Another Oglala Sioux Voice, This One Against Abortion

Cecelia Fire Thunder's enthusiasm for abortion may have received a lot of press and impressed her pals over at Planned Parenthood but her reputation among the Oglala Sioux may be on the decline. It turns out that the tribe's ethics are much more enlightened towards the sanctity of life than are those of Ms. Fire Thunder. That, at least, is the position described by Patrick Lee in a weekend editorial written for the Rapid City Journal.

Below is printed a summary from the Journal's online service but here is another story (offering a couple of additional items) from the Bismark Tribune.

The proposal by Oglala Sioux Tribe President Cecelia Fire Thunder for a women’s clinic offering abortion services on Pine Ridge Reservation might be in conflict with tribal law. It might also lead to another attempted impeachment of Fire Thunder, who survived two similar challenges on unrelated issues last year.

Fire Thunder proposed the clinic in response to a new state law, scheduled to take effect in July, banning almost all abortions in South Dakota. She said the reservation's sovereign status would allow physicians to perform abortions at a clinic there, despite state law.

But Patrick Lee of Rapid City, a retired chief judge for the Oglala Sioux Tribe and current instructor in tribal law at Oglala Lakota College, challenged that idea Saturday in a Forum piece in the Rapid City Journal and in an interview later in the day. Lee said offering abortions would conflict with tribal law and a pervasive respect for life among the Oglala.

“Life is sacred -- the winged, two-legged, four-legged. You hear constant references to respect for life,” Lee said. “It’s the tribal law. She could ask the tribe to change the law. And that would be an uphill battle.”

Lee, who teaches tribal law and treaties and federal Indian law at Oglala Lakota College, said a specific portion of the juvenile code clarified the tribe’s respect for the unborn: “a child conceived, but not born, is to be deemed an existing person so far as may be necessary for its interests and welfare to be protected in the event of its subsequent birth.”

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm She's Not

Despite Time magazine's Margaret Carlson's description of Katie Couric, here's a reminder from John Leo that such "Rebeccan" virtues as innocence, fairness, and humility are sadly lacking in the the new CBS anchoress.

What's Yours Is Mine

Human Events has a quick-hit list of Washington's worst when it comes to fighting against tax cuts. And surprise, surprise, among the "main offenders" are the likes of Kerry, Pelosi, Rangel, Reid...and McCain.

Misspent Union Dues

A new press release from UnionNews.com contains some very disturbing facts about how union dues are being spent by the guys at the top. At the cost of their jobs, these dues are required from members but without giving them any say in how the money is used nor is there any independent oversight of the spending of union bosses. Results? Well, try nearly $1.5 million in union members’ dues money wasted on golf.


Here's a few more:
* The Ironworkers AFL-CIO Local Union 40 spent $52,879 on a new Cadillac for a retiring president.
* $7.9 million of employee dues money went to resort expenditures.
* The Boilermakers AFL-CIO Local 374 spent $8,800 of employee dues money on Christmas gifts at Wal-Mart, despite the labor movement’s smear campaign against the retailer.
* Between six AFL-CIO locals, over $50,000 of employee dues money was spent at a single D.C. steakhouse.
* The AFL-CIO alone spent over $49 million on political activities and lobbying—much of which is spent quietly on in-kind political expenditures like pro-Kerry brochures and websites. That’s almost $20 million more than it spent on representation activities.

For more on this secretive, coercive and unjust world of union dues misspending, check out UnionNews.com

Umbilical Cord Stem Cells Giving Michelle Hope

Here's a video update from Washington D.C.'s ABC-TV affiliate about the condition of Michelle Farrar, a Virginia woman who traveled to South Korea several months ago for a pioneering medical treatment for her paralysis. Michelle's trip was the subject of a Vital Signs Blog entry last December and it is encouraging to see our prayers for Michelle being answered. However, prayers for her remain very much in order.

Florida Supreme Court: Abortion Clients Have a Right to Know

The Florida Supreme Court (yes, the same group who performed so contrary to law in the Bush/Gore election fiasco) has made a truly astonishing decision in favor of a woman's right to know the facts about abortion that abortionists have tried desperately (and successfully) to keep hidden. Even more remarkable is that the decision was unanimous and that it actually overturned two lower courts who had kept the Women’s Right to Know Act from becoming law.

