Wednesday, November 11, 2009

• ERLC lays out 15 principles needed for health care reform

  by Staff, posted Wednesday, November 11, 2009 (14 years ago)

  WASHINGTON (BP)--Fifteen principles -- including the honoring of all human life -- must be implemented in order for health care reform to be satisfactory, according to a new document issued by the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

        The paper, "Fifteen Principles for Successful Health Care Reform," outlines criteria it says are needed "to achieve the desired result of affordable, high quality, universal health care." The document was produced by the Research Institute of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). The Research Institute is an evangelical Christian think tank of 25 fellows, including seminary presidents and ethicists.

        The principles, available at www.erlc.com, were released as the health-care debate in Congress moves from the House of Representatives to the Senate.

        The Senate is expected to begin debate on health-care legislation Nov. 17, according to The Hill, a Capitol Hill newspaper.

        On Nov. 7, the House voted 220-215 for a health-care bill that includes a government-managed option. The representatives did so only after approving in a 240-194 vote a pro-life amendment barring federal funds from paying for abortions in the public option and from subsidizing private plans that cover abortions. Exceptions are made for abortions in the cases of rape, incest and to save the life of the mother.

        The ERLC document rejects government-run health care as an option, with the Research Institute fellows saying reform of the private health-care system is the best alternative.

        "The goal of this reform should be to reduce the cost of health care and health care insurance while maintaining the highest possible standard of health care for all, thus increasing the quality of health care for more and more Americans," they say.

        "While a perfect system is not attainable, there is much room for improvement," the document says.

        Regarding their first principle, the fellows say about the sanctity of human life, "Every stage of life, every type of disability must be treated with utmost reverence for every life. Abortion must not be mandated in health insurance plans.... Every treatment must meet a rigorous pro-life standard that refuses to value or respect one life more than another life.... Read More

• AMA reconsiders medical marijuana

  by Erin Roach, posted Wednesday, November 11, 2009 (14 years ago)

  HOUSTON (BP)--The American Medical Association is calling for a federal review of marijuana's classification as a dangerous drug with no accepted medical use, approving a revised policy Nov. 10 that won praise from marijuana supporters. Read More

• VETERANS DAY: WWII POW recounts the faith that sustained him

  by Joni B. Hannigan, posted Wednesday, November 11, 2009 (14 years ago)

  

  Photo by Joni B. Hannigan

  MONTICELLO, Fla. (BP)--"Is this it?" Joseph Plappert remembers thinking. He and another soldier had received word that morning the Germans were coming and they would need to fortify their position in the Ardennes forest in central Belgium. Read More

• VETERANS DAY: Veteran escaped death at Battle of the Bulge

  by Carolyn Nichols, posted Wednesday, November 11, 2009 (14 years ago)

  

  JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (BP)--After D.J. (Dean) Abernathy was injured during the Battle of the Bulge in 1944, he says at least two angels saved him from death.

        The angels, an Army medic and a surgeon, stepped in to save the young infantryman who had been pronounced a hopeless case by an aid station doctor. Read More

• VETERANS DAY: Prof to serve God, country

  by Keith Collier, posted Wednesday, November 11, 2009 (14 years ago)

  FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)--Seminary professor John Laing is joining 3,600 citizen-soldiers in the 72nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team as part of the largest Texas Army National Guard deployment since World War II.

  Lt. Col. Laing, an assistant professor of systematic theology and philosophy at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary's Houston campus, will serve as the senior chaplain for the brigade during the year-long mission.

  The unit is scheduled to deploy this fall for nine months ove... Read More

• Obama cites troops' defense of freedom

  by Art Toalston, posted Wednesday, November 11, 2009 (14 years ago)

  KILLEEN, Texas (BP)--At a memorial service at Fort Hood, President Obama placed the slaying of 12 servicemen and one civilian in the context of America's defense of freedom at home and abroad.

  Obama also noted that one of the slain soldiers was an expectant mother.

  Obama and his wife Michelle traveled to Fort Hood, the nation's largest military base in Killeen, Texas, for the Nov. 10 memorial service.

  Obama spoke from a podium behind a row of memorials for the victims -- each with... Read More

• BP journalism contest draws 20 schools

  by Erin Roach, posted Wednesday, November 11, 2009 (14 years ago)

  NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--In its ninth year, the Baptist Press Collegiate Journalism Conference drew contest entries from 20 colleges and universities as nearly 100 awards were distributed, including the President's Award for Excellence in Student Journalism.

  The awards presentation, streamed online for the first time from Union University in Jackson, Tenn., Oct. 29, recognized students mostly from Baptist-affiliated schools after more than 500 of their entries were judged by nearly 20 profess... Read More

• FIRST-PERSON: Christ, at work in the military

  by Adam Cole, posted Wednesday, November 11, 2009 (14 years ago)

  NORFOLK, Va. (BP)--The commitment to service in the armed forces is one of the most binding commitments on earth. Read More

• FIRST-PERSON: Missions and class Christmas parties

  by David Francis, posted Wednesday, November 11, 2009 (14 years ago)

  NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--What in the world (pun intended) do Sunday School class Christmas parties and international missions have in common? Read More