Pro Life Activist Gunned Down Outside Michigan High School

A well-known anti-abortion activist was shot multiple times and killed Friday morning in front of a Michigan high school, and another man was shot and killed just miles away in what police are investigating as related incidents.

Owosso police chief Michael Compeau said Jim Pouillon, 63, was outside the school Friday morning with a sign when a man drove by and shot him. No one else was injured.

Michigan State Police have taken a suspect into custody, the Flint Journal reported.

The school was placed on immediate lockdown, though no students were hurt or involved in the shooting, Ossowo Hish School officials told the paper.

When authorities were responding to the first shooting, officials received a report that another man had been shot and killed at a gravel pit business in Owosso. Shiawassee County Sheriff George Braidwood said Mike Fuoss was found dead in his office.

A 33-year-old Owosso man was later arrested in connection with the school shooting at about 8:15 a.m. at his home, according to Compeau. The chief said he then told police he was involved in the gravel-pit shooting.

School officials say the first shooting took place outside of school grounds around 7:30 a.m., when most students were already inside the building for classes. The school, located 20 miles west of Flint, was allowing students to leave with a parental escort, WLNS News reported.

Police barricaded a section of street in front of the high school, where a large sign bearing the image of a baby and the word "Life" was visible, according to the Flint Journal.

Religion Professor at Fredericton Catholic University Moonlighting as Abortion Clinic Escort

By Patrick B. Craine

FREDERICTON, New Brunswick, September 9, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A lecturer in religious studies at St. Thomas University (STU) in Fredericton, New Brunswick has begun volunteering as an escort at the city's Morgentaler abortion facility.

Dr. Christopher Levan, a minister in the United Church of Canada, serving at Wilmot United Church, holds a lectureship at STU. According to the university's course list, he will be teaching two sections of Introduction to Religious Studies in both the fall and winter semesters.

LifeSiteNews.com learned about Levan's activities with the Morgentaler facility after a woman who regularly stands in vigil at the Morgentaler facility sent around an e-mail claiming that she witnessed Dr. Levan acting as an escort. She said last Tuesday was the first time she had seen him, and that she discovered his identity because the director of the abortion center introduced him to the other escorts.

Dr. Levan told LifeSiteNews.com in an interview today that he has only done escorting once so far, but plans on continuing. He's doing it, he says, because he has a problem with the "harassment of women going into the abortion clinic," referring to activities of the regular pro-life protestors who stand outside.

"Not that they're in any way vindictive or mean," he said, "but their signs are sometimes. And these are women who have a legal right to this particular medical procedure and there is enough distress without having to run the gauntlet of [people] who want to change their mind."

"It's currently a legal medical procedure, is it not?" he asked. "And in a society that is pluralistic, that allows people to make those kind of choices, they're allowed to make that choice, aren't they?"

"So what I'm doing," he said, "is I'm making sure that the women who make that choice, who make it with, I assume, whatever sincerity they are capable of making it, are allowed to make that choice without the recrimination of those who have not been party to the difficulty they have gone through in making that decision."

Dr. Levan insisted that he personally disagrees with abortion. Commenting on the "I Regret My Abortion" pro-life sign carried by a woman outside the abortuary, he said, "I want to say to her 'I regret them too.' Absolutely. I'm not standing there because I agree with abortion, but people having made that choice deserve the dignity of being able to go and get the procedure without having to be guilted or in some way told that they are guilty of a heinous crime. Because they are not."

"Abortion is a regrettable, regrettable procedure that women are legally allowed to choose in this province," he emphasized.

Dr. Levan's view of abortion is completely in line with the position of the United Church, as he indicated to LSN. In 1980, the community promulgated their policy on abortion, which stated that "abortion is acceptable only when, after careful consideration, the medical, social, and/or economic situation makes it the most responsible alternative." In this and other policy statements on abortion, they have urged the government not to regulate abortion and to ensure access to it throughout the country.

St. Thomas University, however, is a Catholic university that continues to highlight its Catholic identity. In its mission statement, the university states, "We are a liberal arts institution whose roots are in the faith and tradition of the Roman Catholic Church." According to the teachings of the Catholic Church on the issue, abortion is a grave and intrinsic evil that results in the death of a unique human being endowed with the fundamental right to life. Catholics who in any way obtain or help a woman procure an abortion automatically incur the Church's most stringent punishment - excommunication.

