Christians Losing "Home-Field" advantage!!!...El Enemigo ya esta adentro!!!...Where to buy if you are a Christian?

Christians Losing 'Home-Field Advantage' as US Reels from Political and Religious Polarization

By John Stonestreet | November 30, 2015 | 12:19 PM EST

A billboard erected by atheists in Oklahoma City reads "Don't believe in God? Join the club." (AP Photo)

Polarization is not just evident in American politics; it’s also evident when it comes to religion. And the two are intensifying.

When it comes to faith, times in America are changing. In fact, in many ways, they’ve already changed. Just ask Ed Stetzer, the executive director of LifeWay Research and my co-host for “BreakPoint This Week.” Commenting on a recent Pew Research Center report, Ed told the Washington Post, “America is undergoing a religious polarization.”

Indeed. According to Pew, “the percentage of adults … who describe themselves as Christians has dropped by nearly eight percentage points in just seven years. And the percentage of Americans who describe themselves as atheist, agnostic or ‘nothing in particular,’ has jumped more than six points.

And on the other hand, we’re seeing an increase of those who are serious about their faith when it comes to spiritual disciplines and activities: higher levels of at least weekly Bible reading, participating in weekly prayer or Bible study groups, sharing faith with others at least weekly. So, as Christianity Today reported, “The rich in faith get richer while the poor get poorer.”

Stetzer sees several implications of this religious polarization. First, he says, Christians no longer have what he calls a “home-field advantage” in American culture.

“For years,” Ed states, “Christians could assume a person with whom they struck up a conversation was probably a fellow believer. If not, the other person would at least share their cultural values. But that is no longer the case. Increasingly, Americans are just as likely to have no faith background, be of another religion or even hold a hostile view of faith. That’s new territory for most Christians.”

Second, Ed says, we “have lost cultural privilege.” Gone are the days when most stores were closed on Sundays, or schools cleared their schedules on Wednesday nights so that families could go to prayer meetings. But Ed says, that’s not all bad. “Historically,” he writes, “Christians have survived—and thrived—as a passionate and convictional minority.”

The third implication, Ed says, it will be easier to tell who is a Christian and who isn’t.  More and more people are facing life without God and without the hope—and they know it. In some ways, that makes the task easier on us. Our mission, Ed reminds us, is “not to moralize the unconverted, but to reach the broken and hurting with a gospel message of hope that changes everything.”

So what can we do to bridge the polarization gap? First, we need to be among those Christians who are sharing the good news with our neighbors. The Lord has planted us in this culture, in our neighborhoods, families, and places of employment, and communities. A great resource to help us confidently reach out to our lost friends and neighbors  is one that we’ve told you about before—“The Sacrament of Evangelism,” by Jerry Root and our own Stan Guthrie. “The Sacrament of Evangelism” helps Christians come alongside hurting people with gospel hope, and encourages them to see Jesus as the answer to their longings—longings that secularism will never satisfy.

Second, we’ve got to get serious about worldview. That’s exactly why the Colson Center and BreakPoint are here. As J. Gresham Machen said more than a hundred years ago, “We may preach with all the fervor of a reformer, and yet succeed only in winning a straggler here and there, if we permit the whole collective thought of the nation or of the world to be controlled by ideas which, by the resistless force of logic, prevent Christianity from being regarded as anything more than a harmless delusion.”

So we cannot underestimate the significance of the world of ideas, and their consequences if we are going to be able to live well in this culture. It’s always been important, but as we’ve gone from what Chuck Colson and Francis Schaeffer called a “post-Christian culture” to what I think we can safely call “a consciously post-Christian culture,” it’s even more important.

Ed Stetzer and I talk more about this study and what we can do as the Church on "BreakPoint This Week." Come to BreakPoint.org, and click on the link for “This Week” to listen.

John Stonestreet is President of The Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview and BreakPoint co-host.

Editor's Note: This piece was originally published by BreakPoint.

