Today's Cultural Warfare Update
Oct. 5th, 2005 12:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
solarbirdSo get this. State Senator Patricia Miller (R), the Health Finance Commission Chair in the Indiana State Senate, has introduced a bill banning reproductive medical assistance for any unmarried person (violation carries criminal penalties at the misdemeanor level), and requiring married couples to go through adoption screening and get a certificate from the state before they can undergo such treatment, if said treatment requires donor material from any third party;
American Veterans in Domestic Defense (AVIDD) to protest "pornographic" books in Texas libraries - specifically, books with any GBLT characters or too many bad words as part of their campaign against "domestic enemies";
Colorado senator Salazar wants to know what "secret" James Dobson claims to know about Supreme Court judicial nominee Harriet Miers;
Focus on the Family sends out a SPECIAL REPORT saying that Dobson will explain his support for Harriet Miers on today's main Focus on the Family broadcast;
Focus on the Family main broadcast transcription (rough); rough summary; I know Miers's pastor, I know people around her, she's a tithe-paying member of a very conservative church; I know things I can't talk about firsthand, not hearsay; trust me, she's one of us;
FotF's take on the Oregon assisted-suicide Supreme Court case;
FotF's take on various anti-abortion cases coming to the SCOTUS;
Wisconsin to be location of authorised stem-cell research lines - FotF says it's still murdering babies;
Federal appeals court allows Ohio's 24-hour waiting period for abortion services to take effect; also invokes parental notification;
Civil Union bill in Connecticut takes effect; Family Institute of Connecticut calls it "tragic";
Roy Moore (Alabama) to run for Governor;
Wiccan vet tries to get appropriate symbol approved for headstone; no luck yet;
Hospital turns away neopagan group's fundraiser and orders them not to use their name in any future charitable fundraisers; donations now going to a South Dakota reservation;
Agape Press article on various reactions by social conservatives to Harriet Myers;
Miers donated to an anti-abortion group in Texas, but nobody there really remembers her as being particularly involved;
Family Research Council adopts "wait and see" on Miers;
FRC rails against "gender-changing" Ronald McDonald after seeing a McDonald's commercial in Japan with a female clown - no, really.
----- 1 -----
The Crime of "Unauthorized Reproduction"
New law will require marriage as a legal condition of motherhood
By Laura McPhee
http://www.boomantribune.com/?op=displaystory;sid=2005/10/3/223530/406
[Separate article to verify - Ft. Worth Journal-Gazette - here: ]
[ http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/12813691.htm]
Republican lawmakers are drafting new legislation that will make
marriage a requirement for motherhood in the state of Indiana,
including specific criminal penalties for unmarried women who do
become pregnant "by means other than sexual intercourse."
According to a draft of the recommended change in state law, every
woman in Indiana seeking to become a mother throu gh assisted
reproduction therapy such as in vitro fertilization, sperm donation,
and egg donation, must first file for a "petition for parentage" in
their local county probate court.
Only women who are married will be considered for the "gestational
certificate" that must be presented to any doctor who facilitates the
pregnancy. Further, the "gestational certificate" will only be given
to married couples that successfully complete the same screening
process currently required by law of adoptive parents.
As it the draft of the new law reads now, an intended parent "who
knowingly or willingly participates in an artificial reproduction
procedure" without court approval, "commits unauthorized
reproduction, a Class B misdemeanor." The criminal charges will be
the same for physicians who commit "unauthorized practice of
artificial reproduction."
The change in Indiana law to require marriage as a condition for
motherhood and criminalizing "unauthorized reproduction" was
introduced at a summer meeting of the Indiana General Assembly's
Health Finance Commission on September 29 and a final version of the
bill will come up for a vote at the next meeting at the end of this
month.
Republican Senator Patricia Miller is both the Health Finance
Commission Chair and the sponsor of the bill. She believes the new
law will protect children in the state of Indiana and make parenting
laws more explicit.
[More at URL]
----- 2 -----
Veterans group to have rally against "pornographic" library books
By Burton Speakman, Courier staff
Montgomery County (Texas) Courier
3 October 2005
The American Veterans in Domestic Defense will have rallies Saturday at six of the Montgomery County Library branches.
"These libraries have become polluted with written and pictorial pornography at the expense of quality literature," said spokesman Jim Cabaniss, a resident of The Woodlands. "For several years now the people in Montgomery County have complained about this decadence to the proper authorities with little or no results."
"We're not going to burn books but we're going to cut them up," he said. There are 70 specific books they are complaining about.
[...]
The books they are challenging contain pictures and graphics you couldn't show people on television, Cabaniss said. "They include items that promote homosexuality."
"People are paying tax dollars for libraries to offer perverted pictures," he said.
[...]
AVIDD is a Houston-based veteran's group that was founded by General Raymond Davis, a four-star Marine. Its goal, according to its Web site, is to "search out and identify specifically who or what is causing the problems for America and neutralize the negative impact on our society. We will study the methods of these 'domestic enemies' of the United States and plan a strategy to neutralize their destructiveness. Our plan is to be as diplomatic as possible, but as assertive as the law permits."
"We're very serious about this issue. This is not light subject matter," Cabaniss said.
"One reason we want to do it is we've found that veteran's groups can take action without a lot of criticism. Who's going to criticize a veteran's organization?" he asked.
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
Salazar sweats Miers
Evangelist Dobson's inside knowledge unnerves senator
By M.E. Sprengelmeyer, Rocky Mountain News
October 5, 2005
Long URL here
WASHINGTON - If Focus on the Family founder James Dobson knows a secret about Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers, Sen. Ken Salazar wants to know what it is.
Some prominent conservatives have expressed skepticism or dismay over Miers' nomination, saying her beliefs are less than crystal clear. But Dobson, one of the country's most outspoken evangelical Christian leaders, praised the pick.
[...]
Afterward, Dobson told The New York Times he supported her because of her religious faith and because he has reason to believe she opposes abortion.
"Some of what I know I am not at liberty to talk about," he told the newspaper.
[More at URL]
----- 4 -----
** CITIZENLINK - SPECIAL REPORT **
Focus on the Family
October 5, 2005
Dr. Dobson Explains Support for the Supreme Court Nominee
by Stuart Shepard, managing editor
[Received in email; no URL]
Dr. James Dobson devoted today's entire Focus on the
Family broadcast to passionately sharing the reasons
behind his support of President Bush's second Supreme
Court nominee, Harriet Miers.
He acknowledged that the broad spectrum of responses to
the nomination by pro-family groups has left many
perplexed.
"I know that our listeners are confused and not sure about
Harriet Miers," he said, "and want to know why I have come
out, initially at least, in favor of her nomination and
what I know that maybe they don't know."
He called the nomination a matter of "unprecedented
significance," particularly because the lives of millions
of pre-born babies are on the line.
We strongly encourage you to listen.
To find a radio station in your area, follow this link:
http://www.family.org/fmedia/radiolog/index.cfm
You may also listen online here:
http://www.oneplace.com/Ministries/Focus_on_the_Family/
----- 5 -----
Focus on the Family
Issues Update: October 2005
[Main Broadcast]
James Dobson, John Fuller (MC)
[Transcriber's note: Bill Bennett was also advertised, but did not appear]
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
http://www.oneplace.com/Ministries/Focus_on_the_Family/
[Transcriber's note: The FotF media server was behaving very badly today - I think it's overloaded with listen requests. So the playback was extremely choppy and would skip portions. I did the best I could given the bad media, but the exact word error rate may be slightly higher than usual.]
