Religion Today Daily Headlines - September 3, 2012

Religion Today Daily Headlines - September 3, 2012

Daily briefs of the top news stories impacting Christians around the world.

In today's edition:

  • Child Becomes Human at Birth, Canadian Medical Association Says
  • GOP Platform Committee Reins in Gay Military
  • Study Shows Widespread Confusion Regarding Official Membership in Churches

 

Child Becomes Human at Birth, Canadian Medical Association Says

Canada's leading doctors' association has approved a resolution that says an unborn child does not become a human being until it is fully born, Baptist Press reports. Delegates to the annual General Council meeting of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) voted August 15 to endorse wording in Canada's Criminal Code that says a baby "becomes a human being within the meaning of this Act when it has completely proceeded, in a living state, from the body of its mother." The resolution was intended to stop a "backdoor" effort in the Canadian parliament to renew a debate about abortion by revising the code, according to the delegate who proposed it. Canadian Physicians for Life decried the resolution, declaring that "every Canadian doctor knows that the unborn child is a live human being."

GOP Platform Committee Reins in Gay Military

Delegates crafting the Republican Party's platform last week took a strong stance on military issues -- including vowing to protect chaplains' conscience rights and enforcing the Defense of Marriage Act on military installations, WORLD News Service reports. The platform committee also said the party opposed "anything that might weaken team cohesion, including intra-military special interest demonstrations" -- such as wearing uniforms in gay pride events. Those resolutions echo what the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty has been calling on the federal government to do since the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" became official earlier this year. "The Republican National Committee rejects the use of the military as a social platform," said Col. Ron Crews, the group's executive director. "We again call upon our nation's leaders to restore policies about sexual behavior within the military that will maximize troop readiness."

Study Shows Widespread Confusion Regarding Official Membership in Churches

A new study by Grey Matter Research shows widespread confusion and ignorance regarding official membership in churches and appears to demonstrate that many people believe just showing up is necessary for church membership, WORLD Magazine reports. The study asked more than 440 respondents whether their place of worship offered "any kind of official membership in the organization, or not." Among all churchgoers, 48 percent said such official membership was offered, 33 percent said it was not, and 19 percent were not sure. Among people who said official membership was available to them, 78 percent claimed to be members, while 21 percent said they attended but had never become members, and 1 percent said they were unsure of their own status.

Publication date: September 3, 2012

Religion Today Daily Headlines - September 3, 2012