“The termination of a pregnancy is unquestionably a medical procedure and we conclude that, as with any other medical procedure, the state may require physicians to obtain informed consent from a patient prior to terminating a pregnancy,” the court said in an opinion written by Justice R. Fred Lewis.

That "informed consent" will include such things as a brochure on abortion's risks to the mother and available alternatives to abortion. It will also present facts about the development of her baby before birth...including pictures. Pro-life advocates know that when such basic information is communicated to women, the number of abortions drop dramatically so this is a very welcome development.

It must also be said, though, that the abortion clinic which originally challenged the Women’s Right to Know Act has 15 days to ask the Florida Supreme Court for a re-hearing and even then the law will not yet go into effect because some other constitutional issues remain at the trial court level. Let's pray they will be quickly ironed out so that Florida women who are considering abortion will be given more light, more freedom, and more respect so that they (and their preborn children) can experience life at its best.

54% of Americans Doubt Physical Resurrection

Most Americans don't believe they will experience a resurrection of their bodies when they die, putting them at odds with a core teaching of Christianity.

The findings of a new Scripps Howard/Ohio University poll surprised and dismayed some of the nation's top theologians since it seems to put Americans in conflict with both the Nicene Creed and the Apostles' Creed, ancient statements of faith meant to unify Christian belief...

Only 36 percent of the 1,007 adults interviewed a month ago by the Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University said "yes" to the question: "Do you believe that, after you die, your physical body will be resurrected someday?" Fifty-four percent said they do not believe and 10 percent were undecided.

"This reflects the very low state of doctrinal preaching in our churches," said Al Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., and editor of the Southern Baptist Journal of Theology. "I continually am confronted by Christians, even active members of major churches, who have never heard this taught in their local congregations," Mohler said. "We have a lowest-common-denominator Christianity being taught in so many denominations that has produced a people who simply do not know some of the most basic Christian truths."

"Most Americans, when asked survey questions about religion, tend to answer in very theistic ways. They tend to affirm what they believe Christianity teaches," Mohler said. "Therefore, I have to conclude they simply do not know what orthodox Christianity teaches about the resurrection of the body."

David Horowitz vs Ward Churchill: Let's Go to the Audio Tape

You'll need to set some time aside for this but here is an audio recording of a debate between the faux-Native American (and very real radical socialist) Ward Churchill and neo-con leader and author David Horowitz.

The debate was held at George Washington University and was sponsored by the Young America's Foundation and Students for Academic Freedom.

If you don't have time to listen, you can read a brief review of what happened right here in a report from Human Events Online.

NBC Caught "Profiling" Them Good 'Ol Boys

In a brief AP story written by Jenna Fryer and published a few places on the web (mainly sports sites and TV news pages like this ABC affiliate covering the Washington, D.C. area), comes the news that "Dateline NBC" tried to "profile" NASCAR fans who NBC guessed might be guilty of "profiling" Arabs. Here's part of Fryer's report...

NASCAR said it was "outrageous" that "Dateline NBC" targeted one of its race tracks last weekend for a possible segment on anti-Muslim sentiment in the United States. NASCAR said NBC confirmed it was sending Muslim-looking men to a race, along with a camera crew to film fans' reactions. The NBC crew was "apparently on site in Martinsville, Va., walked around and no one bothered them," NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said Wednesday.

"It is outrageous that a news organization of NBC's stature would stoop to the level of going out to create news instead of reporting news," Poston said. "Any legitimate journalist in America should be embarrassed by this stunt. The obvious intent by NBC was to evoke reaction, and we are confident our fans won't take the bait," he said.

NASCAR is in the final year of a broadcasting agreement with NBC Sports...

Remember the now infamous "Dateline NBC" program of the early 90's which featured a riveting report about fuel tanks blowing up on GM pickup trucks -- a report whose "findings" were spectacularly dramatized by video of the tanks exploding on impact? If so, you'll remember how GM was tipped off, hired private eyes who scoured 22 junkyards for a whole day and used the gathered evidence to prove that "Dateline" had lied about nearly every charge, not the least of which was a crash sequence that had been the fiery climax to the show. Indeed, more than lying, "Dateline" crews had set up the whole shebang, using implanted rockets to ignite the resultant truck explosions.

