Thursday, April 24, 2008
Great quote
on the growth of our faith:
“The chief agents in the expansion of Christianity appear not to have been those who made it a profession or a major part of their occupation, but men and women who earned their livelihood in some purely secular manner and spoke of their faith to those whom they met in this natural fashion.”
-- Kenneth Scott Latourette, A History of the Expansion of Christianity
Thanks to James, Innovative Mission Opportunities, for this one.
“The chief agents in the expansion of Christianity appear not to have been those who made it a profession or a major part of their occupation, but men and women who earned their livelihood in some purely secular manner and spoke of their faith to those whom they met in this natural fashion.”
-- Kenneth Scott Latourette, A History of the Expansion of Christianity
Thanks to James, Innovative Mission Opportunities, for this one.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Stem Cells, again
Dr. Condic has done it again, another article in First Things about stem cells. She is someone with principles who knows what she is talking about. She also has several previous articles, and has been punished by the academics who want free for all stem cell research. See what you think.
AIDS and the Churches
This article in First Things this month is very important reading. The authors are part of the AIDS Prevention Research Center at Harvard. Their point seems to be that:
1. In every country in Africa with a decrease in HIV, there has been a decreased number of sex partners reported.
2. The other behavior associated with decreased HIV is decreased premarital sex.
3. The conventional wisdom is that "Poverty and discrimination are the problem", "Condoms are the answer", or "Sexual behavior will not change."
Here is a telling line: "One must ask whether they are more concerned with upholding a Western notion of sexual freedom or with saving lives."
Some other soundbites: In Africa, the wealthy are more likely to be infected than the poor.
In 30-40% of infected couples in Africa, the woman alone was infected (it's not just the men...)
Sexual behavior in Rwanda has remained conservative, and, at 3%, HIV prevalence is low for the region.
In fact, the mainstream HIV/AIDS community has continued to champion condom use as critical in all types of HIV epidemics, in spite of the evidence. "There are no definite examples yet of generalized epidemics that have been turned back by prevention programs based primarily on condom promotion."
"We must accept that the evidence is much stronger for fidelity or partner reduction than for any of the standard package HIV prevention packages."
(They also mention churches in the article by the way.)
Worth the read for all of us in medicine.
1. In every country in Africa with a decrease in HIV, there has been a decreased number of sex partners reported.
2. The other behavior associated with decreased HIV is decreased premarital sex.
3. The conventional wisdom is that "Poverty and discrimination are the problem", "Condoms are the answer", or "Sexual behavior will not change."
Here is a telling line: "One must ask whether they are more concerned with upholding a Western notion of sexual freedom or with saving lives."
Some other soundbites: In Africa, the wealthy are more likely to be infected than the poor.
In 30-40% of infected couples in Africa, the woman alone was infected (it's not just the men...)
Sexual behavior in Rwanda has remained conservative, and, at 3%, HIV prevalence is low for the region.
In fact, the mainstream HIV/AIDS community has continued to champion condom use as critical in all types of HIV epidemics, in spite of the evidence. "There are no definite examples yet of generalized epidemics that have been turned back by prevention programs based primarily on condom promotion."
"We must accept that the evidence is much stronger for fidelity or partner reduction than for any of the standard package HIV prevention packages."
(They also mention churches in the article by the way.)
Worth the read for all of us in medicine.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Walt Larimore to speak at Alternatives Pregnancy
Our own Walt Larimore, who recently spoke to us on His Brain, Her Brain, is at it again. He will be presenting a Spring Talk to Alternatives Pregnancy Center, April 17th from 11:30-1 PM. Here is a link with details. Walt is a good speaker, and Alternatives is a great organization that some of our members have links to. See if you can't drop by.
