Pope Benedict XVI praised new communications technologies like Twitter on Tuesday (Jan. 24), saying that even “concise phrases, often no longer than a verse from the Bible,” can convey “profound thoughts.”

Benedict did not explicitly refer to Twitter in his yearly message for World Communications Day, but Monsignor Claudio Maria Celli, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, told reporters that “it’s safe to say that a reference to ‘tweets’ is there.”

Benedict wrote that in today’s world, “various types of websites, applications and social networks” can help people “find time for reflection and authentic questioning.”

A number of high-ranking churchmen already use Twitter. Cardinals Sean O’Malley of Boston; Odilo Scherer of Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, have thousands of followers. According to Celli, most of the visitors to the Vatican’s online news portal, www.news.va, arrive from social networks.

In his message, the pope also focused on the value of silence in communication, saying that without it, meaningful messages “cannot exist.”

“When messages and information are plentiful,” he wrote, silence becomes essential if we are to distinguish what is important from what is insignificant or secondary.”

My children started a new school in a new community this fall. On the first day of classes, climbing on the bus with all their Number Two pencils and three-ring binders, they also carried with them enough anxiety to fill a mama’s boy’s backpack. It wasn’t just the reality of a new school that put them on edge; it was middle school, and that is scary enough all on its own.

For the record, I wouldn’t go back and repeat those few years of middle school (we called it “junior high” back in the day) even if you promised me a war pension. It was, without a doubt, one of the more miserable seasons of my life. My body was awkward and out of control, hair began growing in strange places, my hormones and emotions were stampeding like angry cattle, and my face broke out like a pimpled topography map.

To make matters and passions worse, as my twin sister and I began climbing the escalating mountains of puberty, my mother entered the refining fires of menopause (It was no wonder my father was working 80 hours a week!). I fear the same thing is now happening in my own home, but I digress.

Yes, middle school is hard – very hard – on my children, and not just because of growth spurts and the new neighborhood in which we live. It is hard because at this age children become acutely aware of their social status and standing. They will do most anything to “fit in” or to win the coveted prize of acceptance from their classmates.

Acceptance is a good and healthy thing. It is incredibly validating to be welcomed by a group of people or to gain the respect and admiration of your peers. But it doesn’t take long for this normal and valid need for acceptance to slide into some very dark territory. I so readily recognize this tendency in my children because I recognize this in myself.

Adults, not just pimpled teenagers, want the approval of others. In short, they/we desperately want to be loved, and will do anything to get it. That’s what makes forty-year-olds behave as adolescents. You can have a house in the burbs, a nearly four-figure car payment, three kids in soccer and still act like a 7th grader trying to make it with the “in” crowd.

Splintered, needy, and anxious, we spend the lion’s share of our energy and years of our lives chasing after the validation of others, a validation that we think will make us whole. We become slaves to the expectations of others while simultaneously manipulating those expectations to get what we feel we need. It is exhausting, for we do and say things we don’t mean, to hold on to approval we don’t need, wasting time and energy we don’t have.

And for what? A few emotional strokes, the fleeting approval of someone who is as fractured as we are, approval that lasts for about five minutes, and then the grueling exercise must begin all over again. Here’s some good news, good news for my children and for the rest of us: When you are deeply, madly, unconditionally, and fiercely loved – as God loves us – you can let the foolish exercise of chasing the approval of others go.

If we could get it through our thick skulls, our variegated defense mechanisms, and down into the basement of our hearts that we are always loved; that that our sins and failures cannot change God’s untiring affection for us; that our acne scars and awkwardness do not forfeit his acceptance, then we might enjoy a degree of confidence and freedom that we never thought possible.

We can – yes we really can – reach that point in life where we no longer need the love and validation of people, because we have come to know and experience the unconditional love of God. Then we can be free from the ruthless, unmerciful demands of uncertain and provisional affections. Now that is a lesson for middle school and for life.

After grenade attacks on a church in northern Kenya blamed on Islamic extremists, religious leaders said they were redoubling inter-faith peace efforts. At the same time, about 100 kilometers away, Christian relief agencies were carrying out humanitarian work in Dadaab, the world’s biggest refugee camp, despite security threats.

