Indian State Minister Slammed over Plans to ‘Normalise’ Gays

New Delhi: A state minister from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party sparked outrage on Tuesday over his plans to make homosexuals “normal”, one day after UN chief Ban Ki-moon accused India of fostering intolerance with its gay sex ban.

Ramesh Tawadkar, from Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), announced plans to open up centres to treat gays and lesbians in the coastal resort state of Goa.

“We will make them normal. We will have centres for them, like Alcoholics Anonymous centres,” Tawadkar told reporters on Monday, adding that the Goa government would “train them and give them medicines too”.

Ramesh Tawadkar

Tawadkar, Goa’s sports and youth affairs minister, made the comments after releasing the state’s policy on youth issues which listed lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBT) as a stigmatised group that needed attention.

 Tawadkar’s comments drew widespread criticism and ridicule from gay rights groups who branded them offensive, while hostile remarks were posted on Twitter and other social media.

UN Secretary-General Ban said laws against gay and lesbian relationships breed intolerance, although he did not refer specifically to India’s colonial-era ban on gay sex.

Speaking on a visit to the capital New Delhi on Monday night, Ban said he “staunchly opposed the criminalisation of homosexuality”.

“I am proud to stand for the equality of all people — including those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender,” Ban said in an address to a gathering that included India’s Nobel Peace Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi.

“I speak out because laws criminalising consensual, adult same-sex relationships violate basic rights to privacy and to freedom from discrimination. Even if they are not enforced, these laws breed intolerance.”

Goa is one of India's smallest state but easily its richest.
Goa was the site of the first European settlement in India
There are still signs of its Portuguese heritage visible

India’s Supreme Court reimposed a ban on gay sex in late 2013, ruling that responsibility for changing the 1861 law rested with lawmakers and not judges.

Gay sex had been effectively legalised in 2009 when the Delhi High Court ruled that banning “carnal intercourse against the order of nature” was a violation of fundamental rights.

Anjali Gopalan, founder of Naz Foundation, which first launched a case to decriminalise homosexual sex, called minister Tawadkar an “incompetent nincompoop”. Oh no! Not that! How will he ever recover?

“We should not respond to this kind of stupidity. If anyone needs treatment, it’s people like him ... he should realise he sounds like a complete fool,” Gopalan said.

Funny, 25 or 30 years ago he would have been called a genius.

"If You Are Reading This, It Means I Have Committed Suicide"

"If you are reading this, it means I have committed suicide and obviously failed to delete this post from my queue."

So starts a suicide note written by Leelah Alcorn, a 17-year-old transgender teenager who died this week in the US state of Ohio. Alcorn scheduled the note to be published several hours after her death.

In the letter posted on Tumblr, she said she killed herself after years of struggling with her strict Christian parents' refusal to acknowledge her true identity as a female.

"There's no winning. There's no way out... People say 'it gets better' but that isn't true in my case. It gets worse. Each day I get worse," Alcorn wrote in the post which has since been reblogged more than 196,000 times. The hashtag #LeelahAlcorn also went viral, with more than 243,000 mentions over two days.

Alcorn ended her note with a plea: "The only way I will rest in peace is if one day transgender people aren't treated the way I was... My death needs to mean something. Fix society. Please."

Many saw the public suicide note as a way to both provide awareness of trans issues and provide Alcorn a final measure of dignity.

"By scheduling tumblr posts, #LeelahAlcorn defeated measures by her parents to defame her legacy, her life, herself," wrote Twitter user @Unit0053.

User @RozeWithaZee tweeted, "Just had an epiphany that #Tumblr saved #LeelahAlcorn's life from being misrepresented entirely. She was able to tell her actual story."

But experts say there are risks to a message of this nature going viral.

"In a way, it's a double-edged sword," said Christine Moutier, chief medical officer at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Moultier explained that stories like Alcorn's can be used to raise awareness about suicide, transgender issues and mental illness - but that high-profile suicides sometimes come with tragic, unintended consequences.

"It's sensationalised in and of itself," Moultier said of the post, noting that the phenomenon of suicide contagion, where one suicide leads to the death of others, is especially high among troubled teens.

Moultier also notes that while Alcorn's note focuses on the external circumstances that led her to kill herself - what she felt was a lack of acceptance by her religious parents - it only touches on the mental health problems that underlie more than 90% of suicides.

