Today's Cultural Warfare Update
Oct. 8th, 2005 12:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
solarbirdFocus on the Family promotes new FCC website for broadcast indecency complaints;
Reality-show fundamentalist fake-candidate to run for House;
Fundamentalist evangelical ministry-based foster care house losing so far in fight to keep state funding;
Air Force Academy sued by graduate over religious harassment - he's Jewish, talks about coercion to convert;
Ohio "Choose Life" plate lawsuit (funds go to anti-abortion counseling groups) - where NARAL, the ACLU, and others sued because no abortion-rights plates were offered - dismissed from Federal court over jurisdictional issues;
FotF article on lawsuit against Massachusetts's law prohibiting marriage for non-resident citizens challenge - notable because it doesn't use scare quotes around the word marriage;
FotF article endorsing Marriet Miers because she's a "deeply committed Christian" - the irony about using a religious test to support a candidate after railing about supposed religious tests to oppose candidates is lost on them. Most of this is from the show I transcribed;
FotF derides new group opposed to creationism and its proxy, intelligent design;
CWFA article: "homosexual activists are recruiting kids into homosexual sex and a “gay” identity, using “tolerance” as a ruse";
CWFA links to LA Times article about RU-486 lawsuit;
World Magazine profile and discussion about Harriet Miers;
Traditional Values Coalition attacks "pornographic" Victoria's Secret window display in Virginia as "half-naked," "sexually suggestive," and "lesbianism" - CWA has also run items against it;
TVC: ‘Time’ Magazine’s ‘Gay Teen’ Cover Story Written By Homosexual;
TVC attacks Associated Press as "normalising gender-bending" by teens.
----- 1 -----
New Web Site for Broadcast Indecency Complaints
Focus on the Family
NEWSBRIEFS
October 7, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) launched a
user-friendly Web page today, designed to both educate the
public about the laws governing obscene, indecent and
profane material on the nation's airwaves and to help
people better understand the process of filing complaints.
It also contains historical data on the number of
complaints, as well as the actions taken by the FCC dating
back to 1993.
Penny Nance, a special advisor at the FCC, said the goal
is to make the complaint process "expeditious and
transparent."
"In the past, American families have had a difficult time
understanding exactly how to file a complaint and what
information to include," she said. "Now, with the new Web
site, they can pull up a form, fill it out in a couple of
minutes and make their voice heard in the click of a
mouse."
Daniel Weiss, senior analyst for media and sexuality at
Focus on the Family Action, said it's rare for the FCC to
exhibit this kind of openness to public comment.
"This new responsiveness is a dramatic shift for the FCC,
which for too long has been antagonistic to punishing
broadcast indecency," he said. "By making the rules and
procedures clear and accessible, the FCC is sending a
message that it takes its job -- and Americans' concern --
seriously."
He said there appear to be new levels of accountability in
place as well as a realization that people need to better
understand what the procedures are, how long the process
takes and where they can check the status of their
complaints.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Here's the link to the new FCC page:
http://www.fcc.gov/eb/oip
----- 2 -----
Reality TV 'Candidate' to Become Real-Life Candidate
Focus on the Family
NEWSBRIEFS
October 7, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
An evangelical Christian and public-school teacher who
took the top prize in the Showtime reality series
"American Candidate" last year is planning a real-life run
for Congress.
Park Gillespie, whose upset victory on the cable-TV
competition show about a mock race for the White House was
fueled by the phone-in votes of Christians nationwide, is
poised to announce his candidacy for South Carolina's 5th
House District -- a seat currently held by longtime
Democratic Congressman John Spratt.
Gillespie, who will run in the Republican primary next
June for a spot on the November 2006 ballot, said he plans
to be as uncompromising in advocating for Christian
principles in his real campaign as he was in his
make-believe one.
"If God's called us to do something, it's critical that we
really dive in with passion, and we press in to truth and
that we trust Him," he told AgapePress. "He's given us all
a reason and a purpose for our life."
FOR MORE INFORMATION: To learn more about Park Gillespie's
victory on "American Candidate," visit the CitizenLink Web
site.
http://www.family.org/cforum/feature/a0034073.cfm
----- 3 -----
Home for Teens Loses Court Battle
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
October 6, 2005
from staff reports
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038158.cfm
SUMMARY: A home for troubled teens in Michigan is
regrouping after a court upholds the state's decision to
terminate its contract.
Calling the report a "major blow" to the livelihood of
Teen Ranch, Gary McCaleb of the Alliance Defense Fund said
the ruling has relegated faith-based organizations to
"second-class status."
"It's especially painful here where an excellent ministry
like Teen Ranch had been driven into the ground by this
kind of silliness," he said. "Since the contract was
abrogated, they have really been struggling. I think
they'll be able to keep their head above water, but
they've taken a tremendous hit."
The Michigan Department of Human Services, the entity
responsible for overseeing the program, declined to
comment on the suit.
Chip Lupu, with the Roundtable on Religious and Social
Welfare Policy, said if an organization wants to have a
religious component, it must be separate from that being
paid for with government funding.
[More at URL]
----- 4 -----
Former Cadet Sues Air Force Over Religious Rights
Focus on the Family
NEWSBRIEFS
October 6, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
An Air Force Academy graduate filed suit in federal court
today, accusing some at the Academy of illegally imposing
Christianity on cadets, The Associated Press reported.
In his lawsuit, Mikey Weinstein claims that evangelical
Christians coerced students to attend religious services
and to pray at official events. He wants that to change.
The lawsuit asks the Air Force to prohibit members from
discussing religion "or in any related way attempt to
involuntarily convert, pressure, exhort or persuade a
fellow member of the USAF to accept their own religious
beliefs while on duty."
