The Watering Hole, Wednesday, May 28, 2014: STATEMENT OF FAITH*

STATEMENT OF FAITH

I. We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative, inerrant Word of God (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21).

II. We believe there is one God, eternally existent in three persons — Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Deut. 6:4; Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14).

a. We believe in God the Father whose love was exemplified in that He gave His only begotten Son for the salvation of men (John 3:16; Eph. 1:3).

b. We believe in the Deity of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. When coming to earth He never ceased to be God and that His humiliation did not consist of laying aside His Deity. As a man, He was miraculously begotten of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. By his atonement and resurrection He accomplished the redemption and justification before God of all who truly believe in Him and accept Him as Lord (Isa. 7:14; 9:6; Luke 1:35; Gal. 4:4-5; Phil. 2:5-8).

c. We believe that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ and during this age to convict men, regenerate the believing sinner, indwell, guide, instruct, comfort, sanctify, seal, reprove and empower the believer for Godly living and service (John 16:7-8; Rom. 8:9; Eph. 1:13-14).

III. We believe Satan is an angelic being who rebelled with other angels against the authority of God. Satan was given temporary rule over the earth for an age to deceive as many of mankind as he is able (Job 1:6-7; Isa. 14:12; Matt. 4:2-11; Matt. 25:41; Rev. 20:10).

IV. We believe that God created the heaven and earth, including all life, by direct act, and not by a process of evolution, in six literal, 24-hour periods (Gen. 1:1-2:3; Ex. 20:11).

V. We believe God’s grace provides salvation and eternal life through Christ’s death, burial and resurrection to all people who repent and receive Him as Savior and Lord. Salvation is based solely upon faith in God’s promise (John 1: 12-13; 2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 1:7, 2:8-9; Gal. 2:16).

VI. We believe that Christ arose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father, where He intercedes for the believers as our High Priest. We believe in His personal return for His Church. We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life, and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation (Acts 2:22-36; Rom. 3:24-26; 1 Peter 2:24; Eph. 1:7; 1 Peter 1:3-5; Acts 1:9-11; Heb. 9:24, 7:25; Rom 8:34; 1 John 2:1-2; Matt. 25:46; John 5:28-29, 11:25-26; Rev. 20:12-15).

VII. We believe that the family is ordained by God as the basic unit of His plan for His people. The institution of marriage between one man and one woman as created by God provides the foundation and definition for the family. We believe in the preservation and edification of the family to be an act of obedience to God (Gen. 2:24, 19:5,13; Lev. 18:1-30; Rom. 1:26-32; 1 Cor. 6:9-10; 1 Thes. 4:3; Heb. 13:4; Mal. 2:14-16; Rom. 7:1-3; Matt. 19:3-6; 1 Cor. 7:10-16).

VIII. We believe in the sanctity of all human life. This life should be protected, nurtured and helped from the moment of conception, when life begins, until death occurs normally (Ps. 139:13-16; Isa. 44:24, 49:1,5; Jer. 1:5; Luke 1:44).

Questions:

1. Does this describe a cult? If so, in what way?

2. Does the education provided by a parochial school based on this Statement of Faith harm children in any way, or do they benefit from being thus indoctrinated?

3. Are there any studies showing children attending such schools either excel academically, or have one or more academic deficiencies? If so, what are those studies?

OPEN THREAD
FEEL FREE TO EXCERCISE
YOUR 1ST AMENDMENT RIGHT ON THIS TOPIC
OR ANYTHING ELSE,
AS THE SPIRIT MOVES YOU

*This is not to imply that this “Statement of Faith” is adhered to by The Zoo, nor any of the members of The Zoo community.

The Watering Hole, Wednesday, November 20, 2013: Pro Life Tax Deduction

This one slipped by the Mainstream Media. Beginning 1/1/2014, every one will have to fill out a new W-2 form for their employer. It will be identical to your old one, except that there will be a box where you can indicate whether you are Pro Life. Those that do, will have an additional 1% withheld on their taxable income. The money raised will go to fund orphanages and other services related to unwanted children. But no where on the W-2 form will it indicate that by checking the box, your taxes will go up.

