World Family Policy Center Newsletter
*News relative to protecting the family worldwide*
Volume 7 Issue 164 - October 25, 2007
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Quote of the
Day: “The virtues of integrity, love
of liberty,
honesty, compassion and
confidence all are facilitated in the
early and constant care of a
mother's love. It is upon these
virtues that strong
civilizations exist.”
—Carol
Soelberg
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Today’s Contents:
A. Featured Scholar: Michael Gold
B. Featured News Articles
1. Alabama Picks a Bible
Textbook
2. Poll Shows Most
Americans are Pro-Life
Related Article: British Activists Slam US
Policy on Abortion Funding
3. White House warns
'gay' plan unconstitutional
4. Judge Southwick
Finally Confirmed to 5th Circuit Seat
5. Oregon minority again overrules voters regarding
same-sex marriage issues
6. UN chief: violence against women
surges
C. Coming Events
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FEATURED
SCHOLAR
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Michael Gold, Rabbi, Tamarac, Florida, received his B.A. in mathematics
from the University of California in San Diego. The Jewish Theological Seminary
ordained him in 1979. Currently he is studying for a PhD in the Public
Intellectuals Program at Florida Atlantic University.
The following text is from the opening paragraphs of
Rabbi Gold’s paper as it appears in Chapter 6, The Family in the New
Millennium, Vol. 3, p. 73
The Decision to Love: A Jewish
Perspective
At the center of the Torah’s vision for humanity is
the verse, “A man shall leave his mother and father and cleave unto his wife,
and they shall be one flesh” (Genesis 2:24).
Notice that it does not say, a man shall leave his mother and father and
cleave unto his lovers, wives, mistresses, and casual sex partners. Marriage and fidelity are the ideal for men
and women. Yet we live in a world of recreational sex, failed marriages, and
children whose parents are not a daily presence in their lives.
Why are our marriages in such trouble? Twenty-five
years of Rabbinic counseling have convinced me that we do not know how to love.
. . . If we are to create marriages that last
we must rethink how we look at love.
We need to teach our young people the true meaning of love. What does it
mean to fall in love and marry? Let us
share some insights from the Jewish mystical tradition know as kabbala.
[To read the entire
chapter see The Family in the New Millennium, Vol. 3, available from
Praeger Publishers, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06991]
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FEATURED
NEWS ARTICLES
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1. Alabama Picks a Bible Textbook
By David Van Biema
Time.com in partnership with CNN, Oct. 22, 2007
Alabama has became the first state in the union to
approve a textbook for a course about the Bible in its public schools, and its
surprisingly uncontroversial decision may prove to be a model for others.
According to Dr. Anita Buckley Commander, the Alabama
Director of Classroom Improvement, there was no opposition to the October 11
vote by the state Board of Education to include The Bible and Its Influence on
the state's list of accepted textbooks. The Board held a hearing on the issue
and no-one showed up; the book was approved by a vote of 8-0.
The textbook is a product of the Bible Literacy
Project, founded and run by Chuck Stetson, a conservative Christian New
York-based equity fund executive. Assessing scripture and its subsequent
influence on literature, art, philosophy and political culture, it was
specifically designed to avoid the Constitution's church-state barriers. Although
the text, which has been on the market for two years, is now taught in 163
schools in 35 states, no state had previously endorsed it.
The Bible and Its Influence has a fascinating
constellation of supporters and critics. Some of its more liberal champions,
such as the American Jewish Congress's counsel Marc Stern, feel that the
republic can not only survive but will actually benefit from public school
courses on a document as culturally central as the Bible — as long as the
classes avoid being devotional. Evangelical heavyweight Chuck Colson hopes that
God will speak to students even through a class that is secular in intent.
Those opposed to the book include secularists who argue that it already
violates the First Amendment and fundamentalists who see its approach as
secular and therefore diluting the value of what they see as God's inspired
word.
To read entire article:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1674427,00.html
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2. Poll Shows Most Americans are Pro-Life
A CBS News poll revealed 54 percent of Americans
oppose abortion in most or all cases.
When Americans were asked about their “personal
feelings” on abortion, 16 percent favored abortion only to save a woman’s life,
34 percent thought abortions should only be allowed in the rare cases of rape,
incest or to save the mother’s life, and 4 percent wanted all abortions
illegal.
