GOOGLE WARNED NOT TO CENSOR PRO-LIFE PREGNANCY CENTERS
from: LiveAction News

(27 July) A group of pro-life state attorneys general announced that will take action against Google if the company censors search results to exclude pro-life pregnancy centers as pro-abortion House members have demanded, according to the Christian Post.

Pro-abortion legislators want to "limit the appearance of anti-abortion fake clinics" in Google Ads and on Google Maps. They consider these pro-life centers "dangerous" to women because they don’t offer or refer for abortion, even though they do provide women with free services, free baby gear, and free baby clothing. Some are able to provide housing as well. Virginia's Attorney General Jason Miyares and Kentucky's Attorney General Daniel Cameron joined 15 other state attorneys general in telling Google CEO Sundar Pichai that if the company caves to the pro-abortion legislators, it will face an investigation.

"Complying with these demands would constitute a grave assault on the principle of free speech," they wrote in the letter to Google. "‘Unbiased access to information,' while no longer a component of Google's corporate creed, is still what Americans expect from your company. ...[S]tudies have found web users are more likely to find and trust news through search than social media sites."

The pro-abortion legislators don't think that women searching for abortion online may want or expect to find alternatives to abortion as well. Many women who search for abortion may not be sure of that choice and would be glad to find other options or someone to talk with.

The attorneys general warned Google that "suppressing pro-life and pro-mother voices at the urging of government officials would violate the most fundamental tenet of the American marketplace of ideas." They also warned that if the company does hide pro-life resources from women, "Our offices will (1) conduct thorough investigations to determine whether this suppression violates the antitrust laws of the United States and our States; (2) investigate whether Google's conduct amounts to an unlawful act of religious discrimination under state law; and (3) consider whether additional legislation – such as nondiscrimination rules under common carriage statutes – is necessary to protect consumers and markets."

Google has two options according to the attorneys general: "protect the freedom of the marketplace of ideas or face legal consequences." [read more...]

COMMENTARY: There are several "free speech" search engines, social media, and email services. But Google – which started up as a "free speech" and "do no evil" organization – dominates these "public forums" and has become the de-facto gatekeeper of information, filtering out and/or blacklisting what the Left does not want people to see. Our Hosken-News blog on Google's blogspot showed evidence of "shadowbanning" starting just before the 2016 election and since: our number of views suddenly dropped to about 1/4 of previous numbers. I set up a channel on YouTube but Google has blocked it. And more recently, we applied for running ads on Google Ads for our non-profit organization but were turned down. These attorneys general on behalf of pro-life organizations have warned Google against this sort of "shadowbanning" and blocking.

ARE CHILDREN CAPABLE OF GIVING INFORMED CONSENT TO PUBERTY BLOCKERS?
from: BioEdge.org

(26 July) Whether children with gender dysphoria can give informed consent to the medications need to block the onset of puberty is deeply controversial. Many articles have been written about it. The latest appears in The New Bioethics, by Anthony Latham, of the Scottish Council on Human Bioethics. He concludes that “Children cannot consent, and therefore should not be asked to consent to being treated with puberty blockers for gender dysphoria. This does not deny the reality of GD or that future forms of treatment may be acceptable, but it does rule out such an experimental medication which has such profound and potentially very harmful irreversible consequences.”

He frames the question in the context of British law, which relies upon a doctrine called "Gillick competence." Children under the age of 16 who are deemed "Gillick competent" may consent to medical procedures without the permission or even knowledge of their parents. Typically this has been invoked when teenagers want contraception or an abortion. But Latham points out that Gillick competence depends a lot on the seriousness of the treatment and whether it has unknown consequences.

"A child’s consent to PBs is in theory possible but in view of the experimental nature of PBs and risks associated with them," he writes, "their Gillick competence to do so must be doubtful."

Why?

For one thing, Latham observes, it emerged in the Keira Bell case that the UK’s only gender dysphoria clinic had never turned a child away because he or she was Gillick incompetent. He found this troubling. As he observes, the adolescent brain does not mature until well into the 20s. Teenagers are notorious risk-takers and have difficulty with impulse control. Gillick competence might seem a plausible concept in the context of, say, a decision to have an abortion. But, argues Latham, it "does not have the same degree of long-term outcomes that the giving of [puberty blockers] leads to."