Weinstein, who is Jewish, said when they put one religion
above another, it is a violation of a cadet's rights.
"My problem is not with Judaism, Hinduism, Christianity or
even evangelical Christianity," he said. "It's that
whenever a religion -- in this case a group of people --
tries to engage the machinery of the state, it is
constitutionally repugnant and violative."
Citizen magazine Associate Editor Stephen Adams recently
interviewed Rep. Walter B. Jones, R-N.C., who introduced
the Military Academy First Amendment Protection Act (HR
3430). The bill would establish the right of all three
service academies -- Army, Navy and Air Force -- to
include voluntary, nondenominational prayers during
official activities, such as meals.
"I think there's going to come a time, if we don't draw
the line in the sand now, that we will lose the right to
practice freely what we believe," Adams said. "Let's not
let those outside anti-religion forces influence the
policy decisions of the academies."
FOR MORE INFORMATION: To read an in depth look at the
attempt to silence Christianity at the Air Force Academy,
read the Citizen magazine article, "The Architecture of a
Smear," by Stephen Adams.
http://www.family.org/cforum/citizenmag/features/a0038037.cfm
----- 5 -----
Ohio 'Choose Life' Plates Challenge Tossed
Focus on the Family
NEWSBRIEFS
October 6, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
A lawsuit brought by NARAL Pro-Choice America challenging
Ohio's "Choose Life" license plate has been thrown out by
a federal judge.
NARAL, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union
(ACLU) of Ohio, sought to block the entire vanity plate
program in order to keep the "Choose Life" plates off the
streets. The ACLU argued the state was engaging in
"viewpoint discrimination" because it had not approved a
"Pro-Choice" plate.
Liberty Counsel, defending pro-life individuals and
organizations, filed a motion both to protect free speech
rights and to dismiss the case entirely.
U.S. District Judge Donald Nugent ruled that federal
courts are prohibited from interfering with the collection
of state taxes -- in this case, revenue generated by sales
of the plates.
Funds from the sale of the "Choose Life" plate goes to
groups that counsel pregnant women about adoption. Ohio
law prohibits any of those funds to go to groups that
provide, promote, or refer women for abortion.
Since Nugent ruled that a federal court lacked
jurisdiction in the case, he did not rule on the merits of
the First Amendment defense.
"Just as Ohio can warn of the health consequences of
smoking, so the state is entitled to make a value judgment
favoring childbirth over abortion," Staver said. "If
those who call themselves 'pro-choice' were genuinely
concerned about the best interests of women and children,
they would welcome a pro-adoption message. Their actions
betray their rhetoric."
----- 6 -----
Out-of-State Gay Couples Fight for Massachusetts Marriage Rights
Focus on the Family
NEWSBRIEFS
October 6, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
Eight same-sex couples who do not live in Massachusetts
have brought a lawsuit against the state because they were
refused marriage licenses, The Associated Press reported.
State law prohibits officials from issuing a marriage
license to a couple that does not intend to reside in the
state. It also does not allow any marriage that will not
be recognized in the couple's home state.
Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), which is
representing the couples, is asking the court to strike
down that law.
Gary Buseck, legal director at GLAD, said it is a denial
of the rights of homosexual couples.
"Just as the court said that same-sex couples (in the
state) have the right to a marriage license," Buseck said,
"then it's really wrong to think that officials in the
commonwealth could deny that right."
Eric Fehrnstrom, spokesman for Gov. Mitt Romney, said the
law is clear.
"If you can't be legally married in your home state, they
you can't evade the law by coming to Massachusetts to get
married."
----- 7 -----
Court Nominee is 'Deeply Committed Christian'
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
by Pete Winn, associate editor
October 5, 2005
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038155.cfm
SUMMARY: Dr. Dobson explains his support for Harriet
Miers, whose nomination has led to controversy.
Support for President Bush's new nominee to the high
court, Harriet Miers, came from different quarters today.
Both Focus on the Family Action Chairman Dr. James C.
Dobson, Ph.D., and Mier's minister, Pastor Ronald Key,
assured evangelicals today they believed the 60-year-old
White House Counsel and former Dallas lawyer would make a
good Supreme Court justice.
Dobson told his nationwide broadcast audience today his
support of her came with "fear and trepidation" because of
the implications of doing so.
"If I have made a mistake here," Dobson said, "I will
never forget the blood of those babies that will die that
will be on my hands to some degree. That's why I don't
take this lightly."
[...]
Dobson cited many of Miers' positive characteristics,
including her evangelical Christianity.
"She is a deeply committed Christian," Dobson said. "She
has been a believer in Jesus Christ since the late 1970s.
I know the person who led her to the Lord. I know the
church that she goes to. I know it's a very conservative
church. I know that she is a tithe-paying member at that
church. I know that she has deep convictions about things.
I have talked at length to people that 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 who they are and I
know their character and I know what they stand their
heart for the Lord."
The nominee's minister, Dallas-area Pastor Ronald Key,
told CitizenLink that he believes Miers will make an
excellent Supreme Court justice. He said she's not only
highly accomplished, intelligent and conservative, but she
also has a deep faith in Jesus. He's heard her testimony
-- and watched her in action.
----- 8 -----
Group Wants to Snuff Out Intelligent Design Theory
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
by Wendy Cloyd, senior editorial coordinator
October 5, 2005
SUMMARY: Critics say the new group reflects the hysteria
of supporters of evolution.
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038153.cfm
A few of the nation's leading scientists, legal scholars
and clergy announced last week the formation of an online
"grass-roots" movement to combat what they called the
threat posed by intelligent design to public education and
science.
The Campaign to Defend the Constitution, euphemistically
called "DefCon," declared its first order of business
would be to write a letter to the nation's governors
asking them to oppose intelligent design curricula in
public schools.