It is another month, another judicial nominee and a lot to sort out. Dr. James Dobson and co-host John Fuller offers Christian Worldview perspective on the issues that affect families. Join us for a discussion regarding the nomination of Harriet Miers to the US Supreme Court. Stay with us as Dr. Dobson and Dr. Bill Bennett and other conservative leaders discuss recent attacks on Bennett’s character by the liberal media. You may just find clarity and fairness when you tune in!
[Dobson: "This has been one of the more difficult weeks I can remember, going way way back... I probably will upset some people, but I have to do what I think the Lord would have me do... there's an issue before us that is of unprecedented significance... it has to do with the new nominee to the United States Supreme Court.... there has been a firestorm of activity since then... her nomination has angered and disillusioned many conservatives, many Christian conservatives, many of my friends, many of whom I love and have worked with for years... who see this issue differently than I do... good people can draw different conclusions and you have to go on respecting each other and loving each other... I don't mean any ill will to anyone, but I know that our listeners are confused and not sure about Harriet Myers and want to know why I have come out initially at least in favour of her nomination and what I know that maybe they don't know. What's made this week so difficult is... I started getting phone calls at 5:30 in the morning Monday..." Talks about calls from Senators, media. talks about not answering most of the media, talks about how the media "use" use, how the media loves to "pit conservative Christians against each other."
"There is so much in the balance... there's no way to put it into words... the decision about this nominee weighs me down in ways I don't recall experiencing before... I make a mistake here and others make a mistake, what we're talking about - BABIES! We're talking about millions... if this person is the wrong person... for 20 or 30 years it will reverberate... I am saying to our listeners what i said to the Lord... Lord, you know I don't have the wisdom to make this decision. You know that what I feel now and what I think is right may be dead wrong. You know that I could get out of your will and do something to hurt the cause of Christ. And I would rather sacrifice my life than do that. And I think I know what you want me to say in regard to this nominee. I think I have your mind. But I'm not sure. You can never be sure! ... Until that justice is on the court and starts making decisions and handing down rulings... Lord Action said "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely... we don't know... where they will be years from now."
"Lord, if I'm wrong here... get the message through to me. I am listening to you. I will do anything you want. If this is not the person you want on that Supreme Court, all you have to do is tell me so. And do it through any means... through the scriptures, through my friends, through pastors... let me know exactly what you want me to do and I will follow that. In the meantime I am doing what I think is right..."
"Now I can't reveal it all, because I do know things, you know, I'm privy to that I can't describe, because of confidentiality. There are some things I can't go into. ... confidential conversations, contacts... I won't violate that."
"For one thing, she is a deeply committed Christian. She has been a believer in Jesus Christ since the late 1970s. I know the individual who led her to the Lord. I know the church she goes to. I know it's a very conservative church. I know she is a tithe-paying member of that church. I know that she has deep convictions about things. And I have talked at length to people who know her and have known her for a long time. Some of them have been a close personal friend of hers for 25 years. I trust these people because I know them... I know their heart and I know their character and what they stand for. And I know their love for the Lord. ... And they have said to me that this is a good woman who will do the right thing when the chips are down. She will not be a disappointment, and you cannot go wrong by seeing her in one of the most powerful positions in this country, that being the justice who replaces Sandra Day O'Connor on the court. I have heard that over and over from people who are not giving me hearsay. They are saying, "this is my personal friend. I know what she cares about.' And I believe George Bush cannot say that, and Harriet Miers cannot say that, and maybe I shouldn't say that, but I know it to be true. And that is part of why I have confidence. Because I have confidence in those individuals."
Talks about contribution to Al Gore in 1988. "I guess that's true, I think the records show that. But in 1988, there was hardly a Republican party in Texas, there was a Democrat party, and it was made up of liberals and conservatives..." "Al Gore, in 1988, was pro-life! ... Not only pro-life, he was pro-military, he was very conservative on a lot of things!"
Talks about ABA fight.
Tries to rationalise the 1989 fight, too. Claims "gay rights" means "special rights that are given to homosexuals that aren't given to anybody else." Notes that she did not favour the repeal of the Texas sodomy ("What we'd call perversion") law, and she didn't. "So it's selective information, so I think people ought to know the whole story." "So there's something here I think we can support."
Goes back to the Bush campaign, saying "he made it very clear" that "he wanted somebody in the mold of Antinon Scalia." Claims Bush has never betrayed that promise, or gone against his campaign's anti-abortion stance. "I'm not a shill for the president, but on those two issues he has been consistent." "He has been consistent on life all the way from the time he has been elected." "He supported the traditional definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman exclusively." "Having put those kind of justices on the court almost without exception... he as chosen those kind of people. He has not violated his own policy... it's deep within his philosophy... does it make any sense now that President George W. Bush, who knows full well that his legacy 20 or 30 years from now will not focus on Iraq - that's an extremely important conflict over there and I support the troops who are there - but once that conflict has been fought, future generations further along will not understand it as we do today. but that will not primarily be his legacy. They will remember him by the legacy of the people he puts on the Supreme Court. And if he sabotages the base out there, the conservatives that worked and gave and voted for him, _just for these reasons_... if he would do that, and would not tell us, and would really abandon everything he said, it would be known for the next generation, and further more it would contradict his basic ... philosophical beliefs. I don't believe it! I do not think he would have nominated Harriet Miers if he knew she was going to [assassinate?!] what he believed in..."
"I don't believe in just trusting the President. i believe in trusting _this_ president at this time because of the stand he has taken and the way he has implemented it consistently for four and a half years. When you put that with all the other information that i've been able to gain... and you'll have to trust me on this one, when you know some of the things that I know that I probably shouldn't know that take me in this direction, you will understand why I have said with fear and trepidation why I have said that I believe Harriet Miers will be a _good justice_." "If _I_ have made a mistake here, I will never forget it... the blood of those babies that will die will be in on my hands to some degree." "Lord, if I'm right, confirm it, if I'm wrong, chastise me and I will repent on it and come before these microphones... my advice to conservatives who care about life as much as we do is stay cool, keep your powder dry, don't assassinate the character of this woman before you know who she is, and give the process time to play out, and perhaps we will know by the time the confirmation vote is taken. I pray that we will. ... And for now, let's just don't get to carried away with our sense of disillusionment for having nominated somebody they haven't been anticipating... and giving us an unknown quanitity. She is really _not_ unknown to an awful lot of good people that I trust."
Prays: "Heavenly father, you heard my agonized heart today. You know that I don't have the wisdom to be in the role you put me in. I don't know what to do. But I think I do. And I'm asking for your strength and your direction and let this decision be made by you. You care more about the decisions of this Supreme Court than _we_ do. You care more about those babies than _I_ do. You care more about the definition of marriage, and the sanctity and strength of the family than I do. You created marriage! And I'm just a spokesman for these principles, which I read in your word. And I pray that you will be with us in the days ahead. Bless the United States of America! Bless its president! Bless his advisors! And bless Focus on the Family as we seek, haltingly, to follow your desires and your will."
MC hopes that people who were "struck by something you have heard" will call Focus on the Family. 800.232.6459.
