U.S. President lauds positive male role models on Father's Day

The President of the United States, Barack Obama, used his weekly radio address on Saturday to thank all male role models who “show up and give it their best.”

Obama said it mattered not if this role model was a biological father, surrogate father, or mentor, because they were all positively shaping children.

“Every family is different, but what matters is the unconditional support, guidance, and love fathers and mentors give us throughout life,” said Obama in his Father’s Day proclamation.

Obama warned that from his personal experience, children who grow up with no father figures can live with “a hole that can have lasting effects.”

“Their absence is also felt by mothers, who work overtime and double shifts, put food on the table, and care for children alone while trying to make ends meet,” added the President. “And it is felt in our communities, when boys grow up without male leaders to inspire them.”

Referring to his own absent father, Obama said, “I felt his absence. And I wonder what my life would have been like had he been a greater presence.”

Obama’s personal experiences have resulted in a strong desire to help men become better fathers. In 2010 on Father’s Day, the American President announced the President’s Fatherhood and Mentoring Initiative, an effort to support groups who work towards responsible fatherhood and assist fathers to re-engage in their children's lives.

Afghanistan voted most dangerous country for women

In a poll of experts conducted by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, Afghanistan has been voted the most dangerous country in the world for women.

The experts were asked to rank countries according to their perceptions of danger in cultural and religious areas, as well as more specific risks in areas like health, trafficking and sexual violence.

Afghanistan headed the list because of its lack of access to doctors and the country’s staggering maternal mortality rates, in addition to the absence generally of social and economic rights for women.

Second on the list was the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, where approximately 400,000 women are raped every year.

Pakistan, India and Somalia were ranked third, fourth and fifth place respectively.

Switchfoot in bid to raise teen homelessness awareness

The Grammy award winning band Switchfoot is preparing to host their seventh annual Bro-Am surf contest and beach concert event in a bid to raise awareness around teenage homelessness.

Switchfoot will not only raise awareness but will also use the event to raise funds for StandUp For Kids, an organization that works among at-risk and homeless kids.

“Last year we reached over $130,000. That was mind-blowing to us, and we hope to raise more,” Switchfoot’s bassist, Tim Foreman, informed The Christian Post.

“To say that if we didn't raise that amount it would be failure, that's something we are very reluctant to say because the awareness that it is generating triggers what these kids are going through.”

“StandUp For Kids is again proud to be chosen as the recipient of the proceeds from this year's Bro-Am. Jon, Tim, Chad, Jerome and Drew show the true commitment of impacting homeless youth in Southern California. They have shown a tireless effort to help homeless youth, one at a time, and are an inspiration to our volunteers and homeless youth," said David Bakelman, the CEO for StandUp For Kids.

Foreman added that the event itself provided a place for the homeless youth where they could feel safe and secure.

“All financial goals aside this is a chance where these kids can breathe deeply and know that they are appreciated and then the mission would be accomplished,” Foreman said.

“The highlight of the event for me is seeing layers of worry abandoning their faces,” he added.

The annual event has so far raised more than $400,000 for StandUp.

(Image is of Switchfoot playing at the last bro-am event).

BBC’s neutrality is questioned after it shows an assisted suicide

Leading British Christians are among those criticising the British Broadcasting Company’s (BBC) decision to allow a broadcast of a dying man, only moments after he had committed assisted suicide.

The Choosing to Die documentary followed author Sir Terry Pratchett’s to Switzerland where he watched 71-year-old Peter Smedley, a British man with motor neurone disease, being assisted to die at the Digitas clinic.

Pratchett, who has Alzheimer’s disease, informed BBC Newsnight that he hoped the documentary would help viewers “make up their own minds” about assisted suicide.

“I believe it should be possible for someone stricken with a serious and ultimately fatal illness to choose to die peacefully with medical help, rather than suffer,” he said in an interview.

The Anglican Bishop Nazir-Ali was one of those who criticised the documentary saying it might spark ‘copy cat’ suicides.

“What evidence is there that in screening the film these serious issues were taken into consideration? Apart from legal considerations around free speech, was there any thought given, or advice sought, about the moral implications of crossing this Rubicon?”

The Bishop added, “As a public service broadcaster the BBC has an obligation to provide a balanced presentation of the moral issues of the day, especially when legality is also at stake.

