AFTER EDEN : A Smile and Some Tears

watersblogged!: Mark Kennedy: truthteller

watersblogged!: Mark Kennedy: truthteller

British Survey Finds Overwhelming Majority of Women Regretted Abortions

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 12, 2006
London, England (LifeNews.com) -- A British pro-life group placed advertisements in six women's magazines there to gather the experiences of women who had abortions and find out their reaction to their decision years down the road. More than 82 percent of the women who responded indicated they deeply regretted their abortion decisions.

Some 248 women replied to the ads sponsored by the group LIFE between April and early July.

Just 26 said they had a few or no regrets about their abortions, including one 74 year-old woman who had three abortions in the 1960s and 70s and another who had aborted twins.

Of that small group of women, they indicated they had no other alternative than the abortion or said it was the "right thing" at that moment in their lives. Still, many said they would not want to do it again. Nine other women said they were undecided about their abortion experiences.

However, 204 of the 248 women said they deeply regretted their abortions.(continue reading article at link)

Top Ten List: If Hillary Becomes President

Top Ten List: If Hillary Becomes President

1. During the campaign, she and Bill will have a covert yet overheard and therefore reported, romantic reconciliation ...with photos
2. Throughout the entire campaign cycle, we will see her swathed in pink, after which she will relapse into black pant suits accented with bright colors, less make-up and shorter hair (she has spoken wistfully of sporting a crew-cut)
3. Chelsea will at long last get married in a fabulous photo-op white house wedding; televised (Bill will cry), choreographed and paid for by Hollywood cronies. The young couple will then busy themselves producing grandbabies in time to prop up poll numbers
4. Prime government appointments will be women, competent or not. One week a month, all men will exit the building
5. Hillary will end "don't ask don't tell", extending the red carpet to gays in the military, even conferring special status with new medals - Gay Bling
6. She will be the least visible president ever at non-scripted events. In her many scripted events, she will exercise total control and the press will grovel and self-censor or be frozen out
7. She will drop Clinton as her surname, perhaps dropping Rodham, and so proceed simply as HILLARY - Superstar - (think Cher)
8. We will at last be treated to a public display of that famous and profane temper when some poor sucker asks the wrong question
9. Bill will become Secretary General of the U.N., appointing himself ”king of the world”
10. We’ll all be equal, but some of us will be more equal than others
(SDG)Flo

Beth Moore Bible Studies

Call me clueless, but gender studies baffle me. Why do I need a "girls' eye view" of the law and the gospel? Squishy theology.
Below, completely unedited is a review of a Beth Moore Bible study. I think the review says it all. Who can resist? It's just all about spiritual passion (yawn), and having this wonderful role model (Beth of course being the latest and greatest) to live up to, feel heartfelt about, follow and gush over. And Christ is where? Forget the cross.. yucky, too objective!. Meanwhile women never need to grow up, instead they emote or perform with increasing skill. Yes, I know we are truly more emotional, yet emotional or not, God's goal is not to make us successful, and where else do girl studies go? Fine wine versus soda pop.
I have more in common with my confused friends (or Catholics for some reason) than with self-righteous, smug evangelical types... we sinners aren't always making pretty with each other. Yet embracing cynicism is my sin.
Self-righteousness in women's studies ... "little methods and formulas" - advance hell-hot notions. It is apostasy, in spite of "results".
Forgiven in Christ,
(SDG)Flo


Title: Daniel
Author: Beth Moore
Publisher: Lifeway
Length of Study: 12 Weeks


Three Reasons you liked it:
1) Beth is ON FIRE in this study unlike any others I've seen her do.
2) She challenges your mindset and encourages to pay attention to what's around you.
3) She encourages you to spend time in the WORD and pray daily the LORD will impart to you supernatural wisdom and understanding.

Beginnings

Have been participating in another blog (http://freespeechfreeforall.us/), decided I was talking too much there, perhaps monopolizing the space, so to overcome that problem I'll come here to try something new...my own writings on my own blog.

