Wisconsin Students Will Learn Abstinence is Best

-- Citizenlink.org

Ruling Against Children

The Family Research Council reported the following on May 23, 2006:

Despite the weight of evidence that children do best when raised by mothers and fathers who are married, a U.S. District Court judge has struck down as unconstitutional Oklahoma's law that prohibits state officials from recognizing same-sex adoptions from other states and nations. In a 31-page ruling, Judge Robin Cauthron said Oklahoma had denied due process to two women who were raising 7-year-old twin girls born to one of the women, but adopted in New Jersey by the mother's lesbian partner. Oklahoma had passed the law, pursuant to the federal Defense of Marriage Act, to prevent the Sooner State from being forced to abide by the decisions of some states with respect to marriage. The judge ordered the Oklahoma Health Department to issue birth certificates listing the two women as parents of the little girls. This is another example of judicial activism at its worst. This stunning case illustrates once again why we must have a constitutional amendment to prevent activist judges from destroying marriage in America. In all this judicial talk of made-up "rights," where is the natural right of the child to the love and support of a married mother and a father?

Judgments regarding global warming must be based on sobriety, not hype.

As Christians, we are stewards of this planet and must therefore appropriately respond to environmental issues we face. Having said that, however, as one who is adequately knowledgeable in this area (having earned a degree in Environmental Policy & Analysis), I would also caution us not to rush into judgment too soon regarding the seriousness of global warming without first considering the facts. We must adequately determine whether the claims made are built more upon substantial, solid, scientific evidence or around limited, scientific data and conjectures. Al Gore has recently spawned a new movie entitled An Inconvenient Truth, which centers on what he refers to as the imminent threat of global warming. In an interview with Grist Magazine, Gore admits his own exaggerated claims that has only added to the hysteria concerning this topic:

"I believe it is appropriate to have an over-representation of factual presentations on how dangerous it is, as a predicate for opening up the audience..."

The Da Vinci Code Cracks

-- Stand To Reason

You’ll need the free Adobe Reader to access the document.

Free Online Da Vinci Code Media Resources: *

Lee Strobel, Greg Koukl & Josh McDowell comment on the Da Vinci Code
streaming video: windows media

The Da Vinci Hoax: Interview with R.C. Sproul
streaming audio: windows media


* these online clips are available for free for a limited time only.
download Windows Media Player here

Can we really trust Katie?

Co-host Matt Lauer: "Pain at the pump. Gas prices are going sky high. I paid $2.94 a gallon over the weekend to fill up the car."

Co-host Katie Couric: "It’s ridiculous. I had to take out a loan to fill up my minivan. It’s crazy."

Oh, by the way, Couric makes about $15,000,000 a year.

Can we really trust her to deliver fair and balanced reporting of the news. She looks like I female version of Rather to me.

The Media Research Center has provided a video clip of these comments here: Real Player / Windows Media. For additional clips from the Best of 2005, click here.

Evolution is faith-based

Creationists or intellegent design theorists are often accused by opponents of injecting faith into science. This article by trueu.org helps explains how Darwinists also employ faith as they reach their own conclusions about how life emerged on planet Earth.

Might Ron Howard be a stealth Christian?

Tom Short scored some free tickets to the Da Vinci Code during opening weekend. After watching what he described to be one of the dullest movies he has ever seen, he offered up a very interesting question:

“I left wondering if Ron Howard might be a stealth Christian who saw how destructive this movie could be if done well and decided to sabotage it.”

While I don’t know if it’s true, it is indeed an interesting conjecture.

Da Vinci Code Actor Says, “Bible Should Have 'Fiction' Disclaimer”

Newsbusters provides a video clip online from this May 17th Today Show interview:
Windows Media / Real Player

Thinking of going to see the movie? Here’s some pros and cons to consider.

Reasons For and Against Seeing “The Da Vinci Code”

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­---------------------------------------------------------
[The following are excerpts from an email sent to me from Tom Short. More can be found at his website praydavinci.com.]
---------------------------------------------------------

Perhaps what I'm about to say will be more controversial than the movie itself, but I hope every follower of Jesus gives careful consideration to whether or not they should watch this movie. I'm going to list the pros (which are few) and the cons (which are many) and then leave it up to you to make up your own mind.