Ira Glasser, former executive director of the American
Civil Liberties Union, said the group will provide an
important service.
"This campaign will provide a voice for Americans who
believe in both a free church and a free state," Glasser
said. "We want religious liberty free from interference
from the government and a free government that does not
become an instrument for imposing religious beliefs on
people who do not share them. That is what the Founders of
America meant to insure when they separated church from
state."
Mark Hartwig, Ph.D., religion and society analyst for
Focus on the Family Action and an expert on intelligent
design, called Glasser's claims "sheer hysteria."
[More at URL]
----- 9 -----
Time Magazine, School Event Expose Massive Cultural Campaign to Promote Homosexuality to Kids
Concerned Women for America
10/7/2005
By Robert Knight and Benjamin Frichtl
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/9144/CFI/education/index.htm
“Coming out” age has dropped to 10 for boys, 12 for girls, academic says.
A TIME magazine cover story and a recent pro-homosexual school event should leave no doubt that homosexual activists are recruiting kids into homosexual sex and a “gay” identity, using “tolerance” as a ruse.
The TIME October 10 piece, “The Battle Over Gay Teens,” which includes not a single reference to the extremely dangerous medical consequences of homosexual behavior, especially for boys, includes these details:
* A cocktail party in Manhattan with billionaire liquor magnate Edgar Bronfman, Sr. and Clinton political strategist David Mixner was held in May to raise money for the Point Foundation, a scholarship program to turn “gay” kids into homosexual activists.
* From 100 gay/straight alliance (GSA) clubs in schools in 1997, the number has grown to “at least 3,000…nearly 1 in 10 high schools has one, according to the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN).”
* The average age of kids “coming out” as homosexual has “dropped to 10 for gays and 12 for lesbians,” according to the chair of Cornell University’s human-development program.
[More at URL]
----- 10 -----
Suit Targets Distributor of RU-486
October 7, 2005
Los Angeles Times
The family of a woman who died after taking the abortion pill says the firm didn't give patients sufficient warning of possible risks.
By Maria L. La Ganga, Times Staff Writer
Long URL here
The family of an Orange County woman who died after taking RU-486 and a follow-up drug has sued Danco Laboratories, the distributor of the so-called abortion pill, charging that the company did not sufficiently warn women of potential risks.
Hoa Thuy Tran, a 21-year-old teaching student from Fountain Valley, died in 2003 after taking the two drugs to end a pregnancy. She is one of four U.S. women — all from California — who allegedly died of massive infection after taking RU-486, prescribed under the brand name Mifeprex, since it was approved by the FDA in 2000.
[More at URL]
----- 11 -----
Blessed are the meek
For they (or at least one of them) shall inherit a U.S. Supreme Court seat
by Marvin Olasky
World Magazine
October 15, 2005
http://www.worldmag.com/subscriber/displayArticle.cfm?ID=11141
U.S. District Court Judge Ed Kinkeade joked last week that Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers talks so slowly that the Senate should add an extra day to her hearings. "She gives my name four syllables—E-ye-e-d," said Mr. Kinkeade, who has known Ms. Miers for over 25 years. But there is nothing slow about the rush to judgment from both left and right following the president's surprise nomination of Ms. Miers, a relatively unknown judicial quantity.
Before and after President Bush on Oct. 3 nominated Ms. Miers to the high court, WORLD interviewed numerous Texans who have worked closely with her. Almost all see Ms. Miers as an excellent choice and emphasize what they say is her extraordinary integrity and her self-effacing nature.
They see her as an evangelical who is meek—in the biblical sense of humble strength. For 25 years she has been a member of Valley View Christian Church in Dallas, a conservative evangelical church and not one of the city's fashionable ones. Never married, she has devoted herself to work, her extended family, and her church, serving on the missions committee for 10 years, teaching children in Sunday school, making coffee, and bringing donuts.
[...]
One major concern is that Ms. Miers has not shown a clear judicial philosophy, and that under the media and social pressures of Washington life she will shift leftward. Political analyst Larry Sabato estimates that a quarter of the Supreme Court justices appointed in the last half-century have "evolved" from conservative to moderate or liberal. Explanations for why that happens include "the Greenhouse effect"—a yearning for positive coverage by scribes such as Linda Greenhouse of The New York Times—or the desire to be termed a judicial giant by liberal historians.
A second major concern is that she doesn't fit the profile of the brilliant legal theorist that many seek in a justice. Even one of her administration backers, to whom WORLD gave off-the-record status because any public criticism of Ms. Miers would derail his career, said that "her qualities are not necessarily those that make a great constitutional law professor or a great author." He then added, "They do give her gifts that are needed on the court."
What gifts are those?
Friends who know Ms. Miers testify to her smarts but emphasize an internal compass that includes a needle pointed toward Christ. Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht says she has a philosophy that grows out of evangelical exegesis and carries over into legal issues: "She's an originalist—that's the way she takes the Bible," and that's her approach to the Constitution as well: "Originalist—it means what it says."
[...]
But Mr. Hecht is also an honest man and a pro-life advocate who strongly fought for parental notification laws when his court colleagues were scuttling them. Moreover, he was instrumental in teaching her about Christ: She "had a Catholic upbringing, had not been close to the church, it was off again, on again, then she came to a point in her life when she wanted to change that. . . . She made an abrupt change in 1979 or '80. She was very hard-working and successful, she wanted new meaning, substance in her life."
Mr. Hecht says that at the time of abrupt change he and she had long discussions, until one evening she called him to her office and said she was ready to make a commitment. They prayed and talked, and soon after that she was baptized at Valley View, where Mr. Hecht has been an elder.