Previously I only clipped and pasted articles that were important to me; will still do that of course, but now with more of my thinking thrown in. I have been learning how blogs work, and feel more confident about the process and how to do it.

Priests for Life: Abortion industry collapsing

By Bill Howard and Jim MyersThe Colorado Catholic Herald (www.ColoradoCatholicHerald.com)
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.

As abortion doctors reveal more details of the procedures and more women who have had abortions are speaking out about their awful experience, the abortion industry is collapsing, said Father Frank Pavone, national director for Staten Island, N.Y.-based Priests for Life.

Not Harvard Bound: Some of America’s Most Promising Youth Are Seeking an Even Higher Education

by Terrence O. Moore

Those who wish to glimpse what the future holds or even to know present culture in its purest form very often look to the mental and moral health of the nation’s youth. And what they find is generally discouraging. The over-sexed, underdressed teenagers who seem to alternate between hanging out at the mall and spilling out the intimate details of their lives on myspace.com do not seem to be preparing themselves for positions of moral and political responsibility. Even at the other end of the spectrum, at the nation’s leading universities, young people seem to lack strong character...

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Saint Hugo: The Religious Left begins its embrace of Hugo Chávez.

by Mark D. Tooley

WHEN VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT HUGO CH VEZ met with the Pope earlier this week, he assured Benedict XVI that he is a Christian. And he told the press that has a special friend who is one too. Sort of.

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Doctors Issue Pro-life Ecumenical Statement

BARCELONA, Spain, MAY 15, 2006 (Zenit.org).- The world congress of the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations issued an Ecumenical Declaration in favor of life, human dignity and health.

Worldwide Network of Former Homosexuals Says to John Stossel: 'Give Us a Break'; Journalist's Book Says Change for Homosexuals is a Myth

Contact: Julie Neils of Exodus International, 407-599-6872 or jneils@exodus.to

ORLANDO, Fla., May 11 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The largest network of former homosexuals in the world is challenging an ABC news correspondent's claim that change for homosexuals is a myth. Alan Chambers, President of Exodus International, says John Stossel's new book, "Myths, Lies & Downright Stupidity" is an ignorant and callous dismissal of the lives of thousands of former homosexuals.

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Why Ears Itch for the Theology of The Da Vinci Code Film

Analysis by Dr. Marc T. Newman
MovieMinistry.com

(AgapePress) - Da Vinci Code director Ron Howard was given a tall order. First, how do you make a talky thriller work when nearly your entire pre-sold audience has already read the book, and therefore knows the ending? The Da Vinci Code is not like the films made from the Bourne books, which can sustain their tension on action alone. Let's face it, Dr. Robert Langdon, the "symbologist" protagonist of Dan Brown's bestseller, is no Indiana Jones. Second, your supposedly "fact-based" source material that had faded into relative obscurity is now back on the front pages and everyone is reminded that it is a hoax. The answer? Make significant plot changes to keep 'em guessing and deny, deny, deny.

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Christian Doc Cautions Parents About Asthma Risk in Daycares

By Mary Rettig

A pediatrician in New York says the Swedish study on daycare and allergies has definite implications for American parents.

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Creationist Defends Bible-Based Science Against Vatican Astronomer's Criticism

By Jim Brown and Jenni Parker
(AgapePress) -

Vatican astronomer Guy Consolmagno recently told The Scotsman newspaper that believing God created the universe is a form of superstitious paganism, akin to the idea of "nature gods" that pagans believed were responsible for natural phenomena such as thunder and lightning. However, a leading creation scientist says the papal astronomer's contention that Six-Day Creationists are practicing paganism is "absolutely absurd."

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Before Nicea, the Voice of the Martyrs: 'Jesus Alone Is Lord!'

By Rev. Mark H. Creech
(AgapePress) -

This Friday, May 19, The Da Vinci Code is scheduled to debut in theatres across the nation. The book has sold more than any fictional work in U.S. history and the movie is expected to place among the top 20 feature films of all time.

