15 May 2001

* Christianity under attack in SA public schools

* US Supreme Court rules against Marijuana

* US to press Sudan to halt war on Chrsitians

* Female foeticide rampant in North Indian state

( 'Marriage vows should change' says Stewart)

( Manson to misuse Bible )

* Lay minister brings John Wesley to life in Ontario

* CHRISTIANITY UNDER ATTACK IN SA PUBLIC SCHOOLS - Public schools which promote the Christian faith are set for a Constitutional Court showdown with the Human Rights Commission. This follows numerous complaints by parents of Hindu, Muslim, and Jewish children who attend mostly former Model C schools, reports Sunday Times. The parents claim their children's rights are infringed because Christian values are promoted at the expense of other religions. Unlike the US where school prayers are banned, the South African Constitution allows for religious observances in schools provided they are equitable, free and voluntary. Alan Taylor, a spokesman for Education Minister Kader Asmal, said the Department would soon be releasing a religion-in-education policy document. The document would promote freedom of religion at schools and provide policies and guidelines on how to deal with such issues. The acting Secretary General of the South African Council of Churches, Dr Donald Cragg, agreed that the religious beliefs of all pupils should be respected, but added that it was only natural and fair that the majority religion in a school should be given pre-eminence. (Sunday Times, 15 April)

* US SUPREME COURT RULES AGAINST MARIJUANA - The Supreme Court handed medical marijuana users a major defeat on 14 May, ruling that a federal law classifying the drug as illegal has no exception for ill patients. Justice Stephen Breyer did not participate because his brother, a federal judge, initially presided over the case. "In the case of the Controlled Substances Act, the statute reflects a determination that marijuana has no medical benefits worthy of an exception (outside the confines of a government-approved research project)," Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the unanimous court. Thomas noted the act states marijuana has "no currently accepted medical use." Attorney General John Ashcroft applauded the Supreme Court's decision to reject the "medical necessity" argument. (AP)

Doctors for Life President, Dr A. van Eeden, told Christian News that the decision "is in line with the arguments which DFL has put forth in the Prince court case (http://www.dfl.org.za/press/dfl_101000%20press.htm) which is currently being reviewed in South African court." DFL used the same US experts on marijuana (which helped win the US Supreme Court ruling).

* ILLEGAL SA ABORTIONS SOAR - SA health workers say many women are still resorting to illegal abortions, despite the termination of pregnancies becoming legal in February 1997, reports City Press. They estimate that up to 80 000 illegal abortions may already have been performed this year. This comes amid growing concern in the Department of Health that so many abortions are being performed at hospitals and clinics across South Africa - between 2 500 and 3 000 every month - that some facilities may not be able to cope, City Press reported on Sunday. Almost 156 000 pregnancies have been ended in state hospitals and clinics since abortion became legal, and exclude those done at private facilities like the Marie Stopes clinics - a major provider of abortions - and other private clinics. It is feared that the figure could top 200 000 by the end of the year. The Health department is also concerned about the fact that far more girls below the age of 18 are having legal abortions than women over 18. The teenage pregnancies which were terminated - 80 873 - was more than half the total number. (City Press, 13 May)

* TV'S BROKEN PROMISE TO FAMILIES - Hollywood has violated the agreement its early pioneers made with the family, according to Brent Bozell, director of the Parents Television Council. He says early programmers promised its standards would not allow gratuitous sex and violence in programming if TV was allowed in America's homes. "There was another element back in those days, an element that not only assured the program's wholesomeness, but also actually oftentimes made television a real positive force in American culture," Bozell says. "There was right and there was wrong, and consequences were taught." Bozell says today's programming violates that early agreement with the family, and that those standards have nearly vanished. Meanwhile, Cal Thomas (Jewish World Review) points to a Federal Trade Commission report last year that found the entertainment industry is targeting violent films, music, and video games to young people. He says networks might stop fouling the airwaves with such "entertainment" if Americans turn off the TV - or better yet, he says, get rid of it. He says replacing TV with dinner table conversations, meeting neighbors, reading good books, and renting old movies may help raise the standard of popular culture. (Agape Press, 14 May)

* VIOLENT YOUTHS - PARENTAL ATTENTION VERSUS MEDIA - Since MTV began airing the program "Jackass" in which a young man carries out absurd stunts, a half-dozen youngsters have suffered serious injuries while - they said - were repeating what they saw on TV. Dr. Michael Rich, who serves on the Committee for Public Education of the American Academy of Pediatricians, says: "It's cumulative... when you look at the whole population." Most children are unable to sift through the images presented in media, psychologists say, and are particularly vulnerable to the suggestions in images that are close to their own lives. In the case of a show like Jackass, children who feel starved for attention or the recognition of their peers see a chance to get it, and many simply are not yet sophisticated enough to understand that the stunts are not being held up for praise but for scorn, experts say. Among the recent incidents, a pair of boys in New England and another in Florida all set themselves on fire, and a 19-year-old from Minnesota stopped traffic by running around in the rain carrying a chain saw and dressed only in a hospital gown...