But that was then and this is now. And apparently, NBC is still more about making its own "news" which, of course will serve its own biases and political agenda rather than reporting on the things that are.

Russian Orthodox Leader Condemns Abortion, Euthanasia, Homosexuality, and the "Mocking of the Sacred"

Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, the Russian Orthodox Church's primary authority on interchurch and interfaith relations, told the 10th gathering of the World Council of Russian People in Moscow on April 4 that Russia needs a religion-based morality and he criticized the moral relativism of the West, a "moral autonomy" that often distorts the real issues of human rights.

Kirill gave as examples abortion, homosexuality, euthanasia, and "the mocking of the sacred." Such evils the Russian Church cannot accept though Western journalists, politicians and others seek to portray them as human rights. "We should not shed any tears about rising xenophobia at a time when we open opportunities for a person, who is not restrained by any moral forces, to ravage sacred places, spit on his fatherland, and destroy his culture. Such a person will go and kill someone else on the basis of race or faith. There is one single and indivisible morality."

Patriarch Aleksy II emphasized the same point in his address: "To what extent does this [Western] vision of human rights allow an Orthodox people to live in accordance with the faith it professes?"

Hmm...The Washington Post is Biased Towards Abortionists?

Sure, the story could be listed in the "What Else Is New" file, but Brent Bozell's column showing some recent examples of the Post's ridiculously one-sided treatment of the abortion issue is worth reading. Click the title of this post to zip on over there.

South Korea: $20 Million to Raise Birthrates

From the Bloomberg news services ---The South Korean government is spending $20 billion to raise the country's birthrate, the lowest among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development members, to fuel economic growth. Hong Jaime says she isn't changing her mind about becoming a mother.

``I don't want to get hindered by raising babies, in terms of time, money and energy,'' said Hong, 31, a magazine journalist in Seoul who has been married for three years and doesn't plan to have children. ``I want careers and freedom.''

The fate of South Korea's $788 billion annual economy may hinge on the lifestyle chosen by women like Hong. In the past 20 years, South Korea's economy expanded sevenfold. After 2010, growth will begin slowing unless the birthrate rises, according to the Korea Development Institute, a state-run research group.

``It's not a simple problem that the government can fix with a few policies,'' said Lim Eun Jung, 29, deputy director of President Roh Moo Hyun's committee seeking solutions to the demographic predicament. The government must persuade citizens to back efforts to reverse the population trend, she said.

The government decided last year that urging women to have more babies was the best solution. President Roh set up the 25- person investigative committee in December, then pledged $20 billion over five years to subsidize education, child care, maternity leaves and infertility treatments.

The problem is of the government's own making. For 40 years, it discouraged families from having more than two children, fearing that population growth would undermine economic prosperity, according to the Korea Economic Institute in Washington. Abortion was legalized in 1973, and maternity benefits for women having a third child were ended in 1984.

The effort succeeded so well that births dropped to 476,000 last year from 1 million in 1970, National Statistical Office figures show. The low birth rate also resulted in the world's fastest-aging population...

The Democrat Silence When Police Are Attacked

Michelle Malkin, unlike Rep. Cynthia McKinney, doesn't "go postal" when checked out by security guards or police. Instead she does the right and rational things: 1) she behaves herself with calm patience; 2) she is grateful for the difficult and dangerous job such people do to try and secure our safety; and 3) she takes pompous blowhards like Rep. McKinney to task for their boorish behavior.

Check out Michelle Malkin's column in which she exposes not only the overt racism of McKinney and her many cohorts but also the stone cold silence of Washington's Democrats over this schoolyard dissing of America's police forces. You'll find it right here.

Homosexual Activists Welcomed By Christian Colleges

A story from the San Francisco Chronicle shows how the secular culture has dramatically re-shaped the church in recent years. The story reports how a busload of homosexual students is traveling around the country to "visit" Christian colleges and how they are being received. At Liberty University, the homosexual students were arrested after trespassing on the private campus. Trying the same tactic (obviously for publicity purposes which the Chronicle fails to explain), several others were arrested at Regent University in Virginia Beach.