Sixteen percent of Americans believe abortions should
be permitted but with greater restrictions, and 26 percent feel abortion should
be permitted in all cases.
The October poll shows an increase in the percentage
of pro-life Americans since CBS conducted a similar poll in January.
Among evangelical voters, CBS found 79 percent hold
pro-life beliefs.
To read article:
http://www.citizenlink.org/content/A000005748.cfm
Related Article: British Activists Slam
US Policy on Abortion Funding
By Kevin McCandless, CNSNews.com, October 24, 2007
London - A meeting of abortion-rights activists from
around the world here Tuesday kicked off what promises to be a tumultuous
battle over abortion in Britain in the coming months.
As part of the first Global Safe Abortion Conference,
more than 700 women's health advocates, doctors and government representatives
gathered to tackle what they called an epidemic of unsafe abortions.
Drawing on figures from the World Health Organization,
speakers at the conference said that around 66,000 women die each year from
poorly performed, often illegal abortions.
In response, organizations sponsoring the conference
called for liberalizing global abortion laws and for more funds to be poured
into reproductive services.
Elizabeth Maguire, president of IPAS, a
non-governmental organization (NGO) promoting "sexual and reproductive
rights" around the world, said that the situation was a "moral
outrage."
"How can societies and leaders who call themselves
compassionate allow this to happen?" she asked.
Speakers also criticized the United States policy of
restricting funding to NGOs that provide abortions.
Dana Hovig, chief executive of Marie Stopes
International, the largest private provider of abortion services in the world,
said the U.S. should stop hindering efforts to deal with the problem.
"It's perverse and it should stop," he said.
The conference comes shortly before the British
parliament is due to consider the Human Tissues and Embryos Bill, and
legislators on both sides of the abortion debate are expected to try add
amendments.
Current law allows most abortions in Britain up to the
24th week of pregnancy, if two doctors agree that ending the pregnancy is vital
to the emotional or physical health of the mother.
Pro-life groups hope to push the limit back to 20
weeks, and to provide women with prior counseling about the emotional and
physical effects of abortion.
Abortion-rights organizations have been pushing for a
further relaxation of the rules, removing the "two doctors"
requirement and permitting nurses to perform some abortions.
Political parties have agreed to allow their members a
conscience vote on the issue, and the government declared that it would remain
neutral.
To read entire article:
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=/ForeignBureaus/archive/200710/INT20071024a.html
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3. White House warns 'gay' plan
unconstitutional
WorldNetDaily.com, October 24, 2007
The White House is warning that a pending piece of
federal legislation to create new rights for homosexuals would push the
boundaries on constitutionality, and President Bush's advisers will recommend a
veto if it does come before him.
The plan at issue is H.R. 3685, on which WND has
reported.
As WND reported earlier, proposals such as the
Employment Non-Discrimination Act would give special privileges to
"gay" and "transgendered" individuals.
"If passed, the bill would grant special
employment rights and protected minority status to individuals who define
themselves based upon chosen sexual behaviors," said Matt Barber, a policy
analyst with Concerned Women for America, the nation's largest public policy
women's group.
"It would force employers to abandon their First
Amendment civil rights at the workplace door," he said.
To read entire article:
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=58316
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4. Judge Southwick Finally Confirmed to
5th Circuit Seat
by Devon Williams, CitizenLink, October 24, 2007
Ten months after he was nominated by President Bush,
the U.S. Senate today confirmed Judge Leslie Southwick’s nomination to the 5th
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, 59-38
Since January, Senate Democrats have tried to portray
Southwick as a homophobic racist, based on a few appeals-court decisions that
he didn’t write. Liberal special-interest groups also have done their best to
destroy Southwick's exemplary reputation.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said
Democrats did not handle the confirmation process unfairly.
Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst for Focus on the
Family Action, believes the confirmation is long overdue and said the highly
qualified judge will serve the 5th Circuit well.
“I am very pleased that, even in the politically
charged atmosphere of the Senate confirmation process, good things can still
happen to good people,” he said. “Judge Southwick's confirmation is a tribute
to his unequalled reputation as a fair jurist as well as his patriotic service
to our country. The country benefits from another jurist who will interpret the
law rather than create it from the bench.”
