Southern Africa:

• Same sex marriages possibility in SA
• Net child porn’s influence in SA
• Varsity students can have sex in dorms
• Temple mount wall collapses
• Feminist Bible
• Microsoft closes its own chatrooms

SAME SEX MARRIAGES POSSIBILITY IN SA – The South African Law Reform Commission is currently drafting and discussing new legislation that will allow same sex union and possibly same sex marriages. The Commission considers as unconstitutional the fact that there is currently no legal recognition of same-sex relationships. Some of the various options available under the new Domestic Partnerships Discussion Paper include the common law and civil law definition of marriage. Under the new legislation any "couple", whether homosexual or heterosexual will be able register their so-called "relationship" in order to obtain certain benefits that only married couples had up till now. However, unregistered partnerships will also have legal status to a certain extent. The closing date for comments from the public is 1 December 2003. (to index)

NET CHILD PORN’S INFLUENCE IN SA - The growing flood of child porn is threatening to engulf the Internet. About a million pornographic pictures depicting children are now on the World Wide Web - and it's having a terrible impact on South Africa.An estimated 90 percent of all paedophile-related activities involve the Internet. Those statistics were revealed this week by Iyavar Chetty, the senior executive of the South African Film and Publication Board. The Internet's profoundly dramatic impact on the creation and trafficking of child abuse images was the topic of Chetty's address to the Internet Service Providers Association during Internet Week in Gauteng. Chetty said he was not out to demonise the internet because everybody knew that this most disturbing of all crimes against children pre-dated the Internet. But according to the Internet Watch Foundation, an industry-supported hotline in Britain, there were around one million images of child abuse in circulation on the internet and the number is expanding by about 200 a day. The Internet was the medium of choice for paedophiles because it made child abuse images more easily accessible and made accessing such images more anonymous. (21 September, IOL) (to index)

VARSITY STUDENTS CAN HAVE SEX IN DORMS - University and technikon students have a right to engage in sex, an independent mediator at Technikon Witwatersrand has ruled. This comes after last month's violent student protests against the technikon management's implementation of its rule 2.9 that prohibited students from entertaining members of the opposite sex in their rooms. The finding has major implications for all tertiary institutions that manage and administer student residences on campus. While encouraging "safe sex" among students, mediator Tefo Raditapole, an advocate, said he was shocked at the sight of empty condom boxes when he toured the institution last week. He immediately recommended that the students' representative council (SRC) use its coffers to purchase condoms and distribute them freely among students. Raditapole has recommended to the SRC that they buy Lovers Plus condoms and not the freely-distributed government ones. (28 September, News24) (to index)

TEMPLE MOUNT WALL COLLAPSES - An interior wall of Jerusalem's Temple Mount has collapsed, uncovering an area of 40 square metres of dirt and setting of fears of religious violence, ASSIST News Service (ANS) monitored Saturday, September 27. No injuries were reported in the area, which was the scene of riots between Jews and Muslims earlier this month.
It looks terrible," WorldNetDaily.com, an independent Internet news website, quoted Israeli archaeologist Eliat Mazar as saying. "This collapse might cause a terrific series of collapses," added Mazar who is also leading the committee for preventing destruction of antiquities at the site. She charged the Waqf (an Islamic trust) with directing "unsupervised" work in and around the Temple Mount resulting in the loss of archaeological treasures. The damaged wall, which belongs to the Islamic Museum on the Temple Mount and is of a recent origin, was seen crumbling on 23 September. However Adnan al-Husseini of the Waqf said the failure was the result of "the Israeli intervention in our work and preventing us from maintaining it after we stated it was in urgent need for rapid action to prevent its collapse," news reports from Israel said (27 September, Assist News Service) (to index)

FEMINIST BIBLE - The German Evangelical Church is translating the bible into inclusive language drawing on a feminist critique of the biblical text. More than 50 translators are working on a new edition of the Bible. They are rewriting passages which are seen to discriminate against women, and are also using "unbiased and just" language. The term disciple is to be changed to "disciples and disciplesses" and forms of address such "Our Father" will be changed. The translation project will run to 10,000 copies printed by the Gueterslohe publishing house in 2004. (23 September, Ekklesia) (to index)

MICROSOFT CLOSES ITS OWN CHATROOMS - The software giant Microsoft declared war on Internet paedophiles on Tuesday night by announcing the closure of its thousands of United Kingdom-based chatrooms. It will also restrict access to chatroom systems around the world, allowing only identifiable, adult users living in the same country to use them. The decision is a significant precedent, the first time one of the biggest Internet service providers has cut off an element of the world wide Web in reaction to concerns over misuse. The British government is so concerned by the dangers of chatrooms that it is drafting legislation, expected to come into force soon, that will criminalise "Internet grooming" by creating a new offence for any adult to arrange to meet a child under 16 with intent to abuse the child sexually. It would carry a sentence of up to five years in jail. The move by MSN, which has a total of 350 million visitors worldwide to its online service every month, was welcomed by various children's charities.(24 Sep, The Mercury) (to index)