----- 6 -----
Assisted Suicide Case Will Have Nationwide Impact
by Pete Winn, associate editor
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
October 4, 2005
SUMMARY: Case will determine whether states may opt out of
federal laws.
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038137.cfm
Newly installed Chief Justice John Roberts' first major
case will come Wednesday when the Supreme Court is set to
hear oral arguments in connection with the Oregon
assisted-suicide case.
Oregon's assisted-suicide law itself is not under review.
At issue, though, is whether the U.S. Attorney General has
the right to declare it is a violation of federal drug
laws for doctors to prescribe a federally controlled drug
to help someone commit suicide.
Mathew Staver, president of Liberty Counsel, filed a
friend-of-the-court brief arguing that assisting suicide
is not a "legitimate medical purpose" -- as provided for
in the federal drug law.
[More at URL]
----- 7 -----
Supreme Court to Hear Key Pro-Life Cases
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
October 4, 2005
SUMMARY: Fall session should be closely watched.
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038133.cfm
The U.S. Supreme Court's fall session began yesterday with
many issues on the docket that are important to Christian
conservatives, including parental notification when a
minor is considering an abortion and whether abortion
protesters can be prosecuted under organized crime laws.
Jennifer Brown of Legal Momentum, the National
Organization for Women's legal defense fund, said they are
gearing up for the fight over parental notification.
"This law very clearly does not meet one of the standards
for abortion restrictions that has been with us since
Roe," she said. "There has to be an exception to the
restriction if an abortion is needed to protect the young
woman's health or her life."
[More at URL]
----- 8 -----
Wisconsin Group to House Stem-Cell Bank
Focus on the Family
NEWSBRIEFS
October 4, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
The WiCell Research Institute, located at the University
of Wisconsin in Madison, has received a four-year contract
to run the nation's first embryonic stem-cell bank, Fox
News reported.
The newly created bank will consolidate all embryonic
stem-cell lines that qualify for federally funded
research.
Carl Gulbrandsen, president of WiCell's board of
directors, said the group will store and distribute the
cells under a federal contract that aims to reduce the
cost of such research.
"At a minimum, we will be a single portal so people can do
one-stop shopping," Gulbrandsen said.
President Bush, in Aug. 2001, established a policy that
only allows federal money to go toward research using
embryonic stem-cell lines that existed before that date.
Extracting embryonic stem cells always requires the
destruction of life.
Carrie Gordon Earll, senior analyst for bioethics at Focus
on the Family Action, said housing all the embryonic
stem-cell lines available for federal research under one
roof doesn't solve the ethical issues.
"If having all the federally approved embryonic stem-cell
lines in one location would reduce the demands of those
who want to kill additional embryonic humans, that would
be good," she said. "Unfortunately, the unquenchable
thirst for newly destroyed tiny humans will not be
satisfied by this organizational change."
----- 9 -----
Ohio Abortion Law Stands So Far
Focus on the Family
NEWSBRIEFS
October 4, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
A federal appeals court has ordered that a portion of an
Ohio abortion law that requires women seeking abortion
services to receive counseling from a doctor at least 24
hours in advance of the procedure and also requires
parental consent for minors seeking abortion will take
effect next week, The Associated Press reported.
That court ordered that parts of the law can take effect
while judges consider whether the law is constitutional.
Alphonse Gerhadstein, an attorney for Cincinnati Women's
Services, said he's not pleased with the decision.
"We will continue our appeal," he said, "and hope that the
court eventually will hold all of the law
unconstitutional."
But Jim Petro, Ohio's attorney general, said he intends to
continue the fight to implement the full law -- including
the portion that remains blocked. That portion is a
provision that prohibits a minor from seeking a judge's
bypass of parental consent more than once for the same
pregnancy.
"This is a victory for the unborn," he said, "but the
fight is not over."
----- 10 -----
Civil Unions Arrive in Connecticut
Focus on the Family
NEWSBRIEFS
October 4, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
Saturday, Oct. 1, was the first day same-sex couples in
Connecticut could obtain a license for a civil union --
which, in effect, will give them all the legal rights of
marriage except the title, The Associated Press reported.
Legislators passed a law making way for civil unions in
April. Massachusetts is the only state to allow same-sex
couples to marry and up to now, Vermont was the only other
state to allow civil unions for homosexual couples.
Peter Wolfgang, director of public policy for the Family
Institute of Connecticut, pointed out the impact on
families.
"Oct. 1 is a tragic day," he said, "because it's the first
day a law goes into effect that states a legislative
belief that children don't need both a mom and a dad."
----- 11 -----
Focus on the Family
NEWSBRIEFS
October 4, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
Ten Commandments Judge to Run for Governor
Judge Roy Moore, who refused to remove the Ten
Commandments from the rotunda of his Alabama courthouse,
announced Monday he will run for governor in 2006, The
Associated Press reported.
As chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, Moore had a
monument including the Ten Commandments installed in the
state judicial building. A federal judge ordered Moore to
remove it -- calling it an unconstitutional endorsement of
religion -- but Moore refused. He was removed from his
position over the controversy.
Moore's candidacy pits him against fellow Republican, Gov.
Bob Riley.
"I will defend the right of every citizen of this state --
including judges, coaches, teachers, city, county and
state officials -- to acknowledge God as the sovereign
source of law, liberty and government," Moore said.
----- 12 -----
Vet fights for Wiccan symbol on headstone
Says Hollywood wrongly associates
pentacle with demonic cults, rituals
Posted: October 5, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46661
Aided by the American Civil Liberties Union, a Navy veteran who identifies himself as Wiccan is pressing the federal government to allow pentacles, the symbol of his faith, to be engraved free on military headstones.
Scott Stearns, of Kent, Wash., argues Hindus, Sufis and Buddhists, along with people of other faiths have the privilege, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported.
[More at URL]
----- 13 -----
Hospital for kids tells pagan group to count it out
Colorado Springs Gazette
By JANE REUTER THE GAZETTE
October 05, 2005
http://www.gazette.com/display.php?id=1310974&secid=1
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital decided it wants no part of a pagan group’s festival. The hospital sent a letter to the Secret Garden Coven demanding it stop listing St. Jude as the beneficiary of the group’s Oct. 29 event in the town of Ramah.
The Calhan-based pagan group moved into the spotlight last month after it rented the American Legion Hall in the small northeastern El Paso County town for the festival.
Ramah Baptist Fellowship minister Tim Tucker asked the town council in August to block the event, and some members indicated they, too, were concerned about the festival.
No official action was taken, and Ramah Mayor Tamra Herrera subsequently apologized to coven members for the discussion.
Memphis, Tenn.-based St. Jude sent festival organizer Jerusha Doucette-Johnson a letter Sept. 23 asking the group to “cease and desist use of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital name.”
St. Jude vice president Diane Spears wrote that the organization has no opinion about the coven’s religious beliefs.
“However, your event, regardless of its affiliation with an organized movement or religion, has become politicized and controversial,” Spears wrote.
“Under those circumstances, we feel that it is in the best interests of this charity and the children and families it serves not to authorize the use or trademark of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.”
[More at URL]
----- 14 -----
Confusion Abounds in Pro-Family Camps Following Bush's SCOTUS Nomination
By Jody Brown, Allie Martin, Bill Fancher, and Ed Thomas
Agape Press
October 4, 2005
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/10/42005a.asp
(AgapePress) - Early indications are that President Bush's pick to replace Sandra Day O'Connor has successfully confused and divided his conservative support base. While several pro-family leaders have adopted a "wait-and-see" attitude, a report out today could cause their wait to be short-lived -- and what they see to cause them pause.