To read entire article:
http://www.citizenlink.org/content/A000005771.cfm
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5. Oregon minority again overrules voters
regarding same-sex marriage issues
WorldNetDaily.com,
October 24, 2007
For the second time on the same issue this year, the
expressed will of voters in Oregon is being overruled by a few officials in key
government positions, and several pro-family groups say the officials are
letting their personal beliefs affect their official actions.
"Oregon voters who support traditional marriage
and morality are being denied their right to vote, for purely political reasons
by state and county elections officials in the pockets of Oregon's homosexual
lobby," charged a statement released by Concerned Oregonians, which sought
to put HB 2007 and SB 2 on a coming election ballot.
Those two bills were rammed through the last
Legislature, and make up a combination that bestows on same-sex couples all the
rights given married couples, critics said, as well as providing vast new legal
power for those who choose homosexual, bisexual or other alternative lifestyles
in their newly designated status as protected minorities.
The first case of the minority rule happened during
the legislature, when 54 state lawmakers and Democratic Gov. Ted Kulongoski
rejected the will of the people to approve and sign into Law HB 2007 and SB 2.
For 148 years Oregon had recognized marriage as the
union of a man and a woman, and voters four times have addressed the issue,
most recently in 2004 when they collected more than a million votes and by a
substantial 57-43 percent margin decided to keep traditional marriage defined
as being between only one man and only one woman.
But the newest legislation simply rejects that vote,
and even makes a move to address such citizen "attitudes," requiring
schools to seek to change the minds of those who don't support homosexual duos.
The newest case comes on the decision by the state
Secretary of State's office that those collecting signatures to put the issues
on the election ballot fell 116 signatures short of the required 55,179, after
turning in 63,000 names.
The state has a process to check a certain number of
names, and then approve or disqualify others based on the ones checked.
David Crowe, a leader of Restore America, one of the
groups coordinating the petition effort, told WND that there are a number of
county clerks who have colluded with state officials who endorse the special
privileges for homosexuals to prevent people from voting on the issues.
To read entire article:
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=58310
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6. UN chief: violence against women
surges
By Edith M. Lederer
Associated Press Writer, October 24, 2007
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The U.N. secretary-general
warned that violence against women has reached "hideous" levels in
some countries trying to recover from conflict, and the U.N. Security Council
demanded an end to impunity for rape and other sexual abuse.
The council expressed deep concern Tuesday that
despite its repeated demands for an immediate end to violence against women
caught in armed conflicts, "rape and other forms of sexual abuse, as well
as all other forms of violence, ... remain pervasive, and in some situations
have become systematic, and have reached appalling levels of atrocity."
"The council stresses the need to end impunity
for such acts as part of a comprehensive approach to seeking peace, justice,
truth and national reconciliation," it said.
The council statement was read at the end of a
day-long open meeting on implementation of a resolution adopted in 2000 that
called for the prosecution of crimes against women and increased protection of
women and girls during war. It also demanded that women be included in
decision-making positions at every level of peacemaking and peacebuilding.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said "violence
against women has reached hideous and pandemic proportions in some societies
attempting to recover from conflict." He did not name any countries.
"Together, all of us need to strengthen our
collective and individual response to it," Ban said. "This is
essential if we are to reverse the damage done by conflict, and to build more
inclusive, accountable and cohesive socieites, underpinned by viable democratic
institutions."
U.N. Undersecretary-General for Peacekeeping
Jean-Marie Guehenno stressed the U.N.'s "zero tolerance" for sexual
exploitation and abuse by its more than 80,000 peacekeeping troops.
To read entire article:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/UN_WOMEN?SITE=CODER&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-10-24-04-53-13
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COMING
EVENTS
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NINTH WORLD FAMILY POLICY FORUM
July 7
- 9, 2008
Provo,
Utah
Sponsored by the
World Family Policy Center, Brigham Young University. Participation and attendance at the Forum is
by invitation only. For further
information, contact Sarah Stewart
801-422-5192
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Note: The Featured
Articles excerpts are highlights of current events and
do not necessarily
represent the views of the World Family Policy Center
or Brigham Young
University.
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Newsletter created
and distributed by:
World Family Policy
Center (www.worldfamilypolicy.org)
J. Reuben Clark Law
School
Brigham Young
University
Acting Managing
Director: A. Scott Loveless
Newsletter
Editors: Joy S. Lundberg and Gary B.
Lundberg
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