Levan is a prolific writer, with books such as God Hates Religion, Sin Boldly, Living in the Maybe, and Knowing your Ethical Preferences. Besides his support for abortion, he has advocated openness to homosexuality, arguing, for example, in a 1995 article that homosexual practice is not condemned in Scripture.

Professors of religious studies at STU have something of a history of conflict with the Catholic Church. The former acting chair of the department and current professor, Dr. Alexandra Bain, has converted from Catholicism to Islam and gave a keynote address at the CWL's 2006 provincial convention after which she ridiculed the Trinity. Further, STU president Dr. Michael Higgins, who specializes in religious studies, and is a former president of St. Jerome's University at Waterloo, famously scolded Pope Benedict in 2006 for his comments on Islam at Regensburg, calling them "grossly stupid."

LSN left a message with the Bishop of Saint John, Most Reverend Robert Harris, who is also the chancellor of STU, but did not hear back by press time. A message left for STU's media director was also not returned in time.

Contact information for St. Thomas University:

Dr. Michael Higgins, President and Vice Chancellor
Mary Jones, Administrative Assistant
Email: mjones@stu.ca
Phone: 506-452-0537
Fax: 506-452-0633
Margaret Norrie McCain Hall Room 400

General Inquiries
St. Thomas University
51 Dineen Drive
Fredericton, NB
Canada, E3B 5G3
Phone: (506) 452-0640
Fax: (506) 450-9615

Abercrombie & Fitch pitches new trashy T-shirts to America's youth

Send an email to Abercrombie and Fitch. Ask them to pull their sexualized shirts.
Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) continues its pattern of pushing pornographic-themed material into mainstream America. Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) has just begun offering their "New College" line of T-shirts.

The first A&F t-shirt pictures a young girl opening her blouse - exposing herself. A&F titles the image: "Show the Twins".

The second picture is of a female running nude. A&F titles it: "Female streaking encouraged."

The next Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirt is entitled: "Female Students Wanted for Sexual Research"

Abercrombie & Fitch does not merely sell a popular line of clothing – they sell a lifestyle. And because A&F clothing is popular among teens and college kids, the influence of their sex-as-recreation lifestyle is widespread.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention reports that Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) remain a major public health challenge in the United States. CDC estimates that approximately 19 million new infections occur each year— almost half of them among young people 15 to 24 years of age.

Family Attacked for Too Many Children: "Thrilled" to be Preparing for Baby Number 19

SPRINGDALE, Arkansas, September 2, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar told US news service MSNBC they are delighted to discover the impending arrival of their 19th child. Described by the Today program as "glowing," Michelle Duggar said, "I'm feeling sick and tired, which is a good way to be feeling about right now."

"I always tell myself that's a good way to be because that means good things are happening."

The baby is due to arrive around March 18, 2010.

The family stars in the reality TV show "18 Kids and Counting" airing on TLC. The family are members of the Quiverfull movement among US Protestants that rejects the modern anti-child philosophy and allows God to decide how large their families will be.

The news of Michelle's pregnancy, only eight months after the birth of their last child Jordyn-Grace, was followed by that of the family's eldest son, Josh, who announced that his new wife Anna is expecting their first child, who is due on October 18. "Children are a blessing and a gift if you raise them right, and I think my parents have definitely shown that," Josh Duggar said.

But not everyone is smiling. When the story was published on the website of the left-leaning Huffington Post, commenters did not hesitate to express their hostility to the Duggar's openness to life. 1081 commenters responded with nearly uniform outrage that the Duggars, who have no financial problems, live in a large house they built themselves and are not in debt, have the audacity to be happy with their large family.

"Nothing but pure selfishness," said one. "How about adopting a klan of white children who actually NEED homes?" followed another.

Commenters focused on the "threat" the Duggar children posed to the environment and accused the Duggar parents of using their older children as "unpaid servants and de facto parents" calling them "greedy and slothful." Some called the Duggars' religious beliefs a cult that "expounds the subjugation of women."

"You should pity these poor children with no childhood and no future, who pay everyday for their parents' desire to collect children the way the crazy lady down the street collects cats."

But one writer was more skeptical: "Funny how my fellow liberals preach tolerance and choice until they disagree with someone else's decisions."

The Duggars have produced a book about their experiences, including their decision to stop using artificial hormonal birth control, and have been featured on several US television documentaries. They have also appeared on numerous national and international TV shows including The Early Show, The Today Show, The View, Fox & Friends, Italian Public Television, the Korean Broadcasting System, Discovery Home & Health in the UK and Australia, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Fox News Network and CNN.

See a video of the Duggars here.