He concludes:

"The young brain is biologically and socially immature, tends towards short-term risk taking, does not possess the ability to comprehend long term consequences and is highly influenced by peers. The High Court judges in the Bell V. Tavistock case, ruled that it is very unlikely that a child under 16 could be Gillick competent to give consent for PBs in cases of GD. This is not only because of the immaturity of a child but also because of the unreliability of the recommendations about treatment made by the doctors at the Tavistock clinic, who were denying the experimental nature of PBs and the risks associated." [read more...]

COMMENTARY: The psychological condition called Gender Dysphoria occurs in less than 0.02% of children, according to Psychology Today. But Dr. Lisa Littman, a researcher at Brown University, has found that "Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria" (ROGD) "spreads via social and peer contagion" among about 20% of teenage girls.

When peer pressure and secular society nowadays bombard them with transgender and sex-change messages, whether it's puberty blockers or gender reassignment surgery, they frequently give in to this message. But the long-term results are appalling: in adulthood they realize that they will never have children, that they made a terrible choice before they were capable of considering the life-long consequences, and they have a 10- to 20-fold increased risk of suicide. And for society in general, the loss of future population portends economic and social disaster. Is this what the Left actually has in mind?

RUSSIA: SECOND ORTHODOX PRIEST FACING CRIMINAL CHARGES FOR OPPOSING UKRAINE WAR
from: Forum 18 News Service

(11 July) Russian Orthodox priest Fr. Nikandr Pinchuk faces a criminal case for opposing Russia's war against Ukraine. He opposed the war on religious grounds. He is under investigation under Criminal Code Article 280.3, which punishes a repeat offence of "discrediting" the Armed Forces. "But I have committed no crime," says Fr Nikandr. "I am a priest and have the right to denounce evil, regardless of who is involved and the political situation." He remains a suspect and has not been arrested.

The Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case against a Russian Orthodox priest, Fr Nikandr Pinchuk from Sverdlovsk Region, for his opposition to Russia's 2022 war against Ukraine. He opposed Russia's attack on Ukraine on religious grounds, describing it to Forum 18 as a "mortal sin." After being fined for his comments in March, he is now under investigation under Criminal Code Article 280.3, which punishes a repeat offence of "discrediting" the Armed Forces. He remains a suspect and has not been arrested.

"I want to clarify that they are trying to repress me precisely because of my rejection of the 'special operation', which they classify as 'discrediting the Russian Armed Forces'," Fr Nikandr told Forum 18. "But I have committed no crime and do not admit any guilt. I am a priest and have the right to denounce evil, regardless of who is involved and the political situation."

Forum 18 wrote to Sverdlovsk Region Investigative Committee, asking:
- why the expression of religious views on the war is considered "discreditation" of the Russian Armed Forces;
- and when Fr Nikandr's case is likely to reach court.
The press service responded that they would not comment at present, without giving a reason.

"The invasion is a mortal sin"

Fr. Nikandr (Yevgeny) Igoryevich Pinchuk, rector of the parish of St. Simeon Verkhotursky in Verkhoturye, is under criminal investigation for repeatedly "discrediting" the Russian Armed Forces. He is the first person known to be facing such a criminal prosecution for criticising Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine on religious grounds.

Fr. Nikandr is a priest and hieromonk of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCA), the branch under the auspices of Metropolitan Agafangel (Pashkovsky), who broke away when the rest of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) entered communion with the Moscow Patriarchate in 2007.

Sverdlovsk Region Investigative Committee opened the case against Fr.Nikandr under the new Criminal Code Article 280.3, Part 1 on 29 June, according to documents seen by Forum 18. This Article carries a maximum punishment of three years' imprisonment.

Fr.Nikandr is being prosecuted for "notes and comments on my news feed, against the arch-heretic Kirill, [and] for photographs from the time of the Great Patriotic War [Second World War]," he explained to Forum 18 on 30 June. He cited a quote attributed to Stalin-era prosecutor Andrey Vyshinsky: "Give me a person and I will find the crime [Byl by chelovek, a statya naydyotsya]." [read more...]

