fighters Call for ‘Real Action’ Following G-20 Summit,” Aaron J. Leichman, Christian Post
• “Muslim prayer event fails to draw expected numbers,” Fred Jackson, OneNewsNow

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Here’s some news articles of interest to help kick off Labor Day weekend.

• “Boston’s Roman Catholic Cardinal Says He Confronted Obama about Abortion in Health Care Plan at Ted Kennedy’s Funeral,” Terence P. Jeffrey, CNSNews.com
• “Gay Ice Cream?,” Elisabeth Meinecke, Human Events
• “Montana AG approves language for abortion restriction initiative,” Montana’s News Station.com
• “Jack Kevorkian Promotes Euthanasia Again, Al Pacino HBO Movie Out Next Year,” Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com
• “What Would Jesus Insure?,” Joseph Loconte, The Weekly Standard
• “Muslim teen fears for life after changing religion,” John Couwels, CNN
• “R-71 names still under wraps as judge weighs case,” Rachel La Corte, Seattle Times
• “Reformed Body Says Lutheran Gay Vote Does Not Impair Partnership,” Lillian Kwon, The Christian Post
• “Common grace,” Marcia Segelstein, WORLD Magazine
• “Two Huge Stem Cell Trials Are In The Works. Guess Which Type,” William Teach, Right Wing News
• “Missing Critical Thinking,” Shane Vander Hart, Caffeinated Thoughts

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Gone are the days of the Daily Buzz and Blogosphere Buzz. Instead, I decided to incorporate the two to create “In the Know.” Don’t worry, you will still receive your daily dose of news.

Here’s some articles of interest for your morning:

• “New Method For Safer Bone Marrow Transplants For Sick Children,” Medical News Today
• “Wuerl Ups Opposition To Gay Marriage,” Tim Craig, The Washington Post
• “I Told Me So: Self Deception and the Christian Life,” Matthew Lee Anderson, The Evangelical Outpost
• “Abortion laws ‘still won’t protect doctors’,” Brigid Andersen, ABC News (Australia)
• “End-of-life fears,” Emily Bregel, Chattanooga Times Free Press
• “Adult Stem Cells May Help Avoid Hip Replacements,” Wesley J. Smith, Secondhand Smoke
• “Normalizing transgenderism in schools,” Pete Chagnon, OneNewsNow
• “The issue of social justice is far bigger than the abortion debate,” Kathryn Jean Lopez, New York Daily News
• “Group Asks Court to Reconsider Removing Girl from Home School,” Joshua Rhett Miller, Fox News
• “Individual Catholic Bishops Speak Out Against Pro-Abortion Health Care Bills,” Christine, A Catholic View
• “How then shall we educate?,” Amy Henry, WORLD Magazine
• “A Stem-Cell Discovery Could Help Diabetics,” Alice Park, Time
• “Idaho school sues state over Bible plan,” Associated Press

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Here’s some news articles of interest for you to ponder this morning.

• “Clinical Trials Are Testing Stem Cells as Heart Failure Treatment,” Sarah Baldauf, U.S. News & World Report (August 18, 2009)

“Researchers’ significant interest in using stem cells to treat heart failure arises, in part, because the disease is so prevalent. The American Heart Association estimates 5.7 million Americans live with the disease and 670,000 new cases are diagnosed annually. “When you put [stem cells] into a heart, some can differentiate to become blood vessel and others to become heart muscle cells,” explains James Willerson, president of the Texas Heart Institute in Houston and a principal investigator of a separate, National Institutes of Health-sponsored stem cell trial for heart failure. It is important, he says, that stem cells also “have substances that recruit other cells and promote life.” This combination holds incredibly powerful potential for not only rejuvenating but rebuilding organs and tissue and turning back the clock for ailing patients. Willerson is optimistic about the therapeutic future of stem cells, which can be extracted from fat cells, hair cells, and other diverse cell types. “I believe we will be able to regenerate the whole heart of a human being with stem cells,” he says.”

• “Medical Groups Promoted HPV Vaccine Using Drug Company Money,” Rob Stein, The Washington Post (August 18, 2009)
• “DART Driver Refused Bus With Atheist Sign,” KCCI-8 Des Moines (August 18, 2009)

“Des Moines Area Regional Transit confirms a driver refused to drive a bus with an atheist advertisement Monday.”

• “Poll: Majority of Americans Understand Health Care Bills Mean Abortion Funding,” Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com (August 19, 2009)

“The pro-life movement has been working overtime to educate Americans about the fact that the health care bills in Congress would result in massive abortion funding. Despite a slew of mainstream media stories to the contrary, the public appears to have received the message.

A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released yesterday shows a majority of Americans agreed that the health care bills “will likely use taxpayer dollars to pay for women to have abortions.”

The poll found 50 percent agreed that is true while 37 percent of Americans don’t believe that is likely.”

• “Law Requiring Ultrasounds for Abortions Is Struck Down,” Kari Lydersen, The Washington Post (August 18, 2009)

“An Oklahoma judge decided Tuesday that doctors do not need to perform ultrasounds and offer women detailed information about the tests before performing abortions, striking down the strictest such law in the country.”

• “Study Using Embryonic Stem Cells Is Delayed,” Bloomberg News (August 19, 2009)

“The Geron Corporation said on Tuesday that regulators had held up its study of a therapy for injured spinal cords before even one patient could be enrolled, delaying the first human trial using embryonic stem cells.”

• “Christian Law Firm Fights ‘Ridiculous’ Criminal Charges Against School Officials,” Nathan Black, The Christian Post (August 18, 2009)

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Here’s some news articles of particular interest.

• According to the New York Times, former President Bill Clinton defends end-of-life counseling that is included in the health care reform plan.
• Steven Ertelt of LifeNews.com has a great article about a CDC study that shows teen abortion rates are lower in states that accept abstinence funding.
• Cleveland is becoming a leader in adult stem cell research. Continue reading the article from The Plain Dealer.
• David French of Phi Beta Cons reported Tuesday that the EEOC went after Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina for refusing to cover oral contraceptives in its employer provided health insurance.
• Prisoners in the Rappahannock Regional Jail in Virginia will now be allowed to receive religious mail, after the ACLU sent a letter to officials demanding that these letters containing biblical passages be distributed, as The Christian Post reports.

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After a long hiatus, the Daily Buzz is back. Here are some news articles that I found particularly interesting today.

• The Obama Administration has been fairly silent about the provisions for abortion in the health care bill. The Baptist Press has a great article about the Administration’s silence on the provisions.
• Kansas is back in the news again. This time, The Wichita Eagle reports that the Governor and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment has stripped funding from a program that gives state money to groups who provide alternatives to abortion.
• This morning, I came across an interesting article by Eric Gorski of the Associated Press that discussed the conflict of young Evangelical Christians torn between premarital sex and waiting for marriage. Continue reading…
• The controversial health care bill that will be debated in Congress will provide doctors incentive to push euthanasia. Read more about this on LifeNews.com.
• The Christian Post reports that homeschoolers are scoring well above those attending public schools in reading, math, social studies, and language.
• If you haven’t already done so, read Nonie Darwish’s article in FrontPage Magazine about Islam.

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