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All-Brand Ad in Homosexual Mag Signals Ford Motor's Loyalties, Says AFA

By Ed Thomas
(AgapePress) -

A spokesman for a prominent pro-family organization says Ford Motor Company continues to push the envelope in its support of the homosexual agenda. He says that includes a new first: advertising in the latest issue of a raunchy homosexual magazine.

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Christian MD: Dangerous Eugenics Research Being Funded With Taxpayer Dollars

By Mary Rettig
(AgapePress) -

The executive director of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA) says taxpayer dollars are going to fund a dangerous area of scientific research. The National Institutes of Health has given a grant of nearly three-quarters of a million dollars to Professor Maxwell Mehlman, a scientist at Case Western University, to assist him in studying the genetic enhancements of human beings.

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Liberal war on terrorism heats up: DeLay finally captured

By Ann Coulter
Apr 5, 2006

If only liberals were half as angry at the people who flew planes into our skyscrapers as they are with Tom DeLay, we might have two patriotic parties in this country.
Any Republicans who didn't ferociously defend Tom DeLay -- which is to say, almost all Republicans in Congress, the president, and alleged conservative writers trying to impress the editorial board of The New York Times -- better hope liberals never come after them. The only proven method for a Republican to avoid having his name turned into a liberal malediction is to be completely ineffective. You'll notice there's no "Stop Lamar Alexander Before It's Too Late" Web site...

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Who hates the other more - liberals or conservatives?

By Dennis Prager
Apr 4, 2006

Here are three questions comparing liberals and conservatives:
1. During the 2004 elections, which car was more likely to be "keyed," i.e., deliberately scratched -- a car with a "John Kerry" bumper sticker in an overwhelmingly conservative area, or a car with a "George W. Bush" sticker in an overwhelmingly liberal area?
2. When speaking at colleges, do right-wing or left-wing speakers need and receive police protection?
3. In a debate between a right-wing and a left-wing speaker before an audience equally divided between left and right, which audience group is more likely to boo and hiss at the speaker with whom it disagrees -- the liberal or the conservative?
Here are the answers:...

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Combating "warming" is still up for debate

By George Will
Apr 2, 2006
WASHINGTON --

So, "the debate is over.'' Time magazine says so. Last week's cover story exhorted readers to "Be Worried. Be Very Worried,'' and ABC News concurred in several stories. So did Montana's governor, speaking on ABC. And there was polling about global warming, gathered by Time and ABC in collaboration...
...In fact, the earth is always experiencing either warming or cooling. But suppose the scientists and their journalistic conduits, who today say they were so spectacularly wrong so recently, are now correct. Suppose the earth is warming and suppose the warming is caused by human activity. Are we sure there will be proportionate benefits from whatever climate change can be purchased at the cost of slowing economic growth and spending trillions? Are we sure the consequences of climate change -- remember, a thick sheet of ice once covered the Middle West -- must be bad?...

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What would Hillary do?

By Kathleen Parker
Mar 24, 2006

When President George W. Bush consults Catholic bishops and Hillary Clinton invokes Jesus, you can bet politics are in a prayerful heat.
The issue that sends politicians on both sides of the aisle scurrying to the pulpit for direction is illegal immigration. Few issues are as tricky.
How does a nation of immigrants criminalize the human yearning for freedom and a better life? On the other hand, how can we absorb all those millions who want to come here and who, by their actions, disrespect our laws?
More to the heart of most Americans' concerns, how can a nation fighting a war on terror NOT seal its borders?...

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The Islamic threat is greater than German and Soviet threats were

By Dennis Prager
Mar 28, 2006
O

nly four types of individuals can deny the threat to civilization posed by the violence-supporting segment of Islam: the willfully naive, America-haters, Jew-haters and those afraid to confront evil.
Anyone else sees the contemporary reality -- the genocidal Islamic regime in Sudan; the widespread Muslim theological and emotional support for the killing of a Muslim who converts to another religion; the absence of freedom in Muslim-majority countries; the widespread support for Palestinians who randomly murder Israelis; the primitive state in which women are kept in many Muslim countries; the celebration of death; the "honor killings" of daughters; and so much else that is terrible in significant parts of the Muslim world -- knows that civilized humanity has a new evil to fight...