El enemigo de la sociedad abierta está dentro

Javier Fernández-Lasquetty

30 / 11 / 2015

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La sociedad abierta occidental tiene a sus enemigos dentro. Puede y debe ir a buscarlos a los remotos desiertos desde los que se les influye y alienta, pero los enemigos viven en los barrios y ciudades que rodean París, Londres, Bruselas, Amsterdam o Barcelona. En lo que llevamos de año ya por dos veces han hecho correr mucha sangre por las calles de París, asesinando a muchos inocentes –todas las víctimas de todos los terrorismos son por definición inocentes-, no por un puro impulso asesino, sino para infundir terror y de este modo someter a todos los occidentales.

Bruce Bawer describió perfectamente en Mientras Europa duerme su estupefacción cuando, al cruzar equivocadamente el puente sobre uno de los canales de Amsterdam, se encontró súbitamente en medio de una ciudad musulmana, regida por la ley islámica y declaradamente enemiga de los valores de la sociedad abierta occidental.

Hay muchos barrios y ciudades en Europa como el bruselense de Molenbeek. Europa ha consentido e incluso ha alentado que millones de personas vivan bajo una ley distinta dentro del territorio europeo. Un poder con fuerza de obligar que no nace del consentimiento, sino del origen étnico o religioso de las personas. El multiculturalismo políticamente correcto ha condenado a millones de musulmanes europeos a vivir sometidos a la sharia, en nombre de un respeto a la diversidad entendido al revés de como es propio de una sociedad fundada en la idea de libertad individual.

Giovanni Sartori lo explicó hace ya casi dos décadas en La sociedad multiétnica. Pluralismo, multiculturalismo y extranjeros, al rechazar el concepto político de multiculturalismo y oponer en su lugar el de pluralismo. En una sociedad pluralista cada persona se comporta como libremente elige, dentro de un marco de reglas jurídicas iguales para todos. Su opuesto, en cambio, confunde el respeto a la diferencia con la admisión de una sociedad escindida en grupos diferentes y enfrentados, a los cuales se les permite autoimponerse normas jurídicas diferentes a las del resto.

Europa tiene ahora el fruto de su debilidad. Ha renunciado a creer en sí misma y en los valores occidentales. Ha permitido que los enemigos de la sociedad abierta, como la describía Karl Popper, adquieran la certeza de que nadie va a salir a defenderse de verdad. La mayoría de los europeos ya ni siquiera creen que haya que defenderse. Ni tampoco quieren ver que el fanatismo que está ante sus ojos y que dispara cuando quiere, es real y no es una exageración episódica de un puñado de lunáticos.

Aux armes, citoyens (A las armas, ciudadanos), dice La Marsellesa. Muchos europeos la han cantado en estas semanas, en reacción a la terrible matanza islamista. Lo malo es que casi nadie en Europa piensa de verdad que su libertad valga tanto la pena como para tomarse el trabajo de defenderla.

© Libertad Digital

Posted in Actualidad, Análisis, Asuntos internacionales, Estudios, Europa, Libertad humana, Opinión, Pensamiento Político, Seguridad, Sociedad civil, Terrorismo

Linda Harvey: Anti-Gay Activists Are Running Out Of Places To Shop!

SUBMITTED BY Brian Tashman on Wednesday, 11/25/2015 1:45 pm

In her WorldNetDaily column yesterday, Mission America’s Linda Harvey lamented that Religious Right activists like herself who boycott pro-LGBT businesses are running out of places to shop.

“Well, it’s that time again — time to get out the Christmas list and start hitting the stores,” she wrote. “The problem is — what stores? For any Christian who wants to spend hard-earned dollars with family-friendly, Christian-affirming retailers, restaurants and service providers, the list is growing shorter all the time.”

Harvey urged readers to avoid stores such as Macy’s, Target, Walmart and JC Penney, along with items from Mattel, Levi-Strauss and General Mills. For online shoppers, Harvey said that Amazon, Google and Facebook should also be off-limits.

Companies that post high scores on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, Harvey wrote, are joining “Satan’s Office Party” and “the nation’s leading self-declared enemies of Christians.”

