Congress moves to protect unborn
A bill to protect the lives of unborn children diagnosed with disabilities has passed Congress and is awaiting President Bush’s signature. The Prenatally and Postnatally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act, sponsored by Sen. Sam Brownback and Sen. Ted Kennedy, would provide support and balanced information to parents who receive a diagnosis of Down syndrome or any other condition prenatally or until a year after birth. Brownback wrote in an opinion piece carried by National Review Online: “Access to the best support and information about the condition can make all the difference to a woman and her family. Hopefully, our bill is the start of something new: real help for families, deepened respect for the value of every life – especially those with disabilities – and one step closer to the kind of America we all know is possible.” The bill requires that parents who receive a diagnosis of an impairment for their child be provided with the latest information on the condition and be informed of support services available. It also would establish a registry of families willing to adopt special needs children.
Thousands continue to be fed daily
On Galveston Island and in inland areas of southeast Texas, disaster relief volunteers from Texas and six out-of-state conventions were continuing the work of recovery – and feeding thousands daily with hot meals nearly three weeks after Hurricane Ike. “Southern Baptists as a whole have now served more than 2 million meals in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike,” disaster relief director Jim Richardson of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention said Oct. 2. And since Hurricane Gustav in early September, the count has reached 4.3 million meals prepared by Baptist DR volunteers. Relief units remained active along both the Texas and Louisiana coastlines. Southern Baptist volunteers were feeding relief workers, emergency personnel and residents who have returned to salvage their belongings.
Evangelicals more environmentally savvy
Millions of evangelicals have become more environmentally conscious in the last year, according to a study by The Barna Group dubbed as the most comprehensive look at the Christian community and environmental issues. Though they’re taking a closer look at the environment, Barna found that evangelicals are doing so with some skepticism about the environmental movement, which they perceive to be tied to media hype surrounding global warming. Most Christians, Barna said, are not satisfied to sit on the sidelines of the green push, and three-fourths of those surveyed would like to see their fellow Christians take a more active role in caring for God’s creation in an informed and biblical way. Americans as a whole don’t see the environment as one of the top challenges facing the nation, the research group reported.
Family dinners make a difference
A five-year study from Columbia University has found that children who have frequent family dinners are less likely to use marijuana or tobacco, or drink alcohol. The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse said in September that compared to children who have five or more family dinners per week, children who have less than three family dinners per week are two-and-a-half times more likely to have used marijuana and tobacco, and they’re one-and-a-half times more likely to have consumed alcohol. “If you asked me based on CASA’s 16 years of intensive examination of substance abuse and addiction in our nation what’s the most effective thing we can do to curb this scourge and protect our children, I would say parental engagement,” Joseph Califano Jr., CASA’s chairman, said. CASA’s advice to parents includes: Spend time with your children by having dinner with them; talk to them about their friends, interests and the dangers of drugs and alcohol; answer their questions and listen to what they say; and recognize that parents have the power to help keep their kids substance-free.
More homosexual characters on TV
Only a decade ago, viewers everywhere were shocked to learn that both Ellen DeGeneres and the character she played on TV had “come out of the closet” and embraced homosexuality. Now, a homosexual activist group says broadcast television will have 16 homosexual characters in prime-time series this fall, more than double a year ago. “This dramatic increase shows how far many networks have come in developing complex, multilayered lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender characters,” Neil Giuliano, president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), said in a Sept. 23 news release. This year GLAAD examined 88 scripted comedies and dramas and counted a total of 616 characters, 16 of which are homosexual. Fox has the highest percentage of regular homosexual characters on any of the five broadcast networks, while CBS has no such characters.