Week of January 16, 2006
Piper bout with cancer
The man who has long proclaimed that “God is most glorified in us when
we are most satisfied in Him” is now facing a major test of his faith
with every intention of proving God worthy. John Piper, author of
“Desiring God” and pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis,
was diagnosed with prostate cancer in late December and will undergo
surgery to remove the organ in February, according to a letter he wrote
to his congregation and posted on his Web site, desiringgod.org.
Doctors told Piper the cancer does not appear to be aggressive and it
is unlikely that it has spread beyond the prostate, thus it is possible
to be cancer-free with successful treatment. Piper, in his letter,
asked that people pray that God would “grant that this light and
momentary trial would work to spread a passion for (God’s) supremacy
for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ.”
Harmful viewing
Too much television-watching can harm children’s ability to learn, a
trio of new studies suggest. Findings from the studies recently were
published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. One of
the studies involved 400 California children. It found that
third-graders with televisions in their own bedrooms scored about eight
points lower on math and language arts tests than children without
their own televisions. A second study of 1,000 persons in New Zealand
found lower education levels among 26-year-olds who had watched lots of
television during childhood. A third study of 1,800 American children
found that those who watched more than three hours of television daily
before age 3 scored slightly worse on academic and intelligence tests
at 6 and 7 than those who watched less television. Critics faulted the
studies for not adequately considering the content of the television
watched.
Religious camps
Nearly 40 percent of American teenagers have gone to a religious summer
camp, research by the National Study of Youth and Religion indicates.
Teenagers with Mormon parents are most likely to have attended a camp
run by a religious organization, with 78 percent of Mormon youth saying
they have attended such a camp. Catholic teenagers are the least likely
to have attended religious summer camp, with only a quarter saying they
have done so in the past. About half of Protestant and Jewish teenagers
said they have attended religious summer camp. Factors that increase
the likelihood of a teenager attending religious summer camp include
high parental religious faith and high family income. Teenagers of any
faith whose parents go to religious services more than once a week are
the most likely to have attended religious summer camp. In addition, 16
percent of nonreligious American youth report attending religious
summer camp. The study questioned 3,350 teenagers.
Abortion fallout
Women who have had abortions are nearly twice as likely to give birth
extremely early in subsequent pregnancies, new research indicates. A
French study of more than 2,800 births revealed post-abortive women
were 1.7 times more likely to deliver a child at less than 28 weeks
gestation than women who have not had abortions. Babies born that early
in pregnancy often are in danger of dying or suffering disabilities.
The study is the first to demonstrate evidence of a connection between
abortion and a later premature birth, researchers said. Abortion
apparently increased the risk of most of the primary causes of
premature birth, including spontaneous premature labor, early rupture
of membranes and wrong positioning of the baby on the placenta. “We
have been saying for years that surgical abortion inevitably increases
the risk of later problems,” a British pro-life leader said. “It seems
that the abortion procedure carries with it risks that women will know
nothing about until they become pregnant with a ‘wanted’ child later
on.” The study’s results were published in the British Journal of
Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Religion and politics
A new poll by Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life indicates that
fewer than one-third of voters see the Democrats as “friendly” to
religion – down from 40 percent last year. The drop has been sharpest
among independents, down to just 24 percent from 43 percent last year.
Meanwhile, Republicans continue to be seen as friendly to religion by
55 percent of Americans, a figure that has changed little since 2003.
Roughly one-third of both Republicans and Democrats say religious
conservatives and secularists have too much power within their parties,
and core loyalists in both parties are equally critical of the other.
Two-thirds of those surveyed said liberals have “gone too far” in
trying to keep religion out of schools and government. Respondents were
more evenly split – at about 45 percent each – on whether Christian
conservatives have gone too far in trying to impose their religious
values on the country. Bare majorities of 52 percent said Republicans
are more concerned with protecting religious values and that Democrats
are more concerned with preserving individual freedoms. The poll of
2,000 adults has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage
points.