On the positive side of watching the movie:

1.) You will be able to know what others are talking about. You will be able to identify with others so that you can use this movie as an opportunity to witness to others.

2.) I can't think of any other reason.

Therefore, if number 1 is your reason to go, I ask you to consider whether you really will speak up and share your faith with anyone as result of this movie. One good indicator of future performance is to look at past performance. There have been plenty of controversial things arise that give opportunity to speak up for Christ (evolution, same-sex marriage, Islam, etc.). Have you used these issues as a platform to witness for Christ? If not, why do you think you will now speak up at a result of The Da Vinci Code. If, on the other hand, you really do use current issues to share your faith, this movie may be one of the great opportunities to do so.

On the negative side: Why NOT to go to the movie

I've gotten five e-mails on why to GO to the movie for every one e-mail on why NOT to go. Therefore, let me give you some ideas on the other side of this issue:

1.) How Well Do You Know Your History?

Do you know early church history? Do you know Roman history from this period? Do you know who was Emperor of the Roman Empire during the early fourth century? Do you know what the Council of Nicaea was about? How about the Edict of Milan? Do you know how the books of the Bible were chosen?

Let me suggest that if you do not know the answers to these questions, you are not adequately equipped to answer the accusations against Christianity raised by The Da Vinci Code.

2.) What are your convictions about staying pure?

Most believers understand the importance of keeping their heart, mind and soul pure and undefiled. I don't know anyone who would go watch a popular porn flick just so he or she could better witness to others who had seen it. There are some things so defiling that it is just not right to be entertained by it. So, in light of the fact we belong to God and He calls us to lead holy lives, do you think it would be wrong to watch things that put sinful sexual thoughts in your mind but not wrong to see things that put blasphemous thoughts about Jesus in your mind?

3.) Does it bother you that Jesus is blasphemed in this movie?

I've been reminded over and over again that this movie is just fiction - its only meant for entertainment. Suppose someone had written a book and made a movie about your own mother that was filled with lies and distortions. She is accused of being a drug-dealer and having a secret second life in which she is a street-walking harlot. The book clearly identifies her by name, city, birth date and other facts, but weaves in a whole lot of "facts" that anyone who really knows your mother knows not to be true. Would such a book/movie be OK with you as long as it was housed in the fiction section? Or would you be outraged because you loved your mother and her reputation was important to you?

Personally, I see no way in which a person who loves Jesus could enjoy a movie that portrays Jesus the way the Da Vinci Code does. Putting in a disclaimer that this is fiction does not take away from the disgusting way He is portrayed. And, remember, to take the Name of the Lord in vain does not mean that you cuss; rather it means that you do not treat the Lord and His Name with the reverence with which He is due. The Da Vinci Code - focused on a false Jesus - most definitely takes His Name in vain!

4.) As a Steward, how do You want to Spend Your Money?

In a free economy like ours, we vote with our dollars. After the Passion of the Christ came out, Hollywood began to notice a huge market of decent people who wanted films honoring to Christian truth and values. If The Da Vinci Code succeeds, count on more movies that offend our faith (just as there are now a growing number of books along the lines of the Da Vinci Code), If, however, this movie flops, we can hope Hollywood will think twice about putting out films like this.

Well, I'm sure by now you catch the drift of what I think about going to the movie. Personally, I really am torn on what to do. I speak (and will speak) about this book / movie to thousands of people. I probably should know what's in the movie. I may go to see it. But I sure doubt that I will enjoy it. And if you won't enjoy the movie, let me quote Producer Ron Howard:

"There's no question that the film is likely to be upsetting to some people," Howard told reporters. "My advice ... is to not go see the movie if you think you're going to be upset."

Sounds like good advice to me.

Opponents of the Marriage Protection Amendment Have Weak Case

You have probably heard liberals argue that the Marriage Protection Amendment (MPA), which would define marriage as the union of one man and one woman, would write discrimination into the U.S. Constitution. Don't fall for such rhetoric.

Those who support the amendment aren't trying to deprive homosexuals of any rights. Any single adult has the right to marry any other single adult of the opposite sex. This right is granted to all -- regardless of sexual orientation. And no one is advocating this right be taken away. But neither should we condone as a society “special rights” that extend beyond this safe boundary called “the institution of marriage.”

