by Fred Jackson and Jim Brown
(AgapePress) – The head of the Senate Armed Services Committee is urging Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to suspend the Army’s plan to hand out black berets to every soldier.
The Black Beret controversy is continuing on two fronts. The fact that the Pentagon contracted the work of making the berets to foreign factories — including some in communist China — has more than raised the eyebrows of many conservatives. They regard the deal as something akin to selling out to the enemy.
But there is also the aspect that by giving the black beret to every member of the Army, the military is watering down the special significance of the headgear. For years, it has been a symbol of being a member of the Rangers, a specialized airborne contingent.
Last week, three former Rangers completed a 750-mile march from Fort Benning, Georgia, home of the 75th Ranger Regiment, to Washington, D.C. On Saturday, the three former Rangers and about 200 other protesters held a rally at the Lincoln Memorial.
Senator John Warner chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee. He wants Rumsfeld to put a hold on the beret order until the Bush Administration fully reviews the decision. In a letter to Rumsfeld, Warner says he believes there is “sufficient evidence that many active duty and many Army alumni are concerned that this proposed change of headgear will lessen the historic recognition of a special professional qualification.”
The Washington Times reports Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott said much the same thing in a similar letter to Rumsfeld late last week.
However, it is expected the Army’s Chief of Staff, General Eric Shinseki, will argue the plan is too far down the road to cancel.
(This update courtesy of Agape Press.)
Brownback Reacts to Stem Cell Research Results
by Fred Jackson and Jody Brown
(AgapePress) – Republican Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas is expressing grave concern over the results of the first human testing of treating Parkinson's patients with stem cells taken from aborted babies.
Last week, the New York Times reported that in 15% of the cases, the patients responded by displaying a greater loss of control over their bodies. One of the researchers, who afterwards stated no more fetal transplants should be done, used words like “tragic” and “catastrophic” to describe what happened. The researchers' results were published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Brownback says these results ought to cause great concern within the scientific community.
“We've just bolted into this one without all of the normal rigors that we would do through a procedure,” Brownback said. “I would hope this study would cause people great pause, regardless of the ethical issue which I think is significant, but that they would say, 'This is untested … we don't know where this thing is heading to.'”
Brownback says instead of using stem cells from aborted babies, researchers should be focusing their attention on stem cells taken from healthy adults. Brownback made his comments on AFA Report, a daily program on American Family Radio.
In the human testing cited in the Journal's report, a random group of patients in the 40 recruited for the research were injected with the stem cells. Researchers were unable to selectively “turn off” the reactions to the injections.
Parents, Teachers Condemning National PTA for Promoting Pro-Homosexual Video
by Rusty Pugh
(AgapePress) – A pro-family expert says the National Parent Teacher Association continues to draw criticism for its promotion of the homosexual lifestyle.
Ed Vitagliano, Director of Research for the American Family Association, says the National PTA has been under fire since it was reported that the group endorsed a film promoting the homosexual lifestyle. He says the organization is receiving calls from angry parents and teachers who want to know why the group supports and promotes the Debra Chasnoff film That’s a Family!
According to Vitagliano, the video “… says that same-sex couples are the same as married couples, and that same-sex couples with children are the same as a mom and a dad with kids, and in essence are a family.”
“[PTA representatives] are basically going into a mode of denial and … contradicting the statements made by their president and telling people that they are not promoting homosexuality,” he says, “when, in effect, they are offering the video That’s a Family! to anyone who gets their resource catalog.”
Vitagliano says those at the national level make all the decisions for the PTA, giving local chapters no control or input into policies or practices. He advises any community that disagrees with the PTA to form a parallel parent/teacher group on a local level.
Texas Seminary Sues State for Attempt to Regulate Religious Curriculum
by Allie Martin
(AgapePress) – A legal battle in Texas could decide whether that state has the constitutional right to control the religious curriculum of seminaries.
The Rockdale-based Institute for Teaching God’s Word filed suit against the state, claiming the state has no authority to regulate religious curriculum. Dan Castro is the seminary’s attorney. He says the state is wrong to want to control religious curriculum of seminaries and also determine which seminaries are allowed to issue theological degrees.
“In order to receive a certificate of operating authority from the state, you have to teach math, science, and literature. In other words, you have to follow the state-mandated curriculum,” Castro says. “Of course, it’s a problem when it comes to seminaries, because seminaries don’t exist for that purpose. They exist for the purpose of teaching the Bible and theological doctrines.”
The state fined the school $15,000 for issuing theological degrees without approval, and $3,000 for using the term “seminary.”
Castro says that according to the U.S. Constitution, the state is clearly prohibited from being involved in the administration of a religious organization.
In a similar case, a judge ruled against another Texas seminary after the state fined the school $170,000 for issuing 34 theological degrees without approval from the state.