That’s because poll after poll has indicated that those who are the most vocal Pro-Lifers are also the most adamantly opposed to any taxes. But this hidden tax has wide bipartisan support. Those on the left see it as necessary to support the increased population of unwanted children born as a result of stringent anti-abortion laws. Studies show unwanted children leads to higher governmental costs in the form of truancy from school, counseling and crime. Those on the right see this as a way of decreasing the deficit without raising taxes, since the increased withholding is not really a tax; it’s just that people won’t get that increased withheld money back when they get their tax refunds. And it will show up on their paycheck as a “Pro Life Deduction” instead of a tax, which will enhance its popularity among the Pro-Life crowd.

OPINE THREAD

Pro-Life, at any cost.

The American Life League, Inc.’s website reveals their take on abortion statistics:

Total number of abortions in the U.S. 1973-2011: 54.5 million+

234 abortions per 1,000 live births (according to the Centers for Disease Control)
Abortions per year: 1.2 million
Abortions per day: 3,288
Abortions per hour: 137
9 abortions every 4 minutes
1 abortion every 26 seconds

These statistics include only surgical and medical abortions. Because many contraceptive measures are abortifacients (drugs that induce or cause abortions), it is important not to overlook the number of children killed by chemical abortions. Since 1965, an average of 11 million women have used abortifacient methods of birth control in the United States at any given time. Using formulas based on the way the birth control pill works, pharmacy experts project that about 14 million chemical abortions occur in the United States each year, providing a projected total of well in excess of 610 million chemical abortions between 1965 and 2009.

So, this is what the “Pro-Life” crowd wants to prevent, in blocking access to surgical and “chemical” abortions – the addition of over 600 million to the population of the United States in one generation.

The current population of the United States is about 300 million. According to the American Life League, had women been prevented from having abortions, the population would have been amore than 900 million.

Reality Check Time.

More live births do not equal a more equitable distribution of wealth. For 98% of us, three people would have to survive on the resourses/income that one person has now. Put differently, triple the size of your household, without any raise in income. Now provide for your family.

And while you’re pondering that, imagine triple the demand for food, shelter, energy, etc. Nothing like tripling demand to drive up prices. But, with more workers in the workforce, wages are driven lower.

Ending birth control and abortions will cause a population explosion that will create a humanitarian crisis of biblical proportions. The ensuing population growth will be unsustainable, the suffering from abject poverty and starvation unfathomable.

But the “Pro-Life” crowd is incapable of comprehending the logical consequences of their own actions.

Person Personhood

When the debate began to focus on calling impregnated eggs a “person” with all the rights of a live-born individual, this author predicted such a move would result in prosecuting and incarcerating women who suffered miscarriages.

Unfortunately, that is already happening, and has been going on for years. Laws written to charge an attacker with homicide for killing a fetus are being used, not to incarcerate attackers, but women who miscarry.

According to the article, in South Carolina, for example, one man has been charged for assaulting a pregnant woman, while 300 women have been arrested. A law designed to protect pregnant women has been used to attack women who get pregnant, then miscarry.

As this author stated earlier, prosecutors are going after women who use drugs. Even if there’s no connection to their drug use and their miscarriage, they face incarceration. It’s not too much of a leap to go after women who drink, or smoke, or, at some point, to charge an ob-gyn for negligent homicide should the doctor’s patient miscarry.

This nonsense has got to stop. It’s not about protecting life. If it were, these same people would be avidly against the death penalty and war. It’s about controlling others, women especially.

The United States of America is a democracy, not a theocracy. Women, if you like the notion of using the government to control what goes in and out of your vagina, continue to vote Republican. Men, if you like the notion that your wife or your daughters could be jailed for a decade just for having a miscarriage, continue vote Republican.

Or, don’t vote at all. Your silence is also acquiescense.

The Chess table has been set. Which role will you play? Pawn, Bishop, Knight, or Castle? Remember this, though, a Pawn that reaches its goal is transformed.

News Flash – Zygote Files Lawsuit Against In Vitro Fertilization Clinic

Seeking to do in the courts what the Pro-Lifers failed to accomplish in the ballot box, Attorney C. Michael Hunt filed a lawsuit on behalf of Zygote John and/or Jane Doe against the In Vitro Fertilization Clinic in Bethlehem, PA.

According to the Lawsuit, the Zygote has been imprisoned in a testube ever since its egg was fertilized in 1994. Since the Zygote is still a minor, not having existed 18 years, the lawsuit was brought through his and/or her Guardian Ad Litem. The Zygote is seeking damages for false imprisonment, an intentional tort under Pennsylvania law, as well as intentional infliction of emotional distress and violation of its right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, guaranteed under the Declaration of Independence.

