December 30, 2004

They Are Coming For The Christians
By Doug Newman

On December 17, in Melbourne, Australia, two Christian pastors were found guilty of vilifying Muslims. The judge in the case stated that these pastors – one a former Muslim -- violated Section 8 of the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001 which forbids a person from engaging in conduct that "incites hatred against, serious contempt for, or revulsion or severe ridicule of, that other person or class of persons".

These accusations were spurred by – get this – these pastors reading directly from the Quran. In other words, it is now a crime in Australia for a Christian to quote from the sacred book of another religion.

This is not the Sudan, or Saudi Arabia or Iran.

This is Australia. It is, you know, like, a free country. Things like this don’t happen in free countries. (1)

Or do they? (Read the rest here)

Pregnancy Murder Needs Study, Not Sensationalism
by Wendy McElroy, mac@ifeminists.net

Last week, the Washington Post ran a series on its front page for three days in a row. The report by journalist Donna St. George was entitled "Pregnancy and Homicide: The Known Toll" and featured color photographs of multiple victims.

St. George wrote, "Many women were slain at home -- in bedrooms, living rooms, kitchens -- usually by men they knew. Husbands. Boyfriends. Lovers." The series clearly implies that there is an unacknowledged epidemic of "maternal murder" being committed by intimates.

Maternal murder is a heart-wrenching issue that demands attention, but the Post's report smacks of tabloid sensationalism. With supermarket headlines like "Many New or Expectant Mothers Die Violent Deaths," the Post may be needlessly scaring women away from pregnancy itself while failing to inform them of the real risk factors for becoming a maternal murder victim. (The definition of "maternal homicide" includes murders occurring 12 months after delivery and random violence.) (Read the rest here)

Libertarian Commentary on The News
By Nathan A. Barton © 2004

We are going through the usual end of the year rehash of the year’s news, but there is still a lot going on, and I’ll try to concentrate on what’s happening now, versus what happened - in my opinion (if nobody else’s, necessarily, as if the case of the rest of this commentary) it is more important.

Tsunami toll tops 56,000 [Latest 100,0000+]
CNN
"The number of dead in Indonesia has risen fivefold to 27,174, almost doubling the death toll from the massive underwater earthquake and the equally massive tsunami that followed it. The latest numbers, confirmed by the Ministry of Health in Jakarta on Wednesday, push the final toll from Sunday's catastrophe to over 56,000. Officials could not reach some remote areas, like Indonesia's Aceh province, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the Maldives, until Tuesday, and once there, they found scenes much worse than they imagined." (12/28/04)

Meanwhile, more and more condemnation for the “selfishness” of the American Union - something that is absolutely wrong. However stupid our government is, selfishness is NOT one of the problems, and indeed (from an Objectivist point of view [which I am not]) exactly the opposite. In fact, however, as a libertarian and christian, I would rather that the US government followed the constitutional mandate and gave nothing - we would, as individuals not only raise more and donate more than anything the government could give, but it would be easier for us to give. I am reminded of the story of Davy Crockett when he was in Congress*, and realized that no matter how much and how great the need, government should NOT be in the benevolence business. But for media, the UN, or anyone else to accuse the United States of America, as a people, as a nation, of being “stingy” is crazy. The only thing crazier is that some media and rabid environist groups are now claiming that “global warming” (itself an unproved theory and article of faith) is making the disaster worse. I expect to soon read where someone (an Islamist or, perhaps, a former Soviet propagandist, is going to claim that the earthquake is actually an American plot to destroy the nations of the Indian Ocean, especially the Islamic nations, and to remove the “danger” of outsourcing to India and Indonesia. Actually, yesterday’s hyperbolic claim that this disaster is “decimating” a generation of coastal peoples, is very close to that.
*Click here to read “Not Yours To Give”, the Davy Crockett story. (Read the rest of the Commentary here)

FICAA.com Presents: The American Jury Hour with Iloilo Marguerite Jones and guests. Heard on The American Voice Radio Network , Thursday Afternoons, Noon Pacific, 1PM Mountain. The weekend rebroadcast of this week's program is at Sunday at 9:00 PM. .

Heard on The American Voice Radio Network American Voice Radio Network can be heard on:

C-Band Satellite at Galaxy 11 (formerly G-7), Transponder 12, Audio 8.1 Internet Streaming Audio (MP3 16kbps) C-Band and Internet Audio feeds are free with no subscription fee or sign up required whatsoever. (Read the rest here)

Click Here for the Archives
The links for each day have been fixed. PLEASE let me know if you find a broken link!
Each day on the calendar that is underlined is that day's issue.
Just click on one for more great articles!
(Please tell me if you find a bad link!)

New topics are being added frequently now.
Take a look and let us know what you are thinking about the issues of today.

The Lighter Side of PoL
Humor links and items to lighten your day. Send us your humor contributions!

MamaLiberty is the owner, publisher, writer, chief cook and bottle washer for The Price of Liberty. I'd love to hear from you! I promise to delete any nasty notes, threats or other nonsense. Serious questions and comments will be answered to the best of my ability.

Serious writers are also invited to submit articles for consideration. Please see the mission statement and the writer's guidelines first, just to save you time and effort. I don't require exclusives, by any means. Please do not submit someone else's copyrighted material unless it is clearly marked for use on the external oped page. Include a link to it or we can't use it. Thanks!