David N. Bass

One of the most unfeeling and unthinking pro-abortion rants in recent memory appeared on July 26 in Michigan State University’s newspaper. A column by MSU sophomore Shane Krouse attempted to offer up an open-and-shut case for abortion-on-demand but wound up as more of an emotional tirade against pro-lifers than a reasonably articulated thesis for abortion. Don’t get me wrong: I think it’s wonderful that a person from my generation would take the time to put pen to paper on this issue. Even though I strongly disagree with Mr. Krouse, I respect him as a fellow human being. Unfortunately, he is unwilling to extend that same respect to the “least among us” – the 45 million unborn boys and girls who have been butchered in this nation since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. That is one of the most significant differences between pro-lifers and abortion advocates – a sincere, deep-down respect for human life, regardless of its size or development.

OK, on to Mr. Krouse’s column itself. He begins by falsely attributing the scientifically-vindicated notion that life begins at conception to the “fundamentalist community.” This kind of leading is blatantly duplicitous. Consider Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry’s own statement during the ’04 elections: “I oppose abortion, personally. I don’t like abortion. I believe life does begin at conception.” Last time I checked, John Kerry is far from a card carrying member of the “fundamentalist community.” In fact, he’s the most liberal man to ever run for the U.S. presidency. Yet he candidly admitted that life begins at conception. Instead of lambasting the pro-life community, perhaps Mr. Krouse should direct some pointed criticism at his own presidential candidate for making such a rhetorical faux pas. After all, pro-abortionists cannot afford to admit that life begins at conception without losing significant moral ground. If life begins at conception, an unborn child is alive through all nine months of pregnancy; if an unborn child is alive, it just might be a human being; and if an unborn child is a human being, there is the remote possibility that he or she has “a right to life.” Read the rest of this entry »

Published August 19, 2006, on RenewAmerica.us

With cohabitation, pre-marital sex, single-parent families, divorce and even adultery rampant in our society, it’s obvious that some Americans view marital commitment with suspicion and contempt. By and large, popular culture teaches that wedded fidelity is secondary to pleasure, self-fulfillment and autonomy. Sexual freedom is seen as a necessary and almost sacred component of life in our post-modern age. Marriage is still a good thing, many feel, but there are a variety of more “progressive” alternatives available that are just as legitimate if not better.

Yet this downplaying of the importance of marriage is ironic given what contemporary social researchers are continually finding — traditional marriage between one man and one woman offers immense benefits to both spouses that cannot be or duplicated in any other relationship. The politics of sexual liberation aside, objective researchers for years have maintained that married households are the safest, healthiest and most satisfying place for men, women and children. Read the rest of this entry »

Family News in Focus reports a disturbing new trend in eastern European countries – using injections derived from the cells of aborted fetuses for women’s beauty treatments. Even more distressingly, young girls are actually being paid to sacrifice their unborn children for this scheme: “In countries like Georgia and Ukraine, young girls are being used as incubators for the babies whose cells will be harvested. About the 12th week, the baby is aborted and the fetal cells sold to cosmetic clinics. The girls earn about $200 for their trouble.”

Is there any lower point on the slippery slope to moral debauchery than offering girls cash to give up their unborn children to be butchered in order to create beauty treatments? The injustice of such horrendous filth should touch the conscience of every human being on the face of this planet, yet the Left is strangely silent. Liberalism cannot afford to ascribe even the slightest hint of value to unborn human life without destroying the underpinning of their entire pro-abortion philosophy – that a fetus is a mere blob of cells, belonging to the mother, able to be disposed of at will. The developing malignancy of the pro-abortion abortion crowd worldwide just goes to show how seared their collective consciences have become. Read the rest of this entry »

Yet another story emerged this week detailing the unfortunate after-shocks of winning the lottery. Excerpted from the article:

Jaun Rodriguez wanted nothing more than to be one of the guys in rural South Texas where he was raised. And he was — until six years ago, when he had the misfortune to acquire almost $9 million in the Texas Lottery. Today, he’s lost his anonymity, his buddies, whatever girlfriends he once had and most of his family, whose members he no longer trusts. He rarely ventures outside the trailer here where he lives alone. Booze and the four dogs he keeps chained outside are his main companions. “To tell you the truth, I wish I didn’t win,” he said from his living room one recent evening, nursing the first of nine Michelob Ultras he would drink by 10 p.m.

Such is the tragic reality of lottery winners that politicians and the gambling industry who peddle state-sponsored gambling never admit. Read the rest of this entry »

Published August 12, 2006, on WorldNetDaily.com

News flash: What teens watch, listen to and read affects their thinking and behavior.

Sound common-sensical? In years gone by, it was. But today, in our increasingly permissive culture, otherwise well-intentioned parents often ignore the obvious. Some even downplay the notion that the media influence behavior at all. Kids are resilient, right? They can see the fakery in lurid music and risqué movies. But such sentiment rings hollow in the face of those nagging things called “facts.” Read the rest of this entry »

An August 11 Washington Times story highlights the findings of a new health study – the last 14 years have seen a 13 percent drop in the number of sexually experienced teens. Conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the study found “that the share of teens who acknowledged ever having had sexual intercourse dropped from 54.1 percent to 46.8 percent” from 1991 to 2005. Good news overall, but teen sexual activity is still a problem of epidemic proportions. Alarmingly, the study found that in 2005, “28.2 percent of black teens said they had experienced four or more sex partners during their lives” (emphasis mine), compared to 11.4 percent for whites and 15.9 percent for Hispanics.

Does anyone remember the good ol’ days in America when you could count the number of sexually transmitted diseases on one hand? Today, over 30 such diseases exist. Read the rest of this entry »

Pro-life champion Sam Brownback (R-KS) introduced S. 3788 - Assisted Suicide Prevention Act of 2006 on August 3. Kudos to Senator Brownback for taking on this controversial issue. The bill would outlaw under the 1970 Controlled Substances Act the administration or distribution of drugs for the purpose of assisting another in committing suicide. It would also revoke Oregon’s assisted suicide law, passed in 1994, which has been a favorite with the liberal media.

The key issue here is this: Do we want a society that views the murder of the elderly, disabled, or sick as acceptable and even beneficial? Read the rest of this entry »

Published August 7, 2006, on RenewAmerica.us

Irony ran thick in a recent July 26 speech by Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. After lambasting the Bush administration for dividing the nation, Dean demonstrated his own mastery of divisive rhetoric by accusing Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of being an “anti-Semite” and then comparing U.S. Senate candidate Katherine Harris to communist dictator Joseph Stalin.

Only the esteemed former governor of Vermont turned presidential candidate turned DNC captain could be so duplicitous without batting an eye. Read the rest of this entry »