Christian News from Christians Unite.

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Louisiana State Lawmakers Honor Black Home-Schooling Families

by Jim Brown
June 14, 2006

(AgapePress) - - Louisiana state lawmakers are honoring black Americans involved in the home-schooling movement. The Louisiana State Legislature recently passed a resolution commending a group called National Black Home Educators (NBHE) for introducing the benefits of home schooling to black families in the state.

Representative Cedric Richmond's resolution also praises NBHE for collecting and distributing school supplies to the home-schooling families and evacuees of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Today at the opening of the House session, the resolution is scheduled to be presented to 17 black families who have created a home-schooling support group.

NBHE founder Joyce Burges is excited about the resolution and plans to ask black caucuses across the United States to commend black home-schooling families in their states. "One down, 49 to go," she says. "I'm thinking it's just the beginning of more and more African American people of influence seeing that this is good for our children, it's good for families, and it's good for the country."

Burges has also urged the Congressional Black Caucus on Capitol Hill to issue a proclamation commending black families who have chosen to home school. She says increasing numbers of parents in the black community have been exploring home schooling as an alternative for their children.

At one time, home education may have not have seemed a viable option for many black families. But now, the NBHE founder says, "I'm just seeing that they are considering it. They are looking into home schooling."

In fact, home schooling has become "so touchable or accessible now," Burges adds, "African American parents -- especially the ones who could not put their children in a school right away -- are saying, 'I can do this. I can home school my child."

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Christian Radio Network Sponsors Gulf Coast Storm Relief Project

by Wendy Christian and Randall Murphree
June 14, 2006

(AgapePress) - - As a sponsor of 8 Days of Hope II on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, American Family Radio (AFR) broadcast from the Hurricane Katrina-ravaged area during the May 28-June 3 project. More than 1,100 volunteers completed 260 projects in 202 homes in Waveland, Pascagoula, Bay St. Louis, Pass Christian, and Gulfport.

Volunteers rebuilt walls inside the home of Paul and Florence Jordan, where seven feet of water had gutted the structure. The blessing worked both ways. Jeff Scofield of Tullahoma, Tennessee, told AFR what a blessing the Jordans had been. "We had a gentleman with us who got news while we were here that his son was going to lose his leg," he said. "As we were praying, Florence Jordan jumped right in and was praying with us and then began to sing praise songs to God. We were all in tears before it was over."

Eight Days of Hope I occurred in December 2005. Coordinator Steve Tybor III of Tupelo, Mississippi, hopes to announce dates for 8 Days of Hope III next month.

AFR on-air personality Wendy Christian recorded the following conversation with Florence Jordan during this spring's 8 Days of Hope II.

AFR: I understand you have some people here from 8 Days of Hope.

Jordan: Yes, we do, and they are wonderful. I'm telling you, they are just fantastic. They gave me walls.

AFR: Tell us why you needed walls. What happened to you guys?

Jordan: Katrina came and destroyed our home. We had over seven feet of water in our home, so we lost everything. The insurance didn't do much, so we had to rely on wonderful people to come down and help us. And we're so blessed that this has happened, that people are so wonderful to stop what they're doing in their lives and come here and help us get back our lives that we had lost. We're thankful.

AFR: I understand that you didn't evacuate before Katrina hit.

Jordan: It was scary, especially because I had my grandbaby and I was worried about him. I felt we should have left like we were supposed to .... We have run from every hurricane. This time, my husband said, "You know what? Nothing ever happens in Waveland, Mississippi. We're going to stay." I said, "OK."

AFR: How did you learn about 8 Days of Hope?

Jordan: Someone else signed us up for 8 Days of Hope. My good ol' husband here, he's the type [who says], "Oh, I can do it myself. I don't need any help; they've got people that need it more than we do."

Some of my friends kept saying, "Florence, you need to sign up, you need to get some help." So 8 Days of Hope came and did our electrical [in December].

AFR: How did you feel when you knew 8 Days of Hope was coming back this spring?

Jordan: When we heard they were coming back to work on houses again, I was like, "Sheetrock! Yes! I can get some walls!"

I could feel like we were finally moving, because we had been waiting a long time to get things to happen. Because everybody needs everybody. It's hard to hire people because they're all tied up. They say, "Yes, we're coming." And you sit and wait and wait and nothing happens. But when 8 Days of Hope came, we knew it was going to happen.

AFR: I understand it was a special day when you got walls?

Jordan: It was our anniversary! Thirty-five years. When he called and said they were coming, we forgot about going out anywhere. We're going to stay here and get our house back. We know we're married!

AFR: Have you had a chance to get to know any of the people who came as volunteers?