According to a report by WorldNetDaily, conservatives and family advocates may have something to worry about concerning the nomination of White House counsel Harriett Miers to the Supreme Court. WND says it has learned the native Texan is on record as being in support of the establishment of the International Criminal Court, homosexual adoptions, and women in combat. These findings, notes the Internet news service, are "unlikely to ease the concerns of those who were expecting Bush to fulfill his promise to name a justice in the mold of Clarence Thomas or Antonin Scalia" -- both regarded as solid conservatives on the high court. (See related story)
At the same time, LifeNews.com -- a pro-life Internet website -- is reporting that Miers is a longtime member of Valley View Christian Church, an evangelical church in Dallas, where she has been a Sunday school teacher as well as a member of the missions board for ten years. Her pastor, says the report, is a staunch pro-life supporter; and another Valley View pastor -- when interviewed about Miers -- impressed a pro-life radio talk-show host to cause that radio personality to state for the record that the court nominee "stands for the protection of life -- born and pre-born .... and she stands for the authority of the text of the Constitution." (See related story)
It also has been revealed that Miers has contributed to the presidential campaigns of both Democratic and Republican candidates.
A Conservative Judicial Philosophy? It's Unclear...
So where does that leave conservatives and pro-family advocates on the Miers nomination? Evidently, pretty much undecided. For example, an attorney with the American Family Association's Center for Law & Policy says he is skeptical about the president's latest SCOTUS nominee. Steve Crampton says little is known about Miers when it comes to issues such as abortion and homosexual rights.
"We increasingly, on both sides of the aisle, now look to the need for a written record of a candidate's views on various issues -- and to my knowledge, Ms. Miers doesn't really have any record," Cramption offers. "The first place you go [to look for the judicial philosophy of] a judge is opinions that he or she has actually written. With somebody that's never served on a court, you at least look for legal essays and analyses and so forth -- and I don't know of any of those on Ms. Miers."
Crampton is also concerned about Miers' close ties to the American Bar Association. "I, for one, left the American Bar Association -- as did many conservatives -- many years ago because of their political positions, in particular on the issue of abortion," he explains. "They have been strong supporters of abortion, and lately increasingly active on homosexual rights and all kinds of other leftist kind of issues."
[More at URL]
----- 15 -----
Daily Women's Health Policy
Kaiser Network
National Politics & Policy | Supreme Court Nominee Miers Wanted Bar Association's Abortion-Rights Stance to be Neutral, Donated to Antiabortion Group
[Oct 04, 2005]
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=32904
White House counsel and Supreme Court justice nominee Harriet Miers in 1993 was a leader of an unsuccessful attempt to persuade the American Bar Association to reconsider its stance supporting abortion rights and, in 1989, donated to a Texas antiabortion group, the AP/Austin American-Statesman reports. As president of the State Bar of Texas in 1993, she questioned whether the ABA should "be trying to speak for the entire legal community" on the issue of abortion rights, which, she said, had "brought on tremendous divisiveness" in the organization (Curry, AP/Austin American-Statesman, 10/3). The ABA's position, adopted in 1992, endorses the basic ruling in the 1973 Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade -- which effectively outlawed state abortion bans. Miers said at the time that the position "has no meaning unless it is endorsed in fact by the membership," but ABA's policy making body rejected a proposal by her and other Texas lawyers to put the issue to a referendum by mail to the organization's approximately 360,000 members (Gearan, AP/Washington Post, 10/3). Darrell Jordan, a former president of the Texas bar, said the dispute over the ABA position went beyond personal beliefs on the issue, adding that many supporters of abortion rights, including himself, shared Miers' view that it was "inappropriate" to have support for abortion rights be the "official position of the legal profession" (Toner, New York Times, 10/4). Jordan said that after working closely with Miers for about 30 years he does not know her position on abortion rights (Cummings et al., Wall Street Journal, 10/4). President Bush on Monday nominated Miers to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Miers, who was the first woman to serve as president of the State Bar of Texas and the Dallas Bar Association, has never been a judge and therefore has no judicial record (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 10/3).
Antiabortion Group Donation, Religious Past
Miers donated $150 in 1989 to the antiabortion group Texans United for Life, now called Texans for Life Coalition, TFLC President Kyleen Wright said on Monday. Wright said she does not remember Miers being "very involved" with the group, adding, "No one I know in the pro-life or pro-family movement knows her, locally or around the state" (AP/Austin American-Statesman, 10/3). According to a former colleague of Miers, Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht, Miers, who never married and was raised Catholic, began attending the Valley View Christian Church -- which Hecht described as "strongly pro-life" -- in the late 1970s and early 1980s (Wall Street Journal, 10/4).
[More at URL]
----- 16 -----
FRC President Tony Perkins Urges 'Wait and See' for Families on Miers Pick
October 3, 2005 - Monday
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 3, 2005
CONTACT: Amber Hildebrand, adh@frc.org or (202) 393-2100
FOR RADIO - JP Duffy, (202) 393-2100
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PR05J01;
Washington D.C. - President Bush's announcement this morning of White House counsel Harriet Miers as his nominee for the Supreme Court drew a cautious response from the Family Research Council (FRC), a pro-family public policy organization.
FRC's president, Tony Perkins, commented:
"President Bush has long made it clear that his choices for the U.S. Supreme Court would be in the mold of current justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. We have no reason to believe he has abandoned that standard. However, our lack of knowledge about Harriet Miers, and the absence of a record on the bench, give us insufficient information from which to assess whether or not she is indeed in that mold.
"In the days to come, Harriet Miers will have the chance to demonstrate such a philosophy. We will be watching closely as the confirmation process begins, and we urge American families to wait and see if the confidence we have always placed in the President's commitment is justified by this selection."
For more information on Family Research Council please visit www.frc.org.
----- 17 -----
Ronald McDonald Receives a Gender Change and Slips Into a Bikini
by: James Sunday
Family Research Council
October 3, 2005
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=CU05J01&f=PG03I03
Move over Ronald McDonald: there's a new swimsuit model in town. It seems that McDonalds has joined the lastest craze of soft pornography advertisement among fast food restaurants by using the latest of advertising techiniques; dressing young woman in sexy clothing baring more than the eyes should see, especially the eyes of children. Perhaps McDonalds executives were thinking that a newly "improved" female Ronald McDonald in a sexy red and white bikini with thigh length leggings and red high heels would increase consumers consumption of happy meals. Nervous about your next trip to McDonalds, and wondering whether or not fast food restaurants should now come with a parental guidance rating? Rest assured that the new Ronald McDonald lives in Japan, thousands of miles away from your suburban McDonalds. One has to wander though, how long it will take the new Ronald McDonald to reach the shores of America.
"In the Japanese TV commercial," notes Britain's Guardian newspaper, "the foxy female version, with shoulder-length straight auburn hair in place of Ronald's frizzy mop, smolders at the camera in a flowing yellow dress, and later a red and white striped bikini with thigh-length leggings and red high heels." "The customers are calling her the female Ronald, but that was not our intention," said campaign creator, Hidekazu Sato, known by his nickname Kazoo.