Tumblr could not comment on Leelah Alcorn's post, but the sharing platform's community guidelines seem to reflect the grey area between using social media as a forum to help those who feel alienated and alone, and the danger of providing a place where disturbing messages can be shared globally.

The policy states "don't post content that actively promotes or glorifies self harm," but recognises that the internet is a place where people dealing with suicidal thoughts, eating disorders and cutting look for support.

"Dialogue about these behavours is incredibly important and online communities can be extraordinarily helpful to people struggling with these difficult conditions. We aim for Tumblr to be a place that facilitates awareness, support and recovery, and we will remove only those posts or blogs that cross the line into active promotion or glorification of self-harm."

Whether Alcorn's note is seen as a springboard for change or a trigger for other at-risk youths remains up for debate - but either way, her note has sparked a global conversation.

And it's a conversation I would like to continue here. As a born-again, fairly conservative Christian, I have great difficulty with people who appear to be born gay or transgender as Leelah's parents did. Christians tend to believe that all life is created by God and so God would not create someone with the emotional characteristics of a girl and the physical characteristics of a boy. Yet, it happens!

We can blame it on spiritual attack or invasion but is that realistic? Not that I don't believe in spiritual attacks and invasions, I certainly do, but why would God allow such a thing to happen to an unborn or newborn baby?

Our own adopted daughter was born with Spina Bifida, hydrocephalus; through several surgeries contracted meningitis and lost most of the use of her right hand, and is mentally restricted to the level of a 6 year old. She also has fatal food allergies. Was that God's plan for her? Was she demonized because of her parent's eastern religion?

She's 26 now, knows Jesus, and is personal friends with Christian singer/songwriter Brian Doerksen. She knows the words to every song he ever wrote. Is this a case of "What the devil meant for ill, God turned to good?" Gen 50:20.

I do not believe that God creates sick or broken or sexually confused children; but I do believe such children are born, whether it is a spiritual cause or just the consequences of man's free will and God's unwillingness to usurp that will, as with the sexual abuse of billions of children in the 21st century.

In any case, we as Christians have to respond with more compassion and allow God to do whatever He will do in that child's life. Driving your child to suicide is never right! There is no love in legalism!

Hundreds of Thousands Rally in France against IVF, Surrogacy for Same-sex Families

Amazing! Half a million people march in Paris and I cannot find any reference to it in western news media. It's scary that our knowledge and emotions are subject to the whim of news editors everywhere.

Published time: October 05, 2014 16:36

People wave flags and hold signs with messages as tens of thousands of demonstrators take part in the "Manif Pour Tous" (Demonstration For All) to protest against PMA (Procreation Medicalement Assistee or Medically Assisted Reproduction) and GPA (Grosesse pour Autrui or Gestation for Others) during a march in Paris October 5, 2014

France, Human rights, Protest
Over 500,000 opponents of same-sex marriage have flooded the streets of Paris and Bordeaux to protest against medically-assisted reproduction for gay couples, rally organizers said. A previous protest for “traditional family values” gathered 100,000.

Streets of Paris and Bordeaux have been smothered in pink, blue and white as scores of demonstrators have been waving flags of the "Manif pour Tous" (Protest for Everyone) group that organized the two rallies.

The group said that “at least 500,000 attended the demonstration” in Paris alone. This is five times higher than the previous rally for “family values” back in February.

In Bordeaux, at least 7,500 people attended the rally, police said. However, organizers estimated that no fewer than 30,000 activists came.

Manif pour Tous expected a higher turnout, as a petition calling for a mandatory ban on surrogacy by French citizens had been signed by 200,000 people by Sunday morning, four days after it was put online, according to local Libération newspaper.

Generally opposing same-sex relations, the group’s Sunday march was to protest surrogacy and medically-assisted reproduction (ART) for gay couples.

“Because the exploitation of women is intolerable; because the child is not an object; because all children need a father and a mother,” the group’s announcement said as it called for people to come out and support “traditional family values.”

The group said it has been out on the streets of France “for two years with the same message” and it “continues on October 5.”

7500 - 30,000 turned out in Bordeaux

The call has been supported by tens of thousands of people in both Paris and Bordeaux, where the rallies started an hour apart – at 1pm and 2pm respectively.

In Paris the demonstrators gathered at Porte Dauphine and marched to Montparnasse, which are about 7km apart.

The president of Manif pour Tous, Ludovine de la Rochere, said that “traditional family values” must be “fought for at all costs.”

