Christian News

31 December 2002
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Southern Africa:

* Al-Jazeera to replace CNN in SA
* Aids has a woman's face
* Universal ancestor
* Effective Ugandan Aids 'vaccine' ignored by most

* AL-JAZEERA TO REPLACE CNN IN SA - The African National Congress has welcomed the SABC's plan to drop CNN for Al-Jazeera, the Qatar-based Persian Gulf news network well-known for broadcasting video-taped messages from Osama bin Laden. The Democratic Alliance, however, opposes it. SABC spokesman Ihron Rensburg told the Cape Times on 29 December: "The key objective is to provide our audience with a range of perspectives and news events. It's not ideal for us to give our audiences one view. The discussions have been going on for the past six months and no decision has been taken yet. It's not going to happen tomorrow. We regularly review programmes and formats," Rensburg said. ANC spokesman Smuts Ngonyama said: "The SABC has got a right to make its own choices when it comes to programmes. We can only interpret this planned action by SABC as diversity of news and exposing South Africans to events happening in other parts of world." (IOL, 30 December) (to index)

* 'AIDS HAS A WOMAN'S FACE' - Famine and Aids threaten the women who keep African societies going and make up the economic foundation of rural communities, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan wrote in 29 December's New York Times. "Today, millions of African women are threatened by two simultaneous catastrophes: famine and Aids. More than 30 million people are now at risk of starvation in southern Africa and the Horn of Africa. "Because of Aids, farming skills are being lost, agricultural development efforts are declining, rural livelihoods are disintegrating, productive capacity to work the land is dropping and household earnings are shrinking - all while the cost of caring for the ill is rising exponentially," Annan said. "Today, Aids has a woman's face," he said. A UN report last month showed women make up 50% of those infected with HIV worldwide and in Africa that figure is 58%. Annan outlined new strategies for combating the social upheaval wrought by Aids and HIV. "Our effort will have to combine food assistance and new approaches to farming with treatment and prevention of HIV and Aids... It will require innovative, large-scale ways to care for orphans, with specific measures that enable children in Aids-affected communities to stay in school..."- Sapa-AFP (News24.co.za, 29 December) (to index)

* UNIVERSAL ANCESTOR - According to Dr Spencer Wells there really was a common ancestor of the human race and "everyone of the six billion people on this planet is his direct descendant." Dr Wells and his researchers collected samples of human DNA, which shows "that we have a history book in our genes." Wells says that there are "markers" in the human genome which prove descent from a single man who passed them on to his sons. Wells has spent the past decade looking for "the original page". The results of the study, published in the journal Science, have "implications for understanding ancient human migration," according to Prof Marcus Feldman of Stanford University. (Sunday Times, 29 December)

(Ed: It pays to be Adamant about Genesis.) (to index)

* EFFECTIVE UGANDAN AIDS 'VACCINE' IGNORED BY MOST - "As AIDS sweeps across Africa, Uganda remains a lone success story, as millions of Ugandans have embraced traditional sexual morality," according to a report from the Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute. Many Ugandans embrace sexual abstinence outside of marriage and fidelity within marriage in order to avoid infection. Nevertheless the international AIDS community has been reluctant to promote this strategy elsewhere, continuing, instead, to place its faith in condoms. The report says that according to a US Agency for International Development (USAID) study of Uganda, "HIV prevalence peaked at around 15 percent in 1991, and had fallen to 5 percent as of 2001.This dramatic decline in prevalence is unique worldwide." USAID believes "The most important determinant of the reduction in HIV incidence in Uganda appears to be a decrease in multiple sexual partnerships and networks." USAID concludes that "the effect of HIV prevention in Uganda, particularly partner reduction, during the past decade appears to have had a similar impact as a potential medical vaccine of 80 percent efficacy..." (Abstinence News, Vol. 5, no. 51, 13 December) (to index)

International:

* Three missionary doctors killed in Yemen
* Violent Christmas for Christians
* Belgian Christians pour water on porn festival
* High court pro-life victory re. embryo selection
* Dutch court upholds euthanasia rules
* Outrage at claimed birth of human clone
* EU not increasing population control budget line
* UK battles smoking by pregnant mothers
* 'Scholastic' withdraws anti-biblical book from Christian marketing
* Pakistan police burn obscene material
* On a 'language' note

* THREE MISSIONARY DOCTORS KILLED IN YEMEN - (Jibla, Yemen) A suspected Muslim extremist has shot and killed three American doctors and seriously wounded a pharmacist from the United States on 30 December at a Southern Baptist missionary hospital in southern Yemen, officials said. According to The Star, Americans have been warned to take care in Yemen, a largely lawless country known as a haven for Muslim militants. Officials said the gunman entered Jibla Baptist Hospital in the town of Jibla, hiding a semi-automatic rifle under his jacket to make it resemble a child and then opened fire, killing the three doctors instantly. Officials said one of the victims was the hospital director. The other two who were killed, both women, were the chief doctor and another doctor. The US embassy in Sana'a issued a brief statement, posted on its website, condemning the attack "on American citizens who have long been providing humanitarian services to Yemeni citizens at the Baptist hospital in Jibla". The Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board said on its website that its hospital in Jibla "provides medical care for a wide area of the country" and that missionaries at the hospital also taught English and clinical skills at a nearby Yemeni nursing school. (IOL.co.za; The Star, 30 December) (to index)

