News

2019 march for life 2

So often when the media covers pro-life issues, if it does at all, it does so in a negative light.  It did that again at the recent March for Life in Washington DC, where over 100,000 (and 50,000 in Paris) stood for life from conception. How spectacularly their agenda backfired.

tweets
At least 100,000 people marched in Washington, and perhaps over 200,000 marched across the country.

In case you missed the biggest story of the week, the media pushed the line that Catholic school students had harassed and mocked a Native American Indian at the annual pro-life protest.  That is, until its cozy narrative was destroyed.  As LifeSiteNews reported:

The original video showed the man, “indigenous peoples” activist Nathan Phillips, beating a drum and singing while students in Trump’s iconic red “Make America Great Again” hats laughed and hollered around him, with one student in particular grinning inches from the man’s face. But additional video and firsthand accounts soon revealed Phillips was the one who waded into the group waiting for its bus and decided to beat a drum inches from Nick Sandmann’s face, and other adults who accompanied Phillips shouted taunts like “white people, go back to Europe” at the kids.

Breitbart News highlighted how distorted the media’s coverage was of the pro-life event:

the major networks devoted 19 minutes to coverage of false accusations of racism against the Covington Catholic teens attending the March for Life, in contrast with only 58 seconds spent on the actual annual pro-life event.

Is it any wonder then that the media is losing credibility with the public?

One lawyer one was so incensed by the smearing of the students that he offered his services for free to sue a journalist for defamation.

He wasn’t the only one outraged.  President Donald Trump put out a tweet condemning the media for the disgraceful attack on the students:

Nick Sandmann and the students of Covington have become symbols of Fake News and how evil it can be. They have captivated the attention of the world, and I know they will use it for the good - maybe even to bring people together. It started off unpleasant, but can end in a dream!

But he didn’t stop there. The President has also invited the school students to the White House.

The hate that was whipped up by the media was so great that the school will remain closed until police say it is safe for students to return to class.

It’s a reminder that the world is as hostile an environment as ever for Christians. 

aus day

By David d'Lima

Dear friends, I invite you to use the following eight prayer points suitable for family devotions or church prayers ahead of Australia Day.

1. Almighty God and sovereign of the nations, we pray that the people of Australia will turn in faith to receive Christ as Saviour and Lord. 

2. We pray for Queen Elizabeth, and for her representative the Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove, and for the six State Governors as they supervise the civic system.

3. We pray for the High Court Chief Justice Susan Kiefel as she gives leadership to help the Court interpret the Constitution and the statutes of the nation.

4. Our Father, be with the Prime Minister Scott Morrison as he advises the Crown, chairs Federal Cabinet, supervises the ministry, and represents the Government.

5. Lord God, guide and bless the Members and  Senators in the remaining several weeks of the 45th Federal Parliament. Be with Bill Shorten as he leads the Opposition to scrutinise Government.

6. We pray for General David Hurley as he prepares to take up duties as Australia’s 27th Governor-General.

7. Lord bless the work of the federal government as it provides a fathering project to run in schools, designed to help dads take greater responsibility.

8. We pray for citizenship candidates as they make their pledges of loyalty on Australia Day, that they would truly share Australia’s democratic beliefs, respect it rights and liberties, and obey its laws.

9. We pray the community will utilise Australia Day for the promotion of harmony that builds upon our indigenous, migrant and Christian heritage, as a means of securing a peace and prosperity for all.

10. As the Federal Parliament considers the competing demands of individual rights and the common good, we pray that the historic freedoms of faith, association, contract and speech would be preserved.

Finally, here are a few salient questions about the Australian Flag that may stimulate family discussion ahead of Australia Day.

1. How many Christian crosses are on the Australian flag?

2. How many stars are on the flag?

3. How many points are on the flag’s largest star?

4. Beginning with the letter “F” or “C”, what is the name of the largest star on the Australian Flag?

5. Why was that star enlarged by one point in 1908?

6. What was the name of the snake lifted up by Moses on a pole, prefiguring Christ on the cross? (See John 3:14-15; Numbers 21:8; 2 Kings 18:4).

7. On which two days each year should the flag be flown at half-mast?

8. Which of the United States of America features the Union Jack?

9. According to Number 2:1-2, each Israelite man was instructed to camp under which two vexillological emblems?

10. Centred around the Tent of Meeting, what shape was formed by the twelve tribes as they encamped, according to Numbers 2?

To further explore the Christian concepts underlying Australia’s Star-Crossed Federal Blue Banner, I encourage you to view a short article entitled “Flying the Australian Flag” and also to print copies of a worksheet that enables family members to work together cutting and assembling the deconstructed elements of the flag. The worksheet would also be an excellent children’s resource to use in services on the Australia Day long weekend.

The worksheet and essay are on our website.

Aldi

German supermarket giant Aldi has been slammed for pushing political correctness.

