IMMORAL ENTITLEMENTS SUBSIDIZE IMMORALITY—Today we subsidize immoral behavior in a rather regal manner. Our welfare system gives cash incentives to young single mothers to have more and more children, and gives a "salary increase" for each additional child. Sweden subsidizes its unwed mothers even more generously than we do, and has the highest illegitimacy rate in the world (1/94 Imprimis). When you subsidize something, you get more of it. The poor women are better off financially to "marry" welfare than to marry the poor fathers. Actually, it is wrong for welfare state bureaucrats to call welfare "entitlements." The poor do not have a natural right to money earned by others. Redistributing the wealth is socialism, legal plunder (theft), and undermines charity.

OBE'S PREMISE—Samuel L. Blumenfeld calls outcome-based education (OBE) "the most radical educational reform designed to further humanist goals," mainly because "it does away with every last vestige of traditional education, its methods, its curriculum, its objective means of assessment, its time frame, its goals." OBE is packaged in deceptive vague language, apparently designed to mislead parents. It removes the time deadlines associated with traditional methods. Fast learners are held back. No one fails, but simply repeats the testing until politically correct attitudes are achieved. OBE is the development of social engineers: Benjamin Bloom, Robert Muller, Dorothy Maver, David Hornbeck, William Spady, and others (12/93 FWR Rpt.). Its premise is that all students can learn and succeed but not all can demonstrate the politically correct reorganization of values in the same length of time, requiring that some students be in school for many years.

FARRAKHAN A STRANGE PEACEMAKER—Black separatist and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan refused to repudiate an incendiary speech by a top aide which labeled the pope a "cracker," called Jews "the bloodsuckers of the black nation" and urged black South Africans to "kill everything white." (2/7 USN&WR). Farrakhan blames whites for supplying drugs and guns and creating the AIDS virus to destroy blacks (4/24/89 Det. News). He has viciously attacked Jews and Christianity. He claims the latter is a religion fabricated by men and that Jesus Christ never claimed to be God or that he ever rose from the dead (11/18/85 C. News). Does "kill everything white" not qualify as a "hate crime," or is this reserved only for Bible-believers who denounce homosexuality as sin?

BAN ON GAYS IN MILITARY REVERSED?—Millions called and wrote Congress last year demanding that the ban on homosexuals in the military be retained. Congress responded with, and Pres. Clinton signed, a tough law retaining the ban. Now, the administration has made two moves that betrays all this and undermines the ban (1/15 World). Outgoing secretary of defense Les Aspin has issued implementing rules for the new gay ban policy that ignore many of the strict provisions of the law. And, Attorney General Janet Reno "inconceivably" said the Justice Department will not appeal the main thrust of a controversial D.C. Court of Appeals ruling that found the ban unconstitutional.

SBC PRESIDENT CRITICIZES PRES. CLINTON—So. Baptist President Ed Young has harshly criticized the Clinton administration's new advertising campaign that urges the use of condoms to prevent AIDS and unwanted pregnancies. He told over 9,000 Baptists at the Texas Baptist Evangelism Conference that sexual abstinence, not "safe sex," is the only answer (1/24 C. News). He also criticized Pres. Clinton for separating his religious faith from the rest of his life. Young said this was demonstrated on Inauguration Day. "Early in the morning he went to a gospel meeting," Young said. "When they sang...we saw tears down his face. And I saw this and said, 'O thank God.' But by the end of the day he had taken his daughter, Chelsea, and dropped her off at a hard-rock concert. And he and his wife had gone to a gay and lesbian ball and finished the evening with a cocktail." Please pray for our president. Have we ever before had a pro-abortion, socialist president who had over 30 open homosexuals in his administration and accused of being a congenital liar and adulterer?

POPE & POLITICS IN CATHOLIC ITALY—The Roman Catholic Church still dominates Italy, but occultism is widespread and there are reportedly three times as many full-time magicians as RC priests (2/94 Charisma). There are also more sorcerers and witches than Catholic priests, and over 260 occult organizations. Rome's exorcists say it is the most satanized city in the world (12/1/92 CC). Last May, Pope John Paul II became the first pontiff to publicly condemn the Mafia. Catholic priests for years reportedly have forged secret ties to mob bosses. Secularism has grown as corruption and scandals (e.g., Vatican bank) increased in recent years. The Vatican helped create Italy's most prominent party since World War II, the Christian Democrats. (1/22 World). Pope John Paul, just three days before Italy's premier resigned last month, wrote an unprecedented letter to Italian bishops in trying to prop up the Party.

CHARISMATIC 'PRAISE MUSIC' IS ECUMENICAL TOOL—In the early 1970s, many churches adopted a new worship style. The 2/94 Charisma says: "They traded in their hymns for praise songs accompanied by guitars, drums, clapping and even dancing." It said, "Today, praise music has entered the mainstream. Songs that were only sung in charismatic churches a few years ago are now heard throughout mainline and non-charismatic churches." Southern Baptists and traditional evangelicals such as the Christian and Missionary Alliance are adopting charismatic worship styles, too. A March for Jesus coordinator says: "Through praise and worship, we're seeing all denominations--Methodists, Baptists, Catholics, charismatics come together to proclaim the most important points of the gospel."