MPA opponents argue that same-sex marriage is a civil rights issue akin to the African-American struggle for equality. Yet no less a civil rights icon than Jesse Jackson has denounced that claim, noting that "gays were never called three-fifths human in the Constitution."

Amendment supporters have also been disparaged as "bigots." How can that be, when the language being proposed is similar to the language of the Defense of Marriage Act, passed by 427 members of Congress? Are they -- and former President Clinton, who signed the bill into law -- bigots, too?

It is not homosexuals, but marriage, that is under attack. The assault first came subtly through no-fault divorce laws. And the effects of this can be clearly seen. Now, the enemy is coming through "the front door" as the entire meaning of marriage threatens to be re-defined out of existence. Instead of abandoning marriage all together, what if we defended it while seeking to improve those already joined in it? Otherwise, this institution will be destroyed along with society thereafter.

Will marriage survive? A watershed moment might be near. The U.S. Senate is poised to vote on the MPA in June and the stakes could not be higher for our country and our children.

The truth is, the Constitution is going to be altered one way or the other. Either that change will come from unelected, unaccountable judges intent on creating a right of homosexual couples to marry when the Constitution grants no such right; or it will come from those of us who decide to step up and demand our federal lawmakers pass the Marriage Protection Amendment.

QUOTABLE QUOTE:

"The oddest thing about Republicans and Democrats in power is that they always know the technical facts, always know about fund raising, always know what the national committee is saying about getting turnout. But so often they don't know the message or even have a message. Which is funny, because they're in the message business. They're like shoemakers who make pretty shoeboxes but forget to make the shoes."

-- Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal, May 11, 2006

Howard Dean misstates Democratic Party stance on marriage on 700 Club

As reported by the Family Research Council:

Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean very publicly put his foot in his mouth on The 700 Club when he said the Democratic Party platform recognizes marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Sadly, it doesn't. Dean's comments were soon retracted--as so many of them are.

Gay-Activist Group Returns DNC Donation Over Marriage Misstatement

Media bias or just un-professionalism? CNN airs Bush rehearsing speech

Network cuts into own programming to show president's warm-up
-- WorldNetDaily.com

Live blogging of President Bush's speech

Commments have been moved. Click website title above for the latest information from ThatTheyMayB1.net.

Listen to great live talk radio online.

Pictured above (left to right): Mike Gallagher; Bill Bennett; Laura Ingraham; Dennis Prager; Michael Medved; Hugh Hewitt; and Michael Savage.

Religious Climate Change?

The Religious Left thinks that global warming is about to break-up the Religious Right.

In this article, posted on May 5th in The Daily Standard, Mark D. Tooley writes:

…[Jim] Wallis insists that the Religious Right has been able to win with its "wedge issues" only when it could "control a monologue on the relationship between faith and politics." He wants to deflect evangelical attention away from abortion and homosexuality and towards Global Warming and poverty, focusing on an expanded welfare and regulatory state and reduced U.S. sovereignty in the world.

[Read more.]

Deadwood in the Pews: The Trouble with Church

-- The Evangelical Outpost

Churchgoers Most Supportive of the War

In a May 1, 2006 FrontPageMagazine.com article, Mark D. Tooley writes:

The recent headline of a Gallup poll was revealing: "Protestants and Frequent Churchgoers Most Supportive of Iraq War; Least supportive are non-Christians and people with no religion." This poll, released last month, gained almost no media attention.

[Read more.]

Church Discipline: When, Why, and How

By John Stott

TAKE ACTION: Join the “Pray Da Vinci” Prayer Group

The release The Da Vinci Code movie is quickly approaching! Sign up now to join the Pray Da Vinci Prayer Group by going to www.praydavinci.com. Beginning May 5th, you will then begin receiving a brief daily e-mail exposing an error-a-day in The Da Vinci Code. You'll also find a sample prayer urging you to pray every day for the next 30 days.

Review of Barna’s book "Revolution"

Greg Gilbert reviews George Barna’s recent book, Revolution, and makes this statement:

Barna isn’t really researching or uncovering anything with this book. He is doing what any good marketer would do: trying to drum up interest in his idea by declaring that millions, millions, millions! have already seen the light. Barna is not exposing a revolution; he is trying desperately to create one.

Read more of this review here.