In a super PC move, Aldi has painted over the dress on a car parking figure in case it risked offending “gender neutral” persons.

Ema Taylor, who noticed the change at a UK Aldi store, said:

“It's ridiculous. It's gone from being a stick woman to now being a superhero, it's a bit laughable.

“Mums do actually have to give birth to these children so I think I've earned my right to have a picture of me painted in the mother and baby parking space.

“With everything going on in the world who has time to care about a sign on the floor? There's so much more important stuff going on in the world than to be concerned with this kind of thing,”, said Taylor.

Aldi responded to the incident by stating that: “All parent and child car parking spaces at Aldi stores are gender-neutral. This sign was painted incorrectly and will be changed.”

pastor

Over 250 Dutch pastors and church leaders are being threatened with criminal prosecution for signing a statement.

Their supposed crime? Signing The Nashville Statement, a document which endorses a biblical view of human sexuality and contains comments such as the following:

WE AFFIRM that God has designed marriage to be a covenantal, sexual, procreative, lifelong union of one man and one woman, as husband and wife, and is meant to signify the covenant love between Christ and his bride the church.

Denny Burk, Professor of Biblical Studies at Boyce College, wrote that:

Even though they simply meant to reaffirm what Christianity has always taught for its entire 2,000-year history, the statement has been met with fierce opposition in the Netherlands.

Over the last several days, the public outcry against these leaders for their Christian convictions has been ferocious. Politicians and celebrities have publicly denounced them. The Hague, which is recognized as the international center for law and justice, flew a rainbow flag in protest of the Nashville Statement. And now, the country’s public prosecution service is “examining the statement to see if there [is] any basis for a criminal investigation,” according to a Dutch news site. The news report cites Article 1 of the Dutch constitution as possible grounds for the investigation, which states that “discrimination on the grounds of religion, belief, political opinion, race or sex or on any other grounds whatsoever shall not be permitted.”

Cultural Marxists are becoming increasingly hostile towards those who dare to dissent from the LGBT agenda.

It’s important that we make a strong stand in Australia and ensure this doesn’t happen here.

gillette

By Darryl Budge and Caleb Stephen, FamilyVoice Australia

Proctor and Gamble is under fire for a Gillette ad pushing men to shave their “toxic masculinity”. The ad depicts men getting into fights, standing in front of barbecue grills, and verbally harassing women. The ad, dubbed “We Believe” also heavily features news clips discussing the recent #MeToo movement.

The once popular razor blade maker has hemorrhaged market share in recent years.

A decade ago, Gillette controlled about 70 percent of the U.S. market. However, last year, its market share dropped to below 50 percent, according to Euromonitor.

In an effort to salvage its plunging popularity, Gillette has jumped on board the #MeToo movement. However it makes unproven assumptions about what is going wrong. It assumes men are present and are guiding the lives of young men who commit crimes and who act in a sexist manner.

Today’s men are being raised by the sexist, pro-exploitation porn culture of Hollywood, which, through #MeToo, has tried to virtue signal away its unchanged on-screen ethics.

Many people are finding the ad offensive, as it paints with too broad a brush.

Certainly, when men (or women) do wrong, such behaviour should be called out.

But while it shows some men responding positively to misbehaviour, the ad comes off as a smear against all men, because it blames masculinity itself as toxic rather than asking what selfish men are imitating.

The lack of present or interested fathers, plus male teachers vanishing from schools, produces ever increasing aimlessness of each new generation of men.

Society must also ask itself why so many children are being raised in fatherless households. That is a problem created by men and women – since “it takes two to tango”.

Wider society must re-assert the value of commitment, as it is not only razors which have become disposable. Marriage and family are now routinely trashed.

What does a real man do? God our Father tells those who are courageous enough to humbly listen.

Boys and men need courageous and sacrificial masculinity – what super hero cartoons are based on –  the selfless love of Jesus, God the Son, who gave up His life for a lost humanity. In the New Testament men are instructed to lay down their life for others, especially their wives.

It is not surprising that the ad was ridiculed by disgusted customers who say they will no longer buy Gillette products.

Men must return to the image God made us to be: like Jesus, full of grace and truth, compassion and conviction. We are to be meek with bold strength under self-control, He says in Matthew 5.

Only Jesus can produce that kind of strength in us. We need Him.

Toxic masculinity isn’t the problem. Lack of masculinity is.

Darryl Budge (B.A. Justice Studies) serves as FamilyVoice's Western Australia Director. He has written in Christian media for 14 years, helping God’s church reach out through real life stories.  He also leads the Communications Team developing publications and responses to issues that arise in the nation.

Caleb Stephen manages the Digital Communications department of FamilyVoice Australia. With nearly a decade of experience in grassroots political activism, undercover journalism and news editing, Caleb is passionate about enabling young Christians to be an unashamed voice for change.