Two grenades were lobbed into the East Africa Pentecostal Church compound in the town of Garissa on 5 November, killing two people and injuring five others. The attack has been blamed on al-Shabab militants who are facing a Kenyan military operation in southern Somalia.

“We are alarmed by this blatant attempt by evil forces to drive a wedge between Christians and Muslims,” Sheikh Adan Wachu, general secretary of the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims told a news conference on 10 November in Nairobi.

Speaking under the auspices of the Interreligious Council of Kenya, he said the militants had hoped to ignite Christians-Muslims violence, but had failed. He said the faiths were united against groups that misuse religion to cause anarchy and would be preaching that message in churches, mosques and temples.

“We have lived peacefully with one another for long. Therefore we choose not to interpret this as religious war,” the Rev. Joseph Mwasya, a clergyman from Garissa said on 8 November at a news conference.

At Dadaab, many agencies have scaled down since October when threats escalated, but the Rev. Eberhard Hitzler, the director of the Department for World Service of the Lutheran World Federation said on 8 November the organization will continue to deliver humanitarian relief at the camp.

“We have not yet the impression that the current situation in Dadaab constitutes a serious crisis, despite the security risks increasing for the organization; so we should set up a team to respond to it,” said Hitzler whose organization is responsible for housing and security in the camp. The 20-year-old settlement now contains more than 460,000 refugees who have fled war, famine and disease in Somalia.

“A perverse person stirs up conflict and a gossip separates close friends,” states Proverbs 16:28.

That biblical statement is so true, that even atheists agree. What used to be passed around in class on small notes of paper or overheard on community phone lines are now broadcasted through text messages or tweeted through Twitter.

Whether you call it cyber bullying or spreading an urban legend, gossiping is still trendy.

One website in particular taking heat for its part is Topix. The site links news from 67,000 sources to 450,000 new topics. It is a privately held company tied with Gannett, McClatchy and Tribune.

According to the site, “Topix is the leading news community on the Web, connecting people to the information and discussions that matter to them in every U.S. town and city….By giving everyone access to the tools to talk – and an audience to listen – Topix redefines what it means to make the news.”

Topix was one of the topics of the Today Show on September 28, 2011. In a segment called “Talk of the Town,” reporter Kevin Tibbles did a story on a small community in Mountain Grove, Mo where 4,000 residents have gotten into the habit of airing their grievances on the website. One resident calls those who post, “cyber terrorists.”

In the new story, Chris Tolles, CEO of Topix, says “It is really important, especially in civic discourse in a small town, to be able to put your point of view across without getting punished for it.”

He also says that when a complaint is lodged about someone “talking smack” about another, that they “take care of it.”

The Topix website does explain how to get posts removed from the site by sending a direct link to the content through their feedback system.

There, the moderators will review the content for violations of the Terms of Service.

However, the Terms of Service, also clearly states, “We have no duty to pre-screen your content or the content of others, but we have the right to refuse to post or to edit submitted content. You understand and acknowledge that by using Topix, you may be exposed to content that may be offensive, indecent or objectionable.” It even goes as far to say, “If it upsets you that the free expression of ideas is often headed and offensive, please do not use Topix.”

In the September 19, 2011 edition of The New York Times, A.G. Sulzberger featured Topix in a cover story.

In the article, Sulzberger also interviewed Tolles where he admitted that the site at one point tried to remove all negative posts, but stopped after noticing that the commentators had stopped visiting the site.

He also went on to say that the site received about 125,000 posts a day in forum for about 5,000 cities and towns. About nine percent are screened out for offensive content (like racial slurs), and another three percent (mostly threat and libel) are removed AFTER people complain.

To add insult to injury, the site even charged for the expedited removal of offensive comments but stopped after being challenged by more than 30 state attorneys.

Sulzberger also says in his article “Despite the screening efforts, the site is full of posts that seem to cross lines. Topix, as an Internet forum, is immune from libel suits under federal law, but those who post could be sued, if they are found. The company receives about one subpoena a day for the computer addresses of anonymous commenters as part of law enforcement investigations or civil suits, some of which have resulted in cash verdicts or settlements.”