Ron Key, for 33 years the church's pastor, concurs with that history. He says that when he and Ms. Miers met in 1980, "I don't know how strong her faith was at that time. She came to a place where she totally committed her life to Jesus. She had gone to church before, but when she came to our church it became more serious to her. . . . Our church is strong for life. . . . We believe in the biblical approach to marriage." He says Ms. Miers has been dedicated to that church for many years, tithing to it, working for it, and absorbing its teachings.
Will her compass needle turn to Washington's heavy metal once a lifetime court position is in hand and constraints are off? No one knows for sure but it seems unlikely. Mr. Hecht says she's not a social butterfly who will be swayed by Washington dinner table conversation: "She goes to the dinners she's supposed to go to. She's not on the social circuit."
Her administration colleague says she's not going to pay much mind to the good reviews she could receive from top law journals and Ivy League law professors if she were to move leftward. Ms. Miers has never run in those circles and "of the hundreds of people I knew in the White House, she's almost uniquely unaffected by Potomac fever." That's because, her friends say, she's centered on Christ.
[...]
That's a good debate to have. It's George W. Bush's analysis that "heart" is crucial, since a good mind by itself also does not a great justice make. And the Miers nomination is classic Bush. Nearly six years ago, when asked in an early debate among Republican presidential candidates to name his favorite philosopher, Mr. Bush famously said, "Christ, because He changed my heart."
[...]
But what's crucial is that a self-effacing nature bodes well for the upholding of an originalist position wherein justices are servants of the text rather than masters of it. This goes beyond the question of "identity politics" (yeah, let's give a spot to an evangelical with "heart"). Understanding of property rights is important, but even more important in withstanding leftward-ho tendencies is the realization that the Supremes are not Supreme.
[More at URL]
----- 12 -----
Pornography Comes To The Mall
Traditional Values Coalition
October 6, 2005
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2455
October 6, 2005 – Traditional Values Coalition’s Executive Director Andrea Lafferty is taking on Victoria’s Secret at the Tyson’s Corner Mall in Virginia. The lingerie store has just put on a display of half-naked and sexually suggestive mannequins. The theme of the display is sadomasochism and lesbianism.
Mrs. Lafferty went to Victoria’s Secret and took numerous photos of the window display and inside the store. The displays inside the store show women laying next to each other in lesbian-like poses. One mannequin was tied up with ropes in an S&M pose.
Mrs. Lafferty emailed photos of the mannequins to local media outlets and was interviewed by the Washington, DC affiliates of CBS and ABC about the S&M display. Because she had protested the store’s display, Victoria’s Secret claimed she was a threat, had mall security follow her to her car and wrote down her license plate number, and called the police.
“It appears to me that Victoria’s Secret is trying to intimidate anyone who challenges their spread of S&M pornography into America’s malls,” said Lafferty.
“The whole theme of the display was sadomasochistic and implied lesbianism,” said Mrs. Lafferty. “Malls are a place where families come with children to shop. I felt like I was walking down a street in Amsterdam and watching the prostitutes sitting in the windows trying to lure in customers.”
She continued, “Victoria’s Secret has pushed the envelope so far, where can they go next? Live sex acts in their windows? I’m totally outraged by this brazen display of sadomasochistic pornography in a mall,” said Mrs. Lafferty. “This should be a place where I can bring my son and not be offended by mannequins dressed in sadomasochistic outfits or laying in suggestive poses.”
[More at URL]
----- 13 -----
‘Time’ Magazine’s ‘Gay Teen’ Cover Story Written By Homosexual
Traditional values Coalition
October 6, 2005
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2450
October 6, 2005 – John Cloud, a writer for Time magazine has just written a lengthy cover story for the October 10 edition that cleverly promotes the homosexual agenda. Though not mentioned in the article, Cloud is a long-time homosexual journalist and activist who has been given several awards by homosexual organizations for his “gay” affirmative reporting.
In September, 2005, Cloud was given a second place award for “The Governor’s Secret Life” by the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association. And, in 2004, he was given an award by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) for his article, “The New Face Of Gay Power.” And, in a Columbia Journalism Review weblog (April 21, 2005), Cloud admits to having a “boy friend.”
In 2000, Cloud wrote an article on the Boy Scouts, comparing them to the KKK and asking whether or not the Boy Scouts had the right to freedom of association. The Media Research Center reported on Cloud’s homosexual activism disguised as journalism in its April, 25, 2000 issue.
In Cloud’s latest homosexual activism disguised as journalism for Time magazine, he portrays “gay” teens in a sympathetic light and cites the growing influence of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) in promoting homosexuality on high school campuses.
He also downplays the role that ex-gay ministries contribute in helping individuals struggling with unwanted same-sex attractions.
Traditional Values Coalition Chairman Rev. Louis P. Sheldon has published a commentary on the Cloud’s pro-homosexual propaganda piece. We are reprinting it in full here:
[More at URL]
----- 14 -----
Associated Press Helps Normalize Gender Bending Among Teens
Traditional Values Coalition
October 6, 2005
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2449
October 6, 2005 – Not only is the mainstream media (MSM) helping promote homosexuality among teenagers, but now the MSM is trying to normalize gender bending and cross-dressing as normal for teens.
The Associated Press recently published an article, “Boi or Grrl? Pop Culture Redefining Gender” featuring a young teen who doesn’t think he’s either a man or a woman. The teen, Alex Polanco, says he sometimes feels like a girl and other times feels like a boy. He wears wigs when he thinks he’s a girl and male clothing when he thinks he’s a boy.
The article quotes Caitlin Ryan, a clinical social worker at San Francisco State University who says, “I think the fluidity of gender is the next big wave in terms of adolescent development. Gender has become part of the defining way that youth organize themselves and rebel against adults.”
Ryan is not identified in the article as being the past president of the National Lesbian and Gay Health Foundation and a consultant to the Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network on Gay Straight Alliance Clubs on high school campuses.