* 'VIOLENT CHRISTMAS FOR CHRISTIANS' - From Belgrade to Bethlehem and the borders of Bangladesh, Christians experienced bloodshed this Christmas, amid growing sentiment against the Christian faith. Analysts have linked the attacks to the United States war against terrorism, a possible attack on Iraq, and the growing influence of Muslims. A grenade attack killed three girls worshipping at a Presbyterian Church in the town of Daska, Pakistan; A priest was injured and scores of others wounded as assailants threw bombs at a midnight Christmas service in a Catholic church in Malipota, Eastern India. Worshippers were also forced to hand over valuables. Elsewhere in Asia, Christians gathered despite warnings of possible Islamic attacks. In Indonesia, police seized 550 pounds of a fertilizer usable in explosives that they say was to be delivered to a fugitive bomber, The Associated Press (AP) news agency reported. There was even trouble in former Communist countries, such as Yugoslavia. AP said about 30 hard-line Serb nationalists prevented dozens of worshippers from attending an Anglican Christmas Eve church service that was to be held in a Serbian Orthodox chapel in Belgrade, the Yugoslav capital. (Maranatha Christian News Service, 27 December) (to index)

* BELGIAN CHRISTIANS 'POUR WATER' ON PORN FESTIVAL - When 'Christians for Truth (CFT) Belgium' heard about a planned porno festival in one of their cities in November 2002, CFT requested the Mayor of Mechelen to put a stop to the festival. 'Porn ar(t)ound the world', as the festival was called, was to draw 'artists' from across the world. One item was a call to people to make their own sex movies for a festival competition. The Mayor of Mechelen refused to act against the festival, due to his liberal views. Therefore Echte Mannen (Real Men), an initiative encouraging Christians to stand against pornography, called on Christian organisations and individuals to voice their opinion on the issue. An overwhelming response resulted, and newspapers reported politicians' disgust at the event, as well as Mechelen's Mayor's promise that such an event would not be permitted again. Much notice was taken of Christians distributing tracts at the door to the festival, and VTM (a TV station) interviewed them on "What is shame". Two of the Christians also took part in a TV debate with the organisers of the festival. To close the action, personal letters were sent to the organisers and pornographers, warning them of the wages of sin, and telling them of the Gospel. Similar festivals are planned in New York, London, Adelaide, Boston, Paris, Rome. (CFT-Belgium, 18 December) (to index)

* HIGH COUT PRO-LIFE VICTORY RE. EMBRYO SELECTION - A pro-life campaigner has won a court case against a decision allowing a family to go ahead with controversial "tissue typing". Pro-life campaigner Josephine Quintavalle was challenging whether the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) had the right to make a highly contentious decision about a pioneering embryo technique. The HFEA granted a licence to a clinic to treat a family called the Hashmis with "embryo selection". The Hashmis hoped that they might be able to have a child whose umbilical cord stem cells could be used to treat their son Zain, who has a disease called beta thalassaemia. In theory he could be cured with the cord cells from a baby whose tissue exactly matched his own. To improve the chances that such a child is born, Mrs Hashmi wanted to have IVF in which only matching embryos were implanted in her. Josephine Quintavalle, and the group she represents, Comment on Reproductive Ethics (CORE), object fundamentally to the idea of embryo selection... According to a BBC news report, the HFEA plans an appeal. (BBC News Online, 20 December) (to index)

* DUTCH COURT UPHOLDS EUTHANASIA RULES - The Dutch Supreme Court has ruled that a doctor who helped an elderly man "tired of living" to die was guilty of assisted suicide. The ruling upholds strict medical guidelines for mercy killing in the Netherlands, which was the first country in the world to legalise euthanasia. Had Dr Philip Sutorius won the case, it would have made mental suffering a legal reason for seeking euthanasia. The director of the Dutch Voluntary Euthanasia Society said he was "disappointed" with the ruling. The case involving Dr Sutorius began in 1998 when he gave 86-year-old former Dutch senate member Edward Brongersma a lethal cocktail of drugs, which the patient administered to himself. Mr Brongersma, although physically well, had said he did not want to go on living. Although euthanasia was illegal in the Netherlands in 1998, it was officially tolerated under the conditions that later became law. Neighbouring Belgium - which in September became the second country in the world to legalise euthanasia - accepts psychological suffering as a reason for the practice to take place. (BBC News, 24 December) (to index)

