| Christian News 31 August 2001
* ASMAL'S ASSAULT ON THE CONSTITUTION
- In a series of web articles released on 4 September, Leendert van Oostrum, a curriculum
specialist and home school leader, exposes the new National Curriculum for South Africa as
a powerful instrument of totalitarian oppression (see http://pestalozzi.org/curriculum
). The author analyses the proposed curriculum and warns: "It is a totalitarianism
that encourages 'criticism' but brooks no dissent. It is one that basks itself in the
shining light of 'human rights' and 'social justice' but crushes the individual under the
weight of the collective. It is one that 'celebrates diversity' in order to destroy every
vestige of diversity by state mandated [religious, cultural and individual]
homogenisation." Van Oostrum concludes: "The proposed National Curriculum
Statement is an assault on the Constitution and on democracy itself. "The 'values' of
this curriculum stand to the notion of 'education' as the memory of Dr Mengele stands to
the notion of 'healing'".
* RACISM AT ANTI-RACISM CONFERENCE -
Radical Islamism and "grudge politics" has hijacked the World Conference on
Racism. This was the impression of Christian News journalists who attended some of the
sessions in Durban. The Yin-Yang symbol used as the conference logo is not just by
accident. This New Age symbol sets the tone for the whole conference. Generally, the Yin
Yang tries to make us think that all things are one, including good and evil, and that
good needs evil. The Ying-Yang symbol of the WCAR implies that there is no foundation for
righting wrongs because good and evil are considered equals. On the other hand
Christianity provides the rational basis for pursuing justice and peace. (for more
information about CFT's opinion of the WCAR see: www.cft.org.za/racism.htm)
* "THE LORD HAS NEED OF YOU" -
The estimated two and a half thousand delegates who attended the annual international
conference of Christians for Truth, with theme: "The Lord has need of you",
heard from the president, Fano Sibisi, that not one Christian is excused from the Master's
call in the face of today's challenges to Christians. During the past year young
Christians have promoted abstinence in the face of the worsening Aids crisis; a home for
abandoned and parentless children has been operating; and assistance offered in cases of
unwanted pregnancies. With gay marriages being legalised in the Netherlands, CFT memberes
fearlessly spoke out, offering the way to life of real freedom and joy in Christ. A group
of CFT members have also been addressing the growing drug problem in SA. At the conference
information about `the Pink Agenda for South Africa' was presented by researcher Christine
McCafferty, who pointed out that the agenda aims to change the legal definition of the
family, marriage, and children internationally and particularly in South Africa.
McCafferty is about to publish a book "The Pink Agenda: Sexual Revolution in South
Africa and the ruin of the Family", exposing the truth about homosexual behaviour and
its links to crime, violence, suicide, substance abuse, paedophilia and disease. Concern
regarding the voyeauristic `Big Brother' show led to the establishment of a task force,
headed by Linda Magqabi, to investigate the matter and what Christians are to do about it.
International delegates shared how the `Big Brother' programme idea started on the RTL2
channel in Germany and grew into an enormous voyeauristic orgy. (CFT, 2 September)
* "BIG BROTHER" UPSETS INTERNET IN
SOUTH AFRICA - South African Internet providers had to pay because of the popularity
of the Big Brother `soapie in real life'. Internet traffic was seriously disturbed because
of too many people logging in to see the latest developments in the Big Brother house. The
South African version of Big Brother started end of August. The daily broadcast of the
show on TV had immediate popularity and provided for heated discussions in newspapers and
magazines. (ANP - Dutch news agency)
According to the German website: www.web.de critical opinions to the South African
version of the show were rare. One criticism was a commentary in the newspaper `The Star':
"One has to wonder where a society is heading, when watching people showering or if
possible having sex is needed to make watching TV more enjoyable".
* OPERATION CLEAN SWEEP REKINDLED -
The Valley Action Group in Simonstown, Cape Town, has rekindled Operation Clean Sweep, a
nationwide campaign against pornography, initiated by Africa Christian Action in 1991.
Since then Christians have succeeded in persuading over 9000 stores to no longer stock
pornography. On Saturday, 18 August, about 50 members of the Valley Action Group protested
the sale of porn by two 7-Elevens and the CNA in Fish Hoek, and the At Ease store in
Simon's Town. Colourful yellow posters communicated the facts about pornography ("86
% of rapists use porn", "Porn Exploits Women", "57 % of serial rapists
act out porn scenes" and "Real Men Don't Use Porn") to passersby.
Posters also warned that "Pornografie Verrot Die Brein", and
called on people to "Chasa i-Porn" and "Boycott Porn
Sellers". Red and green pro-family balloons were given to passing children. A
leaflet explaining the dangers of pornography was handed to passersby and protesters sang
Christian songs and prayed. ACA calls on Christians to put pressure on their local stores,
especially the CNAs and 7-Elevens, to stop selling pornography. Pressure can be applied by
individual Christians simply by asking shop owners whether they stock porn, check magazine
shelves for porn and confront those store
managers and owners that do sell porn. For more information, please contact Valley
Action Group chairman Rob McCafferty at 082 762 4180 or Africa Christian Action at 021 689
4481, acaction@intekom.co.za (ACA, 21 August)
* LEBANON RELEASES JAILED
CHRISTIAN ACTIVISTS - (Beirut) A Lebanese army crackdown on Christian groups
opposed to Syria's dominant role in Lebanon has badly backfired, forcing authorities to
try to put the pieces back together, according to a report from Cape Argus. The man who
formally ordered arrests in the clampdown was at the prison gates on 20 August to release
the majority of Christian activists who were rounded up earlier in August. Interior
Minister Elias Al-Murr personally supervised the release of 75 anti-Syrian Christian
loyalists of jailed Lebanese Forces (LF) militia leader, Samir Geagea, and exiled army
general, Michel Aoun. The decision followed sharp criticism of the sweeping arrests.
