Current Events

Faith-Based Programs Help Inmates Succeed outside Prison Walls

Alabama Governor Bob Riley is asking churches and charitable organizations to help newly released inmates avoid a return trip to their prison cells. The program, called the Community Partnership for Recovery and Re-entry, is voluntary and will receive no state funding. Mark Earley, president and chief executive officer of Prison Fellowship, told Family News in Focus that half of all inmates return to life behind bars, but faith-based programs help reduce the number. “The men who graduate from our program only return to prison after two years at a rate of 8 percent,” Earley said. “In a study that was done by the University of Pennsylvania, it was two and one-half times better than the closest secular program.”

Washington School Respects Students’ Right to Pray

A Washington school will acknowledge students’ constitutional rights to meet on campus for religious purposes during noninstructional time, thanks to a lawsuit filed by the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF). East Valley High School officials had prohibited students from meeting for prayer and discussion in a room available for student-led gatherings.

“Christian students shouldn’t be discriminated against for their beliefs on any public high school campus,” ADF counsel David Cortman said. “The East Valley School District should be commended for agreeing to respect the constitutional rights of Christian students to meet together as other students are allowed to do.”

Tennessee Court Upholds Religious Liberties

A Tennessee court has refused to cave in to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) which had sought to ban religious expression at a Nashville public school. The ACLU sued Wilson County public schools, claiming they violated the constitution by allowing student prayer events, National Day of Prayer observances, and the celebration of religious holidays. The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) represented parents. “The court acknowledges that Christians cannot be discriminated against for their beliefs and that personal prayer, mentions of God, and Christmas references are constitutionally appropriate in school,” Senior Counsel Nate Kellum said. “The ACLU hoped to wipe out every reference to God.”

Wisconsin Court Upholds Marriage Amendment

On Friday May 30, 2008, a Wisconsin court upheld that state s marriage amendment which defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman. A state resident had challenged the constitutionality of the amendment which received support from 59 percent of voters in 2006. The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) filed a friend of the court brief with Dane County Court in defense of the amendment. “The government should promote and encourage strong families,” ADF Senior Counsel Austin R. Nimocks said. “The Wisconsin marriage amendment does that. Thankfully, political interests were not allowed to trump the voice of the people of Wisconsin and the interests of families.”

(The above articles were provided through CitizenLink.)

Switzerland Center Helps Nearly Nine Hundred People Kill Themselves

Switzerland’s suicide center Dignitas reported that it has helped 868 people kill themselves since it opened ten years ago, as stated in CitizenLink. In the last two years, 335 people killed themselves—85 percent of them foreigners. Swiss law allows agencies to assist with suicides for “honorable reasons,” but they cannot profit from the deaths. However, Dignitas admits to charging clients nearly $10,000 in addition to a membership fee. “It is imperative that countries support suicide prevention strategies for their most vulnerable citizens,” Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition-Canada, wrote on his blog. “We must recognize that a caring society protects its vulnerable citizens at their greatest time of need.”

Canada’s Abortion Rates Drop

The number of abortions performed in Canada in 2005 dropped by 3.2 percent compared to a year earlier, with most of that decline occurring among women under the age of twenty, Statistics Canada reported recently. In all, 96,815 unborn children were aborted in 2005, down from 100,039 in 2004.

While the abortion rate stayed the same among women aged thirty-five to thirty-nine, it fell among every other age group, especially among teenagers. In their case, the rate in 2005 stood at thirteen abortions for every 1,000 women under twenty, down from 13.8 in 2004. Canada’s teen abortion rate has been dropping since 1996 when it peaked at 18.9. Even so, women aged twenty to twenty-four continue to be the ones most likely to opt for an abortion, accounting for 31 percent of all women who had an abortion in 2005. That translates into an abortion rate of twenty-eight per 1,000 women for that age category. Pregnancy rates for teens have also been declining and have shown a steady decrease over the past twenty-five years.

— R.V.S.

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