According to an exclusive research by Ifop poll for the local Atlantico website, 31 percent of French people support the “values and ideas” of Manif pour Tous.

Speaking to Catholic daily La Croix on Friday, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls assured anti-LGBT supporters that surrogacy "is and will remain banned in France."

In September, the highest French appeals court ruled that lesbian couples in France may adopt children born via assisted reproductive technology (ART).

But while homosexual couples in France are allowed to adopt, they are barred from using in vitro fertilization.

President Francois Hollande signed the controversial marriage bill into law in May last year, making France the 14th country in the world to allow gay marriage.

The legislation was opposed by many people in France, although opinion polls at the time showed that 55-60 percent of French people supported gay marriage.

A demonstrator holds a placard as he takes part in a "Manif Pour Tous" (Demonstration For All) march to protest against PMA (Procreation Medicalement Assistee or Medically Assisted Reproduction) and GPA (Grosesse pour Autrui or Gestation for Others) in Bordeaux, Southwestern France, October 5, 2014

Christians Win Confrontation when Bigoted City Council has Epiphany

While Christianity and gay rights collide in Northern Ireland, one matter in Canada has been resolved, as expected.

Nanaimo, British Columbia city council, in May, had sneakily stopped a leadership simulcast with some Christian content from occurring in their convention centre. It was just days before the event was to occur and no-one was informed that the issue would be discussed at the council meeting.

During the meeting Christians were referred to a 'being like criminals', divisive, and undesirable in Nanaimo. Well, as we reported, it hit the fan with a Sun News hour-long program stirring up a frenzy.

Mayor John
Ruttan

Since then, so many letters from offended Christians reached the Mayor and city council that they, apparently, realized for the first time that there were a lot more Christians in Nanaimo than LGBTs. 

Justin Trudeau
Liberal Leader

With an election looming in a few months, the mayor and much of the council had a sudden epiphany. The Toronto Sun called it Nanaimo Council's 'come to Jesus moment'. They backed-off, they refuted, they apologized, and they revoked the anti-Christian bill they had passed in May.

It was a brief fight that turned out for the good, but it will certainly not be the last attempt to reduce the rights of Christians to a level lower than the rights of gays and lesbians. With the possibility of a left-leaning government looming on the horizon in Canada, anything could happen.

Pierre Trudeau

It was Pierre Trudeau in the 1960s who closed the bedroom doors and opened the closets for gays and lesbians. He turned Canada from a 'moral' society to a 'just' society. There-in lies the foundation of the confrontation that has recently begun; one that Christians will not win.

What is really scary now, is that the above-mentioned left-leaning government, should it arise, will be led by the son of Pierre Trudeau, who, if possible, is more bold and brash than his father. God only knows what he is likely to do.

Christianity and Gay Rights Collide Again - This Time in Northern Ireland

A Christian-run bakery in Northern Ireland that refused a customer's request to make a cake with a slogan supporting gay marriage could face a discrimination case in court.

Ashers Baking Company declined an order from a gay rights activist, asking for cake featuring the Sesame Street puppets, Bert and Ernie.

The customer also wanted the cake to feature the logo of a Belfast-based campaign group called "Queerspace". They also wanted the cake to say 'Gay Marriage' which is not yet lawful in Northern Ireland.

What the cake was to look like

The County Antrim firm could face legal action from the Equality Commission.

The watchdog confirmed it is assisting the customer whose order was refused and has written to the baking company on his behalf.

The cake was ordered for a civic event in Bangor Castle Town Hall, County Down, to mark International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.

The bakery, which was founded in Newtownabbey in 1992, is run by the McArthur family.

The directors, who are Christians, operate six shops in Northern Ireland and employ 62 people.

The firm's 24-year-old general manager, Daniel McArthur, said marriage in Northern Ireland "still is defined as being a union between one man and one woman" and said his company was taking "a stand".

The customer placed the order in Ashers' Belfast branch a number of weeks ago, and it was then passed to their head office.

In an online statement, Mr McArthur said: "The directors and myself looked at it and considered it and thought that this order was at odds with our beliefs.

"It certainly was at odds with what the Bible teaches, and on the following Monday we rang the customer to let him know that we couldn't take his order."

Mr McArthur added that his firm offered the customer a full refund, which was collected shortly after the order was refused.