Jordan: Oh, yes, we have. the people that are in here now -- Jeff and Jim and Karen and Laurie and Jordan and Aubrey. We have so many who have come in here and touched our lives. We will never forget them. We are so grateful. We praise the Lord.

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Political Correctness Takes a Hit in Kentucky Schools

by Jim Brown and Jody Brown
June 15, 2006

(AgapePress) - - A conservative advocacy group is praising the Kentucky state school board for refusing to add the secular terms "Common Era" and "Before the Common Era" to school curriculum. The board has voted 10-0 to continue using the designations "B.C." and "A.D." to mark historical dates in textbooks and tests.

The unanimous vote overturns an April decision in which the board proposed changing the acronyms to "C.E." and "B.C.E." Since that decision was made, however, six new members have been appointed to the 11-member board by Governor Ernie Fletcher. A spokeswoman for the governor, who is an ordained Baptist minister, says Fletcher did not tell them how to vote on the matter.

But Associated Press notes that the April decision had drawn criticism from some ministers and religious groups who complained that it was an attempt to sterilize a reference to Christ. Richard Nelson with the Family Foundation of Kentucky says the board was responding to that criticism.

"The average Kentuckian felt that this was just another attempt to impose political correctness on our school children here in Kentucky schools -- and so there was an outcry," says Nelson. A spokesperson with the state Department of Education, he shares, indicated that office had received about 900 pieces of written testimony on the proposal, "most of it which was against the proposed change," he adds.

Martin Cothran, senior policy analyst with the Foundation, describes the board's turnaround as perhaps the "shot heard 'round the world in the battle against political correctness" in schools. He says those same Kentuckians who wrote to the Department of Education expressing their views were demonstrating they are "tired of seeing schools give in to every politically correct trend that comes down the pike."

Nelson notes an irony in one aspect of the debate. He accuses those who favor a change in the dating system of conducting a "sham" because they still use the birth of Christ as a reference point.

"I think it's disingenuous for these politically correct folks who want to impose this upon us [to be] saying [they] want to be neutral," he states. "Well, they're still using that central dating point in history, which is 2,006 years ago is when we recognize Christ was born -- they still want to use that but change the terminology."

Respectively, the designations "B.C." and "A.D." stand for "before Christ" and "Anno Domini" -- Latin for "in the year of the Lord." The terms "Common Era" and "Before the Common Era" are still being used in some Kentucky colleges and universities and on college entrance exams.

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South Carolina Approves Guidelines Requiring Critical Analysis of Evolution

by Jim Brown
June 15, 2006

(AgapePress) - - A lawmaker in South Carolina is hailing the approval of new evolutionary biology standards for public high schools. The South Carolina Education Oversight Committee has approved these standards, which require students to "summarize ways that scientists use data from a variety of sources to investigate and critically analyze aspects of evolutionary theory."

State Senator Mike Fair, a member of the Education Oversight Committee, believes the update of the public schools' biology curriculum guidelines is a step in the right direction. "That, we think, is going to give a new freedom to teachers and a new freedom to the students in the science classrooms around South Carolina," he says.

With these standards in place, students will be less afraid to ask questions, Fair asserts. And likewise, these educational objectives will give teachers the freedom "to answer questions and to do what we think good science is all about, and that is to always be asking questions," he says.

Opponents of the new standards want to protect "philosophical materialism," the South Carolina senator contends. He describes this mindset as a "religion" that runs rampant on college campuses.

"Biology departments in the universities around our state are absolutely controlled by people who are afraid, for some reason or another, to look into and encourage students to look at all aspects of the question of evolution," Fair says. He believes the newly established biology standards will help change this situation.

According to the Seattle, Washington-based Discovery Institute, South Carolina is the fifth U.S. state to require students to learn about scientific criticisms of evolution. The state's new guidelines do not, however, require the teaching of alternative theories to Darwinian evolution.

Senator Fair believes the new biology standards for South Carolina high schools will help create an atmosphere where science education can flourish without materialist ideology. Also, he says it is his hope that these guidelines will be a precursor to allowing alternatives to the theory of evolution, such as intelligent design, to be taught in the state's schools.

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Doctors Who Euthanize Experience Negative Effects, Christian MD Warns

by Mary Rettig
June 15, 2006

(AgapePress) - - An Oregon cancer specialist says euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide have very real and devastating effects on the doctors performing these procedures. According to Dr. Kenneth Stevens of the Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA), anecdotal evidence suggests that healthcare professionals who "help" their patients die are often deeply affected.

