Global Warming. ... Make love and babies and greenhouse gas. :-) ... Let's go, religion !!!!

On May 4, 3:07 am, "Jan Drew" wrote:
COLUMBINE HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTINGS

DARRELL SCOTT TESTIMONY

Guess our national leaders didn't expect this, hmm? On Thursday, Darrell
Scott, the father of Rachel Scott, a victim of the Columbine High School
shootings in Littleton, Colorado, was invited to address the House Judiciary
Committee's subcommittee. What he said to our national leaders during this
special session of Congress was painfully truthful.

They were not prepared for what he was to say, nor was it received well. It
needs to be heard by every parent, every teacher, every politician, every
sociologist, every psychologist and every so-called expert! These courageous
words spoken by Darrell Scott are powerful, penetrating, and deeply
personal. There is no doubt that God sent this man as a voice crying in the
wilderness. The following is a portion of the transcript:

"Since the dawn of creation there has been both good & evil in the hearts of
men and women. We all contain the seeds of kindness or the seeds of
violence. The death of my wonderful daughter, Rachel Joy Scott and the
deaths of that heroic teacher, and the other eleven children who died must
not be in vain. Their blood cries out for answers.

"The first recorded act of violence was when Cain slew his brother Abel out
in the field. The villain was not the club he used.. ..neither was it the
NCA, the National Club Association. The true killer was Cain and the reason
for the murder could only be found in Cain's heart.

"In the days that followed the Columbine tragedy, I was amazed at how
quickly fingers began to be pointed at groups such as the NRA. I am not a
member of the NRA. I am not a hunter. I do not even own a gun. I am not here
to represent or defend the NRA - because I don't believe that they are
responsible for my daughter's death. Therefore I do not believe that they
need to be defended. If I believed they had anything to do with Rachel's
murder I would be their strongest opponent.

I am here today to declare that Columbine was not just a tragedy -- it was a
spiritual event that should be forcing us to look at where the real blame
lies! Much of the blame lies here in this room. Much of the blame lies
behind the pointing fingers of the accusers themselves. I wrote a poem just
four nights ago that expresses my feelings best. This was written way before
I knew I would be speaking here today:

Your laws ignore our deepest needs,
Your words are empty air.
You've stripped away our heritage,
You've outlawed simple prayer.
Now gunshots fill our classrooms,
And precious children die.
You seek for answers everywhere,
And ask the question "Why?"
You regulate restrictive laws,
Through legislative creed.
And yet you fail to understand,
That God is what we need!

"Men and women are three-part beings. We all consist of body, mind, and
spirit. When we refuse to acknowledge a third part of our make-up, we create
a void that allows evil, prejudice and hatred to rush in and wreak havoc.
Spiritual presences were present within our educational
systems for most of our nation's history. Many of our major colleges began
as theological seminaries This is a historical fact. What has happened to us
as a nation? We have refused to honor God, and in so doing, we open the
doors to hatred and violence and when something as terrible as Columbine's
tragedy occurs -- politicians immediately look for a scapegoat such as the
NRA. They immediately seek to pass more restrictive laws that contribute to
erode away our personal and private liberties. We do not need more
restrictive laws. Eric and Dylan would not have been stopped by metal
detectors. No amount of gun laws can stop someone who spends months planning
this type of massacre. The real villain lies within our own hearts.
"As my son Craig lay under that table in the school library and saw his two
friends murdered before his very eyes, he did not hesitate to pray in
school. I defy any law or politician to deny him that right! I challenge
every young person in America and around the world, to realize that on April
20, 1999, at Columbine High School prayer was brought back to our schools.
Do not let the many prayers offered by those students be in vain. Dare to
move into the new millennium with a sacred disregard for legislation that
violates your God-given right to communicate with Him. To those of you who
would point your finger at the NRA -- I give to you a sincere challenge.
Dare to examine your
own heart before casting the first stone!

My daughter's death will not be in vain! The young people of this country
will not a llow that to happen!"

Let's play politics with religion ....


First Item
-------------

"ST. LOUIS - An invitation to Sen. Claire McCaskill (news, bio, voting
record) to speak at her daughter's graduation from a Roman Catholic
high school was withdrawn because of her positions on abortion and
stem cell research.

Students at all-girls St. Joseph's Academy in the St. Louis suburb of
Frontenac wanted to have McCaskill speak at their commencement this
month, McCaskill spokeswoman Adrianne Marsh said Tuesday.

But the offer was rescinded last week. The president of St. Joseph's,
Sister Michaela Zahner, said she reluctantly made the decision after
receiving a call from the St. Louis Archdiocese.

McCaskill narrowly defeated Republican incumbent Sen. Jim Talent last
November in a race in which embryonic stem cell research was a key
issue. A McCaskill ad featuring actor Michael J. Fox - swaying
noticeably from the effects of Parkinson's disease - drew nationwide
attention. .... "

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070502/...s_commencement



Second Item
------------------

[Quoting in parts ...]

World Demographics

Annual Average Annual Average
Growth Rate Growth Rate
1960-80 1980-01


All 2.33% 1.82%

Less 2.93% 2.25%
Developed


More
Developed 0.94% 0.48%


There are several main findings.

First, there was a decline in the growth rate between 1960-1980
and 1980-2001. This decline occurred for the world as a whole, for
the group of less developed countries and for the group of more
developed countries. However, the decline in growth rate among the
more developed countries was larger than it was among the less
developed countries.

Second, the growth rate for less developed is higher than is the
growth rate for more developed countries, almost 3 times as high in
1960-1980, and almost 5 times as high in 1980-2001. A consequence of
the higher growth rate among less developed countries is that
population in the less developed countries is becoming an increasingly
large proportion of world population, growing from 70% in 1960 to 81%
in 2001.


[...End Quoting]

Source: http://gsociology.icaap.org/report/demsum.html

Let's hear it for for global warming!

"Altogether now!
All you need is LOVE..."