"We thought that was the end of it, but approximately six weeks later we received a letter from the Equality Commission. The Equality Commission's letter said that we had discriminated against the customer on the grounds of his sexual orientation. Of course, this is a twisting of the facts; the bakery did not refuse to do the cake because the man who ordered it was gay, but because of what he wanted on the cake. 

A Christian cannot separate what he does from God. God, the Holy Spirit indwells a Christian at all times. For a Christian to assist in any way in the celebration of what is very clearly offensive to God, requires the Christian to offend God. For the government to order him to offend God is unthinkable.

"It asked us to propose how we would recompense the customer for this discrimination. It also said it would pursue legal proceedings if we didn't respond within a seven-day time period," Mr McArthur said.

The general manager said he was "very surprised" by the watchdog's letter and his firm asked the Christian Institute for advice on how to deal with the case.

The institute is supporting the bakery's stance and is now providing legal assistance.

Mr McArthur said: "I feel if we don't take a stand on this here case, then how can we stand up against it, further down the line?"

The general manager added that it was not the first time his company had refused customers' cake orders.

"In the past, we've declined several orders which have contained pornographic images and offensive, foul language." Again, the order was declined because of what the customers wanted on the cakes not because the customer was a foul-mouthed pervert.

Mr McArthur added: "I would like the outcome of this to be that, any Christians running a business could be allowed to follow their Christian beliefs and principles in the day-to-day running of their business and that they are allowed to make decisions based on that."

However, Alliance councillor Andrew Muir - who hosted the civic event for which the cake was ordered - said he fully supported the action taken against the bakery.

"Businesses should not be able to pick and choose who they serve," Mr Muir said.

"There would not be any debate if the cake had depicted an anti-racism or anti-ageism slogan, nor should it require intervention from the Equality Commission for this cake for Anti-Homophobia Day.

"It is ridiculous for this bakery to suggest that they would have to endorse the campaign."

The councillor, who hosted the event during his term as mayor of North Down, said another bakery in Bangor stepped in and accepted the cake order.

But Mr Muir added: "For Northern Ireland to prosper and overcome our divisions we need a new society where businesses are willing to cater for all, regardless of religious views, political opinion, disability, race, age, sexual orientation, marital status, gender and other backgrounds." That's a laudable idea in an ideal world, but will never happen in a sin-filled, anti-Christian world.

Gavin Boyd, a gay rights campaigner with the Rainbow Project in Northern Ireland, also supported the customer's discrimination complaint.

Rainbow Project's Gavin Boyd said the issue was not about same sex marriage but the provision of goods, facilities and services.

"It is because of sexual orientation that the company decided not to print this," Mr Boyd told BBC Radio Ulster. I guess I missed something here, print what? Do they make cakes with 3-D printers now?

"The law is really clear. You cannot pick and choose which sides of the law apply to you. God is also very clear, "Choose you this day whom you will serve".

"If you are a company that is trading out there in the market place and someone comes to you, you can't pick and choose whether or not to fulfil that order based on their sexual orientation," Mr Boyd added.

But the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) said the Equality Commission had overstepped the mark and the complaint highlighted the need for a "conscience clause" to protect Christians and others who have deeply held beliefs.

DUP MP Nigel Dodds said: "The case re-opens the debate about how exactly religious belief is respected within the United Kingdom and the need for someone's conscience to be protected whilst ensuring that discrimination does not occur."

In a statement, the watchdog said: "The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland provides advice and can provide assistance to people who complain to us that they have suffered unlawful discrimination.

"In this case the commission has granted assistance to the complainant, and has written to the company concerned on his behalf.

"The commission will consider any response before taking further action."

Northern Ireland is now the only part of the UK which has not passed a law to introduce same-sex marriage.

Duck Dynasty Star Suspended for Calling Gays Sinners

Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson is off the hit A&E reality series indefinitely after disparaging gays as sinners akin to adulterers and swindlers, the network said.

A&E announced Wednesday what it called a "hiatus" for Robertson, 67, after he disparaged gays in the January edition of GQ magazine. He also said that, growing up in Louisiana before the Civil Rights movement, he never saw mistreatment of blacks.

Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson

Of course, growing up in pre-Civil Rights Louisiana, he might not fully comprehend what mistreatment is.

In a statement, A&E said it was extremely disappointed to see Robertson's anti-gay remarks, which it said were based on his personal beliefs and do not reflect those of A&E Networks or the show. A&E called itself a supporter of the lesbian and gay community.