Most media reports on physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia focus on the patient and how the patient and his or her family are feeling, Stevens notes. He says that is why he thought it important to examine and evaluate medical and public literature to learn more about the impact of "mercy killing" on the doctors involved.

Overwhelmingly, when doctors are honest about it, most admit experiencing a negative impact from intentionally ending a patient's life, Stevens observes. "What I found is that the emotional and the psychological effect on that participating physician can really be very substantial," he says.

Committing euthanasia "represents a shift away from the sentimental values of medicine to heal and promote human wholeness and moves to a position where the doctor is causing the death," the CMDA spokesman explains. "And doctors have described being profoundly adversely affected," he adds. "They're shocked by the sadness of the death."

A committee in the British Parliament turned up some similarly compelling testimony from doctors in the Netherlands, where euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide are legal, Stevens points out. He says one Baroness Finlay, a member of the House of Lords and a physician, asked several Dutch doctors the question, "The first time you performed euthanasia, how did you feel about it as a clinician?"

The Christian MD notes, "The response by one doctor was 'Awful.'" Meanwhile, he says, another Dutch doctor's reply was, "It is not a normal medical treatment. You never get used to it." Apparently, even in a country where doctor-assisted death has been legal for years and physicians have had much more experience with these practices, for many there is simply no getting used to the idea of causing a patient's death.

And according to news media accounts, Stevens points out, similar testimony has come from doctors in Oregon, where physician-assisted suicide is also legal. He says for these and other medical professionals who practice physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia, this shift away from the traditional role of healer has left them with feelings of shock, powerlessness, and isolation.

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Authors Offer Cogent Insights on Critical Issues

by Randall Murphree
June 15, 2006

(AgapePress) - - Three authors offer strong, solid insights on three topics of vital interest to families: fatherhood, education, and pornography.

FATHERHOOD: The Image of a Father by Bryan Davis
The foreword to The Image of a Father (AMG, 2004) cites the sobering fact that in recent decades, the critical role of the father in a family has been radically diminished by popular culture. This trend even extended to the Church, with many objecting to calling God a father.

Author Bryan Davis relates personal experiences in rearing his seven children, now ages 8 to 23. One anecdote recounts the time when a young daughter asked him, "What does God look like?" In their ensuing dialogue, Davis realized that it was up to him to show her what God is like.

Regarding sons, Davis admonishes men, "Show him how to be strong, openly display your passion for protecting your family, and above all, let him see how much you love your wife. In other words, show him biblical manliness, the masculine side of God our Father."

Davis, who also writes young adult fiction, is a master storyteller. That quality comes in handy as he infuses humor, practical application and occasional emotion into this very reader-friendly volume for dads. He lays out tried-and-true principles to help fathers do their job better. Through 12 chapters he deals with 12 roles of a father -- provider, teacher, comforter, guide, and peacemaker among them.

Because he's been there -- and is still there -- Davis' words bear the clear mark of authenticity.

EDUCATION: Public Education Against America by Marlin Maddoux
Public education began in early America as a Christian endeavor. Any observer of that institution today can verify that there's been a catastrophic change. In Public Education Against America (Whitaker House, 2006), the late Marlin Maddoux uncovers some shocking trends reflecting the fact that public education in the U.S. has taken a decided turn for the worse and is now firmly entrenched in the gutter of liberal political correctness.

Maddoux was host of "Point of View," a radio talk-show, and founder of the USA Radio Network. As a journalist and broadcaster, his voice became a trusted standard bearer for faith, freedom, and family.

This volume includes countless horror stories illustrating education's abandonment of Christian moral values. In his review of the book, Ted Baehr said: "Because my wife is on chemotherapy, we went from home schooling one of my children to sending her to public school for one year. In doing so, we discovered that the world history textbook had three chapters on Islam and no mention of Christianity."

Baehr's experience reflects precisely the kind of incident Maddoux documents over and over again. Fortunately, Maddoux not only sounds the alarm. He also includes a brief but meaty synopsis of the options for parents plus a number of invaluable resources to help them clarify the issues.

PORNOGRAPHY: Think Before You Look by Daniel Henderson
Think Before You Look (Living Ink, 2005) is a top-tier little handbook for the man who wants to find power over secret sexual temptations.

Author Daniel Henderson kicks off the172-page volume with a short introduction, "Considering the Consequences." He compares the ultimate (and hidden) consequences of sin to lung cancer in those who work a lifetime around asbestos; it may go undetected for years, but the consequences will come. He calls pornography "the devil's tool of choice for luring many to a life of destructive consequences."

