Immoral behavior

[HisDaughter]

Normalizing transgenderism in schools    

onenewsnow.com

A New England-based pro-family organization is concerned about a situation in Vermont involving bathroom arrangements at schools.

Brian Camenker of MassResistance says the homosexual movement in Vermont is using a transgender-rights law to force middle schools and high schools to provide unisex bathrooms. He notes that a 16-year-old transgendered teen has asked the Vermont Human Rights Commission to lend its support to the effort.

According to an Associated Press report, the student claims that she and others like her need the unisex bathrooms in order to avoid bullying and ridicule. A homosexual activist with Outright Vermont is quoted in the story as saying their "hope is that this is the first statewide gender-neutral bathroom campaign in the country."

Camenker is concerned that a similar effort could take place in Massachusetts should that state's transgender rights and hate crimes bill [H1728] pass.

"Well, it's a huge problem," he explains. "Number one...it legitimizes the concept of transgenderism among middle-school kids, which is completely absurd and offensive and medically dangerous. The medical community recognizes gender-identity disorder as something that needs psychological help, you know -- not this politically correct pandering that actually causes more self-destruction."

Indeed, individual and family counseling -- focused on treating depression and anxiety and on improving self-esteem -- usually is recommended to treat children with gender-identity disorder.

Camenker also argues that activists will use the unisex bathroom argument to get their foot in the door and then that will lead to more transgender indoctrination and diversity training within America's middle and high schools.

[HisDaughter]

How the ELCA Left the Great Tradition for Liberal Protestantism    

christianitytoday.com

During last week's biennial Church Wide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the church affirmed major policy recommendations to allow for the blessing of same-sex unions (which practice will soon inflate to same-sex marriage) and the rostering of gay and lesbian pastors in partnered relationships.

Earlier in the week it also passed by one vote—out of over 1,000 total votes cast—a Social Statement on Sexuality that admitted there was no consensus on the moral evaluation of homosexual conduct, and offered no compelling biblical or theological reasons to support the policies it later in fact adopted. The Statement was firm and bold on issues that everyone agreed upon—the moral condemnation of promiscuity, pornography, sexual exploitation, etc.—but indecisive and vague about contested issues—co-habitation, premarital sex, the importance of the nuclear family, and, of course, homosexual conduct.

Right before the vote on the Social Statement a totally unexpected tornado hit the Minneapolis Conference Center where we were meeting as well as the huge Central Lutheran Church next door, knocking the cross off one of its towers. Orthodox voting members saw the work of God in the tornado's cross-toppling effects and in the vote that passed with a .666 majority. Revisionists noted that the sun came out after the vote. In response the orthodox quipped that the sun comes out almost every day, but rogue tornados are pretty rare!

Those in the orthodox camp warned the assembly not to vote on binding church doctrine, especially if it had no convincing biblical or theological arguments to overturn the moral consensus of the one holy, catholic, and apostolic church held throughout the ages and by 99 percent of the world's Christians. Such action would identify the ELCA with a rapidly declining liberal Protestantism while departing from orthodox teaching and practice. Strong arguments against the Social Statement and policy recommendations were made by pastors and laypersons—bishops were for the most part silent—to no avail. The church left the Great Tradition of moral teaching to identify with the United Church of Christ and the Episcopal Church.

How did this come to be? On the one hand, the fact that the largest American Lutheran church body had become the first confessional church to accept homosexual conduct was a traumatic shock to many. There was much anger and anguish. On the other hand, the decision was not at all unexpected by those of us who have fought against the underlying currents operating in the ELCA from its very inception. The fight has been long yet predictable. Liberal Protestantism was the ELCA's destination. Indeed, its presiding Bishop, Mark Hanson, is fast becoming the charismatic leader of liberal Protestantism.