COMMENTARY: It is becoming increasingly difficult to get accurate information from Russia about its invasion and rape of Ukraine. Western news media appears to have "put it on the back burner" as old news. For several decades since the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, ROCOR had been a beacon bringing to light the way that the Moscow Patriarchate had become a tool of communist propaganda. But under the mistaken belief that the Patriarchate had been rehabilitated, ROCOR re-established communion with Moscow's church in 2007. But many former-ROCOR bishops, priests, and parishes – now ROCA – saw through this ruse and refused to go along with the merger.

GROUP HOME PROVIDERS STRUGGLE WITH SURGING INFLATION
from: Disability Scoop

(27 July) NEW YORK – Gasoline in California is costing almost $8 per gallon. A nationwide surge in food and gas prices has hit particularly hard for some nonprofits serving vulnerable New Yorkers. For organizations that care for adults with disabilities and are responsible for providing three meals a day for thousands of residents, visits to the grocery story have “become a weekly exercise in sticker shock,” said Matthew Zebatto, the CEO of Life’s WORC.

Zebatto’s nonprofit gets state funding to run group homes for about 2,000 adults with disabilities in Manhattan, Queens and Long Island. “The cost of supply and food items we use on a daily basis has skyrocketed from a year ago, including beef, chicken, eggs and all cleaning products,” he added.

Prior to last year, a single group home spent an average of $1,000 a month on food, Zebatto said. Last year, monthly meat costs rose to an average of $1,500 per home, he said. The organization spent about $1.4 million on food in the last fiscal year – up between 18% and 27% from the $1.1 million to $1.2 million it has typically spent on ingredients.

The cost of fuel to run Life’s WORC’s fleet of 140 cars and vans has also spiked in tandem with the nationwide rise in gas prices, more than doubling from last year’s $72,000 in expenditures to $180,000 this year, Zebatto added.

All told, the group went $1 million over its projected budget in fiscal year 2022, forcing the nonprofit to cut down on some enrichment activities like vacations and community outings, and lean more heavily on private fundraising. “You have to be creative, nimble and flexible,” Zebatto said. [read more...]

COMMENTARY: As so often happens, it is the weak and vulnerable who suffer most with raging inflation, which is the result of flooding the economy with "fiat money" not backed up by real economic output. The government's tactic of "taxing the rich" to pay for increased public financing of these types of services doesn't actually hurt the "rich" individuals and corporations: businesses simply raise their prices, passing their increased costs to the consumers, in order to keep paying dividends to the "rich" stockholders. So it's the poor who end up paying for inflation while believing that "tax the rich" is the solution.

OCU ASKS ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH TO INITIATE PAN-ORTHODOX CONDEMNATION OF KIRILL'S ACTIVITIES AND 'RUSSIAN WORLD' RACIST TEACHING
from: Religious Information Service of Ukraine

(28 July) The head of the OCU, Epiphanius, appealed to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to initiate at the Pan-Orthodox level a review and condemnation of the activities of Moscow Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev and the ethnophyletic and "Russian World" racist doctrine of that he preaches. This is stated in the letter to the patriarch, approved on July 27 at a meeting of the Holy Synod. Below we offer the full text of the document:

Your All-Holiness!

In compliance with the decision of the Council of Bishops of May 24 this year, I am requesting you to initiate the Pan-Orthodox consideration and condemnation of the activities of Patriarch Kirill (Gundyaev) of Moscow, as well as of the ethnophyletic and racist doctrine of the Russian World that he preaches.

On February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation insidiously launched full-scale military aggression against Ukraine without a formal declaration of war. The war unleashed by Russia in the center of Europe back in February 2014 is aimed at destroying Ukrainian statehood and is shocking in its brutality. A real genocide of the Ukrainian people is being committed before the eyes of the world. The aggressor destroys peaceful Ukrainian cities, shells hospitals and schools, rapes and tortures women and minors, kills and maims children. Among those killed by Russian troops are clergymen of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, and religious mentors of other confessions. Almost 200 religious buildings, mostly Orthodox temples, were completely or partially destroyed as a result of Russian shelling.

Russia is a country that, over the centuries, has linked its identity with Orthodoxy. However, over the past decades, the Christian faith in Russia has been paganized, i.e. covertly replaced by a civil religion, seemingly based on the Orthodox tradition but alien to the spirit of the Gospel and the essence of the Holy Father’s Orthodox faith. Many soldiers of the Russian Federation who invaded our country identify themselves as Orthodox. However, the acts the occupiers commit expose them as criminals who have lost a living connection with Christ and his Church.