Apart from media violence, psychologists say that when children also see violence in their home or community and have little close interaction with a parent or other adult, it increases their tendency to resort to violence themselves. This does not necessarily mean that parents pressed by workplace demands must drastically increase the amount of time they spend with their children, but "the time you spend with your kid has to be high-quality time," says Dr. Michael Delahunt, a child psychologist. (ABCNews.com, 8 May)

* US TO PRESS SUDAN TO HALT WAR ON CHRISTIANS - President Bush announced on 3 May that he will take steps to pressure the government of Sudan, which he called "a disaster area for all human rights," to end its war against Christians and others unwilling to convert to Islam. A variety of Republican constituencies, including Christian conservatives, have called on the administration to do more to stop persecutions by the government of Sudan, Africa's largest country in size, where civil war and famine have cost millions of lives. Bush said he has appointed the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International development, Andrew Natsios, as a special humanitarian coordinator to ensure that U.S. aid to Sudan "goes to the needy, without manipulation by those ravaging that troubled land." "We must turn the eyes of the world upon the atrocities in Sudan," Bush told the American Jewish Committee. Bush's action was praised by Elliott Abrams, a former assistant secretary of state and now chairman of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, a government commission that has called Sudan "the world's most violent abuser of the right to freedom of religion". "Clearly, more will be needed, because food aid is only one part of the Sudanese puzzle, but this is a terrific first step," Abrams said.(Washingtonpost.com, 4 May)

* FEMALE FOETICIDE RAMPANT IN NORTH INDIAN STATE - (Haryana, India) "The practice is so widespread that we don't kill as many cats and dogs as we destroy female children," the Indian Express report quoted an unidentified private doctor as saying. Despite pre-natal diagnostic tests being declared illegal by provincial authorities seven years ago, it flourished along with foeticide because of a strong preference for male children among the local population, the report said. Haryana has only 861 women for 1000 men, as against a national average of 933 women to 1000 men. "Earlier there was a guilt about it (foeticide)," Kamlesh, a social activist, was quoted as saying, "But now it is seen as a matter of choice... doctors justify it in the name of family planning." (Sunday Times, 22 April)

* AMAZON.COM 'AFFILIATE PARTNER' FOR PLANNED PARENTHOOD - Amazon.com is well known as America's largest online book distributor. Also well known are recent reports of Amazon's financial troubles, says Family Research Council (FRC), who finds it more than curious that Amazon would agree to become "an affiliate partner" with Planned Parenthood. This group, the largest abortion provider in the world, is providing an Internet hyperlink with Amazon. FRC says that people buying books using this hyperlink will contribute to Planned Parenthood, and argues that although Amazon has provided that service for other groups, those groups do not kill. "Anyone in doubt about Planned Parenthood's small victims might consult Dr. Seuss' classic children's book, Horton Hears a Who. That book, also available on Amazon.com, tells the story of the kindly elephant who protects tiny creatures, saying 'A person's a person, no matter how small,' " advises FRC. (Family Research Council, 30 April)

* GAY FESTIVAL IN KNYSNA - Residents of Knysna (RSA) are quite wary of the first "pink" festival planned for the Garden Route from 23 to 27 May. About 3000 people are expected at the "Pienk Loerie" festival, which will include an art exhibition, a 'film feast', wine tasting sessions, many parties and a street parade led by the 'Queen of the Garden Route' buses. The organiser, known as Juan, says Knysna is dependent on tourism and "May is dead quiet here and businesses suffer..." He says the festival was not marketed as a gay festival, with "gay may" only referring to jollification, and though it would be gay-friendly, it's aimed at the whole town. A resident, Ms Penny Mainwaring, said although some business is better than no business, she does not agree with such a festival, "but people have their rights. I know what the Bible says and the constitution does not necessarily agree with it," said Mainwaring. (Beeld, 9 May)

* BRAZIL CONSIDERING LEGALISATION OF HOMO MARRIAGES - (Sao Paulo) After six years in limbo, legislation is being put to a vote in Congress in the third week of May, that would make Brazil the first Latin American country to allow same-sex unions. Gay rights activists hope the legislation, which would put Brazil on par with socially liberal France, Sweden or Australia, will help end violence toward homosexuals. Lui Mott, president of Gay Group Bahia, calls Brazil "the undisputed world champion in gay murders." The bill, originally drafted in 1995 by Sao Paulo's left-leaning Mayor Marta Suplicy - then a congresswoman - stops short of institutionalizing full-fledged gay marriages, but would extend benefits such as social security and health plans to same-sex partners and allow them to transfer property rights. The bill faces stiff opposition from the Roman Catholic clergy and an increasingly powerful lobby of evangelical Christian lawmakers and other conservative deputies. Bishop Filippo Santoro of the archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro urged the state's 46 deputies in a letter to vote against the bill, which he said "contradicts the laws of nature." The legislation is due to be voted on by Congress' lower house by midweek. If passed, it would then need approval by the Senate and President Fernando Henrique Cardoso. (Foxnews.com, 14 May)

* `GOD OPPOSED TO BRITAIN JOINING EU SINGLE CURRENCY' - Graeme Leach, chief economist of the Institute of Directors, argues that for Britain to adopt the euro would be against the "Biblical model of government"... He said Biblical government was "minimalist, decentralised and supportive of a Christian world view," while EU governance is "expansive, decentralised and supportive of a humanist world view. He urges political leaders and voters to pray about the euro before the election in June. In his speech to the Lawyers' Christian Fellowship in London, Mr Leach says that joining the euro would undermine Britain's sovereignty and its economy, and might weaken its links with America where Christians still have great impact on public policy. (Telegraph.co.uk, 14 May)

* 'MARRIAGE VOWS SHOULD CHANGE' SAYS STEWART - (Edinburgh) Veteran singer Rod Stewart, who by now knows a thing or two about relationships, says he wants marriage vows changed to bring them in line with modern times. In an interview in Scotland's Daily Record newspaper on Monday, he said the vows "should be written like a dog's licence that has to be renewed every year." Stewart, who at 56 can boast two marriages, five children and several other high-profile relationships, is currently dating a 29-year-old woman. "I think the vows should be changed because they've been in existence for 600 years when people used to live until they were only 35. "So they only had to be with each other for 12 years, then they would die anyway. But now it's a big commitment because you're going to be with someone for 50 years. It's impossible." He added: "It's such a rarity for people to stay together that 68 percent of marriages fail... one must consider that before getting married." (News24.co.za, 30 April)