Paragould Nativity Scene Still Making Headlines

Last December, school administrators in Greene County faced controversy over a Nativity Scene one employee put on a bulletin board. We wrote about that story rather extensively here.

It seems the bulletin board is still stirring controversy. Americans United for Separation of Church and State has written letters to the school, and is threatening further legal action if the school does not bar the bulletin board display in the future.

Here’s the bottom line: We stand with the school’s decision to keep the Nativity Scene bulletin board display. In our opinion, those bulletin boards constitute a limited public forum on which school officials can place approved material. School administrators approved the Nativity display. It would be an infringement of their freedom of speech for the courts to say the school doesn’t have the right to let teachers put up Christmas decorations like the Nativity–especially given the fact that Christmas is a federal holiday observed at every level of our government.

Read the latest news on the Nativity bulletin board display here.

“Selective Reduction Abortions” On the Rise

What happens when a woman discovers she’s expecting twins, but doesn’t want more than one baby? According to new research, she could abort one of them.

In 2010, 85 women chose to have “selective reduction” abortions–meaning they were expecting multiple births, but chose to limit the number of births by aborting one or more of the children.

The rising use of in vitro fertilization (IVF) is partly to blame. IVF generally involves attempting to implant multiple embryos inside a woman in hopes that one of them will actually implant, leading to a pregnancy. However, it is not uncommon for more than one embryo to implant, which means that the mother could give birth to twins or triplets.

It goes without saying that we believe that “selective reduction” abortion is absolutely abhorrent. The Department of Health reports that 78% of these abortions were based on the belief that “there is substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped.” In other words, the decision was not made based on life or health of the mother. It was simply based on a perceived risk that the child might be a burden.

This is a very dangerous slippery slope. We’ve posted articles in the past about the popularity of sex-selective abortions in other countries. If these trends continue, one has to ask “Where does it all stop?”

Click here to read the full article.

Judge Accuses Ministry of ‘Wrongdoing’ In Adhering to Its Faith

A New Jersey judge has determined a ministry was wrong in refusing to allow two women to hold a “civil union” ceremony on its property.

This is a major issue for religious liberty in this country. Churches and ministries need to be able to exercise their freedom of religion in regulating what takes place on their property and in their facilities.

Click here to read the entire story.