ABORTION AND THE MOTHER'S MENTAL HEALTH
Psalm 127:3
"Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward."
Over the past several years, scientific studies of women have shown that those who have had abortions increase their risks of infertility, breast cancer and other problems. Now, a study released by the Population Research Institute reveals a whole new category of risks associated with abortion.
The researchers learned that among girls from 15 to 18, pregnant or not, for those who have had an abortion, the chance of major depression rises from 31 percent to 78 percent. The same pattern appeared for anxiety, where, for young girls who had had an abortion, the likelihood of anxiety neuroses was doubled. The pattern also showed a doubled rate of thoughts of suicide for girls who had had an abortion as compared with those who became pregnant but had not had an abortion. A similar study of women in New Zealand had the same results. Two studies by the Elliot Institute showed that women who had an abortion were three times as likely as those who had not to be plagued with anxiety and to abuse drugs.
These studies show scientifically that it is time to stop accepting the mental health of the mother as justification for abortion. Researchers find that abortion causes mental health problems; it does not prevent them. More than this, of course, abortion is contrary to God's will because it takes a life.
Lord, I thank You for the gift of life, and I ask that You would turn people's hearts to treasure life. Amen.
Population Research Institute, 20 January 2006, Vol. 8, No. 3, Joseph A. D'Agostino, "Why Think Abortion Good for Anyone?"
Psalm 127:3
"Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward."
Over the past several years, scientific studies of women have shown that those who have had abortions increase their risks of infertility, breast cancer and other problems. Now, a study released by the Population Research Institute reveals a whole new category of risks associated with abortion.
The researchers learned that among girls from 15 to 18, pregnant or not, for those who have had an abortion, the chance of major depression rises from 31 percent to 78 percent. The same pattern appeared for anxiety, where, for young girls who had had an abortion, the likelihood of anxiety neuroses was doubled. The pattern also showed a doubled rate of thoughts of suicide for girls who had had an abortion as compared with those who became pregnant but had not had an abortion. A similar study of women in New Zealand had the same results. Two studies by the Elliot Institute showed that women who had an abortion were three times as likely as those who had not to be plagued with anxiety and to abuse drugs.
These studies show scientifically that it is time to stop accepting the mental health of the mother as justification for abortion. Researchers find that abortion causes mental health problems; it does not prevent them. More than this, of course, abortion is contrary to God's will because it takes a life.
Lord, I thank You for the gift of life, and I ask that You would turn people's hearts to treasure life. Amen.
Population Research Institute, 20 January 2006, Vol. 8, No. 3, Joseph A. D'Agostino, "Why Think Abortion Good for Anyone?"
COULD A BEE PICK YOU OUT IN A POLICE LINE-UP?
Psalm 81:16
"He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee."
Given the size of its brain, could a honeybee recognize a specific human face? And if a bee could recognize specific human faces, how would the evolutionist explain this kind of ability?
Researchers who study honeybee and human vision point out that there would have been no evolutionary pressure for bees to learn to recognize specific people. The scientific prediction would therefore be that bees would not recognize human faces. To test this prediction, researchers placed pictures of human faces above bee-feeders. The same human face was always above the feeder that dispensed a sugar solution. A variety of other faces were placed above feeders that dispensed, say, quinine, a bitter-tasting solution. The bees quickly learned to associate one particular human face with the sweet solution. Even when researchers shuffled the feeders around, the bees quickly homed in on the sugar feeder with the familiar face. Then they removed the feeders and left only the pictures for the bees to find. Eighty percent of the time, the bees still focused on the face that had been on the sugar feeder. Evolution would predict random results; that is, the pictures of faces would have no effect.
However, our powerful Creator could be expected to give bees any abilities He wished. In this case, He apparently saw a good purpose to give bees this unexpected ability.
Father, I thank You for all the good gifts You give us through Your creation. I especially thank You for salvation. Amen.
Science News, 12/3/5, p. 360, S. Milius, "Face Time."
Psalm 81:16
"He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee."
Given the size of its brain, could a honeybee recognize a specific human face? And if a bee could recognize specific human faces, how would the evolutionist explain this kind of ability?