Forty short chapters outline 40 reasons to avoid pornography. The first is, "I enjoy the pleasure of a love relationship with God." Others include: "I avoid a life pattern of deception," "I refuse the temptation of idolatry," and "I learn to live in reality rather than fantasy." Still others address principles such as achieving authentic intimacy, laying up eternal rewards, earning your wife's trust, and protecting your children.

Henderson urges men, "Think repentance. Think confession .... Trust God for grace to move onward and upward in your pursuit of purity." Finally, he caps off the book with "40 Practical Pointers for Avoiding Pornography."

It's a powerful guide for men, endorsed by Christian leaders such as pastor/author David Jeremiah, evangelist Luis Palau, and Seattle Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander. Henderson is pastor of Grace Church of Eden Prairie in the Minneapolis suburbs.

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Author Wants to Enlighten Christians About Yoga's Demonic Influence

by Natalie Harris
June 15, 2006

(AgapePress) - - Christian author Dave Hunt, co-founder of the Oregon-based ministry, The Berean Call, has written a new book called Yoga and the Body of Christ. In it, he contends that yoga is a spiritually dangerous practice designed to expose people to demonic influences.

While conducting research for the book, Hunt says he studied the roots of yoga and interviewed many people who have practiced it. As a result of his investigation, he says he has concluded that the techniques employed in yoga are not designed primarily to promote health but to put participants in a mental state similar to that of hypnosis.

And it is not those critical or skeptical of yoga who are confirming these conclusions, the author points out. "These are the yogis, now. These are the people who developed it," he insists. "These are the people who practiced it, and they warned [that] you must always have your guru present when you get into this state of consciousness, because you could be taken over by some evil entity."

The group of ancient Hindu spiritual practices collectively known as yoga originated in India and remains central to a number of Eastern religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Many practitioners view its techniques as a means of seeking higher states of consciousness, being and "enlightenment," while others see yoga primarily as a technique for improving fitness and flexibility or reducing stress.

The elements of yoga are sometimes adapted to meet the needs of non-religious practitioners and those of other faiths, including Christians. But Hunt insists there is no way to modify this inherently spiritual practice to make it acceptable for Christians.

"If you want to benefit yourself physically," the author says, "then do exercises that were designed for that. Do not get into things that were designed for self-realization and to 'realize that you are God.'" He also urges Christians, "If you want to do some exercises, please don't call it yoga, because as soon as you do, you've put a certain connotation on it."

Modified or not, Hunt says, yoga is a Hindu-based spiritual practice that he believes exposes those who participate in it to demonic influences. As such, he says, no form of the practice can rightly be termed "Christian yoga," as there is simply no such thing.

The North American studio alliance estimates that as many as 30 million people are practicing yoga in the United States alone.

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Episcopal Leaders to Honor Anti-Israel Theologian with 'Peace' Award

by Jim Brown and Jody Brown
June 16, 2006

(AgapePress) - - A mainline Protestant renewal group is objecting to a decision by the Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA) to honor a Palestinian Anglican priest who considers the state of Israel to be the source of all problems in the Middle East.

On Saturday (June 17), the Episcopal Peace Fellowship plans to present Naim Ateek with a "Peace and Justice" award at the denomination's General Convention in Columbus, Ohio. Ateek, founder and director of the Jerusalem-based Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center, once likened Israel's treatment of Palestinians to Jesus' crucifixion.

Although Ateek reportedly has since toned down his rhetoric, some Episcopal leaders are critical of his being given the award. One Episcopal priest from New York says giving Ateek the award "strikes me as making a mockery of the process." Another Episcopal official says Ateek's "ultimate goal includes the removal of the state of Israel, which is not a vision of peace at all but a matter of forcible elimination."

That same official is quoted as saying the Palestinian theologian has "spoken very warmly of the tactic of suicide bombing, explaining it as a logical outcome of the difficult situation in which many Palestinians live." In fact, in a 2002 essay, Ateek wrote that Palestinian homicide bombers were "the product of [Israel's] own making."

But Ateek's defenders in ECUSA claim he has worked for reconciliation with Jews, Muslims, and Christians in the Middle East and around the world, and praise him as "truly a man of non-violence."

Faith McDonnell is director of religious liberty programs with the Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD) in Washington, DC. She says Ateek is not deserving of the award because he has repeatedly disparaged Israel to promote the Palestinian cause, using words she says "reveal a disturbing tendency to excuse violence in the name of justice."

"We're concerned because although the award is purported to be given to someone who is a champion of peace and justice, in reality Reverend Ateek's own words have shown that he is not really interested in peace and justice for the Jewish people, for the state of Israel, but only to advance the Palestinian cause at the expense of the state of Israel - and really at the expense of peace in the region," McDonnell explains.

