Archive for April, 2010
“A recent study reveals that a few physicians may have facilitated the deaths of terminally ill children at their parents’ request.
The study was published in the March edition of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Dr. Joanne Wolfe, a palliative pain specialist at Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children’s Hospital, interviewed 141 parents of children who died of cancer.
“They had found out…in that study 19 of the parents had thought about having their child euthanized, 13 had actually talked about it seriously, five spoke to their physician about it, and in three cases, the parents said that the doctor agreed to give their child a lethal overdose and the child died,” reports Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC).
He notes that the practice is illegal in all 50 states because it is euthanasia, and he says the study really points out the need for better pain management, whether it is for an adult or a child.
“The fact is that the answer is not to go out and kill the child,” Schadenberg contends. “The answer is to properly care for these children. If they are to die, that they be properly cared for and die a natural death without having to suffer like that.” …”
More:
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=974864
“WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama made his case to NASA workers in Florida on Thursday for abandoning plans to return to the moon and instead aim for asteroids, Mars and more robotic missions.
Visiting a nearby asteroid would be a small step with a big impact.
Not only can asteroids tell scientists how planets formed, but they may contain some more primordial elements from the early solar system.
And studying them can help NASA understand how to break them up if needed.
NASA’s Near Earth Object Program has identified more than 1,000 “potentially hazardous asteroids.” None is on a collision course with Earth but asteroids have struck before — one wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
Sometimes they come really close — in March 2009 an asteroid passed by Earth at a distance of just about 49,000 miles. …”
More:
http://patriotupdate.com/stories/read/3389/Obama-Tells-NASA-Forget-the-Moon-Lets-go-to-an-Asteroid-
“In January, The Royal Society, the national academy of science of the UK and the Commonwealth hosted representatives from NASA, the European Space Agency and the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs, during its 350th anniversary celebration.
The event offered some dizzying intellects in the featured discussion, “The Detection Of Extraterrestrial Life and the Consequences for Science and Society.” Lord Martin Rees, President of the Royal Society and Astronomer Royal, announced that aliens may be “staring us in the face”in a form humans are unable to recognize. Other speakers used words like “overwhelming evidence” and “unprecedented proof” to signify how close we are to making irrefutable discovery of alien life.
Some, like Simon Conway Morris, professor of evolutionary paleobiology at Cambridge University, worried that contact with these unknowns might not be a good thing. “Extra-terrestrials might not only resemble us but have our foibles, such as greed, violence and a tendency to exploit others’ resources,” he said. “And while aliens could come in peace they are quite as likely to be searching for somewhere to live, and to help themselves to water, minerals and fuel.”
More:
http://survivormall.com/OFFICIALDISCLOSURE-PREPAREFORCONTACTCDSERIES.aspx
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This item was submitted by Wyjoz.
I received the following emails from Hugo Schmidt dealing with the Seventh-day Adventist persistence silence on abortion while the slaughter of the innocent unborn babies continues unabated. Here is what he wrote:
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It is my understanding that the Adventist Church does not officially have a position as to when human life begins in the mother’s womb! Am I correct on this? So, I would like to ask someone there at Headquarters as to when did the human life begin for Jesus in the womb of Mary?
I read sometime back on the internet where a Loma Linda officer said this: Since the scientists do not know when exactly human life begins in the womb, that being the reason the Adventist Church has refrained from speaking against abortion, which has murdered over 40 millions since Roe v Wade, in this Nation under God.Another Loma Linda Theologian when I asked him about what he thought abortion was, he responded by saying that it is murder and that the Church should strongly speak against it. However, he himself who has written many wonderful books has yet to say one word in public against what he calls: murder.
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I want to cite my response to an article published in the Autumn 2002 edition of Spectrum entitled “Current Creation Questions,” in which the authors deal with the “Beginning of Human Life.”