PROBLEMS AT PAT ROBERTSON'S REGENT UNIVERSITY—Controversy still rages at Pat Robertson's Regent University over a perceived political and theological shift to the left (9/15 CC). Founding Law School Dean Herbert Titus is threatening a lawsuit after being fired last July. His supporters say he was fired because of his too-biblical worldview, and that Regent's new president Terry Lindvall is "the most liberal professor on campus." (1/22 World). Lindvall, a Fuller Seminary grad and a Democrat, denies he is liberal. Titus's dismissal led eight of the law school's 14 faculty members, and several students, to file a Rule 34 (tenure standards) complaint with the American Bar Association.

WISCONSIN CHURCH LEAVES GARBC—Rev. David L. Brown, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Oak Creek, Wis., in a Jan. 26 letter, notified GARBC Nat'l Rep Dr. Paul Tassell of a 9/29/93 vote by his church to withdraw from the GARBC. He said: "We have been watching events in the Association closely since 1986 and it has been increasingly obvious that the Association is following the path of worldliness and compromise. We had hoped and prayed that the direction of the Association would change but instead the worldliness and compromise is snowballing. The Des Moines conference made that very clear. It indeed seems strange to me that the Council of 18 chooses to ignore the ongoing worldliness and compromise at Grand Rapids Baptist College & Seminary. Academic excellence has taken priority over doctrine..." Pastor Brown discusses some GRBC/S problems, and notes that a recent Bill Hybels article in GRBC/S's The Messenger approvingly referenced notorious New Age psychiatrist M. Scott Peck. He lists some of Peck's outrageous aberrations. Many churches are leaving the GARBC to join the separatist IBF/NA.

ESA & CHICAGO DECLARATION II—Last November 19-21 about 500 new-evangelical activists met in Chicago to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the signing of the 1973 "Chicago Declaration." Evangelicals for Social Action, which grew out of that, called the 1993 meeting to sign a two-page Chicago Declaration II. The latter expands on the racism, sexism, poverty and other social action [socialistic] themes of the 1973 document. Signers of both documents included mainline and liberal new evangelicals. Some 1993 signers: Tony Campolo, Jim Wallis, Roberta Hestenes, Samuel Escobar, and ESA president Ron Sider. New age and left-wing themes such as: "holistic Christianity," "the magic of ritual," and "redistribution of the world's resources," were stressed. Animal rights people were there. Denver Seminary's Vernon Grounds was president of ESA for many recent years, but is now involved with Radio Bible Class. (He spoke at the GARBC-approved Cedarville College, Sept.1992).

PRO-HOMOSEXUAL STANCE OF EASTERN COLLEGE—Homosexuals are pressing for acceptance at new-evangelical colleges. An angry debate ensued at Eastern College (American Baptist) near Philadelphia after the school paper published an interview last spring with an unnamed homosexual student who said he found no contradiction between his lifestyle and his Christianity. And four Eastern students attended the Gay March on Washington last year with a banner proclaiming, "Christian, Gay, and Proud--Eastern College Gay and Lesbian Community." (11/22 Chr. Today). Roberta Hestenes is President of Eastern, and Tony Campolo is its best-known professor. Dr. Norman Pyle (1/25 CVN) said: "Campolo and especially his wife Peggy, are activists in homosexual causes. He has been a major speaker with Josh McDowell at 'Christian' rock concerts..."

MacARTHUR & WIERSBE WELCOMED BY GARBC ENTITIES—Dr. John MacArthur has been a source of division in recent years in IFCA, GARBC and fundamental circles with his new-evangelical associations and his confusing teachings on various Christian doctrines. He has spoken rather routinely on Southern Baptist platforms, and even at their June 1990 SBC Pastors' Conference. He was listed to speak at the Del City First Southern Bapt. Church (Okla.) last November. Just two months earlier he was listed to speak for Indiana Regular Baptists (GARBC) again. He has spoken at GARBC-approved schools. Dr. Warren Wiersbe likewise rides high in new-evangelical circles, and is then invited to speak at GARBC colleges. He is listed as a speaker at First Baptist Church (SBC), Jacksonville, Fla., and Feb. 4-8, along with SBC leaders. Wiersbe, Tony Evans, and Howard Hendricks are all slated to speak at Moody Bible Institute in May, and at the Billy Graham Training Center (N.C.) later this year. But Wiersbe and Hendricks are also listed as speakers at Grand Rapids Baptist College & Seminary's (GARBC) Feb. 21-25 Bible Conference.

NAE SPEAKERS—The National Association of Evangelicals plans to converge on Dallas/Fort Worth March 6-8 for its 52nd Annual Convention. The NAE is the mainline new-evangelical entity, with 50,000 churches from over 75 denominations. Plenary speakers this year include: Multnomah Bible College president Joe Aldrich, SBC exec. committee pres. Morris Chapman, Evangelical Free Church pres. Paul Cedar, and Gordon-Conwell prof. David Wells. A dozen others will speak, including Joni Eareckson Tada. ACCC/WCBC executive secretary Dr. Ralph Colas plans to cover this meeting as a reporter with press credentials.

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