Today's Cultural Warfare Update

I've got a lot of catching up to do on these. Here's a start.

MASSACHUSETTS ANTI-MARRIAGE AMENDMENT DEAD: CANNOT ATTAIN 25% IN LEGISLATURE! It only needed 50 votes to go forward and failed; this is a serious defeat for the theoconservative movement as they put a lot of money into stopping this kind of equal treatment. They will, of course, fight on;

A firsthand report from the Creationist pseudonatural history museum - no, they don't call it that, but I do - in Kentucky. According to this attendee, they actually tell you, "Don’t think, just listen and believe." I like this picture particularly a lot, where they draw a (minimalist, to put it mildly) timeline of the "human reason" universe in the shape of a snake, evoking the serpent in the Garden of Eden. Don't tell me that's not intentional, I do graphic design. That's clever being used for evil and stupidity;

Almost 70% of the Republican party are Creationists. Those of you still thinking that the theoconservative movement has not taken over the party should, um, well, not sure what I can say at this point;

Even Christian Broadcasting Network bloggers - while thinking it key that voters require Christian religious faith from their candidates - are a getting a little leery about how nitpicky it's getting, asking, "Are we going to start comparing church attendance records?" Well, hey, this is where you guys have been driving the political process for the last 30 years, what do you expect;

Focus on the Family/New Jersey Right to Life opposing New Jersey bill funding embryonic stem-cell research;

FotF article against New Jersey plan to require all licensed pharmacists to dispense all legal medications - including, specifically, Plan B, the emergency contraception pill, which, as always, they falsely claim "can sometimes cause an early abortion," presumably as part of their attempt to blur birth control and RU-486, the actual chemical abortion pill;

FotF ACTION ITEM to condemn bill that would repeal the international gag order banning discussion of abortion by groups receiving American aid; Chief Executive Mr. Bush promises a veto;

FotF ACTION ITEM condemning sex education that is not abstinence-only, saying that it "gets [a] failing grade" from a government study set up by Senator Rick Santorum (formerly R-PA) and Tom Coburn (R-OK), reporting that such education fails in its "overemphasises" of birth control and by not delaying sexual activity; disease- and pregnancy-prevention do not seem to be important Focus on the Family's view, but, well, we already know that;

Heritage Alliance runs anti-gay robo-calls against Dallas mayoral candidate Ed Oakley (Mr. Oakley is gay); the calls include "homosexuality" as a top issue for the campaign and encourages votes for opponent Tom Leppert specifically on the basis that Mr. Leppert is heterosexual and Christian. The Heritage Alliance founder claims to be an associate of Focus on the Family's James Dobson;

FotF's last ACTION ITEM supporting the now-DEFEATED anti-marriage amendment in Massachusetts;

FotF article against embryonic stem-cell research claiming that it is "unnecessary";

FotF: Utah voters will vote on a "universal school choice" bill that will allow government money to be spent on religious instruction;

FotF: New York State Assembly may pass marriage-rights bill;

FotF supports Louisiana bill to ban so-called "partial birth" abortions; as per the Federal ban, to which this ban is redundant, it carries no health exemption - you can read previous commentary of mine on that here and here; Focus on the Family wants it passed so that state prosecutors can prosecute cases the Federal government doesn't;

New Hampshire legislature repeals parental-notification law; it's never been enforced; it goes to the governor for a signature now; Focus on the Family hopes for a veto;

Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM to support abstinence-only education funding, which got out of subcommittee with a funding increase this year;

Focus on the Family ACTION ITEM against a bill restoring legal online gambling; FotF highlights Barney Frank (D-MA)'s role, and criticises him for not using government power to protect people from their own vices;

Kalamazoo, Michigan drops domestic-partner benefits as part of the anti-marriage amendment passed in 2004 and in response to a state Supreme Court ruling showing that - as was intended - any form of GBLT partnership recognition was in violation of the state Constitution. Focus on the Family is happy, and the American Family Association of Michigan praised the city for giving fags a kick in the stomach;

Focus on the Family condemns another bill to prohibit individual pharmacists from refusing to dispense birth control - plan B, the emergency birth control pill, which they again incorrectly label as an abortifacient;

FotF reports on upcoming Southern Baptist Convention, and talks about Exodus Mandate again; Exodus Mandate wants a mass withdrawal from public schools in favour of fundamentalist religious instruction;

FotF's book ad for a book on how tolerance is destroying "You, Your Faith, And Your Children";

FotF's Tom Minnary writes a WorldNetDaily column defending James Dobson against attacks that he's not anti-abortion enough; what's interesting is that the defense centres around something I pointed out in an earlier post - that the key element of Gonzalez vs. Carhart was that the Supreme Court, courtesy Justice Alito, upheld the idea that you can write a law purely on moral, not rational, grounds, and have it be constitutional. And they specifically talk about Lawrence v. Texas (2003) in that context. The MSM media may not understand why Gonzalez v. Carhart was so important, but the fundamentalist leadership certainly does.

( Articles and excerpts below )