Reality-show fundamentalist fake-candidate to run for House;
Fundamentalist evangelical ministry-based foster care house losing so far in fight to keep state funding;
Air Force Academy sued by graduate over religious harassment - he's Jewish, talks about coercion to convert;
Ohio "Choose Life" plate lawsuit (funds go to anti-abortion counseling groups) - where NARAL, the ACLU, and others sued because no abortion-rights plates were offered - dismissed from Federal court over jurisdictional issues;
FotF article on lawsuit against Massachusetts's law prohibiting marriage for non-resident citizens challenge - notable because it doesn't use scare quotes around the word marriage;
FotF article endorsing Marriet Miers because she's a "deeply committed Christian" - the irony about using a religious test to support a candidate after railing about supposed religious tests to oppose candidates is lost on them. Most of this is from the show I transcribed;
FotF derides new group opposed to creationism and its proxy, intelligent design;
CWFA article: "homosexual activists are recruiting kids into homosexual sex and a “gay” identity, using “tolerance” as a ruse";
CWFA links to LA Times article about RU-486 lawsuit;
World Magazine profile and discussion about Harriet Miers;
Traditional Values Coalition attacks "pornographic" Victoria's Secret window display in Virginia as "half-naked," "sexually suggestive," and "lesbianism" - CWA has also run items against it;
TVC: ‘Time’ Magazine’s ‘Gay Teen’ Cover Story Written By Homosexual;
TVC attacks Associated Press as "normalising gender-bending" by teens.
----- 1 -----
New Web Site for Broadcast Indecency Complaints
Focus on the Family
NEWSBRIEFS
October 7, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) launched a
user-friendly Web page today, designed to both educate the
public about the laws governing obscene, indecent and
profane material on the nation's airwaves and to help
people better understand the process of filing complaints.
It also contains historical data on the number of
complaints, as well as the actions taken by the FCC dating
back to 1993.
Penny Nance, a special advisor at the FCC, said the goal
is to make the complaint process "expeditious and
transparent."
"In the past, American families have had a difficult time
understanding exactly how to file a complaint and what
information to include," she said. "Now, with the new Web
site, they can pull up a form, fill it out in a couple of
minutes and make their voice heard in the click of a
mouse."
Daniel Weiss, senior analyst for media and sexuality at
Focus on the Family Action, said it's rare for the FCC to
exhibit this kind of openness to public comment.
"This new responsiveness is a dramatic shift for the FCC,
which for too long has been antagonistic to punishing
broadcast indecency," he said. "By making the rules and
procedures clear and accessible, the FCC is sending a
message that it takes its job -- and Americans' concern --
seriously."
He said there appear to be new levels of accountability in
place as well as a realization that people need to better
understand what the procedures are, how long the process
takes and where they can check the status of their
complaints.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Here's the link to the new FCC page:
http://www.fcc.gov/eb/oip
----- 2 -----
Reality TV 'Candidate' to Become Real-Life Candidate
Focus on the Family
NEWSBRIEFS
October 7, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
An evangelical Christian and public-school teacher who
took the top prize in the Showtime reality series
"American Candidate" last year is planning a real-life run
for Congress.
Park Gillespie, whose upset victory on the cable-TV
competition show about a mock race for the White House was
fueled by the phone-in votes of Christians nationwide, is
poised to announce his candidacy for South Carolina's 5th
House District -- a seat currently held by longtime
Democratic Congressman John Spratt.
Gillespie, who will run in the Republican primary next
June for a spot on the November 2006 ballot, said he plans
to be as uncompromising in advocating for Christian
principles in his real campaign as he was in his
make-believe one.
"If God's called us to do something, it's critical that we
really dive in with passion, and we press in to truth and
that we trust Him," he told AgapePress. "He's given us all
a reason and a purpose for our life."
FOR MORE INFORMATION: To learn more about Park Gillespie's
victory on "American Candidate," visit the CitizenLink Web
site.
http://www.family.org/cforum/feature/a0034073.cfm
----- 3 -----
Home for Teens Loses Court Battle
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
October 6, 2005
from staff reports
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038158.cfm
SUMMARY: A home for troubled teens in Michigan is
regrouping after a court upholds the state's decision to
terminate its contract.
Calling the report a "major blow" to the livelihood of
Teen Ranch, Gary McCaleb of the Alliance Defense Fund said
the ruling has relegated faith-based organizations to
"second-class status."
"It's especially painful here where an excellent ministry
like Teen Ranch had been driven into the ground by this
kind of silliness," he said. "Since the contract was
abrogated, they have really been struggling. I think
they'll be able to keep their head above water, but
they've taken a tremendous hit."
The Michigan Department of Human Services, the entity
responsible for overseeing the program, declined to
comment on the suit.
Chip Lupu, with the Roundtable on Religious and Social
Welfare Policy, said if an organization wants to have a
religious component, it must be separate from that being
paid for with government funding.
[More at URL]
----- 4 -----
Former Cadet Sues Air Force Over Religious Rights
Focus on the Family
NEWSBRIEFS
October 6, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
An Air Force Academy graduate filed suit in federal court
today, accusing some at the Academy of illegally imposing
Christianity on cadets, The Associated Press reported.
In his lawsuit, Mikey Weinstein claims that evangelical
Christians coerced students to attend religious services
and to pray at official events. He wants that to change.
The lawsuit asks the Air Force to prohibit members from
discussing religion "or in any related way attempt to
involuntarily convert, pressure, exhort or persuade a
fellow member of the USAF to accept their own religious
beliefs while on duty."
Weinstein, who is Jewish, said when they put one religion
above another, it is a violation of a cadet's rights.