After reading the article authored by Zuccarelli and Winslow in their latest issue, I must commend the editors for reopening the dialogue about the beginning of human life. The authors cite in their article the argument that until day fourteen of human development, science is unable to ascertain individuality and personhood, since there is the possibility ‘for the embryo to split into two or more monozygotic offsprings.’
The implication seems to be that there is no need to protect the embryo before day 14 of gestation, since we are not sure if we are dealing with one or more individuals. My question to them is: Are two human lives of less value than one? Is the life of identical twins less valuable than that of a single individual? Do we refuse to render emergency services to a woman if we are not sure if we are dealing with one or two human lives.
The woman might be pregnant, or pregnant with twins. Do we first ascertain the number of victims we are dealing before providing our rescue effort. If miners are trapped, do we refuse to render emergency services until we can ascertain the exact number of miners in trouble? Does the presence of a gray area morally justify our indifference towards human life?
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It was Crisly PenaFlora first year assignment as a junior high school teacher, and her students were behaving like any typical students of that age group. One morning she was helping her Canadian students navigate their career choice assignment, and she enumerated to them the many professions and occupations open to them, when one of the students expressed his dream of one day becoming a pimp. Of course the class erupted in an outburst of laughter.
Crisly had never heard that word before, since she had originally come from the Philippines. Therefore, she asked her student to describe the pimp profession to her. This generated even more laughter from her students. At this point, Crisly made the following comment:
You can laugh all you want, but unless you tell me what the pimp profession involves, I will never be able to give any advice, since I have never heard that word before in my entire life.
The student had no choice but to describe the best he could the work of a professional pimp. When Crisly realized the meaning of such an occupation, she responded with the following comment:
If you choose that profession, I will cry!
Of course, the students wanted to know why their teacher would cry if that kid were to choose such an occupation. To which the teacher explained as follows:
I see you every day for an extended period of time, and you have become almost like part of my family. How could I refrain from crying if you make such a poor choice?
From that moment on there was a noticeable change in her students’ behavior in her class. Her students realized that here was a teacher who really cared for them and their future happiness.
One day, while I was heading towards an appointment with one of my clients, I flipped the radio dial to a religious channel and heard the following anecdote related by the preacher.
If you don’t believe in God or miracles, you , may stop right here, because events like this do defy the laws of physics.
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We had returned from a long trip, and it was midnight by the time we drove into our driveway. We were very tired, it was a winter cold night, and our three children were eager to get into our home and their own beds. Suddenly I realized that we had lost the key to our home. What could we do at 12:00 PM? Spending the night inside our vehicle in cold winter was the last thing we wanted.
My nine-year-old boy asked me to hand him the keys I had in my hands, and picking one of them said:
Dad, I am sure that if you try this key, it will work!
To my amazement, I realized that he had picked the car ignition key. Nevertheless, I followed his advice, and could hardly believe what happened, because the key opened the door to our house.
Of course, the next morning I attempted to repeat the gimmick, to no avail. The car-ignition key refused to open the door of our home. I had no choice but to admit that the good Lord had led my boy to say what he had stated in preparation for the miracle he was ready to perform.
Is Biblical Christianity compatible with evolution? I think not. I currently am a member of two Sabbath Schools at the Loma Linda University church. One of them is directed by Jim Walters. In this group, we studied sometime ago a book authored by Harold J. Morowitz, a scientist who is an admirer of Teilhard de Chardin, a French scientist and theologian who attempted to merge Christianity and Darwinian evolution. Morowitz’ book mirrors Chardin’s philosophy, which is described in the following article written by Jack Keene:
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Teilhard (1881-1955) taught that humanity is evolving into another form, and that “all that arises; converges”. Humanity, he said, is converging toward an Omega point, at which collective consciousness will find a new unity. According to Teilhard, Christ is the force behind a collective “Christ consciousness” of Man, which will culminate in the emergence of a “Cosmic Christ” – the true parousia …
Teilhard essentially taught that the world itself was being transubstantiated into Christ. In 1947 Teilhard said, “Very definitely there was no Adam and no Eve and no Original Sin.” And In 1954 Teilhard wrote to a friend, “I am essentially pantheist in my thinking and in my temperament”. Pantheism is the view that equates God with the forces and laws of nature, the worship of nature, i.e. the world …
The Church however, teaches that there is a City of God, and a City of Man (St. Augustine)-a Culture of Life and a Culture of Death (Pope John Paul II). Scripture teaches that the collective will and consciousness of man will not reach a “Cosmic Christ”, but rather its antithesis, the Antichrist. Man sitting on the throne claiming to be God (2 Thess.2) …
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It is a well-known fact that the late John Paul II did apologize for the past sins of the church, not once, but on numerous occasions. According to one reporter, he did so over a hundred times. Do you think that the current church leaders have a moral obligation to confess the sins of those who preceded them in church office? Evidently the officers of the German and Austrian Seventh-day Adventist church think so, since they decided not a long time ago that it was time to do exactly that.