While this may be difficult, Harvey hopes that LGBT rights opponents remember the risks of adopting “anti-American, pro-deviance legislation” supported by these companies and think “about the grave harm homosexuality is doing to American culture, to our schools, to our freedoms, to our churches.”

For companies go to: 

http://www.faithdrivenconsumer.com/faith_equality_index_company_reviews

- See more at: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/linda-harvey-anti-gay-activists-are-running-out-places-shop#sthash.sb0oBcSY.dpuf

Krugman's Failed love affair!!!...Aborto, Eutanasia, Matrimonio gay...leyes de los Masones!!!...The Globalization of Hate and Indifference!

Paul Krugman’s Love Affair with France

• 

APRIL 27, 2015Louis Rouanet

TAGS Booms and BustsGlobal Economy

In recent years, Paul Krugman has incessantly defended France and its welfare state, even going so far as to pretend that the French economy was in fact in better shape than the British economy.According to him, “To an important extent, what ails France in 2014 is hypochondria, belief that it has illnesses it doesn’t.” However, except for some Keynesian propagandists, nobody believes that the French economy is not deeply in crisis and it is now more and more obvious that Krugman is wrong.

The UK, on the other hand, is growing faster than any other major advanced economy this year. Growth has picked up since the first quarter of 2013 to 2.6 percent in 2014 — a seven fold higher rate than for France — and employment in Britain, both in absolute terms and as a share of the adult population, has never been higher. Even wages, which were constantly depressed after the 2008 crisis, has begun to rise again.

As usual, British politicians took advantage of the British economy’s good performances to make fun of France. Chancellor Mr. Osborne has claimed: “And which county has created more jobs than the whole of France? The great county of Yorkshire,” after the latest UK jobs figures showed employment at a record high. David Cameron recently stated that “Labour will make us as bad as France.” French bashing is almost part of the British culture, it is true, but for now, the UK is indeed in better shape than France.

Fiscal Austerity vs. Spending Austerity

Since 2009, France and the UK have used opposing economic policies. France increased taxes and didn’t decrease government expenditures. The UK, on the other hand, decreased government expenditures but didn’t increase taxes. Between 2010 and 2013, the UK reduced its structural deficit by more than any other advanced economy (4.7 percent of GDP).

If you follow Krugman’s ideas, then this should suggest to you that there was less economic growth in the United Kingdom and more in France. Not very surprisingly, however, the exact opposite happened, and while the French economy stagnates, the UK has mounted an economic recovery.

Public spending in France is now more than eleven points of GDP higher than public spending in the UK. Taxes are also much higher in France and government regulations, particularly in the labor market, are not as problematic in the UK. Thus, it was easier for the structure of production to adapt itself after the crisis in UK than in France.

But while the public sector shrank in the UK, it expanded in France. Therefore, measuring economic progress via GDP — a deeply flawed strategy — underestimates the development of the British economy.

People who are forced to pay for public expenditures via taxation were not expressing actual preferences. Thus, as Dr. Salerno put it: “it is certainly true that a reduction in real government spending causes a reduction in real GDP, as it is officially calculated. But ... the reduction in government spending does not retard the growth of production of goods that satisfy consumer demands and, in fact, most likely accelerates it.”

But even if the French economy is as great as Paul Krugman says it is, why then are so many French leaving their country to cross the English Channel? When you want to know if an economy is thriving look how people vote with their feet. If Krugman had done that, he could have seen that it is mainly the French that are immigrating to London, and not the English to Paris. Indeed, the number of French immigrants in the UK has increased dramatically over the past twenty years. The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, likes to say that he is the mayor of the sixth largest French city in the world. There are now more than 200,000 French immigrants in London alone.

Of course, the UK is far from perfect. Public debt and deficits remain too high and much needs to be done, mainly in the very public British healthcare sector. Indeed, health care public spending is still rising — 4 percent in volume between 2010–2011 and 2014–2015. Moreover, the Bank of England has conducted an expansionary monetary policy which could lead to instability and further crisis. There could be, for example, a new real estate bubble in England in the works.