Barna study
A huge gap exists between the perception of pastors and the reality of
people’s devotion to God, a new report by The Barna Group has revealed.
Barna found that, on average, pastors believe that 70 percent of the
adults in their church consider their personal faith in God to be the
highest priority in their life. But when similar questions were asked
of those who attend church, Barna discovered that only one out of every
seven adults, or 15 percent, placed their faith in God as the top
priority. Barna research indicates few pastors rely on criteria that
reflect genuine devotion to God, opting instead to evaluate the
spirituality of their members by whether they are involved in some form
of church-related volunteer activity, whether they attend church
regularly or whether they made a public profession of faith. Pastors,
Barna found, are “nine times more likely to seek reactions to their
sermon than they are to assess the congregation’s reactions to
visitors,” and pastors are “21 times more likely to evaluate whether
people show up for church than to determine whether people experienced
the presence of God during their time at church.” For more information,
visit www.barna.org.
Canadian election
The Conservative Party has taken the lead in at least one poll as
Canadians prepare for a national election Jan. 23. A Jan. 6 EKOS poll
of 1,500 Canadians put the Conservatives at 35.4 percent, the Liberals
at 31.8 percent, the New Democratic Party at 17.2 percent and the Bloc
Quebecois at 11.2 percent, Reuters reported. A second poll, this one by
Strategic Counsel, put the Conservatives and Liberals at 32 percent
each. The Liberals, led by Prime Minister Paul Martin, led the charge
to legalize gay marriage last year. Conservatives have promised a vote
to repeal the law if they gain power, although any such bill would face
an uphill climb in the Liberal-dominated Senate. Senators are appointed
by the prime minister.
Intelligent design lawsuit
Another school district has been pulled into the intelligent design
controversy after moving forward with plans for a high school
philosophy course in which arguments for and against the issue would be
explored. Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a
lawsuit on behalf of 11 parents against the El Tejon Unified School
District, saying Frazier Mountain High School in rural Lebec, Calif.,
violated the U.S. Constitution while attempting to legitimize
intelligent design. The four-week class with just 15 students enrolled
is being taught by the wife of an Assembly of God minister.
Superintendent John Wright has said that the class, called “Philosophy
of Design,” was not being taught as science and was an opportunity for
students to debate the controversial issue. But Barry Lynn, executive
director of Americans United, said it was “clearly intended to
introduce religion into a public school.” This case now joins similar
battles being fought in Georgia and Kansas, and it follows a U.S.
district court decision in December not to allow intelligent design to
be taught in a Dover, Pa., school system.
Inhuman treatment bill
The U.S. Senate recently defied President George Bush, voting
overwhelmingly to amend a Pentagon spending bill to ban “cruel, inhuman
or degrading treatment or punishment” of anyone in U.S. military
custody. The amendment passed on a 90-9 vote. The bill comes in
response to hundreds of reports of torture and abuse at U.S. facilities
in Iraq, Afghanistan and Cuba. Such cases gained prominence after
photographs and reports of sexual abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib
prison outside Baghdad caused a scandal. The White House has opposed
the effort to ban some techniques it does not consider torture, such as
stripping prisoners naked, threatening them with dogs or forcing them
to stand or crouch in uncomfortable positions for long periods of time.
Such techniques are necessary for the military to coax information
about terrorism from prisoners, the administration says. The House
already has passed a version of the military funding bill that does not
include the anti-abuse provision. A House-Senate conference committee
will determine if it remains in the final bill. If the provision does
make it into the bill that arrives at Bush’s desk, a White House
spokesperson has suggested the president may use the first veto of his
presidency.
Did you know?
The United Nations estimates 23 million refugees have fled their own
countries, he said. In addition, about 27 million others are displaced
within their native lands. Political unrest is the prime mover of
refugees. Floods, earthquakes and volcanoes create environmental
refugees. Global economics also contribute to the problem.