Further signs of attempts to cool down the political climate were clear on 21 August when
President Emile Lahoud met Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir, who has been leading the
drive to end Damascus's grip on Beirut. Lebanon's Maronite Christians have spearheaded a
campaign to remove the 20 000 troops Syria has in Lebanon. (Cape Argus, 21 August)
* OCCASIONAL SPANKING OKAY - (San
Francisco) The occasional spanking does no long term-damage to a child's emotional or
social development, undercutting theories which say any physical punishment of children is
harmful, according to a study released on 24 August. Psychologist Diana Baumrind surveyed
more than 100 families and found that children who are spanked occasionally can still grow
up to be happy, well-adjusted adults. "We found no evidence for unique detrimental
effects of normative physical punishment," Baumrind said in an address to the
American Psychological Association annual meeting in San Francisco. "I am not an
advocate of spanking," said Baumrind, "but a blanket injunction against its use
is not warranted by the evidence. It is reliance on physical punishment, not whether or
not it is used at all, that is associated with harm to the child." Baumrind, who
co-wrote the study with fellow University of California-Berkeley psychologist Elizabeth
Owens, separated parents who use spanking frequently and severely from those who
occasionally spank their children. The study, which focused on spanking in middle-class,
white families was undertaken in response to anti-spanking advocates who have claimed that
physical punishment, by itself, has harmful psychological effects on children and hurts
society as a whole. (Univ. of California Campus News, 26 August)
* PARENTS LOSE APPEAL OVER RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
- An appeal lodged by the Norwegian Humanist Association and seven parents to exempt
students from Christian and religious studies (KRL) was unanimously rejected by the
Supreme Court on 22 August. The Humanist Association (HEF) claims that the lack of a full
exemption from KRL studies conflicts with established international conventions. They and
the seven parents took the Department of Church, Education and Research to court but lost
at every level. KRL was introduced as an obligatory school subject in 1997, with the aim
of gathering students of all philosophies or religions. Exemptions from the course have
only been allowed for what could be interpreted as the exercise of religious beliefs.
(Afterposten, 22 August )
* SCHOOLS TO SHOW `COCAINE AND SEX' FILM ABOUT
JESUS - (UK) A film crammed with references to sex and drugs and featuring Jesus as a
15-year-old schoolboy and Mary Magdalene as a single mother is the latest ploy to woo
young people back to church, according to the Telegraph. In an effort to curb the decline
in young church-goers, a missionary agency has made a 30-minute film on an £8,000 budget
with teenagers playing the leading parts. Called An Absence of Stones, the film will be
screened in secondary schools this autumn with the aim of convincing teenagers of the
relevance of the Bible to their lives. It contains references to drugs and violence with
the Judas figure portrayed as a drug-taking schoolgirl who betrays Jesus for a
"hit" of cocaine. At one point Jesus accompanies Mary Magdalene to an abortion
clinic, although he says he "hates" what she has done. In the end she decides to
keep the baby. Instead of a crucifixion scene, Jesus is murdered by a schoolfriend and is
resurrected in a Leicestershire beauty spot. Nigel Roberts, scriptwriter and producer for
Youth for Christ, said his aim was to defy the Church's "stuffy" image.Anthony
Kilmister, spokesman for the Prayer Book Society, which has the Bishop of London as its
patron, attacked the film as "a distortion" of the Bible and "harmful"
to young people. (telegraph.co.uk, 4 September)
* MILOSEVIC READS BIBLE FOR FIRST TIME
IN JAIL - Slobodan Milosevic has read for the first time in his life in a Bible while
awaiting trial for the International Tribunal in the Netherlands. Milosevic is detained in
the prison of Scheveningen, a seatown resort and suburb of The Hague. The news that
Milosevic is reading a Bible was brought by the Orthodox metropolite Amfilohije Radovic,
speaking to a journalist of the Greek newspaper Elevtherotypia. Shortly before he was
handed over to the Tribunal, the former Yugoslav president had asked Radovic for a New
Testament. The metropolite brought one and handed it to Milosevic. The former president is
quoted to have said on that occasion: "In prison, I have plenty time. Why wouldn't I
try it with the Bible for once?" (Nederlands Dagblad)
* BIBLE DEFLECTS SHOTGUN BLAST - A
mother allegedly shot dead her six-year-old son but a shotgun blast intended for his
16-year-old brother was deflected by the teenager's Bible, police said. Authorities said
Mrs Leslie Wallace shot her son James at home, then drove to her family's church where she
fired her shotgun at 16-year-old Kenneth Wallace as he stood outside. The blast, fired at
close range, struck his Bible and the overcoat he was carrying. Kenneth's arm had minor
scratches. (Daily News, 4 September) |