Krugman’s Data vs. Actual Data

On November 8, 2013, Krugman denounced the S&P decision to downgrade France:

I’m sorry, but I think that when S&P complains about lack of reform, it’s actually complaining that Hollande is raising, not cutting taxes on the wealthy, and in general isn’t free market enough to satisfy the Davos set.

Keep reading and continue to the article

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Serge Abad-Gallardo estuvo en la masonería 24 años

Aborto, eutanasia, matrimonio gay... son leyes «preparadas en las logias», afirma un ex masón

Serge Abad-Gallardo estuvo recientemente en España para promocionar su libro.

Actualizado 28 abril 2015   Carmelo López-Arias / Aleteia

Muchas personas abandonan la masonería, pero muy pocas lo cuentan. Es el caso de Serge Abad-Gallardo, arquitecto francés que tiene ahora 60 años y pasó 24 como miembro de una de las obediencias más importantes de Francia, Derecho Humano. Su libro Por qué dejé de ser masón (LibrosLibres), publicado ahora en español, relata su apasionante experiencia. Tras su conversión al cristianismo (estaba bautizado, pero alejado de la Iglesia), percibió la incompatibilidad entre la religión católica y la ideología masónica y decidió irse. El proceso de vuelta a la fe resultó largo. -¿Por qué ingresó en la masonería? -Tenía la edad y la situación social ideales para la masonería: tenía 33 años y era alto funcionario municipal como director de urbanismo. Estaba alejado de la Iglesia y mi fe era bastante tibia. Un amigo que yo no sabía que era masón me propuso entrar. Me atrajo la curiosidad por los secretos que la masonería dice tener. -¿Cuándo empezó a ver o saber cosas que le desagradaban? -Al principio algunas palabras del ritual masónico (Rito Escocés Antiguo y Aceptado) me sugirieron una relación entre la masonería y la Iglesia. Por ejemplo, en la iniciación hay frases como “busca y encontrarás” o “llama y se te abrirá” que se encuentran en los Evangelios. Pero poco a poco me di cuenta de que su sentido no era el mismo. También escuché expresiones muy anticlericales. Eso no me gustó, pero me adapté, porque yo me encontraba lejos de la Iglesia. Además, en la masonería se hablaba mucho de fraternidad, pero me di cuenta de que detrás de esa “fraternidad” se encontraban algunos “arreglos” y luchas por el poder dentro de la misma masonería. Por último, cuando volví a la fe, comprendí las incompatibilidades entre el catolicismo y la masonería. -¿Cómo fue ese proceso de conversión? -¡Duró unos 9 años! Creo que Dios me dejó pasar tanto tiempo en el error de la masonería (24 años, hasta ser venerable maestro e ingresar en los altos grados) para que hoy ningún masón pueda decirme –como algunos lo han intentado, con mucha mala fe- que no comprendí nada. Pasé por varios estadios. Primero, como explico en el libro, tuve conciencia de la presencia de Cristo a mi lado. Esto empezó en 2002, cuando conocí a un padre franciscano cerca de Aix-en-Provence. Sus palabras al principio me parecieron masónicas y me gustaron porque pensaba que había una relación entre masonería y catolicismo, pero a medida que le iba escuchando comprendí que el sentido de esas palabras era fundamentalmente distinto. -¿Por ejemplo? -Cuando la masonería habla de “Luz”, habla de un “Conocimiento”, un saber esotérico, hermético y oculto. Mientras que aquel franciscano me hablaba de “Luz” como el amor de Dios por nosotros. Otro ejemplo: cuando la masonería dice “busca y encontrarás”, se trata de buscar por uno mismo y encontrar en uno mismo, es la palabra hermética masónica “V.I.T.R.I.O.L.” (Visita Interiorem Terrae Rectificando Invenies Occultum Lapidem: Visita el interior de la tierra y rectificando encontrarás la piedra oculta). Pero las palabras del Evangelio no significan nada de eso: significan que Dios nos busca antes incluso de que nosotros pensemos en buscarle a Él. Es Dios quien da el Amor al hombre, más que al revés. El amor del hombre es una imagen del Amor de Dios, Dios nos ha hecho a su imagen. ¡Todo esto no tiene nada que ver con la magia, el ocultismo o fórmulas simbólicas! Salí de este encuentro con el franciscano totalmente conmovido, y sentí la presencia de Cristo a mi lado. No podía imaginar que Él me amaba con ese Amor inmenso que ahora sí sentía. No hay palabras para expresarlo. -Pero aún no se convirtió del todo… -Empecé de nuevo a rezar, aunque no a ir a misa. Un día de 2005, en una época mala de mi vida, estaba en la capilla cuando Cristo me contestó. Fue una experiencia tremenda, casi me caigo del banco. Aun así, seguía resistiendo y no comprendía lo que Cristo esperaba de mí. -¿Qué pasó después? -En 2012 experimenté lo que podríamos llamar “el Mal”. Me encontré de frente a lo más negro del alma humana y ante la presencia del diablo en nuestras vidas con embrujos y magia. Puede parecer increíble, pero no tengo más remedio que contar las cosas como pasaron. El mundo se cerró para mí. En unos meses perdí mi empleo, mi buen sueldo, el chalet donde vivíamos, mi velero de doce metros, mi coche deportivo, mis amigos… Me sentía totalmente perdido y no hallaba respuestas en la masonería, que no podía contestar a la pregunta de por qué existe el mal en el mundo. Se me ocurrió pasar unos días de retiro en la abadía de