Who is going to believe that a clown with shoulder-length straight auborn hair dressed in yellow with red and white stripes at a McDonalds restaurant, doesn't resemble Ronald McDonald?
[More at URL]
American Veterans in Domestic Defense (AVIDD) to protest "pornographic" books in Texas libraries - specifically, books with any GBLT characters or too many bad words as part of their campaign against "domestic enemies";
Colorado senator Salazar wants to know what "secret" James Dobson claims to know about Supreme Court judicial nominee Harriet Miers;
Focus on the Family sends out a SPECIAL REPORT saying that Dobson will explain his support for Harriet Miers on today's main Focus on the Family broadcast;
Focus on the Family main broadcast transcription (rough); rough summary; I know Miers's pastor, I know people around her, she's a tithe-paying member of a very conservative church; I know things I can't talk about firsthand, not hearsay; trust me, she's one of us;
FotF's take on the Oregon assisted-suicide Supreme Court case;
FotF's take on various anti-abortion cases coming to the SCOTUS;
Wisconsin to be location of authorised stem-cell research lines - FotF says it's still murdering babies;
Federal appeals court allows Ohio's 24-hour waiting period for abortion services to take effect; also invokes parental notification;
Civil Union bill in Connecticut takes effect; Family Institute of Connecticut calls it "tragic";
Roy Moore (Alabama) to run for Governor;
Wiccan vet tries to get appropriate symbol approved for headstone; no luck yet;
Hospital turns away neopagan group's fundraiser and orders them not to use their name in any future charitable fundraisers; donations now going to a South Dakota reservation;
Agape Press article on various reactions by social conservatives to Harriet Myers;
Miers donated to an anti-abortion group in Texas, but nobody there really remembers her as being particularly involved;
Family Research Council adopts "wait and see" on Miers;
FRC rails against "gender-changing" Ronald McDonald after seeing a McDonald's commercial in Japan with a female clown - no, really.
----- 1 -----
The Crime of "Unauthorized Reproduction"
New law will require marriage as a legal condition of motherhood
By Laura McPhee
http://www.boomantribune.com/?op=displaystory;sid=2005/10/3/223530/406
[Separate article to verify - Ft. Worth Journal-Gazette - here: ]
[ http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/12813691.htm]
Republican lawmakers are drafting new legislation that will make
marriage a requirement for motherhood in the state of Indiana,
including specific criminal penalties for unmarried women who do
become pregnant "by means other than sexual intercourse."
According to a draft of the recommended change in state law, every
woman in Indiana seeking to become a mother throu gh assisted
reproduction therapy such as in vitro fertilization, sperm donation,
and egg donation, must first file for a "petition for parentage" in
their local county probate court.
Only women who are married will be considered for the "gestational
certificate" that must be presented to any doctor who facilitates the
pregnancy. Further, the "gestational certificate" will only be given
to married couples that successfully complete the same screening
process currently required by law of adoptive parents.
As it the draft of the new law reads now, an intended parent "who
knowingly or willingly participates in an artificial reproduction
procedure" without court approval, "commits unauthorized
reproduction, a Class B misdemeanor." The criminal charges will be
the same for physicians who commit "unauthorized practice of
artificial reproduction."
The change in Indiana law to require marriage as a condition for
motherhood and criminalizing "unauthorized reproduction" was
introduced at a summer meeting of the Indiana General Assembly's
Health Finance Commission on September 29 and a final version of the
bill will come up for a vote at the next meeting at the end of this
month.
Republican Senator Patricia Miller is both the Health Finance
Commission Chair and the sponsor of the bill. She believes the new
law will protect children in the state of Indiana and make parenting
laws more explicit.
[More at URL]
----- 2 -----
Veterans group to have rally against "pornographic" library books
By Burton Speakman, Courier staff
Montgomery County (Texas) Courier
3 October 2005
The American Veterans in Domestic Defense will have rallies Saturday at six of the Montgomery County Library branches.
"These libraries have become polluted with written and pictorial pornography at the expense of quality literature," said spokesman Jim Cabaniss, a resident of The Woodlands. "For several years now the people in Montgomery County have complained about this decadence to the proper authorities with little or no results."
"We're not going to burn books but we're going to cut them up," he said. There are 70 specific books they are complaining about.
[...]
The books they are challenging contain pictures and graphics you couldn't show people on television, Cabaniss said. "They include items that promote homosexuality."
"People are paying tax dollars for libraries to offer perverted pictures," he said.
[...]
AVIDD is a Houston-based veteran's group that was founded by General Raymond Davis, a four-star Marine. Its goal, according to its Web site, is to "search out and identify specifically who or what is causing the problems for America and neutralize the negative impact on our society. We will study the methods of these 'domestic enemies' of the United States and plan a strategy to neutralize their destructiveness. Our plan is to be as diplomatic as possible, but as assertive as the law permits."
"We're very serious about this issue. This is not light subject matter," Cabaniss said.
"One reason we want to do it is we've found that veteran's groups can take action without a lot of criticism. Who's going to criticize a veteran's organization?" he asked.
[More at URL]
----- 3 -----
Salazar sweats Miers
Evangelist Dobson's inside knowledge unnerves senator
By M.E. Sprengelmeyer, Rocky Mountain News
October 5, 2005
Long URL here
WASHINGTON - If Focus on the Family founder James Dobson knows a secret about Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers, Sen. Ken Salazar wants to know what it is.
Some prominent conservatives have expressed skepticism or dismay over Miers' nomination, saying her beliefs are less than crystal clear. But Dobson, one of the country's most outspoken evangelical Christian leaders, praised the pick.
[...]
Afterward, Dobson told The New York Times he supported her because of her religious faith and because he has reason to believe she opposes abortion.
"Some of what I know I am not at liberty to talk about," he told the newspaper.
[More at URL]
----- 4 -----
** CITIZENLINK - SPECIAL REPORT **
Focus on the Family
October 5, 2005
Dr. Dobson Explains Support for the Supreme Court Nominee
by Stuart Shepard, managing editor
[Received in email; no URL]
Dr. James Dobson devoted today's entire Focus on the
Family broadcast to passionately sharing the reasons
behind his support of President Bush's second Supreme
Court nominee, Harriet Miers.
He acknowledged that the broad spectrum of responses to
the nomination by pro-family groups has left many
perplexed.
"I know that our listeners are confused and not sure about
Harriet Miers," he said, "and want to know why I have come
out, initially at least, in favor of her nomination and
what I know that maybe they don't know."
He called the nomination a matter of "unprecedented
significance," particularly because the lives of millions
of pre-born babies are on the line.
We strongly encourage you to listen.
To find a radio station in your area, follow this link:
http://www.family.org/fmedia/radiolog/index.cfm
You may also listen online here:
http://www.oneplace.com/Ministries/Focus_on_the_Family/
----- 5 -----
Focus on the Family
Issues Update: October 2005
[Main Broadcast]
James Dobson, John Fuller (MC)
[Transcriber's note: Bill Bennett was also advertised, but did not appear]
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
http://www.oneplace.com/Ministries/Focus_on_the_Family/
[Transcriber's note: The FotF media server was behaving very badly today - I think it's overloaded with listen requests. So the playback was extremely choppy and would skip portions. I did the best I could given the bad media, but the exact word error rate may be slightly higher than usual.]