"There is nothing but the social gospel," shouted a voting member at the assembly. But that is certainly not Lutheran doctrine. The various programs of social change taken to heart by the church are human works in God's left-hand reign, having to do with the Law, not the gospel. Rather, the real gospel is clear: the grace of God in Jesus Christ is offered to repentant sinners condemned by the Law and then called to amendment of life by the Spirit. Liberating efforts in the realm of social and political change are possibly effects of the gospel, but certainly not the gospel itself.

But the ELCA has accepted the social gospel as its working theology, even though its constitution has a marvelous statement of the classic gospel. The liberating movements fueled by militant feminism, multiculturalism, anti-racism, anti-heterosexism, anti-imperialism, and now ecologism have been moved to the center while the classic gospel and its missional imperatives have been pushed to the periphery.

The policies issuing from these liberationist themes are non-negotiable in the ELCA, which is compelling evidence that they are at the center. No one can dislodge the ELCA's commitment to purge all masculine language about God from its speech and worship, to demur on the biblically normative status of the nuclear family, to refuse to put limits on abortion in its internal policies or to advocate publicly for pro-life policies, to press for left-wing public domestic and foreign policy, to replace evangelism abroad with dialog, to commit to "full inclusion" of gays and lesbians at the expense of church unity, and to buy in fully to the movement against global warming. Though it is dogmatic on these issues, it is confused about something as important as the assessment of homosexual conduct. Yet, it acts anyway because of the pressure exerted by those who want to liberate church and society from heterosexism.

But how did the liberal Protestant agenda replace the Christian core? There are many reasons, a good number that many American evangelicals share with Lutherans: a culture moving quickly toward permissive morality; the self-esteem movement leading to cheap grace; lay individualism combined with apathy toward Christian teaching; an obliviousness to church tradition and to the voice of the world church; and, above all, the loss of an authentic principle of authority in the church. This last item I will address in more detail later.

The ELCA has a particular history that has compounded these problems. The mid-1980s planning stage of the ELCA was dramatically affected by a group of radicals who pressed liberationist (feminist, black, multiculturalist, gay) legislative initiatives right into the center of the ELCA structures.

Among them was a quota system that skews every committee, council, task force, synod assembly, and national assembly toward the "progressive" side. (There are quotas for representing specific groups in all the organized activity of the church. Sixty percent must be lay, 50 percent must be women, 10 percent must be people of color or whose language is other than English. The losers, of course, are white male pastors; our Virginia delegation to the assembly, for example, had only one male pastor among its eight elected members.)

Further, the prescribed structure distanced the 65 bishops from the decision-making of the church. The bishops have only influence, not power. (Aware of their divisiveness, the bishops voted 44-14 to require a two thirds majority for the enactment of the Sexuality Task Force's policy recommendations, but were ignored by both the church council and the Assembly.) Theologians were given no formal, ongoing, corporate role in setting the direction of the ELCA. They, too, were kept at a distance and actually viewed as one more competing interest group.

The radicals so decisive in the defining moments of the ELCA intended to smash the authority of the influential theologians and bishops who had informally kept both the American Lutheran Church and the Lutheran Church in America on course. The radicals wanted many voices and perspectives, especially those of the "marginalized," put forward in the ongoing deliberations of the ELCA. They were so successful that now, after 20 years, there is no authoritative biblical or theological guidance in the church. There are only many voices. The 2009 Assembly legitimated those many voices by adapting a "bound-conscience" principle, according to which anyone claiming a sincerely-held conviction about any doctrine must be respected. The truth of the Bible has been reduced to sincerely-held opinion.

What was truly chilling about the assembly's debates was that the revisionists seemed to quote Jesus and the Bible as knowledgeably and persuasively as the orthodox. Passages reinforcing their respective agendas were selected and then brilliantly woven into their arguments. Both sides seemed to have the Bible on their side. The revisionists "contextualized" and relativized the relevant texts. The orthodox claimed a plain sense reading of Scripture. The Lutheran confessions were utilized effectively by both sides. There was no authoritative interpretation conveyed by any agent or agency in the church. The church was, and is, rudderless.

