Christian Action Commission

Land: Christians must battle barbarism

NEW ORLEANS (BP and local reports) — Civilization stands at a fork in the road and will either ascend to greater heights or tumble into barbarism unless Christians reassert the value of all human life and absolute moral truth, Richard Land told a Founder’s Day audience October 6 at New Orleans Seminary.

Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville, said the future of civilization turns on two fundamental questions: Is moral truth real and knowable or is it merely a preference? A question of human value follows: Is mankind of value because of the essence of mankind, or only for what mankind can do?

These questions are at the heart of policy debates over abortion, embryonic stem cell research, cloning, physician-assisted suicide, euthanasia, and health care reform, said Land, who is scheduled to speak October 26 at …

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The Public Health Plan: A Pro-Life Non-Starter

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee has posted on its Web site the health care reform bill they have been working on. It’s called the “Affordable Health Choices Act.” As promised, it contains a public health care option. The impact on other health insurance providers is reason enough to oppose a public health plan, but an even greater reason is the way it is going to undermine pro-life values.

The public plan’s immediate and long-term threat to pro-life values is what makes it a non-starter. The plan’s immediate threat to pro-life values is evident from its failure to provide any pro-life protections. There is no protection for health care providers who, due to their faith convictions, cannot provide abortion or abortion referrals. There is no protection for pharmacy owners or workers who cannot in good conscience dispense abortion drugs. There is no restriction on abortion, …

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Parent-child relationship further weakened with court order

The decision by U.S. District Court Judge Edward Korman of New York to order the FDA to make Plan B, post-intercourse contraceptives available to 17-year-old girls without a prescription from their doctor is one more example of the government believing it has the right to interpose itself between parents and their children. It is shameful that the Obama administration has decided it will not appeal this terrible federal court decision.

Allowing drugs with such powerful physiological and emotional effects to be sold over the counter to adults without a prescription, as has been the case since 2005, has no doubt had significant consequences, none of them good. The decision to allow such drugs to be marketed and sold to underage teenagers without a prescription is absolutely incredible. No good can come out of it.

This decision will certainly lead to increased rates of sexual activity for …

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Stem Cell Research: Hype, Hope, or Both?

Since President Obama’s decision on March 9th to allow federal funds for research using embryos and embryonic stem cells, much has been said about the morality and ethics of embryonic stem cell research (ESCR) and adult stem cell research (ASCR).

Many scientists, researchers, activists, and legislators argue that stem cell research holds great promise to cure or treat health problems.  This is partially true because when supporters of stem cell research make this claim the issue is often clouded and confused.  This is because the moral and ethical dilemma that embryonic stem cell research kills human life is often intentionally left out of general conversation.  The media and advocates frequently bury this dilemma under the words of hope, promise, and cures of stem cell research in general. 

This is done because embryonic stem cells have not proven effective in treating ANY human injury, illness, or disease, …

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Being a Pro-Life Church

Is your church pro-life? I mean really pro-life? As a body, are you encouraging each other to not only think in a pro-life way but also act in a pro-life way?

Undeniably, Christians have been the backbone of the pro-life movement since its inception. If more churches would harness their membership and organizational power on behalf of pro-life causes, however, perhaps the tide could be turned in America and we would once again live in a society that values every human life.

Let’s think about some practical ways your church members can be pro-life.

Teach your children

“Impress these words of Mine on your hearts and souls . . . teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road” (Deut. 11:18-19).

Explain to your children from an early age why human …

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The Ethics of Eugenics: Opting Only for Perfect Babies Would Leave Most of Us Out

In recent years, advances have been made in the field of genetics that enable scientists and parents to predetermine the traits of their babies. In vitro fertilization, freezing embryos, artificial insemination, and other methods of creating and storing life in a lab have brought to the surface ethical dilemmas that must be addressed. “A divorced couple engages in a custody battle over their unused frozen embryos. Meanwhile, some researchers want to destroy ‘extra’ embryos in hopes of curing diseases. And while some women pray for their eggs to fertilize in IVF cycles, others give permission to have their “excess” embryos destroyed. Bring up the topic of infertility and invariably someone will mention these sorts of ethical quagmires.”(1)

Many Bible-believing Christians approve the use of artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization, and other high-tech procedures, provided the egg and sperm come from married partners, and precautions are taken to honor …

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Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells:  An Amazing Breakthrough in the Stem Cell Debate

http://erlc.com/article/induced-pluripotent-stem-cells

Seventh in the Nation

The national organization, Americans United for Life (AUL), ranks our state seventh when it comes to protecting the unborn. The U.S. Supreme Court in 1973 decided that the right of privacy secured by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment includes a woman’s “fundamental right” to determine whether or not to end her pregnancy. Over the years, state legislatures have attempted to make changes to modify the force of this statute by providing protection for the unborn.

In the last several years Mississippi has made great strides in this long, slow process. In fact, the AUL states, “Mississippi exemplifies how women can be protected and the number of abortions drastically reduced through incremental legislation.” Mississippi has only one abortion clinic, and according to the AUL, the abortion rate has dropped more than 60 percent.

Sunday, January 20, 2008 is designated Sanctity of Human Life Sunday …

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Euthanasia

http://erlc.com/article/euthanasia

Aborted Babies: The Memorial is Their Maker

Abortion! No word seems to have divided America more than this one word. Place all of the other words together that project images and no word is loaded with baggage like this word.  Some sing it as a fight song while others equate it to a freedom song.

In the midst of this struggle to have it one way or another (abortions or no abortions), some have suggested we should settle for simply having less abortions. At first glance, that seems reasonable. Think about crime for a moment. We realize that we cannot stop crime altogether, but we can reduce crime; therefore, we do all we can from neighborhood watches to hiring more policemen. We even applaud cities that reduce their crime rate by percentage points. While it sounds great, ask some politician to try and get elected on a platform to reduce murders in his/her city from …

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Calling All Pennies

The one-cent coin, commonly known as the penny, was the first currency authorized by the United States.  Benjamin Franklin suggested the first design. The penny derives its name from its British counterpart, the pence.

Pennies are plentiful. Since 1787, well over 300 billion pennies have been minted with eleven different designs. The first coins were one hundred percent copper. Paul Revere, the famous blacksmith, supplied some of the copper for the coins minted in the early 1790’s. Now due to the rising price of copper, the composition is 97.5 percent zinc and 2.5 percent copper.

Pennies are powerful. On December 10, 2006, the Boston Globe ran an article entitled “Powerful Pennies.” The article highlighted a high school that waged a “penny war,” collecting monies for a food pantry.  For years charitable organizations have used the collection of pennies to fund projects aimed at helping …

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Suicide - Warning Signs

http://erlc.com/article/suicide-warning-signs

Are We There Yet?

Every person who has traveled any distance with young children has heard them ask, “Are we there yet?” When the answer is “No,” the next question is, “When will we get there?” Those are some of the same questions we find ourselves answering in the Christian Action Commission. The phone rings and the caller inquires as to the number of pennies collected, and the first question is “Are we there yet?” Our response is “No,” and the following question is “How many do we lack?”

THANK YOU for calling and asking. We are not there yet but progress is being made. Every week, if not every day, more pennies are collected. Many churches and individuals are working as hard as ever to collect pennies for which we are grateful. It is also amazing that every week someone calls and says, “What is this penny project?” Or they say, …

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Cloning

http://erlc.com/article/cloning-overview

Embryonic Stem Cell Research

http://erlc.com/article/embryonic-stem-cell-research