According to IRD, the writings of Ateek and others attributed to the Sabeel Center are "remarkably one-sided." Ateek, McDonnell says, "believes that everything that has to be done to bring peace to the Middle East is up to Israel."

In a May magazine article, the Anglican priest stated that the newly elected Palestinian government, led by the terrorist group Hamas, must become non-violent in order to effectively govern the Palestinians. "People, however, need to remember that Hamas' violence was provoked by Israel's policies against the Palestinians as well as Israel's contempt of international law," he stated.

McDonnell says if Ateek and his organization are worthy of any award, it would be an award for "furthering the cause of a Palestinian State at the expense of the Israelis and the security of the region."

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Efforts to Block State Marriage Measures Could Keep MPA Alive

by Bill Fancher
June 16, 2006

(AgapePress) - - A pro-family leader says a tactic being used by opponents of the Marriage Protection Amendment (MPA) may actually force Congress to revisit the issue for a third vote. If passed, the federal measure would amend the U.S. Constitution to define marriage nationwide as only a union of one man and one woman and would also prohibit extension of marriage-like rights to homosexual couples and other unmarried people.

One reason many Democrats have given for blocking the passage of the MPA is their feeling that it is an individual state's right to define marriage. However, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council is calling attention to the fact that some marriage amendment opponents have filed lawsuits against several U.S. states in efforts to block states' legislative efforts to do just that -- to define marriage for themselves.

    [Photo compliments of Family Research Council]
Tony Perkins
Perkins says several states that have enacted marriage laws or constitutional amendments in an effort to protect the traditional definition of marriage have been targeted in lawsuits brought by homosexual "marriage" proponents. "There's a pending decision in Washington State," he points out, as well as "a pending decision in New Jersey."

Also, the pro-family leader notes, "there are seven states that actually have active court challenges to their state amendment, and two to the federal Defense of Marriage Act." If any of these decisions goes against the wishes of the vast majority of the voters in the state, he contends, it could force federal lawmakers to reconsider the MPA this year.

"There could be action by the United States Senate, when and if that occurs," Perkins says. A previous Senate weigh-in on the MPA fell short of the 60 votes required to invoke cloture on the debate, with 49 senators voting to put the measure to a vote and 48 voting against cloture.

Liberal Senator from Massachusetts Calls Support for MPA 'Bigotry'
Meanwhile, recent comments from Senator Edward Kennedy about the national debate over the definition of marriage have outraged many conservatives and landed the Massachusetts Democrat in hot water with several of his colleagues.

In an editorial that appeared in the June 5 Boston Herald, Kennedy declared that a vote for the MPA "is a vote for bigotry -- pure and simple." He also accused Republicans of using the controversy for political leverage and asserted that a vote for the marriage amendment represents "a vote against ... efforts by states to treat gays and lesbians fairly under the law" and in favor of a measure that would "impose discrimination on all 50 states."

In response to Kennedy's remarks, one conservative senator has remarked that a real disconnect exists between Democrats and the will of the people when it comes to the marriage issue, and the senator's comments are proof of that. But many of his fellow Democrats are distancing themselves from the liberal lawmaker's rant as well, and even some of his fellow senators have chastised him for statements they consider overly harsh.

[Photo compliments of American Values]
Gary Bauer   
The senator's comments were shocking as well as insulting, according to conservative activist Gary Bauer of the Campaign for Working Families. "Politicians often put their feet in their mouth," he says, "but Senator Kennedy has set a new record, I think, in the number of people he managed to insult in about 15 words."

By denouncing support for the MPA as bigotry, Bauer says Kennedy -- who is a Catholic -- has now called the Pope and the Catholic bishops bigots, in effect, along with two thirds of the American people. He points out that the average approval rating in state marriage amendment votes has been 70 percent in favor of protecting the traditional definition of marriage.

With his recent comments on the national marriage debate, Senator Kennedy "has just smeared the overwhelming majority of the American people, the leadership of the church he is a member of, and the leadership of virtually every other religion on the face of the globe," the Campaign for Working Families spokesman says. "If that is the position the Democratic Party wants to defend in the years ahead," he adds, "I wish them luck."

Bauer says Kennedy and other Democrats who oppose a constitutional amendment to protect traditional marriage are "going to have a hard time convincing U.S. voters that all the laws on the books in our country that say that marriage is between a man and a woman are evidence of bigotry." That position, the conservative activist contends, is going to be a tough one to sell to America.

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Study Shows Dining With Family Reduces Teens' Risk of Addictions

by Ed Thomas
June 16, 2006

(AgapePress) - - According to one national organization's research, eating dinner together as a family is not only good for bonding between family members but also cuts down on teens' risks of alcohol and drug addiction.