Sola Scriptura, a Lutheran principle adopted by evangelicals, did not seem to be sufficient in such circumstances. An authoritative tradition of interpretation of the Bible seemed to be essential. More was needed than the Bible alone. Protestants seem to lack such an authoritative tradition, so they fight and split. In this situation, the option of swimming the Tiber seems all the more tempting.

The fallout of these historic moves by the ELCA is hard to predict, mainly because the Lutheran orthodox have no group of dissenting bishops around whom to rally. There will be a profusion of different responses by congregations and individuals. Many congregations and individuals will leave the ELCA. Others will bide their time to see what Lutheran CORE (Lutheran Coalition for Renewal) will become as it strives to articulate and then embody the best of Lutheranism. Many will withdraw from involvement in the ELCA and its synods and live at the local level. Many others will try to live on as if nothing has happened. Others will approve of the new direction. But a tectonic shift has taken place, and it wasn't primarily about sex. The ELCA has formally left the Great Tradition for liberal Protestantism.

[HisDaughter]

I don't need to hear the "wars and rumors of wars" or even the "rise of Islam"....it's garbage like this that convinces me that Christ is coming soon.

9 and 12 year Olds Boys Return To School As Girls            

telegraph.co.uk

The unidentified Year Five child left school as a boy and returned the next day as a girl, in female uniform with a ponytail tied in pink ribbon.

The case comes after reports a 12-year-old boy had started secondary school as a girl.

Both children are too young to have had a sex change operation or hormone therapy as this is only given to people aged 18 or over.

There was a mixed reaction from gender experts.

A spokesman for transgender group the Beaumont Society said: "This child is vulnerable to bullying and teasing. They and their family have been seriously misadvised. It is hard enough for an adult to change gender. To go to the extent that this nine-year-old has gone is unique."

But James Caspian, who counsels people on gender issues, said: "People should not be surprised that a child so young has these feelings.

"What is more of a surprise is that the child has been able to express them openly and that because of changes in society those around the child have been so supportive."

The mother of a boy at the same school as the nine-year-old told The Sun newspaper: "My son came home from school and asked why one of his friends had become a girl.

"I thought he was joking, but he kept asking... that's when alarm bells began ringing.

"The pupil's classmates were told he had left and that a new girl would be starting in his place this term."

Children were initially told the boy had left and a new girl had arrived, but at a special assembly the head teacher, class teacher and the pupil's special needs teacher appeared to realise the child would be recognised.

The mother said: "They were told the new girl would be using the girls' toilet and that no one should tease or bully her. If anyone saw the new girl being bullied they should stick up for her.

"My son is too young to really understand the significance of what's happening. It's hard to explain to him. I'm terrified he'll ask me if he can become a girl as well."

A school source said the boy had "always been rather feminine" and a decision had been taken to support the child and family "after his case was confirmed by five doctors".

Parents who criticised the school and child's parents on a social networking website were warned by police they could be prosecuted for harassment.

[Shammu]

Comic-Strip Artist R. Crumb Mocks Book of Genesis
October 21, 2009

LOS ANGELES"I think that all humans have that need for some spiritual meaning but,I don't think you're going to find it in 'Genesis."'

His religious upbringing might well be as unorthodox as the psychedelic-inspired comic-strip characters that have made R. Crumb the most famous underground artist of his time.

Which, come to think of it, may have made Crumb the perfect artist for his latest project, an illustrated, comic-book version of "The Book of Genesis," the work that comprises the first 50 chapters of the Bible.

Raised in a secular household that was headed by a rigidly strict, ex-Marine father who was actually a closeted atheist, Crumb was sent off to Catholic school at age 6 because his father had always admired the discipline Catholic nuns were famous for instilling in their students.

"We nEver got a lot of religion at home," Crumb says of himself and his siblings. "But we certainly got the whole indoctrination and brainwashing in school."

Sixty years later, the creator of comic book characters like the R-rated Fritz the Cat and the bizarre Mr. Natural has finally put that religious training to good use.