But what about the innocent bystander who hasn’t posted anything to the site, but is talked about by others? Unless you actually read every post, you may not event know that others are talking about you. To get an idea of the kinds of post commenters are making on the site, the New York Times article gives a few examples where people are called out by name and sin.

Originally here.

A program in Alabama that was supposed to allow offenders to choose between going to church for a year, or serving a term in jail and paying a fine, was temporarily delayed after a civil rights group issued a letter of objection.

The Operation Restore Our Community, an initiative in Bay Minette, Alabama by Municipal Judge Bayless E. Biles, was supposed to begin this week.

Operation ROC would have allowed first-time nonviolent offenders to choose between church (and a range of other alternatives including community service) and jail in an effort to address jail overcrowding.

Under the program, if offenders choose the church option, they will have to go to service for one year and then answer questions about the day’s service. Offenders will also have to report to police and a clergy member every week, for tracking purposes, rather than for measuring morality. If they follow the program rules, their case will be dismissed.

Under Operation ROC participants are free to drop out of the program at any time. If they do, they can request before a judge an alternative sentencing option.

Rowland told Reuters, “Operation ROC is completely voluntary. It’s not an issue of ‘Go to church, or go to jail.’ It’s ‘Here’s another alternative to consider,’ and the offenders themselves get to make the decision.”

ACLU protest

However, a cease and desist letter sent by the American Civil Liberties Union resulted in its postponement. The ACLU claimed the program violates the first amendment, and demanded that it be dismantled because it violates both the Alabama and U.S. constitutions.

ACLU attorney Heather Weaver told ABC News, “Even if the city offers other sentencing alternatives that are comparable to Operation ROC … the First Amendment still prohibits the government from becoming entangled in core religious exercise, which includes attending church. The government may not serve as a conduit for church recruitment.”

The initiative is currently undergoing legal review. Bay Minette’s Mayor, Jamie Tillery, told ABC News in an email, “The city will ask the Alabama Attorney General to review the program as well. The city will reserve further comment until these reviews have been completed.”

Weaver told ABC News that if the program pushes through, the ACLU may consider litigation.

Bay Minette’s police chief, Mike Rowland told WKRG, “We believe it is legal. We believe it is a great program. We’re going to stick with this and we’re going to move forward with it.” He said the program is likely to proceed in a few weeks.

Rowland told Reuters, “There is no question it is within the purview of the law. It’s not about trying to save anybody. It’s about giving them access to community resources that can help them make better choices in their lives.”

A range of alternatives

Bay Minette court clerk Hugh “Trey” Dickson told Reuters that first-time offenders usually commit traffic violations. Under the program, they can choose among several alternatives to jail, including community service. If they choose the church option, they can choose which church they want to attend. To date, some 56 churches from different denominations have enlisted on the program.

An atheist organization in New York became upset and threatened recently to go to court because a new street sign honoring firemen from 9/11 has the word “heaven” in it.

The group, New York City Atheists, plans to go to court if the road sign, Seven in Heaven Way, is not taken down because they say it violates the principle of separation of church and state.

“We’re supposed to be a secular nation,” Kenneth Bronstein, president of the atheist group said. “There really should not be any religious symbolism or signage in public places.”

The name, which was selected to honor seven fallen firefighters from Ladder Co. 101/EngineCo.202, was approved by the City Council and Community Board 6.

The road was formerly called Richards St. and is located in Brooklyn. The name was changed on behalf of the seven firemen who lost their lives in the line of duty during 9/11.

Bronstein told The Daily Mail, “We feel that any and all people who died in 9/11 should be remembered and honored.”

However, he said using the term “heaven” clearly refers to Christianity.

“It’s improper for the city to endorse the view that heaven exists. It links Christianity and heroism,” David Silverman of American Atheists told The Daily Mail.

Instead, they recommended the name, “We Remember the 7-911” in place of Seven in Heaven Way.”

Some question why the atheist organization is only complaining now. “There was a public process, and they had ample opportunity to make their feelings known,” Craig Hammerman of Community Board 6 told the New York Daily News.

Others believe that the bereaved are the ones who should determine how they want to honor their loved ones.

“That’s nonsense. The families should honor their loved ones any way they want,” Ambriena Insausti, a resident of Manhattan, told The Daily Mail.