Lagrasse, y allí, ante Cristo en la cruz, me puse a llorar y me di cuenta de que aquel Cristo lloraba conmigo. Ese amor fue como una luz. Pasé una semana con los monjes, y mi corazón se abrió ya totalmente al Amor de Cristo. Continue con el Articulo y el video The Globalization of Indifference and Violence Posted on Monday, April 27th, 2015 at 17:09. Written by Vox Cervi 1 Ever since the beginning of his papacy, Pope Francis has spoken out against the culture of “global indifference” that reigns in many of our societies. He has addressed the issue within the context of a wide variety of problems facing us today, for example the unspeakable drama of boat refugees crossing the Mediterranean and the untold numbers dying when trying to reach the shores of Europe in search of a better life. In his Lenten message the Holy Father commented: As long as I am relatively healthy and comfortable, I don’t think about those less well off. Today, this selfish attitude of indifference has taken on global proportions, to the extent that we can speak of a globalization of indifference. It is a problem which we, as Christians, need to confront. This is a problem we as Christians indeed must confront, because this indifference not only leads to loneliness and despair of those ignored, it also leads to new waves of violence coming out of our very own societies that claim to be peaceful, tolerant and democratic. The following example illustrates this point: the weekly newspaper “The Economist” reports in its April 18th-24th, 2015 issue that the top nine countries from which jihadists flow to Iraq and Syria are west European. What does this tell us about our Western societies? Despite the freedom and prosperity enjoyed by those in Europe, many thousands of young men and women from Europe are flocking eagerly to the Middle East to participate in ideologically inspired acts of hatred and brutal violence. Why do these young men and women choose violence and death over a relatively comfortable life in prosperous Europe, where mainstream society promises them instant pleasure and material bliss with the latest smartphone and a cradle to grave social welfare state? Aside from the many useful explanations sociologists and politicians may give us about radicalization of certain youths, there is a much more profound cause at work here, which is the institutionalization of indifference towards the good, the true and the beautiful. When a society and its laws become dependent on mere feelings, opinions and preferences, rather than the pursuit of what is right and the avoidance of what is wrong, emptiness and desperation are the logical consequences. This is the problem we Christians in Europe and other Western nations need to confront. We need to win back our youth for Christ, who is the way, the truth and the life. We cannot win young men and women back to Christ merely by doing good deeds, by being nice people, or by staying within the walls of our parishes and communities. It is important, but it is far too little. We need to go out, leave our comfort zones, and follow the Gospel call to “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” (Matthew 28, 20). We need to speak about the love of God the Father, in private and in public, and we need to show and proclaim at every suitable occasion that living a life in Christ is good, and beautiful, and true – even if at times quite a challenge (but we all know that noting truly good and lasting comes easy). As Pope Francis says, we should not be afraid of being rejected but rather be assured that God’s love will redeem the world: God is not indifferent to our world; he so loves it that he gave his Son for our salvation. In the Incarnation, in the earthly life, death, and resurrection of the Son of God, the gate between God and man, between heaven and earth, opens once for all. The Church is like the hand holding open this gate, thanks to her proclamation of God’s word, her celebration of the sacraments and her witness of the faith which works through love (cf. Gal 5:6). But the world tends to withdraw into itself and shut that door through which God comes into the world and the world comes to him. Hence the hand, which is the Church, must never be surprised if it is rejected, crushed and wounded. He then concludes this thought by reminding us that “God’s people, then, need this interior renewal, lest we become indifferent and withdraw into ourselves”. When we Christians withdraw into ourselves and become indifferent to what happens in the world, we risk becoming silent bystanders of the many grave injustices that take place around us every day, near and far. Many courageous Christians are giving the example by their initiatives to spread the Gospel and do good around the world, others even by their martyrdom. But so much more witness is needed, especially to turn the ever growing tide of institutionalized indifference towards the sanctity of life; whether it be the life of the unborn, the elderly, the refugees or fellow human beings professing a different faith. Christ died on the Cross and rose from the dead out of love for every human being to be redeemed and to live. The makers of this video show how radical Christ’s love – and thus ours – needs to be.

