Australian Independent
Baptist Newsletter
MARCH 2003 Issue #2
Dr. David C. Bennett, Editor (DCB)
PO Box 1241 - Dubbo - NSW 2830
Phone/Fax 02-6884-2846
Email: Bennett@BibleForToday.org
Permission is given to forward material contained in the AIB
Newsletter.
Purpose: To inform and warn God's people of religious, social, and
political events in today's world.
The Sunday Telegraph 2 March 2003 HIDDEN POLICY ON DRUGS (Edited by DCB)
"ECSTASY and speed would be freely available over the counter under a
radical NSW Greens policy."
Heroin would be given to those who are registered users in "regulated
quantities in a string of safe injecting rooms across the state."
The Greens also want to "remove criminal penalties for personal drug
use and establish licensed drug outlets to import, manufacture and sell
drugs."
To say the least the Greens policy is controversial and details of such
a policy "are not included in the party's campaign literature for the
March 22 state election, where the Greens are expected to receive their
largest ever share of the vote in NSW."
"Pharmacies would serve as testing laboratories where users could check
the quality and purity of their drugs."
"Other unpublicised Greens policies include a charter of rights for
prisoners and a ban on keeping caged birds as pets."
As the Australian Democrats have lost popularity the Greens have become
the third "third force in NSW politics and the fastest growing party in
the state."
Editor’s Comment: Isa 5:20 "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good
evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter
for sweet, and sweet for bitter!"
Episcopal News Service (ENS hereafter) 3 March 2003 VATICAN OFFICIAL
GREETS NEW ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY AS A
'BUILDER OF BRIDGES' (Edited by DCB) Following the 27th February
installation of Rowan Williams as the 104th archbishop of Canterbury,
Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Vatican's Council for Promoting
Christian Unity, described the ecumenical task in terms of building
bridges.
Kasper welcomed Williams as the new archbishop of Canterbury saying
Williams was "a theologian with keen perception in reading the signs of
the times; a scholar with an ear bent to the ground; a poet, with a deep
sensitivity to language. All of these talents will be well put to use, for
the task at hand is not simply to build bridges but, by the grace of God,
to become a bridge, so that talk about God, about a boundless mercy, about
the crucified and risen Lord, and the hope and treasure we carry within
us, spans the distance between the Gospels and the farthest reaches of our
contemporary world."
Editor’s Comment: Job 15:9 "What knowest thou, that we know not?"
Dubbo Daily Liberal 5 March 2003 DISH TO HELP FIND LIFE SIGNS ON MARS
(Edited by DCB)
"The Parkes radio telescope will play a vital role in NASA's latest
attempts to find life on Mars with a $3 million upgrade."
Work to enlarge the telescope will "greatly enhance its capabilities."
"The telescope has been contracted to track six unmanned spacecraft
from the USA and other countries that are stationed on Mars.
The craft have been sent to collect data in an attempt to confirm life
existed on the red planet.
NASA's two robotic Mars exploration 'Rovers' will search for evidence
of liquid water and analyse rocks and soil, while a Japanese robot will
relay information on the upper atmosphere.
A European craft will map the surface and subsurface structures and the
British lander ‘Beagle 2' will search for signs of water and other life."
John Cobb, Federal member for Parkes, said this will put Parkes "at the
forefront of unlocking the secrets of our neighbouring planets."
Editor’s Comment: 1Corinthians 3:19 "For the wisdom of this world is
foolishness with God."
Dubbo Daily Liberal 6 March 03 HELP AT HAND FOR OUR YOUTH (Edited by
DCB) "If students at Dubbo College Delroy Campus need somewhere to turn
for advice on a range of issues from sexual health to setting goals
they'll know where to go after a community day yesterday."
There were representatives from various groups holding "workshops at
the school in a bid to let the students know what services are available
to them."
Along with this were several motivational speakers telling the students
"they could achieve whatever they put their minds to."
"Drug and alcohol education was also part of the day as well as
sporting activities and music workshops."
Each student contributed to a large mural which "was aimed at building
communication and negotiation skills among the students."
Editor’s Comment: Lu 6:39 "...Can the blind lead the blind? shall they
not both fall into the ditch?"
The Daily Telegraph 6 March 03 CITY CHAOS AS PUPILS PROTEST (Edited by
DCB) "A SCHOOL student-led protest against the war in Iraq turned into
chaos yesterday bringing the CBD to a halt and leading to a chaotic
display on the historic Archibald Fountain."
There were ten thousand students from eighty schools across Sydney who
"deviated from their agreed march route and ran through the streets."
"The anti-war message was sidelined as the protest led to three arrests
– two of them children – and Sydney City Council had to drain the fountain
to remove debris."
One was arrested "for streaking, and an organiser allegedly directing
students out on to the road was also arrested."
"Organiser Simon Bulter blamed the rampage on miscommunication with
police, and despite the unruliness hailed the rally ‘a success’."
