International

* KOREA SLAMS SLAYING OF HOSTAGE BY TALIBAN
* HOMOSEXUAL IMMORALITY: WHAT'S THE DEBATE?
* HAVE SCIENTISTS CREATED LIFE?
* DOBSON OFFICIALLY DENOUNCES 'HARRY POTTER'
* PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS INCREASING, BUT MOST AMERICANS UNAWARE
* HUMOR: WHEN ANXIETIES FINALLY COME TRUE

* KOREA SLAMS SLAYING OF HOSTAGE BY TALIBAN - South Korea condemned the Taliban for killing one of 23 South Koreans kidnapped by the militant group and renewed its call today for the immediate release of the remaining captives.
The kidnappers "will be held accountable for taking the life of a Korean citizen," Baek John-chun, chief presidential secretary for security affairs, said in a statement.
The South Korean victim was found yesterday with 10 bullet holes in his head, chest and stomach in the Mushaki area of Qarabagh district in Ghazni province, the region where the group was seized July 19 while riding a bus, said Abdul Rahman, an Afghan police officer.
South Korea's Foreign Ministry identified the victim as 42-year-old Bea Hyung-kyu.
Baek said South Korea would not tolerate the Taliban's inhumane act, saying that "the killing of an innocent civilian cannot be justified under any circumstance or for any reason."
Baek will fly to Afghanistan later today as a presidential envoy to consult with top Afghan officials on how to secure the release of the remaining South Korean captives.
"We once again strongly urge them to promptly return home the Korean citizens taken hostage," Baek said. (Daily News, 26 July 2007) (to index)

* HOMOSEXUAL IMMORALITY: WHAT'S THE DEBATE? - On August 9, MTV's homosexual cable network, Logo, is hosting the first-ever presidential debate intended to promote the homosexual and transgender (gender identity disorder) lifestyles. All major presidential candidates have been invited to participate. To date, all Republican presidential candidates have declined, while all major Democratic candidates have accepted. Those candidates who have accepted are Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-New York), Sen. Barack Obama (D-Illinois), former Sen. John Edwards (D-North Carolina), Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut), former Sen. Mike Gravel (D-Alaska), and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio).

Both Joe Solmonese, president of the homosexual "Human Rights Campaign" and lesbian singer/activist Melissa Etheridge have been selected as panelists.

Matt Barber, CWA's Policy Director for Cultural Issues, said, "This debate is clearly designed to advance the radical homosexual agenda and to promote social and governmental acceptance and celebration of the high-risk and destructive homosexual lifestyle.

"It's disgraceful that our nation's moral standards have now dipped so low that it's considered 'tolerant' to hold a debate organized entirely around the promotion of sexual immorality. What's next? Are presidential candidates going to be asked to participate in a debate on how to garner widespread acceptance of adultery or incest? Are members of the growing polygamy lobby and the paedophile group NAMBLA going to tap candidates for a televised debate to promote their chosen lifestyles?

"Thousands of years of history, every major world religion, the unambiguous science of human biology and good old-fashioned common sense have established that homosexual behaviors are both immoral and destructive to the lives, health and spiritual well being of those who choose to participate in those behaviors. For instance, the CDC has recently determined that 71 percent of all males living with deadly HIV/AIDS were infected with the disease through homosexual behaviors," said Barber, "Furthermore, the CDC has determined that homosexuals - especially males - are by far at greatest risk for nearly all forms of sexually transmitted disease as well as other lifestyle related injuries.

"Will any of the presidential candidates bring up any of these facts during the debate? Organizers are expecting them to fall all over themselves trying to prove to the world who's most sympathetic to the left's twisted version of 'tolerance' and 'diversity.' But there's nothing to debate here. These candidates should play it straight, so to speak, and call it like it is. Immorality is immorality," concluded Barber.
(Concerned Women for America, 20 July 2007) (to index)

* HAVE SCIENTISTS CREATED LIFE? - Recent news reports suggest that scientists may be close to creating artificial (synthetic) life. None of this is happening by chance but by intelligent design and planning. Why, then, will many not give credit to God for the original DNA and life?

In the case involving synthetic (artificial) life, scientists don't actually create or produce life itself from non-living matter. What scientists do in this case is create (by intelligent design) artificial DNA (genetic instructions and code) which is then implanted into an already existing living cell and, thereby, changing that cell into a new form of life.

Even if scientists ever do create a whole living cell from scratch (and not just its DNA) it still would not be by chance but by intelligent design. Synthetic life is another form of genetic engineering. But God was there first! Remember that.

In all forms of genetic engineering, including production of synthetic or artificial life, scientists have always begun with already existing forms of life or their parts. Contrary to popular belief no scientist has ever created an entire living cell from "scratch" or from non-living matter. But, if that day ever comes it won't be by chance but only by intelligent design further supporting the argument that intelligent design was necessary for life's origin on Earth.

If the cell had evolved it would have had to be all at once. A partially evolved cell cannot wait millions of years to become complete because it would be highly unstable and quickly disintegrate in the open environment, especially without the protection of a complete and fully functioning cell membrane.

Although it has been shown that the basic building blocks of life, amino acids, can come into existence by chance, it has never been shown that the various amino acids can come together into a sequence by chance to form protein molecules. If the amino acids are not in the proper sequence the protein molecules will not function! Even the simplest cell is composed of millions of protein molecules.