"The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb" was published last month, and on Oct. 24 the stunningly detailed, beautifully crafted black-and-white drawings that comprise its 201 pages will go on display at Los Angeles' Hammer Museum. After the exhibition closes in February it will move on to other cities, including New York and Portland, Ore., a circumstance that has the normally circumspect Crumb shaking his head in disbelief.

"The Bible! Jesus! Incredible," Crumb says in a voice filled with awe as he reflects on the project that has consumed the last five years of his life.

Indeed, the project does raise an obvious question: Why would the guy famous for drawing voluptuous women and nerdy looking, well-endowed men, who put the phrase "Keep on Truckin"' into the national vocabulary with his posters of a big-footed oddball out for a walk, and who by his own admission owes much of his artistic inspiration to his extensive use of LSD in the 1960s, take on the Bible?

"It's kind of complicated," Crumb guffaws during a phone interview from his home in the south of France.

"I don't think 'Genesis' is a good place to look for spiritual guidance or moral guidance," he continues. "I don't beliEve it's the word of God.

"At the same time," he continues, "I think the stories are very powerful. I'm not out to ridicule them or belittle them."

Although done in the same, unmistakable style that Crumb has brought to such comic books as Zap, Weirdo and Dirty Laundry, "Genesis" is also surprisingly respectful, as well as faithfully loyal to the Bible's original text.

"He could have done something really satiric but he didn't," says Ali Subotnick, who is curating the exhibit. "He's not bastardizing the stories at all."

Which is not to say Crumb hasn't added his own unique touch here and there.

While historical characters like Noah and the Pharaoh don't look that much different from how they have been portrayed by other artists, God and the serpent are another story.

Crumb's Creator is one mean-looking old dude, an angry, finger-pointing father figure with a flowing white beard and no sense of humor. The serpent, meanwhile, looks as much like a snake-oil salesman as a snake.

"He's a con man," Crumb says of the reptile that got Adam and Eve booted from the Garden of Eden. "The serpent represents that part of clEverness and persuasion and deception and flattery, all those qualities which humans are so good at but that we don't consider our finest virtues."

It was teachings like those that fascinated him and drew him to the project, Crumb says. He spent a couple of years doing the research before setting to work, secluding himself in a cabin in the mountains for weeks at a time so he could draw uninterrupted.

Not an atheist like his father, Crumb describes himself as a Gnostic, a member of that ancient movement searching for spiritual enlightenment.

"I've spent a lot of time studying different religious traditions and I meditate," he says. "I think that all humans have that need for some spiritual meaning.

"But," he adds with a hearty laugh, "I don't think you're going to find it in 'Genesis."'

Often described as reclusive, and by his own admission very shy, Crumb is actually an engaging conversationalist when he will sit down to talk. He's at turns witty, unpretentious and unfailingly friendly.

"Hi, I was just doing the dishes," he says upon picking up the phone. Minutes later, he lets out a loud, unembarrassed after-dinner belch.

The Philadelphia native has reluctantly agreed to come to the United States to promote the book and exhibition with a lecture at UCLA on Oct. 29 and a handful of other appearances. He says he's dreading all of them.

"I won't do TV," he adds flatly. "Don't want no cameras on my face. Hate that. Won't do it."

He is likely most recognizable from the 1994 documentary "Crumb" that showed him emerging from a frighteningly dysfunctional family to become a reluctant celebrity.

His older brother, Charles, who had inspired him to draw, committed suicide shortly after that film was completed. His younger brother, Max, also an artist, lives in seclusion, as does Crumb's son, Jesse. He speaks warmly of all three.

He fairly radiates with pride, howEver, at the mention of his daughter Sophie's name.

"She's a really good artist, in many ways she's a better artist than I am," he says. "But she's already feeling kind of self-consciousness about it because, being my daughter and all, she gets a lot of flak."

His wife, Aline, Crumb says, doesn't get the credit she's due as an artist. He says she's really the comedic force behind the pair's popular collaborative cartoons.

After he returns from the U.S., the pair plan to finish a forthcoming book.