Every child killed, every woman raped, and every apartment building and temple destroyed is not just a war crime but also an act of renunciation of Christ, which places the perpetrator outside the graceful ambit of the Church. However, moral responsibility for the crimes committed lies not only with the direct perpetrators but also with their ideological inspirers – Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and his like-minded hierarchs, who over decades have promoted the ethnophyletist and racist doctrine of the Russian World and now are blessing the assault on Ukraine.

Many people had certain hopes for the revival of church life with the election of Metropolitan Kirill to the patriarchal office (2009). However, to date, when twelve and a half years have passed since Kirill took over the throne of Moscow, it is quite obvious that the announced reforms have never been implemented, and the actual achievements of the 16th Patriarch of Moscow were only the concentration of power in the hands of one person against the complete degradation of real church conciliarity and full dependence of the Church on the Russian state.

Then-Metropolitan and now-Patriarch Kirill was never the standard for practicing the Orthodox faith. Some of Patriarch Kirill’s theological statements – for example, the identification of the Third Person of the Most Holy Trinity as the "Divine Energy derived from God the Father before all ages" – even caused controversy and temptation among the clergy of the Russian Church. Kirill’s almost complete indifference to theological issues safeguarded him from falling into the realm of heresy. The situation changed when the hierarch, whose attention has long been focused on geopolitical issues, decided to contribute to the creation of the Russian World doctrine – a nationalist ethnophyletic theory about the special role of the Russian nation and state in the world and the Church.

On March 15 of this year, the Sunday of Orthodoxy, the "Russian World" Declaration was released, which was initially signed by more than 340 Orthodox theologians from around the world, whose number has now grown to a thousand. As stated in this Declaration, the “Russian World” is an un-Orthodox, heretical doctrine, close to the doctrine of ethnophyletism, which was condemned at the Council of Constantinople in 1872. “We reject the 'Russian world' heresy and the shameful actions of the Government of Russia in unleashing war against Ukraine which flows from this vile and indefensible teaching with the connivance of the Russian Orthodox Church, as profoundly un-Orthodox and un-Christian,” the Orthodox theologians who signed the Declaration note. Similar assessments were made in another public document – the public Appeal to the Primates of Orthodox Churches.

The signatures on this Appeal include 437 clergymen of the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine, who asked the heads of Orthodox churches to assess the "Russian World" doctrine from the perspective of the Orthodox faith and, if this doctrine is condemned as heretical, to hold Kirill Gundyaev accountable under canon law, stripping him of the right to occupy the patriarchal throne. [read more...]

COMMENTARY: The Holy Spirit is not in His essence a "Divine Energy" but we can only know Him through the "Divine Energy" like we experience the sun's rays but not the sun itself. Regarding his support of Russia's invasion, things are going badly for the Russian military in Ukraine: western intelligence estimates that from 32,000 to 75,000 Russian troops have been killed or immobilized, and 1,500 tanks, 3,000 armored combat vehicles, and over 800 aircraft have been destroyed. The Moscow Patriarchate will likely regret its using the "Russian World" heresy to support Putin's war in Ukraine.

HOW DIGITAL RELIGION IS SHAPING MILLENNIAL SPIRITUALITY
from: Disabled World

(27 July) Digital Religion is defined as the practice of religion in the digital world and the academic study of such religious practice. Digital religion is a modern field sub-category stemming out of digital culture. In the mid-1990s, "cyber-religion" described the interface between religion and virtual reality technologies. By the first decade of the 21st century, the term "digital religion" became more dominant and has often been studied regarding religion's developments in the Web 2.0 world.

The growing trend of digital religion among US and Canadian millennials mostly complements, not substitutes, in-person participation in organized religion, a new study found. As digital forms of communication increased, many in the religious community saw an opportunity to stem the tide of secularization in North America.

The study by University of Waterloo sociology professor Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme explores if digital technologies facilitate a 'spiritual revolution' and if they provide important spiritual and religious spaces for new population segments removed from more conventional forms of organized religion.