The Columbia University-based National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse has made the link between eating dinner as a family and teens' alcohol and drug addiction risk through analysis of eight years of results from an annual survey of teens. Center president Joseph Califano says the questions on the yearly survey of 12- to 17-year-olds have pointed to a clear pattern since the initial year of the study.

"One of the things we've noticed in our surveys, beginning in 1996, was that the more often kids have dinner with their parents, the less likely those kids are to smoke, drink, or use drugs," Califano explains. Meanwhile, he notes, the survey has shown that "kids who have dinner with their parents less than three times a week are much likelier to smoke, to drink, or to use drugs than kids who have dinner with their parents five to seven times a week."

Those teens who ate with their families five to seven times a week received the maximum benefit, the Center spokesman points out. He says this group enjoyed relief from the primary risk factors of stress, boredom, and pressure from academic demands in school.

"And we find that the family dinner is on the wholesome side of every one of those pressures," Califano emphasizes. Eating together as a family, he asserts, "helps to reduce stress, it helps reduce boredom, and it certainly relates to a kid's academic performance."

Because of the these findings, members of a supermarket industry group called the Food Marketing Institute are helping to promote the Center's "Family Day" on September 25. This initiative will encourage parents across the nation to eat dinner with their children on that date and to be aware of the benefits of dining as a family on a regular basis.

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Dramatic Account of American Woman Surviving Stalin's Gulag
June 16, 2006

(AgapePress) - - One incredible American woman survived the Siberian death camps of Stalinist Russia. And apparently, according to the records available, she is the only American woman with that distinction. She has finally been memorialized by her son who chronicles her extraordinary experience in Dancing Under the Red Star. The biography from WaterBrook Press is scheduled for release June 20.

Karl Tobien gives a stirring account of Margaret Werner Tobien, who was born in 1921 near Detroit, Michigan, where her father worked for the Ford Motor Company. When Margaret was 10, she and her parents were moved by Ford to Russia where the automaker transferred some 450 employees from 1930 to 1932.

Carl Werner was convinced that the move would be good for his career as well as for his wife Elisabeth and young Margaret. Unfortunately, however, the Werners fell victim to a terrifying, descending spiral that devastated their quality of life quickly and severely. It would be three long decades before Margaret was able to return to kiss the ground of home.

When Margaret was 17, her father was imprisoned in Russia after being convicted on trumped-up charges of treason. She and her mother, left to survive in an oppressive Soviet regime, faced years of poverty, near-starvation and fear. Margaret herself, strong and defiant against the Soviet state, depended upon her American citizenship to shield her from many things.

But that didn't work either. In an exclusive interview, Tobien said Ford Motor "turned a blind eye to what was happening to their American workers in Russia during that time."

Margaret refused to denounce her father and was ultimately sentenced to 10 years of hard labor in Stalin's Gulag, where filth, malnutrition and despair were a daily routine.

After her release from prison, Margaret married Gunter Tobien, and their only child, Karl, was born in 1956 just outside a Soviet labor camp in Siberia. He was five years old when he, his mother and his grandmother finally were able to come home to America. Carl Werner had died in Russia, and Margaret and Gunter's marriage was a strained affair that eventually ended.

Karl Tobien's stirring biography paints a vivid picture of a woman of strength, courage and determination. Tobien's writing style makes the book even more intriguing -- he tells Margaret's story in first person. His sources included his mother's own notes as well as their interviews and the stories he had heard through the years. A first-person narrative just seemed to make sense.

"Certainly a lot of it is based on a lifetime of growing up and hearing stories and conversations with friends and relatives over the years about different incidents," Tobien said. "Then, also, in her later years -- I'd say in the early 1990s -- she began to write, not for the purpose of publishing a book, but just to leave something on paper for her family, a family legacy."

In an epilogue to the book, Tobien writes of his mother's conversion to the Christian faith: "Though Margaret had been on a personal quest for God nearly all of her life, throughout all of her trials and troubles in Russia -- seeing and realizing the hand of God in her life all along the way, it was in the fall of 1991 that she actually invited Christ into her life." She died in 1997.

This moving tribute allows the reader to meet two extraordinary persons -- Margaret Werner and her biographer/son Karl.

In his epilogue to Dancing Under the Red Star, Tobien intimates that he could write another book about his mother's charity work and servant's heart in the 35 years she lived in the U.S. as an adult. He tells of one particular unselfish act: "Before her death, my mother gave me another priceless legacy .... she made it possible for me to be reunited with my father."