After that: Who knows?

Crumb could return to more serious work, like the series of old-time musicians he admires that he profiled in the 2006 book "R. Crumb's Heroes of Blues, Jazz, & Country" or the illustrated version he did of 18th century essayist James Boswell's "London Journal."

Or he could just do something silly.

"I guess next I'll tackle the Quran. See how that goes over," he says, bursting out laughing.

Comic-Strip Artist R. Crumb Mocks Book of Genesis

[Shammu]

According to this he's not mocking the stories, just God.

He needs prayer, some serious prayer. And someone to share the gospel with him. Something tells me God's "Grace" and "Mercy" was left out of his education. One thing he will find out............

Philippians 2:10-11 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

[Shammu]

Nobel winner slams Bible as 'handbook of bad morals'

(AFP) – Oct 19, 2009

LISBON — A row broke out in Portugal on Monday after a Nobel Prize-winning author denounced the Bible as a "handbook of bad morals".

Speaking at the launch of his new book "Cain", Jose Saramago, who won the 1998 Nobel Prize for Literature, said society would probably be better off without the Bible.

Roman Catholic Church leaders accused the 86-year-old of a publicity stunt.

The book is an ironic retelling of the Biblical story of Cain, Adam and Eve's son who killed his younger brother Abel.

At the launch event in the northern Portuguese town of Penafiel on Sunday, Saramago said he did not think the book would offend Catholics "because they do not read the Bible".

"The Bible is a manual of bad morals (which) has a powerful influence on our culture and even our way of life. Without the Bible, we would be different, and probably better people," he was quoted as saying by the news agency Lusa.

Saramago attacked "a cruel, jealous and unbearable God (who) exists only in our heads" and said he did not think his book would cause problems for the Catholic Church "because Catholics do not read the Bible.

"It might offend Jews, but that doesn't really matter to me," he added.

Father Manuel Marujao, the spokesman for the Portuguese conference of bishops, said he thought the remarks were a publicity stunt.

"A writer of Jose Saramago's standing can criticise, (but) insults do no-one any good, particularly a Nobel Prize winner," the priest said.

Rabbi Elieze Martino, spokesman for the Jewish community in Lisbon, said the Jewish world would not be shocked by the writings of Saramago or anyone else.

"Saramago does not know the Bible," the rabbi said, "he has only superficial understanding of it."

The author caused a scandal in Portugal in 1992 with "The Gospel According to Jesus Christ."

The book depicted Jesus losing his virginity to Mary Magdalene and being used by God to control the world.

Saramago quit Portugal at the time and moved to Lanzarote, in the Spanish Canary Islands.

Nobel winner slams Bible as 'handbook of bad morals'
!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

See my comments above!!

[Soldier4Christ]

Confirmed: Skin cream
contains fetal proteins
Company's anti-aging products built
on cells harvested from aborted baby

A pro-life organization is blasting a Switzerland-based cosmetics manufacturer whose website openly admits some of its products were developed from the tissues of an aborted baby.

Children of God for Life is a non-profit organization focused on the bioethics of embryonic tissue use in medicine and manufacturing. One of its current campaigns includes petitioning pharmaceutical companies to produce safe, effective alternatives to vaccines derived or cultivated from aborted fetal tissue.

But the organization's attention has now turned Neocutis, a company with offices in San Francisco which has developed a line of anti-aging products that include an ingredient the company has trademarked as Processed Skin Cell Protein, or PSP, developed from skin cells harvested from an abortion.

"It is absolutely deplorable that Neocutis would resort to exploiting the remains of a deliberately slaughtered baby for nothing other than pure vanity and financial gain," said Debi Vinnedge, executive director of Children of God for Life, in a statement. "There is simply no moral justification for this."

The website for Neocutis, which is privately held with estimated annual sales of in excess of $2 million, explains that its research began years ago, when scientists discovered fetal skin's unusual ability to heal without scarring. Scientists at the University Hospital of Lausanne, Switzerland, then created a process to extract proteins from fetal cells in the attempt to obtain an optimal, naturally balanced mixture of nutrients.

