INTERNATIONAL NEWS 29th January 2007

AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER

* EVANGELICALS, SCIENTISTS TEAM UP TO BATTLE GLOBAL WARMING

* INDIAN PREMIER CALLS FOR END TO KILLING OF UNBORN GIRLS

* BRITISH AIRWAYS DROPS BAN ON STAFF WEARING CROSSES

* SAME-SEX MARRIAGE ADVOCATES SEEK FAMILY’S TOTAL DEVALUATION

* FORMER GHOUL ROCKER ALICE COOPER PLANS NEW TEEN ACTIVITY CENTRE

* POLICE IN ENGLAND TURN TO PRAYER TO TACKLE CRIME

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EVANGELICALS, SCIENTISTS TEAM UP TO BATTLE GLOBAL WARMING

Two bodies who have had a history of strong differences over the origin of life have agreed to put aside their differences and work together on combating environmental problems. “Whether God created the Earth in a millisecond or whether it evolved over billions of years, the issue we agree on is that it needs to be cared for today,” said Rich Cizik, vice president of government relations for the National Association of Evangelicals. Evangelical Christian leaders and leading scientists recently met in Georgia for the Melhana Retreat where both sides discussed how to care for the Earth. “We scientists and evangelicals have discovered that we share a deeply felt common concern and sense of urgency about threats to life on Earth,” said Eric Chivian, director of the Centre for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School. The issue of global warming and “creation care,” as some Christians call it, is not new to evangelicals. In November, college students representing more than 1,500 young evangelicals visited the nation’s capitol to press the government and religious leaders to take stronger action against global warming. At the beginning of last year, a landmark statement called the Evangelical Climate Initiative was released where Christian signers pledged to fight global warming. The initiative is now signed by more than 100 influential evangelical leaders. Yet not all evangelicals agree on the warming issue. Astronomer Hugh Ross, founder and president of the science-faith think tank Reasons to Believe, although admitting the earth is warming, said that it is not all due to human activities. Ross advised Christians to take a more comprehensive approach to the global warming issue rather than only attributing the temperature rise to fossil fuel burnings. He gave as example that warming can be natural due to alterations in Earth’s orbit, the breeding and domestication of cows, and the cultivation of rice. “The bottom line here is that there are dozens of physical, chemical, and biological processes that contribute to both heating and cooling the planet,” said Ross. “When any one of these factors gets out of balance with the others, Earth is at risk of losing its optimal climate for human civilization.”

Source: Intercessors for America

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INDIAN PREMIER CALLS FOR END TO KILLING OF UNBORN GIRLS

India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called on parents in India to stop seeing girls as an economic liability and to end the practice of killing unborn female foetuses. Singh’s appeal came after the grisly discovery of 25 female foetuses from a private clinic in northern Punjab state, which has the country’s lowest sex ratio due to rampant female feticide. “We must end the crime of female feticide. We must eliminate gender disparity,” Singh said in an address to the nation. “We have a dream of an India in which every woman can feel safe, secure and empowered. Where our mothers, sisters and daughters are assured a life of dignity and personal security,” he added. A study by British medical journal The Lancet said this year that India may have lost 10 million unborn girls in the past 20 years. Under Indian law, tests to find out the gender of an unborn baby are illegal if not done for medical reasons, but the practice continues in what activists say is a flourishing multi-million dollar business. Premier Singh urged parents not to neglect their girl children. “It should be ensured that every young woman is educated and skilled and capable of guiding a new generation,” he said. Girls in India are often considered a liability as parents have to put away large sums of money for dowries at the time of their marriage. Centuries of tradition also demand that couples produce at least one male child to carry on the family name. Many grooms demand dowry well beyond the means of families of their spouse which when defaulted on often results in the killing ofnewly-married women. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, India in 2004 posted 19 dowry-related deaths every day but women’s organizations say the actual figure is 10 times higher.

Source: Intercessors for America

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BRITISH AIRWAYS DROPS BAN ON STAFF WEARING CROSSES

British Airways is changing its uniform policy to allow all religious symbols, including crosses, to be worn openly. BA announced a review last year after a row erupted when Heathrow Airport check-in worker Nadia Eweida challenged a ban on her visibly wearing a cross necklace. The airline now says it will allow religious symbols such as lapel pins and “some flexibility for individuals to wear a symbol of faith on a chain.” Previously BA banned crosses on chains, but allowed hijabs and turbans. Ms Eweida, from Twickenham, London, who has been on unpaid leave since September because of her refusal to stop wearing her cross at work, welcomed the decision. “I will carry on working as I’ve always worked. My dignity has been restored”, she said.

Source: BBC

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SAME-SEX MARRIAGE ADVOCATES SEEK FAMILY’S TOTAL DEVALUATION

Pro-family advocates have repeatedly warned that attempts to redefine marriage will lead to polygamy and perhaps even atotal devaluation of marriage. Those concerns have been greeted by the cultural elites with scoffing and scepticism. But now there is no need for anymore speculation, the proponents of homosexual “marriage” admit it. No longer content with “the narrow terms of the marriage debate,” they are now advocating, “Legal recognition for a wide range of relationships, households and families – regardless of kinship or conjugal status.” They also demand, “Access for all, regardless of marital or citizenship status, to vital government support programs, including but not limited to health care, housing, Social Security and pension plans, disaster recovery assistance, unemployment insurance, and welfare assistance.” They want to redefine society by eliminating the concepts of marriage and family. The battle to redefine traditional marriage is just the beginning.

Source: American Values Network

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FORMER GHOUL ROCKER ALICE COOPER PLANS NEW TEEN ACTIVITY CENTRE

Alice Cooper, known for such rock hits as Welcome to My Nightmare, has begun a new project with his Christian ministry, Solid Rock Foundation. Once ’70’s shock-rocker, now Born Again Christian, Cooper maintains that young teens need boundaries in their lives, although they usually will test them, time and again. He seeks to provide a fun alternative with a Christian flavour, to counteract the lure of gang-life. “People don’t lay in the sun in southwest Phoenix,” explained Cooper. “There are lots of shootings going on, there’s lots of meth going on, there’s lots of gangs. In the middle of all that is a bunch of 12-, 13-, 14-year-old kids that can go one way or the other.” The proposed $3 million centre will include a game room, coffeehouse, rock-climbing walls, basketball courts, a recordingstudio and more. “We’re not going to beat them over the head with a Bible,” Alice Cooper added. “But we’re certainly going to be available to tell them that that’s available to them.”

Source: Breaking Christian News

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POLICE IN ENGLAND TURN TO PRAYER TO TACKLE CRIME

Police in Lincolnshire are turning to prayer in their latest efforts to tackle crime, saying that the force is asking churchgoers to concentrate their prayers on crimes such as burglaries and violent attacks. Called The Prayer Watch, a “spiritual” version of Neighbourhood Watch, it was proposed by members of the Lincolnshire branch of the Christian Police Association. According to reporter Ruth Gledhill, the plan is for the police to e-mail churches and Christian groups with details of specific crimes, which worshippers can then focus on in their prayers.

Source: UK Times

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