It is another month, another judicial nominee and a lot to sort out. Dr. James Dobson and co-host John Fuller offers Christian Worldview perspective on the issues that affect families. Join us for a discussion regarding the nomination of Harriet Miers to the US Supreme Court. Stay with us as Dr. Dobson and Dr. Bill Bennett and other conservative leaders discuss recent attacks on Bennett’s character by the liberal media. You may just find clarity and fairness when you tune in!
[Dobson: "This has been one of the more difficult weeks I can remember, going way way back... I probably will upset some people, but I have to do what I think the Lord would have me do... there's an issue before us that is of unprecedented significance... it has to do with the new nominee to the United States Supreme Court.... there has been a firestorm of activity since then... her nomination has angered and disillusioned many conservatives, many Christian conservatives, many of my friends, many of whom I love and have worked with for years... who see this issue differently than I do... good people can draw different conclusions and you have to go on respecting each other and loving each other... I don't mean any ill will to anyone, but I know that our listeners are confused and not sure about Harriet Myers and want to know why I have come out initially at least in favour of her nomination and what I know that maybe they don't know. What's made this week so difficult is... I started getting phone calls at 5:30 in the morning Monday..." Talks about calls from Senators, media. talks about not answering most of the media, talks about how the media "use" use, how the media loves to "pit conservative Christians against each other."
"There is so much in the balance... there's no way to put it into words... the decision about this nominee weighs me down in ways I don't recall experiencing before... I make a mistake here and others make a mistake, what we're talking about - BABIES! We're talking about millions... if this person is the wrong person... for 20 or 30 years it will reverberate... I am saying to our listeners what i said to the Lord... Lord, you know I don't have the wisdom to make this decision. You know that what I feel now and what I think is right may be dead wrong. You know that I could get out of your will and do something to hurt the cause of Christ. And I would rather sacrifice my life than do that. And I think I know what you want me to say in regard to this nominee. I think I have your mind. But I'm not sure. You can never be sure! ... Until that justice is on the court and starts making decisions and handing down rulings... Lord Action said "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely... we don't know... where they will be years from now."
"Lord, if I'm wrong here... get the message through to me. I am listening to you. I will do anything you want. If this is not the person you want on that Supreme Court, all you have to do is tell me so. And do it through any means... through the scriptures, through my friends, through pastors... let me know exactly what you want me to do and I will follow that. In the meantime I am doing what I think is right..."
"Now I can't reveal it all, because I do know things, you know, I'm privy to that I can't describe, because of confidentiality. There are some things I can't go into. ... confidential conversations, contacts... I won't violate that."
"For one thing, she is a deeply committed Christian. She has been a believer in Jesus Christ since the late 1970s. I know the individual who led her to the Lord. I know the church she goes to. I know it's a very conservative church. I know she is a tithe-paying member of that church. I know that she has deep convictions about things. And I have talked at length to people who know her and have known her for a long time. Some of them have been a close personal friend of hers for 25 years. I trust these people because I know them... I know their heart and I know their character and what they stand for. And I know their love for the Lord. ... And they have said to me that this is a good woman who will do the right thing when the chips are down. She will not be a disappointment, and you cannot go wrong by seeing her in one of the most powerful positions in this country, that being the justice who replaces Sandra Day O'Connor on the court. I have heard that over and over from people who are not giving me hearsay. They are saying, "this is my personal friend. I know what she cares about.' And I believe George Bush cannot say that, and Harriet Miers cannot say that, and maybe I shouldn't say that, but I know it to be true. And that is part of why I have confidence. Because I have confidence in those individuals."
Talks about contribution to Al Gore in 1988. "I guess that's true, I think the records show that. But in 1988, there was hardly a Republican party in Texas, there was a Democrat party, and it was made up of liberals and conservatives..." "Al Gore, in 1988, was pro-life! ... Not only pro-life, he was pro-military, he was very conservative on a lot of things!"
Talks about ABA fight.
Tries to rationalise the 1989 fight, too. Claims "gay rights" means "special rights that are given to homosexuals that aren't given to anybody else." Notes that she did not favour the repeal of the Texas sodomy ("What we'd call perversion") law, and she didn't. "So it's selective information, so I think people ought to know the whole story." "So there's something here I think we can support."
Goes back to the Bush campaign, saying "he made it very clear" that "he wanted somebody in the mold of Antinon Scalia." Claims Bush has never betrayed that promise, or gone against his campaign's anti-abortion stance. "I'm not a shill for the president, but on those two issues he has been consistent." "He has been consistent on life all the way from the time he has been elected." "He supported the traditional definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman exclusively." "Having put those kind of justices on the court almost without exception... he as chosen those kind of people. He has not violated his own policy... it's deep within his philosophy... does it make any sense now that President George W. Bush, who knows full well that his legacy 20 or 30 years from now will not focus on Iraq - that's an extremely important conflict over there and I support the troops who are there - but once that conflict has been fought, future generations further along will not understand it as we do today. but that will not primarily be his legacy. They will remember him by the legacy of the people he puts on the Supreme Court. And if he sabotages the base out there, the conservatives that worked and gave and voted for him, _just for these reasons_... if he would do that, and would not tell us, and would really abandon everything he said, it would be known for the next generation, and further more it would contradict his basic ... philosophical beliefs. I don't believe it! I do not think he would have nominated Harriet Miers if he knew she was going to [assassinate?!] what he believed in..."
"I don't believe in just trusting the President. i believe in trusting _this_ president at this time because of the stand he has taken and the way he has implemented it consistently for four and a half years. When you put that with all the other information that i've been able to gain... and you'll have to trust me on this one, when you know some of the things that I know that I probably shouldn't know that take me in this direction, you will understand why I have said with fear and trepidation why I have said that I believe Harriet Miers will be a _good justice_." "If _I_ have made a mistake here, I will never forget it... the blood of those babies that will die will be in on my hands to some degree." "Lord, if I'm right, confirm it, if I'm wrong, chastise me and I will repent on it and come before these microphones... my advice to conservatives who care about life as much as we do is stay cool, keep your powder dry, don't assassinate the character of this woman before you know who she is, and give the process time to play out, and perhaps we will know by the time the confirmation vote is taken. I pray that we will. ... And for now, let's just don't get to carried away with our sense of disillusionment for having nominated somebody they haven't been anticipating... and giving us an unknown quanitity. She is really _not_ unknown to an awful lot of good people that I trust."
Prays: "Heavenly father, you heard my agonized heart today. You know that I don't have the wisdom to be in the role you put me in. I don't know what to do. But I think I do. And I'm asking for your strength and your direction and let this decision be made by you. You care more about the decisions of this Supreme Court than _we_ do. You care more about those babies than _I_ do. You care more about the definition of marriage, and the sanctity and strength of the family than I do. You created marriage! And I'm just a spokesman for these principles, which I read in your word. And I pray that you will be with us in the days ahead. Bless the United States of America! Bless its president! Bless his advisors! And bless Focus on the Family as we seek, haltingly, to follow your desires and your will."
MC hopes that people who were "struck by something you have heard" will call Focus on the Family. 800.232.6459.
----- 6 -----
Assisted Suicide Case Will Have Nationwide Impact
by Pete Winn, associate editor
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
October 4, 2005
SUMMARY: Case will determine whether states may opt out of
federal laws.
