Conservative Anglican paper banned
BRANDON, Man. — Anglican Bishop Jim Njegovan has banned The Anglican Planet, an independent monthly paper, from his diocese of Brandon, Man. According to the CBC, Bishop Njegovan charged the publication was “sowing the seeds of distrust and disdain within the church” and failing to respect “those in authority over them.” It appears that the bishop is concerned with the paper’s promotion of traditional moral and doctrinal teachings, including the understanding that sexual relations are reserved for a man and a woman in marriage. The paper, which was launched earlier this year, already has 5,000 subscribers. Journalist and former Interim editorial advisory board member Sue Careless is an editor with TAP. She told Christian Week that “the orthodox in the Anglican church need their own voice … There’s a whole community out there. And I don’t think they are being well served by the Anglican Journal.”
Psych hospital promotes patient sex
BEAUPORT, Que. — University of Laval-associated Centre Hospitalier Robert-Giffard, a psychiatric hospital, has begun a program to facilitate patients’ sexual relations by providing them with private rooms that include access to pornographic videos and magazines. A trial period will allow 60 patients access to the program, but all 700 patients are expected to qualify within six months. Nicole-Gagnon, the hospital’s ombudswoman and the person responsible for the program, told the Toronto Sun that, “By facilitating patients’ sexual relations, we want to make sex a positive, rather than a negative, experience.”
Parental notification law defeated
CALIFORNIA — Voters in California narrowly defeated Proposition 73, which would have required parents to be notified when their minor-aged daughters sought an abortion. The Parents’ Right to Know initiative lost 52.6 to 47.4 per cent. Celebrities including actors Patricia Heaton (Everybody Loves Raymond), Patrick Warburton (Seinfeld) and Ben Stein (Win Ben Stein’s Money) and radio show hosts Dr. Laura Schlessinger and Laura Ingraham all endorsed the initiative and contributed their talents through radio advertisements.
Marriage initiatives passed
AUSTIN, Tx. and PORTLAND, Me. — More than three-quarters of voters in Texas supported Proposition 2, which altered the state constitution to prevent courts from redefining marriage. Texas became the 19th state to maintain the traditional definition of marriage. And in Oregon, Marion County Circuit Judge Joseph Guimond upheld the 2004 decision of voters to amend the state constitution to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.