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Victories in the marriage debate

By Maggie Gallagher
Mar 28, 2006

History is written by the victors. So it is particularly fitting that New York's own Institute for American Values (where I was once an affiliate scholar) should release two scholarly reports on the marriage debate by Norval Glenn and Tom Sylvester. Professor Norval Glenn is one of the nation's top family scholars, a sociologist at University of Texas-Austin widely respected for his methodological rigor.
Report No. 1, "The Shift," is a painstaking effort to investigate the widespread perception that expert opinion on whether and how much marriage matters actually changed in response to new scientific data...

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It's hard out there for a black conservative

By Larry Elder
Mar 30, 2006

"I could never vote for a Republican. It would be like voting for the Klan."
A prominent, incredibly successful black businessman told me that a few years ago. This attitude perhaps explains the unbridled joy with which some black pundits greeted "the fall" of Claude Allen, President George W. Bush's top domestic policy adviser from January 2005 until his abrupt resignation on Feb. 9, 2006. Now we know why.
On March 9, 2006, Montgomery County police arrested Allen on charges of felony theft and felony theft scheme. Authorities say he entered stores like Target, purchased merchandise and took the items out to his car. He then re-entered the store, receipt in hand, and picked up the same item from a shelf to "return" it for a refund. Allegedly, over the past year, Allen used the scheme to steal more than $5,000 worth of merchandise. Talk about a crash. Allen goes from a $161,000-a-year job with serious presidential face time, to a disgraced defendant facing up to 15 years in prison. Some pundits could scarcely withhold their glee. Not just because a former Bush aide finds himself in the news for the wrong reasons, but because Allen is a conservative black who's fallen from grace...

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The case against adultery

By Burt Prelutsky
Apr 1, 2006

Not being religious, I don’t feel comfortable discussing other people’s sins. Even where the Ten Commandments are concerned, I’m probably only batting about .650. However, one of the thou-shalt-nots I seem to take more seriously than a lot of other people, including those in the church-going crowd, is number seven on the hit parade, the one dealing with adultery.
Having been divorced twice, I recognize that all marriages are not made in heaven. Some, in fact, seem to have been cobbled together in Dr. Frankenstein’s basement. Speaking from experience, there are perfectly good reasons for certain unions to be dissolved. But, for the life of me, I can not come up with a single decent excuse for adultery. Frankly, I regard adulterers as lying, contemptible sleazebags. I can’t begin to imagine how they live with themselves, let alone their mates. Even the terminology is distasteful, unless, unlike most of us, you don’t mind being a cheater...

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Your mother was wrong

By Mike S. Adams
Apr 3, 2006

Good morning students! It’s good to see you this morning - although you are probably perplexed that I’ve called together only a dozen of you for this special study session. Please be patient, I only have a few things to say before I give you a special assignment that should make your semester much easier.
As most of you can tell, I love teaching. About 85% of my students are wonderful. They keep me energized and eager to teach even the classes I have taught dozens of times. But then there are the 15% of students that make my job unnecessarily difficult. Unfortunately, these students are a real pain in the backside. But, fortunately, I have gathered all of them together today. Look around the room. You are all part of that 15% of annoying students.
First of all, sir, - yes, you in the green shirt with the marijuana leaf - I would like to tell you how you made it into this elite congregation. Earlier in the semester, I asked you to stop bringing an MP3 player into my class during test periods. But, last week during another exam you did it again. And I’ve finally figured out why.
It seems that when you were a little boy your mother told you that you were special. Although you believed her, your mother was wrong. You’re not special. You’re just the same as everyone else. That’s why you have to play by the same rules as everyone else. And that’s why you’re here today...

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Tackling Tehran

Investors Business Daily
Posted 3/30/2006

roliferation: The U.N.'s toothless response to Iran's defiance on nuclear weapons tells Iran it can do what it wants with no consequences. Once again, the U.S. is in the lonely position of telling a rogue state "no."
The so-called P5 — the U.S., Britain, France, China and Russia, the five permanent, veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council — on Thursday issued a new set of "demands" to Iran. But calling the weak requests it made "demands" is a bit grandiose. The group really just punted...