But the West Coast is a lot friendlier to the "Equality Ride" -- Biola University (once a bastion of conservative theology and morality) gave the homosexual activists an official welcome...even though the practice of the visitors is to pass out pro-homosexual literature, sing, hold public forums, and openly criticize the teachings of the Bible regarding sexuality.

Jacob Reitan, the 23-year-old Minnesotan who organized the "Equality Ride" is quoted in the article: "We really see these schools as abusing the sanctity of religion by using faith to discriminate."

"We're at a place where we really want to learn from these students," said John W. Back, dean of students at Biola University in La Mirada (Orange County), which prepared for Tuesday's visit for several months. The school might have had a different response three years ago, he said, but now "we're praying for other institutions that they be at a place where they're able to do this..."

The openness of schools like Biola and Azusa Pacific to activists promoting the homosexual agenda is a sign (says the article) of an emerging trend in conservative Christianity to engage rather than shun, said Josh Matlock, who is the minister for college students at the 2,000-member Calvary Church of Santa Ana (Orange County).

Matlock held a series of events last year, called "Confessions of a Sinful Church," where the church publicly apologized for Christianity's past dealings with gays, its early views of slavery and its recent views of science.

"There's a willingness to say we've burnt some bridges and not shown the love of Christ," Matlock said. "It's a new thing happening more and more in the church."

Yes, Reverend Matlock, but why do you believe the love of Christ needs to be positioned counter to the truth of Christ? An official welcome for people aggressively pushing a sin that the Scriptures call an unnatural abomination? Christians need to learn from them?

And what's that goofiness about apologizing for the Church's "recent view of science?" Just what science did Christians dis that got you in a bother? Embryonic stem cell experimentation? Darwinian evolution? Chemical abortion? Genetic manipulation? The selling of the West to the pharmaceutical industry?

Of course, those in the Church have issues, problems and "easily besetting sins" that must be dealt with. We are, after all, commanded to walk in holiness. And to converse with homosexuals (or any other sinners) in a patient, caring way, desiring them earnestly "to come to a knowledge of the truth" is also mandatory. But to compromise God's truth in an effort to appear nice, open-minded and, above all, given to that distorted view of tolerance as defined by non-believers? No. That kind of sell-out is what truly deserves an apology.

NASCAR Stars Driving Their Way To Heaven

Those tuning in every week to the NASCAR races on Fox do not need to be told who Darrell Waltrip, Mark Martin or Dale Jarrett are. But race fans may be surprised that racing doesn't make the grade as the #1 thing in the life of the above drivers. Here (from a really interesting web site, Joe Gibbs Racing) are the comments of these driving stars about their realationship with Jesus Christ.

There are several Christian testimonies at Coach Gibbs site -- just look at the "Ministries" page to find your way to them. But, as a nice example, here's what racing legend and now lead commentator on the Fox telecasts, Darrell Waltrip, had to say :

I've been a Christian since 1983 but even then I was more interested in what Darrell Waltrip wanted than what God wanted. As I began to grow as a Christian I began to realize that there were more things in life more important than winning races and what I thought. I began to see that serving God needed to be first.

God showed me just how blessed I was in having such a strong Christian wife and how chrildren are a true blessing as well. The most important thing to do is to pray and study the Bible. God can take your need and bless you as well as others around you if you put Him first. A need that Lake Speed, Bobby Hillin and myself had was to be able to study the Bible and have fellowship with one another as well as others and we watched God take that need and expand it into what MRO is today. A ministry that today covers auto, boat and motorcycle racing.

Kenny Rogers' New Song Touches on Abortion Regret

Kenny Rogers is, of course, a country music superstar. And even at age 67, he's going strong --- and taking chances. Rogers has a new album, "Water and Bridges," and the title song of that new album deals with a subject so hot, so controversial that it has never been dealt with in the ascendant entertainment circles reserved for such stars. The issue? The pain and regret felt by a father who has been involved in abortion.

"Water & Bridges" was released just two weeks ago and it debuted at No.14 on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart and No. 5 on the Country Albums chart. That's Kenny Rogers' highest album chart success in more than 23 years. Nice. With all of the other indications of a cultural shift away from abortion, will others in the entertainment field follow Kenny Rogers' bold example? Let's hope and pray. And -- whatever your feelings about country music -- let's applaud this truly outstanding effort by buying the album. You can order it at Overstock.com for $13.22.

