Excerpted from While Critics Blame Catholic Church for AIDS Deaths Stats Show Just the Opposite, by Hilary White, published Mar 5, 2007, by LifeSite News:

…The available statistics show that countries with a large Catholic percentage population, show significantly lower rates of HIV/AIDS infections than countries with mostly non-Catholic populations.

2003 statistics from the World Factbook of the US Central Intelligence Agency, shows Burundi at 62% Catholic with 6% AIDS infection rate. Angola’s population is 38% Roman Catholic and has 3.9% AIDS rate. Ghana is 63% Christian, with in some regions as much as 33% Catholic and has 3.1% AIDS rate. Nigeria, divided almost evenly between the strongly Muslim north and Christian and “animist” south, has 5.4% AIDS rate.

Strongly Christian Uganda continues to frustrate condom-pushing NGO’s by maintaining its abstinence and fidelity AIDS prevention programs and one of the lowest rates of AIDS in Africa, at 4.1%. Uganda’s population is listed by the CIA Factbook as 33% Roman Catholic and 33% Protestant.

Of African countries with low Catholic populations, Botswana is typical with 37.3% AIDS, one of the highest in Africa, and 5% of the total population Catholic. In 2003, Swaziland was shown to have a 38.8% AIDS infection rate and only 20% Catholic population.

Continue reading at LifeSite News…

“(A friend of mine recently told me about a guy he knew that was [HIV] positive
but would tell guys [potential sex partners] he was negative …
That guy was always surprised at how many people actually just took his word for it). Argh!”

From Did Ann Coulter say “Bag it”?, by Matt Barber, published Mar 6, 2007, by Townhall:

Lefty word-watchdogs and their allies in the mainstream media have hurt feelings … again. As per usual, liberals are frothing at the mouth in a fit of very selective, self-righteous indignation over provocative comments made by Ann Coulter and are hunting the conservative firebrand with pitchforks, torches and rope in hand.

While addressing an audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) last Friday, Coulter joked in her trademark fashion that, “I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate, John Edwards, but it turns out you have to go into rehab if you use the word ‘faggot,’ so I – so kind of an impasse, can’t really talk about Edwards.”

And the proverbial fan was thusly and most directly hit.

Admittedly, Coulter employed unusually abrasive and bombastic language – even for her – to make a point; but ironically, the reaction she’s getting from the left (and from some on the right) would seem to quite precisely demonstrate the apparent thrust of her prickly comments. Perhaps that was part of her intention.

Never mind that those in the “gay community” throw the word “faggot” around as a term of endearment for one another …  in much the same manner as black “gangsta-rappers” break out the “N-word.” And never mind that the left constantly redefines that which is or is not a “permissible” moniker for those engaged in the homosexual lifestyle (one day “queer” is bad, and the next day “queer” is good. In fact, the latest from the PC police is that it’s now “hateful” to call a homosexual a “homosexual” – go-figure. They prefer that innocuous, cutsie and happy-go-fluffy little term “gay” if you please.)

It’s the left defining the terms, mind you. And it’s the left that further identifies who has permission to use those terms. Therefore, it’s only reasonable for them to apply that famous “progressive” double standard to Coulter. After all, she is a “hateful” conservative.

Now, don’t misunderstand: Coulter’s comments lacked civility to be sure and were entirely inappropriate. Some compare her use of the word “faggot” to use of the “N-word.”

Thanks to the courage of local parents at Deerfield High School in Illinois, this ad recently ran in the community newspaper, the Deerfield Review.

D H S

WHAT’S GOING ON IN FRESHMAN ADVISORY?

TAKE ACTION — Send an e-mail Principal Kathy Fundukian and let her know that you object to public high school leadership allowing teenagers to mock the institution of marriage and that a public school is irresponsible to promote a lifestyle that is physically, emotionally, and spiritually destructive.

Excerpted from Gay Student ‘Weddings’ Anger California Parents, published Feb 27, 2007, by CitizenLink:

Some self-identified gay students at Glendale High School in California recently gathered in the cafeteria for fake wedding ceremonies — a school-sponsored event…

The “Freedom to Marry” event provided the couples with mock marriage certificates and included a petition drive calling on the government to allow same-sex marriage.

George Taylorson, a Glendale resident, said he’s appalled the school would allow the event.

“To encourage this type of lifestyle with kids that are 13, 14, on up, it just totally angers me and just disturbs me,” he told Family News in Focus. “The schools have a big-enough problem as it is just educating the kids without getting involved in such a highly sensitive area.”

…The goal of the ceremonies, backed by an openly gay teacher and the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance student club, was to “mock marriage.”

Continue reading at Citizenlink…

This beautifully written piece by Christian blogger Justin Taylor is well worth reading in its entirety at the website linked below…

Excerpted from Powlison on Biological Tendencies, Homosexual and Beyond, published Mar 5, 2007, by Justin Taylor on his “Between Two Worlds” blog:

In light of recent postings about the genetic causes of homosexuality, I received a helpful note from David Powlison. In the book, Psychology and Christianity: Four Views (IVP, 2000), one of the contributors to that volume, David Myers (professor of psychology at Hope College), advocates a genetic basis for homosexuality. Powlison addresses that issue in the course of his response to Myers’s essay…

The point is that our various “tendencies” are part of a complex picture of the way in which all of us — not just homosexuals — work.