Christians Martyrs because of Islamist Extremism, Why?....25% of women seeking abortions were abused...Luchar contra la Pobreza: Trabajo y Matrimonio!!!

Report: Number of 'Martyred' Christians Nearly Doubled in 2013

by AWR Hawkins 8 Jan 2014

A report from the non-denominational group Open Doors says the number of Christians martyred around the world for their faith nearly doubled in 2013.

The report documents 2,123 Christians killed for their faith in 2013 versus 1,201 killed in 2012.
Details, carried in Reuters, show that over half the deaths took place Syria alone. However, because many of those deaths are due to heightened tensions from the civil war, Open Doors ranked "North Korea at the top of its list of 50 most dangerous countries for Christians. " The next four most dangerous were "Somalia, Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan."

Open Doors' France's Michael Varton said ongoing conflicts and wars that pit Islamists against others--as in Syria--are especially dangerous for Christians. The report says, "Islamist extremism is the worst persecutor of the church worldwide."

The report makes clear that in North Korea the issue isn't always the number of Christians killed but the number held as political prisoners for their faith. Open Doors estimates "50,000 to 70,000 [Christians] lived in political prison camps."

One-quarter of all women seeking an abortion were abused, new study finds

by Ben Johnson

• Wed Jan 08, 2014 13:56 EST

Updated at 3 p.m. EST to include remarks from Dr. David Reardon.
LONDON, January 8, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – One out of every four women who seeks an abortion has been a victim of abuse, according to a new meta-analysis.

 

 

In the study, which was published online yesterday in the peer-reviewed open access journal PLOS Medicine, the researchers found that intimate partner violence (IPV) is associated with higher abortion rates and repeat abortions.

The meta-analysis, which examined 74 studies of women around the world, found that between 2.5 and 30 percent of abused women have had an abortion within the last year. That rates soars to between 14 and 40 percent over a lifetime.

Physical, mental, psychological or sexual abuse – as well as “coerced decision-making” – were linked to higher abortion rates and repeat abortions. The authors refer to multiple studies over the last decade, including a 2005 report that found women were 10 times more likely to abort a planned pregnancy. Studies showed between two and 18 percent of women said they felt coerced to have the abortion.
Post-abortion women have testified that they were forced to abort by parents, boyfriends, ex-boyfriends, husbands, abusers, even policemen.