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038137.cfm
Newly installed Chief Justice John Roberts' first major
case will come Wednesday when the Supreme Court is set to
hear oral arguments in connection with the Oregon
assisted-suicide case.
Oregon's assisted-suicide law itself is not under review.
At issue, though, is whether the U.S. Attorney General has
the right to declare it is a violation of federal drug
laws for doctors to prescribe a federally controlled drug
to help someone commit suicide.
Mathew Staver, president of Liberty Counsel, filed a
friend-of-the-court brief arguing that assisting suicide
is not a "legitimate medical purpose" -- as provided for
in the federal drug law.
[More at URL]
----- 7 -----
Supreme Court to Hear Key Pro-Life Cases
from staff reports
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
October 4, 2005
SUMMARY: Fall session should be closely watched.
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038133.cfm
The U.S. Supreme Court's fall session began yesterday with
many issues on the docket that are important to Christian
conservatives, including parental notification when a
minor is considering an abortion and whether abortion
protesters can be prosecuted under organized crime laws.
Jennifer Brown of Legal Momentum, the National
Organization for Women's legal defense fund, said they are
gearing up for the fight over parental notification.
"This law very clearly does not meet one of the standards
for abortion restrictions that has been with us since
Roe," she said. "There has to be an exception to the
restriction if an abortion is needed to protect the young
woman's health or her life."
[More at URL]
----- 8 -----
Wisconsin Group to House Stem-Cell Bank
Focus on the Family
NEWSBRIEFS
October 4, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
The WiCell Research Institute, located at the University
of Wisconsin in Madison, has received a four-year contract
to run the nation's first embryonic stem-cell bank, Fox
News reported.
The newly created bank will consolidate all embryonic
stem-cell lines that qualify for federally funded
research.
Carl Gulbrandsen, president of WiCell's board of
directors, said the group will store and distribute the
cells under a federal contract that aims to reduce the
cost of such research.
"At a minimum, we will be a single portal so people can do
one-stop shopping," Gulbrandsen said.
President Bush, in Aug. 2001, established a policy that
only allows federal money to go toward research using
embryonic stem-cell lines that existed before that date.
Extracting embryonic stem cells always requires the
destruction of life.
Carrie Gordon Earll, senior analyst for bioethics at Focus
on the Family Action, said housing all the embryonic
stem-cell lines available for federal research under one
roof doesn't solve the ethical issues.
"If having all the federally approved embryonic stem-cell
lines in one location would reduce the demands of those
who want to kill additional embryonic humans, that would
be good," she said. "Unfortunately, the unquenchable
thirst for newly destroyed tiny humans will not be
satisfied by this organizational change."
----- 9 -----
Ohio Abortion Law Stands So Far
Focus on the Family
NEWSBRIEFS
October 4, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
A federal appeals court has ordered that a portion of an
Ohio abortion law that requires women seeking abortion
services to receive counseling from a doctor at least 24
hours in advance of the procedure and also requires
parental consent for minors seeking abortion will take
effect next week, The Associated Press reported.
That court ordered that parts of the law can take effect
while judges consider whether the law is constitutional.
Alphonse Gerhadstein, an attorney for Cincinnati Women's
Services, said he's not pleased with the decision.
"We will continue our appeal," he said, "and hope that the
court eventually will hold all of the law
unconstitutional."
But Jim Petro, Ohio's attorney general, said he intends to
continue the fight to implement the full law -- including
the portion that remains blocked. That portion is a
provision that prohibits a minor from seeking a judge's
bypass of parental consent more than once for the same
pregnancy.
"This is a victory for the unborn," he said, "but the
fight is not over."
----- 10 -----
Civil Unions Arrive in Connecticut
Focus on the Family
NEWSBRIEFS
October 4, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
Saturday, Oct. 1, was the first day same-sex couples in
Connecticut could obtain a license for a civil union --
which, in effect, will give them all the legal rights of
marriage except the title, The Associated Press reported.
Legislators passed a law making way for civil unions in
April. Massachusetts is the only state to allow same-sex
couples to marry and up to now, Vermont was the only other
state to allow civil unions for homosexual couples.
Peter Wolfgang, director of public policy for the Family
Institute of Connecticut, pointed out the impact on
families.
"Oct. 1 is a tragic day," he said, "because it's the first
day a law goes into effect that states a legislative
belief that children don't need both a mom and a dad."
----- 11 -----
Focus on the Family
NEWSBRIEFS
October 4, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
Ten Commandments Judge to Run for Governor
Judge Roy Moore, who refused to remove the Ten
Commandments from the rotunda of his Alabama courthouse,
announced Monday he will run for governor in 2006, The
Associated Press reported.
As chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, Moore had a
monument including the Ten Commandments installed in the
state judicial building. A federal judge ordered Moore to
remove it -- calling it an unconstitutional endorsement of
religion -- but Moore refused. He was removed from his
position over the controversy.
Moore's candidacy pits him against fellow Republican, Gov.
Bob Riley.
"I will defend the right of every citizen of this state --
including judges, coaches, teachers, city, county and
state officials -- to acknowledge God as the sovereign
source of law, liberty and government," Moore said.
----- 12 -----
Vet fights for Wiccan symbol on headstone
Says Hollywood wrongly associates
pentacle with demonic cults, rituals
Posted: October 5, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46661
Aided by the American Civil Liberties Union, a Navy veteran who identifies himself as Wiccan is pressing the federal government to allow pentacles, the symbol of his faith, to be engraved free on military headstones.
Scott Stearns, of Kent, Wash., argues Hindus, Sufis and Buddhists, along with people of other faiths have the privilege, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported.
[More at URL]
----- 13 -----
Hospital for kids tells pagan group to count it out
Colorado Springs Gazette
By JANE REUTER THE GAZETTE
October 05, 2005
http://www.gazette.com/display.php?id=1310974&secid=1
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital decided it wants no part of a pagan group’s festival. The hospital sent a letter to the Secret Garden Coven demanding it stop listing St. Jude as the beneficiary of the group’s Oct. 29 event in the town of Ramah.
The Calhan-based pagan group moved into the spotlight last month after it rented the American Legion Hall in the small northeastern El Paso County town for the festival.
Ramah Baptist Fellowship minister Tim Tucker asked the town council in August to block the event, and some members indicated they, too, were concerned about the festival.
No official action was taken, and Ramah Mayor Tamra Herrera subsequently apologized to coven members for the discussion.
Memphis, Tenn.-based St. Jude sent festival organizer Jerusha Doucette-Johnson a letter Sept. 23 asking the group to “cease and desist use of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital name.”
St. Jude vice president Diane Spears wrote that the organization has no opinion about the coven’s religious beliefs.
“However, your event, regardless of its affiliation with an organized movement or religion, has become politicized and controversial,” Spears wrote.
“Under those circumstances, we feel that it is in the best interests of this charity and the children and families it serves not to authorize the use or trademark of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.”
[More at URL]
----- 14 -----
Confusion Abounds in Pro-Family Camps Following Bush's SCOTUS Nomination
By Jody Brown, Allie Martin, Bill Fancher, and Ed Thomas
Agape Press
October 4, 2005
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/10/42005a.asp
(AgapePress) - Early indications are that President Bush's pick to replace Sandra Day O'Connor has successfully confused and divided his conservative support base. While several pro-family leaders have adopted a "wait-and-see" attitude, a report out today could cause their wait to be short-lived -- and what they see to cause them pause.