One hundred students from Riverside High carried "banners and placards
made at school." One Riverside High student said "she feared terrorist
reprisals on Australia because of its stance on Iraq" but "she did not buy
George W. Bush's line that Saddam Hussein was linked to terrorists –
believing it was simply an effort to gain greater support."
Editor’s Comment: Eph 2:2 "Wherein in time past ye walked according to
the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience."
WorldNetDaily.com 5 March 03 WHISTLEBLOWER MAGAZINE: 12-YEAR-OLD
PALESTINIAN BOY'S MARTYRDOM 'STAGED'
FRENCH MEDIA COMPLICIT IN PERPETUATING 'MYTH' OF MOHAMMED AL-DURA
(Edited by DCB) "The ‘martyrdom’ death of 12-year-old Palestinian Mohammed
al-Dura at the hands of Israeli soldiers – which received widespread
international news coverage and spurred on the current intifada, inspiring
countless ‘suicide bombers’ to attack Israel – was actually a ‘staged’
piece of street theater, according to an in-depth report in the current
issue of WND's monthly magazine, Whistleblower."
The footage of the 12 year old and his father pinned down "in crossfire
between Arab snipers and Israeli Defense Forces" took place on Sept. 30,
2000."
It has been determined "that the IDF could not have shot the boy, due
to a large barrier between the Israeli military outpost across the remote
junction and the location of the boy and his father."
A "just-completed, long-term journalistic investigation conducted in
France concludes that the Mohammed al-Dura affair was actually a piece of
Palestinian theater – similar to the dramatic Palestinian funeral
processions last April after the Israeli incursion into the Jenin refugee
camp. During that public spectacle, a martyred "corpse" twice fell off the
stretcher, only to hop back up and retake his place in the procession. The
Palestinians had claimed 3,000 deaths in Jenin – the actual toll was 52."
Gérard Huber is a psychoanalyst and permanent Paris correspondent of
the Israel-based Metula News Agency.
"But what about Mohammed al-Dura's funeral? ‘The badly wounded corpse
of a child was shown by doctors at the Shifa hospital in Gaza,’ says
Huber. ‘[That] child was dead, but he is not the child seen in the famous
TV newscast.’
The sensational 5,000-word report by WND Managing Editor David Kupelian,
titled ‘Mohammed al-Dura martyrdom a media myth?’ is published in the
March edition of Whistleblower."
Editor’s Comment: Jer 9:5 "And they will deceive every one his
neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to
speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity."
WorldNetDaily.com 4 March 03 BRAVE NEW SCHOOLS - PIG BOOKS BANNED IN
DEFERENCE TO MUSLIMS TEACHER SHUNS SWINE STORIES IN CLASS THAT MIGHT
OFFEND ISLAMIC KIDS (Edited by DCB) "The head teacher at a school in
Britain is defending her decision to ban books that contain stories about
pigs because they might offend Muslim children."
The London Daily Express reported that "teacher Barbara Harris has
removed the books from classes for those under 7 years old at Park Road
Junior Infant and Nursery School in Batley, West Yorkshire." Sixty percent
of the students in that school are of Pakistan or Indian origin and 99% of
those are Muslim.
"Recently, the head teacher has been aware of an occasion where young
Muslim children in a class were read stories about pigs" and "This could
have caused offense to religious sensitivities."
Harris said a memo was sent to the staff that any fiction books
containing pigs should be removed from classes with children younger than
6. She went on to say the books "remain in the school library and there is
nothing to stop our youngest children having stories such as 'The Three
Little Pigs' in small groups."
Harris believes those older than six "can be expected to make informed
choice about their reading material and therefore the books remain the
same in these classrooms."
Editor’s Comment: Is the same tolerance given to those of the Christian
faith?
Sydney Morning Herald (SMH hereafter) 7 March 03 POPE WRITES OF HIS
DEATH, RULES OUT RESIGNATION IN EPIC POEM (Edited by DCB) "Pope John Paul
has written about his own death for the first time and indirectly ruled
out his resignation in a three-part epic poem published yesterday."
The work is entitled Roman Triptych and consists of eleven pages in
part as prose and verse. In these pages he meditates "on the role he has
played for the past 25 years, since being elected to the highest power in
the Catholic church on October 16, 1978."
Editor’s Comment: Ec 10:13 "The beginning of the words of his mouth is
foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness."
SMH 7 March 03 SEX AND VIOLENCE SCREEN-SHOCKER TO OPEN HERE UNCUT
(Edited by DCB) "Irreversible, the French film whose graphic depictions of
sex and violence caused more than 200 people to flee a cinema when it was
screened at the Cannes Film Festival last year, will be shown uncut in
Sydney next week."
This graphic film will be shown only to an "over-18 audience."
This film is so graphic it "prompted a mass exit from a midnight
screening at Cannes last year. Some people were treated with oxygen in the
lobby. It contains two particularly controversial scenes. In one a man is
beaten to death with a fire extinguisher, and in another a woman is raped,
beaten and left for dead."
Now get this! "The general manager of Palace Cinemas, Nicolas Whatson,
saw Noe's film at Cannes. He said he had to ‘look away’ from the screen
several times, but was convinced of its artistic merit."