A few Adventists are aware of this, but the majority of SDA members have never heard of this or, if they did, they never took the time to consider the deep significance of an event like this for the future of the church. If we as the “Remnant Church” of God, with the “last message of God to a perishing world” did fail a serious moral test in the past, is it possible that we might be prone to fail the big test that awaits the people of God?
We often assume a confident attitude towards a possible failure of the church in its divine mission by relying on God’s promises we find both in Scripture and the inspired writing of Ellen G. White. Didn’t Mrs. White predict that the church will triumph over the onslaughts of the enemy? She did indeed. Nevertheless, she also stated that there is a possibility that we might fail. Notice the following:
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When a natural disaster strikes, it is common to see headlines like: “Where was God when the earthquake hit Haiti?” “Where was God then the earthquake hit Chile;” “Where was God when the tsunami killed thousands in Indonesia? Or “Where was God when Katrina hit New Orleans?” I have never seen an article entitled: “Where was the devil when Katrina hit New Orleans?” Or “Where was Satan when the volcano erupted in Iceland?”
Why is it that the first individual we attempt to blame is the God? Is God responsible for every evil that exists and for every natural disaster that takes place on our planet? Does the Devil play a role in these acts of nature? Do human beings share in the responsibility for these tragedies? Is it possible that we are in fact contributing to the changes in whether patterns like El Nino? Or is El Nino—the Christ Child—the one causing these undesirable events?
What can we say about the so called “Acts of God,” which in fact should be rather labeled as “Act of Nature”? Is God responsible for them? Does He arbitrarily send them as punishment for people who are worse sinners than the rest of humanity? Does the Devil also play a role in these incredibly destructive acts which leave sometimes hundreds or even thousands dead? Can we blame those acts on “Climate Change” resulting from human activity? Let’s consider the following statements:
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Some years ago, as I was checking the news coming from the General Conference session, my eye caught the following news item which I thought was significant from my pro-life point of view:
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As I sit in my comfortable delegate’s seat (perhaps becoming a little less so after a week of sitting), millions in London and-as the news updates bounce around the world-countless more are reeling with the shock of another deadly terrorist attack. The story will continue to unfold over the next few hours and days, so any details I might give here would likely be out of date by the time this appears in print. But that these bombings are tragic was quickly realized as beyond question.
And so it was appropriate that, as the morning’s business session was called to order, a statement responding to the London bombings was read, and Pastor Cecil Perry, president of the British Union Conference, prayed for the injured, the families of the victims, his homeland, and our world …
Yet the pause at the beginning of yesterday’s business highlighted the real unity among this diverse group: It’s about people. Our unity of purpose is found in reaching out to hurting people, seeking to connect them with the love of God in practical and spiritual ways. As the statement read to delegates put it, “Seventh-day Adventists are people of peace and compassion.”
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Introduction
On October 22, 1994, the 150th anniversary of the Great Disappointment, a large group of SDA believers met at the William Miller Farm, in Low Hampton, N.Y., to commemorate the event. In his address, Robert Folkenberg, the president of the General Conference of SDA, had some harsh words for those SDA holding a divergent interpretation of what happened in 1844.
