ACL compiles a daily media monitoring service of stories of interest to the Christian constituency relating to children, family, drugs and alcohol, marriage, human rights, religious freedom etc. Visit the ACL’s website each day to see what’s of interest in the news. Please note that selection of the articles does not represent ACL endorsement of the content.

 

 

Abortion
Woman tells of late abortion horror
Michael Bachelard – The Age

A controversial doctor is under investigation after performing an abortion on a seriously ill woman, reports Michael Bachelard. For Pheap Sem to be at home walking around is, her daughter Chantha says, ”a miracle”. Six weeks ago, the 40-year-old mother of four lay barely alive in an intensive care bed at Box Hill Hospital, her body racked with multiple organ failure.

Bioethics
Christians called to preserve human identity amid scientific advancements
Christian Today

Greater consideration must be given to ethics and God as science and technology stride into ever more uncharted territory and society moves further away from a Christian understanding of human identity, says one of Europe’s leading neonatologists. In a talk sponsored by CARE last night, Professor John Wyatt painted a picture of a world in which the once unthinkable is perhaps just around the corner, as scientists work on things like ‘cures’ for ageing, drugs to suppress unpleasant memories, and all kinds of ‘human enhancement’.

Charities & NFP
Charities forced to show records on new MySchool like website
Richard Noone – The Daily Telegraph

Charities spending up to 60 per cent of donations on million-dollar campaigns, telemarketers and black-tie balls will be disclosed on a new My School-like website.

Children & Family
The real miracle of pregnancy isn’t childbirth
Lainie Anderson – The Punch

Nothing on this earth would entice me to have a baby at home. Call me old fashioned, but I’m all for the protective womb of expert physicians and latest technology in a crisp white hospital environment. The risks are simply too great; the act of childbirth too unpredictable; the potential loss too devastating to contemplate.

Drugs & Alcohol
Anger at Aldi’s booze for a buck
The Sunday Telegraph

Discount supermarket giant Aldi will begin stocking its shelves with $1 beers – including 80c cans of light – across New South Wales from next year, despite objections from NSW Health. The state’s licensing authority has shrugged off warnings against selling super-cheap alcohol in supermarkets to give Aldi the green light for 34 outlets to stock beer for $1 a can and wine for as little as $2.25 a litre.

Pot ‘greater threat’ than grog
Hannah Martin – The Mercury

Cannabis is a bigger long-term problem than alcohol abuse among Tasmanian teenagers, says the Australian Medical Association. AMA Tasmania spokesman Dr Hamely Perry said teenagers were smoking pot to “self-medicate” and to cope with social pressures. Dr Perry, from the Hopkins St Medical Clinic at Moonah, said the effects of cannabis were more far-reaching and longer lasting than alcohol.

Gambling
Clubs cut help for gamblers
Stephanie Peatling – SMH

A group raising awareness about problem gambling says its funding from the clubs industry was halted after it spoke out in favour of the federal government’s plans to introduce mandatory pre-commitment technology on gaming machines. Kate Roberts, the chairwoman of the Gambling Impact Society, a registered charity, said the grants the society had received each year for the past 10 years stopped after she declared her support for the government’s policy.

Human Rights
Demoted for not backing gay marriage: housing manager’s pay slashed for criticising new law on Facebook
Jonathan Petre – Daily Mail (UK)

Adrian Smith, a Christian, was found guilty of gross misconduct by his publicly funded housing association for saying that allowing gay weddings in churches was ‘an equality too far’. He posted the comment in his own time, on his personal page on the Facebook website, which could not be read by the general public. But after a disciplinary hearing, he was downgraded from his £35,000-a-year managerial job to a much less senior £21,000 post – and avoided the sack only because of his long service.

Marriage
Candidate backs gay marriage
Phillip Thompson – Canberra Times

Right-wing factional candidates for the national Labor Party presidency will support gay marriage, according to internal party communication. It comes after Queensland Deputy Premier Andrew Fraser announced he would move a private members Bill before Christmas to have gay marriage legally recognised. It goes against the belief of Labor’s right-faction heavyweights such as Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association national secretary Joe de Bruyn. The vocally anti-gay marriage powerbroker warns Labor faces a Queensland backlash if the party supports same-sex unions.

Religious Freedom & Persecution
Ann Widdecombe is right: Christianity in Britain today is under severe persecution
Peter Mullin – Daily Mail (UK)

I am very much looking forward to tomorrow’s speech by Ann Widdecombe (former MP) in which she will criticise our government for its double standards in withdrawing aid from countries which persecute homosexuals while at the same time turning a blind eye to those realms around the world which persecute Christians. Ms Widdecombe says, ‘You have a better chance of earnest representation if you are a hedgehog than if you are a persecuted Christian.’

Maldives arrests, deports Indian teacher for owning Bible
Compass Direct News

Police in the island nation of Maldives held a teacher from India for about 15 days before deporting him on Oct. 14 for having a Bible in his house, a source said. Shijo Kokkattu, a 30-year-old Catholic and teacher at the Raafainu School in Raa Atoll, had been arrested in late September after police found a Bible and a rosary in his house during a raid, a foreign source in the capital city of Male told Compass by phone.

Protest in Sydney over Egypt violence
SMH

Violence targeting Coptic Christians in Egypt is an “outrage”, federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says. Mr Abbott’s comments came after sectarian clashes in Cairo have reportedly killed 25 people, mostly Christian Copts, and injured about 300.

Sexualisation of Society
Internet pornography destroying men’s ability to perform with real women, finds study
Daily Mail (UK)

Internet pornography is creating a generation of young men who are hopeless in the bedroom, according to research. Exposure to lurid images and films in the new media is de-sensitising so many young people that they are increasingly unable to become excited by ordinary sexual encounters, a report said.

Other
Social media used for sex education
Phil Hickey – The Sunday Times

Sex education is being taken out of the classroom as Facebook, YouTube and internet blogs become the modern way to teach teenagers. A two-year, Health Department-funded research project carried out by the WA Youth Affairs Council found social media wasn’t just good for keeping in touch with friends it was also an effective way to communicate sexual-health information.

Muslims from MyPeace put message on breakfast TV during Sunrise and The Today Show
Henry Budd – The Daily Telegraph

The Muslim organisation behind the provocative “Jesus is a Prophet of Islam” billboards will begin screening a TV commercial espousing Islamic values. The commercial, believed to be the first to promote Islam on national television, features several excerpts from the Koran to show that Muslims share similar values to Christians.     [Refer  Quran 5:32-33  FYC   ]

Politician fought for return to traditional moral values
Malcolm Brown – SMH

Elaine Nile did not grow up in a Christian household although her parents, following the practice of the day, insisted on her going to Sunday school, which she resented.