Researchers who study honeybee and human vision point out that there would have been no evolutionary pressure for bees to learn to recognize specific people. The scientific prediction would therefore be that bees would not recognize human faces. To test this prediction, researchers placed pictures of human faces above bee-feeders. The same human face was always above the feeder that dispensed a sugar solution. A variety of other faces were placed above feeders that dispensed, say, quinine, a bitter-tasting solution. The bees quickly learned to associate one particular human face with the sweet solution. Even when researchers shuffled the feeders around, the bees quickly homed in on the sugar feeder with the familiar face. Then they removed the feeders and left only the pictures for the bees to find. Eighty percent of the time, the bees still focused on the face that had been on the sugar feeder. Evolution would predict random results; that is, the pictures of faces would have no effect.
However, our powerful Creator could be expected to give bees any abilities He wished. In this case, He apparently saw a good purpose to give bees this unexpected ability.
Father, I thank You for all the good gifts You give us through Your creation. I especially thank You for salvation. Amen.
Science News, 12/3/5, p. 360, S. Milius, "Face Time."
THIS SHRIMP PACKS A PUNCH
Psalm 104:25
"So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts."
If you enjoy keeping tropical fish, the Mantis shrimp is one creature you may not want to keep in your aquarium. While this creature is related to common shrimp, it has a very unusual and specialized feature.
In the wild, if the Mantis shrimp finds a tasty snail, it cocks its spring-loaded forearm and shatters the snail's shell. The forearm has moved through the water at 50 miles per hour – so fast that it causes cavitation as well as heat and a flash of light as the bubbles collapse. And, yes, the Mantis shrimp can break the glass walls of an aquarium! To do this, the shrimp must generate over two-hundred thousand watts of power per pound of muscle, something no other muscle can do. The shrimp accomplishes this seemingly impossible task by storing the energy generated by the muscles. The shrimp first locks the arm and then contracts its muscles. The energy stored in this way would damage the arm if it weren't for a very clever spring design. This saddle-shaped spring can accumulate enormous quantities of energy without breaking as it compresses. When the shrimp is ready to strike, it simply releases the spring.
The Mantis shrimp's forearm is only an effective working unit when all of its specialized parts are working together. It is difficult to imagine how it could have evolved.
Father, I thank You for all the wise designs You have put into Your creation, especially Your plan of salvation. Amen.
http//www.USA Today.com. 1/9/06, April Holladay, "Shrimp spring into shattering action." See also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezRCQZgVEec and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONQlTMUYCW4
Psalm 104:25
"So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts."
If you enjoy keeping tropical fish, the Mantis shrimp is one creature you may not want to keep in your aquarium. While this creature is related to common shrimp, it has a very unusual and specialized feature.
In the wild, if the Mantis shrimp finds a tasty snail, it cocks its spring-loaded forearm and shatters the snail's shell. The forearm has moved through the water at 50 miles per hour – so fast that it causes cavitation as well as heat and a flash of light as the bubbles collapse. And, yes, the Mantis shrimp can break the glass walls of an aquarium! To do this, the shrimp must generate over two-hundred thousand watts of power per pound of muscle, something no other muscle can do. The shrimp accomplishes this seemingly impossible task by storing the energy generated by the muscles. The shrimp first locks the arm and then contracts its muscles. The energy stored in this way would damage the arm if it weren't for a very clever spring design. This saddle-shaped spring can accumulate enormous quantities of energy without breaking as it compresses. When the shrimp is ready to strike, it simply releases the spring.
The Mantis shrimp's forearm is only an effective working unit when all of its specialized parts are working together. It is difficult to imagine how it could have evolved.
Father, I thank You for all the wise designs You have put into Your creation, especially Your plan of salvation. Amen.
http//www.USA Today.com. 1/9/06, April Holladay, "Shrimp spring into shattering action." See also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezRCQZgVEec and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONQlTMUYCW4
PLANTS ADD MORE GREENHOUSE GAS
Genesis 8:22
"While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."
Those who fear global warming blame any climate changes upon man's activity, including the raising of cattle for food. The digestive system of all ruminants, including cows, produce methane gas as part of the digestive process. Methane is considered one of the greenhouse gases that change the Earth's climate. Some have even suggested ways of limiting the methane produced by cows.
Methane is produced in a chemical reaction that scientists have always believed must take place in the absence of oxygen. That's why they were surprised to find living plants making methane. It should be added that the researchers took great pains to ensure that the methane they were measuring was produced by the plants and trees and not by microbes in the soil. While they are unsure of the chemistry involved, they did find that more methane was produced with higher atmospheric temperatures. This finding explains large methane plumes that have been identified over tropical forests. Based on their findings, they estimate that 20 percent of all atmospheric methane comes from plants and trees. That's about 150 metric tons a year!