Here’s the relevant section from Powlison’s essay:

…It is no surprise that people being redeemed out of homosexual lust still battle with temptations – and that some fall back. This is true of every pattern of sexual lust, not only homosexuality: a woman whose romantic-erotic fantasies are energized by reading romance novels and watching Tom Cruise in Top Gun; a man whose eyes rove for a voyeuristic glimpse down a blouse; a woman aroused by sadomasochistic activities and implements; a man obsessed with young girls. In each of these cases, lust has been patterned around a characteristic object; love will learn a different pattern in Christ’s lifelong school for reorienting the disoriented.

…I’m not familiar with the studies of female homosexuality, but let me offer an “unscientific” observation arising from pastoral experience. I’ve known many lesbians driven more by “intimacy lusts” than by the unvarnished eroticism of many heterosexual or homosexual males. In fact, most of them had once been actively heterosexual, unsuccessfully looking for love from a man or men. They eventually found that other women were similarly wired to intimacy and companionship as the context for erotic feelings. An emotional closeness initially developed that was progressively sexualized during the process of redefining oneself as a lesbian. Such a process makes lucid sense on the Faith’s analysis of the outworking and inworking of sin. And I’ve seen the fiercely tender grace of God break in, progressively rewiring some of these women. Statistics might give definition to words such as “most,” “many,” and “some.” But statistics could neither confirm nor disconfirm the point of view whose plausibility is established theologically, anecdotally, and pastorally.

…Sin is an unsearchable morass of disposition, drift, willful choice, unwitting impulse, obsession, compulsion, seeming happenstance, the devil’s appetite for souls, the world’s shaping influence, and God’s hardening of hard hearts. Of course biological factors are at work: we are embodied sinners and saints. That some people may be more prone to homosexuality is no more significant that that some may be more prone to worry.

Grace is similarly personalized. Some of God’s children find Phillipians 4:4-9 breathes particular comfort amid their besetting temptation to anxiety. Others find the Spirit pacifying their fierce temper and writing James 3:1-4:12 on their hearts. Still others find Proverbs 23:29-35 clobbers them about the madness of their heavy drinking, and that they grow wiser as they quit hanging out with old drinking buddies and spend time with new, wiser companions (Proverbs 13:20). Still others experience a keen-edged joy in earning a pay check, paying for things they once stole, and sharing money with people in need (Ephesians 4:28). Others find that Christ’s comprehensive vision for rearranging everyone’s sexuality – in the whole Bible, not just “a half dozen verses” – reaches into their particular form of disorientation, teaching them to love people, not lust after them. One and all, former neurotics, rageaholics, drunks, thieves, and gays find that truth rings true and rings with hope.

Each of us deals with what Richard Lovelace termed “characteristic flesh” (Dynamics of Spiritual Life, p. 110). Repeat temptations and instances of recidivism do not change the rules. Strugglers with indwelling sin genuinely grow in grace, but often the generic issue remains on stage in some manner throughout a person’s lifetime. Abiding struggles are no reason to throw over the Christian life which is defined as growth amid struggle unto a future perfection (1 John 3:1-3). Those being redeemed out of homosexualized lust are examples of the rule, not exceptions granted license to give up the fight and rationalize their sin.

Continue reading at Beyond Two Worlds…

Recall AFTAH’s exclusive special report on the Homosexual Sex Worker Panel at “Creating Change”…

On Feb 12, 2007, at the historic College of William and Mary in Virginia, here’s what one sex worker “artist” presented to an audience of over 400:

…Jo Weldon shared her story of how a stripper job helped pay her way through college and graduate school.

Why would any institution of higher learning encourage students to imagine sex work — ie, prostitution — as a possibility for their lives?  This is not “controversial” — it’s corrupting.

TAKE ACTION — For a complete listing of other universities which have or plan to host this travesty, click HERE. If you are a current student or tuition-paying parent, an alumnus or a donor, please make your objections known to the university president.  Complain to your elected officials about the misuse of your hard-earned tax dollars to pay for this presentation at public universities.

——————————

Excerpted from College of William and Mary Hosts Sex Worker Show on Campus, published Feb 23, 2007, by FOX News:

The same college that recently removed a traditional cross from the campus chapel allowed a controversial sex workers’ show to come give students an event complete with stripteases, feather boas and sex toys.

The College of William and Mary in Virginia last week hosted a Sex Workers’ Art Show for a crowd of more than 400 in an auditorium in the University Center, reported The Virginia Gazette. Another 300 people were turned away.

…Money to host the event came out of student activity fees…

“I think it’s a totally inappropriate use of student funds,” Ken Petzinger, a physics professor, told the Gazette. “It’s in conflict with other values the college has.”

President Gene Nichol issued a statement saying: “I don’t like this kind of show and I don’t like having it here … But it’s not the practice and province of universities to censor or cancel performances because they are controversial.”

Continue reading at FOX News…

Excerpted from Governor Signs Bill to Ban School Bullying, by LYNN CAMPBELL, published Mar 6, 2007, by Des Moines Register:

…Gov. Chet Culver signed a bill to ban bullying in all Iowa schools.

“This bill makes it clear Iowans are committed to providing protection against intolerance in every Iowa school district,” Culver said at the signing ceremony at Valley High School in West Des Moines. “Bullying, threats and intimidation have no place in our public education system.”

…With Monday’s bill signing, Iowa becomes one of 10 states in the nation to enact a comprehensive, statewide anti-bullying policy, Culver said.

…The new law protects students regardless of their age, color, creed, national origin, race, religion, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical attributes, physical or mental ability or disability, ancestry, political party preference, political belief, socioeconomic status or family status.

Continue reading in Des Moines Register…