VG asks: “Do you have any info on Budokon? A friend of mine does it and she is a Christian. From what I have read, it doesn’t seem compatible.”
Monthly Archives: December 2009
Our Christmas Gift
What does God want from us? This poem offers us the answer.
It echoes the one we find in Psalm 51.
What will we give Jesus this Christmas? Is it the gift He truly desires?
Mindfulness Meditation
ST asks: “What do you know about ‘mindfulness meditation.’™ Is it okay for hospitals to be using it on patients?”
Breaking News will return on January 4. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
What’s Wrong with “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”?
MG writes: “I am looking for information on The Seven Habits program. My children go to a Catholic school that has incorporated the program into the counciling program. I have been trying to find out more about The Seven Habits program because of what I will call a “gut” feeling. I do not what to go to the school before I have more information to back up my uneasy feelings. Is the program ok and if not where can I look to get more information?”
Pope Dismisses Two Bishops
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of a bishop accused of covering up sexual abuse in Ireland, and has dismissed an African archbishop from the clerical state.
Lawmakers Call for Probe of White House Threats
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
Republican lawmakers are calling for an investigation into reports that in order to muscle Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) into voting for the Senate’s version of health care reform, the Obama administration threatened to close a key air force base in Nebraska.
Nelson Rejects Casey Abortion Compromise
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
Senate attempts to win the vote of staunch pro-life Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) have failed after he rejected a compromise amendment on abortion coverage in health care reform.
The Associated Press is reporting that Sen. Nelson, whose amendment banning all funding for abortion from the Senate’s version of health care reform failed to pass, rejected a compromise amendment written by Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA).
Nelson wants the same restrictions contained in the Bart-Stupak amendment that passed overwhelmingly in the House last month, which prohibits the use of federal funds for abortion. The Casey compromise stops short of those provisions and includes a modest increase in the adoption tax credit, $250 million over 10 years in new funding to help pregnant teens and stronger conscience clause protections for health care providers.
Unfortunatley, the “compromise” leaves abortion funding intact, and only allows pro-lifers to “opt out” of funding abortions.
“As it is, without modifications, the language concerning abortion is not sufficient,” Sen. Nelson said in a statement. “This is not an issue where you can split the difference. That’s what makes it so challenging.”
He indicated that while he’s still open to discussion on the matter, his vote has not been won.
Sen. Casey vowed to keep working on the amendment. “We’re trying to get this right,” he told reporters. “I’ve had ideas on the table for a while now, I’m still working through them and we’ll keep talking to anyone who wants to discuss it.”
“We’re trying to get this right,” Casey said. “I’ve had ideas on the table for a while now, I’m still working through them and we’ll keep talking to anyone who wants to discuss it.”
Pro-life groups are also opposed to the amendment and are particularly incensed by the “opt out” clause.
Julie Schmit-Albin, executive director of Nebraska Right to Life, called the provision “offensive.”
“The federal government would treat abortion on demand as if it was really health care, and then allow people to apply for status as conscientious objectors?” she said. “Give me a break.”
Her sentiments are shared by National Right to Life legislative director Douglas Johnson who called the compromise “unacceptable.”
“This proposal would break from the long-established principles of the Hyde Amendment by providing federal subsidies for health plans that cover abortion on demand. This is entirely unacceptable,” he said in a statement.
But even if the abortion coverage is stripped from the bill, Sen. Nelson said he has other concerns about the bill that could still prevent him from voting for it.
“If it’s not at the point where I think it needs to be with the improvements that I’m pushing — and they’ve made a lot of them — then I will not vote for cloture on the motion to end debate,” Nelson told KLIN.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is hoping to vote for cloture on the bill this weekend which will end debate and allow a vote before Christmas, a scenario that looks increasingly unlikely.
(The Associated Press and LifeNews.com contributed to this report)
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Miami Newspaper Publishes Tips for Adulterers
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
Anyone wondering how much the media contributes to the moral collapse of this nation need only read the Dec. 13 issue of the Miami Herald in which reporters give step-by-step instructions on how to commit adultery.
Head of Coptic Church Investigating Marian Apparitions
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
The head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Shenouda III, is expected to conduct an immediate investigation into alleged apparitions of the Virgin Mary in a Cairo slum that have been drawing thousands nightly.