The valedictorian of a school in Vermont was not allowed to talk about Jesus in his graduation speech.

Kyle Gearwar, 18, the high school valedictorian of Fair Haven Union High School, wanted to share his personal testimony of how Jesus changed him and made him the man he is now, but school authorities said it might infringe on the First Amendment.

“I was just sharing a story about my life and how it was changed. And as an American and as a valedictorian I felt that I should have been able to do that,” Gearwar told Fox News.

When Gearwar delivered his truncated speech during the graduation rites, many of the students present felt outrage at the decision of the school officials, and a number of them yelled that Kyle should read it in full, anyway.

Gearwar declined, however, saying that he promised the principal, Brett Blanchard, that he wouldn’t and he would stand by his promise.

“You’re supposed to respect your authority. Even in the Bible it says you should respect the authorities of the land. I wasn’t going to disappoint these men,” Gearwar told Fox News.

While Gearwar complied with the school’s decision, he still honored God.

He said in his speech, “Today my valedictorian speech remains unfinished. I am submitting to those who have authority over me by not reading the half of my speech that has caused issues.”

Gearwar continued, “I respect the administration for the decisions they have made and thank them anyways for the opportunity to speak. I have always dreamed of speaking about God in front of my school as the valedictorian. This was the message God gave to me, and I am not allowed to share it with you even though it is my testimony, the most important change my life has ever experienced, and the one thing that I stand for no matter what.”

Summoned by principal

The situation arose when Gearwar submitted his speech to the principal.

The next day, he was called to the office.

“They told me my speech was going to be a problem – that the school wouldn’t allow me to deliver the speech and they would prevent me from giving the speech if it came down to it,” Gearwar said to Fox News.

Gearwar noted, “You can burn a flag but we’re not able to speak about God. I just don’t agree with that,” according to Fox News.

Federal law

“We are absolutely strong supporters of free speech,” Blanchard told Fox News. “The federal law limits the kind of religious speech that’s permitted at a commencement at a public high school.”

One of the statements that was removed was the following: “I have peace and can finally enjoy every moment God has given me, good or bad. I wouldn’t be standing before you without the blessings God has given me through my tough situations. He is the reason I am the man I am today, made new through Jesus’ death on the cross,” Fox News reported.

Nothing but respect

Blanchard spoke highly of Gearwar and told Fox News he was glad that the student kept his word. “He stuck to his word and his agreement. I think it speaks highly.”

Gearwar, who will be going to the University of Connecticut said in turn that he has “nothing but respect for Blanchard and the school’s assistant principal,” Fox News reported.

“They were very nice and they are awesome people and they were just doing what they were told to do,” he told Fox News. He expressed surprise that the speech, which he wrote “for God’s glory,” has attracted so much attention.

The 8^th International Christian Medical Conference was held from June 11-12 at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Center, with some 220 doctors attending from 27 nations.

The theme of the convention was Spirituality and Medicine.

The World Christian Doctors Network, an interdenominational group of professionals in the medical industry, hosted the event.

The WCDN seeks to propagate Christian ethics in medical practice, and is involved in the documentation of cases of divine healing around the world.

“We have uncovered many testimonies of how the power of God has healed patients and when doctors hear this kind of news, they become curious,” Dr. Joonha Hwang, a prominent South Korean doctor, told The Christian Post, adding, “They want to know if it’s true or just a story that someone has made up.”

Hwang said, “[T]hat is why we put on these ‘Spirituality and Medicine’ conferences each year and then present medical data before and after the patient got prayed for. As far as I know, we at WCDN are the only Christian medical organization that invites doctors to come and hear from other doctors and are then able to openly discuss the evidence of divine healing,” The Christian Post reported.

Healing testimony

One speaker, Dr. Sean Thomas George, told of his extraordinary healing experience, saying, “I was dead for one hour and 25 minutes, but came back to life after my wife prayed a simple prayer,” Continental News reported.

George said the incident occurred on Oct. 24, 2008. He was on his way back home after a clinic session held at the south coast of Australia, when he began to feel “unusually hot,” and experienced minor chest pains.

George said, “I decided to stop the car and, as I got out and still feeling the discomfort, I called my wife, also a doctor, to let her know what was happening. She suggested that I drove straight home to Kalgoorlie.”