The channel's move was lauded by the gay and lesbian media advocacy group GLAAD, which had quickly condemned Robertson's comments.

"What's clear is that such hateful anti-gay comments are unacceptable to fans, viewers, and networks alike," said GLAAD spokesman Wilson Cruz. Robertson's removal "has sent a strong message that discrimination is neither a Christian nor an American value."

Robertson and his extended family became wealthy manufacturing duck calls and were turned into TV and pop culture stars by Duck Dynasty, which has set cable ratings records for a non-fiction series. Several family members appeared in this year's Macy's Thanksgiving parade.

In his GQ interview, Robertson was asked his definition of sinful behaviour. "Start with homosexual behaviour and just morph out from there," such as bestiality, he said.

GQ said he then paraphrases a biblical reference: "Don't be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers — they won't inherit the kingdom of God. Don't deceive yourself. It's not right."

Robertson and his family had no comment on his hiatus, A&E said on their behalf. He may be in some previously taped scenes when the show returns Jan. 15 for its fifth season, a network spokesman said.

Robertson did respond to initial criticism of his GQ remarks.

"I myself am a product of the '60s" who indulged in sex and drugs until hitting bottom and accepting Jesus as his saviour, he said in a statement. Although his mission is to teach people that men and women are meant to be together, Robertson said he "would never treat anyone with disrespect" because they are different.

This is an example of what I wrote above. He is not fully aware of what might be mistreatment or discrimination. In my humble opinion, what he said was true and the Scriptures he paraphrased were accurate enough, but the way he said it was certainly offensive, although I don't know if there is any way of saying it that is not offensive.

The LGBT community and its supporters would like to have the many Scriptures condemning homosexuality removed from the Bible or, they would probably prefer to have the Bible outlawed as hate literature. 

That poses a dilemma for Christians who believe the Bible is the written word of God. We can say nothing and allow gay people to meet the fate God has promised them, or we can tell them what God said. Which is more loving - to allow someone to spend eternity in Hell, or giving them a chance to spend eternity in a new Heaven and earth by offending them?

While we Christians often articulate things very poorly and often fail to manifest the character of Jesus, especially in dealing with gays, I submit that the more loving thing to do is to tell gays of the consequences they will meet when they stand before Christ, rather than being silent for fear of offending them.

In the interview, he also said that in his Louisiana youth he picked cotton with African-Americans and never saw "the mistreatment of any black person. Not once."

"We're going across the field.... They're singing and happy. I never heard one of them, one black person, say, 'I tell you what: These doggone white people' — not a word!" Robertson told the magazine.

A&E said it had received no complaints about those remarks.

Massive Festival in Santiago, Chile, to Push for Gay Rights in Elections

Tens of thousands of Chileans will gather outside the presidential palace on Saturday in support of same-sex marriage and transgender rights — social issues backed by seven out of the nine presidential candidates set to go head to head Nov. 17.

Great! Because the world needs more of these, whatever they are. Personally, I couldn't care less about same-sex marriage, as long as I don't have to perform the wedding service. But adoption rights - that's a form of sexual abuse in my world. God help us!

The Movement for Integration and Homosexual Freedom (MOVILH) — the event’s organizer — is the author of “Por un Chile Diverso,” a legislative platform for combatting sexual discrimination in Chile. With the exception of Regionalist Party of Independents (PRI) candidate Ricardo Israel and Evelyn Matthei — candidate for the right-leaning Alianza coalition — all presidential hopefuls have expressed support for the platform, which calls for same-sex marriage with adoption rights, the creation of a Diversity Ministry and a gender identity law which would allow individuals to change their name and sex without having to go through a judicial process.

Gender 'Indeterminate'?

In the black and white world of evangelical Christians, this phenomena does not fit well. We believe that all life is created by God, and that God makes no mistakes; and yet, how does one explain this?

One can't help but think that it is better to wait and see how the child develops before making a decision, if indeed, a decision is possible.

Germany has become Europe's first country to allow babies with characteristics of both sexes to be registered as neither male nor female.

Parents are now allowed to leave the gender blank on birth certificates, in effect creating a new category of "indeterminate sex".

The move is aimed at removing pressure on parents to make quick decisions on sex assignment surgery for newborns. However, some campaigners say the new law does not go far enough.

As many as one in 2,000 people have characteristics of both sexes.