Since God has created the Earth for life, He has built balances into it that can deal with the by-products of life, including methane. We can trust God's promises that man will be here on Earth, planting and reaping, until its history ends.
Father, I praise You for giving us a creation that balances itself so that we might live within it without fear. Amen.
Science News, 1/14/06, p. 19, S. Perkins, "Greenhouse Plants"
Genesis 8:22
"While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."
Those who fear global warming blame any climate changes upon man's activity, including the raising of cattle for food. The digestive system of all ruminants, including cows, produce methane gas as part of the digestive process. Methane is considered one of the greenhouse gases that change the Earth's climate. Some have even suggested ways of limiting the methane produced by cows.
Methane is produced in a chemical reaction that scientists have always believed must take place in the absence of oxygen. That's why they were surprised to find living plants making methane. It should be added that the researchers took great pains to ensure that the methane they were measuring was produced by the plants and trees and not by microbes in the soil. While they are unsure of the chemistry involved, they did find that more methane was produced with higher atmospheric temperatures. This finding explains large methane plumes that have been identified over tropical forests. Based on their findings, they estimate that 20 percent of all atmospheric methane comes from plants and trees. That's about 150 metric tons a year!
Since God has created the Earth for life, He has built balances into it that can deal with the by-products of life, including methane. We can trust God's promises that man will be here on Earth, planting and reaping, until its history ends.
Father, I praise You for giving us a creation that balances itself so that we might live within it without fear. Amen.
Science News, 1/14/06, p. 19, S. Perkins, "Greenhouse Plants"
PLANTS WITH PERCHES FOR POLLINATOR BIRDS
Psalm 148:7, 10
"Praise the LORD from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps ... Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl..."
Could a plant devise a special growth for itself so that it becomes inviting to its only pollinator? If evolution were true, how could such a plant survive until it could learn enough about its pollinator, and about genetics, to evolve a special growth just for that pollinator.
Those sound like silly questions, but if evolution is true, they must be answered, and answered scientifically. A South African plant called the "Rat's Tail" grows a seemingly purposeless spear that extends near its flowers. Theorizing that the spear might be a bird-perch for a pollinator, scientists closely watched some of the plants in the wild. They learned that the only bird that seems interested in pollinating the plant is a bird called the "Malachite Sunbird". The scientists then removed the spikes from some of the plants. The result was that male sunbirds were far less likely to visit and pollinate those plants. As a result, perchless-plants only produced half as many seeds as plants with perches. Researchers pointed out that this arrangement makes sense because male sunbirds have long tails that can be damaged by ground landings.
However, if we conclude that the Rat's Tails were created for the sunbirds, and the sunbirds for the Rat's Tails, we don't have to find natural explanations for such silly questions. This is simply another of God's clever designs.
Lord, Your caring hand is all around us. I thank You especially for caring for me by forgiving my sins. Amen.
Science News, 6/4/05, p. 365, "Built-in bird perch spreads the pollen."
Psalm 148:7, 10
"Praise the LORD from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps ... Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl..."
Could a plant devise a special growth for itself so that it becomes inviting to its only pollinator? If evolution were true, how could such a plant survive until it could learn enough about its pollinator, and about genetics, to evolve a special growth just for that pollinator.
Those sound like silly questions, but if evolution is true, they must be answered, and answered scientifically. A South African plant called the "Rat's Tail" grows a seemingly purposeless spear that extends near its flowers. Theorizing that the spear might be a bird-perch for a pollinator, scientists closely watched some of the plants in the wild. They learned that the only bird that seems interested in pollinating the plant is a bird called the "Malachite Sunbird". The scientists then removed the spikes from some of the plants. The result was that male sunbirds were far less likely to visit and pollinate those plants. As a result, perchless-plants only produced half as many seeds as plants with perches. Researchers pointed out that this arrangement makes sense because male sunbirds have long tails that can be damaged by ground landings.
However, if we conclude that the Rat's Tails were created for the sunbirds, and the sunbirds for the Rat's Tails, we don't have to find natural explanations for such silly questions. This is simply another of God's clever designs.
Lord, Your caring hand is all around us. I thank You especially for caring for me by forgiving my sins. Amen.
Science News, 6/4/05, p. 365, "Built-in bird perch spreads the pollen."
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.