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Christian News 15 October 2000 * HARRY POTTER HOAX MAIL - In a recent previous CN we had reported (`A Satanic Attack on Children') and we have since discovered that the source of the article is apparently a hoax mail doing the rounds! Our editorial policy is to be very careful of `urban legends' and we regret that we were not careful enough in this case. However, this does not alter our stance on the whole issue of `Harry Potter' books, which we feel has a dangerous occult leaning. We highly recommend two articles found on the `Focus on the Family' website: <http://www.family.org/pplace/schoolkid/a0009678.cfm> <http://www.family.org/cforum/teachersmag/features/a0009439.html>, by John Murray.* STUDENTS FEAR HIV TEST RESULTS - A group of students recently involved with a study on HIV/AIDS, do not want to know the results of the tests. That is one of the findings of prof. Johan de Jager of the marketing dept. and mr Leon Fourie of the public administration dept. at the Technikon of Pretoria. About 700 questionaires had been distributed at the technikon. Of the replies 61% were given by women and 39% by men - altogether 93% of them were single and average 19 years of age. 70% said they were sexually active. (Beeld, 5 October 2000) * RAPE IN SCHOOLS DOUBLE IN 10 YEARS - New research done by the Medical Research Council found that rape of girls has doubled during the past 10 years. A third of the rapists are teachers. Another analysis showed that rape and attempted rape was 9 times higher than what police figures reflected. Mr Bheki Khumalo, spokesman of the minister of education, Mr Kader Asmal, said on 6 October that sexual relationships between learners and teachers would lead to dismissal... In Mpumalanga, Northern Province and Eastern Cape 2% of women said teachers threatened to let them fail if they did not consent to having sex. The MRC study showed 2070 cases of rape and attempted rape for every 100 000 women, in comparison to police statistics which showed only 244 cases in 100 000 women. In particular, the rape of women younger than 15 years has escalated. Khumalo said "It is a serious abuse of power. The minister sees it as a case of teachers destroying children's innocence and we will be quick in taking action". (Beeld, 7 October 2000) * DOCTORS FOR LIFE (DFL) REJECTS LEGALISATION OF MARIJUANA FOR MEDICAL AND SCIENTIFIC REASONS - (SA) In a court case which signals a historic juncture in South African history, Doctors For Life has been requested to provide medical and scientific evidence on the harmful effects of marijuana on the brain, body and society. The court case places South Africa at the crest of the "slippery slope", insofar as the progressive argument for the legalisation of the so-called "harder drugs" is concerned. ...From an International perspective South Africa will also be in breach of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961, to which it is bound as a signatory, says DFL. On 16 November the court is to announce whether the evidence supplied by DFL has been accepted for consideration in the constitutional court, on which grounds a decision will then be taken. DFL says the scientific argument against the legalisation of marijuana is so convincing that they cannot see how it can be ignored. The toxic properties of chemical molecules and their cellular damage are not matters of opinion or debate... "If marijuana were to be decriminalised in South Africa... how will the law prevent unfettered use by youth, by train conductors, by bus drivers, or pilots? Would you really want your anaesthesiologist to be under the influence of legal marijuana whilst he/she is controlling your oxygenation?" asks DFL. They say this matter must be dealt with on the basis of scientific fact and not on opinion cloaked in the pseudoscientific robes of those committed to liberal and unfettered use of marijuana as an intoxicant. ( 9 October 2000) * NEW LEGISLATION MIGHT THREATEN PARENT'S SAY IN EDUCATION - Concern that planned education legislation in Namibia will end parents' say in the education of their children, has led to a united plea from churches in Gobabis to the Government. The Christian Ecumenical Association feel comments from Christians on the bill that has been presented to the National Assembly, is of utmost importance. "We request that Christian education in Namibia will not be put under pressure. We accept the fact that our children are a gift from God for which we will have to give account. According to the Gospel our children's education is in the first place the responsibility of the parents... We request that the planned bill makes provision for us to raise our children in the fear of God, according to the Gospel, in a conscientious way according to light and discretion received", reads the combined statement by 13 denominations. (Republikein, 3 October 2000) * FIRST COMPLETE BIBLE IN MORU - Frontline Fellowship has reported with gratitude that there has been no more bombings of their mission base (which had been attacked by Antonovs and MIGs seven times) in Sudan in the last two months! The very first complete Bible in the Moru language, sponsored by Frontline Fellowship, has been printed. This seven tonne shipment is being transported into Sudan. (FF, 9 October 2000). * DUTCH BAN ON BROTHELS LIFTED - The 88-year-old ban on brothels in the Netherlands
has been lifted. According to Infobeat the "move is intended to better regulate the
world's oldest profession and turn its practitioners into legitimate taxpayers".
