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News Briefs From Planet Earth - July 2003
MOST WATCHED MOVIE OF ALL-TIME
(AgapePress) ...While
the Oscars honored the supposed "best" movies of the past year, a
movie about the life of Christ has the distinction of being the most watched
movie of all time. The Jesus film, released by Warner Brothers in 1979, has been
distributed and translated worldwide by Campus Crusade for Christ International
(CCCI) since 1980. The movie -- which has been translated into over 800
languages -- has been viewed by an estimated 5.5 billion people. Paul Eshelman,
director of the Jesus Film Project for CCCI, says since Campus Crusade began
distributing the film, it has been shown in every country of the world. He adds
that there are still teams around the world completing additional translations.
Eshleman says the film is often shown in the most dangerous places on earth
through a massive logistical operation involving hundreds of staff and
volunteers.
K-MART REAPS THE WHIRLWIND
(AgapePress) ...The
director of special projects for the American Family Association says one reason
K-mart must keep closing stores is simple. Randy Sharp says K-mart is in bad
shape for a simple reason: people are not shopping there -- by choice. He says
one very good reason consumers are not going there is that the company has a
brazen attitude toward family values. "K-mart has offended many, many moms
and dads," Sharp says, "because of their music policy which says that
they will sell violent, sexually explicit, and profane-laced music to
children." Sharp says that attitude does not align with the philosophies of
a lot of parents who care about the way their kids are brought up. And Sharp
says K-mart is not making any money right now. He says after closing 283 stores
in 2002, at least another 326 will be history this year. The American Family
Association has led a national boycott of K-mart for several years because of
its retailing policy regarding sexually and violently explicit music and videos.
MUSLIM FBI AGENTS REJECT FBI RULES
(AgapePress) ...FBI
special agent Robert Wright is a "whistleblower" who has pointed out
bureau failures in its terrorism division prior to the 9/11 attacks. But after
praising a female agent who came forward with a similar story, FBI director
Robert Mueller does not want Wright talking at all -- especially about Muslim
agents. Mueller threatened to fire agent Wright just as he was about to walk
onto a news production studio at the FOX network. Mueller wanted to talk about
Muslim agents who refused to wear a "wire" to record other Muslim
suspects in terror investigations. As a former agent, Gary Aldrich, can talk
about this because he is no longer under the bureau's thumb of control. Aldrich
says, "Well, thankfully, I don't have to ask the FBI for permission to
speak on something like this any more and my sense of it is that any agent who,
because of his religious beliefs, refuses to conduct a normal kind of
investigation, should go ahead and hand in his resignation and go do something
else for a living." Wright says Muslim agents refused to wear a listening
device in their investigation because, as they put it, "a Muslim does not
tape another Muslim." Wright was a special agent in the Bureau's terrorism
division prior to 9/11).
LEAVE IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT
(AgapePress) ...Recently, liberals have attacked President Bush
and his administration for holding regular, voluntary Bible studies in the White
House. Critics say such practices violate the rights of non-Christians. But
Concerned Women for America spokesperson Sandy Rios does not see it that way.
"I don't know of any country in the entire world," Rios says,
"who expects that when other people move there, that suddenly they have to
become like those people." Rios says Arab-Americans should not expect that
we suddenly become less Christian because they choose to live in the United
States. Rios made her comments recently on CNN. [by Allie Martin]
PARENTS WANT ABSTINENCE TAUGHT
(AgapePress) ...A
recent Zogby poll reveals that nearly 80% of parents want an abstinence-based
sex education program taught in their public schools. Family Research Council
spokesperson Genevieve Wood says the current sex education programs are doing
just the opposite with the parents' desires. Wood says, "There is no group
that can be more responsible for stemming the tide of sexually-transmitted
diseases and unwanted pregnancy among our nation's youth than parents. I don't
think that American parents could agree more." Unfortunately, she adds,
what is being taught in our nation's schools under the guise of "sex
education programs" is not helping parents at all to communicate the
message of abstinence to their children. Wood says this is the main reason why
we are experiencing sexually-transmitted diseases at epidemic levels among our
teens in America today. Currently, doctors are treating over 20 million
teenagers for at least one of the thirty varieties of STD's. [by Bill Fancher]
GUESS WHAT HELPS LATINO CHILDREN'S SCHOOL PERFORMANCE?
(AgapePress) ...Taking your kids to church may be one of the best ways to
improve their performance in school. A recent study conducted by researchers at
the University of Notre Dame concluded that students perform better and are less
likely to drop out of school when their families regularly attend church. The
study, which examined Hispanic families, further revealed that parents who go to
church with their kids are more likely to help them with homework, and to become
involved in extracurricular school activities. Edwin Hernandez, who heads the
university's Center for the Study of Latino Religion, says public schools need
to realize there is a "tremendous reservoir of resources in the religious
community." The study concluded that one important way churches can be of
help to schools is through "concrete activities that are educational, such
as parents reading and discussing the Bible ... with children, and children
reading and memorizing the Bible, learning to sing in a choir, and so on."
Also, many churches provide tutoring for children and organize trips and outings
that involve educational activities such as attending museums and cultural
events.