Then of his father, he writes, "That is a remarkable story in itself, perhaps for another time." Let's hope "another time" comes soon and Karl Tobien will deliver on these hints of more gripping stories from his family's unique journey.

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[Shammu]

'Tolerance' Advocates Post Fla. Marriage Amendment Supporters' Names Online

by Mary Rettig
June 19, 2006

(AgapePress) - - The chairman of a group that is gathering signatures to put a marriage amendment on Florida's ballot is accusing a pro-homosexual church of engaging in scare tactics to keep people from signing the petition in support of protecting traditional marriage.

The organization known as "Florida4Marriage.org" has been working hard to gather enough signatures to put the marriage amendment on a state ballot in 2008. Meanwhile, a Jacksonville congregation, Christ Church of Peace, has launched a website of its own, on which it is posting the names of the ballot signers in order to, as the site claims, encourage an "open conversation."

However, Florida4Marriage.org president John Stemberger says stimulating conversation is not Christ Church's real goal. He describes the launch of the church's website as a "sad act" from a so-called tolerance group.

"Imagine what would happen if a conservative, extreme group of Christians posted online the home address of every gay-identified activist in Florida," Stemberger posits. "I mean, that would be decried as a witch hunt and an un-Christian, hateful attempt to mark gays in the same way that we mark pedophiles here in Florida by putting their name and address on a website."

The Florida4Marriage.org spokesman, who also serves as general counsel for the pro-family group, says what Christ Church of Peace is doing is not technically illegal because the marriage amendment petitions are public. Still, he contends, the church's methods seem quite unethical and their motives, fairly transparent.

"Upwards of 70 to 80 percent believe that marriage is between one man and one woman," Stemberger asserts. "So what you're seeing is really an attempt to intimidate people, which is typical of those that oppose us on same-sex marriage," he says. "Their agenda, in part, has to do with trying to just silence people that disagree with you."

Such scare tactics, the pro-family activist notes, may be legal but are certainly ethically questionable as well. He says Florida4Marriage.org has let signers of the petitions know about their names being published online.

A number of people have been angered by this news, Stemberger observes. However, he says some petition signers have seen the posting of their names as a source of pride and say they are glad to let others know they support traditional marriage.

http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion04625.shtml

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[Shammu]

Bay State Boy's Beating May Be Linked to Dad's Stand on Homosexuality

by Jim Brown
June 19, 2006

(AgapePress) - - The young son of a Massachusetts pro-family activist was physically assaulted by fellow elementary school students on the two-year anniversary of same-sex "marriage" in the state.

On May 17, first-grader Jacob Parker was beaten up by a group of eight to ten kids on the playground at Estabrook Elementary School in Lexington. Just weeks before the assault, his father and mother had filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the school.

Last year, David Parker was arrested and jailed for refusing to leave the school until officials agreed to grant him the right to opt his son out of classroom discussions on homosexuality. The Massachusetts father believes the assault was incited by parents who are upset with his opposition to homosexuality.

"What we're concerned about," Parker says, "is actually the environment being created in the schools, where children, maybe in the normal course of scuffling, will translate the aggression that they may be hearing from parents and administrators to other children."

The pro-family advocate suspects the physical attack on his son may have occurred because parents and school officials are angry over his stand for traditional marriage in Massachusetts and have allowed these feelings to influence kids who attend Estabrook Elementary. Also, he notes, back issues of the "biased" Lexington Minuteman newspaper were placed on a table in the school library for children to read the local coverage of the lawsuit.

Parker feels the Bay State's schools employ a large double standard when it comes to protecting students from bullying and discrimination. If the assault against his son had been perpetrated on a child of homosexual parents, "lessons teaching tolerance and diversity or homosexual behavior normalization would be forced upon the young children," he contends.

"What we have in Massachusetts," the activist points out, "is large sums of money being earmarked for children being bullied from gay households or gay children." However, such funding really "shouldn't be earmarked and directed on that basis," he insists. "It should be for all the children -- not earmarked to protect just one particular segment of society."

Parker says his case against the Lexington schools is fundamentally about freedom of choice for parents to raise their children in the interest of their well being, health, happiness, and development as productive members of society.

While that society allows its citizens the freedom to cross "the God-given and nature-dictated boundaries" of gender, the Massachusetts parent asserts, to do so is a treacherous path to follow and is not the path of freedom he and his wife choose to offer to their four- and six-year-old children.