“These findings reinforce the broad consensus that there is a significant relationship between induced abortion and violence against women,” Dr. Jacqueline C. Harvey of the Reproductive Research Audit (RRA) told LifeSiteNews.com. This “suggests that for many women, the choice to have an abortion is not made freely, but from fear,” said Harvey, who testified about the issue before the Texas legislature last July.
Cheryl Sullenger, senior policy analyst at Operation Rescue, told LifeSiteNews the survey confirms her own observations. “The most dangerous time for women is during pregnancy when they are at risk of increased domestic violence attacks, especially if their partners want them to have an abortion against their will,” she said.

Even the National Organization for Women has recognized that murder is the leading cause of death for pregnant women.

Dr. David Reardon, director of The Elliot Institute, which produced a 21-page report on forced abortions in 2004, explained the psychology of the abusers to LifeSiteNews. “In most cases of abuse, these are not men who want to have children,” he said. “They see the pregnancy as threat to their freedom and control and domination, being the focus of the woman's affections, so they see the child as a threat to themselves.”
The forced abortions can lead to a vicious circle of abuse, he warned. “As a result of an increased guilt, anger, rage, and other issues that they face, women who had abortions can become more self-destructive, so they may seek out abusive relationships as a form of self-punishment,” he said.

Because of this high rate, abortionists “should consider the possibility that women seeking termination of pregnancy may be experiencing intimate partner violence,” the study's five authors wrote.
Harvey said, “The take away from this meta-analysis is the cry for help – the willingness and desire these women have to escape violent relationships and the need for clinics to put patients over profits and help these women at risk, rather than merely taking their money and returning them to their abusers.”

Click "like" if you want to end abortion! 


Susan Bewley, a consultant obstetrician at King's College in London and one of the study's authors, found that abortion-minded women "welcomed the opportunity to disclose their experiences ... and to be offered help." She even suggested that abortion facilities "represent an appropriate setting in which to test interventions designed to reduce intimate partner violence."

But pro-lifers did not hold out any hope that the billion-dollar abortion industry will change its ways.
“If anyone thinks that abortionists might be willing to intervene on behalf of these women, they are sadly mistaken,” Sullenger said. “Abortionists are more likely to cover up for the abusers, as long as they can get paid for the abortion.”

Instead, the abortion industry has a history of fighting and then ignoring laws requiring abortionists to report abuse. As of January 1, Dr. Ulrich George Klopfer had to shut down his abortion facility in Indiana after failing to report the potential statutory rape of minor girls to state officials under the terms of the law. Undercover investigations have shown abortion workers telling minors how to cover up for their abusers.
Sometimes abortionists themselves are the perpetrators. In 2003, a jury convicted Arizona abortionist Brian Finkel of 24 counts of sexual abuse. Abortion employees from California to Michigan, from Oregon to Pennsylvania, and from England to Ghana have been convicted or accused of sexually abusing women during the abortion procedure.

“This kind of violence against women is an unfortunate consequence of abortion on demand,” Sullenger told LifeSiteNews. “It ironically robs many abused women of their 'choice' to keep their babies, and perhaps that is why domestic violence against pregnant women seems to be a low priority for the 'abortion-rights' movement.”

Cómo luchar contra la pobreza – y vencerla

Jennifer A. Marshall

Cuando el presidente Johnson inició la “Guerra contra la Pobreza” el 8 de enero de 1964, prometió “no sólo aliviar los síntomas de la pobreza, sino curarla y, sobre todo, prevenirla”. Por desgracia, el medio siglo de legado de la “Gran Sociedad” de Johnson no ha estado a la altura de ese noble objetivo.

La “Guerra contra la Pobreza” no le ha hecho justicia a los pobres. Nuestra responsabilidad con el prójimo en situación de necesidad exige más: corregir la dirección de las normativas púbicas y un compromiso por parte de cada uno de nosotros para hacer lo que podamos en nuestras propias comunidades.

