Monday, October 31, 2005

• Bush nominates Alito for Supreme Court; conservatives applaud pick; battle expected

  by Tom Strode, posted Monday, October 31, 2005 (18 years ago)

  WASHINGTON (BP)--President Bush nominated federal appeals court judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court Oct. 31, immediately pleasing social conservatives and eliciting vociferous opposition from abortion rights advocates and other liberals. Read More

• Threat of disease grows in Indian-administered Kashmir region

  by Joshua Newton, posted Monday, October 31, 2005 (18 years ago)

  Cooking nevertheless A mother who survived the Oct. 8 earthquake with her son prepares food in a makeshift tent in a village in Indian-administered Kashmir. Health workers have warned that contaminated water may lead to an outbreak of various diseases. Photo by Joshua Newton

  BATTAGRAM, Kashmir (BP)--The people of Indian-administered Kashmir who survived the devastating earthquake Oct. 8 face a new foe: illness initiated by impending winter and poor water, food and shelter conditions.

  Recuperating Nizakat Fatima, a 40-year-old earthquake survivor, recuperates from severe fractures in her shoulders and from neck and leg injuries in a hospital in Indian town of Baramullah. Photo by Joshua Newton

        “The first snow has already fallen in the tops of the mountains,” a relief worker in Indian-administered Kashmir noted. “Bronchitis will be on the rise in no time. The colder it gets, the more bronchitis you’ll have.”

        The next three weeks are crucial, workers say; hundreds of remote villages will become impossible to reach in a couple of weeks as snowfall begins to mount in regions shaken by the 7.6-magnitude earthquake.

        In addition to bronchitis, health workers have warned that unless fresh water, food and shelter become available, diseases such as tetanus, pneumonia, cholera and measles, along with diarrhea, fever and tick-borne viruses from livestock, are certain to spread, especially among survivors with open cuts and sores. Authorities reportedly are killing dogs out of fear they could carry parasites that might spread potentially fatal diseases. Read More

• Baylor Medicine College to study controversial sex selection

  by Erin Curry, posted Monday, October 31, 2005 (18 years ago)

  HOUSTON (BP)--Baylor College of Medicine, which was tied to the Baptist-affiliated Baylor University until 1969, has been given approval to proceed with a controversial study for parents to choose a male or female embryo for implantation depending on their desire for a son or daughter. Read More

• Katrina victims on Miss. Gulf Coast inspired by volunteers

  by Ken Walker, posted Monday, October 31, 2005 (18 years ago)

  Providing a solution Ryan Taylor, a volunteer from Crestwood (Ky.) Baptist Church, sprays a bleach solution to kill mold in a home in Bay St. Louis, Miss., that was flooded by Hurricane Katrina.Photo courtesy of Crestwood Baptist Church

  PASCAGOULA, Miss. (BP)--Southern Baptists along Mississippi’s Gulf Coast say the response of Christians from around the nation has inspired them in their struggle to recover from Hurricane Katrina damage.

        The Jackson County Baptist Association in southeastern Mississippi, for example, processed more than 3,000 volunteers in the two months following Hurricane Katrina. The volunteers have removed mud and debris from 600 homes in Pascagoula and elsewhere in the area.

        “It gives us a great deal of encouragement and emotional energy to go on,” said Tom Miller, associate missions director for the Jackson County association. “The fact people care and come and assist in demolition and repair work gives you a boost.” Read More

• N.O. pastors face pressures, await breakthroughs, leader says

  by Staff, posted Monday, October 31, 2005 (18 years ago)

  NEW ORLEANS (BP)--Joe McKeever sat down to write a letter to all the Southern Baptist churches in New Orleans during the last week of October. Read More

• Leader in Emerging Church movement electrocuted in baptistery

  by Staff, posted Monday, October 31, 2005 (18 years ago)

  WACO, Texas (BP)--Kyle Lake, pastor of the University Baptist Church in Waco, Texas, and a leader in the “emerging church” movement, was electrocuted as he stepped into baptismal waters and reached out to adjust a microphone during the Sunday morning service Oct. 30. He was 33. Read More

• LifeWay Consulting Practice aids those with technology needs

  by Brooklyn Noel, posted Monday, October 31, 2005 (18 years ago)

  NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Many of today’s churches feature a unique juxtaposition between the traditions of the past and the ever-changing tides of the future. Hymnals share sanctuary space with large, multimedia screens; monthly newsletters hit mailboxes days after e-mail updates reach inboxes; and brick and mortar church signs advertise websites loaded with information. Read More

• FIRST-PERSON: Homosexuality in theological perspective, part 1

  by R. Albert Mohler Jr., posted Monday, October 31, 2005 (18 years ago)

  LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--In every age the church is confronted with cultural and ethical challenges which test both the conviction and the compassion of the body of Christ. Since World War II, American Christians have struggled with issues of racism, war, abortion and sexuality in successive and overlapping waves of moral confrontation. In the end, the issues of abortion and homosexuality are likely to prove the two most divisive issues Americans have faced since the Civil War. Read More