The U.S. House of Representatives, reports the Illinois Family Institute, could vote on a new campaign finance bill, H.R. 5175, as early as this week, which, if passed, would silence political speech by nonprofit organizations and even discourage financial support. The act goes against the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this year that struck down unconstitutional restrictions on speech. The bill could even impact the non-partisan voter guide produced by groups before elections. The National Rifle Association struck a deal with the U.S. House Democrats pushing the bill so the NRA could be exempted, but no other organization is reportedly exempt.
Other news
- The Health and Human Services Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability has voted 9–6 against lifting the ban on blood donations from men who have sex with men. The Illinois Family Institute noted that homosexual activists are “not just trying to force acceptance and legitimacy of their sexual behavior through the media, military, legislatures, schools, courts and academia, but now they are targeting health care—even if it may place the nation’s entire well being in danger.”
- More than 30 Republican lawmakers are working to shut down what they consider “outrageous spending of taxpayer money to abortion providers,” reports the Illinois Family Institute. The Government Accountability Office has released a report showing that over the past eight years, nearly $1 billion has been given to “family planning” organizations such as Planned Parenthood.
- The Southern Baptist Convention has issued a veiled but sharp critique of the nation’s oil companies at its convention in Orlando, Fla., suggesting that the massive BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico was a timely reminder that “our God-given dominion over the creation is not unlimited, as though we were gods and not creatures.” A resolution, says Religion News Service, urged churches to pray for an end to the catastrophe. The SBC also adopted statements stemming from its opposition to homosexuality, the proposed Employment Non-Discrimination Act (the bill does not exempt religious bookstores and other ministries), and allowance of openly gay members to serve in the military. The SBC also adopted a statement about the “scandal of Southern Baptist divorce,” urging churches to emphasize in wedding services that vows are a sign of a lifelong covenant rather than a mere token of romance. “A denomination seeking God’s blessing in revival and reformation ought to address the spiritual wreckage left in our Southern Baptist churches by our own divorce rates and our silence about the same.” In a surprise move, Southern Baptists said no to two well-known presidential candidates and elected Bryant Wright, a church planter from Marietta, Ga., to lead them in the coming year.
- While the divorce rate in the U.S. is one of the highest in the world, finds Rasmussen Reports, 80 percent of Americans believe it is “very important” for children to grow up in a home with both their parents. Just 4 percent think it is “not very important,” and no one polled said that having both parents in the home is “not at all important.”
- In what the Home School Legal Defense Association called “a stunning display of bureaucratic indifference and contempt of due process rights,” a Swedish court has removed a qualified attorney from the Johannson case. Eight-year-old Domenic Johannson was taken into custody without a court order by local social workers and the police. The Johanssons have been permitted to visit their son only for an hour every five weeks. The lawyer specializes in working with families whose children have been taken away from them by the state.
- A pastor in Michigan, reports the HSLDA, wrote a letter that was published in a Kalamazoo newspaper calling for the elimination of homeschooling unless it is regulated by the state to the same extent as public school. The pastor was provoked by a homeschooled student’s article on embryonic stem cell research. The pastor asserted that parents’ ”ideological indoctrination” is preventing their children from getting an “actual education.” The HSLDA responded by pointing out studies that show the pastor’s opinions don’t line up with the facts concerning achievement scores, and that the right of parents to direct the education and upbringing of their children is protected by the liberty clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Further, states such as Michigan uphold the rights of parents in their state laws. The HSLDA countered the pastor’s charges of child abuse as “an insult to the tens of thousands of conscientious and dedicated parents who have sacrificially given of themselves to teach their children at home, often giving up lucrative careers to do so. There is simply no data to even suggest that child abuse is more prevalent in homeschooling families than in families whose children are being educated by other means. To the contrary, based on our interactions with homeschooling families over the past 27 years of HSLDA’s existence, it is most likely that the incidence of child abuse within these families is minuscule compared to the general population.”
- Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, whom conservatives and Christians see as a possible White House aspirant, has disappointed and disenchanted these groups of citizens when he recently urged a moratorium on social issues. The Illinois Family Institute notes that while “conservatives” abandon these issues, radical liberal agenda proponents go full steam ahead: “Governor Daniels reveals a troubling ignorance about what constitutes an ‘existential threat’ to our country when he implies that legalized killing of the unborn and destruction of the natural family and traditional marriage do not pose a threat to the continued health, strength, and even existence of this country. . . . If conservatives en masse would reject any candidate who waves the white flag on social issues, maybe, just maybe, we would be blessed with better candidates—ones for whom we could vote without holding our proverbial noses.”
- The National Parent Teacher Association refused to allow the group Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays to have an exhibit at its national PTA convention in Memphis this year, reports onenewsnow.com. However, the six-million-member PTA allowed Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays as an exhibitor. “It’s blatant discrimination against ex-gays,” commented Regina Griggs, PFOX executive director.
- The New York State Senate Judiciary Committee has voted 12–11 to reject a bill known as the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (also known as the “bathroom bill”), according to CitizenLink.com. The legislation would have opened all public accommodations, including restrooms, high school locker rooms, health clubs, dorm rooms, and other single-sex residential facilities to both genders, dependent upon which sex an individual chooses to identify him- or herself with.
- The Israel Government Tourist Office has announced a new way to explore the Sea of Galilee and the surrounding area, according to goIsrael.com: The first 4.5 km segment of the 130 km Mountain Bike Trail around the Sea of Galilee was recently inaugurated from Capernaum to the Arik Bridge on the northern shores of the lake. Once completed, the trail will take cyclists on a four-day trip around the Sea. The route will begin in Tiberias. Until the mountain bike trail is completed, cyclists can enjoy riding around the lake on the many walking trails and paved roads. The Tourism Ministry recently announced a five-year plan to create more than 5,000 km of cycling paths around Israel, primarily in the Galilee and Negev, with all the accompanying services, linking cities with the wide-ranging landscape of the country and main tourist sites.