A pesar de gastar cerca de $20 billones desde que empezó la “Guerra contra la Pobreza”, el índice de pobreza sigue estando hoy en día casi tan alto como a mediados de los 60. En la actualidad, el gobierno gasta anualmente cerca de $1 billón en 80 programas federales de ayuda según ingresos que proporcionan dinero, alimentos, vivienda, atención médica y servicios sociales enfocados en los americanos pobres y con bajos ingresos. Pero evidentemente, los responsables políticos no se pueden esconder detrás de montones de programas y miles de millones en gasto y afirmar que han cumplido con sus obligaciones con los pobres. Las buenas intenciones no bastan.

Necesitamos cambiar el carácter de las ayudas públicas. Eso significa modificar el objetivo de los incentivos de los programas federales de asistencia social. “A veces esos incentivos fomentan la dependencia, incluso durante generaciones”, indicó Robert L. Woodson, fundador y presidente del Centro Neighborhood Enterprise, en su testimonio del año pasado ante el Comité de Presupuesto del Senado. Woodson conoce de primera mano los efectos de estos programas, ya que trabaja con responsables comunitarios de todo el país con el objetivo de facultar a quienes están en situación de necesidad para que puedan vencer a la adversidad.

Por otro lado, el tipo correcto de incentivos puede “ayudar a la gente para que adquiera responsabilidades personales y persiga sus sueños”, observa Woodson. Transformar esos incentivos para fomentar la responsabilidad personal tiene un efecto espectacular: después de que la reforma de la asistencia social de 1996 comenzara a exigir que los beneficiarios trabajasen o se preparasen para trabajar, el número de inscritos en la asistencia social cayó a menos de la mitad, mientras que los índices de pobreza entre madres solteras y niños negros cayeron hasta mínimos históricos. Pero aquella reforma modificó los incentivos de solo uno de los más de 80 programas federales de asistencia social.

Como concluye Woodson:
 
De modo que si queremos ayudar a quienes están en situación de necesidad, tenemos que preguntarnos: ¿El enfoque que estamos adoptando para paliar la pobreza, por lo que lo llamamos red de seguridad, está ayudando realmente o está siendo perjudicial esta mano amiga?

Además de promover el trabajo, cualquier iniciativa seria en nombre de quienes están en situación de necesidad debe tomarse en serio el restablecer el matrimonio como la mejor arma de Estados Unidos contra la pobreza infantil. Los hijos nacidos y criados fuera del matrimonio tienen más de cinco veces más probabilidades de sufrir la pobreza que sus coetáneos criados en familias intactas.

Cuando comenzó la “Guerra contra la Pobreza”, el 8% de los niños de Estados Unidos nacía fuera del matrimonio. Desde mediados de los años 60, el fenómeno de tener hijos sin estar casados se ha disparado hasta más del 40% de todos los nacimientos; y desde el 25% hasta el 73% en el caso de los niños negros. Recuerde, un niño nacido y criado fuera del matrimonio tiene más de cinco veces más probabilidades de sufrir la pobreza que un niño criado en una familia intacta.

Volver a forjar una cultura del matrimonio necesita una reforma normativa con el fin de reducir las penalizaciones que sufre el matrimonio en los programas de asistencia social. También exige un tipo de restablecimiento de las relaciones que debe ocurrir a nivel personal, mediante la labor de las iglesias y de iniciativas comunitarias como “First Things First”, en Chattanooga, TN, que forja las habilidades necesarias para una relación. Estas y otras iniciativas para vencer la pobreza deberían hacer que nos involucráramos personalmente en el empeño de ayudar a restaurar vidas, familias y comunidades.

Fomentar el trabajo y restablecer el matrimonio “serían un mejor plan de batalla para erradicar la pobreza de Estados Unidos que gastar más dinero en programas fallidos”, comenta el investigador sénior de la Fundación Heritage Robert Rector en el Wall Street Journal de hoy, “Y ayudaría a alcanzar el objetivo de Lyndon B. Johnson de ‘sustituir su desesperación por la oportunidad’”.