* OUTRAGE AT CLAIMED BIRTH OF HUMAN CLONE - (Washington, DC) A religious sect's announcement that it has successfully cloned a human being, whether truth or hoax, has the pro-life community, religious leaders, and bioethicists up in arms, as reported by Associated Press. The Vatican joined leading Muslim clerics and Jewish rabbis in denouncing as immoral, "brutal'' and unnatural the claim that a cloned baby had been born. Political leaders, meanwhile, stepped up calls for a global ban on human cloning. There was no scientific confirmation, however, and the announcement was met with doubt by the scientific community and revulsion by ethicists, who have voiced alarm about the implications of duplicating humans, saying it would compromise freedom and individuality. Israel's Chief Rabbi, Israel Meir Lau said that "the moment medical science tries to take upon itself duties and areas which are not its responsibility such as shortening life, cloning, or creating life in an unnatural way we must set down borders in order not to harm the basic belief that there is a creator of the universe in whose hands life and death are placed". (Pro-life Infonet, 29 December)

According to an article in The Mercury (30 December), the claimed cloned baby, nicknamed Eve, was to be flown to the US from an unspecified location on 30 December. DNA testing was to be done to determine if the cloning assertion was true. Brigitte Boisselier, chief executive of Clonaid, said: "On Monday if a sample is taken, perhaps by the end of the week or early next week we should have all the details". Clonaid is the cloning company affiliated with a religious sect, the Raelians, that believes space aliens launched life on earth through genetic engineering. (Mercury, 30 December; iol.co.za) (to index)

* EU NOT INCREASING POPULATION CONTROL BUDGET LINE - On 19 December 2002 the European Parliament rejected a 200% increase of a budget line including population control and the funding of abortion in the poorest countries of the world, as reported by Euro-fam. Line B7-6312, which is part of the EU's foreign aid budget, is entitled: "Aid for population and reproductive health care". In 2002, this budget line totaled 9 million Euros. For the 2003 budget, the Parliament on first reading approved a 200% increase of this budget line. The Council of Ministers, however, responded by limiting the increase to 14 million Euros, only to have the Committee on Budgets introduce an amendment that would have increased the budget line to 24 million Euros, even more than had been originally proposed. This amendment was rejected today, leaving the budget line at 14 million Euros. (www.euro-fam.org, 19 December) (to index)

* UK BATTLES SMOKING BY PREGNANT MOTHERS - A programme to help pregnant women stop smoking has succeeded in only a fifth of cases, according to the British Medical Journal. A Cardiff university survey of some 1,500 expectant mothers found that just 19% of women using the five booklets in the Stop for Good programme had not smoked for seven days after 26 weeks of pregnancy. Urine tests proved that some respondents who claimed to have given up had not done so. The British government is committed to cutting the number of pregnant smokers from 23% to 15% by 2010. Smoking in pregnancy has been linked to miscarriage and low birth weight. (British Medical Journal and BBC, 13 December) (to index)

* SCHOLASTIC WITHDRAWS ANTI-BIBLICAL BOOK FROM CHRISTIAN MARKETING - Scholastic, Inc. will no longer distribute a book list to Christian schools containing the book Conversations with God for Teens by Neale Walsch. Walsch purports to answer various questions from kids using the "voice of God." For example, when a girl asks why she is a lesbian, his answer is that she was born that way due to genetics. Another girl asked if cheating in class was wrong. Scholastic's "God" responded: "There is no such thing as 'right' and 'wrong."' (5/11 World) According to The Calvary Contender, New Age and occultic ideas are presented in this best-selling blasphemous book. (The Calvary Contender, 1 January 2003) (to index)

* PAKISTAN POLICE BURN OBSCENE MATERIAL - Police in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province have burnt thousands of items considered to be pornographic as part of a drive against obscenity. A public bonfire was organised in Peshawar's Jinnah Park to destroy the material which included Indian and English films, posters, "sex tonics", or aphrodisiacs and medicines. Police officials said video sellers voluntarily handed over cassettes and other material to them. The provincial police chief, Saeed Ahmed Khan, said the video sellers have been given a 15 January deadline to hand in all such material. Those failing to meet the deadline have been warned of strict action. Peshawar police had made special arrangements on New Year's eve not to allow revelers on the streets. No music shows or parties were allowed. The province saw a dramatic takeover in October elections by the far-right Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), an alliance of Islamic parties. The crackdown includes a campaign against gambling, pornographic and unlicensed cinemas, and reinforcement of an existing ban on alcohol. (BBC News, 1 January 2003) (to index)

* ON A 'LANGUAGE' NOTE - "I am a translator," said a young English miner to a friend whom he had invited to attend a local Bible Society meeting. "You a translator!" came the surprised reply. "What language do you know?" Said the miner, "I know the English Bible and the language of daily life, and I am busy every day translating the New Testament into my daily life." Later that friend commented on the incident. "His life truly was a modern translation of the New Testament. It was the best translation I had ever come across. It was a version of the Bible that lived again." (Anonymous) (to index)