However, George said he felt led by God to go to a clinic in Kambalda, which is 31.6 miles from Kalgoorlie.

An ECG revealed that he was having a heart attack, and he was given some medications.

Despite this, the pain worsened and within 11 minutes, George’s heart stopped beating. “Not only did I have a heart attack but I went into cardiac arrest,” Continental News reported.

George said within the next hour he was given 4,000 chest compressions and 13 electrical shocks by a medical team. When his wife arrived, he had already been pronounced dead.

George said, “Being a doctor herself, Sherry knew that medical science had proved that if the blood supply to the brain was cut off for over three minutes the brain would begin to die, and in 20 minutes the brain would be completely dead. But as she and I had trusted Jesus Christa as Almighty God and Savior, she decided to humbly ask Him to intervene,” Continental News reported.

His wife held George’s hand and prayed, after which, “[I]t was as though someone had breathed life into me again and my heartbeat came back.” Four hours later, he was flown to Royal Perth Hospital for emergency treatment of a severely-blocked, right-side heart artery.

He was in a deep coma and had kidney and liver failure. The doctors doubted he would survive and if ever, would be brain dead and on a ventilator.

But three days later, George opened his eyes. The following day he could move his limbs, and the day after, he was fully conscious, off the ventilator, and his brain and memory were intact. He was discharged after three months.

Speaking as both a doctor and a survivor, George said, “I don’t think there are any documented cases of patients who were clinically dead for so long, have come back to life with their memory perfectly intact and neurologically no deficits at all. This is something that only God can do, because medically it is impossible,” Continental News reported.

Other testimonies

Other healing stories during the convention was that of a 13-year-old boy from Korea, Haedong Yeo, who experienced cerebral hemorrhage and multiple skull fractures in a car accident and was close to death in the ICU, but began to immediately improve after a healing prayer by Dr. Jaerock Lee.

Another doctor, Joonsung Kim, spoke of healing skin disease through prayer and without medication.

A man shared his experience of paralysis from the waist down due to a cervical fracture.

Another man was healed from a critically deep cervical laceration.

Finally, a woman spoke of how she was healed of prolactinoma after she stopped all medications.

Euthanasia, abortion

Also discussed during the conference was the issue of the ethics of euthanasia, by Austrian doctor Lachlan Dunjey, and the issue of abortion by Dr. Sven Frederick from Denmark.

The president of a woman’s rights group appealed recently to the international community to stop international funding that supports China’s one child policy.

Reggie Littlejohn, president of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, said that China’s one-child policy is supported by international organizations including the United Nations Family Planning Fund, the International Planned Parenthood Federation and Marie Stopes International.

In her statement, Littlejohn said, “It doesn’t matter whether you are pro-life or pro-choice on this issue. No one can support forced abortion, because it is not a choice,” Asia News reported.

Littlejohn called for an end to such funding noting that the one child policy is implemented oftentimes through forced abortions and sterilizations, and has given rise to other types of crimes as offshoots of the policy, Asia News said.

Littlejohn said the one-child policy also leads to selective female foeticide and infanticide. The number of babies murdered in this way is a “hundred times worse than the Tiananmen massacre,” noting that the latter was done out in the open, whereas abortions are done in secret, according to Asia News.

Violations

Some of the violations committed against women who are “illegally pregnant” in China include “forced sterilization, forced abortion, arbitrary detention and other abuses,” Asia News said.

Littlejohn cited the findings of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China report, dated Oct. 10, 2010, which listed down violations against women that have been committed due to the one-child policy, according to Asia News.

She also recounted the experience of one woman who was dragged away, tied to a table and administered a forced abortion on her seven-month fetus. Other stories of brutalities caused by the one child policy are here.

Ripple effects

The policy also has ripple effects leading to other crimes and social problems. Three were cited by Littlejohn, namely:

Gendercide. Because there is a traditional preference for boys, there is a stronger tendency to abort if one is pregnant with a girl, or to be rid of her through infanticide or abandonment, because only one child is allowed per family, according to Asia News.