“This person is approaching the legal voting age” Hunt said in a prepared statement. “Yet he, or she, has never had the opportunity to go to school, to make friends, to run and play in the grass, or go to church and worship the God who gave him, or her, life.”

John and/or Jane Doe is seeking in excess of $10 million, and a court order granting him, or her, full and complete access to and use of a womb for a period not to exceed nine months.

The Watering Hole, Wednesday, November 9, 2011: CRASH AND BURN!

In the end, it wasn’t even close. As of this writing:

The people chose unions over Republicans: 61% to 39%, with 99% of the vote counted in Ohio.

And Zygotes lost their bid for personhood, 58% to 42%, with 91% of the votes counted in Mississippi.

Of course, the next natural disaster to strike the U.S. will be God’s revenge for these votes. (/snark)

This is, unmistakeably, a clear sign that the Republican Agenda is not being accepted by a vast majority. Which means, of course, that Fox Gnus will spin this as a ratification of all things Republican.

THIS IS OUR OPEN THREAD. TO GET THE DISCUSSIONS GOING: WHAT BALLOT INITIATIVES WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE PUT UP TO A VOTE OF THE PEOPLE?

Amendment 48 – Sarah Palin’s Dream For America

Vote No on Amendment 48

This Anti-Woman, Anti-Choice initiative will be on the Colorado ballot in November. Proponents of this would define a fertilized egg as a “person” in the Colorado constitution in sections 3, 6 and 25 of the Colorado Bill of Rights. The so-called “Personhood Amendment” wants to establish a way to ban all abortion.

It’s offenses are manifold. As Friedman grimly chronicles, this bill is not just anti-abortion, but anti-contraception; it will disproportionately effect young women, women of color, incarcerated women, and low-income women; it advances fetal rights over women’s rights and it misleadingly co-opts feminist language. (The group backing the amendment is called Colorado for Equal Rights.)

Amendment 48 not only bans all abortions in every instance–even in cases of rape or incest, or when the life of the woman is at risk–it also threatens stem cell research and in vitro fertilization, compromises the doctor-patient relationship, and deprives access to common hormonal birth control methods (i.e. the pill and IUD), and to emergency contraception for rape and incest victims.

Femisting.com has also compiled extensive research on this amendment. This is one of the facts they uncovered.

Palin agrees to interview – Slow Slide into Oblivion

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Under pressure for being shielded for questioning, Sarah Palin has a agreed to sit down with Charles Gibson of ABC’s “World News Tonight,” according to an ABC News official. No other interviews are scheduled. It will be the first TV interview for Palin since she was named 10 days ago as running mate to John McCain.Palin had planned to return to Alaska this weekend but is so popular on the stump that she is going to stay out a few more days before returning home. One of her sons deploys to Iraq on Thursday. Palin plans to sit down with Gibson later this week in Alaska, the source said.

The McCain campaign kept her off Sunday shows this weekend and plans to be sparing with high-risk network encounters, which they contend are unimportant to voters despite the media’s fixation on them.

I take it Fox News wasn’t available. The next best thing would be to have Charlie Gibson doing the interview. After all he made a mockery out of the Democratic Debate, good old Charlie showed his true colors that night. Do you think he might question her Patriotism? How about her Pro-Life Extremism? Or maybe, her lack of fiscal responsibility, as Mayor she left her town in millions of dollars of debt? (Some of which can be contributed to Palin remodeling her office three times) I lost my head for a second in wishful thinking; only Keith or Rachel would ask those questions.

The McCain Campaign itself proclaimed no press interviews with Palin until the press were deferential enough. Nobody is more deferential to Right-Wing talking points than Charles Gibson. And it’s pretty clear this farce is going to be close to unwatchable.

“Palin will sit down for multiple interviews with Gibson in Alaska over two days, most likely Thursday and Friday,” said McCain adviser Mark Salter.

Political interviews are never done like this. It makes the questioning entirely at the discretion of the person being interviewed and their handlers. The interviewer has to be on their best behavior, at least until the last of the ‘multiple interviews’ because otherwise the subsequent sittings just won’t happen. For a political journalist to agree to such terms amounts to a form of self-gelding. The only interviews that are done this way are lifestyle and celebrity interviews. And it’s pretty clear that this is what this will be.