OHIO NOMINEE APPROVED
(AgapePress) ...Democrats in the Senate have finally agreed to one of President
Bush’s judicial nominees. Jeffrey Sutton, a former Ohio solicitor general, was
approved for a seat on the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in
Cincinnati. The vote was 52-42. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist
says he will try to force a confirmation vote on Priscilla Owen, a Texas judge
that Bush has nominated for the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Opponents says she has pro-life views – and so, in their eyes, that
disqualifies her for such a position.
THE CHIP IS ON THE TABLE
(AgapePress) ...The
American Family Association's Center for Law & Policy (CLP) is representing
a California Highway patrolman who is being sued by a fellow officer for
displaying a "Straight Pride" sticker on his personal vehicle. Several
years ago, Mike Edwards, an 11-year veteran of the California Highway Patrol,
put the sticker on his personal car. A fellow officer objected, and Edwards'
supervisor gave him two choices: remove the sticker, or park his personal
vehicle off of state property. Edwards chose the second option, but has recently
been sued by the homosexual officer. But CLP attorney Mike DePrimo says Edwards
has a constitutional right to express his opinion. DePrimo points out that
Supreme Court cases are uniform in stating that people have to tolerate what
they might consider to be "offensive and objectionable" speech. The
attorney adds that there is no prohibition in having a bumper sticker on a car,
and that Edwards' supervisor had no right to tell him that he had to remove it.
DePrimo points out that Edwards has received excellent reviews during his 11
years on the Highway Patrol.
THE HYPOCRISY OF TOLERANCE DOCTRINE
(AgapePress) ...A spokeswoman for the pro-life group Rock for Life says public
schools claim to promote “tolerance” and “diversity,” but are very
intolerant of beliefs that are not politically correct. In May, thousands of
young people across America participated in the first-ever “National Pro-Life
T-shirt Day.” Students wore shirts with pro-life messages in a show of support
for the sanctity of human life. But being pro-life in today’s public school
environment is not politically correct. Rock for Life’s Sara McKalips says
despite the fact that students have a constitutional right to wear pro-life
shirts, some school officials continue to harass them. She says it is amazing
how quickly those who preach tolerance become very intolerant when the viewpoint
is not what they believe in. According to McKalips, the only group that school
officials are not worried about offending is pro-lifers. She says when pro-life
t-shirts are worn, “intolerance then becomes acceptable to …school
officials.” For example, in one New Hampshire school, a student was told her
pro-life shirt was “offensive” to some students. Yet at the same high
school, students recently displayed their pro-homosexual views by wearing
rainbow ribbons during school.
END TIMES APPROACH
(AgapePress) ...A best-selling author and end-times scholar
believes the continued efforts by the European Union are fulfilling biblical
prophecy. The EU recently unveiled its proposed constitution, which calls for an
elected president, a foreign minister to represent the Union internationally,
and a bill of rights. But even though the EU is not being renamed the
"United States of Europe," Dr. Hal Lindsey says it is clearly moving
toward world domination. He believes current efforts are targeted to replace the
United States as the power of the West -- and then the power of the world.
Lindsey says one of the most important predictions about events that lead to the
Second Coming of Christ is the establishment of a unified European state,
setting the stage for the revived Roman empire.
ARABS CONTINUE TO KILL CHRISTIANS
(AgapePress) ...Religious persecution is getting worse in
the world, based on a report from the U.S. Commission on International Religious
Freedom. Commissioner Richard Land says in many cases, it is America's allies
that are committing most of the atrocities. Land says one of the worst
persecutors is Saudi Arabia where, according to the State Department, religious
freedom does not exist. Land adds that persecution is particularly bad in the
Muslim African nation of Sudan. He points out the persecution there involves
other elements than just faith. He says it is a racial issue as well. He
explains that Sudanese in the north, who tend to be more Semitic and Arab, are
attacking black African Christians in the south -- to the point where it has
reached the level of genocide. Land points out that more than two million
Christians have been killed over the past 15 years because they will not convert
to Islam. Land would like to see more pressure brought to bear on all the
countries that deny people religious freedom. He says if it were not for the
United States, religious persecution would be much worse and more widespread
than it is today.
BEHIND THE SCENES IN NORTH KOREA
(AgapePress) …An expert on Asia who lived in communist
China for several years says Americans need to be skeptical about any Chinese
efforts to defuse tensions on the Korean Peninsula. He says China has propped up
the North Korean regime for years. When China recently hosted talks between the
U.S. and North Korea, the New York Times reported that some diplomats and
analysts believed the Pyongyang regime alienated its only significant ally by
declaring that it had already become a nuclear power. The newspaper suggested
that China might put more pressure on North Korea to back off from its nuclear
program. But Steve Mosher of the Population Research Institute says if it was
not for China supplying food and fuel, the North Korean regime would have
collapsed years ago. According to Mosher, China is “the dragon lurking in the
shadows behind the dictator Kim Jong il.” Mosher adds that it should not be
forgotten that most of the North Korean missile technology that could eventually
threaten the U.S. was supplied by the Chinese.
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