The one-child policy of China also causes a ripple effect on the global economy. Ling said in her statement, “Gender imbalances have been shown to significantly disrupt spending patterns, leading to significant trade imbalances that are detrimental to the global economy,” the AFP reported.

Ling said, “More and more economists are speaking up about China’s increase in private saving. The drop in Chinese marriages brings the drop in consumption, and until it changes, we will see little change in our trade and exchange rate with China.”

A male surplus population in China can also lead to social unrest and aggression, studies say. Ling told Life News, “It’s important for world leaders to see gendercide is not just a women’s rights issue, but it also leads to trade imbalance, insecurity and a threat to peace.”

Ling told Life News that there are currently 37 million more men than women in China, and said research shows that a large male youth population is also linked to increased violence and aggression. Crime in China has doubled in the last 20 years.

Ling also noted that the “systemic elimination of girls simply because they’re girls is a crime that has to be stopped,” Life News reported.

Sexual Slavery. The severe gender imbalance in China has also become a powerful force behind the rise in sexual slavery and the trafficking of women in nations that surround China, Asia News said.

All Girls Allowed stated that by 2020, China will have 40 million more young men than women. Dudley Poston, an expert in demographics from Texas A&M University, told AFP, “My research shows that the average surplus male in China is rural, unmarried, poor, unemployed and has little education. Few women desire such prospects as marriage partners.”

Poston, who is an adjunct professor at three Chinese universities, told AFP, “These males are going to remain unmarried. They’re going to live in bachelor ghettos in the big cities of China.” He added that such a social climate will lead to a huge market for commercial sex and “huge potential in China for an HIV epidemic.”

Female Suicide. The World Health Organization said in a report that the highest rate of female suicide in the world is found in China, at 500 a day. There are speculations that such a high rating may be related to the emotional trauma that may follow forced sterilization or forced abortion, Asia News said.

Thousands of Christians in Sudan fled their homes in an oil-rich border town that was seized recently by the Muslim majority North.

The Sudanese Armed Forces launched bomb attacks and a ground invasion in Abyei town, successfully driving away “enemy forces,” including Christians and the South’s Sudan People’s Liberation Army, Reuters said.

Philip Aguer, SPLA spokesman said, “Abyei town is now under control of the SAF. They came with tanks.” At least three other villages were also bombed, Reuters reported.

The SAF used Antonov aircraft and long range artillery, striking a number of civilian neighborhoods, Worthy News reported.

Secession

Abyei town had been under dispute between the Muslim-majority North and the Christian majority South, and tensions heightened when the latter voted to secede in a referendum in January, which is expected to be implemented on July 9.

Christian-majority Southern Sudan voted for independence in the referendum, which comprised part of a 2005 peace pact between the North and the South after decades of civil war where some two million people died.

Abyei, which is rich in oil, was supposed to participate in the January referendum. The residents were supposed to vote on whether the town would become part of the South or the North. However, disputes arose regarding who could vote, and the referendum in Abyei did not push through.

With the recent invasion, many Christians and civilians of other faiths were killed, and thousands of Christians have been displaced, including some 20,000 who crossed the Kiir river and took refuge underneath trees, Worthy News said.

Christian persecution in Darfur

The melee in Abyei has also contributed to attacks by Muslim forces on Christian refugees in the Darfur Region, northwestern Sudan, where evangelist Hawa Abdalla Muhammad Saleh was arrested on charges of possessing and distributing bibles in Abu Shouk camp for Internally Displaced Persons, Worthy News reported.

Saleh was reportedly removed from the camp, which is situated in Al-Fashir, North Darfur, to Khartoum by security agents. If she is tried for apostasy, she may face a death sentence, according to Worthy News.

There is concern that extremists and other groups may be taking advantage of the fragile situation in Sudan with intent to further destabilize the country, leading to possible civil war, Worthy News said.

The U.S. slammed the SAF invasion of Abyei, and urged Khartoum to withdraw its forces. In a statement the White House said, “Failure to do so could set back the process of normalizing relations between Sudan and the United States and inhibit the international community’s ability to move forward on issues critical to Sudan’s future,” Reuters reported.

The UN Mission in Sudan called for dialogue between the North and the South in a statement saying, “We strongly encourage all parties to resume dialogue towards reaching a lasting political settlement,” Reuters reported.