Legislation enacted last year and signed by Queen Beatrix went into effect on 1 October,
ending the status of bordellos as illegal but tolerated. Amsterdam's red light district
draws millions of visitors every year to its cinemas, live sex shows, and sex stores.
(Infobeat News, 2 October 2000) * SUPREME COURT TAKES ON CHURCH-STATE SEPARATION - (USA) In a case that could result in a church-state decision with sweeping ramifications, the justices of the Supreme Court said they will rule whether the ban of a Christian youth group from meeting in a New York public school after class hours, violated the group's free-speech rights and wrongly allowed public school officials to define "religious instruction," the court said. In 1996, school officials at the Milford Central School in Milford - a small upstate community - refused to allow a community-based Christian youth group, the Good News Club, to hold its meetings at the school. School officials said meetings of the Good News Club would "be the equivalent of religious worship ... rather than the expression of religious views or values on a secular subject". (Fox News, 10 October 2000)* HELL HOUSE OUTLINES STAGES OF SIN - A mother who kills her own son and a lesbian suicide are some of the features of Hell House 2000, a church display that "aims to scare people out of walking the road to hell". The controversial Halloween event, now in its seventh year, typically draws several thousand people with its lifelike scenes of gore, crime and debasement. Hell House, at Abundant Life Christian Center in Arvada, USA, was the brainchild of the Rev. Keenan Roberts, associate pastor... At the end of the seven-stage Hell House show are heaven, featuring an appearance by "Jesus," and hell, featuring putrid smells, writhing and screaming. It's a modern-day parody, both timely and timeless," said Roberts, who writes the script each year and directs the production, which this year has a $20,000 budget. "The timeless truth is that sin destroys and Jesus saves. It's about people being brutalized by sin, based 100 percent on the Bible." This year's show also has actors from the church in a skit about a teen drinking party that results in a fatal car accident. (Denver Post, 6 October 2000) * OBJECTION TO PAGAN PRIEST `PRAYING' BEFORE DALLAS CITY COUNCIL - The Dallas City Council invited a Wiccan priest to give the opening prayer at the session on 4 October, reports AgapePress. Wicca is a neo-pagan faith that practices a form of witchcraft. Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk had to squelch an unidentified man who tried to protest from the gallery. According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Bryan Lankford - who is first officer for the Texas Council of the Covenant of the Goddess - read a brief prayer that began with him invoking, "Mother Goddess, Father God. We pray for honesty, love, compassion and faith, that our spirits be transformed into golden spirits, shining with the light of the divine," Lankford said. ... Four speakers took turns criticizing the invitation to Lankford. Texas Eagle Forum president Cathie Adams, told the Council that the Bible condemns witchcraft. She quoted from Deuteronomy 18. "God said to the Jewish nation, 'Let no one be found among you...who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist, or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord.' " In her statement, Adams said the U.S. Constitution was built upon the foundation of the Judeo-Christian faith and, therefore, it was ill-advised to allow a Wiccan to give the invocation at the Council's meeting. "Just like it would be unwise for the American Jewish Congress to invite the American Neo-Nazis to address them, it is unwise for you to invite witches to 'pray' before you," she said. "I want to encourage the City Council to do as our founding fathers did: to fear the one true God." (AgapePress, 5 October 2000) * 4435 SLAVES FREED FROM MUSLIMS IN SEPTEMBER - A 19-year-old student helped free 4,000 slaves in Sudan. Gerald "Jay" Williams, a sophomore at Harvard University and a member of a United Methodist church, traveled to the restricted country in September with Christian Solidarity International, a Swiss-based group that buys slaves out of captivity, according to United Methodist News Service. ...Williams said he met with "hundreds of slaves in tattered clothing, dusty, no shoes, and very thin. I almost broke down." Most were Christians who had been abducted by forces of the Islamic Khartoum government and sold to Muslims, he said. "They said they had been praying to God for help. They found strength in that." ... With money provided by CSI, slaves are bought and helped to return to their families. It costs about $33 to buy one person, the ministry said. The ministry said 4,435 slaves were freed in September and more than 38,000 have been liberated since 1995. (Religion Today, 16 October 2000) |
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