Sex trafficking of minors growing
American children are becoming victims of human sex trafficking, according to statistics released by Shared Hope International. “The figures we use say between 100,000 and 300,000 American children are at risk of trafficking,” said Karrie Delaney, director of communications for the Vancouver, Wash.-based organization that seeks not only to prevent sex trafficking but to rescue and restore women and children trapped in it. Based on these numbers, domestic minor sex trafficking has become a serious problem in many locations across the United States. The SHI Web site says a third of the 2.8 million children living on the streets are lured into prostitution within 48 hours of leaving home. Yet, Christians can find ways to help prevent the trafficking industry from destroying more young American lives, Delaney said. Delaney suggested looking into foster-care families. By giving them a supportive and loving home, it moves them out of high-risk situations.
Texas raid prompts Baptist ministry
A Baptist congregation housed about 80 women and children April 4-6 after a raid on the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints near Eldorado, Tex. Members of First Baptist Church, Eldorado, embraced the opportunity to minister in Christ’s name, pastor Andy Anderson said. First Baptist also loaned the state of Texas the use of two 25-seat church buses to help transport more than 180 women and children from the 1,619-acre polygamist compound. “Our folks were eager to step in, and not just our folks, but the entire community,” Anderson said. FLDS’s leader Warren Jeffs was convicted last year of two counts of being an accomplice to a rape for his role in arranging and performing a marriage between a male follower and his underage cousin. Similar reports apparently triggered the Texas raid.
Lawmaker faces attacks over bill
Florida state Sen. Ronda Storms has been surprised by the personal attacks of those who oppose her bill to protect academic freedom for public school teachers and students addressing evolution. Meanwhile, radically different versions of the academic freedom legislation have been approved by Senate and House panels, clearing the bills for consideration by both chambers. Although Storms said she likes the new House bill, she is not optimistic that a majority of her Senate colleagues will agree. While Storms savored approval of her bill by the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 8, in an interview later that day she said her e-mail inbox is full of derogatory messages, some by persons with high academic credentials. The attacks illustrate the need for her bill, said Storms, who is a member of First Baptist Church, Brandon. Protecting teachers and students from similar attacks in the classroom “is exactly what this bill is all about,” she added.
Bible classes OK in Tenn. schools
Tennessee schools can teach a nonsectarian academic class on the Bible without violating the U.S. Constitution or previous U.S. Supreme Court precedents, Tennessee’s attorney general Robert Cooper Jr. said. He delivered the opinion at the request of state Sen. Roy Herron, who is sponsoring a bill that would permit public schools to offer a class on the Bible’s impact in literature, art, music culture and politics. Several school districts in Tennessee already offer Bible classes. Herron, a Democrat, told The Tennessean newspaper he requested the opinion in part to give other schools the OK. “There are school systems all over the state that are afraid to offer on their own a course about the Bible; they’re afraid of being sued and they don’t have adequate guidance to go forward,” Herron said.