The scientists then infused those nutrients into a line of cosmeceutical anti-aging products: Neocutis skin cream, Journée day cream, Lumière eye cream and Bio-Gel bio-restorative hydrogel – products Vinnedge is advising women to throw in the garbage before contacting Neocutis to voice their concerns.

"There is absolutely no reason to use aborted babies for such selfish motives," Vinnedge said. "It is anti-life, anti-woman and counter-productive, as Neocutis is about to find out!"

Children of God for Life boasts that it has been a watchdog on pharmaceutical companies using aborted fetal cell lines in medical products and has received thousands of inquiries from the public on the use of aborted fetal material in cosmetics. But this is the first time, the organization says, that any company was bold enough to put the information right on its own website and in product literature.

In fact, the Neocutis website openly explains the history of its PSP ingredient:

"A small biopsy of fetal skin was donated following a one-time medical termination," the website states, "and a dedicated cell bank was established for developing new skin treatments. Originally established for wound healing and burn treatments, today this same cell bank also provides a lasting supply of cells for producing Neocutis' proprietary skin care ingredient Processed Skin Cell Proteins."

The company adds, "No additional fetal biopsies will ever be required."

But Children of God for Life finds little consolation in the company's statement.

"You note in your literature that 'no further fetal biopsies will be needed,' as though the life of the one child you have exploited has no value," wrote the organization in a letter to Neocutis' CEO. "It is deplorable that you would attempt to mollify the public and whitewash your badly tarnished image so thoughtlessly."

Vinnedge also told WND that companies aren't required to disclose their research history to the public, so there may be facts conveniently omitted from the Neocutis story.

"What we don't know is how many other fetuses were involved before they perfected that one cell line," she surmised. "There's a possibility there were more."

WND contacted Neocutis repeatedly for comment, but phone messages were not returned. A Businessweek web report says the company was founded in 2003 and its directors were identified as Frederic-Edouard Koehn, Patrick Hohlfeld, Diego Braguglia and Jennifer Pearson.

Children of God for Life, however, is actively calling for a boycott of all Neocutis products, beginning a campaign to contact the company's investors and even offering free publicity to companies that will certify in writing their products are free from ingredients derived from aborted babies.

"We know there are companies using moral sources for collagen and skin proteins," Vinnedge said. "We intend to publicly promote these other cosmetic companies competing with Neocutis that are willing to step forward and contact us."

[nChrist]

All of the above is DISGUSTING and beyond shocking! Normally, I might have a problem determining which story is the most disgusting, but using the cells of a murdered baby for commercial gain takes the prize this time. It's hard for me to imagine why anyone would buy a product like this.

Please don't get me wrong - I can't stand the mockery of God. Regardless, God will judge all of these horrible things.

[Shammu]

Teen Gets Abortion With Help of Her Seattle High School
The 15-Year-Old Was Reportedly Taken During School Hours in a Taxi to get an Abortion
By EMILY FRIEDMAN

March 24, 2010 —

A Seattle mother is irate after she said her 15-year-old daughter's school arranged an abortion for her daughter without her knowledge.

The mother, whose name has been withheld at her request to protect her privacy, told ABC News' Seattle affiliate KOMO-TV that the clinic gave her daughter a pass and helped her get a taxi that took her to a facility where she underwent an abortion.

The mother did not immediately return messages left by ABCNews.com. It was not immediately clear how far along in the pregnancy the teen was at the time of the abortion.

The mother said that she had signed a consent form that permitted her daughter to go to the teen health center on the campus of Ballard High School for what she believed were ailments like earaches, or for routine physicals, but not for an abortion.

"She took a pregnancy test at school at the teen health center," the mother told KOMO. "Nowhere in the paperwork does it mention abortion or facilitating abortion."

The form also allowed her daughter to receive birth control from the school's health clinic, the mother said.

But even so, the mother is furious that her daughter, who is on the school's honor roll, was given an abortion without the school notifying her parents.