"My problem is not with Judaism, Hinduism, Christianity or
even evangelical Christianity," he said. "It's that
whenever a religion -- in this case a group of people --
tries to engage the machinery of the state, it is
constitutionally repugnant and violative."
Citizen magazine Associate Editor Stephen Adams recently
interviewed Rep. Walter B. Jones, R-N.C., who introduced
the Military Academy First Amendment Protection Act (HR
3430). The bill would establish the right of all three
service academies -- Army, Navy and Air Force -- to
include voluntary, nondenominational prayers during
official activities, such as meals.
"I think there's going to come a time, if we don't draw
the line in the sand now, that we will lose the right to
practice freely what we believe," Adams said. "Let's not
let those outside anti-religion forces influence the
policy decisions of the academies."
FOR MORE INFORMATION: To read an in depth look at the
attempt to silence Christianity at the Air Force Academy,
read the Citizen magazine article, "The Architecture of a
Smear," by Stephen Adams.
http://www.family.org/cforum/citizenmag/features/a0038037.cfm
----- 5 -----
Ohio 'Choose Life' Plates Challenge Tossed
Focus on the Family
NEWSBRIEFS
October 6, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
A lawsuit brought by NARAL Pro-Choice America challenging
Ohio's "Choose Life" license plate has been thrown out by
a federal judge.
NARAL, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union
(ACLU) of Ohio, sought to block the entire vanity plate
program in order to keep the "Choose Life" plates off the
streets. The ACLU argued the state was engaging in
"viewpoint discrimination" because it had not approved a
"Pro-Choice" plate.
Liberty Counsel, defending pro-life individuals and
organizations, filed a motion both to protect free speech
rights and to dismiss the case entirely.
U.S. District Judge Donald Nugent ruled that federal
courts are prohibited from interfering with the collection
of state taxes -- in this case, revenue generated by sales
of the plates.
Funds from the sale of the "Choose Life" plate goes to
groups that counsel pregnant women about adoption. Ohio
law prohibits any of those funds to go to groups that
provide, promote, or refer women for abortion.
Since Nugent ruled that a federal court lacked
jurisdiction in the case, he did not rule on the merits of
the First Amendment defense.
"Just as Ohio can warn of the health consequences of
smoking, so the state is entitled to make a value judgment
favoring childbirth over abortion," Staver said. "If
those who call themselves 'pro-choice' were genuinely
concerned about the best interests of women and children,
they would welcome a pro-adoption message. Their actions
betray their rhetoric."
----- 6 -----
Out-of-State Gay Couples Fight for Massachusetts Marriage Rights
Focus on the Family
NEWSBRIEFS
October 6, 2005
[Received in email; no URL]
Eight same-sex couples who do not live in Massachusetts
have brought a lawsuit against the state because they were
refused marriage licenses, The Associated Press reported.
State law prohibits officials from issuing a marriage
license to a couple that does not intend to reside in the
state. It also does not allow any marriage that will not
be recognized in the couple's home state.
Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), which is
representing the couples, is asking the court to strike
down that law.
Gary Buseck, legal director at GLAD, said it is a denial
of the rights of homosexual couples.
"Just as the court said that same-sex couples (in the
state) have the right to a marriage license," Buseck said,
"then it's really wrong to think that officials in the
commonwealth could deny that right."
Eric Fehrnstrom, spokesman for Gov. Mitt Romney, said the
law is clear.
"If you can't be legally married in your home state, they
you can't evade the law by coming to Massachusetts to get
married."
----- 7 -----
Court Nominee is 'Deeply Committed Christian'
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
by Pete Winn, associate editor
October 5, 2005
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038155.cfm
SUMMARY: Dr. Dobson explains his support for Harriet
Miers, whose nomination has led to controversy.
Support for President Bush's new nominee to the high
court, Harriet Miers, came from different quarters today.
Both Focus on the Family Action Chairman Dr. James C.
Dobson, Ph.D., and Mier's minister, Pastor Ronald Key,
assured evangelicals today they believed the 60-year-old
White House Counsel and former Dallas lawyer would make a
good Supreme Court justice.
Dobson told his nationwide broadcast audience today his
support of her came with "fear and trepidation" because of
the implications of doing so.
"If I have made a mistake here," Dobson said, "I will
never forget the blood of those babies that will die that
will be on my hands to some degree. That's why I don't
take this lightly."
[...]
Dobson cited many of Miers' positive characteristics,
including her evangelical Christianity.
"She is a deeply committed Christian," Dobson said. "She
has been a believer in Jesus Christ since the late 1970s.
I know the person who led her to the Lord. I know the
church that she goes to. I know it's a very conservative
church. I know that she is a tithe-paying member at that
church. I know that she has deep convictions about things.
I have talked at length to people that 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 who they are and I
know their character and I know what they stand their
heart for the Lord."
The nominee's minister, Dallas-area Pastor Ronald Key,
told CitizenLink that he believes Miers will make an
excellent Supreme Court justice. He said she's not only
highly accomplished, intelligent and conservative, but she
also has a deep faith in Jesus. He's heard her testimony
-- and watched her in action.
----- 8 -----
Group Wants to Snuff Out Intelligent Design Theory
Focus on the Family
Family News in Focus
by Wendy Cloyd, senior editorial coordinator
October 5, 2005
SUMMARY: Critics say the new group reflects the hysteria
of supporters of evolution.
http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0038153.cfm
A few of the nation's leading scientists, legal scholars
and clergy announced last week the formation of an online
"grass-roots" movement to combat what they called the
threat posed by intelligent design to public education and
science.
The Campaign to Defend the Constitution, euphemistically
called "DefCon," declared its first order of business
would be to write a letter to the nation's governors
asking them to oppose intelligent design curricula in
public schools.
Ira Glasser, former executive director of the American
Civil Liberties Union, said the group will provide an
important service.
