CFT'S bi-weekly CHRISTIAN NEWS

30 March 1998

* RSA ABORTION CASE IN APRIL - The long-awaited court date in the battle against abortion has finally been announced for 21 April 1998. The Christian Lawyers Association together with CFT and United Christian Action laid a charge against the Minister of Health almost a year ago because of the unconstitutionality of the new abortion-on-demand law which was promulgated at the beginning of 1997. The government's legal team alleges that the unborn baby is not entitled to right to life under the Constitution and that the court action to declare the abortion act invalid can therefore not succeed. On 21 April 1998 the advocates for all the parties will address the High Court in Pretoria and argue the merits of this argument. Advocate Reg Joubert, the Executive Director of CLA has asked for prayer. (He can be contacted at: Tel: 27 11 822-2831 Fax: 27 11 822-2147)

* BOY SCOUTS COURT VICTORY - The Boy Scouts of America can exclude homosexuals, agnostics, and atheists, the California Supreme Court ruled. The Boy Scouts is not a business, but rather is a private club that is not covered by California civil rights laws and is free to set its membership policies, the court ruled on March 23. The judges ruled unanimously in two cases: one in which an 18-year-old former Eagle Scout was rejected as a scoutmaster because he is a homosexual, and another in which two agnostic brothers were rejected when they refused to declare a belief in God. (BP)

* BIRD - DINOSAUR LINK - The South African Beeld newspaper has published an article (20 March), "Evidence that birds developed from dinosaurs?" which includes a picture of a bird with a dinosaur bone structure. The caption states: "An artist's impression of the skeleton of a bird with dinosaur characteristics whose fossil remains were recently discovered in Madagascar. The bird, about as big as crow, was preserved in a rock formation more than 65 million years ago. Researchers say the find supports the evolutionary theory that birds developed from dinosaurs."

CFT asked for comment from creation research scientist Prof Grady McMurtry who responded: "First, the scientific geochronometers show that the evolutionary time frame for this fossil is patently wrong. Second, please note that the drawing is that of a fully formed bird. The drawing is quite similar to that of Archeopteryx, a true bird. Today there are at least seven species of birds alive which have claws on their wings, or teeth, or both; during all or part of their life cycles. These include the Ostrich and the Hoatzin. Third, the skeletal structure as drawn in your publication is that of a true bird. There was recently a major article in a science publication (evolutionary, of course) which attempted to prove that reptiles became birds - their proof was the same old song and dance - you line up variously shaped pelvis' and then you claim that one evolved from the other. This is no different than the attempt to prove that humans evolved from apes. This is called the "proof by ranking." It proves nothing. Simply arranging a series of skulls in an orderly sequence does not prove heritage.

* US CHRISTIAN GROUPS AGREE TO FORM POLITICAL FORCE - Some religious and political conservatives in the United States have agreed to stop bickering and "speak with one voice." Leaders of 25 organizations, including the Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, the Christian Coalition, and the Free Congress Foundation, agreed recently to form an "independent political force" to support one presidential candidate and cooperate in supporting state candidates that champion their agenda. The leaders say the Republican Party has repeatedly broken its promises. After using their volunteers and resources to elect Republicans, congressional leaders sidestepped issues such as abortion, homosexuality, and pornography, they charged. The strategy pursued by former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed of working with moderate Republicans and making incremental advances has failed. "The go-along, get-along strategy is dead," Baptist leader Richard Land said. "We want a wedding ring, we want a ceremony, we want a consummation of the marriage." (BP)

* ABORTION A WAR CRIME - According to the Capitol Hill Prayer Alert, a conservative Washington, D.C.-based group, feminists want the United Nations to define the act of denying access to abortion a war crime. Any so-called "enforced pregnancy" is a form of violence against women, according to the Women's Caucus for Gender Justice. The group is trying to make "sexual and gender violence" a crime punishable by an International Criminal Court, a body that the U.N. is considering establishing. The feminist group wants to expand the proposed court's jurisdiction beyond wartime atrocities, adding trials for crimes committed during peacetime.

* PENTECOSTALS RESTRICTED BY SIBERIAN OFFICIALS - Officials in southwest Siberia have ordered a Pentecostal church to stop its evangelism and teaching. Officials in Abakan, capital of the Republic of Khakassia, cited an article of Russia's new religion law that restricts activities of churches less than 15 years old. The city government's church-state adviser, Nikolai Volkov, called the church an example of "destructive cults or totalitarian sects" that "turn people into bio-robots," according to Keston News Service. He sent a letter to the church ordering it to close its children's Bible school and stop visiting a home for elderly veterans. Pastor Ruslan Belosevich said the church would not cease its activities, but would "wage this struggle to the end." (BP)

* ABORTIONIST CHARGED WITH MURDER - Police in Los Angeles arrested a doctor, who had a suspended license, for performing an abortion. Gordon Sean Goei is expected to be charged with murder in the death of the 26-week-old fetus, according to news reports. The Medical Board of California had recently suspended Goei, who is being held on $1 million bail. Detectives who searched his clinic said the fetus was viable when Goei bundled it in a trash bag and threw it away. "We found a lot of things that were very disturbing," Det. Stephen Fiske said. (BP)

* CLINTON SQUIRMS IN CHURCH MESSAGE ON ADULTERY - The Natal Mercury (30 March) reports that the last hours of President Clinton's South African trip was spent in a Roman Catholic church (Regina Mundi Church in Soweto) where he listened to a parable on adultery. Mr Clinton, and his wife Hillary and a delegation of visting US officials, looked relaxed and acknowledged the crowd as he entered. But he became visibly uncomfortable when the priest, Father Mohlomi Makobane, read from John 8 vs 1-11. Mr Clinton looked somber and rocked on his heels as the priest read the lesson. Mrs Clinton's head was bowed throughout the reading.