AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER
* U.S.A. RETAINS BAN ON HOMOSEXUALS DONATING BLOOD
* TOP CHRISTIAN LAWYER APPLAUDS PAKISTANI CHIEF JUSTICE FOR
PROTECTING MINORITIES
* RIGHTS OF CHRISTIAN GROUPS ON CAMPUS CHALLENGED IN U.S.
COURT
* SRI LANKAN STUDY SHOWS ABORTION TRIPLES RATE OF BREAST
CANCER
* PRESIDENT OBAMA TAKES STEPS TO PROTECT RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
AROUND THE WORLD
* AMERICANS EMBRACING VARIOUS ALTERNATIVES TO CONVENTIONAL
CHURCH
* PAKISTAN GOVERNMENT TIGHTENS SECURITY AT PLACES OF CHRISTIAN
WORSHIP
———————————————–
U.S.A. RETAINS BAN
ON HOMOSEXUALS DONATING BLOOD
The federal Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability
(ACBSA) has voted 9-6 to maintain current rules, which effectively
forbid practicing homosexuals from donating blood. The rules forbid
any man who has had sex with another man since 1977, approximately
the beginning of the AIDS outbreak, from donating blood. The role of
the advisory panel is to offer non-binding advice to the federal
Department of Health and Human Services. Eighteen Democrat Senators
had asked the FDA to end its “discriminatory” ban, arguing that blood
tests can detect HIV.
“Common sense has triumphed over political correctness, a rare but
very welcome occurrence,” said the Family Research Council’s Peter
Sprigg in response. “This panel heard the latest research on HIV
risks in the blood supply, but in the end they recognized that there
is no alternative screening policy that can be shown to maintain the
safety of the nation’s blood supply.” The indefinite ban on
homosexuals began in 1983, before the availability of tests for HIV.
A spokesman for the FDA confirmed however that current tests for HIV
can fail to detect all infected donors.
In his testimony before the ACBSA, Sprigg said “I understand that
there are many people who wish to advance the socio-political goal of
winning greater acceptance of homosexuality. However, the blood
donation policy does not exist to serve socio-political purposes, nor
should it be changed to advance them.” He concluded: “Only the
scientific evidence matters, and it indicates that the current policy
should remain in place. It is not about bias against homosexuals it
is about maintaining what is best for public health.”
According to the Centre for Disease Control, homosexuals are
estimated to account for only 4% of the U.S. male population,
however the rate of new HIV diagnoses among them is more than 44
times that of other men. They account for more than half of all new
HIV infections each year. Although new HIV infections
are declining both among heterosexuals and injection drug users, they
have been steadily increasing among homosexuals since the early
1990s. Homosexuals also have greater rates of syphilis and other
sexually transmitted diseases than do heterosexuals.
Source:
LifeSiteNews.com
———————————————–
TOP CHRISTIAN
LAWYER APPLAUDS PAKISTANI CHIEF JUSTICE FOR PROTECTING
MINORITIES
A top Christian lawyer has stepped up to praise the Chief Justice of
Pakistan, Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, for “protecting the
rights of minorities” in this predominately Muslim country also known
as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. To understand this commendation,
we need to go back to the earliest days of the new Pakistan, which
came into existence as a dominion within the British Commonwealth in
August 1947, with Mohammed Ali Jinnah as governor-general and Liaquat
Ali Khan as prime minister.
The white colour in the new Pakistani flag was meant to guarantee
religious freedom of all the religious minorities. Jinnah, who was
known as the “Father of the Nation” and also popularly and officially
known in Pakistan as Quaid-e-Azam (Urdu: “Great Leader”) said in his
first speech that “all Pakistanis would be free to worship according
to their faith and there would be no discrimination served to them by
the Muslims living in majority in Pakistan on basis of faith.” Jinnah
died in September 1948 within 13 months of independence.
According however to Mr. Khalid Gill, President of the Christian
Lawyers Foundation (CLF), during what he described as the “tyranny”
of General Zia-ul-Haq, the sixth President of Pakistan from July 1977
until his death in August 1988, the “Qrara-dad-e-Maqasad,” which
serves as preamble of the Pakistani constitution, was “tampered by
him” by erasing the phrase “Pakistani religious minorities would be
free to practice their religions according to the teachings of their
religions.”
Gill said that in a constitutional amendment known as the 18th
amendment, the phrase which was repealed during the dictatorship of
Zia-ul-Haq was restored. He lauded the present cabinet and specially
the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for the 18th amendment.
However, he encouraged the Chief Justice “to ensure that the
amendment is widely implemented.” Gill said that he prayed
that “reserved seats” for religious minorities, including Christians
should be doubled in the national and all four provincial assemblies
of Pakistan.
Source: Assist
News
———————————————–
RIGHTS OF
CHRISTIAN GROUPS ON CAMPUS CHALLENGED IN U.S. COURT
In 2004, the University of California’s Hastings College of Law in
San Francisco deregistered the campus group Christian Legal Society
(CLS) after it was deemed to have violated the College’s
non-discrimination policy with regard to religion and sexual
orientation. In 2004, CLS amended its bylaws to mandate that members
(i.e. those with voting rights and leadership eligibility) must be
able to sign a statement of faith and conduct. According to Hastings
College, this provision violated the equality rights of practicing
homosexuals and non-Christians.
CLS sued Hastings College on the grounds that their
non-discrimination policy violated CLS’ right to freedom speech and
freedom of association, that is, the constitutionally guaranteed
freedom to form around shared beliefs. In April 2006, a federal
district court ruled against CLS in favour of Hasting College. In
March 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld that decision. When the
Supreme Court heard CLS’ petition on 19 April 2010, the bench was
split down the middle.
CLS chapter President Ryan Elder said anyone is welcome to attend the
group’s meetings, but homosexuals and lesbians, and those who
practice sex outside of marriage, may not be voting members. “If our
Christian group is led by people who don’t believe in Christianity,
then we cease to have a defining voice to express our core religious
beliefs,” Elder explained. Lawyer Michael W. McConnell, told the
court: “If Hastings is correct, a student who does not even believe
in the Bible is entitled to demand to lead a Christian Bible study.
That must not be so”
One conservative judge Justice Antonin Scalia expressed concern that,
“Under the school’s rules, Republicans could join the campus
Democratic club and vote themselves control, or otherwise undermine
its mission. To require this Christian society to allow atheists not
just to join, but to conduct Bible classes…that’s crazy.” The
Court is expected to hand down it’s judgement within days. At stake
is the freedom of all US student groups to choose leaders who share
their beliefs.
Source: Intercessors for
America
———————————————–
SRI LANKAN STUDY
SHOWS ABORTION TRIPLES RATE OF BREAST CANCER
A Sri Lankan University study has found that women who have abortions
more than tripled their risk of breast cancer. Researchers also
reported that passive smoking and being post-menopausal significantly
increase the risk of breast cancer but not by nearly as much
as abortion. According to Dr. Joel Brind, an epidemiologist at the
City University of New York, the findings are consistent with studies
from other population studies, particularly in China where abortion
has become rampant and breast cancer is correspondingly on the rise..