"We all want what's best for our children," Parker says, "although differences exist in how parents accomplish this goal." The freedom to define what is best for their own families and how to achieve these goals should extend to all parents, he contends, regardless of color, culture, religion, or sexual orientation, and this "parental sovereignty" should not be undermined by school officials or other external authorities.

http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion04624.shtml

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[Shammu]

Richard Land: Expect Marriage Legislation to Eventually Pass

by Allie Martin
June 19, 2006

(AgapePress) - - The president of the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention says amending the U.S. Constitution to protect traditional marriage will take time, but that such an amendment will eventually be approved on Capitol Hill.

Last year Dr. Richard Land, president of the SBC's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, was recognized by Time Magazine as among "The Twenty-Five Most Influential Evangelicals in America." In addition to his responsibilities with the largest Protestant denomination in the country, Dr. Land is also serving his third term as an appointee to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which reports to the president, secretary of state, and Congress on the status of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief abroad.

The high-profile Evangelical co-hosts a nationally syndicated radio talk-show and is author of several books, his latest being Imagine! A God-Blessed America (Broadman & Holman, 2005), in which he encourages readers to envision an America where more Christians are radical change agents who reflect Christ, not culture. One of the areas where Land feels believers can effect change is through the ballot box -- and he believes that Christians who vote their values will remove from office U.S. senators who recently voted not to allow the Marriage Protection Amendment (MPA) to be voted on by the full Senate.

The day before Senate debate began on the MPA, President Bush spoke in favor of the measure at a White House press conference, urging senators to protect marriage from activist judges. He was criticized by some pro-family leaders for limiting and effectively delaying his remarks, and many Christian voters were upset over Bush's relative silence on the issue. Still, Land says the president has stood strong for the biblical definition of families -- more so than any president in recent memory.

    [Photo compliments of Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission]
Dr. Richard Land
"Has the president done as much as I would wish he has done? No. Has he done more than any other president would have done in my lifetime? Yes, he's done more," notes Land, adding that he believes President Ronald Reagan would have wanted to support the amendment, "but Nancy would have talked him out of it.

"You know, I don't want to make the perfect the enemy of the good. At least we have a president who supported the amendment, who said so publicly," the SBC leader points out.

He anticipates that Republican leaders will continue to push for a marriage amendment, which even after leaving Congress for ratification by the states would likely be a lengthy process.

"It normally takes several times before an amendment passes [out of the Senate], and we're moving in the right direction," he says. "We made progress, and we're going to continue to make progress. We have a president who supported the amendment, ... and we had a majority leader [Bill Frist] who was the first person to come out in favor of the amendment and ... who fought really hard for this amendment."

Many of the senators who voted against the MPA earlier this month stated their belief that the issue is one that should be decided at the state level, not by amending the U.S. Constitution. But speaking on the issue last week, Family Research Council Tony Perkins noted that pending lawsuits against states that have passed marriage legislation, if successful, could undermine that argument -- and perhaps force senators to reconsider the measure again this year.

http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion04627.shtml

Additional information on ChristiansUnite.com is available on the Internet at  http://www.christiansunite.com/

[Shammu]

God's Grace Gives Motivation to 'Gospel Walker'

by Allie Martin
June 19, 2006

(AgapePress) - - A 72-year-old North Carolina evangelist has begun his fourth walk across the United States in an effort to challenge churches to do a better job of reaching out to people who are hurting.

For nearly 30 years, Ted Stone has shared his testimony of how Christ delivered him from a life of drug abuse and destruction. This past weekend, Stone began another of his walks, this one from Chicago to Florida. Along the way he plans to stop at churches, sharing his testimony and exhorting congregations to demonstrate Christ's grace to those with drug, alcohol, or other addictions.

Stone says legalism -- that is, a strict, insensitive conformity to religious doctrine -- is often a major threat when it comes to reaching people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. "I believe it's very difficult to reach out to broken people when you practice legalism because it closes doors -- it shackles people," he shares.

Instead, he suggests reaching out to the hurting include "a good measure of truth and grace" in dealing with broken people. "Truth originates from God," he says, "and legalism originates from man."

Himself a beneficiary of God's truth, Stone testifies to the life-transforming power of Christ. "Certainly in my own life I've found God's grace [to be] more than sufficient to cover up any past sins," he says. "I don't want us to be in the position to try to make second-class citizens out of people because of sins they've committed in the past. With God it's who we are today that counts, not who we used to be."

The evangelist cites the Apostle Paul as a classic example of someone who had a sinful past, but was used by God nonetheless.

Stone, whose current walk ends in nine weeks in Pensacola, Florida, expects to have several people joining him along the way. He was interviewed while attending the Southern Baptist Convention's Annual Meeting last week in Greensboro, North Carolina.

http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion04628.shtml

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