..A
Louisiana pro-family advocate says the ACLU is doing everything in
its power to intimidate anyone who dares to pray. Now the American
Civil Liberties Union is asking a judge to throw some Louisiana
school board members in jail because someone said a prayer over the
public address system before a high school baseball game. Gene
Mills, president of the Louisiana Family Forum, says the current ban
on all prayers in school settings is currently being appealed, and
the ACLU's heavy-handed tactics are just meant to "intimidate and
bully the school board away from its policy of allowing the public
to speak." In one case, Mills notes, a member of the public actually
stood and prayed at a school event, and because the school board
"didn't jump up and tackle the member of the public who was in the
process of prayer, the ACLU is charging now that they are in
contempt of the judge's ruling." The Louisiana Family Forum
spokesman says obviously his group disagrees with the civil
liberties organization and adds, "We just think this is
grandstanding by the ACLU and still think that there's going to be a
favorable outcome." The ACLU claims any prayer at a public school
event violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment.
...Biblically-knowledgeable
critics are warning Christians about the content of a new TV
miniseries that is supposedly based on end-times prophesy in the
final book of the Bible. The new series called Revelations premieres
Wednesday on NBC and stars Bill Pullman as a skeptical scientist
teamed up with a nun who believes the Bible's end-time prophecies
are coming true. Pullman says the network has been anxious not to
offend anybody; but Christians who have previewed the first episode
say it bears little resemblance to the Bible's Book of Revelation.
Left Behind co-author Jerry Jenkins says the TV show suggests that
Jesus will return as a baby and that people can somehow forestall
the apocalypse. "There's nothing in the prophecies or in scripture
about Jesus coming back as a baby," he says, "or of human beings
having any say in the timing of God and delaying the Apocalypse, or
anything like that." Jenkins says NBC's Revelations "seems to be
based on myth and new age things that nobody finds in scripture."
Meanwhile, radio's "Bible Answer Man," Hank Hanegraaff, says the TV
series "must rely on biblical illiteracy for its success."
...A
Washington, DC-based immigration reform activist is impressed that
more than 1,600 volunteers are camped out in the Arizona desert to
send a message to the U.S. government that unchecked illegal
immigration at the nation's southern border must stop. According to
John Keeley of the Center for Immigration Studies, the Minuteman
Project currently under way in Arizona has already been successful,
because the flow of illegal aliens into the area has dropped
dramatically. He says ordinary citizens involved in the campaign are
making a difference, including "retired police officers, veterans,
senior citizens coming from all walks of life, who simply have said
the border chaos can't continue." But Keeley contends that the
success of the project also demonstrates the disconnect between a
vast majority of U.S. citizens and the powerful elites, including
President Bush, who has characterized the Arizona campaign as
vigilantism and called for "rational law enforcement" instead. "The
President's assessment, his characterization of that neighborhood
watch -- and that's really what it is; it's a peaceful neighborhood
watch -- I find very, very troubling," Keeley notes. But, until
something changes, he says America should expect more
citizen-organized efforts like the Minuteman Project.
...A Christian
outreach has been formed to address the issue of inconsistent
ministry to the people in the remote islands of Okinawa, Japan.
Island Ministries International (imiai.com) (IMI) has been formed as
a company rather than a non-profit organization so as to avoid being
restricted in its activities by the Japanese government; however,
the Okinawa-based company considers evangelism its chief product.
IMI also offers mission trips for small groups of 8 to 12 people.
The area where IMI does its outreach presents a number of challenges
for missionaries: the islands are located in the so-called "10/40
Window" and stretch over 600 miles within what is known as "Typhoon
Alley" -- a region that often experiences as many as 12 hurricanes
annually. Most of the villages on the outer islands are small with
limited resources, and they are often characterized by water
shortages and lack of medical care facilities. Idolatry and ancestor
worship are prevalent, as is poverty. IMI is focused on establishing
relationships with the islanders and introducing them to Jesus in
the course of addressing their other perceived needs. Island
Ministries International encourages supporters to pray for the
ministry and partner with it by becoming members, donating supplies,
or going on an IMI mission trip.