The researchers found that among women who breastfed for between
12-23 months there was a 66.3% risk reduction in comparison to those
who had never breastfed and who breastfed for less than 12 months.
The risk reduction climbed to 87.4% for those who breastfed for 24-35
months and 94% among women who breastfed for 36-47 months. The study
shows that the loss of the protective effect breastfeeding provides,
in addition to the effect of abortion, greatly increases the risk of
breast cancer.
The Sri Lankan study is the fourth epidemiological study in the last
14 months to report an abortion-breast cancer link. The three other
studies have come out of the U.S., China and Turkey. These also
showed oral contraceptive use were associated with increased risk of
breast cancer.” The authors cited a statistically significant 40%
increased risk. Research of this nature is making it more difficult
for pro-abortionists to argue that the practise has no affect on the
continuing health of women.
Source:
LifeSiteNews
———————————————–
PRESIDENT OBAMA
TAKES STEPS TO PROTECT RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AROUND THE
WORLD
Open Doors and other religious freedom organizations have long been
urging President Obama to nominate an Ambassador-at-Large for
International Religious Freedom. As a result, Obama has nominated Dr.
Suzan Johnson Cook, founder and president of the Wisdom Worldwide
Centre and senior pastor of Bronx Christian Fellowship Baptist Church
in New York, to the post. The position was created to monitor global
religious persecution, to make recommendations to the U.S. State
Department and to oversee implementation of its policy decisions.