According to a report by WorldNetDaily, conservatives and family advocates may have something to worry about concerning the nomination of White House counsel Harriett Miers to the Supreme Court. WND says it has learned the native Texan is on record as being in support of the establishment of the International Criminal Court, homosexual adoptions, and women in combat. These findings, notes the Internet news service, are "unlikely to ease the concerns of those who were expecting Bush to fulfill his promise to name a justice in the mold of Clarence Thomas or Antonin Scalia" -- both regarded as solid conservatives on the high court. (See related story)
At the same time, LifeNews.com -- a pro-life Internet website -- is reporting that Miers is a longtime member of Valley View Christian Church, an evangelical church in Dallas, where she has been a Sunday school teacher as well as a member of the missions board for ten years. Her pastor, says the report, is a staunch pro-life supporter; and another Valley View pastor -- when interviewed about Miers -- impressed a pro-life radio talk-show host to cause that radio personality to state for the record that the court nominee "stands for the protection of life -- born and pre-born .... and she stands for the authority of the text of the Constitution." (See related story)
It also has been revealed that Miers has contributed to the presidential campaigns of both Democratic and Republican candidates.
A Conservative Judicial Philosophy? It's Unclear...
So where does that leave conservatives and pro-family advocates on the Miers nomination? Evidently, pretty much undecided. For example, an attorney with the American Family Association's Center for Law & Policy says he is skeptical about the president's latest SCOTUS nominee. Steve Crampton says little is known about Miers when it comes to issues such as abortion and homosexual rights.
"We increasingly, on both sides of the aisle, now look to the need for a written record of a candidate's views on various issues -- and to my knowledge, Ms. Miers doesn't really have any record," Cramption offers. "The first place you go [to look for the judicial philosophy of] a judge is opinions that he or she has actually written. With somebody that's never served on a court, you at least look for legal essays and analyses and so forth -- and I don't know of any of those on Ms. Miers."
Crampton is also concerned about Miers' close ties to the American Bar Association. "I, for one, left the American Bar Association -- as did many conservatives -- many years ago because of their political positions, in particular on the issue of abortion," he explains. "They have been strong supporters of abortion, and lately increasingly active on homosexual rights and all kinds of other leftist kind of issues."
[More at URL]
----- 15 -----
Daily Women's Health Policy
Kaiser Network
National Politics & Policy | Supreme Court Nominee Miers Wanted Bar Association's Abortion-Rights Stance to be Neutral, Donated to Antiabortion Group
[Oct 04, 2005]
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=32904
White House counsel and Supreme Court justice nominee Harriet Miers in 1993 was a leader of an unsuccessful attempt to persuade the American Bar Association to reconsider its stance supporting abortion rights and, in 1989, donated to a Texas antiabortion group, the AP/Austin American-Statesman reports. As president of the State Bar of Texas in 1993, she questioned whether the ABA should "be trying to speak for the entire legal community" on the issue of abortion rights, which, she said, had "brought on tremendous divisiveness" in the organization (Curry, AP/Austin American-Statesman, 10/3). The ABA's position, adopted in 1992, endorses the basic ruling in the 1973 Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade -- which effectively outlawed state abortion bans. Miers said at the time that the position "has no meaning unless it is endorsed in fact by the membership," but ABA's policy making body rejected a proposal by her and other Texas lawyers to put the issue to a referendum by mail to the organization's approximately 360,000 members (Gearan, AP/Washington Post, 10/3). Darrell Jordan, a former president of the Texas bar, said the dispute over the ABA position went beyond personal beliefs on the issue, adding that many supporters of abortion rights, including himself, shared Miers' view that it was "inappropriate" to have support for abortion rights be the "official position of the legal profession" (Toner, New York Times, 10/4). Jordan said that after working closely with Miers for about 30 years he does not know her position on abortion rights (Cummings et al., Wall Street Journal, 10/4). President Bush on Monday nominated Miers to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Miers, who was the first woman to serve as president of the State Bar of Texas and the Dallas Bar Association, has never been a judge and therefore has no judicial record (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 10/3).
Antiabortion Group Donation, Religious Past
Miers donated $150 in 1989 to the antiabortion group Texans United for Life, now called Texans for Life Coalition, TFLC President Kyleen Wright said on Monday. Wright said she does not remember Miers being "very involved" with the group, adding, "No one I know in the pro-life or pro-family movement knows her, locally or around the state" (AP/Austin American-Statesman, 10/3). According to a former colleague of Miers, Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht, Miers, who never married and was raised Catholic, began attending the Valley View Christian Church -- which Hecht described as "strongly pro-life" -- in the late 1970s and early 1980s (Wall Street Journal, 10/4).
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FRC President Tony Perkins Urges 'Wait and See' for Families on Miers Pick
October 3, 2005 - Monday
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 3, 2005
CONTACT: Amber Hildebrand, adh@frc.org or (202) 393-2100
FOR RADIO - JP Duffy, (202) 393-2100
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PR05J01;
Washington D.C. - President Bush's announcement this morning of White House counsel Harriet Miers as his nominee for the Supreme Court drew a cautious response from the Family Research Council (FRC), a pro-family public policy organization.
FRC's president, Tony Perkins, commented:
"President Bush has long made it clear that his choices for the U.S. Supreme Court would be in the mold of current justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. We have no reason to believe he has abandoned that standard. However, our lack of knowledge about Harriet Miers, and the absence of a record on the bench, give us insufficient information from which to assess whether or not she is indeed in that mold.
"In the days to come, Harriet Miers will have the chance to demonstrate such a philosophy. We will be watching closely as the confirmation process begins, and we urge American families to wait and see if the confidence we have always placed in the President's commitment is justified by this selection."
For more information on Family Research Council please visit www.frc.org.
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Ronald McDonald Receives a Gender Change and Slips Into a Bikini
by: James Sunday
Family Research Council
October 3, 2005
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=CU05J01&f=PG03I03
Move over Ronald McDonald: there's a new swimsuit model in town. It seems that McDonalds has joined the lastest craze of soft pornography advertisement among fast food restaurants by using the latest of advertising techiniques; dressing young woman in sexy clothing baring more than the eyes should see, especially the eyes of children. Perhaps McDonalds executives were thinking that a newly "improved" female Ronald McDonald in a sexy red and white bikini with thigh length leggings and red high heels would increase consumers consumption of happy meals. Nervous about your next trip to McDonalds, and wondering whether or not fast food restaurants should now come with a parental guidance rating? Rest assured that the new Ronald McDonald lives in Japan, thousands of miles away from your suburban McDonalds. One has to wander though, how long it will take the new Ronald McDonald to reach the shores of America.
"In the Japanese TV commercial," notes Britain's Guardian newspaper, "the foxy female version, with shoulder-length straight auburn hair in place of Ronald's frizzy mop, smolders at the camera in a flowing yellow dress, and later a red and white striped bikini with thigh-length leggings and red high heels." "The customers are calling her the female Ronald, but that was not our intention," said campaign creator, Hidekazu Sato, known by his nickname Kazoo.
Who is going to believe that a clown with shoulder-length straight auborn hair dressed in yellow with red and white stripes at a McDonalds restaurant, doesn't resemble Ronald McDonald?
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Date: 2005-10-06 08:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-06 04:55 pm (UTC)