“So far, there has been very little evidence of such balance in this matter.”

The Bishop of Exeter, the Rt Rev Michael Langrish, was another well-known clergyman who spoke out saying he would prefer to see more emphasis on supporting the living, rather than assisting the dying.

“The law still enshrines that sense of intrinsic value of life. But the law ultimately is not there to constrain individual choice. It’s there to constrain third party action and complicity in another person’s death,” he argued.

However, the programme was also defended by many, with one campaign group Dignity in Dying, saying it had been “deeply moving and at times difficult to watch”.

“It clearly did not seek to hide the realities of assisted dying. In setting out one person's views on the right to control our own deaths, it challenges all of us to address this important issue head on and ask what choices we want for ourselves at the end of life,” insisted Dignity in Dying chief executive Sarah Wootton.

(Image from anglican-mainstream.net).

Archbishop speaks out against Sudan violence

Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has raised his concerns with the mounting violence in Sudan, and has requested the British government to become involved in resolving it peacefully.

The violence is centred in the South Kordofan area of Sudan, and there are fears that it could unsettle South Sudan’s recent secession from North Sudan.

The recent referendum saw 98 per cent of southerners vote to secede, but contested areas along the borders of the two countries, including South Kordofan, Abyei and Blue Nile, have seen North Sudan forces launch attacks.

The invasion of Abyei, which is an oil-rich area, resulted in the displacement of some 100,000 people.

The Archbishop said that the world was risking “another Darfur” unless the international community got involved in a process of safeguarding citizens, and negotiating peaceful settlements.

“We deplore the mounting level of aggression and bloodshed in South Kordofan State and the indiscriminate violence on the part of government troops against civilians,” he said.

“The city has been overrun by the army and heavy force is being used by government troops to subdue militias in the area, with dire results for local people,” he added.

“Many brutal killings are being reported.

“This violence is a major threat to the stability of Sudan just as the new state of South Sudan is coming into being.

“The humanitarian challenge is already great, and the risk of another Darfur situation, with civilian populations at the mercy of government-supported terror, is a real one.”

The Archbishop urged the UN Security Council, the EU, Arab League and African Union to work together in ensuring humanitarian access and safety for citizens.

“We hope that our own government, which has declared its commitment to a peaceful future for Sudan, will play an important part in this.”

[Image of Sudan orphans from anglican-mainstream.net].

Ancient church discovered in Acre, Israel

Archaeologists have discovered what is believed to be an ancient church in Acre, Israel, proving that the city played a role in early Christianity.

“This is an important discovery for the study of Acre,” stated Nurit Page, head of the excavation undertaken by the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Page added this discovery is considered important because “no remnants from the Byzantine Period had been found other than living quarters near the [Mediterranean] Sea.”

The archaeological team believes the ancient structure is about 1,500 years old and is a church because of its size, which indicates that it is a public building, and the style of the building, including the roofing tiles, reports Israel’s Haaretz Daily Newspaper.

(Image shows Akko Tower in the old city of Acre, from ancientdigger.com).

Anglican Alliance urges the G20 to act on food crisis

The Anglican Alliance have launched a campaign to urge the G20 and African governments to institute measures to deal with the global food crisis when they meet later this month.

The campaign calls for greater support for women farmers, measures to control speculation, improved market access for farmers in developing countries, and more investment in agriculture.

The Alliance has released figures that detail how women produce between 60 and 80 per cent of the food in most developing countries, which is why it claims that by equalising their access to agricultural inputs would increase this output by as much as 10 per cent.

With their focus on empowering woman farmers, the Alliance has called for more secure land tenure for women, greater participation in decision-making on agricultural matters, and equal access to financial support such as credit and loan subsidies.

The Alliance has also explained that controls were needed on speculation in food commodities so as to curb the growing problem of food insecurity, which is creating food shortages for some 900 million people across the globe.

Anglican Alliance director, Sally Keeble said: “Anglicans in African identified food as their top concern in the run-up to the G20 meetings this November.

"There’s a growing consensus over the need for action from G20 governments - the agriculture ministers have a chance this month to put forward some radical proposals to tackle the crisis.”

(Image from www.foodshortageusa.com).