Today, fewer people than ever are filling church pews. "We know that more and more people are turning towards digital mediums for spirituality such as chat groups with pastors, online sermons, and religious content on social media," said Wilkins-Laflamme. "We've found that while digital religion isn't necessarily attracting a lot of new millennials to participate, it is making the experience of those already involved richer."

Wilkins-Laflamme notes that while digital religion is a phenomenon among many millennials, it's not a part of the lives of the vast majority of this demographic. "It is still present though for a sizeable minority of the young adult population, and many of them, digital religion plays an important complementary role to the in-person practicing of their faith," said Wilkins-Laflamme.

While past scholarship has examined the adoption of digital religion and its role in spirituality, Wilkins-Laflamme's report is the first to examine who is practicing it and to what end.

"Social environment does play an important role, with digital religion practices much more prevalent in the generally more religious U.S. context, compared with the generally more secular Canadian context," said Wilkins-Laflamme. "Digital religion practices are often, but not always, tied to other in-person religious and spiritual activities among millennials." [read more...]

COMMENTARY: It is impossible to truly replace the Lord's Supper with words spoken or written via digital media. As this article explains, "digital religion" is not a substitute for, but rather a supplement to in-person religious practices. This is especially true for people with mobility issues that limit their frequent participation in group gatherings. One way to overcome this is to design new church buildings that focus on accessibility instead of only an afterthought... if at all. Then there must be a person or persons to pick up these people and bring them to church. Christ aimed the Good News especially at "the poor, the lame, the maimed, and the blind" – so we Christians need to recover that focus!

(← Click to see full-screen.) We've designed and built a "DIY" booklet rack for our free 5.5" x 8.5" booklets. You can too, by using these downloadable PDF instructions (set print size to "print to paper") on how to build them yourself from a sheet of 1/4" x 2' x 4' plywood. This booklet rack will cost just about $20 for materials. The only tools and supplies you need are a hammer and 3/4" wire brads, a sabre saw, a drill, wood glue, some sandpaper, paint and a brush. A donation jar is optional. It helps to have a workbench, If you have any further questions about it, write us.

To find these booklets, go to this page: https://agape-biblia.org/literatura/, press Ctrl-F and search for "5.5" (without the quotes) to see the title, author's name, number of pages, and description; or click → here ← for a list of just the titles with the direct link to each booklet.

Here are just a couple of these booklets: Building the New City - St. Basil's Social Vision, by Paul Schroeder. This 16-page booklet is a concise overview of St. Basil's "New City." He donated all his wealth to the poor for constructing the "New City" just outside Caesarea. He devised a new approach for monastics: both monks and nuns should serve God by serving mankind. Basil's Basiliad or "New City" had a hospital, lodging for pilgrims, and housing for the poor and elderly along with the monasteries.

And read Building the ARC by this webmaster. This 11-page essay and 9 pages of sketches illustrate a way to put St. Basil's "New City" (above) into practice on a realistic small scale for a single parish. You might ask - "Why would I want to build an ARC, anyway? Do I look like Noah?" How do you start building it? First, you gather people together who are committed to living together as Christians in community. Then take our 1 year of courses to train people how to do practical, hands-on ministry.

Why bother? Why read all this stuff? Why isn't it enough just to believe in Jesus, repent, be baptized, take holy communion once a month, and put a few dollars in the offering? Now that you've gotten the afterlife taken care of, why not get with it and enjoy this life? – that's the "minimalist" approach for many Christians. So in the past day or two, I've added this short paragraph to my online web page and booklet "A First-Century View of Yeshua, the Messiah" right after his baptism by John –

"If Yeshua the Messiah is now proclaimed to be God's sacrificial Lamb, why didn't he immediately go to Jerusalem, be crucified, and rise again? His three years of ministry were necessary to train his disciples how to do diakonia-ministry!"

(Bookmark the above "First Century" web page and/or get the printed booklet here: https://agape-biblia.org/literatura/#1st-century.)

What we've done in the past century by secularizing Christianity is that we've set up a false dualism: an "either-or" choice. Either we believe and preach the message of getting people saved and on their way to heaven, or we get them involved in social action – feeding the poor, healing the sick, and counseling the broken-hearted. But it's not a false "either-or" choice, it's "both-and" – do both ...and start by reading these booklets!

(Get this as a separate article on our ARC-News blog at blogspot.com.)