A Michigan church
has been criticized for promoting its anti-pornography campaign with
billboards publicizing a "Porn Weekend." Westwinds Community Church
spokesman Randy Shafer told a local newspaper (The Jackson Citizen
Patriot) that "pornography is such a huge issue and usually is not
discussed in church." He said Westwinds sought to "hit it head-on
and get people talking about it." He said Porn Weekend was meant to
educate the community on the effects of the sex trade in magazines,
movies, TV, and the Internet, and to offer help for those caught up
in it. But some Jackson County residents complained that the
billboards were offensive and hard to explain to their children.
...Concerned Women for
America, living up to its name, is concerned about how polling data
was used to mislead the American public during the Terri Schiavo
case last month. The group says a "mass orchestration of public
opinion, based on profoundly erroneous information" kept Americans
in the dark about Terri's actual condition. But CWA says when a new
Zogby poll properly described the Florida woman's condition --
something the organization says did not happen in earlier polls --
80 percent of respondents opposed the starvation order handed down
by a Florida judge. Robert Knight, director of CWA's Culture and
Family Institute, says as Judge George Greer "openly flouted" a
subpoena from Congress and the Florida Senate rejected emergency
legislation that could have resulted in the woman's feeding tube
being reinserted, polls indicated that most Americans were in
apparent agreement with Terri's treatment. "Yet, when Americans are
given accurate information [as he says the Zogby poll provided], the
polling comes out quite differently," Knight says. In retrospect,
the pro-life advocate says "it's awful to watch as your fellow
Americans are kept in the dark, asked their opinion, and then that
manufactured opinion is used as a political hammer."
National News
...A
Washington, DC-based immigration reform activist is impressed that
more than 1,600 volunteers are camped out in the Arizona desert to
send a message to the U.S. government that unchecked illegal
immigration at the nation's southern border must stop. According to
John Keeley of the Center for Immigration Studies, the Minuteman
Project currently under way in Arizona has already been successful,
because the flow of illegal aliens into the area has dropped
dramatically. He says ordinary citizens involved in the campaign are
making a difference, including "retired police officers, veterans,
senior citizens coming from all walks of life, who simply have said
the border chaos can't continue." But Keeley contends that the
success of the project also demonstrates the disconnect between a
vast majority of U.S. citizens and the powerful elites, including
President Bush, who has characterized the Arizona campaign as
vigilantism and called for "rational law enforcement" instead. "The
President's assessment, his characterization of that neighborhood
watch -- and that's really what it is; it's a peaceful neighborhood
watch -- I find very, very troubling," Keeley notes. But, until
something changes, he says America should expect more
citizen-organized efforts like the Minuteman Project.
...A Christian
outreach has been formed to address the issue of inconsistent
ministry to the people in the remote islands of Okinawa, Japan.
Island Ministries International (imiai.com) (IMI) has been formed as
a company rather than a non-profit organization so as to avoid being
restricted in its activities by the Japanese government; however,
the Okinawa-based company considers evangelism its chief product.
IMI also offers mission trips for small groups of 8 to 12 people.
The area where IMI does its outreach presents a number of challenges
for missionaries: the islands are located in the so-called "10/40
Window" and stretch over 600 miles within what is known as "Typhoon
Alley" -- a region that often experiences as many as 12 hurricanes
annually. Most of the villages on the outer islands are small with
limited resources, and they are often characterized by water
shortages and lack of medical care facilities. Idolatry and ancestor
worship are prevalent, as is poverty. IMI is focused on establishing
relationships with the islanders and introducing them to Jesus in
the course of addressing their other perceived needs. Island
Ministries International encourages supporters to pray for the
ministry and partner with it by becoming members, donating supplies,
or going on an IMI mission trip.
A Michigan church
has been criticized for promoting its anti-pornography campaign with
billboards publicizing a "Porn Weekend." Westwinds Community Church
spokesman Randy Shafer told a local newspaper (The Jackson Citizen
Patriot) that "pornography is such a huge issue and usually is not
discussed in church." He said Westwinds sought to "hit it head-on
and get people talking about it." He said Porn Weekend was meant to
educate the community on the effects of the sex trade in magazines,
movies, TV, and the Internet, and to offer help for those caught up
in it. But some Jackson County residents complained that the
billboards were offensive and hard to explain to their children.