"This campaign will provide a voice for Americans who
believe in both a free church and a free state," Glasser
said. "We want religious liberty free from interference
from the government and a free government that does not
become an instrument for imposing religious beliefs on
people who do not share them. That is what the Founders of
America meant to insure when they separated church from
state."
Mark Hartwig, Ph.D., religion and society analyst for
Focus on the Family Action and an expert on intelligent
design, called Glasser's claims "sheer hysteria."
[More at URL]
----- 9 -----
Time Magazine, School Event Expose Massive Cultural Campaign to Promote Homosexuality to Kids
Concerned Women for America
10/7/2005
By Robert Knight and Benjamin Frichtl
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/9144/CFI/education/index.htm
“Coming out” age has dropped to 10 for boys, 12 for girls, academic says.
A TIME magazine cover story and a recent pro-homosexual school event should leave no doubt that homosexual activists are recruiting kids into homosexual sex and a “gay” identity, using “tolerance” as a ruse.
The TIME October 10 piece, “The Battle Over Gay Teens,” which includes not a single reference to the extremely dangerous medical consequences of homosexual behavior, especially for boys, includes these details:
* A cocktail party in Manhattan with billionaire liquor magnate Edgar Bronfman, Sr. and Clinton political strategist David Mixner was held in May to raise money for the Point Foundation, a scholarship program to turn “gay” kids into homosexual activists.
* From 100 gay/straight alliance (GSA) clubs in schools in 1997, the number has grown to “at least 3,000…nearly 1 in 10 high schools has one, according to the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN).”
* The average age of kids “coming out” as homosexual has “dropped to 10 for gays and 12 for lesbians,” according to the chair of Cornell University’s human-development program.
[More at URL]
----- 10 -----
Suit Targets Distributor of RU-486
October 7, 2005
Los Angeles Times
The family of a woman who died after taking the abortion pill says the firm didn't give patients sufficient warning of possible risks.
By Maria L. La Ganga, Times Staff Writer
Long URL here
The family of an Orange County woman who died after taking RU-486 and a follow-up drug has sued Danco Laboratories, the distributor of the so-called abortion pill, charging that the company did not sufficiently warn women of potential risks.
Hoa Thuy Tran, a 21-year-old teaching student from Fountain Valley, died in 2003 after taking the two drugs to end a pregnancy. She is one of four U.S. women — all from California — who allegedly died of massive infection after taking RU-486, prescribed under the brand name Mifeprex, since it was approved by the FDA in 2000.
[More at URL]
----- 11 -----
Blessed are the meek
For they (or at least one of them) shall inherit a U.S. Supreme Court seat
by Marvin Olasky
World Magazine
October 15, 2005
http://www.worldmag.com/subscriber/displayArticle.cfm?ID=11141
U.S. District Court Judge Ed Kinkeade joked last week that Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers talks so slowly that the Senate should add an extra day to her hearings. "She gives my name four syllables—E-ye-e-d," said Mr. Kinkeade, who has known Ms. Miers for over 25 years. But there is nothing slow about the rush to judgment from both left and right following the president's surprise nomination of Ms. Miers, a relatively unknown judicial quantity.
Before and after President Bush on Oct. 3 nominated Ms. Miers to the high court, WORLD interviewed numerous Texans who have worked closely with her. Almost all see Ms. Miers as an excellent choice and emphasize what they say is her extraordinary integrity and her self-effacing nature.
They see her as an evangelical who is meek—in the biblical sense of humble strength. For 25 years she has been a member of Valley View Christian Church in Dallas, a conservative evangelical church and not one of the city's fashionable ones. Never married, she has devoted herself to work, her extended family, and her church, serving on the missions committee for 10 years, teaching children in Sunday school, making coffee, and bringing donuts.
[...]
One major concern is that Ms. Miers has not shown a clear judicial philosophy, and that under the media and social pressures of Washington life she will shift leftward. Political analyst Larry Sabato estimates that a quarter of the Supreme Court justices appointed in the last half-century have "evolved" from conservative to moderate or liberal. Explanations for why that happens include "the Greenhouse effect"—a yearning for positive coverage by scribes such as Linda Greenhouse of The New York Times—or the desire to be termed a judicial giant by liberal historians.
A second major concern is that she doesn't fit the profile of the brilliant legal theorist that many seek in a justice. Even one of her administration backers, to whom WORLD gave off-the-record status because any public criticism of Ms. Miers would derail his career, said that "her qualities are not necessarily those that make a great constitutional law professor or a great author." He then added, "They do give her gifts that are needed on the court."
What gifts are those?
Friends who know Ms. Miers testify to her smarts but emphasize an internal compass that includes a needle pointed toward Christ. Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht says she has a philosophy that grows out of evangelical exegesis and carries over into legal issues: "She's an originalist—that's the way she takes the Bible," and that's her approach to the Constitution as well: "Originalist—it means what it says."
[...]
But Mr. Hecht is also an honest man and a pro-life advocate who strongly fought for parental notification laws when his court colleagues were scuttling them. Moreover, he was instrumental in teaching her about Christ: She "had a Catholic upbringing, had not been close to the church, it was off again, on again, then she came to a point in her life when she wanted to change that. . . . She made an abrupt change in 1979 or '80. She was very hard-working and successful, she wanted new meaning, substance in her life."
Mr. Hecht says that at the time of abrupt change he and she had long discussions, until one evening she called him to her office and said she was ready to make a commitment. They prayed and talked, and soon after that she was baptized at Valley View, where Mr. Hecht has been an elder.