He did not limit himself to the suggestion that they were defending doctrinal error, but rather accused them of lacking the moral integrity to admit that they were not true SDA believers. Here is what he said:
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“Brethren and sisters, the Judgment, the 2300 days, the Sanctuary—those are the key to our unique identity as a movement. Pull those away and we cease to exist. Due to their critical nature and their import, they are a special focus for attack by the Evil One and the Evil One rarely uses attacks from outside. They are too easily identified. He would rather bring the undermining of these critical beliefs dressed in the trustworthy garb of fellow saints who present themselves as fellow members, as local church leaders, pastors, teachers and leaders who dressing themselves in the modern regalia of pluralism, saying ‘I am a good Seventh-day Adventist, but I can define that in any way I want to.’ Beware of the devil’s minions dressed as loyal Seventh-day Adventists who feel perfectly free to set aside the Sanctuary, to define the 2300 days in other irrelevant terms, as far as we are concerned, and to make of none effect the message of the Sanctuary. The problem is, they are not Seventh-day Adventists. They simply have not had the integrity to admit it.”
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Nathan Christian is not his real name, but he prefers to remain anonymous, and I respect his preference. He is currently faced with a moral dilemma, which he has agreed to share with the readers of this forum with the hope that somebody might help him resolve his mental conflict.
He was born a Catholic. His mother was a devout religious woman until the last day of her life. Not so his dad, who went to church only for special occasions, like weddings and funerals. Nathan became acquainted with the SDA religious beliefs through a neighbor who shared with him some SDA magazines and books. He especially enjoyed reading a book by Ellen White entitled The Desire of Ages and Steps to Christ. He is currently reading The Great Controversy written by the same author.
He is convinced that the correct day for worship is the Seventh Day of the week, as expressed in the Decalogue instead of Sunday. He has managed to attend some of the SDA services on a couple of Sabbaths, but he has been unable to secure all Sabbaths off without risking loosing his job and the nice retirement package that goes with it. He would like to be baptized and thus join the Remnant Church, which keeps God’s Commandments and has the Testimony of Jesus, but he has been told that working on Sabbaths makes him ineligible for membership in the SDA organization.
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Introduction
I want to share with you a letter I wrote some years ago to the Adventist Review following the publication of an article entitled, “The Sabbath and Public Life.” This was originally published in the SDA Forum.
Dear Editor,
I read with great interest your latest editorial entitled “The Sabbath and Public Life” in the September 14, 2000 issue of the Adventist Review because, coming from the Sancta Sanctorum of the Adventist media, it represents an impressive vignette of SDA reporting. Our church has valiantly stood in defense of Sabbath observance for nearly two centuries, and I believe that we must continue in this fine Adventist tradition.
The Good Book states that the Sabbath is a sign pointing to the fact that we belong to God.
Nevertheless, the most elaborate sign is useless if what it points at is not behind the sign. If an ambulance driver, for example, sees a conspicuously placed sign reading “Hospital Emergency,” but there is no hospital behind the sign, the patient he is carrying may die for lack of medical care.
The Sabbath is a sign pointing to God and to what he requires from us as expressed through the other nine Commandments. We have done quite well as a church in preserving the Sabbath sign in good condition of repair. How about some of the other Commandments?
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This time I want to share with the readers of this forum a few selections from an interview between John Ortberg and Dallas Willard. Willard is a professor of philosophy. “{He is a philosopher at University of Southern California and has been there since 1965.
He was the head of the department for a while. He was voted outstanding faculty member by the student senate. He specializes in epistemology…how it is that we know what we know…and philosophy of mind and of logic.
I was looking up in Wikipedia this last week. They have a list of philosophers in America who have influenced kind of American thought life, and Dallas is one of the folks who is listed there.” The item was sent to me by my son Carlos. You can watch the video by clicking on the following Internet link.
Source:
http://mppc.org/toughquestions
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