International News

• Teen dies after abortion pill
• 1800 % porn web pages
• Radio discipling in China
• Episcopalian bishop supports gay bishop
• 3 out of 4 Americans reject 10 commandments court decision

TEEN DIES AFTER ABORTION PILL - Holly Marie Patterson went to a Planned Parenthood clinic two weeks ago to quietly consider ways to handle a life change she wasn't ready for. One week later, the 18-year-old lady was dying on an emergency room table, the victim of complications after she took the abortion pill. Patterson's death is likely to reignite the debate surrounding RU-486, the pill approved by the Food and Drug Administration two years ago as a way for women to end pregnancies themselves. Patients who take RU-486 take the first pill under the care of a physician. A second medication called misoprostol, taken three days later, induces labor so the embryo can be expelled. In 5 to 8 percent of cases, surgery is required to stop the patient's bleeding. Planned Parenthood's website compares the process to having a miscarriage. Five to eight percent of cases require surgery, either to stop a patient's bleeding or to complete the abortion. Eric Schaff, chair of the National Abortion Federation, which promotes non-surgical abortion, said aspirin causes more deaths than RU-486. But anti-abortion groups such as the National Right to Life Committee insist that the pills "offer a whole new set of significant risks," and makes abortion seem too simple. A report on the group's Web site says the pill gives "supporters of abortion a chance to change the image of abortion, making it seem as simple as taking a pill." (22 Sep, AP) (to index)

1800 % PORN WEB PAGES - The number of pornography pages on the Internet has exploded to 260 million, or about 1 800 percent more than five years ago, according to a study released on Tuesday by a Web filtering company. The Seattle, Washington-based firm N2H2 said its study highlights the growing problem of online porn for workplaces, government agencies and schools. N2H2 said its database contained 14 million identified pages of pornography in 1998, so the growth to 260 million represents an almost 20-fold increase in five years. The company noted that a search in Google on the word "porn" returned over 80 million pages, and "xxx" returned more than 76 million. N2H2 said some the sites are deliberately registered to take advantage of spelling or typographical mistakes when web users try to obtain a legitimate page. (24 Sep, Independent Online) (to index)

RADIO DISCIPLING IN CHINA - Radio is having a major affect on church growth in China, as persecution continues in that country. Reports surfaced last week that 170 believers in Henan Province were questioned by police after attending a house church in the region. According to reports, 14 church leaders remain in custody. HCJB World Radio broadcasts programming into China. HCJB World Radio’s Ron Cline says the Chinese take an incredible risk when they come to Christ. He says they're astounding. "They say 'yes' to Jesus at the same time they say 'yes' to death. It's almost as if they agree 'I will die, but I want to be a Christian.' And so, we want to encourage them via radio." Cline says Christians in China that two things are building the church in China. "Relationships - Chinese to Chinese, and radio, because it's teaching them their theology." (MNN) (to index)

EPISCOPALIAN BISHOP SUPPORTS GAY BISHOP - With two key meetings ahead that could determine whether the Episcopal Church splits over homosexuality, the denomination's leader defended his support for an openly gay bishop Monday in an interview with The Associated Press. Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold said he voted at last month's General Convention to confirm Bishop-elect V. Gene Robinson because Episcopalians in New Hampshire had overwhelmingly chosen him in their local election and had the right to make that choice. Griswold also argued that Scripture does not condemn same-sex relationships, a position conservatives vehemently reject. Robinson has lived with his male partner for more than 13 years and worked in the Diocese of New Hampshire for about 15 years. "I wasn't settling the question of sexuality. I was affirming the choice of a diocese," Griswold said, seated in his midtown Manhattan office. Later, he said that in biblical times there was no understanding that homosexuality was a natural orientation and not a choice. "Discreet acts of homosexuality" were condemned in the Bible because they were acts of lust instead of the "love, forgiveness, grace" of committed same-sex relationships, he said. "Homosexuality, as we understand it as an orientation, is not mentioned in the Bible," he said. "I think the confirmation of the bishop of New Hampshire is acknowledging what is already a reality in the life of the church and the larger society of which we are a part." (30 September, AP) (to index)

3 OUT OF 4 AMERICANS REJECT 10 COMMANDMENTS COURT DECISION - Recent polls indicate three out of four Americans disagree with recent court decisions on the issue of displays that, for example exhibit Christian principles. Georgia's top political leaders used a rally, Monday, at the state Capitol, to show their support for displaying the Ten Commandments on government property despite recent court rulings that have found such displays violate the U.S. Constitution. "It is our duty as citizens to make our voices be heard and to ensure our rights to display the Ten Commandments in our public buildings," Gov. Sonny Perdue told several hundred people gathered outside the Capitol. "The Supreme Court may be the final judicial authority in our land, but they are not the ultimate authority." The crowd rallied around a lightweight replica of the 5,300-pound monument of the Ten Commandments that Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore had installed in the Alabama Judicial Building in Montgomery. Last month, a federal court order forced Alabama to remove the granite slab from its prominent display in the court building. (30 September, Atlanta Journal-Constitution) (to index)