Carl Moeller of Open Doors USA, said: “The nomination of Dr.Cook is a
positive first step in advancing freedom of religion for every person
and denouncing violations of those rights. To date the administration
has made several positive affirmations of religious freedom, yet
there has been little action demonstrating a commitment to those
words. “It is so important to protect and promote freedom of religion
which is endangered in countries around the world. We encourage
President Obama to implement change now that Dr. Johnson Cook has
been nominated.” Seventy percent of the people around the world live
in countries with high levels of restriction on religion. Earlier
this year Open Doors USA launched a petition drive urging Obama to
make the appointment of an Ambassador-at-Large for International
Religious Freedom a priority. Then in April, 25 organizations and
individuals signed a letter to Obama urging him to immediately fill
the position. “The letter called on President Obama to give the new
ambassador the necessary tools and ability to integrate religious
freedom into U.S. foreign policy.
Source: Open
Doors
———————————————–
AMERICANS EMBRACING
VARIOUS ALTERNATIVES TO CONVENTIONAL CHURCH
For decades, American Christians, assumed they had one legitimate way
to practice their faith: through involvement in a conventional
church. But new research shows that this mind set is no longer
prevalent in the U.S. The latest Barna study shows that a majority of
adults now believe that there are various biblically legitimate
alternatives to participation in a conventional church. Each of six
alternatives was deemed by most adults to be “a complete and
biblically valid way for someone to experience and express their
faith in God.”
Those alternatives include engaging in faith activities at home, with
one ¢â‚¬â„¢s family (considered acceptable by 89% of adults); being active
in a house church (75%); watching a religious television program
(69%); listening to a religious radio broadcast (68%); attending
a Christian concert or other community service activity (68%); and
participating in a marketplace ministry (54%). Smaller numbers
consider interacting with a faith-oriented website (45%) and
participating in live events via the Internet (42%) to be legitimate
way of experiencing or practising their faith..
Among Senior Pastors of Protestant churches, two out of three pastors
agreed that “house churches are legitimate Christian churches.”
Surprisingly, pastors from mainline churches were more likely than
pastors from other Protestant congregations to consider house
churches to be biblically defensible forms of church experience.
Among the pastors least likely to support the legitimacy of house
churches were pastors who earn more than $75,000 annually;
African-American pastors; and pastors of charismatic or Pentecostal
churches.
Source: Intercessors for
America
———————————————–
PAKISTAN GOVERNMENT
TIGHTENS SECURITY AT PLACES OF CHRISTIAN WORSHIP

Police and other law enforcement agencies have been put on high
alert for terrorism threats against worship places, institutes and
residential areas of minorities in several Pakistani cities.
Minorities in these Pakistani cities have been placed on the hit
list of terrorists hence, security forces were put on high alert in
all these cities. Rev. Bro. Kamran, a Catholic cleric, said that his
group had received a threatening letter allegedly sent by the
outlawed militant group, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (T.T.P), a couple
of days after Easter.
Kamran said, police had then assured him of their  ¢â‚¬Å“foolproof security
for all Christians in Sargodha Division. ¢â‚¬  Rev. Bro. Kamran lauded the
government for  ¢â‚¬Å“beefing up ¢â‚¬  the security and also the church itself
for taking  ¢â‚¬Å“stricter security measures to cope with
terrorism. ¢â‚¬  Punjab Police sources have also confirmed that  ¢â‚¬Å“worship
places of all religious minorities are on the hit list of terrorists ¢â‚¬ 
and they have appealed to all citizens to  ¢â‚¬Å“keep their national
identity cards with them. ¢â‚¬  Police are now strictly checking at all
the entrance and exit points of cities in Punjab
province.

Source: Intercessors
Network

http://www.ausprayernet.org.au/