"We had no idea this was being facilitated on campus," said the mother. "They just told her that if she concealed it from her family, that it would be free of charge and no financial responsibility."

A spokeswoman for the Seattle School District, which includes Ballard High School, declined to comment and referred all questions to the King County Health Department, the administrator of school-based health programs.

Angry as the mother is that she was not informed about her daughter's quest and receipt of an abortion, the health clinic at the school did not break any laws.

Under Washington state law, parental consent is not required when providing health care to minors, even when that care includes abortion.

"Minors may receive an abortion and abortion-related services at any age without the consent of a parent, guardian or the father of the child," the law states.

Minors who are older than 13 can also receive testing for sexually transmitted diseases, both inpatient and outpatient mental health care, and prenatal care without having parental consent, under the law.

T.J. Cosgrove, a representative of the King County Health Department, told KOMO that it's "always best if parents are involved in their children's health care, but they don't always have a say."

"At any age in the state of Washington, an individual can consent to a termination of pregnancy," said Cosgrove.

A representative of the Swedish Medical Center, which runs the clinic at Ballard High, referred ABCNews.com to the King County Health Department but did confirm that Swedish runs the clinic where the abortion was said to be arranged.

The mother told KOMO that she is speaking out so that other parents will become aware of the services that are provided at high school health clinics.

On a MySpace page that appears to belong to the mother, a status message apparently referring to KOMO-TV's coverage of her daughters abortion, reads, "komonews.com front page story! I'm shouting a top my soapbox of justice and human/parental rights!" ABC News could not independently confirm who wrote the post.

Teen Gets Abortion With Help of Her Seattle High School

What business does the school have in this anyway. Schools have NO BUISINESS concerning themselves with a students health, unless he/she has injuries due to home abuse or has reported abuse at home. And THEN they should only report it to the cops The girl was only 15, the parents should have been in on this. This is so wrong all the way around.

God will hold these people accountable for the blood of that child.

[Shammu]

House members to Clinton: Resolve crisis with Israel

327 members of Congress sign letter addressed to Clinton in which Obama Administration urged to resolve differences with Israel 'quietly, as befits longstanding strategic allies'
Yitzhak Benhorin

WASHINGTON – Three days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama met at the White House, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton received a letter signed by 327 members of the House of Representatives expressing concern over the growing tensions between Israel and the US over construction in east Jerusalem.

The letter, initiated last week by a bipartisan slate of leaders, including US Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the US House of Representatives majority leader, and Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the House minority leader, says, "differences are best resolved quietly, in trust and confidence, as befits longstanding strategic allies."

We are writing to reaffirm our commitment to the unbreakable bond that exists between our country and the State of Israel and to express to you our deep concern over recent tension. In every important relationship, there will be occasional misunderstandings and conflicts," read the letter.

The letter warns that the tensions are jeopardizing international efforts aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear program, adding that in every relationship there are misunderstandings and differences.

The representatives added that they accept Netanyahu's apology to the Obama Administration for the announcement on the construction of 1,600 apartments in east Jerusalem, which came during Vice President Joe Biden's recent visit to the Jewish state.

"We are reassured that Prime Minister Netanyahu's commitment to put in place new procedures will ensure that such surprises, however unintended, will not recur," they wrote.

The members of Congress further wrote that it is in the interest of the US to safeguard Israel's security while also preserving its independence.

"The United States and Israel are close allies whose people share a deep and abiding friendship based on a shared commitment to core values including democracy, human rights and freedom of the press and religion. Our two countries are partners in the fight against terrorism and share an important strategic relationship," said the representatives.

"A strong Israel is an asset to the national security of the United States and brings stability to the Middle East. We are concerned that the highly publicized tensions in the relationship will not advance the interests the U.S. and Israel share. Above all, we must remain focused on the threat posed by the Iranian nuclear weapons program to Middle East peace and stability," they wrote in the letter.

House members to Clinton: Resolve crisis with Israel