The Underground -- Gaddafi tries to portray uprising as a war between Christians and Muslims, Euthanasia widespread in UK says UK Catholic Medical Association leader, Catholic-secular hospital merger raises issues of faith and medical treatment,

The Underground -- Gaddafi tries to portray uprising as a war between Christians and Muslims

---

• Gaddafi tries to portray uprising as a war between Christians and Muslims
• Euthanasia widespread in UK says UK Catholic Medical Association leader
• Catholic-secular hospital merger raises issues of faith and medical treatment
• Greg Laurie examines the true Easter experience in his newest book
• Inspirational film about pro surfer Bethany Hamilton slated to hit theatres
• Jesus makes you fat? Study shows regular churchgoers are more prone to obesity
• Faith Funder: Making a church donation has never been easier

Gaddafi tries to portray uprising as a war between Christians and Muslims Posted: 26 Mar 2011 04:35 PM PDT Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi is trying to get himself out of the hot seat by stirring up the present war and portraying it, amid intervention from coalition forces, as another religious crusade of Christians in the West against all Islamic armies. Gaddafi is hoping, in doing so, to provoke anger and reign in support not only from Muslims in Libya, but also from Muslims outside of the country, according to Barnabas Fund. Coalition forces have reigned in Gaddafi and are keeping him under pressure with continued air strikes, and he is responding with religious rhetoric. Over the weekend Gaddafi declared that he was the defender of Libya and the country’s dignity against France, the U.S. and Britain, according to Barnabas Fund. Gaddafi said in his government controlled media, “The Christians…are in a pact against us,” and said he would wage a “long-drawn war,” adding, “We have Allah with us, you have the devil on your side,” Barnabas Fund reported. Last Tuesday Gaddafi made a public appearance—his first since the coalition declared Libya a no-fly zone. Gaddafi told supporters that there is a “new crusader battle launched by crusader countries on Islam,” according to Barnabas Fund. Gaddafi added, “Long live Islam everywhere. All Islamic armies must take part in the battle, all free [people] must take part in the battle. In the short term, we will beat them. In the long term, we will beat them,” Christian Today reported. Divisive According to Christian Today, there have been some elements of division caused by the coalition’s intervention, threatening support from the Arab League, which expressed concern that it may have exceeded the boundaries of the UN resolution. The US, according to Christian Today, has taken great effort to lay responsibility on Europe. After a series of talks, France, the U.K. and the U.S. agreed that NATO will take charge of the no-fly zone. Amid all this, the U.K. Evangelical Alliance stated that the coalition must focus on protecting civilians. In a statement, it warned against the conflict escalating to the point where Libya becomes “another Iraq,” Christian Today said. The Evangelical Alliance said the coalition should limit its operations to destroying Gaddafi’s capability to harm his own people, and ensuring a return of the country to normalcy as soon as possible, Christian Today said. Steve Clifford, general director of the Evangelical Alliance said in a statement, “We ask that the current UN campaign does not go beyond its mandate and that civilian lives are protected in every possible way,” Christian Today reported. Christians in Libya Gaddafi’s newest strategy puts Libya’s vulnerable Christian community in harm’s way, as they may become targets of revenge for anti-Western wrath by Gaddafi supporters, according to Barnabas Fund. The church in Libya is mainly comprised by expats, mostly coming from sub-Saharan Africa. It is likely many of them will leave due to the country’s unrest. Of greater concern is the safety of Libyan Muslims who converted to Christianity, Barnabas Fund said. Libyan converts live in isolation and are fearful of having contact with foreigners. They also fear meeting among themselves due to government infiltrators, according to Barnabas Fund. Invoking al-Qaeda Gaddafi has also responded to the international intervention by threatening to join al-Qaeda, saying, “If they [the West] behave with us as they did in Iraq, then Libya will leave the international alliance against terrorism. We will then ally ourselves with al-Qaeda and declare a holy war,”  Barnabas Fund reported. Gaddafi has long dreamed of making Africa into a single Muslim government, ergo a United Islamic States of Africa. Now he is appealing to radical Islamists to help him overcome the coalition, according to the Barnabas Fund. Share this:

Euthanasia widespread in UK says UK Catholic Medical Association leader Posted: 26 Mar 2011 04:34 PM PDT The president of the UK Catholic Medical Association expressed concern recently that covert euthanasia is being widely practiced in the country. Dr. Clare Walker, president of the U.K. CMA said that she believes mercy killing is being widely practiced in the National Health Service, especially in cases that appear to be end of life situations, LifeSiteNews said. Walker said, “[E]uthanasia is being widely practiced in the NHS in an official way.” She said oftentimes healthcare managers and professionals contact her to describe “their experience of witnessing repeated instances of unofficial active euthanasia in their local areas,” according to LifeSiteNews. LifeSiteNews said the “Euthanasia Prevention Coalition regularly receives phone calls and emails from family members and friends of people whose medical caregivers appear to be intentionally causing their death.” However, both Walker and LifeSiteNews admitted that there are no real statistics and the stories they get, while plentiful, are basically anecdotal. One reason for the occurrence of euthanasia, Walker told Scottish Catholic Observer, is that “The standards of medical ethics and of interpretation of existing legislation appear to vary greatly around the country and from one organization to the next, even in the same local area.” Misuse of LCP Another reason is the misuse of the Liverpool Care Pathway, which was developed in the 1990s at the Marie Curie hospice and royal Liverpool Hospital, so that palliative care for end-of-life patients could improve, the Scottish Catholic Observer said. The LCP provides criteria that must be followed before ending life-sustaining treatment and applying palliative care, LifeSiteNews said. However, reports have indicated that LCP has been used in the cases of people who were not dying, such as dehydrating someone to death on the grounds of LCP. Walker said, “If it is used out of context, then it could be used to the detriment of patients e.g. a patient comes into a resuscitation bay, and it is not always clear if a condition is acute and can be treated,” LifeSiteNews reported. A recent report on crematorium records showed that 23% of all deaths in one city in the U.K. were people put on LCP without any definite diagnosis of their stage of life, LifeSiteNews said. LifeSiteNews mentions the case of in the U.S. of Terri Schiavo, who was not dying, but who was withheld hydration, as an example of euthanasia. However, if a person is “actively dying and/or is unable to assimilate H & N, [t]hat person is actually dying and the provision of H & N provides little to no benefit and may cause suffering.” In such case, it would not be euthanasia. No ethics A third reason why euthanasia occurs, Walker said, is lack of ethics especially among younger health professionals who may fear straying from protocol and/or offending superiors, Independent Catholic News said. Walker said, “Sometimes, in addition to what is required by a protocol, which tends to assess for a single condition, you have to follow an instinct that there is something else wrong with a patient and there is nothing wrong with that. This is the art as well as the science of clinical practice,” according to Independent Catholic News. The CMA opened membership 18 months ago to all healthcare professionals and health managers. Many newly-admitted are directly employed in clinical care, and there have been reports of overt bullying, Independent Catholic News reported. Walker said every healthcare professional should be expected to treat a patient in the same way that they would care for a member of their own family, according to Independent Catholic News. Not widespread Gordon Macdonald of the Care not Killing Alliance said his organization shares the concerns of Walker. However, they are less certain that euthanasia is widespread, Scottish Catholic Observer said. Macdonald told Scottish Catholic Observer, “We would not say it’s widely practiced. The pro-euthanasia lobby has claimed it is as an argument for legalizing it, but the palliative care doctors we have spoken to have told us that’s not the case. For example, though there are cases of the LCP being abused, if it’s implemented properly in the last hours of life that’s not euthanasia.” Macdonald told Scottish Catholic Observer, “Of course, we share concerns over abuses. Anecdotally we hear stories of certain care homes with questionable practices, but generally we would not accept it’s widespread.” Sources: http://www.sconews.co.uk/news/7797/care-questions-claim-of-widespread-euthanasia-by-default/ http://www.lifesitenews.com/blog/unofficial-euthanasia-is-practiced-in-the-uk-dr-clare-walker/ http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=17930 Share this:

Catholic-secular hospital merger raises issues of faith and medical treatment Posted: 26 Mar 2011 04:33 PM PDT The merger of a secular health center with a Catholic network in Arizona has led recently to a religious and ethical crossing of swords. The Sierra Vista Regional Health Center, a rural secular hospital, merged recently with the Catholic Carondolet Health Network, putting Catholic directives in force regarding treatments for abortion, birth control, and end of life issues, Religion & Ethics Newsweekly reported. Sierra Vista county has among the highest teen pregnancy rates in the U.S., but now doctors in the hospital can’t do abortions. Most of the staff are not happy about this, Religion & Ethics Newsweekly said. Dr. Bruce Silva, an ob-gyn at Sierra Vista told Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, “[S]omeone else…puts their belief systems and their ethics on me and on my patients, which I just don’t think is right.” Last year, Sister Margaret McBride was excommunicated because she approved an abortion at St. Joseph’s hospital after a pregnant woman contracted pulmonary hypertension, a condition with a high death rate among pregnant mothers. (See  http://theundergroundsite.com/index.php/2010/06/church-excommunicates-nun-for-authorizing-life-saving-abortion-12404). Bishop Thomas Olmsted, who excommunicated the McBride, said the baby was healthy and that the mother’s disease should have been treated, instead. Richard Doerflinger, who handles bioethics issues for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops told Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, “You would try everything else to save her life except directly kill someone else.” Even in the case of pregnancy by rape, Rev. Thomas Weinandy of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops said abortion is not acceptable. He told Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, “You don’t just kill somebody because of…how it happened. That doesn’t make their life any less worthy of living.” Other mergers The trend towards mergers of hospitals is prevailing these days, and many times it involves Catholic with secular hospitals. There is for example the possibility of a merger being explored between the Hospital of St. Raphael and Yale-New Haven Hospital in Connecticut, CT Mirror reported. If the merger pushes through, the terms of agreement have stated that medical care under St. Raphael will continue to be in line with the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, CT Mirror said. Days before talks of the merger, another Catholic hospital, St. Mary’s Hospital, said it is going to join forces with LHP Hospital Group. Under the arrangement much will remain the same, including the name and status of St. Mary’s as a Catholic hospital. But the merger also will make St. Mary’s part of an organization that has hospitals in Texas, Idaho, and pending regulatory approval, New Jersey, CT Mirror reported. With over 600 Catholic hospitals in the U.S., it is likely that in 2011, one out of six patients will receive treatment in a Catholic infirmary. In fact, Catholic hospitals are the largest nonprofit US healthcare providers to date, Religion & Ethics Newsweekly said. Hospital landscape Hospital mergers are bound to increase amid growing financial pressures, more so as hospitals must deal with lower reimbursement rates from both public and private insurers. By joining forces, hospitals benefit by lower costs in billings, purchases and other functions. At the same time, there is more capital to invest in medical equipment and information technology, CT Mirror said. Hospitals are even merging with home health care agencies and private physicians to raise financial efficiency, according to CT Mirror. Share this:

Greg Laurie examines the true Easter experience in his newest book Posted: 26 Mar 2011 04:33 PM PDT Greg Laurie, multi-awarded author and pastor of one of the first megachurches, released recently his newest book, Road to Resurrection. Road to Resurrection is timely with the Easter season. Laurie investigates with great depth and comprehension the death and resurrection of Jesus, showing how it has been pivotal to the world, even as the reader gains a deeper appreciation of the meaning of the celebration, according to Harvest Resources. Laurie’s new book also serves as a guidebook about the historical context of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Included is a timeline of the first Easter that contains an examination of the prophecies that came hundreds of years before, and the people and places during the crucifixion, plus a factual explanation of what happened after Jesus’ resurrection, Harvest Resources reports. Through the book the reader comes to appreciate the ridicule, anguish, pain and death Jesus endured for all people, and understands the call for pure worship as the appropriate response to the sacrifice of Christ, Harvest Resources says. In the flyleaf of Laurie’s new book it says, “For three days after the Crucifixion, the disciples were dismayed, the religious leaders rested in victory, and Jesus Christ lay dead and buried in a dark garden tomb. But early Sunday morning, the angel proclaimed the victorious words: “He has risen!” The message behind these words provides power to Christianity, freedom from sin, and joy to followers of Christ.” Laurie’s book examines how Easter is about a life-changing experience, and dwells on the message of hope that it brings for all people. But he also talks about how Jesus’ death and resurrection had been prophesied in the Old Testament hundreds of years before, making this a pivotal event for the world. Laurie also writes about what Jesus said when he was on the cross, the details of Easter morning, the appearances Jesus made to people after his resurrection, and the birth of the church. Laurie’s own life is a testament to the power of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Born out of wedlock to a mother who was an alcoholic and who had married seven times, Laurie’s life took a pivotal turn when he came to know Jesus in a personal way. His story is told in his autobiography, Lost Boy: The Next Chapter, the website says. The autobiography was made in DVD form and won Best Documentary awards at the 2009 International Film Festival South Africa, the 2009 Riverside International Film Festival and the 2009 International Christian Film Festival, according to his website. The DVD also was a finalist in the 2010 International Christian Film Festival (UK), the 2009 Long Island International Film Expo, the 2009 International Film Festival Ireland and the 2009 International Film Festival Wales, the website said. Laurie is the pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California. He also founded Harvest Crusades, an evangelistic outreach component that was begun in 1990, and which has brought more than four million souls to Jesus Christ through outreaches around the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, according to his website. Laurie also hosts the radio program, A New Beginning which is syndicated nationwide and has up to three million listeners daily. Road to Resurrection would be a great way to explore the miracle of Easter, and to strengthen and enhance one’s own personal relationship with God. Share this:

Inspirational film about pro surfer Bethany Hamilton slated to hit theatres Posted: 26 Mar 2011 04:32 PM PDT Soul Surfer, a movie based on the inspirational true story of Bethany Hamilton, will be shown in theatres starting April 8. Hamilton, 21, has inspired millions through her autobiography, Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board, published by MTV Books, I Am Rogue reported. A professional surfer, Hamilton was born in Kauai, HI in 1990 to a family that was devoted to the sport. When she was eight years old she entered her first surfing contest and won in both of the categories that she competed in, according to I Am Rogue. A year later, at the age of nine, she won the Rell Sun Menehune competition. This opened the door to her first sponsor, Ripcurl, which stayed by her even after the tragic accident when a shark bit off her left arm when she was 13 years old, I Am Rogue reported. Hamilton told I Am Rogue, “They continued to support me through the loss of my arm, recovery, and return to surfing.  I’m proud to wear their clothes and use their products.” Shark attack It was on an Oct. 31 morning in 2003 when Hamilton, a rising star on the waves, was attacked by a 14-foot tiger shark that chewed off her left arm just below her shoulder, according to her website. She was 13 years old, and she lost 60 percent of her blood from the accident. There followed several surgeries within the next week, according to I Am Rogue. But one month after the attack, she was back in the water trying to surf, her website reported. She got her skills back in two months, and competed in the Open Women’s division surf competition, where she placed fifth. She won her first National Title shortly after one year, landing first place in the 2005 NSSA National Championships in the Explorer Women’s Division, her web site said. Movie Soul Surfer stars Anna Sophia Robb, who plays the part of Bethany Hamilton. Robb said that Hamilton was a great help in fleshing out the role. Robb told Just Jared, “She is not scared to talk about her arm. No question is off limits with her. It’s just so wonderful that she is so receptive because as an actor, I want to portray her as real as possible.” Hamilton said of Robb, “I’m stoked to have her play me. I never thought I would actually find someone to play me that would do it justice. I had such high expectations. I didn’t know who could fill this role and she did an amazing job. She’s the girl for me, I guess (laughs),” according to Just Jared. Hamilton also said she was delighted to have a movie made about her. She told Just Jared, “Having my life being made into an hour and a half movie is amazing. I never would have thought a movie would be made about me, but it’s happening and it’s real.” Helen Hunt and Dennis Quaid play the parts of Hamilton’s parents, Cheri and Tom. Quaid told Just Jared that he was impressed with Robb’s work. “You could not ask for anyone better to play this part. She is so dedicated as an actress and very natural. You don’t really feel like she’s acting and that makes everyone else better as well.” Also in the movie is American Idol winner and country singer Carrie Underwood, who plays her first film role as Sarah Hill, a church youth leader who helps Hamilton to strengthen her faith amid the trauma, according to I Am Rogue. Share this:

Jesus makes you fat? Study shows regular churchgoers are more prone to obesity Posted: 26 Mar 2011 04:31 PM PDT A study from a Chicago university discovered recently that there is a link between middle-age obesity and regular church attendance. The study, Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults, was conducted by fourth year student Matthew Feinstein of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, The Daily Mail said. The paper concluded that there is a 50 percent higher likelihood that regular churchgoers will become obese by middle age compared to those who are nonreligious, according to The Daily Mail. The study was included among a number of other reports that had been presented at the American Heart Assn.’s Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism/Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention 2011 Scientific Sessions in Atlanta, the Los Angeles Times said. No explanation was given for the findings, although it was pointed out that oftentimes many churches allow eating during service. Methodology The study looked into the lives of 2,433 people who came from Minneapolis, Chicago, Alabama, Birmingham and Oakland, California, according to The Daily Mail. The test group was followed for 18 years and were ranked by their church attendance in the following categories: High (weekly to more frequent church attendance), medium (regular but not weekly church attendance), low (rare church attendance) and none, the Los Angeles Times said. The findings noted that young adults ranging in age from 20 to 32 who were on the high category regarding church attendance were 50 percent more likely to be obese when they reached middle age, compared to those who never go to church, the Los Angeles Times reported. The findings remained consisted even after the researchers made adjustments for race, sex, age, income, education and the person’s body mass index from the start of the study, according to the Los Angeles Times. By the second year of the study, a profile of those participants who tended to be in the high level of churchgoers indicated that they tend to be black females with a higher BMI, the Los Angeles Times reported. Historical link? Feinstein did not give definite reasons to explain why high church participation is linked to obesity. He did say in a news release, “It’s possible that getting together once a week and associating good works and happiness with eating unhealthy foods could lead to the development of habits that are associated with greater body weight and obesity,” the Los Angeles Times reported. Courtney Parker, catering manager of the Apostolic Church of God (20,000 members) in Woodlawn said that historically, church services were very long, and so people were allowed to eat while hearing the gospel, The Daily Mail reported. Parker told Sun Times, “[T]he first thing you do is go eat, and then you go to sleep,” according to The Daily Mail. Upshot of study Feinstein told the Los Angeles Times that there is an upshot to the study, “[T]hese findings highlight a group that could benefit from targeted efforts at obesity prevention,” the Los Angeles Times reported. In fact a number of religious groups have engaged in exercise programs including jazzercise, belly dancing, zumba and pole dancing (see http://theundergroundsite.com/index.php/2011/03/former-stripper-teaches-pole-fitness-for-jesus-class-16294). Other studies have shown definite health benefits that churchgoers enjoy, according to Feinstein. For example, churchgoers smoke less, live longer and enjoy better mental health, The Daily Mail said. Share this:

Faith Funder: Making a church donation has never been easier Posted: 26 Mar 2011 04:30 PM PDT a