June is "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month"

WASHINGTON (BP)--President Obama Monday named June as "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month" issuing a proclamation that goes even further than those of former President Clinton in its pro-homosexuality slant.

Clinton was the last president to issue such a proclamation, first doing so in 1999 and then in 2000 before he left office. Obama's 572-word proclamation calls for ending the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy -- which was put in place under Clinton -- and also includes the phrase "transgender" for a first time. Clinton's proclamations never referenced transgenderism, a category that includes cross-dressers and people undergoing sex change operations. Another first: Obama's proclamation reiterates his support for same-sex civil union laws.

President George W. Bush never issued a proclamation commemorating Gay Pride Month. Clinton's proclamations differed from Obama's in calling June "Gay and Lesbian Pride Month," leaving out "bisexual" and "transgender." 

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Cyberbullying Affects Half Of US Teens

Cyberbullying is an increasing problem affecting up to 50 percent of U.S. teens, with consequences that can be as bad or worse than being beaten up in a school yard, according to a Reuters report.

Whether through emails, texting, instant messaging, cell phones or Web sites, cyberbullying causes such emotional devastation that some victims have turned to suicide.

Over the last decade, 37 states have enacted legislation requiring schools to implement anti-bullying statutes.

"It is becoming something that people recognize as a significant issue as more and more students start talking about it, and unfortunately, as these extreme cases of suicide and students hurting themselves is becoming more prevalent," Dan Tarplin, the New York Educational Director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), told Reuters.

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Many Churchgoers and Faith Leaders Struggle to Define Spiritual Maturity

America may possess the world’s largest infrastructure for nurturing human spirituality, complete with hundreds of thousands of houses of worship, thousands of parachurch organizations and schools, and seemingly unlimited products, resources and experts.

Yet, a new study from the Barna Group identifies an underlying reason why there is little progress in helping people develop spiritually: many churchgoers and clergy struggle to articulate a basic understanding of spiritual maturity. People aspire to be spiritually mature, but they do not know what it means. Pastors want to guide others on the path to spiritual wholeness, but they are often not clearly defining the goals or the outcomes of that process.

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A Major Force in Education -- Homeschooling in America

The U.S. Department of Education has released its periodic review of schooling in America, and it offers a revealing look at the growth of homeschooling.  The picture of contemporary homeschooling offers some real surprises and raises some new questions.

"The Condition of Education 2009" is produced by the National Center for Education Statistics, and it contains a wealth of statistical data.  Approximately 50 million children are enrolled in the public schools for grades K-12.  In 2007 5.9 million children were enrolled in private schools and the percentage of those enrolled in "Conservative Christian schools" increased from 13 to 15 percent of that total.

Homeschooling was the choice of families for 2.9 percent of all school-age children in the United States in 2007, involving 1.5 million students.  By comparison, in 1999 only 850,000 children were homeschooled. By 2003, that number was up to 1.1 million.  This report indicates significant jumps in homeschooling as compared to other educational options.  In fact, the report reveals that the actual number of American children whose parents choose homeschooling for at least part of their education exceeds 3 million.  According to the report, 1.5 million children are exclusively homeschooled while another 1.5 million are homeschooled for at least part of the school week.

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A Biblical Mandate To Do Something About Abortion

From www.Abort73.com: This document exists for two reasons: to convince more of God’s people to enter the active defense of abortion-vulnerable children and to help those already making a defense to be more biblical.

Click here to read the document, "A Biblical Mandate To Do Something About Abortion."

Stop Texting and Read This -- The Thumb You Save May Be Your Own

Statistics can be used to inform or to mislead, and sometimes they can shock.  See if this statistic isn't shocking:  In the fourth quarter of 2008 American teenagers sent and received an average of 2,272 text messages per month.  That, dear friends, is nothing to LOL about.

That statistic comes from The New York Times.  In "Texting May Be Taking a Toll," reporter Katie Hafner offers a view into the lives of American teens.  They are fanatical texters.  As Hafner reports, "They do it late at night when their parents are asleep. They do it in restaurants and while crossing busy streets. They do it in the classroom with their hands behind their back. They do it so much their thumbs hurt."

Authorities now blame excessive texting for sleep deprivation, distraction in school, poor grades, and even repetitive stress injuries.  These teens are texting while they should be sleeping, and they are sleeping with the cell phone set to vibrate so that they can respond to texts from friends without waking parents.

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If Murder is a sin, then so is Murdering a Murderer

The cold-blooded murder of Dr. George Tiller on Sunday morning presents the pro-life movement in America with a crucial moral test -- will we condemn this murder in unqualified terms?

For many years, Dr. George Tiller has represented the horrific reality of the abortion industry in this nation.  Infamously known to the pro-life movement in America, Tiller was known as "Tiller the Killer" because of his well-known willingness to perform late-term abortions almost no other doctor in the nation would perform.  Because of Dr. George Tiller, Wichita became the destination of choice for women seeking abortions in the late third trimester.

In 1993 Tiller was shot in both arms by an assailant.  His clinic was regularly protested and was once bombed.  Tiller had many brushes with the law, and just weeks ago he was acquitted of charges that he had colluded with another physician to illegally justify late-term abortions.

George Tiller was shot to death Sunday morning as he was serving as an usher at Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita.  Witnesses said that a lone assailant entered the church, shot Dr. Tiller with a single shot, threatened two others, and then fled the scene.  A suspect was arrested hours later.  Wichita police said that the unnamed suspect would likely face multiple charges as early as Monday.

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