They are known as "intersex" people because they have a mixture of male and female chromosomes or even genitalia which have characteristics of both genders.

The intense difficulty for parents is often that a gender has to be chosen very quickly so that the new child can be registered with the authorities, the BBC's Steve Evans in Berlin reports. Sometimes surgery is done on the baby to turn its physical characteristics as far as possible in one direction or the other, our correspondent says.

The law in Germany has been changed following a review of cases which revealed great unhappiness.

In one case, a person with no clear gender-defining genitalia was subjected to surgery. The person said many years later: "I am neither a man nor a woman. I will remain the patchwork created by doctors, bruised and scarred."

German passports, which currently list the holder's sex as M for male or F for female, will have a third designation, X, for intersex holders, according to the interior ministry.

It remains unclear what impact the change will have on marriage and partnership laws in Germany.

Current laws define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, and civil partnerships are reserved for same-sex couples.

Silvan Agius of IGLA-Europe, which campaigns for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersex people, said the law needed to go further. "While on the one hand it has provided a lot of visibility about intersex issues... it does not address the surgeries and the medicalisation of intersex people and that's not good - that has to change," he told the BBC.

While Germany is the first country in Europe to legally recognise a third gender, several other nations have already taken similar steps.      

Third gender recognition
Australia - passport applications since 2011
Bangladesh - passport applications since 2011
Germany - on birth certificates from 2013
India - electoral roll since 2009
Nepal - census since 2007
New Zealand - passport applications since 2012

Australians have had the option of selecting "x" as their gender - meaning indeterminate, unspecified or intersex - on passport applications since 2011. A similar option was introduced for New Zealanders in 2012.

In South Asia, Bangladesh has offered an "other" gender category on passport applications since 2011.

Nepal began recognising a third gender on its census forms in 2007 while Pakistan made it an option on national identity cards in 2011.

India added a third gender category to voter lists in 2009.

While transgender or intersex people have long been accepted in Thailand and are officially recognised by the country's military, they do not have any separate legal status.

Assisted Suicide for a Depressed Transsexual in Belgium

A transsexual has been helped to die by doctors in Belgium, after a series of failed sex-change operations.

Nathan Verhelst, born a woman, asked for help to end his life on grounds of psychological suffering. He died in a Brussels hospital on Monday.

Cases of recorded deaths from euthanasia on psychological grounds have risen in Belgium

Two doctors concluded he did not have temporary depression. His case received scant media coverage.

Belgium legalised euthanasia in 2002. There were 52 cases of euthanasia on psychological grounds last year.

"He died in all serenity," doctor Wim Distlemans told the Belgian newspaper, Het Laatste Nieuws.

Nathan Verhelst, 44, was born Nancy into a family of three boys. The newspaper, which said it had spoken to him on the eve of his death, reported that he had been rejected by his parents who had wanted another son.

He had three operations to change sex between 2009 and 2012.

"The first time I saw myself in the mirror I felt an aversion for my new body," he was quoted as saying.

First of all, if all 3 sex change operations failed, then 'he' must still be a 'she'. It makes no sense that a person can simply call himself the opposite sex to what he actually is physically.

Second, the parents would appear to be to blame for Nancy's screwed-up view of herself. Surely, some psychological counselling could have corrected that attitude - but that's not politically correct any more is it?

Third, there is no room for God in this story, anywhere. God made Nancy, not Nathan. God can completely change one's attitude of self worth by allowing that person to see how much God loves them. And, there is no opportunity for that person to turn to God and fulfill the purpose of his being here - which is to prepare for eternity. He/she is lost forever thanks to a Godless government!

The hospital said there was an "extremely rigorous procedure" in place before any patient was put to death. "When we have a case which is... complicated, we ask ourselves more questions in order to be certain about the diagnosis," Dr Jean-Michel Thomas said.

The BBC's Matthew Price in Brussels says the number of people opting for euthanasia in Belgium has risen steadily since legalization. Most candidates are over 60 years old and have cancer.

Voluntary euthanasia for those over 18 is relatively uncontroversial in Belgium. Parliament is now considering expanding the law to under 18s as well.

Patients must be capable of deciding for themselves. They must be conscious and have to give a "voluntary, considered and repeated" request to die.

There were 1,432 recorded cases of euthanasia in Belgium in 2012; a 25% increase on the previous year's figure. They represented 2% of all deaths, the AFP news agency reported.