Editor’s Comment: Eph 5:16 "Redeeming the time, because the days are
evil." 1Pe 3:12 "...the face of the Lord is against them that do evil."
SMH 7 March 03 MAN CHARGED WITH FILMING CHILD SEX ABUSE (Edited by DCB)
"Queensland Police have charged a man with five counts of indecently
dealing with a child after he was allegedly filmed sexually abusing a
young girl."
The charges were against a 52 year old man committing these acts
against a 12 year old girl who was in his care!
"A police spokeswoman said his arrest came after a three-month
investigation."
Editor’s Comment: Why are we surprised when these things happen when a
graphic film such as the one mentioned above causes "200 people to flee a
cinema" and some to be "treated with oxygen in the lobby" and is yet
considered to have "artistic merit"? 2Ti 3:13 "But evil men and seducers
shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived."
British Times 21 February 03 GOVERNMENT URGES UNDER-16S TO EXPERIMENT
WITH ORAL SEX (Edited by DCB) "A GOVERNMENT-backed course is encouraging
pupils under 16 to experiment with oral sex, as part of a drive to cut
rates of teenage pregnancy."
The government backed course "A PAUSE" is according to its opponents
"having the reverse effect by exciting the sexual interest of children."
The course "trains teachers to discuss various pre-sex ‘stopping
points’ with under-age teenagers.
It aims to reduce promiscuity by encouraging pupils to discover ‘levels
of intimacy’, including oral sex, instead of full sexual intercourse."
More than one hundred thousand young people are taking the course in an
effort by the government "to tackle Britain’s teenage pregnancy rate,
which is the highest in Western Europe."
The director of the Family Education Trust said he "hoped that the
Sexual Offences Bill, currently going through the House of Lords, would
lead to the course being banned."
One teacher who recently attended training for the course said she felt
that by teaching the programme "teachers are implicitly supporting
under-age sexual activity."
Editor’s Comment: Mt 5:8 "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall
see God." 1Ti 5:22 "...keep thyself pure."
Jerusalem Newswire 27 February 2003 PALESTINIAN MUSLIM RELIGIOUS
INTOLERANCE (Edited by DCB) "Jerusalem -
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Sunday confirmed reports that Palestinian
Arabs had reduced to a pile of rubble the tombstone marking the
traditional burial place of the biblical patriarch Joseph in the Samarian
town of Shechem."
The site corresponds to that given in the biblical book of Joshua,
"Joseph's bones, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were
buried at Shechem in the tract of land that Jacob bought for a hundred
pieces of silver from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem. This
became the inheritance of Joseph's descendants."
"Under the Oslo Accords, this Jewish and biblical holy site was to
remain under Israeli jurisdiction, despite being located in Shechem - an
ancient Jewish town now inhabited by Arabs under the control of the
Palestinian Authority."
"On October 7, 2000, however, former Prime Minister Ehud Barak withdrew
IDF forces and evacuated Israeli civilians from the site after Arab
attacks against Joseph's Tomb intensified as part of the overall
Palestinian terrorist war against Israel.
PA assurances to Barak that the holy site would be protected from
desecration notwithstanding, the official destruction of the Joseph's Tomb
complex by the Palestinians began only hours after the last IDF soldiers
left as a result of the increased dangers of continuing to guard the tomb.
Within hours of the IDF withdrawal, Palestinian Muslims stormed the
site - with no visible effort by PA to stop them - destroying all Jewish
religious objects, and began tearing apart the stone building over
Joseph's Tomb with pick axes."
The dome over Joseph’s tomb received a coat of Muslim green paint while
Palestinian "bulldozers began clearing the compound area."
"Natan Sharansky, slated to server as Minister of Diaspora Affairs in
the next government, issued a formal protest over the incident...calling
on Israel's Foreign Ministry to publicize photos of the desecration in the
foreign media."
He said "If we would have razed the gravesite of one of the founders of
Islam, billions of Muslims would have taken to the streets. It's
inconceivable that the world should not know about this travesty."
The destruction of Joseph’s Tomb is only one of many Arab efforts "to
undermine the legitimacy of Judaism's claim to its ancient homeland and
ensure eventual complete and undisputed Islamic control of the entire
Middle East."
Another example of Muslim intolerance and international silence is the
"systematic program, documented by Israeli archeologists, of gutting the
Temple Mount of all vestiges of its Jewish past to make room for a single
massive Temple Mount mosque."
Palestinian Arabs frequently attack Jewish worshippers "entering and
leaving the tomb of the biblical matriarch Rachel near the entrance to
Bethlehem."
Islamic Saudi Arabia forbids "the practice of any religion but Islam on
its soil under pain of death."
Editor’s Comment: Genesis 17:8, 19 "And I will give unto thee, and to
thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of
Canaan, for an everlasting possession... And God said...thou shalt call
his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an
everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him." Ishmael and his
descendants continue to mock Isaac’s seed and seek to control the entire
Middle East.
Yours against Apostasy and for Biblical Truth
David C. Bennett
