News Stories You May Not Have Heard

Here are some news stories that you may or may not have heard, but I'm sure you'll find interesting or appalling. Take your pick.

GOP Rep Says “Killing a Couple” of Democrats Only Way To Pass Ryan Budget 

OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma congressman apologized on Friday for suggesting that "killing a couple" of U.S. senators may be the only way to get a budget passed through Congress.U.S. Rep. John Sullivan made the comments Wednesday during a town hall meeting in Bixby. When asked about federal spending, the Tulsa Republican expressed his frustration with the Senate for its failure to approve a budget. "I'd love to get them to vote for it," Sullivan said at the event. "Boy, I'd love that, you know. But other than me going over there with a gun and pointing it to their head and maybe killing a couple of `em, I don't think they're going to listen unless they get beat." The congressman's spokesperson Vaughn Jennings later said that "the congressman offers his sincere apologies to anyone he offended and for using a poor choice of words to make his point – which was that Senate Democrats are refusing to pass a budget or even vote on the 28 House-passed jobs bills." SOURCE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/24/john-sullivan-gun-comments_n_1299751.html

Virginia Shelves Personhood

In a 24-14 vote the Virginia Senate shelved H.B.1, the state’s personhood bill, sending it back to committee to be taken up again in 2013. The bill had been expected to pass the full Senate and be signed by Gov. Bob McDonnell (R). The House had already passed its version.Virginia was the third state this year to have a personhood measure pass at least one chamber, behind North Dakota and Alabama.
It was the second victory for women’s health in as many days in the state as Republicans walked back their transvaginal ultrasound bill just a smidge. But lets be clear, these victories, as satisfying as they are, pale in the continued assault on women’s rights. Virginia Republicans still may pass an ultrasound law, and they continue to attack poor women’s health care. And for the victory in Virginia comes the sobering reminder that mandatory transvaginal ultrasounds are already law in Texas (and really any state covered by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, so add Louisiana and Mississippi to that list).  States like Pennsylvania and Illinois are pushing similar measures. The fight is far from over.  Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/virginia-shelves-personhood.html#ixzz1nIzILp6r/ and http://leesburg.patch.com

Texas taking health care away from 130,000 poor women to punish Planned Parenthood
Texas Gov. Rick Perry's imagined war with the federal government unfortunately has real casualties—poor women (as usual). In this instance, the Texas government has decide to write Planned Parenthood out of the state's Women's Health Program, a Medicaid-waiver program providing basic health and family planning services to low-income and uninsured women who would not otherwise be eligible for Medicaid unless pregnant. The Department of Health and Human Services warned the state that this rule would not meet requirements for funding, because it violates the Social Security Act. They informed the state that some $40 million in funding would be pulled if Planned Parenthood, which provides 44 percent of the program’s services, was blacklisted. putting $40 million in federal funding at risk. SOURCE: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/02/24/1067970/-Texas-taking-health-care-away-from-130-000-poor-women-to-punish-Planned-Parenthood- 

Virginia Senate Approves Anti-Gay Adoption Bill
(They just can't seem to stop attacking gay people and women in Virginia, can they?)
By Associated Press, Published: February 21
RICHMOND, Va. — Private adoption agencies could deny placing children with prospective parents who are gay under a bill that received final approval in the Virginia General Assembly on Tuesday.The Senate voted 22-18 to pass the bill and send it to Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell, who has said he will sign it. Virginia will become just the second state with such a law, which proponents said was modeled after North Dakota’s statute. The legislation allows agencies to deny placements that conflict with their moral or religious beliefs, including opposition to homosexuality. SOURCE: Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/bill-allowing-discrimination-by-private-adoption-agencies-sent-to-va-governor/2012/02/21/gIQArkGURR_story.html

Why Are Young People Leaving Evangelical Christianity?

But why? The Barna Group has identified six major factors that are driving young people away from religion:

1. Young adults and teens see their churches as overprotective, saying “Christians demonize everything outside of the church,” and that their churches ignore “the problems of the real world.”
2. Many find their connection to Christianity to be shallow, saying that church is boring, or that their faith “is not relevant” to their career or interests. 20% even stated that God seemed to be missing from their church experiences.
3. Reason number three is a big one – many young adults feel a strong conflict between their religion and science. A full quarter of those surveyed believe “Christianity is anti-science,” and 23% have become frustrated with debating creationism vs. evolution. Three out of ten believe that their churches are out of step with the modern, scientific world. The research further goes to show that young Christians interested in science are struggling to reconcile their religious beliefs with their profession.
4. Many also see their church’s views on sexuality as simplistic and judgmental. Most young Christians are just as sexually active as their non-Christian peers, despite holding more conservative attitudes regarding sexuality.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/why-are-young-people-leaving-evangelical-christianity.html#ixzz1nIzwmEEH