It seems that the cell is irreducibly complex. For example, without DNA there can be no RNA, and without RNA there can be no DNA. And without either DNA or RNA there can be no proteins, and without proteins there can be no DNA or RNA. They're all mutually dependent upon each other for existence! It could not have gradually evolved! Evolutionists generally believe that it took one billion years for the first life form or cell to have evolved. That belief, although still taught as gospel in many elementary and secondary schools, cannot be sustained by modern science.

The great British scientist Sir Frederick Hoyle has said that the probability of the sequence of molecules in the simplest cell coming into existence by chance is equivalent to a tornado going through a junk yard of airplane parts and assembling a 747 Jumbo Jet!

All of this simply means that real science supports faith in God. Science cannot prove that we are here by chance (evolution) or by design (creation). However, the scientific evidence can be used to support one or the other. It is only fair that evidence supporting intelligent design be presented to students alongside of evolutionary theory, especially in public schools which receive funding from taxpayers who are on both sides of the issue. Also, no one is being forced to believe in God or adopt a particular religion so there is no true violation of separation of church and state.

As a religion and science writer, I encourage all to read my Internet article "The Natural Limits of Evolution" at my website www.religionscience.com for a more in-depth study of the issue.

Babu G. Ranganathan
(B.A. theology/biology)
(The Seoul Times, 1 Aug 2007;
Read the full article at http://theseoultimes.com/ST/?url=/ST/db/read.php?idx=5513) (to index)

* DOBSON OFFICIALLY DENOUNCES 'HARRY POTTER' - In response to media speculation, Focus on the Family (FOTF) posted a statement on its website this weekend titled "Dr. Dobson: 'What I Think About Harry Potter.'"

In the statement, the conservative pro-family ministry explained that FOTF founder Dr. James Dobson has never endorsed books or films from the megahit fantasy series, and that many papers mistakenly reported that he had given them an OK for Christian families.

The posting directly confronts the Washington Post, which published an article about what Christians think of the craze, and how the reporter had incorrectly assumed that Dobson favored the boy wizard.

"In a story about Christians' views on the Harry Potter books and films, reporter Jacqueline Salmon wrote that 'Christian parenting guru James Dobson has praised the Potter books,'" the statement read. "This is the exact opposite of Dr. Dobson's opinion - in fact, he said a few years ago on his daily radio broadcast that 'We have spoken out strongly against all of the Harry Potter products.'"

The reason the ministry leader is against the material is obvious given the presence of magical characters (witches, wizards, ghosts, goblins, werewolves, poltergeists and so on) in the Harry Potter stories.

"[A]nd given the trend toward witchcraft and New Age ideology in the larger culture," FOTF added, "it's difficult to ignore the effects such stories (albeit imaginary) might have on young, impressionable minds." (The Christian Post, 23 Jul 2007) (to index)

* PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS INCREASING, BUT MOST AMERICANS UNAWARE - Christians continue to be martyred abroad, but few American believers are aware of how pervasive religious persecution is around the world. "Christians in this nation don't realize how fortunate they are to live in the U.S.," observes Jim Jacobson, president of Christian Freedom International.

The Taliban's kidnapping of the South Korean aid workers in Afghanistan illustrates how that conflict is essentially religious. Yet "the U.S.-backed government is little friendlier to Christians," observes Jacobson. "Last year Christian convert Abdul Rahman barely evaded a death sentence, and only after Western nations placed substantial pressure on Kabul."

In Turkey attacks continue on Christians and churches. In an area along the Black Sea coast where an Italian Catholic priest was previously murdered, a Protestant church was vandalized and its pastor threatened. "Earlier this year three Christians were murdered in a particularly gruesome fashion by Muslim extremists," Jacobson points out.

Attacks on Christians are up in India. In one city a Catholic convent school was attacked; in another town Hindu fanatics murdered a Christian convert; elsewhere a Protestant minister was arrested for allegedly offering money for a conversion, after seeking to mediate a dispute within a Buddhist family; in another case Christian missionaries were beaten. "India might be a democracy," notes Jacobson, "but it is far from free religiously."

In Kazakhstan, Christians were tossed out of their home because they held an unauthorized prayer meeting. A Baptist minister was arrested in Azerbaijan while conducting services.

Malaysia's top court prevented a Muslim woman from legally converting to Christianity. Egypt similarly discourages conversions away from Islam; while mobs recently attacked Coptic Christians thought to be planning to build a church.

Pakistan is preparing to execute a Christian falsely accused of blaspheming Islam and the prophet Mohammed. China continues to close down Protestant home churches and promote the official "patriotic" Catholic church over the underground, legitimate church.

Vietnam recently arrested and tortured Montagnard Christians. In Indonesia scores of Christians have been arrested for blasphemy; Muslim extremists forced the Carmelite Prayer Centre in West Java to cancel a planned international conference. Christians were killed and wounded in a bomb attack in Ethiopia.

Far worse "is the plight of Christians in Iraq," says Jacobson. Christians are routinely murdered and kidnapped; Christian churches are regularly destroyed; hundreds of thousands of Christians have fled Iraq. (Christian News Wire, 30 July 2007) (to index)

* HUMOR: WHEN ANXIETIES FINALLY COME TRUE - For several years a woman had been having trouble getting to sleep at night because she feared burglars. One night her husband heard a noise in the house, so he went downstairs to investigate. When he got there, he did find a burglar. "Good evening," said the man of the house. "I am pleased to see you. Come upstairs and meet my wife. She has been waiting 10 years to meet you." (From "William Marshall, Eternity Shut in a Span") (to index)