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Death Marks an Anniversary—Have We Learned Anything?

By Albert Mohler
Friday, March 31, 2006

Today, March 31, 2006, marks the one year anniversary of Terri Schiavo's death by starvation. All too quickly, Terri's name and cause disappeared from the national awareness as our attention-deficit culture moved on to other issues and other concerns.
Just in time for the anniversary of her death, publishers have released books written by Terri's former husband, Michael Schiavo, and her parents--each offering competing visions of Terri's life and the meaning of Terri's death. Given the symbolic nature of this sad anniversary, another flurry of news stories, cable news programs, and media commentaries are likely to appear. But, has America learned anything about the sanctity of human life over the past twelve months?...

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Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm Will Sign Abortion-Ultrasound Bill

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 20, 2006
Lansing, MI (LifeNews.com) --

Pro-abortion Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm says she will sign a bill that will allow women to see an ultrasound of their unborn child prior to having an abortion. The move is somewhat of a surprise because Granholm has vetoed virtually every other piece of pro-life legislation state lawmakers have approved...

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Wisconsin House Approves Abstinence Bill, Heads to Gov. Doyle

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 20, 2006
Madison, WI (LifeNews.com) --

The Wisconsin state House approved legislation that would require sex ed programs in public schools to promote abstinence as the preferred sexual behavior for teens. The bill now heads to pro-abortion Governor Jim Doyle, who has not taken a position on it.
The measure requires primary and secondary schools spend more time teaching abstinence education than other methods of preventing pregnancy...

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"Big Love"?: HBO Skips True Polygamy in Islamic U.S.

March 20, 2006
By Debbie Schlussel

HBO's new show, "Big Love," is getting a lot of hype. Airing in the prized post-Soprano's slot on Sundays at 10 p.m. Eastern, the show is about a lapsed Mormon in suburban Salt Lake City who has three wives and families.
But while the Mormon Church banned the practice of polygamy in 1890, another religion continues to encourage it to this day. Hint: It begins with an I, ends with an M, and has an S-L-A in the middle.
If you think men with four wives only happens in Utah, think again. If you think that, with Muslims, it only happens in some desert emirate over in the Middle East, also think again.
The fact is there are Muslim men with multiple wives living everywhere in America. But unlike the Mormons--most of whom don't practice polygamy anymore--Muslims with multiple wives aren't subject to ridicule, like HBO shows or Jay Leno jokes. And they aren't prosecuted, like Mormon Tom Green was...

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A Thousand Sri-Lankan Female Tea-Plantation Workers March Against Abortion

By Gudrun Schultz
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, March 17, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) –

Women workers on tea-plantations left their jobs for a day to march in protest against abortion on International Women’s Day March 8.
Nearly a thousand women carrying placards saying “women are not slaves” and “stop abortion” marched through the Hatton area of central Sri Lanka, performing a street play along the way about the harm caused by abortion.
Fr. George Sigamani, of the Kandy diocese, coordinated the protest. Fr. Sigamani is head of the justice, peace, human development and human rights apostolate for the diocese. He told UCA News there have been hundreds of illegal abortions in the area.
”One of the major issues is the number of abortions taking place,” he said. Abortion is illegal in Sri Lanka unless the mother’s life is in danger. Fr. Sigamani said most of the abortions take place because the pregnancy occurred outside of marriage, or because the woman’s husband demanded that she have an abortion...

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Polygamy, Gay Marriage and Values

March 17, 2006
By Charles Krauthammer
WASHINGTON --

And now, polygamy.
With the sweetly titled HBO series ``Big Love,'' polygamy comes out of the closet. Under the headline ``Polygamists, Unite!'' Newsweek informs us of ``polygamy activists emerging in the wake of the gay-marriage movement.'' Says one evangelical Christian big lover: ``Polygamy rights is the next civil-rights battle.''

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