Moral Decline

Just when you've completely and totally given up on California.....

On a day when Californians overwhelmingly voted for Barack Obama, California voters approved an amendment to their constitution outlawing same sex marriage, overturning the California Supreme Court decision that granted gay couples the right to wed just a few months ago.

With almost 100 percent of the precincts now reporting, Proposition 8 was leading 52 percent to 48 percent.

The battle over Proposition 8 was one of the most passionate fights over a ballot initiative in American history. The "Yes on (Proposition) 8" campaign had raised approximately 35 million dollars and had sent out about 100,000 volunteers all over the state of California.

The "No on 8" faction had raised approximately 38 million dollars and had about 10,000 volunteers.

Campaign donations for this fight came in from all across the United States, with Christians and Mormons donating for Proposition 8, and gay rights activists and Hollywood stars such as Ellen DeGeneres and Brad Pitt donating to oppose it.

Chip White, a co-campaign manager for the "Yes on (Proposition) 8" campaign said this after the results came in: "Momentum continues to be on our side as California recognizes the serious consequences if gay marriage remains legal."

Florida and Arizona also voted Tuesday to outlaw gay marriage, joining dozens of other states that define marriage as being exclusively between a man and a woman. In both Florida and Arizona, there were laws that already defined marriage as a heterosexual institution, but supporters pushed to amend the state constitutions, claiming that doing so would protect marriage from future legal challenges.

Ultimately, it ended up being a really great election for the opponents of gay marriage.

However, it is important to note that the California vote against gay marriage was not nearly as strong as it was eight years ago.

Eight years ago, Californians voted 61% to define marriage as being between one man and one woman. So Tuesday's vote was substantially weaker, and this has got to be a source for concern.

But the amendment still passed, and that is something to be thankful for.

Voters in several states overwhelmingly rejected anti-abortion ballot measures in a devastating defeat for anti-abortion forces. Even in "red states", American voters have sent a clear message regarding what they believe about the issue of abortion.

The following are four decisions that American voters made yesterday that were crippling to the pro-life movement:

#1 Barack Obama Wins The Presidency

Barack Obama: "The first thing I'd do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That's the first thing that I'd do." -- Senator Barack Obama, speaking to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, July 17, 2007

Now Americans are guaranteed that the White House will nominate only pro-choice judges for at least the next four years. America now has the most pro-abortion president that it has ever elected.

#2 South Dakota Voters Reject Abortion Ban

Voters have defeated the SouthDakota abortion ban 55 percent to 45 percent. South Dakota has traditionally been one of the most "red" states, and this shows that abortion ballot measures are unlikely to win anywhere.

#3 California Voters Reject Parental Notification Measure

A California ballot measure that would require doctors to notify parents before performing an abortion on a child appears headed for defeat.

So abortionists can now feel free to carve up children and their unborn babies without ever telling their parents.

#4 Focus On The Family Crushed In Their Own Back Yard

Colorado voters have soundly defeated a measure that would have declared that a fertilized egg is a legal person. It looks like the vote wasn't even close.

What does all of this say about the American people?

No matter what your political beliefs are, and no matter who you are voting for today, hopefully we can all agree that Americans should all have the right to be able to cast their votes and should have the right to have the votes counted accurately.

That is why the reports of voting problems that are already coming out today are so troubling.

Problems with electronic voting were already being reported early today in many battleground states.

Early word on the ground from watchdog organizations indicated that there were problems with getting electronic voting machines up and running in many of the key battleground states, and in other key states the machines would crash during the voting process and had to be rebooted.

But the electronic voting machines are not the only problem.

Fox News is reporting that intimidation tactics, missing ballots and faulty machinery are plaguing voters around the country.

Here is how Fox News is describing the voting problems that they are seeing around the nation:

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In Philadelphia, FOX News' Rick Leventhal received a report from Republican poll watcher Chris Hill that two Black Panthers had stationed themselves at the door to a polling station and were intimidating voters. One held a night stick, Hill said.

Hill told FOX News that he went to talk to the men and they told him white power didn't rule there.

The man reportedly carrying a night stick was escorted away from the polling station by police, and FOX News found another Black Panther outside the station who said he was a certified observer. Police asked him and the FOX News crew to leave the polling station.

As of noon, FOXNews.com had received complaints from voters around the country that polling stations were not prepared, that voting lists were inaccurate and some voters were worried when they were asked to cast paper ballots instead of using voting machines.

Gregory Holden reported that the voting list his polling station in Lugoff, S.C., had problems. "Many people who have always voted in this precinct are all of a sudden not on the roll," he said. "They only have five machines and there are about 300 people in line. People are so discouraged some are leaving," he wrote.

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If America is the "greatest democracy on earth", then there is NO EXCUSE for Americans not to have a safe, non-threatening location where they can be assured that the voting procedures work and that their votes are counted.

A controversial new study reveals that pregnancy rates are much higher among teenagers who watch a lot of television with sexual dialogue and behavior than among those who don't.

Some of the shows that the study asked teenagers about include "Sex and the City", "That '70s Show" and "Friends".

The study, published in "Pediatrics", is based on interviews with teens over a three year period.

WebMD is reporting that according to the study, teens who watched the most sexual content (90th percentile) on television were twice as likely to experience a pregnancy in the three year period as those who watched the least sexual content (10th percentile).

The researchers said this about their findings: "Given the high rates of teen pregnancy in the United States, our findings argue for continued evaluation of television's role in teen pregnancy and for prevention strategies that factor in the role of portrayals of sexuality on television and in other media."

But seriously.....will watching television and movies with highly sexual content really lead to more teenagers having sex?

Can't our teens distinguish between fantasy and reality?

Or does fantasy become reality when our teens start to imitate their heroes?

Proverbs 23:7 says this about mankind - "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he".

So according to the Scriptures, what we constantly think about is what we are likely to become.

If our thoughts are filled with sex and sexual things, then we are inevitably going to drift towards those things.

Instead of filling our minds with programs that discuss never ending sexual immorality, the Bible tells us to think about those things that are good and pure. This is what the Scriptures say in Philippians 4:8 -

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

So instead of letting our teenagers watch thousands of hours of primetime television and R rated movies, perhaps we should be seeking to help them fill their minds with more positive things.

But I am certain many readers of this blog will disagree with us.

If you do disagree, please feel free to leave a comment explaining why.

The news seemingly gets crazier every single day.

A kindergarten teacher at a public school in California actually had her kindergarten students sign "pledge cards" in support of homosexual rights.

Yes, you read that correctly.

Now, for one thing, kindergarten students don't have the first idea what sex even is.

Do we want kindergarten students to be thinking about these things?

Sonja Eddings Brown, a spokeswoman for Protect Marriage California, asked this question: "How do you teach a 5-year-old to sign a pledge card for lesbian, gay and transgender issues without explaining what transgender and bisexual is?"

The California school system where this took place refuses to say what action, if any, it will take on this matter.

A headline like this would have been unthinkable in the America of the 1940s or 50s. It seems as though the United States has changed forever.