Of Fake Science, Liberal Politics and Typical 60 Minutes Propaganda

Click the title of this post to check out Bob Novak's Town Hall column. It tells "rest of the story" about last week's 60 Minutes global warming program.

The Politicians' Indifference to Values Issues

Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council, is talking about a new survey that bodes ill for those politicians who talk conservative at home but act indifferent (or even liberal) when back inside the Beltway. Here's a teaser:

...When it comes to influencing policy, Washington has made it clear which team they're on. For the most part, the American voter need not apply. While social conservatives have proven they can win elections, the battle to hold the GOP accountable rages on.

Congress may stop listening to values voters, but come November, they're bound to hear from them. Just ask John Kerry and friends whose hopes were 'Daschled' in '04 by believing values voters would be fooled by empty rhetoric. In the end, the joke was on the Democrats. They learned the hard way - losing conviction is a sure way to lose their seats.

As Ronald Reagan was fond of saying, "Politicians should dance with the one that brung you." But a new survey commissioned by the Family Research Council suggests they are out of step with values voters!

A new National Omnibus Riehle-Tarrance Poll, which surveyed over 1,000 adults last weekend, found that the country pays closer attention to national politics than Congress gives them credit for. Of those polled, 78 percent follow policy discussions in Washington "very closely" or "somewhat closely."
And more importantly, they don't like what they've heard...

Read the rest of Mr. Perkin's column by clicking this link.

Media Research Center Has Given Its "Dishonors Awards"

It's that time of year again, the time when the Media Research Center's "Dishonors Awards" cause us to wince, groan, and perhaps share a chuckle together. These awards differ, of course, from the Hollywood glitterati's constant parade of self-congratulations in three important ways: 1) The MRC "Dishonors Awards" matter; 2) They're truly deserved; and 3) People attending the event are not subjected to the winners' boorish behavior, Bush-bashing, breast baring or other bonehead bombast. (How's that for alliteration, Ogden Nash?)

Anyhow, here's the link to the MRC "Dishonors Awards" complete with video footage. Be prepared to steam a little...but remember, that very frustration you feel over the Left's lies, socialist silliness, and hatred for moral values means you're still on the side of the angels.

Planned Parenthood Fails (This Time) In Harassment of Minnesota Pro-Life Leader

In response to the prayers of many, Brian Gibson was able to send this letter describing at least his temporary deliverance from an illegal Planned Parenthood "botherment" ---

Dear Denny & Claire,

I arrived this morning (Monday) at the Ramsey County Juvenile Court for the harassment lawsuit claim brought against me by Planned Parenthood's security manager. While waiting for the hearing to begin, I was served more papers. My attorney, William Mohrman, read through the papers. I then looked them over to find out that Planned Parenthood was seeking to change the Petitioner in the case from the original security manager to her supervisor. The reason stated in the papers was that the security manager no longer was employed by Planned Parenthood.

After more than an hour of waiting, we were asked to go into the courtroom. My attorney immediately asked for a dismissal of the case because the petitioner was not present and that Planned Parenthood did not have the right to enter into the proceedings. The referee quickly dismissed the case on that basis.

Several very good things have come about because of this "harassment" lawsuit. I have made contact with a very good attorney who is willing to help us. (We have had some of the best legal help throughout the years. It is good to have another attorney to add to that list of very good attorneys.) I will be at Planned Parenthood on Good Friday (unless Planned Parenthood attempts another abuse of the legal system to keep me away). Hundreds, maybe even thousands of people prayed about this situation.

One very good thing still needs to happen because of all this; we need the largest crowd ever on Good Friday. I have all the pastors lined up for the day. The musicians are all set. We will be there to pray and remember. The only thing left is for everyone to show up. If you already haven't made plans to be with us, please do so. You will be deeply moved and find a greater appreciation for the Good Friday services your church will have. If you live too far away to join us in person, join with us in prayer. We will literally spend the entire time in worship-filled prayer before the Author of all life.

The prayers of so many have been answered. Thank you for praying!

Brian Gibson
Executive Director
Pro-Life Action Ministry