Confessions of a Recovering Pharisee

[Christian Post]

A librarian in California who was fired after reporting to the police about a man who was using a library computer to view child pornography is demanding her job back.

Fla.-based Christian legal group Liberty Counsel has sent a demand letter to the Tulare County Library in Lindsay, Calif., requesting that officials reinstate library assistant Brenda Biesterfeld.Mathew D. Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel and dean of Liberty University’s School of Law, called the decision to fire Biesterfeld “outrageous.”

“Child pornography is illegal under state and federal laws,” stated Staver. “Brenda Biesterfeld had a moral and a legal responsibility to report to police a library patron whom she observed viewing child pornography.

“Child pornography is a despicable crime against children,” he added. “Our tax dollars should not be used to provide safe havens for sexual perverts to view child pornography.”

Biesterfeld had contacted her supervisor, Judy Hill, after noticing the incident and asked for advice on how to handle the situation.

“I told her I was shocked because I have boys that age, and he might as well have had my youngest one up on that screen,” Biesterfeld recalled telling Hill, according to the Visalia Times Delta. “I told her I was sick to my stomach and angry.”

When Biesterfeld asked if she should call the police, Hill told her only to issue a warning to the man, who was later identified by police as 39-year-old Donny Lynn Chrisle, but not to contact police.

Despite her supervisor’s instructions, Biesterfeld said she later contacted police.

Biesterfeld again called the police when Chrisler came to the library on Mar. 4 asking to use a computer. The man was arrested that day on child-pornography charges.

But two days later, Biesterfeld received a letter signed by County Librarian Brian Lewis saying her probationary status is being “terminated” and her employment ended immediately.

Lewis said there were sound business reasons behind her firing but would not go into detail, reported the Visalia Times Delta.

The incident has also outraged community residents and caught the attention of city officials.

Last Wednesday, Lindsay Mayor Ed Murray and other city council officials sent a letter to the Tulare County Board of Supervisors, criticizing Hill and Lewis over their handling of the child-pornography incident.

The letter also charged Hill with being uncooperative and demanding while talking to police about the matter.

The Tulare County Board of Supervisors was scheduled to hold a session evaluation of Lewis during its meeting Tuesday.

Read about it here.

[From me]

The librarian shoud have gotten a raise and a medal instead being fired!  Child Porn is a huge problem in our world.  People get arrested for having child porn on their own computers so we sure don’t want it on tax supported computers.

What do you think?

[Christian Post]

A state law requiring parental notification before a minor can get an abortion will remain on hold, a federal judge ruled, the latest in decades of complex legal wrangling.

Abortion rights groups on Saturday praised the decision, saying it could end chances for the measure to take effect. Proponents of the law said they were disappointed, and the attorney general’s spokeswoman said the state would consider an appeal.

The Parental Notice of Abortion Act was passed in 1984 and updated in 1995 but never enforced because the Illinois Supreme Court refused to issue rules spelling out how judges should handle appeals of the notification requirement. A federal court held that the law could not take effect without the rules in place. In 2006, the Supreme Court unexpectedly adopted the necessary rules.

Thomas Brejcha of the Chicago-based Thomas More Society’s Pro-Life Law Center, said he expected Madigan to appeal, if need be, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“It’s a major defeat for the people of Illinois,” he said. “This is a defensible, constitutional law.”

The American Civil Liberties Union says that most teens inform their parents about their abortions anyway and that laws requiring notification leave some girls vulnerable.

Read about it here.

[From me]

Let me get this straight.  An individual under the age of 21 can’t drink alcohol but they can kill a life.  This is ridiculous.  How can parents be held responsible for every other area of their children’s lives but not when it comes to sex and abortion?  Schools can hand out condoms for free and UnPlanned Parenthood and other death organizations can allow a “CHILD” to kill a baby without any input by parents.

This is so Wrong!

What do you think?

[Times Argus]

Mel Downs doesn’t object to academic discussions over the relative merits of varying religious philosophies. But when his daughter came home from her public school with a handout titled “Why Jesus Is Better Than Santa Claus,” the Irasburg father took offense.

“It isn’t about my religion or me being biased in some way,” Downs said. “It’s about the separation of church and state that is supposed to exist in my daughter’s classroom.”

Downs’ daughter attends seventh grade at Irasburg Village School. She received the “Jesus” handout just before Christmas vacation, and Downs says it reflects a pattern of religious-themed material being taught by Wally Rogers, his daughter’s language arts teacher.

Read about it here.

[From me]

Before anyone thinks I’ve become a lib–let me explain that I have some personal experience with this. When I was in high school I was called out of class to come down to the office (Central HS Tuscaloosa, AL). When I arrived there were two sharp college aged guys and a pretty college aged girl waiting to see me. They said that they asked to speak with the most religious person in school. One of the students thought of me so they wanted to invite me to their “Bible Study.” They gave me their card and I went home and showed it to my dad. He wasn’t happy to say the least. They were from a cult called “THE WAY INTERNATIONAL.” The WAY doesn’t believe in the deity of Christ.

Now my father was the director of Youth for Christ/Campus Life in Tuscaloosa at the time. He could not even walk on campus unless he was coming as my father. Yet this group could have kidnapped me. That is why I believe religion should be left at home and church and not brought into the classroom by teachers. If students want to give reports and such that is another story. But as much as it pains me I agree with the ACLU.

What do you think?