Ron Key, for 33 years the church's pastor, concurs with that history. He says that when he and Ms. Miers met in 1980, "I don't know how strong her faith was at that time. She came to a place where she totally committed her life to Jesus. She had gone to church before, but when she came to our church it became more serious to her. . . . Our church is strong for life. . . . We believe in the biblical approach to marriage." He says Ms. Miers has been dedicated to that church for many years, tithing to it, working for it, and absorbing its teachings.
Will her compass needle turn to Washington's heavy metal once a lifetime court position is in hand and constraints are off? No one knows for sure but it seems unlikely. Mr. Hecht says she's not a social butterfly who will be swayed by Washington dinner table conversation: "She goes to the dinners she's supposed to go to. She's not on the social circuit."
Her administration colleague says she's not going to pay much mind to the good reviews she could receive from top law journals and Ivy League law professors if she were to move leftward. Ms. Miers has never run in those circles and "of the hundreds of people I knew in the White House, she's almost uniquely unaffected by Potomac fever." That's because, her friends say, she's centered on Christ.
[...]
That's a good debate to have. It's George W. Bush's analysis that "heart" is crucial, since a good mind by itself also does not a great justice make. And the Miers nomination is classic Bush. Nearly six years ago, when asked in an early debate among Republican presidential candidates to name his favorite philosopher, Mr. Bush famously said, "Christ, because He changed my heart."
[...]
But what's crucial is that a self-effacing nature bodes well for the upholding of an originalist position wherein justices are servants of the text rather than masters of it. This goes beyond the question of "identity politics" (yeah, let's give a spot to an evangelical with "heart"). Understanding of property rights is important, but even more important in withstanding leftward-ho tendencies is the realization that the Supremes are not Supreme.
[More at URL]
----- 12 -----
Pornography Comes To The Mall
Traditional Values Coalition
October 6, 2005
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2455
October 6, 2005 – Traditional Values Coalition’s Executive Director Andrea Lafferty is taking on Victoria’s Secret at the Tyson’s Corner Mall in Virginia. The lingerie store has just put on a display of half-naked and sexually suggestive mannequins. The theme of the display is sadomasochism and lesbianism.
Mrs. Lafferty went to Victoria’s Secret and took numerous photos of the window display and inside the store. The displays inside the store show women laying next to each other in lesbian-like poses. One mannequin was tied up with ropes in an S&M pose.
Mrs. Lafferty emailed photos of the mannequins to local media outlets and was interviewed by the Washington, DC affiliates of CBS and ABC about the S&M display. Because she had protested the store’s display, Victoria’s Secret claimed she was a threat, had mall security follow her to her car and wrote down her license plate number, and called the police.
“It appears to me that Victoria’s Secret is trying to intimidate anyone who challenges their spread of S&M pornography into America’s malls,” said Lafferty.
“The whole theme of the display was sadomasochistic and implied lesbianism,” said Mrs. Lafferty. “Malls are a place where families come with children to shop. I felt like I was walking down a street in Amsterdam and watching the prostitutes sitting in the windows trying to lure in customers.”
She continued, “Victoria’s Secret has pushed the envelope so far, where can they go next? Live sex acts in their windows? I’m totally outraged by this brazen display of sadomasochistic pornography in a mall,” said Mrs. Lafferty. “This should be a place where I can bring my son and not be offended by mannequins dressed in sadomasochistic outfits or laying in suggestive poses.”
[More at URL]
----- 13 -----
‘Time’ Magazine’s ‘Gay Teen’ Cover Story Written By Homosexual
Traditional values Coalition
October 6, 2005
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2450
October 6, 2005 – John Cloud, a writer for Time magazine has just written a lengthy cover story for the October 10 edition that cleverly promotes the homosexual agenda. Though not mentioned in the article, Cloud is a long-time homosexual journalist and activist who has been given several awards by homosexual organizations for his “gay” affirmative reporting.
In September, 2005, Cloud was given a second place award for “The Governor’s Secret Life” by the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association. And, in 2004, he was given an award by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) for his article, “The New Face Of Gay Power.” And, in a Columbia Journalism Review weblog (April 21, 2005), Cloud admits to having a “boy friend.”
In 2000, Cloud wrote an article on the Boy Scouts, comparing them to the KKK and asking whether or not the Boy Scouts had the right to freedom of association. The Media Research Center reported on Cloud’s homosexual activism disguised as journalism in its April, 25, 2000 issue.
In Cloud’s latest homosexual activism disguised as journalism for Time magazine, he portrays “gay” teens in a sympathetic light and cites the growing influence of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) in promoting homosexuality on high school campuses.
He also downplays the role that ex-gay ministries contribute in helping individuals struggling with unwanted same-sex attractions.
Traditional Values Coalition Chairman Rev. Louis P. Sheldon has published a commentary on the Cloud’s pro-homosexual propaganda piece. We are reprinting it in full here:
[More at URL]
----- 14 -----
Associated Press Helps Normalize Gender Bending Among Teens
Traditional Values Coalition
October 6, 2005
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=2449
October 6, 2005 – Not only is the mainstream media (MSM) helping promote homosexuality among teenagers, but now the MSM is trying to normalize gender bending and cross-dressing as normal for teens.
The Associated Press recently published an article, “Boi or Grrl? Pop Culture Redefining Gender” featuring a young teen who doesn’t think he’s either a man or a woman. The teen, Alex Polanco, says he sometimes feels like a girl and other times feels like a boy. He wears wigs when he thinks he’s a girl and male clothing when he thinks he’s a boy.
The article quotes Caitlin Ryan, a clinical social worker at San Francisco State University who says, “I think the fluidity of gender is the next big wave in terms of adolescent development. Gender has become part of the defining way that youth organize themselves and rebel against adults.”
Ryan is not identified in the article as being the past president of the National Lesbian and Gay Health Foundation and a consultant to the Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network on Gay Straight Alliance Clubs on high school campuses.
